A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you guys so much for being patient with me! I recently got back into a groove of writing and out of my slump. Hopefully this means updates way more often. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you like it!
Make sure to leave any comments/suggestions in the reviews below! Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 16
8:15am
Peter was buzzing. His head was buzzing. There were noises that broke through, but they sounded slow and… wrong. Sinoper was gone, or at least out of sight... so why couldn't he open his eyes?
He was gone from the blackness. Peter's heart leaped at the realization. I finally have my body back. The relief and adrenaline rushed through his veins, making his senses sharper. The buzzing all around him became clear in an instant, and it was all too loud.
He groaned and grabbed his ears, all desire to open his eyes gone. If the sound was like this, how bad would vision be?
A soft familiar voice whispered close to his head. "Pete? Kid? Can you hear me?"
Mr. Stark.
Still afraid to open his eyes, he blindly felt around. Peter's hand caught a fold of fabric, and he squeezed it tight, nodding. There was an audible sigh from Tony.
"Can you talk? Or open your eyes?"
"Mr… Stark…" he rasped. His throat was dry and uncooperative. "It's t-too… loud…" Even as he said this, though, the pain in his eardrums was lessening. His body was adjusting to the new atmosphere, wherever it was.
"Just give it a minute, bud. It'll get better." Peter felt Tony's legs shift from beneath his head. "Can you sit up?"
He nodded, letting the older man gently lift his back up and against a wall. Clenching his fist, Peter cracked an eye open slowly.
As expected, the light hurt, but it was dim. It didn't take long for them to adjust, although most of what he saw was blurred. From what he could see, they were in a tiny cement room with two windows on the opposite walls. After scanning the surroundings, Peter's eyes finally landed on Tony, who was right next to him.
He squinted to make Mr. Stark's face come into focus. His mentor was smiling... a genuine, relieved smile. Peter let out a breath, so grateful to see his face.
"Mr. Stark," he said, cracked lips splitting into a grin.
Tony just looked at him, trying to hold back his emotions. "Your eyes," he replied. "They're brown again." He pulled Peter close suddenly, holding the kid's head close to his chest. "You're finally back."
Every memory from the past few days flooded back to him. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into the man's jacket, unable to hold back tears of exhaustion. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me…"
"Pete, it wasn't your fault. There's nothing to be sorry for. It's ok. You're safe now, buddy… it's ok."
"I said a-awful things to them," he continued, voice breaking. "Horrible things…"
Tony patted his messy brown hair. "Awful things were done to you, Peter. They understand that. They forgive you, trust me."
They remained in that position for a few minutes, until Peter's breath had slowed again. He sat back against the wall and closed his eyes.
"Where are we?"
Mr. Stark looked around. "Honestly, I don't even know, kid. But we'll figure it out, ok? I won't let anything else happen. I promise."
Peter's turned his head and his gaze landed on Tony, just then noticing. The boy jumped into a crouch, startled. "Mr. Stark! Your arm!"
Dried blood darkened the light gray fabric of his jacket, which was torn as well. He took his other hand and covered the wound.
"Don't worry. It's nothing."
"It d-doesn't look like nothing," Peter stuttered, breaths quickening and panic rising behind his eyes. "Did they do that? Oh no…" He ran a shaking hand through his curls.
"Hey, hey. Peter. Look at me." They locked eyes. "It's ok, I swear. I've survived much worse with much less. It isn't deep, and I haven't lost a lot of blood. It's ok."
Reluctantly, the kid nodded and sat back down. He forced his breaths to slow and tried to calm the pounding in his throat. "Ok… ok…"
There was silence again.
Peter straightened. "The windows." He stood quickly, but only made it one step before falling back to his knees with a grunt. The world began to spin and he all of a sudden felt like throwing up.
"Peter!" Tony realized he didn't really have the strength to move either; his whole body ached.
"I'm… fine," he panted, moving to one knee and holding up a hand. After catching his breath, Peter got up and staggered to the window. Leaning against the wall for support, he looked out, only seeing small fields of weeds and dirt, with a group of trees to the left. They were on the third floor of the building, making any sort of escape difficult, especially with Mr. Stark's arm. Normally the height wouldn't be a problem, but he couldn't even stand, much less climb.
Peter stumbled back to Tony and collapsed on the floor, panting. His head throbbed in time with his heart, making it hard to focus.
"Take it easy kid, you've been through a lot."
"What happened? How did we get here?"
Another sigh. "That douchebag doctor threw us in a helicopter and took us to this dump, I assume on the orders of Raylen." At Peter's worried fiddling, he continued, "But don't worry, bud, there's a team back at the tower that'll help us out."
"Who?"
Wednesday, October 16
8:30am
From behind him, Steve heard Natasha addressing the others. "You don't have to worry; Stark is with him. And we'll get to them before long."
He turned to face them. Buckey, Rhodey, Nat, and Sydnie stood in a circle, facing three others Steve hadn't met. There was a small, pretty woman with long black hair and kind eyes, and two kids who looked to be Peter's age.
Sydnie was next to the small woman, an arm around her shoulder. "It's going to be fine, May."
May smiled gratefully in return, but didn't say anything.
The curly-haired girl folded her arms, scanning everyone carefully. Her dark eyes locked with Steve's for a moment. Finally she broke eye contact and said, "What leads do we have?"
FRIDAY's voice cut into the room. "A few days ago, Boss sent a drone to tail Raylen. A current location is available. I suggest sending a small team with backup from Marks 13-17. On the table beside the couch, a portable version of the Iron Suit is recommended to bring to the Boss."
Steve couldn't help the tiny smirk of relief. Of course.
"Thanks FRIDAY," Nat said. "Steve and Rhodey will come with me. Bucky, can you stay here with them until we get back? We don't know how many cards Raylen has up his sleeves."
The man nodded silently, offering a small smile.
"What about us?" The curly haired girl asked, arms still crossed. "Do we just sit here?"
Natasha ran a hand through her red hair. "MJ. I know you want to help, but it'll be better for you to stay here. Besides, we need someone here when we bring Peter back."
MJ sighed. "Fine. But you better. Bring him back, I mean."
"Don't worry." At Steve's words, she turned and landed her piercing gaze on him again. He fought the urge to look away and tried to convey sincerity. "We'll save him."
She narrowed her eyes. "Right."
"But we can help from here, too," the boy next to MJ said.
May looked kindly at him. "What do you mean, Ned?"
Ned pointed to his head. "I mean generally speaking, MJ and I are smart; we're good with technology. At least, better than you guys. We can be like your home base."
"Alright," Nat agreed. "But we have to hurry, they won't stay in the same place for long."
Wednesday, October 16
8:45am
"How much did you tell them?"
Angela lowered her eyes as far as they could go, focusing on the cracks in the cement floor. Mark's footsteps pounded forward and closer to her. Grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him, he asked again, "How much did you tell them?"
She clenched her fist. "Nothing about this place. Nothing about you. Nothing about him."
He shoved her head away. "Good. You better not be lying to me." Raylen nodded to Dr. Park in the corner of the room. "Bring them to me. And use these for the asset."
xXx
"Put these on." The Doctor that had taken them tossed metal hand restraints on the floor in front of Peter. They were dull gray and looked like thick wires.
"Why?" The teen looked up at him. "Why should I?"
Dr. Park remained solemn. "Either you put them on," he took a gun out from his belt and clicked the safety off. "Or I put them on for you."
Reluctantly, Peter slipped them on. The effect was instantaneous; his arms felt weaker and his eyesight duller. Tony noticed and reached out.
"Don't touch him."
Mr. Stark glared at the other man. "What about me?"
"You won't need them. Now get up."
Once he noticed Peter struggling, the Doctor grabbed his arm and yanked him up, placing the silver barrel of the gun against the boy's curls. Tony stood as well, still clutching his wound tight and glancing warily at the situation.
"Follow me."
They exited the room into a long hallway with no windows. It was cement too, with graffiti and random stains dirtying the surface. There were even puddles of brown water in some places.
Realizing he couldn't see Peter's face anymore, Tony said, "It's ok, kid, I'll-"
"Be quiet."
It took everything he had to not bite back; no one ever told him to be quiet. If it weren't for the kid, he would've made his Italian ancestors proud with a long string of cuss words.
They finally reached the end of the hall and entered a larger room, which was shockingly different from the previous places they had been. There was new lab equipment lining the walls and busy people rushing around.
Dr. Park forced Peter to the center of the room and pushed him to his knees. The teen grunted, but was otherwise silent. Keeping the gun in place, the large man gestured to some guards dressed in black. They ran over and grabbed Tony from each side. His arm ached, but he also remained silent.
A door opened and Raylen stepped out, followed by Angela and several more armed guards. Just the sight of them made Tony's blood boil. Noticing that they were walking towards Peter, he struggled against his captors.
"Stop!" The squeezed tighter, shooting pain through his whole body.
However weak Peter felt before, it was nothing compared to looking at them. It seemed like his very cells were frozen with fear. He couldn't even shake. Their faces made his Spidey sense go haywire, and his fingers twitched in response. Every breath he took caught in his throat.
"Well, well. You're finally back to us." Mark looked at Tony and made a humming noise. "And with an unfortunate guest…"
Mr. Stark spit at the floor. "Don't touch him again," he growled.
Raylen smirked. "And I suppose you'll stop me?"
Just then, a loud crash came from outside, taking them all by surprise. Angry now, Mark swore and pulled out his own gun. He yelled in frustration.
There was a loud gunshot and the solid thud of a body hitting the floor. Already the blood was filling the cracks in the cement and the scent was drifting into Raylen's nose.
He swore once again. "It didn't have to be like this."
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I think either the next chapter or the one after that will be the last. I'll hopefully be back soon! Stay safe and healthy. :)
REVIEWS:
Belbelanne: I hope you like the chapter!
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See you next time,
-katilange :D