Chapter 1: The First Strand

Norman Osborn, billionaire industrialist, single father, and number 7 in Fortune's "Top Ten Innovators of the Year" strolled quietly through the office hallways of OsCorp. Brushing past his employees and ignoring the obligatory, "Good afternoon, Mr. Osborn" remarks until he made his way to his office, where his secretary was waiting outside anxiously.

"Oh, Mr. Osborn, there's someone…"

"Please, hold all my calls," he waved her off dismissively. "I have a lot on my schedule and I don't need interruptions." Entering his office, he was surprised to someone else was already inside and staring out the window.

"Nice view you got here, Norman," the man turned to face him, revealing a black man wearing a long coat and the unmistakable navy blue uniform of an agent for the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (or S.H.I.E.L.D. for short). The eye patch over his left eye added to his grizzled look and his short, crew-cut hairline was beginning to show some gray around the temples.

"Commander Fury, it's been some time. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Norman asked.

"It's Director now," Fury corrected him.

"Congratulations on the promotion, quite overdue."

"It's been Director for the past sixteen years," the other man clarified.

"Mmm," Osborn muttered, taking a seat at his desk before punching in on his intercom. "Miss Brooke, why is the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. in my office?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you," a panicked voice came through on the other line. "I tried to stop him but he insisted. He said he could even get the governor involved if he wanted to."

"Yes, I see," Osborn said, cutting her off before switching off the intercom and returning his attention to the other man in the room. "Now then, why are you here, Fury?"

"I wanted to speak to you about your little 'science expo.' You're scouting some of the best minds in the fields, hoping they'll come up with the next big thing for OsCorp. Am I correct?"

Osborn sighed and rolled his eyes, "So the head of the biggest spy organization in the world, broke into my office to ask whether I was using my big convention to try and recruit the best and brightest? The very thing I publicly announced half a year ago? It saddens me to think of where our tax dollars go."

"Cut the sarcasm, Norman," Fury growled. "What I'm proposing is something for our mutual benefit."

Osborn leaned back in his chair; he had an idea what the director was getting to but decided to hear him out. You can never be too careful when dealing with anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I'd like to have some of my people overseeing the event," Fury explained. "Directing your attention to worthwhile projects, keeping out the riffraff, and making sure groups like A.I.M. don't get to the good stuff before you've had your chance."

It was exactly what Osborn expected and he let out a small chuckle at the director's proposal. "Don't be coy with me, Fury," Osborn said with a smirk. "Ever since Stark went MIA, and is almost certainly dead, you've been without benefactor in the world of advanced sciences. And now you want to use me and my company to make sure you stay on the cutting edge. Is that right?"

Fury ignored the question and instead pulled a sheet of paper from the inside of his coat and placed it in front of Osborn. "This is an official contract with S.H.I.E.L.D., in exchange for exclusivity rights; you'll be given full access to our resources, freedom to conduct your work without bureaucratic red tape, and our full protection."

Osborn slid the document back without bothering to look at it. "Thanks but no thanks, OsCorp is perfectly fine where it is."

"Think about it, Osborn," Fury said enticingly. "I'm offering you the deal of a lifetime. No more unnecessary delays while you wait for city clearance as if they could even pretend to know anything about your proposals. No more crawling on your belly for the military's top brass. Having to suck up to pedantic jarheads that can't see the long term."

Norman chuckled at his little speech. "Not bad, Nick. You should've gone into politics. But pedantic as they are, I prefer them to you. Don't take it personally, but I prefer not having your little stooges breathing down my neck. And besides, the military buys in bulk."

"Or perhaps you prefer their hands-off approach because you know if they decided to take a closer look, they'd see some of your other clientele. Clientele that doesn't mesh with American interests."

"That's a dangerous accusation," Osborn said with a piercing look. "I assume you have some sort of evidence to back that up?"

"What I have are several dead Symkarian nationalists who were caught wearing prototype armor you announced two years ago," Fury replied.

"And I could just as easily find records of intercepted shipments from one-and-a-half years ago," Osborn smirked.

For a while neither man said anything, merely staring at each other with a stoned-faced expression. Waiting to see which one would crack.

"Look, if there's nothing else I can help you with, would you mind leaving?" Osborn finally said, breaking the silence. "I've got contacts to arrange, a convention to plan, and a secretary to fire. I enjoy some good banter but frankly, I don't have the time to play shadow politics."

Fury shrugged and pocketed the contract before making his way to the door. Before he exited, he turned back to address Osborn.

"Maybe I should've been a politician, perhaps you should've been a spy with how you conduct yourself."

Osborn gave a short laugh at that. "Please, that's one headache I don't need."

"Fine, but consider this, Osborn. You've seen the news, you've heard about HYDRA popping up again, or A.I.M. lurking about. How long do you think you can stay comfortably detached in a dangerous world? Because in a dangerous world, it doesn't just pay to have friends, it's the only way you survive."

And with that, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. vanished, and Osborn got up to look out the window of his office. Down at the buildings and streets of New York City.

Welcome to a new story! This is one that I've been hoping to do for some time, how I would cover the life of Peter Parker.

And yes, I'm aware he doesn't even appear in this chapter, but I guarantee that there will be 100% more Peter Parker in the next chapter.