~You Will Always Have Me~ Irondad and Spiderson Fanfic~

Chapter 45: I'm a terrible Dad, Steve.

A/N: how are you?

Eventually Tony made it out of the maze of a place and stumbled through the rain that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Peter hadn't said anything for awhile and his body would spasm every few minutes, apart from his beating pulse that Tony could feel hammering against his chest the boy looked almost...dare he say it...dead. He held Peter closer knowing that could have been real.

He reached the car and opened the door, sitting down while shifting the position he was holding Peter.

"Oh God Peter, Tony is he alright?" Happy said, turning around to look at them with concerned eyes. "Happy I don't know, just drive to the Tower." He nodded and started the car up.

"Pete?" he asked in a hushed voice, lifting up the boys face to look at him. Now that he was up close he realised how bad his precious boy had been hurt, his nose was completely crooked and the blood was still flowing from both that and his lip. But what concerned the man even more was the lack of healing, he knew that healing a bone took longer but a bust lip? That would be gone in an hour for Peter. So why wasn't it?

"Dad?" Tony looked back at the boy who was staring at him with his eye lids slowly drooping. "M'head hurts.."

"I know buddie, we'll be home soon, try stay awake okay?" Tony kissed his head and guided his head back onto his chest, keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't fall back asleep.

"You'll be okay." he whispered, more to himself that Peter.

***

When they arrived back at the Tower Tony rushed in and found that Bruce, Sam and Nat where already back, clearly antisipating their return. "Lie him down." Bruce instructed as he put gloves on and got a wet cloth ready.

"I'm gonna lie you down buddie alright?" Peter whimpered and shook his head, clinging on tighter to him. "Bruce is just going to check you over, I'll be right here." But the boy still protested, not letting go of the man.

"Hey Pete? If you want Tony can lie down with you, he'll be there while I quickly check you over. Is that okay?" Bruce suggested kindly.

Peter pulled back slightly and looked up at Bruce who was smiling warmly at him, there was a small pause before he nodded, but made no sign of moving.

Tony gave Bruce a thankful look and sat down on the make-shift bed Bruce had put together, leaning back against headboard. He gently manouvered Peter so the boys back was lying against his chest, still keeping one arm around his chest and other gently holding Peter's hand.

"Alright Peter I'm going to do a quick overview of your condition then I will have to check for any broken bones. If I need to move or touch you I'll let you know alright?" Peter nodded again but still watched the man closely as he pulled out a clipboard and began to take notes while looking at him. It seemed that the boy had lost all the trust he ever had in anyone.

A couple minutes passed and Bruce was still going, it seemed it was taking longer than expected, Tony wasn't looking forward to when Bruce had to physically touch him.

He began to feel something moving softly over the top of his hand and he looked to see Peter had started to trace his finger along it. The closer he watched the more he could see the different patterns that he was drawing.

It looked like a cat, then a tree, then it seemed to be a heart but he wasn't quite sure.

"You drawing a spider?" He asked quietly.

"Y-yeah." Peter went to pull his hand but Tony stopped him. "I don't mind." he reassured him by kissing his head.

The sides of his lips turned up into a slight smile, it filled the man with both happiness and sadness, on one hand it was good to see a ghost of the real Peter reappear, but on the other, it showed how badly the boy had been treated. The normal Peter would be laughing and smiling at everything possible, but now he seemed..lost.