Chapter 9: Search and Rescue Part 3
"F.R.I.D.A.Y. pull up the base scan."
I snapped my fingers and the holo table in the compound briefing room snapped to life, a hologram of a compound appearing on top of it.
I spun my hand, spinning the model around to a small room at the back.
"That's where Pete is. That's our goal."
I looked to the Avengers that I was able to get on short notice.
Sam Wilson was already geared up, as was Rhodey (although I didn't want him going).
Pepper, Scott and Hope all stood together by the door, watching intently.
Quentin Beck sat by himself in the corner of the room.
Clint Barton was behind me, closely watching the table.
Bruce, who had just arrived, was with Sam and Rhodes.
T'Challa, Carol and a few others were currently unavailable, which was disappointing as this would be a full on base raid.
"We're all going on this. Sam and I are team leaders." I said and nodded to him.
Sam walked up beside me and straightened himself.
Spinning the map, he pointed to the main entrance and a large chamber.
"My teams the big one. Pepper, Hope, Scott, Rhodes and Big Green. Our job is to bust in and make as much noise as possible."
Sam pointed to a wall near the top of the complex.
"Rhodes will bust this wall down. It opens up an elevator shaft according to our scans. We descend down there and fight our way to the main room where we make as much noise as we can."
Sam spun the map again.
"Once done there, we proceed down this hallway to what should be the mess hall. We clear out that area and we hold our ground till Tony, Beck and Clint make it back with the kid, and maybe Bucky."
"Any questions?" Sam asked.
Everyone on his team shook their heads.
Sam smiled under his mask.
"Good, go get your gear on team. I know we're short handed but we'll make the best of what we have. We leave no one behind, everyone fights as a team. Understood?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good, lets move."
Sam and his team left the room towards the barracks.
I was left alone with Clint and Beck.
Quentin stood up and made his way over.
"Why'd you choose me Stark?"
"If you want Peter to trust you, and he'll be the hardest to get it from, it won't hurt that you'll be there when we pick him up. As for Clint, that's self explanatory."
Quentin nodded.
I spun the map around, pointing to a small back entrance.
"When they bust the main room, Sam or Bruce will send me a signal. I'll use my new suit to phase through the wall and bust it open from the inside. Our job is to be quiet."
I pointed to a passage that lead from the entrance to a medium sized room.
"We'll go through this hallway into the bunks. Those rooms sit right on top of where Pete will be. I'll cut a hole through the floor into the room, we'll clear it, grab Peter and meet up with everyone else in the mess hall."
Clint frowned.
"This seems too easy."
Quentin nodded in agreement.
"Almost like a trap Stark."
I nodded.
"It most likely will be. If it is, it's your job Clint to break off from me and Mysterio and follow this side passage-" I pointed to a narrow hallway that lead out of the bunk rooms. "-and follow it down until you reach the room Pete is in."
Clint smirked and nodded.
"You've thought this through haven't you?"
I smiled weakly.
"If you encounter trouble down there, as I meantioned earlier the mark 86 armour has phasing tech, so I can be down there in a second."
Clint patted my shoulder.
"This will go well Tony. I promise."
I nodded.
"Let's go suit up."
———————
The barracks were empty save for the three of us. Sams team left as soon as they were geared up.
At least step one went well.
Quentin's suit appeared in a puff of green smoke, sans the fishbowl.
Clint chuckled.
"He's got you beat there Tony. The hell does that suit come from?"
Quentin smiled.
"It was specially designed by Antonio. I was a sorcerer on my Earth, so it resides in the mirror dimension. The suit enhances my abilities and as my magic abilities take the form of a green cloud, that's how the suit is summoned."
I nodded, picking up the mark 86 arc reactor and attaching it to my chest.
"Let's see if this works.." I muttered.
The suit sprung from the reactor, quickly covering me from head to toe.
I laughed.
"It works! The suit responds to my thoughts!" I said as a blade morphed out of my right arm and a cannon on my left as I thought about them.
"You mean the last didn't?" Clint asked.
I shook my head, my new helmet making Clint's eyes widen.
"No mouth piece this time?"
I nodded.
The armour was largely red, with a red helmet and a gold mask sans the usual mouth line.
My torso was a deep red down from my chest to my waist, but the sides of my abdomen were gold with blue lights.
My arms were red on the bicep and half the forearm and hand, the triceps, shoulders and the other half being gold.
My legs were red, with gold on the sides of the thighs and calves as well as on the knee plates.
"I like it." Clint said approvingly.
He was wearing a redesigned Ronin outfit made of vibranium, having taken up the mantle again after starting to train Michelle.
The body had the same colour scheme, but was actual armour and had a retractable full face mask. He carried two swords on his back as well as a bow and quiver. His right hand had a finger activated crossbow, the other had a gauntlet.
"And I dig your new gear too Barton."
He smirked and continued strapping it on.
"So how are we gonna get there since Clint can't fly?" Beck asked, the fishbowl covering his head.
"Good question Cloud 9. We're flying, he's riding."
Clint's eyes widened.
"Clench up Legolas." I said, grabbing him.
"Stark I swear to fu-"
Clint didn't have time to finish because I shot off into the sky, a cuff forming around his arm to prevent him from falling.
Quentin chuckled and followed after.
——————
"Alright Stark. We're good to go." Sam said over the comms.
"Give 'em hell Birdman."
We could hear the blast of the wall being torn open by Rhodes from our perch a few blocks away.
We were in Luxembourg, the base being what seemingly was an ordinary pastry shop.
It's not.
"Jeez that was loud." Clint said.
"That's kind of the point." I said.
Clint scoffed and continued flicking an arrow around.
Beck has pulled up a small tool on his gauntlet and was currently clicking away at something.
"What you up to there Chrome Dome?"
"Tracking the other team." Quentin said without looking up.
I raised my eyebrow underneath my mask.
"Why?"
"So we know when to go."
I turned to Clint and he shrugged.
"Bruce was going to send a signal for that."
Quentin nodded.
"And if they get held up and can't, we'll still know to go. Besides, I'm scanning the base to see what we'll find in our route."
"And what will that be?" Clint asked.
"A few goons. Currently Rumlow and Helmut Zemo are in the same room as Peter. Not sure where Bucky is."
"Well the less we have to fight, the better." I said.
I stood up.
"Let's go. It won't be long before they've hit the main room."
———————
"If that didn't get their attention I don't know what will." Rhodes said and jumped down the shaft.
I chuckled and followed him, the others not far behind.
It was filled with flashing red lights, and I could hear a faint alarm.
"Lockdown in effect. Base has been breached. Lockdown in effect..."
Landing at the bottom of the shaft, I proceeded down towards objective one.
A hallway full of Hydra goons stood between us and the main room.
"Avengers! Let's teach these Nazi bastards who's boss!" I said, throwing my shield.
Pepper and Rhodes fired into the crowd as Bruce and I rushed them.
Using my wings to propel myself, I scissor kicked two goons is the face as Bruce picked one up and threw him into another.
Scott appeared beside me, firing a stinger at one, stunning him as Hope tackled him to the ground and shot him in the neck with a stinger.
I bashed one in the chest with my shield, knocking him into a soldier behind him.
Hitting a button on my wrist, Redwing popped off my back and flew off behind the goons, before firing on them from behind.
"Good job Redwing!" I cried and threw a goon into the wall.
"Please tell me you're not talking to the drone again." Rhodes said as he shot a goon into oblivion.
I rolled my eyes and continued fighting.
Bruce tore the armour from one soldier and used it to beat another one, kicking the armour less soldier away.
Scott And Hope continued to team up on goons all throughout the hallway, growing and shrinking constantly to confuse them.
I threw my shield, hitting the last goon in the head.
Bruce wiped his brow.
"Man I'm out of practice."
Rhodes patted him on the shoulder.
"You had a pretty banged up arm Mr. I Saved the Universe. It's alright to be out of shape."
Bruce nodded at Rhodes and we continued down the hall.
——————
A red blinking appeared in the corner of my sensor.
"Signals here team. Let's go."
I looked down at my body, thinking about activating phase tech and watching as my body went translucent.
I took a step forward.
I felt myself slide through the wall.
"This must be what ghosts feel like." I muttered as I phased.
I then coated the wall with a dry ice before punching and shattering it.
Clint and Quentin stepped into the narrow passage.
"You couldn't have done that from outside?" Clint asked.
"I wanted to show off the suit." I said, shrugging.
The lights on my armour began to glow, providing a way to see in the passage.
"This place must never be used." Quentin muttered.
He still had the map of the base projected over his arm.
"Just stick to the plan team." I said, turning a corner.
I was greeted with another empty hall.
"The bunks are through that door Tony." Quentin said.
I nodded.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Scan the room please."
A blue mesh covered the hall and the room before me. I saw two bodies have the mesh form over them.
"Two goons boss. Peter and Zemo are one floor below."
"Thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y."
I slowly opened the door.
The room was grey, dimly lit and filled with beds.
Two Hydra grunts stood at the end of room in conversation.
I nodded to Beck and Clint, both of them splitting up and going down separate rows of bunks.
Quentin went right, Clint went left.
Sneaking up behind the two goons, Clint drew his sword.
Beck grabbed one from behind and snapped his neck just as Clint ran the other through with his sword.
I walked down the row of bunks in front of me and regrouped with the other two.
"Alright. You two ready?"
They both nodded.
"As ready as I'll ever be Tin Man." Clint said.
I nodded and started coating the floor in dry ice from a dispenser on my wrist.
It took two minutes, and I could faintly hear the sound of battle coming from the hall at this end of the room.
"Here we go."
I flew up and dropped through the floor, punching right through it.
The floor crumbled on top of some goons and I landed in my signature way.
Zemo was in the middle of torturing the kid.
He turned around, a hot iron in his hand.
"Damn you Stark! I'm not finished with him."
The eyes on my mask darkened and blades morphed from my arms.
"Let him go Zemo."
Beck and Clint dropped behind me, Clint had his swords drawn and Beck was hovering with his triangles.
"I'm sorry Stark. You took my family, I'll take some of yours."
Zemo turned around, a gun drawn from his belt and he held it to Peters head.
"Take one step and I shoot him!"
I retracted my mask.
A barely conscious Peter looked at me, his eyes wide with fear and relief at the same time.
He had a black eye, broken nose, lots of cuts, lacerations and burns. His chest was badly bruised and the boy was incredibly skinny.
"Mr. Stark...please..."
My right arm slowly morphed into a cannon.
"Don't try anything Stark. You'll let me leave with the kid and no one has to die."
I muted my mask.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.? How fast can we draw the cannon?"
"Maybe fast enough to get him before he shoots, but if we do it will easily dislocate or break your arm boss."
"Put all power into the right arm of the suit."
"Of course boss."
I had one shot.
If I messed up I'd lose Pete again, with no chance of getting him back.
What's a broken arm for the life of your protégée?
My arm swung up with a sickening crack.
The cannon fired, hitting Zemo square in the chest.
As he fell over, a bullet fired, hitting my chest instead of Peters head.
A painkiller was instantly shot into my system, and the suit helped me move the arm as I flew over to Peter and picked him up.
"Bastard! I'll kill you Stark."
Zemo began firing at me and my mask returned to my head.
I turned around so the bullets would hit me instead of the battered boy in my arms.
"Your arms broken boss. Take it easy while you fight."
Clint ran up, blocking bullets with his arm.
He swung for Zemos head but he spun and pulled a sword off his back as goons rushed into the room.
Mysterio turned and started battling the goons.
"Stark! Get Peter out now!" He cried as he launched a goon into a wall.
Clint and Zemo were locked in a stalemate sword fight with Zemo trying to shoot Clint and Clint attacking furiously with two swords.
I looked upwards into the hole we made.
"I'm getting the kid out and I'm coming back!"
"Just go Tony!" Clint said as he kicked Zemo back.
———————
"Just go Tony!" I cried as I broke Zemos guard.
Kicking him back, I shifted my stance to a more defensive one.
Tony flew out with the boy in his arms.
"You can't possibly win Barton." Zemo said, dropping his pistol and gripping his sword with two hands.
"Can't you see we already won? The kids gone."
Zemo smiled.
"But where is your friend Bucky?"
I lunged at Zemo, cutting his sword out of his hand and kicking him to the ground.
I held a sword to his throat.
"Why are you doing this Zemo? You've tried to beat us before, what's your plan?"
Zemo chuckled.
"This is bigger than you could imagine Barton..."
Zemo hit a button on the side of his belt.
"Initiate self destruct in 5 minutes."
The message echoed throughout the halls of the base.
I kicked Zemo and knocked him out.
"Beck! We have to go!"
He turned to me and nodded, flying over to me, grabbing me and flying out quickly.
A few moments later, we re-grouped with Tony and the other Avengers.
"Tony the base-"
"Is about to explode, I know. Sam told me and I evacuated all the surrounding houses."
A thundering boom was heard as the base exploded.
Sam dropped to his knees, his shield falling to his side.
"Bucky..."
I turned to Sam.
"We don't know if he was in there or not. Maybe we can still find him Sam."
"Maybe..." Sam muttered.
"Zemo is gone at least." Scott said.
"What about Rumlow?" I asked.
"If he was there, he escaped to the best of my knowledge." Bruce said.
I nodded and looked over to the kid.
"Let's get him home." Tony said.
——————
1 week later...
I walked into the med bay at the compound.
The only occupant of the sterile, white room was Peter Parker, currently laying shirtless in bed.
I'd closed off access to almost everyone to give him a chance to heal in peace despite heavy protesting from Michelle, Happy and Sam.
I walked over to him and rested my hand on the bed.
"How you feeling kid?"
Peter smiled weakly.
"Better Mr. Stark."
He'd regained some of his missing weight, and a lot of his wounds were healing well, most were gone because of his healing factor.
"That's great. Hopefully you'll be ready to go back to school then."
Peter groaned and closed his eyes.
"It starts in one week doesn't it?"
I nodded.
"May wants you back this weekend."
Peter moaned.
"Schools been so weird now that everyone knows I'm Spider-Man Mr. Stark. It's like I went from not being noticed to everyone trying to be my friend."
I sat down on the bed.
"That's part of the superhero gig Peter. 'With great power comes-"
"Yeah yeah, I know."
Peters eyes widened.
"I'm sorry Mr. Stark. I'm just annoyed with school and London and everything that's happened the past 6 years."
I chuckled.
"Trust me kid, I get it."
I patted him on the shoulder.
"Things get better over time. Everyone will come around."
Peter sighed.
"I hope so Mr. Stark."
I turned and saw Michelle waiting by the door of the room and I stood up.
"I'll give you two some privacy." I said walking out.
Michelle grabbed me by the arm as I was leaving.
"Thanks for taking care of the dork Stark."
I nodded to her.
"It's my pleasure Michelle."
She nodded and I left the room.
——————
I walked over to Peter and brushed his hair from his face.
"Hey MJ." Peter said, his brown eyes sparkling.
"Hey dork."
Peters smile widened and be closed his eyes.
"I missed you."
I blushed.
"I missed you too."