Helpless

1: Blood In The Dark

A/N: I don't know, I needed some angst, you know? It's been done so many times but I'm doing it anyway :)

Tony's head is driving him mad.

Not his brain, either. It's his head that feels like it's swimming, which means he'd been drugged, just what he needed to ruin the week he'd planned to spend with his son- uh, intern, his intern.

He goes to rub his head but his hands don't move, an obvious clue that he's been tied down, again. Sighing to himself, he finally pays attention to his surroundings and notices he's in a dimly-lit square of a room, sat on a metal chair with metal straps around his wrists and ankles. It's uncomfortable and cold and clearly designed for long-term use.

The world is still blurry and he can't see more than a few centimetres in any direction so he doesn't know if he has company or not. Clearly, this room is designed to confuse whoever is placed inside, which probably makes it more useful for getting information out of people.

Great.

The last thing he needs is someone taking him hostage or getting revenge or whatever else excuse they seem to be making these days. He's not even scared anymore, he's just utterly fed up of being stuck in a position where he doesn't have the tiniest amount of control.

"Mister Stark?"

Scratch that.

He's scared.

He's so scared.

"Pete?" He asks, hoping nobody replies and that he'd been imagining things. Madness, or anything else really, would be preferable to his kid - his intern, he's just his intern - being here too.

"I'd hope so. Mister Stark, are you alright? You've been out for hours!"

Hours? It takes him a minute to remember Peter's enhanced metabolism would reduce the effect of drugs. He kicks himself for taking so long to regain consciousness and leaving the teenager to try and cope by himself, the only silver lining being that the dark reduces any chances of sensory overload.

"You've been alone for hours?" He asks, hating the very idea.

He hears a small, nervous chuckle. "There was a man who came in before but he got tired of my voice so he left."

Tony's eyes narrow at that. He'd left? He can't remember even one kidnapper who'd ever left the room instead of gagging him when he'd annoyed them but there has to be something he's missing.

"And now I'm here," someone announces, clearly having been in the room for a while because Tony hadn't heard any doors open. So that's what he'd been missing...

"Who are you? What do you want?" Tony demands immediately, squinting at the gloom and struggling to locate the source of the voice.

"Having trouble seeing?" the voice mocks. Tony holds in his sarcasm, listening out for anything that can help them. He shuts his eyes after a few seconds of silence, still hearing nothing... Until Peter gasps.

His eyes fly open, his limbs automatically straining to get free. "What are you doing? Leave him alone!"

"I'm okay, Mister Stark, really," Peter says, his voice a little strained but not hinting at any injuries. Tony dimly wonders if Peter can still see him, considering that his eyesight is far more advanced.

"Who are you?" Tony asks, less demanding this time.

"Someone whose mentor you'll regret killing," they reply, followed by Peter crying out, stifling it too late for Tony not to hear.

"Pete? Kid, what's happened, what's wrong?" Tony asks, trying not to panic but panicking anyway.

"Enjoy the darkness," the voice says. Footsteps echo and a door opens to the left of Tony, letting a tiny amount of light in.