Chapter 10
Yup, so I have nothing else written after this. This chapter is pretty calm, but the action is probably coming next chapter, so hopefully that inspires me to write faster than usual.
Gracias ArtThemisLeijon for the thoughtful reviews! (And thank you Google Translate. I'm passable with Spanish, but I shamefully admit I didn't take my lessons too seriously as a kid) Another vote for redemption and self-growth you say? I like how you think. The ending is evolving right before my eyes . . .
Also, has anyone heard from Death Fury in a while? He always left reviews on every chapter, but I haven't seen anything from him in weeks. He haven't updated his stories either. Considering the global pandemic, I hope he's okay and not one of the 1.6 million+ with Coronoavirus. Or worse, one of the 90,000+ that the virus has taken . . . Hopefully he's just busy.
In any case, thank you Death Fury for all the kind reviews! I hope you and everyone else are staying safe!
The steady slap of rubber against skin filled the small bedroom on the Helicarrier. It was a common sound to hear in Sam's room. When he wasn't forcing himself to do homework, he was throwing the little rubber ball up in the air and catching it. He almost never missed.
Today he was lying on his bed, throwing the ball vertically up. This way was the most thrilling, because missing had the greatest risk. Either he would hit himself in the face, or be forced to stand to retrieve the ball. Or perhaps both. It was not the best position to play this game when he was distracted, but what was life without the little risks?
Sam had witnessed a lot of new extremes for Spider-Man over the past months. The past year or so, really. Back when they had first been grouped together as a team, Peter had been extremely nervous of his role as leader. Then he had become extremely annoying when he finally became more confident. With the Octavius thing, he had acted extremely depressed for the first time since Sam had known him.
But yesterday . . . yesterday was the first time he had seen Peter so extremely angry.
This whole thing reminded Sam of the soap operas he . . . occasionally heard about.
Sam had to admit, he had never had so much respect for his friend.
He knew Peter was going through a lot. Sam had thought the Web Head would never really get past the denial stage. But he had been proved wrong the night Peter had the guts to finally get drunk at Harry's party. And now he was willing to put Octavius in his place the moment he came up out of nowhere offering so-called 'help'.
Yeah, Sam knew his upbringing with the Guardians of the Galaxy probably made his criteria for respect a little different from everyone else's, but so what? Pete had finally earned what constituted as his respect, and that was that.
Sam was no stranger to paternal issues, or even genealogical issues in general. Starlord had a narcissistic eldritch god for a dad. Gamora's dad was an activist who believed mass murder was the only solution. Rocket didn't like to be reminded of how he looked exactly like a raccoon. And Groot . . . no, Groot was just Groot. He was pretty chill.
So Sam couldn't have cared less when Peter had told them he was a clone of Doctor Octopus. It just wasn't the weirdest thing he had ever heard.
The others though . . . they had more mundane views, and they were a little more shaken than Sam. Curiously enough, they were finally letting that show now that Peter seemed to have vented.
Ava was a little shellshocked from being wrong and finding herself at the receiving end of a raging rant for once. She was usually the one with a short fuse, especially when Sam and the guys started playing around. Sam agreed with Pete that she was wrong to keep Octavius's creepy stalking a secret. She was so used to being the rule keeper of the team, but come on, she had known about the Octobot before the rest of them! And it had been sneaking around Harry's house too, and she hadn't even told Sam about it! He had been right there when she had seen it!
Okay, so Sam was a little upset at her too.
Danny was off in his room, using up his supply of candles and incense. He was trying to cleanse himself of the bad chi of the argument, or something along those lines. He hadn't offered them any wise words of advice, which was odd. It meant Danny didn't know the right thing to say for once.
And Luke, their unshakable pillar, was a little . . . shaken by Peter's outburst.
Hey, Sam wasn't a thesaurus.
Luke was mostly struck by the ice in Peter's voice. That sort of serious loathing was not something they had ever heard from their Web Head before. Luke had actually pointed out the one thing none of them had wanted to say.
That fight was the first time they had seen any sort of similarity between Peter and Octavius.
The serious, detached tone. The menace in his glare. The temper tantrum that came after. It was stuff they were used to seeing at a usual, physical Doc Ock fight when he started to get frustrated because they were ruining his insidious plot. Of course, they all knew better than to actually say any of that to Pete, but it made them wonder if they really did need to intervene or something before Peter's latest fear came true. Sam knew he was going to help.
Because really, Sam couldn't just let his friend's fear turn him into what he feared. That would be a sad battle to lose.
Sam just disagreed with the others on the 'how' part of that plan.
He disagreed with all of their ideas, although he didn't quite have a plan of his own. Yet. But that was for a reason. He still wasn't sure what Pete's problem was in the first place, and that seemed like a good thing to figure out before he started trying to fix it. He didn't want to make wrong choices like Ava had.
Ava had not been happy when he said that, but someone had to.
So Sam was lying in his bed, trying to think up a way to help Pete and show the others that he really did have planning skills, when his communicator buzzed.
Well, that was bad. That was, like, the last thing they needed right now.
The original special ops team had failed to gain entry to the Hydra base. Peter was still the only one who could get past the biometric system, so Fury was sending them out tonight.
Last night, Pete had been dead set against going. At least Fury had tried to do it without him first, but Octavius was right, the system could distinguish fake samples. They needed—
Sam cracked up for a second. They only needed Peter for his body on this mission.
He was so going to tease Pete about that later.
Sam sprang up from the bed, letting the ball fall wherever behind him. That reminded him of something. Better yet, it gave him an idea of how to help.
Ava hesitated before responding to Fury's call.
It wasn't because of Fury. It was because Peter would be there. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully?
She had no idea what she would say.
For the first time in a long while, Ava hadn't argued back when he spoke his mind last night. At the time, she had agreed with Pete. He had been so angry, and it could have all been avoided if she had just said something . . . But now she had spoken to Aunt May, and she was no longer as sure.
May had called her early that morning, hours after Peter had gone home. She confirmed that he was there, although she hadn't seen him for herself. The new security system had alerted her that he was up in the attic. May said he only went up there when he was truly shaken, and she had all but demanded to know what had her nephew in such a state.
Ava hadn't asked, but she was pretty sure the guys had gotten similar calls. May Parker had most of Shield on speed dial for a reason.
Ava had explained it as best she could, and then . . . then she might have told May more of her worries than usual. She may have asked if she had really done the right thing. She may have let her usually flawless composure crack.
May had become a sort of foster mother for all of them, and if anyone could give Ava some good advice it was her.
May told her she would try to speak to Peter, and then she could properly gauge what would have been right, and what would be right.
She called back several hours later to say that, maybe, Fury had been right.
Peter wasn't telling May everything, and she knew it. She suspected he worried for their safety again now that he knew Octavius had eyes on him, but there was probably more to the story. He just wouldn't divulge what. But as far as the paranoia went, May knew it would have only been eating at him for longer if Ava had told him any earlier. She thanked Ava for keeping quiet and looking out for her nephew. "The Parker boys are intelligent, but they always need a strong woman looking out for them."
So now Ava was left with a choice: to agree with May and Fury, or Peter.
It wasn't nearly as obvious as it should have been.
And that's why she was hesitating, even after Fury repeated how urgent this was. But hesitating implied a short pause, a limited amount of time to actually sit there and think. If she hadn't been able to figure it out in all those hours she had been sitting here, Ava knew there was no way she would have a revelation in the next five seconds. So she slipped quickly into her costume and stalked down the corridors to the debriefing room.
To her surprise, Peter was already there. It wasn't that Ava had thought he would bail out on them. She just thought he might drag his feet just a little. None of them had slept much, if at all, in the past twenty-four hours. And now they were all going to be dispatched to the Hydra base. When Spider-Man was called in to a mission he didn't like, he usually obstinately took his time. But here he was, in full costume and standing straight and tall.
Maybe he wasn't as shaken as May thought.
Ava knew better than to believe that.
Luke and Danny were there too, and Fury was, of course, already glaring at them all. It looked like Sam was the only one they were waiting o—
The sound of rushing air reached Ava's ears. She ducked out of the way just in time to let Sam fly past. He practically crashed into his chair.
"Would it kill you to walk in here even when you're already late?" Ava demanded, injecting as much of her usual growl into her words as she could.
"But now I'm not late," Sam answered simply, twirling in the chair.
"Enough." The one word from Fury was enough to grab their attention. The Director turned his intense gaze to each of them briefly before bringing up blueprints onto the screen. It was the same file Octavius had given them on the USB, but now it had red lines and notes. Directions.
"As you all know," Fury began. "This Hydra base is said to contain a project that threatens the safety of the state, possibly the country. We have since gained further intel that supports this theory from more reliable sources." The quickest of glances at Peter at this point. "We sent a team of some of our most reliable agents several hours ago. They were equipped with full biometric data from Octavius and Parker. They successfully satisfied the DNA parameters of the entrance. However, both the eye and fingerprint scanners detected their samples were fake when they attempted to go deeper."
Ava watched Peter throughout Fury's speech. He hardly moved at all, let alone show any signs of unease. He must have found some new resolve or something. Or at least she hoped so. Her mind kept going back to their fight at Harry's party.
Maybe he did have limits. Maybe he had reached one.
"Your goal tonight," Fury continued. "Is to infiltrate the base as quickly and quietly as possible and destroy the labs. You will wear Hydra agent disguises and you will set EMP's throughout the building while. You will not interact with anyone unless you are interacted with first. They are on high alert since the first attempt. This can work to your advantage if you look busy enough. But that means you are at high risk of being outnumbered if you fail. A full Shield brigade will be at the ready for the moment the EMP's go off, but they will likely be unable to reach you if you are revealed any sooner than that. Understood?"
There were nods, but Sam raised his hand. "Doesn't it make more sense to let them go back to a false sense of security first? You know, wait a few days?"
Fury turned his eye to him. "And let them beef up security? No. Your best chance is in the current chaos they're in." His eye snapped up to face the rest of them. "I want to reiterate: you will not engage anyone there." The way he said 'anyone' sounded like he had one specific person in mind. "A Shield team will be waiting to make arrests when you have succeeded, but you will not attempt to subdue anyone yourselves. Is that clear?"
Everyone nodded and no one argued this time. Ava knew Peter was smart enough to realize the intention behind Fury's plan. Peter was their wild card tonight, but a necessary one, and Fury wanted to minimize the risks, minimize any potential interactions between him and Octavius. She didn't know if Peter would appreciate it though.
Fury looked satisfied with their agreeance. He pointed to the hall that led straight to the tech lab. "Connors will equip you with everything you need. The maps have already been sent to your communicators. Good luck."
Peter led the way, as usual. He walked as upright as ever. What had happened to the previous night's anger? To the depression May had called about? This lack of emotion was a little unsettling to be honest. Ava didn't know what to think. What to expect. He couldn't possibly have come to terms with everything so quickly. Could he? Peter did have a reputation for doing a lot of impossible things as Spider-Man.
"Ah, there you are," Dr. Connors greeted them as they entered the tech lab. He gestured to the array of items on the table next to him. "Everything you need is right here. You've—ah—you've used most of these before." He shifted his weight, his hand fiddling with one of the devices on the table. Ava narrowed her eyes. Why was Connors so nervous about this mission? Fury had made it sound like a fairly simple procedure.
"Where are the disguises?" Peter asked. His voice sounded as calm as the rest of him looked.
Connors pointed at a rack full of green jumpsuits and other Hydra gear. Peter nodded and proceeded to grab one. Ava and the rest of team followed suit, exchanging unsure glances. As she searched for the suit labeled with her name, Ava couldn't help but see Connors pull Peter aside out of the corner of her eye. They didn't go far, and with her amulet active it wasn't difficult at all to eavesdrop.
Ava had never really been averted to eavesdropping. Experience had taught her it was better to know things than to be kept in the dark, especially when you were part of a team. Especially when you were part of a team of teenagers. You never knew what drama would cause a hiccup in an otherwise easy mission.
"Peter," Connors whispered. "I know Fury thinks this is necessary, but—"
"It's fine, Doc," Peter cut him off. "Really."
Connors bit his lip. "I'm sorry about yesterday and the modulator. I shouldn't have used it without telling you what it did first."
Modulator? Why was Connors apologizing about a modulator?
Peter didn't answer right away. It wasn't a long pause, but it was noticeable. "No problem. You had to check if it worked. I get it. Now I know how to use it, right?"
"I . . . guess. Have you told the others?"
"They understand what we're doing, and I'll need lookouts at each door we go through. We can't have anyone see our secret all-access pass, can we?"
So he wasn't as comfortable with this as he seemed. If nothing else, that fact was at least good to know. It meant Ava was still right about some things.
"All right guys," Peter said loudly, stepping away from Connors. "Let's get these awful costumes on and head out. The sooner we get there, the more surprised Hydra will be. They'll never see us coming."
"Yeah," Sam chimed in, pulling the green fabric over his bright blue spandex. "Never in a million years would they guess that their mad scientist helped his clone and a bunch of Shield agents sneak in."
Ava froze, along with Danny and Luke. She wanted to kill Sam right now for being so insensitive. There was almost silence, except there was still the rustling of fabric.
Peter hadn't stopped putting his own Hydra costume on.
He snorted.
"I know, right?" he said, laughter in his voice. "We just keep finding new ways to beat the odds."
Careful not to be obvious, Ava looked at the others. Luke had removed his glasses to put on the Hydra goggles. He kept looking incredulously between Sam and Peter. Danny was smiling. So was Sam. Peter continued getting ready.
Ava shook her head. As happy as she was that Peter seemed okay, part of her was unsettled. This was too sudden to be perfect. Whenever Spider-Man started acting super nice even to Sam, it often meant he was about to bend the rules. Go rogue. And, honestly, the last thing they needed was for Peter to be unpredictable tonight.