Down Came the Rain // Irondad

Chapter Three

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𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡

ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑛
ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛

𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛?

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"Rise and shine!" the kidnappers entered the room, dramatic as always. Peter still laid, unmoving, on Tony's lap— to the point where Tony was worried he wouldn't wake up, let alone survive another round of torture.

"Aw, would ya' look at that?" Goon #1 turned to Goon #2, his tone mocking. "Little baby spider laying on his daddy's lap."

"How cute..." goon #2 grinned devilishly as the pair drew closer to Tony and Peter.

"Leave him alone," Tony growled threateningly, protectively pulling the unconscious kid in closer to him. He didn't care if the goon squad had to kill him right then and there— he was not letting them take Peter.

"And what're you gonna do to stop us?" Goon #1 taunted, his confident smirk making Tony just want to pummel him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Tony exploded. "He's fifteen! He's a kid! Look what you did to him! He can't even stand up!"

Goon #2 shrugged, "The cost of doing business. And, hey, if you really loved the kid so much, you would've given us what we wanted weeks ago. If you wanna be mad at anyone, be mad at yourself."

Tony shook with anger. Because... the truth was... the goon was right. Tony could've saved Peter fourteen days of pain and torture. But... he didn't. If the kid died, that was on Tony. If the kid was injured, that was on Tony. If the kid was scarred, that was on Tony. And the older man would never forgive himself for it...

"Now..." Goon #2 went on, "are we gonna do this the easy way... or the hard way? Up to you..."

Tony narrowed his eyes at the goons, holding Peter close to him. "If you want the kid, you're gonna have to go through me first..."

The goons exchanged a look before Goon #1 shrugged and turned back to Tony, "Alright." He rushed the billionaire, smacking the side of his head with a gun. The last thing Tony remembered was Peter being pulled from his arms as the world faded to black...

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Pain. That's all Peter felt. Every inch of him was in pain, every inch of him wanted to die. His body was shutting down— he could feel it. No longer could he move or even open his eyes. He was hardly aware of Mr. Stark yelling something. Though... he couldn't quite make out what. However, he supposed it didn't matter all that much if he was dying, anyway. Nevertheless, he wished he'd gotten the chance to say goodbye to the man that had become a father to him...

"...still alive?" Peter vaguely heard the last half of something someone was saying. He felt something cold press against his neck before hearing someone else speak. "Yeah. Not for much longer, though..."

"Fuck," a man muttered and, soon, Peter felt himself being lifted off the floor. While Peter couldn't be sure, it only felt like a few moments before he was set back down again. Suddenly, his arms were being held up by something cold and hard— shackles, it clicked in his mind. His wrists ached in protest and his mind began to fade away. But, before he was completely gone, he heard three final chilling sentences.

"Stay here. When Stark wakes up, threaten to kill the kid. If he still doesn't give us what we want, put a bullet through the boy's skull..."

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Tony opened his eyes to a blinding pain in his head. He groaned, squinting up into the light. He soon remembered where he was and what had happened.

"Peter," he croaked, eye landing on the boy's limp body chained to the wall across the room. "Pete- Peter!"

"Don't worry," a cold voice said. Goon #1, Tony thought, scowling to himself. "He's fine... for now. However, I can't promise he'll stay like that if you don't give us what we want."

Tony thrashed in his shackles, "You son of a bitch-"

Goon #1 let out a soft tsk, tsk, tsk. "Best be careful with your language, Stark. I've heard dear, old Captain Rogers isn't a fan of that naughty talk."

"I'm gonna rip your fucking skull out of your fucking head," Tony growled, anger coursing through his veins. He pulled at the chains binding him, wanting nothing more than to break free and beat the goon into the ground.

"Go for it," Goon #1 smirked, making his way across the room to the unconscious teenager. He grabbed Peter's dirty, brown hair and lifted his head. The boy's eyes remained closed— much to Tony's horror. He watched as the goon used his free hand to pull a gun from his pocket and hold it to Peter's head. "But for now, tell me where the nukes are... or little Spider-Boy gets a bullet to the head."

Any resolve Tony had disappeared when he saw Peter's blood and dirt covered face. He couldn't condemn Peter- a mere child- to death. He couldn't let that happen. He had to talk. All he could do was hope to God the Avengers would stop the goon squad before they incinerated half of the world.

Just when he was about to open his mouth, though, he heard a soft— almost inaudible— voice speak up, "Don't- don't give them anything, Mr. Stark," Peter whispered, a tear slipping down his cheek. "I'll be f- fine. Just- don't give..." a soft sob involuntarily escaped his lips, "don't give them anything..."

"Peter..." Tony felt a tear slip down his cheek at the sight of the broken and beaten boy, "they're gonna kill you..."

Peter gave Tony a weak smile, "It's okay... Just t- tell May that I- I love her, yeah?"

Tony nodded, unable to stop the oceans of tears streaming down his face as their kidnapper cocked the gun held against Peter's head.

"M- Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, voice cracking.

"Yeah- yeah, Pete?" Tony did his best to stay strong, but was, overall unsuccessful.

A solitary tear slipped down Peter's face, "Thank you for being my dad..."

Bang!