Free From HYDRA

Chapter 4

"THANKS FOR THE RIDE, Happy."

Harley stepped into the elevator tiredly, leaning against the rail as he said, "Common floor, please, FRIDAY."

FRIDAY, sensing his mood and lack of desire for talk, responded with, "Of course, Harley," and the elevator shot up toward the common floor.

Seconds later, the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing a disheveled Tony Stark in a suit, talking to someone over the phone. Tony met Harley's eye as Harley dumped his backpack on the couch behind him, and smiled.

"Listen, Mr. Claus-sorry, Clent-do whatever the hell you want with your company. And severe all ties you have with mine. I never agreed to them anyway. What's that? I was probably drunk when I admitted you into my team." Harley snorted. Tony hadn't touched a bottle of wine or anything alcoholic since the day Harley had been born. Tony winked at him. "I offended you? Sorry, buddy, I'm a billionaire. You can't sue me. Bye."

Tony hung up, throwing his phone onto the sofa and sighed, smiling softly at his son. "Hey, Harls. How was school?"

"It was weird," Harley replied, frowning slightly. "There's a new kid who came today. Peter. He's so...strange."

"Strange?" Tony questioned.

"Yeah. He speaks everything in monotone, and he literally shows no emotion. He doesn't speak to anyone unless it's less than five words, but he's crazily amazing at math and science. He's a year younger than me, and he's taking AP Chem with me. We had a pop quiz today for math and we got it back right before lunch and he aced it." Harley plopped down on the couch, letting out a huge sigh. "And then, lunch. He was okay; he wasn't talking, but he was listening to us for a while. But then randomly, he started shaking and spasming..." He shuddered, remembering how scary it had been, hovering over Peter as he twitched, his eyes rolling beneath his eyelids.

"Hey," Tony calmed him. "Deep breaths, Harley. Maybe he has dystonia."

Harley matched his dad's exaggerated breaths, effectively calming down. "I don't know, Dad. It seems like it's something more than a disease. Something more...dangerous. And I don't like the feeling of that, at all."

***

He stared up blankly at the ceiling. He was lying on a white table, his hands and ankles cuffed onto it with vibranium, the strongest metal to ever exist. His breaths came out slow as he tried to keep his heart rate from speeding. He didn't want himself to look scared when the scientist-who he had deemed as Bob-came.

The door creaked open seconds later, a small crack of light hitting his face. He didn't flinch or blink-no weakness.

"Winter Spider, or Peter Parker," Bob mused. He towered over Peter, his hands on his hips as he tutted. "We made a mistake, didn't we? We thought the Peter Parker in you had been stamped out. It seemed like we were wrong."

Peter watched him, his eyes slightly widening as he saw a headpiece in Bob's hands, instantly knowing what Bob intended to do. "No," he rasped. "No! Please."

Bob smiled cruelly. "Oh, yes," he said. "We decided to brainwash you-now there will be no Peter Parker...only Winter Spider. And hopefully, Winter Spider will accomplish the task given to him."

He fitted the headpiece on Peter's head, tightening it accordingly. Peter thrashed, his fingers curling to his palms as he cried out, tears welling in his eyes. No. Not again! Not when he had tasted freedom for half a day!

"Two..."

Stillness. Peter sobbed, his eyes clenching as he tried his best to remember his friends, though he wasn't sure if they counted him as one. Harley. Ned. MJ. Gwen.

Harley. Ned. MJ. Gwen.

"Home..."

Harley. Ned. MJ. Gwen.

Harley. Ned...MJ...G-gwen?

Harley. Ned...MJ...

"Radioactive..."

Harley. Ned...MJ...

Harley. Ned...M-MJ...

Harley...Ned...

"Brother."

Harley...

A scream left Winter Spider's lips and he straightened, his eyes blown wide as he writhed. He stared at the strange man in white, his face still and set to stone.

Har...le...y?

"Ready to comply."

~Lyn

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