Author's Note: And I'm back!
"The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other."
—Mario Puzo
Gwen grimaced as she came out of the Oscorp building. Somehow, knowing that she was helping protect Peter by working for a somewhat shady—okay, really shady and probably somewhat evil—corporation didn't really ease her fears. Still, Pepper had been right and based on the classified internal memos the former CEO had shown the girl, Oscorp had had their eyes on Peter for months. What did they want with him? The best thing for Peter was to have someone on the inside to keep an eye on things.
This was the best way to protect him.
"How'd it go?" Pepper came to stand beside her and the teen girl allowed herself to relax, smiling at the older woman's kind gaze.
"I'm in." She replied and the former CEO nodded, glancing towards the bright Oscorp logo. "Now what?"
"Now." Pepper started, placing a hand on the younger girl's shoulders. "We wait."
The teenager just sighed.
Patience had never been one of her virtues.
The punches sounded like gunfire.
Peter had seen a lot of fights—he even remembered seeing the Avengers on TV during the Battle of New York and that had been bad—but that was nothing in comparison to seeing his two teammates beat the living crap out of each other. Tony's armor had scorch marks around his arc reactor, the product of Natasha trying to overload the suit's system. Natasha, for her part, had numerous lesions and bruises. Still, though the two of them were battered and bruised, neither one of them had managed to overpower the other. Now, they circled each other, trying to analyze the other and find a weak spot to exploit.
"Steve." Peter glanced at the de-facto leader of the team. The super soldier actually seemed to resemble his age now; his face drawn and lips in a tight line. He clearly wasn't enjoying this either, but made no move to stop it. "This is enough."
"Not yet." Steve murmured.
Tony raised his blaster; Natasha steeled herself.
"How is this accomplishing anything?" He growled. "Look at them! They're just beating the crap out of each other—!"
The blaster fired and hit Black Widow in the chest. She went flying back, slamming into the wall. Clint tensed, fighting back his own instincts to help his partner.
"Bruce?" Steve glanced towards Dr. Banner, who held his medical kit close to him.
"I'm fine." Natasha called, but her gait was shaky. She took a step forward, but stumbled, nearly falling to the ground before she righted herself. Seeing Bruce's concerned gaze, she added, "I'm okay."
"Tony." Peter called, but the billionaire seemed to have lost the fight in him. He lowered himself to the ground and opened his faceplate. He offered his hand to Natasha, who after a moment, took it.
The tension in the air seemed to dissipate immediately and Peter breathed a sigh of relief. Bruce scurried over to the deadly assassin and quickly began to take in her injuries, cataloging what treatments he needed to perform.
"For what it's worth," Natasha began, voice steady as she met Tony's gaze. "I'm sorry about not telling you."
The inventor sighed, shrugging somewhat.
"It's your job though." Tony muttered. "I don't like it, but if the kid's forgiven you two," He glanced at Peter, who nodded in confirmation. "I can't really keep complaining."
"How mature of you, Tony." Steve commented, a smile alighting on his lips as the dark mood in the room faded away.
"Don't worry," The inventor chuckled. "I'll do something incredibly stupid tomorrow."
"Both of you come to the infirmary," Bruce mumbled, shaking his head at the sight of his teammates injured. "I'll look you both over and patch you two up."
Natasha nodded and leaning on Clint, allowed him to guide her towards the elevator. With one final glance at Peter, Tony followed them. The ding of the elevator echoed in the silence that they left behind.
"That was stupid," Peter said softly. "But I guess it worked."
"Sometimes, the only way for comrades to come to an agreement is a healthy sparring." Thor boomed, clapping the teen on his back. "And all is well once more."
"Yeah, I guess." Peter shrugged, running a hand through his hair, smiling,
"And now!" Thor boomed, guiding the teen toward the kitchen. "We celebrate!"
"With pop tarts?" The youngest member of the teen guessed, knowing how much the god enjoyed the toaster pastries.
Thor just laughed.
"The orbs have performed admirably."
Alexander Pierce addressed the shadowy holograms. Many of S.H.I.E.L.D. technicians had gone home for the day and those that still remained wouldn't dare to visit his office at this late hour. As far as anyone knew, Alexander had gone home for the night—something that his own security cameras would attest to if need be. If anyone looked through the computer records here, they wouldn't find a trace.
He had his tracks covered and then some.
"Mr. Pierce," A synthesized voice began, sharp and harsh. "I fail to see why you are wasting resources on observing the Avengers."
"Knowing your enemy is half the battle," Alexander replied calmly. "The data the orbs have supplied is invaluable."
"And what do you plan to do with this data?" The dissenter questioned once more.
"The data will be used catalogue the Avengers weaknesses and when the time arises, it shall serve as the means for their downfall." Alexander answered, voice tight and controlled. He didn't handle being challenged well and someone questioning his authority—after everything he did to get H.Y.D.R.A. to where it was; all the sacrifices he made for the group—irked him more than he liked to admit.
"H.Y.D.R.A. needs to make a move—"
"If we move in haste, we risk losing everything we've worked for." Alexander growled. "I will not take that risk."
The dissenter became quiet, shamed into doing so.
"What is the next step?" A lighter synthesized voice asked finally, breaking the silence.
"Continue your operations. I will monitor the Avengers. Should anything immediate arise, I will contact you once more."
A pause, then tentatively, "Very well, Mr. Pierce."
"Hail H.Y.D.R.A." He waved, disconnecting the call.
"Hail H.Y.D.R.A!" Their voices echoed. Sighing softly, Alexander returned to his desk, where the files of the Avengers were open. Glancing over Peter's, he grimaced seeing the small notations about Oscorp's interests with the teen. Peter was valuable to H.Y.D.R.A.—he was young and could be easily manipulated, should the need arise. He couldn't risk Oscorp getting ahold of the teen.
Picking up his phone, he sighed as he waited for the line to connect.
"Fury? Pierce." He shook his head, double-checking the Oscorp notes once more. "Lock down Parker. I don't care what you have to say or do, but he doesn't leave Avengers Tower, is that understood?"
He hung up before Fury could question why.
It would seem that Peter might be the pawn in the game that mattered most.
Alexander just hoped that he could keep him safe and figure out Oscorp's endgame before it was too late.
Author's Note: This chapter was really hard to write for some odd reason. Next chapter, lockdown goes into effect, Natasha and Clint reveal what S.H.I.E.L.D. knows about Oscorp and then, some fluffy bonding. We need a bit of a break from all the drama, right? Please review if you have a moment. Thanks!