*hides behind couch, gripping a baseball bat*
Heeey guys! So in my last update I said I'll be posting a new chapter the week after.
Whoops.
Needless to say, this is late. But hey! It's one of the longest chapters I've written so far for this story!
Bridget worked quickly, skimming through Matt's recent documents. Every now and then she looked up from her search to take a peak outside, nervously checking to see if anyone had noticed her absence. She rolled her eyes at the thought. As if! The only other person she spoke to at work was Dr. Steinbeck and an occasional, polite conversation with Smithy. Therefore, she doubted anyone would miss her.
Eventually Bridget found an entire folder that stood out from the others titled "Operation Perisoreus". After a quick Google search on her phone, Bridget learned a perisoreus is a genus of jay birds typically found in the subarctic climates of North America, Eurasia, and China. Bridget clicked on the folder, puzzled, and was directed to a long list of documents. Names of people titled all the documents—almost fifty counted from Bridget's quick estimate. A new wave of worry washed over Bridget as she realized how much trouble she would be in if she was caught going through Matt's computer.
Another peek wouldn't kill her.
Bridget clicked on a random document and a word file opened up before her. She scrolled through file and gasped, a couple of repeated words standing out from the rest of the document.
It dawned on her that Stark Industries was experimenting on unwilling humans.
Bridget sat there frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do. There was no way Tony Stark would allow something as sick as this to happen let alone lead it! And Matt, too! She didn't want to believe it, but from what she read there was enough evidence. Bridget's breathing grew quicker in pace and sweat started to form around her temple. Those poor people… those sick bastards…
Bridget exited the file and went on to click on another. This time, it spoke of a young woman who rejected some sort of formula injected into her. Bridget cringed when she read her cause of death: liquidation of internal organs. She needed to tell someone about this. But who? The police? Then what would happen? Would the whole of Stark Industries be shut down? That would put thousands of people out of work and have a major impact on stocks and the economy.
"Shit," Bridget muttered under her breath. Well if she's going to do anything about this she's going to need evidence. Bridget fished through one of her pockets and pulled out her personal memory stick. She inserted it into one of the ports and hurriedly made a copy of the file while watching the few people left outside Matt's office.
After what felt like years, the computer beeped to indicate the transfer finished. Bridget pulled out the memory stick, tucked it back into her pocket, and erased the memory log that archived any activity on the computer. Of course, if one dug deeper into the hard drive, they could find evidence of Bridget's nosiness, but there were bigger worries at hand.
Bridget rose from the chair, grabbed her things, and exited Matt's office as quietly as she could. She kept her eyes down, hurrying to her cubicle to collect her belongings. She tried to remain inconspicuous and wiped away at the sweat on her brow. Bridget turned off her lamp, switched off her computer, and headed for the exit just as she felt a hand tug on her elbow.
She turned, stomach tying into a knot again and greeted the man before her. "Sm—Dr. Croshaw!" she mentally slapped herself when she almost called him Smithy. "Good evening!"
"Indeed, Ms. Heiler," he said with a nod. After an awkward pause, Bridget broke the silence.
"So is there anything I can do for you?"
Dr. Croshaw jumped as if he was previously in a trance and answered. "Yes! Yes, sorry, have you got the flight information?"
Crap. Bridget slapped her forehead. "Right! I'm sorry; I'll get right on it!"
000
As much as she wanted to and as hard as she tried, Bridget couldn't get Operation Perisoreus out of her head. It wasn't any of her business—hell, Matt would most likely fire her if he found out she knew. As she called up several airlines and hotels, searching for an opening, she felt the weight of her tiny memory card—the weight of a massive operation in her own coat pocket.
Needless to say, it was overwhelming.
After about a dozen phone calls, Bridget printed out Smithy and Matt's flight and hotel details and put their own separate copies on their desks. She returned to her cubicle to tidy up once again and headed for the exit, Smithy watching Bridget's figure leave.
000
The next day, Bridget worked as fast as she could. She strategically avoided Matt's company, offering only a quick hello and goodbye when she came in and left the office. She saw Matt's wondering expressions but, every time she got close to him, she couldn't help but cringe away.
Bridget got her work done quickly, saving a few things to worry about at home. After a series of emails, Bridget scheduled a video chat with Vanessa that night.
Bridget pushed through the crowd, rushing home so she won't be late. They scheduled it for 6 o'clock and it was already ten minutes to the hour. She apologized profusely to the shouts of irritation she left behind her, but focused on getting home as rapidly as she could.
000
Bridget ran down her street, panting heavily as she pulled out her keys. One of the other tenants, and old woman, held the door long enough for Bridget to get through. After giving a shaky thank you and a smile, Bridget jogged up to her door and found it unlocked. She froze. Did Matt find out? Did he realize she holds all the evidence that could bring not only him, but Stark Industries itself, down if she went public with it? Did he send out some sort of assassin to kill her? Bridget's heart thumped madly in her chest. Did he have someone plant a bomb in her apartment? Bridget slapped her temple to try to rid herself of the ridiculous thoughts. Surely, he didn't find out—she erased all evidence of her activity there! Besides, if he did find out and he did send out an assassination for her head, it would be subtle as to not attract suspicious attention.
Bridget held in her breath, turned the knob—so far, so good— and pushed the door open. She saw a small, dark figure dart from the living room to her kitchen. Bridget drew in a much needed breath and shut the door behind her after taking a few annoyed steps into the apartment.
"Robbie!" she yelled. "How did you get in here?" Her eyes roamed around the kitchen. Her old pizza boxes stuffed the trash bin, while more edible food occupied the cramped kitchen island.
"My mom let me in," Robbie said nonchalantly from behind the island. "Geez, Bridget, you need to head to the grocery store before you die of food poisoning." He held up a Tupperware filled halfway through with a green liquidy substance. Upon further inspection, Robbie announced it was actually Ramen noodle soup gone rancid.
Bridget grabbed the Tupperware, turned on the sink grinder, and dumped the contents inside. "Okay," she was going to have to speak to Dolly, "then what are you doing here?" Bridget checked her watch. Fifteen past six. Shit.
Bridget washed her hands as Robbie answered. "Ma had to go to work and thought you wouldn't mind me hanging out here 'til you get home." Bridget suppressed a sigh. She owed Dolly a lot, so she wasn't going to complain about this. But a heads- up would've been appreciated!
"Alright, well, you hungry?" Bridget asked as she sat down next to him on the couch and took out her laptop.
"Nope, I'm good." Robbie replied. He took out one of his comic books from behind him and started to read quietly as Bridget worked her way through the security on her laptop.
After a few minutes and almost a half hour late, Bridget reached her desktop and opened a chat window. Bridget groaned and cursed when she saw no one was online.
"What's up?" Robbie asked. He poked Bridget's shoulder to get her attention.
"You know Nessa, right?"
"Yep!"
"We were supposed to vid-chat like half an hour ago, but I got here late," Bridget sighed and opened up her email to send another apology letter. How many of these was she going to send?
"Well, that sucks," Robbie gave his two-cents. "So can I use your laptop?"
"Robbie!"
"What?! At least I asked!" he argued.
"Yeah, whatever, fine," Bridget said waving off her outburst. She exited her email and handed her laptop to Robbie who was happily waiting and making grabby-hands at her. Bridget rolled her eyes and said, "I'm going to take a nap for a while, okay? Wake me up, if you need anything." She got up from the couch, stretched her back, and yawned. "Actually, don't wake me up unless it's an emergency—got it?"
"Mmm, yeah, okay," Robbie murmured, waving her away.
000
"—Yeah! She bites her lips a lot when she's nervous."
Bridget yawned and blinked her eyes open.
"So she's crushing on one of those Avengers, huh?" A familiar voice came from the living room.
"Vanessa!" Bridget jumped out of bed, stumbled out of her bedroom, and tackled Robbie out of the way. She fought back the urge to squeal as her best friend came into view. "Your hair! You cut it short!" Bridget acknowledged, grinning like a fool. Vanessa smiled as she ran her hand through her brilliant red hair. Then she leaned in closer and squinted, her eyes showing an obvious lack of sleep.
"You might want to brush your hair and wash up your face, love," she countered frowning down at Bridget.
Bridget looked over at her feed and groaned. She looked like a troll. She headed back to her bedroom for a quick trip to the bathroom and quickly splashed water on her face. The sound of Robbie's giggle found its way to her room as she combed her tangled hair. Oh no, he's probably annoying her to death. Bridget rushed over to see both of them laughing their heads off. She put her hands on her hips and waited for them to calm down.
Vanessa noticed her behind Robbie and asked, "Where'd you get this kid, Bridge? He's cooler than any of those rats we had to babysit."
"We? What do you mean 'we'?" Bridget asked, glaring at Vanessa while she remembered those afternoons they, or rather Bridget, spent babysitting. "I took care of them while you carried out your pranks!"
Vanessa sighed and questioned, "I thought we were going to catch up and be all happy- dandy?"
"Well, it seems like you two are having enough fun already," Bridget replied, nudging Robbie to give her some space.
"Awww," Vanessa cooed. "Is Baby Bridge jealous?"
Bridget crossed my arms. "No," she said firmly, glaring at Robbie who slowly inched away.
"So, how's working at Stark Tower going?" Vanessa quizzed.
"It's alright I suppose. I got a sort of internship as an assistant to a biomedical scientist there. I'm still worlds away from working alongside Stark though."
"And by tjat, you mean like being Tony Stark's new girl toy?" she asked wiggling her eyebrows.
Bridget rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not going to be Stark's new 'girl toy'!" Robbie gagged behind his comic book. "Hopefully I'll land a job as his assistant at least!"
"That's exactly what I meant."
"No. Stop it."
She raised her hands up in defense, "I'm just sayin' Bridge." Her eyes suddenly brightened with excitement. "Guess what?" she quizzed all upbeat.
"What?" Bridget asked, confusion etched upon her face. "Are you coming back to the states?" Some hope was left inside her that I'll see her best friend again. Not just on a computer screen, but physically right there in front of her.
Vanessa's excitement died down a degree. "Well, no." She smiled again as a picture popped up on their chat log. A man with curly, ginger hair and a charming smile stood next to Vanessa, hugging her waist. She never let anyone get close to her like that, except when she really liked them. It dawned on Bridget that this tall and skinny man, this very attractive tall and skinny man, was her boyfriend.
"You have a boyfriend?!" Bridget screamed at the top of her lungs. "You little shit!" Her hands flew over to cover her mouth as Robbie's comic flew across the room. Bridget apologized and leaned her face closer to the screen to get a better look at the picture. "Why didn't you didn't tell me?"
Bridget waited impatiently for Vanessa to calm down from her fit of laughter. She wiped the tears from her eyes and shrugged. "It just sort of happened… I guess."
"Am I already sensing some tension, here?"
She quickly shook her head. "No!" Vanessa sighed. "I've known him for a while. He's the first person I met here that actually accepted me," the corner of her mouth twitching into a smile.
Bridget beamed at her best friend. They've been through practically everything together. She was there when Bridget was relentlessly bullied throughout their time in school. Bridget was there to bail her out of the principal's office. They're complete opposites, but they love each other like the closest of sisters. They are sisters. Vanessa was there in the audience at the spelling bee that Bridget lost. She clapped endlessly on the way out of the gym. Bridget, surprisingly, volunteered to help her with the first of many pranks she committed in high school. Bridget giggled at the memory of them replacing all the perfume in the girl's locker room with skunk spray.
"What?" Vanessa asked.
"I'm just remembering something."
Her smile grew wider and then she quickly became serious. "Are you mad?"
"That you didn't tell me about him?" Bridget asked, nodding at the picture. She dipped her head to confirm. "No, of course not. I'd actually like to meet the lucky guy, though—I don't even know his name!"
She quickly smiled again, "Next week, same time? Tom's coming over then."
"Oh Tom! I remember you mentioning him a few times. Really? Him?" Bridget asked quirking her eyebrows.
"Yeah him! Don't look at me like that!" she complained. "He's the exact opposite of, you know, Angel." She licked her lips and settled back in her chair.
At the sound of his name Bridget flinched. Angel Rivera is nothing like an angel. He's more like a demon, at least. Vanessa had decided to agree on a date with him—actually she was playing hard to get— and dragged Bridget along. All three of them had gone out for pizza, nothing bad. They ate outside in the moonlight and their little "date" was going fine. That is until Vanessa excused herself to go to the bathroom. Angel and Bridget sat there quietly in the crisp, night air for about a minute. What happened next was all a blinding rush. He grabbed Bridget by the shoulders with his strong hands and pushed her towards a dark corner. She was horrified, but still did her best to fight back. He had his arms wrapped around her waist as she kicked at his legs and clawed at his arms. Bridget screamed and screamed for help, for Vanessa's help, but it felt like none would come. He threw her on the ground and punched the side of her head. Bridget's left temple felt warm and she felt something gushing down her cheek as she dizzily looked up at him. Things got blurry then; Bridget remembered she tried to kick the dick's dick as his dark figure loomed over her. There was something about him that gave off an aura of helplessness though. For some reason, she didn't think he did what he did for "fun". It was as if he felt he needed to do it. Bridget knows that sounds sick, but it felt like he was fighting her. Like she was the monster and he was the victim. There was barely any confidence within him. The only trace of that was in his strength. The last thing she saw were his bright misty green eyes as she slowly slipped away from reality.
"Bridge, calm down! It's not real. Come on, girl!" She could hear her best friend's voice drift over to her ears.
"Bridget!" Robbie yelled, shaking her shoulders.
Bridget snapped back to reality, but the feeling of hands gripping her shoulders always made her uncomfortable. She smacked his hands away and realized that she was shaking. Not because of Robbie, but from that memory, that nightmare that never left her. She could feel the sweat trickle down her neck as she momentarily hugged Robbie, apologizing for having to push him away.
"Bridge," he whimpered. "You're scaring me."
"I'm sorry," Bridget whispered, trying to hold back her tears. "Go over to my room and watch some TV for a while, okay?" she asked, fixing his ruffled hair.
He tried to protest, but Vanessa stopped him. "Go on kid. Give me and Bridge some time alone." He nodded and headed back to her room, grabbing his comic book on the way. Bridget waited for the sound of the TV before turning her attention back to Vanessa. "I'm sorry," she pleaded. "I shouldn't have-"
"It's fine," Bridget said waving off her apology. She wiped at her tears. "You saved me that night. You never wanted to tell me how, but I know you did. There's no need for any apology."
"Bridget. If I hadn't dragged you along, all of that would've never happened."
"Yeah, it would've never happened to me. He would've done all of those things to you if you went alone." She sighed with clear sorrow in her eyes. Vanessa didn't feel guilty about a whole lot of things, maybe only a handful. That night is one of them. She shouldn't though. She saved Bridget from that monster doing God knows what to her. If you think Thor is Bridget's number one savior, then you're wrong. It's her sister and best friend, Vanessa.
"Hey, look at me," Bridget said firmly.
She did, but with those same sad eyes.
"You saved my life. That's the only thing that matters, alright?"
She nodded, but Bridget knew she still thought it was her fault. They always had to have this conversation when she flashed back to that night. They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes until they both relaxed. She was the first to speak.
"So how are things back there?" she asked calmly. "And how come I'm not hearing about some sexy New Yorker going after my Bridge?"
"Gross! I told you everything's going just fine." Actually, not really, but Bridget has only been here for a couple of weeks. Hopefully not every day of her life will be spent running around doing errands and what not for a lazy boss. Matt was funny and clever, yes, and Bridget was his assistant, but the workload! No thank you!
"So, how about Thor?"
"Did Robbie tell you?!" Bridget questioned, glancing back at her room.
She laughed lightly and said, "Duh! Tell me, did you do the whole 'damsel in distress' thing so he could save your fine ass?"
Bridget blushed and told her, "No! I was about to get rid of that alien thing before he showed up!"
"Sure, sure," she said grinning. "You better not tell Tony Stark about any of that!"
"Oh, shut up."
She chuckled and said, "It seems as if your life is starting to revolve around the Avengers now."
"No it doesn't! It's currently revolving around babysitting, pizza, and an internship."
"Whatever makes you feel better, Bridge."
They talked and talked for hours until Vanessa had to leave for work. She waved goodbye hurriedly, claiming she was running late. Bridget smiled at her as she ran about her room getting ready. She yelled after her that she forgot to turn off her computer, but she was gone.
Bridget stretched out her stiff back and legs, shut her laptop, and glanced over at Robbie who fell asleep on the couch. She sighed and walked over to the fridge grabbing a bottle of cool water and sat down on the floor again, downing the whole thing at once.
That night, she fell asleep thinking about those piercing green eyes that haunted her dreams.
Alrighty then, this time I'll tell you the truth and say I've been a busy bee the past few weeks and will continue to be for another month. School eats up so much time! I'll try to update at least once in the next month, but I honestly can't promise anything. Until then, DFTBA my lovelies!