Thank you to Marie218 and my mom for proof reading this chapter. Please somebody make my day and leave a review I don't even care if it just says update soon. It's really discouraging to not get a single review. Thanks to everyone that clicked favorite and or follow. It at least lets me know that people are reading.
"What do you mean he's been compromised? How did it happen?" I demanded in a tone that Phil knew was not the time for bullshit.
"He was watching something that we call the Tesseract, I'm assuming you've heard of it."
"Just tell me Agent Coulson, I'm not in the mood to play games! You know that I know what the Tesseract is." I stated with agitation showing in my voice.
"He was guarding it when it opened a doorway and Loki, the Asguardian God, came though that doorway." Coulson said after a long pause. "I'm not exactly sure how it happened I'm still trying to figure out the specifics, but as far as I know it's like some form of mind control." My head was spinning. Last year we were introduced to the God of Thunder, now we are dealing with another one.
"Are you sure he's alive?" He was compromised but that doesn't mean that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't take him out. I needed to make sure he was alive for Hailey's sake. He hesitated too long for my liking. "Phil, tell me is Clint alive?" I all but shouted into the phone. That seemed to get him in gear to talk.
"He was alive when we last knew his whereabouts. As long as he stays useful to Loki he'll stay that way." When he said that it sounded like it left a bad taste in his mouth. I was about to reply when there was a knock on my office door.
"Hold on a second." I said into my phone before placing it against my shoulder as I opened the door.
"Are you alright?" James questioned, before his expression changed like he switched over on high alert.
"Everything's fine, will you please keep an eye on Hailey. This call shouldn't take much longer." I kept my facial expression neutral. He searched my face for a moment, before he seemed happy enough that I wasn't in danger to relax.
"Sure." He seemed hesitant at first before taking another look around. He turned around and headed back to Hailey. I quickly closed the door and put the phone back to my ear.
"Sorry about that." I let out a sigh, knowing that he was going to ask questions.
"Who was that?" He questioned sternly.
"It's not important."
"Are you seeing someone?"
"Phil I'm not getting into this right now with you."
"He still cares about you! You do know that right?"
"Yes I do know that." I was getting agitated even more since the subject got switched over to James.
"Who were you talking to?" He was not going to let this go.
"He is just a friend; now back to more important things." I snapped at him. He can question me all he wants later; right now we had to get Clint back. "Have you contacted Romanoff yet? She needs to know what happened." I wasn't mad since she was his partner and needed to know right away.
"Not yet I'll contact her right after I get off the phone with you." Thankfully he dropped the subject about my visitor.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Even if he said no I'd still do something.
"I have to get a hold of Tony but I'm betting that he'll try dodging my calls. Do you have any idea of how to get to him without getting stopped by Jarvis as soon as I walk into the lobby elevator?" I chuckled at that, Tony has Jarvis programmed pretty well and Jarvis basically prevents all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personnel to get farther than the elevator.
"I'll give you my access code which will bypass Jarvis so you can get to the penthouse. Got something to write it down with?" Once he confirmed that he had something I spoke again. "The code is 96482450173. Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'll keep you updated. Just please don't do anything stupid!" I suppressed a humorless laugh, he knew me way too well.
"I'll try not to Phil, just promise to keep me in the loop this time." I was pissed when he didn't last time and I had to bail two of his agents out of trouble.
"I promise, Viv. Good bye."
"Good bye Phil." I quickly hung up the phone and ran a hand through my hair with a sigh. I made a growling noise as I pushed everything off my desk. Before I left my study I punched a hole in the wall before slamming the door shut. How could this happen? Why am I acting like a child having a temper tantrum? Because you idiot you still care deeply for him. My thoughts were interrupted when I saw James running towards me.
"What happened?" He stated firmly. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of my now bleeding hand.
"Nothing, just some bad news." I dodged around the question just like I tried dodging around him. I was almost completely past him when he grabbed my arm and spun me around to look at him.
"Don't lie to me Vivian!" He ground out. "Something happened; you're bleeding for Christ's sake." I clenched my teeth at the fact that I most likely couldn't weasel my way out of this.
"Hailey's father is in trouble!" I stated with a slight snarl. I had to help him and James was preventing me from doing what I had to do. I tried to pull my arm out of his grasp but he didn't let me go.
"The man that said he still loves you?" I just blinked at him flatly, since his words seemed bitter. He shook his head. "Never mind it's none of my business. However, it is my business that you're bleeding all over the floor." He said before dragging me down the hallway to the nearest bathroom. "Wash your hands!" I followed his command as he started digging around in the cabinet for the first aid kit.
"I can clean my own wound, you know that right?" I said in a scolding manner, I'm not a child. I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for years.
"Hold still and be quiet!" He scolded me as he poured some rubbing alcohol on my knuckles. I clenched my teeth together to keep the pain at bay. His eyes softened a bit before he spoke. "You're going after him aren't you?" This time there was no bitterness in his tone.
"I have to… He promised Hailey that nothing would happen to him…" I trailed off when he didn't seem to react. I hissed out my breath when he started drying my wounds with dry gauze. He furrowed his brows as he continued to dry my knuckles.
"Why do you have metal knuckles?" He asked with a serious expression.
"I broke my hand a few years back in a car accident." He just hummed a reply as he applied antibacterial ointment to my knuckles and put fresh gauze on them as well. He didn't speak until he was done wrapping my hand. Once he was done I gently placed my hand on his shoulder. "Thank you." I removed my hand and started to pack up the first aid kit. James didn't have anything to say. So he quickly left the bathroom, but not before saying that he was going to go check on Hailey.
I finished with the first aid kit and put it back in the cabinet. Once I was in the hallway I started listing off the supplies we needed to restock the first aid kit with Alexa marking the stuff down. I walked to my room and packed an overnight bag with a few changes of clothing. I grabbed my small case from my safe and stuffed it into my bag. Once my bag was completely packed I walked to the front door and placed my bag next to the door. I let out a sigh and headed towards the living room to see if Hailey wanted a snack before bed.
She didn't want anything, so she was going to go straight to bed. I watched as she gave James a hug before leading me to her room. Once I read her a story I tucked her in, before talking to her. "Sweetie, something came up. I'm going to have to leave for a few days. I'll be back before you know it." She pouted at me. "I'll have to call Amy and see if she can baby sit you." I shook my head as she huffed at me. "Don't be like that. You like Amy." I gave her a hug and I knew she wasn't happy. "I love you sweetie, and Daddy said he loves you too." I smiled at her grin but it didn't reach my eyes. I kissed her forehead before I switched off her light and left the room.
I silently made my way to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. I set the glass down on the counter and went to the freezer. When I closed the freezer door I wasn't surprised to see James leaning against the counter holding the glass I got out of the cabinet along with another one. I silently filled the glasses with ice before refilling the ice cube tray. I placed the tray back into the freezer as James filled up the glasses with whiskey. I took the glass he offered me and sat down next to him.
"You're leaving tonight." He said it as a statement not a question.
"Yes." I said before I took a swig of my drink.
"How long will you be gone?"
"It should only be a few days; I'm going to help track him." I didn't have to specify who I was talking about since he already knew who I was talking about. "I'm going to call Amy shortly to see if she'll babysit Hailey." I took another swig of my drink and almost spit it out when he spoke.
"I can babysit Hailey!" I looked at him squarely in the eyes.
"I can't ask you to do that." I've never left him watch Hailey for more than a few hours by himself. It's not that I don't trust him; I just don't want him to feel like he's obligated to watch her.
"I'm not asking you to ask me. I'm willing to babysit her. At least you know she'll be protected and taken care of properly."
"Are you sure you can handle babysitting her?"
"I'm sure." He said as he raised his glass towards mine for a little toast. I gave him a small smile and clanked our glasses together. "There it's settled I'll babysit Hailey." We both downed the rest of our drinks, and talked for close to two hours. Once I knew the alcohol was out of my system I stood up. I took both of our glasses over to the sink and started washing them while he watched. I didn't have to go over a huge list of things that he needed to know like how to get a hold of me if something happened. He walked me to the front door and I grabbed my bag.
"Please take good care of her along with yourself." I pulled a device no bigger than a small cell phone from my pocket. I grabbed his hand and placed the device in his palm and closed his fingers around it. I gave his hand a small squeeze before letting it go. "I will contact you at least once a day. If I fail to check in for two days that device I just gave you will activate, allowing you to track my movements. You definitely shouldn't need it but it's a precaution. I'll see you when I see you."
"Vivian be careful." He said as he glanced at the device I gave him before slipping it into his pocket. I nodded my head before I headed out the door and to my car.
