Chapter Three

After closing the deal with SHIELD, Ben had a few more choices to make. First among them was what to do about Sharon Carter.

"She's good," Peggy told him when he brought the topic up with her and Steve during an outing to celebrate his deal with SHIELD. "I'd say bring her close. Let her play a part in the business as a cover."

"But she might see how I work," he said carefully.

Frowning, Peggy nodded. "Yes, I see. That is a problem."

"So the question is do you bring her close and tell her or keep your distance," Steve said before chewing a mouthful of steak.

"And how much do you tell her," Peggy nodded in agreement, reaching for her wine.

"Not everything," Ben said quickly. "For now, you two are the only ones I want knowing where I'm from. I'm not sure if I'll ever tell anyone else." Seeing Steve snicker and shake his head, Ben sighed. "Apparently I do?"

Steve nodded. "Obviously me, but others as well."

Though Ben's mind was flooded with questions, he knew as soon as they came he didn't really want answers, so found none and didn't voice them. Either way, he decided maybe he wouldn't need to be quite as secretive as he's planned, but even then he would still be selective with who he told.

Shaking his head, he looked to Peggy saying, "I'll tell her what I can do. Maybe my plans as Weaver, but only if I know she can keep it quiet and not tell anyone."

"The question of your workforce is going to come, Ben," Steve noted.

"Which is why I'm going to automate it," Ben said with a smirk. "My first AI is almost done, and I've built a few Worms."

Peggy's brow knit asking, "Worms?"

"Worker Machines," Ben clarified. "Bit diminishing, but the letters were too good to pass up, especially with silkworms being a thing."

Peggy chuckled as Steve said, "Bit early for robots and AI, isn't it?"

"Which is why they're not for sale and most won't be significantly armed or armored. I'll leave the legion to Tony for now."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sharon Carter took a breath as she arrived outside the Reilly Enterprises facility. She'd been ready to take on a new cover identity so was shocked when Fury gave her this mission and told her she was going in as herself, or at least a version of herself.

"Reilly was recommended to us by your aunt," Fury told her while she looked through the folder he gave her. "I had her suggest you for a position in his company and he's agreed to bring you on as an assistant. He made May as an agent so I want to know if that was a fluke, but given what he's making there's a chance other agencies will try to strong arm him and I want you to make sure he remains on the right side of the law.

"He's still getting off the ground, so chances are that's going to mean a lot more than getting him coffee or answering calls, but I'm sure you're up for it."

"So more like a receptionist, or…" Her voice trailed, hoping that was all.

Fury shook his head. "This isn't a pink mission."

Sharon sighed in relief. She'd dreaded the idea of those.

Entering the office building, she expected to find Reilly waiting for her as May told her he did for her, but found the lobby empty. Confused, she went up to the desk, which was now behind a thick transparent window integrated into the wall separating the lobby from the back section of the building. Apparently he'd renovated since May's visit.

Tapping the bell she called out, "Hello?"

"Good morning, Miss Carter." The female voice filled the lobby, seeming to come from speakers Sharon couldn't find.

"Uh, hi. I'm here to meet Mr. Reilly? I'm his new assistant. My aunt sent me."

"Of course," the voice said before a click came from the door beside the receptionist desk and it slid open. Once she stepped through the voice told her, "The elevator is to your right, and Mr. Reilly's office is on the top floor."

Sharon stepped onto the elevator confused, wondering if she was going to be his second assistant. As far as she knew she was supposed to be his first employee.

Stepping off the elevator she found a large open area with the floor separated into a handful of large offices. She made her way to the largest one at the back of the building and looked into the open door to see Ben Reilly sat at a desk. He looked up as soon as she appeared and smiled.

"Morning, Sharon."

"Where's your other assistant?" She asked motioning to the empty desk out front.

"The desk is yours. Vivian doesn't need one."

"Vivian?"

"Yes, Miss Carter?" The voice once again filled the room.

After scanning the room and hall, Sharon turned to Ben asking, "What the hell is this?"

Ben smiled, rising from his chair. "Vivian is an AI I designed to help me."

Sharon blinked. "You made an artificial intelligence?"

"Yes. I'm assuming you have a lot of questions, but I was hoping we could speak before I show you around. Is that okay, Miss Carter? Can I call you Sharon?"

Her brow furrowed as she nodded. "Yes. To both, yes."

"You might want to sit," he said motioning to a chair. Once she did, Ben sat on the edge of his desk. "Now, I don't want you to worry, so I'm going to do something that's going to make you a bit calmer and keep you from getting scared or upset while I explain things, alright?"

Sharon frowned, her gaze hardening. "What are you talking about?"

She watched him cross his arms and suddenly found her expression softening as the suspicion in her faded. "There," he said, "that's better, isn't it?"

Sharon was nodding before she even realized it. "Wait, what did you do to me?" She asked yet felt none of the fear or confusion she thought she should.

"I've released a pheromone which has made you more open to hearing what I have to say. It's one of the many gifts I was given."

"Gifts?" Sharon gasped. "You're an enhanced."

"Yes, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone and left me off SHIELD's Index, if that's alright, Agent Carter." Seeing her eyes widen, he held up a hand. "Your aunt didn't burn you or anything. Again, one of my gifts is knowledge. I know you're an agent of SHIELD. The list of agents allowed to interact with me was made by me, not your aunt."

Sharon shook her head. "What are you?"

"A New Yorker," he said with a smirk. "I was born on Earth, in the US, in New York. I can't explain exactly how I got my abilities apart from saying they were a gift from a cosmic force for something I did." That was mostly true. Even his original spider powers had been changed and enhanced by the power cosmic.

"Now the reason I'm telling you this and not simply hiding it is because I know you're an agent of SHIELD. I know you're gonna poke around in places where I don't want you to and eventually you're gonna find out the robotic workers I've built aren't the ones doing the work here."

Sharon frowned. "What is?"

"Me," he said rolling up his sleeve and holding out his arm. Sharon gasped as hundreds of threads shot out of his arm, twisting and turning to form an exact copy of himself standing beside Ben. "Or versions of me."

"H-How is that…"

"Another gift," he said with a nod as the clone's body came undone, the countless threads collapsing and evaporating before they hit the ground. "I could try to hide them from you, but it will be a lot of work and I'd rather have you as an ally. Someone I can trust. Obviously I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell people at SHIELD about this."

"Why? This is incredible," Sharon said sitting up in her seat. "This is a miracle."

"It's a target," he said frowning. "You know as well as I do SHIELD is not without traitors or its own spies. If they found out about the things I can do then I'd be more of a target than I already will be, and for now I need the CEO of Reilly Enterprises to be separate from the man with superhuman abilities."

Sharon shook her head. "But you can help people."

"And I will," he assured, "just not as Ben Reilly."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you heard anything about a vigilante hitting crime family hideouts across the city?"

Her eyes narrowed as Sharon said, "That's you."

"That's me," he admitted. "Which is why I'd like you to make sure Ben Reilly and Weaver stay separate."

"Weaver?"

"What I call me alter ego. I'll make him known in a few months." Tony had only just returned from the cave in Afghanistan. It would be a few months before he finished his suit and made his debut as Iron Man. By then Ben would have completed his own suit and hopefully Reilly Enterprises would be on the rise. "Until then I'd like the vigilante to remain nameless as far as SHIELD is concerned."

Sharon shook her head. "You expect me to just not tell anyone what you can do?"

"Your aunt knows all this and more, Sharon," Ben said, shocking her. "If she's agreed to keep it quiet, surely you can as well."

"She really knows?"

"She's technically known about me longer than I have," he said, smirking at the odd truth of his statement. Time travel was weird. "The only other person who knows more is her husband."

Shifting in her seat, Sharon sighed. "You said you doped me with some kind of pheromone. How do I know you're not just making me agree to this?"

"Because you're questioning it. I could make you agree like you think. I can also make you forget if I had to, but obviously I don't want to."

A minute passed as Sharon thought things over before nodding. "Fine. I'll keep it quiet. Not a word to anyone at SHIELD."

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "And just so you know, I cut off the pheromones after I made my copy."

Sharon scoffed and nodded. "I appreciate your honesty."

"I'm sorry to be so blunt with all of this, but it was this or try to hide it and I really do want this to work. Fury no doubt suspects I know you're an agent, so you can tell him I do, that way you can take leave to go on missions or whatever else he needs you for. You can tell him about my worker bots, but I'd downplay Vivian if you can. You'll find she's quite advanced, but for now I want most people to think she's just a kind of voiced automation."

Surprised he was not only being so open but supplied an opening to go on other missions, Sharon nodded. "Okay."

"Why don't I show you around? I can show you some of the other stuff I'm working on beside sixian cloth."

Sharon followed him out of the building, letting him give her a tour of the various factories and warehouses.

Each building appeared to be guarded by two or more bulkier, armored Worm Drones while the slimmer models were busy taking orders from copies of Ben inside each building. She saw not only where they made the sixian thread and tailored them into clothes, but a massive chemical lab, a forge where he was making some kind of metal, and the building where his clone was making more Worms to grow their workforce. The Creation Station, as Ben called it, was also part of the building which housed dozens of pods and stations for the Worms to rest and recharge.

The last building he showed her was the most heavily guarded and housed floors filled with servers. Looking around the cooled building she asked, "Vivian?"

"Partially. It's also running some things I'm gonna release along with some hardware. Might look into integrating it with Stark Phones eventually."

"You really do have big aspirations," Sharon said snickering.

"Which is why your first job for me will be clearing launching our own satellites. We can even buy someone else's for now if it gets it done sooner."

Sharon turned to him gaping. "You want to launch a satellite?"

"Not a satellite. Eight, maybe a dozen. Maybe more."

"Why?"

Smiling, Ben told her, "Because I want the world to see everything that going to be happening soon."

Sharon shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Like I said one of my gifts is knowledge, and I happen to know the world is going to change. I want the whole world to be able to keep up with it to some degree, so," he said reaching into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be a smart phone which he handed to Sharon, "I made this."

"What is it?"

"I call it webware," he said as she turned it on and saw the screen labeled Reilly Enterprises Webware. "Right now it has unlimited access to high speed satellite internet. Even during a storm it gets a clear signal. The only thing that's made it drop is being over twenty feet underground or moving around two hundred miles an hour, but I think I can improve that."

Sharon brought up websites to test it and was surprised by the speed, which was at least equal to the fiber optic SHIELD had installed in her apartment. "And you want to launch satellites so this can work all around the world?"

"I want to make sure everyone can access the internet no matter where they are. With that someone out in the middle of nowhere will have the same quality of internet as every city in the world. Maybe better than most right now. If someone has one of them they'll never be lost or out of reach."

Her nods slowed as she looked from the webware to Ben. "How is this working if you don't have a satellite up yet?" Seeing his sheepish smile she stepped forward asking, "Are you using someone else's satellite?"

"No, no," he said shaking his hands. "I just… I may have secretly launched a satellite to test it."

Sharon stared at him. "What? Someone would notice another satellite in orbit, not to mention launching it!"

He arched his brow saying, "After all you've seen, do you really doubt I could covertly launch a satellite?"

After a moment she nodded. "Yes. It's one thing to make clones of yourself and whatever else you can do, but-" She gasped when he disappeared. Just as she started to look around he reappeared in the same spot. "What was that?"

"I know how to make things invisible," he said with a shrug. "The satellite is specifically designed to go unnoticed. The others would be registered properly. I just know it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. And I want this done quickly, so instead of just entering the test phase hopefully we can quickly move onto production."

Sharon groaned, looking at the webware before handing it back to him. "What am I supposed to tell Fury?"

"You can tell him about the satellite. I'd tell him not to bother trying to find it since I designed it specifically to not be found, but I know he'll try. Tell him I assured you it was private and mostly helps Vivian."

Narrowing her eyes, Sharon said, "That's where most of her is, isn't it?"

Ben smirked as he turned and led her out of the building. "Peggy said you were smart."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You're sure about this?" Matt Murdock asked stepping out of a cab.

Foggy Nelson closed the door and tapped the roof, telling the cabbie it was clear so he could drive off. "They sounded normal, and everything I checked looked legit. They're new but they also bought up a big plot in Brooklyn so they clearly have something we don't."

"And what is that?" Matt asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer.

"Money," Foggy said making his way toward the cafe on the corner. "Which they will hopefully pay us to look over some boring files and tell them a few loop holes to save them twice as much as they're paying us."

"I thought we agreed to help-"

"I know," Foggy said spinning around to walk backwards and face Matt. "But this is one job and it's enough to pay our rent for the next three months. Maybe even put a down payment on an office of our own so we can stop taking meetings at diners and bars."

"I thought you said this was a cafe."

"Or cafes," Foggy amended.

"Fine, we can-" Matt grabbed Foggy, making it look like he stumbled when in reality he stopped Foggy from backing into a baby carriage. "Sorry."

"It's fine, you know that," Foggy said patting Matt's shoulder. "I can slow down."

"I'd appreciate it," said Matt, who followed Foggy into the cafe.

Once they were inside Foggy saw a blonde woman and brown haired man wave to him and get to their feet. "Mr. Nelson?" She said, extending a hand when he nodded. "I'm Sharon Carter. This is Ben Reilly."

"A pleasure," Foggy said shaking their hands before letting Mat have his turn.

"The pleasure is all mine," Ben said before motioning to the seats across from them. "Please, have a seat."

Foggy set Matt's hand on his chair before taking his own. He waited until all were seated before saying, "Well, I have to say I was surprised to receive your call, Miss Carter."

"Mr. Reilly heard good things about you," she said with a dubious glance to Ben.

"From who?" Matt asked, shifting his focus between the two.

"I told some people I know I needed lawyers I could trust, preferably young ones who had potential but were maybe overlooked or down on their luck. They pointed me toward you two. You both had positioned at a rather large firm but gave them up to work out of your apartments and take on poorer clients. That tells me you have some morals, but it also tells me you were good enough to be scouted by a firm straight out of school."

"Business isn't our specialty," Matt said before Foggy could speak. "I doubt we'd be of much help to your company."

"But my company might be of help to you."

Both Matt and Foggy were surprised by Ben's words, Foggy glancing to Matt in confusion while the blind attorney shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Reilly, I'm not sure what you mean."

Sharon watched Ben smile as he leaned forward. "Besides the factories and warehouses I've purchased, I also own an office building which we work out of. However there's still only the two of us there. I'd like to offer you one of the floors to act as your firm's office."

"What?" Both attorneys said, sitting up.

Ben noticed Matt's brow sink, clearly trying to get a read on him. "I know how hard it can be as a startup. It can be difficult to get on steady ground so you can build. I'd like to give you that ground. All I'd ask if that you count Reilly Enterprises and myself among your clients. For now we can say the price of your retainer would be the price of your rent. You'd even be given access to the building's other facilities, so the gym, showers, kitchen, all that stuff."

Foggy looked to Matt before asking, "Is this for real?"

"It is."

"Why?" asked Matt.

"Because I know the kind of men you are," Ben said, knowing Matt could tell he was honest. "Obviously I'll still pay the agreed amount for you to look over the files I've brought today no matter what you decide. But I assure you the office will be more than suitable."

Sharon maintained her stoic expression throughout, Ben having assured her this was the right move before they left. She took a pair of folders from her bag and set them on the table in front of the lawyers. "Yours is in braille, Mr. Murdock."

The men took a few minutes to read through the files, Matt being the first to set the folder down. "You're going to launch satellites to give people internet?"

"That's the plan," Ben said with a nod. "Well, part of it at least. If you move in and I become a client I'd have other files for you to look over. I've designed a new kind of ballistic vest and I've got a few offers from various agencies. I'd appreciate it if you could look those over as well when we meet with them."

Foggy set his folder down and glanced at Matt. "Could we, uh, have a minute?"

"Of course," Ben said as both men got to their feet and walked across the cafe.

Sharon turned to him asking, "Do you think they'll go for it?"

"I hope so," Ben said with a sigh, glancing at Matt who he knew was listening, "I know they can be good. They just need some help."

"This is crazy," Foggy said with a sigh. "He wants to rent us an office for free?"

"For making him a client," Matt corrected. "You said they're on the level?"

"As far as I can tell. They're brand new though, like barely months old. Their site didn't say much about what they did. I didn't even know about the vest thing. Must be good though if he's getting offers already despite being so new."

Matt shook his head. "I don't know. It seems too good to be true."

"Maybe," Foggy nodded, "or maybe it's just karma finally paying us back for choosing to be broke, decent people."

Snickering, Matt glanced toward the table before nodding. "We can try it."

"Yes! Papa Foggy is gonna eat good tonight." Clapping Matt's shoulder, he led him back to the table and his chair.

Before Foggy could take his own seat, Ben said, "Actually, Mr. Nelson, could Mr. Murdock and I speak privately for a moment? Miss Carter has some pictures of the office to show you."

Foggy blinked ad Matt frowned, tensing as he stared at the smiling Ben while Sharon got to her feet and took out her phone. "Oh, uh, sure."

Once Sharon guided Foggy to a table across the cafe, Matt asked, "How did you know we accepted?"

"The same way you heard me tell Sharon you need help," said Ben.

Matt felt his heart stop. "What do you mean?"

Ben crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. "Matt. I'm honestly here to help you, and I know you can tell I'm being honest by my heartbeat or how I smell or whatever it is that tells you that."

That was true, but he still had to ask, "Who are you really?"

"A friend. I really do want to help you, which is why I have a gift." Peter picked up a bag off the ground and set it on the table, opening it. Matt cautiously stuck his hand inside and furrowed his brow at the soft material. "I made you a suit to replace the stuff you bought online. It's made from my sixian cloth, so it can stop just about everything from a pistol, shotgun or rifle and will stop a knife unless it from someone whose strength is about equal with your senses."

"What are the horns for?" he said feeling the mask.

"Intimidation," Ben offered. "The billy clubs can also combine, and have a special sixian thread that can link them and an internal motor so you can use it like a grappling hook if you have to."

Matt felt the clubs and frowned, closing the bag to hide its contents. "What is this about really?"

"You've heard about those crime families that have been getting arrested lately? The ones who talk about a guy in a white mask?"

"That's you," said Matt.

"It is. I can do things, and one of my gifts is knowing things. I know about you, what you can do and what kind of man you are. It's why I want to help you and Foggy. Only thing is, uh, if you could, maybe either slowly work on opening up Foggy to accepting your night job and people with abilities like us, or keep him from looking into the other buildings I own.

"I don't mind him seeing the robots I use for staff, but one of my gifts allows me to make copies of myself which I have supervising each building. I'd rather not try to convince him I have twins if he gets nosy, and I don't want to risk him finding out what I can do and getting scared. Whenever you think he's ready I'll tell him, but I'd suggest you do the same. You can say you kept it from him because now it would also mean revealing my secret and you needed to convince me it was okay to tell him."

Matt shook his head, shocked and overwhelmed. "And if we agree to work out of your building, then what? Do we work for you? You expect to use me? Send me on missions or something?"

Ben frowned. "No. I expect you to stick to Hell's Kitchen when you're in uniform, but only because that's where you'd be anyway. And if you move in you only work for me in the sense that you'd be my lawyers. You'd basically be my legal department until you're ready to leave, and hopefully you'd recommend some people to replace you.

"Like I said I'll have contracts for you to check, stuff like that. And when the day comes that people find out about me you can help me avoid any vindictive people who try to sue me for making them emotionally distressed or damaging property while stopping some idiot from blowing up a borough."

From across the cafe Sharon watched Matt sit in thought for a moment before extending a hand which Ben quickly shook. With their deal met, she brought Foggy back to the table where he was surprised to find Matt clearly more open to working with Reilly.

They left with the attorneys, shaking hands again before returning to Reilly's company SUV. Sharon got behind the wheel, having cited her role as his assistant as well as her extensive courses as a SHIELD agent for her being his driver. He'd mostly relented because he never liked driving half as much as swinging.

"So what did you think?" he asked as they were driving away.

"I couldn't spot that he's enhanced," she said shaking her head. "He just seemed like a normal blind guy."

"He's had years of practice."

"They seem decent enough otherwise," she said shrugging as they came to a stop at a red light. "You're sure about letting them in the building? They're gonna wonder about Vivian and the other workers."

"I told Matt about the Worms and I'll explain Viv is just an automated system. I asked Matt to try and open Foggy up to revealing the truth about himself, and when he's ready I'll let him know."

Sharon sighed. "Are you sure about that?"

"Foggy's a good guy. He won't blab. Plus there's the whole confidentiality thing I can lean on now that we're clients."

"You say that as if you know him," Sharon noted, glancing at him before turning a corner.

"In another life maybe," Ben said solemnly. "I haven't told them about you and I won't. That's on you if you ever want to."

"You knowing is enough," she said shaking her head.

Ben sank back in his chair as they drove, looking out the window. Eventually Sharon noticed how quiet he was, glancing at him until he finally sighed and sat up. "You think you can get tickets for a flight tonight? Maybe tomorrow?"

Sharon snickered. "I already got us first class tickets for our trip to Washington next week. We can't push up our meetings."

"I don't mean for Washington," he said somberly, "I have to go to California."

AN:

Originally didn't have anything with Sharon. When I had him confronting Fury his contact was Melinda so he dealt with her more, but given her story at that point it didn't feel right so I switched it for Sharon and found she was pretty fun to write. There's not a lot to her from canon so far, but I'm trying to use the few things there are to expand her.

I'm a few chapters ahead as far as writing, and having finished the first sex scene I think I'm gonna end up having to heavily edit the version on FFnet. The scene is pretty explicit and I don't want to lose it since it was a fun kind of character examination I'll probably get into more during that chapter's notes. Either way, given FFnet's rating system I'm gonna posted the edited down version there and the full version will be on AO3. The edited out bits might be pretty blatant and transitions might not be as clean and sensible as I'd like, but if people want to read to definitive version it'll be up on AO3.