Toss Up (Danny Rand)

The Fox In The City

"And in other news, the recent scandal of the Hedera Helix Cancer and Research Hospital continues. The discovery of the missing children cases that spanned over a decade continues to tie in with the esteemed institution. Multiple files and testing facilities have been reported, but no word yet to what it was exactly they were trying to achieve but rest assured we will find out!"

I rest my chin on my hand as J. Jonah Jameson blares out his report on their recent findings of the IVY hospital 'scandal' as they call it, frowning at the mention of it.

I look over at MJ who is scanning through something on her phone, most likely something to do with her internship at the Daily Bugle. She spins her fork in her other hand, the outdoor café we're eating lunch at providing a nice and peaceful atmosphere.

I feel guilty knowing I had an inside story that would send her right into JJJ's good graces. I could help her out so much if I just . . . but I can't. Fury had told me they had covered all their bases and only allowed this much out into the public, keeping the human experimentations out of the news and keeping the victims' identities a secret.

Well, the ones that survived anyway.

After finding out more information about the kidnapped children . . . it made me sick. The photos that Fury had shown us made us all shudder. The extent to what these people did to other human beings, twisting and morphing them into things that weren't human . . . it was so graphic. Some kids weren't even recognizable from their original selves. It was like some messed up version of a before and after make-up reality show picture, only horrifying. I could tell it really affected the others, and from the look Danny shot me back in the briefing room I knew he was thinking the same thing.

We got off lucky.

We could have ended up dead or mutated to the point where we wished we were dead . . .

"Hello? Earth to Ari?" MJ calls out to me, waving her hand in front of my face.

"What? Oh sorry Red, zoned out there for a sec." I say putting on my best grin and pushing the image of a girl my age injected with bird DNA, her neck twisted like a vulture and her skin patchy with feathers poking out of her arms that were bent at an impossible angle.

"Are you sure you're okay? I don't want to feel like you're pushing yourself . . ."

"Nah, I'm fine! Besides, I so needed this day. It's been a while since we've hung out!"

"Well, I guess it would be difficult since you're spending so much time with tall, blond and handsome." She says slyly as I feel my cheeks heat up. "So how are things going with you two? The school is alive with gossip about Midtown High's newest power couple."

"'Power couple'? Don't these guys have anything better to do? Plus, we've only gone out on a few dates . . . we haven't discussed what 'we' are yet."

"Don't worry about it, if you want to know he'll find time to talk it out with you." She says placing a comforting hand on my arm. I look down at my drink, stirring the ice with my straw.

"H-How do you know?"

"Well, you don't see the way he looks at you. If there is one thing I am, it's observant. He's totally crazy about you, Ari, and I can tell you feel the same too!"

"But it isn't like I have any experience in this kind of stuff, what if I'm just getting caught up in the moment?"

"Oh come on," she says with a roll of her eyes. "If I didn't think he was good for you, you would know it."

I chuckle at this, popping a French fry in my mouth. "That I know MJ. What about you? Any gentlemen pining for the hand of New York's next best reporter?"