Chapter Text
“We're coming up on the ship.”
Steve frowned as he took hold of the back of the pilot chair and peered out past Clint into the dark. Dull, shapeless shadows rushed by on the other side of the streaks of rain steadily poured down the quinjet's windshield, but the sea below was lost in the black and the moon in the clouds. Flying in whether like this always made his nerves stand on end as faint memories of clacking war planes that felt like they were holding together on prayer alone passed through his mind, but he pushed them away and focused instead on the steady floor beneath his feet and the warm, temperature controlled air that filled his lungs. Even though Steve could see no sign of the ship, the display on the dash next to Clint flashed that the ETA would be within the next two minutes. The tension in the cab was slowly coming to a head as they rushed towards their latest mission, which did more to set the tension in Steve's shoulders than the bad whether. It just proved that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same he supposed.
“Alright,” he said as he turned back to the others. “Let's look alive, people.”
Steve stepped down from the cockpit area and moved to stand next to Nat. She tilted her head in his direction just to acknowledgment him but otherwise didn't comment in any sort of way. Her shoulders were loose and her stance easy, but her arms were crossed in that tight way she liked to hold them. Her own personal shield from the world. That was nothing unusual, though. This was all business as usual for someone like her.
Sam was pacing lightly around in the back. His wings were already strapped to his back, but he was fiddling with the goggle's strap as he moved. Every time he turned in one direction, he would have to work around Tony's empty suit, but he was keeping his steps even and light. Ever so often, his attention would turned towards the closed hatch before going back to the group.
Tony didn't bother to spare any of them any attention. His focus was solely on the holographic schematic of the modified oil tanker they were tracking. FRIDAY had locked onto it through a satellite and was using it to display the thermal readouts of the people inside. They looked like ants that some kid had set on fire as some of them scurried from one level to another, while others from one level to another. There was on particularly large group gathered in the lower deck.
“That's where the hostages are,” Steve said.
“Looks like,” Tony agreed. “At least twenty of them, by my count.”
Damn. That was more than they original thought. It didn't change anything, though.
“We still all know what to do,” Steve said.
Sam nodded. “Hit hard and hit fast.”
“Nothing we haven't done a thousand times,” Steve agreed. “Your wings going to be okay out in this weather?”
“Little rain has never stopped them before,” Sam said with a shrug. “They'll get us there.”
Steven glanced over at Nat, who just gave him a small shrug.
He wasn't the biggest fan of this part of the plan, but there was nothing they could really do. As Sam had said, they needed to hit them hard and fast, so he didn't have time to do a water jump and clear the deck for the others like he had done all those months ago with the Lemurian Star. These guys weren't pirates, and they had no problem with destroying everyone and everything the moment they had any indication that something was amiss. As soon as they were out those doors, they needed to be on deck. Which meant that Nat and Clint were with Sam and Tony. Tony's armor was fine in any sort of weather, but this storm could very well mess with Sam's wings, no matter what he said otherwise. He had to trust them, though.
Besides, Tony would be more than happy to rescue them, if for no other reason than to hold it over Sam's head for the rest of his life.
“Well, they're about to get you there real fast,” Clint said as he typed in the code to give FRIDAY control of the quinjet and grabbed his bow. “We're coming out of the cloud cover now. I say we have about ten seconds before they send up the welcoming committee to greet us.”
“It would be rude to keep them waiting,” Nat said with a grin.
Hitting the release, Steve watched as the back entrance of the quinjet slid open with a deafening howl of cold, wet air. Clouds swirled behind them as the hard rain fell off into the black below. What a great night for a rescue.
Tony's suit came to life with a hum as he and Clint stepped up on one side of Steve, while Sam and Nat came up on the other. As the tanker's light up below them, FRIDAY swung the quinjet around and took them in lower.
Swinging his shield around, Steve secured it to his back and said, “Let's go say 'hello', then.”
“First one to get their guy in place gets to pick dinner,” Tony said before he grabbed Clint and took off.
Sam made some kind of frustrated noise before he said, “I'm not eating shawarma again, Stark.”
Nat only gave a small shake of her head before she let Sam take hold of her and jumped out with him. Steve sighed before leaping out after them.
He really didn't want shawarma again either.
As they often do, things went to hell pretty fast. Steve barely had time to land before there bullets flying through the air, which sent him ducking for cover. The flashes of firing guns sparked brightly in the rainy darkness, which thankfully gave Steven something to aim at. The rain actually proved to be rather helpful for some cover as Steve ran towards the three men shooting at him. He threw his shield, which knocked into one of his assailants before it ricocheted into another as Steve charged at the third. The guy had the aim of a blind grandma. Nothing came anywhere near Steve even when he was close enough to grab onto gun from below the muzzle and push it skyward. The guy had just enough time for his eyes to widen before Steve punched him and sent him crumbling to the ground. The shield ricocheted one last time off another wall before returning right to Steve like a loyal hound, and then he was running again.
The next three minutes and twenty seconds passed very much in the same manner. Out came the bad guys to meet Steve. There was a brief confrontation, and then Steve would move onto the next set. The only thing that changed were the few explosions that were coming from various parts of the ship, but Steve nor his opponents really paid it any mind. Steve was soaked but not even winded by the time his section of the deck was cleared.
“Sit-rep?” he asked.
“Deck secured,” Clint's voice said through the comms.
“Working on the bridge,” Sam said right after. Something exploded in the background. “Shouldn't be much longer, and Widow and I will have it.”
That just left, “Stark?”
The hum of the repulsors directly overhead answered him. The metallic clank echoed throughout the rain as the armor landed heavily next to Steve.
“Captain,” Tony said.
“We need to get to those hostages,” Steve replied and headed straight towards one of the entrances.
Tony fell into line beside him. It didn't take a second to clear the empty hall and start to headed towards the lower decks.
“FRIDAY, how's it looking?” Tony asked.
“It looks like you and the others have dealt with the most immediate threat, Boss,” FRIDAY said through the comms. “However, one of the hostages has been placed in a separate area not to far from the others. There are at least ten other men in there from what I can see.”
Steve pressed his lips. Separating hostages from the group was never a good thing.
“We've got to move,” he said before taking off in a run.
The halls were surprising, or maybe worryingly, clear as they moved down towards one of the tanks. It had been converted into something else, but what they weren't really sure. A thick door with an electronic lock had been installed at its base. It looked a little out-of-date to what Steve was used to, but Tony was always updating things for them so it was hard to really tell.
“Think you can open it?” Steve asked.
Tony's helmet slipped back down into the armor, leaving him frowning down at the pad.
“Sure,” Tony said. “Just a sec.”
The helmet slipped back on as Tony took two steps back and raised his hand right at the door. Steve barely had time to get his shield up before a repulsor blast caused the door to explode inward. They were moving in before it even hit the ground inside.
The kidnappers had taken out the other the two walls that separated this tank from the other two, which left it one massive room with the exception of two rooms that had been added. One of them appeared to be an observation room. The majority of the hostages were backing away from the glass wall that kept them locked away. It was an eclectic group made up of men and women and some children of all ages and backgrounds. Their captors apparently hadn't had any sort of person in mind when they took them, just grabbed whoever they could find before taking off. There was clear fear in these people's eyes as they looked from them, to their captors, to the other room that was directly across from theirs.
Steve couldn't see what was in the other room just yet, but the rest of the main area was a lab of some sort. It wasn't as hightec as Tony's back at the Compound or even his old one at the Tower, but there was enough equipment there to keep some scientist happy for awhile. Much of it Steve didn't recognize, though that wasn't uncommon, but there was something very unsettling about the glass cases behind the computers that were filled with reptiles and insects. They resembled the observation room that was filled with the hostages too much for Steve's taste.
There was one man typing frantically away at the computer, and it didn't take a genius like Tony to know that he was dumping as much information as he could before they inevitably won. He and Tony didn't have time to worry with him right away, though, because the nine other men were armed and already firing at them.
In tandem, Steve went left towards the hostages and six of the guards, while Tony went right towards the other room. Keeping his shield firmly held over any vital parts, Steve charged at the first two guards. Their bullets bounced off the vibranium easily, striking the floor and walls around them. They didn't stop though. Steve used the shield to knock one of them away before spinning around and hitting the other one in the face with it.
Steve threw his shield another one of the guards as he flipped to avoid being shot by another. He kicked the third in the chest, which sent him flying into the glass wall with a resounding thud. Several of the hostages gasped and try to tuck back even further, but given their limited room, that really wasn't all that far. The final guard glared at him from the control panel next to the door but didn't bother to try and attack Steve. He just kept typing away.
That was never good.
Before Steve could do anything about him, the other guard that Steve had done a flip to avoid being shot by came back at him, and Steve ducked to avoid being shot before knocking the gun from the man's hand. The knife slid easily into its place in an underhanded position and sliced at Steve's chest and face several times. Steve dodged them all easily enough, twisting from left to right before finally catching an opening in the guard's attack. Fast as a viper, Steve swung around in a roundhouse and landed a blow right the man's stomach. As he began to double over, Steve grabbed the back of the guard's shirt and threw him at the one working at the panel. They landed together on the floor in a disarray of flaying arms and legs. The one Steve threw was unconscious on top of the other, who was glaring up at Steve. He grabbed for the knife, but Steve knelt down and rabbit punched him in the face before he had a chance.
His attention then turned immediately to the door's controls. A cold sensation spread through his stomach as he read what the half-entered code would have done had it been completed. The memory of finding out what the Allies had discovered in those Nazi camps after Steve had already been frozen in the ice burned in his blood. Even before he realized it, he had recalled the shield and slammed it into the controls and rendered them useless. Surprisingly, it also made the door slid open. The hostages didn't move. Some where holding others, while a few were trying to protect some of the younger ones, but they didn't seem inclined to leave their cage. They just continued to stare him with wide, fearful eyes. Well, at him and at something behind him.
“It's alright,” he tried as he held out his hand. “We're here to help.”
“Cap!”
Steve was surprised he didn't cause himself to have whiplash from the force that he snapped around. Tony had dispatched the other guards as easily as he had his own, and he had managed to bind the scientist with the powered clamps from the armor. Tony, however, wasn't celebrating their win but was currently trying to get into the other cell. A cell that also had a glass wall that allowed the scientist to see everything that was going inside it. A cell that was apparently occupied by a terrified teenage boy shackled to the bloody ground and a giant green monster pacing at the far end.
The scientist grinned at the sight.
“I say you have about thirty seconds before he rips the boy apart. He's rather hungry, you know,” he said almost causally. “This is the first time we've been able to feed Connors all day.”
Ignoring the chuckling, Steve ran over to Tony, who was trying to get the door opened.
“We've got to get the kid,” Tony said as if it were not the most obvious thing in the world.
“Destroying the lock will open it,” Steve offered.
“Yeah,” Tony replied, “and then we have no way of keeping that thing away from the rest of them.”
That was true, but it was the fastest way to get in there. However, Tony was right. They had no idea what that thing in there could do, other than apparently tear someone apart and eat them. It would be better for everyone if it stayed in there.
The kid though...
Tony's fingers were flying over the keyboard, and Steve knew it would only be a matter of seconds before he broke through. They needed a plan and fast.
“When you get the door opened,” Steve said, reading his shield, “grab the boy. I'll hold it off.”
“Sounds good,” Tony said before looking through the glass to the kid. “Harry, we're coming to get you!”
Harry? Steve glanced at the boy again and felt his stomach shift again.
Damn it.
He didn't have time to think about it, though. The door clicked opened, and he and Tony were once more moving. Unfortunately, the creature was doing so as well and headed straight for the kid with its sharp teeth and claws bared. Tony had already put himself between the monster and the boy, but the creature batted him into a nearby wall with one swing of his arm. It dented in under the force before Tony fell to the ground on his face.
The kid was panicking, pulling at this restraints and muttering a line of obscenities that would make Dum Dum Dugan proud. At the rate the kid was going, he was going to dislocate his thumbs at best, but not before cutting his wrists into a bloody mess. The creature grumbled something deep in its throat as it towered over the boy and raised its claws.
Steve slid between the two and brought his shield up just as those claws came back down. They slid across it with enough force that it caused Steve to grab onto the boys chains to keep from knocked down. The creature hissed from either pain or frustration and glared down at Steve before trying to backhand him like he had done Tony. Steven ducked and pushed the kid down onto the ground as the creature twisted into a turn. It took Steve a fraction of a second too long to realize why as a massive tail whipped around and slammed right into his chest. He flew through the air before landing with a hard thud on his back and sliding several more feet across the ground. Steve's shoulder ached from the impact, but he didn't have time to worry about it as the creature turned towards him. It leaped at him like a lion leaping at a gazelle, and Steve brought the shield back up to protect himself. However, before it could finish its jump, it suddenly was jerked backwards and to the ground.
“Hold up there, Jurassic Park,” Tony said as he held onto the creature's tail. “You've gotten your one free shot in for the night.”
Then, the creature did the that surprised Steve the most. It laughed.
“Oh, so you're actually going to try now?” it asked.
There was a stunned silence echoed in the room, which the creature was more than happy to take advantage of. With a sharp swing of its tail, it flung Tony right at Steve. Without thought, Steve rolled, which meant that Tony missed colliding with him by only a few inches.
“You know, normally, I would enjoy this fine appetizer that the good doctor so thoughtfully provided for me,” it said nudging his head towards the boy. “But why should I settle for that when I can have a nice juicy stake and, eh...can of sardines instead.”
“I'll show you sardines!” Tony snapped and raised his hand. However, just as he was taking the shot, the whole ship jerked and began to tilt them towards the lizard creature. The shot went wide, but thankfully the creature wasn't expecting the floor to shift any more than they were because it had to lean forward and claw into the floor to keep from tripping over. Steve dug the shield in as well to keep himself from sliding while Tony step off his suit's repulsors.
With his free hand, Steve touched his ear piece just in time to hear Clint's surprised squawk and a small curse from Nat.
“Sam!” Steve called. “What's going on?”
“Big waves,” Sam said. He sounded strained, like he was having a hard time pushing against something very heavy. “Really, really big waves, Cap.”
Big waves?
The storm.
“Hold on, everyone,” Sam said.
As the ship continued to tilt, the word capsizing rushed through Steve's mind.
The lizard creature snapped up at them and started to crawl towards them. Steve gritted his teeth. They really didn't have any more time for this.
“Tony,” he said.
“On it, Cap. FRIDAY, send in the kids.”
Steve didn't even want to know what he meant by that. He was surprised though when Tony go rushing out the door. Instead, he moved right in front of the creature and then cut off his boots' repulors. He hit the ground and slid right into creature, knocking them both into the wall opposite them. The creature howled as Tony turned the repulsors back on right in its stomach before kicking it into the back wall. While he was doing that, Steve kicked back and then flung himself and his shield over at the kid, who was holding on tightly to his chains. Steve latched onto them, not wanting to put any more pressure on the kids arms.
The kid's eyes were like saucers as Steve said, “Hold on.”
He then used his shield to break the chains. They slid down the floor and into the wall opposite them that Tony and the creature had crashed into only moments before. Tony was already outside the door, using his repulsors to stay in one place. The creature shook its head and was crawling towards them nearly before Steve's boots hit the wall.
The ship was beginning to rock into place as Steve and the kid stumbled to gain their balance.
“Move, Cap!” Tony snapped.
Grabbing the kid, Steve jumped backwards and out of the door just as the creature was upon them again. However, Tony was ready and slammed the thing shut right in its face. Steve could hear it screaming as he and the kid slid a few more feet and towards the door he and Tony had entered in through. Most of the unconscious guards were already there, along with several bits of busted equipment and computers, as well as the scientist they'd captured. They were falling back to the floor in a scattered mess as Steve and kid finally stopped.
Steve sat there for a second and expected a pull in the other direction, but nothing happened. It was just like before, silent and still.
“Sam, what's going on?” he asked.
“Stark must have called in the cavalry,” Sam said. “It looks like there's a bunch of little mini-thruster on the side of the ship to keep her from capsizing.”
Tony had walked over to them by that point and just shrugged down at them.
“Figured now was a good time to field test them,” he said as he offered his hand to Steve. “They should keep us steady all the back to New York.”
“Great,” Steve said as he took the hand. “I'm always thrilled to be the guinea pig for one of your latest inventions.”
“I could send them home, if you want,” Tony offered.
“Just make sure they don't accidentally blow up or anything,” Steve said and turned back to the boy. “Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah,” he said as he pushed himself to his feet. “I...thank you. I can't thank either of you enough.”
“It's what we do,” Tony said. “Now, do you want to tell us what your dad had stolen from him, besides you.”
Harry Osborn pressed his lips and grabbed hold of the side of his arm. Steve didn't know a lot about the kid, only what he had read in the papers and what his father, Norman, had told them when Ross brought him to the Compound a few hours ago about the mission. The guy seemed more worried about his research than his son, which put a big mark against him in all the Avengers books. At one point, Steve honestly thought that he was going stop Tony from going after the guy. Not that anyone – aside from maybe Ross – would have blamed them. They all knew how Tony felt about missing kids. Steve was actually rather impressed at how he was handling the whole situation, especially considering how close it must have been hitting.
“I don't know, Tony,” Harry said. “I just happened to be in the lab looking for my dad when they grabbed me and all these computers. I don't even know if they really know who I am.”
It struck Steve again that they probably knew each other. Norman Osborn was definitely someone who ran in the same social circles that Tony had for his entire life, so it stood to reason that his kid would know him as well. Plus, given the kids age...
For the first time, Steven wondered if he could have been a playmate of Tony's son once.
A scowl pulled on Harry's face as he turned away from the pair.
“My dad doesn't tell me what he's researching most of the time,” he said. “So I can't help tell you what this is all about. Sorry.”
“It's okay, son,” Steve said. Looking over the boy's shoulders, Steve's eyes narrowed on the bound scientist. “I think we'll have a pretty good idea by the time we get back to New York.”
The scientist sneered back as one of the reptiles that had fallen out of its cage crawled across his chest.
Steve gave it five minutes before Nat cracked him.
And to think, he thought it was just going to be a quiet night at the Compound watching movies with Sam and Clint. He wondered if anyone else out there was having as an eventful night as them.
*
Blowing out a puff of air, Peter lightly shifted his weight from one foot to another before planting them steady again. His heart was pounding as the butterflies in his stomach tried to crawl up his throat, but he swallowed them back down with a large gulp of bitingly cold fall air that burned the whole way down. He wiped his sweaty palms against his pants, which was kind of weird because his hands were so cold. It was cold out, so he guessed they should feel like that, but it didn't explain why his face was so hot beneath his mask.
“Come on, Peter,” he said to himself as he bounced on the balls of his feet. “You can do this. You can do this.”
He could do this. He had done this before, so there was no reason for him to be so nervous. Okay, maybe he had been a little closer to the ground then, but was okay. It was cool. He could do this. He just had to, you know...do it.
Besides, what was the worst that would happen? He'd eat a little pavement? Hide some bruises from Aunt May? That wasn't to bad. Hey, he'd already done all that like this week. So, yeah, this was completely okay to do.
This was such a bad idea.
Before he could talk himself out of it, Peter shot the newest formula of webbing from his web-shooters. It hit the edge of the building down the street in the exact spot that Peter calculated it needed to in order for this to work, and now the fiber hung loosely between there and his hand. He'd been working on this formula for two months now and knew that this particular version should work – would work. He just had to...test it.
It's fine. This will work. He knew it would.
Bad idea bad idea bad idea.
Peter jumped off the top of the twelve-story apartment building.
The mostly empty Queen's street came rushing at him in a blast of burning cold air that easily cut through his sweats. His hands clutched to the webbing that had yet to pull taunt. There was a certain springiness to it, which in theory should help launch him back up into the air, but it had to stretch out first. Judging by the arc he would make, Peter wasn't worried about that. He was more worried about it not being as strong as he thought and breaking when it happened.
Peter's eyes widened as the ground got closer. Then, he felt the webbing pull, and he started to swing.
Holdtogetherholdtogetherholdtogether.
He didn't think he was breathing when he reached the furthest point of the arc. The webbing stretched unhappily, and Peter swore a couple of the strings popped. For half a heartbeat, he knew he was about to be street pizza.
Then he started to swing upward.
His shout of joy echoed down loudly down the street as the two people who had been walking down this particular street turned to look up. There were shouts of surprise and fear, and the woman dropped her bag of groceries to cover her face with her hands. Peter couldn't stop laughing, though he did feel bad for scaring her.
“Sorry,” he said as he passed them.
He let go of the fiber and just let himself float in the air for second before shooting another web at another building further down the road. He did it again and again and again, and each time the wind cut though his thin mask or he just hung in the air like he could really fly was better than the last.
Other people saw him along his chosen test route. He knew they did, and he was pretty sure that one girl might have caught a picture of him on her phone. When he decided to test out his webbing, he'd been careful to try and keep out of a too populated area. But this was New York and there was always someone around. That was what the mask was for, right?
Right now he was just enjoying this because, really...
“This. Is. Awesome!” Peter yelled and did a flip before shooting another web.
He was still laughing when be began his downward swing when a white delivery truck turned right in his path. It saw him about the same time he saw it, and the street was suddenly filled with the sound of a loud car horn and screeching tires.
“Oh, shit!” Peter gasped as he threw his weight into the swing.
The fiber protested at the sudden change. Peter was sure it was going to break this time, and he would either end up kissing the sidewalk or the front of the van. At the speed he was going, neither would be very fun. He could see one of the two guys in the truck throw his hands up while the other gripped the stirring wheel. Peter himself sucked in a breath.
This was bad.
The top corner of the truck flew by his face and barely missed his side as he cleared it. He was already laughing again when the angry shouts of the truck driver came at him.
“Again, sorry,” Peter said and turned down another street.
As much as he would like to continue on, he really needed to be getting back. Aunt May would kill him if he missed curfew, and he still had a Spanish test he needed to finish studying for. Plus, he promised to do the dishes and call Ned about their plans for this weekend. So, yeah, things to do.
But swinging through the streets of New York was still so cool. Maybe just a few more minutes.
As he switched directions, Peter grinned to himself. This really was the best night of his life.
*
Tony hated Norman Osborn. He had since the day that the man had walked into his father's office and had offered to buy Stark Industries with several suitcases full of money and a promise that it would be better if Howard didn't try and resist his takeover. The 80s recession had hit them all hard, and it was one of the few times that Tony knew of in his childhood that the company actually took a downward turn. The Cold War was coming to a close, which didn't mean that people were absolutely terrified that a war wouldn't break out, but his father's weapons weren't selling quite like they had before. It was when the company started to diversify more, putting a bit more focus on home computers there were just starting to take off. It would all work out in the end, but there were a few months around Tony's sixteenth birthday when there had been some whispers about Howard being possibly outed of his company. It was nothing more than that. Just whispers that would die down the moment anyone caught sight of a Stark, but it didn't stop the young upstart Norman Osborn from starting to circle what he thought was a dying creature.
Howard had shown him that he was gravely mistaken in that idea. It was one of the few times that Tony could remember being truly proud of his dad. The memory of Osborn slinking out of his dad's office with an angry scowl and in one of those awful Miami Vice-style jackets had stuck with Tony ever since.
The guy was as dirty as they came, but unlike Hammer, he was smart enough to know how to hide it. Everything he did was always above the board, even when he was kicking something under the table. And just to be sure, he had the right sort of friends to help him out. Friends like Ross, who were more than willing to help out when needed.
If Ross happened to find a prize while he was at it, all the better for him.
“No need to worry about this...Lizard,” Ross said as the monster he and Cap faced off against was rolled in a cage. “We'll take care of it.”
“Yeah, I'm sure you have a whole group of people just waiting to see him,” Tony said. “Be careful, though. It bites and likes to play with its food.”
“Noted,” Ross said. “And the research?”
Steve turned a frown towards Nat. She had spent the better part of the past few hours interrogating the local mad scientist. He didn't give up as much as they had hoped, but it was enough to have a vague idea of what he was doing. Genetic modification of the human body using animal DNA. Hybrids, essentialist. No government in the world would allow for experimentation, which even Osborn seemed to understand. All the research that he had were strictly in the theoretical realm, or only dealing with animals themselves. These guys, though, the ones with the container full of people, had decided that it was time for the next step.
Finally, Steve gave her a small nod and she handed over a memory stick.
“Most of its there,” she said. “He managed to erase some of the data, but the majority is still there.”
“Excellent,” Ross said.
As he pocketed the stick, his eyes traveled to the people standing around the docks that were flashing blue and red in the cold November night. Most of the hostages were wearing blankets and talking with the authorities that Ross had brought along with them. Aside from a few bruises from when the ship nearly capsized thanks to Sam's excellent stirring abilities, they were mainly okay. Or at least okay enough that a few years of therapy should help clear everything up. Tony knew a few good ones. Maybe he should hand out their cards.
“There's a lot of people here who owe you a great deal of thanks,” Ross continued.
“Harry!”
Tony felt his teeth on edge.
Ross smiled. “Speak of the devil.”
Funny, Tony thought much the same thing.
Osborn was already pushing his way past the police barricades and towards the crowd. His hired goons surrounded him, like he was the freaking president of the United States and not just some rich asshole that liked to remind people of how much money he had. Even at his worse, Tony had never been as bad as him. Hell, his father had never been as bad as him. Really, his levels of prickishness should qualify him from a Guinness record.
He was marching straight towards Harry, who was currently having his wrist attended to. The kid really did have the biggest set of Bambi eyes that Tony had ever seen – well, second biggest – and was staring at his father as if he didn't understand why he was coming towards him. Tony's fist clenched as Harry flinched when his father touched his face. It was gentle, like something an actual carrying parent would do, but Tony wasn't fooled for a second. Judging by Cap's frown and Nat's narrowed eyes, neither were they.
Then, Osborn pulled Harry into a hug, and Tony forgot how to breath. For a moment, just a single, solitary moment, jealousy burned in his chest so bright that it was painful. Norman Osborn, outside of the normal supervillians that they normally dealt with, was one of the worst human beings that Tony knew of, and he still got his son back. His child was safe and home with him, a child that flinched when he touched him and seemed to understand even at sixteen that he wasn't the most important thing in his father's life. He got Harry back.
But Tony's own kid? The one he looked for for years and never found a trace of, who he would give anything to have back, he wasn't coming home. Ever.
That just...
Tony was use to life being unkind, but that seemed particularly cruel. Even to him.
*
As quietly as he could, Peter crawled in through his bedroom window. For most kids, that was more of a metaphorical, but in Peter's it was more of a literal thing, especially since he was hanging from the ceiling. It was easier than trying to get in through the front door, but it still had its own risks of some seeing him. Most of the people in building pretty much had that 'if it doesn't affect me, I don't want to know' attitude, though, so he felt he should be pretty safe.
As lightly as he could, he let himself fall to the floor. It was almost completely silent, but Peter still stood there for a second to make absolutely sure that May hadn't heard him. After several seconds of nothing, Peter let out a breath and began to change out of his suit.
Web fluid version 47 was a complete success. The fiber it created was strong and held together just like it was supposed to. When he backtracked after his little trip through Queens, he saw that they were dissolving just like they were suppose to as well. By morning, all evidence that he had ever been out swinging his way around New York would be gone, which was just how Peter wanted it. If he was going to do this, like really do this, he wanted to be sure no evidence could be traced back to him. It was too dangerous for May and his friends if someone could, so Peter was relieved that this couldn't be.
That put him one step closer to becoming Spider-Man. A superhero just like Iron Man and Captain America.
How cool was that?
After pulling on a t-shirt and his sleep pants, Peter balled up his 'uniform' and threw it into his closet. Of course, it crashed into one of his old Lego set and sent the box crashing to the floor. He cringed at the noise and gritted his teeth.
“Peter? Is that you?” May's voice drifted through the door.
Dang it.
“Yeah,” he said. Well, this was going to be fun.
May was pushing herself up from laying on the couch when he walked out of his room. The TV was playing some investigation show, but she obviously hadn't been watching it since it was on mute. Her glasses were slightly skewed, but she was trying to flatten her hair that was going every which way. The book that she had been reading slid down to her lap as she blinked almost owlishly at him.
Luck really was on his side tonight.
“Hey,” she said yawned. “I didn't hear you come in.”
“Yeah, um, I – ah – didn't want to wake you,” he said.
Okay, think fast, Peter. You need something to distract her.
“Ah, what are you watching?”
May frowned at him and glanced over at the television. “Oh, um, nothing really. One of those old crime show documentaries, you know. Shouldn't you be in bed?”
“I was –.”
A picture of a young boy no older than three was on the screen. A large, happy smile was spread across his face as he laughed about something that no one who was a member of the audience would know. It was a normal enough picture of a kid. May had thousand like them of him at various ages and nothing that really stood out exactly about the kid. What did stand out was the fact that the boy was who was holding the kid.
“Is that Tony Stark?” Peter asked as he climbed over the couch. Grabbing the remote control, Peter unmuted the television and sat back next to May.
“– disappeared while he was in a crowded park. Amber alerts were sent out nation wide, but no leads were ever found.”
“Oh, I remember this,” May said. “That was so sad.”
“That's Isaac Stark, right?” Peter asked. “Tony Stark's missing kid?”
“Yeah,” May replied. “He disappeared years ago. You'd be too little to remember, but I sure do. It headlined the news for weeks while they tried to find the poor kid.”
“But they never did, right?” Peter asked.
May shook her head. “No. There were all these rumors going around. A lot of people thought that Stark himself must have done something to him, but he was at a meeting when it happened and at least a dozen people swore that they saw the kid in the park with the nanny. It was like the kid just disappeared into thin air.”
“Police have to continued to search for him, even after all these years,” the newscaster said. “Even though the case has been cold for almost a decade, they still hope that perhaps someday some sort of clue will be found to tell what happened to baby Isaac.”
“God, I can't imagine,” May said. “Not knowing what happened to your kid for that long? And this show is old. I just...if I didn't know what happened to you, it would kill me.”
“Yeah,” Peter said.
“If you have any information on any of the missing persons seen on this program tonight, please call the local authorities or the FBI.”
A series of pictures of missing kids flashed across the screen. Most were old and far out-of-date, but a few of them showed some age-progression photos along with them. The last one was of Isaac, aged about ten years from when he was taken. Peter frowned as his eyes drifted from the television screen to his sixth grade graduation photo on the wall.
That was weird. Isaac Stark looked a lot like he did at that age.