Chapter Thirteen: Why Aliens?

*TIME SKIP: 1 MONTH* (Basically, it has now been two years since Harry [Hiro now] arrived and the boys are sixteen. Get ready for an actual storyline, people! [*incredulous gasps*] One thing out the way right now: this starts partway into the movie, around the time when all the agents are – Lucky)

Phil Coulson was annoyed. Specifically, Phil Coulson was annoyed at the Director. He had the nerve to tell him that they were getting the Avengers together – a roster that included Captain America for God's sake! – and then tell him to pick up Stark of all people instead of Steve Rogers. He knew how much Phil liked Captain America. Sure, Maria called him a fanboy… but that guy was a living legend! Everybody would be as excited as he was if they knew!

But no, he had to go pick up Stark, who was as annoying as ever and now he's supposed to be finding some kid in the middle of New York. He'd much rather be briefing Captain America than walking on a busy sidewalk towards a library the teen was known to frequent. Hmm, Peter Parker. Why did the Director want him?

The agent slid between two gaggles of skimpily-dressed women and finally found the library he was looking for, praying that he could find the sixteen-year-old inside, so he didn't have to navigate back through the crowds to the nearest base to check the CCTV cameras again. The building was much less impressive than the one in Manhattan, but it was smaller and quiet, nearly abandoned, a fact which Phil was glad for since it made finding his target easier.

He saw two or three kids gathered excitedly around a play table, grabbing at the crayons in the center with papers in front of them and a librarian making sure they didn't draw on the books instead. Further in, he wove through the bookshelves and tables to the teen section, hoping to find the boy he was looking for there.

Phil ran through the description and the picture he had been given. Brown hair, brown eyes, fair-skinned and a bit lanky, though he wasn't all that tall. Director Fury had also told him to not underestimate the kid, which was something coming from the director. But when he got to the teen section of the library, it was empty, devoid of anyone or anything.

The agent sighed, plodding off to the next section, cursing Fury in his head. The entire library was almost empty, like no one wanted to be there if they had something better to do. Of course, you wouldn't find many people in a library on a weekend anywhere. Wandering around and effectively avoiding any overly friendly librarians, he finally found life in the far back corner of the library, a table and chair situated between the adult and non-fiction sections. There was a thick, open tome lying halfway open on the table and all Phil could see of the reader was his mop of brunet hair as he leaned over the book.

The person didn't respond to his presence, though he somehow had the feeling that the boy knew he was there, and there was a duffel bag by his chair. As he watched, the reader finished whatever he was trying to finish, closing the book with a heavy breath out. He looked up and Phil was met with a surprisingly youthful face, even though he knew he was supposed to find a teenager for reasons not explained to him.

"Hey, super-secret-agent-y guy," the guy sighed, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "Fury cannot leave me alone. It's been a month. Ish. Maybe?" Now he looked confused at his own sentence as he picked up his bag, along with the book. The hardback was brought up to an empty space on one of the shelves and when he brought his hand away, Phil could read the title. A Guide to Thermonuclear Astrophysics. He wasn't sure, but that seemed a little above the high school level, if you noted his sarcasm. He was just hopeful he wasn't sent to find a mini Stark clone. "I told him to find me if the world was ending. Or aliens. And I don't see the world ending…" The shorter glanced around as if he would find the apocalypse behind the plastic chair. "… so, did someone find an alien?"

Phil found himself close to a smile of his own. "In a way. We have an alien object. An unlimited power source. I'm Agent Phil Coulson. I'll debrief you further in a more private environment, Mr. Parker." At the last word, the boy frowned in an irritated way he didn't understand.

"Did he have to give away my ID?" he whined. "I mean, I wasn't thrilled when he found out, now he goes telling it to every agent in his pirate ship?" Oh, yes. This teenager would get along great with Stark and was – thankfully – less annoying. Phil actually kind of liked him.

"If it's any consolation, Mr. Parker, I'm Director Fury's right hand," Agent Coulson smirked and adjusted his sunglasses. "He doesn't tell many people anything, that's for certain. I'm not even sure what you mean about your identification…"

"Call me Peter," Peter nodded with respect and a relieved smile. "Then you're in for a surprise, 'cause I'm not going anywhere that has people who don't know my name without my suit. I'll meet you on the roof in five… maybe less." He ducked swiftly into the maze of tomes, grabbing the one he'd been reading and its thicker sequel, from what the spy could catch. "I'm gonna need this… unlimited power source… how should I help if I don't know? ... why did I say aliens?" And so on as he made his way to the exit out of Phil's sight.

Guess he was going to the roof.

It took him a while, but he eventually found stairs up to it with the help of a bamboozled library assistant and went to stand by the cloaked Quinjet they would be taking to the Helicarrier. The agent didn't know why he was meeting his target on the roof; he was mostly just glad the jet fit on the library and that no one had noticed its landing. It had taken him a little over two minutes to get to the roof and one minute later, he caught sight of a figure swinging his way across the city.

Spider-man.

The director had tracked that crazy guy down a while back for a meeting and came back in only a minutely worse mood than he had been in when he left. Apparently, the vigilante wouldn't join the team, but had offered his help if anything major came up. Speaking of that… was Spider-man swinging his way? Phil narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses as the arachnid-themed hero landed on the library in a crouch before getting up smoothly.

"And I'm back! Miss me, Agent Coulson?" he wiggled his fingers in a wave at the confused spy. The air cleared when he pulled down his half-mask and pushed his goggles up from his eyes, leaving Phil staring at Peter's young face. "Surprise! I mean, I'm surprised head-honcho didn't explain who you were picking up, but whatevs! You must be surprised!" The man stood shell-shocked for a minute while Spidey rambled as he tried to adjust his perception to include "Spider-man is a teenager." Like the good secret agent he was, it only took him as long Tony Stark's attention span was. Which was to say, not very long at all.

"You could say that," Phil smirked while the hero replaced his disguise. "Hop in." He discreetly pressed the "Uncloak" button on the remote hidden when he clasped his hands behind his back. He also enjoyed the low, impressed whistle that traveled shockingly well despite the mask blocking the boy's mouth.

"Sweet ride," he commented and followed Phil inside, taking a load off on one of the middle seats and setting the same duffel next to him. "Where 're we off to?"

"A floating base." He left the remarkably young superhero to determine his own assumption of what "floating" meant in this context.

"Sea or air?"

Phil gave Spidey a respectful glance; most people would just assume and keep it to themselves. "Both. We call it the Helicarrier. But first, we have to pick up another person."

We are somehow up to nearly a hundred favorites, 168 follows, and 38 reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who continues to read, the newcomers that help these numbers climb, and everyone else!

And more magic has happened! We've hit plot, people! Anyways, moving on...

Fury never tells anybody anything, does he? Including Coulson sometimes, which leads to a very confused Phil and Peter rather enjoying his shock. Anyways, I'm drawing a blank for the rest of this author's note, so in summary: Spidey's on his way to crash the Avenger's movie. But if he's with Phil… where's Cap'? You'll find out!

Lucky

To ellainaparker: XD (Sadly, I had to actually look up what that meant, but then I was blushing and smiling for a fair five minutes.)

To Vladimir Mithrander: I'd hope I'm able to write a teenager well, seeing as I am one! But all in all, thank you! I really do enjoy reading these reviews and am so happy you keep reading and enjoying my story.

To Dylan-A-Friend: Thanks! Hope you stick around!

To Silvermane1: Well, we all enjoy a good laugh sometimes! Good to see that you're liking my story!