"I've got a location"

Tony's breath caught in his throat. "Where?"

"Underground storage facility in Michigan," Natasha responded, frowning at the computer screen. "If we take the quintet we can get there in an hour or two."

"Friday, get Bruce down here," Steve told the A.I. "We may need Hulk on this, is Clint still in retirement?"

Natasha nodded, "until the next time the world is threatened."

Tony began tapping furiously into his phone, "send me the coordinates, Nat. I'm going in my suit."

"Absolutely not."

Tony's head whipped around at Steve's voice. "What the hell do you mean 'absolutely not'? Peter is hurt and quite possible dying we can't risk anymore time, Steve!"

"I know," Steve places a gentle hand onto Tony's arm. "But you're too upset to be flying in your suit. We'll go in the quinjet and that way Bruce can give Peter immediate medical attention."

The genius sighed, the fight in him quickly dissolving, "fine, just- just get the quinjet ready."

Steve nodded, pulling Tony into a tight hug. "We'll be there within the hour."

The journey was short and spent in tense silence. Natasha and Bruce were in the cockpit, quietly discussing the matter. Tony paced the cabin continuously, ignoring Steve's attempts to get him to sit down.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the plane landed and Tony stopped his pacing. "You guys kill the guards, I'll get Peter," he muttered to Nat and Steve. "We'll let you know if we need the Hulk, Bruce."

Bruce nodded and turned his attention to the medical bed, ensuring he had everything necessary for if Peter was retrieved. "Be careful."

Tony merely nodded before leading the trio out of the jet and into the warehouse. "Hammer is mine alright?"

Without hesitation, Steve and Natasha both nodded their agreement. Disagreeing with Tony whilst he was in this state would be suicide.

The inside of the warehouse was oddly empty. A single light bulb hung above the door, casting an eerie light over the room. 2 doors led off from the room, one opening to a long corridor, the other leading to a steep set of stairs.

"We'll take the corridor, Tony, you take the stairs. Make sure your comms are on in case you get outnumbered." Steve instructed in a low voice.

Tony turned without a word and began down the corridor, leaving the other two Avengers to look at each other worriedly.

The stairs rapidly descended for approximately five minutes before Tony reached what appeared to be a dead end. He scoffed and raised his gauntlet, blasting through the wall with ease.

A large, empty concrete room stared back at him, the roof supported by a scattering of pillars. And in the centre of the room, Justin Hammer stood grinning.

"Tony!" Hammer greeted with an overly false smile, "Pete and I were wondering when you'd arrive. He used to ask for you." He laughed sickly, "of course, he doesn't really know you anymore."

The billionaire raised his gauntlet again, "you'd better tell me where he is right now, Hammer. I swear to God, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Oh, I don't doubt that Stark," Justin smirked as he began to walk around Tony. "But I don't think little Peter would like that very much would he? You see, we've grown rather well, fond of each in other over the time he's been with me."

Tony's breath caught in his throat at his words, "what the hell did you do him?"

Justin's laugh rang throughout the room, "let's just say that you'll never have you're Peter back again. He's broken beyond repair Stark. But he's just an experiment isn't he? Who could ever really love a freak like him?"

Before Tony could even process his own actions, he'd shoved Justin against one of the pillars. His hand was around Justin's neck, anger blinding him. "You'd better tell me where he is right now, Hammer."

Rolling his eyes at the underlying threat, Justin merely pointed at the spot that Tony had recently vacated. Tony whipped around and there in front of him stood Peter Parker.

Peter's face was blank, devoid of all emotion as he stared at Tony. His hair hung limply past his shoulders, unwashed and matted. The collar still encased his neck but the handcuffs had been removed. A scar trailed from Peter's cheek, to under his collar, It was pale in colour and raised above the skin slightly.

Tony rushed forward to embrace Peter, pulling away immediately when the child flinched violently and attempted to push Tony away.

"Kid, it's just me, it's Tony, remember?" Tony knelt down in front of Peter, his hands hovering over Peter's shoulders.

"He doesn't know you anymore," Hammer said from behind Tony. "I doubt he ever will. You see Tony, you can take him from me right now if you want. The door is right over there."

Tony stood and turned to stare at Hammer, "and your point?"

Justin merely laughed in response, "he doesn't know you anymore. He's terrified of you. Little Peter here has been begging for me to kill him for a while now." Justin moved to stand behind Peter, "You can't really blame me can you? You can only really blame yourself for not protecting him."

"Get away from him."

"Or what, Stark? Are you going to kill me?" Justin rested a hand on Peter's shoulder, ignoring the way the teen tensed up and flinched.

Tony's look hardened, "you shouldn't have done that." He raised his gauntlet, shooting a blast at Justin's head. It hit him square in the face and he went flying backwards into one of the pillars. Justin lay there motionless, the wall behind him stained a crimson red.

Peter fell to his knees, a dull thud ringing throughout the room. He was trembling, quiet whimpers escaping his mouth. "Please," he cried pitifully, "please no."

Tony swallowed thickly before crouching next to Peter, "it's alright now kiddie, you're safe now, I'm here. Tony's right here, Pete." He pressed a finger to the comms unit in his ear, "guys, I've got him, we might need a sedative. He won't let me touch him."

"On our way," Steve replied, "try and calm him down if you can. We want to avoid using a sedative if we can. Everyone over here has been taken care of."

Tony let out a sigh of relief, "thanks, Steve." He turned his attention back towards the young boy, kneeling down a few feet away. "Hey, buddy, I'm going to take you home now, and you can see all of the Avengers again then. Bucky's been worried about you, but you're going to be okay now. Steve, Nat and Bruce are all here too." His voice caught in his throat when Peter continued to beg for something.

"No, please no, stop," He whined, "Help me, I can't. No, I- please."

Thankfully, Steve came sprinting into the room, Natasha following closely behind him. "How's he do-" Steve stopped mid-sentence at the sight of Peter curled up on the floor, struggling to move away from Tony, begging and pleading with an invisible force.

"I've got a sedative," Natasha muttered quietly to Tony, "You'll have to hold him down though."

Taking a deep breath, Tony nodded and moved closer to Peter, ignoring the boy's weak protests. He gently grabbed hold of Peter's shoulders and forced him onto his back, desperately trying to block out the sounds of Peter's screams echoing around the room.

Natasha moved quickly, plunging the needle into Peter's arm with a practiced skill. "Steve, you'll have to carry him back to the quinjet, the sedative is similar to the ones we use for you but I don't know how long it will last."

Steve nodded and picked Peter up gingerly before carrying the now unconscious boy out of the room.

"Are you okay, Tony?" Natasha turned to face Tony who was still kneeling on the concrete floor, staring at the spot where Peter had been curled up. "We'll get Shield down here to take care of Hammer's body."

"Do you think he's going to be okay?"

Natasha hesitated, "I don't know Tony, but we have the best doctors and therapists back home so we'll be doing the best we can."

She reached a hand down to the aged man who gladly grabbed hold and let the ex-assassin pull him to his feet. They exited the room, made their way up the stairs and outside to the quinjet.

Peter was already lying on the medical bed, an oxygen mask strapped to his face and multiple needles in each of his arms. Bruce was attaching a heart rate clip to Peter's finger.

Tony dropped heavily into a seat next to the medical bed, his head in is hands as he tried to calm himself down. The way Peter had cried and begged in that room?

Tony didn't think he'd ever be able to forget it.