Down Came the Rain // Irondad

Chapter Four

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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?

the itsy bitsy lives another day
but he'd never forget the pain he had to push away

. • ° • . • ° • . • ° • .

Bang!

"Peter!" Tony screamed. That scream was enough to make the earth shake. The soil, the trees, the sun— they all vibrated as Tony called for the boy he'd happily lay down his life for. An oceanic amount of tears streamed down his face as he shook with rage.

That sadness and anger, however, was soon replaced with something very different as he watched the kidnapper fall to the ground with a thud, revealing none other than Natasha Romanoff behind him— holding a still-smoking gun.

"N- Nat?" Tony gasped, not even caring that he probably looked like dirty, sobbing idiot in front of an actual assassin.

"Oh, my God, Tony—" Nat began to rush towards the billionaire, a relieved, yet, worried, look on her face. But, Tony waved her back, gesturing towards Peter.

"The kid— the kid, is he okay?"

Nat hurried back over the teenager, who was slipping in and out of consciousness, his blood smeared all over the floor. His bare chest was covered in gashes, bruises, and blood. As Nat unlocked his shackles, you could see where they'd horribly scarred his wrists.

Nat could tell he was in bad shape— as was expected— but he was alive. She lifted the boy's limp body in her arms as Steve came running into the room, having just taken down the last of the kidnappers.

He froze at the sight of Peter, "The kid..."

"I've got him, Steve," Nat assured the super-soldier. "Go check on Tony." The blue-eyed man nodded and made his way over to Tony.

Nat turned her attention back to the kid as she began to hurry from the room and out to someone that could help him. She had to resist the urge to keep the boy tightly held in her grasps as Pietro and Wanda pried him away. The speedster cradled the teenager in his arms and sped off, leaving Nat to reel in the aftermath of what'd just happened and to wonder whether the child that had become family to her would live to see morning...

. • ° • . • ° • . • ° • .

"Oh, God, Peter!" Ned's screams could be heard all throughout Avenger's compound as he ran around like a chicken without a head trying to find his best friend. MJ did her best to calm him but even she was quite worried. May hadn't said much when she called to say they found Peter. The teenagers didn't even know if their friend was dead or alive...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" a large, muscular figure stepped in front of the kids. MJ recognized him as Captain America. Or Mr. America as Peter called him...
"What's the rush?"

"We're- we're trying to find Peter, Mr. Captain America, sir," Ned explained breathlessly, leaning over and placing his hands on his knees as he struggled to breathe.

Captain America laughed softly, looking strangely like a ken doll and gestured for Ned and MJ to follow him, "C'mon, I'll show you."

"So..." MJ started as she and her friend trailed after the superhero, "Peter's okay...?"

The smile on the Captain's face faltered a bit, "He's alive. That's about all Bruce has said so far..."

Fear spread throughout MJ's body as her breath caught in her throat. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Captain America sighed, looking a bit drained, "He was in critical condition when we found him— so was Tony. Dehydrated, starved... tortured..."

"Tortured?" MJ repeated, unable to breath.

The hint of horror was etched on the superhero's face as he glanced back at the teenagers, "Tony... wasn't really able to speak when he was brought in. But from what we can tell... they... tortured Peter to get Tony to talk..."

Both kids stopped in their tracks, a certain panic settling in their chests. Their minds were blank, and yet, thousands of questions ran through them. They were horrified by what they'd just heard and terrified for their friend's life...

The super-soldier seemed to get what was going on in their heads, because he turned around and gave them a small smile. "Peter's a strong kid, alright? He's gonna be just fine..."

"Do you swear on your life?" MJ asked, masking her fear with intimidation.

Captain America exhaled softly and gave the girl a quiet chuckle, "Yes, I swear on my life."

MJ nodded stiffly, knowing good and well that Steve's promises meant nothing. He wasn't God. He couldn't insure Peter's safety— no matter how much MJ wanted him to...

. • ° • . • ° • . • ° • .

Tony couldn't get one dangerous thought out of his head. It was his fault. As he sat by Peter's bedside, he couldn't help but think how he was the reason for it. He was the reason for the cuts. He was the reason for the bruises. He was the reason for the pain. And he could never take that back...

"Jesus— Tony, what did I tell you about staying in bed?!" Bruce exclaimed as he entered Peter's room, obviously not expecting to find Tony. "You're still in bad shape! You can't be up and walking around!"

Tony just stared numbly at the unconscious kid in front of him, "I don't care."

Bruce sighed and knelt down next to the chair Tony was slumped over in. "Tony... you don't need to punish yourself. It wasn't your fault..."

Tony scoffed and turned to meet Bruce's gentle gaze. He expelled anger. "Then who's is it, Bruce?! Because, last I checked, I'm the one who brought the kid into this! I'm the one who let him go on missions too soon! I'm the one who watched him be tortured every single day while I couldn't go a goddamn thing! So don't tell me it's not my fault when it's one-hundred-percent, totally and completely my fault!"

Just when it seemed as though Tony would drown in the darkness, a soft voice spoke and pulled him back into the light...

"M- Mr. Stark?"

𝚊/𝚗: 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙸𝚂 𝚂𝙾 𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚈 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙶𝚄𝚈𝚂 𝙸𝙼 𝚂𝙾 𝚂𝙾𝚁𝚁𝚈 𝙻𝙼𝙵𝙰𝙾𝙾