Chapter Text
The team returned to Stark tower after gathering evidence and blocking off Dennison's home. They hadn't found anything that could lead them to where the man had taken Peter, but they had found photos and video evidence within the man's home that had proven his guilt.
The news had already caught wind of the bust, so they knew that there was no chance of Dennison returning to his home since they found out it was him who took Peter.
They were at a loss, and all they could do was hope that Garcia or Stark uncovered some sort of hidden property that the man may have acquired.
~~~~~~
The next day came, and neither Stark nor Garcia had tracked down any possible alternative locations. Tony was working hard to track down any hidden assets Devon may own, but it was still possible that the man was squatting in some abandoned building or hidden location.
Pepper had tried to get him to sleep, but the effort had been futile, especially after he had walked by May's room and saw Happy cradling her as she sobbed.
~~~~~~
Then, all hell broke loose as Tony received a request to attend a live-stream being broadcasted from an undisclosed location with the headline being "The father shall pay for his sins."
Tony had yelled in anger and quickly made his way to where the BAU team had set up in a conference room. Happy had stayed behind with May, but Pepper had seen part of the message title and gone pale. She followed closely behind Tony.
Tony didn't bother to announce his entrance as he sent a few commands to F.R.I.D.A.Y. and had her accept the request and display the stream for everyone on the team as well as he and Pepper to see.
He quickly typed as he began trying to track where the video was coming from.
Hotch quickly got Garcia on the phone and Tony granted her access to his servers so that she too could work on finding the location.
Pepper was tearful as Peter came on screen looking even bloodier than before.
Tony was enraged as Devon hummed and grabbed a few of Peter's fingers. Tony cursed as the man broke them and continued the process on each hand. Pepper was horrified, but she couldn't look away.
Peter was moaning in pain loud enough for them to hear through the gag. They then watched as Devon took hold of the knife still lodged in Peter's thigh, twisted it, and ripped it out harshly.
Pepper's gasp and clamp of hand over her own mouth was drowned out by Tony's enraged scream as Peter's screams remained muffled by the gag. She was nauseous as she watched Devon wipe some of Peter's blood off the knife and onto his own clothes.
Garcia then spoke "I've uncovered two possible locations for this live-stream based upon Dennison's past actions. I found those a few minutes before you called when the live-stream began."
Tony grimaced as he and F.R.I.D.A.Y. continued to try and pinpoint the exact location.
Tony balled his hands into fists as he watched the live-stream continue.
Devon spoke about the Bible as he raised the dagger above Peter's other thigh. Tony could have cared less what the man was saying. He was seething with rage as Peter cried out loudly through the gag as Devon plunged the dagger into his thigh and pulled downward.
Pepper had seen so much horror in this world already, and she was entranced as the torture continued. She couldn't look away, especially since the kid being tortured was almost like a son to her.
~~~~~~
Peter clenched his eyes shut with pain as Devon ripped the dagger out of his thigh. It had hurt so much the first time, but the second time had felt even worse. Peter trembled as he kept his eyes clenched shut, but felt the dagger gently rest below his right eye. He really hoped that the guy wasn't about to cut out his eye or something.
~~~~~~
Devon hummed as he watched the tears stream down the child's face. He rested the dagger below the child's right eye and could feel the child's trembling grow stronger.
He then said "Child, I do so hope that the sinful ways your father propagates have been purged from your mind."
He then withdrew the dagger from the child's face and sighed.
He quietly said "Your tears will soon no longer be needed young one. You will be released for judgement within the next hour.
He then gently cupped Peter's bloody cheek and wiped away some of the continuous tears while smearing some of the blood from the previous cut on the child's cheek.
~~~~~~
Peter trembled even as he felt the dagger withdraw from under his eye.
He trembled harder and attempted to move his head away as Devon cupped his cheek, but his range of motion was highly limited.
He kept his eyes tightly shut even as Devon spoke to him with words that were anything but calming. He felt Devon wipe some of his tears away and cringed as Devon's finger rubbed against one of the still healing cuts on his face above the gag.
~~~~~~
Tony was fuming as he listened to the a**hole try and comfort his kid.
F.R.I.D.A.Y. then said "Boss, I have pinpointed a location. Miss Garcia has also just found it as well. We have both sent the coordinates to you and the BAU team. The location is in a wooded area in which it is illegal to settle, but still in state in Catskill Park. It should take no more than three hours to get there. "
Tony growled as he went to press his old arc reactor casing that held his nanotech suit, but Pepper took his hand before he could. She looked his in the eyes and tearfully said "Please let them handle it right now. They've already got their gear and are leaving to find them. If you rush in, the guy may do something rash."
Hotch then said "Listen to your fiancee, Stark. We'll handle this. We don't need you escalating the rescue mission further."
Tony growled with anger and turned to follow Hotch out of the door, but Pepper held his hand and prevented him from leaving as she worriedly pointed towards where the live-stream was still broadcasting, and Tony went pale.
~~~~~~
Peter yelled behind his gag as he felt a blade being plunged into his shoulder above his clavicle. It was agony as the blade was ripped back out and then plunged into his other shoulder in the same manner.
He could feel his blood leaking out and running down his back. He was feeling so tired. All he could do was moan in pain as Devon continued hurting him.
He weakly pulled against the bonds and writhed in pain as Devon sliced into his torso. He weakly opened his eyes again as tears continued flowing, and his vision was blurry.
He could feel that the sedatives were almost completely gone from his system, but at this point, he had lost so much blood, that he was too weak to break out of his restraints.
It felt like hours before he regained enough coherence to hear Devon say that the day of God's reckoning was about to come upon him. He then felt Devon harshly press the blade against his lower abdomen.
Peter screamed as Devon then ripped the blade across his abdomen in what was surely going to be meant as a fatal blow. His eyes were clenched shut as he heard a loud noise echo in the room and felt the dagger harshly exit the wound as if Devon had been ripped away while still holding the dagger.
He then moaned as someone gently patted his face after ripping the gag away. He groggily reopened his eyes and tearfully stared at some new guy as he tried to catch his breath. Before he could even try and figure out who the guy was, he was met with darkness.
~~~~~~
Tony and Pepper both yelled with fear as Devon plunged the dagger into Peter's abdomen and sliced across it in what had to be meant as a fatal blow. They didn't even notice as the BAU busted in shortly before Devon was done because Tony had looked away and Pepper looked towards him.
Tony then exclaimed "That's it! I don't care that they want me to stay back! I'm going, Pepper! I shouldn't have waited in the first place!"
She futilely tried to stop him. He activated his suit and she listened as he didn't even ask for a window to be open, he just busted straight through one, but she couldn't be mad about it, not when she knew that he was desperate to get to Peter.
She looked back at the screen as the live-stream continued. She then gasped as she saw Agent Reid with Peter as Reid tried to get him to stay awake, but she could tell that it had been futile. She bit her lip and sniffled as the live-stream ended. She hoped that Peter would survive.
~~~~~~
It took them a record time of one and a half hours to get to the park while breaking the speed limits, but that's what their emergency lights were for.
By the time they arrived, Hotch and Alvez were at the front of the well hidden building. It somehow blended in perfectly with the area, but their coordinates gave them an exact location. It took them a little bit of time to find the entrance, and Alvez cursed as he realized that he had tripped a silent alarm when he saw the sensor close to the ground.
They raced forward, as they were in a straight hallway. Alvez was at the front when he heard a muffled scream ring out. Hotch quickly followed behind him as they came upon a door at the end of the hall where the sound had come from. Rossi and the others were checking other rooms as Alvez and Hotch proceeded forward.
Alvez grimaced as they came upon the door, but he and Hotch worked together and kicked the door open loudly. Alvez gnashed his teeth as he caught sight of the killer and tackled him as Hotch tried to yell for Alvez to wait.
Alvez did not wait, and the blade was roughly ripped out of the kid's abdomen as he tackled the killer. The kid was moaning in pain. Hotch was not pleased with Alvez as he may have just caused the wound to get worse, but it was too late now.
Hotch looked at the bloodied blade and stood beside where Alvez was restraining Devon.
Devon grinned as Alvez pinned his arms behind his back, cuffed him, and held him on the ground while Reid rushed to the kid after briefly glancing at where Alvez had Devon restrained a few feet away.
Devon laughed and snickered as his face was pressed against the ground.
He laughed as he said "Ah, the BAU. I was wondering how long it would take you guys to catch up to me. You were a little too late though. I'm pretty sure that this young one won't survive much longer after the last blow I made before you dolts barged in on us after tripping my proximity alarms. None of the others ever survived long after the final act was done. The boy will die and be judged."
Alvez grimaced and pressed the guy further into the ground. Hotch stared at the kid while standing over Devon and Alvez. Devon was undeterred.
Devon continued "I'll get out eventually, and my mission from God will continue. The wicked shall be punished. Perhaps my next victim will be Aaron Hotchner's son, or even Agent Jareau's children. I researched all of you when you first started working on my case. Don't you think that I knew you were working with Stark and all of those other families. You were all too weak minded to stop me! I watch the news too! I know your secrets. Hotch is secretly bisexual. Once I'm out of prison, his son will be the one to pay for his wickedness!"
Hotch grimaced at the threat as medical personnel and Reid helped Stark's kid, who looked like he was on death's door. The kid was quickly taken out of the hidden facility.
Once JJ and Rossi called it clear, Alvez yanked Devon off of the ground and shoved him forward. They were soon outside of the hidden facility. Devon continued to laugh.
He then said "You know, I kind of expected Stark to be here. Has the wickedness been purged from him now that his son is gone because of his own poisonous ideals?"
Not even a minute later, Tony Stark arrived on the scene in his fully equipped armor and faced Devon.
Tony withdrew his face plate, and Devon could see the vengeful and angry scowl on Stark's face.
Stark then said "I was told to let the BAU handle the rescue operation, but as you can see, I disobeyed. It only took me a little longer to get here because my fiance tried to stop me from rushing in because she knows what I want to do to you and thought that you might act rash and kill Peter before I could stop you, but then you sliced into his abdomen."
Devon huffed and snarkily said "And what is it that you want to do, Stark? Kill me like I killed your son?"
Tony growled and gritted out "Yes." as he raised a repulsor.
Hotch and his team began to shout at Tony to stop. Tony continued to hold his repulsor out threateningly as Devon stared at him smugly.
Devon taunted him "Go ahead, Iron Man. Kill me. It won't bring your son back."
Tony then gnashed his teeth.
Before Tony could even do anything though, Devon took advantage of the BAU agent's shock, and quickly kicked Alvez's legs out from under him. He dived to grab Alvez's gun, but before he could get it, the crack of gunshots were heard, and Devon Dennison was no more.
Tony looked to the side in surprise at the guy who had shot the gun. It had been Agent Reid.
Reid didn't look at anyone but Devon's dead body as he said "No one threatens my godchildren, my family, or my team, and gets away with it."
Tony deactivated his repulsors. He may not have dealt the killing blow or gotten there in time to help in the rescue of his son, but he had witnessed the downfall of the monster who had hurt his son. They had been lucky that the guy hadn't been wearing body armor.
He then panicked and said "Where's Peter? Where is my son?"
Reid then spoke again "He's in one of the ambulances. JJ and Rossi are with him. I was coming over here because I saw you coming, and then Dennison pulled that stunt."
Tony nodded and ran over to the ambulances. He could hear someone shouting orders before he even got over there. He stopped when he saw JJ standing a few feet away from the back of the ambulance.
He felt his breath catch as he saw his son's badly injured form lying on a medical gurney. They were still working on bandages around Peter's abdomen, and Tony felt sick as the bandages were quickly soaked through with blood.
He stopped beside JJ. He knew better than to get in the medical personnel's way no matter how tempted he was to jump in the back of that ambulance and cradle his son.
He paled further when he heard one of the medical personnel say "If we don't stabilize him now, we'll lose him before we can even get to the hospital."
Tony started to hyperventilate, and before he knew it, he was kneeling on the ground. He could barely feel JJ trying to calm him down. His panic was deep. He could no longer hear the police helicopters above transmitting live footage of the rescue.
He soon blacked out despite F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s efforts to talk him down, and she soon took complete control of the suit and flew him back to the tower before the BAU agents could even try and stop her.
~~~~~~
The ambulance was soon on its way to the hospital as the BAU agents and other law enforcement worked on the scene and gathered evidence. It had been hours before Hotch and his team arrived back at Stark Tower.
The case had finally been closed and they were able to return home. They had also received news that Peter Parker had been declared stable enough to transport to Stark's medical ward at the Compound, and that Dr. Stark had recovered from his panic attack. The worst part about the whole thing was that the families of the other victims wouldn't be able to get justice for their children.
They flew back home on the jet. Once back, Hotch and Rossi took care of filing everything while everyone else put their equipment away.
Everyone parted ways for their own homes after brief greetings from Garcia who was glad that they were back.
Jennifer went home and hugged her children extra tight after reading about what Devon had threatened. She was grateful that Spencer had been there before Devon could hurt any of the team.
Reid returned to his apartment and hugged his fiancee Lila tight. He knew that she always got worried when he was away for very long. He was just grateful that an amazing woman like Lila Archer was willing to wait up for him.
Alvez joined Garcia and Rossi for drinks at his place. It had been a nice way to wind down for the night.
Hotch returned home and checked on his son and smiled as he watched Jack sleeping. He had already let the babysitter leave. It was a quite peaceful night as he glimpsed out one of his windows and stared at the bright moon.
~~~~~~
Peter's recovery was swift, thanks to his healing factor which recovered once all of the sedative was out of his system. Most of his therapy and recovery had taken place at the Compound, but he was eventually allowed to go back to Stark Tower where he was most comfortable other than he and May's apartment.
The near fatal wound on his abdomen had scarred, but he had thankfully survived. May, Tony, Pepper, Happy, and even Rhodey had showered him with love. They were reluctant to ever leave his side again.
One of the main effects of the whole ordeal was that Peter had been dosed with so much of the sedative that his body became resistant to it, but that would be a problem for later, and Tony's team could develop other sedatives for emergencies.
Rhodey had actually arrived in the medical ward the day after Peter's rescue. He had arrived with tears running down his face as he worried for his nephew. Peter had recently gotten out of surgery, and Tony was there with Pepper, May, and Happy. Rhodey had taken a while to arrive because he had been on a no technology mission so he hadn't known about the kidnapping until it was too late for him to help.
Peter still had nightmares about the pain he felt during his time stuck with the monster, but his family was always there to help him. Closer to the end of June, he became excited as Tony was asked to speak at the pride parade.
Peter had goaded him into accepting, so now, Tony would be speaking. Peter was allowed to come so long as he kept his web shooters. They would also have Peter sit in a wheel chair so as to make it where the public would still think that he was recovering physically.
It soon came to the day of the parade, and the family joined together in support.
Tony made sure that Happy stood beside Peter's wheelchair. Pepper and May stood on Peter's left while Happy was on his right. Tony and Peter both smiled at each other as Tony bent down to hug Peter.
Peter hugged him tightly.
Tony then walked a few feet away to the microphone and began to speak "These past few months have been filled with tragedy, but thankfully, it came to an end when my son was rescued. I must admit, I was scared to speak at today's pride parade, but my strong son inspired me to do this.
I have always supported the LGBTQA+ community, and I always will. Monsters like the one who tried to take my son away will not keep us down. They will not keep us from speaking out. They will not keep us from fighting for the right to love who we love or be who we want to be. I thank you all for coming to show your support today, and with that I must also announce that not only am I an ally, I am bisexual. You may have already known that from my days as a 'playboy' though.
I thank you all for being brave enough to show your support during today's celebration. I thank you all. In honor of the victims of the Killer I will be donating fifty million to assorted charities supporting LGBTQA+ families and displaced children. We all deserve to be accepted for who we are, and I want to do as much as I can to help. Thank you for letting me speak."
Tony then left the microphone and bent down to hug Peter harder as they both smiled.
Clapping could be heard all around the surrounding blocks. They rejoined the rest of their family as the parade was kicked off. Tony wheeled Peter forward as Happy, May, and Pepper walked alongside them and the parade continued on, hoping that eventually, the LGBTQA+ community would be more widely accepted, and that they would no longer have to live in fear of those who hate them.
~~~~~~
"The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can."
~ Neil Gaiman