It's a Spider Thing. {Peter Parker and Natasha Romanoff}

{39} is it permanent?

THE MOTEL ROOM WAS SMALL AND QUIET, with two double beds in the centre of the room attached to an open kitchenette and a separate bathroom.

Despite the size of the room being on the smaller side, both Barton brothers had been living together for the past few months since they had arrived at the Hydra base that they'd managed to track down in their search for Peter. On most undercover operations Clint could handle the waiting and watching- but the archer was going stir crazy waiting for any sign of Peter to show up.

So much so that he had flopped onto the bed and refused to move until Barney returned with takeout; he'd even turned down his hearing aids in protest to the world.

Although, a small vibration in his pocket made Clint huff and begrudgingly turn up the volume on one hearing aid whilst pulling out the phone in his back pocket. He was already internally cursing the being on the other end of the phone, especially if it turned out to be some kind of phony insurance company since it turns out not even superheroes are immune to them: much to the archer's dismay.

"Barton." Natasha's voice is steady despite the static over the call.

"Nat?" Clint asked incredulously.

The man swiftly switched on both hearing aids to their highest setting and jumped off the bed, beginning to pace in the small space that was called a living room in the brochure. Natasha wouldn't have called without a good reason; she hadn't made any contact since he started the undercover mission so why now?

It made his chest tighten with dread and the tiniest glimmer of hope- did she find him?

"It's good to hear from you." He found himself saying, keeping his inner thoughts to himself. There was a slight pause on the other end as if she was processing his words.

"It's good to hear you too."

"What's happened?" He blurted out, unable to cope with the suspense of the unasked question hanging over their heads- Natasha always was the more patient of them.

"I think I know Peter's location."

Clint sucked in a sharp breath and slumped back onto the bed with barely contained relief- two months. It had been two long months without that snarky teenager around and Clint missed him goddammit. "It's a Hydra base in the mountains. We're cross referencing right now across every database, but I thought I'd check in and see if you know anything that might help us."

Suddenly he felt frozen when Natasha finished speaking.

Mountains. A horrible feeling of guilt welled up in his throat, bleeding into the usual feeling of self-loathing and doubling it. The idea of having been so close, for weeks, and having not done anything was enough to send Clint into a blind rage but he felt as though every ounce of energy that he had previously had was zapped from his body instead.

"Clint?" Nat's voice questioned; he could hear the tinge of worry as if she was there beside him.

"I've been stationed at a base in the mountains." He admitted, swallowing hard. "I haven't been allowed inside the base itself, I was due to go in next week- but Nat, if, if Peter's here and I've just been standing around on the other side-"

"It wouldn't be your fault." She cut him off, her voice stern and sharp. "You couldn't have been sure. You were protecting him by not barging in there with guns blazing. Do not blame yourself Clint."

The words felt heavy on his shoulders as Clint fell silent for a few minutes. Natasha simply waited on the other end of the phone for the archer to gather himself again.

"I'll send you the location of the base."

-

Time had evaded Peter since his arrival at the Hydra base.

In the beginning he had tried counting out the hours that would bleed into days, but he had swiftly given in when it became apparent that it was impossible to tell if he was right or wrong.

So, when his hazy mind couldn't conjure up an idea on how long he had been curled into a ball in the middle of his cell, he wasn't surprised. Had it been hours? Minutes? All Peter could register was that he had stopped screaming a while ago; his throat ached. Either that, or he couldn't hear himself anymore because of how hard his hands were clamped over his ears to help him block out his own cries the way he would never be able to block out the physical beatings from the Hydra soldiers.

At some point they had gathered in his cell with an assortment of blunt instruments.

His body would jolt from where the weapons met his skin, accompanied by an electric current that rippled through his body from the collar around his neck for good measure to ensure he stayed down.

It was only ever removed for experiments since it repressed his abilities.

Peter didn't register the pain anymore. It was as if his brain had decided it would rather shut down than deal with the violence being inflicted; it would rather be numb than confront what had become a usual occurrence in his life. Peter didn't know when or how it happened, him switching off when soldiers would barge into his room- but he was always terrified to see what the damage would be when he dared open his eyes again. It was usually a barrage of bruises and broken ribs.

Someone's hand gripped Peter's arm tight and jerked him upwards. The teen's eyes shot open from the sudden movement and he blinked sluggishly as blood dripped from his nose.

He frowned when their lips moved but no clear sound came.

Then, Peter was thrown back to the ground in a heap of his own limbs, but he was more concerned with the faint ringing in his ears and the lack of distinct sounds or voices to care much about the deep ache in his bones and the sharp pain that ricocheted through his body every time he took in a breath.

"The strength and sound of the scream appears to have damaged his hearing." Stated a soldier as they filed out of the room. Helen hummed, with a frown.

"Is it permanent?"

A scientist stepped forwards meekly, sliding off a set of headphones. "We would have to conduct some tests first to see if it could be reversed. But just from observation alone and the decibel of the sound ma'am, I don't think there'll be much hope for the boy's hearing, especially if his healing isn't reversing the damage done." Helen tutted and her gaze settled back on Peter.

He was mumbling frantically to himself with his back now pressed firmly against the wall; blood and bruises were splattered across his gaunt features. "Pity." She sighed, sounding unsympathetic about the entire situation, more disappointed as she turned away.

Her heels clicked with every step as she left.

Peter's eyes widened in a realising fear as his hands covered and uncovered his ears repeatedly, noting the lack of difference in sound and unaware of the woman's departure. 

A/N

Okay. So. The power was the ability to scream so loud it could shatter windows, burst eardrums etc. and as a result because of Peter's body rejecting the power, he lost some of his hearing.

I am no expert on hearing loss! Sooo, yeah. :)

Anywho! Let me know of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.