Phelan's Grunts

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Universe or any characters that originated there, I just own the Grunts

Notes: Same as in chapter 1

The Team Forms - chapter-5

January 2003

Brian walks into his apartment building feeling wiped out. He is covered with soot and he smells of smoke, but as tired as he is he still feels great. Since joining the fire department two years ago he has been able to secretly use his powers to help save lives. Today using his force shield and force beams he had saved two kids trapped in a burning house. Then he sees something that makes his day even better.

Becca steps out of the elevator on her way to the laundry room. As she steps off she sees Brian coming through the front doors looking a mess. A cute mess but a mess none the less. "Hi, you look like somebody tried to bar-be-q you. You smell like it too."

"Sorry, been to a house fire. Since the fire lasted till after shift change, I decided to come home and clean up rather go all the way back to the station house."

"Your poor car" She had liked his vintage Mustang stingray.

"Not to worry, I covered the seat and rode with the windows down."

Becca looks at Brian for a minute, just long enough to make him start to squirm, "Brian can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course."

"Do you think you will ever get up the nerve to ask me out, or am I going to have to ask you out?"

Brian could not believe his ears, it was his dream and fantasy coming true. "Whatever makes you happiest?"

"Hmmm. I think I'll wait for you, but don't make me wait much longer." Smiling she turns and goes down into the laundry room.

Brian starts to chase after her, but then remembers he has a meeting downtown with Stefano "Brother whatever you want had better be good." He mumbles as he gets into the elevator and punches the button for the tenth floor, first he needs a shower and some clean clothes.

* * * * * *

Marge Hanson, executive secretary to billionaire industrialist Stefano Phelan, looks up when she hears the door to her office open. She's a bit surprised since she had not been informed that someone was coming up from the lobby.

Then she's surprised again by the look of the man that enters. He is a tall well built young man, in his mid to late twenties. His light brown hair is too long and wind blown. His tan suit is rumpled giving him an unkempt look. Well not everyone can afford fine Italian suits like her boss.

He certainly didn't look like someone who could get this far without being challenged. Marge is not scared for there are at least a dozen men on this floor alone who were well armed and would rush to her aid with the touch of a button. "May I help you?"

Brian McCall gives the older woman his best smile. So, this is the Miss Hanson he had heard Stefano and his grandfather talking about. He could tell by the way she looks now in her fifties that when she was his age she must have been incredible looking. She had been working for his grandfather until he passed away then came to work for Stefano.

"Brian McCall to see Stefano Phelan."

Again Marge is surprised, this is Brian McCall? He is certainly not like she had expected. She was use to the kind of people who got in to see her boss looking very different and a whole lot richer. Not that she could tell his wealth by his looks, some of the richest men in the world preferred to look like hobos.

She rose from her desk, "Of course, Mr. McCall. Please, follow me."

As he follows the woman down the long hall to a large wooden door, Brian couldn't help but admire the view of her from behind. Hell, the woman was still a knockout.

She opens the door and steps aside, "Please wait in here. I sure Mr. Phelan will be with you shortly."

As Brian moves past her, "What's he doing, talking with the President?"

"The President? No, not this time, I believe it is the Prime Minister of Japan."

"Oh, sure I understand. I'm in no hurry, I got all day," He muttered feeling like a complete dumb ass. The door closed behind him and he was alone.

Brian begins to look around the huge office. Man, this place is as big as my apartment. His apartment took up the whole top floor of the apartment building he lived in.

It was a corner office on the thirty-fifth floor of the Phelan International New York Headquarters. The two outer walls were completely made of glass giving an incredible view of the New York skyline, which was still impressive even with out the twin towers. He wishes for the millionth time that there had been something he could have done to help on 9-11.

He hears the door open and he turns to watch a tall man, who he knows to be 41, enter. His suit is immaculate and probably cost more than Brian makes in a year as a fireman. His hair is coal black with just a touch of white at the temples. He wonders if the gray is real or the magic of a hair stylist.

Stefano Phelan stands and stares at his half brother for a moment. Then he smiles; as much for his brother's appearance, who is not one for putting on airs, as for his joy in seeing him. Few people know that he and Brian McCall are brothers, same father different mothers. The ones that do know find it amazing that they not only get along but actually enjoy each other's company.

Brian is the one person in the whole world that he can trust without reservation; that he can talk to about anything without worry about the wrong person or the press finding out about it. He is a little surprised that Brian agreed to come his office today. He usually refused to come into the center of New York preferring to meet at his place on the outskirts of the city. It is the first time he had ever been willing to make the trip to his office. Stefano knows how much he dislikes the city. However, he wouldn't have asked him here today if it had not been important. He also knew how much he liked his private icy, which is why he kelp his McCall name even after their father had officially adopted him at age 6.

Brian smiles back at this brother, "This office is a bit overkill, don't you think?" He waves an arm around.

Stefano walks to his large office chair, "One must look the part, one forced to play." He waves a hand a chair in front of his desk and Brian sits.

Brian leans back, "So, what's up?"

"I think I have finally solved our energy collection problem and I have built a set of collectors to absorb the needed energy. I . . ."

"But, you've always been able to do that."

"Yes. But, now I have developed a way to transfer the energy into a human body."

Brian sprang to his feet, "What? Are you sure it will work?"

"I think so." Stefano smiles, "The theory is sound. The equipment is finished. All I need is for someone to test it."

Brian smiles back, "I know just the person."

* * * * * *

Brian and Stefano step out of a secure elevator twenty stories below the Phelan International headquarters. It has as many stories below it as it does above and it has thirty-five above.

They walk past several checkpoints, where heavily armed guards check their ID's every time, even Stefano gets checked at each check point.

They walk into a lab test room; there hanging on a mannequin is a yellow and tan suit. It has a yellow bird emblem on the chest, a mask that completely covers the face, a huge pair of goggles covering the eyes. At first he thinks that the suit has gloves but then realizes that the hands are bare. The things that caught his eyes, that stand out are the two huge golden wings mounted on the back of the suit.

Brian walks around the suit. He reaches and touches the wings "Are these the collectors?" He watches Stefano nod. "A little big aren't they?"

"They can compact down to where they are just large golden lumps running down each side of your back and legs. I made them this big so that if the collector part fails you can use them like the wings of a hang-glider and float down to the ground under control."

Brian rubs his hand along the wing's leading edge, "How about painting the leading edge the same color as the suit so when they're pulled in they blend into the suit and not stand out."

Stefano looks and nods at a tech standing to one side, he quickly makes a note on the pad he is carrying. All the techs that have worked on 'The Suit' as they all call it know the suit is for Brian. He then turns back to Brian "There is one small problem we haven't been able to work out" He watches as Brian's eyebrows raise "While the wings are collecting energy they glow. Which is not bad during the day with the sun out, but at night."

"I'll look like a giant golden firefly."

"Exactly. I'm not sure what we can do about it either."

"Didn't you tell me this thing has a power reserve?"

"Yes it does. You don't get energy directly from the wings. They recharge a series of micro-cells. The micro-cells even out the energy flow eliminating any pikes or dips and then feeds it to your body through electrodes located all up and down the suit."

"What's that going to feel like?"

"The techs tell me it will feel like bugs crawling around on you."

Brian shutters "Great."

Stefano smiled "Some how I don't think you will even notice."

Brian smiled back "I think your right. Now how long will my power last just running off these micro-cells."

"At full power they last about an hour."

"An hour? One thing I learned at Xavier's was that an hour is a long time. Put in a cut off switch to the wing's energy collectors. So, at night when I need to be unseen I can just cut off the wings from glowing and operate on the micro-cells, but leave the wings where they function normally otherwise."

Stefano turns again to the tech "How long to make the change?"

"We can have a manual switch in place in about two hours. It will take a lot longer to incorporate into the cyber software."

"Very well, install manual switches in the belt, both in the front and in the rear. We'll upgrade the software when it is ready."

"Yes sir." The tech then left the room.

Stefano walks over to what appears to be huge metal bird sitting on a perch, "Brian meet Eagle."

"What is Eagle?"

"Eagle is your partner. Where you go Eagle will not be far behind. He is an artificial bird filled with the latest sensors, scanners, radars, you name it Eagle has got it. There is a direct cyber-link to you for secured communications between you, Eagle and Home base. It also posses the latest artificial intelligence."

"What is it for?"

"It will go with you, it will scan areas for you and feed the information back to you to your heads-up display, it has GPS abilities to keep you on track and always know where you are. The more we use I sure the uses we will find for it. If nothing else it is an extra set of eyes out there looking for you and feeding everything it sees back to you. After working with him a while you'll wonder how you ever got along without him. Now, want to try the suit on?"

"Is the Pope Catholic?"