RIP Johnny Hardwick, who sadly passed away a few days ago.

Ellie Bishop: Yep. Things are still getting figured out with the Bartons and Wanda, but they're working on it. Tony giving Hank whatever he wants and not trying to be in charge certainly helps Hank give him the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, while Ross is scum, it's actually a genius way to make people in favor of The Accords when they come out, because the last thing anyone wants is an out of control powered person running loose in the streets. Oh yeah.

Traveling: Indeed. Oh yeah, Ultimates Clint really got the short end of the stick. Tony isn't Howard, but he's certainly proven to be his father's son in several ways. Wanda really does. Ross will certainly do anything to get power, but it's not as simple as that. By having the chief of police call Spider-Man the culprit, anything Stacy says is considered heresy. The CIA is also very secretive, they're not just going to come out into the light of day because it could compromise operations and the lives of its agents, especially with Ross being the man pulling the strings. Leia is a great example of a strong female character done right, there are multiple examples of them over the last several decades. The problem is these types of characters have been hijacked by radical feminists, who think not being perfect is misogynistic. Have seen Buffy and, while I disagree quite a bit on your takes on Willow and Xander, as well as Buffy's romantic relationships, can't say you're wrong about Buffy's character.

Guest 1: The MUC already had one ego manic, let's not push it. Oh it will.

TW: In time.

Guest 2: No kidding. Thank you.

New York

Morning

At the Stacy residence, Gwen was in the kitchen, furiously gripping her spoon as she watched a news report about Spider-Man.

"And just as I've been telling everyone for months, the menace, Spider-Man has shown his true colors! When will people wake up?! Spider-Man is a menace to society. And until people realize this, no one in New York will ever be safe from him," Jonah Jameson said, reporting from the Daily Bugle.

"That's such bullshit!" Gwen said, angrily throwing her spoon at the wall.

"Gwen!" George reprimanded her as he walked into the room.

"Oh come on Dad! You know what Mom and I told you, these guys were after Spider-Man!" Gwen said angrily.

"I know, it's a cover up. Most likely, the chief got a bribe from someone really high up," George agreed with her and Gwen looked at him in surprise.

"Who would do that though? Why?" Gwen asked confused and George shrugged.

"Not sure. But after learning that Hydra was inside SHIELD, anything is possible. Could be anyone," George said and a beat passed.

"Dad…what will you do if you find him?" Gwen asked, knowing her Dad believed in doing the right thing but also in following the law.

"I don't know. I guess that depends on what he's doing when I find him," George said after a moment.

At the same time, in his apartment in Queens, Peter watched the same news report uneasily. If he had any doubt that whoever those men had been working for was after him, it was gone now.

Since this clearly didn't happen in those recordings, whatever the Avengers had done since returning to the present was having some kind of ripple effect. And as usual, he was the one paying for it.

Avengers Compound

Same time

In the briefing room, Steve, Natasha, Sam, Rhodey, Vision, Bruce and Sif were watching the news before Steve turned it off.

"Well, things really can't get much worse right now," Sam muttered.

"Ross is going to use this move against Peter to come after all of us. It's going to fan the flames when the UN announces The Accords," Natasha noted uneasily.

"So what do we do then? How do we stop him?" Rhodey asked.

"If it was that easy, you think I'd have spent all that time on the run? And that was when he was a Five Star General, not the Secretary of Defense," Bruce said grimly.

"Your earth politics are very strange to me, I do not understand them. But how would you defeat a man like Ross?" Sif inquired and it was silent for a moment.

"We need to find something we can use against Ross, but it's not simple. Maybe if SHIELD were still around, but they probably have their hands full," Natasha said with a sigh, remembering Fitz's warning about everything Coulson had been dealing with.

"SHIELD might not be able to help, but I think we know someone who might," Steve said, glancing at Natasha, who caught on almost immediately.

"You think he can?" Natasha asked and Steve shrugged.

"Who knows. But I think he's the one with the best shot of helping us take down Ross," Steve said.

"Who are you two talking about?" Sam asked confused and, when they looked at him, he got it. "Oh. Can we really trust him?"

"You can never trust him completely. But you can trust that he's on our side," Natasha explained.

"Who are you guys talking about?" Bruce asked as he, Sif, and Rhodey looked at them confused while Vision just looked curious.

"Only guy we know who can help take down someone like Ross," Natasha said as Steve pulled out his phone, dialing a number before putting it to his ear.

"It's me. We need your help. How fast can you get to the Compound?"

New York

Later that morning

Peter was walking to school, about a mile away when a limo rolled up; stopping on the street next to him, driver's side window on Peter's left. Peter looked over as the window rolled down, revealing a man Peter recognized as Happy Hogan.

"You Peter Parker?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" Peter asked warily, having a feeling he knew what this was about.

"I work for Tony Stark, he wants to talk to you," Happy explained.

"You can tell Mr. Stark I have school," Peter said, about to continue his walk.

"He said you'd say that. He also said to tell you it's taken care, they think you're out sick for the day," Happy said, making Peter pause. "Look kid, I don't know what Tony's deal is with you, but he doesn't usually take such interests in teenagers. So just get in, it'll be worse if you don't come today."

Peter was half tempted to tell Happy where to take Tony's demand, but he reasoned Happy was right, Tony wouldn't let it go until he and Peter talked. So, with a sigh, Peter opened the back seat, tossed his stuff in, got in and closed the door. He buckled up before Happy began driving off.

Avengers Tower

Afternoon

Peter looked around as he got off the elevator, having never seen the inside of the Tower, even in the recordings. It was…impressive, Peter had to admit.

"Hey kid," Peter looked over to see Tony walk out of a room, staring at him. "We need to talk."

Not long after, the two sat across a table from each other, Peter waiting for Tony to say something. When he didn't, Peter decided to take the lead.

"Why bring me here Mr. Stark?" Peter asked.

"Compound seems like it has a daily press attack, figured here was safer to keep you on the down low," Tony explained and Peter nodded, seeing the logic in that. "Why didn't you reach out for help kid? You know we can help you deal with these guys."

"The way you helped me in those recordings?" Peter asked pointedly and Tony froze. "Blackmailing me into helping you against Cap, Liz's dad? You think I wasn't able to figure out I dealt with him in the other timeline? All it took was figuring out he was my crush's dad to put that together. And then I died because you thought you could fight Thanos on your own instead of just turning around and teaming up with Cap and the others in the first place. I always seem to pay the price for your 'help' Mr. Stark."

"That's different. I made a lot of mistakes in those recordings, I know that. I'm trying not to make the same mistakes now," Tony tried to explain.

"But somehow, I'm still paying the price for your mistakes," Peter pointed out and Tony looked at him in confusion. "These guys coming after me never happened in the other timeline; otherwise my future self would have warned me. Whatever you, Cap and the other Avengers have done, it's causing some kind of ripple effect in this new timeline. And I'm the one suffering for it."

"Which is why you need to let us help you kid. Please Peter, you don't have to do this alone," Tony was almost pleading, silently begging Peter to let them help him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but I've seen what your help looks like. I respect you, I admire what you're trying to do…but I don't trust you," Peter said and Tony looked like Peter had slapped him across the face. "I have to go now, I missed school because of this, and I asked Ned to meet me to get my homework."

Peter then got up and walked towards the elevator, intending on leaving. Tony watched him go but didn't move to stop him. As much as Peter's words hurt, Tony could admit Peter had a point. In his position, Tony wouldn't trust Tony either.

Avengers Compound

Night

Steve and Natasha stood on the roof, waiting. They didn't have to wait much longer.

"Have to say, didn't expect to have either of you to reach out for help anytime soon," Fury said as he stepped into view.

"Why? Because you kept Coulson surviving a secret for years?" Natasha asked sarcastically, her voice having more bite than she intended.

"Nat," Steve said gently and she nodded, sighing.

"We're not here to talk about passed wrong. Like Steve said, we need your help," Natasha said and Fury nodded.

"Must be pretty bad if you reached out to me. I assume this has something to do with the police calling a manhunt for Spider-Man?" Fury asked and got two nods in return.

"Secretary Ross is behind it; he bribed the chief to blame Spider-Man when all he did was save Captain Stacy's daughter," Steve explained and Fury frowned thoughtfully.

"Ross doesn't do something like this for no reason, he always has his own agenda. Any idea what it is?" Fury inquired.

"In a few weeks, the UN is going to pass something called the Sokovia Accords. It basically forces the Avengers to answer to the UN and forcibly registers any Enhanced or powered individual under the Accords," Natasha explained and Fury nodded, understanding Ross's plan.

"And calling manhunt for Spider-Man will light the fire," Fury said and got two nods. "I don't have any pull with the government anymore; they all think I'm dead."

"We know. We're not asking you to paly mediator. But someone like Ross has to have something we can use against him, a way to take him down for good," Steve explained and Fury laughed.

"Hate to break it to you, but Ross used his daughter just to get Banner. There's no line he won't cross to get what he wants," Fury pointed out.

"Exactly," Natasha said and then Fury understood.

"You're not trying to blackmail him. You won't me to find some skeleton in his past, something you can use to destroy him. You really think you can 'Leverage' his ass?" Fury wondered.

"That's what we're hoping you can find out," Steve said and, after a moment, Fury nodded.

"All right. I'll see what I can do. But someone like Ross would have made sure to bury any dark secret he has," Fury warned them.

"It's the only way we have right now to stop him," Steve said pointedly.

"I know. Like I said, I'll see what I can do," Fury said walking off, leaving the way he came and walking back into the Compound.

"Think we can trust him?" Natasha asked once Fury was gone.

"We can trust that he wants the Avengers to be what he knew we could be. And Ross interferes with that, so he'll do everything he can to stop him. Don't worry so much Ma'am," Steve said and Natasha looked at him with a slight smirk.

"So we're back to 'Ma'am' now, huh?" she joked and Steve chuckled, flushing slightly.

"I know, just slips out sometimes," Steve said embarrassed and she shrugged.

"Fine by me. Hearing you all gentlemen like is kind of hot," Natasha said.

"Well then Ma'am, I should do it more often," Steve teased.

Natasha laughed before grabbing his collar and pulling him into a kiss, which Steve was more than happy to return.

They didn't speak about Fury or Ross for the rest of the night.

Another filler chapter but hope you guys enjoyed it anyway.

And next chapter we'll be getting to something I know a lot of you have been waiting for: it's finally time for The Accords to come into play.