And because I write fanfiction instead of working on my geology and music reports here is another! :D
Thank you everyone who writes reviews! They are so, SO greatly appreciated.
-randomblueboots
PS: If you guys can connect the dots with the fingerprints than just YES! AWESOME! Because, if you DO remember, you have more info than Generation 2 does. (See 'Settling In'). I'm not giving you anymore hints, because it's supposed to be a secret. ;)
Eric Matthew Banner
"Name." The SHIELD guard frowned, holding up a clipboard.
"Eric Banner."
"Visit Reason?"
"He's... he's family."
"And you are together?" The guard addressed Elsa Jean.
"Yes, I'm Elsa Banner." She said.
"Relation to the prisoner."
"He's our brother." Eric said.
"Alright." The guard slipped the piece of paper he'd been writing in into a folder and then said, "I'll have someone bring him to the visitor sector and then I'll come get you. Sit tight." Eric looked over to his sister.
"Are you alright?" He asked. She shrugged.
"I'll be fine. It's just... I wish the old Danny would be back. I wish he'd never done that horrible thing. I wish he'd never run away."
"I wish I wasn't the Hulk." Eric said. "There's no use in wishing."
"I know..." Elsa Jean looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed. "How much time do we have?"
"An hour, but... we'll see how it goes." The guard returned and asked the two of them to follow him. He led them through a door with a keypad, down a long white hallway. After that he took a left turn and hurried down another long white hallway. There he opened a door with a keypad code and a thumb-print scan. They hurried into the large room where others were visiting some of SHIELD's prisoners. There were circular tables, and across the room, handcuffed to one of the tables, was Daniel Banner. When he saw Eric and Elsa Jean his eyes widened with surprise. Eric, followed by Elsa, made his way across the room to their brother.
"Elsa Jean!" Danny gasped, "You came?" Elsa just shrugged, slightly, unsure of what to say. Eric sighed, and sat down across from his brother.
"How are you, Danny?" He asked. Danny frowned.
"How am I? I'm in prison. How do you think?"
"Danny." Elsa Jean whispered. "Please don't."
"Dan, SHIELD's been treating you fine." Eric said. Danny groaned.
"I think the point of prison is you're not supposed to like it." Elsa Jean said softly.
"Oh, shut up, Elsa." Danny snapped.
"You think we want you in here, Danny?" Elsa Jean gasped. "I would be so happy if you'd just come home years ago. If you'd just not done all these things you've done. Danny, we've missed you! And all these horrible things that you've done—it doesn't matter to how much we all care about you! Of course, it's painful, and it's frustrating! How could you do this to us? To yourself? But we'll never stop caring for you! You're our brother!" Danny looked up at Elsa Jean with wide eyes. Eric looked over at Elsa, concerned. She had tears in her eyes, and she looked down at their brother with a hurt expression. The moment Danny saw it he shook his head, looking away quickly, and Eric knew he was going to cry.
"Damn it." Danny gasped. "Damn it, Elsa!" He groaned and pressed his fingertips to his forehead.
"Danny, Elsa's right, just because you're in here doesn't mean we don't love you."
"I'm sorry." Danny suddenly burst out, "I'm sorry for everything. I didn't... I just... I was so angry, all the time. And I know, I know it's not ever like you think it's going to be when you leave. Morten was a nightmare, but... I couldn't just... I just..." He swallowed, looking away from them again.
"Danny, let us help." Eric whispered, grabbing his brother's wrist and squeezing it gently.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm sorry I didn't... I'm sorry for everything." Danny wiped a tear away and Elsa Jean came around the table and embraced her brother tightly.
"It's going to be okay." She said softly. "It's going to be okay."
Finley Kristin Odinson
"Alright, so I completed the scan through all the SHIELD databases, and I only found one result, for the secondary fingerprints." Anna frowned.
"You mean the accomplice." Aspen said.
"Yes." Anna nodded, "But it's very strange."
"What do you mean?" Noah asked.
"Well fingerprints never change." Anna said, "You had the same fingerprints when you were born as you do now."
"Right." Finley nodded. What's she getting at?
"What is it?" Elsa Jean asked.
"Well, the only record of this persons fingerprints are birth records from France."
"Really?" Finley frowned.
"Check it out." Anna pulled the birth record up onto the screen, with the baby's hand prints and any information they could possibly use.
"His name's Arthur Anthony Erikson." Anna said.
"Did you run the name?" Alexei asked.
"Of course, but that's the weird thing." Anna said, "There are no more records of Arthur Erikson after his birth, and there's no record of his mother after his birth either!"
"His mother..." Aspen frowned, looking at the name and reading it over again. "Theodora Erikson. What about his father?" Anna gestured to the screen. Finley read over it. FATHER: NOT LISTED.
"Why not?" She asked.
"There are a couple of reasons." Anna said, "One: The mother didn't actually know who the father was. Or Two: she said she didn't know who the father was because she didn't want other people to know."
"So they just vanished after he was born?" Noah asked.
"There's no record of either of them after Arthur's birth." Anna replied.
"That is weird!" Jordan said.
"So I suppose our best lead is to find out what happened to them. Who was the mother?" Finley asked.
"Her name was Theodora Erikson, and you know what makes this even weirder?" Anna said.
"What?" Maddie asked.
"Theodora Erikson was a SHIELD agent."
"Huh..." Alexei sighed.
"What else do we know about her?" Niel asked.
"She was stationed here in New York, and then she moved to France. Some sort of Safety protocol. That's where she gave birth to her son, and then she just vanished. SHIELD gave up not too long after that. There appeared to be no trace of her or her son anywhere."
"I have an idea!" Aspen gasped.
"What is it?" Irina asked.
"Lets call James and Quincy. We can ask them to see if there's an energy reading in France in this year."
"Aspen!" Noah gasped, "That's brilliant! Lets do it!"
"Then we'll know where they disappeared to for sure." Gray nodded.
"I'll call mom and dad." Naomi said.
"Great! Lets find this bastard!" Aspen grinned.
"The fates weave, and weave." Helena whispered, looking up, her blue eyes almost having a purple tint to them. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Adrian Philip Ward
He wasn't sure why he drove up the twisting gravel driveway to the bunker that evening. Maybe it was to see Aspen practicing her swoops and twirls in the night sky, her red and gold armor glinting in the moonlight. Maybe it was just to be somewhere familiar. And as much as both sides of this equation have been assholes, at least I have friends here. Nate still hadn't woken up, and he was still angry, but he needed to just be here. He sat in his car watching Aspen fly through the sky. Fury had forbidden her to use the armor, sort of, but he knew Aspen never listened to orders. It was that moment that made him remember why he didn't want to ever see her again.
She disobeyed orders, and your father's dead. It's her fault. It's all their fault. But despite this thought he was somehow drawn to them. Fury had said they were trying their best to find the killer. They were all sincere, all sorry for what they had done. Except for one person, Aspen Stark. And as much as Adrian admired her, not once had she even come close to admitting her wrong. Anger built up in his heart as he thought about it.
She lets other people take the fall for her. She's arrogant, egocentric, and... She landed right in front of his car with a thud, and the suit pulled itself off of her and flew back down into the bunker. Though her face was calm now he could see that it was streaked with tears, and her eyes were red. He stepped out of the car and she looked at him with confusion.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I have no idea." He replied shortly. "I don't really want to be here. I guess I was just thinking."
"Adrian, about your dad, we're working as hard as we can on this case. We're trying to find the killer, and I'm sorry Fury didn't put you on the case but I appreciate you trying to find-"
"I know you're working hard." Adrian frowned, anger flaring up again, "But honestly, Aspen, I don't think you give a damn about what you've done. You never cared about my father."
"That's not true!" Aspen growled. "Grant Ward was a good man. He saved many lives! I want nothing more than to find the killer-"
"Just shut up! Just shut up, okay?! We both know that you just need to admit that you're the one who did this! If you'd followed Director Fury's orders then Dad would still be alive!"
"I didn't know this was going to happen!" Aspen breathed, tears filling her eyes, "If I'd just known-"
"If you'd just known, what? You should have just thought! Because if you'd actually sat down and used your brain you might have realized that the chances of someone not dying using your stupid plan were pretty slim!"
"But-"
"If you'd just admit to yourself you were wrong, Aspen, everything would be so much better."
"What? You'd have that satisfaction?"
"It's not about me! It's about my father!" Adrian snapped, "He's dead because of what you did. Noah knows that. He admitted to that! Everyone else admits that they made the wrong decision, but for some reason you just... you just can't do it!"
"I'm trying to find the killer, isn't that enough?!"
"No! It's not! You're-"
"I'm sorry, okay!? I didn't know this was going to happen. I messed up big time." She was crying now and Adrian almost felt bad. "I screwed up! I didn't mean for anyone to die! I just want to see my Dad again! I just needed to know he was safe! No one was supposed to get hurt!" She groaned. "I, Aspen Victoria Elaina Stark, confess that I made a mistake! But, Adrian." She grabbed his shoulders, "Adrian, you have to trust me! Please! I'm going to find the person who did this, I swear!" She gripped his shirt tightly, and the warmth of her fingers made him shiver. Her beautiful eyes stared up into his, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so, so sorry, Adrian. Please... believe me." For a moment he stared down at her longer, in the light of the moon. And then, through his own tears he pulled her into his arms and held onto her tightly. For a moment she was startled. Then she wrapped her arms around his back, holding on to him tightly, resting her chin on his shoulder.
"I know." He said, "I knew all along." She choked on a sob, and he pressed himself closer to her. "I'm sorry, Aspen."
"We're going to get through this together, both of us." She whispered in his ear.
"All of us." He corrected.
"Yes, all of us." He tilted his head and kissed her gently on her cheek, his lips lingering there for a moment.
"Thank you." He whispered, before pulling away. She gripped his hands tightly.
"No..." She said, "Thank you for believing me."