Kidnapped (Peter Stark)

Chapter 3: A Suprising Nonlethal Field Trip

WARNINGS: A tablespoon of bullying and a teaspoon of a terrible boss (Nothing terrible really)

FBI headquarters, New York City April 16, 2020

"It's not normal."

"What do you mean, not normal?" Asked Robert Johnson. The man had been working on the case for years without a single lead. Maybe the heartbroken cries of the couple that lost everything or that this case would be his only failure, but this FBI agent never forgot even when he discovered the victim's corpse. Today he was presented with a new lead. The victim was living and breathing, a twist that no one ever saw coming. Sure the child was hurt, but he wasn't some charred corpse six feet under the earth.

"The child's DNA is..." The young agent began. "Well, it's different. It shouldn't be like this. Honestly, I don't know what to make of it." She sighs and glances down at her paper. This is a massive case, the most influential of her career, and failure is not an option. "Some of the chromosomes is like... wrong. I think it's mutated."

"Is it natural?"

"No, no, it's more a Captain-America-experiment mutation." She holds up the paper in front of her boss. "See that number. It's too high. It should..."

"I forgot everything I learned in biology." Johnson snaps as he pinches the bridge of his nose. This case is more important than he thought. A mutated son of an Avenger earns the case an Avenger level. He would never see it again, and that can't happen. Everything he had rested on him solving the case. No one would question a promotion to director, and to have Ironman owe him. Him. Nothing could stop him.

"Walker, sit down." He motions loosely to the chair in front of him and leans forward as she uncomfortably sits down. "You know how important this is. Right?"

"I mean, it is Tony Stark's son, so yeah." Agent Walker laughs lightly, shifting in the chair.

"Yeah." He copies her with a fraudulently smirk. "And if we tell people about the mutated DNA, then we will lose this case. You don't want us to lose this case, do you?"

"No, Sir. But..."

"But nothing. This case can make your career." Agent Johnson smiles, leaning back comfortably in his chair. "You can have an office like this, or." He motions around at his grand ornate office, then moves extremely close so that she can smell his breakfast. "You can sit in the crowded bullpen at your small messy desk for the rest of your career. Never promoting. Never going out into the field. All your coworkers will leave for better jobs, but you will stay. Life will pass you by, and you will be nothing. Your wife- What her name?"

"Cara." She whispers, clenching her eyes.

"Cara, right, Well Cara will leave you and the child you wanted to adopt. You need that recommendation, right?"

Agent Walker nods, her breathing accelerates. He was attacking her family, but what could she do to stop it. He is her boss.

"It would be a shame if it didn't turn out as well as you hoped." Fake sympathy enters his voice. "You're just not reliable, and the idea of you taking care of a child is laughable. That might cancel the adoption. You don't want that Agent Walker, do you?"

"You wouldn't do that." She threatens, her fists curling up into a ball. A heavy silence pervades the room.

"Yes, I would." Johnson whispers and chuckles, falling back into the chair with a smug look on his face. "So you are never going to speak a word about mutated DNA, are you?"

Agent Walker sits back and addresses the situation. Refusing would lead to losing her family, the one she always wanted, and if she agrees, then he would win. There were no good options. She sighs; family is everything. Of course, she does not want Agent Johnson to win, but the adoption matters above all. "Fine, you win." Quickly rising from the chair tightly gripping the DNA papers.