It had been two weeks since Peter had arrived at the Compound, and despite his current situation, he found himself in fairly good spirits.
May had adjusted nicely to the Compound, and actually managed to make a few friends on the staff, with the help of Happy, who insisted on watching over her. Peter had also talked to Ned, who was also adjusting nicely to openly being a friend of Spider-Man.
Surprisingly, the heat regarding Beck's video was starting to die down, partially thanks to Fury's team and their "clean-up" efforts, while also due to other news sources siding with Spidey and actively disproving the video. Despite this, Sam offered to let him stay at the Compound as long as he wanted, which Peter accepted.
In his time there, Peter had gotten a lot more friendly with the Avengers. He had cooked lunch with Scott and Wanda, which had somehow ended in half the kitchen catching fire. He had also worked on his tech with Tony and Bruce on a near daily basis, with the occasional assistance from Rhodey. He started a training regiment alongside Carol, put together by Sam for the "new Avengers".
As it turns out, Captain Marvel was officially joining the Avengers. When Peter asked why, all he received in response was, "A friend convinced me." Since then, the pair had been hanging out a bit more, mostly just talking or sparring.
"Hey, Spider-nerd. Whatcha up to?"
Oh yeah, and then there was...Wade.
Wade Wilson had been brought in by Wanda Maximoff one week ago, apparently under the order of Nick Fury. From what Peter had learned, Wade was a mercenary by the name of Deadpool, a mutant with regenerative abilities. He'd taken up a similar role as Mr. Barton after the decimation, targeting criminals that survived.
While Fury had insisted that Wilson was just a security measure and not an actual Avenger, that made it all the stranger to see the usually red clad man strolling around the grounds or cooking in the kitchen. That said, he really wasn't awful company, despite his...unique sense of humor.
"Hey, Wade." Peter greeted, continuing to adjust his web shooter without looking up. "Just calibrating my web shooters. They've been a little slow since my last spar with Ms. Danvers."
"You don't say…oh, something shiny!" Wade stated idly as he fiddled with a welding rod nearby, only to yelp as it was snatched away from him by DUM-E, who placed it next to Tony, who had been watching in mild vexation.
"So, what brings you to my lab, Wilson?" The genius asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the red-clad man pointedly. "You need something, or are you just here to break some of my stuff again?"
"That happened on time, and I swear that bot was looking at me funny!" Wade insisted, earning an eye roll from Tony and a chuckle from Peter. "Look, I came down here 'cause One-Eyed Willie sent me. You two are needed in the command center."
Immediately, Peter and Tony looked at each other. With a simultaneous nod of their heads, the former blinked out of existence and appeared in the command center while the latter equipped his web shooters and started swinging towards the same center. Meanwhile, Wade just grumbled as he walked back, like a normal person.
Eventually, the web slinger arrived, entering swiftly. He found Nick Fury, Tony, and Wanda waiting for him. Fury offered the boy a curt nod before turning to the other heroes and speaking.
"As I was saying, we have a situation in Queens." He started, gesturing to a video feed on the wall to his left. "What seems to be a Hydra cell has raided a bank in an attempt to get more funds for their ever shrinking operation."
"How the mighty have fallen." Tony snarked, before addressing Fury himself. "So, how are we dealing with it?"
"Lang is on site, and Wilson, Rhodes, and Danvers are en route." The older man explained, cracking a rare smile. "They've been itching for a fight."
Line Break
"Jackson, hurry the fuck up!" The Hydra squad leader barked, hefting the second to last bag of bills into the armored truck they had arrived in.
The operation had gone smoothly enough, and they had collected enough money to last them another few months. After the Blip, it had become hard to get back to business with the Avengers at full strength once more.
"Jackson! The hell is taking you so damn long?!" He shouted once more, only to receive a pointed "Ahem" in response. He whipped around and raised his rifle, and froze as he came face to face with the Avenger's newest member.
"Hey there, boys." Captain Marvel greeted, her hands glowed a dim yellow as she smirked. "So, we gonna do this the easy way, or are you looking to get rough?"
The soldiers collectively answered with a barrage of gunfire, letting loose on the captain. She didn't even flinch as she fired a blast of energy into the squad leader, before rolling behind a wall and out of the line of fire.
The soldiers started to advance on the obstructed woman, reloading while keeping their weapons trained on the area where she had been standing. As they did this, however, a small red dot on one of the soldier's guns suddenly got very large, as Ant-Man yanked the weapon from the man's hands and kicked him into his ally.
"Heads up, guys!" He quipped before shrinking again to dodge the soldier's gunfire. A second later, a distinct whirl filled the air as the two remaining soldiers were blasted into the far wall, followed by War Machine making a three point landing a few feet away.
"You still with me, Scott?" The armored man asked, scanning his surroundings for the other Avenger. Sure enough, Scott popped into existence next to him, sending his teammate a thumbs up.
"Yeah, I'm good!" Scott confirmed, beaming beneath his helmet. A few seconds later, a blast of yellow soared past both heroes and collided with the last HYDRA soldier.
"And that's game." Carol quipped, tapping her commlink and speaking as it hummed to life. "Wilson, we're all clean here. What's your status?"
"Last truck should be stopped now." The new Avengers leader reported. "Mind doing so recon so I can be sure?"
"I'm on it." Rhodey and Carol answered simultaneously, before shooting each other matching glares.
"I'm faster than you, Rhodes. I got this." The captain insisted before launching into the air before the armored man could retort. She soared above the bank and surrounding cityscape as she scanned for any remaining vehicles. Sure enough, a lone, black truck matching the other three they had intercepted sped down a distant alleyway. "Alright, I've got eyes on one more truck. I'll take care of it."
"Say again, Carol. Did you say another truck?" Wilson asked as Carol flew down towards the truck, which pulled into a large grey warehouse, a metal door closing as soon as the truck made it inside.
"Yeah, another truck. Why?"
"Because they only had t-" Wilson tried to explain, before Carol's comms erupted with static, making her shout in surprise and turn them off. She hovered briefly outside of the warehouse, weighing her options before charging through the doors.
She was shocked, however, to find the building completely empty. Hell, the darkness within was barely even affected by her powers, a dim yellow glow only shining a few feet into the crisp black void.
What the hell?
Suddenly, she felt something stab into her neck, and her entire body felt weaker. She thrashed in an attempt to get free, but it was pointless. Whatever had her was slowly draining her, her entire body feeling heavy. She fell to her knees, her breaths now frantic and heavy. As her eyes began to shut, she swore that green mist started to creep out of the darkness towards her.
Then she was gone.
Line Break
"Wilson, where the hell did she go?!" Tony hissed, frantically throwing around screens and analyzing signatures as the Avengers in the field searched for their newest member. Fury was also scanning screens and video feeds, while Peter and Wanda just stood to the side. The later eyed the former curiously as he drummed his fingers nervously on his arm.
"She'll be fine, Peter." Wanda assured him, coaxing a smile from the web-slinger.
"Thanks, Wanda." He muttered, before the doors of the command center opened, revealing a winded Wade Wilson.
"What...the fuck...did I...miss?" He sputtered as he tried to catch his breath, ignoring the duel glares he received from Stark and Fury.
"Danvers is MIA." Fury answered cooly, resulting in a bemused look from the merc with a mouth.
"What the f-Just trace her damn energy signature!"
"We tried that, jackass. Something is masking it." Tony replied without hesitation, before the communication line chirped with another voice.
"Tony, I think I found where she went." Wilson reported. "I'm transmitting my view now."
Sure enough, a new perspective popped up the main screen of the room, catching everyone's attention. A battered, grey warehouse with a whole punched into one of its walls came into view. Wilson entered the building, and found it shrouded in darkness.
"I can't see a damn thing. Activating night vision." He informed them, before the screen went green, displaying a slightly brighter room. Peter physically felt the air leave his lungs as he spotted several dark splotches on the ground. Wilson noticed them to, and moved towards them to inspect. "Christ. It's blood."
"Holy shit." Wade muttered, clearly put off by this knowledge to the point that he really had nothing to say. Tony suddenly reached out and adjusted the view, zooming in on what looked like a canister lying a few feet away.
"Wilson, what is that?"
Wilson followed the instruction, and picked up the canister and inspected it. It was no bigger than his forearm, and was completely empty.
"Looks like some kind of chemical canister." He mused, turning it over in his hands. "We should probably analyze where it's-"
Wilson fell silent, as did the rest of the command center, as his eyes landed on two words on the side of the canister, in big white letters.
Stark Industries.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, turning to his mentor with a look of shock. Tony looked no better, pulling up another screen and ordering FRIDAY to track that damn product.
It appears as though the canister is one attached to the MARK 3 TACTICAL DRONE. She informed the team. These drones are attached to the EDITH system.
Immediately, Tony and Fury made eye contact, and a silent agreement was reached.
"Um, what's the deal with that EDITH thing?" Wade asked. Softly, near silently, Peter answered him.
"The last person to use the EDITH system was Quintin Beck."
All eyes in the room settled on the web-slinger, who met Tony's eyes with an undeniable look of fear.
"And if someone used those drones to hurt Ms. Danvers, and it wasn't us, then...that means…"
Beck is alive.