Peter had just come back from a much needed patrol session around Manhattan. In between the stuffy board members (who definitely didn't like him) and all the unwanted attention at school, he was feeling cramped. Plus both May and Pepper kept hovering over him like he was going to break if left alone long enough.

(Maybe he was)

Honestly, the patrol did him good. It felt absolutely stress relieving to just let go of all his worries for a couple of hours and swing around the city (and honestly, New York was a spectacular sight at night). The wind blew across his mask, carrying with it the scent of saltwater from the ocean as a flock of birds flew around a few blocks from the Tower. He paused at the massive balcony and took a few minutes to enjoy the view, ignoring the problems waiting for him once he took off the costume and instead thought strictly about his self-appointed role as protector of the little guys. As Spider-Man , he was free to ignore his life as Peter Parker, and just embrace being the mysteries masked vigilante of the New York streets. Somehow, that had become the less stressful half of his life. He chuckled a bit to himself at the irony.

He couldn't help but wonder if Tony had ever felt as stressed as he did, or if he was just that incredible that he could handle all of this with that effortless charisma he often exuded. Maybe he did, maybe that's why he was prone to ditching board meetings and was so snarky to everyone, so that they hesitated to seek him out. Peter preferred to think his late mentor also felt like he did, somehow it made him seem more human and by extension made it seem less impossible for him to fill his shoes.

MR PARKER, IT APPEARS YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF GUESTS REQUESTING AN AUDIENCE WITH YOU IN THE LOUNGE.

Peter was pulled from his inner musings by the monotone announcement of FRIDAY. He frowned, his hopes for an interrupted evening to himself being shot down.

Who the heck would wanna 'request an audience' with me at-he glanced at his watch, 10.45 on a school night? May and Pepper had made it abundantly clear that Peter was to be left undisturbed on school nights for anything barring serious emergencies after 10pm. Which meant that whoever was here probably shouldn't be kept waiting, no matter how much he wanted to ignore them. He sighed to himself, walking towards his (oversized) closet to find some clothes to put on.

"Tell them I'll be right down, Fri."

"YES, SIR."

"Oh and FRIDAY? Do me a favor and drop the whole 'sir' and 'mister' thing when we're alone. Just call me Peter."

"AS YOU WISH, PETER."

Deciding against wearing smart clothes (he may have been on a mission to be taken seriously, but he was slightly miffed that his evening was ruined) he thew on an old pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt and entered the unnecessarily large elevator (seriously, this thing was bigger than his room in May's old apartment!)

The whole way down, he absentmindedly drummed his fingers against his leg in a semi nervous, semi impatient state of mind. He decided against wondering who it wad and what they wanted to avoid over thinking things and royally screwing up (again). When the elevator dinged indicating his arrival, he put on the fake welcoming smile Tony had once shown him and mentally prepared for inane small talk. However, his fake smile immediately dropped when he stepped out of the elevator to come face to face with a nervous looking Pepper.

Pepper was never nervous, at least not in front of him. Something was very wrong.

His spider-sense gave a faint buzz in the back of his mind. Not nearly powerful enough to be a serious threat, but the fact that it wad triggered set him on edge. Pepper gave him a small but shaky smile. "Peter, honey, sorry to disturb you. But there's some gentlemen here who would like to have a word with you."

"No need to make us seem so ominous to the boy down, Mrs Stark. He's done nothing wrong. He just have some pressing information we need to pass on to him."

Peter's ears perked up at the unfamiliar, but authoritative voice behind him. He noticed Pepper's face pinch into a frown as she put her hand on his shoulder, as he noted two pairs of footsteps walk up to him. He turned around and was stunned at the two figures behind him. The older man stepped forward and shook his hand. Even with his enhanced strength, he still felt the firmness in the handshake.

"Peter Benjamin Parker I presume? We haven't formally met, although I believe you are familiar with the Captain over there." Peter dumbly looked at Captain America in full uniform sans mask, who gave him an acknowledging nod "Pleasure to see you again, son." He offered, not unkindly.

The older man continued, ignoring Captain America. "My name is General Thaddeus Ross, Director of SHIELD an the United Nations official liaison to the Avengers. We need to have a chat about Norman Osborn of OsCorp."

The current party of four had moved to the expansive living room. Peter was practically on pins and needles, fidgeting around nervously and almost wanting to avoid eye contact. His previous plans to appear more mature went flying out the window when General Ross introduced himself. Despite his best efforts to keep his mouth shut, after his introduction he could stop himself from quipping about him having a stupid long name, which prompted the most unimpressed raised eyebrow he'd ever experienced (On the plus side, at least Steve and Pepper found it funny).

However, he was saved from any more awkwardness by Ross speaking up.

"How familiar with OsCorp and it's founder are you, Mr Parker?"

Peter shrugged in response. "Nothing beyond what's already public knowledge. It's a fast rising tech business that specializes in biochemistry and engineering, and Norman Osborn is some kind of science expert I guess." He refrained from geeking out about some of the advances they're had made in medicine, he got the feeling no one present would appreciate it.

Ross nodded at this. "That's all true, but you forgot one thing."

"What's that?"

"Norman Osborn is a ruthless businessman. He's cold-hearted and ambitious to a dangerous degree, and he won't stop at anything to be number one."

Peter looked between the two older men. "Well I guess he sounds pretty iffy, but what does this have to do with me?"

"Osborn always viewed Stark Industries as the final obstacle today his goal. After Tony Stark's unfortunate passing, there was quite a bit of commotion around the fate of his business. So when some seemingly average high school student is handed the reigns to the largest privately owned company on Earth, all its competitors took notice."

Ross levelled his with a serious look. "Mr Parker, I won't lie to you, Osborn is gunning for you personally. He plays dirty, and he has next to no morals. Given Stark Industries' ties to SHIELD we take your wellbeing and safety very seriously. Osborn has been stalking you and tracking your whereabouts at all times. The SHIELD agents we deployed to watch over you reported this to us. However, we haven't intercepted his watchers yet because we're building a case against him. The Avengers have made OsCorp it's main supplier both to keep the financial stress of you guys and as an excuse to keep a closer eye on Norman. The Captain and I ha talked about it earlier, and the other Avengers are in the dark about this. We just came to tell you this because we need you to be aware of these things, lest you get careless and do something in public Norman can use against you and Stark Industries."

Peter swallowed audibly and buried his face in his hands. How could he be so stupid! Of course people were watching him besides those SHIELD agents. What if they know about him being Spider-Man? Would Osborn expose him? Blackmail him? Would he be forced to sign the Accords?

There was a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to come face to face with the reassuring eyes of Captain America.

"Son, don't worry about a thing. Just keep going about your business like you always have. Between SHIELD and the Avengers, we won't let anything happen to you or your loved ones. You have my word."

Something about Captain America telling you nothing will happen just seemed to make everything seem ok. Although, a large part of it at Peter's desperate hope that his big secret wouldn't be exposed. He gave Steve a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, ok. Thanks Cap."

"Anytime, son."

"Well now that that's settled," Ross announced, standing up. "I'll be taking my leave." He hands Peter an old looking phone (he can't help but imagine Tony being offended by such old tech. "This phone is specifically designed to reach my line and my line alone. Use it if you need to reach me, but only for emergencies."

"Ok dude-er, sir."

Ross ignores his slip and nods to Pepper and Steve before leaving. As soon as he's gone from the room, Pepper lets out a shaky breath.

"What an absolute creep."

Peter snorts. "Yeah Osborn doesn't sound so great either."

Steve smiles a bit, before turning serious. "Peter, I want you to be careful with Ross. I know he's helping us deal with Osborn but I don't trust him. There's something he's hiding."

Peter frowns. "Well if you don't trust him, why work with him?"

Steve gives him a dark smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Ross has a crazy amount of influence in the UN and SHIELD. Without him the Avengers as we know it would be an illegal group of vigilantes. For now we have no choice but to work with him, but let's just say that Osborn isn't the only one being investigated."

Peter nods and slumps further into the very comfortable (very expensive) couch. That would explain his spider-sense being triggered by Ross. Steve eyes him worriedly and shared a knowing glance with Pepper. He's concerned about how all this is affecting Peter, but knows that if he shows his concern Peter will feel guilty for making him worried and lie that he's ok. He decides for a more casual approach. "So, how's the high life treating you son?"

Peter can't help but grin. "It's a pain in the ass."

"You may have inherited Tony's money, don't inherit his loose mouth son."

Peter laughs a little at this, before yawning. Pepper eyes him knowingly. "You also can't inherit his terrible sleep schedule mister. Time for bed."

Peter is too tired to argue so simply bids them goodnight and heads up to his room. Once he's gone Pepper turns to Steve. "Are you spending the night, Cap? The guest room are still available."

Steve shakes his head. "I need to meet with Ross later tonight. But I'll be back tomorrow when he's out of school, I wanna talk to him."

Pepper nods in approval. Well then, see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Pepper"

As soon as Ross left the Tower premises, a victorious grin spread across his face. He walked towards the nondescript vehicle parked a few blocks down and took out a cellphone from his jacket. After two rings, there was a response from the other end.

"I assume everything is going according to plan, Ross."

"Of course. As we predicted, Osborn took the bait. His ego's far too big for his own good. Given the fact that I made it seem like I had to convince the Avengers to partner with him, OsCorp's resources are as good as ours. Plus his little 'experiments' are coming out of his pocket, so if they don't work out it's no loss on our side. And, with him as our fall guy when shit hits the fan we'll be able to absorb OsCorp completely for SHIELD's purposes. Which makes them as good as ours to use."

"I see. Just make sure that he completes Project GREEN before we dispose of him. How about Parker?"

Ross snorts at this. "Parker? He's easy. He's young and naïve. He's floundering like a fish out of water, he'd latch on to anyone willing to help. He bought the whole spiel about Osborn stalking him. Stark kept him in the dark about alot, wanted to protect him from signing the Accords I presume, so he sees the UN ambassador and Captain America and thinks we're automatically on his side. The Captain may be, but that's no problem. He's clueless about alot as well. He doesn't know we know he's Spider-Man, so that's another point in our favor."

"Hmm. Be wary of Parker, General. Do not mistake his ignorance for stupidity, he's easily the biggest threat to Project GX. A mind like that with the resources at his disposal won't remain floundering for long."

"Oh please," Ross dismissed as he reached his car. He puller out His keys and unlocked it. "We've got Stark Tower on a leash. Their finances aren't as high as they used to be with Stark gone. Parker has-"

"You dare question my analysis?"

Ross gulped noiselessly, fidgeting with his car keys as he hesitated to open the car. "Of course not, I was just-"

"You were just agreeing to keep an eye on Parker, Ross. And waiting for further instructions."

"Indeed I was. What's our next move?"

"The good Captain is a bad influence to have on Mr Parker. He's currently informing him about his suspicions concerning your motives and warning him not to trust you. He's currently running an investigation of his own concerning you infact. He must be eliminated with extreme prejudice."

"But Captain America is a war hero, and the leader of Earth's frontline defense. We can't-"

"Of course, General. I understand. However-" Ross finally opened his car and noticed the bomb waiting for him in the front seat. If he had to guess, it was remotely controlled so he wouldn't be able to run away in time to escape the detonation. "-if sentiments are too strong for you, I'd be willing to take that into consideration and relieve you of such petty duties. There are others who can fill that role."

Ross sighed, knowing when he was beaten. "I'll deal with it."

"Very good. Make sure to tie his death to the illegal experimentation carried out by OsCorp. It gives you more leverage to confiscate their cargo. And general, do give him a hero's death. It's the least he deserves, after all he is a war hero."

"As you wish, sir."

The line went dead as Ross entered his car and started driving. However, he didn't put his phone away. Instead, he started scrolling through his contacts until he found the number he was looking for. He hit dial, and when the caller picked up he didn't bother with small talk.

"He wants the Captain dead. Bring out the Scorpion."

He cut the line without waiting for a response, and drove off to his office, knowing he wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

A/N: So um, yeah...the reason this chapter took so long is... Yeah I got no excuses here. Just lost my muse for writing for a while. I'm back tho, and I have a rough draft of the entire story written already. Just a matter of editing and a few rewrites here and there. Anyways, more questions now! Who was Ross talking to? Why was he so scared of him? Who's supposed to bring out the Scorpion? Well, stay tuned to find out! Hopefully the next chapter comes out sooner than this one did lol