MJ sat down next to Peter on the couch, coffee mug in hand. "Where did you go last night? I'm assuming it's why you're working."

Peter chuckled. If she hadn't had coffee in her hands she definitely would have put air quotes around 'working'. He turned off the tablet he had been looking at and put it on the table in front of him. "Johnny and I checked out the lab." He shifted on the sofa to look at her. "The tech that they're using is disturbingly similar to some tech we came across a couple weeks ago. I've been trying to see what I can come up with on both the tech and Basil."

MJ took a sip of coffee. "Any luck?"

Peter shook his head. "No. Basil has less of an internet presence than you do, which seems weird for a computer guy. And the tech is still unknown."

"So what are you going to do?"

Peter looked down at his lap. "I don't know. I mean I need to talk to Ned and see if I can find out what's going on." He picked up his phone. "I texted him this morning to see if we could get together sometime today and I haven't heard back."

MJ took a sip of coffee. "Ok. So if you don't hear from him we'll track him down."

Peter shook his head. "There's no 'we' in this. Until I know what's going on you're not coming with me." He looked over at her. "It's non negotiable. Being in the boxes is one thing. Going somewhere potentially dangerous is out." His eyes softened a little. "Please don't fight me on this. It's bad enough Ned is potentially messed up in this. I don't want you in it too."

MJ studied Peter. He was trying. "Ok as long as you keep me informed. He's my friend too. And, you don't go anywhere by yourself. Take Bobby with you if you go see him. He at least knows Ned so it won't be weird."

To Peter's surprise, Ned texted him back a couple hours later. They arranged to meet at a sandwich place in Pasadena. Keeping his word to MJ, he brought Bobby with him which meant explaining what he and Johnny had done last night.

"I can't believe Ned would be mixed up in this." Bobby commented as Peter pulled into the parking lot of the sandwich place. "He's a really good guy."

Peter nodded, turning off the engine. "He is. I think sometimes he gets into things without knowing all of the pieces." He still wasn't sure how he was going to broach the subject. He really didn't want to start lunch with 'so Ned, I broke into your lab last night and I think you're mixed up with some bad guys'. Hopefully something would come to him during lunch.

Ned arrived a few minutes after they did. "Hey guys! How's hanging out at the beach?"

"It's great! I'm learning to surf. It's almost as fun as snorkeling in Hawaii." Bobby greeted Ned with a hug. "You need to come out for the day."

"I wish. If we can get this project wrapped up maybe I can make Friday." Ned ordered his food after the other two.

"So tell me about the project. You said organic interface. What does that mean?" Peter sat down at an empty table, Ned and Bobby sitting across from him.

Ned thought about how to answer the question. "You know how Tony can control the nanotech armor but Rhodey can't? This is something that could bridge the gap for everyone who doesn't have a brain that can do it on its own."

Peter thought through the process. "What's the ultimate application?"

Ned shrugged. "I think it's more about seeing if we can do it. From there the application could be endless. Everything from military application to prosthetic application."

"How on earth are you controlling it." Bobby was reaching the limit of his knowledge in the area. His major was strictly mathematics. He could probably work the math behind it but not the interface and definitely not the biologic side. But, if he asked questions it would seem less like Peter was grilling Ned.

"It's tied into the brain stem." Ned took a bite of his sandwich. "It's a little complex. Basil is good with organics though."

Peter stared at his sandwich. Brain stem interface. That's exactly what the new fixer was doing. He frowned and looked up. "Won't that allow for the possibility of someone else to take control?"

Ned shrugged. "I've got a bunch of code built in that won't allow that to happen."

"But it could be overridden." Peter couldn't help himself. This was pretty much a nightmare scenario for him. With his abilities, if someone else took control there's no end to the damage he could do.

Ned looked at Peter. "Why is this bothering you so much."

"Ned, you know why it's bothering me." Peter was frustrated that Ned didn't see the danger in what he was doing.

Bobby looked between the two. "Both of you cool it." He looked at Ned. "Just be careful and make sure you have enough controls in place." He grinned to break the tension. "You're smart enough when it comes to computers that you have it handled, right?"

Ned shifted his eyes from Peter to Bobby. "I'm not doing anything nefarious. The goal is to give people with prosthetics more control."

"See Peter. Nothing nefarious." Bobby refrained from kicking Peter under the table.

Peter forced a smile. "Ned, I know you have good intentions. The idea of somebody controlling someone else just freaks me out a little. Sorry."

Ned forced a smile on his face too. "I know. Sorry I'm edgy. The last couple weeks have been pretty rough."

"So even if you aren't done, we're planning on coming to kidnap you on Friday and you're spending the day at the beach with us." Bobby picked up his drink and took a sip.

Ned finished his sandwich. "That sounds like a plan. Which means I probably need to go back to the lab and see if I can finish up." He stood up and waited for Peter and Bobby to stand up. He gave Bobby a quick hug. Then looked at Peter. "I promise I'm not doing anything."

Peter leaned over and hugged him. "I know. I miss you Ned." He let go. "We're serious about kidnapping you Friday."

Ned smiled and nodded. "I'll see you Friday then."

Bobby and Peter watched him walk out of the sandwich shop then followed, climbing into the SUV. Bobby glanced over at Peter. "Well?"

"Whatever this is he's not doing it on purpose but he is more stressed than I've seen him." Peter pulled out of the parking space and merged into traffic. Both he and Bobby missed the dark colored car parked a couple spaces down from them.

"We may have a problem." Basil spoke into his cell phone.

"We knew it was risky using him but you couldn't find anyone else with the same skill set." The voice on the other end was cold.

"I think they know what's going on. If they were involved when the Avengers picked up our friend then they know too much." Basil had known using Ned was risky but with the expectation put on him he hadn't had another option.

"Just finish the project. If he's an obstacle then neutralize him. You have the information you need. All I care about is delivery."