If you recognise it… I don't own it.

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"Master Clint," Jarvis' voice pulled Clint away from his movie, "Mister Parker is at a breaking point in his project. You wished to be alerted."

"Thanks, Jarvis." Clint pushed himself to his feet.

"What?" Sam frowned, "Who's Peter?"

"I've got an Intern." Clint replied.

"Tony gave you an Internship?" Sam blinked.

"No." Clint shook his head, "Not an Internship. An Intern."

"Is that even legal?" Sam asked, "Forget that. Why?"

"Who knows why Tony does anything?" Clint fired back, "But the important thing is that he works on the R&D floors. And unofficially or officially or technically or what he's counted as mine."

"You can get him to keep an eye out for Tony." Sam realized.

"Exactly." Clint nodded, "Okay, it's not as good as one of us… And he can't do it all the time. But it's better than nothing."

Clint made his way down to the R&D floor that he could usually find Peter on. Inwardly he was hoping that this plan of his would be accepted by the younger man. But also and equally that it wouldn't be needed.

"Hey, Peter," Clint called out as he saw the Intern making his way down the corridor, in the opposite direction to the Archer, "You got a minute? I need a word."

"Look, Clint," Peter smiled, "I'm starving. You want to talk? Join me for a pizza? I know a good local joint."

"Sure." Clint agreed.

Peter's pizza joint was a little 'hole-in-the-wall' place. Clearly a family business. But the interior was bright and clean. The whole place smelt of freshly cooked food. Peter was clearly well known as he was greeted warmly.

Peter led Clint to a small booth, tucked away in a corner, where they would not be easily disturbed.

It didn't take long for both of them to place their order and then for a few moments they sat in comfortable silence.

"Kid," Clint leaned forward slightly, "I was hoping to ask you a favour."

"Ask away." Peter shrugged, "I won't promise anything though. Except to listen."

"You know that there's people trying to grab Tony," Clint explained, "I'd like you to keep an eye out for anything and anyone acting strange on the R&D floors for me. Just in case they try that way. I mean I trust Jarvis, but I'd rather have some human instincts and gut watching out for him."

"I'll do what I can." Peter replied, "Spread the word as well. More eyes, better chance."

"I'm not sure I trust everyone," Clint confessed, "I mean everyone's had background checks, but…"

"Look," Peter smiled softly, "We all love Tony. I know it might not seem it. But everyone in that building loves him. From what I've heard, it's company wide. We adore Pepper… But Tony? We love him. We're not always happy about his private life. About his indiscretions. I've heard more than one complaint about his former playboy ways. But he always does his best by us. That's what I've heard. And what I've experienced so far.

"From what I gather, no-one really liked Stane personally. He was good for the business. But not liked. But everyone accepted that. He was the boss you moaned about, but kept working for, because you liked everything else about your job except him.

"Tony's different. He cares about us. Knows our names. Knows our families. The pay is top notch and the benefits like no other. And Tony cares for us.

"You won't find one person in that building who doesn't like him. From the janitor to Pepper. He shows us the one thing he never really shows the rest of the world… The fact that he has a heart. Why he feels he has to hide it, I don't know. And I really don't get. But he does, so I have to accept that. We all know he's broken inside somehow. I've heard rumours that he was broken before Afghanistan… That Afghanistan just made the cracks more visible."

"You're exaggerating." Clint shook his head, "Or projecting. They don't all care like that."

"Receptionists and secretaries have been deflecting women with eyes set far too high for more years than you think." Peter returned, "And they weren't asked to. The security guards won't even let anyone from Hammer or Killian into any building. That's without being told. And don't get me started on what they'd do to Stone. There are always blueberries in some form or another available in every common room, in every cafeteria, across the whole company. If the media is having another go at him, or singing the praises of Howard there's suddenly a technical thing that needs his input immediately. Always. Quite an effective distraction actually. And on the really bad days, when he needs to be alone or to be with Steve or you or anyone he counts as family… Nothing goes wrong. Ever.

"Look, we look out for him where we can. And we do what we can to help. Every one of us. From Billy to Pepper. Lowest to highest."

"You know Billy the Janitor?" Clint blinked in surprise.

"We're about the same age," Peter shrugged, "We've hung out before now. He's… Not like other people. He's… Older. More mature. I'm one of the ones who gets the alert though."

"Alert?" Clint was decidedly confused.

"You know he calls himself a ninja?" Peter offered, "Well sometimes he does routines in the staff gym. And they are something to behold. You could almost believe his claim watching him. He is… Ridiculously skilled."

"He spars?" Clint pressed.

"No," Peter shook his head, "Well… Once, with Jimmy. A security guard. It was like watching ballet… Really violent ballet. But usually he just runs through routines. The alert is if someone spots him. He tries to avoid the crowds. There's no cameras in the gym… Well, one on the door that sends signals to the security office and is recorded. The rest only send picture to Jarvis. So we can't watch him that way. You get the alert, you move! I once came all the way from my home to watch Billy. He's that good."

"Does he teach?"

"Never." Peter shrugged, "But sometimes… He'll let you copy. Sometimes he'll tell you that you need to work on a particular move. Sometimes he's even paired two people up and told them to work with each other… Jimmy does the same. They won't teach. And Jimmy rarely spars. Everyone moves to watch when he does."

"Everyone?"

"Well, all the security guards and such like. They text me when it's going on."

"Why? You're an Intern. A scientist."

"Billy and I are friends. We're similar ages like I said. And we don't quite belong in any particular group. We sort of drifted together. I've hung out in his room a couple of times. The guards know we're close. Or closer than we are to anyone else. Apart from you, for me. So they alert me when Billy's doing something that's worth watching."

There was an amused little smile on Peter's face.

"You've never tried to ask Billy to teach you?"

"No." Peter shook his head, "I know he won't. So I don't bother asking."

Conversation was interrupted by their food arriving.

"I wanted to talk with you." Peter started a new conversation.

"What about?" Clint was curious.

"This." Peter pulled his bag onto his lap and dug around for a while.

Clint saw parts of the bag shift, indicating that whatever Peter was looking for was hidden in the bag, possibly in a secret section that he'd not noticed before. The Archer couldn't help but tense in anticipation of something dangerous coming out of the bag. Even though there had been no tells in Peter's body language.

Once bitten. Twice shy.

And Clint had been bitten far too often by people he trusted and liked.

But what Peter pulled out was a bundle of what looked like fabric. He paused for a moment, clearly second guessing himself about what he was about to do. Then he just shrugged and handed it over.

Clint ran his hands over the fabric. It was soft, but seemed to be fairly strong. The colour was red, with some sort of black line design. He flattened it out. It seemed to be a hood or a cowl of some sort. It was clearly meant to cover the entire head. The black lines ran all over the fabric. Clint turned it around in his hands to get a full look at it.

Two white eyes stared back at him.

Clint screwed up the fabric and lobbed it back across the table, without even thinking.

"Think we could change the name Avengers to 'The Tony Stark Protection League'?" Peter… No, Spiderman asked with a grin on his lips and a smirk in his voice.

"How?" Clint demanded, traces of Agent Barton slipping through in his tone.

"Spider bite." Peter shrugged.

"I don't think that's a usual side-effect." Clint fired back, almost automatically.

"Genetically modified." Peter elaborated, "I don't know what they were trying to do. I only know what it did do."

"Why?" Clint was hitting the high points of his list of questions.

"Because I had power. Because others didn't. Because my Uncle died. Because I didn't."

"Okay," Clint breathed out, "You're going to have to go back a few steps and fill in some of the details. Because I didn't get any of that."

"I suddenly got stronger and faster." Peter explained, "I've never had much money, so I decided to make a quick buck."

Clint felt his muscles tense. He didn't want to hear that Peter had done something wrong. He didn't. It didn't gel with what he knew of the kid. But he knew there were limited ways to earn a quick buck. And almost all of them weren't legal.

"I did some amateur wrestling." Peter carried on, seemingly oblivious to Clint's fear, "For the prize money. It wasn't much, but…"

"I used to enter archery competitions." Clint confessed, relieved that Peter's crime wasn't even a crime at all.

"A thief robbed the place." Peter continued, "I did nothing. I could have stopped him. Would have been easy. But it wasn't my problem. So I did nothing."

"Understandable." Clint stated.

Yes, it wasn't a good thing to have done. But it wasn't bad either. It was just neutral. A civilian wasn't expected to stop a robbery.

"I should have stopped it." Peter murmured.

"Wasn't your job." Clint reminded.

"Still should have done something." Peter shrugged, "Because he killed my uncle when he robbed him, not even a couple of hours later."

Clint froze. The very simplicity of the statement was chilling. No wonder the kid concentrated on the little crimes.

"Great power," Peter carried on, "Great responsibility. I failed once. I won't fail again."

"You didn't fail." Clint countered.

"I let my uncle die."

"Not your fault."

"I could have stopped him."

"And I killed my brother." Clint opened up, "I was a criminal for a while. A gun for hire… Well, arrow in my case. I was a high level hitman and only took contracts where I felt it was appropriate. My brother worked for a gang. One of the first jobs I did, I took out every guard between me and the target. It wasn't until later that I realized one of them was my brother. I could have stopped him from becoming a gang member. I could have. But I didn't. I could have not killed everyone between me and the target. I could have. But I didn't. That's on me."

"You didn't know."

"Nor did you." Clint reminded, "Look, it sucks. I get that. I get that better than nearly anyone. But it's in the past. And you're doing what you can to protect other people. I reckon your uncle would be proud of you."

Clint could tell by Peter's face that he wasn't convinced by Clint's words. But also that the teen wasn't going to argue with him. So Clint made a mental note to give the kid positive feedback wherever possible.

"I don't think Fury will appreciate the name change," Clint turned the conversation back to a safer topic, "Although I will agree it's apt."

"That's why I decided to tell you." Peter declared, "So that you know I care for Tony as well. For different reasons, but I care for him. He's like a crazy uncle who turns up every so often and then vanishes again."

"My brother." Clint grinned, "I guess you don't want SHIELD to know about you."

"If possible." Peter agreed.

"What about the others?"

"Your discretion?" Peter suggested, "I don't really mind, but I wanted you to know."

"Why now?"

"You actually care." Peter sounded almost surprised, "You care about me and about other people. When I first found out who you were, I wasn't sure. I thought you might have befriended Tony with an ulterior motive. But the more I saw… The less I believed it. Watching how you reacted to Tony being threatened… Well, I knew you were being honest about your intentions. So I decided to trust you."

"Oh, there was no motive behind it." Clint snorted, "Steve just saw a face he fancied. And it became something more. He didn't know anything unless I told him or Tony did. That was how he wanted it."

"And somehow the rest of you just formed around him." Peter snorted.

"You did too." Clint reminded, "Tony just has that way. A natural charisma. He draws people to him."

"No," Peter shook his head, "Charisma, yes. But there's also a strange sort of vulnerableness. We know he can't protect himself from everything. Even if he's determined to try."

"God!" Clint laughed, "He must remind Steve of Steve. When he was little and scrawny. By the way, how'd you get back into the Tower? It was on Lockdown… How?"

"There's a few vents," Peter shrugged, "In camera blind-spots. Virtually impossible to get to unseen, but I managed. The ductwork itself isn't easy either. You need my level flexibility to get through them unhurt. Plus you need to know about it in the first place. I figured it out, because I'm always looking for how to get in and out of places. I have to."

"I get it, kid." Clint nodded, "I just needed to make sure."

"That no-one else could." Peter nodded, "I get it."

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The revelation about Spiderman/Peter made the next week and a bit pass with less tension and worry than there would have been, at least for Clint. He wasn't one to go telling other people's secrets.

Simply the knowledge that there was an extra pair of eyes keeping watch over Tony in an area where the others were less likely to be (Bruce generally keeping to his own private lab) made thing seem easier.

But that couldn't change the tension level rising when Tony was set to go off to Hawaii.

"I'll check in every night, Steve." Tony promised.

"And every morning?" Steve pressed gently.

"I'd be calling you at four or earlier." Tony countered.

"I don't care." Steve replied, "I get up at stupid o'clock, remember?"

"Sparrow's fart." Tony agreed, "Okay, but I'll be fine. I've got Coulson and his boyband looking after me. No one knows I'm going to Hawaii. Everything is under false names. I'm going as Edward Rogers, a SI expert in Arc Reactors. I'll be fine."

"I'll miss you." Steve murmured, "Will you miss me?"

"Like a fibre gone from my heart." Tony's voice was soft, but honest, "I love you."

"I know." Steve whispered into Tony's hair.

Clint felt uncomfortably like a voyeur as he watched the goodbyes. Feigning he was saying goodbyes of his own to Phil.

Not that he wasn't saying goodbye. But they were also saying a lot more.

"Twenty men." Phil muttered into Clint's ear, "Tony's only aware of four. And I'm sharing his room."

"I wish I could come." Clint whispered.

"Too risky." Phil countered, "Tony could figure something out. Besides we need you here for Iron Man. He's getting bolder."

"I know." Clint sighed, "His attacks are increasing in size."

"And the Winter Soldier is getting closer to killing someone." Phil breathed, "He almost took Rollins' shoulder out permanently."

Clint suppressed a shudder. It could have been him. It should have been him. That was the worst part. The Avengers had been sent off chasing Doctor Doom, again. So when Iron Man and the Winter Soldier had started causing trouble, Rumlow's STRIKE team had been sent instead.

The pair of Supervillains had taken them down… Hard.

Rumlow was still off with a broken leg, caused when he fell from his perch on top of a building. He'd managed to use a grapple to save his life, but when going down the last little bit, the cord had been cut. A well-aimed knife severing it from a distance.

Rollins had gotten too close to Iron Man. The Winter Soldier had retaliated firmly. Not enough to kill… But enough to make sure that Rollins didn't manage to use the short range EMP grenade he had had in his hand.

"Fury believes it's only a matter of time before they try for the DC offices." Phil confided.

"Keep him safe?" Clint pleaded, "We'll deal with everything else."

"I know. I will."

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It was on the morning of the fourth day after Tony and Phil had left that Clint found Steve knocking on his door.

"What?" Clint asked, bleary eyed.

"Tony hasn't called." Steve declared hurriedly, "Has Phil called you?"

"Steve," Clint rubbed his eyes, "It's early. What time is it?"

"It is five o'clock, Master Clint." Jarvis supplied easily.

"Five a-fricking-clock," Clint almost snarled at Steve, "That makes it, what? Nine, ten? They had that Luau thing last night. Phil said something about it going on for hours."

"But Tony has never called later than this." Steve countered.

"They were up late." Clint argued, "They're sleeping in. Tony told you that he'd finished what he needed to do. He probably partied all night. Been a while since he felt comfortable enough to celebrate. Phil told me the party was mainly the engineers and technicians from the plant. They're Tony's kind of people… Since Afghanistan he's been more comfortable with normal people than the upper class."

"No," Steve shook his head, "He's always been that way. But he would have called me."

"He's sleeping." Clint repeated.

However he wasn't certain. He felt an unsettled feeling in his gut. Something was wrong and he knew it. But he had to have faith. Faith that Phil was handling it. Faith that Phil had everything under control.

"Look," Clint sighed, "Let's go upstairs to the common area. You can make me breakfast. I'll try to wake up. If we haven't heard from them in half an hour, then we can panic. Okay?"

"Alright." Steve conceded, "But I've got a bad feeling about this."

You and me both, Clint thought. But he would never say it.

Half an hour later the two of them had been joined by Sam, who, bereft of his normal running partner, had gone looking for Steve.

Steve was picking at his breakfast pancakes, while Clint was operating under the principle that he would need the energy later. Sam had declared that if he wasn't going running he needed something to help him wake up properly, so coffee would have to do.

"Master Steve," Jarvis spoke up, "There is a call on the landline, would you like to answer it?"

"Is it Tony?" Steve asked.

Clint knew it wasn't. Jarvis wouldn't have asked if it were Tony. He would have just put Tony through.

"No, Master Steve," Jarvis replied, "It is a call from Iolani Palace. Though which particular extension I have not yet determined. If you desire I can put them on hold and identify which of the many phone lines it is from and thus who is calling."

"Just put them through." Steve instructed.

"Of course, Master Steve." Jarvis acknowledged.

"Hello, who is this?" Steve spoke to thin air.

It still seemed weird to Clint that Tony had the entire place wired so that he could talk on his phone without having a phone on him in every freaking room of the private floors. Jarvis could even tune a person in or out, depending on who was on the phone. So you could be in the room while someone else was talking and never be heard.

"Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, Five-Oh," The speaker declared, "I am trying to contact Clinton Steven."

"What is this regarding?" Steve asked.

"Edward Rogers." McGarrett replied, "Am I speaking to Clinton Rogers?"

"In a manner of speaking," Steve answered, "Is it possible to turn this into a video call. I prefer to seek whom I'm talking with."

"Of course," McGarrett agreed easily, "Give me a moment."

About twenty seconds later, the TV screen displayed what was clearly a military man, despite his casual dress of black jeans and a blue t-shirt. What looked like a black tribal tattoo peaked out from under the t-shirt. The dark hair was cropped military short as well.

"Which one of you is Clinton Steven?" McGarrett questioned.

"It's not Clinton Steven," Clint replied, "Its Clint and Steve. I'm Clint. Blond is Steve."

"I'm Sam." Sam piped up, "And you're confused. So am I. What is a Navy man doing calling us?"

"Five-Oh," Clint shrugged, "Governor's Task Force for Hawaii. Led by Lieutenant Commander Steven Jack McGarrett. Formerly US Navy. Now in the Reserves. Head of the Five-Oh Task Force."

Everyone turns to stare at him.

"Phil does his research!" Clint protested, "It just stuck with me."

No need to mention that Clint's auditory memory was damn near perfect. He'd trained it to be. Poor literacy skills as a child had meant that learning by listening was a lot easier than reading.

If he could hear it, he could remember it.

"What exactly am I missing here?" McGarrett demanded.

"Edward Rogers doesn't exist." Steve sighed, "It's a false identity. One that was being used by my husband; Tony Stark. What has happened?"

"Last night the Governor was attending a Luau along with Edward Rogers and many other SI employees." McGarrett stated, "None of them have been seen since. Do you have any information about what might have happened? Have you been contacted at all?"

"No," Steve shook his head, "Tony's been checking in with me every morning and night. I knew something was wrong when he didn't call this morning. I last spoke to him last night. Before the party. Nothing was wrong. He was upbeat. Happy. He'd done his job, I think. He was keeping a secret. But it wasn't anything bad. He can't lie to me."

Clint wasn't so sure about that. He was fairly certain that Tony kept secrets and lied to Steve… To all of them.

But it wasn't about anything serious. Tony wouldn't do that to them. It wasn't his style. It wasn't his nature.

He cared for them too much to deceive them with malicious intent… So it wouldn't be about anything serious.

"Steve," A voice from off camera called out, "Fong called. There's an issue with the DNA… Steve, why are we video conferencing with two military guys and a civilian warrior?"

"What?" McGarrett blinked, even as a shorter blond man walked into shot.

"Sorry, who are you?" Steve asked, "And how do you know my name?"

"You're Steve too?" The newcomer was surprised, "Steve is McGarrett's first name. This could get confusing. I'm Detective Williams. Who are you? And what is your relation to this case?"

"I am Steve Stark," Steve replied, "Tony Stark's husband. Edward Rogers being a false identity being used by Tony for this trip."

"And nobody thought to give us a heads up about that, because?" Williams stared, "Never mind, it's too late for that now. What was his security detail like?"

"Security detail?" McGarrett frowned.

"There was either a kidnap attempt or an assassination attempt less than a month ago," Williams waved his hands around slightly, "Completely destroyed the lobby of his home. No one knows who or why. Of course he had a security detail. It would have been better if we had known he was coming, because then we wouldn't have been caught flat-footed like this."

"Twenty one." Clint supplied, "He had a detail of twenty one."

"Twenty two." Sam shook his head, "He took Happy as well."

"Happy?" McGarrett asked.

"Harold Hogan." Steve answered, "Head of Security for SI."

"The rest are employees under him?" Williams pressed, "What are their contracts like?"

"They are not part of SI." Clint returned, forcibly calm, "Outsiders."

"Contract?" Williams blinked, "What agency?"

"Classified." Clint bit back any further details.

"One of the Alphabet Agencies then." Williams sighed, "Please tell me it's not the CIA."

"No," Sam smiled, "Why? Don't you like them?"

"They kidnapped me once." Williams shrugged, "I doubt all of the detail would have gone to the Luau."

"We don't know the set up." Steve answered, "I didn't want to know."

"Why?" McGarrett frowned.

"We work in security." Clint replied, "If we'd known, we'd know how to take it down. That would make us worry more."

"If we assume that they were working shifts of eight hours," Williams started to ponder aloud, "And that at any one time they had at least two people securing Tony's room… I make that three maybe four people with Tony at the Luau. That means we have as many as seventeen people unaccounted for, that we didn't know about before, who have not checked in… Chin!"

"Yes, Danny?" Another voice came over the call.

"Take Kono and check out the hotel Rogers was staying at again." Williams instructed.

"We looking for anything in particular?" The question was fired back.

"Seventeen dead bodies." Williams returned, "At most. Rogers had a security detail of twenty two. And not all of them were at the beach."

"SI is careful with their employees." The voice remarked almost appreciatively.

"They do when Rogers is actually Tony Stark." Williams retorted.

"Right. So we're looking for a seriously well organised and well-armed group." The speaker remarked, "This was not something thrown together overnight. Most likely an international organisation."

"Can we be certain about that?" McGarrett argued, "They could simply be after a ransom."

"You don't go after Tony Stark for a ransom." Williams countered, "Never in a million years."

"He's a billionaire." McGarrett disputed.

"But it is his mind that is far more valuable." Williams' hands were going at full throttle, "The man is a genius."

"I thought that was pure hype." McGarrett frowned.

"Not at all." Steve interrupted, "He is far smarter than the rumours."

"Abandoned warehouses." Williams declared, "We start with those. The ones nearest the shore."

"Why those?" Clint frowned.

"No vehicles were caught on camera leaving the scene large enough to remove all the people at the Luau." Williams shrugged, "It was on the beach… Makes sense to use the water. And if you don't want to move someone too far, using a beachfront warehouse is logical."

"They could have just dumped everyone else." McGarrett pointed out.

"Doubtful," Williams shook his head, "At least one body would have washed up by now. Plus if they wanted to kill everyone they could have done it on the beach."

"Could be worried about people finding the bodies." Clint countered.

"No," McGarrett disagreed, "Private beach. Wouldn't have had anyone stumble across the bodies. Not for several days. Danny, what's Fong's issue with the DNA?"

"Really, McGarrett?" Williams' eyebrow rose, "In front of them? Discussing ongoing case details?"

"We've been doing it already." McGarrett argued.

"Not to this extent." Williams reminded, "Nothing that they didn't know already or could figure out. Apart from the fact that people are missing."

"Detective Williams," Steve pulled himself up to his full height, "This is a case involving my husband. I am literally on the other side of the country to Hawaii. I have not left New York in the last two days. I highly doubt I can be considered to be involved. However Tony Stark is my husband. I have the right to know what is going on."

"Quite frankly, Mister Stark, I trust nobody with Tony's safety. I am of the belief that nobody has the right to know what is going on with him. Not his husband." Williams had stopped moving and pulled himself up to his full height, which was at least a foot shorter than Steve. Not that height translated all that well on the vid-screen.

"You know Tony." Sam blinked in surprise, "You're defensive of him. Protective. When did you meet?"

"Officially we never have." Williams replied, "We will contact you when we have more information. Until then, this conversation is over."

Williams' fingers danced over the computer table and the connection went dead.

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Please Review.

Thanks to my reviewers:

Saphrae – Thank you. As for the secrets… Well, Tony's not looking for it. And it's amazing what people can miss when they aren't expecting it. Marilyn Munroe once walked down a street with a reporter and no-one saw her. That is until she "put on the Marilyn" and changed how she walked and then everyone saw Marilyn.

DaemonWolfe – I like ominous.

Once again thank you.