To Last Forever

Ch. 9

Tony's POV

Peter was one stupid kid if he thought he could take on a super human/magician by himself. We had Wanda and Vision for a reason and that was so that when we came across people like Cross, they could take them out. Instead, Cross ended up hurting Wanda which distracted Vision and left Peter feeling like he had to take on the man by himself. Now, the kid was suffering from a pretty intense burn on his left shoulder and about to be killed by Cross. Of course, I wasn't going to let that happen. That was my kid and no one kills my kid while I just stand by and watch. That's how I found myself between Peter and Cross seconds before Cross made his next strike.

I don't know what I was expected, but a bright flash and no pain was not it. I had obviously never died, but I figured I would have at least felt the pain before disappearing into the abyss known as death. However, no pain came and I slowly became aware I was still breathing. For a horrible, painful second I wondered if I had been to late to get to Peter. When I forced my eyes open, though, I discovered he was still underneath me, panting in pain from his shoulder. I had never been so happy to see the kid in pain; it meant he was still alive.

"Tony?" he whimpered. He still had his mask on, but unfortunately, I had become accustomed to what he sounded like when he was crying. He didn't need to take off his mask for me to know he was about to cry. "Tony? Please don't be dead, please don't be." I popped the face off my Iron Man suit and looked down at him. Peter let out a sob, but I knew it was in relief.

"I'm okay, kid," I promised. "We're both okay..." I trailed off, realizing it should not be that way. I moved so I was no longer crouched over Peter, but instead kneeling beside him. When I turned to look around the room, I noticed Cross was gone. Everyone seemed shocked, staring at where Cross had been seconds before but was now just an empty space. I glanced around at everyone before my eyes landed on Wanda. She was breathing heavily, arm outstretched towards Peter and me and looking very shaken up. Vision was kneeling beside her, one hand on her back, looking down at her.

"I killed him," she muttered. She pulled her arm back, tucking it close to her and looking around in fear. Vision pulled her close to him, trying to calm her down. He carefully picked her up and stood, looking at all of us.

"I will take her back," he said. He floated out of the house and back to the quinjet. I looked back down at Peter who was now groaning and rolling his head to the side.

"Pete? You good?" I asked, stabilizing his head and making him look up at me. I tore off his mask and saw a bruise forming on his cheek and forehead.

"It hurts," he mumbled, eyes closed tightly. I nodded, moving to carefully pick him up. Hopefully Shuri was as good with medicine as she was with technology.

"It's gonna be okay," I told him quietly. I glanced at Steve who knew immediately what I meant. He turned and took Natasha with him to search the rest of the building for anyone that could have worked with or been kidnapped by Cross.

I flew to the quinjet, knowing it would be quicker than if I walked. I arrived in less than a minute and stumbled onto the the quinjet. Peter groaned at the rough landing, but I didn't care. So long as he was conscious, I knew he was alright. Shuri came running over when she saw us and told me to lay him down on the gurney. I did, stepping back only so she would have enough room. I disassembled the Iron Man suit, letting it disappear back into its nano tech case on my chest. As soon as my hands were free, I reached out to grab Peter's hand.

"How do you get this off?" Shuri asked, pointing to the suit. Peter raised a shaky hand and pressed the spider on his chest. The suit relaxed and almost immediately his wound began to bleed more. "Oh, okay." She turned quickly to reached for gauze then looked back down at Peter. "This is gonna hurt. A lot," she warned. I could see Peter was about to ask what she was doing, but she suddenly pressed down on his wound with the gauze and he cried out in pain. I held him down so Shuri could keep working, but Peter continued to yell in pain and squirm around.

"Peter, you gotta let her work, bud," I said. Tears were running down his face and I felt my own tears trying to escape. "Hey, you saved us. You're grounded for that, but you still saved us." I was trying to distract him, but it didn't seem to be working. When I thought I had finally distracted him, Shuri did something and he suddenly yelled out again. Desperately, I turned to Shuri and practically begged her to put him under.

"I don't have anything for that, but he'll probably pass out soon from blood loss," she snapped. I took a deep breath and turned back to Peter. He was still panting and groaning in pain, but I could tell he was running out of energy. "Go to sleep, Peter. I can work faster if you go to sleep," Shuri told him. Peter nodded slowly and closed his eyes, gritting his teeth in pain. It didn't take much longer before he stilled. As soon as Shuri was positive he was unconscious, she reached for an alcohol swab and began cleaning the wound, having been able to stop the bleeding seconds before he passed out.