A bit of a shorter chapter today. Sorry 'bout that.
Lena Sauran: She'll be okay!
MysticRyter: HAHAHA OMG that's the funniest typo I've ever had. No, that was a complete accident. omg.
Itsgoose2u: Thanks! Oh JARVIS. How I torture him/it so...
Arrows the Wolf: They'll be okay! I promise!
Amelia St. Claire: Thank you! :D
ImmaEnforcer: Haha I know. I'm terrible. And thanks!
Ms. Smooth Criminal: Oh yeah, they'll definitely become good friends. I absolutely love Gwen and Peter being friends. They do really want to kill Steve, but remember this; he will never die. It should be a tradition that Phil does something badass in each installment haha.
morbidly-funny: Thanks! I freak myself out about tests too haha. Totally know that feeling.
Justasmalltowngirl2713: DON'T WORRY THEY WON'T DIE. And thank you. OMG THE MOON. DEFYING GRAVITY. OR WHAT LITTLE GRAVITY IS THERE.
Chapter Ten
Once it was clear that there were no more hostiles in the area, Hulk change back to Bruce and went to look for some clothing. Tony started JARVIS up again and ordered him to recount everything that happened before he was shut down. Steve went to get out of his suit and was already healing from a scratch he got on his bicep. Natasha and Phil took the surviving AIM agents to some holding cells. Hank visited the site of his now destroyed helmet and with the help of Steve, Tony and Luke managed to move the silver man thing to one of Tony's labs. Daisy calmed down Darcy and Jane who were very startled by the whole ordeal.
Fury's voice rang through the Tower as he called for a meeting. Tony got out of his suit and asked JARVIS to lock up the lab nice and tight just in case.
Tony entered the conference room last. All of the others were already in there including Bruce who was holding an ice pack to his head. He gave Tony a weak smile as the genius entered.
"Where's Gwen?" asked Steve right away.
Tony noticed that neither Gwen nor Peter had showed up.
"I'm sure she's fine," answered the billionaire. "JARVIS, where's Gwenie?"
"She and Mr. Parker are not in the building, sir," answered the artificial intelligence.
Tony saw Steve's face drain of color as he registered those words.
"Then where are they?" asked Jane.
"According to the security footage, they were taken by AIM agents."
Steve shot up, but Luke pushed him back down into his seat.
"That would explain why some men were covered in webs," said Natasha.
Other than her speaking, it was quiet. Two of their people had been taken and there was nothing they could do about it now.
"Alright," said Fury who didn't even seem as confident as normal, "Stark, Banner, Pym, I want you all looking at that...thing. Find out everything about it. Johnson, Cage, check on the patients. Romanoff, interrogate our prisoners. Find out everything you can, especially where they took Powers and Parker. Rogers, try not to lose your mind. Coulson, call Morse and Strange. Bring them here. I'll get an excuse for Parker's disappearance."
"Why Bobbi?" asked Natasha and Tony even flinched at the poison in her voice.
"She's been taken by AIM before. She may know where they are and how to save Powers and Parker. If you don't like it, then suck it up."
Natasha fumed silently.
"Everyone get to work."
It was a beautiful sunny day in Los Angeles. The sky was clear and the air was uncommonly warm for this time of year. Television shows were starting to wrap up their seasons in their studios and movie stars were standing off set while the crew set up for new takes.
Barbara Barton sat in a lounge chair on the roof of Avengers Tower. It was her break from trying to track down AIM's location and simply wanted to relax. Her and the others had been working nearly non-stop and were getting nowhere.
She sipped the soda she had in her hand as she stared out at the Hollywood sign. She couldn't even count how many movies had showed its destruction. But she had to admit, it was quite a view.
"Bobbi!"
Barbara sat up and turned to look over the top of the chair. Her husband was walking up to her, a phone in his hand.
"Y'know," said Clint with a smile, "you really need to learn to take this with you."
She smiled back as she took the phone from him. "Thanks."
Clint saluted her and walked back inside the building. Barbara looked down at her phone and saw that Phil was on the line.
She put the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"
"We need you to come to New York," said Phil.
"Hello to you, too."
"The Tower was attacked by AIM, Bobbi. They took Gwendolyn and a teenager named Peter Parker. We need your help in finding them."
"That's what I thought we were supposed to be doing here."
"A Quinjet will be arriving in exactly thirty minutes. You will get on it and come to New York."
"You're not giving me a choice, are you?"
"Just do it."
Without even a goodbye, Phil hung up. With a huff, Barbara got up and went back into the Tower. She took the elevator to Erik Selvig's lab where everyone else would be. She put in the pass code the get in and the door beeped upon its approval.
"Hey guys," she called while walking in, "Phil wants me to go to New York. He says AIM attacked the Tower there and they took Gwendolyn and a kid named Peter Parker."
"What?" asked Clint, Erik and Rhodey at the same time.
"Why d'you have to go?" asked Clint.
"Are we not invited?" asked Rhodey.
"He asked for me," answered Barbara. "I'm leaving in thirty minutes. I'm gonna go pack my things and wait on the helipad."
Clint came over and kissed her. "Be careful."
"I generally try to be."
Gwen slowly woke up, barely aware of her surroundings. Her body hurt, yet she was laying on something comfortable. She squeezed her eyes together before opening them. The lights in the ceiling were blinding to her eyes as she blinked several times. Her eyes slowly adjusted and she took in her surroundings.
She was in a hospital room. No, not a hospital room. This was nothing like that. Granted she was on some sort of bed, this still wasn't right. All of the walls were clear of anything except white paint. The wall in front of her had a mirror which Gwen assumed was one-way. Where was she?
"Ah, Gwendolyn Powers," said a familiar voice behind her as a door opened and closed. "It is nice to zee you again."
Gwen's heart raced as she recognized it. This wasn't possible. This so wasn't possible.
"When your parents found out vat vas happening, it could haf been zee end of AIM. Fortunately, ve vere prepared."
Gwen attempted to jump out of the bed, but found it was impossible. She looked down and saw that she was dressed in white colored scrubs and her wrists and ankles were strapped to the bed. She squirmed around as she tried to break free. But it was no use. She was stuck.
The man came around to look at her. She recognized him immediately, confirming her worst fear. The scars. The glass in front of his eye. The shaved head. It was all the same.
Gwen had thought that the next time she saw the people who experimented on her as a child, she'd be handcuffing them, preferably shooting or tasing them, and putting them away for life. But here she was, looking at the worst of them all while being strapped to a bed.
"Last time I did not properly introduce myself," he continued. "Baron Wolfgang von Strucker at your serfice."
"Let me go," she whimpered.
"Just after ve get you back? No, no, no. You vill be our next success. Ve cannot let you simply walk out."
"Where's Peter?"
"Do not fret, Gwendolyn. He is alife. Ve had to see how our newest creation vas doing."
"What?"
"Vell, ve are zee only ozer ones to know about Mr. Parker's...accident. Now, I vould like to talk to you about something. During out tests, ve found zat you have gamma radiation in your system."
"What?"
"Gamma radiation. You do know vat zat is, correct?"
Gwen nodded.
"My question is, how did zis happen?"
"I don't know," lied Gwen. She wasn't about to tell him about Loki and the Tesseract. They didn't need to know about that.
"It is a shame you are not cooperating." Baron now picked up a large syringe from the nearby table. "I vonder if you are still afraid of needles."
He flicked the needle with his finger and smiled as Gwen began to panic. She tried again to break free, but even if she was thinking straight she wouldn't have been able to.
"Zis, Gwendolyn Powers, is a truth telling syrum. It vas created by the brilliance of AIM. You either tell me vat I vant to know, or ve do it zee hard vay."
She squirmed as Baron slowly moved the point of the syringe towards the veins in her bare right arm. Her breathing was fast as her heart raced, beating like a drum in her chest.
"It's from the Tesseract!" she cried right before the needle pierced her skin. Baron stopped and pulled the syringe away. He smiled down at Gwen as she began to calm down.
"Really? And how did zis happen."
"I was taken and put under control from its power. It was injected into my veins and absorbed in the shield around my brain. That's all I know."
"Zat is very interesting."
"Why does that matter?"
"I believe zee radiation is affecting you in a fery bad way."
"What d'you mean?"
"You are dying, Gwendolyn. You are dying."
But before Gwen could respond, or even think of a response, Baron quickly injected a different needle into her arm and everything went blank.
Natasha entered the interrogation room where the first prisoner of AIM sat behind a steel table. The man had a buzz cut and hazel eyes that glared at her as she walked in. He was out of his hazmat suit and instead was dressed in a white undershirt and tan pants. Natasha knew he was handcuffed, but she wasn't worried about him attacking her. Besides, she knew she could take him.
She watched him as she took a seat on the other side of the table. He definitely looked crazy.
"Where did they take Agent Rogers and Peter Parker?" she asked bluntly.
The man laughed. "You are all so pathetic. You will never stop us."
"Answer the question."
"He will return. Our leader will return to us and take his rightful place. He will lead us. Cut one head off, two more shall take its place!"
The man suddenly broke out of his cuffs and slipped something in his mouth. Natasha jumped across the table to stop him, but it was too late. The man was now foaming at the mouth.
"You have been warned," was the last thing he said before giving one last breath.
Natasha ran out of the room and saw that Phil was already there.
"He just killed himself," she said.
"The others did as well," stated Phil. "Director Fury wants another meeting."
Natasha nodded and followed him to the conference room.
"He said 'Cut one head off, two more shall take its place.'"
"That was HYDRA's saying," said Steve, his voice hollow. It was obvious that his voice would remain that way until Gwen returned to him.
"He talked about their leader returning and taking his rightful place."
"Did he mean von Strucker? asked Hank.
"He's already their leader," Daisy pointed out.
"Maybe that thing they sent is their future leader," suggested Darcy.
"Or Schmidt," said Steve. "Y'know, the original leader of HYDRA."
"I thought he was dead," said Jane.
"I thought so too, but now that we know what the Tesseract does, it's possible he just got teleported somewhere off in space."
"How could he have survived this long?" asked Luke.
"Doctor Erskine created him like he did me. It's possible."
Tony scoffed. "Even so, how could AIM find him? I mean, if the Tesseract teleported him then he could be anywhere. Unless he had, like, gamma radiation on him-"
"That's it!" exclaimed Bruce, standing up and looking very excited.
"What?" asked Natasha.
"Gamma radiation. That's how we'll find Gwendolyn and Parker."
"News flash," said Tony, putting his hands in the air, "they don't have the Tesseract."
"No, they don't. But don't you remember what happened when Loki took Gwendolyn? He used the Tesseract to control her. It went through her blood stream and was absorbed by the shield around her brain."
"So she has gamma radiation in her," concluded Hank. "Therefore we can trace it and find her."
"It'll be hard and could take a while, but it's the only thing we have right now."
"Wait," said Darcy looking at Bruce, "I thought gamma radiation was a bad thing."
"We'll deal with that later," said Tony. "Let's start tracking it down. Then while JARVIS is working we can check out that creepy man thing."