Intertwine

47 - The Big Green Thing

Again we'll be back to the normal characters soon!

FIONA

Uncle Bruce ran out to meet me.

"What the hell are you doing here Fiona?" He asked, gently guiding me in by the arm, with a confused look at the animals around me. "And what the hell are you doing with the whole New York zoo?"

"They're my protection." I explained calmly, stepping inside. I turned to the pigeons, squirrels, and single fox that had joined my entourage. "You're going to have to stay outside now. Guard the perimeter, send word to me if he gets any closer." 

"Who are you talking to?" Bruce asked me, trying to pull me further inside. I shook him off lightly.

"What about me?" Kiraz asked from my shoulder. Bruce stared at her. It was likely all he was hearing was squawks.

I held out an arm and she walked carefully to perch on my outstretched forearm. "I want you with me, but keep in contact with the birds above. We need their eyes." 

Kiraz bowed her head slightly to me to demonstrate understanding, before letting out a series of shrieks. The receptionist stared at me weirdly and I saw Bruce mouth a sorry. 

"I have let them know." Kiraz informed me. 

"Right." I sighed and turned to Bruce. "Sorry about this, I needed to talk to you, and I needed a safe place to stay."

"Why aren't you in school?" He asked, pulling me over to the elevator.

"I uh, I skipped. Again."

"Fiona!" He shook his head as we stepped into the elevator. "You can't bring that bird in."

"This human-" Kiraz began to raise her wings.

"Kiraz, please calm down. Chad stop scratching at me, please! Can you both just cool it?" I opened my shirt to look at Chad. He tried to pretend he was macho, but really, what would you expect from a squirrel? I turned to my uncle. "Sorry Bruce, I've got a lot of explaining to do."

He looked me up and down slowly as the lift doors closed. Kiraz flew off my arm and onto the hand rails on the side of the elevator, making Bruce duck. 

"Don't worry, she's very careful."

"You called her Kiraz." He said pointing at the hawk.

"Yes. Well it is her name." I shrugged.

"What, is she your pet now?" He asked in disbelief.

I frowned. "No? That's her name, she's wild." I sighed. Explanation time. "You remember when you told me never to mess with things in your lab?"

"Yes." Bruce squinted at me. "Are you about to tell me you ignored that?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Only a little bit."

"Fiona! You-" He clenched his fists slightly, before unclenching them and lowering his voice. "You know what consequences that had for me."

"The big green thing?" I asked. 

He put his palm over his eyes. "Yes. The hulk."

"Don't worry, I didn't turn big and green. I can just understand animals now. The radiation did something to the communication part of my brain I think, I mean I'm not exactly a scientist, but I was looking through some of your research papers and you said it was possible for Gamma radiation to do that to a brain, if exposed in the right conditions. I just... tap into a frequency other people can't."