Chapter 1
His mouth felt like cotton, and no matter how many times he ran his tongue over his teeth, he couldn't feel them. Did he ever have teeth? As for the rest of his body? He wasn't even sure that it was there. Peter's movements were slow, but as he attempted to move each body part, he realized what was happening. He eyed his arm, an IV sticking out of a sickeningly dark bruise that was starting to lighten up. Chains wrapped his wrists painfully, rubbing the skin underneath, raw. It took Peter a little longer this time to remember what had been happening.
It had been a month since he had gotten kidnapped.
Peter sat adjacent to Tony, fiddling with a hologram. He mumbled under his breath, "Goddamnit." The brunet eyed Peter, letting out a chuckle.
"You kiss your Aunt with that mouth? The scolding Steve would give you." Tony teased the teen, nudging his shoulder. Peter blushed, covering his face, shaking his head. "I'm teasing you, kid. Whatcha working on?"
"I'm trying to work on this new suit update, but I'm having a hard time gettin' it to work." He pushed the hologram toward Tony, sitting on top of the lab bench. He swung his legs, biting at his fingernails. Tony glanced at it, rotating the hologram as he bit the end of a pencil.
"Here's your problem. Your start code only goes so far. Extend it all the way, and it should work." He swiped the hologram back toward him. "You're getting pretty damn good at this stuff. You're planning on replacing me, kiddo?"
Peter grinned, "You know it. I'm coming for your position. I'll be the new, Ironman." He poked his shoulder. Tony gasped playfully, shoving Peter off the table. He knew that he wouldn't hurt the kid. Peter landed on his feet, "What if I pushed you over?"
"I think I would suffer the worst fate. That's embarrassment. I would have a broken hip. I'd have to use Steve's life alert." Tony chuckled and offered his hand to Peter, "I think it's time for you to head out, young man. Your aunt will have my head if you're not home in time." Peter lifted himself, wrapping his arms around Tony. He hugged him for a few seconds before he stepped into his suit.
"Bye, Mister Stark!" He called out cheerfully, waving as he shot his webs to the nearby building. Peter slung himself from building to building, loving the rush that he felt as he released from each strand and starting another. Although, while slinging home, Peter's spider-sense triggered. He slowed, dropping to the ground. He snuck silently, looking into each building. He paused when he saw a woman tied to a chair. She seemed hurt. He then spotted three men, all rather menacing. One of the three men was what Peter believed to be standing guard, but he wasn't doing a good job. Peter continued to canvas the area, walking around the warehouse. It seemed as though they were talking to her, and something felt off. He assumed that it was because of the current situation. He carefully snuck through one of the broken windows. He breathed in before stepping out in front of the three men.
"That's no way to treat a lady." He shot a web at the man closest, the watchman. "You didn't do a good job of keeping an eye out, did you?" The web pinned the man against the concrete wall to the right of Peter. One of the other men approached the teen with a gun. He furrowed his brows, "Woah, woah. That's not a fair fight." The man fired the gun, grazing Peter's side. "Rude. You're lucky I know how to sew." He shook his head and webbed up the pistol. The man furrowed his brows,
"You talk too much." He sneered, walking toward Peter. He pulled out some kind of taser, shooting it at the boy. Peter pushed himself off the floor, flipping forward over the metal prongs. They stuck into the wall behind him, and Peter quickly webbed the man up, causing him to fall to the ground. The last man was not in sight.
Peter cautiously ran over to the woman, bending down to untie her from the chair. "Ma'am? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?" He finished untying the woman, whose hands were still behind her back. Peter cocked his head to the side as the woman stepped closer to him, "Ma'am? Are you okay?"
The woman shook her head no as she stepped closer. "Tsk, it's a shame. No, I won't need one. But you might." Peter's eyes widened, and he turned around quickly, but as he turned, a needle punctured through his skin. Confusion ran through Peter's body as he felt his veins burn. It felt like his veins were on fire. He winced as his vision doubled, and he fell to his knees.
"Please, no." It felt like paralyzing, whatever she had given him. He fell forward onto his chest, coughing on the dust that he had kicked up. The woman surround him, "What's wrong, little one? Don't like peppermint?" She smoothed his hair down, "It's a shame. I like you, Spiderboy." Peter's eyes fluttered, closing.
When he woke up, he hadn't a clue as to where he was.
The walls were cement, dirty, and disgusting. Peter's body ached. The drug they had used on him still burned in his veins. He gagged, vomit spewing from his mouth. The teen shivered. The only three articles that Peter had on was a tank top, a pair of shorts, and his underwear. He shifted, chains clinging him to the freezing wall. It was hard to relax. The chains that pulled against his already aching wrists. The ones wrapped around his ankles did no justice in holding him up. He desperately tried to pull himself up, only falling, his wrist popping out of his socket. Peter let out a cry in pain, trying to shift back to a position where he was comfortable, but that was futile. He could only hang there painfully. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he drooped his head.
The metal door in front of Peter creaked opened, "Oh kleine Spinne, wir haben dich gefangen." The woman spoke, Peter recognized the dialect from when he had gone to Germany with Tony. This woman was speaking German, and while he couldn’t understand what she was saying, he knew that he was in trouble. “Well, well, well, little one. I see that the peppermint oil didn’t take so kindly to you, did it?" She smirked, "Spiders hate peppermint. I see that you truly take after a spider." She walked over toward him, grasping onto his elbow. "What did you do?" The woman pulled his wrist upwards, tsking. "You've been awake for two seconds, and you've already managed to hurt yourself." She popped his wrist back into place, causing the teen to stifle out a sob. The woman had black hair. Her curls reminded Peter of MJ's, and he hated that. He didn't want the woman to look like anything but a monster. The woman grasped his arm, twisting it until his veins showed. She buried an IV into the crook of Peter's elbow, which caused the teenager to wince, squeezing his eyes closed.
He had always hated needles. He hated needles when he was four and had to get his tonsils out. He hated needles when he had to go to the dentist when he was six and had to get a cavity filled. May did scold him for eating so much candy during Halloween. He learned to brush his teeth the hard way. He hated needles when he was nine when May and Ben had to take him to the hospital after playing at Skip's apartment. Peter still hated needles, but recently, he was allowed to get away from them for the most part. Thanks to Spiderman.
"No! No! S-stop it. Stop! What is that!?" He squirmed, trying to get away from whatever was in the IV bad. The woman, who Peter now deemed her as Lilith, rolled the clip of the IV open, allowing for a clear liquid to climb up the tube. Peter watched the liquid enter his body, although, this time, it did not burn. It took a few moments for the mystery drug to kick in, but he felt hazy, his eyes felt heavy, and his tongue felt numb. He felt sick but strangely good.
Lilith pulled out a scalpel, "Now let's see if the spider is poisonous." She pressed the scalpel to his collarbone. Peter felt the sharp blade cut his skin, but it didn't hurt. He felt like butter, and the scalpel was the butter knife. He couldn't feel the pain, and he watched blood pour down his chest, soaking his tanktop. It was troubling, but Peter only floated. Was he dying? Was he already dead? Peter didn’t know the answer, but whatever this was, it was peaceful. This in-between state that Peter would soon crave over and over again to living in his reality.
Lilith had finally left him after collecting a few vials of his blood. Peter didn't know what it was for exactly. His brain hadn't connected the words that she had said to him yet. Most of Peter's wounds had started to clot, and he was thankful for that because he didn't want to ruin his tank top. Aunt May would kill him for that. Blood already soaked his tank top, and he hadn't realized it. Peter wasn't aware of the time. He didn't know how long it had been since Lilith had brought him to this hell. He wondered if Tony knew where he was. He wondered if May did.
They did not.
Tony was still in the lab, fiddling with Peter's design. It had been a few hours since Peter had gone home, but the kid hadn't texted him. He usually texted him when he got home. It was probably nothing, right? Even though Tony didn't have spider-senses, he had Dad senses, and something felt wrong. "Friday? Is Peter at home?"
"No, sir. He is at the abandoned fish cannery."
The brunet furrowed his brows, "Pull up his location. Track his vitals." A blue screen popped up in front of Tony, showing him the location. His vitals next to the map.
"There are no vital reading on Peter Parker at this moment."
"Well, pull up the last goddamn known vitals that he had!" He huffed, running a hand through his hair. "Call Pepper too." Tony felt like he couldn't breathe. Panic set in. "Shit. Shit. The last goddamn known readings were ten minutes after he left." He tapped his chest, allowing for the armor to wrap around his body. After a few rings, Pepper answered.
"Tony? What's wrong? What is it?" She sounded worried.
"Peter...he..." He struggled to find the words.
"Breathe, Tony. In and out." Pepper breathed with her fiance. "What happened, Tony?"
"Peter got kidnapped. I need you to get every SHIELD agent, every Avenger, e-everyone looking for him. I need you to call his Aunt too. I can't-"
"Of course, Tony. Hey. It's going to be okay. I love you."
"I love you too." He hung up the phone. Tony was inbound to the cannery. He crashed through the window, his repulsors ready to blast. There was no one there. Tony started to look around, his breath hitching when he saw the suit discarded on the ground. He picked it up, clenching a fist as he saw a hole in it. Tony knew that Peter took care of his suit. A bullet casing on the ground. It would coincide with the hole in his suit. Who would shoot at Peter? And then take him? He felt anger. No. He felt rage. Tony shot at the chair in the middle of the room, "Fuck!"
He had to find his kid. He had to.