Chapter Text
Here’s the thing, Peter would say he is a level-headed, stay cool, treat even the criminals he is fighting nicely, type of guy. He aims to disarm, never to hurt. He attempts to stop the threat with the least amount of damage.
That is, until his wife and son (his infant, not even six months old infant) are kidnapped.
Every thought, every moral, quickly goes out the window.
He sees red, and if it weren’t for Tony being there with him, he would have torn the town apart.
But for now, let’s back up.
8 hours earlier…
“Hey hon! You going over to May’s today?”
Michelle walked out of the nursery, Ben securely in her arms, fast asleep. “Yep, she wants to go shopping for Ben. Lord knows this child doesn’t need anymore toys or clothing, but I can’t seem to tell that woman no.”
Peter’s eyes crinkled in amusement, she was right, telling his aunt no was a lost cause. It was the same story with Tony…and Pepper…and the rest of the Avenger’s really. Ben was the most loved and protected six-month-old out there.
With good reason of course, Ben was the cutest baby alive. And no, of course Peter and Michelle weren’t biased. (Ok, maybe just a little)
Peter crossed the room and pulled his wife into his arms, being careful not to jostle Ben. He planted swift kisses on her lips, mumbling I love you’s over and over again.
“Ok, ok! You sap, we love you too. Have a good day at work. Don’t do anything stupid.” She winked at him as she walked away, settling Ben into his carrier.
“Ughhh it’s not fair,” Peter griped, pulling at his hair, “I don’t want to go to work today, I want to snuggle with you and Ben for the rest of forever.”
Michelle snorted, “Pete, it’s your first day back. We will be fine. You will be fine. Now go get ‘em.” She wrapped her fingers around the carrier, blew one last kiss, and walked out into the chilly morning air.
“Fineeee, I guess I will go to work.”
He pulled out his phone and texted Tony, Coming in today, will bring suit just in case.
Usually they just tinkered around with new inventions or came up with blueprints of new gadgets they could add to the nano Iron and Spidey suits. But today, Peter was hoping to get some web slinging in.
Ever since Ben had been born, Peter had cut back on his Spider-Man duties. He still did patrols and the occasional Avenger’s mission, but for the most part he stayed at home with Ben and Michelle, not wanting to miss a minute of anything.
Ben was six months old now and Michelle would be going back to work soon herself, so the itch to get back into the “norm” was driving him crazy.
As he arrived at the tower, he immediately spotted Tony. His face fell when he noticed Peter was alone. “Where’s Ben?”
“Umm, with Michelle? I’m here to start working again, I didn’t think bringing a baby would be very conducive for a lab environment.”
Tony sighed, “I thought you were just being restless and meant you were going to be bringing Ben around. I miss that little rugrat.”
“Tony, you just saw him like, three days ago.”
“Yes, and that’s three days too long. Have Michelle bring him by later.”
Peter rolled his eyes but nodded, shooting off a quick text to Michelle.
P: Bring Ben by later, Tony misses him.
M: He saw him like three days ago????
P: That’s what I said! Said that was too long.
M: -_-
M: Fine.
P: <3
Peter slipped his phone into his pocket and followed Tony down to the lab.
“So,” Tony said, “I was thinking we start mocking up blueprints and trials for making our suits go invisible. What do you think?”
“You had me at invisible. Let’s do it.”
Peter and Tony worked on Protocol Invisible well into lunch. They would have kept going but Pepper finally came in, sandwiches in hand. “I have a feeling you guys forgot to eat.”
“That would be correct,” the voice of FRIDAY rang out.
“Aw FRI! You are supposed to be on my side! I created you.”
Pepper slapped Tony on the arm, “Don’t be dramatic and eat your sandwich. You too Peter. How’s little Ben by the way?”
“He’s great, I swear he looks more and more like MJ every day, but she says he’s all me.” He chuckled softly, “I think I will call them really quick.”
He quickly left the lab before he could be part of Tony and Pepper’s argument over balancing work and natural human needs, like eating.
He dialed Michelle’s number and pressed the phone to his ear, patiently waiting for her to answer.
Only, she never did. The call went straight to voicemail. Hmm, that was odd. He tried again three more times, and each time it went straight to voicemail again.
He knew he shouldn’t panic, it could be something as simple as her phone had died. Or she didn’t have service…but being a superhero meant he knew what kind of evil lurked in New York so he called May just to be safe.
“Hey, sweetie! What’s wrong? How’s the first day back at work?”
Any other given time and Peter would have chatted up May, but his mind was elsewhere. “Oh, um, good. It’s good! Glad to be back. Hey, is Michelle there?”
“No, sorry sweetie she left about 45 minutes ago. Something about Tony demanding to see Ben? That man, I swear. Thinks he can-,”
“May, May! Did she say if her phone was dead?”
“Umm, no don’t think so. Why, is something wrong?”
Peter tried not to worry, but his heart was starting to thud loudly in his ears. If she had left 45 minutes ago, she should be here by now. Unless something had happened. A hundred scenarios started to play out in Peter’s mind.
“Peter, Peter? Hello?” he heard his aunt calling his name in the distance, he had forgotten he was still on the phone.
“I’m not sure…her phone goes straight to voicemail when I call. And if she left 45 minutes ago, she should be here by now.” He was really starting to get antsy now.
‘Oh, honey, maybe she had to pull over because Ben got fussy. Don’t start worrying yet.”
Beep, beep, Peter looked down, seeing Michelle’s name flash across the screen. He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Hold on May, it’s Michelle calling me back.”
He put May on hold and quickly clicked the call over, “Michelle! Are you ok? Why was your phone turned off?”
“Hello Peter,” a male’s voice answered.
Peter’s blood turned to ice, “Who is this?”
The deep voice hummed, “Oh, I’m sure we will get to know each other really well.”
Peter could faintly hear Michelle’s muffled voice in the back, followed quickly by a sharp wail from Ben. “Someone shut that kid up!” Michelle’s muffled scream filled Peter’s ear, and he could hear her struggling with what he assumed where bindings holding her to a chair.
“If you fucking hurt them! I swear!”
By this point, Tony and Pepper had come into the room. Followed by Nat and Bruce.
Tony quietly signaled for FRIDAY to amplify the call.
“Tsk, tsk Peter. Language like that won’t help you any. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt them. As long as you tell me everything I want to know.”
“Anything, I will tell you anything, just please don’t hurt them!”
Pepper and Nat gripped each other’s hands, tears running down their face.
Bruce turned around and punched a wall, causing dust and debris to billow into the air.
“I want to know how you got your powers, Spider-Man. Every last detail. How it happened, when it happened, and exactly what is it that you can do.”
Peter spluttered, anger flashing in him, “You took my family because you want to know how I became Spider-Man?! It was a radioactive spider, that is now dead!”
The guy on the phone bristled, “That’s not good enough, you have one hour to figure something out. I will call you then. Don’t disappoint me, or someone will pay.” The line clicked off.
Peter grunted in anger, kicking the nearest table, sending it tumbling over. He felt Tony’s hand on his shoulder.
“Pete, we need to be calm-,”
“Don’t tell me to be calm Tony! He has my wife and child! If anything happens to them…”
Tony’s hand gave a light squeeze, “Nothing will happen kid, I promise. We will get them both back safely. I already have an idea.”
Peter scoffed, “Oh ya? And what’s that? Because last I checked all the radioactive spiders were destroyed.”
“Oh, they were. But that doesn’t mean we can’t trick him into thinking I replicated a newer and better version,” Tony answered.
Peter perked up, “Yes, yes, that’s great! When he calls back, explain to him that we engineered a new spider and all it takes is one bite, and voila!”
After convening into a conference room and writing down back up plans on a whiteboard, everyone was ready to go.
Tony was going to do the talking, Pepper was going to be listening for anything that may give something away, Nat was going to trace the call, and Bruce was going to help keep Peter sane. FRIDAY, of course, was already doing camera sweeps of the whole town, trying to catch a trail.
Exactly one hour later and the phone rang.
“This is Tony Stark speaking.”
“Where’s Peter at? I don’t want any funny business!”
Tony put his hands up in surrender, as if the kidnapper could actually seem him, “No funny business. I’m just trying to get my grandson and his mother back. We know what you want, and I think I can help.”
“Go on, I’m listening.”
Tony immediately went into his rant, explaining some mumbo-jumbo science stuff about how he was able to recreate the radioactive spider that had bitten Peter. He sounded calm, cool, and collected, totally believable. “So, what do you think? How about you tell us where you are, I bring the spider, and you release my family?”
The line was silent for a good minute. Peter waited with bated breath, a white- knuckle grip on the chair in front of him.
“Deal, I will text the address.” The line went dead.
“Alright kid, suit up, let’s go. Bruce you come with. Nat and Pepper, start informing the authorities but we don’t want anything happening until we have both Michelle and Ben back safely, got it?”
Bruce cracked his knuckles while Nat and Pepper nodded. Everyone got to work.
Present
Peter swung in between buildings so quickly Tony was sure he was going to lose him, “Kid, slow down, we will get there.”
Peter ignored him, the fire in his veins fueling him onward. If he ever got a hand on this guy, he would beat him to a pulp.
“I know what your thinking and it’s not worth it. He will be dealt with, trust me, but not that way.” Peter sighed; Tony was right.
Finally, they made it outside the building. Peter quickly called the number, “We are here, we will exchange everything at the same time.”
To his right, a door slid open, and a small woman stepped out, a bundle in her arms. She looked frightened, scared out of her mind. She quickly ran over to Peter, revealing a sleeping Ben in her arms.
Peter sobbed in relief, quickly grabbing, and cradling his son. He checked him over three times to make sure he was unharmed.
“I’m so sorry!” the woman squeaked, “He threatened to hurt me! I promise, no harm came to your baby. I was able to keep him quiet.”
Tony wrapped his hands around her shoulders, “Thank you ma’am. We appreciate it, now go get to safety.”
She bolted, not having to be told twice.
Next, a muscular man walked out, dragging a hooded Michelle behind him.
Peter gritted his teeth, gently handing Ben over to Tony.
“Take off the hood,” Peter seethed, “And then you can have your stupid spider.”
The man shrugged, like he could care less, and pulled the hood off.
Michelle blinked a couple times, her eyes adjusting. “Peter! Ben, where is Ben!?”
“Em, he’s ok!” he pointed behind him, where Ben was snuggled in Tony’s arms.
“Let me see the spider,” the man holding Michelle said.
Peter held up the plastic baggy, a little metal spider scurrying around inside.
What happened next went so quick that Peter’s head spun. The man snatched up the bag quickly but kept his grip on Michelle tight. Throwing the hood back over her face.
“Change of plans Spidey, we keep the tech and your girl. She’s cute.”
Peter and Bruce lost it (and Tony but he was holding a child). Hulk mode was activated, and Peter was close to turning on instant kill, his eyes turning red. Every fiber of his body was vibrating with adrenaline, ready to knock this fucker out.
The kidnapper pocketed the spider and quickly pulled a knife, bringing it up to Michelle’s throat. She whimpered, a small trickle of blood dripping down her throat.
On the count of three, Peter nodded. Bruce (now the Hulk), picked the guy up by his collar like he weighed close to nothing. Peter executed a round house kick and the knife went skittering across the ground.
Bruce squeezed his fingers, breaking the man’s collarbone in half. He screamed in pain, losing his grip on Michelle.
She went tumbling forward, right into Peter’s waiting arms. He quickly pulled the hood of her head and pulled her into a hug. She broke down, sobbing into his shoulder. “I was so scared! They took Ben from me! I tried to stop them, but I couldn’t!”
“Em, love, how many kidnappers were there?” Peter asked calmly, wiping her sweaty hair from her face.
“Three,” she hiccupped, “The guy Bruce just knocked out was the leader.”
In the distance, sirens could be heard. Pepper and Nat quickly pulled up to the scene, safely taking Ben to the car. SWAT teams surrounded the building, kicking down doors and hunting down the last two losers.
Two minutes later they were being dragged out in cuffs, being thrown into the back of a van along with their leader.
Peter held Michelle tight, never letting go, until a paramedic came up.
“Uh, Mr. Spider-Man sir, I need to check out her injuries.”
Peter was reluctant but he finally let her go, nodding at the paramedic, “Take good care of her. Her and her husband are good friends of mine.”
He quickly webbed away, hiding behind a building so he could deactivate the nano technology to reveal his civilian clothing. Not even a minute later, he was running back to the scene, quickly going to the car.
“Nat, Pepper, thank you so much for everything. Without you all…” He choked off, tears beginning to fall again.
They smiled, “It’s no problem, you are family. Now take Ben to MJ, I’m sure she’s going crazy.”
Peter chuckled, gently taking Ben, “Ya, good idea.”
Ben cooed, wrapping his hand around Peter’s finger. Peter’s heart melted as he bent down to smoother kisses on his forehead.
Once at the ambulance, he climbed in to sit next to Michelle, “Hey babe, I thought you would want to see him sooner rather than later.”
She made grabby motions with her hands, “Yes, I kept telling them I was fine that I was ok to go but they insisted I wait to make sure I don’t pass out from shock or something.”
She scooped Ben into her arms, breathing in his scent. “I’m so sorry baby, I love you Benny- boy. Mommy and Daddy would do anything to protect you. And those Avengers too, they are crazy.” She winked, making Peter laugh.
Outside the ambulance, they heard shouting, “Where are they? Where is my grandson?!”
“Oh, shit, I was so caught up with everything I didn’t keep May in the loop!” Peter said facepalming.
Michelle giggled, “Ohhh you’re in trouble now.”
He rolled his eyes, “Thanks. Be right back.” He pressed kisses to both their heads before jumping out of the ambulance.
“May! I’m so sorry! We are all ok, a couple scrapes and cuts but we will be ok.”
May scowled, “Getting a frantic call from Nat is not how I want to find out my babies have been kidnapped!”
Peter winced, “I know, I know, I’m sorry,” he wrapped her in a hug.
“We will be ok, promise.”
Behind them, they heard another commotion. Captain America, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Bucky, Black Panther, and Thor rushed in, blazing and ready to go. “Where’s little Ben and Michelle?!” Thor boomed.
Peter facepalmed again, man, did he love his family.