I wasn't going to update for another day or two but you guys are so nice. Thank you for all the favorites and follows.

Stan Lee is the God in Human from who owns the Black Widow, Avengers, and Spider-man. I am not.


SHIELD Helicarrier, North Atlantic – 2012

Natasha Romanoff stared at the sea that shimmered miles beneath her. This was the first time since the Invasion of New York that Fury had gathered all the Avengers together. The call was short, just the order to come in for debriefing. She and Clint had hopped the next transport to HQ and were now waiting for Fury to arrive. She could see the reflection of Steve's nervous fingers in the widow. He couldn't stop playing with his sketchbook.

"What do you think Director Fury wants anyway?" He asked the room.

"He probably wants to shoot us in space," Tony didn't even look up from his Starkpad, (patent pending). "Or invade Latveria. Something tedious and involving far too much paperwork."

Thor's Golden eyebrows drew together, "You Midgardians have a strange idea of Tedium."

"It's probably just another press conference," Bruce supplied, ever the voice of reason. Or at least the voice of hopefulness. "Lord knows, we done enough of those."

"Tony's done enough of those for all of us." Clint corrected. "Fury won't call the whole team together for trivia like that." He put both hands on the table, hunching over, "It must be the WSC again. Why else would we be here?"

The WSC was still a sore spot with Clint. Even after they lost a big chunk of power after the whole Megaton Midtown incident, they had still managed to lock Clint in the Vault for three weeks until a friend of Bruce's got him straightened out. On the plus side, Dr. Samson had made a fine addition to the SHEILD Psych Corps, once the Gamma Radiation poisoning cleared up and they got rid of all the canaries.

"Oh come on, Robin Hood," Tony drawled, "Not everything is about you going over to the Dark Side."

Clint glared at the Billionaire, who was still playing with his iPad knock-off. "What do you know, Mr. Consultant?"

"I'd wager," Tony stated simply, "Considerably more than you." Pointing at Clint, "And You," Steve, "You, too." Herself. "Maybe you," Thor. "Not You." Bruce.

Clint shoved it off. "You made know tech but you got nothing on politics. I think we all saw your Congressional testimony."

"A brilliant display of our Corporate-Legal system, don't you think?" He retorted.

The conversation was devolving into a snarking match. Natasha didn't spare a glance for the five men in the room. She hadn't said anything, not even to Clint. It just sounded so stupid and self-centered. Feelings aside, she was certain. From the moment Fury had called her, Natasha knew that one of her ghosts had come back to haunt her. The question was which one?

The door at the head of the room swished out. Nat turned to face the assembled men. Clint and Tony were standing on the table again in the middle of an argument. Steve and Thor were quietly placing bets. Bruce had that looked like he didn't know whether he wanted to Hulk out or jump off the Helicarrier.

Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, placed both hands on his hips and waited for the assembled superheroes calm down. The Clint and Steve quickly jumped into place. Tony slucked back into his chair, defeated and defiant in the way only Tony Stark can be. Nat sat primly nest to Thor who was smiling and counting a fistful of cash. Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. He had the tired, heavy-lidded look he usually got when something new decided it was time to wreck a little havoc.

"Glad to know the fate of the world rests in such competent team." He observed.

He looked flatly at the six of them for a second than shook his head.

"I've called you here for something very important." Fury stated,

"It's the WCS, isn't it?" Clint demanded, "If they're threating…"

"Agent Barton," Nick interrupted, "I understand your feelings but this has nothing to do with the WSC. I suppose you don't all remember the supposed terrorist attack at Oscorp a few weeks before the Invasion?"

"Of course I do." Tony drawled, grinning, "I always smile when I think about that. It couldn't have happen to a nicer son of a bitch than Stormin' Norman Osborn."

"Well, you should be happier to hear no terrorist attack. It was a superhuman incident." Fury drew a stack of photographs from the center of the file. "One that involved this man," he passed half to Steve who took one and passed the rest on. "Dr. Curt Connors, one of the foremost experts in Trans-species genetics and" Fury passed the other photo around "the masked superhuman vigilante know as Spider-man."

Natasha took a good look at the photographs. One showed a middle-aged man, blond, bespectacled, and missing his right arm. The other was a wiry figure, dressed in a garish red and blue full-body suit with wide shiny eyes. No prizes for guessing who was who.

Clint looked up at Fury, "So, What happened?"

"So, Connors injected himself with a formula that turned him into a giant fucking lizard." Fury replied. "The SHIELD response team was all ready to go in when Connors got his ass handed to him by some than unknown Superhuman."

Fury waved a hand vaguely, "I was going to start an investigation but you all know what happened."

The Avengers nodded. They couldn't forget Loki's Invasion; no matter how had some of them tried.

Fury continued "In the months after the Oscorp incident, Spider-man has been acting as the self-appointed guardian of New York City. You six are going to find him and bring him into SHIELD before he…"

"Makes SHIELD look inadequate." Tony interjected.

"Hurts himself…" Fury replied. "Or the police or one of the eight million of people in New York. We had one officer Dead and Thirty in the hospital after Oscorp. It took a good chunk of my not inconsiderable resources and public opinion to keep the NYPD from shooting him on sight."

He stood sharply, "Like it or not, Spider-man is the newest addition to the Avengers Initiate." Fury slammed the file in his hand shut.

There was no room for argument.

"Doctor Banner and Thor will stay back at the Field Command," Fury continued, "I will not have the Mayor of New York screaming in my ear at three in the morning again. Romanoff, Barton, Rogers, and Stark will go in and drag him back here if you have to. He's in Midtown Manhattan. Dismissed."

There was a great scarping of chairs as the team left to put on their various combat gear. Natasha snuck a last look at the photos. Even though this had nothing to do with her, even if it was impossible, she still couldn't shake the feeling this lead back to her.