56 Chapter 56: Ionic Particles
"Let's all j-just calm down. Okay?"
Holding his hands out in a show of peace, Eric looked at the men in front of him and his brother. Their weapons were aimed at them both. This filled Eric with fear and anxiety; slowly, he shifted himself in front of his brother to protect him should they fire.
"Nobody needs to get hurt, okay?" Eric spoke slowly and calmly.
Eric saw the man dressed in black walk over to the small box on the ground and bent down to pick it up. The man smiled and looked at him as he held the box up. "You should have thought about that before you ran off with this."
Eric cursed under his breath as he watched the man pocket the box into his jacket. Once the box was put away, the man lifted his gun back up and aimed it at him.
"C'mon… you have what you want." Eric pleaded with the men. "Just let my brother go, okay? He has nothing to do with this."
"Should have thought of that before you robbed the boss." The man with the denim jacket raised his gun and moved his finger over the trigger. "We'll make it quick."
Eric turned and hugged his brother in an attempt to cover Simon with his body in hopes of protecting him from the hail of bullets. Shutting his eyes tightly, Eric waited to hear the thunderclaps of the guns going off but was surprised to listen to the sounds of… chains?
Slowly turning around, Eric saw both men hanging from the ceiling rafters with chains wrapped around their bodies. They were struggling to escape their steel bindings but found it to be an impossible task.
"Eric… look."
Eric looked over to where his brother was pointing and saw a shadowed figure standing on a rafter. The pair of glowing orange orbs turned down and stared at him, causing him to freeze. With a step forward, the figure fell fifteen feet and landed with a loud crack as the floorboards splintered from the impact.
"You're… you're the vigilante." Eric whispered and took a step back with his brother close to him. "Vengeance."
Vengeance looked at him for a second but then walked over to the man dressed in black clothes. With a slight tilt of his head, the chains slithered down and lowered the man. Who had a look of absolute horror on his face.
"S-STAY AWAY!" The man yelled in fear as he shook in his chains. "Don't fucking touch me!"
The vigilante ignored him and grabbed the man's throat, reached inside his jacket, and pulled out the small box that held the vial—a vial which he risked his safety and life for.
'The Ionic particles!'
Eric screamed in his head as he saw Vengeance turn around and put the vile inside his leather jacket. Eric saw the man in black hang limply as he seemed to be muttering incoherently to himself.
"Eric." Simon pulled on his hoodie. "Are we safe now? I mean, isn't that guy someone who stops criminals?"
Eric felt his brow sweat as he looked away from his brother and looked over to Vengeance; as he stared at him and stood still in his spot.
"Y-Yeah. We're safe now." Eric looked down at his brother. "Listen, Simon. You have to go back where you came from; I'll follow behind you. But I have to talk to him for just a second."
Simon looked like he was about to argue but looked over to Vengeance. The vigilante's glowing eyes seemed to unsettle his brother as well because he nodded weakly. Eric watched his brother walk around the corner and climb out the window he entered from.
"…that vial is important." Eric started. "I… need that back."
Vengeance said nothing for a while but held out his hand and swung down. The two men who were about to shoot him and his brother fell onto the ground as their chains released them suddenly. This act instilled even more fear into Eric.
"Important enough to risk your brother's life?" Vengeance said as he stepped forward, causing Eric to step back and wince. "Is that right? Eric Williams?"
Hearing his name come out of the vigilante's mouth caused Eric's heart to skip a beat. How did he know who he was?! How is that possible?
"I… no, that's not…" Eric wanted to argue against what the vigilante said but found his words to be true. Had he not intervened, he and his brother could very much be dead right now. "I didn't mean for this to happen."
"This vile, tell me what it is and who made it."
Vengeance was now standing right in front of him. His glowing orange eyes felt like they were glaring right into his soul. Eric tried to swallow but found his mouth to be extremely dry. Tightening his hands into fists, he looked down to avoid the orange orbs. He wanted not to answer but found himself compelled.
"…do you know the name Helmut Zemo?"
•••
"Hydra?"
Pietro growled out as he leaned against his table; Harvey nodded, walked over to the table, and looked down at the box containing the vial of ionic particles. Wanda stood up from his work chair and walked over to the box, and peered down at the vial. They were all inside his garage.
"You said this vail held ionic particles? Did he tell you what that is?" Wanda asked him as she held her hand over the vial and closed her eyes.
"Eric said it was an experiment form of energy that could amplify an individual's physical attributes." Harvey answered as he walked up next to her. "You sensing anything?"
"Hm, no. Whatever, it isn't giving off any energy I can sense." Wanda shook her head and dropped her hand.
"Sounds like superpowers in a bottle to me." Pietro blurred on the other side of the table and looked down at the vial.
"That or instant death." Amy leaned on the table and stared at the vial, watching the white particles spin quickly in circles. "Hydra continues to try and create ways for their soldiers to attain abilities. It makes me wonder why."
"Could they still be trying to create an army of super-powered individuals?" Pietro looked up and gave him a nervous look. "Powered nazis… That wouldn't be good."
"Are you sure this is the only vail they had?" Wanda looked at him and asked. Harvey nodded and picked up the box, and closed it.
"According to Eric, this is the only successful vial Zemo created before his lab was destroyed by an explosion, alongside his data on how to recreate it." Harvey walked over to Pietro and handed him the box with the vial. "Which means that this vile is very important. Zemo will do anything to get this back."
Pietro nodded and grabbed the box. "So you want me to run this over somewhere he'll never find it."
Harvey smiled and nodded at his fast friend. Pietro smiled and blurred away. Sighing, he turned to look at both Amy and Wanda and saw them have troubled expressions.
"What?" Harvey asked.
"You're upset." Wanda stated as she walked over to him and rubbed his shoulder.
"Harvey, we all know that Luke and Manny did something stupid." Amy stood up and walked around him until she was behind him; she then wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "But they did what they felt was right. They saved that kid."
Harvey glared at the ground and shook his head. "They could have gotten themselves killed. I told them several times that their training was solely for self-defense, not to go out and get into fights with dangerous people!"
"Harvey." Wanda walked up to him and hugged his chest. Harvey felt his cheeks warm up due to being embraced from the front and back by two beautiful women. "Calm down. Everything is okay, and no one got too hurt."
Harvey wanted to argue, but being hugged by his closest friends helped calm him down. He'd drop it for now, but he would have a serious conversation with his two younger friends.
"Okay." Harvey nodded and let himself enjoy the feeling of being hugged just for a little bit.
•••
"I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry, too!"
Harvey looked down at both Manny and Luke from their positions on the ground while they performed a plank on the floor. They've been holding the plank for the past half hour. They were shaking and dripping sweat, faces red and teeth gritted in pain.
"Well, never do it again, we promise!" Both boys gritted out and continued to shake.
"I'm not buying it." Harvey shook his head and kneeled between them. "Now, in another thirty minutes, I'm gonna come back, and I'll consider hearing your apology. Depending on how sincere it sounds, I'll think about letting you join us all for Thanksgiving dinner."
"Is that clear?"
"Uh… yes, sir." Luke and Manny whined as they continued holding their plank position.
"Good." Harvey stood up and nodded. "I'll be back soon."
He saw both of his students nod shakily and walked away from them both. They were all at Jay Pritchett's home for Thanksgiving dinner. The Dunphy's, The Tuckers, and his little family were all present for dinner.
"So you're still punishing them?" Harvey turned to see Alex approach him with two cups containing juice. "Not that I'm blaming you. What they did was pretty stupid."
Saying a quick thank you, Harvey accepted the cup and smiled at Alex. For the past two months, they've gone on three dates. Now, while that may seem like an abysmal amount of dates for that time frame, they both understood why that was. They were both swamped with work and responsibilities.
"It was." Harvey sipped the sweet beverage and looked down at the orange liquid. "But… I can't help but be proud of them for doing what they thought was right. Helping someone in need. That takes guts and courage."
Alex nodded and grabbed his hand; she led him to where everyone was setting up the very long dinner table. Several dishes sat on the table, ranging from traditional Thanksgiving meals to Wanda's Sokovian side platters to his own desserts. Haley even baked a pie. He was excited to try his friend's homemade dessert. Everyone was gathering around and preparing the table for them all to eat.
"Alex!" Haley smiled and ran around her mom, who glared at her daughter for almost causing her to drop the gravy bowl. "Bring Harvey over to the living room so we can grab those measurements."
"Way ahead of you." Alex pulled him over to the living room as Haley walked over to her bag and pulled out a tailor's measuring tape.
"Okay. What's going on?" Harvey asked. Alex took his cup and set it down on the table. She then walked behind him and took off his brown leather jacket.
"It's a secret." Haley walked up to him and began using her tape to get his measurements.
"Call it a side project we're working on." Alex told him as she wrote down the measurements Haley said as she went through each of his body parts. "That's as much as we can tell you."
Harvey raised an eyebrow and nodded. This continued for a while, and he couldn't help but feel his face heat up as Haley trailed her hands over his body. So, to distract his mind, Harvey thought of other things. Things such as his talk with Natasha after he discovered that Hydra had other avenues in trying to create super-powered soldiers.
...Last Night…
"That's not good."
Harvey nodded at Natasha. After he let Eric go, once he got the information on what the vile was and who created it, he decided to Natasha and fill her in on the news.
"If Hydra gets their hands on this vial, it could lead to mass production." Harvey said into his high-security phone as he looked down at his city from the top of a tall building deep in the center of West Hollywood.
"I hoped Strucker was the only one trying to create artificial powers, but now there's this Helmut Zemo person. Do you think you can find any information on him?"
"I'll see what I can find." Natasha then paused for a second. "Harvey, Director Fury is aware of Hydra's existence. I've told him."
Harvey felt his anger spike but nodded and looked away from the chase. "I'm guessing you found him not to be a Hydra spy."
"That's right." Natasha answered. "He and Agent Barton are the only ones that know so far. I trust them."
The feeling of frustration quickly left him. Harvey wanted to argue against her decision, but that would mean he didn't trust Natasha's judgment. No, he'd trust she did what she thought was right.
"Alright, it's good to know we have more allies in this Cold War of ours." Harvey looked over the dark city lit up by its lights. A small explosion erupted in the distance where the chase was going. "I have to get going, Natasha."
"Alright, I'll call you with an update. Goodnight." Natasha ended the call, and Harvey looked down at the phone with a sigh.
It was still early in the night, and it looked like the cops could use a hand. Stepping on the ledge of the building, Harvey took a deep breath and jumped off.
...Present…
"…and we're done." Haley smiled and looked at him with a satisfied look.
Shaking his head, Harvey looked over to Alex and tried to peek at her notes. Hopefully, he could catch a glimpse of what the two Dunphy sisters were up to.
"Uh-uh, no peaking." Alex closed the notebook and put it inside Haley's bag. "You're just gonna have to wait."
Smiling, Harvey nodded and decided just to be patient. Haley must be working on some cloth designs if the tailor measuring tape was anything to go by. He was happy she was going through with pursuing clothing designs for a future career.
"I'm gonna go and get Luke and Manny for dinner. I think they've learned their lesson." Harvey told the sisters as Haley nodded.
"I think you're right." Alex said as her phone buzzed in her pocket. Taking it out, she looked at the screen. "I'm getting a call. I'll be right back."
"Wanna come along?" Harvey asked as he turned to walk.
"Sure, I could take a few pictures of them suffering before they stop." Haley laughed as they both started to make their way outside, where he left both of the boys. But, just as they were about to open the door, Alex screamed, causing him and Haley to turn around at the sound of the yell.
"OH MY GOD! I got the Stark internship!"
