A/N: PLEASE READ BEGINNING SECTION
This chapter is yet another "meeting chapter" where the Avengers are in a meeting with Nick Fury to discuss what happened during their fight with Spider-Man and Spider-Man's face-off against Scorpio. This chapter actually ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be, ending at almost the length of two of my usual chapter sizes combined. Even though the content could be considered just another boring meeting, I hope you still enjoy it all the way through. I tried my best to write it so you would. If you have not been waiting for this update, then feel free to skip the next portion of this Authors Note and move onto the story. If you want to read the rest of this Authors Note, then I'll see you right after you finish reading this sentence. :)
Hey everyone! I have been gone for a very loooonngg time. I guess it could be longer, but half a year is still a long time for me! I am SO sorry. First off, let me say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you for your support and caring-ness. It really means a lot to me that so many of you like my story enough to want me to continue it, even after this long wait. And I've especially enjoyed seeing some of you rereading my book and commenting on it again. It really warms my soul to have my book be somehow good enough for people to want to reread it. So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who has shown me support in any little way, and to everyone reading my book! I've enjoyed reading all of your comments. Speaking of comments, as a little side-note here, I would like to thank those who have been respecting my wishes to keep the comments on this book clean and have been trying to follow those wishes. Thank you.
Because I've been gone so long, I'm worried that I fell out of "the zone" and will not write like I did before I dropped off the face of the Wattpadian planet for a while, and that I will end up upsetting the flow of this book. So I decided to go through and reread my fic in the hopes of fixing that worry at least a little bit, which explains why I answered some comments that you guys left forever ago that I never saw until my reread. It will also explain about two weeks of my absence. Now, to explain why I've been gone so long. About a year ago, I was diagnosed with not one chronic illness, but three. Oh the joys. Right after I published the chapter before this one, my health condition got waaaay worse. We had thought that we had finally figured out the correct medication and treatment, but all the medication I was taking started to fail on me all at once. So that's basically what I've been doing these past few months. Trying to balance the normal events of life with figuring out my health and medications and trying not to die. But I've made it this far and got through a HUGE checkpoint, so now I'm able to start writing again. I can't promise how close or far from each other the chapters will be published. But I'm hoping and praying that I won't get as worse as I have been, which also has the benefit for you guys of me not dropping off of the face of the Wattpadian planet again. I also don't want to go through writing withdrawals again. If I ever do seem to disappear again, ask me if I'm still active in the comments or on my conversations board. I found that after two months or so I was able to feel good enough at times to get on and answer my notifications and comments, so I should be able to answer you. Sooo.... yeah. Well, I hope that this chapter is good enough to be worthy of waiting half a year for. I love you all and hope that you enjoy! ♡ ♡ ♡
Natasha's POV:
After getting our butts kicked by the one and only Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, we all grudgingly head to the Avengers' conference room in the Tower, where the one and only Nicholas Fury was waiting for us with a scowl on his face.
I sink into one of the chairs surrounding the long, rectangular table and do a decent job at hiding my exhaustion. All around me, the rest of the Avengers slump into their own chairs, not caring enough to do anything but wistfully imagine skipping this meeting and going straight to sleeping in a comfy bed.
After a moment of weary silence, Fury turns to us and raises his eyebrows, "Can someone please explain to me what happened out there? Because what I see right now is one vigilante winning a fight against the Avengers team."
"Welp, that about sums it up. Meetings over then I guess. Time for bed!" Clint starts to get up from his chair.
"Sit. Down."
Clint freezes, gives a deep sigh, and falls back into his seat, "Fine. But I do have to say that I am done chasing around Spider-Man. He's a good man. I seriously doubt he would ever turn evil, and he's proven over and over that he's willing to work with us as long as we don't push for his capture."
"I don't think you're the one giving the orders here," Fury states, his voice cold.
Tony's spine straightens, "Actually, that would be me. And I agree, I'm done with this as well. This man deserves his privacy, and I am fed up with trying to rip it away from him just because of your annoyance that you know next to nothing about him."
"He tries his hardest not to hurt any of us, even though we're the ones hunting him down and hurting him," Steve adds.
Wanda nods her head enthusiastically, "None of us walked away from this last fight with serious injuries except Spider-Man. He even took an arrow for me."
Vision smiles warmly at Wanda, "And it seems as though he has thought up ways that he could take us all down. He had something in his webs that kept me from using my powers."
Fury points a finger at Vision, "See, that right there is why I want his identity. He's dangerous and we have no idea what the limits of what he can do are!"
I decide that it's time to speak my mind as well, "We all are dangerous. In fact, half of the people on this team have backgrounds that include killing tons of people and working for the other side! I can't deny how dangerous Spider-Man is to all of us. After this last fight, I am convinced that it will take a lot of effort and overall damage to everyone involved to capture him. But that doesn't mean we should! I've researched for you and have found nothing that would suggest that Spider-Man has used his powers for bad or to harm others, unlike a lot of the people in this room have, including you!
So, Nicholas, I don't think you have a right to talk about using powers for evil. I'm starting to think that you being determined to hunt down Spider-Man and refusing to stop and think about another solution is becoming exactly what you are scared of! So how about we talk this out and come up with another solution to this Spider-Man worry of yours."
Fury takes a step back at my emotions and icy tone, "What do you guys suggest then?"
"If you're so worried about the bad Spider-Man can do with his powers, rather than going after him, we should try and learn the chances that Spider-Man would ever do something like that," Sam offers.
Bucky nods in approval, "Clint mentioned a while ago that if we just ask around on the streets we will meet a ton of people who have interacted with Spider-Man."
Tony claps his hands together, "Okay, how 'bout this. Tomorrow us Avengers will go asking around the street and get stories and info about Spider-Man. Then we can all meet together tomorrow evening and compare notes. After that, when you realize that Spider-Man is a good guy and not very likely to turn to the dark side, we can come up with a different solution."
Fury stands there in silence for a moment, pondering what Tony just said, before slowly nodding, "Okay, fine. But if this doesn't work out, you guys have to deal with the consequences."
"Sounds fair," I reply.
"Since you all agree, I'd like to ask that we do everything before 3pm because I have an intern that I'm finally going to meet face-to-face then," Tony asks.
Nods are seen throughout the room.
Before everyone can conveniently forget to talk about what else happened tonight so that they can head off to bed, I speak up, "Hey Fury?"
Multiple glares are sent my way along with Fury's attention, "Yes?"
I pause for a moment before deciding to just go with my hunch and ask the question, "Do you have a brother named Max?"
Fury's eye widens before narrowing at me in suspicion, "Why?"
"After Spider-Man took us down, he had to fight a villain who approached him. His name is Scorpio. Your agents should have him in custody. I would maybe ask them to take the mask off quicker though because apparently, under the mask is someone named Max, who is a brother to Nicholas and believed to be dead."
"Are you sure?" Fury asks, his tone wavering slightly.
"We all heard it," Wanda pipes up.
"Give me just a minute," Fury pulls out his phone, dials, and puts it to his ear. He starts speaking when someone answers, "I'm in a debrief with the Avengers and they say you have a villain named Scorpio in custody. Yes, him. Who's under the mask? Well, find out right now! They claim that it's-" He stops speaking as he listens to the person on the other end of the line. He turns to us as his eye widens and his face changes into an expression of disbelief. After a brief pause, he continues talking into the phone, "Yes, yes, I'm here. I just... are you sure? He's been dead for years! Yeah, I just.... Okay, okay, you know where to put him. Yes, but this doesn't change what he's done. I know... Thanks, I appreciate it. Bye."
I lean back in my chair, "Well, I guess that answers that question."
"Who is Scorpio though? Spider-Man seems to have some history with him and apparently both times Spider-Man brought him down included SHIELD. So Director Fury," Sam leans forward, resting his elbows on the table, "What do you know about him?"
Fury stares at us for a couple of seconds, processing all of this new information, "Well, I didn't know he was my brother Max. Knowing that, I can at least guess at what he's capable of. Just like me, Max was injected with an experimental version of the Super Soldier Serum in the hopes of creating more people like him," He motions to Steve with a jerk of his head.
Shock flits across Bucky's face before quickly disappearing, "Wait, you were injected with that version of the serum too?"
Fury nods, "Yes, though I think HYDRA changed a bit of the compounds of the serum I was injected with before giving it to you. So we probably had different reactions."
"Wait wait wait. Hold up," Clint looks between Fury, Bucky, and Steve.
"So you," He points at Steve, "Were injected with the original Super Soldier Serum and died a tragic but so-called heroic death."
"And you two," He points at Fury and Bucky, "Along with Scorpio, were injected with an attempt at the Super Soldier Serum which made you all enhanced and all that jazz."
I snort, "Yes, Clint. And all that jazz."
"Okay. But what exactly does the serum allow Scorpio to do?" Vision wonders aloud.
"Well, my version gives enhanced strength and speed, along with exponentially slowing down our ability to age. We also heal faster than the average person," Fury replies.
Wanda raises an eyebrow, "So then how old are you?"
Fury gives her a glare and her eyes slightly widen as she quickly adds, "I mean, to get a sense of how old Scorpio is."
He crosses his arms, "Let's just say I'm over eighty years old."
Quiet noises of shock escape from those who were not previously aware of this fact.
Fury plows on, "Both me and my younger brother Max were also born with smarts. He's a strategic genius and good with technology. From what I remember of the reports that came in when he infiltrated one of the SHIELD bases, I'm not surprised that he was able to do so without raising any alarms. He's also great at hand-to-hand combat and knows how to use multiple weapons from our time in the military."
Bucky's eyebrows raise, "Well, I guess that also tells us more about the capabilities of Spider-Man. It sounds like he was able to bring down Scorpio on his own twice, even with these enhancements and smarts."
Fury huffs, "Yet another reason to worry about Spider-Man."
Tony's eyes narrow, "Remember we have a deal."
"I know. That doesn't mean I'll stop worrying about him until we're finally able to talk to him and work something out."
"You can worry as much as you want as long as you don't act on it," Tony reminds him.
"I say we kill two birds with one stone," I pause, "Well, kill one and seriously maim the other one since we're just starting to kill it. Not quite there yet."
Everyone shoots me weird looks.
"What?" I roll my eyes as the looks continue, "Fine, let me explain. I say we call up a SHIELD agent that was there during both of the events with Spider-Man and Scorpio if we can. We want to know more about Spider-Man and Scorpio's history together and we can fully figure that out. And while we do that, we can ask how Spider-Man acted during those situations and the person's opinion of him. That'll give us more context on who Spider-Man is, which is the whole point of tomorrow's street sleuthing and meeting right? But it won't completely fix our problem with what to do with Spider-Man. So we're only maiming the bird, not killing it. Get it?"
Clint releases a huff of laughter, "Yeah Nat. We get it. That's just a very.... Unique adaptation of that idiom."
I glare at him, causing him to sink lower in his seat.
Vision nods, "I like that idea."
Steve turns to Fury, "Do you know of any SHIELD agent that was at both of those events?"
Fury thinks for a moment before slowly nodding his head, "Yes. There're two, a husband and a wife. Both are members of my favorite SHIELD agents list."
"Ooh ooh! I'm on that list right?!" Clint bounces in his seat.
Fury sends him a deadpan stare, "I think you know the answer to that."
Steve leans forward in interest, "Can we call them up?"
Glancing at the clock, Fury replies, "I know they're on shift right now, but they might be busy with the assignment I gave them yesterday."
"Can we call them up?" Tony asks.
"Sure. The question is if they'll answer or not," Fury turns to the holographic projector and fiddles with it for a moment before pulling up a black screen with a standard buffering symbol in the middle of it.
Just a few seconds later, the symbol blinks on and off three times before the black screen changes, showing two people tucked between boxes stacked on either side of them, their backs to a wall immediately behind them.
"Hey Nick, what's up?" The male agent asks enthusiastically, his brown eyes, which are a shade or two lighter than his dark skin, sparkling. The image of the couple tilts to the side for a second as the Agent shifts the phone in his hand to a better position where both he and his wife can see the whole screen. His smile grows wider as he spots the rest of the people in the room with Fury, "Woah. Are those the Avengers? That's awesome!"
His wife sets a hand on his leg, her skin a shade lighter than her husbands and her brown eyes glinting with humor, "Hunny, I think we're supposed to uphold the serious SHIELD agent stereotype in front of the Avengers. We don't want to embarrass Nick too much."
Her husband snorts, "I think everyone knows by now that expecting anything else from us besides our personalities fails epically. Even Nick knows that."
I swear I see the beginnings of a smile tug at Fury's mouth before it disappears.
The female Agent chuckles before turning her attention back to the people on the other side of the screen, "So what'd you call us for?" She glances over the top of the boxes at something before continuing, "I don't know how much time we have so we're going to have to keep this short and sweet."
"Sounds good Agents. What do you remember from the two incidents you were involved in with Scorpio and Spider-Man?" Fury asks.
"His name is Scorpio? Huh," the husband comments.
The wife rolls her eyes with a smile, "Well, we didn't know the name of the guy causing all of the trouble, but we did later find out that our rescuer was Spider-Man. He didn't seem to mind that we didn't know his name at the time though, just that we were all okay."
"I like him. He was nice and did his best at protecting us all and succeeded. He even has a sense of humor! A true hero if you ask me," Her husband adds.
The woman nods, "I agree. He's an amazing fighter with a lot of strength and boatloads of leadership skills. He put everyone else first, figured out Scorpio's plan, worked perfectly with us to stop him, and didn't care that he wouldn't get the credit."
"What happened though?" I inquire.
The man huffs, "Well, the first time, Scorpio took over the base we were stationed in. I was surprised at how efficiently and silently him and his army subdued all of us. One moment, I'm sitting at one of the main computers, and the next, I'm gagged and in the hands of some Zodiac soldiers. Spider-Man came in just in time to stop Scorpio from completely hacking our computers from the inside. A stroke of pure luck really. I'm honestly impressed at how well he handled taking down that many opponents at once on his own. Once he could, he freed a few of us, got us weapons, and let us work with him to get the others out and bring down Scorpio and his army."
"From what Spider-Man said, Scorpio and part of his army got away with the Zodiac Key," Vision informs.
Fury startles when Vision mentions the Zodiac Key, but seems to decide to keep to himself for now.
Both Agents nod, "That's right. But he kept all of us away from serious injuries and prevented Scorpio from getting his hands on all of SHIELDs data. So I count what he did that day as a serious win, especially considering he came in all alone even though he was against odds that were definitely stacked against him."
Bucky shifts in his seat so that the Agents can see him better, "And the second time?"
Both Agents glance at each other before looking back at the screen. The man rubs the back of his neck with his free hand as he grimaces, "Yeeaaahhh, that time it really was our fault that we were there. We weren't paying enough attention to our job that day, leaving the opportunity Scorpio needed to grab us as we were transferring from one lab site to another. A group of SHIELD agents were sent to get us back, but when they found us, they weren't expecting a secret base with Zodiac minions. So we all ended up captured. I don't know how Spider-Man found us that time, but he did. And he worked just as well with all of us, even though most of us were complete strangers to him. He was just as polite and caring as I had remembered him and he still had his priorities in the right order. We were able to do everything but capture Scorpio. We blew the secret base and that awful machine up, got the rest of the Zodiac Army, and Spider-Man was able to wrestle the Zodiac Key away from Scorpio."
"You know..." The woman tilts her head slightly, "I never did ask him what he did with it. We all trusted him enough to know he would act wisely with it, but I guess we should have followed up with him before he left. I think it all slipped our minds. Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever ended up putting that in the report," she glances at her husband, "Did you?"
He shakes his head, "It really did slip my mind. But all in all, everything worked out and I think we made a friend of one of the best men I have ever met," He shrugs, "I wouldn't be too worried about what Spider-Man did with the Zodiac Key. If you really want to know, I suggest just going up to him and asking. He's a great guy and very approachable. He would totally answer you, especially if he knew that you can probably keep it safe better than he could. He just wants it to stay out of the hands of someone who will use it to hurt others."
Fury swallows, "We'll keep that in mind."
An explosion is heard on the Agents side of the line and their image shakes a bit as they brace themselves against the boxes next to them. Both Agents grab the guns sitting next to them and stand up into a crouch, glancing over the top of the boxes. They turn most of their attention back to the screen.
The husband smiles at them and gives a half salute with the hand holding the gun, "Well, that's our cue. Sorry to cut this short but we gotta go. Amazing Agents out!" The wife gives them a wave before the screen turns dark.
It's silent for a couple of seconds before Clint smiles, "Well, I guess that's another point in favor of Spider-Man."
Fury stands in deep thought for a moment before slowly nodding, "And it's nice to know what my brother's been up to recently, even if his actions are wrong. Now what's this I hear about the Zodiac Key?"
Wanda looks up from the pattern of wood on the table she was tracing with her finger, "Well, we honestly don't know much more than you do. When Natasha asked if Spider-Man had it, he just said it was in a safe place."
Fury's eyes narrow at that, "Well, we need to get it back somehow. The Zodiac Key is one of the top ten most dangerous weapons known to mankind. It could take down the helicarrier in just one well-placed shot."
Sam whistles softly, "Yeah, we really should get that from Spider-Man then. Not necessarily because I don't trust it with him, but because the Agents are right. You can probably keep it safe better than he could."
"Well, I guess that's just one more thing to add to our list when we approach him to just talk," I add.
Tony, who's slightly swiveling his chair from side to side, jumps in, "Is that everything then? Because if it is, then I know of a very comfortable bed that's calling my name."
Everyone nods in agreement while I glance around the room and notice something important, "Where's Bruce?"
Fury focuses his attention on me, "He's on a mission that he had to leave to when you guys were fighting Spider-Man. He should be back tomorrow."
Steve nods, "Good to know."
"Well with that, I believe this meeting is dismissed," Tony says, hints of joy in his voice.
Just as everyone starts to stand up, there's a loud thunk on one of the windows right behind Tony. He startles and trips over a chair leg, sprawling onto the ground. Quickly hopping up, he turns to look at the source of the noise.
Webbed to the window is a gold object, almost in the shape of an ankh, but with it's crossbar curving down. Stuck to it is a note.
After staring at it for a few seconds in surprise, Tony turns to look at a camera in the corner of the room, "Hey FRIDAY? Can you open the window in a way that we can grab that please?"
"Sure Boss."
I pull out a knife from one of my sheaths and approach the window as it swings inward. Thankfully, it seems like Spider-Man planned for this and attached the object to the window with a very thin string of webbing, allowing me to saw through it relatively quickly rather than having to wait however long till it dissolved. I decide to leave the note for now, which is attached to the object like one would attach a little card to the outside of a gift bag with a string.
As I bring it to the table and set it down, everyone crowds around me.
Fury's eye widens, then narrows, "That's the Zodiac Key."
Curious, I reach out and grab the note, flipping it over so that the message can be seen:
𝐼 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈. ッ