So I know I said I didn't think I would be able to update this week but I had a little more time than I thought and this chapter has been floating around in my head all weekend so here you go!
Thank so so much to the wonderful Indigene Syke (I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and yah it was kind of one of those things that had to happen!), the awesome carajiggirl (I promise I'll answer the question in the next few chapters and thank you so much for taking the time to read it!), the fantastic perplexion08 (I hope the unexpected update works for you and thank you so much for the well wishes for the weekend!), the wonderful guest who keeps sending me such nice reviews, and to the awesome . 15 (I really hope your username came through, for some reason it kept deleting it...but I wanted to tell you LOTR is my all time favorite book series so thank you for your name and for your review!)
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Enjoy!
Tony sat on his knees staring as the door closed behind him and the lock slid into place. His mind was spinning but once the immediate threat was gone, it solidified on Peter. Turning carefully, he tried to crawl the few feet he needed to get to his son but it was a painfully slow process. Tony was panting by the time he made it but the reality of Peter's injures forced a sob out of Tony's abused throat. His face was bruised and swollen and his arms showed the same damage. Tony whined when he saw the boot print clearly visible as a bruise on Peter's broken forearm. Still, he knew the majority of the damage was hidden by his clothes, so Tony lifted Peter's shirt enough to look at the extent of his injuries. What he saw made fresh bile claw up the back of his throat. His chest was a mess of bruises and shifted bones, visible against the taught skin. Peter was a skinny kid, Spider-Manning made that easy, but Tony finally realized how little he had actually been eating. "God, Pete," Tony whispered with a renewed sob but he bit his tongue as he reminded himself he needed to be useful, right now he wasn't doing that. He ached to pick Peter up, to somehow shield him from whatever he could but Tony realized he couldn't do any of that until his shoulder was back in place.
Huffing his frustration at the continued separation, Tony groaned as he fell onto his back. Focusing everything he had left, he forced his arm out to the side. The appendage shook violently as he managed to get his elbow just above his shoulder. From there he bent his arm, reaching to the back of his head and snarling at how slow he was moving. But once he made it, he reached behind his head toward his other shoulder. It took more stretching that it should have but finally he felt feeling return to his shoulder as the joint popped painfully back into place. Immediately realizing he succeeded, Tony pressed himself up, ignoring the shock of pain that shot through his chest as rolled his arm just to be sure it was in place. Once he realized it worked, he painfully sat back up and carefully pulled Peter into his lap, before curling over his son in a terrible attempt to protect him.
As Tony ran his hand through the greasy, sweat-soaked curls, he couldn't help but whisper, "I'm so sorry, Peter. You were right, I should have never tried that. I'm sorry." He felt that familiar feeling of guilt trying to crush him as he clutched Peter as close as he could to his own damaged chest. It might have been Jeff's men that had done the physical damage, but Tony was the one who let it happen. The one who was too stupid to plan for some way for the others to find them outside of obvious trackers. The one who was unable to protect one of the three most important things in his life. The one who had put Peter in this position in the first place. Then Peter shifted in his grasp, a painful whimper accompanying the movement and Tony pulled him closer, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "I'm here, Peter, I promise. I'm not leaving you alone." He carefully combed Peter's hair back, hoping to offer some level of comfort to his unconscious son. He tried to shield Peter from the cameras in the room, unwilling to give them anything else. Still, for as powerful as fear and anger were as motivators, Tony's own wounds eventually caught up to him. His chest started to burn and he was beginning to feel incredibly stiff. Everything in him rejected the idea of leaving Peter on his own and Tony knew there was no way he could safely move him so he shifted a bit and got as comfortable as he could. It took time but eventually he passed out with Peter clutched closely to his chest.
Danny followed Jeff into the surveillance room, a scowl plastered on his features as he waited for his friend to sit down. He stayed standing defiantly, Jeff would address him once he noticed.
Jeff felt a bit better about his situation. He had a course now and that gave him a modicum of control. He was so close. For whatever reason, the only thing Stark felt the need to protect was Spider-Man's identity. But given how quickly he had been willing to give everything else up, Jeff knew he just needed to push a little harder. It would be a slower and more painful experience than what he had planned initially for the kid but at least Peter would be useful in the end. But then he looked up at Danny and immediately read the scowl on his face for what it was, still he was too close to let his friend's opinion ruin it, "We're close to the end of this." He said, his voice steady.
Danny snapped a sarcastic answer, "Yah, now you know exactly how Stark feels about that kid."
Jeff felt anger flash through his mind, "Are you actually mad, Danny?"
"Of course I fucking am. You didn't tell me the plan!" Danny scowled, "I thought I was in there to help control the situation but you intended for Brad to be that violent, didn't you?"
Jeff felt his embarrassment and dishonor knocking on that mental box he had created and for a moment, he had a hard time doing more than just nodding.
But Danny wasn't having nearly the same problem and he lowered his voice dangerously as he scolded him, "You just had an adult beat a teenager unconscious."
Jeff felt anger flare up in his chest at the accurate accusation, "You're the one that told me to figure out what he cared more about."
"Right," Danny snapped, "so you could threaten Stark, mess with his head, not have Brad beat the shit out of a kid."
"Watch it Danny," Jeff started, thrown off by the demeanor of his friend, "I don't need you questioning me right now."
"Well you're going to have to deal with it," Danny snapped, locking eyes with Jeff. The two stared each other down before eventually Jeff broke eye contact, unable to take the disappointment he saw in his friend's face. When Danny realized he won, some of the fight slipped away and he slid into a chair across from Jeff, "I'm with you, I told you that, I'll even knock the kid around a bit if you need me too, but Brad broke his bones. That's too far for me."
"What do you want me to do, Danny? The only time Stark has reacted to anything has been now. He's only holding out on one more thing, if we go after Peter for a bit longer I think we can get him to give it up…" Jeff trailed off as he looked hopefully at the screen behind him.
Danny watched him carefully, weighing his words, "Jeff, I was in that room too, I don't think Stark was lying. I think he might actually be willing to give you as much as he can but Spider-Man's identity isn't one of those things."
Jeff rounded on him and asked incredulously, "You can't actually believe that Stark doesn't know the identity of one of the Avengers?"
Danny shrugged, "I can't tell you whether he knows it or not but if he does, he's a fantastic liar because he seemed barely with it at the end. Look at him now," Danny threw his hand up at the screen to where Tony was tightly curled over Peter's prone body, asleep. "He's a father too," Danny started, somberness clear in his tone as he pushed forward, "think about what you're doing for your daughter, what makes you think he wouldn't do the same to protect his son? That kid is like 16 and Stark has never been seen with him, Peter's name has never been connected with Stark outside of that internship. The world effectively doesn't know he exists. But Stark very obviously cares about him. If Stark's gone to that much trouble to protect Peter's identity, he's going to protect him in whatever way he can." He paused until Jeff looked away from the screen and met his eye, "I think he wants to give you everything but he can't. You know as well as I do, a person can only tell you what they know. You don't want him making something up just to make you stop. He's not going to be okay with that."
Jeff flicked his eyes between the screen and Danny, well aware the man was probably right. Eventually he threw up his hands, "What the hell do you want me to do then? We can't go back to him without Spider-Man's identity."
Danny leaned forward onto his knees, "If you really think Stark knows then you need to push harder. But push Stark. Fuck with his head. Go back to him, make him think that you've rethought your strategy, that you're trying to give Peter a chance to heal before you start in on him again. You've given them breaks before so there's no reason why he should think otherwise. Give Stark the chance to torture himself by proving to him how much worse it can get for Peter, maybe smack the kid around a bit to remind Stark that we can. But nothing more than bruises," Danny fixed Jeff with a serious stare, as if trying to get confirmation for the limit they were willing to go to from here on out. When Jeff gave a slight nod in response, Danny continued, "Convince him of how painful it will get for Peter and Stark'll tell you what you want, if he knows it."
Jeff knew Danny's limits, it had been part of the reason he had begged him for his help in the first place, and he couldn't help but feel a little bad at how far he had let it go. Still, he was sure Stark knew the last piece of the puzzle and he was willing to do what he needed in order to get it out of him. He had been hoping this was going to be fast but more than anything, it needed to be right so he would try Danny's suggestion. Stark was known for his intelligence and imagination, maybe this would be a better way. He glanced over at the middle screen again and watched as Stark woke up. He glanced around the room a bit before he tugged Peter closer. Jeff knew that action had to be painful and considered what Danny had said, maybe it would work.
It took Peter what Tony could only assume was about a day to wake up. Tony had been in and out but they had brought food twice and just stacked it at the door. The first time, Peter flinched as the door opened but he didn't wake up, even though Tony tried to convince him to when he could. It was longer than Tony would have expected and he couldn't help but worry about the reason why.
Eventually though, Peter groaned as he started to come to consciousness. Tony was asleep and the action jostled his ribs as Peter shifted in his own discomfort. The pain shocked Tony awake and for a moment, fear pierced his mind until he realized there was no one else in the room with them. Then he felt more movement against his chest, and he realized what it was, "Come on Pete, time to wake up." Tony murmured as he laid his hand against his son's cheek. Peter turned into the pressure and groaned again, "D…ad?" He whispered.
"Yah, it's me Pete. Please open your eyes." Tony begged softly.
Peter could hear the desperation in his dad's tone and he so badly wanted to listen but everything about his body, including his eyelids, felt like it was weighted down with lead. "Hurts…" was all he managed to squeeze out.
Tony choked out a sob, "I know Pete, I'm sorry. But I need you to look at me." He slipped the hand on Peter's cheek into his hair, "I need you to eat too."
As if in confirmation of how hungry he was, Peter's stomach growled and he shifted uncomfortably again, but this time, he managed to elbow Tony, earning a pained gasp. Hearing that forced Peter to open his eyes, "'m sorry", he mumbled as he pressed his head back farther into Tony's lap and blinked, trying to get a good look at his dad.
Tony had to fight to keep from dropping Peter and still breathe through the pain. It took him a minute but he was able to control it long enough to ground out, "'t'z alright, Pete." He pulled in a few more shallow breaths before continuing, "Think you can sit up? I have to get the food."
Peter nodded and started to roll off Tony's lap. He put both hands down to brace himself and then cried out in pain when the broken bone in his forearm ground a bit. He managed to drop himself down to his elbow but the motion still jarred his various injuries. He dropped the rest of the way and rolled onto his back, panting against the pain. He might heal faster but that didn't mean the agony of wounds was any easier to deal with.
"Peter!" Tony called, concern clear in his tone. He reached forward and gripped Peter's shoulder, "are you alright?"
Peter could feel tears building in his eyes as he nodded against the cold floor. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled his arms just a little farther over his chest as he tried to slow his quickened breathing enough to keep moving. He focused on Tony's hand on his shoulder and tried to take as much confidence from that as he could while he listened to the quiet reassurances from his dad. Eventually he managed to breathe through his nose enough to calm down.
"It's alright, Pete, slow down," Tony offered.
After a few minutes, Peter felt in enough control of his pain to keep moving. Looking over at Tony, he whispered, "'m good now, dad. I can move." Tony nodded and shifted to help get him back up. It took both of them moving incredibly slowly but eventually Peter was against the wall. Panting with the effort, he dropped his head back and closed his eyes. Tony slowly stood and grabbed the food, carefully putting it in front of Peter the same way the teenager had done a few days ago.
In a sickening reversal of roles, Tony helped Peter eat before he ate himself. Tony made sure to force Peter to eat a little more than he did and his son was out of it enough that he could easily give him more. Tony had been feeling too sick to eat much anyway.
Once both had eaten, Tony fell back against the wall next to Peter and threw his arm around him. Peter leaned against his shoulder with an exhausted sigh and a muffled whimper. Tony glanced down at him and whispered, "How bad is it, Pete?"
Peter stared at the ground in front of them, he wanted to lie but at the same time, he knew how dangerous that could be, so he answered in an embarrassed murmur, "It hurts pretty bad right now and I don't think I'm healing as fast as I normally do." He glanced up at his dad and he knew there were tears in his eyes, "I didn't even realize my arm was broken."
Tony curled his arm tighter around Peter, chest tightening at the prospect of something ruining Peter's healing ability. Still, he refused to vocalize that concern and instead pressed a kiss to the top of Peter's head, "I know Pete, I'm sorry." He knew this was getting too dangerous to wait for the others. Tony leaned close to Peter's ear and whispered, "I think we need to think about getting out of here. I know I said we should wait but I don't think that's an option anymore." When he leaned back, he saw Peter's eyes glinting with hope.
"Are you sure, dad?" Peter whispered back, careful not to say anything too loud, even though he could not help the optimism that welled up in his chest.
"Yah," Tony answered without a hint of hesitation.
"Okay, how?" Peter responded earnestly.
"I'm still working on that but the first thing we need to do is get that door open." Tony answered.
"I can do that…" Peter rushed to say before he trailed off, "but we're going to have to wait until my arm heals. I can't put enough pressure on it yet." The hope that he felt slid away as he realized that he was the reason that they weren't leaving right now.
Tony noticed the crestfallen look and pulled him closer again, "Nope, don't do that. Do not do that. This isn't your fault. We'll wait however long you need and then we're leaving." Tony said fiercely even while uselessness crept into his mind. He should be the one getting Peter out, not waiting until his son's arm healed so he could get them out. Still, that was not a useful thought and Tony needed to be pragmatic right now. He could beat himself up for his sentimental failures after they had escaped and Peter was far away from here. "For now, get some more sleep Pete," Tony ordered quietly, "I'll stay right here."
Peter glanced up at him like he wanted to argue but seemed to think better of it before his eyes softened and he whispered, "Love you, dad."
"Love you too, Pete." Tony said with a smile, "We're going to get out of here, I promise."
That seemed to be enough because Peter smiled back and tucked his head back into Tony's shoulder. It didn't take either one long to fall back to sleep.
They left them alone for two more days.
At the beginning of the third day, Jeff looked over at Danny, "Are you sure this'll work?" After a few days of thinking, Jeff had become a bit unsure of the course they were taking because he also knew that they were stepping away from what they knew worked.
Danny just shrugged back at him, his normal, even tone a comfort to Jeff's concern, "You know I can never tell you for sure. But I think it will and I know there will be infinitely less dishonor in this than what happened before."
Jeff didn't particularly appreciate the initial comment but couldn't help but selfishly appreciate the chance to maintain at least some of his humanity. This would work.
Tony and Peter were both asleep against the wall. As the door ground open, it didn't wake either of them.
Jeff took the opportunity to start them on the defensive. He stepped up to Tony and kicked his foot hard, relishing in the involuntary confused cry before his eyes snapped open. Jeff watched with confidence as Tony glanced around with wild panic before his eyes settled on the others in the room. But as Stark's panic shifted into feral rage as he tugged his, also now awake, son closer to him, Jeff started to feel a bit of concern. Tony was going to fight him, making his job infinitely harder. But it wasn't just the look on Tony's face, Peter shot him a look of pure loathing that was undercut by a confidence he didn't think suited the teenager. Shit, he thought to himself, he had been banking on fear, which meant he given them too much time. Immediately his mind started to spin. He needed a new angle quickly.
He paused for just a moment before he hit on an idea, "Danny," Jeff called over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off Tony, "take Peter to his new room." Jeff turned slightly toward Danny, hoping that he would cover the change of plans. As the professional he was, he did. "You got it boss," he replied, rolling with the improvisation. Stepping up next to him, he grabbed ahold of Peter's arm and yanked hard. He didn't expect any real challenge but Peter had his arm around Tony's waist and yelled "No!" as Danny tried to pull him upright. The resistance caught Danny off guard and he stumbled backward as his hand slid off Peter's arm.
Unfortunately for the pair, Tony grunted in pain as Peter clutched tightly onto damaged ribs. Peter's attention was jerked away from Danny's stumbling toward his dad. He slid his arm out from around Tony's back, and quickly added, "I'm sorry! Are you okay?" But as his attention changed, Danny stepped back up and grabbed ahold of Peter again, yanking even harder. Peter was so distracted that he wasn't able to resist. Instead as he was pulled to his feet, he just screamed, "No! Let me go! No!"
Tony's mind short-circuited as he realized they were going to take Peter away from him and he tightened his grip around Peter's shoulders while he felt his son do the same around his waist. When Danny tugged on Peter's arm, Tony tried to brace for what was about the happen but it was all for not when Peter's hand tightened around his waist and he couldn't help but react to the pain. That immediately forced Peter to let go and Tony tried to lunge toward his son as Danny realized it too. It didn't matter though, Tony wasn't able to get a grip and he ended up falling awkwardly, partially leaning against the wall and partially against the floor while his demands echoed Peter's, "Leave him alone! Let him go!"
Peter watched Tony try to press himself back into a sitting position against the wall and he desperately wanted to throw Danny off. He knew he could do so easily but also knew that his strength was the only way they were getting out of this place and he couldn't give it away yet. Still, he desperately did not want to be separated from his dad and so he tugged with a fraction of his strength. The action surprised Danny and Peter managed to wrench his arm away and fall back next to his dad. He dared to glare back up at their tormentors as he wrapped his arm tightly around Tony's shoulders.
Jeff watched the entire exchange with exasperation. Why the hell were these two so much trouble? Danny and Rick stepped up to deal with Peter but Jeff just pulled out his weapon. The sound of the hammer drew Peter and Tony's, finally, fearful eyes. Jeff tisked as he asked, "What did I tell you before mini-Stark?" He was not particularly aiming at either one but he knew that they both would react the way he wanted regardless of which one he did target. Peter snarled up at him and Tony regained that feral anger as he unconsciously slipped his arm around Peter's waist. After a brief minute of defiance though, they both released their hold and Peter stood up. For a split second, Jeff couldn't help but be surprised at how easily the kid was moving, hadn't he just had the shit kicked out of him three days ago? None of it mattered though because Danny and Rick lead Peter out of the room, leaving Jeff with Brad and Tony.
He crouched down into Tony's angry face, "I told you things are going to get worse for the two of you. I'll bring him back in a few days but its really going to be up to you what condition he's in because here's the new game. I'm going to ask you questions and if you don't answer, I'm going to have Brad here punish you and then Rick is going to give Peter a significantly worse treatment only this time, he's not going to have you there to make it better." He leaned in closer, "You remember what it feels like to be injured and alone, don't you Stark?" He grinned in Tony's face when he saw the recognition flash through Stark's eyes. Then he continued, "Good. Now imagine the same thing for your son." Some of the determined anger dropped out of Tony's face and Jeff pressed, "He's going to die alone and in pain unless you give me what I want."
Tony's mind immediately started to spin. Images of a bloody, broken Peter sobbing into the floor while he begged for help assaulted his mind's eye. He recoiled at the thought, "No…" he whispered unconsciously.
"Yes," Jeff snarled back at him. Then he looked over at Rick, "Get him in the chair."
Tony felt himself manipulated back into his chair. His hands were wrenched behind his back and handcuffed but his mind was somewhere else. He couldn't say anything and he knew it but at the same time, he seriously started considering making up a name to give Jeff something to make this stop. He barely even felt the first few blows and it wasn't until Jeff yanked his hair up and forced him to look at him that Tony registered what was happening, "What's his name?" Jeff asked.
They had taken everything from him. They had taken Peter from him. But Tony couldn't hit them, couldn't kill them, couldn't blow them to hell, so he did all he could and spat in Jeff's face. He smiled brokenly as he added, "Steve Rogers." Jeff just snarled at the jab and flicked his fingers across his chest at Brad.
The rest of the questions and punishment passed in a blur.
Peter fought as they dragged him to one of the storage rooms. It wasn't enough of a fight to get away because he was afraid of what they would do to his dad if he threw them off now, but it was enough to make him incredibly annoying. Still, they tossed him in the room and locked the door behind them. Peter felt tears pricking at his eyes but he didn't cry, didn't yell because it wouldn't be useful.
Instead, as soon as the door closed behind him, he sat down. He let his anger and fear focus his senses and in the silence of the room, Peter sat with his eyes closed as he listened to the sounds in the warehouse. He was still for longer than he ever had been before but his drive to escape was enough to force patience. He wasn't sure how long he sat like that but eventually he heard booted feet stepping away from the room where he knew his dad was. They were finally leaving him alone. Peter listened as the owners separated and moved in two different directions. Then he heard the sound of two different doors in two different locations.
The warehouse fell silent again as only the reinforcements continued to move through the hallways. Peter maintained his focus.
But after a few more minutes, he heard something out of the ordinary. It was a soft popping that kind of sounded like gunshots. Immediately, he tried to focus on that, thinking he might have made it up. When he heard it again, it was accompanied by pounding feet moving out of the doors that had just closed. Now was his chance. Peter took it.
He stepped up to the door of his new room and laid both hands on it before pushing. His arm started to burn as he continued to lay on the strength but he new he couldn't wait any longer. After only a bit more pressure, he heard the pop of the lock on the other side. The door swung open. Peter stuck his head out and looked around but when he didn't see anyone in the immediate area, he slipped out and took off toward where he knew his dad was.
Not too much longer now! I'm thinking this story only has a few more chapters before its finished so I hope you're still enjoying it!
Feel free to let me know what you think in the reviews and thank you again for all of your support.
I hope you all have a wonderful night/day and stay creative!
-Lily
