What Tangled Webs We Weave

Chapter Nineteen

"Ah, Mr.Rogers-Stark. How nice of you to finally join us."

Peter lifted his head up and saw a man sitting in front of him. Except the man wasn't tied up like Peter was. Lucky him.

"You comfortable?" He asked, his Russian accent thick. It's always the Russians, isn't it? Rhino, The Maximoff twins before they went to their side.  Though, he didn't see this dude coming over to his side any time soon.

Peter thrashed around in his ropes. He looked up at the snickering man in front of him. Wait a minute...

"You! You're that weird guy from the park! You were the one watching me! Dang, you were with the emotional terrorists!"

"Nice to know that you recognize me." The man stood up and walked over to Peter. "And I'm not with them, per se, I just provide them with information and they provide me with what I desire."

"You might as well stop trying to break free, these aren't your regular ropes. Believe me, we know you have that strength or whatever, so we made sure we got some that you can't get free of."

The man hooked his hand under Peter's chin, forcing him to look up.  Peter tried to move his head away, but the man kept a firm grip on him.

"What do you even want from me anyway?  What did I ever do to you?"

"Oh, it's not you that we are all after, Peter."

Peter was about to have a temper tantrum.  "Then why the heck have your men - your partners - been going after me and messing with my head?"  He finally got his head free of the man's hand and looked at his ropes.  "And why did you kidnap me?!"  He did his best to ignore the crack in his voice on the last word.

"Because you have been in our way.  Almost every time anyone goes to attack the Avengers - to attack your parents, you stop them from reaching the tower.  The Avengers will 'defend' humanity, sure, but they put too much faith in their security equipment.  You protect them more than they protect themselves."

"So," the man said in a matter of fact tone, "to get to them, we needed you out of the way.  What better way to do so than to pry at you and your private life until you crack?"

Peter's eyes widened.  "No... Leave them alone!"  He strained once again against the ropes, burning his arms.  "Where are they?!"

"In our custody by now."  Peter's heart shattered.  "They'll be dead by tomorrow morning.  If the men do their jobs right, anyway."

"Why you sick, son of a-"

"Just giving them what they deserve.  You'll still have some of the Avengers left.  Maybe."  The man shrugged and stepped back, turning away and facing the wall.

"I'll have to go oversee it, of course.  That idiotic brute Richard Fisk thinks that he's got it all handled, but oh how wrong he is. Of course, he's got enough handled to keep an eye on them. For a while, at least."

Peter immediately recognized the name. "Richard Fisk?" He muttered.

"Who are you?" Peter asked at an almost yelling volume.

"Highly doubt you would even know me, might as well just tell you," he said, tauntingly.  "Plus, if you even try to tell anyone my name, I'll know, and you'll lose more than your parents.  Perhaps that boyfriend of yours?"

Peter blushed, furious.  "He's not my boyfriend!"

The man ignored him.  "Andrei Morozov."  He turned back to face Peter.  "I worked for SHIELD.  The snoops you call parents found out that I had been sending information to other organizations. HDYRA, MAGGIA and many more... they had me kicked out."

"And just when I thought your family couldn't get worse, your father decided to make a murder bot. When my family was in Sokovia, oh, two years ago? My wife, my daughter, my son-in-law, my son, my two grandchildren - all killed. Killed because Steve Rogers and Tony Stark had to make a killer robot and couldn't clean up the mess they left behind."

"The men who have been attacking you? Many of them have lost loved ones to the Avengers. To you. To Steven and Anthony Rogers-Stark."

"Let me get this straight," Peter said slowly. "You're mad at my dads because they tattled on you?"

"Is that not what you're upset about? Are you not afraid that we will tell people that you are Spider-Man?"

Dang, he's got a point. He looked down and stayed quiet. "That's what I thought," Andrei chuckled.

"Sir?" A face of a girl who couldn't have been older than Peter peeked around the door. "Your men are waiting."

Andrei Morozov nodded. "Ah, yes. Ms. Young, keep our guest company, won't you?"

The kid nodded. She looked afraid. Not of Peter, but of this Morozov guy. She stepped into the room and flinched slightly as Andrei touched her arm.

"See you soon, Mr. Rogers-Stark." He walked out the door, leaving Peter and 'Ms.Young' alone.

The girl avoided his gaze, looking as if she was trying to hide behind her light brown hair as Peter basically stared at her. What scared Peter was that he was pretty sure he had seen this girl at school before. He was not going to look away until he had finally recognized her.

"McKenna Young," she said eventually. "My name is McKenna."

Peter's jaw dropped. "You were in my chemistry class last year!"

McKenna nodded. "Yeah, that's me." She looked thankful to not have Peter staring him down, but still looked ashamed.

"What are you doing here? Why do you work for - or with - or whatever with this psycho?"

"I've got no choice," she said, looking down. "That psycho is my grandfather."

"Ew, your grandpa?" Peter's face scrunched up. "Jeez, I'm sorry."

"Wait, I thought he said his grandchildren died in Sokovia?" Peters face softened slightly, confused.

"My... my cousin and my sister, they died in Sokovia. I was stuck with my grandfather, out of the house where we all were staying. We were out of the city, shopping at some big store. When we get back, they're all gone."

Peter looked down. "Wow, I'm really sorry." More guilt draped over him. He had no idea, and he had gone to school with her for the past two years. She had lived in Utah beforehand, so he had heard, and must have moved to New York after Sokovia. After she lost everyone. Peter could relate.

"Unlike my grandfather, I don't blame you. I know your family tried to clean up after your mess. You can't save everyone." McKenna sighed. "After Sokovia, I suggested therapy, he suggested taking down Tony Stark and Steve Rogers... you can tell who won that argument."

"McKenna, you've got to get out of here." Peter shook his head. "Untie me. We can get out of here together and I can get you to safety before saving my family."

McKenna's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? He would definitely find out where we are and he'd just send me to do worse stuff or kill me." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Peter. I can't. If I do, we're both as good as dead."

"McKenna, please. If I don't get out soon, my parents are going to die!"

"And we'll both die if I untie you." McKenna shook her head and looked away. "I will go snag you some food and water."

She went to the door. "Please don't do anything until I get back. I'm sorry, Peter."

As McKenna shut the door, he tried to break free of the ropes.  When nothing worked, he let his head hang. What had he done? One thought bounced around his head as he sat there for what felt like eternity.

This is all my fault. They are all going to die, and it's all my fault.  What have I done?