I'm baaaaack! Originally Born to Fly was going to be all one story, but I decided to split it into two parts. This story will take place from a bit before Iron Man 2, up until a bit after the events in Thor (when Captain America is found).
Thank you to everybody who reviewed my previous story! You guys motivated me to continue!
Disclaimer: Marvel owns all the Marvel things. I am not Marvel and therefore do not own any of the Marvel things.
August 30th, 2009
"Remember to always lock the doors, and check the stove before you leave," Pepper repeated for the third time that day. She, Josephine, and Tony were standing on the runway for Tony's private plane in New York. The day before, they'd flown in and driven to Syracuse to get Josephine settled into her new apartment.
"Pep, I can guarantee that she will never turn the stove ON to begin with," Tony said, putting a hand on his PA's shoulder.
"He has a point," Joei laughed, taking one of Pepper's hands in hers, "But thanks for worrying. I can assure you I will be fine."
"Will you give your old man a hug before he leaves you to fend for yourself in college?" asked Tony, holding out his arms.
Joei folded into his embrace and returned it tightly. It had been a very long year, and she wasn't looking to repeat it any time soon.
"Don't date any guys who are older than you."
"Dad, I graduated a year early. They are ALL older than me."
"Good."
Joei laughed and pulled away to hug Pepper, who held on tightly for even longer than her dad had done.
"The house is going to be so quiet without you."
"I'm sure Dad will make up for it in double the explosions," said Joei, "But I'm going to miss you, too, Pepper. I'll be back for Thanksgiving, okay?"
"I can't wait."
They said goodbye for another fifteen minutes, before Pepper and Tony finally climbed onto the plane and Joei was ushered off the ramp and behind the fence. She watched as the plane took off, until it was just a spot in the sky.
"Fury wants to speak to you."
"Agh!" Joei jumped, her hand flying to her chest, "Are you freaking kidding me? Why can't you say Hello like a normal person? Tap me on the shoulder, shuffle your feet, make a noise to let me know you're approaching. Jeez!"
"Spies are supposed to be silent," said the man who was surely going to give Joei a heart attack some day. He was standing to her right, still looking straight ahead in all black and extra dark sunglasses.
"Yeah, I get that being silent is like the golden rule for you people, but are you trying to kill me?" Joei sighed in frustration at Clint Barton's comepletly expressionless face, "So where and when does the big man want to speak to me? Does he usually call new recruits in for orientation?"
"No. Most students don't meet the Director until their graduation day, when they get their badges."
"So, more special treatment for me?"
"Looks like it." said Barton, still not looking at Joei.
"Do you ever look people in the eyes?"
"Only when I need to manipulate them."
"You're disturbing. Has anybody ever told you that?"
"Yes. You. Often."
"That's because it's true." she looked pointedly at him, but he still didn't turn, "So when and where does the boss want to see me?"
"Ritz Carlton in thirty minutes."
"S.H.I.E.L.D Agents stay at the Ritz?"
"The Director does."
"Nice."
There was a long silence in which Joei thought she might be able to make the agent speak first, but in the end he won out.
"You're great at small talk."
"You talk too much."
"I'm seventeen. I'm a kid. It's what we do. Do you have kids?"
Silence.
"Okay. No kids. Got it. Shall we?"
The drive to the center of New York City in Joei's new car (a gift for graduating high school early) would have been completely silent if it hadn't been for her AI (a gift for entering college early) named FRIDAY playing Mozart.
"You have arrived at the Ritz Carlton, Miss Stark," said a woman's smooth voice through the car speaker.
"Thank you, FRIDAY."
"Friday?" Barton asked as they stepped out of the car. He had removed the sunglasses and black leather jacket to reveal a green polo shirt, and had now taken on a much more relaxed stance and walk.
"Yeah, like the movie, you know? My Girl Friday?"
"Never heard of it."
"Sometimes I think you act oblivious to pop culture just to irritate me." she said, handing over her car to the Valet.
"Why would I do that?" Barton smirked lightly, making Joei startle as he held out his arm for her. Obviously they were acting, seeing as they were out in public. His usual coldness would make him stick out. If they acted relaxed enough, they might be able to pass off for a father and daughter, so long as people didn't look too closely beneath Joei's hoodie.
Barton lead her to an elevator that had an OUT OF SERVICE sign on it, which he quickly ripped off before opening the door.
"I feel like I'm in a bad James Bond movie."
"I am so much cooler than James Bond," said Barton when the door closed behind them.
"Agent Barton, that is the second joke you have made today. Are you beginning to lighten up around me? Are we becoming friends?"
"Call it work acquaintances. I've been on solo missions for too long. I'm Team-sick."
"You have a team?"
"A partner. We're pretty popular around the Academy so I might as well tell you now. We're called Strike Team Delta. Her name's Romanoff. She was trained by the Soviet Union. She defected and became one of ours. She's one of Fury's most trusted Agents. She's also the best at undercover. So far there hasn't been a single lie detector that she couldn't beat."
"Are you guys, like, a couple?"
"That's none of your business." he answered aggressively.
"Okay. Not a couple. Got it."
The elevator dinged to reveal a very large living room.
"This is..." Barton started.
"The Presidential Suite, yeah. I've been here before."
"Then by all means make yourself at home," a deep voice called out from the window. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D was a tall black man with an eye patch. His black trench coat and severe demeanor clashed harshly with the creams and pale golds of the room. Two agents stood at attention on either sides of the room, and two more were standing by the elevator door.
"Agent Coulson, it's nice to see you."
"Nice to see you, too, Miss Stark. Especially under different circumstances."
"You mean you NOT having to clean up my dad's mess only for him to make it messier?"
"That's exactly what I meant."
Coulson stepped forward, handing her a folder and a pen, "Before this meeting goes any further, I'm going to need you to sign this."
"I don't sign anything without reading it first," Joei said, taking the manila folder and opening it to reveal five pages of text with the header NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT, "You people are very thorough."
"A necessary precaution," said the agent that had been standing on Fury's other side. He was bald, only an inch or two taller than Joei, and wore a pair of outdated glasses.
"Right, well, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a seat," said Joei, settling into the largest couch and putting her feet up on the coffee table just to bother the agents in the room, "This may take a while."
A long while later, she looked up, "Okay. I have to admit I'm actually impressed. It's been ten minutes and I can't find a single loop hole. No telling anybody about what is going to be discussed today. And no mentioning it to any of you unless we're in a secure and completely private location."
"Sitwell, Rumlow, and Barton," said Fury as Josephine clicked the pen and signed the bottom of the agreement, "Wait outside."
That left Josephine with the director, Agent Coulson, and a woman with dark hair.
"Miss Stark, this is Maria Hill. She's my second in command. You already know Coulson. He's my eyes and ears."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Hill."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Miss Stark," the woman smiled slightly before going back to her severe expression, her hands never unclasping form behind her back.
"So, seeing as your little contract was so specific, I imagine we should get on with this meeting. It sounds like it might take a while."
The two agents looked at the director, who walked to the couch in front of Joei and sat down casually before starting.
"You already know everything that you need to know about S.H.I.E.L.D and the Academy for now. But we're here to talk to you about the reason you have been chosen for a certain project."
"Groovy," Joei muttered, causing the two agents to bite back laughs.
"It's called the Avengers Initiative." said Fury, pretending that she hadn't said a word.
"Okay...what are we avenging?" Joei joked, but she had to admit this was catching her attention. What was so special about her that she had been hand picked for such a secret project?
"Nothing yet," said Coulson, "The Avengers are a group of...remarkable people. People with abilities beyond those of a normal S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Like a special task force, or a response team. The kind that can win the battles that a normal team can't."
"And where do I come in? Unless you count having lots of money or impeccable fashion sense as superpowers, there isn't anything all that remarkable about me. The most I could do is become a regular agent at the Academy. By what I've read, most of these kids are geniuses, or talented martial artists, or remarkable shooters. I'm just a teenager with a big mouth."
"A big mouth that knows how to handle tough situations." said Fury, "We've observed you for a while, Miss Stark. Almost since your adoption. Peggy Carter thought you had potential. And I agree. You know how to work a crowd, how to talk to the press, and according to Agent Barton, your quick thinking is what saved your father from getting fried on the roof of his factory."
"Okay so I think fast and I know how to talk my way out of things," said Joei, "I'm still not sure why you want to put me on a team full of people who are even better than S.H.I.E.L.D agents."
"Because we think you would make a good handler," said Coulson.
"Agent Coulson was my first choice for this job," said Fury, "He's a good handler, and a good liaison. But I need him for other jobs. The team will have a leader, one that will give orders in the field. Your job will be to keep them in check, to act as a liaison between them and S.H.I.E.L.D, and to make sure they don't kill each other."
"And who will be a part of this team?"
"We're still recruiting," said Hill, "So far only one of our own has made the cut, though she might not be willing at first."
The TV screen came to life with the picture of a very pretty red headed woman and Hill continued, "Agent Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow, former member of the KBG. Trained and physically enhanced in The Red Room."
"Enhanced?" Joei raised an eyebrow.
"The Red Room was a training facility for young assassins. They started as young as four or five years old. From the moment that girls began their training, a long list of chemicals and enhancing drugs were administered to them. Anybody who graduated from the Red Room did so with a higher pain tolerance, increased stamina, and enhanced strength. She's no Super Soldier, but she's far more deadly." said Maria.
"Romanoff!" Joei jumped suddenly, "That's Barton's partner, right?"
"Agent Barton told you about Natasha?" Coulson seemed surprised.
Joei bit her lip, "I...um...He's not in trouble is he? I was kind of talking his ear off. I think he only said it so I would shut up. And he said it was like common knowledge at the Academy, or whatever..."
"It is," said Coulson, "It's just surprising that Barton would talk about himself to someone that he doesn't know all that much."
"Oh. Well. For the record, that's pretty much the only thing he has every told me about himself. For the most part he stares ahead and tells me I talk too much." the others nodded, seemingly convinced, "So...Romanoff is on the list of candidates. Anybody else? What about Barton?"
"It's a possibility," said Fury, "But he's not on the top of the list."
"So we're not allowed to tell him, either?"
"He knows about the initiative," said Coulson, "He doesn't know who is on the list. Except for you."
"Got it. So who's next?"
The screen changed to reveal a slightly scruffy but handsome looking guy somewhere in his thirties. It was one of those official looking pictures that went on business cards or certificates. He had dark curly hair, slightly tanned skin, and glasses.
"Dr. Bruce Banner."
"The physicist?" Joei asked in confusion, "What's he going in for?"
"For that," said Fury as the screen changed, revealing a very large green blurry thing.
"What is that?" Joei whispered, staring wide eyed at the screen as she tried to understand what she was looking at. There was a woman on the ground next to the green blur, and she looked positively tiny in comparison.
"That is Bruce Banner." said Fury.
"Very funny."
"I don't joke."
Josephine turned to the three adults in the room, waiting for them to crack and giggle or laugh or chuckle. Except they didn't.
"Is this for real?"
"Dr. Banner has some...temper issues."
"What like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"
"Something like that." said Coulson, "A few years ago Dr. Banner took on a project with General Thaddeus Ross and Dr. Elizabeth Ross. Their goal was to recreate the super soldier serum used to turn Steve Rogers into Captain America."
"Looks like they got a little over enthusiastic if you ask me," said Joei.
As Hill continued the explanation, security footage from a laboratory began to play on the screen. Joei watched as Dr. Banner settled into what looked like a high tech dentist chair behind a glass window, a woman in a lab coat and an older man in an army uniform watching from the other side of the glass, "Dr. Banner thought that gamma radiation could be the key to recreating Dr. Erskine's formula. When General Ross urged him to begin trials, he decided to test it on himself."
Joei watched as the chair moved and a large laser passed in front of his face. The female doctor suddenly rushed forward as warning bells began to ring and red lights started to flash. On the other side of the glass, Dr. Banner became encased in what looked like lightning and smoke. Dr. Ross rushed back and forth from one computer to another for almost a minute, while the General stood as stoic as ever, watching the chaos beyond the glass. Finally, the smoke cleared enough to reveal what had happened to Dr. Banner.
A giant green creature burst through the glass, sending Dr. Ross backwards as the power in the room flickered. Before the green thing could do much more, the security camera's power went out.
Josephine sat in silent shock for a moment, trying to assimilate what she'd seen.
"Does it...or he...have a name?"
"Not that we know of," said Hill.
"And can Dr. Banner control it?"
"As far as we know he can't."
"Where is he?"
"We don't know."
Josephine huffed at the three of them in frustration, "Is there anything you DO know?"
"We know that whatever this creature is, he's strong." said Fury, "And we also know that Dr. Banner is one of the most brilliant minds on this planet. He'll figure out how to control it. Maybe he already has. It's been a while since he's had an incident. So long that we lost track of him."
"I thought S.H.I.E.L.D was supposed to keep an eye on potentially threatening people."
"We do. That's why we have a team dedicated to tracking the good doctor," said Coulson, "We'll find him within a month."
"Let me know when you do," said Josephine, making Agent Hill raise an eyebrow at her, "If I'm going to be in charge of these people some day, I want to at least know where they are, and what they're up to if possible. Otherwise we have no deal, and I can go study at NYU or any of the other schools I got accepted to."
"No one is irreplaceable," said Fury.
"You sure about that?" Joei snorted, crossing her arms and doing her best not to break eye contact with the admittedly intimidating man, "Because I'm about ninety percent sure of who the next person on that list is, and I can tell you right now that he's not going to listen to any one of your suit clad minions. No offense, Agent Coulson."
"None taken." Coulson furrowed his brows, "I think."
"Next candidate?" Joei expectantly asked Agent Hill, who clicked the remote control with a sigh.
"Anthony Edward Stark. Iron Man. Superior intellect, full knowledge of weapons and mechanics, and possession of a suit that allows him to fly and fight."
"He's also extremely rich and could probably help you fund this whole project if you asked him nicely."
There was a drawn out silence in which Agent Hill scratched her wrist and Coulson cleared his throat.
"Actually," said Fury, standing from the couch and walking toward the window again, "There is another project for which we were hoping to get the Stark family fortune to help with."
"And what's that?"
"Bringing back Project Rebirth."
It was Josephine's turn to stand up, "Um, we just saw one very good reason as to why that is a bad idea. One big, green, angry reason."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't plan on creating its own serum," said Coulson, "We want to find the original one."
"There is none left. The only bit of it that wasn't put into Steve Rogers' body was ruined when Rogers went after the HYDRA mole. Trust me, I know the story." said Joei.
"Which means that the only remaining serum is precisely in Steve Rogers' body." said Hill, shutting off the TV.
"Excuse me?"
"The World Security Council that monitors and determines S.H.I.E.L.D's actions has decided to cut funding for the search of one Steven Grant Rogers so that the money can be used for a new project." said Fury.
"Woah," Joei held up both hands in front of her chest, "You want me to give you money from my dad to fund the program that turned my grandfather into an abusive, alcoholic asshole that ruined my dad's childhood and gave him all sorts of issues that carried way into adulthood? So that you can make super soldiers? That I will later have to babysit?"
"Told you she'd take it well," a voice said from the door. Barton was back, looking far too amused, "I can come in now, right?"
"Yes," said Hill, "We've finished with profiling."
"Hey, kid," said Barton, a smirk on his face, "You know you'd also be helping find the love of your aunts life, you know?"
Josephine glared at him, "That's low, Barton."
Barton shrugged before flopping onto the couch, "It's just something to think about."
Josephine bit her lip. She was way in over her head.