Harry Potter: Syndicate of Heroes

"Next?" she asked nervously.

He just gave an enigmatic smile. "Yes. Next. Now, why don't you tell me what you can about what's brought you to the point that has you looking for food in dumpsters."

Doreen looked around the café, trying to buy herself some time while she decided what to say. It wasn't as though she hadn't been expecting the question; just that she'd never been able to work out the best way to answer without giving too much away.

"I … I miscalculated," she eventually said. "I thought that I could make it on my own but everything in New York is more expensive than I expected."

"I take it that you're not a local girl, then?" Harry asked.

"No. I'm from back west," she replied, pleased with herself for not giving away all of her secrets.

Harry nodded as though that was good enough for him. "And what brought you to the Big Apple?"

"Thought I'd come see the sights, meet some new people," she replied, sounding vague and pleased that it was also the truth; now if only she could work out how to meet Iron Man and the other Avengers.

"What about your parents?" Harry asked and she could hear the tentativeness in his voice.

"Let's just say that we don't see eye to eye and leave it at that," she said.

Thankfully, he seemed to acquiesce to her wishes on that one.

"Obviously, you've realised that you've overextended yourself," Harry said. "What are you going to do now?"

Doreen sighed. She'd been asking herself that very question for the last couple of days. No way was she meekly going to tuck her tail between her legs (something that she could do better than anyone else) and go home. In the end, all she could do was shrug.

"Try to find a job, I suppose. Get some money to pay for food and a place to stay."

"What about school? You look as though you're still school age," Harry commented.

"As much as I might like to go back to school, it's not necessary," Doreen replied, "and would probably cut into my work time. Money's more important right now; I can always go back to school later."

Right then, the waitress returned with a plateful of food and a large glass filled with frothy pinkness.

"While you're enjoying your meal," Harry said as he rose from the seat, "I'll have a think about a couple of things and we'll talk after. I might have a couple of ideas that you might be interested in considering."

Doreen looked at him intently for a few seconds before agreeing with a single nod. She watched, confused, as Harry walked away. He seemed like a good guy, but she couldn't work out why he was willing to help her. With a shrug, she put the thought away for now; there was a plateful of delicious-smelling food in front of her demanding her full attention.

ooo00ooo

"Our top news story tonight is the deaths of twenty-nine people and a further eighteen injured in what is thought to be a terrorist attack in Chicago today.

"An explosion rocked a small mall in the outskirts of the city just after nine a.m. this morning. Thankfully, most of the shops were still in the process of opening for the day meaning that there were a limited number of people in the area. The blast destroyed three shops and set fire to the mall; fire fighters took nearly two hours to bring the fire under control due to the intense nature of the fire and the heat that it produced."

The scene cut to show a woman wrapped in a blanket, her hair a mess and soot covering her face. As she described what had happened, her eyes were big and round and she trembled slightly.

"It was terrifying. One minute we were just doing our shopping, the next, there's this massive boom and we're getting thrown around. And the heat, I was sure that I was going to be burnt up alive just from how hot the air was. There were people everywhere, lying about or screaming and trying to put the flames on their clothes out."

"The cause of the explosion is still under investigation …"

The news reader trailed off, lifting one finger to his ear.

"I've just received a report that a group led by someone calling themselves 'The Mandarin' has claimed responsibility for the attack. As soon as more is known of either The Mandarin or the group or what their aims are, we will bring you that information."

ooo00ooo

"Agent Sitwell."

The senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned at the sound of his name to find one of his best operatives standing in his doorway in the classic 'at ease' pose.

"Agent Ward," he greeted. "Come in. What brings you by?"

"Just thought that I'd stop in and say 'hi' before I head out to my next assignment," Agent Ward replied.

"Ah, yes, I'd heard something about that," Sitwell nodded. "France, isn't it?"

"Yes, Sir," Ward nodded.

"And how did your last assignment go?" Sitwell asked.

"As good as we'd hoped," Ward replied, deliberately vaguely.

"Glad to hear it," Sitwell replied.

A pointed glance at the clock had Ward reacheing out a hand. Clasping it, Sitwell felt the tiny USB in the palm of his hand.

"Let's hope that this mission is just as successful," Sitwell said.

"Thank you, Sir," Ward nodded before leaving.

Sitwell waited until the agent had left before transferring the USB into a secure container.

Ward, it seemed, had been the perfect choice to infiltrate Oscorp while they were scrambling around after the 'Lizard' incident. If Ward was right, Hydra now had the schematics to every device that they'd need to make 'Project Sinister' even more of a success than they could possibly imagine.

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