"Underoos!" Tony called out, his repulsors lighting up, ready to shoot. Peter jumped out of his hiding spot and swung all the way to where his mentor had told him to a few hours prior. He landed gracefully next to him and curled his fingers into his palms, prepared to fight.
"I see you've brought backup, Stark," the man said, unimpressed with Peter's appearance. "Good thing you're not the only one."
Before Tony had the chance to respond, a swarm of armed men piled through the metal doors of their hideout and immediately pointed their guns toward the group of heroes standing before them. Peter froze but tried to hide his fear by looking unfazed.
"It doesn't have to come to a fight, we can just talk-" Steve started before being interrupted by the man.
"Talk? Oh, Steve, you started a war. You can't just walk right out of it when a couple of guns are pointed to your head."
Peter saw Steve grit his teeth and tighten the strap on his shield and knew a fight was about to go down.
"Fine then, you want a fight? Let's fight," he muttered. Everything happened so fast, first, Steve, Nat, and Sam bolted towards the men, jumping or flying past the bullets. Rhodey and Tony flew at full speed towards them as well, pinning men down as they soared past them.
Peter stood behind for a few seconds, preparing himself.
I can do this.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as his senses rang in the back of his head as his body subconsciously leaped to the side as a bullet flew past him.
"Get your head in the game, kid," Tony's voice advised through his comms.
"Sorry, Mister Stark," Peter mumbled as he webbed up a man to a wall. He kicked and punched his way through the men, receiving a few in return but nothing he couldn't handle.
His chest heaved as he panted for breath when several more men ran out of the building, leaving the door open slightly. Peter slid around the fight and reached the door.
It was large and thick, the metal it was made out of starting to rust at the corners. It was only an inch open and revealed to be very heavy when Peter tried opening it further. He peeked behind him and then inside. When he saw nobody, he made his way inside, his senses still alert.
He heard the fighting outside die down and Steve's voice questioning the man he had talked to before, so Peter figured they were fine without him.
He looked around, hoping he would find something interesting to use against the Hydra agents, but found nothing except a table surrounded by chairs and empty, coffee-stained mugs sitting on the wooden table. He looked up at the corners of the room to look for any cameras, but there was nothing.
He walked around, looking under the table and chairs and checking the floor or ceiling for any secret doors. He was unsuccessful. When he realized he was probably not going to find anything, he headed back for the door to tell the others it wasn't necessary to raid the room. As his hand reached for the steel handle, his senses spiked but before he could react, a hard object had hit his head, and he was out.
* * *
He woke up tied to a metal chair in the middle of a dark room. Above him swung a small lamp that illuminated the small space. The walls and floor were made of what seemed to be concrete, and the room had a stench of humidity. Right in front of him was a door similar to the one he had snuck through before, but this one seemed newer, the steel shone brightly and barely any rust was eating away at the corners.
Peter started feeling the pain of where the object had hit his head, and could feel warm blood trickling down his head and to his neck. He pulled and pulled at the handcuffs, hoping they would break, but he felt weaker, and his vision was blurred.
"I wouldn't try so hard if I were you," a voice suddenly warned in front of him. Peter shot up and his eyes met a pair of dark green ones. There stood a man, he wore all black, and his eyes seemed to burn a raging fire. Peter simply glared at him.
"Those cuffs? They dampen your abilities, so you're not getting out of this one easily," the man taunted, taking a few steps to the boy. He reached out and grabbed Peter by the chin, turning his head to each side to inspect it. There was a look of disgust plastered on his face when he let go.
"What the hell do you want?" Peter snapped, trying to hide the fear in his voice. The man stood up straight and smirked.
"I want information," the man simply replied.
"Well you can go to hell 'cause I'm not telling you anything," Peter spat back, turning his head away. Suddenly, he felt the man's strong fist land on his cheek, making Peter's head fall to the side. It was way more painful now that he didn't have his powers, and he felt blood starting to flood his mouth. He coughed it out onto the floor next to him and looked back at the man.
"Still not telling you shit."
"Then I guess I'll get it out of you the hard way."
* * *
"Friday, found anything about Peter's location?" Tony asked, staring at the floor and biting at his nails anxiously, as the team paced the room, thinking of ideas.
"Sorry, boss, but I could not locate Peter due to his suit tracker being disabled prior to the kidnapping," the AI replied, somehow sounding slightly concerned for Peter. Tony looked up for the first time since they had arrived.
"What do you mean by disabled?" He asked nervously.
"Peter disabled it along with the Baby Wheels Protocol two months ago."
"Dammit," Tony muttered, knowing that the kid would somehow find out and try to get rid of it. That explained why it hadn't been working recently. He sighed shakily and stood up, his suit quickly forming around his body with the tap of his fingers to his arc reactor.
"Where are you going?" Rhodey asked, also standing up.
"I'm gonna look for him myself."
* * *
The pain was unbearable. Now without his powers, he felt a single punch double the pain. As another punch landed on his head, he felt flesh rip and blood seep from the wound. He had been punched and kicked but he would not, under any circumstance, tell them anything.
"You are tougher than you look," the man said, taking a step back and crossing his arms, watching as the boy coughed and splattered the cement floor with drops of red liquid. The man had taken the chair away for more places to beat, like his back, for example, which was covered in the warm blood by being kicked and shoved against the wall.
Peter bit his bottom lip, trying to hold out a sob of indescribable pain. Bright colors floated around his vision and everything around him warped. He gasped in, but it felt as if his lungs had shrunken and barely any air filled them.
"Still," he started, his voice was small and weak. "Still not talking."
Peter saw the man lift his leg and land a harsh kick to the chest. He may have been hallucinating, but Peter was sure he had heard a crunch. He screamed out in pain, his cries echoing in the room.
"P-please..." He sobbed, trying desperately to breathe in. He felt as if his throat were sealed shut. "Stop." He coughed and coughed and sobbed and gasped but the man remained unfazed. He just stared down at the kid that laid on the floor in complete and utter agony.
Peter started feeling light-headed and his ears started ringing as he watched the door fly off its hinges and hit the opposite wall. The man shot up and tried fighting whoever had entered but failed. Peter shut his eyes, wanting to pass out so maybe the pain would go away but his eyes snapped open when he heard a soft, familiar voice.
"Underoos?"
Peter didn't have the strength to lift his head but immediately knew who it was.
Tony.
He felt metal arms gently pick him up. Through half-closed eyes he saw a familiar red and gold mask, its white eyes suddenly seeming too bright. He closed them once again and lost all strength to keep his head up, so it just limply rolled back.
"Come on, kid, stay with me," Tony urged, walking out into the strong daylight. Peter heard voices, he only understood a few words like "Jesus" or "medical wing". He tried staying awake but the darkness seemed to get the best of him, and he finally passed out.
* * *
He woke up, eyes still closed, and started feeling everything. His numbed back and chest, a hand gripping his firmly, a thin blanket over his body, and he started hearing voices, who he now recognized as Nat, May, and Steve. He weakly opened his eyes and closed them once the bright white lights overwhelmed him.
"Pete?" A soft voice whispered from beside him. He kept his eyes sealed shut, but gathered all of his strength to try to reply.
"Hmm," he mumbled. He heard a chuckle and someone stand up.
"Can you open your eyes, kid?" Another voice asked, laced with worry. The voice echoed in his head, unrecognizable. He slightly parted his eyelids, slowly letting his eyes adjust to the lights.
He recognized May, sitting next to him and holding his hand, Tony, kneeling next to the bed, and Nat and Steve stood at the end of it.
"Hey, kid," Steve said kindly. Peter blinked slowly in response, finally being able to open his eyes fully.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Peter, you really scared us," May chuckled, squeezing his hand.
"You sure did," Tony agreed, ruffling the boy's hair. Peter smiled weakly.
"Sorry," he mumbled, his tongue feeling as heavy as lead. Tony chuckled and shook his head.
"Not your fault."