Peter Parker... Stark?

Susceptible

"I still don't understand why you gave Stark his kid back alive," Electro grumbled.

Quentin Beck felt his jaw twitch in irritation as he spun around to face the hooded man. "Do you see this?" he asked, jabbing a finger at the screen behind him that showed the live camera feed from Peter's cell. "We've left that boy in there alone for days with nothing to do except think about the 'death' of his sister. He's on the verge of breaking, which is exactly what we need."

"That doesn't explain why we didn't actually get rid of the girl."

"Dumping Morgan Stark makes us look careless and sloppy, and that will give the Avengers a false sense of security. In order for our plan to work their defenses need to be as low as possible," Otto said from behind a row of large screens.

"You want to be underestimated?" Beck didn't answer, just turned to look back at the screen. Electro nodded in understanding, sitting down in one of the chairs with a huff. "So then what's our next move?"

Beck pushed a button on the panel in front of him, watching through the camera with a smirk as the cuff around Peter's ankle sprang open and he backed away from it, confused.

"Now... we test our hypothesis."

~~~

Morgan was gone. She was gone. He couldn't keep her safe, and now she was dead and he was all alone in this horrible cell.

Peter had cried until his head ached from dehydration, and now he just felt numb. Part of him didn't really care what happened to him at this point. His dad couldn't track him, and even if Ironman did manage to come to the rescue, what would he say when he found out Morgan wasn't there anymore?

He knew several days had passed since he woke up alone in his cell. No one had come for him, and the food and water he received were never laced with sedative, but something big was coming--Peter could feel it. It didn't help that lately he'd been getting more and more tired, and his body had been slowly stiffening. When he tried to move too much, it was like his limbs had a mind of their own and just froze up.

His train of thought was derailed as the cuff around his ankle suddenly sprang open. Peter scooted away from it in surprise, looking first at the camera and then at the door, but nothing happened. He warily stood, glancing nervously around the cell as though waiting for someone to jump out at him.

Was someone trying to bust him out? Was this his chance to run?

Peter debated within himself what the best course of action was, but before he could decide the strange sluggishness kicked in again worse than it ever had before. He fell to the ground, landing hard on his side as one by one his muscles tensed up. His legs were locked in an awkward position, his fingers were stuck tight in a fist, and he couldn't even blink on command. All of a sudden his head exploded with pain and Peter screamed in agony. If he could move he would have been curled up in the fetal position.

The pain slowly subsided and Peter suddenly felt very, very tired. All he wanted was to close his eyes, but since he couldn't even do that anymore he was forced to just lay on the ground and stare blankly at the ceiling. He tried to tell his legs to move! but he was stuck where he was. It was like his body wasn't even his anymore. What was going on?

As his panic started to overtake him, something in the back of his mind drew his attention. It was the small corner that he'd hidden in while he was in a coma after the fight with Hydra and the Avengers.