Here We Go Again

12: Wade Goes Out

After three more days, Peter began to understand how this facility, if you could even call it that, worked. He would wake up after a few hours of sleep at 8 o'clock (that's what Jacob told him anyway), and Jacob would bring him breakfast. There were only three things he brought him, but they were all good foods so Peter wasn't going to complain. He had waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon, or strawberry crepes, all served with a glass of orange juice and a tiny bowl of fruit. Peter thought the high quality food was strange at first, but he soon learned why.

They pampered him, and then they brought him to the verge of death.

At what he was told was 9 o'clock, the other man, the one with the slight accent and the suit, would come in and beat him up. The man somehow never broke a sweat, compared to Peter who's clothes would become covered in blood and sweat. That would go on for about an hour, so he was told, and then the man would leave like nothing had happened. Jacob would come in with clean sheets, fresh clothes, a washcloth, a bottle of painkillers, and a needle.

Now, Peter never liked needles, especially the ones that messed with his body and disabled his powers. It was either that or be unconscious all the time, so he decided the shots were fine.

The procedure was always the same. Jacob would give him the painkillers, then inject him with the serum. While Peter sat on his mattress, slightly dazed from the pain and painkillers, Jacob would clean the blood off him. Peter's dazed state never lasted more than a few minutes, and he would take the fresh clothes and go to change into them while Jacob changed the sheets on the mattress. Peter would return and give Jacob his bloody and sweaty clothes, then he's sleep for a few hours.

The man in the suit would came back around noon and he'd give Peter a light beating. He'd mostly slap him around and talk to him, messing with his head and twisting his thoughts. That hour included light kicking and punching, mostly to his shins and forearms, as he sat curled up in a ball, leaning against the wall. When the man left, Jacob returned with food.

His lunch was different every day, but Peter had his favorites. On the third day he was there, Jacob brought him a small white fish fillet, steamed broccoli, and rosemary roasted potatoes for dinner. That was an amazing meal. Yes, he had nearly cracked a rib that day, but it was amazing food.

Peter missed his family, of course. He missed the dramatic way Bucky would flip his hair when Steve teased him about it. He missed how he would wake up early and go to eat, only to find his dad in the kitchen, not having slept yet, and then they'd talk while Peter ate. He missed Natasha and Clint hanging out with him, and watching Natasha make fun of Clint about Pietro. He missed hanging out in Bruce's lab with Wanda, watching in amazement as Wanda used tendrils of red magic to help Bruce. He missed Pietro running around, and he missed Thor summoning storms to mess with the speedster. He missed how Matt would randomly appear behind him, and how Scott would knock stuff over and then go small to avoid getting in trouble. He missed how Sam would take him and Bucky out for ice cream whenever he came up. Most of all, he missed Wade.

He had been missing Wade since he was kidnapped. He had, after all, been taken while he was with Wade. That was the last time he saw him. Wade treated him like a prince. and he loved it. He made him breakfast sometimes, and he drove him around, and he loved him. He told bad jokes that were somehow funny, and he annoyed his family so much he was becoming part of it.

Peter looked down at his finger. He still had the ring. It was the one thing they didn't take from him. It was the one thing he wouldn't let them take from him. They took his powers, they took his suit, they took his clothes, they took him, but they didn't take the ring.

He wouldn't let them.

~~~

Wade snuck out. It was surprisingly easier than he thought it would be. You would imagine a tower full of superheroes and one of the richest guys ever would be heavily secure, but all Wade had to do was ask.