All or Nothing

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All or Nothing

Chapter One

The red haired woman stared up at the humongous statue of the man they had come to see. "What the hell?" She questioned out loud. Yeah, Elena knew Victor Von Doom was, in a sense, narcissistic but still! To build a humongous statue of yourself? That went towards the category of wacko.

Beside her, the bald man grunted as he noticed the statue as well. "You have got to be kidding me." Elena heard her brother, Ben, mutter under his breath.

"Always told you he was a narcissistic psycho." Elena remarked with a smirk on her face before glancing at Reed who was staring at the statue as well with slightly widened eyes.

"High open space, exposed structural elements. Obviously aimed at first time-visitors to create feelings of… smallness, inadequacy." Reed Richards murmured and Elena couldn't help but notice that her friend seemed slightly nervous.

She and Ben exchanged a look before he looked at Reed and said reassuringly, "Good thing it ain't workin'." Ben faced Reed full on, his arms crossed. "Reed, what are we doing here? This guy's fast-food, strip-mall science…"

"Yeah, I agree with Benny Boo here." Elena stated, boredom etched onto her face.

Ben Grimm sent his younger sister a scowl at the nickname she refused to stop using. The redhead smirked at him before looking at Reed. "Seriously though. We don't need Victor Von Idiot's help."

Reed sighed before looking at the two. "This wasn't our first stop, in case you two forgot NASA." Elena rolled her eyes at the mention of NASA who had basically laughed their asses off at Reed's idea. Stupid arrogant assholes, the teacher thought annoyed.

"Besides, Victor's not that bad." Reed defended, looking at Elena while saying this. "He's just a little…"

"Narcissistic? Conceited? Arrogant?" Elena suggested helpfully.

Ben snorted. "Took the words right outta my mouth El."

Reed sent the two a disapproving look. "I was going to say larger than life."

Elena rolled her eyes before following the two into the building reluctantly, silently wishing that they could ask for ANYONE'S help besides Victor's. The three walked right past the giant statues and through the front doors into the atrium of Von Doom Industries. Inside, there were people everywhere.

As they walked to the front desk, Reed stated, "He's financed some of the biggest breakthroughs of this century."

"Really?" Elena asked in an uncaring tone, really really wishing they weren't here. Victor creeped her out. Big time.

"You'd never know it." Ben remarked sarcastically.

Elena stopped walking as did the other two when they reached the desk. The receptionist looked less than thrilled to be there making Elena wonder just how horrible the woman's job would have to be…unless she was just lazy. That would make sense.

Reed smiled at the woman politely. "Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Elena Grimm to see-"

"Executive elevator, top floor." The receptionist cut him off in a dull tone as she handed each of them a pass.

Isn't she a ray of sunshine, Elena thought dryly. At Reed's confused look from the receptionist's reaction, the red head shrugged as if to say 'who cared.'

"What's the price of a smile around here?" Ben inquired gruffly as we walked away towards the elevator.

"I don't know. Got a couple million dollars?" Elena smirked.

Ben chuckled quietly while Reed simply rolled his eyes, too nervous to care. Elena sighed as she saw Reed's hand shaking slightly as he pressed the button for the top floor once they were all in the elevator. "Relax." She told him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Silently, she hoped for Reed's sake, despite the fact that she hated Victor, that the presentation would convince Victor to help them in this endeavor. Reed had honestly worked hard on this and he deserved the chance to prove himself. At least, that's the way Elena saw it anyway.

Elena stood next to Ben in the large, dark office and watched as Reed showed his presentation to Victor. Ben yawned as he watched as well with his arms crossed.

"My research suggests," Reed spoke, "that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm borne on solar winds might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life." He motioned towards the holograms that were being shown.

Elena glanced at where Victor was sitting but couldn't really make out whether or not he liked Reed or not do to the fact that he was off in the shadows.

Please, just support Reed on this! She thought desperately. Reed really needed this.

"In six weeks another cloud with the same elemental profile will pass Earth's orbit. A study in space could advance our knowledge about the structure of the human genome, and help cure countless diseases, extend human life-" Reed continued speaking, but was cut off by Victor clearing his throat.

Undeterred, Reed didn't stop speaking though Elena noticed he was more nervous now than he had been a second ago. However, he hid it as he tried to get his point across. "Give kids the chance to be stronger, healthier, less prone to-"

"Turn it off. Please." Victor stated.

"What do you mean!" Elena hissed through gritted teeth. "He's not done yet!" Ben sighed, wondering if he was going to have to keep Elena from attacking Victor.

"Yes, I haven't fully explained my-"

"Yes, you have." Victor interrupted again. "Imagination. Creativity. Passion. Those were always your trademarks."

Suddenly, lights flickered on in the room and Victor was visible, looking commanding from his seat behind his desk.

Elena blinked as her eyes became accustomed to the brightness before focusing on Victor, wondering what his decision would be. She wondered how much longer this was going to be. She had promised Jess she would meet her for a celebratory dinner afterwards.

Her best friend's reasoning for a celebration had been this: if Victor goes along with the proposal, then yay, they succeeded. However if he didn't, at least Elena wouldn't have to spend any time in the company of Victor Von Doom.

Victor set a magazine down that had a picture of Reed on the cover of it along with the words: RICHARDS BANKRUPT, ANNOUNCES GRANT CUTBACKS. Elena winced.

"But dreams don't pay the bills do they?" Victor mocked as a condescending smile appeared on his face. "Same old Reed, the hopeless optimist. Still reaching for the stars, with the world on your back."

Jade green eyes narrowed dangerously at Victor as Elena clenched and unclenched her fists, doing her best not to blow up on Victor knowing that if she did, it could hurt Reed's chances. She desperately wanted to punch Victor but she knew that it wouldn't do her any good.

Reed ignored the insult directed towards him and instead said, "You remember in school we talked about working together. That's what I was about to explain."

He pressed a button on the remote in his hand and another hologram appeared. This one was of a space shuttle slowly approaching an orbiting space station. Both of which bore the Von Doom Industries logo. "This storm is deadly, but the shields on your station's control room are designed to protect any occupants inside."

An intrigued smile crossed Victor's face as he looked at Reed, amusement visible in his eyes. "So it's not my money you want. It's my toys." He smirked. "Tell me, if NASA doesn't trust you, then why should I?"

"Because you know Reed. You know he can do this." Elena spoke up.

The smirk grew. "Ahh, Miss Grimm. It is lovely to see you again."

Elena simply arched an eyebrow at the man, giving him a look that said she didn't think of it as lovely at all.

Turning his attention back to Reed, Victor spoke. "That's my job. To stay a step ahead. To know what other men don't."

Ben walked over to Reed and turned his back to Victor. "I can't take this." He told Reed quietly and Elena bit her lip, wondering what they were going to do now since it appeared as if Victor was just toying with them and he wasn't going to back Reed.

In a low, quiet voice, Reed responded as he turned his head to Ben, "Ben. This is just business." Elena grimaced but she agreed with him, despite her hatred of Von Doom.

"He's right, Ben." A voice remarked near the door. Elena looked up and a smile crossed her face when she saw the blonde female who was standing there. "It's just business."

"I think you all know my Director of Genetic Research, Susan Storm." Victor introduced, though no introduction was needed.

"One more thing he's got." Ben remarked quietly to Reed before greeting Sue with a smile. "Heya Susie."

"Hey Sue." Elena grinned, casting a quick glance at Reed who was simply staring at Sue with wide eyes.

Sue gave Elena a quick hug as well as Ben. "It's been too long since I've seen you two." She stated smiling before the smile disappeared into a polite, blank expression as she turned to Reed and stiffly shook his hand.

Elena rolled her eyes, noticing the way Victor was watching Reed and Sue carefully. She honestly had no clue why Sue would date a scumbag like Victor. The dark red haired woman gave Reed a sympathetic look, knowing that he still cared about Susan though it was Reed's own fault that he lost her to Victor. He, like always, had been too caught up with his experiments.

Elena glanced at her brother and, from the look on his face, she gathered that he was thinking the same thing.

"How have you been?" Reed inquired.

"Never better." She replied. The two continued to stare at each other.

"Is it just me," Elena whispered quietly to Ben, "or does it look like Sue still likes him?"

Ben looked at his sister as if she was crazy. "Its just you. How much do you wanna bet she ends up killing him before we leave?"

Elena let out an annoyed breath. "You don't have a single romantic bone in your body, do you?" Ben simply rolled his eyes, looking amused.

Victor placed a hand on Sue's shoulder. "This isn't going to be a problem, is it?" He questioned, looking at Reed with fake concern, cold amusement glittering in his eyes.

"Not at all."

"Ancient history." Sue replied in a tone that left no room for argument.

A smile graced the man's face. "Good. Then you're just in time to hear the great Reed Richards ask me for help." He turned to Reed and said, "You know, you made a lot of folks at MIT feel like a junior high science fair. So you'll excuse me if I savor the moment."

Jerk, was Elena's only thought as she watched the exchange with her arms crossed. Ben's eyes narrowed.

Again, Reed ignored the insult. "You back this mission, and I'll sign over a fair percentage of any applications or-"

"The number's seventy-five." Victor stated in a tone that seemed as if he was daring Reed to argue. "And it's applications and patents."

"What about his first born?" Ben scoffed annoyed.

"Yeah. No way in hell will that happen." Elena remarked annoyed, jade green eyes dark with annoyance. "There is no way Reed would agree to-"

Reed cut her off in a quiet tone as he looked at his two friends. "Ben, Elena, the money's not important. We could save lives."

Elena stared at Reed, eyes studying his face. "I hope you know what you're getting into, Brainiac." Silently, she was thinking that Reed was an idiot if he agreed to this deal, however she knew that the whole point of this experiment wasn't for fame or money. Reed's whole basis for this was to save the lives of people all around the world. It was because of that reason that she wouldn't argue even if he did want to make a deal with the devil a.k.a. Victor Von Asshole.

"Trust me." Reed gave her a small smile before turning to Victor, who began to speak again.

"Twenty-five percent of a billion is enough to keep the lights on, isn't it? Maybe even pay off your forth mortgage on the Baxter Building." Victor smirked and Elena wondered silently how the hell he knew all of this. "Deal?" He questioned.

Reed looked at Ben. Ben shook his head no, not wanting Reed to agree to Victor's outrageous terms. Sighing, Reed looked at the fiery redhead who looked as if she wanted to kill Victor. Arching an eyebrow at her inquisitively, he waited to see what she thought on the matter.

Elena let out a heavy sigh. "Do whatever you want Reed. Its not like we can change your mind anyway."

Very slowly, Reed gave Victor a nod. "Fine."

"Well then," Victor held his hand out, "to our future together." Reed accepted the handshake with a determined look now on his face. "Funny how things turn out, isn't it?" The man smirked.

"Hilarious." Reed replied with little emotion in his voice.

"I'll say." Ben remarked annoyed.

As the three reentered the elevator as soon as the door opened, a frown was on Ben's face as if he was thinking about something.

"What?" Green eyes looked at him curiously.

"He knew about NASA." Ben said with a suspicious look growing on his face. "What if he made the call to shut us down?"

His sister blinked, not even having thought of that possibility. Knowing Victor, she wouldn't put it past him to actually try something like that. "If I thought it would do any good, I would go kick his ass right here and now."

Reed gave his friend a look. "If you got put in jail for assaulting Victor, who would post your bail?" It was obvious neither he nor Ben would be able to afford whatever hefty price the bail would probably be.

Elena shrugged. "I'd blackmail Jess. She owes me anyway."

Reed rolled his eyes, as did Ben, before looking at his other friend. "Ben, think about all the people we can help if this works-"

"Maybe you should think about yourself for once." Ben interrupted. "You always let this guy push you around-"

"We got what we wanted. That's enough." He told Ben calmly. He looked to Elena to see if she would back him up on this.

She sighed. "It's like I tell my students, it's the end results that matter. Even though I hate Victor's guts, he's a necessary evil." One that I might end up killing by the end of this trip, Elena thought grimly.

"I know, I know. I'm just worried about what he wants…speaking of which…" Ben trailed off, his eyes landing on something.

Following his gaze, Elena noticed Sue walking into the elevator just before the doors shut. Wondering what was going on, the female took a step back to allow Reed and Sue some room.

She pulled her cell phone out and noticed that she had four new text messages and one new voicemail, all from Jess. She groaned.

"You sure about this, Reed?" Sue questioned him with her arms crossed as she looked at him.

Reed nodded, looking down and away from the blonde as he attempted not to make eye contact with her. "Those solar winds are flaring, but I factored them into my coordinates so-"

"I was talking about us. Working together." Sue's eyes were intent upon Reed.

Elena didn't even notice the tension that hung between the two because she was too busy looking annoyed as she read her friend's texts that ranged from at first asking where she was to the last which stated that if she didn't respond soon then Jess would assume aliens had kidnapped her and she would call the National Guard.

The redhead groaned. Why couldn't she have any normal friends? And how the hell could the National Guard help if someone was taken by aliens? She sighed before texting her friend back saying she was indeed alive and that she would see her at the café in an hour.

Nervous but doing his best to hide it, Reed answered saying, "Well based on our history...you can handle the biogenetics, and I'll focus on the molecular physics. Or, um, maybe I should take the biotech and you work the microscopes, since you have some background in electropho-"

Annoyance flickered across Sue's face as she said dryly, "Right. That's exactly what I meant." She shook her head annoyed.

Reed looked from Sue to Ben with a look on his face that asked what he did wrong.

Ben smiled and patted Reed on the shoulder. "Way to not over think it."

"Reed, you should know that those solar winds have been picking up speed lately," Sue said with a hint of caution in her tone after a moment of awkward silence.

"I factored them into my coordinates."

"Right. Of course you did. In theory. It's a little different once you're out there."

"I can assure you-"

Turning to Sue, Ben asked in an effort to prevent any arguments from springing up between the two, "So when do we leave?"

Putting away her cell phone, Elena looked at Susan expectantly. She was going to have to come up with the lesson plans for whoever would be taking over her class for the next couple weeks, so she needed to know how much time she had to procrastinate before doing so.

"I'll be scheduling the launch," Sue told them, smiling at Ben and Elena. "So call me in the morning to talk about resources and crew." She turned to Reed and held out a business card, no trace of the smile that had been on her face moments before.

Reed looked at it before turning his eyes to the blonde's face. "I think I remember the number." He gave her a hesitant smile.

"Its been changed." The woman replied simply.

Ben grimaced and Reed looked down. Elena sent Reed a sympathetic look before taking the offered card from Sue and sticking it in her back pocket.

Ben cleared his throat and arched an eyebrow at Reed. Nodding, Reed stepped over to Ben and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder before saying to Sue, "As far as crew, I was hoping Ben could pilot the mission."

"Well," Sue began as she looked at Ben sympathetically, "We already have a pilot on our payroll, but you're welcome to ride shotgun, Ben. You remember my brother Johnny…"

Elena froze. You have GOT to be KIDDING me!