They Look So Pretty When They Bleed

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/26934532.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Relationship: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Character: Peter Parker, Tony Stark
Additional Tags: Blood Loss, Injury, Blood and Injury, Trail of Blood, internal bleeding,
Hurt Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Hurt Peter, Peter Parker
Whump, BAMF Peter Parker, Peter Parker is a Mess, Good Peter, Tony
Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, lost
Peter, Hospitals
Language: English
Series: Part 10 of Whumptober 2020
Collections: Whumptober 2020
Stats: Published: 2020-10-10 Words: 1,240 Chapters: 1/1

They Look So Pretty When They Bleed

by Summerwolf

Summary

Whumptober day 10 - Blood Loss, Internal Bleeding, Trail Of Blood.

---

Peter stumbled his way through the halls, the regular grey walls and plain windows
blurring in front of his eyes as he desperately tried not to fall over. He couldn't tell if he was
seeing double, or if the corridor was supposed to look like that, and knowing hospitals it
was probably actually the latter. He nearly tripped as he took his next step, wincing in pain
as he had to move sharply to counterbalance the fall. Everything hurt and every step he took
was harder than the last, but he couldn't give up, not now.

Notes

See the end of the work for notes

Peter stumbled his way through the halls, the regular grey walls and plain windows blurring in
front of his eyes as he desperately tried not to fall over. He couldn't tell if he was seeing double, or
if the corridor was supposed to look like that, and knowing hospitals it was probably actually the
latter. He nearly tripped as he took his next step, wincing in pain as he had to move sharply to
counterbalance the fall. Everything hurt and every step he took was harder than the last, but he
couldn't give up, not now.
He stopped for a moment, knowing that he had to keep going, but also knowing that he needed a
quick rest if he wanted to keep going. He leaned his weight against the wall, breathing as deeply as
he could as he desperately tried to get his breath back. It felt like his brain was spinning inside his
skull, everything felt kind of floaty and he swore that if he stopped paying attention for even a
moment he was going to pass out.

A sudden noise startled him out of his thoughts, hurrying footsteps and calls for help echoing
around the empty halls. Peter realised that they must have noticed that he had left his bed and knew
he needed to get out of there before anyone found him. If they caught him before he got out of
there then they would stop him, and he couldn't let that happen.

He had to keep going.

Taking a deep steadying breath he pushed off from the wall, wobbling for a moment before he
started walking, letting his momentum carry his feet forwards. The end of the corridor was in sight,
and even though Peter didn't know how much further he had left to go, he knew that as soon as he
got to the end of this one, he would be one step closer to getting out.

Lights were dancing in front of his eyes but he couldn't stop again. He was leaving a blood trail,
the open wounds littering his torso still leaving drops of red all over the floor, definitely enough for
anyone who found it to follow it and find him. He needed to get far away before anyone thought to
check the floor for blood trails, and found him that way. It took a lot longer than it really should
have, but he finally found the end of the corridor, staggering to the left and carrying on. Right then
left then straight on then two more lefts and the light at the end of the tunnel was in sight.

It was brighter than anything in the hospital had been, the sun always managing to outshine even
the best artificial bulbs.

"Come on Peter," he muttered to himself when the pain started to get blinding, "come on. I can do
this."

The outside stretched large and free and questionably empty ahead of him, and despite the fact he'd
only been in that awful place for a few hours the brightness and the airiness felt like heaven. He
didn't know how far from the fight he was now, didn't even know how he had ended up at the
hospital. All he knew was that one moment he was midfight, getting his snot beaten out of him
while he waited for the Avengers to turn up, and the next moment he was waking up in a hospital
which seemed more interested in keeping him where he was than healing him.
And so he ran.

Well… ran wasn't really the right word when he could barely stand straight without collapsing, but
the idea was there.

His body ached, his side bruised in a way which spoke of more internal bleeding than Peter ever
wanted, and if his increasing dizziness was anything to go by he was losing more blood than he
ever wanted as well.

It wouldn't stop him though. Blood loss or not he needed to get back to where they had been before,
and see if he could find out how the hell he ended up here.

He walked for what felt like miles, even though it probably wasn't anywhere near as far, it was
probably just his tired brain making everything seem so much longer than it truly was, before he
started seeing terrain he recognised. Left over web fibers from where he clearly had been within
the last twenty four hours, scorch marks and blast zones telling him that the other Avengers must
have arrived at some point.

But whenever they had turned up, they weren't there any more.

Peter blinked hard, clinging to consciousness and sanity with everything he had as he put all
remaining energy into carrying on moving, desperately searching for anyone he knew.

The first couple of people he passes didn't spare him a glance, too busy with their own lives to be
too worried about the teenager who just looked drunk unless you were actually paying attention.

For all they knew he was just a tourist who had made some bad choices, and Peter didn't blame
them for wanting to stay out of that. He would do the same thing in their situation.

Not that that helped him now.

He was still alone, he was still bleeding, and he still had no idea where he was going.

It was complete coincidence that he saw Toby flying high above the houses he was walking past.
 Just a lucky glance up perfectly timed with when Tony was flying over, and it was even more
complete luck that Tony saw him back. Luck that Tony had been looking for him since he'd been
taken, so had been staring at the ground beneath him when Peter was there.

"Peter? Kid you're okay!" Tony gasped, pretty much falling out of his suit in his haste to pull Peter
into a hug. "I was so worried. You weren't there when we turned up, and no one had seen you. I
thought you died!"

Peter winced, the pressure on his injuries just about ten miles past the zone of comfort. He wanted
to relax into the hug, to revel in the fact he was alive, and Tony was back, and everything was
going to be okay, but he really couldn't with the stabbing pain which Tony's embrace was bringing
him.

"Yeah, Tony," he whispered, not wanting to lose the hug but needing the pain to be over sometime
yesterday, "I don't suppose you can let me go? I might have managed to get a little bit beaten up."

Tony looked confused as he pulled back, the confusion turning to palpable worry as he got a proper
look at Peter's injuries.

"What the hell happened to you Underoos?"

"It's a long story," Peter shrugged, "I'll tell you what I remember, but preferably after I've got some
medical attention for the blood loss and possible internal bleeding, and maybe slept for ten years?"

Tony huffed a fond noise as he suited up, gathering Peter into his arms and starting to fly in the
direction of what Peter could only assume was base while they were away from home.

"Alright, just stay awake for now, okay kid, I don't want to find out you had a concussion all this
time from you getting brain damage."

"I can do that," Peter nodded, "but after that I'm sleeping for ten years."

"Go ahead, I might just join you."

End Notes
End Notes

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