You Can't Break Us Apart, You Can Only Make Us Stronger

HYDRA Plays a Deadly Game

Tony woke up in the middle of the night, and had to calm himself down to not have a sudden attack.

The kids were safe.

He was safe.

Steve was safe.

Well, that's at least what he thought.

Until he heard screams coming from the teen's bedroom.

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Peter woke up to a flash of red light and a panicked thought from Wanda.

He jolted upwards.

Wanda wasn't up.

She was jerking in pain on her bed.

Faint traces of red energy swirled around her as she twitched.

Panic and memories of electric shocks filled Peter's mind, and he must've started screaming, because his throat started to feel raw and dry.

The door to their room burst open, revealing Tony, Steve, and Natasha.

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Oh god, no.

Tony was sprinting down the hallway when he was met by Steve and Natasha, who had sprung out of bed as soon as they heard screaming.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, running with Tony.

Tony just shook his head.

They burst through the door.

Peter was screaming, panic in his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. He was covering his ears, even though he couldn't hear anything.

Then they saw Wanda.

Steve immediately ran to the seizing girl, flipping her to the recovery position.

"GET BRUCE NOW!"

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Natasha ran out of the room, racing down the halls.

Bucky, Clint, Sam, and Thor came out of their rooms as soon as they heard her running. They joined her, following behind her as she sprinted to Bruce's lab/room, the only one not exactly on the same floor as the others.

"What's happening? Who's screaming?" Clint asked, running with her.

"It's Peter and Wanda. Something is wrong, Wanda is having a seizure and Peter is panicking."

"We must get Banner!" Thor cried out, running even faster.

Bruce met them on the stair case, where Natasha quickly explained the situation while they ran back.

"Oh my god." Bruce paused for a moment before getting to work. "Steve, keep her from hurting herself. We need to get them both to the med room now!"

"Why Peter?" Sam asked, helping Tony with the crying teenager.

"If Wanda is having a seizure, chances are, the same thing that caused hers will happen in Peter too."

"HYDRA. It was them." Steve growled. "I saw them show us something that they brought over to Peter and Wanda. It looked like some sort of implant. I barely remember them saying that it would kill them if they ever escaped. I guess it just slipped my mind. I don't know why it took this long to activate."

Bruce swore, eyes flashing green before he swallowed his anger. "I bet that's it. If it was natural, the seizure should've lessened in intensity by now. How long ago did Peter start screaming?"

"About three minutes."

"We need to hurry."

A minute later, with the help of F.R.I.D.A.Y, the teens were in the med room.

"Sam, I need your help. Steve, you stay. Everyone else, leave."

They followed his orders, Tony sitting down next to Bucky, who put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, Sam yelled a swear.

"NATASHA, WE NEED YOU!" Bruce yelled.

Nat ran inside the room.

Tony passed out.

Why was this happening?

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Peter had started seizing.

Bruce was working on disabling the implant they had found releasing poison into Wanda near her spine.

"Bruce, what do I do?" Natasha asked.

"Find Peter's implant, it should be near his spine. Try to stop him from hurting himself. Make sure he can still breathe."

Bruce had Steve help him with Wanda, while Sam and Nat worked with Peter.

"I need to remove the implant. Steve, you need to keep her from jerking so much." Bruce got a tool from a cart at the side of the room.

He made an incision, working as fast as he could to get the implant out.

His hand kept surprisingly steady throughout the operation.

"It's out!"

Wanda stopped seizing, her body relaxing.

"Sam, stitch up the cut. I need to get Peter's out."

Bruce ran to operate on Peter.

Two minutes later, the implant was out.

Sam stitched up Peter's incision.

Bruce collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, adrenaline finally taking it's toll on him.

He leaned against the wall, refusing the help offered by Steve.

"Sam, can you get fluids going in both of them? I need to figure out the type of toxin they used." Bruce stood up, going to the table where he had set the implants.

Three tests later, he figured out what had been used.

It was a synthesized neurotoxin that had been used by HYDRA before in more concentrated, higher doses as a way for soldiers to avoid capture by death.

The implant had a delayed reaction, pumping the poison through their veins slowly.

It would've killed them in minutes if they weren't enhanced.

If Bruce and the team hadn't gotten to them, the teens would be dead in an hour.

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"They're alive." Natasha was out of the med room.

Clint, Bucky, and Thor sighed in relief.

Tony was awake and had his head in his hands, sucking in deep breaths.

"Are they going to be okay?" Clint asked for everyone.

"Bruce thinks that there will be some lasting damage. But they will live, and they will heal." Natasha said, her voice more confident then she actually felt.

Tony looked up, tears running down his face.

This was a huge setback for the team.

Tony hadn't spoken at all, and Peter and Wanda would be back at the beginning.

But they would survive.

Because they were a team.

A family that couldn't be broken.

No matter what.