This mission wasn't going well. The reminder that Tony had thought it would be an easy one and called Peter out of school for it (he knew Peter wouldn't focus in class anyway with his spidey sense freaking out on him) loomed in the back of his mind, but he didn't have time to send him away now. Unfortunately, he also didn't have time to check up on him aside from the occasional com check. Even then he had to keep from asking anything too direct. While the team didn't know it was Peter behind that mask yet, anything that sounded too worried would make them suspicious.

Without any other option, Tony would just have to trust Peter to not do anything stupid while he focused on disassembling the giant robot he was currently riding. That didn't mean he couldn't do a quick check-in.

"Does anyone have eyes on Spider-Man?" He couldn't help himself. His son's chatter had gone silent five minutes earlier and he couldn't think straight.

"No," was the unanimous reply.

Tony's heartbeat picked up but he continued to cut through the robot's armour.

"FRIDAY?" he asked, "What's going on with Karen?"

In the corner of his helmet, FRIDAY showed the view from Peter's mask. Based on the shaking of the camera, Tony could tell Peter was limping, but still running towards a civilian.

"His communication device is compromised."

Tony yanked off the robot's armour and grumbled. "I just fixed that."

He didn't wait for FRIDAY to analyse the wires in front of him and instead grabbed a handful and yanked, tugging them out. As Tony tossed the handful of wires to the side, the robot stopped and dropped to the ground.

Just as Tony flew out of the way of the robot's fall, Sam's shouting broke through his thoughts.

"Tony! Spider-Man's injured!"

Tony looked up and down the streets for Peter in a panic, but didn't see him. A few blocks away, he saw Sam diving to the ground and spotted a small bundle of red crumpled under a chunk of cement that had fallen off of a building.

"Get him to medical," Tony demanded over the comms, following Sam.

Sam dropped down beside Spider-Man but couldn't see or hear him breathing. Despite knowing the kid wouldn't like it, Sam ripped his mask off. His breath caught in his throat.

"It's Peter," he gasped, staring down at his nephew's face.

Tony landed beside the two as FRIDAY scanned Peter's injuries. The most concerning was that his ribs were crushed and had punctured his lung. He also had a major concussion and his shoulder had been dislocated.

"God, Peter," Tony said, dropping down by his son worriedly. "I told you to be careful."

Not thinking twice about leaving the team behind, Tony lifted Peter in his arms and shot off to the Compound.

* * * * *

Tony knew the team would come to join him in the waiting room as soon as they had finished basic clean up. Even if they hadn't just found out Peter was Spider-Man, they would have shown up to support their unofficial team member. That didn't mean he was relieved to see them.

For once, Tony was irritated the team had come down to make sure everyone was okay. There was not a doubt in Tony's mind that Peter was going to panic when he found out they knew he was Spider-Man. It had been something he had tried hard to keep from them.

As the team slowly filed into the waiting room, Tony sighed.

"So now you know," he said, sitting up and running a hand through his hair.

"Why didn't he want to tell us?" Clint asked, stopping in the doorway.

Quietly, Tony repeated what Peter had told him: He was worried they would be upset. To them, Peter had said, he was a kid and kids shouldn't fight.

"Why would we be upset?" Steve asked from his seat beside Tony.

Tony shrugged and said he'd have to ask Peter himself.

"We would be worried, yes, but not upset."

"Well, make sure to tell him that," Tony murmured as Bruce walked in, fidgeting with his hands.

At Bruce's entrance, Tony stood up abruptly.

"We managed to stabilise him," Bruce said softly.

Tony sighed in relief. He had been worried Bruce would say there had been complications.

"He'll be okay. Sore, but okay." Bruce glanced at the team. "For now, only Tony's allowed in."

They protested but he held up a hand to stop them and turned back to Tony.

"He's still unconscious but should wake up soon. You might want to call Pepper."

Tony inhaled suddenly. "Oh no."

He hadn't told Pepper. She would have seen what happened by now or at least known Peter was at the fight. Picking up his phone, Tony pressed on her contact and followed Bruce down the hall.

She picked up during the first ring. "Tony! Tell me he's okay!"

Bruce opened Peter's door and Tony walked inside. Although Peter was hooked up to multiple wires and machines, he was breathing.

"He's okay," Tony assured her, staring at Peter.

Pepper sighed in relief. "I'm halfway home now."

She had been in Brasil for a meeting, but she had gotten on a jet as soon as she heard Spider-Man had been injured.

"I'll keep an eye on him."

Pepper had no doubt about that. After Tony had given her a very thorough report on how Peter was doing, sending photos of his medical charts, machines he was hooked up to, and multiple of Peter sleeping soundly, she hung up.

Wanting to wait where he could monitor Peter himself, Tony sat beside his bed and listened to his heartbeat.

It was over an hour before he opened his eyes and groaned in pain.

Tony jumped to his feet and leaned over Peter, smiling down at him. Groggily, Peter smiled and his fingers twitched towards his dad's.

"Hey, buddy," Tony said softly, taking Peter's hand in his gently.

Peter didn't say anything, but Tony knew what was on his mind.

"The team knows."

At Peter's frantic look, Tony combed his fingers through Peter's curls.

"They're just worried. Not upset in the slightest. They just want you to be safe."

"Can..." Peter trailed off weakly, nodding towards the door.

Tony turned around to see the entire team pressed against the windows, waving and smiling at Peter. With a roll of his eyes, Tony turned back to Peter.

"No," he said.

Peter frowned and looked back over at the team.

"Uncle Bruce only wants me and Mom in here," Tony said, "Mom's on her way, by the way. Very worried."

He sat back down beside Peter's bed and told him all how he had called Pepper just a few hours ago and had sent her photos to assure her he was okay. Without asking Peter if he wanted to see the photos, Tony pulled out his phone and showed him.

"Delete," Peter whined softly, shoving Tony's phone away.

Tony laughed and shook his head.

"Sorry, kiddo." He chuckled. "Already saved them on my lab photo wall."

Peter rolled his eyes and Tony sighed. At least his kid was alright. Even if now he had to deal with the team hovering whenever Spider-Man appeared on missions.