Birth of a hero
“No! No you will not touch me with that thing!”
With a mighty flip of his tail Peter threw the agent against the wall the crack that sounded told him that he most likely broke something.
The merman sat in the corner of a room surrounded by Hydra agents and scientists who tried to sedate him. Gods he had enough of needles.
“We will not harm you, we want an x-ray and if you would keep calm we wouldn’t need to sedate you.”
Peter scoffed, “get away from me, where is Bruce?” One of the scientists sighed, “go get the Doctor.” The agent he talked to nodded and walked away to get the man in question.
The merman eyed the remaining men carefully moving his fin like a cat would move his tail. Bruce arrived a few minutes later raising an eyebrow at the scene.
“What is going on here?”
Peter’s voice shook as he answered, “they want to drug me and put me in this strange machine!” With wide eyes the doctor turned to look at one of the white coats, “what does he mean?”
The man rolled his eyes, “we wanted an x-ray but he freaked out so I tried to sedate him but he keeps hurting our agents. Could you please make him comply?”
The older man groaned and ran a hand through his grey hair, “why didn’t you ask me in the first place? I could have helped.” Without waiting for an answer Bruce walked up to the disturbed boy.
“Listen Peter the procedure is harmless and it will be over quickly if you stay still, let them do this and they won’t poke you with another needle, trust me on this.”
His tail flipped nervously but Peter nodded and Bruce helped him into the wheelchair so he could be moved easier. True to his words the procedure was short and soon enough Peter was back in his tiny prison while Bruce stood outside.
The boy noticed that his human friend looked tired and strained, “how long have we been here?” After a brief silence Bruce just shrugged, “I don’t know there is no clock in my cell and I haven’t seen a calendar hanging around and since my sleep cycle has been completely destroyed I honestly can’t tell anymore. A week, two?”
Peter rested his forehead against the cool glass, “gods if I ever get out of this alive my aunts going to kill me.” Bruce chuckled, “tell me about her.”
The merman smiled fondly as he thought about his aunt, “she took me in after my parents died. I only hatched a few years earlier and wouldn’t have survived otherwise.”
Bruce pulled a chair up to the cylinder and smiled at him, “sounds like a great woman ah mermaid to me.” The boy nodded, “she is and she is probably sick with worry, I bet she is annoying everyone who is not searching for me.”
Bruce chuckled but he quickly rose to his feet as Zemo walked up to them.
“It is always heart-warming to see a man bound with his pet but I need you for a moment Doctor, please come along.”
Peter watched them go with an uneasy feeling in his stomach but he didn’t say anything, it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony was grinning like a mad man as the arc reactor began to glow, step one of his plan was completed and he the other parts of his project were also proceeding well enough.
“Show me the schematics Jarvis,” he muttered as he wired the reactor to the prototype of the gauntlet.
“Sir it appears Miss Potts is here to see you and she appears to be most insistent.”
Tony groaned and put his tools down, “finish those calculations and order the parts I want this finished next week.” The AI of course responded immediately, “of course Sir, but may I advise you to sleep once in a while, your goal indicates that you intent to only sleep thirty seven minutes a day.”
Tony rolled his eyes, “don’t bother yourself with that Jarv.” With that the genius grabbed his cup full of cold coffee and walked up into the newly finished living room. He had ordered the doors to be a little wider so a wheelchair would fit easier through them.
Pepper stood at the window a stack of papers on the coffee table. Tony almost dreaded talking to her, “hey Pep.” The redhead spun around, “you don’t get to hey me Tony!”
Oh shit.
“Do you know what I have been dealing with the past days? You told me you’d give me the company so I can run it properly but you don’t bother to sign the papers, how am I supposed to work with this?”
Tony swallowed nervously licking his lips, “ah may I offer you something to drink?” He was positive that she would kill him any minute now.
With a tired sigh the woman just sat down on the couch and waved her hand, “coffee with lots of sugar.” The genius nodded eagerly and went to his coffeemaker to get the order done. Anything to please his boss.
He handed the cup over and Pepper clung to it like it was the Holy Grail. The genius suddenly felt bad for loading all of his shit off to his Assistant but his priority was still Peter.
“Listen Pepper, I am sorry I will sign whatever you want and after that the company is yours and I will be off doing my own thing and I will not bother you with anything ever again.”
The red head gave him a tired smile, “somehow Tony, I highly doubt that.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May sat on the smooth stone in front of the table which was also carved of stone, one of the last works her late husband had made. With a finger followed the delicate carvings that Ben had designed for her.
With Peter gone she was all alone in the small cave and the clawing feeling of loneliness would not leave any time soon. The mermaid sniffed and flinched as a knock sounded from outside of the cave. She quickly wiped her eyes swimming to the curtain weaved from seaweed that covered the entrance.
Merpeople don’t use doors since they lived purposely so close to each other and doors would only make them feel divided, the curtains only provided a little privacy.
May took a deep breath and as the water shot through her gills she pushed the curtain to one side and froze. In front of her floated a tall merman with beautiful pale skin a mop of obsidian black hair and an emerald green tail.
“Oh my-my prince what honour to meet you,” May finally gasped bowing deeply in front of the young merman. The second prince chuckled and waved his hand, “no need for such formalities, may I enter?”
May nodded and moved aside to let the royal inside her cave, closing the curtain after him. Loki looked around and his golden fins seemed to glow in the dim light. Like her Peter the prince was rather unfortunate in his colourings but words were that he was one of the most skilled and fastest swimmers there were.
The mermaid nervously fumbled with one the bracelets on her wrist; she wore one for each family member she had lost. She feared that she would soon have to add another one.
“So this is where Peter grew up, he always refused to show me his home he said it was not suitable for a prince.”
May frowned, “and he was right about that but my prince may I inquire why you are here?” Loki turned around a questioning look on his face, “did he never tell you?” The mermaid tilted her head, “tell me what my prince?”
Loki sighed, “Peter and I are friends, and we’ve been for years.” May gaped at him, “he never said anything.” The prince huffed and took a seat at one of the stones Peter usually used, “figured.”
The older looked terribly embarrassed and quickly swam into the kitchen where she grabbed a few fresh clamps and put them on a plate, “I am very sorry my prince,” she exclaimed offering the plate to him.
Loki looked a little surprised at the snacks but took it, cracking one clam open like we would a pistachio to reach for the meat inside. May licked her lips and sat down on another stone, “Peter he…I knew he had secrets but I always thought that this was how boys that age are. I never thought he would hide something like you from me.”
Loki smiled at her and offered the plate to his host, “worry not, I am not offended I was just surprised. He must have had his reasons, he always has his reasons.”
May nodded before asking, “how did you get to become friends?” Loki smiled watching her eating one of the clams before he answered, “I met him in the archives he snuck in after they were closed and that is where I met him. We fought over one of my favourite stories.”
May smiled fondly and sighed, she missed her nephew dearly and she still refused to believe that he was dead. Loki finished another clam, “how long has he been gone now?”
Once again tears pooled in her eyes and she looked away, “over one complete cycle, I think it’s been almost six weeks.” Loki clenched his fists, “I will personally search for him, I have means to find him none other has.”
May shot up the stone plate falling to the sandy floor, “oh no my prince please, you cannot endanger yourself. Peter thinks I don’t know but I was always aware about his trips to the surface. You must not go down the same path.”
The prince smiled at her putting his hands on her shoulders, “dear May I promise you that no harm will come to me and should something happen anyway I assure you that I will take those wounds with pride for it is for a noble cause. Peter is special we both know it and I will not give up on him.”
With that he quickly placed a kiss on her hair, a gesture that let her gasp in surprise, and swam out of the small cave.
Loki quickly swam back to his home only to get greeted by a broad merman with blond hair and a silver grey tail with black fins. The prince sighed internally as his brother grinned at him, “there you are Loki, where have you swum off to?”
The second prince gave his brother a timid smile continuing his way to the archives, “visiting a friend’s place.” Thor followed him easily, “oh how come?”
Loki took a deep breath before he stopped, turned and faced his older brother, they only hatched two years from each other but it annoyed him just how much he was behaving as the big brother.
“Listen Thor I have something to do so if you want something, state it let me tell you to fuck off and we will both go our separate ways as we always do.”
The first prince frowned, “I don’t know why you are like this Loki, I wanted to ask you if you would like to come and with me and our friends to Jotunheim.” Loki scoffed, “your friends and no!”
Without another look he swam away leaving his startled brother behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony was frustrated. The building of his new weapon was taking longer than anticipated and he hated himself for every minute he wasted.
The workshop was dark and smelled weird as he stared at the monitor one repulsor already attached to his arm. The math was easy enough for him but reality had the annoying habit to always get in the way.
“Jarvis?”
“Yes Sir?”
The genius licked his lips, “anything new about those Hydra guys? Did they do something?” The AI waited for a moment, “according to my records there was no incident that is likely to be their doing Sir.”
Tony huffed and walked forwards to step into his new boots while he also attached the second repulsor to his other hand, “alright I am going to test these babies now, no calls except for Pepper or Rhodey.”
“Sir may I inform you that Mr Fury tries to contact you again?”
“You may but I will keep ignoring him,” Tony replied as he got into the right stance for his test flight. The two robots beeped and circled him warily.
“Now you two if you do something stupid I will donate you to a community college.”
The robots backed off a little and Tony drew a deep breath before he started his boots and repulsors. With a dull bang he hit the ceiling and landed face first on the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce frowned as he studied the boy’s x-rays it was fascinating and unlike anything he had ever seen and he feared what Hydra would do with that.
The people were buzzing around him as he stared at the pictures. Zemo stood next to him and grinned a satisfied grin. Bruce shuddered inwardly but managed to keep his façade of indifference, he would not give that bastard that satisfaction also.
“He is magnificent isn’t he?”
Bruce rolled his eyes, “yes you keep saying that, still he is a living creature that deserves to be treated with respect.” The evil man laughed and looked directly at Bruce, “he will be the gateway to a great future for humankind, is this not the greatest honour something like him can get?”
It was disturbing to listen to the man and Bruce shook his head taking a few steps away from him, he felt tainted by the mere presence of the man.
“You talk like he is an animal, like he doesn’t feel. He has a name, it is Peter and he has family, friends just like any of us!”
Zemo watched him with a smile that told him that he didn’t care the least about the poor boy. It was crazy, Zemo was crazy.
“Tell me one thing Zemo, how did you find out about him anyway?”
The man picked a piece of dirt off his shirt and turned to look at the pictures again, “your friend Tony Stark,” he began but Bruce cut in.
“He is not my friend, actually he is my employer.”
“Sent a few samples into a laboratory, blood and tissue mostly but one of our men noticed the anomalies in the DNA and informed us. We simply found out where Stark lived and seized the prize.”
Bruce sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. How could the genius Tony Stark be this stupid? If they ever got to see each other again he would certainly ask him.
With a sigh the Doctor went to one of the guards and was led back into his cell where he lay down on the cot. It was as uncomfortable as can be but he would have to make do.
His eyes burned from being tired and so he took off his glasses and tried to fall asleep but his dreams were haunted by innocent, teary brown eyes.
Peter slowly but steadily hit his head against the glass of his prison, he was certain either he would just die here or he would go crazy first.
A few of the scientists watched him with alarmed expressions and so he closed his eyes so he didn’t have to see them anymore. His mind wandered to May and her gentle smile and simple cooking and then to Tony with his pizza and sushi and Peter had to smile.
He honestly missed the man, his jokes and stupid nicknames half of them Peter never understood but he never really cared. The boy stopped his motion for a moment to send a prayer to the gods wishing that Tony had not abandoned him yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony took a deep breath before he gave the signal and Jarvis assembled the first prototype of his suit on his body. It was tight and stiff but he would get used to it, he had to.
“Sir I think you rushed this a little,” the AI stated but Tony just rolled his eyes.
“Jarvis it’s almost been two months and I cannot let Peter wait any longer I need to find him,” Tony winced slightly as the robotic arm tightened the suit around his crotch.
“Of course Sir. It has come to my notice that S.H.I.E.L.D. has found three potential bases of Hydra.”
Tony smiled and waited for the upload of Jarvis into his suit to be complete, “excellent Smithers I will check them out if this suit is fully functional.”
He began to move in the suit, roll his joints and test his mobility as an idea sparked in his mind.
“Jarvis clear the sky I will take this baby for a ride.”
“As you wish Sir but I advise you against it.”
“Noted and ignored, are you done?”
“Yes Sir.”
With a grin on his face Tony started the engines and after a few minutes of trying he managed to get out of his workshop and high up into the sky.
“Holy crap this is amazing!” he screamed at the nightly sky as he felt the adrenalin rush though his blood and a manic laughter fell from his lips.
This was unbelievably cool.
Tony flew higher and higher ignoring Jarvis concerned words as suddenly the systems failed. His eyes widened as he realized that he was falling, “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit Jarvis!”
The pavement came disturbingly quickly closer and Tony mentally prepared himself for his untimely end as the system rebooted and the repulsors fired up again.
The genius nearly crashed into a building but managed to get back home with only minor scratches.
“Gods Jarvis we need to find a solution for the icing problem show me the charts.”
It only took Tony a few minutes to select the needed elements and colours for his armour. He finally was finished; finally he would go and save Peter.
The genius yawned and the AI spoke up, “Sir the completion will take approximately eight hours so I suggest you would rest so you are fully capable to save Master Peter.”
Tony yawned again, “I can’t argue with that, alright Jarv wake me when the suit is finished.”
“I will Sir.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loki swam to the cave and looked around but he was unable to spot a predator or another merman. With a sigh he grabbed the bag he carried and opened it pulling out a giant squid he caught earlier.
“Jor, wake up I brought you lunch!” the prince called into the cave and he could hear his pet move inside. Carefully he swam closer and threw the squid inside before grabbing another one from the bag.
“Jor I need your help. I need to find a friend and you are the only one who can find him. Please help me.”
Suddenly two golden eyes began to gleam in the dark and the movement of the giant body to which those eyes belonged to made sand fall from the ceiling of the cave.
The low hiss that sounded from the darkness told the prince that his pet was not pleased.