Is Love Enough?

Chapter 18

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right. What do you mean 'death sentence'?" Tony asked with irritation clear in his voice and body language.

By now everyone had moved to sit comfortably on the couches to try and make sense of their new friend and all that he has to say.

Bucky sighed in sympathy, "If they really are planning on making him their next super soldier like I think they are, then he has a road of hell waiting for him,"

Tony stood up and shouted, "I'm not really in the mood for all these vague bullshit answers! I want to know what's happening to the love of my life right now!" He trembled with anger before sitting back down and looking away like nothing just happened.

"If you really want to know, I can only tell you what they did to me. There is no telling if they'll keep the same process for him since he is going in enhanced and they made me enhanced," Bucky paused to take a steadying breath, all of this still feeling fairly recent even though he has been aware for many months now, "The first thing they did was take me to a cell-"

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Peter had no idea where this police officer was taking him, if this man was even a real police officer or just another one of H.Y.D.R.A.'s goons. He knows the ins and outs of this city and he knows they are not going towards the police station. They way they are going, they're leaving the state. Peter was starting to get anxious and impatient, contemplating all the options he had before him which honestly there weren't many to begin with. Peter was strong enough, he knew he was, to just jump out of the car and run until he got back home or somewhere he could call someone. The only problem with that, is how easily the man in the suit had threatened his family. He didn't seem like the kind of person to make idle threats, so even if he did try to run now there's no telling who will be watching him right now and who they might kill for this little act of rebellion.

The officer driving seemed like he was in no mood to talk, and he doesn't seem like someone who would get much information besides the bare minimum. Here's the job and this is what we want you to do kind of guy. With nothing better to do, Peter decided to take a nap to rest his body and his mind. There is no telling if he will be getting any rest in the time to come, he has no idea what these H.Y.D.R.A. people are capable of.

...

Peter woke up to a dark cell, made of concrete and iron bars. He was laying on a thin mattress in the corner of the room with a toilet and a sink on the other side. Everything was covered in dirt and grime, the room clearly never seen any kind of cleaning product. Peter gently sat up and wondered how he slept so long for him to get here without any knowledge. He vaguely remembered waking up and getting on an airplane and something pricking his neck before falling into slumber once more. He can't seem to remember anything else about his travel to this dingy room, but decided he couldn't dwell on that for much longer. He patted himself down to see what he still had on him and was surprised to hear the crinkling of paper.

Swiftly pulling the paper from his pocket he remembered why he had it. This darn letter that Peter can never seem to finish reading. He used his hearing to see if anyone was nearby and deemed it safe before picking up where he last left off.

-we really are agents for a federal agency, but no one except a select few know about it. It's called S.H.I.E.L.D. and this trip we are going on is very important. 

Before Peter could read any further than that, he heard footsteps quickly approaching his cage. It sounded like multiple people, and by the hurry in the step Peter could tell they meant business. He didn't want to lose the letter, he really needed less interruptions so he could finish the damn thing, but it seems like an impossible feat for now. Looking around the cramped space, Peter noticed an air vent just above him on the wall, nearly on the ceiling, and climbed up to it with ease and stuffed it in the vent so it couldn't move from it's spot but also wouldn't be seen.

He jumped back down onto his bed right as the footsteps rounded the corner and came up to the metal bars of his cell with a loud clang. There were five soldiers dressed in all black combat gear, they all looked like normal people -nothing like the infamous Winter Soldier- with the man in the suit in front of them along with a scientist (or at least Peter assumed he was a scientist based on the white lab coat).

"Hello, Peter," the man in the suit said in a poisonous tone, "looks like you're all settled in! Please excuse me for poor manners earlier, I'm afraid I have failed to mention my name," he said with a pout and actually looked genuinely sorry, "You can call me, Sebastian," the man finished with a small bow. "And this," Sebastian patted the shoulder of the man beside him, "is our head scientist and researcher, Dr. Hammond." The doctor just shuffled his feet awkwardly and crossed his arms, clearly not interested in the game Sebastian is playing with Peter.

With his hands neatly behind his back and a nod towards the cell, a soldier quickly moved forward and opened the door for another two soldiers to barrel in and harshly pick Peter up to drag him out of the room and follow Sebastian and Dr. Hammond.

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After Bucky's insight of what H.Y.D.R.A. is capable of, the team spent the rest of the afternoon brainstorming ways of finding Peter. Only stopping for lunch at Pepper and FRIDAY's insistence. The hours were ticking by and there were no leads to be found, no answer as to where Peter could have been taken. Everyone was growing frustrated and it didn't help that it felt like they were just sitting around and waiting for Peter to walk through the door. Tension grew even higher when it was nearing 10'o clock that night and it seemed like Peter never existed to begin with.

"Arggg," Tony groaned, "Why haven't we found anything? Peter was here this morning, it's not like he could have apparated to wherever the hell he is now!"

No one wanted to comment, the feeling of despair passing from person to person. The living room had become a mess, empty take-out boxes littered everywhere with even more paper covering the floor.

"It's getting late guys, why don't we tidy up a little then head to bed?" Steve tried to negotiate, knowing that is the last thing anyone here wants to do.

"You go to bed if you want, Capsicle, but I'm not resting until I have my Petey back," Tony grumbled.

"Tones," Bruce tried to reason, "I know how much you want to get him back, believe me, but you can't save him if you're too tired to do anything."

A moment of silence passed as Tony was arguing with himself, knowing Bruce was right but still not wanting to give in. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep much anyways, and his time would be better spent trying to find Peter than tossing and turning in his bed pretending that nothing was wrong.

 The one thing pushing him to bed, is a whisper of Peter's voice in his head, Tony, if you don't take care of yourself then I'm not going to stand here and watch you wither away! It was one of those nights that Tony had already spent three days awake and had no intention of going to sleep or eating something until he passed out. When he got sucked into one of his binges, there was no pulling him out but something in Peter's voice that night pulled him out and made him really look around the room and at himself. His unhealthy habits were pushing away the person he cared about the most, and if he didn't start taking care of himself better then there would be no forever with Peter.

Putting down the tablet and sliding away the holoscreen, Tony got up and grabbed a granola bar before wordlessly walking to his room to get ready for bed. Having seen the most stubborn of their group go to bed, they decided it wouldn't be the end of the world if they took care of themselves too. There is no doubt in their minds that they will find Peter and bring him back, whatever the cost may be.

Watching everyone stumble off to their own rooms, Steve mindlessly walked around the room and cleaned up, throwing away the take-out boxes and putting the papers onto neat stacks on the coffee table. Making sure everything was in place, he made his way to his own room. He sat on the edge of his bed and all the events of the day seemed to catch up with him as his shoulders slumped and his head hang heavy, tears silently dripping onto the carpet below. Steve sat up to look at the ceiling before turning his attention to his favorite drawing. The sight of a carefree Peter made his heart only a little lighter, only for it to tighten and take all the air from his lungs as he remembered what Bucky told them a few hours ago. 

Steve prayed they found him soon, he prayed that Peter will come back to him the same happy and amazing boy that found a way into each of their hearts. Deep down, Steve knows. He knows that's only wishful thinking, Peter will never be the same boy he once was.