Chapter 25
Peter sighed as he landed on the balcony of Tony's penthouse. He would have preferred to speak to Steve alone, but since he couldn't just walk into the building as Spider-Man or Peter Parker, he wasn't left with much choice.
The door had been left open for him so he casually made his way inside."Hey kid." Tony's voice caught him off guard.
He should have known Steve would tell him he was on his way over.
”Tony."
"You can take off the mask, Pete. It's just us. Steve's in the conference room with the others talking with Fury. Apparently that caught the internal spy."
"Are you sure you shouldn't be down there?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.
"As much as you should honestly." Tony sighed.
"But Steve can fill us both in. Doubtful they got anything of any use out of him. I’d put money down that whoever hired him isn’t who’s pulling the string. Anyway, what's the news?"
"I figured out how Norman got the stuff from Oscorp out."
"I take it Spider-Man explored the tunnel in Osborn's lab?"
"Harley tell you about it?"
"Yeah. He was excited to help you ." Tony smiled.
"He was excited to help Peter Parker, not Spider-Man."
"You're the same person, Peter. Well....I guess since you're dating yourself it might be best to really push the two as sperate people." Tony smirked.
"It's a very complex relationship, Tony. Lots of things to navigate, but I'm positive we can make it work. We're perfect for each other." Peter grinned, stepping further into the room.
Eager to keep up the light atmosphere Tony gestured to the large couch.
"Alright kid, tell me what you got."
Peter followed Tony to the couch, making sure to keep a comfortable distance between them.
"I had to have a second set of eyes check it out, well, I thought it was just a second set. Turns out I had two more." Peter shook his head with a soft smile. "Norman's ceiling tunnel leads straight to a room full of branching off tunnels. I only know where one goes and that's because Felicia and Jess happened to find it and follow it straight to Oscorp. It comes from the warehouse down at the docks that they've been scoping out."
"I'm guessing you're talking about Jessica Jones and Felicia Hardy?"
"Yeah." Peter nodded.
"How many tunnels?"
"Besides the one Jess and Felicia used there were six others."
Tony let out a breath as he ran his hand down his face.
"Well, at least we know where one goes. Any ideas behind when and how Norman created his underground network?"
"No. Harry's pretty upset." Peter sighed.
"Norman just keeps continuing to find ways to hurt him."
Tony frowned as he studied Peter's face. He had never taken the time to even put much thought into Peter's friendship with Norman's son. It hadn't seemed important at the time. Now though, now he wished he had paid more attention to everything.
"I know it's none of my business, but how close are you and Harry?"
"Best friends." Peter smiled. "We....we needed each other. Harry got love and attention from me, I got protection and friendship from him. He was my first friend. Over the years I've seen people make assumptions on Harry's character, and they're always wrong. To me, Harry's not really my friend, he's my brother."
Tony smiled. He knew what Peter was talking about as he felt the same about Rhodey. Sometimes, friends were every bit as important as blood.
"I'm sorry, Pete." Tony said softly, looking away. "I should never have even considered using Oscorp as a bargaining chip."
Peter raised an eyebrow as Tony continued.
"I just wanted so bad for you to come back. I was a shit mentor to you. I'm more than aware of it. I tried to pretend I wasn't. I tried to put the blame off on you. I made out like you were more at fault than me. I was the adult. Jesus, Pete. You were 15 when I took you to Germany! 15! What was I thinking? So many things could have went wrong, even if it wasn't intentional. I wasn't exactly watching you every minute of the fight. You did get hurt! Then we come back and I barely had anything to do with you, blamed you for everything with the Vulture, took your suit away because you made a mistake that could have been avoided if I had been better, and almost got you killed! Then you left. You left and never came back."
Tony stopped, finally looking over at Peter's uncomfortable expression.
"You never came back and I didn't want to admit it was my fault. I convinced myself that while I had a "few flaws", you were the real one to blame. Who knows, you might not even be in this mess now if I had been better to you."
Peter didn't know what to say. He hadn't come here to have Tony apologize for everything that had happened, both while they were mentor and mentee and after they weren't.
"Tony, I-"
"No, Pete. I need to tell you this. You need to hear it. You're a good kid, and even better hero. You were better than me when I met you. I knew it. I could see it in everything you did and didn't do." He smiled. "Harley's a good kid. He's gonna make a great Avenger, but he's never going to be as good as you, Peter."
Peter blinked in surprise, his mouth dropping slightly.
"Tony, I don't think-"
"He's not, and it's not his fault. Harley's got an edge to him. He's like me in that way and I think that's why I can understand him. You though, even with all your time in the field, you still have that soft and caring nature. You want to help people and expect nothing in return. You do what you do because it's right. Harley can come up with plans quickly, but he's lacks the level head he needs to decide which one is really the best. Whether he likes it or not, he needs you."
Peter's brows furrowed as he took in Tony's words. This was exactly why he never wanted to spend to much time alone with Tony. He didn't want to have this conversation. There was way to much going on to add this to it.
"Tony, the tunnels." Peter said, clearing his throat.
"Yeah." The man sighed, giving a small smile. "As soon as their done with Fury, we'll get the team up here and-"
"No. I need you to handle this for me." Peter said, standing up. "I have something else I need to take care of. I talked to Steve about it. I'm going to talk to Luke about keeping an ear out at the bar, see if we can get any idea where Norman if getting his recruits from."
"You sure, Pete?" Tony hurried, following Peter towards the balcony.
"Yeah, I'm sure. The sooner I get to Luke the better. He can start tonight when the customers start getting loose lips." Peter chuckled, thinking back on Luke's complaints about hearing to much of people's love lives.
"I'm just saying, you're the one who saw it and-"
"Tony." Peter stopped, turning to the billionaire. "I don't need to be here to tell the others about some tunnels leading in to Oscorp. You can do that. Let Steve handle the rest. Just, here." Peter said, walking towards the bar and digging out a pen and paper. "I had to get a new phone. This is my number. Have Steve call me and I'll get you into Oscorp directly or I can get them in touch with Jess and Felicia and they can lead you in that way. I mean, obviously we need to find out where those other tunnels go, but you all will need to decide who goes together."
"What are you going to do?"
"First, I'm going to do what I said and go talk to Luke. After that I'm meeting Felicia and Jess back at May's. I'm gonna have Wade bring Harry and MJ with him. I need to get a plan together for them. I'm sure Norman has a backup plan in case we did find that room."
"You know, my offer for them to all stay here still stands. There's no place in the city that's safer than here."
"And how could I explain the absence of Peter Parker?"
"I think we can cover for you." Tony said, latching on to the fact Peter hadn't said no.
Peter frowned, looking down at his number.
"I don't know, Tony. Things really might go downhill from here, but I can't and won't force any of them to come here and stay."
"Just...just mention it to them." Tony pushed. "You can't tell me it wouldn't make things easier on you to know they're safe. We can keep Barnes and Wilson on guard duty during the work hours, but then they'd be free to help out once May, Harry and Mary Jane are here."
Peter looked out the window at the New York skyline. As much as it annoyed him, he knew Tony had a point. If they all came and stayed in the tower, they'd be safe and it would free up two more people.
"I'll......I'll talk to them." Peter said, moving back toward the balcony. "I'll have Bucky call Steve and let him know."
"You could just call me, kid." Tony said, holding out a card with his number on it. "I know you don't have it."
Peter stared at the card before slowly taking it.
"Umm....yeah....I'll....I'll let you know." Peter nodded before leaping into the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony watched Peter fall, anxiously waiting for the web line to fire and swing him off through the city. He knew Peter did his free fall all the time, but it never failed to rattle his nerves. He let out a breath of relief when Peter shot out a web and swung out of eyesight.
He smiled as he walked back to the bar, pulling out his Stark phone and entered Peter's number into it. He hadn't planned on actually having Peter's attention long enough to tell him what he had. He was still reeling from the chance. Peter had sat and listened. No arguments, no anger, no tense silence, just a very open conversation.
Well, open on Tony's end.
Peter hadn't really done anything. He had tried to stop Tony, but it hadn't been harshly. If anything, it was nervous. Peter hadn't wanted Tony to tell him those things.
While it might have been uncomfortable for Peter, it had been great for Tony.
"You seem happy." Steve smiled as he walked into the penthouse. "I take it things went well with Spider-Man?"
"Yeah." Tony smiled, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist. "However, for all the good, there's the bad. FRIDAY?"
"Yes Boss?"
"Get everyone up here. We've got some things to go over."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You want me to what now?" Luke raised an eyebrow as he looked over the bar at Peter.
"I just want you to keep an ear out for missing people or weird offers people are getting to test out products. Anything that sounds off."
"Do you hear yourself, Parker." Luke huphed.
"I work in a bar. I always hear something off."
"I don't know what else to do." Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair. "There arn't any leads. None of the fake goblins remember anything. Wanda has tried to read thier mind and it's blank. He's getting these guys from somewhere, so someone knows something."
"Maybe your looking in the wrong areas, Pete." Luke hummed, throwing the rag he was cleaning the bar with over his shoulder. "I mean, you know Osborn has someone out there he owes his release to. Maybe whoever it is will benefit from the goblin.
Peter blinked as he stared at Luke.
"You're a genius! That's it! That's what I need you to keep an ear out for! Listen out if any known crime gangs are accepting recruits, or any crime lords taking on new people. I can't believe I didn't think of that before!"
"I'll see what I can find." Luke shook his head. "I can't promise anything. I don't generally get anyone wasted enough to let that kind of stuff slip."
"Whatever sounds interesting. It might be something we can piece together with something else. Now, I gotta go. I'm meeting Jess and Felicia back home. Thanks."
"Later spider-kid."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wade? What are you doing here?" Peter asked, eyes wide in surprise. "Where are Harry and MJ?"
"Inside with everyone else." Wade smirked, pulling Peter against him. "We haven't had any time together since the fakes started appearing, and then Stark junior walking in on you.."
"I was mostly dressed." Peter grinned.
"Not dressed enough!" Wade huffed. "Any earlier and he would have seen way more than I could handle."
"Once we get this Norman thing sorted out, I'll spend all the time with you I can."
"I want you to move in with me."
Peter jerked back to look Wade in the eyes.
"What?"
"I want you to move in with me Petey-Pie. I want to be able to see you all the time. I know things are a little tense right now, so just think about it. Give me an answer after we put Osborn back on the raft."
"Hey!"
Peter jumped and Wade grunted as they looked over at the open door where Felicia smirked at them.
"If I'm not getting any, neither are you. Now get in here."
"This shit can't get wrapped up fast enough."
"Come on big guy." Peter smiled, grabbing Wade's hand and walking towards the door. "Today was a big break for us. We could be closing in on finishing this up."
"Yeah, yeah." Felicia rolled her eyes. "You two make me sick."
"You're just jealous because you haven't landed Winter Wonder yet." Wade grinned.
"Shut-up or I'm taking back the spider."
"Come on you two." Peter sighed in exasperation. "Let's get started."
Felicia and Wade bickered good naturedly as they made thier way inside.
"Hey, Pete." Harry smiled, smoothing out some papers on the kitchen table. "Got some useful paperwork here."
"Let's see it." Peter grinned, sliding up next to his friend.
"I found these-"
"Excuse you!" Mary Jane scoffed.
"Sorry. Spider-Woman over there found these in a literal freaking secret compartment in Dad's desk. In his desk, Pete!"
"Who even does that?" Peter finished for him.
The two just stared at each other before looking back at the papers, completely missing the amused looks from everyone else.
In front of them were several schematics. I few of them were normal layouts of various Oscorp facilities, but that wasn't what they were there for. Pulling some pages from the bottom of the pile, Harry laid out a detailed schematic for the secret tunnel room Norman had added to the building.
"He had been building this for a year and a half, Pete." Harry sighed. "From what we gathered, he kept bringing new people in-"
"And killing the old ones." Jessica said, leaning against the kitchen cabinet. "There are a few notes of names, all matching up with 'missing' contractors."
Peter looked from Jessica to Harry. He had seen Harry in many stages of emotions, but none had ever broken his heart like the one he saw now. Looking over at May and Mary Jane, they nodded to each other.
"Come on Har." Peter said, taking Harry's hand and pulling him away from the table and up to his room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A year and a half." Harry said, dropping down on Peter's bed. "How, how does that happen, Pete?"
Peter frowned as Harry looked up at him, eyes misty but so lost. Taking a breath, Peter sat down next to Harry and placed his arm around his shoulders. The two sat in silence for a while before falling back and looking up at the ceiling.
"This is familiar." Harry said, a pained smile on his face. "Me, having a breakdown over my dad while we lay on your bed and stare at the ceiling."
"At least I'm not bleeding this time." Peter chuckled.
"I never realized my breakdowns usually coincided with you getting your ass kicked."
"Well, a busted lip or black eye was small potatoes to the beatings you would give my bullies." Peter grinned, looking over at Harry.
"Someone had to protect you, you scrawny brat." Harry chuckled, looking back at him.
The two smiled at each other as a comforting feeling filled them.
"One day, Pete. One day you're not going to have to save me from my dad."
"I know, but until then, I'm going to. It's what brother's do."
Harry smiled, lacing his fingers with Peter's and looking back at the ceiling.
"I love you, Pete."
"I love you too."
They were silent for a moment before Harry's hesitant voice filled the room.
"Umm....Pete?"
"Yeah?"
"Your comforter is clean, right?"
"Yeah, I-dude!" Peter huphed, sitting up and ignoring Harry's laugh.
"I'm just making sure!"
"This is May's house! I'm not getting freaky in the sheets here!"
Harry took a breath through his laughter and wiped his eyes.
"I take it back." Peter pouted. "I don't love you. I hate you."
"To late, Pete. No take backs on family love."
Peter rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Come on." Peter smiled, holding out his hand.
"Me, May and Mary Jane are here for you. You've got us and now you have Felicia, Wade, Bucky and..." Peter paused. "Matt's here."
Harry smiled, taking Peter's hand and letting himself be pulled up. Once on his feet, he pulled Peter in for a tight hug.
"We got you." Peter said softly, giving Harry's a gentle squeeze. "We're a family, and we look out for our own."
"If Wade ever hurts you," Harry grumbled. "I'll tear him apart with my bare hands."
"Are you prepping for a shovel talk now?"
Peter chuckled.
"When it comes to you, Peter Parker, no one is ever going to be good enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No one looked up at Peter and Harry entered the kitchen. The two moved back to their places as though they had never left. Matt laid a hand on Peter's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before moving to stand by Jessica. The two started talking quietly, Jessica filling Matt in on what she knew.
Mary Jane and May moved over to stand by Harry, thier silent support a welcome thing.
Wade came up, wrapping his arms and Peter's waist and leaning down to whisper in his ear.
"Take a subtle look to your left, Baby Boy"
Raising an eyebrow, Peter barely turned his head to look where Wade suggested. Nestled towards the far corner of the kitchen, Felicia had the Winter Soldier backed against a cabinet as she ran a finger up his metal arm.
"Poor guy." Wade grinned. "He's not sure if he should be aroused or concerned."
"It's Felicia." Peter smirked. "He's both."
"I swear, if the cat gets any action before me-"
The sound of the doorbell had everyone turning. They stood, all on edge.
Peter closed his eyes, focusing and noting the complete silence from his Spider-Sense. He pulled out of Wade's hold, nodding at everyone in the room and headed towards the front door. Wade and Bucky fell into step slightly behind him, both ready just in case. Opening the door, Peter's eyes blew wide.
Standing on the doorstep was Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was an awkward silence before Steve rolled his eyes and stepped forward.
"Tony told me about what was found at Oscorp. I'm here to talk to Buck, and since you're here, you too Wade. We need to figure out our next move since it could very well be the last thing we do before things get really serious. Is Spider-Man here or coming?"
"Not sure. He had some things to check on so I guess we'll see, but we already know what you're here to talk about. Come in." Peter said, stepping aside so Steve and Tony could enter.
Bucky and Wade easily accepted Steve into the fold with smiles, both ignoring the other man hesitating at the door. Looking between the three men and Tony, Peter sighed and stepped back out the door, pulling Tony with him. He ignored the looks from Wade and Bucky as he shut the door behind them.
"I told you to have Steve call."
"This isn't on me, kid." Tony said, holding up his hands. "Steve wanted to come and talk directly to Barnes. He was also hoping to catch Spider-Man."
"Well, he'll have to settle for Peter Parker right now. I didn't have time to change." Peter said, looking back at the closed door. He wondered how everyone inside was handling the new arrivals.
"Well, I was told earlier that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are extremely close these days. I'm sure he'll be able to fill the web-head in." Tony smirked.
Peter looked over at the man with a raised eyebrow before a surprised laugh burst out of him.
"Yeah, I guess he can."
The two stood in silence, neither sure how to proceed.
On the inside, Tony was thrilled. This was what he wanted with Peter. The bantering, the laughs. This is how it would have been if he had just paid more attention to the kid in the first place.
Peter felt anxious. He wasn't supposed to be ok in Tony's company, yet, something in the penthouse had changed between them. It wasn't something he was comfortable admitting either. Things weren't supposed to change with Tony. He wasn't supposed to feel ok around the man. It was supposed to be a simple thing of protection for May, Harry and MJ until Norman could be caught. Now, now it was turning into a fucking jumbled mess of dealing with events and feelings he never wanted to address.
"Pete?"
The two turned to the door as Matt stepped outside.
"You ok?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Peter said, smiling at the comforting presence.
"Good. Come on kid. We got a lot of ground to cover and everyone's wondering what's taking you so long."
"Right. Um...are you coming in or just dropping off Steve?" Peter asked, looking at Tony.
"I'm here to discuss the plan. It's all hands on deck with this kid."
"Alright. Um...come in."
Peter motioned for Tony to step in first.
"Look, I'm gonna say this once." Matt said as Tony entered the house. "May is not happy you're here. Wade, well, I think you should be well aware of how he feels considering he's dating Peter. Something possibly unknown to you is the fact that Barnes isn't happy you're here either."
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"What's his deal?"
"His 'deal' is that he knows all about Peter."
Tony froze, looking between Matt and Peter.
"I told him." Matt huffed. "Peter wasn't there. I told him the night you gave Peter that new suit."
"Well then, this should go swimmingly." Tony sighed.
"Listen Stark. I've already told you how I feel, but hopefully this whole thing is about to wrap up and I want my kid safe. So, stay in your lane and I'll offer whatever support is needed."
Tony starred at the lawyer, not missing the fact he had called Peter his kid.
"Noted."
"Let's just...let's just get this over with without blood shed, ok?" Peter sighed, stepping between the two men and heading for the kitchen.
There was a momentary pause in conversation when Tony entered the room, all eyes landing on him. For the first time in his life, Tony Stark felt out of place.
"So, let's get back to the plans." Peter said, drawing everyone's attention back to the schematics on the table.
"Well, We figured Ms. Jones and Ms. Hardy woul-"
"Let me cut you off right there stars and stripes." Jessica interrupted. "My names Jessica and that's Felicia. My crew doesn't do last names unless is sarcasm."
"Right." Steve chuckled nervously. "Anyway, the team and I thought that you and Felicia would like to keep your stakeout of the warehouse at the dock-"
"No." Felicia grumbled. "I'm sick of the docks. We been stalking that place for weeks. I need a change of scenery."
"Ok, I'll assign another team there." Steve nodded.
"In fact," Felicia smirked, side-eyeing Bucky and latching on to his arm. "We've gotten pretty well acquainted. I think we'd make a great team."
"Ok. I'll put you two together." Steve said, completely oblivious to what was actually happening.
May snorted and turned her back to the room, her shoulders shaking.
"I couldn't agree more, Cap. They'll work great together since they know each other well enough." Peter agreed, struggling to contain his own laughter.
Bucky shot him a glare as Felicia smiled innocently.
"We figured we'd send pairs into the separate tunnels. Peter, we'd prefer if you, May, Harry and Mary Jane would go and stay at the tower. The security there is high enough that we could have all hands on deck incase things get bad." Steve said, looking up from the layouts of Oscorp. "We need you to let Spider-Man know."
Peter shot a quick look at May, who sighed and gave a small nod.
"Ok, I'll tell him."
"Good. Do you know if Spider-Man talked to his friend Luke? He said he was going to get him to listen out for anything."
"He did. Luke is onboard."
"Alright. I've been considering asking Spider-Man if we can borrow his friends every now and then." Cap chuckled, looking over at Jessica.
"I don't know if you can afford me." Jessica smirked.
Steve smiled before looking at Harry.
"Can we get in the building after hours?"
"Yeah. Spider-Man can get you in the back entrance."
As Steve and Harry discussed the building, Peter looked over at Matt. The man's jaw had been tight since Tony had shown up with Steve.
Bless Steve Rogers.
His planning and questions had been keeping everyone's attention enough to ignore the billionaire among them. A thing that, for the first time in his life, Tony was probably grateful for.
Everyone moved closer to the table as Steve talked with Bucky and Wade, asking for any other suggestions as well.
"Not gonna join in?" Peter asked, glancing at Tony.
"Strategy isn't my strong suit, kid." Tony sighed. "I'm not sure why I'm here."
"Steve needed to know where to come."
"I didn't have to bring him. He could have come with Natasha."
"You're not fooling anyone, Stark."
The two men looked up as May moved next to them.
"You're here because it's where Peter is. I know you're well aware of my stance on you but, my concern for Peter is far greater. Iron Man better do his job and protect my nephew."
Tony looked at May, I serious expression on his face.
"I promise you, nothing is going to happen to Peter if I can help it."
There was a silence between the three as they studied each other. It was strange. The three of them together. Despite Peter’s long term time with Matt, this whole thing had started with Tony, Peter and May.
Despite not looking over at them, Peter could tell Matt was listening to them over Steve and the others.
Peter swallowed. What was there to say at this point? While Tony had addressed many of the issues in the penthouse earlier, there was still so much to be said. The problem was saying it all now on the cusp of a dangerous situation for Peter.
“I think we should move tomorrow night.”
Steve voice cut through their moment, causing them all to turn back to the group.
“Alright. MJ-“
“Excuse you.”
“Spider-Woman,” Harry sighed. “Will make sure any cameras in that area are disabled.”
Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter who shrugged with a grin.
“I was unaware Ms. Watson had any abilities.” Steve said, a confused expression on his face.
“She doesn’t.” Harry chuckled.
“You can’t team up with Spider-Man without an alter ego.” Mary Jane grinned with an eye roll. “So while on the job, I refuse to be called anything else.”
Felicia snorted in amusement.
“You got it, Spider-Woman.”
“Alright.” Steve smiled and shook his head. “Wade. Let Spider-Man know we’ll meet him at Oscorp after dark.”
“Always glad to assist, Captain!” Wade winked.
Peter rolled his eyes.
“Ok. Harry, I hope to not have to bother you with sneaking in again. Once we figure out where the rest of the tunnels go, we can just stick to those places.”
“I’m not stupid.” Harry sighed. “My father can’t be allowed to continued to run around. For his sake and everyone else’s, he needs to be back under lock down. I’ll offer whatever I can.”
Steve nodded, immensely proud of the young Osborn.
“We can’t forget that someone else is working with Norman.” Matt finally spoke. “Peter and the others are in danger from more than Norman.”
“That’s why the tower is the best place for them.” Steve agreed. “However, since we don’t know who his backer is, we’ll just have to settle for Osborn first.”
“I get what your saying.” Jessica frowned.“Luke’s already keeping an ear out for anything that may be important. So since the dock mystery is solved, I’m gonna do my own digging into old crimes. Someone has to have some connection somewhere. Either it be that warehouse, Norman, Oscorp, or Spider-Man.”
“Alright. Buck. Wade. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“This is so exciting!” Wade smiled, clapping his hands together.
Matt groaned softly, running a hand down his face.
“Peter?” He said, sliding over to the group of three. “Make sure he’s with you. I’m not sure anyone else will tolerate him.”
Peter chuckled softly.
“I don’t know how good an idea that might be.”
“Peter Benjamin Parker!” May gasped. “I am right here!”
“May.” Peter looked at her. “Felicia has slept over here, in my bed, more times than I can count.”
“I don’t mean that! I mean you allowing anything like that while on the job! Especially this one!”
“I can assure you May,” Peter raised his hands in defense. “ That will not be happening.”
“It better not young man. You get this whole Norman thing taken care of first.” May huffed. “Also, we’ll be having a proper sit down once everyone is gone. I want to officially meet Wade. Been in the same room with the man twice and still haven’t been introduced properly.”
“Sorry, May.” Peter shuffled.
“I just want to know he plans to be good to you.” May smiled softly. “Despite breaking up, you and Felicia have such a good relationship. I want to know it could be that way with Wade as well. You’re all I have left Peter. You’re my baby no matter how old you are.”
Peter pulled May into a hug. God, did he love her so much.
Tony cleared his throat, earning back their attention.
“Actually, Pete, I’d like to be with you on this. It would make me feel better. Seeing as how you’re the main target, you need more than Wilson with you. Let me and Harley join you.”
Peter exchanged a look with May, who bit her lip. She wasn’t to keen on Tony being with Peter, but she also wanted him to have as much protection as possible.
“As long as I’m with you as well.” Matt jumped in.
Tony frowned. He had hoped he could work alone with Peter. Maybe prove how much he trusted him and earn Peter’s trust in return. However, if that was what it took to work with Peter, Tony could make himself work with Daredevil.
“Fine. Pete?”
“Yeah....” Peter hesitated, looking at May once more.
May just nodded her head.
“That...that’ll work.”
Tony beamed.
“Great. I’ll let Harley know we’ll be teaming with Spider-Man.”
“I’m sure he’ll love that.” Peter rolled his eyes.
“He’ll be fine.” Tony assured.
“I’ll believe it when I see it. He hates Spider-Man.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Tony promised. “He’ll be fine tomorrow.”
“I’ll hold you to that. This could be it. I can’t afford to have a teammate not want to work with me.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Norman watched as his next goblin passed out from his dose of the formula. When he woke, he’d be sent out to fight with the Avengers.
He knew they were all growing tired of the chances, Peter above all.
He couldn’t deny the how the sight of Spider-Man basically attacking the last goblin had affected him. It was going to be so easy to lure him in.
He was well aware of the fact the tunnel from the docks had been uncovered and that it wouldn’t be long before the other were explored.
All he had to do was find out which one Spider-Man would take. There was no way he would let himself be excluded.
The surveillance system in the tunnels was extensive. It would be easy to monitor their progress and prepare. It would be easy to catch Spider-Man off guard.
“Osborn.”
Norman turned, looking at the man that entered the room.
“I’m beginning to think I made a mistake in releasing you. Incase you’ve forgotten, you were released with a specific job in mind. Your little acquisition of Spider-Man was just a reward for doing your job.”
“Trust me. Spider-Man is the key to getting what you and I both want.”
“You better be right. My patience is running out. Fulfill your end of the bargain, or you’ll rot away in a cell for the rest of your life.”
Norman glared at the back of the retreating man. He wasn’t very fond of being threatened, but he wasn’t exactly in a position to argue either.
Turning back to his monitors, he drew his eyes together. There was no option. He would have to get Peter soon.