Author's Note: I know, I know, my update speed leaves something to be desired. Life has been super busy. I'm hoping for things to calm down soon. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"Is this what family is like: the feeling that everyone's connected, that with one piece missing, the whole thing's broken?"

― Trenton Lee Stewart

The world he comes back to is fuzzy and painful.

His body is sore and his temple is aching. As he forces his eyes open, he tries to sit up, only to find himself restrained.

"Mr. Parker, I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere." A raspy voice informs him and Peter's eyes fly open as he sees Norman Osborn standing over him. The founder of Oscorp looks awful—his skin is pallid and there are dark circles under his eyes and his eyes are cloudy.

"What do you want?" Peter tries sound like he does when he's Spider-Man—confident, in control, at ease—but it comes out more terrified than he would like. The truth is, he's trapped here. He can't break free of these restraints and as far as Norman Osborn knows, he's a normal teenager. He can't let his identity be compromised. He has to wait for help or find a way out that won't reveal that he has super powers.

"It's simple, Mr. Parker," Norman's lips turn upwards in a sinister parody of a grin, "You're the key to saving my life."

"Okay, crazy guy," Peter hisses, trying to think of a better come back. He's been calmer charging into battle against the Lizard, the puns easily falling from his lips. But now, trapped in this creepy lab, Peter's got nothing but his wits to get him out of this. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"You're Richard Parker's son," Osborn states, like it's the most obvious fact in the world. With a grin, he adds, "Your blood is the key."

"How so?" Peter presses and God, he hopes Bruce is okay, that he's not trapped here too—

What would Norman Osborn do if he could harness the power of the Hulk?

The heart rate monitor he's hooked up to starts beeping urgently and Osborn sighs softly, "Relax, Peter. With any luck, you'll be able to go home by the morning." He motions for a few nurses to come over and before the teenager can say anything else, he feels the sharp prick of a needle. The drug surges like fire through his veins and the world around him grows dark.

"It'll all be over soon, Peter. You'll see."

But before Peter can reply, he's whisked away into unconsciousness.

"This is all my fault." Bruce growls and Natasha shoots him a worried glance. Coming over to him, she places a hand on the scientist's shoulder, trying to ground him in the moment.

"Breathe." She coaches softly.

They found the scientist bruised, battered and this close to Hulking out in the middle of Central Park. How Bruce hadn't given into his rage and destroyed the city was beyond the super spy's comprehension. The amount of self-control the doctor has—it's truly incredible.

"I let him get taken." Bruce continues, shrugging off her grip. "I was right there and I—"

"You didn't Hulk out," Tony points out, though his voice is tight and laced with frustration. The billionaire inventor is leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest. "That's what counts."

Pepper rests her head against his shoulder, the black sparkly dress she wore to dinner is still on her, though her heels have been kicked off and put aside. The former CEO of Stark Industries is grief-stricken. First, they'd come close to losing Gwen and now Peter is gone?

Bruce shakes his head, exhaling a long breath, "We have to get him back."

"We will." Steve replies, trying to keep the situation in check. The last thing anyone needs is for the team to go off and get revenge without a plan. There would be collateral damage and Norman Osborn would probably be killed. Not that Steve didn't want to get his hands on Norman Osborn himself, but there were laws and protocols that had to be followed.

"Peter is our main priority." Natasha states softly, glancing at Clint who nodded his head in agreement.

Turning to Cap, Clint asks, "What's our plan?"

Steve thinks for a moment. They should contact Fury and wait for the Director's orders, but with every second that passes, Peter's life could be slipping away. They have to do something.

Now.

"Can you track him Tony?" Steve questions and the inventor shakes his head.

"Peter didn't have his phone with him so I can't use that. We still got those goons downstairs—"

"They won't talk though." Steve counters, remember how his own interrogation had failed utterly when the henchman simply refused to talk, despite the numerous threats the super soldier had given.

"Give me five minutes." Natasha states, eerily calm as she turns to go down the elevator.

"She'll get a location." Clint replies, smirking somewhat.

Steve should protest—hurting people during interrogations is definitely against the rules—but he can't bring himself to care. All that matters now is getting Peter back home, safe and sound. If that means breaking a few rules here and there, well, Steve can't really complain.

"So, the plan?" Tony prompts.

"We bring him home," Steve states softly, "And we bring Norman Osborn down."

Tony smirks, "I'm liking that part. The bastard is mine."

"Just bring him back in one piece."

"No promises."

"I'll call Fury." Clint starts, pulling out his phone, but Steve shakes his head.

"No. Not yet."

Clint's gaze widens, "You want to break protocol? You?"

"I'd rather beg for forgiveness than ask for permission right now." Steve replies, chuckling somewhat.

Clint nods, "You got it, Cap."

"I need to come with you." Bruce starts and immediately, Steve shakes his head only for Bruce to continue, "Steve, please, it's my fault this happened—"

"Bruce, you did what you had to—"

"I failed Peter once," Bruce growls, and for a second, Steve sees the rage bubbling under the surface of the calm, soft-spoken scientist. As his gaze pierces Cap, Bruce adds, "I'm not going to do it again. Now, I'm going with you. Understand?"

It's useless to argue and Steve can't help but sympathize with his teammate so he relents, "Understood."

Natasha returns, wiping a bit of blood from her knuckles with a paper towel. She moves to the computer in the room and quickly accesses the map feature. Typing in coordinates, she points to the screen displaying an abandoned warehouse.

"He's being held here. It's heavily guarded. They don't know anything about our involvement with Peter though."

"They shouldn't," Pepper muses quietly, "They don't know that Peter and Spider-Man are one and the same."

"Let's keep it that way." Steve orders.

"But isn't it going to be odd if the whole team shows up?" Pepper presses, "I mean, one or two I could see, but all of you? They'll know Peter is important—"

"I'm not staying behind." Bruce snaps.

"None of us are." Natasha replies, "So, we'll just have to deal with the fallout later."

"And every second we stand here debating about it," Bruce starts, "The longer Peter is with them and is enduring who knows what—!"

"All right." Steve takes charge, trying to calm his team's rattled nerves. They're terrified for Peter, of course. If they lose the kid—

No. Unacceptable. They won't lose him. They'll find him in time and save him before Norman Osborn does too much damage.

"Let's go bring Peter home, okay?"

The team just nods.

It's time to end this.

"Let me get this straight," Alexander Pierce taps his fingers against his desk rhythmically, trying not to completely lose his temper. He leans back in his plush chair and forces himself to take a deep breath in and then slowly releases it. Losing his temper will accomplish nothing. He needs to remain calm and in control. "You have lost contact with the entire Avengers team?"

Nick Fury, for his part, remains unfazed by his superior's disbelieving tone. Then again, Fury has always been that kind of man who refuses to reveal what he truly thinks. He's always displaying a poker face and sometimes, not even Pierce can figure out what is going on in that mind of his.

"Nick?"

"That's what I'm telling you, yes." Fury finally responds.

"I see. And how long have they been ignoring you?"

"About two hours, sir."

"And Barton and Romanoff—?"

"No word from them either."

Another deep breath in, another slow exhale out.

"So, essentially, you've lost your entire team and you can't tell me where they are?" The rage is there, bubbling under the surface. H.Y.D.R.A. needs the team to fulfill their plans. If the Avengers are gone, then all the years of hard work will have been for nothing.

And that is simply unacceptable.

"I'm working on tracking them, but it seems Stark has used some sort of cloaking device—" Fury explains.

"Then hack it!" Alexander shouts, losing control of himself.

"It's Stark," Fury replies dryly, unfazed by his boss' tone, "You really expect us to be able to hack Stark's tech?"

"I don't care what you have to do, just find them! The last thing we need is the team going rogue!"

Fury just nods and leaves the room.

Alexander leans back in his chair and grimaces. Without the Avengers, the plan to put H.Y.D.R.A. back into power is in danger of succeeding. It'll set them back months, if not years.

For now, he just has to hope that Fury will track them down.

"Damn it all." He swears softly.

Nothing to do but wait.

Author's Note: Next chapter, the rescue mission starts! Please review if you have a moment. Thanks!