Chapter 29
Luke groaned as he opened his eyes. Looking around, he found Danny and Jessica laid out on the ground beside him. The room they were in was plain and vacant. It clearly wasn't meant to house anyone.
"I feel like shit." Jessica groaned, sitting up and holding her head. "Worse than any hangover I've ever had."
"That's impressive." Danny mumbled into the floor.
"Shut up you ass." she huffed, shoving him.
"As fun as it is to hear you two bicker, we got bigger problems." Luke grunted, pushing himself up off the floor and walking to the door.
"Seems like a poor attempt to keep us hostage if they put us in here." Danny frowned.
"All the better for us." Luke said, pulling back his fist and slamming it into the door and flying back into the wall.
"Holy shit!" Jessica screamed, rushing to Luke's side had his entire arm looked burnt. "What the hell was that?"
"Not as poor an attempt as I thought." Danny winced as he looked over Luke's arm.
"It's a-"
"High powered electric field." Norman's voice cut off Luke's reply. "It would be very foolish to keep three powerful individuals like you in such a simple room. Don't worry though, you won't be here long. I just have some things to take care of first."
"You better hope your little field holds up Osborn." Luke growled. "Cause it won't be pretty if I get my hands on you."
"You'll find I'm not very concerned with what actually happens to any of you."
They could hear the dismissal in his voice.
"I'm more concerned with the idiot 'billionaire, playboy, philanthropist' and the special little spider I've managed to catch. Enjoy your stay."
The sound of the speaker crackled out as Jessica erupted into curses.
Danny felt around his ear, taking note for the first time that his communicator was missing. Unless Jessica or Luke had theirs, there was no way to reach Frank.
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Felicia wiped her eyes as she continued down the tunnel. They had no idea where Peter and Tony had gone. They had no idea if continuing down the tunnels would even help them at all. No one knew where they all went anyway! What if they never found them? What if Norman already had them? What if whoever Norman was working for had his own plans for Peter? It wouldn't be the first time someone would think they could experiment on him.
She wiped her eyes again.
She wanted her Peter.
If-no-when they got him back, he was going to be on house arrest until she deemed him safe enough to return to the outside.
It shouldn't be to hard to keep him indoors. He'd have unpacking to do in his and Wade's new apartment after all.
She sniffled.
"Hey," Bucky said, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into a hug. "We're going to find him. I won't just leave one of my idiot brothers behind."
"One of your brothers?" Felicia asked, her face buried in his chest.
"Yeah." Bucky chuckled. "Steve is idiot brother number one, Peter is idiot brother number two."
Felicia giggled as she clutched his shirt tighter, enjoying the warmth of his arms around her.
"Usually Peter would have something snarky to say at this point." she smiled.
"All the more reason to keep going. We've got to find him and take care of this Norman guy. We've all got lives to get back to that don't involve a lunatic with a Halloween fetish."
"Yeah. I've got to tell him how you held my dainty figure in your strong, masculine arms while I cried for him." she snickered as Bucky choked.
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Wade Wilson knew fury. He knew the dark desire revenge could be. He had given into that desire often enough to consider himself an expert.
Having Peter taken from him brought that dark desire front and center. He itched to pull the triggers of his guns, or swing the sharp blades of his katanas through someone's flesh.
His thoughts were dark, and bloody. His ideas involved trails of blood and dismembered body parts. No, Peter wouldn't like it, but he didn't have to know either. Wade would never enact such things in front of his baby boy.
Still, if Wade was seething, murderous vengeance, he wasn't sure what to describe the thing next to him as.
At this point, Wade had seen Matthew Murdock in various stages of emotions, but this was an entirely different beast.
For the first time ever, Wade realized the 'Devil' in Matt's vigilante title might mean more than he thought.
A darkness seemed to roll off his shoulders. He was to silent to be natural.
Even the brat had noticed.
While he hadn't been really interested in talking to either of them after the big reveal of Spider-Man's identity, the kid was even quieter now.
"So, I can't believe I'm the one asking this, but what’s our plan?" Wade said, breaking the tense silence.
Matt stopped completely, his face turned straight ahead.
"You two will get Peter and Stark. I will handle whoever's there."
"You wait a sec-"
Wade grunted as he was slammed into the wall, Matt's arm buried in his throat.
"You listen to me Wilson, I won't repeat myself. You two will get Peter and Stark and get them to safety. We have no idea what kind of shape we're going to find them in. Considering our situation, I seriously doubt either of them would be any use to us. I need to know Peter is safe. I trust you to follow directions and get him out.
"Bu-" Wade choked as Matt pressed harder.
"My son was taken from me. You may be dating him Wilson, but he was my kid first. I made a promise to his aunt to get him out. I can die, Wade, you can't. If anyone can make sure Peter gets out, it's you. That’s always going to be your role. Peter is always going to be your job to protect. If you decide to ignore me and fight whoever we find, you better hope I die there. If I don't, I'll make it a personal goal to find a way to make sure you do. I'll do what I have to, regardless of what it means for me."
Matt growled as he released Wade and shoved him to the side before turning to Harley.
"The same thing goes for you. Get Stark out."
"And if they're fine?" Wade coughed, standing up fully. "You know Pete isn't just gonna stand aside."
"Then you better make sure he's not alone."
Even after being surrounded by Avengers, looking at Daredevil, Harley felt he could finally see what being a real hero really meant.
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Tony winced as his eyes cracked open to bright lights. His head throbbed and he felt sore. Peeling his eyes open slowly, he took note of his state. He was in a propped up position, but strapped to a metal table. Across from him, in the same situation, was a still unconscious Peter.
"Peter? Peter! Wake up kid!"
"He's not going to hear you, Stark. I was very careful about how much sedative I gave him over you. I wanted us to have a few moments together."
Tony growled as Norman stepped up beside him.
"I have to say, while I was hoping to catch two birds with one stone, you weren't the other bird. Still, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Who was crazy enough to let you out?" Tony glared.
"There was a time I would have risen to that bait, but I believe that out of the two of us, I'm not the one who has anything to worry about." Norman smirked, moving over to Peter.
"He's something else, isn't he?" Norman asked, running a finger down Peter’s cheek. "A marvel for sure."
"Don't touch him!"
"Has he ever really discussed himself with you?" Norman asked, moving away from Peter, ignoring Tony.
"He's done research on himself, you know. Extensive research. He's accessed my servers to an extent Harry doesn't even know about."
Tony frowned, wondering where this was going.
"You know, the spider's venom he received was never meant for human experimentation.....at least not when he was bitten. My people had run multiple tests on them and had been recording the changes in their poison. It was a secret project, so there were no time constraints.
One of the very few projects I gave free reign to.
I needed it to be perfect before anyone could know about it....and they were making progress all the time." Norman looked over at a large monitor detailing information on the spiders.
"What was the project supposed to be?" Tony asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Once properly developed, they would be harvested to create a new breed of super soldiers...ones that would put Steve Rogers to shame. It isn’t a coincidence that Peter's abilities are greater than Captain America's. That was always the point.
"You just said it was never meant for human experimentation!"
"I said the spider that bit Peter wasn't meant for human experimentation. None of the spiders in that batch were even remotely ready to be harvested. Truthfully, the fact he’s even alive is incredible. The venom literally altered his DNA.” Norman paused, looking from the screens to Peter.
“He’s far to precious to be out unsupervised. You had no idea what you had with him.” Norman said, glaring at Tony. “He nearly died the time he saved your ass by protecting your precious Stark property!”
“How about when you attacked him!”
Norman laughed as Tony fumed, guilt over the entire event of Peter’s Homecoming night gnawing at him.
“If you ever thought Peter’s life was really in danger, you’re more of an idiot than I took you for. While I didn’t know who was under the mask, I would never have killed them. They were far more valuable alive than dead. That said, he wasn’t going to come in quietly, and his abilities made close combat difficult to achieve. Naturally, I had to up the ante to acquire him. Admittedly, I underestimated the intelligence under the mask. It wasn’t simply brute force that beat me. Peter’s mind works amazingly fast to try and analyze everything around him.”
Tony didn’t respond, he didn’t need to. He was fully aware of the brilliance of Peter’s brain. While he would never flat out say anything to Harley, if Peter had decided to return to him and SI, he would easily put him as the main inheritor to the company.
Harley was smart and could most likely run the business perfectly but , he could be rash and come off a bit abrasive. Peter on the other hand, was extremely intelligent with a calm and friendly personality. Out of the two, people would most likely be more willing to deal with Peter than Harley…..kind of like how people were more willing to deal with Pepper than him.
Still, none of that mattered if they didn’t get out of here.
“Oh yes, you know all about him though, don’t you?” Norman sneered, sarcasm heavy in his voice.
“You know all about his perfect grades from the moment he entered school till he left. You know all about his life before his uncle passed.”
“I know they haven’t had it easy-“
“All you know about him is what any idiot can look up. You know nothing about what the Parker’s have experienced emotionally. Peter and Harry have been friends since they were very young. I’ve watched Peter grow up. I was around when he lost his parents. I went with my wife and son to the funeral. His parents were brilliant scientists.”
Norman chuckled, looking at Peter.
“He definitely took after them.”
Taking a breath, Norman moved to a small table and picked up a glass cube.
“I had hoped spending time with Peter would have been good for Harry. Maybe get him on the right track. Unfortunately, Harry will never amount to anything.”
“He seems to be running Oscorp just fine .” Tony sneered. “Better than you.”
“I’ll give it to him on one thing.” Norman said, walking up to Tony. “He made a smart move hiring Peter for the pharmaceutical department.”
Tony glared as Norman stopped before him. A sly grin spread across the man’s face as he held up the glass cube.
“Anyway, what do you think?”
Tony looked into the cube, taking in the small spider suspended inside. There was nothing special in the way it looked, but he had a pretty good idea of its importance.
“I’m sure you know why I’m showing you this. It’s the very spider that bit Peter.” he twirled the glass.
“It was found on the floor after the field trip had ended. At the time, we all assumed the spider had just died being outside of it’s controlled environment.”
Norman chuckled at himself.
“I’m honestly ashamed of myself for taking so long to put the pieces together on where Spider-Man might have gotten his abilities. Of course, when I did, I tried to offer him a place as a partner. With his abilities, given by me by the way, we could have made a formidable team.”
“How’d that work out for you?”
“It wasn’t to surprising.” Norman shrugged. “Spider-Man had chosen the path of the hero long before I got to him. It was just disappointing.”
“When did you figure out it was Peter under the mask?”
“Oh, I have you to thank for that.” Norman laughed.
“Think back, Tony Stark . Think back to the early days of a certain webslinger. Think back to a moment in time where you failed him by not trusting him over your own issues.”
Tony frowned, feeling like he should know where Norman was going, but missing something.
“Does the moniker of ‘Vulture’ ring any bells?”
Tony’s eyes widened.
“Oh yes. He was willing to keep Peter’s secret, until he was offered his freedom. It’s amazing what people will do for the chance to get what they want. For Toomes it was his family, for me, well, he’s right across from you.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“And you’re so much better?” Norman asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Have you not been pushing him to rejoin your little hero group? From what I’ve gathered, Spider-Man has never seemed to be interested in joining the Avengers. In fact, I’d say he went out of his way to avoid you.”
Tony’s jaw tightened.
“I guess my return worked more in your favor than you want to admit.” Norman smirked, moving back over to Peter.
“He should be waking up soon, then the real fun will begin.”
“What are you planning?”
“Well, I can’t let him out to wander the streets, now can I? No. So, he’ll have to be kept inside. Luckily, I’ve got some….. volunteers testing out some new features I plan to use in Peter’s room.”
“You’re going to keep him locked up like some prisoner? Yeah, I’m sure that will work out for you.”
“Well, it will only be temporary.” Norman shrugged. “Once he learns his place, he’ll be able to leave his room.”
Tony growled, pulling against his restraints.
“How cute, Stark. Do you really think you’ll be able to break those without your fancy suit?”
“You’re going to regret this Osborn!”
Norman just smirked, looking over at Peter as he started to stir.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank grunted in annoyance as he checked over his gun for, what felt like, the hundredth time.
He was growing restless, not to mention the increasing feeling something was wrong.
“Hell with this.” he said, standing up.
“This stealth shit ain’t working for me.”
Grabbing his bag, Frank left the rooftop and headed off where he had watched the members of the Defenders go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We gotta get out of here.” Jessica huffed, stalking around their prison cell.
“Well, until we figure out a way around that field, we arn’t going anywhere.” Danny sighed.
“It would be nice to have the nerd with us.” Luke mumbled.
“That little shit is definitely taking me out drinking once this is all over.” Jessica grit her teeth, kicking the wall to relieve frustration.
Danny watched as she stalked off toward the other side of the room, not bothering to look where her foot had made contact with the wall.
He looked however.
His eyes widened at the small dent and hairline crack in the wall.
Maybe they weren’t as trapped as they thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter groaned as he struggled to regain consciousness. His head hurt slightly, and his eyes felt heavy.
Making to move his hand to rub his eyes, Peter snapped to awareness as he felt the restraints work against him.
“Wha-Tony?” Peter croaked out, throat dry.
“Peter!”
“Isn’t that cute.” Norman sneered. “Tony Stark all concerned for Peter Parker’s well being.”
“I’m not the one that drugged him and strapped him down!”
Peter took the two men arguing as a chance to fully assess his whereabouts and his situation.
He and Tony were both restrained and at the mercy of a psycho.
‘ Great. ’
Peter internally huffed.
He needed to figure out a way out of the restraints, but he could still feel the drugs in his system. He wouldn’t be anywhere near as good in a fight right now as he would be normally.
Still, he had to chance it.
He couldn’t let Tony stay here.
Norman wasn’t after Tony, despite their long time rivalry. That made Tony expendable. Expendable people usually didn’t last in these situations and despite their history, Peter couldn’t let anything happen to the man.
Spider-Man didn’t abandon anyone.
Twisting his wrists, Peter tested the strength of the restraints and various angles and points. Infuriatingly though, they were solid at all points.
“Well now, Peter.” Norman smiled. “Let’s help you get a better look at things.”
Peter watched as Norman moved to the side of the table and pressed a button. The table gave a slight vibration as it tilted forward, putting him into an almost standing position.
“There we go. Now we can all properly see each other.”
Peter held back his glare, refusing to give anything away as to how he was handling things.
“I’m so glad to see you again, Peter.” Norman smiled, an unsettling scenarity in the action. “Our time together was so short last time.”
“You’re the one who left.” Peter replied.
“Well, I had a few things to take care of.” Norman shrugged. “But everything is how it should be now.”
Norman moved directly into Peter’s eyeline, his expression sent Peter’s Spider-Sense screaming.
Norman reached out a hand, grabbing Peter’s chin roughly.
“Now, Peter, how about we finish what we st-”
“Osborn!”
Peter froze.
He knew that voice.
He knew that voice so well.
The missing puzzle piece had finally fallen into place
Norman grinned before dropping his hand and pulling Peter’s mask back over his face.
“Can’t have just anyone knowing your little secret, now can we?” Norman chuckled before turning to the new arrival.
“I apologize for the lack of a proper delivery but ,” Norman chuckled. “I don’t believe we’ll have to wait much longer. As you can see, we have something he’ll be very anxious to have returned.”
“We better not.” the man threatened, before turning to both Peter and Tony.
Tony looked between the two men. It was obvious they were talking about Peter, but what business did either of them have trying to lure in Deadpool?
That was who they were after, right?
“I must say, Tony Stark was not who I was expecting to see when I came here.” the man chuckled before focusing his full attention on Peter.
“Hello again, Spider-Man.”
Peter looked at the man before him, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“How’s it going, Fisk?”