Tony's head snaps up painfully as the his eyes adjust to the blackness all around him. He can only see what's around him in a one foot radius, thanks to the small, blue glow emanating from underneath his shirt.
"Peter?" He croaks, his voice hoarse and painful. Everywhere hurts, and he starts to feel something strong pinning him to a chair. Or at least, that's what it feels like.
"Peter?" He calls again, more confidently this time. His heart is starting to beat in his chest as Tony attempts to recall anything that had happened.
He remembered going to the alleyway to save Peter, and then getting injected with something. They were in a plane, and then... He blinks away the headache behind his eyes. Then, Peter fell asleep glued to Tony's shoulder. He sighs out loud, the pounding of his heart and his head syncing to torture him further.
He begins to shift his weight to see if he can move the chair, but it's somehow stuck to the floor, unable to even skid a tiny bit. It would help much more if he could actually see.
"Peter, are you in here?" Tony calls loudly. He hears a small shifting noise somewhere around him, which encourages him to keep talking.
"Peter? Is that you, kid?"
"Mr. Stark?" Peter's small voice calls out. Tony can hear the sound of chains dragging across the ground.
"I think I'm stuck with something. There's something around my hands."
"Are you okay?"
"I think so. I'm just a little banged up." Peter's voice makes Tony calm down, now that he knows that Peter is okay.
"I can see you, actually." Peter laughs a little. "Well, not your face but your outline. And I can hear you, too."
"Can you get out of your binds?" Tony swallows.
"No." Peter says. "They're too tight."
"Of course they are." Tony sighs. "I'm tied to a chair or something, but-" Just as he's about to finish his sentence, they hear the sound of something sliding open and then footsteps on the floor.
"Well, well!" A man's voice says. Peter knows the man is closer to him, and he can see his outline even in the dark.
"I'm glad that we finally have guests." The man claps his hands and the dark room suddenly turns bright, causing Tony and Peter to cry out and wince.
"Let's all have a little chat." The man grins as Tony and Peter open their eyes to look at him. He's the same man from the alleway, but there's two burly men standing in the open doorway.
"Listen, pal." Tony says angrily. "I don't know who you are, but you have no idea who you're dealing with. It'll be better for everybody if you just let me and the kid go."
"Oh, Tony Stark." The man laughs and creeps towards Tony in the chair. In one swift move, he strikes Tony across the face.
"Mr. Stark!" Peter cries from across the room. Tony just adopts a deep breathing, biting his tongue so he doesn't say anything else.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with." The man backs up from Tony. "I have technology that you wouldn't believe, just like the little chains that your kid is tied up in right now."
There's a slight pause before Tony retorts, "Don't you dare touch him."
"Oh, we'll see. There may need to be some... persuasion." The man crosses his arms with a triumphant smile.
"If you touch him, I'll-"
"What, kill me? With no suit, no powers, you'll be relying on the kid to keep you alive in a matter of days."
"What does that mean?" Tony can feel his heart start to beat harder again, as he thinks of the solution that the man injected into him.
"You understand Chemistry, right?" The man turns the question on Peter. Peter nods quickly.
"Wonderful. Do you understand viruses?"
"What did you put in him?" Peter says, his eyes darting over to Tony.
"Just something of my own creation. Eight hundred people in two days. Quite an impressive feat, isn't it?" The man taps his fingers on his leg, and grins down at a still-chained Peter.
"With all due respect, I don't find manslaughter impressive at all." Peter says coldly.
"What a shame." The man sniffs down at Peter.
"What's going to happen to him?" Peter stares up at the man, not letting his gaze wander. Honestly, Tony is very impressed at Peter's level of confidence. Tony himself is practically shaking, thinking of every single horrible outcome of this situation.
"I injected a virus into him. It takes three stages: Stage one, he'll become weaker and hold a fever. With stage two comes the feeling that everything is getting better, and that he's finally beating it, and just as the hope comes bounding into sight, stage three crashes it to the ground."
"And what's stage three?" Peter says. The man just laughs.
"What's stage three?!" Peter cries desperately again, yanking against his chains.
"I guess you'll find out in a few days." The man walks from Peter with a scorning smile and to the doorway. "I'll give you both a little while to... get settled." They both watch as the large stone door slides back into place, looking as if it was always a smooth wall.
"Kid, I-"
"No, Mr. Stark, I'm sorry." Peter says, finally allowing his voice to crack with sadness. "If I hadn't come on this stupid trip in the first place. God, if I had just listened to you!" He thrashes against the chains with anger dabbing at every motion.
"Peter." Tony says sternly, trying to be heard over the sound of rattling chains. "Peter." Still nothing. "Underoos!" He yells. Peter's head snaps upwards, the motion ceasing immediately.
"I'm sorry-"
"You've already apologized, now if you keep saying you're sorry, I'll have to come over there and smack you." Tony jokes lightly. Peter gives a half smile.
"See? Finally a smile." Tony grins back. Inside, he's practically withering away, but he can't let Peter know that. He can't act as if anything is wrong, and he has to find a way to get Peter out of here. Now.
The door slides open again, and this time, the man is alone. A ring of jingling keys sways from his hands, and Tony and Peter both eye it eagerly. They can't do anything to grab it, of course, but just the prospect of it being so close... so easy to grab...
"Now, I'm gonna unlock you," The man says, inserting the large key into Peter's shackles. The second they click open, Peter sprints across the room to Tony. The man watches, bewildered at Peter's speed. Peter throws his arms around Tony's neck, causing Tony to both take in a deep breath and laugh at the same time. It ends up coming out as more of a weird choking noise.
The man sighs. "That's exactly what I didn't want you to do."
"And he didn't ask." Tony winks at the man, who looks angry at the pair of them.
"Keep this up and you both will be getting separate cells."
"Isn't this our cell?" Peter asks with a confused look.
"No," The man says in an annoyed voice. "That's why we're moving you both to your new cell."
"I don't know..." Tony looks around the room with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I was just starting to like it in here."
"Just. Get. The. Kid. Off. You." The man says through gritted teeth. Peter reluctantly lets go of Tony and backs up just enough that the man can unlock the chains surrounding Tony. They fall to the ground with a clunk, and Tony rubs his arms and legs. Wincing, he stands up and hobbles an inch before pitching towards Peter.
"Aw, dang it!" He cries as Peter jumps forward and supports Tony. "Thanks, kid." He says, moving to prop himself up against Peter's shoulder easier.
"Just... follow me." The man growls, moving out of the room. They follow him, Tony hobbling slightly and Peter surprisingly not buckling under Tony's weight. Tony guessed it was the super strength.
They wind through the hallways, trying to keep track of where the exits may be. There's nothing. Absolutely nothing. No markings, no doors, not even any keypads or security guards. The place is as silent and as cold as a grave.
"And..." The man touches a part of the wall to his right and watches as it slides to the left. "We're here." He pushes them inside first, and follows them in as the door slides shut behind them.
"Well, what do you think?" The man grins, crossing his arms as he surveys their expressions. Tony just looks at the man, then at Peter.
"I've stayed in much better places, if I'm being honest." He shrugs with a grin. In one swift move, the man socks his fist into Tony's jaw, throwing Tony backwards. Tony cries out as he falls, clutching his jaw on the ground. The man seizes Peter's arm and wrenches it upwards, bringing his feet a few inches off the ground. Peter cries out in pain.
"Let's get something straight," The man says, his hair falling in front of his angry eyes. "You will learn basic respect, and you will treat us with it. I know it may be hard for you, Tony Stark, but you sure as hell better learn. Things happen to the people we care about when we don't follow the rules." He lets Peter drop, landing on his feet, but doesn't release his tight grip on Peter's arm.
"Alright, I understand." Tony coughs. He puts an arm out towards Peter, while fondling his jaw. "Let go of the kid."
"Let this be a lesson, Stark, of what happens to you when you cross me." The man yanks Peter across the room, towards a wall. At a first glance, the wall would look like nothing special, but when you look at it closer, you can see that it has a special shimmer to it that none of the other walls have.
Peter claws against the man's arm, but it makes no difference as he's swiftly dragged across the room. The man calls out something indistinguishable, and the wall quickly fades to show another room behind it. It would be a genius idea, if Tony didn't see the random, painful objects strewn all around.
"No!" He cries, lurching forward and grabbing the man's arm that is closed around Peter. The man shakes him loose and keeps going. He takes Peter into the room, where he places his on the ground before going to grab Tony and dragging him to the corner where he has a perfect view of the entire room in front of him.
"Don't hurt the kid!" Tony yells as the man closes two tight shackles around his wrists, forcing his arms uncomfortably over his head.
"So then will you give me all the information I ask for?" The man lifts an eyebrow. In the corner of Tony's eye, he can see Peter's eyes widen and shake his head frantically. Tony stares at the man, a torn look on his face.
"Well, then it's time to have some fun, kid." The man licks his lips and moves across the room to Peter. He crawls into the corner, away from the man. As he comes towards him, he throws his legs out, attempting to kick the man. The man dodges. Peter jumps to his feet and onto the wall, before sliding down. He lands hard on his back. "Why can't I climb?" He wheezes.
"Oh, you don't think we would make it easy for you, do you?" He grabs Peter from the ground and yanks him towards a large metal machine in the corner.
The machine had a large platform suspended above a large fire pit. There was nothing above or below the platform, and the gearing suggested that the platform could drop someone onto the fire. This is the machine that the man had his eyes set on as he dragged Peter around.
He pushed a button on the side and the platform lowered, allowing Peter to step onto it. Peter stared at Tony the entire time, trying to apologize with a look. The man brings a box of matches from his coat pocket and strikes one against the box once the platform has moved back to its position above the fire pit. He throws it into the pit, watching as it catches against the lighter fluid and an enormous fire roars upwards.
The platform was a good twenty feet above the fire, but if it moved even ten feet down, the flames would touch Peter's feet.
"What will it be, Mr. Stark?" The man says in a taunting voice.
"Don't do anything!" Peter cries loudly, staring at Tony's sad expression. He's just about to open his mouth when the man slams his hand on the button. The platform shudders, acting as if it may fall down towards the fire but not moving. Peter shuts his eyes tightly.
Selfishly, he wants Tony to tell the man everything he wants to know. But, he knows that he could never ask Tony to do that. Spiderman isn't more important than all the secrets that Tony knows.
"This'll work in a very simple way. I'll ask you a question, Stark, and if you answer truthfully, then I won't push this button. If you don't answer truthfully, then the button gets pushed. And," The man chuckles coldly. "I have no control if the platform drops or not. It may move a few feet, it may go all the way down, or it may not move at all. I have no idea, so some talking is the best bet to keep the kid alive."
"Of course." Tony swallows hard.
"Shall we begin?" The man smiles. Tony's head is swimming in so many emotions. He feels like his mind is bloated, thinking about too many things at once. Mostly overwhelmed with all the thoughts about Peter, he can't think for more than a second without his paternal instincts kicking in and wanting to get Peter down from that thing. The kid is only sixteen for God's sake! How could he have let him come along?
"First question: How much do you know about SHIELD?" The man's hand hovers over the button as a painful reminder of how much power he holds in a single push.
"Not alot." Tony says, his eyes bouncing between his- Peter and the man. "I only know that Nick Fury is the leader, and that they have lots of divisions and have played major roles in a lot of the important events in the world."
"Like what?"
"Captain America, the Avengers, the Winter Soldier." Tony gives a look to the man, begging him not to push the button.
"Wonderful. And the Avengers? How much do you know about Natasha Romanoff?"
"Why her?"
"I'll be asking the questions, Mr. Stark. What do you know about her?"
"I know that she was a part of a secret assassin organization called the Red Room. She then escaped and was converted to a SHIELD agent by Clint Barton." The conversation goes on for some time, with Tony pursuing the depths of his mind to answer the complicated questions that the man needs the answers to.
Internally, Peter is freaking out. He hates that Tony is willingly giving up all the important things that he knows just to prevent Peter from going towards the flames. All that he can wish is that it ends soon before Tony gives away everything he knows.
"This has been very beneficial, Mr. Stark. I just have one last question: what is your son's real name?" Tony immediately knows that he is stuck in a hard spot.
"I'm supposed to obey the law when they say not to release information about minors, and-"
"Well, there's no policemen or lawyers here, I don't think that anyone is going to give you a hard time."
"I... I can't." Before Tony has time to say anything else, the man slams his hand on the button, and Peter's platform lurches before flying downward several feet. His feet touch the flames, and he starts to cough as the smoke flies closer to his face.
"Answer me, Stark!" The man yells angrily, his hand still hovering over the button.
"I can't!" Tony yells back desperately. The button is pushed again, and the platform lurches down even more. Peter is only five feet above the flames and the metal is starting to become extremely hot. He falls to his knees, crying out in pain and coughing at the same time.
"His name is Peter!" Tony screeches as the man goes to push the button again.
"Peter Stark." Tony hangs his head. The man pushes a different button, and the flames are snuffed out. He goes across the room and unlocks Tony's shackles.
"I'll leave you two alone." And just like that, he disappears. In a flash, Tony tears across the room and pulls Peter from the platform. He's still coughing, and he's trembling like a tree in a hurricane. Tony pulls the kid towards him, falling onto the ground as he holds Peter's weight.
"Hey, kid." Tony says, brushing hair from Peter's closed eyes. "I need you to open your eyes." His pulse starts to race as he realizes how hot Peter's skin feels. He pulls off the lower half of his suit, and gently touches the burns and marks starting to appear on his legs.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter whispers in a hoarse voice. His eyes are still firmly shut, but Tony lets out a sigh of relief.
"What's up, Peter?"
"You called me your son."
"Yeah, kid, I did. I... Is there something wrong with that?" Tony can't help but close his eyes tightly, feeling stupid already.
"No. I like being your son, even if it's not for very much longer."
"Don't think like that, Pete." Finally, Peter's eyes flutter open. "Well, however much longer we have left, I'm glad that I'm your son."
"Me too, kid. But lets shift our attention to getting out of here."
"I have a somewhat plan." Peter sits up, groaning painfully with each movement. Everything is aching and feels like someone attacked him with an iron. He feels like all his muscles are gone and replaced with hot rods that make his skin sweaty and painful to touch. The cold stone that surrounds him definitely helps, but soon his legs warm up the ground.
"Well then, what is your somewhat plan?" Tony grins down at Peter. Peter, with a sneaky grin, lifts the security pass from his suit.
"You little genius." Tony laughs, grabbing Peter in a hug. "We have to wait a little longer, though." Peter nods. "I probably won't be able to walk for a little while longer."
"Fair, I just-" Tony stops talking as a cough overtakes his throat. He pushes his hand to his mouth and coughs for a good minute before looking at a concerned Peter.
"I'm fine, just a little tired." He smiles.
"You're getting sick, and I-" Peter says desperately.
"Well, we can figure it out once we get out of here." Tony says. "For now, I think it's time that you got some rest. There's a bed over there." He helps Peter hobble to the other side of the room and lays him on the bed.
Peter closes his eyes and starts to fall asleep. Tony sits against the wall next to the bed, right by Peter's head.
"You're sitting next to me, aren't you?" Peter laughs with his eyes closed.
"Of course, kid." Tony laughs too.
"You're such a dad."
"Well, I try." Tony smiles and rests his head against the wall, thinking about how much Pepper is going to kill him when he gets back.
/AN/ Sorry for being gone so long guys!! I'm back now and I'm gonna keep writing. There's only a few more chapters left, exciting right? Any ideas for what you wanna see next? Love you all! /AN/