Kindred Spirits

Whispers

   I had managed to set up a nice home base for myself, ensuring that it was a solid 5 stories underground, with an escape hatch that let out at a nearby storm drain. The builders had been paid handsomely, ensuring that any information about it would remain solely with me. It was filled with various weapons, art pieces, and research. I had begun looking into something that might be able to explain how Andy and the rest of us had become immortal, but the closest instance I could possibly find all alluded to gods.

  I had developed an unhealthy obsession of monitoring nearby military enlistment areas for any indication that any of our little unit had been caught. Aside from some rumors of a new base being set up in the desert, there was thankfully little.

  I did manage to hear some kind of talk about a doctor that was developing a serum. It had piqued my interest enough that I tracked the group talking about it for a few weeks. Thankfully, their last destination led me to an event I was already planning to attend myself.

  Walking into the Stark Expo, I ignored the looks I was getting as I scanned the area, deciding to have a look around before heading over to the enlistment area. My dress was completely different from the fashion of the time, a slim black silk that accentuated my figure and was complemented by gold accessories, my eyes rimmed with kohl and my lips a vibrant red. 

  Howard Stark was definitely ahead of his time, though it was obvious that the attention he got from it was quickly going to his head. I was able to pick out several improvements that could be made to his designs, before my attention was drawn to the center of the room. Stark was standing in front of a car that he was claiming could fly. I watched, bemused, as the car hovered for about a minute, drawing excited applause, before sputtering and crashing unceremoniously to the floor.

  I gave a brief chuckle as I looked around at the feeling of eyes on me. My amber eyes met the startling blue of a man standing a few feet away. Scanning him disinterestedly, I could see that he was a Seargent, likely shipping out soon. Meeting his eyes once more, I turned away without a smile, making my way towards the enlistment area. Walking through the halls, I stayed out of sight, pausing as I heard a man with a German accent speaking.

  From the conversation, I was able to deduce that this was the man developing the serum. I waited for the other man, a small, gangly one, to leave before entering the area where the doctor remained.

  "Curious," his face betrayed his shock that I could speak German, "I was under the impression that America was fighting the Germans, not working with them."

  "And who might you be?"

  "A neutral party, simply curious about some whispers I've been hearing," I began to walk around the room, pretending to be interested in the medical supplies lying around. I palmed a scalpel before turning back to him. "I wanted to offer my assistance."

  He looked down briefly, concealing his smile, "And how might you be able to help?"

  I didn't respond, simply raising the scalpel to just above my neckline and making a quick incision. He was startled, moving towards me, but stopping at the sight of my skin stitching itself back together. He was stunned as I nonchalantly took a nearby paper towel and wiped away the blood, displaying smooth, unblemished skin.

  "Immortality has it's perks," I remained unphased as he stared in amazement.

  I proposed that we take this conversation somewhere we could talk openly, which he readily agreed to. He instructed me to wait outside while he informed the officers he arrived of that he would be following a lead in his search for a candidate.

  I leaned against the outside wall, ignoring the people passing by as I waited impatiently for the doctor to arrive. My attention was grabbed, however, by a rather large man putting an arm around me.

  "How'd you like to come home with me, pretty lady?" The booze on his breath and the leer on his face made my face curl in open disgust.

  "Sorry, the only pigs I have time for are usually getting eaten," I sneered at him, forcibly removing his arm and shoving him away. The men looking in our direction laughed as he stumbled back in surprise. 

  He steadied himself as anger quickly rose in his eyes, starting to move towards me again. This time, he decided to attempt grabbing my arm.

  "Listen-" his words were cut off as my fingers chopped into his windpipe, causing him to fall to his knees as he attempted to regain his breath. Moving further down the wall, I gave him a murderous glare.

  "Consider that your last warning," my voice was deadly calm as I watched him once again rise to his feet, this time aided by his friends.

  "Hey," one of them came towards me, clearly about to address me on his friend's behalf, if his clenched fists and jaw were anything to go by. Sensing someone on my right, I looked to see the man from earlier about to interfere, which I quickly put a stop to by throwing my arm in front of him.

  He gave me an incredulous look, which became even more so when I deftly stopped the fist that was about to make contact with my face. Turning back to the man in front of me, I grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm behind him and putting him in a headlock. The protests of his friends were met with a stone cold glare, daring any of them to come forward before he passed out.

  Laying him on the floor, I calmly began removing my jewelry and placing it in my clutch, taking out a leather strip and beginning to tie my hair back. I held out my clutch to the man next to me, not looking as I moved towards the group that had still yet to disperse.

  The first was quickly judo flipped over head, a swift stomp knocking him out. The next grabbed my shoulder, and I allowed the momentum to spin me around, sending a punch to his nose. Grabbing the one next to him, I crashed their heads together, allowing their bodies to drop to the floor. The last one drew a knife, though he was unnerved by the chilling smile that made it's way across my face.

  We circled each other, him uncertainly while I was smooth and fluid. He made a clumsy lunge, which I dodged expertly, grabbing his arm and twisting the knife out of his grip. I used the hilt of it to knock him out with a swift hit to his temple. 

  The crowd was silent as they watched me throw away the knife before calmly making my way back to the man holding my clutch. Grabbing it out of his hands, I gently closed his open mouth before looking around, finding the doctor watching me in abject amazement.

  "Shall we, doctor?" He nodded slowly, moving to follow me as I released my hair and shook it out, leaving a thoroughly stunned crowd behind me.