Work Text:
Enough Is Enough (knees buckling/repeatedly passing out/head lolling)
***
This is decidedly not the situation Tony expected to find himself in today. Or any day, for that matter.
His head is throbbing, courtesy of what he can only assume was some sort of blunt force trauma—because the pain is concentrated on the back left side and there's dried blood in his hair.
And the dizziness and weakness he's feeling as a result is the least of his concerns.
"Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark!"
Tony groans as consciousness slowly returns, trying to think past the pulsing in his skull. “Are you always so loud?” he grinds out between clenched teeth, not appreciating the volume of the too-familiar voice.
“Sorry,” Peter whispers.
Tony peeks an eye open to find the kid’s face inches from his. “Ever heard of personal space?”
Peter scrambles back a little. “Sorry, sorry,” he apologizes again, and by this time Tony is coherent enough to see the palish pallor of the kid’s cheeks and the way he wobbles as he moves.
He’s no genius—oh wait, yes he is—but even still, he’s pretty sure that this is not the lab where he was supposed to be spending the afternoon. “Where…where are we?” he manages, still attempting to clear his head. “What happened to you?”
“Um, I don’t think that I actually know the answer to either of those questions, but if I had to guess, I’d say first of all that I got gassed or drugged or something, and, uh—we’re locked in some sort of underground bunker?”
That gets Tony’s attention, the information speeding right through his pounding head and into processing mode. A quick look around reveals a small, empty room with a few stairs leading up to a single door—a very large, reinforced-looking door. “Okay, great.” He clears his throat. “Time to make a statement with a dramatic exit.” He pushes himself to his feet and takes a single step. The room spins, and his knees immediately buckle.
He hears Peter’s yelp of surprise—which decidedly does not help his headache—as he crumples to the ground, the world whiting out for a second. “Wow, okay,” he mutters, pressing a hand to his face and trying to breathe past the pain. “Really not a fan of this.”
Even now, only ten minutes later, he still is not a fan of this.
Whatever this is.
Just this morning, he'd been enjoying brunch with Pepper before she'd had to rush off for meetings that Tony probably should be worried about attending, too, but he still likes to mold his schedule according to whatever he feels like—besides, he had some important things going on in the lab that he was eager to get back to working on.
Everything after that is foggy. He remembers the kid was supposed to come meet him at the compound after school. Peter’s fake internship has somehow morphed into something a little more legit over the past year—ever since he proved himself to Tony as Avenger material. And no, Tony is not still slightly miffed by the fact that the kid turned his offer down, even though if he thinks about it with the few rational brain cells he possesses, it makes sense and displays Peter’s maturity.
Not that he would ever admit it out loud, but Tony's found he doesn't mind having the kid around. Peter's smart as a whip, and he can almost keep up with Tony whenever they work together in the lab. He’s got a lot to learn—in terms of science, engineering, and superhero stuff—but he’s well on his way to reaching the top in all of the aforementioned areas.
But none of that matters at the moment, because the two of them are still currently trapped in whatever this place is, having both evidently been kidnapped by who-knows-who, and Tony can hardly think straight thanks to the giant lump on the back of his head.
“And they just grabbed you off the street?” He cocks an eyebrow, trying to figure out what exactly might be going on since any movement sends another jolt of pain through his skull. He wants to get up so they can get out of here. Ugh.
“I don’t know, I guess.” Peter shrugs. He’s still on his feet—wobbly as they may be—feeling around the walls of their prison to see if there’s a way out. “Everything’s kind of…foggy.”
“Was your suit in your backpack?” Because that might cause a boatload of problems if whoever these people are discover that Tony’s personal intern is actually the crime-fighting spider of Queens.
Peter shakes his head.
Good. So whoever nabbed them doesn't know that Peter is Spider-Man. Which is one less PR worry for Pepper later. Also a reason to rule out why they took him along with Tony. “We need to get out of here before they come back,” he says out loud. Maybe this is why Happy is always harping on me about not going out alone.
Peter seems to give up on his exploration, coming drop down beside Tony in a heap and pressing his hands to his face. “Oh, man,” he groans. “This is…this is not good. I think we’re underground—maybe some sort of cellar. The door is, like, a vault, but I think I can break it down. Just, y’know, we might need to be prepared for a fight in case there’s anyone guarding the door, and we don’t know if—”
Tony’s ears are positively ringing. "Kid, just—stop talking." He’s not trying to be short, but he’s on the verge of passing out again and the constant chatter is just too much at the moment.
Peter winces. “Sorry, sorry. How’s your head?” He tries to peer around to get a look at the now-dried blood, but Tony waves him away.
“S’fine.”
Peter pushes to his feet and shakes his arms out like he’s psyching himself up for something. “I’m gonna get us out of here, Mr. Stark.”
“Pete—”
But there’s no time to interject or question the teenager’s intentions because Peter is suddenly bolting for the door locking them in this place. He slams into the door bodily, shoulder-first. The metal warps under his strength but doesn’t quite give—meaning that it is definitely a very thick, reinforced door—and Peter bounces off of it from the force of the hit, tumbling to the floor. It worries Tony minutely, because he’s not positive, but he thinks that the kid should be able to easily knock down something like that, which speaks to how weak he must be feeling due to whatever those no-good kidnapping buffoons gave him.
“I’m okay!” Peter calls immediately, popping back up to his feet. He doesn’t waste a second before charging at the door again, grunting as he puts all of his strength into the hit. This time, it gives completely, and the momentum has Peter flying out with it, out of Tony’s line of vision.
Tony blinks. “Pete?” he calls, practically crawling over to the stairs leading out of the basement, one hand pressed to the back of his head. Reckless little—
“Hey, there’s nobody out here!” Peter pops up, voice triumphant, but Tony can see the way the kid is holding his right arm still with his other hand. Still, he makes his way back over to Tony and helps him up the steps and out into…
“Where are we?” Tony grunts disgruntledly. He could really go for a hot shower and a nap right now.
“A forest in the middle of nowhere?” Peter guesses.
“Yeah, thanks for that, Captain Obvious,” Tony snarks back, letting out a sigh.
“This is just like one of those crazy action movies!” Despite his injuries and the aftereffects of being drugged, the kid is just as sunshiny—and annoying—as ever. “You know, where the bad guys mysteriously capture the heroes and they have to escape and there’s no way to contact anyone—”
Tony bites back the urge to scream, mostly because he doesn’t think his headache will appreciate it. “Let’s just get moving,” he says through gritted teeth. “Who knows how far from civilization we are.” He’s thankful they’re lost in a forest and not a desert, because he’s already sort of having Afghanistan flashbacks—he’s mostly overcome his PTSD there, but it still flares every once in a while. Of course, it would be much more ideal if they weren’t out here at all, but hey, small favors, right? Pepper’s always telling him that not everything has to be over-the-top. But that’s just not really Tony’s style.
He staggers forward a few steps, and then Peter’s there, slinging one of Tony’s arms around his shoulders and keeping him upright. Tony doesn’t want to accept the help, because he’s the epitome of independent and he doesn’t like to show weakness in front of anyone. But considering the fact that he can hardly keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep his head up at the same time, even he has to admit that maybe he needs the kid’s assistance.
They pick a direction based on their best guess of their current location and start moving. It’s slow going—Tony knows he’s fading in and out of consciousness, his head lolling against his chest as he presses forward, Peter practically carrying him. He stumbles a little at one point and they both nearly go down.
“C’mon, Mr. Stark,” he hears Peter mutter as they push through the dense brush. He’s been rambling as they traveled, but even his energy is fading as time goes on. “We…we totally got this.”
“Optimistic…little spider, aren’t you?”
“Of course. I’m a glass half-full kind of guy, Mr. Stark.”
“The glass is only half-full if you fill it halfway. If it started out full, then it’s half-empty. That’s all there is to it.”
Peter snorts a laugh. “If you say so.”
“I do. And you know…you know I’m always right.”
“Not to, um, not saying you’re wrong, but…” Peter’s voice trails off, and Tony forces himself to lift his head. “We made it.”
Indeed, they’ve come to the edge of the trees, and civilization looms in front of them.
“Hm.” Tony grunts. “I knew we would.”
Peter laughs, clearly relieved. He clutches Tony’s arm tighter as they start moving again, this time toward a known destination. “Still want to know what those people wanted with us.”
“I’d be content to never know,” Tony manages to mumble, though he knows an investigation is probably already ongoing, thanks to Rhodey and Happy. But he’ll worry about solving this mystery kidnapping after he and Peter both get a shower, a burger, and a good night of sleep.