Work Text:
Tony had been at the boring gala for only an hour and 15 minutes when his phone rang. Normally he would have ignored it, mostly to avoid the wrath of Pepper if he dared tried to get away from his duties. But Peter was watching Morgan alone for the first time at the cabin and he was on high alert for problems.
Sure he trusted the kid to keep Morgan safe, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be cautiously worried about things. The caller ID flashed a private number, and Tony rolled his eyes and pocketed the phone. Private numbers tended to be SHIELD or something equally as annoying to deal with, he didn’t need to add another thing to hate about tonight.
Pepper was across the room from him, holding a wine flute and talking to some high profile donors. She was CEO after all, she had to mingle with everyone. Tony was just the trophy husband tonight, which meant he could linger by the table, making ideal chit chat with the few people who came over to him. He was enjoying a rare moment to himself, he’d escaped a group of people to wander closer to the small dessert table instead. He’d already eaten three of the small cupcakes, he was aiming for at least 3 more.
Watching Pepper (something he loved doing period) as he shoved another cupcake in his mouth, he saw her react to something, pause her talking, and fish out her phone. Something in Tony’s heart stuttered as he watched her face scrunch before she ignored the call and put her phone back.
Tony was on the move within the next second, his heart beating a little faster. He shouldn’t be worried about two missed calls, he should be fine. He had FRIDAY, there were no alerts for the cabin, nothing out of the ordinary.
Still, he moved.
“FRI,” he said quietly as he could. “Pull up cameras for the cabin. Do a perimeter check.”
It took FRIDAY a millisecond too slow to answer. “Perimeter check complete, boss.” The camera feed showed up in the corner of his glasses, going between all camera points. The kids weren't in the living room, okay, no kids in the kitchen, the next one switched to the upstairs hallway, still no kids.
Pepper had seen him coming, she moved away from the group and met her husband halfway. “You got the call too?” she questioned, her normal even voice, laced with fear.
“Yes, and I can’t see the kids on our cameras. They could be in their rooms or outside, but nothing’s coming up. FRI says everything’s fine, but she was a little slow in answering me.”
Tony’s phone rang again. Same private number.
This time he answered.
“Hello,” he said, trying to sound like he wasn’t losing his mind with fear.
“Ah, Mr. Stark, you’ve answered my call. I know it’s usually customary to ignore private numbers.”
“Who is this, what do you want?”
“Hold your horses, Mr. Stark. I’m sure by now you’re concerned about your kids, but don’t worry, as of right now they are perfectly fine.”
The video feed coming into his glasses changed suddenly, to show his kids, Peter and Morgan, on their knees, gags in both of their mouths, but they were seemingly awake. Peter had blood coming from his temple, a bruise blossoming over the right side of his face. Morgan was crying, her small body shaking with each sob, hair a little messy but Tony couldn’t see any visible injuries on her.
Pepper must have known something was wrong, she grabbed Tony’s arm, pulling him away from the middle of the gala, towards the front doors.
“Don’t you dare touch my kids,” he hissed, at those words Pepper pulled out her phone, no doubt calling for backup. He was glad she couldn’t see this, no one should see their children like this.
“I’m not touching them,” the voice said in a sing-song tone. “In fact, the video you’re watching was from nearly an hour ago, when I was able to get into your state of the art cabin and snatch them under the watchful eye of your AI, without anyone even knowing.”
“The fuck,” Tony said, the words slipping out of his mouth. Fear drove into him, and he reached out blindly for his wife, grabbing her arm. “What do you want?”
“Surprisingly, nothing tangible. I just want you to suffer, you know? I didn’t care much for the whole bringing everyone back thing you did. Selfish of you, really, to want everything back the way it was. Me and my friends liked what we had, we were happy with the choice Thanos had made. We believed he was right.”
Tony was no stranger to the Thanos was right crowd, the group popping up, wanting to prove the world was better off with half of it missing.
“So now,” the voice continued. “You’re going to have to choose which kid you want to save.”
In the video, someone had picked up Morgan, she kicked her legs but her hands were tied behind her back, she was no match for the men who manhandled her. Throwing her over his shoulder, in a fireman’s carry, he carried her only a few feet away and then stopped, standing over something large.
It was only then that Tony realized what was behind both of his kids. Two long, black, wooden boxes.
“Jesus Christ,” Tony said, mouth going dry, heart hammering so hard, he was sure he was going to have a heart attack at that very moment. Watching his daughter, his beautiful, smart, beloved daughter being carelessly thrown into a coffin, drove a dagger straight into his heart. He couldn’t breathe as the lid slammed down.
And then, Peter was next. It took two men, grabbing him, manhandling him, as his kid fought so hard to get away from them. He could tell Peter was holding back, too scared to give up his identity. It wasn’t until he was thrown in the coffin, that Peter seemingly realized what was going to happen to him. He kicked up his legs, as the wood top of the coffin closed on top of him.
The screen went black.
Tony couldn’t even speak.
“That was about a few hours ago, Mr. Stark. In that time, we’ve buried both of those coffins in the woods outside your cabin. And in case you thought I was lying,” the man paused and two new video feeds filled his vision. One of Peter’s scared yet determined face, the other of Morgan’s tear stained one, her mouth moving, screaming words Tony couldn’t hear.
“They both have enough oxygen to last, maybe another 2 hours, maybe 3, who knows. I’m sure you can do the Math, a smart man like you. You can maybe find both of them, but the odds aren’t in your favor. Even with the backup, I’m sure your wife is calling right now. Your little Avengers might show up, but I doubt they’ll make a real difference.”
“You’re a monster,” Tony breathed, looking over to his wife, her hands shaking as she held the phone to her ear. “You fucking monster. My kids did nothing wrong, they did nothing to deserve this. If you hate me so much, then come and get me. Let’s do this the fair way.”
“That does me no good, Mr. Stark. Why kill you when I can just make you suffer? This, you must admit, is much more poetic. You see, I am not a really bad guy, Mr. Stark. I don’t want you to lose both of them, so I’ll give you this. You choose, Mr. Stark, right now, which one you want the coordinates to and you’ll have them. You’ll be giving one of them a fighting chance at surviving while the other… well like I said you can bring in your team, but you’ll be looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Morgan,” Tony answered and then realized right away that both Morgan and Peter could hear him. Morgan’s head shot up as if she was looking for the voice Peter, who nodded his head desperately. God, he hoped they didn’t know the question that was being asked of him. He knew Peter would understand, but there was no way he could look the kid in the eyes ever again knowing what he just sentenced him to.
“Good choice, Mr. Stark. For a bonus, I’ll leave the live feed for you too. They can both hear you, but you won’t be able to talk to them. The coordinates should appear to you… now.”
Numbers flashed along the bottom of his screen, coordinates, ones to save his daughter’s life.
“I’m coming,” Tony said. “Pete, Morgan, I’m coming for both of you right now.”
“Good luck, Mr. Stark,” the voice said before the call ended.
-
It took thirty long painful minutes before Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey were finally at the coordinates for Morgan. On route were Sam, Bucky, and Happy, along with a handful of SHIELD Agents. FRIDAY was working on finding Peter, searching the grounds with the best technology he had, looking for evidence of digging, looking for Peter’s heat signature, anything that might lead him to his kid.
All he could do was promise Peter he’d find him, as he went to start digging Morgan out.
“I’m here Morgs,” Tony said, to his daughter, who was still crying, tears streaming down her very red face. “Just breathe, baby girl, we’re getting you out right now.”
Peter, on the other hand, had a calm reserve to his face, like he’d resigned himself to die in the coffin. Tony wasn’t going to let that happen, not in a million years. But now, with Morgan in the ground below them, she had to be his main focus right now.
Tony had frantically done the math, it could take them up to 2 hours to dig her out, even with their suits. They couldn’t risk using anything but shoveling, they didn’t know how far down Morgan was, or the integrity of the wooden coffin.
As they started to dig, Tony realized just how hard this was going to be. The forest ground was terrible to dig through, whoever had buried her made sure to pile wood and other debris back into the Earth. Even with the strength, their iron suits brought them, digging was going to be a long and exhausting venture.
But that didn’t matter one bit to him, and he knew Pepper and Rhodey felt the same way. He’d dig until he bleed until he couldn’t breathe, til his heart came to a stop and still, he would dig on after.
Pepper had her mask down, the mascara that was once expertly applied, now smudging around her eyes. Tony wanted to send her away, even tried to before they got there, but she refused. There was so little comfort he could provide her, so little he could say that would make any of this okay, that he couldn’t even begin.
He couldn’t share the video feed with anyone, didn’t even want to. Pepper had asked but he said no, it was bad enough she was trying to dig her daughter's coffin from the ground, she didn’t need the nightmare of seeing both her and Peter buried alive.
That was a nightmare Tony would bare alone.
Tony had to split his time between talking to Morgan and Peter, a steady stream of promises and words while trying not to show how exhausted digging was becoming. He tried frantically to swallow down any tears, or shouts of frustration that were bubbling up inside of him. He didn’t stop talking, going on and on about anything he could think of, well past the point of his voice going hoarse. He was never, ever going to leave them alone.
After a half hour of digging it felt like they made zero progress. Morgan’s distress had been on a steady increase, no matter how much he tried to keep her calm. She kept hyperventilating, using up so much of her precious oxygen so quickly.
“Morgan,” he said desperately. “I know I can’t hear you right now, but why don’t you sing us that song you love.”
His daughter shook her head frantically, still crying, her chest rose and fell frantically. “Baby girl, come on, I know you know it. I’ll start singing, but you know I like it when you sing with me.”
“Working from seven to eleven every night, really makes life a drag, I don’t think that’s right, I’ve been the best, the best of fools…”
Morgan bit down on her lip, her tears still flowing but her breathing had lessened just a bit. Morgan had grown up with a steady stream of classic rock hits as lullabies and she began to be particularly attached to this one.
“I did what I could, yeah, 'cause I love you, baby, how I love you, darling..”
His eyes went to Peter, who was now openly crying.
“Pete knows the song too, right Peter? I mean you might think it’s AC/DC but I know you know the words, why don’t you sing it with us too?”
A smile crept on Peter’s face but it was quickly lost again in a soundless sob.
Neither of his kids started singing.
“Come on, guys, don’t leave your old man hanging.”
Peter started first, his lips moving and Tony hoped it was the right song. “See, Morgan, Peter’s singing for us. Your turn.”
He thought at first she wouldn’t, she’d be too distraught to even listen to him, but then he could see it, her lips moving and he knew she was singing too. Not knowing if they were even singing the same lyrics, he continued the slow, love song.
“How I love you, baby, my beloved little girl, little girl, but baby since I’ve been loving you, yeah, I’m about to lose my, my, my worried mind…”
Looking at Pepper, she was crying again, pushing herself to dig harder and harder. But she sang too, her voice not as loud as Tony’s but enough for him to hear it.
When help arrived shortly after he finished his song, Bucky took over digging for him. The super soldier went to work and Tony took two steps back. Exhausted he took a hard seat on the ground, accepting the water bottle Rhodey had handed him. Glad his kids couldn’t see how tired and broken he was, he took a minute to breathe, before looking back over at the twin video feeds.
“Pete,” he said looking at Peter's camera, the kid had moved a little, readjusted so the angel was slightly different. He was looking at Peter’s profile as if he was now laying on his back instead of his side. “We’re coming Pete, we’re going to find you, kid.”
Peter turned his head to the camera, he had managed to get his ropes off, his two hands were pushing on the top of the box and he mouthed something at the camera. Tony couldn’t read his lips, but he tried to understand. “What’s up, kid?”
Peter made a fist and lightly pushed the top of his box and Tony understood. “That’s too risky, Pete. I know you’ll break the box but then you’ll have a cave in.”
Peter had a resigned look on his face, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry Pete, I know this is hard, but you have to hold on a little longer, okay? We’re finding you and getting you out.”
Peter nodded again, facing the top of the coffin lid, Tony’s heart broke just a little more.
“Tony?” Sam asked, coming towards Tony’s left side.
“Yes?” Tony asked impatiently. He hated being away from them, if only for a second. Feeling like if his eyes left either video feed, one of them would disappear forever.
“How’s Peter?” Sam asked.
Tony huffed, then held up a finger to Sam. “Hey Pete, Morgan, I’ve got to take the glasses off for just a minute guys, I’m still here but you might not hear me.”
And then, for the first time since the whole thing began, he took off his glasses, bringing them down to his side. There was a chance, of course, Peter could still hear him, but it was worth it.
“Not good, he wants to push his way out,” Tony told him.
Sam shook his head. “I mean, it might not be a terrible idea, Tony. We’ve got, what 2 hours to find and dig him out? I know you don’t want to-”
Tony cut him off. “We're getting to him,” Tony said with determination. “FRIDAY will find him, I trust her. I’m not making my kid dig his way out of his own grave, Sam. Not happening.”
Sam didn’t look convinced, but he nodded his head, going back over to the group digging at Morgan’s grave. He knew how much time they had left, he knew they were close to Morgan now, but Peter had only 2 hours left, and… the dig would take longer than that… so maybe.
Tony shook the idea out of his mind, returning the glasses to his face. “Hey guys, sorry about that. We’re so close to getting both of you out. You have no idea how proud I am of the two of you, both of you are so brave and strong. Just keep holding on.”
Peter stared at the camera, the tears had dried up, but his face was pale in the low light the camera provided. He seemed to be looking directly into Tony’s eyes somehow, before he mouthed, very clearly. “I love you.”
Tony choked out a cry, trying not to sound too distraught, he needed to be strong for his kids. “I love you too.”
This, Tony, realized, was the worst thing they could have done to him. He would have rather not have this, this vision of his kids in coffins burned into his mind for ages.
-
They found Morgan’s coffins nearly 45 minutes later. By now, Peter was laying on his back, eyes closed. The lack of oxygen was starting to get to him, he was breathing became shallow, face lost all of its colors. He’d stopped responding to Tony or looking at him a few minutes prior.
“We’re here Morgan,” Tony shouted, loud enough for both the Morgan on the camera and the one below them to hear. There was only a dusting of dirt over the top of the coffin, which was nailed shut. With his gauntleted hand, he grabbed at the edges, slowly and carefully pulling it up.
“Morgan,” he said. “I need you to put your head down. I’m going to pull the lid up in a minute.”
He watched as his daughter cowered, head down, arms still uncomfortably behind her back. Taking a deep breath, Tony pulled, the wooden lid cracking and groaning, as the nails ripped up and away.
It only took a minute before the lid popped off enough for Tony to see Morgan, small and sacred in the coffin.
“Come here baby girl,” Tony said, reaching his arms out, as Morgan weakly got up. She struggled with her hands, Tony reached over and untied her arms, before picking her up and holding her close. She cried, mumbling into his shoulder as she clutched onto him.
“I love you so much baby,” he said to her, holding her as tightly as he could. “I’m going to pass you up to Momma now.”
Regretfully he lifted her, she reached her arms out to Pepper, who was leaning down for her. Once she was in her Mom’s arms, her sobs and cries got louder and louder. Tony got out of the hole, eyes on the lone camera feed of a crying Peter.
Despite every bone in his body wanting to stay with Pepper and Morgan, he looked away, focusing on Peter.
“Were coming Pete,” he said, watching as Peter nodded his head ever so. “I promise, we’re coming.”
Giving Peter one last look, he turned back to his family, closing his arms around both of them.
-
FRIDAY was searching the woods as quickly and efficiently as the AI could. Tony had sent out as many drones as he had, Sam took to the sky too, trying to find something. It was a difficult task, the woods were dense and went on for miles and miles. The area they found Morgan in wasn’t nearly too badly disturbed, nor were there any telltale signs digging had been done recently.
Their only hope, really, lay in the drones scanning the ground, looking for an underground anomaly or better yet, Peter’s distinctive heat signature.
They had brought Morgan back to the cabin, where a SHIELD medic looked her over. There was little physical damage, but Tony knew the mental one would live on forever. As soon as she was cleared, and given some food and drink, she fell asleep sitting in Pepper’s arms on the couch.
All the meanwhile, Peter lay in the dark, silent coffin, listening to Tony’s updates, but looking as if he knew the truth of the matter.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he’d sentenced Peter to death the second Morgan’s name left his lips.
The choice had been an easy one, he’d barely even thought before saying it. Morgan was a child, a little girl, scared out of her mind, and Peter was enhanced, he could logically stay alive a little bit longer.
But, Tony knew, his enhancements wouldn’t stop him from suffocating to death. If anything, it might make it worse, prolonging Peter’s suffering even more.
A death that was, in more ways than one, Tony’s fault. The kidnappers chose Peter and Morgan because of something Tony did. They only knew about Peter because Tony had been public with his pseudo son, telling the world that Peter was his intern. Tony asked Peter to babysit Morgan, he could have asked Happy or even suggested they stay at Peter and May’s apartment, but he wanted to give Peter a chance to watch her on his own.
Tony set this all up and now he’s suffering the consequences.
May had arrived an hour ago, spent her time trying to help as much as she could. Tony could barely look at her without feeling so incredibly guilty. As he looked at the group of worried people, he knew what he had to do.
“Hey Pete,” he said softly, “I’m going to take the glasses off again for a moment.”
He wasn’t sure if Peter nodded or not, but he waited a second before pulling them from his face, wiping his hand across his eyes. He walked over to the group, all of them looking worried as he did, but he put up his hand.
“Peter’s okay, but I think he’s going to have to push his way out.”
Happy nodded. “I think that’s the best option. Once he’s out, we can find him a lot easier.”
“Do you think he’ll be able to without getting hurt?” May asked, her eyes brimming with tears, Tony could barely look her in the eye.
“He can do it,” Tony answered with as much reassurance as he could. “He’s a smart kid, he’ll get up and we’ll be there for him.”
“I think that’s the best way,” Happy agreed. “He’s a strong kid, if anyone can do this, it’ll be Pete.”
Happy went off to talk to the Agents, explain the plan to them and get everyone ready. Tony walked away, slipping her glasses back onto his face, getting ready to deliver the news to Peter.
“Pete,” Tony said, waiting until Peter turned his head to look at him. “I know it’s getting tough in there and I’m so, so proud of you for holding on this long. We’re looking for you, kiddo. I’ve got everything I can out there searching for you.”
Peter mouthed. “I know.”
“But.. it’s .. Peter, I think you might have to try punching your way out. I know you’re weak now, I know you’re tired, but… you have to try for me, kiddo. We’re not giving up on our end, but I need you to help.”
Despite how grainy and dim the footage was, he could see the look in Peter’s eyes, the slow recognition of what Tony was saying. Even if they did find him, they’d never have enough time to dig him out. Tony watched as more tears spilled from Peter’s eyes, he wiped them away the best he could in the confined space.
“Aim for the center of the wood, it’ll be the weakest,” Tony said. “Try your best, Pete. Once the wood is broken, clawing through the dirt… that should be easier. They packed a lot of debris over Morgan’s coffin, but you can push through it.
Peter turned his head again, making sure Tony could see him. “Sorry.”
“No, no Pete, don’t be sorry. You did nothing kid, you are the best, Pete. You are so brave and so strong, I know if you fight you can do this. I believe in you buddy.”
Peter mouthed something again, Tony didn’t catch most of it but he knew he saw “Aunt May” in there.
“May’s here at the cabin… I.. if you think it's time to say goodbye, I’ll get her,” Tony offered, hating the words that left his mouth.
Peter shook his head. “Tell… love… May” were the only words Tony could make out but he knew.
“I will, Pete, I promise.”
He could see Peter taking a deep breath, his chest rose and fell a few times, before he pulled his arm back as far as he could and then, struck the top of the coffin. He did it again and again, and even though there was no sound, Tony could feel the screams coming from his mouth. He could hear Peter’s fists hitting the wood, could hear the sounds of it creaking.
He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t, he had to watch. If this was his last time with the kid, he wanted to see it all the way through. He was never going to leave Peter alone, he made that promise and he was going to keep it.
It didn’t take long for Peter to break through the wood, the Earth above him immediately rushing in, making Peter cough. “You gotta stay above it kiddo, wiggle around, get above the dirt, okay?”
Tony wasn’t sure if Peter could hear him or not anymore, the kid was fighting the incoming dirt, with wild arms, trying to keep his head up.
“I love you,” Tony repeated, anyway. “I love you so much kiddo.”
Within another minute the camera feed was covered in dirt and Peter was no longer in view.
-
The wait was excruciating. It was close to 3 am when they pulled Morgan out and now the sun was starting to come up. Everyone looked exhausted, a small center of operations had formed on the front lawn of the cabin. The group was waiting as the drones continued their search, waiting for the moment they could run to Peter’s aid.
He had Happy working hard on figuring out just how these assholes managed to trick FRIDAY, how they did what Tony always thought was impossible. Bucky and Sam were eating, their faces covered in dirt still, looking tired but ready to move at Tony’s request.
Morgan was sitting in Pepper’s lap, on the swing on the porch, her eyes closed, asleep, tired from the ordeal. He didn’t think Pepper was willing to let her go, or lay her in bed and Tony couldn’t blame her. He wished he could be there too, holding her but… he couldn’t rest, not without Peter.
May was sitting on the steps, her eyes red rimmed, but face set in a determined line. He tried to get her to sleep, or eat but she refused. Tony knew she wouldn’t rest, like him, not until Peter was safe and sound.
Tony had no idea how long it would take Peter, if he could, to dig his way up from the grave. He was strong but there was a lot of digging to be done and Peter was already tired. He watched the video feed, the camera was shaking, Tony hoped it meant Peter was pushing his way out. The dirt kept coming in, slowly, and then suddenly everything stopped.
He hoped it meant Peter broke free completely. With nothing else to look at, for the first time in hours, Tony fully looked away from his frames.
“We’ll get him,” Rhodey said, coming to stand next to Tony in the middle of the front lawn. “Tones, he’s strong and he’ll get out and we’ll find him.”
Time crawled, and the sun came up.
There was nothing he could do, his Starkpad sat in his hands, running scans, showing endless results from scanning the forest, but nothing looked promising until the screen flashed red.
“Boss,” FRIDAY started, but Tony already saw it on the screen. “I believe I’ve located Peter, there is an anomaly in the ground and it matches his heat signature.”
Shouting at everyone around him, his suit formed over him and he was up and in the sky. Trusting FRIDAY to send everyone else the information, he pushed his thrusters to the max and pushed forward. Following the highlighted directions, Peter was buried towards the very end of the forest line, miles away from Morgan.
He could see Rhodey’s suit on his screen, following close behind him, the edge of Sam’s wings in the corner of his screen. His heart swelled with love for them, all of them coming to rescue Peter with zero hesitation.
Landing on the ground with a thud, he flashed his lights around, illuminating the area around him.
But he didn’t need it, Peter was easily found.
Having broken through the ground, it looked as if Peter only had enough power to pull himself halfway out of the grave. It looked like he’d become his grave marker, body sticking out from the ground, slumped against the ground.
“Peter!” Tony shouted and to his horror, Peter didn’t move, his body completely still as Tony ran towards him, dropping to his knees.
Reaching for Peter’s face, he trailed his fingers down to his neck, the skin was cold and clammy to the touch, dirt covering so much he could barely see the skin underneath.
“I’ve got a pulse,” he shouted at the group, who were seconds behind him. Rhodey appeared on the opposite side and began to push away dirt, helping to lift the kid the rest of the way out.
“He’s breathing,” Tony said, “but it’s shallow.”
“We need to get him out,” Sam said, dropping to his knees, and pulling away at the dirt around Peter.
Pulling the kid into his lap, he began to wipe the dirt and grime from Peter’s face, talking softly. “I’m here,” he breathed. “I’ve got you, Pete, you’re okay. We’re getting you out.”
Rhodey and Sam were efficient, pulling away the dirt until Tony could pull Peter’s legs out. Once he was free, Rhodey leaned down to pick him up, but Tony stopped him. “I’ve got him, I’ve got him.”
Despite how his body ached, Tony picked up his kid, and took off into the early morning sky.