━ ii. and then there was water

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━━ ABOUT THREE WEEKS LATER, the delivery truck dropped a large box off at Aleyna's front door, the girl quickly picking the package up and carrying it into the woods behind her house.

Because her work could potentially be dangerous, she couldn't work in her family's basement, as she refused to be the reason her house blew up.

In the woods, Aleyna's filter stood. She had put all of the 6 main pieces together. She just needed the source of fuel. Aleyna grabbed a butterknife that stuck out of her back pocket while crouching down in front of the box.

She slowly tore the tape that secured the two flaps, her heart pounding, her breathing shallow as she slowly lifted the flaps.

Inside of the cardboard was a white cooler that was surrounded by dry ice. Now, Aleyna couldn't just dump the contents of the box onto the ground; she knew that if even a finger slipped, the vibranium could have terrible consequences.

So, the girl came prepared.

She stood up and grabbed the safety goggles and gloves that sat in a compartment in the back of the filter. Aleyna had made a small slot in the filter to keep her safety supplies; gloves, goggles, tongs, blue medical gowns, and booties that came in a tiny tissue box, a pack of ponytail holders, and other tools she'd need.

When it came to safety, Aleyna was always prepared. After slipping all of her security gear on, she smiled to herself as she crouched down to the box again.

With gentle hands, she slowly grabbed the massive cooler's black handle and slowly, but surely, lifted it, her free hand on the side of the cardboard box to keep it in place.

Once the cooler was outside of the cardboard box, Aleyna carefully shifted closer to her filter, which was roughly five feet away from her. She set the cooler down beside it, steadily opening the lid to find the gas from the dry ice filing out, revealing chunks of vibranium varying in size.

She felt her stomach flip as she laid her gaze on the slabs. She delicately lifted a smaller piece and held it up to the light, admiring the beauty and rarity of it.

Aleyna set it back into the cooler, closed the lid, picked it up, and set it behind a nearby tree that was around seven feet away. She also pulled out an umbrella that would shield her eyes from the bright light that could blare from the filter.

She knew she wasn't going to be too hurt; she had been studying the metal for months. Aleyna, along with the umbrella, used her tongs and grabbed the smallest chunk of vibranium, and walked back to the filter, opening the lid to reveal the small section of the filter where the power source would go.

Holding her breath, she carefully set the vibranium in the section, then closed the lid.

She then walked behind the filter and quickly turned it on by taking the key to it out of her pocket— yes, Aleyna was so prepared with her plans that she made a key and keyhole for her invention— and turned it to the left.

She opened the umbrella, immediately sprinted, and hid behind the tree and umbrella, curling into a little ball and covering herself.

Aleyna closed her eyes tightly as she felt the ground slightly rumble beneath her. She didn't even open her eyes to find the sapphire blue energy rapidly swarming the filter, the filter itself lightly trembling.

Then, a large blast of light erupted from the filter, Aleyna's body shielded by the umbrella.

When the blast ended, the energy focused on Aleyna's gown, gloves, and filter. Her eyes fluttering open, she looked around her, then to the filter.

She didn't expect the explosion to be so massive, and she didn't expect it to even get to her, seven feet away.

The only question left is— does the filter work?

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Steve Rogers sat in his office, Vision right beside him, the blond man looking down at his lap. The synthezoid has just informed him of the vibranium influx in Ukraine, and now the team had to go investigate.

"Show me the map of the area that the vibranium was found." He instructed without looking up at Vision.

Vision's mind stone showed the hologram of Aleyna's neighborhood, Steve sitting up with a hand to his temple. His eyes scanned the hologram, looking for anything that could be seen as a threat to him. "Any threats?" He inquired.

"None."

"And this is a neighborhood?"

"That is correct, Mr. Rogers."

Steve, quiet with thought, quickly made his decision. "Natasha is out training the new Avengers, so I should do this alone... but, we don't know who has the vibranium. Can you do a history of the house nearby?"

"Owned by the Tunikova family since 1983, the current owners are two adults name Yulia and Nicolás Tunikova with their daughter, Aleyna, who's sixteen years old."

"Anything you can find on any of them?"

"Yulia is a hairdresser, and Nicolás is a sales representative for Metinvest, a private corporation that controls 50 percent of the iron ore market, 46 percent of the baking coal market, and 40 percent of the metal products in the domestic market." Vision explained while turning off the hologram. "And the daughter?" Steve continued.

"Aleyna is in grade 11."

Steve hesitated. Out of the Avengers, he seemed to consider his situation the most. He constructed plans quickly instead of jumping blindly into battle. When he usually made his plans, Nat was by his side, seeming to be a voice of reason.

Now that Nat wasn't with him to help, he wasn't quite sure if he could make the right decision.

"Then when Nat's done, you, me, and her go check out the influx."

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word count: 975

author's note:

Hi again! Thank you for reading the second chapter of 'Work of Art'! I noticed this, so someone else probably will, but Vision wasn't at the training for the new Avengers b/c I felt that he didn't really need it. b/c he was JARVIS before he became Vision, the knowledge of fighting and powers from Tony followed him into the body, so when JARVIS was no longer, Vision was already an efficient fighter.

I hope that made sense LMAO

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