Wow, it has been a long time since I have uploaded. Sorry to disappoint. Also, this is going to be a long chapter so buckle up.
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"Shit."
All heads turned to Steve stood, their mouth's open in shock.
"Langu-"
"Don't," Steve cut Bucky off.
"Stark, what the hell do we do?" Sam started.
Tony didn't answer as he turned to sit on the edge of the hospital bed.
" I'll tell you what we can do," Natasha finally said, breaking the silence. Everyone immediately noticed the authority in her voice and stopped to listen.
"Turns out the guy who shot Peter is working for a secret organization called C.O.B.R.A. or Crime Overseeing Burglary Rights and Artillery. The name was meant to seem like an activist group who wanted some sort of voice in the government, but it ended up being a very secret, very illegal weapon dealership. Guess who runs the show?" Natasha asked, clearly waiting for someone to answer her.
"None other than Adrian Toomes," Scott said. "Otherwise known as the Vulture."
F.R.I.D.A.Y seemed to understand the conversation was going to need visuals and created a hologram within the Medbay to show a picture of Toomes breaking out of jail, still in his orange jumpsuit. He had a triumphant grin on his face as he was hoisted into a helicopter and flown out into the storm.
"Turns out the guy broke out of the Raft with the help of some of his colleagues, one of who is our suspect, Daniel Aldrez," Clint finished.
The screen zoomed in on the face of the shooter, a grim expression clear on his face despite the fuzzy pixels of the screen.
"Toomes was the head of this dealership when Peter uncovered it and put him behind bars, meaning he probably is out for blood."
"That not's good, is it?" Wanda spoke up and her shoulders sagged when Bucky shook his head.
"The best thing we can do Stark is face them head on. We have an idea of his location, but in order to take him down, we need insight on his men and his job. We were going to ask Peter but..." Natasha trailed off, her eyes flickering to Steve.
"I fucked up," Steve muttered and Sam laughed.
"Wow. This is the best day of my life. Captain America is swearing," Sam chuckled, still in shock.
"Mr. Stark, if I may be of any assistance, I can go talk to Mr. Parker for you," Vision asked, already floating towards the door.
Tony didn't reply, his head still in his hands before he sat up and walked out the door.
The others watched as the Tony Stark, a man so great feeding his ego could make him explode, trudged out of the room with the most broken look they have ever seen.
"That kid means a lot to him," Scott sighed. "He clearly didn't expect what just happened. I mean, that kid has a guilt complex that probably rivals Tony's."
"And now we know this kid was on edge the moment we walked in. I don't think it helped telling him that as a hero, he failed. I mean, that kid's been through some tough shit," Bucky concluded, everyone noticing how Steve didn't say "Language".
"Enough moping," Natasha shouted, startling even Steve from his stupor. "We need to think. If Peter won't say anything, we have to stop Toomes before he starts making these deals. These aren't just normal weapons. They're alien technology and in the wrong hands-"
"They could probably blow up New York," Steve cut in, his eyes staring intently at the screen.
"Fri, can you pull up the Vulture's last known location?"
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Peter didn't mean to rush out. He really hadn't. But he was so fed up with everyone thinking he should stick to the ground. He'd heard it enough to know what they really thought.
You're too young to be doing this.
Who put you in charge?
You aren't good enough.
The protests of at least half of New York were enough to tell him when to quit.
But he didn't because he knew that there were still so many people who he would rather risk his life for who have never hurt him or called him names. Who praised him. He thought it would be the same with the Avengers.
But he was wrong.
He stopped on top of one of the rooftops, clenching his teeth as the pain in his surged through his body making him dizzy. He knew it was irrational to be doing patrol when he was still healing, but he had no choice. He couldn't stay there with them.
"Karen, give me a status update," he whispered to his AI.
"Well, Peter, you apparently have not fully recovered from the bullet wound-"
"No, no. Crime, Karen. Is there anything happening?"
"There was a recent development in illegal gun distribution since the jail break of Adrian Toomes. Would you like directions to the nearest drop site?"
Peter froze. Memories of Homecoming night came flooding back, the weight of the building seeming to form on his back. He hadn't known Toomes had escaped and he knew that he still had a bone to pick with Peter-
"Peter, your heart and respiration rates have accelerated. It appears you are having an anxiety attack. Should I call Mr. Stark?"
"No, it's fine Karen. I'm fine," Peter rushed out, quickly shutting down her questions.
"Would you still like directions?"
"Uh, yeah. T-Thanks."
He webbed his way through the town until he came across an old building that looked very similar to the warehouse he was crushed under.
Yay.
He told Karen to get him a closer look and he almost fell from his post on the building across the street when he saw the Avengers, minus Tony and Colonel Rhodes, sneaking in the back armed and ready.
He was about to go back (they had this handled, didn't they?) when his Spidey Sense went off and a mix of red and blue light blasted through the building, mixed with a bloodcurdling scream.
It was Wanda.
He swung down as fast as he could, coming to a stop when he saw the Avengers being held at gunpoint, hands tied behind their backs with special handcuffs, and Wanda being cradled in Visions's arms on the floor.
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up."
Peter turned towards the voice and he stumbled back when he saw the man step out of the shadows, a gun steaming with blue light held tightly in his hand.
It was the Vulture.
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They had been hoping for a quick an easy sweep of the warehouse, possibly knocking out a couple employees and then finding the secret stash of weapons.
The first part had gone great until they came face to face with the Vulture himself.
Well, not necessarily his face but his voice.
"Heard you got to one of my employees," he chuckled, his voice sending a chill up their spine.
"He wasn't my favorite. He was one to get himself into messes like this."
"At least he won't be there when we put you back in your cage," Wanda shouted into the dark, before raising her hands into a fighting position.
No one noticed that someone had been hiding in the shadows until the blast had hit Wanda straight in the chest, and suddenly they were being held at gunpoint, Wanda, motionless on the floor.
And then Peter swung in, which they hadn't noticed either, so their rep as the world's mightiest heroes was kind of shifting a little.
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up."
They turned their gaze to Toomes, his hands tightly clutching the gun he used to knock out Wanda. This was bad. Wanda was powerful and if one blast from the gun was enough to knock her out, they were in for some real trouble.
"Peter, I'm touched you decided to join us for this confrontation."
"What do you want?" Peter spat, his rage taking control of him.
"Nothing much. Just revenge. You know, the usual," Toomes smiled.
"I got rid of you once. I'll do it again."
"Really?" Toomes scoffed, looking at his colleagues and then back at Peter.
"By all means, go ahead. Land a couple good blows. Kill me. I know you can."
The Avengers froze and turned their gazes to Peter, his face going pale. Had he killed someone before? Could he have? Was he really that strong?
The silence was deafening, and no one missed the smile that crept up onto Toomes' face as he laughed.
"You're too kind for your own good. That's going to be your downfall."
"Who are you to give the villain speech?" Scott asked, not bothering to remember they were being held hostage and had guns aimed at their heads.
"Well, let's see. I broke out of jail, have an illegal weapon organization, and I'm going to kill the Avengers. So I'd say I'm the villain."
"What are you going to do? Torture us?" Steve growled.
"Oh no. Not you. Him," Toomes grinned as he pointed a finger at Peter.
The room went deadly silent.
"No. You can kill me for all I care just not him," Steve argued, trying to rip apart his restraints.
No one knew why he was all of a sudden defensive, ready to die for Peter. Then it came to them. Peter may have punched him, but he was still a kid. A kid who went to school, had a family and friends, hopes and dreams. They had all been there, afraid and young, not knowing that this is where they would end up.
And here was Peter, a kid they had only met a day ago, who was already risking his life for them without a second thought, even if he looked like he was scared out of his mind.
"That's Vibranium, Cap. I don't think that'll work," Toomes chuckled.
"Now for our main event."
He snapped his fingers and two men grabbed Peter by the arms, him struggling in their grip before they placed him in the middle of the rooms and ripped off his mask.
"Let's have a round of applause for our contestant, yes?"
Toomes clapped along with his recruits.
"You see, tonight we have a very special moment for all of you to witness. It's called 'Spider-man's going to hold up the ceiling'!"
Peter's eyes widened before turning to Toomes.
"Oh. Is Spider-man scared?"
Peter took a step forward, fists clenched at his sides, but a gunshot rang throughout the hollow building.
"One wrong move and they get a bullet through their skull," Toomes announced menacingly.
A couple of his men bolted outside and Peter heard a sound like a generator being powered up.
"Don't hurt them. I'll do this but you can't hurt them," Peter begged through gritted teeth.
"Oh, I know, Peter. Their lives all depend on you."
He snapped his fingers once again and Peter could only watch as men started placing bomb's on the pillars that held up the concrete roof. Peter trembled until only Toomes was left, mask on at the door way.
"I hope you all know what an honor it was to meet you. I hope to see you again before you're buried 6 feet below."
He mock saluted them before he cocked the gun and fired.
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The Avengers watched in horror as Peter covered his ears, biting back a scream. What was happening? They hadn't heard anything when Toomes had fired. The building was quiet.
Too quiet.
Then, Peter lifted his head towards the roof. The Avengers also looked up, confused, until they heard a rumble and the bombs went off, blasting the pillars to pieces.
The bomb's had been sound triggered, a pitch so high only Peter could apparently hear it.
And then the roof collapsed on top of Peter.
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Wow! This was so much fun to write, surprisingly enough. Please tell me what you think!