The Valentin Series, Book 1: The Valkyrie (Captain America fanfiction)

Chapter 13: Jewelry

Andreana walked into the kitchen through the back door, the weapons in the bag clinking together lightly as she placed them on the dining bar.

“Morning, all!” she greeted Steve, James, and Natasha cheerily. They were seated at the dining table, Natasha nursing a cup of coffee, and Steve and James, who were dressed in identical plain white t-shirts and brown cargo pants, wolfing down the eggs and bacon breakfast she and Val had made earlier.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Natasha, in a gray long-sleeved sweater dress, smiled sweetly back at her, “Where’s mom?”

Andy laughed, “By the river, she just finished trying to rip her wings out of her shoulders by doing steep dives.”

“Does she do that often?” Nat asked as she sipped her coffee.

“Often enough for me to worry that she’d come through the door bloody and clutching one of her wings in her hand,” Andy answered simply, much to Natasha’s amusement. She opened the bag Val had given her and rifled through the belongings.

She heard Natasha get off her stool and walk quietly towards her, “What’s in the bag?” the redhead asked.

“Jewelry,” Andy answered immediately, and then remembered who she was talking to, she needn’t hide anything from these people, if Val trusted them, and she would too, “Depending on how well you know Valkyrie. They can be harmless trinkets,” she said as she pulled an intricately carved silver bangle out of the bag, running her fingers along the inside of it, she found a thin strip of protruding metal and pushed it, “Or weapons of mass destruction,” she finished as spikes popped out on one half of the bangle, “This one, if I remember correctly, she used in Colombia while tracking a drug cartel. According to her story, they had stripped her of all her visible weapons, but not her jewelry.” Andy smiled as she recalled the story, “This has an identical pair, and she was wearing both on that job. She punched her way out of that problem.” She showed Natasha how to hold the bangle in such a way that it became a deadly-spiked brass knuckle.

“Amazing, what she can do with steel, no?” Andy said as Natasha dug up the pair.

“Why are these all out, then?” Nat asked, testing both bangles and punching the air.

“She’s going hunting,” Andy sighed.

“The Vanguard?” Steve asked, having finished his breakfast, he moved closer to the two women and reached into the bag, pulling out a long chain necklace, “How do you wear these? It’s too long to be a necklace.”

Natasha rolled her eyes at him, “You are such a guy; you’re supposed to wrap it around your neck twice, Captain Fashion.”

Steve raised his eyebrows in realization, “What does this become?”

“A metal whip,” Andy answered, taking the chain from him and unlocking it. The lock automatically became a cylindrical dagger, which acted as a weight.

“Amazing,” Steve said, admiring all of Valkyrie’s handiwork, “And she made these all herself?”

“She always did like knives,” Natasha informed them, “She started forging them while we were still in Russia; she said the only weapons she trusted were the ones she made. Makes sense, she was in the presence of hired traitors.”

“Where is she?” James, who had been intently listening to their discussion, asked from his place at the table.

“Get out this door,” Andy instructed, pointing to the kitchen door, “Walk straight to the river bank, when you hear the guitar chords, you’ll know you’re there.”

“She plays guitar?” James tried to hide the surprise in his voice as he exited the house.

“Yes,” Andy answered, “But only when she’s stressed.”