Peter Parker was Spider-Man. And everybody knew that.
Nicholas J Fury had been on SHIELD's space base for almost a year now, and he got weekly updates on the headlines from Earth. When he saw the news, he got to his feet immediately, still reading as he stumbled into the hallway and practically sprinted to the communication centre. Peter had been accused of targeting a drone strike on London and killing some guy called Mysterio. After said 'hero' revealed Spider-Man's identity, he and his family had been targeted by mobs of angry civilians. The news contained an extra note that incriminating evidence included the fact that the kid had claimed Nick Fury had been with him at the time, when he was officially off-world. He'd known that sending in the Skrulls would be a bad idea.
Fury reached the comms room and immediately started composing a message. Information took 48 hours to travel between the centre and their base on Earth, which meant it had been 3 days since this had happened. There was a high-speed satellite that could be used for emergency messages which only took an hour to transmit. Fury used it to send off a short message to the base.
Peter Parker is innocent
The next two hours dragged by, but the response was not what Fury was expecting.
Who is Peter Parker? There is no record of that name on our servers.
Fury stared at the screen, uncomprehending. Three days ago, Peter Parker had been the most famous person on Earth. Now, not even SHIELD knew who he was? Something smelled fishy and it wasn't just Goose's breakfast.
"I think it's time to visit Earth again, Hill. We've been away from home for too long."
~
There was a strange sense of deja vu in a lot of things Peter Parker did these days, but he could honestly say he was never expecting to find Nick Fury in his room again.
"Wh-what?"
"Close the door, Peter."
Slowly, Peter did as he was told. How did Fury know who he was?
"Do you know who I am, Peter?"
Maybe he didn't, then.
Peter thought about lying, but decided it was for the better if he told the truth. "You're Nick Fury. Head of SHIELD."
"Good, I'm not going crazy. Now, would you like to explain to me what exactly is going on here?"
"What do you mean, sir?"
"I mean, Mr Parker, how come there's no record of you anywhere?"
Peter's shoulders slumped. It was just a routine checkup on a file that was a little too empty.
Fury's brows rose. "That hit a soft spot, huh? Good to know that you're aware of that little tidbit."
"Is that why you're here?"
"Why else would I be? Because you're Spider-Man?"
Peter froze. He'd been so, so careful. How had SHIELD found out so quickly?
"Nobody can know," he told Fury forcefully. He was prepared to fight this point - enough people had died because of his secret identity.
"That's funny, because I'm fairly sure that a week ago, everybody knew."
"How do you know that?" He had Peter's full attention now, and he knew it.
Fury met his eye. "I think it's best if you start from the top."
~
It took almost an hour to tell the whole story, all the way from when Fury had hijacked his class trip - apparently that had been a shapeshifting alien all along, though, because why not - to Mysterio's drones, the broadcast, the other dimensions and Dr Strange's spell.
"He said everybody in the world would forget Peter Parker?"
Peter nodded. "I don't understand how you still know me."
"Because I've been off-world, probably, and Strange's little mind-warp couldn't reach me."
"So what's your plan now?"
"Sir?"
"Your plan. What you're going to do with the rest of your life. You're not going to tell your friends what happened, so you're starting fresh. A clean slate is a rare luxury, Parker."
"I haven't really had time to put together a plan yet. I got this apartment, I'm studying for my GED... I've thought about trying to get a job, and I'm carrying on with patrols as usual, I guess."
"Hmm. Well, you could go with that, I suppose, although not having any personal identification will prove difficult if you ever want a serious job. On the other hand, you could come and work for me."
"Work for you?"
"Yes. What makes a better agent than someone with enhancements, combat experience, a strong moral compass, complete anonymity and nothing left to lose?"
And, because he had nothing left to lose, Peter said yes.
(PS before you comment and ask for one, I will not be making a pt 2 for this (I know you all too well) because I'm already bogged down with sequels atm so take this drabble as a peace offering whilst I try to actually finish something (: hope you enjoyed)