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. I also don't own the lines taken from Spider-Man: Homecoming.
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! Thanks for your reviews, follows, and favorites! I'm glad you're enjoying this story! There will certainly be more craziness to come. One little note, I figured it'd be safe to announce a couple other pairings now since almost all the characters have been introduced, and those are Clint Barton/Laura Barton and Wanda/Vision. Just didn't want to spoil which characters were ultimately going to make an appearance in the beginning, lol. I think that's about it... So I won't keep you any longer! Enjoy homecoming, part two!
Chapter 15– Homecoming, Part Two (Or, "That Awkward Moment When Your Date Night Ends in a Fight")
When they pulled up in front of the school, Peter saw that blue and yellow balloons had been tied on the stair railings and near the doors for decoration and that groups of students had already gathered in excited groups, comparing dresses and taking pictures. He wished he could join them. He'd give anything to get out of that car and forget all about Toomes and the weapons and the attack on him and Tony.
But he couldn't. He had a mission.
"Here we are!" the older man addressed cheerfully. "End of the line."
Liz grinned as she leaned forward and rested her hand on her father's shoulder. "Thanks, Dad!" She then took off her seatbelt and started to reach for her door, the excited look lingering in her eye. Peter didn't budge.
Toomes returned the look as he glanced in the rearview mirror. "You head in there, gumdrop. I'm gonna give Peter the, uh, the dad talk."
Peter stiffened, every sense on high alert. He'd expected this. And while it undeniably made him a bit nervous, he also knew this could be his chance. He just needed to get Toomes alone...
Liz sighed, a brief look of mild exasperation crossing her face as she turned to look at Peter. "Don't let him intimidate you," she told him before turning back to the older man with another smile. She leaned forward and left a kiss on his cheek. "Love you!
"Love you, too, gumdrop," Toomes replied, his own smile lingering as he watched his daughter step out of the car and hurry over to a group of her friends. He then casually reached into his glove compartment before turning to face the fifteen-year-old, draping his right arm over the back of the passenger seat.
In his hand was a handgun.
Peter froze, his gaze lingering on the weapon as the light caught the metal. He was so used to the metal wings and the arsenal that came along with them that something this simple caught him off guard.
But at the same time...
His uncle let go of his hand, beginning to run away from him down the bustling sidewalk...
"Uncle Ben, wait!"
A loud gunshot echoed in his ears as the people around him began screaming...
His uncle was lying on the sidewalk, his white t-shirt stained crimson, as the thief who'd shot him tried to escape through the crowd...
"Uncle Ben..."
His own hands were stained crimson as he frantically tried to help his uncle... but no matter what, it wasn't enough...
His uncle stood on the rooftop across from him, a smile appearing on his handsome face as he held a hand out to him...
"My uncle, he's right there... We have to help him!"
Peter's face paled. His hands started to shake slightly.
Where were these memories coming from all of a sudden...?
"Does she know?"
It took the teen a moment to register the question Toomes was asking him, and he swallowed as he forced himself to look away from the weapon and meet the older man's gaze. "Know what?" he asked quietly, feigning innocence. Though he knew it was pointless. The older man knew everything.
Toomes appeared to stare right through him, confirming his theory. "She doesn't. Good. Close to the vest." He briefly paused, nodding in what seemed to be approval. "I can admire that. I've got a few secrets of my own..."
Peter watched as the older man shrugged with a smile, all the while just trying to focus on keeping his own breathing even and trying to control the trembling in his fingers.
Toomes turned serious again, regarding the fifteen-year-old carefully. "Peter. Nothing is more important than family. You saved my daughter's life. I could never forget something like that, so I'm going to give you one chance. Are you ready? Walk through those doors, you forget any of this happened, and don't you ever, ever interfere with my business again. 'Cause if you do, I'll kill you and everybody you love. I'll kill you dead. That's what I'll do to protect my family, Pete. Do you understand?"
The teen lowered his gaze to where his hands, still unable to stay still, were resting on his lap. He didn't say a word, though he knew that Toomes would understand that yes, he definitely understood what he was saying.
Whether he'd follow what was being said was what he couldn't guarantee.
"Hey," the older man spoke up. "I just saved your life. Now what do you say?"
Peter slowly raised his gaze back to Toomes', locking with his. He took a deep breath, hoping his voice wouldn't shake as badly as the rest of him. "Thank you," he murmured, and he hated that it wavered just ever so slightly.
Toomes nodded. "You're welcome," he replied. "Now, you go on in there, you show my daughter a good time. Okay? Just not too good." He smiled slightly, nodding in the direction of the school before he turned to put the gun away.
But Peter didn't budge, even though the firearm was now out of sight. He tried to push the painful memories of what had happened to his uncle that had resurfaced back down since he knew he had to focus on what was ahead of him now. He had a mission, after all. He glanced outside his window at the parking lot, and his heart leapt when he noticed Redwing hovering not too far away from their car.
Show time.
Setting his jaw, the teen turned back to Toomes. "Sorry, but I can't do that," he said, willing his voice to remain steady. This time, it did.
The older man paused, glancing back at him in the rearview mirror. "What did you say, Pete?"
But before either one of them could say or do anything more, they were both thrown forward when another car bumped them from behind, a loud crunch echoing in the parking lot. Peter grunted as he bounced off the seat in front of him before landing on the floor while Toomes whirled angrily around to glare out the back windshield. The headlights were so bright that nothing could really be seen, however, and he cursed heatedly under his breath as he turned back around, put the car in drive, and started to head for the parking lot exit.
The fifteen-year-old looked around him, able to tell by the glow from the headlights that whoever had hit them was following them. What was going on? That wasn't part of the plan... And why wasn't the older man confronting the other driver? "Hey, uh, I'm still back here..." he muttered.
But Toomes didn't so much as glance at him as he continued to drive. "You're the one who said you couldn't leave," he said nonchalantly, his eyes continuing to dart to the rearview mirror to keep tabs on the second car.
The older man knew the other driver, of that Peter was pretty sure. But that didn't make him feel any better. This definitely wasn't going according to plan. He had to get out of there, he had to regroup.
Gritting his teeth, the web-slinger reached up and grabbed the door handle, feeling a rush of cool air before he jumped out of the back of the moving vehicle, tucking his head as he landed in a roll. He didn't get far before he came to a stop, quickly looking up to see that they were already out of the parking lot and on the street in front of the building, so at least most the other students hadn't seen his escape. He watched the two cars continue along before turning into an alleyway and disappearing from sight. Redwing followed at a safe distance. If Toomes noticed his abrupt exit, which he knew he'd had to, he certainly didn't seem to care.
Though he still wasn't sure what had happened, he wondered if it had anything to do with the "errand" the older man had said he'd had to run. If so, whoever he seemed to be meeting certainly wasn't very patient.
Could it be a weapons drop-off? Could he catch him in the act?
That would be perfect.
Peter was brought out of his thoughts when his cell phone began to ring. A quick glance at the screen told him it was Ned, and he immediately answered the call. "What?"
"Dude, so Liz is in here, and she's super pissed because she's thinking you maybe stood her up or something? But, dude, I thought, like, we were supposed to, you know, stop her dad? Remember, like we planned? The hero and the guy in the chair? Where are you?"
"I'm uh... I'm tracking Toomes," Peter said. "I think that errand he's supposed to do is a weapons drop. We can totally catch him! He's heading into the alley that leads into the back parking lot of the school. Meet me there."
"Got it!" Ned replied in the affirmative. "Dude, this is so exciting! Helping you in a mission like this. Better than this dance, anyway. Finally, you and me, hero and the guy in the–!"
But Peter hung up, slipping his phone into the pocket of his pants as he ran for the alley that Toomes and their mystery pursuer had disappeared down. He felt bad about leaving Liz, especially knowing that she was mad at him since she thought he'd bailed, but wasn't that all part of being an Avenger? Heroes had to make tough choices, and sometimes sacrifices, for the greater good. It wasn't always easy. He'd make it up to Liz if he could, if she'd give him another chance since this was something he couldn't tell her about. But it had to be done. Stopping her father's illicit activities, trying to get these dangerous weapons off the street, and hopefully getting some sort of lead on Tony's disappearance were all more important than a school dance.
Once he was sure he was out of sight of the other students, Peter pulled off his jacket and black dress shoes before slipping out of the pants and starting to undo his tie and the buttons of his white shirt, revealing his spider suit underneath. Once the mask and gloves were on, he stashed the tuxedo behind some garbage cans to return for later before dashing off after Toomes.
"All right, Karen. Talk to me. Anything you can pick up from these guys?"
"I'm picking up one life form, one that matches the information you've given me on Adrian Toomes," the electronic voice informed him.
The teen skidded to a stop. Just Toomes? But there'd been two cars... "Are you sure about that, Karen?" he asked. "There should be another one."
"Yes, Peter. Only Toomes is detected. I am not picking up on any other humans."
Well, that made no sense. If this was a weapons drop off, there should be another person there to pick up them up.
Right?
"Okay, well... um... Any reading on some alien tech?" he tried.
"Yes. There's a source nearby."
Once he reached the end of the alley, Peter effortlessly jumped the fence separating it from the school's back parking lot, almost eerie with all the unused school buses sitting around idly. Almost like a transportation graveyard.
Frankly, he was surprised some students hadn't slipped out from under the supervision of the teachers and chaperones to hide out back here. And where was Ned? He should've beaten him here...
The web-slinger spotted Toomes' car with the vehicle that had followed them from the parking lot in the back corner of the lot across from him, parked side by side. There was no sign of Redwing. Using his webbing, he swung between the buses until he got close enough, perching on the side of the vehicle closest to the scene. He peeked his head around the front of the bus, seeing Toomes speaking quietly in what appeared to be heated tones to a man wearing a black leather jacket and a green bandana who he couldn't see the face of.
What he did notice, however, was the older man was wearing the jacket he'd come to associate with the costume he wore during heists, through the beaked helmet was tucked under his arm and the metallic wings were still hidden.
A prickling sensation ran down Peter's arms. Something wasn't right here. Toomes appeared ready for a fight... not an arms deal. And there were clearly two people, so why could Karen only pick up one? And still, there was no sign of Ned.
"Karen, can we hear what they're saying?" Peter whispered. "Stealth mode, or whatever it's called? I don't like the look of this..."
"Sure thing, Peter," Karen said. "Activating Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode."
"That's what it is..." Peter mumbled to himself. "Gotta remember that, Peter..." But then, he tuned into the conversation they were eavesdropping on.
"Look, I don't know what game you're playing here, but I'm done with it, and I've got an appointment to keep," Toomes was saying angrily. "I know you've been following me from the house. To show up here is unacceptable. Now, I don't know who the hell you are or what the hell you want, but I suggest you get the hell out. Or else you'll regret it." The older man quickly pulled part of his jacket aside, revealing what had to be one of his crafted weapons since it wasn't the handgun he'd threatened him with before.
The second man didn't say a word.
So it did sound like Toomes did have some some sort of arms deal to make, but this certainly wasn't it. Of course it wasn't. Why would he do something like that so close to his daughter's school? That was stupid.
So then... what was this? Did that mean the other guy had forced him here?
Toomes narrowed his eyes, clearly losing any patience he had left. He opened his mouth, probably to offer another verbal lashing, but before he could, hurried footsteps and quiet whimpering drew closer.
"Two more life forms detected," Karen announced.
"Yeah, Karen, I can hear them..."
"Sorry I'm late, boss," a man Peter recognized from the ferry, the one who Toomes had taken with him when he'd escaped, said as he approached. "Would've come as soon as you called, but while I was scouring around to make sure the spider kid wouldn't interfere like you thought he might, I found this brat sneaking around." He shoved the rounder, black-haired student forward.
The web-slinger's heart raced, recognizing his terrified expression immediately. Ned.
"D-don't hurt me," the other teen stuttered. "I... I don't even know what's going on here..." His wide eyes landed on Toomes. "I... I won't tell anyone about... y'know... about the cool tech or anything, Mr. Birdman, I promise..."
Peter sighed, his fingers pressing harder against the cool surface of the bus. God, Ned, just shut up already...
Toomes spared Ned only a brief glance before turning to the other man working with him, exasperated. "Why'd you snatch this kid?" he asked.
The other man shrugged. "Well, now we know he knows about the weapons!" he answered in his defense.
"God, you're such a–!"
"I'm here for the boy."
Both Toomes and his helper stopped bickering at the sound of the mysterious third man's smooth, quiet voice as they both turned to look at him. Even Ned quit his sniveling.
"Boy?" the former repeated. "What boy?" But then, realization dawned in his gaze. "You mean Peter?"
Dread rushed through Peter. What did this guy that Karen couldn't seem to detect want with him? And would Toomes give him up? He couldn't take that chance.
"All right, I've gotta do something before this gets out of control," the fifteen-year-old muttered, mainly to himself. "Before Ned or anyone else gets hurt."
"Be careful, Peter," Karen cautioned. Was it just his imagination, or did even the AI sound concerned?
No time now to worry about that. He had a mission to bring down Toomes to complete. And if he had to take care of these other two first, so be it.
Peter aimed his web blaster at the man in the black jacket and green bandana– the one who apparently wanted him– and fired. The web wrapped tightly and securely around him in the blink of an eye, but to his surprise, the man didn't even budge or try to break free.
Toomes gave the trapped man a startled look before wildly searching for the source of the attack as the man who worked with him did the same. Ned, though still in immediate danger, grinned broadly.
"Yes!"
Peter then leapt off the side of the bus, landing crouched on the ground near the other four. "All right, guys, cool it," he said, pointing at Ned. "The kid goes free. I'm the one you want. We don't need anyone getting hurt here."
Toomes slowly shook his head, seeming to be disappointed by the interruption. "You should have taken my offer and not interfered, kid..."
It didn't escape the teen's notice that the older man didn't use his name when he easily could have.
Peter rose to his feet. "I can't let you sell any more of those weapons," he told him. "Not when they make the streets so unsafe. Plus I need you to tell me whatever you know about Tony Stark's disappearance."
What could only be described as confusion crossed Toomes' face, and Peter found himself hesitating. Maybe he truly didn't know anything after all...
Before he could dwell on it, the web-slinger quickly turned to the older man's helper, seeing he had the charger he wore on his hand all charged up and trained directly on him. "Ned, run!" Peter yelled, right as the man shot an electric charge in his direction. He managed to roll out of the way of the blast, but he cursed when he saw the man had a tight hold on Ned's shoulder with his free hand. His best friend wasn't going anywhere.
Then, the fifteen-year-old quickly turned to Toomes, seeing his helmet was on and the metallic wings had unfurled as he started to take to the dark skies. He immediately sent another web at him, watching as it wrapped tightly around his ankle. He grit his teeth tightly as he was roughly yanked off the ground as Toomes ascended.
No, he couldn't let him get away...
Toomes looked down, sighing with frustration when he saw that Peter was steadily scaling the web toward him. "I told you to leave well enough alone!" he called down to him.
But Peter shook his head as he kept climbing, despite the older man's erratic movements in attempt to shake him off. "No! I can't do that!" he yelled back.
"Look out!"
The web-slinger looked down at the sound of Ned's warning, seeing the other man had sent another shock wave in his direction. He used his momentum to swing out of the way, watching as the blast came very close to striking Toomes' left wing instead.
"You idiot!" the older man shouted.
However, the shock was enough of a distraction, and Peter let out a panicked yell as Toomes sliced through his web, sending him toward the hard ground below. He grunted as he landed in a roll, pushing himself to a knee as he considered what to do next in this two-on-one situation. He noticed he'd come to a stop right beside that mysterious third man that no one seemed to know, the one who still hadn't attempted to get free of his webs.
The teen looked up, curious to see his face for the first time...
... and froze.
No... no... impossible... it was impossible...
A man in a black leather jacket and green bandana bumped into a young woman next to where he and his uncle were walking along the bustling sidewalk, suddenly taking off running into the crowd ahead of them...
"Help! He took my purse! Stop him! Thief!"
He only got a quick glance at the man's face, briefly noticing the thin goatee and long scar set in his right cheek, before he disappeared into the crowd...
Ben let go of his hand, taking off after the man...
"Uncle Ben, wait!"
A gunshot...
People screaming...
His uncle bleeding under his hands as his life slipped away...
The dark-haired thief sent a cruel grin back in his direction as he darted out into the road...
The sound of a car horn blaring and the loud squealing of tires filled the air...
Peter could only stare up at the man next to him, his eyes wide beneath his mask and his palms sweating in his gloves as he started to tremble. The thin goatee, the long scar set in his right cheek, the cruel grin...
This was the man who'd murdered his uncle.
"Accelerated heart rate detected," Karen said, but the teen hardly heard her. He couldn't breathe. His chest hurt. He couldn't think. A thin line of tears formed in his eyes. The man didn't even have to say a word, and yet...
But... it was impossible. Though he hadn't seen it himself, Peter remembered how the EMTs and police officers who'd been called to the scene told him that the thief who'd stolen from the woman and had shot Ben had died when he'd tried to flee the scene, having been accidentally struck by a taxi.
So... how could he be here, giving him that same cruel grin as he had about nine months before...?
Then, Peter screamed in pain when a shock wave from the charger hit him, sending the electric jolt through his whole body and causing him to crumple to the ground. He tried to catch his breath, though his vision swayed before him as he tried to push himself to his knees.
The web-slinger looked up in time to see the man with the charger quickly approaching him, dragging a horrified Ned along with him. But before he got too close, something so small and moving so quickly he could hardly see it struck the man in the neck, sending an electric shock through his own body. The man stumbled away from the other teen, his hand at his neck.
Ned then watched in wide-eyed amazement as a slender, blonde-haired figure leapt off the top of the nearest bus, landing directly on her target's shoulders. She wrapped her arms around the man's neck and her legs around his torso, effortlessly bringing him to the ground. He only had time to let out a startled cry before he was knocked out by a well-placed punch to the jaw. The woman then rose to her feet, not having even broken a sweat, and Ned chuckled nervously.
"Whoa... Black Widow! You're, like... so much hotter in person... Even with the different hair color... More badass, too... That, uh, that vest looks good on you..."
Natasha Romanoff glanced down at Ned, arching an eyebrow, before she quickly made her way over to where Peter was still struggling to sit up. "You did good, kid," she muttered, crouching down next to him. "You all right?"
The teen continued to tremble, both from the shock he'd received and from the panic attack he was trying to hold off, but he managed to nod in silent answer before quickly looking around him. "The man... get the other man..." he mumbled.
"Toomes?" Natasha raised her gaze upward, a hint of a grin appearing on her face. "I wouldn't worry about that."
But to her surprise, Peter reached out for her, grasping her arm tightly. The assassin's eyes widened as she unconsciously flinched, nearly tearing her arm away. Though somehow, she managed to fight the instinct. "What..."
"No, the other man." The mask retracted to reveal Peter's panicked face, and he gazed at her imploringly as a couple tears escaped from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. "Please... The one in the leather jacket... the green bandana... Don't let him get away again..."
Natasha looked back at him, feeling uncomfortable. The kid's face was so pale, his gaze so pleading... She managed to give him a small smile. "He got away when I was helping your friend over there," she told him. "But don't worry. We'll find him, I'm sure. Who was he? Someone else who worked with Toomes?"
Peter let her words sink in for a moment before he shook his head, a quiet chuckle escaping from him. "N-no... Never mind," he muttered. "He's just... I don't know, a ghost or something... I can't explain it..."
The assassin wasn't sure what else she could say, so she lightly patted him on the shoulder and eased his hold on her arm until she could carefully pull it out of his grasp. She glanced over her shoulder when hurried footsteps drew nearer, watching as Ned dropped to the ground next to the other teen.
"You okay, Peter?" he asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
Peter took a moment before he nodded. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine," he answered with a sniff, his voice steadier than it had been before when he'd completely freaked out on Black Widow. Hopefully that would be an incident neither one of them spoke about again.
Ned let out a long sigh of relief. "Okay, good. Because I tried warning you about that shock, but you were just, like, I don't know, in your own little world, or something, when you saw that weird guy..." He stopped rambling as his gaze once again landed on Natasha. "Oh, hey... So, I'm Ned, by the way. Ned Leeds. Peter's best friend. His guy in the chair."
Natasha briefly narrowed her eyes in confusion before accepting his introduction with a brief nod. She then rose to her feet and took a few steps away from the two friends, touching the communication device in her ear. "Okay, Sam, bring him in," she said.
"Yes, ma'am!" Sam replied. "Incoming!"
Natasha quickly looked up as both Peter and Ned did, all watching as two entwined figures in a mass of tangled limbs and metallic wings fell toward the earth. She backed up closer to cover the two teens as Toomes crashed to the ground with a grunt of pain, Sam Wilson landing gracefully a couple feet away shortly after.
"There's only room for one dude flying around with metallic wings in this town, baby!" the latter announced with a grin, raising his red-tinted goggles to sit on top of his head. "And that would be me."
The assassin rolled her eyes as she then approached Toomes where he had come to a stop, reaching out with her foot and pushing him onto his back so she could get a better look at him. "End of the line, pal," she muttered as Sam joined her on the older man's other side. "You're going away for a good long time for making and selling those alien tech weapons. But maybe we can make some sort of a deal if you help us out now."
Peter shared a glance with Ned from where they were still seated a few feet away from the other Avengers. "Help me up," the former muttered anxiously. "I've gotta be a part of this."
Ned looked back at him a bit hesitantly. "Are you sure?" he wondered. "I mean, you're not looking so good Peter... Like, it looks like you'll, like, either pass out or be sick on me or something if you stood up right now..."
The web-slinger glared at the other teen. "Yes, I'm sure. C'mon, Ned, this is my job..."
"All right, all right, fine..."
It took a minute– and for a couple seconds, Ned was afraid he was right and Peter was either going to be sick or pass out on him– but Peter was finally, unsteadily, on his feet. His best friend lingered close beside him, ready to lend a hand if necessary, as they made their way over to where the older man was being interrogated.
"Yeah? And what do you want to know?" Toomes spat, glaring up at Natasha.
"What happened to Tony Stark?" she asked, unfazed, as Peter and Ned joined them. She ignored their presence while Sam cast them a curious look. "Where is he now?"
Toomes shook his head as he chuckled quietly. "Look. I'm not a fan of Stark's, but I'm sure you already know that," he answered. "Would I like it if he were out of my hair? Of course I would, he took my job away from me. I had to do what I had to do to be able to provide for my family. But I didn't hurt him. I got the hell outta there after he showed up at the ferry." He paused, glancing at Peter next to her. "News says your little spider kid did that. Though if I'm being honest, he doesn't strike me as the type. So, I know it's not what you want to hear, but I have no idea what happened to your precious Stark, or who has it out for him."
Sam sighed, turning to Natasha. "Well, at least we got a criminal off the streets, right?" he wondered. "Silver lining?"
The assassin shrugged. "But we still have no leads on Stark."
Peter took a couple steps closer to Toomes as the two older Avengers continued to speak in quiet tones with each other. "That man you were talking to... who was he?" he pressed.
The older man looked back at him and shrugged. "I don't know, kid, he wasn't one of mine," he told him. "And he wasn't the client I was supposed to be meeting tonight. He followed us to the school from our house. Forced me to pull over back here. He didn't say anything other than–!"
"He wanted me," the teen finished for him, his voice shaking ever so slightly.
Maybe it was a trick of his racing mind, but he swore he saw Toomes' eyes soften. "Seems like you have a better idea of who he is than I do," he muttered. "Look, Pete. Whoever that was, I have no idea, I swear."
Peter met his gaze, remembering how the older man could have easily given up his identity to... whoever that man had been. But he hadn't. Which made him believe him. With that thought in mind, the teen gave him a small, shaky smile.
But that still didn't answer the question of why Karen couldn't seem to pick up anything on that guy, or why he looked so much like...
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. His eyes narrowed, Peter looked around in confusion until he watched Natasha pull a small flip phone out of her vest pocket, stepping away from them as she answered the call.
"Yeah?" The assassin paced a little as she listened to the voice on the other end. "Steve, speak up, I can't... Wait, what? What news report?"
The Captain's next words caused her to come to an abrupt halt. Her eyes widened slightly as her face paled a shade, the phone slipping from her hand and bouncing off the hard ground at her feet.
Rhodey let out a gasping breath as he leaned back against the brick wall of the building, gazing out at the large spotlights that lit the dark harbor. Firefighters had finally managed to get the blaze under control, though it would still take some time to completely extinguish the flames. But with as manageable as the former inferno now was, and since the building showed no further signs of implosion yet, clean-up crews were starting to be called in to clear away the debris they could from around the harbor. Considering the circumstances, both the colonel and Vision had been called in to help the efforts, and he certainly wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get a closer look at the scene to see if there were any more clues as to what had happened to Tony.
"Are you all right, Colonel?"
Sighing, Rhodey brushed the back of his hand over his glistening forehead as he turned to the source of the familiar accent. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered with a slight nod. "Just need to take a minute." He stretched each leg out in front of him, one at a time, cursing under his breath when the left brace nearly froze up.
Vision regarded him for a moment. "Can nothing be done to ease the difficulty?" he wondered.
"Tony was going to work on them, but..." Rhodey's sentence trailed off as he looked away, squinting a bit in the heat still coming from the building above them. "I'll figure it out."
The android briefly nodded before he turned his gaze to the crackling flames. "I was going to clear some heavier debris that the crew was having some difficulty with on the other side of the building," he told him. "And perhaps see if I am able to find any leads on what could have happened here. Will you be–!"
"Yeah, Vision, go ahead," Rhodey cut in, waving a casual hand. "I'll be good. A couple people are being sent over to help in this area. I'll call if I need ya. Let me know if you find anything."
Vision lingered for a moment longer before conceding with a nod. "All right, Colonel. I will not be far."
Rhodey nodded in return, waiting until the other Avenger was out of sight before he leaned forward, closing his eyes as he rested his hands on his knees. His legs were getting sore, no doubt about that, but he couldn't afford to stop. Who knew what could be found if he kept digging? What if it was important? A clue about what had happened to Tony, or where he could be?
He couldn't afford to stop.
With a sigh, the colonel straightened up before he began pushing around a few more pieces of rubble, dumping the pieces into a plastic bin nearby. He glanced up when he heard footsteps approaching, seeing a couple men were being directed his way by a police officer he'd seen a few times before who seemed to be in charge of the squad that had been handling this situation from the beginning. He couldn't deny the relief he felt.
But as the two men– one wearing an olive green jacket who had a black ponytail while the other wore a jean jacket and had a bald head– got closer, Rhodey couldn't help but feel that something was a little... off. He couldn't quite place what it was, but there was something about their eyes that unsettled him, something that wasn't quite right.
He straightened up a bit further and squared his shoulders as he turned to face them when they approached. "I appreciate that you guys have come to help," he told them before he gestured to the area behind him. "I've got this part covered if you wanna start over there–!"
The first fist to fly at him was expected, and Rhodey raised an arm to block it from connecting with his face. But the force behind the strike surprised him, and he grit his teeth before curling up his own fist and connecting solidly with the dark-haired man's jaw.
However, the colonel hissed with pain as he quickly brought his fist back close to his body, startled when the man seemed completely unfazed by the hit. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd punched a man, so it unsettled him that the hit hadn't had any effect. But something about this one's face hadn't felt right.
Almost like it hadn't completely been flesh and bone...
Rhodey quickly backed up to avoid a second strike aimed at his head by his bald assailant, slipping a little on a spot of gravel. His mind was racing. Not only was there something not right– maybe not even exactly human– about these two, but the entire situation just wasn't right. He thought about the police officer, one he'd recognized, sending these men over to what he'd assumed would be to help him, knowing that this whole thing had been some sort of setup this whole time. The implications that the officer may have been involved in any part of this didn't settle well with him at all, and he wondered just what had happened to Tony and how many people had some sort of role to play in it.
It seemed there was a chance it was even more expansive than they'd initially thought...
"All right, Vision, this may be a good time for you to come back," the colonel muttered under his breath as he grabbed the arm of the dark-haired man as he aimed another punch at him, shoving him with as much force as he could into a larger pile of debris. He watched as he landed amid the concrete and bricks, lying still for only a moment before he rose to his feet and brushed himself off with a sinister smile. As though nothing had happened.
His heart dropped. Yup, his attackers weren't simply human. There was no way...
Then, Rhodey threw an elbow into the neck of the bald man when he rushed at him from the side, wincing at the contact. While the other man stumbled, the blow didn't seem to faze him. Of all the times to not have his suit...
He was about to launch another strike when the first man's foot slammed into the back of his left knee, and the colonel yelled out as he collapsed to the hard ground. His breathing heavy, he grabbed his leg, which throbbed angrily with pain, before he attempted to scoot back from his two attackers as they slowly advanced toward him.
He was about to call out for the other Avenger– pride be damned, he wasn't stupid– when the bald man suddenly stumbled away from him, swatting anxiously at something he couldn't see. Rhodey's eyes narrowed in confusion as he watched him, the frantic actions enough to momentarily distract the dark-haired man as well.
But before he could gather the strength for another hit, he watched as an arrow whizzed past the head of his assailant, latching onto the wall right beside him. They both looked at it just as a sudden sonic pulse burst from it.
The colonel watched, horrified, as the man with the ponytail seized up, all of his limbs becoming stiff. He tried to walk forward, though it was like he couldn't get the motor functions to work properly since each step was clumsy and mistimed. He couldn't seem to control any of his movements. His jaw moved in a way that seemed to be on the verge of unhinged as his eyes blinked furiously, like his expressions couldn't be controlled. It almost looked like he was... for lack of a better word, Rhodey thought... malfunctioning.
Then, the dark-haired man finally stopped moving all together, collapsing to the ground. His eyes remained open and unseeing, resting directly on the man he'd been attacking.
Rhodey let out a deep breath as he tried to get it under control, still attempting to understand what had just happened. "What the hell...?"
"Well, I can honestly say that's not what I expected to happen."
Rhodey quickly looked up at the familiar voice, watching as a brunette man with a mohawk dressed in a black and purple tank top and black pants with a bow in his hand approached. A smirk he knew all too well resided in his features.
"Miss me, Colonel?"
Despite himself, Rhodey let out a sharp laugh as he shook his head, a broad smile spreading across his face. "Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you," he muttered.
The new arrival gave him a look of feigned disbelief as though he'd been dealt a great personal insult. "Me? Irritating? Why, I never..."
Rhodey's smile lingered as he chuckled and looked away. "Barton, you son of a bitch."
"Whoa, hey, careful there, man. I just saved your life." Clint Barton's smirk turned into a smile of his own before it faded as he turned to the lifeless man between them with a furrowed brow.
The colonel took a few more deep, steadying breaths. "How'd you know we were here?" he wondered.
Clint turned back to him. "Honestly, we didn't," he told him. "Nat called us in. We thought we'd try to get a look at the scene before we went to the Tower, just to get a better idea of what we're dealing with. Good thing we did, because we saw you getting your ass kicked."
Rhodey rolled his eyes as he chuckled. "I could've handled 'em," he said. "Just, uh..." He paused, glancing down at his braces with a sigh. "Something ain't right, man. With any of this. There's a big piece of this that we're missing, I know that. I just don't know what it is yet."
"Yeah, that's what Nat said, too."
"And then there's... this." Rhodey gestured to the dark-haired attacker lying on the ground in front of them with his foot. "Whoever... whatever... that is..." He sighed, looking up at the archer. "I hate to say it, but I'm glad you're here."
Clint's smirk returned. "I missed you, too, man," he replied. Then, he held his hand out to him. "It's good to see you out and walking around, Rhodey."
Rhodey gazed at the proffered hand for a moment before he sighed, reaching out and taking it. He allowed the other man to pull him to his feet, cringing when his left leg nearly gave out from underneath him. Clint hurriedly reached out and steadied him before taking his arm and wrapping it around his neck to support him.
"Sort of, anyway..."
The colonel shook his head slightly, hating to have to lean against the other Avenger to stay standing, before he turned to the bald man, who still appeared to be freaking out as he tried to avoid something while at the same time trying to hit it away. His brow furrowed. "What's up with that one?"
Clint followed his gaze before he rolled his eyes in clear annoyance. "C'mon, Lang, stop playing around! This is serious, man."
"Lang?" Rhodey asked.
A moment passed where nothing happened. Then, the bald man froze up before collapsing to the ground, much like the first had. A couple seconds later, a man wearing a red and silver suit appeared, almost as though out of thin air.
"Oh, right..." the colonel muttered as the new arrival hurried over to them. "Tiny dude."
"So, uh, Clint? We have a, uh... a weird situation here," Scott Lang said, removing his helmet and shaking out his dark hair. "With these dudes, I mean..."
"Yeah, that's what we figured," Clint replied, glancing down at the man by their feet. "What did you see?"
Scott took a deep breath as he pointed back at the bald one he'd taken out. "That man over there? Not a man," he told them, his eyes slightly wide.
Clint arched an eyebrow as Rhodey nodded slowly, both giving him a look that clearly expressed their desire for him to continue.
"Dude's a robot," Scott finished. "I basically just deactivated him."
"A robot..." Clint nudged the dark-haired man he'd gone after with his foot. "That would explain why he reacted the way he did to the sonic pulse. Though something tells me that these androids just weren't wandering around and stumbled on you by accident." He raised his gaze to the colonel.
Rhodey let out a long breath as he shook his head, thinking back to the officer who had directed the androids over to him in the first place. Something definitely wasn't right about any of this. "Vision and I were called in to help with clean up efforts since the blaze is finally more controlled," he explained, gesturing toward the top of the building with his free hand. He shook his head slightly. "It seems like someone doesn't want us poking around here."
"Because we'd find something that they don't want us to find?" Scott pressed, his words rushed and on the verge of conspiratorial excitement.
Before Clint or Rhodey could say anything further, there was a deafening crack from above them, and all three men looked up in time to see a small corner of the building had imploded, causing a few larger, flaming pieces of concrete to break off.
And they were directly in their path.
The archer tightened his hold on the colonel while Scott rushed to his other side as he tried to back them out of the way in time. But then, scarlet energy appeared around the pieces of rubble, halting their descent. Rhodey quickly looked behind them to see that a light-haired young woman with a long red coat was staring intently up at the debris with her arms raised from across the street, the same red light swirling around her hands and ringing her pupils. A smile that could almost be described as proud appeared on Clint's face while Scott cheered.
"Yeah, you go, Wanda! That's our girl!"
Wanda Maximoff focused on bringing the rubble safely to the ground away from the three men, making sure they landed instead on another larger pile of debris not too far away. The scarlet energy then faded, and she made her way over to where they had gathered.
"That was a close call," she muttered with a small smile.
"Yeah, no kidding," Clint agreed. "Thanks for saving our asses there."
Wanda smiled, but before she could say anything, the large rubble pile she'd lowered the flaming debris into shifted, causing sparks to fly in all directions. Clint and Scott led Rhodey a little further away, and it was then they heard voices of other volunteers drifting over to them.
"You guys can't be seen here," the colonel muttered anxiously as his gaze passed over the other three Avengers, lingering on Wanda the longest. "There are... officers swarming the place. If they see you... especially with what these androids could look like at first glance..."
"Right. Yeah, we'd probably better get out of here, guys," Scott agreed with a nod, his eyes darting around the harbor. "We don't wanna be spotted with what could pass for pretty convincing dead bodies when the law already hates us. Getting arrested again isn't going to help any of us... We'd be worse off this time with the whole prison break thing, too, we don't want to risk that..."
But Clint's brow furrowed, having caught the hesitation in the colonel's sentence. "How did these things find you?" he wondered. "Someone send 'em?"
Rhodey sighed, his gaze landing on the lead officer he'd seen before lingering at the other end of the building, most likely seeing if the androids he'd sent over had completed their job yet. "Yeah," he told him. "A cop."
"Dirty?" Scott asked.
"Or pretending to be one," Clint added, following the colonel's gaze. He sighed with frustration, wishing the man in question would turn around so he could see his face.
"Either way, it seems like what happened up on that rooftop may be more involved than we thought," Rhodey muttered. "We don't know if this dude's working alone, or if there are more..."
"Or where in the world he got androids," Scott threw in.
"It also tells us that whoever attacked Stark took a lot of time to prepare for either taking or killing him," Wanda mused. "You just don't find androids like this lying around. And to set up plants like the cop... This is an entire planned operation, not a crime of opportunity."
"That leads me to believe that Stark was taken, not killed," Clint said thoughtfully, his eyes moving back to the top of the flaming, collapsed building. "No one would go through all that trouble planning just to kill him. They want something from him. Or us."
Scott frowned. "And with these plants, we don't know who we can trust. Other than ourselves. We're on our own, guys."
"Right," Rhodey agreed. "And I don't think I was supposed to survive this attack to figure all that out."
Clint worried his bottom lip between his teeth. "Whoever it is certainly picked the right time to strike. We were divided. Scattered. And with you and Vision being the only ones who are actively still working on this team, and since you were a target, it seems like they want you both out of the way, too. And are assuming that the rest of us wouldn't come back."
"Don't forget that spider boy," Wanda said. "With him being blamed and looked for, it keeps him from being a threat, too." The archer nodded his agreement.
"So. The big question here is, where does that leave us?" Scott asked, looking around at Rhodey, Clint, and Wanda.
Rhodey let out a long breath with a brief shake of his head. While they had some things to go off of– such as the hallucinogenic gas that was used, some of the things Steve had found in his search of the harbor, Peter's conviction that he'd seen the Winter Soldier, this guy with wings that may or may not have any role to play in Tony's disappearance, and now these androids and plants– each development seemed to leave them with more questions and not enough answers.
But before he could voice any of these thoughts aloud, a loud commotion from the other side of the building, closer to the water, caught their attention. It sounded... panicked.
"Whoa, what's going on over there?" Scott wondered. "Someone find something?"
"I don't know, but we need to see what it is if they have," Rhodey replied.
"We'd better stay back here," Clint told them. "Rhodes is right, we can't afford to be seen."
"Will you be all right?" Wanda's gaze travelled down to the colonel's leg braces.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Rhodey said with a nod. "Don't worry. Head over to the Tower. I'll check out what's going on here, and alert you of what I find out."
"You sure?" Scott pressed.
Before anything else could be said, another figure appeared out of the shadows, an unreadable look on his reddish face.
"Colonel, you must..." Vision began, but he paused when he saw Rhodey was no longer alone. His light gaze passed over the other three Avengers before moving to the two motionless androids at their feet. "Clint. Scott." He briefly paused, his eyes landing on the young woman again. "Wanda."
"Vis." A small smile flashed across Wanda's face before it faded with concern.
The android was seemingly agitated and in a lot of distress. There was sorrow and maybe even a little bit of fear in his gaze, even though she wasn't sure if he had ever really experienced these things before or if he even knew what the emotions were. She'd never seen him in this state before. Her heart wavered as something in the back of her mind told her that something was very wrong.
With only a little hesitation, Wanda slowly stepped forward. Vision kept his eyes on her as she stopped in front of him, taking his hand in both of hers and holding it tenderly but securely. "Vis, what is it?" she asked. "What happened? What's wrong?"
Vision looked down at their joined hands for a moment before raising his gaze back to hers, and she felt her heart plummet. The look she saw there nearly took her breath away.
Despair.
"Catastrophe," he whispered.
Wanda's gaze faltered as she looked over her shoulder at Clint. Though the archer's features remained impassive, the uncertain look in his eyes betrayed his concern.
The android raised his gaze to Rhodey. "Colonel, I implore you to come with me," he continued. "You must see this."
The colonel set his jaw before he nodded once. Even though Vision's unexpected reaction to whatever must have been found perturbed him, he knew he had to follow.
"What about the rest of us?" Scott wondered quietly and somewhat anxiously. "We can't be seen here."
Clint sighed. "We'll observe from further back," he told him. "I have a feeling we'll all need to see this."
Vision's gaze faltered as confusion crossed his face, attempting to grasp something that he had seen. He looked down when Wanda turned back to him, and despite the raging emotions flitting across his features, he managed to give her a small, shaky smile. She returned the look as she tried to reassure him, and she lightly squeezed his hand before hesitantly releasing it and stepping back.
The android then approached Rhodey, taking him from Clint and Scott as he wound his arm around his neck. The colonel kept his gaze straight ahead as he leaned a little on the other Avenger, ignoring the pain in his left leg as he focused on each step he took toward the group that was speaking in raised, anxious voices in the glow of the spotlights. There was a bad feeling he couldn't ignore as it tried to claw its way out of him, one that was telling him exactly what he would find once they reached the site. But he pushed it down as best as he could. It was something he couldn't think about. It was something he couldn't accept.
At least, not until he saw it for himself.
Together, he and Vision began to push through the crowd of volunteers, and Rhodey couldn't help but notice that some of them were regarding them with what looked eerily like sympathy as they allowed them to pass by. Oh, how he hated those looks... He did his best to ignore them until they reached a group of police officers and firefighters that had been on scene since the building had exploded and were now leading the clean up efforts. They stood in an uneven half circle around a large, crumbling pile of debris against the brick wall, all staring at something between them. After a quick glance, he noticed the officer in charge who had sent the androids to attack him, though the other man remained unfazed to see him.
The rest of the group of rescue workers straightened their postures when they saw him, and the head firefighter approached them with a heavy sigh and regret in his gaze. "Colonel. Vision," he said, his head bowed slightly. "I know how difficult this time has been for you, but–!"
"Just shut up and let me through," Rhodey snapped in just above a whisper, which was the only way he'd keep his voice controlled. His tone was harsher than he'd meant it to be, but after the ambush and the pity everyone was now regarding him with, his patience was wearing thin, and he had reached the end of his resolve.
The firefighter nodded once in understanding and stepped aside, gesturing for the rest of the crew to follow suit. Vaguely aware that news cameras and reporters were starting to descend upon them, Rhodey took his arm from around the android and inwardly cringed as he took a few steps forward. They were slow and deliberate, but they brought him to where he needed to be. He came to a stop in front of the pile of debris and stood still for a long moment before he, without a sound, crumpled weakly to his knees.
Only the upper body of the man was visible– the rest was buried beneath the rubble. The dark shirt he wore was torn in various places and stained crimson. His muscled arms were bruised, bloodied, and burned. One was bent at an odd angle.
But it was his face that did him in.
Rhodey hardly noticed the tears that had formed in his eyes until they obstructed his view of the other man before they escaped down his cheeks. Vision floated noiselessly over, crouching down beside him to shield him from the frantic flashing of cameras and raised questions from reporters, asking how the discovery made him feel. He was grateful to the other Avenger, though it was something he couldn't give voice to. How did anyone expect him to speak now, to answer questions that were being thrown at him when he was just... exhausted?
Numb?
The lifeless man's face, much like his arms, were marked by dried blood, ugly bruising, and severe burns. His black hair and facial hair, usually kept immaculate, was singed. His neck was in the same condition as the rest of the exposed skin, though also slightly twisted in an unnatural way.
But even with his features disfigured, Rhodey knew there was no way he could mistake him for anyone else.
Tony Stark had been found.
Author's Note: *hides from readers* My only defense here is to expect anything from here on out! The next chapter is almost done, so it shouldn't take too, too long to update. Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated. Until next time, guys!