Elemental {Avengers}

24. Secrets spill like Rivers

I was tired. So, so tired. So tired that the puppy's warm lick on my hand was the only thing keeping me awake. 

I had been using my powers so much, having them taken away and then given back. Using that new, fire power, which I tried to control partially. Having to fight, and fight,  and then that man who had tried to snap my neck and I'd just had enough.  I could see the horror in Steve's eyes when I'd reached that breaking point, just letting it go for once.

Nat had contacted us one last time on the Walkie-Talkie, explaining the coordinates and the location, which, to my surprise, had been a large, two story house, apparently abandoned after the owners had been scared off by bears lurking in the area. No-one had come back to the place in a couple of years, not bothering to renovate, or face the bears and whatever lurked within the thick forest surrounding the house.

During the ride, I wondered what to name the puppy. 

If Steve, the Captain not only of America but also of freedom and liberty says that I, Maeve, destroyer of lives and survivor of the Red Room can keep a puppy, then puppy I shall keep. It was a long term commitment, I knew. It meant that I had to find a way to keep it safe while I was risking my life. It meant that I had to find someone to look after it, should anything happen to me.

Loki probably would. Would he? I wasn't sure. But he seemed like he had wanted me to keep it. Had held it in his hands, keeping it warm. Which I was surprised at. Did Loki have a shred of empathy in his wretched heart? 

Maybe.

What would you name a dog?

I had once met a man who sought to trade weapons with Madam B. Who took them, and then argued that they were illegal, and therefore he didn't owe any money to them. He had a pitbull, who growled when I came through his front door, who the man hit with a hard hand, who he shouted at, to get him out the way of the door.

I had flinched, then looked up at the man with icy cold eyes, thinking about how I could get him out of the way of the door. Had threatened him, too. And then I stole that money he owed, leaving him tied to a chair in the middle of the room. I'd released the dog, throwing all of the meat the man had in his fridge out the window, into the backyard, if the dog was hungry.

A small smile crept onto my face at the thought. It had been my first act of defiance against the Red Room. Against Madam B.

The name... The pitbulls name had been something like Reaper, no, Ripper. 

I didn't like either of them. I didn't want to force this dog to become driven by fear and instinct, something that happened to me at the Red Room. 

No. I would give this dog what it deserved. A chance at friendship.

A chance at deciding his fate. Whether he wanted to stay with me, or go off on his own. 

I checked if he was in fact a he. No. It wasn't. I checked again. Yep, definitely a girl.

We turned into a country road, flanked on either side by large, pine trees. The road went on for a while, and my eyes started drooping. My car swerved a few times along the road, and I gritted my teeth. " Little puppy, keep me awake, will you?"

Eventually, A house appeared, large and warm, buttery yellow lights on inside. A large lake stretched on behind it, and glimmered in the rising sun. It was a pretty house, although overgrown with vines and leaves, the garden tangled with long grass. The garage had caved in, as well as a part of the barn behind the house. The foundations of the house were still standing strong, although I could see a broken window from the car, perhaps from a bear.