Hi guys, long time no see! So, I don't suppose saying I'm sorry would work would it? Trust me, it wasn't my intention to leave you all hanging for so long but on the up side, I got a chance to get in some writing. I'm gonna shut up now and let you guys get on with what you really clicked on this story for.

Disclaimer: Could someone please explain why I still have to do this on a site that is named FANfiction? Oh well, I own nothing.


"This is Arachnid. Is everyone in position?"

"Star Copy."

"Lightning copy."

"Scientist in position."

"Falcon copy."

"I still don't see why we ca-"

"Stark."

"Fine. Mechanic is in position. Remind me again why I'm not on the recovery team?"

"You and Lightning are our fastest ways of getting out of here and, no offence but you're just a bit too flamboyant for a stealth mission. Your suit handy?"

"I'm appalled that you would even think to have to ask."

Natasha chose to ignore the comment. "Alright. Scientist, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Everyone listened in rapt attention as Dr. Bruce Banner efficiently conned his way into Oscorp and down to the research level.

"No wonder S.H.I.E.L.D. had such a hard time keeping track of him," Clint whispered to Natasha from their position on the roof of the building.

"Test subject?" Bruce asked the boot licking scientist who was giving him a tour.

None of the team could hear what the man replied to him but everyone heard the sharp intake of breath Bruce took. "She's here." Bruce whispered into the comm.

Clint and Natasha wasted no time infiltrating the building via the air ducts. The smashing of glass through the comm units told them that Steve had found his own way in.

"They won't let me see her. Something about interrupting a test currently in progress," Bruce murmured into the comms. "Sub floor 3."

"Star, what's your twenty?"

"Taking the fast way down the stairwell. Want to storm the castle together or separately?"

"Together," Natasha decided. "We'll need Falcon to hack the elevator down there." The sounds of a scuffle came through the comm line. "What happened? Sit rep!"

"Had to take out a guard. He didn't have time to call for back-up but someone's bound to be missing him soon. I've got his clearance card."

"Copy that," Clint said. "ETA to your position is three minutes."

"Copy."

The pair of assassins made it to Steve in under two. They took the elevator using the stolen clearance pass. When the doors opened, they were unprepared for what waited for them.

The hallway the elevator opened into was completely empty. There weren't even any labrats scuttling around on errands. Natasha had always been able to tell when a mission was set to go south, this one was screaming that it had already set sail.

Weapons were held at the ready as the group made its way down the corridor. Clint had foregone his bow and arrows for this mission, knowing that they would identify him immediately and instead had opted for his firearm. Natasha, of course, was wielding her beloved glocks and Steve had taken an assault rifle in lieu of his shield.

"This is wrong," Steve murmured into the comm channel.

"What is going on?" Thor asked.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. If I wasn't 100% sure that they could have had no idea that we were coming, I would say we were walking into a trap," Clint said. "Scientist, sit-rep."

"Ditched my tour guide and am currently trying to locate Gwen," came Banner's voice. "I've got a couple of rooms I want to check. He tried to keep me well clear of them."

"Guys, you have incoming," Stark announced. "It's mister Goblin Man himself."

"Where is he?" Natasha demanded.

"He just entered the building and he's heading for the elevators."

Natasha started swearing in russian. And to make matters worse, a startled yell rang through the underground lab.

"GWEN!"


Bruce could hardly believe his eyes. He had opened a door to one of the suspicious rooms and had found himself face to face with Loki in full battle armor. The god smirked at him before disappearing, revealing the figure writhing in agony on the hospital bed.

"GWEN!" he shouted, all thoughts of discretion out of his mind when he caught sight of the obviously sick girl. "I have Gwen. She's... It doesn't look good."

"We're on our way to your position now," came Steve's voice in his ear.

"Mechanic, get the suit ready. If we don't get her out of here now she's not going to make it."

"Copy that. I'm gonna take a shortcut in so stand back."

"I will accompany the Mechanic," Thor's voice boomed through the line. "Star, Falcon, Arachnid, you are about to have company of the unwanted kind."

"Thanks for the heads up," Clint replied. "Looks like I get a fight after all."

"Don't put yourselves in unnecessary danger," Bruce cautioned as he moved to the side of Gwen's bed. "Get back to the tower in one piece." They hadn't done this mission to put their already dysfunctional family back together only to lose another piece.

"Don't worry about us. Focus on keeping Gwen alive. We'll meet you at the tower."

"Copy that," Bruce replied just as Iron Man and Thor literally busted into the room that he was in. Thor took a step and froze.

"You may have even less time than you fear, doctor," Thor said, looking as if he had seen a ghost. "Her energy levels are dangerously low. I do not know how she is still alive."

"Less chit chat, more get Gwen back," Iron Man said, walking over to Gwen. He detached the IV and hoisted Gwen up into his arms. "Point Break, you get the doc."

Thor nodded as Bruce snagged a clipboard that was attached to the bed Gwen had lain in. Tony made sure that Gwen was secure and flew out of the building. Bruce wrapped his arms around Thor's neck and hung on tight as the god of thunder crashed through the building.

Tony was flying more carefully than Bruce had ever seen him fly in his life. He didn't think Tony was that careful even when he had Pepper flying with him. It was only a distant part of his mind that registered this, the bulk of his mind was putting all of it's power into listing the things that he would need in order to save Gwen.

They touched down on the landing pad of the tower and Tony speed walked in the doors. "What are you going to need doc?" he called over his shoulder.

"A doctor," Bruce replied. His comment got the response he expected of the genius. Tony stopped still and looked at him.

"You are a doctor."

"I have a doctorate in Chemistry and Physics. She needs an actual people doctor, Tony," Bruce said.

"You've patched all of us up plenty of times," Tony argued.

"That's because none of you have been as badly hurt as Gwen," Bruce said.

"Then its a good thing I came prepared."

Both men turned, startled, to see Coulson and a man that neither of them knew exiting the elevator. Bruce looked curious and Tony frowned and turned away from the two newcomers. It did not escape anyone's notice that he intentionally put himself between the stranger and Gwen.

"This is Jim Daniels, he's a S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor," Coulson introduced the man at his side. "He's worked with Gwen before."

"I was her primary care doctor for two years when she and her mother were under SHIELD protection," the man, Jim, explained.

"You mean when you were sent to see if they were a threat," Tony spat.

"Tony," Bruce reprimanded.

"Apologies sirs, but it seems that the young Peter heard your arrival and is badgering Ms. Potts to bring him down," Jarvis' crisp tones broke through the tension that was steadily mounting in the room. "The young sir would also like to know if your mission was successful?"

"Tell them we retrieved Gwen and that they can come down, but Peter won't be able to see her for a little bit," Bruce told the AI when it became clear that Tony wasn't going to allow his attention to waiver from the stranger. "Tony, go lay Gwen down in the her room and then get back in here so we can talk like adults."

Tony stared at the man for a moment longer before breaking off to do what Bruce had told him. Bruce sighed and turned to the two visitors as Tony disappeared down the hallway.

"Well I have to give you credit," Bruce said to the doctor, trying to lighten the tension, "You're the first person I've seen besides Natasha and Pepper look him dead in the eye when he's in the suit and with that look on his face."

The man laughed. "I can see how he earned Coulson's respect," he said. "Let's try this again. My name is Jim Daniels and as soon as I heard that Gwen was hurt I was on the first quinjet off the helicarrier." He stuck out his hand which Bruce shook.

"Mr. Jim?" a small voice queried.

Everyone turned to see Pepper standing in the elevator with Peter settled comfortably on her hip.

"Mr. Jim?" Peter asked again. "Are you Gwen's Mr. Jim? The one who saved mommy?"

Tony, who had just walked back in the room, was scrutinizing Jim Daniels intently as he gave his answer.

"Yes, I'm that Mr. Jim," he told the boy. Peter wasn't appeased.

"Sis always told me that she threatened you when you wouldn't tell her what was wrong with mummy," Peter said.

Jim recognized the test for what it was. "She threatened to throw a temper tantrum," he said to the amusement of the rest of the room. "I don't think I've ever seen Fury move so fast to calm someone down before."

"She also said that you gave her a present when you brought her to the states," Peter continued.

"A pair of fairy wings," Jim replied, smiling ruefully. "I'm afraid your mother wasn't too happy when Gwen started pretending to fly around the helicarrier. She'd disappear for hours at a time and there were some places that'd we'd find her that I was sure the only way to get there was with wings. I was eventually proved wrong when Coulson recruited Agent Barton."

Peter seemed satisfied with the answers to his questions. "Can you help her?" His eyes pleaded with the man to save his sister.

"I'm going to do everything in my power," Jim promised solemnly. He turned to face Tony, who was blocking the hallway. The two men stared at each other so long that Bruce nearly decided to step in again. Something seemed to silently pass between them because all of a sudden Tony stepped aside and started to make his way down to the lab.

"I could use some help Doctor Banner," Jim said. "You wouldn't happen to know what drugs she was given?"

Bruce brandished the clipboard he had taken from the room when they liberate Gwen. "This should give us a good idea," he told the man as they went down the hall to begin work on saving Gwen's life.

"Is Gwen really gonna be alright?" Peter asked Thor.

"It is hard to say at this point, Peter," the god of thunder admitted regretfully. "Rest assured, Doctor Banner and the SHIELD Doctor will do everything within their power to bring your sister back to us."

The sound of the elevator 'ding' brought everyone's attention to the three superheros who had arrived home. Peter squirmed out of Pepper's grip and ran over to Steve to latch onto his leg.

"You look as if you have had a great battle, friends," Thor observed.

"You got that right," Clint said, an almost feral grin on his face.

"How is Gwen?" Natasha asked. "And why is Coulson here?"

"To deliver Doctor Jim Daniels," Coulson replied. "He was Gwen's primary care doctor during the time that she was under SHIELD's protection."

Natasha nodded. "She told me about him. Where's Banner and Stark?"

"Bruce is in with Gwen and Daniels," Pepper answered. "Tony went down to the lab to get out of the suit."

"Why didn't he let the equipment at the landing pad take care of it?" Clint asked.

"He was carrying Gwen," Coulson explained.

Peter was tugging on the leg of Steve's costume with the air of a child who didn't want to waste words on something he knows is obvious. The super soldier gave the boy and indulgent grin before picking him up and settling the boy on his shoulders.

"Uncle Tony wasn't happy about letting Gwen's Mr. Jim help Uncle Bruce make her better," the boy said once he'd made himself comfortable on his Uncle Steve's shoulders.

"If Peter hadn't tested him, I don't think Tony would have let him within five feet of the door of Gwen's room," Pepper said. "No matter what clearance level Phil says Dr. Daniels has."

"The man of Iron is most protective of those he has made his family," Thor spoke.

"Just don't go telling that to everyone on the SHIELD Helicarrier," Tony said, walking back into the room, sans suit. "I have a reputation to keep. If I hear anything I'll know who it was that told, Agent."

"As if Fury would believe that," Coulson replied, a small smile on his face. "Tony Stark, the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist is actually a big giant teddybear. He'd ask me what drugs I'd been taking."

"When am I gonna be able to see her?" Peter asked as he wiggled impatiently from his perch on Steve's shoulders.

"Not for a little bit Pete," Steve answered. "Goblin Man hurt Gwen very badly. We need to give Bruce and Dr. Daniels time with her to help her get better."

"Why don't you go get your crayons and paper?" Pepper suggested. "I'm sure Gwen would love it if you drew her some pictures and Get Well cards."

Peter considered the idea but shook his head. "Later," he said simply as he relaxed on Steve's shoulders, the super soldier's hair fisted in his tiny hands. "Is everyone ok?"

Clint grinned at the boy. "Not a scratch on any of us," he boasted. "It wasn't even much of a fight."

"None of us were hurt, Peter," Natasha assured him. "Clint is right, it wasn't much of a fight. For all of Osborn's money, he doesn't seem to be able to hire very good security."

Peter turned to Tony and Thor. He wouldn't be happy until every member of his family was accounted for.

"I assure you young Peter, that neither I or the good doctor sustained any injuries while at the head-quarters of the Osborn Goblin," Thor told Peter.

"I've said before," Tony said when Peter turned his unblinking stare on him, "I fight in a suit of titanium gold alloy, it is highly unlikely that I will get any scratches-" He 'oomphed' lightly when Pepper elbowed him in the ribs. "No, Pete, I'm not hurt at all."

Peter, finally assured that all the members of his family, save the one lying in limbo, were safe, relaxed on Steve's shoulders. His mouth opened in a yawn that threatened to crack his face open.

"Bedtime for you Pete," Steve said. Peter shook his head stubbornly.

"No, wanna stay up," he mumbled. "Wanna stay up 'nd make sure sissy's alrigh'."

"She won't be up for a while Pete," Steve said. "But I'll bet you've been up all night-" He looked to Pepper for confirmation. She nodded with a grin. "And growing boys need their sleep." The super soldier turned towards the elevator, being mindful of the boy sitting on his shoulders, and hit the button for his floor, ignoring Peter's protests the whole time.

Once up on his floor, Steve took Peter off his shoulders and lead him towards the bathroom.

"Let's get teeth brushed and faces washed," he told the young boy. "Then it's bed time."

"But I'm no' tired," Peter protested around another yawn.

"I think that your body disagrees with you," Steve said, smiling as he pressed a toothbrush into Peter's small hand. Once he was sure Peter was brushing his teeth on his own, he went into the closet and got two washcloths out. His own face was filthy from crawling through the duct system to get out of Osborn's building.

He turned around to see Peter's eyes closed and his hand not moving, though it was still held up to his mouth. Smiling, he gently shook Peter awake and handed him the already damp cloth.

When Pete was done, Steve scooped him up and carried him to the super soldier's bedroom. There was a small, five year old sized 'big boy' bed next to Steve's regular sized bed.

Peter had nightmares every night since Gwen's disappearance. The first time it happened, Steve, who was usually the first one awake, had gone into the room Peter and Gwen normally shared to find the young boy awake and quietly crying, rocking back and forth on the bed.

The next night, Steve had woken up around two in the morning to the sound of someone gently pushing his bedroom door open. He had reached for his shield before he saw the tearstained face of the tower's youngest inhabitant looking pleadingly at him. That was the first night Peter had slept in one of the team's bed.

The next night it was Thor who he went to for comfort. The god of thunder was known for being a heavy sleeper so Peter had resorted to tugging on the man's hair to wake him up. Thor had jerked awake, ready to call Miolnir to him, and had taken one look at Peter standing with tears running down his face and let the boy crawl in bed with him. The rest of the team found them sleeping soundly the next morning, Peter curled protectively in the giant warrior's embrace. They would find out later that Thor regaled Peter with stories of his childhood and, when those ran out, sang songs that he had learned long ago well into the early hours of the morning until Peter finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

Tony was the next of the superheroes to receive a late night visit. He was working late in his lab, as usual, when the volume of his ear-splitting music suddenly lowered. Tony gestured vaguely in the direction of JARVIS, telling the computer system to turn up the music. When his order wasn't immediately followed, he turned, intending to chew out his tech and found himself staring at an image that looked like someone had carbon copied one of his own memories. Peter was standing in the doorway clutching onto what everyone knew to be his sister's pillow. Tony remembered a night long ago when he had woken up from a nightmare. His mother wasn't home so that left his father to comfort him. That night he had been sent back to bed with the stern order to 'put his big boy pants on and grow up.' This night, Peter would fall asleep on one of the benches listening to the comforting sounds of Tony tuning up his suits, his sister's pillow held to his chest.

Clint returned from the range late one night to find a frightened Peter curled up on the fetal position on his bed. The little boy looked up at Clint and flung himself at the surprised archer. Clint caught the boy, barely making out Peter's scared mumblings about green goblin eyes and his sister writhing on a bed in pain. Clint managed to calm the boy after a while, telling the boy all sorts of things. Random things. The draw strength of his bow, his favorite color (purple, but he wasn't telling Tony that), even things about his time in the circus. Not stories, he wasn't a story teller. Just things, random facts from the life he'd lead. Peter fell asleep somewhere between Clint telling him his least favorite color (green), and what the first circus apparatus he'd ever learned was (tightrope).

Bruce was surprised when he found Peter staring at him late one night. He'd heard from the others that Peter had taken to spending the nights bed hopping to each of their rooms, but he wasn't expecting the boy to come to him. After all, Bruce had scared ten years off the young child's life when they had first met. But apparently the boy had forgotten or forgiven that transgression because he was crawling in bed with Bruce, the tear tracks glistening on his face shining in the light of the scientist's tablet. So Bruce did the first thing that he could think of, he read to Peter from the work he had stored on his Stark Tablet. He told him about gamma radiation and it's effects on the human body. He told him about his work on particles and electrons and the experiments he was running in the lab using Tony's homemade particle accelerator. Slowly, Peter's eyelids drooped until they shut and did not open again. Bruce turned off the tablet and followed the young boy's example to sleep.

No matter what anyone said, Natasha was not the motherly type. Love was for children. Then that made her a child. For the first time in her life, Natasha did not automatically reach for a gun when the pitter patter of footsteps woke her up in the dead of night. Some part of her, a part that had been dormant for far too long, recognized the sound of a child seeking comfort in the night. So when the door opened, she was not surprised to find the young boy that had found a home in each of the Avenger's hearts standing in the doorway. But she was surprised when he called out to her in a voice so frightened and lonely and so utterly broken. He ran into the room and leapt on the bed, cuddling close to her. He was sobbing quietly into her side as she rocked him back to sleep. She sang to him the russian lullabies that she had learned very long ago as a young girl, before she had ever heard of the Red Room. And slowly, Peter fell asleep in her arms. No, Natasha was not the motherly type, but that didn't mean that she could not be a mother.

Steve was the one who he slept with most often, which was why Tony had installed a bed in there for the boy, but it was known that he would bed hop on particular nights. On nights when the memories of his sister visited him, he could be found with Thor. Tony and the sounds of his workshop were particularly effective in lulling him to sleep at times when he needed the feeling of activity around him. Clint was the person he went to to hear the facts when Peter lost himself in the 'what ifs' of life. Bruce he turned to when he wanted the soft glow of tablet light and the doctor's calm voice explaining the difference in protons and neutrons. He went to Natasha when everything became too much and the nightmares didn't go away even when he opened his eyes and pinched himself, hard.

Steve finished tucking in Peter, who had fallen asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, and stood up. For once, the boy's face was calm and peaceful, exactly as it should be. He hoped that one night soon, Peter would be able to have the one person he needed when nightmares tore him from his sleep.

The super soldier slipped silently out of the bedroom, making sure to leave the door open a crack so that light could get in. He sighed and slumped against a wall in the hallway. He wanted nothing more than to climb into his own bed and sleep for a week, but he couldn't, not yet.


Natasha looked up from her pacing when the elevator doors 'dinged' and Steve stepped out of them, face washed and in a clean change of clothes.

"Any word?" the super soldier asked.

"Not yet," Pepper replied as she came in with two mugs of coffee in her hands. "How's Peter?"

"Out like a light," Steve replied as Pepper handed on of the mugs to him and the other to Tony before disappearing into the kitchen again. "Thank you Pepper."

"Don't mention it," she called from the kitchen. "Clint, Natasha, do either of you want some?"

Natasha knew that, under normal circumstances, Clint wasn't a coffee person. He didn't like to have anything in his system that could potentially interfere with his aim. But this wasn't a normal circumstance. This was going on no sleep for nearly 36 hours and facing several more because no one was going to go to sleep until they knew how Gwen was.

"Yes please, Pepper," Clint replied. "Black, two sugars. And Natasha will have one with cream and four sugars."

The black widow shot her partner a look as she paced in front of the entry to the hallway. She didn't need coffee. She needed to know that Gwen was going to be alright.

Clint stood up and blocked her pacing path. When she tried to go around him, he reached out an arm and forced her to face him. If Clint had been any other person, he would have been on the ground with his neck snapped in under eight seconds flat. If this were any other time, her partner would be nursing a bruised jaw at the very least.

"You're scared," Clint said in a soft, low voice.

Natasha froze. No, she was the Black Widow, the perfect spy and assassin, she wasn't allowed to be scared.

"You're not her anymore, Nat," her partner said, knowing exactly which road her mind was going down. "Natalia Romanova doesn't exist anymore. You're allowed to be scared."

"I'm terrified Clint," Natasha finally murmured. "What if we didn't get there in time? What if they did something irreversible to her? What if we did all of this and she still dies?"

"Then she dies here surrounded by a family who loves her. She dies knowing that she is in a safe place and that Peter will be taken care of forever. She doesn't die surrounded by people who only want her for research and will just dump her body in an incinerator when she's outlived her usefulness," Clint replied. "I don't want her to die, Nat. If I could go back in time and make sure that this played out differently, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But no matter what, we didn't fail her. We never gave up hope, we never stopped looking and we're always there for her."

Natasha allowed herself to be pulled into the protective embrace of the archer and for the first time in almost a month, she let herself relax, just a little. They hadn't ever and wouldn't ever fail Gwen and Peter.


Everywhere hurt. Jolt after jolt of electricity slammed through her body. She had no control over her muscles as they contracted and relaxed spasmodically. Her throat started closing up. She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't breathe.


Sorry, couldn't resist giving you all that last bit. Hope you all liked it! I will endeavor to update on time next week.

Until next time,
CaseClosed621