WARNING: This chapter contains the torture of a minor.
The alleyway was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard was those of pedestrians walking home. It was late, though the streets were lit up by streetlights. The alley, however, was dark. Anything inside of it was hidden by the darkness from those on the street. It was one of those in which people scurried past, not wanting to even look down it. It was ominous, and promised danger.
The quiet was broken up by the sound of engines. A blur of red, gold, and blue appeared in the alley and came to a sudden stop. A man dressed entirely in armor stood flying in the air for a moment, holding onto a man dressed in blue and carrying a large shield. They fell to their feet as a man with wings came swooping into the alleyway, carrying another man who was in sweats and a t shirt.
Tony held up his hand and a light appeared from it, allowing them to see.
"Where is he?" asked Steve, as it became apparent that the alley was empty save for them.
There was a long silence, "His GPS says he's here," Tony said lowly, sounding confused, "Let me scan for him."
There was a soft rumbling as a black car pulled into the alley. Natasha and Clint hopped out of it, looking tense.
"I can't find his vital signs," Tony said. His faceplate slid up. He was frowning, "But his GPS says he's right here."
"He has a GPS?" asked Sam. He was watching as Natasha walked down the alley, as if in search for something.
Tony gave a slight noise of indignation, "Of course he does! I put one in his suit so I could find him in case something like this happened! The kid never calls us, even if he should. If he called us, he must have gotten into some bad trouble."
He sounded worried, which was something that Sam didn't hear from the man often, so he decided not to ask if Peter knew about the tracking device or not.
"Well, there was obviously a fight," Natasha said as she bent over and picked up a dart with a gloved hand. She frowned at it and inspected it closely, "Peter doesn't carry these around. Someone was trying to sedate him."
"It would take something powerful to sedate Peter," Bruce pointed out. His voice was stiff. There was an anger underlying it, and it made everyone just a bit nervous.
Steve nodded in agreement, "And they had to have gotten him out of here quickly… it's only been a few minutes since Peter called."
"His GPS," Tony was muttered to himself, sounding confused. It was rare that the man was confused.
"Yeah," Clint spoke up suddenly. He'd been walking towards Natasha to get a look at the dart in her hands, and had spotted something on the ground. He held up a small black object covered in a sticky substance, "Found it."
A long silence. Tony stared at the object in dismay. Steve's fists clinched in anger. Bruce took deep, calming breaths.
"They took his GPS out," Tony breathed. He walked over and scanned the chip, making sure it was Peter's. Once he got the affirmative, he took a deep breath and his faceplate fell down, obscuring any emotion from the others.
"And he's hurt," Steve pointed out. He was tense and anger and worried, and it was all evident on his face. Peter was more than a teammate to the man, and he got furious when any of his teammates were hurt. Peter was his charge, his responsibility, "That's blood."
A low, guttural sound came from Bruce. If possible, Steve tensed further. Sam put a hand on Bruce's arm.
"Bruce. Man, calm down," Sam said calmly, "Don't get all Hulk on us right now. That's the last thing we need."
"Take him back to the tower, Sam," Tony said, "And Bruce, don't you dare ruin my tower."
"I want to help," Bruce said. He looked a bit green.
Steve shook his head, "This isn't a job for Hulk. Go home."
For a moment, it almost looked like Steve's words would push the man over the edge. He shook with fury and Tony cursed loudly, flying towards the man in case Hulk made an appearance, but Bruce simply took a deep breath and steeled Steve with a look.
"I don't have to be Hulk to help find Peter," Bruce said quietly, though it was clear that he was going to obey.
"Hey!" Natasha huffed as she walked forward. There was an annoyed look on her face, "We are all going to help find Peter. He's our teammate. No one is going home."
A short moment of silence passed. Everyone stared at Natasha in slight surprise. It was rare that anyone, even Natasha, defied Steve's orders lately.
Yet, Steve nodded. He took a deep breath and steeled his expression.
It was painfully obvious just how worried everyone was.
"Tony, fly around the city and scan for Peter. Sam, follow him in case he finds Peter to help. Alert us if you find anything. Clint, get Coulson on the phone immediately. Natasha and Bruce, get as many of these darts or anything that you can find that could give us a clue as to what happened. Find Peter."
Everyone set to work before the words finished falling out of Steve's mouth.
A few hours later, they met back up at the tower with no leads. Bruce was in the lab, researching the darts, and Tony had disappeared off to his own rooms to make some phone calls. When asked who he was calling, he wouldn't respond. Natasha had disappeared off somewhere, though when he asked Clint, Steve was informed that the spy was currently sharpening her knives. Bucky sat in the chair opposite of Steve, fists clinched, Lucy sitting in his lap silently.
"We've got nothing," Steve said, clenching his jaw as he gripped the back of a chair roughly, "Tony couldn't find him. Whoever took him obviously knew what they were doing."
"I thought this might happen."
Coulson had arrived shortly after being called. He'd gotten the rundown by Steve, and had been mostly silent ever since, deep in thought.
There was a long moment where no one said anything, and then Bucky said in an icy cold voice that sent shivers down everyone's spines, "You thought this might happen?"
They were all still worried about Bucky and the whole Winter Soldier thing. It was one of the reasons why Bucky didn't often leave the house. Everyone, even though no one outright mentioned it, was worried he might snap.
So, at his tone, Steve immediately tensed up and put a hand on Bucky's shoulder.
"It's why I gave him the pen," Coulson turned a hard eye on Bucky, unafraid, "Spiderman has been getting a lot of media attention lately since he's been seen with the Avengers. Many people have been speculating that you are harboring The Winter Soldier. At SHIELD, we were worried that HYDRA may try to get to Barnes through Peter. It seems we were right."
"What does that mean?" Steve asked. His grip on Bucky's shoulder tightened as images flashed through his mind.
A short moment of silence resided, and then Bucky spoke quietly, "They're going to torture him. For information. About me."
"Most likely, yes," Coulson said with a nod. His voice was soft, sounding more concerned than Steve had ever heard him, "I'm calling in some of my agents to the case. This is SHIELD's number one priority at the moment. Peter has a lot of information that they could get out of him."
Sam stood up quickly, eyes glinting dangerously, "Peter would never sell us out."
"I never said that. That doesn't mean they won't try," Coulson countered, "They have no qualms on torturing teenagers. The faster we find him, the more likely it is that we can get him back in one piece."
Steve felt sick at those words. He sat down quickly and shook his head to try and clear out the horrible images that attacked his mind. He didn't want to think of that. Peter was going to be fine.
"We'll find him," Coulson said sternly, looking right at Steve.
All of the Avengers cared about Peter, but only Steve had Peter listed as his charge.
The door opened and Tony walked in swiftly, "I have called all my contacts. They'll be here shortly. Katniss called some people too. JARVIS is currently searching through cameras, seeing if any caught Peter or his kidnappers leaving that alley. I'm also-"
He stopped at he spotted Coulson and pointed at him, "What was in that pen?"
They all paused now, turning to Coulson. It was a question that had been plaguing them for a while, and now that something had happened to Peter and Coulson had admitted he'd suspected it might happen, it was easy to conclude that the pen was definitely important.
"Does it have a GPS in it?" Clint asked, eyes hard.
Coulson shook his head, opened his mouth as if to respond, then shut it. He sighed and reached in his pocket, pulling out a pen identical to the one he gave Peter. He pulled out a pocket knife and gently pricked the tip of his index finger with it. He turned the pen to the wall, pressed the drop of blood to the side, and a laser erupted from tip.
Everyone jumped back in surprise, and Tony let out a girlish shriek as a hole was pierced through the wall.
Coulson pressed the button on the bottom of the pen, and the laser turned off.
"What. Was. That?" Tony asked, staring at the wall with wide eyes.
"This is a new gadget we've started using at SHIELD. It's used as a last ditch devise. Seemingly harmless, it only activates when it comes in contact with blood," Coulson explained.
"Blood," Tony said simply, frowning, "So, if Peter wants to use it, he has to be bleeding."
"He'll be bleeding," Coulson said certainly.
Steve stood up abruptly, "We need to find him. Now."
Peter wasn't sure how long he was unconscious, but when he came to, he was strapped to a cold table in a dark room. His suit was still on, but his mask was off and he could feel that a section of his suit had been cut off.
He let out a groan. His head was pounding and his entire body felt sore.
"Hello?" he called, head feeling fuzzy. He pulled on his arms and groaned as he felt them tied down. He pulled hard, trying to put some of his super strength on them, but they weren't budging.
He frowned and groaned. His entire body was sluggish, and though he knew he should be panicking, he wasn't. He couldn't drag up the energy to feel any emotion.
A door opened and Peter's eyes drifted towards it. Light filtered into the room and an indistinguishable figure walked in.
"My, my, awake already?" an unrecognizable voice spoke. Peter frowned, but didn't respond, "Looks like we'll need to bump up the dosage next time."
His mouth didn't seem to work. He mumbled something, but even he wasn't sure what it was.
This didn't seem to bother the voice. The figure slowly walked up to the table that Peter was on and patted his cheek like he was a child. His vision slowly adjusted, until he could see a woman standing above him, smirking widely.
She was not what he expected as his kidnapper. It wasn't the woman from the alley, that much he was sure, but they were probably related. She was petite, though she held an air of power around her. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her dark eyes were sharp. A smirk covered her pale face and she was wearing what looked to be a lab coat.
"Do you know why you are here?" she asked him. Her voice was like ice as it seeped into his ears and sent shivers down his body.
It was only then that he realized something. His suit was gone. He was stripped down to his boxers, and he thanked whoever was out there that those were left on. They had taken his suit, and with it his webs. And the odd pen. Despite still being oblivious to its importance, he felt like he needed it on him. His com was gone, so contacting the Avengers was out. And-
He was pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden stinging across his cheek. He gasped, eyes snapping towards the woman who rubbed her hand gently. Had she really just slapped him? Wow, not cool.
"I asked you a question," she growled, eyebrows raised, voice laced with a deadly poison.
His mind had cleared a bit. Surprisingly, the slap had helped push back some of the fog. He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak. This time, it was understandable, if sounding rather slurred, "Lemme guess, you're big fans and wanted to have a play date."
She let out a growl. The previous, slightly playful expression etched on her face had disappeared so fast that Peter wasn't even sure it had been there at all. She backed away from him and moved into an area of the room hidden by shadows. He frowned as he heard the distinct sound of a drawer opening, and she rummaged around it, the sound of metal clinking together echoing through the room and sending dread down his spine.
"Ah," he heard her sigh in satisfaction before making her way back to him, her body slowly emerging from the shadows. In her hands, she held small dagger, sharp and glinting off the slight light coming in the room from the hall.
After a moment, she came back to standing beside Peter. He jumped as she lightly pressed the edge of the knife against the exposed skin on his arm.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Didn't your parents ever tell you not to play with knives?" he asked, laughing nervously.
"Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," she told him, voice suddenly cheery, "I am going to ask you some questions. You are going to answer them. If you don't, we'll play a game called 'How long can Spiderman hold out before he breaks'! Understand?"
Peter swallowed thickly and glanced up at the woman. The fog had completely cleared now and he pulled against the restraints, trying desperately to use his strength to break them.
"Oh, don't bother with that," the woman taunted, smirking at him, "Those restraints were created to hold The Hulk."
He closed his eyes and his arms fell limp as she dug the knife into his arm. He sucked in a sharp breath at the sudden pain but made no noise other than that.
He would heal. He could handle this.
"Now, what do you know about the Winter Soldier?"
His eyes shot open. He looked at the woman with disbelief, "What?"
"The Winter Soldier," she repeated. Her eyes were alight with excitement and the knife dug farther into his flesh. Drops of blood sprung to the surface, leaking slowly down his skin, "What do you know about him? Where is he staying? How did he break free?"
"I-I" he felt a little light-headed. The entire situation was so surreal. He bit his lip hard, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
This was Hydra, he remembered. They were the ones who had hurt Bucky. He wasn't giving them anything.
She let out a growl and pulled the knife up. He breathed in slight relief, only for a scream to be torn from his lips when she dug the dagger into his thigh, all the way to the hilt. Pain shot up his body as he was stabbed and he pulled roughly at the restraints. A cry of pain echoed through the room as she tore the knife out of him.
He felt blood leak out of the wound. It was warm and sticky as it covered his thigh and he focused on his breathing, squeezing his eyes shut.
He would not crack.
"You are part of the Avengers, Spiderman," the woman growled, grabbing his hair roughly and whispering in his ears, "Everyone knows it. You've been seen with them. I know that Captain America is hiding The Winter Soldier. You know where he is, and you will tell us where he is and how to find him. Okay?"
He sucked in a breath and opened his eyes, staring straight at her, "You must be really dumb if you think stabbing me will make me tell you anything."
She let out an angry snarl, as if an animal, and tossed the dagger away. It hit the wall and bounced down, clattering onto the floor.
She suddenly reached out, wrapping her fingers around his throat and digging them in. He gasped, his air being withheld from him as she choked him and leaned forward, eyes glinting dangerously.
"Listen here, Spiderman. This is HYDRA. We can do things to you will ruin you. We can kill you, your family, your friends. We can erase your memories and force you to kill them yourself. We can torture you until you go insane. And we will if you don't tell us everything you know about The Winter Soldier."
His heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. He couldn't breathe. His throat yearned for air. He pulled at the restraints as hard as he could, desperate to escape. Black spots were appearing around his vision, slowly pulling him away…
And then the hand restricting his respiration was gone. He gasped for air, filling his lungs with it, and coughed violently.
"Why don't you think about it?" she asked before swiftly moving away from him, strolling to the door, and slamming it shut behind her as she left.
Peter breathed deeply, shaking, shivering. He could feel the stab wound on his leg slowly but surely healing already. His mind raced with thoughts.
He knew what she said was one hundred percent true. Bucky was living proof.
Still, he wasn't about to sell out Bucky. Bucky was his friend. He was more than a friend. He was family. He was like an honorary uncle or brother.
Besides, Peter was confident in his team's ability to take him down if they needed to. He knew he wasn't strong enough to beat them, and they were the only family he had out there. They could protect Gwen. He didn't need to worry about her.
They could do whatever they wanted to him. As long as his family was safe.
AN: So sorry this took so long. Like I said in the last chapter, I've been extremely busy with school. Senior Year is killing me, guys! This story will probably be slow on the updates, but I have not forgotten about it, so fear not! Literally, this chapter was written over several weeks. The beginning was written a long time ago.
I know that I've gotten several offers to be my Beta reader. I have not chosen yet (mainly because I've been too busy to sit down and choose), so this chapter has not been beta-ed. I will choose soon, so those who have offered, be on the lookout for my response. Before the next chapter, I will choose and you can start editing. I would have waited to put this out until I had a beta but I felt like you guys have waited long enough.
So, this chapter answered a few questions. It wasn't as long as I wanted, and I didn't get to Deadpool, but don't worry, Deadpool will be appearing in the next chapter. I promise.