"A Deal with the Devil"

This takes place in 2010; five years later than the movie came out. I had to do a time jump since Davey would be 14 during 2005 and I wanted her to be older. Please enjoy and review!

Standing in front of her mirror in her bedroom, an 18 year old girl with back length raspberry colored hair, chocolate brown eyes and tanned skin was looking over her reflection.

She was dressed in a clean pair of jeans and was wearing a black button up blouse, a silver necklace with a cat shaped pendant was around her neck and her ears had three tiny hoops in each one.

"Okay, how do I look? Presentable enough?" The girl, Davia "Davey" Motomiya asked.

She turned around and looked at her bed which had a two foot tall blue and white bipedal dragon with scarlet red eyes and yellow markings on his face.

"You look good. But why do you have to dress up and look 'presentable'?" The dragon, Veemon, asked his human partner.

"Because my uncle is taking me with him to ask an old friend of his to fund his project. I'd rather stay home, but he insisted that I come along with him. Honestly, I'm going to be 19 and off to college in a few months and he doesn't trust me to stay home on my own." Davey rolled her eyes.

"I think it's more him wanting some moral support. He looked pretty upset when NASA rejected him." Veemon commented.

"Yeah, I guess." The girl sighed.

Walking over to her bed, the girl picked up her heeled boots and pulled them on, and then zipped them up.

"Anyway, come on. I'm dropping you off at Willis' place. You can hang out with the twins while we're at this meeting." Davey informed.

"Sounds good to me." Veemon grinned.

He had a feeling she was dropping him off at a friend's house because she didn't trust him to not get into the sweets that were hid in the apartment and gobble them all up.

Smirking down at her partner, Davey scooped him up into her arms and grabbed her black leather purse, slinging it over her shoulder before she made her way out of her room.

Walking out into the hall, Davey made her way into the kitchen and found her uncle Reed Richards, a man with dark brown hair and eyes, who was wearing a suit and was speaking with a bald man who was dressed casually.

"Ah, no fair! How come Ben doesn't have to dress up?" Davey pouted.

Hearing the girl speak up, Ben Grimm looked over at her and grinned in amusement.

"'Cause I don't like this guy and I ain't dressing up for him." Ben said, his Brooklyn accent ringing clear.

"Ben, you promised you wouldn't start anything with Victor." Reed said pleadingly.

"Don't worry, I won't. I'll be quiet during the entire meeting. Let you do all the talking. I'll just stand there and look intimidating." Ben joked.

Reed gave him an exasperated look while Davey and Veemon giggled, enjoying the astronaut's humor.

"Right. All right, we're as ready as we'll ever be. Let's go." Reed said as he packed up his briefcase.

"Don't be so nervous, Uncle Reed. You'll do great. Don't let this guy intimidate you. Just focus on your project and you'll be fine." Davey told him.

Smiling at his niece, Reed nodded at her and walked out of the apartment with Ben, heading down to the car downstairs that they would be taking to their destination.

Veemon was dropped off at the apartment of Willis Stuart, a fellow DigiDestined of Davey's and her closest friend, and then the group drove off to the building that was owned and created by Victor von Doom, an old classmate from college that Reed and Ben knew.

Climbing out of the car, Davey's jaw dropped at the sight of the large building and the ten story tall metal statue that was being welded outside.

"This guy must be a major egomaniac to build a huge statue of himself." She commented.

Ben chuckled at that as he stepped out of the car and he walked over to stand beside Reed, knowing that the man was growing even more nervous by the second.

"Typical of Victor von Doom to build a 30 foot statue of himself." Ben said.

From what Ben had told Davey earlier, Victor was a man who could be very full of himself and enjoyed making Reed feel miserable whenever he could.

"Well, it's obviously aimed at first time visitors to create feelings of smallness, inadequacy." Reed said as he stared up at the statue.

"Good thing it ain't working." Ben commented.

The scientist looked over at the astronaut, noticing the look he was sending his way while Davey continued to stare up at the building, wondering if Victor had an obsession with metal considering everything about the work area appeared to be made of some sort of metal.

"Reed, what are we doing here? This guy is fast food, strip mall science." Ben said.

"I didn't think that was a thing." Davey frowned.

The trio then started making their way to the front of the building, intending to walk in through the front doors.

"This wasn't our first stop, in case you forgot. Besides, Victor's not that bad. He's just a little...larger than life." Reed told Ben.

That comment made Davey scoff and she grew silent afterwards, deciding to do her best to hold her tongue during the presentation.

(Later...)

When they arrived at Victor's office, the man sat in the shadows and watched as Reed started his presentation while Davey and Ben stood quietly off to the side, watching.

"My research suggests that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm borne on solar winds might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life." Reed explained.

A hologram of the planet was shown, glowing blue while part of it was orange, showing off the inner core of the Earth.

Pushing a button on a remote, Reed changed the holograms to show off a red cloud that was approaching Earth.

He was becoming more confident as the presentation went on, showing how passionate he was about his project.

"In six weeks another cloud with the same elemental profile will pass Earth's orbit. A study, conducted in space, could fundamentally advance our knowledge about structure of the human genome, cure countless diseases, extend human life, give kids a chance to live longer, stronger, healthier-"

"Turn it off. Please." Victor ordered.

Reed was stunned that his presentation had been interrupted and was unsure if the man fully understood what he was trying to explain to him.

"I don't think I've explained my proposal fully." Reed said to Victor.

"No, I think you have. Same old Reed—always stretching, reaching for the stars with the weight of the world on his back. But dreams don't pay the bills, do they?" Victor asked.

He tossed a magazine forward, capturing the attention of Ben, Davey and Reed who all stared down at it and winced when they saw the title of the cover.

'Reed Richards Bankrupt, Announces Grant Cutbacks.'

She had known that her uncle was having some issues when it came to money, but Davey was unaware that things had really gotten so bad.

Bouncing back from the small amount of humiliation Reed had been dealt, he delved back into his presentation.

"You remember, when we were in school, we talked about working together. Well, that's what I was about to explain. The storm is deadly, but the shields on your station's control room are designed to protect any occupants inside." Reed said.

The hologram changed from the images of a human body and a DNA stream to show off a space station that Victor owned, making Davey wonder how her uncle knew what the station looked like or how he managed to create a hologram of it.

Victor then turned the lights back on in the room, revealing an attractive middle aged man with dark hair, greenish eyes and a stern expression sitting at the end of the table.

"So, it's not just my money you want. It's my toys. Tell me, if NASA doesn't trust you, then why should I?" Victor asked.

Ben and Reed shared a look at that question, shocked that the man knew that they had been rejected by NASA before they came to him for help.

As for Davey, she was staring at the man with an accusing look in her eyes, not trusting him for even a second as she listened to him.

A grin broke out across Victor's face as he stood up from his seat and started making his way over to the two men.

"That's my job—to stay a step ahead, to know what other men don't." Victor said before leaning against the table.

"What, you're God now?" Davey muttered under her breath.

"I can't take this." Ben whispered.

"Ben, this is business. Just work." Reed told him.

"He's right, Ben—It is just business." Someone spoke up from behind.

Going stiff, Reed slowly turned in horror and saw a blonde haired woman with dark eyes and tanned skin dressed in a brown blazer and skirt standing at the door.

"I think you both know my director of genetic research Susan Storm." Victor said.

He seemed to be grinning smugly as he realized how uncomfortable Reed had become at seeing his ex-girlfriend in the room.

"One more thing he's got." Ben whispered.

Smiling happily, Susan made her way over to Ben who met her half-way to give her a hug.

"Hey, Susie." He greeted.

"Hey. Oh, it's so nice to see you. How's Debbie?" Susan asked as she gave the man a hug.

"Great." Ben said.

"Great." Susan nodded.

Turning her attention onto Davey, the blonde woman's eyes grew wide in shock as she recognized the young lady standing before her.

"Davey? Oh, my God, is that really you?" Susan questioned.

"Yeah, it's me." Davey grinned.

Smiling brightly, Susan pulled the girl into a hug, utterly amazed at how much the child she used to know had changed so much over the years.

"Oh, you look so amazing. But, what are you doing in New York? Did something happen to your parents?" Susan asked in concern.

Susan had once been best friends with Davey's mother Katherine before the woman had gone off to attend medical school and moved to Japan to become a neurosurgeon.

"No, actually, I-I got into the Institute of Culinary Education. I'm living in the city to get to know it better before classes start in the fall." Davey explained.

"That's great news! Oh, I am so proud of you." Susan gushed.

It was so hard for Susan to believe that the little girl who used to play pranks with her younger brother had grown so much over the last five years since she had seen her.

Finally, Susan turned her attention onto Reed and her expression melted into a frown, showing her displeasure at seeing her ex-boyfriend once again.

"Uh, how have you been?" Reed asked awkwardly.

"Never better." Susan said.

The two then shook hands, but it was a tense short moment that made everyone else in the room feel awkward.

"This isn't gonna be a problem, is it?" Victor spoke up, taking amusement in the situation.

"Oh, not at all." Reed denied.

"No, I-" Susan shook her head.

"Good. Then you are just in time to hear the great Reed Richards ask me for help." Victor told the blonde.

He then swaggered over to the group and moved so that he was standing beside Susan, making the woman glance around uncomfortably.

"You made a lot of folks at MIT feel like a junior high science fair so you'll excuse me if I savor the moment." Victor smirked.

"You back this mission and I'll sign over a fair percentage of any applications-"

"The number is 75 and its applications and patents." Victor cut Reed off, stunning the man with the number.

"What about his firstborn?" Ben sassed.

"Ben." Reed scolded lightly and Victor laughed.

"Come on. Twenty-five percent of a billion is enough to keep the lights on awhile, isn't it? Maybe even pay off your fourth mortgage on the Baxter Building. Deal?" Victor held his hand out.

Not satisfied with how the meeting had gone, but deciding to be grateful that he had managed to get his funding from his former classmate, Reed reached out and shook hands with Victor.

"Well, then, to our future. Together. It's funny how things turn out, isn't it?" Victor grinned as he pulled an uncomfortable Susan into his side.

"Hilarious." Reed commented.

With the deal made, Reed started packing up his things while Susan spoke with Victor about an interview.

"He knew about NASA. Maybe he made the call to shut us down." Ben said.

"That's a little paranoid. Maybe he just called to see what was going on after Reed arranged a meeting with him." Davey suggested.

"Ben, think about all of the people we can help if this works. Huh? Look, we got what we wanted. That's enough. A few days in space. It'll be great. What's the worst that can happen?" Reed asked.

"You realize that you just screwed us over by saying that, right?" Davey gave her uncle a look.

Leaving the office, the trio made their way over to the elevator, one that looked to be made out of metal and had an odd design, and intended on hurrying home so that they could prepare for the launch in six weeks.

Reed insisted that his niece come along with them since he didn't feel comfortable leaving her along for the two or three days they would be staying in space to collect samples of the storm.

His sister had left her daughter in his care and he was going to keep a close eye on her while she was with him.

Susan caught up with the group and walked into the elevator with them, pushing a button to take them down to the ground floor.

"Reed, you should know those solar winds have been picking up speed." Susan broke the silence to inform him.

"I factored them into my coordinates." Reed assured.

"Right. Of course you did. In theory. It's a little different once you're out there." Susan commented.

"I can assure you-"Reed began.

"When do we leave?" Ben asked, stopping an argument from growing.

Snapping out of the glare she was sending Reed's way, Susan turned her attention onto Davey and Ben, sending them a small smile.

"I'll be scheduling the launch. You can call me in the morning for resources and crew." Susan said as she pulled out a business card from her pocket and held it out.

"I think I remember the number." Reed said confidently with a grin.

"It's been changed." Susan stated.

Expression falling, Reed reached out and took the card from the woman and glanced it over.

Clearing his throat, Ben then caught Reed's attention and noticed the look the older man was sending him as he darted his eyes over at Susan and Davey rolled her eyes at the way the two men were acting.

"As far as crew, I was hoping Ben could pilot the mission." Reed said.

"We already have a pilot on our payroll. But you're welcome to ride shotgun. Remember my brother Johnny?" Susan asked.

Three pairs of eyes grew wide in horror at the news of who the pilot for the mission into space would be.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Davey exclaimed.

To be continued...