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<3rd person POV Baxter building>

Reed Richards expected many things when he heard that Doom had come from Latveria to meet Julian. He thought that they could possibly team up with Doom as his so called god emperor. This would encourage Doom to try and conquer the world as he always dreamed of, possibly even creating a world wide cult following. Julian was a popular topic around the globe and his endless search for his emperor just as popular.

If Doom was denied the title Reed expected an epic clash as Doom isn't known for magnanimous. Which is why Reed and the the Fantastic Four were waiting on stand by just incase. What Reed hadn't expected was to surrender quietly after being told no. More surprising was that Doom seemed to truly except his claims which made Reed more nervous. Doom isn't someone that Reed would ever consider a fool which gave more legitimacy to Julian's claims.

Worse still apparently Doom was in fact once destined to be the Emperor of mankind. If that were true then what about what Julian said to Reed on the day that they met? Was Julian right about him? Was he too egocentric to address the world's problems? Was his absent mindedness just indifference to his fellow man? All the years he thought that was really trying to help the world or was it just an excuse to feed his own selfish desires. Reed the man who had the answer for everything was now left uncertain and had no clue what the answer to these questions.

If Julian could hear Reed questioning himself he wouldn't be surprised as to why Reed couldn't find the answer. Reed is a problem solver with an external locus as Reed has an intrinsic need to fix and/or improve the world around him. The concept of introspection would be too foreign to Reed's thought process as he doesn't even consider that he might ever truly be the issue in need of fixing. In fact he would just chalk up most issues being communicating with others barring intellectual equals.

Reed wasn't the only currently spiraling as Sue was also becoming antsy but not entirely the same reasons. She has tried countless times to get Reed's attention to make him leave his lab and embrace the world outside only to be denied constantly. If getting Reed to touch grass was the only issue then she wouldn't be so stressed Reed had a habit of neglecting those around him. This didn't mean much to her brother or Ben as they weren't overly involved but she was dating Reed or at least trying to.

Yet when Reed finally stepped away from his work that didn't relate to superhero duties it had nothing to do with her. A part of her wanted Julian's meeting with Doom to blow up in his face because he had become Reed's newest obsession. It wasn't Julian's fault and she understood that it was actually Reed's problem but she still didn't like it. It made her begin to realize just how alone she was in this relationship if it could be called that she needed a change and knew what she needed to do.

.....

<Bruce Wayne POV>

Things have been going to shit ever since getting involved with Julian Black. Everytime he is involved it seemed like someone I knew or cared about would come to harm. Objectively it wasn't his fault in all interactions he was always approached first with a level of hostility from the other party. Those that targeted him with such intentions always paid the price in some way. I couldn't argue against the results for what went down with Green Arrow and Hawkman they crossed the line.

I didn't agree with what Tony Stark did murdering the two of them but didn't want to cause a war between our two groups especially since they were backed by the world government. Murder is never justified no matter the reason once you allow it to be you will continue to create excuses. This is what we believe in the justice league and we teach this to every member which is why Dick acted on instinct and disarmed Julian. Now he is in the hospital fighting for his life I know that he is in their because of what I taught him. Even if he somehow recovers he will never be the same unless I do something and how can I as his father the one who brought him into this do nothing?