Fuse

HAWKEYE INVESTIGATIONS

Johnny first encountered Kate Bishop while on patrol after she had rescued a girl from some fraternity members in an alleyway near the Venice Police Department during her investigation into T.B.C.'s connection to the disappearance of Ramone's girlfriend, Mikka Nguyen. The siblings joined Hawkeye Investigations and helped Hawkeye rescue Mikka from Aggregate in neighboring Marina del Rey.

He grew closer to Kate during investigations into the disappearances of both Rebecca Brown, as well as Liam Donnelly, unaware that Hawkeye's increasingly reckless behavior was a result of her having uncovered her own father's connections to both T.B.C. and her arch enemy, Madame Masque. Johnny, Ramone, and Quinn subsequently took it upon themselves to tip off LAPD Detective Rivera to save Hawkeye from Clem and an underground fight club.

Johnny's feelings for Kate became increasingly complicated when she was secretly replaced by Whitney Frost in a cloned body of Kate Bishop, who subsequently took their relationship to a physical level during a night out at the Mad House Danceclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Hawkeye eventually confronted Madame Masque in the Hollywood Hills, with their ensuing fight in Griffith Park forcing Kate to reveal to her friends Derek Bishop's connection to Mikka's kidnapping. These events also forced Kate to admit she'd been harboring feelings for Johnny as well.

Some time later, Clint Barton arrived in Venice and caused damage to merchandise in Ramone's Surf Shop, while on the run from Eden Vale, who blamed him for her daughter's death during Hydra's attack on Las Vegas. After Kate was kidnapped by Eden, Johnny and the rest of Hawkeye Investigations helped Clint track down Kate's location to rescue her, much to Johnny's relief. During the subsequent battle between both Hawkeyes and the combined forces of Madame Masque and marksmen whom Eden Vale had summoned from the past to help her seek revenge, Johnny saved Kate's life by shielding her from falling concrete, thus revealing that he had been secretly harboring superpowers all along.

WEST COAST AVENGERS

Kate next sought to reform the West Coast Avengers and naturally Johnny, now calling himself Fuse, joined her endeavor, moving into the Hawkeye Investigations Office with Kate, which was being renovated to accommodate the new team's expanding roster.