Work Text:
"What part of you're just a kid do you not understand?!" Tony asked incredulously, hands running through his hair.
Peter was sat on a medical bed in the medbay, head hanging low and eyes burning a hole into the ground. His suit was pulled down to around his waist, bandaged torso on display with a pinch of blood seeping through. He'd been out on patrol, thought he could handle a group of guys causing some trouble in an alleyway, up until someone pulled out a knife and stabbed Peter right below his lungs.
He came to the only place he knew he would be safe whilst he healed, he couldn't go back to May's with blood pouring profusely from his body, she would go absolutely nuts. Peter didn't quite anticipate that Tony would react the same.
"I'm sorry Mr Stark, I didn't think-" Peter started, Tony butting in before he could finish. "Yeah, you're right. You didn't think. You don't ever think, that's why you always come crawling back here to get yourself fixed up. You're reckless and think you can handle everything when the reality is, you can't!"
If Tony yelled any louder, the veins in his forehead might have burst.
Peter looked up towards Tony at that, eyes glazed over with tears. How could he say such things, as if Peter comes to the Tower near enough every other day to get patched up after a nasty patrol. If anything it was once or twice a month.
"Nothing to say? I can't believe I trusted you with an upgraded suit and you still can't manage." Tony scoffed, swiping a hand along his face in annoyance and frustration.
"Wha- You know what, fine." Peter said, pulling off the rest of his suit and throwing it in Tony's general direction. The tears he had previously been holding back began streaming down his face. "I don't need you or your upgrades. I'll manage on my own from now on." He seethed through grit teeth, sliding off the medbay bed trying his hardest not to wince in pain.
"Where do you think you're going exactly? No one else will help you." Tony was right, no one would help Peter, but he didn't want to be in the presence of a very pissed off Tony Stark right there and then.
"Anywhere but here." Peter answered, storming out of the medbay towards one of the guest bedrooms within the Tower, the one with his spare clothes in. As annoyed as he was with Tony in that moment, he didn't fancy swinging through New York in just his boxers.
He didn't hear Tony following behind him, which was probably for the best at this point. All Peter could see was red, tears blurring his vision. He raced past Natasha and Bruce in the corridor, nothing to say to them. He could hear Natasha call after him, asking if he was ok but he ignored her. He didn't have the patience to stop and chit chat, to apologise for his rudeness or to stay in the Tower for longer than necessary. He needed out and he needed out now.
Back in the medbay, Tony slams his fists against one of the metal tables which would normally occupy some medical utensils. "Fucking kid!" He shouts, slamming his fists down once more. "Everything okay in here? Why's Peter halfw-" Bruce asked from the door, careful not to stand fully in the doorway should Tony decide to blast him.
"Yeah absolutely peachy Banner, I don't care what he's doing, why don't you ask him for yourself?" Tony retorts, rolling his eyes. It's really no one's business why he's so pissed, he needs a stiff drink, more than one for that matter.
"Well I would but he's got a face like thunder, nearly as bad as yours." Bruce snickered, when Tony shot him a look, he realised that now really wasn't the time for joking around. Bruce gave a small nod towards Tony and backed away, leaving Tony alone once again.
He makes his way over to the large bay windows, looking out over the city of New York. He wondered how Peter always managed to get himself into trouble of any kind of description, whether it be a stab wound, broken bones or the one time he somehow managed to get poisoned.
It's raining over the city, rain drops running down the window at such a pace it's hard to make out anything specific. Headlights and streetlights blurred by the rate of the rain, but one thing Tony can make out crystal clear is Peter Parker swinging away from the Tower, a black hoodie pulled over his head.
That was 2 weeks ago, no one had heard from the kid since his and Tony's spat in the medbay. No texts, no missed calls and obviously no update from Karen as Tony had the suit, still on the floor in the medway where Peter had thrown it.
Tony wouldn't cave and reach out to Peter first, he has a reputation to uphold. He spends a lot of his days in the lab upgrading anything he can get his hands off. Definitely not distracting himself from the fact that he hasn't heard Peter's voice in 2 weeks, or had a text with his usual sass included.
He's currently ogling over Steve's shield, seeing if there are any features he can add. How about the ability to electrocute whoever he hits with the shield. Sounds like a good plan, but that would completely suck if he accidentally hit one of the other Avengers. Tony snickers at the thought and decides that the upgrade is definitely necessary, if anyone were to ask it was to be used on missions, certainly not to humor Tony.
"Mr Stark, you have a visitor." FRIDAY alerts Tony, breaking him from his reclusive work thoughts. "Hm? Yeah send 'em up." He says, waving a hand over his shoulder. It's not unusual for people to drop by whenever, what was unusual was for FRIDAY not to identify said visitor. An AI made of some of the highest tech at Tony's disposal should be able to name whoever wanted to enter the Tower. But Tony hadn't paid any mind to the AI, more focused on Captain accidentally tasering Banner, now that would be hilarious.
He hears footsteps approaching the lab and casts a quick glance over his shoulder to see who has joined him. "Ah, so you finally decide to show your face after 2 weeks, with no kind of contact. How courteous of you." Tony says, rolling his eyes. He's greeted with nothing but silence. No sarcastic comment, no more movement, nothing.
"Kid?" He asks, turning to face Peter. Peter's stood in the doorway, staring blankly at Tony. "Look, about what happened the other week. I'm not wrong with what I was saying, you know that, right?" Tony partially shrugs, he's never wrong in his opinion.
Still nothing. This was getting weird, certainly unlike Peter's usual behavior.
Before Tony has another chance to speak, Peter has webbed Tony's hand to the lab desk and is moving in to the lab. "Hey, what the hell Parker!" Tony shouts, attempting to pull his hand out of the webbing. Peter ignores him, walking around the lab, looking for something, but finding nothing.
Tony is completely stunned, is this Peter's idea of payback? Perhaps showing Tony that he is stronger than they both thought? "If you're looking for the suit, it's not in here." Tony says, pulling the boys gaze back over to him. Peter's frowning now and if looks could kill, he would be 10 feet underground by now.
Some time passes, the two staring each other down, waiting for the other to give up. It's Peter that backs down first, leaving the lab and stalking off down one of the corridors out of Tony's view. When he's sure that the boy is far enough out of earshot, he asks FRIDAY to pull up live footage of the Tower, tracking Peter's movement whilst also trying to find something around him to get out of the webbing. He didn't have 2 hours to sit and wait around.
Through the hologram he can see Peter entering the medbay, finding his suit on the floor and practically running over to retrieve it. Tony has an ounce of decency to look away from the screen while Peter strips and pulls the suit on. Once Spider-Man is in view as opposed to Peter, he turns to the camera on the ceiling and webs it, obscuring Tony's vision.
"Right, that's it." Tony mumbles, reaching for a pocket knife that is on the other end of the lab desk he was working at, shoulder clicking when he reaches out too far. When he free's himself, he rolls his shoulder and calls for his Iron Man suit. "Sir, Natasha Romanoff is calling for your assistance in the medbay." FRIDAY alerted.
When Tony arrives in the medbay it is completely trashed, tables and beds overthrown, one or two more than likely thrown out of the now smashed bay windows. They weren't in the condition prior to now so Tony is so going to pin the blame on Peter when he gets his hands on the kid. Natasha is taking cover in the doorway just outside of the medbay, Peter stood alone in the medbay chest heaving from heavy excursion. Tony moves to the opposite side of the doorway, keeping out of Peter's way and view. "We need some kind of back up, I have no idea what the hell has gotten into him but he's a lot stronger than I thought Tony." Natasha stated, peering round into the medbay and just as quickly moving away, a web barely missing her face. "Bruce, we need you in the medbay, you may want to bring the big guy with you." Natasha says to her wrist communicator, not waiting for a reply.
Tony moves into the medbay, blaster at the ready although he doesn't intend on using it, he doesn't want to hurt Peter. "Hey kid, what's the deal with the window, huh?" Tony asks, ensuring he keeps his distance from the kid. Peter doesn't answer, just continues staring much like he had in the lab. The expression from the mask is blank and Tony is pretty sure he's either frowning or just as blank behind the mask. He raises his repulsor slightly, but Peter beats him to the punch and webs him.
Tony moves his aim towards the broken window and shoots, webbing coming clean off his hand and freeing him. Without another passing, Peter lunges towards Tony landing a fist clean into the side of his Iron Man mask, knocking him to the floor. Natasha was right, the mutation from the spider bite made Peter so much stronger than any normal person that Tony has come across. Inhuman strength mixed with whatever was going on in Peter's head was proving to be a dangerous mix. Tony hit the floor with quite some force, landing on his side. From the corner of his eye he could see Peter's fist about to collide with him again, he countered the attack and caught the punch before it could connect with his face again.
Peter's body ducked for a moment, over the boys shoulder Tony could see Natasha had launched herself onto his back, pulling him away from Tony. Her plan seemed to work, Peter moved away ever so slightly before twisting his body to get a better view of the intruder on his back. He tried to shake her off his back but had no such luck. Instead, jumping back so she was wedged between himself and the wall. Tony used one his repulsors to take out one of Peter's legs, giving Natasha some room to get out from between the wall and Peter.
Kneeling to the floor, Peter clutches his leg before looking up, the suit mask squinting at Tony in anger. Peter slung a web in the opposite direction, which attached to one of the discarded tables in the corner of the room, flinging it around before throwing it at Tony. Tony shot a laser this time round, slicing the table in half so it missed him, colliding with the wall behind him instead. He moves to grab one half of the tables and launches it at Peter, at full force, which knocks the boy flying back through the only unsmashed bay windows, causing the glass to shatter around him.
"Shit!" Tony shouts, racing towards the window. As he got to the edge of the room, Peter coming swinging back up from the outside of the building, soaring through the broken window and landing his feet right in Tony's chest, sending him backwards into Natasha, both landing in a heap on the floor. "What do we do now?" Natasha groaned, gripping her side as she rolled over onto her back.
As if answering her question, Banner, or Hulk for that matter, came smashing through the doorway, roaring as he bound into the room. He didn't stop to look at Natasha or Tony, just made a direct beeline towards Peter, gripping one of his ankles before he could run or swing away. He pulled Peter off the ground and swung him around, slamming his body against the floor with each swing, much like he had done with Loki many years ago. After doing this a number of times, Hulk lifted Peter into the air, dangling him high enough in the air so they were eye level with each other.
Tony approached the two of them, pulling off Peter's mask to reveal a battered and bruised face. His eyes were closed and his body was completely limp in Hulk's grasp. Tony checked the boys pulse, light but still there, more than likely unconscious from the beating Hulk had just delivered. "We need to pin him down and keep him detained. If he's attacking us, we don't want to unleash him on the city, who know's what his problem is right now." Tony decided, looking back towards Natasha to make sure she was ok. She stood, still clutching her side and wiping a few stray hairs from her face. "I would blame this completely on you Stark, but if he's picking a fight with me as well, then there really must be something wrong here."
Hours passed before Peter woke up, thrashing against the restraints that held him down to a bed in the detainment center. Tony never imagined he'd ever bring the kid down to this room, let alone be looking him in there. The only way Tony knew that Peter had awoke was due to the screaming and shouting coming from inside. Tony hung his head low, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut as Peter's yelling grew louder. "It's the only thing you could do, don't beat yourself up over it." Bruce said, placing a hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony really hated himself right now.
"Of course I'm beating myself up. The last time I saw the kid I practically screamed in his face until he was almost crying and now I've got him locked in a room like some crazed animal!" Tony shouted moving away slightly, arms spread wide almost as of accepting yet another fight. Silence filled the room and Tony collapsed back in the chair he was sat in. Neither of the two had realised how quiet it had suddenly gotten, except Natasha. "Guys, why isn't he screaming anymore?" She asked, stepping towards the door.
Tony ran over to the door, peeking through the window and was welcomed with the wonderful sight of the bed tipped upside down on the other end of the room and the air vent grate pulled off the wall. "Brilliant, the kid's escaped." Tony exclaimed. "How?! Those restraints are strong to hold the big guy down, how did he get out of those!" Bruce questioned, eyes widening in slight panic.
"Boss, you have an intruder in the Hangar." FRIDAY announces. Tony spins around in shock, "Pull up live footage, now!" On the now visible holographic screen, Peter was visible in the hangar, attempting to access one of the jets. "Why did she refer to Peter as an intruder, she know's who he is?" Natasha asked, wandering over to the screen to get a closer look at Peter's attempts of getting into a jet.
"No idea, but call Steve and tell him to bring back up, we might need it. I don't think the big guy is ready to come and play just yet." Bruce warned, making his way over to the door. Tony's mask materializes over his face and he follows in Bruce's direction, as does Natasha.
When they reach the Hangar, Peter is just about to break into the jet he's currently got his sights set on. Tony blasts a repulsor which knocks Peter off of the jet, sending him close to the ledge of the building. "Pete, you gotta snap out of whatever the hell is wrong with you!" Tony shouts through his mask, pointing another blaster in Peter's face. The boy says nothing, attaching some webbing to the jet and pulling himself, sliding through Tony's legs. When clear of the repulsor, he lets go of his webbing and kicks Tony in the back, throwing him forwards, kicking him once again so now Tony is the one on the ledge.
There is an eerie silence, Natasha nor Bruce wanting to disturb in fear of Peter throwing Tony off the edge. Not that it mattered, what with Tony having his suit on, but it's the principle. "Come on Pete, talk to me!" Tony attempts, still no response from the kid. Before he can even think, there comes a huge clang of metal and Peter is thrown off the edge of the building.
"No!" Tony shouts, rolling over to reach over the building in an attempt to grab Peter. "That's not Peter." He hears from above him. When Tony pushes himself up from the ground he turns around and is greeted by Bucky, Steve jogging up behind him to greet Tony. "What do you mean that's not the kid? I saw him with my own two eyes of course it is." Tony scoffs, Bucky has definitely lost his mind.
"Visually it looks like Peter, but in his head he isn't, not anymore anyway." Bucky responds. "So cryptic, get on with your theory already before I shoot you in the head for throwing a 15 year old off the side of a ridiculously tall building!" Tony shouts, losing his patience already, this has been way too much drama for one day.
Bucky begins to run through what Natasha told him, about the boys disappearance, how FRIDAY couldn't identify him, as well as not talking once, rounding off to his belief.
"HYDRA are behind it Stark, you have to believe me." Bucky concludes. "It makes total sense, Buck was the exact same, remember?" Steve adds, looking at Tony with pleading eyes.
"So what do we do now then if your thinking is right?"
"We have to trap, sedate and test on him. HYDRA would have fucked around with him one way or another and if we can figure out what they've done, hopefully we can just reverse the effects and bring him back to normality."
"Well you've just missed him already being completely out by around 15 minutes, if we'd have known then we could hav-" Tony starts, "Well we didn't know, so now is as good as a time than ever." Natasha interrupts rushing over to the trio, not giving Tony room to argue further. "Gotta find the little spider first." Bruce added whilst walking over to the team, more than likely to ensure he was still apart of the conversation.
Tony just cast a look between Steve and Bucky before bringing a head to his head. "I can't believe this." Tony remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.
"So, how do we attract a HYDRA infested kid where we want him?" Bruce asked, looking out over New York. It was darker now, the city lights illuminating the view. "We give him an upgrade to come and steal." Tony decided, marching back into the tower. "Is that really a good idea? What if he outsmarts us and gets away with the suit?" Steve asks, obviously unsure of Tony's plan. "Then HYDRA get some cool technology and I have to create something even better, no big deal." Tony shrugs, his mind already thinking of the next best thing for Spider-Man.
Tony slams the grey case lid closed, sighing as he pushes it away ever so slightly. "That should do the trick. Now we just wait for him to take the bait."
The team split off, no more action to take for the moment. Tony requests that FRIDAY sets up extra security on the lab ready for when Peter should strike the Tower looking for the goods. He instructs some nanobots to create a barrier where the bay window would normally be in the medbay, protection is necessary.
It's the following day when FRIDAY finally alerts of an intruder in the Tower, perfect timing. Everyone gears up, ready to pounce on the kid and get to the bottom of the problem. The Tower's lighting turn red, which Tony requested for when Peter finally gets into the lab, for silent warning as well as a nice fighting atmosphere.
When Tony reaches the lab, mask materialized on his face, Steve and Bucky are already in combat with the boy. The case is still where Tony left it, looking almost untouched. Natasha runs in past Tony, launching herself once again onto Peter's back, almost as if she didn't learn from her last piggy back ride on the teen. He's weaker today, outnumbered as well but still putting up a decent fight.
Bucky grabs Peter by the throat by his metal arm and lifts him off of the ground, his hand tightening noticeably by the second. Peter is struggling, kicking and thrashing, attempting to pry Buckys fingers away from his neck. He comes up unsuccessful, his body slowly becoming limp. "Mr Stark..." The boy gasps, scratching at Buckys hand helplessly before passing out. "Did he just-" Tony begins to ask, making his way over to the pair. Bucky begins to lay Peter on the floor, but Tony takes him in his arms, a bridal carry if it must be known. "Yeah, he said your name, but it could have been a ploy." Bucky says, no emotion in his voice, "He'll be fine, might have a sore throat when we sort him out but I think that might be the last of his worries."
They get the boy to the medbay, laying him out on a table to inspect what damage HYDRA had caused. Banner begins to inspect the kids body with the support of Bucky, any abnormalities would stick out like a sore thumb. As if by pure luck, Bruce spots something on the back of Peter's neck. Upon further examination, there appears to be very small and light stitching just below his hairline. "Bingo." Bucky mumbles, nodding his head at Tony to support him in moving Peter into a better position so they're able to get a better look at the stitching.
They first begin with laying Peter on his front, but it doesn't look comfortable in the absolute slightest. Tony imagines if it was him in that situation, that being startled awake with someone prying at his neck would scare the absolute shit out of him. They opt to sort of sit Peter up, slumping him against Tony so he can keep a firm grasp on the boy should he wake mid assessment and try to fight.
Bruce begins pulling out the stitches, which releases the skin on Peter's neck ever so slightly but due to his healing factor, the stitches were pretty much useless. A rookie mistake on HYDRAs part, making it obvious where they've meddled with the boy. Perhaps they had meant to do that, or maybe it was just an honest mistake. Tony couldn't care less, so long as he got the boy back to normal sooner rather than later.
Tony watches as Bruce grasps a scalpel and begins slicing the skin open. He grimaces slightly and turns away, unaware he's running his fingers through Peter's hair. If anyone were to ask, he was calming Peter down ready for when he woke up, it clearly wasn't to calm himself down and ground himself, nope, not at all.
Bucky points at something in the back of the teens neck and reaches for a pair of tweezers, passing them to Bruce. There's clearly a struggle getting whatever it is out of Peter's neck, so Bucky takes over, nudging Bruce out of the way. He uses the tweezers to get a firm hold on the foreign object and yanks it out of Peter.
The boy wakes with a scream, shaking violently and thrashing his body to get out of Tony's grasp. "Hey kid! Hey! It's Tony, you're okay Pete, you're okay!" Tony says, still running his fingers through the boys hair. He has a tight grip on him with his other arm and begins rocking him back and forwards. Bucky drops whatever the item is into a small dish and moves away with Banner to investigate. Steve and Natasha are noticeably missing from the room, not that Tony cares in the slightest at this point.
He continues rocking Peter, shushing him as he continues to shout in fear. His voice lowers eventually and he sobs ever so slightly before letting all of the rigidness in his body loose, falling asleep in Tony's arms. The shock must have startled him but also wore him out too, looking at the boy closely, Tony takes in the bags under the boys eyes and his paling skin, he looks as though he hasn't slept in a month.
"Here we go.." Bruce mutters, pulling Tony's focus back into the real world. HYDRA will pay for hurting his boy, he can't stand this any longer. Bucky crowds behind Bruce and the computer he's using, pulling up all of the programming from the apparent device that was pulled from Peter. "See, told you it was HYDRA." Bucky shrugged. "At least we got to it before it was too late."
"What did they want?" Tony asked. "Exactly what you were about to give them dumbass, some of the technology you have just laying around." Bucky answers, eyes not moving from the computer screen. From the little dish where the device is held, a tiny crack can be heard. "Good thing we got that out of him, it just blew up in the dish." Bruce says in disbelief. Who the hell plants a self destructing gadget in a kids neck.
Tony closes his eyes, leaning his cheek against the top of Peter's head. "Is he safe now?" He asks, feeling tired himself now. "Yeah, he'll just need some time to recover and take in everything that happened. Don't think he'll like the thought of fighting with you." Bruce states, spinning his chair round to face Tony. "You should take him to bed and go and get some rest yourself. You look like you need it."