(A/N: I do not own Spiderman. That right belongs to Sony).
*The Next Monday, 3:30PM*
Peter walked into Oscorp, dressed in a business suit. He had looked pretty snazzy in his suit fit with a red tie and leather shoes. This was not how he preferred to be dressing but under the circumstances, it was necessary.
The young man walked up to the front desk where a worker was eyes locked on his computer to make any eye contact with the future CEO of Oscorp at the front desk. Peter cleared his throat.
"Can I help you?" The worker asked, not looking up from his computer.
"Uh...I'd like to go to the CEO's office" Peter replied to the worker.
The worker, still not looking up asked if he had an appointment with Mr. Menken. Peter guessed he was acting CEO for the time being while he was still in school. Peter didn't know much about Menken other than at one point he at one point believed him to possibly be the Green Goblin. However, he knew that he was pretty much Norman's lackey which didn't put him in high regards with the young boy.
"Uh...no. No I don't" Peter said, scratching the back of his head.
"Well I don't exactly know what exactly you're doing here young man but you can't just waltz in and ask to speak to the CEO. You need to make an appointment. Now go out and go do whatever people your age do. People are trying to work here" The worker said, rather rudely.
This caused Peter to raise an eyebrow and give a bit of an offended glare. "Uh...my name is Peter Parker….I was selected by the Board of Directors to be the next CEO of Oscorp"
The worker then finally looked up and looked to the young man he was talking to. His eyes went as wide as saucers.
"Oh! M-M-Mr. Parker. I...I'm so sorry. I...didn't know you were coming in today. I wasn't informed" The worker said, suddenly panicking.
"Uh...it's fine...and yeah, I didn't tell anyone I was coming in today. I just wanted to look over a few documents in my office" Peter explained.
"Oh, I see. Well...unfortunately, Mr. Menken is having a meeting in the office right now so it's temporarily unavailable at the moment" The worker said nervously.
Peter raised another eyebrow.
"Can he not have it somewhere else? The reason for my visit is important and I need to gain access to my office as soon as possible" Peter said, his voice slightly raising.
"Uh...well...I suppose maybe he could but Mr. Menken was very insistent that this meeting be held in his...er, I mean your office and he should only be disturbed if it was important" The worker explained, choosing his words carefully.
Peter suddenly stood up straight. Realizing that being his usual awkward but friendly self wasn't getting anywhere, he decided to be firm.
"Well...tell him to get out. According to Norman Osborn's will, I'm entitled to access throughout Oscorp HQ, including the office. I need access to it now" Peter said, his voice getting aggressive. He didn't really like speaking this way but this was too important to keep playing the nice guy.
"Uh...I...Ok. I'll...I'll call him up, sir" The worker said. He then went for the phone by his side and pressed a button that Peter assumed led to the phone in the CEO's office.
"I said I didn't want to be disturbed" Peter heard Menken say on the other end.
"I...I know, Mr. Menken but Mr. Parker is here and he's demanding he'd be granted access to the CEO's office. He says it's important and...no disrespect, sir, but as the primary shareholder and the main successor of Mr. Osborn, he technically outranks you" The worker explained sheepishly.
"...Tell him to come on up" Mr. Menken simply said and the line disconnected.
"It...seems he's waiting for you, sir. The elevator should take you right up", The worker said.
"Thank you" Peter nodded and went to the elevator. He hit the button to the top floor of Oscorp which would lead him to the office that may lead to answers about Warren.
*CEO's office*
The elevator dinged and Peter walked into his office. At the desk at the end of the room, Peter could see Donald Menken sitting at his desk with…Harry?
It was indeed Harry Osborn sitting on a chair on the other side of the desk. It seems Menken was having this meeting exclusively with Peter's ex-friend. Why, he had no idea though.
"Mr. Parker. It's good to see you" Donald said, giving a small smile to Peter. Harry turned from the chair across from the CEO's desk and gave a glare to Peter.
"Hey, Pete" Harry said, practically spitting at Peter's name.
"H...Hare? I...what are you doing here?" Peter asked as he continued walking towards the desk.
"What? Can't pay a visit to the company that should rightfully be mine by birthright? Oh but of course, I forgot. I'm just an embarrassment to my family while you were my dad's shining pupil. His mentee. Even gave you an Osberry when he just got me a friggin' card for my birthday last year" Harry said, standing up and huffing, crossing his arms in the process.
Peter just stared at Harry, not saying a word.
"Uh...I heard from the receptionist downstairs that you wanted to look over some documentation on the computer. Me and Mr. Osborn will just continue our meeting in the conference room one floor down" Menken said, sensing the drama and wanting to put an end to it.
"You head on down, Mr. Menken. I want to speak with my best bud for a second" Harry said, saying 'best bud' sarcastically.
"...Alright then. Just...don't be too long. I have a staff meeting in about 45 minutes" Menken said, awkwardly. He then proceeded to step up from the chair of the desk, step from behind the desk and walk to the elevator. In very little time, he was in the elevator and the doors shut, leaving the 2 ex-friends alone.
Harry at that point turned around towards the desk and picked up what appeared to be a bottle of whiskey on the desk and presented it to Peter, practically shoving it in his hands.
"Here, Pete. A little housewarming gift for you in your new office" Harry said in a cold tone but a neutral face.
"Uh...no thanks, Harry. I don't drink" Peter said, shaking his head and gently placing the bottle back in Harry's hands.
"Oh, I know for a fact that isn't true…" Harry said, his look turning dark as he put the bottle back on the desk.
"I meant anymore…" Peter said, defensively.
"Oh, I'm sure. So...how've you been, Pete? You look great. Most expensive suit I ever saw you in and hell, it's not even a hand me down. Must be fun having all my money to spend, isn't it?" Harry spat at Peter.
Peter sighed and shook his head. "Harry...Please...I'm your best friend"
Harry just let out an angry chuckle at this.
"Really? You are, are you? That's funny. I don't think best friends ignore their friends while they're in rehab and don't send so much as a letter to see what's going on with them or how they're doing. I don't think best friends become a 'mentee' to their dads without so much as telling them first. I don't think best friends chase after their dad's killer for a quick buck even after they inherited enough money for a thousand people's lifetimes. I don't think friends plot with their girlfriends to get together and break their best friend's hearts in the process. That doesn't sound like a 'best friend'. Does it to you?" Harry asked, continuing to glare at Peter.
"Harry, I'm sorry I haven't exactly been the best of friends to you lately, truly...but your dad was messed up in the head though. You saw him, Harry. He was wild, throwing bombs all over the place, threatening the city on that glider of his. Spiderman could have saved him if he had the chance" Peter said, trying to calm him down.
"Ah...making excuses for your true BFF I see" Harry said, shaking his head.
"What is your problem, Harry? What can I do to fix our relationship?" Peter asked, exasperated and desperately trying to find a solution to this.
"Don't you get it, Peter? There's nothing you can do, or at least nothing you will do...you took everything from me...everything. You took Gwen from me, you took my money and you took my dad from me" Harry said, his eyes starting to water.
Peter slightly twitched in guilt as he wasn't 100% sure on what Harry meant when he said he took his dad away from him.
"Maybe someday...I'll find a way to get over all this but it sure as hell won't be anytime soon. I may not have been perfect these last few months but I at least never got in the way of your happiness when you were with Liz. Ever. Can you say the same for me and Gwen?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
Peter's mouth opened but no sounds came out. He didn't really have a defense for that other than he loved Gwen at the moment and wanted desperately to be with her.
"Yeah. I thought so. We have nothing more to discuss here, Pete. Enjoy your life. Enjoy your little threeway with Liz and Hardy, enjoy your new group of friends from the 'In Crowd' who I've seen that you've been tutoring in the library after school nowadays by the way, enjoy your corporation and enjoy your perfect life. Just don't ask me to watch" Harry said. He then grudgingly shoved Peter out of the way with his shoulder as he began to walk away from the desk and then out of the room, taking the elevator to follow Menken one floor down.
When he was finally alone, Peter gave a sigh. It seemed drama followed him wherever he went nowadays….
After a moment, he suddenly got to business, saving the deal with Harry for another day.
Peter proceeded to go behind the desk and sit down. He turned the computer monitor towards him. After entering in the password (That he was provided on his trip to Oscorp after the will reading), he was transferred to the home desktop of Norman Osborn. There had to be something linking Oscorp to Warren and maybe there would be something incriminating about Warren that would've caused the Connors to 'retire' to Florida.
He looked through the file management app and browsed through the files. Quarterly earnings reports, contracts with the government, revenue spreadsheets, nothing too special but honestly, Peter hadn't expected to find anything on the surface. Norman would've wiped his computer clean of any such documentation as soon as he was finished with it. However, there had to be something in Norman's computer that led to something that could reveal who Warren really was.
Perhaps if he could gain access to the backup files that may have been on his computer from an earlier point in time. Thankfully, Peter knew of a few softwares that could do just that. After a quick browse through the internet and downloading a free one that was suitable to his purpose, he quickly ran the software.
After about 30 minutes of waiting, files that had previously been deleted completely from the system were restored into a separate folder in the management app.
Peter smiled. It was time to get to work now.