"Fury called you in?" Peter asks, more than a little incredulous.
"Something like that," Clint says with an offhanded shrug, circling the conference table until he's in view of the monitor they'd been watching the security footage on.
"And here I thought he was starting to trust us to take care of the little problems," Sam grouses.
"This is no 'little problem,'" Steve corrects him, the authoritative edge in his tone hushing the teens collectively. Seeing that he's coming on a little strong, he decides to ease up. After all, the kids don't know any better. "It's not a criticism of your skills, it's just that this is what you might call a special circumstance."
The teens share a look. Special circumstance? Peter has to wonder just why that is. Sure, it's Coulson that's been kidnapped, but… it's Coulson. Is this really an Avengers-level priority? Not even one Avenger, but two? Or is Fury just that freaked out about it that he had to call in the extra muscle? Whatever the reason, he intends to get to the bottom of it. Thankfully, Fury decides to make his timely entrance at just that moment.
"Glad to see you got my little communique," Fury says as he strides into the room.
"Any luck on rebooting your systems?" Steve asks, cutting straight to the chase.
"Online and tracking the Goblin's whereabouts as we speak," Fury answers. "Once we've determined his location, you'll be able to move in along with our team to attempt an extraction."
Clint casts a wary eye over the teens. "You sure about that?"
"You're not still mad about that time we were stuck together, are you?" Peter asks. When Clint stares him down, he sighs in aggravation. "But we high fived!"
"Yeah, and you got us stuck together again when we did!" Clint points out.
"They're a talented group," Steve interrupts, his gaze fixated on the security footage. "We have to be as careful with this operation as possible and the help can't hurt."
"Many hands make light work," Danny supplies.
"Precisely," Steve answers.
Peter studies the captain as he watches the footage. With his cowl pushed back, his expression is easily readable. The super soldier is angry, that much is obvious, but just what's brought that on is still a mystery. When the footage reaches the junction where Coulson is shocked unconscious, Peter finds himself shooting Luke a curious look; Steve's eyes narrow and his nostrils flare and his strong jaw clenches and Peter can only hope he never has Captain America giving him the look that he's giving the Goblin on-screen.
"Not that it isn't totally awesome to have Captain America and Hawkeye helping us out—because it totally is—but can I ask why?" Sam asks.
"Sam," Ava hisses, jabbing him with her elbow.
"Ow, hey! I'm just asking what you're all wondering," Sam protests.
Peter knows something's definitely being kept from him when Fury, Steve and Clint all share "the look." It's the look that means there's something they don't know and the adults are wondering just how much they're willing to part with. Peter doesn't like it one bit. And from the looks he's picking up around the table, neither do his teammates. After a few moments of silence, Clint offers them a casual, one-shoulder shrug.
"Coulson's my handler," he says. "It's personal."
"Your handler? Since when do Avengers have handlers?" Peter asks.
"Since I was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent before I was an Avenger," Clint clarifies, looking amused by their reactions.
"Wait, wait, Hawkeye is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?" Luke asks, clearly as thrown as the rest of them.
"Mostly an auxiliary agent these days, but yeah," Clint answers. "Coulson was the one who recruited me and he's been my handler since day one. So this Goblin here's got an arrow with his name on it."
"Since when has Coulson handled big fish like Hawkeye?" Peter whispers to Luke.
"No idea," the other teen whispers back. "But speaking of fish… something stinks."
"Yeah, you're not kidding," Peter snorts. "What the hell aren't they telling us?"
"Something you boys would like to share with the rest of the class?"
The two look up suddenly, into the stern gaze of Nick Fury. The Director is clearly displeased with their whispering, but then, they're pretty displeased with whatever secrets he's keeping. But, Peter supposes, when you're the spy of spies, you've probably got more secrets than you can keep track of. All the same, he doesn't like the vibe he's getting from the three adults.
"Nope," Peter answers. "Not unless the rest of the class has something it would like to share with us."
"I don't think I like your tone," Fury says, the words more growled out than anything.
"Director Fury! Sir, we've got a hit!"
An agent comes marching into the room, holding a printout above his head for them to see. And suddenly it doesn't matter what they do or don't know, because they've got more important things to worry about.
"Unsurprisingly, our friend has flown the coop," Clint says as they inspect the abandoned escape pod.
"Heh. Bird jokes—augh!" Sam says, his words transforming into a yelp as Ava elbows him again. "Tiger, quit it!"
"I'll quit it when you quit acting like such a moron," Ava grinds out.
"I've gotta give him that one, though. I mean, Hawkeye making bird jokes, come on," Peter says.
"Guys," Steve says, calling for their attention. "If we could focus here?"
The teens mumble and shuffle their feet, not liking having to be called out by Captain America, but readily agree to his suggestion to scan the area. Steve watches as they scatter to do so before turning his attention back to the pod as Clint slides into the space beside him. He knows what his fellow Avenger is going to say, but he stands by his decision. It's just that, well… the kids don't know any better. They don't know why this is so important. And that's no fault of theirs.
"Still think bringing them along was a good idea, Cap?" Clint asks.
"I've worked with them before. They've got what it takes," Steve answers. "They just need a little… push."
Clint snorts. "Group of superheroes needs a little push to get their shit together? Seems a little too familiar for my tastes."
"I know what you mean," Steve sighs. "I think it may be time that we dropped the act."
"You want to blow Phil's cover?" Clint asks, arching an eyebrow.
"Don't you think it's been long enough?" Steve responds. He crouches, examining the control panel on the pod. "We all agreed this was the best option, but with the length of time that's passed, I think our objective has been reached. They're a well put together team and they're relying less on Phil's direction these days, by his own admission. I think at this point, allowing them to continue to believe he's your run-of-the-mill agent could get us all in hot water on this one."
"You're thinking the Goblin's going to use him," Clint deduces.
"I think it's highly likely," Steve answers, "given what that symbiote did to the Tri-Carrier."
Clint grunts at that, but doesn't say anything more. The archer glances over his shoulder to keep an eye on the teens and Steve takes a moment to study the other man. It's an uncomfortable subject for Clint, he knows, even after all this time. Really, there's no amount of time that could pass where it becomes okay that someone brainwashed you and used you against your allies. Clint had been Loki's pawn then… and Steve's fear is that Phil just may be the Goblin's pawn now.
"Then we'll just have to take him back," Clint says.
"You read my mind," Steve answers.
He just hopes that they can manage to do that sooner rather than later.
"Just so we're clear," Peter says, as they search the area, "we all know that they're keeping something from us, right?"
"It's S.H.I.E.L.D., of course they're keeping something from us," Ava answers, seeming unconcerned.
"And that doesn't bother you. At all. Not even a little bit," Peter prods.
"What bothers me is that the Goblin has Coulson and we haven't found him yet," Ava says, sounding as though her patience is wearing thin. "And that it doesn't seem to be your top priority right now."
Peter deflates at that, just a bit. After reviewing some of the things he's said in the past couple of hours… yeah, it does seem that way, doesn't it? But it's not like he doesn't care. Sure, it's Coulson and they're not exactly best buds or anything, but he's still one of theirs.
"Look, I think we're all concerned about what the Goblin wants with Agent Coulson," Luke cuts in smoothly. "But Spider-Man's right; they're keeping something from us and, I don't know about you guys, but I don't feel like going in blind."
"Exactly," Peter agrees. "It's not that I don't care, I'm just… look, this is really bugging me, okay? Something's off."
"Bugging him," Sam repeats.
"I will smack you into next week, I swear to God," Ava threatens.
"I think we all need to take a deep breath and calm down," Danny says. "For now, let's continue our search, and when the timing is more appropriate, we can approach Director Fury with our concerns in a rational, adult manner."
"I tried that," Peter points out.
"That is… not exactly what I would call a rational, adult manner," Danny admits.
"Okay," Peter says with a sigh. "We'll try again later."
They're not finding any clues, which is something of a double-edged sword, in Peter's opinion. On one hand, no clues means they're not any closer to tracking down the Goblin. On the other hand, no clues also means no path of destruction to follow, which means no loss of life and no crippling damage to the surrounding area.
He finds his thoughts wandering to the exact place he wishes they wouldn't. There's another reason he's been so insistent on the issue of kept secrets; it's to distract him. If he's distracted, he doesn't have to think about what the Goblin might be doing to Coulson. He doesn't have to wonder if it's like what was done to him. He doesn't have to wonder if the agent is in pain or waiting for them to come for him or… afraid? Peter's never seen him afraid. But he must be, from time to time. Everyone's afraid sometimes.
"Hey."
He looks up at the soft words and the gentle nudge. You wouldn't expect it from a guy like Luke, but then most people would be surprised to find that the strongest member of their team is also the gentlest.
"You okay?" Luke asks, concern leaking into his words.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking," Peter assures him.
"About the…?"
"Yeah. Yeah, you know, just… It's fine, though," Peter says.
"You're sure?" Luke presses, his fingers brushing the back of the smaller boy's hand.
"I'm fine," Peter says, rolling his eyes.
Luke looks as though he's prepared to push the matter further when Peter's wrist communicator goes off. Peter lifts his wrist, answering the incoming communication with the push of a button. Captain America's face fills the screen.
"Double-time it back to the Quinjet. We've got a hit."
"We're on our way," Peter responds.
He and Luke share a look before Peter calls over his shoulder.
"Guys! We've got a hit! Back to the Quinjet!"
The Goblin finishes the upgrade to his glider, the task he'd been attempting before his capture. This round had gone much smoother. S.H.I.E.L.D. had beefed up their security, obviously expecting his return to the area. Not that it had done them much good in the end. He takes in the scene before him with an air of satisfaction.
There's not a man left standing—or alive, for that matter. Bodies strewn across the floor, armor ripped to shreds, blood pooling on the ground; and he hadn't even lifted a finger.
"We'll have to label our trial run a success," he declares.
His new pet twitches, fidgets, scratches at the ground. Doesn't do well with inactivity, he notes. The symbiote controlled agent paces restlessly, stopping now and again to clutch at its head and emit high pitched noises of distress.
"Still fighting, are we, Agent?" the Goblin notes.
Pressing a button on his gauntlet triggers the collar he'd placed on the man before giving him the injection. A shock is delivered from the collar until the symbiote regains complete control over its host and crouches back against a wall, clicking in agitation, but obedient. The Goblin is pleased to see the collar is as effective as he'd envisioned it to be.
The symbiote cocks its head, appearing to be listening intently. The sound of engines. When the Goblin looks out the window, he can see a Quinjet touching down and grins to himself. Perfect timing. He pushes a series of buttons on his gauntlet until the collar emits a sock far stronger than the one he'd just used.
The symbiote's shrieks of pain dissolve into the agent's screams until the man is lying prostrate on the ground, unmoving. The symbiote has retreated back within its host, leaving him so he appears to be merely unconscious.
"And now the stage is set for test number two," the Goblin says to himself with a wicked grin.
He tucks himself away, deciding he'll watch for a time before getting involved. As the door flies open, he has a feeling he's in for quite a show.