Avengers
“Fri, where is Peter?”
“Ned’s, sir.”
“Perfect.”
Tony released a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair to collect his thoughts. They’d caught the Vulture. Point one to the Avengers. But when SHIELD arrived and the Vulture had been carted off, Tony had seldom felt as powerless as he did in that moment. The Vulture was a pawn. A pawn with an army, sure----- but once the bishop gets taken off the board the King plays to kill. Their battle was far from over.
All the Avengers sat patiently in the briefing room. Some like Sam and Wanda were tending to minor wounds, others like Natasha and Bucky were huddled in deep conversation, and the rest were some mixture of nervous quiet energy. For as much of a win as catching the most recent big bad was, the tension in the air hadn’t ceased at all. A month ago it had all been happy champagne and dishing out wedding roles and now it was wondering who was the next target.
“Anyone have any good news on Hammer they’ve decided to save until this moment? Acceptable answers include: he turned himself because he’s an idiot.”
“SHIELD operatives reported sight of him in Montana a few days back. But they haven’t responded in 48 hours since, and are presumed to be dead.”
Great, more footprints and no path.
“Alright, well we’ll define what good news is to Sargent Man Bun later.”
Montana was good, for now. It was hours away and while it was obscure enough to entice some slight panic at what his sinister plans must be, it meant Tony had time before the next big near death experience. Hell, maybe Tony would even get the night off and take Peter & Steve to that Thai place Peter had literally not shut up about. Maybe he could have a normal family night like they did in movies before eventually everything turns to shit.
Was that too naïve?
The room went back to its natural state of passive conversation. They were still waiting on confirmation from SHIELD that the Vulture made it to the ice box, so they’d have about another hour wasted in this conference room that might as well be spent catching up one the lives of one another. It just so happened that Tony kind of had a thing for one of his teammates.
“What do you say to a little celebration, Rogers? Dinner tonight, you, me, and our kid? And by dinner I mean take out and whatever movie Pete subjects us to.”
It still didn’t feel quite real to have a fiancé. Everybody, aside from his son, had been more of a phase than a permanent fixture. Even family like his parents, or Obadiah were fleeting memories to him now but marriage was quite literally the promise of forever. Forever was an F word that even his sailor’s mouth would have never uttered. Now he was the man that had gotten down on one knee and asked for it. He’d never dreamed that his ‘forever’ could look this perfect, but hey he’s not one to complain.
“Are you asking me out, Stark? You know I’m happily engaged, right?” Steve’s smile gave away his attempt to be coy and while it was obviously cavity inducingly sweet, it also tore down Tony’s own façade. Damn that smile.
“We could engage in something else…” He was about to add more, and probably too much to the ears of his unsuspecting teammates when FRIDAY cut him off.
“sir-----“
“Friday, unless the sky is legitimately falling, not now.”
“Sir, this is extremely time sensitive.”
Tony gave a dramatic sigh and an over the top eyeroll but motioned for FRIDAY to continue with her regularly scheduled programming or whatever. If Peter sent another goddamn Rick Roll to his mainframe…
The room lights dimmed and all attention was directed at the projection on the far wall. For a second, Tony thought there was a glitch in his system as the screen matched the same black as the atmosphere, but eventually a voice sounded to signify that the transmission was working.
“Tony Stark.” As mood-killing as it was, Tony actually sighed. Look, when you’re an evil villain you really don’t have to address your threats too specifically. If Tony was in a room with the entire Earth’s population and Hammer stood at the front and said “I will kill you”, Tony’s clever deduction skills would tell him who that message was meant for. Just say your piece and get on with it, this isn’t a Bond movie.
“As I’m sure everyone in your life eventually tells you----- I’m tired of your games. That flashlight in your chest is wasted potential. And as a proprietor of all things justice in this world, I’m going to need it from you. Granted, I understand you may need some incentive to cooperate…”
Better be some hell of an incentive Tony thought sarcastically. If he was offering BOGO deals on pressed slacks or something Tony was really going to have to reprogram FRIDAYs system to reclassify the term ‘time sensitive’.
“How the mighty fall. And how easy it is to catch an Avenger.”
Tony did a mental head count of the room. Unless he suddenly had the math skills of a newborn, he was pretty sure the gang was all here. Cap, Nat, Clint, Rhodes, Sam, Bucky, Bruce and Wanda were all present and accounted for. The only ones not currently sitting in this room were Thor & T’Challa, both of which were royalty with enough guards and personal strength to obliterate this B-lister within seconds. Scott was the only maybe, but even he had the combined power of his groupies and a panic button which had not been set off yet. Either this guy had miscalculated or Tony didn’t know his own team.
“Anybody hiding a secret Avenger they neglected to tell me about?” Everybody shook their heads, looking at one another with mirrored looks of confusion.
“Maybe Thor?” Wanda offered, but Bruce discarded that immediately.
“No, I just talked to him. He’s in Asgard.”
“Thor knows how to work a phone?”
“Not really, it’s more like----“
The video changed focus then, and the red and blue mask of the vigilante known as Spider-Man focused up. His head was limp, and rested on his chest and when he didn’t react to the sudden lime light it was obvious he was unconscious. Not to sound crass, but this was not the incentive he’d expected. Sure, he liked Spider-Man well enough---- he didn’t make a lot of waves, and he played nice with others but most ransoms usually follow the rule of family or friends. Spider-Man was just an acquaintance, at best.
Everybody shifted uncomfortably regardless, their bleeding hearts breaking for a man they knew nothing about. Tony felt for them too, it was never good to see someone at the mercy of a villain due to no fault of their own. But this seemed personal for a few of them. Bruce’s mouth fell open in shock, and Bucky & Sam shared a mutual uncomfortable look. Steve looked away as if the sight were physically paining him, and Tony noticed the newfound tension in Nat’s stance. Had Tony been gone that long? Was Spider-Man really an Avenger now?
“Still not getting it?” A pale hand reached out and skimmed the line where Spider-Man’s mask met the suit. It was wrong to say it, but Tony’s interest was definitely piqued. He respected the mask and never pried further than necessary, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. With his variance in voice modifiers, Tony could piece together that this dude had to be somewhere in the early twenties spectrum, and he was kind of expecting a younger, more respectful Clint. All that said, there was a clear invasion of privacy in this moment, and Tony was stuck between wanting to look away out of respect, and asking FRIDAY to run a full background check on whoever’s face appeared.
The fingers on screen coiled around the fabric, and pulled up harshly so that the hair now visible on screen stood up at wild angles. It kind of looked like…
No.
Tony’s arm started to do that thing where TV static filled his veins rather than blood, and he had to use the other one to steady himself on the table before he toppled over. This fucking kid. This fucking kid! No, excuse him---- HIS fucking kid! Tony had talked to Spider-Man, he’d fought with him! He’d made those asinine jokes he tells in battle, and saved his life when Spider-Man was staring down the barrel of a gun not four hours ago. All the while---- every word, every look, every moment---- he’d been staring down his son. Like a dam breaking, it all pieced together. Why Peter would always come home with bruises, but never name the bully. Why he always seemed to be breathless when Tony called out of schedule, and why Ned basically read off the first results in a google search for ‘how to lie to your friends parents’. Honestly, Tony thought Peter was hiding a secret relationship from him, and while that stung a little, it was nothing compared to the head shot he felt now.
The hand didn’t allow Tony to stew on the moment for too long, instead it stroked Peter’s face where his black eye lay and boiled Tony’s blood to the brim.
“Ring any bells?” The voice cooed. Peter was still unmoving, but the slight up & down motion of his chest kept Tony grounded in reality. He was alive, and that was the important thing for now.
“Maybe he should tell you himself?.” The hand disappeared, and a sound like an electric whip resonated, echoing deep in Tony’s bones. Peter flailed as electricity surged through the chair and into his skin, and his eyes---while bloodshot, opened lazily. When he took in his surrounds he snapped into attention, watching whoever it was behind the camera with steely eyes. Only Tony could see the terror in them.
“One wrong move, and you die Spider-kid.” If he understood that, he didn’t respond. His eyes swiveled around the room as if trying to gather his surroundings until they landed on the camera. Peter’s wide, saucer eyes were staring down Tony now. Please be another nightmare, Tony prayed foolishly.
“This isn’t how surprise parties usually work, dude.” Peter had chosen that moment to speak, and that particular comment earned him another shock. His teeth clamped down together as he bit back a scream, and when the pain stopped he was left heavily panting and red-faced. The pallor of his skin was a clear indication of the physical toll the day was taking, but even still he didn’t back down.
“Anything you’d like to say to dear old dad, Petey?” Something animalistic roared in Tony’s stomach at the use of his nickname in the mouth of a villain. Peter’s eyes went wide and he lost all the notion of a poker face. Apparently it hadn’t registered before that he was currently unmasked and being sent to Tony. It was truly a twisted world where a child feared his father’s knowledge more than an actual literal kidnapping.
“I think you have the wrong dude, I’m just a cosplayer. Flattering you think I look anything like the real Spider-Man, that dude is co------“ another shock, and Tony feels sick as he looks away from the screen. The scream however, he cannot ignore. Steve has an iron grip on Tony’s forearm as they watch with baited breath but his white knuckles mean nothing for the lonely child on screen.
“Do me a favor, and ask dad to save you. Tell him what will happen if you don’t.”
Play along, please, play along. While an audible plea for his life might shatter the very fragile glass of his heart it would spare Peter what Tony could only assume was a world of hurt. Please, think of yourself for once.
Peter took a beat to think, and then sized the camera up sadly. “Dad…” he started slowly. “-----don’t give in, please he can’t get the reactor-----“
Instead of using his archaic electric chair, the hand swiped out and punched Peter square in the jaw. His head snapped to the side, and while the hand retracted Tony could see Peter spit blood onto the floor. He looked up sheepishly, and almost apologetically towards the camera. As usual, Tony’s prayers were left unanswered.
“He’s definitely your kid, Tony. Never knows when to shut up.”
The focus shook and the video got distorted when the pale hand picked the camera up from its dolly. The hand with blood----Peter’s blood ran through a tangled mess of white-blonde hair leaving small crimson specks in its wake. The face was unmistakable, even through Tony’s rage.
Hammer.
“The prodigal son dies at midnight, Stark. You know what I want.”
The transmission cut off there, replaced by an ominous block letters forming an address. In the distance he heard FRIDAY say something about taking deep breaths or counting sheep or some shit that Tony obviously ignored. If he was being honest, the whole ‘lack of oxygen reaching his brain’ thing was really the least of his problems.
It was all Tony’s fault. It had to be Iron Man who put the idea of playing superhero into his son’s impressionable head, and it was Tony Stark who put his son in that chair. The one person on this Earth who he can’t live without, even that he had failed to protect.
Distantly he was aware of the Avengers trying to break his haze, but it has to be a loud shout to reach Tony’s home at rock bottom.
“Tony, we’ve got to move.” Natasha was the first to break the barrier. Everybody was crowded around Tony and his trouble breathing only multiplied, worsening his planning skills. Bruce moved back, using his hand to guide the others to give him space while only Steve remained put. That was his kid in that costume. That poorly designed piece of fabric that could get obliterated by a light breeze. His Peter who had jumped out of a goddamn window with Tweedledum & TweedleBucky, and his kid who pushed Tony to the ground when the first bomb went off. Bruce told him that Spider-Man had life-saving surgery the other day, and that meant Bruce had saved his son.
“FRIDAY, can you tell us where that came from?” Steve was tethered to Tony like an anchor still, but the soldier in him never rests. Slowly, ever so slowly, Tony allowed his fiancé’s voice to bring him back to Earth.
“Unfortunately not, sir. The address is untraceable. My systems are not programmed to decode this level of security.”
That was the last thing he needed to hear. Peter was trapped and beaten and Tony had no way of getting to him.
“I’m on it.” Natasha replied instead of allowing Tony to spiral again.
“Check the city cameras. Find out where the last place Peter, or Spider-Man was seen.” Rhodes said, following Natasha with Wanda trailing.
“I’ll canvas the Queens building. Sam?” Bucky asked.
“I’m with you.”
“I’ll prep the medical lab, and call Helen.” Bruce followed the others out until only Tony and Steve remained in the briefing room.
“Tony.” Steve’s voice, while grounding still felt miles away. He couldn’t shake the nausea. They had all been right---- every last damn reporter and click bait author who bet how long it would take Tony Stark to fuck up raising a kid, and he had proven them right. His son hadn’t even felt comfortable enough to tell his father that he was behind the mask, regardless of the fact that Tony Stark was a freaking Avenger.
What was he thinking?
“Tony, this isn’t your fault.”
He really didn’t want to play the blame game right now. He never really wins anyway.
But it’s not about him. Right now it’s about 140 pounds of frightened teenager being tortured for something he had no part in. Right now it’s about saving the one thing he can’t live without..
“FRIDAY, keep going against that firewall, I want an IP address now. Keep the audio/visual and check for any extenuating factors------ the ocean, a car horn, anything. Steve…”
Steve’s face, while only inches from Tony’s and radiating a nervous energy snapped into Captain mode when Tony found his voice. The Avengers save the world. Now it’s time for them to save theirs.
“Don’t get too close, but figure out what that address means. Obviously Peter won’t be there, but if I know Hammer it’s going to mean something. And check in with the Vulture, he’s got to break his vow of silence at some point.” Steve nodded, and then moved to leave. The second their contact broke, Tony felt the cold of dead air like a dip in the Artic Sea. Steve paused at the door as if a thought had only just crossed his mind.
“You won’t do anything stupid if I leave you alone, right?”
Tony knew what he meant. And he also knew that lying to a future spouse had hold some plethora of bad karma. But telling Steve that he would literally rip the arc reactor out of his still beating chest with his bare hands if it meant Peter could have even a minute longer on this Earth would be a discussion best saved for a later date. He’d give his team until 11:59 to come up with a plan A, but come the stroke of midnight Peter Stark is coming home one way or another.
“Genius only, Rogers.” He diverted, adding a signature wink for good measure. His insides felt like a Molotov cocktail of nervous energy that was set to explode at any moment, but his poker face had gotten him this far, right? Steve took the reply with only a slight look of apprehension before following his mission.
With Cap’s departure, Tony fell back into his chair, and in a hollow voice that resonated like a eulogy asked FRIDAY to play the video again. There was something he was missing, and although Hammer’s message felt like a million tiny stab wounds, he knew it was his duty to find it. He would never give up on the kid that saved his life in more ways than one.
9:00
“The prodigal son-----“ Tony pauses the video, and pinches the bridge of his nose as a means to control his breathing. He’d analyzed every word in the video. Every look, every eye twitch, every motion had been documented and translated and still Tony was staring down a steaming plate of nothing. Nobody had notified him of any miraculous epiphanies on their end, and as the hours ticked away he could feel his resolve fall with it. Peter comes home one way or another. He repeated mentally, stabilizing his panic attack if only momentarily.
They needed something basic to go off of first. If that video was from China, or Australia, or freaking Mars then they were already damned by the time constraints. They needed to know a very basic area to cover, and with that thought Tony found himself walking in a stupor to his command center (Peter’s name for the room with the Towers mainframe).
Natasha made no indication of sensing Tony’s presence as he entered, remaining hunched over the glow of the screen. Her green eyes danced over the numbers on screen, and her bottom lip was chewed to a harsh red. He elected to not comment on that fact, but rather look over her shoulder in the hopes he’d see Peter’s face smiling up at him saying ‘got you! I’m fine!’
No such luck.
“Anything?” Tony asked cautiously.
Natasha tapped something on the keys, and the numbers started to slow, if only slightly. She shook her head slightly and allowed for a full five minutes to pass before electing to use her words rather than vague expressions.
“We should have something just about…..” A ping sounded, and with a click two numbers stopped rotating. “Now.”
They stared in unison at the screen, and spoke in the same breath.
“New York.”
The two numbers now visible in the address were state-specific, and Tony had coded enough to know what his own state classified as. That was New York, and that meant Peter was within the Tower’s radius. They had time, Peter was close! He wasn’t halfway around the world already, or even uncomfortably out of his grasp. Even on low his suit could make it to the state borders on any side, and if it really came down to it---- he would run. For the first time in what felt like decades he breathed a sigh of relief, and clapped his hand over Natasha’s. Predictably, she retracted her hand, but uncharacteristically she pushed up from her seat and wrapped Tony in a strong choke hold. Scratch that---- a hug. He was familiar with the concept, but wildly thrown for a curve by the gifter. He was a little busy blinking away his disbelief when he realized she was actually speaking as well.
“Bring my nephew home, Tony.”
The moment was gone as spontaneously as it had arisen, and suddenly Natasha was back to furiously typing out phrases even Tony could not decipher. Tony pondered the reality of the whole situation momentarily and then decided that was a battle best spent for another day.
Peter was in New York. Close enough say the word ‘chance’.
Twenty three minutes. Twenty three minutes and say fifteen seconds since the last zap. He’d timed it. Considering his mental watch might be a little muddled after the events of the day, he’d give himself an error margin of 5 minutes, but the shocks were definitely scheduled to the half hour. Hammer said he knew about Peter’s abilities, but that wouldn’t be the first bluff he’d dealt. The schedule had to be based off Peter’s ability to get back to full strength, meaning to send him back down to the verge of unconsciousness every time he started to get back to full health. But if Pokemon Go taught him anything, it’s to never leave your opponent the chance to revive themselves. He was fidgeting against the wrist restraints now---- and while his wrists were torn to shreds and resembled more of a Saw vibe than a Superhero one, he could definitely feel something start to give. He was even vaguely toying with the idea of purposefully breaking his own bones to slip out of some of the trickier restraints but that was far too Deadpool of him. Not to mention there’s no guarantee it works or that he can get to Bruce’s lab before they reset.
He’s just about to attempt Natasha’s chair breaking technique (it works the same between wood and metal, right?) when he hears the buzz. Three seconds until the charge is ready and Peter’s body lights up like the Rockefeller Christmas tree. It feels like fire licking his veins, but that thought only crosses his mind for a second before his vision blacks and suddenly he feels nothing again.
The sweet release of nothing.
Hours they don’t have passed by carelessly, and no new information arose. Tony was getting restless now as the clock neared 11:00, and their options as limited as before. He’d been to every shady storefront and abandoned warehouse he could find and not even a whisper of Peter was found. The state limits were a start, but unless new technology had been invented in the span of an hour there was no way they could go door-to-door with ‘have you seen my kid?’ posters. What they really needed to know was where Peter went after the fight and how in the hell Peter was blindsided by the attack.
“We canvassed the whole place, no evidence of Spider-Man at all.” Bucky & Sam entered the conference room with hunched shoulders. Each took a seat on either side of Tony, and although the video stream had paused it had landed on an unfortunate scene of Peter’s wide brown puppy dog eyes staring directly into the camera. He could see the pain in them---- the fear swimming and brimming to catastrophic levels and yet this encrypted message was the closest he could get to him.
“Fri, turn it off please.” Tony whispered, turning instead to face the wonder bros. They had a mildly concerned reaction when it was just Spider-Man in that chair, and they had been Peter’s family since the first ‘assemble’. Even though that fifteen year old was technically Tony’s kid, there were clearly things even he didn’t know about him. The last hope was that he trusted someone, maybe even his uncles.
“It just doesn’t make sense. I know my son, he’d never leave mid fight. Spider-Man I can’t vouch for, but Peter wouldn’t leave… Although I guess I do have to stop addressing them as separate idiots.”
Bucky and Sam shared an annoying Siamese twin look rather than clarifying. Sam’s eyebrow had arched in an unrelenting manor, and Bucky’s head shook in a fraction of a moment as if to discard whatever thought had crossed Sam’s mind. Maybe Steve was fine with this whole twin telepathy thing but the absolute last problem Tony needed right now was more fucking secrets.
“By all means, out with it Flappy Bird. Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Sam sighed, and elected to ignore Bucky’s pressing gaze.
“Spider-Man didn’t leave the fight.” He answered cryptically. When Tony gave no notion of asking him to further his explanation, Sam continued anyway. “He was hit by one of the Vulture’s men. I saw him fly into the wall next to us, but by that time Wanda and Nat had arrived to save the day and when I came back to check on him he was gone. I assumed he got up and walked out------- Spider-Man never stays long enough to chat, but I’m just now realizing what impact a direct hit must’ve had on him.”
“That’s ridiculous. Steve, Clint, you and I were all watching each other’s backs. I had my eye on all of those nerf guns, anyway we would’ve seen the blast and saved the kid---- Peter or not. The only time they weren’t in my view was when I------“ His words and his brain hit the same unforgiving realization at the same moment. “----when I turned.”
Spider-Man hadn’t come back then. Granted in that moment is when the reinforcements arrived, but that is the last time Tony remembers seeing the red and blue vigilante. If Peter was left unprotected because Tony had chosen that moment to experiment he wasn’t sure what his already fragile mental state might do. No, Sam had to have seen it wrong.
“It still doesn’t add up. Spider-Man was on my right when it went down, and you’re saying the East wall blew up. He wasn’t anywhere near it.”
This time Bucky’s word of apprehension was verbal.
“Sam.”
“What if it’s important? He needs to know.” Sam answered. This conversation was doing nothing to quell his nerves. “Tony, the shot wasn’t meant for Spider-Man.”
Sam’s words echoed, and ever so slowly the memory returned to him. They were fighting against the Vulture and nothing was giving up. Spider-Man had mentioned the magnetic repulsors so the thought was fresh in his mind but he hadn’t planned on using them until he saw Steve take a couple of well placed blows. He lost sight of his party when he turned, asked FRIDAY to line up the shot and bam. Wanda, Rhodey and Natasha arrived to finish the job. Sam’s timeline checks out because Wanda and Natasha hadn’t seen Spider-Man. The shot was meant for Tony.
Peter sacrificed himself for Tony.
“But that’s not saying it’s your fault, Tony, it’s just----- we think Peter might’ve been kidnapped there.” Bucky offered, but the noise was muffled by a weird ringing in his ears. Not only was he the reason this was all happening to Peter, but apparently he was the envoy of death with every new revelation of information. Every staple in what would be Peter’s coffin had a tiny little Stark emblem on it, and the only saving grace Tony had was the knowledge that everything came second to his kid. The arc reactor was more of a burden than anything, and ever so slowly Tony was starting to change that 11:59 deadline. If all he brought to Peter was pain, that the rational solution would be to remove the problem from the equation… right?
“Did you find anything in the building?”
“No, we kind of did a number on the infrastructure on that place. It’s set for demolition later this week.” Tony nodded, and then stood up abrasively. He’d made enough mistakes to rival the word count of War & Peace but he was done letting his family pay for it. He’d make his peace--- say goodbye to Steve & the team, and make sure Peter knows he’s loved when he comes home but Tony Stark won’t play patron of death any longer. His hand had reached out for the door when it swung open from the other side to reveal a near breathless Steve Rogers.
“Steve?” Tony greeted curiously. Did he have some kind of ‘Tony self-sacrificing alert’ that had just gone off and thus prompted his untimely arrival at the conference room? Last he’d heard, Steve was still at the address Hammer had posted trying to figure out a plan of attack against the guards.
Steve didn’t take the moment to explain away his emergence, but rather stepped into the room purposefully and addressed them in a slightly breathless voice.
“I got to thinking. I fought with Spider-Man when I visited Peter at school a month ago---- obviously I didn’t know then what we know now but that’s beside the point. I’ve been wondering why the Vulture would hit a random high school ever since and I think… I think he was tracking.”
“Tracking who? Spider-Man?”
“No.” Steve answered Sam thoughtlessly and raised a hand that was wrapped around a strange black box. “Tracking this. It was in Peter’s backpack at the time, and it’s been in his room since. It’s definitely alien and if the Vulture could track such a small amount of energy here, couldn’t we trace it back? Wherever Peter is has to be guarded by his tech, right?”
If he wasn’t still shaking from the complete 360 of giving in to having hope he could’ve kissed Captain America where he stood. Genius! Absolutely genius. He’d get to the details of ‘fighting with Peter-man’ when the dust settled but that was just the breakthrough they needed.
“That could work…” Tony mumbled, purposefully walking back to the front of the room and turning his holograph system on.
“FRIDAY show me all the places giving off high electricity readings.”
Half the map lit up in tiny red highlighted specs. Most of it was in New York----like Times Square or Rockefeller but there were scattered marks all over the state. Steve then placed the device on the table where FRIDAY could begin to analyze its coding.
“OK, now show me all the places giving off the same energy readings as this thing.” About two thirds of the red faded away and they were left with about 50 high voltage sites scattered throughout the state. The clock was dangerously nearing 11:30 and 50 ‘possible’ holding cells was too loaded a list---- even with the full team. Tony slammed a fist on the table that only shook the map slightly. That’s the thing about hope. It cuts that much deeper to lose it.
“Dammit.” Sam breathed. “I really thought we’d solved it.”
“We can start now, and maybe get lucky? I mean this Hammer guy is going to want to hit you where it hurts most---- do any of these places mean anything to you, Tony?”
Iron Arm was right, if Peter was anywhere he was going to be somewhere that meant something to Tony. More than likely something from his profiteering days and probably relating to Stark Industries which had unintentionally turned Hammer into this pseudo villain. He’d thought about that before but all of his old labs had been repurposed. There was no way a fifteen year old kid was being held hostage in the middle of East End’s newest GAP.
“No. Nothing.” If only they could’ve gotten something from that damned video. But he’d analyzed every sound, every word, every noise that crossed that screen. He could recite it from memory now if need be and selfish as it was he could physically not stand to hear the cracking of Peter’s jaw again.
Steve had been flipping through the places on the list absentmindedly until he’d crossed one Tony had seen before. Hit him where it hurts most. The only place he could think to provide that level of isolation in the radius of the city would be somewhere Tony had built to be extremely exclusive and true to Hammer’s aesthetic, a monument to Tony’s past. If he was right, then they might have just stumbled across Peter’s holding cell.
“Wait!” Tony cried, and the screen momentarily froze. It wasn’t a lab. Hammer’s big bad metaphor for Tony to atone for his sins, it wasn’t about a lab! He had about five covert shipping yards around the state for their more classified contracts. That building and a few others had been left barren under Tony’s direct orders during the cleansing of his company years ago that had lit Hammer’s fire in the first place.
“Friday, cross reference all the old SI shipping yards with places giving off alien current readings.”
As expected five buildings remained. Of course Hammer would pour salt in the wound and repurpose all of them. “Bastard” Tony mumbled to no one but himself. If Hammer knew him as well as his games suggested then Peter was in the Government commissioned one just on the border of Jersey. That was where the biggest deals went down, and about 98% of the shipment to Afghanistan in the first place. It was the best lead he had, but still rested at an unfriendly 1 out of 5 chance.
“Cap, I want you and Wanda to go to the address Hammer posted. He’ll want to be there when I die so expect heavy push back. The rest of us will join if our warehouse is empty. Sam, check the North location, Bucky the East. FRIDAY?”
“yes sir?”
“Send Natasha the coordinates for the West end, and Clint and Rhodes those for the South. Tell them to meet Steve when they’re done and to alert me immediately if they find Peter.”
Everyone snapped into position at the command and Tony was left no time to think except for the one recurring thought that he had finally done enough to save the person he loves most in this life.
Hold on, Pete. Just hold on.
When Peter came to again, there was no marker of time. He hadn’t been knocked unconscious by the electricity since the one directly succeeding that damned video, which meant the voltages were slowly getting higher by the half hour. Peter knew Hammer never planned on letting him go regardless of the outcome of his arc reactor ploy so rationally that would make midnight the final shock. There was no telling time at this point so Peter was reduced to counting prayers. He didn’t consider himself particularly religious but considering his current state, what did he really have to lose?
The main mantra that waved like a banner in his mind is that Tony wouldn’t give in. With the power of the arc reactor Hammer could do twenty times more damage than previous, and the shock of losing the great Tony Stark would be something the world would never recover from. Peter, they would get over but Tony would be a detriment.
The only thing keeping him from slipping into the darkness were the names he counted like numbers. Ned, who stuck by his side since day 1. May who acted as his mother when he needed one. Natasha, Clint, Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Bruce, Rhodey, Thor… all family who loved him unconditionally and who he loved in the same. Steve who was the last missing puzzle piece Tony & Peter needed, and most importantly Tony. Tony who he would miss the most.
As he hears the familiar 3 ticks and mentally prepares for another blackout he remembers that every hero has a tragic backstory: Steve lost Bucky. Bucky lost his memory. Thor lost his mother. Natasha lost her childhood. And so on.
Maybe he was just meant to be Tony’s.
Tony blasted off the door before he’d even properly landed. The SI shipping yard was littered with trashed parts and newer improvements that meant while it was currently unused, it had been recently touched. Guns and other higher weapons were strewn about but nearly everything had been stripped clean.
Clearly they were in a rush to get out.
“Fri, show me any heat signatures.”
“Third door on your left, sir.”
FRIDAY hadn’t even finished with the sentence before Tony was running for the end. The wide ‘STARK INDUSTRIES: FOR A BETTER TOMORROW’ tattered banner highlighting the way down. If he were to give Hammer credit for anything it would definitely be his ability to know Tony Stark’s pressure points. If this had been the funeral home for his son, and he’d arrived too late, the man who came out the other end might’ve been unrecognizable.
He threw the hinges off the door in a wide sweeping manor, and used the light of his repulsors to fill the room. It was pitch black, and while he scanned with a small light, the glow was so dim compared to the wide expanse that he almost missed the tangled mess of brown hair at the far end of the room. Almost.
“PETER!” Tied to a chair in his tattered red and blue spandex suit was Peter Parker Stark. There was a troubling burning scent hanging in the air when Tony neared and as the light from the reactor cast a blue glow on his face he could see every scratch with startling detail. His busted lip and clearly broken collarbone were the least of their problems here as every breath he sucked in was shallow and sounded strained. Tony disengaged the suit and stepped out to engage his son properly and even when Tony’s frantic hands ran up and down the scarring on his son’s face, Peter did not react. His eyes remained closed while Tony worked on the shackles encasing him---- careful to avoid the tender skin of Peter’s broken wrist where the metal met skin.
The first cuff came off with some level of difficulty, cut through with one of Tony’s more advanced lasers. He stopped short of cutting all the way for fear of hitting Peter and used an Iron hand to rip the cuff from its shackles manually. Again, Peter did not stir.
Tony’s mental clock blared like a siren with the knowledge he only had 2 minutes---- at best, till Hammer realizes the Avengers are knocking down his door and not Tony Stark. Assumedly only two minutes until he presses whatever sinister switch was made to kill Spider-Man. Desperately he’s working his way through the other one but the caked blood and rust made for a difficult ordeal.
“Come on, come on….” He whispers angrily. Peter groaned then, and turned his head ever so slightly. His eyes remained closed and consciousness clearly unavailable but it was the first reaction he’d gotten from him all day!
“Pete! Peter stay with me, kid. Stay with me. I’m here, and I’m getting you out I just need you to work with me.” If he applied pressure from underneath than surely their combined strength could provide the last push they needed. Peter needed to wake up in the next minute or else the last two heirs to the Stark family name would end in this tetanus-infused hellhole.
“Pete come on, please!” He had recalled his suit now and was using all the strength it willed. A countdown appeared on screen for the last minute and something started ticking off in the background.
“PETER!” He screamed again as the clock hit :20 and finally, by the grace of God or Zeus or maybe Bono himself Peter’s eyes opened. He stared up at Iron Man for a fraction of a second before realizing what was happening and with one final yank orchestrated by the two men in harmony the cuff finally gave. Peter flung himself at Tony in the split second it took for the chair to light up like the fourth of July, and just for good old fashioned pettiness; Tony shot it to hell with his blaster.
For a moment the only sound to be heard was the panting of Tony & Peter Stark and then that second was ruined when Tony exited the suit.
“Dad, are you okay?”
For a man who loved to hear his own voice, he was genuinely left speechless. Was------ was he okay? Did he neglect to mention his alter ego to his super-enhanced family until they were left scrambling at the last moment? Did he just get kidnapped and held for ransom? Did he just narrowly avoid death by the nano second?
Instead of a response Tony grabbed Peter and held him tightly to his chest, content with the knowledge that he currently held the most important thing in the universe. Peter was alright. Peter was alright, and come what may no feeling could ever match this. His watch pinged and over his son’s head he checked the message to read that the Avengers had successfully completed their end and apprehended Hammer and his men. Currently they were en route to Tony’s location to pick up the Stark boys, and for once in his life Tony let the little hope bubble grow in his chest. Maybe it was just his proximity to Peter Stark but suddenly everything felt lighter.
“Pete, are you okay? The team is coming now to take you to the Medbay but is there anything I should be aware of right now?” They broke the embrace but remained in contact, with Peter’s hand on Tony’s forearm and both of Tony’s on Peter’s shoulders.
“I’m fine dad, I’m just----I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted you to find out and this definitely wasn’t my plans for the evening and I’m sorry I lied. And I’m sorry about that one time I voted for Sam’s plan in that first Avengers meeting, it’s just it was a really good plan and I didn’t want to seem biased and I’m also sorry for that time I broke Clint’s new bow I didn’t mean to sit on it it’s just, the suit is kind of hard to see out of and------“
“Pete… Pete!” Peter’s rambling stopped long enough for his wide fearful eyes to meet Tony’s. Frankly, he didn’t know what he was going to do about the whole ‘fifteen year old fighting crime’ deal but he did know that Peter being alive trumped any lecture. For now.
“What do you say we just promise no more lies? For both of us. Tomorrow, preferably because something tells me you’re about twenty minutes away from falling asleep on your feet.”
Peter’s eyelids snapped back up from where they drooped and a small, tired smile lit Peter’s face.
“I’ll start now: I love you.”
Tony knew it was Peter’s attempt to be cute and avoid punishment, but dammit if it didn’t work. Tony smiled and wrapped an arm underneath Peter’s to support him as they walked out of the warehouse. The night wasn’t over--- they still had Bruce and Helen to see, but the important part was that they had each other.
“I love you too, Pete.” And that was another forever Tony was happy to abide by.
“-----But that does not get absolve you of your sins: polyester? To fight? Are the bad guys you’re fighting 90’s fashion?”
Peter laughed softly and the sound stitched together all of Tony’s open wounds. They still had a lot to talk about. A lot. In no way was he planning on forgetting the events of today, both Peter’s secrets and his own. He had no idea what this meant for Spider-Man, or the Avengers, or hell even Iron Man.
But there was no rush. Right now, they had forever.
“Let’s go home, kid.”