Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I was held in that cave for three months. Three whole months. I constantly worried I’d never see my family again. My son, whose mother was still simply my girlfriend, was 7. My motivation to see them had led me to make a miniaturized arc reactor. Using it to power “something big for a few minutes” to escape. Yensin, who was held captive with me, died to buy me time.  He had said he had family to see, I wanted to get him out too. As he was dying he told me he was going to see them, as they had died already. I told him I won’t forget him this time. He told me that I should forget this place. How can I do that? It’s ingrained in me now.

After escaping, I was quickly found as well. As we landed on the runway, I saw Pepper, but no Peter. She had grief written all over her face. Now I was worried too. Was all this for nothing? Did I escape, only to not make it back to my family like I had promised? What happened while I was gone? 

“Where is Peter?” I demanded. “Is he okay?”

“Tony. He was taken, a few days after you went missing.” Rhodey looked like he wanted to die, admitting that. “I was so focused on trying to find you, they just took him. No one has made any demands for ransom. Nothing.”

“Peter…” I thought for a moment. “We’re calling a press conference.” 

“What? Why?”

“No, you need to go to the hospital you-”

“What I need is some burgers, and to do a press conference. Right now. Happy, let’s go.”

Once we arrived at the conference, I had 2 objectives in mind. One is simple, state we are stopping production of weapons. 2, a message. Those who kidnapped Peter, must be smart, and are likely to get it. I know they will. As I finished my statement about stopping weapon manufacturing, Obadiah tried to stop me, but I said I had one more statement. He let me say it, though no one will understand it but me, and whoever decided to kidnap my kid.

“You who has done a terrible thing.  Should you admit your crime, I doubt there is a punishment fitting for you. Crawl, and perhaps I won’t notice. To such lengths you will go to harm me. The ending for you won’t be pleasant. Depths deeper than hell is fitting for you. Of all the things to do, it is what comes after that you should be afraid of. Earth may be vast, but in the grand scale of the universe nothing could be so small. To your graves, you have resigned to. Hide away but I will have eyes everywhere. From the brink of death, I will find you. Me, Tony Stark.” I was staring into the camera, with a look of that would be described as pissed off. I turned and walked away.

“That is all.” I called back, ignoring the many questions suddenly shouted out.  Pepper quickly followed and wanted to ask what I had said, what I meant. But no, only the one who thought they could steal from Tony Stark, will understand it. To break into my house in Malibu required hacking into Jarvis. Which is not easy to do. So whoever decided to kidnap Peter, will get my message. People might get it later, but whoever did? They got it right away. Because if they didn’t? Well the idea from the cave is about to become even more useful.

Chapter Text

I failed the mission. I failed, but with this failure I gained something again. Steve. Steve had reminded me of who I am, bits and pieces sure, but still. I knew there was one thing I had to do, before I go into hiding. If memory serves correctly, it’s close by. A hydra base used to hold one of their other weapons Spider, the called i- him. A kid, they chose to kidnap some child and turn him into something like I was. I was assigned to kidnap him. I took him from his family and brought him to the monsters. Is that something Steve would forgive easily? I wouldn’t. Or at least I don’t think I would. My mind is still messed up, but this one thing I know I have to do. So I will.

Breaking into the place was easy. I killed everyone on my way to the containment. The handler was told to activate him, to kill me most likely. Can’t have that. Instead, I let him speak the activation and before he could bark an order, I shot him, through his head. The Spider looked at me, and I gave him an order instead. “ You are to hide away. You are not to take orders from anyone ever again. That is your last order. Go now. ” I ordered him, in russian. He looked at me, and for the first time, I heard his voice. It broke me even more.

“ Thank you. ” he replied in Latvian, and started gathering stuff to take with him. I could tell already his leash was way looser than mine. His enhancements might make him harder to keep under control. I'll go with that theory for now. Hopefully the kid can prot- who am i kidding, of course he can, but just in case…

 “ Kid? ” I asked in Latvian.

“ Yes sir? ” He looked at me a little hesitant.

“ First, never call me sir. Second, got a name for yourself? ” 

“ No? ”

“ Keep grabbing shit, give me a second. ” I looked around. If one thing is true about this generation of Hydra, is that they are a bit lazy. The computer was still on, and likely had his file on it. I started searching, and disappointedly, it was easy to find. The Hydra back in WWII would’ve stored this on paper file, and all the way in another country. Sure, the ones on top are good. But these guys? Besides the handlers, the rest aren’t smart. I pulled up his file, I widened my eyes. I never knew… Great, Not only have I killed Howard and Maria, now I’ve kidnapped their grandkid and allowed Hydra to turn him into some weapon. At least that never changed, they didn’t tell me anything about my target except the fact that it was my target.

“ Sir? ” he called out, he had a duffle bag, probably filled with whatever he could fit in there.

“ Sorry, Found you a name. ” I turned to him, and smashed the PC.

“ What is it? ” He looked a little excited, at the prospect of having a name that wasn’t whatever they called him. Good.

“ Peter… Parker. ” I don’t know why, but saying Stark didn’t feel right. Plus, I don’t want him to go too him Not yet.

“Thank you sir. ” At least he believed me, for now. 

“ It's.. nothing. Now come with me. I’m going to get you some things. ” I have to be able to protect him somehow.

“ Like what? ”

“ Just come with me. ” I started heading out, with any luck, Hydra hadn’t been alerted yet. After robbing a clothing store, at night, so no one would really notice, hopefully. I also stole him, and me, a phone. I got the number associated with his, but told him to get a different one, and this one only in emergencies and give me updates on how he was doing. After I told him to lay low, we parted ways. I fled originally to the U.K and laid low for a while. About a year later, I saw on the news, Some senators were murdered and evidence was strung around them, saying they were part of Hydra.

“Shit.”

Chapter Text

For the past year, I followed Barnes- No Bucky’s instruction. I really did! But then they just HAD to show their ugly faces again. They were in a panic, clearly. The avengers were back, and were going around just hitting up every base they could find. I just happened to be near one they hadn’t caught onto yet. In the desperate times they were in, and considering the Avengers were busy “dropping a city on the world” according to the news, I couldn’t just let them get away. So I put on my old gear, which wasn’t too small yet thankfully. It had a similar design to Mr. Bucky’s but the metal arm was just armor. It was on the right side though. I may be ambidextrous, but I did favor my right, but was originally a lefty. Found that out when writing felt wrong in school. Oh god school! Wait, Hydra! Don’t get distracted.

These guys were trying to move. Or at least appeared to be trying. They were getting sloppy and were obviously in a rush. I hadn’t killed anyone in a long time, but Hydra? They deserve it. Probably. Well not these grunts, I would web them up and leave an anonymous tip about them. But the big shots? They deserve dying, some I think I could still remember their faces. EIther way, I disabled their truck, or rather with my webs pierce the tires, preventing any attempts to escape. My webs could do 2 things, Stick to shit, OR the more fun option, pierce shit. Somehow they conditioned me to make them piece things, How? No Clue. Don’t want any clue either.  They were effective at stopping cars, and latching onto things the sticky ones can’t. Which isn’t very often.

After they heard the tires pop, the grunts rushed out, and I webbed them all up with ease. Clearly they don’t have access to good soldiers anymore. The big leader or something wanted to throw hands too, and he quickly joined his friends in the cocoon. As I started to type away on an app I developed to send anonymous tips, the leader guy spoke up. Clearly I forgot to web his mouth shut. 

“You aren’t safe now that we know you are still in the states.”

“Yeah why is that?” I asked him, in my broken English accent.

“I’m not telling you any- AGH!” I interrupted him by using my piercing web through his leg

“Well, how about this? I hated seeing you guys again. So, how about you tell me where your leaders are? I know some are alive. Sure, the big leak from SHIELD gave away a lot of them, but some are kept off such things anyway. Or at least, the older ones are.”

“I’d rather die!” He barked at me. Ha. Funny.

“See, here’s the thing, you would’ve already. You guys take cyanide when caught, but not you guys. You aren’t valuable enough. So.. let's try again.” I shot another web through his other leg.  And as he continued to resist, I knew he’d break eventually. I felt it. It was coming.

“OK! I know where you can find the rest!” I looked at him, gesturing to continue. “You can find their paper files near Camp Lehigh. We buried them after SHIELD  collapsed!”

“Was that so hard?” I smiled and webbed up the holes littered all over him. It’ll stop the bleeding, and if he dies? So be it. I left him there, finishing up the anonymous tip, and snuck on the roof of a bus headed in the general direction.  I found the cache, surprised he didn’t lie. Got the documents out and set out on a mission. The names on the list were BIG names. Some senators of the US. But if they are Hydra? They can’t remain in such positions any longer. The first was nearby. Good. I snuck into his home, which was decorated horribly, why do bad guys have such poor taste? I located him in his office. 

After confirming he was on site, I looked for a way to disable his power, something they had me do. Hopefully he’ll realize. He was one of the ones who tortured me when I didn’t please them. So I wanted to have fun. I found his power box, and punched it with my metal arm. Which was designed to absorb electricity. I quickly just blatantly barged throughout his hideous house, and smashed through his office door. He attempted to shoot me, but I dodged. My senses allowed me to dodge all his bullets and once I heard the click I shot my piercing web through his pistol and it went through his hand. He screamed, clearly never feeling pain before. Good.

I strung him up, after that, but instead of the sticky webs, I used the other kind. Deliberately keeping him alive. Once satisfied, I wrote on the wall, by making dot letters with the piercing webbing. Writing “Hydra is ashamed of your performance.” Sure it took a minute to write, but it was worth it. Finally I turned to him, and got out his Hydra file, placed it on his chest, over his heart. 

“You.. resisted the words?” he asked, horrified.

“Oh? Sorry? You were talking? Had no idea. Hm. Guess a Winter Soldier, or something ordered me to never follow orders again. Must be a permanent order cause, I didn’t even hear you talking in all honesty.” I had a huge grin at the horror on his face. But he couldn’t see it, due to the mask.

“Impossible!” He shouted, and started coughing up blood. 

“Well when the handler activated me for the last time, he killed him before he bark some order, and I listened to him instead. Too bad for you, Mr Senator. Anyways, consider this revenge.” I hissed as I shot him through the paper and his heart. The webs will dissolve in a few hours, but I already heard sirens in the distance. I walked out the way I came in, and left. Simple as that. I hitched a ride on another bus roof, heading back to New York. Today was a good day. I returned to the grungy apartment Mr. Bucky pays for. Hopefully he calls again soon. But not too soon, gotta take people off this list, first.

Chapter Text

I left the site of my crime, swinging through New York, avoiding the prying eyes of cameras, on the way to a safe house, an old clock tower, abandoned. People walk by it constantly, but the city never takes it down or has plans to restore it. Perhaps it was a historical landmark? Or they are just simply lazy.

I entered through one of the faces of the clock, facing away from the street. I considered taking off his suit, but decided not to. If I was followed, I’d have to abandon this safe house. Unfortunately, it was my favorite. Though it was by default, the others I don't visit often, but all ready to be used. I headed over to the computer, an older one salvaged out of dumpsters, and rebuilt for my uses. There I set about looking at recent news, figuring my objective wouldn’t have caught the news yet, considering the Avengers were “dropping a city on the world”, I thought I’d get off mostly scott free. Little did I  know that killing a US politician would get a lot of news coverage, despite that fact.

I considered waiting on my hit list, but decided I couldn’t. The rest weren’t as big targets as the first. This guy was a statement. To HYDRA, they know I’m alive now, and I intend on having them try and up their personal security out of paranoia to check them off. My next target of course, was a big name, but not as big. Going down  the list, it was someone who was simply a rich guy. Nothing suspicious about him, he regularly donated to charity. A cover up for his real work. His business was a law firm, a very popular one, dealing with someone who is basically the head of a mob. At least one of their lawyers did, though that lawyer has since left and started his own. Apparently his target meets up with this lawyer regularly. Troublesome, but that’s nothing I can’t handle. 

I waited for night, aimlessly walking in circles around the room. I ate some, enough to keep me going, at least. I read up on my next target, deciding to just simply go down the list, as if it was a checklist. The target’s name is Nathanial Smith, founder of a large law firm. Codename: Harpy. His file states that he was the one that ordered his abduction. And that almost had me rip the file up. He gave the order. He lead Mr. Bucky to take me away from my home. My mother and father. My family. Perhaps he had them killed off, so no one will look for me. An unfortunate reality I should face. Any trace of my family is likely long gone. HYDRA is always thorough, They were likely killed a few days after I was taken anyway. Made to look like an accident, so no one would be the wiser. This thought filled me with more anger than I thought it would. I decided to pass the time by doing exercise. Time flew by after that.

It was night now, and I approached my target’s building. A towering skyscraper, perfect. Just like the last target, I  approached where the building’s power was, and using my metal arm, punched up the fuse boxes. Cutting power to the whole building. This is to be more public execution. I left the generator room and climbed up the elevator shaft. My target was confirmed on site, on the 86th floor. I entered the air ducts for this floor. And slowly and quietly crawled around searching for my target, last known position in an office, alone. As I approached said office, he could hear voices.

“What’s with the power? Shouldn’t it be back on by now?” His target, Nathaniel Smith, asked another in the room, a witness. Not ideal. He wanted to wait for the body to be found a bit. Hopefully this guy leaves soon.

“I’m not sure, Jess went to take a look I believe.” The man spoke up but didn’t move to look at his companion, perhaps he is blind. Even worse, something HYDRA were cautious of, people who have less than 5 senses tend to have others heightened to compensate. If he is blind, then him hearing of Me  is greatly increased, despite  that I’m basically silent, even to enhanced like Mr. Bucky. But Mr. Bucky had all his senses, not missing any. Could I pull this off? Despite this, my 6th sense tells me the blind man is even more dangerous than the HYDRA target. Clearly he is hiding something from his friend, at least they are both hiding something from each other. Perhaps I can stick mr blind man to the wall first, then go about my business. 

A phone call cut me out of my thoughts, the blind man got his phone out his pocket, and said ‘answer call’ a voice came out before he could even speak more. “Matt, someone has busted up the generator, like seriously busted it up. There isn’t any power coming back on anytime soon, it’ll take a whole new one.”

“Who would’ve done that? And why?” Matt, the blind man said, confused. I heard Smith’s heart rate increase dramatically. Matt noticed too, clearly he has better hearing than most. Is he enhanced? “You okay Nathan?”

“I have to leave!” He shouted out, not even bothering to explain, already attempting to rush out the door. Bad idea. I dropped out from the vents, and webbed the blind guy to the wall.

“You aren’t going anywhere.” I said, striking his leg, web shooting through it. “Mr. Nathanial Smith, or rather ‘The Harpy’ , very pleased to see you again.”

“You? I knew it, as soon as the power went out, I knew you were coming. I just didn’t want it to be true! The reports stated you died! AGH!” He screamed again as I started stringing him up, like his recently deceased comrade.

I yelled at him, venting my anger toward him “Who do you think fabricated that report Harpy! Not me! I’ll tell you right now, but HE did tell me you ordered my abduction! YOU! You had him take me from a family I’ll never know! And for that? I will enjoy your execution more!” just like his last comrade, defenseless. The webs were like spears, simply sticking through him. I walked up to him, pulling out his file. Put it on one of ‘spears’ and stuck him with a sticky one, walking toward the window.

"Let’s see if the Harpy can fly!" I yelled, pulling him and throwing him through the glass, hurdling to his doom. I jumped too, fleeing, to a different safehouse, different from the clock tower. Under the mask, I felt tears fall. I soldiered onto to the safehouse, some old apartment building, out on the outskirts of Hell's Kitchen, gang fights were constant around here, but never came close to this place. the apartment I had chosen was small, the water still worked, sometimes. a reason I don't come here often. Water hardly ever works, and if i fix it, someone will know. No one to pay the water bill, or electric for that matter. It gets cold, in the winter. So its left alone till spring, avoided in summer. used again in fall and abandoned before the first snow fall of the year. I headed toward the bathroom. Wanting to splash water on my face, hopefully the water works.

As I entered, I looked at the mirror, mask thrown to floor as I entered. My face, with silent tears streaming down, cause “Hydra assassins don’t cry” something I hadn't done in a while, clearly as they seemed endless, my strawberry blonde hair, was finally peeking out from the black dye, hydra had done, always kept short, sort of hard to get out too. I stared at the mirror for what felt like hours, wondering who gave me the hair, my mom? Dad? Perhaps HYDRA killed them off, so I wouldn't ever encounter them. Seems like it must be the truth. I constantly walk around New York as a civilian and never see anyone who looks familiar. Bucky had said perhaps I wasn’t taken from New York. I had to return to that apartment soon, he must’ve called by now. But not yet. Tonight, I cry. For parents I never knew, for a life I will never have, for any sort of family. “Perhaps one day, I can visit their graves.” I thought dryly as I drifted off into sleep.

Chapter Text

When they got back to the tower, Tony planned on making a different place for their headquarters, as to prevent civilians from getting hurt, should a fight take place at the tower.. Again. He would ‘sell’ the tower to Pepper, so she can do whatever she wants with it, and move everything out. That plan was interrupted when Fury was waiting for everyone, a grim look on his face. Tony thought he’d stay behind, and do his best to help clean up, and rehouse people. Clearly something big came up to warrant his return.

“What is it, Fury?” Steve asked, breaking the silence.

“We have.. A situation.” Fury’s tone indicated he didn’t really know how to feel about it.

Nat was surprised, something you don’t see everyday. “Well it can’t be that bad. Right?”

He sighed. “That’s the issue. I’m not sure how bad or good it is.” 

“Just spit it out Fury, we don’t got all day.”

“Someone has been killing people. 2 victims already-”

“What? You want us solving murders now?” I interrupted, cause it sounded ridiculous, Avengers solving murders? Really?

“They are- Were ex Hydra. Went deep underground after Agent Romanoff leaked all the files. Managed to escape ‘cause they weren’t on them.”

“What’s the big deal then?” I asked, what's the problem with Ex Hydra people showing up dead?

“One, was a politician, Stark. The other? A head of a law firm. Killed in.. odd ways.” Ok. Wow. A politician was murdered, and was found to be hydra? How? And why? “On both bodies was a paper file, containing evidence that they were in league with Hydra. Both killed similarly, or the injuries are the same. One was thrown out of a window. The other? Well it looked like he was impaled all over with something. The people who found the politician said he was strung up by something, but whatever it was dissolved, same for the other victim, impaled all over, with something lodged in the wounds that later dissolved.”

“Freaky.”

“Yes. We have reason to suspect that a Hydra operative, like the Winter Soldier, is behind it.” Fury explained. Steve perked up at the mention of the Winter Soldier. “We’ve known they had another operative, or at least we suspected. This operative was kept on paper file and in an off grid server, so the leak by Agent Romanoff wouldn’t have included it.”

“Did you manage to find the server then?” Nat asked.

“Yes, the issue however, is that it was destroyed. By a super soldier if the damage is anything to go by. Not to mention all the paper files were burnt.” Fury continued. We were just as surprised as we were to find out that the soldier likely helped the other escape, or had a hand in it. “We only recently found the site they held this asset in, but analysis suggests the damage was a few years old. If it’s correct, and we believe it is, it’s just a few days after D.C.” We all looked shocked at that, the Winter Soldier had helped another escape, after he himself escaped. Steve looked shocked, but not as much as us, like he somehow figured he would do something to this degree.

“Anything to add, Cap?” I asked him.

“Besides the fact that Bucky might, no definitely still in there? No.” He was confident about it, though everyone had some suspicions.

“What makes you so confident about that?” Clint didn’t doubt him, but still wanted to know.

“Because it’s something he’s done before, with me… After the Helicarriers fell, we were in the water, and he pulled me out. I would’ve drowned, if not for him.” He sighed, and continued.  “He always looked out for me, especially before the serum. Perhaps this asset reminds him of me? Somehow?” that part he was less confident about, it seems.

“So what do you even want us to do Fury?” I turned to him, and the rest of the team did too.

“Well for one, we gotta keep an eye out for this guy, and possibly Barnes. Though we know so little about him, we have no idea where to start. I’d say Stark could try and piece together whatever happened at the Hydra Blacksite, but I’m not sure how much he could get that we don’t already have.” Fury thought for a moment, and spoke up again, “Perhaps you could investigate the crime scenes? Romanoff could assist with that, I bet. We have scanned the room, we’ll send it over.”

“Got it. We’ll head over now. Cap, you get the new team settled in. Let's go, Romanoff.” I started walking, toward the landing platform.

“Right behind you.” She called out.

After meeting with Agent Hill on the Quinjet, she went over what they found. And said she’d fly us over but had to return to the compound soon. She showed a photo of the senator, Tony recognized him, Senator Stern. While he hated the guy sure, he didn’t really want him dead. Just sort of wished for it. After they arrived at his home, which was turned into a crime scene investigation, other agents had cleared out a bit, and Tony got to work. Using the scan SHIELD provided, he found out where it started, a generator room. Someone had punched it, leaving a hole inside, and cutting the power. 

Whoever punched it had a metal arm, it seemed. It was too small to be Barnes’ arm though. It also seemed more like a piece of armor than a synthetic arm. The scan had come up with an approximate body for the suspect. A male, 5 '10 (1.77m), with an approximate weight of 160lbs (75kg) not accounting for the armor. The hologram smashed the power box with his arm, wasn’t shocked by it, and barged through the rest of the house, dodging bullets and killing guards along the way.

He got to office and it appeared that he was just dodging all the bullets in the senator's gun. Another thing the computer couldn't figure out was how and what impaled him. After doing whatever it was, the guy was strung up and the Suspect wrote on the wall “Hydra is ashamed of your performance.” and killed him along with sticking a file that had all his HYRDA deeds on it. 

Nat seemed a bit impressed. “This guy is good. He reminds me of Barnes. A bit different though.” She said, after analyzing everything we could, we came up short with anything new. The stuff that impaled the guy dissolved after a few hours. We both racked our brains trying to figure out what it was, when we got an urgent call from Steve.

“Get back to the compound. Now.” was all he said, and hung up. A quinjet arrived to get us. Hill piloted again, but she was on her way back herself when the call came in. I was glad I brought my suit, but I rode in the jet. We landed and headed to where an agent directed us, a workshop. What was there surprised us, Barnes was there, and his arm was put under a hydraulic press. Steve came up with that idea apparently.

“Tell us why you’re here. You disappeared for months and showed up out of nowhere. Why?” Steve demanded.

“Is everyone here?” is all he asked.

“Yes, Stark and Natasha just got here. Now explain.”

“It’s.. a long story.”

“We got time.” I said “First a question, why show up now? Did you.. Are you turning yourself in?” 

“I’ll get to that, and yes, sort of.” He replied, he wasn’t in combat gear, in civilian clothes. Like he was in hiding. “It started.. A few years ago. In 2008.” He had an apologetic look on his face. 2008… that means..

“It was you.” I said coldly. “You took him, no wonder no one could find him.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.. Stane wanted you gone, so he conspired with Hydra.” 

“Of course he did…” As much as I wanted to blast his brains out… I had a lead. After 7 years. I couldn’t blast his brains out. Not yet. Rhodey put his hand on my shoulder, he understood at least.

“Stane convinced Hydra to take him, and didn’t care what they did. So they did what they did best.”

Nat spoke up this time, “Tortured and turned.. Whoever it was, it was someone like you.” Nat flashed me a sympathetic frown. She knew too, I suspected, but never said a word. 

“Exactly… he had commands, like me. A set of phrases ingrained into his mind. Though I took care of that.” He had smiled at that part. “After D.C, I wandered around a bit. A few days I think, I recalled what I did, and what they turned him into. I’ve done a lot. But hurting The Starks was something I never wanted to do… I went to the blacksite, codenamed the Labyrinth. It was designed to make it impossible to find anything in there. Except I had heightened hearing. I heard where he was. They were activating him. So I charged in killing the guards, and his handler kept going, likely to tell him to kill me. I killed him as the last phrase came through. He responded ready to comply. ” He had said something in latvian. 

“I gave him an order, ‘you are to hide away. You are not to take orders from anyone ever again. That is your Last Order.  Go now’ after that, I helped him come up with a way to hide. I gathered things from that base, and his documents. Stolen from your home, I gave it to him in a duffle bag. I helped him find a place to stay. I paid for it. I stole a phone so he could contact me. We stayed in D.C before heading to New York. I told him to lay low… I figured he’d do something, just never knew how soon it was going to be.” He sighed. “After I saw the news, I knew it was him. He resented the people that tortured him. So he got revenge.” 

“As much as I want to kill you right now. I- I can’t, not after you helped him escape.” I said, I was honest. Even if he kidnapped him, he tried to, no made it right by helping him escape. Rhodey seemed to think otherwise.

“I’d love to kill you. But if Tony won’t, then I won’t. For now.” he said grimly.

“You should. After you get him back.” he responded.

“There will be no killing.” Steve spoke up. “He wasn’t himself. Controlled by Hydra. Where is he now, Buck?”

“I don’t know. I went to the apartment I paid for him. He wasn't there.I was in Europe at the time.” 

“You didn’t stay with him?” Rhodey hissed.

“Two Hydra agents laying low together? Great hiding plan. I didn’t want to, but I knew if we stayed together we’d be found. I had to. For him.” He said sharply.

“I hate to admit it, but he’s right.” Nat defended him. “If they stuck together, Hydra would’ve found them quickly, and likely we wouldn’t see or hear of them ever again. They’d probably kill them.”

“Fine. Any idea where he could be?” Rhodey sighed.

“Sort of. I’ve compiled a list of places he frequents.” He gestured toward his phone, which was probably found after searching him. “I’ve asked about them before. Calls them his hideouts or safehouses. Places where people wouldn't see him. And he’s made safe. Unfortunately he left his phone at the apartment I paid for. So I don’t know where he is now.”

“Right. Well lets find him, We’ll start by checking each one out. We’ll need to split up.” I said quickly.

“Got it. Wanda, you’re with Sam. Rhodes with Nat, I’ll take Vision, and Tony. I suggest you take Bucky with you.”

“Fine by me. Are you okay with that?” I looked toward him.

“You want me to help search?” 

I shrugged. “You know him, and he would trust you. After we find him, let’s get you sorted out too. I think I got an idea of who could help.” 

“I don’t-”

“Zip it, Barnes. I’d rather kill you to be honest, but if you help, I’ll help you too.” I stated. 

“Right.. I’m sorry.” He meant it, if his face full of regret was anything to go by.

Chapter Text

I woke up from a nightmare, at least that’s what it felt like. I fell down an elevator shaft, only to get impaled on the debris at the bottom. Someone in armor with a glowing chest rescued me. I checked the clock, it was 21:34, only a few hours then. That was until I checked the date, I slept over 24 hours. I immediately knew I was in trouble. Barnes said we have a high metabolism, me even more so. My enhancements were more advanced, so I required even more energy. I got up but was disappointed with myself. I didn’t restock this safehouse. I knew I’d have to get to the main one. Or the one Barnes knows about.

Even now, I can hardly speak good English. I spoke to the hydra people in latvian. English is something I can’t handle. They screwed with my head to make me instinctively hate it. Barnes said he’d try to come up with something to help, but in the 2 years he failed to do so. Oh well. No matter, I’d have to go to that apartment anyway… Barnes must’ve heard by now. Which means I’ll have to avoid it. I felt disgusted. Sleeping in tactical gear is not recommended. At least I took the arm piece off. That would be worse. Knowing I can’t shower since this place doesn’t have running water, I’d have to get to the clock tower or the apartment. Glancing at the scuffed wardrobe I had here, I opted to walk to the apartment and find something to eat. I changed and stuffed the gear into a backpack. I was glad I could hack ATMs to get a decent amount of cash. I was walking toward the apartment, only taking a detour when I spotted a burger king. I put the arm piece under my hoodie and stuck gloves on both hands, just in case. I’m glad it was starting to change to fall, so I wouldn’t look odd with a hoodie on. It was September right now.

The clerk was mid 30s, probably. I was always bad at guessing ages. Hydra files always gave an age of the target along with a picture. Either way the clerk thought it was suspicious that a 14(?) old was out at almost 21:00. I shrugged and said I was hungry. They were shocked at the latvian accent, but shrugged it off. I ordered as much as I could, saying it was for my family. I stuffed some stuff in the backpack and ate a burger on the way. I stopped when I felt off. My enhanced senses that Hydra dubbed “6th Sense” (very clever) said the apartment was bad right now. So I changed direction for the clock tower. Getting closer I felt the same, someone was observing the clock tower, but from a far. Like the other side of town far. They must have hacked into the nearby cameras. Luckily that tower had access from the sewers below, which can’t be monitored. My 6th sense said it was safe, so I headed a bit aways toward the riverside where the sewer drained out. I finished my meal(s) and dumped the trash in a bin I found along the way. Then a quick check for observers, when I felt none, I stepped off the side, and walked down the wall. 

I knew I didn’t check thoroughly enough, cause I heard a stifled gasp. Someone was tailing me the entire time and I didn’t notice? How? What? No matter. I would lose them in the sewer. I pulled the grate off before, when I followed the sewer out. So after entering I kept walking for a bit, I pulled out the mask I would use. It was still sweaty and gross, but I will deal with it later. I left the rest of the gear in the backpack, cause I don’t want to lose it, and slung it on my back again. And then crawled on the ceiling on all floors. In the tunnels I could hear the person easier. 

“Just entered the sewers. He walked off the side, sticking to the wall. You didn’t say anything about that.” A woman whispered, must be into a communication device.

Barnes’ Voice came through, the traitor. “I never worked with him before. I have no idea what he can do, be careful.”

Barnes must have heard and gone to someone to help catch(?) me. Either way, I probably won’t kill her. I will only kill Hydra now. I walked along the roof and then waited a bit, she was getting closer. Her flash light was scanning the walls. I waited for the women to pass underneath me, she had dark red hair. She didn’t even notice I was above her. I decided to use that as an advantage. I quickly shot a web at her leg and quickly pulled on it. She fell with a yelp and was pulled upside down. I stuck her hands together before she could reach for anything else. And slowly descended from a web  meet face to face. She attempted to break out, but it didn’t work. I plucked her communication out of her ear, and smushed it between my fingers, people were calling for her. I could finally recognize her. The Black Widow. Part of the Widow Program.

“You are not as impressive as I’ve heard.” I spoke to her in Russian.

“And I’ve only heard about you in actual ghost stories. Winter Soldier was a rumor, but you? You’re a ghost story.” She replied in Russian.

“I’m flattered. But Dreykov can fuck off. I’m done being someone’s pet.” I hissed at her, this time speaking German.

“Dreykov is dead. I killed him.” She said plainly, in German as well.

“Well then why do I have to kill one of you at least every 3 months.” I demanded, this time in French.

“I- I don’t know.” She frowned, contemplating something. She also replied in French.  

“Whatever. Be glad I know you you know Barnes. Otherwise you’d be dead.” I said plainly, in Latvian.

“What did they call you?” She asked, in Latvian. “The stories at SHIELD, you killed over 137 targets. Or at least that’s what they suspected. They just called you the Ghost Killer. They say the lights turn off and when they come back on, their asset is dead.”

“They called me The Spider.” I said in disgust. “A name I’d rather never be called again. Leave me alone, Widow.” I said and started to crawl away.

“Your hair.” She said quickly, in English. I stopped in my tracks. Turning to face her.

“What about it?” 

“I recognize it.” 

I scoffed. “Yeah right.” and just kept crawling away. I heard footsteps running in the water. I glanced back and saw lights. My eyes widened under my mask and I started crawling faster. I know I can be fast. If I wanted I could just sprint across the ceiling, but I’m just faster like this, and I don’t know why. I turned a corner and heard a clang! And a splash of water. Someone threw something metal and freed the Widow, great. Fantastic. Probably the golden boy himself. I heard a grunt, I turned and held my hand out. Clang! The shield bounced off a wall and into my hand. I smirked. And stood upside down. I heard more running through water and as they were about to turn the corner I tossed the shield back. Clang! And a startled shit! As it didn’t even bounce and just was embedded into the ground. A snort of language! Coming from the Widow and I was already gone. I left as soon as that shield crashed into the ground. I opted to avoid the clocktower today. Instead I hurried to where the sewers leave the Queens borough and into a river. The bridge would lead across to the Manhattan borough and into that sewer system. I have a few safe houses there. I knew the easiest to get to from the sewer was the one established in the sewers. I opted to not go for that one. Instead I would go for the one in the Central Station. After aliens invaded and the station was damaged the repairs left a small space that was about the size of a studio apartment.

It’s hard to access, if you can’t crawl up walls and stuff. It’s best accessed at night, to avoid being spotted. Luckily it was currently night. I kept crawling, eventually reaching the end of the sewers. The grate I had kicked off a long time ago. So I simply scaled the wall and got on the underside of the bridge. I stuck the side, near where a lip on the underside of the bridge was. It hides me from ships and notably, possible flying avengers. As I approached the other side, I paused. Hearing thrusters, I knew it was likely the Tin Can. I kept the mask on, just in case. He flew toward one side of the bridge and flew far enough from it to scan it. I stilled all my movement, something that’s dangerous right now. Since it’s so cold, if I don’t move much I could just freeze and fall into the river below. After a minute I knew I had to move again. So I did, trying to be quick I approached this grate as well I opted to dive into it. I jumped down, webbed the onto the roof of the sewers and pulled myself in. I knew the Tin Can spotted it, so I decided to use my webs to move faster.

I used the like sling shots, pulling myself forward, maneuvering in ways that were hard to keep up with. Still, Tin Can persisted. So I opted to stick him onto a corner. As I landed onto a corner, I did the same thing and sling shot myself forward. I shot a web to stick him on the corner. It hit him as he turned it. I lost him after that. I found myself near the Station. I got out of the sewers using a manhole cover, and quickly got onto the walls. Luckily, no one was around at this time. I found the entrance and got inside. I listened to see if they had followed. I sighed in relief realising they did not. I did hear their jet about 15 minutes later, since this was so close to their tower, I knew they’d come here eventually. This was my second favorite hideout. One that Barnes didn’t know about. I pulled the mask off and found the mattress I dragged up here. I collapsed on it, happy to sleep.

–

“I can’t believe we lost him.” Tony groaned. 

“He’s fast. And Strong.” Steve said. “He caught my shield and threw it back at me as we rounded a corner. It stuck into the concrete.”

“That was impressive. Got Steve to swear.” Natasha smirked.

“Really Romanoff?” He half heartily glared at her.

“Yes. Other than that? Not much else to report. He’s quick. I’ve read the file on SHIELD’s ghost killer several times.  137 kills credited to him, all the reports speculate the real number is about 300+” She gave her report. “Even the HYDRA files had nothing on him.”

“They kept him on paper.” Bucky explained. “Sorry I burned it all.” He frowned at Natasha. “Was the only way to keep him safe. If whatever was left of SHIELD found that, they’d want to kill him. Not to mention they’d be looking for someone like me anyway. There wasn’t anything about who he was in the files. The only way I knew he was Stark’s kid was cause 1; I remember doing it, they always tried resetting me, but deep down I remember everything I did. And 2, it was on the file that his handler had. He only had a 2. I killed one when I first freed him, and the other I found hiding in Europe. Burnt that copy too.”

“Do you know how many he’s-”

“Don’t.” Tony interrupted. “I- I don’t wanna hear it.”

“Of course, Sorry Tony.” Nat nodded.

“Where could he be now?” Steve asked.

“That’s a tough one. I know he’s bound to have places all over New York. I only know of a few in Queens though. Some in Bronx and Brooklyn. None in Manhattan though. Same with Staten.”

“Great. Well let’s just keep an eye out I guess?” Tony sighed.

“We should sleep. I bet he is.” Clint suggested. We all agreed to that idea.

-

After waking up, he found that it was only 5:36. He glanced around the safehouse he was residing in, and gathered some clothes. He hadn’t been here in a long time, so it wasn’t as stocked. He changed and snuck out of his hidey hole. He walked toward the nearest fast food place he could find. He found one that was still open and ordered a small feast for a meal. Filled his backpack up and walked away. Ignoring the concerned (or perhaps weirded out) glances from the Employees he wandered around for a bit trying to find a decent place to settle down and eat. He opted to sit on the rooftop of a building. It was still in Manhattan, but a bit further away from Avenger’s Tower. He figured they wouldn’t spot him from there. He ate in relative peace, till he felt a tingle on the back of his neck. He froze, for a millisecond, but kept eating. As he finished the last meal he gathered the garbage and stuffed it into some of the bags that came with it. He stuffed those bags in his backpack and stood up. He focused on the feeling on his neck. He turned to face it, it was coming from… great. Perfect. Amazing.

It was coming from the Tower. He honed in on the feeling even more. His eyes began to focus onto it, and as he scanned the upper floors, he found his observer. Clint Barton. He’s called Hawkeye for a reason. He opted to let him know he felt his presence by flipping him off. He fell backwards onto his ass. He  barked out a laugh when he saw. He quickly composed himself and fled the roof top. He put his mask on, which now that he was identified by not one, not two, but three different avengers this was gonna be fun. He jumped off the rooftop and started to swing away.

–

Clint was just minding his business, doing his people watching. He was scanning the streets for something interesting. When nothing was, he opted to try and peer into the windows off the buildings. Something caught his eyes, and it was a boy sitting on a rooftop of a tall ass skyscraper. Curious, he watched him. He didn’t think much of it at first, till the kid froze. Barely a second, most wouldn’t notice it unless you were trained to spot such things. He continued eating after that. He packed up his garbage and stuffed it into a backpack and stood up. He looked in his direction for a bit before, somehow, noticing him and flipping him the bird. Clint was so startled he stumbled back and fell. He got up quickly and looked toward that building again. To the right of it was a faint flicker of light… spider webs. Shit he just saw the kid? And didn’t even report it? Tony is going to kill him.

“-int? Hello? Earth to Clint?" Came Steve's voice from behind him. 

“Sorry. We gotta move. Now.” 

“What?”

“I’ll explain on the way!”

– 

Peter had found himself walking this time. He changed his clothes at a nearby safe house quickly. He stuffed his garbage in bins throughout the way there. He opted to wear parts of his suit underneath. Mostly the stuff that could be hidden under his clothes. The bigger stuff can be put on quickly if need be. He had to wear gloves again, to hide his armored arm. He had his mask in his coat pocket. It wasn’t noticeable, unless you were looking for it. He was on his way back toward the Queen’s apartment. He had gotten on the subway and waited to arrive at the station. His sixth sense could “feel” the pair of eyes scanning the city. The pair had just done it’s 2nd sweep. Too bad he can’t see through metal.

The train arrived on the 5th sweep, and it had just passed through so he quickly started making his way toward the apartment. During the 6th sweep he ducked into an ally to avoid it. Luckily, he wasn't spotted. He arrived on the 10th sweep, entering the building after it passed. He walked up the stairs, since he dislikes elevators. He opened the door to his floor, and as he stepped into the hallway he glanced up and saw, well her.

The Black Widow.

“Your disguise is shit.”   I informed her in Spanish. I held onto the mask in my pocket. Ready to put it on for combat.

“I figured you’d see through it, if you can spot Clint from over 2 miles away.” She shrugged. She played along again, replying in Spanish. “ It’s more of a formality, people would wonder what I’m doing in the hallway of some apartment complex.”

“What do you want?”  I asked in Latvian. I don’t want to swap through the many different languages we most likely know.

“To talk. Barnes came to us after your little stunts.”

“My stunts? You mean my revenge?” I said plainly. I unlocked the apartment and stepped inside. Figuring she just follows anyway. “ You failed to get them. So I did. I still got 3 more to find, and don’t think you will stop me.”

“I don’t plan on it. What did they do to you?” she asked with a frown.

“Why do you care?” I demanded.

“I’m not the only one that cares.” She informed me. Doubtful. Shield probably wants me to stop from killing another politician. 

“I don’t believe that.”

She shrugged. “Don’t have too. Just tell me.”

“You know what Barnes went through?” I asked, hopeful she did.

She shook her head, “No, I don’t.” damn.

“I’ll tell you now, I got it worse than he did.” I started. “They experimented on me. I became a super soldier like Barnes, just way younger. They had a radioactive spider bite me after that. That spider, for context, killed a non enhanced person in under a minute with its bite. Me? I just got more enhanced. Unfortunately, when it bit me I reacted and smacked it. They tortured me for a bit for that. Then the training began. I developed spider traits. I have venom. My arms developed spinnerets. Heightened senses and awareness. All traits they were looking for for their killer. I became as you said a ghost story. Failure meant torture. Success meant more training. I became so efficient that they considered me to kill Rogers and You. They were going to as well, Barnes saved me before that.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Why would you be sorry for someone you never met? Either way hope you got what you wanted, cause I’m- ” I stopped to spot Barnes standing in the apartment. “Traitor”

“Kid. Thought I told you to lay low?”

“So you want HYRDA to rebuild from the shadows again?”

“That’s not what I said.”  He frowned.

“It kind of is.”

“Why?” He asked, and I knew what he meant.

“Cause they were the ones that did it to me. I have to. Revenge. I take away their life as compensation for stripping me of mine.” I reasoned.

“Hmph. Fine. I’ll help.”

“You can’t help. Your codes still work do they not?” As nice as the offer is..

“Yes they do. I don’t have to be up close to kill them ya know.” He smirked. Ha ha.

“You’d enjoy it more.” 

“You know me so well.” He extended his hand. “Come with us? We found your parents.”

“I can visit their graves?” I said hopefully, the widow choked on her own spit. Did she find that funny?

“They aren’t dead, Peter.” Barnes smiled. A genuine one. Not fake, not like the smile he gave when he would visit soon . This was real. My parents are alive. I took his hand, and pulled him into a hug. “Don’t hug them this hard, you’ll break them” he wheezed out. I nodded. No breaking parents. I wonder who they would be? Who are they? Is that why the avengers were hunting me? Barnes found my parents and wanted help? That would explain a lot, I think. Peter found himself happy , something he hadn’t thought he would ever feel.

Chapter Text

Hello! I am sorry if you liked this series and I have neglected it for a while.

Basically, I need ideas right now.

I've had this part of this plotted out for a while, but I'm not currently happy with it. So I want people's opinions on the matter.

Do I:

Scarp the book and start over? This would lead to a new plot and would take longer to get something out for. It also means I might be reinterested in this work more. But no promises.

OR

Try to solider on with the current plot? I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out with this one. The best I can do is just say soon™. And I don't want to neglect this work like that.

Either option I'm going to need some ideas for. So leave any in the comments, please.

You're feed back will be much appreciated.