Hey ! Guess who's back with a new chapter!:D
I know I've already said this a lot, but thank you, gammathetaalpha, for correcting my mistakes and helping me improving my english !
I'd also like to thank OneTumblrMinute, Steph1215, am1906, SilverRoseThorns, Sisva, Iknightly, maya90 and nananatz for adding this story to their alert/favorite list !
Enjoy !
-000-
Being a Stark definitely didn't have that many advantages. Tony was sure of it now.
Opening his eyelids, which seemed as heavy as lead, he discovered that he was in a sort of cell, whose bare walls were dirty and didn't have any windows. There was probably a door behind him, but he was tied to a rather uncomfortable chair by a rope, which bound his wrists, ankles and stomach to the piece of furniture. That's why he was unable to prove his theory right.
He didn't have the strength to do it anyway. The sedatives he had received were probably still effective, because he couldn't even remember what he could have done after he left the gym room. Sighing, he did his best to shift on his chair, in order to find a more comfortable position, and went back to sleep as soon as he did.
000
"Aunt May-"
"Don't try that with me! You're not going alone, that's all!"
"But they're going to think we're enemies, if there are too many of us!"
"Not my problem!"
"Anyway, we have to find them, and it'll be quicker if I look for them with my suit!"
"Then, you find them, and you wait for someone to join you before getting close to them!"
"May, we don't have the time for this! We'd better hurry!"
"We're not going to take twenty minutes to join you!"
Peter had been desperately trying to convince his aunt for the last few minutes, and it was definitely not going to be easy to do so. If the two had one thing in common, perhaps because of their family bond, it was that they were as stubborn as mules, and weren't going to forfeit. The teenager could understand May's point of view, who was obviously worried about him, and he was sure that she could understand his too, but both of them remained stuck doggedly to their position. The three other adults watched as spectators the confrontation as if it were a ping-pong match.
"Depending on where I'll be, maybe you'll need that much time! I know you know they'll be more willing to talk to me if I go alone."
Ping.
"Peter Benjamin Parker, there is no way that I'll let you wander around the city searching for fugitives sought internationally! They could hurt you!"
Pong.
"I know they won't. And, if it were to happen, whether I'm alone or not, the outcome of the battle won't change. Actually, I don't want to fight them, so I'd probably leave, and if there was one of you with me it'd be more difficult."
Ping.
May opened her mouth to retort with something, but didn't make any sound. She stayed silent for a couple of seconds. She had run short of arguments.
One point for Peter Parker.
Pepper, who had been silent for a few moments while she was thinking about whether she had the right to come between the aunt and her nephew bickering, finally decided to clear her throat to draw attention to her. Fortunately, it worked, and every head turned towards her.
"We can't afford to quarrel, it would waste too much of our time." She explained with a tremulous, yet assertive voice. "But you're both right about one thing. It's dangerous to go alone. After all, we can't exactly anticipate their reactions when they'll see us. We don't know who'll be there… Nor where to find them, but that's another thing to think about."
She made a brief pause, catching her breath and endeavoring to stay calm in the face of the panic, which seemed to be on the verge of overwhelming her. Her hands were trembling slightly.
"Yet," she began again, "I'm convinced that Peter is the best person to go look for them. He can move quickly across the city, and I'm sure he'll be able to persuade them to help us save Tony. Also… Steve and his allies aren't violent if they don't have a good reason to be. They won't simply attack Peter on sight. I know they're actively sought worldwide, and that they made mistakes, but we all did. They're still fighting against HYDRA, so if it can allow us to save Tony… They'll make an effort to listen to Peter- I mean, Spider-Man."
May was scrutinizing her, as if she was attempting to detect a lie or hypocrisy. Then, she pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers, and sighed loudly.
"I know you are all deeply attached to Stark," she admitted, "and I know he also greatly helped you, Peter. But I don't want you to be in danger."
"It's part of my job, I'm a super-hero, May." Peter answered softly.
It would have been useless to try convincing her that it wouldn't be dangerous. The name of HYDRA alone was enough to describe how perilous the mission would be. But it was a mission they couldn't afford to fail
"Precisely, it's not your job! You still go to high school! You should be going out with friends, thinking about what job you'd like to have later, complaining because you have too much homework to do!"
"I already do this, you know."
"But you shouldn't also have to fight criminals everyday!"
"May," Peter voiced, inhaling deeply. "We already had this discussion. For the time being, Mr. Stark is the priority."
His aunt scowled, her eyes clearly showing how anxious she was, but the boy stood his ground and held her stare. Peter tried to look calm and relaxed.
"Alright. But you have to promise that you'll be careful," she required after a dozen seconds of awkward silence.
"I promise."
The super-hero smiled, relieved that May had finally accepted his proposition. The feeling was however quick to be replaced by the adrenaline which began running through his body, making him shiver in anticipation. He announced, "I'm going to look for them right now, I'll keep you updated with Karen and F.R.I.D.A.Y!"
"Peter," Helen intervened, and for a short moment the teenager thought she was also going to oppose his idea, "if you- no, when you'll manage to convince them, give them this address and ask them to come here as soon as they can. They may not follow you right away, and it wouldn't be very subtle anyway."
"Understood!"
After having saluted the adults like a soldier, Peter dashed to the exit, donning his mask with precipitation. He climbed the steps four by four, and propelled himself in the air only a couple of seconds after setting his foot outside. The teen was too impatient to really think about a strategy for the search itself.
In any case, the boy had already spotted them once, so the rogue Avengers couldn't be that hard to find. Right?
000
This time, Tony was awakened brutally by a bucket of ice-cold water that someone threw on him, so he didn't have the time to decide whether he could go back to sleep or assess his surroundings. At least, he was now way more alert. He flinched. His first seconds of consciousness were awfully confusing, and the billionaire thought he was back in Afghanistan, with that nightmarish basin of water.
Tony abruptly opened his eyes, and held his breath by reflex, before realizing he wasn't underwater and drowning. Only soaking wet. His memory came back lucidly, and, remembering the last moments he had spent before falling unconscious, he groaned.
Stupid drones.
"Wake up, Stark!" A voice snarled.
The mechanic blinked, still confused, and managed to distinguish a man who had visibly not bothered to hide his identity. The stranger seemed to be in his forties and had light-brown hair, but Tony didn't identify other details about the foe's appearance because his sight was still too blurred.
"You thought you could get away that easily," the man barked, "without having to face us, right? Too bad for you. You've pissed off more than one of us here. Believe me when I tell you some of them are determined to get revenge for the dirty tricks you played on them."
Tony's tongue was still coated and numb, so he settled for rolling his eyes, preferring to wait to be sure he could speak without stammering. The other apparently understood he wasn't instilling that much fear in his prisoner, and kicked his shin.
"I hope you appreciated your little nap, idiot." The man hissed. "You'll have to wait a while before being able to have another one."
He went behind him, and the engineer tried in vain to turn around to spot the door, namely where his potential escape route was. But he only managed to hurt his neck, and he stretched as much as he could despite the ropes that were irritating his skin and tied to him firmly.
Clearing his throat, Tony observed with attention everything that was now in his field of view. He began scrutinizing the walls, mustard yellow in color, but didn't spot anything strange, not even a camera. If there was one, then it was behind his back. He then lowered his head to have a look at himself. He was now only wearing a tee-shirt and pants, cold and sticky because of the water that had woken him up. The mechanic didn't even have shoes or socks on him. Obviously, his watch, his glasses, and every other gadget he could have hidden on him had been removed.
The inventor was interrupted in his inspection by the sound of an opening door behind him, followed by several tread noises, vibrating the ground beneath him. Three men appeared in front of him. Two of them were armed and were wearing the same uniform as the ones who had attacked him at the compound. The third was standing between them, and was undoubtedly their chief, considering his smug expression and his attire which vaguely reminded of a military general, except that it also included the HYDRA symbol. He refrained himself from groaning once again when he saw the skull and tentacles.
The two soldiers turned to their superior, exclaiming monotonously "Hail HYDRA!" before leaving him and his prisoner alone in the almost empty room.
The man, who had brown hair neatly combed, tanned skin and piercing gray eyes, approached Tony with the air of superiority of someone who knew they had the total control of the situation.
"Hello there. I am the Commander Ronald Corll," he announced with a proud smile and a deep voice. "I know you're not entirely ignorant of HYDRA's activities, Mr. Stark, so my name may ring a bell to you."
But the billionaire only blinked before raising an eyebrow, making a dubious expression. It was visibly not the expected reaction, because the Commander's smug smile faltered. The prisoner made a not-so-sorry grimace before he articulated, "Don't know."
"I beg your pardon?" The man fulminated. "Don't play dumb with me, Stark."
"Pardon granted," the latter automatically started. "But you're wrong about one point, Commander, because I'm certainly not playing dumb. Anyway, someone of my caliber and of my genius can hardly manage to play dumb correctly, because their intellectual brilliance always ends up shining through their persona. I know some Strucker, even a Whitehall, but not any Corll. Oh, maybe you were expecting me to shake like a leaf as I heard you revealing your big meanie name? The name that would be the last piece of the immense puzzle that this kidnapping is, and that would let me have a the big revelation? Oops. Try again.
He felt a certain satisfaction to observe his malefactor's face turn beet red, who was trying with difficulty to stay at least a little calm. Tony was however really, extremely irked. He had been kidnapped, which was indeed never good news, but he had been outsmarted by a simple drone when he had thought he had managed to escape. Moreover, not only his abductors were part of HYDRA, whose members had apparently nothing better to do than kidnapping an already quite busy billionaire, but also their leader was an arrogant imbecile he didn't even know.
Understanding that, whatever the outcome of the discussion would be, Tony would in any case be in a difficult situation, but also because he was curious to see how the other would react, he decided to drive the point home.
"You know," he began, "I don't think that your name, Corll, strikes much fear in the heart of your foes. Maybe you should think about changing it. I mean, I've seen more terrifying names, and yours isn't exactly credible. Oh, come on, don't get mad. It's bad for your complexion, Ronny."
More than his sentences, it was apparently the nickname, though very nice, that seemed to make Corll snap. When he heard the word, he inhaled abruptly before holding his breath, which didn't help him to make him look more intimidating (it was rather the contrary), and his eyes widened.
In all honesty, the punch Tony received to his left upper cheek didn't even surprise him. He was asking for it, and he had even thought it would have been more painful. He reopened his eyes, and noticed the redoubtable Ronald who, decidedly not destined to a field man career, was holding his own hand. His face was still crimson reed, and now distorted in a pained expression.
Ah. The redoubtable Ronald. That sounded nice.
Tony would have probably snorted if he didn't have a survival instinct developed just enough not to die. He was quite aware that, if he pushed his boundaries too much, the punishment wouldn't be as benign as a weak blow to his face. The mechanic thus bit on the inside of his cheek to try looking more miserable, like the wretched prisoner he had to be. The Commander finally managed to calm down and revive his haughty expression after a few dozens seconds of jerky breathing. He snarled, disdainful. "You'll stop showing off in a few minutes, Stark."
Tony took his word for it.
000
Peter wanted to hit his head against the wall of the building he was currently on. Repeatedly.
Two hours. He had been looking for the Avengers for two hours.
If he had been able to go back in time, he would probably have go to see his "Himself-from-the-past" and he would have made fun of himself. The people he was looking for were sought worldwide, and, therefore, they weren't exactly going to show themselves on request. But if he had been able to go back in time he would probably have prevented his mentor's kidnapping. It wouldn't help to think too much about this anyway. The boy asked in an almost whiny voice, "Karen, still nothing for you?"
"No, Peter. Nobody corresponding to the rogue Avengers' description was spotted in New York."
"Not even with a camera?"
"Unfortunately not. I am however still pursuing my research. Would you like me to stop and help you in your visual research?"
"Uuuggh. No, thanks, Karen. You have higher chances of finding them than me, so you should keep on doing that. I should be able to get by myself."
For the last few hours, the teenager had thoroughly scoured the city, while the artificial intelligence was devoting itself to electronic data scans, but their investigation wasn't bearing any fruit. He had called Dr. Cho to let her know about the situation, and she had told him the colonel Rhodes had come to the safe house and left soon after, going to the compound with his armor, War Machine. He would have loved to join him, but for the time being he had another mission… which was far from being accomplished.
Spider-Man wandered again for a bit, looking at the terraces of the cafes in the surroundings. He knew it was stupid and that, obviously, he wouldn't find them in that sort of place today. But it had happened once and his brain wouldn't stop whispering him to go have a look just in case they would be there once more. He ended up sitting on the edge of a building, catching his breath and observing the busy streets of Brooklyn under his feet with an attentive eye. He remembered having heard the name from Captain America, so he had thought he would have more luck in this side of the city. It was visibly not the case.
Peter heard a suspect noise of fall to his left, and got up to glance at the alley below. A man was laying down on a large garbage bin and stood up with a groan, mumbling something like, "At least, there aren't cameras here."
He didn't look like a criminal. But now Peter's curiosity was stirred, so he decided to descend from his perch, landing smoothly on the ground, unconsciously blocking the way. The stranger startled violently and the super-hero, realizing he was frightening the other, put his hands up in a comforting gesture and exclaimed, "Wow wow wow, everything's okay! Sorry, sir, I didn't intend to scare you."
The man froze, clearly distrustful, but he didn't look hostile. With his dark hair, blue eyes and slight wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, he seemed to be in his forties. He scrutinized Spider-Man from head to toes, the super-hero having not moved since.
"Don't you usually operate in Queens?" He asked hesitantly. "It's the first time I've seen you here."
"Yes, sir," the young super-hero answered as he lowered his arms, "but I'm looking for someone."
"Ah, so you're chasing criminals?"
He sounded weirdly anxious.
"Not really. It's for a service, actually."
Peter bit his lip, feeling uneasy about the idea to explain everything to a citizen he had just met. At least the latter looked more relaxed now, even if he was still on his guard, and he was now observing him with curiosity. The boy was about to bid the man good day and go away when Karen's voice, imperceptible to the stranger, resounded softly in his ears.
"Peter, this is Scott Lang, who is also known as Ant-Man. His behavior doesn't appear to prove he could be dangerous, so you could try to talk to him. But be careful to what you say so he won't consider you a menace."
His heart rate drastically increased, and he asked with a trembling voice, "Hum, Sir, could you listen to me two minutes? It's really important."
"What is it? Do I have something on my face?" The man called Scott joked nervously, who had remarked the younger's sudden change in attitude.
"I need your help and Mister Captain America's and-"
He stopped talking, because his interlocutor disappeared brutally, even though the teenager hadn't stopped looking at him. He hadn't even blinked.
No, Peter understood as he perceived a slight movement on the ground, the other man didn't disappear, he shrank!
"Wait!" Spider-Man cried desperately with a voice way more high-pitched than he would have preferred. "Please! I promise, I'm not here to create any problem!"
His sixth sense made him shiver and he avoided just in time a garbage bin that were abruptly pushed in his direction. The boy managed to keep an eye on Ant-man for a few moments but he quickly lost him. Afflicted, he asked to his artificial intelligence for help but even Karen was unable to trace the man who could have become their ally. The super-hero was now alone in the alley, guilt and shame making him sick. What if, because of him, Mr. Stark would have to wait longer before being rescued?
"Great job, Peter…" The teenager whined plaintively.
He stayed several minutes there, unmoving, and hoping that Ant-Man would decide to come back. He was mainly unable to think about what to do now. Since he had scared the fugitive, chances that the latter had alerted his colleagues were great, which meant that now Peter could give up all hopes to find the others in the city. Suddenly finding that his breath was hard to catch, he let him slide against the wall and sat down.
"Breathe, Peter," Karen advised softly, sensing its owner's distress.
"But, b-but I… I screwed it up, Karen," he stammered between sobs, panic blocking his throat. "I… I wasn't even able to talk to him. Do you… do you imagine if they knew where to find the HYDRA agents and that… and that because of me, we don't manage to find Mister Stark?"
"We'll find Mister Stark even if we don't have the help of backup," the artificial intelligence assured him. "F.R.I.D.A.Y and myself are also looking for suspect activity that could have a link with HYDRA."
"Yeah, but…"
Peter stopped, aware that whining and crying wouldn't help him finding his mentor, and he posed his head on his knees to breath deeply and calm down. He stayed in this position for a few dozens seconds, listening absentmindedly to the traffic noises, klaxons and cars, multitudes of voices that seemed to swarm in the air. The teen was getting the impression that there was another noise, like the sound of breathing, but it sounded so insignificant and distant that he wondered if he wasn't confounding this echo with the hum of a ventilation. Karen was comforting him, and it ended up being effective.
The super hero stood up, suddenly feeling the exhaustion he had temporarily forgotten. Certain his voice was now firmer, he asked, "Sorry, Karen, I lost my temper. What do we do now? Do I try to go look for them again?"
"Oh, don't worry, kid, it won't- HEY! Easy!"
Peter had startled, literally jumping in the air as he recognized Ant-Man's voice. He looked everywhere, squinting his eyes to try to spot the now tiny man. He scrutinized the ground, the walls, his arms, his shoulders, the garbage bins but even Karen didn't manage to spot him through the lenses of his mask.
"Stop moving! You're going to make me fall!"
Spider-Man forced himself to freeze despite his strong urge to keep looking around him for Scott, who sounded really close. The voice, way more confident than during the first minutes following their strange meeting, began talking again, jeering, "That's already better! Since you've interrupted my really cool and heroic reply, I'd like to end it, at least. So, as I was saying: don't move, the others are coming."
"You came back, hum… Mr. Ant-Man?"
"Actually I never left. I only… hid."
"You can become invisible?"
"Let's say it that way," the man snickered.
Peter frowned, wondering if there wasn't a problem with his sixth sense, which hadn't detected anything.
Or, he thought, maybe Scott wasn't thinking about attacking him for now.
He liked this idea a lot.
"You know," the teenager declared, "I really don't want to fight you. I came as an ally."
Then he turned around, hearing the subtle footsteps before hearing one of the newcomers' voice.
"That's up to us to decide, Spider-Man." Steve Rogers answered calmly.
The rogue hero was accompanied by three other people, namely Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff and another man, with chocolate-colored skin, that Peter couldn't name, but found familiar.
"It is Sam Wilson," Karen indicated helpfully when noticing the young man was staring at this person in particular. "You've already met him during as Falcon, during your fight at the Leipzig-Halle airport."
Even if Peter was grateful to the artificial intelligence which had given him this piece of information, he didn't answer. He didn't need to sound crazy in front of that many super-heroes. Having freaked out in front of Ant-Man, if what he had said was true, was already awkward enough.
He greeted them shyly, forgetting his usual babbling and eloquence. However, he didn't miss the way his gesture made the adults in front of him tense.
"Hey, Captain," Ant-Man said, still invisible. "Thanks for coming. Hi, Falcon and Miss Widow!"
"Hey, Tic-Tac," Wilson retorted, "care to explain what you're doing here with Stark's minion? And why you asked us to join you in this alley?"
"We met by accident, and I heard some quite interesting things. Well, actually, maybe it wasn't that accidental because he said he was looking for us."
A small thing fell in front of Spider-Man's eyes, who stepped back in surprise, and a few moments later, Ant-Man was here, in front of him and human-sized, and was turning his back to the younger hero to salute his colleagues.
"We need your help," Peter blurted, having finally retrieved his voice. "Actually, it's mainly Mr. Stark who needs it."
It was apparently not the right thing to say, because the four newcomers tensed, showing more or less frowning expressions on their face. Sam Wilson, who Peter supposed was the less close to the billionaire, seemed wary but fortunately not scornful.
"Why do you think we would want to help Stark?" He said. "Have you forgotten what happened a few months ago?"
"I know you're currently not the best friends ever," Spider-Man retorted, "but Mr. Stark was abducted by HYDRA this morning. Someone even almost managed to destroy F.R.I.D.A.Y, his artificial intelligence. I thought that, since you were also fighting against HYDRA, maybe you'd accept to help us."
His words seemed to float in the air, levitating around them as if by magic, as their significance reached their receivers. The five adults, who were now side to side (and where blocking his path in a quite intimidating way, but Peter ignored this thought) exchanged glances, waiting for someone who would speak first. In the end, it was Black Widow who talked first.
"Are you sure it was really HYDRA?"
Peter nodded, and they looked even tenser. They gave the impression they were ready to jump on him and attack at any moment.
"We got videos," he announced.
"Tell us everything, please." Captain America asked in a calm voice but which was masking worry.
So Peter told them. He obviously didn't detail them the zoo visit, but he talked about the strange call from his mentor, the one from Dr. Cho, the arrival to the safe house, F.R.I.D.A.Y and what had happened to her. He described the files, the picture of the impostor, told them about the address and the Iron Man armor still undetectable. The five others' attitude didn't change much during his monologue, listening to him without interrupting him even to ask a question or for more details. Finally, his voice tinting with fear that the Avengers would reject his demand, he indicated that he had thought asking for their help to fight HYDRA and go to Tony Star's rescue.
Natasha Romanoff tilted slightly her head, and asked curiously:
"Why did you think we could help you? We're considered criminals."
Peter's stomach felt like it was burning. The question she had just asked resembled too much a refusal. He tried to explain, "I was thinking that there must have a good reason for you to be in New York. I saw you, a while ago, and Mr. Stark told me that he had met you too."
He voluntarily ignored the alarmed glances that Sam Wilson and Clint Barton exchanged, the latter having stayed silent since his arrival -which was beginning to freak the teenager out- and began talking again.
"After all, why would you be in the place where everyone is expecting to notice you? Maybe it was because you knew something about HYDRA? So I thought about asking you and… and also, you're the Avengers. The name alone is enough."
Silence fell in the alley, and the background noises were once more heard, invading the young super-hero's ears as he waited for a reaction. His interlocutors weren't saying anything, but looked like they were having a telepathic conversation because they were throwing each other meaningful glances. In the end, they turned to Captain America (or rather, Steve Rogers, since he wasn't wearing his signature suit) who seemed to be the leader of the little group. Spider-Man, who was feeling that the stress was going to make it difficult to talk again, begged in a trembling voice, "Please, help us save Mister Stark."
"You…" Steve articulated after a short moment of silence. "Can you give us a moment, son?"
The boy nodded, restraining himself from complaining about the nickname the renegade hero had just given him, and stepped back to give them some semblance of private space. He knew it wouldn't change anything, but what counted was the gesture. The others were aware of this, too, because they nodded at Spider-Man to thank him.
Peter listened absentmindedly the more or less subtle whispers, the louder protests, the murmurs that were proof of the fugitives' tension and preoccupation. He pretended he didn't notice the furtive glances that were thrown in his direction nor the fact that his name came back several times in the conversation.
They finally turned to face him again, and the archer spoke for the first time.
"I think you can understand we're not too keen on the idea of showing ourselves to other people." He declared seriously. "You know our identities, but how can we be sure that we can trust you, and that all of this isn't a trap?"
Peter didn't know what to answer, too surprised by what he had just heard. He couldn't simply ask them to trust him. He should have thought about that, it was quite understandable now that someone had pointed it out for him. These heroes were fugitives, had to overcome lots of trials in their past, and moreover he had fought against them a few months ago. It was obvious he didn't inspire their confidence. Spider-Man had to prove them he wasn't their foe anymore, nor a menace for their group.
Then the boy's eyes widened as a sudden idea crossed his mind. He knew this idea could be extremely stupid depending on the reaction they would have. Also, it was stupid, dangerous, and probably impulsive too. But, after all, he had told May he trusted the Avengers, and maybe it was time they knew this too. Peter inhaled deeply.
And he removed his mask.
"My name is Peter Parker," the now bare-faced super-hero announced, "and I need your help to save Mr. Stark."
000
Being a Stark definitely didn't have that many advantages. Tony was sure of it now.
But, once, he had also thought that having Peter Parker in his life was definitely a plus. And, even if he wasn't aware of it yet, this thought was going to prove its veracity very soon.
-000-
That's all for this chapter ! I hope you liked it !
I'd love to read your opinion about this chapter. Please, don't hesitate to leave a review, even if you didn't like it ! ^^
Until next time !