Wrong Number, Kid: An Irondad and Spiderson Story

Chapter 15 - The Stalker in the Vents (aka When Peter Met Clint)

As predicted, Sam, William, Aaliyah, and Jayden were all moved up to Intern Group 5 after the next competition. Peter had gotten third with an average of 9.1, but only because they had been able to work on it at home and Peter didn't have time because of Spiderman (though Peter would never think that way). Sam had scored an average of 8.7, doing very well and grabbing the title of 5th. The other three had been pretty close behind. The only score that had shocked Peter was Lily's- she got an 8.3 and had won 9th (the interns kept count - it was the competitive Stark Industries, after all). Maybe she was better than they had thought.

He'd met Ms. Romanoff at Delmar's Monday after work. He hadn't told anyone about their meeting, as per her request - not even Mr. Mechanic, Mama spider, Archie, and the rest.  She had been actually quite witty and nice to hang around with - after Peter got over the initial (thirty minute) fear of it being the Black Widow.  It was strange how no one noticed her in public as long as she had sunglasses and a hoodie on... but then again, people weren't that observant (he resolved to ask her next time - yes, there was going to be a next time.  Natasha, with a wink, had mysteriously told him she would contact him soon to meet again).

Peter was going to grab paper off of the printer when he first sensed the stalker in the vents.
To be fair, at first, he had thought that it was just a stranger in the vents, but once the presence had followed him around a bit... you get the point.

As he reached the printer, Peter looked upwards at the vent nearest to it.  He spotted a flash of color, and instantly went on high alert.  If this was a bad guy following him around... but how was he to change into his Spiderman suit while everyone was watching?

Peter shook his head at himself.  He really needed to stop overthinking things.  If this stalker wanted to hurt him, she (or he) probably would have made a move already.

"Who's there?" Peter asked.  William, who had been in the printer nook-room as he had walked in, looked at him quizzically (it was more of an amused what-are-you-doing-you-idiot look, but eh), but continued on out of the room as if he didn't have time for the ramblings of Peter Parker.

There was a silence.

"I know you're up there." Peter said, "I saw you."

There was a sudden clatter if noise, and a man jumped down from the vent, pulling the cover away before he did so.  He landed in a crouch, but quickly pushed himself back up from his squat so it was once graceful move.

"Dang." Hawkeye said, "Most people don't think to look up."

It was a testament to all of the Avengers Peter has been meeting lately that all the hesitation he showed as three blinks before he grinned and replied, "Well, I'm not most people, sir."

Hawkeye gave Peter a once-over.

"I'll have to take your word for it." He said, sticking out his hand, "And it's Clint, after you put up with me following you around for a quarter hour."

Peter took his hand and they shook. Clint seemed like a pretty cool guy, so far - aside from the stalker thing, at least.

"So why is the infamous Hawkeye stalking an intern from the vents?" Asked Peter, tilting his head upwards.

"Looking for a friend." Hawkeye said, "Thought you'd lead me to him."

Peter thought that one over, but after a few moments figured he was probably missing some pieces.

"Anyway, I better get back to it." Said Hawkeye.  He looked up to the open vent, and then at the printer, and then back to Peter, "Mind giving me a boost?  I would use the printer and exit in the dramatic Avenger-way, but I'd hate to break one of Stark's things and I'm feeling a bit cramped from all the vent crawling."

"Sure." Peter said, putting his hands together.  Hawkeye - er, Clint - stepped up into it.  Peter gave him a boost (careful not to show his powers too much by slamming the Avenger into the ceiling), and Hawkeye gracefully (again!) went into the shoot.

"Pretty strong for a techie nerd." Commented Hawkeye, his voice a bit muffled from the wall separating it from Peter.

"I, uh, lift weights!" Peter replied.  There was a chuckle, before Clint left, slight noises telling Peter that he had moved to the right.

Peter began to reach for his back pocket to tell his newfound friends about his most recent Avenger encounter, before remembering he'd left his phone with Sam. He shrugged, before finally grabbing the papers from the printer.  He turned around and walked out of the nook to see William leaning against the other side of the wall, a slight michevious on his face.  He raised his eyebrows at Peter, who fought the urge to facepalm right then and there. 

"You lift weights, huh?" Said William, his tone, as always, insulting (though this time it didn't really feel like he meant it).  He gave Peter a once-over, "Never would have guessed." He grinned again, before turning and walking away, papers under his arm.

Peter could have sworn he heard the intern humming the Jeapordy theme song as he walked away.

—
Meanwhile, Clint, still in the vents, was in the middle of his plan...

Clint peered through the vents, being more careful than he had with the Peter kid.  They (they being him, and by Nat's slight tells, Nat) had definitely thought that the Peter kid was Baby Spider, but the lack of phones buzzing was a sign that it wasn't.

Clint pulled out his phone and typed into the chat:

Friends

Archie
Yo Baby Spider, planning on answering any time soon?  I'm sure ur busy w ur fancy smanchy intern stuff but too busy to talk to your best pal Archie?
Sad sad

Clint watched as the boy with mousy brown hair slightly shifted.
Hmm...

Archie
Baby spideeeerrr
H
E
L
L
O

Clint grinned as the mousy-hailed boy pulled a phone out of his pocket and put it into the table a bit farther away from him, annoyed at the spam.

That sneaky son of a gun.  Baby spider had pretended that his best friend was the intern Sam, but in reality, he was Sam.

But too bad Clint was smarter than that.  He'd had a plan, and it had worked flawlessly.

Clint slowly turned, before making his way back up the vents.

So now he had a face to the name.  Or rather, a face and a name to the code-name.

(Being an Avenger meant normal sayings didn't really apply.)

(Actually, it was more like being an avenger usually meant normal anything didn't really apply).

Not six seconds later, Peter Parker walked back into the room, grabbed his phone off the table, and slid into the chair next to Sam, a concentrated look taking over his face as he began to work on his next project.