Abstract Psychopomp

“Again?” Nick Fury asked sarcastically, watching the satellite footage of Spiderman, Daredevil and the Punisher clear a warehouse full of Triad. Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton stood in front of his desk, waiting.

Fury sighed heavily and turned the screen off. “Tell me what you've got.”

“Following Castle is a dead end.” Barton said. “He's a master of disguise and clearly accustomed to prevent being followed.”

“We're able to follow him for about a mile before he disappears into thin air.” Natasha said.

“Here I thought you were the best at doing that.” Fury told her. “So you have nothing?” 

“Not nothing, sir.” Barton said. “We think they're deliberately covering their tracks.”

“Who?”

“The vigilantes sir. Daredevil, Spiderman and the Punisher.” Natasha answered.

“Why?”

“We think it's because they don't want us investigating this.”

“Why not?”

“Well, public trust in SHIELD is in the dumpster after everything that happened.” Clint told him. “Or maybe they just don't want us cramping their style. Nobody knows but them.”

Fury contemplated for a moment before speaking. “If the Punisher isn't giving us anything, then maybe we need to try the other two. Frank Castle isn't exactly trusting of government institutions, we might have better luck with the boys in red. Barton, take Daredevil. See if you can convince him to work with us, or at the very least, get us some intel. Romanov, same deal with bug-boy.”

“We just approach them?” Barton asked, skeptical. 

“Yes. Because I told you to and you have no other ideas. Go, man!” Fury said, 

________

Peter had been able to make some advancements in the BARRY tech when Justin Hammer made his next attempt.

Peter had hoped he would have the sense to leave well enough alone after the last time, but he supposed not.

Ms. Potts’ PA called him up to her office only two weeks after their confrontation in SI.

His aunt was up there, drinking a cup of coffee.

“Aunt May.” Peter said with shock.

“Peter, thank you for coming up.” Ms. Potts said. Tony and Bruce Banner were in the room as well.

“Of course ma'am. Can I ask what this is about?” Peter replied.

“Justin Hammer is filing a lawsuit.” She said with a sigh.

“He's suing you?”

“No. He's suing you.” Tony said, handing Peter a file.

“What the Hell.” Peter mumbled.

“Some guy came by this morning to hand that to me. I came straight here.” Aunt May said, standing next to her nephew.

“What is this?” Peter said in horror.

“Hammer is suing to have your proprietary technology be forced into public use. Make you share the process and coding that goes into making the Biomechanical Alteration and Repair Robot. Claiming public good, safety and benefit.” Bruce said, chewing on the arm of his glasses.

“But it's a private market. And I have a patent.” Peter argued.

“He tried the same thing with my Iron Man suit tech.” Tony said.

“What is this guy's problem?” May said in frustration.

Peter noticed a glance being exchanged between the three other adults in the room. They know something about Hammer. Something that Peter and his aunt are not privy to.

“Honey, I think we need to call Mr. Murdock and Mr. Nelson.” Aunt May told him.

“You're right. I'll call them now.” Peter said, stepping out of the room to make a call.

“Who is he calling?” Tony asked.

“Nelson and Murdock; the firm that helped Peter get the patent. They're great.” May told him.

Matt picked up on the second ring. “Peter.” He greeted.

“I need your help. As in ‘Nelson and Murdock: attorneys at law’.” Peter said.

“Alright, we're on our way.” Peter heard him call for Foggy and Karen in the background. “Any clue as to what this is about?”

“When you get here. This is just one big headache.”

“It'll be fine.” He heard Foggy's cheery voice echo through the small office and then the phone.

“Yeah.” Peter said, laughing.

When Peter came back into the office, he noticed the adults, with the exception of Dr. Banner, giving him expressions with varying degrees of pity.

“They're on their way.” The teen told them.

“And you're sure that you don't wanna use our legal team.” Tony asked.

“Trust me. They're really good lawyers.”

________

“How the Hell are we supposed to talk to these guys if they keep ducking us?” Clint exclaimed.

Natasha just slumped into her chair, feeling the first signs of an ache she's going to ignore until it physically cripples her.

She and Clint had been trying to find ways to speak to Spiderman and Daredevil for days now, and they're getting nowhere. 

“We could ask Bucky to help.” She said absently.

Clint froze for a moment. Then removed his hearing aid, blew on it comically and reinserted it.

“I'm sorry. Did I hear that right?” He asked in the way he did when he was trying to be funny. “Natasha thee Romanov wants to ask for help?”

“It was a suggestion. Shut up.” 

Clint hummed suggestively. “Natasha has a crush on Bucky.” He said in a childish voice.

“I can and will shatter your windpipe.”

“Natasha and Bucky. Oh, Lila is gonna lose her mind, she'll wanna be a flower girl, or a bridesmaid. I'm gonna be your man of honour for your wedding though.”

“Shut up, Clint!” Natasha said, chucking a pillow at his face.

“Why are we hitting Barton?” Bucky said, sauntering into the lounge where they were.

“Hey Bucky. Listen, we've got an assignment that we would like your help on.” Natasha said before Clint could open his mouth.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Daredevil, Spiderman and the Punisher are working together to take down a human trafficking syndicate. SHIELD is trying to track down the traffickers as well, but the three of them are beating us to the punch. We would like to get in on the action, so we're trying to talk to them.”

“But, they obviously don't trust us, because they're dodging us at every turn.” Clint mentioned.

“You're trying to find them.” Bucky surmised.

“So we can talk, yes.” Natasha clarified. “Fury wanted us to focus on the Devil and Spidey, since Frank Castle is less than fond of government institutions. But you might be able to talk to him.”

“You want me to talk to the Punisher?” Bucky questioned.

“You two aren't that different. Pretty similar personalities, from what I can tell.” Clint said. “You try to convince him that SHIELD can help, I'll talk to Daredevil and Nat will handle Spiderman.”

________

Matt unfocused his hearing from the three assassins’ conversation as the elevator reached the top floor of Stark Industries. They were actively seeking the vigilantes out. This could turn very ugly, very quick.

Matt heard the door to the office open, and then Foggy introducing them and Karen.

“Peter.” Matt said. “Do you wanna tell us what's going on here?”

Peter explained the situation as Foggy and Karen read through the filing. The newcomers became obviously agitated at Hammer's actions.

“It's okay. We can get around this, and also hit Hammer with a lawsuit of our own.” Matt explained. “Hammer's case falls flat if he can't prove that you retaining proprietary privilege causes harm to the public.”

“The burden of proof falls on him for that.” Foggy mentioned. “Also, if we can prove that you retaining proprietary privilege is a good thing, then we can work on a line of offense wherein we make Hammer into the villain. Once his public reputation is destroyed, then we can go for the kill.”

“That wasn't the kill?” Banner asked.

“No.” Karen said. “Hammer has made plays for Peter’s tech before. And Peter told us about the meeting here last time. With the footage of that, and witness testimonies from all of you, then we have more than enough to counter-sue for harassment. And with the comment he made about Peter’s parents and Uncle, we can tack deliberate emotional harm onto that, no problem.”

“When all is said and done, Hammer's reputation will be in the gutter.” Matt finished off.

Pepper looked at the trio, impressed. “You were right, Peter. They are really good lawyers.”

________

Frank was starting to get pissed off. This constant following was grinding his gears, and he was just about fit to burst.

He continued on to the rooftop where the others had said to meet.

me

***“What do you mean we have to let them follow us?” Frank asked Matt, the kid sat in the opposite booth drinking a chocolate milkshake, looking just as confused.

“They are not going to give up. We need to let them follow us to a location of our choosing.” Matt explained.

“And we kill them there.”

“No!” Matt exclaimed. “We talk to them.” 

“Yeah. I don't think SHIELD or the Avengers will take too kindly to us killing three of their people.” Peter said around his straw.

Frank rolled his eyes. “Fine. Where are we taking them?” ***

_________

“Guys, this is weird.” Natasha said into her comm link. She had been following Spiderman for the past thirty minutes, and he'd done nothing to shake her off.

“Yeah. It is.” Clint agreed. “What are they doing?” He was noticing the same pattern following Daredevil.

“They're leading us somewhere.” Bucky said. Frank Castle directly in his sights.

“Do you think they'll attack us?” Clint asked. 

“I would.” Bucky and Nat said simultaneously.

________

Once all three vigilantes were gathered in the agreed upon rooftop, they waited a few bated breaths for the spies to make themselves known. When nothing happened, Daredevil called out.

“We only want to talk. We won't attack you.” He said in an assuring voice.

“How can we be sure of that?” A female voice called from the shadows.

In a show of good faith, Matt removed his batons from his utility belt and threw them on the ground before him. Spiderman followed his lead, removing his web shooters and setting them down.

They both looked towards Frank, who just shook his head.

“Not until they lose their weapons.” He said clearly.

Hawkeye stepped out tentatively, removing his quiver and setting it down beside his bow. “Come on, guys.” He said to the air.

Black Widow stepped out and set down her stun bracelets and her glock.

Bucky Barnes stepped out next, gun raised and leveled at Frank.

Frank met it with a raised gun of his own.

The two stood there for a tense few moments.

Spiderman looked towards Black Widow, who was already looking at him. The vigilante perked his head toward the two gunmen, to which the spy nodded.

At the same time, Spiderman approached the Punisher while Black Widow approached Barnes. They each grabbed the barrel of their guns and lowered them, removing the magazines and popping the chambers. That seemed to be enough, as the two men began to remove the other guns they had on them and set them down at their feet. 

“Okay.” Daredevil said, somewhat tense. “Now that everyone is disarmed and willing to talk. This is obviously something that requires discussion.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Clint said. 

“What the fuck do you want?” Frank asked, cutting to the chase.

“Those human traffickers you've been bringing down,” Natasha said. “We want in.”

“No can do.” Daredevil said.

“Why not?” Bucky asked.

“SHIELD has been infiltrated by HYDRA before. You've only just rooted them out.” Spiderman explained. “We can't trust them.”

There was a moment of silence before Natasha spoke up again.

“What if we could promise that SHIELD wouldn't be involved?” She asked.

“You are SHIELD.” Daredevil said.

“Yes. But if this investigation stays between the three of us and our boss, no other SHIELD involvement, then would you be willing to work together?”

“No.” Frank said. “I have no interest in working with a couple of spooks. In my experience, your lot don't play well with anyone who isn't part of your gang.”

“You can't tell me that you can't see the value in working with the three of us on this.” She shot back.

“How can we be so sure that the value outweighs the risk?” Daredevil asked.

Natasha paused, having no answer.

“You can't.” Bucky said. “But you've proven that you're good at what you do. Which means you know that this is too good of an offer to pass up.” 

“Give us a minute.” Spiderman said, the three of them going to the corner of the roof to deliberate. 

A moment later, they came back and gave their answer.

“Alright.” Daredevil said. “We'll play ball. But let's get something clear. You are not in charge of this. We share all information and intel. You try to pull anything, we will find out.”

“Understood.” Clint said. “What's first?”

The trio of vigilantes exchanged a look before deciding to go all in.

“We've been tracking three specific organisations involved in these abductions and trafficking. The Yakuza and the Triad, although we've already taken the Triad out of the equation. So that's one less thing to worry about.” Daredevil said.

“What's the third?” Bucky asked.

“A new player on the scene.” Punisher supplied. “Nemean. Never heard of them before, so we were going to bash some Yakuza heads to get info.”

“We've heard that name before. ‘Nemean'.” Black Widow said.

“Where? How? When?” Spiderman asked in rapid succession.

“We were working on something completely unrelated.” Hawkeye said. “It came up in a report from Hammer Technologies. ‘Project Nemean’, it was called.”

“Hammer? As in Justin Hammer?” Spiderman asked in an exasperated tone.

Hawkeye nodded.

Spiderman groaned. “I cannot get away from that jerkoff.” He bemoaned, throwing his gloved hands to his masked face.

Something in Natasha's gut was telling her that she needed to see who he was, but she couldn't tell if it was for good reasons or bad ones. Her gut was never wrong, but sometimes it left details out.

“So what, we go after this Hammer guy and beat him ‘till he talks?” Frank suggested.

“No!” Daredevil, Hawkeye and Spiderman exclaimed.

“Why not?” “I like that plan.” Bucky and Natasha said at the same time.

Daredevil rolled his eyes skyward and muttered under his breath before answering.

“Justin Hammer is a public figure. He's on T.V all the time. If he turns up somewhere covered in bruises, then whoever his mysterious benefactor is will see it and be onto us.” He said.

“Mysterious benefactor?” Hawkeye asked.

“Yeah. Nemean is really well funded, deep pockets are backing them.” Spiderman answered.

“See, this is why working together is better for everybody.” The archers said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his phone. He tapped the screen for a few seconds and turned it towards the vigilantes with a smirk.

“What is this?” The Punisher asked.

“This is the file we found when we infiltrated Hammer Technologies. It's everything to do with Project Nemean.”

The Punisher took the phone and handed it to Spiderman after reading only a few words. “Here. I don't understand all this science crap.” 

Spiderman scrolled through the file for a few minutes before handing it back to Hawkeye.

“What's it say?” Daredevil asked.

“Hammer has blown all of his money on a genetic research project and come up with nothing.” He answered, a lilt of laughter in his voice.

“And this mysterious benefactor.” Black Widow said, eyeing Spiderman. “It's HYDRA.”

“HYDRA?” Daredevil asks, disbelief clear in his voice. “Hammer is in deep with HYDRA.” He says again.

“How do you know?” Spiderman asked.

“Our contacts told us about HYDRA making moves, it's how we got onto the human traffickers in the first place.” She answered.

“So HYDRA is funding Nemean, which is run by Hammer, to abduct people and experiment on them. But Hammer's gotten nowhere, and has wasted all of HYDRA's money.” Punisher says. “No way Hammer is just sitting around waiting for them to find out. What's he up to?”

Natasha, Bucky and Clint all exchanged looks, silently debating whether or not to answer honestly.

“Hey!” Daredevil said suddenly. “You're the ones who came to us wanting to cooperate. You don't get to hide stuff from us now.” 

Clint sighed before answering.

“Hammer has been harassing the inventor of a new technology, a Stark Industries employee. He's been trying to poach this employee for his tech quite relentlessly, to the point of desperation. We now know that it's because this tech shows promise in the field of genetic manipulation.”

“What is this guy's name?” Spiderman asked. His voice sounded the same as always, but Natasha thought she could hear something wavering.

“Can't tell you that.” Bucky said quickly.

“The Hell you can't!” Frank said angrily.

“Full transparency.” Daredevil reminded them impatiently.

Natasha sighed as Clint answered.

“His name is Peter Parker. He's a high school intern.” He said. “That's all we can say.” 

The three vigilantes exchanged looks, before Daredevil nodded and spoke stiffly.

“Okay. We’ll reach out with a time and place for the next meet up.”

The vigilantes retrieved their weapons and turned to leave. 

“Wait.” Clint said, his voice sharp. 

The vigilantes turned to face the spies.

“Full transparency.” The archers said, now fully decked out in his gear once again. Bow held tightly in his left fist. “We're not working with people whose names we don't even know.”

“Secret identities are secret for a reason.” Daredevil replied.

“We know how to keep secrets.” Bucky said.

“But we aren't too fond of them.” Natasha chimed in. “Despite popular belief. Your names and faces will stay with the three of us, not even Fury will find out.”

“This partnership can work beautifully. But not if we don't know your faces. This can't go any further until we know who you are.” Clint said smoothly, like a politician.

The vigilantes exchanged another round of glances.

“Hey, they already know who I am.” Frank said. “It's y'all's identities.”

Daredevil and Spiderman looked at one another and sighed.

Daredevil removed his cowl first. Pushing the hardened leather over his sweaty scalp, and letting it fall.

“My name is Matthew Murdock.” He said.

“You were the lawyer who represented Castle.” Natasha said.

“Yes.” Matt replied.

“I thought you were blind.” Bucky said.

“I am.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Your turn, bug boy.” Natahsa said, turning to Spiderman.

Spiderman sighed heavily, and braced for the upcoming onslaught as he removed his mask.

There was silence for a good few seconds before Bucky Barnes broke it.

“What the fuck?” The assassin said.

“That's what I said.” Frank muttered.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two?” Clint yelled, turning to Matt and Frank. “How could you let a kid do this?” 

“They don't let me.” Peter said, cutting the tension. “I do it regardless of whether anyone approves or not.” 

“You're just a child.” Bucky said, surprising Peter with his reaction. He was far more calm than the teenager was expecting. Almost catatonic.

“I am going this. You can either get on board, or piss off. I don't care either way.” Peter said, making his stance perfectly clear.

The three adults before him wore very different expressions. 

Clint was clearly flabbergasted. Natasha looked somewhere between suspicious and hesitant. Bucky just looked a little bit heartbroken.

Weird.