#steve rogers daughter
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
Jo’s hand began to shake as she reached for her coffee. She quickly withdrew her hand, spotting the waitress who was glancing at her.
“You alright hun?”
“Yeah, just waiting for it to cool down.” Jo smiled at the woman. The waitress nodded and walked on.
“Says the girl who likes her coffee so hot I’m pretty sure it could be considered lava” Phil mumbled as he sat down across from Jo. “How’s rehab going?”
“As good as to be expected,” Jo held up her hand that was still slightly shaking. “Tony’s mentioned some experiments he could do to repair the nerves, but I turned him down.”
“You still wear the gloves.”
“The scars are a bit more than most people’s stomachs can handle.”
“I still don’t understand,” Phil shook his head as he spoke. “Why’d you, do it?”
Jo sighed, “I’ve talked about this.”
“Yes, yes, you wanted to make it bleed! But you kept hitting even after you knew it wouldn’t.”
“I couldn’t make it bleed, so I made me bleed,” Jo stated, looking out the window of the diner. “How do you like being the director?”
“It sucks!” Coulson spat. “Kind of wish I was an agent again.”
Jo shook her head and smiled. “But we all know you’re the best man for the job.”
“So, where’s your dad?” Phil asked ignoring Jo’s comment.
“On a mission.”
“And you’re not there because…?”
“He doesn’t think I’m ready,” Jo growled, recalling her argument with Steve.
“It’s been a year! Doesn’t he know about the solo missions you’ve been on?”
“Of course not! He’d flip! Honestly, the man looks at like a broken child. Makes me miss the days of being alone.”
Phil nodded in understanding. “You always have a place at Shield, if you want it.”
“That’d be going from one team to another,” Jo shook her head.
“Are you actually considering leaving?”
Jo did not have an answer. To be honest she had thought about it, but knew Steve would scour the Earth for her if she did.
“Jo? What’s going on inside that head of yours?” Phil asked gently. He reached across the table and took her trembling hands in his.
“I miss him,” She croaked. It hurt to say it, but it was true. Everywhere she looked was another reminder of the love she had lost. And time didn’t seem to be healing anything.
Before Phil could respond, everyone’s attention turned towards the small television as the waitress raised the volume. A news reporter was talking about an explosion at a hospital in Lagos. The explosion, she was saying, was caused by the Avengers.
“I gotta go!” both Phil and Jo whispered before rushing out of the diner.
Jo jumped onto her bike and its engine roared to life. She sped off towards the Avengers facility.
“Friday! Where’s Steve?” Jo shouted upon entering the compound.
“Captain Rogers is with Miss Maximoff. But Mr. Stark has called a team meeting in the conference room.”
“Thanks!”
“You’re welcome Supreme Leader Jo.”
Jo smirked at the title. She had figured out how to change her name in Friday’s system within the first week of living at the compound. Although she had received a disapproving look from Steve, it had made Tony laugh.
“Ah! Agent Carter, Glad you could join us!”
“Mr. Secretary,” Jo muttered sitting down beside Sam who smiled at her. She ignored the look she was getting from Steve.
“As I was saying. About five years ago I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because, after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army never taught me.” The Secretary of State paused as if to add dramatic effect. “Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some, who would prefer the word vigilante.”
“And what word would you use Mr. Secretary?” Natasha asked.
“How about dangerous? What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose, and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?” Mr. Secretary stepped aside as the screen behind him flickered on. Showing footage from New York, Washington D.C., Sokovia, and Lagos.
“That’s enough,” Jo stated, noticing Wanda’s reaction. Jo had read up on what happened before entering the meeting. Going in unprepared was never an option for her.
Mr. Secretary nodded and turned off the footage. “For the past four years, you’ve operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That’s an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution.” He turned to his assistant who handed him a large folder. “The Sokovia Accords,” He slid the folder over to Wanda. “Approved by one hundred and seventeen countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they’ll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary. “
“The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we’ve done that.” Steve spoke up.
“Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?”
Steve did not have a response for that.
“If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there’d be consequences.” Mr. Secretary stated. “Compromise. Reassurance. That’s how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground.” He pointed to the binder, that was now held by Rhodey.
“So, there are contingencies.”
“Three days from now the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the accords. Talk it over.”
“And if we come to a decision you don’t like?” Nat asked.
“Then you retire.”
Jo held back every sarcastic, smartass remark she wanted to make.
“Secretary Ross has a congressional medal of honor, which is one more than you have!”
“And medals are what gives him the right to control us?” Jo growled. Rhodey glanced at Jo with an annoyed look. Steve sat in one chair looking over the accords while Tony lounged in another chair across from him.
“So let’s say we sign this thing. How long do you think it’ll be before they low-jack us like a bunch of common criminals?”
“One hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this thing Sam, and you’re just gonna be like “No it’s cool. We got this.””
“How long are you going to play both sides?”
“I have an equation,” Vision stated.
“Oh, this’ll clear things up,” Jo muttered.
“In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Ironman the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And, during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate.”
“Are you saying it’s our fault?”
“I’m saying there may be a causality.” Vision answered. “Our very strength invited challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict breeds catastrophe. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand.”
“Boom,” Rhodey stated looking at Sam who rolled his eyes.
“Tony,” Nat spoke up. “You’re being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal.”
“It’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Steve stated.
“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony grunted standing up and walking to the kitchen sink. “Actually, I’m nursing an electromagnetic headache. That’s what’s going on Cap, it’s just pain. It’s discomfort. Who’s putting coffee grounds in the garbage disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?” Tony placed his phone on the counter and tapped the screen. An image of a young man sprang up.
“Oh, that’s Charles Spencer, by the way. He’s a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn’t wanna go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn’t go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer, building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where. Sokovia.”
No one spoke. There was nothing to say.
“He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won’t know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass. There’s no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check!” Tony shouted. “Whatever form that takes, I’m game. If we can’t accept limitations, if we’re boundary-less, we’re no better than the bad guys.”
“Tony, if someone dies on your watch you don’t give up,” Steve spoke up.
“Who says we’re giving up?”
“We are if we’re not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame.”
“Sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant!” Rhodey exclaimed. “This is the United Nations we’re talking about. It’s not the World Security Council, it’s not Shield, it’s not Hydra.”
“Right. Because the United Nations is apparently some higher overlord who we should bow down to!” Jo shouted.
“Jo- “
“No! We don’t need to be put in check, he does!” Jo pointed to Tony as she spoke. “You started this! You built Ultron! It’s your mistakes that got us here. Don’t take the rest of us down with you!” Jo growled
No one knew how to respond to Jo’s outburst. Tony just stared at her with his mouth slightly opened.
“She has a point about the UN,” Steve finally spoke. “It’s run by people with agendas and agendas change.”
“That’s good! That’s why I’m here!’ Tony exclaimed walking over, regaining control of himself. “When I realized, what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing.”
“Tony, you chose to do that!” Steve shot back. “If we sign this, we’re surrendering our right to choose. What if the panel sends us somewhere we don’t think we should go? What if there’s somewhere we need to go, and they don’t let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.”
“If we don’t do this now, it’s going to be done to us later,” Tony warned. “That’s a fact. That won’t be pretty.”
“Are you saying they’ll come for me?” Wanda asked.
“We would protect you,” Vision answered.
“Maybe Tony’s right,” Nat said. “If we have one hand on the wheel we can still steer. If we take it off…”
“Aren’t you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?” Sam asked in complete shock.
Jo noticed Steve’s face fall as he realized Natasha was not on his side.
“I’m just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back.”
“Focus up. I’m sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?” Tony asked.
“Oh. I want to take it back now.”
“No, you can’t retract it!”
Jo’s phone buzzed, and she took it out of her pocket. It was a text from Sharon. She opened the text and felt her heart drop at what appeared on the screen. “I have to go.” Jo didn’t wait for anyone to respond before walking away.
Jo made it to the bottom of the stairwell and leaned against the wall. She looked at her phone, making sure she hadn’t misread the text.
“What happened?”
Jo looked up as Steve reached her side. She shook her head. “She’s gone,” Jo whispered handing him the phone.
Steve froze as he read the text. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Steve pulled Jo into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Jo pulled herself away from him. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
“Are you- “
“I’m fine,” Jo growled walking back up the stairs. The last thing she wanted was someone else asking if she was okay.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey@capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety @ek823
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
The flying city was in chaos. Jo tore down another robot, the metal cutting through her knuckles. The ground began to shake as a jet from above opened fire on them. She took cover behind a statue, grunting as Jo slammed her back into the concrete. She saw Clint a few yards away holding a small boy, standing directly in the path of the jet. She stood, ready to rush to his aid when there was a gust of wind and suddenly, Clint was gone. The dust settled, and everything seemed to become quiet.
Pietro stood where Clint had been, who was now safely behind a car still holding the boy. Pietro looked at Jo and she could see the shock in his eyes. She could feel the scream building up in her chest as she ran to him. He hit the ground before Jo could reach him
“No”, Jo whispered dropping to her knees. She turned Pietro over, there were too many bullet wounds to count. Clint checked for a pulse but shook his head. Now, the scream came belting out and the tears flowed freely.
“Such a pity.”
Jo jumped to her feet at the sound of Ultron’s voice, turning to see one of his minions standing before her.
“Jo,” Steve warned. But she didn’t hear him.
All she could hear, all she could feel, was her rage.
Jo sat up gasping for air. Pietro looked over at her with a concerned expression.
“I was just coming to wake you, we’re here. Are you alright?”
She nodded and stood, trying to shake off the effects of the dream. But how do you forget watching the man you love die? It couldn’t have been like the others. There was no way this one would come true!
“See you soon” Pietro whispered kissing the top of Jo’s head before zooming off to warn city officials.
Wanda used her powers to make people evacuate. Thor and Banner left for Ultron’s lair to find out his plans and to find Natasha. Steve and Jo worked on the streets, directing traffic and people to safety. Iron-man began his search for Ultron.
“So, you and Pietro?” Steve shouted over the chaos.
“If we get through this, then, you can ask about my dating life!” Jo growled jumping out of the way of an oncoming car.
Suddenly, robots began climbing out of the ground and up the bridge. One flew at Jo and she jumped up, tearing off its head. Cap blocked a blast and took another down.
“Run!” He shouted to the bystanders. People began to scream and grab their children.
The ground began to shake, and Jo and Cap stood on the edge of the bridge as it broke away from the ground. Sokovia was going for a ride.
A robot flew straight at Cap and threw him into a car.
“Cap you got incoming!” Tony warned.
“Incoming already came in!” Jo grunted running to help. She took out her gun and shot at the robots, drawing their attention away from the civilians.
“Stark you worry about getting the city back down safely, the rest of us have one job,” Steve ordered. “Tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed, walk it off.”
“How encouraging,” Jo muttered as she tore the arm off another robot. She used it to beat the other one to death.
“Jo!” Steve shouted as he ran towards a car about to fall off the bridge. He grabbed the bumper and tried to pull the woman up, but the bumper broke off and both cars fell. Thor flew down and threw the woman up to Steve who was now hanging off the edge of the bridge.
Jo knelt to the ground and pulled up the woman.
“You can’t save them all” a robot spoke as it landed behind Jo. Steve threw his shield into its chest as he climbed back up. “You’ll never- “But before he could finish Steve grabbed his shield and Jo kicked the robot off the bridge.
“You’ll never what? You didn’t finish!” Jo shouted. Steve slightly chuckled. They both jumped back as Thor dropped the second car beside them and landing on top of it.
“What, were you napping?” Steve asked as they headed back to the battle.
“Father like daughter,” Thor grunted.
They continued to fight. Cap threw his shield taking down multiple robots at once. Thor threw his hammer at a gas truck causing an explosion.
“We’re all clear here!” Clint reported.
“We are not clear! We are very not clear!” Jo shouted. She threw a metal pole and it went straight through a robot’s chest.
“Alright, coming to you,” Clint responded.
“Romanoff!” Jo shouted. She grabbed Steve’s shield and threw it, taking down the robot behind Natasha.
“Thanks!”
“Stop taking my shield!”
“Then move faster old man!” Jo chuckled before taking off.
“The next waves gonna hit any minute. What do you got Stark!” Steve demanded.
“Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That’ll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear.”
“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan.”
“Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We’re gonna have to make a choice.”
“Cap these people are going nowhere,” Nat spoke up. “If Stark’s found a way to blow this rock- “
“Not till everyone’s safe” Steve responded.
“Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There’s no math there.”
“I’m not leaving this rock with one civilian on it” Steve stated. Jo knew there was no changing his mind.
“I didn’t say we should leave.” Jo and Steve looked at Natasha surprised. “There are worse ways to go,” She shrugged as she spoke. “Where else am I gonna get a view like this?”
“Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It’s about to get better.”
The three of them looked towards the sky in shock as a helicarrier fly into their line of sight.
“Nice, right? Pulled out a couple of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She’s dusty, but she’ll do.” Nick Fury spoke.
“Fury, you son of a bitch.”
“Woah! Steve! Teach your daughter some manners!”
“I’ve tried, but you know how she can get” Steve chuckled.
Pietro zoomed over to them as they watched the lifeboats fly towards the city.
“This is Shield?”
“This what’s Shield supposed to be” Steve answered.
“This is not so bad,” Pietro smiled at Jo as he spoke. She couldn’t help but smile back. They were saved! The chances of her dream coming dream seemed to become smaller with every passing second. They might actually have a chance at winning this thing.
“Let’s load them up,” Steve ordered. They got to work.
Jo worked tirelessly, running back and forth between groups of people and the lifeboats. Shouting orders and helping people along. Pietro helped speed things along by carrying people onto the boats.
“We’re running out of time! They’re coming for the core!” Thor reported.
“Avengers, time to work for a living!” Tony ordered.
Pietro grabbed Jo and rushed them to the church. They arrived just as Clint and Wanda did.
“You good?”
“Yes,” Wanda nodded as she spoke. Cap and Tony entered.
“Romanoff, you and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini,” Tony warned in a teasing tone.
“Relax shell head, not all of us could fly.” The truck skidded to a stop and Nat jumped out. “What’s the drill?”
“This is the drill,” Tony answered pointing to the metal cylinder sticking out of the ground. “Ultron gets a hand on the core we lose.”
Hulk landed on two robots and entered the church. They all turned at the sight of Ultron flying before them.
“Is that the best you can do!” Thor shouted.
Ultron glanced at him and raised his hand. An army of robots came running up behind him.
“You had to ask,” Steve muttered.
“Now, you sound like a dad.” Steve glanced back at Jo who smirked.
“This is the best I can do” Ultron spoke. “This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?”
“Well, like the old man said, together,” Tony answered glancing at Steve.
Hulk let out a roar as the army came charging towards them. Jo stood her ground between Natasha and Clint. Adrenalin pumping through her veins, the feeling of the metal body parts crumbling in her grasp like they were no stronger than a cracker! Oh, how she missed the battlefield.
Jo turned in time to see Hulk punk a broken Ultron into the sky and his goons retreat.
“They’ll try to leave the city!”
“We can’t let them. Not even one. Rhodey!”
“I’m on it!” Rhodey responded. Jo caught a glimpse of the war machine as he flew into action.
“We gotta move out!” Steve ordered. “Even I can tell the air’s getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I’ll sweep for stragglers. I’ll be right behind you.”
“What about the core?”
“I’ll protect it” Wanda stated. “It’s my job.”
Clint and Nat took off, Steve glanced at Jo.
“Right behind you” She reassured. Steve nodded and left.
Pietro rushed in a few seconds later.
“Get the people on the boats.”
“I’m not leaving you here,”
“She can handle this” Jo reassured as Wanda took down another robot.
“Come for me after you get everyone off, not before,” Wanda ordered. “And you go help the Captain look for anyone who might have been left behind.”
“You know, we’re both older than you.”
“Doesn’t change the fact she’s always been the one in charge” Jo chuckled. She gave Pietro a peck on the lips. “See you on the boats!” She called heading in the direction Steve had gone.
“Find anyone else?” Jo called as jogged over to Steve who was ushering people out of an apartment building.
“No, this is it” He answered as the two took up the rear of the group heading for the boats. “Jo, listen if we- “
“I know where you’re going so don’t”
“No, I need to- “
“I don’t do goodbyes. I think I’ve told you that. Did I ever I tell you why?”
Steve shook his head.
“Because goodbyes are finale. They end something, and nothing is every finale in our line of work. You were frozen for seventy years, Coulson was brought back from the dead. I don’t do goodbyes because I don’t want to believe something could actually end. It’s one of the few hopes I have left in this life so don’t take that from me just because you need some kind of bullshit like closure.”
“I was just going to tell you I love you.”
“Love you too pops” Jo whispered as they approached Thor.
“Is this the last of them?” Thor shouted over the chaos.
“Yeah, everyone else is on the carrier.”
“You, this works, we maybe don’t walk away.”
“I just gave Steve no goodbyes speech so don’t pull this shit right now Stark!” Jo ordered, making all three men chuckle. “Glad to know even in the face of death I’m still funny.”
Jo let out a gasp as she realized something.
“Jo, what is it?” Steve asked, clearly concerned.
Steve was there, and so was Thor. Jo looked to her left and saw a statue that looked familiar. She spun around looking in every direction.
“Jo what’s going – “
“Where’s Clint!”
“What?”
“Where’s Barton!” She demanded again. Suddenly, the ground shook and dust and rubble filled the air as a jet opened fire on them. Steve shoved Jo behind the statue. She let out a grunt as her back hit the concrete. And then she saw him.
Clint stood directly in the path of the jet, holding a child in his arms.
“The rules have changed.”
“We’re dealing with something new.”
“Well, the Vision’s artificial intelligence.”
“A machine.”
“So, it doesn’t count?” Steve asked as he, Tony, and Thor walked down a hallway in the Avenger’s facility in Upstate New York.
“Right. It’s not like a person lifting the hammer.” Tony answered.
“Right, different rules for us.”
“Nice guy. Artificial.”
“Thank you!”
“He can wield the hammer, he can keep the mind stone” Thor stated. “It’s safe with the Vision. And these days, safe is in short supply.”
“But if you put the hammer in an elevator…”
“It would still go up!”
“Elevators not worthy” Steve muttered.
“I’m gonna miss these little talks of ours” Thor chuckled.
“Not if you don’t leave.”
“I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. It’s not a coincidence.”
The three of them walked outside onto the front lawn of the facility.
“Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. And once all these pieces are in position…”
“Tripe Yahtzee!” Tony exclaimed as they came to a stop on the grass.
“You think you can find out what’s coming?” Steve asked.
“I do. Besides this one, there’s nothing that can’t be explained!” Thor exclaimed slapping Tony on the chest. Thor nodded and raised his hammer. A beam of blue light surrounded him as he shot into the sky. A few seconds later, Thor was gone, leaving a circle with weird marking burned onto the grass.
“That man has no regard for lawn maintenance,” Tony muttered. “I’m gonna miss him though. And you’re gonna miss me. There’s gonna be a lot of manful tears.” Tony clicked a button on a small remote and his car drove over to them.
“I will miss you, Tony.”
“Yeah? Well, it’s time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton’s book. Build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blow’s it up.”
“The simple life.”
“You’ll get there one day” Tony reassured.
“I don’t know. Family, stability… The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out.”
“What about Jo?”
“I highly doubt we’ll be getting that apartment in Brooklyn anytime soon. Not when I can barely get her to talk to me.”
“Give her time. This is the first time it’s been peaceful since we rescued her, and considering what she’s been through… just, don’t give up on her. Not when she needs you most.”
Steve raised his eyebrow slightly. “Thought you two hated each other?”
“In a weird brother-sister way, yeah, but, she is family.” Tony opened the door to the driver’s side as he spoke.
“Glad to know she has someone like you watching out for her.”
“You know, most people wouldn’t see that as a reassuring thing.”
“I do,” Steve stated. Tony slightly smiled and nodded before getting into his car.
Steve watched the dust settle for a moment after Tony left before heading back inside the compound.
“I have missed you every day” He whispered.
The sound of her fist hitting the leather filled the empty gym.
“When this is over you and I are going far away. I’m going to take you on a real date.”
She punched harder, probably ripping open the wounds on her hands.
“Where?”
“Anywhere you want to go my luchik (Russian for little ray of light)” He answered before kissing her again.
The punching bag snapped off its chain and flew across the room, its contents spilling all over the floor. Jo stood there with her eyes closed, breathing hard. Trying to hold onto the memories, but she could feel them slipping away. Becoming what they now were, no longer hopes for a future, but pieces of what could have been.
“I think my record is twenty-six.”
“What?” Jo spat turning around. Steve stood in the doorway with his arms crossed.
“How many bags I’ve broken, twenty-six.”
Jo ignored his words and unwrapped the dirty bandages from her hands. She reached into her bag and took out the roll of clean ones and started to wrap up her hands, but she could not stop the shaking.
“Here, let me help,” Steve spoke gently as he approached Jo. He carefully took the bandages from her and held her hand as he wrapped them.
“Thanks,” Jo muttered.
“You probably just added a few more weeks of rehab to your list. You need to give you wounds time to heal properly or there could be permanent damage.”
“The damage is already done.” Once Steve finished Jo took the roll and tossed it into her bag.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Might help.”
“I said no,” Jo growled grabbing her things and turning to leave.
“Why did you keep punching it?”
Jo stopped walking and turned back to her father. “What?”
“The Robot. Even after you knew it was dead you kept punching it, why? Just wanted to get your anger out?”
Jo sighed and pushed her sweaty hair out of her eyes. “I wanted to see it bleed.”
“It was a robot.”
“And I wanted it to feel pain, I wanted the feeling of satisfaction as its blood coated my hands.” Jo was pretty sure her words scared Steve slightly, but she could care less.
“I understand what- “
“Oh don’t! Don’t try and relate to what I’m feeling because you can’t!” She shouted dropping her bag. “You were robbed of your chance to live a life while I am stuck living! I don’t age! I’ve been stuck at sixteen for seventy years! I don’t get to grow old and build a life with anyone! I’m an agent and that is all I can ever be! There is no place for in this world.”
Steve shook his head, “I’m sorry.”
“Everyone is.” Jo scoffed. She reached for her bag but stopped when she saw Steve walking over to the pile of punching bags.
He picked up one and hung it on the chain. “Want to see if you can beat my record.”
Jo’s jaw opened slightly in shock. “Thought you said I should let my wounds heal?”
“Each person heals differently.” Steve was still standing by the bag.
Jo took a small step forward, “Why are you doing this?”
“Because talking doesn’t help you, actions do, and I want to help you, Jo. I want to be there for you in any way you’ll let me” Steve pleaded.
Jo slightly swayed on her feet for a moment, before walking towards her dad.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey @capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
The Avengers were all in Clint’s house as he sat in the living room with his family. Tony threw darts, Natasha and Jo sat at the dining room table, Banner stuck to a corner, and Steve leaned against a wall.
“Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he’s building something. With the amount of vibrainum he made off with, I don’t think it’s just one thing.”
“What about Ultron himself?”
“He’s easy to track. He’s everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. It still doesn’t help us get an angle on any of his plans, though” Fury explained.
“Is he still going after launch codes?”
“Yes, he is. But he’s not making any headway.”
“I cracked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare!” Tony exclaimed.
“Yeah, well I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that.”
“Nexus?”
“It’s the world internet hub in Oslo.” Banner answered. “Every bite of data flows through there. Fastest access on Earth.”
“So, what’d they say?”
He’s fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed?”
“By whom?” Tony asked. He flinched as an arrow sped past him, hitting the bullseye on the board. Clint slightly smirked.
“Unknown parties”
“Do we have an alley?”
“Ultron’s got an enemy. That’s not the same thing.”
“Still, I’d pay folding money to know who it is” Jo muttered.
“I might need to visit Oslo, find out who our unknown is.”
“Well, this is good times boss. But I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you’d have more than that” Jo remarked.
“I do. I have you.” Fury responded. “Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere. Ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing standing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grace. So, stand. Outwit the platinum bastard.”
“Steve doesn’t like that kind of talk”
“You know what Romanoff?” Steve groaned.
“So, what does he want?”
“To become better,” Steve spoke up. “Better than us. He keeps building bodies.”
“Person bodies. The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we’re outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it” Tony added.
Jo noticed Banner stepping towards the table. He was looking at the drawing of a butterfly Clint’s daughter had made Natasha.
“When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed.”
“They don’t need to be protected,” Banner muttered. “They need to evolve. Ultron is going to evolve.”
“How?”
“Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?”
“I’ll take Natasha, Clint, and Jo” Steve spoke as he attached his shield to his back.
“Alright, strictly recon. I’ll head to Nexus and join you as soon as I can” Tony answered as the two walked towards the front door.
“If Ultron’s really building a body, he’ll be more powerful than any of us.”
“Maybe all of us” Tony added. “An android designed by a robot.”
“You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was us,” Jo remarked as she approached the two men. Steve nodded in agreement.
“I’ll drop banner off at the tower,” Nick said as he slipped on his coat. “You mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?”
“She’s all yours. Apparently.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Something dramatic I hope,” Fury smirked as spoke and then headed out the door.
Cap and Jo climbed onto the roof of a building as the quinjet flew off.
“Two minutes. Stay close.” Steve ordered.
The two rushed into the lab, Jo glanced around, noticing the dead scientists and broken equipment.
“Doctor Cho!” Steve exclaimed, rushing over to the injured woman. They knelt before her, Jo grabbed a towel and applied pressure to her wound.
“He’s uploading himself into the body,” Cho gasped.
“Where?” Steve demanded, but Cho shook her head. He moved to get up but Cho stopped him.
“The real power is in the cradle. The gem, it’s power is uncontainable. You can’t just blow it up. You have to get the cradle to Stark.” Cho explained.
“First, we have to find it.”
“Go,” Cho croaked.
“Did you guys copy that?” Jo asked as she and Steve moved through the building.
“We did” Clint answered.
“I got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest. That could be him.”
“There, it’s a truck from the lab” Clint spoke up, looking down at the highway below him. “Right above you Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It’s them. Three with the cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver.”
“Negative!” Steve exclaimed. “That truck crashes the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron.”
Jo and Steve made it to the highway above the road the truck was on. They waited for the truck to get closer before raising across the road and jumping down. They landed on the truck with a thud. Cap climbed down onto the back doors just as they were blasted open. They hit the ground with Steve on top.
“Well, he’s definitely unhappy. I’m gonna try and keep him that way.”
“You’re not a match for him Cap, even with Jo’s help”
“Thanks, Barton” Jo grumbled, the sarcasm in her tone was obvious.
Ultron blasted Steve onto the car behind them. He grabbed onto another car and flung himself onto the roof of the car.
“You know what’s in that cradle?” Ultron asked. Steve and Jo hid behind his shield as Ultron shot another blast of energy at them. “The power to make real change. And that terrifies you.”
“I wouldn’t call it a comfort,” Jo snatched the shield and threw it at Ultron. It bounced off the robot back to her.
“Hey, that’s my move!”
“Then move a little faster old man!” Jo grunted as she rolled out of the way of Ultron’s blow. Steve threw the shield this time and it got lodged in Ultron’s chest.
“Stop it!” Ultron growled. He tossed the shield onto the road and blasted Steve onto the top of the cab. He struggled to climb back up.
Jo swung her arms around the robot’s neck from behind and they wrestled. Ultron grabbed her arm and spun Jo around before picking her up by the neck. Jo glanced down in time to see Natasha on a motorcycle, who tossed her Steve’s shield. She used it free herself and rolled out of the way as Ultron fell. Steve made it back up shoved Ultron back down just as he tried to stand. A blast of energy shot Jo onto the car following them. Before she could stand, Ultron lifted the ground causing the car to flip. Jo scrambled to her feet and moved out of the way of the flying vehicles. She jumped off a moving car and back onto the roof of the truck. She grabbed Ultron by the head as she flew through the air and flipped him. Steve caught the shield and brought it down on the platinum bastard.
Suddenly, the quinjet came around a building and Clint fired on Ultron. The guards who were still with the cradle now flew towards the quinjet.
Steve grabbed Ultron and threw him into a concrete pillar. The metal man flew back and he and Steve tackled each other, falling into a nearby train. Jo followed.
“I’m going in, can you guys keep him busy?”
“What do you think we’ve been doing?” Steve sighed as he dodged another blast.
Natasha jumped off her biked and into the back of the truck. Before she could do anything, the two robot guards grabbed the sides of the truck and lifted it into the air.
“Package is airborne, should I take the shot?” Clint asked once the truck was over water.
“Negative, I am still in the truck!”
“What the hell are you-”
“Just be ready” Nat ordered. “I’m sending the package to you.”
“How do you want me to take it?”
“Um, you might wish you hadn’t asked that,” Nat remarked as she cut off the straps.
Jo ducked and kicked Ultron’s feet out from under him. Wit in seconds he had her against the wall. Jo tilted her head, dodging another punch. She grunted in pain as one hit her on the side. Out of nowhere came a flash of blew and Ultron went flying. Red energy controlled the luggage racks, trapping Ultron on the other side of the train. Jo looked over at Pietro who winked at her. She couldn’t stop the small smile from appearing on her face. The interaction did not go unnoticed by Steve, though he knew this was no time to bring it up.
“Please, don’t do this” Ultron pleaded.
“What choice do we have?” Wanda asked. Ultron fired at Pietro who moved out of the way in time before he flew out of the train.
“We lost him! He’s headed your way!” Steve exclaimed as him and Jo raced to the other side of the train. They found a dead conductor and saw the end of the tracks quickly approaching. The train went off the tracks, people held onto whatever they could.
“Cap, have you seen Nat?”
“If you have the package, get it to Stark!”
“Do you have eyes on Nat!”
“Go!” Jo screamed, trying to keep herself from flying off the train. “There are civilians in our path!” She shouted at Pietro who nodded before speeding off.
“Can you stop this thing?” Steve asked looking to Wanda. She nodded.
Jo watched as her friend shot red energy from her hands. She heard the creaking of the train as Wanda struggled to bring it to a stop, but she was successful. Once the train stopped people began to help one another off. Wanda and Jo rushed over to Pietro who was bent over panting.
“I’m fine, I just need to take a minute” He assured them, leaning against a wall.
“I’m very tempted not to give you one,” Steve remarked.
“The cradle, did you get it?”
“Stark will take care of it.”
“No, he won’t.”
Jo didn’t like the look on Wanda’s face. “What is it?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Stark’s not crazy.”
“He will do anything to make things right!” Wanda exclaimed. Steve looked at her for a moment before stepping back.
“Stark come in. Is anyone on coms?”
“Ultron can’t tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it” Wanda explained. “Where do you think he gets that?”
“I’m gonna say this once” Steve boomed as they entered the lab.
“How about nonce”
“Shut it down!”
“Nope, not gonna happen.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing!”
“And you do?” Banner asked. “She’s not in your head?” He motioned to Wanda as he spoke.
“I know you’re angry- “Wanda began.
“Oh, we’re way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.”
“Banner, after everything that’s happened- “
“Is nothing compared to what’s coming!” Tony shouted.
“You don’t know what’s in there!”
“This isn’t a game!”
Pietro glanced at Jo and she knew exactly what he was thinking. She slightly smirked and nodded. Pietro sped around the room, turning things off and pulling giant plugs out of the cradle.
“No, no, go on. You were saying?” He asked. A gun went off and a bullet shattered the glass floor beneath his feet.
“Pietro!” Wanda exclaimed.
Clint placed his foot on Pietro’s stomach, stopping him from getting up. “What? You didn’t see that coming?”
A computer started to beep.
“I’m rerouting the upload!” Tony exclaimed. Steve threw his shield at the computer and Tony fired using the hand from his suit as the back attached itself to him. Steve attacked. Wanda moved to stop it but Banner wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“Go ahead, piss me off” He taunted. Jo grabbed Banner and pulled him off Wanda, shoving him aside.
Before they could do anything, else Thor came into the room and jumped onto the cradle. He raised his hammer and lightning appeared. He shot it down into the cradle. Once he stopped, the cradle exploded and Thor went flying. A man came out of the white smoke. His skin was a mixture of metal and red. He slowly rose to a standing position. He set his eyes on Thor and dove towards him. Thor threw the man through the glass window and into the living room. They all quickly followed, to find the strange man floating in midair. Staring at his reflection in the window. Grey cloths appeared on his skin as the man floated down towards them.
“I’m sorry. That was, odd” He spoke, now standing on the ground. “Thank you” He added nodding towards Thor. A golden cape appeared on his back.
“Thor, you helped create this?” Cap asked.
“I’ve had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope and life and its center is that” Thor pointed towards the yellow stone on the man’s forehead.
“What? The gem?”
“It’s the mind stone. It’s one of the six infinity stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.”
“Then why would you bring it- “
“Because Stark is right.”
“Oh, it’s definitely the end times,” Banner remarked.
“The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron.”
“Not alone.” The man added.
“Why does your vision sound like Jarvis?”
“We reconfigured Jarvis’s matrix to create something new.”
“I think I’ve had my fill of new” Steve grumbled.
“You think I’m a child of Ultron” The man spoke as he and Tony circled each other.
“You’re not?”
“I’m not Ultron. I am not Jarvis, I am…I am.”
“I looked in your head and saw annihilation” Wanda spoke up, stepping towards the man.
“Look again”
“Yeah, her seal of approval means jack to mean” Clint sneered.
“Their powers, the horrors in our head, Ultron himself, they all came from the mind stone. And they’re nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side- “
“Is it?” Jo interrupted. “Are you? On our side?” She asked the man.
“I don’t think it’s that simple”
“Well, it better get real simple real soon” Jo demanded.
“I am on the side of life. Ultron isn’t. He will end it all and- “
“What’s he waiting for?” Tony asked.
“You.”
“Where?”
“Sokovia. He’s got Nat there too” Clint answered.
Banner stepped forward with a dark look in his eyes. “If we’re wrong about you, if you’re the monster Ultron created you to be…”
“What will you do?” But Banner didn’t answer him. “I don’t want to kill Ultron. He’s unique and he’s in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he’s built. Every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster, I don’t think I’d know if I were one. I’m not what you are and not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go.”
The room fell silent and Thor looked a bit awkward at the sight of this man holding out Thor’s hammer. He took it, and the man walked away. No one knew what to say.
“Right. Well done” Thor patted Tony on the shoulder before walking off.
“Three minutes,” Steve ordered. “Get what you need.”
Jo changed into fresh clothes and strapped on clean weapons. She made sure she had extra bullets and her favorite knives. She was about to meet up with the group when Pietro hesitantly entered the room.
“I came to- “
“All is forgiven” She quickly said. Pietro relaxed. He held out his arms and Jo rushed into them. He held her tightly before Jo pulled back and kissed him. She never realized how much she had ached for him till now.
“I have missed you every day” He whispered. He moved his lips to her cheek and then her jaw, before leaving a trail of kisses down her neck. “When this is over you and I are going far away. I’m going to take you on a real date.”
“Where?” Jo whispered. She tugged on Pietro’s locks, bring his lips back to hers.
“Anywhere you want to go my luchik (Russian for little ray of light)” He answered before kissing her again. Jo pressed herself closer to him, taking in every moment of this and burning it into her mind. Never wanting to forget this feeling. She felt safe and loved in his arms. Forget saving the world, if he asked her to run away there was a part of her that might have said yes.
“I love you,”
“And I you.” He answered. “We will make it through this, I promise.”
Jo didn’t answer because she knew that was a promise that couldn’t be kept. She kissed him all over his face. Pietro chuckled as Jo kissed him on the nose.
“Hey, love birds!” The two jumped apart and Wanda chuckled. “You are lucky it was I who caught you and not the Captain.”
Jo rolled her eyes and walked over to Wanda. The two embraced.
“I’m glad the three of us are together again” Jo smiled as she spoke. Wanda nodded in agreement.
“Come on, we better go before your father sends a search party,” Wanda stated.
“Do you think he likes me?”
“No!” Both Jo and Wanda laughed as they walked out of the room with their arms linked.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy @iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
“The news is loving you guys, though no one else is” Hill explained. “There’s been no official call for Banner’s arrest, but it’s in the air.”
“The Stark relief foundation?”
“Already on the scene, on how’s the team?”
“Everyone’s… We took a hit. We’ll shake it off” Tony answered.
“Well, for now, I’d stay in stealth mode and stay away from here”
“So, run and hide?”
“Until we can find Ultron, I don’t have a lot else to offer.”
“Neither do we” Tony ended the call and walked over to Clint, who was flying the jet. “Hey, you wanna switch out?”
“No, I’m good. If you wanna get some kip, now’s a good time because we’re still a few hours out.”
“A few hours from where?”
“A safe house.”
Jo sat far away from everyone. Though considering what they had been through no one was exactly in the talking mood. Her head was pounding and she felt slightly dizzy. Jo tried to put the new puzzle pieces in their place but considering it felt like she was doing a million-piece puzzle, it was a painful process. You’d think regaining your memory would be like the movies, one minute nothing and the next you remember everything and you’re fine. When in reality it feels like your brain had been on overload for three hours and the end is nowhere in sight.
“Hey, wake up”
“Huh?” Jo’s eyes snapped open, realizing she had fallen asleep. Jo noticed they had landed in some field. “Where are we?”
“Don’t know, Barton say’s it’s a safe house” Steve explained as he helped her up. “You okay?”
“Are any of us?” Jo muttered. She had yet to tell Steve her memories were back. Because that involves explaining how they had returned.
They all followed Barton through the field and up to the front steps. “Honey? I’m home” Barton called out as they entered the home. They walked into a living room, filled with books, toys, and stuffed animals. A pregnant woman came around the corner, a child’s painting in hand.
“Hi, company. Sorry, I didn’t call ahead” Barton apologized as he kissed the mystery woman. He put his arm around her and turned to the team. “Gentlemen, this is Laura.”
“I know all of your names” Laura smiled at them all.
“Ooh, incoming” Barton smiled at the sound of running steps.
“Dad!” A little girl exclaimed.
“Hi, sweetheart!” Clint took the girl into her arms and held her close. “Hey, buddy!” He threw his other arm around the teenage boy and kissed the top of his head.
“Did you bring Auntie Nat?”
“Why don’t you hug her and find out?” The little girl squealed with delight and ran into Nat’s arms.
“Sorry for barging in on you” Steve apologized.
“Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed.”
“Yeah well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined” Barton explained. “Kept it off Shield’s files and I’d like to keep it that way. I figured it’s a good place to lay low.”
Everyone began to talk amongst themselves. Thor walked out of the house and Steve followed. Jo heard Thor say something about a dream and watched as he swung his hammer and shot into the sky. She saw Steve pause for a moment before walking out into the front yard.
Jo sat up on the roof, watching Tony chop wood and Steve pull pieces apart with his hands. Jo laid down and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her skin. Made her think of the days she was allowed out of her cell. The cold snowy air may have been killer, but Jo had had someone there to keep her warm. Jo couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this way. Sure, she had her fair share of flings, one-night stands, and short-term relationships. But Jo believed this might be the first time she was in love. Jo missed him more than she had missed anyone. She had finally felt comfortable leaning on someone. That she was not alone.
Jo flinched and swatted away the piece of wood that had hit her face. She sat up and saw Steve looking up at her with his hands on his hips and a look on his face that told Jo he was annoyed about something.
“What?” Jo grunted as she jumped down to the ground. She noticed Tony was no longer there chopping wood.
“What’s up with you?”
“You all just got shown our darkest secrets and worst fears by a witch and you’re asking me what’s up?” Jo looked at him surprised.
“What did she show you?”
Jo sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. “I don’t…”
“Whatever happened, it changed you. And Barton said you ran out of the ship while Tony went for Banner and Clint was helping Nat, did you run into the Maximoff’s?”
“Yes,” Jo whispered. Steve stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Jo, whatever happened, you can tell me. Did you remember something? Did you- “
“I remembered everything” Jo breathed. Steve’s hands dropped to his sides.
“What?”
“Wanda, the Maximoff girl, she used her powers to give me back my memories”
“Why?”
“Because… We’re friends” Jo confirmed. Steve shook his head in shock.
“You… You’re friends with- “
“We were all held by Strucker remember? I wasn’t in cryofreeze the whole time you know. Our cells were close and we sometimes were allowed outside at the same time.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
“You were dealing with whatever Wanda had shown you! In no state for me to be telling you my own problems.”
“There you go again!” Steve ranted, throwing his hands up in the air. “You always do this! You always keep it all to yourself, never letting anyone help you!”
“I’m sorry” Jo whispered. “I’m trying to be better, honest. I just, my brain is a mess!”
Steve sighed and pulled Jo into a hug. She remained still at first, before embracing it. “You’re my kid, I’m going to- “
“Help me no matter what. I gained memories, I didn’t lose more” Jo joked making Steve laugh.
“Where is she?” Jo spun around and smiled.
“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”
“There’s no need to sound more disappointed each time you say that” Fury grunted as he approached them, with Tony in tow. “Have they fixed your memory?”
“I’m good as new”
“Rogers, Stark, inside. I want a word with Carter alone. I’m assuming I can use your last name now?”
“She’s my daughter, her last name is Rogers.”
“It’s Carter, and could you give us a minute?” Jo asked, but was really telling the two to piss off. Tony and Steve rolled their eyes before doing what they were told. “Now, what do you want?”
“Man, you really are back to your old self. Shame, Wilson said you were actually a bit nicer without your memory”
“And I’ll smack him upside the head for it” Jo muttered.
“You doing alright kid?”
“Did you make them leave so you could ask if I was okay?”
“I’m not as heartless as I look” Fury responded. “But I also want to know what you’ve got on those enhanced people.”
“You know their past, you know their abilities and why they joined the program. What more do you need to know?”
“Are you prepared to take them down if it comes to it?”
“I haven’t let you down so far” Jo dictated. “Why doubt me now?”
“Because, although I’m sure your father has no clue, I am aware you were quite close to the Maximoffs.”
“I’ve killed comrades before who picked the wrong side, I can do it again.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t want you to have to”
Jo looked confused. “What are you on about?”
“You’ve been an agent most of your life and spent the other half being tortured by Hydra or running from them. When this is over, I want you to take a break. Get that apartment in Brooklyn with Rogers, or maybe with the Maximoff boy if he comes to his senses.”
“Last I checked you aren’t my boss anymore”
“Doesn’t change that I care about you” Fury responded, leaning against the porch railing.
Jo nodded in understanding. “I don’t know what I’ll do when this is over, I’m not even sure if I’ll survive this. But I’m a soldier, always have been. Was raised by one, my father is the most famous soldier, and I’ll die like one.”
“And you’re just as dramatic as your father as well.”
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
“We need to go after her!”
“And how do you suppose we do that?” Wanda demanded as she spun around. Pietro took a step back. “She is with the Avengers. Protected by the best security known to man. The best idea is to wait for them to come to us, they’re bound to find us at some time.”
“But- “
“Pietro, no one understands better than I what she means to you, but right now, there is nothing we can do.”
“I hope she’s okay,” Pietro muttered shaking his head.
“She is, they wouldn’t hurt her, I promise. Now come on, let’s find out who wants to meet us” Wanda motioned to the abandoned church before them.
Jo looked up from her computer when Barton and Steve walked in.
“What’s that?”
“A message. Ultron killed Strucker” Thor passed the iPad to Tony as Steve spoke.
“And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us.”
“This is a smoke screen, why send a message when you’ve just made a speech?” Jo asked.
“Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss”
“Yeah, I bet he…” Natasha fell silent as her computer beeped. “Yep, everything we have on Strucker has been erased.”
“Not everything” Everyone looked at Jo in confusion as she walked out of the room.
Thor tossed aside the lid to a box filled with files.
“Baron Strucker had a lot of friends” Steve muttered as he looked through his box.
“Well, these people are all horrible”
“Wait, I know that guy” Tony pointed towards the file Bruce had who handed it over. “From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms.”
Steve gave Tony a suspicious look who rolled his eyes.
“There are conventions, alright? You meet people. I didn’t sell him anything.” Tony looked over the papers again. “He was talking about something new. A game-changer. It was all very, Ahab.”
“This?”
“Uh, that’s a tattoo, I don’t think he had it.”
“No, those are tattoos, this is a brand” Thor pointed to the pictures as he explained.
Bruce used one of his computer programs to search for the meaning of the symbol. There was a ding a few minutes later. “Oh yeah, it’s a word in African dialect meaning “thief”, in a much less friendly way.”
“What dialect?”
“Wakanda.”
“If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…”
“I thought your father said he got the last of it” Jo stated, she and Tony were looking at each other while everyone else looked confused.
“I don’t follow. What comes out of Wakanda?”
“The strongest metal on Earth” Steve answered looking at his shield. “Where is this guy now?”
Men shouted orders and others groaned from the aches of labor. The sound of metal grinding and machines hard at work filled the air.
“Don’t tell me your men swindled you. I sent you six short-range heat seekers and got a boat full of rusty parts. Now, you will make it right, or the next missile I send you will come much faster” Klaw pressed a button on his phone, ending the call and. “Now, minister, where were we?”
Everything came to a stop and lights flickered off. Klaw could hear his men shouting in fear below him. Flashlights spun around the room as the workers tried to calm everyone down and figure out what happened. Klaw grabbed his gun off the desk, eerily looking at his surroundings. He slowly stepped towards the doorway and fired his gun. There was a flash of silver and suddenly his gun was back on his desk, with all nine bullets set in a neat row.
“Yeah, the enhanced” Klaw chuckled at the site before him. A young man with curly blond hair and his twin sister stared at Klaw. “Strucker’s prize pupils. Candy? Hmm?” Klaw asked, now sitting on a stool and holding out a rusty metal plate, but the twins said nothing. “I was sorry to hear about Strucker, but then he knew what kind of world he was helping to create. Human life. Not a growth market.”
The twins glanced at each other, a look of surprise passed between them.
“You didn’t know? Is this your first time intimidating someone? I’m afraid, I’m not that afraid.”
“Everybody’s afraid of something” Wanda spoke for the first time, stepping into the room.
“Cuttlefish” Klaw stated, pointing his finger at nothing. “Deep sea fish. They make lights, disco lights…” He made weird chomping noise with his mouth and moved his hand to imitate the fish. “To hypnotize their prey, and then…” His hand shot out and snatched at the air. “I saw a documentary once, it was terrifying.”
Pietro zoomed over and grabbed one of the candies, tossing it into his mouth.
“So, if you’re going to fiddle with my brain and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don’t do business and I know you’re not in charge. And I only deal, with the man in charge” Klaw stood up as he spoke. He failed to notice the flying robot behind him.
Klaw cried out in pain as he was thrown through the glass. He struggled to sit up as the robot loomed over him.
“There is no man in charge,” Ultron leaned down, now quite close to Klaw. “Let’s talk business.”
One of Klaw’s men slid open the cargo hold. The ceiling of it lowered, revealing an upper level that contained many vials. Klaw grabbed one of them.
“Upon this rock, I shall build my church,” Ultron remarked as took the vial. “Vibranium.” Ultron tossed it to Pietro.
“You know, it came at a great personal cost” Klaw ran his fingers across the scarred tissue on his neck as he spoke. “It’s worth billions.”
Ultron chuckled, “Now so are you. It’s all under, your dummy holdings? Finance is so weird.”
There was a vibration and Klaw’s man checked his phone, showing his boss the screen to confirm that what the robot spoke was true.
“But I always say, keep your friend’s rich and your enemy’s rich and wait to find out which is which.”
“Stark”
“What?”
“Tony Stark used to say that” Klaw clarified. “To me. You’re one of his.”
“What? I’m not…” Ultron grabbed Klaw’s arm, Klaw’s man drew his gun but Wanda used his magic to stop him from moving anymore.
“I am not. You think I’m one of Stark’s puppets? His hollow men? I mean, look at me. Do I look like Ironman? Stark is nothing!” Ultron swung his other arm, chopping Klaw’s arm clean off at the elbow. Klaw stumbled back in shock. “I’m sorry! I’m… oh! I’m sure that’s gonna be okay. I’m sorry. It’s just, I don’t understand. Don’t compare me to Stark!” Ultron kicked Klaw in the face, who tumbled down the stairs. “It’s a thing with me, Stark is… he’s a sickness!”
“Ah Junior,” Ironman landed behind Ultron with Thor and Cap behind him. “You’re gonna break your old man’s heart.”
“If I have to,” Ultron remarked stepping forward, Pietro and Wanda moving with him.
Natasha, Clint, and Jo took positions on the upper level. Jo twirled the knife between her fingers, an action that felt so familiar to her yet she couldn’t remember learning to do it.
“Nobody has to break anything”
“Clearly you’ve never made an omelet.”
“He beat me by one second” Tony added glancing at Thor.
“Ah, yes. This is funny” Pietro spoke as he stepped out from behind the robot. “This is what? Comfortable? Like old times?” He looked at the missiles as he finished.
The site of the blond-haired man struck something in Jo, she knew him! This she was sure of, but where did they meet? And who was he to her?
“This was never my life.”
“You two could still walk away from this” Steve stepped up.
“Oh, we will”
“I know you’ve suffered.”
Ultron howled with laughter. “Captain America, God’s righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can’t physically throw up in my mouth, but if I could – “
“If you believe in peace, then let us keep it” Thor cut off Ultron.
“I think you’re confusing peace with quiet.”
“Uh-huh, what’s the vibranium for?” Tony asked.
“I’m glad you asked that because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan.” Instead of doing that, Ultron and two other robots attacked. Ultron and Tony flew up and continued in their combat. Steve and Thor fought the robots, Jo was about to jump down and help when gunfire and shouts came from the stairway. She turned to see Klaw’s men advancing on her.
“Just do what your instincts tell you” Jo whispered Natasha’s words to her and did exactly that. She ran up a wall and jumped in between the two men. Jo ducked down as one of them swung and hit the other in the gut. He bent over and Jo hit the other man in the jaw before he could attack. She shot both before moving on.
Jo took down five more guards and had never felt better. She felt so much like herself! A sense of belonging had overcome her that Jo couldn’t remember feeling since she was a little girl in Uncle Howard’s lab.
Jo put a bullet in another man’s head, his blood splattered across her hands. Yet, she felt no remorse or disgust. The hairs on her neck stood up and Jo whipped around with her gun up, the Maximoff girl jumped back in surprise.
“J-Jo?”
“How do you know me?” Jo growled. She had orders to not kill the twins, harm maybe, but not kill.
“You don’t remember… oh, of course, you don’t!” The girl exclaimed. “Here, let me- “
“Don’t touch me!” Jo ordered. She glanced to her right and left but Natasha was nowhere in sight.
“I won’t hurt you, Jo, I promised you that. I only want to help and I’m going to do just that” Red energy shot from the girl’s hands and Jo’s vision blurred.
Jo stumbled back, grabbing onto the metal railing for support. She felt like she was in the ocean, and wave after wave kept dragging her under.
Hydra…
Her mother…
Being in hiding…
Working for Shield…
The battle of New York…
Her father…
The helicarriers…
Being captured….
“Wanda?” Jo croaked looking up, but Wanda was gone.
“To anyone who’s still standing, we better move” Clint spoke through the coms. “Guys?” he spoke again when no one responded.
“I think the Maximoff girl did something to the others” Jo answered. She looked down to see her father stumbling around on the lower deck. Jo made her way out of the ship, maybe they were still here! She rushed out onto the damp ground and over to some wrecked, small ships. And she saw them.
“Wait” Jo yelled, the man spun around and his eyes widened at the sight of her.
“Jo!”
“Do you remember now?” Wanda asked excitedly.
Jo nodded, and before another second had passed Pietro had rushed over and embraced her.
“Your safe” He whispered against her neck.
“I’m safe” They leaned their foreheads against each other. The reality of the situation came to mind and Jo painfully pulled herself away from Pietro.
“You guys have to come back with us”
“What?”
“Look, I don’t know what Ultron wants, but it’s not peace!”
“He is helping us! We have a common goal in mind” Wanda stated, crossing her arms.
“I thought we discussed this whole crazy revenge plan”
“You wouldn’t understand”
“Oh? Please, Pietro, tell me how I wouldn’t understand the feeling of losing everything!” Jo screamed. Pietro looked away from her, realizing he had been wrong.
“Join us”
“You know I won’t”
“Then we should go, come on Pietro.”
“But we- “
“We need to finish the job!” Wanda insisted. Pietro looked at his sister and Jo. She could tell he didn’t want to leave her, but she also knew he would.
“I’ll come back for you” He promised. Pietro scooped Wanda up into his arms and then he was gone. Apart of Jo went with him.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy
Type: Series
Status: Completed
AN: SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MAJOR INFINITY WAR SPOILERS specifically waited to publish it a few weeks after Infinity War had been out to avoid spoiling it for people. Anyways, I saw Infinity War. I cried, a lot. Seriously, I was actually traumatized by that movie. And it inspired me to write this. AGAIN, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE OR SOME OF THIS WILL NOT MAKE SENSE.
“At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing,” Wong began “Then, boom!”
A light exploded in the room and an image of the galaxy appeared. Five stones floated in space.
“A big bang and six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe,” Wong waved his hand and the stone spun into place. “These infinity stones, each controlled an essential aspect of existence. ”
The blue one lit up, “Space,” next was red, “Reality,” than purple, “Power,” orange, “Soul”, yellow, “mind, and time.” Doctor Strange looked at the eye-shaped necklace that hung around his neck. He crossed his arms over it and made a sign with each hand before waving them in front of the necklace. The necklace opened, revealing a bright green gem inside it.
“Tell me his name again,” Tony demanded from his seat on the couch. He watched the men with an intense look, still struggling to grasp the things he was being told.
“Thanos,” Banner stated. "He’s a plague, Tony. He invades planets, he takes what he wants, he wipes out half the population, he sent Loki! The attack on New York, that’s him!“
Tony stood up as Banner talked, walking around the room. "This is it,” he whispered. "What’s our timeline?“
"No telling!” Banner exclaimed. "He has the power and space stones, that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe! If he gets his hands on all six stones, Tony-“
"He could destroy life hitherto undreamt of,” Doctor Strange finished.
“Did you seriously just say hitherto undreamt of?” Tony asked. He leaned against a giant cauldron, stretching his leg.
“Did you seriously just lean on the cauldron of Cosmos?” Doctor Strange’s cloak slapped Tony’s hand causing him to step back from the giant pot.
Tony squinted his eyes at the magician. "I’m going to allow that,“ He stated before turning back to the problem at hand. "If Thanos needs all six then why don’t we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?” Tony asked, pointing to the necklace.
Doctor Strange shook his head, “No can do,”
“We swore an oath to protect the time stone with our lives,” Wong insisted.
“And I swore off dairy but then, Ben & Jerrys named a flavor after me, so-”
“Stark Raving Hazelnuts,”
“Not bad,”
“A bit chalky,” Strange responded, starring Tony down.
“A Hunk-A-Hulk with Burning Fudge is our favorite,” Wong explained.
Bruce looked at the man surprised, “Wait, that’s a thing?”
“The point is, things change,” said Tony.
“Our oath to protect the time stone cannot change, and this stone may be the best chance we have against them.”
“It also might be his best chance against us!” Tony shot back.
“Only if we don’t do our jobs,” Strange growled.
“What is your job exactly? Besides making balloon animals,”
“Protecting your reality, douchebag,” Doctor Strange smirked.
“Okay guys, could we please table this discussion right now?” Banner demanded. "The fact is, that we have this stone! We know where it is! Vision is out there somewhere with the mind stone and we have to find him now!
“Yeah, that’s the thing…” Tony grumbled.
“What do you mean?”
“Two weeks ago Vision turned off his transponder, he’s offline.”
“What!” Banner shouted. "Tony, you lost another superbot?“
Tony walked away from the group, "We didn’t lose him! He’s more than that! He’s evolving!”
“Who could find Vision?” Strange asked.
Tony stopped and hung his head, a thought occurred to him, one he did not like at all. “Probably Steve Rogers,”
“Oh great,” Doctor Strange groaned turning away.
“Maybe, but…” Tony trailed off and sighed.
Banner looked at his friend in confusion. "Call him, or Jo! Jo’s specialty is finding people!“
"It’s not that easy,” Tony stated looking at Bruce. "God, we haven’t caught up in a spell have we?“
"No…”
“The Avengers broke up, we’re toast,” Tony explained.
“Broke up? Like a band? Like the Beatles?”
“Cap and I fell out hard, we’re not on speaking terms.”
Bruce looked down for a moment, not believing what he was hearing. His team was gone? “What about Jo? Or did she take Cap’s side?”
Tony bit his lip. It had been two years and he still struggled to say the words out loud. "Jo’s dead. She died during our fight.“
Bruce’s eyes widened. "Jo’s dead? But… but how-”
“Actually,” Doctor Strange interrupted the two men. "She’s not dead.“
Tony looked at the wizard, anger rising in his chest. Was this a joke to him? "Yes, she is,” Tony breathed, trying to keep himself from lashing out. "I was there. I watched her die. I buried her.“ Every word he said made it harder to breathe. Tony dealt with his grief like he dealt with all his other problems. He pushed them down and ignored them till he exploded or did something outrageously stupid. Both usually happened at the same time. Jo’s death had been no exception.
Strange opened his mouth to argue but closed it. Instead, he took out his phone and dialed a number. It rang three times before someone answered. "It’s me, I need you to come to the New York Sanctum right now.”
Tony watched Strange, clenching his fists. Who was he calling?
“It’s an emergency, like an end of the world emergency,” Strange explained. "I know, but you’re needed, and trust me, you’re going to want to be apart of this one.“
A moment later Strange hung up the phone turned to the two men watching him. "Just give them a second.”
And just as he said, a second later a portal with sparks flying around the edges opened. A woman stepped through and the portal closed behind her.
Tony didn’t believe it. This couldn’t be her. This woman was skinner, her hair was down to her waist and it was brown, not blonde. Her face was older, Jo never aged, but it was like time and stress had finally started to take its toll. She wore black jeans and a teal t-shirt. She had on a leather jacket and gloves that left her fingers exposed. The gloves were a hint, but the eyes are what made Tony’s jaw drop. Blue eyes. Just like her father’s. Eyes Tony saw in his nightmares. Eyes he could never forget.
He stepped towards the woman. She remained still as Tony reached out and lightly gripped her shoulder as if checking to make sure she wasn’t a hologram. "Jo…“
"Hello Tony,” Jo Carter greeted. "It’s good to see you.“ She then looked at Banner. "You too Bruce.”
Banner slightly waved, still surprised to see his old friend alive after thinking she was dead for less than five minutes.
“But how…”
“It’s a long story.”
“Well start telling it!” Tony shouted. His shock was now replaced with anger.
“We don’t have time!” Strange interjected. "Yes, she’s alive, she’s been hiding here with me. Tetrodotoxin B was used to make you believe she died before she was brought here to continue her healing and then went into hiding. Now that that’s out of the way, we have more pressing matters.“
Jo turned to the Doctor. "What did you call me for Steven?”
Steven Strange and Wong then explained to her the dire situation involving Thanos and the Infinity Stones. Banner explained his part, how Thanos had attacked the Asgardian ship and killed everyone on it. Including Thor and Loki.
Tony just continued to look at her. He couldn’t understand it. Why? Why had she faked her death? Why leave them? Why leave her family?
“And you want me to find Vision?” Jo asked as they finished telling their tale. The men nodded. Jo sighed and ran a hand through her long hair.
“Do you have any idea of where he might have gone?” Steven asked.
Jo shook her head, “I don’t, but I know how to get in contact with someone who does.” She looked at Tony, “You need to call him.”
“Why?” He asked his voice a bit raspy.
“Because I won’t be able to protect Vision on my own, It’s better if we have as many people on this as possible.”
“Why can’t you call him?”
“Because he doesn’t know I’m alive,” Jo answered quietly. "He won’t believe it’s me. He’ll think it’s some kind of trick. It has to come from you.“
Tony shook his head, stepping away from her. "You’re in no position to be giving orders!”
“You can be mad at me later! Right now, we have a real problem on our hands!”
“No! We do this now!” Tony shouted.
Jo let out a sigh of frustration. "Ten minutes,“ She glanced at the others before grabbing Tony’s arm and pulling him upstairs and into a small study. Tony couldn’t help but glance at the different artifacts and weapons as they walked passed them. Jo slammed the door shut and faced her old friend.
"Alright, go ahead, get it all out of your system. Shout, ask questions, just don’t break anything. The last thing I need is to piss Steven off again.”
Tony stared at her for a moment, trying figure out where he should start. "Why?“
"Why what?”
“Why’d you do it?” Tony growled stepping closer. "Why did you leave? Why did you let us think you were dead?“
Jo tried to look down but Tony grabbed her chin, making her look him in the eye.
"Look at me when you answer! I want you to look at me when you explain why you abandoned your family!”
Jo slapped his hand away. "You tore our family apart!“ She shot back. "I was already going to quit, I was so done, Tony! I was so tired of fighting, and, with the accords, I would have either ended up in prison or had to live the rest of my life in hiding. I didn’t want that!”
Tony shook his head. “But…”
“I’m sorry okay! I’m sorry I hurt you, but I had to do what was right for me for once. Because if I kept going the way I was, it was going to end badly.”
Tony recognized the look in her eyes, he understood the things she had left unspoken. It was something he had experienced personally. "But you’re still hiding, you even changed your appearance.“
"I’ve been hiding in plain sight, something I wouldn’t have been able to do had I not left,” Jo explained. "After the fight, like Steven said, I came here. Since Steven is a doctor, he looked after me till I was healed. He taught me the ways of the Mystic Arts. I’m apart of this team now. I get to travel, and see the world, and pretend to be normal. I hide till my job calls on me. I have friends, I’m a regular at a coffee shop, Steven and I get lunch together every Tuesday. Tony, I get to live a real life. I have a reason to keep going.“
Tony felt guilty for being angry with Jo. How could he be? When she was finally happy. He remembered how she used to be before the Accords. Serious. Tired. Never being able to find joy in anything. "I’m sorry I yelled.”
Jo shook her head, “You have every right to be angry with me.”
“I just…” Tony grabbed Jo’s shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. Jo was shocked by the action but did wrap her arms around Tony.
“I missed you kid,”
“Missed you too.”
“Your father is going to be so pissed,” Tony stated as they pulled away.
Jo smirked, “I think I can handle him.”
“Sorry to intrude,” Steven stated as he up through the floor causing Tony to jump back. "But we have a situation outside.“
They walked out onto the streets to find people screaming and running. They would pull their cars over and rush out.
Tony and Jo walked down the sidewalk. Jo helped a woman up as a car hit a pole.
"Friday, what am I looking at?” Tony asked as he threw on a pair of tech glasses.
“I’m not sure, I’m working on it,” the artificial intelligence responded.
“Hey!” Tony shouted pointing to Steven. "You might wanna put that time stone in your back pocket Doc!“
"Might wanna use it,” Steve stated. He crossed his arms over his chest and pulled them away, bright orange rings appeared around his forearms.
They walked around the corner out into the middle of the street. Jo stared up at the giant black ring in the sky. It was clearly a spaceship, but not like any Jo had seen before. The inside of the ring was spinning, causing the strong winds to blow over cars and poles.
Doctor Strange waved his hands and shot a blast of energy at the ship. The spinning began to stop and the winds calmed down. Strange looked at Tony to find Tony staring at him. Steven winked and Tony rolled his eyes.
A blue beam shot down from the ship. Once it disappeared two figures stood where it had touched. One was large and muscular, he wore armor Jo did not recognize. The other was short and skinny, he also had no nose. Both were clearly aliens.
The short one spoke first. "Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the children of Thanos"
The larger one grunted and lifted the large ax he carried.
“Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributed to-”
“I’m sorry! Earth is closed today!” Tony shouted. "You better pack it up and get out of here!“
"Sentinel, does this chattering animal speak for you?” The creature asked Doctor Strange.
“Certainly not, I speak for myself,” Steven pounded his fists together and two orange discs appeared on them. "You’re trespassing in this city and on this planet.“
Wong copied Strange’s actions. A bright light appeared in Jo’s hands. Once it disappeared a golden sword took its place. Her outfit was replaced with one that was a similar style of Steven’s, except her’s was black.
"It means get lost Squidward!” Jo shouted.
Tony looked back at Jo, “What’s with the sword?”
“This is DragonFang,” Was Jo’s only response.
The creature sighed before glancing at his companion. "He exhausts me, bring me the stone.“
The larger creature grunted in response and began to approach the group of heroes.
Jo, Wong, and Banner ran back to where the fight began. Jo sheathed her sword and it disappeared. Banner looked at where the sword had been confused.
"It’s invisible when it’s sheathed,” Jo explained as she made her way through the rubble. She looked up the sky. The ship was leaving their atmosphere and there was no way she could get up there. "Wong! You go back to the Sanctum, guard it.“
"What will you do?” He asked.
Jo looked at Banner, “I’m staying. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Wong nodded. He opened a portal to the Sanctum and stepped through, the portal closed behind him.
Bruce picked a small flip phone off the ground. "This is Tony’s, it has Steve’s number in it. Should you call him?“
Jo shook her head, "No, you should. Tell him to find Vision.”
“Then what? Where do we go?” Banner asked. Jo slightly smirked.
“I’ve got an idea."
"Still no word from Vision?”
“No, we lost the signal,” Rhodey answered. He looked up at the hologram of a conference table with a few men sitting around it. One of those men was The Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross.
“Yeah, on stolen Quinjet with four of the worlds most wanted criminals,” Ross stated.
“You know, they’re only criminals because you’ve chosen to call them that right?”
“God, Rhods, your talent for horse shit rivals mine.”
“If it weren’t for those Accords, Vision would have been right here.”
Ross got out of his seat and walked around the table so he now stood toe to tow with Rhode. "I remember your signature on those papers Curnal.“
"That’s right,” Rhode sighed “And you know, I’m pretty sure I paid for that.”
“You having second thoughts?” Ross asked. He looked down at the machine Rhode wore that made it possible for him to walk.
“Not anymore.”
The two men looked up at the sound of footsteps.
“Mr. Secretary,” Steve Rogers greeted. Natasha Romanoff stood at Steve’s side. Sam was helping Vision walk and Wanda Maximoff was beside them.
“You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that,” Ross growled stepping towards them.
“You could use some of that right now,” Natasha shot back.
“The world’s on fire, and you think all is forgiven?”
“I’m not looking for forgiveness,” Steve answered. "And I’m way passed asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defender. So, we’re here to fight, and if you wanna stand in our way, we’ll fight you too.“
Ross turned to Rhode. "Arrest them,”
Rhode nodded, “All over it.” He waved his hand, ending the call and Ross and the other men disappeared. Rhode looked at Steve. "That’s a court-martial,“ Rhode smiled. "It’s great to see you, Cap,”
“You too Rhode,” Steve smiled as the two men shook hands. Natasha walked over and gave Rhode a hug.
“Well, you guys really look like crap,” Rhode stated, looking at Sam. "Must have been a rough couple years.“
"Yeah, well, the hotels weren’t exactly five stars.”
“I think you guys look great,"Everyone turned at the sound of Bruce Banner’s voice. It may have surprised them to see their old friend, but what really shocked them was the woman who stood behind him.
"Hi,” Jo slightly smiled as they all stared at her. Natasha was the first to react. She walked over and pulled Jo in for a tight hug.
“It’s good to see you again,” Nat stated as she pulled away. Wanda rushed over.
“Hello, Сестра (Russian for sister)” Wanda exclaimed as they hugged.
Jo chuckled, “I missed you too.” Once Wanda stepped away Jo looked at Steve who was still staring at her with a cold expression. “Steve,”
“Jo,” He greeted coldly.
“This is awkward,” Sam whispered.
“So, we gotta assume they’re coming back, right?” Rhode asked as they had finished explaining the situation.
“And they can clearly find us,” Wanda added.
“We need all hands on deck,” Banner stated. "Where’s Clint?“
"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They’re on house arrest.” Natasha explained.
“Who’s Scott,”
“Ant-Man,” Jo answered.
“There’s an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?” Bruce exclaimed. "Okay, look, Thanos has the biggest army in the universe and he is not gonna stop until he… he gets Vision’s stone.“
"Well, then we have to protect it.”
“No, we have to destroy it,” Vision protested. "I’ve been giving a good deal of thought to this thing in my head. About its nature, but also it’s composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps. Its molecular integrity could fail.“ Vision walked over to Wanda as he spoke, looking at her in the ey.
"And you with it,” Wanda responded. "We’re not having this conversation.“
"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain Thanos can’t get it,” Vision argued.
“That’s too high a price,”
Vision shook his head and placed both hands on Wanda’s cheeks. "Only you have the power to pay it.“
Wanda walked away from Vision, unable to look at him. Jo took a step to the right, so she was beside her friend. Wanda reached over and Jo took her hand, giving it a light squeeze.
Vision hung his head. "Thanos threatens half the universe, one life cannot stand in the way of defeating him.”
“But it should,” Cap stated. He shook his head, “We don’t trade lives Vision.”
“Captain seventy years ago you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? You gave up everything, including knowing your daughter, to save people you didn’t even know. Tell, how is this any different?”
“Because, you might have a choice,” Jo interjected.
Bruce nodded in agreement. "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another.“
"You’re saying Vision isn’t just the stone?” Wanda asked.
Bruce furrowed his eyebrows, trying to decide the best way to explain this. "I’m saying, if we take away the stone, there’s still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps, the best part.“
"Can we do that?”
“Not me, not here,” Bruce answered.
“Well, you better find someone and somewhere fast,” Rhode ordered. "Ross isn’t just gonna let you have your old rooms back.“
"I know someone,” Steve spoke up.
Jo looked at the two outfits that were in front of her. One was the one she usually wore in the Sanctum. The other, was almost exactly like the one she wore when she used to be an Avenger, except it had a few minor upgrades. Jo sighed, she promised herself she would never move backward, so, she picked the first one.
After getting dressed she made sure she had her knife and sword, but before she could leave the room, the door opened and in stepped Steve who closed the door behind him. He kept his back to her for a moment, neither of them spoke. When Steve did turn around an face her, there was a look in his eyes Jo had never seen.
Jo had imagined this scenario a thousand times. The things she would say or do. That her father would yell and probably break something. She never expected him to hug her.
Jo stood there with Steve’s arms wrapped around her, not sure what to do. Finally, she reciprocated the hug. Steve kissed the top of her head and let out a sigh. His beard tickled her forehead.
“I’m sorry,” Jo whispered. She meant it. Jo may have loved the new life she had found, but not as much as she loved the days of movie marathons and pizza with her Dad.
Steve pulled away and placed his hands on the side of her face. He wiped away the tear that had rolled down his daughter’s cheek. "I have you back now, that’s all I care about. “
"This is not how I expected you to react,” Jo chuckled.
Steve smiled, “I was mad, but then I thought, I get a second chance to have you in my life. So, why would I waste time being angry about stuff that is said and done?”
Jo let out a laugh and threw her arms around Steve’s neck.
“I told you they’d make up!”
Steve and Jo jumped apart to see Sam and an annoyed Rhode standing in the doorway.
“You owe me ten bucks!”
“Come on Steve! You didn’t even break anything!” Rhode complained as he pulled out his wallet.
Jo and Steve laughed as the two men continued to bicker. Steve threw his arm around Jo’s shoulders and kissed her forehead.
“Missed you Pops,”
“Missed you too weirdo,"
They all sat on the stolen Quinjet, making their way to an unknown location. Well, unknown to everyone except Steve, Natasha, and Jo. The other two didn’t know Jo knew, but she was good at predicting what her father would do.
"What’s with the new outfit?” Steve asked.
“They her new uniform!” Sam answered before Jo could. "Speaking of, how’s that wizard friend of yours doing?“
Jo smirked, "He’s fine, I think. Steven’s strong, I’m sure he’s handling outer space just fine.” She finished braiding her hair as she talked.
“Wait, you knew where she was?” Cap spoke up.
“So did Nat!” Sam defended.
“And Wanda!” Natasha shot back.
Steve groaned, “So, did everyone know except for me?”
“Not everyone, I couldn’t tell Bucky because he was in cryofreeze,” Jo laughed and ducked out of the way as Steve tried to smack her upside the head.
“Get up to 2600 heading 030,” Steve instructed Sam.
“I hope you’re right about this, or we’re gonna land a lot faster than you want to,” Sam responded as he increased their speed.
Jo watched as they flew straight to the forest on the mountain, but before they hit the trees the greenery disappeared. They passed through the forcefield and a lake and large city became visible to them.
“What do you think?”
“I’ll never get tired of that,” Jo answered glancing at Steve.
He narrowed his eyes, “You’ve been to Wakanda?”
“A few times. We keep in touch. We let them know when we find a bad guy they want, they let us know when they find someone we want.”
“So T'Challa knows you’re alive?”
“Do you really want the answer to that?” Jo sighed as they landed.
The landing dock opened and they walked out of the ship.
“Should we bow?” Jo heard Banner whisper to Rhodey
“Yeah, he’s a king,” Rhodey answered.
Jo couldn’t help but slightly smirk.
“Seems like I’m always thanking you for something,” Steve stated as he shook T'Challa’s hand.
Banner cleared his throat and bowed.
“What are you doing?” Rhodey exclaimed.
“We don’t do that here,” T'Challa clarified. He turned to Jo, “It is good to see you again Jo,”
“Likewise, your highness,” Jo greeted.
The group began to walk towards the building’s entrance.
“So, how big of an assault should we expect?” T'Challa inquired.
“Uh, sir, sir! I think you expect quite a big assault,” Banner spoke up.
“How we looking?” Natasha asked.
“We have my King’s guard, the Border tribe, the Dora Milaje, and-”
“A semi-stable hundred-year-old man,” James Buchanan Barnes stated as he approached the group. He and Steve hugged.
“How you been Buck?”
“Ah, not bad, for the end of the world.” Bucky smiled.
“Hey Bucky,” Jo said quietly as she stepped forward.
Bucky returned the smile and the two hugged. "It’s good to see you, Jo,“
Steve looked between the two. "Did you know she wasn’t dead!”
“T'Challa told me seven hours ago,”
Steve groaned, “I’ve known for six! So, even you knew before me.”
“Do not take it personally, Captain,”
They all turned to see Shuri, princess of Wakanda walking towards them.
“All Fathers are the last to know things about their daughter,” Shuri smirked. T'Challa, who stood behind her, rolled his eyes at his sister’s dramatics.
Jo chuckled and hugged her friend. "It’s good to see you again Shuri,“
"You have been away for too long! Come! I have some new toys for you!” Shuri took Jo’s hand pulling her in the direction of her lab before Jo could object.
“Those two together…”
“They could end this war by themselves,” T'Challa chuckled as he followed the two girls.
They all watched as Shuri used her bracelet to scan Vision’s body. Vision currently laid on a table keeping his eyes closed.
Steve watched as Shuri and Jo made quietly made small talk and joke as Shuri worked. He couldn’t help but let a small smile appear on his face as he listened to a laugh he thought was gone for good.
Shur opened her palm and a hologram of the infinity stone appeared.
“Woah,” Banner whispered.
“The structure is polymorphic,” Shuri observed.
“Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially.”
“Why didn’t you just pre-program the synapses to work connectivity?” Shuri asked.
Vision looked at Banner who was struggling to come up with an answer.
“Because…we didn’t… think of it?” Banner finally spoke.
“I’m sure you did your best.”
“Can you do it?” Wanda interjected.
“Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here,” Shuri explained. "One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures. This will take time, brother.“
"How long?” Jo asked.
“As long as you can give me.”
There was a beep and Okeye tapped one of the spheres on her bracelet. A hologram of the Earther appeared on the palm of her hand. "Something’s entered the atmosphere.“
"Hey Cap, we have a situation out here,” Sam spoke over the coms.
They all looked out the window and up at the sky. Something big was coming towards them, but once it hit the forcefield it exploded leaving the people below unharmed.
“We got more incoming outside the dom!” Rhodey warned them.
“It’s too late,” Vision spoke, trying to sit up on the table. "We need to destroy the stone now.“
"Vision, get your ass back on the table,” Natasha ordered walking to him.
“We will hold them off,” T'Challa stated.
“Wanda, as soon as that stone’s out of his head, you blow it to hell,” Steve instructed. Wanda nodded.
“Evacuate the city! Engage your defenses! And get this man a shield!” T'Challa ordered pointing at Steve.
Steve looked at the King of Wakanda and nodded. It was time to go to war.
Talon fighters filled with warriors flew across the fields of Wakanda with ships flying above them. Jo stood on one of the Talon fighters beside Okeye and T'Chala. Bucky and Steve were on the one on their right and Natasha was on their left.
“How we looking Bruce?” Natasha asked over the coms.
“Yeah, I think I’m getting the hang of it!” Bruce used his boosters and flew ahead of them a couple of feet and continued to run in the Hulkbuster suit. "Woah! This is amazing! It’s like being the Hulk without actually-“ Bruce let out a cry as he tripped on a rock and landed on his face. The Talon fighters continued on, flying above him.
Jo chuckled at Okoye’s look of disgust.
"I’m okay! It’s okay!” Bruce assured them as he got up and dust off the suit.
“I got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line!” Rhodey reported as he flew overhead beside Sam.
The Talon Fighters came to a stop and the warriors climbed off and rushed forward to assume their positions.
The Jabari tribe chanted as they joined the army. Man-Ape, their leader, shook hands with T'Challa.
“Thank you, for standing with us.”
“Of course, brother,” Man-Ape answered in Wakanda’s native tongue.
Two creatures approached the barrier. One was large and muscular creature Jo recognized from New York. The other was a female who wore gold armor and a helmet with horns. Black paint covered her eyes in the shape of a mask. The female held her sword against the forcefield, creating a light blue glow as the energy came in contact with the metal.
Natasha, Jo, Steve, and T'Challa walked over to meet them.
“Where’s your other friend?” Natasha asked.
“You will pay for his life with yours,” The female answered.
Jo didn’t know when or how, but it was clear Steve and Natasha had met this creature before.
“Thanos will have that stone.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Jo stated.
“You are in Wakanda now, Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood,” T'Challa threatened.
“We, have blood to spare,” The female dictated. She let out a grunt and raised her sword high. The ground shook and a horrible screech filled the air.
“They surrender?” Bucky asked as the group returned.
“Not exactly,” Steve sighed as he took his spot beside his friend.
Natasha stood on Bucky’s right and Jo stood on Steve’s right. She looked at her father and they nodded to one another.
“Yibambe!” T'Challa shouted.
“Yibambe!” His man answered.
“Yibambe!”
“Yibambe!”
“Yibambe!”
“Yibambe!” The warriors answered one last time.
The female behind the barrier lowered her sword. Creatures came sprinting out of the trees. The walked on all four legs. The had no eyes but a large mouth that showed their many sharp teeth. They let out the most horrible screech you had ever heard.
“What the Hell…” Bucky whispered.
“Looks like we pissed her off,” Natasha grumbled.
The creatures threw themselves at the barrier, the impact killing them one by one. Some managed to get a limb or two through, but the forcefield would cut them clean off.
“They’re killing themselves,” Jo stated in disgust.
A few creatures managed to make it to the other side.
“Yibambe!” The warriors shouted and took formation, putting up their shields.
T'Challa gave the order and they began to fire their weapons, killing the monsters that had managed to reach them.
Jo crossed her arms over her chest then uncrossed them, just how Strange had taught her. Orange discs appeared on her hands and she threw them at their enemy.
“Where did you learn to do that?”
“From my wizard friend,” Jo joked.
“Did you see the teeth on those things!” Sam shouted as he dove out of the way of a creatures bite.
“Alright, back up Sam, you’re gonna get your wings singed,” Rhodey warned. The compartments on the back of his suit opened and dropped a few explosives on the creatures below him. The explosion burned them to ash.
Jo noticed some of the creatures who were still behind the barrier began to run around it.
“Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us there is nothing standing between them and Vision!”
“Then we better keep them in front of us,” Steve growled.
“How do we do that?” Okoye asked.
T'Challa, bit his lip, trying to think of a solution. “We open the barrier,” he answered looking at his general. T'Challa raised his hand and pressed his com. “On my signal, open northwest section seventeen.”
“Requesting confirmation my King, you said open the barrier?” Shuri responded.
“On my signal.”
“This will be the end of Wakanda,” Man-Ape whispered.
“Then it will be the noblest end in history,” Okoye stated firmly.
Steve brought up his arm and metal arrowhead shaped shield took form. The discs on Jo’s hands disappeared and she brought out her sword.
“You just carry that in your pocket or something?” Natasha whispered. Jo smirked in response.
T'Challa shouted an order and his men put down their shields and drew their weapons. He walked to the front of the army and stood there for a moment. “Wakanda forever!” T'Challa crossed his arms over his chest and his Black Panther mask appeared on his head.
“Wakanda forever!” They screamed before charging at the enemy.
“Now!” T'Challa shouted as they ran. A section of the barrier opened and the enemy came charging through.
T'Challa, Steve, and Jo easily outran their warriors and reached the monsters first. They jumped into the knee-deep lake and attacked. Jo swung her sword slicing a creatures head clean off. She swung again and shoved it through another’s chest. She drew her dagger and killed another with her other hand.
Steve stood beside her, swinging his fists left and right, hitting anything that came his way. The new vibranium shield tearing through the monster’s skin like it was butter.
T'Challa fought alongside them, using the kinetic powers of his suit to kill as many enemies as he could.
Their army continued to fight. No monster would make its way into Wakanda, not on their watch.
“Shuri, how much longer!” T'Challa shouted over the madness.
“I’ve barely begun brother!”
“You might want to pick up the pace!” He suggested before taking out another creature.
Bucky fired his gun, killing as many as he could. One came up behind him and knocked the weapon out of his hands and pinned him to the ground. Bucky grunted as he tried to keep its snapping jaw from biting his face off. Suddenly, the creature went flying and landed dead a few feet away from Bucky, dead with a sword sticking out of its side.
Jo stepped over Bucky as she walked towards it. She kicked it, making sure it wasn’t playing dead before pulling the sword out of its flesh. Jo winked at Bucky before rushing back into the fight.
The war raged on. It seemed like as they killed one monster, two more took its place. The aliens outnumbered them. T'Challa was pulled to the ground as two played tug of war with his limbs. Steve was pinned against a rock by four. Jo swung her sword left and right, shooting orange discs as quick as she could. Even Banner, who was in the Hulkbuster was being buried.
“There’s too many of them!” Banner shouted.
A beam of bright energy shot out of the sky, burning the aliens to a crisp. Those who were still alive ran from it in terror. When the beam disappeared in its place stood Thor, son of Oiden, with a raccoon on his back a tree man stood beside him. His eyes shined bright like lightning and in his hand, he wielded a mighty ax that electricity ran through.
The heroes were frozen in shock at the sight of their old friend.
The Hulkbuster lowered its helmet revealing Banner’s tiny head. "Ah! You guys are so screwed now!“ He laughed.
"Bring me, Thanos!” Thor shouted as he charged into battle with the tree man and raccoon following his lead.
Thor jumped into the air and dark clouds formed around him. His body became a conductor of lighting and he fired the energy at the aliens bellow him as Thor stuck the ax onto the ground. the explosion killed thousands.
Jo looked at Steve and the two grinned. They had a chance.
Shuri worked as quickly as she good without causing any damage or making a mistake.
Wanda stood idly by, biting her nails as she looked between Vision, who laid on the table unconscious, and the battle taking place outside.
Jo let out a breath as she killed another alien. Though she loved her new home and the new job, she had missed the battlefield. Nothing made the soldier in her happier than be in the center of the fight.
She looked over at the raccoon who fired his gun like a madman.
“Ah! Come and get some face dogs!” He screamed.
More came charging. Bucky grabbed the raccoon and raised him up and spun around. Together they fired their guns killing anything that dared to approach them.
“Get some! Get some! Get some!” The animal shouted.
Bucky dropped him once they aliens had stopped running their way.
“How much for the gun?” The raccoon asked.
“Not for sale,” Bucky answered as he reloaded his gun.
“Okay, how much for the arm?” Bucky just looked at the animal before walking away.
“Oh, I’ll get that arm,” The raccoon chuckled.
Jo fell into step beside Bucky. "That was so badass.“
Bucky just smirked and fired his gun.
Thor swung his ax taking out enemies as he went. Steve fought alongside him. It almost felt like old times.
"New haircut?” Steve asked when they had a moment to take a breath.
“I noticed you’ve copied my beard,” Thor answered motioning to his own facial hair.
Steve nodded and waved his arm. He looked over to see the tree man shoot out his wooden arm and it pierced through three aliens killing them.
“Oh! By the way, this is a friend of mine, Tree,” Thor introduced.
“I am Groot!” Groot shouted.
“I am Steve Rogers,” Steve responded doing a slight bow.
A creature jumped at Thor from behind but Jo was on it before it ever touched him. She broke its neck and stood up.
“Good to see you, Thor!”
“Always a pleasure Daughter of the Shield!” The god of thunder greeted as he swung his ax.
Shuri vigorously continued her work.
Wanda looked down that the man she loved, trying to suppress the fear she felt. She looked up at the sounds of fighting and walked towards the large windows. Wanda watched as something large traveled beneath the ground. it went under the forcefield. Large spinning wheels that had sharp edges tore up the Earth as it came up.
Wanda watched as her friends and their warrior’s fleed from the deathly machine. She couldn’t do this. She could not stand there doing nothing while her friends were fighting for their lives.
“Focus all fire on the left flank!” Rhode ordered.
“I’m doing it!” Sam shouted as he fired everything he had at the machine.
Jo took down another alien and looked up in time to see the wheels spinning directly towards her, Okoye, and Natasha. They ducked down and covered their faces, preparing for impact. But it never came. Jamie looked up to see the machine was now in pieces floating in the air.
Wanda Maximoff brought back to the ground destroying it.
“Why was she up there all this time?” Okoye questioned.
Jamie shook her head and laughed before patting Wanda’s shoulder. " Come, Сестрa (Russian for sister), the fight isn’t over yet.“
Shuri turned her head at the sound of fighting coming from the hallway. She worked faster, but it wasn’t fast enough. Shuri was shoved aside as another alien jumped through the glass window and onto the lower floor. He looked at the table where Vision was supposed to be only to find it empty.
Vision came up behind the stranger and attacked him. The two struggled and fell out the window and down into the forest below.
"Hey, guys! We have a Vision situation!” Sam spotted their friend fall as he flew by. He was attacked by an alien before he could help Vision.
“Someone get to Vision!” Steve ordered.
“I got it,” Wanda answered. But before she could move someone hit her on the side of the head and she fell into a ditch.
The female alien landed on her feet and slipped Wanda onto her back. "He’ll die alone, as will you.“
"She’s not alone.”
The female turned to see Natasha standing behind her. She looked to her right to see Okoye who spun her speer into a defensive position. She then looked up, to see Jo standing on the ground above her.
“You’re about to get your ass kicked, alien bitch,” Jo sneered before jumping down.
The female raised her sword and it collided with Jo’s. Okoye struck the female from the side while Natasha came at her from behind. The female spun her sword like a skilled warrior. Turning from the left to the right, defending herself. One of the spinning wheels of death rolled by them.
“See ya,” The female sneered. She shoved Okoye to the ground and kicked Natasha in the face. But Jo grabbed her arm when the female went to attack her.
“You’re not getting off that easy,” Jo grunted as she shoved back. She grabbed her sword off the ground and attacked, but this time, the alien was ready.
She dodged Jo’s advances and swung at Jo’s left side, slicing through her robes and cutting open her skin. Jo let out a cry and jumped back. The female pushed forward hit Jo square in the chest. Jo fell to the ground and held up her dagger in time to stop the alien from stabbing her in the throat.
The female looked up in surprise at the red energy surrounding her body. She let out a cry as she was thrown up into the air and one of the machines rolled by, turning her body to mush. Blue blood was splattered on Jo’s face and Wanda sat on the ground trying to catch her breath.
The four women sat up and looked at one another.
“That was really gross,” Jo gasped.
Jo had been right before. The battle was long from over. The Jabari tribe chanted as they continued to fight. Thro flew to one of the enemy shops and ducked inside. A few seconds later it exploded from the inside and came crumbling down and Thor flew to another.
Wanda landed in the forest and rushed to Vision’s side. "Are you okay?“ She asked as she knelt beside him checking his wounds.
Vision let out a scream as more pain shot through his body.
"What? What is it?”
Vision looked around him, eyes wide and frantic. "He’s here.“
Wanda’s face fell. A chill ran up her spine.
A breeze blew through the air. It was like the world had gone silent.
"Everyone on my position, we got incoming,” Steve ordered them. Natasha and Falcon were nearby. Banner was in the Hulkbuster a few feet away. T'Challa and Okoye were in the clearing as well.
Jo landed beside her father who nodded in her direction. Jo got a bad feeling in her gut. She drew her sword and dagger.
A cloud of grey smoke appeared not far from them. Once it disappeared, a large purple man appeared. He wore a golden breastplate and on his left hand was a golden gauntlet that had five crystals embed in it.
“Cap, that’s him,” Banner stated.
Thanos surveyed the warriors before him.
Captain America raised his shield. "Eyes up, stay sharp,“ He ordered his comrades before stepping forward.
Banner got there first. Thanos raised his fist and walked straight through the HulkBuster. When he opened his hand, and Banner stopped moving when half his body was stuck in the side of a mountain. Thanos threw Steve to the ground. He grabbed T'Challa by the neck and tossed him aside. Falcon came down from the air firing his guns, but it was only mere seconds before Thanos had defeated him too.
"Wanda…” Vision spoke up. "It’s time.“
Wanda shook her head, "No.”
“They can’t stop him, Wanda, but we can.” Vision insisted. He grabbed her arm making Wanda face him. "Look at me, you have the power to destroy the stone,“
"Don’t!” Wanda growled.
“You must, please,” Vision grabbed her hand this time and pressed it against his cheek. "We are out of time.“
"I can’t…” Wanda whispered. She blinked, trying to stop the tears.
“Yes, you can. You can,” Vision encouraged. He brought her hand forward so her finger was pointed at the stone. "If he gets the stone half the universe dies.“
Wanda stepped back.
"It’s not fair. It shouldn’t be you but it is,” Vision continued. "It’s alright, you could never hurt me,“ He tried to comfort her.
Her bottom lip trembled and her mouth opened like she was trying to say something but couldn’t find the right words.
"I just feel you,” Vision whispered.
The red energy that flowed through Wanda’s veins shot out of her palm and into the stone. Vision tried not to scream, but the pain was too great. The tears rolled down Wanda’s cheeks without protest now.
Behind them, Thanos crushed the Iron Patriot’s suit. Purple energy shoved Bucky to his knees. The earth flew up and trapped Natasha on her back. Groot shoved his fists into the ground, tree roots sprung up and wrapped themselves around Thanos. He tore them off like they were made of string.
Wanda raised her other hand and more power shot from it, increasing the pressure on the stone, increasing the amount of pain Vision was experiencing.
Jo slid on her knees and stopped between Wanda and Thanos. She swung her sword and dagger at the beast in front of her. Thanos grabbed her arm and ripped the sword from her hand. Jo jumped up, pressing her feet to his chest and jumping off, freeing her arm. Thanos brought his hand down on her. Jo dropped her dagger and raised both her hands, stopping the gauntlet from grabbing her neck. She screamed and pushed back with all her strength. Thanos turned his arm and swung with the right, punching Jo in the side of her head. Jo fell to the ground unconscious.
Thanos approached Wanda. She turned one hand towards him, using her powers to keep him at bay. Thanos raised the gauntlet and slowly made his way towards her.
Wanda looked back her love to see him whispering one last I love you. He closed his eyes and cracks appeared in his face. Golden light shined through them as the stone exploded. The explosion blew through the trees as a golden light. When the dust had cleared, Wanda could see Vission. He laid on the ground, instead of his vibrant read he was now grey and lifeless.
Wanda, on her knees, looked up as Thanos walked towards her.
“I understand child,” Thanos spoke. "Better than anyone.“
"You could never…” Wanda growled.
Thanos leaned down and ran his hand over her head as Wanda cried. "Today I lost more than you could know. But now is no time to mourn.“ Thanos got up and walked towards Vision’s body. "Now, is no time at all.” Thanos clenched his fist and a green ring appeared around the gauntlet. He opened his fist and a bright light appeared as he turned his hand.
Wanda watched as the damage from the explosion was undone. When the light disappeared she could see Vision, alive, with the stone still in his head. "No!“ She screamed stumbling to her feet. Thanos hit her and Wanda went flying back.
He grabbed Vision by the neck and lifted him up. Vision gasped for air. Thanos raised his right hand and grabbed the stone. He ripped it from Vision’s head, crushing his skull in the process. Vision’s body, once again grey and dead, was dropped to the ground.
Thanos kept his eyes trained on the mind stone as he put it in its place. The center of the gauntlet. Yellow energy coursed through his body and Thanos let out a groan.
Lightning shot from the sky hitting Thanos square in the chest causing him to fall back. He looked up at Thor and shot at him using the gauntlet. Thor threw his ax and it collided with Thanos’ power. It spun through the air until it reached Thanos, cutting through his armor and stabbing him in the chest.
Thor landed on the ground in front of his enemy. "I told you,” He growled. "You die for that.“ He put one hand behind Thanos’ neck and the other on the ax. Thor pushed it deeper into the alien’s flesh causing him to shout in pain.
Thanos gasped for air and mumbled gibberish before being able to form a sentence. "You should have gone for the head,” He rasped. Thanos raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. Light filled their vision and when it was gone they could see the now burnt and destroyed gauntlet.
“What did you do?” Thor whispered in shock. "What did you do!“ He shouted.
But Thanos didn’t respond. He clenched his fist and disappeared into a blue portal that closed behind him. The ax fell to the ground, a part of it covered in dark purple blood.
Steve limped over, holding his side. "Where’d he go?” Steve asked. He looked around, trying to piece together what had happened. "Thor…where’d he go?“
But Thor just stared at him, unable to speak.
"Steve…” Bucky spoke as he walked over. Except…. one of his legs was disappearing and his arm was turning to ash. It was only a mere seconds before the gun hit the ground and Bucky’s body been turned completely to ash.
Steve stumbled over and knelt on the ground. He ran his hand through the ashes, that had moments ago been his best friend.
All around the world, people were disappearing right before their loved one’s eyes.
“Up, General! Up!” T'Challa urged Okoye. "This is no placed to die!“
Okoye reached for her King’s hand, only to find a handful of ash.
"I am Groot,” Groot croaked as he disappeared before his friend.
Rocket stumbled towards him, “No, no, no!” he cried out. But there was nothing he could do. “Groot…”
Wanda didn’t notice as her body disappeared. Her eyes remained on the man she loved as she joined him in the afterlife.
“Sam!” Rhode called out, trying to find his friend. Not knowing that Sam was now part of the ground he walked upon.
Thousands and thousands of miles away on the planet called Titan, more people fell victim to the power of the stones. Tony Stark watched as Mantis, Drax, Peter Quill, Doctor Strange, and Peter Parker turn to ash before his eyes.
The heroes gathered around Vision’s body as Natasha came sprinting to them.
“He did it…” Steve whispered, who was on his knees.
Natasha looked around. "Where’s Jo?“
Steve looked up, frantically searching the forest around him. "Jo!” He screamed standing up. "Jo!“ He cried out, not able to hide the fear rising in his chest.
"Dad…”
Steve turned to see Jo stumbling towards him. He rushed over and caught her in his arms before she fell. Steve knelt to the ground, holding his daughter close. "You’re gonna be okay, you’ll be fine!“
"Dad… Dad, please…I don’t want to go…” Jo whispered. She could feel it. She could feel her body giving up. It wasn’t painful. It was like you were falling asleep. But Jo didn’t want to go. She had a new life now. She had friends. She was happy. Jo had finally gotten her father back…
“I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere,” Steve assured her. He looked behind him to see the others watching. They looked just as helpless as Steve felt. His grip on Jo tightened.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Jo gasped. First, it was her hand. Then both her legs and her hips. Her other arm was gone and then her chest began to go too. "I’m sorry…“ Jo whispered one last time before she completely disappeared.
Steve stared at his hands, now filled with the remains of his daughter. "Oh, God…” He cried. "Oh, God…“
AN:
That’s it, folks! The end of Daughter of the Shield! For real this time. No more extra chapters. There be no sequel. This is the end of the line for Joanne Carter-Rogers. Let me tell you, I have fallen in love with this character and saying goodbye to her is no easy task.
I hope you enjoyed this story. Thank you so much to all my readers for the comments and votes. I hope you all enjoyed this ending and have a lovely day!
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Type: Series
Status: Finished
AN: THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER AND I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY PREPARED FOR THIS!
Warnings: ANGST AND TEARS
Tony paced back and forth in the hallways of the hospital. He didn’t know what to do. He had said nothing to Steve when he met them at the compound, deciding it was neither the place nor time. And considering how things ended Tony had no clue how to contact Steve if things got even worse than they were.
It was not supposed to end like this.
Steve had already broken the others out of prison and was no doubt surprised to not find her there. Tony took the burner phone out of his pocket. Should he call? Why? All Tony had to say was bad news and it wasn’t like Steve could come.
Tony sighed and put the phone back in his pocket. He faced the closed door and turned the handle. “What are you doing here?”
Natasha turned from the hospital to look at Tony, shoving her hands in her pocket.
“Shouldn’t you be on the run or something?”
“I just wanted to check on her.”
Tony nodded in understanding. This was not something he would turn Romanoff in for. He walked to the other side of the bed and looked down at the girl who laid in it.
Jo had been in a coma since Tony had found her trapped beneath the plane wreckage. If he had known that was where she had landed… Tony shook his head. What was done was done. Blaming himself would not wake Jo up. According to the doctor’s nothing would. Even with Jo’s healing ability they were not certain this was something she could recover from. They had suggested pulling the plug… Doing so caused Tony to shout more than he had during the whole accords argument with Steve.
That would be too far.
To take Jo away before Steve could say goodbye to her. Tony hated the guy, but Tony also knew what it was to not have closure. Steve would need that when Tony finally got the nerve to tell him what had happened to his daughter. He already had his lawyers working on clearing Steve’s name, it was the least Tony could do, since Jo was here because of him.
“Don’t blame yourself.” Natasha whispered, as if she could read his thoughts. “Jo made her own choices and would slap you upside the head if she knew you blamed yourself.”
“You make it sound like she’s already gone.”
Natasha looked Tony in the eyes with a sadness he had never seen before.
Before either could speak the machine beside Jo’s bed began to beep franticly, drawing the attention of multiple doctors and nurses.
“She’s crashing!” Someone shouted.
“What’s happening?”
“Her heart just went from normal to nearly nothing and it’s not going back up!”
“Well do something!” Tony shouted frantically as a nurse tried to usher him out of the room. “Don’t you dare let her die! He’s not here! She needs to be here when he gets here!”
Natasha slipped out of the room without anyone noticing.
Tony sat as his desk, having ordered everyone to not disturb him until further notice. He looked at the small phone that now sat on his desk. That damn phone. That only had one number in it. Now there was no reason to not call, but still, Tony could not bring himself to do it.
This made him regret signing the accords.
Not the Avengers falling apart. Not losing Steve. Not locking up his friends. No, this was something he had no seen coming.
Tony downed the rest of his drink and picked up the phone. Some might call it cruel to do what he was about to do. Taking away a man’s hope that his daughter would find her way home to him. But Tony saw it as a mercy. Because false hope, was worse than no hope at all.
The phone rang three times.
“I didn’t think you’d call so quickly,” Came the familiar voice.
“Steve.”
“I honestly didn’t think you’d call at all,” Steve sighed.
“It’s Jo.”
“Do you know where she is?” Steve asked, panic rising in his tone. “Are you keeping her somewhere? Got a special prison just for her? Was your underwater one not secure enough? I mean, I know my daughter is impressive but to- “
“Steve stop!” Tony yelled.
The other line went quiet, Tony could only hear Steve’s breathing.
“She’s not… She’s not locked up.”
“Then where is she!”
“Steve…” Tony’s voice cracked. “Jo is dead.”
Steve couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. He barely registered the sound of Tony’s voice coming from the phone that now laid on the floor.
Jo
His Jo
Dead
That couldn’t be right. She was tough. Jo could take care of herself, as she liked to constantly remind him. There had to be some mistake.
“Steve,”
Steve turned to see Clint standing behind him, wearing a worried expression on his face. “Have you heard from Jo?” His voice was quiet, like it was painful to talk.
“No… Listen, Steve, I need to- “
“Have you heard from Natasha? Maybe she’s heard form Jo. Or T’Challa. Maybe he could find her on – “
“Steve! Slow down for a sec.” Clint spoke calmly. Clint picked the phone off the ground and held it up to his ear. “Tony? Yeah, it’s Clint. I know. Nat told me. I know. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him.”
Clint hung up and turned to Steve. “Steve, you already know what I’m about to tell you.”
“It’s not true. It’s not.” Steve growled. Something in him was breaking, like a damn that had been holding him together had finally taken too many hits.
“Natasha contacted me. She was there when it happened.”
“It can’t… It just can’t…” Steve fell to the floor, his back hitting the wall. Tears now flowed down the Captain’s face. He shouldn’t have let her go. Should have insisted on her coming with them in jet. Where he could keep on eye on her. Protect her.
His Jo…his daughter.
Clint sat down beside his friend, not saying a word. There is nothing to be said when someone loses a child. Nothing can describe such a pain. Nothing will be a comfort. Even time has trouble healing such a wound.
It was drizzling, which Jo would have said was completely cliché. Sam was back at the car. Respecting Steve’s wish of wanting to be alone for this. Tony had been able to pull some strings, so Steve could get to England undetected. It was the least he could do Tony had said.
Tony had had Jo buried next to her mother, where she belonged. He had even added Rogers to Jo’s last name and had put Joann on the tombstone. Jo would have slapped him for it.
Steve didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t say goodbye because there was no one there to say goodbye to. His daughter was dead. His whole world was gone.
He could have dealt with Peggy going, that he had been expecting. The fight about the accords was inevitable. Bucky was a tough one to swallow. But this. This may be the last straw. He had tried to do good. To do what was right, fight for what he believed him. And look where that got him.
Steve’s tightened his grip on the cardboard box as anger burned in his chest. He had given everything to cause all those years ago and for a split second he regretted it. Because then there would have been no war, no Peggy, no daughter to lose.
But then… He remembered the sound of her laugh. How annoyingly stubborn she could be. The movie marathons. The late-night trainings. And Steve realized that even with all the pain, loss, and fighting he would do it all again. Because it meant, even if he didn’t know it the whole time, he got to have a family. She was worth it all.
Steve placed the box in front of the tomb stone. “Enjoy your pepperoni pineapple pizza you weirdo.”
Steve didn’t notice the figure behind the trees as he walked back the car. Didn’t notice them walk to grave and pick up the pizza box as Sam drove away.
No one saw the daughter of the shield take out a slice as she made her way down the road.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey@capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety@ek823@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @chloe-skywalker @thekeyfortherainbow@lostamongstthecosmos@prancingdestiel@manchildstagram@all-fandomthings@rainbow-starr
Type: Series
Warnings: Violence and swearing
AN: TOMORROW I will be posting the final chapter of this series!
The tiny blue car pulled into the parking garage and parked along side a white van. Jo got out of the backseat as quickly as she could, happy to stretch her legs.
“Hey Jo,” Clint smiled as he walked over and gave Jo a hug before turning to Steve. “Cap.”
“You I wouldn’t have called if I had any other choice.” Steve explained as the two men shook hands
“Hey, man, you’re doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt.” Clint responded glancing back at Wanda.
“Thanks for having my back.” Steve spoke to her.
“It was time to get off my ass.”
Jo snorted at Wanda’s statement and the two women did a fist bump. Because they were cool like that.
“How about our other recruit?”
“He’s raring to go,” Clint grunted as he pulled the side door of the van open. “Had to put a little coffee in him, but he should be good.”
The man in the back seat jumped awake and slowly climbed out of the van. “What time is this?” he groaned.
Steve glanced at Sam with worried expression, but Sam just shrugged and crossed his arms.
Clint gave the man a little push, since he had stopped dead at the sight of Steve.
“Captain America,” He said in shock as he and Steve shook hands.
“Mr. Lang,” Steve answered.
“It’s an honor…. I’m shaking your hand too long.”
“Just a bit,” Jo joked as Scott Lang let go of Steve’s hand.
“Wow! This is Awesome! Captain America. Hey, I know you guys too! You’re awesome!” Scott exclaimed looking over at Wanda and Jo. Scott turned back to Steve, “Ah, look, I just wanna say. I know you know a lot of super people, so, thanks for thinking of me.”
Steve smiled and nodded.
“Hey man!” Scott said pointing to Sam.
“What’s up tic-tac?”
“Hey, listen, about what happened last time…”
“It was a great audition, but it will never happen again” Sam chuckled.
“Aw, I was hoping to see that live. I mean, the security tape was funny but the same as seeing Sam get his ass kicked in person.” Jo laughed as Sam gave her a death glare.
Steve rolled his eyes, ignoring their childishness. “They tell you what we’re up against?” he asked Scott.
“Something about some psycho-assassins?”
“We’re outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you’re a wanted man.”
“Yeah, well, what else is new?” Scott mumbled.
“We should get moving.” Bucky spoke up.
“We got a chopper lined up.” Clint explained. Suddenly, a voice began to speak through the speakers.
“They’re evacuating the airport,” Jo translated.
“Stark.” Steve muttered. “Suit up!”
Jo stood with Bucky and Sam in the upper level watching as Tony and Natasha tried to convince Steve to turn himself in. When suddenly, a man in a red and blue suit shot something at Steve and took his shield from him.
“Who the hell is that?” Sam demanded.
“I think he goes by Spider-man, saw a YouTube video of him once” Jo answered, her eyes never leaving her father.
“Found it!” Sam exclaimed. “Quinjet is in hanger five, north runway.”
Jo watched as Steve held up his bonded hands and an arrow broke him free. Tony put his helmet back on, looking to where the arrow had come from.
“Alright Lang,” Steve ordered.
Ant-man jumped off the shield, returning to his normal size and kicking Spider-man in the face. “I believe this yours, Captain America.”
Steve nodded and took the shield.
Tony flew off to where Clint and Wanda where and Steve threw his shield at Rhodey. Jo didn’t have time to see more as she took off running with Bucky and Sam, making their way to the Quinjet.
There was a thud on the glass as Spider-man landed on it.
“Everyone’s got a gimmick these days,” Sam grunted in frustration as they ran.
Spidey swung away from the glass and then back toward it, crashing threw and kicking Sam to the ground. Jo jumped back as Bucky swung at the kid, but Spidey caught the metal fist in his hand.
“Woah! You have a metal arm? Dude, that’s so cool!”
Bucky looked at the kid confused. Jo kicked the kid in the back and tumbled to the floor. Sam grabbed him and flew into the air as the two wrestled.
“You have the right to remain silent!” Spidey yelled. He broke free and began swinging around the room as Sam shot missiles at him. Jo grabbed a couch and chucked it at the webslinger, ducking behind a column beside Bucky.
“Hey buddy, I think you lost this!” there was a loud crash as the couch hit the column breaking in half.
Sam tried kicking the guy to the ground but jumped out of the way and webbed up Sam’s wings. Sam hit the ground with a grunt he tried to move quickly but the kid shot his webs, tying Sam to a railing.
“Those wings carbon fiber?”
“Is this stuff coming out of you?”
“That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that’s awesome man.”
“I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a fight before, but there’s usually not this much talking.” Sam growled with annoyance.
“Alright, sorry. My bad.” The kid jumped up as Bucky moved to free Sam. He shot his webs, pushing both men to the ground and tying them to where they landed.
“Look, I would love to keep this up, but I only got one job today and I gotta impress Mr. Stark so… hey wait! Weren’t there three of you?”
Spidey let out a yelp as Jo grabbed him from behind and flung him out the window. He was too shocked to try and catch himself and ended up hitting the ground below.
“Never did like spiders,” Jo muttered climbing down to Sam and Bucky.
“You couldn’t have done that earlier?”
“Stop complaining, at least I didn’t get beaten by fifteen-year-old kid.”
Both men kept their mouths shut after that as Jo used her knife to free them.
“Come on!” Steve shouted as the team gathered together, sprinting towards the hanger. They all came to a stop as beam of light craved out a line in front of them. Everyone looked up to see Vision floating high above them.
“Captain Rogers,” Visions’ voice boomed. “I know, you believe what you’re doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now.”
Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, T’Challa, and Spidey appeared on the other side of the line.
“What do we do Cap?” Sam asked.
“We fight.” Steve ordered. He walked forward, and his team followed him. Tony’s team began to approach them.
Jo glanced at the people in front and beside her. Her family was divided and when this was over, the Avengers would end with it. This she was sure of. There would be nothing left for her. Jo shook her head. She knew she was fighting for the right cause, but how much longer could she keep this up?
Steve broke into a run and the others followed. Wanda and Sam shot into the air as the rest of the team sprinted at the enemy, because that’s what they were. No longer family, but enemies.
Chaos exploded. Cap dodged one of Tony’s missiles, Natasha and Clint were clearly not hitting as hard as they could. Jo noticed Bucky was stuck with T’Challa’s hand on his neck.
“I didn’t kill your father!” Bucky grunted.
“Then why did you run?”
Jo kicked the King’s feet out from under him, and shoved him hard enough to send him a few feet threw the air.
“If a guy in a cat suit with killer claws tried to kill you wouldn’t you run too?” She shouted at T’Challa.
The King growled and charged at her. Jo jumped over him as Bucky punched T’Challa straight in the jaw. Jo grabbed the King’s arm and swung him up into some piece of equipment. Bucky nodded to her in thanks.
Jo, Bucky, and Steve took cover behind some equipment.
“We gotta go,” Bucky ordered. “that guys probably in Siberia by now.”
“We gotta draw out the flyers,” Steve answered. “I’ll take Vision, you two get to the jet.”
“No! you get to the jet! All three of you!” Sam shouted over the coms. “The rest of us aren’t getting out of here.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, if we’re gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it.” Clint put in.
Steve hung his head, knowing they were right.
“This isn’t the real fight Steve!” Sam pressed.
“Alright Sam, what’s the play?” Jo asked.
“We need a diversion. Something big.”
“I got something kind of big!” Scott piped up. “But I can’t hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half, don’t come back for me.”
“He’s gonna tear himself in half?” Bucky asked, clearly confused.
“You sure about this Scott?”
“I do it all the time. I mean, once. In a lab. Then I passed out.”
A few seconds later Scott Yang was now a sixty-foot-tall man, who was holding Rhodey by the foot.
“I guess that’s the signal,” Steve stated looking impressed.
“You guys go!”
“What?” Steve growled turning to Jo.
“You go! I’m staying.”
“Jo, that’s not- “
“You don’t need me! You guys got this.” Jo turned from her father to Bucky. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything completely stupid.”
Bucky nodded, not fully understanding the look in Jo’s eyes, but he didn’t argue.
“Get to the jet, and get out of here. You’ll be fine!” Jo ran off before Steve could argue with her.
“Let’s go,” Bucky grunted grabbing his friend by the arm. Cap reluctantly followed.
Jo noticed Tony flying after Sam. She jumped from box to box, climbing up any tall piece of equipment she could find. Jo made it onto a plane and along it, waiting for the right moment.
“Wait for it… wait for it…” She muttered to herself. “And now!”
Jo jumped from the plane into the air, shoving her knife into Tony’s leg.
“What the- “
“Come on Tinman!” Jo growled climbing up to where she had her arms around Tony’s chest. She grabbed Tony’s arm as he tried to shoot Sam, moving it so the shot hit Rhodey.
“Hey!”
“You’re a lousy shot!”
“And you’re a pain in my ass!” Tony growled flying in random directions, trying to shake Jo. “Vision! Rhodey! Someone shoot her!”
Vision got there first. He fired, hitting Jo in the back. Jo fell probably around seventy feet from the sky, crashing into a broken plane that was already in flames. Fire licked at her skin, causing pain to shoot through her body. Jo struggled to move away. The plane creaked, and a metal beam fell, landing on Jo’s legs. She let out a cry, feeling her bones break
Jo laid down on her back. The flames were growing hotter. She could see the blue sky through the wreckage. She watched as the Quinjet flew by, causing a small smile to appear on her face.
Maybe it was better this way. If there was no life to go back to, then why go back at all?
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey@capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety@ek823@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @chloe-skywalker @thekeyfortherainbow@lostamongstthecosmos@prancingdestiel@manchildstagram@all-fandomthings@rainbow-starr
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
AN: I know this is literally the shortest thing ever but I wanted to get SOMETHING posted for you guys. More is coming!
Jo looked out the window as another car drove away from the gas station. Sam and Steve, were inside grabbing drinks since they still had a bit to go before making it to the place they were meeting Sharon.
“Has it been weird for you? Living in hiding?” Jo asked breaking the silence. She looked over at Bucky who was looking down at his hands. She didn’t expect an answer to be honest.
“It was nice actually,” His voice was deeper than she expected it to be. “No one was looking for Bucky Barnes. I was just another face on the street. I got to go to a grocery store. I can’t remember the last time I got to do something so…”
“Normal.” Jo finished.
“Do you miss living in hiding?”
Jo looked at Bucky slightly surprised. He shrugged.
“I did my research on you too.”
Jo sighed, “Sometimes, I think. I think I miss working in the shadows, the simplicity of it. Just being another face in the crowd.”
Bucky nodded in understanding. “Guess normal isn’t really in the cards for us, huh?”
“I think having a metal arm and being a sixteen-year-old who doesn’t age sort of killed that chance,” Jo answered. She looked over at Bucky and slightly smiled. He smiled back.
The car door slammed behind Steve as he walked over to Sharon. Jo sat in the back seat beside Bucky while Sam was in the passenger seat.
“Who’s she?”
“His girlfriend.”
“No, she’s not!” Jo growled. Sam glanced back at her and smirked.
“But he does like her, right?”
“Hmm, it’s a bit more than like her.”
“She’s my cousin.” Jo spat.
“Doesn’t that kind of make him her uncle?”
“That’s what I said!” Jo exclaimed turning to Bucky.
“That’s just gross.”
“I’m starting to like you.”
“Uh, Jo!” Sam called out.
Jo turned to see Steve take a step closer to Sharon and….
BANG!
Sharon and Steve jumped apart before their lips even touched and turned to see Jo with half her body hanging out the opened window, holding a gun.
“Oh! My bad! Thought I saw Tony flying towards you!” Jo apologized as she climbed back into the car. “Stop giggling like school girls,” Jo muttered only making Bucky and Sam laugh harder.
A few minutes later Steve had put the equipment in the trunk and climbed back into the driver’s seat.
“Was it necessary to take out her taillight?”
“It looked like Tony’s face.”
Steve turned around in his seat, so he was facing his daughter. “Is that what you keep saying no to? Her and I dating?”
“You are technically her uncle.”
“Thank you!” Jo exclaimed smiling at Bucky.
“So, you don’t want me to date?”
“You can date, just don’t date her.”
“Who do you approve of?” Steve asked with a slight smirk.
“Currently? Bucky.”
Bucky let out the loudest laugh Jo had ever heard. Steve noticed it was the first time he had heard Bucky’s laugh in over seventy years. He smiled.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey@capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety@ek823@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @chloe-skywalker
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
AN: We’re getting close to the end… just thought I should warn you…
“Does anybody listen to me? No! They think it’s a good idea to go running down a highway, flipping cars, doing flips off motorcycles, fighting foreign kings…”
“Jo…”
“Shut up I’m still not done mocking your stupidity!” Jo growled as she continued to pace. Steve and Sam currently sat at the conference table while Jo paced around the glass box they were currently in. Surrounded by the CIA. Bucky was in the basement actually locked up in a box. At least theirs had comfy chairs.
“Did you get someone to look at your injuries?”
“You’re going to need to someone to look at your injuries if you don’t piss off!” Jo snapped. Why did Steve had to be such an idiot where Bucky was concerned? Didn’t think! Didn’t plan! Just when in there thinking it would be all fine! Jo shook her head, resisting the urge to hit Steve again. She finally sat down, at the other end of the table away from Steve, when the pain in her side started to bother her. It was no cakewalk getting hit by multiple cars and having the Winter Soldier shove you through a concrete wall.
“So, what’s our next move?” Sam asked trying to break the tension.
“We wait.”
“I can’t just- “
“Oh, no! We did it your way now we do it mine!” Jo ordered. “We wait because we won’t walk out of here alive with Barnes unless we do just that. No more going in guns blazing. You’re going to sit there, answer their questions, do as they ask, and be a good little prisoner till the opportunity we need shows itself.”
“Should I sign the accords if Tony asks again?”
“You sign those things and I’ll be the one to make sure you don’t walk out of here alive.”
“Man, have you ever seen her this mad?” Sam mumbled.
“I think Tony putting Wanda on house arrest didn’t do much to calm her.”
“Don’t forget your stupidity” Jo stated glancing at Steve. Jo stood up again and looked out of the glass.
“Jo, I am- “
“Shut up and look at this!” Jo whispered. Steve walked over and looked at the monitors showing Bucky’s cell. A man was sitting down at a table across of Bucky’s box.
“The receipt for your suit,” Sharon stated walking in.
“Bird costume? Come on!”
“I didn’t write it,” Sharon defended. Jo and Steve were still looking out of the glass when Sharon pressed a button turning on the monitor in their room. They could now see and hear the conversation between Bucky and the man.
“I am not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions.” The man spoke. He had an accent Jo didn’t recognize but it sounded familiar. “Do you know where you are James?”
Bucky did not respond.
“I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, James. James?”
“My name is Bucky,” Bucky finally said. His voice was sound rough.
Jo looked away from the monitor and picked up the photo that had been released when they announced Bucky as their prime suspect. “Why would the task force release this photo to begin with?”
“Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?” Sharon suggested.
“Right. It’s a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb. Get your picture taken. Now you got seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier.”
“You’re saying someone framed him to find him?” Steve asked turning to Jo.
“But Jo, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing.”
“But we didn’t bomb the UN,” Steve put in. “That turns a lot of heads.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t guarantee who framed him would get him. It guarantees that we would.”
“Yeah…” Jo whispered looking back up at the monitor. Suddenly, the room went dark and emergency lights started to flash.
“Sublevel five, east wing!” Sharon spoke up.
“Is this our opportunity?”
“You bet it is!” Jo growled as they took off.
They arrived to find bodies all over the room.
“Help me… help me…” The man was laying on the floor of the cell.
“Get up,” Steve ordered. He grabbed the man by his shirt and slammed him against the wall. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“To see an empire fall.”
When Jo entered the room, she ducked just in time to avoid Bucky’s swing. She rolled out of his way and Sam hit him from behind. Jo threw herself at Bucky’s middle and shoved him against the wall. Bucky lifted his legs and kicked Jo across the room before shoving Sam to the ground.
Steve jumped into action throwing hits where he could while dodging the metal arm as they headed out of the room.
Jo got to up in time to see the man standing by an elevator with broken doors.
“Hey!” Sam called out as he stumbled to her feet. The man disappeared down the hallway.
Jo rushed over to the elevator and looked down. “Steve!”
“Go! Get Bucky!”
Jo nodded and she and Sam took off in the direction the man had gone.
They exited the building along with the crowd of screaming people. Jo spotted a familiar sweater on the ground and picked it up.
“Damn…” She whispered. It was the sweater the man had been wearing.
“Look!” Sam pointed at a helicopter as it fell into the lake.
“Steve!” Jo whispered as they took off running.
Bucky let out a groan as he began to wake up. He looked over at his metal arm, that was currently jammed into some contraption.
“Hey Cap!” Sam called out and Steve came running over.
Jo remained in the shadows, unsure if it was a good idea for Bucky to see her.
“Steve…” Bucky groaned.
“Which Bucky am I talking to?”
“Your mom’s name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes.” Bucky slightly laughed.
“Can’t read that in a museum.”
“Just like that was supposed to be cool?” Sam asked.
“What did I do?”
“Enough”
“Oh, God, I knew this would happen,” Bucky sighed. “Everything Hydra put inside of me is still there. All he had to do was say the god damn words.”
“Who was he?”
“I don’t know…”
“People are dead. The bombing, the setup, the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than “I don’t know”” Steve ordered.
Bucky bit his lip, clearly trying to remember anything he could. “He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where.”
“Why would he need to know that?”
“Because I’m not the only Winter Soldier,” Bucky answered.
“Who were they?”
“Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in Hydra’s history. And that was before the serum.”
“They all turn out like you?” Sam asked. Jo could hear a slight bit of sarcasm in his tone. She could already tell how that friendship was going to go.
“Worse.”
“The doctor, could he control them?” Steve inquired.
“Enough.”
“Said he wanted to see an empire fall…”
“With these guys, he could do it. They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They could take a whole country down in one night and you’d never see them coming.”
Sam walked over to Steve and they began talking quietly to each other. Steve looked to wear Jo had been standing, out of sight, and motioned her over.
“We already know we’re on our on with this one,” She whispered upon reaching them.
“Sam doesn’t think so, says he knows a guy.”
“You talking about tic-tac?” Jo asked surprised.
Sam nodded.
“You…. How are you…”
Jo turned to see the shock on Bucky’s face at the sight of her,
“You know each other?” Steve demanded.
“I… I killed her,” Bucky whispered.
“You tried to at least,” Jo sighed.
“How did you survive?”
“The super soldier serum. If I had been a simple human I would have frozen to death within minutes, and there was no place close to go.”
“That’s what I had assumed…” Bucky muttered.
“Okay, explain, now.”
“Steve listen, I- “
“Nope. You got to give orders now it’s my turn. Explain. Now.” Steve ordered.
Jo sighed, she walked out of the room and Steve followed.
“Why can’t Sam hear this?”
“Because he already knows,” Jo answered. Steve was clearly not happy about that. “Look, the only reason I never told you this was because I knew it would not do any good. After I escaped Hydra, I was not… a good person.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I spent a good ten years hunting down Hydra operatives and killing them, and I had my work on the side.”
“You were a hitman, I know this.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know most of it,” Jo muttered. “Anyways, I came across a Hydra compound out in the middle of Russia. My info told me it was abandoned, figured I could see if there was any useful information left behind so I made my way to it. Upon arriving, I found it was not abandoned, but in fact, occupied by the Winter Soldier team.”
“You fought Bucky…”
“Yeah. It was early on in my years of hiding. I was untrained and unprepared. Anything I had done before had been petty work, child’s play compared to what he could do to me.”
“How did you get out?”
“I managed to get outside but there was nothing for miles, Bucky was right on my tale and could outrun any vehicle I could have tried to take. So, I let him throw me into the ocean. Swam for a couple miles before climbing out at a bank and hiking to the nearest village.”
“My God… Jo you could have- “
“Died, drowned, frozen to death. Trust me I know.” Jo reassured waving him off. “I was young, stupid, filled with anger, and alone. After I recovered I did some research and found out who Bucky was. I did try and go back to find him, but by the time I got there they had left without a trace. I could never find anything on him.”
“Why did you try and find him again?”
“He had been your best friend, I figured that’s what you would have done.”
Steve sighed and grabbed Jo by the shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. “I love you, you know that?”
“Love you too pops,” Jo sighed pulling away. “But, we should go. Who knows how much longer this warehouse will be safe.”
Steve nodded. “Come on, we got a world to save.”
“Again…” Jo muttered as they headed back over to Bucky and Sam.
Tag List:
@topthis808@capsicle-steve-rogers@jameszbarnes@wayward-marvel-sommer1196@shadoassassin@nadtandy@iamwarrenspeace@evansstanpine@supermarvel-ous@lara-ludbey@capsicletho@geeksareunique@in-winchester-we-trust@buckyappreciationsociety@ek823
Type: Series
Warnings: Swearing
The church was completely packed. The choir sang as the men carried in the casket, Steve was among them. There was a large portrait Margret Carter at the front with some white flowers in front of it. Jo did not sit beside her father. In fact, Steve didn’t even know she was there. Jo stood all the way in the back, in a corner where she remained unnoticed by the crowd.
“I would like to invite Joanne Carter, to come say a few words.” The Priest said. Jo sighed and made her way to the podium.
Ignoring the surprised look on both Steve and Sam’s faces, Jo cleared her throat and began to speak.
“Everyone knew Margret Carter as the founder of Shield, one of the best agents the government has ever had, a hero, someone who helped shape the world we live in today. But I knew her as Mom.” Jo paused for a second, it had been many years since the last time she had talked about Peggy. It had taken an hour-long conversation with Coulson just to convince her to do this. “She may have been the woman who fought the bad guys, but she was also the woman who walked me to school and made pancakes every Saturday morning. She taught me how to fight and to stand up for what I believe. She proved that even in a world that seemed impossible for women to succeed in, she went against the odds and proved everyone wrong. Hell, she even bought me my first holster.” This earned a bit of laughter from the crowd. “So, sure she met John F Kennedy, fought the Nazis, and is the girl who took Captain America’s virginity, but even though she did all that, the best thing she ever to me was being my mother.”
Jo took another sip from the bottle of vodka she had managed to get out of the storage closet in the bar she was now sitting outside of in back alley. One of the downsides of not aging is that you never look old enough to buy alcohol.
“How did you know she took your dad’s virginity?” Sam took the bottle from her as he sat down on the ground and took a sip.
“Uncle Howard had a bit too much to drink one time when he was watching me,” Jo answered taking back the bottle.
“You okay?”
Jo nodded, “Yeah, I mean, I knew this was coming. It just felt weird to be there, to talk about her and tell stories. In a way, she had already been dead to me, but now she truly is gone…”
“She was proud of you, you know.”
Jo scoffed. “Sure, proud her daughter turned into a cold-blooded assassin. She would be so proud of the woman who let Hydra take her a second time. She would absolutely love how I failed to fight them, how I failed to stop their experiments and what they were doing.”
“You’re not invincible you know,” Sam insisted. “Not to mention you shouldn’t be fighting this all on your own. None of that was your fault anyhow.”
“But I’m tired of fighting!” Jo exclaimed. “There’s always someone who needs saving! Always another Hydra to fight! People I care about are always dying! I’m tired of it!”
“So, what? You gonna quit?”
Jo didn’t have a response to that because she herself did not know the answer. Or it was more likely she was not ready to admit what she wanted to herself. “Where’s Steve?”
“I left him back at the church. He didn’t seem ready to leave.”
“Natasha is probably with him”
“Is there something between those two?”
“God, I hope so!” Jo exclaimed. “It’s better than the alternative,” Jo cringed at the possibility of Steve having feelings for Sharon.
“What’s the alternative?
“I should go see him,” Jo stood up, ignoring Sam’s question, finished the bottle and tossed it into the nearby dumpster. Before she could set off for the church both hers and Sam’s phones began blowing up with notifications.
“Looks like the worlds in chaos.”
“When is it not?” Jo groaned.
Jo and Sam arrived at Steve’s location, which was a hotel. It had not taken much convincing to get Sam to promise to not tell Steve about the tracker Jo had planted on his phone.
“Hey, Steve, you need to-“Jo stopped when she noticed Steve was not standing by the elevator alone.
“What is it?” Steve asked, looking between Sharon and Jo completely confused.”
“No.”
“You can’t tell- “
“I said no, and that means no, so no,” Jo growled starring Sharon down. “And as I was saying, Steve, there’s something you need to see.”
Steve, Sam, and Jo stood in front of the TV in Sharon’s hotel room. Listening to the news broadcaster explain the explosion in Vienna. Sharon was on the phone with a co-worker trying to find out what she could.
“Oh God,” Jo whispered as the news broadcaster named James Buchanan Barnes as their number one suspect.
Sharon put down her phone and looked at the TV. “I have to go to work.”
“So do we,” Jo grumbled.
Jo sat beside Sam at the bar. Sam wore a baseball cap and sunglasses, while Jo wore jut the sunglasses and had dyed her short hair brown. She was tired of blonde anyways. Steve was outside on the phone with Natasha.
“Did you have any run-ins with Barnes when you worked for Shield?”
“No, but I did before Shield recruited me.”
Sam looked at Jo slightly surprised. He took another bite of his food and motioned for her to continue.
“After I escaped Hydra, and had spent a couple years learning how to live in hiding, I started hunting down Hydra operatives who had escaped the war. There were many who did not hide as well as the rest.” Jo explained. “One night, I infiltrated an old Hydra compound in Russia that was said to be abandoned. I figured there might be some useful files left there or something. I usually sent such things to Shield anonymously. The problem was, it was not abandoned. It was set up similarly to the first place Hydra did experiments on me. Though I was in no way prepared to fight someone like Barnes.”
“How so?”
“He was ruthless. I may have matched him in strength and speed, but I was sloppy, untrained. While he had years of experience in the army and had been trained by Hydra’s finest. I didn’t stand a chance.”
“How did you even survive?”
“Only way I could, I died.” Jo took a sip of her beet before continuing. “The compound was near the ocean, so, I let him get a few hits in before I fell in.”
“In Russia! The water must have been freezing!”
“I had pneumonia for three months.” Jo chuckled.
“Does Steve know this?”
Jo shook her head, “No, I never saw any good in telling him this. When I figured out who had tried to kill me I did try and find him again. He had been my father’s best friend, I figured Steve would have wanted me to at least try and save him. But he was a ghost but the time I was strong enough to return to the compound.”
Jo stopped when she saw Steve walk in with a grim look on his face.
“She tell you to stay out of it?” Sam asked. “Might have a point.”
“He’d do it for me.”
“1945, maybe, I just want to make sure we consider all our options. The people that shoot at you, usually wind up shooting at us.” Sam motioned over to Jo and himself as he spoke.
Sharon stepped up beside Steve before he could respond. “Tips have been pouring in since the footage went public. Everybody thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym. Most of its noise. Except for this.” Sharon slid a file over to Steve. “My boss expects a briefing, pretty much now… So that’s all the head start you’re gonna get.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re gonna have to hurry, we have orders to shoot on sight.” Sharon looked over at Jo before leaving.
Jo said no in sign language before Sharon disappeared out the door.
“You wanna explain what you keep saying no to?”
“No,” Jo answered taking the file from Steve and walking out of the bar.
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