Chapter 1
"Please, sir, the boy only has two weeks to live." The young man was pacing and twiddling his pen. His voice was pleading. At least the man on the other end of the phone hadn't hung up yet.
"How did you get this number?" The voice sounded like he had chewed and swallowed gravel.
"I have a lot of friends, and I do a lot of research. But I don't share my secrets. I promise. All I want is for this boy's last wi-"
"I don't care. Who are you?"
"I told you. I'm nobody. A volunteer for the Last Wishes Organization. We try to make a kid's last wish come true. This boy wants to meet you."
"Lose the number. Or I'll find you."
The young man threw his pen onto the desk and pushed his glasses up. "Dr. Doom, the boy's name is Wilbur."
For a minute, the other end of the phone was so quiet the young man thought Dr. Doom had hung up. He had frozen, and slowly let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, relaxing his posture.
"Alright Mr. Nobody. You've got my attention. That's not a good thing. How do you know that name."
"I told you. I do my research. If I can find your phone number, how could I miss that detail?"
"I've traced your phone. Don't move, don't make any phone calls. I'll be in contact." Dr. Doom hung up.
The young man dropped his phone to the ground and started shaking, the aftereffect of adrenaline with nowhere to go. He took off his glasses to clean a smudge. Then he opened his closet. He was so nervous he had sweat right through his shirt.
After the young man had changed, what he had just done caught up with him. He had called a supervillian! Why the heck had he done that?!? He turned his desk chair around and sat in it, leaning back. He closed his eyes and took three deep breaths.
When he opened them, he felt a little more at peace. He began a speech he told himself whenever a kid seemed to pick a really weird wish. "I'm doing this for a kid who may very well lose his life. And even if he does live, his life will be changed forever. This is his hero, for whatever reason, and seeing his hero will make him happy. And Wilbur deserves to be happy." The young man nudged his glasses back up his nose and took a deep breath, feeling more centered.
A knock at the door made him jump. He started towards it when he heard an almost silent whirring sound, and it opened. Two figures completely dressed in black walked in and grabbed the young man's arms, holding them behind his back. He didn't struggle because he was so surprised. He wasn't even shaking anymore.
More Shadows came in and searched his tiny home. After every possible hiding spot was checked, one Shadow put a hand to his ear. "All clear." The young man's arms were released, but the Shadows didn't leave his side.
A figure came in, walking like every step had to be planned. The young man's eyes raised from the floor to see the face. It was horribly disfigured because of the burns. There was a patch over one eye, not because there was no eye, but because it was almost constantly leaking fluid. The figure was completely bald, but the young man knew that wasn't by choice. There was just too much scar tissue for the hair to grow.
The young man swallowed, but stood up straight and looked Dr. Doom in the eye. "Now that you know there's no one hiding behind the curtains, aould you like to sit down?" The question came our slightly more sarcastic than he intended, but the young man decided that was OK. It made him sound like he wasn't scared. Scared wouldn't help little Wilbur. He had to earn the respect he needed from Dr. Doom.
Dr. Doom showed no reaction. The young man almost wilted under his gaze, but thought, 'hey, I made it this far', and grabbed the file off his desk. "Wilbur is eight years old. He got caught in a house fire two months ago, and the doctors are surprised he's lived this long. One told me that the kid is fighting, but it's a losing battle. His internal organs are beginning to shut down."
The young man paused, seeing Dr Doom's eye soften. He held out the file. "Wilbur wants to meet you. He doesn't care about what you've done, and frankly, I don't care right now either. My job is to fulfill his wish. Will you do it?"
Dr. Doom took the file and the young man took his glasses off to clean another smudge, then pushed them back to the bridge of his nose. He waited, knowing that his side of the contest was over. It was the Doctor's turn.
Dr. Doom skimmed through the file, and shook his head. "Out of everyone I've met in and out of my... profession, you are the craziest."
"I prefer passionate."
"How do I know Shield won't show up?"
The young man had thought of a way around this already. "For one, the meeting will be planned at six in the morning. Two, you aren't to perform any criminal act on the way there, and in no way endanger the boy. No suicide vests on anyone or anything in a five mile radius near the hospital. If Shield still shows up, I have plans for that too."
"Is there a third?"
The young man looked at all the Shadows spread out around him. "No army at the hospital. It won't be necessary, and will only call Shield's attention to you."
Dr. Doom nodded slowly. "Your rules make sense."
He tossed something to the young man, who caught it before it reached the ground, worried that the Doctor had changed his mind. Then he realized it was just a phone.
"It's a burner. I'll call if I change my mind. Six am at the hospital tomorrow?" Dr. Doom spun around, not even waiting for the young man's answer.
When all the Shadows had left, the young man took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Crazy kid. I'm even crazier for doing this." He tossed the burner onto his desk, set an alarm, took off his shirt and collapsed into bed.
