Chapter Text
That fateful night.
The night a child wept and screamed, truly shattered.
The night they killed the remnants of his broken family.
He remembered it all so vividly. He had rushed into his apartment, his spidey sense flaring and his enhanced hearing picking up the sobs of his family. He burst in, the door crashing down, and his heart stopped.
In the middle of the room was his aunt and uncle, bound and gagged. Their sobs grew louder when they saw Peter burst through the door. They were surrounded by a group of soldiers, their guns aimed at the couple. In the corner stood a woman dressed in a navy blue pinstripe suit. She turned to face Peter, a sickening smile on her face. “How nice of you to finally join us.” At the sight of her sickly grin, rage began to boil in his gut. “Let them go,” he growled. Her smile grew wider. Ignoring his demand, she eased herself into a chair, then gestured at the couch. “Sit.” His feet stayed firmly planted on the ground. He could feel the rage now, feel it twisting his gut and speeding up his heart. “I said let. Them. Go.” She laughed, a lofty chuckle. It was too gentle for a creature as cruel and twisted as her.
“What, you don’t even want to know my name?” She asked, staring at him with her cold, piercing eyes. After a moment of silence, she tutted. “Well, I suppose I’ll tell you anyway. My name is Melanie Delacruz, and I am one of the head scientists at HYDRA.” The last word turned the blood in his veins to ice. HYDRA. The secret organization that had been a part of the Nazis, the same people that had nearly torn the Avengers apart. He thought they had been defeated, and yet here they stood, pointing their guns at the remnants of his family. “What do you want?” he snarled. “You.” That horrible smile was still plastered on her face. He considered his options, glancing at his family. He let out a defeated sigh. “Fine.” Somehow, her terrifying grin grew wider. “Restrain him.”
Suddenly, two of the guards grabbed him, and another approached him with a metal box. The guard set the box on the ground, opened it, and pulled out a pair of metal bands. The soldiers restraining Peter painfully pulled his hands behind his back, and the other HYDRA guard clamped the bands down on him. They immediately magnetized together, and a metal band materialized, connecting his wrists. Dome-like covers appeared out of the edges of the handcuffs, effectively enclosing his hands. The soldier turned back to the box, doing the same for his ankles. This time, no cover enclosed his feet, but the band still materialized. The HYDRA goon turned to the box one last time, pulling out a thick metal band, larger than the other bands. He placed it around Peter’s neck, and it immediately tightened to fit him snugly. Well, ‘snug’ wasn’t exactly the right word. The cold metal dug into his neck, immediately making him uncomfortable. But he could live with it. Anything to keep his family safe.
Dr. Delacruz turned to Peter’s restrained aunt and uncle. “You're probably wondering what this is all about,” she said, her tone icy. Panic began to flood through Peter’s system. They couldn’t know, they couldn’t find out, not here, not like this. Tied up on the floor, terrified, his entire other half stripped down and shoved into his aunt and uncle’s faces. How would they react? Would they be disappointed? Horrified? Furious? He couldn’t let this–this monster destroy their trust in him. “NO!” he screamed. “YOU CAN’T!” His rage filled screams wilted down and died when he saw his uncle staring at him. Ben gave the slightest shake of his head, as if telling him to calm down. Dr. Delacruz let out a cynical laugh at Peter’s sullen silence.
“Peter Parker is Spiderman.” The world seemed to stop. He risked a glance at his aunt and uncle, and immediately looked back down at the floor. Their expressions were unreadable, and he wasn’t about to try to untangle what was going on in their heads. It was another tiny hairline fracture in Peter. Soon enough, they would send him crashing down. Then the doctor gave a small flick of her hand. The sound of guns cocking echoed throughout the once homey apartment. Peter felt the air being sucked out of his lungs. No. They couldn’t. He wasn’t about to let HYDRA take away the one thing he had left. He ran towards the people he called his parents, but the men in black restrained him. He tore himself out of their grasp when he felt his body light on fire. It was like each individual nerve in his body was being torn apart. He heard someone in the distance let out a scream of agony.
When the spots in his vision faded away, he was met with his aunt and uncle's teary expressions. "With great power," his uncle said, voice wavering, "comes great responsibility." His aunt attempted to blink the tears away and failed. "My sweet boy," she murmured. "I love you." The last thing Peter saw was his aunt and uncle's somber smiles. Then, there was a series of bangs and his aunt and uncle were dead. He stared at their limp bodies, barely even registering the needle one of the guards jabbed into his neck. The last thing he heard were his uncle and aunt's final words before his vision fuzzed at the edges and the world turned black.