The Spider and the Snake

Chapter 2

Sooo, I wrote this before my birthday but decided 'Hey! Imma post this book on my birthday!'

Ehm, yeah, enjoy!

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змея huddled closer to the corner, its room freezing. It being cold-blooded did not help at all. And of course HYDRA didn't bother to give it any bedding or warmer clothing. Why would they? It was just a weapon to them, a weapon for them to use. Even if змея did get close to death, they'd just find a way to revive it. змея sighed through its nose, the days always repeating, blurring into one dragged out miserable existence.

The only things to look forward to were food, which came spread out with no consistent rate and in very little portions, and check ups. HYDRA made it have regular check ups every 2 months or so and every time they did, it always got the same doctor. Dr. Mayfil She was nice, nicer than any of the other members. Dr. Mayfil always snuck it some sort of sweet after the check up, during which it sat very still or complied instantly. Last time змея got a sweet, it was something called a chocolate. It was slightly bitter but none the less tasted good. Dr. Mayfil also stopped whenever it couldn't hold back a wince, asking if змея was okay, to which it of course responded yes. Anything else would have resulted in punishment.

It shifted into a laying position, the dull light getting darker and the cell getting damper. That was how змея determined if it was day or night. Duller and damper, as well as colder meant night, slightly warmer and brighter meant day. Not that it mattered to HYDRA, they would pull it out of sleep to do a training session at any given moment. Though if it had to guess, змея would be left alone for a little bit, not too long, but enough for it to recover for another punishment. For of course its little escape attempt would not be punished so lightly, no, a little electricity was barely anything.

If змея had to guess, HYDRA would probably starve it for a bit, water would be provided, but food would be scarce if any at all. It guessed it deserved it. змея should have known better than to try and escape. HYDRA had trained that out of it years ago and yet it tried anyways. It would be a surprise if Ross found a collar for it. More tracking devices, sedatives, electrical shocks, whatever they could find to bring it the most pain. змея had to learn its place, 15 years of this should have broken it, and it basically did. змея was dependent on HYDRA, it was determined to be a good soldier from now on. If only to lesson the pain.

Before змея could wallow any deeper into its guilt and depression, it heard a series of loud bangs going off outside its cell door. Wincing, it sat up ever so carefully and slowly. When the door finally opened it revealed two shadowed outlines of figures, both looked male.

They both paused and stared at змея, it couldn't see their faces but they were probably looking at it with disgust. The same as everyone else in the facility. The two looked on in silence, well, as silent as it could get with the explosions and shots ringing out in the background.

The one of the right, it was bulkier than the one on the left, broke the silence first. "Shit."

"Language."

"I will not watch my language! Can't you see that's a god dam child! They're using a child as a weapon! They've got a god dam muzzle on him."

Who was this 'him' they were talking about? It couldn't be змея, surely.

"I know Tony." The left one spoke with a sort of calmness that змея had never heard from anyone except Dr. Mayfil before. It was more than welcome yet it didn't trust the people. "We can worry about that later."

'Tony' grumbled at that but didn't continue. Instead, he took a slow step forward, he put his hands up like he was reassuring a wild animal he wasn't going to hurt it. Which змея wasn't any better than, an animal. That's how it had always been treated. It didn't even know it's birthday, it didn't have a name, it didn't have human rights!

But it wasn't human, змея reminding itself. That's what HYDRA had told it. And HYDRA was always right, right? Ross was always right.

"Hey there little guy. We're not gonna hurt you. We're going to get you out of here, okay?" 'Tony' said softly. змея didn't trust him but it couldn't go anywhere, couldn't do anything against the guy, which he now saw had some sort of metal on him.

The man behind him was talking into what змея was an ear piece, it had seen many of those. Though змея didn't try to listen in, even if it could. It had been taught that early on, among other 'lessons'.

When змея didn't make any move against the metal man, he moved forward again. змея tensed visibly making the metal man stop. Again it did nothing inviting the man - 'Tony' - to move again. When 'Tony' was finally withing arms reach, змея lashed out. It had been taught that anyone outside of HYDRA was bad. Especially the Avengers. Which it had now recognized the man in front of it. Metal man - 'Tony' - was Ironman.

Metal man moved back to avoid being hit, he even caught змея arm when it went in for a punch. Sure it had supper strength but at the moment, it barely had any strength to hold its head up let alone punch a man covered in high tech metal. Yet змея did it anyways, over and over until it started to slow down even more, its movements becoming sluggish.

"Woah!" Ironman shouted. "Easy, it's okay!"

змея, still exhausted from its earlier punishment, couldn't fight against the strong arms that were holding it.

"Cap! A little help here?"

"On it."

There's movement around it but змея can't focus, its gaze pinpointing and blurring. Its limbs feel like they were filled with lead and its head was pounding. There was a prick in the side of змея neck, startling it. змея tried to squirm its way out of the strong metal grip, the logical part of its brain telling it it couldn't, it shouldn't. Not long after, it started feeling woozy, like a fog was being pulled over its brain. змея knew the feeling, while it was not familiar with it, змея had experienced it enough during its first years in HYDRA.

змея whimpered. "Easy, easy. Shh, shh, I've got, you're safe." The voice holding it said.

And змея listened, it tried to fight it, really it did! But the voice was so soft, so reassuring. It was unlike anything змея was used to. Again, the logical part of its brain telling it not to listen, to fight.

Eventually, the fog becoming too much, змея slumped, luckily the arms around it were there to hold it when змея fell.

"I gotcha kid, just go to sleep."

So змея did, letting the peaceful darkness take over it.

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When змея came to, it was still being held. But the air around it was cold, not the cold like his cell, no, more like a crisp cold. Something змея had only felt a couple times. змея whined, it was uncomfortable and confused with the situation. Surely HYDRA hadn't come to collect it so soon. Maybe no rest time was apart of its punishment. If so, змея would take it just like it was trained to.

"It's alright kid, I gotcha." A voice said quietly, startling it. "Cap! We're gonna need another dose over here. Try Pete's, it seems like his metabolism is faster than yours or Buckys!"

змея didn't hear anything, only shuffling, before it felt something pierce its skin again. It whined and squirmed, the voice whispering reassurances the entire time.

Before змея could drift off into sleep again, it managed to peel its eyes open a bit. Looking up it saw a face looking down at its. A small smile was mixed into a gray and black beard. змея couldn't help but snuggle closer into a now soft chest. Unfortunately, the muzzle still got into its way making it grunt in discomfort.

"That's it kid, just go back to sleep. We'll get that nasty muzzle off you soon." There was a hand running through its hair, usually this was followed by a harsh yank and painful slaps, but as змея waited, none came.

It took a deep a breathe it could get through the muzzle and began to drift again, the darkness welcome змея back into its encasing arms.

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Hope y'all enjoyed that one! If your interested, I've now got an account on Ao3 with stories, I'll probably be updating that one first, sorry. But don't worry, this one will get updated too! I won't forget about y'all!!

Have a good whatever y'all!

- BookQueen14