A/N: Hiya! You know how I said I wouldn't post again soon? Yeah, I lied. That was before I had a creative surge and wrote 7 pages. Anway, I hope you like this chapter. It's kind of a lot… so beware. (also, in case I don't post again for a while: have a good New Year! 2020 is finally here!)
Make sure to leave any comments/suggestions in the reviews below! Enjoy!
Warnings: Mild descriptions of torture.
Monday, October 14
9:00am
Again, he was told to wear the cotton jumpsuit. Again, she made him run laps until he didn't even want to walk anymore. Again, they brought him to that room… the room that he dreaded, more than anything. It's just a noise, he told himself. You can deal with a noise.
This time, there was a laptop on the table. Angela instructed him, "We need to test your technical skills. This is a stimulation designed to see if you could get past security and access files. The file you are looking for is titled: Faustus. Time is of the essence." With that, she was gone.
Peter opened the laptop, which, chunky and silver, looked really dated.
"First things first," he said to himself. "Password." The first beep sounded, and he really tried to ignore the accompanying shock. After a couple minutes, he had bypassed the security and was inside the laptop. Beep. Shock.
"Each of the files is encrypted… but that shouldn't be too difficult…" He tapped nonstop until the next shock. It didn't deter him for very long, he was too focused. A little square popped up on the screen reading: 5 minutes until file deletion.
"Wow, this simulation is really real," Peter said. "I have to move quickly…" he trailed off. It was sort of awkward to be alone in this room, aware of someone watching and listening to you, but unable to hear anything they say.
Peter chipped away at the code until finally, he sat back, satisfied. "I did it," he said to the emptiness. He had stopped the files from wiping and hacked the encrypted code. "I found Faustus."
Beep. Shock.
Someone banged the door open and came rushing in, grabbing the computer from him. He was a larger man, with an expensive looking suit that was tailored to his broad shoulders. He had black hair that was gelled so immaculately that Peter thought this guy had to be important.
"You really did it," the guy breathed, then smiled slowly. He stood up straight, laptop in hand and stared at Peter right in the eye. "Well, Peter. You've done exceptionally well but…" he clicked a button on his watch. Iron-looking shackles sprang from the chair and clamped Peter's wrists and ankles down. "I'm afraid you're going to be extending your stay."
"What? Where's my mom? What happened to Angela?" He pulled at the restraints, but they didn't budge.
"Right here," she said, stepping into the doorway. She was smiling.
"What's going on?" Panic surged in his chest and he struggled more. Beep, shock. This time, he cried out. The shock was more painful than last time, it seemed to run through his entire body, zig-zagging up and down his veins.
The man continued to grin, but it looked sadistic now. "I'm not a huge fan of the whole… 'Monologue my entire plan' thing, so I'll let you figure it out. You're a smart boy, Peter. You'll know soon enough." He turned and left.
Peter looked at Angela pleadingly, tears pricking his eyes. "Angela? Mom?"
She didn't blink. "You know what is best. What is best is that you comply. Compliance is rewarded." Angela smiled wider. "I'll see you when you comply, Peter."
She joined Mark in the hall, the door silencing Peter's soft crying.
"I can't believe he did that," Angela nodded at the small computer. "HYDRA's database is supposed to be impenetrable."
"It's also supposed to be gone," he replied. "Nothing's impossible. Now, to business. Have the ten-team knock him out and transport him to Lab Zero. We'll begin as soon as he wakes up."
Mark couldn't help the shiver of excitement that crawled up his spine. Faustus. Finally. They had been looking for this going on 10 years now. Before, it was just a rumor. Just a ghost. But now… now he held the secret to success in his hand.
"To Zero."
Monday, October 14
12:01pm
Peter's eyelids felt heavy, and his mind was blurred. He strained to remember why-
"Angela," he said, sitting up with a start. He recalled her face… she was smiling at him. She smiled when they shocked him. She smiled... Tony was right, he thought miserably.
Taking in his surroundings, Peter noticed that he was once again bound with iron. Or, maybe it wasn't iron. He could usually break iron… but this. This was stronger. His arms and legs were strapped against a cool silver table that was tilted at an angle. If he wasn't bound, he would slide off of it.
"Disambiguation," a voice said, scaring him. "The unproven science. More commonly known as… brainwashing." Peter shivered. He recognized the voice… it was that man. The man in the room. It was coming from a speaker in the corner of the room.
"Who are you?" He yelled at it, trying to summon some Spider-Man courage. "What do you want with me?"
"Did you know that the CIA conducts research on disambiguation? Well, they did. Back in the 70's. Allegedly, they didn't find anything, and all records were destroyed. All participants in those experiments claim to not remember any details. Not a soul."
"Why are you doing this?" Peter fought against the restraints, but was again ignored.
"No matter where I dug, no matter who I hired… I couldn't seem to find those reports. So, we had to start from scratch. Turn to less… ethical means."
A group of people entered the room. They wore all white and held various tools in their hands. They bustled around him, poking and prodding. One person drew blood, another attached an IV to Peter's arm.
"What are you doing?" He attempted to talk to the workers, but they ignored him. Just like the man who was speaking.
"There was a rumor once… among the agents of SHIELD. A rumor of a soldier, wiped clean and reprogrammed to do HYDRA's dirty work. The Winter Soldier, they called him. You might remember him… metal arm and all."
Bucky. He was in Germany… but he didn't seem to be under control then…
"Somehow, they managed to say 10 words and bam. Just like that. 'Ready to comply'." The man adopted a gruff imitation. "While we failed to find exactly what they did to Mr. Barnes, we did find another effective alternative. Faustus."
A worker leaned over Peter and held his eyes open, placing something around them. When the man leaned away, Peter couldn't blink. He couldn't shut his eyes. Fear and panic filled his every thought. I can't close my eyes. I can't close my eyes.
"You're very lucky, Mr. Parker," the voice said. "You are officially the ninth person to undergo Faustus. Unfortunately, this method takes hours of time. But don't worry… we have plenty." The last syllable echoed around him.
A woman pressed his head down flat onto the table and activated a strap to keep it immobile. She grimaced when she saw him and dropped down near his ear.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, almost inaudibly. "You're just a kid... b-but… they have my brother-"
"It's ok," he responded and managed a weak smile. "I'll be ok… now go before you get in trouble."
She backed away, eyes watery. Then, she was gone. His own eyes were burning at the strain of being exposed, but he knew it would get worse. This was only the beginning.
Monday, October 14
7:00pm
"No! We can't yet!" Nat was pacing back and forth in front of Bucky, her phone pressed to her cheek. "I'm telling you, we need proof. If we just bust in there with nothing? It could get a whole lot worse."
Tony gave a grunt of anger. "Then what am I supposed to do? Just sit here all day while my kid gets experimented on?"
"No! We need to find evidence. Got it? Stone-cold proof. You need to-" something crashed against the metal door of the abandoned warehouse. Bucky grabbed his gun and stood, aiming toward the disturbance.
"Listen, Tony, we've got a situation. I have to go. I'll call you when I can. Find. Proof." She flipped the phone closed and drew her guns, standing next to Bucky.
"Wait to see what it is, then we can bail if we need to," she whispered. Another crash. The door groaned in protest.
With another bang, it came flying off its hinges, clattering in front of their feet and sending a puff of dirt in the air. Two strands of web shot from the dust and grabbed Nat's guns, sending them flying to the side.
"Don't shoot, Bucky! I think it's-"
A dark figure shot from the door and swiped at her feet. The person was dressed in a bulky black suit and had a mask that covered the lower half of his face. His hair was brown and curly, just like Peters. Ignoring the confusion and riding on pure instinct, she fought him. They were relatively well-matched until he caught her off guard and sent a fist into the side of her head.
Her vision swam, but she called, "Buck, don't hurt him yet. We need to know if it's the kid."
The person had swung up onto the rafters and was pointing a gun at both of their heads. Bucky's weapon was aimed right back at him.
"Drop it," the person said. He gestured with the gun pointed at Nat. "Or I shoot."
It sounds sort of like Peter. But why is he doing this? How did he find us?
Bucky lowered his gun and tossed it aside.
"Peter," Nat said carefully, moving from the ground to her knees, "Is that you?"
He squinted at her, and his arm shook a little, then steadied. "Natasha Romanoff and James Barnes, you are under arrest for violation of the Sokovia Accords. If you do not resist, it will be easy. Compliance will be rewarded."
Bucky flinched. "Faustus," he whispered, a mix of anger and horror crossing his dark eyes.
"What?" Nat had no knowledge of the word.
"Listen, kid. I know what they did to you! I know you're in there somewhere, Peter. The real you," Bucky pointed to his head. "They did something to me, too."
Peter squinted again. "N-Natasha Romanoff and James Barnes, you are under arrest for violation of the Sokovia Accords. If you do not resist, it will be easy. Compliance will be rewarded," he repeated. This time, he sounded less sure.
"Fight it, Peter! Fight it!" Nat had picked up some clues and began to yell too. "Remember Tony? May? Your friends? Fight it for them!"
His arms were shaking hard now, and the guns dropped. "I-"
A loud ringing noise sounded. It looked like it was coming from a thick silver bracelet on Peter's arm. He clamped his hands to his ears and stumbled around. "No! Help… me," he made direct eye contact with Nat, and then shook his head. "No! I'm ready to comply, please!" He yelled in pain as the sound grew louder.
Peter unclipped a small object from his side and threw it at Bucky and Nat, before swinging out a broken window, one ear covered. The object popped and released smoke, just as ten soldiers marched into the warehouse, guns raised.
"Natasha Romanoff! James Barnes! You're under arrest! Any resistance will be met without mercy." The man's threat fell on deaf ears, or rather, no ears. The small smoke grenade had given them enough cover to sneak past and use one of their emergency exits.
They were halfway across the city by the time the dust cleared.
Monday, October 14
8:07pm
Tony paced furiously. FRIDAY was still running some searches, so he had to wait. It was unbearable, nothing to do or think about but Peter. He hadn't shown up for the internship today… which means he was still at that awful place. May had been calling him all day, but he couldn't bring himself to answer. He couldn't let her know that he had failed the kid… So Tony had FRIDAY send her an automated text.
Someone came busting into the lab, bringing him out of his thoughts. It was Nat, and behind her… Bucky. She brought Bucky.
"What is-" he started.
She stopped him. "We don't have time for this right now. It's Peter, he-"
Tony grabbed her shoulders. "Is he okay? Did you find something?"
Nat pulled away from him. "Tony… it's… I- I don't know how to tell you… this."
Cold dread settled in the bottom of his stomach. "W-what?"
She looked at Bucky. "We saw him today…" Somehow that made Tony feel worse instead of better. "He wasn't… they did something to him, Tony. Messed with his mind… Buck says it's called Faustus. He found us, at the warehouse we were hiding in… he was trying to arrest us… held us at gunpoint... it didn't seem like Peter."
"No. No… they couldn't… it's not…" It was Nat's turn to grab his shoulders. She led him to a chair, and he collapsed in it. His hands started to shake. "Wh-what does this mean? What did they do to him? What… what did they…" A thousand thoughts were racing in his mind. A thousand ideas… and questions. He looked at Bucky expectantly.
Bucky shook his head sadly. "You don't want to know."
"Yes," he growled. "Yes I do. I have to know. Peter… I have to know."
The soldier sighed and began. "Faustus… it's a little different than what they did to me. More… efficient. And faster. Th-they, uh. They keep the subjects eyes open and use… they use electricity to, uh… To force compliance. They associate sounds, or in my case, words, to the pain and fear. If a certain sound or sequence of sounds was repeated to the person… it would trigger the effects of the, um, experiments." His eyes were dark and pained as he told them. "I'm… so sorry."
The silent realization was deafening. Tony expected to feel angry, or scared, or something… but he just felt numb. Numbness and crushing guilt. He could have done more… he should have done more. Every time Peter was quiet about his home, every time he came to the internship with bandages or bruises, every time he flinched when someone touched him… but now. It was too late now. Feeling came crashing back over him in waves, bringing hopelessness. Tony couldn't do anything but sit there and stare at the wall, unable to move.
Nat's phone rang, and she cringed. Tony didn't seem to notice when she answered and walked away, Bucky following. It was Steve.
"Nat? Are you ok? Is Bucky-"
"We're fine," she said. She had a hard time even believing her own voice. Nat didn't feel fine… she felt guilty.
"You need to get of New York, it's not safe there anymore. We can rendezvous in-"
"No. I can't leave yet." Bucky nodded at her, an earnest look on his face. "We can't leave yet. We can still help Tony and… and Peter." She glanced at Stark, who was still staring blankly at the wall.
"Peter? Who's Peter? What's going on?" Steve had taken on his 'Captain America' voice.
"A kid. Stark's kid. He's in trouble and we can help. We're going to do something."
"Wait, Tony has a kid?" He was back to his 'Rogers' tone.
She exhaled impatiently. "No. It's complicated. The point is, we aren't leaving. Not yet, anyway."
Steve paused. "Alright, Natasha. If that's what you feel is best. Take care of yourselves. And… tell Stark I… I'm sorry."
Nat lowered her voice. "He doesn't want to hear from you. Not now."
"Please just-"
"Trust me, Steve. Not. Now. I'll call you when we leave the city." She hung up, shot a small smile at Bucky, and walked back over to Tony.
He looked at her, pain and shock clouding his dark brown eyes. "It's too late, isn't it? Tell me it's not too late."
"No," she said, pulling a device from her pocket. While they were fighting, Nat succeeded in placing a bug on Peter's shoulder. Now, she held the GPS in her hands. "It's not."
Monday, October 14
6:00pm
May chewed on her fingernails nervously. 18 calls, 10 messages and all she got was a non-committal text message that said, "Mr. Stark will be with you shortly".
"What's going on, Peter?" She whispered to herself.
A knock brought her out of her mind. May went to the door and was surprised to see Ned and MJ standing on the doormat. She had only met them once before, when Peter brought them over for tea.
"Do you know where Peter is?" MJ asked, her face urgent. Ned nodded eagerly.
May didn't want to tell them. She didn't want them to know that she was as confused and scared as they were. They looked so hopeful… May didn't want to be the one to ruin that. But, if she didn't, who would?
"You kids better come in," she offered, opening the door to let them in. Once they had entered and taken off their shoes, May asked, "Tea? Water?"
"Water's fine," MJ said, answering for the two of them.
They finally settled, a glass in each of their hands. May took a deep breath.
"Did you two know about Peter's life at home?"
MJ nodded. "I had my suspicions."
"Me too," Ned said, surprising his friend. "But he didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't ask."
"Well, I saw Angela this morning… she was taking him to work with her. Something didn't sit right with me, so I called Mr. Stark. He sure was in a hurry to get off the phone once he heard… I wanted to know if something was wrong, but neither him or Peter are answering their phones. I called in sick at work and… and I've been waiting all day…"
MJ was quietly shaking her head.
Ned was the first to break the silence. "But, can't we do something? I mean-" MJ's phone rang loudly, interrupting him. She looked at him and shrugged, answering anyway.
"Yeah?" A pause. "Who else would it be?" Someone spoke to her briefly. "What's going on? Is Peter- yeah. Uh huh." Her eyes were lit with a flame. She was determined. "You can bet your- no. I'm with Ned and May." MJ looked at him, then at May. "No, I don't think so… I don't care!" She rolled her eyes. "Yes, they can help." MJ's eyes suddenly widened with shock, and she raised a hand to her mouth. "No… really? Oh my…" Another long pause. "Yeah, we're just at her apartment. Ok… see you soon, I guess..." She hung up.
"What's going on?" May asked, setting her cup on the coffee table and leaning forward.
MJ's voice came out small and shaky. "It's Peter… Mr. Stark says he's been kidnapped by RayTech."
A/N:
REVIEWS:
vampgirliegirl: haha, you're sweet. :)
holyghostofsteve: Very true. lol
Belbelanne: Yes, I hope you have a good New Year as well! As for Angela and Mark, I completely agree XD
Bonzenz: Good question! The short answer is not really. I really wanted May in the story, but it didn't make sense for her to be technically Peter's aunt. (but who knows? They could be related ;] )
MpeachlinS: Thank you :) I appreciate your sweet review.
See you all next time!
-katilange