Reap and Sow
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Marvel or Hasbro. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.
Chapter 4: On the Brink
"Crisis? Crisis, are you all right?"
Leon was barely responsive. As he opened his eyes, he noticed a flash of bright light. Quickly thinking back to his time being held by Hydra and Arnim Zola, he shot up, shouting,
"No!" (1)
Hercules and Miss Marvel held him down. Carol said,
"Leon, it's us. It's your friends."
Leon took a moment, his breathing still rapid. He looked around and he saw he was back at the compound. War Machine looked at him,
"Are you all right, kid?"
The red-eyed powerhouse nodded, becoming visibly calmer,
"Yeah, I think so. What happened?"
Rhody explained,
"We got a call about a bank robbery in progress and that you were already on the scene, down. Carol and Monica came rushing in, only to find you unconscious."
It was all coming back to the red-eyed teen. He nodded,
"Cobra got away. He was robbing the bank and I tried to stop him, but…"
Leon held his head,
"I must have blacked out."
Rhody noticed something in the teen's eyes. Something that said that this is more than what it seemed. He said,
"Carol, Herc; could you give us a minute?"
As the two teens left, War Machine looked at the boy,
"Leon, I don't know what's going on here, or why you left so early, but, if there's something bothering you, you have to tell us what it is."
Crisis looked up,
"You know this is about my flare-ups."
The soldier looked back, nodding,
"All right. You just take it easy for a while."
A few minutes later…
Farrah hissed,
"Cobra's dead when I get my claws on him."
She scratched the wall closest to her out of anger and snarled. Carol clenched her fists,
"Yeah, I agree, for once with the furball. We find this snake and I'll turn him into a new belt."
Falcon smirked,
"Well, at least you two aren't blaming each other for this."
Redwing chortled, as if to agree. Farrah and Carol both glared at the avian hero. The cat-girl said,
"Only because this is about Leon and not about us."
In another room, Rhody and the adults were talking. Vision asked,
"Is there a reason you called us, War Machine?"
Rhody nodded,
"Yeah, I did. I just talked with Leon and he's chalking it up to his flare-ups."
He shook his head,
"But, I get the feeling there's something more. There's something he's not telling us."
Monica Rambeau, the light powered heroine Pulsar, said,
"We can't force him to tell us if he doesn't want to, Jim."
Simon shrugged,
"It wouldn't hurt to keep a watch on him, though. Make sure Vision is out of sight."
Rhody said,
"I'm not comfortable with the idea of spying on our own people, Simon."
Vision responded,
"But, Wonder Man is correct, War Machine. Crisis is not in the frame of mind that is needed for our operations."
Rhodes said,
"And you want me to do what, exactly? Keep the kid a prisoner here while the rest of us go out gallivanting around the world? He's as much a member of this team as any of us."
The soldier sighed and said,
"I don't know what I'm going to do."
Meanwhile…
Grim Reaper was flying across the desert, still staying low to the ground. He was powered by the life energy of the woman he absorbed and was continuing his run into San Diego and the West Coast Avengers compound.
Suddenly, he felt himself getting weaker, as he no longer floated and landed on his feet. Eric hissed,
"No, what is happening?"
He landed on one knee and looked down. He knew he was getting weaker. The former Maggia member cursed,
"I must need more energy if I want to attain all that power again."
He then noticed he was not far from a suburb just outside of San Diego. He smirked evilly,
"Excellent. Now, to feast."
Next Chapter:
Grim Reaper strikes hard and fast; and the West Coast Avengers are called to the scene! Stay tuned, fellow readers!