Chapter 2: The Intellectuals are on Board.

"Vacation?! What on God's green Earth do you mean, vacation?!"

Peter braced himself for the vicious storm that was J. Jonah Jameson's signature angry rant. Agent O'Grady had pointed out to Peter that he would have to come to a special S.H.I.E.L.D. location to get further details on the Tesseract situation, and he would likely be gone for several days at the least. Luckily, Peter's spring break was rolling around, so he had the perfect excuse to be out of town for a week or two. For all Aunt May and MJ knew, Peter had been asked by Curt Connors to accompany him to a science expo in Boston sponsored by Sebastian Shaw.

Jameson, on the other hand…

"I have papers to sell and headlines to write! How exactly can I get those out when the one guy who can get a decent picture of that spandex-wearing criminal is off lollygagging with his teacher?!"

"Look, Mr. Jameson," Peter replied, "it's only a week or two. I'm sure you can get other things in the paper besides Spider-Man, right?"

Jameson, in a clearly agitated way, rubbed what was left of his cigar in the ashtray before tossing it over his shoulder out the window. "I can," he out dryly, "But that's not why I hired you. I hired you because that insectoid maniac likes to pose for you for some reason. And if I cannot get papers sold because of a certain lack of pictures of a public menace on the front, then I might as well hand them out on the street corner like supermarket crackers!"

BUZZZZZ!

"WHAT?!"

"It's your wife sir," Betty Brant answered form the other room. "She can't remember one of the credit card PIN numbers."

"Oh, thank God!" Jameson gave a sigh of relief as he reached for another cigar.

"Jonah, why don't you give the kid a break?" Robbie Robertson cut in. If there was anyone at the Daily Bugle who could talk even the slightest bit of sense into J. Jonah Jameson's think skull, it was Robbie. "He's done a lot of great work in the past; I think he deserves some time off. Besides, we could give that Brock kid a test run while Peter's gone."

Jameson looked at Robbie, then back at Peter, then to his lighter. Finally, he relented. "Alright fine. But you have two weeks, no more! Got it? Fourteen days. If you are not back in this office after fifteen, you are fired! Clear?"

"Crystal," said Peter.

"Well, what are you just standing there for?" said Jameson around his fresh cigar. "You want out of here? Scram!"

Peter did not even need an invitation. He was out the door in two seconds flat, Robertson close behind him.

"Robbie, you're a saint. You deserve a parade."

"Just doing my job Pete." The elder man said with a smile

"Take care, Peter." Betty replied with her usual smile, which had by now evolved from merely a professional courtesy to open acknowledgement of their friendship.

"Thanks, Betty." Peter smiled, as he made his way out of the office to await the car that would take himself and MJ to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Granted, while Peter knew he was going to a special S.H.I.E.L.D. location, he had not expected to be flow to an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Then again, it was a discrete spy agency, so what would you expect?

Agent O'Grady was the first to exit the plane (Peter had learned they were called Quinjets) onto the sun-bathed deck of the ship. Peter pulled his bags down and followed the agent into the blinding sun. "Well," said O'Grady, "here we are. Home sweet home."

The carrier was a sight to behold to be sure. Peter had heard of some carriers being so big, they literally had their own zip code when in harbor. However, just by Peter's first impressions, this thing deserved statehood. Several dozen Quinjets and smaller aircraft lined the sides of two layered takeoff strips, with a small command tower near the back. Dozens of men and women were running around attending to the aircraft and other such jobs. Painted in the center of the deck was a massive yellow crest, which resembled an eagle with its wings spread down across the bottom. Peter did question to some degree the wisdom of having an organization supposedly all about secrecy based on a giant aircraft carrier in plain sight, but if these guys figured out his secret identity as easily as they did, then there was probably more to this ship than met the eye.

"Wow,"

"Just wait until you see the inside." O'Grady replied with a grin. No sooner had the words left his mouth that something caught his eye. "Ah, there they are."

Peter looked in the direction O'Grady had turned. Near the center of the landing strip were three people in casual wear, an oddity since everyone around them was wearing either a navy-blue jumpsuit or bright orange landing crew gear. On was a slender woman with short red hair, wearing a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath. Next was a black-haired man in a purple shirt and a tan jacket and pants. Of the three he appeared to be the most out of place, resembling a high school teacher rather than a super spy. But the third one? Peter had to rub his eyes to make sure he was not having a mirage.

6 feet, 2 inches, 240 pounds. Clad in khaki pants and a brown leather jacket, his short-cut blond hair topping the face that inspired an entire nation during World War II. He did not need a red, white and blue uniform for Peter to tell who this man was. He had heard the rumors in the news but had never legitimately believed he was alive until now.

Steven Grant Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America.

When he had heard that he could possibly be working with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, two of the greatest scientific minds in the world, the geek inside him had been ecstatic. But Captain America? The greatest soldier of all time who led American forces in one of the biggest conflicts in history. Peter felt like a kid in a candy store. He was so elated he almost forgot that Agent O'Grady was supposed to be leading them towards the group and nearly stepped ahead of him twice.

"Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers, Dr. Banner." O'Grady said with his usual grin as he reached the trio.

Dr. Banner? Peter thought to himself, looking at the shorter man. As in Bruce Banner? This day just kept getting better and better.

"Eric, glad you could make it." The woman, apparently Agent Romanoff, replied as she shook his outstretched hand.

"Another agent?" asked Rogers, blissfully unaware at the two gaping twenty-one-year old's behind O'Grady.

"I'm another one of Director Fury's correspondents, like what Agent Coulson is for Mr. Stark. This is my own recruit…"

"Peter Parker, sir!" Peter interrupted as he stretched out a hand, which Rogers quickly took and shook. I am shaking hands with Captain America! Peter still could not believe what was going on. No-one is ever going to believe this!

"Pleasure to meet you, Peter." The captain said with a casual smile. "I take it you're another scientist or something?"

"Well, actually…"

"That," it was now O'Grady's turn to interrupt, "and he also as special abilities that could be beneficial in, uh, how should I put this…sticky situations. Captain, have you read anything in the news recently about a vigilante known as "Spider-Man"?"?

Rogers looked confused for a moment, then it dawned on him. "Oh, you're him?"

"Yes, sir." Peter answered as he pulled back his shirt to reveal the red and black spandex. "Long story involving a field trip and genetically altered spiders, but that's me."

"Mr. Parker chooses to keep his identity confidential to avoid potential danger to his loved ones." O'Grady chimed in, as if to answer the next obvious question. "For all the crew knows, he's just here as a lab assistant for Dr. Banner. Until now, only I, Director Fury here are aware that these two men are one in the same."

"Pretty noble, Mr. Parker." Said Bruce Banner, breaking his silence on the conversation. Peter's nerd side began to pick up as he turned to the hunted scientist.

"Dr. Banner, it's an honor to meet you." Peter said as he shook Banner's hand. "Your work in gamma radiation has been amazing. I wrote a paper my freshman year all on your work."

"Well, it's good to see that the next generation still sees the value of science." replied Banner. "I just wish I could have a more active hand in it."

Peter nodded in understanding. He had seen all the news reports about the Hulk and could see why Banner might have been reluctant to work for the people who had hunted him like an animal. Peter then turned to Cap.

"I'm guessing this is all kind of...weird…here in the…uh…future?"

"Well," said Steve, looking towards a group of men jogging down the ramp, "this is actually kind of familiar."

"Gentlemen," Agent Romanoff spoke up from the back, "you might want to step inside in a minute. It's going to be a little hard to breathe."

Everyone gave her an inquisitive look before hearing a loud banging noise. All around them, people began running to specific stations across the ship and strapping down aircraft. "Secure the deck!" a voice over an intercom said over all the bustle going around them. Understandably enough, Captain Rogers looked the most puzzled.

"Is this a submarine?"

"Really," Dr. Banner said with a sarcastic tone as he, Peter and Steve walked towards the edge of the ship, "they want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

Peter was about to throw in his own snarky comment when they reached the edge, and Peter's initial puzzlement became pure astonishment. All around the ship, water was crashing down like a waterfall, as if a giant hole had been carved into the ocean floor. Out of this hole came a giant metal cone with a circular ring around it. As this emerged, the water began to swirl around like a whirlpool. Peter had no idea what was going on until he saw the giant steel blades connecting the cone to the ring. It looked like turbine, similar the ones on the wings of the Quinjets. But why would a boat need plane turb- Peter stopped himself in mid thought, as the carrier began to rise out of the water and into the air.

They were not sinking, they were flying!

"Oh no, this is much worse!" Banner said over the insane noise.

Remembering what Agent Romanoff had said, the trio turned away from the spectacle followed her inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-carrier.

Agent Romanoff led Peter, Steve, and Dr. Banner towards the Heli carrier command center, which looked more like NASA mission control than it did an aircraft cockpit. Several rows of computer monitors lined both the sides of the room and two small pits on either side of a slightly elevated walkway, with various blue-suited S.H.I.E.L.D. agents going over a variety of tasks. What resembled a conference table was set up behind some railing in the back of the room, which also featured the S.H.I.E.L.D. crest in the center. Several meters above them was another floor where Peter could see more people walking about, ranging from armed security officers to who appeared to be maintenance crew. More computers lined another elevated platform on either side of the room, and at the very center, a man that Peter instantly recognized as Director Nicholas J. Fury stood surrounded by a pair of screens displaying the status of the Heli carrier's systems and controls. The entire room was lit by a massive multi-pane window looking out across the skyline.

"Power plant performing at capacity," a female agent reported from down below as she observed one of the monitors. "We are clear."

Another woman, apparently the second-in-command, then addressed the whole bridge, "All engines operating, S.H.I.E.L.D. emergency protocol 193.6 in effect." She then turned to Fury. "We're at level, sir."

"Good," said the Director. "Let's vanish."

"Vanish?" Peter thought.

The second-in-command turned to a group of people and said, "Engage retro-reflection panels."

The agents flipped a series of switches and brought up an image of the carrier's underside on the main monitor. Slowly, the bottom began to be covered in silvery material. It took him some time, but Peter deduced to his amazement that they were reflective mirrors, which made the Heli carrier pretty much invisible to all looking up.

"So much for a base people can find easily." Peter thought, putting his previous doubts about the ship to rest.

One of the agents at the computers turned to face Fury. "Reflection panels engaged," he replied. With his base of operations safe and secure, Fury turned to face the three men standing behind him.

"Gentlemen," he said as he approached them. Peter walked over to join Dr. Banner, who was staying in the back of the room. Steve, on the other hand, walked right past Fury, handing him a ten-dollar bill as he walked by. Fury looked at the money for a second, then stuffed it in his pocket as Steve continued to marvel at the bridge. Peter would have to ask about that later, though, as Fury was walking straight towards the nerd from Queens and the fugitive physicist.

"Doctor, thank you for coming," Fury said as he reached out his hand. Looking somewhat nervous, Banner reached out and grasped the one-eyed man's hand.

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, how long am I staying here?"

"As soon as we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." He then turned to Peter. "As are you."

"If we get done quickly," said Peter with a small grin, "my boss won't pop a blood vessel."

"Wait until I tell you about a certain Air Force general." Banner commented with a hint of sarcasm. "So, where are we with finding the cube?"

All eyes turned to a man in a suit standing on the lower level next to Steve, whom Peter had been introduced to as Agent Phil Coulson, one of Fury's most trusted field agents. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it is connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time." said Agent Romanoff, who was squatting next to one of the computers, with an image of a man who appeared to be in his early 40s inside a small info box. With his enhanced senses, Peter could read some of the lettering.

Barton, Clinton Francis, STRIKE Team: Delta, Agent level 7. Status: COMPROMISED

"She's right, we're going to have to narrow the field." said Banner.

"Are there any optical spectrometers we could use to look for its energy signature?" asked Peter. "With the amount of gamma radiation this thing gives off, we could be able to look for a match on its frequency."

"Not on this boat, but I'm sure I could get some of those on the shopping list." replied Fury.

"How many can you get?"

"How many are there?"

"Call every lab you know." said Banner as he removed his jacket. "Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. Peter and I will rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places."

If only high school had been this easy. Peter thought. Never did he think he would be able to work alongside one of the greatest minds in the world, but also work with technology that made the fancy high tech computers at the mall look like windup toys.

"Do you have somewhere for us to work?" Banner asked.

Fury turned to the crouching spy. "Agent Romanoff, could you show Dr. Banner and Mr. Parker to their laboratory, please?"

Romanoff rose away from the computer screen and began to walk off towards the door. Eager to get to work, Peter and Dr. Banner followed in hot pursuit.

"You're gonna love it boys. We got all the toys."

Within minutes, the two men were sitting in a small laboratory situated right above the bridge. They spent the next couple of hours receiving the signals of the various spectrometers around the world, using their energy readings to draw a virtual map around the world, searching relentlessly for the seemingly insignificant glowing cube that a fanatical Nazi subdivision used to nearly conquer the world.

When they were not plowing through the seemingly endless stream of data coming in across the world, Peter, and Dr. Banner (he insisted he call him Bruce) went about comparing their respective careers as super-powered beings in the world. Bruce's were considerably less detailed, but it was understandable given his alter-ego. By contrast, Bruce was fascinated with Peter's adventures as well as the origins of his powers. Peter kept going on and on about everything that Bruce had contributed to the field of radiation study, while Bruce seemed very eager to hear about was Peter's personal life, asking him about Aunt May, MJ, What happened with Otto Octavius, Harry Osborn *Peter even found that before Bruce got involved with the Military, Oscorp was going to have him on the Tridium Project*. Any other person would have found Banner's fascination a little uncomfortable, but Peter did not mind at all. After all, Bruce had spent the past few years running away from the military, unable to have a life of his own. Peter had always had an incredible amount of respect for Bruce and his work, but now he also felt genuinely sorry for him.

"At the end of the day, I envy you, Peter," said Bruce as he looked over more data. "Your power allows you to change the world for the better and have the life you want."

"I wish I could agree with that, Doctor," said Peter, "But this life of mine isn't as perfect as you might think. I've done some pretty stupid things myself."

"At least your power doesn't turn into a living apocalypse."

Peter leaned over the table they were working at to look Bruce in the eye. "My uncle died because of my selfishness. My best friend is on the fast track to becoming my enemy. I have my own sins, but I push on. Not because I want to, but because I have an obligation to use my power responsibly."

Bruce looked at his instruments, a defeated look on his face. "You're a good person Peter, but I'm afraid I can never live up to your uncle's words as you have. I do not have great power. I have a curse."

The room was silent for a moment. Then the door to the lab opened, revealing Agent Romanoff, now wearing a black variation of the uniforms worn by the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. staff. "Mr. Parker," she said, "I need you to come with me."

Peter looked at her for a moment, confused. "Why?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"We've found Loki"