Family is More Than Blood

Midnight Meetings

Tony waited patiently amongst the shadows, FRIDAY whispering the time in his ears every five minutes. Currently, it was 11:55 and Tony was nearly jumping out of his skin in anticipation. Finally he was doing something productive to help Peter Parker.

Tony glanced behind him at a scared but determined looking May. He wished that she had stayed in Stark Towers, but he knew that he could never beat her in an argument. His mind wandered to Pepper for a moment, the gorgeous woman with nerves of steel and a clever, witty temperament. He missed her - so, so much - and his stomach still roiled when he thought about leaving her behind. To stop himself from throwing up, he didn't think about it.

"Midnight," FRIDAY breathed into his ear, startling him. He peered into the shadows, activating the night vision in his suit. Two figures dressed entirely in black (though it looked green with the night vision) emerged from the darkness into the alleyway. Tony flattened his body against the wall, though the Iron Man suit was making it a bit difficult. He pressed May back as well, and she did not protest. The two were speaking in muted voices and Tony elevated their volume so that he could hear their conversation.

"This kid says he has leads on Tony Stark," the woman said.

"If he's lying, he'll have hell to pay," the man snarled. Tony recognized them from the video from Karen. He fought the urge to punch them.

"Doesn't matter," the woman corrected him, "Swivilla wants Stark to come after Peter, remember? That's all part of the plan. Then we'll ambush him, and Swiv will put him under the serum. Imagine having control of the most powerful man in the world!"

"Imagine being useless servants of the person in control of the most powerful man in the world," the man said glumly, "Because that's what we're going to be."

"No," she shook her head, "We have been faithful. She won't toss us out like garbage."

"Yeah, she will," he grumbled.

"I agree," Tony stepped into the light of a single light on the back wall of the falafel place. They looked at him, astounded and spluttering.  They held up their guns, waving them in what was supposed to be a menacing manner.

"Please," said Tony with a smirk, though they couldn't see his face, "My suit could kill you twenty times faster than you can think. And you need me alive. So why don't we come to a deal, shall we?"

"N-no," the man stammered.

"You really want to die for someone who doesn't even care about what happens to you?" Tony raised an eyebrow - again, a gesture they were blind to.

"She - she does care," the woman insisted, but her voice held a tremor.

"No, she doesn't," Tony snapped. "Don't lie to yourselves. If you come with me, I'll protect you and you can help me get Peter back."

The two looked at each other, silently having a conversation with their eyes. The both looked back at Tony.

"Deal," they said in sync. Tony grabbed them both under one arm, and May with the other.

They were drawing ever closer to his kid.