{This won't be done on time, but should be done by the end of the week.}
The Avengers has finally gotten a drop on a Hydra base not to far outside of New York in virtually the middle of nowhere.
Spider-Man wasn't necessarily an important asset to the team for fights like this; Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow could take them all down no problem. But Peter was called in because of his enhanced hearing and spidey-senses which can help them get the information they needed before they had to actually do the job of getting rid of the Hydra agents. Whether it meant killing them or getting them ready for Shield to pick up.
Peter can't believe he's actually missing a Chem Lab for this.
On a Monday morning nonetheless.
"Okay. Peter, you're with me. We're going in first. Quiet, stealthy. Gathering information and getting numbers. When I call it, Steve and Nat, you can come in and we start fighting. Again, quiet, stealthy. The fight will only need to start when someone calls for reinforcements. According to the drop we got, there shouldn't be more than 50 people in the building total. Understand?" Tony explains, hands clasped in front of him as he paces before his team.
Peter yawns in response, covering his mouth lazily.
"What's up with you, Spidey? Late night?" Natasha laughs, turning to the boy. He's in his suit, sans mask.
"Little bit. May or may not have only gotten like 3.. okay, 2 hours of sleep. It's 10 am on a Monday. What do you expect?I'm functioning," Peter groans,
"Told you he's your kid, Tony," Steve says, smiling fondly at the tired kid beside him. Peter uses his soft fists to rub the sleep out of his eyes, yawning a little bit. His hair still messy and loosely curly.
"Shut up," Tony mutters, rolling his eyes, but there's an obvious care in his smile thrown at the kid. "We ready to go?"
"Yep," Peter says, letting enthusiasm bleed into his voice. "Let's mess some shit up!"
"Language!" Steve reprimands halfheartedly.
"And we're not messing anything up right now. We're being quiet and sneaky, remember?" Tony says.
Peter rolls his eyes and tugs his mask over his head.
*
Inside the building, Peter has to strain. His suit has a new upgrade that's he's turned on where the sounds and lights are no longer filtered like they normally are so he doesn't have a sensory overload while patrolling. They'll be turned on as soon as the fight begins, but for now they're off so he can eavesdrop on everything around him.
"Anything?" Tony whispers as they stop at an intersection. He's starting to get anxious. They haven't encountered anyone. Not a single person anywhere. And Peter still can't hear anything around him other than their two hearts, their two breathing. With how hard he's trying to listen for anything, he can even hear the blood moving through their bodies.
Peter shakes his head minutely, holding up his hand in hesitation. He doesn't want them turning a corner and getting shot at just because he said it was safe.
But still. Nothing.
"Hey, I know this sounds really stupid," Peter says, voice bouncing through the otherwise silent hallways. "Even though you've got like heart problems and stuff, your heartbeat is really strong and even."
"You can hear my heartbeat?" Tony questions, frowning down at the kid. He's standing a good foot away and he can still hear his heartbeat.
"Like a fire alarm, Mister Stark. Just-" Peter cuts himself off, eyes widening a little bit. He throws his hand up to stop the billionaire from speaking and drops into a crouch. "There's people talking."
Tony can't hear a thing, but he trusts the kid's abilities. "How far away?"
Peter's silent for a few too many seconds before he finally speaks. "5 or 6 floors down, I think from the air circulation and how much their voices carry."
"6 floors down? You can hear that far?" Tony exclaims quietly. He has no idea how the kid manages to function on a regular day if he can hear what's at least 60 feet down from them.
"Shh. I'm trying to hear what they're saying. They're whispering so their voices reverberate more than if they were talking. If we get to a stairwell I'd be able to hear it better, but I can try here." There's obvious uncertainty in Peter's voice, not wanting to let Tony down, but he's gotta try.
Peter pushes his ear against the floor, flinching almost instantly and pulling away. "Fuck, sorry. I can do this."
"What's wrong?" Tony asks, pulling the face plate away, figuring it was safe enough.
"Just really loud. There's running water in the pipes between the floors. Don't want to give myself a sensory overload before I've even managed to get any information," Peter mumbles absentmindedly as he takes a deep breath and pushes his ear back to the floor.
"You don't have to do this. We can get closer," Tony says, frowning at the kid.
"Safer here. I'll be fine," Peter says through clenched teeth.
Tony stops talking, letting the enhanced kid do his job.
"They said something about Captain America's serum... Shush," Peter says, looking back up to Tony. "I'm sorry. Can you try to breathe quieter?" Peter winces as the words leave his mouth.
Tony straightens his back. "I can leave, kid. I hate it, but I can go back down the hall so you can concentrate. Talk to us over the intercoms instead."
Peter nods, rolling his shoulders back before pressing his ear back to the floor.
Tony walks down the hallway to give Peter more space, making sure he's close enough to protect the kid if needed, but far enough so he isn't a distraction.
"They're still talking about Cap. Says they need his blood if they want to recreate it. Blah blah blah, we've heard the spiel about a thousand times from other Hydra bases... They're talking about me now. A Spider-Man Serum... They're wondering if they could make a formula for the serum's using their bases to create mutants with different animal breeds. A new voice is asking what kinds of animals. The first voice is saying... um, fuck... Bear... Lion... Ant. A third voice is laughing. Says Antman is already a thing. The first voice is angry, says he'll be kicked out if he thinks now is a good time to make jokes... Um... The second voice says they won't be able to make a serum without me and Cap... Fuck, fuck, fuck," Peter says, suddenly pulling his ear away from the floor and springing to his feet. He spins towards Tony.
"What is it?" Tony asks, hurrying back towards where Peter stands.
"They know we're here. They know. We need to go," he explains quickly, whites of the mask widening a little bit with the kid's panic.
"You good to fight?" Tony asks, knowing they have time before they're actually attacked.
Peter nods once, taking a deep breath through his mouth.
"You sure? You can sit this out if you want. It's better for you to be honest than for you to get hurt," Tony says quickly.
"Feeling a little sick, to be honest. Head's starting to hurt. But nothing I can't handle. I'm not missing a chemistry lab for nothing," Peter replies, straightening himself out and flexing his arms.
"Okay. If it gets too much, I want you to tell us and then head back to the plane. We'll be fine without your help," Tony says, squeezing the boys shoulder before turning back to the hallway. "Are they coming?"
Peter tips his head to the side, straining to hear more. He filters through the noises quickly. Tony's breathing, his breathing, Tony's heartbeat, his heartbeat, the water in the pipes, Tony's blood, the hushed voices from down below, and a very quiet beeping to the left.
"There's something beeping," Peter explains, pressing himself up to the wall and listening more intently. "Not a bomb... It's... It's morse code I think."
"You recite it, I'll translate, okay? I know you know morse code too, but focusing on listening and trying to figure it out might be a bit much for you."
Peter nods and throws all of his will into focusing in on the beeping.
"3 short beeps, one long beep... One short beep... Short beep, long beep, short beep... Long beep, short beep... Two short beeps... Long beep, short beep, long beep, short beep... 4 short beeps... Long beep... two short beeps, one long beep... long beep, short beep... two long beeps, one short beep. And repeats," Peter says, looking up at Tony as he catches his breath.
"V. E. R. N. I. C. H. T. U. N. G," Tony recites.
There's a beep of silence before Steve's voice comes in through the intercoms. "Vernichtung is German. It means annihilation."
"Or death," Nat says.
And then everything erupts in a bright, fiery explosion.
*
When Tony comes to, his suit is missing leaving him in a pair of nice jeans and a dress shirt. He's in a dim room, cement everywhere- all the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling- strapped to a metal chair.
Across from him, Peter's in the same boat except he can't wear clothing under his suit so he's only in his boxes, pupils blown with fear as he stares at Tony.
"Are you okay? It's been a long time and I haven't heard anything from anyone and you wouldn't wake up and your head's been bleeding. I was really really worried," Peter rambles.
"I'm fine, kid," Tony reassures. He's not lying. His head hurts a little bit from where he can feel the dried blood, but other than that, he doesn't think he's hurt at all.
Peter sniffles a little bit, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank god."
"What about you? You okay?" Tony asks, checking Peter's body over for any harm.
He almost throws up when he sees it. Peter's thigh is covered in blood, painting the cement a dark red beneath him. A chunk of metal, at least 6 inches in diameter is stuck in Peter's thigh. A good 4 inches of it is visible, but the other 2 are dug into Peter's leg.
Other than that there's cuts and bruises pretty much everywhere visible.
"When the wall exploded, most of it hit me, not you from where we were standing," Peter explains quietly. "It doesn't hurt, but I think that's worse than if it were to hurt."
"How long have we been here?"
"I passed out when the wall exploded, but I woke up when they were strapping us in. I tried to fight them, but the explosion has made my senses really wonky. I can't see or hear very well at all. Like worse than before Spider-Man," Peter explains.
Suddenly it makes sense to Tony. Peter's talking quietly than he normally would, head tilted in Tony's direction like he's straining to even hear Tony's voice. Peter's pupils aren't so dilated because of fear, it's because he can't see very well.
"I guess it's because I was using my senses too much and then they were overloaded to the extreme and they freaked out or something. I don't know... But I'd say it's been at least half an hour, no more than an hour though," Peter says.
Tony hates the idea of Peter sitting by himself in the room without his senses to rely on.
"Okay, well Nat and Steve are probably fighting their way to us right now, kiddo. No need to panic. Half our team is on their way," Tony reassures, trying to rid himself of the anger igniting in his gut.
"Unless the explosion blocked the stairway. In that case, they're not going to be able to get to us in time," Peter says, eyes focused on his wound. "That's a lot of blood, Mister Stark. I'm not so sure..."
"Everything's going to be fine, kid," Tony reassures.
There's a few beats of silent and then the door opens.
Peter flinches, fingers curling into fists on the arms of his chair.
"Hello, Mister Stark, Mister Parker. It is nice to finally meet the both of you," the woman says absentmindedly, checking the watch on her wrist. "It seems we're running out of time and we're yet to get the information we desire."
3 men walk into the room behind her, armed and prepared for a fight if needed. One turns their back on the room to guard the door.
"You see, we need to run some quick tests on you, Mister Parker to see just what your DNA is capable of. Your friends are putting up quite the fight upstairs, but they've got hundreds of soldiers to fight through. It will take them a little while to even reach this floor. Enough time for me to run the required tests to perfect the formula," the lady explains, grabbing a few tools from her waistband. They're basic tools like a scalpel, a taser, a knife, and a gun. "Just in case you refuse to cooperate."
"Don't fucking touch him," Tony growls, tugging at his restraints.
"Unfortunately, Mister Stark, you don't seem to understand what these tests are. They require me to hurt him," the woman says with a maniacal laugh, sliding her fingers over the blade.
"I'll fucking kill you if you lay a hand on him," the billionaire snarls.
The lady laughs again, putting some of her equipment back, leaving just her knife in her hands.
Peter bites his lip hard, screwing his eyes shut as the lady carves into his arm.
"The first test is seeing just how fast he can heal. We don't quite have a lot of time for that, so we're just going to time how long it takes for these cuts to heal while we proceed to the next tests," the lady explains, talking as though her experiments are logical. As though they're sane.
She moves away and Tony snarls at the blood on his kid's arm. There's 6 cuts up the back of his arm. All of them deep and long, seeping blood to add to the red already smeared across the floor beneath his chair.
A button clicks on her watch before she looks back at the guards.
"How long till they arrive?" There's an obvious tenseness in her voice, pinched eyes showing her worry.
"They are still on the first floor. They seem to be trying to stay in the entrance, fight everyone and then make their way down," the first guard explains, reciting back what someone told him through their earpieces.
"Perfect. Gives us more time. Tell me when they are through with everyone," the lady says simply, turning back to Peter.
"That's your plan?" Tony demands, refusing to look at Peter right now. "You know they're going to get to us."
"Yes, of course, I do. I'm not an idiot," the lady says, lips pulled back in anger. It morphs into a smile instead. "Our bosses are watching and they will get the information needed. I was never meant to survive this. None of us were."
She points up to the corner of the room where a little red light is flashing. A camera.
The lady turns to Peter. "Test Number 2. We must hurry along. We have already tested your senses which were immaculate, I must say. Next, your metabolism."
She takes a box from the third guard that Tony hadn't even realized he was holding.
Inside, there's 6 needles all full of the same blue liquid.
"Each has Neuromuscular blocking agents. In simpler terms, they will temporarily paralyse you, Mister Parker. Unless, of course, your metabolism is strong enough to fend it off before it takes effect."
It feels like years spent in that chair, watching the blue liquid be pushed into Peter's veins. Peter struggles and he whines and he cries, and it makes Tony see red.
"I'm going to rip your fucking throat out," Tony snarls when the 6th needle is pushed into Peter's neck.
"Good luck trying, Mister Stark. It seems you're a little tied up at the moment," the lady says with a fake sadness. Pouting down at Tony's wrist restraints. "Let me know when you're hands are free."
She turns back to Peter who's still trembling and crying silently.
"Leave me alone. Please. Stop hurting me," Peter whimpers, bottom lip quivering.
"We have no more of the drug, unfortunately. And it seems it still hasn't taken hold despite being 6 times as much as the human amount," the lady says, humming as she pokes at Peter's arm. Her fingers come away bloody from the cuts. "Cuts are healing fast."
"They've moved to the second floor and are sweeping through the rooms. They'll be here in approximately 6 minutes at this rate," a guard announces.
"Alright. Onto the last of the experiments," the lady says, almost gleefully.
"Fuck you," Tony spits, tugging harder at the metal strapping his arms to the chair.
"That's nice, Mister Stark. Lastly, we need to take some samples. Nothing painful unless you try to struggle, Mister Parker," the lady continues, taking one of the empty syringes from earlier out of the box on the floor.
Peter struggles to get away from it, quiet whines and sobs leaving the back of his throat, legs trying to kick to get himself away but restraints making him unable to.
Tony's seeing red, anger swelling in his chest, imagining all the different ways he's going to murder the lady in front of him.
The needle is pushed into Peter's neck, blood filling the syringe.
"2 minutes and counting, ma'am," the guard announces.
"Yes, of course. I'll be on my way then," the lady says, pulling the needle from Peter's neck and tucking it into her waistband. "Ta ta."
Tony throws insults and yells profanities as the lady disappears behind a door. He continues yelling even as Nat and Steve knocks the guards stationed at the door out and race into the room.
He finally shuts up when Nat appears in front of him.
"What the fuck is going on?" she demands.
"Get me out of these. I've gotta catch her. I'm going to fucking murder her," Tony snarls, tugging at his restraints.
"I got keys," Steve says from his position crouched over the third guard.
As soon as the restraints are off Tony's wrists and ankles, he races off after the woman. He doesn't care that he doesn't even have the iron man suit on him. He'll kill her with his bare hands if he has to.
"Don't do something you'll regret, Tony!" Nat calls after him. "Meet us at the quinjet ASAP."
Tony catches up to the lady on the stairwell, ignoring Nat's words. He wouldn't regret killing her. She hurt his kid. That couldn't be left without consequences.
Nobody's allowed to touch his kid.
Tony grabs the lady's arm, spinning her around and shoving her up against the wall. He rips everything out of her waistband, the syringe of Peter's blood shattering on impact.
"Guess you failed," Tony snarls.
"If I failed, then why are you so angry?" The lady asks as though genuinely confused.
"You hurt my kid! That's why I'm angry! You hurt an innocent kid!" Tony yells, wrapping a hand around her throat and shoving her up harder against the cement wall.
"Normally you'd be sarcastic and snarky. Now you are angry. You care for the kid?" The woman asks like its really hard to tell.
"You don't get to talk like you all of a sudden care. You didn't care when you were cutting him open or stealing his blood or prodding at him like he was some experiment. He's a fucking kid. He's my kid. Nobody touches my kid," Tony growls protectively, hand cutting off the woman's airways.
But despite his anger, he would never actually kill her. He'll let her rot away in prison with the rest of them.
He lets her body drop to the floor unconscious, desperate to see his kid again.
*
As soon as Tony boards the plane, they're taking off. Peter's passed out on the hospital bed, blood everywhere. Bruce works over him diligently. He gets the metal out of Peter's leg, stitching the wound closed, wraps Peter's arm in white bandages, and puts butterfly bandages over Peter's neck where all the injections had gone.
Peter wakes up not long later, eyes wide and glassy.
"Mis'r S'ark?" Peter slurs through his exhaustion from the long mission.
The protective feelings hadn't faded from Tony. He was still angry that someone hurt his kid. How dare someone hurt his kid?
But looking at Peter, so small in the hospital bed, the anger turns into soft pride.
"You did so well. You were so strong in there. I'm sorry you had to go through that," Tony murmurs, taking Peter's hand. "She's never going to hurt you ever again."
"Doesn't hurt," Peter mumbles, eyes lazily scanning Tony's face. "Ned's gonna love these stories. I've never gotten experimented on before."
"Spare him the gory details, yeah?" Tony says, lifting the kid's limp fingers up to his lips.
"Always do. Thanks for caring," Peter murmurs, head lolling to the side.
"Always, kiddo. Always."
____
Whoops this was longer than originally planned
For the suggestion of writing angry protective tony. Sorta not as good as I sorta hoped it would be whoops
Happy New Years !!
Lyss