Peter stared at the window in utter defeat. He heard the admission from Friday about how he was not going to be able to leave while the building was still in lockdown. Flopping back on the bed, his thoughts swimmed around in his head. His enhanced hearing caught wind of the conversation that happened in the living room.

They wanted his DNA. To confirm that Vanessa was his mother. He tried to listen more but his brain interrupted.

No, not a chance. If they take our DNA, they may discover your Spiderman. His brain objected. For once, Peter actually agreed with it. There was no way they could get his DNA.

He turned his ear to beyond the door, listening to any conversations that happened.

"It would be easier if the kid would just open the door." Sam mumbled.

"He doesn't trust us, remember."

"Yeah. Did he say why?"

"Yeah, because we work for SHIELD."

"Makes sense." Rhodes muttered. "Think about it. The kid has been on the run from any government agency for a year, his closest friend or protector is also wanted by the police and SHIELD. I wouldn't trust us either."

"What the hell are we going to do?"

"Maybe we should call Pepper or Lang. Maybe they can convince the kid to open the door. And if that doesn't work we could call Spiderman. He seems hell bent on keeping the kid safe."

"Let's hold off on Spiderman. If we call him, we have to explain why we want the kids DNA, which means explaining about our house guest. He'll no doubt take the kid out of here."

"Alright, so Pepper or Lang it is."


"I don't know Pepper," Tony groaned into his phone. The rest of the Avengers sat around watching the billionaire as he talked to his fiance. He threw his hands up. "God, you act like I did it on purpose." Natasha and Bruce shared a glance as Pepper's voice seemed to float from the phone. Seconds later, Tony removed the phone from his ear and placed it on the table.

"Alright, you're on speaker," Tony announced.

"Okay, someone explain to me what is going on. I swear, I leave for a second and now you have him locked in his room."

"Pepper, it's Bruce. We're sorry to bother you. We just need you to convince him to unlock the door. We need a DNA sample."

"DNA for what?"

"We need a DNA test to prove that Vanessa Foster is in fact Peter's mother."

The voice that answered was not Peppers but another one.

"I'm sorry to bother you Ms. Potts, but we need you in the conference room, immediately."

"I have to go."

"Pep-"

"Tony, I am trying to run your company. Unless you want to do it, I have to go."

Without another word, they were greeted with a click.

"Well that didn't work," Sam mumbled, earning him a few looks.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Bucky questioned.

"We can try Scott," Bruce admitted.


Pepper Potts held her head high as she walked into the conference room, commanding attention. All eyes turned to her immediately. Some stared at her with envy, while others stared in awe. As Pepper sat down, she allowed her eyes to roam around the room, taking in everyone's faces, burning them into her memory. It was one face that made her want to grind her teeth.

He sat as confidence radiated off of him. He smiled a toothy grin at her, making him look pleasant but the glint in his eyes warned her of who he really was under that mask.

"Now that we are all back, let's get back to business," someone announced.

Turning her attention away from the man, she focused all her attention on the school board in front of her. Flashing a smile, she sat up straight.

"You were saying Ms. Potts," another board member announced.

"Yes. Stark Industries is always interested in helping our young minds grow. That's why Tony Stark and Stark Industries has decided to create this program."

"And what does this entail?"

"We will allow for a few bright minds from urban city schools, to come and participate in our internship program. They will be able to have hands-on experience working in our labs, under the supervision of some of our top research scientists. In addition, if they do well there, we will allow for one young person to sign on as a full-time scientist after graduation. The others will receive a very generous scholarship for when they decided to go to college, for all their hard work."

Some board members' eyes widened in what Pepper would consider a comical way. "My goodness."

The man near her leaned forward, eyeing the board carefully. He smiled brightly. "I think we can all agree that what Ms. Potts is offering is amazing, but what my company can offer would be more beneficial."

All eyes turned to him. "And what might that include Mr. Osborn?"

"Well for one, my company doesn't believe in putting one above the other. Why offer only one a job while everyone else is thrust aside."

"It's not thrusting them aside," Pepper interrupted sweetly. "We are allowing them to receive a scholarship, not to mention, listing Stark Industries on your resume would no doubt place these students above any other applicant."

Many heads started nodding. Norman Osborne's eye twitched slightly. He opened his mouth to respond but Pepper cut him off again. "Not to mention, they would get the opportunity to work with Tony Stark himself on occasions."

"Wait, Mr. Stark would be there as well?" Someone voiced in disbelief.

"Yes, of course, when he's not busy."

"Honestly, I wouldn't let Tony Stark anywhere near my child. The man is a ticking time bomb of alcohol," Norman stated with a chuckle. "What's to say that he won't come into the lab, drunk, when the children are there? What happens if he messes something up and hurts someone?"

"That does raise a good point," a board member announced.

"Now, none of my employees would do such a thing," Norman added.

Pepper looked at the man before looking at the board members. "What you say is definitely a cause for concern, but I can personally assure you, Tony has cut back on the drinking habits. In addition, this entire program was his idea. If you believe Tony Stark would put his idea in jeopardy you clearly know nothing about him. Now, as to Mr. Osborn's statement about his employees not drinking and such, we have no way of knowing that. The only reason we know about Tony's drinking habits is because he is in the media more than Oscorp's employees."

Silence filled the room as everyone looked around. "This," a board member started. "This is wonderful, and you both have given us a lot to think about. We will discuss this and get back to you at a later date."

Hands were shaken and goodbye's were made before Pepper exited the room. She was halfway out the building when she heard her name being called. Dread filled her body as turned around.

"May I have a moment of your time?" Norman asked as he gave her a smile.

"If you make it quick. I have a plane to catch."

"Of course. I have been trying to get in touch with Stark for quite some time, but haven't had much success."

"Yes, he's been busy."

"Yes," he said as he rubbed his face. "I was hoping you could pass along a message for me."

"Mr. Osborn, I am not a secretary. If you want to leave a message then you can call his-"

"I am more inclined to speak to the Avengers."

Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked him up and down. "Excuse me?"

"I am wanting to speak to them about my research. It could very well help them, I think."

"Yeah? In what exactly?"

"Cross-species genetics. Injecting animal DNA into the bodies of humans-"

Shaking her head, Pepper held up a hand. "Let me stop you there. I don't know much about what the Avengers do, but I know they do not want that. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go."

Without a second glance, Pepper turned on her heels and walked away. All the while, Norman stared after her as the rejection burned his soul.


"Scott, can you convince him or not?" Tony asked in exasperation. The team sat around staring at the phone as the voice of Ant-Man floated out of it.

"I mean, I don't know. I'm not exactly there and how am I going to talk to him, if you won't go into the room."

"We can slide the phone under the door."

"Yeah guys, you might be on your own with this one. Listen, Maggie is supposed to be back tomorrow. I can come back then, if you can hold off."

"Thanks anyway Scott. We'll try a different method."

"Okay."

The team sat silently staring at one another before Tony hung up the phone. "Well back to square one."

"Maybe we should call Spiderman." Sam voiced.

"Why?"

"It makes the most sense. The kid trusts him." Natasha added.

"The problem with that is, the spiderling agreed to give us the kid if Pepper and Lang watched after him. Neither one of them are here."

Silence filled the room again before Rhodes stood. "I've got it," the man whispered.

Without a word, he walked off towards the kitchen. All eyes followed him as he made a bowl of cereal. Sticking the spoon in the bowl, he slowly made his way towards the room. They all leaned and watched as the man knocked on the door.

"Peter?"

No answer.

"Listen, you don't have to come out if you don't want to, but I brought breakfast in case you're hungry." Rhodes set the bowl on the ground and walked away. As he walked back into the living room, he was greeted with confused looks.

"What was that?"

"We can try and get the kids, DNA from the spoon or the bowl. It may not be much but it might be enough to get a DNA sample from."

Heads started nodding, but it was Tony who deflated the hopefulness. "Has it occurred to you honeybear that he might keep the bowl and spoon?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."