I've just been burning through this story like all get out! Man! Don't worry, I will update my other tales(eventually). In the meantime, as a side note, I will be developing the Peter/Natasha romance very slowly. So slowly in fact, that another woman will be Pete's love interest for a little bit. But fret not. I will bring these two lovebirds together.

Don't Back Up

"That was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen, agent. And I've seen stupid."

Fury stared across at Hawkeye in his office, the man covered in bruises and cuts, some of which were still bleeding. Spider-Man was standing next to him, slightly injured as well, but not as extensively as Barton.

"What the hell were you thinking, antagonizing Moon Knight?" Fury went on. Barton's upper lip, which was bleeding, stiffened.

"I was using his cloak as target practice," he answered stiffly, looking straight ahead. "I do that with everyone's stuff."

"Come on," Fury said, leaning back in his chair. "You initiated the fight. Why?"

"Because he wouldn't," Barton answered simply. Parker sighed, pinching his nose.

"Parker," Fury barked, and he jumped. "Why does Agent Barton have a death wish?"

"Uh, well," Parker stammered, holding his hands behind his back. "Uh, I think he was, uh… I think he just wanted… wanted to… well, get back at Specter for… well, for injuring Agent Drew in practice last week."

Fury knew this. He just wanted to see if Parker would tell him. Barton's face remained expressionless. He fiddled with his pen for a moment, before standing up.

"Everyone involved in the fight will get a week's suspension," he said aloud, writing it down. "Barton, you will be placed in solitary. I can't fault Specter with defending himself."

Barton didn't answer.

"Parker, I want you to stay behind. You're dismissed, Hawkeye."

Barton turned around and marched out of the office, hiding a limp in his right leg. Parker remained where he was, his eyes following his comrade out of the room.

"Commander, will you come in, please," Fury said into his com. A door opened from the left, and in walked Steve Rogers, followed by Bucky Barnes. "And Tony? You got a minute?"

In an instant, the holographic form of Tony Stark appeared, his hands in his pockets, a sour expression on his face.

"Do you really need me sitting in on these meetings?" he asked, his cultured voice carrying an irritated tone. "I'm working."

"This is work," Fury responded. "Steve, Bucky, have a seat."

The offer was made to them but not to Parker specifically to demonstrate that the younger man was still in coventry. But neither men took the proffered seats, remaining standing.

"What is it, Director?" Rogers asked, getting to the point. The 90-year-old man didn't look a day over 30, although he had lived for each and every one of his years' life.

"Hydra, Commander," Fury answered, leaning back in his chair again, pen in hand. "We've found another cell. And this time, it looks legit."

"How many terror networks have we taken out?" Barnes interjected. The young man had served in WWII along with Rogers, performing the black ops missions that Rogers' missions covered. He had been kidnapped by the Russians at the end of the war, cryogenically frozen, and forgotten about until modern times, recovered by the Romanov family. Both he and the daughter, Natasha, had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. Barnes was never quite able to shake the lone wolf status he had maintained during the war, preferring to work alongside Rogers as much as possible. "Every time, it's just been some idealist trying to revive the name. Nothing real."

"It's different this time," Fury said. "Because guess who's shown up?"

"Uh, Director?" Parker said. "Why am I here?" Fury cast his head down, looking at Parker with his one eye.

"Because this has something to do with your family."

He watched as Parker's eyes widened, although to his credit, he contained his shock as much as possible. Stark looked puzzled.

"Peter's family? They were killed by Red Skull. Is this about Johann Shmidt?"

Fury turned his gaze to the hologram, looking into the computer-generated eyes of the crippled, paralytic genius who created it. For Tony Stark was comatose, his body broken and deformed, dead to the world… except for his mind. He was born with cerebral palsy, in such a severe condition that he was unable to breathe, move, or talk. But he was able to think. And that mind created the construct for which he could physically manifest the digital projection of his mental self. As such, he was tall, suave, handsome, with a full head of hair and goatee that was jet-black. His personality was that of a carefree playboy, and when he had come to work at S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury had allowed him to install himself into the Triskelion mainframe, allowing him to go wherever he wished.

The specific reason why he was here in this meeting was connected to the main project he was working on… cloning a perfect body for himself that he could inhabit and exist in the real world.

"There's something we learned about Mary Parker recently that both Parkers kept hidden from us," Fury explained. "She had more or less retired from the game after Peter was born, although Richard continued to serve as an operative. The mission to take out Red Skull was to be his last. Mary went along with him as sort of a good luck charm. What we never knew was that she took another good luck charm with her."

All four men in the room look confused, until Peter gasped in shock.

"You mean… she… they… she was pregnant?" he asked, his face stunned. Fury nodded. "I… I almost had a brother…"

Fury exchanged looks with Rogers, but the Commander shook his head slightly. The gesture was lost from Peter, but not from Bucky, who frowned.

"Not almost," Fury went on. Peter looked up. "Richard and Mary both died with Johann, but not all of his minions were dead. They recovered the bodies, only sending them back to us after they had extracted the embryo from Mary's womb. That child grew up in a test tube for nine months. And then, for the past twenty years, was raised and trained by Hydra."

"How do we know this?" Rogers asked.

"Intel received by our boys in the Foreign Department." A collective shudder ran through the group. The Foreign Department was an innocuous term masking the true beast of S.H.I.E.L.D., which was intel gathering of happenings all over the world. They were ruthless, dangerous, and short-lived. No one dared cross them, the few who even knew about them. "They've been monitoring this particular branch of Hydra for a while. They named the boy Benjamin."

Peter's face hardened. A steely look came into his eyes.

"Am I going on this mission, sir?" he asked Fury.

"Hold on, there," Fury said, holding a hand up. "What exactly do you think we'll be doing?"

"Going in there, guns blazing," Parker replied. "Bomb the fuck out of them, and retrieve my… my brother."

"It isn't as easy as that," Fury went on. "I haven't told you where they are yet." Peter fell silent. "They're situated in Manhattan, with a base right in Times Square. So, you really want to bomb the fuck out of them, with all of those civilians?"

"So what is the plan?" Barnes asked.

"A small team, infil, retrieval, exfil," Fury said tersely. "A slightly larger team will deal with 'Madame Hydra,' as the woman has dubbed herself."

"Madame Hydra?" Rogers repeated. "A woman is leading them?"

"Sexist much, Commander?" Stark said, grinning. Rogers shook his head.

"I'm not," he said. "But they are. You have no idea what they do to women, the slave trade that was going on in the 70's and 80's."

"Actually, we do have an idea," Fury said. "She was one of the 'products.' She's got the brand on her, from what we can tell."

"Do we know her real name?" Barnes asked. Fury shook his head.

"Sir, how big is the team that will do the hostage retrieval?" Parker asked.

"You," Fury answered, pointing at him. "No guns. I know you're a trigger-happy motherfucker, but that's not what's called for. No backup, no mistakes. And it isn't a hostage exfil."

"No?" Parker questioned.

"He's spent twenty years being trained and brainwashed by the spooks at Hydra," Fury explained. "You can bet that the person they'll have guarding him… is him."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Parker responded confidently. "I wasn't born with spider-powers. So he doesn't have them."

"Barton doesn't have spider-powers," Fury pointed out. "And he just took on Moon Knight. Unarmed." Parker lowered his head.

"Director," Stark interjected, a thoughtful look his face. "Is one of Peter's objectives to retrieve the data used to bring Benjamin to life?"

"Not one of Parker's objectives," Fury answered. "The other team, which will comprise of Commander Rogers, Agents Barnes and Romanov, are responsible for Madame Hydra and her team's research data. And yes… there should be something there for you to work with."

Stark smiled broadly.

"Should the Iron Man provide overhead?" he asked. "I mean, should things go to shit, you might need some extra firepower."

Fury shook his head, but he knew Tony would send his robotic armor to do some flyovers anyway. Iron Man was, by all sense of the word, a Level Ten agent, controlled by Stark's mental projection. The gold and red armored being was much loved by the American public, being responsible for protecting it from Hydra's missile launches five years back. A darker version of the armor was used for black ops missions, piloted by former Air Force Colonel James Rhodes, incidentally, Fury's nephew.

"You will have your mission briefs in your quarters in half and hour," Fury said. "Dismissed."

Stark's hologram vanished, and Barnes and Parker walked out, Parker still stunned by the information of his previously unknown brother. But Rogers stayed behind, looking at Fury.

"When is he going to know?" he asked Fury as soon as the younger men were gone. "About the older brother?"

"You were the one who wanted to keep it a secret," Fury responded, feeling suddenly very old, despite the rejuvenating effects of the 3S flowing in his veins.

"Richard Parker was one of the best agents we've ever had," Rogers said. "His son became the very first Level Ten agent. And he's vanished without a trace." He stared at Fury, his gaze burning. "I know I wanted it kept secret… but Peter's a man know. He deserves to know."

"No, he doesn't," Fury said, feeling tired. "If he knows, he'll go looking for him. You saw how he reacted when he learned about Ben. The thing he wants above all else is family. And he is prepared to lose everything to get it."

"And why shouldn't he?" Rogers questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I'm not prepared to lose a valuable asset," Fury stated. "And you know what Peter will do if he goes down that road." He pinched the bridge of his nose, mimicking the motion Peter had made earlier. "No, Commander. I am not going to tell him. And neither are you. That's an order."

Rogers stiffened.

"Understood, sir," he replied, giving a perfunctory salute, walking out of the room.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Jessica Drew's jaw dropped. The shock on her face was evident, but it was more forceful than Natasha expected.

"He did that?" Jess asked. "For… for me?" Natasha nodded. Jessica exhaled slowly, a slow grin spreading across her face.

"Oh, wow," she breathed, falling back on her bunk, her arms wrapped around her. "He really does love me, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," Natasha murmured, turning back to her locker. "He really does."

She had just told Jessica about Clint attacking Marc Specter after the latter had done nothing about his arrow-holed cloak. The arachnid agent was more prone to emotional outbursts than Natasha was, and she knew that as soon as Clint got out of solitary, she would jump him and give him a big, wet kiss.

Natasha envied their love. But she felt as though she could never have it herself. Not when the only man she ever thought about was Peter, and he remained aloof in his ways.

He was a great friend, and she enjoyed his company immensely. But she wanted more, and he didn't seem to want to give more.

"Do you think Peter thinks I'm just flirting with him just because?" Natasha asked Jessica, who turned her head, her smile fading. "Or is he just really good at masking his feelings?"

"I dunno," Jessica said, rolling onto her stomach, propping her head up with one hand. She alone knew of Natasha's secret longing, and often gave comforting words when she needed them. "I think he thinks you might be friend-zoning him. Any attempt at a serious relationship he'll just laugh at, thinking you're joking."

"That's what I was afraid of," Natasha sighed, sinking down onto the bunk opposite Jessica, her shoulders drooped. "The only thing I can think of is full disclosure, and I don't think I can face that."

Jessica frowned thoughtfully.

"You could tell him naked," she observed. "That might work." Natasha stared at her. Sure, she may have used her body to her advantage before, both with enemies and allies. But she wanted something deeper with Peter, if she even wanted him like that at all.

"No, Jess," Natasha said firmly. "When he sees me naked, it'll be because he took my clothes off for me."

"He did that before, though, didn't he?" she rejoined.

"Only because my suit was torn all over and he gave me his top," Natasha retorted. "He even averted his gaze."

"Wow," Jessica said. "Hard to believe there's a real guy like that. I mean, Clint's just too shy to try anything yet. Yet. I'm working on that."

Most of the Level Ten agents who had been trained from young ages hadn't had much exposure to the culture of the world. Commander Rogers often said that was a good thing, but they all had internet connection in the Triskelion, so it wasn't like the outside world was unknown to them. Most of them could remember their lives before their training.

"I just… I don't know what to do," Natasha whined hopelessly, falling back on her bunk, covering her face. Jessica made a pfft noise with her breath.

"You know what to do," she said mercilessly. "Just tell him! I bet you you'll be surprised."

"Or I won't be," Natasha added. "Gah… I should be stronger than this."

"That's what Clint said too," Jessica pointed out. "Next thing he does is go and punch Moon Knight. Which is very hot, by the way, even if he got his ass handed to him. Look, even if Peter does reject you, he won't want to stop being friends."

"That's what I'm even more afraid of," Natasha moaned. "The friend-zone."

Suddenly, her locker made a small ding. She looked at it, and so did Jessica.

"Dammit," she muttered, opening. "I was hoping to sleep."

"What is it?" Jessica asked.

"Confidential," Natasha answered automatically. All Level Ten missions were confidential, but everyone knew what everyone else was doing anyway. "Oh, look, we're going to Manhattan."

"We?"

"Commander Rogers, Bucky, and I," Natasha answered. "Peter's going too, but he has a separate objective."

The Triskelion was situated off the coast of New York, and Manhattan was a stone's throw away. Natasha groaned as she pulled her suit back on, taking the mission brief out with her as she left their quarters.

"Good luck," Jessica called after her as she got to the door.

I have a brother.

The thought kept going through Peter's mind as he grabbed his gear from his locker. After having his entire family taken away from him, he was finally going to get some of it back.

Admittedly, it was a brother who shouldn't be alive, and who would probably be less than happy at seeing Peter, but he didn't care. He helped Jessica overcome her brainwashing. He would help Ben too.

They named him Ben. Why would they do that? Maybe that was Mary… Mom's… last request. My middle name is Benjamin. So it's not like Mom and Dad were fantastic at picking names. Oh, who cares? I have a brother!

He couldn't wait to tell Natasha. She was going on the mission with Rogers and Bucky, so they would be journeying together to Manhattan. They would be traveling in civies until they reached the Big Apple, and then go their separate ways. Peter was heading for a building slightly out of the way, behind some of the larger name stores. It was owned by a John Smith. Obviously a reference to Johann Shmidt, who was dead. Hydra carried his name on anything they could, to pay homage to him. The man Peter's parents killed. The man who killed Peter's parents.

I bet they thought raising Ben was ironic. Well, it is, but I'm going to fix that.

He readied himself, and walked out of the empty room. Normally, he shared it with Clint and Bucky, but Bucky was already geared up, and Clint was in solitary. Peter made a mental note to break him out as soon as possible.

"When I get back," he said aloud, closing the door.

DUN DUN DUN. Peter finds out he has a lil' bro. Who will be Ben Reilly.