Chapter Four

Remind me again why I decided to take the subway? Oh, wait, now I remember. Fury wanted me to follow Peter around, make sure nothing serious happened to him. So now I was forced to take the one method of transportation I dreaded the most. Steve already showed me how the subway operated, but I still wasn't too familiar with it. Heck, I'd never really taken the trains back on the Grid. Most of the time I got around using my light cycle.

I was just thankful to have someone familiar sitting next to me. Or I should say snoring away. After waiting for the train we just talked about how our lives were going. Apparently he's a high school student and very intelligent. So that would explain why he sneaked into the internship program at Oscorp.

Sitting next to us were a couple of thugs with what I guessed were their girlfriends. They were busy chatting about beer and going out later that night. After spending some time with Tony, I've gotten used to that kind of conversation. Instead of putting up with it, I just started listening to my music to calm my nerves.

"Grace, what have You done? Murdered for me on that cross, Accused in absence of wrong, My sin washed away in Your blood, Too much to make sense of it all, I know that Your love breaks my fall, The scandal of grace, You died in my place, So my soul will live..."

Hillsong United. One of the best ways to keep me calm in situations like this. They were like a mix of New Age and Christian, making their music all the better.

"Oh to be like You, Give all I have just to know You, Jesus, there's no one besides You, Forever the hope in my heart, Death, where is your sting?, Your power is as dead as my sin, The cross has taught me to live, And mercy, my heart now to sing..."

My music was cut short when one of the thugs bumped into the bottle of beer he'd been balancing on Peter's head. Suddenly he woke up and jumped to the ceiling, hanging there in shock. While doing that he knocked over the beer bottle, and it spilled onto one of the girls' clothes.

"Uh, Peter..." Looking up, I noticed that he was still clinging on to the ceiling, looking rather startled as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Disgusting! Now I smell like beer!" one of the girls shrieked, making me wince.

Please, you smelled like beer long before getting on board.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Peter finally jumped down and put a hand on her shoulder, apologizing. "I... I..." I tried not to laugh as he struggled getting his hand off.

"Get your hand off her!" one of the thugs yelled and stepped closer to Peter. Backing away slowly, I had a feeling that a fight was about to break out. Should I interfere and stop them from hurting him? Surely there was nothing in the rules against that.

"I'm trying to get my hand off her..." Peter only tugged harder on the shirt, trying desperately to pry his hand off. The first thug had shoved him aside, and my eyes widened when I heard the sound of fabric ripping. Some of the men around us started laughing as the girl let out a gasp of surprise, face turning a bright red.

"Are you kidding me?" the other thug shouted. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

One of the thugs lunged forward towards Peter, who was still trying to figure out what had happened. His hand was clinging onto the bar, and once again he couldn't free himself. Peter swung himself around the bar and brought his leg up to kick one of the thugs over onto the seats. "I'm so sorry!" Peter sounded desperate as he apologized to the thugs ganging up on him.

Annoyed that no one else was trying to break up the fight, I suddenly grabbed one of the thugs by the wrist and twisted it behind his back. The thug let out a shout of pain just as Peter swung both of his legs this time and caught a second thug in the chest. A third thug was rushing at us, and I threw my fist into his face, not wasting any time in knocking him out. Peter knocked him aside so that he wouldn't land on me just as he started swaying back and forth.

One of the thugs got back up and looked at Peter, than his board, and back at Peter again.

"Oh man, not my board, please!" he begged as he guessed what the thug was thinking about. With a sigh of frustration, I swung my leg over and kicked the man square in the chest. While he was recovering from the attack, I grabbed the board and hid it from their view.

Behind us another man started to rush after Peter, who ended up straddling the pole to free himself. I was about to rush in and help when the pole broke free, swinging upwards to hit the man in the jaw. The momentum propelled itself into the first thug who attacked us right in the face.

"I'm so sorry!" Peter apologized again, trying to move and apologize once more, only to have the pole hitting them both in the face again. All the while trying to apologize. I couldn't help but laugh as the thugs started backing away once they realized they were overpowered.

"Seriously, I don't think you have to apologize anymore," I sighed once they were gone.

"Wait, you took on those thugs yourself," he said in an accusing tone. "Are you a superhero or something?"

Grimacing at the title, I looked down at the floor. No, I wasn't. But I probably had more training than he could ever handle.

"I've been trained to handle situations like these," I replied with a shrug. That much was true. No need to straight up and tell him I was a SHIELD agent.

"Ah man, I really am sorry. I almost put your life in danger too," he grumbled.

"Hey, it's fine." Patting him on the shoulder after prying off the pole from his hands, I grinned as I thought back to the way he'd fought. "Have you always been able to fight like that?" Judging by the confused look on his face, he hadn't.

"Uh, no. I don't even know where that came from," he admitted.

"Well, you do now." An awkward silence fell upon us as we reached my stop. "So, I guess I'll see you later?" Glancing at my phone, I realized that it was pretty late now.

"Y-yeah, I'll see you later." He still looked confused as I stepped off the train.

Flashing him another smile, I backed away, hoping that we would see each other again. With moves like that, he'd make a great SHIELD agent. I could see now why Director Fury was so keen to have someone watching him.

. . .

"Sir, have you seen the recordings from the subway?"

"I have."

"He took out those thugs like they were nothing."

"With a little help."

"He has no martial arts training, how did he learn so quickly?"

"We've already got someone keeping an eye on him. If things get any worse, I'll send in more agents to take care of it."

"Understood Director Fury."

. . .

"His name is Peter Parker. Doesn't seem like a bad kid, he just gets mixed up in bad situations."

Remembering the fight at the subway, I had to let out a sigh. He took care of those thugs as if they were nothing. From what I've gathered he had no experience fighting people before. So where did all of these skills come from?

"That explains why Fury wants to keep an eye on him," Clint muttered as he read through the files. Sitting beside him was Natasha, who looked more annoyed than interested.

I wasn't at all surprised to find them waiting for me in my apartment. By now I've gotten used to seeing them most of the time, especially during times like these. I've pretty much gathered that Clint's the overprotective father, and Natasha would rather spend time getting her missions finished.

But it was nice to see them again, as much as it annoyed me every time.

"So who exactly is Richard Parker?" I sat down at the table, glancing at the files Natasha had given me moments ago. Fury had done a little more research on him, but as far as I could tell, I knew next to nothing about him. Natasha pursed her lips before answering.

"He died in a plane crash along with his wife," she explained. "For a while he was working with Dr. Curtis Connors, and than he suddenly disappeared, leaving his son behind."

Well that would explain a lot. "How did Connors lose his arm?" The thought suddenly occurred to me that that was why Connors was so interested in his research. Most likely he was tired of living with one arm, and I really couldn't blame him. I just wasn't too okay with the idea of cross-species genetics. The whole thing just sounded too strange.

"Connors was interested in cross-species genetics, and his research got a little... out of control." I rolled my eyes when Clint changed his mind on what he was really going to say.

"Thanks again for the help," I muttered after realizing there was still much for me to learn.

"Anything big happening on the Grid?" Natasha's question caught me off guard.

Frowning, I tried desperately to think of an answer. Since yesterday I haven't spoken to Beck or Tron, or even stepped foot on the Grid. I was still pissed with them for lying to me.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," I replied with a shrug, hoping they would buy it. Even Clint raised an eyebrow at that. "Beck and I... may have had a fight yesterday." I held back a sigh of frustration as I looked down at the floor.

"Now that I'd like to see." Natasha punched Clint in the arm for saying that, to which I was very thankful for.

"I know they're hiding something, I just wish they'd tell me what's wrong," I sighed.

Leaning against the back of my chair, I had to wonder whether or not to pay them a visit again. Maybe I could convince Paige to tell me what was going on. She may be good friends with Beck, but not to the point of keeping secrets for him. Than I thought better of it. Knowing Paige she would keep a secret just for Tron's sake.

"I'm sure things will be sorted out later on," Natasha told me. "Sam and Quorra are watching over the Grid, if anything serious is happening, they'll let you know."

I bit the bottom of my lip as I thought over what she said. Would they tell me what was going on? Or would they be following orders just like everyone else? Something told me Sam wasn't the following orders type. But I've been surprised before.

"Thanks, again," I murmured. Once they were gone I pushed aside the files and flopped onto my sofa. Rinzler was curled up on the top; he opened one eye and stretched out as if annoyed by the sudden movement I caused. "Sorry bud."

He just went on sleeping as though nothing had happened. Once again I was left thinking how lucky he must be. He didn't have a thing to worry about. All Rinzler needed to do was sleep all day and play all night, while I was trying to sleep of course.

I wondered whether or not it was a good idea to go back to the Grid. After pretty much leaving Beck and Tron speechless, I wasn't too sure. I couldn't help but worry that something was going wrong. And I should be part of Tron's patrol to find out what that something was. No matter how far apart we seemed, we were always connected in some way.

Maybe sleep really was all I needed to take my mind off of things.

AN: So yeah, that pretty much sums this chapter up :) Get to see the subway fight, which is probably my second favorite scene in the movie. And a big thanks to 2theSky, Panda Bear Lover 317 and Briannajs-22 for reviewing! You guys are awesome! :)

Lyrics come from the song Scandal of Grace by Hillsong United. Amazing group and music :)