Author's Note: Continuing forwards! As far as the team knows Nick Fury is dead. I own nothing.

10. Need To Know

Piper sent the boys out after Ava who'd apparently gone AWOL, almost feral. The main lab was a mess, beakers that had been too close to the edge of tables smashed on the floor spilling her new web formula everywhere. Any soft surface was torn to shreds. Long claw marks were dug into the walls. Piper had to figure out why Ava was doing this, the normally cool and controlled girl having gone completely wild didn't sit well. With a little help from Doc Connors she'd cracked into Fury's personal files for the team, one of the few pieces of information Natasha had dumped into Stark Servers instead of directly online. There was a reason Piper liked her best. She sat down at her desk in her lab and pulled up the White Tiger file. A holographic image of Nick Fury appeared on the other side of the desk. Piper frowned. It was odd seeing someone she knew to be dead sitting across from her. He shook his head slightly and Piper glanced down at the screen in front of her to make sure this was a recording, just in case.

'Personal log, Director Fury, subject, White Tiger, day seven. One week, I have had two teens on the premises for a full week now. Luke seems to be taking to the presence of someone his age well. We recruited Ava Ayala when Agent Coulson found her during an op in Puerto Rico. She holds the mystical amulet of the White Tiger, which endows the user with an immense amount of power, strength and speed. Wielding the amulet takes an immense amount of personal control. It was passed down to her by her father, who received it from his father before him.' Fury sighed running a hand through his short hair.

'There has been some debate as to whether or not she should keep the amulet, both due to her age and the power held within being too much for one person. I believe she can handle it. Her father taught her how to discipline herself. I've never met someone as in control of herself as this fourteen year old girl.' Piper paused the video, drumming her hands on the table. This had been from two years ago. Well before the team had officially been let loose on the world. She checked the date stamp on the file and did a quick bout of math. It was about a week after this that she officially stepped out as Spidergirl for the first time. She shook herself. She didn't like thinking about her first escapade as a hero and how much she'd almost screwed up. She hit play again.

'I will say this, if the tiger ever gets to be too much for Miss Ayala, I don't know who would be able to stop her. End log.' Piper frowned, what if the power had gotten to be too much? The lure of the wild, the call to be something other than human was something she was somewhat familiar with. There were days, frequently lately, where all she wanted to do was curl up in a web and stay there until something forced her to move. She ran her tongue along her front teeth, feeling some of the skin peel back slightly, the pincers descended and she frowned running a finger along them. They were sharp, she hissed slightly as she caught her finger on the serrated edge. She sighed and pulled off her top, grabbing her mask out of her pocket as she changed.

Lunch in the Stark Tower Cafeteria was different, more like eating in a fancy restaurant than any cafeteria Glen was used to, complete with waiters and menus. They were running late to lunch, it was nearly five in the afternoon. Dr. Connors insisted on feeding them before sending them home though. He smiled at them as the waiter took their order and bowed out walking back towards the kitchen. Glen would have felt out of place if it wasn't for the four other tables of people in lab coats and jeans.

"So how are you two settling in to the lab?" Abe smiled wide at the doctor.

"It's a bit of culture shock but it's worth it!" Glen nodded. Dr. Connors smiled slightly. Abe glanced around and leaned forwards. "I do have a question though." Dr. Connors nodded.

"Ask away, I'm here to teach." Glen smiled, sipping his Pepsi.

"Is it true you worked for SHEILD?" Glen blinked at his fellow intern as Dr. Connors face fell. Abe continued. "I mean SHEILD got spilled onto the internet right, the Black Widow did that when she, Captain America, and the Falcon took it down. Well I mean it included names of scientists, and your name was there." Dr. Connors cleared his throat as Glen set down him drink.

"Yes. I did work for SHEILD. None of us knew that Hydra was there, we…" Abe interrupted him, still looking excited.

"So you got to work with Spidergirl?" Dr. Connors blinked at him for a moment and remained silent as the waiter returned with their food. Once he had left again Dr. Connors collected himself and nodded.

"Yes, I did work with Spidergirl and her team." Glen tilted his head, interested. He had a hunch but not enough solid evidence to back it up. Hunches weren't the building blocks of science though, they could certainly lead to discoveries, but they could also lead to disaster if not handled well. So he bit into his sandwich instead of speaking as Abe snagged one of his fries and grinned at the doctor.

"What's she like?" Dr. Connors frowned as he wound his fork in his spaghetti. Abe kept pushing as the doctor took a bite. "I know you won't tell us who she is, if you even know, but she's literally the coolest superhero." Dr. Connors smiled slightly as he set down his fork.

"I did work with her and her team a few times but never closely." Glen frowned as Dr. Connors rubbed his shoulder. He did that a lot when he talked about certain things, things he wasn't sure about or things he was flat out lying about. He didn't do it often but enough that Glen had caught on, his dad had taught him how to recognize certain ticks in people. Abe however looked disappointed.

"So, no chance of her autograph?" Glen snorted, and Dr. Connors smiled, he was still rubbing his shoulder though.

"Probably not, truth be told I haven't seen her since SHEILD fell." Abe went back to his food looking a bit down. They were silent for a few minutes but then Abe perked back up looking up at Glen.

"How about you Glen? Your dad's police chief right? He's gotta have worked with Spidergirl before, right?" Glen shook his head.

"Nope." Abe stared at him and Glen sighed. "My dad is the chief of police. But technically Spidergirl is a vigilante. He can't be seen being complicit in anything she does, since to the letter of the law at least, she's a criminal, her and her team." Dr. Connors frowned. Abe looked almost offended. Glen raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm not saying the letter of that law in particular is right, neither does dad honestly. But times are changing, who knows. Maybe the government will officially recognize her team like they did with the Avengers. The media is already calling them the Ultimates, so it could be, but I don't know. I think she's pretty cool though." Abe grinned and went back to his food. Dr. Connors took another bit of his as well before smiling.

"Maybe they'll become members of the Avengers." Glen tilted his head at the doctor, conceding the point as Abe began to talk about how cool that would be.

Luke figured they were in trouble when Nova dropped to the roof, snoring a dart sticking out of his back. It would take a tranquilizer that could kill a bull elephant to knock him down. Danny whirled batting aside several darts aimed his way before a smoke bomb went off near his feet. Luke heard him hit the roof but couldn't see it. He circled and lunged as he spotted a large figure in the clearing smoke. It was tall, at least six feet and built like a brick wall.

"Gonna take more than a dart to take me down!" Then something was blown in his face and he coughed and staggered, gagging before keeling over, landing hard on the roof. The last thing he saw was a tall tan skinned man with bright eyes dressed in well cared for animal skins with a white fur collar around the edge of his vest, like the mane on a lion.

"I know." He smiled a sharp toothed grin and Luke's world spun before going black.