strolls in, coffee in hand, and drops onto the couch You know, for a kid with a genius-level intellect, you sure do spend a lot of time pretending to read.

looks up, startled I'm not pretending! I'm just... absorbing the material.

Mm-hmm. glances at the TV, which is muted but showing news footage Speaking of things that require absorbing.

groans Please don't tell me this is about the New York vigilante again.

The New York vigilante who keeps showing up at crime scenes and beating our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to the punch? That New York vigilante? Yes. That's exactly who I'm talking about.

zooms in on the freeze frame Look at that. No tech. No gear. No obvious enhancements. Just raw skill. That's not a random civilian playing hero. That's training.

walks in from the hallway, towel around his neck, still slightly damp from a run I saw the briefing FRIDAY sent out. The bank heist on 42nd?

The very one. gestures at the screen Your boy here had it under control until this mystery guest showed up and made him look like backup.

defensively They didn't make me look like backup! They just... arrived at an inconvenient time.

sits down, glancing at the footage Whoever they are, they're good. Really good. The way they neutralized those men without lethal force? Clean.

points at the screen Which is exactly why Fury's convinced they're some kind of covert operative. No way a street-level vigilante has that kind of discipline.

muttering Or they're just... good at what they do.

Again? We're still on this?

We're not on this. We're solving this. Big difference.

drops the bag on the counter You've been "solving" it for three weeks. Any luck?

Not yet. his eyes narrow as he looks at Peter But I think I've been asking the wrong person the whole time.

freezes ...What?

PARKER!

jumps so hard he nearly knocks his textbook off the counter Wh— What? Mr. Stark?! What?!

leans forward, eyes glinting You've met them. The vigilante. Actually met them. Over the radio, in person, whatever. You know how they fight. What they sound like. Whether they're ex-military, enhanced, or just extremely stupid with excellent self-preservation instincts.

rubs the back of his neck I mean... we've crossed paths a few times. But they don't, like, talk to me. They just show up, do their thing, and leave.

So you're telling me you've worked alongside this mystery vigilante multiple times and you have nothing useful to tell me?

hesitates They... they're annoying?

stares

They get in the way! A lot! And then they win. Which is somehow worse.

Are you interrogating the teenager again?

I'm gathering intelligence. It's a totally different thing.

sits down, pulling up a file on her tablet I've been reviewing every piece of footage we have on the vigilante. Fight patterns, movement analysis, the way they handle a takedown.

curious despite himself And?

They're not military. They're not intelligence, either. At least, not formally.

frowns You're disagreeing with Fury? Bold move.

I'm saying Fury's wrong. Whoever this is, they didn't learn to fight in a government program. Their technique is too unconventional. Too creative. pulls up a clip Look at this. They use their environment like a gymnast. A street fighter. Someone who's been doing this on their own for a while.

So we're looking for a self-taught vigilante?

Maybe. Or someone who trained outside traditional channels.

Kid looks young. Way they move, the build. That's not a 30-year-old.

They're good at hiding their identity. That could mean experience, or it could mean they're paranoid.

shrugs Either way, they're not our problem unless they make themselves our problem. They're not hurting innocent people. Actually, they seem to be helping.

Helping in a way that makes my proprietary crime-fighting tech look redundant. I don't love it.

You people are still obsessing over that masked kid?

sighs Bucky, come on. No one said obsessing.

sets down the bag I heard Natasha talking about "fight pattern analysis" from the hallway. That's obsession.

You've been at this for weeks. All they've done is stop a couple of muggings and show up to help your kid once or twice. Sounds like a lucky vigilante. They'll make a mistake eventually.

That's what I'm counting on.

between bites of cereal Or we could just... let them be? This whole "catching a stranger who's helping people" thing feels like a lot of paperwork for nothing.

scowls I don't like loose ends. And the last time a mystery fighter popped up in New York without an invitation, we got an alien invasion. So until I know who this is and what they want—

We've got eyes on the vigilante near the financial district. FRIDAY flagged a disturbance in a parking garage three minutes ago. Cameras caught them taking down a group of masked men.

stands I'll pull up the street feeds. See if we can get a clean face shot.

finishes his cereal Are we really doing this? Like, actively hunting a good samaritan?

We're doing this because I need to know who's operating in my city without permission. to Peter And you — you're going to tell me everything you know about this vigilante. Every. Single. Thing.

swallows I genuinely don't know that much, Mr. Stark. They just... show up.

Then you're going to help me figure it out. Consider it your new assignment.