**Deeply sorry for the delay in actually getting back to this. I have major writers block. Without further ado, enjoy!**

MJ and Ned were both dressed in pajamas when they got to the Tower, but the team didn't notice. MJ introduced herself, seeing as she was the only one who hadn't met Peter's super-powered family. She wasn't very impressed or awe-struck, though. She just nodded along with each handshake, then pushed Ned forward by his shoulder.

"Tell them, loser."

"Peter and I were up late playing video games, and then he wanted to go out and get something at the 7/11 on Walnut Street and the last I heard from him, he was on 7th and Elm, near the old office building."

No one noticed the way Ned's voice choked over the lie, nor how he shifted his eyes between Tony and the floor with an expression half way between guilt and fear. They were too busy getting ready for their next move. Ned, on the other hand, was wracking himself with his own internalized guilt. He'd done this. He and Peter had landed themselves in the middle of something big, and now he was lying to keep Peter's secret, and-

"Let's go." Tony rushed around the penthouse grabbing maps, coms, and weapons. He tossed Natasha her thigh holster, which she caught easily. "Can you guys stay here and be base?" The all but frantic father looked over at Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper, who were all too happy to pitch in where they were needed.

"I can get street views from the traffic cams," Ned said, pointing over at a laptop. "Would that help?" He couldn't stand around and do nothing when he was equipped to be Peter's right-hand man, especially if Peter was being tortured somewhere.

"How do you know how to do that?" Pepper asked.

"Peter showed me." No one even registered that Peter had taught him how to illegally hack into a city database. No one even registered that Peter shouldn't know how to do that.

Ned got down to business, pulling out a chair at the table next to Pepper and dragging a laptop away from Happy and to himself. He quickly hacked into the city's database for the cams and brought up the view of 7th and Elm. Everything was dark at this hour, but there, in the very edge of the screen, was the glow of a light through an office building window.

"Let's check it out," Steve said, throwing his shield over his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natasha woke up slowly, her head bobbing from side to side and she tried to shake away her sleepiness. The last thing she remembered was... 

The team was spread out across the city, each one narrowing in on 7th and Elm so they covered all possible grounds Peter could be. It was Clint who first noticed them.

"I think I'm being followed," the archer said in hushed tones. His voice was barely audible over the coms, but the team picked it up easily enough.

"Backup?" Natasha offered.

"No, I'm okay. Be alert, though, I don't think he's just some random stalker."

It was only then that Natasha started to notice the man trailing her by half a block. She ducked down a side  ally to cut over to another street, but even after weaving through the crowds and cars on the other side of the ally, he was still following her.

"I'm being followed as well," she said quietly.

Tony seemed more worried about Natasha than he was about Barton. "Do you need backup? I can fly over."

Natasha scoffed. "Chances are there are multiple tails. We should try and lose them, but continue to the office building. Peter's most important right now."

The team moved forward with the plan, each one getting closer and closer to the city block where they hoped Peter was.

Just as Natasha was about to step into the intersection, she heard a deep thud and the sound of someone gasping.

"Hey, what was that? she asked. "Sound off."

"Clint."

"Tony."

"Thor."

"Steve."

It was Bruce, then. There was another thud. A sound like metal hitting a hallow drum. And then Natasha was fighting her stalker off, weaving under his arms and dodging blows. The pipe came out of nowhere. She felt cold metal against her cheek, then rough brick as she fell against the side of a building. The last thing she saw before darkness covered her eyes was the rest of the team being carried across the intersection.

Natasha reached up to feel her face, but her hands were shackled to the wall. She pulled but it was no use. Looking around, she could see Clint and Thor both chained to the same wall as she was, but Steve and Bruce were opposite them. Tony wasn't there.

Tony wasn't there.

Tony wasn't there.

Natasha thrashed against her restraints, the cold metal clanging horribly against the concrete. It started to echo louder and louder in the makeshift cell, the harsh sounds bouncing off the walls and ringing in the ears of the others in the cell with Natasha.

"What- What-" Steve began to stir, his head pounding. "What is-"

Clint spasmed awake, his legs jolting out as if he was getting ready to run.

"Natasha!"

The woman stopped pulling her arms and legs at the sound of her teammates getting up. She looked over at Clint, who had called her name.

"Clint!"

"What is going on?"

Steve pulled on the chains. He had hoped the super strength would be enough to pull himself free, but the metal held fast. It had to be specially reinforced for super-strength. It had to be. It had to be some sort of-

"Where's Tony?" Natasha's hurried question dragged Steve out of his thoughts and woke the rest of the team up. Thor looked around with big eyes, while Bruce grit his teeth and tried to hold back his green friend.

"Where's Tony?" Natasha repeated, her voice desperate. "Where- Where is he?" A sob choked her words, making them break and stutter at the end.

Clint tried to scoot closer to her, but the chains only let him move a few inches. "Natasha, he's fine. He's Iron Man. He's fine."

"Does anyone know what's going on here?" Steve was looking around his shoulder, trying to get a better look at the chains for any sign of a mark or brand that might clue them in to who had got the drop on them.

Natasha shook her head. "Last thing I remember was being followed, then I got knocked out. I woke up here."

The rest of the team continued to struggle against their holds and try to remember where they were. Who had attacked them. Steve was the first to give up.

"There's no way we're breaking these chains," he said with a sigh. "It'd be stupid to waste our energy on it."

Natasha glared. "We still don't know anything and Tony's not here and Peter is out in the city somewhere."

It was as if she'd said some magic words. A light flashed on, blinding the team as their eyes tried to adjust.

"Ahhh, the Earth's mightiest heroes. Welcome!"

A man dressed in all black Kevlar and strapped with a few guns on each hip stepped into the cell, his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a plasticy smile on his cold face. He had the HYDRA symbol on his shoulder and the team visibly tensed.

"HYDRA," Steve said quietly.

"You're familiar with us, then?" the man asked, his smile never wavering. "We thought you might be. You Avengers always poke your heads into places they don't belong." The Russian accent was thick and when he spat the word Avengers back at the team, it was almost acidic.

"We were looking for you," the man continued. "We wanted to knock you down a peg, as they say, before you got too big. Before you got too powerful. And then, something strange happened."

The man wove his way between each of the superheroes, his voice lilting. He bent down to Natasha's ear.

"A little spider found out about the plans, and he was protective."

The team bristled at that. Spiderman was trying to protect the Avengers from HYDRA? That was why he'd been seen at a HYDRA base that night, when Fury had gotten them to tail the new hero. That's why he went soft on the team whenever they fought. That's why he was so apologetic.

"But then, we lay a trap, and he came to us. He came to us and you came for him."

Natasha furrowed his brow. The team hadn't come for Spiderman. They didn't even know Spiderman was captured!

Another metallic thunk and the buzz of electricity exposed the other half of the cell in bright light. Tony was cuffed to a chair, his hair hanging over his eyes in matted curls. He was asleep - or drugged - and Natasha struggled against her chains again.

By the wall, at the opposite end of the cell, was Peter. He was chained, like the rest of the team, but he had a busted lip and a black eye. Natasha gasped.

"Peter!"

The teen looked up, his eyes finding the team and widening in hope.

"Tasha! Steve, Clint, Bruce, Thor!" The teen's eyes fell on Tony's body. He shuddered and felt his eyes well up. He never wanted to bring his family into this, he only wanted to be a hero. To help people.

"Dad!" Peter gasped, his voice catching on the tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. "Dad, please, Dad..."

Natasha fought her chains harder, wanting more than anything to get over there, to Peter, to hold him. "You let him go, you sick sons of bitches!" Natasha screamed. Her wrists were red and bleeding and bruised, but she didn't care. "He's a kid! A kid!"

The man in black laughed, his head thrown back in mock amusement. "You have no idea, do you?" He turned to Peter, who dropped his head to his chest. Peter wouldn't give this man the satisfaction of seeing him cry. "You didn't tell them, boy?"

Peter shook his head. Natasha and the rest of the team furrowed their brows.

"Well, we'll have to show them, then."

The man snapped his fingers and two more men came into the call, each one dressed in all black with dark, thick helmets covering most of their faces. The were strapped with guns, knifes, and long, thick sticks that cackled with electricity. A taser then.

Peter steeled himself for the tortures he knew were coming. He screwed his eyes shut and balled up his fists, but the pain never came. Instead, he heard Natasha scream.

Opening his eyes, Peter saw the men advance on Tony. One of them had pushed the taser into the man's side, making Tony convulse and writhe in his restraints. The other man made a single slash with a knife, burying it deep in the man's leg. Tony screamed.

"Stop! Stop it!" Peter cried, his voice cracking and pitching as he fought the urge to rip the fucking chains out of the wall. He couldn't... he couldn't blow the cover. He couldn't do that to his family.

"You can make us stop any time you chose," the man said, playing with his own knife. "You can get up right now and make us stop, little spider."

Peter shook his head violently.

"He's not Spiderman, motherfucker!" Natasha screamed. "Stop! Stop hurting him! Peter isn't Spiderman!" Natasha's eyes found Peter's face and words died in her throat. The bleeding lip was gone. The black eye was yellowing.

The man waved his hand and the men continued to shock Tony. The billionaire was slumped against his cuffs now, shaking and sobbing and screaming. Another knife, a single bullet. Peter begged and begged, his eyes locked on the back of his father's head as he was tortured. Natasha was too stunned to move.

"Get creative," the man in black snapped. One of the men grabbed Tony's hand and brought a knife up, as if he was going to start slashing off fingers, but he paused. The man in black had his hand raised in warning.

He stalked over to Peter, leaning in low and close, and whispered. "This is all your fault."

The man lowered his hand. The knife began to fell towards Tony's fingers. Peter pulled the chains from the wall and was standing in a matter of seconds. The knife went flying as Peter catapulted across the room. He threw a well aimed punch, knocking one of the men to the floor before he sprung over the other, snagged a gun off his belt, and shot him in the leg.

It was less than a minute for the teen to have the barrel of a gun against the man in black's forehead.

"You aren't worth my time," Peter hissed, his boyish charm and innocence gone and replaced with steely courage and cold anger. "You lay a finger on my family again, and I will end you."

"Cut off one head, two grow back," the man hissed.

Peter pulled the trigger, his face turned away from the man. The team was frozen where they sat, their eyes wide with fear at the person Peter was in that moment. He was cold, calculating, and...

"You're Spiderman," Natasha breathed. Peter shrugged his shoulder and broke his father's cuffs. Tony tumbled out of the chair and Peter barely caught him.

"Peter?" the man slurred. "How... Are you okay?"

Peter shifted Tony's weight a little so he could support him better. "I'm fine, Dad."

Peter helped Tony sit back against one of the walls, then broke the chains holding the rest of the team. He tried to not make eye contact with any of them. He was too ashamed, too scared, too afraid of what he would see when he looked up at Natasha.

As soon as the woman was free, she grabbed Peter's chin and brought his eyes to her.

"You're Spiderman?"

Peter's eyes flicked side to side to try and avoid the intense stare of the woman he had come to love as his mom. His mom.

"I am."

Peter's eyes swam with tears again, his face pulled up in a fearful stare. Natasha was too cold - too expressionless - to read. In an instant, she moved forward, and Peter thought about flinching away, but he was pulled in for a hug.

"It's okay," Natasha said, holding Peter tightly. "It's okay."

Peter wanted to cry, but he had to get everyone out of there. He had to be a hero.

"It's okay," Natasha said again. "You did so well, Peter, it's okay. It's all okay."

Peter couldn't hold back the tears then. It was okay, he was okay. She didn't hate him for any of it - the lies, the fights, the torture tonight.

Peter sobbed into her shoulder. He startled as he felt another set of arms around his shoulder, but the familiar scent of his father's shampoo and cologne was telling enough. Tony had dragged himself over, still reeling from the torture, and wrapped his own arms around Peter and Natasha. There was a moment, and then the whole team was there, each one wrapping hands around the little family.

Peter choked down air around his sobs, his body wracked with emotion. It was over now. He didn't have to lie. He didn't have to hide himself from his family. He was safe and forgiven.

It was over.