Home isn't just a place

Chapter Twenty-Six

Tony is weary, Peter can tell. It's obvious that he doesn't like the idea of Peter fighting with him, but given the situation there is no other choice. Peter followed Tony out of the lab that he'd been kept in, giving the unconscious Gwen one last guilty look, before the door slammed shut.

Peter takes the time to look around as he runs behind his Dad. Peter had assumed that he'd been taken to the base back in Siberia, but this one was different. He could tell it was a Hydra base by the uniform hallways---concrete, painted an ugly grey with a bright red stripe down the center---but it was obvious it was not the base he was raised in, by the serial number on the wing labels.

The sound of fighting nearby gained Peter's attention. He snapped his head to the left and skidded to a stop, forcing Tony to look back for him.

"Peter?" he called. "What are you---"

"This way!" Peter yelled, turning to sprint down a branching hallway. He heard his father curse behind him before the thudding of metallic footsteps signaled his approach. Satisfied that he was following, Peter raced in the direction of the fight.

He followed the hallways until he reached a large atrium. Peter could see Dr. Zola fighting against Steve in the center of the room. Peter frowned, trying to find the other Avengers but he couldn't see them.

"Peter!" Tony hissed, forcing Peter to look back at him. "We have to go!"

"What? No!"

"Yes!" Tony cried. "I don't want you anywhere near here! Come on, there's a Quinjet waiting outside."

"NO! I'm not leaving! We have to make sure he doesn't get away with my blood!" Peter cried, turning to run into the atrium, only for Tony's hand to grasp his wrist.

"I am not going to let you fight, Peter." Tony said stubbornly. "You're sick---"

"I'm not sick anymore!" Peter cried.

"We don't know that!" Tony countered. "I'm not risking it!"

"We don't have time to argue about this! Steve needs our help! And where is everyone else?!" Peter asked, throwing a cautious look behind him. The fight raged on, and somehow, Dr. Zola was holding his own against Steve.

Tony's face hardened with determination. "I need you to trust me, Peter."

"I---"

"Well, well," a cold voice called, forcing the father-son duo to focus back in on the battle currently going down. Dr. Zola taunted them from the center of the atrium. "2176, how kind of you to join us."

"Give up, Dr. Zola!" Peter cried, moving once again to attack, and was once again stopped by the grip on his arm. "You can't win!"

Dr. Zola merely grinned. "Oh, on the contrary, 2176," he called. "I will win. Then I will prove, once and for all, that the great Zola name will always serve Hydra."

"What a nutcase." Tony muttered behind him.

Dr. Zola's gaze landed on Tony, a cruel sneer resting on his face. "Ah, Mr. Stark, an honor to meet you."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure."

"It is always nice to meet people of your stature," he continued, ignoring Tony's deadpanned response. By now the fighting between the two had toned down some, yet Steve continued to attempt to incapacitate him. Peter could see Steve's confusion written out on his face.

Peter probably would've been confused too, but then, if his family name had been ruined by Captain America, he would've studied his fighting techniques too.