TW: Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, the idea of five super soldiers under his control would appeal to Ross and getting his hands on the super soldier serum would just sweeten the deal.

Ellie Bishop: Yep. I imagine Steve has seen the Original Trilogy but hasn't seen the prequels just yet. Tell me about it. Between Abomination, Sandman and now Vulture, Ross is causing enough problems already. Yeah, certainly do. Yeah, it'll certainly tip the odds in Peter's favor by granting him a few allies and finally introducing him to the woman who will become his wife.

Guest: Ross will get what he has coming to him, but it might take some time.

Stacy Residence

Afternoon

George was pacing back and forth, waiting for his wife to get home. It had been less than half an hour since he'd found Spider-Man, twenty minutes since he'd manage to lose his officers and speed home, using the sirens as he did to clear traffic. It felt like an eternity since he'd arrived home, waiting for Helen when it was actually only ten minutes.

Hearing the turning of the doorknob, George turned towards it as the door opened and Helen walked in, carrying a bag he knew contained her surgical tools.

"What's going on George? Why can't you just take whoever it is to the hospital instead of calling me?" Helen asked confused and George let a breath.

"You'll understand when you see the patient," George said vaguely and she gave him an odd look

Still, she followed George as he led her over to their guest room. He opened the door and Helen almost dropped her bag as she saw Spider-Man lying on their bed.

"Like I said on the phone, I can't take him to the hospital and I can't let him die," George said as Helen stared at him for a moment. "He's been shot in the side and he's unconscious. Can you help him?"

"Yeah. But you realize once we do this…" Helen trailed off.

"I know. When we're breaking the law, makes you realize just how insane the world has become," George noted and there was a pause.

"We'll have to restrain him. If he wakes up before I get the bullet out, he might instinctively attack me. And he's a lot stronger than an ordinary man," Helen said after a moment and he nodded.


A few minutes later, George was tying Spider-Man's hands to some steel bars he had superglued to the wall as Helen checked the wound.

"Yeah, the bullet's in there. Thankfully it didn't go clean through; otherwise I doubt he would have made it. It's not too deep, I think I can get it," Helen said as she pulled out a scalpel and some tweezers.

She placed the tweezers inside, poking around for the bullet but this seemed to wake Spider-Man. He groaned in pain, lifting his head up as he tried to yank his hands forward but found himself restrained.

"Spider-Man, are you all right?" George asked as they realized he was awake.

"Not really. What's going on?" Peter asked before he saw what Helen was doing. "And why do you have tweezers in me?"

"You have a bullet in your side; I'm trying to get it out. This is going to hurt," Helen told Peter before continuing.

And that was Peter's last thought that wasn't filled with pain as he cried out in agony.

Avengers Compound

Not long after

In the briefing room, the Avengers were watching a news report on Peter's fight with Toomes. For a moment, no one said anything.

"They haven't a found a body, so Peter's alive at least," Natasha said in relief.

"Yeah, but for how long? Who is this guy going after him anyway?" Sam wondered as they looked at the footage Toomes on attacking Peter.

"Nott sure, but his suit is similar to the one Toomes had when I fought him," Tony noted with Vision nodded his agreement.

"There are similarities, but this suit seems to have made several upgrades," Vision pointed out.

"So someone made an upgraded version of Toomes's suit? Why?" Rhodey asked confused.

"I don't know, but I think we should look into Toomes. He might have some answers," Steve said and got a few nods of agreement.

"What about Peter?" Sam asked and Steve turned his head towards Vision.

"Stake out his aunt's apartment, make sure he's okay. He has to show up there eventually," Steve said, not sure whether he was trying to convince himself or the others.

Stacy residence

Later that afternoon

"Well, he's alive anyway," Helen said as she cleaned up in the kitchen cleaning up, washing her hands. "Unconscious, but alive."

"Thank you, Helen. I know I sprung this on you," George said and Helen shook her hand.

"Ever since he saved Gwen, I've been hoping there was a way I could repay. Now, I finally have," Helen said before pausing. "Did you look under his mask?"

"No," George said after a moment. "Didn't seem right."

"So we just saved a man hunted by The Accords with no idea who he is. Well, we're breaking the law now," Helen said with a sigh.

Further conversation was interrupted when they heard the keys turning before the door opened. They looked over as Gwen walked in, pausing as she saw her parents in the kitchen.

"Did I just walk into an argument?" Gwen asked as she closed the door behind her, sensing the tension in the room.

"No, we're not fighting honey," Helen quickly assured her as she dried her hands.

"Gwen, I want you to go stay at a friends for a few days. Pack a bag and go," George ordered, taking his daughter aback.

"Why?" Gwen demanded

Before George could answer, there was a thud followed by a groan of pain. And it was coming from the guest room.

"Do we have someone over?" Gwen asked as she realized where the sound was coming from.

"We're not gonna get her to drop it George, might as well show her," Helen sighed, hating that her daughter was as inquisitive as her father.

George sighed heavily before reluctantly walking over to the guest room and opening the door. Gwen stared dumbly for a moment, trying to comprehend the sight of Spider-Man in her guest room, pulling himself up by one hand on the bed.

"Did you guys know Spider-Man was in our apartment?" Gwen asked but was largely ignored.

"You all right?" George asked as he walked over to Peter.

"Yeah, just woke up, forgot where I was and rolled out of bed. Where am I exactly?" Peter asked with a look at George.

"My house. Figured it was safer than the hospital," George explained and Peter nodded.

"Probably," Peter said as Helen walked back in.

"Get back in bed, I need to check your stitches," Helen told Peter.

Peter complied, realizing it was probably best not to argue as George walked back outside, realizing he would need to catch his stunned daughter up to speed.

The Raft

Later

"Well, you've failed spectacularly," Ross said as he stood outside Toomes's cell.

"Spider-Man had back up and then the cops interfered. My helmet was damaged as well," Toomes protested.

"I don't want your excuses. I want results. Next time you face Spider-Man, you will bring him in or your family will suffer," Ross said and Toomes paled. "We'll get you a new helmet. We'll reinforce the glass this time so nothing like that happens again. This is your second chance; there will not be a third."

Ross then turned and walked away. As Ross was exiting the prisoner section, one of his men walked up to him.

"Sir, we might have something on Maximoff."


Not long after, Ross stood in the briefing room, watching as his men brought up a visual of the Avengers Compound.

"Using satellite imagery, we've been able to track the last time Wanda Maximoff was seen at the Compound. She left a few days after the incident in Nigeria," one of his men said, bringing up an image of a Quinjet leaving the Compound. "She left with Romanoff, only Romanoff came back."

"And where does that leave us with Maximoff?" Ross demanded and the tech smiled at him.

"As you requested, we went back over phone records since Maximoff's disappearance. And we discovered that someone was communicating with an old SHIELD frequency. If you know how it works, you can track it. There's only one person Rogers or Romanoff could be talking to that uses that kind of frequency," the tech said and Ross nodded, understanding.

"Barton. So you believe Maximoff is with him," Ross noted.

"It seems likely, Sir. But that's not the interesting part," the tech said and Ross raised an eyebrow. "Like I said, if you know how these old SHIELD frequencies work, you can trace them. I tracked it to a farm in Iowa. I did a little digging, which was surprisingly difficult until I figured out way. The farm is owned by a woman named Laura. She has three children."

"Barton. He has a family," Ross realized.

"It would seem so," the tech said but Ross was no longer listening.

Barton had a family. This changed everything. Zemo wasn't talking about Siberia just yet, even after beatings. But Barton was a skilled agent, one of SHIELD's best. And now, he had an advantage he could use against Barton.

"Tell me where the farm is," Ross demanded.

New York

Late afternoon

In her apartment in Queens, May checked the time, uneasy about how long Peter had been gone. She was about to start calling his friends when her phone rang. Picking it up, May nearly sighed in relief as she saw it was Peter.

"Peter, where are you?" May demanded as she answered.

"I'm sorry May, Ned and I fell asleep studying. I still need to do some homework, so is it okay if I crash at Ned's tonight?" Peter asked and May sighed, messaging her temple.

"It's getting late, so I guess I don't mind. But you can't do this again, I was worried sick," May told him.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll try to be better about letting you know where I am," Peter promised.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you, Peter," May told him, softening.

"Love you too, Aunt May. Bye," Peter said before hanging up.

As May hung up, from the window she was closest to, Vision had been listening before covertly flying away, trying his best to avoid being seen.


At the Stacys apartment, Peter pocketed his phone before the door opened and he looked up, seeing Helen walked with some clothes.

"Here, I thought you might like to change out of that suit," Helen said as she put it on a nightstand. "It's Georges from when he was a younger man, but I think they'll fit. I can probably throw that suit in the wash if you want."

"Thanks, but I have feeling I'll need to make a new one. Blood stains and all," Peter said before pausing. "While you were…treating me, did you…"

"I didn't look behind your mask," Helen quickly assured him. "Neither did George."

"Thanks. Not just for that, but for saving my life," Peter said gratefully.

"You don't need to thank us. A few weeks ago, you saved my daughter's life. I've been trying to find a way to thank you since then," Helen said.

"I appreciate that Mrs. Stacy, but I didn't do it for gratitude, I did it because it was the right thing to do," Peter told her and Helen nodded.

"I know. Why else would you go out there, risk your life for people who would hate you? My husband goes through the same thing every day, being a cop in this city is not easy, especially after Fisk. But he still does it because he believes it's the right thing. And when he of all people is breaking the law…you have to wonder how upside down the world has become," Helen sighed before remembering who she was talking to. "I'm sorry; you don't need to hear me ramble."

"It's fine, really. So, am I okay?" Peter asked as he looked down at his bullet wound.

"You didn't lose too much blood and it didn't go too deep. But I'd take it easy for a while," Helen told him and Peter chuckled.

"Well, that's not going to be easy," Peter noted, wondering how he was going to explain this to May.

The Raft

Same time

Ross once more entered the prisoner's section but this time, instead of heading over to Toomes's cell, he stopped in front of the one next to Toomes. Inside the cell, Rumlow looked up at him, a sneer on his deformed face.

"What the Hell do you want?" Rumlow snarled.

"Your arm. How is it healing?" Ross demanded.

"Let me out of this cell and find out," Rumlow snarled as he got to his feet, grabbing the bars as it trying to force his hands between them and grab Ross.

"Funny you should say that, I was actually planning on letting you out of this cell," Ross said, surprising Rumlow. "I have a mission for you."

"And why the Hell would I care?" Rumlow snarled.

"Because it gives the thing you've bene wanting since the Hydra uprising: revenge against the Avengers," Ross promised and Rumlow paused, intrigued.

"Start talking."

Not a very exciting chapter, but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway.

Things are about to heat up big time.