Hunting Spider

...3...

Bruce's whole demeanor screamed exasperated, telling Natasha there was something else. She raised an eyebrow - it was usually all she needed to do to get Bruce to spill. 

"I'm more worried about his mental state," and there it was. "Obviously he's been through a lot, but he isn't like Bucky... was. Maybe because they didn't start field testing him, or because they didn't need to erase as many of his memories, he's not devoid of personality. He's not a shell of a human." Natasha nodded, waiting for the reason why all that was a bad thing, "but I can't figure out his triggers. Obviously he doesn't like touch, but he seems to think all of this is fake, and he'll start crying and hyperventilating at the drop of a hat. It's like he's waiting to wake up, and I don't know how to calm him down." 

Natasha had her fair share of panic attacks, especially when she first got out of the red room. She knew the feeling of always looking over her shoulder, of trying not to get attached to anyone or get too comfortable. 

"There's something else," Bruce's voice went even quieter, "he's very smart. Like, abnormally smart. As in, knew everything that I was giving him and could tell me how to weaponize it smart. I'm not sure how much schooling they gave him in Hydra, but he must be bordering on genius." 

Natasha gave the scared boy another once over before nodding. Her deduction skills led her to a solid conclusion; she knew exactly who could help. "Thanks, Bruce." she smiled at him, "I think I might be able to help." 

Natasha approached the table slowly, noticing Peter focusing on her steps. His eyes kept darting to Bruce, and he would shiver. Her suit coat was in a heap next to him. 

"Hi, Peter," Natasha greeted, stopping in front of him. He looked up at her slowly, head lolling to the side. His eyes were alert, but the rest of him was slow, sleepy. Exactly how many sedatives did Bruce give this kid? 

"Hi..."

"My name is Natasha."

"Hi Natasha, how are you?" She was taken aback by the sudden display of niceties. Bruce was right, the kid seemed more whole than Bucky had. They must've let him keep his memories, maybe exposed him to people. Hydra had obviously changed their tactics. Did this make Peter less dangerous than the Winter Soldier, or more? 

"I'm fine, how are you?" Natasha's side was starting to ache, and she really wanted to sit down, but didn't want to crowd Peter's space. 

He looked at her blankly, as surprised by her manners as she was his. "I'm... I don't know." He leaned forward conspiratorially, "I can't decide if this is real or not, but I can't figure out why Fjerda would dress up as someone else dressed up as her, you know? And Dr. Fischer doesn't look anything like Bruce, despite the... lab coat." He shuddered involuntarily at the word. Natasha would have to tell Bruce to ditch the lab coat next time. 

"Why would this be fake, Peter?" As Bruce had described, suddenly Peter's eyes filled with tears. His hands started to shake, clenching and unclenching in his lap. His breathing faltered, coming in short bursts, a faint sob in his throat. 

"Peter? Hey, it's ok, calm down." He curled in on himself, hands buried in his hair. Natasha looked back to Bruce, him looking as helpless as she felt. 

"It's ok now, Peter." Natasha turned back to him with a soothing voice, kneeling to try to see his face. "We're going to help you. This is real, they can't hurt you anymore." He squeezed his eyes shut, a watery sob hiccuping past his lips. Natasha didn't know how he felt about touch, but wasn't about to try it with some super-powered kid. For now, all they could do was give him space. 

Natasha walked back to where Bruce was standing - panicking - and put a hand on his shoulder. "There isn't much we can do now, we have to wait until we get home." Bruce nodded, eyes glued to the boy. Natasha left the medbay with a heavy heart. 

"Nat, how is he?" Steve greeted as soon as the medbay doors closed behind her. 

"Who is he?" Sam and Clint were right behind him. 

"What is he?" Wanda, Vision and Tony were behind them, making Natasha feel far too crowded. 

"Is he ok?" Rhodey was in the back. 

Natasha sighed, gesturing for her team to back the hell up. "His name is Peter, and he's not doing great." Steve flinched, remembering Bucky's recovery. "Has Bruce had to restrain him yet?" 

Shaking her head, Natasha did her best to describe his condition. The panic attacks, the apparent lack of brainwashing, the manners and endearing personality. She looked pointedly at Tony when explaining how smart he was. 

"What happened to him?" Wanda asked softly, no doubt recalling her own time in Hydra. Peter's situation was far similar to her own than Bucky's. Natasha didn't miss Wanda's response to hearing his name was Peter. 

"We don't really know; every time I think he's going to tell me something relevant, he starts crying." 

"What can he do?" Tony asked gravely. His suit bore the hand-print dents proving this kid was not normal. Again, Natasha shook her head. 

"There's no way of knowing until we get him to the compound." Natasha hoped that having that safe space would help Peter tell them exactly what happened to him.