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I stared at the vase on my desk. Full of yellow daisies, it was in direct contrast with the last batch of flowers he had sent me. Tony was being bolder. This time he sent a box of chocolates with the flowers; the card only gave his initial. Jean was huffing again because I still would not tell her who had sent them. I'd never hear the end of it if I told her.
I wondered for the millionth time why he was sending me flowers. Surely he wasn't really flirting; I was only 17! True, 17 was legal age, but it still seemed a lot like pedophilia to me. I got up with a sigh and changed clothes. I pulled on a camo tank top, and pair of blue jeans, and my favorite pair of Osiris's. I was about to walk downstairs when I heard a 'pop' from behind me.
"Oh, someone's looking like a sex kitten today."
"Wade, it's rude to teleport into someone's room unannounced." I laughed.
"You do it to me all the time."
"Yeah, but I'm a woman."
"So?"
"So, I'm exempt from that rule, because you want me in your room." I winked at him and sat back down in my spiny chair.
"Good point." He laughed. His eyes darted over to the two vases of flowers on my desk. "Did Wolvie buy you flowers?"
"No." I winced, not really sure why him seeing them bothered me.
"I know you didn't get them for me, kitten."
"Tony sent them to me."
"Stark? Well, waddaya know." He went to sniff them but stopped short. "He really does like you, huh?"
"No, he's toying with me. I'm supposed to be the naive teenager, remember? He's just being creepy."
"But you want him to like you."
"What?" I just stared at him, waiting for him to explain himself.
"Annie, you've been obsessing over him for years. He's your idol, and suddenly he's here, paying attention to you. It's like some weird dream for you."
"Wade, I've told you-"
"You only admire him. Yeah, yeah. Stop kidding yourself, Siobhan. You want him. You're loving this attention."
His saying my first name was like music to my ears, when all others made it sound like nails on a chalkboard. I felt so ashamed. He was right. I wanted Tony to like me, but that was so sick!
"I'm too young."
"No, Siobhan, you're just not used to having what you want thrown in your face." He growled.
"You have no idea what I want, Wade." I snapped.
"Whatever." He sat down on my bed and stared out the window. "I bet he has crabs."
"Say what?" I couldn't help but laugh.
"And herpes."
"Wade, you're being rude."
"I'm just saying, do you really want a spoon that's been used that much in your soup bowl?"
"That's disgusting!" I giggled and threw a pillow at him.
"Ya know what's not disgusting? Chimichangas. Let's go get some." That's Wade for ya, never on one track of mind for very long.
Wolverine was sitting in his favorite chair in the study, pretending to read a book. He knew I came in here every night to read a little before bed. He tried his best to ignore me as I picked Pride and Prejudice off the shelf. I sighed heavily.
"If you've got something to say; say it."
"Annie, i…"
"I'm sorry for yelling at you." I apologized first, making it less awkward for him. "I know you worry, and I was just ticked off at Sabretooth."
"No, I'm sorry,Annie. You're not a kid anymore, I need to trust you more. You've proven your worth a million times over. I should trust you."
"You just worry, Dad. I get that. All parents do that." His arm twitched. "What did I say now?" Not knowing how I made him mad.
"Nothing. You called me dad."
"You are my dad, Logan. That's what you signed on for, literally, when you signed the adoption papers."
"I never thought I'd be good enough of a father to be worth that name."
"Logan, do you have any idea what you've done for me? You found me on the street when I was 11. You let me live with you; you didn't even know me! When child services found me, and took me away from you, you instantly went and fled for legal adoption. You gave me a home, Logan. You loved me, even when it would have been simpler for you to have left me on the damned street in New Orleans where you found me. You treated me like your child, you acted like my father. Of course I call you dad."
"I screwed up a lot."
"Everyone does." I laughed. "You're doing your best, and that what counts." I gripped his hand in mine. "You are my dad."
"I love you, Annie."
"I love you, too, dad."
I hated driving down this road. It was noisy as hell. It was gravel, and it was hell on my undercarriage. I turned up the radio and started singing along with the David Crowder Band. Ironic, right? Yeah, the insane girl listens to K-love. I had to get to the lab and talk to Fury. We were going to arranged Jean's clearance, or whatever. I didn't care for the military feel of everything, but this was worth it; waking up Captain America. I was driving a little bit faster than I should have been; when the bullets hit, the wheel jerked outta my hands.
Sinead swerved into a ditch; I pumped the brakes, trying desperately to stop. She stopped and I grabbed my .45 out of my glove box. I squished down into the floor board of the passenger side. My eyes skitted across the road through the window, trying desperately to see who had attacked me. Three more bullets fired, I screamed; I couldn't help it. I jerked open the door and fell onto the grass, crouching low to keep from view. I heard Sinead making weird noises.
"Oh, shit!" I breathed, and started running.
Two more bullets whizzed past me. Thank God, the guy was a bad shot! I stopped, letting my training kick in. I spun around and dropped to one knee, gun aimed in front of me. He was running after me, in plain sight. Stupid man. I pulled my trigger, once, twice, three time. He dropped to the ground, one bullet hitting him in the knee, exactly where I wanted it to go. Now he couldn't run away.
I tried to slow my ragged breathing. I tried to stay calm, I'd ran simulations like this hundreds of times in the danger room; I was scared shitless. I'd never faced an attack alone! I stood, gun still aimed directly at my attacker, and walked slowly towards him.
I stared into his face. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and a grimace of pain. He looked so familiar.
"You bitch!" He had a thick German accent. Three guesses who sent him.
"Start talking, mother fucker. Did Hydra send you?"
"You killed my brother, you mutant bitch!"
"You're gonna have to be more specific, I've killed a lot of people." I growled, kicking him in the stomach. He yelped in pain. I knelt down and grabbed his chin, trying to inspect hi face. "You're the Aryan's brother. You look just like the sap."
"He was the greatest man the world has ever seen."
"Funny, I thought you Germans were supposed to say 'Hitler' in that statement."
"We are so beyond the ideals of that little man. We are Hydra!"
"You are dying. Slowly." I smirked at him.
"When one dies, two spring in its stead.'
"God, can you people be anymore cliché?" An explosion from behind me made me spin in shock. I stared in horror as Sinead burned in the flames. "My…my baby." I spun back to the attacker, filled with rage. "You sonuvabitch." He laughed, blood splurting from his mouth. I shot him in the face. He was dead; that didn't stop me from emptying the rest of my bullets into his carcass. Tears rolling down my face, I dialed Tony's number.
"Stark."
"Tony, it's Anna. Can you get a GPS hit on my phone? I'm gonna need a pick up." I felt a stinging pain in my leg; I looked down, and sighed deeply. "I'm losing blood…a lot of it. Looks like I got hit in a major artery.'
"Anna, what happened?" He sounded paniced.
"Just get here, Tony." I hung up and let my legs crumple underneath me. I sat there, on the ground in a gathering pool of blood, both mine and the attacker's, and stared at the sky. It looked more grey than the light blue it was ten minutes ago. My arms started tingling, I shook them, hoping they were just falling asleep. It was getting harder to breath. I let myself fall down on the grass completely; I lay helpless in the blood. It felt like hours that I laid there. I heard tires screech. I wondered halfheartedly if it were another Hydra agent, come to finish the job.
"Anna!" Tony was yelling at me, it sounded like a muffled whisper. He was over me now, lifting me in his arms; yelling my name over and over, trying to get me to respond. I didn't want to. I just wanted to sleep. I was so tired. It took every ounce of energy I had to mumble.
"328 Sycamore Drive."
Everything went black.