a sky full of stars {Irondad - Febuwhump}

When the sky is losing light, I swear my head fills up with memories

Febuwhump Days 25-28 - Presumed Dead, Freeze to Death, Glass, Post-Tragedy 

{TW: Minor Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence}

*

His breaths puff out of him, visible in the frigid air.

Kidnapped again.

He'd only been kidnapped a handful of times before, but being both Tony's Intern and Spider-Man had some pretty obvious downsides. It always ended fine, a grand rescue mission ending with Tony coddling Peter in Medical.

It never took longer than mere hours for him to be found, always covered in trackable devices or taken by people who underestimate Tony's genius.

But this was different already, Peter could tell.

The man speaking to him from the other side of the glass-walled enclosure Peter's in, isn't interested in using Peter for ransom like most others are. He doesn't even seem interested in hurting Peter, doesn't step inside the enclosure at all.

And worse, Peter recognized the man pacing. He was one of the police officers constantly chasing after Spider-Man, believing he was failing the city, all of the bullshit that the Daily Bugle puts out. He'd tried to arrest Peter a few times before and had even started shooting at Peter as he swung through Queens.

No matter how much good Peter did, police officers like him would always believe he was a menace.

"Did you know," the man starts, dress shoes clicking against the ground as he paces. "that over thirty percent of the criminals you web up end up free to roam the streets within days of arrest? Did you know that we still have to present the criminals to the judge and jury nearly evidence-less, and they're proclaimed innocent until proven guilty? Did you know that the majority of the criminals set free after you play pretend police with them, end up doing more crime and hurting more people?"

Peter does know that. He watches the news as often as he can, he's got access to files and information through Tony and FRIDAY even if he's not technically supposed to see it.

He knows it and he hates it. He keeps tabs on all the criminals and he gives them the benefit of the doubt, hoping the close run-in with the cops will get them to turn good, but it rarely works out that way.

Peter keeps his mouth shut, testing the chains that hold him to one of the four glass walls, metal freezing cold on his wrists, but they're too strong.

"There's an obvious solution here, spider," the man says condescendingly. He taps at one of the two guns that sit against his hips. "Bullet right in the forehead. Get the job done for real."

Frowning, the young hero shakes his head. "That's not right-"

"If you don't, you're letting these criminals walk free." The man, shakes his head, leaning up against the glass. The name tag on his shirt reads David Walker.

"That doesn't mean I can start killing people just because they did something wrong."

David scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Let's start with a man you webbed up three months ago, alright? His name was Scott Paterson. Scott's a drug dealer, he's got a few counts of assault under his belt, even had a charge of arson. You caught him three months ago in a drug deal gone wrong. Scott was webbed up and we collected him. He was out on the streets again within two days."

Peter doesn't remember Scott. He believes David, but it's hard to remember specific names or crimes that he stops on the daily.

"Two weeks ago, we found Scott in his apartment," David continues. "He had been in the process of moving out of state to avoid being caught because he'd killed two guys who were witnesses to Scott's crimes."