Gwen

Grand Maester Pycelle puttered through the Great Library of the Red Keep, occasionally stopped to look at a shelf of books or a collection of scrolls. The old man sometimes didn't do more than glance at them. Other times he murmured to himself, muttering about what he was seeing. Once he stopped and actually removed a book, flipping through its pages before letting out a huff of annoyance over something he had found before placing the book right back where he'd found it. At a small section of cubby holes that held scrolls that were kept in tin tubes with bronze caps he paused to check to ensure that they had been dusted properly before nodding to himself, pleased with what he found. All was in order in the library. Everything was being properly cared for.

The Great Library of the Red Keep was the second greatest collection of knowledge in all of Westeros. Only the Citadel of Oldtown was able to beat it, being so large that if a man, from the moment of his birth, began to read just the titles of every book that had been collected by the Citadel they would be long dead before a quarter of the tomes had been looked upon. But while the Citadel was able to brag about such knowledge they weren't able to claim that they made the Red Keep useless. No… within the castle completed by Maegor the Cruel were texts that were the sole copies left in existence.

It was whispered by the servants that there was a lost copy of A Wanton's Tale, put under the title of A Thousand Cocks For Three holes, that was so perverse that it would make a man spill his seed just reading it. The Testimony of Aemond, a diary kept by Aemond One-Eye concerning the Dance of the Dragons; while it was known to have existed and was required reading for many Targaryen Spares so they might understand that a Dragon could hold power and serve the Realm without being king, no one knew if it had survived Robert's wrath. More recently there were The Teaching of The Foot, brought to the Red Keep just after the Greyjoy Rebellion by a Yi Ti monk who had disappeared along with, of all things, four baby turtles that had been gifted to Princess Myrcella; the book was said to detail the secrets of an ancient band of assassins.

All of these, and many more, were kept in the Red Keep and only the Red Keep. Tomes that were the last of their kind or the only ones found West of the Narrow Sea. Gifts from friends to the Court and spoils of war taken from enemies. All placed in the Halls of the Dragon and protected by the Grand Maesters sent by the Citadel to watch over the castle. It was rumored that many Grand Maesters were asked to smuggle back a few rarer books but never did… because they knew they held knowledge no other tome did and if they gave it up to the Citadel they would never see it again. Like a parent that clung to their child even though they had reached the age of fostering the Grand Maesters refused to release the tomes and books and scrolls to Oldtown and their brothers that lived there.

The same was true of Grand Maester Pycelle. In fact it was a barely kept secret that he in fact had saved many books from Robert's purging, hiding them in other books so that when he died it would take his replacement a lifetime to discover them all.

That was why the Grand Maester was so protective of his books. Couldn't have someone come in, looking for a simple scroll, and accidently take one that detailed the last confessions of Aegon the Unworthy and the truth of why he had legitimized all his bastards, just as example. He guarded his books, for he saw them as HIS even if they belonged to the Crown, and no one took a book without his permission. And he always wanted to know why someone was interested in a book.

It was said that he had driven Lord Tyrion to madness and the first thing the Little Lion had done when he had imprisoned Pycelle in a Black Cell was go through the library and claim some rare books to read. Pycelle had stood firm against Lord Tywin… oh, the Old Lion got every book he desired but he HAD to return each of them. He had been happy that Robert was a drunk with no interest in reading, nor his wife and his children. It allowed him to remain with the tomes.

The bent-back maester continued on to the next set of rows, never bothering to look up… and if he had he would have seen Gwen clinging to the ceiling, watching the old man turn a corner before she lowered herself down on a webline, looking over the shelves herself before selecting a book. She shoved it into her rump sack before pulling herself back up, making her way to another section to grab a few more scrolls as well as an engraving. She frowned as she looked over Petyr's 'shopping list', making sure she had selected each piece he had asked for, before finally hurrying to a small vent that allowed some air into the room, crawling into it and wiggling her way down a tight tunnel before finally popping out in one of the main barely-used rooms in the Red Keep that the Spiders had claimed as their own.

"By the Old Gods and the New!" Petyr exclaimed as she landed on the ground, rushing over to her. "What are you doing?"

"Coming… in?" Gwen asked, looking about to make sure that no one was around. But it was just Petyr, Miles, and May. "Like we discussed."

"You can't just leap around like that! Do you know how fragile these books are!" He grabbed her rump sack and carried it over to the table like it was a jar of wildfire.

"Why do I get the feeling that he wouldn't carry his own baby as carefully as he is those books?" Miles joked.

"Babies can heal, books can't!" Petyr declared, setting the sack down gently on the table.

May shot her nephew a dark look, causing him to freeze up.

"Uh… I will be careful carrying around babies?" he said weakly.

"I don't like how you made that sound like a question, Petyr," May said firmly.

"I… I swear Aunt May-"

"And considering how you and Gwen are going at it babies are going to be something you'll need to learn how to deal with sooner, rather than later."

"MAY!" Petyr exclaimed in horror.

"I mean, considering how her hips nearly got her stuck I'd say-" Mile began only to be cut off.

"We're careful, May," Gwen said, blushing with utter embarrassment. While she knew that everyone had learned that her and Petyr were sleeping together it was still terribly awkward that they were talking about it all the time. "We take precautions."

That made Miles frown. "He sticks it up your butt?"

Gwen smacked Miles upside the head.

"OW!"

"Well?" May asked.

"What?" Gwen said.

May shot her a look. "Is he right?"

Petyr let out a groan, slamming his forehead against the table.

"…moon tea," Gwen muttered. "I've been snatching Moon Tea from Pycelle's storeroom." She paused, face twisting up as she remembered what she'd seen. "He had an unusually large amount of it, come to think about it."

"I'd prefer it if you went with Miles' option."

"MAY!" Petyr screamed.

But his Aunt May merely glowered at him. "No maid ever became heavy with child taking it in the rear."

"You know," Miles said, "Moon Tea only works like 80% of the time. And with how much you and Petyr screw…"

"Shut up Miles," Gwen said, the black youth laughing as he went off to grab something to eat (far, far away from the books, lest Petyr go on a screaming rampage about him threatening the precious things), leaving Gwen with the others.

"You know… mathematically speaking," Petyr said, suddenly nervous, glancing at her belly.

"…stop that," she said with a dark glare, Petyr finally turning to look over the books. But Gwen did pause to look at May who glanced at Miles and then nodded. '80%...' Gwen thought to herself nervously. 'And we have no idea how our powers might affect the Moon Tea. Petyr can heal really quickly. What if his seed can to? Or what if I can teleport all of that…' She shook her head violently, trying to dislodge the thoughts. 'Its fine… its fine. Just dial back how much we have sex.' She glanced at Petyr, bent over the table, rear sticking up for her to see, and found herself nibbling on her lower lip.

"Gwen, I will pour this wine over your head," May said simply, causing the girl to yelp. "Now Petyr, do we have everything you asked for?"

"Oh yeah, these are perfect." He grinned as he breezed his hands over the books and scrolls. "The collective writing of all Maesters of the Citadel who studied the Deeper Secrets. Otherwise known as magic, mystics, and anything else without a proper label in the regular world."

"And you think the secrets to the Octopus Man are in these books?" Miles said casually, biting into an apple.

"He had tentacles, Miles," Petyr said. "That doesn't happen unless there is magic involved."

"You don't know that. Maybe some Iron Born… I don't know…" He made a ring with his thumb and forefinger and began to plunge the index and middle finger of his other hand into it repeatedly.

"MILES!" Petyr exclaimed.

"What? It could happen."

"No, It couldn't." Gwen paused, thinking that over. "Okay, so maybe it COULD happen… the sex thing, not the 'give birth to an octopus thing'."

"We are NOT talking about that in front of my Aunt!" Petyr snapped at Miles.

"Why not? We discussed you and Gwen fucking-"

"MILES!" all three of them roared.

"Fine, fine, making sweet fairytale love." He rolled his eyes. "You didn't mind that but an Iron Born sticking it in an octopus is a step too far?"

"YES!" Petyr screamed.

"It should honestly be a step too far for everyone," Gwen muttered. "Though Miles does have a point. I mean, the Iron Born are known to do a lot of crazy and sick things-"

"Not just the Iron Born," May stated as she set about sorting through the books. "I hate to break it to you but such acts aren't limited to the Iron Islands. Right now there is a man who is seeing a hole and his first thought is "can I stick my dick in it?""

"By the Seven," Petyr moaned, looking a bit green.

Gwen snickered at that. "I have noticed that men tend to think with their dicks."

"Yes," May said with a smile… that turned just a bit sharper when she side-eyed Gwen. "And there are plenty of women that have seen something long and thought "can I shove that up my snatch?"." Gwen winced at that.

"…I am missing something there," Miles said.

"Nothing," Gwen said quickly, not in the mood to let Miles know about an… incident… from a few months back. "So, the books Petyr?"

"Right," Petyr said quickly. "So he wasn't a human and an octopus' bastard. That isn't possible. There would have been more… octopus-like qualities. He just had the tentacles so that tells me there must have been magic involved. Something that allowed him to grow them or to cause them to come into being. A summoning spell or a way to transform part of his body into it."

"Could it be another creature?" Miles asked. "Like… maybe he found some animal that has tentacles and he lets it right on his back?"

"Possibly," Petyr muttered to himself. "Damn it, I should have had you bring me a book about rare and exotic animals!"

"I can get it right now," Gwen offered.

"Or we can finish with what we have right now," May said, looking over the books. She gestured at the books they had laid out before them. "Petyr, how do we do this?"

Petyr smiled at that and Gwen did too; May knew that this was Petyr's element. He was a genius in so many things. She felt almost bad that the Seven Kingdoms would never get the amazing Grand Maester that Petyr could have been… almost. Because in exchange she knew any children she and Petyr had would raise the collective intelligence of Westeros by feet.

"Okay, so Maester Grenn studied summoning. The idea that one could make something appearing out of thin air. Or, from what I gathered about what I read about him, gain something by offering something else. Miles, take that." He smacked the other teen's hands as soon as he reached for the book. "Gloves," Petyr said, pulling out a pair of silk gloves.

"Oh, come on Petyr," Miles whined.

"Everyone is wearing them," Petyr said, donning some himself.

"This is stupid."

"Sweat, dirt, grim… apple juice." He gestured at Miles' hands and the boy quickly ran them over his trousers. "These books are centuries old so we are going to protect them at all costs. So everyone wears gloves while they are looking through things."

"I'm going to look like a girl!" Miles whined.

Gwen and May instantly snapped their gaze on Miles, causing the boy to lean back in shock.

"Which I would love to do," he said quickly slipping on the gloves. "Nothing wrong with looking like a girl. In fact it is… very nice. So, something for something?"

"Correct," Petyr said, gently sliding the book over to Miles. "Look to see about small rituals or ones that can be performed before the actual summoning. Doc Ock didn't call out any spells or do any hand gestures… and he certainly wasn't sacrificing bunny rabbits in order to create tentacles."

"Who would sacrifice bunnies?" Miles said, eyes wide in horror.

"Evil people," Petyr said before looking skyward, pandering what he'd just said. "Hmm… actually, now that I think about it, perhaps it is a sacrifice that involves octopi. Look that up too. Gwen." He handed her another book, her gloves already firmly on. "Look for transformation spells. Things that would allow him to make parts of his body into tentacles. I'm trying to remember if he ever actually attacked us with his arms… those could have been false arms and the real ones were tentacles. Maybe his legs too. Damn it all, I wish there was a way for us to replay what happened in a fight, in order for us to review it. Like a painting but instantaneous. Maybe… if a fire flashes it can leave marks on the wall, creating an outline of a person. And certain minerals can create colors… if I could duplicate that and combine the two I could create a way to create instant paintings. Set up a rig-"

"Maybe focus on Doc Ock first, Petyr?" May said gently.

"Right," Petyr said though Gwen had a feeling that he wouldn't be abandoning that idea that had just popped into his head anytime soon. "So, May and I are going to take illusions. Perhaps-"

"Perhaps you should focus on being a bit more secretive… especially in the Red Keep."

Gwen turned, as did the rest of her group, to see Natasha standing in the doorway, a bemused smirk on her lips.

And Jon right behind her, NOT looking happy.

"Uh…" Gwen said slowly. "We are planning your nameday party, Lord Jon!"

Miles quickly nodded. "You are ruining the surprise!"

"Its magic themed!" Petyr added.

May looked at her nephew. "You are smarter than that…"

Natasha just shook her head, entering and taking a seat. "You are lucky you have friends in high places… and that there is another Spider watching your back."

"Huh?" Petyr said only to leap out of his chair in shock when Lord Varys entered with another gentlemen dressed all in purples and blacks, the former staring at them all in bemusement. "Lord Varys! Uh… uh… we are planning a party-"

"Petyr Parker," Lord Varys said with a shake of his head. "Come now, from everything I've heard about you your aunt is correct: you are smarter than that. What with your… nightly activities…"

"You know," Gwen said softly. 'Natasha said to be careful around him… that he was someone that might be able to help us but someone to be cautious working with. But she hadn't ever thought he would actually know our secrets!'

"That you three are the illustrious Spiders that have been helping the poor and downtrodden of King's Landing? But of course. You are clever and rather sneaky, I will give you all that. But I am afraid that young spiders can still learn things from an Old Spider."

"What he means to say," the man in purple replied, "is that we've all been in the spy game far longer than you three have been in the heroics game." He held out his hand to May. "Clynt Barton."

"May Parker," Petyr's aunt said, allowing Clynt to kiss her hand. Despite the surprise and the shock at their arrival May held herself like a queen. In fact Gwen thought she looked more regal than Cersei did. "Now then, how exactly did you learn that we were doing all of this?"

Lord Varys smiled. "Oh, a Spider must have his secrets."

"You know, when I first married my Benjen the first home we got in King's Landing wasn't the best. Oh, far better than Flea Bottom but nothing any of us would want to live in. There were spiders all over, which I suppose is good, because spiders at least eat the more troublesome pests, keeping the rest away."

"Something I have said myself many times," Lord Varys commented.

"There was this one spider that lived where we kept the chamber pot. Right in the lower corner. I could see it whenever I… well, you know." She smiled, waving her had dismissively. "The point is that I would see it every day. I didn't mind. I knew what to expect." May paused before leaning forward. "There were other spiders though that loved to hide in dark little spots. In cupboards and drawers and the like. And every single one of those were crushed. Because they didn't understand the rules: I like to know where my spiders are."

And with that she lightly thumped the table.

"So… Lord Varys… how did you learn we were here?"

Gwen had heard much about Lord Varys. One didn't live in King's Landing without knowing of The Spider. For the poor folk he was a lifeline, the only chance many of them would have to make a bit of coin and hopefully survive another year. If you weren't working for him you knew someone who was. If you didn't know someone who was working for him then you were either dead or in league with the Queen, Baelish, or someone else on the Small Council… and most likely still worked for him. While Gwen herself had never been approached she was under no illusion that the people she had known, who had claimed to be her friends and who cared for her, were in league with Lord Varys. That at least a quarter of the people who had given her their sympathies when her father had died defending the city were his spies, curious to see what would happen to her. She wondered how much of May getting payments from the crown were a result of Lord Varys.

He was a powerful man. A cunning man. A Spider in his web, sitting in the center plucking the strands to see what he had caught.

But Spiders could be crushed if they didn't play by the rules of the homes they dwelled in.

Lord Varys, Master of Whispers, had just realized what Gwen had come to understand after spending time under the guardianship of May Parker: King's Landing didn't belong to the King. Or the Queen. Or the Small Council.

It belonged to the people.

'And gods help those that forget that.'

Lord Varys merely tilted his head slightly to the right. That seemed to be enough for May who merely nodded her head before looking at Jon and Natasha.

"How much did he tell you?"

"That you four have stolen books from the Great Library," Natasha stated. "And that you are researching something. I'd like to hear from you what exactly it is."

And Petyr… told them.

Every detail. From the moment they had spotted the break in at the blacksmith to the man emerging with the Valyrian daggers to him sending out his tentacles.

He told it all in his normal rambling cadence that Gwen loved so much because it just was… Petyr.

Jon… didn't look like he was enjoying it all that much.

"I thought Lord Jameson was lying about that part," he muttered. "And how long has it been since you fought this… octopus man?"

Petyr smiled. "He's not really an octopus man. I mean, he only had tentacles, nothing else octopus-like. Though I guess he might have under his clothes… we didn't strip him naked, of course. Not that we strip any of the criminals we fight naked except for that one time and that was his fault for wearing just pants that had bad stitching! But I suppose that he could have had octopus things under his clothes."

"Like being able to spray ink," Miles said.

"That's squids," Clynt stated. "Not octopuses."

"Are you sure?"

"Also," Petyr chimed in, "while they can be called octopuses the better term is octopi. I mean, it sounds weird but it rolls off the tongue better-"

"Petyr!" Jon thundered, slamming his hands against the table, making the boy jump a bit in surprise. "The octopus-man-"

"Doc Ock," Gwen stated only for Jon to switch his glare to her. At once she cringed, wincing at the intensity of his stare. "He, uh, called himself Doc Ock."

"-Doc Ock. When exactly did you fight him?"

"About two weeks ago?"

Jon raised an eyebrow at that. "And when you say 'about two weeks' do you mean that you are rounding down or rounding up?"

Petyr shifted in his chair. "Well… does it really matter?" Jon though leaned in and Gwen's partner blurted out. "Rounding down… from three weeks. But… but to be fair that is technically 'about two weeks' and-"

Jon pushed away from the table.

"I'm… I'm going to be quiet now."

"That is the first smart thing you've said since I came into this room," Jon snarled.

"Jon…" Natasha began.

"No," he snapped, cutting her off. "No… don't you dare try and justify this or play this off as not being a big deal." He ran his fingers through his hair, tension clearly written about his face. "By the Old Gods Petyr how can someone so smart be so DUMB!?"

"Hey!" Petyr exclaimed only to remember that it was wise to stay quiet.

Jon shook his head. "What was our agreement? Do you remember? What did we agree upon?" Petyr opened his mouth only for Jon to cut him off. "Natasha and I don't shut all of this down and allow you to continue patrolling but you come to us, talk with us, and let us know what is going on! So why am I only hearing about this now from YOU… why is it I have been dealing with these rumors from Lord Jameson and denying them when you could have told me the truth!?"

"We… we wanted to figure out what was going on," Miles said softly. "Do the research and come to you with all the answers."

Jon though let out a bitter laugh at that. "By the Gods Old, New, and Day Old, is this what my father and Tony had to put up with? Did I sound like this with all my excuses?" He looked skyward. "I owe them both apologizes, don't I. No wonder father looks like he is a man of 50 instead of 30." He walked over to the table that had all the food laid out and uncorked a wine bottle May had brought for herself. "Tony drinks even though he can't get drunk… maybe its to pickle himself so no one can tell how old having stupid youths age him."

"Uh…" Petyr said only for May to shake her head.

"So instead of coming to me, the Hand of the King that would have been able to GET YOU those books that you desperately needed you decided to risk stealing them. What if Varys wasn't on our side, hmmm? Or if it had been the Queen's spies that saw you with those books. They would have taken your hands as you snuck out of the library!"

"They'd have never caught me," Gwen stated, unable to stop the bit of smugness that was pushing past her lips.

But that smugness died when Jon turned his ire towards her.

"You got it," he said slowly. "And did you walk through the door when you stole these books?"

"… well, isn't every opening-"

"By the Gods,"

"-a door when you really think about it? The point is I didn't get caught!"

"WE CAUGHT YOU!" Jon exclaimed, gesturing at his group. Clynt gave a cheeky little wave at that while Varys just smiled. "You didn't even send Miles! He can turn invisible."

"He can what now?" Clynt asked.

Varys looked at the dark-skinned young man in surprise. "THAT I hadn't been made aware of."

"Thanks Jon. That secrets out," Miles griped.

Jon jabbed a finger at him. "YOU don't get to complain about secrets!" He looked back at Gwen. "This. This is why I told you three that you had to talk with me! Keep me informed!"

"We wanted to get more answers before we bothered you," Petyr complained.

May nodded. "They didn't want to burden you. They know you are a busy man."

"And yet they make things even more chaotic for me," Jon muttered, moving towards the table once more. But rather than sit down Jon merely placed his palms down on the hard surface, leaning forward to look at the three Spiders. "Why do you make things harder than they need to be? Just… just answer me that."

"They're young," Natasha said. "We all made things hard on our parents."

"I didn't," Varys commented. "Of course I never knew my parents. So one could argue I made things very easy on mine." He paused. "Well, until I finally find them and 'thanked' then for all they did for me… then things wouldn't be easy on them at all."

"Fine," Natasha said with a roll of her eyes even as Gwen stared at Lord Varys in horror, "the rest of us did that. It comes with youth."

"I didn't fight a tentacle man back in Winterfell," Jon hissed. "And if I did I would have been smart enough to go to the man who offered me help and actually talk with him!"

"Oh?" Miles asked, Gwen wincing at how defensive he sounded. She knew why that was; while he had grown up in King's Landing and was, as far as she was concerned, Westerosi, people looked at his dark skin and curly hair and thought he was a foreigner who was a fool or an idiot who didn't know how to do anything. More than one servant in the Red Keep had tried to direct him to basins to wash his hands before eating or explained what a 'fork' was. It was insulting and degrading and Gwen and Petyr, and to a lesser extent May, Jiffsum, Jon, and Nat, had jumped to his defense but it had still left Miles with a rather big chip on his shoulder. "And what would you have done? Flied in there with your magical boots. Sorry, did I ruin that secret?"

"No, I knew that Lord Jon is the Centurion," Varys said with a titter. "And I believe he was referring to the fact that Natasha is the best infiltrator in the world, Clynt is in the Top Five, I myself have three little birds who work in the Great Library, and Jon himself is Hand of the Key and thus able to order Pycelle to provide any book you need."

"…oh," Miles said softly.

But Petyr wasn't deterred. "Okay, maybe that's all true… but we still got the books! And we are going to figure out who this Doc Ock is so then all of us-" he spun his hand around the table like he was mixing some giant vat of oatmeal, "-can figure it out together."

Natasha placed a hand over Jon's own. "They do have the books and we are here… and there is nothing planned for the rest of the night."

"And Varys here got rid of his little birds," Clynt added.

"…fine," Jon muttered.

"Wonderful!" May said happily. "More eyes will make it go by all the quicker. Now then," she passed out more of the silk gloves Petyr had brought for all of them, "Lord Varys, what can you tell us about Doc Ock?"

"Nothing."

Gwen blinked at that.

"…you're the Spider."

"I am," Varys said with a soft little smile, one that would have been more proper on a baby's feature's than the grown man before her. "Or, rather, I was THE Spider. Now merely one of many since you three have claimed the titles."

"The Lord of Whispers," Gwen stated.

"Yes. Part of the Small Council. Some call me the Eunuch but I find that terribly insulting even if it is true. Are we going to keep listing all the cute little names and titles people give me because we might be here all night, especially if any of you are Pentoshi."

"How… how do you not know about Doc Ock?" Gwen stammered out.

"Because I do not know about him. As much as I wish I was able to peer through the mists of the world and know all that happens I do not. I am beholden to my little birds and trust me when I state that not a single one of them have mentioned a man with tentacles for arms."

"They grew out of his back," Petyr stated.

"Ah, that changes things."

"Really?" Petyr asked.

"No," Varys said dryly. "Again, I am sorry but I know nothing of this man you speak of."

"He attacked us after robbing a blacksmith!" Miles exclaimed.

"I know of the robbery, of course. It is all that many on the Street of Steel can speak of. Rather brazen and giving your own father many headaches, Young Miles. And as Jon stated Lord Jameson is blaring out to all about the theft… and that you are to blame." Petyr, Gwen, and Miles opened their mouths to counter that but Varys continued on. "But other than that… well, there hasn't been much to draw my attention."

"A man… with tentacles," Miles said slowly.

"It does NOW," Varys corrected. "But until you informed me of this it was just another robbery. Yes, one of Valyrian Steel, a touch daring, but nothing where I was actively going to study it and try and determine who was the culprit. I put out notice that I was interested, of course, as I will do with more elaborate thefts-"

"It was Valyrian Steel," May said slowly. "How could you not be interested in that?"

"My dear lady… while it is true that Valyrian Steel is rare it isn't something that no one can find. And the theft of it is quite common. It is only the swords of great houses that are able to stay with their holders for more than a few years… it is quite common for daggers to appear and disappear often." He paused, a slight smile forming on his lips. "Why, I happen to have a particular Valyrian Steel Dagger currently in my chambers… the one that was given to a catspaw as payment to murder Lord Jon's little brother, Bran Stark. It came to Catelyn Stark, who gave it to her husband Eddard, who foolishly lost it to Lord Baelish. And I claimed it for myself, seeing as he is dead."

"Except it isn't in your room anymore," Natasha said with a smirk. "You really should lock that secret chest of yours better… I do admit the hidden drawer was a bit tough to open but once I found the finger hole it was easy enough."

Clynt chimed in. "You are one to talk, what with your secret cubby in the ceiling. I discovered that in 4 minutes and it only took another three to add that dagger to my collection."

"Which I already raided," Varys stated, causing both Natasha and Clynt to stare at him in shock. "Come now, you think I would be so foolish as to use a simple secret chest? No no no… but I do thank you for allowing me to learn where you both hide your prized possessions."

Gwen just stared at the three of them, sensing that she and her friends were in the middle of a very ancient game that they didn't know the rules of.

"The point," Varys continued, "is that Valyrian daggers disappear all the time. Tywin Lannister was responsible for the theft of seven of them."

"Wait…" Petyr said, brow furrowing, "but he's always trying to buy Valyrian swords… why not-"

"Make a new Brightroar?" Varys asked. He tutted. "Come now… everyone knows that a sword is valuable because of its history. There is a reason why Aegon the Conqueror was seen as 'fair' and 'just' for only asking for the nameless castle-forged steel of his foes, rather than their Family Blades. A sword that has tasted the blood of a king will always be worth far more than a sword that is simply pretty."

"We've gotten off topic," Jon said. "Doc Ock."

"Yes," Varys said, looking at Gwen and then her friends. "As I stated there have been no reports of a man with octopus tentacles roaming about King's Landing." He held up his hand as Petyr opened his mouth to speak. "That isn't to say that there isn't one. Merely that if there is they are VERY good at hiding. Even a Spider can miss a few flies. But I will spread the word amongst my little birds, let them know that I am searching for a rather brazen thief. One that seems to want to take the theatrics of the Vulture King and apply them within the city, rather than outside."

Clynt nodded. "I'll keep an ear out in the taverns… most likely whoever this is won't be bragging unless they are on the job. Might be all showy to you three but when trying to go about his day to day life he's probably very non-descript. But sometimes people can't help but drop hints… considering no one other than you three know about him he might be getting hungry for some attention."

"And before that," Natasha said, "we'll do research. Because based on the books you selected you realized that this probably isn't natural."

Petyr bobbed his head quickly. "Yeah! Illusion or maybe a ritual or transformation spell…"

"Spells?"

All of them turned as one, Gwen staring in shock at the figure that was in the doorway. The one they had all failed to lock, much to their chagrin. But Gwen was focused not on that but the intruder.

It was Doc Ock.

Oh, he wasn't wearing the long coat she'd seen him in last, nor did he have tentacles bursting from his back seeking to try and grab him. But she remembered his face well, as well as his voice, and at once Gwen was tense and ready. She could see Petyr moving to push May behind him while Miles had coiled up, just waiting for the right moment to spring into action.

"Lord Otto," Jon said quickly, Natasha subtly grabbing a book and shoving it at Clynt. "How are you?"

"I am intrigued," the man said as he took another step into the room. "I didn't take you as someone who believed in things such as magic."

"Magic is real," Natasha said. "Or rather it was. It is fading from the world but that doesn't mean one can't learn about it. Petyr and his friends had some questions and we decided to explain some things to them. Give them a better understanding of the history of magic and what it once was like."

"Well… splendid!" Lord Otto declared with a wide grin. "I studied a bit of the Deeper Secrets at the Citadel… I never got to forge that link, as that was right when I became Lord of Sunflare, but it always interested me. Do you mind if I join you? I have some books in my room that I think the young ones might enjoy!" Before any of them could answer Lord Otto hurried off.

"Well… this will be interesting," Clynt muttered.

Gwen just stared at the doorway.

"Who… who was that?" Miles stammered out.

"Its fine," Varys said quickly. "He's the new Master of Coin but he seems trustworthy enough. At least as trustworthy as anyone in this city can appear. There is no need to worry. We can hide most of these books easily enough."

Gwen though was still utterly still.

"Gwen?" Natasha said, touching her arm.

"Oh… fuck," Gwen murmured.