Trapped in the Shadows

Chapter 26 - Best Chance

(Peter's POV):
"(Y/N), how can you do this?" I asked her, as I sent a web to pin her arm to the wall behind her. "This isn't you, please come back with us."

She turned to glare at me, "you don't know a thing about me." A blade appeared in her hand and she sliced the web from the wall. Now free from her bounds, she continued fighting back against the other Avengers, who were trying desperately to get to her so that we could bring her home.

"But I do, (Y/N), I think I know you better than you know yourself. You are not an assassin, (Y/N), you only kill to protect the lives of the innocent," I continued trying to make her remember who she truly was.

"And you think the people I have killed are innocent? These people stall the advancement of the world, they fight back against the organization which could usher in a new and better world."

"And who is this organization you work for?"

She scoffed, "that's none of your business, Spider-Man."

"You would think that an organization trying to evolve the world would not be afraid of getting discovered. (Y/N) come back with us and-" I cut off as a blast of her energy rammed into my stomach, sending me flying backwards. I landed on my back, hearing something crack.

Ignoring the pain shooting through me, I got back up on my feet, watching as (Y/N) pushed back the rest of the Avengers. She was the only one that I had seen manage to hold her own against them, although she had told me that Thanos had down a good job at that as well. Thor, who had been visiting for my graduation, threw Stormbreaker at her, piercing the leather suit that know wore. She winced in pain as she removed it, letting it clatter on the ground as she quickly teleported away.

"Thor, what were you thinking? You could have killed her!" Tony yelled after she had disappeared.

"What else was I supposed to do? She's too powerful to be brought in unless we stop easing up on her!" He defended his actions. "Lady (Y/N) can handle it, I assure you."

"And if she can't? We need to get whatever thoughts they put in her out of her, which we can't do if she's not alive."

"Boys, it doesn't matter anymore, she's gone. Let's go home and regroup. Now that Thor's here, we can plan our next confrontation with her. Peter's webs held her for a bit today, we might be able to work with that," Natasha stepped in, trying to diffuse the tension. "Dr. Strange, if you would."

He nodded, creating a portal for us to get back to the compound. There was someone waiting for us as soon as we walked through. He immediately asked, sounding almost bored, "let me guess, she easily escaped?"

"Brother, what are you doing here? I left you in charge of New Asgard while I was away," Thor was the first to reply.

Loki rolled his eyes, "I am sure that the Valkyrie has it under control. Besides, you will only be able to successfully capture (Y/N) without killing her if you have someone with similar powers on your team."

"And you actually expect us to believe that you want to help us?" Tony scoffed, brushing past him. He turned around and crossed his arms, "you only do things for yourself, why would you change that pattern now?"

Loki tilted his head, "have you forgotten about Wakanda? I don't believe I was doing that for myself, now was I?"

"Probably were, did you know for certain that you weren't going to die in the snap?"

"And do you know for certain that I didn't know that the Avengers wouldn't find a way to bring back those who were killed? I've fought you people, I know how annoyingly stubborn you can be. You would have found a way, I was just making it easier on you."

"He's right, you would have brought everyone back if Loki and (Y/N) hadn't stepped in," Dr. Strange spoke, receiving a glare from Tony. "But it would have been at a great cost and you wouldn't be here to celebrate the victory, Stark."

"What, so you're just going to take Loki's side, Strange? I thought we were a team."

"If we want any chance of saving (Y/N) without killing her, our best bet is Loki. His magic is similar to hers, he can counteract whatever spells she throws at us and potentially keep her from escaping, which has been our biggest failure," Strange explained.

"Thor, can Loki be trusted?" Natasha inquired, believing Strange that this would be the easiest way.

Thor looked at his brother, "no, Loki is not trustworthy, but I do believe that he is trying to help. He likes (Y/N), I do not believe that he would do anything to harm her. Besides, you have been continually failing to catch her, what's the worst that Loki could do?"

"Besides get close to us so that he could kill us and then revisit his desire to take over earth?" Tony asked, still eying the God warily.

"Tony, if he's our best chance for getting (Y/N) back, we need to trust him," I spoke up, not caring about Loki's track record if that meant we would be able to get her back safely.

"It seems that the Spider-Child and the Doctor are the smartest on the team. Shall we begin discussing how we are going to capture (Y/N)?" Loki responded, ending the discussion whether or not we could trust him.

(Your POV):
I arrived back at the Hydra base, trying to ignore the pain in my stomach from Thor's ax. As much as I wanted the satisfaction of taking apart the Avengers one at a time, I knew I would have to be more careful now that they had brought both Thor and Spider-Man into the group trying to bring me in. The only reason I had lasted as long as I have was because I never engaged them for long and had quickly teleported back to base before they could defeat me.

"Mission status?" Carson replied as I walked into his office.

"Mission complete. Target has been taken out," I responded, not even bothering to sit down as I would not be needed for long.

He nodded towards my bleeding abdomen, "what happened there?"

"The Avengers are getting desperate. They've added more to their team and have been relentless about letting me go about my business. I think it is time that we start taking them out."

"No, Lascombe is very clear on that subject. You are our most valuable operative, we cannot lose you to the Avengers, not until we have your team assembled and are ready to go back into the public."

"They won't kill me, they still see (Y/N) Stark in me. It would be easy to catch them off guard and start picking them off one by one."

"And if you get captured? Shadow, I do not believe that you fully understand the consequences of what you wish to do. You best prove to be an obedient soldier, or else we'll have to put your mind back in a blender and I don't think that you want that. Now stop questioning your orders and go get that would patched up, it looks rather deep."

-

(A/N): Yo callbacks just lasted like 4 hours like wtf just happened?! We ended up singing dancing queen, talking about Shrek, and discussing Buddhist teachings in relation to Frankenstein, it was pretty wild. But even if I don't get in, I definitely felt like I bonded with the theatre people, which is what matters. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy your Hydra self and Loki's return because he's the fucking best ❤️