Pros and Cons of Anonymity
Disclaimer: Premise and characters belong to Marvel, I'm just playing with them.
Chapter Six: Holidays are Hard
Spider-Man perched on one of the filing cabinets at the back of the bustling police station and waited for his assignment.
"The warrant to search OsCorp for Goblin tech was rejected," a detective reported sourly. "Too many military secrets we're not cleared to have access to. The judge did force them to turn over a list of everyone who had access to the gliders but Osborn's secretary gave us over a hundred names, everyone from Norman Osborn himself down to the janitor who emptied the trash cans in the lab; I spent over an hour determining what Mike Abbott's position at the company is by the way. It's going to take us days to turn Osborn's list of names into something useful as a suspect list."
Stacy nodded, "I've got a contact in the military. Let's see what we can pull together on the glider, see if they're interested in putting pressure on him to prove he hasn't leaked military hardware or specs."
"Um?" Spider-Man raised his hand as if he were in class.
Stacy glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Dr. Stark put a HUD in my suit like the Iron Man one. It's supposed to provide me with analysis on the guy I'm fighting and stuff like that but my Spider-Sense actually beats it to the punch. Still it records my fights, Colonel Rhodes likes using them for after-action reviews," Spider-Man explained.
Stacy waited for him to get to his point.
"I can get you footage of my fights against the Goblin and the Avengers have already done analysis on his abilities."
"That would be helpful," Stacy replied. His tone suggested it would have been helpful information to have had weeks ago.
Spider-Man ducked his head. "FRIDAY?" he asked. "Could you email Captain Stacy my fights with the Goblin and everything we've figured out about him?"
"Already done," FRIDAY replied in Spider-Man's ear. "It should be coming through any second now," he relayed.
Most of the station's shift-change was spent going over Pepper, Happy and Harley's statements about the previous night's attack and the information the police had collected since then. An attack right outside of one of the city's higher profile society events had raised the interest in capturing the Goblin considerably.
As the strategy session drew to a close, Stacy glanced up at Spider-Man. "The Goblin instigated the Empire U. incident just to draw Spider-Man out," he said. "I think we can use that. Spider-Man, starting tomorrow you're going to be patrolling, making regular passes by the OsCorp building. This time we'll be the ones drawing him out and when he takes the bait let's be damned sure he chokes on it."
"You really think the Goblin is tied to OsCorp?" Spider-Man asked.
"I don't know if Osborn is backing him or just trying to cover up a security breach and frankly I don't care," Stacy said.
"I'm home," Peter called as he opened the door. He raised his voice slightly as he hung up his coat. "Captain Stacy thinks the Goblin has something to do with OsCorp. Do you think I should try talking to Mr. Osborn about it, he's giving the police a hard time, not cooperating any more than he has to. He probably thinks Ms. Potts directed the police toward him because she's trying to get his company secrets or something crazy like that. But maybe he'd listen to me. Okay he's been a little scary weird lately, but we've known each other since I was five and he's totally convincing the police that he has something to do with this." Peter walked into the kitchen. May was sitting at the kitchen bar, clearly waiting for him. Startled, he glanced at his watch to see if he was late. "You knew I was staying over at Harry's last night, right?" he asked.
"You're not in trouble," May said. "Pepper called after you left the gala. She was worried about you being alone with Norman. Peter, what happened last night?"
"Er, Mr. Osborn was um, flirting with Ms. Potts," Peter winced. "And she totally shut him down. I mean sure he pretty much deserved it since he was trying to get an edge against SI but- She was brutal, and you wonder why us guys are terrified of talking to girls. Mr. Osborn, he was mad about it, really mad. And he sort of dragged Harry out of the gala when he stormed out. But it was okay, it wasn't like he was mad at us or anything."
"Has Norman ever been mad at you?" May asked with a frown.
Peter hesitated.
"Peter?"
"Um, last summer when I wasn't talking to Harry?" Peter said uncertainly. "I wasn't actually not talking to Harry, I was avoiding his dad. Mr. Osborn wasn't happy when he found out about my internship with SI. He was planning on offering me one at OsCorp and I guess he felt betrayed?"
"What happened?" May demanded.
"It wasn't any big deal," Peter prevaricated. "He threw some papers at me… And a bookend, my Spidey-sense let me dodge it, I didn't get hurt."
"And I'm just hearing this now?" May asked. "Ben and I always worried a little about Norman's interest in you," she admitted. "But you and Harry were both such timid little things, having a friend gave you both a big boost in confidence. You stopped talking about how no one at your new school liked you and started getting excited about all the things you were learning. And Harry, I don't think he looked up from his feet once that first time you went over to play with him but after a few months, he was showing off, trying to impress you. Norman was always a bit controlling but Ben and I concluded that he loved his son and if he gave you opportunities you wouldn't have otherwise had to let the two of you stick together… His interest in seeing you develop your talents was genuine as far as we could see."
"Yeah, apparently his plan since forever was that I'd run OsCorp's R&D division for Harry. And I can see that being sort of cool, Harry and I growing up to be this bad-ass team but- but- It wasn't fair, Harry's dad deciding Harry wasn't good enough when we were five!" Peter exclaimed. "That's why my internship made him mad, I was deviating from his plan. But he decided it'd be okay if I interned for SI first because I could be his spy- Which I haven't done but he's still okay with me again, at least until he figures out I'm staying at SI, 'cause um, I need the cover for Spider-Man, not that I can tell Mr. Osborn that. But everything's back on plan and he's okay with me for now. Only," Peter made a face, "he wishes I were a girl so he could have Harry marry me and keep it all in the family and suddenly everything's creepy, creepier."
May blinked a few times, "Where did you get that idea?"
"The part where he straight out said it," Peter said.
"Has that man had some sort of a breakdown and we all just missed it?" May wondered.
"Maybe," Peter allowed, thinking about how Harry mentioning his dad changing this last year.
May blew out a huge gust of air. "You can't go over there anymore," she said.
"Aunt May!" Peter exclaimed.
"I'm not saying stop being friends with Harry," May said. "You can see him at school, meet up at a coffee shop to study. You can always invite him here but I don't want you at the OsCorp Building any more."
"I'm Spider-Man! It's not like Mr. Osborn could really hurt me," Peter protested. "Maybe I can help, somehow."
"Help with what?" May asked bluntly.
Peter's mouth hung open for a moment, "Well, um, I could talk to Mr. Osborn. He's being paranoid and it's making the police think he's involved with the Goblin."
"How would you explain your relationship with the police?" May asked. "Pepper tells me OsCorp has been trying to replicate the Super Soldier Serum for nearly twenty years. Norman is probably one of the last people you'd want to know about your powers."
"I- If I start avoiding him all of a sudden, what if it makes him worse?" Peter asked.
"Peter, has Norman hurt Harry?" May asked.
"Harry says it's okay," Peter replied.
"In other words you think he has," May said. "I think you need to tell Captain Stacy everything."
Stacy listened grimly as Peter told him what he knew about the situation in the Osborn household. "Harry Osborn denied anything was going on?" he asked.
Peter nodded.
Stacy sighed tiredly. "Odds are you're right. I doubt throwing that weight at you was the only time Osborn's temper has gotten the better of him and his son's the most likely target. But it doesn't sound like there's much I'm going to be able to do about it directly, not if your friend says nothing's wrong. We know he attacked you but because you weren't hurt Osborn can deny it ever happened and with his son backing him up nothing good'll come of pursuing it." He shook his head, "It's best just to look at it as one more reason to make sure charges relating to his involvement with the Goblin stick. Now are you ready to go out and play bait? Colonel Rhodes will be backing you up and he sounded eager for an encounter with the Goblin."
"I'm ready," Peter said.
Ready or not, the Goblin didn't take the bait. No one would see hide nor hair of him for weeks to come.
"So sorry, I must have made a wrong turn somewhere."
Pepper turned with a frown, 'No one should be getting lost on this level of the Tower.' She saw one of her security officers looking awkward as he confronted a dark haired man carrying a white cane. "Don't worry, I should have escorted him out," she said as she walked over and smiled at the officer. She offered Matt her arm. "This is a surprise," she said softly as they walked away.
He shrugged, "You already know and it was less threatening to have Matt Murdock 'get lost' in your building than to have the Devil of Hell's Kitchen break in."
"So you're not here to sign?" Pepper asked.
"I talked to some people," Matt said. "SHRA will probably go before Congress in the spring. Until then we'll try to play things defensively: Drop tips to the police if we hear about anything instead of taking action ourselves. Only get involved after the bad guys make their move. We'll try to make sure there's no Lagos this time… And hope something worse doesn't happen because of it."
"That would be the least you could do," Pepper replied coolly.
"We aren't going to stand by while something happens right in front of us," Matt warned. "You might have guessed that my definition of what's happening 'right before my eyes' is a little different."
"Have you ever considered that if you were registered, went public, you could demonstrate your abilities? Maybe then the evidence you act upon now could be admissible in court," Pepper said.
"And my weakness would be public knowledge," Matt replied. "I do appreciate what you and Foggy are trying to do but…" He shook his head. "I don't know if I could do this if my enemies understood my abilities."
"Then maybe there's a better way you could be using your abilities," Pepper argued, "if you had support. Spider-Man has been more effective using his extra-sensory perception to direct police to violent crimes than he ever was when he was leaving muggers hanging from streetlights."
"How many of the officers in Queens take the Bugle as gospel or are on the take?" Matt asked.
"How is a bad cop any worse than another Punisher running loose?" Pepper demanded. "Corruption happens, that's a fact. So we have checks built into our systems to try to combat it. What checks exist to protect us against a vigilante gone bad or one that just goes too far?"
"We police our own," Matt said firmly. "I don't ignore or excuse Frank Castle's actions."
"You'll have to forgive me if I don't trust you to draw the same lines I would," Pepper said. "Even before he began cooperating with the police Spider-Man tried to apprehend criminals with minimal force. You, on the other hand, seem to believe in violence as a deterrent. Castle kills those he deems guilty. I'm certain each of you believes you've picked the 'right' line not to cross, but you don't have any sort of consensus within your community and no means to reach one. You policing each other is nothing more than might makes right."
"May, Rhodey could invite Spider-Man but not you," Pepper explained. "I could encourage Harley to invite Peter but that might raise questions."
"It's just Thanksgiving," May said. "I appreciate the thought but Peter and I were fine on our own last year, we'll be fine again this year."
"Almost all of the Avengers are coming, I don't like Peter being at arm's length because of his secret identity," Pepper said.
"Peter and I barely know half your guests," May pointed out.
Pepper sighed, "Tony was always a bit apart from the Avengers. Some of it was me, not accepting Iron Man. Some was the part of Tony that saw accepting help as admitting failure. Or maybe he was right and they would have turned on him sooner if he'd been open about his weaknesses. But that distance was always there. 'What ifing' helps no one but I still wonder if they'd been closer would they have backed him on the Accords. Or maybe they always would have been incapable of recognizing politicking as a valid means of fighting rather than something to scorn."
May's doorbell rang and she excused herself. To her surprise it was Norman Osborn.
He smiled, "Last year you said it was too soon for you and Peter to celebrate anything, let alone Thanksgiving. But I have to say it wasn't the same for Harry and I without you. Will you come this year?"
May looked dismayed, "Norman, I, well I appreciate the invitation but-"
"But you aren't happy with me right now," Norman anticipated. He sighed, "I suppose I was being both naive and irresponsible not to speak to you myself about my lapse of temper. This last year has been very trying for me: Legal matters and the government slashing funding for Super Soldier Serum research. After the debacle with the Accords there are those in the government who feel that all Enhanced will inevitably turn on them. They don't see what I see, the Chitauri Invasion of 2012 was just testing the Earth's defenses, we must be prepared for their return. But the politicians are allowing a few feckless individuals to turn them against all Enhanced."
"None of which excuses your attempt to brain my Peter with a bookend," May said sternly.
Norman looked down apologetically. "I want to assure you that I've taken measures to ensure that I do better in the future," he said. "I've sought help to direct my temper toward constructive ends."
"You have?" May paused. "I- Maybe, I'll need to talk to Peter about it. I won't allow Peter to spend time alone with you any time soon, but if I'm there… He and Harry have always been so close."
On Thanksgiving day Pepper, Rhodes and Vision waited on the roof of the tower as the Pym Technologies helicopter touched down on the landing pad. Jim Paxton hopped out then turned back to help the others out. He lifted Cassie and Mercedes down then offered Maggie, Marlena and Hank Pym a hand. Harley and Hope followed a bit later, "Hope's teaching me how to fly," Harley announced gleefully. "She says if I work hard I could be soloing at sixteen and licenced at seventeen."
"He's not bad," Hope said.
Harley turned to Rhodey, "You could start teaching me to pilot Iron Man once I learn to fly planes and helicopters right?"
"Not 'till you're eighteen," Rhodey said and Marlena nodded in confirmation.
Harley stuck out his tongue at the both of them.
"I am certain Tony Stark's faith in you will be born out," Vision told Harley, "when you are older."
"Eight and a half months," Hope remarked to Pepper. "How's it feel?"
"I'm counting down the days." Pepper glared at Rhodey, "Someone thought 'Aliens' was an appropriate screen saver theme."
"You were the one talking about feeling like you're stomach was going to burst," Rhodey replied unrepentantly.
Maggie and Marlena shared a knowing look. "You do know that your due date is statistical average not a contractual agreement?" Maggie said.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Pepper said loftily. "My daughter will be right on time."
"Your daughter maybe but what about Tony's?" Rhodey asked.
"Well," FRIDAY piped up, "If there was anyone who could get the Boss to meet a deadline, it was the Boss-Lady."
Pepper smiled a bit. It hurt a little to talk about Tony in the past tense but it was good ache: Remembering, laughing about something they certainly would have teased Tony about if he'd been there.
"We're here for the long haul," Marlena reminded. "Harley and Mercedes are all set to take their finals here, then start classes in New York for the next term."
"Yeah, sort of like being an exchange student only less exciting," Harley said with a wry grin, "But I'm at the same school as Peter so not a complete loss, even if we don't have any classes together."
"I must excuse myself," Vision announced before sinking through the roof.
Hank raised an eyebrow.
"His sweet-potato casserole must be done," Pepper said leading the way to the elevator.
"Eat at your own risk," Rhodes added. "He doesn't have taste buds. Of course you'll hurt his feelings if you don't at least try it."
"Don't worry," Pepper said. "We decided everyone should contribute a dish… And Mrs. Rhodes has been overseeing to make sure no gets accidentally poisoned."
"Ma did the turkey, and naturally the stuffing" Rhodey said. "They'll be great. She also gets the credit for teaching me to make a mean pumpkin pie."
"I know my limitations," Pepper said. "Shrimp salad: Tear up some lettuce, dice celery and dump in a couple cans of shrimp, no way to screw that up." The elevator let them off on the penthouse level. "Carol's home with her parents, but Alexi's celebrating the holiday with us."
"He wouldn't tell me what he was making," Rhodey pouted as they headed toward the kitchen and the sound of voices. "He threatened to make Borscht if I asked again. I don't actually know what Borscht is but I know a threat when I hear one."
"You should have told us everyone was cooking," Marlena said. "We'd have brought something too."
"Speak for yourself," Hank said producing a bottle of wine.
"Thanks but if I have one more drink Ma's gonna kill me," Rhodey said.
Pepper shook her head. "You came all the way across the country to celebrate with us, that's more than enough," she told Marlena.
They arrived in the penthouse in time to see a worried looking Vision watching as Rhodey's mother tasted his dish. She smiled approvingly. "Perfect," she declared. "You'll make a marvelous baker, even if your lack of taste buds will be a handicap when it comes to savory dishes."
The three kids spotted a plate of fried pancakes and hurried over to join Happy and Rhodey's father who were spreading jelly on them. "Syrniki," Alexi told Rhodey archly. "It is quite tasty if I do say so myself." Rhodey's father nodded in agreement as helped Cassie spread the jelly she'd picked while Mercedes held another jar out to Happy.
"Ma, Dad meet Hope van Dyne, aka Wasp. Her father, Dr. Hank Pym. Marlena, Harley and Mercedes Keener. Maggie and Jim Paxton, and their daughter Cassie," Rhodey said. "Everyone, my parents: David and Roberta."
"You're just in time," Roberta said. "I just have to set the table and start putting things out."
"Let us help," Maggie volunteered. "Since everyone else has been cooking."
"Oh no," Roberta protested. "It'll take me longer to explain where the nice china's hidden than to do it myself."
"Ma, why don't you have the kids set the table," Rhodey suggested.
Roberta blinked, "Not a bad idea," she waved the three kids over and set about supervising. In short order she had Harley carrying serving dishes into the kitchen while Mercedes and Cassie counted out silverware, plates and glasses.
"Coast's clear," Pepper whispered conspiratorially. She gestured for the newly arrived grown-ups to start getting the food in serving dishes.
"Mrs. Rhodes, Turkey's good to carve right?" Happy called once everything was well underway.
Roberta poked her head back in from the dining room, for a moment it looked like she was biting back a protest at the activity then she nodded, "Go ahead. Pepper, what tablecloth do you want to use?"
"Why don't we use the brown one, with the orange and red napkins it'll look seasonal," Pepper suggested.
"Good thought," Roberta said.
"I have downloaded several napkin folding techniques," Vision volunteered.
"Why don't you show me and the kids," Roberta suggested patting him on the forearm.
Hope pulled Pepper aside for moment while the turkey was being carved. "How are you doing?" she asked. "I know holidays can be hard."
Pepper's smile was tight, "Tony and I were together for eight years, but between all the breaks we missed more holidays than we spent together. Family holidays tended to make Tony edgy, if he wasn't saying something wrong, I was taking it wrong. Actually the two Thanksgivings we spent with the Rhodes were probably the only non-disastrous family holidays we spent together."
Hope looked doubtful.
"Really," Pepper said. "The 14th was our holiday." She smiled wistfully, "Tony Stark didn't do Valentine's Day, said it gave girls ideas. But long before we got together we were spending the 14th together, first working through the day, later hanging out as friends. It was enough of a tradition that we didn't even let our 'breaks' stand in the way having a ridiculous not-date on the 14th."
"Food's on!" Happy called and Pepper slipped away.
"The table looks great!" Maggie told the kids and Vision.
"Can we eat?" Harley asked grabbing a chair.
"We should say grace," Marlena told her son with a small frown. Her declaration prompted a round of shuffling and avoiding eyes until Hank rolled his eyes and recited a quick blessing his father had faithfully repeated before every meal.
"The rolls!" Roberta exclaimed and leapt up to get them out of the oven while everyone started passing dishes around the table.
"Does your country have a comparable holiday?" Maggie asked Alexi as Cassie carefully shook a few pea off the serving spoon onto her plate then passed the bowl on. Without comment her mother added a larger helping of vegetables to Cassie's plate before taking her own.
"I would say our New Years is more similar to your Christmas but it is also a time for family," Alexi replied.
"Butter," Roberta muttered to herself, leaving the rolls and heading back to the kitchen.
"How many vigilantees have made overtures to the police?" Hank asked Rhodey.
"A few." Rhodey grimaced, "Too many street level vigilantees think the police are worse than the crooks. They've got their one damn example and think it's fucking universal constant."
"Language!" Marlena, Maggie, Paxton and Rhodes' own mother chorused.
"Sorry," Rhodey mumbled.
"We should have Stacy do another press conference about his work with Spider-Man," Pepper suggested. "Get more data out there showing that working with the police is more effective than playing lone ranger."
"Do we have anyone else to use as a positive example?" Hope asked.
"Nobody as notable," Rhodes said still looking a bit embarrassed. "The others I've talked with have lower level powers and fewer reasons to hide their identity. Many of them are being folded into the police as regular officers, the last thing they need is attention."
"I certainly wouldn't mind having someone in the department with abilities to call for backup the next time I get a call about a guy ripping a safe apart with his bare hands."
"Seriously?" Harley asked, forgetting his fork halfway to his mouth. "What did you do?"
"There was a zoo on the way, my partner and I stopped by and got an elephant tranq." Paxton shrugged, "We got lucky and it worked. It might have had no effect, it might have killed him, no way for us to know but... " He glanced at Cassie, knowing Scott's background he hadn't wanted to go in with bullets as his only option if the guy refused to surrender.
"Pass that empty bowl over," Roberta said. "There's more stuffing in the pan."
"They aren't worried about hiding their identities?" Marlena asked.
"Wearing a uniform is it's own form of protection," Paxton said. "It focuses attention on the organization rather than the individual. If they are blending it's probably safer for them to be special officers than masked vigilantes."
"And the ones we need to reach are the ones who don't or won't blend," Pepper sighed
"The gravy really should have a hot-pad under it," Roberta decided, heading to the kitchen again.
"You are certain the sweet potatoes are alright?" Vision asked Marlena. "I could not fathom the purpose served by topping them with marshmallows. It would seem more appropriate for a dessert than a side dish."
Marlena nodded toward the heaping servings on her childrens' plates. "That may be true but do they look like they're complaining?"
"So sweetness is desirable trait in foods?" Vision asked.
"Now don't go overboard," Rhodey said. "Just 'cause something's good in some recipes I was here for the Paprika incident."
Vision looked down and Rhodey grimaced. "I plan to visit Wanda later this evening," Vision said quietly.
Roberta got up again, "Anyone need more to drink while I'm up?" she asked.
"Ma stop fussing, just sit down and eat," Rhodey snapped.
"Jim," his father reprimanded.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room while they finished eating. Roberta got up to start clearing the table.
"We've got it," Hope declared firmly, she shoved a bowl into Hank's hands as Marlena and Maggie headed for the kitchen. She smiled at Roberta, "You'll make us feel guilty."
The table was half cleared when Mercedes noticed Roberta was crying silently. She leaned up against the older woman's side, "What's wrong?"
"Tony's spent Thanksgiving with us since he and Jim's first year at MIT, he was barely a teenager," David said quietly. "Even in 2008 he made it home for Thanksgiving."
Note: Tonight I can see Ross, a lunatic and a villain, as Secretary of State.