Samantha wasn't really sure how she ended up there but somehow she found herself hidden amongst the crowd of one of the many Smithsonians.
She had been walking, trying to clear her head and forget how gut wrenching but true Gareth's comment had been. No matter how hard she had tried to move away from being that self-entered egotistical girl, she was somehow still taking the easy way out. Samantha had been able for years to ignore her dad's comments echoing similar themes, putting them down to his own grief and him not understanding her true reasons.
But she had laid it all bare for Gareth and he had pinpointed the issue instantly, and there was no hiding it. Samantha Jennings was a coward and was still as self centred as ever.
When she eventually took notice of her bearings again, she had found herself on a stretch of road which seemed to be littered with museum after museum. Prior to coming to America, Samantha had heard about the Smithsonians, had even been jealous of those who could come visit and now here she was, nestled amongst them.
After walking a bit further down she couldn't help the grin which formed when she saw the banner outside one of the museums. The now familiar weapon magnified on the plastic covering on the lamppost, wafting slightly in the breeze.
Frykte
With everything going on, she had forgotten the ancient artefact has also made its way over the pond and was now on display at the Natural History museum. For a moment she stood still at the pavement, staring at the entrance. People moved around her, school groups and tourists from across the World eager to make their way inside.
Samantha had a debate with herself, and for a second she began to turn her body away, taking a step in the direction of her motel….but there it was again, this nagging feeling, a pull of sorts to the museum. Closing her eyes and giving a sigh of frustration, she gave in to this strange desire and starting making her way into the museum.
And so there Samantha was, in the main display for Frykte, the crowds thick with all the attention the new exhibit was getting. The displays were brighter, more video presentations than its UK counterpart. The lights flashed from one of the many interactive displays and Samantha couldn't help but wince from the loudness of it all.
Thankfully the weapon itself was in a more secluded area, away from the bright lights of the modern displays, in order for it to be fully appreciated. Samantha walked over but did not push to the front. With how tall she was, she could easily see the magnificent spear over the rest of the crowd, sparkling in under its spotlight. She wanted to step closer, a voice in the back of her head telling her to reach out for it but Samantha simply clenched her fists. Her weird dreams were really starting to effect her.
Her eyes drifted around the rest of the room, and came to settle on the all now too familiar portrait of the famous Goddess Geni. Samantha had hoped her memory had been exaggerating the likeness, that she couldn't really look like a drawing from hundreds of years ago. Her heart dropped though when she was mistaken, her memory had been correct and it was her own mirror image staring back at her in the picture.
"Claire?"
The accented voice from her left startled Samantha from her thoughts. Her head whipped around and she was met by the questioning face of a small blonde lady.
"Hi…Professor Larson right?"
"That's correct." The woman gave a smile as Samantha easily remembered her name. Her hair somehow seemed a lighter blonde than last time, but her green eyes were still as kind. The slightly older woman looked professional, in a navy blue pant suit which was tailored precisely to her body. "Are you okay? I called your name several times but you didn't respond."
"Ohh urm," Samantha stalled, unsure how to answer her. No doubt the academic had been calling the fake name Samantha had used when she had snuck into the British museum the previous week. Though with everything that had happened since then, the time since their meeting seemed much longer. "I was too enthralled by the exhibit."
Samantha herself tried to avoid the grimace she felt internally from her poor excuse.
"Or it's because your name's not Claire," Momentarily Samantha froze, realising she had been caught. When her head turned back to look at the Professor though, her face had a knowing smirk.
"That obvious huh?" Samantha asked, her shoulders dropping slightly, giving up her previous pretence.
"From the very first moment we met," the other woman said with a smug shrug of her shoulders. The two still stood towards the back of the exhibit, thankfully no one too close to overhear their conversation.
"So why not rat me out in London?" Samantha found herself asking next.
"Because I was curious as to what self respecting twenty something year old gatecrashes a museum party. It's slightly odd don't you agree?"
"When you put it like that," Samantha mumbled, her eyes downcast to the floor.
"So what's your actual name?"
The older women looked up at her and Samantha thought she had no reason to lie further.
"Samantha, Samantha Jennings."
"Nice to meet you Samantha, call me Ella," the Professor said with a blinding, bright smile. "So, Samantha, care to tell me why you crashed our party the other week?"
"Would you believe me if I said I'm massive fan of history and wasn't able to get a ticket for the exhibit before it moved?" Samantha tried, her pitch rising slightly at the end of her sentence.
"I would not," Ella gave her an amused smirk and a moment of silence passed between them before she gave a large sigh and continued. "But I can tell you're not going to tell me the real reason which I'll have to live with. Unless, of course, you were there to scope the place out before stealing something?"
"I can assure that is something which has never crossed my mind." Samantha couldn't help but give out a small laugh at the suggestion.
"I would be more inclined to believe you if you hadn't followed Frykte to America."
"I am being truthful when I say this is a coincidence." Samantha responded, trying to sound as earnest as possible so the academic would believe her. Deciding she needed to eleborate, Samantha decided to tell a half truth. "My dad's out here doing some work and I came to visit. I was walking past when I saw the adverts for the exhibit and thought I would come in and see what it looked like."
"And what do you think?"
Samantha's eye followed Ella's as she gestured around the room, clearly wanting her impressions on the new display. It was rather unfortunate at that point the noise from one of the many interactive displays clashed with one of the many dramatised videos of the Norse gods, the sound mashing into an inaudible mess.
"It's bit more…." Samantha grimaced, unable to find the right way to phrase her thoughts, knowing her companion was head of the exhibit.
"In your face?" Larson supplied, her own look of derision as her gaze swept across the room.
"I was going to say eccentric," Samantha laughed and earning a laugh from the other.
"Yes it appears even though they offered me lead on the display, the powers that be had their own ideas on how to attract the public to the pieces." Ella stated and Samantha could hear the undertones of annoyance. "I miss your Britishness sense of reserve at times like this."
"It is very American," Samantha nodded her head, before another thought hit her. "God knows what the Captain America exhibit is like in the Air and Space museum."
The pair shared another laugh before settling after a few minutes. Both pairs of eyes swept the room again, taking in crowd and artefacts on display. The women both seemed to land on the picture of Geni at the same time. While Samantha continued to stare directly at the painting, she could feel Ella's eyes turn to examine her. The Englishwoman's jaw clenched tight, feeling under a microscope herself, as if she was now the one on display.
"You know it is a shame you were not here yesterday, you would have been great to bring along to my dinner party last night." Ella thought out-loud when she eventually removed her eyes from her companion. The statement had thrown Samantha completely off guard, not expecting it in the slightest. Her body turned a fraction so as to face Ella more directly and her questioning look was prompt enough for the Professor to continue.
"We academics when we get together like to talk about our more outlandish, as you say, far fetched theories in our field. For example the theoretical physicists love to talk about the theory of being about to shrink the distance between atoms and alter the size and mass of an object."
"That's by Dr Hank Pym, right?" Samatha interrupted.
"Very good, and do you know about the elemental 6?"
"No I don't."
"It comes from a Professor who studies the Far East, he spent some time in a monastery known as Kamar-Taj." Larson carried on, her eyes a light with her stories. "Something about 6 crystals each controlling a different essential aspect of life. "
"Sounds a little far fetched," Samantha said with a teasing smirk, echoing Larson's earlier words.
"Exactly!" The Professor's smile was wide again, clearly enjoying the conversation.
"And what's your theory then, that would have made me such an interesting dinner guest?"
"For someone who spends their time gate crashing boring museum parties, you are quite quick to catch on to things." Ella gave a teasing smirk of her own before her faced sobered slightly. "Have you ever heard of reincarnation?"
"What like Buddhism? Do 'good in this life and be rewarded in the next' kind of thing?" Samantha shrugged. Though the idea was far fetched to some, it was still a widely held belief by many, so it confused her as to why the party had been discussing it as a wild theory.
"Not quite." Ella said quietly, taking a moment to phrase her next part correctly before continuing. "Those of us who study ancient deities theorise there are reflections of the gods on Earth, reincarnations. We do not know how or what gods or even if the reincarnations know themselves. Of course there have been people who claim to be such but none proven."
It was then Larson's eyes drifted over to the drawing of Geni and the pieces suddenly fell into place for Samantha.
"And because I look like the painting…" Samantha let the end of her sentence hang, letting Ella complete it herself.
"You would have blown their freaking minds." The petite lady brought her hands up to demonstrate said blowing of minds and it couldn't help but make Samantha chuckle further. "I would have instantly been welcomed as the cool new kid on the scene."
"I think it would take more than looking like a random person from the viking era to make people think I was a reincarnation." Samantha theorised herself.
"You're right, there is more to it than simply looking like them. The reincarnation would likely have attributes, qualities associated with their previous life."
"So if you were, say Hades from Greek legend…" Samantha began the example.
"You may be a medium or have some connection to the other side." And Ella finished it.
"And with her?" Samantha looked back to the Goddess dressed in her armour, ready for battle.
"Well you don't happen to be a genius do you?" Though Ella laughed, Samantha didn't join in, a new pit of anxiety opening in her stomach.
"Far from it." Her voice was tight, suddenly not as comfortable with the conversation topic. "Doesn't sound as far fetched as the others though? Seeing as reincarnation is widely accepted by the large part of the Earth's population."
"Ah but there is more," Ella's eyes continued to remain alight, a passion and intelligence burning behind them. "Some theorise there is a potential for the two souls to meet, a catastrophic event to the reincarnation allowing them access whatever it is that connects the two…but it is merely a theory. Something to tell ourselves to keep us amused."
"Quite the theory." Samantha muttered but her eyes were once again focused on the ancient drawing. Suddenly feeling the need to be as far away as possible from the museum. "It was nice meeting you again Prof—Ella."
"It was nice to find out your real name." Larson teased, but Samantha could see the curiosity behind her eyes as her sudden want to lend the conversation. "Maybe next time you're tell me the real reason you're here."
"Maybe."
And with that Samantha turned and left, not once looking back at Frykte, no matter how much her body was telling her too.
"So when are you going to tell me how we're suppose to get into this place?"
It had taken another few hours for Samantha to make her way back to the motel, something Gareth took a while to forgive her for as he had panicked something had happened to her. She tried to explain she had ended up stopping for coffee near Hughes head quarters in order to try and access their wifi but Gareth still wasn't impressed. Only when she told him she had found a way to access the secure files did he seem to finally be willing to drop the events of the day. He even forgot about it completely when Samantha had presented him with the clothing she had brought him when out.
It was now the next day and the pair looked up at the skyscraper towering over the rest of the city as they made their way across the plaza towards it. The large letters down the side spelling out HUGHES INTERNATIONAL, showing the world who it belonged to.
"It's okay, just follow my lead," Samantha answered Gareth's question as they reached the glass front doors which lead into an impressive lobby. The ceilings were high and around the room screens were dotted with the latest news flashing up.
She could feel Gareth freeze besides her when they approached a security gate. Samantha felt eerily like she was an at airport with the level of security they seemed to have. The buzzing in the back of head began to grow louder and she had to take a few deep breaths for it to become manageable again.
"Relax," Samantha whispered to Gareth as the joined the back of the short queue for security, his body tense, almost expecting to be stopped at any moment. Gareth sent her look almost to say you don't say.
They managed to make it through security without incident and found themselves in the middle of the lobby with no idea where they were going.
"So what now?" Gareth asked, looking at Samatha. She wasn't paying him attention though, instead her eyes were scanning the crowd looking for something. He began to tug on the chinos Samantha had made him wear. "Also, why did we have to dress up like this?"
When she spotted a stressed looking young man rushing through the lobby, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
Oh man, I'm going to be so late to the introduction.
"This way," Samantha said, leaving Gareth's question unanswered as she began to follow the man from earlier. She could feel Gareth fall in to step beside her as they ducked through to a side corridor.
Samantha's eyes stayed glued to the man in front, but Gareth eyes were constantly darting around, wondering where exactly they were going. He was surprised when they entered a room with lots of other people, around the same age as them, all dressed in business attire. Samantha pulled his forearm and steered him to the table at the corner where a small line had formed.
When they reached the front, Gareth saw a stern looking woman in her mid-50s staring at them. Her hands hovered over a list and beside it were what looked like information packs with lanyards and passes lying on top of them.
"Name please," The woman asked.
"Hi I'm Kelly Smith and this is James King, from Berkley," Samantha answered with a wide smile and an impeccable American accent. It took all of Gareth's resolve not stare at her with wide eyes in surprise.
"Just in time," The woman said, ticking their names off the list and handing them both a lanyard and information pack.
"Thanks."
Samantha's smile dropped as soon as they turned around and the woman couldn't see their faces anymore.
"James King?" Gareth repeated, a clear question in his voice.
"I was doing research last night and found they were doing an open house day to post-grad science students, hoping to persuade them to come work for them after they graduate. Invite only," Samantha gave a fake smile and nod to a group they passed before they settled into the back of the room.
"And Kelly and James?" Gareth asked, his eyes sweeping around the room, a growing sense of unease when he noticed the multiple video cameras.
"They may or may not have got an email this morning saying their invitation was rescinded," Samantha gave a look of fake innocence which Gareth responded to with a look of disapproval. "Hey, we needed to get in here and besides, if what my dad said is true, I'm doing them a favour by not applying for this company."
Gareth opened his mouth to voice his protests when the lights dimmed and suddenly the screen came to life.
A propaganda type video filled the screen, showing workers who loved their jobs. Testimonies about what it was like to work for Hughes International were littered throughout videos of the facilities. Samantha paid little attention to it, instead scanning the room working out where they were going to go next. She just needed to find a computer with some element of privacy to get into their system.
The lights came back up and Samantha became aware of the large group being split into smaller ones. Wordlessly, the pair joined the nearest group and followed them as someone from HR began to lead them on a tour.
As they walked through the building, Samantha could hear the different voices of the various workers, indicating they had yet to find a secluded enough spot. She was aware Gareth kept sending her looks, asking what they should do next but she ignored him and focused on finding a computer.
As they reached the end of a long corner, Samantha became aware of the receding buzzing in the back of head and she looked over Gareth's shoulder to see an empty corridor.
"Come on," Samantha whispered, grabbing his arm and discreetly dropping out of the back of the group and quickly walking down the silent corridor.
They found an empty room and slipped inside. Gareth remained by the door, looking out through the frosted glass as if he expected someone to come charging in after them. Samantha had already walked over to one of the computers in the room and began to hack into the system.
"How did you know no one would be here?" Gareth asked over his shoulder.
"Lucky guess," Samantha shrugged knowing he wouldn't believe the actual answer. Her fingers flashed furiously over the keyboard finding the backdoor past the firewall she had left herself yesterday.
"Are you sure you've not done this before? You are rather good at it," Gareth remarked, sending her a cheeky smile.
"I could say the same to you," Samantha quipped back. Before either could say more, she gave an exclamation of triumph as she found her entry point and was given full access to the system.
She started to search through the anything related to the word Bluebird. When she did, it required another security wall to get through but when that fell, Samantha was not expecting what she found.
"Oh my god."
With the whisper that left Samantha's lips, Gareth left his position at the door and walked over to the terminal.
"Sam?" His eyes flashed to the screen, but all he could see were chemical compound outlines and words detailing different experiment numbers. "What is it?"
"You remember that project the CIA did in the 60s looking at mind control and ways to psychological torture people?" Samantha asked, her eyes wide as she scrolled through the information.
"Yeah, MKUltra or something, what's that got to do with what's going on?"
"Turns out Hughes International was one of the companies involved in creating the different drug compounds to experiment with, and it looks like despite the CIA shutting the program down, Hughes Sr continued the good work," Samantha said, a hint of disgust in her voice.
"So that's what your Dad found out? Project Bluebird is just the continuation MKUltra?"
"No, it's worse than that," Samantha looked at him, she clicked off the document and opened up a video. "Look at this,"
The room on the screen was empty except for one person in a hospital gown. In the corner a bed and the other a chair and desk. Suddenly yellow gas began to fill the room and the figure began to panic, running to the door and pounding their fists on it when they realised it was locked. Soon they started to choke followed by their legs collapsing underneath them. The gas kept pouring in though and soon the figure on the ground began to shake uncontrollably, clearly having a seizure of some kind. Samantha could see the blood pouring from their nose and ears.
"What the hell?" Gareth gasped, his face scrunched in horror.
"They haven't been using LSD like the CIA did, they've gone beyond that. If these files are true, they've been trying to create a new chemical compound to control people." Samantha said, clicking on to another video.
The new image was one of a young woman stood in front of a young man.
"Please, Ciara, don't do this," the man was pleading as he looked as the gun the young woman began to hold up. Her hand was shaking, as if she was trying to stop herself from lifting it but was unsuccessful.
"Kill him," an unknown voice said from off screen.
Gareth and Samantha jumped back in shock as the gun went off, killing the man instantly, the blood pooling around him on the floor.
"Oh my god, why did I do that? Jeremy!" The woman cried as she dropped to her knees and hugged the now lifeless body.
"Excellent," Simon Hughes appeared on the screen, Samantha realising his voice had been the one to give the orders. "We are making such good progress," he then paused as he noticed the woman's nose begin to bleed. "Oh dear, guess there goes another one,"
The woman gave him an odd look before she too fell to the ground and began convulsing. Hughes walked up to her, picked the gun up off the floor and shot her, stopping her shaking.
"Bring the next one in," Hughes said, handing his gun back to the other scientist, unfazed by what he had just done. He brushed some dirt of his suit before walking off camera.
"Looks like Hughes Jr has finished his father's legacy," Samantha said, Gareth too in shock to say anything.
But there was something else there, a niggle in the back of her head telling her something else must be going on. Her fingers continued to work across the keyboard as she searched the rest of the files before her body stalled, it tensing at the implication of the most recent document she had brought up.
"What is that?" Gareth asked, finally managing to break from his thoughts as he stared at the intricate floor plan with ventilations diagrams overlying it on the screen.
"It's the blue prints for the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington," Samantha mumbled, too shocked to speak louder.
"The Ritz-Carlton? Why would they have a floor plan for that in this file?….wait…isn't that where-"
"The G7 leaders are meeting in a few days time." Samantha completed his sentence, Gareth's eyes widened as he stared at her, both coming to the same conclusion. "Hughes is planning to use the gas on the most powerful people in the world."
A rigid silence settled over the room, the fainting ticking of a clock on the wall being the only sound made. Samantha could see a new determination in Gareth's eyes as he seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation.
Thought I could hear voices down here
"Someone's coming," Samantha quickly began to shut the computer down, making sure there were no traces of them using the computer.
"Wait, how do you-"
Gareth's question was cut off when a security guard opened the door and gave the two of them a concerned look.
"What are you doing in? This place is off limits," The man asked, his hand moving towards his hip where his gun rested. Samantha found herself freezing unsure what to say.
"Oh thank god you found us," Gareth stepped in, doing a pretty good impression of a stressed student. "We're here for the college day and we got separated from our group. The door got jammed and we've been stuck in here for 10 minutes."
The guard seemed to believe their story, his hand coming off his hip and settled into a more relaxed posture.
"They're doing work in this area, why there's no one else here. Now come on I'll get you back to your group," The man swung the door open, stepping to the side and making the pair walk out in front of him.
Samantha shot Gareth a grateful look, His improvisation had surprised her, then again he was an actor. The pair walked in silence, not wanting to say anything in front of the guard to get them into more trouble. They soon found themselves back in the room they were in earlier where the rest of the young scientists had returned to.
"Stick with the group next time," the guard warned.
"Will do, thanks for helping," Gareth gave him a smile which was met with an eye roll before he walked off. When far enough away, Gareth's smile dropped and his voice became low as he spoke to Samantha. "That was too close."
"I agree, come on we should try and get out of here," Samantha made to move towards the exit but Gareth's hand on her forearm stopped her.
"If we leave now it'll be too suspicious. We need to stay until there's another break," he told her. Once again she was taken aback but how sensible the idea was, though she was teasing earlier, it really did seem like Gareth had experience with sneaking in and out of places.
She gave a nod to say she agreed and the pair took some seats at the back of the room again, as another speaker came on to the stage.
Within a few minutes though Samantha felt something was wrong. Trying to act casual she looked around the room to find a man in a black suit walk into the room. Her eyes went wide when she recognised his face. Her head whipped back around to the front but every so often her eyes would dart back to the corner.
Those restricted files were accessed not far from here. Must be one of these kids
"Gareth, we need to leave now," Samantha whispered trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
"No I told you, we need to wait for a break," he replied, eyes focused on the speaker at the front.
Samantha risked another glance back over her shoulder to see the man in the black suit had been joined by another, and it was another face she recognised. Next to them stood a security guard from earlier, scanning the crowd.
"I lied," Samantha blurted out. Gareth turned to look at her then, now not hiding the panic creeping into her voice. "About the shooting in London, I lied when I said I didn't know anything about it….it was about me, people were shooting at me."
"What?" Gareth hissed at her, causing a few people around them to turn and give them funny looks.
"Yeah, long story, I'll explain later but see those two guys in suits over your right shoulder," She watched as Gareth tried to give a causal look over his shoulder, again Samantha was surprised by his discretion. When she saw him give a subtle nod she continued. "Yeah, they were two of the people shooting at me."
Over there, the dark blonde with the short hair and the black guy.
Wait isn't that-
Samantha risked a glance back over and could see the security guard was pointing the two men in their direction.
"And they know we accessed the files, come on time to go," she grabbed his arm pulling him out of the chair, taking the choice away from him.
They were again shot funny looks by the people surrounding them but they paid them no mind as they tried to walk as quickly as they could to the door they first came through when they arrived, without putting even more suspicion on them.
Samantha's heart sank when two more men in suits appeared in front of the door they were walking to. She shot Gareth a quick look of panic trying to show she recognised these men also.
"I think you two need to come with us," a deep voice said behind her and a rough hand was slapped down on to her shoulder.
With no conscious thought, Samantha's hands automatically came up and grabbed the forearm of whomever had got hold of her. Her head tucked in and she took a step back, lifting the guy over her shoulder and flipping him on to his back. Her legs stepped over him, keeping him locked in an arm bar as she applied pain to his wrist to stop him moving.
For a moment the room froze, she could hear gasps and murmurs in the crowd of seated people, the speaker having gone silent. Samantha herself had wide eyes, unbelieving at what she had just done.
And then all hell broke loose.
One of the men from the door approached Gareth and became engaged in a fist fight, one that Samantha was surpassed to see Gareth winning. If she wasn't mistaken, Gareth looked like an expert fighter. She couldn't pay much attention though as the other man behind her pulled her on to the floor.
She felt her breath leave her as the painful slam hit her. She could see a boot aiming for her head and she managed to roll out the way and scramble back into a standing position. The crowd on the other side of the room were now scrambling trying to leave on the other side and Samantha could see more men in black suit's pile into the room.
The man who had thrown her to the floor approached her, taking a swing as she did. Again, as if her body was on autopilot, she stepped to the side easily avoiding the punch. The man was clearly annoyed, not expecting her to be putting up a fight. If he paid any attention to Samantha's face, he would be able to see she hadn't expected it either.
He swung two more times, but instead of stepping to the side, she easily deflected them with her own arms. Then a gap appeared and her right arm flung forward, punching the man in the chest and sending him flying back several feet.
Somehow Samantha's eyes went even wider, not expecting it at all. The other men in black suits now looked at her more wearily, unsure of how to handle her. She looked to see Gareth placing a choke hold on one of the men, the first man he was fighting now lay on the floor unconscious.
Deciding to take her on as a pair, two men approached her. She took a few steps back, unsure what was going to happen next. One of them suddenly lunged towards her and she ducked out of his way, coming up behind him. Her leg came up, hitting him square in the back and sending him flying face first to the floor, not to get back up.
Two arms grabbed her around the waist and she could feel herself being lifted into the air, about to be slammed down. Her legs swung upwards, rolling her body up and placing her on top of the man's shoulder. He paused and looked up at, not expecting her to be able to pull off such a move. Samantha herself matched his expression of surprise. His hands came up in attempt to grab but her own arms reached up to grab one of the beams of ceiling, lifting the man up off the floor with a cross of her legs. She applied enough pressure to knock the man out.
When his body went limp, she let go and jumped down. So had no idea where she had learnt to do that.
Samatha suddenly heard a large bang, accompanied by a searing pain in her side. She turned around to see one of the few men left standing had a gun pointed at her from a few feet away. She could feel her legs give way as she fell to the floor from the pain.
"Samantha!" She heard Gareth shout but he was stuck fighting two guys in suits.
The man with the gun approached her, gun still held out pointing at her. She saw his finger move on the trigger. Without knowing truly why, she felt her head fling back slightly and suddenly the man was flying in the air, landing several feet away and not getting back up.
Samantha stared in open mouth shock, pretty sure she had just done that.
"Come on get up, we need to go," Gareth appeared in front of her, grabbing her hand and forcing her onto her feet. She looked around to see between them, none of the men in suits were still standing, but from the sound of feet approaching, there were plenty more coming.
She followed Gareth's lead as they ran out the room, not even pretending to be discreet. They ran through the lobby, ignoring the shouts from those running after them and those they barged into.
Samantha found she easily overtook Gareth as they ran, she actually found she couldn't stop herself after gathering such a speed. She could see the security barricade up ahead but by now the momentum was too much.
"Samantha what are you-"
The men at the door didn't stand a chance as she barrelled into them, knocking them over and crashing through the glass door. Only once outside did she manage to finally stop.
"What the hell Samantha?" Gareth asked her, out of breath as his eyes turned back to see the damage she had caused but surprisingly she didn't have a scratch on her.
Before she could answer his question, the sound of gun shots hit them and the two quickly began running again heading to their car parked a street away.
Once strapped in, Gareth shot her furtively glances looking for any injuries.
"Oh my god Samantha, you got shot, we need to get you to a hospital!" Gareth wheezed out, his eyes darting between her and the road.
"Actually I think we need to get rid of the cars following us," Samantha said, her focus on the wing mirror where she could see two black SUVs driving behind them.
"Shit," Gareth said, looking into the rearview mirror and seeing them as well.
He whipped the wheel around to turn the car right, earning honks from other road users but creating more distance between them and the SUVs. He took another sharp left but with the road now clear it was easier for the two SUVs to catch up.
"Hold on," Gareth told her. Samantha's hand came up to hold the handle above her head, unsure what Gareth was going to pull next.
He waited until the two SUVs were on either side of them, ahead a four way junction. Just as they hit the lights and Samantha could see them rolling their window down, Gareth pulled the hand brake up and twisted the wheel, immediately flipping the car around to face the direction they had just came. As quickly as he had done it, he dropped the hand brake and accelerated away, Samantha watched in the mirror as the SUVs scrambled to turn around but before they could, Gareth had already turned right and shot down a side street.
After a couple of turns down some of the quieter streets of Washington DC, and happy they were no longer being followed, Gareth found a large car park where the car could be hidden amongst the many parked there. Once the engine was off, his body whipped around to her, scanning her for injuries.
A confused look came over him though when he saw no blood pooling into her clothes or on the seat.
"Samantha, why aren't you bleeding?" He asked. She gave him a confused look back. "I saw you get shot."
"I did get shot," Samantha confirmed, as confused as Gareth why she wasn't covered in blood. Not only from the bullet but when she smashed through the glass door.
She pulled her top up to look at her lower abdomen. In her right flank where she felt the pain early, was now a nasty looking dark purple bruise, about the size of a bullet. The skin had split slightly just from the sheer impact and now her adrenaline was wearing off, she could feel the pain radiating from the site.
Though she had never been shot before, Samantha knew it wasn't a normal gunshot wound.
"You need to tell me everything, no more lies." Gareth said, his voice serious. It was as if his carefree personality had suddenly been replaced by a mature, sensible adult. Even just the way he was holding himself was different.
"I think I can say the same to you," Samantha replied. Though Gareth claimed to have taken a lot of classes to prepare for roles, she didn't think advance car driving was one of them, or being able to take on multiple trained professionals in a fight and win.
Gareth looked at her and almost a look of defeat came over him before his eyes hardened.
"Not here, come on we should take a bus or something back to the hotel, I have a feeling they'll be able to track the car."
Samantha gave no arguments as the pair silently unbuckled their seatbelts and left the car.
So I first wrote this story 9 years ago, and lots has changed since then but Hughes using mind control has always been an element from the start…and then I watched Black Widow and thought…everyone's gonna think I copied.
Honestly I'm just kinda of was glad the story I had come up with was legit enough to be used in an actual Marvel film. But thought I would say this little note before people start accusing me of just copying BW storyline.
Thanks for all the favourites and follows an glad you're enjoying Samantha's story so far. As always please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes, I try my best to capture them all but inevitably one or two always slip through the net.
zxnightfox: I'm glad the Loki parts are working well...and you said you like the action, I hope the action above was just as good
Vex