Turn

15 - Erin Mathis

Needless to say, I didn't come prepared. As my now super-short hair--which somehow turned out longer in the front than in the back--blew around in the wind, dawn began to crack over the horizon.

I wish I had sunglasses...

I wish I had a hair tie for my hair...
I broke my train of thought, while I brushed my hair out of my face, but only momentarily.

I wish I had enough hair, for the hair tie...

I looked down at the cup holders in the middle of the car; my saviors.

See, those cup holders were the only things separating me from Agent Andra Matar, or Agent Andra Potts, if you believed her story, which I was still considering.

Had I considered the possibility of her being an agent sent to find me and bring me back to SHIELD?

Yeah.

Well... just now, but the thought did cross my mind. Eventually...

I hesitantly glanced up at the driver, who looked as though she had had it way rougher than I had for the past couple of days. When I found her, she was already on the run, whereas I was evading SHIELD through a tactic Tony liked to call "hack SHIELD, erase all personally affiliated files, and chill in the hot tub for 24 hours all while downing as many bottles of scotch as possible before you throw up".

Let me just say...for the record...that plan wasn't entirely terrible.

Andra kept her eyes on the road, undoubtedly noticing my gaze out of the corner of her eye. I could tell by the way she would fidget ever so slightly when we made a turn or a stop. She acted as if she was being judged or something, and I couldn't help but feel regret in my decision to tag along.

No backing out now...a voice in my head said, although, it wasn't my own.

Oh, shut up, already...I rolled my eyes and mentally spoke to what I knew to be the Alien. I've had just about enough of you!

But you enjoy it! The Alien's voice was neither male, nor female, and I troubled myself over trying to figure out what to call it. It's voice ignited with a sense of dangerous knowledge and exhilaration as it continued. Just think about how exciting I've made your life, Erin.

Yeah, exciting with a 99.8% chance of certain death!

Oh, come on. Admit it. You love it.

Love what? I have less privacy, less control, less room in my head to think--

But you have more power!

Now, this, was extremely true. I did have more power. It was like turning on a new machine that hadn't been used before. Completely new and anticipated. It was exciting and not a being on earth could wait to see what this new machine could do...

But I'm not a machine...I started thinking to myself again. I want more than to be "anticipated" once in my life. I want to be helpful...I want to be loved by people...

Please...those things doesn't last. The alien scoffed. You want adventure. Excitement. Powers! Those will last you a life time.

Don't tell me, what I do, and do not want...

You want...you want me...the alien sounded shocked almost. Slightly shaken, but not stirred. It sounded, almost like it meant what it was saying. Like it knew something I didn't.

"SHUT UP!" I screamed aloud. Andra was caught entirely off guard and almost threw us off the road.

"Umm, hello," she began, her voice regular in volume until she screamed. "Someone happens to be... I don't know... Maybe... DRIVING?!"

"It's not me!" I cried in defense, gripping the door handle and the seat's armrest, my knuckles turning white.

"Well, it sure sounded like you!" Agent Matar's voice bit through the chilled morning air.

"Alien!" I pointed a straight pointer finger toward my head harshly. "Remember? The little voice I hear inside my head?" My voice was just as harsh, if not more so. "Here's a little tidbit for ya," I continued, laughing a little spitefully. "IT'S STILL THERE! Huh, go figure?!"

"Go figure is right..." Andra muttered under her breath as she worked her way back into a comfortable driving position. "I was-..." She seemed to decide against saying anything more on that matter, but she wasn't fully done. "GO FIGURE YOUR LIFE OUT!"

"Me?!" I cried. "What about you?" We both paused, letting the silence soak in as our panting subsided. My face was still burning red from all of the yelling, and for once, the Alien was silent.

"We both have agendas that were ruined by pure happenstance." Andra seemed to level out her hot head, but I spoke too soon. "You just so happened to have ruined both of ours."

"Excuse me?" I nearly leapt out of my seat and tackled her right then and there. "This alien must be aging me, because I don't believe I heard you right."

"Oh, you heard me alright..." Her voice gained that "leave-me-the-hell-alone-or-I'll-bite-your-head-off" tone to it once more.

"Do you wanna take this outside, Matar?" I threatened, not really knowing what I was saying as my eyes began to flow blue opaque blue.

"Do you wanna get us caught, Mathis?"
Andra snapped.

A voice over the hushed radio broke the vehicle into a silence.

"The leading story for the last few hours has been trending not only the radio news and televised news, but also the blogs, and web pages of the Internet..."

"Ah, crap..." I hesitated in turning the volume up, but eventually did so as my slender fingers found their way around the dial.

"Witnesses say that two young women were spotted outside of a local store, and met at around 3 A.M. this morning. These same women met the descriptions of two recently wanted--"

I couldn't bear to listen any longer so I turned the radio off with a frustrated push of the volume button.

Andra copied my action, but the result of it turned the radio back on.

"Leave it." She snapped. I pulled back, away from the radio with my hands held up as if in surrender.

"Whatever you say, boss..."