Lets not give up
Peter whimpered and rubbed his arm as Bruce pulled the needle away, “sorry, here put that on the wound.” The boy took the gauze and pressed it on the tiny wound where the Doctor had pierced his skin.
“It is really fascinating, your skin looks like that of a human but it has also tiny scales, it is like fish and human skin combined.”
Peter watched as his blood was taken away and laughed humourless, “yes, fascinating. I cannot believe that you are helping them.” Bruce looked a little guilty, “I am not helping them I am keeping you save Peter, or would you rather have one of them poking you with needles and cut off pieces of your skin?”
The boy grimaced and looked away, tears pooled in his eyes, “no, not really.” Bruce sighed and put a hand on his shoulder, “I am sorry I am just trying to help.”
Peter rubbed his eyes and nodded, “I know but it still hurts, I mean not the nick but everything.” The Doctor nodded and pulled his friend into a quick hug, “I am sure Tony is already searching for you.”
Peter smiled at that but there was also sadness in his eyes. He looked around the room and sighed, “you know I used to watch Tony when he was out with his boat.” Bruce checked his pulse so it looked like he was doing something and listened, “really?”
The boy nodded and let out a nervous chuckle, “yes I was curious, he would always come out at night and stare at the stars and he looked so sad,” the boy swallowed and let out a nervous chuckle, “I mean I think he did it’s not like I know what human expressions look like.”
Bruce wrote something down and nodded, “Pepper told me a few things about Tony, his life wasn’t easy.” Peter ran his hand over the cold metal of the examination table he was sitting on, “and still he is very kind.”
Bruce looked at him for a short moment before he went to retrieve the wheelchair, “I don’t know him yet but I hope I will get to know him.” Peter gave him a soft smile and slipped into the chair.
He was rolled back to his prison that apparently could sink into the floor so he was easier to get in and out of it. With a sigh Peter slipped into the cylinder giving Bruce a last sad look before the water swallowed him.
Bruce took a step back and a guard came to place a heavy metal lid on top of the container so Peter wouldn’t escape. The Doctor sighed and was led back to his cell and once again he really hoped Tony or someone would find him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony’s eyes scanned page after page in a speed that would cause everyone else a real bad headache. One of the perks of being a genius.
“Jarvis, this guy said something about Hydra; find out everything about that, except for the mythology part.”
“Very well Sir, do you want to narrow the search down a little more?”
Tony got up from the chair he had sitting on and walked over to the mini fridge and picked up a can of coke. Pepper, after getting out of the hospital and screaming at him for almost an hour, forced him into a hotel since his house was apparently not save anymore.
She even forbade him to drink and Tony to his own surprise obeyed her.
Tony had transferred Jarvis to a high end laptop and got himself a nice suite in a way too expensive hotel. The Wi-Fi was a little shitty at times but Jarvis was able to his job good enough, it was he who was not performing well enough.
Tony opened the can and took a sip, “search for secret organizations or mercenaries, oh and if you are on it find out who this Fury guy is.”
“I will do my best Sir,” the AI responded. Tony nodded and took another sip walking to the window. He had a nice view of the city but he couldn’t see the ocean and he didn’t like that, it felt like he was even farther away from Peter that way.
With a sigh he emptied the can and threw it in the trash. It had been three days and he was still not closer to the boy. Pepper was dealing with the police, the media and the company while he tried find even the tiniest clue on who those assholes were.
At first he had reviewed all the footage of the attack but besides finding out the kind of helicopter and weapons they used he hadn’t got much more. It had been of course his weapons but without the serial number he was unable to track them.
Not even the helicopters since he sold quite a lot of them.
Tony walked into the bathroom and wrinkled his nose as he saw his reflection, “damn I need a shave.” The genius took off his clothes and took a shower before carefully grooming his beard back into shape.
He heard Jarvis calling and so he walked back into the room to sit back down, “what do you got for me Jarv?” The AI opened a few windows on his laptop and Tony frowned.
“This Mister Fury seems to be part of a highly secretive organization that is called S.H.I.E.L.D. Apart from that I found several reports regarding a secret organization called Hydra, the earliest dating back to the Second World War.”
Tony read over those reports his eyes growing wider and wider. It was only when his phone rang that he shrank up. With a confused look he picked up the phone, “unknown number?” He waited but the damn phone didn’t stop ringing, with a sigh he finally picked up.
“Who is this?”
“Mr Stark we talked back in the hospital, you remember?”
Tony typed something on his laptop, “well ah no I actually have no idea so please don’t call again.” He wanted to hang up but the man quickly spoke up.
“Oh so it is just a coincidence that you are hacking our database right now?”
Tony froze, “I am not.” The man on the other end groaned in annoyance and began to say something but Tony was faster and hung up.
He dialled Pepper and was glad that she picked up after only a few seconds, “hey Pep, how is it going?”
They talked for an hour where she told him of the mess they were in and Tony got so frustrated that he offered her the company, like literally. She was the most capable woman there was and he knew no one better than her and gladly she was mad enough to accept the proposal.
Once they finished he checked his mails and smiled as he got a message he had been waiting for. The workers would finish in two days since Tony paid them to work literally all night and day.
His home would be safe once more and his workshop once again usable to him. Once he was back he would make sure that those guys would pay for everything they had done to him and his friends.
With a smile on his face he declined another call from that Fury guy and instead called Rhodey, “hey man, how are you? Listen I may need a favour from you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter watched as Zemo yelled at a female scientist who apparently did something wrong but honestly he didn’t care enough to listen. He had soon noticed that the man was easy to upset and so it was better not to anger him.
It was really weird how cruel humans are to each other. Merpeople were not completely peaceful either but as long as someone belonged to the same cave everyone tried to get along and most of the time it worked but the humans seem to be cruel no matter if they belonged or not.
Peter made a mental note to ask Bruce about human behaviour when Zemo scoffed at the woman before walking over to Peter. The boy tensed immediately. Whenever the man was close, he was glad that they were separated by a few inches of glass.
The thought of this man touching him was revolting and Peter hated that he was so scared of him. Zemo smiled obviously noticing his discomfort, “how do you like it here so far Peter? Are you well fed?”
Peter managed to glare at the man, “I hope you know that you are the worst kind of person there is.” The human let out a laugh and shook his head, “oh boy you know nothing.”
Peter watched as the man laughed and walked away not caring about his misery. With a sigh the boy sunk to the bottom of the cylinder and rubbed his eyes, hopefully his aunt was okay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May swam towards the large cave and one of the guards rolled his eyes but he didn’t stop her from entering. She was only stopped when she was about to enter the throne cave, “I need to speak to the king.”
The guard, May recognized her as Sif one of the few woman who served in their army put a hand on her shoulder. Many gossiped that she dedicated her life to the king because she couldn’t produce fertile eggs but May didn’t care, she was a good mermaid.
“May please calm down there are no news and the king will get angry if you keep pestering him.”
Her tone was soft and her look understanding but it didn’t bring the older any comfort. May let her shoulders slump and put her hands on her face, “tell me Sif is anyone still searching?”
The warrior looked at the sandy floor, “I don’t know.” May scoffed and with a flip of her brown tail she brought some distance between them, “so no, no one is searching for my nephew. Gods above haven’t I lost enough already?”
“What seems to be the matter?”
Sif stood up straight suddenly alarmed, “my queen it is ah it is May again.” May turned to look at the most beautiful mermaid there was, the queen Frigga with her tail that seemed to be made of gold and her silver fins.
People said, she had been locked up until the king wed her, which was why she was so focused on her people, she believed that everyone deserved happiness.
“Oh dear May I am so sorry that your boy has not been found yet,” Frigga said and put an arm around the other mermaid’s shoulder. While May was covered by a normal set of brown woven sea grass that only covered what was needed for modesty, Frigga was covered in something akin to a poncho seemingly weaved from gold.
No one besides royalty would wear this kind of covering since it fulfilled no purpose at all and attracted predators. May looked down not wanting to stare at her queen, “my lady he is my nephew I took him in after his parents died.”
Frigga clicked her tongue and guided her away from the warrior, “so what? He is like a son to you and you care like any mother would, I understand that I worry about my boys too.”
May sighed and nodded swimming next to the queen as she made her way through the caves. The royals lived like everyone else in the caves they had more luxuries surely but apart from that they were on the same level as their people, only better guarded.
“Yes, my lady, but your sons are warriors strong and fierce while my Peter is only strong in his mind, he is a thinker and way too curious for his own good.”
The queen stopped and gave the woman a knowing smile, “Thor is a warrior yes and Loki in his own right too but believe me tragedy can befall us all and I do feel your pain dear, for I once too lost a child.”
May’s eyes widened slightly but she didn’t dare to ask. The queen smiled sadly and took her hands to squeeze them, “worry not dear I shall find out if the search party has made any progress, for you are all my children and I care for you all.”
May looked at her fin, again blinking some tears away, “thank you my queen you are very generous.” To her surprise the mermaid laughed and pulled her into a hug, “this has nothing to do with generosity, like I said I care and it is my duty as queen to look after my people.”
May nodded and went to touch the ground to show her respect but the queen prevented that by grabbing her arm, “none of that nonsense we are not savages anymore, come back again tomorrow and ask for me and I will see you.”
With that the golden mermaid turned around and swam away leaving her subject with a little more hope that she before had dared to feel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony frowned as he looked at the map, “what do you mean they disappeared?” Rhodey rolled his eyes, “I mean what I said we had them but then suddenly we lost them, and the radar was unable to pick them up again.”
Tony shook his head, “how can the military lose three damn helicopters?” Rhodey crossed his arms in front of his chest giving the other man a dry glare, “you really want to go there Tony?”
The genius sighed and shook his head, “no, not really. Send everything to Jarvis maybe he will find something, I will find those bastards I tell you.” His friend grabbed his arm before he could turn and walk away.
“Tony wait, this is not a game, you were attacked and those guys they don’t play around. They will kill you and you would not stand a chance so please Tony, I beg you. Leave this to the professionals.”
The genius tilted his head and smiled at his old friend, “oh Rhodey shouldn’t you know me better than this already?” With that he turned around and walked away, hearing his friend mutter some profanity.
The genius drove to his home and even though the workers were still on it he went inside and down to his workshop. It was good to see it almost restored.
“Jarvis?”
“I’m here Sir.”
Tony licked his lips, “Rhodey was right, wasn’t he? These are dangerous people. They will kill me if they get the chance.”
“Seeing that they already tried I think that highly likely Sir.”
The man exhaled and walked over to his table opening Jarvis’ footage of the attack once more. They had no mercy they were efficient and he had to be to.
To take them down it would most likely take a small army but he would not involve more people in this mess than already were. So he had to be that army.
Tony scoffed, he was no army he was an engineer, a glorified weapons smith. An idea sparked in his mind. Yes, yes he was good in building weapons; maybe, just maybe he would be able to build the best weapon possible.
“Jarvis I want to open a new project in a subfolder inside Peter’s folder, code name Iron man.”