Hey guys! Welcome to my second fanfiction! I hope you enjoy it :)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters! They all belong to the MCU!
Caution: This fanfiction has a lot of dark and angsty themes so if you are uncomfortable with that, please don't read!
A.N
Hello! Thank you to everyone that reviewed! You guys really made my day! Sorry for the wait but the chapter is extra long ;)
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"Had enough?" Hammer asks, turning off the camera.
Peter's eyes water but he steels himself. "I could do this all day." he groans.
Hammer chuckles. "I seriously doubt that. But, I gotta hand it to you kid. You got guts." Hammer admits.
"Thanks. I really care what you think." Peter says sarcastically.
Hammer smirks. "You know...I could use a kid like you. Strong, smart. You have to be genius-level smart for Stark to notice you right?" Hammer asks.
"If you even think for a second that I will ever betray Tony for you, you have fewer brain cells than I thought." Peter snarls.
Hammer sneers. "Fine. Have it your way. Rough him up a bit for me."
Peter braces himself. This was not going to be pleasant.
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"There must be something we can do. We can't just sit here." Wanda says, looking at Natasha.
"What can we do? We've tracked every single device connected to Justin Hammer. There's nothing left." Natasha tells her.
Clint bangs his hand on the table. "We're the Avengers for crying out loud and we can't even save our kid." he says.
"Guys. There has to be something we can do. No plan is completely perfect." Bruce tells them.
"It looks pretty damn perfect to me. Two of the world's best superspies can't crack it." Rhodey sighs.
Natasha is silent looking at the floor with a confused expression.
"Nat? What is it?" Clint asks his friend.
"This is a long shot but...what about the other two men? The ones that...you know…" she trails off.
"Wait...yeah...the men in the black masks." Steve thinks out loud.
"But their faces are covered so how's that going to help?" Sam points out.
"Do you think they would have a cell that we can track? I think Hammer would have thought of that." Clint sighs.
"Don't give him too much credit." Sam tells him.
"Well, we would have to get one of them to take off their mask and that's not happening. We have no way to communicate with them and even if we did, they would never do it." Steve points out.
Natasha stands up abruptly. "Wanda! Can you communicate telepathically to Peter?" Natasha asks.
Wanda's eyes widened. "I don't think so. I can only read minds and feel other people's emotions." Wanda stops, looking at the hopeful looks in everyone's eyes. She sighs.
"It's worth a try though. I have projected a memory to Vis before but it was extremely difficult. Projecting an actual sentence to Peter when I don't even know where he is will be next to impossible." Wanda tells them.
"But there's a possibility that it might work?" Bruce asks hopefully.
"I think so. But I'm not promising anything." Wanda tells the doctor.
Steve nods. "Well it's a plan, and it's all we got."
Rhodey nods. "FRIDAY. Tell Tony to get his ass up here."
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4 days. Peter had been with Hammer for 4 days. Tony flips through the photo album he gave Peter for this birthday. There was one of them in his racecar after they had driven it around the track a couple of times. Peter was smiling into the camera and Tony was looking at him fondly. There was another of them in the car. Tony's hand was in Peter's hair and Peter was asleep in his lap. And Tony's personal favorite. Their first photo together. Peter was holding his Stark Internship certificate upside down and they were giving bunny ears to each other. This is after the initial picture because they were both laughing about something Tony couldn't remember. Tony bit his lip to stop the tears. His kid was out there somewhere and there was nothing he could do. "Boss. The Avengers need you in the common room urgently." FRIDAY tells him. Tony sprints toward the elevator. "Did they find something?" Tony asks frantically. "I was informed to get you so they could explain everything." FRIDAY tells him. Tony steps out of the elevator and runs into the kitchen.
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"Please tell me you have something." Tony pleads.
"Umm. We have a plan but it's a long shot." Natasha tells him.
Tony nods and grabs probably his thousandth coffee. "What is it?" he asks.
"I'm going to attempt to communicate telepathically to Peter. I don't know if it's even possible but it's worth a try." Wanda tells him.
"By the way, what are you going to tell him?" Sam asks.
"To try and get the mask off of one of the men when Hammer is filming." Wanda says nervously.
"What will that do?" Tony asks, his mind sluggish from little to no sleep.
"If FRIDAY can recognize his face, he might have a device that we can track." Rhodey tells him.
"Do it." Tony nods.
Wanda stands up and gets ready.
"I hope this works." she whispers.
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Peter's whole body aches but that really isn't news. He's almost used to the pain. He hasn't seen Hammer for a long time. Just his two goons that won't leave him alone. They hit him for no reason, like seriously! Get a hobby! Peter's whole body was trembling from exhaustion from chained to the stupid wall. Peter tries to close his eyes and drown out the pain. It's worth it. You're protecting Tony. Peter repeats it like a mantra in his head and soon he's out like a light.
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The whole team watches with bated breath as Wanda closes her eyes and shuts everything out. A few moments later, red sparks come off her body. She's surrounded by scarlet magic as her eyes clenched tightly shut. She levitates off the ground and everyone is blasted backward. She falls to the ground in a heap. "Wanda!" everyone yells. Everyone runs toward her. "Wanda? You ok?" Natasha asks, putting a hand on her arm. Natasha recoils quickly, Wanda's skin hot to the touch. She wakes up after a few moments. "I-I think it worked…" she whispers. "How do you know?" Steve asks cautiously. "I saw the room. I only managed to tell him "mask, while he's filming" before I collapsed. I still can't believe I managed to do that." she says tiredly.
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The men finally left to get some sleep. Peter tries to stretch and it sends a new wave of pain through his body. "ugh." he moans quietly. Peter misses Tony so much. All he wants is to leap into his overprotective dad's arms and stay there forever. "Suck it up, Peter. He's been through worse than this. Stop complaining." Peter mutters to himself. Peter closes his eyes and suddenly, there's a flash of red light beneath his eye-lids. "What the hell?" Peter whispers. Ge...mask…..while….film. Peter hears in his mind. His thoughts were still sluggish from the pain, but he recognized that voice. "Shit." Peter swore. It was Wanda! They were trying to communicate with him! Ok...ok...calm down. What did she say? Get mask while film? What the hell is that supposed to mean? "Ohh." Lightbulb. They want me to get the mask off of one of Hammer's goons. But why? Peter wracked his brain. Maybe they could find him if they could recognize the guy's face? Peter sighs. He has a few hours to make a plan.
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"Wanda, are you sure he got the message?" Tony asks for the hundredth time.
"He got a few words. Let's just hope he understood. I can't do it again. It took too much energy and it was really dangerous. If I messed up, it could mess up Peter's brain too." Wanda tells them.
"Another video file from Justin Hammer." FRIDAY informs them.
"We're ready." Clint calls, nodding at Natasha.
Tony can feel the whole room tense.
"Play it FRIDAY." Steve tells the AI.
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Everyone gathers around the screen watching with bated breath. Peter is still chained to the wall and he looks worse for wear. They clearly haven't given him any food.
"With the kid's metabolism, it's probably twice as bad." Tony whispers.
This time, Hammer and his two goons were in the room.
"Almost Day 5. Really impressive kid. Gotta hand it to ya. You're pretty darn loyal. Hey Stark! You got a good one!" Hammer says looking at the camera.
Tony ignores Hammer and watches Peter. He looks...focused. Hopefully, that meant he was thinking about how to get the mask off.
"Ok boys do your thing. I'm bored. I'm outta here." Hammer tells them.
"Got it Boss." the taller one grunts.
They both pull on metal glove things. "Hey, guys! How's life?" Peter asks.
"Keep your mouth shut kid." the one on the left grunts. He rears his fist back and plants a punch right into Peter's stomach.
Peter coughs and blood pours out of his mouth.
"Oh my God." Tony whispers.
They punch Peter again and again but he doesn't cough anymore. He looks like he's trying to keep it in.
Suddenly, when one of the guys gets too close, Peter coughs, aiming for his face.
Blood covers the guy's mask and it goes into his hair as well.
"Eww. I'm going to kill you kid." the guy says.
The guy takes the mask off to wipe it clean. He looks right into the camera.
"Oh shit." he whispers, slamming the mask on.
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"Did you get it?!" Tony yells. He runs to Clint's side. Friday answers for him.
"Match successful. Micheal Baeur." FRIDAY says from above.
"I'm hacking into his shit. Give me a second." Natasha says, her brow creased in concentration.
The whole team started crowding around.
"Got it!" Clint and Natasha yell at the same time. "I just sent the location to Friday." Natasha says urgently.
"Suit up!" Steve yells.
Tony sprints into his room and grabs the Ironman suit. He's going to get his kid back.
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Man...Peter got so lucky there. His plan actually worked! There were so many things working against him but it actually worked! Even if the guy only took the mask off for a split second, that was enough for FRIDAY right? Well, Peter was kinda counting on it. Peter thanked everything that was above him for the sheer dumb luck. The men started punching him again with those God-forsaken iron-clad gloves but at this point, Peter didn't even care anymore. Please come quickly, Dad.
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"They were in Jersey all this time!" Tony thundered.
"Tony. Calm down. We're going to get him." Natasha tells him.
They took one of Tony's small private jets. It barely made a sound and it could fit Tony, Rhodey, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and Steve. Sam, Wanda, and Vision stayed in the tower readying the medical staff for Peter.
"We are arriving." FRIDAY's voice sounds.
"It looks like the middle of nowhere." Bruce says.
In the distance, they could see a small house surrounded by woods.
"Ok, Clint. Hover here and we'll go alone the rest of the way so they don't hear us. Bruce, you stay here and get ready." Rhodey tells them.
Clint gives them a thumbs up and Bruce nods.
"Alright. I'll carry Steve, Rhodey, you got Nat." Tony says.
"Alright! Let's go!" Natasha says.
Tony grabs Steve, Rhodey gets Natasha and they launch off toward the house.
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"They're in the basement." Steve tells them.
"No duh Sherlock." Natasha says, rolling her eyes.
"Ok guys. 1...2...3!" Tony whispers.
They bust open the door, guns blazing. Steve takes out two men guarding the door and they all run for the basement.
They all sprint into the basement.
"Oh shit!" Hammer yells.
Tony and Nat easily take down Hammer's two goons and Steve traps Hammer.
Tony runs over to Peter.
"Hey, buddy. I'm here. Tony's here. You're going to be ok kid. Just hang on." Tony whispers, stepping out of his Ironman suit.
Tony takes Peter in. It's so much worse in person than it is on the camera. Peter's abdomen is covered in blood. He has cuts, burns and lashes all over his body and face.
"D-ad?" Peter groans.
"Yeah, Pete. It's dad. I'm going to get you out of here ok buddy?" Tony asks, trying to get the chains off.
"Ok." Peter whispers.
"Dammit! I can't get these chains off. I think it's vibranium Cap." Tony calls.
"Nat. Hold this asshat." Steve yells.
Natasha walks over and puts a gun to Hammer's head and Rhodey stands by. Hammer doesn't open his mouth, wisely.
Steve runs over and slices through the chains with his shield. "Where the hell did he get vibranium?"
Peter falls into Tony's arms and winces in pain.
Tony looks down at his kid and notices Peter's eyes start to close.
"Hey..hey..squirt. You have to keep your eyes open for me ok?" Tony tells him.
Peter hums softly and opens his eyes again.
"That's it. Just a bit longer ok spiderling?" Tony tells his kid gently.
"Mmmm." Peter replies.
"Rhodey can you take him to the jet? I have some unfinished business." Tony growls in the last part.
Peter wines softly. "I'll be right there kiddo ok?" Tony says, ruffling Peter's curls.
Peter leans into it and nods slightly.
"Nat stay. Steve go help Banner." Tony commands.
Steve nods and walks out of the room.
Natasha picks Hammer up and throws him at Tony's feet.
Tony doesn't even bother with the suit. He brings his foot down as hard as he can on Hammer's nose, savoring the feeling of the bones in his face cracking.
Hammer screams in pain.
"How dare you touch my kid." Tony snarls.
"Stark please. Please." Hammer begs.
"YOU ASSHOLE. HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HIM?" Tony screams.
He puts on the suit and punches Hammer in the stomach again and again.
Hammer just screams in agony. "Give me your gun Romanoff." Tony growls.
Natasha hands Tony her gun and grabs another one from her belt still pointing it at the two unconscious men.
Tony shots Hammer in both his thighs and in his stomach. "You will die in pain." Tony tells him.
Hammer no longer responds.
"Stark." Natasha says, giving him the electrical device that Hammer tortured Peter with.
"I don't have any pity for you. You monster." Natasha growls at Hammer.
"No please Stark. Don't do this." Hammer groans.
"Should have thought about this when you captured my kid." Tony says switching it on to its full intensity like Hammer did to Peter.
Tony shots the two men in the head and they walk out of the room, ear-piercing screams echoing through the house.
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Tony sprints over to Peter's side as soon as they get into the jet.
"He passed out on our way to the jet." Rhodey tells him.
Tony looks at his kid's face. Peter's face is littered with lashes and cuts. It's gaunt, white and there are dark circles under his eyes from no sleep. Tony feels like crying. His kid is hooked up to an IV, which is giving him nutrients, while Bruce works on his stomach.
"Did you kill them?" Steve asks knowing the answer.
Tony nods, glaring.
Steve nods. "Good."
Bruce finishes his examination. "Guys. It's not looking good. He's bleeding internally. We need to get him into surgery right now." he says worriedly.
"FRIDAY. How long till we get to the tower?" Rhodey asks.
"You will arrive in approximately 6 minutes." the AI tells him.
"Well make it faster." Rhodey says.
Tony takes his teen's hand. "You gotta hold on for me ok bud?" he whispers.
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"We are arriving at the Tower boss. The medical staff is standing by." FRIDAY says above them.
"Great. Tony grab Pete. I got Bruce." Rhodey tells him.
Tony nods. "Tony. He's going to be fine." Steve tells him. Tony looks down at his kid and nods again.
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As soon as they get into the bay, the staff is in action. They put Peter on a stretcher and take him to the emergency room for surgery. This is when it truly hits Tony. His kid could die. His amazing, funny, genius kid could die. Tony can't lose him...he can't.
"Peter!" he yells. Someone holds him back. "NO! Let go!" he screams.
"Tony. You need to calm down. It's ok. He's going to be ok. Tony. Calm down." someone whispers soothingly.
Tony looks up at Natasha.
"This is all my fault. I couldn't keep him safe." he whimpers.
"Tony. Look at me." Natasha commands. Tony looks up slowly.
"This is not your fault." she says sternly.
"Yes it is Nat. You don't understand. He's my responsibility. He's my kid. And I let Hammer take him. I let….I let." Tony stops, wheezing.
"Tony. Tony! You need to breath. Tony?" Natasha asks worriedly.
Tony puts his head in between his knees trying to regain control.
"I'm sorry. I'm so-rry." he whispers.
"Please don't apologize to me for having an anxiety attack." she tells him softly.
Tony looks away. God, he looks like a complete fool. So many months of locking away his emotions in front of the team and it all comes crumbling down in a few days.
"Tony!" Steve says, running over. The whole team runs over and crowds around him.
"Guys. Give him some space." Natasha says, glaring at them.
They back away slowly. "I'm fine." Tony tells them hoarsely.
Steve kneels down. "Tony. It's ok to not be ok." he tells him gently.
"I just want him to be ok." Tony whispers. "We all do." Clint tells him.
Bruce comes out and Tony stands up abruptly. Tony stumbles a bit but Steve steadies him. "How is he? Is he ok? How did it go?" Tony shoots.
Bruce holds up a hand. "He's fine. The surgery went fine. It was close but he's stable now. After the anesthesia wears off he will wake up. That will probably be in a few hours thanks to his healing capabilities." Bruce says.
"Bruce...would he have died if he didn't have his healing thing." Tony asks quietly.
Bruce hesitates but gives in. "The damage would have been too severe if he didn't have the fast healing. He would have died before we got there." he says softly.
Tears start to fill Tony's eyes. "But he's alive Tony. He has healing powers and he'll be ok in a few days. Try to get some sleep alright?" Bruce asks.
Tony nods. "Can I go into his room?" Tony asks. Usually, he wouldn't give two shits to ask, but he was too emotionally strained to care.
Bruce nods. "Ok. But only you."
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Tony could barely look at his kid. He was so pale and with the dozen machines surrounding him, he looked so small. So young. Tony grabs Peter's hand and reassures himself with Peter's pulse. He's alive. His kid was alive and his heart was beating. Tony sighs and collapses in the chair next to Peter's bed. It's only now that Tony realizes how tired he truly is. He hasn't slept in at least 80 hours at most 96. Tony tries to stay awake but soon, he's asleep on the side of Peter's bed.
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The first thing Peter registers when he wakes up is the absence of pain. He had grown so used to the constant pain that it was complete bliss just to feel normal. The memories come flooding back to him. Tony came and Peter's safe now. He's probably in the med bay. He opens his eyes but quickly shuts them due to the light.
"FRIDAY. Dim the lights to 10% please." he croaks.
"Hello, Mr. Parker. Of course." the AI says softly.
Peter smiles at the familiar AI voice.
"Can you call me Peter?" he requests the ceiling. "Of course Peter." the pleasant voice sounds.
He smiles and looks over to the side to find Tony fast asleep, his head right next to Peter's arm. Peter smiles and his eyes fill with love looking at him. His smile falters when he looks at Tony's face.
"Oh my God." he whispers
Peter is pretty sure Tony looks almost as bad as he looks. Tony's face is pale like he hasn't gone outside all week. Dark, almost black bags surround his eyes. His hair is unkempt and all over the place. It looks like someone wrestled him into a shower because at least he doesn't smell bad. He even looks tired as he sleeps. Tears fill Peter's eyes. Was this because he got kidnapped? Did his dad look like this because of him? Peter slowly traces his fingers around the bags under Tony's eyes. Tony must have been in some kind of sleep coma because he didn't even move. Peter traces the lines of worry around Tony's face. He wonders how many cups of coffee Tony drank when he was gone. Probably over a million to make Tony sleep like this. Peter tangles his fingers in Tony's hair and Tony leans into it. Peter smiles and continues to stroke his dad's hair.
"I love you dad." he whispers.
Peter falls asleep contently.
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Peter woke up again a few times. Every time he woke up, Tony was asleep. He sometimes just looked at Tony to reassure himself and sometimes played with Tony's hair until he fell asleep. Bruce caught him awake once and checked him but other than that, everyone left them alone. And Peter was grateful for that.
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When Tony woke up, it felt like he had slept for ages...which was really saying a lot. He looks over and finds Peter fast asleep.
"Hey FRI? How long was I asleep?" he whispers. Probably only a few hours right?
"You were asleep for approximately 43 hours boss." the AI informs him. "What! I was asleep for two days?!" he asks incredulously. The AI says nothing.
"Ok..ok..Did Peter wake up?" he asks. "Yes. He woke up several times but promptly fell back asleep." the AI tells him.
Tony feels like his AI isn't telling him something but he lets it go. He had been asleep when his kid had been awake. How stupid could he be?
Peter starts to stir a bit. "Boss. It appears that Peter is starting to wake up." FRIDAY informs him.
"Pete? Bud, you awake?" Tony asks softly. Peter's eyes flutter open.
"Oh hey, dad. Are you ok?" he yawns.
Tony's eyes fill with tears and one escapes. His kid was awake. He was talking and he was ok. "Tony? Are you ok? Hey…" Peter says, wiping Tony's tears.
"I'm ok. Seriously. It's fine. You don't have to worry anymore." Peter tells him gently.
"You scared the shit out of me kid." Tony tells him.
"Dad. I'm fine." Peter insists.
"I'm so damn proud of you kid. You're so strong and you held on." Tony whispers.
"Of course I did. Tony, you're the reason I held on. You were with me every moment. Without you...I would have died there." Peter tells him truthfully.
"Kid. Please don't say that. You've taken enough years off my life already." Tony says, half-smiling.
Peter grins but it slowly turns into a frown. "What is it? Are you hurt?" Tony asks frantically.
"Tony. You need to calm down. I'm fine." Peter tells him. Tony breaths and looks back up.
"Ok. What's wrong bud?" Tony asks his kid.
"Tony. I think I need to make you promise the same thing you made me promise." Peter tells him seriously.
"What? Oh." Tony whispers.
"You know what scared me the most? Not Hammer torturing me for information. Not the thought that you guys wouldn't find me. The thing that scared me the most is finding you asleep on the corner of my bed looking dead to the world because you didn't take care of yourself since I was gone." Peter tells him, blinking back tears.
Tony gathers Peter up in his arms. "I'm sorry Pete. I'm sorry I scared you. I promise I'll be better. But there won't be a next time ok? I will never let anything happen ever again." Tony promises.
"No Tony. You can't promise that. I choose the life of a superhero. Bad things are going to happen no matter what you do. I need you to promise to take care of yourself when something happens." Peter says, looking into Tony's chocolate eyes.
"Ok. I-I promise." Tony tells the teen.
Peter sighs and leans into Tony's chest.
"Are you ok?" Peter asks, looking up and examining the lighter bags around his dad's eyes.
"Seriously? You're asking me if I'm ok? Are you crazy kid?" Tony asks incredulously.
Peter giggles softly. "Seriously. I'm really more worried about you than me right now. When I woke up it really looked like you were dead." he says with a little fear in his eyes.
"I'm fine kid. I plan on sticking around a little longer. Right now, you need to worry about yourself. Get some sleep." Tony tells him.
"Don't go." Peter pleads.
"I'm not going anywhere bud. Scooch over a bit." Tony says, climbing in with Peter. Peter grins and scoots over to give Tony some space. They both lay down and Peter leans into Tony's chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"Tony?" he whispers.
"Mmmm."
"What happened to Hammer?"
Tony tenses. "He will never touch you ever again." he says, his tone hard.
"Did you...Did you kill him?"
Tony sighs. He can't lie to his kid. "Yeah, I did."
Peter thinks for a second. "Ok."
"I love you kid. You know that right?" Tony asks.
"I love you too dad." Peter says, falling asleep.
Tony's heart flutters in his chest.
"You're right Pete. Bad things are going to happen. But I promise I'll save you every time." Tony whispers.
With his kid wrapped safely in his arms, Tony falls into a dreamless sleep.
Wow, that took a long time to write! Don't worry this isn't the last chapter.
See you guys in the next one!