A month later...
In a secure lab within the Baxter building Reed Richards stood at a center console, one of his elongated arms adjusting dials while another stretched across the room to alter a conduit. Franklin monitored the primary readout screen. Sue sat at the auxiliary station as she contained stray electromagnetic pulses, and finally Darcy lounged against a workbench ten feet away, arms crossed, one hip cocked, scrolling through diagnostic logs on a tablet she barely understood.
"Field rotation stabilized at 87 percent," Reed announced. "Damping coefficient holding. MHD shear reduced by another 0.4 tesla."
Franklin nodded once. "Containment integrity at 94. We're past the feedback cascade threshold."
Darcy glanced up from the tablet. "Translation: we're not about to turn Manhattan into a giant electromagnet?"
"Precisely," Reed said without looking away from the GeoCore. The small cylindrical device vibrated in its reinforced cradle, blue arcs dancing along its surface. "One more incremental increase and we can attempt full crustal anchoring simulation."
Sue exhaled slowly, letting her force field dissipate. "We're actually doing it. After three blown capacitors and that near-meltdown last week."
Franklin allowed himself a small smile. "You'll find in our world you'll find that progress is done through thousands of small breakthroughs."
Darcy tapped the tablet screen. "Readouts confirm. Core temperature steady, flux variance under 0.02 percent. You nerds might actually save the planet."
Reed finally looked up, exhaustion and triumph warring on his face. "It's practically finished, everything left is just minor dotting of the I'd."
Darcy hummed at that.
...
A few hours later Natasha Romanoff lay on the padded exam table with her shirt lifted to expose the gentle swell of her abdomen. To her left was Sue, who moved the ultrasound wand across her body. The screen beside them displayed a clear grayscale image; tiny limbs, a rapidly beating heart, the unmistakable profile of a growing fetus.
"Everything looks good," Sue said softly. "Heartbeat strong at 152 beats per minute. Growth curve perfect for sixteen weeks. Placenta position ideal. No anomalies."
Natasha stared at the screen, one hand resting unconsciously over the spot Sue had just scanned. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes stayed locked on the tiny form.
Sue set the wand down and wiped the gel away with a warm towel. "I ran some additional panels last week, and I believe I have an explanation as to how you got pregnant." She hesitated, her cheeks tinting faintly pink. "Invincible's... semen... is extraordinarily virile. I mean off-the-charts virile. Motility, DNA repair enzymes, telomere preservation, in all metrics they are orders of magnitude above human baseline. I don't doubt it could impregnate virtually any mammalian species on the planet if given the chance."
Natasha's gaze finally left the monitor. "Still..." she asked quietly. "The Red Room were pretty thorough in removing my reproductive capabilities."
Sue sat on the stool beside the table, folding her hands in her lap. "His genetic material appears to be... adaptive. For lack of a better word, smart. It detected the surgical scarring and chemical ablation in your reproductive tract. The spermatozoa didn't just fertilize; they seem to have initiated targeted cellular regeneration. Repaired fallopian tissue, restored endometrial viability, even reversed some of the ovarian suppression. It essentially healed you long enough for implantation to occur."
Natasha blinked once. Twice. Her hand tightened over her stomach. "You're telling me his sperm fixed me," she said flatly.
"In simple terms, yes."
Natasha exhaled through her nose, a short humorless laugh escaping. "Of course it did."
Sue's scientific excitement bubbled up despite herself. "Think of the applications. Targeted gene repair without CRISPR side effects. Organ regeneration. Cancer suppression. If we could isolate the mechanism, understand how it recognizes and corrects genetic deformity we could—"
"Sue."
Natasha's voice cut through the tangent like a blade.
Sue stopped. "Sorry."
"Is the baby okay?" Natasha asked. "That's all I need to know right now."
Sue softened immediately. "Perfectly healthy. Strong, normal development, no distress markers. Everything is exactly where it should be."
Natasha nodded once, sharp and final. She sat up slowly, pulling her shirt back down. "Thank you."She slid off the table, feet touching the floor without sound.
"I'm going back to my room."
Sue watched her go. "Of course. Rest. I'll check in tomorrow."
The door hissed shut behind Natasha.
Sue remained seated for a long moment, staring at the closed panel. She sighed her shoulders dropping as she leaned back in her seat. She had been tempted. So tempted. To try and contact Mark or Invincible. Use Natasha's situation to force his contact details out of her. Tell him about the baby. He would come running; she knew that much about him.
But she hadn't.
Respect for Natasha's privacy had held her back. The woman had already lost everything once because she couldn't trust the people she thought were her friends. She wouldn't betray her trust like that, no matter how much she wanted it.
Sue got up from the stool slowly, her legs feeling heavier than usual and smoothed her lab coat out of habit, even though it was already pristine, and walked into the corridor. She turned a corner and nearly bumped into her father, who was deep in conversation with Reed. The two men stood near a junction, Reed's gesturing at a holographic display hovering between them while Franklin nodded along, his face lit with genuine enthusiasm.
"...and with the MHD rotation calibrated to 92 percent efficiency, we're looking at seismic dispersal rates that could neutralize a magnitude 7 event within a fifty-mile radius," Reed said.
Franklin clapped him on the shoulder. "Incredible work, Reed. I knew you would be the key to solving this."
Reed smiled modestly. "It was aTeam effort, Doctor Storm."
Franklin noticed Sue approaching and his expression brightened even more, the lines around his eyes crinkling. "Sue! Perfect timing. Reed and I were just discussing today's breakthroughs. We're going to have a little celebration tonight, nothing extravagant, but with the progress we've made, it feels warranted. Maybe dinner at that Italian place downtown. You should join us."
Sue caught the subtle nudge in his tone, the way he glanced between her and Reed like a matchmaker at a wedding. It was not the first time he had tried to play cupid, always dropping hints about Reed's brilliance or how well they worked together. She forced a polite smile. "I'd think about it, Dad. But can we talk privately for a minute?"
Franklin raised an eyebrow but nodded without question. He turned back to Reed. "We'll pick this up later, son. Keep pushing those simulations, I want to see full anchoring by end of week."
Reed adjusted his glasses, oblivious or at least pretending to be. "Absolutely. Goodbye for now, Doctor Storm. Sue." He gave her a quick, warm nod before heading down the opposite corridor.
Now alone, Franklin crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, still riding the high of the lab's success. "Reed's something else, isn't he? Sharp as a tack. We really wouldn't have cracked the damping issue without him. Man's a genius. A true once in a generational mind."
Sue nodded, her mind already shifting gears. "He's invaluable, Dad. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I want to shift my focus away from the GeoCore stabilizer."
Franklin frowned, his celebratory mood dimming. "Why? We're in the home stretch. Your contributions have also been key to the field containment."
Sue looked at him with something akin to shock, her voice rising just a fraction. "Have you forgotten? The accident. The cosmic radiation. We've made next to no progress on discovering what happened to our bodie or how to reverse it."
Franklin's expression softened, but there was a hint of reluctance in his eyes. "It's not a priority right now, Sue. We have bigger things—"
"Not a priority?" she interrupted, her tone louder than she intended. "Ben would disagree with that. I promised him we'd find a way to bring him back to normal. He's stuck like that because of us, Dad. We can't just push it aside."
Franklin sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "I know, sweetheart. And we will. I assure you, we'll get there. But right now, what we're doing with the GeoCore... it affects humanity on a global scale. Entire cities ravaged by earthquakes and tsunamis could be a thing of the past. Lives saved by the millions. Ben's condition... it's important, but it's one man."
Sue could not argue with the logic, the sheer scale of it, but it still made her mad. An anger simmered in her chest, but it was one she kept to herself. "We're pretty much done with the GeoCore," she said finally. "The core systems are stable. Let me start my research. At least allocate some time. Ben deserves that much."
Franklin studied her for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Alright. You can pivot. But don't pull too many resources, not until the stabilizer's fully operational."
Sue's tension eased slightly. She stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, Dad." She turned and left down the corridor.
Halfway to the lounge, she ran into Darcy emerging from the restroom, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Darcy's face was a little pale, her usual snark subdued.
"Are you okay?" Sue asked, concern creasing her brow.
Darcy nodded and forced a smile, falling into step beside her. "Yeah, just a bad taco for lunch. Note to self: skip the food trucks near the lab."
Sue chuckled sympathetically. "I get that. That one near the park got me last month. Felt like death for hours."
As they walked down the corridor Sue glanced at Darcy. "You've been here a month now Darcy, and I have to say, you've done really good work. Above and beyond, honestly."
Darcy blinked, surprised but pleased. "Thanks, Sue. Coming from you, that means a lot."
Sue smiled warmly. "I'm sorry to spring this on you, but I'm coming off the GeoCore project. Shifting to something else. Which means we'll likely need you to step up and take over my position in the lab. Would you be okay with that?"
Darcy nodded without hesitation. "More than happy to help. Seriously, whatever you need."
Sue's smile widened and pulled out her data pad and tapped a few commands. "Great. I'm sending you the new access codes now. Security's really tight around the core lab, so you'll need these extra protocols, or the whole place goes into lockdown."
Darcy checked her own pad as the codes pinged through, nodding along with a smile as she scanned them. "Got it. Fort Knox level, huh? I'll treat 'em like state secrets."
They continued on to the lounge where Sue poured herself a coffee from the machine in the corner, and Darcy grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and twisted the cap off. Before they could settle in, both their pads buzzed simultaneously with a priority alert. Darcy frowned, pulling hers out. "What the hell is going on?"
Sue checked her screen, her expression darkening. "SHIELD." She hit the comm button and called her father. "Dad, we've got incoming SHIELD agents heading up the lifts."
Franklin's voice came back. "On my way. Meet me at the main atrium."
Sue and Darcy hurried out, joining the rush as alarms began to sound out through the building. Ben lumbered into the atrium from a side hall and with him was Johnny who zipped in on a trail of flame that extinguished as he landed. Franklin arrived last, out of breath and with a frown on his face.
Johnny cracked his knuckles, his flames flickering at his fingertips. "Shield? Those clowns? I'll cook 'em like popcorn. If they think they can put us in lockdown again they're finished."
Ben rumbled in agreement, pounding one massive fist into his palm with a crack like breaking boulders. "Yeah, let 'em try. I'll turn 'em into paste."
Sue stepped forward, hands raised. "Calm down, both of you. We don't know what this is about. Let's not escalate."
Franklin's face was flushed with indignation. "They think they can just charge into my building? Without a warrant or notice? This is private property, I'll have my lawyers on this."
*Ding*
The elevators dinged in unison, all four doors sliding open at once. A couple dozen SHIELD agents filed out in formation, full black tactical gear on and assault rifles.
Commander Brock Rumlow stepped forward at their head, his scarred face set in a hard line. He held up a digital tablet displaying an official order. "Doctor Storm. We have reason to believe you're harboring a fugitive. This grants us full access to search the premises."
(AN: A bit of a time skip, not too major but now we are in the endgame. Hope you enjoyed.)
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