Author's Note: 4/30/14 Six favorites already? Wow! Thank you! I have to admit, I was a little scared to post this story... I'm such a new Marvel fan, but I'm having so much fun writing, and your support has really given me confidence. I'm on page 130 now. I started this 13 days ago... I never write that fast. I just bought myself a new Macbook Pro, so I'll probably be writing even more! (My poor little Macbook is down to 3 hours battery power and likes to force quit Word and the internet ALL THE FREAKING TIME.) Anyway, yeah. That's exciting. So I was asked if I was researching the backstories of the characters going off of the comics as well, and yes! I have checked out the characters' pages on every form of Marvel wiki and will try to include some details that aren't mentioned in the movies. I'm also working with a plot in part two that is a mixture of something that happened in the comics and my own little twist. (I confess, I've never actually read a comic before save the Sunday comics in the paper...)
Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I'm sitting in the sun in a tank top and shorts with my zebra finches just soaking in the sun and writing (well, I'm writing. They're eating and meeping). It's the first really warm day we've had so far this year, and I'm loving it! I even got off work two hours early to enjoy the day.
3 – Job Offer– June 1, 2011
Aspen set down the key to the hotel room she had rented in another small town outside of Puente Antiguo. She wasn't sure if she'd exactly call it a town (it only had a hotel, a gas station, and a bar), but it would do. Something buzzed from within her bag, and she pulled out her cell phone expecting it to be Danners looking for an update. Instead she saw her aunt's name glowing on the screen.
"Hello? Aunt Vi?"
The other side of the line was silent for a moment and then her aunt's voice came on the line. Aspen could tell something was wrong at once. "They came for it," she said in a shuddering voice.
"Aunt Vi? Are you okay? Who came for it? What are you talking about?"
"The documents. Your parents' work on the serum. They somehow knew where it was. They came and they took it."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm okay. Shaken. They didn't hurt me, not too badly."
Aspen felt her blood boil at the thought of someone hurting her aunt. "Who came for it, Aunt Vi?"
She felt a jolt of surprise as Aunt Vi replied. "ARTIFACT."
"What? No! Danners wouldn't come attack you and steal from you! He doesn't know you have it," she protested. "It must have been someone else. There are other organizations out there, Aunt Vi. I met one today-"
"You're not listening. It was ARTIFACT. Danners sent the men."
"How do you know?"
Her aunt took a long shuddering breath. "Because I used to work for Danners," she said finally. "And I knew these men. There's a reason I tried so hard to keep you from working for Joseph Danners. He's not a good man Aspen. He blackmailed me into letting you work for him. Threatened you. That's part of the reason I pushed you away. I was afraid I'd give away too much and you would get hurt. There's no one out there to protect us against people like Danners. I couldn't risk it. I just had to hope that he wouldn't hurt you."
Aspen couldn't believe what she was hearing. Joseph Danners had been nothing but kind and generous to her. He would never send men to attack her aunt and steal her parents' work. But who else knew about the serum? He had asked her three days before to try to find the paperwork so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. Maybe he knew an enemy organization was on the verge of finding it. Or maybe he was the enemy organization. Aspen's thoughts flitted to Barton and the eagle insignia. Were they friend or foe? She didn't know who to trust suddenly, and it frightened her.
"I'm coming home, Aunt Vi," she said, making up her mind. Protecting her aunt was more important than staying here. Danners wasn't going to get the hammer anyway.
"No! Stay where you are. You're safer there."
"No way. I'm coming home and getting you somewhere safe."
"They got what they came for. I'm not in any danger anymore. But you are. "
"How?"
"Danners got what he wants. He doesn't need you anymore."
"He wouldn't kill me. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."
"Aspen sometimes you are so naïve." Her aunt's words stung, and Aspen took a step back as if to distance herself from her aunt.
"Well at least I actually give people a chance before shutting them out." Aspen hit the end call button angrily and put the phone on silent, tossing it into her bag. She paced the room several times before grabbing her bag and heading out to her car. Whether she was angry with her aunt or not, she couldn't just stay here when she might be in danger. If ARTIFACT was behind the attack, she was going to find out.
…
The first thing she did when she arrived in Phoenix was drive to her aunt's house. She was sure Aunt Vi would throw a fit when she saw her, but she needed to make sure she was alright. When she parked at the curb, she saw that the lights were on in the house even though it was still the early hours of the morning. She knocked and then tried the knob. It was locked, but her aunt's face appeared in the window a moment later. She gave Aspen a disapproving look, disappearing from view. The locks clicked and the door opened wide enough for Aspen to squeeze through.
"It's a wonder you even have a job. You don't follow directions well."
"No, I don't." Aspen inspected her aunt. She was holding her arm close to her body as if it had been jostled but otherwise she appeared fine. "How are you holding up?"
"As well as I can with those papers in Danners's hands."
"We don't know that he has them."
"Aspen, I know him. I know the way he works. He took them."
"But you can't tell me anything more?"
"Not if you're still here. Not with him still around. He could still hurt you."
"I'm going in to talk to him later." Her aunt's eyes widened. "There's nothing you can say to stop me. I need to know. I can find out without telling him what I know. Trust me."
"It's him I don't trust."
"I know. Just let me handle this. I'll call you as soon as I speak to him."
"There's nothing I can say to make you change your mind?" Aspen shook her head. Her aunt buried her head in her hands. "I should never have shown you those documents," she said.
"I would have found them somehow."
"Do you have any idea how dangerous those papers could be in the wrong hands?"
"I do. I'm going to find them, Aunt Vi. I promise. Just sit tight. Make some tea and do not drink any alcohol. It won't help."
Aspen left her aunt looking distraught, but there wasn't anything she could do to comfort her at this point. She wasn't going to just leave the city and drop the matter. If Danners really was behind this, she needed to know. She didn't want him to be, but she had to admit that it seemed too much of a coincidence that he had asked about the papers a few days before they went missing. Someone must have been watching her aunt's house, seen them look at the papers. How would they even know what they were? It hit Aspen then that someone had known for a long time that the papers had to be somewhere either in Aunt Vi's possession or her own. Was that why Danners had hired her in the first place? To use her to find the serum notes?
She decided she needed a clearer head before going back to ARTIFACT headquarters. She made it back to her apartment and dropped onto her bed, asleep before she had a chance to change out of her clothes.
…
She didn't think that she had left any breadcrumbs, but somehow Barton had found her. She wasn't sure if the folder she had taken was important – she hadn't had a chance to look at it. All she knew was that Barton was leaned up against her Audi when she left her apartment after waking up late. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he watched her with keen eyes.
She stopped short, unable to hide her surprise. "Oh," she said.
"You took something that didn't belong to you. And I think I know who you are now."
"Oh?" she asked. She couldn't seem to come up with any other words at the moment. She blamed it on lack of sleep.
"A smuggler. You steal things for your boss and he sells them to the highest bidder. We're aware of such organizations out there, you know."
"Well, he's aware of you too," Aspen said. It didn't seem to faze him.
"I would hope so. We're his worst nightmare."
"Well he has the folder, and I can't get it back, so you're out of luck," she lied.
"The file belonged to Doctor Jane Foster, but we have copies of the documents," Barton said.
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm here to offer you a deal," he said. Not what she had been expecting.
"What kind of deal?"
"My agency sent me to get you out of our hair," he said, getting straight to the point.
"To kill me?" Aspen asked, lifting an eyebrow. What had she stolen?
Barton shrugged. "They made it my call. But no, I don't typically knock off teenagers who pilfer."
Aspen glared at him. "So what are you going to do?"
"I told you. I'm going to make you an offer. You come work for us. Use your skills for a better purpose."
"I don't even know who you work for. How am I supposed to know that my skills would be going to a better purpose?" she asked.
"You think your boss has a good purpose for those things he has you steal?" Barton asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"All I know is that the people we're taking them from definitely do not have good intentions. We're keeping them safe. It's not my job to judge or ask questions. "
"No, you're just a smuggler." It sounded patronizing when he said it that way.
"I'm a damn good one," she said defensively.
"We have your file, Aspen," he said, using her first name. "And we know all about Joseph Danners and ARTIFACT. I could tell you stories about him that would curl your hair."
Aspen frowned. "My parents worked for him. They wouldn't have worked for a criminal." Her voice lacked conviction though as she recalled her aunt's warning.
"Ava and Gregor Tolvar? They worked for us," he said. "Danners double-crossed them. He's bluffing if he said differently. He wants something from you."
"What?" Aspen was trying to wrap her mind around what he had just said. "How did he double-cross them? He said they were friends."
"And you believed him? He thinks you have knowledge of what they were working on before they died. He wants that information. Whatever he told you about them was most likely a lie."
"I was three when they died. What would I know?" Aspen asked spitefully. Her thoughts were whirling though. What Barton was saying lined up with what her aunt had just told her.
"He thinks your parents might have hidden their work with you somehow."
"Well I don't have it." She didn't mention that it had been stolen last night or that it had been in her aunt's possession all the time leading up to then.
"We can keep you safe. Believe me. Danners is just going to use you. He's not going to let you out of your contract. Not until he gets what he wants, and we don't want that."
"How can I trust you?" she asked accusingly. "I don't even know who you are or who you work for."
"You can't. I won't make any promises, but I can tell you that I believe we do the right thing. ARTIFACT doesn't."
Aspen shut her eyes for a moment, thinking. She needed to get to the bottom of all this. She needed to talk to Danners. She looked at Barton. "Will you give me a chance to think about it?" she asked. Just to get him off her case.
"I can give you that but if you tell Danners any of this, the deal's off. Then I will have to take you in."
"I won't tell him anything."
"Think about it, Tolvar," Barton said. "I'll be waiting here at nine tonight."
"I'll let you know then." He pushed off from her car, tossing her a grim smile before leaving. Aspen sat thinking for a long time before getting into the car and driving to headquarters. It was time Danners told her just what he knew about her parents and why he had really recruited her.
She felt a twinge of nerves as she stopped before his office doors. She knocked and entered after receiving the usual greeting.
"Ah, Aspen," Danners said when she entered, looking up at her. He had a file open on his desk which she quickly glanced at. She was disappointed when she realized it wasn't her parents' work. Like he would leave that lying open on his desk. "I wasn't expecting you back so early."
"I ran into some trouble – nothing I couldn't handle, but I decided it was safer to skip town. Whatever organization that was took over the entire site. They cleared everyone out and set up a research facility there."
"You snuck in of course."
"I did." She didn't mention she'd been caught. "The hammer was under extreme guard. I never could have reached it. No one could lift it."
"Interesting…"
"Do you know what it is?" she asked.
"Perhaps. Legend says that Thor, god of thunder carried a hammer similar to the one you saw." He pushed the folder across the desk, and she saw that it was a print out of a webpage depicting the mighty Thor wielding a hammer.
"Norse mythology?"
"Correct."
"But it's just mythology. Surely that's not actually Thor's hammer…" Aspen waited for him to laugh and say he was joking, but his face was serious.
"Strange times are coming, Aspen. We would be putting ourselves at risk if we didn't consider the possibility of other life forms outside of Earth."
Aspen gaped at him. Joseph Danners might collect unusual artifacts but he wasn't one to believe in fairy tales. "Alright. So are you going to tell me who was after the hammer?"
"They call themselves SHIELD. They deal in the same sort of thing but they work for the government. You can't trust them."
"Why not?"
"They don't care who they step on to get the job done. They don't give people like you and me the time of day. They would have killed you if they'd caught you."
Aspen's thoughts fluttered to Barton. He might be a little rough around the edges, but he had said that he wouldn't kill her. He'd given her a chance to work for his organization. She didn't trust him, but he also didn't come off as the killer Danners was describing.
"Well, they didn't get me," Aspen said with what she hoped was a convincing shrug. "I was actually hoping you could tell me a little bit more about my parents' work. I was just wondering if SHIELD could possibly know about it."
"Why do you ask?" Danners frowned.
"You said that bad people might be trying to get their hands on it. I guess I just want to know who we're dealing with."
"I wouldn't put it past them to want that information. They would say that they're safe-keeping it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they put it to their own uses."
Aspen was quiet for a moment. She didn't know who to trust. Trust yourself and only yourself and if you feel like you can't, then you need to do something to change that, her aunt had always told her growing up. Right now Aspen wasn't even sure if she trusted herself.
"My aunt had some documents," she blurted. "And they were stolen. I just found out."
Danners looked surprised, and Aspen couldn't tell if it was genuine. "When you say documents, you mean…"
"My parents' work. Someone stole my parents' work."
Danners was silent, tapping the tips of his fingers together and staring at the wall. "And you suspect SHIELD has them?"
"I don't know. I don't know who has them but I mean to find out," Aspen told him.
"Does your aunt know who took them?"
"No," she said firmly. She wasn't getting Aunt Vi involved with this. "She doesn't know anything about this."
"Your aunt used to work for SHIELD, did you know that? She was a chemist."
Aspen opened her mouth in astonishment. "What?" Aunt Vi said she used to work for Danners, not SHIELD. A few minutes ago she hadn't even know that SHIELD existed.
"Violet Fengard was one of the top chemists in the country before her sister and brother-in-law's death. After that she quit her job and took to the bottle. Don't underestimate her though. She's got the brain of a genius."
"You seem to know a lot about my aunt that I don't." Her distrust was growing by the minute but she wasn't sure who it was for anymore.
"I've been looking out for your family since your parents died. They meant a lot to me. I know that Violet had some arguments with them. She didn't think that they should be working for me. She used to work for me too, you know, before she moved to SHIELD. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a jumper. They move from one organization to the next, spreading rumors and secrets. Of course she doesn't have anyone to tell secrets to anymore since she seems to have kept them all from you."
"Is she in danger?" Aspen asked. "I don't want her involved in any of this. She's struggling enough as it is."
"Your aunt was once a friend. I would never dream of letting anything happen to her. SHIELD, however…" He shook his head. "Violet blamed SHIELD for your parents' deaths. She thought they might have had a hand in it."
"You think they caused the explosion?" Aspen asked. Barton knew about her parents, their work. What if he was just trying to get his hands on it? She felt a stab of panic. He knew where she lived…
"I'm not sure. I suppose it's possible. But if they did they would have gotten someone to do it – they don't like to get their hands dirty. Not when they're tied up with the government."
"Aunt Vi never mentioned SHIELD..."
"Has she told you things?" Danners asked a moment later, frowning. "Things about me?"
Aspen felt cornered. She fiddled with the file on Thor that she had long ago forgotten. "Just supposition. She doesn't trust you," she admitted. "But you've never given me any reason not to trust you."
"I trust you too Aspen, and that's why I want you to be honest with me when I ask if you've been speaking with a SHIELD agent."
Aspen felt the blood drain from her face. "Why do you ask that?"
"You were seen."
"You've been watching me."
"Checking up. With so many enemies out there looking for your parents' work, I've wanted to make sure you were safe. Did you meet with a SHIELD agent?" His face was passive, but his voice held a steely malice she hadn't heard before.
"A SHIELD agent did approach me. I have to confess, he sort of caught me in Puente Antiguo, but I got away! I didn't tell him anything about ARTIFACT. Just my name. He somehow managed to track me."
"Did he offer you a job?"
"He did." What was the use denying it? Clearly Danners knew a lot more than she had expected. "I told him I would think about it but just to get him off my back. If I said no he would have taken me in then and there."
"Will you be accepting?" The words hung in the air and the tension that lingered off of them was palpable.
"No."
"You've made the right choice," he said after a long pause. "Do me a favor and take this down to the lockup?" He handed her a wishbone carved out of petrified wood. It seemed like an ordinary stick to her, but if he had acquired it, it was probably anything but. "It's supposedly from the wood used to build Noah's Ark," he told her. "Make sure it's safe." The abrupt change of subject left her feeling a bit dizzy.
"Is that all?" she asked.
"That's all. I'm glad that you're staying. I've called in a few favors and have lined up some college interviews for you in July. We'll find those documents, Aspen. We'll make sure they end up in safe hands."
She nodded, taking the wood carefully in her hand and standing. "Thank you, sir," she said. "I'm sorry if I ever gave any sign of mistrust. I was confused. The man was probably after the serum. He knows where I live… What if he's still there?" She remembered her deal with him, that she'd give him her answer at nine that night. Maybe it would be the perfect opportunity to trap him. They could question him, see what he really wanted. "He said he was coming back at nine for my answer."
"We'll send men to your apartment. Don't worry, Aspen. He won't hurt you."
Aspen smiled in relief, clutching the stick as if she could draw strength from it. "Thank you. I'll go get this sorted." She left the office feeling reassured. Her aunt would have been mistaken about the men who attacked her. She was usually half drunk anyway, and she'd smelled of brandy when Aspen had dropped by earlier. Danners had always been honest with her. She realized that she couldn't wait until August when she'd start college. She could put this all behind her and pretend it never happened.
The storage area was in the basement where every aisle was carefully acclimatized to keep any delicate items safe. She usually just acquired the objects, but occasionally she'd catalogue them. ARTIFACT had experts of course, but sometimes they were short staffed. Employees seemed to come and go though she'd never put much thought to it. She took the elevator down to the basement, placing her hand against the scanner. It beeped in approval and let her into the storage area. The stick would be filed and locked away until a proper buyer was found. She frowned, looking around for the warden. Usually someone was there to monitor all comings and goings. The lock up was unusually quiet. She set the wood down on a worktable and wandered down some of the aisles. The air was thicker the further into the room she went, and she began to cough. She caught a whiff of a sickly sweet scent as she reached the last aisle. She pulled her shirt over her mouth and nose and ran back to the gate, pulling on the handle. It was locked. She tried her hand on the scanner but it was denied, blinking the word up at her in red letters. What was happening?
She looked around frantically. There had to be a way out. She ran down the aisles until she saw a ventilation shaft on one wall. She stood on tiptoe to reach it, putting her fingers through the metal grate. The air was fresh, and she could breathe a little better. She looked up and saw a hazy blur around the vents on the ceiling. Clearly that was where the toxic air was being pumped in. She pulled at the vent in front of her, but it wouldn't budge. She was getting lightheaded, and she knew if she didn't reach fresh air soon she would pass out. Suddenly there was a jolt. The building seemed to tremble. She stumbled back against one of the ceiling high storage units. There was a shout from somewhere up above her. She was feeling so lightheaded she could hardly think. She tried to stay conscious, but it was a losing battle. She fell to her knees, vision going blurry. Then the grate to the vent flew across the room with a violent force. She looked up to see a pair of boots coming out and then a body. Her vision darkened, and she swayed.
"Hey, I gotcha. You're gonna be alright," a man's voice said. She saw a face with a cloth pulled up over the mouth and nose. Then she lost consciousness.
…
She awoke to a sharp slap to the face. She opened her eyes at once, looking around. Barton knelt before her, grey eyes narrowed in worry. "You!" she accused.
He smiled grimly. "Me. I just saved you down there, so you might want to be grateful."
"Danners is trying to kill me," Aspen said, her voice week. "I was so stupid. My aunt warned me…" She put her face in her hands. Just a few minutes ago she'd been nodding along to his plans to get her interviews to colleges. All along he was sending her to her death. "Why?"
"Danners is evil. You don't know enough to scratch the surface of ARTIFACT, just the lies he's fed you. Danners has always been after your parents' work. I tried to tell you. Danners realized that you were going to figure it out sooner or later. You might be naïve, but you're not dumb. He knows that."
"How did you know to follow? I thought we were meeting tonight."
"I thought he might try to pull something like this. I realized after you left that we'd been seen talking. Danners knows all about SHIELD. He wouldn't want to risk you giving away ARTIFACT's secrets if you agreed to join." Another jolt rocked the building. "We need to get you out of here." Aspen realized they were in a deserted corridor but definitely still in the building. "I set off some detonators outside to keep them busy. I need to get something out of Danners's office before we go."
"What?"
"Classified, sorry," he said, shrugging. He stood and held out a hand. She took it and he hauled her to her feet. "If you join my organization, I might reconsider."
"After this, I'm done with ARTIFACT." She shook her head, clearing it a little more.
"Deal. Where's his office?" Barton asked.
"This way." Aspen led Barton through the hallways. Occasionally some of the ARTIFACT employees ran past, but none of them paid the least bit of attention to them. When they reached the office, Aspen hesitated outside the door. Barton lifted his gun and nodded for her to open it. She took a deep breath and swung it open. The office was empty. They entered quickly, and Aspen shut the doors behind them. "Keep a look out," Barton said, shuffling through the papers in Danners's desk. Aspen nodded. Her eyes caught something silver gleaming. The cuffs that would subdue a supernatural power. She went swiftly over to the case and lifted them out. Danners had no right to these. She was the one who had retrieved them. She stuffed them into her pocket, feeling a bit like a child stealing candy. Something else had occurred to her in that moment though. If Danners really did have her parents' research and therefore the ability to give a person full use of their brain, cuffs like this might come in handy one day.
"Got it," Barton said, tucking a folder into his jacket.
"My parents' work?" Aspen asked.
"He has it?" Barton looked alarmed.
"Someone stole it from my aunt. She thought the people worked for Danners. I should have listened to her…"
"No time for regret. If Danners has it then that's bad, but right now we need to get out of here. I called for backup, but right now my priority is getting you to safety." He urged Aspen toward the window.
The sound of shattering glass stopped them. "What was that?"
"They're taking down the building. They know they've been compromised," Barton said. "SHIELD will be swarming this place when they get here." He went over to one of the windows and kicked out the glass until the hole was big enough to fit through.
"We're six stories up, are you crazy?" Aspen asked.
Barton shook his head, pulling his bow off his back. "Not crazy. This is the fastest way out." He notched an arrow and motioned for her to come over. Aspen had never seen an arrow quite like the one Barton was now about to use. He aimed at the outside of the building adjacent to them and shot. The arrow transformed, turning into an anchor of some sort and attaching itself to the wall. A thin line ran back to the bow. Barton attached the end of the line to the ceiling using a similar anchor.
"We do this together," he said, holding out an arm. She came forward, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. She put hers around his shoulder. He hooked the bow around the fine wire so that they could glide across the wire with it.
"Is that wire strong enough for both of us?" she asked nervously.
"It'll hold a lot more weight than the both of us," he assured her. "Hold on." They stepped up onto the windowsill and then jumped. Aspen threw her other arm around Barton as they streaked downward. When they were close to the ground, Barton unhooked his bow and they landed hard, both rolling to their feet – Barton much more gracefully than her.
"My car," Aspen said. They sprinted toward where it was parked. They had nearly reached it when gunshots rang out behind them. One whizzed so close to Aspen's ear that she felt its flight. They dove behind a black sedan. "Great, now they're shooting at us." Aspen peered out from behind the car. She couldn't see the shooter. "Can we make it?" she asked.
Barton's eyes traveled to her car. "In steps," he said. "One car at a time." He readied himself. "Ready?"
She gave him a curt nod. Then they ran for it, diving behind the next car as a shower of ammo came flying after them. One hit the tire and the car sunk a little lower. "Do you do this a lot?" Aspen asked, glancing at Barton. He shrugged.
"It's kind of part of my job," he told her. "And ARTIFACT definitely hates SHIELD."
"What is your job exactly?"
His grey eyes danced with humor. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."
"I said I'd join your organization and besides, you promised you wouldn't kill me," she said as a bullet ricocheted off the car. "Although they might do the job for you."
"Next car." They ran for it, ducking down. Aspen felt a sharp pain in her right arm. As she threw herself behind an SUV, she looked down to see blood welling up. The bullet had only grazed her arm, but it stung.
"This isn't as easy as it looks in the movies," she said, trying to make light of it. This wasn't the first time she'd been shot. She'd taken a bullet to the shoulder once and had had to keep running for twenty minutes before she could get the bullet removed. Right now she had no idea how many people were shooting at them or where they were. She peered around the edge of the SUV. Her car was parked behind another SUV giving them the perfect coverage. All the ARTIFACT cars were bullet proof. If they could get in her car, they could escape.
"One more run," Barton told her. "Ready?" His eyes flitted over her bleeding arm.
"Ready." They ran in unison, Aspen clicking the automatic lock button on her keys and Barton flinging himself into the passenger side. Aspen revved the engine and tore out of the lot. Gunshots followed them, bouncing off the side of the car. She sped toward the gates. "They're closed!" she cried in dismay.
"Hang on." Barton rolled down the window and stuck his bow out. He had to lean half his body out of the car to draw back, but he managed to notch an arrow. He shot it straight at the middle of the metal gates. As soon as the arrow hit its mark, the gates exploded, flying off their hinges. They were still in the air when Aspen's Audi streaked through the now unhindered entrance. Barton pulled himself and his bow back into the car and shut the window. Aspen glanced back in the rearview mirror to see several of the SUVs in motion. The building was now in flames and the ARTIFACT employees were making a run for it. A moment later the building exploded. The rubble was flung into the road, and Aspen jerked the wheel to avoid it. She wondered if they'd gotten the artifacts out first. Probably. Joseph Danners was nothing if not prepared.
"My aunt!" Aspen cried out suddenly.
"No time to get her, we're being followed," Barton said grimly.
"We need to get her! Danners will hurt her if we don't. I don't trust his promises anymore."
"At least you learned something. They'll know you're going there though. There might be someone waiting."
"I don't care! She's family."
Barton frowned, thinking and then gave a curt nod. "If you're fast, and I mean fast, I can cover you while you get her."
"I'll be fast." She drove as quickly as she dared, slowing only when she reached the city. She took a short cut to her aunt's house, pressing the speed limit. The SUVs following her had fallen back in the lunch hour traffic, but Aspen knew they'd catch up soon. She screeched to a halt in front of her aunt's house and leapt out of the car, ignoring the stabbing pain in her arm. She flung the door open and ran in.
"Aunt Vi! Aunt Vi we need to go! Danners is after me. He'll hurt you too. Aunt Vi?" She ran upstairs but the house was empty. She went into the office and noticed a note taped to the front of the safe.
Get to safety. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. – Aunt Vi
Aspen hoped that her aunt really did know what she was doing. She lunged out of the house just as the SUVs turned the corner. Barton had taken over the wheel and flung open the passenger door. "Go!" Aspen said as she flung herself into the car.
Barton stepped on the gas, and they were speeding away from her aunt's house, the SUVs in hot pursuit. "She wasn't there?" he asked, knuckles clenched on the wheel.
"She was gone but she left a note. She told me to get to safety and that she could take care of herself."
"She can, you know."
"Why does everyone seem to know more about my family than I do?" Aspen asked with a hysterical laugh.
"Because you've been protected your entire life. That isn't a bad thing."
"It feels like it. I feel like I have no idea of who I am or who my parents were."
"Well that's about to change because I'm not ever going to lie to you, Aspen," Barton assured her. "SHIELD is alright. They gave me a second chance when I needed it. You made the right choice."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"New York," Barton told her. "Welcome to SHIELD."