Disclaimer: I own nothing in the MCU or anything drawn from the comics. Unfortunately. Lol. All characters belong to the amazing people over at Marvel! I'm just playing with them for a little bit.
Summary: Homecoming AU. "I swear..." he gasped out between his sobs. "I... I didn't kill Mr. Stark." When the argument after the ferry incident goes horribly awry, Tony is missing and presumed dead, and Spider-Man is suspect number one. Peter believes his mentor is still alive out there, but he'll need help to find and save Tony from who truly wants him dead in time.
Author's Note: Hey, guys! Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites, and follows for this story! They mean a lot to me! :-) I'm glad you guys are enjoying this little angsty monster so much! All of you seem to be pretty concerned about Tony, and I can't say that I blame ya. So, I thought I'd get this chapter posted with at least a little more insight into what happened. Hope you enjoy!
In response to Lw117149: Here ya go! Thanks so much for your review! :-)
In response to Guest: Lol, yeah, the cliffhangers aren't probably going to get overly much better :-P But thank you so much for your review, here's the next update! :-)
Chapter 4– Eyewitness Testimony
It wasn't the first time she had seen that headline.
At least, not the first part of it. Stark Presumed Dead. No, the first time she had seen that had been not long after she had stood in the ruins of her and Tony's home in Malibu after it had been bombed supposedly by the terrorist known as the Mandarin after the billionaire had stupidly– and out of anger because of what had happened to Happy– threatened him and called him out by giving him their address. Granted, it had been Aldrich Killian, her ex-coworker who'd always had a crush on her and who'd ended up trying to turn her into one of his walking weapons, and worse a trophy, for his messed up Extremis project, who had attacked them. But nevertheless, the outcome had been the same. She knew the memory of standing at the edge of the cliff where the place they had lived had once stood, staring down into the rough ocean waves far below as she desperately searched for the love of her life among the wreckage would continue to haunt her for years to come. Possibly even forever.
At that time, news of Tony's presumed death had spread across the country like wildfire, scrolling across television news stations and glaring from headlines on the front page of various newspapers. But that time had been different. At least that time, he had been able to send a message to the receiver in a broken helmet of one of his suits where she was able to retrieve it, telling her he was okay, that he was sorry for what he had done and that he would never put her in danger again, that he was sorry for the bust of a Christmas present he had gotten for her, that he was sorry in advance because he hadn't been able to come home yet... and that he had stolen a poncho from a wooden Indian. At least he had been able to put her mind at rest before she had gotten wrapped up in something that she had never wanted to be– something that would sometimes still haunt her nightmares to that day. The amount of pain she'd gone through as her body had struggled to accept Extremis was something she'd never forget, and when the dreams would get really bad, she'd swear she could still sometimes feel it running through her veins. It was something she often wanted to keep to herself since Tony had worked to straighten her out and had his own nightmares and anxieties to work on, but she had a feeling he knew anyway, even though he never mentioned it since she didn't. He was always just there when she needed him to be during the times those memories would threaten to consume her, and that was the best thing she could ask for.
But this time... nothing. She checked her phone constantly in case he tried to reach her there, even though his personal number was unavailable. Which didn't stop her from trying to reach him anyway, despite how the result never changed. Not to mention the feeling of dread she'd had even before the news broke that had told her that things were very different this time.
But it was the other part of the headline that really made her feel as though something was very wrong.
Spider-Man To Blame?
In her heart, she just knew there was no way that was possible. It just couldn't be. She may have never met Peter Parker, but from what Tony and Happy had told her, he was a good kid. A little over-enthusiastic, maybe, and he definitely had to slow down a bit and listen to the billionaire's advice before he got himself hurt, but a good kid nonetheless. He wouldn't hurt anyone, she trusted that completely. And he would definitely never hurt Tony of all people. The fifteen-year-old practically idolized him. He was his hero, his inspiration. He couldn't do that.
But most telling of all was Tony had let the web-slinger get in close, though he didn't always show it, and was taking responsibility for him. That alone told her all she needed to know about Peter. Tony didn't let people in easily, so that the kid had gotten as far as he had said more than anything else could. And that was enough for her.
There was no way this news headline could be true. Unless she was shown definitive proof to the contrary, she had to cling to the hope that Tony was still alive. She refused to give up on him, not when he had suffered and survived so much already and had always found a way to come back to her. And there was no way she could ever believe that if, God forbid, something had actually happened to him that Peter of all people was the one responsible. She refused to even acknowledge that ridiculous possibility, there was no way that she could. It just wasn't possible...
Then, Pepper gasped as she jumped when her phone began to ring. Her heart leapt as she glanced at the caller ID, but the somewhat smug smile that accompanied the name wasn't the one she desperately wanted to see.
However, it was still good to see a friendly, familiar face, and she sighed as she rose from where she was sitting tensely on the couch and answered the call. "Rhodey..."
"Pepper, did you see the news?" the concerned voice of Colonel James Rhodes spoke quickly on the other end. "What the hell is going on?"
"I'm not exactly sure myself," Pepper said as she began to pace, keeping an eye on the screen in case anything changed. But the headline remained the same, taunting her. "Happy's with Pe... Spider-Man now, so hopefully we'll be able to get some answers soon."
If he noticed her near slip, Rhodey didn't say anything about it. Instead, he sighed heavily. "Tony presumed dead...? Do you have any idea at all why that would even be a remote possibility?"
Pepper shook her head slightly, even though she knew he couldn't see the action. "Not really, no..." she muttered. "I don't know too much about the situation, Tony didn't tell me everything, but from what I've gathered, Spider-Man has been chasing down some arms dealers creating weapons from Chitauri technology left behind from when they were in New York a few years ago, and there was something about a guy with wings... Tony told the kid to let him handle it since he was getting in over his head, but he didn't listen. Something went down at the Staten Island Ferry, I'm not sure what, but Tony went down there to help. And then there was that building fire, and..." She paused, unable to continue as tears that had been rising to her eyes as she spoke now threatened to fall.
Rhodey was silent for a moment, which gave the CEO a little time to gather herself and catch her breath. "Pepper... despite what they're saying now... I can't believe that Spider-Man did this," he told her, his voice gentle. "I just can't. I mean, I fought with the kid when we were in Germany. There's just no way he'd turn on Tony like that... He'd do anything for him."
"I know," Pepper agreed quietly. "I haven't met him like you have, but... from what Tony's told me, I couldn't see him doing anything like what they're claiming. Besides, Hap's been down to the scene, and as I said, he's with Spider-Man now. I'm just waiting for them to get back from the ER..."
"ER?" Rhodey repeated.
"Yeah, Happy said it seems like both he and... and Tony may have been caught in that explosion on the building..."
Silence passed between the two for another drawn-out few minutes as the colonel processed what she'd said. When he continued, his voice was firm as always, though she could detect the concern in it. "So... when they said it was a gas leak..."
"Happy seems to think it might have have been... intentional," Pepper interrupted, attempting to keep her own voice steady. "An attack on one or both of them... It may have been the arms dealers Spider-Man was after, but we're not sure yet. We'll hopefully have more definitive answers when he starts to remember more, since he's struggling with that right now..."
"Shit..." Rhodey murmured more curses under his breath, but she couldn't make them out. He sighed before he continued. "So Spider-Man's with Happy at the ER... And what about Tony? Have you or Happy heard or seen anything that would... give a different indication than what's on the news...?"
A single tear escaped from her eye as Pepper leaned against the back of a chair for support. That dread in the pit of her stomach was returning more painfully than ever. She couldn't breathe. "No... His... his personal number's been disconnected..."
"Yeah, I tried that before I called you." The mounting worry in the colonel's voice, though well veiled, was still easily heard by her. "I'll do what I can to help out, Pepper. Though, look, until we know more, I don't think you should be alone right now. You still at the Tower? I know you and Tony were gonna do some packing after you guys left the facility this morning."
"Don't be ridiculous, Rhodey, you don't have to come to the city," Pepper said, despite how good company sounded at the moment. "Hap should be coming back here soon. He didn't think that the hospital stop was going to take too long."
"No, don't you be ridiculous, Pepper." She couldn't help but chuckle when she heard the smile in Rhodey's voice and the light teasing in his tone. "In all seriousness, other than rehabbing, I'm not doing too much around here besides sitting on my ass. It'd do me some good to get out for a while, I'd go crazy otherwise. And it won't take me too long to get there from the facility. Even with these legs..."
Pepper's gaze faltered. "How are those coming along?" she wondered.
"Okay. I'm better adjusted now, feeling a bit more comfortable and confident, at least." Even still, the frustration at even needing the robotic help to do something as simple as walking was palpable. "Tony... he, uh, he was going to add some further improvements and adjustments to them... We were supposed to go over them tomorrow."
"Rhodey..." Pepper began, though she was cut off by her friend clearing his throat, and she conceded. If there was one thing he never wanted, it was pity.
"I'll head over as quickly as I can, Pepper," Rhodey assured her. "Just hang in there, all right? And then when Happy gets back, we can talk further about finding out what happened to Tony. And work on finding him. Because we will, one way or another. Okay?"
There was something in his stern voice that made her trust his firm conviction, and more tears formed in her eyes as she nodded. "Okay, Rhodey," she managed to say in just above a whisper. "One way or another."
"Okay. See you soon, Pepper."
"See you soon," Pepper agreed as she ended the call. Truthfully, she was grateful that Rhodey would be over soon. She hated to admit it, but she didn't want to be alone, and having someone she loved and trusted with her, whether it be Happy or Rhodey who got there first and then even both, would keep her mind from going down the dark paths of all the worst case scenarios that could have happened to the billionaire on top of that building.
Tony...
The mere thought caused her stomach to tighten with pain as she glanced back at the television. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw someone was speaking, the description of the man simply being "witness". She dashed around the couch and hurried over to the TV, quickly turning up the volume so she wouldn't miss anything as she listened with bated breath.
"... just walking my dog, and there was all this commotion down by the ferry," the clean-shaven, light-haired man was saying as the camera briefly panned down to show the good-sized pit bull attached to the leash he was holding. "Not sure what that was all about since I couldn't get close enough, but there was what appeared to be this guy there with, like, these mechanical wings, and that Spider-Man guy was there, too. Must've been in a fight, or somethin'... And then, like, the ferry was pretty much sliced in half, and I thought for sure it was gonna sink. But then Iron Man showed up, and he was somehow able to push it back together and get everyone to safety. Not sure where the guy with wings went, he was long gone by this point...
"But then Spider-Man went up to the top of that building there." The man paused, pointing in the direction of the top of the burning building before shrugging. "I pulled out my phone to start recording, you know, since footage of that guy is so popular on YouTube and stuff." (At that, Pepper shook her head slightly in disgust.) "I thought I saw him take off his mask, but I can't be sure since he was so high up. And even if he did, I didn't get a good shot of his face. But anyway, when everyone was off that ferry safely, Iron Man joined him up there. I could barely see, but Stark stepped out of his suit to talk to Spider-Man. I have no idea what they were talking about since I couldn't hear a word they were saying, obviously, but their body language seemed kinda heated. Like they were fighting. Maybe Spider-Man didn't like Stark interfering in his job, or something, I dunno. But not long after that, Spider-Man leapt from the rooftop and swung away, leaving Stark behind. And that was when the explosion hit. That's all I saw, obviously... But I know I didn't see the Iron Man suit flying away, or anything, it was something I watched for until rescue workers came..."
Pepper's heart felt like it skipped a few beats as her stomach plummeted. She could almost feel all the color leaving her face as she wavered a bit when a wave of dizziness nearly overwhelmed her. She barely registered that the witness, who wished to keep his name anonymous, said he'd be handing the cell phone video he'd gotten– which he admitted wasn't the best quality– over to both the police and reporters in order to help them determine if there was any sort of crime to be found, and that they would hopefully be playing the footage on their next live broadcast coming up in the next hour. Not able to hear anything more, she reached out and turned off the television.
None of it felt real. It had to be a dream, all of it. Just one big nightmare. The fight between Peter and Tony... when he'd told her he wouldn't be too hard on the kid... Peter escaping just before the explosion hit and leaving Tony behind as it did... It just couldn't be real... It couldn't...
But that painful dread deep within her, that had settled in her very bones, was telling her otherwise.
Tony... Tony could have been...
But wait. Something about what the witness had said didn't settle right, didn't make sense, not with what she already knew from what Happy had told her.
Hadn't Peter also been...?
Pepper took a sharp intake of breath when her phone vibrated, signaling she had a text. It was from Happy, alerting her that he and the teen would be leaving the hospital shortly. She was relieved about that, as it seemed like the head of security had been right in saying that any injuries Peter had sustained hadn't been too serious. But her brow furrowed in confusion when she also read that he was bringing the web-slinger to the Tower with him for safety reasons. That didn't settle well with her at all... Was he in some sort of danger? What had her friend found out?
But it was the last part of his text that made her heart stop either out of hope or out of fear, she wasn't sure which. It was possibly some combination of both, she realized as she read over the three words a second time.
He remembers something.
"God, I sound like my dad..."
Peter looked back at Tony, anxiously going over in his head any reason at all that he could think of to be allowed to keep his suit. It was a part of him, it was what made him Spider-Man. He couldn't lose that... not now. He still had so much to prove to Tony, to everyone, to himself with this suit.
But he had nothing. Because he knew the billionaire was right. If he was nothing without the suit, he shouldn't have it. And he could see that nothing was going to change the man's mind about that, no matter what he said now.
So, instead, he miserably mumbled the only thing that came to mind.
"I don't have any other clothes..."
Tony didn't appear to be overly concerned about this development. He briefly nodded, about to offer a solution, presumably, before he paused when a noise came from behind him. The billionaire turned to look over his shoulder, his brow furrowing when he saw there was no one there. Still, he took a couple small steps closer to the teen as he continued to survey the roof.
"What was that?" Peter wondered, his own senses on high alert from not only the sound, but also how stiffly Tony was standing. Something didn't feel right.
"Not sure..."
But then, Tony glanced down at the sound of metal hitting concrete, and his hazel gaze landed on a small, metallic ball that was rolling along the rooftop in their direction before it came to a halt when it hit the wall next to them. His eyes widened when he saw the small but familiar symbol he would know anywhere printed on the side of it in black ink– two swords crossed in the center of ten interlocking circles forming a ring, a different symbol in each one of them.
"Look out!" The billionaire shoved Peter back as he staggered backwards himself, not having enough time to call for his suit before a light-colored smoke billowed out of the sphere.
Peter covered his head, coughing forcefully when the smoke entered his lungs. He squinted through watering eyes as he frantically looked around him, trying to find where Tony had gone. "M-Mr. Stark...?" he rasped out.
He could hear the man coughing himself from not too far away, and he took a couple steps closer to the sound. He then flinched when he heard a loud boom, feeling a burst of intense heat on his skin, and he realized when he heard the soft clang of small metallic pieces that the Iron Man suit Tony had been wearing must have exploded somehow. That wasn't good. It was difficult to see through the heavy haze, and if Tony couldn't fight as effectively along with him...
"Mr. Stark!"
He only got another loud round of coughing in response, which matched his own. But finally, he heard his voice. "H-here, kid..."
Peter stumbled forward, toward that familiar voice, before he paused. There was another shape, a dark outline, through the weird smoke that he could hardly make out as it began to thin. But then, who he could finally tell was a man slowly turned toward him, a kind smile on his handsome face, and the web-slinger stopped breathing as his eyes widened.
"B-but... but how...? Un-uncle... Ben...?"
The man with dark hair flecked with gray nodded once as his smile broadened, and he held a welcoming hand out toward him. Peter stared for a moment longer in disbelief, tears forming in his eyes as he slowly took a few tentative steps forward.
"Uncle Ben... how...?" He paused, shaking his head slightly as he took another step. "I... I thought you... you were..."
But then, he paused. He gasped as his heart skipped a beat when he saw the crimson that was staining the front of the man's white t-shirt. Just like it had been the last time he had seen him.
He hadn't been able to stop it...
"No! Uncle Ben!"
Peter began to run forward, not about to let his uncle slip away from him a second time, but he was stopped by a secure arm wrapping around him from behind and pulling him back against a sturdy chest. "No! Let go of me!" he snapped, fighting to escape from the hold. He was prepared to rip off the arm of whoever stopped him if he had to.
"Stop! Peter, just stop!" a familiar voice, strong and firm, hissed in his ear. "Focus! There's no one there, Peter."
This got the teen to stop struggling for a moment since the words slammed into him with the force of a semi truck, even though the last ones were spoken in a gentler tone. He glanced up at Tony's determined features, noticing the few cuts that now marked his face, before looking ahead of them again at where his beloved uncle was still standing patiently, his friendly smile lingering as he continued to wait with his hand outstretched.
"B-but... Mr. Stark..." he murmured, tears forming in his eyes. "My uncle, he's right there... How can you not see him? Mr. Stark? He's right there! We have to help him!"
However, he didn't get a response. Instead, he felt the billionaire's arm go lax around him. Peter looked up at the man he considered to be his mentor again, and he saw that he was staring at something straight ahead, though it wasn't at where his uncle was standing. The web-slinger took another glance but didn't see anything other than Ben, so he looked back up at Tony with confusion.
He knew it was a look that would haunt him for years to come.
Tony's slightly paler face was, for the most part, impassive. But in those slightly wider hazel eyes was a look he'd never seen there before.
Fear.
Peter stared glumly down at his hands resting in his lap where he was sitting in the back of Happy's car as they drove silently through the congested city traffic. The head of security hadn't even bothered to turn on the radio. And he couldn't blame him, since the man had barely spoken a word to him at all since they'd left the hospital. Since they'd seen that news headline and heard what the eyewitness had said. Since he'd told him the little he'd remembered about what had happened on top of that building with Tony, except for how he had firmly believed he'd seen his late uncle there with them. But really, there was nothing to say, even though he wished he could at least get an idea of what Happy was thinking about all these developments. About if he put any blame on him, even just a little bit...
Miserable would be an understatement of how he felt. Sure, whatever had been in his system had left, but there was a pounding in his temples in its wake, and his body still didn't feel like it was fully cooperating despite how he didn't feel nearly as weak or drained as he did before. There was still a slight tremble in his fingers, but that could have been from anything. And even though he'd finally remembered at least some of the events that had happened before the explosion, it didn't make him feel much better that he still had no idea what had happened to Tony, where he possibly could have been now, or if he was even alive for crying out loud. Or that he didn't know who was responsible for what had occurred– other than him, apparently. Waking up to the news that he was being blamed for the billionaire's presumed death based on what little bits and pieces someone on the sidewalk below them had managed to catch on their cell phone camera left him with a heavy feeling in his chest that he couldn't even begin to describe. He just knew that he'd never felt lower than he was at that moment...
Coming to a stop at a red light, Happy sighed as he quickly glanced at the paper shopping bag with the Spider-Man suit in it and the brochures about drugs, rehab, and other resources given to him by a nurse at the teen's doctor's recommendation when they'd left that he fully intended to ignore on the seat beneath it before looking at his passenger in the rearview mirror. His brow furrowed when he saw the look on his still pale face.
"Hey, kid?"
"Hmm?" Peter didn't look up.
Happy drummed the steering wheel as he contemplated how to proceed. "For the record... I don't believe anything that's been said on the news tonight," he said quietly but with conviction. He knew the web-slinger needed to hear it clearly. "I had a suspicion even before you started remembering things that what happened up on that building wasn't accidental. I had a feeling that someone had attacked the two of you. And I damn well know that you would never do anything to hurt Tony. I know better than most that he can be incredibly frustrating and a pain in the ass, but even still, I know you wouldn't do anything like that. Believe me, buddy, I know you're innocent in all this. And I don't think Tony's dead, either. I'll need to see some pretty hard evidence of that, and even then, I'd question it."
Despite himself, Peter raised his gaze as a small, shaking smile appeared on his face and a thin line of moisture formed in his eyes. Just to hear that someone wasn't jumping to conclusions about his guilt, even though he couldn't remember everything yet, made it a little easier to breathe. He could've cried in relief as that tight feeling in his chest eased just a little. "Th-thanks, Happy..." he muttered, his voice cracking a little with unshed tears. "For... for everything. For... coming for me, for staying at the hospital when you didn't have to, and... and for believing me now..."
The head of security smiled in return as he pulled through the intersection. "You betcha, kid," he replied. "And I guarantee you, the important people are going to know that you didn't do anything of the sort, either. Screw what everyone else says or thinks. Things will be okay, bud, I promise." He paused, the look waning a bit. "And we'll do whatever we have to do to find Tony, too."
Peter sighed heavily. "I... I feel like he's still out there... somewhere..."
Happy spared a quick glance in the rearview mirror again. "Which is why we'll find him, kid."
Something about the man's conviction made him feel just a little bit better, and Peter settled back in his seat as he looked out the window at the darkening sky and rested his forehead against the cool pane. But then, his eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "Happy?" he asked.
"Yeah, kid?"
"You, uh... you missed the way to get to my apartment," Peter informed him, pointing back at the intersection they'd just passed. "The way to get to Queens is that way..."
"I know." Happy reached out and turned on the radio to his favorite all-seventies rock station that the teen was growing so accustomed to. "I'm not taking you home yet."
"Where are we going, then?"
The only answer he got was another small smile reflected in the rearview mirror.
Miles away, the battered, bruised, and broken body of Tony Stark was dumped unceremoniously on the carpeted floor of a nearly dark room. He didn't stir at the careless treatment, even when the three men who had brought him to this place gathered around him eagerly. He'd lost his dark suit jacket, and the black t-shirt he'd been wearing under it was shredded in a few places. He was also missing a shoe, and the other wasn't in the best condition.
The billionaire was defenseless, oblivious to how these men were closing in on him almost greedily.
"Good, I see you have brought him to me."
The three men all turned to the cushioned armchair they had deposited their captive in front of at the sound of the commanding voice with a slightest trace of an accent, watching as the older man with some light gray hair left on his balding head who sat in it smiled broadly and leaned forward to get a better look. His light gaze passed over Tony's pale visage, the cuts and bruises that were already starting to appear on his face, and the blood that leaked from his hairline and marred other parts of his features and arms. He watched as his chest briefly rose and fell in fitful breaths, the only indication he was actually still alive. He reached down, lightly touching the unconscious man's forehead, feeling it was a bit warm and covered in a sheet of sweat.
Tony's brow furrowed in a sign of distress while his head moved ever so slightly as the whisper of a pained sound passed through his lips, but he then became still again and did not wake.
The man's smile broadened.
"Prepare the room for our guest of honor," he said, raising his gaze to the younger man nearest him. "Though tend to some of these more... threatening injuries first. This one here looks particularly nasty." He removed his hand from Tony's forehead before trailing it down to one of the holes in his shirt, using his fingers to move the bloodied cloth aside to reveal a gunshot wound in his side.
"How did he get this?" the older man asked curiously.
The younger man chuckled. "Saving the kid," he answered. "He jumped in front of it. Though it was unneeded, as we were never going to kill the brat."
"Interesting. So the mighty Iron Man has a moral, selfless bone in his body after all. Yes, that's very interesting that he'd risk his own life for the safety of the boy... I wonder what makes him so special? We'll have to find out more." The older man then tore his eyes from Tony's ashen face and looked back at the younger. "Definitely get this taken care of before he bleeds out."
The dark-haired man he addressed directly nodded once. "Yes, doctor." He turned to leave, the metal of his left arm catching the dim light briefly as he walked away to get what he needed.
As the other two men dispersed to prepare for the tasks they now had ahead of them, passing by yet another light-haired, clean-shaven man who was pulling a pit bull along with him on a leash, the doctor once again regarded the motionless Tony. His grin returned, his fingers tapping the handle of his cane almost eagerly.
"Yes, Mr. Stark, do not worry. You will be well tended," he murmured, the look broadening as a gleam appeared in his eye. "After all, we do not want you to die on us too soon."
Author's Note: So, we've got a bit of a cliffhanger here again (sorry, guys!) :-P But Tony's at least alive! For the time being, at any rate. Who knows what this mysterious doctor has in mind for him... And Peter's starting to remember things, and he's already got a couple allies in Happy, Pepper, and Rhodey! Will it be enough to find Tony? We'll have to find out as we keep going! Thanks for reading, guys! As always, feedback is appreciated! Until next time! :-)