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Peter woke up tied to a chair. He twisted his wrist against the rope. He could easily break free. He wasn’t willing to risk his secret idenity just yet though. He heard someone groan and glanced to the side. Great. James Rhodes was also tied up next to him. Now his identity was at risk because there was no way he’d let anything bad happen to Tony Stark’s best friend.
“What happened?” Rhodey mumbled.
“If I had to guess they hit you from behind.” Peter could feel an egg on the back of his own head. He had felt his Spider sense go nuts but he hadn’t had enough time to react, “Any signs of a concussion?”
“Who are you?” Rhodey frowned.
“Headache?”
“I think it’s safe to say I have a headache. Someone wacked me on the head.”
“Dizziness?”
“No.”
“Nauseous?”
Rhodey glanced at the kid, “Just stop for a minute. What are we doing here?”
“I’d assume they want to get to Tony Stark through us.” Peter glanced around the room. It was an old warehouse. They were in a room with on windows. Just the two chairs in the room holding himself and Rhodey.
“Why would Tony care about you?” Rhodey had no clue who this child is.
“It’s complicated.” Peter heard someone coming, “They are heading this way.”
“I don’t hear anything.” Rhoey glanced around. How did the kid know someone was coming. Maybe he didn’t have a drummer in his head.
A man walked in though minutes later just like the kid had predicted. He didn’t say a word. He just stared at the two of them. The kid managed to look bored and even yawned. Rhodey was trying to follow his lead but he was wondering how he was getting himself and the kid out of this.
“Well. Well. Well. Tony Stark’s two favorite people in the same room.” The man grinned.
“I don’t see Pepper Potts anywhere.” The kid glanced between him and Rhodey.
The man walked up to the kid, “I’m confident he will do what I want when he finds out you’re in my—Care.”
“If you cared about us why did you hit us over the head? That was a bit rude. Also ever heard of an introduction? I’m Peter. You are?”
“Do you think this is a joke?” The man grabbed Peter’s throat choking him.
Rhodey tugged at his restraints but they didn’t budge, “He’s just a kid. Let him go! If you want to cut off someone’s airway pick me!”
The man finally released and Peter started to cough, “You’re lucky I need him alive.”
“I don’t know who he is! But I know you can’t just go around harming kids!”
The man grinned, “You don’t know who that is?”
“I’ve never met him. So if you want to get to Tony I doubt it’ll be through some random teenager.”
“Not random.” Peter coughed out.
Rhodey frowned, “Why do I feel like Tony has been keeping secrets like when he was dying?”
“Let me introduce you to your best friend’s son.” The man pointed at Peter.
Rhodey glanced at Peter who shrugged but also nodded.
“In that case. If you lay a hand on my nephew one more time I will have to kill you. Bro code and all.”
~
Peter now had a bloody lip and what he thought was probably a broken nose but at least the man had left them alone, “Sorry, you had to meet me this way.”
“Not your fault.” Rhodey wiped the blood dripping from his nose, “But I’m curious how this all happened. Child from his wild days?”
“No. It’s more complicated. I’m not biologically related to Tony at all.” Peter glanced at the concrete floor tracing a crack with his eyes, “He stepped into a dad role without even realizing it I think. He was mentoring me. I don’t know if he realizes I think of him like my dad even.”
“You’re the intern?” Rhodey was starting to piece things together, “He’s mentioned having a intern a time or two. I didn’t realize how close you two had gotten though.”
“Some days I worry its one sided.” Peter whipsered in the quiet, “This guy that has us could be wrong. He could try and manipluate Tony over my safety and Tony could not care.”
“Tony Stark is a hero. He would never not care.”
~
The blood drained from Tony’s face as he listened to the person on the other end, “If you hurt either of them I will stop at nothing to kill you.”
“They’ve already been harmed. It’s up to you how long it continues.” The man laughed.
“What do you want?”
“My very own Iron Man suit.”
“Not going to happen.” Tony was already tracking the phone number, “Maybe a compromise on five hundred thousands dollars?”
“No compromise. I will break another bone every hour you delay.”
Tony reminded himself to breathe, “I think it’s only fair I warn you that the kid is capable of causing you a great deal of harm. He’s strong enough to kill you actually.”
The man barked in laughter, “Your best friend cannot walk on his own and the kid is a teenager. I’m so scared.”
“I tried to warn you.” Tony ended the call, “Fri. Find them.”
~
“The next time he comes in. Stay quiet. Keep the focus on me.” Rhodey told the kid, “You walk out of this no matter what. You hear me.”
Peter couldn’t do that. He would never let Tony’s best friend die for him. He had already decided if one of them died it would be him, “I can’t do that. Tony loves you.”
“It sounds like he loves you too!” Rhodey insisted, “You have a whole life ahead of you. I signed up for this. I chose to be a hero. I chose to be military. Let me do my job.”
Peter didn’t argue anymore. They would never agree. He just gave a soft smile, “I wish I had gotten the chance to get to know you as my uncle.”
The door opened and Rhodey and Peter glanced at the man walking in. He saw Peter stiffen and put up that same bored guarded expression.
“Your dad seems to think you’d win a fight.” The man laughed.
Rhodey pulled at his restraints, “Let me loose and I’ll beat the shit of you. You leave the kid out of this.”
The man undid one of Peter restraints on his arms. Peter waisted no time and grabbed the man’s throat choking him just like what had happened to him, “Never underestimate your enemy.”
The man pulled out a knife and plunged it into Peter’s side.
Peter cried out in pain and the man twisted the knife in deeper.
“STOP!” Rhodey yelled, “You only let one of his hands loose. It’s not a fair fight!”
“I never said fair.” The man pushed Peter back into the chair and removed the knife. He tied him back up.
Peter’s chin hung near his chest. His breathing felt heavy. His side was on fire. Breathe. Everything will be okay. Just keep Rhodey alive. “You can only win a fight by cheating? Typical.”
“Shut up.” The man practically growled punching the kid in the face, “Has anyone told you how annoying you are?”
Peter spit out blood like it was no big deal, “Yeah. Your mom.”
The man pressed his fingers into Peter’s side and Peter focused on not losing consiousness, “I’ll be back. Your dad has an hour to start making different decisions about your future.”
“Oh. He’s set on MIT.” Peter mumbled, “No exceptions.”
The man just walked out of the room.
“Kid…” Rhodey sighed, “You have to stop. He’s going to kill you.”
“As long as you live.” Peter mumbled.
“No. You don’t get to choose me!” Rhodey yelled, “You sure you aren’t his blood because you act just like him.”
Peter made an effort to smile at this but he thought it probably looked more like a griamce, “I’m going to pass out. You think you can keep watch?”
“Don’t go to sleep.” Rhodey demanded, “You stay awake and you keep talking to me. I want to know all the reasons my best friend loves you.”
Peter wanted to answer but the darkness consumed him.
~
“How many people in the building, Fri?” Tony knew where they were but before he crashed in he wanted to know what he was up against.
“Three heat signautres.”
“One bad guy. I like my odds.” Tony crashed in through the roof.
One man clapped for him as he did, “Bravo. You found them.”
Tony blasted him into the wall. He wasn’t in the mood to do the back and forth talk with the evil villian. He didn’t have a way to secure him, “Could really use Spider-Man’s webs.”
Tony found them with Friday’s advice, “How would you feel about going home?”
“The kid!” Rhodey insisted like a madman, “He blacked out a while ago and hasn’t come to.”
Tony released himself from the suit and went to Peter, “He’s got a pulse.”
Tony undid the restraints on Peter, “C’mon baby. Open those big brown eyes for us.”
Peter only growned in repsonse.
“Untie me. And get him out of here to the Med Bay.” Rhodey told his friend, “I assume you alerted the police?”
“I notified everyone. Police, FBI, and CIA.” Tony confirmed, “Your suit is inbound. I knocked out the other guy but he’s not restrained.”
“I’ll handle him.” Rhodey promsied. He had warned him what would happen if he laid a hand a Peter again afterall.
Tony paused because he saw something in his best friend’s body language he couldn’t identify. They could hear the War machine suit approaching, “You’ll be okay?”
“Go. Take care of your kid.”
~
Rhodey found his friend next to the kids bedside in the MedBay, “Want to explain how you got a kid and didn’t tell me.”
Tony shook his head, “He’s not my kid but he is. You know?”
Rhodey sat down in the chair next to him, “He made me so angry. He just kept pulling that dude’s rage toward him. The man could have killed him.”
Tony glanced at Peter’s sleeping form, “He could have gotten loose at any time.”
“He looks like he weights 100 pounds, Tones.”
“He’s Spider-Man.” Tony never glanced at his friend, “He should have gotten free but he was trying to protect his secret.”
“Spider-Man is a child. Of course he’s a child. I knew he sounded young but not this young.” Rhodey was too tired to take this all in, “He still should have protected himself first.”
“He’s a self sacrificing idiot.” Tony squeezed one of Peter’s hands.
“Takes after you then.”
~
This was the first time Peter was facing Rhodey now that they weren’t in danger. He could see in the man’s body language that he was livid. He was laying on the couch in the penthouse, “I know you want to know why.”
“Next time you’re in that position. You save yourself.” Rhodey said firmly, “Don’t go getting stabbed for someone you don’t know.”
“He can’t lose you.” Peter looked at his blanket, “I had to make sure you got home.”
“He can’t lose me? Dude. Tony Stark loves you like his own flesh and blood. He cannot handle the loss of you.” Rhodey sat on the chair next to the couch, “I know you are hung up on some inecurity that he doesn’t love you but I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
Peter cleared his throat from emotion, “Maybe let’s just never repeat this. Then we won’t have to figure out who to prioritize.”
“You. We prioritize you.” Rhodey was going to lose his mind.
“Agree to disagree?” Peter smiled.
“He wasn’t wrong. You are annoying.”
~
Weeks later Peter came into the lab surprised to find Rhodey, “Uncle Rhodey!”
Rhodey just shook his head. The kid insisted on calling him that, “How was school?”
“Boring.” Peter started pulling out homework from his backpack, “Where’s Tony?”
“Oh, I thought you knew. May had a meeting with your teacher and she invited him to tag along.”
The color drained from Peter’s face, “What did you say?”
“It’s no big deal, kid.” Rhodey tried to reassure.
Peter started to put things back in his backpack, “You don’t know. It’s bad enough May is going. Now Tony is too.”
“Why don’t we just stop packing up our stuff like we’re trying to bolt and how about you tell me why this is so overwhelming?”
Peter was mumbling under his breath and he closed his backpack. He was no longer listening to Rhodey’s conversation.
“PETER!” Rhodey got his attention finally, “Why are you worried?”
“Dude has no chill.” Peter shook his head, “And the meeting is about a project I failed.”
“You failed an assignment?” Rhodey didn’t know how that would have happened. The kid was able to keep up with Tony Stark from what he had come to learn.
“I suppose I failed by default. It happens if you refuse the assignment.” Peter shrugged, “Can you help me get him back to the tower? Cause a distraction?”
“He left a while ago. I think he’s already there.”
“Maybe the building will burn down.” Peter nodded, “It could happen, right?”
“I don’t think I’m equipped for this conversation.” Rhodey felt like a fish out of water.
“Too late. I saved your life. You owe me an eternal bond.” Peter glanced at the ceiling, “Friday, is he already there?”
“He is.” Friday confirmed.
“That’s a really weird way to ask me to be your uncle.”
Peter set his backpack on the ground, “I’m fucked.”
“It won’t be that bad.” Rhodey tried to reassure.
“He once took my suit.” Peter sat on the floor by his backpack, “And a building fell on me.”
“What?” Rhodey screeched.
“Welcome to unclehood.”