Chapter Eighteen:
Vivian opened her eyes to the blinding morning sun and the crystal blue sky, an empty bottle of whiskey in her right hand and a shooting pain in her left. Her head didn't throb has much as she thought it was going to when she woke up, though she would have preferred to have woken up at home not in a randomly alley.
"Vivian! I've been looking everywhere for you" a familiar voice called out to her, Alice rushed over to her still in her star spangled dress "do you know how worried I was?" Steve was at her heels looking equally concerned,
Vivian laughed her throat was dry which made her sound quite husky "you were looking for me in that? Didn't have time to change?" she accepted Steve's hand to get off the floor and stretched her shoulders and back cracked loudly "that's what I get for sleeping on the floor. Best clean up before I head off to shield" she thought aloud,
"Why did you end up in an alley?" Steve asked as they left the narrow passage,
"Too much alcohol, I'd assume"
"What did you do to your hand?" Vivian looked, her left hand including three fingers were clearly burnt with a blister forming around the edges,
"Burnt it I think"
When they reached the apartment Vivian jumped in the shower first, bandaging her hand when she came out, Alice rushed in after her,
"ALICE! Lend me some jeans!" she hollered through the bathroom door
"Why?"
"I've only got one pair and I'm wearing those and their dirty"
"So wear a skirt"
"I've only got one and it's not work practical"
"Go naked then!" Alice retorted,
Steve was sat on the sofa watching the girls argue through a door , 'they're like sisters' he thought as Vivian slammed her bedroom door appearing sometime later in a high waist black patterned skirt, white Victorian shirt with frills around the cuffs and Lolita platforms
"This is what I get for being stingy with clothes" she huffed taking root on the sofa opposite Steve,
"But Alice bought enough clothes the other day"
Vivian chuckled "yeah her clothes, she spends money on clothes. I spend money on electronics, explosives and expensive whiskey"
"You look pretty"
"Jeans are more comfortable. I don't suit this girly crap" she pouted, they waited for Alice to get ready before they left to Shield together.
"Miss Rose a word please" Fury collared her as she soon as she arrived on the base,
"O dear that can't be good" she followed him to the command room where he showed her several pictures of police cars with the rear end destroyed,
"Can you explain this please?" he asked frowning at her with his good eye,
He knew she was responsible for this mess "car bombs?"
"Do not act coy with me; I know without a doubt you were the one behind this"
She folded her arms crossly "so why did you ask?"
"Not denying it?"
"Why bother? So I won't bother making excuses either. I was plastered, in foul mood and I felt like blowing shit up"
He slammed his hand on the desk loudly, several agents working around them looked over before getting back to work when the director looked round "I'm confiscating all of your explosives and you will be under surveillance. I will send an agent round with you later to clear your home of the explosives you keep"
Vivian frowned and emptied her bag of the copious amounts of flash grenades and cherry bombs she had. "I expect them back" she huffed and walked out towards the canteen to grab coffee before she started work in the med bay.
While Vivian worked in the med bay I thought I'd find our newest deity and let him know just what I thought of his stunt the previous evening. I found him in the lab bothering Stark,
"You and I need to have some words" I said crossly marching up to the significantly taller frost giant,
"What happened to the dress?" Stark joked
"I am so not in the mood to deal with you today" I shot at him
"So what are you in the mood for?" he said knowing it would only infuriate me more,
"Do you want me to hit you again? Cause I will do it" Stark backed off and got back to whatever it was he was doing,
"So what was it you needed to talk to me about?" Loki asked
"Your stunt in my apartment"
"Ah yes I thought you might be angry about that"
"You're damn right I'm angry! I tell you she likes someone and what do you do? You kiss her in front of everyone!" I seethed
"I was overcome with jealously. I'll admit it's not my best trait but it happens" Loki said,
"So you're not defending your actions?"
"No"
"That makes this a lot easier then. Stay away from her" I said
"Or else what?" Loki asked clearly enjoying the game we were playing
"Or else I'll shoot you with my special horsemen bullets and you really won't like that"
"Is that a threat?"
"She doesn't threaten. She promises. And she always keeps her promises" Stark chimed from the corner of the lab he was working
"I see. Well I guess I'll just have to live in fear of your gun" Loki joked
"Fine have it your way. Go after her. I'm telling you right now you're wasting your time"
"I'll be the judge of that" Loki said
"I'm sure" I turned on my heels and walked out the door to attempt to repair the damage Loki had done, I headed straight for the med bay and found Banner and Vivian working, "Sorry to interrupt but could I borrow the good doctor for a moment" I said sweetly taking Banner by the arm and leading him out into the hallway with me,
"Does your arm hurt?"
"Nah I wrapped it up last night and it's fine. Steve kept checking the bandage for blood every two minutes so I was well looked after. No I wanted to talk to you about yesterday"
"Oh. Don't worry it isn't necessary"
"It is" I said, "Look she's not good with people, machines sure, but people kind of stump her and she really does care about you. That stunt Loki pulled was to make it seem like she'd chosen him over you but she hasn't. Do you know what she did last night after she left the apartment?" Banner shook his head, "She got drunk. Blindingly drunk. She put bombs in the exhausts of police cars. She was upset and when's she's upset she lashes out.
I'll bet she never told you she's a fan of your work. She used to buy all these scientific America magazines whenever they mentioned you just to see what kind of work you were doing. After your accident she looked over all the data she'd collected about the experiment to see if she couldn't find a way to make it work. You were her idol and when she finally got to met you it was like a dream come true. So don't give up on her ok. That's all I have to say. I'll let you get back to work" I left Banner and headed along the corridor to the firing range,
"That was a really nice thing you did" Steve said appearing seemingly out of a wall
"Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches don't do that to a person" I said holding my hand to my chest to stay my erratic heart eat,
"Sorry"
"Viv's really the only family I have so I want her to be happy and that stunt Loki pulled was only going to make everything worse and like I said to the Doc people aren't her speciality so it's up to me to smooth these things over"
Steve didn't speak for a moment, "Um do you want to go to my apartment and you can show me what you bought the dress for?"
"Sure. Let's go"
Vivian hadn't spoke to Bruce about the incident at her apartment and avoided Loki like he had the plague. She kept to herself only talking to nurses when they had quires for her. The virus that had infected Peter Parker was different, a symbiotie creature with great difficulty they had managed to separate it from Parker, storing it in a jar and then in an airtight container. Vivian's main concern now that the man was back to normal was to monitor him; he had been shot with several bullets containing uranium: not that she had told anybody she was already in far too much trouble.
She glanced over at Bruce who was checking the other patients on the other side of the room, when Alice appeared "Sorry to interrupt but could I borrow the good doctor for a moment" she said sweetly taking Banner by the arm and leading him out into the hallway.
Vivian took over Bruce's watch while he was out conversing with Alice. Those infected with the virus from pestilence had improved significantly and if all went well they would be discharged at the weekend. Vivian's hand however was getting slightly worse,
"Do you have any painkillers?" she asked the doctor who was sat at his desk,
"For you I take it?" she nodded holding up her bandaged hand, he gestured for her sit down unravelling the bandages to inspect the wound, "I've seen burns like this when mishandling fireworks" he looked up at her sternly,
"I'm sure you've heard that I handle explosives"
"Can you move your fingers?"
"Wiggling yes actually bending them no it's extremely painful" she tried to bend her fingers but the blisters prevented her.
The fluid in the blisters were removed and her hand was covered in a cooling gel which stung immensely he wrapped a fresh bandage tightly around her hand and issued her some painkillers, "Ah doctor Banner" Vivian titled her head back to find the doctor stood right behind her "you two should take a break, you've been working nonstop since you got here. We'll call you if anything happens" Bruce and Vivian left the infirmary in silence; she kept glancing at him briefly then looking at the floor,
"Alice told me she found you in an alley" Vivian could feel him staring at her intently "do you know how dangerous that is?"
"Probably not the wisest thing I've done for a while" she joked earning another glare from the doctor. The canteen was currently home to two people she really didn't feel like talking to at this moment in time Stark and Loki. And who did she end up sitting next to: Loki, courtesy of Stark who had grabbed Banner to sit next to him.
"Tony was showing me interesting places to visit" Loki acted like nothing had happened, "perhaps you could come with me?" he asked, a slight smug look on his face.
Vivian kept silent trying to ignore his many questions, she was saved by the phone 'Thank you withheld number' she thought happily answering the phone with her good hand,
"VIVIAN!"
The voice shouted down the phone, the three men stared at her as she held the phone at a distance "First, please don't shout down the phone"
"Sorry Vivian" she recognized the voice as her father: the non-adopted father, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, w-"
He cut her off "I just saw the news and there were loads of bombs and things in New York. That's where you're living right?"
Vivian couldn't help but smile "seriously, Daddy. I'm fine." no sooner had those words left her mouth, did Tony start heaving with laughter,
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry so much."
"I will talk to you later, I'm about to start my new job" he said chirpily
"Good luck with it," the phone had been put down and Tony couldn't wait to rag her,
"Daddy? Last time I heard you talk to your old man, you called him father and stood a good four foot away from him" he laughed clutching his sides "when did you become such a daddy's girl?"
"The man you met was my adoptive father. I was talking to my actual father on the phone" she explained eating one of the bagels she had bought,
"You found him? That's great" Loki smiled reaching out to take Vivian's hand but she jerked it away swiftly,
"Found him?" she took a quick sip of coffee to wash the bagel down "I've always known where he was. He was released from prison that's all"
"So being destructive runs in the family does it?" Stark asked,
She shrugged "something like that"
"What about your mother?" Loki questioned softly,
"Don't know, last I heard she was in prison too"
The sirens echoed overheard startling everyone, Avengers were told to assemble, and Death had been spotted just outside of New York.
"Where's Cap?"
"If he's not on the base, he'll be with Alice" Vivian reminded following the team into the command room.
"Stark, Thor and Hawkeye will head to the city find Rodgers and Miss winters while you're at it. Everyone else will remain here to cover." Fury ordered.
"Why must I remain behind?" Loki argued, Thor placed a hand on his brothers shoulder
"Someone needs to stay and protect this place." he leaned closer "you have to protect the ferret too"
"Can I have my explosives back? Just in case" Vivian asked coyly,
Nick turned to the small girl "You won't need them; you're not here to fight. They are"
I had finally gotten around to showing Steve what I'd bought the dress for when someone almost broke the door down,
"What!" I yelled throwing the door open I was faced with Stark, Thor and Hawkeye and I was wearing nothing but a sheet, "I'm waiting" I said tapping my foot on the ground
"We need your assistance" Thor said,
"So that's why you almost broke the dang door down? Let me get dressed" I said leaving the door open and heading back to Steve's room to put my clothes back on, "Apparently there's something goin on" I said hiking my jeans up
"Did they say what?"
"No they did not. They were too busy staring at the fact that I was wearing nothing but a sheet" Steve paled, "Not the time to worry about me being seen naked" I said pulling my sweater over my head, "So you should probably get dressed" I said lacing up my hunting boots.
Steve dressed quickly in his spangly outfit and we were on our way. We headed straight into the heart of the city where the Cajun man who had come to the SHIELD base was attacking random pedestrians with the help of a man I could only call a mad scientist, "you know I'm not even going to ask" I said loading some flash bang bullets into my gun and getting ready to do whatever needed to be done about the mad scientist and the Cajun man
Natasha Romanoff was ordered to keep an eye on Vivian who had stormed off from the command room.
"You know it's for your own safety" she said following Vivian,
"I know that. It's just I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen and I don't like being unarmed" Vivian replied entering the lab,
"I know the feeling, what's got you on edge?"
Vivian rummaged around the shelves using a stool for the higher ones "Well why send one horsemen? When two would make a bigger impact if he was going after causing panic."
"And?"
Jumping down with several vials in her hands "Well where's the other horsemen and Apocalypse?" she fitted the vials into several oddly shaped syringes, "these will go through anything including horsemen thick skin" she smiled placing them into a box. "Bruce and I came up with them. I like to be prepared"
The boat rocked furious, Vivian lost her balance and ended up on the floor "you are scary" Natasha laughed helping her off the floor before venturing forth to investigate the situation.
"I have this effect" they reached the deck, Vivian's gut feeling was actually right there was the remaining horseman War, the red hulk hit people out the way like flies. Loki and Bruce joined them on the balcony.
"Vivian you shouldn't be here" Bruce took his glasses off and handed them to Vivian, "Loki stay here with her" Vivian would have objected if the mild mannered man she respected hadn't just grew several feet and turned green, she had never seen him turn before.
"Surprised?" Loki asked looking down at the slightly shocked Vivian,
"Not really" Hulk versus Red Hulk who would win, a lot of people backed up give the giants room to fight. Though as the fight progressed Hulk was being overpowered by War, Vivian grabbed Loki's arm "why are you just standing there do something!" she begged, Loki was hesitant but complied not that he needed to venture into the fray to use his powers, while Loki was preoccupied Vivian grabbed Black widow and melded with the crowd "we need to get him off the carrier or its going to be a floating fireball in no time. I have an idea but we're going to need some help" she turned to the soldiers who were stood there not knowing what to do in the fight. Natasha railed a few of the men, most of them were to follow her into battle, attaching thick wires to the feet of the Red Hulk then attaching them to one of the jets. Two engineers followed Vivian to the small jet, attaching metals hoops for the wires to clip on too. She hoped inside the jet, stealing one of the men's goggles and waited for the others to get into place. "Right this thing can't be too difficult" she mumbled pulling the goggles over her eyes as the wires were clipped into place. "Let's fly" thrusters on and we were rolling. Luckily War was still focusing on Hulk and Loki's attacks to notice one plane trying to leave until it figured that he was attached to jet. In the air and going smoothly, War had been removed with one final Hulk push. Celebrations didn't last long War had climbed the wires and planted himself on the screen taking the top of the plane off with one fell swoop, eject lever eject lever' she chanted mentally, fumbling for the release lever. Not that it was all that useful, War seized her as the chair shot out the plane and in such a war she couldn't even undo the buckles to jump out of the chair. One thing she wasn't great at doing holding her breath underwater. The plane hit the water creating a large flume of water in the air.
I was having next to no luck subduing the Cajun man. Whatever Apocalypse and the mad scientist had done to him made him stronger than any I'd gone up against,
"This is so not my day" I said to Steve as he pulled me away from some falling debris,
"Maybe you should wait this out somewhere safe" Hawkeye said trying to hit the Cajun man with an explosive arrow
"Not likely" I loaded the last of my armour piercing rounds into my gun and took aim again at the Cajun man who sent some flaming cards my way.
Two things happened after that. The first was that I wasn't able to duck quite in time and the second was that the flaming card caught some of my hair and singed it,
"My hair. You burnt my hair!" I shrieked running towards the Cajun man and using my gymnastic ability and every trick I knew to avoid his attacks.
Once I was close enough I was able to knock him unconscious with the butt of my gun leaving only the mad scientist who really didn't seem to be that much of a threat for the combined forces of Hawkeye, Stark and Steve,
"You know you are one scary chick" Stark said
"I know he's been brainwashed and all but that son bitch burnt my hair!" I said resolutely, "I suppose we should bring him back. If Apocalypse and the other Horseman haven't destroyed everything by now"
When I got back to the Heli Pad Vivian was nowhere in sight,
"She's in the med bay" Natasha said when I found her to ask about Vivian
"What? I thought the people who were infected were doing better"
"They are. She swallowed a lot of water" Natasha explained what had happened with Red Hulk and Doctor Banner and how the Doc had jumped in the water to save her endangering himself and managing to pull her out of the water and back on the Heli Pad and take her to the nurses before passing out,
"Where is he now?"
"In the med bay keeping tabs on her" Natasha said
"I'm going to see if she's ok" I said rushing to the med bay where I met Banner
"She's unconscious for now but I expect her to wake soon" Banner said without looking at me
"You'll find me when she does?"
"Of course" he said still not taking his eyes off Vivian
I left the med bay and let Steve take me home where I wanted anxiously for a call about Vivian for better or worse