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Norman just stared at the woman in front of him as he thought about the damn trouble he would be in if she turned out to be who he thought she was.

Osborn only took his gaze discreetly towards one of the windows that the room had: "If what worries you are the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent then you shouldn't do it, as long as I'm here she won't know of my presence" the woman commented to him.

Norman just shook his head, "You know for someone Ducard calls his best apprentice, I always thought you would be more intimidating" he commented as he walked over to a small bar where a few drinks were visible.

The woman didn't seem to take Norman's words seriously and instead simply replied in a calm manner, "Though that title no longer belongs to me."

"Maybe" Norman contemplated as he began to pour himself some alcohol into a glass from the first bottle he had within reach, "Then how should I refer to you, you know my name, so it's only fair that I know yours too" he added as he took a small drink.

The woman made a face of mock surprise, "Right, excuse my lack of manners, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Elizabeth Braddock" she introduced herself as she gave a small bow.

Norman had only one thought: 'Shit' was the only thing his mind could say.

Almost instinctively Norman completely emptied his mind, he didn't know if that would work in case Elizabeth wanted to read his mind, although he didn't even know if she can do that, but it was better than doing nothing.

"I have to assume that your visit is because Ducard wants me to hold up my end of the deal right?" asked Norman without showing a sign of nervousness.

However, unlike what Norman expected she shook her head, "No, I came here of my own free will" she said as she looked straight at Norman.

"And that's because of?" questioned Norman again, to which the woman didn't mention anything as she just stood thoughtfully for a moment before her right hand moved slightly and a sort of purple knife manifested itself.

At that moment Norman knew that his deduction about mutants in the world he was in had probably failed completely.

In an instant Norman used his teleportation to get a little closer to Betsy, after all if she had so simply shown him her powers, that meant she had somehow discovered his and probably thought he was a mutant.

"I guess we'll have a long talk" commented Norman while Betsy just nodded at his words.

…

The place where they both were had changed completely, currently Norman and Betsy were in the Osborn's office, this simply for the sake of comfort.

Osborn was behind his desk sitting in his chair while Betsy was across from him, neither of them were saying a word, but it wasn't because they didn't know what to say, it was because they were both watching each other's reaction.

"So tell me what exactly are we?" even though Norman knew he was ultimately not a mutant there was no way he would pass up an opportunity to get such valuable information.

"First of all since when did you awaken your powers?" without answering Norman's question, Betsy asked her own.

"It was some time after the training I had with Ducard" Norman replied without taking too much notice.

Betsy just nodded at Norman's words while a thoughtful look appeared for a few seconds on her face.

"Thank you for answering my question" she mentioned after a little silence: "As for what we are, nobody really knows, some say we are the consequence of a genetic experiment, others believe we are the next step of human evolution" she began to explain a little.

"The truth is that no one really knows what we are, although there are a few fools who believe they have the absolute truth of our origins" her tone of voice was somewhat dismissive as she said those words. "The only thing that can be considered true is the fact that we possess a genome that grants those who possess it certain abilities" she added shortly after.

"However there is a price right? I doubt your previous question was asked on a mere whim" Norman said.

Betsy just nodded at his question, "The way to awaken the genome is a bit strange, it usually requires the person to be in a strong state of constant pressure or similar" she explained taking her time to choose the right words.

"Sometimes intense training is enough, but at other times…" her words paused not knowing exactly how to continue.

"His body can't take it, and he collapses before even waking up" continued Osborn intuiting what the woman meant.

"That's one way of putting it" she pointed out in a somewhat somber tone of voice, "Most people die before they can even awaken their abilities" she decided to confess, but that was something Norman had already deduced.

"Elizabeth I am grateful to you for sharing this information with me however a question also arises why do you do it?" this was something Norman wanted to know since he started chatting with her.

To his question the woman only shrugged her shoulders, "You can take it as an act of good faith to a fellow member of my own species, you must know Norman that there are people in the world who can't stand our kind and are constantly hunting us, I'm just warning you about it" she explained, but this time the seriousness was somewhat clear in her voice.

Betsy's gaze soon fell on one of the clocks in the room before she began to rise from her seat, "It's time for me to go" she said simply and Norman made no attempt to stop her.

Just before leaving the room she spoke again: "You must be careful, having powers does not make you impossible to defeat or kill" with those last words of warning Betsy left the room.

Norman did not answer her in any way and only kept a thoughtful countenance, only he himself knew what was going through his mind.

…

Betsy only began to head for the exit, although she soon felt a glance following her movements, she quickly discovered that the person watching her was a somewhat older man in a butler's uniform, it seemed that he was watching her, so she wouldn't do anything suspicious.

By the time she almost reached the exit door she could feel another pair of eyes on her, but unlike the previous ones the new ones were simply curious, her gaze soon saw a boy that she easily recognized as Norman's son.

So, before leaving completely she turned to where the little boy was and showed a smile as she greeted him, the boy didn't seem to know how to react until he started waving his hand at her.

And without further ado after lowering her hand she walked out the door of the mansion and simply began to walk, however, in this case it seemed that people did not seem to see her or simply did not give her importance.

She continued her walk until she reached a distant area outside the mansion where a young red-haired girl was waiting for her next to a car while she had a face that reflected her boredom.

"I guess you took care of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent right?" was the first thing she asked as she looked at the young woman.

The redhead just nodded with a smile, "Of course, she'll just remember it was a completely normal day" she replied.

"By the way why did you take your time to have a chat with him?" she asked curiously, "Besides not being able to hear his thoughts there's nothing special about him" she added quickly.

"Even his ability doesn't seem to be any better than Xavier's team member" she continued regardless.

For her, part Betsy had started to open the driver's door of the car and before closing it she spoke, "I saw him in a dream" she replied and without another word she got into the car.

For a moment, the redhead's mind seemed to receive an electric shock before she reacted and ran to the passenger door, she needed to satisfy her curiosity.