Spider-Man Whump

Hostage

Tony struggled against the bonds tying him to the metal chair as Hammer shoved Peter on his knees. Hammer pulled his gun from his belt and clicking off the safety placed it at the back of Peter's head. The boy went rigid.

"I'm giving you one chance, Stark," Hammer warned. "I believe the three of us know what will happen if you refuse to cooperate."

Tony couldn't tear his eyes from the kid kneeling in front of him. Never in the time Tony had known Peter had he ever looked as young as he did now; eyes wide and scared, searching for comfort that Tony couldn't give.

Not again, he thought, mind flashing to the red dirt of Titan, millions of miles away. Not again.

"I'm going to count to three," Hammer stated calmly. "If I reach three. . . well..." Hammer chuckled.
A cold hand gripped Tony's heart, twisting and crushing, as an overwhelming wave of panic washed over him. He forced his eyes from Peter's face and glared at Hammer.

"I've told you already, the stones are gone. I snapped them out of existence, they're gone-"
"One."

Heart beating faster, Tony glanced at Peter, who's breathing was hitching with every second.

"You'll be fine, kid," Tony promised, voice trembling. He turned to Hammer. "I don't have the stones, what do you want me to tell you? They're gone!"
"Two," Hammer growled and pushed the gun roughly against the back of Peter's head. Tony saw the kid swallow hard, struggling to keep his face expressionless.

Fighting to keep his emotions in check, Tony raised his eyes, shaking his head and pulling at the bonds. "Listen, don't hurt him! Please! He has nothing to do with this! The stones are gone, I can't get them! I would give them, if I could, but they're gone, they're-"

A splatter of red accompanied the loud crack that filled the room, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Tony kept his eyes averted as blood slid across his cheeks, unable to look at the body slumped on the floor.

The kid.

His kid.

His Peter.

"Three," Hammer finished, lowering the gun.

The room was still, filled only with Tony's ragged breathing. But he didn't hear any of it. He didn't hear the blood rushing through his head, or his heart, pounding rapidly against his ribcage. He only heard the silence. The silence that would forever haunt him after this moment, following him around wherever he went, hollow and heavy. Peter was never silent.

Unable to keep his eyes away, Tony looked down at his kid, soft curls now matted with blood, a pool of blood forming beneath him, brown eyes that had once been so full of love and life now dull and emotionless.

A shell of the person Tony had known.

You'll be fine, kid.

"I won't stop here, Tony," Hammer said, stepping over Peter's body like it was nothing, and leaned down so his face was level with Tony's. Tony couldn't tear his eyes off the kid. "I won't stop with the kid. I'm going to go after everyone you love."

But Tony wasn't processing any of the words he was hearing. He was too focused on the existence of something as terrible as Peter's body. His kid's corpse.

Hammer wasn't finished. "You have a wife at home. She's carrying your second child, am I right? Recon you'd figure out some sort of solution for my dilemma if you heard her screaming."

Tony slowly raised his eyes to Hammer's. Rage bubbled within him, burning through the veil of shock that had previously shrouded his world. This man had kidnapped him, forced him to relive his worst nightmare as he had killed Peter, and now Hammer was threatening to hurt Pepper and their unborn child as well?

You'll be fine, kid.

Tony shook with outrage, indescribable loathing dripping from his words. "I'm going to kill you."
Hammer tilted his head as if talking to a child. "I think you'll find yourself too busy with planning a funeral to do that."

Before Tony could react, Hammer rose up to his full height and looked down at Peter. His eyes held no remorse, they held almost no emotion at all. "Pity," he said. "All this could have been everted if you had just promised to get me the stones."
"Fuck you," Tony swore, voice breaking. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He wouldn't give Hammer that satisfaction.

You'll be fine, kid.

"Your rescue will undoubtedly be arriving in an hour or so, by which time I will be long gone.." Hammer unlocked the door and turned around to give Tony one last smile, unbothered by the gut wrenching sight in the cell. "Goodbye, Stark. Keep those you love close to you." His eyes flew to Peter and his lip quirked up. "Or not, seeing what happens to them."
The door banged shut, and Tony broke down.

When the rescue finally arrived an hour later, they walked in to find a broken man, a lifeless child and an unkept promise.