70 070
It had been a relatively short time since Norman along with Gwen and Connors had returned to New York.
Once they got off the plane, the three of them headed towards the airport exit, where both Connors' wife and Gwen's parents were waiting for them both. On the other hand, Alice was the only person who seemed to be waiting for Norman.
This was not because Norman did not notify Bernard and Felicia of his arrival, as he did, but he made it clear that there was no need for them to meet him upon arrival.
Due to the time zone difference the plane landed around 8:00 am so at that time Harry had already entered his school and Felicia was also in college, Bernard was more than free, but anyway Norman would go directly to Oscorp, so he saw no reason why he should leave the place where they were temporarily residing.
After a brief chat with the family of his two colleagues and/or subordinates as well as saying goodbye to them, Norman simply walked to the car that was already waiting for him.
"Mr. Osborn" greeted Alice, "I'm glad you're okay" she added quickly, from what she had been informed the situation was more dangerous than could be seen, and she could only think that Norman was lucky not to have been the target of the Red Room.
"It's good to see you Alice" Norman told her with a smile as he entered the vehicle, the blonde woman soon closed the door and turned the car around a little to get inside the car.
"Any events I need to know about?" asked Osborn as soon as Alice took her seat.
"Only one worth reporting to you personally" the blonde replied, "Cross Technologies seems to be interested in several of the scientists that Oscorp has, at the same time they seem to be trying to compete with us for the young people we have been trying to recruit" she explained in a straightforward and easy to understand manner.
Norman just shook his head at Cross' actions, "Don't do anything, there is no way Oscorp scientists will leave the company especially not if it's Cross" Osborn began to say.
"On the other hand with the young people we want to recruit continue with the same plan without any change, if they choose Cross then they will prove they don't have the qualities to join Oscorp" were his last words before falling silent ending their conversation.
Carol just nodded her head silently at her boss's words, while thinking that she should talk to the recruiters once they arrived at Oscorp.
Her gaze was unconsciously drawn to the target of her mission, as she thought about how he seemed to get involved in dangerous situations relatively often. Though considering the position he held and what it entailed whether for better or worse it was something he must have learned to deal with long ago.
Her thoughts drifted to the possible confrontation Norman must have had with Cross some time ago, especially the words he mentioned to her as soon as his meeting with the CEO of Cross Technologies ended.
Somehow he had foreseen that this would happen, which made her wonder if he had planned it somehow, but if so it would be pointless, since he would gain absolutely nothing.
She forced herself to stop thinking about it, as when it came to Norman she tended to overthink things due to not being able to know what the man was really thinking. At this point her boss had his eyes closed as he seemed to be enjoying the quiet atmosphere the car held.
Seeing him that way, a way that could be considered as helpless or simply happy, made her think and question what Norman Osborn's true face was. That question did not have an answer, but she hoped that in the future she would be able to discover it.
…
Once Norman entered Oscorp most of the employees who saw him greeted him enthusiastically, as was usual for Osborn he would simply return the greetings in a cordial manner.
Those in a higher position of power would approach Norman and engage in small talk, most of the time simply to congratulate him and say that it had been a wonderful thing that he had not been injured.
So he made his way to the office where a number of the reports he had missed due to his trip or had simply postponed were already waiting for him.
Once he finished his work, Osborn decided to pay a short visit to Maya, to talk about the effectiveness of Extremis. Of course, he explained his concern in a way that Maya could see that a serum with such efficacy could end up producing more negative effects than beneficial ones.
He also mentioned how the military would be willing to do anything to have it, after that he simply needed a little guidance to get Maya to accept his idea, that way everyone would be happy.
Norman would not have to worry that Extremis could be used in combat as is the case with the Connors Formula and Maya would not have to worry that her creation would be used for purposes other than those for which it was created.
Currently, Osborn was in The Shelter after having finished all the work that had accumulated. His mind turned to the prisoner he currently held in the building.
At least the fact that he hadn't received some sort of message or call from Forge could indicate that she hadn't tried to escape, because if she had then Forge would have eliminated her no matter how trained and dangerous she was.
His steps were calm not too slow, but not too fast either simply normal, he was heading towards the command room to see for a few moments what Yelena had been doing in his absence.
As he reached his destination he could see Forge sitting at one of the stations, his footsteps seemed to catch the attention of his subordinate who simply turned to see who it was before going back to doing what he was doing.
"Have you found anything?" asked Osborn, though he doubted he could find any reliable information on the existence of the Red Room.
"So far the only thing I have found about the Red Room is information though it is nothing more than rumors about its creation somewhere between WWII and the Cold War, even S.H.I.E.L.D. has no information on their servers, though I highly doubt they don't know of its existence" he explained in a quick and simple manner to his boss.
Forge's words only confirmed Norman's theory, "I doubt you can find anything else besides those rumors" he told him calmly.
His gaze soon caught one of the monitors in the command room showing the building's medical room and where Yelena was currently located, she appeared to be asleep, and he was a little surprised that she had the courage to make such an action.
"She didn't try anything?" asked Osborn as he pointed to the screen showing Yelena.
Forge shook his head in a quick manner, "In the first thirty minutes she was simply sitting on the bed, shortly after that she got up from it, but she didn't try anything she simply walked back and forth, after being like that for a considerable amount of time she sat back down in the same place" he explained as he got up from his seat and headed towards the small snack station to make himself a coffee.
"In the end there was no reason to use lethal force against her," he explained.
Norman just nodded the fact that she had not tried to escape could mean that she had thought about his proposal and had accepted it or on the other hand she had simply considered that it would be a waste of energy to try to escape so quickly and concluded that it would be best to escape once she had more information about where she was and what was really going on.
However, regardless of whether it was one of those two he could at least work with them, but if she had decided not to accept his proposal then rescuing her would have been completely unnecessary.
After his thoughts moved in a somewhat chaotic manner due to the woman he had captured, Norman simply transported himself to the medical room, especially a few meters away from the entrance to it.
In a quick manner he entered the medical room simply to watch as the woman in one of the beds quickly woke up and looked at him cautiously.
"Waiting time is over, so I'd like to know the answer you've come to" Norman mentioned as he took one of the seats near Yelena's bed.
"Is there really any other kind of answer?" questioned the woman, "If I turn down your offer then I will end up being murdered under your hands and if I accept it then it won't be much different from the job I was doing in the Red Room" she added her thoughts.
" Maybe, however, unlike the Red Room I gave you a choice" replied Osborn.
"No matter which of the options you choose then it will be your choice and I doubt" at this point Norman paused for a bit before correcting his words, "No rather I am sure the Red Room never asked for your opinion to make you what you are today" he continued calmly.
Yelena just kept silent for a few seconds, despite everything and that no matter what she had the odds against him if she didn't choose to work for the man, she also had to admit that he was right, in a matter of minutes he had given her more freedom than the Red Room had given her in years.
"If I said I had a condition to work for you what would you say?" questioned Yelena after a few seconds in silence.
Norman showed no surprise at the woman's tentative question, "First of all there's the fact that in your situation you're not really in a position to ask for anything" answered Osborn in a straightforward manner.
That answer was already one that Yelena expected, so she didn't show any kind of reaction. She was a prisoner and even if he wanted to recruit her he simply had no reason to accept any request from her.
"However I consider myself to be someone who is relatively kind to the people under my command" Osborn began to say again catching Yelena's attention.
"So as long as you accept my proposal and show your worth I may consider accepting your condition, however, depending on what it is that you ask of me, I may refuse or accept it" he told her slowly letting the blonde listen and analyze his words.
"What if I want to end the Red Room?" leaving the hints and her words ambiguous, Yelena decided to ask in a direct way while looking Norman in his eyes.
"Accept my proposal and show me that you are worth to take that risk" Norman told her without any kind of deceit in his voice.
Yelena couldn't sense any kind of lie in the man's voice, just a considerable amount of confidence, it made her realize that it wasn't a question of whether or not he could actually carry out her request. Instead, it was a when and that would only happen if she worked under him.
"Then from now on I Yelena Belova will be under your command, I hope you won't forget your words" she told him and just like Norman she had no hesitation in her tone of voice.
Norman just flashed a smile at the Belova's words, with this he had ensured that he had under his control and care someone who had the potential to surpass the lethal Black Widow.
…
After a bit of time in The Shelter showing the essentials to the new team member, Norman headed back to his temporary home as the Osborn mansion was still being repaired, of course not before warning Forge to keep an eye on Yelena.
Although it may seem that everything went off without a problem, Norman couldn't forget that she was a spy, a good one at that, so it would certainly be best to keep an eye on her until he could find out if she was telling the truth or not.
As soon as he walked through the door of his home he could see Bernard approaching his direction, "Sir it is good that you have returned safe and sound" he said, "However due to recent events you should consider it appropriate that you should have a bodyguard" he commented.
"There is no need for one, at least not for me" Osborn replied, "Besides I was not the target on the night of the award ceremony" he added.
"By the way where is Felicia and Harry?" he asked before Bernard had a chance to speak.
"They are in the kitchen, young Harry was watching with interest a Christmas cooking segment, so Miss Hardy thought it would be fun to try to cook following the instructions they gave" he answered quickly.
Norman just shook his head as a smile showed on his face, it's not like it was a strange event, that's just how Felicia was.
"I'll go with them" Norman said ending the conversation and heading to the kitchen, Bernard simply kept silent before leaving to do his own work.
Arriving in the kitchen he could see a Felicia concentrating on putting what he assumed was some sort of icing on a pine shaped cookie while Harry seemed to be giving instructions.
Felicia sensed the arrival of someone in the kitchen, but if it had been Bernard he would have announced his arrival, she quickly brought her gaze to identify the newcomer while protectively covering Harry, she still had the attack on the Osborn mansion on her mind.
As soon as she saw who it was all traces of alertness and distrust simply disappeared, "It's good that you're back" she said happily at the sight of Osborn.
"Dad!" the little scream from Harry was not long in coming as he saw that his father had returned from his trip.
Norman just walked over to both of them as he greeted them both, "So Christmas cookies?" asked Osborn as he saw the various cookies in the shape of reindeer, pine trees, and even various Santa Clauses.
"It's a fun thing to make isn't it Harry?" said Felicia to him as she looked for support from Norman's son who only responded with an enthusiastic yes.
"Come on give it a try" a short time later Felicia told him with a smile as she handed Norman the container that held the icing while encouraging him to decorate the cookies.
Under pressure from the two people in the room besides him, Norman began to decorate the remaining cookies while receiving praise when he did well and criticism when he did poorly. In this way he spent the remaining time of the day with Felicia and Harry.
