Mastermind Part 2
Looking out over the abandoned warehouse, Tony doubted whether or not they had gotten the right place. The cracks in the walls were starting to fill in with green, vines sprouting from windows, and the structure looked as though a strong breeze would blow it all over.
"Why is it always abandoned warehouses?" Clint muttered. Tony and Steve had called the others in, as they knew they would all want to help. Peter had wormed his way into all of their hearts, and messing with him was like messing with them all.
"Because they're abandoned, idiot." Natasha rolled her eyes. Steve ignored the two bickering and turned to Tony.
Without a need for prompting, Tony scanned the building for heat signatures. "There seems to be twenty or so guards by the entrance. The others are scattered in smaller groups along the halls, with six guarding what seems to be a single entity towards the west side."
"Price," Sam spat out, and Tony nodded.
"Bruce, what did Helen say about her progress on the antidote?" Steve asked.
"She told me that she was working on modifying the pralidoxime in accordance with the modifications to the parathion, but she couldn't be sure what exactly Price did to the parathion. She would need to know what changes he made in order to make an antidote that would not exacerbate Peter's symptoms."
Steve nodded, and Sam cut in, "I thought she already tried pralidoxime?"
"She did, but it didn't cure him," Tony replied. "It did, however, halt the progression of the poison. She's hoping to find the antidote before the symptoms worsen again."
"And how long would that take? Does Peter even have that much time?" Natasha's voice was a growl. Tony knew she had especially grown a soft spot for the enhanced teen. She even referred to him as her 'baby spider.'
"Depending on what modifications Price made, he might not." Bruce admitted reluctantly. Tony stiffened, but swallowed back the bile rising in his throat.
He exhaled heavily. "Then our best bet is to find Price's notes on a possible antidote."
Steve sent him a questioning look. "Are you sure Price would have one?"
"He might not have created one physically, but there is no way Price would have gone through all the effort of modifying the parathion just to not have a contingency in case of an accidental exposure here at the warehouse." Steve nodded.
"Okay, then we should split up. Wanda, Sam, Bucky, and I will take the group of guards at the main entrance. Clint and Bruce, you take the east and north sides and search for any information you can find on a possible antidote. Tony, Nat, you do the same on the west and south."
Silently, Tony reveled at getting the west side, knowing that was where Price likely was. What he wouldn't give to tear that son of a bitch limb from limb.
Exchanging a nod, the three groups split. Sam, Bucky, and Steve headed to the main entrance to draw the attention of the main guards, while Clint, Bruce, Natasha, and Tony looked for ways in through the sides.
"Any entrances on this side?" Tony asked the spy. She shook her head as she rounded a corner of the building.
"None that I see. So, guess we'll just have to make one." She nodded at Tony, and he used a laser to cut a substantial hole through the side of the concrete. Carefully, he pried the concrete off, making sure to not upset the building's structure. When nothing came crashing down, he a Natasha headed in. Scanning, Tony scouted the quickest route to Price, and motioned for Natasha to follow.
Eventually, the duo reached the hall where two out of the six guards stood. Natasha slinked into the shadows from their spot around the corner, and Tony heard soft thuds as she quickly and quietly took out the two guards.
Making their way to the door, Tony scanned again. Voice low, he spoke so only Natasha could hear him.
"Two guarding the other side of the door, two guarding Price. All armed. They might already know we're here, so let me draw their fire first."
The spy stepped behind Tony, and he braced himself. "Three, two, one," And he kicked the door down.
Ned's foot bounced anxiously as he listened to the metronomic beeping of the heart monitor. He was not sure how long the Avengers had been gone, but he just hoped they would make it back in time. Already, the poison was picking back up, and Peter's oxygen levels had begun dropping.
May buzzed around her nephew anxiously. She flitted between monitors, her eyes flicking to the doors every so often to check for Tony or the others. Suddenly, as she approached the heart monitor, it skyrocketed.
The monitor went crazy as Peter's body began convulsing. May gasped and Ned felt bile in his throat.
The teenager heard May curse, and had to turn away from Peter's seizing body. It felt as though every arch of his best friend's back and convulsion of his limbs sent a shard of ice into Ned's heart. Just as he turned around, Helen burst through the door.
"Oh my god," The doctor's hands flew to her mouth. She sprinted over to Peter.
"Where's Tony!" May all but yelled, tears streaming down her face.
Ned felt tears fall down his own, as he prayed in his head.
Please, Mr. Stark, hurry.
As soon as the door blew in, bullets hailed on him from four directions. Turning his body ever so slightly, he let two of the bullets ricochet off his suit and hit one of the guards. Natasha vaulted over Tony, springing towards the other guard by the door. The two by Price turned their guns on her, and she quickly ducked, letting the bullets hit the guard as she leapt behind him. With two down, Tony sprung forwards and took one the guards' guns, grabbing the now empty hand and twisting the offending arm behind his back.
The guard cried out in pain, and Tony knocked him out with a quick punch to the head. He grabbed Price, who had gotten up out of his chair, by his collar and pinned him against the wall.
Price just smirked, a sickening sight that made Tony want to hurl. "Ah, Mr. Stark!" his eyes glanced over at Natasha, who had taken out the other guard and now had her gun trained on Price, "Miss Romanoff. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Cut the bullshit, Price. Where is the antidote?" It took all of Tony's self control not to bash Price against the wall repeatedly.
Price feigned confusion, raising an eyebrow mockingly. "Now why would I have such a thing?"
This time it was Natasha who spoke up, "Don't play stupid. Here's how it's going to work. You're going to tell us where to find the antidote, or I'm going to shoot you in the head or nuts, your choice."
"You won't kill me, Miss Romanoff." She merely raised an eyebrow at him, holding her gun higher as a way of saying 'try me.'
"If you kill me, the boy is as good as dead. You'll never be able to find the antidote on your own in time." The infuriating smirk was back on his face, and Tony growled low in his throat.
"Technically a shot to the nuts wouldn't immediately kill you, but it will make you wish I had," Natasha smirked back. For the first time, a flicker of fear passed through Price's eyes, but it was quickly masked.
"Yet, you still need me. Shoot me then, see how this all ends. You don't even know if I have an antidote made." Natasha's eyes flicked to Tony, who was weighing the options in his head. It was so tempting to just shoot the evil freak, but he was right- they did need him, at least until they got the antidote.
As if on cue, Clint's voice sounded through the comms.
"Hey, Stark, we found something." Tony's eyes widened, and he saw Natasha's widen from his peripheral.
"Barton, what did you find?" The billionaire held his breath.
"It looks to be some sort of report, detailing the process of modifying the drug." Tony inhaled.
"So you know what he did to it." It was a statement, not a question.
"Well, I don't. But, you guys will. Bruce is looking around the lab, seeing if they have the antidote on hand."
Now it was Tony's turn to smirk. "Take the files, Birdbrain. Cho could use them. If this creep is that organized, he definitely has the antidote on hand." Price's smirk fell, and was instead replaced by a glare.
"You won't find it." Price spat.
"Wanna bet?" Tony pressed the madman harder into the wall. He studied Price's expression.
"It has to be in the main lab." No change in expression. "No, scratch that, side room. Storage?" Price's eyes narrowed into even more of a glare. "Bingo, we have a winner. You got that, Barton?"
"On it." With the affirmation, Tony dropped Price to the ground and turned to Natasha.
"My dear Nat, would you like to do the honors?" Natasha grinned.
"Which head?" she inquired. Tony felt grim satisfaction.
"Surprise me."
The sound of a gunshot, followed by Price's screams of pain were almost too satisfying. After a moment, Clint's voice came back over the comms.
"Got it. Meet me at the center, Stark." and the joy continues.
He turned to Nat briefly. "You good here?"
The spy just hummed. "This guy isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Go, you're the only one fast enough to get back to the tower on time."
Without any further delay, Tony flew back through the door, past the unmoving bodies of the guards. He flew out through the hole he had created earlier and to the front entrance, where he saw Clint approaching through the open doors. In his hand he held a manila folder of files along with three vials.
"We'll wrap these guys up here." Tony nodded, taking the items from Clint and rocketing off.
He put all the power into the thrusters, clutching the antidote and report.
Tony all but rammed into the doors of the medbay, bursting through and immediately finding Helen. He saw Peter convulsing on the bed beside her, and his grip nearly failed in shock and horror. He held on, though, and quickly passed the vials off to the doctor.
"Antidote, found it. Should be same dosage as pralidoxime." She nodded, and hurried back to the IV line. Tony stepped out of the suit, and called the nanotechnology back. He saw Ned crying, eyes averted from the scene. Tony put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, watery eyes meeting his own. He knew Ned could feel his hand shaking.
The shaking continued as Helen administered the antidote through the IV. A small part of Tony questioned why she didn't just inject it, but realized she couldn't with Peter's seizing.
Tony held his breath along with everyone else in the room. Eventually, the seizing stopped and May and Helen went to work, checking his vitals.
After a painful few moments, Helen turned back to Tony, her smile letting his breath release.
"He's going to be okay."