It's a Spider Family. {Sequel to 'It's a Spider Thing'.}

{16} unhealthy obsession with lego

"I LEAVE THE ROOM for five minutes and everything goes to shit?" Clint announced, hoisting himself onto the conference table with ease. "You know that I'm supposed to be the fuck up in this operation, so please stop stealing my title." He directed the last bit to Natasha- she hissed under her breath and glowered in his direction mutinously.

"Will you two behave?" Fury snapped as he sat down.

The trio had managed to sneak into a conference room once Peter had been stowed away into the lower levels of the tower and May Parker had been persuaded to leave with the promise, (and half threat), that she could and would come back the next day. Everyone else had dispersed reluctantly, and Tony and Steve had been left to monitor the 'holding cell' video feed like hawks- the whole ordeal made Natasha itch to get Peter out, something didn't feel right.

Beginning to pace, the assassin turned to Fury, "World Council?" She questioned before she shared a look with Clint who was now swinging his legs back and forth.

Nick barely spared him a glance, unfortunately used to the antics by now.

"No one knows about Parker. He was off the books." He reaffirmed. Natasha nodded. "There's no paper trail of him, Hill and I got rid of every piece of information on the Hydra database and our own- the only way they know about the kid is if they overheard." Fury's expression sobered even more.

"You mean bugged your office?" Clint asked; his legs stopped swinging and Natasha paused in her pacing. They both stared at Fury in surprise.

"The question is why." Nick explained. "Why is Peter Parker, a sixteen-year-old kid, a person of interest? No one knows about Spiderman outside of the avengers." They all knew the unspoken answer that hung over their heads because Peter's history wasn't common knowledge- it had been wiped from every digital surface they could find, and any paper copies had been burned to ashes. Fury had over seen the process himself, which left only one organization that had a sliver of a chance of having the information- and it wasn't Shield.

"He has a remarkably colourful history." Natasha commented.

Both eyes zeroed in on Clint as he jumped off the table, running a hand down his face. "He's dangerous. That's why." Natasha shot him a cold look. "When he wants to be." Clint amended and hurried to continue, "Anyone, who has even caught a glimpse of his record will want him. That kid could give Barnes a run for his money. He's-"

"Shut up. For the love of God." Natasha muttered, scowling. "Did you have a point?"

"He's an asset." Clint stated simply.

It was a fact, one that they couldn't dispute because the evidence was laid out bare for them every day. It was in the way Peter carried himself- the way his eyes tracked strangers and identified potential threats and planned exit strategies.

It was in the subtle air of danger that warned people away from the teenager when they got too close.

Natasha's eyes flickered to Clint's and she saw the same expression of concern mirrored back at her. She sighed. That statement made her skin crawl- he was more than that now; he was a sixteen-year-old kid with midterms, a boyfriend and an unhealthy obsession with Lego. He wasn't some cold, killing machine whose only purpose was to get the mission done.

He was her kid, her Peter Parker. Not some Hydra science experiment.

"Why now?" Fury pointed out, his good eye bouncing between the agents.

"Maybe it isn't Shield." Natasha mumbled, her forehead creasing.

There was a tense beat of silence between the group.

"You mean Hydra?" It was rhetorical, but Natasha nodded anyway.

Clint looked murderous at the mere suggestion as he clenched his jaw painfully tight- because he'd been coming to the same damning conclusion and had hoped beyond anything that he was wrong; that he was a hundred miles off the target for once in his life. Despite how badly Clint put up the façade of not caring about the teenager and finding him to be a general nuisance (which, frankly, nobody was buying these days)- he couldn't hide all the worry now building in his chest.

"I need to talk to Peter. He knows their strategies, how they operate better than we ever will. Give me five minutes alone with him- no cameras." Natasha requested, turning to Fury.

He nodded. "I'll talk to Stark; you get down there. Barton, keep the guards busy."

-

The cell area was near silent as Natasha walked down the corridor.

Clint who had been flanking her right side paused to converse with the guards stood a few feet away while Natasha walked ahead. Her eyes immediately landed on the being hovering next to the glass; Harley was smiling at Peter who, despite his hunched over position, seemed to be eased by the teenager's presence.

"Harley." Natasha greeted, now standing only a few feet away.

"Romanoff." He said icily. She was almost proud of him.

Instead of voicing that particular thought, she leaned in closer to catch his attention. "Help Barton distract the guards; I need to talk to Peter." Harley bit his lip, clearly debating the request before he nodded and pushed away his annoyance at the woman to honour her request. He sent Peter a final look before walking away to the sound of Barton's obnoxious declaration that he could do a handstand- which Harley was quick to challenge and provoke.

The result was the guards having to watch a horrific display as Clint faked being terrible at gymnastics; his years in the circus were hard to shake. The sight of Barton's dramatics was enough to make Natasha's lips quirk upwards.

When she turned back, Peter was approaching the large glass window.

"Hey kid." She greeted, and then paused. It was a time sensitive mission but the words she needed to say from their last night in her apartment forced their way out instead. "I'm sorry." Her eyes flickered to the cameras as they cut out, the red dot blinking off.

Peter frowned. "The camera has to be off for that?"

There was a playful lilt to his words that covered the disbelief that had initially coloured his voice. Natasha was unsure whether to challenge the comment, but she knew Peter well enough to know that if he didn't want her to see something then she wouldn't. Deciding that she would prod and poke at him later, she shook her head. "The Shield situation, it's suspicious." She lowered her voice slightly. "I came to see if you noticed anything strange-"

"One of the agents." Peter cut her off. "My spider sense went off; I've seen him before. He walked past me on the street before May picked me up- had an earpiece and a gun."

His tongue dashed across his lips. "Could be Hydra. Gathering intel or planning some attack."

Natasha nodded instantly, storing away the information. "I've got your back."

"You still trust me to have yours?" He asked. There was a smirk in place, but Natasha could see through the expression and to the anxiety rolling underneath.

"Didn't doubt it for a second."

"Cool." He breathed, though he looked unconvinced- for once she didn't say it back.

The tension between them mounted again, as if he could sense her thoughts and the camera switched on again, cutting their conversation short. Natasha moved to step away as she heard Clint topple over, taking multiple people down with him in the process and creating an effective distraction.

"I've got to go." She said, meeting Peter's eyes one final time before dashing off.

An agent had moved to escort her, but she was already half way down the long corridor. Peter watched her retreating back before moving to the bed he'd been given. 

A/N

Ya know, in this chapter I was going to have them make up completely- and then my brain said let them suffer. Mwahaha. I usually don't write long standing conflicts but I'm trying it out :)

Also I love Clint being a human disastor and taking out multiple people 'accidentally' and Harley aiding him in that venture.

Anywho! Let me know of any spelling mistakes! xoxo.