Ch. 10~ Sabatoge

When Fury walked into the lab, they could all feel his anger boiling. "Stark! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Better question, Director, what are you doing? What's phase two?" he asked.

There was a loud thump on the table behind them as Steve threw down a large object. "Using the Tesseract to power weapons. Sorry, the computer was movin' a little too slow for me."

'Well, well, if it isn't out stunning man in tights…I'm sorry, stripes.' Delilah's mind was a dirty place that Jasmine unfortunately saw a lot of. 'He would be a good choice for a breeder. Nice muscle tone, wonderful stance, oh! and that innocence. Hmm, I can't wait to corrupt that precious little mind of his.'

Delilah, what the hell is wrong with you?

'Nothing, dear sister. I'm merely looking for those to help rebuild this world after its destruction. Our Captain is a natural choice, is he not? He would sire many fine spawn.'

The tension in the room was rising with every passing second, and it did nothing to help the battle raging in Jasmine's body.

If you know what's good for you, Delilah, you'll stop right now, before I-

'Before you what? What could you possibly do to me? We are two halves of a whole. I am simply going off your obvious attraction to the Captain. I do not wish to harm anyone, Jasmine, I'm only thinking out the possibility.

Jasmine could hardly bear the images Delilah was bringing up, mostly because she was disgusted that she actually liked half of them. Just stop it! We have a serious problem going on, and you're focusing on deflowering Steve!

'Oh, so it's Steve now? Before, you wouldn't even look him in the eye, let alone call him by his name. Maybe I should come out and give him a piece of my mind. Then we'll see what he really likes. Besides, you could use a break.'

"Don't you DARE!"

Unfortunately, Jasmine had been fighting Delilah long enough that she barely heard what was going on. Steve and Tony were sizing each other up, like two bulls in one herd, she had actually yelled out loud without noticing….very loudly. They all looked at her, a split second before something hit the ship and exploded. Steve, who had been moving towards her to ask if what was wrong, grabbed Jasmine, forcing her down. He used his body as a meat-shield, so she didn't get hurt, but didn't cover her right leg all the way. A few small pieces of shrapnel embedded into her calf.

"Put on the suit." He told Tony.

"Right," Tony got up, helping the other two before running off.

"Are you okay?" Cap asked her.

"I'll be fine."

"You sure? Triple D?"

"She's putting up a fight, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"If she's fighting for you, then maybe-"

"I'll be fine, Steve! Go help Tony! Go, now, before he does something to get himself killed. I'll keep them away from Loki."

"Alright," Steve looked torn, like he wanted to say something, but didn't know if it was the right time.

"Go on, you've got a ship to save, Captain." He nodded, starting for the door, then turned around and walked back to her. "What are you doing?"

"I promised myself once that I wouldn't let my right partner go. I told myself once that once I found her, I'd hold on with every ounce of strength, and I'd never let my chance pass. I missed that chance seventy years ago, and I missed out on a lot. I'm not gonna make that mistake again." Gently grabbing her shoulders, Steve leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

Jasmine froze up for a moment, waiting to have to fight for control. But, for some reason, Delilah backed down and quieted. She relaxed in the arms of the Star-Spangled Man. It was a gentle, shy kiss, like he didn't know what to expect. Whatever he was expecting, it sure wasn't for her to put her hands on his face and hold him there. When she pulled back enough to look at his eyes, he smiled at her. God, she loved that 100-watt smile.

"Now I've got something to fight for."

"And now I've got a reason to tell you not to get your happy ass killed. Because if you don't come back…"

"I will. I have to go now, but I'll be back. That's a promise."

"You'd better. Now, go! And be careful." She pushed him in the direction of the door. He took one more look at her, nodded, and then ran out of sight. "Be careful…"she whispered.