Peter Parker was never a morning person, and being your friendly neighborhood Spiderman did not improve Mr. Parker's demeanor. But one could say that Parker had a spring in his step as he walked to first period Ancient history class. It had been one month since the new teacher showed up, and she really made the class come alive. Peter had always preferred science and math, but there was something in the way the new teacher presented the material, like she actually knew the subjects, that really helped make history tolerable.

It didn't hurt that Parker's history teacher was gorgeous. Like epically gorgeous. Like launch a 1000 ships gorgeous. But Peter loved MJ. He loved MJ. HE LOVED MJ.

"Good morning class," replied the tall brunette.

"Good morning Ms. Prince," replied the class, the males slightly more enthusiastically. The girls had started out disliking Diana Prince when she took the position, but somehow she was starting to win them over. Maybe it was her focus on important women of the era, as opposed to just focusing on the well known men.

"Today we are going to continue our focus on Athens and its complicated relationship with Sparta. Mr. Thompson, let's start with you."

Parker ran as fast as he could up the stairs, which, with his spider powers, was pretty damn quick. Parker was late because of a small misunderstanding with two muggers. Spiderman misunderstood how they could take that poor old lady's purse. Spiderman was able to figure it out two minutes later, as the would-be muggers were strung up for the police to pick up. Bursting into the press room, he was able to catch Jameson tearing into the new reporter on the Bugle.

"Damn it! You are a fine writer, but no one is going to read this special interest crap" roared Jameson. "I don't care how many sources you got, if there is no mask or mutant, than no one cares."

The poor reporter tried to loosen his collar as he could barely meet Jameson's eyes. "Yes sir Mr. Jameson, but I got to say, this is an important story. Hell's Kitchen has been a problem area for years, but with all of this new investment there has started to be a real turnaround in the area. While at St. Michael's alone…"

Jameson head dropped and his shoulders slumped, "yes, I know. And its not a bad story. But its not going to make page one. Quit wasting your time on this sentimental crap. You want to write about Hell's Kitchen? Write about the Daredevil! He sells papers! And there is that rumor about that new guy…the one in all black, some rodent?"

The dark haired reporter paled and shook his head. "Oh, Mr. Jameson, I try not to get involved with that sort of thing. Noncommissioned vigilantes are dangerous, and I don't want to get involved with that."

Jameson shook his head. "Listen, you're a damn fine writer. Better than most I have seen. But until you get some backbone, you are never going to be great. NOW GET ME A STORY!"

Jameson stormed off, yelling as he went off. Parker cocked his head. That was only a 5 on the Jameson freak out scale. It must have been a hell of a story for the new guy to get off so lightly for not writing about one of the M&Ms (masks or mutants). Peter was happy for the reporter; he genuinely liked the guy. The bespeckled reporter turned and noticed the young photographer.

"Hey Pete! How was school? Thanks again for covering that photo shoot for my story."

"No problem, Mr. Kent. Anything to help."

"Hey, I told you, it's Clark."

Peter was walking out of the Daily Bugle when he saw a pillar of smoke two blocks down. Based on the lack of screaming and panic, he figured there was no immediate danger and that this was a job for Peter Parker, photographer. Running towards the smoke, he was stopped a block away by a man in a SHIELD uniform manning a taped off line.

"Whoa slick, where is the fire," asked the lieutenant.

"Behind you," responded Parker, holding up his credentials. "Peter Parker, Daily Bugle. What's the deal?"

"Well, Peter Parker, Daily Bugle, the fire is out…despite what the song says there is not always fire where there is smoke," the SHIELD agent responded with a wry grin. "Anyway, you can't get past this line. As for what happened, well, some of that superpowered tomfoolery broke out, and we are cleaning it up."

A siren blaring behind him, Parker turned around to see the NYPD CSI truck pull up, and a blonde man jumped out to talk to the Lieutenant. "Barry Allen, NYPD. We got called in to help out with the scene?"

"Right," said the Lieutenant with a grin. "C'mon through."

The agents made way for the CSI truck as it passed through. Convinced he wouldn't get through, Parker turned to leave before he pulled up short. "Hey Lieutenant! What's your name?"

The agent grinned and said "Hal Jordan, Agent of SHIELD. Make sure you spell that right for the story."

Parker was swinging home towards the end of his patrol, when he decided to go by the Kitchen. It was Daredevil's turf, to be sure, but the two had a working relationship of sorts. Plus, after working with Mr. Kent on his story, Parker wanted to check out the Kitchen for himself, and see how much had changed.

Parker had found the Devil on the roof of the Church, like he always did. What was unexpected was the trickle of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth. The Devil stood with a wince. "Spiderman."

"What in the hell happened to you Matt," asked Parker. The two had known each other's identities for a while, and neither of them liked that much. But they were moving past it.

"Had a run in with the Bat," replied the Devil, shaking his head.

"It exists," Parker asked. Stories of the Bat were new in a city that seemed to give birth to legends daily. But the Bat was more nightmare than legend. Crooks whispered about him at night. The very rumor of it could stop criminals from committing crimes, it was said. Everything the Bat was is what Daredevil wanted to be.

"It's more of a 'him' than an 'it', but yeah, he exists," replied Murdock. "He was in the Kitchen…"

"So you gave him the 'This is my neighborhood' speech? I am guessing it didn't go well."

"He refused, I attacked, he won," said Devil. "Although, after fighting him, I do think that the story of the Bat chasing Castle out of town has more than a few bits of truth to it."

"Damn," Parker whispered. Castle was a dark guy, more than a little crazy, and no joke. The story was that Castle left for Miami to pursue his crusade in a city other than New York after being warned off by the Bat. No one really believed it though, because Castle was scared off by nobody. But if Murdock believed…

"So, if I see the Bat," asked Parker.

"Go somewhere else."

Six people stood on a roof. A reporter, a cop, an agent, a reporter, a teacher, and an everyman that people would pass on the street without noticing who he was.

"What is taking him so long," asked the Lieutenant. "I have an early shift tomorrow."

"How were you ever in the military," asked the teacher, as she smiled and paced the roof.

"I blame lowered standards after Vietnam," replied the cop. "After Vietnam, they would let anyone in."

"Haha, very funny."

"Enough," growled a voice, as a man in black with a cape and cowl walked out of the shadows. "Report."

Kent shook his head and said, "you know most people would just ask, 'how was your day?'" Batman scowled as Clark sighed. "It went fine. The Bugle gives me enough access and time to research; so long as I can file a story that is at least tangentially related, no one calls me on it. I have five more spots for you to hit up. They are the Kingpin's, eastside by the Docks."

Barry Allen continued, "rumor has it around the precinct that the big timers are running scared, and they haven't been this nervous since the first big vigilante boom. Nice job Bruce. Although I still don't know why we can't help out. You know, we have done things like this before."

"You aren't trained for it," ground out Bruce. "Your abilities are meant to be used on a bigger scale and we agreed that, at least to start, we need to stay underground until we can figure out what is going on. And of all of us…"

"Only you and J'onn are capable of getting what we need from the criminal underground, and J'onn is needed for other things," rambled Hal in a bored voice. "Speaking of, how is that going?"

J'onn smiled and said, "while I am anxious to return home, I have enjoyed my stay. After their initial distrust, the Inhumans have welcomed me. I must say that Black Bolt is downright chatty now that he has found someone else to talk to safely. And expressive, since he is not limited to hand gestures. As for Atlantis, Namor is still wary, especially because we are so secretive. However, he does understand our desire to approach the dry land authorities carefully. I think both are ready for the next step."

Diana nodded. "Clark, we're up."

"Why do we have to do this again?"

"Because Diana is trained in diplomacy and you put people at ease. Would you rather have Hal go? Or me" growled Batman.

"Ok, good point. Hal, how is it coming with SHIELD."

"Well…thanks to my clearance I have most of the Triskeleton mapped out. I should have the map ready for all of you by the end of the week. I have been read in on the operation to track down the Hulk, so J'onn you'll have some more work soon. I almost have all the files on the X-Men copied. That's been a real," Hal glanced over at the Princess. She hated when he used that particular term. "It has been a real chore. But that program you got me, Bruce, has been covering my tracks. Yeah, it has been slower, but that guy Fury hasn't been breathing down my neck either. We are good. After the X-Men is the Fantastic Four."

"Do we really need the info for the Four," asked Barry. "I mean, they are hardly secretive. Not as much as the X-Men. Not that I blame them."

Clark chimed in, "hey every bit of information we can get is worth it. While I agree that we aren't going to get a whole bunch more info on the Fantastic Four because they are so public, I am pretty sure that SHIELD has got more than even the most intrepid reporters could get."

"So we're good, for now," Batman said as he readied to swing home. "Let's meet on Friday for another update. Hal should have the map ready for us."

"Why you in such a hurry," asked Clark as Batman walked to the edge of the roof.

"Jordan isn't the only one with an early wake up call," growled Batman. "My supervisor has been paying close attention to when I show up. He says I lack," Batman paused as he breathed deep, "people skills and drive."

Barry Allen and the rest quietly laughed. "God, it has got to be tough working for a spoiled, womanizing playboy."

Batman slowly turned and glared. Stark Enterprises' newest employee grumbled, "shut up."