Prison Break
Tony’s POV
After talking to Daredevil, Tony found himself in Hell’s kitchen. The area was packed, yet not many people paid attention to him. Rows of town houses and apartments spread out across the neighbourhood, with few trees breaking up the urban area. Cars zoomed past, not paying attention to the speed limit, as Tony looked for ‘Nelson and Murdock’, a law firm Daredevil swore by.
Daredevil told him that he’d be on the look out for anything suspicious, but in the meantime, he should get in contact with those two lawyers to see if there’s anything they can do. With the influx of missing kids at the moment, more and more parents were getting suspicious. He could bet there was already a case, so when it came down to kicking Tombstone of his pedestal…. Well, they could make sure he stayed inside for a long time.
Tony finally found it, and it wasn’t what he expected. From how Daredevil had sold these guys up, he had expected to find a modern, sleek, fifty floor building which was filled with employees and potential customers… not whatever this was. It was small, dingy, and Tony’s sure he fought the Aliens back into 2012 around this exact neighbourhood.
Once he got upstairs, there still wasn’t much to look at. The view consisted of other buildings like it, cranes and building work. The noise was just as bad. If Peter was here, he wouldn’t know how to handle it. Tony would be grabbing those specially designed earbuds out of his bag before the kid even knew he needed them. But now, he’s not- so Tony should ignore the interior design and get this sorted before it was too late.
He knocked on the door and was greeted by a nice (and tough) looking blonde woman, dressed in a black pencil shirt and blush pink blouse. It was something Pepper might wear, but whoever this was felt rougher. She didn’t match Pepper at all, there was a fire in the back of her eyes. Tony appreciated it, but it kind of scared him.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, her arms still beside her torso. “Tony Stark?” she questioned. She blinked a few times, before shrugging and letting him in. Seems as if she’s seen crazier stuff then one of the Avengers walking into her office.
“Nice to meet you…,” Tony said, trailing of as if he was asking for her name.
“Karen Page, sir,” she said, taking his hand and shaking it.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Ms Page. I’m looking for Mr Murdock, I had a meeting with Daredevil who said I should come and find him,” Tony said.
Karen’s lip turned upward in a knowing smirk. Tony didn’t like that. He didn’t understand why that made her smirk, and it made him uneasy. Was this a set up? If it was, Tony was dropping everything he ever had onto Daredevil to make sure he never crossed him again. Especially in a time like this.
But then Karen turned away and opened another door, telling ‘Matt Murdock’ that he had a visitor.
Matt Murdock walked outside of his office. Much like Tony himself, he was dressed head to toe in a suit. He used a cane to get around, considering he was blind, but he held himself with pride and power- the same kind of way Daredevil did. Tony narrowed his eyes. Some people might be stupid enough not to see the connection, but Tony wasn’t one of them. Daredevil had a mask that covered everything but his mouth. Matt Murdock was blind. Daredevil had told him to go and see ‘Mr Murdock’ in a small (emphasis on ‘small’) office, where nobody else was flocking to get the ‘best legal advice in Hell’s Kitchen’.
“…Does everyone in here know?”
Matt looked at him. He had bruises all over his body. Dried blood on his head. He was a smart man. Come on, he was a lawyer. From what Tony had researched before he came over, he was a brilliant one. But he had still told Tony to go to himself for legal advice when they could’ve just done everything in one. He got secret identities, but he really made him wake up this early to come and see him again.
“Bit of a waste of time, don’t you think?” Tony asked.
Matt visibly deflated, although his bravery still shone through him. Tony liked him already. “I don’t want anyone in Shield knowing.”
“I won’t. I just need to find my son.”
Karen and the ‘Nelson’ from ‘Nelson and Murdock’ watched in awe. Everybody thought Peter was his son, but it was different to hear it straight from the man’s mouth. Not that it was true, but the more time Peter stayed away… the more Tony wished it was.
“We’ll do everything we can,” ‘Nelson’ (who Tony later found out was called Foggy) said.
Peter’s POV
“So, you really think that I’m Spider-Man too?” Miles whispers after another few hours had passed from the moment Peter told him his secret. Everyone was still asleep, par Peter and Miles. After the dust had settled and the thought of being enhanced finally settled in, Miles was wide eyed and had more energy in him then Peter had seen previously. “Because that would be awesome. You could be like Obi-Wan, teaching me the ways of the force- or the, uh, web! I promise I won’t go evil on you, though.”
Peter chuckles. When did he become the older one? The ‘mentor’ rather than the ‘mentee’. He was so accustomed to Tony calling him the ‘kid’, meaning seeing it from the other side of the coin was surprising. He was suddenly the one who was admired, who the younger one wanted to be. Although Tony never truly was (and he can't picture himself doing it either) he was the one who now had to be "responsible." He would try his best.
“I’ll show you everything I know, Miles. Do you know how it happened?”
“My Uncle and I were down in the train station, and we were doing graffiti- I mean… we were colouring together, and this spider came out of nowhere and bit me. I didn’t think any of it, but then everything you said started happening to me. I accidentally broke so many doors that my mom thought I was taking steroids,” Miles says. He looks at Peter’s wrists, tilting his head to the side. “Although, I don’t have any webs. Do you... like- make them organically? Because maybe my Spider was different.”
Peter wished he could do that; it would cost a lot less. But that wasn’t possible… Right? He had to sweat away in a lab and make sure his formula was on the money every single time otherwise he’s no use to anyone because he’d be a puddle on the floor.
“No, no. I make them myself. I use these things called web-shooters and that’s how I swing across the city,” Peter explains. “It’s pretty fun. I’ll make sure to show you whenever we get out of here.”
Miles grins so wide that Peter forgets they’re trapped for a second. He looks up to the door as if it was a window and sways slightly. Peter imagines that he’s thinking of how it would feel when he’s in the open air and learning how to be the next Spider-Man. Peter’s not jealous that another person has his powers, he’s happy. He can’t wait to have someone else on the field helping out. Although maybe he could wait a few years. Have a normal childhood. Live like Peter didn’t get to. That would make him happier.
Soon after that, Miles finally falls asleep, and Peter is the only one left who’s still up. He doesn’t even try to fall asleep, knowing there’s a chance of everything going wrong if he does. He looks around the room, trying to find ways that could get out of here.
‘What would Tony do?’
He thinks about Tony in that cave in Afghanistan. Nobody expected him to get out of there alive, but he’s still going years later. He did the impossible in those three months. Sure, he did it by creating a superhero armour out of tools given to him (under false pretence, of course). Peter’s not so sure he could ask for that kind of stuff without getting another slap to the face.
Watching the one bit of light passing through the door, Peter wondered when the ‘guards’ (if he could call them that) slept, and if he could possibly plan an escape plan around then. Would he be able to get this many kids out at once? He wasn’t sure.
…What if he made them up the money? Told them they could do whatever they wanted, make Tony want to pay more out urgently, if they just let the kids go? Rough him up, whatever… he didn’t care. If it meant these kids could get out of this place, then so be it. He wasn’t sure if that would work, but Tony could ‘give’ more money than all of these parents combined. That was their aim, right? So, why would they say no?
Probably because they’re sadistic assholes, but he could try. There’s no harm in that.
Tony’s POV
In Tony’s office there was more people than had ever been in here at once. The trio from Nelson and Murdock was stood to his left. Steve, Clint, Natasha, Thor, and Bruce were on the sofas, talking through tactics. Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy were by his side. Tony was sat in front of his computer, attempting to locate where the email had been sent from.
“How much do we know about Tombstone?” Steve asked, “If we know a common pattern of how he acts, or what kind of base he’d set up, then we’re more prepared to get Peter back.”
Matt, whose true identity was only known by his two friends, Tony, and, weirdly enough, Clint (he didn’t know why they were chummy, but he had more pressing things to worry about), looked at Steve and smiled. Something about him was so charming, that even Tony was quick to stop what he was doing to listen to him.
Maybe it’s the lawyer in him.
But, boy, he’s got charisma.
“Tombstone is most active in Hell’s kitchen. We’ve seen a lot of him recently. A lot of kids are stolen from the more affluent areas in Manhattan, and then are taken down to various ‘bases’ owned by Tombstone. These range from small cottages with hidden labyrinths underneath to massive mansions. He owns a range, and it’ll be hard to know which one he’s working in now,” he explains, “but that doesn’t mean we’re in the dark. There’s only so many buildings not registered. If we go to these abandoned sites, tick them off like checkpoints then we can make some progress. It’s not the fastest way to do it, but it’s a start.”
Tony nods, “thanks, Matt.” He’s up in a flash, leaving his computer screen on. His hand goes to tap his chest to activate the nano-tech suit, but mostly everyone in the room is quick to shut him down and tell him he’s too close to this to actively search. They tell him to keep using the computer, but to stay out of the field. He wants to argue, but they’re probably right.
If Tombstone sees him flying around a neighbourhood very close to where he’s staying, then he’ll get up and move as soon as possible. It’s best not to arouse suspicion. That doesn’t mean Tony’s happy about it. He wants to find Peter and hug him and never let him go, preferably with him still alive as well.
Whilst Peter’s gone, Tony has set up a room for May. When she finishes her shift at the hospital, Happy goes and picks her up and lets her know if there’s any news. Tony offers her a job in the med bay with the best bonus a nurse could ever want, and eventually she accepts. It only took one evening, because one look at the contract and she was down.
An hour after all the team leave, May comes into Tony’s office. She looks at him with so much hope that Tony hates to be the one that has to shut it down. There’s still no news.
Right as she goes to leave, another email pops up. He has no-one here to pry him away from it, so he opens it. This time there’s only photos. Peter’s face is beat up pretty badly. He’s staring at one of the other kids. If he remembers correctly, that ‘kid’ is Miles. Miles Morales, son of the chief. Peter is sat over him in the photo, his arms raised so Miles can’t get hurt. It’s most likely why there’s SO many bruises over him.
He can’t help but keep other people safe before himself. It’s what got him in this mess.
“Oh, God,” May says, stood behind Tony’s chair. She grips onto it, makes it wobble slightly. Tony reaches behind the chair and awkwardly configures his hand so he’s holding onto hers. He squeezes it once. ‘It’s all going to be fine’, he tries to say. He’s not sure if he should lie, however, and he wonders if the only wanted to tell himself that. “My poor baby. How could they do this to him?”
“They think he is my son. The entire world does, and I knew it would put him in danger, but I didn’t try hard enough to get him out of it,” Tony says.
He groans, rubbing his hand over his face. This whole situation could’ve been avoided if he stopped all the fun and games, all the people telling him he was just ‘lying’. If he put his foot down and told the world the truth, then they never would’ve gone near Peter. It’s the same thing he thought before. Rhodey told him it wasn’t his fault, and he believed him, but the way May’s eyes watered at the sight of her boy on the screen made him want to hide away and never come back.
Peter wasn’t his. He had a guardian who loved him, and he waltzed in and took over. He put her son in danger, and now she’s looking at a bloodied photo of him. So, it might not have been his fault entirely that he was taken… but it was his fault that May felt like this right now and he felt so, so, sorry.
“That’s not on you, Tony,” she says. “It’s not on you at all.”
But then she leaves… because she really didn’t want to see her son like that.
He keeps staring at the email on the screen, the photos haunting him. But he can’t click away. He stays in that spot, frozen as a statue, until he decides to do what everyone told him not to do. He replies to the email.
“If you show me the kid… in person, just so I make sure your photos are not old and he’s really still alive, then I’ll double the money you suggested. I’ll give you everything. I just want my son to be okay,” he types. He’s not sure himself if this is a bluff or not, but he’s desperate. It’s either his bank account or Peter in a body bag, and he knows which one he’d prefer.
Another email pops up immediately.
‘Sounds like a deal’.
And then, when the rest of the team are trying to find the house that they might be in, Tony has all the details he’ll need after one email. But there’s one caveat, something he had easily been expecting but what still made his heart drop, that’s at the end of the email.
‘Come alone’.
So he does.
Peter’s POV
Peter was becoming restless. He knew that a few hours had gone, but he was unsure of the time of day or whether it was morning or night. He was absent from class, and teachers tend to remember these kinds of things. They'd probably say he lied when he finally returned. He never understood how they could ever become educators given how much they detested children. Power, maybe. In this world, everyone desired that. Anyone with enough power could achieve anything.
He looks around. Case in point, right here. Power drove these men to kidnap children. Isn’t that always the lowest of the low? Most of them probably had kids themselves, but money/influence easily blinds a man. If they could have it all, then why not?
Peter closes his eyes and tries to focus on any noise he could hear from Tombstone or his men. He hears the tail-end of a conversation, something about how Stark wanted to see his kid in person before he did the trade, and that he’d come alone.
Alone?
Tony could handle any of these men, but who's to say there aren't any more? What if they manage to capture Tony and kill him? Peter would be a simple diversion for them. Without Tony, Peter wouldn't know what to do. He wouldn’t how to act if he were the cause of Tony Stark's demise. His escape strategy has become much more urgent than it was previously.
Incoming doom and sleep exhaustion wasn’t the best mix, either.
He is aware that getting them out without much support is a foolish and terrible gamble, but he must take the opportunity. They could actually succeed with Miles' assistance. But could he genuinely endanger him in that way? He wasn't likely to be a strong fighter. These guys would be well-trained, skilled in killing, and unrelenting. Miles couldn't be used by Peter or put in danger like that without significant danger. He should simply wait for Tony, but what sort of hero would he be in that sense?
He couldn't manage the mental tug-of-war battles that were going on in his head. He sat still in the corner, tapping at the end of his shoe, and swaying gently to himself as he attempted to decide what to do. Time was running out, so he had to decide soon.
Tony would be so proud of him if he succeeded. To see that he got them all out without his help…
A part of him might not be afraid that Tony could need "rescuing" (not that he wouldn't), but he's more scared that Tony would think he was just waiting around idle for him to show. He wanted to demonstrate to him that he wasn't a helpless victim and that he was just as much of a hero without the mask as he is with it.
He wanted him to see that he could do it.
So, that’s what he does. He raises his ‘troops’ and tells them that they’re getting the hell out of here. He kicks open the door and comes face to face with the barrel of a gun. But he’s too quick for them, kicking it out of their hand and then knocking them about before they can alert anyone else.
He concludes it must be the best option when he notices an open window. He takes a chair from the next room—the same one where he had been imprisoned just the day before—and sets it next to the window. He lifts the children one by one and orders them to run as far as they can. Instructing them to contact the police and ambulances only after they are in a secure location, he takes one of the guards' phones out of their pocket and hands it to the oldest child to use.
Just as he’s about to help Miles up, more henchmen start to flood in. For now, it’s only them two and they’ve got to try as hard as they can otherwise Peter’s made a grave mistake. In the distance, however, he sees the group of kids far, far, away. Nobody has noticed which way they’ve gone, so now they can, and will, only focus on him and Miles.
If he dies, at least they’ll all be okay.
If Miles does? He’ll never, ever, forgive himself.
Tony’s POV
Tony’s in the suit when Friday connects him to Steve. Steve’s voice is frantic, telling him he’s seen a bunch of police cars flocking to the last house they needed to check that Tombstone was in. He says he’s an hour or more away, but he’ll be there as soon as possible to make sure Peter’s okay.
“No need,” Tony says. “I’ll be there in minutes.”
“Tony? You can’t just do this by yoursel-,”
He cuts Steve off, focusing on getting to Peter. If the police are going towards the house, then he could use Peter as leverage, to get away from them. Or, knowing Peter, he’s done something, and he’s put himself in more danger than he needed to be in. He calls his own medical team, preparing for the worst. Peter can’t be treated in any normal hospital, so he needed his team right now.
Tony flies in, crushing through the building and landing right in the middle. It’s derelict, not somewhere he’d personally let his kid stay. Tombstone’s standing in the middle of the room, his arms crossed. If any of his team know that the police are coming, they haven’t told him. He looks egotistical, cocky, and on the top of the world. He thinks he’s won.
“Let me see him alive,” Tony says.
“Wait here, Stark. I’ll go and get him.”
Tony stops him, a metal hand grabbing his bicep and pulling him back. “No,” he says, shaking his head. He tightens his grips and watch as Tombstone’s mouth flickers, his eyebrows raising. He’s watching Tony carefully. He looks ready for a fight. “I’ll go with you.”
“If you must,” he says. His voice is thick, it fits him perfectly. When you’d see someone like him walking down the street, it’s no surprise that his voice sounds like old whisky and cigarettes. He wheezes. If Tony narrows his eyes, he can almost see the pipe hanging out of his mouth. Only a man whose one goal is to induce fear in anybody he sees would have a voice such as that. “What a lovely daddy you are to him, Stark. It was such a surprise to see. Even more to witness.”
Tony rolls his eyes, not talking back. It’s odd for him not to have a quip waiting in his mouth, but he cares more about finally giving Peter a well needed hug (for Tony. He’s not sure if Peter’s been hoping for one, but God knows Tony’s been dreaming about it). They go down the stairs, Tombstone takes one step at a time… Tony takes two.
When they get to the bottom, something shifts in Tombstone’s stance. He looks over at Tony and the want to fight visibly increases. His breathing changes. Once regular and quiet, he’s now lost the ability to contain it. There’s sweat on his forehead. He rubs his palms on his jacket. “I shouldn’t be surprised. A Stark kid is able to get out of my trap this easily. I guess it runs in the family. Or did he have some help?”
“Help?” Tony asks. He can’t help but smirk, however, which doesn’t help his ‘not-guilty’ plead whatsoever. “How would I have given him anything? I didn’t even know where he was. And if I did, why would I have waited until now?”
There’s silence.
“So, you’ve lost my kid,” Tony says. He shrugs, looking around to make sure he was nowhere nearby. “I guess that means I don’t have to hold back now.”
Tony blasts Tombstone into the wall without even thinking.
Peter’s POV
Peter and Miles have moved to the next room, fighting whoever comes in. There seems to be an endless supply of goons, each pledging their alliance to Tombstone by wearing his ‘colours’. They look like idiots, in Peter’s opinion, but each to their own.
He thinks they’re all okay, and that Tony will be fine, but then Tombstone comes blasting through the wall. Peter then sees Tony approach. He makes a beeline towards him. Peter is so caught up about getting into his arms that he doesn’t see Tombstone recover. Large hands cover his neck, squeezing hard enough to stop him from breathing.
Miles tries to come and help him, to get Tombstone’s hands away from his neck, but he doesn’t remember to keep an eye out for himself. Peter watches, helpless, as a bullet from the last goon comes racing towards them. He thrashes in Tombstone’s hold, trying desperately to get Miles out of the way. He screams his name, but it’s useless. He watches the proud smile leave Miles’ face, he was so proud that he made it this far. Peter can only watch as the light leaves his eyes. “No!” he screams.
He sees red, kicking and scratching and breaking free from the hand around his neck. He punches and hits Tombstone, even as his face starts to turn blue. He manages to free himself, and all he can do is punch and kick until he feels a wetness on his knuckles. He’s ashamed of himself, never wanting to hurt anyone this badly, but he can’t stop. It’s all he can do as Tony watches on.
He's pulled away, but he still tries to hit out. He didn’t need to stop. He needed to make sure he couldn’t get up. He now feels his fist connect to metal instead. It’s Tony.
Tombstone is on the floor and not moving, but it’s clear he will recover. He will definitely have a black eye, though. Peter wants to make sure he never hurts another person again, wanting so desperately to keep making him suffer. But Tony’s got his arms around him and is holding him and it’s enough to get him to stop for a second.
“Stop, kid. Stop,” he says, desperately. “It’s me, baby. You’re free, now. You’re okay.”
Peter watches as a team of superheroes storm towards them. Tony carries him upstairs and to the open air, where Peter realises it has to be mid-afternoon. He can only watch as Steve carries Miles. He’s still breathing, which is good, but, God, there’s so much blood. He sees a group of kids sat in many ambulances in the distance, covered by police cars and a group of parents that made their way over as soon as the news hit.
“It’s okay,” Tony whispers.
“It’s not,” Peter says. “He’s only twelve, Mr Stark. I shouldn’t have let him help. He-he’s younger than me, and he- he’s just been shot.”
Tony can’t say a thing. He just holds him.
When he hears Miles cry, Peter gets out of Tony’s grip and sprints to where he is led on the floor... He hears Tony call some of his medical team over, but he’s too focused on Miles to know what they say in return. “Oh, god,” he says, putting his hand on the back of his head and keeping him steady. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, please. Stay with me.”
Miles barely keeps his eyes open. He watches Peter, his eyes unfocused and missing so much of their usual sparkle which Peter barely got to understand. “…A-Are-,” he tries to speak, but there’s hardly anything coming out. Peter wants him not to waste his energy, but he tries, nonetheless. Maybe the bite makes them both stubborn. “Are you still going t-to show me how to swing? We’re out now, so-so you could.”
“Yeah,” Peter laughs, breathless. He nods, a tear coming out and dropping just beside Miles’ face. “Yeah, I will. I’m going to teach you everything, Miles. You’ve just got to stay with me, that’s all. Then- then I can show you all of it.”
“A-awesome,” Miles says. His eyes then start to drop.
“Miles!” he calls. “God, please stay with me. Stay awake, please.”
He’s pulled off as he screams and cries. Two strong arms are wrapped around him. Paramedics rush towards the scene as he’s lifted away. Peter sees what he assumes is Miles’ dad watching on, crying as hard as he was. He must hate him. God, he must wish it was him instead. Peter does too.
“I’m so sorry,” he says, resting his head on Tony’s chest when he realises it was him.
Peter rests his head against what used to be Tony’s arc reactor. His body is so limp. He’s already healing from the wounds the men inflicted on him for the video, so he hopes wholeheartedly that super-healing was part of Miles’ bite. If they were different, then there’s a chance he couldn’t fight the gunshot wound.
They all go back to the tower, Peter’s crying the only noise along the way. Peter can only sit and watch as they put Miles through surgery. If only he stayed still, let Tony do what he knew how to do, then they’d all be safe. Right?
He can’t breathe. He can’t believe what he’s done.
Tony’s POV
Tony can’t handle how much guilt is in Peter’s eyes. He doesn’t think he did the right thing, when in actuality it was the best thing that he could’ve done. He got all those kids to safety before Tony even got to the ‘house’. He’s the reason why the police now have more than a dozen men behind bars, giving a lot of people some peace of mind.
Miles is still alive. He’s breathing fine and stabilised, and he’s out of that basement. Peter doesn’t need to feel guilt. He should be overjoyed with himself. He’s a hero. Not Spider-Man (although he is), but Peter Parker. Even without his web shooters and mask, he was able to get everyone out of there and back to their parents.
“If I just waited for you, Mr Stark, he would’ve never been shot and everyone would be fine,” Peter says. He’s holding Tony’s hand, letting Tony run his thumb against his palm. It calms him, he thinks. That repetitive motion focuses his mind elsewhere from all the shit going on at that moment in time.
How wrong he is, though. Nothing would’ve been fine if Tony’s plan went how he wanted it to.
“I was only going to save you and Miles,” Tony says. “I was going to leave the other kids there, let Tombstone go somewhere else and continue what he was doing.”
Peter’s eyebrows raise. He takes his hand away. “Really?”
“Yeah. I was going to give them as much money as they wanted, even if I went bankrupt. Then I was going to take you and Miles home. I’d live in a lot of shame, but I’d have you. So, at that point, I didn’t care,” Tony said.
He sounds guilty speaking it out loud, but Peter needs to know that he did the right thing. Without him, those kids would still be trapped- just maybe out of the basement this time. Wherever Tombstone would’ve taken them, they would know that Iron Man didn’t want to save them.
“You are a hero, Peter. All those kids are with their parents now. They’re safe, as are you. Miles is going to be okay,” Tony tells him.
Peter collapses into exhausted tears, not replying as he has no energy to do so. He’s struggling to keep his eyes open, his body relaxing into Tony’s every now and then. He can’t keep himself up, so Tony takes him upstairs and tucks him into his own bed. Tony could find somewhere else to sleep tonight, he had plenty of spares.
Seeing Peter safe, Tony finally is able to think again. He leans down and kisses the top of Peter’s head as he sleeps. He listens as he snores only slightly. He looks a bit like Tony. He twitches and rolls around. Tony can only imagine what type of nightmare he’s having. His knuckles are still bruised, a picture of the hero he was today.
Seeing that face, Tony realises something. He was never good with kids before, but that’s because he was scared. He was scared of becoming a dad, too sure that he was going to end up like his father. But with Peter, he showed him that it was all going to be okay. Whenever it happened, he’d be the best dad ever.
But now, he realises that he’s already there. He’ll never deny that Peter’s his again because it’s true.
“I love you, Peter,” he whispers.
In another room, a line turns flat. No activity is found.