Hey all! This is my first fanfic in the Marvel universe and as I'm sure you'll all be able to tell; I'll be making many changes. There won't be any powers throughout this, but I will be using many characters that we all know and love. Harry Osborn will be brought back, as he will be key to some plotlines. This will mainly revolve around Peter Parker, but a darker take on his character. Enjoy!
Peter Parker was awoken by a phone call. Groaning, he rolled over and yanked his phone out of the charger. His usual alarm was set for 7am, but the incoming phone call showed that the time was 6.45. The name on the screen read 'Tony Stark'.
"Tony?" Peter muttered, his voice still hoarse and raspy.
"Peter, come to my office now" Tony said, his voice as flat as Peter had ever heard it.
"Mr Stark, it's Friday. My usual shift doesn't start until 8" Peter replied, already sitting up in bed with the phone balanced between his cheek and shoulder. There wouldn't be any point in arguing with Tony. He rarely phoned him when it was anything outside of work. Except for the occasional family dinner.
"I know Peter, and I do appreciate that, but this is important. I've already contacted Osborn and Leeds and they are on their way in" commented Tony, and as if on cue, Peter could hear Harry and Ned wandering the halls outside of his door. There was one major benefit to being the highest member in Tony's mafia, and it was the house that he shared with his two best friends. When they had relocated to England, Tony had gifted him the luxurious estate that the three inhabited.
"Fine. I'll be their soon" Peter replied and hung up. He hopped out of bed and pulled a suit on, placing his gun in its familiar holster and some knives tucked in on the inside of his jacket. Tony clearly meant business and Peter would be damned if he was ever unprepared. He opened his door and was greeted by Harrison Osborn on the other side, leaning against a wall and playing with the blade of a knife.
"Any clue what this is about?" he asked. Peter shook his head.
"I don't know, but Stark sounded pretty serious" he replied. "I'm sure he'll tell us all when we get to his office."
Harry shrugged. "Just figured he might have given you a heads up or something. You know, with you being his kid."
Peter smirked at him. It was well known throughout the mafia that Tony had adopted Peter when he was only thirteen years old. Being the mafia leaders kid made him known, and it had made him dangerous. Tony had taught him everything that he knew, and Peter had turned into the most ruthless assassin that they had.
Peter headed to his own study quickly to check if Tony had sent any messages regarding his phone call but there was nothing. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. This was important. Tony would always let him know about a mission in advance, and normally let Peter decide if he wanted it before handing it off to someone else.
Peter headed back over to Harry and Ned, who both shared an equally confused look. Peter shrugged at them before they headed to their cars and over to Tony's office. It wasn't like Tony to call them this early, especially without any information. As they pulled up to the office, Harry and Ned were talking but Peter was silent. He needed to asses the situation in his head before walking into Tony's office. Not knowing or being in control of a situation was something that he hated, and right now he had no control and no information to rely on.
They entered the building, walking past Karen, Tony's assistant. As usual, she flinched away when Peter looked at her, causing Peter to smirk. Everyone here knew to be afraid of him.
Peter didn't wait to be invited inside and walked right through into Tony's oversized office. He sat at his desk, grimly holding a brown folder and inspecting it. The file had a bright red sign across it, labelling it 'highly classified.'
"So Tony, you've gotten us all out of bed bright and early, but for what?" said Peter, sitting in the chair directly in front of Tony. Harry and Ned sat either side of him.
"I need my beauty sleep Sir" Harry commented sarcastically. Tony didn't smile. He slid the folder that he was holding across the table and Peter caught it.
"What I'm about to tell the three of you is top secret, and I mean that. No one outside of this room will know about it" Tony Stark leant forward with his chin resting on his fists. Harry's grin instantly dropped and even Ned's characteristic smile faltered. Tony continued, knowing that they were listening. They knew better than to interrupt him. "Last night, Pepper and I were awoken by my phone ringing, showing me that our facility in Manchester was broken into. Two of my men were killed, three were injured and I've had one million dollars stolen. Boys, I want it back."
Peter's fists clenched. No one stole from them. They were the Stark Mafia, and everyone knew not to mess with them. Everyone except…
"It was the Knight's wasn't it?" Harry interrupted. Tony nodded. He slid one more folder across the desk.
"Dominic Knight has been a pain in my ass since we first came here to England. I should have squashed him like the bug he is when we first arrived. But I want people to fear me. If I were to have killed him when I first arrived, I would have made many enemies and the public would have hated me, and hate can be stronger than fear."
"Why not both?" Peter questioned. He had never liked Dominic Knight; the man was a mystery. Tony had rarely spoken about him, but he had always been like a fly on the wall. It was never addressed but he was always there.
"Excuse me?" Tony spat.
"Why not have them hate and fear you Tony? Hate is not stronger than fear. Hate is an emotion; it is bound to be felt whether someone chooses to or not. But fear? Fear is controlled. It takes power to make people fear you."
Tony stood up, and Peter mimicked his actions. Ned and Harry rose hesitantly.
"I have to disagree with you Peter. But I'm not arguing with you. I'm your superior son, and you will sit down." Tony spoke slowly, deliberately emphasising the word son.
Peter's fists clenched but he sat down. The only person he would listen to and let speak to him in this way was Tony. Tony was his boss, mentor and father figure. But it didn't mean that he had to agree. As with hate, love wasn't easy to control, but Peter knew that what he felt towards Tony was as close to it as he knew.
Harry and Ned were used to this sort of exchange. Tony and Peter were both men that liked to be in charge, and when they didn't agree on something than all hell would break loose. But not this time. Peter instead reached for the folders again.
"What do you want us to do Sir?" he asked. Tony sat down as well, now smiling.
"I want to hit Dominic where it hurts. He won't ever return my money if we go for brute force, he'd sooner destroy it than let me have it back. So, I will take something of his, and it will hurt him. Open the folders gentleman."
Peter opened the folder and could practically feel Ned and Harry's eyes over his shoulder, inspecting the contents. The first folder had been about Dominic Knight, all the intel that Tony had gathered. But Peter had read that many times already. This one was titled 'Annika Knight.' Peter skimmed it quickly, deducing that she was Dominic's daughter.
"Why are we reading about a teenage girl Sir?" Ned chirped, looking at Tony with quizzical eyes. Tony pushed the final folder across the desk. This time it read 'Tristan Knight.' It wasn't hard to figure out that this was Annika's brother.
"So you want us to kill his children?" Peter smirked, already forming a plan in his head. Kill a couple of teenagers, it wouldn't be hard.
"Peter, I know that is how you deal with things. But no. Killing them would achieve nothing." Tony said, and started walking around his desk.
"Besides a world of pain for Dominic Knight" Peter muttered. Tony ignored him.
"I want you to take Annika Knight. By doing so, Dominic will be at our mercy. Even he has feelings when it comes to his children" said Tony. "You will take her and bring her to me, and I will force her father's hand. He will return my money to me, and I will make him sign a contract to never attack any of my properties again. Do you think you boys can handle that?"
The three of them laughed in sync. "Sir, no offence but we've handled so much worse. Kidnapping one teenage girl will be easy." Ned said.
"That'll be all then boys. I have sent files over to your house. Study them. Learn them. And plan. Come back to me when you have sorted everything. But don't underestimate this mission. It is one of the most important ones yet. Our reputation is on the line here. If we don't complete this successfully than our mission to come to England and take over will have been for nothing."
And with that the three of them knew they were dismissed. They all stood, and Tony returned to his seat. He held his hand up.
"Peter, a word please." Harry and Ned nodded at Peter and exited the room. Peter turned back towards Tony.
"Peter I know that our relationship isn't the most usual, but you have to address me with some respect in front of my workers" he reprimanded. Peter laughed, but it was empty.
"What, Ned and Harry? They already fear you Tony. They're my best friends, and that won't change because of how I speak to you" he replied loudly.
"I don't care Peter. You are my best worker, and above that, you are my son. I expect some respect at work."
"Fine, Mr Stark. May I go please, Sir?"
"Not just yet Kid. I meant what I said. Do not take this mission lightly. I know that your go to is to shoot, end it, and finish your day with a nice brandy. But not this time. This has to stay top secret, between you three only" Tony informed him.
"I know that Sir. I can tell this is different for you. But why?" Peter asked, taking his seat once again, and picking up Annika's file.
"When I was at school, I knew Dominic Knight. Let's just say we were as close as you and your friends are. But we had different ideas. I knew that I wanted to be in charge of a business-" Peter laughed as Tony smiled. They called their mafia a business to anyone outside of their circle. "But so did Dominic. He and I disagreed, and he vowed to ruin me if I ever got what I wanted. And taking one million dollars from me was only the beginning. My coming to England has worried him. He will keep coming at me, and my reputation will be ruined if I let him get away with it. That's why I'm sending you. I don't trust anyone more than you Peter and you know that."
"Thank you, Tony. I won't let you down" Peter said. "And I'll make sure the boys won't either."
"I mean it though. Don't you dare go in and shoot anyone. Especially not this girl. As far as I can tell she is an innocent, and I don't want to harm innocents. She is a means to an end" Tony said.
The mission sounded boring to Peter. He preferred a different type of mission. Killing was his go to, it was so simple and easy. No hassle, and Tony was right; he would get to go home and forget about it all with a brandy. This time he would have to kidnap some teenage girl to get back at her father. No guns, no shooting, no fun.
"And one last thing Peter?"
"Yes Sir?"
"She will be staying at the house with you" Tony said. Peter stood up so violently his chair flew backwards.
"No, she will not!"
"Yes, she will. I know that I have allowed you to live with your friends as a courtesy, to get you away from the business when you aren't needed. But it is also one of the safest places for her to stay without escaping. This whole plan will be pointless if she escapes" muttered Tony, already preparing for the argument from Peter. He knew that Peter was a private person and didn't like more people in his life than necessary. But the essentialness of this girl's safety was of upmost importance.
"I can't have some teenage girl living with me. My house is private. I let the boys live their because I trust them, but no one outside of my inner circle knows the location. That isn't changing for some mission!" Peter started pacing around the room, looking through Annika's folder again. Tony was right. She didn't seem to have anything to do with her father's business, unlike her brother who seemed to be overly involved.
Tony stood up, slamming his hand on the desk. "I've told you that this isn't just a mission! This is my businesses reputation at stake. A business that you will take over one day Peter. Dominic is a threat that needs to be taken care of and this is the best way. This girl will be no problem, but you cannot harm her, and you most definitely cannot kill her. She will be staying with you and that is final!"
Peter glared at his mentor angrily, his brown eyes darkening. Years ago, he would have kicked up a fuss and acted like a child arguing with his parent. But now things were different. He had learned that showing too much emotion was pointless, and missions had to be completed no matter the cost.
"This is really that important Sir?" he asked.
"It really is" Tony confirmed. Peter nodded.
"I'll get her. I will take her to the house. And we will take down Dominic Knight."
Tony smirked at Peter. This was what he had Peter for. He would follow orders down to the T. He had grown from the naïve thirteen year old that Tony had found all those years ago to a ruthless criminal, capable of anything. Peter was the best at what he did, and he knew it.
The only thing that Tony ever worried about was that Peter had no control of his emotions – or lack of them. He repressed them and only in rare instances did Tony see them. Pepper was one of the only people that could bring any type of happiness to Peter, and Tony had noticed that Peter now made it a point to avoid her. Growing up in the criminal business had changed Peter Parker, but Tony knew that there was no changing him now so instead he would use him for this mission and every important mission onwards. Loyalty and trust were earned, and Tony was proud to say that he had Peter's trust; he was one of the fortunate few that ever had.
Peter exited the room, leaving Tony staring after him. Peter Parker was cold-blooded, and Tony hoped that he would work this mission without letting his unforgiving nature get in the way.