╔ ——————————————— ╗
｡･:*:･ﾟCHAPTER ELEVEN ｡･:*:･ﾟ
"plan of action"
╚ ——————————————— ╝

"ALRIGHT, SPECTER, what's the plan of action here?" 

 Gray shot Ned a sideways look, leaning over to spit a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink. "What do you mean?"

"Mysterio!" Ned was practically bouncing as he followed Gray into his room, where he took off his shirt and stretched his arms as he turned to lay down on his rickity bed. Since he wasn't a member of Midtown Tech, he was given the priviledge of not having to share a room with anyone. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he would be sharing a room with Ned; since the boy had a lot to say. "Do you know him? Have you ever fought aliens with him before?" 

 "I can confidentally say that I have not," he cocked an eyebrow at Ned, "have you?"

 "What? Of course not-" he chuckled, "I was just asking because you're like, an Avenger, and-"

 Gray almost smiled, he liked messing with Ned, but he liked the boy's childish wonder more. Sitting up, he brushed some hair from his face and pursed his lips. "I don't know Mysterio," he admitted, "but he can't be that bad, he did blow up a water-monster." 

 "So cool," Ned muttered under his breath, a dazed smile on his face. "Do you wanna go ask Peter with me? Or do you think that he would know anything?" 

 Peter one hundred percent didn't know anything about Mysterio -- Gray knew that for a fact. But he didn't want to crush Ned's dreams, so he just rose to his feet with a sigh. "I dunno, let's go ask him."

 He grabbed a sweater from his bag, leaving it unzipped as he followed Ned into the hall. The hotel they were staying at looked like the setting of some sort of nineties horror film. The floorboards creaked with every step, and the chipped paint on the walls only added to the deteriorating feel. The doors were abnormally small, and Gray had to duck to avoid hitting his forehead. 

 Peter was brushing his teeth when they walked in, and Gray tapped his finger against the doorframe, "knock, knock, Spidey, we have-" 

 His muscles tensed as he heard a sound from the corner of the room, a barely audible click that he had heard one too many times. He took a step backward, managing to avoid the dart that was shot at his shoulder. It whizzed past him, hitting Ned directly in the neck, and making the boy's eyes widen; before he slumped to the floor, unconscious.  

 Gray whirled around, holding his wrists up as if he was about to activate his suit. Before he got the chance, he felt his chest deflate slightly at the face staring back at him. 

 Nick Fury rose an eyebrow, "I see Tony taught you well." 

 "Jesus Christ!" Gray shut the door with the back of his heel, feeling his heart race. "What the hell was that? Haven't you ever heard of saying 'hello'?"

Fury shot him an unimpressed look, "in my defense, I was not away that you would be taking part in this trip, Pérez."

 Gray didn't really know what to say to that, and Fury took his silence as answer enough, turning his one-eyed gaze to Peter, "you're a hard person to find, Spider-Man."

 Peter gaped. He looked as if he was seconds away from going into cardiac arrest as his eyes drifted between Gray, Fury, and Ned's unconscious form. "Y-You're Nick Fury!" He managed to choke out, turning to gesture to his friend. "And you just shot Ned!" 

 "It's a mild tranquilizer," he said, as if that made it okay. "He'll be alright." 

Leaning forward in his seat, Fury fixated Peter with a look that made goosebumps rise on his arms. "So good to finally meet you. I saw you at the funeral, but I didn't think that was a good time to exchange numbers." 

 Peter gripped onto his toothbrush like it would protect him, laughing nervously. "No, that would have been really inappropriate."

"That's what I just said."

 "Right." 

 Gray sighed deeply. He had really thought that babysitting Peter would be an easy task, but in the time that they had been together half of Italy had been demolished, a newfound hero-man showed up, and now Nick Fury was shooting people with darts in creepy old hotel rooms. It seemed like Gray just couldn't catch a break. 

 "The important thing is that you're here," Fury shifted his gaze onto Gray. "As for you... well, I can't say I'm surprised. You take after Stark, that's for sure... you just can't let things go."

Grayson scoffed, crossing his arms and doing his best to ignore the tensed feeling in his gut that resurfaced whenever Tony was mentioned. "You know we weren't actually related, right?"

"May as well have been, with the way you act." Fury sighed, lifting up his dart gun as he crossed his arms. "It doesn't matter, it's good that you're here. I was going to try and bring you here, and now you're here... both of you in the same place at the same time, what a coincidence."

 Peter's eyes widened as his gaze flew over to Gray, "wait, was this a coincidence?"

 The man frowned deeply. His tone held an edge of frusteration -- not anger -- frusteration. He seemed like he was fed up with what the world was becoming, and it was evident in the tight expression on his face. "I used to know everything. Then I come back five years later, and now I know nothing. No intel, no team... and a high school kid is dodging my calls." 

Gray actually laughed aloud at that, before quickly trying to cover it up as a cough as he averted his gaze from Fury's steely eye. 

The man glared at him for a moment, removing a small device from his pocket and setting it on the table. "Here's what I do know," the device expanded, casting an amber glow across the room as a holographic image unfolded. "A week ago, a village in Mexico was wiped out by a cyclone." Pictures dilated, allowing Gray to watch as chaos wreaked; debris flying in the air and people running in all directions. He wasn't even there and he felt his throat go dry. "Witnesses say that cyclone had a face."

His spiel was interrupted by a loud snore coming from Ned. Gray glanced over his shoulder, holding up a finger in Fury's direction as he nudged the boy's face with his foot. That succeeded in shutting him up, and Gray flashed the man a thumbs up as he regained his attention. 

 Fury looked like he was supressing an eye-roll. "Three days later, a similar event in Morocco. The-" 

 There was a knock at the door, and Fury immediately turned his dart-gun into the direction of Mr. Harrington. Gray felt the muscles in his back tense, shoving his hands in his pockets as he tried his best to act natural. The man had a good-natured smile on his face, and he spoke in a soft tone of voice. "Just making the rounds, see if anyone needs any emotional counseling after today's traumatic events." 

 Peter shook his head, "no - no, we're fine." He locked eyes with Gray, who nodded. "Thank you." 

 "Great, because I'm not qualified to actually... oh-" he caught sight of Ned, and apparently didn't find it peculiar that he was asleep on the floor, as he immediately took a step away. "He's passed out." He gestured vaguely to himself, "I'm not actually qualified anyway, so-" he gave a small wave as he shut the door. "Good night!" 

 Under different circumstances, Gray would have smiled; but he was preoccupied at the moment, so he settled with turning back to Fury as Peter spoke in a high-pitched tone. "Sorry, that was my - our - teacher."

Fury didn't waver, "a village was destroyed by what may be another world-threatening-"

There was a knock at the door, followed by Betty's soft voice. "Babe? Are you in there? You're not answering any of my texts."

Gray cleared his throat, "he's asleep, Betty!"

 "Grayson? What are you doing in Peter and Ned's-" her voice trailed off as she giggled softly. "Oh, I get it. Good night, guys!" 

 Gray furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as Peter's face turned bright red. "She didn't mean-" 

 Fury cut him off. "That's why it is imperative-"

"Hey boys, so that canal water today was filled with dangerous bacteria-"

 Fury turned to the boys, his face pinching with his annoyance. "Another person touches that door, we are going to attend another funeral."

 Gray winced, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't really in the mood to risk his life again... plus, he swallowed a lot of canal water, and he didn't want to die of bacterial poisoning. 

 But he knew Peter was going to follow Fury, so he was too.

***

"STARK LEFT THESE for you."

Gray was sitting in the boat, his arm slung lazily over the edge as he propped his feet up on the opposite side. Peter was less relaxed, standing straight as a board with his mask covering his face. The boy's tone was laced with disbelief at Fury's words, "really?"

Gray watched as Fury handed Peter a small box, humming and piping up, "hey, Parker."

 Peter turned to look at him, so Gray gestured for him to come forward. "I wanna see."

 "Oh, right-" Peter knelt down, Gray raising his eyebrows as he watched Peter cautiously open the small box. Inside, there was a pair of sunglasses - ones that totally looked like something Tony would wear. 

 Gray snorted, "I guess Stark knew about your poor fashion." 

 "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown," Fury recited, before turning back to shoot Peter a partially amused expression. "He said you wouldn't get that because it's not a Star Wars reference."

 Gray laughed, resting his hand on his stomach as Fury held up his hand, a small envelope between his fingers. "Don't worry, Moreno, Stark didn't forget about you." 

The boy felt his eyebrows furrow. He assumed that all Tony left for him was a place in his family and a letter that depressed him for a solid week. He nervously sat up, snatching the envelope from Fury's hands and opening it slowly.

Inside were multiple sheets of paper. Gray's eyebrows furrowed as he leaned forward to observe it closer in the dark lighting. It was... a certificate. A birth certificate, one that had his name written at the top in neat lettering. 

 Grayson Luis Moreno.

Gray didn't realize until that exact moment that he never knew what his middle name was. He scanned the rest of the form, his heart beat accelerating in his chest until he felt as if he couldn't breathe. 

 Grayson Luis Moreno, born to Gabriela and Enrique Moreno, on December 17th,  at 13:02 PM. 

 There was other information, but Gray didn't care too much about how much he weighed when he was born. All he could focus on was that he now knew what his parents names were. He knew his parents name, he knew his middle name, he knew his birthday... information that had previously left a gaping hole in his consciousness. 

 With shaky hands, he flipped to the next page. It was an image, one taken of a woman and a man sitting side by side in a hospital bed, a bundle in the woman's arms. They were grinning widely, seeming as if everything had gone right in their lives, and Gray felt his heart clench.

His parents. Back before he had been taken from them. 

 On the backside of the page, a message was scrawled in Tony's familiar handwriting.

I did some digging these past few years, figured if you came back you could pay them a visit. They live in Brooklyn, I put the address on the bottom. I know this is giving off stalker-vibes, but I guess I thought you'd like to know where you came from. This doesn't mean you're not my family, punk, don't think otherwise.

And then underneath:

You're not a ghost, Gray.

Gray swallowed, half-expecting there to be more, only to find that his hands were shaking so hard that he nearly dropped the papers. He managed to get them back into the envelope, holding it tightly in his grasp and pursing his lips. 

 He wasn't going to cry. Not now, not in front of Peter - and dear god, not in front of Nick Fury. So instead, he just swallowed and trained his gaze back up at the darkening azure sky. 

The boat stopped shortly after, and Gray wordlessly followed the man into an old building. As soon as they were inside, he tapped the side of his head and the mask disappeared from his eyes. He turned to glance at Peter, only to see that he was already looking at him. He couldn't see his face through his mask, but reached over to punch his shoulder. "Shut up." 

 He threw his hands up, "I didn't say anything!" 

 Gray smiled as they followed Fury into a dimly lit room, the man speaking up upon entry. "You can take the mask off, everyone here's seen you without it. All you'd be doing is feigning anominity and breathing through spandex."

Peter obliged, and Gray thought he looked cute with his pink cheeks and ruffled hair. Gray nudged him along, his eyes raking over the various machines set up; and people milling around. Some were familiar faces to the boy, who offered him curt nods, while others were unknown to the boy. 

 "Over there, we have Maria Hill." Fury said, successfully gaining the woman's attention as she looked up from her work and over to them. He then nodded to a bearded man holding a large gun, "that is Dimitri."

The man cocked his gun, so Gray smiled and chuckled to himself. "Nice gun, Dem, you planning on firing that close range?"

Dimitri ignored him, so Gray raised his hands in the air in mock-surrender, before turning and accidentally blurting out, "holy shit!" 

 Fury sighed, seeming tired as Gray gaped at the man in front of him. It was him, it was... Mysterio. The man who managed to fight off the monster at the canal while Gray practiced his parkour skills and Peter knocked over buildings. Fury seemed to notice the boy's shock, as he nodded. "This is Mr. Beck."

As Gray furiously tapped Peter's arm to make sure he saw, the boy's mouth dropped open. "Mysterio?" 

The man turned to face them, amused by their reaction as he smiled softly. "What?" 

 "Doesn't matter," Peter hit Gray's arms to make him stop hitting his arm. "Just what our friends were calling you." 

 Mysterio stepped forward, outstretching his hand, "well, you can call me Quentin."

Peter stepped forward as if to shake his head, so Gray held out his hand and pushed his face back, stepping in front of him in one brisk motion and clasping the man's hand. "I'm Grayson, it's nice to meet you, sir." 

 "Oh, I've heard of you, Grayson," Quentin's eyes creased with his kind smile. "And I was impressed at how you handled yourself today. That goes for both of you-" he chuckled as Peter smacked the back of Gray's head and stepped forward to shake the man's hand.

"You work well together," he began to turn around, his words momentarily making Gray remember the startling breakthrough he learned mere minutes before. "We could use people like you in my world."

 Peter grinned, "thanks," he said, before leaning over to mutter to Gray. "You heard him say 'my world' too, right?" 

 "Yeah, he's super cool, but he's probably tripping on something." 

 Fury quickly proved Gray wrong, walking past them in three long strides. "Mr. Beck is from Earth... just not ours."

 "There are multiple different realities," Quentin explained, looking at the boys as if he could sense how confused they were. "This is Earth Dimension 616, I'm from Earth 833."

Grayson's face scrunched up in confusion as Peter's brightened. He stepped forward, his voice slick with disbelief as he spoke in an excited tone. "I'm sorry, you're saying there's a multiverse? 'Cause I thought that was just theoretical. That changed how we understand the initial singularity. We're talking talking about an eternal inflation system, how does that even work with all of the quantum- it's insane!"

Gray felt himself smiling at how completely endearing Peter was, taking note of the way his words slurred together when he spoke of something that excited him. The others didn't seem to have the same thoughts, as they just shot the boy confused looks. 

 Peter's expression wavered, "s-sorry, it's just really cool." 

 Gray leaned over to sling an arm around the other boy's shoulder, grinning widely. "We can all agree that Parker is adorable, but what I'm wondering is if there are other me's out there... and do I have to fight them in order to be the strongest one?"

Quentin laughed, "you know, I don't think I can answer that. As for you-" he looked at a blushing Peter, "don't ever apologize for being the smartest one in the room." 

 Peter stared at the man with a starstruck expression for a moment, before turning to look at Gray - who looked away quickly to make sure it didn't seem like he was staring. The image on the table expanded, swirling into a scintillating array of bright, swirling lights.

Quentin stared at the image in front of them, Gray blinking as the lights burned his eyes. "They were born as stable orbits within black holes. Creatures formed from the primary elements: air, water, fire, earth." The images condensed into individual creatures, making Gray furrow his eyebrows to try and take in the small details. "The Science Division had a technical name. We just called them Elementals."

Maria spoke up, crossing her arms and appearing nonchalant. "Versions of them exist  across our mythologies." 

 Quentin piped up, "turns out, the myths are real."

"Like Thor," Peter's eyes never left the image. "Thor was a myth, now I study him in my physics class."

"I've never been to a physics class, but-" Gray moved away from Peter, squinting at the images. "The water thing was super strong. I can usually feel the force that a certain thing exerts on my powers, but this one was like..." he gestured vaguely with his hands, "multiple forces were working against me."

 Quentin nodded, "they are incredibly strong, and first materialized on my Earth many years ago. We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle they grew, got stronger. I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them. All we did was delay the inevidable."

 Gray watched as a red, fiery color spread over the Earth suspended in front of them. It seemed to consume it whole, spreading its fiery tendrils like the monster you envisioned living under your bed as a child. Quentin hung his head, "the Elementals are here now, attacking the same coordinates."

Maria nodded, "our satellites confirm it."

 "So thank Mr. Beck for destroying the other three." Fury nudged his head at the now encapsulated Earth. "There's only one left: fire."

 "The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my Earth."

The image began to disintegrate, collapsing into ash - making Gray's skin crawl as a despondent shadow cast over Quentin's face. "The one that took my family."

"I'm sorry," Peter muttered, and Gray pursed his lips and nodded his agreement. 

 "It will be in Prague in approximately 48 hours." Maria said, followed by Fury:

 "We have one mission: kill it. And you're coming with us." 

 "Yeah, I'm gonna have to hop in," Gray ruffled his hair, crossing his arms and shooting Fury a look. "This is not a 'we' situation. It's a 'we'-" he gestured between himself and Peter, "situation. And we are not gonna ditch this class trip that I illegally joined to die fighting fire."

He turned to Quentin and nodded, "also, sorry about your whole... situation - that's super depressing and I'm really sorry. But I'm not about to let this one get hurt, so unless you know a way to get Grayson Pérez out of this trip... like, unless you're good at forging signatures or something - we're not going anywhere."

Fury stared him down with his singular eye, and Gray stubbornly held his gaze. The man blinked, his lips pulling together. "How sweet." 

 Gray put a hand on his hip, "yeah, I do my best." 

 "I actually, um-" Peter awkwardly twiddled his thumbs. "I actually agree with Gray. This all seems like bigtime superhero stuff, and well, I'm just a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man."

 Fury didn't hesitate, "bitch please, you've been to space."

"Well, yeah, but that was an accident." Peter rushed over to stand in front of Fury, and Gray followed, sincerely wishing that he was asleep right now as the boy began speaking in a rushed tone. "There has to be someone else you can call. What about Thor?"

 "Off-world."

 "Doctor Strange?"

"Unavailable."

"Captain Marvel!" 

 "Don't invoke her name."

"Again, Specter-" Gray pointed to himself, "I'm done to die fighting fire. But you-" 

 "Um, no-" Peter shot him an offended look. "You're coming on the trip with me. You said you were." 

 Gray awkwardly shrugged, "well yeah, but if the world is in danger, I kinda gotta-" 

 "No you don't! If I don't, you don't!" 

 "Is there a point to this?" Fury demanded, and Peter jumped.

"Yeah!" He gestured to his suit. "If my class sees me in Europe after the Washington Monument, they'll figure out who I am. And then the whole world finds out who I am, and then I'm done."

Fury stared at them for a moment, his face completely stoic of all emotion. That was more unnerving to Gray than if he stood up and screamed at them, and he awkwardly shifted on his feet. "Okay. I understand."

Peter blinked, "I'm sorry, what?" 

"Why don't you get back before your teachers miss you."

Gray narrowed his eyes at the man. He didn't believe it for a moment that Fury was going to just... well, let them go. But he figured he should escape while he can, so he just kind of awkwardly saluted the man as he shuffled away.

 He knew more of his past... but his future was still a vast field of darkness.