"So this is the great Cross Tech," I said to myself while landing outside the Headquarters. I couldn't help but tug on my new business suit, feeling a bit self-conscious given the wrinkles flying had given it. My powers stopped mountains of bugs being splattered over my body but didn't keep me from looking like my suit had gone through a hurricane.
I had left Louise back in New York after visiting the local Baskin-Robin, she had little interest in dropping into a business meeting as high as this on her off time, then I changed into my business suit. I made the misfortune of dressing before flying over here for the scheduled meeting. Unlike what I expected given my limited interaction with Tony Stark and his egocentrism: this meeting wasn't thanks to his efforts but rather Ms. Potts. Something about bad blood between Darren Cross, CEO of Cross Tech, formerly Pym Tech, and Tony Stark, but also Hank Pym hating the late Howard Stark. Meaning Pepper Potts' fresh face was the key for me to get this meeting.
And would even be there in the meeting with me, as wrecked Brainiac Ship was currently a Stark Enterprise and SHIELD joint project, she actually needed to be here.
Settling for Cross wasn't something that I did lightly, merely off not recognizing the name over Hank Pym's, but the latter's to even meet with me forced this situation to happen. It did assuage my mind that Pym's daughter Hope Van Dyne was a board member who worked closely with Dr. Cross.
I entered the building with a nervous shake to my frame, intentionally letting my anxiety give me a contrasting appearance compared to what my powers would imply I have. This somehow led guards to think that they were intimidating… to a man that had picked up an aircraft carrier and could break the sound barrier.
These guards were probably the type to get news from the radio if my little act was enough to discard my threat.
"I.D?" The largest, and baldest, of the guards, asked me once I reached the metal detector only a few feet from the entrance.
"Pat Doyle," I flashed my Press I.D, it was meant for jobs for the Bulletin during events like press conferences but it seemed to do the job here as the guard nodded to each other before informing me that Mr.Cross was waiting for me on the first door off the elevator on the fourth floor.
Seemed odd to call their boss Mister instead of Doctor. A Lot of people would prefer the title that they earned to be used rather than the default one. It was interesting, but not something that I could conjecture about before even meeting the man. I got into the elevator and out to the fourth floor without much issue, something that I expected given the high security of the building. Though I wasn't alone for long, the familiar, and previously, mentioned Ms. Potts was outside the meeting waiting for me.
Dressed in a respectable suit dress with a briefcase, the woman cut a far more presentable figure than I was currently capable of doing.
"Ms. Potts, good to see that I've arrived on time," I said in an attempt to break any ice. "Worried that I'd spot a fire or a robbery and get caught up."
"Don't worry, Mr. Cross hasn't even got to the building yet," Pepper replied as she stood up from one of the chairs in the hall, smoothing out her skirt as getting onto her feet.
I tapped my foot, impatiently thinking about this matter.
"It feels like it could be a power play," I said while frowning. "Let me check something quick."
My eyes narrowed, walls that would block the vision of other people were akin to windows to me. Distance went next, people on the other side of the building appeared to be standing right next to me now. Finally, I listened, my keen ears trying their best to block out any noise from my direct surroundings.
Cross was a middle-aged man with a bald head in a fine dark suit and blue tie that complimented the color. He had this smile on his face as he jogged up the steps. It seemed that he was coming from the parking lot beside the building, adding credence to the story I was told. Soon enough he was joined by a black-haired woman. She was a bit younger than Cross, probably in her late twenties/early thirties, and wore a dress suit of similar quality compared to Ms. Potts.
"Darren," She groaned, annoyed at the other man. "You're late, both the Stark CEO and Doyle are waiting outside the meeting room."
"Traffic was worse than I thought, Hope" The Doctor replied sheepishly. "There's some sort of accident up the road-" Cross suddenly paused mid-word, something that caused Hope to turn to him with a frown;
"What?"
"Guy's a superhero, think he'd want to be told about the accident?"
Whatever the woman, who I'm now sure was Hope Van Dyne, was about to say I ignored it as I glanced out one of the nearby windows, again my mix of sensory powers allowed me to peer beyond any other man… not named Heimdall. The first thing that I noticed was that the Firemen there were already packing up their equipment, or at least some of it, from the site of a burned-out apartment building. There were still several people on the ground working, in safety gear, but that appeared as if they were inspecting the building from the outside before they continued inside.
While this was probably a tragic event, this wasn't something that needed my current attention. But it probably wouldn't hurt to check out the situation after this meeting was done. Probably was just some electrical fire… but this is a superhero universe, so I can never be too careful. But in case it ever came up, and before Cross got to us, I told Ms. Potts all about the fire. There wasn't a reason to tell the Stark CEO about the bit of conversation I'd overheard between Cross and Van Dyne, the two had only greeted each other.
"Dr.Cross," I greeted the man the second he walked around the corner, something from his heartbeat alone caused Cross no small amount of surprise. "I'm Pat Doyle, pleasure."
When we shook hands, Cross acted, somewhat rightly, as if I would shatter his hand with a pinky alone.
"It's an honor meeting you, Mr. Doyle," Cross said, before pointing to his side-on; "This my associate, Hope Van Dyne. And we can't forget the lovely Ms. Pepper Potts," he turned to face the Stark CEO, "And can I say how excited I am to be working alongside your company on this project."
"You haven't gotten the job yet," Pepper warned the man, and it was true. There was at least one other person we'd planned on approaching for the project. Professor Bill Foster. Who apparently was unrelated to Jane Foster.
Anyway, this seemed to be the signal for us to enter the meeting room. It had a long table in the center, with a smaller table with food and water alongside the sole window that not only stretched across the whole width of the room. Cross went over to the table, picked a pitcher of water up, and poured out two glasses. He turned to me and Ms Potts as we took our seats closest to the door, holding up an empty glass, an implicit ask if we wanted a glass of water ourselves, but both I and Potts shook our heads.
It was only when Van Dyne sat down that the meeting truly started.
"I understand that you've been attempting to contact Dr. Pym," Cross smiled, a sympathetic expression spreading across his face, something that told me he shared that experience. "So I get that this company is not the first choice for this project, but I want to assure you that Ms. Van Dyne and I have studied under the man for years. If you want someone with the specialties that he has, we're the best choice."
"That's good to know," I said, diplomatically before I decided to forgo any subtlety. "So how far along are you in developing your own version of the Pym Particle?"
That brought the two to a rapid blink that they recovered from quickly enough to respond before an awkward silence could develop.
"The Pym Particle? You're aware of it?" Van Dyne asked me, leaning across the table slightly to peer at me better.
"Dr. Pym worked for SHIELDs for years using the technology under an alias and we've had access to some of those mission files," Ms. Potts explained. "The current project that we've undergone with SHIELD… it would benefit to have use of the shrinking technology."
She didn't go into too many details, but we weren't under an NDA so we could tell them whatever we wanted to. I imagine that Ms. Potts probably wanted to keep some things for dramatic negotiation effect. Cross nodded, straining to keep his face solemn before breaking out into a wide smile.
"I had some suspicions about this for years," he finally sat down, unlike any of the rest of us, Cross took the seat at the head of the table, between Ms. Potts and Van Dyne. "Found the paper he originally wrote on the particle but he's denied the existence of Ant-Man for years! Is it possible for me to gain access to these SHIELD Files?"
It wasn't often that a fully grown man looked like a giddy schoolgirl.
"We're can't legally to do so at the moment, but SHIELD may allow some limited release of the files to you themselves."
Ms. Potts was pretty exact in her words, but I'm pretty sure that she'd soften somewhat at the childlike exuberance on Cross's face. Meanwhile, I leaned back in my chair, I managed to glimpse Van Dyne's expression shift from a neutral one to a guilty one, before shifting into a surprised one. The shifts were fast enough that I didn't expect any of the normal folks in the room to have seen it.
"I'm guessing that you've not been able to replicate it?" I decided to ask. It almost seemed to deflate Cross, as if never managing to replicate his former mentor's life work was a personal flawing. I almost regretted asking the man the question, but it was the only reason I'd agreed to meet with him.
"No… " Cross glanced down to his hands as they tightened. "His denial of the entire affair makes replicating his work… less copying and more a form of rediscovery. Other than it exists, we've-" He pointed to himself and then to Van Dyne, "-never even had the initial notes he would've made when he started the research."
I tapped on the table slightly, annoyance causing me to create an outlet for my feelings. It was a shame to hear how far away the duo was. I had hoped to hear that they were at least close to a breakthrough, but this sounds like they were decades away from any sort of useful progress.
… but they lacked the technology we had. Living examples of shrunk people by the million.
I looked to Ms. Potts, wanting to know just what we should be revealing. While it was true that we couldn't reveal all, we'd been given leeway to reveal enough about the nature of this project for it not to matter. The woman only barely acknowledged me as she stood upon the chair with a large file being pulled out from her briefcase and she slid it across the table over to Cross.
I didn't need my visionary powers to know what was in that file, a series of pictures. Showcasing the size of a city compared to a normal-sized chair.
There was only one word to describe Darren Cross's face as he opened the folder. Amazement.
"Is that a city?"
"The inhabitants call it Kandor."
( Captain Emil Blonsky: Elsewhere in San Francisco)
Watching the burned-out wreck of an apartment. One of many that had happened to the retired servicemen.
He took a long drag out of his cigarette, enjoying the burning sensation running through his body as it instantly burnt out the impurities smoking was attempting to give him. The first time this had happened, the Captain had been freaked out, but eventually, he came to like it.
It wasn't like such things were capable of long/short-term damage to his body anymore. This was the only drug-related fun Blonsky could have anymore.
"Captain, it's just like the other sites?"
Just like the four other locations where the explosions had no point of origin other than the victim. It was odd because none of the current sites outside of the one movie theater were particularly good spots for a terrorist, and the last could've simply been an outlier.
"This would make for the sixth victim that served with the military, one that retired due to injury too," Blonksy growled. It didn't sit right with the man. These men weren't even fighters anymore, they couldn't defend themselves.
Dirty cowards.
Even at his worst, caused by the rush of his enhancements, Blonksy had targeted people like Bruce Banner or Pat Doyle with his rage. He did feel a great deal of shame over the actions, but at least those two could defend themselves from the disgusting conduct. Now, thanks to the help of his new… partner, Blonksy had managed to regain his mind. And thanks to the circumstances of being drugged and enhanced at the time of his crimes, albeit with conscient, by his superior officer. Blonsky was allowed to part on missions once more.
Missions like investing the seriousness of bombing assassinations on retired servicemen of the United States Army. Not something that a Royal Marine would typically handle, but SHIELD had recommended him for the job due to the need for an independent investigation. Blonsky was just thankful that these deaths hadn't hit the public yet. SHIELD was very good at keeping things quiet when it served them.
"What do you think, Dr. Sterns?" He asked his new Partner.
"Oh, this is definitely the same as the last one," Sterns adjusted his face mask, a man worried about inhaling body particulates leftover from the victim. "Self Combustion."
A man scoffed behind the pair but was ignored. Something that annoyed the man, who had spent the last ten years working in the Chicago Arson Department so he couldn't help himself but say.
"Please, Spontaneous human combustion is a myth."
This time it was Sterns' turn to react, rather than a scoff but it was a snort.
"Agent, no one said this was Spontaneous," The Doctor tutted as he walked past the now-confused agent. "Somebody heated up these folks till their bodies exploded by the raw energy they were containing. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised they didn't melt first."
Author's Note: Yo, sorry about the wait. I was watching Blacklist, then a few other things and a few new story ideas caught my brain for a while. I have a new plan, one that I hope to keep to from now on. It goes with a rotation of stories each week. I should at least have a single story updated every week, if not two of them.
This one is a permanent one on that list. So this one will be updated once at least every two weeks. Hopefully with a brisker pace than usual.