Chemical Poison

THE MIDDLE

The past few weeks had been beyond strained and tensioned filled, Anneliese was a ticking time bomb that everyone was waiting to explode. Alexander did not dare enter her office unannounced, and chemical engineers did not dare ask Anneliese to leave the laboratory. No one informed her that she was required to wear a Stark issued lab coat, or anyone questioned her qualifications to play with the chemicals she had collected. 

They just left the room. Laboratory 2B was only for her.

She was beyond angry, yet she knew she was on the verge of tears. Last week she said goodbye to her father, who was off to the other side of America to start looking at possible candidates. Last night she cried ugly, her mascara dripping down her cheeks and she refused to let go until the very last second. For the first time in her life, her father was not a bus trip away.

Maybe Anneliese should not have started playing with the mercury, or the nitrogenous gas - or the vial with no name. But she was so very tired. Beyond exhausted from being a picture of sanity and rationality. It seemed no one around her understood responsibility and she was left to carry it all.

Her father was a fool, Alexander was a disappointment and Howard- he was too kind. Even with her outbursts at employees for messing up her paperwork, or when she snapped during meetings or slapped Howard for no reason. He took it willingly, offering her a cup of coffee afterwards.

Mixing the chemicals in a flask, she heard the doors open to her laboratory and two pairs of shoes. Great. She didn't turn around to acknowledge them, instead she listened keenly to the sound of their shoes on the floor, click-clack-click. 

"Is Miss Lorenz not wearing protective wear and breaking the rules?", she heard Howard joke, "Is this a dream, Gray?"

"I'd say your dreams have Ana in nothin-"

"Actually-"

Snapping her head to face them both, she suddenly said, "Shut up", gaining a smile from both men. She knew straight away this was the reaction they wanted, and they took it as an invitation to walk over to her workbench, Alexander and Howard on either side of her. She didn't say a word, but it seemed she didn't need too.

Alexander coughed before he spoke, "Are you still annoyed with me?"

She didn't reply.

He through his hands in the air, "Why did you have to hire the most stubborn woman in the world-"

"-I didn't realise stubborn woman equated to unwilling woman-"

"-Yea?Kindly fuck off Stark."

Glaring at Alexander, he instantly quieten as she returned to her small apparatus. Slowly, she added water to her mixture, before she placed it underneath a burette, carefully ensuring each bolt was locked correctly.

She felt Howard lean closer towards her, his forearm resting against the edge of the table as he studied her set up. He gave the same curious stare as always, his eyes lighting up like an American Christmas tree as he walked Anneliese administer the unknown solution into her beaker. 

"How can we help?", Howard asked. 

Anneliese's heart nearly swooned at his question. She knew he had million of questions on just exactly she was doing, and yet, he asked how she was doing - specifically how he can help her. When was the last time someone offered that out of sincerity and not out of fear? She hadn't the slightly clue. 

Before she begun her experiment, she decided that Howard deserved some kindness, "I'm just a bit pissed off at the rich boy next to me."

Both men begun laughing, Alexander speaking with a hint of humour in his voice, "Than you'll be happy to know that the president wants me within arm reach until Stark's expo. I'll be leaving today."

Turning to face him quickly, Anneliese's eyes widen, "What, why? That wasn't part of the deal!"

Her eye brows furrowed as she begun thinking about the contract she had personally helped to draw up a few days after the meeting. They couldn't force him to go, the contract literally said that no employee of Stark Industrials could be unwilling held by the American Government within substantial evidence to keep them. She knew Alexander was stupid, but surely not stupid enough for the American Government to want to keep him in arm reach. 

Flipping to face Howard, he had a toothy grin, before he begun explaining all the questions Anneliese had stored in her mind, "I've requested for Alexander to join the president until the expo... to sweeten him up."

With her mouth gapping, Anneliese flickered her eyes back at Alexander, who seemed to ask her next question, "Don't worry, I am not planning to seduce the man. Howard has strictly told me to become 'one of the boys, which is beyond gross because he is sixty-"

"I said to butter him up, not to befriend the man-"

"-And you also said you wouldn't check Ana out before you entered but you di-"

Before either could continue speaking Anneliese interrupted, "If I forgive Alexander, will he shut up?"

"Almost certainly", Howard said, sending a dangerous glare at Alexander.

A cackle left Alexander again, "We will see, anyway I have to go off and marry the president. See you next week for the expo."

Once he left, Howard begun staring at the apparatus again. His eyes wondered all over it, and Anneliese knew if he could, the man would marry science, make love to the physical form of invention and only breath metal. Whilst he studied her experiment, she studied him. Well, she just started at his lips.

Wetting his lip with his tongue and Anneliese almost let out a small unprofessional sound, almost. Her life had become increasingly more difficult since that kiss with Howard, who used any opportunity to practice it, he's only succeed twice. And once again, like every other time. Howard caught her.

"Are you still mad?"

"Yes."

"You know Alexander did the right thing, Abraham wouldn't have went if Mr Lorenz didn't go."

"I don't care", Anneliese hissed, watching the way Howard's brows furrowed, "I've sacrified so much already", this time her voice trembled.

She hated being sad, it made her weak. She hated when her voice would shake, when her eyes grew glassy or the kind smile Howard would give her. All she wanted was her parents alive, and both seemed determined to die in some way. Was it too much?

"I know", he whispered, wrapping her up into a gentle embrace, running his fingers into her hair, "I know."

Running down the last few stairs, Anneliese begun screaming Howard's name, scaring the employees who usually worked in a quiet environment. Yet, that didn't matter to Anneliese, what mattered was Howard had managed to set off the fire alarm for the fifth time that day. She didn't care if half of Stark Industrials were on fire, he had interrupted her lunch break with the fire alarm ringing non-stop.

"I'm going to murder him", she hissed under her breath as she opened the laboratory doors open to see a small fire being put out my another scientist. 

Before she even checked if he was alright, Anneliese slapped him. Hard. She may've cared more if he hadn't managed to overboard her with work - causing her to work through all her lunches until today, Thursday, and he chose today to test a failed prototype. 

He slowly moved his head back to have her, his face covered in soot and her hand print easily seen. Cocking her a winning smile, he spoke, "Hello sweetheart."

The other scientists made themselves unknown and quickly left the laboratory to do whatever Stark Employee's did when Anneliese was about to begin verbally sparring with Howard. She had no doubt they would be spreading the gossip like wildfire.

"This prototype has failed how many times now?", Anneliese stated, "And you're still trying to perfect it before the Expo tomorrow? You're aware that nothing you do will make it better."

Howard pretended to be hurt, Anneliese knew this as he mockingly placed his hand over his heart, "You have no trust in my work?"

"I trust you to blow up all the laboratories."

"It was just a small miscalculation, your chemistry set is okay-"

Another slap.

Okay maybe he didn't deserve the second slap, Anneliese decided. She quickly found the small red first aid box and started wiping away the soot from his face, check his face and neck for cuts to find one on his lip. Slowly, she wiped a damp cloth across his lip and he winced.

Her eyes remained trained on his lips, wiping it one too many times than necessary, and Howard easily caught on. She was curious. Would Howard still taste as vodka felt, or would he taste like blood?

"A secret for a secret?", Howard asked.

Nodding her head, Anneliese spoke first, "I think you're my poison, ruining all my sensibility."

Howard smiled at this, "I think I would very much enjoy causing another scandal tonight."

And for the first time, Anneliese openly agreed. Because who wouldn't agree to be loved unabashedly, intensely, passionately and without fear. To be loved for who she was, and on purpose. Even if she couldn't bring herself to openly admit it, Anneliese knew that Howard's love, his lips and everything felt like coming home, in a way that is as natural as breathing. In a way she felt safe, even with camera's catching every gasp, every tug at her hair and every brusing kiss. In a way where it inspired her to love, as if it was easy.

Anneliese was in the middle of the storm, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to ever leave it. This was innocent and this was rough, and it was enough love without expectations. She wasn't so much in fear of loving him, because she knew somewhere deep down she did. She was scared that she had just created another weakness.

For Howard's safety, she would let the whole world burn. For Howard's future, she would sacrifice herself to Hydra. And she knew by building up all this within, she would crack and one day it would fracture. One day it wouldn't be fake anymore, and that terrified her even more.

So she took his hand, and walked out of the laboratory with him, their eyes remaining on one another as they gave each other a knowing look.

Because with Howard she saw a future.....

....but endings were never kind to Anneliese.