Project Ultron

Eight.exe

"He just beat them up with a bat?" Ms. Hill said.

She, Mister Stark, and Rogers were all looking at me with their arms crossed over their chest. It was rather intimidating, as if I had been the one to smash the brains of my kidnappers in the middle of my living room.

On the other side of the mirror, the guy was sitting cuffed to the metallic table that was in front of him, just like Volgrin had been the day before. We could see him, but he couldn't see us. Still, he looked in our general direction as if trying to catch our shadows.

"Yeah," I trailed off.

"Who is he?" Rogers said.

"Robert Gayer," Maria Hill said, reading from the report she had in the tablet.

"My stalker," I added, taking a step towards the mirror and staring at him. "How did he know I was in trouble?" I asked.

"We found mics in your house," Ms. Hill said.

"Jesus Christ," I whispered. No wonder I had felt observed for the past month. How many mics were there? And where? I sighed pushing away the thought of being watched as I took a shower or got changed. How the fuck had he even got in?

"Why was he following you?" Ms. Hill asked.

"Is he one of Strucker's?" Rogers wondered.

"The guys pointing guns at us were Strucker's," I reminded him without letting on how I felt about this whole thing.

"Another player?" he suggested.

I looked over my shoulder towards Mister Stark. He was strangely quiet, which told me he knew who Robert was but wasn't telling them. I appreciated that. This was private. I didn't want to talk too much about it.

"It's much more simple," I whispered and looked at Robert again, "Can I talk to him?"

Ms. Hill and Rogers looked at each other. I didn't think they wanted me to go into another interrogation room after what happened with the HYDRA programmer, but Mister Stark nodded and they agreed reluctantly.

As soon as I stepped into the room, Robert's eyes sparkled. I didn't think he was expecting me, but there I was.

"Hi," he said looking at me intensely.

I closed the door and looked at him. "Hey," I whispered back. I cautiously sat in front of him. Neither of us took our eyes away from each other, for completely different reasons, I supposed. He was mesmerized I was actually there, and I was cautious because he was a creep.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He looked genuinely concerned, which made this a lot more difficult. Did he think he was entitled to that information just for having helped me? He had stalked me for God knows how long, he was lucky I was even looking at him.

"I'm fine," I said.

"And your guardian? Leslie?" he added, worried.

"Shaken up," I said, "She'll be alright." We had taken her to a hospital and she was being taken care of. Mister Stark had posted some security to protect her, just in case.

He nodded and we stayed in silence.

"They found your mics," I said.

He didn't even try to deny they were his. He just nodded.

"Why were there mics?" I asked him, serious.

He rubbed his face with some difficulty. The cuffs didn't allow him to reach very far.

"I was keeping an eye on you," he said.

"That's creepy," I stated.

He smirked and nodded slightly. "It is."