Family is More Than Blood

Blood

  Hey guys! I just wanted to say that I'm a really new author so any encouragement at all is welcomed and thank you for all those who have left amazing comments. Thanks for sticking with the story even through my bad updating habits!

Tony swiped through various made up sightings of the Chicago Mob. He needed solid evidence of where the headquarters were. 

"Boss?" FRIDAY asked, and Tony could've sworn she almost sounded nervous.

"What is it?" He snapped.

"Incoming text," she began but Tony cut her off.

"Ignore it," he ordered.

"Sir, the number is unknown, but the area code traces back to Chicago," FRIDAY continued. Tony froze.

"Show me," Tony said.

"Its a video recording," FRIDAY said, "Would you like just audio or audio-visual?"

"Audio-visual," Tony side-stepped his work bench and focused on the holoscreen in front of him. A video began to play, the figures in the scene grainy and hard to see.

"Run face recognition," Tony ordered absentmindedly. Then, the one standing up front began to speak. Tony stared.

"Hello, Tony Stark," Pepper said, but it wasn't exactly Pepper's voice. She never had that hatred underlying her words. She had been angry with him, yes, exasperated, yes, but there was always a certain level of fondness in her speech. Tony winced.

"As you can see, I have been kidnapped," Fake Pepper said, "By whom, and for how long is not something you need to know. However, know that they have Peter Parker, and will kill him if you try to rescue him. Do not test them, Tony Stark."

She turned away, and the video ended. Tony slumped onto the table behind him.

"Fri, you get anything?" he asked hopelessly. First Peter and now Pepper? No - that wasn't quite right. Pepper must have been kidnapped earlier. And he hadn't noticed? Yes, they were taking a break, but that was inexcusable.

"Two things, boss," she said with a little more forced cheerfulness than usual, "first of all, the men with Ms. Potts were identified as members of the Chicago Mob. Secondly, there was an injection site on Ms. Potts neck that I thought you might want to know about. 

Tony sat up, "That means that she has something in her system that's keeping her in the mob's service! They must have gotten a sample of her blood to make a chemical that strong."

"What?" May entered, carrying two sandwiches. Tony gratefully accepted one and explained his findings to her.

"If they got some of Peter's blood," she paused for a moment, recollecting herself, "if they got some of my son's blood, they could potentially create a sedative."

"I guess," Tony said, "but there's no reason to suppose that he has that chemical in him. He may still be Peter."

"Has he been hurt lately?" May asked anxiously.

Tony thought for a moment, "No, not that I can remember. They'll easily be able to get a sample of blood from him now, but to get the original sample to create that strong of a sedative... I can't think..."

"Well, I would hate it if he was hurt in a fight," May said protectively, forgetting that this left them again with no options. Tony froze.

"No, wait," he said, "he had a split lip from a fight a couple days ago with some kid in the school. It wasn't one of his vigilante mission, but it could be that. Do you think-?"

"Mark was the kid that was bullying his friends," May said, excitement building.

"If he's the only one that made Pete bleed, he's the one we want," Tony said, "Warning, though, May. This search will probably lead to nothing."

"It's worth it," May said, "It's for my baby."