Chapter 1
The clock feels like it’s moving in slow motion, every tick of the seconds mocking Peter as he urges it to hurry up. He cracks open the drawer of the lab table to mix his web fluid, promptly shutting it before the teacher walks past, inspecting the students studying before going back to her desk.
He finished his lab project ten minutes ago and he’s supposed to be studying for the upcoming quiz but he can’t focus long enough to even try. There’s only fifteen minutes left in class and it feels like it’s dragging on for hours. His leg is shaking in anticipation.
Peter isn’t usually this distracted but Tony promised him they could finally start working on the new iron spider suit after school today. They’re laying out the schematics and mapping out the technology they want to input in the final version. He’s been not so patiently waiting for a while now.
He’s in physics, his last class of the day and he just can’t wait for that final bell to ring.
He steals another glance at the clock and lets out an audible sigh, thirteen minutes left.
“Peter!” He snaps his head up as he looks to the teacher at her desk. “Perhaps the clock is more intriguing than tomorrow’s quiz?”
He looks down apologetically and opens his textbook. Flash looks at him with a grin and Peter does his best to ignore the stifled laughter.
He keeps his head down and focuses on his textbook, managing to skim through most of this week's chapter by the time the clock reads two minutes to the bell. He quietly closes his book and puts it back in his bag, keeping his head down.
When the bell finally rings he jumps up, grabbing his backpack and making a quick exit from the room.
He heads to his locker to find Ned waiting for him.
“Peter! So I’m thinking tonight we start on my new millennium falcon lego set?” He asks excitedly.
“Sorry Ned, it sounds like fun but remember I told you I’m working in the lab tonight with Mister Stark.” He throws his books into his locker, tossing it shut.
“Oh right. Well then tomorrow?” He asks eagerly, doing his best puppy eyes.
Peter laughs. “Definitely,” he says with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ned nods and Peter heads out the door. He wanted to say goodbye to MJ but she has an Academic Decathlon prep meeting today and she knew he was in a rush. He’ll make it up to her tomorrow with an extra hug, maybe some flowers or a little note even.
Peter heads out of the school to start the walk back to Avengers tower. Tony offered to have Happy pick him up from school but he enjoys walking alone through New York so he declines every time.
He pulls out his headphones and puts them in his ears as he walks through the neighborhoods. He puts his hands in the pocket of his hoodie and keeps his head down as he drowns out the loud world around him.
He’s listening to AC/DC. He likes to pretend he doesn’t know the band or their music, just to annoy Tony. He finds it funny.
He’s about halfway home when he feels the hairs stand on the back of his neck. He decides to keep moving. Taking out one earbud, he looks up, searching his surroundings. He doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. A few cars here and there, random, seemingly harmless people walking the streets.
He ignores the feeling and tentatively continues his walk back home.
After another few minutes his senses spike again, more harshly this time. His hair is standing on the back of his neck and he has a general feeling of unease that seems to spread down his body and through his arms and legs, making every step feel harder to take. He stops dead in his tracks and removes his other earbud. He frantically searches around him. But again, he sees nothing.
Peter is in an alleyway, a short cut back to the tower. Tony doesn’t like him taking these side streets but it hasn’t caused him any issues so he continues to do it without his knowledge.
He hears a noise that sounds like tires skidding and then all of the sudden a van speeds to a stop, blocking his exit from the alley.
He doesn’t even stop to see if anyone gets out, he turns on his heel and starts to speed in the other direction. Before he can even get to the end of the alley, another van speeds to block the entrance and screeches to a halt.
He can feel his backpack pulling on his shoulders, tempting him to whip out his web shooters but he doesn’t.
He doesn’t know who these people are or what they want. He can’t risk giving away his identity at this point. He’ll have to fight them off as a normal teenager and hope it’s enough to save himself.
Peter looks around to take in his surroundings. He’s surrounded on both sides by three story brick walls, and each entrance is blocked by a van. He has no way out, looks like he’ll have to fight his way out.
As he’s looking around he can see the vans doors fly open and at least ten or fifteen rough looking guys jump out. They’re tall and bulky, popping with muscle, and give off an aura of violence. Peter gets the impression they would have no hard feelings about seriously hurting him.
They quickly band together and surround him, forming a circle.
“W-what do you want from me?” Peter tentatively asks.
“Please Peter, let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be. You are surrounded with no way out. Just come with us quietly and we won’t hurt you,” the man says through a thick Russian accent “too much,” he adds under his breath with a smirk.
Peter holds back a laugh at that idea. If this man thinks Peter is just going to willingly go with a stranger, he’s crazy. He assumes a fighting stance and the man lets out a sigh.
“The hard way it is,” he says. “Get him in the van and make it quick,” he says to the others as he walks back to one of the vehicles.
The men nod as they start to move towards Peter. They don’t break the circle, in fact it feels as if they band closer together, closing any gaps that might have been left. He doesn’t hesitate before charging at one of the men. He swings out his elbow and catches the man in his jaw, sending him tumbling to the ground.
C’mon Peter, a normal kid can’t hit that hard. He thinks to himself.
He quickly turns on his heel and slams his fist into another one’s cheek, pushing him off balance and he falls.
Two of the men flank him from behind, grabbing both of his arms and pinning them to his side. A third one steps forward and hits him square in his cheek. It doesn’t hurt too much, Peter is used to taking hits, but his vision still blurs for a second as the man winds up and kicks him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him.
His knees buckle and hit the ground as he tries to recover. Still trying to hide his abilities, he tries to push up against the hands holding him but they push even harder. He leans his weight to one knee and uses the other to kick behind him, catching someone’s ankle and he hears it crack as it bends unnaturally and one of Peter’s arms is free.
This gives him enough leverage to swing around and chop down on the other man’s elbow and free his second arm. He stands up quickly and delivers a kick to the thigh of one of the attackers.
As he sees the man go down, he runs forward and throws himself into another two, sending them flying into a brick wall. He hears their grunts as they slam against it and hears the sickening crack of someone’s head meeting brick.
He backs up and feels another two men trying to grab him. They’re starting to overwhelm him at this point. The majority of the men are closing around him, while the rest stand a few feet back, making sure to cover any spots where Peter might be able to duck out and make a run for it. He’s surrounded by at least eight of them. If he reaches in any direction he’d be sure to bump into them and he’s quickly starting to realize he has nowhere to go.
The two men flank him from the front and grab his arms, throwing him back into the other wall, as the others step aside to keep from being caught in the assault. They quickly move around the tussle and pin him to the wall. They’re all surrounding him now.
“Jesus this kid doesn’t quit. Ant, give him the stuff already.” One of the men holding him says to another.
This makes Peter nervous. He was doing pretty well on his own but the thought of being given some unknown substance is too dangerous to think about. He starts to struggle and thrash against all of the hands holding him down.
Someone sneaks to the side of him, grabbing his hair and yanking his head to the side, exposing his neck. He grits his teeth and lets out a whine as another one comes from the other side and plunges a needle into his neck.
He immediately starts to feel like jello. His limbs are heavy and his eyes won’t focus. He can feel himself being pushed down to his knees but the momentum keeps going and he doesn’t have enough time to brace himself before his head slams into the pavement.
He groans in pain and his vision starts to go black around the edges. His body goes slack and two of the guys grab under his arms and start to drag him to the van.
“Why is he still awake?” He hears one man ask. “Did you give him enough?”
“Pretty sure I did, I made sure to add extra just to be sure it worked” Peter hears the man reply followed by the sound of a little bottle and a syringe going in for another dose.
They shove his head down to his chest as his neck is once again assaulted by the mystery drug.
They’re still dragging him. He tries to get to his feet but he’s just tripping over himself. He falls back on his face and one of the men takes the opportunity to give him a swift kick to his ribs. The movement makes him nauseous and he starts to feel the pull of darkness behind his eyes.
C’mon Peter…stay…..a-wake… but it’s too late. He feels unconsciousness pull him under.