The call came even sooner than she'd expected, but it wasn't a surprise.

"Tony…?"

Stark looked calm, but she knew better.

"Agent Romanoff. Why is FRIDAY reporting to me that my son is stuck in an elevator with a bunch of mobsters?"

"He's fine, Tony," she said. "I have eyes on him…"

"So do I." Both of them were getting a feed from FRIDAY that showed the footage from the elevator security camera. The image right that moment was Peter standing in one corner of the elevator with seven men. One Tony recognized – even in the darkened room of the car – as Joel King. The rest he hadn't known, but now FRIDAY was already scanning facial recognition and giving him names. "What happened?"

"It isn't a play on Peter," she said. "And it doesn't seem to be any kind of play on any of the others, either. Barnes is at the desk in the convention center lobby talking to the people there, and they told him that the elevator has been giving them trouble the last few weeks – they've had the company out to look at the wiring a few times, now. "

"Why aren't you there?"

"Because I'm keeping a low profile. The mob's going to figure out what happened, soon, too, and they're going to be at the desk wanting answers, as well. If they see me – or someone else that they recognize – standing there, they're going to wonder what SHIELD or the Avengers want with the people on the elevator. None of them know Barnes, so he's perfect to be front man on this."

It was a measure of how much her attitude toward the man had changed, obviously.

"How long?"

"They're working on it."

"I should call Peter and check on him…"

"And draw attention to him?" Natasha asked, shaking her head. "Right now, he's just the kid in the corner. King has been ignoring him, so he's obviously not intending to tell his buddies who Peter is. We need to keep him low key and not-"

"Peter is receiving a transmission…" FRIDAY interrupted.

"What? A call?" Tony asked, and Natasha heard the question.

"On his watch."

OOOOOOOOOO

The car was still dimly lit and fairly quiet. The west coast mobster – and thanks to Alec Peter knew his name was Nicholai Varsto – was watching as one of his men spoke with someone down in the lobby, but Peter had put his phone away and was trying to stay out of the focus of any of them. He knew without being told that it was the best way for him to keep himself safe in what Alec had suggested could become a tinderbox if anyone figured out who he was. Aside from King, of course. One of King's men was also talking softly to someone on his cell, apparently telling someone up on the penthouse floor what had happened.

"He won't tell anyone who you are,' Alec assured him. "This shouldn't take long, I imagine, and then they'll go back to their meeting and you can get on with the competition."

"Yeah."

Suddenly, in one of those pauses in conversation that always seem to happen at just the wrong minute, there was a soft chime that came from Peter's watch, and everyone looked over at him.

"Peter? Where are you? Lunch is being served and you're missing it."

He clapped his hand over his watch, looking at the seven men who were suddenly all looking at him.

"What was that?" Varsto asked.

"My… it was my watch," Peter said, holding it up to allow them to see it. "My friend Ned was telling me that lunch was being served."

"Your watch?" one of the younger men repeated, raising an eyebrow. "How did-"

"Marie's watch monitors her heartbeat and tells her when she's been sitting in one place for too long," King interrupted, dismissively. "Technology these days is insane. Her phone will buzz her if her blood sugar starts dropping." He looked at Peter. "You should answer your friend so he doesn't get worried."

Peter stared at him, but Alec gave him a purely mental nudge and the boy nodded.

"Yeah. I will." He held his wrist up to his mouth and pressed the comm button. "Hey, Ned. I'm in the elevator."

"Well get up here. This is amazing." He couldn't see his friend, but he could hear how cheerful he was – and it seemed out of place with how tense Peter was, really. "I don't know what the guys on the penthouse floor are eating, but if these are the leftovers, I'm obviously at the wrong convention."

Peter looked over at Varsto, who smirked when he realized that the disembodied voice on the other end of the conversation was talking about them. They were the only ones on that floor, after all, and Peter had seen them hit the button for the penthouse, so it wasn't a stretch that he would know it, too.

"Um… we're stuck in the elevator…" he said.

"Holy shit. Seriously?"

"Yeah. It stopped somewhere around the eighth floor and the lights went off. Now they're flickering."

"Who are you with?" Ned asked, sounding even more excited and definitely not nervous. "Some of the French girls? The twins aren't here, are they with you?"

A snort from one of the mob bodyguards.

"No." Peter looked at the men he was standing in the dim light with uncertain, but Alec knew exactly what he should say, and once more gave him a nudge in the right direction. "I think they're insurance guys, or something…"

A bark of laughter from King made the others chuckle, and Peter lost a little nervousness. At least they had senses of humor.

"Do you want me to call Tony?" Ned asked him. "Or-"

"No. He'll probably find out on his own. Just tell Mr. Harriman that I'll be there as soon as they get us out."

"You're okay? The last elevator was pretty scary…"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I wasn't in the last elevator, remember?"

"True."

Peter ended the call, abruptly, hitting the button on his watch.

"What happened in the last elevator?" one of the bodyguards asked, curiously.

Peter could feel himself paling, but Alec wasn't worried.

"It crashed," he replied. "In the Washington monument in DC. My friends almost died."

"Jesus…" The man took a step away from the boy, but there wasn't really anyplace that he could go. "We need to get out of here…"

OOOOOOOOOO

"Insurance salesmen?" Tony echoed, incredulously. "He knows King isn't an insurance salesman…"

Natasha nodded; she'd heard the conversation between Peter and Ned as easily as Stark had – and for the same reason. The elevator security camera had audio, and FRIDAY had hacked into it.

"It was a good reply, though," she pointed out. "He obviously couldn't say he was stuck with some of the Russian mafia, now could he?"

"No." Tony hesitated. "Should I come down there?"

"If you do, then you'll end up in the hotel with me," she told him. "And for the same reason."

It wasn't her place to tell him what to do as far as if he should be near at hand, but it was her responsibility to keep Peter safe and having Tony Stark waiting for the elevator wasn't going to go unnoticed by anyone who may happen down to the convention center lobby.

"Yes…" He frowned, looking over at Pepper, who Romanoff had heard, but hadn't seen, yet. "Keep us I the loop, alright?"

"I will, Tony."