NIGHTSHADE ━ PETER PARKER

ONE

8 years later

IT WAS A simple mission. Get in, grab the case, and get out before anyone noticed. You had trained in the Red Room for the last 8 years. Dreykov called you one of his favorite "little spies." It sounded like praise, but it basically meant that you were once tough and fearless, then he had broken you down into a shell of your former person and built you back up as the perfect killer. Your ledger was flooded with red at only 16. You were the first new recruit to be subjected to Melina's mind control, though you didn't know that yet.

This job should have been easy. A solo mission where all you had to do was finesse your way into the facility and get back to your vehicle unnoticed. And it was.

You were already sneaking back to the van when someone decided to jump you from above. Unluckily for assailant, their footsteps were so loud you had heard them a few meters back and were prepared when they dived off the roof of the building to your right.

You rolled out of the way, careful to keep the asset in your grasp. Your attacker landed on the ground with a thud. They didn't let the fall stop them and still managed to bring themself to a standing position. You recognized her face immediately.

Oksana.

A recent defect from the Black Widow program. Not many had left since the departure of Natasha Romanoff, or so you heard. That was up until a couple months ago when you got word that someone had escaped. You took this as an opportunity. You could probably defeat her in combat and bring her back to Dreykov. Perhaps that would keep him contempt for awhile. But you had to decide. Bring back the asset safely, or risk it all and try to beat Oksana.

You decided to be an overachiever.

And maybe a bit of a show off.

Oksana began to attack you with swift and calculated movements, but you had trained the same way. If anything you had been trained better. However, the limiting factor of the case in your hand made the fight more equal. Every punch she threw, you threw one back. Every kick she landed, you landed another. Every dodge and every hit was mirrored.

She didn't seem to have any weapons on her, and you hoped to bring her in alive, so trying to land a knife in a non-lethal place might be difficult.

She reached for something in her pocket. Maybe you were wrong about the weapons statement. You grabbed a small dagger and threw it into her thigh before she could get to you with whatever she was pulling out of her pocket. She cried out in pain.

You wanted her a little more immobilized so you approached her to knock her out. Unexpectedly, she pulled out a small vial, releasing a cloud of red dust in your face.

You waved it away, assuming it was a poison or a toxin. But something else began to happen.

Your mind, your memories, they began to shift and change. The past 8 years of your life flashed before your eyes, your perspective of each moment warped and muddled.

Oksana was still staring at you expectantly. You shook your head to clear your thoughts and looked down to see that she still had the dagger in her thigh. A wave of sympathy washed over you. "I-I'm so sorry," You whispered, hands shaking as they hovered over the wound.

Oksana pushed herself to a sitting position. "It's alright. We just need to get you and that case somewhere safe." You grabbed her hand and helped her stand. The two of you began limping out of the alleyway.