After ending the video call with Peter, the President of the United States—now a master of "desk clearing" through sheer, impotent rage—slumped into his chair.
He had come dangerously close to pressing a certain red button just to see if it would make the nightmare go away.
Triple the funding!Supreme jurisdictional authority!
Why didn't the kid just rob a bank? Oh, wait—what he was doing now was no different from a daylight mugging of the entire federal government.
The President's plan to "tame" Peter by making him Director, thinking he could bind the youth to his political chariot with titles and prestige, was now the funniest joke in history.
You don't stable Godzilla in a pigpen.
It was too late for regrets. He could only watch as the power he had spent half his life chasing slipped into another's hands.
From now on, his political survival depended entirely on the scraps of mercy Peter Parker chose to throw his way.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters: The Triskelion
The meeting was officially over. Phil Coulson was busy overseeing the massive cleanup operation, while Maria Hill had already dispatched tactical teams to round up the Hydra remnants lurking in other government agencies.
Peter walked out of the building flanked by Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. They were escorting a shell-shocked Nick Fury toward a waiting motorcade of black SUVs bearing the CIA insignia.
As two stone-faced CIA agents took Fury by the arms and shoved him into a vehicle, Tony rubbed his chin and leaned toward Peter.
"You're really just handing him over to the CIA?" Tony's voice was thick with distrust.
"Those couldn't hold a wet paper bag, let alone a man like Fury. They're less competent than the Hydra moles we just shot."
"Whether they can hold him or not isn't the point," Peter said, crossing his arms as he watched the convoy pull away.
"On the surface, I have to give the administration some 'face.' If you corner a dog too tightly, it'll jump the wall."
Peter knew perfectly well that the CIA holding Nick Fury was a fairy tale. Before the convoy even reached a black site, the "Braised Egg" would likely use a Skrull body double to pull a vanishing act.
In truth, this was a final test. Fury was manipulative and annoying, but he wasn't a monster. Peter had no desire to kill him without cause.
If Fury chose to cross the line—if he sought revenge by conspiring with hostile alien forces—Peter would personally send him to join his Hydra "friends" in hell.
But if the man still understood who the real enemies of Earth were... Peter wouldn't mind eventually tossing him a title like "Director of S.W.O.R.D." and letting him grow potatoes in space—or rather, find a new home for his Skrull refugees.
It was just good waste management.
"Don't worry about the old man, Tony. I've got it handled." Peter patted Tony's shoulder. "Your priority is that new element and the Vibranium suit. I'm looking forward to your masterpiece."
Tony's eyes lit up. "Just you wait. I'm going to build a suit that grinds Wakandan tech into the dirt!"
With that boast, Tony engaged his thrusters and streaked away from the Triskelion.
"Hydra's done, S.H.I.E.L.D. is in my pocket..." Peter rubbed his temples. "Now, I suppose it's time to handle the... Gwen and Felicia situation."
He stepped onto his hoverboard and soared away. He didn't notice that behind him, in the glass-and-steel monolith of the Triskelion, three pairs of eyes were watching his departure from different floors.
The Training Room
Daisy Johnson's tank top was soaked with sweat. She had just finished a physical regimen that would have broken a standard recruit. Her muscles screamed, and she could barely stand.
But as she watched Peter's silhouette vanish into the distance through the reinforced glass, her exhaustion was replaced by a burning fire.
Peter... he's incredible. In just a few days, he had decapitated a shadow organization that had existed for seventy years. And she hadn't been able to help at all.
Daisy clenched her fists. She couldn't keep moving at this pace. She had vowed to be Peter's greatest asset in S.H.I.E.L.D.
At her current rate, she was miles behind. She turned back to the training equipment, beginning a new round of grueling self-improvement.
The Director's Office
Maria Hill stood by the window, staring at the empty sky. As Fury's former right hand, the shock of the day's events was still vibrating through her.
But beneath the shock was a profound, burgeoning respect. Hydra had been a parasite on S.H.I.E.L.D. for decades, invisible to everyone. Yet Peter had swept them away like cobwebs.
How had he known? How had he gathered such a mountain of evidence in secret? This wasn't just the work of a superpowered "brute"—this was the work of a master strategist with terrifying resolve.
As she watched the horizon where he had disappeared, Hill's curiosity deepened. She felt a hazy, growing urge to understand the young man behind the mask.
She didn't realize yet that such curiosity was a trap. One day, it would leave her as helpless as an insect in a spider's web.
The Roof of the Triskelion
Natasha Romanoff leaned against the railing, letting the high-altitude wind whip her red hair into a frenzy. There was a faint, almost imperceptible trace of disappointment on her face.
She had expected that being the first to stand up and support Peter in the meeting would earn her a different look—perhaps a private word or a moment of praise.
But Peter's gaze had treated her no differently than Coulson or any other agent. He had accepted her loyalty as if it were simply expected, a foregone conclusion.
This indifference stung. For the first time in a long time, the Black Widow doubted her own charm. She didn't know why she craved his attention so pathologically. Was it gratitude? Admiration? Or something more?
Why was he so uninterested in her? Was it his loyalty to Gwen? But he was clearly entangled with that Felicia girl too.
Was it... her past? The blood and filth of the Red Room? The memories she herself loathed?
A wave of negative emotion threatened to pull her under. If I had a choice, she thought, if someone had reached out to me when I was alone, like he does for Gwen... would I have ever become this?
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