Roxxon Corporation was having a terrible week.
Its stock had fallen sharply, several subsidiaries were under federal investigation, and multiple senior executives had abruptly resigned under circumstances that attracted considerably more attention than their departures might otherwise have warranted.
Government officials were demanding answers, shareholders were demanding accountability, and investigative journalists were tearing through decades of corporate filings in search of evidence that the latest scandal was only the tip of the iceberg.
At the center of it all was Lois Lane.
Her initial report had been devastating enough. The subsequent investigations had made matters considerably worse.
Taylor Romanova currently sat in a private lounge overlooking the city, one leg crossed over the other as she watched the latest financial report playing on a wall-mounted television.
Her expression remained composed, although the fingers resting against her glass occasionally tightened whenever another corporate representative appeared onscreen to deny knowledge of the experiments.
Across from her sat Nathan Bowen, Tandy's biological father. He looked considerably less comfortable.
Nathan had spent enough time around powerful people to understand that public scandals were rarely as simple as the news presented them. Corporations survived bad publicity all the time.
But this situation was different. Lois Lane being onto you was a different kind of bad publicity, and it had instigated investigations from people with political power to rival their backers.
Whatever protection Roxxon had enjoyed through its network of subsidiaries and political connections was beginning to show cracks.
Nathan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees,"How bad is it?"
"As bad as it gets," Taylor said, turning and looking at the television which was showing a photograph of Lois Lane appeared beside the words ROXXON UNDER FEDERAL SCRUTINY.
"How did she even find this material?" Nathan asked.
Taylor finally turned toward him, "Because someone gave it to her."
Nathan's expression changed, "You know who?"
"Not for sure," Taylor set her glass on the table,"But I have some ideas,"
She reached for the remote and switched the television to a different channel. The new broadcast featured footage of two masked figures moving through a smoke-filled street, one surrounded by darkness and the other wielding brilliant white blades of light.
Cloak and Dagger.
The footage was grainy, captured from a distance by a civilian's phone, but the two figures were unmistakable.
Taylor watched the screen with a cold, calculating expression, "This is their work. They've been targeting some of our old facilities and associates, and suddenly Lois Lane receives evidence of what was going on?"
"The timing can't be a coincidence," Taylor said.
"What the actual question is how much do they know?" Taylor said, swirling her glass.
Taylor's gaze returned to the television. A commentator was now discussing whether Roxxon executives might face criminal charges.
Nathan rubbed his chin, "So what do we do?"
"Well we need to take them down. The higher-ups already wanted Cloak long before, seeing his powers as high-value," Taylor muttered.
"If they keep exposing more, the people above us will decide that we've become more trouble than we're worth," Taylor said, and Nathan understood the implication immediately.
For the first time that morning, Taylor looked genuinely irritated. Not frightened, precisely, but aware that the situation had moved beyond the point where ordinary damage control would be sufficient.
The corporation's public relations department could issue denials. Its lawyers could challenge the evidence. Its executives could blame rogue employees and insist that the allegations represented isolated incidents.
None of that would matter if Cloak and Dagger continued uncovering the infrastructure that made the program possible.
They needed to be stopped before the investigation reached the people who had authorized it.
Nathan leaned back in his chair.
"So what's the next plan?"
Taylor did not answer immediately.
She reached into her jacket, retrieved a secure phone, and checked a message that had arrived only minutes earlier.
Her eyes moved across the screen, and the faint tension in her jaw eased—not because the situation had improved, but because someone else had finally decided to intervene.
"The higher-ups are sending someone to handle Cloak and Dagger."
Nathan straightened, "Someone? Do you know who?"
Taylor locked the phone and slipped it back into her jacket, "All I know is they're way above our paygrade, so we need to facilitate them however we can,"
Nathan looked dissatisfied, but he did not press the question. He had learned that there were certain doors in this world that were better left unopened unless one was prepared for what waited on the other side.
"Can this person actually capture them?" Nathan asked.
"That's the expectation," Taylor muttered, rubbing her head in frustration.
"And if they can't?"
Taylor's expression became utterly still, "Then we lose our backing."
Nathan stared at her, "You're serious."
"Completely. The higher-ups have already spent considerable resources trying to keep this operation intact. They want a stable metahuman army, and it's already drawing far too much heat. If we fail to succeed soon, we'll be cut off," Taylor said.
"Cut us off how?"
"No more funding, no more access to resources. No more protection from the people who have been making sure our names stay out of the reports." Taylor paused, allowing the meaning to settle. "We'll be left to deal with the consequences ourselves."
Nathan's face tightened, "I gave up everything for this, we can't fail,"
"You mean that stupid woman and her daughter?" Taylor said, glaring daggers at Nathan, "No need to try and act so noble, we both know you'd kill them yourself if it guaranteed you success,"
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Outside the windows, National City continued its morning routine. Traffic moved along the distant avenues, pedestrians hurried toward their offices, and enormous screens displayed the latest developments in the Roxxon investigation.
From this height, the city looked peaceful enough to suggest that the worst of the crisis had already passed.
Taylor knew better.
Nathan eventually broke the silence, "What do you want me to do?"
"For now? Nothing that attracts attention." Taylor rose from her chair and adjusted the sleeve of her jacket. "Keep your distance from anything connected to the investigation. Don't contact anyone who might be under surveillance, and don't attempt to resolve this independently. As for the remaining unstable metas we have, just keep them secure until we might need them,"
Nathan looked up at her, "You expect me to sit here while someone else decides our future?"
"I expect you to survive long enough to have a future."
The bluntness of the response silenced him.
Her phone vibrated once more. She glanced at the incoming message, and for a brief moment, her expression shifted into something resembling anticipation.
The operation had received its authorization. She slipped the phone away and returned her attention to the television.
Lois Lane's face appeared onscreen again, accompanied by another announcement concerning the investigation.
Taylor watched without blinking.
"Enjoy your victory while you can," she murmured.