Caught In A Web

Chapter Three - Waving Through A Window

I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass

I'm waving through a window

I try to speak, but nobody can hear

So I wait around for an answer to appear

While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass

I'm waving through a window

-"Waving Through A Window," Dear Evan Hansen

- - -

Tony woke up to pain and the sound of Peter groaning. He went to sit by the wall and wait for something to happen.

Peter's healing had helped with the cuts that he had gotten, but the healing fed on energy and he hadn't eaten since breakfast the day they were taken. 

He was already losing track of when that was.

"Hey, Mr. Stark?" he asked quietly after they sat back-to-back in silence for a while, "Do you ever get scared?"

All the time, kiddo. Every day.

Tony nodded.

"I'm scared, Mr. Stark."

Me too, Peter. Fucking terrified.

Tony turned to the wall and put his hand to the glass again. He didn't want Peter to be scared. He wanted Peter to be safe, at home, with people to protect him. 

Then his head whipped around as a door in the glass wall opened behind him, and saw several of the muscled guards enter the cell.

"Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Hold out your wrists, let us cuff you, and walk where we lead you or we shock you to high heaven and carry you."

Tony actually debated giving them a smart remark and taking the shock, but he had a feeling that since they were taking him awake he'd need to have full control over his senses, so he held his tongue and held out his wrists. The guard who had spoken tightened the cuffs until they pinched and grabbed Tony's arm roughly to pull him out of the cell.

Peter wasn't given a choice. The guard who spoke to him just said "Hands" and dangled the cuffs on his finger. 

Peter, without thinking, just went "...No?" and screamed as a more painful shock than before coursed through his body. The guard pulled him off of the ground by the front of his shirt and held the boy very close to his face.

"You never say no here, mutant. Understand? Never. You look down, and you give me your hands. Now," he dropped Peter onto the ground, "hands."

-

The two of them were taken down separate paths to the same room, a giant empty room with a high ceiling. The guards removed their cuffs and shoved them in, locking the doors behind them. 

Before either of them could move, Stryker's voice boomed through the room.

"Now, this test is simple. Both of you, try to make it to the door at the end of the room." An opening in the wall made itself visible. "One of you needs to do it fast, or it'll be worse for both of you."

Tony knew that Peter was faster than him, but as he looked, the teenager hesitated. And then sat down.

"I'm not playing his games, Mr. Stark."

Good on you, kid. 

But I'm not going to let him make it worse for you.

Tony jogged over to the doorway, and then hesitantly through it. There, he found Stryker holding a long rod buzzing with electricity at the tip. A cattle prod.

"Okay, Tony. Walk back into the room, now."

Tony was more than willing to back away from the buzzing tool of torture. Carefully, he stepped back into the room where Peter could see him.

"Okay, Tony. Since you got through the door first, you get to choose. Are you going to take this shock, or will it be your mutant-child?"

It wasn't a choice he had to think about for even a second.

"Me."

"Mr. Stark, no!"

But Peter was too late. Stryker jabbed Tony in the side with the tip of the prod, and it burned in agonizing pain. Tony's legs gave out from under him as he spasmed and screamed. It seemed to go on forever. Peter got another shock for saying the word 'no,' but the shock of the collars was nowhere near the pain of the prod. As soon as Stryker stepped back, Peter rushed over to Tony to make sure he was alright. He looked at the burn on his mentor's side angrily as he helped Tony to his feet.

"Mr. Stark, you should have chosen me. You're full human, you don't heal like I do."

Tony was still finding it hard to breathe as he attempted to hide the residual pain from the shock.

"Not- Not happening, Pete."

Stryker laughed as he watched the interaction.

"Oh, how sweet. I wonder how many shocks it would take to kill him? I guess we'll find out, since out resident mutant isn't playing. Back to the other side of the room, you two. Let's add a challenge."

Tony grabbed Peter's hand and walked him back across the room. Stryker was still holding the cattle prod, he didn't want to take any chances.

Once they were all the way across the room, Stryker flipped a switch past the doorway. Peter's spidey sense flared up, and he looked up to see panels lowering from the ceiling to make the room into a maze. Stryker's voice boomed across the room again.

"Time to go fast! Winner choses who gets shocked! You're on a timer, so run, run, run!"

With a quick glance at Tony, Peter slipped his hand out of his grip and ran for the nearest entrance to the maze. He didn't want to see Tony in that sort of pain again, and he knew he could do the maze faster than just about any normal human. Tony knew exactly what Peter was trying to do, and he wasn't going to let him, so despite the hunger and the pain he ran. He ran like his life depended on it.

-

Peter made it to the end first this time, panting and sweating after running like all Hell was chasing after him. Stryker grinned like a madman when he saw the boy step through the doorway.

"I knew you'd come around," he said, flipping the switch by the doorway to raise the maze walls again. Tony was nearly to the door, and seeing the look of panic on his face when he saw that he'd lost made Peter feel even more guilty for the choice he was making. "Who is your choice, Bug Boy?"

Tony shook his head at Peter, and Peter mouthed 'I'm sorry' back to him before turning to Stryker and saying "Me."