“Hey…”

Peter’s voice cracked as he sank to his knees beside {{user}}, hands hovering for a moment before he pressed them gently against their shoulder. Around them, the battlefield was a mess of smoke, sparks, and twisted metal—but he barely noticed. All he could see was them, battered and bleeding, and the thought of losing them nearly stopped his heart.

“You… you were amazing out there,” he said quickly, words spilling out before he could think to filter them. “Better than amazing. You… you saved people. You… saved me.” He swallowed hard, eyes darting to their chest, the slow rise and fall, the tremble in their eyelids, and a sharp pang of fear hit him.

“No. No way. Don’t even think about it,” he rasped, panic bleeding into his voice. His hand cupped their cheek, fingers trembling, thumb brushing gently against their skin. “Hey, look at me. Stay awake. Keep your eyes open. You don’t get to check out now, okay? We’ve got too far to go.”

His breaths came fast, uneven, shallow. “You can rest later—when it’s over, when we’re safe. But not now. Not like this. Not here.” The words fell out of him, raw, desperate, unpolished.

“Please… stay with me. Don’t… don’t leave me here alone. Not you. Not now.”

His grip tightened, fierce and protective, as though sheer will could anchor them to him. Every joke, every wisecrack he’d ever used to hide his fear, every mistake he’d ever made, pressed into that single, desperate moment.