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Peter didn’t sleep well, but who could when you were in prison with a shock collar around your neck that could activate at any moment? The sleep he did get was fitful at best, and nightmarish at its worst. He kept remembering the pain, the guard’s cruel smile, and the beeping of the collar.
Worst of all, he kept remembering his promise to Mr. Stark. How he’d let him down by going on patrol. Why hadn’t he listened to him? The man was probably angry that he’d gone against the one rule he had.
If he even noticed he was missing.
Shit, Aunt May.
Oh god, what was he going to do? She’d definitely know he was gone, he lived with her! What if they told her he was arrested?
What if they told her he was Spider-Man?
What if they told the whole world? He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t live like that, everyone knowing his identity. His friends, his classmates.
Peter wondered if Ned knew that he was gone yet. He had probably noticed as soon as Peter didn’t respond to his phone. God, he didn’t want to freak him out. Ned didn’t even know about his powers yet.
The only one who used to know was Mr. Stark and Happy.
Now?
He didn’t even know.
And that was terrifying.
Suddenly, the lights of the prison brightened, revealing the rest of the cells. Peter winced at the sharpness of it. Damn, his enhanced senses were really not helping him right now. He really wished they had an off switch, but unfortunately, life never made things that simple for him.
“Everyone awake?” Scott’s voice echoed around the area. “Does anyone know what day it is?”
Peter heard Sam’s tired groan as the man stood up. “For the last time, nobody knows-”
“I- I think it’s Saturday. April 9th, I think.” Peter’s voice was hoarse, and he cleared his throat. “It was Thursday night when, uh, when they took me in. I think that was two days ago.”
“Thanks kid! See, Sam, it is still a relevant question. I used to do it when I was in prison, we’d ask the new guy for the date when they’d come in, and that’s how we’d keep track if the guards didn’t tell us.”
Peter groaned, slowly pushing himself up off the floor. The chain on his handcuffs rattled slightly, and he froze, waiting for the beep of the collar. It didn’t come, thankfully, and he got himself up onto the metal cot. They had never even given him a blanket. “You were in prison before?”
Scott laughed. “Yeah, but don’t worry, it was for burglary.”
Peter tilted his head. “You robbed someone?”
Scott rolled his eyes. “No. Robbery implies violence. This company I used to work for, they were overcharging like crazy. I tried to fix it, but they fired me for reporting it. So I just gave the customers back the money.”
Peter saw Sam raise his eyebrows. “You sure that’s all you did?”
“Okay, I might’ve taken a few things from my old boss’s office.”
Peter looked at him skeptically.
Scott sighed. “And I drove his car into a pool. Happy now?”
Peter grinned. “Yeah. To be honest, that’s kind of awesome.”
Scott looked at him in surprise. “Really?”
Peter nodded. “I mean, it was all to help the people, right? That’s what we’re here for. That’s what superheroes do.”
“Jesus, kid, you make it so hard for the rest of us to seem innocent.” Sam’s voice was irritated, but Peter saw him hiding a smile.
Finally, he noticed Clint, who was standing near the glass window of his cell, looking at Wanda’s. She hadn’t moved from her position yesterday, but Peter could see that she was awake. Her eyes were still fixated on the wall in front of her.
“Is she okay?” Peter asked, voice quiet, not wanting to disturb her.
Clint sighed. “To tell you the truth kid, no. They’ve been practically torturing her. I don’t even know if she knows what’s going on anymore.”
“Why would they do that to her?”
Clint’s face tightened in anger. “They don’t want her using her powers. When they brought us in, we came willingly. We didn’t want to make more trouble for Steve. They didn’t tell Wanda they’d be restraining her like that. It scared her, and she lost control for a moment.”
He turned to Peter. “They shock her with that thing almost every day. It’s some sort of sick revenge.”
Peter looked down, seeing the chain around his ankle. They hadn’t put him in a straightjacket like Wanda. He was thankful for that.
But he couldn’t imagine what she was feeling. Being tied up like that must be a certain torture all in its own.
“Do- do you think she can hear us?” Peter asked tentatively.
Clint looked at him with surprise. “I don’t know, kid. Like I said, I’m not sure she’s still aware right now. We haven’t gotten a response out of her for days.”
Peter nodded. “Yeah, I know, but maybe if we talk to her it’ll help her. That’s okay, right? Did they shock her for talking?”
Clint shook his head. “Not specifically, no. But we have to be careful, especially with the two of you. I don’t think they care much about laws here.”
Peter took a deep breath. “Yeah, I know. I’m taking AP Government this year, we talked about the Accords a bit.”
Sam laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “Damn, they teach that to freshmen now?”
Peter blushed. “Well, I kind of tested out of the other classes.”
“Oh, so you’re one of the smart kids? Is that why Stark picked you?”
Peter shrugged, grin falling as he looked back to the floor. “I don’t know.”
The room fell into silence. Peter grimaced, thinking back to Tony’s warnings. He really should’ve stayed in his room.
Finally, Clint cleared his throat. “How about we try and talk to Wanda, kid. If she can hear us, she’s probably wondering why we aren’t doing that right now.”
Peter looked back up. “Really?”
Clint shrugged half-heartedly.
Peter smiled again.
Turning back to Wanda, Clint motioned for Sam and Scott to be silent. “Hey kid. Can you hear us?”
Wanda didn’t move. Her eyes were still trained on the wall.
Clint sighed. “I know you can’t talk right now, but we have Peter now. He’s across the room, he can see if you blink. If you can hear us, can you blink twice? Pretty slowly, so that he can see?”
Peter stared ahead, focusing on Wanda. For a few seconds, there was nothing.
Then, Wanda blinked twice. They were separated by about a second, and he knew they were definitely on purpose.
Peter looked at Clint in excitement. “She said she can!”
For the first time, Peter saw a flash of real happiness in Clint’s eyes.
“Alright, that’s good. Do you know what’s going on?”
Another double blink.
Peter grinned and nodded at Clint.
Clint let out a breath of relief. “Okay. Do you want us to keep going?”
There was another double blink.
Their conversation continued well into the night, with no incident.
Peter slept until the morning.
____________________________________________________________________________
The next day, there was less tension in the air. They’d begun their conversation with Wanda almost immediately after the lights turned on, and Peter could’ve sworn that the dark circles under her eyes had lightened.
Now, Scott was telling a story about the first time he had grown to giant size in his suit.
“So right after that, I passed out. Just straight up on the floor. When I woke up, I had to eat like fifty oranges. It was one of the best days of my life, seriously. I did get tired of the oranges, though. That part wasn’t very fun.”
Peter laughed, seeing Sam roll his eyes at the story. Scott had purposely left out the names of his coworkers, but they all knew that Ross had most likely figured out who they were. Peter noticed the guilt in Scott’s eyes from time to time. Behind the man’s jokes, there was anger and sadness. He hadn’t ever wanted to go to prison again.
Then, Wanda’s head moved slightly. Suddenly, she was making eye contact with Peter. “Wanda?”
She blinked, and Peter tilted his head. “Are you okay?”
Wanda just stared at him. Her eyes looked clearer than they had when she was just staring ahead at the wall.
But they also looked sad. There were so many emotions showing that Peter couldn’t decipher it all. What had happened to her? He knew some of it, like the explosion in Lagos, but she wasn’t an original member of the Avengers. She only looked to be only a few years older than him, if even that much.
“Hey, are you okay?” He asked again.
There was still no response, just that stare.
“What’s going on?” Clint’s voice was filled with concern.
Peter looked at him, not sure how to tell him that Wanda had moved without bringing too much attention to it. “I don’t know.”
Suddenly, Wanda’s eyes squeezed shut, face tense.
“Wanda?”
She didn’t respond.
“Peter, what’s happening?” Sam asked, voice tense.
Peter saw Scott staring at him, worry evident in his features. The man’s face had turned serious, and his humor was gone.
“I- I really don’t know, I’m sorry.”
There was a slight gasp from across the room, if you could even call it that. It was more of a tiny breath, but Peter heard it all the same. He looked back to see panic in Wanda’s now wide open eyes.
His brow furrowed in confusion. She’d made a noise, and why did it look like she was scared?
Then he heard it.
The beep of the shock collar.
Peter froze in fear, feeling his body go numb. His mind was racing, and he could feel panic shortening his breaths.
“No, not again, you do not get to do this again!” Clint’s voice echoed around the room, and he could see the man pointing at the security cameras out of the corner of his eye. Peter kept eye contact with Wanda, who had paled to a sickly shade of white.
“He didn’t do anything, you bastards, he’s a kid!”
That was Scott, and there was an anger in his voice that Peter had never heard before.
“Peter, just stay calm, kid. It’ll be alright.” Sam’s voice was calming, and Peter forced himself to slow his breathing as the collar beeped once more. How many times would they do this? How were they so cruel?
Was he really that dangerous?
Would he end up like Wanda, unable to talk or move?
Would he ever get out of this place?
Peter felt a tear roll down his face. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see Aunt May, to build lego sets with Ned. Even having to deal with Flash at school sounded like heaven compared to here.
The collar gave another beep, and Peter held back a flinch. Maybe if he didn’t move, they wouldn’t shock him again. Maybe everything would be okay.
Wanda was still staring at him, and she blinked twice. Maybe she was trying to reassure him, but Peter couldn’t tell.
Clint was still yelling at the security camera, arms moving as he tried to draw their attention towards himself.
Finally, the collar gave its long screech, and Peter let out a choked sob.
“No.” Peter was sure that only he had heard Wanda speak, as her voice was barely a whisper. But he couldn’t think about it for long before the buzz of the electricity filled his ears.
Peter felt himself collapse to the side, still on the metal cot. His head slammed into the wall behind him as he felt the current run through him. His body felt like it was burning from the inside out, the white-hot agony too much to bear.
He felt his muscles seizing, and he knew he was screaming from the pain. Peter couldn’t breathe.
Everything sounded muffled yet again, the shouts and yells overwhelming him even in their muted state.
Peter couldn’t stay like this. He wanted to sleep, to get away from the unbearable pain running through him.
Suddenly, there was a voice in his head.
‘Stay awake. They want you unconscious. Don’t let them get what they want like I did. Please.’
The pain seemed to dull, and Peter found himself surrounded by a calming red.
‘I’m so sorry. I can’t take it away, but I can distract you.’
‘Who are you? What’s going on?’
‘I can’t do this for long or they’ll notice.’
‘What?’
‘It’s almost over. I have to send you back. You have to be strong. Don’t let them break you, Peter.’
The pain overtook him once again, but the voice had been right. The buzz of the electricity was fading.
One last painful wave shot through him, and then it was over. His throat felt raw from screaming, and he doubted he could talk.
“Peter! It’s alright kid, they’re done. You’re okay, it’s gonna be okay. Just breathe.”
Peter sucked in a breath, tears streaming down his face. His chest heaved with the effort, and he could still feel the remnants of the shocks making his muscles spasm.
His head was on the concrete bench, and he couldn’t find the strength to move. Peter just laid there, fear coursing through his veins.
The voice said that he had to be strong. That he couldn’t break.
But Peter could already feel the cracks starting to appear.
How could he keep himself together when everything around him was trying to shatter him into a million pieces?