A/N: Trailer for Part Two is up on my Youtube page! Links are in my profile! Comment there or here on what you think is coming... But beware, not all is how it seems.
Part Two: Blood Feud
It was twilight in San Francisco at the Avengers Academy that night. Eliza was in her room changing into her swim suit. It was a rather modest bikini. It was a sports-bra style top in ice blue and black, and the bottoms were all black tight swim shorts. She took her make up off in the bathroom before grabbing a towel from the rack and putting on her flip flops. She walked out into the hall and took the elevator at the end of the hall up to the roof. It let her out just as the sun finally was setting. As it turned out, she was the only one up at the pool tonight.
Eliza flipped on the lights, lighting up the entire pool side. She placed her things down on a pool chair and kicked off her shoes. Eliza went over to the shallow end and waded into the water. It was surprisingly comfortable: not too hot, not too cold. Just right. She waded into deeper water. Floating onto her back, she allowed herself to simply drift without care.
That was until she heard the elevator 'ding' and she swerved to see who it was. It turned out to be Bobbi, Fitz, and Sharon. They also were dressed in swimwear. Each placed their stuff on chairs at the sides and waded into the water.
"Damn that's cold," Bobbi complained.
Eliza laughed, "Nah, it's fine!"
Sharon agreed with Eliza. Fitz just stood shivering in the shallow end before finally he jumped under the water and pushed off in an underwater dive towards the deep end. He finally resurfaced and brushed his hair back with his hand.
Sharon laughed and pushed Bobbi forward. She grumbled but followed suit, diving under the water to get her hair wet and her body used to the temperature faster. Eliza found it funny, observing the two other women, that all three of them had blonde hair. It was just strange in that coincidence!
"So what brought you three up here," Eliza asked them after a few minutes of light swimming.
Bobbi shrugged, "Saw you leaving your quarters in your swimsuit. Decided I'd tag along. These two saw me and copied me."
"I hadn't gone swimming in a long time," Fitz told the ladies.
Sharon agreed, "Same here."
Eliza looked around. It was so nice up here. There was a great view straight to the Golden Gate Bridge from where their Academy was, so up on the roof it was right there in plain sight! It was beautiful even at night, all lit up as it was.
Eliza smiled to herself. She could get used to this. This teaching job. Not having to save the world all the time. She could really get used to this.
"The suspect is Lilith Drake," Director Fury told Agent Barton.
Clint looked at him skeptically. The slideshow he had just been shown was almost unbelievable. In fact, Clint wouldn't believe it if it wasn't for the fact that previously he'd journeyed to the Asgardian realm of the dead, battled undead armies on earth, killed a sorceress, been killed BY a sorceress only to be saved by Loki, attacked by Loki, seen Loki turned into a kid… the list went on and on of supernatural events that Clint had seen or experienced. Not to mention meeting a talking raccoon and tree pair.
But this, this would be the strangest thing of all.
"You're telling me there are vampire gangs in San Francisco?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you. And the only positive visual ID we've gotten is on Lilith Drake. We suspect she is a vampire."
"Suspect?" Clint asked in surprise, "You mean you aren't even sure?! You can't just go around accusing people of being vampires. After all, the public would freak!"
Fury agreed with this.
Eliza was the first to notice it.
"Aw, hello little bat!" she smiled, pulling herself out of the pool and walking over to where a bat lay struggling on the ground. Its wing must've been broken, she supposed. She had no idea how to heal a bat; she didn't understand its physiology. She didn't want to touch it either.
"What should we do with it," she asked, turning back to the others, "We can't just leave it out here to die!"
Sharon and Bobbi both left the swimming pool and walked over.
"Let's make a little nest for it in a cardboard box. We'll take it into the local shelter tomorrow morning," Sharon suggested to them.
Bobbi said she knew where an old cardboard box was from unpacking several weeks ago. She slipped on her shoes and wrapped herself in a towel before scampering off to find it. Fitz finally left the pool himself and came over to see the little brown and black creature.
"Bats a freaky," he said, muttering to himself, "Not like monkeys. Monkeys are cool."
"Oh would you stop it with the monkeys!" Eliza laughed but at the same time was dead serious.
Fitz had some sort of strange fascination with monkeys, she'd learned since he'd lived at Avengers Academy with her. And that had only been a few weeks!
"Fine. Dogs. Dogs are cool too," Fitz threw his hands up in the air, "You happy now?"
"We should get a dog," Eliza nodded.
Sharon laughed, "Good luck with that, Eliza."
"Well the Guardians have a dog! They have-"
"-Cosmo. I know. You've told us," Sharon nodded, "But Cosmo is also telepathic and self-sufficient."
"Details," Eliza brushed it off.
Finally Bobbi came back with a box in hand and several towels. They lined the bottom of the box, which already had holes cut in it for breathing, with a towel before using a different one to carefully pick up the bat and place it in the box. It squirmed and squirmed in fear. But it couldn't fly away.
All four companions left the pool deck then and Eliza, carrying the box, placed it in the big conference room right on their floor. Hopefully no one would disturb it there until morning when they could take it into the shelter. They decided to leave the top off- it's not like the bat was going anywhere. And that way it had more breathing room.
Several hours later, though, the West Coast Avengers would wish they'd sealed it tight.
A/N: And so, we begin Part Two of West Coast Avengers!