An Attempt at Diplomacy

After speaking about it at length with Reed and going over all the possible scenarios that they could be dealing with, it was deemed that everyone get some rest and they'd tackle it with fresh minds the next morning. Yet when Peter woke up hours before anyone else did, he decided to leave the safe house and do a little web-slinging and clear his mind to tackle the mystery again. While he was swinging through the streets it dawned on him that if he noticed something was wrong with Stark, there was no way someone else hadn't noticed either. Peter swung down to a phone booth in the middle of the streets and then used a quarter to dial a number. It took a few rings, but someone eventually answered.

"Hello," the voice started with a groan, indicating he was just woken up.

"You know," Peter started, "I pegged you for the kind of guy that would wake up a lot earlier than this on a weekday."

"Peter?" the voice replied, "To what I owe the pleasure?"

"I need your help with something," Peter said, "We need to meet and talk about something that I think you'll want to hear. There is a possibility that someone in Shield and the Avengers has been compromised."

"Alright, you have my attention." The voice said, "Tell me what's on your mind."

"Not over the phone," Peter countered, "We need to meet and discuss this in person."

The voice on the other side sighed. "Where?"

"The last place we met," Peter replied, "And you're buying this time."

"Alright," the voice confirmed, "I'll be there at eight."

Peter was dressed in jeans, sneakers and a hoodie when he arrived to the same cafe that he had taken Kitty to just a few days prior. He even sat down at the very same table and waited for the person he called to show up. Moments later that man shows up and sat in the same seat he had the same few days ago.

"Alright Parker," Coulson said, letting out a sigh. "What do you want?"

"Eggs, maybe a little bacon." Peter answered, smiling back at him.

"Seriously?" Coulson replied, scowling at him. It was the same look the young man was used to getting from his Aunt. "You're going to tempt fate before I've had my first coffee?"

"Good point," Peter said gesturing to the same chair Phil stole from Kitty just a few days before. "I need to speak to someone in Shield about something urgent, and despite what's happened you're one of the few people left at Shield I can still trust."

"That warms my heart," Coulson said, as he poured a few teaspoons of sugar into his coffee after the waitress brought it over. "But cut the brown nosing and get to the guts of why I'm not sleeping in this morning."

"Have you noticed something weird about Tony?" Peter asked.

"Prior to his leg injury, he was spending a lot of time in the tech labs." Phil noted, sipping his coffee. "I didn't think much of it, as I just assumed he and Pepper had another disagreement."

"Where's Pepper now?" Peter asked.

"She's at the Stark headquarters in D.C." Phil answered, "I guess it was a big fight because she only spends this much time in the capital when Tony's in the dog house, again."

"But how long has it been this time?" Peter inquired as he knew something had to be off.

Phil thought about it for a moment. "It's been several months now actually. Usually by now Tony would tuck tail and buy her something expensive to go along with his apology. He hasn't done that yet."

"And let me guess," Peter said, continuing his flow. "This is when Tony started making the Sentinels."

"It was," Phil said, taking another sip and he thought about it too.

"Something isn't right, Phil." Peter said, looking him in the eyes. "His sudden disregard for the mutants, beating me into a coma, that's not the Tony I know. You know him just as much as I do, doesn't something seem off?"

"The more I think about it," Coulson said, "The more I'm inclined to agree. Are you suggesting that Mr. Stark has been compromised?"

"I have no idea what's going on," Peter said, "But something is off about him. I get that I annoy him sometimes..."

"Sometimes?" Coulson repeated with a cocked eyebrow.

"Okay, I annoy him a lot." Peter conceded, "But all I did was stand up for the mutants, and he beat me like I was his worst enemy. This can't be written off as him waking up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I agree," Coulson said, putting his coffee down. He grabbed the waitress as she was walking by, "I'm sorry, but we need that order to go."

"You're heading back to base?" Peter asked, "To speak with fury?"

"No, we are." Coulson said, "The best way for me to explain why we met was that I scouted this place out and brought you in when you returned."

"Why do I need to come in?" Peter asked.

"I'll take you right to Director Fury," Coulson explained, "We'll both explain this to him and see what he thinks. Just keep it to yourself until we meet with Fury."

"Alright," Peter said, "So how do we do this?"

"The hard way," Phil said, as he again has his Icer pulled out but this time there was no Kitty around to save Peter. The non-lethal dart hit Peter in his neck which maximized the effect of it and knocked him out in seconds.

Once Peter hit the ground, Phil watched as a few of his people came out of their hiding spots to secure the boy lying on the ground. One of them, a woman with dark hair looked back up at him.

"Why did you turn off coms?" she asked him.

"Along with his many powers," Phil explained, "Peter can hear really well too. He would have heard you on coms and spooked him. I needed to leave them off so I could have a chance to bring him in. Nothing personal."

"Alright," The woman said, as she turned to the man that was behind her, a tall African American male. "Mack, can you carry him back to the helix?"

"Yeah," the man said, "No problem Daisy."

As Mach carried Peter away without any trouble, as if he were a light sack of potatoes, Daisy looked at Coulson and the food. "Is that for me?"

"No," Coulson said, "For Peter when he wakes up. He's still on our side, even if he lost track of that for a few months."

"Mind if I grab something before we go?" she asked.

"We got time," Phil said, "That dart hit him in the neck, so I suspect he'll be out for a while. Grab something for Mae too."

When Peter woke up, he was on the small Shield jet as it was back in the air and on its way back to base. Peter shook his head and groaned as he came back to the land of the living.

"That was less than an hour," Phil said from the chair on the side of the small jet that was opposite of Peter. "We'll have to notate that, adjust the darts to compensate."

"I'm figuring that might be my new ability," Peter said, shaking his head to clear some of the cobwebs.

"A new power?" Daisy repeated, "Don't you have enough of them already?"

"Don't blame me for this one," Peter said, "It was all Mysterio's fault."

Phil sat there thinking about it for a moment. "Logan. You took some of his mojo when Mysterio switched your brains, didn't you?"

"It went both ways," Peter confirmed, "No one will ever be able to sneak up on that grumpy Canadian again."

"That's a scary thought," Phil said, thinking about it. "The Wolverine with spidey-sense. That guy is paranoid enough, and now he can sense and smell enemies coming."

"I don't get it," Daisy said to Coulson, "What power does he have? I just thought he was just some creepy dude with steel claws."

"The steel claws were added by man," Phil informed her, "Logan's real power is regeneration. That's why he was the only person to survive the surgery and torture that he suffered at the hands of Striker. That's why the dart wore off so quickly and how you're walking again so soon after the beating Stark gave you. You're regenerating."

"Like I said," Peter replied, "This is new to me too."

"Great," Daisy said, "Spider-man has healing powers now."

"Who's she?" Peter said, gesturing to the woman beside him.

"This is Daisy Johnson," Phil replied, "You know her better as Quake."

"Quake?" Peter said, looking rather impressed. "I thought you'd be taller."

"I thought you'd be older," Daisy countered.

"I get that a lot," Peter concurred.

"So I've been told." Daisy noted, "You're a lot cuter in person though."

"I get that a lot too," Peter said, giving her his cutest smile.

"What is this, love connection?" Phil asked.

"Wow," Peter said, "Someone just showed his age."

Not only did Daisy and Peter laugh at that comment, Mack couldn't help but snicker as well as his boss' expense.

"Always the jokester," Phil said as he stood up, "Don't make me ice you again, because this time I'll hit you twice and you'll nap all the way back."

"Sorry," Peter said, "I'll ease up on the old man jokes."

"Much appreciated," Phil said, leaving the back room to move up to speak with the pilot in the cockpit.

"Sorry Phil," Mae said, looking over at him. "But that was pretty funny."

"At least you're professional enough to not let him hear you laugh." Phil said, taking the co-pilot seat.

"We're thirty-minutes from base," Mae told him.

"Not anymore," Phil told her, "Change course."

"Where are we heading?" Mae asked him.

"The hellicarrier," Phil told her, "I'm going to bring Peter to Fury. See if he can talk some sense into that kid. Odin knows I can't."

"Seems like a good plan," Mae said, changing course. "I can get the ship tuned up and fixed while we're there."

"Sounds like a plan," Phil said, "But don't tell anyone we have Parker. I don't want this intel leaking out before we get a chance to meet with Fury."

"You're worried someone's listening?" Mae asked.

"His ally is the most powerful telepath on the planet," Phil replied, "The less people who know the less trouble we'll have."

"Alright, I'll keep the details to myself." Mae said, looking back at him. "What did he tell you at the meet?"

"Something scary," Phil replied, "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"Fair enough," Mae said, looking back at her view. "Get back there and keep an eye on him. Last thing we need is him wiggling out before we get to Fury."

"Yes, ma'am." Phil said, hopping out of the co-pilot seat. "Let me know when we get to the carrier."