Chapter 3
Hamish’s POV
After Andy basically ran out of the bar after checking her phone, I couldn’t stop myself from following her. As soon as she walked in through that door earlier today, my mind kept wandering back to her, something about her peaked Tundra’s interest, I felt him ruffle under my skin when he sensed her. Her scent was something smoky, spicy almost. I also couldn’t deny myself that she was very attractive, and she had this aura around her that made me want to be around her. And what was with the shock when our hands met? It made my chest flood with this warmth, and I felt at peace, which I hadn’t felt in a long time. It stirred something within Tundra and I. So here I was, creeping along the path, hidden in the woods as she spoke on the phone to someone named Sam and Bucky.
There was this odd feeling like she knew I was here, and I couldn’t shake it. But there’s no way she could know, right? What the hell was I doing? I stopped walking, standing still among the trees as I thought over the next course of action. There’s no time for this, with only Vera knowing we’ve got our memories back, we’ve still got our parts to play with the order, I couldn’t lose focus now. I felt Tundra protest as I turned around to head back towards the den, so I had to grit my teeth and force myself to leave her.
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Anderson’s POV
Once Sam finished up giving me the play by play, I took a second to listen to the air around me, but I didn’t hear anything. Assuming it was just me being paranoid, I shook the thought from my head, giving my attention back to Sam.
“Are you guys sure you’ve got it handled?” I asked, reaching my building.
“Yeah we’ve got this handled doll.” I heard Bucky say in the background. “You wanted out, live your life.”
“That little girl kicked your ass.” Sam laughed through the phone.
I chuckled as I heard Bucky growl lightly.
“Well you know where to find me.” I sighed. “Just please, be careful.”
“Will do.” Sam spoke.
“And Bucky, text me back every now and then so I know you’re alive.” I spoke as I closed and locked my door behind me.
Waiting for a response, my phone made a notification sound. Looking at my screen, it’s from Bucky. ‘I’m alive.’
“Smart ass.” I laughed lightly. “So what’s the plan for Walker?”
“To be determined Andy. I’ll call you when I can.” Sam spoke.
“Alright, bye guys.” I clicked the red button, running a hand through my hair as I kicked off my shoes.
Heading towards my room, I stripped off my clothes to get ready to shower before lying in bed. As I was removing my shirt a thought crossed my mind, I didn’t even get Hamish’s number before bolting from the bar. Hopefully he’s around tomorrow.
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Trumpets blaring led me to suddenly rise up out of bed, gasping as I took in a large breath. My eyes wide open as I tried to even out my breathing, frantically looking around the room. After a few seconds, my eyes had adjusted to the light rolling in through the blinds, and my ears finally registered that it was my phone ringing on the side table. Reaching over, I quickly pressed the green button, not bothering to check the caller ID.
“Anderson.” I spoke gruffly into the phone, wiping my eyes with one hand to clear the blurriness from my vision.
“Hello mein schatz, it’s been some time, how are you settling in?” His accent rang through the speaker, making my mouth drier than it already was.
“Helmut” I sighed fondly. “I’m okay, how are you? Have they been good to you? Did you need me to take the trip out sooner?” I spoke softly, standing up from my bed to head towards the kitchen.
“No, no. Don’t you worry liebling. I just longed to hear your voice.” He spoke fondly through the phone.
“That’s sweet.” I whispered, a smile grazing my face as I started a pot of coffee. “Did you get the package I sent you?”
“Yes I did liebling, thank you. You always send me the most interesting books.” I could practically hear him smirking through the phone.
“Don’t forget the cologne and goodies, per your request.”
“Of course meine geliebte, how could I forget. I have to smell presentable for all of the visitors I’m getting.” He teased.
“We’re still on for next month, right?” I bit my lip as I watched the coffee pot start to fill.
“I’ll let you know мали голубица, I may have elsewhere to be.” Helmut joked.
“My time is apparently up, I will contact you when I can vöglein.”
“Alright Helmut, thank you for calling.”
“Goodbye vöglein.”
I ended the call, placing my phone face down on the counter in front of me as I grabbed a mug, preparing to fix up a cup of coffee. Halfway through my coffee, I put my mug into the sink, dumping out the coffee to wash the mug; shutting off the coffee pot, I went towards the bathroom to brush my teeth. Deciding to go for a run today, I walked back into my room to change into the proper attire, a pair of black athletic shorts and a grey workout tank top with a pair of black running shoes. Grabbing a pair of headphones and my phone, I left the house, heading towards the path near the forest.
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Losing track of time, I eventually slowed to a stop, pulling out an earbud to take a breath and observe my surroundings. There were mostly just trees around me, and they appeared to go on for miles. How far off the path did I go? Spinning in a slow circle, I didn’t see anything very familiar, but at least there was still sunlight out. As I was about to put my earbud back in to continue my run, I heard a few twigs snap somewhere behind me. Freezing in place, I tried to drown out the music and focus on the air outside. I made to pause my music when I caught a whiff of something.
Quickly pausing the music, I took out my earbuds, wrapping the headphone wire around my phone and shoving it into the pocket of the athletic shorts so I could follow the scent. There was the faint smell of iron lingering in the air, and as I continued in the right direction the smell got stronger. Careful to not make too much noise as I walked, I heard voices, the smell getting stronger. Creeping closer, I saw a group standing around a body on the floor, which must be the source of the blood since the person laid unmoving. I leaned against a tree, hiding behind it as I observed the individuals.
The two I could see the faces of, I recognized from the Blade and Chalice yesterday, sitting in the booth with Hamish. One was a curly haired brunette, the other has shoulder length dark hair with a really unamused look on her face. Furrowing my brow, I slid further behind the tree as the taller light blonde who was facing away from me turned his head in my direction.
“What is it Hamish?” I heard a voice question.
A frown grazed my face, Hamish? Of course, of all the people to meet in this town, I get to know the one in a group of not normal individuals.
“There’s someone here.” Hamish spoke, I heard him inhale deeply. “Andy.” His voice was a little louder.
Taking a deep breath, I came out from behind the tree as all of them were now looking in my direction. I walked closer, stopping a few feet away from them and the body still unmoving on the ground. My eyes went straight to Hamish, who looked back at me with a skeptical look on his face.
“Andy? The girl from yesterday?” The curly headed guy asked as he smacked Hamish on the arm.
“Yes Randall, that’s her.” Hamish’s eyes never left mine.
“How’d you find us?” The female asked defensively, her arms crossing over her chest.
“I have an affinity for seeking trouble.” I joked lightly, shrugging my shoulders.
They all looked at me skeptically now, waiting for me to say anything else.
“Well, I’m Andy. And you guys are?” I was met with silence and a few glares. “Okay, let me try this again, why are you guys surrounding a dead guy?” In a more serious tone, I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Let’s kill her.” The female growled, her eyes flashing silver as she went into a defensive stance, making my eyebrow raise.
“We’re not killing anyone Lilith.” Hamish turned his head sharply to who I now know is Lilith.
“Too late.” I chuckled, earning a small smile from Randall and the other blonde.
“I like her. I’m Randall.” He sent me a little wave. “This is Jack.” He threw an arm around the blonde in the jean jacket. “That’s Lilith, which I’m sure you’ve figured out.” He gestured to the angry female.
“Nice to meet you guys, need any help?” I let my arms fall to my side, stepping a bit closer to the group.
“You just offer body hiding services to everyone you meet?” Jack raises an eyebrow at me.
“You don’t?” I laugh, looking towards Hamish. “Seriously though, what happened?”
“You don’t really want to know, you should probably get going.” He had a guilty look on his face. “You’re not going to want to be involved in this.”
“I’ve been involved in worse, you just met me yesterday Hamish. For all you know I might be just as crazy as the rest of you.” I gesture to his friends and the situation at hand. “So what’s the plan?”
“We were just going to bury him.” Randall smiles, grabbing a shovel off the ground.
“Why not burn the body?” I inquire, pursing my lips. “No face, no case.”
“You often go around burning bodies?” Lilith asks gruffly.
I went to open my mouth and respond, but I promptly closed it. What would be the harm in telling these people who I am? I mean, my face had been on tv for quite some time, maybe they didn’t really care for Avenger and SHIELD business in these areas. Not only that, I’m almost 90 percent sure they’re enhanced too, which would explain Lilith’s eyes. While I was lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t notice Hamish step closer to me until his hand was on my cheek, that familiar shock present, the same as when we shook hands yesterday. I let out a light gasp as I looked up into those icy blue eyes, my body feeling warm and calm from the contact. I didn’t understand these feelings, and the way he was holding eye contact wasn’t helping me focus at all.
“Are you alright? You don’t have to help us if you’re feeling squeamish.” He spoke softly to me, his eyes held an emotion I couldn’t pinpoint.
The longer we stood staring into each other’s eyes, his hand on my cheek, the sensation became a little more heated as a fire lit in my lower belly just as it did yesterday. His eyes darkened as his pupils dilate, and I’m sure mine were no different.
“I’m fine.” A strained smile on my lips.
I clear my throat and put some space between us despite my body’s protests, his hand dropping from my cheek, to clear my head, Hamish’s face falls into a frowns as I step back. He had to have felt that too, right? I mean it looked like he was feeling it, maybe it wasn’t all in my head.
“Might want to stand back guys.” I warn them as I feel my eyes start to glow green.
I felt four sets of eyes staring at me, but it was unclear what emotions they were feeling. Empathy wasn’t my thing unfortunately. Raising my hands slightly out in front of me and focusing on the body before me, the heat surrounding us started to rise as the flames erupted and engulfed his body. Making sure to isolate the fire strictly to the body, I produced a barrier around it as I increased the heat and strength of the flames. Dissolving the flames, there was nothing left but ash, which a slight breeze quickly picked up and spread out across the forest floor. My eyes returned to their natural color as I lowered my hands back to my sides.
“That. Was. Awesome!” Randall exclaimed.
“Are you in the order?” Jack was very confused.
“What was that?” Hamish looked down at me, a glint in his eyes that I couldn’t read.
“I’m a pyrokinetic mutant, I figured you guys wouldn’t be too shocked by it?” I was confused. “Aren’t you guys enhanced?”
“What makes you think we’re enhanced?” Hamish brought my attention to him.
“Lilith’s eyes were silver for a second earlier.” I gestured to the girl, only for her to look off to the side, trying to play innocent.
“Way to go.” Randall spoke. “Well we’ve got time now that you took care of that body for us.” He threw an arm around my shoulders, turning me away from Hamish, who was eyeing Randall like he wanted his head on a spike, and leading me through the forest. “To the den!” He cheered as I heard the rest of their feet shuffling behind us.