I was trying to think of a good title for this and I'm 100% this was perfect. I'll explain at the end. Theories up here are perfectly accepted and I'd like to see them.
Organic webs!
I'm not a doctor. Don't come at me if any of this is incorrect.
Tony woke up in a place.
And all he knew was his name, so that was really fun right off the bat.
A kind-looking man was rushing around the room, before pausing beside him.
"Tony!" He exclaimed gleefully. "You're awake!"
Tony nodded hesitantly. What the hell was going on?
"I am awake... who are you?" He asked, searching the man's face for signs of emotion. The man's face fell, and surprise registered in his eyes.
"My name is Bruce Banner," The doctor replied after a moment. "We- uh, we're friends. I'll explain in a moment... Helen?"
A woman rushed into the room, eyes landing immediately on Tony.
"What's going on?" She - Helen, Tony assumed - inquired quickly.
"There's a possibility of a form of amnesia... he doesn't remember who I am," Bruce explained. Helen's eyes narrowed as she turned to Tony.
"Don't be worried. I'm going to ask some questions quickly," Helen said reassuringly.
Tony motioned for her to go on.
"Do you remember your name?" She asked. "Anthony Stark. But I prefer Tony." Helen nodded. "Do you know either of us? From before just now?"
Tony shook his head, dropping eye contact.
"I'm going to bring you some people. If you recognize them, tell me. If not, it's okay."
Helen gestured for Bruce to open the door, and he stepped outside and started talking in a quiet voice.
Three people hesitantly stepped back in with Bruce.
Number one, a woman with ginger hair and a compassionate, if worried, smile.
Number two, a man with dark skin and a prosthetic leg and a wary look.
Number three, and perhaps the one Tony was most drawn to, a slightly scrawny boy with messy brown hair and brown eyes, forcing a smile that didn't quite hide the fear in his eyes.
Helen paused to look at Tony, who shook his head almost imperceptibly.
It didn't look like anyone but Helen had seen it, until he saw the boy drop his eyes to the floor as a bit of pain slid into them.
Tony took a long look at the boy, trying to figure things out about him. There wasn't a lot to see.
His clothes were remarkably unruffled, as though he had recently changed into them. The messy hair indicated that he had been recently wearing something over his head - a hat? A mask? - and it had been hastily smoothed back. The boy's hands were fidgeting at his sides, likely from nerves. A last, quick glance showed a defeated slump of the shoulders, as though he had already expected the outcome, but was hoping it was different. It was a hint of acceptance, too, like he was accustomed to loss.
Tony tried to draw conclusions about the others, but it was difficult. His attention kept being drawn back to the boy. Something was off about him.
Dark bruises around the boy's throat. What were they from?
Tony's eyes widened and he felt a surge of protectiveness, which was odd. He decided to keep his mouth shut, though.
"Tony?" The woman asked hesitantly. Tony's confusion must have showed on his face, because the woman swallowed determinedly. "My name is Pepper Stark. I'm your wife."
Shit.
Tony had no idea what to say.
Next, the man cleared his throat. "My name is James Rhodes. You can call me Rhodey. I'm... I was your best friend. We met at MIT in college."
Tony forced a nod, trying to hide his confusion.
Finally, the brown-haired boy. Tony was silently praying that he wasn't his son. That would just be even more painful.
"I-uh, my name is Peter... Peter Parker. I'm, uh..." The boy cast his gaze around, between Pepper and Rhodey. "I'm your intern."
If this kid wasn't his son, or anyone that close to him, then why was he here?
He noticed Pepper and Rhodey shoot surprised glances at Peter, and saw a faint look of shock on Bruce's face. Something about the kid was off.
Tony paused, frowning as he tried to figure it out.
Peter noticed his what-probably-looked-like-anger look and a quickly-stomped-down expression crossed his face, too quickly for Tony to decipher entirely. Pain, definitely. Guilt, for some reason.
Pepper shifted almost imperceptibly toward Peter, in a slightly defensive stance.
Tony doubted she even realized it.
Bruce said something softly to the trio, who nodded and left the room.
Tony wanted to protest. He wanted to talk to his family and the kid.
Tony actually really wanted to talk to Peter. There was something about him that kept drawing his eyes to the boy.
Bruises... around the throat...
The words burst out of him as soon as the conclusion connected.
"Peter was strangled!"
Bruce turned to him, surprised. "Is that a memory, or...?" He inquired.
Tony shook his head quickly. "No! Bruises, around his neck! His throat! You can't get those easily! And the pressure points-"
Helen cut him off. "Don't worry about it, Tony. Bruce, go talk to Peter. Check if he needs Med Bay."
Bruce nodded and left the room.
A brief thought occurred to Tony.
Could Peter have done this? Caused my amnesia? Did I do... that in self-defense?
As soon as the thought surfaced, Tony dismissed it. Peter was too scrawny, not muscular enough to inflict the sort of damage that Tony must have sustained.
Helen was talking, some spout of medical shit, but Tony wasn't paying attention.
Alarms started blaring through the room. A voice in the ceiling started talking.
"Protocol Number 774337 - Hurt Spider - active. Alpha 8-10 Users, you know what to do."
It was clearly an artificial intelligence, and Helen noticed Tony's face and quickly explained.
"That's FRIDAY. She's an AI you designed to help with the basic functions of the compound."
Helen briefly explained what the compound was before Tony interrupted.
"What's the spider? Do I own a spider or something? Why would I be so protective of it?"
A variety of emotions passed over Helen's face - surprise, understanding, even a hint of amusement.
Helen hesitated, clearly having an internal debate.
"I don't think that's a good idea to talk about yet."
There was a commotion outside of Tony's door. A woman with bright, wavy red hair was carrying a boy with tangled- Peter.
The woman was holding Peter.
Tony jumped out of bed, protectiveness surging in his veins as he flung the door open to confront the woman.
"Tony?" She asked in disbelief and confusion. "What's going on? Why are you out of bed?"
Tony stared at her. Who was she?
The name came to him suddenly, beyond his comprehension.
"Natasha. What are you doing?" He asked.
Surprise was clear on her face. "You remember me? I thought-" Tony cut her off by raising a hand. "Just the name. I don't know how, don't ask me. A few names are coming to me right now, again, not sure. Pepper Potts, you, Rogers... that's not the point. What are you doing with Peter?"
Natasha frowned at him. "I'm taking him to Med Bay with Clint."
A man waved from behind Natasha, though Tony could see 'Clint' continuously glancing back at Peter with a protectiveness in his eyes.
Bruce ran up from behind them.
"Don't worry, Tony, Peter just contused his carotid artery- wait, what are you doing out of bed?" He asked.
"He bruised his carotid artery!? And you're telling me not to worry? He could die from that!"
"He won't though. Peter's already healing. We kinda had to drag him from his room, because he passed out shortly after he got back."
Tony stared at the three people (plus Peter). "How did he even come to see me with that?"
Natasha hesitated. "He's healing."
With a jolt, Tony realized that the bruises were almost completely gone.
Clint followed his gaze. "He heals fast."
"The type of injury that doesn't heal all that fast."
A man that would have been very handsome if it weren't for the scar...
He was in a room, and it was dark, and dusty, and-
Tony gasped as he returned to the halls of the compound.
"-ny? Tony!" Natasha was saying, waving a hand in front of his face.
He looked around, alarmed. "I was- there was a man-"
Bruce sighed, offering him a hand. "Let's get you back inside. Rest. That was probably a memory. Tell us about it... but later."
Tony accepted the man's hand reluctantly, and Bruce nodded at Natasha, who continued down the hall.
Helen stepped neatly around the two and went after Natasha and Clint.
---------
Tony tried to sleep. He did. But his mind kept swirling. What happened? Was Peter okay? Who did that? What was going on? How would he get his memory back?
A few hours later, Bruce came in. "You know, Tony, you can sleep," He said, a bit amused.
"I can't. I need to know how to get my memory back," Tony replied quickly.
Bruce smiled. "Don't worry. We have our best man on it. If you'd like, you can go around the compound. FRIDAY - the AI, she's awesome - can make sure you get back, and you steer clear of people who don't know what's going on."
Tony nodded and thanked the man gratefully, before stepping out of the room.
"FRIDAY?" He inquired, feeling a bit awkward.
"Yes, boss?" The smooth voice of the AI echoed from the ceiling.
"What room do I spend the most time in?" Tony asked. "That would be your private lab, boss."
Tony exhaled. "Okay. Take me there."
"Go to the elevator. I'll take you. I lit up a path."
Tony followed a path of lights that turned gold and found the elevator FRIDAY was referring to.
The ride was quick, and the lab was apparently on the 87th floor.
Tony stepped into the room, expecting to see a few small work benches. He wasn't expecting the vast array of space, windows and well lit areas, with holograms and tools lying everywhere.
He also wasn't expecting to see Peter rushing around the room, searching through things and typing on holograms and writing things in notebooks.
As Tony watched, the boy bit his lip and wrote something down a notepad he was holding, then rushed over to flip through a book lying idle on the desk with such fervor that Tony thought Peter was going to tear the pages out. The boy pushed loose hair out of his face, and wrote another thing down quickly.
Tony took a step forward. It was so silent that even he couldn't hear it, but Peter clearly did.
Peter's hands jerked in surprise and the notebook fell to the floor. He whirled around, tense, but relaxed minutely when he saw Tony.
"I thought this was my private lab," Tony said, a wry smile forming on his face.
Surprise, followed by guilt flashed over Peter's face.
"Sorry, sir," He stammered, collecting papers strewn across the desk.
Something about Peter's words was fundamentally wrong.
"Did you... always call me sir?" Tony asked, confused.
Peter swallowed and shook his head, dropping his eyes as he double tapped his watch and all the holograms disappeared.
"Then why... now?" He continued hesitantly.
Peter still didn't look up at Tony. "Because you don't know me."
Tony flinched. Suddenly frustration was rising up in him. "So? Maybe you should try and do what you normally do! Then I might know!"
Peter finally made eye contact with Tony, but Tony immediately wished that he hadn't. The boy was looking like a kicked puppy, and that was not supposed to be on his face.
"I thought it may be better for you to adjust before I start talking to you like normal. I'm just your intern, anyways," Peter said finally.
"But you're not," Tony retorted. "Clearly you're not. I'm not stupid. How-" He broke off, a thought occurring to him. "How are you even here? If you bruised your carotid artery, you should be in the hospital for weeks, if you even lived!"
Peter froze. Tony could practically see his mind running at a mile per minute. He decided to be nice and change the subject.
"Anyways, why are you here? I thought, you know, whoever the person who's working on my whole amnesia case would be here. Bruce said they're our best guy. Do you know where I could find him? I wanted to talk." Tony asked, trying to soften his voice.
Peter paused slightly. "That's me. I'm the only one he told to work on the case, anyways."
Tony laughed a bit. "You?"
He hadn't meant for it to sound so scornful, or so demeaning.
Peter flinched, evidently hurt. "Sorry. I'll just go now," He said, walking past Tony quickly.
He grabbed Peter around the wrist as he tried to pass.
"No! I'm sure you're smart as a whip, just-" Tony broke off as he saw Peter's pupils dilate with fear.
Tony opened his mouth to ask the boy what was wrong, but Peter yanked his arm away from his grasp with a surprising force, causing Tony to stagger forward a few steps.
Peter ran out of the room swiftly.
By the time Tony had regained his composure enough to go after the boy, the papers Peter was writing had been deposited on a desk and Peter was jumping out of the window.
Tony stared, the circumstance not quite registering until the window was closed and Peter had vanished.
Then he screamed.
Rushing to the window, but Peter was gone.
"FRIDAY, take me to Pepper!" Tony exclaimed frantically, before rushing down the lit path. Pepper was close, so it only took half a minute to get to her.
"Pep, the kid - Peter, he just jumped out of the window. We're on the 87th floor, Pepper!"
Pepper looked a bit frustrated.
"I told him he wasn't allowed to do that for the next few days! Don't worry about it, Tony."
Tony gaped as she turned and started to walk away. "Are you serious?!" He yelled. "He just jumped out of the fucking window, and you're again telling me not to worry?"
"Oh. Oh." Pepper's eyes widened. "He'll be fine. He can stick to walls, and shoot webs from his wrists. It's a bit odd to be saying this to you, but it's a normal occurrence."
Tony stared at her. "Pep, if this is revenge for the 12% thing, I swear-"
Tears formed in Pepper's eyes.
As Tony watched her, the situation processed in his head. "Pepper! Shit. Okay."
"How much do you remember about me?" She asked, voice a bit broken.
"Everything," Tony breathed, smiling as he pulled her into a hug.
They stayed like that for a minute or so until they broke apart.
"And everyone else?" Pepper asked. Tony racked his brain. "Rhodey! Platypus! And Nat! And Happy! But... I think that's it."
Pepper beamed at him.
"It will be such a shame that you're not going to remember anything. Well. You won't be able to interfere with the plan anyways."
A flash of ink, in a very distinctive shape-
"Are you okay?" Pepper asked, concerned.
Tony looked around, dazed. "Another memory. This scarred man - I think he did this to me."
Pepper frowned. "Any idea why?" Tony shook his head.
"I'll text Peter, maybe he'll have an idea of villains on the street. FRIDAY, if you could do that," Pepper instructed. FRIDAY affirmed that she had sent the message.
"Why would he know?" Tony demanded. "He's a vigilante," Pepper said carefully.
Tony was pretty sure he had a miniature stroke. "A - what, fourteen year old kid? A vigilante? On the streets?" He yelled.
"I'm fifteen."
The voice came from the window. Tony probably had a heart attack.
Peter was sitting in the window frame with a strange suit on.
"Spider-Man," Pepper filled in helpfully. Peter nodded affirmatively.
"What were you doing?" Pepper asked softly. Peter's eyes flicked to Tony, then back to Pepper. "Mysterio."
Pepper gasped. "Did he..." She trailed off as Peter looked at the ground. "It wasn't his fault. It was the, uh, the train thing. 'Smart as a whip, but just... a sucker.' You know." It was clearly making Peter uncomfortable just saying the words.
"Anyways, I uh, I got your text. Can you describe him?" Peter asked, abruptly changing the subject. Pepper turned to look at Tony expectantly.
"Uh... scarred face, he had a... tattoo?"
"Did he say anything about his plan? Or... do you know what the tattoo looked like?"
"It's a shame you won't be able to care enough to find him. Like I said, you won't remember where you are now anyways..."
The tattoo- it was on his neck, in the shape of a-
"A scorpion," Tony told them, a bit confused.
Dread filled Peter's eyes as he reached to touch his neck warily.
Pepper noted the gesture. "Is he the one...?" Peter looked away, not answering.
"And... as for the plan. I know he has one. And he said... 'you won't be able to care enough to find him.' Whatever that means. And... 'you won't remember where you are now anyways.'" Tony quoted.
"So this guy, whoever he is, wants to... take someone? Peter, who's on the streets right now?" Pepper asked.
Peter slowly dropped his hand from his neck, where the bruising was now practically invisible.
"There have been a lot of guys on the streets lately. So far, one of them that I've met are cool. He was wondering where to find you guys, I told him I'd get him the address. I'll have to do that."
"And this guy?" Pepper pressed, ignoring Peter's discomfort.
Peter looked at the ground.
"The Scorpion. His name's Mac Gargan."
"Just one guy?" Pepper checked.
Peter paused, eyes flickering around the room. "Yes."
Tony stared intensely at the kid, trying to figure out if he was lying or not. What were his tells?
Did it matter? Clearly Peter could handle it himself. And if he got hurt, he would call them.
Peter paused, looking between Tony and Pepper. "You remember her," He said softly.
Tony wasn't about to lie. At any rate, Peter was just an intern. It was natural that his wife and some friends came first. And yet something seemed wrong.
"I do," Tony replied, a bit stiffly. Peter nodded, stomping down a small bit of pain in his eyes. "That's good. It's a start. You'll be better soon."
Peter forced a smile, likely for Tony's sake, as he wrote something down on his hand. The address for his friend, Tony assumed.
"Anyone else?" Peter asked. "Rhodey, Natasha, Happy, Clint... Bruce, I think. Parts of him, anyways."
Peter nodded, smiling brightly as he turned.
"I'll check the streets. If I see Scorpion anywhere, I'll, uh..." The boy trailed off. "Take care of it," He finished.
With that, the boy dropped back out of the window, only to swing away again on a web.
Pepper shook her head, a fond smile on her face. Then she noticed Tony looking at her, and hastily stomped it down.
"He's adorable. Gets into tons of trouble, but it's worth it."
-------a few hours later------
"I've called his phone - and that connects to his suit - twelve times! Why isn't he answering?" Pepper demanded of nobody in particular.
"So... he just disappeared?" Tony asked, sitting on a couch. "Yeah... tapes can't pick up a single thing about Spider-Man after... half an hour ago. He was talking to a vigilante in a mask, read off the address. Then he went swinging... disappeared," Natasha filled in for Pepper.
"What's the first step?" Tony inquired hesitantly. "Find the vigilante," Natasha began. "He can give information as to where he was headed, what he was talking about," Clint finished smoothly.
"So where do we go to find him?" Pepper asked.
"Nowhere."
A heavily accented voice, from the corner of the room. The vigilante was standing there in a blue suit and a mask. Pulling it off, white-blond curls spilled out over a familiar face.
"Pietro?" Wanda was the one to speak. The man managed a weak smile. "Hey, Wanda."
"How are you alive?" Steve asked, overjoyed. Pietro shot him an amused look. "You told me to walk it off."
Steve looked like he had a circuit blow.
"What do you know about P- Spider-Man?" Natasha asked, all concern and haste.
"He was searching for the Scorpion. He had a hunch that he was the one Gargan was searching for. It checked out, after all. Peter screwed up some major plans of his a while ago. At any rate, Scorpion's main enemy is Spider-Man. If Stark could remember more..."
Frustration bubbled up inside of Tony. "Jeez, Pietro, if I could remember more, I would!"
"I never said that! I know it's not under your control!" Pietro retorted hotly.
Tony scoffed. "I hardly even see what this has to do with me! Peter's an intern. An intern. Clearly I hardly know him, especially if he's just going to call me 'sir', or 'Mr. Stark' all the time-"
Pepper cut him off. "He hasn't called you Mr. Stark since you woke up," She said softly.
Tony rolled his eyes. "And yet! If he were even important to me, wouldn't he call me Tony?" He shouted. "Tones, if you would just listen-" Rhodey began. "No! I'm done listening. I get it, I have amnesia. I am a genius, remember? I think I can be trusted to do some basic deciphering. I took all the clues. I reiterate, if he were even close to me, wouldn't I be more to him? He's an intern-"
"Peter is your SON!" Pepper yelled, finally breaking.
Silence swept across the room as Tony and Pepper stared at each other, trembling as adrenaline drained away.
"But he's not," Tony breathed.
Things weren't adding up, and there was too much to process, and yet he couldn't - if Peter was only an intern, why was Pepper saying he was Tony's son? And if he was Tony's son, then why did he introduce himself as an intern? Why did everyone love him? Wait, that answer was obvious. Tony had already seen it.
"Tony Stark. I suppose you're wondering why you're here," Mac Gargan said, leering at him. "Go to hell," Tony managed, spitting at him. His hands were tied roughly behind his back. "I simply need you out of the way so that I can take care of our lovely little Spider." Tony's breath caught in his throat. "Don't you dare touch him!" Tony warned, heart racing.
Gargan laughed. "You are not the one with the power here, Stark. I just need you to... not go after the kid. And you cannot exactly go after someone you can't remember, can you?" Tony's eyes widened. "You can't- you can't do that," He stammered. Gargan only smirked, approaching with a device. "Can't I, Stark?" Tony tugged uselessly at his bonds. "Pray you remember Peter when you wake up, though you won't. It'll be one of the last times you ever see him."
Tony was gasping on the floor as people rushed around him.
"Tony, what did you see?" Clint asked, almost hopefully.
"There- there's a place! And Gargan, he made me forget Peter... Gargan has him. I don't know where. Somewhere dark, probably a warehouse because it was so dark and dusty and empty, and also because it's that cliche thing that all villains do because they probably have no better ideas, and he's doing something to Peter-" Panic had unlocked a state in Tony where he went into overdrive.
"Nat. Run scans on warehouses. Search for life forms, ones matching Peter and Gargan. Pietro, get on the streets with Wanda. Pepper, get the Rescue armor. Clint, you're with me. We're going to track Peter's path. Tony, you and Rhodey help Pietro check manually. Natasha, as soon as you locate something, get us. Then get onto the field. The rest of you, ask around, check warehouses, just search."
Peter's POV - i can't believe it's the first time in this oneshot so far
Heavy cuffs were wrapped around his wrists and legs, and he couldn't tear them apart. He was vaguely aware of multiple bleeding wounds from gunshots, in his stomach, shoulder, knee, and hand.
They'll find me. I know they will. Tony would-
Except Tony wouldn't. Tony didn't know him. Tony didn't care. Maybe he never did. Maybe that's why he was remembering everyone else, and not him.
Did Tony want to forget Peter?
Well. It's not like Peter would blame him.
A door opening shocked him out of his reverie.
"Peter," Mac Gargan stated, mouth quirked in an insanely triumphant leer.
"Scorpion," Peter replied, eyes focusing on the tattoo on the man's neck.
Peter's suit was still on. Droney was with him. He could plant a tracker and escape, if he could get rid of these stupid chains-
"Don't try to escape. It's not going to work," Gargan said, almost amused. "I have guards at every corner. Vibranium chains. Whatever web shooters you're using aren't going to work, we tased you multiple times, it would've fried them."
Idiot.
"Droney," Peter whispered, almost silently. "Tracker."
Droney slowly dropped out of his suit, and Gargan clearly didn't see it as it crawled through the darkness and placed the tracker.
"You've caused me and my guys quite a lot of trouble, Spider-Man."
Peter groaned and rolled his eyes. "I just wanted some food, man. Really, I was about to head back, maybe order some pizza- wait, no, I'm broke, I can't do that. This really messed up my day though, man."
Scorpion scoffed, brandishing a gun. "One more word and I'll shoot you again."
Peter decided to try his luck. "Okay, got it."
Gargan narrowed his eyes, and in a swift movement, Peter got a bullet in his other shoulder. Choking on surprise, Peter moved to fling his arms across the wound, only to be restricted by the chains.
"You are pathetic. Can't even put up a fight. Stark will be glad to be rid of you."
The words hurt more than the gunshot.
Mr. Stark probably wouldn't miss him. That much was true.
"Well, I can put up a fight, it took about 20 people, was it, to get me here. Not exactly fair odds, you know," Peter pointed out.
Mac Gargan turned and stepped out the door, gesturing to a guard, who passed him a small metal cube. In a few seconds, he had stormed up to Peter and shoved the cube against his lips. Peter kept his lips pressed tightly shut - he wasn't ingesting anything this psycho gave him.
It turned out not to matter, because it, in a quick movement of nanoparticles, spread across his face in a tight gag of metal.
Peter tried to keep talking through the gag.
"Be thankful I'm not stitching your lips together," Gargan said scornfully. "Of course, it's still an option if you insist on being troublesome."
Peter had never shut up so fast in his life.
And then he immediately decided against it.
S-O-I-S-T-H-E-R-E-A-N-Y-P-O-I-N-T-T-O-T-H-I-S?
Peter was tapping in Morse code. And from the looks of it, Gargan knew it. Fury in his eyes as he spun and glared at him.
"One more time. Just - shut up, don't talk or sign or tap. Otherwise I will do everything I can to shut you up forever, either until we kill your or break you. Now, which would be more fun?" Gargan pondered aloud, smirking at the poorly-hidden look of fear on Peter's face.
They have to come. They'll come.
...Right?
I'm going to skip a lot of torture here. Comment though, if you want me to include it in a later oneshot. I'm fine writing it, but some aren't with reading it. Although some love it.
Tony's POV
"I've got facial recognition! And a license plate!" Natasha yelled over the comms.
"Send them to the screens. Get out there, Nat," Steve instructed, with barely concealed happiness.
"They're not in a warehouse, they're in a basement. Of a restaurant over in 76th," Natasha told them.
look at who just had a spot of inspiration for other fun kidnapping locations
Tony, who had remembered everything about Iron Man, shot off to the location Natasha sent.
Somehow, Natasha was the first one in the door. The Avengers stopped questioning Natasha a long time ago. However she got from the compound to the restaurant in less time than it took to fly... that was a secret she would keep.
Voices echoed from the basement.
Natasha crept silently through the door after a minute of searching. The rest followed suit.
A crowd of people - at least 50 - were in the hallways... no, the tunnels. The basement was connected to tunnels.
Natasha turned to beckon the rest in, and chaos ensued.
People were yelling and shooting, and falling around them as they made their way toward wherever the tunnels led.
Hopefully to Peter.
And finally they got to a room where it ended.
Gargan was standing in the doorway. When he saw them, he swiftly disappeared into the crowd of people. Tony wanted to go after him, but Peter was currently the priority.
And there he was.
On the ground, with thick cuffs holding Peter to the wall around his wrists and ankles. A gag over his mouth. Bruises and blood everywhere.
Peter looked exhausted, and purely hopeless.
Natasha was by his side in an instant, followed closely by Pepper. The rest of the Avengers followed.
Tony stood awkwardly near the door. He wished he could come bearing news that he had remembered Peter, but he hadn't. Except for maybe the 'Mr. Stark' thing back at the compound.
"Tones?" Rhodey exclaimed, voice heavy with fear and thinly veiled disgust. "They had vibranium. We need to take off the wall, or melt it. Can your repulsors...?" He left the question open, knowing Tony would fill in what he needed to.
"Yeah. Step aside, honeybear. Hope you guys brought your sunscreen, because this shit is about to get hot," Tony announced, firing up his repulsors and holding it to the chain as close to Peter's wrists as he could.
"Mr. St'rk?" The boy slurred, clearly fighting exhaustion and fatigue. "Hey, kid. Let's get you out of here, yeah?" Tony replied, doubting Peter would be able to hear him.
His suspicions were confirmed when Peter didn't reply.
After a few painstaking minutes, they were able to free Peter, leaving only cuffs with small chains dangling off of them.
"Let's get to Med Bay," Clint said, eyeing Peter's wounds. Were those gunshots? "Fast."
---------------
"Several gunshots - to the stomach, shoulders, knee, hand, and multiple in the lower left leg. Severe contusions. Signs of strangulation. Probable electrocution. Some bones broke and healed wrong. We're taking care of it," Helen told the team.
--------------
"He won't shut up," Helen complained less than half an hour later. "We pulled out the bullets and bandaged them, but he keeps talking. We can't get him to sleep."
A corner of Natasha's lips quirked up in a smile. "He grows on you, in that manner."
---------------
A few days later, Peter was standing in front of them again.
"That dude was a complete jerk," Peter managed, smiling brightly.
"We've still gotta find him," Clint admitted. Tony waited to see Peter's reaction - probably fear.
He wasn't expecting the dismissive shrug.
Peter pulled on his mask, covering his whole face except for his mouth.
"Hey, Karen? I put a tracker on someone," He paused, before elaborating. "He's a bad guy." Peter finished with a satisfied nod.
Tony let out a surprised laugh. Peter grinned at him, lenses over his eyes widening in amusement.
"Yeah. Yeah, that dude. Oh! Thanks, Karen. Yeah, put that on the screen. Thanks!"
Tony was reminded oddly of watching someone on a phone call.
A small dot was in the middle of the city.
"Let's go get that son of a bitch," Tony exclaimed, almost triumphantly.
Peter jerked his head over to him, and his eyes widened slightly at Tony's language.
Tony almost laughed again, which would be the exact second time since he had woken up.
--------------
He was ordering a sandwich when they jumped him.
It was almost pathetic. Someone who had caused such a big disturbance in their life, ordering a sandwich.
Gargan saw them and ran for the doors, only for Natasha to kick him back violently.
"You're not escaping, подонок," She hissed.
Peter flipped into the restaurant. "Hello, Mr. Gargan. Miss me?" He inquired cheerfully.
"I miss watching you suffer," Gargan retorted from the floor. Natasha slapped him harshly.
"I wanted to do that!" Clint complained, aiming an arrow at the man's heart from the corner of the restaurant.
In a quick movement, Gargan pulled a gun.
Delayed, Tony realized he should've expected this.
Gargan was behind Peter in an instant, gun held to the boy's temple.
"Not another step. Drop your weapons."
Natasha dropped her gun, and Clint's bow fell to the floor. Gargan's eyes narrowed as he saw a small handgun in Natasha's belt.
"All of them."
Natasha sighed dramatically and pulled out the gun, and about ten knives. Then she paused, and from various locations, pulled about fifteen more out.
Peter was watching this with a vaguely amused look.
"So, what's gonna happen? Super secret villain plan?" He asked, seeming bored.
The Scorpion shot him in the foot. Peter just yawned exaggeratedly. "I think I've built up a tolerance," He said casually.
"Don't touch him," Pepper threatened, raising a repulsor.
"Do you really think you can take me down before I shoot him in the head?" Gargan asked, barrel of the gun against Peter's forehead again.
Peter moved fast: twisting and kicking the man in the knee, sending Gargan reeling as his finger squeezed the trigger, the bullet went through Peter's stomach but he didn't hesitate, simply slammed the man viciously across the head, knocking him out instantly.
"Yes. Yes I do," Peter told the unconscious body of the Scorpion.
Then he turned to the rest of the time.
"That was exciting," He said, bored, as blood trickled down his stomach.
Tony rushed forward. "Fuck, kid, you've never had any self-preservation instinct, but this takes it to a whole new level. What is this, the seventh time this week you'll have to go to Bruce? And the first six were Electro, at least he's taken care of, jeez, Pete!"
"Sorry, Mr. Stark!" Peter squeaked as Tony pulled him into a tight hug.
"No- how many times do I have to say it? Stop with all of that sentence. No more apologies. No more 'Mr. Stark'. Tony. Or like, Dad. I mean we were planning to adopt you anyways, but-"
Peter cut him off with a gasp, eyes shining. "You remember? You remember me?"
Tony reeled, shocked. He laughed, breaking into a grin. "I remember you. I remember - fuck, kid, I remember you," He whispered joyfully.
"I thought... I thought you might not want to," Peter replied quietly.
"Peter!" Tony gasped, scandalized. "Why wouldn't I want to remember you? You are such a brilliant kid - god, you're amazing. I would never want to forget you!"
Peter folded back into Tony's arms, though he barely remembered when the boy pulled away. "It would take more than that to take me away from you," Tony whispered.
They stood, embracing, for a long time, until Peter pulled back again.
"Wait, you were planning to adopt me? "
"Peter, you- you're bleeding out. This can wait until later."
YAY another longer chapter finally.
Now for the title details:
Okay, so Forget Me Not is a type of flower, right? So that's already kinda cool, especially because this oneshot was about amnesia. BUT! Remember the main villain? I hope so. The Scorpion? Well, Forget-Me-Nots are also called Scorpion Grasses. I feel really proud for finding this title.
At any rate, if you're fine with, ya know, torture scenes, let me know either up where I asked originally or here. Some people love it, some people hate it, some simply do not care in the least.
At any rate! I hope you enjoyed that chapter.
Why do I always feel like I'm ending a YouTube video when I close my chapters with the author's notes?
"Please like and subscribe for more weekly content :PPPP"
Anyways. It's past midnight for me and I got some fun school tomorrow sooooo
Hope you liked that, and have a brilliant day/night/whatever.