A MAN IN A WHITE MASK (!)
OLIVIA RUMMAGES THROUGH HER PURSE FOR HER KEYS WHILE SHE GOES UP THE STAIRS. She pushes open the door to her floor with her shoulder, cursing under her breath. Maybe it’s time to consider that she could’ve dropped them somewhere.
Halfway down the hall to her apartment, just when the thought of picking the lock crosses her mind, her fingers finally brush a familiar chain. She pulls her keys out with a triumphant flourish, looking up to her door.
She stops dead.
She did not leave her door open when she left.
She shoves her keys back into her purse, willing herself to disappear. A comforting rush of magic gives her the chance to cross through the open doorway.
Immediately on the opposite side is Dagger, his gun pointing at the doorway where she now stands. For a split second, she thinks it’s over for her, but he doesn’t pull the trigger, and she remembers he can’t see her.
She remembers her one-minute time limit, and snatches the gun out of his hand, slamming him to the wall face-first and letting herself reappear. His eyes flick to her, wide— though that’s all she can see with his mask still on.
“You have ten seconds to tell me what the fuck is going on,” she warns him lowly, pressing the barrel of his gun into the space between his shoulder blades.
“Hey! Woah, easy— how the fuck did you get there?” he hisses, and she can hear the underlying panic lacing his tone.
“Nine,” she continues firmly, knowing full well it’s been more than one second. He pushes back against the wall to try and turn, but she shoves him harshly back into it. “Just for that, we’re going down to five.”
“Stop! God— okay! Okay, okay, fine— I don’t know,” he rushes out. “I was just ordered to kill you, I don’t ask questions!”
“By the boss?” she presses. “Now, of all times? It’s premature, and worst of all, it’s not like him— so why?” He shakes his head as best he can, smacking his hand against the wall a little.
“I don’t know,” he claims. “I told you, I don’t ask questions— I just do what I’m told! You know that!” She hesitates, then grabs the back of his shirt, dragging him to the doorway, the gun still on him.
“Go,” she commands him. “Right now. Run, or I swear I will shoot.” He nods frantically, and she lets go of his shirt. He’s quick to scramble a few feet away, but he unexpectedly stops.
“So, you’re… letting me live?” he wonders, uncertain. She glares.
“Only if you hurry,” she replies flatly. He nods.
“You know, I always liked you,” he advises her, turning a little. “You’re too nice— never fit in too well with the rest of us. We’re all snakes.” She rolls her eyes. “Thing about snakes, though—,”
She vanishes before his eyes in a shimmer of green, revealing the masked grunt that was hidden behind her. Suddenly, he drops, his neck cracking sickeningly. Dagger’s eyes widen in horror, as visibly as they can.
“—is that there’s never just one,” Olivia’s voice drawls from somewhere much too close to him. He whips around, but sees no one. “And the thing about Dagger?” He turns in a wide circle, but for all intents and purposes, appears to be alone. “He can never pass up the theatrics.”
The last line comes as a whisper from behind, and he has the good sense to start running as fast as he can. Behind him, Olivia’s door slams shut, and she reappears on the other side, pulling a duffel bag out of her closet.
“—should’ve packed my shit weeks ago—,” she hisses to herself, scoldingly, as she grabs the essentials. With one hand, she calls Bruce, even as she skitters around her house and grabs things sporadically.
“Hey,” he greets after the first ring, sounding a little winded. “Liv, what’s—?” she doesn’t let him finish.
“Hey, I need somewhere safe to stay for a while,” she interrupts. “Like, now.” There’s a short, stunned silence, and Olivia fills a second bag with everything of sentimental value to her, glancing at the needle on her sapphire watch all the while. She can tell by the way the needle barely moves as she crosses her apartment that the danger is currently pretty far away.
“You— what? Now? What happened, are you okay?” he immediately starts prying, worried. She lets out a quick, stressed sigh.
“Old boss sent a house call. I’m not hurt, but I’m also shoving a stolen gun into a duffel bag, and there’s a corpse in my living room. So, okay isn’t really a good descriptor,” she replies, her tone shorter than she’d prefer. “Again— I need someplace safe for a while. And I do mean safe.”
Bruce releases a sharp breath on the other end of the line. There’s a brief pause, and Olivia zips up the three bags she has packed with everything she thinks she can keep.
“Okay,” he whispers. “Okay. Yeah. Come stay with me; Stark Tower. No safer place, probably. I’ll tell Tony to step up his security.”
“Deal,” she agrees, “but I’m explaining why. It’s my saga, I should get to tell it.” She hears a slightly awkward, staticky laugh from the other end.
“Deal,” he confirms. Olivia nods, slinging the bags over her shoulders and checking her watch again. They’re still pretty far, but she’s not out of the woods yet.
“Okay. I’ve gotta make a stop to my storage unit, but I should be by in about two hours, tops. I’ll keep my phone on, but don’t call it,” she instructs him. “If it starts ringing, you’ll give me away instantly.”
“Okay,” he agrees, his voice coming out a little shaky. “Okay. Be safe?”
“Don’t worry too much,” she assures him, even as she shuts the door so nobody sees the dead body on her carpet, “I’m kind of a badass. Bye Bruce.”
“Bye.”
The phone clicks as she hangs up, taking the stairs two at a time as she rushes down and out the door. She ignores the doorman’s ‘bye’, tossing her bags into the back seat and starting her car.
It’s gonna be a long day.