Nothing for you
Tony fell forward, grasping open air in disbelief.
"No! No, no, no, no- Peter!"
He scrambled to his feet, ignoring unbelievable pain as he whirled to find the kid. Nothing. He was gone.
Tony gasped for air, breathing hard, his throat and chest tightening up on him. He turned around with pure terror in his eyes, his gaze finding Dr. Strange who was leaning against the rock.
"Where-" Tony cried out, his voice trailing off into dismay, horror floating over them like a dark cloud as the 'guardians of the galaxy' gathered to look at the spot where Peter had dissapeared, well aware they were one person short.
Mantis had tears in her eyes. Quill was staring at the spot where the portal had closed and Drax was staring at the ground.
"Tony, I'm sorry," Strange said quietly.
"No," Tony shook his head, "no, he's gotta be here. Strange he's got to-" Tony whirled, turning around and around in circles, scanning every speck of dust, every rock until his knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
"No..." Tony pleaded, his hands shaking as he brought them to his head. "Oh God...Peter."
Peter hit the ground rolling. He cried out in pain, groaning as he came to a stop.
"Take me back!" Peter yelled, forgetting who he was dealing with. He had landed on his stomach and Peter turned onto his back with a glare plastered to his face. "Take me back right-"
He instantly blanched at the sight of the titan towering over him. Peter choked on his next breath in, sitting up on his elbows and scrambling backward.
Thanos watched him curiously, slowly backing Peter into the wall.
"Stay away from me," Peter hissed, crawling backward until he ran out of room and was forced into a corner. He had no where else to go.
Peter lifted up his arm desperately to fire a web and Thanos simply raised his gauntlet. Peter's web never fired and the shooters started getting tighter around his wrists. Peter winced, trying to yank his arms from the invisible grasp. He grit his teeth, the contraptions buckling in on his wrists, digging deeper. They finally snapped before they could break his wrists, fizzing out with a spark.
Peter looked up in fear, pressing his back against the wall as his arms were released. He took a deep breath.
"So are you gonna kill me?" he said breathlessly, his chest rising and falling abnormally fast.
"You're scared," Thanos observed.
"I wouldn't say scared," Peter said sarcastically. "More like very, very concerned about the glowey rocks on that golden hand thingie? And when I get concerned, my- my heart tends to beat faster? That's how...being a human works." Peter gulped.
He always rambled when he got scared. Talking was one of his strengths. Tony had told him that. Mr. Stark had once said that he could talk a criminal to death if he really tried to. Peter figured that wouldn't work with the titan.
"Stark called you Peter. That's your name isn't it?"
"How do you know Tony?" Peter snarled. Tony...Tony was looking for him. Tony wouldn't stop until he found him.
"Answer the question," Thanos snarled, snapping Peter away from his soothing thoughts and back into his harsh and terrifying reality.
Peter bit his lip, about to mouth off but something in the titan's tone made him rethink his decision. He hissed quietly, "Yeah, no crap Sherlock, my name's Peter." His slight jab didn't have the intent he wanted thanks to his trembling voice.
Then Peter repeated his question boldly, "Now how do you know Tony?"
Thanos smiled and it was downright unsettling. "I like you," he said.
"I'm flattered," Peter said, still not daring to move.
"I'm not going to kill you Peter," Thanos said, straightening. Peter realized how tense he had been and forced himself to relax despite the circumstances.
"Why am I not thrilled?" Peter scoffed quietly, anything but reassured. When the titan didn't say anything, Peter forced his voice to work, tired of Thanos just staring creepily at him, as if he was observing him.
"I'm not a lab rat," Peter snapped, taking advantage of his sudden boldness, or his sudden idiosyncrasy, whichever one it was. "Where am I?"
Thanos laughed. "Very curious. Tell me, do you usually conceal your fear with humor?"
"Are you saying I'm funny?" Peter questioned. He forced a laugh, "Look maybe this therapy session approach works with other people, but not with me. You're a psycho. You took me from my family," he snarled, holding back tears. "Send me back. Right. Now."
"I want to show you something," Thanos decided, completely ignoring Peter's request. He got up from where he had been crouched, stepping back and motioning for Peter to follow him.
"Ohhh no," Peter laughed weakly, shaking his head. "Nice try. I'm not going anywhere with you," Peter snarled, pushing himself into the corner.
A certain darkness came over the titan's face and Peter instantly regretted his words. Thanos frowned, and the gauntlet glowed.
Peter waited for pain, for something- but nothing came. He took a deep breath- he couldn't. He couldn't take a deep breath. Peter suddenly couldn't breathe. His chest locked up and Peter looked up in a mix of shock and agony, clutching his chest that felt like it was on fire. It was burning inside of him and Peter couldn't even scream.
He choked and gasped, writhing on the ground, awful sounds of pain coming from his mouth. It felt like someone was squeezing his rib cage together, putting so much pressure on his heart like they were wringing it in their hands. Peter clawed at the ground, his body shaking, still unable to breathe.
"Stop-" he gasped out, his eyesight growing fuzzy, his head exploding with pain like someone had mistaken it as a punching bag. Peter could barely hold himself upright. His hands were shaking and his head dipped, his mouth still opening and closing, trying to take in air.
Then suddenly the purple stone's light died down and Peter could breathe again. The massive pressure released and Peter gasped on the ground, coughing, curling on his side. His body was still shaking as his lungs tried to make up for the air he had lost. Peter was still clutching his chest and taking breaths to make sure he still could. The titan was standing in front of him and Peter looked up slowly, his eyes wide with fear.
"I wasn't asking," Thanos said simply.
Peter slowly got to his feet, leaning against the wall for support, a hand still grasped over his heart.
"Good," Thanos smiled. Peter had no choice but to follow Thanos through the ship and they disappeared into a dark hallway.
Tony held his head in his hands on the ship. Quill had a nice ship, he would give him that, but Tony was too much in shock to ask what all the new technology was and how they could jump to different galaxies etc.
Strange was next to him and Tony looked over at the necklace that was still around his neck. "He didn't take it," Tony said.
Strange looked down sadly, "No... he didn't."
"Why?" Tony asked. "Why'd he take Peter. There was an infinity stone right there! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy he's not one step closer to destroying the universe, but...why did he take..."
"I-I don't know Tony," Strange said.
"Because he killed my sister."
Strange and Tony turned and see Nebula, the one who had come in and done the most damage to Thanos- who she called 'father'?
"What?" Tony asked.
"My sister, Gamora, she was in love with the idiot in the front seat. One of the Gaurdians. She was captured and he went to Vormir to get the soul stone. He got the stone and Gamora never came back."
"Did he kill her?" Strange asked softly.
"I imagine so."
"Does Quill know?" Tony asked.
"I- I don't know if he's figured it out yet," Nebula said slowly. She shifted her weight, leaning against the side of the ship. She sighed, "She was his favorite until she betrayed him. With me gone, no one else is by his side. I suspect he wants Peter to fill her place. He's always eager to convince people that his plan is humane and unavoidable."
"Peter won't listen to him," Tony said firmly. "He'll probably be a brat, the idiot he is."
Nebula's expression grows dark. "That won't end well for him."
"So we have to find him," Tony said. "Is there any way we can track the portal?"
"No. But we can track an energy pulse made by the stones," Nebula said.
Tony looked up, "You can do that?"
"How do you think Thanos has tracked down all the stones?" Nebula raised an eyebrow.
Tony made a face before he asked, "Do you have any idea where he might have taken him? Anywhere?"
"Thanos has a mothership," Nebula said slowly. "He might have taken the kid there. With the right equipment I may be able to locate it."
"I've got to have it back in my lab. Between this ship and my tech, I'm sure we can get a strong enough signal," Tony said.
"Tony," Strange said, putting a hand on his arm. "You have to call Cap."
The flip phone had been in his pocket for almost 2 years. When he went to bed it went on his dresser, and then he put it in his pocket again. He kept it charged and kept its ringer on and the volume all the way up.
He had been on the run with Natasha, Sam, and Wanda for a very, very, long time. Too long.
Bouncing between one star hotels in the middle of no where, staying off of the governments radar, and trying to make enough money through small town jobs to stay afloat...wasn't the best 2 years of his life.
Wanda had gone off to Scotland, Cap suspected with Vision, and she checked in once in a while. Then, receiving a distress call from her at the last second, they had shown up at just the right time to save Vision who was being attacked by God knows who. They brought him back onto the jet and took off again, nursing the androids wounds.
Vision and Wanda revealed that Tony was missing. Steve hadn't heard that name in a long time. Nat did some internet searching and found footage showing him and that Spider kid fighting with the same people that had shown up and attacked Vision. It seemed like they both had gone up in that space ship and never came back down. Now that Earth had lost it's best defender, it was time for them to come out of the shadows whether the government liked it or not.
Nat was flying for right now, Sam next to her in the cockpit. Steve was sitting in the back of the jet, in the seat against the wall. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his beard that had been getting thicker by every month.
Suddenly he felt a buzzing beneath his hand and Steve looked down dismissively. Then his gaze snapped back and he grabbed the phone that was lying beneath his hand. He picked it up and read the name that was blinking on the front screen.
Tony
Steve flipped it open and slowly put it to his ear.
"Rogers?"
"Tony..." he said slowly.
"Thank God," Tony said, sounding genuinely relived. "Meet me at the compound."
"What- Tony, what about Ross-" Steve asked. That man would try and through them back in jail the minute he set eyes on them.
"Ross can go to hell. Meet me at the compound," Tony repeated, seemingly through gritted teeth.
"Okay," Steve said. Tony hung up.
"Nat?" Steve called. She twisted in her seat and Steve gave her a smile, "We're going home."
"Tarmac looks empty. I'm landing," Nat called.
Steve grabbed the piece of leather from the top of the ship and steadied himself, the ship landing softly. The ramp lowered and Cap stepped off the ship. Then he froze.
"Hands up!"
"On your knees Captain!"
At least 30 men had popped out of cars and from behind storage containers and landing gear. They had all the guns pointed at him and Steve's heart dropped. His chest tightened, his hand itching to go to his shield, knowing it wouldn't do any good.
"By orders of General Ross you are under arrest for treason!"
Steve slowly put his hands behind his head when suddenly there was a roar from behind him.
He barely had time to look up before he was forced to stumble back as Tony landed on one knee with so much force he cracked the tarmac. His old friend stood, gleaming in his suit, and the helmet melted away. He stood between Steve and the agents, who were unsure if they should still be pointing a gun at Iron Man.
"In case you haven't noticed," Tony shouted, "Earth is under attack. You want to shoot Iron Man, go for it. You want to shoot Captain America? Go through me. If any of you fire, I will blast you into next week do you understand me?"
"We're under orders sir," one of the men mumbled, his gun still raised.
Tony shot a blast, knocking his gun out of his hands, "And I'm giving you new ones. We're at war. Bigger than any of you will ever know and right now, I need all the help I can get. The Avengers are not finished," Tony said through gritted teeth, making Cap straighten in pride.
"And I, would like to try and save the world. So if you want to be the one to screw that up, be my guest. No one? Thought so," Tony snarled.
The agents shifted uncomfortably, some guns lowering immediately.
Tony looked back at Cap, making eye contact with him for the first time in 2 years. "No one touches him or anyone on that ship. Do I make myself clear?"
No one answered.
Tony lifted his hand, his palm glowing and the suit's back opened, pointing at least 20 missiles right at the men who grew pale.
"Do I make myself clear?" he said firmly. Cap knew that tone. Tony was so close to snapping. It's when he got quiet is when things were bad.
"Yes sir," echoed throughout the ranks.
"Tell Ross I'm in charge and if he doesn't like it, go cry to the president. Exact words," Tony reminded them. The agents got into their cars and drove away.
The minute they were out of sight, the missiles sank back into Tony's suit as he turned around to Steve.
"Tony," Steve smiled.
"Good to see you Steve," Tony said breathlessly. He wasn't looking too good. He was shaking, gasping for breath, and the look in his eyes was empty and in pain. He had just covered it up with anger. Suddenly his suit shattered and Tony fell forward.
Steve caught him as the suit scattered along the floor. Tony took a ragged breath, clutching his side, his fingers coming back bloody.
"Oh God- Tony! Tony!" Steve supported his friend, moving Tony's hands to reveal a stab wound.
"Good thing they didn't actually fire," Tony murmured. "I was already so hurt by that landing. I ripped the crappy stitches."
Steve shook his head, laughing as he lowered Tony to the ground, taking off his jacket to tie around the wound. "You bluffed."
"Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to protect you." Tony cracked a smile, groaning, "Those missiles were fake. It took all my effort to keep a literal tissue layer covering with the suit. My nanoparticles are running out."
"Thank you Tony," Steve said, clapping him in the shoulder.
Nat came down the ramp, stopping by Tony's side.
"Hey Romanov. Miss me?"
"A bit, yeah," she cracked a smile. Her gaze fell on his wound and she batted Steve in the shoulder. "Tony! Steve, get him inside-"
Steve looped an arm around Tony and helped him to his feet, gently pressing a hand to his wound on top of Tony's since he was shaking. Tony gave him a thankful glance as Cap helped him limp towards the entrance.
"Wanda and Vision and Sam..." Tony said weakly.
"They're right behind us," Nat assured, walking quickly alongside Tony and Steve.
"I've got some friends as well," Tony winced, gesturing to the weird looking ship off the right. "We can all have a play date. They're from space."
Steve stopped at the door, putting his hand on the scanner, before he realized it probably wasn't going to open. To his surprise the door clicked and glowed green and Nat pushed it open.
His expression must have shown his shock because Tony let out a low laugh, "I didn't change the locks."
"Why?" Steve asked.
Tony smirked, "Too much work." Steve knew he was joking and he pushed past the second door with a shake of his head.
"TONY!"
Tony's head whipped around to see Pepper sprinting forward. She stopped a foot from him, her hands extending to hover around his face before he pulled her forward and kissed her. She hugged him and he kissed her again on the cheek.
"I'm ok- Pepp, I'm ok," Tony assured her with tears in his eyes.
"Where's-" Pepper stopped, and it seemed like she stopped breathing.
Steve watched as Tony broke.
"I- he has him. Thanos- I couldn't stop him-" Tony shook his head and Pepper pulled him into a hug, squeezing her eyes shut and gripping Tony's shoulders hard as she tried to calm him down even though she was not calm herself.
Her voice was shaking as she said, "He's gonna be ok Tony- it- it wasn't your fault-"
Steve didn't know who they were talking about, but he had meant a lot to Tony. Seeing his friend like this- if they were still friends, hurt. As Pepper ran her hands through Tony's graying buzzcut, Steve realized how much Tony had changed.
Burdened, worn down, and exhausted.
All because of Steve. Because he had left. He had left his friend to deal with the entire world, by himself.
Steve knew Tony was in a lot of pain, and just relieved to have Steve here as someone to fight with him. But later, when Tony came to his senses and ripped him a new one, told him off, blaming him for everything, Steve would take it. Because Tony was right.
Because he deserved it.
A couple hours later, Tony had gotten stitched up and limped slowly into the conference room where Nat, Steve, Sam, Wanda, and Vision were sitting.
Strange, Quill, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula were flanking him and he enjoyed watching the confusion on both sides.
Tony sat at his normal seat, across from Cap. He took one look at the seat to his right who used to be Peter's and shook his head, running a hand over his face.
"Tony," Cap said firmly. "What happened?"
Tony looked up with no doubt red eyes, and took a deep breath. "Peter Parker. 16 years old. You know him as Spiderman."
"Queens?" Cap's eyes widened. "He was 14? Airport in Germany? That...kid?"
"Yep," Tony said weakly.
"You brought a 14 year old to a fight?" Steve exclaimed. "What were thinking?"
"I don't want to hear it Rogers," Tony said quietly.
Steve's face contorted into disbelief and rage, spluttering, "he could have been killed-"
"He's like a son to me Rogers!" Tony yelled, "I knew what I was doing!"
Steve backed down and composed himself, the rest of the room shifting restlessly. The whole room was stuffy with tension; it was practically dripping off the walls.
"He snuck aboard the ship that attacked New York- I tried to stop but that kid... there's no stopping him," Tony shook his head with a slight choked laugh.
"He was on titan, saved my life, and it all happened so fast. Thanos opened a portal, had him in his grasp, and was gone. He took him. And we need to find him, now, before that bastard hurts him or-" Tony trailed off, not able to finish that sentence.
"We'll find him Tony," Cap said quietly after a respectful moment of silence. "I promise."
Tony looked up angrily. "I hate how two faced you are."
Steve looked up in shock.
Tony wasn't done, "And no offense, but your 'word' means jack squat to me."
It was like Steve knew this was coming and he sat up straighter. Somehow that made Tony angry; he almost wanted him to fight back. It was harder to yell at him when Cap was ready for it- or wanted it.
"I told you. Years ago, I told you that up there," Tony raised his finger and shook his head. "I said that's the endgame. I asked you how we were expected to beat that. You said 'together'. But that didn't happen, did it? And I said what if we lost? You said we'll do that together too," Tony quoted him angrily, his voice shaking.
"Well guess what Rogers? We lost." Tony slammed a shaking hand down on the table. Then he stabbed his finger into the center of his chest, "I lost. We all lost."
Quill looked down at his face, no doubt thinking about Gamora.
Tony grit his teeth, "I lost the closest thing I've ever had to a son. And you weren't there. You left me, left the team- no, you took half the team with you. And trust me Rogers, I get that you had your own opinions and you didn't like the rules. Frankly, I still don't give a crap about the government, and you know I've never been a rule follower but I did what you couldn't."
Tony stood, his hands gripping the table so hard his knuckles turned white, swaying from exhaustion, "I sucked up my pride and my reckless nature that you always hated and I made the choice for the team. So that when one day, when this happened, we weren't split up, running from the law. So that even if we were confined to a certain curfew, we could do what we were made to do. What the world was counting on us to do."
Steve looked down and Tony snarled, "But no. You were selfish and refused to even listen me, or help me out. Compromise even-" Tony pointed loosely at Steve, laughing with not a speck of humor.
"I don't think that's in your vocabulary Rogers, it's all black and white with you." He put up his hands as if he was announcing something in mock alertness, "We're not in the 60's anymore, we're in the real world now."
"Tony I- I know what I did was wrong. I can't take that back. But I can fix it. I promise, I can," Steve insisted.
"Fix what? There's nothing to fix. See, you've shattered something beyond repair. I have nothing for you," he shrugged, holding out his hands, stumbling in place when his right knee gave out.
"I have nothing for you. I have no respect, I have no compassion, no forgiveness for what you did to me, for what you did to this team, for what you did to all of us. And better yet, I have no leads, no clues, no trails, no way to track down the most powerful entity in the universe that wrenched my kid right out of grasp. I have nothing for you Rogers. I hope you're happy."
Steve sat like a statue, his hand shaking on the table. "Tony I- I'm sorry."
"You're sorry," Tony scoffed, knocking his knuckle against the table, "I'm sorry too."