Spider-Man: Unmasked

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Peter?!  Peter, where are you?  Are you oka-" Steve was cut off by his and Peter's connection going dead.  He cursed and tried to talk to Clint.  "Clint!  Do you have a visual on Peter?!"

"Steve, I'm sorry," Clint said quietly.  "I've gotta get The Cradle to Stark."  He heard Clint's line go dead and groaned.

"No, please no," Steve muttered.  "Not again, no."  Steve's world seemed to crumble around him.  He had lost Peter before.  He couldn't lose him again. 

"Captain," a familiar Russian accented girl said loudly.  "The train."

Steve focused vaguely back in on reality.  He tried to readjust to his surroundings again. He was on a train with many passengers on board that Ultron had shot a hole through the front of, causing it to lose the ability to brake. Maybe not the best place to zone out in.

"There are civilians in our path," Steve said distractedly, pointing to the front of the train. They were off the tracks and now speeding along the road. Pietro Maximoff - the fast twin - nodded and rushed out with his speediness.

Steve turned to Wanda, the weird twin. "Can you stop this thing?" He asked. Wanda nodded and started doing her magic thing, red mist coming from her fingers.

The twins had appeared to have had a disagreement with Ultron, maybe seeing him as he truly was. The had fought against him and then they arrived on the train when Ultron was still on and hadn't shot a hole through the front of the train. Steve didn't completely trust them yet, but he felt he needed to give them a chance.

Steve was thrown back as they went through a wall. Wanda stumbled but stayed surprisingly firm. He groaned and stood up as the train slowly came to a stop in the middle of a now almost empty street, thanks to Pietro.

Steve caught his breath and then went and helped usher passengers off of the train, the passengers happily complying. He then went over to the Maximoffs, Wanda standing in front of an exhausted looking Pietro.

"I'm fine," Pietro insisted, panting. "I just need a minute."

"I'm very tempted not to give you one," Steve said, focusing now on the problem at hand. Peter was gone. Taken by Ultron. "Now where the heck is my son?"

"We don't know," Wanda said, turning to face Steve. "The Cradle, did you get it?"

"Tony will take care of it," Steve said, anger rising. He kicked a piece of debris on the ground from the train wreck. "But that is beside the point! My son has been stolen by a murderous robot, and I have no clue where he is!"

Wanda and Pietro exchanged looks, a bit of worry in their eyes. Whether it was for Steve's sanity or for The Cradle, he couldn't tell yet. Maybe both?

"No, he won't," Wanda said, focusing her gaze back at Steve.

First they don't tell me anything that can help me find my son, Steve thought. Now they're insulting my husband.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Tony's not crazy." Steve shook his head. While his husband did act a bit reckless from time to time, he wasn't crazy. He held back the urge to just leave these two for the police to deal with. No, they were too powerful for just the police.

"He will do anything to make things right," Wanda argued. Steve immediately recognized how right she was about that.

Steve turned away and started trying to contact Tony over the earpiece. "Tony, come in." No answer. "Tony." Nothing. "Anyone on comms?"

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it," Wanda said from behind him. "Where do you think he gets that?"

——————

Tony watched on the roof as Clint and Natasha walked out of the jet, Cradle between them, solemn expressions on their faces.

"Perfect!" Tony said, smiling. He was somewhat relieved. He glanced back up at their faces and his smile flickered. "What's with the long faces?" He looked around and noticed that Steve and Peter weren't coming out of the jet. "Steve. Peter. Where are they? Still fighting?"

Clint looked down and Natasha spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "Steve is back stopping a runaway train, thanks to Ultron. And Peter..." she looked down as well and went silent.

"Tony, Ultron's got him."

Tony froze. He couldn't have heard Clint right. Ultron couldn't have Peter. He just couldn't. Tony rested a hand on The Cradle, trying to steady himself.

"One of Ultron's robots grabbed my foot while I was in the air getting The Cradle. It was about to fly away with me when Peter... when Peter came and attacked it. I got free, but..." Natasha went over to Tony. "I'm so sorry."

"That reckless little..." Tony laughed coldly, in shock. This couldn't be happening. He was shaking slightly. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault."

"Stark, you know that's not true," Clint said, sitting on The Cradle.

"I created Ultron. I made him, thinking he could bring peace. That he would end the fight. But he didn't. Now, Ultron has my son, and I don't know where he is or what the heck Ultron is going to do with him! I let him go on that mission. Tell me, Barton. How is this not my fault?" Tony sat on The Cradle, holding his head in his hands.

"Tony?" Bruce said quietly. He was by the door on the roof behind him. Everyone turned back and faced him. He hesitated before continuing. "We should go into the lab. Start working on The Cradle. We need to get this out of the open and we can't get Peter until we make sure he can't use The Cradle and we get rid of what's inside."

Tony nodded. "You're right," He said distractedly. He stood up. "Let's go." He made his way down into the tower with The Cradle with the others' help.

Natasha rested a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Hey. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Tony said shortly, not meeting her gaze. "I'll be fine." He continued down with The Cradle.

"We will find him, Tony," Natasha assured him. Tony just nodded and stayed quiet.

But how could they find Peter when Peter didn't even know where he was?