Chapter Text
As we took off, everyone around me stopped their conversations. A plane filled with twenty soldiers. Sitting opposite me, our Sergeant Major frowned as he glanced at me. But I could tell he wasn't actually looking at me, his eyes were distant. Mentally, Hanover wasn't with us. That wasn't a good sign.
"Hey Parker." I heard whispered on my right. I turned to see my closest friend and teammate, Isaac Kane grinning from ear to ear, "Are you ready for this?"
"How the fuck are you happy about this?" I stared at him, confusion written all over my face.
"We are about to recover an unidentified bio-organism, Parker. This could be our superhero origin story!" He exclaimed, excited about the chance.
"Listen Kane, I don't want to burst your bubble," I said, firmly grabbing his knee. "But I highly doubt something like that would land in the middle of Poland. And they wouldn't be sending us in if it was. The Avengers or whoever would be retrieving it."
He shook his head and laughed.
"I don't think the Avengers have time for that. If anything, SHIELD would be doing it, but they're not and this is why we're here."
"Still. I highly doubt it."
A moment of silence passed between us, as we looked around the cabin. The engines hummed, vibrating through the floor. The air smelled of oil, sweat and cold metal and the red cabin lights cast everything in an eerie glow. I adjusted my straps, busy hands kept the nerves at bay. I glanced at Isaac, he had his head back, eyes half lidded. I knew he wasn’t asleep, just waiting. I envied his calm. Around us, everyone sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts.
Isaac exhaled, almost a laugh, I glanced at him again.
"Ooh, what if it's the super soldier serum? Or something that can turn us into mutants? It could even be all the gamma radiation that turned Bruce Banner into the Hulk!" He sounded so excited, I didn't even try to convince him otherwise.
"You know a lot about the Avengers for someone in the British military."
"Of course I do, come on we were there in Cambridge when Thor and the scientists released the Aether-" His voice started to fade out, as he kept explaining why he knew so much.
I sighed and simply turned to face Hanover once more without saying anything. Maybe Isaac was onto something. I was concerned by the distant expression in my superior's eyes. Then he refocused and looked directly at me. His expression fell. For the first time in my seven years of serving with him, he looked frightened. I saw him turn to face each soldier, his expression growing grim with every second that went by.
"We're fucked." I said as I analysed the Sergeant Major.
"What?"
"I said we're fucked, Kane. Look at Hanover." I whispered to Isaac, nodding my head towards our superior.
My best friend followed my gaze and his face fell. At that moment we both realised, all of us won't come back home. That was why we took a squad photo before we left the base...
"It's a suicide mission..." He muttered, what neither of us wanted to say out loud. I reached out for his hand to comfort both of us.
For the remainder of the journey, none of us spoke, afraid to do so. Despite the fact that it was mid-August, the air felt bitter. The realisation of what was happening sent chills down my spine. For the first time, I noticed why so many soldiers died every time we were deployed for operations. Why my hands were drenched in blood. The army was prepared to eliminate us if necessary. We were the sacrifices. Every member of the E Squadron was easily replaceable and disposable.
__________
"This should be an easy in and out. We're splitting up, each unit will go with their Corporal to complete their assigned task. We're looking for a tube holding an unidentified bio-organism. The research team informed us that it is a possible alien artefact, handle it with caution," Hanover explained, walking up and down the line of all 20 soldiers standing to attention. "Corporal Parker. Your unit's job is to bring the artifact back to base camp safely. We have been informed of strange energy surges in the area. Either they are coming from the bio-organism, or we have company nearby."
I nodded my head, as Hanover walked towards me and patted me on the shoulder.
"Rivera, your unit is on lookout. We cannot risk an ambush during this operation." The other Corporal nodded, "Get ready."
We all left for the armoury after that. All of us put on our bulletproof vests and gathered the necessary equipment. I instructed half of my troops to get SA80s while the other half got handguns. I had a strange feeling that we would need them. After splitting up to get ammo and other supplies, Isaac and I went to the high-security armoury.
"We need the best shit we can get for this. Sergeant Major’s face said it all. Surprised he didn't say anything to the team."
"Of course he didn't. He probably didn't want to scare them, Y/n." Isaac replied as we walked over to the fingerprint scanners.
I placed my finger on the scanner and moved my face closer to the wall to get my retinal scan complete at the same time.
"Most likely." I sighed, "Alright when we get in we need to grab the knives and the Stark Industries G36s."
After getting into the back of the truck, we began gathering what we needed. I found the exact knife I was in search of. Black, vibranium blade with crimson accents. At this point, I had used the knife so frequently that I failed to remember if the accents were already there or if they were bloodstains from all the people I slaughtered with it. Thinking of all the hearts I had pierced with the blade, I rotated it in my hands and examined every inch of it until I felt a hand resting on my shoulder.
"You're okay, Parker. It's all okay, it's not your fault. You didn't have a choice." I felt a gentle hand rest on my shoulder.
"How did you know what I was thinking about?" I turned to look at Isaac who was smiling gently at me.
"Because I know you, Y/n. Better than you think." There was something in his eyes that struck me in some manner. However, I don't think I reacted the way he hoped. I straightened up after taking his hand off my shoulder.
"We should go. I told the troops to meet us by the quadbikes at 1400 hours." I attempted giving him a smile, but it was more of a grimace. He must've noticed it, because the sparkle in his eyes disappeared.
"Yeah let's go."
__________
The building was eerily quiet, we could only hear the marching of our footsteps. The concrete walls of the corridors were stained with black and red patches. Blood and ash, most likely, but from what we knew there wasn't any reason for those stains to be there. We reached the end of the corridor with two black metal doors on each side. I signaled for my troops to stop as I noticed one door covered with more blood stains, while the other was completely sterile. I raised my hand pointing to the clean door, sending 5 troops to check that room, while the rest of us went through the other.
I pushed the door lightly, getting some blood on my gloves. It was fresh. Not a good sign. We held up our guns as we stealthily entered the room.
"Nothing here Corporal!" I heard from the other room, as footsteps of my men approached us. We were all gathered in the main room now.
"Alright, split up. Go in pairs, I'm not having anyone compromise the operation. We're all getting out of here as soon as we find the vial, and we're all making it home this time." I turned to face my squad, explaining the plan. "Kane, with me."
Isaac and I walked away towards a tall bookshelf, examining all the shelves carefully.
"We won't find anything here. It would've been easy to find if it was on the shelves, Corporal." Isaac said, taking a book out the shelf and turning it over in his hands.
"Can't you feel the draft coming from under it?" I asked, sliding my hand across the books until I touched one that didn't feel like paper, I pulled the book towards me and heard a click, "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door."
The bookshelf suddenly shifted, sliding into the wall.
"Yay." I smiled, walking through the gap in the wall where the bookshelf was.
"Parker, it's right there." My partner pointed out the test tube with a black liquid swarming inside it. "Guys, we found it!" He informed the others, as he grabbed the artifact.
"Alright let's go." I ordered the team to exit. As we were all about to leave, the bookshelf slammed back into place and an alarm went off. "What the fuck?! This place has been set up by someone for an ambush! Everyone into positions!"
All of us gathered into a circle surrounding Isaac to protect the vial, not knowing what would happen. Then in came a hostile party, guns ablaze, chased after by the other half of our squadron.
The walls of the room shook with every impact of the bullets flying through the air, dust was raining down from the cracks in the ceiling as the relentless gunfire hammered against us. I huddled behind an overturned steel crate, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. My fingers fumbled over the comms unit, slick with sweat, as I tried to get a clear signal.
"Command, this is Phantom! We've been compromised! Hostiles closing in fast - requesting immediate backup!" Static hissed back at me, which only deepened the pit in my stomach.
I glanced over at Rivera, who was shouting something over the chaos, his face pale under all the grime. Bullets ricocheted off the walls, spraying sparks, making the place feel like a deathtrap. I gritted my teeth and ducked even lower as I tried reloading my gun, while another round of bullets flew at the crate. We were outnumbered, running out of ammo, and I knew reinforcements weren't coming. I pulled a pin out of the smoke grenade I had attached to my belt and flung it at the enemy. As I started to move in with a few other soldiers, I witnessed Isaac get shot in the side. As he fell to his knees, he lost grip on the vial. Everything slowed down as I watched my best friend and the object fall to the ground.
The vial rolled across the blood-slicked floor before shattering against the concrete. At first it looked like just a liquid, until it moved.
"SOMEONE GET KANE OUT OF HERE!" I screamed over the gunfire, watching as the black, viscous substance began writhing like it was alive, its tendrils snaking out with unnatural speed towards Isaac.
It latched onto him as Rivera and I sprinted towards him avoiding getting shot at. I watched, horrified, as the thing surged over him, sinking into his skin like ink soaking into paper. His body convulsed violently, his screams turning guttural. The veins in his neck and arms started bulging, black and pulsing, as his form twisted into something monstrous. Bullets sparked off the walls around him, as everyone turned to shoot at him. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Isaac stood, towering, his eyes now glowing red. He turned towards us, I felt a chill colder than death itself. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't my best friend anymore - and it definitely wasn't on our side.
He sprouted tendrils from his back, swinging them at everyone closest to him. Rivera made a run for the exit, but I pulled him back.
"OUR MEN ARE DYING! WE NEED TO GET THEM THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT KANE."
"HOW ARE WE MEANT TO DO THAT, PARKER? LOOK AT IT! THAT ISN'T KANE ANYMORE." He screamed back at me, as I spun around in time to parry a knife before it got lodged in my side. I pulled out my own and stabbed the man straight through his temple. I didn't even gag. It became second nature at this point.
I was about to call out for my team, until I witnessed the being lift up 5 of my men and pierce through them with its tendrils.
"CORPORAL! HELP!" They screamed, as I watched the blood pour out of them, onto the ashy floor. Their lives drained from their faces as I watched their bodies fall and crumple on the ground.
One by one, the beast picked off my men as well as the people that ambushed us. I watched horrified, trying to shoot at the thing but nothing worked, the bullets bounced straight off. My team was screaming for me and Rivera to help. To save them. To tell their families they love them. I promised to get everyone out. I promised. I had to stick to my word.
I pounced on Isaac with my knife, digging it straight into his back attempting to hold on as I was thrashed around like on a rodeo. He dropped the men he was holding. Then as his form began to sway, I ripped my knife out that was buried deep under his skin, and lunged out of the way, slicing open the throat of an enemy. He started convulsing, and the monster started to disappear, leaving my friend on the floor as he gripped at his neck. Blood poured out of his back and side as he collapsed, the black in his veins still visible.
"Y/n!" He cried out, tears running down his pale cheeks, "Help, please!"
I stood still, mortified. I couldn't move, I was frozen in place as his life drained from him.
"No one touch him!" Rivera yelled from somewhere in the area.
The room was eerily silent, save for the ragged breaths of the survivors and the whimpering from Isaac. The acrid stench of gunpowder hung heavy in the air, mixing with the metallic tang of blood pooling across the floor. Bodies of hostiles and half of our men lay scattered in grotesque poses, their lifeless eyes staring blankly in the dim lights.
In the center of it all, Isaac lay sprawled on the cold concrete, his chest rising and falling in shallow, laboured breaths. Tears welled-up in my eyes as I took in his form. The black tendrils that had once twisted over his body were barely visible. His face was pale, his eyes hollow, tears cutting streaks through the grime on his cheeks.
"I didn't... I didn't mean to..." he choked, his voice barely a whisper. Blood bubbled from his lips, and his hands trembled as he tried to lift them, only to let them fall limply back to the floor.
The ten of us left, stood in grim silence, weapons still clutched tightly, as if expecting more horror to crawl out of the shadows. I exchanged glances with Rivera, whose hardened expression betrayed the exhaustion beneath. This wasn't a victory, it was survival. The lab that had been a battlefield moments ago now felt like a tomb, and the man dying on the floor - a victim to his own nightmare - was its final epitaph.
"I know." I whispered, as I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. I dropped to my knees and knelt beside Isaac and grabbed his hand. "I know, buddy."
"Am I going to be okay?" His voice was so faint I thought I imagined him saying that. His breaths were shallow, his body trembling as blood pooled beneath him.
"I-" I choked on my words, as I cried staring at my best friend. "I don't know." My voice cracked. Then without thinking, I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him, holding him in his final moments. "I'm sorry, Isaac."
No response.
"Isaac?"
"Kane, answer her please." Rivera pleaded.
Nothing. I couldn't feel his breath on my shoulder, or his heart beat under me. But then that was when I felt it.
A cold, wet tendril slithered against my forearm, coiling tight before I could pull away. My breath caught in my throat as I looked down in horror. The black substance, alive and writhing, crept up my arm with impossible speed, disappearing beneath my sleeve and spreading across my skin like a living shadow. I tried to yank free, but it was already inside me - bonding with me.
"It's a symbiote! Like Venom!" Rivera screamed, as the team started to make a run for it past me, through the door that the hostiles came through earlier.
A searing heat shot through my veins, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. My vision blurred, but I made out a red patch on a corpse. A skull with tentacles. Then everything sharpened, colours brighter, sounds louder, my senses heightened to an almost unbearable degree. My body trembled as the symbiote's presence flooded my mind - a strange, alien consciousness whispering just on the edge of my thoughts.
I was suddenly extremely aware of how limp Isaac's body was on my lap, how fast my heart was beating. I staggered back, clutching my arm as the black tendrils vanished beneath my skin, leaving no trace of their existence. I ran out of the lab, following my team to the exit.
When I caught up with them, they all stared at me. Their expressions a mix of shock and fear, as I stood there, trembling, feeling something entirely other awaken inside me.
"Guys?" I whimpered, "What the fuck do we know about symbiotes?"
__________
"She's contaminated! We need to get her tested and make sure we can control her so she doesn't kill everyone the way Private Kane did!" I heard outside the containment chamber they put me in for the time being until we got back to London.
I've been locked away for a week. Fed three times a day through a hole under the door. I felt like a hamster in a cage. The only difference was that I didn't have a wheel to have fun on, but honestly even if I did it wouldn't change anything. After the operation I went completely numb. I barely touched the food they gave me, and I just sat in the corner of the chamber staring at the wall.
"Listen she stayed in control unlike Kane, I witnessed it first hand." Rivera argued, "We can let her out until we go back to Aldershot at least. She isn't a liability."
"Fine, but if something happens to our troops, it's on you Corporal."
"Yes sir."
A few seconds later I heard the door open, and Rivera walked in smiling. He pointed for us to go outside and I followed him without saying a word.
The field stretched out before us, a stark contrast to the chamber I was kept in. The soft light of dawn crept over the horizon, casting long shadows across the tall swaying grass. Rivera walked a few paces ahead, his rifle slung over his shoulder, his posture as rigid as ever. He didn't look back, not even once, and I couldn't blame him. The silence between us was heavy, broken only by the crunch of our boots against the damp earth.
I clutched my arm where the symbiote had disappeared into me, my fingers were brushing against my sleeve. It felt warm, alive, though I didn't dare tell Rivera that. My body felt... different. Stronger, sharper, but it was more than that. There was a hum in the back of my mind like a presence I couldn't explain. Rivera finally slowed, turning to face me. His eyes tired but piercing, searched my face for answers I didn't have.
"Are you alright, Parker?" he asked, his voice gruff but quieter than usual.
I hesitated staring down at my boots before meeting his gaze. "I guess." I answered, the words catching in my throat. "My best friend is dead, there's some alien inside of me. I feel... different. But still like me. So I'm as good as I can be."
His jaw tightened, and he glanced over his shoulder at our base camp. He nodded when he realised I wasn't going to say any more. But when he turned to look at me, I saw something in Rivera's expression that I rarely saw. Fear. "We'll figure it out. One step at a time."
"You mean by testing me in some lab."
"It wasn't my idea, Parker. Hanover is convinced you'll snap."
"You don't look like you feel too safe around me either." I clenched my jaw and turned to walk back to the camp.
"Parker, don't be like that!" He said as he chased after me.
We fell in step beside each other as we continued to walk back to the camp. But with every step, I felt it growing stronger, the hum, the presence, the thing I brought out of that lab. I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever was inside me wasn't going to wait for me to snap. It would do it itself.
__________
Finally, the day to go back to London. We walked over to our bikes so we could reach the airport, which I wasn't looking forward to. Every time I thought about flying I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head.
"Guess you don't like heights, huh Nyx." I muttered under my breath to myself. Yes, I named the damn symbiote. I don't enjoy the back pain every time I say 'alien'
"Parker, move!" Hanover shouted, as I saw everyone way ahead of me.
I hopped onto my motorbike and sped up, I was racing forward while thinking of what will happen to me when we go back. I didn't want to be locked in another padded room. I wanted to go back to my room at the base and relax. But that wouldn't be an option.
Originally, I wasn't intending on following through with my plan B, however the more I thought about it, I sped up even more. I checked that I still had my knife, then went straight past the whole squadron and into a forest. I was going up and down hills, over branches and trees. The wind hitting me felt so nice, I felt free. The shouting of my superiors was catching up, so I swerved my bike. I jumped off at the last minute into a brush and sat there, watching everyone ride straight past me towards the canyon. My bike tumbled down, as they all screamed.
Y/n Maybelle Parker, was officially dead. As far as they knew anyway.