We Are Only Human
Summary (Volume 1): It has been two years since the attack on Manhattan by Loki and his Chitauri army, but something is stirring among humanity. When a new evil claims that a woman thought long dead is the Clairvoyant, The Avengers team up with old and new faces to find this threat and save the woman.
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or the characters therein. I do however own my OCs Avril, Jessica, Tommy, and Rayne (and various others that occur). The characters are creations of pure fiction, although some are based on conglomerations of personalities from my friends, family, and editors.
Chapter Two
November 21, 2015. 1210 Hours.
As Coulson and his team stood in the hanger bay of the Bus, as the aircraft was aptly named for their team, they watched as 5 black SUVs drove up to them. When the first one stopped, Coulson caught the sight of a woman quickly jumping out of the front passenger side. As she strode over to him, he felt his heart pounding against his chest. The tall redhead tilted her head to one side and slowly pulled off her aviator sunglasses. She was wearing a tailored black female business suit, which showed her curves off pretty well. She even wore a tie. Her fiery hair was pulled into a tight ponytail.
"Coulson, glad to see you are alive and well." She said with a soft smile. The freckles on her cheeks moved with the smile but it never reached her eyes.
"Jessica?"
"Sorry, I would have told you sooner." She glanced back at the other SUVs as they quickly started unloading. "Stark should be here soon enough."
"Who all did you bring?" May asked while looking the woman over. "And who are you?"
"Agent Jessica Farnsworth, also commonly known as the Inquisitor." Jessica answered before glancing at Dr. Hank McCoy. "I brought a few members of the X-Men, as Avril requested in her coded message, as well as most of the Avengers. Although I do not know why."
Coulson was trying to absorb the fact that his ex-girlfriend was actually an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Come now Coulson, is it that hard to believe? How else do you think Fury gave you this team? It wasn't just because of your impressive record – which really is impressive – but also because he had someone spying on you." She smoothed her suit pants down then slowly walked up the ramp towards them. Her eyes glancing ever so carefully at Lola, his car.
"He—
"Didn't have a choice really. He wanted to give you this kind of team but…well…he needed proof that you could handle it. He sent me in and I got the answers he needed." She looked at the only member of his team that wasn't a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. She knew she was lying, their relationship wasn't because of a mission that Fury put her under. It had started innocently when they stumbled upon each other after one of her concerts (which that was her mission sadly). But it hurt so much losing him that she didn't want to admit the truth. "You must be Skye, I'm Agent Farnsworth."
Skye slowly took the agent's hand out of respect and felt a surge of calming emotions fall over her. As she looked at everyone who was slowly getting onboard. The last two people onboard were elderly in age, one in a wheelchair while the other was standing upright.
"Agent Coulson, it has been some time." The man in the wheelchair stated while extending his hand in greeting.
"Professor Xavier, it has indeed." Coulson shook Xavier's hand and looked at everyone. "Things are going to be a little cramped then."
"Until we can locate the base where they are keeping Avril, yes." Xavier concluded just as Iron Man flew in.
"Heard you were alive Agent, but I was thinking that people were trying to pull my leg." Tony said while striding (strutting actually) towards them. He glanced at the members of the Avengers who were there.
"If you all will excuse me, I have an interview to conduct." Jessica said while looking kindly at Skye.
Coulson could see the fear in Skye's eyes as she stared at Jessica. During his brief romantic relationship with Jessica he had known the woman to be kind and motherly. She was strict when it came to her younger sister Tommy, but she was an 18, now probably 20, year old girl at the time. "I promised Skye I would sit in, if that is all right."
Jessica seemed to stare at him for eternity but when she slowly nodded her head, Skye let out a sigh of relief. "I do believe it would be for the best actually. If I get a sense of her from your eyes as well as her own, I can come to a decision quicker."
"Decision?" Ward asked while taking a step forward to stand close to Skye.
"Director Fury has informed me about her…mistake. It is my job to not only assist with this mission but also figure out if she is a further threat, and if so terminate the threat."
"Terminate?"
Jessica turned back to look at Captain Rogers. Hearing him speak up about her wording was disarming for her. "Merely poor wording I assure you. If I were to kill her, I would never have said anything."
Skye glanced at A.C and tried to hide her fear.
"Child," Jessica soothed. "You don't need to be afraid of me if you have nothing to hide."
…
November 21, 2015. 1245 Hours.
Sitting down across from Skye, Jessica stared at the younger woman intently. She could hear everything the woman was thinking, but chose not to acknowledge it quite yet. Coulson stood off in the corner with his arms folded over his chest. It almost reminded her of a sulking child. Finally glancing at her tablet, she opened her mouth to speak.
"I really don't want to turn against S.H.I.E.L.D." Skye spouted out.
Jessica chuckled. "They've been telling you the horror stories about my job, haven't they?"
"That's all we ever hear." Coulson said while eyeing his ex-girlfriend suspiciously.
"True, but it's not all screams and torture. Most of the time I just look at a suspect and figure out what kind of person they are." Jessica put the tablet down. "Likewise, Skye, you are a talented young woman. You have an eye for technology, more specifically computer programs. You could be anything you want to be. You could become one of the best computer hackers and programmers that would be under S.H.I.E.L.D. or you could become someone like Agent Coulson.
"I can see a line of possibilities before you, and all of them look promising…including the bad ones." Jessica chuckled again before standing up. "I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. for this reason, to give people the chances they need."
Coulson stared at her then turned away. He was ashamed for not seeing that she was spying on him when they first started dating. It was more painful than when she left. "Why were you pretending to be a cellist?"
"Part of a mission, Phillip." She answered while tucking her tablet under her left arm. "But…there was a part of my mission I did not anticipate on."
"And what was that?"
Skye sensed what was going on and slowly walked out of the room.
Jessica turned so her back was facing him. "Director Fury gave me one simple order, one that I should have been able to follow to the letter, but I couldn't." She smoothed her pants again, but was also brushing sweat off her palms. "I was not to fall in love." More lies, but her telepathy made her the best at lying. She could make anyone believe her.
"That would put a damper on things." He commented before walking out.
Author's Note: I got requested by a friend KH to upload this chapter...she then proceeded to nominate me for the ALS Ice Bucket challenge...KH why? Anyways, hope you liked this and pray that you review!
