I considered making most of this chapter into separate one-shots, and only including the last part as an actual part of the story, but the first two parts are nice little looks into Joei's development as a character, and I'm hell bent on making her more than an "insert-name-here" Mary Sue. As the story progresses, her role in the MCU will be more than a casual observer.
Now, I believe I promised to answer my reviews, so here you are:
Wholockforeternity777: ( says)Thank you so much! I've been doing my best to make her sound like a real person. I happen to think she's a little self centered and spoiled, but what child of Tony Stark wouldn't be?
(Joei says) Why does everyone insist that I'm spoiled? Thank you, reviewer! I happen to think I'm pretty awesome most of the time.
(Tony says) What am I answering? Oh right, Josephine. Yeah, my kid is pretty great. So thanks for that.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Marvel or their characters.
February 15, 2011
"Stop fiddling with it."
Joei sighed and turned toward the cockpit of the quinjet.
"Eyes on the road, or sky, whatever." she mumbled to Barton, adjusting the hat and dirty blonde wig that she had been told to shove on as an attempt to not be recognized by her usual copper brown waves. Her clothes were different from her usual attire, as well. Skinny jeans had been traded for loose black cargo pants and her usually brighter colored choice of top was replaced by a long sleeve black Henley and a S.H.I.E.L.D issued zip up vest.
Barton turned on the autopilot and stood then, leaving the co-pilot to keep an eye on the skies. He settled into the empty seat next to Josephine, who was now fidgeting with the bracelet at her wrist.
"Valentine's Day gift?"
"None of your business," Joei answered stiffly, sensing that he was making fun of her.
"Fullerton?"
"Also not your business," Joei crossed her arms, covering the bracelet with her sleeve when her S.O. started to chuckle, "I liked you better when you didn't talk to me."
"Well I liked you better when you were scared of me," he countered, the laugh dying off his lips but a twinkle remaining in his eye.
"I was never scared of you," she scoffed.
"You almost jumped behind the couch the first time you saw me."
"My dad had just been kidnapped by terrorists and there was a creep with a bow and arrow in my living room!" said Joei defensively, making the other agents in the quinjet give her amused looks, "You can't blame a girl."
She was greeted with silence for ten seconds, until, "So you admit you were scared?"
"You're an asshole," she scowled.
"Rudeness gets you extra push ups, kid."
Joei groaned. She really needed to learn how to respect people, even if they were being equally rude.
"Are you going to tell me why you're so nervous?" Barton asked quietly when the rest of the agents on board had gone back to their own conversations.
"I'm not."
"You haven't stopped fidgeting with the stupid wig or the bracelet or whatever you can get your hands on since we told you where we were going. Why do you think I haven't given you a gun?"
Joei sighed, letting her hands fall to her lap and refusing to look anywhere else, "My family doesn't exactly have the best relationship with the Middle East in general. So if for some reason I get recognized..."
"Ah," Barton nodded.
"This is my fourth mission with you, I shouldn't be this nervous."
"It's your first mission off American soil," said Barton, "In a place where your enemy list is a lot higher than usual. We all have something that makes us more nervous about certain missions. Once you step out of the plane and the plan gets going, everything just goes back into work mode and those nerves tend to shut up. If it makes you feel any better, here, these might help you keep covered a little more."
Joei looked down at Barton's hand, smiling slightly at the pair of aviator sunglasses he was handing her, "Thanks. Maybe you're not an asshole."
"You're still doing extra push ups when we get back."
"Damn."
They were silent for a while longer, until the co-pilot spoke from the front.
"Agent Barton, we're approaching the landing point."
"Buckle up, Blondie." said Barton, winking at her and pulling her baseball hat down slightly.
It took them only a couple of minutes to land among the green hills of Jammu and Kashmir and load into five S.H.I.E.L.D issued vehicles.
"We're lucky that the incident happened on the Indian side. Pakistan would have never cooperated us." said Barton as they rode in one of the vehicles towards the border.
"I thought all countries affiliated with the United Nations are supposed to be affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D," said Joei.
"Affiliated, yes," said Barton, "It doesn't mean they like it. That's why we don't have offices in every single country. They can't outright deny us access just because, but they can make the process for granting access very hard and full of red tape. That's also why we couldn't send a rescue party for your dad as soon as they took him. Countries that are at war with the United States tend to be none too friendly with S.H.I.E.L.D."
When they finally reached the border, Josephine took a deep breath and adjusted the wig, S.H.I.E.L.D hat, and sunglasses once more.
"Keep a low profile. Coulson and Sitwell will ask all the questions. You and I just have to stand in the background and look around. If anyone asks, you're a trainee and you don't speak English."
"Then what do I speak?"
"What other languages do you know?"
Joei paled, "Um...I learned some Spanish when I was like, thirteen and going through an identity crisis."
"What?" Barton laughed.
"I thought my birth parents might speak Spanish," Joei shrugged, "But if anybody asks me anything, I think I can handle asking 'Que?' a bunch of times."
"Good. Follow me around and look confused," said Barton, "I'll mutter something like I'm translating and you can nod and pretend to say something important back."
"Sounds like a plan."
"After you, Miss Stark."
They unloaded the SUV shortly after Coulson and Sitwell unloaded with a couple of specialists holding very large guns.
"Purely intimidation," whispered Barton, holding the door open for two more agents. "Local authorities already took care of the mercenaries."
"General Upadhyaya," said Coulson, approaching an intimidatingly large man in military uniform and holding out a hand, "Phil Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D. This is my colleague, Agent Sitwell."
"Agent Coulson," the man replied in a deep, booming voice and accepted the handshake, "We have been expecting you. We have shut down the border entry on both sides. No one enters or leaves through this bridge. We have kept the crime scene intact, and my men are ready to provide full reports."
"What exactly happened here, General?"
"A group of mercenaries attempted to attack a group of refugees that we were allowing into our borders. They have already admitted to being hired by the Ten Rings terrorist group."
Joei tired to swallow the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, but her mouth was suddenly too dry for anything beyond a dry grunt in the back of her throat. Barton put a hand on her back, nudging her to turn around and study the area, without going too far so they could still listen in.
"And how did your men manage to capture them?" asked Agent Sitwell, although they already knew the answer. It was the reason they were here in the first place.
"One of the others who were attempting to cross the border. He was not a refugee, as far as any of the witnesses can tell. He seemed to be traveling alone. An unimposing man in worn clothes and a single suitcase that was full of medical supplies."
"A doctor?"
"Possibly. He was the only person unaccounted for after it was over, which makes us think he was the one who..."
"The one who what?"
"If it were not for the surveillance videos, I would not believe it. When the gunfire broke out, someone broke out from the crowd and became...more than a man."
"Could you elaborate?"
"A giant green thing burst from the crowd." said the general as Joei surveyed the damage around the area, "He ran at the mercenaries. He knocked two into those pillars with one punch of his fist. He took the guns from two more and snapped them apart with his teeth. The fifth and sixth ones tried to shoot at him, but the bullets bounced off. He stood in front of the crowd, like he was protecting them, and then threw the last two mercenaries onto two of our cars. He stopped a terrorist kidnapping in less than five minutes."
"Did he kill anyone?"
"No deaths. Two of the mercenaries have concussions and another has two broken ribs. They are in our custody now and will face justice."
"I don't doubt that," said Coulson, "You're free to punish them as you wish. What about the green giant? What happened to him?"
The general shook his head, "He is fast. He jumps and runs farther and faster than any animal I have ever seen. By the time my men were able to get into a vehicle and chase after him, he was long gone."
"What direction did he go in?"
"South."
Joei and Barton began to walk off then, as Coulson and Sitwell continued to ask questions that were not entirely necessary.
"It's different this time," whispered Joei when they were far enough, "He's different."
"How so?" asked Barton, putting his hands behind his back in what Joei now called 'Professor Mode' in her head. He had probably made the same observations and more in half the time that she had, but he wanted to hear her make them.
"The Hulk is, according to Dr. Banner, an entirely primitive being. He runs on instinct. When Banner feels threatened, or his heart beat spikes, Hulk comes out to defend himself. The notes that Dr. Banner left for me to find in his cabin suggest that the Hulk comes out, beats the crap out of whoever is threatening him, and then goes to sleep when the noise stops. I could already tell that was wrong just by looking at the footage from Culver."
"The Hulk protected Dr. Ross," Barton nodded.
"Yes, but the Hulk knew her. Banner can feel the Hulk's presence even when he's just being Banner, and he can retain memory of some of the Hulk's actions post-transformation. That could mean that the Hulk remembers at least some parts about Banner, and seeing as how important Dr. Ross was to Banner, I can see how the Hulk would want to protect her. But this...he didn't know a single one of these refugees, or anybody else here. And yet the Hulk didn't attack everybody and everything who dared make a noise. He didn't even leave any damages except for a broken pillar and a dented car hood."
"You're headed in the right direction," said Barton, "But what's the conclusion?"
"He had a plan," said Joei, "The Hulk, or Banner, protected a bunch of innocent bystanders from the bad guys, without killing a single person or doing any significant damage. It wasn't just random smashing things until people stopped yelling. He thought this through from a tactical point of view. Something as primal as Banner's notes suggest would not be able to do that. So either the Hulk has managed to learn fighting techniques, or Dr. Banner was on copilot during this fight."
"So you think he can control it now?"
"I think he's starting to." Joei said, realizing that the nearby officers had caught part of their conversation. It looked like pretending not to know English was not going to work after all.
"Agent Coulson!" Barton called, "I think the intern and I have got the information we need. We can go now, sir."
"Excellent," said Coulson, looking like he had been begging for a way to leave for the past ten minutes, "We should take whatever you have back to HQ. General, it was a pleasure."
"Finally," Sitwell muttered as they walked toward the SUVs, Joei keeping her head down to keep from being noticed any more, "I thought he was going to start telling war stories."
"It was like meeting the Indian version of John Garrett. Do you think his stories get more exaggerated every time he tells them?" asked Coulson, this time climbing into the same vehicle as Barton, Joei, and Agent Morse.
"Either way, I think Miss Stark got her fair share of new information on the Hulk." said Barton, bumping her side lightly with his elbow.
"And we've got a team out looking for traces of Dr. Banner as of right now," said Coulson, pushing what could only be the send key on a text message, "We'll have eyes on him in a matter of hours. Until then, all we can do is enjoy the ride home. Where to, Miss Stark?"
"Back to Willowdale, Agent Coulson. I'm afraid I have an essay due tomorrow morning that I have been putting off for too long."
"Isn't that why you have an assistant?" Barton snorted.
"How spoiled do you think I am?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
Joei rolled her eyes, "Caitlin has her own homework to do. And her double job is already hard enough without me making her get an education for both of us. Besides, I'm pretty sure that would be considered plagiarism."
"Please don't encourage your subordinate to partake in illegal behavior, Agent Barton," said Coulson.
"You know what they say, Coulson," Agent Morse smirked from the front seat, "Old habits die hard."
"Very funny, Morse."
March 2, 2011
"And now, it is my grand pleasure to introduce to you the great mind behind our latest project," said Pepper, standing tall at the podium, "The one and only, Mr. Tony Stark."
Tony smiled at Joei and kissed her cheek before climbing onto the podium, greeting Pepper with a quick but warm hug as the redhead returned to Joei's side.
"I feel like a member of the presidential family," Joei muttered to Pepper, whose smile became more sincere than it had been while directly in front of the cameras.
"It'll be over before you know it," the older woman said through her teeth.
"You look really pretty today," said Joei, bumping her shoulder against Pepper's. From somewhere ahead, a camera flashed in their direction
"You look prettier," Pepper winked, "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be," said Joei, smoothing down the front of her pencil skirt.
"As many of you know, Stark Industries has recently purchased what was formerly the MetLife Building, which stands behind me now. As Miss Potts stated, we at Stark take our relationship with the beautiful city of New York very seriously. That is why we take great pleasure in presenting you the plans for the structure you see going up behind me. Josephine, will you do the honors?"
Josephine smiled and stepped toward Tony. Next to him was a large easel, covered in a white sheet. Joei had seen the plans for Stark Tower dozens of times by now, but the press around her had not, and they let out gasps and began to fire questions and take pictures immediately.
"Stark Tower," Joei smiled, speaking loud enough for the press to settle down as she took her place at the podium, "The very first, completely clean energy powered skyscraper in Manhattan. We at Stark Industries hope that this building will become a model for the future of this city. Stark Tower will be a world-class financial and business facility, home to many companies, including our own. On top of that, and perhaps most important to me, it will also be my home and my father's home part-time, in an attempt to improve our ever growing relationship with this great city that is so dear to us.
"I do believe that this is where I give the microphone back to the expert, so that he can answer all your questions about the structure of this new building. Dad?"
"Thank you, honey," he said in her ear, giving her a quick hug, "That was excellent."
Joei let out a breath and returned to Pepper's side. No one was paying them much attention now that Tony was explaining the details.
"Was I okay?"
"You were perfect," said Pepper.
"I don't know why I get so nervous for press conferences. I did fine at the Expo."
"The Expo was full of scientists and fans," said Pepper, "The press is a much tougher crowd. But you did great. Your dad was adamant on getting you involved in this. He wants you to be prepared for when you have to do all of this on your own some day."
"Let's hope it's not any time soon," said Joei.
"It won't be. Your dad promised to tell us if he was every dying again."
"He better."
"Oh, clap for him. He's done."
Joei smiled and applauded as Tony waved at the press and walked off the podium and toward his "two favorite girls," as he had taken to calling them, offering an arm to each of them as they walked toward the car.
March 14, 2011
"Miss Stark, Agent Coulson is here, he says it's an urgent matter."
"What time is it?" Joei mumbled into her pillow. The slightly awake part of her brain was surprised that FRIDAY even understood.
"Four twenty-three in the morning."
"Somebody better be dying or the world better be ending." Joei grumbled, sitting up and tossing the dressing gown that was perched on a nearby chair before flinging the blanket off her legs and getting up with a stretch.
It was still completely dark outside the window, and she stumbled through the room until she reached the door, into the dimly lit hallway. She took her time on the stairs, not wanting to fall, and found Coulson already inside, in his three piece suit, casually perched on the couch and drinking a sup of coffee.
"Coffee?" asked Coulson, pointing to a mug on the coffee table, "I'd say yes if I were you. You're going to need it."
"Josephine?" Caitlin's sleepy voice came from upstairs.
"It's okay, Cait!" Joei called up, "It's Agent Coulson! Go back to sleep."
She vaguely heard a mumbled, "Mmkay," come from upstairs, and the click of Caitlin's door as her roommate returned to bed.
"What on earth is so important?" Joei asked, slouching into a plush chair with the coffee mug cradled between her hands.
"We found him."
"Banner?" Joei asked, sitting up slightly, "Did he do something? Did he transform?"
"Not Banner." Coulson shook his head, looking a little too excited, "Captain America."
"Come again?" Joei asked, all sleep erasing itself form her face as the blood started to flow quickly to every part of her body.
"Josephine, they found the Valkyrie in the Arctic. His shield is embedded in the ice, and we've got a team out there already looking for him. S.H.I.E.L.D is hours away from finding Steve Rogers' body. Go get dressed, and pack a sweater."
I love Agent Coulson's humor in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D so OF COURSE I had to end this with him saying something ridiculous. Also, get ready for some fangirling on his behalf in the next chapter!
Please remember to review!