Pride Is Not The Word I'm Looking For

THE FINALE (PART I)

-+*^*+- Tony -+*^*+-

It had been more than 64 hours since Peter disappeared and Tony still had no idea where to look. His hopes were crushed. The only possible lead they had escaped. Tony had detectives combing the city but it was no use. They couldn't find him.

It was almost hopeless. The gaping hole left in Tony's heart only grew with each minute that Peter wasn't around, his anger growing with it. He became irritable, aggressive, harsh, and bitter as each hour passed. He obsessed over the maps of the cities, background on The Blue Death, and everything else he could think of but nothing was working. Nothing was working...

-+*^*+- Loki -+*^*+-

"For Odin's sake-" Loki muttered, kicking a bottle across the empty sidewalk with hidden fury. He had been looking for hours, just walking through the streets hoping something, anything would lead to Peter's rescue. Some clue- some sort of hint. So far there was nothing and he was starting to get aggravated.

The god walked past his school, the old cafe's the kid used to love, ice cream shops, and everything but there truly was no way to figure out where he had gone. The sinking pit in Loki's heart remained the same, dulling his senses and throwing him into yet another pit of depression he hadn't experienced since the death of his mother and his time in a cell in Asgard.

Without the Spider-ling his world had begun to dull, turning to shades of melancholy gray. The trickster continued to walk, his hands in the pockets of his long, black winter coat, already giving up and mourning the loss of one of his best friends. He wouldn't stop looking, at least for now, but his steps slowed, his eyelids blinked slower, and his once present smirk and smile long gone. He could only hope Peter wasn't hurt.

-+*^*+- Natasha -+*^*+-

Natasha took the search with fierce dignity. Her expression never shifted from harsh determination. She wasn't giving up on Peter. She vowed to herself to kill- if not do worse- to the person responsible. To the person who took her light, her star, her baby spider. The kid didn't deserve anything like this. After all he had been through he didn't deserve this.

She was out. Patrolling streets, searching for any hints, any clues, any traces of the boy that changed her life. Nat was searching the web, looking through hoards of dark videos in search of a familiar face. His face. She was everywhere and nowhere at once, always working to the point it concerned Fury to an extent to see his best agent obsessing over a simple teenager.

He tried confronting her about it once and all he got in return was a harsh glare and threat. He removed all responsibilities and missions until she found him. Be it dead or alive.

Still, her search continued but nothing was found. Not a trace, not a hint, not a clue. Absolutely nothing. They were at a standstill, completely helpless until something popped up.

-+*^*+- Peter -+*^*+

His head pounded. He squeezed his eyes shut before snapping them open quickly, shaking his head and groaning. A hoarse, desperate sound, like an animal on the brink of death. His vision swam, inky, swirling little shapes taking place instead of his normal enhanced vision. Everything felt wrong.

He looked down at his arm lazily. His eyelids drooping, so close to closing one could have mistaken him for sleeping. It felt wet, damp, and sticky. He pressed his other's hand's fingers against the arm in the pitch-black room, feeling something wet. It wasn't blood. Something else? His eyes widened just a little bit at the realization. His wound was infected.

Peter turned his head, letting it rest on the wall behind him. A small sob broke through the stifling silence. His shoulders jerked and small sparkes of pain ran up his body with each movement. A few tears gathered in his eyes and rolled down his face as he stared up at the ceiling. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go home. He wanted Tony, Nat, Loki. He wanted his friends. He wanted to go home.