It started with a sniffle.

It was nothing too serious, just a bit of a runny nose. Something that can be cured with a combination of tissues, medication and a good night's sleep. Peter knew what the symptoms of a common cold was, and was not concerned when the back of his throat began to itch and he began sneezing more than usual.

He wasn't concerned because it was just a cold. Just a stupid, annoying, inconvenience of a cold.

He was also aware of the fact that he was a super-human, and he had an increased healing factor meaning that his "cold" would virtually disappear within a day or two rather than a couple weeks that the average person would have to suffer through.

May noticed first, of course. It was hard not to notice the pile of tissues that sat beside the teenager's bed and the gradually diminishing amount of cold medication taken from the cabinet in the bathroom.

She brought it up as Peter was rushing to catch the bus, running late as per usual.

"Are you sure you feel up to going to school today?" She asked.

"What? Yeah, of course! I feel fine." An obvious lie, he felt like absolute garbage.

"You don't look fine. You look like crap."

Thanks for putting it lightly, May. He thought.

"I promise, I'm fine. Just tired, I guess."

"Well if you change your mind and want to come home, just call me and I can come pick you up."

"Aunt May, I'll be fine. Plus, I have a biology test later today that I cannot miss."

"I'm sure your teacher would understand if you're sick…"

"I'm not sick! I have to go catch the bus now, bye May I love you!"

He let the door slam behind him.

The next person to notice was Michelle, who always seemed to show her concern in a funny way.

"You look like shit, have you been drinking?" The brunette asked as she leaned against the adjacent locker as Peter rummaged for his books.

"What? No!"

"Your eyelids are all droopy."

"Yeah, well I was up all night studying for this bio test."

"You're lying. I can tell."

He wasn't lying, actually. He had stayed up all night trying to get as much studying in as possible. Probably not the smartest thing to do on top of his cold.

"I'm not lying."

"There's another lie."

Peter groaned. "I just have a cold, alright?"

Michelle smirked. "Did a homeless guy sneeze on you on the subway again?"

"No… And what do you mean again? That never happened."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever just don't pass your cold onto me I have an English paper due next week."

Peter timidly waved as the girl turned to walk away. "Bye, thanks for the concern!"

Come lunch time, Peter found himself sitting at a lunch table by himself, his textbooks spread across the surface as he crammed in some last minute studying before his test next period. Biology was one of his best subjects; he usually could ace a test without studying, yet today was different. He felt like he could barely absorb any of the information he was attempting to learn.

It was this stupid cold. It was impeding his studying ability.

Nonetheless, he found himself sitting in fourth period biology, pencil in hand waiting for the tests to be distributed.

It was a miracle that he even finished the test in time. He barely got through the last question on the stages of mitosis. He went home that evening, feeling worse than ever, not only because of his cold, but now because of the test he most likely failed.

He was surprised to come home to an empty apartment. May had left a note saying she went to run some errands, and that she left money on the counter if he wanted to order a pizza. Normally, he would've been on the phone with Dominoes in a matter of seconds, but today he just didn't have much of an appetite.

He went to bed, hopeful that his symptoms would be cleared by tomorrow morning.

Peter woke an hour later to May's hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. "You're burning up, sweetie. Let me go get you some Tylenol." She left and returned with a bottle of water and a couple of pills. It didn't take him long to fall back asleep.

He woke the next morning, the red numbers on his clock reading 9:58 am.

Oh crap! I slept in! He thought, as he stumbled out of bed and ran to put some clothes on. Grabbing his bag, he made his way to the doorway, but stopped when he saw May on the couch.

"Why didn't you wake me for school?" He asked, slightly annoyed.

"Peter! I didn't hear you get up! And I called the school, you're not going today."

"But May-"

"No buts, get back to bed. You're sick."

"May, it's just a cold. And besides, I was supposed to meet Mr. Stark at the Avengers compound after school to work on the internship." They were actually working on suit upgrades, but May didn't know about his identity as Spider-Man, despite the close call he experienced a few months before. She caught him in his suit, and the first lie he came up with was that he was an avid cosplayer. Somehow, she bought into it.

"Well, you can go back to sleep and maybe if you feel better later then you can go work on your internship."

Peter groaned before obeying and heading back to his tiny bedroom. He hated missing school; it took days to catch up on work with his heavy course load. Deep down however, he was somewhat thankful that May had called the school for him. He was actually feeling worse than yesterday, which was strange considering his healing factor should have kicked in by now.

He set an alarm on his phone and quickly sent a text to Happy.

Peter: "Change of plans, can you pick me up at my apartment instead of school today… Please?"

Happy: "You're skipping school?"

Peter: "No… I just forgot something at home and have to run back there before going to Mr. Starks and I didn't want you to make an extra trip."

Happy: "Uh huh. Alright kid, I'll pick you up at 3:00. Don't be late."

He felt bad lying to Happy, but he couldn't let him know he was sick. Tony had a tendency to overreact, and if he found out he would revoke his patrolling privileges and force him to see a doctor.

Peter curled up under the covers, praying that when he woke up he'd be cold-free.

But, unfortunately he woke up feeling even worse, if even possible. His chest burned, and he forced himself to stifle a cough to try and fool May into thinking he was fine.

He quickly got up, pulling on a pair of jeans, feeling dizzy with the movement. He made his way to the living room, putting on a façade resembling healthiness.

"Hi honey! How do you feel?" She greeted.

"Much better Aunt May!" He smiled, hoping she wouldn't see through his lies.

"You're sure?"

"Yes! I feel great! Happy is picking me up at 3. I'm going to head downstairs and wait. He hates it when I'm late."

"Alright, text me later and let me know how things are going, okay?"

"Yes, of course, bye!" He said, as he staggered out the door. He clumsily made his way down the stairs, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and trying not to trip.

He stood outside in the cold, shivering as he waited for Happy to pull up. It felt like hours standing outside with his aching chest, when realistically he was only there for ten minutes. Peter visibly sighed in relief as Happy arrived and he climbed into the back seat.

"You look like crap." The grumpy man greeted.

"People have been saying that a lot to me lately."

"Maybe because it's true. Seriously, kid, are you okay?"

It was very unlike Happy to show concern, making Peter wonder how bad he actually looked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just have this annoying cold…"

"So that's why you skipped school today? To take a sick day?"

"What? No- Happy, I told you-"

"You're a terrible liar, kid."

Peter's faced reddened. "Please don't tell Mr. Stark…"

"Yeah, fine, whatever. Just don't puke in the car."

Peter nodded as the two drove off. He could've sworn he nodded off because the next thing he knew, they had pulled up in front of the compound.

"We're here." Happy announced.

"Awesome! Thanks Happy!" Peter grabbed the door handle, ready to exit before being interrupted by the older man.

"Hey kid?"

"Yeah, Happy?"

"Don't overwork yourself in there. It's okay to take a break you know. Mind you, a break is probably the last thing you need considering you slept the whole ride here."

Ah, so he did fall asleep.

"Thanks Happy, but I'm fine honestly. Thanks again for the ride!"

He stepped out before he could be lectured again, making his way inside the compound.

Peter startled as an overhead voice greeted him when he made his way through the large set of doors. "Welcome, Peter. Mr. Stark is currently working in his lab. He is expecting you."

No matter how many times he visited the place, the sound of Mr. Stark's AI, F.R.I.D.A.Y almost always scared him to death when she spoke. "Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y, I'll go meet him."

He took the elevator up and quickly made his way through the glass doors, anxious to get to work on his suit. Tony turned around, greeting the teen.

"Took you long enough to get here! I've already started working on some plans for your suit... Also, I hope you're hungry because I ordered Chinese food, and Vision doesn't eat so it's just you and me who will be enjoying it."

Peter smiled at the kind act. "Thanks, Mr. Stark, but I'm not hungry."

Tony sarcastically gasped and placed his hand to his mouth. "Peter Parker isn't hungry!? What is this madness?"

"I ate before I came…" He lied.

"Well, maybe you'll be hungry later. Anyways, come take a seat."

Peter obeyed, pulling up a stool next to the desk where the other man was sitting. He pretended to listen as the man drabbled on about upgrades and repairs and the list of tools they were going to need. Peter was trying to pay attention, he honestly was, but he couldn't fight the waves of dizziness that were suddenly overcoming him.

God, it was really hot in here…

He tugged at the collar of his shirt, realizing then that he was in fact sweating profusely.

He hadn't noticed Tony calling his name and nearly jumped out of his seat when the man placed a clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"Peter?"

"Uh, sorry what was that?"

"I just asked if you were listening. Are you okay? You seem kinda spaced out… Did Aunt Hottie whip up a batch of pot brownies?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Stark… I'm just feeling a bit tired."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "Just tired? No offense, kid but you look like the walking incarnate of death."

"Yeah… Tired, and a bit hot. Actually, Mr. Stark would it be a bother if I can have some water?"

Tony mumbled something under his breath about having to use his precious energy to cross the room to get to the sink and fill up a glass.

Peter wanted to laugh at the man's pretend annoyance, but something felt very wrong. He could barely breathe, his face was burning and his chest felt tight. He was trying to stay upright in his seat, but his pounding head was making it extremely difficult.

Maybe this was a mistake for me to come; maybe I should've stayed home.

He vaguely heard the sound of running water before his world tilted dangerously and he suddenly found himself lying on the cool tile floor, blinking his eyes rapidly as he tried to stay conscious.

"Peter!" He heard Tony shout and the sound of a glass hitting the floor. His eyes slipped shut as he felt a presence kneeling next to him, running his hands over the teen's ribs, checking for injuries. Peter was aware of two fingers pressing against his neck, checking for a pulse, and barely registered the man's sigh of relief as he found one.

"Peter… Can you hear me? Open your eyes." He demanded, a worried tone lacing itself around his words.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, get Dr. Banner down here."

"He's already been alerted of the situation, Boss."

"Well then tell him to hurry."

Peter tried to force himself awake, not wanting Tony to worry more than he already was, but his fight against consciousness was lost as he finally drifted into sleep.

He awoke with a start to the sound of an unfamiliar beeping sound that seemed to be consistent with his own heartbeat. He was almost afraid to, but still opened his eyes a crack to find himself in a dimly lit room painted a pale shade of grey. The distant smell of cleaning products filled his nose. He tilted his head slightly to see an IV tube inserted into his arm, allowing medication to flow through his blood stream. He tried to divert his attention from this, the thought of blood making him queasy. As he attempted to take a deep breath despite his burning lungs, he realized there was something plastered to his face, reaching up he felt the oxygen mask that was assisting him with breathing normally. Unsure of where he was and what was going on, he quickly tried to remove the mask in a heap of panic.

"No, uh-uh, don't touch that, spider-ling." He felt a hand slap his own away, forcing it to his side. Peter was suddenly aware that he wasn't alone, and turned his head to see none other than Tony Stark sitting in a chair next to his bed.

"Once you're feeling better, I expect a full explanation as to why you decided to try and hide the fact that you were sick. Oh, and I realize I'm not your father or anything, but you are so grounded on account of the fact that you nearly gave me a heart attack when I saw you swan dive into the floor."

Peter's face flushed as memories flooded back into his head.

Oh shit. He thought.

"Yeah, oh shit."

Oh… he must have said that out loud.

"Peter! What the hell? I know you're smarter than that! You're practically a boy-genius… You should've known to cancel our plans if you were feeling this ill…"

"Tony! Please don't yell at my patient."

Both Tony and Peter looked up to see Dr. Bruce Banner enter the room, a clipboard in hands.

"Sorry, Brucey. But, the kid needs to learn to take care of himself once in a while."

Bruce rolled his eyes as he directed his attention towards the teen. "Bacterial Pneumonia, Peter. That's what you have. Your temperature was 104.6 degrees and you were severely dehydrated. Tony told me about your healing abilities, and this could have cleared up within a couple days, but given the fact that you've been overworking yourself instead of resting basically stopped your body from healing itself on its own, despite your powers. I'm giving you some antibiotics and you're going to be on bedrest for the next little while. I'm optimistic that this should clear up pretty soon, given that you obey my instructions."

"Oh damn right he will." Tony interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I'm really sorry." Peter stammered, as his cheeks blushed.

"Yeah, well save your apologies for your Aunt. She sounded pretty pissed on the phone, she should be here in half an hour or so."

"You called May!?"

"You bet I did."

Crap…

"I'm going to go grab my medical bag from the lab and do another checkup when I get back." Bruce stated as he left the room, leaving the remaining two sitting in an awkward silence.

"Peter-" Tony started, gaining the boy's attention. "I just need to know what you were thinking. How could you hide this from me? Do you know how scared I was when I saw you collapse? I'm an old man, Peter. I can't handle that much stress."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark."

"Stop apologizing, kid and just tell me why you didn't tell me you were sick."

Peter took a deep breath, ignoring the still-lingering pain in his chest before he spoke. "I just- I- I had a lot going on this week… And I didn't want to cancel on you. I, uh, I didn't want you to think I was weak."

"Peter, you are not weak for being sick… Everybody gets sick, even teenage super-humans get sick; it's nothing to be ashamed of. And it's perfectly fine to take a break."

"I just don't like feeling useless."

"Useless? Kid, there's nothing useless about taking a few days off."

"God, Mr. Stark. I'm so embarrassed."

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, Pete. Please just promise me that next time you're feeling even a little bit under the weather, you'll tell me, or May, or Happy or anybody that you need a couple days to rest up and get better. I don't mind cancelling our plans; suit upgrades can wait for your health to restore."

"Sir, May Parker has arrived." F.R.I.D.A.Y announced.

Tony chucked as Peter's eyes went wider than a deer's caught in headlights as he got up to leave the room.

"Mr. Stark! Where are you going?"

"I don't want to be around when your Aunt comes in. I'm afraid she might turn greener than Bruce, did I mention how mad she is at you?"

Peter groaned, as he prepared to face the wrath of a worried/angry/anxious May Parker.