Chapter 29 - A Battle on Two Fronts
Steve's POV
I watched as Steph left with Bucky, smiling at the image she made in her uniform. Walking over to all the stuff that Tony still had on the cart, I flipped through it quickly. What I saw was that almost all of it was multiples of the gear Steph had tried on, as well as numerous styles of holsters and gear belts, with at least three copies of each style for once Steph decided on her weapons and what she preferred.
I looked over at Tony and said, "I know you're trying to be out of this business, and this was really fast. Thank you."
"I'm the best!" Tony said arrogantly, but then he sobered to add on to it. "Honestly, I may not be fighting anymore, but you all are still my family. I gotta make sure the new recruits stay safe, especially when this one means so much to you."
I smiled and nodded my gratitude to him before throwing caution to the wind and, after looking around to see that no one was really paying me any attention whispered, "how soon is too soon to say that you love someone?"
Shadows crossed Tony's face and he replied, "doing what we do? There's no such thing as too soon, as long as you're sure." We locked eyes, and Tony grinned asking, "you told me not too long ago that the guy who wanted a house, a wife, kids, and all that didn't come back out of the ice. Do you want to revise that statement?"
I shrugged and said, "right now, I just want Steph- that's enough. One step at a time, right?" Tony smacked me on the back and nodded in agreement, so I said, "now I have a few questions about some of FRIDAY's integration points and camera angles I thought we could go over?"
Tony nodded his head, and I started walking out the door, unsurprised when the rest of the group followed us. A rush of agents looking terrified from the direction in which Bucky and Steph had gone gave me a moment of pause, but when a second batch came by not much longer I looked at Clint and asked, "would you mind going and checking to make sure they haven't gotten into anything they shouldn't?"
As Clint scampered off, we continued walking, and Natasha let out a harsh laugh as she incredulously asked, "really? You send Clint of all people?"
I paused and replied, "okay, that probably wasn't the best idea."
"Anyone else would have been a better choice," Rhodey agreed. "Except maybe Tony."
"Hey!" Tony protested.
Sam cut in before he could argue further saying, "that first group was talking about flamethrowers. I don't even want to think of what you would have added to that conversation!"
"I'm choosing to find comfort in the fact that I don't think she will actually want anything to do with flamethrowers," I reasoned. "She's not that big of a fan of flames."
Tony snorted out a laugh that had me rolling my eyes to glare at him. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender and said, "just seems like an understatement. Pretty much everything she owns was burned to a crisp not long ago. You could see where she wouldn't enjoy fire. Still, if she can absorb energy from it-"
He cut off when I interrupted him by showing him the concerns and weak points we'd identified with Jane and Darcy's help. After a couple hours, we were all set and Tony was on his way telling me to let FRIDAY know if Steph needed anything different, otherwise all her existing uniform pieces were added to the team's ordering lists and FRIDAY would track their levels.
Once he had taken off and been gone for a few minutes, I turned to the team and was about to suggest we meet up with Steph, Bucky, and Clint when the Assemble alarm went off. I took off running for the War Room to find Pietro had beat me there.
We were needed in Sokovia. In the wake of the events of Ultron, things had become even more tumultuous there. Several organizations were trying to take advantage of the disarray to try to set up shop in the torn country. In addition to our assistance with physical rebuilding, we'd offered to help the decimated police force for larger issues.
It seemed the Ten Rings, a terrorist organization, had stirred up another protest and what remained of the government was locked inside a building with the Head of State. This would be an easy mission for us, but there was no way we were leaving Wanda and Pietro behind. This was the land they had called home for most of their life. And Falcon, War Machine, and Vision were the base of our air support, freeing Thor to fight on land more than off, which meant...
I opened my mouth as soon as Clint, Bucky, and Steph- Joule, I mentally corrected myself- hit the room at a run.
"Joule, you're staying here. You're in charge while we're gone. Sorry, but you're not cleared for comms or strategy and maneuvers yet," I was frowning, expecting an argument.
What I got instead was a swift nod and a kiss on my cheek before she shifted into business mode. "Give me the run down while you guys get ready to go, and then I'll see you off. I'll head to the Command Center once you're in flight."
Black Widow and I traded off doing just that while we prepped ourselves, which went faster than usual because we were already in uniform. Less than ten minutes later, we were on the jet and on our way to Sokovia.
"You had to leave her, Cap," Black Widow murmured to me as we walked to the computer station a couple minutes after takeoff.
"She's right," I heard in surround sound from Wanda as well as Steph, who it seemed had already made it to the Command Center and figured out her comms.
I flipped the switch on the jet's communication center so I was talking to the entire staff at base as I relayed a reminder that Joule was currently the highest ranking person on base and everything was to go through her. Then as we continued the flight, we came up with an assault plan for our initial strike.
Even though FRIDAY's interface was different, Steph proved herself to be a wiz at searches. I could hear her leading that team quickly and efficiently to identify civilians versus suspected terrorists wherever possible. Knowing where the largest concentration of Ten Rings within the crowds was helped us immensely.
Once we were in Sokovia, things moved quickly. It took us about half an hour of fighting until I felt we were tipping the scales of being in control.
And that's when I heard it. An explosion rang through our comms with an excruciatingly shrill ring, but I hadn't heard it anywhere in the immediate vicinity.
"Joule, report!" I barked into the microphone on my uniform. When I didn't get an immediate response, I tried, "FRIDAY, Avengers HQ, someone give me a report!"
Silence reigned other than the sound of the rest of my teammates fighting. "I don't like it, Cap," Natasha said. "I'm all wrapped up here, I'm going to try to get a hold of Tony while I keep an eye on these politicians."
Before Natasha muted herself, FRIDAY's voice connected, "I apologize; my system at headquarters appears to be compromised. I am running backup protocols now."
"Avengers," I commanded. "Move faster."
It was another thirty minutes before we had all the fighting shut down and were working with the local police force and military to make sure they were secure. It was a painful process, and FRIDAY's updates had been minimal. Tony had been out at a late lunch meeting with Pepper, and had only received our distress notification twenty minutes after we'd lost contact with our base.
When Tony has arrived at HQ, it was in chaos with a hole blasted from the inside out. He was assessing the situation as we set the Aven-Jet on its highest speed to make our way back to New York. Natasha was trying to raise Steph via cell phone, and I wasn't sure what Wanda was doing on hers. Thor was trying to call Jane, and when we were two minutes out, I could hear Clint successfully reach Darcy.
"Avengers," FRIDAY's voice sounded again after a too-long silence. "It appears a portal opened into my server room, and Sir has just managed to restore my onsite capabilities. We are searching through the video footage and running biometrics on everyone in the building at this time."
"Support staff first," I choked out.
As soon as we were done landing, I started running out of the jets. FRIDAY responded blissfully quickly with, "all those who should be in a safe room are accounted for and identities are verified."
Clint whispered something to Natasha and she nodded before looking at me and said, "Cap, you go with Clint and Thor; take Wanda with you. The rest of us will work with onsite staff. I'm lead."
I studied her and then tightened my jaw, knowing full well what that likely meant. I instructed FRIDAY to mute my microphone until further notice, but keep the audio playing in my ear, nodding to Clint. He strapped his bow onto his back once more, I did the same with my shield, and we took off at a run for the top in-house labs- those belonging to Dr. Cho and the team of Jane (aka Dr. Foster) and Dr. Selvig.
I put on a fresh burst of speed when we turned the corner and saw a giant hole blasted into the wall- big enough to have broken into both labs as well as their shared safe room. Darcy and Jane were trying to move big rocks with the help of additional staff, most notably Aaron, Danny, and Pat. There were several dead bodies around the hallway, mostly thrown against walks away from the the giant pile of debris. Closer inspection of the rock pile showed severed limbs and the remnants of multiple bodies. Through the rock I could just barely make out a faint glow of Steph's light blue energy, and I took off at a run yelling for FRIDAY to send Bucky as well if he could be spared.
Thor and I were hastily trying to move rubble off Steph without shifting it or having it collapse down on her any more. When Bucky arrived, War Machine was with him, but left after talking to Wanda. Clint was talking to Jane with a sobbing Darcy in his arms, and once we started to get closer to Steph, I heard him call for Dr. Cho to be sent in.
We cleared the last rock over Steph's face, and I immediately shoved a hand into the gap made and felt for a pulse. My knees went weak with relief as I said, "she's got a pulse, and she's breathing, but it doesn't sound right."
The rest of the team started to materialize, and I blurted out to Natasha while I worked, "status?"
"Whoever attacked seems to have taken their dead with them, so we'll have to ID through video. Although I see you have some bodies here, so we'll start processing immediately. All our staff are accounted for, and Tony is overseeing the last of the biometric confirmations. War Machine is on his way to meet up with Daniel Rand now, and will be bringing him back shortly. Steph's the only casualty; apparently she took this wing under her own protection. There were multiple points needing protection and we're understaffed, so she took it alone."
We fished uncovering Steph and I had to force myself to move aside so Sam and Dr. Cho could quickly strap her onto a backboard. Once she was secure, Bucky and I moved forward again, and picked her up, carrying her toward medical at a brisk pace.
Clint walked next to me and muttered, "Darcy, Eric, and Jane were trying to work in the lab as long as possible to figure out the portal- it was one of the rooms they'd put sensors in, but they hadn't finished calibrating them. At the time, it hadn't been shut yet, and-"
I cut him off with a nod and said, "that takes precedence; Steph probably sent the largest staff to the portal site and took it upon herself to secure the means for shutting it down."
"She had told us she'd buy as much time as possible, so when she yelled at us to get in the room, we went," Darcy sobbed. "She was watching us to make sure the door was shut not long before the explosion happened. That was just after FRIDAY came back online and told us the portal was closed, so once we had an all-clear Jane and I started trying to get her out and medical went to start triage..."
Darcy trailed off with a sniff, and Jane softly asked, "is she going to be okay? Why did she stop glowing?"
"She didn't stop until we got the last of the rocks off her torso, so it's probably a good thing," I replied as steadily as I could. "She'll be fine, but we could really use anything you can figure out-"
"On the portal," Darcy said, giving Clint's arm a squeeze then moving to usher Jane back in the direction I'd seen Dr. Selvig trying to get some machines running again when we'd arrived.
"She was protecting them," Thor said quietly. "I shall go get a healer from Asgard."
"It was her job," Wanda said from next to Steph, speaking for the first time though her eyes glowed red and she was focusing a stream of energy into Steph's head. "Daniel will be here sooner than Dr. Cho can do any more than the basics of getting her stable, so we won't need a healer. Steph wants Daniel to work on her."
"Are you talking to her now?" I asked. When Wanda nodded, I tried to keep my voice strong as I said, "tell her she did good, and I'll be here waiting for her when she wakes up."
"We all will," Natasha said. "Operations will be running out of here until at least tomorrow, as the Command Center took a pretty good hit with a grenade or two. So she's not getting out of debrief tonight."
"She can hear you," Wanda said. Then the red glow went away temporarily as she laughed, holding her stomach. As soon as she could, she held her hands out again. She turned to look at me, however, as she said, "Steph is agreeable but she wants an hour with Steve or a gallon of sugar first."
I frowned, "she never did explain that to me."
"Apparently I wasn't supposed to say that last part out loud. Which, in my defense, Steph, you didn't tell me!"
There was a benevolent smile on Wanda's face for several minutes, along with a few chuckles, and I looked at everyone else to see if they were as amused as I was by the two conversing in this manner.
Steph's POV
It was difficult watching the team, and Steve in particular, go away on a mission without me. I knew I wasn't supposed to think about Steve as Steve in these situations. To me, he had to be what he was to everyone else- Captain America. But still, inside of Cap was my Steve, and I didn't want to have him get hurt, or worse, out in the field.
Regardless of that fact, I had a job to do. As I was running through the base for the Command Center, I felt a bad case of nerves hit me. I was in charge. If something went wrong, it would ultimately be my responsibility. And although my teammates seemed certain they would, I was unsure that the staff would actually listen to me.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door to the Command Center. I was not expected to be greeted by just a couple seconds of clapping and cheering and a clearly hastily made "Welcome, Joule" sign. Because it was such a friendly gesture, I took a moment to call out my thanks.
Even before I finished, Danny ran up to me. "Okay, this is yours; I'm sorry we only just finished getting it set up for you today and you're not used to it yet. We had to work with R&D to make some modifications to the design and materials used in deference to your ability. You shouldn't be able to melt this one, for instance." So saying, he handed me an earpiece, which I slipped into place easily. I was immediately calmed by being able to hear the team's chatter, and by the smile he gave me, Danny understood that. Next, he pointed out where the microphone was, built into my uniform, and told me all I had to do was ask FRIDAY to connect it. Technically I was on a different network than the team, but because it was all run by FRIDAY there would be virtually no delay. He seemed to want to explain that to me further, but I stopped him by offering a response to the team- reassuring Cap that I knew why I was on base at HQ rather than in the field.
Frankly, I didn't want to be in the field until they were certain I was as trained as I needed to be. There was no part of me that felt left out- I was just worried.
"Alright!" I had FRIDAY mute me and called out to the room, "I'm the new kid on the block, so I'm going to need your help. If you think I'm doing something wrong or forgetting anything, tell me. Now, you all know what to do without me here, so let me help where I'll be most able. Who is running searches on the crowd?"
I had a speed training session on the Avengers' set-up which was outrageously thorough and invasive. Still, I opened comms back up and steadily fed intel to the team. Things went well and the team was starting to get the upper hand, well on their way to being done actually surprisingly quickly when there was a huge booming sound and the lights flickered and went out.
Thank God I'd studied all those emergency protocols so carefully. I waited only a beat before calling out, "FRIDAY, report."
Silence fell on the room when we didn't get a response, and Danny started to leave, insisting he'd check the servers. "Danny, you're taking Alpha Team with you. You find out what's going on, but your primary mission is to report back as quickly as possible so we know which protocol to go with."
"Alright, backup generators aren't on," I announced, even though it was obvious. Knowing we were still shorthanded, and I only had 32 security specialists to work with, broken into teams of four, I quickly worked out a priority listing in my head of where to put them as they filtered in at a run. I really hoped I chose correctly and no one died on my watch. "Bravo Team, as soon as we know the situation, you're on evacs to safe rooms. Charlie Team, you're holding this Command Center for as long as you can, but you give it up if you need to."
Everyone was nodding and calling out suggestions and what little information they had when Danny came running back in, a little pale. "There's a portal in there. Enemy troops coming through; they're not identifiable. They do appear to be human, though highly trained."
"Okay," I said calmly. "Portal Protocol Three in effect- primary focus is on closing the portal as quickly as possible. We don't have FRIDAY helping, so you all need to watch your backs and make sure you stay in your teams- I want at least two but would prefer all four people together at all times. Alpha and Delta Teams, you're with me on our way to the labs. Echo and Foxtrot, secure HQ inside- you're sweeping constantly and taking out any infiltrators you come across. We'd like to have people we are able to question if possible. Golf, and Hotel, I want you to verify that the armory is locked down. Once it is, Golf you stay there, and Hotel, you're on the warehouse. Everyone else, you know your jobs. It's harder without FRIDAY, but you do your best. Guns out. You're here because we trust you to do the job. Questions?"
"No, ma'am!" echoed around me.
"Alright, move people!" I took off at a run, Alpha and Delta teams forming a sort of flying "v," a la Mighty Ducks behind me. When we reached the labs, I told them to secure the area as I walked in. I had braced myself for having to pull the safe room open and ask Doctors Foster and Selvig to leave their safe haven and step back into danger. The reality of the situation, however, was that they were already working.
Darcy skidded to a stop in front of me, looked me over from head to toe, and said, "nice duds, Joule. Those glasses are badass- is she human? Is she cyborg? You won't be telling from her eyes; they're hidden!"
"Thanks Darcy," I said quickly. "Do they know what caused the portal?"
"So you can confirm it is a portal?" Jane looked up at me.
"Yes, Dr. Foster," I said. "It's in FRIDAY's hub, and at last update it was still open. We need to close it ASAP. What have you got for me?"
There were various explosions and gunfire could be heard at irregular intervals. I had to trust that my teams were good at their jobs and try to block it out as I couldn't get reports from anyone. "Okay, that Server Room is going to be the source of most of our problems. Alpha and Delta teams, I want you on that situation. I will stay here and protect Dr. Foster, Dr. Selvig, and Ms. Lewis." Turning to the two scientists, and the Avengers' Assistant who seemed to clearly know what they needed from her to help them, I said. "You work on that portal as long as possible, but if I tell you to get in the safe room, you go without hesitating. Okay?"
"What about you?" Darcy asked wide eyed.
I smiled at her and let my energy flow through my body- welcoming two orbs of energy out, one in each hand. "Trial by fire," I retorted. "Good thing I don't seem to be able to get burned anymore."
Alpha and Delta Teams spared a glance at my hands, and when they looked back up, I met each of their eyes and said, "keep them off us as best you can. I've got this."
I got another chorus of "yes ma'am!" and took a few seconds as they were running out and the area was still relatively secure to run up to the door of the safe room and tap in a code to have a video monitor pop up showing me the inside. Dr. Cho's face immediately filled the camera's view and I said, "the doctors and Ms. Lewis are out here- we're on Portal Protocol Three, so they're with me as long as possible. Your team should be prepared to set up triage when this is over."
I didn't wait for a response, just nodded resolutely and turned back into the labs. Turning to Darcy I announced, "I know, resources are limited, but do what you can. I'm opening the door so I can hear you, but I'll be in the hall. The team knows they lost communication with us, so they'll be back as soon as they can."
For the next stretch of time that felt like only seconds, teams of two bad guys would sporadically come down the hallway. Those were easy to dispatch. Finally I heard the most glorious sound- my earpiece coming to life with FRIDAY's voice. "I'm not connected to the larger network yet, but your onsite communication channels are active and on Emergency Mode."
From that point, I could at least hear the teams calling in status updates. When I heard reports of Iron Man approaching, a little tension drained from me. That was until the leader of the Alpha Team called out, "Joule, you've got incoming. And they're packing heavy firepower. Portal is closed. Repeat: portal is closed."
"Jane, Eric, Darcy- get in that safe room!" I hollered through the door. "I've got incoming, and the portal is closed!"
Ten men rounded the corner, and I started fighting. Using my powers first on the ones furthest out, and switching to hand to hand when the remaining two made it to me. I put the last one down and turned back just in time to see Darcy's face before the door clicked shut, locking them in safely.
Unfortunately, that momentary distraction was enough to give my enemy a bad opening. I reloaded my gun as another group cleared the corner, not really stopping to think about why they threw the rest of their comrades closer, just firing. I'd made it through about half the group when a guy in a red shirt and khakis pulled something out of his hand. Looking me dead in the eyes, he said, "Au revoir, Joule."
He pushed a button in his hand as he turned on his heel to walk away, and I tried to put up a shield around myself, knowing it was too late. There was a deafening noise, heat, and then I felt a crushing weight land on me. Darkness fell.
I didn't know how long I was out before a red light came to me in the darkness, "Steph?"
That was Wanda's voice. I tried to open my mouth, but I quickly realized I had no control over my body. Instead I focused my brain on the light and thought the word, "Wanda."
She sounded more relieved as she said, "you did good. We are here. Even now we work to get you out of there."
"Where am I?"
"You're at the Avengers facility."
"What happened?"
"We do not know yet, but you did well." She responded, her voice getting stronger to me as the weight I was only mildly aware of on me seemed to slowly lessen.
"How many did we lose?"
"None," Wanda said.
"Oh good, just me then," I said allowing darkness to envelop me again as the pain came back hotter and more intense than ever.
"You're going to be-" was all I heard for an unknown space of time after that.
The next time I became aware of myself, I was in a similar state, but I could hear more than just Wanda's voice. Steve was there, I realized with relief. I tried to focus on the conversation, even got a few thoughts out through Wanda, but still couldn't move, open my eyes, or speak.
Everything went quiet again suddenly, but I was still aware, and it caused me to panic. Then, from very close I heard, Steve say, "Steph, I'm still here. Everyone else just moved out so that Dr. Cho could work on you in more privacy. Daniel's on his way here, but he's a few minutes away and Dr. Cho needs to reinflate your lung."
That didn't sound good, but I figured it was better than a deflated lung and I couldn't do anything about it. Still, it was good to know why I'd stopped being able to hear the team. Oddly, I realized that there was medical chatter around me, I'd just been tuning it out the whole time. Although I didn't really want to know the specifics, it was good to hear at least a hum of activity, especially when Steve told me he had to back up to give them room to work.
I allowed myself to float a little longer, deciding to conserve strength. Dr. Cho must have done whatever it was because although the pain was still there, I started feeling less like every moment of being was a struggle. In fact, in that moment, I was able to touch my energy again. I'd barely begun to try to manipulate it within myself when I felt another presence.
It was Daniel, and I could hear him say, "that's right Steph, it's me." Then he must have been speaking to Steve because he added, "she's doing well. She almost has her lung and ribs completely healed on her own, though I'm not sure how aware she was that she was doing it."
After that, his voice was entirely in my head once more, much like Wanda's had been, and he started guiding me. I don't know how long it took, but eventually I was able to open my eyes and groan. Steve was sitting against the wall directly across from me, and there were scattered remnants of a few cups of coffee as well as at least one Super Soldier sized meal on a small table next to him. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be at least trying to sleep, but as soon as I made that pained noise, his eyes shot open.
I could see the relief in his face when he saw me looking at him, and when I gave him a small smile, he closed his eyes and I thought he might be praying. Then his gaze found mine again, and he smiled wide before saying, "FRIDAY, she's awake; let the others know."
I felt a gentle hand tug my face around, and found Daniel. Quietly he said, "you're doing well, but we have more work to do now. Reunions later."
Over the course of another couple of hours, Daniel quietly murmured instructions and we worked on each of my pains in turn. By the time we were done, Daniel looked worn out, so I held out a hand to him. When he took it, I murmured, "thank you," and instinctively pushed a healthy dose of my energy from me into him.
"Thank you," Daniel said eyes clearly pleased and looking instantly more, for lack of a better word, energetic. "Today was a lot. Call me in a couple weeks, and we'll set up another session. In the meantime, take some time each day to meditate and focus on your life energy."
Then he bowed and walked away. I could hear Steve whisper something to him, and then the silence. After a moment, I started trying to sit up, and Steve came rushing over.
"Slow," he warned, sliding a hand behind my back and helping me get upright.
I barked out a laugh and said, "I feel just fine, but I'll let you hover if you need to."
"Thanks," Steve said dryly. "I'd appreciate that. Do you remember what happened?"
"Au revoir, Joule," I said. "Then he blew up like ten of his people."
Steve had tensed and he said, "I didn't know you spoke French."
"I don't," I replied, "that's what he said. I think he was the leader- khakis and a red shirt, big old tactical vest over it. His hair was buzz cut. Didn't try to fight me himself, just sent the first batch in. I made sure Jane, Darcy, and Erik… I mean Dr. Foster, Ms. Lewis, and Dr. Selvig… were in the safe room after I got the first group of men eliminated, and when I turned back around he was there with another group. That was the only thing I heard him say."
Steve sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Keeping his left arm around me, he fiddled with the phone before putting the screen in front of me. "That him?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "You know who it is then."
"We've met" Steve said. He slowly slid his arm out from behind me and stood once more, turning to assess me. "Are you sure you're ready to be up?"
"Giant explosion, Steve," I reminded him. "I may have been out because of injuries, but I think my body was just focusing on healing. That explosion was like someone gave me fresh, high-capacity batteries. I don't hurt anymore, thanks to Daniel, and I have so much energy inside of me."
His eyes were studying mine and he clearly saw the honesty in them because he nodded his head and then helped me to my feet. Because his hands were still hovering, I rolled my eyes and started doing jumping jacks with raised brows. Of course, that was how Dr. Cho found me, and she laughed saying, "honestly, Steph. Couldn't you at least pretend to need me? Pretty soon they'll realize I'm not needed here and they'll send me back to Korea. And I just finished unpacking."
"Sorry, Doc," I said before sitting sedately on the table while she took my vitals. When she finished, I cheekily asked, "what's the verdict? Am I going to live?"
Dr. Cho's initial response was a sigh followed by, "well, now I know you're one of them."
Steve chuckled at that and handed me a sports bra, which I quickly pulled on. It seemed they'd had to cut my bra off to reinflate my lung, but my pants had stayed on and they'd covered me with a blanket before Daniel had arrived. Once I had the bra on, I asked, "why do you say that?"
As though answering my question, Natasha appeared knocking on the wall and raising a brow at the sight of me standing as she said, "so, what's the verdict, Doc? She going to make it?"
