037

It had been about 15 minutes since Walter Hardy had received a call from his boss and was outside the Oscorp building, while a somewhat somber feeling began to run through his body.

As soon as he finished his call he checked his daughter's room only to realize that she was not in it, which together with the way he referred to the person who had infiltrated the building simply made him feel uneasy.

Quickly he simply began to walk through the building to get to Norman's office and noticed that the security guards seemed to be nowhere to be seen, something that while strange he didn't think too much of.

When he saw the doors to the room he simply walked into it without even thinking about it eliciting a slamming sound, only to meet Norman's gaze who only lowered his gaze to a watch he held in one of his hands.

"15 minutes" he commented, "Not bad, but you could have been quicker" he added calmly, but none of that mattered to Walter who only looked at the figure of a woman lying on one of the sofas in the room.

With autonomy of his own Walter's body moved swiftly to the woman he immediately recognized as his daughter as a bit of panic began to rise within him.

"She's just unconscious, so you don't have to worry about any kind of damage" Norman explained as he moved from where he stood and walked in the direction of the father and daughter couple.

Although Walter was a little reassured by Norman's words he still looked for any sign of a hit or similar comforting himself a little when he saw that there was none as Norman had mentioned earlier.

Once he was sure he simply kissed his daughter's forehead and let out a sigh of relief before adopting a much more serious attitude and turning to look at Norman who was looking at him in an indifferent manner.

"Well, I'll give you a chance to explain why your daughter infiltrated in my corporation and tried to steal from me" Norman mentioned while looking at Walter in a direct way: "The first time I understood her action, the second time I simply let it go in consideration of you, but this time..." he added without finishing his words and leaving them to Walter's interpretation.

"Since a few days ago Felicia had been very interested about what kind of work I do for you" Walter began to explain: "However for obvious reasons I didn't reveal anything to her, but it appears that it only increased her curiosity" he continued as he looked sideways at his daughter while shaking his head at her actions.

"I'm sure the motive behind her actions is simply to know the work I do for you, I doubt she was going to steal anything, she probably just took it out of mere curiosity and that's all" he finished by saying and the room fell into a slight silence.

"Do you see that safe?" asked Norman somewhat off-topic, Walter just brought his gaze to it and nodded: "Take a closer look" indicated Osborn.

Although a bit strangely Walter followed Norman's directions, a few seconds passed and the more time passed the more amazed he became at the mechanism of the safe.

"If I told you to open it how long would it take you to do it?" questioned Norman as he looked at Walter with undisguised interest in his gaze.

Walter just shook his head at his boss's question, "The mechanism is something I have never seen before, so I would have to be meticulous in my movements, it would probably take about 30 minutes" in a sincere way he explained.

"Felicia did it in less than 20 minutes" commented Norman which provoked a surprised look from Walter: "Exactly it took 17 minutes and 30 seconds to make her way through the whole security mechanism and open it" he added and a bit of admiration could be heard in his tone of voice.

Walter just alternated his gaze between his daughter and the safe, no words were needed to know how surprised he was to hear Norman's words.

"Walter your daughter is very talented" Norman said and at the same time Walter knew what he meant.

"No" he mentioned seriously and without even giving Norman a chance to say anything, for his part Osborn did not take that fact badly.

"You'd better reconsider" pointed out Norman: "I'm not saying that at all because someone like her would be a good integration to the team, but tell me are you sure she won't follow in your footsteps despite your opposition?" asked Norman.

"If the answer is no, and I know it is then what do you think will happen if she were to be captured? At best, she will simply be caught by the cops and taken to jail, at others than she will be killed or maybe something much worse" as Norman finished his words Norman paused a little to let Walter understand his words.

"Now the fact that she works for me and consequently has my protection and above all you can supervise her, take care of her and teach her doesn't sound so bad does it?" after a few seconds in silence Norman questioned again.

Walter just looked at his daughter one more time before letting out a tired sigh as he hunched over a bit. After some thought Hardy opened his mouth to speak, "This decision is not something I could choose even if I wanted to do it, so regardless of my personal desire I will talk to Felicia about your proposal" he mentioned relatively calmly.

Norman just nodded before approaching Felicia and tapping certain points on her body, the next second the white-haired woman woke up abruptly.

"You may go" commented Norman as a serious Walter looked at a confused Felicia who soon shifted to feeling a bit of dread at the sight of her father's condition.

"Let's go now" in a tone of voice that left no space for a no, Walter ordered his daughter who only adopted a somewhat fearful attitude and silently and trying to go unnoticed she headed towards her father.

Just as they were about to leave the office: "Don't forget to talk to her" said Norman which caused Walter to stop his steps for a moment, but a second later he continued with his walk followed by Felicia.

Without further ado Norman was left alone in his office before simply using his teleportation to return home.

…

The sun's rays had long since shown themselves in the Osborn mansion, causing most of the people in it to start their workday as they did every day.

Norman for his part was in the gym he had built for training inside the mansion, he had finished his warm-up and was now practicing his fighting techniques a bit.

The good thing about having the gym was that the annoying eyes of the S.H.I.I.E.L.D. agent couldn't get to him, so he didn't have to fake his skill and character in the slightest.

A small sound of footsteps brought him out of his concentration and he brought his gaze to his young son who seemed to be somewhere between embarrassed and a little terrified at having been discovered.

"Come here Harry" Norman called softly, to which the little boy didn't take a second to do as his father asked.

When he was in front of him Norman began to speak, "Well why are you here?" he asked as he looked at the little boy.

"Breakfast is ready" was all he mentioned and Norman understood what he wanted to tell him.

Norman took a small towel and started to dry a little of the sweat that was running down his body, once he was clean, he took Harry in his arms and started to walk to the exit of the gym.

"Then we'd better go before Bernard gets mad" he commented with amusement which brought a small giggle out of his son.

The walk passed in comfortable silence until Harry couldn't seem to take it anymore and began to speak, "Dad" which caused Norman to lower his gaze a little to get a better look at him.

Once he was sure he had his father's attention Harry began to speak again, "Can I learn martial arts?" he asked, and it was somewhat of a surprise to Norman.

With a raised eyebrow, this time it was Norman's turn to speak, "First of all tell me why do you want to do it?" he questioned.

The little boy didn't think for a second before answering: "I want to be like you!" he exclaimed with joy, but a small trace of conviction and seriousness could be heard.

Despite being words most children have said to their parents, Norman didn't know what to say, as he wasn't quite sure he wanted Harry to be like him in the future.

However, he took his thoughts quickly to the boy's request, finding it as something useful, after all while he could not be taught too much, as it would affect his growth, but he could teach him the basics of many things, which could serve him in the future.

"If you continue to maintain your good behavior and good grades then I will allow it" after some thought he ended up saying.

Norman didn't need an answer from his son, since just by looking at him, he knew that he was going to do his best to comply with what he had just said, not that he had to try very hard after all he was already an excellently behaved child.

…

While Norman was having his breakfast with Harry, Bernard approached him as he informed him of the arrival of an unexpected guest.

Getting an idea of who it was Norman excused himself to Harry before starting to make his way to the room where all visitors were taken.

Opening the door the first thing he saw was a woman probably about his own age, her long hair that reached somewhat below her shoulders was a dark purple color that gave her a feeling of exotic beauty. Her blue eyes were a deep blue color almost ocean-like, which gave her a feeling of mystery to her aura.

Her outfit consisted of simple all-black dress pants that ran down her long legs, while her upper body was covered by a completely plain white shirt.

A mysterious smile appeared on her face as she saw Norman: "Norman Osborn it's a pleasure to meet you" he mentioned calmly.