The quinjet flew through the air, Clint was piloting - much to Tony's dislike. They had argued over it for a while, and eventually they decided to settle it with rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock.

Barton had won: leaving a annoyed Tony Stark sat at the back, with the rest of his team.

"So what's the plan, Capsicle?"

Steve rolled his eyes at Tony, gosh he hated that nickname: "Well the base is reported to be another three kilometres out into the ocean. We go in and do what we do best."

There was a pause of silent, as everyone readied themselves for the mission.

"I think it's where they took my kid."

Everyone's eyes were on Tony, all equally confused at the man's sudden statement.

"The men outside the warehouse, had Hydra symbols on their uniforms. They've tried building a super army before - what's stopping them now? What's stopping them from using Peter as their basis?"

Tony suddenly went very quiet. And anyone who knows the man knew that this was very very strange.

Steve looked across at his friend, "Well if the Spider-Boy is there, we'll get him out too."

Peter had been alone in that room for almost an hour, and nothing had happened - except the screen turning on and flashing weird colours, but apart from that: nothing.

He was starving: his insides hurt; his outsides hurt; every single cut on him still throbbed and that was all because of his metabolism. The kid needed more food than the usual teenager, being 'part-spider', as Ned teased, had brought on a whole new meaning to the words portion sizes.

His usually fast healing hadn't happened, probably once more due to the lack of regular meals. Tap. Peter searched around the room, his eyes dashing past the window - looking for the source of the noise. Tap. Tap. Tap. This time he stared out of the window, locking his eyes on Iron Man.

A sense of hope filled the boy, his strength returning... slightly.

He could do this, his mind told him, he had lifted a building before - how hard could this be?

He pulled out the restraints, his face screaming, but his voice staying quiet.

Steve pushed forward onto the top deck; him, Nat and Clint knocking out (or killing) every agent that stood in their way.

Bruce was still aboard the jet, reading. He didn't really want to be down in all the action. No siree!

Tony had been flying all around the floating compound, searching for Peter. And he had found him.

f i n a l l y......

He could see his son, Peter, tied down to a chair - facing a weirdly-hypnotic screen. And he had managed to get his attention. Now all he had to do was break down the wall, save his Spiderling.

Peter finally broke his restraints, catching his breath afterwards. He took a step back, catching Tony's look: telling him what was about to happen.

BANG! A large hole appeared in the wall, revealing the metal man who had created it. He picked up Peter, and decided to fly back up to the jet.

Peter's safety was all that mattered to him.

Steve and the assassins, had quickly 'disposed' of the Hydra agents. And had taken all of their important research. Most of it seemed to be about super soldiers.

The memories of what they had done to his best friend flooded Steve's mind. He was glad to get Tony's kid out this, nobody should go through the same as his Bucky.

They had left him back at the Tower, not wanting to trigger any PTSD. Bucky claimed he had none - but the White Wolf was known for being brave. Sometimes too brave.

Steve called Fury: telling him of their find, as they all boarded the jet.

"Hey, Tony, is the kid o...,"

Tony interrupted Steve, in a hushed voice, "He's asleep. I don't know how much rest he's had recently, so I'm just gonna let him rest."

Steve nodded, understanding the billionaire. And when the rest of the team were settled, they remained silent too.

Tony sat by Peter's side, waiting for him to stir. The poor boy had been through a lot, the man thought, too much.

He had been sat there for hours, but he couldn't leave the kid's side - he was worried about him.

Peter's eyelids began to flicker, but his reaction to waking up was far from what the older man had expected.

Peter sat up and immediately started punching weakly at Tony. The man held the boy by his shoulders, and just let him get it all out.

"Hey, Pete, it's me. You're safe now. You're safe."

Tony kept repeating those few phrases, trying to calm the teen down.

Eventually, Peter stopped: his face covered in tears, "Mr Stark?"

Tony smiled at the boy, "Yes, Underoos?"

Peter embraced his mentor, his tear-stained face nuzzled into his shoulder. He couldn't stop them from coming; he was home, he was finally home.

"I love you..."

Tony's face lit up, those were the three words he had been wanting to hear, for a long time. The kid had been through a rough patch, and him saying this now just made Tony feel even happier.

"Dad."

The last word echoed through Tony's head. Did Peter just call him dad? How... Why..... What..... he didn't know what to say - but when the words finally came to him he replied.

"I love you too, my little Spiderson."