SUMMER JOB || Peter Parker X Reader

Chapter 13: Aftermath

They ended up operating on Uncle Tommy right in the Stark building.

There was a medical wing on the eighth floor, so they just wheeled him up there and pulled the bullet out of his leg. He was going to be fine. That didn't stop Laurie from sobbing into Lees shoulder while he was in the room.

Stark would also live. The shot to his side had missed vital organs, but it would require some effort to remove the bullet. He would probably need stitches after they took it out too.

The man - TelePro - had zipped away at the first sign he was going to lose. He had been identified as Mike Dugan, a twenty seven year old from Massachusetts. Not much was know about him at the moment.

Spider-Man had disappeared not long after things settled down. Peter hadn't turned up.

You were on the phone with your mother; you had called her as soon as things had settled and Uncle Tommy was being taken care of. Needless to say, she had been worried sick... literally.

"You're not staying there." Your mother said, her voice still shaky through the phone speaker. "You're coming back home as soon as you can."

"Mom, I can't leave now." You said. "Not when Uncle Tommy is-"

"You could have died, Y/N!" Your mother said. "You almost died- and my brother got shot. You're not staying."

You rubbed at your eyes, trying to ease the aching from hours of crying. "Look, can I call you back? Things are kind of crazy at the moment."

"Yeah, yes." Your mother said. "As soon as you can, okay? I love you."

"Love you mom." You said, hanging up. You slid your phone back in your pocket, getting up from where you had been sitting on the floor. Lee and Laurie were sharing a bench down the hall just being with each other. Theo had been gone for hours, going back to his grandmother as soon as he could get away.

You needed to get up and do something.

You started down the hall, away from Laurie and Lee, not wanting to disturb them. You couldn't imagine how Laurie was feeling right now. As much as you cared, Uncle Tommy was just that, your uncle. That was her father.

You wandered downstairs, avoiding the mezzanine and the area where the fight had taken place and damage control was still dealing with the mess. The laptop had broken when you dropped it in the chaos, shutting down your project since the program to run it had shut down. There had been talk of recovering it, but you honestly didn't know if you wanted to.

You felt terrible.

It was your project that had let TelePro in. So really, it was your fault. You had threatened the entire open house. Melanie has tried to comfort you before she inevitably had to leave, telling you it was just survivors guilt, and you knew she just right... it just didn't feel like she was right, deep down.

You turned into a quiet corner of the building, losing yourself in the empty hallways.

The section hadn't been effected by the fight at all, the halls still crisp and clean. It was almost like walking into a time machine. Here, it could still be yesterday, a week ago, or even month into the past.

That is, if there wasn't a trail of tiny blood drop on the floor.

Your stomach dropped.

You followed the drops, hoping to god there wasn't a shooting victim down here. The droplets rounded a corner, and so did you.

Peter stood there, fastening a bandage around him forearm, Spider-Mans suit tucked under his arm. He finished, pulling his sleeve over the wound and turned to stuff the suit back into his bag.

And locked eyes with you.

"Y/N!" He started. "I- shouldn't you be-"

"You're Spider-Man." You said. "That's why you disappeared during the fight. Everyone was looking for you-"

Peter zipped his bag shut. "No, I'm not, I just..."

"Just...?" You repeated. "Peter I saw it."

"You can't tell anybody, okay?" Peter said. "Especially not May. Nobody can know-"

"Does Ned know?" You asked. "Or, like, I don't know... any of your other school friends?"

"Well, yeah, Ned knows-"

"Wait a minute!" You exclaimed. "That's how you got into the program late! Spider-Man knows Iron Man! And that's why Tony Stark knows you!"

"I-yes, okay?" Peter said. "Keep it down!"

"Sorry." You said. "It's just... today's been a lot."

Peter sighed. "Yeah I know. How's your Uncle?"

"They said he'll be fine." You said, leaning back against the wall and sliding to the floor. "Laurie's a little shaken up but I think she'll be okay."

"That's good." Peter said, sliding down to the floor beside you. There was a brief pause before he spoke again. "I'm sorry he got hurt in the first place. I wasn't fast enough."

"It's not your fault." You said.

"I let him get away too." Peter said, leaning his head back against the wall. "I couldn't catch him."

"You can't really stop teleportation." You said. "I mean, we should know, we built it."

"I looked for hours though." He said. "I must have scanned the whole city."

"We don't know how good his tech is though, he could have gone anywhere." You said.

"I just needed to do better."

"Peter, you already did so much." You said.

Peter said nothing, simply exhaling heavily.

Today had been rough, and it wasn't even over yet. You would have to finish that conversation with your mother, and get Uncle Tommy home somehow, and Laurie would still probably be a mess. At this point you were just waiting for the adrenaline to run out and the shock to wear off and for you to crash. You needed to sleep.

And now Peter and Spider-Man were the same person. Honestly, it hadn't even really kicked in yet. It was just another thing to add to the pile.

You reached down to Peters hand, winding his fingers in with yours. He squeezed gently, running his thumb over your knuckles.

It didn't feel the same.