Hey everyone! Welcome back! Chapter 5 is here!
I hope you had a great week! :)
If you prefer to read on Ao3, it's posted there!
Anyway, enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters! They belong to the MCU! I only own the plot!
She would not cry. Black Widow does not cry. Natasha Romanoff does not cry. Natasha stalks out of the stuffy room to get some air. She finds herself going up the elevator and onto the balcony she loved so much. A place to collect her thoughts when she was feeling the weight of her suppressed emotions. The place she went with Peter to look at the stars.
"Shit." she curses as a few tears make their way down her cheeks. She wipes them away angrily and stares off into the dark.
She misses her little spider. The Avengers are the only family she's ever had, Tony being one of the first. She loves each and every one of them, but Peter had hit her a little differently. Being an ex-assassin, she didn't think there was ever a motherly side of her, but it all went out the window when she met Peter Parker. He brought out things in her and the rest of the team that they had no idea were ever there.
The team was different without Peter around, both now and just normally if Peter was in school or away from them in general. The team still loved each other the same and they had good times but it wasn't the same without Peter. When he was there, the team truly lit up. Everyone came together in a way that was truly remarkable. All because of one overly excited, humble, sarcastic, snarky, genius, adorable, clone of Tony teen that melted the Avengers' iron armor.
Natasha had an extra special bond with the little hero. She and Pepper babied him around, (which "annoyed" him, but he secretly loved it, Natasha was sure) and she called him маленький паук. When He didn't call her Nat, Peter called her Тетя паук, which Natasha had taught him during one of their sparring sessions. God, she misses him. Call her a sap, but what she wouldn't give to hear Peter call her that just once. And it was both of them. Tony is one of her best friends after all.
Steve silently comes in and stands next to Natasha. Natasha glances over and doesn't fail to see the water in Steve's eyes. The once startling blue eyes were now clouded over with exhaustion, anger, sadness...but mostly fear. Natasha didn't have to look in the mirror to know she carried the same expression.
"You don't have any optimistic leader monologues huh?" Natasha asks with no humor.
"No. Not today." Steve says, looking up at the pitch-black covered in grey clouds.
"Good. I don't have the energy to slap you with food." Natasha tells him. Steve nods. "What are you doing here?"
Steve hesitates for a second. "I didn't want you to be alone."
The back of Natasha's eyes well up as she thinks back to the moment they shared so many years ago.
"Come 'ere," Steve says, pulling her in a tight embrace. Natasha leans against his chest, finally letting the emotions she locked away take hold of her, leaving her breathless.
"I miss them too." Steve whispers. They kneel down to the ground, grounding each other. Steve's heart ached to see Natasha like this. He was so used to her being strong and emotionless, it was almost disturbing to see her so human. But in a strange way, he was honored that she trusted him enough to let her guard down with him.
"If something happens…" Natasha trails off.
"We'll deal with it. All I know is that we are getting them both out alive." Steve says firmly. That's one thing he has to promise. There's no choice. "Have you talked to Pepper? And May?"
"No. Not alone. I wouldn't be able to keep my shit together." Natasha admits, burying her face into his shirt.
"It's ok not too. I know who they are to you. And so do they." Steve tells her softly. Steve stands up slowly and offers her his hand. Natasha takes it and hoists herself up, trying to regain a little composure.
"Talk to them. They'll understand better than anybody." Steve tells her.
"Ok." Natasha hesitantly agrees. Steve gives her a smile and heads into the elevator as Natasha goes up the stairs toward Pepper and May's room.
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"I heal fast. You don't. You need to keep the blood in." Peter insists, placing the bandage on his wound.
9 days. It had been 9 days. Tony and Peter were slowly weakening. Between the endless torture, screaming for the other and limited food and water, they were running out of time to make a plan.
"He's not sending any videos so there is no way for the Avengers to find us." Peter whispers.
"We have to figure out a way to get out of here. Then I could find a phone or computer or something to send them a signal." Tony tells him.
"Yeah, that's great and all, but how are we supposed to get out of this damn room?" Peter asks frustratedly.
"Somehow during our bathroom breaks one of us could-" Tony tries.
"I told you. I'm blindfolded and drugged when they let us go. And you're handcuffed with those idiots holding like ten guns behind you." Peter reminds him.
"I wish I could piss on Ryan's face." Tony growls. Peter giggles. It was nice to laugh, they rarely did anything but scream in pain or for the other. Currently, Peter was pressing down on a cut on Tony's arm. He had ripped off a piece of his jeans and used it as a bandage, despite Tony's protests.
"We have to do something soon. I think the time waiting for them to save us is over." Peter says, looking Tony in the eyes. Tony nods.
"God I miss May. And Pepper, and Nat, Steve, Clint...everyone." Peter says, tears coming to his eyes. Tony opens his arms and Peter leans into them.
"I miss them too bud. But I promise we'll see them soon. Sooner than you think." Tony tells him gently.
"Yeah. We will." Peter whispers. Tony lets go and sighs.
"At least these guys are amateur enough to not have a mic in the room." Tony points out.
"Yeah our one piece of good luck." Peter snorts.
"Hey! I'm trying to be optimistic over here. Wasn't that what you wanted me to do?" Tony teases.
Peter scrunches up his face.
"I think I preferred old, sulky and depressed Tony Stark." Peter laughs.
"Ya know, I think I figured out why spiders don't thermoregulate quickly. It's cus they're cold-blooded." Tony retorts.
Peter is about to answer when his eyes go wide. "Tony!" Peter whisper-shouts. Tony turns to look at the door quickly and sighs in relief when he finds no one in the doorway, and the door safely shut.
"Why are you talking like that? Finally got a good comeback?" Tony teases. Peter rolls his eyes.
"No! I think I figured out a way to get out of here! Well, at least out of this room." Peter tells him. Tony sits up at that. "So we both know where the camera is right?"
"Right…" Tony trails off.
"So after...you know.." Peter winces. Tony nods. "I'll say I need to throw up-...wait they can't hear us. Ok, I'll act like I need to throw up and go over to that corner." Peter looks at Tony to see if he's following. He nods and Peter continues.
"Ok so I'll take out the camera and after that, I'll have about 4 seconds to climb up the wall and settle on the ceiling right above the door before the guy with the gun comes in." Peter says, getting excited, but trying not to visibly show it for the camera's sake.
"Peter." Tony warns, knowing where this is going.
"We know that there's only one guy guarding our door at a time, so as soon as he walks in, I can jump on top of him and knock him out. We'll take his gun, take out anyone else on the way, and send a message to the Avengers!" Peter exclaims.
Tony thinks for a second. "Peter, a lot of things can go wrong with that plan. He could see you and shoot you. You know I can't let that happen." Tony says, pained.
"Tony! You know almost 97% of people look around the room when they walk through a door for approximately 10 seconds. That's a lot of time for me to jump on him! He won't see me if I'm right above the door." Peter insists. He really needs Tony to agree with this. Peter was so done with this room...and this place. He was tired of seeing Tony get hurt.
"Well, you probably didn't know that, but you know, random useless trivia." Peter explains when Tony gives him a questioning look.
"Peter! We don't even know if your body is strong enough to hold yourself upside down! And it's not like we can just test it out or they could figure out the plan." Tony says, putting his head in his hands. As much as he wants to get out of here, they need to be careful.
"I already know I'm still sticky and it's still pretty strong right now. The longer we wait, the weaker we both get Tony! We have to do it now if we want to get out." Peter pleads. Tony sighs and rubs his temples with his fingers.
"If anything happens to you-" Tony tries.
"Nothing will happen. To both of us. I won't let it. We have each other's backs right? It's what we do." Peter says firmly.
"Yeah it is. Ok kid. But we need to think of everything before we do this. We can't afford any mistakes." Tony tells the teen.
"Agreed." Peter says.
"I'm ready to kick the Avengers butt for not finding us sooner right about now." Tony says, sighing. Peter laughs.
"Yeah they're in for it."
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Steve walks back into the common room and everyone looks up.
"Is Nat ok?" Clint asks, finally looking up from the computer. He had been at it for days, only taking short breaks for water and sometimes food. They all had. None of them could sleep. It was definitely affecting them negatively but they couldn't sleep knowing Peter and Tony were probably getting tortured somewhere out there.
"She's fine. This is rough on her. It's rough on all of us." Steve says, sitting down on the couch.
"I need to talk to her." Clint sighs.
"Yeah. She could use her best friend right now." Steve admits.
"Steve we're all her best friends." Clint says, rubbing his eyes.
"We're family." Wanda corrects.
"We are." Steve nods. Everyone is silent for a few minutes.
"I'm sure they're making a plan to try and tell us where they are. Knowing them, they're probably getting restless and know that we have no way of finding them." Sam says, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"We have to be on the lookout. At least two people must be looking for a signal at all times. Of course, we have Friday, but just in case." Bruce says.
"I can't believe we have to rely on them to give us a signal. We should be saving them." Rhodey says frustratedly.
"We did everything possible Rhodey. We just have to hope that they can get away and send us a signal. It's the only way." Clint replies. Rhodey sighs and rubs his forehead. He misses his best friend.
"They're geniuses. It shouldn't be too long." Steve says, trying to be optimistic.
"They'll protect each other and figure something out. All we need is one signal and we can bust them out." Clint says.
"Let's hope they can give it to us." Wanda says.
"They can and will." Bruce says confidently.
"Ok. Keep searching." Rhodey commands.
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"What did they say?" MJ demands.
"Still looking. Apparently they need to wait and see if Peter and Mr. Stark can try and send them a signal. Half the Avengers are still patrolling every few hours but it's not getting them anywhere." Ned tells her, putting his head in his hands.
"How did two literal geniuses get kidnapped together?' MJ asks exasperatedly.
"Don't ask me." Ned sighs. He was really worried about his best friend and Mr. Stark. He knew if anything happened to Mr. Stark, Peter would never be the same and vice versa. He, MJ, Pepper, May, and the Avengers were the only ones who knew the extent of their relationship, and thank goodness for that. The media would have a field day if they found out about it.
Ned remembers the time Peter swung all the way from the Tower over to his house looking like a tomato when he had accidentally called Mr. Stark "dad". While Ned laughed his heart out, Peter stood there pouting at him. It was still one of their best memories.
"If anything happens to that loser I swear I'm going to kill him." MJ says, sitting on Ned's bed. She acted strong on the outside but to be honest, she was terrified. She knew the risk of having SpiderMan as her boyfriend, but she didn't care about that then. She hadn't thought as far as this. And plus, she loved Peter for Peter Parker, not for SpiderMan (although it was a bonus that her boyfriend was such a good and caring person). Ned understood that enough to know what to say.
"They'll find a way to get out. You know Peter and Tony are both equally stubborn and annoying. Their captors will probably be begging them to go and leave them alone." Ned chuckles.
MJ smiles. Peter was stubborn. Stubborn to the point of doing stupid things without her around to tell him he's an idiot, like getting kidnapped. God when they got Peter back MJ was going to kiss him and then strangle him promptly after.
MJ and Pepper had gotten really close when she and Peter had started dating. Peter knew Pepper was one of MJ's role models and he had insisted they meet. Now, they loved exchanging stories of the stupidly heroic things their boyfriend/fiancé did. Pepper had also given MJ a lot of advice on how to deal with a superhero significant other because she had the feeling their relationship was going to last. MJ couldn't express how thrilled she was to hear that from one of her role models.
"I just hope they're ok." MJ says quietly. Ned nods.
"I do too."
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Natasha takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.
"It's open." A quiet voice calls out. Natasha slowly pushes the door open and takes in the sight in front of her. The two women were sitting in the middle of the bed, both hands in each others, completely silent. Something catches in Natasha's throat. She can't imagine the pain Pepper, let alone May is feeling if she is feeling this much pain.
"Hey Natasha." Pepper smiles.
"I can leave." Natasha says, hovering by the door. May holds out a hand, beckoning her to the bed. Natasha walks over and sits on the edge of the bed, looking at the sheets.
"I was wondering when you would come up." Pepper admits.
"Steve made me." Natasha says, smiling slightly. She quickly averts her eyes. She knows she shouldn't be here. These two women were like mothers to Peter. She was at most a glorified friend.
"You're as much of his aunt as I am Nat." May tells her quietly. "You can stop thinking less of yourself. The Avengers are his family...our family." May says, her eyes glazing over. Natasha feels tears and she looks up to stop them.
"I miss them." Natasha says, her voice low. "We all do."
"You know, Peter told me that he has 4 strong independent women in his life. Me, May and Nat who are kick-ass women and MJ who's kick-ass and kicks his ass." Pepper says giggling. "Then, I told him to stop saying ass."
The ladies laugh. "And then, I bet he said but you just said it! You're a bad influence!" Natasha says, imitating Peter's voice.
Pepper laughs and nods. They all look down at the same time. God, they miss them.
"Tony will take care of him. He would give his life up for Peter. And Peter will for Tony." May says.
"That's what I'm afraid of. I hope it doesn't come to that." Natasha says. Losing Peter or Tony was not an option.
"I don't even want to think about what would happen if one was without the other." Pepper whispers. She remembers how irritable Tony was when Peter went on a field trip for a week. Just a week! He checked Peter's vitals through his watch every hour, called every night and at random times during the day, and worried the entire week.
Let alone a lifetime.
"I remember when Tony had a meeting in Tokyo, He was only gone for a week and a half, but all Peter could talk about was how much he missed Tony. He was so miserable those days that after he came back, I had to let him have a three-day sleepover here. He came home looking like a zombie." May says, smiling at the memory. Natasha smiles. She loved hearing the adorable stories about the duo.
"It was a two and a half week stay too! But Tony was so miserable that I let him go home early." Pepper chuckles.
They fall into silence.
"Peter is lucky to have all of you. It's always been just the two of us and all I've wanted was for him to have a loving family. A complete family." May says, looking at them in gratitude.
"We're the ones who are lucky. You raised an amazing kid...we're just benefiting off of it." Natasha tells her. She sighs feeling a whole lot better. May smiles.
"Do you ladies want to go see if we can help?" Pepper asks.
"Let's go. The boys never have a clue what they're doing." Natasha smiles.
The women laugh and step out of the room, all three of them feeling just a little bit more confident.
They'll find their boys.
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