Author's Note: Hoping you guys liked that last chapter, so on we go. I own nothing.
29. Great Ideas… Or Not
Dr. Connors sat alone in his lab going over the information they'd ripped from Doc Oc's warehouse lab. He tapped his pen on the table and spoke aloud to himself.
"He was close, closer than we are. If we just… If I can just recreate his research, maybe we'll have everything we need." He delved deeper into the research and made a noise of triumph. "That's it. The decay rate of the genes, that's what we've been missing. We need a proper binding agent. What did he use?"
Dr. Connors would admit it, he missed his friend, his college roommate. Being back at Stark Industries made him remember the times before, back when he'd worked with Piper's father, and further back to his days at MIT with Otto planning ways to better the world in their dorm. These days he often wished that it could go back to the way it was. But as he scratched the stump of his shoulder he let out a frustrated sigh. Things could never be the same again. Richard Parker was dead, Oscorp was probably behind it. Otto was running around on four mechanical legs menacing teenage superheroes, apparently at the behest of Oscorp, or at least Norman Osborn. Then he spotted it.
"Radiation. That's the key. Low level radiation!" He set about working up the model. It could work. It had to work, he rubbed the stump that had been his arm. It had to work.
Tony frowned down at the readings he was getting from the Bio Chem level. Low level radiation. He shook his head, heading down to the level. Any and all radiation experimentation had to be passed through the right channels before it could being and it certainly wasn't scheduled for nearly ten o'clock at night. He stepped off the elevator secure in the knowledge that he could have a suit here in seconds. The teens, save Piper, were upstairs, along with the rest of the team and there hadn't been a break in alert. There was light at only one workstation. He relaxed slightly when he recognized Dr. Connors.
"Hey Doc. What are you doing here this late?" Doctor Connors jumped slightly. When he looked up Tony spotted the screens behind the doctor. They were covered in formulas that Tony didn't recognize.
"Mr. Stark, I didn't realize you were still working this late." Tony shook his head slightly.
"Normally I'm not but the sensors caught low level radiation on this level, unauthorized radiation." Dr. Connors flushed slightly looking a bit embarrassed.
"I'm sorry I wasn't thinking. But I found out the key behind the formulas I've been working on. Otto had it worked out. The genes need something to bind them together. He used radiation, to great effect. If I'm right it's what bonded Piper's DNA to the DNA of the spider that bit her. I'd bet good money Otto at least had a hand in developing that spider." Tony's frown deepened.
"Otto? You mean Octavius." Dr. Connors nodded.
"Yes. Sorry. I just. I used to know him. He was a brilliant scientist. He still is if this is any evidence. A bit misguided sure but not without potential." Tony cut him off.
"Doc, you're an alright guy and I know my kid trusts you but you're talking about the man who has kidnapped her twice and tried to kill her on multiple occasions. Who made a bloodthirsty symbiote out of her blood, and a toxic formula that turned his former employer into a large green rage monster bent on killing my daughter. So I'm sorry but I'm not seeing this potential you're talking about. Unless he has the same potential as a missile. Ready to explode at any minute." There was silence for a few minutes. Tony sighed as the computer behind Dr. Connors beeped.
"Look Doc, it's been a long couple of weeks. Go home. Get some sleep. Take tomorrow off. You can find a better bonding agent, I'm not gonna let you use radiation. Too many people have been hurt by Dr. Crazy's ideas already. That's final." Tony turned around and walked away into the elevator. He needed a drink. He didn't like chewing out his employees but Dr. Connors was seeming to lean further towards mad science by the day. Piper didn't see it but Abe, Connor's other intern had come to HR and mentioned that he was warry of going ahead with the mouse lab for the formula when it wasn't anywhere near done.
Dr. Connors swore to himself. He had been so close. A few more minutes and the experiment would have been done, he could have proved that Tony was wrong and that Otto's ideas weren't all crazy. Reluctantly he turned back to the computer to separate the data. But when he looked it over he blinked. The results had already come through. They were better than he could ever have imagined. Piper's algorithm for bypassing the immune response had pushed Otto's formula to mingling with the DNA flawlessly. Dr. Connors blinked at the vial in front of him. It was full of a dark green liquid. The experiment had been set to produce the formula only after a successful simulation, something they hadn't managed yet. He looked over his shoulder at the elevator and grabbed the vial slipping it into the pocket of his lab coat. He pulled the completed file for the formula off the main server and onto his laptop instead of back onto the equipment the cleanup team had taken from the warehouse. He packed up his bag and left the building. Determination in his eyes.
When he reached his apartment he made a b line to the small cage on the small end table near the wall. Inside was a small white mouse with three legs. He'd adopted it years ago, Freddie, he called him. He had lost his front left leg to a botched SHEILD experiment. Never had he imagined he would be in the same situation as his pet mouse. But he could fix that, with the formula in his pocket. He carefully removed the mouse from his cage and set him in a small box, one that he couldn't really move around in. He took the formula out of his pocket and carefully injected most of it into the little mouse. It squeaked at him as he set down the injector and put him back into his cage.
"It's all on you now Freddie." Dr. Connors settled down on his couch to watch the mouse. A few hours later he fell asleep, still facing the cage.