Chapter Text
The Spider’s world crumbled apart the moment the door opened. All order and discipline and structure was thrown into the fire that was crawling up the walls of the facility. He scaled the wall and hovered over the door, waiting for someone to walk through. An instructor, a guard, a doctor, an Avenger (which he just knew were the ones who started the fire), absolutely anyone. But no one walked in.
It unnerved him. Everything was wrong. He scoffed and jumped off of the ceiling. He peeked through the door, trying to spot any sign of his handler. The smoke started to get thick, so he lifted his shirt over his nose and mouth for a filter. He could make something better, but he had no time.
The Spider ran through the corridor. No one. The next. No one. No one, no one, no one, no one. Where is everyone? Why did they leave him behind?
He found the only corridor not on fire, the one leading to the training room. He smirked and rushed inside, reminiscing over all his accomplishments and praise that he received in this room. The training room was not empty. It had his glass cage in one corner, and inside were people he didn’t recognise. They certainly weren’t the other experiments, he had walked past their rooms on the way here and their doors were still closed, which meant they were probably dead. Sacrifices. They were gone, but more would rise in their place.
The people inside his cage were new, not even guards or doctors. The Spider knew, he saw them every day. No, these people were definitely new. They must be the Avengers. The Spider sneered at them. He then looked around the room to find his handler and doctor, standing next to his instructor, who was the man in charge of the entire compound.
The compound was made to house The Spider, and other experiments like him. The other experiments were brought in after him. The compound was for him, and would always be.
The Avengers looked surprised when he ran in. One, dressed in a blue outfit with a white star on his chest whispered to one whose outfit was made from metal, possibly vibranium. The Spider was familiar with vibranium, it being the only metal he couldn’t damage or manipulate in anyway. It made him uncomfortable seeing it used as armour.
The others in his cage were quieter, and wore darker colours. The Spider had no idea how they were contained, especially with the fire raging outside. The Bosses were all calm, so he stalked over to them quietly, but loud enough for them to be aware of his presence. He had learnt the hard way what happened when he made one of them jump. The Avengers were all staring at him like he was a kicked puppy.
“Spider!” His handler shouted. His Russian was thick, and he knew that none of the Avengers could understand. The Black Widow and Traitor were not there. He had seen their pictures before, being raised to know who were traitorous towards the Leaders.
“Sir.” The Spider responded, in equal thickness of Russian, just to make sure.
“Where were you when the alarms sounded?” His handler demanded, raising an arm to hit him, but was restrained by the instructor. The Spider lowered his eyes in respect.
“My door was shut. It only opened due to the temperature rising.” He looked towards the Avengers, even more curious as he saw them gape at him. “Why are they here?”
“They were sent to dismantle our base.” The instructor replied.
Dismantle? Why would the Avengers care about a tiny base such as this? Why didn’t they chase after the larger bases with the leaders? The Spider was unimportant, he was told so at least once every week.
“Let us go!” The metal encased man shouted from inside the cage. The Spider spoke no English, so he didn’t understand a word that they said. But the instructor and handler seemed to.
“Why should we? I could always set Паук on you and see how he deals with the all mighty Avengers.” The instructor’s voice was notably calm, even with the flames licking at the door jamb. The Spider watched as all eyes turned to him.
The sight was unnerving, multiple pairs of eyes staring directly at him, willing him to react to anything around him. But he didn’t. He followed his training and protocol and didn’t respond. He couldn’t anyway, he had no idea what was being said.
“What did you do to him? He’s only a child.” The blue suited man said.
“He is not a child. Not anymore.” His handler cackled. “He is a soldier.”
The Spider straightened his back. He knew that word. ‘Soldier’. It meant he was good. He did what he was told, and when. He behaved and followed orders, and that was why he was kept when all the others were disposed of.
“What did you see of the other experiments?” The instructor asked him, flicking back to Russian at the drop of a hat.
“Their doors were closed. I did not see their bodies, but the fire was inside their rooms, under the doors.” The Spider responded, looking at the instructor’s chest. Don’t look them in the eye. You’ll get punished. You won’t be good.
“Fine. We only need you.”
Everything moved very quick after that. The flames rose through the door. The glass broke due to the temperature change. The Avengers were free. The instructor and doctor were dead. His handler was restrained. The Spider was restrained. The ceiling opened up and a plane slotted into the hanger and they were shoved on board. The Spider was then handcuffed and attached to the side of the plane. He was not compliant. He thrashed and screamed and didn’t respond to anything they said.
His handler was taken to a separate part of the plane so they couldn’t converse. The Spider was getting antsy now, without something familiar next to him. He felt uncomfortable, but he knew this was their plan, so he kept quiet and still. He didn’t give them what they wanted. He obeyed his training. His closed his eyes and suddenly, he was no longer there.
He can’t teleport. He could only meditate and force himself into a different mental state, where he was no longer on the plane with multiple Avengers staring at him. Instead, he was lying in a pool of water, delicate flowers floating on the surface with him. The sky was a sort of purple-pink. His doctor once called this dissociation. The Spider and his handler called it meditation. It kept him calm. They trained him to do this in case he was ever caught, so he not only couldn’t answer their questions, he couldn’t hear them in the first place.
Eventually, they arrived at wherever they were heading to. The Spider stayed in his meditative state until he was sat down and left alone. He opened his eyes to observe his surroundings. He was alone. The room was bare, with a table in front of his that his arms were resting on and he was sitting in a chair. There was a plate of food on the table. He huffed and pushed the food away, out of reach. He sat back and waited for someone to walk in through the door.