048

Norman was in the Oscorp parking lot as he headed out to start a new day at work.

Yesterday he had had some big surprises like the discovery that the Ancient One version of The Ancient One was much more similar to the one in the comics than the one in the MCU, although with that he wondered if the Eye of Agamotto would also be like the one in the comics.

And if that ended up being the case then he would have a bit of a problem and unknown as he didn't know where the Time Stone could be found, it was somewhat irritating that so many things were being different from what he had planned all along.

Once Norman arrived at the Oscorp gates he simply greeted the security guards as usual and entered the building where he was greeted by the receptionists and various other employees who greeted him, Norman just gave them a smile and returned the greeting to all of them as he continued with his walk.

Once he was in the elevator Norman pressed the button that would take him to his office, but before the door closed he could see a blonde woman entering through the doors of the building.

Norman just flashed a smile as he shook his head at the sight of her, 'S.H.I.E.L.D. really is a pain in the ass' he thought as the doors closed completely and the elevator began to ascend.

…

Norman was in his office and after looking for microphones or similar things in the room Norman took a phone out of his pocket, although it was somewhat different from the one he always used, as this was one that was designed by himself and had a somewhat different operation to other commercial phones.

Relatively quietly Norman began to call one of the few numbers he had in his contact list, the call soon connected and without waiting long Osborn spoke, "Walter I need you to look into something" without needing to beat around the bush he said.

The other side's response was only a sigh, "What is the mission?" he asked after a few seconds in silence.

"I need you to find something, however, I won't lie to you the mission may be more dangerous than I can foresee and there may be unforeseen events that increase the difficulty" being sincere Norman commented to him.

This time the silence was much longer lasting, "I'm in danger working for you anyway, so what's a little more?" trying to dismiss the situation Walter ended up saying with a bit of amusement in his voice.

"I'll get the information to you shortly and be sure to read it in full" he pointed at him before falling into a silence, "If you come to consider the mission to be too dangerous you can withdraw from it" he added after a bit.

"Would you feel guilty if something happened to me?" Walter's incredulous voice was not long in coming.

"No, but I'd rather Felicia could have her father with her for a longer time" he replied indifferently.

Again silence came from the other side, "Take care Walter" Norman pronounced.

"Roger that boss," replied Hardy before the call ended.

…

Osborn was working in his office after doing some planning and finishing briefing Walter about his mission, honestly it could be a bit dangerous, but he had to make sure if the Tesseract was in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody before he could even know if he should rethink his plans or go ahead with them.

Soon an alarm sounded and Norman realized it was his time to head for Dr. Curtis' lab to listen and read the reports and share ideas with the two remaining people. So he calmly began to get up from his seat and started to leave his office.

Quickly he started to head towards the laboratory after greeting his secretary in the course Norman had a calm and indifferent attitude was passing by the department of management control when he looked at the same blonde who had been seen entering the building, the woman was carrying several folders that seemed to hinder her vision and Norman knew where it was all going.

In a matter of seconds and due to a bad footfall the woman stumbled and with her did the folders, Osborn gave a sigh he had to admit that his performance was good and due to the attitude he showed to his employees it was a good approach that she had employed.

Norman started to head over to where the woman was picking up the folders that had fallen, she seemed to be so focused that she didn't notice the moment Norman started to help her, it was only until she saw no more folders and papers on the floor that she brought her gaze a little higher and noticed Osborn.

"¡M.. Mr. Osborn!" with a bit of a stutter she was able to say his name.

Norman just flashed a smile as he handed her the folders he had collected himself, "Are you new?" he asked, still knowing the answer, "I don't remember seeing you on my previous visit to the management department" he continued.

The woman just nodded, "I was transferred from the Washington subsidiary" she commented as she took the folders Norman handed her and with a little difficulty extended her hand to greet Osborn.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Osborn excuse me for not introducing myself sooner my name is Alice Crawford" she introduced herself with a smile.

"A pleasure Miss Crawford" Norman said as he responded to the woman's greeting.

A couple of footsteps were heard as a somewhat young man appeared and walked over to the two of them, "Mr. Osborn did something happen?" he asked quickly.

Norman shook his head, "Nothing happened Michael, although I recommend that when you need to bring several things go in groups of two to make it easier" he commented to which the man quickly began to take the majority of the folders Alice had in her arms.

"Of course, Sir, I will keep that in mind for the following occasions" he replied enthusiastically.

Norman just nodded, "Then that's it, keep up the good work" saying those words Osborn started walking back towards the lab, this time he hoped there wasn't something to stop him.

…

When he arrived at the laboratory Norman noticed that one of the people who made up his small group of three was missing.

"Dr. Curtis where is Gwen?" asked the Osborn at the absence of the enthusiastic blonde who always greeted him as soon as he arrived at the lab.

Connors just stopped looking at the computer and paid attention to his boss, "Oh, she called and mentioned that she wouldn't be here for a while, she was chosen to represent the university in a science competition, so her time is somewhat limited" he explained calmly.

Norman just nodded at Connors' words as he put on a lab coat to begin his work, even though they were no longer analyzing samples they still had to follow certain rules.

Osborn had to admit that he would much rather be in a lab than behind a desk in his office, and with that thought he began his work.

…

Norman was on his way to Osborn Manor, his project for the combination of the three serums was progressing better than he had expected and Osborn could feel that before long everything would be resolved.

Although that was also thanks to having Maya working for Oscorp he had another person who could work with Extremis, and although she was unaware of what Norman was trying to do they were still making great progress in stabilizing it.

It was only a short time before Norman could finally inject himself with the serums, and although he knew that against the real Marvel heavyweights the power he would get would be weak, it was something he could be proud of.

With those kinds of thoughts in his mind he made his way to Osborn Manor.

As he arrived he could tell that this time MJ and Harry were not in the garden as was becoming their habit, so it was very likely that they were inside the mansion.

With a calm step Norman started to enter the mansion and ended up going to the living room which was another place where they were usually, his deduction was accurate when he looked at MJ and Harry getting ready to watch a movie.

Norman's presence was quickly noticed by the other two people, "Dad!" exclaimed the little boy, "Come on sit down, so you can watch the movie" he mentioned.

Norman soon listened to his son as he sat in the same couch as the redhead who only extended him a small snack with a small smile that Osborn shared.

After watching the movie the three people had a delicious dinner before Norman went out to see MJ off, as it was time for the redhead to go home.

Osborn noticed that Watson looked a little pensive on the way as she looked at him in a sneaky way, "Miss Watson I mentioned that you can talk to me in confidence and I will listen to you" he commented as he saw that it looked like MJ wouldn't say anything to him.

MJ just looked at Norman before letting out a sigh and starting to speak, "Well it may seem a bit stupid, but my birthday is coming up, and I just thought of inviting you and Harry" the redhead started to say, and before she could say anything else she heard Norman's voice.

"Miss Watson I would love to attend your party" Norman told her sincerely, "And I'm sure Harry will also have the same reaction, there's no need for you to overthink something so simple" he added.

By this time the pair had arrived near the car that would take MJ home, however the redhead was only focused on the words Norman had said to her.

"Isn't it a bother?" she asked curiously, but received only a denial from Norman.

"You're my son's nanny, and he loves you very much, plus I've come to consider you a friend" Osborn pointed out to her, "So no, it's not a bother" he finished by saying.

MJ didn't seem to know how to respond to that, so Norman calmly led her to the car, "I think it's time for you to leave, otherwise your mother would be worried about you," he said as he opened the car door.

The redhead just nodded and got into the car in relative silence, just as Norman was about to close the door she spoke, "Thank you" she said softly, but with a sincerity that seemed palpable.

In an act of unconsciousness Norman took one of his hands and stroked the redhead's hair, "I'll see you tomorrow Miss Watson" Norman said after withdrawing his hand and finishing closing the door.

Shortly after Norman watched as the car began to leave Osborn Manor and brought his gaze to the hand with which he had stroked MJ's hair, before shaking his head at his action. Finally Norman walked back inside the mansion.