Little Bird's Vengeance Chapter 54 What Can Be Done

Natasha carefully crept into the Reds' bedroom. Both boys had departed in each other's company, thus giving them a window to complete their mission. Clint was keeping a lookout while she searched for genetic material.

There were a few short black hairs on the pillows. She carefully used a pair of tweezers to store them in a specimen jar, but held little hope. The two boys had pretty much the same hair, so it was entirely possible all she had were Red Robin's hairs. Even then, hair was not the most reliable DNA source.

She checked the bathroom. Two toothbrushes. Bullseye. She carefully examined the brushes, noting the make and color, and departed. She quickly found some identical brushes in unused bedrooms, and switched them for the used ones.

Yes, she had DNA from the younger, but she definitely had some from the older.

"I'm done," she whispered in her comm as she left. "Meet you at the Quinjet."

"Tony, Dr Banner, can I have a word?" Tim asked, sticking his head in the lab.

"Sure, come join us," Tony invited. Tim slipped through and sat down opposite Jane and Betty. "I've got an idea that could give us a few hints," Tony babbled. "It's genius; I mean-"

"If you don't mind, can it wait a little?" Tim asked. "I have a potential new member of the team. Specialist in biochemistry. He could be brilliant, but he's fairly inexperienced."

"Might be good," Tony mused. "Can I meet him?"

"You already have," Tim admitted. "It's Spiderman."

"He's a biochemist?" Bruce asked. "Is that how he got his abilities? I'd thought he was a mutant."

"Not sure, but his webbing is of his own design and manufacture," Tim shrugged. "Hood and I spoke to him this afternoon. He's interested, but he's not sure yet. He's very private; he may well keep his identity secret even if he does join us."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Okay, for a moment let's leave aside that you asked him before me. How were you planning on making this work?"

Tim sat back in his chair. "Well, he's still a student full-time. If you were to give his civilian ident a research internship with a half-decent wage, I can sort it out so his company records are buried enough for no-one to notice the anomaly. We could even modify Jarvis' memory banks so he can't tell which employee he is. Then he'll have a reason to give to anyone asking just what he's up to after classes. Of course, he may decide to give you his name, which would make things easier."

"But you know who he is?" Tony clarified.

"I do, yes, but that's not my story to tell," Tim said simply.

"Right. Well, I'm in. Now, why didn't you ask me first?"

He shrugged. "I only managed to put together a workable plan to ask him without getting the brush-off or a punch to the face about ten minutes before I had to carry it out. And you were always much more likely to agree anyway. What's this idea you mentioned?"

Tony glared, but allowed him to change the subject. "We want to send you to Asgard," he said. "We thought we'd ask you fist, because Thor's much more likely to agree."

Jane glowered, confirming Tim's suspicion that Tony was ad-libbing. "We think your teleport accident may have something to do with an Einstein-Rosen bridge like BiFrost," she explained. "But because of the biological differences between you and Thor, we want a more direct comparison.

"Fair enough," Tim shrugged. "I'll speak to the others. Keep me posted."

He rose, and went to find his brother.

"You okay, Kon?" Cassie asked.

Her boyfriend sighed. "Isn't it incredible the situations those Bats get everyone into?"

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "What've they done now?"

"Oh, the usual. No-one trusts Rob anymore because of Hood." Kon rolled his eyes and slumped into the couch.

"And you've managed to get a word in somewhere," Cassie deduced.

"I told Stark and Rhodes that we just wanted to keep Hood safe for Rob and B's sake," Kon replied. "They agreed as long as Hood didn't give them a reason to do otherwise."

"Well, that's something," Cassie sighed. "You haven't mentioned it to either Rob or Hood, have you?"

"Of course not; he'd probably get upset at me for trying to fight his battles for him," Kon answered, rolling his eyes again.

"He really needs to learn to let people help him," Cassie muttered.

"What can we do to help?" Kon asked. "I mean, since we arrived, it's basically been let him do the work, and help out the Avengers."

"Right. What can we do?" Cassie asked rhetorically. "What does he need help with, and what are we capable of that might help?"

Kon say up straight. "Let's see. He's got the research on what caused the accident. He's got that conspiracy, whatever's going on with the drones, tech suits and that drug bust. And now the Sons of the Serpent."

"There's not much we can do about the research," Cassie said rationally. "Not anywhere near our skillset. We're powerhouses; fast and strong, but we're not detectives. We're not experts in analysing crime patterns."

"No, but a lot of that relies on information," Kon reminded her. "What does he need to know that we can find out for him?"

"I don't know where to start for the conspiracy, but I know what his main problem with the Sons of the Serpent is," Cassie murmured. "He doesn't know who they are. Now, what we can do is run everywhere and search for clues."

AN: Bit of intrigue all round.

Also updating, Jason and the Argonauts. Coming soon, Black and Red and more JA.

Please review!

Katara