Trapped in the Shadows

Chapter 40 - Compliance

"You ready?" Peter asked me, squeezing my hand.

"Of course, this is the last base that we know of and that means we have the chance to beat back Hydra once again. And with any luck, they'll stay down this time," I assured him, hoping that this final battle would satiate my need for revenge. The therapy and medication did seem to be helping me sleep, but I knew that dismantling Hydra could provide me with the best night's sleep I had had in a long time.

"(Y/N), remember that if you start feeling at all tired, let one of us know immediately and we'll extract you," Tony spoke as we prepared to start our infiltration.

I rolled my eyes, "I haven't passed out since our second raid, dad. I promise that I'll be fine. Now let's go kick some Hydra ass."

He smiled at me, placing his hand on my shoulder, "now that's my daughter."

This base was by far the most heavily armed that we had experienced, most likely due to the fact that it was the last one left, at least according to our data. As I had in other raids, I placed my focus on getting into a room with a high level computer to extract information from as opposed to fighting. Peter followed me as a bodyguard, in case I was overwhelmed by attackers while traveling the hallways.

I had studied the layouts of the structure that we had acquired from our reconnaissance droids and knew that the computer that I wanted was down in the basements, which meant that Peter and I had a long journey ahead of us. While many of the agents were distracted by the other Avengers, we began to slip down the hallways until finally reaching the stairs.

Peter wrapped his arm around me and shot a web around one of the railings, lowering us down to the bottom floor in the gap created by the flights of stairs. A small sigh of relief passed through my lips when my feet touched the floor of the basement. I still hadn't gotten used to entrusting my life in one of Peter's arms while the other worked his webs, even though I knew that he would never drop me accidentally.

"You would think that you would be used to that by now," he teased as I turned to search the basement.

"Shut it, Spider-Boy," I retorted, not looking back at him. "My apologies if I dislike dangling from great heights by a string."

"Hey but you're not the one dangling by a string, the guy that's holding you is."

"Which makes it even worse."

Leaving him behind, I snaked through the basement, which was considerably more quiet than the upper layers. However, there still was the few agents running about, trying to help defend the base from the Avengers or transporting plans so that we could not get our hands on them. Most of the time Peter and I could hide behind a wall or on the ceiling in Peter's case, but there were a few lives we had to take out in order to conceal our location.

Finally I was able to make it to the offices located in the basement, smiling when I found where Lascombe now worked. "Peter, would you stand guard? I've found what I came here for."

Peter nodded and positioned himself at the door as I began my process of downloading all files onto my bracelet. My head shot up whenever the sounds of commotion picked up, but for the most part we were left alone as they were too focused on the threat upstairs. After a few moments I was able to eject my bracelet and I gave a nod to Peter.

"I have eyes on Shadow and Spider-Man, they're in the basement," I heard a voice speak, causing me to freeze. Shit. My head whipped around, finding a lone Hydra agent, who seemed to have been tasked with keeping an eye out for the two of us as we were not partaking in the battle upstairs.

"Seems like we're about to get some company," I muttered to Peter as I threw a dagger into the agent's neck.

"Might be a good idea to run for it and rejoin the fight upstairs?" He suggested, knowing that I was a valued target and they would surely send their best agents to reacquire their lost prize.

"I was about to say the same thing."

Both of us broke out into a sprint back the way we had come, but found our path blocked by an increasing number of agents running down the stairs to capture us. "Hey, (A/I), there wouldn't happen to be a back way out of this basement now would there?"

"As a matter of fact there is a path to an underground hanger on the other side of the basement," (A/I) replied through my comms.

"Looks like we're getting our cardio in today," I informed Peter as we ran back the way we came from.

The basement soon turned into what seemed like a labyrinth with a million twists and turns as well as alternate paths, but I had (A/I) to guide me through them. Peter trailed not far behind, constantly keeping an eye for the agents who had come down the stairs after us. However when I looked back to tell him that we were getting close, Peter had gone.

"Peter?!" I cried out in a whisper, double backing to see if I could find him.

"Sorry, but your boyfriend lost you a few turns back. He met a few of my most prized possessions and they've been keeping him busy," I heard a chillingly familiar voice speak and I turned around to find myself face to face with my former boss.

"Lascombe," I spat, magic swirling at my fingertips.

"Oh please, we both know that you won't hurt me, I have complete control over you, remember? Also, you're standing in an electric field that interrupts the flow of magic."

I looked down at my hands to find that the black mist did indeed seem to be flickering, as though on the fritz. However, I pulled out the hunting knife that I kept in my right holster for emergencies. "You don't control me anymore, Lascombe, and I certainly do not need my magic to hurt you."

He raised his eyebrow, "we'll see about that. Beziehung."

No, no this can't be happening.

"Verdorben."

My nightmares cannot be coming true.

"Null."

Fight it, (Y/N)! Fight it, god damn it!

"Dämmerung, Schlange."

A scream tore through my vocal chords as I desperately clung on to whatever resolve I had left.

"Sechs, Ruhezustand."

Please, (A/I), the serum isn't perfect, but it could still work. Please register what is going on and administer it.

"Endspiel, Sieben."

Pain. Searing pain. All other thoughts left my body as I was blinded by it, allowing the monster they had implanted in me to rise again without resistance.

"Opfergabe."

Compliance.

-

(A/N): And this is why you don't raid Hydra basses when they have the capability to turn you into a mindless assassin. What do you think Lascombe will make you do? Or will (A/I) end up saving you? (Also, will that even work?) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!