The waiter looked at him with a nice enough look. It didn't look obviously judgemental but he could see it behind the man's eyes. Peter knew he kept the facade for a good tip from the famous Iron Man. Sadly, for him, Tony saw the same Peter did and later on, did not tip very well. Nevertheless, Peter was happy. He was out at a really fancy cool restaurant with Tony and he couldn't have asked for more. Nothing was better than spending time with his father-figure, celebrating.
"Thanks for this, Mr. Stark. I'm having a lot of fun," Peter savored every bite of his pasta, slurping the one, long noodle up in one go. The end snapped up and hit his nose, just like the cartoons, sending a few drops of the sauce flying. Tony laughed before noticing the other richie-riches staring in disgust and unnecessary judgement at the wholesome child. Peter looked around, looking a little too embarrassed for Tony's liking. He'd never had to learn how to eat at places like that. He and May couldn't afford the food. "Give the kid a break. He got good grades and deserves a night out," Tony looked around the room at the assholes. The people kept their gazes at the young one. "What did I say?!" The people averted their gazes from the two and continued to eat."You really didn't have to do that." Peter liked it, though. His father-figure was protecting him. He smiled while he ate the rest of his food. His plate would have been stacked on top of ten more if the staff hadn't kept taking the plates when he was done. Peter kept eating and eating with his enhanced metabolism begging him to keep going.
When the meal was over and Peter was sated well enough, the two exited the front doors and started to walk down the fancy staircase, to get into the limo before Tony's phone rang. "I'm sorry, kid, I know I promised but this could be important."
"It's okay, Tony," Peter laughed. "I'll just get inside the limo. It's kinda cold for me." Tony tapped the kid's shoulder as a nonverbal thank you while he answered the phone.
"Happy, what is it? I said I didn't want interruptions while hanging out with the kid."
"We had a shipment you said you'd sign for."
"Fine. I'll stop by there really quick but I'm not staying so have everything ready for me."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at," Tony turned to look at the name of the restaurant, as he had his driver take him to a random fancy place. It's not like he had to worry about paying for it. "We're at Le Bernardin. It's fine. We're just leaving. I'll be right there to sign for everything so just tip the guys a hundred each to wait."
"Fine. Hurry, though."
Tony turned to look back at Peter, to explain the minor blip in the schedule for the night. When he saw the open limo door with no one inside, he looked around to see the streets were empty. Devoid of human interaction. "Peter?!" He got on his phone, quickly trying to call up the kid's phone. He heard the distinct sound of the theremin ringtone. When he looked around, he saw Peter's phone underneath the car, just in front of the sidewalk. The screen was cracked and there was no sign of the spider. Tony quickly rang Happy back up. "Call every available Avenger, now! Peter's missing!" He hung up before he could get a smart-ass shady comment towards the kid.
:::::::
Peter slightly crouched to get into the limo before he suddenly felt a pulling at his sides. He stood up straight, expecting to see Tony. Before he could say or do anything, a large man in a ski-mask covering his face, was putting a hand over the kid's mouth. Before he knew it, he was unconscious.
:::::
Tony ran at full speed into the compound's common area, yelling for the Avengers. "T'Challa! Steve! Sam! Barnes! Shuri! Steven! Quill! Anybody and everybody get your asses in the common room or I'm shutting off the wifi for the rest of your miserable lives!"
The other Avengers filed in, nearly in order of called names, curious to see why Happy had called them and why Tony was freaking out.
"Tony, what's going on," Sam sat on the couch, legs outstretched before Bucky came in and shoved them off the surface, sitting where they used to be. "Boy if you don't…"
"Mr. Stark, is it an emergency? It is three in the morning." T'Challa said, beautiful and sexy, Wakandan accent thick and polite.
"Peter's missing," Tony paced the room while the Avengers and a few more sat down. "We were outside the restaurant and we were getting into the limo then I took a call for just a second and I didn't look away for long but then he was just gone. His phone was on the ground and I have no idea what happened. He wouldn't have just left. Especially not without his phone."
"Did anyone see what happened? Y'know, witnesses?" Steve's look was concerning to Tony. He never looked so freaked out like this.
"We went so late at night because we were trying to avoid paparazzi. It worked, apparently, because no one saw anything! We have nobody to tell us what Peter's captor or captors look like," Tony paced a bit faster, starting to breathe a bit heavier.
"Captors?" Bucky lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"He wouldn't have left. The only explanation is that he was kidnapped." As if on cue, Friday alerted the Avengers of news they definitely didn't want to hear.
::::::
"Wake up, kid," The big man in the ski mask kicked Peter's shin, waking the young one. Peter was strapped down to a cold, metal table, angled just right to where his whole body was visible to a camera in the middle of the room. The man tightened the white leather straps, just to be safe.
"What?" His brow furrowed before he slowly opened his eyes to see this big, muscly man. His arms were the size of bowling balls while his legs were quite skinny for his upper body size. "Skip leg day?" Peter's voice shook a little bit, frustrating himself. "Seriously, just alternate during your, assumingly, regular routine."
"What'd you say to me?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just waking up and mumbling you know how it is, right? I mean, this probably isn't your first time doing something like this. Who starts off with a kid, right? It's harder to hurt kids. I think it is. Okay I'll shut up, now." Peter rambled a bit, hoping to charm the man into backing down.
"Use some of that sarcasm again and I'll cut off one of your fingers. Got it?" Okay so, not backing down. Good to know.
Peter swallowed hard and breathlessly spoke. "Got it." The young hero decided to remain silent for as long as possible to avoid pissing off the disproportionate man.
:::::::
"You're receiving a video call from a user named: I Got Your Kid." Friday chirped. "Would you like to accept or decline th-"
"Accept!" Tony was so loud, everyone in the room flinched.
The call opens to see Peter on the large metal table, strapped down with those damn thick leather straps. He was quieter than usual, making it unsettling to the Avengers. The kid struggled a little bit, careful not to undo his restraints and expose his powers. He could see the laptop next to the camera. On screen was a livestream on one half, and on the other was a live feed to Times Square where it appeared skinnylegman was broadcasting the events of what was happening to him. No way he was going to expose himself like that. Not to all of New York City, and most-likely, the world!
"What the hell do you want? Don't you dare hurt him!" Tony nearly punched the table he was standing behind, watching the TV screen on the wall.
"I want fifty million dollars in one hour or there will be consequences. Every hour you don't pay, I do something fun to your kid, Stark. Fifty nine minutes left. Do it." The man walked off screen, leaving Peter to be the only one in frame.
"Peter! Peter, can you hear me?!" Tony shook with anticipation.
"Mr. Stark! I can hear you!" Peter struggled a little bit more.
"You're gonna be okay. We're gonna find you! Can you see a clock?"
"No. I think he took it out of the room."
"But you think it's still in the building?"
"Definitely."
There was a short pause, leaving an opening for another Avenger to speak. Cap walked over to Tony and whispered, "Why ask about a clock?"
Tony leaned into Steve's ear, whispering as well. "It's a way of asking if he still has his watch on because it has a tracker in it."
Steve nodded and went to sit down again after giving Tony a comforting tap on the back. Tony muted the call, momentarily, calling out to Friday. "Track Peter's watch!"
::::::
It's an hour later and the tracking wasn't working. No money has befallen the villain and Peter was starting to freak out. He could feel the hour mark creeping up on him, even though he had no access to a timepiece.
"It's been an hour. I don't see any money." The disproportionate man angrily informed them.
"The Avengers don't negotiate with terrorists, kidnappers or supervillains. We don't negotiate with evil people." Tony hated every word he just said.
"You know, I'm actually happy you said that. I get a little anger out. I'll get my money next hour. Especially after…" A sound of metal scraping against metal was heard as the man walked behind the table Peter was strapped to. Soon enough, a large knife was seen in his right hand and a taser in the left. "Especially after I do this!" The man plunged the knife into the side of Peter's stomach, eliciting a throat-ripping scream, abruptly cut off by the extraction of the blade. Peter lay there, eyes wide, tears freely falling. He had no time to rest or recover from the shock before being met with fifty thousand volts of electricity sending him into a seizing fit, jostling and thrashing around on the table, only being held down by the straps.
"Peter!" Tony watched the blood flow down Peter's stomach even faster, making the older hero's chest tighten as if being hugged by the Hulk. It was now obvious why the leather straps were white. Peter's blood seemed to dye the material, somehow making the whole ordeal more painful.
The man must have held the taser to Peter's body too long, because when the man ended the contact, the spider's eyes were unfocused.
"Peter?!" Tony's screams were painful for NYC residents and tourists alike to hear. He watched while Peter tilted his head. Why did he look confused? Peter squeezed his eyes shut before opening them wider than anything Tony had ever seen before. "Peter? Come on, kid, say something."
"I fin… fin… Tiny." Peter's words were jumbled, taking Tony a moment to understand.
"You're fine! Good. That's good, buddy," Tony muted the call and looked at Bruce. He didn't even need to say anything before the genius could understand what he wanted to know.
"Too much electricity can cause temporary dementia. He seems to be suffering from two of the symptoms: confusion and jumbled speech." It was obvious to the other Avengers that Bruce hated what he was about to do. "Other things that could happen are: hallucinations, memory loss, a hard time understanding language, irritability, personality changes and a lack of restraint. Most of those will be fine, given some time and rest once we get him back, but…"
"But?" Bucky steps in.
"If he gets irritable or loses his restraint, then he could expose his abilities to the world. He would almost definitely be outed as Spider-Man. And that's not all of it," Everyone's sighs were heavily audible. "Personality changes are completely unpredictable. Given his abilities and his natural personality; this could be bad. The kid is kind and forgiving. Change that and what do you think you'll get? Plus-"
"Okay, Mr. Banner. We need to find him, fast." Shuri put a hand on the scientist's shoulder, as she was seeing how much more stressed Tony was becoming.
Tony unmuted the call when he noticed the captor's footsteps. "I can't get you the money so just let the kid go!"
"One hour." The screen went black, sending Tony dangerously close to tears. He crossed his arms and screamed up at the AI. "Fucking find Peter! Now!"
::::::
Peter finally got his bearings back, and he really started to think about where he was. He looked around at the dark room, the only light coming from a light-tent on a tall stand. It was bright and painful for his eyes with his heightened senses. He could smell the wet, moldy wood from outside the door behind him. He looked at the burned-looking, pale yellow windows. The ceiling leaked in, like, a million places. There were bags of cement powder everywhere, lined up against the walls with sawhorses next to each other with wooden pallets on top. Peter assumed it was either a building being renovated, soon, or a really creepy art studio given the paint splatter all over the walls. The colors would have been beautiful if the red weren't in two different shades, one looking suspiciously like blood… a lot… of blood…
Things, aside from the whole situation, actually weren't too bad until he started thinking about how much he wanted to get back to the compound. To see the Avengers he loved so much. The people who protected him and loved him, not electrocuted him. Okay, actually, Gamora does that sometimes but it's just sparring. She didn't mean anything by it and it didn't hurt too bad. Not like this does.
Every moment that passes feels fast and slow all at the same time. Peter figures it must be the electricity affecting his brain.
:::::
"Peter's watch tracker has been located." Dammit, that was the sweetest sound Tony had ever heard in his life! Friday had never sounded better!
"Send the suit to me and send his location to it," Tony ran towards the launchpad with the pieces of his suit following right behind him, adhering to his body and creating the iconic Iron Man suit. He had Friday send ninety percent of his power to the thrusters in an attempt to get to his kid faster. Before he could get halfway to the location the tracker was pointing to, a video came up in the corner of Tony's FOV. His heart dropped all the way down to the streets of NYC, below. There it was, again. Peter strapped to that damn table, still bleeding over the now pink straps. The bleeding had slowed a lot, though, scaring Tony, making him think maybe he was healing too fast and the people over the stream and the kid's captor start to question things. But for now, it wasn't noticeable.
"It's been an hour and would you look at that…" The captor's footsteps were heard but he was not seen. Just Peter's widening eyes. "No money? What do you have to say about that, Stark?"
Tony gave a heavy sigh before replying. "The Avengers don't negotiate with terrorists, kidnappers or evil people." Quoting that line hurt so much. He had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen next.
"We're gonna have to dance a little longer, aren't we? Alright, then. Let's dance." A shot was heard, immediately followed by the sound of metal hitting metal and it was evident what had just happened when a gasp escaped from Peter's mouth right before a scream was heard then quickly cut off. The kid looked dazed, before looking down as far as he could to see a bullet hole in the left side of his ribs. He could feel every tiny bit of what had happened inside of him. The small crack in one of the ribs when the bullet grazed it. The air coming through, a little bit, in the entry point. The rubbing against the ammunition that had bent into and stuck to the metal behind him, irritating the exit point. He felt as the warm, wet blood flowed down in rivulets before he started to feel a tightness in his chest. That's when he knew what was about to happen.
:::::
"Peter," Tony screamed as he watched the kid with glassy eyes. He didn't know it, yet, but the captor had muted him. This guy was gonna die for what he was doing to this poor, innocent kid. He watched as Peter gasped for air, slightly struggling in his restraints with his eyes wide open. He kicked his legs as best he could, balling his fists, whitening his knuckles. "Don't die on me, kid, I'm almost there!"
"Oh. Looks like a pneumothorax," The captor clicked his tongue a few times, really pissing Tony off. "Guess I'll have to fix that." The man came back into frame with a stool, setting it down next to the table Peter was on. He left the screen, once more, coming back with a rubber tube and a contraption that no-one but a doctor could have made on the spot like that. The man used the knife he'd previously stabbed Peter with and made a painful cut across the spider's chest, before shoving the tube in, making Peter squirm at the intrusion. He wanted so badly to scream, but all he could manage was breathless cry. He attempted to dig the back of his head into the table, trying anything to relieve the pain.
He could hear the people of New York gasping at the sight of this small, innocent teenager suffering at the hands of a man who seriously needs to stop skipping leg day. He didn't care about what they thought or what that man was doing, at the moment. His mind was only on the desire to take in a full breath and before he knew it, he could. The tube released the air from his chest, allowing his lungs to fully inflate and deflate, letting him breathe. He'd experienced a collapsed lung, before, but he'd never gotten a chest tube without at least minor drugs and man did it suck. He knew the tube was unsanitized. He also knew his wound was either going to get infected, or he was gonna get sick, or both. Geez, hopefully not both…
::::::
Tony flew through the skies at breakneck speeds, almost to the tracker's location. When he got there, it was an empty gravel car lot next to an abandoned warehouse. He picked up the watch in the middle of the lot before going inside of the building to find Peter. He searched throughout the area, finding nothing. "Friday, do a heat signature search of the area and find out about any work going on."
"I have found no heat signatures other than your own and this building is scheduled to be demolished at the end of the month." Friday chirped. "My apologies, sir. Mr. Parker is nowhere to be found at this location. It seems-"
"Yeah, I know, the guy dumped his watch. Why would he do that unless… Peter did it? Why would he do that?"
