Chapter Seven:
Vivian didn't come home till the early hours of the next morning. I was only up because sleep seemed to be evading me, "Viv? You ok?" I asked poking my head around her room door
"You look like a vampire victim in that nightdress" she mumbled into her pillow before she nodded off
"Just don't push yourself too hard" I said leaving the room and attempted to get some sleep myself.
It was five am before I nodded off and at seven someone was knocking on the door yelling my name, "Alright. Alright keep your panties on!" I yelled back I trooped to the door and flung it open not happy in the least about being woken this way,
"Uh ..." Steve stood in the doorway in a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans but I had no appreciation for the view this early in the morning
"Spit it out" I ordered
"Director Fury wants to see you" Steve said jumping a little at my tone of voice
"Fine let me get dressed" I went back to my room and threw on an old pair of jeans, the first t-shirt I came across and my Dad's old hunting jacket along with some combat boots. If I had to fight I wouldn't be caught short again.
I walked along side Steve in stony silence until we reached SHIELDs heli pad, "Not that I'm ungrateful for the work but you'd best have one hell of a reason for getting me up this early" I scowled
"Yes actually I do" Fury said untempered by my bad mood, "I need you to go and warn some people about Apocalypse's arrival. There was a list of people in the pods computer database and some of these people are very high profile"
"Aye sir" I said giving a mock salute as Fury handed me a page with a list of names,
"You'll find these people in Westchester which is just outside the city"
"Right well off I go"
I figured the best idea was to take a cab out and so after managing to get one at eight am I found myself outside a huge mansion with sprawling grounds that put my ancestral home to shame,
"Miss Winters?" An English voice asked. I turned around to be greeted by a man in a wheelchair
"Professor Xavier I assume" I shook hands with the man, I'd actually read up on him in the cab. He was a mutant and a very powerful one. I had nothing against mutants I mean so what they'd jumped a few evolutionary steps. In a few generations time men won't have nipples anymore and that'll be a mutation,
"Indeed. Director Fury informed me of your arrival. Shall we go in?"
"After you" I followed the professor to his study and sat down in front of his desk, "Fury told you why I'm here?" I asked getting right to the point
"Yes. Apocalypse has returned"
"And we have reason to believe some of your people may be in danger"
"May I see your list?"
"Of course" I handed my list to the professor and he looked over it. While he was looking over the list my phone started ringing in my pocket
# Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as parklife #
"Sorry I have to get this" I flipped open my phone only to have Vivian yell on the other end,
"You are never going to believe who just landed!"
"Um landed"
"Thor!"
"Wait. Wait. Wait. As in the Norse God?"
"Yes! You have to get back here! This is a once in a life time situation"
"Alright let me finish up here and don't let him leave" I hung up and turned my attention back to Xavier,
"Thank you for bringing this list to my attention" Xavier said, "can I just ask. You don't seem the type to join SHIELD -"
"So why am I there? Well it's simple. It was either this or federal prison and orange isn't my colour" I laughed, "Well if you'll excuse me"
"Of course. Someone will show you out" I nodded politely and left the study. Sure enough someone was waiting outside the door.
He was shorter than I was and smelled strongly of cigar smoke,
"Professor wants me to show you out" he said in his gruff manner
"Fine by me" so I followed the man back outside and down the road a little until I could hail a cab back to the city
Vivian had two hours sleep before she rose again like a zombie and dragged herself back to the base, yawning loudly as she sauntered into the lab where Dr Banner and Stark were already working "morning'"
"You forgot to get dressed this morning" Stark mocked, gesturing to Vivian's three sizes too big band hoodie which made her look even smaller, she ignored Tony and clambered straight into the pod "someone's cranky"
"Working!" she retorted loudly and plugged her tablet into the servers where the chair had been,
"Hey I have a question for you" Stark said peering into the pod, "how did you remove the chair? You're not one for upper body strength"
"Eject lever" Vivian carried on her work from the previous night, rewriting a program from an alien dialog was proving to very difficult but Vivian enjoyed the challenge.
The lights in the lab flickered so did her screen "WHOSE MESSING WITH THE POWER?" she questioned rising out of the pod angrily, Stark and banner looked at each when a loud crack of thunder echoed through the Heli carrier,
"I'd say he's back"
"Whose back?"
"The god of thunder" Tony replied,
"I asked who it was not please name a Kiss track"
"He means Thor" Banner explained,
"O THAT god of thunder, why didn't you say so" Vivian climbed out of the pod and followed the two men out of the lab not before making a quick phone call "You are never going to believe who just landed!"
"Um landed" Alice sounded confused
"Thor!"
"Wait. Wait. Wait. As in the Norse God?"
"Yes! You have to get back here! This is a once in a life time situation"
"Alright let me finish up here and don't let him leave"
Thor was a tall well built man with blonde hair and he was rather attractive, though not as godly as she'd expected,
"It is good to see you both again" he greeted Banner and Stark warmly, then noticed Vivian stood next to the doctor and patted her on the head "who's this small one?"
Not a good time to patronise a very cranky British woman, one booted foot straight into the God of thunders crotch: God or not that'll hurt any man. "Do not patronise me blondie" she hissed,
Thor was clearly amused and messed up her hair vigorously more knocking her glasses at an angle doing so "You are like a ferret, small and attempting to be ferocious" he carried on laughing loudly, Vivian had had enough turning on her heels dragging the nearest chair back over to the god and took a swing at his head
Thor took a little step backwards still laughing "I am surprised you can lift that"
"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Vivian was usually a quiet enough girl but her temper when she was tired was something to be feared, swinging the chair at Thor who just dodged and laughed then decided take the chair from her with force, Dr Banner stopped in now she was unarmed,
"This is Vivian Rose, a new addition to the science department" he introduced calmly placing a hand on the girls shoulder as he led her out of the room "Why don't we get some coffee?"
"I'll fill you in later" Tony added amused by the small woman's outburst.
"Sorry" Vivian mumbled rubbing her eye with her sleeve as she yawned,
"Don't worry about it. I can understand" Bruce led her to the cafeteria where she took root at a table and let her head hit the table top, the doctor sat opposite her and placed a cup of hot coffee in front of her,
"Thank you" she slurred sitting back up wrapping her hands around the cup to absorb the warmth,
"How far have you got with the pod?" he asked drinking his own coffee,
"I want to get it finished last night but I got frustrated with the translations, so I called it a night but I'll have to figure it out eventually" she explained draining the cup of its hot contents. It took a few seconds for the effects of the caffeine to kick in "I feel better now" Vivian stretched darting off to get another cup of coffee and a bagel "Thanks Doctor Banner" she grinned,
"You can call me Bruce" he flashed his charming smile at her,
"You know what I think I will" they left the canteen and headed back towards the lab.
When I got back I was met by a very amused Tony Stark, who happened to be in the company of a very attractive blonde man,
'Hi I'm Alice" I said holding out my hand
"Thor" the blonde said kissing my outstretched hand
"Oh so you're the god of thunder?"
"Yes I am. Are you another scientist?"
"Oh no I'm here because it was this or federal jail for stealing from him" I said jerking a thumb at Tony
"Ah my friend you were bested by a female it happens to us all. Especially when they are as beautiful as you my dear"
"Flattery will get you everywhere" I laughed
"Your accent is strange to me" Thor said
"That's because I'm from the south" Thor looked confused, "Well in America there are Northern States like New York and Southern States like South Carolina where I'm from" I explained, "And depending on where you're from you sound different"
"I see. So where was the ferret from?" Thor asked Tony who laughed rather loudly,
"Ferret" I asked
"Vivian" Stark explained
"You call her a ferret?" I asked Thor
"She is small like one and she pretends to be ferocious like a lion" he laughed good naturedly
"I can just imagine that went down well" I said sarcastically
"She threw a chair at him" Stark laughed
"Yeah she didn't have a lot of sleep last night and she's usually alright about her height. I mean being small gets her into air vents, she can steal billionaire's wallets without them noticing" I said with a pointed look at Stark,
"I guess I should go see her make sure she's alright. You should probably come as well, say sorry for making fun of her height" I said linking arms with Thor and walking back to the lab, "Hello Dr Banner is she around?" I asked Bruce, who was analysing something under a microscope,
"In the pod" he said
"Vivian?" I said softly tapping on the side of the pod, "Are you in there?" Vivian's head poked up from the pod and she took one look at Thor and scowled,
"You again"
"I heard you threw a chair at him" I said as nicely as I could,
"He deserved it. He called me small! Stupid god" she went back to her work and I went back to Thor,
"She gets a little testy about her height" I explained
"Doctor Banner the Director wants to know if you've made any progress on the samples you collected" Steve said coming into the lab
"Oh hello Steve" I said offhandedly, "So what's it like being the god of thunder? Are you to blame for all those lightening storms that have knocked off my power over the years?" I asked flirting shamelessly with Thor,
"Tell the director we're making progress with the language inside the pod" Bruce said trying to take Steve's attention off Thor and me,
"Of course Doctor" Steve said with a nod leaving the lab,
"Well I think I'm gonna go down to the firing range. You're welcome to come" I said to Thor,
"Another time perhaps" he kissed my hand again and left the lab,
"Don't let her overwork herself" I said to Bruce before leaving myself and heading down to the firing range.
Later that evening we were all gathered in the big room with all the screens and agents so Fury could go over all the intel we had, the people who we felt were at risk and Vivian, Stark and Bruce talked about breaking the code inside the pod.
When Fury had finished his presentation Thor, Vivian, Steve and I were all sitting in a little break room while the coffee brewed I was taking an interest in Thor and Vivian had managed to get her hands on a little water bottle she kept spraying me with whenever she deemed I was 'too close' to Thor
"It's like training a dog" she said "One way to win her back Cap, just walk around shirtless you'd have her constant attention" she said to Steve nodding along with herself
"Vivian! I'm not that shallow" I defended myself
"Yeah that's why you're drooling over puny god over there and cap in his tight tights" Vivian scoffed
"Well I'm a red blooded female of course I look" I said in attempt to salvage a reputation that had just been ripped to shreds
"Yes well you do that; I'll be makin friends with science and the computer in the mean time" Vivian said pouring herself a large mug full of coffee
"And of course the charming Dr Banner" I added, if she was going to get a jab in about me then I was going to get one in about her
"I dunno what you mean" she said her cheeks flushing a little with colour
"Of course not" I said pouring myself some coffee and stirring lots of sugar into it
I'll leave you to your ... blondes" Vivian hissed at me with a glare
"They do have more fun" I said sipping the black liquid in my mug
"So the rumours say" Vivian said disbelievingly
"Well I guess I'll just have to find out for myself" I said sitting back down at the table
"Have fun with that" Vivian said patting Steve on the shoulder
"Wait what?" Steve asked clearly confused
"Sometimes I wonder how dense you can be" Vivian said shaking her head, "and with that I'm going to leave Alice to educate you ..."
"School is in boys" I laughed making Vivian cringe
"I'm going to leave now may the odds be in your favour cap" Vivian said leaving the small break room,
"So who'd like to help me test my theory?"
"I'd be happy to offer my assistance" Thor said
"Well then let's go test the theory" I said linking arms with him once again and leaving the base