Playing with Fire

13. The Set-up

Ironman's POV

"Alright, we're going in," Natasha said through the coms.

"Everyone stay in your positions until one of them gives the signal. Stay quiet and out of sight," I replied. I kneeled on a rooftop waiting for any word and tracked their signals on the holographic screen coming from my arm.

A couple of minutes went by when Steve spoke, "It's dark, we haven't seen one Hydra agent since we've been here... you sure they don't know we are coming?"

"No, they shouldn't. This has to be the place," I looked at their signals on the map in front of me, "You guys should be approaching a large room. If they are holding this weapon anywhere, there's a good chance it could be in there."

"Roger that, we're going in now." Only a minute passed before Steve spoke into the coms again. "Tony, the room was cleared out, everything except for a slip of paper that read, 'thought you got us? Think again,' and it has the Hydra emblem stamped onto the bottom. This was a set-up."

"...so they know the kids are at the tower...shit! We need to get there now!"

I flew off as I yelled into my helmet, "Friday, call the tower!"

Y/N's POV

Tony told us to go to the training room since it was fortified and didn't have any windows or vents. People could only come in and out through the double doors at the other end of the room. I felt more comfortable in here knowing I could unleash my powers without worrying about burning down the tower.

Peter and I were currently laying on our backs on top of a mat just staring at the ceiling chatting. I knew he was purposely trying to get my mind off our situation. I let him talk a little more before I shot fire up above us creating pictures of animals and shapes with the flames.

All he could manage was to say was, "Woah."

I showed him a wolf running, and made it roll into a ball of fire, which exploded into a large bird with its wings outstretched at its sides. A phoenix I guess you could say since it was on fire.

"I used to do this a lot in my room at Hydra once my powers grew stronger. It actually helped me practice so I could escape that place." I let the bird explode into a firework as the flames disappeared. We sat up as little embers fell around us.

Peter's POV

I watched the embers fall around her, like something out of a movie.

I looked her dead in the face and simply said, "You're amazing."

She smiled and opened her mouth to respond, however, she was caught off by Tony's voice coming through the speaker that Friday talks out of. "Kids! You there?"

"Yea Tony, we're here," she answered.

"The Hydra base... it was a set-up! We're coming back but-" His voice stopped as the lights went out. The power had clearly been shut-off. She let a small flame grow in her hand as we jumped up so we could at least see in front of us.

"A set-up?" she repeated. I could hear a slight hint of fear under her voice, "Shit."

A red ambiance lit the room as the emergency lights kicked in. Y/N closed her fist and put out the fire.

We stood shoulder to shoulder facing the door, ready for anything, as I tried to reassure her, "You heard him, they are on their way," however, it didn't sound very reassuring, because of how on edge I was. We just stood there in silence trying not to shit our pants.

Smoke started to creep from under the doors and from the cracks. They flew open and the white fog was rolling into the room. Two more smoke bombs all ready going off were thrown into the room. Y/N and I turned so our backs were against each other. There was smoke surrounding us and I could hear soft but quick footsteps running into the room.

With quick thinking, Y/N shot her fire out in all directions around us. This began to push the smoke away from us towards the edges of the room. I felt a spark run through my spine as goosebumps crept onto my arms. A dart flew from the fog pushed at the edge of the room, and it looked like it was headed for Y/N. I caught it between my index finger and thumb, inches away from her neck.

Despite this, I still heard her grunt. She continued to shoot the flames however, I saw a pained expression on her face. My eyes followed hers down to her side, where a syringe looking dart had implanted itself in her side.

"Dammit," I said as I pulled it out of her side. She didn't seem to care that it was out because she was focused on something else. Slowly the flames became weaker and weaker until we were left in the red glow of the emergency lights.

"Looks like we are out of time," she said as she readied her fists.

We held our positions back to back in the center of the room as six people dressed in black with their faces covered stepped out of the fog spread out around us. The way they were dressed almost reminded me of assassins and it made me even more nervous than they weren't making any moves, just standing there waiting.

I felt Y/N bump into my back causing me to glance behind me at her. She was slightly swaying when she said, "Peter...somethings..not right... the serum-," and as soon as she said it, she was cut off as the assassins ran at us with great speed. I didn't even have time to ask what she meant because I was forced straight into defensive fighting as four of them came at me. I was trying hard to block their attacks but they were faster and now and then I would take a hard hit.

Eventually, I managed to web two of them down and steal a glance at Y/N. She was on her hands and knees panting as she still tried to throw a weak punch. Yea, something was definitely not right with her. I was trying to get over there to help her however I was still preoccupied with the two people in front of me. As I punched one guy to the ground, I saw another attacker place a foot on Y/N's side a kick her over onto her side. Y/N groggily tried to keep her head up and eyes open.

As I shouted her name, I was tackled to the ground by all the assassins I was just fighting. They must have gotten out of the web while I was fighting. They were holding me in place as I struggled against the four men. These people were much stronger than the guards in the alley. As they held me there, I looked up to see Y/N slowly closing her eyes on the floor in front of me, two men standing over her. She gave me an apologetic look as they finally shut.

"Y/N! NO!" I was struggling so hard, but my body was budging, "What did you do to her!?"

The man from last night made his appearance from the fog and walked towards Y/N's body. "Don't worry lover boy, we just sedated her. We can't have her trying to get away as we take her home." No this can't be happening I thought. When he reached her, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She just hung there like a ragdoll. He walked out of the room with her, and I was left there yelling and shaking my body to try to get free.

I continued to yell in frustration as a sharp pain hit the back of my head. My vision went black and I was no longer able to yell or move. I just listened as my body was released onto the floor. I laid there on the cold ground, thinking about how I failed her. As much as I tried to move, my body didn't respond. I was waiting for them to finish me off; they had no reason to let me live. The muffled talking of my assailants ceased to exist after I heard what sounded like a repulsor blast.

I heard mumbling and felt my body lift off the ground. My eyes were still closed but I mustered enough energy to get out a few words. "They...got...her," and with that last push, my mind faded into darkness.

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Published: 4/23/2020