TW: GUNS, TORTURE AND PUKE

They had to wait until night to actually leave the tower to go save Peter. According to Steve, it would make it easier to get in without making a ruckus. He had an urge to make a face at his friend's use of words in describing them saving his kid from a murderer, but he learned to keep his mouth shut when it mattered.

To say Tony was antsy by now though, would be an understatement.

He practically runs around the tower, shoving things in a backpack he thinks he'll need on this (hopefully quick) trip. Rescue mission- he shouldn't call it a trip.

He takes practically every first aid item he has, hoping they won't have to use any of it. The others are getting ready too and he thinks he'd start nagging at them to go faster if he didn't go and make himself useful. He grabs Peter's first aid kit that he keeps in his bathroom, and then he sees the extra web cartridges.

He'll need those.

He swipes them off the counter.

Then, he remembers his phone.

He throws that in there too. Suddenly, he's just grabbing things. Useless things that the kid might want.

Maybe he'll need a charger. And that book he likes because the flight is... not actually that far away but he might want it-

"What, is the kid moving out?"

"What?"

Tony turns and Natasha's leaning against the doorframe, eyebrow raised. Ah. She was being sarcastic.

"You look like you're packing his things," she smiles sympathetically. "He won't need all that. We'll just be in and out."

"But what if... you know, maybe he'll want some stuff."

"Bring the phone, the charger, webs, and the first aid stuff. That's all."

"I'm bringing the book."

She rolls her eyes and begins walking back towards the kitchen. "Than bring the goddamn book. He doesn't need a pillow though. Or the Star Wars figurine, put it back. And when you're ready, we are."

Tony drops the useless items and hurries out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the avengers make it to their location, it's a run down looking building pretty much in bum-fuck nowhere of town. There's a few cars scattered in the parking lot below them but other than that, it doesn't seem like the most suspicious place.

They're wearing their darker costumes- ones they actually hadn't had the chance to wear yet but they came in handy. Clint sneaks over to the skylight, takes one of his arrows and glides it in a circular motion until the piece pops out with ease. He sets it down quietly and motions for them to come over.

They each make it down the rope to the dirty, hard ground- some less gracefully than others for obvious reasons. (Thor fell on his ass and it practically shook the room.)

They all look around the room, hearts beating out of their chests in anticipation.

There's a grunt and Tony's heart drops to his toes.

A light comes on, further away and he knows in the back of his mind it has purpose; but he doesn't care because there's a Peter-shaped figure hunched over and he's groaning but very much alive-

"Peter," he gasps, internal instincts already moving him forward to comfort. His friends protest and try to grab at his limbs but he's already running.
"Kid."

He runs through the scene and it begins to glitch.

It had been a cheap trick. One that he'd never had fallen for under any other other circumstances.

There's a click under the tile floors and there's suddenly smoke coming up between the cracks. The smell feels like it's burning his nose hairs.

He coughs and turns back to his teammates and they're gone but Rhodey had been right at his heels. He grabs at his wrist.

He looks pained and he's trying to cover his nose and mouth, but to no avail with his metal suit.
"Tony."

He's choking on the thick gas that's slowly filling the room up more and more, and Rhodes leans on him, succumbing to the same fate.

He feels his legs begin to give out.
So much for not making a 'ruckus'

He doesn't remember blacking out, but he's suddenly trying to open his eyes, but his vision sways and his eyelids feel heavy. He feels nauseous.

"Rho'd..." he slurs. "Rh.."

He tries to move but his wrists are tied. Rhodes is in a second chair tied to the back of his own. The man tips his head back, gently thumping his head against Tony's to let him know he's there, but his head pounds as if he was just hit with a brick. 

There's a noise- crackling in his ear.

"Tony," someone- Natasha whispers.

"Wha..?"

"Oh thank god. Rhodes you there too?"

He groans in response.

"Ok. Clint and I got away. We're in the vents and they put everyone in different rooms. They planned us coming."

"S...," he feels his brain lagging, "Sorry."

"No, it would've happened either way. They turned that on because they knew we were here. This guy likes to mess with your mind in really fucked up ways. Look what he did to Peter..." she clears her throat, "but- Meet us in the control room when you get out of there. We're working on shutting the cameras down now."

She signs off.

As he starts to come back to his senses, he sees two men -one tall and one short- standing there, staring.

He recognizes them.

"You're the guys with the pastel ski masks from a few months ago."

Their calm expressions break immediately and Tony can't help but smirk to himself.

"How would you know that?"

"I'm good at remembering things," he grins, then nods his head to the taller. "Your mask fell off though when he threw you into the side of the van."

His jaw drops. "I don't remember that."

That tells Tony all he needs to know.

They're idiots.

A classic.

"Yeah, you'd think that would happen when you're thrown into a large vehicle hard enough."

Rhodey tilts his head back.
"Tony what are you doing," he whispers.

"Trust me platypus."

Now he just needs to talk. He's good at talking.
"So, why'd you separate us?"

"Because if we gave you all equal amounts of gas you and your friend would be dead. You're welcome."

The short guy smacks his hand against his chest and glares, "Don't tell him shit."

Tony plasters on a charming smile,
"So, tough guy, you do all the work around here?"

Keeping them distracted, he feels the material of the chair and the ropes. The chair was cheap- probably bought online- and it was fucking plastic. The ropes were old too, the threads sticking out in every direction to the point of his skin becoming irritated. They were still pretty thick though and they were tied tight enough to where they were cutting off circulation.

Tall guy seems to get ticked off at Tony's comment.
"Not all the work."

"What, are you the guy that gets things off the high shelves for him?"

Short guy snorts, and the other narrows his eyes.

Tony manages to reach his fingers over to his watch and press a few buttons. Inside it, the Ironman suit turns on a small laser that shoots out of the face of it, burning the ropes slowly.

He doesn't notice the man lean over his chair and tip it back slightly. He feels how Rhodey squirms in the seat behind him, alarmed at the sudden movement.

He's about to make a comment on his breath (you need a TALL glass of listerine haha-) when he begins to speak,

"You know, you shouldn't be talking. You're lucky you weren't here earlier. You should've heard your kid's screams. In a place like this... it echoes."

Tony sees red.

He snaps what's left of the ropes, grabs the Amazon chair and knocks the man to the ground.

"For some fancy supervillains, you used some piss-poor chairs!"

Short guy pulls out a gun, and Tony reacts fast. He yanks at specific spots on his watch and the tiny nano-bots wrap around his hand. The iron hand then flies off his own, grabs hold of the firearm, and retreats back to its intended spot in a matter of seconds.

It was Peter's idea, actually.

Boomerang protocol.

He's sure the kid will be excited it got used.

"Tell me where the fucking kid is or I blow your brains out."

He probably could've threatened to use his own blaster now but in his exhausted, angry, drugged, adrenaline-riddled mind, he doesn't think about it.

The man smiles, wicked. "Go ahead, kill me. You'll just alert the other guards. I think you'll find yourself outnumbered, Stark."

"I think you'll find I need just one bullet to shut you the hell up," he spat.

They stare at each other for a few moments, gaze remaining solid. The taller man on the floor is slowly blinking, coming out of his daze.

"And what, you think I don't have other options?" Nano-bots move up his arm, spreading from his chest to his feet. "I can just shove this metal foot so far up your ass you'll be spitting out screws for weeks. Try me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter groans, zoning in on the cracks in the ceiling as another wound is created on his arm. He squeezes his fist and makes an effort to keep his reactions minimal to at least give the man less satisfaction. The sensitive skin around it tickles as blood runs down the side of his arm.

It's on odd feeling to match with the pain.

He's been beat to a pulp- completely. He can't see out of one of his eyes and he's spit out a tooth and his lip is extremely swollen and the list goes on.

When Dagger had come back into the room to see Peter out of the chains, he'd barely batted an eye. He knew he couldn't put up much of a fight. So now, here he was, back in the chains and being killed slowly.

He'd assumed Dagger's goal was to kill Peter right then and there, but apparently, he'd wanted it to be slow and painful. Peter had called him unoriginal for that.

The knife is inserted into his already wounded (and un-healing) thigh.

He throws his head back and once it collides with the table beneath him, his skull pounds and he's hit with a wave of nausea. Over the last hour, he'd been becoming increasingly nauseous with the mix of his enemy playing operation with his body and the unknown liquid having been injected into his blood for an unhealthy amount of hours. In fact, a "doctor" had recently come in and refilled the bag. For all Peter knew, it was something brand new.

Dude," he moans, "you gotta stop."

He just snickers.

Peter becomes desperate.

"Hey, giggles. I'm gonna-" he gags, tilts his head over to the side, and promptly pukes on the man's shoes. He manages a grin, "Oops."

Dagger walks out to change his shoes and leaves Peter with a newly (probably) broken nose.

He groans quietly to himself, until he notices that his chance has returned.

He moved his sore limbs around and the screws in the chains shake. Dagger had assumed he had been writhing around in pain the last few hours (he was) but he had been working at the chains, loosening them over time. He just hopes he could do enough damage seeing as he's powerless at the moment.

If he could just-

He yanks his arm out.

Hah! Good job, weak Peter!!

He rips out the IV.

He manages to get his legs out a little easier, but when he jumps off, his knees buckle and he's suddenly hit with how bad his injuries are.

He grabs his web-shooters out of a drawer and tries to ignore the trail of blood because really, there's nothing he can do because he can't even tell which wound it's coming from so it shouldn't matter right now.

The adrenaline returns as he takes a few more steps towards his freedom. He takes a deep breath, runs out the door and-

Dagger halts mid stride, right across from Peter now, and his expression darkens.

He just can't catch a damn break.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The others had apparently gotten out of their own situations with ease just as Tony had.

They had all managed to make it to the control room with minimal direction pointers, and by the time they get to their destination, Natasha was just finishing up her side of the deal.

She spins around on the chair to face them, a sly smile on her face,
"I knew you guys would make it. This place is full of idiots."

Rhodey throws his hands up in the air in exasperation,
"Right?"

"I just had to call mjolnir."

"Bucky went down a list of crimes he's done and they untied us."

"Huh," Rhodes says, "Our guys fell for Tony's short jokes. But he made them... tall jokes, I guess."

Tony grins, "I'm just that good."

"Let's get back on track," Nat says, looking through a few different wires, before seemingly loosing interest and spinning to face Tony. Her expression becomes serious. "Tony, I need you to blast the wires."

"Tash, we both know that'll explode."

"Yep- exactly. It should be big enough for us to break out of here once we get Peter, so we'll need to be quick. Bruce?"

He stares at her with a nervous look.

"We need hulk."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The livid face Dagger makes is going to give Peter nightmares for the rest of his life. Just as the man takes a step forward and he's actively trying to not shit himself, there's an ear-splitting boom. There's a hot wind and flames ignite- and then, the ground collapses within itself. Somehow, he feels lucky it happened.

They were a few floors up so the fall was hard. He fell through the ceiling of a room on a lower level and lands on his side, smoke and dust clouding his vision and filling his lungs.

He coughs, trying to sit up against the wall. In the cloud of dust, there's a small light coming from a security camera, hanging off the wall with wires popping out and the screen cracked. Luckily, it still works and he can see a fuzzy flash of green and then he sees the rest of them- The Avengers! They're here!

Hulk was destroying everything in sight, causing more explosions all around the building while the others fought and searched through rooms for him.

Overcome with excitement he heaved himself off the ground, stumbling in efforts to regain his balance. He needs to find them. They need to get out of here.

Peter limps through the hallways in determination, unaware of the direction he's supposed to go but hopes that he'll find them somewhere and that he won't run into Dagger again.

Every once in a while he hears footsteps of the other guards he guesses are on the search for him. Luckily for him, he can hide easier with the smoke of the flames they've still neglected to fully put out.

He pants and leans against the wall, unsure if his lack of stamina is from being powerless, injured, or the fact that he's currently inhaling smoke.

Maybe all three.

He coughs into his elbow, tipping his head back miserably.

Suddenly, the footsteps return and he realizes he doesn't have anywhere he can hide. Taking a few panicked steps back, his ribs tweak in protest. He fumbles with his web-shooters because sadly, it seems he'll have to fight his way out of this one. He thinks his powers have begun to return because he can hear his droplets of blood make a tink noise against the ground so it'll have to be enough.

He instinctively shuts his eyes when he shoots his first web, and hears a familiar grunt.

Clint? Clint!

Shit- He'd webbed Clint in the face.

"Motherfucker," he mutters pulling at it frustratedly. "Wait- Peter!"

Before he can even react, the rest of them come around the corner and Tony's here- he's here.
He almost cries when the man practically tackles him.

"Peter," he whispers wetly, "Oh, kid. Oh god."

Peter's knees buckle in the embrace and he feels like he's almost home. He came. He came- he came. For a while there he thought he'd never get out of this place. That he'd never see the avengers again. Never see Tony or Pepper and he didn't even get to say goodbye. He feels so guilty for taking all this for granted.

"Can we go home," he asks, chest stuttering with emotion.

"Of course. Of course, Pete."

"Guys," Steve says, looking alarmed. "Sorry to ruin the moment but the idiot army is coming."

"Shit. Shit, ok c'mon- up."

Noticing his limp, he tries to help Peter up from his hunched position, hooking a hand under his arm, but unaware of his other injuries. Peter gasps in pain,
"Ow ow ow-"

"Sorry."

They run in a different direction than Peter had been going.

"Uh, guys? Where are we going?"

"Gross," Clint grunts, still picking at the webbing as they sprint.

Peter grimaces, "Sorry about that, Clint."

"It's ok buddy," he replies dryly, "I missed this. We missed you."

Peter smiled then looks over at the other Avengers, huffing with humor and breathlessness,
"Yeah, speaking of things I missed."

Tony groans.

"You know, I knew you were gonna say something."

"You all got new badass outfits! The one time I get kidnapped you guys get the coolest upgrades! Did you at least make me one for when we get home?"

"Of course I did-"

"Not the time you two," Nat barks. "Up the ladder- let's go!"

They all try to catch their breaths as they wait for Fury to bring the Quinjet in.

When Peter finally looks up from his hunched, exhausted position, Tony's suit is retreating into his arc reactor and he's walking up to the young hero.

"Here- Pete, lemme take a look at you," he says, cupping his face in his callused hands and smoothing out his eyebrow. Seeing such relief and overwhelming emotion in his adopted father's face brings Peter so much grief. The corners of his lips pull downwards and tears gather in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tony," he says in a broken voice, "I didn't listen to you I'm so sorry."

"No, he manipulated you, Pete. And you did such a stellar job, ok? You did so good I'm so proud of you. I love you so much, kid."
He gathers him in his arms and holds him tight, burying his face in his kid's messy hair. Head against his sternum, Peter lets out a breath he'd been holding in for a long time.

When he looks back up at Tony there's a look of horror in his eyes. He also notices how everything around him is a shade of blue.

His heart drops.

The blue ray of light has encased him from Dagger's gun, and the man is standing across from them.

"Cute," he mutters in a dry tone, holding the grey weapon in his hand lazily. "So you kill my entire family and you still get a reunion, huh? Life's not that fair, Peter."

Peter's resorted to begging.
"Dagger- Lucasha please-"

"Enough!" He roars, whipping the gun to the side, resulting in Peter being thrown across the roof of the building. He skids close to the edge, and tries to push himself up. He looks over at his teammates and sees they're all making futile efforts to free themselves from their own blue traps.

He's on his own.

Dagger's running towards him, knife in hand. His clothes are stained black with soot and dust.

Peter manages to roll out of the way just as he had plunged the weapon down where his chest would have been. It cracks the concrete and he looks over at him in crazed anger like a wild animal. Any other time he had seen him, he was collected or at the very least portraying controlled joy at Peter's misery. This was so much more terrifying.

He keeps frantically slashing the knife in his direction and Spider-Man continues to stumble backwards, making any movement his spider-sense demanded him to. The villain finally managed to tackle him, and Peter has to have a severe concussion by now with the way his already throbbing head bounces off the ground with impact.

They struggle and he makes an effort to hold his wrists in place before he kicks him off. Dagger almost falls off the edge but reaches for Peter's broken arm. He holds him up by catching his palm on the ledge, shouting in agony.

"You won't get away with this," the villain pants. The concrete begins to break away under them, so he switches to yelling at Peter desperately, "So this is it? You kill me too?"

Peter sobs, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry- I wish your family lived I never wanted this to happen. I know-"

"You'll never know what it's like," he spat.

"Of course I do! I lost everyone," he cries, and as larger chunks of building fall, adding to the literal weight on Peter's shoulders, he becomes angry. "But at least I didn't turn into some crazy murderer! I was fourteen - I barely knew how to use my powers when I started- but I tried to save them! Please, stop this. You really think they'd want this?"

He thinks he sees a flicker of remorse in his eyes as he drops the gun he had been holding in his other hand, but then, the rest of their edge crumbles and they both plummet towards the ground. Even with powers he knew he couldn't possibly survive this fall. 

There's wind in his hair and he feels the coolness against his wounds but then, he suddenly stops, falling into an object of cool metal.

"I gotcha," Tony exclaims, already flying back up to the roof.  Peter's breath hitches as he cries against the suit. Even after all he had done to him, in the end, he hadn't wanted him to die.

He can feel the presence of the others behind him, some squeezing his shoulder in efforts to comfort him and some speaking encouraging words into his ears. Peter continues to grieve.

He grieves for Ben and his parents and every other bad thing that had ever happened to him as a child that led to all the mental obstacles he had to put himself and Tony through now.

He grieves for May. For their Thai nights and late night movies on the couch and take your kid to work day when he was young. For her waiting for him to return from patrol, first aid kit resting on the windowsill, ready for her steady hands to clean the wounds he'd still make an effort to hide. He grieves her motherly embrace that he would have had today if he had just managed to save two more people the night of the fire.

He grieves what he and Tony used to have too, when their nights in the lab weren't burdened with the trauma that they have now, from loosing such an important person.

But still, he loves what he's gained too. He gained a Mom and Dad again. Aunts and Uncles- He'd gained a huge dysfunctional, super powered family; and he doesn't think he'd have them any other way.

He sniffs, wiping the wetness off his cheeks.

"Pete, kid, let's go home. C'mon," He mumbles, guiding him to the quinjet that had only just landed.

Looking around, he notices how things were spinning. He stumbles and leans against Tony.

"You ok-?" Tony pales, bringing his own hand in front of his face in alarm.

It's covered in blood.

Peter furrows his brows,
"Tony.. why're y... bleedin'?"

"Sam get the first aid kit, now!"

Shit, that was loud.
Why is everyone yelling?

Sluggishly, he looks down at his stomach to see a gash that stands out from the others. It's new and blood gushes out from the split skin.

Huh. He'd gotten him earlier. He doesn't know how he hasn't noticed.

He doesn't know how he hadn't noticed the metallic taste in his mouth either.

Peter sways in his place. The last thing he feels is Tony grabbing at his shoulders before it all goes black.

He thinks he should be used to this feeling by now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter doesn't wake up in the cold room with a cracked white ceiling like last time, nor does he wake up in his apartment. This place gives him just as much relief as his old apartment would have though. He hears the heart monitor beeping and birds chirping outside the open window as the sun begins to rise over the clouds.

He never thought he'd say he missed Medbay.

His injuries still throb but not the same way they had been just days before, untended to and unhealing. There are no chains around his limbs, only that godforsaken IV that he feels the urge to rip out now that he notices it.

At least now he knows what's in it though.

Moving the blanket to the side, he sees that his injuries are cleaned and stitched.

Barely any of his skin is showing under the gauze though. Wow.

He relaxes into the bed, finally feeling safe and content.

Content other than the tape around his broken nose. The skin beneath it itches.

He begins to pick at the edges of it before a hand grabs at his own gently, pulling it away.
"Stop that," Tony says sternly.

Peter looks up at him in surprise.

"How long have you been here?"

"Haven't left since yesterday morning when they set you up. Pep's pissed at me," he says, a joking grin on his face.

"Oh. I slept that long?"

"You needed it. You've been through a lot."
He looks at Peter softly, "You did good."

He smiles, "Thanks."

The door across the room flies open and Pepper runs inside- heels and all.

"Oh Peter," she cries, hugging him gently. "I was so worried- I'm so glad you're home."

He hugs her back, tears welling up in his eyes. He had missed her.
"I am too. I missed you, Pep."

She pulls away and holds his face in her hands, rubbing her thumb against his cheek.
"Have you been checked on since you woke up?"

Before he could reply that no, he had only been up like- two minutes, she turns to her fiancé.

"Have you been checked out yet? FRI doesn't count."

"Promise. Cross my old, fragile, shrapnel damaged heart and any other elementary-school-created promise you want to throw in. Pete any ideas? Here, you wanna pinky promise?"

Peter laughs wholeheartedly, the ache in his ribs barely noticeable anymore.

There's suddenly frantic scratching at the door, implying Tessa was angry she was being left out.

She pushes the heavy door open, prying herself through the crack.

"See?! She can open the damn doors!"

"Tony she's been doing this for months."

"It's still weird- heyhey, gentle-"
Instead of leaping up onto Peter's bed, she jumps on Tony's lap, resulting in him getting a paw to the gut.
"Shit, Tessa," he grunts.

Peter turns on his side, allowing her to touch her nose to his. She sniffs the bandage and licks his forehead. He closes his eyes and laughs lightly, feeling the most at home he'd felt in forever.

Pepper and Tony bicker lovingly above him, and the avengers would visit him later, bringing all kinds of fast food and board games and old movies that they think would be a crime for him to miss out on.

They'll all stay in that room until late hours of the night when Peter is too tired from the new dose of pain meds to contribute to their conversations. They'll all mutter their exhausted 'good night's and retreat to their own rooms, Tony ruffling his hair and Pepper kissing his forehead and Tessa making herself comfortable on one of the bigger cushioned chairs for the night because she'd never leave his side- not after these last few days.

He lays on his back, staring up at the non-cracked ceiling and smiles to himself, content at last.

He's finally home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOWOW ITS OVER

This is actually one of the only pieces of writing I'm REALLY proud of :) I'm so happy to have made it through writing all the chapters and im SO thankful for y'all reading.

Seeing my little outlines come to life makes me so very happy this shit had been in my notes app for YEARS 🥹

Anyway, this isn't the end! More books are in the works!

First of all, I'm thinking of making a one shot book full of little domestic shorts I couldn't fit into this one! I just couldn't get enough of Tessa I wasn't ready to move on lmao

Also, another oneshot book that's a continuation of my main one.

ALSO another book I'm currently outlining!!

LOVE YOU ALL THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚