"In dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own"

~Albus Dumbledore

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter & Carol's Apartment

He was sitting happily in a chair. Across from him sat his Aunt and Uncle, smiling at him and the person to his left, who was Carol Danvers. She caressed his hand as Uncle Ben carved the turkey with the long, keen meat knife that he held in his hand.

"Don't hurt yourself Ben, dear," Aunt May chimed as she passed a bowl of potatoes around the oak table. Just as she had always done on every family get-together. And he was sure that she would do her best to keep doing that, as long as she could. Not that he minded, after all.

"May, you act like I'm going to hurt myself!" Ben replied as the blade sliced through the cooked meat, and Peter smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he had a dream so pleasant. One with his entire family together like it was. A small part of his consciousness noted that he considered Carol a part of his family, even though they had been going out for only a few months. But most of him was to enthralled by the sights before him to give a damn.

He had so often been on life's whipping-post, so he felt that he enjoyed something happy, for once.

"Well Ben, I remember what happened last year," May smiled to her husband as the bowl passed in front of Peter, and he took what he wanted from it. As did Carol, who took only a handful and smeared it on his face playfully. Her warm hand traced up and down his face, spreading his Aunt's feast mainstay as far as she could.

"Stop wasting good potatoes!" Peter protested as she continued to press onto his face. She stopped, and leaned in, using her tongue to lap his cheek clean. "Keep wasting good potatoes," he whispered into her ear, earning a slight chuckle as Carol's tongue toyed around his ear. He closed his eyes, wanting to enjoy the moment.

And that's when it happened. A bladed tentacle pierced right through his heart, and he opened his eyes. This time for real, and found himself clutched to the ceiling of the apartment.

He wasn't in the middle of a family get-together. It wasn't supper time. He wasn't dead. All he could hear where the sounds of New York city in the middle of the night. Which was what he needed more than anything at the moment, so he slipped away from over-top of the bed, careful not to wake his sleeping girlfriend, or her cat, who was curled up on the foot of the bed.

He crawled, as silent as ever, towards the open window, first checking to make sure that he was decent enough, which he was. He slipped out into the night air and ascended towards the very top of the building. He found a suitable perch for himself, and he looked out over his city, letting his mind wander. The session with the Talk-show host had raised some concerns in his mind. In fact, he had barely agreed to do the session in the first place, the one deciding factor in it being Carol's re-assurance that she was going to be there for him, watching from the front row and ready to intervene at a moment's notice.

He sighed to himself as the man's voice echoed in his mind, asking about his costume change. That had riled him up somewhat inside, and he had been on the verge of leaving before seeing her warm smile radiating towards him. That had given him courage enough to continue, and answer the man's question, which was eerily similar to one that other Avengers asked him. 'Why haven't you gone back to the red-and-blue?' Spider-Woman had asked one night, when the two of them where on monitor duty. His answer had been almost identical to the one he had given Mark Goldman, that the armour was tactically more efficient, with the ability to fly and being bulletproof. Which where honest answers. Less than two weeks ago, the armour had allowed him to go head-to-head with the Juggernaut alone, and come out unscathed and minimal property damage.

It also challenged the scientist and mechanic parts of his mind. He had been able to invent and re-purpose several old functions that Tony had almost forgotten about. One being the ability to create reinforced hard-light 'grieves' for protection. The idea had come to him after an encounter with the Wrecking Crew, when Bulldozer managed to nearly shatter his wrists with an overhand strike. Peter had then watched Carol manipulate the energy coming from a downed power line, and gotten an idea, which he had presented to Tony. His wrist-armour would receive an addition of two small devices, which could both project and absorb several forms of energy. The absorbed energy could then be used to reinforce the grieves. A practical demonstration that he had Tony watch involved Carol firing at him, while he wore only the gauntlets. The results had surprised even him, when Carol barely managed to touch the gauntlets with the most powerful blast she dared to use on him. Tony had been very impressed, and had implemented the technology on his own suits as well.

The other had been a deviation of the first invention. He could channel a portion of the same hard-light technology into a blade, which could be used to remove obstacles and destroy weapons in close quarters. He had also managed to sneak in a few pop-culture references when Captain America asked him exactly what it was. Most of them had been lost on the first Avenger, however. And he had received a firm smack from Carol for confusing the Captain.

"You can't sleep?" the soft voice of Carol Danvers asked him as she elevated herself to be at his eye-level. He let out a second sigh as he racked his brain for a suitable answer to her question, besides the obvious. The ones he came up with ranged from 'I heard a police siren and wanted to investigate', 'I've got a headache, just needed some fresh air' to 'your cat bit my toes', 'just a little overheated, that's all,' but he knew that none of them would work on her. She was simply to good at reading people for that, thanks to her time on the C.I.A.

"No," he replied simply, not wanting to play a guessing game with her. Not this late at night, and not out in the open like they where.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she circled around and 'sat' on the open air beside him. He felt her nightgown-covered arm wrap around him in a comforting motion. He grasped her hand lovingly as he sighed, enjoying the sight before him, not wanting it to end. But it had to, as he knew that he needed to tell her the truth, so he opened his mouth. "It was that nightmare again," she said before any words could escape his lips, "wasn't it? The one with...him in it."

The nightmare had been a re-occurring one, that he had done his best to hide from the world. And at first, he had succeeded. He managed to get away with reading quietly in his quarters at Avengers Mansion. But that had been before he'd moved in with Carol several weeks ago. Then, for one night only, he had gotten a decent sleep, and woken up to the sight of the blonde bombshell smiling at him peacefully. But that joy hadn't lasted him through the next night, when his fears came back in full force. He had tried to hide it, but wound up being questioned in the morning about his whereabouts, as he had simply walked away to try and console himself. The night after that he had used the excuse that he was going to the washroom to 'drain the lizard,' and he had believed that was sufficient. Until the third night, when he thrashed around in his sleep. The only thing that had stopped himself from being injured was Carol's restraining grip on his arms and soothing words in his ear. That was the night when she had questioned him thoroughly, and he replied reluctantly.

"Yeah," he replied as he sunk his head down. "Yeah, it was that one," he said as she rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. The two of them simply stared out into open space for several long minutes, enjoying the relative peace and quiet of an asleep city.

"You know he's gone, right?" Carol whispered into his ear as she helped him down. "He's gone for good this time," she said as the two of them re-entered the dark apartment. "And besides," she continued as she planted a swift kiss on the cheek, "I'd never let him close to you. Not after what happened between the two of you," she finished as she forced him down onto the bed. One thing's for sure, he remarked internally as he closed his eyes, doing his best to replace the thoughts of impalement with ones of love, there is no arguing with a woman who can bench-press a firetruck. He slowed his breathing and focused on happy memories, hoping that they would drive away the bad ones. And happiness was very close at hand. In fact, it was grasping his hand and running her thumb over his palm.

XXXXXXXXX

Undisclosed S.H.I.E.L.D prison for Superhuman criminals

Tony Stark was uncomfortable. His brilliant mind was racing a mile a minute as he passed through the armour-plated double-doors. Four guards accompanied him, as well as Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Jessica Drew. The latter accompanied him as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, an Avenger and as his life partner. And he could tell she was somewhat nervous as well, as the troop turned down a dark hallway.

"This facility is the first of it's kind," Maria Hill explained as boots thudded against the cold, hard floor. Prison cells lined each and every wall that they passed. "We've got mutant power neutralizers," the woman continued in a matter-of-fact tone, "for the individuals that the M.R.D can't handle. As well as Adamantium-lined cells for individuals who could rend through normal walls." Tony was so far not impressed, as he had seen it all before, when he had been the head of the superhuman registration act.

"I've seen all this before," he muttered as a reply. "Is there a particular reason you called me down here, or are you just showing off?" he asked in a slightly accusing tone as they turned down yet another hallway, which led straight to a single door at the other end. This one had two guards posted outside, unlike the rest, which relied on automated security. That did not bode well in Tony's mind, as he realized that there must be something or someone very dangerous behind those doors. "What's-" he began to say, only for Fury to cut him off with a gesture.

"The prisoner in that cell is off-limits to any Avenger," the director of S.H.I.E.L.D said firmly. From his tone, Tony knew enough to not press the issue any further, instead turning down another hallway, that led to an open set of doors. Like the one before it, this door was guarded by two men with rifles. Inside Tony could see several lab technicians working on and around several items, some of which he recognized with cold horror.

He could see several of the infinity gems, as well as several Asgardian artifacts that had bee recovered from the site in Oklahoma. But what worried him most was the sight of the Cosmic cube being inspected by several scientists. That was something he couldn't ignore.

"You have that here?" Stark asked as he pointed to the glowing cube. "You do realize that cube is the most dangerous-" he continued to rant, only for Fury to interrupt him once again.

"This cube isn't here," Fury explained in a tone that Tony couldn't argue with. And based on her expression, Jessica was in agreement with the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The files on it's exact location where lost. And maybe that's for the best, so no unfriendly eyes can go looking for it," the man finished as the two doors slammed shut behind it.

"With any luck," Hill said as she gestured to one of the scientists. "we'll be able to harness the cube as a reliable power source. And perhaps we won't have another Electro incident," the hard-nosed woman finished as she flipped through the file-book. Tony took the opportunity to cast a sideways nod to Jessica, hoping that she would receive his unsaid request for her to use S.H.I.E.L.D contacts to try and find out who the unnamed prisoner was. As Earth's primary line of defence, Tony knew that the Avengers needed to know about potential threats. "Which was why we called you," Hill finished firmly.

"We need some of your technology," one of the scientists said as she fiddled with her glasses. "In order to properly contain the Cube's energy. Otherwise," the woman said with a somewhat nervous glance, "we won't be able to continue."

"Well," Tony said as he clasped his hands together and took a step forward. "You know how I operate," he said as he kept his eyes on the cosmic cube. He kept his voice steady as he continued, "I give you something only if you give me something to work with," the Iron Avenger said crisply as he stared the S.H.I.E.L.D director down.

"I'm not telling you any details about prisoner X12743," Fury replied with a steely tone of voice.

"Then you're going to share all your data with me," Tony said as he clasped his hands together. "After all, it's my tech. And I want your guarantee, Fury," the founding Avenger said as he turned around. "Non-negotiable, Fury," Tony quipped as he gave Spider-woman a sideways glance. He was still stuck on the prisoner that he wasn't allowed to know about. It bothered him that S.H.I.E.L.D was keeping secrets from him again. Because in his opinion, secrets had a dire cost. They could wind up costing lives than they saved.

"Deal," Fury grunted as he stuck out his hand. "I'll send a convoy tomorrow to your company headquarters."

"And I'll oversee the transaction," Tony said as he shook Nick Fury's hand, closing the deal between them. "But I think a phone call might have sufficed, Nick."

XXXXXXXXXXX

S.H.I.E.L.D Heli-carrier, above New York City

"Sir," Maria Hill said as she approached the main observation platform. For all her high scores and her perfect track record, Nick Fury thought with an internal grumble as he nodded to the sharply-dressed woman. She can be a pain in the ass sometimes, he thought with a slight grunt as she stepped to his side. He already knew what she wanted from him, and he wasn't in any mood to give it up easily. Not after working so hard for months to get it back.

"It was approved," Nick said as he nodded to her. "By the World Security Council. Above my head, Commander Hill. Nothing that can be done about it," he finished as he observed the twenty agents that it took to fly the large, hovering S.H.I.E.L.D base. It was a marvel of modern science in his opinion. It easily rivalled anything built by Stark industries. The four engines where state-of-the-art, and also generated some of the behemoth's power. What wasn't supplied by the engines was covered by the solar panels that lined the deck.

"But sir," Hill snapped intently, "was it necessary to bring them to the Facility? Why not a simple phone call, like Stark suggested?"

"Talking in person is so much more personal," Fury replied briskly, barely tolerating her presence. And he wanted her to know it.

"Sir that's bullshit and you know it," Hill snapped back. "You just wanted Stark to know we're keeping prisoner X12743 from them. So that he'd begin his own investigation," his second-in-command finished as a console beeped, telling Fury that he was being paged by one of S.H.I.E.L.D's remote facilities.

"Fury. Go," he snapped as he pressed the button and answered the call. He had hoped that Hill would take the cue and leave. But Nick Fury wasn't having the luckiest of days, and she stayed by his side.

"Sir," the voice of Agent Jasper Sitwell, one of his most prominent agents said. "I've just gotten a call from the M.R.D." He paused slightly before continuing his report, "they report that a large batch of M.G.H was stolen several hours ago."

"How large?" Fury asked with authority.

"Large enough for them to contact us," Sitwell replied gravely. "At least two-hundred doses, they believe, sir." That was definitely not good in Fury's mind. It sounded like a media and political nightmare thrown in with everything he had to deal with already on a day-to day basis.

"Give the X-men a call," Fury snapped blatantly. "See if they have someone who can track it. And call the Avengers, because they're going to know eventually," he finished as he set his hands down in a railing. He inhaled deeply, and that was all the time Hill needed to recover and continue her near-interrogation.

"Sir there is a standing order that you disobeyed," Hill said in her nerve-grating voice as she continued to bore for answers. "You inadvertently started an Avenger investigation into top-secret business that the Avengers have no place-"

"What if he got out?" Fury snapped hard as he faced the sour woman that was his second in command. "What would we do if that man got out? Which Avenger do you think would turn on us, if he got out?"

"The-" Agent Hill began to say.

"I would much rather have the Avengers find out that he's in the facility while he's still there," Fury grunted as he sized his fellow agent up. "As opposed to while people are being murdered left, right and centre. Do you understand?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The Avengers Mansion

"You're sure about that?" Janet Van Dyne, also known as the Wasp, asked with slight disbelief. Which Peter could definitely understand, it was a weird situation. But definitely not the weirdest he had been in during his years as Spider-man. "I mean, why would anyone do a money deal like that in a place like Comic-con? And that's assuming there's going to be a money deal."

"These guys like to keep anonymity," Peter half-yawned, still tired from the previous night. He had come to the other Avengers with his theories in the morning, and they had been discussing it for two hours. Most of it had been going back and forth over the evidence. And discussing whether or not the crimes where connected in some manner. Janet and her husband, Hank, seemed to be against the idea, while Captain America was on Peter's side, albeit a little bit confused about the event that they where talking about. "What better way to blend in then to hide in a crowd of people in costumes?"

"That still doesn't confirm that they will be there," Hank Pym shrugged with honesty. "For all we know, they could have blown the entire loot by now."

"Six million dollars?" Steve Rogers cut in with a diplomatic tone as he placed his hand out on the table. "You can't spend that kind of money discreetly. Daredevil or Cage would have heard a rumour at the very least. Or the police would have tracked them down," he continued as Peter nodded and did his best to stifle yet another yawn discreetly. He failed, unfortunately. "or perhaps Mr Parker could have heard something and forgotten it in his stupor," the Captain chuckled slightly, and was soon joined by Janet and Hank.

"Sorry," Peter mumbled incoherently as he blinked himself to attention. "The outfits that they where wearing where high-quality. Stuff people have to pay a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for. And one of the best places to find the kind of suppliers-"

"Suppliers?" Captain America remarked as he leaned forward intently.

"People who can't make it into the fashion industry," Peter half-shrugged as he straightened his back slightly. He noticed Janet giving him a questioning look as he continued, "but are still good with a sewing machine. They make replicas of movie costumes, comic book characters, and our outfits, etc."

"People actually pay for a replica of an outfit?" Steve asked with a confused expression. "Why not make it themselves?" Hank nodded in agreement, while Janet seemed to be deep in thought.

"Accuracy," Peter shrugged in response. "Quality. Lack of personal artistic skills. Laziness."

"And they buy them for only a few days use at a convention?" The Captain asked.

"Or sometimes for more personal uses," Peter replied as he leaned back in his chair. "If they want their spouse to come to bed dressed like a sexy version of their favourite character. But we're getting off-topic here. What I was trying to say was that those same people who make outfits will be there. We can question them about clientele."

"Right," Janet huffed. "We would probably get spotted pretty easily and-"

"Only if we went in dressed as we are," Peter smirked as he folded his hands. "And the great thing about costumes is, most of them come with masks." He shuddered inside as he realized how stupid his idea must sound to the other Avengers.

"Now," Steve said as he leaned inwards, bearing a stern expression. "Let's just say that we went ahead with this plan of yours. Who would you send in?" He asked plainly, causing Peter to gulp slightly before replying.

"Me and Carol are the only ones who've seen them," Peter remarked slowly as he gained confidence in his plan. "We obviously can't risk sending Tony in. He's way to recognizable. Same with Jennifer and Thor," he continued as Captain America nodded slightly. "Jess is good at espionage, and working with crowds," he yawned slightly, earning a second chuckle from Janet. "And same with you, Cap. You're a good person to be a fly on the wall." He finished and waited for a verdict to come from the three of them.

"I'm sold," Captain America said with a slight nod. "On the provision that you make sure to rest up the night before. We can't have you falling asleep, after all," the Captain smiled as he got up from the table. Janet and Hank followed suit, as did Peter. He followed them out into the hallway, listening to snippets of their conversation. Until the husband and wife turned down the hall, leaving him alone with the Captain. Who, in turn, led Peter into a side hall, and cornered him. "Is there something wrong, Peter?"

"What?" Peter asked as he tried to out-manoeuvre the striped Avenger.

"You're exhausted," Captain America replied firmly. "You've been exhausted for days. Don't bother lying. Now, either you're not getting any sleep, or you're getting seriously sick. Now you need to decide which. Or I'm going to tell Danvers," he finished, with an undertone of a threat as he pulled his arm away, and let Peter pass by, and wander down the hallway. He walked down a flight of stairs and passed by the larger-than life statues of the founding Avengers. He smiled, before letting his eyes flicker to the side, where several new statues had been placed.

In light of the number of Avengers who had joined the team's ranks over the years, Tony had decided that the time had come for each to be immortalized in stone. The statues wouldn't be as large as the ones of the founding Avengers, but they would still be as visible. They would line the halls, along with a plaque that displayed the hero's name, powers and the day they had joined the Avengers. In tragic cases the hero's date of death was also given. So far, twenty-three of the planned sixty statues had arrived. All along the left hall, he gazed at a variety of familiar faces. Instantly recognizable was Wolverine's, which had six steel claws pointing out from his fists, mimicking the claws. Beside him was The Black Panther, with his arm crooked back, ready to throw a series of stone vibranium daggers. Then followed Storm, one of the founding X-men who could control the weather. And after her was Spider-woman, with her arms posed to give the appearance of gliding through the air. Others followed, such as the Young Avengers, and the West Coast Avengers. He chuckled slightly as he saw the Thing's statue, which looked like he had simply been doused with marble-coloured paint, and that he was ready to sprout his timeless catchphrase at a moment's notice.

He continued to smile as he looked down the hall, seeing all the spaces yet to be filled by statues. Tony had even said that he was willing to leave room for future generations of heroes, once children started showing up. And with Examples like Franklin and Valeria Richards, his assumptions might just prove right, the way Peter thought about it. He imagined one day seeing little Iron Fist's and Captain America's running around, trying to fill in the shoes of their predecessors. He only hoped that one day, he could have children who joined them.

Maybe one day, his own son or daughter would look at their father's immortalized statue and be given a drive to join the Avengers. His smiled continued, and even grew by several sizes, as he saw the angelic form of his girlfriend descending from the top floor. She landed with grace several feet from him, and smiled back.

"Ready to go?" she asked as she outstretched her arm. He took it, and wrapped it around his own, and the two of them exited the building. Neither of them noticing the smallest of blood droplets that marred the polished floor.

A/N: Who do you think S.H.I.E.L.D has in their custody that would cause the Avengers to hate them? And what role do you think he will play in the story?

Yes, several Heroes will be going to Comic-con undercover. See the poll on my profile for suggestions.

The next chapter will see the return of two or three Spider-man mainstays!