Request by Anon on Tumblr. Yes I took it. Why because I have no life...
Disclaimer: I do own Avengers, or any of its characters.
Enjoy!
"Don't clock in yet Jade."
I paused at the time clock my left pointer finger posed above the key pad.
" Mr. Anderson wants to talk to you?"
I turned to Jeffery. He was tall large and pale with blond hair, blue eyes and a frown that showed he meant business. He folded his large across his broad chest, forming a barrier between me and door.
"About what?" I asked making a show of pushing past him into the back door. He tried to follow and I held up my hand. " I know where his office is, thank you."
I pushed opened the doors into the building, music vibrated against the walls and doors, muffling the sounds of laughing and talking.
A few half-dressed young woman passed by me, greeting and waving as they disappeared behind a curtain to the front of the building, revealing flashing lights of red and blue through the cracks of the fabric. Waving and trying my best to smile, I turned into Mr. Anderson's office. He was there, sitting at his desk, phone to his ear. When he noticed me, standing arms crossed, foot tapping he gestured to the burgundy lounge chair in front of his desk, indicating I should sit.
Reluctantly I did.
I glanced around the office as she spoke to what I assumed was a disgruntled customer on the phone. Hands crushed between my thighs, and foot tapping impatiently, I took in the dragon statue on his desk, the ornate black lamp shades, and stacks of papers sitting neatly on his desk.
The loud clink of the phone being slammed on the hook made me look back up.
"Jade," he said suddenly. His lips were like fat caterpillars set into a frown against his large face.
" What is this about?" I asked. " Jeffery wouldn't let me clock in." I could only imagine for what reason. Worst scum than me entered the building on a daily basis. "Are you depromoting me to dish again?
" No," Mr. Anderson said rubbing the wrinkled skin beneath his eyes. "You are on temporary suspension."
" Wait…what?"
" This morning one of your known associates, a Mr. Hudson came requesting to see you.
Without meaning to I lowered my head and whispered, "Fucking Andrew."
" Yes," Mr. Anderson said. " Now, not only did he get physical with a member of the staff, he also attempted to sell drugs in your name."
Mr. Anderson held up one large, chunky fingered hand. " I am aware of your former drug problem, and I've given you a chance anyway. But until you've taken another drug test, and these accusations against you have been cleared, I cannot allow you to work here.
" Listen," I said. " I should have told you about Andrew sooner. I just didn't think he was getting out so soon. And…"
" I understand," Mr. Anderson said. "But the rules are the rules, and you are no exception. We will start with the drug test first, then work on the investigation. In the meantime I suggest you get in touch with the authorities regarding Mr. Hudson."
"Please," I said. "I can't-"
"My hands are tied Jade," Mr. Anderson said. "Now I must ask you to leave." He gestured to the door and Jeffery walked in. I stood abruptly.
"Don't bother," I said, " I know my way out."
I rushed out past Jeffery back out into the hall where the music blared the loudest, yet it was all like a whisper to me, as I rushed into the cold. I was halfway down the street when Jeffery caught my arm, stopping me. I turned to glare at him.
" I'll try to talk to him," he said, " Get things moving along."
" Don't bother," I said ripping my arm free of his grip. " He-all of them have already formed an opinion of me. They are not going to change their minds."
" Still," he said.
" Don't you have some door to guard," I said. " Or do you want some of my converted drugs?"
That made him draw back, and his mouth formed that famous frown everyone always gave me. That frown that let me know when a person had truly given up on me.
He turned his back on me. " Have a good night Jade."
" Yep," I said doing likewise. I didn't look back, if he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't either.
One year and twenty seven days. I glanced at my phone, watched warily as 11:59 p.m. turned into 12:00 a.m.
Make that one year and twenty eight days… since Andrew's arrest. Now he was free, and I was sure he was out to make my life a living hell.
I couldn't go home, he would be there waiting for me, smiling in that way he always smiled, presents in his hands, ready to offer me an apology, and empty promises. And when I denied him, that smile would turn into a frown, his presents into weapons, and his promises insults and threats.
" You're here early," Melina said as she let me in.
" Andrew's out," I said sitting my purse on the counter and plopping on her couch, yelping and standing a moment later as my butt connected with something hard and cold. Reaching below me I lifted the article, " Really?" I asked shaking it. It was a metal hand.
" Careful with that," she said taking it from me and sitting it on her desk, which was filled with other metal pieces. A chest, torso, arms, disconnected fingers, and a severed robotic head. " This is delicate work."
" Alright Frankenstein," I said moving to examine the table. "How's it going anyway?"
" He is almost complete," Melina corrected impatiently lifting a metal arm and taking a strew driver to it. " I only hope those idiots do a better job configuring the matrixes for the lower body. You should have seen the skeleton configuration. A hot mess. The thing literally couldn't walk two steps without falling over on itself. And their talking about adding a flight sequence. Hah!"
" So I take that to mean not very well?" I said already feeling exhausted.
" Not very," Melina said. " Although my configurations to the upper body will be perfect, so at the very least I'm assured a good grade."
" Where's the other girl," I said looking around for her roommate. " Berti…Bett-"
" Betty," she said. " I sent her to buy juice. She was distracting me. You know there's always that one person in the group that everyone comes to a unanimous decision that they would do nothing because they are a complete and total idiot but still get the grade, out of pity of course, and a last ditch effort to save ourselves from their mistakes."
" Totally," I agreed sitting on the cleared part of the desk.
" Your not here to hear me ramble, what happened? Andrew's out right?"
" Free as a fucking bird," I sighed lowering my head.
" Watch your language," Melina snared jokily, grabbing the robot's head and covering the spots where the ears should be.
I stuck my pierced tongue out at her.
" Two years early," I said after a long moment. " And he's already successfully managed to get me fired from my job."
" What?" Melina sat her screw driver down, " I didn't know strippers could get fired."
" Well apparently they can. In my defense Mr. Anderson called it temporary suspension, but we all know what that means when it comes to me."
Melina said back sighing, " So what are you going to do?"
" I have to take a drug test, and undergo a job investigation. Don't know how long that's going to take. Until then I'm jobless."
" But Jahari…"
" I know," I said.
" Is she safe?"
" Mom's not letting that bastard anywhere near Jahari. If he comes within even ten feet of her, it's back to prison. He knows that. He's not that stupid."
" What can I do to help? I have the left over money from my scholarships, and I could call mom and dad and-"
" No, I couldn't let you do that. Besides I have just enough money to send to Jahari," I said. "And I can talk to my landlord about the rent this month."
" Food?"
" Ramon noodles and oatmeal have never failed me."
" At least let me help you with that," Melina said. " I get three meal swipes a day. I'll get a lot of food, we can share."
I started to disagree when she grabbed my hand. "Come on Jade, stop being so tough for once. Take my food, take my help. Who is it hurting?"
" My insides are literally burning," I said smiling at her. She let my hand go to take hold of a wench. The logo on its side read, Property of the Stark Institute for Exceptional Minds. She tightened her grip and the end of the wrench glowed blue. Steam arose from the metal, and with her free hand she grabbed a black mitt.
" You stole that?"
" I didn't steal it," Melina said, glaring. "They let me borrow it, at least until I've finished my final project. Watch this."
She held the wrench over a meal bolt, the tiny circler metal piece trembled under the wench, then flew upwards into the wench's curved mouth where it stayed defying gravity.
" Cool huh?"
" Very," I said. " How does it do that?"
" The easiest answer is magnetism." She shook the wrench happily. "This wrench alone cost as much as a small import car."
" Don't tell me that," I said. " I might be tempted."
" Then you shouldn't be anywhere near this table."
" What is the robot worth millions or something?"
" Um no," Melina said. " Well not all of him. His body casting is a simple mix of iron and aluminum, nothing special." She hovered her hands over the robot's chest, which I suddenly noticed was opened, revealing the complex wiring inside, lighted by bright blue light that blinked on and off. The design of the metal was elaborate, the metal crisscrossing in seams, like knight's armor. "They aren't going to give us the good stuff. Just enough to hold him up. His skeleton is pure titanium through." She leaned forward, gesturing me to lean with her, until both our faces hovered over his open chest cavity. "Part of this is the only thing we didn't build on our own.
I pointed to the piece in his chest that looked like a heart. "Did you build this?"
Melina frowned. "Sadly no. That was given to us to incorporate into the design. Along with the internal heating devices and the processing core."
"Why?"
She shrugged and sat back down, "I guess they don't want us to have too much power. The U.S. youngest, smartest, opinioned technological minds working on robots, that's just asking for another incident."
" I guess," I said yawning and stretching. " It looks familiar through…like I saw it off a movie or something."
" He," Melina said. " It helps to make your final college grades personal-is greatly based off-nearly copyright infringement—" She coughed. " Ultron. Not my choice by the way. George's, but he's off for the next three weeks on family business, and I'm not in the design group." She sounded bitter and angry, " There goes another thirty points off for lack of originality."
I laid my head on the desk, next to the robotic hand I sat on earlier. The table smelled of metal and burning wood. " Ultron?" I said sleepily.
Melina rolled her eyes. " Like from the news. The one who tried to blow up the earth. No?"
I faintly remembered hearing about that from the news that was playing in the back at work. I was on Run at the strip club that night, fully dressed, waiting tables, in place of another girl who hadn't shown up.
" Anyway, I think it's in bad taste. You have to wait at least ten years before you can start making jokes about world tragedies. But whatever. If I get a bad grade on this, for something as stupid as design, I swear to baby Jesus heads will roll."
" Yep," I said closing my eyes. Suddenly I felt a huge wave of exhaustion just come over me. Maybe it was my lack of sleep over the past week, or the worry over Jahari, and Andrew's arrival, or maybe it was simply Melina's tech talk. Either way, I wanted nothing more than to sleep.
" A duh….let design him after a homicidal robot…a duh that's a good idea," Melina said mimicking a guy's voice. "Idiots."
" Totally," I mumbled closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.
I woke up hungry, stretched out on Melina's couch, still wearing my white tank top and blue black jeans. My boots were sitting on the floor beside the couch, and the bandanna I had tied around my head like a headband, had managed to make an even more tangled mess of my already curly and tangled hair.
Melina was nowhere to be seen, and the robot still sat on her large desk, the upper half assembled, the chest cavity still opened, the tools put neatly in their designated places. Yawning loudly and sketching I stood on numbed legs, winching with each step as the blood circulated back through my legs.
The first place I went was to her fridge, noticing a note, with red colored writing that read, Knew this would be the first place you went. Out to use meal swipes. BRB. – Melina
I opened the fridge anyway. I was empty, with the exception of a bottle of apple juice, with another note taped on it.
You just had to look, lol. –Melina
I took the juice out, swigged irritably from the bottle and sat it back inside. Dragging myself back towards the couch, my first intention was to lay back down and sleep, or at least play on my phone until Melina came back, but a knock at the door interrupted me.
I moved reluctantly towards it, expecting it to be Andrew. He had a sneaky way of always finding me when I didn't want to be found. To him it didn't matter the time or the place, he wanted what he wanted.
I wasn't taking any chances. Taking the expensive wrench off Melina's work desk I held it at my side as I answered the door, ready to lift it and attack if it was Andrew.
"Goodness someone's here."
Not Andrew, defiantly not Andrew. This guy was too small, and way to wimpy. Andrew was two hundred and ten pounds of pure Hispanic muscle, this guy looked like he could barely lift the wrench I was carrying. Even so I didn't recognize him. Not that I would any of Melina's friends, they all looked alike to me, with their multi-lens glasses, and collared shirts.
I crossed my arms over my chest. If the wrench in my hands didn't scare him, maybe my morning breath and tangled hair would.
"What do you want?"
" I have the configurations for Melina." He looked past me into the room, to the desk where the robot was. "Good. Just need to place them inside." He eased past me, inside, and I followed him to the table.
"Melina didn't mention you were coming," I said.
" She wouldn't," he said surely, reaching into his coat and removing a hand shaped rectangular device. " Just finished this morning. She was excepting this later on today."
" Then shouldn't you wait until she gets back to start tinkling with that thing?" I said leaning over to see what he was doing. I didn't feel like hearing Melina's mouth about it when she returned if the robot suddenly went haywire.
" I can't," he said. " The codes are-"
" Then call her…" I suggested.
He shook his head. " You wouldn't understand."
"Not trying to," I said.
He turned on the device in his hands, running it over the robot's chest, bringing it closer when the device beeped to life.
" Wait," I said holding the wrench in-between him and the robot. " Are you sure you know what you are doing?"
" Turn that off," he snapped reaching forward to take the wrench from me, I pulled back suddenly, defensive. The wrench sprung to life, the end turning blue, right as she went to grab it. He pulled back suddenly with a cry, as his skin connected with the hot metal, dropping the device in his other hand into the robot's chest cavity.
" Ow," he cried shaking his hand. " You burned me." He showed me his reddened palm, a little scorched but ok.
" Its just a little burn you fucking baby," I snapped. " It'll heal in a day."
" You-" he began.
" Upload complete!" Came a noise from the device. We both looked down, to see the device blinking, the loading bar on its screen at one hundred percent.
" Yes," the guy hissed grabbing up the device before I could.
" No," I said. " What the fuck did you do?"
" Nothing. Nothing. I'll text Melina later, to tell her its done." He started to the door. " Just whatever you do don't touch it. Its going to take a couple of hours for the configurations to-" he was out into the hall before the sentence was finished. I followed him.
" The fuck am I supposed to do again?"
" Just don't touch it," he shouted back, then he was gone. I shut the door behind him.
" Fucking weirdo," I mumbled sitting the wrench back with the other tools. All of Melina's friends were weird, science nerds. But at the very least she had friends. She was the only friend I had, the only person who wasn't my mom or Jahari, or even Andrew who was willing to put up with me. Even if we lived on two different parts of the board.
She'd finished high school with flying colors and loads of experience, and was now a student at one of the most prestigious school in the world, a genius among geniuses. And I took off my clothes for a living.
I glanced back at the desk. She'd been working on that robot for months with her team. She'd claimed it was her ticket to higher things. She wanted a job with Stark Industries, a place in the big tower, building a better world, and I wanted more than anything to help her. Tony Stark would be there personally at the judging, looking at what the students made, evaluating. The winning team would be allowed to work with his personally under internships, and at the end he would choose two or three of them for permanent positions.
Back when she told me about it, I was so assured her team would win, and even offered jokily to kill the others when the team internship was done, leaving her as the only one standing. She'd laughed like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard, then called me a budding criminal.
With Andrew back in the picture she might be right. He always came at the worst times, when I was the weakest and the most in need. He would see what I was going through, force help on me, if he already wasn't, and foolishly I would go along with it. I couldn't say why I always did. Why I always let him do this to me. Maybe I liked the pain, the hurt.
Either way I would have to face him eventually. And late was better than never.
I dialed his number on my phone, knowing it hadn't changed, cursing myself for being yet again the one to call first.
It rang twice before he answered.
" Lola," he answered, his voice all deep tones, and unspoken promises.
" Don't fucking start," I said. " Where are you?"
" Where do you think?"
" Listen," I said running my fingers through my curls. " Let's meet at the diner the one on main in an hour."
" Why not here Lola?"
" I'd rather be somewhere public, less likely to kill you in public." I tried to make myself sound tough, unbreakable, but my voice was already cracking. I cursed myself for being so weak, so suddenly happy to hear his voice after a year.
" I've missed you," he said, and I can tell he means in in his voice. " Your voice, your skin-prison makes a man weak. Why not your place? I have something for you. Well several things." And he laughs that laugh, the one that used to make my skin tingle, and my stomach drop-the one that still kinda did.
" No," I said. " No. The diner or not at all." I couldn't be alone with him, as lonely as I was, that was not a good idea.
" Fine Lola," he said. " You know it doesn't matter to me where."
" Fuck you," I slip up and say, and he laughs like it's the bet compliment I'd ever given him. I hang up first before he can answer, before he can say he loves me.
" Shit, what's wrong with me?"
Grabbing my jacket I slip it on, along with my boots and head to the diner.
A woman's voice was the first thing he heard when he awoke, soft and full of anger.
" Fuck you," she says.
No sight to accompany those words, no face. Only darkness, thick and surrounding, and with it the bitterness of confusion.
Confusion was what he had when he first awoke, confusion was what he had when fell back into sleep, and confusion yet again was his only friend yet again in his time of darkness.
" Shit," the same female voice says again, " What's wrong with me?"
The perfect words, to echo his thoughts.
His thoughts.
Limited.
Broken.
Held down by confusion.
" Just a little more time."
Soon it would pass. It always did. And with its passing, came perfect clarity, perfect truth.
Andrew was at the diner waiting, hands in his pockets, tattooed arms bulging beneath his tight long sleeved shirt. He lifted his chin as I approached, apprising me from a distance, revealing the black swirls of tattoos curling up his neck.
He opened his mouth to speak and I slapped him as hard as I could. He barely moved, his light brown eyes gazing down at me, stoically.
" You done Lola?"
" Don't call me that, you fucking-" I punched him. " Fucking-asshole-idiot-"
He turned his face back towards me, revealing a busted lip, the blood curling bright red down his chin. "Always did have a mean right hook Jade."
" Don't-"
" Call you that, then what do you want me to call you?"
" Nothing. You call me nothing, because you are nothing to me."
He grinned, blood on his teeth. " Ordered your favorite, come inside."
I didn't want to eat, I wanted to punch him, to kiss him…to…to…
" Why did you do that? My job…"
" I did you a favor, those verga there, they don't respect you, they don't love you."
" It's not about love," I said, " It's a fucking strip club, it doesn't matter if they love me or not, it matters weather or not they pay me."
He glanced around warily, " People are staring Jade."
" Let them. Why the fuck do you suddenly care what people think."
" Since yesterday. Listen I'm on probation, one strike and I'm out again."
" Should of thought about that yesterday."
" I made a mistake," he said. " I just wanted to help."
" How is making me lose my job helping Andrew. Huh?"
" I got a job."
I took a step back, suddenly surprised, then angry. " Doing what? Huh? Selling drugs again. Do you want me to go with you. Partners again, is that it."
" No nothing like that," he said.
" Oh. A step up. What is it this time, stealing again. Cars? Robbing old ladies?"
" No a good one," he said. " We can live together again, you, me Jah-"
" Don't," I said cutting him off. " That was not living, that was existing. We were vermin, roaches. Not again Andrew, not ever."
" No," he said, " A job at the shipyard. Hard work, but it pays well. Plenty of opportunities for promotion." He reached forward to take my arm, and I pulled back fearing the brush of his skin, the warmness of it in the cold. " Come inside, I'll tell you all about it, I bought your favorite."
I folded my arms across my chest ready to deny him again, when he turned and went inside. The food was already prepared sitting steaming on the table. A hardy plate of salted pork chops, carrots and rice for me, fried chicken and fries for him.
I eyed the food for a long moment looking for remnants of broken pills or drugs.
" Its clean," he said.
" Blame me for trying?"
" Nah, Lola."
" So what now?" I asked shoving a fork full of rice in my mouth. " You tell me about this awesome job, try and convince me to let you back in, allow you to see Jahari again."
" Hopefully," he said, and the hope in his voice made my heart sink.
" No," I said. " Besides, I'm only allowed one visit a month. There's no way Mom is letting you-"
" Its cool," he said. " I understand it's a process. Takes time."
" Years," I said. " What you did, who you are. People just don't forget that. I haven't, Mom hasn't, Jahari hasn't. You can't just show up out of nowhere and think-"
" I know. And I'm going to make it up to you Lola. Wholeheartedly. Just give me another chance."
" I did. Remember. Several chances."
He reached over the table to take my hand, and I did not move. His hand encircled mine, large and warm.
" I don't trust you," I admitted pulling back. " Not yet." Probably not ever, not after the things he'd done. No amount of words or puppy dog eyes could change that.
" Fair game Lola."
" And stop calling me that, I'm not your Lola not anymore."
"Alright Jade. Alright." He lifted his hands in surrender. A smile curled on his lips. " God I fucking missed you. Just tell me what I have to do. I'll do anything just say the words."
" Well," I said, " You can start by getting me my fucking job back."
Not a lot happening, and I'm sorry for that. Action kinda starts in the next chapter. So until then, Review, let me know how this is. Am I like the only person who thought Ultron was like the best villain ever, and the best character in that entire movie.
Maybe.
Well he was for the record.
See ya next chapter.
