Burned Bridges
*flashback*
“ Okay now repeat back the plan.” Tony said as a bubbly teen sat in front of him bouncing his leg.
“Keep my distance and web them up.” Peter repeated with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
“ Exactly, and only if necessary. I really don’t wanna fight Rodgers.” Tony said, biting his bottom lip as he leaned back in his chair. They were waiting in the airport lounge that was now evacuated and Tony felt his nerves overflow. If only Steve had just signed the stupid accords he could have worked out a deal, at least had a hand on the wheel.
“Why...why are we fighting them again?” Peter asked hesitantly. Tony realized he must have zoned out staring at a ‘loading zone’ sign and looked at the kid. He was so young, and a surge of guilt came over him. This wasn’t his fight, but they desperately needed backup and he knew Steve wouldn’t actually hurt the kid. He would make sure of that.
“Because we are trying to work with a whole bunch of countries for...reparations for problems. Steve doesn’t seem to agree. He’s wrong and he thinks he’s right. That makes him dangerous.” Tony said, trying his best not to overwhelm the kid. Peter nodded slowly, fidgeting with his web shooters.
“Is something wrong with the web shooters?” Tony asked leaning forward a bit as a look of confusion came over Peter’s face.
“Yeah, I just think it’s jammed’-” Peter explained as he tapped the button again.
“Here let me just-” Tony reached for the web shooter before a string of web’s hit his face. Peter’s face went beet red as he saw his mentor reach to grab the strings off his face.
“I am so sorry.” Peter apologized. Tony glared at him.
“We need-”
“Oh, yep I’ll grab it.” Peter said rummaging through his bag…
* end of flashback*
Tony woke up with a fright as Happy sat a cup of coffee in front of him. He hadn’t even noticed he’d passed out in his lab, the clock reading three-thirty in the morning. The memory of the kid brought little comfort as all he wanted at this point was the kid here. In his house. Alive. Most importantly alive.
“I think the camera files are finally loaded.” Happy said, his fingers tapping on the table. Rhodey sipped his coffee and glanced at Tony.
“Great.” Stark yawned as his jaw cracked. He pressed play and watched the footage of them walking in. Or what should have been the footage of them walking in, but it appeared to be wiped.
“What the hell…” Rhodey muttered as he leaned over the hologram computer. Tony pressed play again, watching from all the angled, No footage of any people walking to May’s apartment.
“Do you think she was lying?” Rhodey asked as Tony sighed.
“No.” Happy said, setting down his cup, his eyes visibly red. He had not been handling May missing well.
“Well, the kid just kinda disappeared like Houdini, so I think whoever did it erased camera footage.” Tony said as a realization came over him.
“What is it, Tony?” Rhodey asked as Tony quickly typed something into his computer, pulling up the footage of the fight from his suit. He paused on a clear panel of Peter.
“Friday zoom into his shoulder.” he ordered as Rhodey and Happy stared at the photo, realization dawning on them. It was Hydra.
“I-” Rhodey said, covering his mouth. Tony stared intensely at the symbol unable to comprehend how he had missed this before. It was a huge glaring sign.
“I thought Hydra was gone.” Happy whispered almost to himself.
“Yeah, me too.” Tony replied as he stared at the photo of Peter.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
Lyco slowly opened his eyes, no feeling at all. His mind felt numb but he didn’t question it. There were no memories, just knowledge. He knew his name was Lyco but his code name was Wolf Spider. He knew he listened to Liv. He knew he didn’t disobey. Lyco tried to sit up but he was handcuffed to his bed, unable to stand up.
“How are we feeling?” Liv said standing in the doorway, grinning maniacally.
“ Good.” Lyco said with no emotion in his voice. He didn’t even know if actually felt good, he just felt numb.
“ That’s good.” she smiled and slowly shut the cell door, her heels clicking as she walked down the hallway. They had quite the setback yesterday when he had sudden
memories washed up in him. He had known May even if he didn’t know how, he had screamed for Tony. She had made the call to wipe him again.
“ Goodmorning Liv.” said Leslie as she entered her lab.
“ Hello Leslie.” Liv replied as she sat her stuff on the table. Leslie seemed strained towards her, most likely because Liv wiped Lyco again.
Honestly it could have killed Lyco. A person wasn't meant to be wiped as many times as Lyco had been. Most of their other subjects took into the Wiping process with one or two sessions max, but Lyco had proven to be stubborn. They had originally wiped him on half power but Liv had cranked it up. This action didn't go well for the boy. She turned up the power in the middle of the wiping process while Lyco was frantically screaming because the procedure hurt like hell. Right after Liv cranked up the power the boy slowly stopped thrashing against the table then went eerily silent. His body stopped moving and the heart monitor flat lined with the continuous long beep. The whole team of Doctors in the room including Liv felt their heart go into their throat. A medical team quickly busted into the room with Lyco still not moving. Liv quickly turned off the power to the machine as the medical team frantically fidgeted with the mask to detach it from the boy's head. But before they could get it off the heart monitor started slowly beeping again with the boy's chest rising up and down in synchronization. Everyone was filled with relief but not Liv; she was more impressed than relieved, Lyco was full of even more surprises then she originally thought. A normal person would die right then and there even with the doctors doing their best to help, the occurrence that Lycos heart starts to beat again without any assistance is very peculiar.
“ Hello Liv? You wanted to meet with me?” Leslie said as she leaned back on the lab table, crossing her arms.
“Oh yes sorry, I was caught up in my own train of thought. I did want to meet with you, yes. This is a very important matter.” Liv said as she rummaged through bottles under the counter cursing softly as she got up to look at Leslie. Leslie's hair was in a french braid down her back and she looked focused and unbreakable. Exactly the Leslie that Liv needed.
“ Look, we have a problem honestly.” Liv said as she walked around the table slowly.
“ Mhm ok. What’s the issue?” Leslie asked shortly.
“ Stark.” Liv said, walking back and forth in front of Leslie. Leslie stared at Liv with an unreadable expression before scoffing.
“No no no I know where you are going with this." Leslie said as she stuck out her pointer finger in Livs direction.
" He needs to be exterminated. And I feel like you wo-"
" Don't even say that I can take down Stark. He's in a billion-dollar metal suit that can do anything. And I just have a gun". Leslie said as she put her hands on her hips,
narrowing her eyes at Liv. Disgusted at the idea of trying to kill an Avenger alone on a mission.
" But, you're a hell of a good shot. " Liv slowly said as she pointed out the obvious.
" Well. Well yeah I guess but still, you can't expect me to take down an Avenger."
Liv walked behind Leslie, suddenly put her hands on both of Leslie's shoulders, making Leslie tense up. Smirking over Leslies shoulder Liv began, " Look, since you've been
a part of Hydra you haven't yet failed a mission. You always land your target no matter what. And that's saying something even Lyco managed to mess up that last mission."
" Precisely my point." Leslie said while she pulled away from Livs grip on her shoulders.
“ The only mission that kid messed up on was one dealing with Stark. That kid had been flawless for months. He even took out a group of 40 people before without a scratch but once Tony Stark enters the scene, that flawless soldier fails a standard mission." Leslie spoke in a serious tone.
" If I didn't think you could handle this I wouldn't be considering this mission for you".
" Well clearly you are blind. Because there is no way in hell I am doing that damn mission.”
" You are being a real selfish prick right now. You know that? ".
" Why?! Because you basically want to send me into a fricken gun battle with a knife".
" Hm. Lyco has won countless gun battles with knives.” Liv said sarcastically.
" Not my point, that was a figure of speech and you know it. The point is, is that you would basically be sending me to the slaughter going up an Avenger. So I'm tapping out on that mission".
" We need Stark gone! He knows Lyco is alive and isn't going to stop looking for him! And I can't hit a fricken reset button on him like I can Lyco!" Liv erupted. She needed Tony gone if this operation was to continue. Out of all the relationships this kid Peter had to make it had to be with a frickin Avenger.
" Welp that seems like a you problem” Leslie said with a playful smile as she picked up a gun from her belt and twirled it on her finger from the trigger.
“If it wasn't for this facility and us working together I would have murdered you by now with your attitude" Liv said with anger boiling as she watched Leslie walk towards the door.
“ Well then thank you Hydra. Now if you will excuse me I have to deal with your pet spider now and his next mission so have fun figuring out your Tony Stark problem". Leslie said snarkily as shut the door leaving Liv boiling in anger as she prepared for Lyco’s next mission.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
“ You look gorgeous Morguna.” Tony said, smiling at the beaming toddler attached to his leg. She beamed at him as she let go and twirled in the new pink dress Pepper had gotten her. A surge of affection came through Tony as he saw the innocence of her eyes. He bent to pick her up as he walked towards the lab.
“ Why are you going to the lab again daddy?” she asked as she clutched Tony’s shoulder tightly with her small fingers.
“ Because your daddy is worried about his friend.” Tony explained to Morgan again, as if reciting a script. Pepper and Tony had discussed how to explain all of the problems to their kid and had settled on worried about their friend. Tony wishes that was all it was.
“ Morgan!!! Time for lunch!!!” Pepper called as Morgan buried her head in Tony’s shoulder. He leaned his head against her’s, enjoying the moment of comfort where his head wasn’t racing with thoughts about Peter. About what they must have done to him.
“ Go to lunch.” Tony ordered teasingly. Morgan slowly marched to lunch as if it was a death sentence. He pushed to the door to his lab open, the setting all too familiar. It has been two weeks since May has gone missing and roughly six months now since Peter has been gone.
“ Damn it kid.” he said to himself as he fiddled with a wrench, the panic slowly entering his body again as he focused on his work again as he tried to find another clue. Rhodey, Happy, and Tony had found quite a few leads. They had to be close to finding Peter. He looked into old papers again as he muttered stuff to Friday, zoom in here, take note there. His concentration was entirely on finding Peter.
“ Tony.” said a breathless Rhodey as he came running into his lab. Tony looked up from the article he was currently having Friday fact check.
“ Yeah?” Tony asked as Rhodey motioned for him to grab his suit. A moment of understanding between the two best friends flew between them as he grabbed his arc reactor and ran out the door. Rhodey stepped into his armour as Tony double tapped his chest, heading into the sky.
“ Is it him?” Tony asked, hope in his voice.
“ Maybe.” Rhodey responded as they sped ahead to a warehouse burning currently in the middle of Queens. Tony’s mind raced as his adrenaline pumped. The kid was so close he could feel his hug. He would give anything to be back in the battle, reuniting with Peter again.
“ What’s the plan? ” Rhodey asked after ten minutes of flying and nearing their destination.
“ The plan is to try to get a sedative in him.” Tony responded. They had discussed this before. While they had looked for the kid they had thought about if there was another attack. Tony had whipped up a strong enough sedative to knock him out long enough to get him out of there without him killing Tony. He pushed his suit fast as he could, Rhodey not far behind. They reached New York and he could smell the smoke as he got a block away from the sight. The building was in all out flames as he saw a tiny figure running across a wall to a white truck. Without hesitation he flew to grab Peter.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
The smell of sulfur filled the air as Lyco wired a series of explosives. He was setting a distraction so he could slip away undetected while his enemies dealt with the explosion. He was almost done with his mission, he had killed a few people but was able to get an important vial from a medical ward in a secret enemy base. Now all he needed to do was set off the bomb with a timer attached to it and run away. The explosive was almost wiring when something caught Lycos attention out of the corner of his eye. Two figures were flying through the air in his direction. Once they were close enough Lyco could make out that it was two people flying in high tech metal suits. They looked almost identical except for the paint jobs one suit was red and gold, the other was a shiny metallic gray.
“ Get out of there, Damn it.” Liv said into his earpiece.
" But what about the explosives?" Lyco asked.
" Forget about them, come back to the rendezvous point now. " Liv ordered back in his earpiece.
Lyco nodded back to her order and swiftly jumped out of a window onto the rooftop of a lower building. As Lyco ran the person in the red and gold suit bolted at him, with his arms outstretched. Lyco quickly tried to get out of the path of the man but the man swooped in grabbing Lyco pinning him against a wall.
“ I’m so sorry kid but I prefer you not to be a brainwashed psycho.” The man pinning Lycos left hand said. The man's suit beeped and ejected a filled syringe from his suit.
Lyco pressed his back against the wall, pushed off from the ground bringing his knees up by his chest and his feet against the metal man's chest. Then pushed his
feet out, sending the man stumbling backwards. Lyco ran off the roof, launching himself off the building, back flipping onto another rooftop.
The man in the gray suit tried to fire his blaster at Lyco but missed and it hit the building Lyco had laced with explosives. The explosives erupted with the whole left side of the building being obliterated. Lyco didn't even think about the explosion; he just had to keep running. He could hear the metal man behind him so he quickly grabbed a knife turned around and threw it. The knife collided with the metal man's chest barely digging into the metal, but it must have hit something important because the man was forced to stop to fix something. Thick smoke filled the air as he made a run off the roof to his rendezvous point. As he ran, the man in the gray metal suit flew right into Lycos path launching himself at Lyco full speed. With lightning fast reflexes he jumped up into the air and used the new web shooters he had been given by Liv to swing from the building on the side it's side, sticking to it.
“ Lyco, don't bother with them, leave now.” Liv ordered into his earpiece and Lycos replied ‘yes’ before trying to relocate where he was supposed to head towards to find his rendezvous point.
He spotted his rendezvous but both of the people in the suits flew towards him. He jumped into the air as the man in the gray suit nearly collided with the other person. Lyco flipped midair and gracefully saddled himself on top of the person in the gray’s suit. The man in the gray suit yelled at his friend who hesitated to shoot as Lyco ripped the man’s helmet off while the man tried to shake him off. With a powerful kick into the man's thrusters Lyco forced the man to crash through the building. At the last second Lyco jumped off then swung over to the side of the building. This was so annoying he just needed to get out of here.
“ Damn it!! Rhodey!!!” said the man in the red suit as he flew into the building after his friend.
Lyco found his rendezvous point and a white truck was waiting for him. He jumped to the truck, and was suddenly slammed into the roof of it. Lyco turned around and saw the man in the red suit on top of him since he pushed Lyco into the roof of the car.
“ You hurt Rhodey.” the man growled as he pushed down on top of Lycos chest as Lyco looked to fight the man’s grip.
“ Wolf Spider, this man is an enemy, kill him and get out of there.” he heard Liv order in his earpiece. He vaguely heard people fighting the order in his earpiece but he listened to Liv. Besides, this man was annoying him.
“ Peter, look kid, just snap the hell out of it!!!” the man yelled at him.
Lyco felt a weird sense of deja vu as he heard the name but ignored it. He didn’t have time to find out who Peter was. Lyco prepared himself as he squirmed body out from the man's grip. Sending himself falling to the ground, but he shot his web shooters to pull himself up at the last minute. He flew through the air to stick to the side of a tall building before climbing on to it’s roof top. The metal man quickly followed as Lyco ran up the side of the building straight at the man, reaching out his hands gripping the man's helmet. He swiftly jumped and twisted his body left as he kicked the man's helmet with the side of his left foot with all the force he could muster.
The man fell backwards away but grabbed ahold of Lycos sleeve with a loud string of curse words coming out of the man’s mouth as Lyco realized he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. The man lost his balance and fell off the side of the building dragging Lyco him into the exploded building now burning. They both crashed through the roof and Lycos' lungs burned as he inhaled a large lung full of smoke.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
Tony felt like he was falling in slow motion as he crashing through the ceiling, his thrusters taking their time to reboot. He slammed against the ground hard on his back as his sensors went crazy alerting him of the fire and impending danger around him. They needed to get out of here now. This building would collapse any minute.
“ Peter, come on. I know you know me.” Tony pleaded, opening his helmet so the kid could see his face with his own eyes. The kid had fallen on the ground next to Tony and was struggling to slowly try to stand up after falling through the ceiling.
The kid scowled, meeting Tony's eyes, no recognition in his face at all.
Smoke began to engulf Tony's now exposed face making him cough loudly as thick smoke made it difficult to breathe. He put his helmet back on and took a huge
gulp of fresh air. Relief filled Tony as he breathed easy but watched Peter stumble to his feet covering his mouth with his elbow cough loudly from the smoke intake. The boy's eyes were watering from the smoke, he looked miserable.
The building shifted with a huge burst of flames coming out of the door to the left of Peter, Peter jumped out of the way barely making it clear as flames engulfed around them. Tony knew he had to grab the kid and leave now.
“ Peter, we need to leave now. I can help you.” Tony pleaded with bits of the ceiling falling down creating a barrier between them. Peter swallowed hard and let out another body wracking cough struggling to breathe.
“ I don’t need your help, I need you dead!” the kid yelled as he leaned up against a pillar as the smoke filled his lungs. He groaned as flame started to corner them, the air uncomfortably hot. He was panicking, he needed to leave but didn't know how far he could make it because of the amount of smoke intake making it hard to breathe. He continued coughing loudly into his elbow and couldn't stop. He was gasping for fresh air that was nowhere to be found.
Tony watched as the kid suddenly fell on the floor on his stomach with a hard thud. Tony frantically flew towards him, cautiosly placing his hand on Peter’s back. The kid didn't even notice as he coughed violently, flames a mere five feet from them. It was a miracle they weren’t dead yet.
“ Peter.” Tony said as worry clouded his head. He needed to get Peter out of here. As he reached down to grab the coughing kid under his arms the kid went limp. Tony frantically fumbled with Peter's suddenly limp body. After a bit he was able to resituate his grip and houstied Peter in his arms. Peter's head gently rested against Tony's metal chest. With loud warnings popping up from Friday he flew through the hole they had crashed in through as the building began to crumble. A breath of relief filled Tony as he made it out of building, the roof collapsing from where they had just been.
“ Rhodey, I got the kid, he's unconscious.” Tony said into his helmet. He tried to inject the serum into Peter, but it was no use. The needle was broken and the vile was cracked with no liquid left inside. A wave of dread filled him as he noticed the serum must have been damaged in the chaos of the crash and fire.
The kid began to cough and stir in his arms, he wouldn’t be happy when he woke up.
“ Well that’s great. We can meet up. I'll come to you since you have Peter.” Rhodey groaned into Tony’s earpiece.
“ Damn it.” Tony said looking down at the stirring the kid in his arms.
“ Damn it?” Rhodey asked concerned as Peter opened one eye, anger written on his face.
a loud curse escaped Tony as the kid woke up.