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“You have to let go, Tony,” Steve said as he approached the exhausted man. Tony hadn’t left the lab in 10 days; Steve didn’t even know when the last time he ate was. “You have to let this go.”
Tony didn’t look up from one of the many screens he had up, he just snarled at him. “You’re telling me to let him go? He’s my kid! How dare you.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Steve maintained a calm voice. That type of demand would get him blasted with a repulser, the only question would be where it would hit. And he would never demand something like that of anyone. Especially Tony. He had seen Peter and Tony together after all. “But Shield are on it. And I’m sure either you or Rhodey have enlisted the army into this. You need to take a break. When was the last time you slept? Or ate? You aren’t going to be able to find Peter like this.”
“Pepper brings me food and makes me eat it. And I slept yesterday,” Tony said flippantly, ignoring the rest of what Steve said. He didn’t miss the flinch at Peter’s name though. His hand was shaking when he lifted it to swipe at something on one of the screens.
“You slept? Or passed out?” Steve asked dubiously. He didn’t receive a response which was answer enough. “Tony-”
“Don’t start on me, Rodgers.” Tony slumped down into his seat. “You aren’t saying anything new or that I haven’t heard before. But I can’t stop. Because every minute I waste is another that Peter is in the hands of Hydra and who knows what they are doing with him.” Tony rested his face in his hands and took a shuddering breath. That prompted Steve to close the distance between them and place a hand on his shoulder. “I need to find him.”
Steve squeezed his shoulder. “You will.”
Tony huffed a mirthless laugh. “I guess this must have been how dear old dad felt when he spent his entire life searching for you. Never giving up hope. I would do the same. I would spend the rest of my life searching for him.” Steve pulled Tony up and brought him into a tight hug. He didn’t comment on how he felt his shoulder getting wet or the occasional, quiet sobs that he heard.
They found Peter a week later. Well, Tony found him. True to his word, he kept searching, barely spending a minute on anything else and passing out from exhaustion twice more in the process, despite the many protests he faced. But he kept doing. And he got a location. The team was moving out within 15 minutes.
Barbed wire surrounded the entire property and some sort of magnetic forcefield, that’s science eluded Steve, shut down anything electric near it. Disrupting waves or some such. They had to dismantle that first. Tony made quick work of it, not even flinching as he burnt his fingers on the wires in the process. As if he was going to let a mass of tech keep him from his son. After that it was almost laughably easy to cut through the wire and storm the building.
Peter was in one of the last rooms they searched after taking out the Hydra agents in the building. He was bound to a chair, blood covering him almost from head to toe and Steve suspected they would find bruises hidden under that as well. But when they knocked down the door and Peter jerked his head up, when he recognised them, a familiar bright smile overtook his face. It almost drew attention away from the rest of his busted face. He didn’t stop smiling even after it had reopened this split lip.
“Dad!” he said excitedly and when Steve looked down, he saw that Tony was already kneeling at Peter’s side. He hadn’t even seen him move.
“Peter!” Tony gasped, clutching at him.
“I would hug you too but”- Peter wiggled his hands in their restraints. Tony immediately drew back and began easing the nanobots between Peter’s skin and the vibranium-laced metal to start cutting them. Tony let them work, going back to cradling Peter’s head gently.
“Peter,” Tony breathed out again, brushing back Peter’s bloody fringe. “Kid.” And then he broke down in tears. The Avengers had filed out of the room to give the two the privacy they deserved, but Steve stayed close to the door to keep an eye on them in case they needed anything.
As soon as the nanobots had finished cutting through the metal cuffs and begun returning to their compartment with Tony, Peter threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly.
“I’m so sorry,” Tony cried into Peter’s neck. He was still kneeling beside Peter’s chair.
“It wasn’t your fault dad. None of it was. Besides”- Peter shrugged gently- “I knew you would find me. I wasn’t worried.”
“I will always find you. Always.” Tony pulled back, looking Peter in the eye seriously. “I hope I won’t have to again though. And I didn’t do it soon enough in any case.” He dragged his eyes down Peter’s body, trying to see his injuries.
“Oh, this? It’s nothing. It looks a lot worse than it is. All superficial stuff. Most of them have already healed now. I’ve been through worse. And I learned so much!” Peter said excitedly. “They didn’t know who I was and thought I was no threat so they talked a lot around here. And I could hear them in other rooms as well.” Tony huffed a laugh. A genuine one.
“Always a silver lining huh?”
“Yeah exactly. We can save so many people now!”
Steve had to look away from the soft look Tony was giving Peter. It was too intimate for an outsider to witness. Tony had his guards completely lowered and it wasn’t for Steve, wasn’t for him to see. It was for Peter. His love for him shining brighter than anything else. They were going to be alright, Steve noted with relief. While this experience will have taken a lot out of Peter, of that there was no doubt, it seemed to have affected him less than they had feared. He was still babbling and smiling and moving and subtly trying to make Tony feel better and ease his guilt. And he was back in Tony’s arms. He wouldn’t be released from there, Steve was sure, for a long time, at least as long as it took to get him good as new again.
“I love you kid.”
“I love you too dad.”
“What do you say we blow this joint?”
“I am so on board with that idea they don’t have the best food here. Or customer service.”
Tony snorted as he got up and raised a hand to help Peter up but stopped when he winced.
“Yeah, about that; can you carry me actually? Both my legs are broken.”
“Peter!”