May
After the mission was complete Lyco sat staring at the ceiling inside of his cell. Doctor Liv had met him once he arrived back at the facility. She saw his leg injury then sent him straight to the medical bay with a disappointed look written all over her face. This was a basic mission that he had executed flawlessly in the past but this time he got injured. Lyco wanted to explain himself that there was an anomaly in the mission that a metal man came down from the sky, and that's why he got hurt. But he knew she wouldn't believe him so he reluctantly went to the sea of doctors waiting to fix his leg. Afterwards the doctors sent him back to what they called his room but it didn't feel like one, it was basically a prison cell. He went lying on a half rotted cot, his hands were cuffed with a short chain connecting them to a bar on the wall restricting his mobility around his cell. It hurt to move since the doctors had just patched up his right calf. Even with the drugs they had given him to help with the pain it still hurt, so he tried to focus on something else. His mind for the first time raced with thoughts.
He knew that man, the one in the red and yellow metal suit. The man's name was on the tip of his tongue. He’d called him Peter. Peter. It felt familiar to him, but that couldn’t be right. The people here said his name was ‘Lyco’. His name was Lyco. It had been his name since he could remember. But what did he remember? He barely remembered anything.
Lycos mind started to race as he tried to remember anything outside of the facility. He had to remember something, he had to have had a childhood, or parents. But nothing worked. His mind was so blank and he didn't know why. His life seemed so simple, a little too simple. Something was off, he never really cared or thought about his past because all that really mattered was the missions but, the mission was over. The doctor told him it would take a while to heal his leg so he was confined to his cell until his leg healed. So now he had time to think. But his mind always kept coming back to that man in the metal suits concerned and terrified eyes staring back at him.
Lyco shifted himself upright into a sitting position on his cot. This motion made his leg burn with pain but he didn't care he could endure the pain. He looked down at his handcuffed hands. The boy tried to fidget with his cuffs as a wave of frustration overtook him. Who was he?
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
“ So you are telling me Stark called him Peter?” Liv snapped, her patience at a tipping point. They had gotten that stupid file but her heart filled with worry after their getaway driver Leslie had informed them that Stark had been there.
After Leslies appearance in the observation room Liv did her research on Leslies history with Hydra. Leslie was one of the top assassins in Hydras history and probably one of the youngest; she was only in her early twenties with a record of never failing a singular solo mission and never missing her target. Liv was able to overrule Leslies next mission assignment, then she put new orders in so Leslies next assignment would be to work with her on the Wolf Spider project.
Leslie wasn't fond of this new arrangement; she preferred to work alone, not with some crazy scientist and her puppet boy. She liked to be on missions where no one knew her name or could see her face. The hood of her jacket she used to cover her face while on missions because she hated the black gator mask that were usually mandatory for other assassin's. Leslie looked at Liv with her black pant legs crossed and her long brown hair with a single stand of pink falling onto her shoulders.
They were in Liv’s lab, a strew of weird chemicals littering Livs desk. Liv considered their little problem for a second, tapping a pen on her chin.
" Yes, Tony Stark flew in mid battle. He tried to interfere with the Wolf Spider's mission." Leslie replied.
" Crap, why couldn't he just leave us alone. He left us alone for so long and now he wants to barge in. Damn it." Liv said, flying her arms up into the air in
frustration.
" At the beginning of the battle it didn't seem like Stark really noticed who the boy was, but then he started calling him Peter."
" Well that's just great," Liv replied sarcastically.
" Yeah, at one point Stark tried to fly off with the kid. But to his surprise Lyco denied this offer by stabbing right into that guy's arc reactor." Leslie explained fidgeting with a piece of her long brown hair.
" Yeah I heard about that part in the mission report. Did the boy show any signs of recognition towards Stark?"
" It was hard to see from my angle on things because I was in the truck."
" Well you're a lot of help." Liv scoffed.
“ Look despite his leg injury, he seemed mentally stable when he gave his mission report…” Leslie said, crossing her arms. Liv gave a faint smile.
“ True...I’ll keep an eye on him though. I don’t wanna wipe him again unless we have to but little things like this can sometimes cause problems.” The scientist said obviously deep in thought. It was quiet for a minute before she spoke again.
“ I think we have to send a message, we don’t want Stark interfering with us…let’s get the Aunt, eliminate her and give Stark some time to think about how much he really wants to risk.” Liv said finally, a smile on her face. “ Show him we aren’t amateurs.”
“ It’ll be barely an inconvenience.” Leslie shrugged as she replied, a deadly look emerging on her face.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
May clutched her cup of tea as she sat on the couch watching a rerun of The Office. She fidgeted with her black sweater, trying to distract herself from her missing nephew. It was useless though as she shut off the television. Her thoughts always wandered to Peter. From the last update this morning there had been no big discovery by Tony, no phone calls or text messages, just apparently some run lose flag smasher that was blasted all over the news and videos of Stark diving into the pond as his suit exploded flooded in. She picked up her phone again, not sure what she wanted to see, maybe a text from Peter saying this was all a joke. That he was okay. Tears began to stream down her cheek in frustration, grief, it was impossible to say. Can you even grieve someone you don’t know is dead? May reached for her phone hoping to call Happy and see what happened with Tony when a knock came on the door.
“ Hey May, it-it’s Ned. I brought you a casserole.” called a boy.
“ And uh- MJ…” said an unsure female voice.
“ Give me a minute sweetie.” May called trying to pull it together. Running to the kitchen to quickly run a towel over her face then she ran to open the door. Peter’s best friend Ned stood there holding a tray of what looked like tuna casserole, along with a pretty girl with light brown skin and a head of curly brown hair. May extended the door opening, signaling for them to come in. Ned set the casserole on the counter and sat on the couch, MJ seemed unsure before sitting on the couch next to Ned. May grabbed them both cups of water before sitting down in the recliner. They made polite small talk, how school was, new movies, that sort of stuff before an awkward silence suffocated the room.
“You kids are too sweet..” May said, her voice strained. Ned looked at her with pity as she tried to cover her puffy eyes and red face the towel hadn’t fixed.
“ How are you holding up May?” Ned asked softly. She shook her head biting her lip.
“ I’m fine.” she gave a fake smile.
“ You don’t have to lie.” he said sympathetically. “ You look rough. Not in a mean way I mean-”
May snorted. “ No, I get it. Thank you.”
“ Is there any updates? Any clues?” MJ inquired.
“ No…but he’s trying.” she nodded. “ I feel like we have to find something soon right?”
“ Who’s he?” MJ said abruptly.
“ Oh, uh…” May made eye contact with Ned who nodded indicating she has indeed figured out Peter’s secret identity. “ Tony Stark.”
“ He can’t find anything?” MJ said her eyebrows furrowed. “ Has he looked at all the police reports, the cameras, has he checked-”
“ He’s checked everything honey.” May spoke quietly. “ It hurts him a lot too, him being gone”
“ Can we do anything to help?” Ned asked quickly.
“ Honey…not much can be done.”
“ Nothing?” MJ snapped. “ Why do we just trust that Stark isn’t covering up something he accidentally did? Huh?”
“ MJ-”
“ It’s fine.” May gave a sad smile. “ I know it’s easy to blame, but we can’t. I talk with him regularly. He’s doing all he can, believe me.” MJ clenched her jaw in some
unreadable emotion. Ned glanced at her and set the water glass on the table. The house felt empty, like the energy was sucked out without Peter. The kitchen looked barely touched, nothing out of place. No one to move it out of place.
“ If there’s anything else you need May let me know.” Ned said finally. She gave a grateful smile and gave him a tight hug. Mj gave a small sad smile as she followed Ned out the door, hearing the lock click as they left.
“ Thanks for the casserole.” May said as they left, her voice choked with tears as she collapsed into the couch. She curled herself into a small ball on the couch as she let all her tears fall, another wave of familiar numbness hitting her. The tired pseudo-mom would give anything to see Peter knock on that door, to yell at him for tracking mud through the apartment again, to pick him up from Ned’s and spend hours in a New York traffic. A soft smile appeared on her face as she remembered when Ben and May had taken Peter to the beach for the first time. Peter had been so scared of going in the water.
“ Come on Peter go in, go in honey.” May said wearing a striped yellow and pink bikini with roses on it. She was holding up a camera trying to convince a scared toddler nothing would happen if he stepped into the ocean. Ben let out a hefty laugh as Peter scurried away as another wave hit the shore.
“ Come here kiddo.” Ben said as he picked up Peter, placing him on his shoulders as May snapped a photo as he walked into the ocean. Peter gripped Ben’s brown hair with his clammy hand, his eyes wide as Ben pointed out a small fish in the water.
“ Wanna get in?” Ben asked as Peter yelled ‘NO’ and May set her camera down, wading in to meet Ben giving him a peck on the lips as she held out her arms for Peter. But the boy shook his head and insisted on staying on his uncle’s shoulders, not once getting into the water.
“ Oh Ben.” May said as she shut her eyes tight at the memory, missing her dead husband and pseudo-son dearly. As she quietly layed on the couch someone knocked on the door. Figuring it was Ned or MJ, May ran her hand through her hair before opening the door. A group of three people stood there, two men and one woman.
“ Oh hi. If you are doing maintenance now really isn’t-” May tried to say.
“ No, we need to do this now.” they said barging in and shutting the door closed. Adrenaline filled May’s senses as she realized these people definitely didn’t work for maintenance. May backed up slowly as she noticed the woman grab a gun from a holster on her belt, letting it hang in her hand. The two men were wearing matching outfits with a black top with a bullet proof vest and cargo pants with what May could see looked like tools in every pocket. The woman was shorter than the two men with brown hair and a piece dyed pink, she was wearing a leather jacket with the hood up to cover most of her head and face. With matching black pants and a belt full of weapons and knives. But what scared her the most was the matching symbol on all of their shoulders in red.
“ Hydra.” May said breathlessly as she jumped over the counter in the kitchen as the woman quickly shot in her direction. Grabbing a frying pan from the dishes rack May held it up in a threatening position, the people snickering as they cornered her inside her tiny apartment.
“ Look woman, we don’t wanna hurt you.” said one of the men with a thick Russian accent as he tried to grab the pan from May’s hand. May swung the pan and smacked the Russian man in the face hard. He looked up, obviously irritated as blood trailed from his mouth and he wiped it off.
“ Do what you need to do,” he said, spitting blood at the other two people.
May tried to scream for help as she swung with her pan but they pushed her to the floor and pinned her like a police handcuffing someone. May tried to yell but felt weak as they injected a yellow substance into her arm. Desperately trying to escape as she felt them tie up her arms and legs, fear filled her. As she lost consciousness her last thought drifted to Peter. Is this what happened to him?
“ Ediki, can you grab what we need from the bedroom?” Leslie said as she groaned while she picked up the woman, setting her in a black body bag. The man with the thick Russian accent nodded as he headed towards Peter’s room. Leslie grabbed her walkie talkie from her belt and signaled they were ready to leave, their mission accomplished.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
Happy found his friend leaning against the side of a dirty half closed factory breathing heavily. He had a few scrapes across his face and he was cradling his wrist a bit, but what concerned Happy the most was Tony’s breathing. It was labored and he could tell his eyes were unfocused, obviously deep in thought. Jumping out of his car he ran over.
“ Tony, oh my-” Happy said as he kneeled down. Tony looked over and he noticed Stark’s eyes were visibly red. Something was very wrong.
“ Geez what the hell?” Happy said as he put a hand on Tony’s shoulder to calm him but Tony winced in pain from the slight touch. He noticed Tony’s clothes were wet and dripping with water and one of his shoes was missing.
“ Happy. Call May.” Tony said as he looked at Happy with a very grave expression.
“ What- why? What happened here? Did you find the kid? Was the kid one of the people in that building?” Happy said, preparing himself for the news that the kid was dead.
A lump formed in his throat as he imagined Peter being beaten to death by a super soldier. As much of a pain in the ass as he was, Happy couldn’t deny he was fond of the kid.
Tony shook his head. “ Happy. The super soldier. It’s Peter.”
“ What? No Tony, that makes no sense." Happy said as a wave of shock ran over him. Tony shook his head again and stood up with Happy’s help. It couldn’t be the kid, that didn’t make any sense.
“ Happy, I wish that I could-could say that I was kidding.” Tony said, his voice cracking a bit.
“ But it’s him. I know it is, and he recognized me for a second.”
“ Recognized? Tony of course he would-” Happy began but Tony shook his head again.
“ I think whoever is using him mushed his brain, it’s not him.” Tony muttered gravely. Happy opened the door to the passenger seat signaling Tony to get inside before discussing this further. Happy got into the driver's seat and drove a block or two before trying to decide how to deal with this. He glanced at Tony who was uncharastically quiet, staring out the window.
“ Look Tony, I'm not saying I don't believe you but how do you-how do you know it’s him?” Happy asked as he stopped at a stoplight, the red light reflecting on his face.
“ I just, his eyes. He knew me if only for a damn second and his hair. Plus his abilities, it’s not a super soldier serum. It’s just whatever stuff Parker’s got.” Tony explained as he rubbed his chin, his goatee in dire need of a shave.
Happy didn’t know what to do. He didn’t wanna call May in case this was just Tony’s mental breakdown, but what if it was the kid? What would they do if it actually was the kid? The rest of the car ride was an unbearable silence, but neither Tony nor Happy tried to start one back up again. Happy's mind just raced as he drove them home looking over at Tony every few minutes but he didn’t say anything, just stared out the window. It was very out of character for Tony to be this quiet, maybe it was a mental breakdown. As Happy pulled up to the house Morgan came bounding up the car calling for her dad. Tony stepped out with a thin smile.
“ Daddy, daddy!!! Come here I wanna show you my ants!!!” Morgan called as she pulled on Tony’s arm. Tony gave a groan of pain as Morgan pulled on his wrist and the little girl’s wide smile faltered.
“ Daddy?” Morgan asked, concerned as Tony winced again. He looked down at her and gave a weak smile.
“ Hey baby, look I need you to-where is mommy?” he asked softly.
“ I dunno in the kitchen maybe.” Morgan shrugged. Tony smiled and ruffled her hair with his good hand before walking away.
“ Uncle Happy? What's wrong with daddy?” Morgan asked as she looked up at Happy. Happy gave a sad smile as he watched his best friend walk in the front door.
“ Your daddy is just having a bad day.” Happy said finally as he picked Morgan up and headed into the house.
“ He’s been having a lot of bad days then. Daddy always looks sad.” Morgan said matter of factly and Happy didn’t say anything, just opened the front door.
“ Why don’t you go up to your room Morguna and I’ll help your daddy.” Happy said, setting down the toddler who nodded seriously and ran up the stairs. Happy walked into the kitchen to find Tony and Pepper whispering furiously.
“ Tony I mean how would he have been brainwashed. This isn’t Bucky.” Pepper whispered to Tony. Happy cleared his throat and the couple looked up.
“ Did you call May?” Tony asked Happy with slight annoyance.
“ No, not yet…” Happy said, looking to Pepper for advice. The woman looked at Tony again, he was bruised up a bit, his clothes still quite damp, and he had bags under his eyes. Pepper brushed her orange hair back and sighed.
“ Call her.” Pepper said quietly, as a part of her felt like Tony wasn’t lying. Happy nodded as he scrolled through his contacts, Tony watching quietly. It was completely silent as the phone rang and rang with no answer.
“ She must be at work.” Happy said leaving a voicemail to call him back as soon as possible. Tony ran his good hand through his hair and let out a shaky laugh.
“ Tony…” Happy said concerned as he watched his best friend grip the table letting out a laugh with a crazed edge to it.
“ I can’t believe….” Tony said as he looked at Happy, his eyes red. “ I mean I was looking for him for so long and this is what- this is what…” Tony said, throwing his hands
in the air. A wave of fear ran through Happy as he saw the fear written all over Tony. What happened to Peter?
“ So what are we going to do about it?” Pepper asked, fearing the answer. I mean what could they realistically do?
“ Drink.” Tony scoffed, reaching for a scotch glass from the cabinet. Pepper grabbed his arm midway, meeting his eyes softly.
“ Tony, I'm serious.” she said. Stark lowered his arm and let out a sigh.
“ I’ll be in my lab and Happy call Rhodey. We need military input.” he said and Happy nodded watching his best friend walk out the door as he called Rhodey.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
“ So you think you can buy us time?” Tony said, chewing on a donut in the kitchen. It had been three days and Rhodey had flown down as fast as he could, explaining everything as simply and as fast as Happy and Tony could. Rhodey rubbed his forehead and glanced at the clock, seven thirty in the morning.
“ Yeah I think I can, but this is dire. You better find him fast because you know how they are.” Rhodey said and he made a gun signal with his hand. Pepper, who was holding a cup of coffee in her hand nodded as she glanced at her husband. Tony had been handling this better than she thought he would. Maybe it was seeing the kid finally that helped him focus.
“ I’m gonna go and try and pick up May.” Happy said, dangling the keys in the air as he had a foot out the door.
“ Yeah, good idea.” Tony mumbled, dreading the conversion with the kids' aunt.
Happy had called May about twenty times in the past three days and with no answer he assumed her phone was broken again, or she had a mental breakdown. Happy pulled away from the cabin heading towards Queens. He hoped May was home or else he would have to wait for her, not wanting to drive back and forth a bunch of times. Music played softly from the stereo as he drove trying not to think of the kid. If Happy had told Tony from fifteen years ago about how much he cared about a fifteen year old orphan from Queens he would have scoffed at Happy and he softly smiled as he entered the city, the entire drive having almost flown by. Pulling out google maps he arrived at the Parker’s apartment and went in, heading up the stairs. As he reached their apartment he knocked on the door waiting for an answer.
“ May it’s Happy, look this is very important.” Happy called and knocked again. Nothing but silence and a dog barking in another apartment. Softly cursing Happy took out the spare key May gave him and decided to let himself in to wait, figuring just standing outside would be creepy. His heart stopped as he opened the door and softly closed it. The apartment was a wreck with the kitchen utensils littering the floor and all the doors open.
“ May?” Happy called fear filling him. Maybe she really did have a mental breakdown? “May?” Happy called again
“ She hasn’t been here in a few days.” said an old woman who opened the door, almost causing Happy to jump up in surprise.
“ What?” he said, confused.
“ May. I water her plants when she’s gone, and I haven’t seen her in a while so I assumed I should water them.” said the older woman holding up a watering can. Happy nodded slowly, looking around.
“ You know it’s such a shame. This place was so neat but I think she finally snapped. She lost her nephew and husband so soon.” The woman said calmly as she watered the plants. Something caught Happy’s eye as he noticed what appeared to be dried blood on the floor. He kneeled down to examine it.
“You said she was gone for a few days?” Happy asked. The older woman nodded.
“ How did you get in here?” she asked. Happy held up the key.
“ I’m uh-a good friend so she gave me a key.” he said as the woman watered another plant humming softly. He took a good look around and his breath hitched as he saw
her phone on the ground. He ran and grabbed it, the battery at one percent. Cursing loudly he plugged it in and a wave of fear came over him. A gut feeling told him this was no mental breakdown. He shakily waited for the woman to leave and called Tony.
“ You got May?” Tony answered right away.
“ No.” Happy responded as he picked up a vase of spilled flowers.
“ Why not?” Tony asked annoyed,
“ Because- Tony I need you to get down here” Happy responded with urgence.
“ Why?”
“ Because something- I think something happened to May.” Happy said quietly.
“ What do you mean? Tony asked, fear growing in his voice.
“ I mean her apartment is a wreck and her neighbor hasn’t seen her in days. Plus I think- I just something’s really wrong Tony.” Happy explained shakily.
“ I’ll be there.” Tony said, hanging up as Happy sat down. The apartment was truly a mess with the couch slid over and the window open wide into the alleyway. Everything on the island in the kitchen was knocked over and pans and broken glass littered the floor there. Having known May for six months he knew she loved everything clean and tidy, so this was highly unusual. It took a little over two hours before Tony swung in the apartment door breathless.
“ What the hell?” he asked as he looked at the kitchen. Part of Happy’s heart shattered as he saw the scared expression on Tony’s face as he muttered under his breath well pacing around the tiny two-bedroom apartment in Queens.
“ Peter’s room…” Tony whispered and Happy looked up as the billionaire burst into the kid’s room. The door was already slightly open and as Tony walked in he noticed how torn apart it was. Blankets all over, clothes littering the floor, the spider suits laying on the floor wrinkled. What were they looking for?
“ Tony-” Happy said, following him as he watched his friend's lip quiver a bit. The kid’s room was ransacked. Tony barely breathed as he walked around the tiny bedroom looking all around as he noticed the web shooters were taken from the spider suits.
“ They took the web shooters.” Tony muttered as he leaned against the wall feeling lightheaded. Happy didn’t feel much better as he gently lifted a Midtown High sweatshirt from the floor and moved it to get a better look around. Happy felt his eyes water as he thought of May. Where was she? Tony was obviously thinking the same thing as he chewed his bottom lip.
“ Do you think they took her because of the kid?” Tony asked suddenly and Happy faltered.
“ Who’s they?” he asked in a small voice.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
May slowly opened her eyes as a bag was roughly taken from her head and a headache overtook her. Glancing around slowly she noticed she was tied to her chair with chains and her feet as well. Panic began to take over as she took in her surroundings, her eyes wide. She was in a room with one fluorescent light up above her with gray brick walls that looked like a basement. A small dirty mirror was mounted on a wall by a heavy metal door and her heart started racing as she saw the tools lining the wall in front of her. Plier, saws, and a large assortment of knives and guns. Where the hell was she?
“ I see you are finally up.” said a woman from behind her. May whipped her neck around to see a woman with a messy bun of brown and purple hair holding a clipboard. Adrenaline began to fill her as she saw her walk in front of the room. May frantically tried to break the chains but she felt weak and tired, barely able to lift her leg.
“ No I don’t think you’ll be able to break those.” said Liv with a light chuckle. May narrowed her eyes as the woman scratched something onto the paper on her clipboard.
“ Who are you?” May said fighting the weakness she felt filling her body. Liv looked May up and down and gave a maniacal smile.
“ Oh, silly me. My name’s Oliva, but my enemies, or people who don’t like me call me Doc Oc, and I have a feeling you won’t like me so let’s stick with Doc Oc.” Liv said smiling. May opened her mouth to say something but Liv held up a finger.
“ Now look..” Liv said laughing. “ I’ve been in the business a while so I know what you’re gonna say so let’s have my stupid evil dialouge right now, okay? My name is Doc Oc and I know who you are. You are Peter Parker's aunt, or basically his mom, and we need you to keep a few people from trying to track down our young assassin…”
“ Assassin-” May interrupted fear in her voice.
“ What were you raised in a barn?” Liv asked, annoyed. “ Don’t interrupt. Look we are going to get rid of you because honestly you should have been gone a while ago but nobody here listens to me-”
“ Where is here?” May asked, interrupting Liv. She immediately regretted it as Liv looked at her with anger in her eyes.
“ Ediki please come here.” the woman barked towards the back of the room. May felt the hairs on the back of her arm stand up as a man entered the room with tall broad shoulders and an annoyed expression.
“ She keeps interrupting me.” Liv said motioning towards May, her pale skin poking out of a hole in one of her gloves.
“ I’ll fix that.” Ediki said and walked towards May cracking his knuckles.
A wave of fear ran through her spine as she longed to be home with Peter, safe and away from this. He looked at her, spat in her face, and punched her. The pain flashed across May’s face as he continued punching her several times before stopping and cracking his knuckles again. Her face left bloodied and bruised
“ Now.” Liv said crisply. “ I think it’s time to call him in and finish the job.”
May looked up weakly, her lip swollen as her blood dripped from her eyebrow. All she wanted right now was for this to be a terrible nightmare, for it to be over. The heavy
metal door in the back creaked as a boy walked in, his shadow casting over May.
“ Lyco, this woman has caused problems. Problems that can’t be fixed unless we kill her.” Liv explained. May slowly looked up and saw the boy nod. He was wearing a black vest with the same Hydra symbol spray painted on it in the corner of his suit. As she surveyed his face she felt her blood turn cold.
“ Peter.” she said, almost asking and praying for confirmation. For him to say it was him, that he would stop holding the gun up to her head. That he was still himself behind those unsettling dead brown eyes.
“ Oh, I forgot to mention that he doesn’t know you.” Liv said laughing. “ He doesn’t remember anything from before here.”
May stared at him as tears filled her eyes. “ Peter? Baby I know you are in there.”
“ He was brainwashed. Extremely painful but effective, or at least in all of our trials.” Liv said smiling as May felt tears burn down her cheek.
Lyco adjusted the grip on his gun as Liv stared at him, her grin wide. The woman in front of him, she called him ‘Peter’. The man in the metal suit had called him Peter, and for a split second everytime she had said it he had wanted to put the gun down. He had wanted to hug her. But he doesn’t know her, she’s an enemy and must go. Still though he hesitated.
“ Lyco dear I said shoot.” Liv said her smile faltered. May watched her nephew look at her and she swore she could tell he was fighting whatever was done to him
“ Peter. I know you are scared honey but listen to me, I love you. I love you so much and I know this isn’t you, and I won’t be mad if you pull the trigger. I know you can’t avoid it. Just try and get out of here baby, find Tony. He loves you so much even if he won’t say it. He will help you baby I promise.” May said as calmly as she could, staring into his eyes. Liv laughed lightly but May swore she was nervous.
“ Shoot. Her.” Liv ordered.
Lyco looked at her as he felt sadness and guilt rise within him. She said she loved him and somehow he felt like he loved her. Even if he didn’t know her. She was an enemy, a problem. Not to be trusted.
“ I swear Peter Parker you will be the death of me.” said a woman with long brown hair and tan skin. She gave him half of a smile as he fluffled a pillow and lay down on the couch.
“ Sorry, I-I thought you knew,” he said and she smiled at him.
“ No, I didn’t know you needed a present for Ned by tomorrow.” she said, picking up keys and dangling them in the air. He got up as she grabbed her purse.
“ Love you May.” he said as she locked the door.
“ Love you too.” she said as she ruffled his hair and he followed her down the stairs.
“ May.” The name slipped his lips and the flashback left his memory. No he-he needed it back. She said ‘Peter’ again. Was that his name?
“ Liv-” Ediki said cautiously and Liv frowned deeply, Lyco lowered the trembling gun and backed up while fear and adrenaline filled him. May gave a big watery smile as he backed up another step.
“ Yes baby, It’s me. I’m May. And you-you are Peter. Peter Parker. You are from Queens and you are in high school. You know-”
BAM. She stopped talking, Liv had snached the trembling gun out of Lycos hands and shot the woman. May’s body went limp from a gunshot to the head.
It all happened at once, Lyco felt anger and grief build up inside him as he watched the now lifeless body sitting still in the chair. He just had gotten a single answer for the thousands of questions lingering in his head and now that source of knowledge was lying still in a chair. This wasn't right, even with the hundreds of murders he's carried out in the past months this woman's death didn't feel validated. He felt his hands ball up into fists as he turned in the direction of Doctor Liv.
“ SHE WASN’T BAD! SHE WASN’T AN ENEMY!!!” The boy screamed, with an out of control anger stilling out of him.
“ Shut it boy, that's an order " Liv ordered, lowering the gun that was aimed at the lifeless woman.
" NO " The boy yelled back quickly.
" Excuse me, what did you just say? " Liv said, she turning in Lycos' direction so she could meet his angry eyes.
" I SAID NO DAMMIT, SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO DIE!".
" Doctor, we need to restrain him." Ediki quickly said quietly under his breath towards Liv.
" No call and wait for backup" she whispered back just so Ediki could hear. Before returning her focus back to Lyco.
" And why is that? Why did she not have to die? " Liv said playfully, because she wanted to hear what he really thought. Because in this state he would undoubtedly do so no matter what her response was.
" SHE FINALLY HAD SOME DAMN ANSWERS AROUND HERE! FOGGY MEMORIES KEEP POPPING UP IN MY HEAD OF PEOPLE I'VE MET AND PLACES I'VE BEEN BUT DON'T FULLY REMEMBER, SHE COULD HAVE ANSWERED SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS. YOU GUYS NEVER TELL ME ANYTHING, I HAD A PAST LIFE BEFORE THIS. AND YOU TOOK IT AWAY!" He yelled and he marched ever so closer to Liv. While pointing his finger at her in an accusing way.
" That's an interesting angle on things. I'm glad you shared that with the rest of the class,'' Liv laughed. " Now Lyco you really believe some strange woman who you have only seen for about two minutes, who uttered a random name out of thin air? ".
" NO THAT'S NOT SOME RANDOM NAME THATS MY NAME! AND SHE WAS MY AUNT MAY! " The boy screamed back at her his eyes wide and brimmed with red.
"Sure bug boy" Liv said, she widened her stance and crossed her arms still holding the loaded gun.
“TH-THAT MAN, ON MY LAST MISSION CALLED ME PETER AS WELL! THE ONE IN THE METAL SUIT, HE HAD THAT SAME WORRIED EXPRESSION TOO ON HIS FACE AS HE SAID IT! " He stopped for a second to remember the name of that man. May had said a very fitting name for that man in her last moments. His mind clicked. "THAT MAN'S NAME WAS TONY! I AM NOT MISTAKEN MY NAME IS PETER. NOT LYCO! " He yelled to Liv who was only 10 feet away from him. He faintly heard a rush footsteps from down the hallway. He didn't care, everything he had known or been told was a lie. This woman who stood before him who had been his mentor since he could remember was now a stranger. He didn't trust her, he never should have.
" Are you actually kidding me?" Liv said in a cold monotone voice. " After everything I have sacrificed for you. The amount of sleepless nights I have had to endure to make sure you were flawless. After months of work you were finally pure and perfect, a soldier that did any task they were ordered to without any second thought. You gave better results then the Winter Soldier and now you have the audacity to talk to me in such a manner. Young man you are severely out of line and you need correcting ". Liv spat back in the boy's direction with cold eyes. As the rush of footsteps came closer.
With those single words he felt a surge of panic rise within him. His mind flashed a horrific memory through his head of pure pain and terror. In the memory he was trying to scream, he was strapped to a table as his brain exploded with pain inside a helmet like contraption connected to the ceiling. As Liv stared down at him in the worst pain of his life and just watched.
" N-No. " The fearful word spilled out of his mouth as he took a step back, pure terror filling his body. He quickly looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with Liv who he knew was staring at him. That was going to be his fate, that's exactly what she meant when she said those words. The rush of footsteps arrived at the door of the room and bursted through the door.
The swarm of men quickly analysed the threat in the room and swiftly took position around the frantic Lyco staring back at them. They had him surrounded from all angles.
" Young man, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You need to choose which route you want to take. " Said one of the men who was pointing a weird version of a rifle at Lyco like the rest of them.
" No. Liv. Why? Please please don't do this". The boy responded with a quivering lip, who now met the eyes of his mentor. He didn't want this, he was scared of what these men would do to him. Why did he have to open is stupid mouth? He shouldn't have said any of that aloud. He was filled with panic and regret, he could have kept playing along. New very foggy memories had just started to pop up and with that single stupid action they were now going to be taken away again.
" You left me no choice, now you will learn that your actions have consequences." Liv said as she snapped her fingers, that signal made the swarm of men with guns pointed at Lyco slowly take a synchronized step forward. Lyco flinched with this sudden movement with his right hand now hovering over the holster of one of his knives.
" Wolf Spider stand down, we will give you till the count of three to get on your knees and put your hands in the air." Said the man standing face to face with Lyco who was trembling with fear and anger.
"One."
Lyco took in his surroundings quickly looking around for any alternative exits besides the door being blocked by the men. He could no longer see Doctor Liv anymore, she disappeared in the swarm of men. There was a small metal table next to the left wall of the room. The men were wearing black suits with matching ties, each holding a suspicious looking assault rifle. The gun looked like any other regular gun from a quick glance but if you looked close enough you could see a very faint glow coming from the barrel of the gun.
"Two."
Lyco quickly counted the number of men there were, about thirteen of them packed into this tiny room. He couldn't take them down with just force alone; there was really nowhere to go or to run around to help make the fight a little more even. His best bet was to quickly run and grab the metal table from his left and lift it and kick it into the group of men blocking his exit then make a dash for it. Then from there, his only objective was to get out and not die. He closed his eyes for just a moment and whispered very softly so only he could hear himself. "Ok, don't die, you've probably faced worse in the past. You just don't remember. You can do this. “
" Three!" The man yelled.
The boy swiftly opened his eyes as he leapt to his left and flipped the table over and hid behind it for cover. In doing this action the group of men shot their weapons with the content within them leaving a hiss and a blue trail behind them. He quickly looked at what the weapons fired into the wall next to him. It was an electric bullet with a net that engulfed the bullet. When the bullet hit the surface of the wall the net retracted and let off a web of electricity that was about 2 feet wide. The boy quickly went into his belt pocket, grabbed a flash bang and threw it over the flipped table he was hiding behind as gunfire still filled the air. Within 2 seconds it exploded, everything went white for a split second the loud boom made his ears ring.
This was his chance, Lyco quickly grabbed the sides of the table and lifted it into the air then kicked it as hard as he could. The table flew through the air then collided with seven out of the thirteen men standing shoulder to shoulder. He quickly scrambled through the men who were still trying to process what just happened. He made it halfways out the door to his freedom when two figures tackled him. The two men grabbed him, one of them kicked the back of his leg making his leg buckle sending him to the ground. Lyco was still gripping onto the other two men so they all fell to the ground on top of each other. On the way down Lycos head hit the door frame making him wince in pain. The scuffle was a mess, fists flying through the air, legs kicking in all directions, hands grabbing anything they could find, and loud screams of frustration. Lyco was able to kick out the gun from one of the men's hands as they tried to aim it at his body. Lyco grabbed a knife from his belt and swung it in the air until it collided with one of the men's bodies.
The struggle for power fell into the hallway as Lyco and Ediki, who was the other man, kicked, punched, and yelled. The dead man's gun was lying on the floor just a foot from the scuffle and Lyco knew he wanted it. He pushed, shoved, and kicked Ediki and reached as far as he could with his right arm. His finger tips could barely touch it when they wrapped around the barrel of the gun. With all of his force he swung the gun like a baseball bat, it collided with Ediki's face sending him to the ground off top of Lyco wailing in pain and he grabbed his face. The rest of the men started to spill out of the small room as Lyco quickly made a dash down the hallway. The men quickly opened fire as the bullets whizzed past Lycos body.
Lyco was halfway down the hallway headed towards a door on the other end when that door suddenly burst open. It was Doctor Liv, standing in front of his only way out.
Holding the same kind of electric gun the group of men had, aimed right at him. With an angry skirt appearing from her lips she pulled the trigger and the bullet collided in the center of his bullet proof vest, with the electric web engulfing Lyco.
The electric current began to inflame Lycos body with shocking pain making it unbearable to stand. He slammed against the ground, not able to catch himself because of the amount of pain his body was in. His body was twitching and trembling uncontrollably as the electricity flew through his body. Lyco let out a blood curdling scream of pure pain and agony. His body felt like it was on fire, like he was dying. The electricity continued for what felt like a lifetime and his body began to feel weaker and weaker.
" Please stop! Someone help! " The scream left Lycos' mouth in a desperate cry for help. But all of a sudden the electricity flowing through his body stopped. Leaving Lyco lying on his stomach limp on the floor crying and grunting from the pain he had just endured. The only movement his body made to indicate he was still alive was his chest frantically rising up and down gasping for air as he cried in pain. He could hear the walk of heels clicking against the ground heading his direction. He knew it was Doctor Liv but he was too weak to lift his head to actually confirm it was her. He felt a soft whisper in his left ear.
" Now. Do you think you can behave my little spider? Because I want to make sure this never happens again". Liv softly said.
" Y-y-yes m-m-ma'am". The boy faintly whimpered back very softly without moving a muscle.
" Hm. Well just to make sure this never happens again we are going to take some precautionary measures. You understand,right?".
"N-No, Tony, please help." The boy cried faintly as he slowly closed his eyes.
“ Queen’s needs a Spiderman. Especially now. Nothing bad will happen to you I promise.” said a man with one hand on his shoulder and brown hair with a goatee. Peter trusted this man…
The memory only lasted for a second before it was interrupted again by Doctor Liv. " That's exactly what I didn't want to hear." Liv growled back as she motioned to two men headed down the hallway in their direction.
Each of the men walked up then stood on the opposite side of Lycos' very weak and limp body on the floor. Each of them reached down grabbed underneath the boy's left and right armpits locking their arms around Lycos arms then pulled his limp body up off the ground. The boy grunted and weeped in pain at this sudden movement but fell limp between the two men. The men began to follow Liv down the hallway while dragging Lyco with them.
Lyco could do nothing to stop this. His body was too weak and he felt so exhausted. His mind started to feel clouded. His only thoughts were about the memory that just flashed before him of the man named Tony looking down at him. He continued to be dragged as he could only watch as fear spread inside him as he was dragged into the unknown.
--- ------ ------ ----- ---- ------- ----
“ That’s the question isn’t it.” Tony muttered, responding to Happy. Who exactly were they dealing with? He fidgeted with his watch as he tried not to panic. It was hard not to.
“ What are you two doing here still?” said an older woman standing in the doorway. She was clutching a baseball bat threateningly and eyeing them up. Happy frowned.
“ I told you we are good friends of May’s. We are uh just trying to uh figure out where-or like why she is- ya know.” Happy rambled. The woman narrowed her eyes.
“ I don’t trust you. Just like those men in the vests.” she mumbled and Tony felt his heart race. Men in vests?
“ Did you say something about men in vests?” he asked. The older woman nodded.
“ Yeah, just a few days ago they went into May’s room for ‘maintenance’. Most likely hooked up with her or something if you ask me. There was one girl though. Bunch of good for nothing if you ask me.” she explained. Tony looked at Happy and his eyebrows were furrowed. That was definitely suspicious.
“ A few days ago? Have you seen here since then?” he asked. The woman shook her head and lowered the bat.
“ No. I was leaving when they walked into May’s.” she explained. Tony felt a rush of adrenaline. That was no coincidence.
“ Happy…” he said and Happy nodded. They had to go now.
“ Look-uh we gotta go, but if you see them again don’t open your door.” Tony said as he walked out of Peter’s room, grabbing one of Peter’s Star Wars figurines on the way out. Happy followed looking worried. The woman called something to Tony and Happy said something back but he was focused. Whoever the people in the vests were had to know about Peter and May. Practically flying down the stairs he ran out the doors of their apartment building, a weird smile plastered on his face. He had a lead.
“ Tony.” Happy said concerned. He looked at Happy as he opened the door to his car.
“ What?” he asked as he paused before getting in.
“ Why are you-what are you gonna do?” Happy asked, throwing his hands in the air in disbelief. Tony frowned.
“ What am I going to do? Kick their ass.” Tony said scoffing.
“ No Tony you can’t- who do you think we are dealing with. I mean if that Peter thing you saw is actually him… you can’t just-” Happy said cautiously. He watched Tony stare at him with an unreadable expression.
“ I can’t just what? Save him?” Tony said exasperated.
“ Exactly-”
“ No, Happy it’s not him I can just-”
“ Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe he isn’t brainwashed?” Happy asked quietly. There was a quiet pause.
“ Yeah. I have.” Tony responded softly. “ But I believe with every bone in my body that he- whoever they made him to be. That’s not the Peter we know. I can see it in his eyes.” Tony explained with emotion in every word.
“ Okay.” Happy said as he watched Tony look at the apartment guilty. “ We have a lot of work to do then.”
“ Yeah we do.” Tony said, shutting the car door.