Chapter 6
Bright fluorescent lights. That’s all Peter could focus on. The light hurt his eyes, like he was staring into the sun. He couldn’t open his eyes without squinting. He listened to the steady buzz of the electricity. His mouth felt dry, but he hadn’t been there that long he didn’t think.
He had to get his thoughts together, they were running wild and he knew he had to get them in check if he was going to have any hope of getting himself out of here. He had to push through the anxiety running through his veins and think of a plan. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on top of them, trying to think of a plan.
He looked at the cuffs around his wrists. He knew he could break through them easily, but he had to be smart about it. He could break them now and try to run for it as soon as the door opened but he didn’t know if there were any cameras in his room that would alert them ahead of time. He decided the best thing to do would be to wait for the opportune moment and then break them and run as soon as he had the chance.
He didn't know how to get out of the facility he was in, but as long as he kept himself free he could figure it out as he went. He let his thoughts run wild for the moment, until he had a better idea of what he was facing.
He longed for Tony to come bursting through the door and rescue him. He knew Tony was on the way and he just had to be patient, but sitting in this cold, empty room felt just impossible. He just wanted to go to sleep, he was tired and hungry but he couldn’t focus on that.
It felt like he waited alone for hours before the door finally opened again. Gruff walked in with a sadistic smile on his face. Peter didn’t like that look, it sent shivers down his arms and legs as he visibly flinched.
“Afraid now, Spider?” Gruff showed his teeth in a wide, evil smile. Peter sat up straight, back stiff and a breath of air caught in his throat as the meaning of those words hit him. These men knew exactly who he was and he correctly guessed that this would change everything. He remained silent, frozen in fear at what was to come. His lungs felt frozen, like he couldn't draw a proper breath.
“You should be. You should have known ve find out your little secret.” He gave a little laugh. “Now ve have fun, little Spider.”
Peter didn’t know what to think but he saw his window of opportunity approaching.
“Ve change our plans just for you.” Gruff said, eyeing the table of instruments. He then turned to look at the door and Peter heard footsteps approaching. He knew it was now or never. As the footsteps reached the door Peter made his move and jumped to his feet, pulling the cuffs as far as he could and throwing his hands down with as much force as he could gather. They quickly snapped open and he threw them to the ground.
By then the door had opened and two more guys had come in. Before the door was closed Peter made a break for it. He quickly ran forward and twisted around Gruff in the process. He went straight for the two guys and angled himself a little lower so his shoulder hit one sending him flying backward. Peter immediately rebounded and threw his hands out against the other guy's chest, watching him fall backwards to the ground.
As he reached the door, he heard a shrill alarm begin to sound and red lights illuminated through the hallway. He could hear Gruff running behind him yelling “The Spider is loose! Someone subdue it!” Peter let out a sigh at the word used to describe him. He kept running down the hallway.
He came to the end and paused for just a second. The hallway ended, with openings to his left and right. He didn’t know which way to go so he made a snap decision. He turned to his right and almost immediately regretted it. The hallway was filled with men filing out of rooms. They quickly spotted him and headed in his direction. He couldn’t turn around as there were too many people following him from behind. He’d have to fight his way through.
He leaped over a group of three men, all reaching for the weapons on their belts. He used the wall as leverage and kicked off it to grab the ceiling. He stuck himself to it and used his hands to hold on as his feet swung forward and he landed another fifteen feet forward on the ground. He had gotten around most of the guys in the hallway but he kept going.
He turned down another hallway on his left, this one was almost completely filled with people trying to stop him. He went to jump again and try the same tactic he had tried in the hallway prior. As he kicked off the ground he felt his hands start to brush the ceiling but almost immediately was filled with white hot pain stemming from his abdomen.
He quickly fell hard to the ground landing on his right knee and crashing the rest of the way down. His head hit the cement floor with a sickening thud as his muscles seized and he curled in on himself. He could hear the footsteps of people surrounding him but the electrical pulses didn’t stop. He choked out a cry, waiting for the pain to end.
After about a minute he saw one of the men in white lab coats pull his arm back and Peter was immediately overcome with a sensation of relief as the pain subsided. Peter didn’t dare move as his muscles still twitched, feeling the phantom pain from the cattle prod he was now face to face with. Peter wasn’t fast enough; the man must have shoved it into him as he was jumping.
He saw Gruff catch up to him, panting, with a seriously pissed off look in his face. “Put it out,” he said to no one in particular, never breaking eye contact with Peter. All of the sudden Peter saw one man move, his hand holding a baton as it promptly came down with a crack to the back of his head. Peter’s head exploded in pain before his world went black.
—
When he came to, he was laying on a metal table. He wasn’t in the same room as before. This one was bigger, and was filled with medical equipment, machines and lights. It was brisk, Peter had goosebumps, and the lights were beaming brightly into his face. He looked around and saw four men hovering about. One of them was Gruff, he was near the doorway talking to another man, he was tall and bulky. He was dressed in all black and looked to be wearing a riot vest. Peter could see an array of weapons strapped in his utility belt. The man was listening to Gruff but looking directly at Peter. The other two men were wearing white lab coats and talking with each other over a table of medical instruments.
Peter tried to stand up but he noticed that his ankles and wrists were strapped down by thick metal cuffs. He pulled on them trying to feel their strength but he could tell that these were enforced. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to break them. Suddenly, fear overcame Peter, who started to take deep breaths. He could hear a heart monitor pick up pace and assumed it was attached to him. He felt trapped, like there was no escape.
What if Mister Stark never comes? The thought swirled around in his head. He felt like a rat stuck in a lab. Forced here to be subjected to unknown horrors at the hands of some man with a serious anger problem. What if I’m stuck here forever? He shook his head violently, refusing to let the intrusive thoughts win. Mister Stark was coming. Mister Stark IS coming!
He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts by Gruff approaching the table. He didn’t have the smile plastered to his face anymore, now he looked strictly business and radiated pure evil.
“You tried escape, little Spider. This disappoints me. If you vant to see Stark again, you vill cooperate fully. Othervise I have no issue sending you to Stark in boxes.” Peter swallowed loudly as he looked at the man. He pointed to the armed man at the door. “This is Adrik. He is here to make sure you comply. Any more heroic attempts at escape and he vill not hesitate to take you down.” Adrik just looked at Peter, his jaw set and hands placed strategically on his belt.
“Obviously ve have to make change now. Your new cuffs are reinforced vith vibranium, so you cannot get away. Ve vill start here as we are now making adjustments to your room.” The small smile returned as Gruff seemed to be envisioning what was to come. “Ve think you will love the new modification we have in store for you.”
Peter didn’t respond to any of this. What was there to say? Any chance Peter had of getting away was gone. His mindset was quickly changing from fight to survive. All he had to do was stay alive long enough for Mister Stark to come and find him. He had to make them believe he could comply. Hopefully Mister Stark wouldn’t take too long getting here.
Gruff turned to the two men in the lab coats and started to instruct them. “I vant blood samples first. Zen ve vill test limit of his powers. And vhen his room is ready, zen we can start to have some fun.” He turned to the door and waited for Adrik to let him out. Once he was gone the two men turned to him and pulled out a pair of scissors. They cut the sleeves of his hoodie open before cutting down the chest and through his t-shirt underneath, removing the articles from him. They brought up a needle and injected it into his vein, filling up four tubes with blood before removing it.
Then they took his blood pressure and recorded his heart rate and oxygen. Peter sat quietly and watched them working. Once they were done Gruff returned to the room. He walked over to Peter and put his hands around his head, turning it from side to side. “Bruises almost gone, I notice. Zis tells me you have some sort of advanced healing. Ve begin there. Let us see just how quickly you can heal.”
At this Peter’s eyes opened wide. He stared at the man in shock. Surely he didn’t mean that. What was the man planning? Whatever it was, Peter knew it couldn’t be good. He was filled with fear and adrenaline, wanting so desperately to escape. He fought against the restraints, pushing and pulling his arms and legs but to no avail. The cuffs weren’t going to budge. He began to panic, knowing he couldn’t stop what was coming. His heart raced, it felt like it was going to beat through his chest. His vision started to tunnel as he continued to hyperventilate.
Gruff gave off a low laugh. “Ah yes Spider, this will be fun.” He walked around the table, grabbing a scalpel and dragging it across the metal surface before picking it up. Peter flinched at the shrill of metal on metal. He felt goosebumps spread up his arms as his heart began racing. He was terrified and close to tears.
“Please, you don’t need to do this,” his voice emerged barely a whisper. But Gruff ignored him, walking over and holding the blade above his chest.
“Be sure to tell me how much this hurts,” he said with a sickening smile. He brought the scalpel down to his bare chest and slid it in above his rib cage. Peter could hear the squelch of blood as it tried to pool out of the new incision. He let out a cry as the scalpel sliced its path across his chest.
Gruff sliced open about a two inch cut into Peter’s chest before he pulled it up. Gruff set his hand on the table as he leaned over to admire his work. Peter breathed heavily, trying to ignore the pain and saw an opening to attack. He lifted his head off the table and thrust it into Gruff’s elbow as he leaned on the table. His arm quickly gave way and Peter was able to flex his wrist and grab the scalpel from him.
Peter didn’t know what he planned to do with the weapon as his hands and wrists were still locked down to the table and he didn’t have much mobility.
“Dmitri!” One of the men yelled, trying to warn their boss, but he had already seen it take place and grabbed Peter’s fingers, wrenching them upward and swiftly bringing the other hand down against his wrist. Peter heard the snap and felt the waves of pain bursting up his arm in waves. He yelled out, breathing heavily as he dug his head into the table, trying to do anything he could to distract himself from the agony he was in. He looked at his wrist, now bent at an unnatural angle as he continued to grunt in pain. The sight made him nauseous and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to catch his breath.
“Stupid Spider. You vill regret that. Adrik!” He called and the man walked over. “Show the Spider vhat happens vhen it disobeys!”
Peter looked at the man, grinding his teeth together as he walked to Peter and pulled the prod from his belt. He turned it on and Peter could hear the crackling of the electricity as it was thrust into his neck. His body was consumed with white hot pain as his muscles tried to coil in on themselves. The metal cuffs dug painfully into his wrists and ankles as the shock kept coming. It felt like hours he sat through the pain until finally the sweet bliss of the black abyss pulled him under and he passed out.