Somewhere beneath the quiet fields outside Surrey, far from the city noise and eyes of the world, a massive underground laboratory stretched across several levels. Bright white lights hummed softly from the ceiling, casting clean reflections off rows of polished metal counters and glass panels. People in lab coats moved about, focused on their work, some checking computer monitors, others arguing quietly over readings that scrolled faster than most eyes could follow.
Deep inside the facility, in a smaller room on the main floor, three people were seated on two sofas facing each other across a low coffee table, with a single desk standing at the far end, creating a relaxed, almost casual meeting space. One of them, a man with a neat goatee and an easy smirk, let his eyes drift to the right toward the only unfamiliar figure in the room, sitting with arms folded and quietly observing the exchange.
"A genius hand-picked by yourself…" said the man with the goatee, his voice carrying that familiar tone of half-joking arrogance as he slightly turned his head to the other man. "Should I be worried I'll lose my job, boss Caesar?"
More than a week has passed since the battle that took place over the desert in China. True to form, the governments were working overtime to cover it up, while conspiracy theorists worked just as hard to prove they were lying. It was typical, but in the end the governments always won. It wasn't the age of smartphones and social media yet, and whatever the mainstream media said, eventually the public would believe, and that was just how the world worked.
Just two days after the skies over China's desert had been torn apart by mushroom clouds, the World Security Council convened to review everything that had happened. From start to finish, as everything happened so suddenly and obviously, there would be a lot of questions that needed to be answered. And Maverick, who discovered everything, who planned and executed everything, obviously had to take the lead in addressing them.
It was also the first time he addressed the council, and he recounted the events more or less truthfully, careful to leave out anything that didn't need to be said, and even bending the truth in a few places where no one could prove him wrong.
Things got heated when it came to deciding what was to be done with the Skrulls. Of course, Maverick would not just watch idly by if a decision was made that would end up with the aliens being detained; heck, even Danvers wouldn't. It was only for the sake of formalities that Maverick had suggested Talos be present.
Apart from explaining why they ended up on Earth, which was basically their group being chased across the galaxy by the, then Kree Star Soldier Danvers, it was also to "enlighten" some idiots that the universe was a lot bigger than they thought and that Earth was certainly not the center of it. The bit about Danvers being brainwashed could not be hidden because records of her military file were already there, but the four Archmagi who participated in the action vouched that she was now cured, and all the influence of the Kree inside her head had all but been removed.
Basically, Talos's entire testimony was scripted by Maverick to save him the trouble of answering unnecessary questions from the council of world leaders.
Nonetheless, some councilors still argued that he and his group of aliens should remain on Earth as a punishment for attracting such trouble, but fortunately, the suggestion was quickly dismissed by a vote. Talos concluded his testimony by saying he would not stay on the planet long, and that in just a couple of days, once his spaceship completed maintenance, he would leave Earth indefinitely.
Like Talos, Danvers gave her testimony, which matched his completely and left no holes in their story. But when she told the council she would also be leaving Earth along with the leader of the Skrulls, the chamber immediately grew tense, especially with the head of the United States trying to persuade her to stay. Obviously, losing such a powerful asset, particularly one capable of contending with magical archmages, was a blow the muggle leaders did not want to accept, but her mind was made up, and it wasn't as if they could force her to remain.
The President of the United States even offered her top-level authority within the US military if she wished to serve, but she did not budge. He went so far as to propose giving her a high councilor seat on the World Security Council, yet before the chamber could even vote, Danvers herself declined, saying she wasn't interested.
With those arguments settled, the council moved on to recounting and discussing input from others who had participated in the battle. Countermeasures were debated, and to the delight of one council member, Piers, the chamber unanimously voted to increase the budget allocated to SHIELD, put more funding into researching countermeasures, and implement the radar technology Talos had promised.
Yes, Talos had indeed promised to share advanced radar systems technology to monitor space around the world. It was also at Maverick's suggestion, and honestly, it wasn't much of a concession, just something to have on the table.
Maverick wondered what they would think if they knew the technology had been created by Norex in the back of Maria's garage in just over a night. But, hey, they were happy with it. He smiled inwardly as he sat in the assembly.
All in all, the assembly mainly focused on countermeasures in case the world faced a similar threat again. The increase in the budget allocated to SHIELD and funding for researching technology to monitor the planet was the main decision that was voted on and passed. The question of whether to come clean to the public was also formally discussed, but the world leaders voted that it was not yet the right time. Typical.
After the assembly ended, Danvers found Fury and went for a secret meeting with him, which Maverick, of course, knew about, but he didn't bother asking her what it was about. It was probably just giving Fury a way to contact her if he needed her help, basically what had happened in the original story before she left Earth again.
Meanwhile, Maverick took Talos and his people to fulfill the promise he had made, helping them blend into the world. Needless to say, his arrangements were deeply appreciated by the green-skinned, shape-shifting aliens, because it was far better than they had imagined they would receive. Basically, Maverick offered them homes, promised to create legitimate identities, and even set up jobs at his company, giving them things to do so they could live among humans like humans and have a life of their own.
What more could they want? After all, all they had been searching for until now was a chance to live peacefully without worrying about the Kree coming to hunt them down. Now, they were being offered exactly that, and Talos could roam the galaxy as much as he wanted, searching for the rest of his people without any worry. And with the great favor Maverick had done for him, he would not forget to keep an eye out for the thing Maverick had asked him to look for as well.
Finally, with all that settled, Maverick then proposed to Talos that Norex, his science guy, work for him directly, helping with the terraforming project he had been researching.
A couple of days had passed since then, and the Skrulls were settling into their new life, temporary or not, while Danvers and Talos had already left Earth. Today, Maverick finally arrived at the underground lab with Norex to introduce him to Howard, letting the two geniuses meet. Two brilliant minds from different worlds working together—the possibilities seemed endless. Of course, that was assuming they could actually work together, after all, Howard, like his junior, was not the kind of man who liked being told what to do when it came to his area of expertise. Then again, that's just in the comic books… anyways, time would tell.
"A genius hand-picked by yourself…" Howard said, his voice carrying that familiar half-joking arrogance as he flicked his gaze from Norex to Maverick. "Should I be worried I'll lose my job, boss man?"
Maverick didn't take him seriously and simply turned slightly to make the introductions. "His name is Matthew Maher. He'll be working with you from now on on all ongoing and future projects."
At that moment, Norex was under the guise of the face Maverick had given him to live as a human on Earth, and Howard had no idea he was even speaking to an alien.
"Pleasure to meet you," Norex—uh, no, Matthew now—said politely, offering his hand.
"Pleasure. Robert Downey Jr. I like your hair, by the way." Howard shook his hand but couldn't resist making a comment. Of course, the hair he was talking about was nonexistent, because Matthew was bald.
Norex… well, he appeared to be in need of some earthly cultural context to catch the sarcasm. Tilting his head and shrugging, he skipped the small talk and went straight to the point. "I've been told you are the second-brightest human on the planet… how far along has your research gone?"
Howard's mouth hung open for a full second before he turned sharply to Maverick. "Did he just call me second? No, wait, why is he talking like he and I are from different species?"
"First of all, I agree with him that you are the second. And second, did you not watch the news?" Maverick asked, one brow lifting slightly. His eyes wandered over the room, taking in the metal walls and the busy researchers at their stations outside. "Why is there not a single TV in the lab?"
"I… will let that offense slide for now." Howard blinked at him, making a dramatic face, then added, "anyways, why would I install a TV here?"
Maverick just sighed quietly. "That explains a lot. When was the last time you saw your wife?"
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Author's Note:
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