Chapter Summaries

Lake visited General Hawk at the Hive, where Hawk showed him photographs of a mysterious weapon demonstration tied to Destro and the Future Weapons Development Group. Lake recognized Destro and began connecting the evidence to the arms-dealing family’s past.

• Lake landed his private jet at General Hawk’s concealed desert base and greeted the general.
• Anna escorted Lake to change into combat fatigues, then introduced him to Hawk’s action team at the Hive.
• Lake drank bourbon with General Hawk and asked why Hawk had invited him.
• General Hawk had Scarlett bring Lake photographs showing a mansion reduced to ruins in about a minute while a nearby shack remained intact.
• Lake recognized Destro as the chairman of the Future Weapons Development Group and recalled the Destro family’s history as arms dealers.

Lake learned that Destro’s Future Weapons Development Group had unveiled a powerful weapon, and General Hawk recruited him to attend the venue and investigate. After spending several days with Emilia, Lake met General Ross in Brussels, who confronted him about his promotion.

• General Hawk told Lake that a building had been destroyed in ten seconds and suspected the Future Weapons Development Group’s weapon was hidden from NATO.
• Lake realized General Hawk wanted him to attend the venue, and agreed after Hawk offered to handle promotions below colonel.
• Lake left Hawk and spent several days with Emilia, refusing to leave a clone with her.
• Lake met General Ross at Brussels International Airport, and Ross complained about Lake’s promotion.

Lake attended a NATO weapons demonstration with General Hawk disguised as his secretary, where the Future Weapons Development Group unveiled a nanite missile capable of dissolving targets on a massive scale. Lake and Secretary Kelly agreed that the weapon needed to be placed under Federation supervision, pending a live test.

• Lake reassured General Ross about General Hawk and later recognized Hawk in disguise when he arrived late at the NATO Weapons Command Center.
• Lake entered the conference room with Hawk, identified him as his secretary, and took a seat beside Secretary Kelly.
• Secretary Kelly showed Lake classified materials revealing the Future Weapons Development Group's Techno Nanite Missile.
• Destro presented a simulation in which a Nanite Warhead rapidly dissolved a tank and could potentially destroy a city, then announced the first batch would ship from Kyrgyzstan the next morning.
• Lake told Secretary Kelly the weapon needed to remain under Federation control, and Kelly agreed the Federation should protect the group if an actual test confirmed its power.

Lake left Brussels for Paris to spend time with Karen while NATO prepared to escort Destro’s Nanite Missiles from a research center in Kyrgyzstan. Alexander Pierce, Baron Strucker, and Gideon Malick discussed the Cobra Plan and the risks to S.H.I.E.L.D. if it failed.

• Lake and Secretary Kelly finalized the Federation’s plan to protect and regulate Destro’s weapons if NATO confirmed their practicality.
• Lake agreed to leave for Paris the next day and shopped in Brussels for the items Karen had requested.
• Lake flew to Paris as Colonel Duke Hauser and his Jaguar Special Operations Team took custody of three Nanite Missiles for NATO.
• Alexander Pierce learned that Lake had returned to Paris and questioned Baron Strucker about whether the Cobra Plan’s loose ends had been handled.
• Gideon Malick said the weapon’s data made him optimistic, while Pierce considered leaking information to S.H.I.E.L.D. in case the plan failed.

Alexander Pierce argued that Hydra had to preserve S.H.I.E.L.D. as its cover while preparing to undermine Maria Hill if their operation failed. Meanwhile, Cobra ambushed Duke’s convoy and seized the Nanite warhead, but Anna and Scarlett recovered its safety mechanism as the Baroness escaped.

• Alexander Pierce defended keeping S.H.I.E.L.D. intact, and Gideon Malick left the Hydra meeting.
• Alexander Pierce told Baron Strucker that Hydra would switch to Plan B and target Maria Hill if Plan A failed, and he ordered Strucker to watch Lake Edwin.
• Duke’s Panther unit discovered its expected reconnaissance team was missing and came under attack from Cobra.
• The Baroness defeated Duke and took the Nanite warhead from him.
• Anna struck the Baroness and tossed the warhead’s safety mechanism to Scarlett, while Cobra soldiers carried the Baroness away.

General Hawk and Maria Hill brought Duke and Ripcord to Sandbox Base, where the G.I. Joe began investigating Anna, the theft attempt, and the organization Seifer. After an anonymous Deep Web post linked Seifer to Lake, General Hawk called him to ask whether he knew her, leaving Lake to conceal what he knew.

• General Hawk and Maria Hill welcomed Duke and Ripcord to Sandbox Base and explained that the G.I. Joe had been created as a final line of defense alongside S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Maria Hill told Duke that S.H.I.E.L.D. had dispatched the G.I. Joe after intercepting a warning about the Nanite Missiles, but the team did not know who had attacked them.
• Destro inspected the Nanite Missiles, secretly reactivated their signal locator, and then ended the call after confirming the weapons were undamaged.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. and the G.I. Joe spent two days investigating Anna and traced the advanced communications network to Seifer in Paris.
• An anonymous Deep Web post briefly linked Seifer to Lake, prompting General Hawk to call him and ask whether he knew her; Lake denied understanding the question.

Lake investigated an unexplained Deep Web post linking him to Seifer and learned she was in Antarctica, where she had just completed a deal with Cobra. Hydra let Seifer leave to avoid provoking Lake, while its leaders continued a covert plan that they believed had kept him out of the game.

• General Hawk told Lake that Seifer had likely helped the attackers who stole the Nanite Missile, and asked him to identify them.
• Lake asked Red Queen about a vanished Deep Web post; she found no trace of it, and he suspected Wanda was involved.
• Red Queen located Seifer above Antarctica, so Lake asked her to contact Seifer.
• Seifer handed the communications system and Nanite controller deal over to the Medical Officer, refused to join Cobra, and left with her assistant and five subordinates.
• The Medical Officer obeyed Baron Strucker's order to let Seifer go, while Hydra worried Lake might retaliate if Seifer were harmed.
• Baron Strucker told Alexander Pierce they had kept Lake and his allies out of the operation, and Pierce realized he was sweating with relief.

Lake learned that Seifer had left the organization that commissioned her communications system and sent her code to General Hawk. After the Nanite Missiles were stolen from the Sandbox Base, Lake arranged for Seifer to contact Maria Hill, who was leading the response while Nick Fury was suspended.

• Lake questioned Seifer about the communications system, and she said she had delivered the program and left after the organization invited her to join.
• Lake considered why Seifer had been allowed to leave unharmed, then forwarded her communications code to General Hawk.
• Baroness escaped the invaded Sandbox Base with the Nanite Missile briefcase while White Ghost followed, and General Hawk was taken to the hospital.
• Maria Hill and the G.I. Joe team identified Destro as the likely mastermind and learned that Baroness’s Paris laboratory had a particle accelerator.
• Hill asked Lake for Seifer’s contact information, and Lake had Red Queen pass it along.
• Lake learned that Nick Fury’s suspension had left Hill as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s highest-ranking authority and a likely scapegoat if the crisis worsened.

Lake tried to stay out of the crisis, but the Eiffel Tower collapsed in a terrorist attack and Tony Stark rushed to investigate. In Paris, Lake helped the surrounded S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and G.I. Joe members secure permission to pursue the culprit, while Phil Coulson had to remain behind.

• Lake considered recruiting Maria Hill if she became a scapegoat, then prepared to leave Paris with his family.
• Tony Stark landed at the embassy, revealed that a city-destroying missile threatened Paris, and flew off after the Eiffel Tower collapsed.
• Lake drove to the scene and met Paris Special Operations Team captain Lind Ulysses, who blamed the assembled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and G.I. Joe members for the disaster.
• Lake explained that the group had tried to stop the attack, and Lind ordered his team to let them go after the culprit.
• Lake told Phil Coulson that the agents could leave, but Coulson had to stay.

After the Eiffel Tower collapsed during S.H.I.E.L.D.’s operation, Maria Hill accepted responsibility while the vice president’s kidnapping complicated the crisis. Lake brought Hill to the embassy, where she learned he was not worried because he considered the events someone else’s problem.

• Lake defended S.H.I.E.L.D. and G.I. Joe’s right to pursue the culprit, then stayed with Phil Coulson after the others left.
• Maria Hill told Lake and Coulson that the vice president had been kidnapped and took responsibility for the Eiffel Tower’s collapse.
• After Nick Fury called Coulson away, Lake reminded Hill that her Army commission remained valid and offered her shelter at the embassy.
• Lake introduced Hill to Rachel and showed Hill to a guest room at the embassy.
• Hill asked why Lake seemed unconcerned, and Lake said the crisis had nothing to do with him.

Lake stayed at the embassy rather than interfere with Hydra’s plan to remove Maria Hill, while Alexander Pierce considered recruiting him and activated Hydra’s backup scheme. At the Antarctic base, Iron Man and Natasha pursued two launched Nanite Missiles, leaving the others to face Cobra soldiers underground.

• Lake decided not to intervene because Hydra had abandoned its plan against Seifer and its goal of removing Maria Hill aligned with his own interest in recruiting her.
• Alexander Pierce concluded that Lake knew about Hydra but bore it no hostility, and proposed that Hydra try recruiting him.
• Baron Strucker reported that S.H.I.E.L.D. and G.I. Joe had found the Antarctic base, and Alexander Pierce confirmed that Hydra’s Plan B was underway and approved the Judas Plan.
• Iron Man, Duke, Ripcord Ricard, Redhead Scarlett, Black Phantom, Black Widow Natasha, Crossbones Frank, and New Village Chief Coulson arrived at the Antarctic base as two Nanite Missiles launched toward New York and Red Square.
• Tony Stark pursued the missile headed for New York, and Natasha took a fighter jet after the one headed for Red Square.
• The remaining group stayed at the base, where the elevator opened onto a formation of Cobra soldiers injected with Nanites.

After the Nanite Missiles were destroyed, Lake learned that Natasha Romanov had been arrested in Russia and Maria Hill had been abandoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. He planned to recruit Hill, then chose to visit Captain America after learning Steve Rogers had been found and was staying with the Army.

• Natasha Romanov destroyed the missile over the ice but ran out of fuel, landed in Russia, and was arrested by the Guardian Alliance.
• Lake discussed Natasha’s situation with Secretary Kelly and asked about recruiting Maria Hill, who had been expelled from Paris and refused to return to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Secretary Kelly told Lake that the rescued Captain America, Steve Rogers, was at an Army compound rather than with S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Lake declined to visit the recovering Vice President and decided to pay his respects to Captain America.
• Lake worried that Katherine had delayed graduating in Forks and resolved to make her leave next year if she stayed.

Lake visited the biological facility at Quantico and discovered Captain America was frozen in unusual ice that would likely melt in about two years. After returning to New York, he learned Peter Parker’s uncle had died and urgently warned George Stacy to secure Gwen’s bedroom window, only for George to suspect Lake was spying on his family.

• Lake watched laboratory workers test Captain America’s ice and used his Sixth Sense to determine that the Ice Heart was gradually weakening.
• Lake missed Maria Hill at Quantico because she had returned to Three Feathers to collect her belongings, then flew back to New York.
• Lake picked up gifts in Jersey City with Skye, who discussed her EAA endorsement and negotiations over a Hollywood adaptation of her life.
• Skye told Lake that Peter Parker’s uncle had been shot and killed while trying to stop a robbery.
• Lake called George Stacy and told him to bar the window in Gwen’s bedroom that faced the fire escape.
• George accused Lake of spying after Lake correctly guessed that Peter Parker was visiting Gwen through her window.

Lake anticipated an incident on the Brooklyn Bridge and helped respond when a Lizardman appeared, while Peter Parker fled after being spotted as Spider-Man. As the authorities dealt with the chaos, Gwen told Skye that Peter was Spider-Man, and Skye told Gwen about the Lizardman.

• Lake warned George and ordered Tiffany to send armed helicopters and responders to the Brooklyn Bridge before trouble began.
• A Lizardman attacked on the bridge, and Lake helped evacuate the crowd as George and NYPD officers arrived.
• An armed helicopter illuminated the Lizardman, and Peter Parker fled the bridge after its searchlight nearly exposed him.
• Tiffany reported that Spider-Man might have been at the scene, and Lake promised George the satellite footage of his uncovered face.
• Skye and Gwen called each other and simultaneously revealed that a Lizardman had appeared and Peter Parker was Spider-Man.

Lake led the response to Dr. Lizard’s rampage on the Brooklyn Bridge, where Spider-Man rescued two Homeland agents before the helicopter crashed. After Lake agreed not to reveal Spider-Man’s identity, he learned that Mayor Edward Vogler had ordered Homeland Security to withdraw and recognized Vogler as a rival from a previous Starlight Tower case.

• Lake and the police evacuated civilians while he and the armed helicopter attacked Dr. Lizard on the Brooklyn Bridge.
• Dr. Lizard threw cars at the helicopter, damaged its tail, and escaped by leaping into the river.
• Spider-Man rescued the pilot and copilot from the failing helicopter, which then crashed into the river.
• Lake agreed not to disclose Spider-Man’s identity to George Stacy because Spider-Man had saved two Homeland agents.
• Lake asked George why Mayor Edward Vogler had ordered Homeland Security to withdraw, and George revealed Vogler’s connection to a past legal dispute with Starlight Tower.

Lake refused to let the Department of Homeland Security intervene against the Lizard Monster after New York’s mayor ordered it to stay out, but he promised Skye that George would be safe. Jiaying agreed to wait until after Skye’s graduation to reveal the truth about her parentage, and the next day Skye and Gwen discussed Peter’s Spider-Man identity and the upcoming graduation dance.

• Lake explained to Skye that the Lizard Monster was a scientific mutation, not a Fantastic Beast, and said the mayor had authority to keep federal agents away until there was evidence of terrorism.
• Skye worried about George facing the Lizard Monster, and Lake reassured her that he would protect George while teasing her about taking matters into her own hands.
• Jiaying told Lake that Skye seemed happy but deserved to know the truth, and Lake asked her to wait until after Skye’s June graduation; Jiaying agreed.
• The next day, Skye picked Gwen up, and they teased each other about Peter and Harry’s invitations to the graduation dance.
• Gwen confirmed that Peter was Spider-Man and told Skye she had watched him fall from a roof; Skye guessed Gwen’s first thought had been that her father would kill her.

Skye told Peter that his Spider-Man activities had disrupted NYPD operations and that his abilities would not grant him the same legal protection she received through her father, Lake. Peter admitted he envied Skye and wanted to help people, but Skye warned that he could be arrested if he kept interfering with the police.

• Skye told Gwen she suspected Lake already knew Peter was Little Spider and warned that Peter could face prison if law enforcement caught him interfering with their work.
• At club activities, Skye revealed Peter's Spider-Man identity to Harry, and Peter explained that he wanted to use his abilities to help people.
• Skye challenged Peter's belief that he could act as she had, explaining that Lake's authority had protected her from prosecution after the high school incident.
• Gwen confirmed that prosecutors had considered charging Skye but were transferred, while Peter listened in silence.
• Skye warned Peter that Iron Man coordinated with authorities and that Peter could be arrested for disrupting NYPD operations; she rejected his search for Uncle Ben's killer as an excuse.

Peter Parker struggled with the consequences of his new powers and realized the Lizard Monster might be connected to them. At dinner, Lake learned that New York’s new mayor had created a Rapid Response Unit to take over major cases, including the Lizard Monster investigation, and welcomed the challenge.

• Peter remembered how his secret training and growing obsession had worried Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and how Uncle Ben’s death had led him to become Spider-Man.
• Peter questioned whether his actions had harmed police operations but recalled the people he had saved, then spotted lizards in a sewer and hurried home.
• At Starlight Tower, Lake learned from Beckett and George that Joe had been solving cases with a medical examiner and that the Lizard Monster case had been assigned to the new Rapid Response Unit.
• George explained that the mayor had funded the unit himself to keep the FBI, Homeland Security, and senior NYPD detectives from taking control of major cases.
• Lake told Hermione he was not worried about losing jurisdiction and anticipated that the ambitious mayor would face serious opposition in New York.

Lake refused the Mayor’s request for federal help after Edward Vogler’s Special Operations Force was slaughtered by Dr. Lizard, leaving Vogler blamed by the media and federal agencies. Lake then called George, who checked on Gwen and Skye before Gwen made him promise hot cocoa and no bedtime; someone knocked on Gwen’s window.

• Deputy Director Bass asked Lake about the Supervisory Bureau’s hierarchy, and Lake said he had found someone to design it but kept the person’s identity secret.
• Homeland Security received footage showing the Special Operations Force opening fire near Spider-Man and Dr. Lizard, after which Dr. Lizard killed or injured many of the officers.
• Lake denied New York City Hall’s request for federal support, saying the case had no federal factors and Homeland Security was evaluating whether to intervene.
• Edward Vogler blamed Homeland Security and the FBI after the operation left twelve dead, three critically injured, and five with minor injuries, but both agencies released the 911 recording to defend their decision not to intervene.
• Lake learned Skye was staying with Gwen, called George, and George entered Gwen’s room without knocking to check whether anyone else was there.
• Gwen demanded four cups of hot cocoa and no lights-out time from George, then someone knocked faintly on her window.

Lake and Tony discussed the growing threats to Earth, Nick Fury’s motives, and the need for a reliable alliance. Tony proposed forming one, but Lake pointed to their existing organizations and urged Tony to overcome his fear by becoming stronger.

• Tony told Lake he had been researching the nanite technology he obtained through a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Lake explained that the federal government was refusing to intervene in New York’s conflict with its mayor until the city backed down.
• Tony revealed that Nick Fury had invited him to join the Avengers Alliance, and Lake warned him about Fury’s past actions and questionable loyalties.
• Tony said Earth needed its own force to face alien threats, and Lake compared Saga’s potential strength to Captain Marvel’s.
• Tony proposed an alliance, but Lake reminded him of the Zodiac and their ties to the Supervisory Bureau, then urged Tony to strengthen himself to overcome his anxiety.
• Lake went inside and teased Skye for returning home because someone was in Gwen’s bedroom.