A/N: Marvel still owns all of the really cool characters.
Same trigger warning for violence.
Italics are thoughts
Bold words are comments made over the phone
Underlined and Italics are scenes being watched on the video
Chapter 7: A Few Instructions
"Oh... I'm just curious," Larry said. "Just HOW MUCH is Spider-Man worth to you?"
Peter gulped and breathed through his dizziness some more. He was trying to muster up any strength that he could, trying to take stock of just how well he might be able to fight back. The only problem was that he felt a little more dizzy as he did this, so deep breaths were important. He hated that Mr. Stark was getting pulled into this. He hated the pain. He hated feeling weak. Most of all, he hated the three men doing this to him. He focused on this hate, hoping it would fuel him and help him to find more strength somewhere deep within.
"So you know then, huh? You figured out that the kid was Spider-Man, so you thought you'd call me?" Tony's voice was full of agitation, but Peter could hear the anxiety hidden within the words. "What do you want? His Report Card from Avengers Tower or something? Let me tell you... that kid is worth a A LOT! You're messing with the wrong guy here!"
Peter wondered briefly who Mr. Stark meant by messing with "the wrong guy." Did he know Peter was ready to fight back? Or was he referring to himself as Iron Man? He realized his captors assumed Tony meant himself based on Larry's response...
"Oh, really?!" Larry said. "Is that what we're doing? Messing with the wrong guy?"
Curly snarled down at Peter as Larry spoke, his gun out. Peter noticed the man's finger twitching near the trigger, realizing he'd have to keep a close eye on him if he could break free.
"It's funny..." Larry went on.
Peter didn't really think any of this was funny.
"... you say Spider-Man is worth a lot, but you've done nothing but sit back in this time that he's been our guest," Larry stated. "Maybe he's not worth too much after all. Maybe we should just leave him for you with a bullet to the head? Based on his poor performance here today, I'm sure you could find someone better to take his place on the team!"
"Shut your damn mouth! Perhaps I wasn't clear... That kid is a very VALUABLE member of my team!" Tony insisted through the phone. "Cut the shit, huh? You know he's valuable... otherwise you wouldn't have called me! So... what do you really want?"
"Alright, Iron Man. Straight to the point then? You're clearly a busy man with better things to do today than to waste too much time on the little Spider-Boy," Larry eyed Peter with a look, enjoying the way Peter squirmed as he spoke.
Little did he know that Peter was starting to pull on his bound hands, and the tape was giving way to Peter's strength. It was just too bad that Peter's head was pounding as a result of the effort.
"The kid was carrying a check for $75,000. How about we add a couple of zeros to that number?" Larry continued. "You can have this little shit back for $7.5 million!"
Peter stopped his movements, staring at the man on the phone. "Is he serious?" Peter thought. "He can't actually think that Mr. Stark would..."
"Fine," Tony agreed. "Let me guess... You want that delivered in small bills? I deliver it alone or Peter's toast? That lame bullshit?"
The men in the room looked at each other in confusion, surprised at Tony's confident and arrogant tone.
"Is this guy for real?" Moe asked. "Does he care about Petey Boy or not?"
Larry shook his head, clearly frustrated that he didn't have Tony quivering in fear on the other end of the phone.
"You're not used to being the one taking orders, are you?" Larry spat out.
"You gave one order... $7.5 million. I'm trying to speed things up a bit. Let's get you on your way, so that I can get the kid back." Tony answered.
"No... I have a few more instructions than that!" Larry snapped. "The police should be bringing us a chopper to the building next door within the next 20-30 minutes. "Your job is to get that money on the chopper so that it is there waiting for us. Once we are safely on the chopper with YOUR money, we'll let you have Peter Spider."
"You think that I keep that money laying around?" Tony barked back. "You're plan seems a bit flawed..."
"You have a hell of a lot of nerve!" Larry started, only to have Tony finish with a surprising comment.
"... Your price is too low and you plan is SHIT! How about I make sure you get that chopper and wire $10 million to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands for you? No bills to trace... just an account with your name on it."
"Fuck yeah!" Curly cried out, excited about the unexpected turn of events.
Larry looked skeptical, "You don't even know my name. You can't create an account!"
"You know who you're talking to, right?" Tony boasted. "Who am I speaking with? Is this Grey, McMann, or Hanes? I'm guessing Jackson Grey. Based on my research, you seem to be the brains of your little operation. Small brain, but still..."
"How in the hell could you know THAT?" Larry shrieked (or maybe Peter should think of him as Grey now).
"Way to go, Mr. Stark. Cut these assholes down to size!" Peter thought, feeling the tape around his wrists and ankles give a little more.
"We all know, Grey. The police... the FBI agents gathering outside on the scene... you idiots haven't really kept a low profile," Tony remarked.
"That a mistake! We'll kill him!" Larry threatened, bringing his gun up towards Peter. The man was flustered, likely feeling pinned down knowing that the police and FBI were outside.
"No... KILLING Peter would be the mistake. I'm your best chance here, Grey. Take the offer! 10 million dollars in an offshore account. I'll even make sure the cops and feds let you catch your flight! What do you say? All you have to do is let. Peter. go! No more injuries! I want him alive! You do that... and the rest is yours!" Tony's voice sounded mostly calm, but Peter picked up on the urgency in his tone.
"It sounds too good to be true," Grey said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I think you're full of SHIT! No way... you're up to something!"
"You asked how much he's worth to me..." Tony insisted. "He's worth at least that much! You keep to your end of the bargain, and that money is all yours."
The robbers looked back and forth to each other, conflicted about whether or not to believe this.
"Fine! But I'm going to need a little something in advance... ten percent," Grey insisted. "I want 1 million waiting for us on that chopper, and the rest can go into that account. We see that money... and your little failure of a hero is all yours!"
"Deal." Tony responded.
If Mr. Stark said anymore, Peter didn't hear him. Grey's last comment about being a failure was the final motivation that Peter needed. He ripped through the tape around his arms and legs, and launched himself at the man he now knew to be Jackson Grey.
He just forgot to keep an eye on Curly and that twitchy trigger finger.
May was an absolute wreck. Tony had the phone on speaker, and she had to place the palm of her hand over her own mouth just to keep from making any noise. She didn't want Tony to take the phone off of speaker because of her. She needed to hear this part. She felt cut out of everything else that had to do with getting Peter out of that bank, so she would keep herself quiet and calm as much as possible. It was challenging at times, especially when Tony got cocky with his comments to the bank robbers. She knew that he would never intentionally do anything to get Peter hurt, but it was still hard to trust someone else with her boy's well-being. She was relieved that Tony increased the amount of money, as it seemed like something that interested the men negotiating with Tony. She was even more relieved to hear Tony agree to their expectations and instructions.
"Deal" Tony had responded. "I will..."
"No! What the hell does he think he's doing?!" Rhodes exclaimed, watching something through the video feed that only he and Tony could see.
"What?" Guys... what's going on?"
Tony tried yelling into the phone, "Peter, no! McMann, don't even think about..."
**BANG**
May couldn't stop the scream that escaped her lips. "PETER?!" she called, desperate to know if he was okay.
More gasps and screams could be heard from the crowd outside. People had heard the sound of the newest gunshot coming from inside of the bank.
The police and FBI were also scrambling around, trying to determine what was going on and whether or not the young hostage inside was still alive.
Tony had left the phone on, not wanting to end the call in case he might be able to learn the fate of his dear, young friend.
They all listened as groans and heavy breathing came over the speaker. There had clearly been a scuffle inside of the bank. Luckily for the people in the car, this kept their outbursts and cries of concern go unnoticed. The men still didn't know that they were being watched.
"What the hell did you do?" Tony called into the phone.
May couldn't take this anymore. She leaned over the seat and grabbed the glasses off of Rhodes' face.
"Hey..." the man protested, "May... don't!"
May quickly brought the glasses to her face, using her hands to keep them in place in case Rhodes would try to pull them back. Tony must have indicated to Rhodes that he should let her see because he didn't try to recover his high tech eye wear from her.
Rhodes whispered to her instead, "Watch quietly, May! We're still on speaker phone!"
May bit her lip as she was finally able to see what was going on.
Grey was on the floor, wriggling around in pain with his hand to his face. Blood seemed to be pouring from his nose.
"FUCK!" The man cursed loudly. "I think that stupid little shit broke my nose. Albert, what did you do? Tell me you didn't kill him?"
Peter was on the ground, holding his right leg and writhing in pain.
"Oh God... Peter!" May breathed out quietly. She was terrified to see Peter's appearance. Her poor boy was extremely pale, and she could see the blood (old and new) around the wound at his right shoulder. She could see the ripped tape around his wrists and feet, along with bruising from the tight bindings. She had no idea that they had tied Peter up, and the reality of that kind of cruelty to her nephew brought new tears to her eyes. The worst part, however, was the new blood that was coming from the outer side of Peter's upper right leg.
Grey sat up, looking from McMann to Peter, "Please tell me you didn't hit anything important! I will kill you if we lose that $10 million!""
"So we're using names now, huh?" Albert McMann shook his head. "Don't worry JACKSON, he'll be fine! It's just another flesh wound. It was either that or watch as he tore your head off!"
"That was awesome!" Hanes laughed, causing the other men to look at him with annoyance. "Oh, come on! You saw him... he just pulled free from his binds and leaped towards Jackson like a real little spider attacking his prey! I mean really... that little Avenger wannabe launched at Jackson, and then *BANG* Albert brought him back down!" The man chuckled some more, "You can't pay for that kind of entertainment! And I had a front row seat!"
The other men just shook their heads at Xander's continued amusement.
"HEY!" Tony called into the phone. "You better be sure that the kid is alright! If he dies, you get NOTHING! Do you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah... don't worry, Stark. The kid will be fine!" McMann called into the phone.
"What were you thinking? You could've hit his femoral artery! You need to make sure he doesn't bleed out!" Tony scolded.
"Tony, no!" Rhodes whispered harshly.
"Femoral artery?" Grey suddenly asked. "How the hell did you know that he was shot in the leg?"
Tony closed his eyes, smacking his head on the back of the seat as if to reprimand himself for the mistake. "Umm... I didn't. I just meant you could have hit the femoral or any other important artery. You can't just shoot him every time he's about to get the better of you!" Tony tried, hoping they would buy his lie.
They didn't.
The men looked around the bank, back and forth and up and down.
"I don't think so... I think you can see us!" Grey accused. "Where are you? If you think you're going to come in here and break our deal, so help me... I will kill the kid right before your very eyes!"
Peter had stopped moving, looking to be unconscious once again. As he spoke, Grey had recovered his own gun and was moving towards Peter. The men inside were clearly afraid that Iron Man had somehow infiltrated the area and was coming to get them.
"Relax, Grey!" Tony called to him. "I've had eyes on you for awhile now. It started as a way to try and assist the police, but I cut them off as soon as you started to rummage through Peter's things. You didn't actually believe that I wasn't keeping a tab on things in there, did you?"
"How... how did you... where is it?" Grey called out.
"Don't worry about that! It doesn't really matter at this point! Do we still have a deal or not? The authorities heard the shot inside, and you're supposed to get your chopper soon! If you want that money, I need to update the police and FBI in order to get things moving!" Tony explained. "Now you know that I will be watching you! If you hurt another hair on Peter's head, I will lower the amount. You're lucky I haven't lowered the amount already since you shot him again!"
"Fine! We'll patch him up! Don't worry!" Grey said, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe the blood from his nose. "You do your part and we'll do ours!"
"One more final detail... when the time comes, I am going to meet you on that roof! No Iron Man suit! Just me and the first million!" Tony tried.
"You kidding me? No way!" Grey argued.
"Someone needs to be there to help Peter when you let him go!" Tony reasoned. "You give him to me on that roof, or I won't finalize the transfer to the account in the Caymans!"
"Shit!" Grey spat. "Fine, Stark. But no tricks! You pull a fast one and you get him back with an extra hole in the head! Is that clear?"
"Crystal," Tony said. Tony looked at the time. "I'll meet you up there in about 15 minutes. As soon as that chopper lands, I better see you making your way over to it with Peter!"
"Fine!" Grey said, ending the call once and for all.
Tony, May, and Rhodes all let out a breath.
May took off the glasses and handed them back to Rhodes, "Here... I've seen enough."
Rhodes gave her a sympathetic look as he took back his glasses and placed them back on his face.
Tony looked out the window to see Captain Jenkins heading back to the car with FBI Agent Samuels right beside him.
Tony sighed, "Now I just have to get the FBI to agree to all of this." Tony gave a smirk to May and Rhodes, "I think I have a plan... one that I think they will agree to." He began to open the car door and step out. May and Rhodes followed his lead. "I just hope I can make all of this happen before our time runs out"
Jenkins did the best he could to explain things to the FBI. Agent Samuels was naturally skeptical of the explanation of Tony's presence, but he seemed to drop that since there were other things to worry about.
Samuels was also suspicious of the lost video feed, telling Jenkins that it seemed strange for any Stark tech to simply stop working.
Jenkins shrugged and changed the subject, "They want a helicopter. We need to have it on the roof next door by around 4:30... that's in about 20 minutes already. It should be on the way." Jenkins couldn't believe just how long this had all been going on. Time was passing quickly. By the time the chopper arrived, it would be over six hours since this had all started.
"You agreed to give them a chopper?" Samuels asked.
"We needed a way to get them outside," Jenkins explained. "It seemed like a good opportunity to take them out and get to the kid."
Samuels nodded, looking doubtful. "Why the roof next door?" he asked.
Jenkins looked up, "They're smart. They must have done their research. There isn't enough room for a chopper to land on the roof of the bank; plus, there's no way to get to the roof from inside the building. They'll have to go out back into the alley and use the fire escape on the neighboring building to get up to the roof. It'll also be tricky to set up any snipers out back, not discreetly anyway. It's a small alley, and there aren't many windows to use in those buildings... none we have access to anyway."
"Leave that to us," Samuels said. "I'll have my team scope out some places so that we can see them come out. We cannot afford to let these men get away."
Agent Samuels looked over to the car where Tony and the others were meeting, "I'm not sure how I feel about Stark. I get the feeling that he knows more than he is telling us. Do you think he will do anything to make trouble?"
Jenkins shook his head, "No... Tony Stark cares too much about..."
*BANG*
Jenkins and Samuels heard the gunshot from inside of the bank, and both men rushed back over to the mobile command center.
Agent Samuels shouted at the team inside, "Did you get the video back yet? What is going on in there? We need to know who is shooting!"
The officers and agents inside all shook their heads, indicating that there was no way to see who took the shot.
"Damn it!" Samuels yelled, looking back at Jenkins.
Jenkins was looking over at the car, and Samuels studied the police captain as he looked at it.
Jenkins caught the other man staring at him, "What is it, Agent?"
"Why have they been taking so much time in your car? I can't help the feeling that there is something that you aren't telling me, Captain." Samuels accused.
Captain Jenkins shrugged, looking a little nervous, "I was just wondering if they could hear that shot from inside the car."
Samuels nodded, "They should have noticed that something happened. This crowd out here made enough of a fuss." He eyed Jenkins carefully, "Why wouldn't they come out to see what's going on?"
Jenkins shrugged, choosing to say nothing in response.
"You know what I think?" Samuels said, "I think Stark knows exactly what's going on in there!"
"Oh... I don't know..." Jenkins said, struggling to find something to say.
"How about we go find out?" Samuels asked. He didn't wait for Jenkins to answer. Instead, he began walking towards the car.
Jenkins jogged to catch up to the man.
As they approached, Tony and the others were exiting the car.
"Stark!" Samuels called, stepping up in front of Tony as he was out of the car. "We need to talk! Despite what the captain says, I think you know more about what's going on inside that bank!"
Tony leveled Agent Samuels with a confident stare, "It's true. I do tend to know more than other people..."
Samuels rolled his eyes.
"...and that is true in this case as well," Tony told him. "Your timing is perfect, actually. We need to talk to you, too, Agent!"
"Speak," the man said.
"The guys inside found my intern's phone and thus... my phone number," Tony explained, looking at Jenkins and hoping the man would realize that they were still sticking to that story.
"Did they call you?!" Samuels asked, his voice showing clear agitation. "You need to tell us these things!"
"I'm telling you now," Tony explained. "Didn't really have time to tell you earlier."
"What did you say? You know there was another gunshot, right?" Samuels accused.
Tony had a worried look on his face, but answered, "Yeah... that wasn't anything I said. The kid wasn't happy with their demands, so he tried to fight them."
"He what?" Jenkins asked with concern, "Is he alright?"
Tony nodded, "He should be okay, but we need to get him medical attention sooner rather than later. Apparently, they shot him in the leg."
Samuels shook his head, "That's a lot for one kid to take."
The others stayed quiet, keeping the fact that Peter wasn't an average kid to themselves.
Samuels furrowed his brows in thought, "Wait a minute, Stark... you said the kid wasn't happy with their demands. What demands?"
"They wanted me to put $7.5 million dollars on their chopper," Tony explained.
"Are you kidding me?" Samuels looked at his watch, "We don't have enough time to pull that off! Tell me you didn't agree to that!"
"Of course not!" Tony said, acting offended. "I offered them more money."
"YOU WHAT?!" Samuels and Jenkins said in unison, both shocked.
"Don't worry! I have a plan!" Tony explained. "It's quite simple actually, but I'm going to need you guys to let me take things from here."
"NO! No way!" Samuels argued.
"Relax, AGENT!" Tony commanded. "You're going to like my plan... I promise!"
Samuels and Jenkins shared a look. Both men realizing that they had no other choice but to trust Iron Man with whatever happened next.
A/N: So what is Tony's plan going to be? Will they let Peter go once they're on the roof?
These questions will be answered with the next chapter. I hope to have it up no later than Tuesday afternoon. In the meantime, feel free to review and share your thoughts!