"Anything I should know about?" asked Fury.
"Pardon?" I looked away from the screens which were all displaying information on Oscorp. "Probably, but not now."
"Not now?" he echoed, folding his arms and looking at me with a scowl. "If you are withholding important information…"
I waited for whatever he was going to do next, he'd been at people for far less than this- he couldn't afford to let spies in- and I had pretty much just set myself up as suspicious with those careless words. He seemed to be internally struggling, then took a seat down beside me and looked around- nobody else was in the room.
"Am I to assume that this involves your… knowledge? That you already know what is going to happen?" he asked, and I looked him over carefully before nodding. "Can you promise me that no-one is going to die?"
I thought over it, one death stood out and I knew I could stop that like I stopped Coulson's. I couldn't think of any other deaths, maybe a few injuries but there was only one death and I was not going to let that happen.
"I can," I said. A thought occurred to me. "Can you promise me no-one will interfere?"
His nostrils flared slightly and for a moment I thought he was going to lock me back up in a cell, his whole body was tense and I felt my magic starting to surge through me in response. However, he simply nodded stiffly and ran a hand over his head.
"I'm placing a lot of trust in you- but if I get even the slightest hint that this is going bad then I'm sending in back-up," he said, then got up and left.
Part of me doubted that he had actually given me much freeway, although it did make sense if I knew something was going to happen then there would be a hero involved and as such a good ending where the world is saved.
I turned my attention back to the screens where the information was displayed, including my agreed 'inspection' (I didn't know what else to call it) which I had made to match the times of the internship interviews. So now I had the double chance to meet the future Mr Lizard and Spider-Man, hopefully without making Peter suspicious of me- at least not in a bad way.
To be honest I was very nervous, but I was also thrilled at the idea that I would get to do this. No doubt Fury was going to be keeping an eye on me; he hadn't seemed to put much into the argument and certainly hadn't done what I'd expected him to do.
"Let's hope I don't screw this up," I said to myself, quickly scribbling down a few notes before I left the room to head home and mentally prayed that Loki wasn't back yet. The last thing I needed if S.H.I.E.L.D. had begun spying on me (If they hadn't been already) was to see that I was sharing an apartment with a wanted war criminal.
Thankfully (Or perhaps not?) he wasn't there and I used this time to have an evening on my own as I mentally prepared the plans for what I was going to do. The main one was to keep with the group, keep an eye on Peter and make sure I stay with him when he leaves. He first discovers his new powers on the train and that's where I need to be if I am going t make sure that we stay in contact. If I show him my powers then perhaps he could learn to trust me and if I give him my number then maybe he'll contact me when he tries to train.
It seemed like time flew quickly after that and before I knew it, it was the next day and I was standing outside the Oscorp building. I looked upwards, regarding the hexagonal windows and thinking that they reminded me of a beehive. Near the top it looked like someone had tried to fold the building in on itself, with the sun shining off the point and all the glass which composed the outside- it was impressive sure enough and if I leaned back I could just about make out the… aerial thing on top, as well as make myself look like an idiot.
Inside multitudes of people went about their business, taking the escalators up or talking to the people who manned the receptions desks. It didn't take me long to find Peter Parker, going over to one of the receptionists; a woman with her brown hair tied up in a bun and a look on her face that indicated how fun it was to deal with the clueless masses. Peter appeared to be saying something with ounces of hesitation, so I decided then to work my way over.
"Right," she said, in a tone indicating disbelieving. "You'll find yourself to the left."
There was a pause as he stared at her, and she looked back at him in bemusement.
"You are here for the internship?"
"Ye- yeah," he said as it finally processed.
"Okay, you'll find your badge to the left," she said again and he nodded as he looked over them- which was when I walked over. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm Agent Attwater from S.H.I.E.L.D., I believe I made an appointment," I said to her with a smile, holding out my badge (I love the badge) and watching Peter also look at it with shock.
"I'll fetch you an escort," said the receptionist with some distaste- apparently this was one of the companies that disliked government agents.
"No it's okay," I replied politely as she reached to the phone mentally calling her a very rude name. I turned to Peter. "You are here for the internship?"
"Yes," he said uncertainly.
"Then if you don't mind I'll join you," I said. "It is after all really Dr Connors work that caught my attention."
The receptionist clearly didn't know how to deal with me, so turned to Peter who hadn't picked up a badge.
"Are you having trouble finding yourself?" she asked.
"No, not at all," he picked up a random badge and showed it to her.
"Okay Mr Guevara." She didn't believe him; that much was obvious.
"Gracias,"Peter said as we walked away, and when out of earshot said to me. "You work for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Is that some kind of secret spy group?"
"Sort of," I replied as we headed upwards.
"Welcome to Oscorp," said a computerised female voice. "Born from the mind of our founder Norman Osborn the Oscorp tower houses one hundred and eight floors of innovation. Our scientific minds are pushing the boundaries of defence, biomedical and chemical technologies. The future lies within."
There was already a group formed when we reached the top, a familiar face leading the pack and I watched as Peter tried to blend in.
"What's the matter?" I asked him. "It's not like you aren't supposed to be here Mr Parker."
"You know who I am?" he asked quietly as Gwen began the introduction. He sounded more impressed than suspicious and that was something I took for a good sign. "So you are a spy?"
A ruckus from downstairs interrupted me before I could reply, Peter strategically put his hand to face as the real Mr Guevara was dragged out by security.
"You aren't going to tell them are you?" he asked.
"I won't if you don't."
The group moved on as we were lead into a decidedly more scientific-looking part of the building, men and women wearing the signature lab coats walking around the various tables in the room which each sported some of equipment. A few items looked familiar and reminded me of the labs back in my Colleges whilst others alien to me. It also hit me then that I was probably on the lower- lowest- end of the intelligence scale in this room.
"Good afternoon, Gwen," said the man himself as he walked over and a few people tried not to stare at his missing limb.
"Dr Connors," replied the blonde with a smile, seeming a lot more happy than him.
"Welcome," he said, this time addressing the whole group. "My name is Dr Curtis Connors and yes in case you're wondering I am a Southpaw*. I'm not a cripple, I'm a scientist and I'm the foremost authority on herpetology- that's reptiles for those of you who don't know."
He looked at me when he said that, and I got a feeling he was being unintentionally (Or intentionally?) condescending. I wasn't a scientist but I loved animals, I knew what herpetology was and not just because I read A Series of Unfortunate Events.
"I'll assume you are the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent shall I?" he asked me directly. "Forgive me when I say that you don't look like you're here for the internship."
"I'm Agent Attwater- but call me Jess please," I said with a small nod.
"Okay then… Jess. If you don't mind me asking, are you a scientist in any sort of way?" I mentally slapped myself for going a little fangirl-y over the fact the (soon to be) Lizard said my name. I really should have got used to all this now.
"I can't say I am, but I do have a deep interest in animals and their… abilities I suppose you could say," I explained with a shrug. "So your work holds some appeal with me, even if I can't understand the finer details."
Meaning pretty much all of it, although the basic idea I could grasp easily enough and I wasn't lying when I said it appealed to me. If you think about some of the animals out there, they have extraordinary capabilities compared to us- birds of prey see ten times better than us, a dogs sense of smell is a thousand times more acute and crocodiles possess a strong immune system.
"But like the Parkinson's patient who watches on in horror as her body slowly starts to betray her, or the man with macular degeneration whose eyes grow dimmer every day I long to fix myself. " He was back to talking to the whole group, and I dutifully chose to stay at the back with Peter. "I want to create a world without weakness. Anyone care to venture a guess as to just how?"
It was a nice thought, but a darker- or more realistic- part of myself pointed out that if we could fix people, save those who would normally die and allow people to live on longer. We already had a problem with overpopulation; we'd be saving a few now but condemning the Earth to a quicker death- or turning everyone into some sort of animal hybrid.
"Stem cells?" asked a stereotypical looking geek.
"Promising," acknowledged the Doctor, stepping forwards. "But the solution I'm thinking of is a bit more… radical."
"No-one?" he asked, after a pause.
"Cross species genetics?" said Peter from beside me, the group parted to reveal him and Gwen looked at him in surprise then checked her clipboard. "A person gets Parkinson's when the cells that produce dopamine start to disappear. But a zebra fish has the ability to generate new cells on command. If you could somehow give that ability to the woman you're talking about that's that, I mean… she's curing herself."
"Yeah, you just have to look past the gills on her neck," said one of the group, and the others chuckled. Dr Connor looked impressed though, and looked over Peter with interest.
"And you are?" he asked.
"He's one of Midtown Science's best and brightest," interceded Gwen before he could be found out.
"Really?" asked Connors, turning back to her.
"Mm, he's second in his class," she said.
"Oh."
"Second?" asked Peter. "Are you sure about that?"
"Pretty sure," she replied.
Connors phone- or whatever it was- rang and he looked down at it quickly.
"I'm afraid duty calls" he said apologetically. "I'll leave you in the more than capable hands of Miss Stacey. Nice meeting you all."
His gaze drifted to me briefly before it went to Peter before he went off.
/
"Why is there a government agent here?"
"Do you think she knows?"
"Well she doesn't look like she gives a crap about this stuff."
"So what should we do about it?"
"Still have that Lester guy's number?"
*Can anyone explain this to me? I don't get it, LOL. O.O'
A/N: Thank you for the reviews. :3 Have some free authentic Loki helmets and I hope you review this chapter too. ^-^
On another note, FYI Electro is going to be in Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Harry Osborn will be making an appearance. Plus does anyone watch Ultimate Spider-Man? I couldn't stop laughing at the Hawkeye-watchdog thing, LOL.
Review please. :3