As with all great nations after a tragedy, the first thing America did was look for someone to blame. Trask had been blamed, but he was dead and everything had been wiped from his systems. The military had been blamed, but as Ross had predicted, they were given a pass.
It had come down to Peter. His team had swung around New York, against the orders of the president, against the orders of the military and while they had stayed out of the way, definitely against the orders of the local police.
The clean up of the city took a few days, whereas the clean up of the new law was going to take a lot longer. Months rolled past as Gwen took the stand, followed by Tony, Ross, and soon enough, it was Peter's turn.
Which was why at nine am on a dreary Autumn Monday, Peter was sitting in a very smart blue suit, facing a congressional panel, to determine if under the new ARCA that his team had acted improperly. Which Peter had already been told was lawyer-speak for "fucked up so badly we're going to throw your ass in jail forever."
He was smiling though, as right in front of him was Senator 'totally not using this to gain political clout for his presidency bid' Gideon Malik. Right where Peter wanted him. They all knew Malik was dirty. He had scoured Alister Sinclair's mind and knew he was Hydra, reporting directly to the senator. Peter also had a hidden ace, one even his lawyer knew nothing about, as loose lips sank more than ships when it came to Hydra and their schemes.
After the usual pomp and ceremony, Malik started the impromptu interrogation,
"So, Mr Parker. We are all here today to discuss your team's part in the mess the Sentinels made, and ultimately, decide if you should face criminal charges." Malik leant back and smirked, "But, we would also like to hear, how a young man such as yourself took it upon himself to interfere with a citywide rollout of a defensive program, aimed at keeping our non-powered citizens safe."
Peter smiled, took a small sip of water and looked around the room,
"Easy. It was a stupid idea, thought up by idiots and implemented by an even bigger idiot."
Gideon banged his gavel on the lectern in front of him, "may I remind you that this is not a discussion about the ARCA. This is a discussion about your destruction of over one hundred government drones and property damage to the great city of New York."
Peter raised an eyebrow, "but see it is. The scanning technology used in the Sentinels was developed in the '70s, and right now it is so far behind I have an app on my phone that does a better job. You used an untested AI, and right after both Ultron and Modoc. We all saw how without proper security protocols, they go rogue, and they did. You used alien technology that proved to be unsafe. You, Mr Malik, authorised all of this, and now, as my friends and I defended our property from these rogue elements, I am the one sitting here answering your questions, and not the other way around." Peter waited for the murmurs of the room to quiet down. "All because of a piece of legislation that you championed, allowing all those variables to be forced onto the American people."
"And a separate panel is being assembled to deal with that, but we are here as right now, other than Tony Stark, Parker Inc, or should I say AIM is the largest holder of mutant and super-soldiers-" but Peter slapped his hand on the table in front of him,
"Augmented and Enhanced. Anything else is a slur. Do not make me tell you twice." Peter said sternly, and Malik narrowed his eyes at him before clearing his throat,
"The largest collection of Augmented and Enhanced individuals. And you saw fit to interfere in an issue of national security?" Malik leaned forwards, "Especially as the New York accords had been repealed and replaced."
"When national security threatens me and my loved ones, then yes. Second Amendment I believe. The founding fathers never mentioned what kind of arms. My guys just have better than most."
Malik snorted at Peter's reply, "A power is not a gun, Mr Parker,"
"Correct, and as Augments have existed for far longer, and until the government interfered, managed to stay well hidden, it makes you think to what purpose the Act actually serves."
Malik shook his head, "Again Mr Parker, we are not here to discuss the Act, but your involvement in the chaos that ensued. The Sentinels had been nonviolent until one of your 'friends' used their power."
"Oh?" and Peter lifted his phone. "Security footage from my home."
He cast the recording to the screen that had been set up, and the hearing watched as the Sentinels attacked without provocation.
"And add in the problem that Sword gave them my address, my home address. My DNA was scanned without permission, kinda like this." Peter pointed his phone at Malik, it beeped and
'Gamma Variant Detected. Gamma Variant Detected.' his phone announced,
"See. Gwen Stacy knows about all three gene variants. Yeah, three. And Mr Malik, it seems that you register as a Gamma Enhanced. So, under the current law, you need to report for containment."
Malik snorted, "A phone app? A gene scanner is a highly specialised piece of equipment. I and many of my colleagues doubt a simple app would be able to determine if a person had one of these X-Genes or not."
Peter shrugged. "Which is why, as part of my deposition, I have two authentic, and approved, gene scanners waiting. One from a Sentinel, and one from Stark Enterprises."
Malik shook his head, "this is highly irregular, I refuse to let this become a show for you to weasel out of your responsibilities."
Peter smiled, "This isn't a trial, and so far you've asked why I interfered. To stop people being hurt because your Sentinels were so badly programmed that a Non-Augment registered live on TV as a threat. I spoke to Steve Rogers. You gave the order for the Avengers to be benched, so nobody, nobody was protecting the people."
Taking a breath, Peter let the Mind Stone connect and he found a single senator, a younger democrat who had watched the news in horror,
He gave her a small push, adding to her already annoyance at Malik's attempts to blame everyone but himself, she already knew the backroom deals had been struck, and Malik and Ross were both walking free from this whole mess, and it pissed her off.
"I think we should allow it. If the technology used was faulty, then while Mr Parker was reckless, and overstepped he must be given allowances," she said, "And as Mr Parker is an expert in these matters if we cannot count on his testimony as to the methods used to verify an Augmented individuals status, who can we rely on?"
"A vote then," said Malik gruffly, "in favour?" and as the chamber voted, it was swayed slightly by an unseen pulse of light from Peter, resulting in four for, two against, and one abstention.
"We will have a recess, to allow the machinery to be set up." with that, the panel rose and exited the hearing chamber.
Outside another older gentleman grabbed Malik by the arm, "what the hell.? If he shows the Sentinels were faulty we'll all burn for this." but Malik shook his head,
"Even if he does, he still committed several crimes. We can show it was only that one batch, and update any surviving models. He can show they were crap all he likes. From that batch, there are only about twenty left." As he flipped open his phone he sent a message,
Scrap Master Mould, blame Trask
He was going to make sure this was his ticket to the presidency, and nothing, not some punk kid was going to stop him.
Peter never moved from the hearing room. He didn't need to as with the Mind Stone he was actively monitoring everyone in the building. He had reached out to Charles and been shut down. Whatever they were up to Charles made it perfectly clear that Peter was to stay away, Jean had vanished after the attack on the school, and Wanda had been staying at the sanctum most days.
Peter knew something had happened, and that something else was going to happen, he just had no clue what, and wasn't about to push it. This needed a scalpel, not a hammer, and it needed to be closed down once and for all. The Augment argument was going to be tough to win, but it needed to be won.
As the Senators filed back in, some with apprehensive looks and Malik looking just as smug as ever, Peter waiting until the hearing was back in session,
"So Mr Parker, go ahead and do your presentation." Malik said, waving his gavel at him, "But I will not have this devolve into a circus. One petty stunt like that again and I will have you, and whatever evidence you present, removed from my hearing. Do I make myself clear?"
Peter smiled a shit-eating grin and stood. "Crystal. I need volunteers. A simple cheek swab, nothing invasive." he swept out with the Stone, and before anyone could voice a complaint, Malik, the senator who spoke up for him, two security guards and a stenographer had all agreed.
"Good. Take one of the kits from the table and open it, rub it on the inside of your cheek and then one at a time, slide it into the machine. This particular one can handle up to twenty samples at a time, so we can do them all together."
Begrudgingly they complied and once the machine was loaded Peter then moved. "It takes a while, but first," and lifting the gene scanner from the table, he pointed it at all five volunteers. It beeped for each of them.
"The scanner registers what is known as the X-Gene. Even a dormant gene still registers as it gives off a small amount of energy. As the scanner in a Sentinel is so shoddily built, it registers every possible variant. Active or not. And as you can see," Peter lifted his phone and cast its camera to the monitor in the room, showing a positive result for each member he scanned, "It registers you all as carriers."
Peter put down the scanner and then moved to the more delicate instrument.
"And as we can see here, two of you have an active X-Gene, but are not Augmented, and the other three are harmless."
Malik snorted, "So you proved the Sentinels are fallible. That doesn-" but Peter shook his head
"The Sentinels were built this way, Senator, and cleared by you. We have the paperwork from Trask Industries, co-signed by Alexander Pierce. We have the requisition orders, signed the same way, Everything from their deployment to their approval was signed by you and Hydra agent Alexander Pierce. I was a Shield Agent, Mr Malik, Do you think I don't know a Hydra agent when I see one."
Malik was about to speak but his throat tightened and his voice faded,
This is not going to end how you think it is, going after a minority never works, you get your big bang but it is always followed by change, and more often than not a lot of casualties.
"We have all this and more. We were collecting the evidence for Shield to indict Gideon Malik as a Hydra agent when the Sentinels attacked, and as they had not just our home address but orders to attack without provocation We had no choice but to defend ourselves."
Peter cleared his throat, "Like the attack on the Triskelion, we believed that Gideon Malik was using public panic to assassinate several key members of the public, to push Hydras agenda. We have communications with Trask Industries, ignoring the updated Gene research that came from Wakanda. We had evidence that illegal experimentation was being done, as the Sentinels used cells from a killed Augment, and we were preparing all of this to present to the authorities when we were blocked and attacked. The only teams capable of defending the population were grounded. I had no choice, and if that makes me a criminal, then I accept. I will never let Hydra or fascism take root in my home."
When they discussed what Peter was going to say he felt it was a bit preachy, but they agreed. If Hydra was going to stir up hate to drive its agenda home then they needed to stir up the opposite. Pure patriotism seemed like Captain America's Schtick more than Peter's but, with the Mind Stone sending out pulses of trust, Peter knew it wouldn't matter.
Gideon Malik was done for, and with the untraceable release of files, phone calls and technical schematics all detailing just how rotten the whole Sentinel program was, even grainy film footage of an Augment being gunned down to save the president during the first failed Sentinel deployment, it was a done deal.
He was about to finish his speech when the doors to the chamber opened, and a well dressed and young looking handsome man walked in, adjusting the cuffs on his suit he brushed the longish brown hair from his face,
"So sorry I'm late. I do apologise," and as a security guard moved to escort the man out he shook his head and the man stepped back and stood still, "I apologise for being late, not for what comes next."