The Unexpected
Hey I'm Back again with another story because Avengers has now caught my interest and yeah. Let's see how far I will last on this story. xD
Summary: She doesn't have a name; I mean does a lab really have a name? She has lived her life as a lab rat to an underground government laboratory set on replicating the serum that created Captain America. After being the only child that survived the alternate serum, she never saw the light of day especially after she gained some unexpected powers. For years she lived following the rules of the scientists in the laboratory and undergoing painful experiments. However, at the age of eighteen, she managed to escape the clutches of the scientists and has been lying low. She moves from city to city in order to make it harder to track her down and at the age of twenty one she has settled in the city of Manhattan for a short amount of time. While she's there, she unexpectedly meets Steve Rogers and the both of them develop a close friendship. However, her past finally catches up to her when she reveals her past to Steve and discovers his identity as Captain America.
Set pre-Avengers, Avengers, and post-Avengers.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers, Captain America or the other superheroes in Avengers. Only my character that has yet to have a name.
Talking: Well, that was a bit unexpected.
Thoughts: This can't get any worse right?
M's POV
Dream
I was running down the same familiar white corridors that I walked through for at least fourteen years of my life. However, instead of going to another section of the laboratory, I was running to find a way out. I was constantly looking behind me to check and make sure no one was following me; I did not want to go get caught and get forced back onto a surgical table. Moments later, alarms went off, blaring loudly and echoing throughout the halls. The red flashing lights made me speed up even though I was too fast for any normal human to catch. I could not let them catch me again, I would not go back there to that hell hole and I was going to make sure I made it out alive. I heard voices up ahead and I gritted my teeth as I prepared myself to fight the men who thought they could stop me. With a small knife that I managed to pick up from one of the guards that I knocked unconscious minutes ago, I stabbed my arm and with a flowing motion, I took out at least 700 ml of blood and with a sight flick of my wrist, I made a whip out of my blood decapitating the men who never saw my attack coming as I turned the corner.
"Sorry," I muttered as I ran past the dead bodies of the soldiers, their blood mixing into my own. "But I'm not going back. Not now, not ever."
"That's what you think." A chilling voice chuckled over the intercom, stopping me in my tracks. My body froze on the spot, refusing to move as the voice continued to speak. "Do you honestly think that you'll escape from me? Remember, I created you. I own you and no matter where you run or hide, I will always find you. You can never escape from me." He said before the intercom died and I felt the familiar piercing of a syringe, stabbing me in the neck.
"No." I cried as I felt the effects of the poison quickly spreading to the rest of my body. "No, I can't…go…back…I can't….." I slurred as my vision began to fail and my legs could no longer support me. Before I passed out though, I saw the gleaming emerald eyes of my tormentor as he saw me losing consciousness.
"But you will."
End Dream
"NO!" I screamed as I shot up from my creaking bed, expecting to be back in my white cold cell that I lived for fourteen years. As my eyes began adjusting to the dark room, I noticed that I was not back in my cell and I relaxed a bit. "It's ok. It was just a dream, HE has no idea where you are and most importantly, you're not back in some laboratory." I muttered as ran my hand through my damp back hair as I tried to calm my nerves down. I looked to my left to see red numbers on the old fashion alarm clock and I groaned at the time. It was only five a.m. and I was sure I wasn't going back to sleep after that nightmare. "Time to take a shower and walk around, that should take at least two hours." I muttered as I threw the thin blankets off me and walked towards the bathroom. "There better hot water this time, I made sure to pay the rent on time."
Hello. My name is…well just call me M for now, you know to stand for mysterious since I don't even know my name. I don't remember what it was and everyone back at that hell hole made sure to never reveal my name or my file to me. It also didn't help that the scientists usually called me subject 0002345 for as long as I can remember. So M for now. I'm twenty-one years old…or was it twenty….aww fuck it, I'm twenty-one. The last time I looked into the mirror I saw brown eyes staring wearily at me due to the lack of sleep, my median length uneven black hair tied in a messy pony tail and my black choker to cover my barcode tattoo that had the numbers 0002345. My life…it hasn't been the best.
I know I had parents; there are times when I dream of them. Where the three of us would smile and laugh without a care in the world and everything was perfect, but something happened and I ended up at an orphanage. I guessed they died or something. I lived at the orphanage for a couple weeks before my life went downhill. One night, I awoke to the sound of a gunshot and screaming. I remember running out of my room towards the source of the noise and I saw the dead body of the caretaker and a couple of kids getting ushered away by a group of men in black suits and dark glasses. Before I could run out of there, someone grabbed me from behind and knocked me out. The next thing I remembered, I was in a white cold room with nothing but a white shirt and pants. As I looked around I saw the other kids from the orphanage wearing the same thing. The older ones tried to look brave and held the younger ones as they cried, traumatized by the event. Moments later the door opened and a group of scientists walked in behind a younger man with messy black hair and a distinguished black lab coat. Even though he smiled sweetly at us his eyes told us he was anything but sweet. His emerald green eyes stared at us as he talked about something before his eyes landed on me and if possible, his eyes suddenly had an evil gleam to it.
"I'm going to enjoy working with the ones that survive this test." He said as he left the room while the other scientists grabbed us and forced us into separate rooms. I remember my room was the farthest from the rest but that didn't mean I couldn't hear the screams of the other children as they entered their room. I tried to escape the grasp of my scientist, but he just kicked me in the chest and once we entered the room, forcefully strapped me down onto an examining table. Seconds later, the scientist stabbed my arm with a syringe and I felt a hot liquid enter my blood stream. The burning that came after…I have yet to feel something equivalent to the pain I felt that day. It felt as if the liquid was burning my body from the inside out, never cooling down and spreading throughout the rest of my body. I remember screaming for the pain to stop, I begged them to help me as the burning intensified but all the scientist did was stand back and watched as I passed out.
When I came back to conscious, I was back in the same room where I woke up with the rest of the kids only…there were five of us left out of the twenty they brought before. The young man with the black lab coat came back and this time explained what he did to us. Apparently he wanted to duplicate the serum that created the first superhuman, Captain America, and create his own superhuman that would listen to his every word. He said that the syringe held his version of the serum and that we were the chosen ones for the experiment and expected great results from us. Hell began for us that day and within a month…I was the only survivor. It didn't help that later on I developed powers, powers that pleased the crazed scientist…the power to control the four major elements; Fire, water, earth, and air. They trained me to control my powers and used many painful methods to make sure I got it quickly. By the time I was fourteen, I had mastered all four elements. However, once I escaped the hell hole I quickly learned I had more potential. On full moons I had found that my water manipulation was stronger than any other days and I could control the water from inside the plants and take water out of them. And one time when I was really angry, I managed to crush a small piece of metal which led me to believe that with more practice I could eventually manipulate metallic objects.
"Ma'am." A feminine voice said, snapping me out of my memories. I looked up and saw a woman in her late thirties holding a cup of coffee. "Here's your order."
"Ah thanks." I muttered as I took the hot cup of coffee and gave her a dollar tip. "Have a nice morning." I said as I walked out of one of the oldest coffee shop in Manhattan which was the only one that opened around six in the morning. I adjusted my worn out leather jacket as I walked towards my apartment to hang out until I had to work around six p.m.
It's been nearly what…three years since I've escaped that hell hole and yet…I still have nightmares of that place. Why though? I should be over it by now, but why….why is it every time I dream of that night, I can't but help feel…scared? As I pondered on this thought, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, nor did I hear the steady thumping of a person running until a rock hard body literally ran into me, knocking the wind out of me and sent me flying to the ground. Losing my grip on my coffee cup, it fell onto my shirt burning my skin before I could grab it.
"Ow! Hot!" I shouted as I tried to stop the coffee from spreading throughout the rest of my shirt.
"Sorry," a Brooklyn accent voice said across from me, and held out a hand in front of me. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I looked up and saw a young well built blond man in his early twenties perhaps, looking apologetically at me. His blue eyes stared at me with a bit of worry before I took his hand and he helped me up.
"No, it's my fault," I sighed as I dusted the dirt off my only good pair of jeans despite having a large hole covered by bandages on my right thigh. "I was lost in my thought and I didn't notice my surroundings, so it's no problem um…mister…."
"Steve Rogers ma'am." He politely said as he gave me his name.
"It's no problem Steve." I smiled at him. I don't think I ever met a polite man ever since I escaped that hell hole, it was a nice change.
"But still, I ruined your shirt. I have to repay you back…"
"Peggy Smith." I quickly said providing him a fake name. He looked shocked for a moment before he regained his smile.
"Miss Smith, I think I should at least take you out for coffee since I made you spill it over you. It's the least I can do."
"That's really not necessary Steve, really—"
"I insist." I sighed in defeat; it seemed I couldn't change his mind.
"Fine, but let go home first to change out of this shirt. It's not far from here so you can wait here." I said, "I promise I'll come back. Scout's honor." Steve chuckled lightly.
"I'll wait here then." I smiled at him before I turned around and began to jog back to my cheap apartment. In less than two minutes I made it back and within another minute I had found another shirt to change into. Unsurprisingly, it was the exact same tank top only black instead of red this time. Quickly grabbing my spare money and keys I quickly locked the door behind me and jogged back to the park where Steve was waiting.
"You know, this is probably the stupidest thing you ever done." I mumbled to myself as I came closer to the park. "For all you know, he could be working for HIM. But no, you decide to go out with him because he seemed honestly nice and you liked the change for once."
"Miss Smith!" Steve's voice rang out as I finally reached the same spot where Steve and I bumped into each other. He was sitting on the bench about ten feet away and began walking towards me. I gave him a small smile as he got nearer.
"Call me Peggy, Miss Smith sounds old and I'm not that old just yet." He hesitated for a moment before he smiled softly.
"Very well…Peggy. Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Sure, where are we going?" I asked as the two of us began walking back towards the city.
"Well it's a bit on the old fashioned side so I hope you don't mind. It's James's Coffee Shop." I turned around and gave him a surprised look.
"You know that place? Huh, I didn't think too many people know it. It's a shame, they sell really good coffee and they open really early." It was Steve's turn to look at me with surprise.
"You go there?" I chuckled at him as we reached the bust city streets.
"I'm practically their number one customer ever since I came to live here. The coffee they make," I smiled as I remembered my first taste of coffee at that place, "There's nothing that can match it. Perhaps it's because they still brew it old fashion, sometimes things done the old fashion way have the best results." I said as we waited at a crosswalk.
"Yeah, there are times when the past is better than the future." He muttered a bit sadly. As I looked at him, his eyes dulled in color as if he was thinking deeply about something. Perhaps he wished to be back in the past…no his facial expression seems as if he longed for it instead.
"But we can never go back to the past," I said as I pulled on Steve's hand as the light turned green for us to walk, "and sometimes I guess that's the best depending on your situation. So all you can do is look towards the future and make the best of it I suppose." A pair of blonde eyebrows shot up in surprise once again. I guess not many people out there think like I do; then again, we should all be glad that only a small number of people have experienced the horror I've been through. He chucked lightly before nodding.
"Yeah... I guess so..." We continue to ask each other questions, most of them relating to things we liked and I surprised him with my answer of 'honestly I don't know,' I guess he never met someone who didn't have favorite things. We made it back to the coffee shop where the waitress greeted me again.
"Vanilla cappuccino?"
"You know me so well." I smiled as I got out a five dollar bill to pay for my drink. "What about you Steve? What will you have?"
"Just an espresso, ma'am." Steve said, smiling sweetly at the waitress who swooned at the sight of him.
"Right away sir. Your drinks will be ready in a moment." She said as he turned away and began to prepare our drinks. Once she gave us our drinks minutes later, we decided to sit down at one of the nearby tables to finish our coffee. We drank our coffee silently for a couple minutes before Steve wiped his mouth with a nearby napkin and cleared his throat.
"So Peggy...What brings you to Manhattan? I-If you don't mind my asking, of course." How was I supposed to answer? I did not want to give away too much, but…I was a bit tired of coming up with different stories every time I met someone new. Several thoughts raced through my head. If I told him the truth, things would get a lot more complicated. For example, if I gave Steve an alternate truth then I would have to stick with that story and that could make it easier for HIM to find me. I guess I took longer than I thought to answer. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled bashfully.
"You don't even have to answer it if it makes you uncomfortable. Umm... Well, why don't I tell you about myself? Just to break the ice."
"Um no that's fine." I chuckled nervously as I took a sip of my coffee that had been cooling down for a while. "I'm um actually here on my own. I always heard how lovely New York was and when I turned eighteen I thought why not come here. And after saving enough money, I finally moved here just two months ago."
Well that was the lamest lie you ever told. Do you honestly expect him to believe that?
"What about you? What brings you to Manhattan?" I asked hoping that he did buy my lie. He then chuckled nervously.
"Um, I was kind of forced to go here. I'm originally from Brooklyn and my friend thought it would be good for me if I saw different parts of New York. So just like you, I just recently moved here."
"So you don't like it here?" I asked, "I mean, I wouldn't like to live in a place where someone forced me to live." He shook his head,
"It's still New York, my home state, but it's just a different part of it. I can't hate it. Sure I miss my friends back home, but I can't say I hate living here either. It's a bitter-sweet feeling I guess, since I've met all kinds of people who helped me get used to this place."
"Really?" I asked. "That...wonderful." I said with a sad smile. "There's not many nice people out in the world nowadays. It's nice to know that people like that exist." I sighed as I took another gulp of my coffee. Steve was probably the only nicest person I've met...well besides my co-worker at the bar, but even then, I have yet to meet a genuinely nice person. It's really childish of me, but I wished there were more people like them in the world. Perhaps if there was...no one would have suffered like me.
His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You don't really seem that happy to be living here. Why is that? Is the city not what you expected it to be?"
"It's not the city!" I quickly said nearly shouting. Other customers looked at me with a bit of annoyance before they turned back to their own conversations. Blushing a bit from embarrassment, I continued with a lower voice."The city's wonderful, really it is. It's better than I thought but...living on your own, not knowing anyone...it's a bit depressing. That's all"
He seemed to be startled by my sudden outburst and seem to choose his words more carefully from that point. He managed to give me an empathetic smile before saying
"I know what you mean. Hearing about a city or seeing it in a photograph isn't the same as actually living in it. Everyone you pass by on the streets has their own life to attend to. Most of the time I feel... out of place."
"Same here..." I muttered. "I don't think I'll ever fit in anywhere. Not with the past I've had." I whispered quietly. I did really feel out of place. I had no idea how this place really worked. I was not up to date with technology; hell I don't even know how to even work a cell phone or a computer even though I lived in the outside world for at least three years. I just...didn't fit in. Nor would I ever.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch that." Steve asked and I shook my head.
"It's nothing." I said as I forced a smile, "So…um do you still want to talk because I don't have work until six pm and I would enjoy the company. Unless you have other plans, I don't mind really—"
"Sure, that would be nice." Steve interrupted me. "Do you want to walk around town? You can show me all you know about this part of Manhattan if you want." Steve said as the both of us stood up at the same time. I laughed softly.
"Truth to be told, I don't really know the city very well. All I know is the area of my apartment, this coffee shop and my work which are relatively close to each other. So I'm not exactly the person you should ask to know where the best spots are." Steve opened the door for me as we walked out of the coffee shop.
"Well that makes two of us. Why don't we try and get to know Manhattan better together then?" Steve suggested. "Since we don't know the place well." I laughed whole-heartedly.
"Why not, I mean two people who don't know Manhattan very well should have some interesting adventures right?" Steve chuckled along with me.
"True. So where to first?" I pondered for a moment before I pointed down a street.
"Let's down this street and see it where it leads. I've never been down here before so it should be fun." I stared walking down the street before I looked back and smiled back at Steve. "Well come on, we don't have all day." He gave me a smile before he caught up with me.
"Let's go."
"I'm not late am I?" I muttered as I quickly walked towards one of the city's most popular nightclub. However, at the moment, there were hardly any cars despite it being nearly time for bars and/or clubs to open. "Then why is it so empty?" I entered through the side door, putting my hair into a pony-tail as I tried to smooth out the wrinkles of my uniform. Inside I saw all the employees rushing around, preparing drinks, taking out the most expensive cups that our manager never lets us use, and wiping down tables.
"Oh! Samantha!" one of the employees, Nicole, called out as she saw me. "Thank goodness you're here. Help me take out these drinks." She said as she motioned to the large crate behind her.
"What's going on? Why are we taking out these expensive drinks," I began as I took out a really expensive brand of whiskey, "Why are we taking out the nice glass cups and why are we rushing around? Usually it's not like this."
"Don't you remember? Arthur told us that a celebrity is going to come to the bar today and he wants everything to be really nice and perfect."
"I must have zoned out," I muttered as I stacked the bottles into the cooling fridge underneath the bar. "His voice gets annoying." Nicole merely chuckled.
"You just don't want to admit that you forgot." I smiled brightly at her.
"You caught me. But I have a question, who's coming here?" I asked.
"Anthony Stark." I stared blankly at her, not really knowing who he was. "You know, the CEO of Stark Industries?" I blinked still not giving any signs that I knew him. "The playboy billionaire philanthropist?" Still nothing "Iron Man!"
"Oh, that guy. Great. I'm not in the mood to deal with a narcissist." I groaned as I grabbed another crate of alcohol and lifted it with no problem.
"JONES YOU BETTER NOT DROP THAT CRATE!" Arthur's voice, my boss, shouted from the back of the room, nearly causing me to drop it.
"HAVE I EVER DROPPED A CRATE BEFORE?" I yelled back. "Jackass."
"I heard that." Arthur said as he came up towards us. With blonde messy hair and emerald eyes, our British managed the popular Emerald Club for five years and had no intentions of retiring. I rolled my eyes, but I still smiled at him. While he was a jackass at times, he was the only one willing to give me a job even though I had no papers. And he did have a nice side to him, but it was hidden beneath the bitterness he had towards most people because people at bars were usually jackasses causing him to be snarky most of the time. "Nice of you to join us. I'm sure Nicole has updated you on our situation correct?" I nodded.
"That Iron Man guy is coming here and partying right?"
"Correct. Now I know you're usually in charge of stock, but I'm low on waitresses tonight so I'm going to have you wait Mr. Stark."
"What!" I shouted as I none to gently place the crate of drinks on the floor. "Why do I have to serve him! Have another girl do it; I'm sure they'd be delighted to serve the famous Iron Man."
"That's exactly why you're going to serve him." Arthur explained. "The other lasses would be distracted by his fame and not provide him with the best service The Emerald Club has to offer. Therefore you will be serving him."
"But I don't have a uniform." I argued, "So I can't serve him."
"We have spars in the back."
"There might not be my size."
"I have every size available."
"You hate me don't you." I groaned as picked up a drink helped Nicole put away the alcoholic drinks.
"Just a bit. After you're done with this, come to the back so you can get changed. And hurry up on the drinks; it's going to get busy."
"Yes Arthur." Both Nicole and I said at the same time as he turned and began barking orders to the other employees.
"So how was your day today?" Nicole asked as she placed a drink away. "Did anything exciting happen?" I smiled fondly as I remembered the events in the morning and afternoon. Steve and I had spent the rest of the day exploring Manhattan, easily excited by the new stores and technology the city provided and also shocked how advanced this millennium was. Steve was especially shocked by the way society acted if his shocked expression was anything to go by whenever we passed women cursing on the streets or them wearing rather revealing clothing. In the end, we ate at an old fashion dinner after being nearly overwhelmed by all the modern stores and stuff. We even agreed to meet up again in two days at the park where we first met to continue our adventure. For once, I was actually looking forward to meeting a person.
"Yeah—"
"What happened! You have to tell me! It's like the first time you ever smiled like that! Did you meet someone?"
"One question at a time Nicole." I laughed as I finished placing the bottles away. "Yes, I met someone who I plan to met again and—"
"Jones!" Arthur called me, "Get your arse back here! It's nearly time and I still have to teach you how to be a proper waitress." I gave an apologetic smile to Nicole.
"I'll tell you later. Coming!" I shouted back as I walked towards the back room.
"Don't stress out too much! You'll be a great waitress." Nicole smiled as she called over another employee to help her.
"It's not my skills I'm worried about." I muttered, "I just hope Mr. Iron Man doesn't piss me off."
"And remember, no matter how annoying they get, the customer is always right." Arthur lectured me as he helped me fix my choker. "Now, I hope you—"
"I won't start a fight I promise." I sighed as I retied my pony tail again. "But if he's being a jackass then the gloves are coming off." Arthur just sighed.
"Just make sure you don't break anything." Bending down, I fixed the boots that accompanied the outfit before looking at myself in the mirror. When you're working at a club, your outfit will usually be…revealing. I wore rather short black shorts and an emerald tank top (with a lion in front of the shirt) that stops around my midriff. Without my leather jacket on, you could see on my both of my arms I had wrappings around it. On my left arm, bandages covered it while my right arm was covered with a leather arm protector. They covered up the scars I had from all the syringe stabbing I endured and I never take them off. I actually had to convince Arthur to let me have them on and that cost me an hour's salary. Anyways back to my waitress outfit, the black boots nearly went up to my knee and they had two inches heels. Luckily they were rather thick so I had low chances of falling flat on my butt.
"I'll try."
"Jones." Arthur said in a warning town and I laughed.
"Ok, ok. I won't break anything I promise."
"Good. Now Mr. Stark should be here any moment so get out there and greet him." Arthur said as he pushed me out of the back room and to the bar. The DJ was already blasting music and the dancers had taken their position on the stage. Some of the employees were already brewing some drinks and pouring them into cups before placing them on trays for us waitress to carry to the customers. Outside the door, I could hear the laughter and chatter of young women along with the sound of cameras flashing.
"So how many people are actually coming?" I asked as I stood in line with the other waitresses. Arthur fixed his tie and cleared his throat.
"Let's just say…even the second floor will be used today." I looked at him wide eyed but before I could say anything, Arthur went to open the door to greet the man of the hour.
"Mr. Stark, it's a pleasure that you decided to have your party at my humble nightclub." A man standing around six feet with dark brown, nearly black, short hair, along with a small goatee stood next to several women who giggled happily. The smirk he wore on his face made the waitresses around me giggle as well and I wanted to groan.
This is going to a long night. I thought as the man introduced himself as Anthony (Tony) Stark CEO of Stark Industries.
"Well, Mr. Stark Miss Jones here will be your personal waitress toady in your VIP room on the second floor. If you need anything just ask her." Arthur said as he motioned me to introduce myself.
"It will be my pleasure to serve you today Mr. Stark." I said in my most polite voice I could muster. "If you and your party will follow me to the second floor, I will be happy you serve you your drinks." I turned around and began walking up the steps that lead to the second floor.
"Lead the way Miss Jones." He chuckled as he and his group followed me and Arthur let the rest of the party inside the club.
The night was sadly a long one. Mr. Stark continuously got on my nerves, which I began to think that he was doing it on purpose. He would ask for a certain drink, but when I came back with the requested drink he would say that he changed his mind and wanted something else instead. He called me Sam even though my nametag said Samantha and as he got drunker, he tried flirting with me. I was ready to punch him in the face and damn the consequences!
"Arthur, seriously! Put another person in charge of him!" I shouted over the loud music on the first floor as I came back down for another drink that Mr. Stark requested. "I can't take him anymore! I really don't see why people like him! One bottle of that damn whiskey!" I shouted to the bartender as I slammed my tray down. Arthur sighed as he threw this towel over his shoulder.
"It's only for another hour or so. His secretary Pepper Potts called and said that she's picking him up. Apparently he wasn't even supposed to go out." I smiled at that information.
"Well, it looks like even Mr. CEO has a curfew. I think I can last another hour." I sighed as I picked up the tray with the new Whiskey bottle on it. "But I want at least a ten dollar raise for dealing with him. Seriously, he's like an over grown kid who's too damn smart." Arthur chuckled as he lightly slapped my shoulder.
"One dollar. I hear he gives rather good tips to his waitresses so you won't need the extra raise."
"You better be right about that!" I shouted back at him as I walked up the stairs. As I entered Mr. Stark's VIP room, the women from earlier surrounded him and began giggling as he began telling his story as Iron Man.
"And there I was, surrounded by hundreds of Drones. Rhodes and I fought our way through them to get to Vanko. He had upgraded his suit so it was difficult to damage his suit. We continued to fight him and it's only when our repulsor rays collided and created a large explosion that we finally got him. However, that bastard decided to self-destruct his suit and the drones in hopes of killing all of us. We showed him though we escaped unharmed."
"Oh wow, that was so heroic of you." One of the girls said.
"To go up against an army of droids especially when you're outnumbered—"
"And not to mention how you stopped a group of terrorists from using your weapons to be used against us. You're truly a hero." I rolled my eyes at her statement. Mr. Stark finally noticed my presence and smiled at me.
"Why thank you Sam for bringing me my drink." He said as he grabbed the bottle of Whiskey before I could even place it on the table. "Did you manage to hear my heroic tales?" He asked.
"Only parts of it."
"Don't you think he's a hero?" One of the women asked as she clung onto Mr. Starks's arm and giggled uncontrollably. She was probably drunk off her ass.
"No I actually don't." I said as I picked up the empty glasses. "I don't believe that heroes exist, only good Samaritans. Because if heroes existed….then no one in the world would suffer. So I consider Mr. Stark a good Samaritan. Nothing more, nothing less." I said before turning around and began to make my way to the stairs before a voice stopped me.
"Oh?" Mr. Stark said before he sat up a bit straighter. "Then do you consider Iron Man simply a good Samaritan? Because he is much more than that my dear." He smirked. I frowned at him as I placed the try down on a nearby table.
"Iron Man? He's something that was created by science…and I hate science." I growled out as I remembered my time in that hell hole. All they would talk about was science and even though I eventually grew to understand it, I hated the subject with a passion.
"Maybe 2% science, but the other 98% is all genius. My genius to be exact." My eye twitched angrily at his reply.
"You sure are full of yourself Mr. Stark." I growled out. "That's going to bite you in the ass one day."
"I beg to differ. It's all about perspective, Sammie~ You don't know the real Me. So you see it as arrogance. But I…I know myself better than anyone else. And I believe I have the right to brag because I can follow it up with action." I scowled at his new nickname for me and how increasing arrogant he was getting.
"Well, if you didn't act like an arrogant jackass then perhaps I wouldn't have come to that conclusion." I argued. The women at this point had left as soon as we started arguing and we were left alone. The music downstairs could still be heard even though this room was sound proof according to Arthur. "Well if you are a genius as you say you are then why do you need a suit to help you fight? Without it, you're just a person with brains. Brains can only do so much to help people."
"Because I am I genius. That's why I choose to fight with the suit. Only an idiot would agree to fight the enemies I've faced with brains. You wouldn't stand a chance out there. Leave it to the big boys and just keep looking pretty~" My patience was wearing thin. This man knew how to get under people's skin, but he made one fatal mistake. He messed with me.
"You're really pissing me off right now, and when you piss me off, it's not pretty." I growled out as I leaned in. "And just so you know, I'm pretty sure I would survive better than you out there because I've learn that looking pretty doesn't do shit for you. So no, I will not leave anything to the big boys." He shrugged.
"It works better for certain people. Look at me. Even if I didn't inherit my father's company, don't you think I would've made one dashing actor? Sending the hearts of beautiful women around the world fluttering." He laughed as he took another swing of whiskey. I couldn't take it anymore; I grabbed the bottle of whiskey from his hands, and poured the rest of its contents onto his hair.
"I think I was wrong about you Mr. Stark. You are not a good Samaritan. You're just a shallow drunk CEO who loves attention. I feel sorry for people like you." I stood up straight but before I could take another step, a hand roughly grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
"I think you owe an apology." Mr. Stark said as he stared angrily at me. I tried to pull back but he wouldn't let go.
"I won't apologize until you prove me wrong." I tried hitting him with the nearby tray, but despite being drunk, he still managed to dodge it. With no more weapons on me, I resorted to my powers. If he was drunk then he would just think that this was a trick and nothing more. Gathering all the drinks and whiskey that were left over, I made a 'come at me bro' motion with my left hand. Mr. Stark stared at my hand curiously before his face was drenched with the alcohol and he let go of me. Taking this opportunity, I dropped to the floor and kicked his legs sending him tumbling to the floor. "But I don't think you will." Grabbing my fallen tray, I stomped down the stairs where a red haired woman was talking to Arthur. Hearing my stomping Arthur turned towards me but before he could utter a word, I shoved the tray into his hands.
"Samantha what—"
"He's a fucking jackass, I don't care if kicking him will get me fired, but I do not want to be near him ever again." I shouted out as I stormed to the back room. "I'm leaving!" I screamed once I finished changing back to my normal attire of a blue tank top, black jeans, combat boots, and a worn out leather jacket. Without looking back, I walked angrily out the side door and began my long walk home in the middle of the night.
"I HATE GUYS LIKE HIM!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
"So I'm guessing last night didn't go so well." Nicole sighed as I entered the back room again stomping angrily carrying a crate of beverages. Luckily Arthur said I didn't have to wait tables today so I was back to my job of storage along with Nicole. Thank god, if I had to be a waitress again…I think I would have seriously broken something.
"It was horrible." I growled as I dropped a crate of bottles onto the floor none to gently. "I honestly don't see why girls like him so much! He's just UGH!" Nicole looked apologetically at me.
"It could have been worse. He could have sued you."
"And he would get nothing." I growled out as I took out a bottle and placed it on a shelf. "The most expensive thing I have would probably be these twenty dollar boots I'm wearing. And if he took my apartment, well that would give me an excuse to live here and not worry about if I have hot water or not.
"Jones!" Arthur called from the front. "Someone's here to see you." I looked at Nicole with confusion. Who would want to see ME personally? It couldn't be Steve since I didn't really tell him where I worked and I couldn't really think of anyone else.
"Coming!" throwing the towel over my shoulder I walked out to the front leaving Nicole behind in the backroom. "Who wanted to—fuck no." I snarled out as I saw the person I hated with a passion at the moment…Tony Stark, but surprisingly he was with the same red haired woman Arthur was talking to last night "Arthur—"
"Jones, don't start now." Arthur sighed as he took my towel and placed it over his shoulder. "Just hear him out."
"Fine," I sighed angrily before I glared at Mr. Stark. "What do you want?"
"Well besides an apology from you," he began before the red head woman punched him in the shoulder, "Well, Pepper here is forcing me to apologize for my actions last night—"
"Not accepted." I said as turned around only to be stopped by Arthur. "What? It's not like he means it." Arthur merely raised his eyebrows.
"True—Ow! Pepper." Both of them sighed at us.
"Please Jones, just apologize—"
"Not until he means it which I have a feeling will be quite some time." I said as I glared at Tony, "So no I won't apologize."
"Ok, then I won't apologize." Tony huffed in annoyance.
"Fine by me."
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Well, if we're done here, I'm going back to work." I said shoving Arthur's arm off my shoulder. "I hope we never meet again Mr. Stark."
"Come on Tony, let's get going." The woman dubbed Pepper said before Mr. Stark could say anything else. She pulled him out of the doorway and towards a black luxury car. As Mr. Stark walked towards the car, I stomped my foot lightly to raise the earth in front of his foot where he comically fell onto the floor. I laughed as he dusted himself off and looked back at me curiously. I rolled my eyes at him and turned around but just as I was making my way towards the back room again, Arthur blocked my path.
"Jones…" He said in a warning tone that could only mean one thing.
"Fuck, this is coming out of my paycheck isn't it." He merely raised his eyebrow at me. "And it looks like I'm going to do overnights and afternoon as well huh."
"Damn right you are. Get back to work Jones. And don't slack off."
"Yes Arthur." I sighed as I went back to the back room where Nicole was waiting for me. "It's official, I hate Mr. Stark with more passion then I ever realized."
"LESS TALKING AND MORE LIFTING!" Arthur yelled and I mentally cursed Mr. Stark for my misfortune.
"And that's why I've been tired these past few days." I yawned as I explained to Steve the growing bags under my eyes. The bags had grown darker with each passing day; I was beginning to think I'd have to live with them for the rest of my life. "My overnight shifts and afternoon shifts have been taking their toll, but today's my last day of having to work both, so don't worry about me." I smiled tiredly at Steve who didn't look every convinced.
"Are you sure? We don't have to walk around the city today if you're really tired—" I shook my head at him.
"I'm good really. I've gone without sleep for longer periods of times before. Besides, we still need to finish our tour of the city." I said as we continued our walk through the city.
After the incident with Mr. Stark, Arthur has been working me to the bone. I guess it's his own way of punishing me for my actions. I worked from early in the afternoon until around three in the morning, and then I would wake up early in the morning to meet up with Steve. Whatever my work schedule was, I made it a goal not to let anything prevent me from walking around the city and discovering new things with him. It was the only thing I looked forward to in my otherwise monotonous daily life. With all that going on and not enough rest, my body has surprisingly started slowing down.
"So do you want me to beat him up for you?" Steve suddenly asked as we rounded a corner.
I snapped my head up in surprise and before I could stop myself I shouted, "NO!" Steve jumped in shock at my loud outburst, which caused me to blush a deep shade of red. "I mean... I-It's not necessary," I muttered incoherently as I rubbed my neck out of embarrassment.
While I didn't want him to unnecessarily get involved with my problem the truth was, I really didn't want him to meet up the jackass called Stark. One, I'm sure Stark would somehow rile Steve up as well. And two, it would bring my different lives together. Steve doesn't know about my Samantha Jones identity nor did he know where I work. And Stark…Well, I just don't want him to know about my other life as Peggy Smith. For some reason, I think it would give more reason for Stark to bug me. And I don't want to deal with him any more than I have to. In other words, I would like my separate lives to stay as separate as possible.
"I was just kidding." Steve chuckled awkwardly. "I wouldn't get into your personal business unless you wanted me to."
"Oh…" I said lamely. "Sorry for my outburst then. It's just that... I'm used to fighting my own battles, I guess you can say. I never had anyone do anything for me, so if I wanted anything done I had to do it on my own. And I guess I prefer it that way so other people won't get hurt." I said running a nervous hand through my hair.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Steve said with a bit of sadness etched into his voice. "When it comes to involving other people into your problems…it's best if you do it on your own if it means that they don't have to get hurt." I looked at him and his eyes glazed over for a moment as if recollecting a memory before he blinked and his eyes returned to his normal sky blue eyes. "Is there something on my face?" he asked, noticing my stare.
"No." I said as I looked away, "Anyways, I should get going." I said as I stood up and stretched my arms. We had finished exploring another part of Manhattan and sat down at a nearby ice cream parlor beforehand. "I have work in about half an hour. Same time and same place tomorrow?"
Steve smiled as he stood up as well. "Yeah, if you're still up to it."
I smiled and shook my head at him. "Of course I'll be up for it. These adventures... They've uh... They've been fun. Even better with someone to enjoy them with..." I chuckled at him happily. This was probably the first time I ever had a really good time with anyone. The next thing he did caught me off guard. He flashed me a genuine smile that I hadn't seen before. Sure, I've only known him for two weeks or so, but this one was different. It held a different kind of emotion that I could not place at the moment.
"Isn't that the whole reason we decided to explore the new area together?" I blinked several times, unable to register his smile in my head, before I gave him a genuine smile of my own. "Of course. I'll...see you tomorrow then. We still have a lot of places to visit. Take care" I waved at him as I walked towards my work since I didn't have time to change. Arthur probably had an extra uniform for me anyways.
"He should smile like that more often…"I muttered quietly to myself as I walked towards my job. "It looks so nice on him."
Once I made it to my work in record time, I saw Arthur standing by the door with his arms crossed. The scowl on his face told me he was already in a foul mood. I figured it wasn't about me since I just got here-
"Jones! Where have you been?" I looked at him with confusion before I looked at my cheap ass watch on my wrist and saw that for once I was actually early, ten minutes early to be exact. Why was Arthur mad at me then?
"Um Arthur, I'm actually early for once. Why are you getting mad at me? I didn't do anything I swear." I sighed as I tried to pass him. "Unless you scheduled me for an earlier shift and I forgot?" He stretched his arm out, effectively blocking my path. Curse him and his long arms. He didn't even bother looking at the clock before replying.
"Are you talking back to your boss?"
"No." I said before muttering, "I'm just arguing with you."
"Whatever, I'll let it slide for today." He said as he lightly glared at me, "So...I was looking at my records and noticed that you haven't had a day off in a while..." I raised an eyebrow at him.
"I haven't had a day off because one, I can't afford to have a day off, and two, I can't afford a day off. This is where I get money to pay my rent, get food, and an occasional outfit." I sighed as I pushed his arm aside and walked into the nightclub. I waved to a couple of the employees there, but before I could go to the back room and change, Arthur grabbed my wrist. "What?"
"In any case, you should take advantage of my rare generosity and take a few days off this following week."
"And why should I do that?" I asked him, growing more suspicious, "I need the money Arthur you know that. Why are you pushing me to have a day off anyways? You never ever let anyone have a day off, let alone for a couple of days. What's going on?" He sighed, exasperated.
"Fine, I'll be honest with you. You'll probably continue to ask if I don't tell you the truth... Someone tried to hack into my employee files. Now, this normally wouldn't raise much suspicion since my employee files are guarded with the best protection ever... But this person tried to get into your file... numerous times within the past hour." I sucked my breath. When Arthur hired me, he had told me straight up that he was a professional computer hacker and knew that I wasn't really Samantha Jones; that I was just a nameless person who appeared in California three years ago which intrigued him since he said he could pull up anyone's file no matter how difficult it was. I was ready to bolt out of there when he told me that despite lying to him he was still willing to give me a chance to work in his club. When I asked him why he told me that he needed the labor and in turn for making up a file for me and making sure no one would be able to access it, he would pay me double more for working for longer hours.
"What?" I asked shakily, "S-someone's trying—why why my file?" My voice became more shaken as I thought of the possibilities of why a person would try and hack my file. And the only person I think of would be HIM. Was it possible that HE heard about my whereabouts and was trying to find out where I lived or work and capture me there? But how was this possible! I made sure to lie as low as possible! "Did they get into the file?" I nearly shouted, as I panicked on the inside.
"Jones, calm down." Arthur placed his arms on my shoulders to steady me. "You can't make a scene in front of everyone. I don't know who did it, I'm still working on tracing the address. But no, whoever it was did not get into your file. That's why I want you to take a break from this place for a while. If they know where you work, then it's only a step away from actually showing up here or worse case scenario your apartment." I took deep breaths as I tried to calm myself down.
"Great" I muttered, "This is what I just need. Now I'm going to be paranoid for the rest of the coming days. I think I should buy extra locks for my doors and windows for tonight" I sighed as I sat down on a nearby chair and covered my face with my hands. How did my day degrade to this? I was having a blast with Steve in the morning and now I'll be looking at every man in a business suit with suspicion. Great, just great.
"Look... Don't you have a friend or relative you can stay with for the next week? It's best if you don't go or stay anywhere by yourself." I shook my head sadly.
"No, I'm...I'm on my own." While Steve was my friend, I didn't want to endanger him. HE was unpredictable to most people, but after living with HIM for years, I knew HE would use Steve in order to get to me. I would not risk Steve's life just so I could have a roof over my head.
Arthur sighed as he ran a hand through his messy blond locks. He looked over everyone in the club, staring at people for different amounts of time as if he was taking everything about the person into consideration before moving onto someone else if they didn't fit his qualifications. He had just about gone through all the people in the club when his eyes landed on Nicole.
"LEE COME HERE FOR A MOMENT" He shouted, surprising the petite employee.
"What?" I looked at him, confused. "What about Nicole?"
"Why don't you stay with her for a while. You two are fr- er... close, aren't you?" I looked over at Nicole who was putting down the bottle of alcohol and began making her way towards us.
"Well, I guess, but I really don't think-"
"Yes Arthur? Do you need anything? Oh hi Samantha~!" Nicole smiled as she waved happily at me.
"Why, yes. I do, actually." Arthur smiled at me smugly. "Can Jones stay at your place for a couple of days? She's er... Her apartment is being fumigated, and she doesn't have family she can stay with."
"What!" I shouted standing up, "That's not-"
"Of course~!" Nicole smiled as she clapped her hands together before grabbing my own and started to jump up and down. "I've always wanted a sleepover and we can bond together! We could tell each other about our love life…wait I don't have a love life…we can play board games together and we could watch Filipino dramas too! This is going to be great! Did you need to get anything from your apartment?" She asked as she finally settled down. I sighed before shaking my head.
"No, I got everything-"
"Great! Well I gotta go back to work. Antonio needs some help with cleaning the tables. See you after your shift!" And Nicole walked off.
"You enjoy manipulating me don't you?" I asked as I glared at him. Arthur smiled as he looked at the retreating figure of Nicole.
"Nice girl, that one. Although she is a bit too enthusiastic at times... And too trusting... Don't take advantage of her, okay?" Arthur smiled a little too brightly at me. I swear I could see mischief in his eyes. "And I wouldn't exactly call it manipulating... This is for your own good, you know."
"What about her own good." I muttered, "I'm not exactly the...the situation that's going on...I'm just worried that she'll get hurt because of me that's all." I sighed as I ran my hand into my hair. "This is putting her in danger you know." Arthur sighed deeply as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"I know, but she's your only option left. Besides, they want you not her. And she doesn't know anything, which makes her useless to whoever's after you."
"Let's just hope you're right." I muttered as I stood up and sighed. After hearing that news...I couldn't find it in myself to be cheerful or even look forward to tomorrow. I slowly made my way towards the back room but before I went in, I turned around and gave a small smile to Arthur "And Arthur...thanks for telling me. It's nice to know you care." A shade of pink crept onto his cheeks. He cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away, avoiding eye contact.
"It's not that I care. I just don't want your personal matters to ruin my business, that is all." I chuckled at him.
"Whatever." I closed the door behind me. Once the door was shut, I stood against it for a moment before I slid down to the floor, placed my hands on my face and sobbed lightly. Why did things always have to go so wrong?
A couple of days passed since Arthur told me that someone was trying to find out about me. Since then, I've been living with Nicole and it's a nice change for once. I didn't have to go back home alone, nor did I have to eat alone and I actually had longer conversations with Nicole. Surprisingly I got to know her better and we became closer, almost as close as I was with Steve. Despite these positive things, I've been rather jumpy still. I couldn't walk down the street without looking back to see if anyone was following me. It became so bad that I even suspected an ice cream truck man to be a spy and attacked him. Luckily the ice cream man didn't press charges when the police came. I was just so paranoid that when I went out with Steve to continue with our daily adventures in Manhattan, he always asked if there was something wrong whenever I looked back. I just couldn't shake off the feeling that something big was going to happen soon. I guess I was too into my thoughts because I didn't notice Steve calling for me until his hand shook my shoulder.
"Hey Peggy, you okay?"
"Yeah," I said as I shook my head to try and get my thoughts organized "It's just, it's been a stressful couple of days." I sighed as we walked down an unfamiliar street where the streets where hardly crowded and the stores were empty. It looked almost abandoned if it weren't for the few people chatting outside the stores. The streets needed maintenance badly, and some of the stores needed their windows replaced due to the piled up dust on the window, some even had large cracks on it.
"I see... Well, you should put your worries aside and enjoy what the city has to offer! Our adventures shouldn't be spoiled, too." He tried to give me a reassuring smile. I smiled back at him even though I was jumpy.
"You're right, I shouldn't be worrying. Today's a beautiful day and-" I paused mid sentence as I saw a man in a business suit and sunglasses sitting at a café table and he looked straight at me. I thought nothing of it first since many men stared at me for the past few days without taking a stun gun and shooting at me, but he then pulled out a walkie talkie and began speaking rapidly into it. As he spoke into the walkie talkie, another man stood up from the street across and began walking straight towards us and that's when I began to panic. "Um, why don't we go down here?" I said as I roughly pulled Steve's arm and led him to an alley where there was even less people. "We should get back on the main street soon, I'm hungry and I want to eat at that burger place we passed about twenty minutes ago."
Steve stumbled before regaining his balance. He laughed lightly, confused at the situation. "Well, if it's burgers the lady wants, then it's burgers she will get. I'm afraid you'll rip my arm out of its socket if I try to argue..."
"Yeah, yeah, sure I will." I said not really paying attention to what I was saying as I looked out for more of those guys. "Let's just get out of here-"
"Um, Peggy, is there something wrong?" Steve asked as he tried to match my speed. "You seem like you're running away from something. Did you see someone?"
"I'll tell you later," I said as I noticed more men and women following us. "But for now, let's just hurry on out here—"
"Not so fast, subject 0002345" a voice called out and a shadowy figure stepped in front of us along with four other men, effectively blocking our path. I pulled Steve back and stood protectively in front of him despite the growing feeling of running away. It wasn't HIS voice but he knew my "name" which meant he was one of the scientists that tortured me. "What? You're not going to say hi to me—"
"How did you find me?" I asked, cutting him off as I pushed Steve back. I looked behind the both of us to see if there was an exit but sadly we were surrounded. The man that spoke up first sighed.
"I see you still haven't changed. What a shame. Oh well we can fix that when we take you back with us. I'm sure Vash will be delighted to see you." He smiled as he took a couple of steps forward along with the rest of the men. Before I could speak up, Steve surprisingly pulled me behind him and spoke up.
"Who says I'll let you take her back with you?" I stared at him wide eyed.
"Steve, what are you—"
"Oh I see you made a friend. How touching. But it really is none of your concern of what we do with her sir," The scientist said as he, and the rest of the men surrounding us, started closing in on us and pointed their guns at the both of us. "And I highly doubt you can stop us."
"Do you really want to test that theory out?" Steve said as he took another step forward, glaring at the men as they pointed their guns at him directly. Not wanting him to get himself in more danger, I pulled him back harshly and whispered into his ear.
"Steve, seriously what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to protect you from these…whoever these guys are." Steve whispered back as he pushed me behind him once again before I could argue with him. The scientist just sighed.
"Subject 0002345 we can either take you by force and your friend here can get hurt in the process or you can come with us quietly and we can spare your friend. Your choice, but make it quick." Biting my lip, I weighed the pros and cons but really it only took me seconds to make my decision. Without wasting another second, I turned to Steve and glared at him hard.
"Leave Steve, this doesn't concern you and I don't want you to get hurt—"
"Peggy, I already told you, I won't leave you behind. Not with these guys." Steve said as he grabbed my arm and forced me to stare at him. "Just let me—"
"Leave Steve." I growled out as I pulled my arm away from his grasp, "You don't know what you're getting into."
"She is right you know," the scientist chuckled, "If you get involved it can end really badly for you. Is she really worth the trouble?" With more force, I placed my hand on his chest and nearly yelled at him
"Get out Steve damn it! Just leave—"
"I already told you Peggy, I won't leave you! I will protect you from these guys, you just have to trust me that I'll be fine. Please Peggy." Steve shouted as he grabbed my shoulder. The way he said it, with so much confidence…it nearly made me want to believe that he would protect me, that I could let someone help me…but I couldn't take that chance. I wouldn't let Steve lose his life just for me, a lab rat.
"As much as I would love to see how this will turn out," the scientist said as he smiled wickedly, "I am really on a tight schedule so….time's up." He snapped his fingers and the men surrounding us pulled the trigger on their guns and multiple bullets shot at us. While I could easily dodge them, Steve wouldn't have a chance.
Knowing what I had to do, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the Earth beneath me. I moved my right foot a bit towards Steve before I lifted it and slammed it hard on the floor. As I slammed my foot, I squatted and placed my left foot so that it aligned right behind my right foot. I lowered my arms near the floor and as I raised myself from my form, large sections of the earth came up and began to surround Steve. He looked at me with bewilderment and I smiled sadly at him.
"I'm sorry Steve but this is for your own good. I'm not worth getting killed for. But….thank you for the memories…I will never forget you."
"Peggy—" The Earth surrounded him in a sphere and without missing a beat I quickly jumped up into the air to avoid the bullets that were shot at us earlier. I'm still amazed how quickly I can manipulate Earth especially how long it took me to master it. I landed on the floor and glared at the men.
"So you think you can catch me…you're dead wrong." I growled as I got into a fighting position.
"I think we can." The scientist laughed as he moved forward taking off his black gloves that I failed to notice before and revealing his blonde slicked back hair and blue eyes. I glared at him even harder as I remembered him…Ludwig, "After all…I was the one who taught you how to fight." He charged at me, and the rest of the other men followed closely behind him.
"Bring it old man." I growled at I ran forward and before I was five feet away from me, I jumped into the air and stuck out my right leg bringing it down as if I was going to kick him with the heel of my foot. Instead, fire shot out from my foot and went straight for Ludwig and the other men. The blonde scientist and a few men dodged the flames, but others weren't so lucky. As I landed on the floor, I sped off back towards the way Steve and I came from to lure them away from Steve who was still trapped in my earth Sphere.
"Running away? Really, have you degraded yourself to such of state? Whatever happened to killing people in cold blood?" Ludwig said as he continued to race behind me. A couple of the other men fired their guns at me but I merely fell to the floor and slammed my hand to create pillars that shot out beneath them and sent at least half of them into the air. Sensing Ludwig behind me, I pushed myself into a handstand position and back flipped in order to doge a round house kick from him. As I landed, more men fired their guns at me leaving me no time to jump out of the way.
Instead I spun around once and shot out my palm creating a wind tunnel that deflected all the bullets. Taking notice of a fire hydrant I directed the wind tunnel towards the fire hydrant. As it made contact with it, it destroyed the upper part of it letting lose a huge amount of water into the air. Taking a deep breath I moved my upper body towards the water and with a soft flowing motion, I moved my hands back towards me, directing the large flow of water towards me. As it came above me, I made a circular motion with my hands creating a halo out of the water. As the men advanced towards me, I stopped my hands and shot them forward causing whips of water to shoot out of the halo and punched the men head on. Once the water hit them though, the water covered their entire body and froze them.
"Well, well, it seems you learned a thing or two out of the lab, I'm surprised." Ludwig chuckled as he rushed towards me. With the remaining water from my halo I created a whip and snapped it at him. He merely side dodged it and aimed a punch at me. Gathering the remaining water I had left, I surrounding both my hands with it. As I dodged his punch, I aimed my own punch at him but he dodged it and placed a front kick at my chest sending me flying. Taking a large breath, I blew a gust of wind out of my mouth to avoid landing on my face. As I flipped in the air, I shot the water from my hands towards him, Turing the water into sharp spears of ice.
"What can I say, outside experiences can teach you more than you know." I grunted as I slammed my foot causing a bolder to shoot up from the ground. As it floated in midair for a moment I punched the bolder breaking it into pieces and sent them flying towards Ludwig. I didn't stop there though, as the rocks flew towards him at high speeds, I punched the air, sending a blast of fire right after the rocks making them hotter.
"Is there anything else you can do? That's just pathetic—what the!" he shouted as ice surrounded his foot.
"Did you forget there's still water flowing onto the streets and we're standing right on it." I said as I motioned to the water below us, "And now you lose!" He merely smirked as he still effectively dodged the fire projectiles.
"No, subject 0002345 you lose." He smiled evilly as he reached into his pockets and pulled out two whips. "This will probably hurt you more than me." He cracked the whips onto the water and before I could even blink, electricity flowed through the whips and traveled through the water electrifying everything…including me.
"AHHHHHH" I screamed as thousands of volts of electricity ran though my body, paralyzing me. I fell to the steamed water twitching and moaning in pain. I tried to get up but my body was still suffering from the after effects.
"And that's how you capture a lab rat." Ludwig chuckled as more men came towards me with chains ready to be placed on me. They roughly lifted me up and cuffed my hands together as a black SUV drove up. Despite my struggling, the men had a good grip on me and I was not getting out anytime soon. The back doors opened and two men made room in the back seat for me. "Nighty night." The scientist said as I got closer to the car.
No, I can't go back, I thought helplessly, I can't! Someone please! Stop them, help me, just don't let me get back in that car! Please! I screamed in my head as I tried to use my feet to stop myself. Instead, the men in the car grabbed a hold of my feet and dragged me in that way.
"Hold it right there," a familiar voice said as the door on the other side of the car slammed open and the two men were thrown out of the car. Before the men grabbing me by the shoulder could react, they were thrown off as well. I began to fall backwards, seeing as I no longer had support, but before my head could make contact with the concrete floor, a pair of muscular arms grabbed me. "Peggy! Are you alright?"
"Steve?" I gasped as I slowly began to regain my senses. "What are you doing here? And how did you-that sphere was to protect you!"
"Oh how touching" Ludwig said as he began to walk towards us, still holding the electrical whip. "But we don't have time for heartfelt goodbyes. We're on a tight schedule, so if you'd just step aside…"
"I'm not stepping aside. I don't know who you guys are, but taking someone by force who has don't nothing wrong—"
"You think that girl's innocent?" He scoffed as he continued to walk closer to us, "Apparently she hasn't told you anything about her past. Oh, come now subject 0002345, you shouldn't keep juicy secrets from your friends. Why don't you tell him about how cruel and vicious you really are? How you murdered those people in cold blood—"
"Shut up!" I shouted, not wanting him to tell Steve who I really was deep down, "Just shut up—"
"Her past means nothing to me. I know who she is today." Steve said firmly as he placed me gently down on the floor.
"Oh really? Well then….I guess if you feel that way about her then…you'll have to die right here and now!" Ludwig shouted as he sped across the water and headed straight for us. Gritting my teeth, I tried to stand up so I could fight him off, but Steve surprised me as he stepped in front of me.
"Steve what are you—"
"You're in no condition to fight Peggy. I'll take it from here." He said as he charged towards the smirking scientist, determined to face him head on.
"No Steve!" I shouted as I tried to follow him, but my legs could not yet support my body weight. "STEVE!" I cried as I saw the scientist lashed out both the whips at him, but to my amazement Steve expertly dodged both whips and punched Ludwig in the face. He cried out in pain as he flew into a nearby brick wall, creating a miniature crater.
What the hell I thought as I saw the scientist fall from the crater with a groan. He just dodged the whips…and he punched him into the wall…and crater came out of it! How does he—what the hell is he?
"Peggy, come on. We have to get out of here." Steve said as he rushed back towards me not noticing Ludwig was slowing rising up and pulling out a gun. He growled at me and pulled the trigger,
"No one gets to do that to me. Especially not some nobody." Steve turned around in surprised as he heard the bullet and braced himself for the impact.
"NO!" I snarled as I slammed down the palm of my hand onto the floor, forcing a block of earth to appear right in front of Steve before the bullets could puncture his skin. Steve stumbled back as he gasped in sight of the wall. He turned around and looked at me straight in the eye.
"Um, I think you have some explaining to do…"
"I could say the same to you." I said as I slowly stood up raising an eyebrow at the manmade crater.
"I hope you didn't forget I'm still here." A sinister voice growled as more bullets punctured the wall.
"Later?" I asked Steve who rushed towards me and helped support me.
"Yeah, let's get out of here."
"Not so fast!" Ludwig growled out as he stepped out in front of us along with more men with more guns pointed at us. I raised my right hand causing the water below us to shoot out and hit the men dead on.
"Let's go!" I shouted as I began to run before I was knocked to the side. Before I could get up, a pair of arms held me down. I looked up and saw Ludwig holding me down smiling down on me.
"Well that was easier than I thought." I struggled even harder to get out of his grip.
"Peggy!" I heard Steve yell and from the corner of my eye I could see Steve fighting and barely holding off the other men.
"I don't think you should really be worrying about him dear," he chuckled as he took out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. "I never really got to test it out, but I guess now would be a good time. Good night subject 0002345."
"Ah!" I shouted as he pierced my neck with the needle. Immediately I began to feel drowsy and weak. "You won't get me!" I screamed as I set my body on fire as a last resort in order to get him off. He screamed in pain as he rolled out off me in order to put out the flames. Quickly as I could, I crawled towards Steve who was struggling with even more men; however, before I could even get within ten feet of Steve, the men surrounding Steve suddenly starting dropping like flies as mysterious gunshots entered the battle. I heard voices entering the deserted streets and surrounding us and to my surprise the men who were fighting us moments ago were shooting at targets that I could not see.
"Peggy!" Steve's voice sounded muffled as the poison started to take effect on my body. My vision began to blur as I tried to focus on Steve's oncoming form but it was too much.
"Steve," I muttered before darkness overwhelmed my vision and I lost conscious. However, before I lost my conscious I heard a voice shout,
"Captain America! Are you alright sir?"
Captain America? But he's dead…right?
And Finite. So what did you guys think? Should I continue, delete this story or what? Your feedback would be very wonderful. And I'm sorry if I didn't catch all the grammar/spelling mistakes. I always miss something...Well anyways, thank you for reading and I shall be updating my other stories so this will be on hold for a while. :3
-Midnightmich