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[b]Hub City
March 22
20:15[/b]

Hub City was a filth hole. Most would consider Gotham the country's most dangerous city, but that's only because it was bigger, more prominent in national news, and had the Batman jumping around its rooftops. Hub City easily gave it a run for its money. A sister city of Detroit, Hub had been hit even harder than the Motor City after the collapse of the US auto industry. Detroit at least still had all the corporate headquarters to keep it aloft. Hub City, on the other had, was a blue collar town. It had built some of the greatest cars in America history. Now its major exports were crime, corruption, and drugs. It was a cesspool of human depravity, and no one really seemed to give a shit. They turned a blind eye while they focused on other things. Decaying buildings lined most blocks, and neighborhoods were more like demilitarized zones than places people wanted to live. The good people of Hub City, thought few and far between, tried to eek out a meager existence.

Steph had no idea why Question bothered with this place. There were some places that were truly beyond saving, and Hub City was one of them. But he was here, and she needed his help, so she was here too.

Her motorcycle pulled up outside a rusted, vacant looking row of storage units. This is where Question had told her to meet him, but she was starting to get suspicious. Could SHIELD have gotten to him and convinced him to help? He wasn't the biggest fan of the government, so she hoped that wasn't the case. It was still in her mind, however. She knew it would be for a good long while. That was the life she chose when she ran. She had mentally prepared herself for that.

From a few doors down, she heard one of the creaky metal doors shudder and begin to lift. From inside stepped the Question. He was taller than her by an inch or two, with a tuft of black hair peaking out of a trilby hat. A tattered, long, blue trenchcoat hung off his shoulders, and he wore black, leather gloves. His most obvious defining feature, however, was that he had no face. Well, he had a face of course, but it was hidden under a special mask he had obtained. He motioned for Steph to bring the motorcycle inside, which she did.

"You're late," he grumbled. From his voice and demeanor, Steph had theorized he was about thirty-five to forty years old. He was far too world-weary to be any younger, even for Hub City.

"By like fifteen minutes," she looked at him unamused.

"Still. Late," he mumbled. 

He walked further into the storage area, and realized he had made the entire row into an operations base. The inside was much, much nicer than the outside betrayed. She had to admit she was slightly impressed, "Nice place."

"Thanks," he responded, though not really meaning it. "Purchased it at a steal, though everything in Hub City can be purchased for a steal."

"That's what they say."

"They're right," he sighed. "Now, why you're here."

"Yea, you said you needed some help with something? Then you'd give me a lead on HYDRA?"

He grumbled and nodded in agreement before walking over to a map of the city filled with push pins and annotations. He sat down at one and and pointed at the docks, "Here. The docks. The only company that still uses them is Roxxon Energy."

"That makes no sense," Steph shook her head. "Roxxon would have no need to deliver shipments to Hub. It's not a distribution center or and export center."

"Exactly," he nodded, clearly pleased with himself. "All my digging turned up nothing, but that's because the officials in this city are in Roxxon's deep pockets. Not hard to believe considering their monetary standing."

That was an understatement. Roxxon was the world's leading oil provider. They had their hands in every leading energy field save for Stark's clean energy arc reactor technology. They had a stranglehold on the market and more politicians in Washington than you could count. Still, while they may be morally reprehensible for their continued pollution of the environment, Steph wasn't sure they were really doing anything overtly nefarious.

"I dunno, Question," she looked at him sideways. "It's weird, but why do you think this is something I need to look after? I mean, Roxxon is powerful. I don't need more of the government after me than I already do."

"Because I saw AIM on those very docks as well," he said bluntly.

That changed everything.

"I'll look into it."