(In which Peter suffers an injury that may affect him for the rest of his life.)

Warnings: graphic depictions of injuries, major angst alert, 1,695 words

Peter's POV

I dodged the bullet with a laugh. "Is that all these Hydra guys can do? Honestly, I'm feeling kind of offended."

Mr. Stark was flying overhead, firing at enemies below him. "Kid, I'd focus on not getting shot."

"Puh-lease," I smirked as I webbed yet another man against the wall, "I could do this in my sleep."

It was a chilled, homework-less Friday evening. The sun had just winked its goodbye, ready to rise again in ten hours. Mr. Stark and I were dealing with some goonies left over at an abandoned base's old parking lot.

Mr. Stark grunted as he landed roughly on the ground. "That should be the last of 'em. You good, Pete?"

"Never better, Mr. Stark." I grinned behind the mask. No matter how many times we do this, I still get jittery talking to my idol.

"Good. Now, let's roll out."

I gasped, taking off my mask. "I knew you were paying attention during Transformers!"

Mr. Stark chuckled, lightly hitting my arm. "C'mon, your Aunt will give me an earful if you're not back before your very early curfew."

"Yeahh, that's what happens when--" I suddenly stopped. A tingly sensation on my neck had interrupted.

"Uhhh, you sure we got all of 'em, Mr. Stark?" I asked cautiously, scanning the area.

Mr. Stark was already turning on his repulsors.

I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just a bunch of Hydra members webbed up. Wait.. I squinted to get a better look at a webbed man holding a--

"Shi--" I began as a piece of something invisible came flying across the empty base's parking lot. A searing hot pain erupted in my eye, immediately making me scream in agony, collapsing on the cold ground.

"Hey!" Came Mr. Stark's enraged yell, followed by rapid fire from his gauntlet, killing the man who had thrown a sharp, jagged piece of glass from a nearby decimated car. He then kneeled next to me, feeling helpless, unable to stop my sobbing.

"Kid, look at me."

I gave no coherent answer, only strangled gasps and tearless cries. I couldn't look away from a certain spot; moving my eye made the pain worse.

"I need you to calm down. Look at me, can you do that?" His voice was shaking and cracking, on the verge of shattering. He had a feeling that this incident would haunt him forever.

He tried picking me up, but my yelps made it much too difficult. The distraught billionaire settled for laying me back down and calling for help on the comms.

"Bruce, hey, I need backup. Pete-- Spiderman is down. I-I don't know what to do." Mr. Stark had his mask off now, his tears running freely down his cheeks. "Please, kid, please. Hang in there," he whispered, gripping my arm firmly.

I felt warm liquid trailing down my cheek, and as the world faded from view, I couldn't decide if it was a tear of anguish or blood.

***

The eyepatch was too itchy for my taste. I continuously restrained myself from flipping it up and scratching all the spots that bothered me.

"How does it feel, hon?" My aunt asked gently, noticing my dilemma. This whole injury fiasco resulted in her first meltdown of 2019. But who could blame her?

"It feels fine, May. Don't worry about me." I lied, digging into my dinner. Mac and Cheese with a side of potato chips.

Uncle Bruce came and fixed me up as much as he could, Mr. Stark being able to do nothing but watch and pace. Once he was done, Mr. Stark took one look at my face before his eyes widened, and he was covering his mouth with his palm, then apologizing profusely for asking me to come.

It was awful.

It could have been so much worse.  It doesn't solve the constant sting of regret, or my fear of going back to school. How would my friends react? Ned, and... MJ. Geez, how could she like me like this?

Not to mention being half blind was super inconvenient. I must've run into five pieces of furniture since I got home.

The doubt swimming around in my head was suffocating.

Aunt May put her hand on top of mine. "It's gonna be okay, Peter. You'll be okay."

I nodded, trying not to let the tears fall out of my good eye. They fell anyway.

***

"Peter?" Ned said when I got to my locker.

I exhaled sharply. "Hey, Ned." Biting my thin lip, I avoided meeting his eyes.

My large friend narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Is this a cosplay?"

I only offered a sad smile. "No, Ned, it's real."

"Oh, sh*t. That's crazy! What happened?"

After explaining the incident, he looked me over and gave me a firm hug. He didn't pull away until the bell rang. "Let me know if anyone gives you trouble. I'll body slam their skinny asses."

A genuine grin slipped onto my face as I replied, "Will do."

I slipped into my seat of the first class of the day: U.S. History. Silently dreading the confused stares from classmates and the strange looks from MJ (who sits next to me), I kept my good eye in my textbook. The teacher paid me no mind, as always.

MJ, however, was a different story.

As the teacher got into her lecture, MJ leaned over and whispered, "What's with the patch, Parker?"

"I'll tell you after class, Jones," I responded, "Pay attention."

She rolled her eyes and yawned obnoxiously loud. The teacher hesitated, as if considering if it was worth it to call her out, but continued nonetheless.

I nudged her sharply with my elbow. "MJ!" I whisper-shouted.

She smirked, her eyes softening when she saw my expression. "Just tell me, Peter. No one cares."

I paused, writing down a few notes. "Fine, I'll tell you." And I recounted to her what I had to Ned in hushed tones and stolen glances.

When I finished, her nonchalant demeanor was still intact, except her brows were furrowed with an unidentified anger. "So, no chance of you getting better?" She inquired.

"Unless I can get a fake eye, no chance." I sighed. "I'm... sorry." I said awkwardly.

She tilted her head. "For what?"

"For... well, it's probably embarrassing to be seen with me now."

MJ roughly grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes with the intensity of a thousand suns. "Don't say that. Just because you have an eyepatch now doesn't mean I'm going to stop hanging out with you. And I'm sure Ned feels the same."

Feeling her hand around mine caused a slow blush to crawl from my neck to my ears. "Uhm, th-thanks."

She huffed and turned to the teacher without another word. But she didn't let go of my hand.

***

Today was a lab day. Happy pulled up to the school in a sleek, black limosine.

I climbed into the back, giving a small greeting to the grumpy driver. He glanced at me, then looked back up as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He blinked. "Is that an eyepatch?"

"Yep. I just wish I could've gotten one with a design on it. This one is kinda bland--"

"Kid, Tony mentioned you had been injured, but this is..."

"Worse than you were expecting?" I asked softly.

"Way worse." Suddenly, he pulled the car over into a parking lot and turned, leaning towards me with an honest look of concern. "I can't imagine what you're going through," he said, glancing at the school building behind us.

I shrugged. "People haven't been making fun of me, if that's what you're asking. Flash wasn't at school today."

"If that kid gives you an ounce of trouble..." Happy growled.

"I'll tell you where he lives." I smiled.

"Good." Happy turned back to the wheel, putting the car in motion, and drove the whole way back to the Compound.

He didn't raise the window between us.

***

Mr. Stark was in his lab when I arrived, so I went ahead and joined him there.

"Hey, Mr. Stark," I greeted him, a fake smile plastered on. He blamed himself for what happened, I could tell.

"Hey, kid," he replied, a fake smirk partially hiding his sleep deprivation. "How was school?"

"It was boring, as usual." I answered.

"Good. Whaddya want to work on today?"

I shrugged. "I'm good with anything you give me."

"Alright, how 'bout..." He sifted through some blueprints in front of him. "Here's a good one, if I do say so myself."

"Alright, looks good--"

"How's everything going? With the new--"

"The new eyepatch? Psh, I'm used to it already."

"Really?" Mr. Stark raised a skeptical brow, leaning heavily on the table.

I gave him my most convincing, honest expression. "Really."

"...I don't believe you."

I crossed my arms, frustration rising. "Why not? Last I checked, you're not the one that lost an..." I trailed off, not wanting to provoke him more.

"You're right," he said, expression turning regretful, "I didn't lose an eye. And it... it tears me apart, kid. That you suffered for my mistake."

"What mistake, Mr. Stark?" I said softly. "You didn't do anything wrong--"

"I dragged you on that mission, Peter. You didn't want to go--"

"None of us could've seen this coming." I cut off any more argument. "If there's one thing that life's taught me, it's that bad things can happen to good people."

A few awkward moments of silence passed. He then wrapped an arm around my shoulders and started toward the elevator. "Why don't we take a break from the lab today, Underoos? Maybe get some ice cream."

As the doors silently slid closed behind us, I agreed.

Hey guys, just wanted to say I'm completely taken aback with the amount of attention this book has gotten. Thank you.

P.S., I'm planning on doing a Q&A soon. If you haven't already, leave some questions for me here in the comments!