Made to be a Weapon

Chapter 3

"Soldier, you hesitated to obey a direct order."

"I had him! I don't understand!"

"Silence!" A hand slapped Peter, hard. But he didn't flinch, he couldn't show weakness.

"You follow orders, soldier. Or you are put out of comission. I do not need to justify why I pulled you out."

"I could have died the minute you pressed that button!"

"Then you would have died because you didn't follow orders. I am to be treated with the same amount of respect as your previous handler. I have the power to put you to sleep, permanently. Don't forget that."

Peter knew he had lost. "Yes, sir."

The man smiled sadistically. "You will have the chance to finish your mission soon. A lot of people want that man dead."

Peter knew the feeling. A lot of people probably wanted him dead. People within Hydra, even. Sargent Barnes certainly did, Strucker, who had created him,  had tried to kill him. He was the predecessor to the baron's Widow program, but had become unstable. Arnim Zola had stepped in and saved him.  But Zola was dead now, so that left him unprotected.

"Report to cryo, immediately."

"You said I would have another chance for this mission!"

The man slapped him again. "Not now. Report to cryo before I decide to let you suffer something worse."

Peter nodded obediently. He would be out soon, they wouldn't wait long. He would be out in a few months.

Sure enough, seven months later, he was woken up. But it wasn't too kill Tony Stark. No one even brought up that mission. His handler had been replaced by a blonde woman.

His new handler was named Dr. Daniels. A fake name, probably. Peter immediately liked her. Her light colored hair was always pulled up in a bun, but the strands tried constantly to rebel. Wisps fell around her face. Her ice blue eyes seemed to smile, even when her expression was steely. She was kind, understanding, but she was firm, and you understood that her word was law.

Years went by, and she stayed. Peter felt a bond with her. No other handler had ever lasted this long, whether forced out, or driven from the position by Peter himself. He was contrary and headstrong, but he rarely argued with Dr. Daniels. She trusted him, and he trusted her. She wasn't unnecessarily cruel, like his previous handlers had been. But she didn't put up with disobedience either. They became quite the team. Peter was allowed to question, to offer alternatives, but he understood that her decision was final. Consequently, Dr. Daniels was the only person in Hydra who ever came to realize Peter's intelligence. She often asked for his opinion, and valued his input. But never in the presence of other people.

Peter sometimes wondered about this, but never asked. He thought it was probably because her methods would be scorned, even disapproved of, by her superiors. But he couldn't be sure.

When he wasn't on missions, he spent most of his time in cryo. Though it had previously been uncomfortable, Dr. Daniels discovered that his spider DNA required less extreme temperatures to hibernate than a normal human. Cryo was now nothing more than a slightly chilly nap. While hibernating like this, his body didn't age. So, while a decade passed for Dr. Daniels, Peter was barely a year older.

After being under for almost 16 months, he was woken for routine testing. He had to be out of cryo for at least a month, but that month usually was uneventful.

But after just three days, Dr. Daniels came to him with a mission. She seemed anxious, and Peter raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her, but she just quickly shook her head. She motioned for him to follow her, so he did.

The entered a brightly lit room, furnished with only a round wooden table and chairs to match. Dr. Daniels sat down at the far end, and Peter sat down next to her. After a few minutes, two people, a boy and a girl, walked in.  They seemed unsure of themselves, but Dr. Daniels waved at them to sit down.

"Soldier, these are the two enhanced. They will need your guidance on this mission, but under no circumstances are you to complete it for them."

"Of course." Peter nodded at the two young teens. They looked to be about 13, maybe 14.

They nodded back, in sync. The boy looked nervous, he was fidgeting. He leaned protectively towards the girl. She had an expression that was impossible to read, and was lazily twirling a strand of auburn hair around her finger as her elbows rested on the table.

"Target, this S.H.I.E.L.D. base in New Mexico. Take it down. It cannot be allowed to stay operational in any way. No witnesses, make it look like an accident. Dismissed." Dr. Daniels waved the enhanced away, but gestured for Peter to stay behind. He stayed in his seat, but sat up straighter.

"All of our people are out of that base. Anyone still there is an enemy, and must be destroyed. We have planted the means for you to make it seem accidental, but it's up to them. This mission is their first field test, if they do well, you will be working with them in the future."

Peter tilted his head. "May I ask a few questions about them? My chip has no records. "

She nodded curtly.

"How are they enhanced?"

"Strucker's experiments with alien tech. They volunteered for the project."

"Relation?"

"They are twins. They care deeply about each other, see to it that those feelings don't become an obstacle."

Peter cringed inside, but kept a mask of indifference. "Of course. I will not fail you."

The woman looked pleased as she stood from her chair. She gave the slightest smile and waved him away.

He left to find the twins.