"You know that the guy you impersonated got thrown out, don't you?" she asked.
Peter's head dropped slightly. "Yeah. Figured he would."
"Well? Was it worth it? Did you find out anything about your dad?" she asked after a few moments of simply staring at him.
Peter's nod became a shrug before morphing into a head shake.
"Well, there's a few answers for me to pick," she said sarcastically.
"Look. I'm not sure," Peter said. "My dad used to work with Curt Connors …"
"My boss?" she interrupted with a sharp intake of breath.
"Yeah. And I got to meet him, at least. Well, sort of. And there might have been something else, but I'm not sure," he finished in a mumble.
"Next time, ask me and I might be able to help," she said, "assuming that you promise not to go wandering off by yourself again."
Once again, Peter gave her that huge smile that was all teeth and bright eyes.
Suddenly, the expression disappeared and she felt his foot connect with her chair before both it and her were yanked two foot to the left. The sound of something smashing and splashing all over the floor and table where she'd just been moments before whipped her head around.
Gwen couldn't help but stare at what was obviously once a very full teapot full of boiling water. If Peter hadn't …
"My god! Are you alright? I am so sorry! I was bumped and it just unbalanced. It could have landed all over you," Lisa, one of the other waitresses babbled.
"I'm fine," Gwen told her.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, materialising out of nowhere. "None of that landed on you? You're not burnt at all?"
"No. No, I'm fine. If Peter hadn't …" she trailed off as she stared wide-eyed at the top of the messy-brown hair.
"It was nothing," Peter mumbled into the tabletop.
"No. It wasn't," Gwen told him, reaching out to lay a hand on his, bringing his head up just enough to see his brown eyes. "You saved me from a serious burning."
"Gwen's right, Peter. Thank you," Harry agreed. "Whatever you two want, it's on the house today. I've a policy here to never charge heroes. And a little something to calm you down won't go astray either, Gwen."
"Thanks, Harry," Gwen smiled up at him.
"I'm no hero," Peter protested.
"You are today, Peter," Gwen said, patting his hand. "And Peter? Thank you."
His shrug and small smile was enough to have her smiling back at him.
ooo00ooo
The leader of the Hydra council glanced down at his notes. The meeting was close to being done and there were only a few more points to cover. With his memory of the next item on the agenda restored, he turned to face the one that he'd charged with the task.
"What is the status of Project Sinister?" he asked.
"Things are proceeding according to schedule," he was assured. "Our man inside Oscorp has managed to gain access to the 'Special Projects Division'. It is everything that we could have hoped for. The equipment and technology that we need is all there, just waiting for the taking."
"And what of the correct people to operate the suits and technology?" the leader asked.
"We've begun compiling a preliminary list of candidates," he was told. "Only one name stands out so far, but he will actually need some specialised equipment not found at Oscorp. I have some of our people already creating it."
"His name?"
"Frederick Myers. Born in Australia. He has already proven that he has the potential to hurt Iron Man. With a little training and the right equipment, he could be formidable."
"What of Sterns and Blonsky?" the question was asked from the far side of the table.
"For now, we'll leave them where they are. Our plan is that at the correct time, we'll orchestrate for Sterns to escape with the knowledge of how to gather the rest, including Blonsky."
"What is the timeline that you are thinking?"
"Unknown at this time. While we've found the tech that we need, the appropriate individuals need to be determined and recruited before we move them into the open. Move too early and either S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers could hear about it and put a stop to it. But if we time it right, they'll be forced into simply reacting and will have no chance of stopping what is to come."
"Excellent. Proceed. We look forward to your report at our next meeting."
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