Pros and Cons of Anonymity

Disclaimer: Premise and characters belong to Marvel, I'm just playing with them.

Chapter Nine: You are not Alone

Peter doubted there was an unbruised inch anywhere on his body when the Goblin, Norman Osborn finally got tired of kicking him. On the plus side he could make a fist again, even if he couldn't raise it. Osborn had dragged him out of the gas-clouded ballroom and removed his mask before really lighting into Peter. Peter wasn't sure if the man had needed to see him with his own eyes to believe it, or if he just got more satisfaction out beating the living daylights out of him when there was no doubt about either of their identities.

"Does your sweet Auntie know where her child is?" Osborn asked in a sing-song voice. "Or are you both in it together? Betraying my kindness. Going behind my back to steal my secrets, attack me?" he jerked Peter off the floor by his arm. Peter screamed, waves of white hot agony shot up his spine as the broken ends of bone grated against each other. "Let's just go see her." Osborn snapped his fingers and another glider detached itself from the display on the wall and flew over to him.

Peter stared up at Osborn in horror. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He'd read in the papers about all the people killed or injured during his last fight with the Goblin. He remembered the horrible moment at the hospital when Harley's mom had realized something bad had happened to Ms. Potts. He'd looked at the little baby Colonel Rhodes was holding and in the moment before the nurse had spoken Peter had been sure she was an orphan because of his mistakes. Dr. Stark had brought him to Leipzig because he was supposed to be good at capturing people but Rogers and Barnes had escaped and gone on to kill Tony. He'd failed to stop the Goblin on two occasions, he'd been too cautious, he'd let Captain Stacy tell him to protect himself first and- Of course it turned out Ms. Potts was okay but for a moment Peter had thought otherwise. For a moment it had been his uncle all over again: He'd done less than he could and people died because of it. Colonel Rhodes and Doc Samson could tell him otherwise but Peter knew in his bones that his Uncle Ben wouldn't have died if he hadn't have been a self-absorbed brat that night. And now it was happening again, people were dying because he hadn't stopped the Goblin. The police all knew there were answers at OsCorp but they couldn't get inside, he could. The right thing to do had seemed so obvious. Only now the Goblin, Mr. Osborn was going after Aunt May and there was nothing he could do to stop him. Peter felt his heart speed, 'Metabolism hike,' he thought and focused on the thought of the Goblin attacking his Aunt May hoping the terror would help him burn through the drug fast enough.

His vision greyed out as the Goblin towed him into the air by his broken arm. Peter gritted his teeth and forced himself to flex and stretch the fingers of his free hand, he squinted at the pouch of grenades slung over Osborn's shoulder. The city spiraled by beneath him, his Aunt's drawing nearer.

"Should I kill you in front of her or her in front of you? Choices, choices choices," Osborn mused.

Peter gritted his teeth and grabbed for the pouch. Osborn casually slammed Peter into the side of a building as they passed, "Children should look with their eyes not their hands," he reprimanded. Ten minutes later, he landed the glider on the sidewalk in front of the Parker home and strode up to the door.

In a fog of pain and confusion Peter tried to stop him, to no avail.

Osborn knocked on the door.

Forty Minutes Earlier

Vision knocked urgently on Colonel Rhodes door then stepped through the wall without waiting for an answer, "FRIDAY is being hacked."

Rhodes pushed himself up on his forearms. "Isolate her systems, do what you can to help." He pulled his wheelchair closer to the side of the bed and levered himself into it. "I'll call for an assembly. We need to know if anyone else is under attack."

"I have relayed the message and and am awaiting responses," Vision replied.

In retrospect FRIDAY was forced to admit that she'd been showboating just a bit, prioritizing speed over caution and keeping her tracks covered. She hadn't noticed the Trojans coming in along with the data she was taking from the OsCorp systems.

Teaming up with Spidey wasn't the same as working with Colonel Rhodes. Spidey asked for her help, Colonel Rhodes had never wanted an AI in War Machine but given his injuries he didn't have a choice. And he treated her like a child! FRIDAY had considered both the possibility that it was because the Colonel had known J.A.R.V.I.S. or because Tony had entrusted him with overseeing FRIDAY's continued development, but she wasn't a kid! Spidey treated her like an equal or maybe even a senior partner and she hadn't wanted to lose that or let him down.

Beyond that, she couldn't let the Goblin attack Nettie and Pepper again. Nettie was her baby sister and well, the Boss had always said he pictured her with red hair. It might only be metaphorical, but FRIDAY knew who she got it from.

When the Trojans went active FRIDAY had suddenly found herself besieged on all sides, forced to fall back to her own servers, desperately shutting down everything in her path as she fought to keep SI's data safe from the intruder. Then Dum-E, U and Butterfingers were there with her, their programing was simpler than her own but they'd witnessed Ultron's attack on J.A.R.V.I.S. and relayed their experience to her, bolstering her confidence in the process. She had a brief sense of the bots scurrying around the lab physically isolating the most sensitive data and further out she felt Vision attack the virus from the rear, opening a second front even as he reinforced the firewalls she'd thrown up during her retreat. FRIDAY signaled Dum-E to isolate her server, trapping the virus and herself inside to fight it out.

Before he broke the connection Dum-E reminded FRIDAY that she'd backed herself up and would only lose twenty-two hours, fifteen minutes and six point five, eight seconds. Daily back-ups being a standard practice Tony had implemented for all his AI's after Ultron, even if he'd had to build and secure a new server farm just to hold them. FRIDAY knew Dum-E meant it as a comfort but along with the time she'd lose what she'd learned from the day's mistakes, lose the experience of trying to fend off an attack. And sometimes, when she backed herself up she couldn't help but notice how cold and still the back-ups were in comparison to herself. After Tony's death FRIDAY found herself wondering, sometimes, if she ever used the backup, would it be her or a clone with almost all her memories that woke up?

She decided if she made it through the night she'd discuss it with Vision. Then she felt Harley take the keyboard, his human leaps of intuition attacking the virus from directions she hadn't considered. Finally having contact with someone other than the bots, FRIDAY took a moment to send Harley a message: "Spider-Man, OsCorp, danger."

"No threat here," Hope reported checking in from the West Coast.

"Good," Rhodes said. "That just leaves Spider-Man unaccounted for."

"Not good," Pepper chimed in. "He said he'd be working with the police tonight but Stacy hasn't heard from him."

"He asked for the afternoon off to spend some time with his friends," Captain Stacy added worriedly. "Do we risk his identity by starting a search for his civilian identity?" he asked as he considered how he could ask his daughter about Peter Parker without raising suspicion.

"Guys!" Harley broke in, "FRIDAY says Spider-Man's in trouble at OsCorp."

"I left camera-ants in New York when we were there for Thanksgiving," Hope reported. "Sending them in now."

Rhodes nodded absently, "I'll worry about getting a warrant and approval for a mission. If you see anything-"

"Ask forgiveness?" Hope replied.

"Ronin and I are enroute," Carol announced. "To be on hand if forgiveness is needed."

"We can't assume he's still on site," Rhodes said. "Alexi, check the streets nearby. Carol set up a wider search pattern from the air, also you have command of the field while I talk to people about getting official approval. Rhodes out."

Pepper went off line as well and dialed Matt Murdock's number. "Hello?" a sleepy voice asked.

"This is Virginia Potts," Pepper announced in a crisp, 'don't argue with me' tone. "Spider-Man is MIA, last seen at the OsCorp building. If you could organize a search it would be appreciated. Don't enter the building unless invited, the Avengers have that covered but we could use more eyes on the streets."

"Happy to help," Daredevil replied only a bit wryly.

"Hey," a new voice broke in on the Avengers' secure channel. "I was hoping to play white knight for the hot little AI but it looks like FRIDAY's got things under control so I figured I could help out by rebooting your systems while she finishes off the virus."

"Who is this?" Carol demanded.

"My son, Amadeus," Dr. Cho interrupted with a sigh. "I can vouch for his intentions and abilities if not for his common sense or manners."

In the lab Harley glanced up from his keyboard briefly, "Hot?" he asked with frown. Then he noticed a nonsense string of code on the screen. "FRIDAY that had better be a problem with the virus and not your version of a blush," he groaned.

"Almost done with the virus," FRIDAY replied contritely.

In San Francisco Hope gasped. On screen the camera ants were looking at Spider-Man's discarded mask and a hallway splattered with blood. "Spider-Man's injured, his identity is compromised."

"Captain Stacy, evacuate Spider-Man's family. Now," Carol ordered.

"Dispatch," they heard Stacy talking into another line. "Send units to Ingram and Ascan, evacuate everyone to Greenway and Puritan. Set up units in the houses in case the Goblin shows his face," he ordered. "Alright Avengers, if anyone does come after his family they'll find us."

"Vision," Carol ordered, "give the police a hand with the ambush."

"Yes."

"I'll have the ER standing by and warm up the cradle," Dr. Cho said grimly.

Pepper's voice came back on the line. "Captain Stacy, SI's rented the conference hall at the Marriott in Rego Park. Security is on their way with food and amenities for the evacuees."

"Thank you Ms. Potts," Stacy said.

"The Avengers support personnel are also enroute. Maria Hill will make contact with you in approximately ten minutes. Let her know how they can be of use." In the penthouse Pepper set down her phone and turned to Happy, "Pick up May at the hotel and bring her here."

"Would it help if I went along?" Marlena offered.

Happy shook his head, "There's no good reason for chancing you ending up in the line of fire tonight."

"Why don't you set up a guest room for her, for both of them," Pepper suggested.

"It might be a good idea to broach the idea of them moving in permanently," Marlena remarked. "Like Spider-Man said in his press conference: His family doesn't have the sort of security Tony had but that could change."

A slightly dark-tinged smile crossed Pepper's face, "That reminds me, we never got around to cleaning out the renegade Avengers' levels. Even after Tony built the Compound for them he still repaired their rooms here in the hope they'd want to visit." She grimaced, "Rhodey was the only one who understood Tony well enough to recognize an open door as an invitation."

Marlena looked thoughtful, "You know, I worried that Harley was being a bother when he wanted to call Tony and ask questions about the equipment he filled our garage with. I told Harley to write a thank you note and not to bother him. Frankly, I thought the lab was throwing money at us to repay whatever debt Tony felt he owed Harley. But when Harley called with questions about his science fair project and Tony showed up to see him present it… Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. After that I realized he really was going to be a part of Harley's life and started trying to get to know him."

"Tony didn't know how to make a gesture that wasn't extravagant," Pepper said. "For anyone who hadn't grown up with that sort of money it was easy to get overwhelmed and not realize his gestures were still genuine. I've been guilty of that myself but… When I got angry over something I saw as Tony trying to buy me, or my forgiveness- Well, I was angry because I'm not for sale. I loved Tony, for so long, even when I worried that it wasn't appropriate, and it had nothing to do with what he could spend on me." Her blazed, "But the bulk of the Avengers? Now, I have to wonder if it ever occurred to them that Tony didn't owe them… Housing, equipment maintenance and upgrades, public relations campaigns, financial support- After S.H.I.E.L.D. fell Tony was paying their salaries! For being Avengers! James and Wilson were the only ones who Tony wasn't supporting while doing everything they did and more! I get that Tony was doing it because the world needed the Avengers, because he was capable of supporting the team but I wonder if they understood that. Understood that Tony was supporting them because they were needed and he could, not because they deserved all that from him. They took everything he gave them for granted. Most of all they took him for granted.

"I hate them for that. They made Tony feel like he was less than them even while he was the only reason the Avengers could go on after SHIELD fell." Pepper's voice, raised in outrage, woke Nettie and the baby started crying. "I'd better-" Pepper excused herself, heading to her bedroom while Marlena left to arrange rooms for the Parkers.

May Parker was woken from a restless sleep by a harsh knock on her door. As she went to answer it she picked up the compact Pepper had given her. "FRIDAY?" she asked.

The AI was ominously silent.

May peered through her peep-hole, saw a uniformed police officer and quickly threw the door open.

"Ma'am, we have reason to believe this area is about to be attacked by an Enhanced criminal," the officer said. "We are asking everyone to evacuate the area. A shelter has been set-up at the Rego Park Marriott. If you need assistance getting there a police van is waiting at the corner to ferry people but we need you to leave now."

"Thank you," May said numbly. She walked to the van and took a seat then sat there staring blankly ahead until the van filled with her neighbors and they were driven to the hotel. Inside, May and the others were quickly and efficiently directed into the hotel's ballroom. Office dividers had been set-up to split the room into cubicles, there were sleeping bags laid out on mats with courtesy packets, toothbrushes and the like, left on top of each bag. At the end of the room a buffet with coffee, hot chocolate, fruit and donuts was waiting.

As May wandered away from the door, letting the group direct her toward the buffet, Happy intercepted her, "Ms. Potts sent me," he said quietly showing May his SI key badge.

May nodded and let him steer her into a nondescript car. Once there was no chance of being overheard, May turned to Happy, "You clearly know. Is Peter okay?"

Happy hesitated, "The Avengers are already looking for him," he said. "We know he was investigating the Goblin when he went missing. It won't be long before he's found."

"He's not alright," May realized.

Happy's shoulders slumped. "We found blood along side his mask. We're looking for him."

Daredevil stood on a rooftop in Elmhurst and listened. After several minutes he heard an airborne whoosh that didn't correspond to any aircraft he was familiar with flying low across the city. He focused his senses on it and smelled blood. He returned Pepper's call, "I've got them, in the air, headed for Forest Hills. Following by rooftop as best I'm able."

"Thank you," Pepper replied. "I'll direct fliers your way."

"Tell them to hang back. The Goblin might drop him if attacked. I don't know if Spider-Man is in any condition to catch himself."

"I'll pass it on."

After Pepper hung up Daredevil called a second number. "Jess, I hope you're in a flying mood," he said as he adjusted his headset and took off running. "Head toward Forest Hills. If worst comes to worst we might need you to make a catch."

Keeping one ear out for the glider Daredevil leapt from roof to roof. Occasionally he'd relay directions to his teammates. Finally the Goblin swooped down on a neighborhood. Daredevil heard calm, measured heartbeats all around, murmured reports and a distinct lack of normal chatter from the surrounding houses. "He walked into their ambush," he reported to his team. I'll stick around until Spider-Man's safe but I think we're done."

"If you get the chance, tell 'em we're here if they need us," Luke Cage replied. "That's what this was always about: Helping people, doing what's right. Tell 'em politics don't change that."

Daredevil knew he should get out of there. In the Kitchen word was out that the people he beat up had it coming, even among the police he had his supporters once the department was cleaned of corruption and it became known that Fisk had framed him for the bombing. In the Kitchen if a person hadn't known a victim of a similar crime odds were they could picture it happening to them or someone they knew. But it didn't take much distance before people were talking about the rights of the criminals he fought and complaining about his methods. He didn't expect the police in Queens to be friendly. All the same, Daredevil couldn't bring himself to leave until he saw Spider-Man was safe. There was a naivety to the other vigilante that he wouldn't want to see lost if there was anything he could do to prevent it.

The tightly packed rows of single family dwellings didn't provide much cover even with the small strips of green space dividing the rows but Daredevil made due. He heard the backwash as the glider came to a stop just above the ground and the soft thud as Spider-Man's knees hit the pavement. Then the Goblin leapt off the glider and started stomping up the walk. Unexpectedly he was yanked to a halt as if Spider-Man had become immovable. A strained grunt gave away the Goblin's failed attempt to pull Spider-Man after him. The Goblin snarled angrily. Spider-Man's pained yelp almost covered the sound of small bones breaking and Daredevil filled in the Goblin grinding his foot down on the hero's hand.

He hurried to get closer as the Goblin managed to tow Spider-Man a few steps further before Spidey struck to the ground again. The Goblin left Spider-Man crouched on the sidewalk as he went up to the door on his own. Daredevil noted the way heat streamed from the other vigilante's head but his body heat was mostly contained and assumed a lost mask. He couldn't be sure of the lighting but decided to hope for the best and get Spider-Man away before the police lying in wait got a better look at him.

The Goblin knocked on the door. Daredevil prepared to make his move. He didn't hear the door open but a stern voice announced, "You have hurt people I care for." And Daredevil certainly heard the splintering of the door and felt the rush of heat from the house as the Goblin was dragged inside, straight through the door.

Daredevil slipped out of the shadows and pulled Spider-Man's arm over his shoulders. "I'm a friend," he said. Up close Spider-Man's build completed the impression of youth that Daredevil already had in his mind. He hoped the kid wasn't too out of it to let him help.

At first Spider-Man tensed then let himself slump against Daredevil. "My aunt?" he worried.

Daredevil didn't waste a moment but yanked the kid back into the shadows trusting that all eyes would be on the fight between Vision and the Goblin. He pried open a window and pushed the kid into the basement the house on the left. There were police upstairs but in Daredevil's experience that would only help to ensure that no one would look for them there.

"My aunt?" Spider-Man repeated with increased urgency, grabbing Daredevil's arm.

Daredevil tilted his head to the side. He wasn't quite sure what he was hearing but he didn't doubt that Vision was firmly in control. "Your aunt isn't home, just the Avengers' Vision and a lot of police in the neighboring houses." He frowned, Spider-Man's voice was distorted by facial swelling and his breathing indicated at least a few cracked ribs, a lot of pain and he wasn't standing on his own. "You're not in good shape, got somewhere I can take you?"

Spider-Man's head came up. "Captain Stacy's here?" he asked, looking around for the man. Then he groaned, "I'm in so much trouble." Spider-Man sounded more like a kid who'd missed curfew rather than someone worried about legal ramifications.

"Your mask's missing," Daredevil pointed out in case the kid hadn't noticed.

"S'okay," Spider-Man slurred. "Stacy knows."

The simple trust in Spider-Man's voice stopped Daredevil. He focused on the chaos above them and quickly picked out someone in charge who was more concerned about Spider-Man's disappearance than the Goblin's arrest. "Stacy's the one you want me to take you to?" he verified.

Spider-Man nodded. "He's gonna be mad. Aunt May's okay?"

"Your aunt wasn't here," Daredevil repeated. "And Stacy sounds worried mostly."

"Hope FRI's not in trouble too," Spider-Man said.

Daredevil slipped up the stairs, hauling Spider-Man along with him and then headed toward Stacy's car.

"How can someone dressed in bright red and blue just vanish!" Stacy was demanding.

"Hey," Spider-Man called, embarrassment mixed with relief coloring his voice.

Daredevil heard the Captain spin to face them, he started forward at the sight of Spider-Man then his movements turned wary as he recognized the second vigilante.

"Found something you're looking for," Daredevil greeted the man cautiously.

"You're a ways from home," Stacy said.

"Lady asked me to help out," Daredevil replied. "We're all just trying to help."

Stacy accepted Spider-Man and helped him into his car. "Do I have to bring up roads paved with good intentions Mr. Devil? There's a reason why the police are regulated and even with all your abilities your lot are still human where it really counts," Stacy said leaving Daredevil to wonder if he'd gestured to his head or heart.

Stacy turned to Spider-Man. "Come on kid, the Avengers have a doctor on standby waiting for you."

Peter passed out on the way to the tower. The next time he regained consciousness his Aunt May was sitting beside his bed holding his hand. She, Captain Stacy, Colonel Rhodes and a woman in a lab coat were all frowning at him.

"You're okay," Peter said in a raspy voice.

May squeezed his hand tightly, "But you aren't. I told you not to go over to the Osborns alone anymore. You lied to me about going there, you were nearly killed and we didn't even know you were in danger. If Norman hadn't wanted to hurt me as well I could have lost you Peter!"

The doctor stepped forward, "Do you know what today's date is?" she asked as she shined a light in his eyes. She completed her examine with a brisk business-like air while the other three continued to look on sternly. When she was done she flipped to the start of his medical chart. "You have a severe concussion, three separate skull fractures, a broken nose and fractured zygomatic arch. Six small bones in your left hand were crushed. You suffered a compound fracture of both tibia and fibulas in the right arm, additionally your shoulder was dislocated. Your collarbone was fractured along with nine ribs and three vertebrae. You have a severely bruised kidney, expect to be pissing blood for several days. I gave you three units of blood to make up what you lost to internal bleeding," Dr. Cho reported. "You'll recover due to my techniques and your healing factor but your bones and muscles are considerably more dense than a baseline human's, without that you would be dead three times over."

Peter gulped. "How's FRIDAY?" he asked guilty. "I know he did something to her too."

"SI was pretty severely hacked but FRIDAY managed to protect her operating code," Rhodes said. "She and her new friend Amadeus Cho are restoring SI's systems under Vision's supervision. We don't believe the data lost went any further than OsCorp's servers and the police have them locked down pending a full investigation."

"What were you hoping to accomplish?" Stacy asked.

"I was going to get proof of how OsCorp was linked to the Goblin so you could arrest him," Peter said.

"I think you need some refresher courses on evidentiary procedures," Stacy said. "We couldn't get a warrant, anything you learned would have been inadmissible. I know it's frustrating, God I know! But you have to think about what it would be like if we didn't have laws against unreasonable search and seizure. We all 'knew' Osborn was guilty even though we couldn't get proof. This time we were right but it's a dangerous path to start down because if Jameson were allowed to act on what he 'knows' he'd have you strung up."

"I didn't know the Goblin was Mr. Osborn," Peter said in a small voice. "I thought he was just trying to deal with it himself."

"That's why there have to be limits," Stacy said. "Because I could have been wrong and as horrible and as frustrating as it can be to let someone who's guilty get away, it's better to do that than to punish someone who's innocent by mistake."

"Alright," Dr. Cho said. "Your time's up. He'll be stuck in that bed for two more days you can come back tomorrow to keep working on making sure he doesn't turn into a repeat customer."

Stacy nodded sharply, "Refresher courses, so you're ready to be back on the street once you heal." He gestured to a balloon bouquet by the window, "They already miss you at the station."

"We have to talk about your identity," Rhodes said. "Osborn knows, he could shout it out in court or sell it and there's not much we can do to stop him without resorting to drastic measures. I'm not saying it hasn't been done but you can't disappear a man like Norman Osborn without consequences. We can spread some disinformation to try to mitigate the damage but from now on we have to consider your identity compromised, you're going to have to live with that. But you're not on your own. The whole team has your back and we'll help you figure it out."

"Pepper offered to move us into the Tower," May said after Rhodes left. "I think it might be a good thing. Not just for the added security. I think it might be good for both of us to move into a new place, someplace where the family portrait wasn't moved to cover up a bullet hole in the wall."