Marvels: Olivia and River

2.The Snake and The rain

Olivias POV

When Olivia regained consciousness she could hear muffled screaming coming from somewhere in the building. she could hear voices. 3 maybe 4 at most. Apparently some of them were more conflicted than others about the fact they'd just kidnapped a pair of orphans.

Conspiracy theories weren't exactly her strong suit but she'd managed to come up with a few. The top ones were that mr bowler hat had sold them out to some secret government agency designed to rid London of its "vermin" problem,  this was some kind of cult initiation or her and Jason were being held for ransom. She really hoped it wasn't the latter as there wasn't many people who would empty their pockets for a couple of street rats they don't know.

She heard the door slamming shut and the abductors welcomed whoever it was who had just arrived. Their leader maybe? God she hoped so. Being kidnapped really wasn't as exciting as it looked  in the movies. When the realisation that her and jasons last hope of making themselves a life here had been plucked from her fingertips it had left Olivia feeling hungry , drained and quite bitter at the fact that she'd survived the harsh London streets only to be snatched up by some teenagers with too much money and not enough friends.

An hour passed and then 2 and by 3 Olivia was almost finished her internal list of all the things she was going to do  to these nutjobs if they laid a hand on Jason when she heard footsteps approaching the room she was being kept in. Her eyes immediately darted to Jason who remained unconscious and then made the split second decision on whether to pretend to be asleep or not. She decided against it. She wasn't a particularly talented actress and she'd rather she didn't make a fool of herself if this was an interrogation situation. Don't let them smell your fear right? They would probably smell it all over her. The room was hot and she'd been sweating in it for hours. The thought made her feel almost embarrassed until she realised she didn't have to impress these people.  On the Brightside, she thought maybe they'll be so repulsed by the smell that they'll let us go. The thought made her smile.

Rivers POV

Almost 4 hours of arguing and nothing had come of it. Bill was still insisting that this was "necessary" and that "it wasn't like me to defend them like this". He knows I would never defend them, I just think that daylight kidnapping was an extreme and desperate move. And when people get desperate, they make mistakes. I did however convince him to let me lead the interrogation. A small blessing. I'm the best person in our whole team at extracting information from unwilling marvs. The trick is to make them think you see them as a human being and you just want to hear their story so that you can help them integrate themselves into society.

It's almost embarrassing how much most of them want to fit in. Get close to us first and then world domination. How endearing. I twisted the handle to the interrogation room and pushed my weight against it. The door was old and required substansial force to open it. I regularly teased Sierra about her failure to open it which more times than not ended up with me needing stiches and her needing a time out. When I finally unjammed the door I found myself face to face with the girl from earlier. And she was glaring at me. For now.

Olivias POV

The guy who burst through the door couldn't have been much older than her  although everything about him oozed condescension and was making Olivia feel about 6 years old.  He had yet to open his mouth so Olivia had been taking the time to study him. Brown hair , deceptively warm eyes and broad shoulders that Olivia was sure Rugby players would kill for. He was attractive the absolute bastard. She was sure this would usually make girls more open to him but to Olivia it only succeeded in making her more resentful. The silence was suffocating and beginning to make her feel uncomfortable but Olivia somehow felt that this was a battle of wills. She would not be the one to talk first.

"I once knew a marv who could turn things into gold" He said so suddenly that Olivia probably would've fallen over if she wasn't so frozen.

"I nicknamed him Minus , you know after the king?" he grinned at her but it seemed forced , intended to charm her, like a snake.

" He didn't like that very much  but I thought it was quite clever" he seemed  almost uneasy now at her lack of response , although it was hard to tell. Olivia was good at reading people but it was like she was seeing all of his emotions through a filter. He wore a mask , and he wore it well.

He stepped forward and extended his arm as if he meant to shake her hand,

"Im River , and your name would be?" for some reason this simple statement enraged Olivia. How dare he come in here and have polite conversation with her after he literally grabbed her and her little brother off the street and left them tied up in a room for hours. She felt a deadly calm settle over her and when she replied her voice was calm and steady.

"River? Hmmm mind if I call you snake?" she flashed a wicked grin " its just that you remind me so much of this snake I learnt about in school one time.Get this , it hypnotises its victims with its pretty boy eyes and then next thing they know he's around there neck , slowly sucking the life out of them. You could learn a thing or two from him though."

She paused and felt her mouth tilting up at the corners "He seemed much more charming."

He looked enraged now. His mask vanished along with his pretense of civility. Its sudden vanishing act was overwhelming and Olivia couldnt  help thinking he was much more attractive without it.If it weren't for the bright , purple veins bulging out of his neck and the particularly unflattering shade of red he had turned.

"Oh , you don't seem to like it very much. Well I thought it was quite clever." Olivia said , quoting him from earlier. She felt almost like she had the upper hand now despite being the one tied to a chair.

"What makes you think you can talk to me like that?!"He exploded , taking a few steps forward so that he could loom over her like a big , hulking oaf. She was almost surprised when she saw that his head wasn't overflowing with hot , molten lava. Short fuse. good to know.

"you started it sweetheart. I don't know if your other kidnap victims have been more willing to swap life stories like old friends after you bundle them into the back of a van , but im still somewhat bitter about it." Olivia flashed him a brief smile that was loaded with as much sarcasm as she could muster at that moment. "And the sight of your slimy , condescending face is kind of making me want to throw up. Unless you want to clean that up I suggest you leave."

He stared at me in pure shock and rage for a moment before giving me a smile that made me feel cold despite the warm temperature in the room.

"As you wish your highness" were his parting words before he left the room. The slamming door the only sign of leftover anger from their confrontation.

As much as she wanted him to leave , now that he had all Olivia felt was empty and exhausted.