Operation Arachnid

Five weeks before

SHIELD Helicarrier

Director Nick Fury summoned Agent Romanoff to his office, usually meaning he had yet another assignment for her to complete. This routine, which Natasha was very much used to now, always went about the same way every time. She would walk in and try to jump straight to the point, already knowing what she was called for, by saying, "What's my assignment?" None of the other agents spoke this way towards Fury, as the rest were either scared of losing their jobs or just scared of him in general. But Natasha wasn't scared; not of him, or the idea of losing her job, and Fury knew that, which is probably why he never bothered to correct her or put her in her place. She already knew where her place was. And either way, she already knew what the outcome of losing her job would be. She would instantly be ranked as a great potential threat to international security of the nation, and SHIELD's betrayal of her would inevitably follow. So given that she acquires exceptional skills of espionage and psychological manipulation, it would seem that SHIELD would still have a problem trying to catch up to her.

Natasha walked in his blue-colored office and stood directly in front of his desk, her shoulders crossed and her long red hair loosely hanging down behind her shoulders.

"What's my assignment?" she asked.

As usual, Fury just got straight to the point, as Natasha didn't care for a polite 'good evening' or so.

"He is," Fury answered as he slid a dull-blue folder containing files inside across the table to her direction. She simply reached for the folder and opened it.

Normally when Natasha read, even if it was a fictional novel for entertainment purposes, her face showed no signs of interesting engagement into a passage. All that could be seen were her eyes not switching left to right, but jumping line after line in a vertical motion, allowing her to read a lot faster than others. However, Fury saw a slight twitch in her eyes, showing signs that Natasha was somewhat intrigued this time.

"On regular circumstances, I would task you to do something as merely acquiring intel from crime lords by seducing or interrogating them," he spoke again. "But this time around, I'm after something a lot more valuable than that."

Natasha slowly lowered the folder from her face and turned her eyes to Fury.

"Him?" she asked with actual surprise.

"Precisely," Fury asserted.

The spy first looked to the side out of some odd notion, and then back to the files.

"Interesting," she casually remarked. "How long have you been looking into this guy?"

"Long enough to know that he would serve as a valuable asset."

"He's kind of young, don't you think?"

"He wouldn't be alone in that claim," Fury said in reference to Natasha herself when she started spying as a little girl. "On top of that, his roots aren't too far off the road of SHIELD."

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked with much curiosity.

"Read on," he simply replied.

As she continued to jump through line after line, Natasha finally came to a point that halted her eyes on one exact spot on the page. Fury saw that she was really surprised now. Not to the point to where she was so much intrigued that she was utterly shocked and dumbfounded, but to where Natasha couldn't believe that she was never informed on the information she was reading. The Black Widow is never swayed by emotions through surprise, but she can still be surprised.

"Is this information valid?" spoke Natasha, still not fully convinced.

"Yes. It has been for a long time, actually. They were also valuable asset of mine that proved themselves to be quite useful agents of SHIELD. No one else in the department knows of this but you and I now, and for now, I plan to keep it that way."

"So your idea is to drag their son into this lifestyle as well."

"I wouldn't give it such a negative outlook, Romanoff. I don't exactly hold any interest for him to be part of SHIELD, but as part of The Avengers Initiative instead. As closely related as they are, they're actually two completely different things."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed it is."

"And what exactly do you expect to gain out of all this?"

"I don't expect anything, Agent Romanoff. I have an instinct that this will lay a stronger foundation of protection on Earth against the evils that exist within the universe."

Romanoff just stood there and looked at him. She knows this wasn't the first time Fury's used children as spies within SHIELD, and that was only because they either didn't know any better or had no one else to turn in life, but in this particular case, this kid has a choice with what to do with his life, and is more than eligible to make that decision as well. Also, to further note, he was a teenager still in high school. Fury wasn't stupid by any means, but the fact that he seriously was going to fall through with this both astounded and humored Natasha in many ways. It's as if he's betting all in on a hand that has a mind of its own.

"It's no problem of mine if you refuse to accept the mission. I just don't believe there's anyone else who can carry out this mission better than you can," Fury claimed, as a way to try and change Natasha's mind, but he knew better to know that wouldn't work on her.

She looked on the front of the folder again, and in bold font it read, "Operation Arachnid." With such an unappealing title like this, Natasha could only imagine how many ways this could go wrong. Once again, she lowered the folder and shot her eyes back to Fury's way.

"When do I start?" Natasha asked.

"Tomorrow night," he answered. "As you may or may not know, tomorrow is a school night for teenagers, and we expect him to be springing into action as his usual routine.

"You and a group of other stunt agents will be held at the designated landmark in the folder where you will wait for your cue from us to begin your guys' act as well. It's pretty simple: other agents from afar will be watching when he swings at the right moment, and when he does, they'll cue one of you to fire a shot, where he'll then hear it and swing in your direction. Once this happens, you will be come out from inside the building and enter to the roof. You'll then get his attention and warn him of well-armed thugs approaching. He'll instead stick around, and the two of you will fight alongside one another to take out the merciless thugs.

"Each of the stunt agents will be well protected from any sort of lethal impact including a gunshot and stab wounds, so you won't have to worry about killing your fellow agents."

"What if he tries something smart like throwing one of them off the roof?" Romanoff speculated. "Or what if he just figures something out to try and kill one of them?"

"He won't," Fury firmly claimed.

"Do you know that he won't?"

"Agent Romanoff, I am certain that he won't. He isn't about that life. He was raised better than that."

Natasha just slowly shook her head and continued to listen.

"Anyway," he went on, "after the fight, you will then disappear and leave him with a last few words, indicating that you know his name and age. This will mark the fact that he will have now seen you, and then the next time you are to confront him, he will not be alarmed."

With the same expression on her face as before, Natasha still couldn't believe what she was hearing. Is he serious right now? she thought to herself.

"You plan on having me meet him several times?" she asked.

"Yes, as a necessary need for him to create a sense of trust from you. From that point on, you can further influence him into joining the initiative."

Another trust to later break, Natasha thought to herself. No, she couldn't be that heartless. Not with this. Could she? He was only a teenager. Then again, most teenagers these days don't deserve the ounce of respect they hardly ever give to pretty much anyone. But this one wasn't the same. He seemed innocent. Well, not exactly innocent since he does share an interest with the police in cleaning up crime on the streets, but he seemed to mean much good. His name was Peter Parker. For most of his life, he was raised by his aunt and uncle after the strange disappearance of his parents. But now, Natasha knows-

"Tonight, I'll present a briefing over the operation to the rest. You'll be attending as well. You'll act as if the entire operation is brand new to you. I'll see you then."

Natasha nodded and then walked out of his office with the folder still in her hand.

"Why is it always me?" she muttered to herself.