Chapter Text
It took around five supers and a dozen non-super operatives to survey midtown Manhattan between Stark Tower and the Baxter Building.
"Area is secure. I think," came the voice of one Clint Barton through the comm. He was perched on a twenty-story building, looking bored and uninterested.
"You think? You sure you've swept the surrounding buildings thoroughly? Do it again. Make it a 100% sweep." This time it was Steve, and he wasn't satisfied with sweeping the radius just four times. Three others groaned through the comm.
Clint snorted. "I'm in a residential area--I'm not about to barge into people's private homes."
"Transfer alien life-form from point A to point B," droned Nick Fury, eyes steely as always as they looked at the screens in front of him. "And keep sharp. We have intel tipping us off that hostiles are around the neighborhood." As usual, he wasn't at the scene, but rather at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, monitoring everything with his one good eye.
"And none of the Fantabulous Four can't spare themselves to assist us?" Pietro complained. He wasn't to keen on the task set before him. Transferring cargo wasn't part of his job description. "I have a life too, you know. Wanda's waiting for me."
"Hey, good one. Fantabulous? Maybe we should change our name to that."
"Wait--who's this kid?" Pietro looked up to see a streak of fire burst through the sky.
"One of the 'Fantabulous Four'." Johnny Storm snickered as he hovered over the busy street. So much for a covert operation. Everyone in the direct vicinity was staring at the floating, flaming human-shaped entity.
"At your service, bro. And thanks for this in-ear. Did one of you really dip this in unstable molecules just so you can all hear me?"
"Did we really need this guy?" Clint groaned.
"Spare us the quips, Clint, he was available, we needed a little assistance." Special agent Natasha Romanov strolled through the streets like any normal person, heels clicking through the pavement. Her movements were brisk yet fluid, and she had one eye on the road in front of her and another on an inconspicuous delivery truck. As usual, the traffic jam was mind-numbing, and it made the mission that much more of a drag.
Pietro grunted through the comm. "I should have stayed in. You know it takes a lot of time to put on the suit."
"I heard Mr Stark has taken to dressing other superheros Tim Gunn-style. How's that working for you, man? Made any progress on the time it takes to put it on?" Johnny asked.
"Stretchy spandex-y suit like this? It can't get any more efficient than wrestling yourself into it." He paused. "Plus I gotta make sure all the folds don't ride up and give me wedgies."
Johnny's laughter was loud in their earpieces.
At headquarters, Nick was scowling at the screen, listening as the comm quickly became a group chat.
"So where's the rest of the crew, then?" Pietro asked. He was feeling a little antsy in his suit, walking through New York. Not a lot of people stared, because a lot of people were used to costumed pedestrians. Things like that happened a lot. "I stay away from updates and just, you know, work on whatever Nicky wants me to work on."
Steve was the one who answered. He had his arm dangling out of the truck's passenger window, squinting at the traffic before him. "Janet's with Thor and Bruce at the site of the crash, investigating things. You know where Wanda is. As for Tony ..."
"Avoiding the grunt work as usual," Pietro scoffed. "Where is he?"
"He went on ahead, to our place." Johnny supplied. "I guess he wanted to butter up Sue or something."
"Can we please focus on the task at hand?" Nick interjected curtly. "This chitchat is giving me a migraine."
--
In front of them was a 3D hologram of the alien life-form, projected from a floor panel in the laboratory head office. Reed Richards glanced at the current head of the investigations and research team, Tony Stark, trying to figure out where the man was in terms of unlocking the creature's secrets.
"This is, admittedly, beyond my expertise," Reed said, transferring his gaze back to the alien. "My laboratories, however, are a bit more equipped when it comes to dealing with extra-terrestrial life forms than yours are."
Tony shrugged. "We needed a space to figure out what this mega-cell is. My space is kind of full right now, if you get my drift." We'd keep it in the tower, but we can't be bothered to focus our resources on it, not until we know what it is.
"You're dumping the thing on us," Reed sighed. "Threat levels?"
"I'm surprised you're calling it 'the thing', when you already have a Thing here, walking around in stretchy pants." Tony ran his hand through his hair, then wiped the bottom half of his face with it.
"It isn't dangerously radioactive, though it's emitting some kind of low energy pulse from the nucleus ..." Tony put his hand in front of him and used his fingers to zoom in on the hologram-cell's center, where a tiny bean-shaped light was. "We don't know what that is, and we don't know how to get to it."
"Are you saying that you can't penetrate the cell wall?"
"I'm saying that we can't penetrate the cell wall." Tony paused. "Through the use of currently available technology and scientific methods."
"But you think something else can penetrate it. Something super." Reed was only half there at this point--his mind had already gone to possibility land, sifting through all the things the alien could be.
"Good. I knew I went to the right person," Tony said, though there was no tone to his voice that indicated that he was happy about the same-wavelength, finishing-each-other's-thoughts routine they were doing. "How about it? I could provide a team of researchers, catering, the whole armada, we delve deeper into the thing's structure, we then start cracking this damn gelatinous egg open."
"Hmm, I'm going to have to ask my wife about this ..."
Tony snorted, but just as he was about to retort, the door panels opened and in came Sue Storm, her stride confident, her hair tied up, her gaze hard and unyielding.
"I'm not too happy about a potentially dangerous alien life-form being housed a few stories below our home," she began. "What if the nucleus becomes a nuke? Or what if it grows legs and a mouth and starts eating civilians? And my sources tell me that people are after this creature. Bad sort of people."
Tony didn't want to admit that he was a bit cowed by the terrifying woman. He scratched the back of his head.
"We, uh, we'll make sure that all the proper precautions are taken. S.H.I.E.L.D. will take care of security and defense, our team will help in any way we can--Bruce and Janet are already on the case. Thor is back in Asgard looking through any ancient mumbo-jumbo texts that might mention giant balloon-like objects. We're still figuring out the logistics of it all--we're kind of disjointed right now, back to back missions and all. I'm sure you understand."
Sue didn't seem all that impressed, and Tony was beginning to feel as though he needed to provide more reassurances, but Reed held a hand between them and looked at his wife with a loving, patient expression.
"Sue, we talked about this. If there's anyone capable of handling potential threats to humanity as a race--"
"--it's us." Sue finished, her stiff shoulders sagging. "The kids are upstairs. This isn't a very safe place to begin with. And now we have that ... thing here, and people will be going in and out of the place."
"Seriously, you call Ben 'The Thing'. Isn't that a little insulting to him, to be categorized in the same--"
"I know, I know," Reed ignored Tony's words, taking her arms and rubbing them with his hands. "We'll make it work. We'll be careful. Don't worry. And if worse comes to worst, we'll take the kids to my folks."
Sue knew, from the glint in Reed's eyes, that he was prioritizing science over his family yet again, that he was growing more and more curious about the alien by the second.
"It's in your hands now," she said, not sounding satisfied with his words. "Though I'll still oversee the personnel. I don't want any villain sneaking in here and causing problems."
"I'll leave that up to you," Reed smiled, kissing her once on the cheek. She knew and Tony knew that Reed was just happy to be given free reign to tinker with the new and interesting puzzle before him.
As for the actual personnel Tony was assembling ... Reed looked at Tony, asking the silent question.
"Again, we're still going about the ins and outs of this new collaboration. Though we have picked up a few interesting potentials that may be able to help."
--
Peter had three choices before him that morning.
The first choice was for him to slip out of the suit (which he had unceremoniously slept in) haul ass into the shower to rid himself of all the dirt and grime, and put on his work attire, using the fifteen minutes he had to web through New York traffic in the hopes of arriving at his new workplace on time.
The second, which was a little modified, involved him showering and getting into a suit and lab coat anyway, but the rest of the time would be used up swinging his way to the nearest boulangerie to stuff his face full of bagels.
The last choice was to stay in bed for another fifteen minutes and just let his sore muscles, sore joints, sore everything recuperate from the previous night's crime-fighting session. He barely survived an onslaught of genetically-modified thugs beating him to a pulp, and he was sure that one of these days, his luck was bound to run out and he would eventually end up just lying in an alley somewhere bloodied and bruised beyond recognition. That was the most tempting option. That would also leave him without any food in his stomach for a solid 24 hours and late for his job.
He figured that he wouldn't make a very good impression if he went through the third option.
A knock came from his bedroom door. "Peter? You told me to wake you up for your big day! Get up or you'll be late for work!"
He really should get his own place at this point. "Yes, Aunt May," he groaned into his pillow.
In the end he had to compromise. He stayed in bed for three minutes more, scrubbed himself quickly in the shower for another three, four minutes to dress up, and used his webs to swing through Manhattan, snatching some random passerby's hotdog along the way and throwing money back at his face.
He was five minutes late when he arrived at the Baxter Building, looking like a windswept bundle of nerves. Couple that with sleep deprivation, hunger, and bruises ... let's just say he wasn't at his peak form walking into the Fantastic Four's base of operations.
"Stark is gonna kill me," he muttered to himself as he reached the reception. He showed his I.D and stated his purpose, and the receptionist pointed him to a set of elevators. "Take that hall over there to the elevator, use this key card to access the restricted levels. Do you know which floor you're going?"
"Um," he thought, ducking his head. "The one with the alien football that was shown in the news?"
The receptionist gave him a mildly disapproving look. "That's floor fifteen, take the right-most elevator."
Peter smiled in apology, and then sprinted his way towards said elevators, wincing each time his steps sent tremors through his still-recovering body.
The calming elevator music did nothing to soothe his worries. He recalled, briefly, how it became possible for him to access this level of classified stuff at such an early phase of his career.
He was working as an intern in Stark Tower. No one knew how he landed an internship at one of the most sought-after workplaces in New York, but that didn't automatically mean he got in because of favors and pulling strings. He had no strings to pull, no money to throw around for leverage. He only got the job because he sent in his application, his theses, and his proposals regarding microbiology and biotechnology. Oh, and let's not forget the interview from a computer AI that he fumbled through.
He was the coffee guy. Gangling, skittish kid like him, no one trusted him with anything science-related, fearing that he might blow himself up or accidentally let loose a deadly strain of virus that could wipe out the East Coast.
It was when Tony Stark himself exited the elevators to his floor and went directly to his desk that he thought, hmm, maybe it was worth staying here after all, making espresso.
"Parker," Tony greeted. "You're looking swell."
"Mr, Mr Stark, I--" he nearly spilled his own coffee onto a pile of actual papers, actual work that was assigned to him. "Hello. Um, sir." He didn't know that Tony Stark himself even knew he existed, much less knew his name.
"Hmm, yes," Stark sat on his desk with one butt cheek as if he owned the place (he did) looming over Peter. "Are you having fun making coffee? Doing grunt work?"
Before Peter could open his mouth, Tony already continued. "I hate grunt work. Grunt work is for grunts, and assistant's assistant's assistants. That's basically what you're doing right now--assisting my assistant's assistant. The bottom of the barrel, so to speak."
Peter was so wide-eyed his eyes were beginning to dry. He blinked a few times.
"But see, I've read your stuff," Tony looked down and Peter just realized then that Tony had a few documents in his hands. "Really amazing stuff. It took a while for me to actually get to read them, seeing as my assistant--" he looked back to a girl waiting by the elevators, filing her nails and flirting with one of the interns, "--lost the copy that was supposed to make its way to my desk. I had to get it again from archives myself."
Peter made a high-pitched sound in his throat. Tony Stark was reading his paper on the technological applications of naturally-occurring biological structures.
Tony smirked. From his position, suit and tie, slicked back hair, laid-back expression, he looked every bit his billionaire playboy persona.
That was before Peter knew anything about Tony Stark apart from what the public knew, before he had fought alongside the man, back when he still worshiped Stark like an ironclad god. He quickly learned that the man, immaculate as he was, still had his flaws.
The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open, startling Peter out of his daydream. And thank God too--it seemed that his thoughts were going somewhere else with the memory. He didn't know where, but he didn't want to stay and find out.
Too busy looking at the floor panels (which looked like it was made from the latest glass and optical tech), he bumped into someone and was almost knocked down to meet said state-of-the-art floor. If it wasn't for his quick reflexes, he would have. But the pressure on his foot sent jolts of pain through his right side, that he fell down anyway. Was he really so beat up that his spider senses weren't working? On top of that, he couldn't even stop himself from falling on his butt.
"Oh, man, sorry--"
"Sorry, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking at--"Peter froze. Johnny Storm was extending a hand towards him. Johnny, whom he had fought alongside with just the night before. His closest super friend.
Peter took the hand offered to him and stood, dusting himself off. He carefully avoided Johnny's eyes. There hadn't been another situation since way back in the past that allowed for Johnny Storm and Peter Parker to meet outside of the Spider suit. Peter had a secret identity to keep, and Johnny was okay with beating bad guys together with Spider-Man without knowing who he was under the mask. In short, this was the first time since that one time in high school that Peter met Johnny as himself.
Peter was struck dumb, not knowing what to do in this situation.
Johnny thought the other man was starstruck.
"Hey, it's fine, no worries. You didn't damage the goods," he said, smiling brilliantly. "It's not easy getting used to running into people like me everyday."
Peter blinked a few times. "Um, okay, let's go with that." It was safe to say that Johnny had no suspicions whatsoever about Peter's double life.
Except Johnny was staring him down, squinting. "Why do I feel like I've met you somewhere before ...?"
Peter swallowed. "You must have seen me before in Stark Tower or something."
Johnny hummed in thought. "No, no. That's not it. I've never been to that place."
Peter had to get out of there. "Um, I'm already late so ..." He turned on his heel and went the opposite direction.
Johnny was hot on his heels. "No, for real, man. I feel like I know you. Did we like, run into each other at a club or something?"
"I don't go clubbing." Peter quickened his steps.
"Maybe I've seen you before in one of the parties or galas that I'm forced to suffer through."
"Yeah, no." Peter thought he was getting lost in the maze of halls that was the fifteenth floor. He rounded on Johnny and huffed. "Listen, I think I'm kind of lost." He took out his I.D and showed it to Johnny, who carefully examined it with furrowed brows. "I'm one of Mr Stark's aides? He told me to come here for work."
Johnny raised an eyebrow. "You? You're like, twenty-something. How's someone young like you one of Tony Stark's scientists?"
Peter was starting to get annoyed. And he never got annoyed at Johnny. Usually he was busy saving his ass, or Johnny saving his ass. Either way, they were too preoccupied with crime-busting and fighting bad guys to even explore each others' annoying sides.
"Easy. You just have to suck up to him, laugh at his jokes, and hope his ego gets inflated enough. Now could you please? Mr ... Storm." The name felt odd coming out of his mouth.
"What's your name?" Johnny asked, crossing his arms. "You know my name, as does everybody. But I don't know yours."
"I literally just showed you my I.D! Didn't you see it?"
"Nah, I was looking at the picture of your scruffy mug."
Peter started walking again. "It's Peter." He said over his shoulder. Since Johnny didn't seem like he was going to help he was just going to have to find the labs himself.
"You're going the wrong way, Peter," Johnny called. Peter stopped and then did a 180. Johnny was smirking at him like he owned the place (he did, sort of).
"And how would you know?"
"I just came from the labs. Some of us super folks delivered that alien thingo from Stark Tower." He crossed his arms again. "That's what you came here for, isn't it? Unless you're planning to kidnap my niece and nephew instead. You're heading towards our home elevators."
Peter deadpanned.
Johnny waved him over. "Just follow me, Mr Too-Young-To-Be-A-Scientist."
Johnny started walking, not once looking back to see if Peter was following. Peter was on edge the whole time. He wasn't so much as annoyed at Johnny as he was annoyed at his current situation. He should have expected it, to run into Johnny Storm where Johnny Storm lived. He just thought that the man wouldn't have the attention span to stay near the labs where boring science-y stuff happened.
When they arrived at a pair of sliding doors, Johnny keyed in a code and they opened. Peter stepped in, and at once, all of his nervous energy started seeping back in.
It was a huge lab, furnished with huge computer panels and hi-tech desks. At the far end of it was a huge glass window overlooking a room which contained what seemed to be a giant, inflatable grape and several robotic arms. Some scientists littered about in the background, but most of Peter's attention was on the group of people in the middle of the lab, looking at a hologram of the creature beyond the glass.
Peter's heart was in his throat. Not only was Tony there, Reed Richards was next to him, holding a tablet projecting its own holographic interface. Bruce Banner was talking animatedly to Henry Pym of Pym Industries. Janet van Dyne was in front of a computer, going through several records. Supers. There were super scientists in the building, some with pieces of information about him that, when put together, might just reveal his identity once and for all.
He was snagged by the arm before he could step back and flee.
"Oh my God, you're late," said Darcy Lewis, one of Tony's assistants. She dragged him towards a work station. "Should have known that you were going to be slow. Your aunt said you already left the house when I called but of course, knowing you and the traffic in this city ... oh, Stark's going to kill you."
"Yeah, I know. I know. Just shut up and tell me what do do Darce," he hissed. She pushed him down onto a seat.
"Exqueeze me? Is that any way to talk to your superior?"
Of course, trust her to power-play right at that moment when Peter was already feeling shitty about being late and tired and everything. Peter gave her a quelling look.
"I'm sorry. That's the stress talking. And the nerves."
"Wonderful. You know what could help with that? More stress and nerves. Your assignment--"Darcy clicked through a few of the screen projections, opening files upon files. Peter's eyes widened when he saw what they were: bits and pieces of his thesis regarding cell structures and semi-permeable membranes. "--is to sort through your research. Mr Fantastic over there is using it as a base."
"He's what!?"
"Congrats, nerd. He likes your 'stuff', as Tony calls it," Darcy flipped her hair over her shoulder, scrolling quickly through her iPad. "I'm going to have to sign you in as late, though, sorry. I can't be doing anyone any favors when I've got at least five mad scientists breathing down my back."
She paused, her eyebrows drawing together. "That's weird--someone already logged you in. On time, too."
The two of them snapped their heads towards the main research team. Peter paled considerably. All of them were looking at him with varying expressions. Johnny in particular, lifted his eyebrows at him and grinned. Tony signaled him over.
"Ooh boy," Peter muttered under his breath.
Darcy covered her mouth with her iPad to hide her snickering. "This is hilarious. Isn't this one of your sex fantasies or something? Having one giant science orgy with the best of the best?"
He ran a hand through his face and then closed his eyes in resignation, before standing up. "Shut up. I'm never taking you out drinking again."
He walked over to the group, not the least bit happy about the current development. Sure, he was getting recognized for his scientific endeavors, but it felt like walking into a den of lions. A den of super smart, supernatural scientist lions. His spider senses only kicked in when there was an immediate physical threat nearing him, but somehow it felt like it was kicking in now. I think it's called anxiety, Peter, he told himself.
"Mr Parker. Where has Tony been hiding you?" Reed greeted him with a welcoming expression, holding out his hand. Peter took it, his head swirling at the idea of sweating all over Reed Richard's palm.
"Mr, Mr--I mean--Dr Richards. D-level, sir. Making coffee for the lab tech," Peter answered with a small voice. Keep it together, dude. "It's a huge honor."
"In my defense," Tony interjected, and then threw a nasty look at Darcy behind Peter, who just shrugged and quirked her lips. "I wasn't informed that we had a genius in our lower levels."
Peter flushed instantly. "Why--that's not--I'm not--"
"Nonsense," Tony clapped Peter's shoulder and shook him lightly. "With that brain at such a young age, why, he reminds me of me. Of course, I applied myself better at his age. And I had a spine, too. You should work on that, by the way. I have a few ideas."
Peter had half a mind to tell him to shut up, but he figured that he wasn't at that level of casual with Tony Stark as he was with Darcy.
"Don't go hazing our new recruit now, Tony. We don't have time for your little side projects." The man, hair mussed and expression friendly, extended his hand. "Bruce Banner."
"I--I know," Peter responded, and then took a breath to mentally stabilize himself. "I mean, I know all of you. You, Mr Banner, your recent breakthrough in the field of biochemistry ... I have your books, most of them. The ones I can't afford I pore over at the Tower's library."
"You should start a religion," Tony rolled his eyes. "Hank?" He turned to Henry Pym, who had gone over to his wife to examine some weird alien life-form with spindly legs on the screen in front of them.
"Mr Parker, I'm going to need you to reorganize your research," he said as a way of greeting. "Your findings are detailed and up-to-date, but they're cluttered and all over the place."
"Hank, don't scare him off. Look, he's lost all the blood in his handsome face," Janet chimed, crossing her legs and giving Peter a wink. All the blood Peter had lost rushed back to his face all over again.
"Look at him, he's like a blushing fourteen year-old with a crush."
Peter turned to the voice and found Johnny hanging around, looking out-of-place in his brown leather jacket and dark pants. Peter narrowed his eyes at him. Johnny smiled winningly, and he faltered straightaway. Peter had to admit, it was hard to stay mad at someone who smiled in such a warm and charming way.
"Sorry, I'm just ... a little overwhelmed right now," Peter confessed, shoving his hands into his pockets, pulling them out again, crossing his arms, and then deciding to just put them flat against his body.
"You're going to have to get over it soon, because we need your thoughts on this thingamajig." Tony fixed his gaze on him, and Peter's breath went short. He looked serious, but not in the way that he did when Peter knew he was in trouble. It was as if a switch had flipped and Tony had gone into work mode.
"Yes, um, okay. About ... the alien's membrane? I guess you want me to elaborate on that?" Peter found a seat and sat on it, because his knees were threatening to give. Any other day, when he wasn't recovering from a nasty altercation with criminals, he would have been able to stand just fine, albeit shakily. But he needed to gather his thoughts and actually be of use. Bruce had already gone back to a team of scientists trying to get samples of the cell membrane, while the Pyms were scrolling through a new set of alien data sent over by their database.
"We need samples, which I guess Mr Banner is working on ... if we analyze that we can figure out what triggers the permeability of the membrane surrounding the cell." He bit his lip and looked at the hologram of the mega-cell, slowly rotating at the center of the room. "But we also need samples of the cytoplasm. The light purpley stuff inside. Problem is, we can't penetrate the wall in the first place."
Tony nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off of Peter. "What do you propose we do about that?"
Peter racked his brains for a solution. And then, it came to him. "We're going to have to do it the super way. Either break through the cell using some brute force or figure out a way to permeate the wall in a non-physical manner. Like teleportation. Or phasing."
"Why would we need to look into the structure of the membrane if we had a teleporter or a phaser at our disposal?" It was Reed who asked the question, putting down his tablet and fixing his gaze on him. Peter felt like he should be more nervous, being interviewed by two of the best minds in the planet, but he wasn't, because he already knew the answer.
"I read the files. That low energy emitted by the core? The nucleus? It isn't natural. Our scans can tell that it's energy, but not the kind that our instruments can measure. One candidate for that is--"
"Chaos energy, for one," Janet Pym said, looking up from the screen. "That in itself can make this creature very dangerous. It might even be sentient."
"It might be the reason why we can't penetrate the membrane by physical means," nodded Hank. "Which means we need to gather every information we can on its outer layer before we even start dealing with the core."
Tony's mouth was a straight, tense line as he went through something in his own tablet. "I don't think teleportation is possible. According to SHIELD's database, the only people we have at our disposal right now use quantum teleportation, or teleportation through signal transfer. That wall doesn't allow anything in."
"We aren't sure of that, yet," Bruce said. "We don't have a lot of information here. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. Either way, it could be dangerous. How are we supposed to convince any of them, teleporter or phaser, to risk their lives for this research?"
Peter shifted in this seat. "I know this girl that I can maybe convince."
They all stopped doing what they were doing to stare at him. Peter figured it was a signal for him to continue.
"I dated this girl once, back in school. She can phase through solid objects."
"You dated someone?" Johnny broke the silence. "Huh, I guess nerds do get some action."
Peter bristled. "I did, and she was pretty hot. Hotter than you, in fact."
It was Johnny's turn to look offended. "I need proof of this girl's existence."
"Fine! Look her up, Mr Stark--
"--Tony is fine--"
"Her name's Katherine Pryde. Kitty, for short."
"And you can convince this girl to work for us?" Reed asked, mulling over the new information that had been given to him.
Peter paused, and then deflated. "That, I'm not sure. I'm going to have to get a feel of things. She's an ex. It could get pretty awkward."
In the sidelines, Darcy let out a laugh loud enough to disrupt the atmosphere. Everyone trained their eyes on her.
"Well, sooorry. But I find it funny how all of this--"she waved her hands around the complicated setup of their research lab,"--boils down to how good Parker's going to be at sweet-talking an ex-lover."
Peter thought that this was the appropriate time to bury his head in his hands.
--