That Which Could Be
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Marvel or Sunbow Entertainment. I own Farrah/Persiana and Leon/Crisis.
Chapter 11: Academic
Leon laid down on the bed, mindlessly staring at the ceiling. What was he going to do now? The red-eyed teen had so much to catch up on, so much to do. Crisis thought to himself,
What about Farrah? I have to find her. What happened to her?
If she were dead, Farrah would turn up. But, she did not. She dropped off the face of the Earth. Leon continued thinking,
Farrah would be easy to find. Her attitude, her white hair, her territorial nature…
He then smiled, thinking,
Her curvy body, grace…
Leon sat up, shaking his head. He had to find her. He had to find Farrah. But, right now, he was a prisoner of sorts. There were going to be some technical issues with what was going on, especially since he was not really dead; just flung into the future. He wondered what sort of paperwork was going to be needed to explain this.
The door then hissed open and Jarvis, Tony's butler and butler to the Avengers, entered. He was carrying a tray and placed it on a table,
"Master Stark thought it would be wise for you to eat something, sir."
Leon nodded,
"Thanks, Mr. Jarvis."
As the butler was about to leave, the red-eyed swordsman called out,
"Mr. Jarvis?"
Jarvis turned around and Leon asked,
"What was it like?"
Jarvis was perplexed,
"I do not understand, sir."
The former West Coast Avenger found it difficult to put his question into words, but tried it anyway,
"What I mean is…well, what was my funeral like?"
Jarvis answered,
"It was a touching ceremony. A lot of your teammates did miss you. Even Satana was there."
Leon chuckled,
"That must have been a sight to see. How bad was the fighting?"
Jarvis shook his head,
"Hardly any, surprisingly. All of them had feelings for you."
Leon thought to himself,
Some of them still do.
Jarvis added,
"But I did find it peculiar that Natasha decided to go as a blonde."
Leon sat up,
"What do you mean?"
The butler shook his head,
"I am not certain myself, but Natasha attended as a blonde during the procession. It was an odd choice. Persiana could not stop teasing her about it."
Leon nodded in understanding,
"Now she's gone back to being a red-head. Hey, it's her choice, right?"
Jarvis chuckled at that,
"Right you are."
He then changed the subject,
"Well, I hope you dine well, sir. I shall retrieve your plates later."
With that, he bowed and stepped outside. Leon could smell the food from here and, as he removed the lid from one of the plates, he saw a sort of broth-like soup. Leon shook his head,
"Consomme. Not really my thing, but it does smell good."
Several other trays had some bread, fruits, small meats and cheeses, and even a soda. As Leon sat down to eat, he tasted the consommé and it was delicious. He slurped it down, seeing as he was all alone. He did feel hungry, and, in at an almost unearthly speed, he was done. He wiped his mouth clean, but the pressing issue was now what to do. Crisis stood up and hefted his sword out. It was still a gleaming sword, still polished and clean.
Suddenly, a voice giggled,
"You're so strong with that."
Leon was a bit surprised and, when he looked up to where the voice was, he saw Spider-woman playfully looking down on the ceiling. She somersaulted down and landed gracefully like a gymnast. Her mask was off and she tilted her head slightly,
"Adjusting nicely?"
Leon put the sword away,
"What are you doing here, Jessica?"
The former Hydra operative said,
"Just checking up on you."
She inspected him rather lustfully,
"Wow, I can't even imagine what you're going to be like when you turn eighteen. Just between you and me, I'm totally available if you ever want to do anything."
Leon took his hands and placed them on hers, pulling her away,
"Jessica, I'm still a minor, and there's no reason that you should wait for me. You're a grown woman and you can make your own decisions."
Jessica pouted,
"But, I already have, and I choose to wait for you."
It was at this time that Carol came in and noticed the embrace. She glared at Jessica and Leon backed away,
"Carol, this isn't what it looks like."
Jessica muttered,
"I wish it was."
Carol ignored the comment and said,
"Tony's looking for you. He has an idea on moving you to an academy SHIELD developed for teens that want to be heroes."
Leon blinked,
"An academy?"
Carol nodded,
"Yeah, Tigra and Yellow Jacket are running it, and I told them about you. Tigra's really eager to meet you."
She then said,
"We shouldn't keep Tony waiting. We should go."
As Leon walked out of the room, Carol asked,
"Could you wait outside, Leon? I just need to have a private word with Jessica."
Leon could sense this was trouble,
"Carol, I-."
Carol shook her head,
"Relax, Leon. I'm just going to talk to her."
The door then suddenly closed and the blonde Air Force major snarled,
"You little bitch! You were trying to put the moves on him, weren't you?"
Jessica scoffed,
"Oh, please. I was just checking on him. You were so busy with another press conference that you couldn't be bothered with, so I did the only adult thing I could do. Take care of a boy I like."
Carol got nose to nose with Jessica, growling,
"You listen to me, you terrorist tramp. Farrah had a grip on him, but, now that she's gone, I want to help him fill that void. He and I are connected in ways you can't imagine, so back off, or I will do everything in my power to make you sure you never, ever see him again. Got it?"
Jessica chuckled,
"All right. But, this isn't over. The minute he turns eighteen, it's every woman for herself. And I intend to be there for him."
With that, the door opened and Leon, who was standing across the hallway, watched as Jessica put on her mask again and she and Carol escorted Leon to meet with Stark. The man that would be Iron Man explained to them,
"As you can tell, Leon; this academy was the best possible solution to the current predicament you are facing. You can stay there for the time being."
Leon nodded,
"I get that. But, what about sending me back to my time?"
Tony sighed,
"I'm having a slightly harder time to convince my superiors about that, but I will keep trying. In the meantime, Carol will fly you to the Academy."
Later…
A curvy, adult were-tigress watched as several teens were working the obstacle course. Her name is Greer Nelson, the heroine Tigra. Now, an adult woman wearing a black bikini, she was an instructor at the Academy. She shouted,
"Keep up the pace! You're not beating your best time!"
Just then, the whistle sounded, informing that a SHIELD plane was coming overhead. As Tigra looked around, she saw the jet land and Carol and Leon were stepping out. Greer could hardly believe it as she saw the same boy from all those years ago…
Next Chapter:
As Crisis settles in, a new situation comes to his attention, and all is not what it seems. Stay tuned, fellow readers!