Chapter 2: Creating a Connection
Before I even opened my eyes, I could still feel the tender bruising around my eyes and the shooting pains in my side from the cut. I tried to remember what my current situation is. Oh, that's right. I've been put in the body of Spider-Man in a very non-canon accurate situation where I'm being tortured in a prison by Thaddeus Ross. Obviously just any everyday occurrence. I barely had time to think about how the fuck this happened before being tortured. I came to the same conclusion as I had the previous day: 'This is pretty fucked up, but hey, I'm now a genius and I'm Spider-Man. Might as well make something of it.'
With a resounding groan, I raised my head from my resting position and saw Jean asleep in her own cell. I sat quietly on my mattress waiting for her to wake up, only to realize that after 2 minutes I was already bored out of my mind. 'I'm probably gonna need a lot more patience to stay here aren't I?' I resolved to try out my new spider powers. 'I've seen this a thousand times, I can do it' I thought, as I ran straight at the wall. I lifted my foot to try to place it on the side of the wall, only for it to slip to the side and for me to fall on my back and crash to the ground.
"Shiiittttt" I groaned as I forced myself into an upright position. I heard a laugh from the other cell and saw Jean stifling laughter with her hand.
"So Peter, what were you trying to accomplish with that?" Jean asked with a smirk on her face.
I grumbled a quiet response.
"Sorry what was that?" Jean asked again, the smirk not leaving.
"I wanted to see if I could run on the walls."
"With the power dampener on?"
I realized with a start that she was right. We have power dampeners. I basically wasn't even able to be Spider-Man until I escaped. And I wasn't going to leave Jean here, so until I found a way for us both to escape, I had to go through the fun process of being tortured and experimented on. I always thought becoming a comic book superhero would be a dream come true, but I have to be honest. This fucking sucks.
As I considered an escape plan, one thought came to my mind.
"Jean, do you know how these power dampeners work?"
"What do you mean?" Jean replied.
"Well, our powers are very different, so how are they able to just create a 'power dampener' that nullifies all abilities?"
"All the dampeners are tailored to the specific person. For example, for me they have a cerebral inhibitor which prevents my brain waves from interacting with the material world."
My eyes narrowed as I thought about that. An idea came to my mind, but I pushed it aside for now. It wasn't practical. For the second time in as many days, I realized that all I could do for now is wait, as annoyingly painful that would be.
"Peter, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get your powers?"
"A school field trip."
"…explain"
"I was on a field trip to the science company Oscorp when I kinda sorta maybe snuck into a classified area. They had been trying to create a super-soldier serum, and they had been using it on spiders. One of those spiders got out and bit me. I was sick as hell for a week but one day I woke up and could stick to things and was jacked. The spider who bit me died and apparently, I wasn't dead, even though I was supposed to be. Oscorp hadn't perfected their serum yet. The spider had DNA that mixed with my own making me a mutate."
"Did you have a reason for becoming Spider-Man? I mean, apart from the powers."
Now, I knew Ben wasn't my real uncle, but with Peter's memories, I remember everything, and it almost felt like he was. I remember Peter feeling powerless, guilty and angry – I remember it all. I had a feeling that I was going to continue being Spider-Man when I got out, but I wasn't sure. Maybe I could use Peter's genius for technological advancements that would help the world? These meshed thoughts was the weirdest experience I have ever felt. I was Peter Parker, I was myself, I was both of us, I was neither. I'd have to figure out the meaning of life, I guess, but c'mon what the hell does that even mean? Has anyone figured out the meaning of life? Great. Another impossible task. Just like escaping here. I was lost in my thoughts when I was startled out of them by the sound of Jean clearing her throat. I realized that she had been looking at me expectantly, still awaiting that answer.
So I told her. I told her about Richard and Mary, but honestly, I didn't know what they did in this life (maybe they were S.H.I.E.L.D? Oscorp? There are way too many possibilities and theories). I told her about Uncle Ben. I told her about catching his killer. I told her how it all boiled down to one quote from Uncle Ben. "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility."
Oddly enough, I didn't feel cheesy or cliché saying it. I felt proud and respectful, and I honestly didn't know whether that was because of Peter, me, or both. What I didn't tell Jean though was about not being the real Peter, the real Spider-Man. I didn't warn her about the Phoenix, I didn't tell her about Xavier's school, Magneto, anything. I figured that having knowledge of the future could: make me sound like a lunatic, make her go crazy from paranoia, basically screw-up whatever storyline Is being played out, or a thousand other issues. I couldn't see any positive coming out of that.
"I'm sorry that happened." Jean said, eyes downcast.
"I've made my peace with it. He was like a father to me, and I couldn't save him, but by being Spider-Man, I can honor him." I responded. And with that statement, I realized that I was going to continue being Spider-Man. If I could protect people, then I had to. But maybe this time, with my knowledge of the future and the universe, along with Peter's genius, I could do a lot more. I could stop the worst events that would happen – I could try to protect everyone. It would take copious amounts of work, but I owed it to these people, because otherwise I would be the man who let thousands, if not millions die. And if Thanos and Endgame occur, I would be letting trillions die. I simply couldn't let that happen, even if this world is fake in my mind, because right now, it's not. I am actually here. I will not be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but I will be Spider-Man.
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"Is Selvig helping?" Fury questioned.
"Yes Sir, we may be able to start Phase 2 soon" Agent Hill responded in turn.
"Any headway on Spider-Man?" Fury said, grimacing. Fury had this complex where he had to know everything about everyone at all times, and the fact that someone he was actively watching was managing to avoid him angered him to no end.
"Surprisingly no. Crime rates in New York have started to rise in his absence, and he's only been gone a few days. Once word gets out that he's completely off the grid, we should expect a surge in crime. He has brought the rate down significantly over the last few years. I would be wary however, his line of work tends to create copycats who are far from the real thing, much less dangerous, but also much less restraint." Hill said, with some unease. She was similar enough to Fury in that regards – she had immense frustrations at not being able to locate her target.
Fury gave her a quick nod before turning back to face out of the main control room of the helicarrier and into the vast ocean.
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"Hey Red, do you know if these guards are sane? They all have this deranged, sadistic expression and honestly it's kind of freaky" I called out.
"Red?" She replied.
"You like it?" I smiled on the inside, knowing that she very much would not like it.
"No, I hate it actually. Please never use it again." Jean said sardonically, a hint of a smile tracing her face.
"No can do Red, at least not until I get a better name for you." I replied with a smirk.
"Jean doesn't work?"
"It's so formal, and that's no good, so Red it is." I responded happily.
"You seem way too happy about this. Also, we're in a prison. How the hell are you so positive?" Jean snarked.
"Being depressed won't help anyone. Also, I don't want to be controlled by anyone – the guards, Ross, anyone, and by remaining positive and annoying them beyond what they think is possible, I can be a nuisance and not break."
"It must be nice not being controlled" Jean muttered under her breath, but I still managed to pick it up.
"Who's been controlling you? Ross? What has he done? That bastard!" I replied angrily.
Jean paused for a moment and then just giggled before speaking.
"I wasn't talking about Ross, I was talking about my parents, but it's nice to know you got so angry for me" Jean tried to hide a smirk but failed miserably, her smile shining through.
I grumbled and muttered something under my breath.
"Sorry, what was that?" Jean asked, the smile not leaving her face.
"Nothing" I shot her a mock glare crossing my arms to convey my mock annoyance. "Did you say your parents? How do they control you?"
"They don't support my mutant powers and won't let me study what I want. Not that it matters in here." Jean said bitterly.
"Don't give up hope Jean, we'll both get out of this and then you can go study whatever you want. Out of curiosity, what disciplines are you interested in?"
"Engineering and mechanics. My parents seem to think that a woman can't be an engineer, so they didn't fund my college, which meant that I wasn't exactly able to go anywhere. I ended up being taken by Ross the day after I graduated anyways." Jean said, the bitterness leaving her face, but lingering in her eyes.
I brightened considerably upon hearing her disciplines. With my new genius in the fields of physics, mechanics and chemistry I had that much more in common with Jean. I realized with a start that I hadn't actually seen what Peter had been up to before I got thrown into his body.
I quickly parsed his memories to see that he had graduated High School at 16 and Columbia at 18 with a double-major in mechanical engineering and biophysics. He only chose Columbia because MIT was too far away and he wanted to continue being Spider-Man. After graduating he (or I?) stayed in the city and worked at Horizon Labs after helping Max Modell in a café. He had his own personal lab and no real requirements – although I'm assuming a long-time absence may not be looked upon very well.
"I can help with your engineering stuff! I already work in similar scientific disciplines! If all goes well, you shouldn't need to rely on your parents as well." I said enthusiastically.
Jean just smiled and shook her head at my enthusiasm.
"Did you seriously just say 'if all goes well'?" She chuckled. "We are trapped in a max security prison where we are being experimented on, and you say 'if all goes well' as if that's a possibility. I don't know if I should embrace your positivity or leave you alone to your insanity." She smiled good-naturedly to make sure I knew she was joking.
"Well unlike some people Red, I like having hope" I replied in turn.
Jean was tuning out for a second when something came to her. "You said you were 19, right? How do you already work in the field?"
"I had graduated early, but no one wanted an 18-year-old working for them in their labs. They all thought I would be an intern and get coffee, but I had already gotten my degree, so that was out of the question. One day, I was at a café getting a coffee in between job interviews, when I saw a man getting extremely frustrated. Naturally, I went over to see if he needed any help, and I saw him working on a design for a more flexible bandage, which coincidentally is somewhat similar in design to my webs, relying on the use of a similar polymer, so I helped him out. He looked at me in shock, as he was having trouble finding which polymer would work for it, and then asked for my age and story. After hearing my story he introduced himself as Max Modell, aka the founder of Horizon Labs. He offered a job and the rest, as they say is history."
Jean stared at me. I recalled our first conversation and thought this was perfect payback time.
"So, are you going to keep staring at me or are you going to speak?"
Jean evidently recalled that interaction as she broke out of her trance and a smile went up her face. I thought, not for the first time, that she was absolutely gorgeous, even without any make-up or real effort put into her appearance. She took a second before speaking.
"I…. I don't even know what to say to that. I feel like an idiot now. I mean god, you are a literal genius." Her eyes downcast.
"Red, I still don't know you that well. I mean we literally have known each other for like 2 days, and although we've bonded over our shared experience in this hell-hole, I don't know that much about you yet. I can tell though, that you are extremely intelligent and capable and have no reason to feel like an idiot, ever."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better" Jean replied, but her eyes had brightened considerably.
"I swear to you that I am not." I wasn't lying. I know Jean, and in this brief time together, I could tell she had a good wit about her as well as actually being intelligent. I don't know how I knew that exactly, but I had this sense that she was extremely intelligent. Maybe it's because I had feelings for… nope not going there. Especially not while we're in this place. "Red, I can tell you are intelligent. And extremely resilient. The fact that you haven't gone insane being cooped up here for the past 6 months alone speaks to that fact. You have no reason to ever feel incompetent to anyone."
'Especially considering the Phoenix Force chilling inside you.' I thought. 'Shit. I'm going to have to tell her about that when we get out aren't I. Not looking forward to explaining how I know that.'
Jean didn't reply, but I could tell from her body language that she had taken my words to heart, at least a little bit. She seemed more full of energy than I had ever seen before, as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders.
A few minutes after our conversation concluded, I heard footsteps marching down the prison wing. This time, they seemed to be angling towards Jean instead of me. 'That won't do.' I considered what I could do, before coming to a conclusion. As the two guards approached Jean's cell, I called out.
"Which one of you is dumb, and which one is dumber?" I asked the guards.
They turned around with a look of pure disdain on their face.
"I mean, I know you're both idiots, but who's dumber? I personally think that tall, dark and not so handsome over there is dumber, but if you would like to make an argument that your short friend is dumber, I'd be willing to listen" I looked around them to see Jean watching the exchange with interest, and perhaps a hint of amusement.
I noticed that the looks on their face had started shifting from disdain to disgust. I continued my onslaught.
"Hey you, yeah tall guy, I'm talking about you. Can I have some of your lunch? It seems that you are having quite a high caloric intake. I'd be careful about your blood-sugar man, it's a common problem among Americans especially. If your body starts rejecting the insulin or it lacks enough, then you'll have a high blood sugar and it could lead to the clogging of blood vessels or even a myocardial infarction, or a heart attack, and we wouldn't want that would we?" I smiled sweetly at him. In fact, the man seemed very fit, with only a hint of fat. What I couldn't know however, was that those few meager pounds of fat weighed on him (mentally). He prided himself on being the most athletic and cruel, and by pointing out an imperfection, I had set him off. His lips curled into a snarl as he disabled my cell and stormed in, picking me up and throwing me against the wall.
My goal had been to distract them from Jean, so I guess, technically, mission accomplished. Nicely done. I would pat myself on the back, except for the fact that my hands were now being restrained by the shorter one, as the taller one pummeled me further into the wall as I sank to my knees on the ground. 'I can take this' I thought. 'At least so Jean doesn't have to.'
"Let's take this one to Doc Harmon, he could use some more conditioning. I don't think he'll miss the girl; he seems extremely interested in getting information about the amazing Spider-Man. Scorn and mockery laced his voice as he said my alter-ego's name.
And with that, I was dragged off to the torture rooms again. Sorry, 'interrogation' rooms.
A/N
Sorry it took so long for getting this chapter done y'all. Hopefully the next few will be in a more timely manner, but no promises (sorry). I've got a lot of ideas and this story should turn out to be really fun, but it may take some time between updates. I think the relationship here may be a slow-burn with a fair bit of pain laced in. Very sad . If you can, please leave a review. Obviously, not a requirement, but those things are like drugs to us authors lmao. I'll try my best to respond to people. If on FFN, I'll probably DM the reply. Cool? Cool. Have a good one.
