Chapter Text
Time stretched before his eyes as Peter turned around, a laser bolt zipped from his blaster and punched through the smoke. Juno struggled with two people clad in white padded armor complete with mesh face shields—it reminded him of fencing gear—who were hauling him towards a door. He had been disarmed and with both his arms incapacitated he couldn't break free. The grip they had on him was professional too, these armoured behemoths had training.
Peter's body was unwieldy as he turned and forced his legs to propel him towards Juno. Out the corner of his eye he saw Jet also barrelling towards the door but he wouldn't get there in time. Neither of them would.
Juno was dragged kicking and swearing through the doorway which slid shut with a final 'snick'.
Peter slammed into the door and smacked his palms into it.
"Open this door right now you monsters!" he demanded.
His heart clenched in a way that had nothing to do with the exertion of battle. He didn't have much time to stand and shout before Jet careened into him, knocking him out the way of a stray laser blast, then grabbed his collar and shoved him away from the door.
"No! We have to go back!"
Jet's grip on his collar tightened. "We will return for him," he promised, and his voice was tight. "Buddy has called a retreat, we cannot sustain this assault any longer."
"No–" Peter turned over his shoulder as he ran and looked back at the door at the back of the atrium which was already being overrun by security. His legs wobbled and tried to betray him for his cowardice but Jet was hustling him along the concourse and there was laser fire zipping in the air and no time to stop or think or turn back.
Vespa whipped the car around as they piled into the back and gunned it away from the laboratory. Away from Juno.
Once the building was in the dust Jet let out a deep breath and leaned forward to talk to Vespa.
"We have acquired the chemical you need," he said, pulling a canister no bigger than a coffee cup out his pocket to show her.
Peter blinked. They were talking about the heist...when Juno was gone?
"Good. I wanna see how the Prime reacts to it, wanna see if it can grow with the right environment."
Environment?
"We lost Juno." The words were out of his mouth before he realised it.
Vespa's shoulders slumped and Jet sighed.
"It was–"
"It was what?" Peter interrupted him. "It was necessary to leave him behind? He was right there! We could have forced the door. We could have–"
"Ransom, don't do that to yourself." Vespa's eyes were on the stars ahead of them but her voice was soft. "We'll regroup, Buddy will work out a plan."
"We will recover Juno," Jet promised.
Peter said nothing but curled up around the horrible cold hole in his chest and stared out into space.