Choices
~-Tony-~
Tony woke up in his bed. The entire Peter situation had really taken a toll on him. After the phone call, he had passed out on the floor due to the stress and the fact that he had forgotten to eat in the last day or two.
Steve sat in the chair next to him reading the newspaper.
Tony sat up slowly.
“What happened?” He asked Steve quietly.
Rather than responding, Steve countered with his own question.
“How much do you remember?”
Tony sat silently for a moment before everything cane flooding back. Memories of the phone call, of the things Peter said.
Tony turned to Steve with a blank expression.
“It’s my fault.” He said quietly.
“Come on, you know that’s not true. I don’t know why Peter said those things, Hell they could be forcing him to say them, but whichever way you know he doesn’t mean it.”
Tony frowned and thought back to the Call.
“I might die, because of you.” Peters shaken voice had said.
“Do you think he’s gonna die, Steve?” Tony asked, his voice pained.
“Of course not. Like I said, Peter’s strong.”
“It doesn’t matter how strong he is, you can’t live if you lose to much blood. You didn’t see the video, Steve. You didn’t watch that fowl man cut into my kid. Mine.”
Steve looked down to the floor, his face tense and full of worry.
“I’m scared, Rogers. Im so scared.” Tony added, barely in a whisper.
Without looking up, Steve responded.
“Me too.”
A moment later, a buzzer went off in the other room.
“Bingo!” An excited voice yelled that they assumed was coming from Sam.
Steve took Tony’s arm before quickly heading to the other room.
“We have a location! It’s about 30 miles north of here, some abandoned warehouse or something. Apparently HYDRA set up shop there!!” He exclaimed.
Tony smiled before sitting down next to Sam.
“Well, what’re we waiting for? Lets get our kid back!” Clint said with a smile.
“Okay, let me just get my sui-“ Tony began before he was quickly interrupted by a hand pushing him back down in his seat.
“You, are not going anywhere.” Steve said pointedly.
“No. I’m coming. I need to get MY kid back.”
“We’ll get him back here just fine without your help.” Natasha said softly.
“Yeah, Tony. We’ll get him back.”
Wanda paused before continuing.
“Plus, you look like you’re about to pass out.”
“There is no way in h-“ Tony tried before being interrupted once again.
“They’re right Tony. You need to stay here. We can’t risk you passing out in the middle of a HYDRA base.” Bruce said sincerely.
Tony growled.
“So what I’m hearing is that there is absolutely no way you guys are going to let me come with you?”
“Yes.” The other avengers said in unison.
Tony sighed and sat for a minute before responding.
“Fine. But only if I get to be the eyes and ears of the operation, the “guy in the chair” if you will. (an: I know that’s Ned but I just really wanted to say it here lol). I will watch a live feed of the base and tell you guys where to go.”
“Deal.” Steve replied.
And that was that, the avengers (minus Iron Man) geared up and set off towards the base.
Tony sat in front a computer screen with live video surveillance of the compound. He clicked through rooms and rooms before eventually finding the one he wanted.
It was a small room, pretty dark.
Peter sat tied to a chair with some sort of collar on his neck.
“Jesus.” He muttered after seeing the collar.
His youthful face was plastered with bruises.
Purple and blue blossomed over his jawline and cheeks. Thick, red blood coated his chin and throat. His face was pale, and his eyes looked glassy and glazed over. Both of his arms were scarred and damaged.
He looked at the arm that read, “Tony.”
He shuddered.
The other word had a name on it that Tony didn’t recognize.
“MJ.”
Finally, Tony tore his eyes off of Peter and looked at the video of the room some more.
A moment later, his eyes landed on a girl who looked around Peter’s age. She was beautiful, with brown curly hair and matching eyes.
She looked unharmed, except for the fact that she was chained up.
Then a thought crossed over Tony’s mind.
Was this girl MJ?
Tony didn’t have much time to think on the subject before Nat’s voice rang through his comms.
“We’ve arrived. Tell us where to go, Tony.”
Tony switched over camera angles until he found his fellow avengers.
“Turn the corner and go forward, about twenty feet. There’s two guys there, but you can’t take them out easily.”
“You got it.” She replied quickly before quietly murmuring orders to the rest of the team.
Within moments, they were by the entrance of a door and the two highly trained guards had been taken down.
Tony continued giving orders.
Ten minutes later, they were very close to Peter.
“Okay, now go lef-“ Tony began before a screeching sound filled his ears. The sound of something breaking.
“Guys?” Tony asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Steve?”
“Natasha?”
No reply came.
A second later, his live feed turned black.
He had lost connection with his team, and now his only way to see them failed as well.
Tony was panicking.
What if something happened?
What if they were compromised?
What if they were h-
“Why hello, Stark. We’ve been expecting you.” Nathanial Black’s deep and eerie voice rang through the comms.
A second later, his surveillance footage turned back on.
Tony gasped at the sight he saw. His enemy, Nathanial Black stood in a dark room next to Peter. The avengers were no where to be seen.
“What did you do with them.” Tony growled forcefully.
Black laughed.
“Nothing yet I’m afraid, but soon.” He replied casually.
Tony pounded his fist down on the table, sending his keyboard and inch in the air. A few pencils fell to the floor.
‘If they had let me come, I would’ve been able to help. I swear I’m going to kill them if they make it out of this alive.’ Tony thought.
“I’m going to give you a choice, Tony.” Black said evilly, his voice laced with venom. He smiled into the camera.
Tony wanted to punch something.
“What kind of choice?” He asked carefully.
Truthfully, Tony was a little scared of the answer.
“You get to choose who lives, Stark.” Black said with a cackle. The man was enjoying this. Was enjoying watching Tony’s pain.
“No.” Tony yelled forcefully as he stared at the screen, at the man who was once his friend. The man who had betrayed him.
“No, you will let them all go. Now. Or else I swear I kill you so fas-“
The man rolled his eyes and smiled as if he thought this whole situation was funny.
“You are but one man, Stark. I, however, am an army. Either you make a choice right now, or I will kill one of your friends.”
“Starting with the child.” He added before pulling out a knife and pointing it at Peter.
Peter looked too confused to realize what was happening.
Tony wondered if that was a good thing.
“You will make a choice between saving your friends, or your little boy and his friend. If you do not make a choice, they will all die a horrible, painful death.”
Tony shook his head.
No, this was not happening.
This couldn’t be happening.
“You have one hour.” Black said finally.
Tony was in shock.
He didn’t want- No he wouldn’t let any of his friends (or basically his family) die. He had to do something. And do something fast.
“Choose wisely.” Black added before shutting off the comms and video footage. Everything went black.