Dusk covered the sky of New York. The lights slowly began to turn on at the foot of the buildings as the sun faded behind the orange clouds. Nothing seemed to disturb the tranquility of the Big Apple, until a thud resounded over the huge steel towers. It was the Avengers's Quinjet that'd just cracked through the air at full speed.
The group of superheroes had left the abandoned factory immediately after discovering that FRIDAY had lost contact with their base, and deployed all the energy of the flying vehicle to return to the Tower as quickly as possible. However, returning to New York from Colorado in less than two hours was virtually impossible without running out of power or risking a malfunction. They had managed to save thirty minutes on their trip, but it was still too little time to get to their destination. That said, more than arresting the criminals, the thought that occupied all their minds was about Thomas... The Earth's Defenders had left him alone at the compound to protect him from any enemy attack, but the HYDRA spies tricked them and their distrust to force their way into this supposedly impenetrable fortress. Who knows what could have happened to him during their absence ? As their base gradually appeared in their field of vision, anxiety only grew in the hearts of the Avengers.
Once the Quinjet landed on the runway, Tony was the first to get off and rushed to his lab, since it was the last place he had seen the teenager before he left. Unfortunately, he wasn't there. While the superheroes searched the entire building for the boy, the billionaire went to the room where FRIDAY's mainframe was located to fully restore it. Her system may have been tampered with, but the camera's recordings still had to work. When he arrived on site, he was surprised to find that nothing was disturbing the functioning of his artificial intelligence : no viruses or parasitic device attached to it. All her protocols were restored. Tony quickly realized that the kidnappers had probably used an alien jammer that they kept on them during their assault on the Tower to disrupt FRIDAY, and that everything had returned to normal once they were gone.
Iron Man didn't think any further and asked his virtual assistant to locate Thomas, but she told him that no one else was in the Tower except him and the Avengers. Tony gritted his teeth, and then displayed all the video tracks from the last few hours through holograms to find out what had happened at the compound. However, most of the recordings were corrupted, only showing a static, sizzling screen. It seems like the HYDRA spies still had time to erase their presence before fleeing. Tony was about to sworn and violently hit the control table in anger when FRIDAY interrupted his action.
"Sir, Captain Rogers requests a meeting of all the Avengers at the living room."
The adult remained silent for a short while, his fist still raised, before letting out a sigh. He knew that getting angry wasn't the right solution in such a situation. Acting impulsively wouldn't help him find Thomas any faster, and he certainly couldn't do it alone. Tony let go of the adrenaline that had taken hold of him, and then joined his colleagues in the large room who were just as distraught as him.
"Did you find anything ?" The genius bluntly asked.
"No... Not a single trace of Thomas." Sam replied.
"We've checked all the places he could've been hidden, but he's nowhere in the compound..." Clint sighed. "However, we noticed that no armories or vaults were forced, not even the one with the Chitauri debris."
"There were webs attached on the walls, empty smoke bombs, and a large hole in a pipe outlet on the floors thirty to thirty-six." Steve said, showing the small empty bombs in his left hand. "It's possible that Thomas was able to stop the HYDRA spies from stealing anything, but..."
"... He must've been taken by surprise by one of them, and they took the opportunity to kidnap him." Natasha continued, her seemingly neutral voice hiding a deep anger.
"Shit... And to make matters worse, these assholes managed to disrupt the camera's footage before escaping. They're completely useless."
Tony ran one of his hands through his hair in a desperate move. He felt so guilty... How could he fall into such a stupid trap ? He'd made the assumption himself that these HYDRA members had to possess alien tech to be able to bypass a security system as complex as the SHIELD's one. And yet, despite all his intelligence and precautions, the idea that these criminals could use this stratagem against him only appeared to him when he was out of reach of the Tower. This base, which was supposed to be the safest place in the world for the kid, turned into a closed room where he couldn't call for help. Once again, someone the billionaire cared about was in danger because of him... Bruce noticed Tony's distress and put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.
"Don't blame yourself, Tony. Nothing that happened was your fault."
"Yes, Bruce... It's my fault. If I'd realized sooner that the HYDRA spies were planning to attack the compound, we could've gotten back here faster and stopped them. Now we don't know where Thomas might be, and if something bad happens to him..." Tony held his breath. "That would be on me."
"We share your worry, Tony." Steve answered. "These criminals fooled us all because they used the threat of their former organization against us... However, it won't happen again."
"Yeah. Even if the situation seems lost, we could always find a way out of it, right ? No matter where Thomas is, we'll find him and bring him back to the compound !" Scott said.
"Well said, Lang. Those bastards won't last long in front of us !" Pietro hit his right fist against his left hand, ready to beat those who kidnapped his little brother. His sister nodded in approval.
"We're a team. We won't leave anyone behind, and certainly not Thomas. No matter who our enemies are, we will defeat them together."
These words had the effect of an electric current for all the Avengers. The despair that'd darkened their hearts turned into determination, and they looked at each other to encourage one another. It was at this time that FRIDAY's voice resounded again :
"Cosmic disturbance coming on Earth. Energy detected towards the Tower's launching pad."
The team of superheroes was baffled by this abrupt announcement. What does it mean ? They had just recovered from the discovery of a targeted attack on their base ; if it was an invasion from elsewhere, it would delay their plan to save the spider mutant. Tony quickly asked his AI to show the runway. A holographic screen was then displayed in front of the Avengers, and what they expected to be a potential new threat appeared in fact to be a giant luminous halo being positioned at the end of the launching pad. After a few seconds, the light disappeared, and a familiar silhouette emerged : his long red cloak shone with the setting sun, and his dark armor had a similar hue. His hair had shortened and his beard had grown like Captain America's, but the Earth's Defenders soon recognized the person's identity : Thor.
The god of thunder had finally returned from his mission at the other end of the galaxy, which lasted several weeks. He walked up the launching pad until he arrived at the Quinjet, and noticed that the vehicle had been parked in a hurry, as if it had to land in an emergency. Apparently, he wasn't the only one to have had perilous setbacks. Suddenly, he heard a noise echoing through a loudspeaker :
"Pointbreak !" The billionaire called.
"Stark !" The Asgardian answered in a loud voice. "I see you haven't lost the habit of calling me like that."
"Seriously, what were the chances you'd come back at that moment ?"
"That moment ? What do you mean ? Did something happen ?" He wondered, feeling that his friend's voice wasn't as confident as usual.
"Yes..." Steve answered him. "Meet us on the private floor. We'll explain you everything."
The warrior quickly deduced from the deep tone the Captain had taken that something terrible must've happened. Without waiting any longer, Thor rushed inside the Tower to find his brothers in arms and understand the reason for the heavy atmosphere he'd felt since his return. They briefly explained to him what happened in the last few days : the HYDRA spies who were still alive, the cyberattacks against SHIELD, the false lead in Colorado, the assault on the compound and Thomas's kidnapping... As one would expect, the god of thunder was shocked and furious to learn that their former enemies were still walking around and committed such devious acts by manipulating the extreme vigilance of his companions.
"What kind of coward they are to kidnap a child ?" Thor whistled between his teeth. "These men have no honor !"
"As if they had one anyway..." Sam said in a sarcastic way.
"If they had been careless enough not to pay attention to the cameras, we might have a lead to go looking for them. Except they weren't..." Tony mumbled.
Silence fell in the living room. How can they trace the culprits when they left no clues behind ? The billionaire was thinking about the options he had left in the hope of finding out where Thomas was locked up... When he had an enlightenment. Clint just said before that no vaults had been forced during the assault, and the only footages which were corrupted were the underground garage and floors with no rooms containing alien tech, which was suspicious because no one was there to stop them from seizing the Chitauri debris after possibly knocking out the teenager. This meant that the motive of the HYDRA spies was not theft... They had been planning to kidnap the kid all along. They certainly discovered through their cyberattacks that Thomas was a mutant, so they equipped themselves with extraterrestrial weapons to be able to control him. A quick glance at Natasha made him realize that she too had come to this conclusion. If these criminals are aware of the exceptional nature of the boy, then there's only one place that could contain such individuals…
Tony took a deep breath and ordered :
"FRIDAY, give me the position of the Raft."
All heads turned towards Iron Man, some surprised and others more composed. The AI indicated that it would take a few minutes to find the exact location of the prison.
"Tony ?" Vision asked, which had the effect of letting time run out again.
"I thought there were too many strange elements in this story. Why did these HYDRA spies took so much trouble to create such a complex plan if their goal was not to steal the Chitauri debris we keep at the compound ? They were free to steal whatever they wanted, but they didn't do it and just took the kid away."
"That's right." Natasha continued. "If they weren't looking for more alien tech, it's because their plan aimed in reality someone who they know the hidden nature... In other words, Thomas."
The Avengers opened their eyes to this revelation. Suddenly, an idea went off in Bucky's head like a firecracker.
"Ah... I think I know where you're going with this." This time all attention went towards the super soldier.
"What is it, Bucky ?" Steve asked.
"I had speculated earlier that it was possible that the HYDRA spies may have been hiding among the population as moles to escape the SHIELD after the destruction of their organization. And there is an instance in this country that can make them disappear from any suspicious eyes..." He paused before continuing. "The government."
There was a silence... Then it was Rhodey's turn to pick up the pieces with all this new information.
"Of course... The politicians and the army have immunity. Their influence allows them to bypass the law, or even abuse it. It's not unlikely that the culprits used this power to make this secret "arrest", despite the rejection of many restricting laws towards mutants, and thus be able to lock Thomas up in the Raft which is a prison specially created to contain beings with superhuman powers… Which mean they are also among the few people who know the location of the underwater vessel in the Atlantic Ocean."
"It's horrible !" Wanda was baffled.
"Hm... It does indeed seem to be a credible scenario." Captain America said after thinking carefully about the words of his companions. "That said, to have the authorization to carry out this kind of operation, they probably needed the approval of a superior."
"In my opinion, they specifically targeted someone who despises extraordinary beings... And who tried to chain us with some papers two years ago." Suggested Clint, although all the Avengers suspected who it was.
"If it's him, then a one-on-one discussion is in order." The emotionless look on the symbol of America's face said a lot about what he was thinking. He was already furious that HYDRA members had kidnapped a pure and big-hearted teenager, but going as far as to treated the latter like a monster to the point of being sent to prison under the simple pretext that he was a mutant ? Cap was certainly not going to let it go. The same hidden rage was shared by Tony.
A few moments later, FRIDAY indicated the location of the Raft on a holographic screen. Now that they had a destination, all the team was ready to take back their young member. These HYDRA spies were wrong to underestimate them... They wanted to trick them ? The Earth's Mightiest Heroes were going to make them regret this mistake.
Two guards walked through the long corridors of the Raft. With their weapons loaded in their hands and their faces masked, they checked that all the prisoners remained quiet in their cells. Since the rooms had strong white light and glass windows, the guards only needed a quick glance to ensure that the prisoners were under control. Some of them gave them dark stares, some others violently insulted them and tried to intimidate them by showing the extent of their powers, but the soldiers never lost their composure because they knew that those words were what they were : words. Whatever their supernatural abilities, in this prison built specifically to counter them, they were no more dangerous than human criminals.
While most of the armed men could move freely between the different floors, a handful of elite soldiers guarded at all times one of the smallest, but no less important areas of the prison : the isolation cells. This was where those who had been sentenced to life imprisonment or whose powers required greater control resided. It goes without saying that this perimeter didn't skimp on its security system : identity checks, passcards, camera with automatic alarms at the slightest suspicious move, explosive or electroshock handcuffs for the prisoners... Everything had been put in place to annihilate any prospect of escape.
The silence inside the Raft was so deafening that it wasn't uncommon to forget that it was a huge underwater vessel plunged into the bottom of the ocean. Iron curtains fell in front of the cell windows and the white light flooding the corridors turned into a dark blue, indicating that night had just fallen. A few light bulbs went on and off for a few seconds, but the guards didn't care and associated this with a possible storm approaching. Thunderstorms were common near the prison, although it wasn't unduly disturbed by the turmoil of the sea.
The guards's round was almost over when suddenly one of them stopped in the middle of the path. He looked around him in disbelief, which attracted the attention of his colleague.
"What the matter, Skylard 34 ?" He asked.
"... It's strange. I feel like I felt the wind close to me." The aforementioned Skylard replied.
"The wind ? I didn't feel it. The walls are too airtight to let the wind through. Could it be the storm that's causing you this effect ?"
"Maybe."
"Or maybe not." A third voice came out of the darkness.
The two soldiers were surprised by what they'd just heard. They brandished their weapons and were about to threaten the stranger, but they didn't have time to move as a weight dropped their rifles from their hands before taking a violent blow to the back of their necks, knocking them out instantly. A silhouette followed by a silvery aura stopped near the guards, revealing the identity of the man who taunted them : Quicksilver. While Tony, Rhodey and Thor were searching the ones who had locked Thomas up, Pietro, Wanda and Scott were tasked to clear the way to get to the young boy. The runner took advantage of the lack of light to confuse the guards and put them out of the race. He heard footsteps coming close to him and saw his sister and Ant-Man come out of the darkness.
"Ah, there you are !" The Sokovian exclaimed. "Were you able to get rid of the soldiers ?"
"Yeah. It wasn't easy to shrink their weapons, but it went pretty well." Scott said.
"Well, that's good. But we're not going to spend our time beating these guys, though. We need to find Tom. Wanda, did you get a chance to get inside their heads ?"
"Yes, but I couldn't find any information about him. None of them turned out to be the HYDRA spies... Not even those two." Mentioned the witch after doing her "mental investigation" on the two men on the ground.
"Shit... This prison is huge ! It's going to take us hours to wander around these endless corridors !"
"Not to mention the cells... Even the old prison where I was incarcerated didn't have that many cells. The Raft carries well its reputation of "fortress prison", for that matter." Ant-Man sighed.
Some time later, their three other comrades came to meet them. They now had the name of the unit and the captain who orchestrated the false arrest, and knew where the spider mutant was hidden : in the isolation cell NZ42, located in the lowest floor of the Raft. The six Avengers immediately rushed towards the depths of the submarine vessel, stopping all the soldiers who were blocking their way. Tony was the most vehement to quickly get rid of the men with his new repulsors ; just the thought of Thomas rotting in a small, cold room like a wild animal heightened his already burning anger, but it also reinforced his desire to save the boy. He didn't care if the media continued to treat him as an outlet for their bitter criticism or if the whole world turned against him, all he wanted was to find the teenager and bring him home safe and sound.
When the group of heroes began to see the quarantine zone, the heavy steel door protecting it was lowered and locked. Thor then used Mjolnir to force his way through. His powers were so unleashed that they formed a gigantic hole through the scrap metal, from which smoke escaped when the hammer struck with a lightning bolt. The light emitted by his thunders made the atmosphere suffocating, reinforced by the blue taint of the bulbs on the ceiling, and the shattering entrance of the Earth's Defenders could be heard at the other end of the long corridor.
This broken silence didn't escape Thomas's ears... Despite the darkness of his cell and the lack of movement of the underwater vessel, the boy managed to distinguish a vague distant echo beyond the titanium walls thanks to his super-hearing. However, he was unable to make the slightest gesture... In addition to his handcuffs on the wrists and feet of the chair, an inhibitory collar had been added around his neck to drastically reduce his superhuman strength to prevent him from breaking his chains. The teenager couldn't help but make a cynical remark about the guard who activated it - whose voice he recognized during the attack on the Avenger Tower - but the guard didn't take this insubordination well and violently slapped him on his left cheek, so much that a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his lips. His enhanced healing was partially slowed down because of this device, but the pain eventually went away and the red wound diminished as time passed.
Thomas continued to hear the din outside the room, which caused his head to rise very slightly, and after several minutes all sound faded away... And just when he expected it the least, a loud impact hit the door of his cell, to the point where it collapsed with a crash on the floor. He was startled and stared at the huge rectangular piece lying in front of him. Once the shock was over, the mutant took his courage in both hands and look at the thing or person who perpetrated the action... His breath stopped when he recognized Tony, Rhodey, Thor, Wanda, Pietro and Scott. The teenager was so shaken by what'd just happened that he stood completely still on the furniture, fearing for a moment that the dust from the falling door would distort his vision. Fortunately, he soon realized that his eyes didn't deceive him... The six Avengers were really there, dressed in their hero costumes that burst with color inside this ghostly environment.
After Thor turned on the light of the cell on its day mode with his powers, Tony lowered his helmet and was able to see Thomas. He became enraged when he noticed that his mentee was chained to a chair that seemed far from comfortable in a position that must've made his arms numb, not to mention the blow mark and the blood that came out of the teenager's white skin. However, beyond his desire to beat the hell out of those who considered him less than human, a huge feeling of relief ran through his heart : the kid was still alive. His brown eyes were wide-open from their arrival and his hair was as messed up as ever, but he continued to breathe. The billionaire gradually came to his senses and approached Thomas without saying a word, then he drew out his laser to destroy the handcuffs on his ankles, then those on his wrists, and in the end Wanda offered to remove the inhibitor collar with her magic, which Tony accepted because he knew Scarlet Witch could neutralize the device without hurting the spider boy.
Once Thomas was released from these shackles and was able to stand up again, he looked at his guardians who kept expressing how they were happy to see him again and how they were worried about him after his disappearance. Tony then spoke last... His face showed signs that he was holding back from crying, but the smile on his lips was warm and sincere.
"... Sorry I'm late, kid. We came home a little later than expected. But everything will be all right now..." He put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "We're going back to the Tower all together. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore."
"Mr. Stark... You... You came..."
"I promised it to you, didn't I ? I'll do everything to protect you, and I'll always come to save you." And I'll do everything to keep that promise, whatever it takes. He mentally added.
Thomas didn't know what to say, his thoughts swirling in his head and intertwining like the threads of a ball of wool. When he had made his cry for help, a tiny part of him was convinced that it was only words whispered out of despair and that he shouldn't attach as much importance to it as he should do, but another stronger part of him wanted to cling to the hope that a miracle could occur, even if it was astronomically close to zero. If the mutant hadn't bet on this low probability of being saved when he was a child, perhaps no one would've come to stop his family's murderers and he would've been killed in total anonymity. Tony had arrived in time to prevent that tragic outcome... And he'd just recreated that miracle nine years later.
The dam that held his emotions fell and he embraced the billionaire with all his might, his eyes misted with tears. The latter hugged him back with equal conviction and gently passed one of his hands over the boy's head to reassure him. The other Avengers looked at them with tender eyes and shared the same relief as Iron Man.
They managed to beat the one on the dice of fate to make it six. They managed to find Thomas.