030

Norman was outside the subterranean parking lot, the scene was closed to the public while a cleanup was done and preparations were made for the start of a reconstruction.

Two days passed after that incident at the Oscorp building, ultimately sixteen people died in what authorities and news reports labeled as a terrorist attack.

The day after the attack Norman gave a public conference in which he lamented the tragedy and asked the authorities to find the culprit, after that, he showed his support to the family of the deceased, after all they were his employees.

It must be said that his actions caused most people to congratulate his actions, although there were others who attacked him because they believed that they were only empty words.

Norman did not give importance to that fact, as his mind was focused on reinforcing the security of the Osborn mansion immediately, as well as placing a few undercover bodyguards for the protection of Gwen and Curtis, after all they were also part of the development of the formula and if his deduction ended up being correct it is likely that they would also try to eliminate them.

Walter and Bucky were on the search for A.I.M. and Norman knew it wouldn't take long to get all the information he needed, after all despite it being the first mission they would have together they both had experience in espionage and infiltration.

In fact, Walter is capable of accomplishing the mission without anyone's help, but even so there was always a slight chance that he would be caught, and it was because of that Norman also sent Bucky in case they were discovered he could get them out of that situation.

Leaving that thought aside, Norman began to walk inside the Oscorp building, although the explosion did not cause too much damage to collapse the building so the activities inside it were completely safe.

Originally, Norman thought that most of the employees would not show up for work, but he realized that they all did and although there was a feeling of sadness and uncertainty in them, but they were still doing their best in their activities.

Before entering through the doors of the building Norman took his gaze to a nearby building to Oscorp, however his gaze did not find anything out of the ordinary.

So without further ado he entered the building, a short time later the silhouette of a woman with blue eyes was seen in the place where the Osborn had previously looked.

…

Upon entering his office Norman was a little surprised to see Felicia Hardy in his office, the beautiful woman was lying down on one of the sofas that the room had, her face showed a little boredom.

Her expression changed quickly when she saw him, and she quickly took a more formal attitude and changed from lying down to sitting.

Norman didn't mention anything and just walked to his chair once seated in it, he just looked at Hardy for a few seconds, "Since my secretary didn't inform me about you, I have to assume that you snuck into my office" Norman began to speak, "So tell me Miss Hardy what's the reason this time?" he asked.

"You know usually a boy would be happy to have such a beautiful woman visit him" the answer Felicia gave was somewhat peculiar.

Norman for his part just brought his gaze to the papers on his desk, "May I remind you Miss Hardy that I am not a boy, I am a man" Osborn made it clear as he began to read a document, "A very busy man so if you have something to talk about, then do it quickly before I call security and have you removed from my office" he calmly explained.

A grimace came to Felicia's face at such a rejection, but she quickly put it behind her, she wasn't here to fight or anything similar, "I want to know where my father is" she mentioned earnestly gaining some of Norman's attention, "Besides I'd like to know exactly what kind of work he does for you" she added quickly.

"Miss Hardy your father is on a business trip due to some company business, no need to worry" replied Osborn.

Felicia just scoffed at that, "Please my father doesn't even have a career and even if he did I doubt he would ever work, all he knows how to do and always has done is steal" this time the Hardy didn't hold anything back, after all in her thinking Norman already knew of her father's abilities and the fact that he wasn't in jail and instead working for him simply meant that Norman was making use of those abilities.

" This is a conversation you should have with your father, it's Walter's decision whether he wants to tell you the truth or not, so I won't give you any answers" this time Norman looked into Hardy's eyes as he spoke.

"Now if that's all you wanted to tell me you can leave" Norman said giving Felicia a hint that it was time for her to leave and looked back down at the document he was holding in his hand.

Felicia was somewhat surprised she usually could get what she wanted with relative ease, but in this case, even when she asked for it outright she didn't get it.

Her gaze fell on the man who denied her request and a feeling of frustration spread through her body, she had never been treated so indifferently.

However, she forced herself to calm down, she didn't have enough information about her father's situation, and she still remembered the first time she underestimated Osborn, so she just got up from the sofa she was on and walked towards the exit.

When she left the office she received a surprised look from the secretary, but she didn't give it any importance, her mind was only thinking about having a good conversation with her father once he returned.

Norman for his part only shook his head when he saw Felicia leaving.

She was talented and somewhat skilled that he could tell, and he even knew the potential that the white-haired woman had due to his knowledge of several versions of her, but he could also see that she seemed to do things without thinking and only hoped for the best, something that could cost her dearly.

Maybe if he somehow managed to convince Walter to train Felicia more and take her on small missions he would get one of the best thieves if not the best there is in Marvel under his command.

…

It was sunset and the sun began to set, but people were still doing their jobs.

Norman was the same until he heard someone knocking on his door: "Come in" he said without taking his eyes off several papers.

"Sir there is someone to see you" his secretary explained, and before he could say anything else a woman came through the door.

"Mr. Osborn, I'm agent Barbara Morse from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division" she introduced herself quickly and without leaving space for an answer she continued: "I need you to answer certain questions related to the attack in which you were involved" she said seriously.

Norman just kept silent he had already foreseen the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. would get involved in a situation like this, "Ann you can leave" he mentioned to his secretary who just nodded before walking out the office door.

"Ms. Morse I hope you will forgive my skepticism, but I had never heard of your agency, but I assure you that all the information I have was shared with the proper authorities" playing the ignorance card Norman mentioned.

"Well it's because we are a division that goes somewhat unnoticed, by the way, excuse my rudeness in arriving without a prior appointment, but the case has been delayed too long to continue in that manner" she explained relatively calmly.

"If that's the case you could simply ask your FBI colleagues for the report" Norman commented, not that he had a feud with S.H.I.E.L.D. nor was he looking for one, he just didn't want to have any interaction with them.

"We did, but considering it's been a few days we thought it would be a good idea to ask one more time in case you remembered anything that might be of use" without being convinced or intimidated by Osborn answered Barbara truthfully.

"If that's the case then I'll be glad to tell you about what happened" after some thought Norman ended up agreeing to the blonde's request, in the end he would just recount the same events he had already told before.

The next thirty minutes were spent by Barbara questioning Norman and while the questions were more concise Norman kept to the story he had already told, so it was a relatively boring and useless thirty minutes.

"Thank you for answering my questions Mr. Osborn if you happen to remember anything this is my number" Morse told him as she stood up from her chair and handed him a card.

"Of course" Norman accepted it politely, although he was to see if there was a microphone or something similar on it afterwards.

Barbara just started to leave the office and just as she was about to take a step Norman spoke: "Miss Morse next time make sure you have an appointment scheduled" he said with a smile on his face to which the blonde just nodded, and now she could leave the office.

After she left Norman only thought that now he had to watch his movements a little more, it was likely that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be watching him for a while, it really was a pain in the ass.

…

Night had fallen and Norman was in the Osborn mansion specifically in his office while looking outside through a window.

At the moment there was no indication that an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent or anyone else was following him.

A ringing call brought him out of his thoughts and he just accepted the call and placed the phone in his ear a few seconds passed before Norman spoke: "Come back, and I want the full report by tomorrow plus tell Barnes he can do some destruction on his way out" he ordered and commented before hanging up.

It seemed that he had been right in his deduction and because of that he would have no consideration for them, it was only the beginning of the retribution that A.I.M. had to pay.