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The man wore a yellow head-to-toe NBC suit, giving him the distinct and somewhat comical appearance of a beekeeper. But whatever laughs his attire may have raised were quelled by the assault rifle or similar looking weapon he held in his hands. 

Sallis clammed up fast. He’d heard rumour of this exact type of event. A group known only as A.I.M. but due to some of their activities many has speculated their name may stand for Abductors and Innovations Misappropriated, more than a few intelligent men had vanished from the eye of the world and rumour of what exactly happened abounded and spread through the scientific community. 

The man ran an eye over Holland’s work area, scattered notes and samples. 

“Alec, step away from the desk, it’s not worth it.” Ted spoke softly, but with a dark scowl on his face. Rage boiling beneath the surface but tempered, possibly by the firearm the man wielded. 

“You should listen to your frien—“ the man from A.I.M paused and looked at just who that “friend” was. There was not a man in A.I.M. who wouldn’t recognise him by sight, they had merely been too preoccupied with checking exits and blind-spots for security, followed by the primary objective – data, to take a closer look at the scientists present. 

“Now THIS is luck… there was only supposed to be some preliminary data from a young no-name environmental scientist. Of all the shantys in all of America, how did you wind up in this one, Dr Theodore Sallis?” he could feel the man’s leer from the inflection, it didn’t matter that he couldn’t see his face. 

The tone supported the rumours he’d heard, and Dr Sallis began to realise the likelihood of a free life dwindling down towards zero. Another man in an NBC suit scanned the wooden box with some kind of device, others grabbed notes, while the first seemed to be attempting to communicate with his superiors over some kind of unseen Comm-link inside of his helmet.

“...come in Scientist Supreme. It appears that there was an extra prize hidden in the bottom of Luthor’s cereal box. Alright, alright... I’ll tell you what I mean...” apparently the voice on the other end of the line, wasn’t happy with what passed as his brand of ‘cleverness’. The A.I.M underling turned his back in hushed excitement to report to his superior “We’ve found Theodore Sallis...”

WHUMP!

All eyes turned to the sound. The head of the tactical A.I.M squad lay prostrate on the ground with the replica of Captain America’s shield resting on his back. Only Dr Sallis heels could be heard, pounding against the dirt track in desperation. An A.I.M. man raised his weapon before receiving a scolding.

“No, you fool! That’s Sallis. We need him alive.”

Alec breathed a sigh of relief.

“...but we told him we wanted this to be painless. He chose not to listen. Dumb move for a smart man. We’ve got the notes? Torch the rest...”