Chapter 16: We're Running Out Of Time
Fury sits in a silent office at the Avengers Tower, staring at one of the holotables Stark used to be so fond of, dozens of files on the screen. The Shield files before him are of his creation; analyses and predictions all fixated on the Huntsman and his identity. The remaining are the files extracted from the Cooperative's sunken ship, unfortunately still encrypted, hiding such valuable information behind a fortress of firewalls.
If Stark was still alive, Nick doesn't doubt Tony would've already decrypted the files, using his obsession with attentiveness to cut through the walls like butter.
Especially after the death of his beloved pupil.
Tony wouldn't have rested until they knew Peter really was gone, that the Huntsman is just another vigilante brought to the city by fate, so why should Fury? He feels that would be an insult to the memory of Ironman, his ingenuity and genius.
That is- if New York still stood upright after Tony was done with the Sinister Six.
Getting Peter caught up with the so-called Mysterio was big enough of a fuck-up. The private apology to give Miss Jones almost got his arms torn off, if not for May and Pepper's interference, despite the disdain they share for him.
The most Pepper's spoken to him was after their extraction home, she and Happy immediately informed him of the Huntsman's rescue. How he'd killed those extremis using terrorists without hesitation before attempting to slaughter Octavius and Gargan, almost toying with them while he did.
How he'd transformed into an enormous monster to turn the tides of the battle before tracking the Starks down, just to make sure they weren't seriously injured. Even going as far as to mend the burn Pepper suffered before disappearing upon the arrival of her allies.
Her family.
Stark and Hogan said his voice had sounded inhuman, but lightened when speaking to Morgan, making sure she felt comfortable speaking to him.
Little Stark had a very difficult time finding any other topic to speak about, insisting his suit felt kinda slimy and cold.
She insists Ben is her friend, and is determined to talk her mother into letting him visit the Tower.
A sentiment that made everyone else particularly nervous.
At the very least, they have a name to work with.
Fury sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before softly running his hand through his beard and over his face, careful not to disturb his eyepatch. It's approaching midnight, bringing upon yet another day of the Huntsman's violent war against crime.
Which, unfortunately, seems to have taken a turn. The number of injured or downright brutalised criminals in the hospital continues to soar, with a few particularly nasty offenders falling victim to their wounds. Most if not all of them deserve it, Nick knows that, but the nature of the Huntsman's justice is stepping further and further over the line.
He's adjusted his patterns; the more vicious and violating the criminal is, the more brutal the beating that ensues.
Teeth knocked out, limbs twisted and broken, and in a few instances missing; the spider seems to be finding himself more out of control as each day passes.
This begs the question-
How long until he decides to kill every criminal?
Fury is cast from his thoughts when his phone buzzes in his pocket. He retrieves it before staring at the number, scowling to himself before answering it.
"Hello Nick, still having trouble with those decryptions?"
Well, she's in a cheerful mood. Much more of a smug bitch this time around.
"Valentina, how can I humour you this time?"
"Aww, what's wrong, Nicky, you didn't sound so grumpythe last time we spoke."
"Well, unless you've gotten anywhere with those Cooperative files-"
"I have-"
She's what now?
"Excuse me?" Fury blinks at the phone, hearing a snicker from the other side of the call.
"Well, only two of them, the ones we managed to break open are so much simpler than the rest," Valentina scoffs. "It had to be the Doctor's handiwork, right? Strauss' experiments were always seen as cruel but revolutionary, but his encryption skills?" She clicks her tongue. "A fucking intern would surpass him."
"Do they have anything to do with the Huntsman's identity?"
"I would've started with that if it did, or maybe I would've held it from you for half an hour, just to keep you squirming-"
"To the point, Fontaine, nobody in the Tower is aware of our current affiliation, I only asked you for help so we could both get answers," Nick growls. "Frankly, after the way you manipulated Miss Belova-"
"I was only offering her closure-"
"At the near cost of Barton's life, something she still feels guilt over," Fury hisses. "If she finds out I'm talking to the reason she feels so much discomfort in her new home-"
"Yes, she's quite unpredictable, isn't she?" Valentina chuckles. "Before you ask and piss me off, yes, you will get the files, but fine, if you're in such a mood, I'll finally get to the point."
"Thank you."
"Well, for starters, when the clock strikes midnight, the Huntsman will officially be an enemy of the United States," Valentina states so nonchalantly, that Fury knows there's a smile on her face.
That certainly changes things.
"And how exactly did that happen overnight?"
"I may have forgotten to mention, but a few nights before that ship sunk, I'd sent four of my agents to infiltrate the Cooperative. The goal was to leak information on Operation Cold Arachnid, but then everyone was slaughtered, including my men, well, Thaddeus Ross' men. As you and I both know, Ross doesn't deal well with the loss of his agents and the nature of their deaths has sent the man into a frenzy. He's contacted the President, who's fully supporting the idea of Ross' Presidential Campaign next year."
That's what the world needs right now.
Thaddeus Ross as the President of the United States.
There'd be nothing to stop the Sokovia Accords after that.
"Unfortunately, that leaves us unable to continue to working together, unless, of course, you and the Avengers are willing to follow Ross' terms."
"And have all of us sign a new Accords?" Nick questions, eyes narrowing.
"Oh, everything's already been signed away by the President, the Avengers have been granted the freedom to act, but only within the confines of the mission, which is simple. If they're in, then they're on a mission to help me, Ross and AIM hunt down and kill the Huntsman. Anything outside of those orders will be considered treason."
"Aren't they lucky Pepper is fighting tooth and nail to change the Accords? Once they're allowed to stop what's happening in this city, there'll be nothing either of you can do to stop them from taking the Huntsman into their custody."
"Oh, Nick, you and I both know that isn't true, Thaddeus has his ways of getting what he wants, besides, the spider's life has already been signed away. Anyone who tries to save him now will never see the light of day again, I've heard the Raft is a cold, lonely place. You wouldn't want that for any of them, would you?"
"Of course not-"
"Besides, after a week, maybe a month, I doubt you'll all want to save him."
"What makes you say that?"
"The information we found on those files," Valentina affirms. "The first file was all about that suit he wears, seems the Cooperative always had plans for it, blackmailing Oscorp, using their resources to study and run experiments. It's called a Symbiote, and it bonds to its hosts on a sub-cellular level. It's carnivorous by nature and extremely powerful, however, its power is dependent on the host. The Huntsman- well, he's strong, extensively trained, as well as forged and tormented by anguish. Whoever the host is, they seem to be a perfect match, but even so, the symbiote's dependency on the host, despite any will, eventually becomes permanent."
"That sounds like some pretty bad news."
"It's fucked, Fury, what the Huntsman will become- we can only speculate- and that's only the first reason why he's gotta die. The second file has more on the Huntsman's genetics, and the effects the super soldier serum had with his already altered DNA. We already know his physical traits were further enhanced, as it happens to all super soldiers, but it didn't stop there. It seems mutations began days before his escape, the first of which is his eyesight, reports state he could suddenly see much greater distances and in much greater details."
"What of the silver eyes?" Nick pries further.
"They were reported the following day, at first causing the Huntsman migraines, his eyes could still easily adapt from intense light to absolute darkness. His senses heightened further shortly after, as he was found on the floor of his cell, incapacitated by everything. The thing is, Nick, they were only the beginning, he's still in the process of mutating from the serum. He could turn into a mutant creature, like the other test subjects that didn't immediately die, then what? A symbiote using a mutant spider as its host? Even if that doesn't happen, and the Huntsman manages to remove the symbiote-"
"There's more-"
"Will you let me finish?!" Valentina screams into the phone. "Fuck. Yes, there's more. They brainwashed him and put the Winter Soldier code words into his mind, but the thing is, it wasn't exactly a success. When they first spoke the words, the Winter Spider awakened, but the Huntsman returned to consciousness before he could be sent on a mission. There was a first escape attempt and the Huntsman came pretty close and slaughtered many. They managed to lock him into a room, it took a month, but the Winter Spider returned and allowed the Cooperative to place him in cryosleep. Cryosleep is the only thing that resets the code words in his mind, and since they didn't get the chance to do it before he escaped-"
"It's only a matter of time before it's the Winter Spider out on the streets, and not the Huntsman," Nick finishes the thought. "And until that happens, they're personalities will keep shifting uncontrollably?"
"Until eventually, whoever the Huntsman is won't exist anymore, and it'll only be the Winter Spider in that body."
"I see," Fury scratches his chin. "The Avengers won't want to kill him, if there's a chance the Huntsman is Peter Parker-"
"Then Parker would already be lost, Nick, and I know you know that. He's done too much, gone too far." Valentina sighs, and for a moment, Fury wonders if there's any sympathy on the other side of the call. "Think, what life will he have after all of this? What makes you think, after everything, he could even return to normality? Peter Parker or not, the Huntsman needs to die, before the Avengers are called to be on clean-up duty. Scrubbing pieces of corpses they could've prevented. Think about it, Fury, I'll be sending those files over as soon as we're done here- maybe they'll convince the Earth's Mightiest Heroes to act for the good of the public."