Here With Me - A Y/n Barnes Story

Episode 6 - First Time Being A Prisoner

When I woke up, Killian and Val were still unconscious. Around me, there was an old doctor's table and a medical bed with leather straps to hold down the victim. I try to get up, but the drugs still have me dizzy and lightheaded, so I stay flopped on the ground.

The good news is that my hands and feet aren't bonded together. The bad news is that all of our earpieces were removed and we have no way of communicating with Steve.

Val begins to wake up and also checks her surroundings. I doubt that anyone is here, but we don't dare make a sound.

When Killian wakes up, he doesn't get it right away. "First day in Germany, and we're already being held for ransom."

"Shut up," I whisper, but I doubt he heard me over the sudden, violent jangle of keys. Someone shouts in German before the door swings open and someone in a blue and red suit is thrown inside. When his head hit the hard concrete floor, the concrete cracked.

When the other guy left and shut the door, the three of us let curiosity get the best of us. We made our way over to examine our new prison mate. His build was defined, but not overly defined. His crooked mask revealed everything from the tip of his nose down.

He was knocked out from being hit in the head so, carefully, I removed the mask. His face was slightly bloody, but he looked . . . like a kid, like us. Couldn't have been any younger than us.

"His suit, it's Stark Tech," Killian noted. "I wonder if there's an assistant in his suit."

"You would be correct, Mr. Killian Stark," a female AI within the suit answered.

"What are his vitals?" Val inquired.

"Stable. He should be regaining consciousness . . . now."

As if on cue, he slowly flickered his eyes open. I didn't know what to do with a half-conscious boy in front of me, so I did the most cliche thing I could've done.

"Don't be scared. We're not going to hurt you."

I saw fear in his eyes, and his mouth began to open, so I put my hand over it gently but firmly; careful not to hurt him, but enough to make a point.

"We're in the same boat, here. You're trapped here, we're trapped here. We don't know if people are listening to us right now, so I suggest you shut up before someone walks in. For some perspective, we're in a base that used to hold an assassin squad so elite that they could take an entire country down in one night and you'd never see them coming. Are we clear?" Luckily, my point was made and he nodded, not daring to say another word. "Good," I said finally.

"What's your name?" Val asked gently. She was always good with this sort of thing, whatever this was.

"Peter," he whispered hesitantly. "I'm Peter Parker."

"I'm Vallerie, that's y/n," she gestured. "And that's Killian."

"N-Nice to meet you," he said shakily.

He didn't say much after that, so Val, Killian, and I left him alone and decided to try and make my other powers come back. Summoning the earth, we agreed, would be most helpful and least harmful.

I tried the method that worked in the hotel, but this time I imagined myself in the rainforest. The smell of wet trees and the sound of birds was crystal clear in my mind. I imagined the texture of the soil, moist and rich with nutrients, feeding the trees with growing, surging energy. That's it.

I harnessed it again, surprised at how much easier it was to take hold of than the wind. I felt my palms open slightly as I pushed the energy from my core to my palms. When I opened my eyes, another symbol, a light green sprout, appeared on my wrist, and vines and greenery now supported my spot on the floor.