Chapter Text
Tony wasn't asleep when he got the alert from Karen. The kid's alarm went off and even if Peter was allowed to be patrolling tonight, it was way past his curfew.
He followed the GPS in his suit, thank God he didn't disable that. But when he got there, Peter wasn't there. It was just the suit, laying on the ground crumpled.
At first, Tony looked around, searching for a note that said something along the lines of ‘ha! Got you!’ as a prank from Peter after their fight. But he knew that Peter would never call an emergency unless it was an actual emergency, and even then, he still hesitated. Something must have been really wrong.
“See anything, FRI?”
“No, boss.”
“Shit,” Tony said, glancing around frantically. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. “Alert the team, FRIDAY. Now. Tell them it’s an emergency.”
They search. ALl of them spread throughout the city and search any place Peter could be, but they find nothing. Not even a clue.
Tony sat at the table, where they had only been researching other missing kids hours earlier. He ran a hand through his hair, knowing he was only messing it up more than it already was. “I shouldn’t have yelled at him,” he muttered to no one in particular.
“You aren’t in the wrong here, man,” Clint said, uncharastically taking his side. “Speaking from another dad, you did the right thing. Pete’s the one that screwed up. But he’s a kid, and usually they do. You just gotta fix it for him, and hope he learns not to make this mistake again.”
“And what if I can’t fix this?” Tony looked up at him, wondering how shitty he looked. It was probably bad.
“Your Tony Stark.” Steve’s voice was low but optimistic as always. “There’s nothing you can’t fix. You’ll find him and bring him home. I just know.”
“How do you know?”
A small smirk played at Steve’s lips. “Call it Cap’s Intuition.”
Tony laughed, but it was empty and a little cold. “As encouraging as that it, Cap. I don’t think it’s that easy. Not unless someone is going to magically call and tell me exactly where he is.”
Because the universe had a sense of humor, that was when FRIDAY’s phone system started to ring. Tony’s first thought was a ransom call. Whoever had Spider-Man, knew his identity and wanted a lot of money to keep it quiet. Tony didn’t care how much they wanted; he’d give it to them.
“Answer that, FRI.”
She did and Tony beat whoever the hell it was to the punchline. “Where the hell is the kid?”
“Woah, you greet all your guests with such charm, sunshine?” Fury deadpanned.
While Tony was glad to know it wasn’t some scumbag looking to hurt Peter, he was disappointed he had no leads. “What do you want, Fury?”
“Well, I thought you’d be interested in some information I recently acquired. Maybe it’s a bad time?”
Information? Was it about Peter? “Don’t be a dick. Tell me.” Tony held his breath, waiting for Fury’s reply.
“We’ve reason to believe Spider-Man was kidnapped.”
Tony blinked. Was...was that it? Really? Tony felt a growl rumble deep in his throat. “Thanks for wasting my time, but until you have some actual information, don’t call me.”
“Well, I’d give it to you if you pulled your thong outta your ass and listened.”
Steve put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and spoke up, taking over. “We’re listening, Director. Continue please.”
Fury cleared his throat. “Right. Well, some of our undercover agents just let me know that they know a few bounty hunters who just cashed in a mighty large reward for the capture of a certain web-swinging hero.”
Tony’s heart was pounding, but he couldn’t say a word if he wanted to. Thankfully, Steve was there to take charge. “Do they know where he was taken?”
“No, but they have a way to contact the bounty hunters. I can send you their location, if you promise not to screw this up. Otherwise, I’ll do it myself.”
“No, sir,” Steve said immediately, even before Tony could argue. “Spider-Man is our teammate. We can bring him home.”
“That’s what I thought. I’ll be sending the information over momentarily. Good luck, Avengers.”
And then Fury was gone and FRIDAY announced, “Downloading data from Director Fury.”
Steve, still just as put together as he was before Peter went missing, started to read through the file. “We can bring them in. If they still have Peter, then we’ll find him. If not, we do what’s necessary to get the information out of them.”
Tony stood up on shaky feet. God, why did he feel so weak when Peter needed him most? “I’m coming with.”
“No, you’re not,” Steve said, pushing him back to his seat gently. “Rhodes and Sam are going to stay back with you. I’m going with Clint and Natasha.”
Clint stood up, a fire in his eyes. Natasha was stoic, as always before a mission.
“Wait, you can’t-- you’re not bencinh him from this.” Tony narrowed his eyes.
“Tony, you’re in no shape to go on this mission. We’ll be done quick. But you need to take care of yourself or we’ll never find Peter.”
Tony stood up, hating the extra few inches Steve had on him. “This is Peter. My ki-- my responsibility. I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not,” Rhodey said, coming up behind him. “You go, Captain. We’ll keep an eye on Tony.”
Steve nodded. “Thank you. Just in case they don’t have Peter, which I doubt they do if they have their reward already, get a room ready for interrogation.”
“With pleasure.”
Tony had to sit back and watch as Steve, Natasha, and Clint all went out. He didn’t help with the Interrogation room; he couldn’t even move from his spot. He knew he should call May and let her know what was going on, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her yet.
He was still sitting in that same spot when they came back. Peter wasn’t with them. He stumbled to his feet when he saw Steve striding forward, a determined look on his face. “Well? What happened? Do you know where Peter is?”
Steve took Tony’s panic in stride and shook his head. “Not yet, but I sent Natasha in the room with them. We should know soon.”
Tony wasn’t going to just keep sitting here again. He stormed past Steve and went right for the room Rhodey and Sam had prepared. He walked right past the viewing room, and slammed the door open to where he saw the two men sitting.
Natasha looked at him and her blank face turned into one of confusion and then anger. She looked over Tony’s shoulder to where Steve was loosely following him. He could have stopped him if he really wanted to, Tony knew. “He shouldn’t be here.”
“If anyone is going to get them to crack, it’s me,” Tony replied, voice cold as ice as he stopped in front og the two chairs with bound men.
“No, I really think it’ll be me,” Natasha argued in a clipped voice. And any other day, Tony would agree with her. But today wasn’t any other day.
“Nat,” Steve said. “Give him a chance. I think he deserves this.”
Natasha huffed but stopped arguing with them. “FIne, but I’m staying to make sure he doesn’t kill them. We’ll get nothing from a pair of corpses.”
“Black Widow making sure you’re not killed? I’m glad I’m not the one in one of those chairs right now,” Steve said before he left the room.
“I think you know who I am,” Tony said, the familiar words sounding almost bitter on his tongue. “You know what I’m capable of doing.”
The men didn’t look afraid, even though they should be.
“I will gladly give you my worst, tenfold. Before I even start, you’ll be begging for mercy. But you will find none of it here. Not until I know who you sold the kid to.”
“We ain’t afraid of you, Stark. But the one that has the freak? He scares us.” One of the men said. “We’re used to wrangling these things up, and the man we give them to...he’s strong. Stronger than any of us.”
Tony threw his hand out and wrapped it around the man’s neck to just barely cut off the flow of oxygen to his lungs. He wheezed as his eyes bulged slightly. “Nothing is stronger than me when I’m pissed off. And you? You’ve got me furious.”
“You’re a hero,” the other one sneered. “You wouldn’t touch us.”
In a second, Tony had his nanobots climbing over his arm and his repulsor was charged and aimed right at the man’s head. His friend was still struggling to breathe. “You want to test that theory?”
The two of them exchanged uneasy glances. Then the one that wasn’t wheezing said, “Listen, man, we can’t help you. We don’t know how to find him. We get him what he wants and he finds us.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“The guy hunts these monsters for a living. He makes it his job to keep them contained and hidden. You’re not going to find him.”
Tony’s hand tightened. “Have you ever seen him?”
At the sound of his friend choking on no air now, he scrambled to answer. “No. We just drop him off with a guy of his. We’ve never seen the dude’s face.”
“What’s his name?”
“I don’t know his real name.”
Tony squeezed so hard, there was definitely going to be bruises.
“Seriously, man! They call him The Collector. That’s all I know.”
Natasha spoke up for the first time since the interrogation started. “Why do they call him that?”
“He collects mutants.”
Tony lets go of the one man to round on the other and press the repulsor so close to his face, it has to burn his skin, if only a little. “What does he do to them?”
The man looked up at him with wild eyes. “I-I don’t think he does anything! He just keeps them for himself in cages-- like a zoo.”
The words made Tony sick. Peter was not some animal on display for another human being’s entertainment.
“How do we get into this zoo?”
Despite the repulsor in his face, the man had the audacity to laugh. “He ain’t exactly selling tickets. You don’t get in. That’s how he gets away with it.”
Tony growled, repeating himself, “How do we get into this zoo.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “Unless you’re some sort of mutant, you’re not getting in!”
The idea came to Tony faster than he’d like to admit. “So, say you found another mutant and we could track that mutant as you gave them over, we could trace them to the zoo?”
THe man scrunched his face. “It ain’t that simple, man. It took us months to find and catch Spider-Man. Mutants aren’t exactly running free and easy for the pickin’.”
Tony pressed the repulsor against his face and the man shouted in pain. Tony didn’t care. THey hurt Peter. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
The man’s voice was pained and frantic. “I dunno, man-- if you could fuckin’ get it past without them knowin’, sure. But it ain’t that simple.”
Immediately, he let go of the man and stepped back, satisfied to see his cheek bright red from the heat of the repulsor. “Nat, go wild but didn’t kill them. I need them soon.”
Natasha didn’t doubt him and stood up straight, walking to them and taking Tony’s spot. “Happily. Let me know when you need them.”
Tony didn’t even look back when he heard one of them shout in pain. He had an idea. An idea that would get them Peter back if it worked right. He went into the observation room where the rest of the Avengers were watching.
“You got a plan, Tinman?” Clint asked, raising an eyebrow.
“He says that if he has another mutant to hand over, it’ll draw them out.”
“Yeah, we were watching.” Sam looked confused. “But I don’t think we can go find another mutant and convince them to give themselves up.”
Tony was glad he was at least keeping up slightly. “But what if we don’t need to convince them, and what if they’re good with it?”
Clint debated the idea in his mind before shrugging his shoulders. “I guess SHIELD could get us some trackers that won’t be found. We’ve done a lot of deep undercover ops.”
"That just leaves us with one issue," Rhodey said. "A mutant willing to be our spy."
Tony's eyes drifted to Steve before he even said, "I'll do it."
The room went silent as they thought about-- everyone except Tony, of course. This was his plan from the start. He knew Steve couldn't say know, and that he'd want to do whatever he could to help get Peter back.
"That...could work," Clint said hesitantly.
"Why not? I'm a mutant, really. I've done undercover ops before. They send me to this guy, I go in and find the kid. I stay with him until you guys come crashing the party."
"Am I the only one that thinks this sounds way too easy?"
Steve looked to Sam and shrugged his shoulders. "Won't know until we try."
"I'll go get them to agree to this," Tony sais quickly, already going to run into the room again.
"We've gotta set it up with SHIELD first," Clint said. "I know you wanna get Peter, but rushing into this will only be dangerous for Steve. Then we'll lose both of them."
Steve waved him off. "Just get a tracker that they won't find. The kid's waiting."
Tony was so thankful Steve was on his side. Tony was losing his mind every second that passed with Peter still gone.
"We're making sure this is 100% safe for you first, Steve," Sam said. "We know this guy doesn't hurt the mutants. Peter just has to sit tight a few more hours and we'll be there as soon as we can."
Tony wasn't going to sit here and listen for this. Not when Peter was shoved in a cage somewhere. "I'm getting them in and ready. You do your part."
"Tony, wait--."
Tony didn't wait. Peter didn't have time. Steve came out wearing his Captain America uniform, ready for the mission. He could see Tony sitting by their two captives. He was practically vibrating with anxiety.
That was part of the reason why he was so quick to volunteer for the role. Tony wasn't handling this well, and that was rare. Tony usually had a handle on everything. Or, he made it seem like he did. Not this time. Not when Peter was in danger.
The other part was Peter. Steve liked the kid a lot. They trained together, Peter introduced him to Stars Wars, they usually midnight-snacked together because of their high metabolism...they were friends. Steve saw the kid almost as a little brother, or son even. Although he couldn't ever say that in front of Tony because Peter was his kid.
That was why he was so wired right now.
"Alright," Steve announced with his hands resting on his belt. "Are we ready?"
"We're still handcuffed." One of the men with the bruised throat said. Steve knew that was from Tony after watching him through the one way mirror. Natasha did the rest: just enough bruises and scrapes to make it look like Captain America put up a fight with them, she had said.
She went too easy on them, if you asked Steve.
They ignored the man and Clint handed Steve a small chip, about as small as a grain of rice. "Swallow this. You'll digest it later, but for a few hours, it'll transmit your location."
"Is that safe?" Sam asked skeptically.
"I've done it plenty of times and I'm fine."
Sam blinked once. "Again. Is it safe?"
Steve took the chip and swallowed it. He didn't care if it was safe, as long as it helped Peter. It had to be safer than having a random serum injected into his blood.
Immediately, Tony looked at the StarkPad in his hands and nodded his head. "It works. We have a signal."
"Now are we ready?"
"We can't drop you off like that." The one with one swollen eye said.
"Like what?" Steve raised an eyebrow.
"In your costume. He doesn't take mutants in their costumes."
"First of all, son, this isn't Halloween. I'm wearing a uniform. Second of all, what the hell are you talking about?"
He sighed like Steve's question was stupid. "He's careful and doesn't get caught for a reason. Why do you think we left Spidey's onesie? Those things are always bugged. He doesn't trust 'em."
"You're not handing me over in my underwear."
"That's how we gave him Spidey. He had little planets all over 'em. S'was cute." His condescending tone was met with a punch to his stomach from Tony.
"Are you brain dead?" Clint asked, watching him double over in pain. "You must be."
"Back to finding Peter," Tony said as if he hadn't just knocked the wind out of that man.
Steve just started to pull his boots off without waiting for an answer. Then he pulled off his pants, and then his vest.
"Uh...Cap?"
"If this is the safest way to get Peter back, I'll gladly do it." He pulled off his shirt and stood there in only his boxer shorts. Tony didn't even make fun of the little Iron Man masks on them. That's how Steve knew he was upset.
"I'd like to at least keep this tank top on, at least," Steve said, not meeting anyone's eyes except for the man with only one not swollen shut.
"Uh-- yeah. S-sure." He fidgeted with the handcuffs. "I'm just, ah, curious...are we getting out of this alive afterwards?"
"It depends on my mood," Natasha answered calmly.
"Ah, fuck," the man muttered as Rhdey started shoving them towards the van.
Steve went to follow but was stopped when someone grabbed his hand.
Steve turned around and saw Tony looking up at him with such tired eyes."Thank you, Steve."
"You don't have to thank me for this."
"I know," Tony said. "I just assumed you'd help and you don't have to do this but you are and--...thank you."
"I'd do anything for him, you know that." Tony had to know that as Steve stood here in nothing but his boxers and the tank that did not cover his entire chest.
"I do."
Steve put a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder. "It's alright. I'm going to find him and he'll be home soon."
Tony chuckled softly. "You know, I'm not sure if the boxers are helping or hindering your credibility here."
Steve managed a smile too, even though he felt his skin flush. And because he was Irish and because Tony could see everything , he could easily see the blush start in his chest and go all the way to the tips of his ears.
"Cap, we're waiting on you," Nat called from the other room.
Steve stayed in his spot for a moment, holding Tony's gaze. "It'll be okay," Steve reassured him again. "He's going to be okay. I'll bring him home."
Only a few hours later, Steve was gone. The two goons dropped him off with someone else and he seemed pleased that they found Captain America.
It wasn't The Collector because he kept referring to "the boss" and how happy he was going to be.
Because of the rough shape the two were in from Natasha, the guy believed it was Steve putting up a fight. And he didn't have a uniform on, so there was no way to be tracked. The man didn't think twice before throwing him into a van.
He was dragged through a metal detector and for a brief second, Steve expected it to go off somehow from the chip in his intestines. But it didn't. The man kept dragging him by the chain around his wrists.
He was dragged to a room with nothing but a drain on the floor, he was stripped from the underwear he had, and was hosed down with cold water.
Steve had to focus on the pain of the water pressure hitting his skin to keep himself from panicking about cold. He hated cold water.
"The boss likes his pets clean," was all the woman with the hose said.
Then he was given a pair of white boxers to put on, which he did so happily. When there was a collar strapped around his neck in the next moment, he wasn't too happy. He didn't make a scene though. He wouldn't until he at least found Peter.
He wasn't sure when they were coming to rescue him, but he had to be near Peter when they did. It was the only way to ensure he wasn't hurt in the commotion of escape.
After his collar, he was handcuffed again with vibranium cuffs and dragged to another room. This time, he couldn't keep his eyes down when he saw the cages around him. There were people of all kinds and ages. Some looked more mutant than human with scales or wings or feathers.
He kept his eyes peeled for Peter. He didn't see him.
They stopped at an empty cage and it wasn't too confining. It was big enough for Steve to crouch or kneel, but even then, he still felt cramped when he was shoved inside.
"The boss is busy right now, but he'll be here soon to see you. Don't try anything funny. That collar isn't just for show, pet."
"I'm not your pet," Steve said, glaring up at him.
The man laughed. "Really? Then why are you wearing a collar in a cage and I'm out here, free?"
"Because you're a cruel, evil person."
"At least I'm on this side of the bars," he mocked as he kicked the bottom of the cage. Then he walked away, leaving Steve alone in this large room full of cages.
Once he heard the door slam shut, Steve looked around, desperately trying to find Peter. He couldn't see much except the cages besides him and in front of him. One was empty, one had a girl sleeping on the floor and another had a kid staring back.
"He's right. Don't bother trying to get free."
Steve was already at the kid's height, but he tried to soften his voice to calm him down. "You're going to get out of here, I promise."
He scoffed. "Yeah, not likely. I've been here for months. I don't see that changing."
"Son, trust me. I'm Captain America. We won't stay here." Steve hoped that would reassure him.
The kid's smile told him maybe it didn't. It wasn't happy and looked so out of place on a child's face. "You're not Captain America in here. You're their pet. We all are."
"No. You are not. None of us are. You're human and you have rights." Steve kept his voice firm.
"They'll break you. They always do."
The thought made Steve sick. "I'm going to get you out of here."
"None of us are getting out of here. That kid tried running this morning and haven't seen him since."
Steve followed the direction where he jerked his head to. The empty cage next to Steve. "There was a kid in there?"
"Yeah. Boy 'bout my age I think. Messy brown hair. Small but built."
Peter. That was Peter.
Steve sounded more urgent. "Where is he? Where did they take him?"
"The Collector took him for some training. We all need to be broken in before we're good pets. You try anything and you'll get your turn." His eyes turned cold. "And trust me, you don't want a turn."
Steve swallowed past a lump in his throat and prayed that Peter was okay. "How long until he comes back do you think?"
"Not sure. Maybe soon? Whenever they're done with him." The boy shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the bars and Steve knew the conversation was over now.
He pulled his legs up against his chest and waited for Peter to come back.
He didn't move and by the time he heard the door open and there were footsteps, Steve's muscles were cramped from being in that position so long.
The cage only gave him a few inches to move forward and hold his breath as he saw two men walking toward them. One of them was holding Peter, dressed in the same white boxers and collar Steve was wearing. The other was dressed in a suit as he strolled behind him.
Peter looked to be asleep by the way his body was so lax in the man's hold, but when he was brought closer, Steve noticed his eyes were open and they looked...defeated.
"What did you do to him?" Steve yelled, grabbing the bars to the cage.
"Shut up," the man holding Peter said as he kicked open the cage and threw Peter in. Peter didn't move at all to stop his fall.
"Hey! I said don't damage him!" The man in the suit shoved the guy out of the way and kneeled down in front of the cage to fix Peter so he was laying down comfortably. "He needs to look pretty for my collection."
Steve growled as he watched this man touch Peter with gentle hands as if he cared about him and his safety. "Get away from him."
The man turned and looked at him with a smile. "Captain America...they told me you were here, but I thought it was too good ro be true. My collection really is growing!"
"What did you do to him?"
"Why? You sound a little upset. Do you recognize your pal? Spidey isn't doing too well." He turned back to Peter and started to brush some hair from his face.
"What did you do to him?" Steve repeated.
"Just a little drug to ensure he stayed still during the training."
Steve looked Peter over and couldn't see even a mark on him. What kind of training was he talking about?
"It tried running, but failed, obviously. I just want it to understand that I own it now and it must listen to me. Know its place."
"He's not an it. He's a human being. A boy. He doesn't belong here. None of us do." Steve wished he could punch this guy. He wanted to do anything to get his hands off of Peter, who was obviously conscious and aware of everything around him despite the paralysis.
The Collector turned to smile and him. "I will be back later to train you if I must. I think some time alone with him will help you realize that you mutants are not worthy of rights. You are mine to have and you will know that you are my pets."
"You're sick."
The Collector reached his hand in to pet Steve's head and he couldn't pull away fast enough. "Maybe."
Then he stood up and stare down at Peter. "It'll be like that for maybe an hour still. We'll be back to see if the training was effective."
As he walked away, Steve yelled at his retreating back, "You can't keep us in forever and when we get out, you'll be sorry!"
The Collector only chuckled as he left, not sparing Steve another thought.
Then Steve's attention was on Peter. Their cages were pressed against each other so Steve reached out and grabbed his hand through the bars. Steve couldn’t see his face fully from the position he was left in, but he could see his eyes full of tears. "It's okay, Peter. It's going to be okay."
Peter let out a choked whimper but didn't move.
Steve turned to the boy from before that was now staring curiously. "What did they do?" Steve implored. "Please tell me."
The boy was pale as he stared at Peter. "They make sure you can't move and they put you in this-- thing...it makes you stay there and kneel on your hands and knees. And you can do nothing but listen to the boss as he reminds you of what you are and who you belong to."
Steve hated that the image of Peter being stuck in that situation would forever be burned in his memory. "Did you believe it?"
"They don't let you out until you do."
Steve refused to believe that Peter broke already. Peter was strong. Still, he lowered his voice to a soft whisper and said, "You are Peter Parker. You are human. You are loved."
He whispered the words over and over for what felt like an hour, way past a scratchy throat. He didn't stop until he heard an explosion and the door to the room they were being kept in was knocked down.
He heard voices and he knew immediately that was the Avengers. He heard the familiar sound of Tony's boots stomping across the concrete floor. He was running past every cage, screaming Peter's name.
"Tony! Over here!" Steve tried to yell, but his voice cracked from the overuse of it.
Tony ran past cage after cage and didn't stop until he saw them. Steve couldn't see his face behind the mask, but he knew jim well enough to know what it looked like in that second that he froze before rushing over.
He fell to his knees in front of Peter and ripped the door off. "What's wrong with him?"
"Temporary paralysis from a drug. They know how to restrain mutants," Steve answered in a hoarse voice.
"Is he okay?"
"I don't know."
Tony didn't hesitate before leaning forward and pulling Peter out. Even in a metal suit, his hold was gentle as he cradled Peter against his chest.
He kicked Steve's lock and his cage opened letting him finally get out of the tiny space and stretch. He was only in there for a few hours. He couldn't imagine being in there for months or even years.
"SHIELD is here. They’ve got the bad guys covered as well as the rescue for all the other mutants. Come on, jet is waiting for us."
Steve nodded, but before he followed Tony out of the room, he ripped the lock off the boy's cage. "You're free now," he said.
The boy didn't move, and Steve could tell from the look in his eyes, freedom was a foreign concept to him by now.
Steve offered his hand, but the boy shook his head. "I just...need some time…"
Steve could respect that. "Alright, son. Make sure you look me up when you get outta here."
"Okay…"
Steve gave him a smile before he ran after Tony. Even though he knew that SHIELD was right behind them and ready to open every cage, it felt weird leaving the kids behind.
But Steve's only priority was getting their kid back safe.
And they did. They got him on the jet and avoided all fighting. It was empty and the doors shut behind them. Before Steve could question it, Tony explained, "Team is staying and finishing up. It's just us in here."
Steve nodded his head and felt a little relieved. The collar around his throat suddenly felt a whole lot tighter.
"Can you hold him for a second? I don't wanna leave him on the ground again." Tony offered Peter over and Steve took him without hesitating.
Tony stepped out of the suit so he was in his undersuit and walked over. He wiped the tears off Peter's cheeks and gave him a soft smile. "It's alright, Pete. We got you outta there."
He couldn't say a word, but Steve saw a million in his eyes.
"Yeah. I'll get this off of you." Tony gently undid the lock on the collar and let it fall to the floor. Then he grabbed a blanket from a chair behind them and wrapped him in it. "Let's set him up in the bed just back here. I can't hold him so easily without the suit."
Steve nodded his head and followed Tony to where there was a small cot. Steve laid him down and made sure he was comfortable and Tony tucked the blanket in.
Tony brushed some hair back just as The Collector had, but his touch was different. Peter's eyelids even fluttered closed at the touch. Maybe he was getting his feeling back.
"You're so strong, Pete. You did good. Saved all those people. I'm proud of you." Tony hesitated as if he was going to lean in the few inches and kiss Peter's forehead. He didn't. "Get some rest, bud."
Tony straightened up and sighed softly as he watched Peter close his eyes. "I'll have the doctors look over him when we get back. Thank JARVIS he doesn't look hurt."
"It was more mental," Steve explained, his voice sounding more normal than before.
Tony turned to look at him and it seemed like that was when he realized Steve was in the same position as Peter. "Oh, Steve," he breathed before reaching forward and undoing the collar on his neck.
He felt like he could breathe a whole lot easier even though it never really restricted air flow. He stared down at where it fell to the ground. The collar might have been gone, but it left behind shame.
"Thank you for bringing him back." Tony said. "We couldn't have done this without you."
Steve shrugged his shoulders, suppressing a shiver.
"Shit, let me get a blanket." Tony hurried away and was back within a minute. He wrapped a blanket around Steve that wasn't large enough to cover him completely, but at least he wasn't standing around in his underwear anymore.
Well, not his underwear.
"They took my Iron Man boxers," Steve whispered and he wasn't really sure why.
"I'll get you new ones," Tony rushed to say. "I'll get you one for every day of the week."
Steve glanced over at where Peter was laying down and he wondered if Peter was really asleep or if the drug was just keeping him immobilized and he was choosing to not face anything. "They told him things...I tried to remind him. I kept saying that he was human and he was loved. I hope he heard it. They kept calling him it...I didn't-- it made me sick."
"You did good, Steve. It's okay."
"I just hope he doesn't forget it." Steve was still glaring hard at that collar, unable to look Tony in the eyes.
"He won't." Tony must have noticed his staring because he kicked the collar away and Steve couldn't help but look up. He was giving Steve a strange look.
"What?"
"You're not an it either. You're human."
Steve blinked and shifted uncomfortably. "I'm fine, Tony. They didn't get to me."
They did though. They stripped him to nothing, bathed him like a dog, and strapped a collar around his neck.
That shame wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
"Well, just in case you forget. You're Steve Rogers. You're human and you are loved."
Steve wondered how he got every word right. Why did Tony know exactly what to say all the time?"
"I'm fine, Tony. Really."
"You're loved, Steve Rogers."
"Tony--."
"You are human and you matter."
Steve felt his cheeks flush again, but this time it wasn't in embarrassment.
"You are Steve Rogers. You are human. You matter."
And he kept repeating those words like a mantra until they landed. Steve made sure to dry his tears before he picked Peter up and left the jet so no one else would see.
Peter was asleep by now and shifting to get more comfortable against Steve's chest. He was getting better. Steve stared down at him as he slept and he walked them back into the tower from the balcony.
"You're Peter Parker," Steve whispered to him as he slept. "I am Steve Rogers. We are human. We matter."