Hey, did you guys know that you can use a plum to scroll through your phone? Kinda like a stylus? Well, I discovered that today!
Yes, like a legitimate plum. The fruit.
Don't ask how.
They had their touching moment, but a sharp clearing of the throat interrupted. "Oh!" Natasha exclaimed, looking back at Peter's classmates. "Ha... I had forgotten they were here," Tony said awkwardly.
Natasha looked over toward them. "Okay, what the fuck?" Flash yelled from the crowd. Peter facepalmed. Of course he would choose now to speak up. Of course. "Can someone explain what's going on?" Cindy asked, looking between Peter and the Avengers in confusion. Clint started laughing, but at a glare from Peter, it turned into a bout of coughing.
"Right," Tony said, putting on his sunglasses. "You guys say nothing of this. Nothing. I will have my lawyers at your doorstep, and I'll scrub the Internet, and it will not end well for you. Sounds good?" Everyone was silent. Tony smiled calmly. "Good. Bye, now. Peter, you stay!" Peter looked toward the ground, slightly uncomfortable. "Y-yeah, ok," He stammered. Natasha called Happy, and he took the kids back to the school.
Peter looked up at Tony and the rest of the Avengers, feeling more at home than he had in weeks.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
But it was foolish. HYDRA does not give up so easily.
"Initiate the second plan?" The man asked his boss, one week after Joshua's failure.
A slow smile spread over the boss' face. "Ah, yes, we shall. The spider will be ours."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Peter heard a shout coming from an alley below. He immediately changed course to investigate, swinging down into the alleyway and landing with a flip. "Spider-Man," Said a man decked out in all black, with a hood and mask covering a lot of his face. "Yes?" He said warily. His Spidey Senses were blaring, stronger than he'd ever felt them. The man released a woman, who looked up at him with fear-filled eyes. Peter gestured for her to run, which she did, immediately.
"You are exactly who I was looking for," The man said.
"That's... great," Peter said skeptically. "I mean, I've been told I'm the answer to people's prayers," a complete lie, "but I'm sorry, I don't date old men. That includes you, too, Hoodie."
The mugger - now dubbed Hoodie - snorted. "I was told you would be a frustrating one. It appears they were not wrong," He said, rolling his eyes. "See, I've been told that, too! Mind telling me who, exactly, said I was frustrating?" Peter inquired. Hoodie smirked. "Oh, some people here and there. You should come quietly."
It was Peter's turn to roll his eyes. "Why? So you can take me off and do who-knows-what? I don't think so." Hoodie shook his head. "Well, that's your loss, then," He stated.
Peter's Spidey Senses went off, and he ducked a punch coming for his face. "Wow! We were having a polite conversation!" He exclaimed. Hoodie simply laughed, before pulling out a taser. "Oh shi- ahem, shiitake mushrooms! We're getting real here, I see!" His senses alerted him again, and he dodged the two coils that shot out from the end of the weapon. "Dude! Didn't your mom ever tell you not to play with that type of thing?" Peter asked.
There was a quiet whistling sound in the air, accompanied by the increasing of his Spidey Senses, and Peter realized someone else was there, shooting something at him. He quickly planned out a route of escape, but heard other, similar sounds. Darts. Probably laced with some kind of poison. Peter tried to calculate a way out, but only managed to get past two before there was a sharp stinging in the side of his neck.
"W-whoa, what did you make th'se out of? They n'rmally cant get through my suit..." Peter trailed off, aware that his words were now slurring together. What was in that stuff?
The man approached Peter, taser in hand. "And you see, little spider, that is why you don't oppose HYDRA. Cut off one head... two more shall take its place."
With that, he pushed the stun gun into Peter's side and squeezed the trigger.
And, through the screaming that was so distant that Peter barely realized it was coming from himself, everything slowly went black.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Peter slowly opened his eyes, realizing just how dark it was in his room.
Wait.
This wasn't his room.
Thanks to his advanced sight, he could start to see the place clearly. He became aware of chains binding his left leg to a wall. Peter stood up and gave them an experimental tug, slowly beginning to panic when they didn't give in or break.
He continued until his was pulling with all his might, but it just.
Wouldn't.
Break.
Peter's heart sped up as he looked around frantically, for any possible way to escape. There was a door about 10 feet away from him. And on the doors, there were... bars.
A thumping noise echoed from outside the doors. Footsteps. Peter immediately curled up, pretending to be asleep. There was a small rattling. "Subject-Soldier 7 is not yet awake," A voice declared. "How about we change that?" Another voice added. There was a clinking of metal on metal, and Peter could tell that a key was put into the door.
"Hello, маленький паук," The second voice said. Peter's Spidey Senses went off, and a second later, someone drove their foot into Peter's side. Exactly where the taser had been.
Peter gasped in pain. His eyes shot open again, and he saw two people looking down at him. The source of the first voice, standing by the door. The second voice, a dark haired man, standing over him with a cruel smirk. "So he was awake after all," He said. Peter scrambled to his feet, backing into a corner. "Who are you guys?" The boy asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "My name," Said the second person. "Is Helmut Zemo. I trust you've heard of me."
Peter froze. Zemo was the guy who started the Civil War. Of course, the war was unsuccessful, but it got really close. And if he was right here in front of Peter... well, Peter was possibly screwed. "I see you do know me. And the man behind me? My new ally. Alexander Pierce. You thought he was dead? I'm afraid you people were sorely mistaken." Peter paled at Zemo's words. Everyone assumed that the former HYDRA leader was dead. That Nick Fury had killed him.
Apparently this was not the case.
"You see, I realized HYDRA and I have a common purpose now. I want to tear apart the Avengers. HYDRA wants the Avengers to cease being a threat. So now... we can work together."
Peter was briefly aware of Zemo turning to Pierce and saying: "You don't talk much, do you?"
"W-what do you want from me?" Peter asked, voice trembling. "Oh, you're a smart one. Surely you can figure it out from what I said earlier. Subject-Soldier 7? I trust you know how many Winter Soldiers there are. Or, that is, were. Your dear friend Bucky, for one. Josef and the others. That is six total, is it not?" Zemo inquired. Clearly it was a rhetorical question.
Peter's heart dropped. Six Winter Soldiers. Six test subjects. And Peter - he was 7. Subject-Soldier 7. "No-" Peter gasped as he understood. It can't work.
But based on Bucky's descriptions... it could happen to anyone.
A thought came to Peter. Reverse programming. Choose one thing to remind you of one person. Peter took a deep breath.
Natasha. Her... glaring. She did that a lot.
Bucky. Metal arm. That was easy.
Clint. His bow. He always had it on him.
Vision. The Mind Stone.
Wanda. Her jacket.
Shuri. Vines. They had already discussed what they would use, because in the superhero world, you never knew what could happen. It had come up in casual conversation.
Bruce. His glasses.
Thor. His hammer.
Loki. His knives. (What else would Peter use?)
Steve. His Look of Worry.
Scott... his look of confusion?
T'Challa's look of exasperation.
Sam with his guns.
Rhodey with... his leg.
MJ. Crisis notebook.
Ned. Legos.
Tony. What could he do for-
Peter lost his train of thought when pain erupted from the side of his face. He looked up to see Zemo glowering at him. "Not paying attention? Then how about we get started?" Peter opened his mouth to apologize, or to say something, but quickly closed it at the man's glare.
I have to stop apologizing... that's what Mr. Stark says...
Peter was punched in the head, and it all went black.
When he opened his eyes again, he was strapped down to a table. Zemo was approaching with a knife. "No..." Peter gasped. "Please!" Pierce only smiled. "Misbehavior has punishments," He said coldly. Peter thought that was the first time he had heard the other man talk. "This will only hurt for... a few minutes while I put this device in," Zemo added. Then, slowly, he pushed the knife into Peter's shoulder.
It had begun to burn when Peter decided to let himself scream. It ripped itself from his body and tore through the room. "Ah-ah, soldiers don't scream," Zemo corrected, shoving the knife in more aggressively. Peter bit his lip to prevent more screaming, more pain, and tears slowly streaming down his face. Zemo pulled the knife out, and replaced it with a small metal device. Peter almost shrieked again as the man shoved it roughly into his open wound.
gUYS THEYRE NOT CUTTING OFF HIS ARM THEY DON'T JUST GO AROUND CUTTING ARMS OFF!
thEY ONLY DID IT FOR BUCKY BECAUSE HIS ARM WAS DEAD
sorry lol that's just a plot thing that i hate when authors do, HYDRA gave Bucky a metal arm because Bucky's arm was gonna die. Peter is fine and doesn't need amputation.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Peter inhaled sharply as he realized what they were doing. "Trigger words", Bucky would call them. To turn him away from Bucky and into the Winter Soldier.
Zemo slowly took his hand off of Peter's shoulder, repeating the words.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Peter tried to reach over and take out the device, but it was futile, considering his arms were strapped down. "No misbehavior... we wouldn't want to have consequences again, would we?" Zemo asked.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Zemo said it this time as he pushed a button on a control panel. "The memory wiper should be taking effect soon," Pierce said. "That's what happened last time," Zemo agreed. Peter hadn't even realized that the other man was still in the room.
Remember. I have to remember them.
Natasha. Bucky. Clint. Vision. Wanda. Shuri. Bruce. Thor. Loki. Steve. Scott. T'Challa. Sam. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
I'm not forgetting someone, right?
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Clint. Vision. Wanda. Shuri. Bruce. Thor. Loki. Steve. Scott. Sam. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Clint. Vision. Wanda. Shuri. Thor. Loki. Steve. Scott. Sam. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Clint. Wanda. Shuri. Thor. Loki. Steve. Scott. Sam. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Clint. Shuri. Thor. Loki. Steve. Scott. Sam. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Clint. Shuri. Loki. Steve. Scott. Sam. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Clint. Shuri. Loki. Steve. Scott. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Shuri. Loki. Steve. Scott. Rhodey. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Shuri. Loki. Steve. Scott. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Shuri. Loki. Scott. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Loki. Scott. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Loki. MJ. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Bucky. Loki. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Loki. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha. Ned.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
Natasha.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
...
Do I remember them?
Wait, who am I supposed to remember?
Who am I?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
The boy looked up to the first person he'd ever seen.
"Soldier?" The man asked.
The boy, through some innate knowledge, responded.
"Ready to comply."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Dark Spider!"
The boy had long since learned this was his name. It had been... maybe three weeks since he first saw the man calling him over presently. "Yes, sir?" Dark Spider asked, looking over.
"We have a mission for you," Pierce said, a small smirk growing on his face. Finally!
He had been training for the three weeks - it was about time he had something else to do.
Well, apart from the surgeries and experimentation that took place every other day. Those typically involved some type of serum.
"These are the Avengers. Find them. Take them out. Make sure Tony Stark is first." Zemo held out a picture of a group of assorted men and women. Then he indicated a man with dark hair and brown eyes, wearing sunglasses and a suit. This must be Tony Stark. Dark Spider nodded. He would not fail this task.
"Melikov Ilyich, Logan Douglas, and Gavril Abakumov will accompany you. When you're there," The man lowered his voice. "Take them out, too."
Dark Spider smiled ruthlessly. "I will not fail you, sir," He said confidently.
"I believe that. One more time, however..."
Dark Spider looked down, knowing what was coming. He hated it, but it was necessary.
"Happy. Alone. Radioactive. Restart. One. Dormant. Nine. Far. Seven. Street."
The boy glanced up hesitantly once Zemo finished.
"Soldier?" The man asked.
The words were constantly rehearsed in the boy's mind.
With a confident smirk, Dark Spider replied: "Ready to comply."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Natasha was freaking out. She had tried thousands of times to call Peter, but he never picked up. He didn't communicate with anyone else. He had been gone for three weeks, and the Avengers were frantically trying to find him.
With the exception of Thor and Loki, as they had returned to Asgard the day after Peter discovered the truth about Joshua. They had no way to contact the two.
"Any luck?" She asked through the comms, voice trembling. "No! He wouldn't have just left, right? He at least would have talked to his friends?" Tony replied immediately. "Probably. Is MJ still at the tower? I need to talk with her," Natasha declared.
"No, she left a while ago. Take Clint with you to visit her, at least. If someone took Peter by force... well, they could probably take any of us."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tony had a heavy feeling in his chest as he took off his comms. And for once, it wasn't his arc reactor. Was it possible Peter ran away? But it was unlikely, considering he would have talked to Clint, Bucky, or Natasha first. Or Ned and MJ. So it must have been by force. Who would have done that?
Tony pulled up some screens, frantically trying to find something, anything. "Sir, move away from the window immediately!" FRIDAY's voice came over the intercom, sounding frightened. "FRIDAY, what is it?" Tony demanded, only half paying attention. "Deploying force movement," She said next. Nanobots swarmed out of his arc reactor and over his hands, then shot Tony backwards toward the wall. "What's the deal?" Tony asked, real anger entering his voice. FRIDAY was about to reply, but then a window shattered and a bullet flew past, lodging itself in the wall.
Tony stared in astonishment. If FRIDAY hadn't gotten him out of the way... he would be dead. Bullet through the brain. "That," FRIDAY replied sassily to Tony's earlier comment. "Right. Put the tower on lockdown mode. Anyone who enters - apart from the people with clearance, of course - tell me."
"Got it, sir. That being said, Ms. Romanoff has entered the building with Mr. Barton and Ms. Jones," FRIDAY said quickly.
"Thanks. Good job, nice practice."
"You're welcome, Boss."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The Dark Spider swung in through a window right before it slammed shut. He had a Scrambler - what he called the device he created that made him invisible to all sorts of technology - tucked into his uniform. The boy had a mask across his face, and a pair of night vision glasses - or goggles, they were quite bulky. Dark Spider slowly reached down to grab his MMS241 - the machine gun he had gotten quite used to. The man - Tony Stark - was in the lab located ahead of him.
His first two targets were dead already, the two people who had come with him from HYDRA. Of course, it was easy. They didn't expect to be betrayed. Surprisingly, it was not by Dark Spider's hand that they died. The two people were shot down by Tony Stark's AI, and their security system. It was a shame they hadn't brought Scramblers themselves. To be honest, he couldn't have saved them if he had wanted to. It was too fast.
But for now, he had to focus on the mission at hand.
Instinctively, he climbed swiftly into the ventilation shafts in order to invade the laboratory. Dark Spider slowly lowered himself down into Tony Stark's room, sticking to the shadows in order not to be seen. He landed without a sound, and the man wasn't alerted, thanks to the Scrambler. The boy slowly raised his gun. Inhale, aim. Exhale... fire. The bullet went right where it was supposed to.
Except, at the last moment, the man had leaned down to grab something under his desk, and the bullet embedded itself in the wall with a bang. Dark Spider's eyes widened. His luck, of course, was terrible as usual. With a gasp, Tony Stark spun around to see him standing in the corner with a gun. The boy looked around frantically for an escape, surveying the room. His eyes landed on a holographic version of... himself.
Were they looking for HYDRA? Was that how he knew to move away from his first shot? A name was listed next to his face: Peter Parker. Who was that? An agent assigned to his case? He quickly read some more data: Age 15, like himself. Male. Brown hair. Brown eyes... this agent sounded exactly like Dark Spider. But he was listed as Peter Parker...
He was brought back to reality when his sixth sense - Spidey Sense, as HYDRA called it - went off, and he ducked down to the ground as a humming noise started. Two seconds later, a beam of energy shot over Dark Spider's head and exploded against the wall. He let out a small snort - that was never going to work on him. Lifting his gun again, Dark Spider aimed for the man's heart - only to discover it was rapidly being encased by a suit of metal. He stared in disbelief as a mask snapped over Tony Stark's head and the eyes started to glow.
"Who the hell are you?" The man demanded, leveling a hand with a glowing circle in the middle at him. Dark Spider went though a quick internal debate before deciding not to reply. He ducked under another ray of light, and looked around for something else he could use. Seizing a vibranium knife from his belt, he ran toward Stark and managed to chip away some nanites from the man's suit. Dark Spider felt his Spidey Senses go off, but was too late as he felt one of those rays sear across his face, knocking off his glasses. In fear that his identity could be discovered, Dark Spider turned his head before the man could see his eyes, quickly attached himself to the wall and ran up toward the open vent. There was a small gasp from Tony, and Dark Spider cursed under his breath as he ran off silently. He'd have to return to get the man later.
"Ms. Romanoff, Mr. Barton, and Ms. Jones have entered the building," A voice said calmly. Dark Spider ignored this.
The next target the boy would aim for was the man with long hair. In the picture, he was partially blocked by the woman with the bright red hair and Tony Stark, leaving Dark Spider to only see the man's face.
There was a crackling over the intercom. "Avengers, please report to the common room for an emergency meeting," A woman, clearly an AI, announced. Dark Spider shook his head. All of his targets in one place. They would never cease to amaze him.
The first person to walk into the room was the woman with the red hair. Dark Spider slowly lifted his gun, then internally cursed when he realized the safety was active. He tried to disable it silently, but there was a small clicking noise. Sadly, that was all the woman needed to look directly up in his direction. Dark Spider pulled the hood up over his face to hide his features, then heard another safety clicking off. The woman had a gun, and was staring straight at him.
He dropped from the vents, landing on the ground before frantically trying to shoot the woman. She dodged every shot, retaliating with her own that Dark Spider could barely dodge thanks to his Spidey Senses.
When he made eye contact, the woman was glaring at him.
Pain shot through his head as something in the back of his mind started talking. "Spider... Natasha... Avengers... Assassin..."
Dark Spider clutched at his head as these words came to him, bringing torrents of hurting to his head.
The assassin dropped her glare and stared at him, wide-eyed. "Peter?" She asked.
Peter.
That name again! Who was it?
"Peter, it's me, Natasha," The woman said frantically. "Are you okay? What's going on?" Natasha asked. Dark Spider slowly raised his head, saying the first words he had in hours.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Who the hell is Peter and why should I care about him?" He asked through glazed eyes.
Natasha was left wordless at Peter's question. When she gathered herself to speak, he was gone. "Peter!" She yelled at the ceiling, knowing it was futile.
"PETER!!!!"
Natasha could tell the desperation entered her voice. She had been trained: Emotions are a sign of weakness. Don't show them.
But her baby spider was completely messed up, and she wasn't going to just let that happen.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tony ran into the common room to see Natasha staring at the ceiling, screaming. "Natasha? Nat. Hey, Romanoff? You okay?" The woman finally turned to make eye contact with him.
"No," was the only word she said.
"Okaaaay... well, you'd never believe what just happened. Some dude in a mask dropped into my lab and shot at me. He missed, thankfully, but he's somewhere in the building." Tony waited for Natasha to say something, or to look surprised.
She didn't.
"I know," She finally said. "It was Peter."
Tony glared at her. "Not funny. Seriously, Romanoff. Don't make that joke..." He trailed off, realizing that the assassin looked completely serious. "I wasn't kidding," She said, monotone.
"Explain," Tony demanded.
"He attacked me, too. Without the mask. I know his face. I'm assuming you didn't see it. Signs of burns around the uniform's hood - probably caused by your repulsors. You blasted it off, if I'm correct. Now your facial expression is confirming it. Peter ran, through the vents because that's how he attacked me, due to the new worn-out marks on his remarkably polished shoes, probably trying to keep his identity a secret. That's what we were told, anyways. Return to finish the job later. He moved on to his next target: hypothetically me, but it could have been anyone. He failed again. Run again. Another target. We can assume it's the Avengers."
Natasha said all this in an unbiased, factual way, but Tony could hear the desperation, anger, and sadness in her voice.
"And who wants us dead?" She asked rhetorically. "That can actually get to Peter," The woman added. "There are a few possibilities. Peter, when he attacked me, said the following words: 'Who the hell is Peter?'. Clearly he has no recollection of his life before... whatever happened. You know who said the same basic thing? Bucky, when he was confronting Steve. And Bucky was kidnapped by HYDRA, and Peter seems to be undergoing the same thing as Bucky. When he saw me, he muttered a few things, including my name. He had some memories of me, but clearly they were suppressed. The type of gun Peter was carrying was an MMS241. The same type of gun that HYDRA equipped Bucky with. If my hypothesis is correct..." Natasha looked down.
"HYDRA turned Peter into a Winter Soldier..." Tony finished.
"Oh shit..." Clint said. Apparently he had walked into the middle of the discussion. "This is worse than I thought."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Steve started making his way toward the common room after grabbing his shield. Once the Avengers had all assembled there, they discussed the situation. One of the most powerful members of the team had been brainwashed into fighting against them. Thor and Loki were currently off-world, so there wasn't really much anybody could do.
The team had agreed to split up, and whoever saw Peter first would send a message to the others, and they'd try to work together and stop him.
Of course, nobody realized how easily Peter could subconsciously navigate the tower.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tony was walking down the hall when pain suddenly tore through his back. Spinning, he saw the attacker from earlier crouched into a fighting stance. When Tony looked up, the last bits of hope that it wasn't Peter faded. He could recognize his kid anywhere. And this was him.
"Peter, please, wait, can we talk about this?" Tony asked, subtly reaching for the alert button. Peter, however, saw this movement and spun forward, then gave a quick roundhouse kick, knocking his hand away with another sharp pang of agony. It was definitely going to be bruised, if not sprained. Thankfully, he hadn't heard any bones snap. That meant Peter had to have been holding back for some reason.
"Don't call me that," Peter finally said. "What, your name?" Tony asked. "No! Peter is not my name. My name is -" The boy broke off. "Is classified..." He finally finished.
"I see..." Tony said, not, in fact, seeing. Quickly, he moved to press the button to activate his Iron Man suit, but Peter moved too quickly. He knocked Tony's hand away and kicked the man directly in the kneecap. There was a small cracking sound, and Tony gasped in pain as he instinctively clutched at the injury.
"Stop trying," Peter said. "You'll never be good enough. You've never been good enough." Tony flinched at the words. All his life, he had thought that he would never be good enough - at anything, really. A good enough engineer. A good enough student. A good enough son.
Hell, a good enough father.
And now the person he cared about most in his life was repeating those same thoughts to his face. Despite knowing he was brainwashed... it still hurt.
Peter leveled his gun at Tony's head. "Tell me who Peter is and I'll make your death quick and painless." Tony sighed. He would never believe the story. But of course, he'd have to tell it anyways.
"Look, kid, you're Peter. You've been living with us for a year now, here at Stark Tower. You're an Avenger, like us. The youngest. We all love you. You disappeared three weeks ago. Presumably you've been brainwashed by HYDRA-" Tony broke off when Peter smacked him.
"Liar!" Peter exclaimed, but his voice shook and it sounded more like a wail.
Tony winced. "Come on. You don't remember me?" He asked. "Why should I? Because of your lies?" Peter retorted. "Peter, they're not lies! Don't tell me you haven't had any weird memories - or lapses of something?" Peter flinched, and Tony could see he had struck a nerve. "Oh! When you saw Natasha? The red-haired lady? She told me you said things. That you'd have no clue as... whatever you think you are." "SHUT UP!" Peter screamed. The hand holding the gun was starting to wobble, and Tony took the opportunity to hit the alert button on his watch.
Almost immediately, the Avengers all ran onto the scene. Peter spun, leaping onto the ceiling into a fighting position. Bucky stepped forward, arms raised. The boy saw his metal arm and flinched, before squeezing his eyes shut in what looked like an effort to ward off pain. "Kid. We don't want to hurt you. Just stop what you're doing." Peter rolled his eyes at Bucky's words. "I'm not going to stop. HYDRA wants you all dead... and dead you will be."
A bit of a brash comment coming from someone that is about to face off most of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, despite being practically the strongest.
The issue was, the whole team would be pulling their punches.
Peter wouldn't be.
Sam was the first to attack, punching at Peter, which the boy dodged quickly. Steve went in next, trying to seize Peter's arms and hold them still. Peter shook him off as easily as if the man were a pesky fly.
Tony surveyed the room. It was big... big enough, hopefully.
"FRIDAY... send in VERONICA." Ahh, remember this, anyone?
Within seconds, FRIDAY replied: "Deploying VERONICA."
Peter was fighting off most of the Avengers, and holding his own.
As the Hulkbuster suit formed around Tony, Peter looked over, and his eyes widened as the mask slammed down over Tony's head. Tony reached out to pin the boy to the ground, but Peter leapt out of the way, eyes wild.
Finally, Clint joined the fight, aiming his bow - loaded with a blunt taser arrow - at the boy. Peter's eyes widened and he clutched at his head. "No..." He muttered. "No, no, nonono!" Peter shook his head furiously. "What are you guys doing to me?" He asked. For the first time since he had shown up, Tony heard real fear enter his voice. Peter had faltered in his fighting, and Tony intended to take advantage of that.
Moving quickly, he grabbed Peter's arms and pulled them behind his back. Peter struggled, but was unable to shake Tony's grip. Natasha ran over with vibranium handcuffs - the only known metal that Peter couldn't break. The boy apparently realized this, and didn't even try to get them off. That was what it looked like, anyways.
Tony let go of the boy, to be replaced by Bucky, who caught hold of him using his incredibly strong metal arm.
Tony stepped out of VERONICA, but stayed in his regular Iron Man suit.
"Let me go!" Peter demanded. "Yeah, why should we do that?" Sam asked, moving forward cautiously. "So I can complete the first part of my mission," Peter retorted, rolling his eyes. "And what is the first part of your mission?" Rhodey inquired.
"Kill him," The boy said, pointing. "Yeah, okay," Tony said, moving towards Peter. "I don't know why you want to kill me," He continued. "But I don't think that's a good idea. Don't you even have teammates with you? You can't be serious that you tried to take on the Avengers alone." Peter said nothing.
"Look, kid, just surrender. You can't win this," Steve said quietly. Peter took a deep breath. "Actually, I think I can." With a sharp tug, Peter yanked his hands apart, tearing through the vibranium.
Clearly HYDRA had done something to enhance him.
Peter pulled himself out of Bucky's grip, and kicked him in the chest, sending the man flying across the room. His metal arm made a clanging sound as it hit the wall, and Peter winced. Wanda quickly held her hands up and a red haze started creeping over to the boy. As soon as it reached Peter, however, it flickered and disappeared. Wanda recoiled. "His mind... is blocked, somehow!" She yelled over to the others.
The mind stone in Vision's forehead started to glow, and Peter looked away, a flicker of recognition entering his eyes. Then he leaped backward to swerve away from a bright blast of light.
"Guys," Tony whispered into his comms. "We all have to attack at once. One at a time, he can easily avoid them. But simultaneously, he has to pick which ones to dodge. If we cover every possible escape, at least one of us should be able to hit him. Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, only use stunning techniques. We are not going to hurt him in any lasting way, shape, or form, because we can get him back. Understand?" Tony asked. There were affirmatives from each member, ranging from the 'yep', from Rhodey, the 'makes sense' from Wanda, and the 'you don't fucking say' from Bucky. "Three... two... one... now!"
They all took a separate way out. Peter was able to dodge most of everyone's attacks, but he was brushed by a stun ray from Tony himself, another blast from Vision, and one of Natasha's Taser Disks. The boy fell to the ground, finally unconscious.
Tony ran over, stepping out of the Iron Man suit to pick up his kid.
Peter was light as a feather, which was kind of creepy. Tony was able to effortlessly carry him over to Med Bay, yelling for Bruce to get the lab ready.
The man laid Peter down on the bed and Bruce brought out some of Peter's things: pictures of him and the Avengers together, the old Spider-Man suit with Karen in it, Peter's phone, a picture of him and his Aunt May 6 months ago right before she left on a four-year-long vacation (I don't want to be that author that relentlessly kills May or makes her an evil person), and his old web-shooters.
All the Avengers ran into the room, and MJ trailed after them. She had just kind of been there because Natasha brought her to the tower to look into some of the evidence of where Peter had gone.
Apparently that was unnecessary now.
"We have to erase the trigger words. Of course, it won't work if we don't know what they are, so... we need Peter up," Bucky stated, arms crossed. "Actually," Tony said, thinking. "I can't erase them alone. But I have an idea," He decided. Natasha looked up. "So do I."
Tony leveled his gaze at her. "Mine's standing in the corner," He said, glancing at Wanda.
"Yeah, Tony, HYDRA's trigger words aren't exactly a part of my skill set," Wanda stated. "I can tell there's a disturbance... but I don't know how to fix it."
Tony sighed. "Where's yours?" He inquired.
Natasha smiled triumphantly. "Mine's in Wakanda."
She tossed Tony his phone, which was sitting on a table. "You are a genius," Tony said, smiling at her excitedly.
Tony quickly punched in the number Shuri had given him - 'only for emergencies!' she had threatened. He held the phone to his ear.
"Hello, you've reached the voicemail box of Shuri, please leave a message at the beep!"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Shuri, no time. This is a legitimate emergency."
"BEEEEP."
"Shuri."
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP."
"It involves Peter."
"Tell me what the fuck happened to my science bud or I'll murder you."
"Aaaand that's what I thought. Peter was taken by HYDRA, made into a Winter... Spider, I guess. We need your algorithm to erase his trigger words. We're doing our best in the meantime. He's asleep right now."
"Shit. Okay, I'll be there in 10 minutes. Sorry it won't be sooner, I'm in Wakanda. Wake him up. I'll bring a memory-restoring drug with me. Hopefully it will help, but Bucky is the only person I've had experience with in this... region."
"Great, thanks. See you soon."
"Bye. Please keep Peter alive until I get there, I actually like having a meme friend."
"Yeah, I'll do my best. Bye."
"ETA five minutes! Keep him alive, Stark!"
Then came the beeping that indicated that the girl had hung up.
"Right. Now, Bruce, we don't have anything that can hold him, so... we just have to get this done quickly," Tony said. Bruce nodded quickly, and stepped back from Peter's side. Tony took the other doctor's place, and leaned down to gently tap Peter's shoulder. "Hey, kid. Sorry to interrupt your sleep. Can you wake up?" He asked softly
Peter let out a soft mumbling sound. "Kid?" Tony repeated. "I don't - I don't wanna go... please..." The kid whispered, tossing in a fitful sleep. Tony's eyes widened. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Clearly there was a subconscious part of him with the memories of Titan... and he was currently having a nightmare about it. "I'm sorry..." Peter finally muttered, and then he slumped back against the mattress of the bed.
"Shit," Sam said, kneeling beside Peter.
"Yeah. Alright, kid. Please wake up," Tony continued, gently shaking the boy. Peter slowly opened his eyes, then jerked up. "Where the fuck am I?" He asked angrily.
"STARK! WHERE'S MY FUCKING SCIENCE BUD?" A voice yelled from outside in the hall. Peter looked over, distracted.
"Sir, Shuri has arrived," FRIDAY said pleasantly. "Yeah, you don't fucking say," Tony muttered, swinging the door open. "In here!" He yelled. Shuri ran in through the door, holding a vial of some liquid, a small briefcase, and a computer tucked under her arm. "Oh god, oh no..." She whispered, dashing over to Peter. The girl tossed the case onto the ground and pulled it open. Inside was a small syringe, and a few other various medical items. Shuri grabbed the syringe and slowly approached the bed. "Hey, Peter," She said softly. "Remember me?" Peter blinked. "No..." He said defensively. "Okay... what if I say... 'two dudes, chillin' in a hot tub'," Shuri started to quote the Vine, but Peter interrupted quietly. "'Five feet apart 'cause they're not gay'," He finished. Shuri beamed. "Now do you remember me?" She asked.
Peter was silent for a few seconds. "Shuri..?" He asked, voice rising in uncertainty. Tony's eyes widened. "Yes!" Shuri cheered. "Good job, Peter. Now... I know this seems insane, but you were kidnapped by HYDRA. They're not saviors, despite what they may have led you to believe." Shuri looked at him expectantly.
"Why does everyone keep calling me Peter?" He asked finally. "It's your name..." Shuri replied, eyes darkening. "But... it's not," Peter said quietly. "Look, Peter. In this syringe, I have something that will return your memories. I can't force it on you, none of us can. But if you think what's happened today is weird enough, you can choose to trust me. So, what will it be?" Shuri inquired.
There was a moment of hesitation as Peter considered. Obviously logic - don't trust them - was at war with his instincts - trust them. Tony could see the two warring in the boy's eyes.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Dark Spider was incredibly afraid. What if he was wrong about them? His Spidey Senses weren't going off, though... so maybe they were legitimately trying to help?
But should he?
HYDRA would kill him.
This was a huge decision.
But he liked the name Peter better anyways, so...
"I'll trust you," Dark Spider - no, Peter - decided. The girl - Shuri, the one he remembered somehow - broke into a bright smile.
"I'm glad," She said. "Do you want to inject it, or..?" Shuri offered him the syringe. Peter took it warily. Still no Spidey Sense alerts. "Just so you know, the memories won't come all at once. The people you reverse-programmed - memories of them will come first - and probably immediately. But the ones you didn't... they'll come later. But I'm not sure if we can recover them."
Peter gulped. Hopefully he reverse-programmed everything important. Then, without dramatic effect, he stuck it into his arm and pushed the plunger.
There was a small silence.
And then the memories.
He was building Legos with Ned, and MJ was laughing while reading a book.
He was running around the city with Natasha, fighting off crime.
He was helping Clint prank Bucky when they stole his arm.
He was sitting in a room with Wanda as they talked about their lives.
He was sparring with Steve, trading notes on their New York childhoods.
He was laughing with Vision and Loki after they successfully pranked Thor.
T'Challa mock-yelling at he and Shuri after they annoyed the heck out of him screaming Vines all day.
Rhodey helping him with homework... but something was missing. That memory felt... different.
Was he missing something?
But the memories were still coming:
He was Peter.
He was Peter Parker.
And he was Spider-Man.
An Avenger.
But something was missing.
Peter looked up around the room at all the now-familiar faces. "Holy shi-itake mushrooms," He breathed, eyes wide. He listed off each person in his head.
Shuri. Natasha. Bucky. Wanda. Clint. Vision. Scott. Steve. Sam. MJ. Rhodey. Bruce. And... some unfamiliar guy.
"Okay, I think it worked..." Peter said, frowning in the direction of the unfamiliar person. Wait! That was Tony Stark. Right. Peter supposed being knocked out did not do wonders for his recognition.
MJ beamed at him. "I'm glad you're better, loser," She said, trying to stay calm, but the small tear of happiness trailing down the side of her face gave her away. "Thanks, MJ," Peter said, grinning back.
"So, can you name the people in this room?" Shuri asked.
"Okay. You're Shuri. She's MJ. That's Auntie Tasha, over there is Uncle Bucky. Wanda is in the corner of the room. Uncle Clint is sitting there. Vision is in that chair. Uncle Scott is sitting on the ground. There's Uncle Steve, and Uncle Sam. Uncle Rhodey is over there. Uncle Bruce is standing by the IV pump. And... uh, Tony Stark, right? He's right here," Peter announced.
Tony flinched, and Peter looked over at him, confused. "Peter," Natasha said gently. "I think... I, well, basically, you've... forgotten him," She finished awkwardly. Peter's cheeks burned. "Oh," He replied. He couldn't force any other words out. "Был ли он важен?" Peter inquired, hoping that Tony didn't understand Russian. Translation: "was he important?"
Natasha looked at him sadly. "да ... он в основном твой отец фигура..." She trailed off. Translation: "Yes... he is basically your father figure..." Peter's eyes widened. When he was reverse programming - which he didn't quite remember - why did he forget to do his own father??
Peter was mentally slapping himself. Of course he'd have to go be an idiot like that.
He was going to lost another father figure.
First his real dad. Then Uncle Ben.
And now...
Someone he couldn't even remember.
"Uh - Mr. Stark?" Peter asked quietly. The man winced, but looked over at him. "Yeah, Peter?" He asked. "I'm sorry."
Tony sighed. "Kid, don't be sorry. I'm just glad you're okay," He said, but Peter could detect undertones of sadness in his voice. "But - I should have done something, tried harder to remember you-" He was cut off by the man. "Peter. Stop apologizing."
Something tugged in the back of his mind. Peter gasped. "Actually, I think I do remember you! Or, at least, something about you." Stop apologizing... "What gives?" Tony asked. "I, uh... I have to stop apologizing," Peter said, blushing. Tony laughed. "Of course," He said, smiling. "You do apologize too much."
Peter smiled finally, taking a deep breath. "Okay, um... so I got my memories back... but what about the trigger words?" He inquired. MJ tossed Shuri a cube of metal. She tapped it twice, and it expanded into a small device. "We get rid of those," The girl said confidently. Peter raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but... how?" He queried. "Take this, it'll help," Shuri said, shoving a vial of some sort of liquid at him. "Okay?" Peter said skeptically, before pulling off the lid and drowning the fluid.
"Oh, this feels weird," He said after a moment. A tingling sensation flooded through his body.
"Yeah, it'll feel weird for a bit," Shuri said sympathetically. Peter's muscles suddenly gave out, and he fell back into the bed before his vision slowly went black and he fell into unconsciousness.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
(Just so you know, this is Shuri's POV)
(You didn't see that coming?)
Shuri sighed, then turned to her suitcase to grab a jar of nanobots. "Shuri, what the hell did you do to Peter?" Sam asked, sounding worried. "Knocked him out. He's not going to want to be awake for this," Shuri replied, opening the lid. She pressed a button on her computer, and the nanobots formed themselves into a small disk. Shuri quickly put the disk against Peter's temple.
She took the device that MJ gave her and plugged it into her computer. Instantly, brain scans started to pop up. Shuri scrolled through a few, then selected the one that looked best. She ignored the thalamus and a few parts of the cortex - those were dreams. The girl zoomed in on the hippocampus. "Wait..." Shuri said, confused. She moved around the brain scan, returned to the hippocampus, then pulled up two more tabs and focused them on the amygdala and the neocortex.
Shuri stared at the results. "Okay, this is... new. Instead of blunt force causing hysterical and retrograde amnesia, they've suppressed some parts of the brain. The part that connects the hippocampus, amygdala, and neocortex to each other. Because of that, the limbic system is... unable to access the memories made before the trauma, until I brought the serum. However, the injection I gave him is making that better, very slowly. Now, inside this blockade is the trigger words. Those parts of the suppression are still there. However, I think I can fix this..."
The Avengers all blinked. "Was that English? I don't think that was English," Clint stated. Shuri grinned. "It was science," Bruce and Tony replied in unison. They high-fived each other. "I understood part of it," Tony said, and Bruce nodded agreement. "Not a lot, though," He added.
Shuri looked at her briefcase, and pulled out more nanobots. "Scott, give me your shrinking-disk thingies. I know Hank gave you some." Scott blinked, then reached into his pocket, pulled out his suit, enlarged the suit, and pulled a small disk out of a pocket in the suit. He handed it to Shuri, and the girl pressed the activation button and touched the nanobots to the disk. They instantly shrank, so that they were so small that they were almost molecular. She deactivated the disk and put it in her case so she could study it later - Shuri already figured out the tech, she just wanted to cross-reference it with Hank's - figuring Scott wouldn't notice (he didn't).
Shuri pulled out her computer and slowly moved the zeptobots into the disk, then through the skin cells into Peter's bloodstream, and that quickly reached his brain. Moving them into the membrane of Peter's brain cells, she quickly dismantled the block HYDRA had on his brain. The small connection to the trigger words shrank quickly, then disappeared.
Shuri exhaled slowly. She was nervous that it wasn't going to work. "Okay, the trigger words are gone. I'm going to send the nanobots - well, now zeptobots, really - into the memory suppression. I didn't think I could do this, but thanks to Scott's shrinking technology, I think..." Shuri sent the zeptobots into Peter's amygdala, then to the connection between the amygdala, neocortex, and hippocampus. "And... done."
The others all stared at each other, then looked at her. "It was that easy?" Sam asked. "Oh, 'easy' would not be the word for it. It took me forever to come up with that memory serum. Thankfully, I made an extra," Shuri replied, rolling her eyes.
Tony came over and Shuri hugged him quickly. Then she guided the zeptobots out of Peter's brain and into the disk. The girl picked up the disk, smiled at the Avengers, and pressed another button, causing Peter to wake up.
"Shuri, what the hell?" was the first thing he said. Shuri grinned at him. "I just fixed you, thank you very much." Peter looked around the room, then looked at Tony and gasped. "Ohmygod, Mr. Stark! I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed, eyes widening in recognition. Tony rolled his eyes. "I said, stop apologizing. I'm just glad you're back."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
(Back to Peter, just to clarify)
It had been a few days since Peter had remembered Tony. And everyone and everything else. And now, they were setting out to find the people who kidnapped him. They were riding the Quinjet to the place Peter remembered leaving from.
They all filed out from the jet silently, and Steve stepped up and gave a quick speech.
"Alright guys. These guys need to be taken care of. And we will win this, because this is for Peter. He's our teammate, our friend, but most of all, he is our family. So with that, let's do this. Remember, get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed..." Steve looked majestically into the distance. "Walk it off."
"Peter, would you like to do the honors?" The man asked.
"Yeah!" Peter exclaimed.
"Avengers!" He said seriously, before breaking into a grin.
"Assemble."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tony was so proud of his son. Peter had dealt with everything with immense maturity and strength, but still remained the adorable, happy teen he was before. '
It didn't hurt,' Peter had said. 'It was weird, and it sucked, yeah, but they must have changed something, because it didn't hurt.'
They didn't exactly keep the whole stealthy thing up, because a few minutes later, a ton of HYDRA soldiers came running. Peter, in the Iron Spider suit, webbed them to trees and the ground, and Steve took care of the rest with his shield. "Not very well trained, huh?" Tony muttered, lowering his hand.
They went in directly through the front door, like Steve had so many years ago.
The HYDRA agents were easy to defeat. They all got to play a part in taking care of those.
It was when they got to the basement that it got hard. They all ran into the room (after taking the stairs - or, in Peter's case, the walls), and saw Zemo and Pierce behind a wall of bulletproof glass, toting guns and standing in front of a row of computers. Pierce looked up to see the Avengers, and they must have looked like death in human form, because he paled markedly. Zemo looked up, smirked, and moved to a computer. "Hello, Avengers!" The man said through a microphone. Tony glared in response. He wasn't going to try and hide his hatred for the man.
"So. I'm sure you're wondering why I don't seem nervous," Zemo said conversationally. "No, not really," Bucky replied, annoyed.
"So. You've convinced Dark Spider to be on your side. Convinced him that he's 'Peter'. But you forgotten one thing. Happy. Alone," The man started. Tony fired at the glass, but it didn't budge. They all started attacking it, apart from one person.
Tony glanced over at Peter, who had seemed to stiffen at the words. "Radioactive. Restart. One." Zemo continued. "Stop," Peter said angrily. "Dormant," He continued, smirking. Peter started to move forward, preparing to punch through the glass. "Nine. Far. Seven. Street!" Zemo finished quickly.
Peter went completely still.
"Soldier?" Zemo asked.
"Ready to comply," Peter said robotically.
What the hell, what the hell, what the hell? Tony's mind asked on repeat.
"Get in here. Cover our exit," Pierce commanded. "Kill the Avengers, or at least one, once they make it through the glass," Zemo added. "Yes, sir," Peter said, lowering his eyes.
The door slid open, and Peter ran to them, door shutting afterward. Zemo turned to the Avengers, who were frantically trying to make their way through.
"Until next time," Zemo said, smirking. The two turned to go, and Peter looked over at the Avengers, moving into a fighting stance.
And then spun and punched Pierce in the head, sending him flying across the room into the wall. "Taser webs!" Peter yelped, then shot those at Zemo, who fell to the ground in a dodge. "Sir, I'm afraid your contract has expired," He said, dodging a gunshot.
Peter webbed the gun out of Zemo's hand. "Whoa, this is so cool!" Peter exclaimed, looking at the various switches. Then he threw the gun away from him, to the opposite side of the room. Peter blocked a punch from the man, then kicked him to the ground. "Next time you try to do that mind control shit on me, make sure it's still working," Peter said patronizingly.
Zemo flipped up off the ground and kicked Peter hard in the chest. Peter just stared at him. "Dude, you really suck at that," He said, then dodged another punch.
Tony just watched this little fight. Zemo had no chance. Natasha was smirking, and Clint was about to start laughing.
Needless to say, Peter finally won when he knocked the man unconscious, deciding to pull his punches ever so slightly less.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Peter webbed the two men to the wall, then turned to the Avengers, pushing a button to open the doors.
"Nice work, kid," Tony said, smiling at him.
Peter huffed with laughter. "Not the first time you've said that to me," He replied, grinning. Tony looked confused. "Well duh, you've done pretty well on other missions," He said slowly. "No, I mean when I was a kid," Peter pointed out. "What? You're still the same age as when I met you, 15." Tony frowned.
"Nah, when I was like, 7, I think. The Stark Expo? That kid that tried to blow up that Hammer Drone? Yeah, that was me."
Tony's eyes widened. "That was you?" He asked in disbelief. "Yep!" Peter said cheerfully.
"Jeez, kid. You almost died!" Tony exclaimed. Peter leveled a bemused stare at him. "Like I don't do that almost every day now?" He inquired. "What." Peter's eyes widened. "Oh! Auntie Tasha! Look at the time! Let's call up Nick Fury, this webbing should last a few hours! Ha, when they were making it organic in the experimentation, they didn't consider I would use it against them."
"Wait, they're organic?" Clint asked. "Yeah! It's super cool, I can show you when we get back," Peter declared. "Awesome."
"Peter," Tony interrupted. "You almost die every day?" "Ah, I'm Spider-Man! It's fine, ya know? Nothing toooo big!"
Peter mentally flashed back to a few days before the kidnapping, when he'd been shot thirteen times by a machine gun. And a while ago when he'd been impaled by like ten knives.
"Nothing too big," Peter repeated in what he hoped was a pleasant tone.
"Gosh, kid, you're gonna give me gray hairs," Tony said, pulling him into a side hug. Peter grinned cheekily at him. "You already have some," He pointed out.
"You son of a bitch-" Tony gasped. "Mr. Stark! I would never call you that word!" Peter exclaimed.
He immediately blushed. "Ahem, that's not exactly what I- I mean, yeah I do think of you like a father I guess but I mean it's okay if you don't think of me as a son or anything, I just think that you're a good role model, and I know I'm not really good enough but- uh, sorry, Mr. Stark, gotta get to the jet, bye-"
Peter's rambling was cut off by Tony pulling him into a hug. "Kid, you are like a son to me. Don't ever think you aren't good enough, because you're a perfect child and we all love you. Got it?"
Peter started to smile. "Got it," He said, hugging his father-figure back.
Bonus Scene (this is in texts):
Tony:
Pepper, Code Spidey is a go! Get the adoption papers!
Pepper:
You finally admitted it to each other, huh?
Tony:
More like he finally admitted it to me.
Immediately freaked out afterward, too.
Pepper:
The papers are on your desk.
Tony:
Thanks, Pep
Pepper:
I'm just glad you finally grew a pair and told him
that you thought of him as a son.
Tony:
...shut up
Pepper:
Someone's salty, huh? I'll see you soon.
Tony:
See you
Read 2:03 pm
Part 3??
Whew finally did it! That took a while! Wattpad decided not to save my extra 3000 words of work from Friday night, so I had to redo it D:
Anyways, news:
- I opened a cover shop, if you need a book cover, go there.
- REQUEST XD I've been looking for some requests I feel like doing
- Far from Home was so amazing but holy c r a p I can't say I'm surprised (I actually read the Spider-Man comics) but oof.
Anyways, bye! Happy belated Independence Day! Hope you enjoyed!