Peter woke up with a start. His eyes searched his room for any sort of danger but only found his phone buzzing on the nightstand next to his bed. He picked it up to see it was Ned calling and that it was 4:47pm, meaning he got a decent amount of actual sleep but his sleeping schedule would probably be messed up for the next few days.
"Hey Ned."
"Pete I gotta tell you, this was by far one of the weirdest things you've asked me to look into for you. I mean I know it's for the good of the kids and the families but having me watch footage of a like nine year old kid made me feel like such a pervert and I don't even want to know what would've happened if my mom barged in."
Peter couldn't help but crack a smile. "You've only watched one video, I've watched dozens. How do you think I feel?"
"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to help but it wasn't just watching it that made it weird. I must have dozed off like several times before I actually got done with it."
"Were you able to get anything?" Peter frowned slightly.
"Yeah. Whoever set up the looper or whatever knew what they were doing. The thing was encrypted like a million ways and my computer almost crashed every time I tried to get into the damn thing. I don't even know how it was possible but I was able to get the whole video done, start to finish without any difficulties. It was pretty creepy if you ask me."
"Are you able to send the files back?"
"That's another thing; when I was trying to delete things that were useless I couldn't and everything seemed to automatically make a copy of itself. Are you sure you didn't send me a virus?"
Shit. He didn't actually think of that being a possibility and it very well might have happened.
"Uh- is there any way you can show me what you got without sending it?"
Ned was silent for a moment. "The files had a virus didn't they?"
"Ned please, I'll get you a new top of the line computer, courtesy of Mr. Stark but we really need to see what you have."
"Calm down. I'm not going to withhold any information for you. Do you have your computer? I can set up a screen share and recording so you can see what's on mine and be able to keep everything in case there is something wrong with the files."
"Give me a second. My laptop's downstairs." Peter hopped out of bed and began his track to the lower level. "What did you find anyways?"
"Okay well you know in Paranormal Activity where the girl watched the guy sleep at night? It's not exactly like that but it gives me that type of vibe and watching it while almost falling asleep doesn't put anyone in a comfortable, stable state of mind. I mean seriously, it's with a kid. That makes it like so much worse."
"Yeah, I getcha." Peter entered the investigation room as Tony dubbed it. Really it was the living room that had been rearranged and morphed into such. He was surprised to see it vacant of everyone but Clint. "Where'd everyone go?"
"Stark went to canvas the Neponset and Blanco area; Cap and Barnes were requested by police to talk to a family of a missing child." Clint answered. "Who you talking to?"
"Friend of mine; he's, uh- unofficially helping with the case."
"Who is that? Who are you talking to? Is it Captain America? Oh man. Are you bragging about me to Captain America?"
"It's Hawkeye. Cap's out talking to the cops or something."
"Put me on speaker so I can talk to him."
"What? Ned no. Just walk me through how to set up a screen share or whatever."
"It'll be like I'm sitting there with everyone. I'm like a pseudo Avenger. Come on."
Peter saw Clint raise a brow in question and he rolled his eyes as he hit the speaker button. "Okay there. Now he can hear you."
"Can he really?"
"Yeah kid. I can." Clint responded.
"Oh man. He actually answered me. This is the best day of my life."
"Ned focus please. How do we set this thing up?"
Ned walked Peter through the process. The whole thing only took about three minutes to complete and soon Ned's screen was shown on Peter's.
"You got everything? You can see me moving the cursor?"
"Yeah. It's all there I think."
"Okay so I'm gonna go ahead and jump to where the thing starts because I do not want to have to sit through hours of this again. The audio that went with it was also encrypted to high hell but I was able to get around that. I didn't know what was playing at first but it sounds like maybe it's a lullaby to help the kid sleep but it started at like the three mark and it's just real creepy."
Ned played the footage. Peter was thoroughly surprised he could outright basically hear everything in the video without having to strain his ears. The footage itself was normal, almost disturbing. It showed a little boy slowly sitting up in bed, staying there for only a second before flipping off his covers and walking out his door.
"Pause it." Clint commanded. He stared at Peter; his hands were over his ears again. "You still hear the song?"
Peter nodded.
"You don't?" Ned asked genuinely. "I mean I can make it louder if you want but I don't know if it'll mess with the video file or not."
"Pull up the audio track and play the footage again." Clint's eyes were on the track; the audio for the song was there but he couldn't hear it. "Is this everything you have?"
Ned paused everything. "Yeah. I mean I have the original footage but this is it. I know it doesn't show much but-"
"No, this is good. We weren't even sure how the kids were leaving before. Do you think you'd be able to do the same with footage from an outdoor camera?"
"Yeah but, uh, is it cool if I start it tomorrow? I mean I know this is like top priority but I don't think I could sit through another video without like passing out."
Clint's brow furrowed. "Did you fall asleep while watching the first tape?"
"A few times actually…" Ned replied sheepishly. "It's actually kinda hard to keep my eyes open right now. I think watching the tape is getting to me."
"Ya did good kid. Don't worry about the other tape tonight. Get some rest and get on it in the morning."
"Wow this has been one of the coolest nights of my life. The Hawkeye actually told me I did a good job and I should sleep. Whoa."
"You're so embarrassing." Peter said after his temporary silence. He picked up the phone and turned off the speaker and pressed it to his ear. "I'll send you a file from a house with yard surveillance. Thanks for doing this Ned."
"My pleasure Pete. There's a reason why I'm your Guy in the Chair."
They offered each other quick goodbyes before ending the call. Peter set the phone down and ran his hand through his hair.
"How you doing?" Clint had been eying him the whole time and it looked like he was ready to pass out again.
"The song was louder; I didn't think you still wouldn't be able to hear it… I can probably search to see if it's an actual song from somewhere."
"You don't need to strain yourself either."
"I'm- not?"
"Pete you look like shit." He stated bluntly. "Whatever that song is, or the underlying tone in it, it's messing with your head even if you think it's not."
He was at a loss. He had felt fine when he had woken up but when he heard the music, it was like he locked up. His senses had gone into overdrive and having his hands muffling the sound was the best he could do without actually leaving the room. The lyrics were just so unnerving.
Oh, I am just full of dreams, mint pie and apple pie. Good cake and sp-irits, cheer-full-y eating coo-kies. Licking up the prune pud-ding, eating a bit of cho-co-late, The Three O'Clock Fa-iry is watching glee-full-y.
"I'm not gonna tell you to go take a nap or something because you've only been up for like twenty minutes so- go watch a movie or something. We can at least wait until the others are back before continuing with anything. Hell I don't even think we can do anything else until the others do get back."
"Yeah, okay. Just let me send Ned another file."
AVENGERS
It was a few hours later that everyone had come back. Peter and Clint had gotten just about all the way through the first extended edition of Lord of the Rings, Peter smirking at the man every time Legolas was said.
Tony had been in a sour mood when he returned. He found nothing and had gone over every inch of the area and had gotten no more than upset parents yelling at him, saying they were useless for not bringing the kids home. Steve and Bucky were more fruitful in their outing.
"We might have gotten something to help prove your theory." Steve said. "We met with a family who had a set of twins but only one of them was missing when they woke up. Wanna take a guess as to why?"
Clint and Tony stood silent in thought while Peter voiced his guess immediately. It was so simple it was being overlooked. "They didn't hear anything."
Bucky nodded. "One of them was born deaf. They're currently the only child left on the block within the age range."
"That definitely explains a lot. How can you hypnotize someone with sound when they can't hear anything?" Tony rhetorically asked. "You get anything while we were on our field trip?"
"We got something all right, courtesy of a friend." Clint eyed Peter. "We got the original unaltered footage and audio from the house. We're currently waiting on outside footage from the same house."
Tony stared at Peter. "You brought Ned in for this didn't you?"
Peter smirked and shrugged. "We weren't getting anywhere; Ned was a fresh pair of eyes and ears. If he was able to hack your tech then something like this would be no problem for him."
"Okay I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that my tech is as easy to hack as mediocre security cameras."
"You let a sixteen year old hack into your system?" Bucky asked, his brow raised.
"I did not let him do anything. Underoos here thought it was a good idea to hack into his suit when he first got it."
"You let two sixteen year olds hack your system?"
"Can you just- play the footage Legolas?"
Clint looked at Peter. "You good?"
"Uh, I think I'm gonna go- get a sandwich." The boy mumbled before leaving the room.
Clint pulled up the audio and video recording from earlier. "The audio for the song actually shows up in the track now, but I still can't hear it. His friend could and he can. He seemed really shaken from listening to it earlier; it's messing with his head or something. His friend said he fell asleep several times while working on it but nothing more than that."
He played the footage and the group watched as the boy rose from his bed and silently walked from the room. They could hear the clicking of his door opening and creeping of the floorboards but other than that it was silent. They still couldn't hear the music even though it was showing on the audio track.
"I understand the Mosquito mechanics you were talking about earlier but is it possible to do it with an entire song?" Steve asked. "I would've figured the audio was just tampered with so no one could hear it except for Peter."
"If I could give you those answers I would. We can only wait right now until something else happens or his friend sends us another file."
AVENGERS
Peter was standing at the island in the kitchen eating the sandwich he made and watching the news. The anchor had currently been reporting on the most recent disappearances, saying that the police were no closer to finding anything than they were when they first started. It cut to segment of parents pleading for their children to come home; if a kidnapper had them, they would do whatever it took to get them back. It cut again to a reporter on the street asking people what they thought about the entire situation.
"I mean, it's horrible you know? I can't imagine what the families are going through right now."
"Such a shame. I have a little brother in Arizona in the age range. I don't know how I'd react if it would happen to me."
"I just hope they catch the creep that's doing this."
He hoped so too. Peter couldn't describe what he was feeling when he heard people say they believed the police and Avengers would find them. It was somewhere along the lines of pride and pity; pride because of how much the people believed in them to actually bring the kids home… and pity, because they didn't know how much information they really didn't have. They were able to hold onto a blind hope that their kids would be found.
He went over to the cupboard to get a glass for a drink right as it went to commercial break. He absentmindedly listened to someone saying something about an amusement park in Oakland. However when a certain tune started playing, the glass slipped from his hand and fell to the floor, shattering.
His head whipped back to the TV. The screen was showing what looked like a small amphitheater, the backdrop decorated with all sorts of toys, cakes, candies, and fairies. There were flashing show times for something, three o'clock being extremely special for some reason.
Hey look when- you close- your eyes, it's such a sweet fra-gra-nce. The three o'clock fai-ry is wai-ting for me! Come on! Let's go! To-geth-er, come on let's go in se-cre-t. Even without mom and dad here I'm not lonely, I'm not afraid. All excited with the waf-fles, donuts any time at all! The three o'clock fairy, so what shall we do next-?
"Pete? You okay?" Bucky called as he entered the room. "We heard a crash-"
"Can you hear it?" Peter asked urgently as he pointed to the TV. "Can you hear that song?"
"Yeah…? What about it?"
Peter could help a smile creep onto his face. "Good. That's- that's real good. Like- whoa."
"I'm concerned for a different reason now." Bucky raised a brow.
"We need to go to that theme park. That's the song that's playing on the recording."
The soldier's eyes widened slightly and his tone was grim. "Are you okay? Do you feel anything?"
"Yeah- yeah I'm fine. There's no, like, background noise or anything like there is in the recordings but that's the song. I'm certain of it."
He ran from the kitchen and back to the living room, Bucky following him. Peter paid no mind to the three other men that had been in the room. He went to his computer and immediately looked up the park from the TV. A webpage popped up and music started playing.
"Children's Fairyland?" Clint read over his shoulder. "Is this like- a way to cope with everything? That music is creepy as hell."
"You can all hear it?" Peter asked. The men all nodded. "This- this is the music that's been playing in the videos, the exact same tune, melody, the kids singing it."
"But listening to this isn't doing anything-?" Steve gestured to his head.
"No. It's not giving me any sense of danger or making me tired at all."
"So this helps prove the Mosquito idea." Tony clarified. "FRIDAY give me everything you can about the song and the theme park."
"That place is in Oakland; barely even a two hour drive from here." Clint pointed out.
"I have the information you've requested." FRIDAY said. A holoscreen appeared in front of everyone.
"See if you can get any information that'll tell us if the families have been to the park." Tony ordered as everyone looked at the information in front of them. "Is that Japanese?"
"Looks like it was originally a Japanese song that became the park's theme music." Bucky said. "No wonder it sounds horribly off best and outta tune."
"The Park was built on 1950 and has the oldest continuing puppet theater in the US." Peter read. "That's just creepy. Why would any one wanna go there?"
"We should pay it a visit." Steve said. "It's in the area where the disappearances started happening. It might even be where the kids are currently being held."
"First thing in the morning." Tony said. "Maybe sooner. With the information of the map, this area is due to be the next attacked."
"What's the plan then? I don't like the idea of sitting around for a few hours and waiting to see if find any kids walking out in the streets going god knows where." Clint said as he crossed his arms.
"I understand your take on everything. I do, really but this is going to be our chance to stop whoever's doing this and actually find the kids." Tony stated. "We patrol the area, Marina to Pacific Grove, hell- even to Pebble Beach if we have to. We're bound to get something."
"What about Peter?"
The question hung in the air as every set of eyes went to the boy who was now trying to make himself as small as possible. What about Peter? At that moment he was both an asset and a liability. He was the only one to be able to hear whatever music was playing and it was thanks to him and Ned that they were even able to see that there was music at all. But it affected him. Whatever was hiding inside that song was messing with his head and it could- most definitely- put him in unnecessary danger.
"I'm not sitting this one out." Peter's tone was firm. He could see the looks in their eyes. "I'm the only one here that can actually hear anything that's going on and in case none of you have caught on, sound is kinda a big part in this."
He was right and they all knew it. They needed his help.
"We'll split up." Bucky said. "We'll be able to cover the entirety of the area between us and whatever bots you're gonna have out. Someone will stay with the kid to make sure he doesn't go wandering off somewhere."
Everyone reluctantly agreed. It wasn't the best plan but they didn't have many suitable things to go on. Clint would be paired with Peter and the two of them would stay in the relative middle of where they would be scoping out. Tony would be flying towards Marina, Steve would be riding around Seaside, and Bucky would be at Pacific Grove. They would all be accompanied by a small drone to act as another set of eyes.
They had all tried to sleep if just for a few hours but it was easier said than actually done. They were all sitting in a peaceful silence, a movie playing softly in the background. Peter had noticed Tony nod off at one point, and he was sure the others noticed too but no one said anything.
When the allotted time approached everyone went outside; the drones were placed with their appropriate person and everyone took off, Steve and Tony in one direction, Bucky in the other. Peter and Clint had split up to cover a larger area. All they could do now was wait.
Eeeeeh I didn't really know where to cut it but this was a decent place I suppose. I'm trying to keep at least 3k words every chapter.
And yes! The title is a Ghostbusters reference. A little silliness in a serious situation. Also to the person that asked for the song, it's called Sanji No Yousei and is a Sailor Moon OST I believe. Please for your own sanity, don't go looking for any English translated song. It's just so bad.
Thank you everyone so much for the feedback! Next chapter will be the final! Reviews give writers the will to live!
Hope ya liked it. See ya later!
