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Norman was in the command center of the building as he slowly and carefully read all the information Walter and Bucky had gotten from the Tesseract after infiltrating one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research centers.

The report gave a bit of the history and possible origins of the mysterious cube and Norman simply began to form his own conclusions with the information he had.

First of all, there was the fact that as he remembered and had deduced the first time the Tesseract appeared in any significant way in human history or the least that could be documented was when it was in the possession of Johann Schmidt and helped for a good while to give the German forces the upper hand in the war.

After the fall or defeat of Schmidt at the hands of Steve the Tesseract was lost for a long time, until it was found by Howard Stark in the Artics waters while he was searching for his friend.

Up to this point the events had been somewhat similar to those seen in the MCU, but the similarities arguably ended at this point, as unlike the movies Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. simply did not exist.

Which could mean two things, the first being that the information from that project was completely buried due to its failure and all traces of information were removed so that nothing could be revealed.

And the second case, it could simply be that they did not consider it appropriate to use the Tesseract, because although there was no sign of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. in the information, there was evidence of certain tests that were carried out, all of them with completely disastrous results. Which could mean that they considered it too dangerous to be employed in such a large project and simply ended up protecting the Tesseract from being used.

But that also meant that the knowledge he had of the Skrulls and Kree of the MCU was completely useless. Plus he couldn't rely on his knowledge of them from the comics either, 'This really is irritating' thought Osborn, no matter how much he prepared he always found variables that made his plans have to change abruptly.

The sound of the door opening snapped Norman out of his thoughts who had brought his hand to his forehead in an attempt to mitigate the growing migraine he was beginning to feel.

The footsteps were too soft and long for it to be Walter or even Bucky, so there was only one other person that came to his mind, "Felicia if you're looking for your father he's in the kitchen" Osborn mentioned to her without even looking at the newcomer.

"I know, I came from there, however it seems he gave more importance to eating than to his daughter" she mentioned with a small angry tone and Norman didn't need to see her to know that she had crossed her arms indignant at her father's attitude.

Norman didn't reply to her little tantrum and Felicia simply showed a little curiosity in her eyes at the sight of the Osborn and soon made her way to a compartment somewhat away from where Norman was.

"It was my father's idea to have the snack space in the room wasn't it?" asked Felicia as she began to make a cup of tea.

"Do you doubt that?" giving her answer in the form of a question Norman replied to the white-haired woman.

"No, I don't" Felicia's answer was quick and short, knowing well her father's attitude, a small smile formed on her beautiful face.

A small silence fell in the room where both people were, however neither of the two people felt uncomfortable with that, it was something a bit usual for them to be in that way, they didn't need to exchange words, as in a strange way the simple presence of the other was comforting.

After a few minutes Norman again heard Felicia's footsteps approaching him and soon a cup of tea was placed a few inches from his hand, "Have some, I don't know what you have discovered, but you seem to be a little stressed, the tea should help a little with that" mentioned Felicia as she watched Norman start to look at her for answers.

Norman just brought his hand to the cup before taking a sniff of its contents and a few seconds later began to drink it slowly, "Thank you" he said to Felicia who just nodded with a smile.

…

A day had passed since the return of Walter and Bucky, Norman was in his office at Oscorp as he made his daily work routine.

For the moment there was nothing out of the ordinary not even the newly arrived S.H.I.E.L.D. spy seemed to be making any kind of move too radical or obvious, for the moment it seemed her plan was to build a good reputation and gather information slowly but surely.

Osborn really didn't think too much of Carol after all even though he had things to hide he had made sure that nothing really important was in Oscorp, so even if she wanted to find something hidden she wouldn't find it.

His thoughts soon turned to tomorrow, which would be Mary Jane's birthday, with a little difficulty he had managed to get a suitable gift for the redhead which ended up being a necklace that he thought was just right for her.

On the other hand Harry had the brilliant idea of creating the redhead's gift himself and flatly refused to buy it, Harry's gift ended up being a ceramic mug with the inscription "The best nanny" and if he was honest with himself in the first few moments Norman was a little afraid that Harry might refer to MJ as his mother, but luckily for him it wasn't what he thought.

Norman took his gaze to his own mug that had been created by his son, in his case the inscription on the mug was "Best Dad Ever", it might not be a mug he would use regularly, but at the end of the day it was a gift from his son, so he would take care of it.

Soon Norman stopped thinking about it and focused entirely on his work, in a few hours he would be able to go home.

…

Night had fallen relatively quickly and while the employees at Oscorp were beginning to leave work and head for home, the head of Oscorp was still in his office after receiving a call.

Norman was just looking out at the New York night scenery through one of his office windows when his office door was opened.

"Did you follow my instructions?" mentioned Osborn.

"You shouldn't worry about that, I'm trained for more complicated situations" Forge's reply was not long in coming.

"Army?" asked Norman as he looked at the newcomer.

"Something like that" without really giving an answer Forge replied.

Norman simply shook his head, "So your presence in this office gives me to understand that you made your decision, but I'll ask it to be more certain what is your choice Jonathan?" explained and finished by asking Osborn.

"I've been living like a rat the last few years always in constant fear that Magneto will come after me to finish what he started" Forge began to say as he sat down in one of the chairs around the office.

"I honestly doubt very much about your ability to hide me from Magneto, but he's likely to find me anyway, so I'd at least prefer to live more comfortably than I currently do, that way I won't have a regret" he continued.

While it was not an answer Norman found satisfactory it was much better than he expected, "As long as you fulfill the jobs and requests I make then I will provide you with certain comforts" he replied.

Forge just nodded, "That is fair enough" he said to Norman, "However in the event that I feel that your request may go against my ideals then I can refuse" without any fear he continued.

"Fair enough" Norman replied indifferently, but soon after his countenance changed to a more serious one and the atmosphere seemed to turn hostile, "You can refuse if you consider it to be against your ideals, but if you dare to interfere with my plans then Magneto will become the least of your worries do you understand me?" word after word clearly and slowly mentioned Osborn to him.

"Clearly" Forge replied wondering where it was that Norman drew such confidence from, these were not words he simply said because he could, they were words he would be sure to follow through on no matter what, at least that was his impression of Osborn.

…

Norman was on his way to Mary Jane's home, while thinking that maybe it was a little late, he had made plans and worked a little more in the previous days to have his schedule free for this day, but due to a small inconvenience with one of the company's projects he had had to change his plans.

Even so, since he had said he would attend, he had managed to finish his work and would keep his word, or at least he hoped so.

As he began his little trip to Forrest Hills, Norman was thinking about the newest member of his little team, perhaps it might be too little considering the threats he might face, but Norman was applying quality over quantity.

Of course, this was only now he was in his beginnings and had somewhat reduced and weak power, once he had more power, then he could make bigger and possibly riskier moves to generate greater profits, but for the moment those plans were on pause.

With his thoughts going back and forth Norman continued his journey a little faster, by this point Bernard would have taken Harry to the party as per his instructions. So his son should be waiting for him.

…

Norman looked at the redhead's home and the thought that there were fewer people than he expected crossed his mind, but he didn't give it too much thought before he got out of his car and started heading towards MJ's house.

Knocking on the door he had to wait a little while before it was opened by an already familiar redhead, a smile formed on her face at the sight of Norman, "Sorry I'm late, but there was a bit of trouble at the company, so I had to sort it out before I could come" explained Osborn to her.

MJ shook her head quickly, "I'm glad you came plus Bernard explained your reasons, come on in" she mentioned to him a little quickly, "By the way, mom may seem a little irritating, but she's just someone who has a lot of energy, so I hope you can have a little patience with her" she added.

"Of course" replied Norman to MJ's words as he walked past the door to the young woman's house and let himself be guided through the house.

Upon entering Norman looked around a bit there were a few boxes with pictures that upon seeing his curiosity MJ explained that they were she and her mother while adopting a wistful smile, if Norman had not known about her situation beforehand he might have asked about her father seeing the noticeable absence of his presence.

But considering the first reports he received from Bernard and his own investigations he knew the reason behind that fact.

A woman's laughter along with Harry's small chuckle reached Norman's ears, who wondered the motive behind it, "It came from the garden, mom thought it was a good idea to be in it and Bernard thought it was a wonderful day to cook outside" explained MJ, "So they probably had a little culinary accident" she added quickly imagining the situation.

Norman shook his head at Bernard's actions, but it's not like he could do anything, after all that was his attitude, "By the way is the party over already?" he asked, "It looks like there were no more guests" he continued.

MJ just nodded at Norman's words, "That's because I considered the fact that your presence could cause a bit of chaos if there were many guests, and maybe it could make you uncomfortable, so in the end I thought it was best to have a small party with few people, after all I also like the tranquility" she explained with calmness.

Norman didn't know how to respond to that, so he searched for something to say however his thinking wasn't working out right.

MJ just looked at Norman and thought that it was the first time she saw him without words and a small feeling of victory arose inside her, "Let's go otherwise mom will be looking for me soon" mentioned the redhead as she turned around and made a hand signal to Norman who just followed her in relative silence.

…

Norman could admit that the time spent was really enjoyable plus he could discover where the charisma and attitude of the redhead came from, and she was a blonde with the name of Madeline perhaps with a lot of energy as the redhead had said.

However like all good things this little party had to come to an end and after what could be considered a very fun afternoon it was time for Osborn's family to retire to their own home.

Bernard held Harry in his arms as the little boy was about to fall asleep while the family butler carried him to the car in which they had arrived, but not before they both said goodbye to the two women of Watson's family.

After having a small farewell with an excited Madeline who mentioned that he could always visit them another time, Norman just gave a polite smile to that, without denying or affirming anything.

Finally Norman said goodbye to Mary Jane, "Thank you for your invitation, it had been a long time since I attended this type of event" Osborn mentioned to her sincerely.

"I should be the one to say thank you, after all even with your busy schedule and the inconveniences you had you still showed up" replied the redhead.

"I gave my word, so I had to keep it" replied Osborn.

A small silence fell between the two and Norman decided it was time to give his gift before he forgot, so he reached into one of the pockets of his suit and pulled out a small box that was simply decorated, "Unlike Harry I could not make a gift created by me to give you, however I feel this is very appropriate for you" he explained seeing MJ's curiosity.

"Thank you" the redhead mentioned with sincerity and gratitude, as she never thought or even expected Norman to give her a gift, but it turns out to be a truly pleasant surprise, "Should I open it now or when you're gone?" asked MJ with a bit of amusement.

"Whenever you like, I'm confident enough that the gift will be to your liking, so it doesn't matter when you open it" Norman's reply didn't take that long to come.

MJ shook her head at Norman's confidence, but she knew it was very likely that she would end up liking the gift after all, so she didn't mention anything.

"I'll see you later Miss Watson" after a few seconds of silence MJ heard Norman's voice.

The redhead just nodded her head, "I'll see you later Mr. Osborn" were her words, which after finishing Norman turned around and started walking towards his car.

As he got into his car Norman watched out of the corner of his eye as a family of three arrived at the house next to MJ and saw the two older ones greet the redhead while the youngest had very distinctive features.

A sudden thought crossed his mind before he started the car and began to drive off, not having to worry about dropping Harry off at the house as that would be taken care of by Bernard.

When MJ stopped greeting her neighbors and looked in the direction of Norman she noticed that no one was there and couldn't help but let a small hint of disappointment creep into her feelings.

MJ heard someone call her name, so she brought her gaze in that direction to meet a slightly concerned look from her neighbor.

"Are you okay? You seemed a little lost" were her words.

MJ shook her head, wondering if her little slip was so obvious, "I'm fine May, I'm just a little tired" she replied and after a brief exchange of words she entered her home.

…

MJ was in her room as she placed a recently taken photograph on her desk, the photo showed MJ playing with Harry while a calm Norman looked at them with a smile, the photograph had been taken by her mother and she had liked the result.

In the end she decided to place it next to another photo that showed the three of them only at that moment they were in a park, MJ still remembered how Norman and Harry just swept the little soccer tournament and making themselves the champions.

'That day was fun' thought the redhead, as she remembered the picnic she had together with them.

Her gaze soon fell on the small box containing Norman's gift that was next to the mug Harry had given her, after some thought MJ took the box in her hands and as she began to open its simple wrapping as her expectations began to grow.

The first thing she saw was a bright red and some sort of chain, so she carefully took it in her hand and began to appreciate Norman's gift a little, her first thought was that it was simple, something she was grateful for as she really didn't like the jewelry too ostentatious.

'I like it' thought the redhead, she soon discovered a small note in the box and with her free hand she took it, almost immediately she recognized Norman's handwriting.

"Miss Watson, the necklace is made up of white gold and ruby despite my confidence I apologize if it ends up not being to your liking, but taking into account your personality I consider that this piece of jewelry would certainly suit you perfectly and don't worry I know that if it was too expensive you wouldn't accept it at all, so you don't have to worry about that" MJ read the words written by Norman.

"Lastly I promise to find something much better for your next birthday" were words that were a little hidden.

Mary Jane just had a smile on her beautiful face as she read Norman's words.

"Thank you" once again MJ thanked Norman even though he wasn't with her, "I love it" she continued.