Chapter 24: Escape from Hawkeye Island

September 13

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

The little rescue team had been quick getting to the jet, and Kurt got them in the air almost immediately, following close behind the transport that had Kate and Tony in it. It was a long flight, and Sam in the copilot seat knew better than to try and start up a conversation with the look Kurt had on that said he was ready to run through everyone on that plane that wasn't Kate or Tony.

Fitz's bugs had worked exactly as they'd been intended, and he was joyfully telling them exactly how they worked as they followed the trace on the screen. " …. It worked because they didn't turn on, you see — not until the scanners had gone over them and the magnetic field they produced by scanning triggered the devices to switch on. They'll never find it! Even the ones on Osborn are working perfectly!"

"FItz," Clint said at last.

"I just … you need to know how it worked, not just that it did," he replied.

"Tell us about it when we get back," Clint said, shaking his head.

"Oh, sure, once the buzz from knowing it worked right is all gone. Typical."

"Kinda got other things on our minds right now. I know it's easy to forget now that your better half is back and all."

"Just ... try to recover them if you can," Fitz said. "I'd hate to think someone might run out of ideas for those trick arrows you're so fond of just because you don't have any appreciation for the work that goes into this kind of thing."

Clint chuckled. "Fitz, I'll write you a thank you note. Just not. Now." He was shaking his head as Natasha smirked his way.

"Anything for more toys," she teased.

"They're fun toys," Clint defended.

Natasha shook her head at him and rolled her eyes.

Besides the light teasing, though, the jet was more or less quiet. It wasn't until the early morning — though, admittedly, they had changed a few time zones — that the transport they were following finally landed. It looked like a private island, and Kurt had to circle a few times to find a spot to land that wouldn't kick up enough sand to give them away, even though they were invisible.

"Shouldn't be too hard to find them; the island isn't too big," Sam muttered Kurt's way, though the Kurt wasn't listening, just ready to go.

The moment the door to the jet was open, they poured out. The bugs that Logan had placed on Tony showed that he, at least, was at a lighthouse on the rocks at the north end of the island, which was where Kurt and Clint were headed. Sam and Natasha swung around to cover their backs — and take out any guards that had been left on the island with their friends.

They didn't get far at all before they encountered the first signs of trouble. Sam very nearly wound up at the bottom of a deep pit filled with spikes — if he hadn't been wearing his flight suit. The ground had simply given out beneath him, and not a one of them had seen any warning signs.

Sam stared down at the pit for a moment and let out a long, low whistle. "Well. Alright then," he said, readjusting his shoulders for a moment before he set off at a slightly slower pace, keeping a more careful eye out.

And on the other side of the island, Kurt and Clint had run into their own problems, though they were decidedly more expected. A large cadre of security.

Clint turned toward Kurt with a small grin and swept his arm out. "All yours," he said, and Kurt simply nodded once and burst forward, both swords singing and twirling.

Clint smirked to himself as he followed behind Kurt, quickly putting an arrow through anybody that was stupid enough to try to surprise the very angry swordsman when he was working out several weeks of frustration.

The two of them worked their way toward the lighthouse easily enough once the 'security' had been either dealt with or turned tail — unused to the calibre of fight that one very pissed off Elf and a Hawkeye were capable of. And from there, Clint was the one to step up to get them inside.

Almost immediately, Clint let out a hiss of displeasure when the locking mechanism came with a literal shock — but somehow, that just made him grin wider with a muttered, "oh so that's how we're playing" as he dove back in, tearing into the system as he picked apart wires.

Finally, the door burst open, and Clint looked over at Kurt with a crooked grin.

The two of them burst forward, running up the stairs in perfect tandem before, finally, they hit the top, where there was, frustratingly, one more door to get through.

While Clint set to it, Kurt rapped against the door. "Kate?" he called, and even through the thick wood door, he could hear Kate's delighted 'Kurt!'

Clint wasn't even trying to hide the smirk as he quickly cut through the necessary wires, and when the door slid open, he simply stepped back, clear of Kurt's path, so that Kurt could rush over and wrap Kate up in a warm embrace that turned into a long kiss.

Clint just laughed and leaned against the doorway, waving at Tony with the tips of his fingers. "I'm not doing that for you. By the way."

"Oh, come on; just a little sugar, Ronin?" Tony teased. "You'll give it up for Wade but not me? What? Not pretty enough for you? Or is it that I'm not clingy enough?" When he got out of the room, he didn't bother waiting for the smart alec response before he wrapped him up in a one-armed hug and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, save it for Pepper," Clint grumbled good-naturedly.

"Didn't want you thinking you weren't appreciated," Tony said with a little laugh before he clapped his hands together. "Alright people. I think it's high time we got the hell outta dodge!"

That finally got Kate and Kurt to break apart as Kate said, "Yes please," and then kissed Kurt again, not exactly ready to let him go quite yet — and Kurt wasn't complaining either.

"This is what happens when they haven't seen each other for five minutes. This could take a while," Clint joked Tony's way.

Still, finally, Kate and Kurt were ready to go, though Kurt was down to just the one sword; he gave Kate the other so that she had something to defend herself with.

They'd only taken a few steps onto the craggy rocks before there was a terrific explosion, and all four of them dropped, with Kurt covering Kate protectively. They waited, and when there was no following explosion, Clint hissed out into the comms, "Nat! What happened?"

Clint was halfway holding his breath until Natasha's response, a little strained: "Land mine."

"Land — Nat?"

"Just singed," she promised. "Apparently, Osborn didn't want anyone leaving this place without his permission."

"This place is booby-trapped," Clint muttered, shaking his head. "Of course it is."

"We'll just have to watch our step," Tony said.

"No kidding," Kate muttered under her breath.

The four of them rushed to catch up with Natasha and Sam, running through the surrounding jungle, but about halfway through, there was a strange sort of chattering noise that Kurt and Tony didn't recognize — but that stopped both Hawkeyes in their tracks.

"Go. Faster," Kate said through her teeth, eyes wide.

"Kate, what—"

"Later, Kurt," she said. She didn't know if Norman had gone so far as to actually get some of the monkeys from her Games or if he had gotten some similar or what. Maybe it was just audio. She didn't know, and she didn't want to find out. "Let's go," she insisted, all but pushing Kurt ahead of her to get him to move faster.

But only moments later, there was another explosion — this one far more substantial than the last... and coming from the direction of their hidden jet.

"Nat!" Clint shouted, his tone nearly panicked.

"Not a landmine," she said. "Rocket launcher. Sam's getting me where I need to be."

"The jet?"

"Yeah, that's not happening anymore," Sam said.

All four of the kids on that part of the island looked panicked at that, though it was the two Hawkeyes that looked positively terrified, especially as the chattering seemed to get louder after the explosion.

"Can we go back?" Kate asked quietly.

Kurt took in the totally terrified look on her face and the ill-hidden look of panic on Clint's. "Alright," he said, holding Kate a little closer.

Clint led the path back to the lighthouse, high-tailing it away from the all-too familiar sound of the monkeys in the trees. They were stranded without the jet, but no way were either of the Hawkeyes going to spend their time waiting for backup to arrive in that jungle.

In the Capitol

While the rescue effort was in full swing, back in the Capitol, Logan was still being 'detained', as he liked to consider it, by Hill — though his patience had worn incredibly thin for as late as it was.

He was sure that it was completely unnecessary when the comm in his ear shut off simply because the rest of his team was too far out for him to hear what was going on, but still, she refused to let him slip away from her little group of followers and advisors. And Logan didn't miss that Coulson was in the middle of with a sedate, relaxed smile, obviously enjoying watching Logan keep up the facade for the Capitolites.

It was, Logan was sure, very entertaining for the two former SHIELD leaders. Right up until Coulson put a hand up to his ear as he got some kind of new report and fell into a serious frown.

But the timing couldn't have been better as Hill was trying to steer Logan toward another up and coming politician. At least as far as Logan was concerned.

Coulson stepped between them. "Sorry, Maria, but this is more pressing," he said, and Hill honestly looked a little disappointed before Coulson pulled Logan aside. "Take the jet. The rescue party's plane just fell off the radar, and the instruments are registering a total destruction."

"I can take off in fifteen minutes," Logan agreed, already planning to rush off to at least grab a change of clothes.

"Make it five."

Logan just looked at him for a moment with a frown. "It takes ten to get to the Triskellion."

"Then I guess you'll just have to go in your suit."

Logan looked ready to argue the point — until Hill's politician started to head their way. "Fine. Whatever. Where's the jet?"

"Should be right where Skye left it by the hospital," Coulson said. "Seeing as that was her first stop."

"You're not very nice, you know that?"

"It's news to me," Coulson said with a little smirk.

"Fury would've let me change," Logan pointed out, though he headed out all the same at as quick of a pace that he could without making it look like he was headed somewhere important.

Just like Coulson had said, the jet was near enough to the hospital, and he sent Kamala in on his way — she'd wanted to help Scott, and she could explain at least partly why Scott's ride was leaving early. He loosened his tie as he got moving forward, the vertical lift-off helping at least a little bit, time-wise. Fitz had already sent him the coordinates, and it wasn't until he was well on his way that he realized that by not bringing someone along, he had no way to even look for something else to wear. He grumbled a little more to himself and just pushed the envelope as hard as he could, cutting the length of the flight considerably, since he didn't have to follow behind like Natasha and Clint had been forced to do.

When he got within distance to start a decent approach, he hit the radio looking for one of them to return the call. "Anyone home?" Logan said through the comms. "Heard you needed a ride."

"Don't land," Natasha called back. "The place is covered in land mines."

"That would explain the readouts they got back at HQ," Logan said with a nod. "I'll hover over the rocks. Can't hit mines that way too easy."

"That's perfect. We're holed up in the lighthouse anyway. The wildlife here isn't too friendly either."

"What wildlife?" Logan asked. "Is it the seagulls or the bilge rats getting to you?"

"Not to me. It's some kind of monkeys," Natasha corrected him. "You can hear them once you get in the jungle."

"Well you're dating him; you should be used to that kinda thing by now," Logan deadpanned.

"Very funny," she said. "Either way, it would be better not to go through the jungle."

"Sure, sure. I'll keep it just off the ground. Come on out. Pretty sure the jet'll hold off the 'wildlife'."

Natasha chuckled before she cut off the comms, and it wasn't long before Logan found the group of them. Natasha and Sam looked a little singed from their close encounter with a landmine, but otherwise, they looked relieved to be getting off the island, and the six of them climbed onto the jet.

"So where's the 80-year-old Scotch?" Tony asked with a grin as he got on.

"At the house," Logan replied. "Gotta swing by the Capitol and get the rest of the yea-hoos before we take off."

"Which yea-hoos?" Kate asked.

"Scott, Skye, Kamala … if we're not careful, Trish …" Logan let it fade off as he watched to make sure they were all inside and the hatch closed securely.

"Sounds like a fun group," Kate said with a grin.

"Lil' bit better now, Trickshot."

She beamed at him as she made it a point to poke into the cockpit and kiss his cheek. "I missed you too."

"You missed anyone that wasn't Norman," Logan corrected.

"Yes. I missed anyone who wasn't Norman or Wilson Fisk," Kate said with a nod. "And — what's his name? Wesley with a first name I never ever caught?" She turned Tony's way, and Tony just shrugged.

"Haven't had to deal with him," Logan said.

"You'll know him when you meet him. Huge guy. Ate small boats when he was a boy," Tony said.

"Fisk? Yeah. Him I've seen."

"Hard to miss," Tony said with his arms crossed as he dropped into a seat. "And he's working with Osborn too."

"Oh. Well. Him. We got a date lined up."

"You think so," Tony said, suddenly straightening as it dawned on him how long they'd been on the island. "Uh... what time is it back on the mainland?"

"Hell if I know, I was stuck with Hill still schmoozing when I got sent out." Logan shrugged his shoulders up as they moved out over the water. "Mid-day anyhow. Probably."

"Later than that," Natasha said. "Why?"

"Yeah… see. That means people are voting. And once that starts up, the little program I wrote for Norman is pretty much unstoppable," Tony said with a deeply-settled frown.

Logan gave him a dry look and waved him toward the cockpit. "You need to get on the horn and tell Coulson."

Tony nodded and looked a little frazzled as he sat down next to Logan to get on the radio, though he paused and tipped his head Logan's way. "Taking the chauffeur thing a little too far."

"You're almost as not funny as Parker," Logan replied, eyes forward. "Be a shame if I fell asleep at the stick."

"We'd have to dock your pay."

"You're gonna make me downgrade you to the 20 year old Scotch."

"That's just rude," Tony said with a smirk before he got on the radio to Coulson. "Hey, now, before you all start falling over yourself hearing my dulcet tones again, we've got a problem," he said. "While Kate and I were playing castaways, Osborn had me work up a program to rig the vote. Your new president is about to be sworn in, and the die's already cast on who it is.

"We'll put out a statement before the polls close," Coulson said. "Make sure that the public knows that there's been tampering at the polls."

"Is it going to be soon enough?"

"To stop it outright? No. But to contend the legitimacy of the election itself? Oh yeah. Get the word out, get some forensic computer specialists on it ... someone that will be able to find it with the program writer's help …"

"All while Norman sets himself up for the throne," Tony grumbled. "Yeah, got it."

"We have a department for that," Coulson said with a smirk that could be heard even over the radio.

"Yeah, just put Kate on one side of the room and Kurt on the other — with Normy in the middle," Clint muttered.

"That would be both cruel and unusual for the kind of behavior he's used to," Logan muttered.

"He'd deserve it," Clint said low. "This creep… I mean…. He was ready to bury the spiders and imprisoned my future niece or nephew and my Katie? If you ask me, Kurt'll be too kind."

"Oh, for sure," Logan agreed. "But … he's gotta go down publicly first. And hard."

A slow and crooked grin started at the corner of Clint's mouth. "Hey... drop me off when we get there, huh? I can find a ride back."

"Unless May is flying, I'm goin' to bed when we get back," Logan said with a little yawn.

"I meant drop me off in the Capitol when we pick up your girl," Clint clarified.

"And I meant I'm crashing when the wheels touch down, wherever the hell we are."

Clint smirked. "Nat can fly. You still got a contact number for Trish?"

"Are you kidding me?" Logan said, turning Clint's way. "I'm starting to wonder if she's got a tracker on me for as often as she appears in the right place. Don't need her number."

"Great. You take a nap. I'll make sure she gets an exclusive on the whole story," Clint said, leaning back. "Land mines, kidnappings, tunnels, the whole nine."

Logan nodded at that as the two of them fell into silence on the way back to the mainland of Marvel.

In the meantime, in the back of the plane, Kate and Kurt were entirely curled around each other and looked like they simply weren't going to let go anytime soon. The others were giving them plenty of space as well, so that they could at least have a semblance of privacy as they caught up with each other for the first time in weeks.

At first, very little was said between the newlyweds, as they were content instead simply to hold onto each other as tightly as they could. They were sharing as much space as possible in the seats of the plane, with Kate clutched to Kurt's chest as he couldn't help but gently kiss the top of her head every once in a while as a gentle reminder that he was there and that she was safe. And Kate had one hand resting on the back of Kurt's neck, twisting the bottom of his curls between her middle and index finger but generally not saying anything except to be there.

They had been in the air about half an hour before either of them said anything, and it was Kate who broke the silence with a softly murmured, "Sorry."

Kurt startled slightly in honest surprise before he glanced down at Kate to catch her gaze. "What on earth for, liebchen?" he asked gently.

"I knew — going into One — I knew I shouldn't have been out on a mission, but I convinced myself it was such a low-risk surveillance mission that I could get away with it," she said, still in a soft tone so that their conversation was as private as it was possible to be — and to help that along, Natasha had made a conscious effort to get Sam and Tony into a conversation so that Kate and Kurt could speak relatively alone.

Kurt responded by once more gently kissing the top of Kate's head and shifting slightly so that he could hold her even closer, gathering her up to his chest. "Let's talk about that later, liebling," he suggested in a low tone. "Right now, I'm just happy to have you back."

Kate buried her face into his chest, and Kurt somehow wasn't surprised in the least when he felt the beginnings of a wet spot growing there as she quietly cried into his chest. She had every right to be overwhelmed and emotional, after all.

When she started to speak again, he almost missed it because she was muffled in his shirt. "You should have found out before anyone else," she said.

"Now, that is not your fault," Kurt said almost sternly. "That is down to Norman Osborn." He dropped his voice even lower. "And I promise you, he is going to pay for that."

"Tony figured it out before we got snatched," Kate admitted, and Kurt tipped his head down to catch her gaze.

"Oh?"

"When I wouldn't have any champagne."

"Ah, well. That would do it," Kurt said, nodding thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry you had to find out on TV," she muttered miserably.

"Ah." Kurt paused and gathered himself by taking a moment to press a few more kisses into her hair. "Well, that's not entirely true."

She glanced up at him with a little more interest in her tone. "Did Hank spill?" she asked.

Kurt let out all his breath in a great whoosh. "No, I… found the present you had hidden in the coffee filters."

Kate looked up at Kurt with shining eyes for a long moment before she pulled him into a long and involved kiss that was half apology and lasted far longer than either of them had intended.

In the Capitol

It was afternoon on Election Day by the time SHIELD got their statement out to the press that there had been tampering with the election, but Osborn had apparently prepared for this kind of eventuality. By thirty minutes after SHIELD's report had hit the airwaves, he'd put out a statement saying that it was "pathetic" of Hill to turn to her SHIELD allies to make up such an outrageous story about him on the eve of the election.

It wasn't exactly helping matters. People were suddenly unsure whether or not it was even worth it to vote. What's more, there were a few angry attacks on SHIELD agents who had come to keep the peace as tensions ratcheted up around voting areas — with those that believed Osborn's claims upset at SHIELD for trying to 'fix' the election … and those that supported Hill mad at SHIELD for letting Osborn get away with trying to 'fix' the election.

That was the state of things by the time the little rescue party landed in the Capitol that evening. The day was drawing to a close, and it seemed that the accusations being thrown around were really only making people more agitated, with a few protests breaking out in the districts. It was clear the people felt like they were getting their chance at actually electing a leader instead of being assigned a dictator were being thrown out the window.

The last of the group that would be headed back to Seven — Skye, Scott, Clara, and Kamala — met them near the hospital where Logan had set the plane down. They had been in the waiting room just watching for their friends' approach, and they were more than ready to leave by that point.

But as all four of them boarded, Clint passed them on his way out, since he'd decided to stay in the Capitol for a little longer. Tony wasn't far behind him, either, headed for the Triskellion to tell Coulson just what his program was designed to do so at least SHIELD would have some intel — though he didn't make it past the group without getting a solid hug from Kamala first.

"What, did you miss me?" he teased as he gave Kamala a little squeeze back.

"Obviously!" she said with a huge grin before she let him go again and took a step back to slug him in the arm. "Don't go missing like that again. That was just horrible, and Pepper's been upset — and no one likes seeing Pepper upset."

"Believe me, I know," Tony assured her.

"We can wait for you," Skye offered. "Unless you're looking forward to a quiet flight just you and Clint. Which… good luck with that."

"Yeah, let us know," Kamala said with a quiet smile before she leaned forward with a spark of trouble in her eyes. "Scott was teaching me how to fly back in Seven, so if you just want to sleep on the way back…"

"Nah, I think if you make Kate and Kurt wait any longer to get back home, they'll explode," Tony pointed out with a little smirk. "Besides, if Osborn really gets rolling as president, I'll have a few more people on the flight out anyway. Nobody's gonna want to stick around for that."

"You act as if they're not already attached in several places," Skye pointed out with a little laugh. "But I get it. Good luck going public."

"Hey, that part's the easy part," Tony assured her with a crooked grin. "The hard part is going to be the sticking around afterward to help them unwind that program. It's a nasty one, honestly. And I should know — I wrote it."

"Do you need help with that?" Skye offered with a smirk.

"If I do, I know who to call," he said with a grin to match her. "I'll set up a link so you can join in when you're not, you know, attached," he added, waving his hand between Skye and Logan.

"Oh, he's … not very snuggly right now. Sad to say."

"Dead on his feet," Clint chuckled.

"And don't want to be touched," Logan added.

Clint tipped his head Logan's way with one eyebrow raised in a silent question before he decided against asking anything and nodded. "Well, lucky for you, the usual hugging suspects have either got it out of their system or are wrapped up," he said, looking toward the quiet couple still wrapped up together. "Get some sleep. Me and Tony'll catch you later," he added, waving over his shoulder as he steered Tony by the crook of his arm so they could get to the Triskellion and get the debrief over with so they could get down to work.

And when they got there, Coulson was waiting and Trish was circling. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Coulson asked. "As much as I'd like you to clear the air ... "

"What's he gonna do? Kidnap me again?" Tony asked with a dark sort of look.

"Well that is a distinct possibility. Though I doubt it'd have the same effect this time around."

Tony smirked at that and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm sure," he told Coulson firmly. "I'm not going to duck my responsibility in this whole sham of an election process, and people need to know."

"Alright then," Coulson said before he turned and gave Trish a little wave. "She was hoping for Logan's reaction since, well, that's the way it's been lately. But I'm sure she'll enjoy talking to you just as much."

"Logan's wiped," Clint told him honestly. "So no, she wouldn't enjoy talking to him right about now."

"I'm sure he's ready to call it a night," Coulson agreed.

"Yeah, so we'll take the hit on this one. I promise I'll even tie my tie," Clint joked as he watched Trish give the interview setup one last once-over. "Can't promise I'll tie it correctly, but…"

"Untied is perfectly acceptable, considering what I understand your upcoming statement to be over," Trish said with a little smile and a flash in her eyes. "Though that would have been more useful information before the election got underway." She brushed her hair out of her face and straightened Clint's collar as Tony looked on with an unmistakable grin of pure amusement.

"Yeah, well, tell it to Norman Osborn," Clint said. "We would've said something before, but hey… the guy was holding a pregnant girl hostage, not to mention a whole bunch of our other friends. You tell me — does that sound like something that would make you real talkative?"

Trish's eyes flashed for a moment, but the expression quickly slipped into something a little more professional as she got the cameras set and then settled down to sit across from both of them. "Save lines like that for the interview," she told him in an undertone before the green light flipped on and she launched into her introduction, apologizing for interrupting the election coverage with her special, live interview — but promising that the breaking story would be worth the listen.

"Joining me today are two former members of the group that came to be known as the Tahiti Program during the war," she said. "Until now, our viewers knew that Tony Stark and Clint Barton have been on different sides of the election — but today, both of them are here to condemn Norman Osborn and to bring serious accusations against him." She paused to take a breath — and for effect — before she turned to the boys. "I'll let them tell their own story."

"Yeah, we could start with: Norman Osborn is a criminal sociopath," Clint said bluntly, and Trish seemed to take a breath at the immediate turn he had taken.

"Those are pretty strong accusations," Trish said. "Especially with nothing to back it up."

"Yeah? What else do you call someone who kidnaps people — kidnaps kids — and press-gangs them into working for him, stumping for him? The fact that this has gone on for so long is one of the most insane things I've ever seen."

"That's quite the testimony, all things considered."

Clint held up both hands. "Hey, this isn't me having a tantrum because Osborn's winning. I'm a grown man. I can handle losing."

"Though, technically, if he's winning — that means he's not," Tony added. "Not with the virus that he had manufactured to skew the results. He's known from the beginning he had no chance to win squarely."

"That's a little surprising coming from you, Mr. Stark, considering you were such a staunch supporter of his through the whole campaign."

"Yes, I was. While I was under Osborn's personal escort team supervision 24/7." Tony clapped a hand on Clint's shoulder with a grin. "But thanks to this big, beautiful blonde and the rest of the team? I've been freed."

"Freed? That's an interesting choice of words," Trish said, leaning forward.

"Accurate description of events," Tony said, echoing her movement.

"And he wasn't the only one, either," Clint broke in with an angry look that didn't match his relaxed posture. "Jessica Drew dropped off of everyone's radar back in June. June." He shook his head. "You tell me, Trish. Someone snatches up a young woman for three months to use her as a pawn — you call it like it is, right? Criminal sociopath."

"So are you saying that Miss Drew is no longer a supporter of Mr. Osborn as well? Can you speak for her?"

Clint shook his head. "I can't, and I wouldn't. I don't put words in other people's mouths. But I can tell you Peter Parker and a few others knew what happened."

"If you can hold that thought, Mr. Barton," Trish said with a vengeful sort of gleam in her eyes. "We have a live statement from Mr. Parker from what we're told is an anonymous location. Peter, can you hear me?"

Just like that, Trish started to smile wider as Peter broke in — since, clearly, the spiders weren't about to let Tony and Clint have all the fun once they'd heard what was going on. "Yes, you're crystal clear," Peter said. "And I'm here with the other spiders — Gwen Stacey and Miles Morales. All of us, along with a SHIELD scientist friend of ours, were kept prisoner by Norman in a secret lab attached to Oscorp. In case you were wondering, that's the real source of that so-called earthquake in Eight the other day. When he had his men blow the charges connecting the main building to his secret evil lab."

Trish looked surprised — honestly, not just for show — as she leaned unconsciously toward the side where she was getting the audio in her ear. "Is everyone alright?"

"We are now," Gwen said.

"Yes, I can tell that. I just meant ... did anyone get hurt in the escape? That was a sizeable earthquake — or explosion, as you say."

"The explosion happened after we got out. Our rescue team had the foresight to make sure that they weren't seen getting us out, or I'm sure we'd be buried and dead right now," Peter said, sounding exactly as ticked off as he was. "Thanks for that Norman. Love how you treat your favorites."

"Why were you being kept prisoner, Mr. Parker? It wasn't like with Mr. Stark here, who was involved in the election."

"He had kidnapped as many scientists and brilliant minds as he could. Didn't you notice Johnny Storm wasn't very …. Johnny Storm?"

"So not only Jessica Drew but Johnny Storm — are you saying Mr. Osborn influenced them or otherwise coerced them into supporting him?"

"No, I'm saying he drugged them and brainwashed 'em," Peter said, getting more irate.

"Those are serious claims, Mr. Parker," Trish said.

"Yes, well, we've got the video to prove it," Gwen said a bit more reasonably. "Probably not the smartest idea to lock all those bright minds together with all that tech."

"Is that why Ms. Drew and Mr. Storm aren't joining you today?" Trish asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"It's not like you can just flip a switch and get rid of drugging and brainwashing," Miles piped up. "And it's only been — what, two days? Three? — since we got out."

"And thankfully, we have someone working with them that has experience fixing that kind of thing," Peter said.

"But you said yourself, Mr. Morales, it's been a few days since you escaped. Why not come forward?" Trish asked. She already knew the answer from talking with Tony and Clint, but the malicious glint in her eyes said she wanted them to spell it out.

"Well … because the Green Goblin had us locked up and was more than happy to drop forty feet of rocks on us for trying to leave," Miles said. "Not to mention the fact that he had our friends — one of whom only just now got to tell her husband she was expecting in person?"

"You mean the Wagners have been separated this entire time?" Trish asked with a glare that didn't look like it could be held back.

"That's what I'm saying," Miles said. "Kurt went looking for her when she disappeared, and she didn't get to tell him.… He had to find out on national television. Come on."

"Their reunion's just a few hours old," Tony broke in. "I literally walked to this interview from the plane where our friends picked us up to rescue us."

"Which sort of explains why no one's been able to speak out until now," Clint added. "Nobody wants to call out the guy who's got a pregnant girl held hostage." He leaned forward with his hands clasped in front of him. "You tell me, Trish. This guy was willing to bury Pete and his friends alive. What do you think he'd have done to our friends if we hadn't gotten them out?"

"The sweetest spiders in the world," Miles said in Trish's ear, though it didn't make it to air.

Trish took a breath and met his gaze. "I think we're all very lucky that they made it out alive. So many war heroes in that group."

Clint nodded seriously. "Why do you think he wanted 'em? You think he doesn't know what these kids are capable of? Heck, have you ever seen Pete do a backflip over a Hydra soldier? Or pin Logan in a wrestling match? You ever seen Katie shoot four arrows at once with just a look?" He gave Trish an open look. "Norman Osborn is a criminal, but he's not an idiot."

"So what now?" Trish asked. "We've established a laundry list of crimes that may or may not be held against the man who, if I'm to believe Mr. Stark, is likely to be our new president-elect. Where do we go from here? And will this long list of known war heroes testify against him if it goes that far?"

"Oh, we absolutely will," Peter said with a strange kind of relish to his tone.

Clint nodded. "This needs to be looked into by people of authority. This needs to be stopped. We came here tonight to tell people the truth, to tell people what's going on."

"And what's been going on for months," Gwen added.

"Exactly." Clint nodded again, slower this time. He paused and seemed to take a deep breath and look right at the camera for the next part. "But no matter what's next, I can tell you this: Norman, we're not scared of you. At all. I don't care what title you've got; me and my friends are going to be out there every day fighting for what's right." He crossed his arms. "You don't have to be a war hero to know what's right and wrong. You don't gotta sit there and take this. You fight." He grinned. "And me and mine will fight right there beside you."