Title: The Blame Game
Author: Stormy1x2
Word Count: 560
Notes: I really loved that moment when Peter took the blame for the failed mission to capture Dr Doom. If anyone was truly at fault, it was Sam's, as he was the one who pushed them to do it. Ava also shares blame, as they never would have done it at all had she not suggested they capture someone from the SHIELD most wanted list. Peter was guilty of going along, as was Luke and Danny – NOT of starting the whole thing in the first place.
Time Frame: Takes place during Season 1, Episode 3 – after they destroyed the Doombots and during the lecture Fury gave them about their group stupidity.
The Blame Game
Danny flinched internally as Director Fury tore a strip off them (as Sam would say) regarding their attempt to kidnap Victor Von Doom from Latveria. Really, Danny should have known better. If the Avengers or the Fantastic Four (and sometimes the two teams combined) couldn't take down the evil dictator, truthfully, what chance did they have? And their actions had severely damaged the Heli-Carrier, not to mention all the SHIELD agents they had put at risk. A dressing-down was the least they deserved.
Until Fury demanded that the genius of the stunt step forward in order to be permanently dismissed. That would be Sam. Maybe Ava too – she had been the one to pull up the SHIELD most wanted list in the first place. To be on the team without those two was unthinkable. Danny shifted his weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to do. Then to his – and all of their – surprise, Peter stepped forward unflinchingly and told Fury it had been his fault.
Danny immediately moved forward – and was pleased when everyone else did too, each one of them joining their leader in admitting their part in the stunt. It impressed Fury enough to retract his promise to remove a member of their team, and that let him breathe again. It also warmed Danny's heart and reassured him again, that he was on a good team. A really good one.
Iron Fist shot the Spider a side-look out of the eye plates set into his mask as they spoke in unison of their combined guilt and saw absolute stillness fall over him. Danny could feel Peter's chi flinch hard and was once again reminded of the briefs they'd been given regarding Spider-Man. One of the things it had mentioned was the Spider's innate feelings of guilt, and how he routinely admitted guilt to just about everything he was involved in – even if he was not actually guilty of anything. Most of it stemmed from the death of his Uncle Ben – reading about Spider-Man's motivation had been incredibly moving. It was a good thing and a bad thing, Fury had told them quietly. Good in that Peter was a very honest and caring person at heart, and was determined to make up for the bad call he had made over a year ago. But it was also bad, in that it could wreak havoc with his self esteem and sense of worth – two issues that Fury intended to have them work on with the Spider.
Peter had a guilt complex that dwarfed the Heli-Carrier. And apparently, he did not expect anyone to stand up for him. Or in this case, stand with him. That said a lot about him, and most of it was... quite sad, to be honest.
Danny's expression didn't change, but a part of wanted to reach out to the Spider and comfort him; thank him for stepping up for them in the face of Fury's wrath, but he had a feeling the Spider was still too sensitive about it – and they, too unfamiliar with him yet – for him to allow such an intimate gesture.
One day, Danny vowed. He would get past the Spider's barriers and help him heal in exchange for the lessons he taught them, and the work he did.
One day.
End
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