Well, Here I am! Unfortunately, I just tested positive for Covid :-( I feel fine, but I'm stuck inside whether I like it or not. But good news, I can update a lot more! This chapter was hard, and I feel like I maybe moved it to fast, so please tell me what you think!

There was something strangely familiar about the room that Peter woke up in. When he tried to cry out for someone and found that his throat was hoarse, he automatically reached over to the left, where a cup of water was waiting. How did he know where the water was? The water felt insanely good on his throat, and downed it like it was the first drink he had had in days. Now that he thought about it, it was the first drink he had had in days. As he was drinking, he thought about the events that had just played out. People had come into his room and somehow knocked him out and taken him back to their laboratory. And they kept calling him Peter. Who was Peter?

Just as he set the empty cup down, his kidnappers ran into the room. One of them, the one with the goatee and suit, ran over and sat down next to Peter. "How are you feeling? Can you talk yet?" He asked, sounding worried for some reason.

Peter wanted to talk, he wanted to talk so bad. He wanted to give these strangers a strongly worded talking to. But he didn't know if he could. The last time he talked was over a month ago, before the incident happened.

XXXXXXXXX

1 month ago

The boy could hear yelling between the doctors. Yelling about how they messed up, and yelling about how furious the boss would be. The boy knew that they had done something wrong from the moment that he woke up and he couldn't speak at all. To make it worse, he felt like his throat was repeatedly getting kicked by a kangaroo.

The boss came running in with the doctors on his heels. "Speak," He ordered the boy.

When the boy could not respond, the boss grumbled some swear words and pulled out his gun. The boy knew that gun. That was the gun that the boss used when someone messed up.

The boss pointed his gun at the doctors and shot. Screams ran out, but the boy was used to them.

XXXXXXXXX

Tony breathed heavily as Peter inched back towards the headboard of his bed. Clearly, he was still scared. "Could you just say something for me? Please?" The billionaire pleaded.

Slowly, Peter straightened his posture and opened his mouth. What came out was hoarse and almost impossible to hear, but he spoke nonetheless. "Where am I?"

With tears of joy in his eyes, he resisted the urge to pull his boy into a hug. "You're in the MedBay of the Avengers tower. We found you when we were searching for some weapons that were hidden in the building you were being held in. You were badly injured, so we wanted to help."

Again, Peter spoke, a little more clearly. "They weren't holding me there."

Tony nodded. "I know they weren't. But it didn't seem like they were going to help you get better any time soon, so we stepped in. What do you remember?"

"About what?"

"About anything. Your name, your home, your family?" Tony said the last one hopefully.

Peter licked his lips. "My first mission for HYDRA. They trained me and helped me become stronger. They said that they saved me from my abusive family."

"Well, I'm sorry to say that they were lying. We're your family, bud, and we've been looking for you."

"I'm pretty sure I would remember my own family."

"Not if you were drugged."

"Drugged?"

"Tell me, were you ever given a liquid or a pill or something that you had to take?"

"Once a week they gave me water. They said that they put painkillers in it."

"Well, that's true, I guess."

Peter yawned and Tony smiled softly. "Why don't you go to bed. We'll explain more tomorrow, okay?"

Peter nodded and leaned against the pillow. His mind swarmed with questions as he drifted off. Were these people trustworthy? Were they really his family? Why was there a picture of him and the man on the wall?

XXXXXXXXX

Tony looked at the picture of Peter and himself. He remembered that day very well, the day that Tony presented him with a fake certificate for his "internship". Apparently, no one in Peter's class believed that he knew Tony Stark, and he wanted to prove them wrong. The photoshoot was an afternoon to remember.

Mr Stark, Are you sure you want to do this?

Why not, kid! My next meeting isn't for a couple of hours anyway. Here's your certificate.

Wow, this looks super legit!

That's because I had Happy make it. You know how he gets when he has a project.

Okay, Tony and Peter! Why don't you stand next to each other with Peter on the right and Tony on the left. Great! Say cheese!

Cheese!

Pete, did you give me bunny ears?

Sorry, we can redo it if you want.

Naw, it's okay. As long as I get to give you bunny ears in the next shot.

Tony smiled at the memory. He really hadn't realized how much Peter meant to him until he was gone.

XXXXXXXXX

Paralysis. Airport. Giant red guy. Germany.

Germany.

Peter sat up in bed, gasping. His sheets were soaked with sweat and his brain was going a million miles an hour. Tony ran in and kneeled at his bedside. "What's wrong?"

"What happened in Germany?" Peter stammered. Tony held back a gasp and looked into Peter's terrified eyes. "You remember Germany?"

"I remember an airport, and a huge guy, and someone paralyzed."

There was a pause. Then Tony threw his hands up into the air. "You remember Germany!"

Just then, Rhodey and Steve ran in. "What happened?"

"He remembers Germany!"

"That's great!"

"Excuse me?" Peter whispered. "Why is Germany so important?"

"The first time I met you, I invited you to come assist us in a fight that took place in a Germany Airport." Tony explained.

"Who was I fighting?"

"That would be me," Steve said sheepishly.

"And who got paralyzed?"

"And that would be me," Rhodey pointed to himself. Then he looked down at his braces and smiled. "But Tony made sure that I wouldn't be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. That would suck."

"And the big red guy?"

"That's Scott, A.K.A Antman. He can grow super big." Steve explained.

"If he can grow huge, why is he called Antman?"

Tony looked at the others. "He's got a point."

The men continued to describe the fight to Peter, making sure to add as many details about Spiderman as possible. Peter seemed interested until he looked down and started playing with his sheets. Tony started to get worried when he was like this for a couple of minutes. "You okay, bud?"

When Peter didn't answer, Tony slowly grabbed his chin and lifted his head upwards. Peter's eyes were glassy, and they looked in no particular direction. He didn't give any reaction to Tony or any of the others. His hands continued to rub the fabric of his sheets.

Tony started freaking out until Rhodey spoke up. "Remember what Bruce said? He's dissociating. We just need to wait it out."

Tony tried to breathe, but everything was rushing back to him. This was really happening. Peter wasn't completely okay, and he never would be again.

Steve grabbed the billionaire's shoulders. "Tony, you need to calm down. Breathe with me. In, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4." The pair continued to do this until Tony's heart rate was under control.

"What happened?" Peter asked with tears clouding his dry eyes. He hadn't remembered the last couple of minutes at all. Although he was used to waking up in unfamiliar places with no memory, this felt different.

"You're okay now," Tony soothed him, while also mentally soothing himself. "You're okay now. Why don't you go back to bed, and we can talk about Germany tomorrow." He suggested.

Once Peter was soundly asleep, Steve and Rhodey left the room. But Tony couldn't bring himself to leave his boy. Instead, he pulled up a chair and got himself comfortable. In a couple of minutes he too, was fast asleep.