Chapter Text
Peter beat his record from getting from the Compound to Queens by seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds.
The first part of the Spider-Man suit Peter had designed had been the mask. He had never wanted anyone to know who was. He had never wanted to drag those close to him into the danger he faced every day. Not after Ben—he had made that promise to himself the first time he had put on the suit.
And now it was a promise he had broken.
Peter landed on the house over from Ned’s, crouching behind a satellite dish. The only lights on were in the top right windows, where Ned’s room and bathroom were. His parents’ car was missing from the driveway.
My parents won’t be back until late. She says…she says you need to get here before then.
It was already late, and Peter didn’t know what was going to happen if Ned’s parents came home before he had finished dealing with Melinoe. Would she hurt Ned? Take his parents hostage as well? Something worse?
Peter nearly fell off the roof when Karen spoke in his ear, “Hello, Peter.”
“Ah! Damnit, Karen, give a guy some warning.”
“I did. I said, Hello, Peter.”
“Yeah, okay, you got me there,” Peter mumbled, distracted. “Can you tell me how many life forms are in Ned’s house at the moment?”
“You appear to be on an unauthorized mission. My protocols dictate that I inform Mr. Stark.”
She says not to bring anyone else. Or to tell anyone else you’re coming.
“No, don’t! Don’t tell him!”
“My protocols dictate—”
“Karen, please, I…I’m just out for a swing, okay? Clearing my head.”
“Your adrenaline and stress levels indicate otherwise.”
“Yeah because swinging is stressful and…adrenalineful.”
“Peter, I am a multi-million dollar A.I. designed and programmed by Mr. Stark. I am unsure what you think you are achieving by lying to me.”
“Fine,” Peter gave in. “So, there’s this enhanced called Melinoe, right? And some other enhanced kidnapped me and Harley because they thought the Avengers had captured her, and they wanted to trade us for her, but the Avengers never even had her in the first place and I escaped and I thought everything was fine but then Tony—”
“Your oxygen levels are low.”
“—and now she has Ned and I can’t tell anyone else or she’ll hurt him or worse, and I really can’t let that happen because if it does it’ll be my fault and-”
“Peter. Breathe.”
“Oh, right.” Peter sucked in a breath and held it, staring at the lit window in Ned’s house.
“More than once. I believe that’s how the human respiratory system works.”
Peter took two more deep breaths, his heart steadying a little.
“Better?”
“A little. Thanks, Karen.”
“That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to keep you safe.”
Peter considered that. “But not just me, right? You’re meant to keep as many people safe as you can, right?”
“You are trying to talk around my protocols about contacting Mr. Stark.”
“Hear me out,” Peter rushed, eyes still on the light in the window, already making his way towards the backyard. He didn’t have time to waste. “Ned’s in immediate danger, right? I’m not.”
Karen didn’t reply, as though she was processing that information.
“And by calling Mr. Stark, you’re endangering him and therefore me as well. Much more so than if you didn’t tell him I was here. So really, the best way to protect me is not to call anyone at all. Right? Karen?”
“Your logic is flimsy and your argumentative structure needs improvement.”
“Are you seriously critiquing my debate skills right now?”
“That said, I do not wish to endanger Mr. Leeds. However, if I feel that Mr. Stark’s presence is required, I will not hesitate to contact him.”
“You’re the best, Karen. Knew you liked Ned.”
“Mr. Leeds’s company significantly improves your oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin levels. These hormones are essential for mental health and longevity.”
“You just like him because he said if you were a person you’d look like Carrie Fisher.”
“I did enjoy that comment, yes. As per your previous request, there are three life signs in the house.”
“Three?” So Melinoe had a friend. That was fine. That was totally fine, Peter had faced much worse odds before, even if this time there was someone he cared about in the way. He would be fine. Everything would be—
That train of thought ended abruptly when Peter saw the trail of blood that led through the backdoor.
Peter ran, no longer caring about stealth, swallowing bile as he burst into the house to see the blood caked into the carpet, smeared along with the wallpaper, leading up the stairs.
“NED!”
Peter used a web to catapult himself to the second story, bypassing the stairs entirely as he threw himself into Ned’s bedroom and found Ned staring back at him, eyes wide. “Pe...Spider-Man?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” Peter dashed across the room, kneeling next to Ned, looking for the source of the blood. “Where are you hurt?”
“I’m okay, really. Listen, it’s—”
“Where are you bleeding from?”
“I’m not, but—”
“I saw the blood!”
"It’s not mine, and you need to know -”
“Peter Parker.”
Peter flew to his feet, placing himself between Ned and the girl covered in blood at the door.
She wasn’t what Peter was expecting; a small wisp of a person, her ashen face half-hidden behind a curtain of dark hair. She looked like she would be knocked over by a breath of wind; not someone capable of kidnapping a sixteen-year-old twice her size.
Peter shot a web at her anyway.
It didn’t hit. The web fluid turned to mist before solidifying again on the wall behind Melinoe, useless. “I just want to talk.”
A hand tugged at Peter’s wrist. “Peter. Listen to her.”
Peter kept a web shooter raised at Melinoe as he said, “Don’t move,” then risked looking back at Ned.
His best friend was still on the floor, not moving despite the fact that he wasn’t tied up, didn’t seem hurt in any way. Then he saw Ned’s feet. Or, more accurately, didn’t see them. They were both sunken into the carpet, the floor of his bedroom wrapping around his ankles and trapping him in place.
Peter rounded on Melinoe, making the Korean woman take two steps back, half-vanishing into one of the walls. “Let him go.”
”I will,” she promised. “After you help me.”
“Peter.” Ned tugged insistently on Peter’s wrist again. Now the immediate panic had passed, Peter noticed that his friend wasn’t as scared as should be. Nervous sure, but not scared. “Look in the bathroom.”
Sure enough, the trail of blood didn’t end with Ned. Instead, it curled around the door, over the carpet and into the bathroom.
Melinoe stepped out of the wall. “I didn’t know where else to go. She needs help.”
“It’s okay,” Ned insisted. “I’m okay. She didn’t hurt me.”
“Her friends kidnapped me and Harley!”
Melinoe risked another step forward. “Which ‘friends’?”
“Cratos and Hermes.”
Melinoe’s eyes went huge for a second as she seemed to turn liquid for a moment, melting in a way that may Peter’s stomach churn before she flurried back into a solid form. “I didn’t know,” she said softly. “They’re not my friends. I don’t want to have anything more to do with them.”
Still cautious, Peter looked from his trapped friend to his captor.
“Look in the bathroom,” Ned insisted. “It’s not what you think.”
Peter bit his lip, then made a decision. “You first,” he said to Melinoe. “I’m not leaving you alone with him.”
Melinoe didn’t argue, half-sprinting, half-floating back to the bathroom. Peter glanced back at Ned, still torn. “Go,” Ned prompted him. “I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Once you see…well, just go see.”
Peter swallowed, still unsure, but curiosity was getting the better of him, so he finally let go of Ned and made his way over to the bathroom.
Whatever he was expecting to see, it was not a bloodied, unconscious Wanda Maximoff curled up in his best friend’s bathtub.
Peter’s first thought was that she was dead. She was bone white, her hair and costume only adding to the overwhelming amount of red in the tiny space. Then he noticed the faintest rise and fall of her chest and went to kneel by her side, letting the mask peel away. “What happened to her?”
“She got shot,” Melinoe explained, biting her lip. “By some special weapon. She can usually deflect the bullets, but she didn’t…or couldn’t…” Her hands fluttered around the wound. “I tried to make the blood solid, to stop the bleeding, but it’s not working.”
Peter’s hands ghosted over Wanda’s stomach where, sure enough, a nasty wound was still leaking blood around a wad of makeshift bandages. It had an odd, gold glow to it that Peter wasn’t sure would be visible to anyone without his enhanced vision. “She needs a hospital.”
“I can’t take her to one. She’s a fugitive.”
“The Compound, then.”
“Not an option.”
“She’s dying!”
“No hospitals,” Melinoe insisted. “And no Avengers.”
“I’m an Avenger. You called me!”
Melinoe shifted, uncomfortable, flickering in and out of solid form. “You’re different. You’re one of us. And…I didn’t know who else to call.” The next words were small. “I don’t want her to die.”
Peter was reaching for the bandages, but stopped himself. Would that just make it worse? “Then let me get her to a doctor.”
Melinoe moved so she was between Peter and the door. Between him and Ned. “No.”
Peter grimaced, frustrated. “I know you’re trying to protect her, but I’m not trained for this. I don’t…” He tore apart his scant medical knowledge, looking for a solution and not finding one. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Stop the bleeding.”
As though on some macabre cue, Wanda suddenly shifted slightly, the move causing a fresh wave of blood to soak the bandages. She mumbled something unintelligible, then passed out again.
“She’s dying.”
“Okay, okay,” Peter assured her. “I’ll, um…I’ll think of something. But I can’t do this on my own.”
“I’ll help.”
“I meant Ned.”
“He stays where he is.”
“His parents are going to get home eventually, you do know that right?”
Melinoe bit her lip, unsure. “Stop them, then.”
Peter wasn’t going to argue there; he wasn’t pulling Mr. and Mrs. Leeds into this mess as well. He pointed at Wanda’s injury. “Keep pressure on that.”
He returned to where Ned was trapped in the floor, watching him with round eyes. “Did you see? Peter, it’s the Scarlet Witch and she’s in my bathroom. Which is terrifying because there’s blood everywhere and everything but also kind of really awesome.”
“Ned, you’re being used as leverage right now, that is definitely not awesome. And neither is your parents coming home.”
Ned turned a little paler. “They can’t see this.”
“Yeah, I know. How do we stop them coming home?”
Ned thought for a second then, “Gas leak.”
“Yeah. Yeah, that could work.” Peter snatched up Ned’s phone from its charger and tossed it to him.
Ned fumbled it, and it smacked into the floor. “Dude, not all of us have super-reflexes.”
“You only need regular reflexes to catch a phone! I didn’t even throw it that hard.”
“Hey, I knew you pre-spider bite, you can’t judge.”
Ned got on the phone, starting to spin a story about a gas leak and evacuations and how he would be staying over at Peter’s for the night as Peter sprinted back to the bathroom, slipping a little on a wet patch on the floor. He didn’t look down at what said wet patch consisted of.
“So no Compound, no hospitals?” he clarified, even as he didn’t see another option. He might not be able to web Melinoe up, but he could probably get Ned out of the floor and both of them out of here before Melinoe could stop them. But that would mean leaving Wanda alone with someone who refused to get her proper medical attention.
“No,” Melinoe emphasized. “They’ll find us.”
“The government?”
“Worse. They want her dead—they won’t stop until she is.” She shuffled her feet. “I don’t know where her boyfriend is. I didn’t know where else to go.”
Peter took a long breath. He had patched himself up in the street and in his bedroom plenty of times; more times than he had told Tony about anyway.
Wait, no. Don’t think about Tony.
Peter pealed back the bandages, swallowing a retch when he saw how messy and deep the wound was. Whenever he got hurt, he’d just Google how to treat himself—although through a separate phone he knew Tony wasn’t tracking. He didn’t need his mentor asking about that portion of his search history.
Well. His previous mentor, now.
He didn’t have that phone on him, and this wound didn’t look like anything he’d seen before, and certainly not anything he’d find answers to with a quick internet search. He was so out of his depth.
“I don’t know how to fix this,” Peter admitted, tentative, hoping Melinoe wouldn’t get angry.
Her expression flooded with anxiety instead. “I can’t take her to a hospital,” she whispered. “I promised her I wouldn’t, no matter what. Even if…” She gestured to Wanda’s limp form. “They can’t get ahold of her, or it’s over.”
“The Compound—”
“She made me promise not to take her there either. She says it’s too dangerous.”
“They wouldn’t hurt—”
“She didn’t mean dangerous for her.”
“Just for the record, I have about a million and one questions about this.” Peter surveyed the wound again. “I need Ned’s phone.”
“You’re going to help?”
“I…yeah. I’m Spider-Man. That’s what I do.”
Something in the words must have gotten through to her, because when she returned she didn’t just bring Ned’s phone—she brought Ned as well. “I told him he could go if he wanted.”
Ned shook his head, kneeling next to Peter. “No way. I’m helping too.”
“Ned, you should—”
“Hey, I wouldn’t be a very good guy in the chair if I ditched you, would I?”
“You’d be a good guy in the chair if you were somewhere safe in the chair.”
Wanda stirred again, weaker than last time, ending the bickering. Ned was already taking the phone off Melinoe, searching for a solution.
“I don’t think we’re going to find answers on YouTube this time,” Peter said, holding his hand out for the phone.
“That’s where we always find answers! Like when I had to stitch you up after that guy with the giraffe mask stabbed you with a turkey carver.”
“And then we promised never to speak of that again.” Peter half-turned to Melinoe. “You said you called me because I was like you, right? Enhanced?”
Melinoe nodded, unsure.
Peter faced her head-on. “Look, I don’t know how to treat this. I could try, but I might just make it worse. But I know someone who can help. Someone who’s enhanced…like us.”
Melinoe remained suspicious. “Who? You’re the only enhanced on the Avengers.”
“I mean, technically Cap is—”
“He doesn’t count. Who?”
Peter swallowed, keeping eye contact. “I need to speak to Bruce Banner. Listen,” he hurried on, seeing Melinoe about to protest. “He’ll know what to do, and he’ll help.”
“He’ll tell everyone else.”
Peter shook his head. “Not if you’re running from the Accords. He’s not the biggest fan of them either. He’ll understand, maybe better than anyone.”
Melinoe still looked nervous, eyes darting between the phone and Wanda. “He was in the lab…Aceso, she…she hurt him. I helped.”
“Yeah, maybe I won’t say you’re here. But he will help if it’s Wanda.” Peter was already punching in Bruce’s number, not waiting for permission. They didn’t have time to waste debating.
Melinoe must have thought the same because she said, “He’ll save Hecate?”
Peter frowned, about to question the name, but then Bruce’s voice was filling the room. “Hello? Who is this?”
“Dr. Banner?”
“Peter? Where are you? May came to pick you up nearly an hour ago. We were worried.”
“I just needed to, um, clear my head. Go for a swing, you know? Listen, Dr. Banner—”
”Are you okay? I know Tony made a…questionable decision. One I don’t agree with, for the record. But I was outvoted. And why aren’t you calling from your phone?”
“What happened with Tony?” Ned whispered, but Peter shook his head, raising a finger to his lips.
“That’s really nice of you, Dr. Banner, but this is kind of a medical emergency.”
Bruce’s tone changed instantly. “We’re on our way. Are you in the suit? We can track—”
“No!” Peter said quickly, holding a hand out to Melinoe as she stepped forward, shaking her head in panic. “No one else! Please.”
“Peter, if you’re in danger then I can’t—"
“It’s not me,” Peter rushed on. “I’m not hurt. But I’m with someone who is and I can’t take them to a hospital or the Compound.”
He heard Bruce take a short breath. “If you’re trying to save a criminal that’s very commendable, Peter, but if they’re someone dangerous then you need backup.”
“It’s not a criminal,” Peter insisted. “It’s…it’s Wanda.”
There was dead silence for all of three seconds, then Bruce’s voice came back online. “Okay, I’m going to see what I can do. But if I decide she needs to come to the Compound med bay, I’m sending Tony over. Do you understand?”
“She’s not a criminal,” Peter insisted, drawing a surprised look from Melinoe.
“That’s not what I’m saying. Bringing her to the Compound doesn’t mean that we’re turning her over to the Accords Committee. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Send me pictures of the injury, and let’s see what we can do.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Peter handed the phone to Ned so he could snap photos while Peter unwound the wound further, revealing it in all its nasty glory for the camera.
They all heard Bruce’s wince as he received the photos. “That’s not a normal wound.”
“It was made by a weapon designed for enhanced.”
“Peter...I really think you need to bring her into the med bay.”
“I can’t do that.”
“It’s the best chance she has of surviving.”
Peter looked at Melinoe, who crossed her arms and shook her head. “That’s not an option.”
Bruce sighed. “Let’s start by getting the wound clean at least, and then you’re going to need to stitch it closed. I can walk you through that.”
“That’s okay, I’ve done that before on myself loads of times.”
“I really wish you hadn’t just told me that.”
“We cleaned the wound,” Ned said, quietly enough that Bruce wouldn’t pick it up over the phone, but Peter’s sensitive hearing would.
“The injury’s clean,” Peter repeated. “And I can stitch it closed and seal over it with web fluid. Is that going to be enough?” He peered at the oozing wound.
“Without further medical tests, I can’t tell you. You’d need to bring her in for that, which I know isn’t an option,” Bruce said before Peter could. “Did she pass out from the wound or blood loss?”
Peter looked at Melinoe, who shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
“Does it look like she’s lost a lot of blood?”
Peter looked around the splattered bathroom, remembered the trail of blood leading up the stairs. “Yeah. Yeah, I think she has. No, she has. Definitely. Probably way too much, actually.”
“Then she’s going to need a transfusion.”
“Transfusion. Got it.” Peter nodded to Ned, who had already started to root around in one of the bathroom drawers.
There was a pause before Bruce added, “As in a blood transfusion.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Ned was pulling equipment from the drawer, bringing out the alcohol to sterilize it.
“Do you? Because you are far too calm to have understood what I just said.”
“It should be fine, I’ve done it before. I’ve got bags of my blood and everything ready, just in case.”
Peter could almost hear Bruce pinching the bridge of his nose through the phone. “As much as I’d like to pretend you didn’t say that, I think someone has to be the responsible adult.”
“I’m responsible!”
“Peter, you’re stitching up a wanted fugitive.”
“Yeah, but responsibly. I called a doctor.”
“I think I see why Tony’s hair is turning gray. Before I go on, there’s nothing I can say to get you to bring her to the Compound instead?”
Peter looked over Wanda’s pale form. “Honestly, even I did, I’m not sure she’d make it.” He suddenly felt the stakes of the situation wash over him. He’d always thought of the Avengers as invincible, every one of them, especially the high-powered ones like Wanda. But she could die right here, in Ned’s bathtub. And it would be Peter’s fault.
Bruce’s voice brought him back to earth. “None of this matters if you and Wanda aren’t the same blood type. And even if you are…Peter, we don’t know what your blood will do to her. And if she’s as bad as you say, I need to send you an ambulance.”
“You can’t!”
“Tony will deal with the legalities, and Steve set up a deal for her weeks ago. She’ll be okay.”
“I can help her!”
“You can’t give her your blood, Peter, it’s too risky.”
“And what about…” Peter glanced between Ned and Melinoe. “What if I had just a regular human’s blood?”
“Who’s there with you, Peter?”
Ned and Peter locked eyes, before Ned spoke up, making the decision for both of them. “Um, hi, Dr. Banner? First off, I’m a big fan. Like huge. Of the Hulk too, but mainly you. So, yeah, hi. Second, I give transfusions to Peter all the time.” He saw Peter rapidly shaking his head at him. “Not all the time,” Ned amended quickly. “Like, twice. Three times. Three and a half.”
“This is Ned,” Peter jumped in. “He’s a friend, you can trust him.”
“And I’m O negative,” Ned added. Peter noticed Melinoe’s head swiveling around to stare at him “The universal blood type. I’ve given a transfusion to Peter before, no problems.”
“This is not happening,” Bruce decided. “It’s too risky, for all of you. I’m sending an ambulance—”
Melinoe stepped forward, leaning right through Peter in the weirdest sensation he’d ever had in his life, apparently trying to hang up the phone, but Peter was faster, dodging around her. Or, more accurately, out of her.
“What would you want if it were you?” Peter said quickly, making Melinoe pause, still half in Peter.
“That’s irrelevant,” Bruce replied. “I’m an adult who, to my current knowledge, is unable to die. Wanda is barely out of her teens, and I know she’s powerful, but that power doesn’t extend to healing.”
“What would you want?” Peter pressed. “If…if it was Ross after you, and you had the choice of having someone take a risk to save you, or be brought to a place where you’d know he’d find you, what would you choose? I know that’s kind of a crappy thing to bring up,” Peter rushed on. “And I’m really sorry, Dr Banner, I am, but I also think Wanda would want us to try this first.” Melinoe nodded at the last sentence in agreement, backing off.
There was a long pause before Bruce finally said, “Okay, Peter. We’ll try it your way. But at the first complication, an ambulance is headed your direction, and you’re getting Wanda inside of it, alright?”
They all breathed a collected sigh of relief. “Thank you,” Peter said.”
“And I’m staying on the line,” Bruce insisted. “I’m going to give you a list of some supplies you’re going to need to pick up. This is only the short-term solution; there can be a whole host of complications afterward that we’re going to need to address.”
“I got it.”
“And Peter? After Wanda is okay, don’t hang up. We’re having a talk.”