Ross's Last Mistake

Cause we all hate General Ross from Civil War and he deserves this.  Warning: There are descriptions of torture, but they are not terribly graphic.




Peter was terrified. One moment, he'd been peacefully sleeping in his room (which was rare) after a fun evening with Aunt May. The next, a team of government officials were breaking down the door to his bedroom and pointing guns at him. He had woken up to find a man yelling at his men to hold him down and get his hands behind his back. The rest of the memory was blurry, but Peter could vaguely recall Aunt May screaming for them to stop and hearing something about the Accords. Everything else was too blurry and after feeling a prick in his neck, he'd woken up in a glass room.


"Hello?" Peter called, walking towards the wall and looking around. Every other cell was empty. He was alone.


"Don't try to escape."


Peter looked around the cell for the voice and spotted a small speaker in a corner. Underneath it was a video camera.


"We have the power to sedate you if need be."


"Where am I?" Peter asked, looking at the camera. What was going on?


"You're at the Raft."


Peter had never heard of the place, but if the midnight greeting and tranquillizer were anything to go by, he wasn't going to like it.


"Please sit quietly until someone can come down to record your abnormalities."


Peter frowned. Did they mean his abilities?


"Why am I here?" he asked.


There wasn't a response. Peter waved wildly, trying to get the voice's attention. Instead, he got a powerful shock from something around his neck. He dropped to the ground, muscles spasming as the neckband sent a powerful electrical current through his body.


When it finally stopped, he didn't move. What if it shocked him again? What if it did something worse? Rather than test the limits, he decided to just stay put as he had been told. Hopefully Mr. Stark would find him soon.


* * * * *


Tony was furious. When he'd gotten the call from May in the middle of the night, he'd thrown his phone at the wall. The sound of it crashing to the floor and Tony's angry yelling had woken Pepper.


All May had needed to say was that officials had stormed their apartment and taken Peter in order for Tony to know who was behind it. How Ross had figured out that Peter was Spider-Man, however, Tony had no idea. He'd been careful in making sure Ross had no reason to suspect him and hadn't even introduced him to the kid just to be safe.


"I have to go," Tony told Pepper, shaking from anger as he stepped into his suit.


Pepper grabbed his hand as he raced towards the door. He stopped but didn't turn around.


"Peter?" she asked worriedly. Tony nodded and she released his hand. "Give 'em hell."


"Oh," Tony laughed bitterly, "I will."


* * * * *


Peter didn't have a good feeling about this place. His spidey sense hadn't turned off since he got there. When people in lab coats appeared on the other side of the glass wall, it went crazy. All except for a tall, grey-haired man were carrying clipboards. Standing near the back, the tall man crossed his arms and stared into his cell as the people in lab coats advanced forward.


It didn't take long for Peter to recognise him as the man that had been in charge of the attack at his house. Thinking back to the attack, he began to panic even more. Had they hurt May? He hoped not. If Peter so much as heard a rumour they had hurt her, he would break down that glass wall and kill each and every one of the people standing in front of him. He wouldn't even blink either.


"Hello, Peter Parker," one of the lab coats said, "I am Doctor Evan Vasecky. We're here to test your abnormalities."


"My abilities," Peter corrected.


The man in the suit held up a remote threateningly and Peter gulped. He had no doubt that it controlled the shock collar around his neck.


"Calling them anything other than abnormalities does not change what they are," Dr. Vasecky said before turning to one of his colleagues. "Turn down the heat," he instructed, "First we'll test the subject's ability to withstand extreme temperatures."


Soon enough, the temperature in Peter's cell dropped and he shivered. He never did do well in the cold. Ever since the spider bite, he hadn't been able to stay awake. Dr. Banner had told him it was his body going into hibernation.


From outside his cell, he heard someone say, "Subject's vitals are dropping."


Peter felt his eyes getting heavy. His breath came out in puffs as he curled in on himself. God, why did they have to make it so cold?


"It appears the subject is going into hibernation."


Dr. Vasecky watched Peter closely as he slowly slid unconscious. Once he was told Peter had gone into hibernation, he nodded.


"Wake subject back up," he said, writing a note on his clipboard.


Ross pressed a button on his remote and Peter's body seized, but he didn't wake up. As they turned the temperature back up, Ross shocked Peter again. He came to this time, crying out in pain. In a groggy haze, his hands flew to the collar and he broke it off.


The scientists and General Ross stared at him.


"Subject appears to have superior strength."


Dr. Vasecky nodded, keeping eye contact with Peter as he panted heavily, gingerly touching his burned neck.


"Yes, it appears so," he agreed. He wrote another note then looked back to one of his assistants. "Turn the heat—"


He was interrupted by the wall exploding as Iron Man walked inside. Peter weakly looked up at the sound, giving a small smile at Iron Man before collapsing on the ground.


"Hey, Teddy," Iron Man said, raising a repulsor.


General Ross stared at him with wide eyes. Without taking his eyes off Ross, Iron Man shot each scientist, killing them instantly.


"You took my kid," he said, walking towards Ross. In one quick movement, he grabbed Ross around the neck and lifted him up.


"Remember the Accords," Ross struggled to say.


Tony's eyes narrowed from behind the suit.


"I'm sorry, what Accords?" he asked, popping his faceplate off so Ross could see his face.


Ross's eyes bulged as he fought Iron Man's hand around his neck.


"Don't touch my son."


"That creature isn't human," Ross gasped. Below him, his feet kicked wildly and his arms flailed.


"I hope that's what you wanted your last words to be," Tony said angrily. Without blinking, he snapped Ross's neck.


Tossing Ross's body aside, Tony quickly turned to Peter. He blasted the glass wall down and hurried over to where he was still curled up. The burns around Peter's neck from the collar twisted his stomach, but he couldn't focus on that now.


"Tony?" Peter whispered hoarsely.


Tony nodded and carefully picked him up.


"'Knew you'd come," Peter said, head lolling to the side.


Tony's heart raced, but FRIDAY said Peter was just coming out of hibernation so sleepiness was to be expected.


"I'll always come for you," Tony promised.


Peter smiled sloppily and Tony flew up the stairs.


"Boss, the camera loop was cut off," FRIDAY informed Tony.


Moments later, alarms went off and Tony cursed. Flying faster, he made it to the top deck just as guards appeared around him. He pulled Peter closer to shield him from the shots until he was able to shoot up into the air.


"FRIDAY, light it up," Tony said.


As he glanced back, the early morning light became brighter and the floating prison burst into flames. Even from their distance, Tony could feel the heat coming from the fire. Satisfied with the destruction of the Raft, Tony turned and rushed Peter to Stark Tower medical.


While his medical staff treated the burns around Peter's neck and gave him a bed to sleep on, Tony called May and Pepper. He told them both that he'd found Peter and they were in the Stark medical wing. Two minutes later, Pepper and May came racing into the room.


"Peter!" May cried, dropping into a chair beside his bed.


She sobbed as she grabbed Peter's hand and Peter held it weakly. Behind her, Pepper stood beside Tony and waited for May to move before checking over Peter herself.


"Hey, Aun' May." His words slurred together, but he gave her a small smile nonetheless.


May covered her mouth as she let out another sob, looking at the burns on his neck. "What are those from?"


"Oh," Peter said, letting her gently touch the burned area. "They gave me a coll'r. It made me hurt."


May nodded, biting her lip to keep back another cry. Leaning forward, she pulled Peter into a crushing hug and he weakly hugged her back.


"Did you give them hell?" Pepper murmured to Tony, keeping her eyes on Peter.


He nodded, not taking his eyes off Peter.


"Ross won't bother us again."


Pepper nodded. She knew what he meant, but there had been no way to convince Tony to choose another method. Even so, she wouldn't have tried. Some men deserved their fate and General Ross had signed his death certificate the moment he stepped foot in Peter's apartment.

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