Breaking the Void

Chapter 40 - Loyalty

(Your POV):
Peter's hangover did eventually dissipate and he covered pretty well with Aunt May, although she was attentive enough to know that something was up with him. However, she wasn't one to just call him out on it and she did not bring it up throughout the Christmas celebrations. I figured that she realized the Peter understood the consequences of his actions in the form of the raging headache and would think twice about drinking that much in the future.

The day went by far quicker than I had wanted it to, even smiling through the barely edible Christmas dinner May had insisted on cooking was over in what felt like only minutes. I wanted nothing more than to stay the night with Peter, or to permanently move into the Parker apartment, but unfortunately, that was not in the cards for me. I had to return to my own parents' apartment and create some story that I had gained back the Avengers' trust and try to keep them from suspicion a while longer.

When I arrived at the apartment, however, no one was home. I found this rather odd considering the hour, but I sure as hell was not going to complain. The elation of having more time to myself to iron out my story and prepare for their question was cut short as I went to check for missions that I had assigned for the day. The only thing that I was instructed to do was go to the base and I knew no good could ever come from that.

Activating my suit, I left the apartment and hurried through the streets, my features hard-set into the emotionless facade that I wore as an agent of H.A.M.M.E.R. All of the excitement and happiness that I felt during the day washed away and I was left only with duty and purpose. If I didn't steel myself before entering the base then mistakes could be made, my parents could get a glimpse of who I had really become.

The streets surrounding the base were relatively quiet for being in the city, but at least that allowed me to slip inside without any pedestrians seeing. However, inside it was also eerily quiet and I found my hand grasping one of my daggers cautiously. I understood that it was a holiday, but H.A.M.M.E.R. was against sentimentality. Those who worked for my parents did not take days off to celebrate Christmas. There should have been more people around.

"Woah, so this is the supersecret base, huh?" I heard a voice from above me remark.

Every muscle in my body froze at the sound, it's familiarity washing over me like a violent tsunami. I wanted to yell at him, force him out of the building before he got hurt, but I knew that there were cameras all around. I had to pretend to fight him, wound him enough that he would have to retreat. But I also had to make sure that he was able to retreat.

With a million thoughts and strategies swirling through my mind, I fell into a ready stance and asked, "Spider-Man, what are you doing here? I'm afraid that you just made the greatest mistake of your life which will also happen to be the last."

"Well, you know what they say, go out with a bang. Besides, you were the one that led me here, didn't you want me to see where you worked?"

"And who says that this is where I work? Maybe I just like exploring random buildings in my free time or maybe you are annoyingly interrupting one of my missions."

"Please, this is classic evil lair, this has to be H.A.M.M.E.R." He descended from the ceiling as he spoke, landing softly next to me.

I cocked my head at him, noticing the way that he moved wasn't quite accurate to Peter's typical movements. Instead of pressing that line of questioning, I spoke, "someone's been doing their research, but I'm afraid that you've got the wrong super-secret agency. I don't work for this H.A.M.M.E.R you speak of."

Before he had a chance to reply, I lunged at him, knocking him off balance and sending him into the floor. But the sound of the crash was delayed, assuring me that this was one of my parents' stupid simulations. It was a relief that it was not actually Peter under that suit because getting him out alive without raising my parents' suspicions would not have been an easy feat. But in this scenario, I could kill him and show my parents the loyalty that they were no doubt testing.

"Hey, this isn't fair, I thought we were friends?" Fake Peter exclaimed as he squirmed to the left to avoid my fist. "We have teamed up so often now, surely we can be on the same side?"

I smiled beneath my mask, knowing that the real Peter would never say something like that, even if he did not want to be enemies. Still, I needed this fight to last longer in order to make it seem realistic that I never did catch Spider-Man whenever we fought. I purposefully threw a bad blow that would allow fake Peter to get up and earn the offensive.

The fight continued for a while longer, with me carefully choosing my attacks and defenses to make it seem like the real Peter was a bigger threat to me than he actually was. Eventually, I got the fake Peter pinned down and ended the fight. Despite knowing that this was just a simulation, the wide-eyed look of fear imprinted on the mask and the slight tremble of the body beneath me made me hesitate and wonder if I had gotten it wrong and this could actually be Peter. But it was too late now to turn back so I squeezed my eyes shut and plunged the dagger into his heart, a sigh of relief passing through my lips as the illusion faded.

My parents emerged from the shadows and I removed my mask as I spoke, "you know he is still slightly off. I can't quite pinpoint what exactly the illusion isn't capturing in Spider-Man's fight pattern, but it still just isn't quite accurate."

"Still, you hesitated to kill him," my mother growled and I realized just how much trouble I had gotten myself in.

But I knew that I could talk my way out of it, I had to if I wanted to live. "Yes, well, if it had been the real Spider-Man, I wasn't sure if you would want me to bring him in dead or alive. I hesitated because I had to be certain that it was just an illusion, otherwise I could be killing a very valuable asset."

A scowl remained on her face but she tilted her head down the hall, "come, you have to debrief us on what happened last night."

"There isn't much to share, I was mostly just focusing on repairing my broken relationship with them all. I wasn't aware you wanted intel this early. If I am to remain discreet, I will need time to gain their trust, but if you would rather I blow my cover then I can promise information after my next interaction with them," I began to try to buy myself more time as we walked through the empty hallways of the base.

"Shut it," my father hissed, stopping in front of me and glaring. "Enough with the excuses, we know that you have gone soft. We know that you have been helping Spider-Man and you are not going to talk your way out of it. Instead, we are going to remind you of what happens when you betray us and rest assured that if you don't get enough information on the Avengers to take them down by the time that you graduate, we are not going to restrain ourselves in any way. Is that clear?"

I tried to swallow the lump that had arisen as he spoke, desperately trying to maintain my emotionless facade. But I knew what lay in store for me. Today it was just going to be a beating, one that would leave me incapacitated and prevent me from seeing Peter for the next few days. But in May, it would be one that would leave six feet underground.

Still, I kept up my resistance and spat, "I have not grown soft."

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(A/N): Alright throwing in some consequences because your parents definitely know something's up! But hey, the imaginary pain is worth it to imaginarily be with Peter, right? I actually really like this chapter, so I hope that you enjoyed it and are excited to see how this book will end!