Chapter 5
“Are you on your way back, now?”
“We are.”
“Did you learn anything?”
“Of course.”
They wouldn’t have taken the drive if they hadn’t thought there was something to be gained from it. The drive was always nice, but the destination was definitely not somewhere they’d go if they had a real choice.
“We’ll do a regular briefing,” Steve said, making Romanoff roll her eyes. He loved briefings. Rogers ignored the response but he hadn’t missed it, even though he was driving and trying to talk to Nick on a video call at the same time. Traffic was light so it wasn’t too difficult. “What’s Tony doing?”
“He’s at the tower.”
“Call him and see if he’s free to come out to the compound,” Natasha said. “That way we only have to do this once.”
“I’ll do that. How long?”
“We’ll be there in about an hour or so. We’re going to stop and get something to eat.”
“There’s plenty of food here.”
Fury was interested in hearing what they had found out. And impatient enough to not want to wait if he could avoid it.
Romanoff smirked.
“I’m hungry.”
“You don’t want her grumpy, Nick,” Steve pointed out.
A slight scowl, but it was good-natured.
“Fine. I’ll see you soon.”
OOOOOOOOOOO
It wasn’t long after that conversation that Tony stuck his head into Pepper’s office.
“Got a minute?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
He walked over to her desk and seated himself easily in one of the two chairs across from it.
“Nick just called and wants to know if I can come out to the compound.”
“Tonight?”
“Right now. Rogers and Romanoff went up to check out that camp, today, and they’re on their way back.”
She had plenty more information about Camp Wood Leaf, too, now, than she’d had the evening before. Not only had Eric sent in the information that he had (which included permission slips, registrations forms and a list of what campers should and should not bring with them) JARVIS had downloaded other information that wasn’t readily available to the general public. Financials, personnel information on those permanent staff members, and a very comprehensive map of the camp as well as the area around it had all ended up on her tablet (and Tony’s) that morning.
Once Peter had been dropped off at daycare eager to tell everyone about his upcoming camping trip, Tony and Pepper had checked the place out, thoroughly, looking for any indication that it might not be the place it appeared to be and making sure there were no secrets or hidden agendas that they or JARVIS could find.
Nothing had jumped out at them. The place wasn’t squeaky clean, but there weren’t any glaring issues that would give Tony and Pepper a reason to change their minds about letting Peter go. Now, it seemed, SHIELD was ready to weigh in on that same topic and Pepper was interested in finding out what they’d learned.
“Did they learn anything?”
He smiled, looking smug.
“It’s SHIELD. You know they probably know everything they can find out about everyone who’s there – and the names of all the wildlife that lives in the area, too. I’ll be interested in what they found out.”
“So will I. Are you driving?”
She had a meeting that she couldn’t miss, but if he was planning on driving out, she might turn it over to one of her assistants and go with him. The problem with that was that if they drove out, then they might not be back by the time Peter expected them to be ready to go home, and neither really wanted him to know they were digging into the place quite as stringently as they were. And if there was something that made them change their mind, they didn’t want Peter to know until they’d figured out a good way to break the news to him.
“I’ll go Ironman and fly,” Tony replied. “That way I can get there and be back before it’s time to go home.”
Proving they were on the same page. Not that surprising any more.
“Fly safe.”
“Always.”
“And stop and get milk. We’re out.”
Ugh. He grinned, though, because it was so mundane and normal to be told to run a simple errand like that.
“That kid drinks more milk than anyone I’ve ever seen. We should get a cow.”
“Have you ever milked a cow?”
“No.”
She smirked.
“Trust me; it’s easier to just stop at the store.”
“Yes, dear.” He stood up and leaned over her desk for a kiss. “You’re so sexy.”
“Because I know about milking cows?”
“Yup.”
“Go away, Tony. Watch out for geese.”
“Alright.”
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
There were several people in the conference room when Natasha and Steve walked in. Not that it was a big surprise, of course. Tony and Nick were seated on one side of the long table that dominated the room, while Sam, Phil, and Clint were on the other.
“How was the drive?” Barton asked.
“It was relaxing,” came Romanoff’s reply.
“I could have flown you there in 5 minutes.”
“Hard to hide a jet hovering overhead,” Steve said – again. This was a conversation they’d had that morning, as well. Clint could have flown them, it was true, but that would have announced their presence in a big way. Far bigger than they wanted, just then. “Besides, we wanted to get out and take a close up look at the place.”
“What did you think?” Tony asked, more than willing to trust her instincts when it came to this kind of thing.
“It’s pretty nice,” Steve said, pouring himself a cup of coffee and then sitting beside Fury, clearly giving the floor to Natasha. “A lot of open spaces and a ton of things to do.”
“Things that don’t involved getting hurt?” the billionaire asked, making them all smile at the overprotectiveness.
“Maybe a few.”
“There are eight full time staff,” Romanoff said, switching into lecture mode without really realizing it – even though everyone else noticed immediately. “The camp director is a guy named Jay Nor. He’s responsible for the day to day running of each camp as they come up – and making sure everyone is where they’re supposed to be. There are two lifeguards that are full time for the summer – with several others coming and going as volunteers through the summer camps to run the activities that aren’t specifically swimming. There's a camp doctor, of course. The cook and her assistant are full time for the entire summer run and there are two horse wranglers.”
As she was mentioning these names and responsibilities, there would appear a photo of each on the display behind her. None of them looked like crime bosses – although everyone in the room studied the photos, carefully.
“All of them check out. The camp is pretty careful about who they hire,” she added. “There are a bunch of kids running around, after all, and they have a good reputation and presumably want to keep it that way.”
Tony frowned.
“That isn’t enough to run the place, though.”
“No.” the super spy grimaced. “This is where we get to the one part that I’m not a huge fan of…”
“What’s that?” Nick asked.
“The counselors are okay,” Steve said, not getting up but joining the conversation. “They’re not paid and they’re usually only there for a month at a time as volunteers. Usually college kids who are working on child development degrees, childhood education, or something similar and get a chance to be right in the mix with the kids that they’ll be eventually working with.” He looked at Tony. “Peter’s pediatrician actually worked there a few weeks back when she was a sophomore.”
“Really?”
He wasn’t surprised they’d found the connection. SHIELD (and the Avengers) were very thorough.
“What don’t you like, then?” Nick asked, unwilling to lose the train of the conversation – and the briefing.
“Some of the support staff are people serving community service.”
Tony frowned.
“What? They’re cons?”
“Not cons,” Steve said. “Small time – and non violent – offenders who are working off community service hours by helping out.”
“Well that isn’t going to work.”
“It isn’t as bad as it sounds, Tony,” Steve told him. “None of these people are hands on with the campers; most of them are cooks helpers and work with the facilities to make sure the cabins and public areas are kept clean.”
“They aren’t a concern?” Sam asked, looking skeptical.
“Everyone’s a concern,” Romanoff disagreed. “But-“
“But they’re not there instead of being in prison,” Rogers said, interrupting. “Most of the people doing it are simple first time offenders who just got unlucky with large chunks of community service. A week at camp seems to be a good way to work it off, quickly.”
“Do we have background on any of them?”
“Not yet,” Natasha told him – and the others. “The camp doesn’t get the list until a couple of weeks ahead of time. We’ll make sure we get the list, then, too, so we can vet everyone on it.”
And if someone raises a red flag?”
She shrugged,
“Then they’re off the list.”
Simple as that.
“What are you guys planning to do to keep a closer eye on Peter?”
Tony already knew that he couldn’t be a counselor, and the counselors were the ones closest to the kids – which meant the biggest threat as far as SHIELD and Tony were concerned.
“We’re going to have a couple SHIELD people working community service hours with the rest,” Steve replied. He smiled. “And we’re going to have one of our own in Peter’s cabin as a counselor.”
Tony glanced over at Barton.
“You?”
He had kids, right? Why not put that experience to good use.
“Nope.”
“Phil?”
The SHIELD agent gave a tight smile and shook his head.
“I’m allergic to kids.”
“We want someone a little deadlier,” Romanoff said. “It isn’t a perfect fit, but the guy Steve and I are considering isn’t known in public so he won’t be a distraction to the fun Peter’s having, but he’s very good at watching the people around him and reacting to any problems before they become problems.”
“Oh yeah? Who?”
“We’ll tell you once he agrees to do it.”