Yes, yes, I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted the first chapter, but things have been very crazy over here.
Ok, so first up there will be SPOILERS in this chapter for two reasons. Reason number 1: I plan to redo my Alenka and Logan story. Not a whole lot, just tidy up the plot holes I left, beef up her backstory a bit more and explain her powers better. Reason number 2: I also plan to create a Snow White story, hence the reference to Fantasia, but which story she'll be in? Ah, I let you guys squirm over that one.
Well, that's pretty much it. Reviews, favourites and follows and greatly appreciated, and if you guys read and Wolverine story and found the request for art, you can do that as well, just give credit where it is due and to the right people.
Enjoy!
Breakout.
One would think that after a night full of work, the universal forces would be forgiving if someone wanted to do nothing but sleep in a nice, comfy, warm bed, and not be needed by anyone. Sounds like a reasonable trade off, right?
No such luck for me.
After getting home yesterday, it wasn't too long before the building manager knocked on my door and asked if I could do something about the lack of power in the building, as well as the hot water service. Normally, that'd be a job for someone more qualified than me, but when you're a 5'3'' softly spoken person talking to a 5' 10'' behemoth of a bipedal slug...you see who winds that conversation. Though to be honest, I really didn't mind working on the old units; it feels therapeutic.
Only this time, the units that controlled the power to the entire building were so badly degraded that it took a few solid hours to get it to the point where I could even begin to fix them. The manager wasn't going to be happy about that. Next was the hot water service...mind you, when I found a pack of rats and no water in the tank, I decided to leave that for another time, and for someone else.
Then, of course, when the power units were fixed, I realized that I also had to go through each room, floor by floor, to make sure that power was working. Luckily the manager was kind enough to handle that part, and make a list of the rooms without power for me.
Finally, my work was done for the night...err, morning, to be precise.
It just touched one in the morning when I finally got back to my apartment and headed to bed. I was contemplating another cold shower, but balked. Even though the hot and cold water ran through different tanks and units, the memory of the rat pack sent unpleasant chills down my spine. So I settled for brushing my teeth with bottled water, changing into my pyjamas and crawling into my cold bed...and tossed and turned for a long time before finally getting 'comfortable' at 4 in the morning, though by now the traffic was starting to pick up again.
Suffice to say, no sleep and no decent food made a cranky Briar Rose. Add to it the fact that yesterday I came to the conclusion that I was never going to find my Prince Charming...let's just say I was a tad emotional. Especially when stuck in a crappy- THWAK BONK! -...make that a broken crappy bed, which now sloped drunkenly to one corner, and the niggling feeling that I was having déjà vu...I felt like crying.
But when my phone pinged, and I saw I had a message from a dear good friend of mine that hadn't been on Earth for a week, made the day seem just that little more pleasant and bright.
Good morning Beste Freundin, how are you today? I have good news; I'll be on the Hellicarrier for my usual report to Fury. Barring anything coming up somewhere, want to grab a coffee, or frappe, or whatever it is you normies drink?~ Alenka
Since I needed some major cheering up and a decent cup of tea, a chat with her was in order, not to mention that I had a gift to show Fury. Getting out of my bed and dressed for the day, I thought back on the nature of my friendship with this particular person.
Alenka Grün-Jones was an interesting person, almost bordering to the points of utterly unique, which made her awesome. 6 years my elder, not to mention a few inches taller, with fiery brown hair and the most beautiful blue eyes, she could easily pass as a supermodel; it didn't hurt that she had a body that made men drool, and she walked with all the grace and a royal monarch.
Which, when one thinks about it, is very contradictory about her unbelievable strength and power.
See, Alenka is a mutant, and not just a regular mutant: she's the strongest one in existence. Quick lesson; mutants are classed based on their power levels, Class 1 being the least powerful and Class 5 being the most powerful. Despite that ranking system, Alenka wasn't part of the Class 5; she's a lot stronger and powerful than that. But above all, that never stops her from being a warm, kind hearted and loving soul...just as long as no one gets her angry.
######
Making a quick stop at S.I. to grab my gift for Fury, I made my way to the diner: if anyone wanted to get to the Hellicarrier, chances are someone was already there to get you there. Speaking of which...
"Mornin' Briar." I barely got through the door, and already Quatermaine spots me, and has two steaming take-away cups and a warm welcoming smile on his face. Aside from Hawkeye and Alenka, Quatermaine was a good friend, who always made an effort to see me, get me out of the shoebox and into the world usually for a movie or a picnic (those were rare though, because of his work).
Of course, it could have something to do with the facts that I'm Tony's sister, I can hack a computer better than A.I.M, I can create things that could get H.Y.D.R.A interested...so having a S.H.I.E.L.D. bodyguard wasn't all that bad. At least I had a fun person to hang out with, when Hawkeye wasn't busy.
"Ready to head out?" Quatermaine asked, handing me one of the cups and holding the door open for me.
"Sure." I smiled, walking outside and allowing him to link arms with me and escort me to the awaiting transport. On the way, I went back to my thoughts last night. OK, so maybe a Prince Charmin was a bit out there, but what about a decent guy who happens to be chivalrous? Then again, my Not-Prince-Charming would have to be very patient and understanding about the whole SHIELD, AIM and HYDRA problem...and the fact that I'm so painfully shy and quiet and introverted, it would take a nuclear powered sledge hammer to break through my shell.
:Once again, Briar Rose, you are utterly hopeless to the point of depressing.: My sub conscious spoke, pulling me back into reality just as Quatermaine handed me onto the Hellicarrier. Briefly marvelling at how I managed something like that, I followed Quatermaine inside, through the winding hallways before coming up to the bridge, where we walked to the main platform that two certain people were waiting.
The man on the left was Director Fury, tall, dark skinned and extremely intimidating with his hard stare and eye patch. Sometimes I wonder about how I managed to get Director Fury, of all people, on my emergency contact list, but the moment usually passes when someone tells me to go with the flow of things.
The woman talking to him was a good sight for sore eyes. Standing at 5'7'', with her beautiful hair pulled into a perfect bun (how she did that without a loose hair in sight was beyond me), and a body that Venus herself would envy clad in dark brown 'faux' leather (don't ask me what that means, her words) that didn't leave much for any male to imagine, Alenka was a gorgeous as ever, despite her humble attitude.
Alenka was the first to turn, giving me a warm smile. "So, look what the cat dragged in?" She teased while pulling me into a warm hug, "Missed you, Briar."
"I missed you too." I replied, standing back when the hug ended, "You look great."
"Yeah, just came from an alter-world." She answered with a nonchalant shrug, "Place has a decent beauty spa, but nothing beats home," She wasn't kidding about home being best, but it didn't hurt to get out for an adventure every once in a while.
I must've projected my thoughts, because Alenka gave me a wink before clapping her hand on my shoulder. "By the way, I brought you something." She spoke, reaching into her belt pouch. What she pulled out was strange, it kinda looked like small length of some type of wood. Along the shaft I noticed the engravings, almost like Celtic knots. "From the Woodland Fairies, with love." Alenka smiled before passing it to me.
At this point, I should've reminded myself that Alenka's powers allowed her to travel beyond Earth and the Milky Way, to some very unique places; like the sort of places that had magic? The second the piece of wood was placed in my hands, the Celtic knots glowed a golden colour before the wood itself elongated into a staff with an almost metallic sound. "Whoa." I somehow, and dumbly, breathed in awe.
"Thought you might like is." Alenka smirked proudly, "It's a branch from an enchanted oak tree from the Fantasian forests; a fine non-lethal weapon to have in a tight pinch. It responds to your energy signature, therefore only you can control it. Also, a side effect I know you may need."
"Like what?" I asked distractedly as my hands and eyes explored my new weapon. When I grasped it in both hands, the knots glowed again before the staff seemingly broke itself in half.
"It can split into eskrima sticks." Alenka belatedly answered, "One on the knots is the symbol for energy; if you're fighting either in sunlight or moonlight, it can fire out energy balls."
"Energy balls?" Fury queried, and the sudden sound of his voice was enough to make me jump.
"I know, Briar isn't one for that type of thing, "but this she'll like." Alenka assured the three of us, "The energy will respond to her thoughts; if she just wants to stun the person she's fighting, the staff will stun them. If she needs to do bigger harm, that is possible too." I was stunned...and humbled. For Alenka to trust me with an artefact from another world, or universe is a big privilege.
"That's mighty kind of you, Athena." Quatermaine told her, using the nickname that everyone at SHIELD (mostly the men) affectionately gave her.
"Nothing for it." She smiled in reply before turning to me, "So, still up for that drink?" I was ready to answer her when a melodic chiming from her pouch made her grimace, which turned into a scowl when she read the message on her phone. "Damn it; I can't trust him with anything." She growled angrily before giving me an apologetic look, "Sorry Briar, but I have to get back to Fantasia: the Chancellor has organized a 'dragon cull' day."
"Then you'd better get going." I softly ushered her, "You know I like mythological creatures." Especially the smaller ones. With a brief hug to me and a cheeky salute to Fury and Quatermaine, Alenka was ready to go. A double door, like any ordinary wooden door on Earth, appeared on the bridge from nowhere. "Auf Wiedersehen." She waved before she opened the door and walked through. When the door closed after her, it disappeared just quickly as it came.
And that is how Alenka travels from one place to another.
######
It wasn't long after that Quatermaine had to leave as well, his reason that he had a stack of reports to go through and file away. I imagine it was something he'd been putting off for a while. Once it was just the Director and I, conversation was small, but deep in wisdom.
"Everything all right, Miss Stark?" He asked in a low tone.
"As it can be." I reply with a tiny wince. Still holding the now shortened staff, I folded my arms across my chest, my free hand rubbing my arm for some comfort, "I can't thank you enough for helping, Fury. I know it wasn't something SHIELD deals with, but-"
"But nothing, Briar." Fury interrupted me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder, squeezing is to further send the message of comfort and certainty, "it might not have been something we deal with, but the damage if we had let things go would've been even greater that what did happen."
When he put in like that...he was right. If Hawkeye, Alenka, my brother and SHIELD hadn't of stepped in when they had, I'd either be hip deep in trouble or worse, and I'm not being dramatic about it either. But, thankfully, because of their intervention, I ended up with only spending the last month in ICU.
Fury and I continued with our small talk, ranging from the Capture of the Reaper, and preventing Baron Strucker from escaping (that explains why the bottom half of Fury's hair is now snowy white) to what I've been inventing lately. I was telling him about the latest prototype I just finished and had with me to show him, when alarms started blaring loudly as a large yellow light encased my field of vision. The lightly didn't last long, but a whole slew of new problems began.
Powerful shudders began to shake the ship, and almighty explosions nearly deafened me. Fury and the other agents went into overdrive all around me, looking like blurs of shapes. I did my best to stay out of their way, all the while something in my gut was telling me that this was going to be a very strange day. :Crappy bed or not, I should've stayed at home.: I grimaced. The alarms finally stopped ringing in my ears, just in time for Quatermaine to rush over to me from Fury's side.
"Briar, come on!" He exclaimed frantically, grabbing my hand tightly and dragging me away from the bridge.
"What's going on?!" I cried, doing my best to keep up, but at the pace he was running at? I knew then I definitely get back into shape. Quatermaine didn't tell me what was going on, but the second we rounded the corner, it became all too clear.
Ever wondered where the bad guys went after they were defeated by the hero? Well, depending on the villain, they'd go to one of four prisons. The place that the regular bad guys went to was called the Big House; a building created by Dr. Hank Pym. He created the building that shrunk, and the villains that went in were shrunk too, to create less problems that way. My guess, though, was the explosions that rocked the ship were because the Big House suddenly became huge again, and created a whole that led outside.
And let all its inhabitants like the Serpent Society out roaming the hallways, and of all the members we could've run into Anaconda.
Knowing me, I yelped when Quatermaine and I literally ran into her, catching her attention. However, being friends with Alenka finally paid off. Instinctively, I raised my hands to fight, the wooden shaft in my hand at the same time Anaconda reached for us, and the shaft glowed again before unleashing a bright fiery coloured ball of energy that not only knocked Anaconda out cold, but the force of the impact sent her flying down the hall and through the wall.
The suitable reaction was Quatermaine and I standing there speechless before we looked at each other then down at my new weapon. "Remind me to thank Athena for getting you that stick." Quatermaine breathed before snapping out of the shocked moment we just had, "If I send you back to the ground will you go somewhere safe, please?"
I didn't have time to answer when another powerful explosion ripped through the ship, this one stronger than the others. I'm not quite sure what happened next; everything was pretty much a blur, but I do remember holding onto Quatermaine as the aftershocks knocked about, until we fell out through the hole in the hull. I want to point of that the sensation of free falling isn't all that pleasant. I also believe that I passed out at that point, but not before a large red cape came rushing towards us.
######
Ever had those strange dreams where you wake up, go through your day, but the point where you hurt yourself and wake up in a hospital bed? Yeah, that kinda happened to me, only my day wasn't normal by a long shot.
"Then after we feel out of the Hellicarrier, you activated your jetpack and got us to safety on the docks." Quatermaine recounted, verbally replaying the events that happened before I blacked out, "But I gotta say, your landing left something to be desired."
"Is that because I passed out or because I ended up in hospital again?" I croaked out before a violent thud in my head made me wince.
"Actually, you dropped Quatermaine in the water while you crashed into Hank here, then banging your head against a shipping container." Tony took over, gesturing to said persons I crashed into, "Though I will admit, that was a better landing than I was afraid you would have."
"Thanks, Tony." I murmured sarcastically before giving into my need to yawn. The three men took that as a cue to leave, but not before Hank handed me the magic wooden staff Alenka gave me.
"You dropped this when we 'collided' with each other, so to speak." He explained around a wry smile. After I thanked him for returning the gift, I was briefly visited by the night doctor. When he was done doing my observations and upping my painkillers he left, leaving me to my thoughts.
I must admit it, I did pretty good by all accounts. I took Anaconda out (even though she managed to get away afterwards) and all I had was a mild concussion, and that was from falling out of the Hellicarrier and crashing into Hank. I felt really good that I managed all of that.
:But despite all that: I yawned to myself, the extra dose of painkillers kicking in, :I really need to get back into shape.: With that final thought, I curled into my blankets and was asleep before I even closed my eyes.
Hm...for some reason, this chapter just seemed to lack in a certain something. That, or I let Briar persona sink in and rambled... she does that a lot when flustered.
Well, anyways, I better skedaddle you want you that third chapter. And yes, before you all send messages of butt-kicker, I will get the third chapter out before the month is over: just bear in mind I have three other stories I want to write out before I forget them...even if one of them is going to be the death of me (damn psychology).
Adios, my friends, and I'll see you before the month is out!
