Iris West doesn't have a death wish, okay? (tellsyourstory) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-03-24 15:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, iris west, natasha romanoff (black widow), thor odinson |
Who: Iris, Natasha, Thor, and some NPC!Hydra-goons
What: The story Iris has been chasing takes a dangerous turn
When: Late afternoon, March 24th
Where: One of Hydra’s bought out shelters to an alleyway
Warnings: Violence
Status: Log | Complete
Well, it had started as a relatively straight to the point story. Iris had seen the post about one of the local nonprofits having to take in more people because of shelters closing following the government shutdown and so the idea had been to see if this was a more national concern or tied specifically to Orange County given the already uncertain nature of things in the area from the weird happenings she had constantly heard about. Or some form of gentrification. Or a combination thereof. It had been the working theory, but as an investigative journalist, it was always important to keep an open mind and see where the leads took her.
Even when they led to walls that required her to use OCPD computers to see if she could come up with something. Which, not much but there had at least been a slight lead that she could follow. Though Iris was getting ready to reach out to Skye to see if she would help her with some hacking of shell companies to see just what the hell was going on.
Or at least that had been the plan. It had been routine. Try to find some building neighbors of one of the closed down shelters, see if they had heard anything or had been offered anything for their own building. Get a feel for what was being said on the ground from those involved. But apparently despite being unable to really find anyone who was willing to say anything, Iris had still caught the attention of someone or multiple someones. She had noticed them while trying to find someone to talk with and the fact they kept showing up.
It was always possible that she was being paranoid, but Iris didn’t think that was the case. Her instincts were telling her that something was definitely off and whomever it was she was noticing? They were up to something. Especially since she wasn’t keeping any sort of routine. Well then. That made this story just get infinitely more interesting.
Rounding the corner to get to her next destination, Iris came to a stop as she ran into one of the men who had been showing up the past few days whenever she went somewhere. She could feel her pulse rate increase, but she didn’t let it show even though they had somehow managed to corner her where there weren’t people nearby. Right now it was mostly just getting out of this situation alive.
So it was play along, follow the leader until she got a chance to make a break for it. Which came as she turned and punched the guy who had ended up behind her, knocking him down and then it was run and get back to where there were actual people. Or she could be shot at, though whomever it was wasn’t the best of shots. Okay this just got a lot more complicated than she had expected.
Compared to Rita Skeeter, Iris was a thornier problem. She was stubborn and curious which were usually good things except when a journalist was involved. Nat was pretty sure she was a Dreamer, or had the potential of being one, so eventually she’d be let in on the secret anyway.
But until there she’d kept an eye on her, in order to know when and if she’d have to step in and cover up something Iris exposed.
Or to keep her alive, since that digging was starting to turn over rocks with a particular brand of pest. And when one particular alarm went off after Iris was spotted too close to a Hydra nest she’d been monitoring, Natasha rushed into action. Not just to save Iris; but to keep Hydra from bailing on that base before she could get the intel she’d been searching for. Or at least, trashing it before they could flee.
There were more men waiting for Iris at the end of the alleyway, wearing jumpsuits with a strange patch on the shoulders, as though they’d been doing some kind of work. Spotting her, they started in her direction.
A motorcycle slammed into the lot of them, a figure in a dark catsuit landing in a crouch among the chaos. The figure knocked out the only one left standing, then charged down the alley. A silenced pop echoed off the bricks and another man coming from the opposite direction fell down.
Natasha slowed to a stop. “There’ll be more, can you fight?”
While Iris had indeed started dreaming, she just hadn’t really gone about posting about it. Then again, besides the emotional bleedover related to Barry and her worry about him or comments on stupid ideas like dating her father’s partner, there wasn’t all that much to say. Still, it was one of those things she’d been aware of.
Not that she was really thinking about dreams or any of that when she was chasing a story that had suddenly gotten a lot more complicated. Yes, it was part of the job but this was definitely excessive. Nor was Barry exactly going to let her live it down that she managed to get shot at because of a story.
Noticing the supposed workmen suddenly coming towards her, Iris just groaned to herself.
“Seriously?”
Because being shot at wasn’t enough? Just what was going on with this story because the initial premise certainly didn’t warrant this particular response.
Though then suddenly someone was showing up in a catsuit of all things and the men went down and all Iris could do was just look at them before the woman who addressed her. About more coming. Because of course there were.
“Yeah. I can fight.” This probably wasn’t what Joe’d had in mind when he put her in gloves at the age of six, but Iris could hold her own if necessary.
“They’re not going to let this go easily, and I’m pretty sure you just blew some of my work but I think I can make something of this.”
Natasha offered Iris a baton.
Yeah, none of this was exactly making sense. Shady businessmen were at least something she was mostly familiar with. And yeah, they definitely had intense security though what was happening now went even beyond that. But the fact this woman was apparently watching this building and how she said she just blew some of her work?
“Yeah, I’m going to want to know more on that when we get out of this.”
Not if. When. Because they weren’t dying there, even if she was a bit (a lot) out of her league at the moment. But right. Right now, it was getting out of there, so Iris took the baton. Not something she was completely used to, but she wasn’t going to complain.
“Lets just say they have no problem burying someone who’s learned too much,” Nat explained, holstering her gun and withdrawing a second baton. She checked the device wrapped around her wrist and then started for an intersection in the alleyway. If she remembered correctly it would lead them right to where she wanted to go.
Keeping her voice hushed, she added. “They’re a direct product of Dreamers.”
Great, that was just great. Iris wasn’t the type to let something like this scare her off of a story - not by a longshot. But it did make things more complicated since contrary to popular belief, she didn’t have a death wish.
“Well, that’s just great.”
Because why not have this be related to the Dreams. Apparently people knowing you from them and emotional bleedover was only some of what crossed over. Okay, Iris had an idea on that thanks to how people spoke, but from her observations, this was still...more than anticipated.
“Isn’t it though?” Natasha deadpanned, peering around a corner. She jerked her head back in time to avoid getting shot, then thumbed a small sphere from her belt. Nat held it up. “Flashbang. Don’t look directly at it.”
Then she threw it around the corner. There was a flash and a pop and then Nat rounded the corner and charged down the alley. Two men emerged from behind a dumpster and began to chase her while she charged down two more.
Iris really had no idea on what to expect at this point, or why this woman had a flashbang on her. But she’d been watching the building already so she was just going to go with it for now. It was easier that way. So while Natasa threw the flashbang, Iris shielded her eyes before noticing the men going after Natasha.
Time to put her training with her dad and her current use of the baton to work. These ones were a bit more prepared than the guy she’d managed to knock out earlier who hadn’t been anticipating it but it at least was keeping them occupied even if she hadn’t been trained for this sort of fighting before.
In a few quick movements, Natasha tripped one man and then jabbed her fist into the other. There was a spark and he convulsed before going down as well. Turning, she saw Iris tussling with the other men, and took a step towards her before waiting for a sign Iris wanted help. She didn’t want to presume and god knew how easily Dreamers could have their prides wounded.
Iris had pride in her writing and work and getting to the truth of the matter, but that didn’t mean that she would turn down help when it came to this particular situation. Because there was only so much her right hook could do in a situation like this. And the baton. It definitely was helping, but she wasn’t going to turn down any help Natasha might want to throw her way.
Especially as she suddenly felt pain from a knife slashing her arm. Okay, that wasn’t going to be fun to explain. But right. At least she managed to knock one of the guys she was fighting out with the baton? Taking the wins where she could.
Seeing enough, Natasha lifted her wrist and shot the other man with a widow’s kiss. He twitched and jerked as he fell, before going still. While Nat didn’t plan to leave him alive to identify Iris, she wasn’t going to just murder him in front of a reporter. Shooting someone in combat was one thing, shooting them in the back (or while lying on the ground) was another.
She looked around, then sighed. “Let’s get you out of here, I’ll have to blow their nest.”
As the guy went down, Iris winced and held her hand over the slash on her arm to staunch the blood for the moment. Though it was definitely a good thing that Natasha didn’t just outright kill the guy once he was down. Since that would raise even more questions.
“Right, yeah….”
Not that Iris had much say in the matter. Whatever was happening went far beyond the scope of her initial story. The question of course was what? If it wasn’t because of weird Orange County happenings and then the government shutdown, why had so many shelters been shut down? And what was so secretive about it that no one wanted to talk about it and she had been shot at over it?
Natasha grabbed for Iris’s uninjured arm and started pulling her down the alley as a humming sounded somewhere in the distance. The motorcycle she’d slammed into some of the bad guys was miraculously intact and made from some kind of damage resistant polymer. Nat got on it. “Hop on and hold on.”
On the one hand, blindly following Natasha might not be the smartest of ideas given what had just happened. But they'd already spoken on the network, plus she had come to her aid and they had already gotten this far. Iris would just save her questions for when they were off the street.
Which was why she did as told. Though she did have one question.
“Where are we going?”
“Away,” Natasha said, gunning the engine, the smell of rubber burning filling the air as they tore away from the building. The droning got louder, and then something shot above them. There was a loud banging sound and smoke billowed in the air where the Hydra building had once been.
Natasha didn’t slow the bike until they were several miles away, and near enough to the sea to hear gulls. She pulled over, getting off the bike and looking at Iris expectantly.
“So helpful.” She wasn’t complaining too much, but away really wasn’t much of an answer. God this was a mess and Iris wasn’t sure what to make of any of this, especially as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off so she was more aware of the pain in her arm.
And then there was smoke and an explosion and….
Well, that was a waste of a good building that could have gone back to the people who used it and needed it. So Iris just looked back, as if the building would still be there even though it wasn’t.
As they came to a stop, Iris just quirked a brow at the look she was getting from Natasha.
“What?”
“You have questions. I have answers.” Natasha said, looking straight at Iris. “But whatever story you try to publish may not resemble what you want when it reaches its final form. My job is to prevent that.” And Nat pointed in the direction of the smoke. “From spilling out of Orange County and making people we don’t want being nosey getting nosey.”
Yeah, that was definitely not something you told a journalist. She was used to the editing process and all, but there was a difference between that and someone saying that the final form of her story might be completely different. So even with the slashed arm, Iris just crossed her arms.
“I hardly see how looking into why so many shelters were shut down and buildings bought seemingly because of the government shutdown would lead to that,” at which she too motioned to direction of the smoke.
“And you’re going to have to expand on your reasoning if you expect me to accept that.”
Because Iris wasn’t reckless in her reporting and could actually be swayed by actual logic. But she also believed people deserved to know the truth. So there had to be a damn good reason to keep some of these things quiet. And even then it was always a fine line between actual concerns on security and just an excuse.
“It’s a terrorist group called Hydra,” Natasha said simply. “They don’t exist in any records outside of Orange County, and they originated from dreams myself and others shared. They’re nazis who wish to bring order to a chaotic world. Many of those buildings were bought by them to be used as safehouses, bases, and research facilities.”
She looked past Iris again, “I’ve seen some of what they’ve experimented with, including super soldiers. And if you don’t believe me on that I know a woman who can walk through walls and a man with metal claws in his hands. And there are literally aliens among us.”
And her girlfriend was an alien but Nat wasn’t about to out Stahma like that. Even so, most of what Nat was saying were things she thought could damage Iris’s credibility as a reporter.
This was definitely a lot to take in. And as open minded as Iris was about the whole Dream thing - especially after having one of her own and realizing Cisco of all people was in them - that didn’t mean she was just going to take things at face value either. Especially since Natasha had already said that if Iris tried to publish her story, it might be vastly different than what she initially might send in and now she was telling her things
that would damage her credibility. Because this wasn’t Central City in her dreams where metahumans were known about by the populace. So right now? It just sounded like Natasha was trying an even more elaborate way to keep her from getting to the truth.
“So instead, this terrorist organization works underground and people don’t get to know? Even as they make the homelessness problem this state is facing even worse, leading to more people being at risk of being victims of crime because this organization has shut down an alarming number of shelters and places they could have gotten help and overwhelming the shelters and organizations that have managed to stay open at this point?”
Because super soldier experimentation or not, there were people not even on the network impacted by what was going on but they were supposed to just be kept in the dark? Iris could understand the concern about bringing more attention to those with supposed abilities to the attention of world governments. But she wasn’t convinced that was actually a thing just yet.
“See, you say if I don’t believe you, you know people with these abilities, and aliens, but that’s still just words right now.”
“A terrorist organization with demons and advanced technology a century ahead of the rest of the world, yes. The people don’t get to know because if you think for one second the United States Government would have our best interests in heart in going after that technology and the Dreamers who live here…God, any government agency, or DoD contractor.”
Natasha shook her head. “The Agency can help with the homelessness problem, there are thousands of houses without people living in them. I’ve been a little too in the weeds trying to shut some of these cells down to think about that before now.”
Natasha studied her a moment. “If you want to wait around five minutes, do you want to meet that woman, claw man, or the God of Thunder?”
“Okay, now you make it sound like we’re living in a comic book.” Look, someone had to say it. And if Natasha were telling the truth, Iris could see why they wouldn’t want certain things getting out. Even if it went against every fiber of her being because she truly did feel that people needed to know the truth to protect themselves.
“I’m not that naive. I’ve covered plenty of stories here and overseas and know how governments can operate. But until I see actual proof and not just the word of someone clearly trying to keep me from writing this story?” Well, she wasn’t going to exactly accept it.
“Clearly.” Rubbing her forehead, Iris let out a slow breath. It might not be Natasha’s fault that she was focused on this part of it and so this Agency or whatever hadn’t gotten around to helping with the sudden increase of homelessness thanks to the buildings and shelters being bought out. “How many shelters do you even think were closed down in recent months?”
As for her option on who she could get?
“Yep. Still sounds like a comic book. But yeah, I can wait around five minutes. I guess whoever can get here the easiest?” She had no idea who that would be or how to even pick who would be the best fit for...whatever this was. Iris was mostly trying to just make sense of it all and parse truth from clear attempts to keep her from writing this story.
That’s because it was a comic book, but Nat kept that thought to herself. “Five. Three bases, well 2 now, and two other buildings they haven’t started using yet.”
Nat fished her phone out of her pocket, hoping Thor was available. She felt like this needed something flashy and he’d get here more quickly than anyone else. There were others too and Stahma could almost work, but again, Nat was reluctant on that front.
Make it extra.
Then she looked up as storm clouds started to gather.
Probably not a good idea to say they were living in a comic book, because then Iris might actually think Natasha had lost her mind. She knew what she saw on the network, she knew about the people with abilities in her own Dreams. But this was Orange County where she had grown up. So actual proof was going to be necessary.
Though as Natasha said that there had only been five shelters closed? Iris scoffed.
“Try twenty.”
Iris was nothing if not thorough and she had made sure that each of them was tied to the shell companies and not just other buildings that had been bought out in the same time by legitimate ones. It was important to sort through these things after all.
Of course, then there were sudden storm clouds above head and Iris blinked and looked up. It had been a wet winter, with more rain than usual, but there had been nothing in the forecast about this. Though Natasha had mentioned the God of Thunder.
“Twenty?” Natasha swore in Russian, not looking forward to a lot of sleepless nights. “Can you get me a rough estimate of how many families and individuals are affected?”
Lightning flashed, thunder rolling as the clouds swirled around, and then there was a flash as lightning struck about twenty feet away. When the flash faded, a man stood there. Thor was in full armor, and spinning his hammer around lazily as he spotted Natasha. He beamed and walked over. “My friend!!”
“Yeah, of course.” Because if Natasha was indeed telling the truth, and this was something she couldn’t put to print, Iris still needed a way to help those who needed it. Yes, there were still shelters open. Just a lot less than there had been and they were all overwhelmed. It was the founder of Pimpernel Outreach posting about it that had made Iris delve into it more in the first place.
However the journalist’s attention was diverted as the thunder and lightning started up. Specifically just where they were and nowhere else. Yeah. That definitely wasn’t normal. And then lightning struck the ground only for…. A man to walk forward. A very well built attractive man at that. It wasn’t like the lightning had lingered long enough for him to show up behind it. No. He was definitely there from the lightning.
Iris really wasn’t entirely sure on what to say as he walked up to Natasha and instead just kept her hand over the gash on her arm. It seemed to have finally stopped bleeding at least.
Nat could divert some Agency resources and talk Tony into buying houses for people, she was pretty sure. But that was a discussion for a later date as Thor arrived exactly how she’d hoped he would.
“Thor, meet Iris West. Iris. Thor, Prince of Asgard and the God of Thunder.”
“My pleasure.” Thor grinned, and then noticed Iris’s arm and his expression grew concerned. He set the hammer down on the ground, where it seemed to rest heavily. “You’re hurt. Let me see. I’m a doctor.”
Thor. As in Norse Mythology. Okay, sure. That was not at all what Iris had expected but then again, she had said whoever could get there the easiest. Which apparently was an actual Norse God.
“Likewise.”
But then he seemed to notice her arm and Iris was about to protest but he seemed already determined to check it out and well….it probably would be better to have that done here as opposed to not getting something done or her dad finding out. That was a can of worms she definitely didn’t want to deal with. A hovering Joe West was not something she would avoid at all costs, thank you very much. So instead, she just dropped her hand.
“It’s really not that bad…”
At least that was the hope. But if this Hydra was as bad as Natasha was saying? Who really knew?
Nat retrieved a medkit from the bike, handing it to Thor. “I was hoping you’d do the rain too. I always like it when it rains.”
“Maybe next time you need me to impress a pretty girl for you,” he retorted, getting a look at the wound. The bleeding had stopped, but there was a foul odor to it and it was already starting to fester. Thor narrowed his eyes. “How did this wound happen?”
Okay, that wasn’t a good look. Then again, it was hard to tell if the reason she was feeling warm was just from overexertion from fighting earlier or something else. She’d been so focused on getting answers that she’d ignored that and the vague sense of dizziness. As for how?
“Um, I was fighting two guys and one had a knife I guess.”
It had been too chaotic for the journalist to really know the specifics. There had been the initial gun to back to get her to move, then running, the shots, Natasha showing up and dealing with four men so each took two…
“Why?” It was just a knife wound, right?
“I think the knife was poisoned,” Thor said, feeling there was no time to mince words. “It’s festering, and smells putrid.”
Natasha’s lips thinned out. “Hydra must really have wanted to keep people away.” Or one specific person.
“I can’t treat this here.”
“Oh.” It wasn’t much of a reaction, but Iris wasn’t really the type to freak out. That and it was probably a bit of shock as well. She did appreciate the fact that he didn’t mince words though. It did seem that Natasha’s concerns from earlier about Hydra were valid though. Which they’d been more and more once she met Thor.
“So what now?” Since he just said he couldn’t treat the wound where they were.
“Thor takes you to the Agency, where we have an advanced lab, and I call in one of the best biologists in the world to assist,” Natasha said. Oh, Jemma was just going to love this.
Without missing a beat, Thor swept Iris into one arm, and then spun up Mjolnir and launched into the sky.
“Right. Okay. Yeah...that works.” She guessed. It wasn’t like she had much say in the matter. She could already hear Barry in her head telling her that no story was worth her life. So for now, she was just going to have to trust Natasha and the Agency and Thor.
Who suddenly picked her up and they were...flying. Well, any lingering doubt about the God of Thunder and people with abilities was gone now. She’d have to wrap her mind around that later though.