(A/N): Happy Friday! This time, let's check in with tvfan69's Jade Nguyen!
Thanks as always to our writers who reviewed and supported each other, and thanks to TheRaspberryVigilante41 for your beautiful review. We agree: John has a really crummy situation in front of him, and we love our characters so much that it's so HARD to watch any of them hurt! :(
Chapter Fifty-Five - Itsy Bitsy
Jade Nguyen, formerly of District Ten
Howlett Estate, District Seven
Written by tvfan69
"When you think the final nail is in, think again."
Katy Perry — Rise
Things around Howlett Estate were… odd. Jade could admit that much.
On her first morning there, it dawned on her, rather abruptly, that up until that moment, she had literally never once been in an environment in which there was no imminent threat looming over her head. Ever. It was ridiculous to come to that realization with a revolution in full swing all throughout Marvel that was resulting in mass chaos and panic; one would think that would be the ultimate threat to ever hang over her head. But the revolution hadn't touched here yet, not directly anyway, and with no clarity on exactly what she was to SHIELD… well, she didn't have much of a choice other than to live in the moment.
And that moment was oddly domestic.
She slept in that morning, though she was sure most people would argue 8:30 was a far cry from sleeping in. Regardless, she was the last one awake, and by the time she'd gotten into the kitchen, her four closest housemates were already seated in the dining room with breakfast.
The four of them were another odd thing.
Artemis, Thea, Garfield, and Raven. All of them were only three years younger than she was, and yet, somehow, she had found that she felt responsible for them. Whether she was reminding Gar of his manners, Raven and Thea of going to bed at a decent hour, or Artemis of keeping her bow unloaded when she was inside the house (though that was mostly to warn her before the extensive staff that worked there could get after her), she couldn't deny that she had somehow adopted all four of the younger teens.
Which meant she was a little more worried than she would like to admit when they started going off on missions.
First, it was Gar and Raven. The two of them were sent orders to go off on a mission with the rest of their little gang from the Games, an assignment that had Gar all but running around the mansion in excitement. She'd seen the two of them off and made sure to warn them that they had better each come back in one piece; otherwise, she was going to kill them. She gave Thea the same warning when she went off with a gang of other former tributes and victors too.
For the past few days, Jade had been sure to keep to just herself and Artemis. The place had been bustling with activity: the gaggle of orphans, the Howlett Estate's staff, the droves of SHIELD agents that she had spotted coming and going into one meeting after another, and Alfred, an older man with a few healing injuries. She still wasn't entirely sure as to who he was; he was almost always either in the kitchen or cleaning something — or in the kitchen cleaning something — and he always would end up being scolded by one of the members of the Howlett Estate's staff for his efforts. She probably could ask him what his story was — he seemed open enough — but she didn't feel like it was her place, so she decided to just stick to helping him cook when Mrs. O'Malley wasn't preparing some big meal for all the operatives.
"What do you think, Miss Nguyen: chives or no chives?" Alfred asked her, holding up a fistful of green bristles that looked a little like grass to Jade.
"I think you're forgetting I don't know what a chive is," she deadpanned, continuing to move the potato masher around in the bowl he'd set in front of her. Alfred made a noise of disappointment and then muttered something about how civility wasn't supposed to be illegal in the other districts before he picked up a knife and a cutting board.
He started cutting his grass — or chives, apparently — and only a few moments later, they heard the sound of a heavy door opening and closing. Jade looked up at Alfred, who appeared to consider the noise for moment before he returned to his chopping. He had to know what was coming; she could hear the click-clack of her footsteps coming down the hall, though they were strangely followed by heavier, more thudding steps.
"Right this way," she could hear Mrs. Hopkins saying tersely as she travelled down the corridor, "I think I saw—" She cut herself off with a little gasp. "Mr. Pennyworth!" Mrs. Hopkins half shouted half whispered, and out of genuine fear, Jade glanced around to make sure there weren't any other knives, spatulas, or especially wooden spoons loose around the countertop. "How many times must I remind you? You are a guest, here. Not an employee, Mr. Pennyworth."
"I would never step on Mrs. O'Malley's toes like that, Mrs. Hopkins," Alfred replied primly, "I am simply trying to impart some basic culinary skills on our — your — young guests. Miss Nguyen, for example, should be able to adequately feed herself like a civilized human being when this was has met its end."
It was painfully obvious that Mrs. Hopkins was none too amused with the defense. As she opened her mouth to say something, Mrs. O'Malley — from across the kitchen — intervened on their behalf. "Excuse me, ma'am," Mrs. O'Malley said gently, but with all the same professionalism that Jade had come to expect from the staff, "if you'd like to place the blame, I told Mr. Pennyworth that he was welcome to teach the young miss. I was afraid he might be going a bit south, seein' as he isn't used to not takin' care of his charges, ma'am. It wasn't that long ago that we were caring for this place with no one in it but ourselves, after all."
took a moment to consider it before she turned to Alfred. "I trust you'll find your way back to your room when you've finished here, Mr. Pennyworth?"
"Of course, madam," Alfred said with a coy little smirk. "I wouldn't dare upset the delicate balance of your home."
"Certainly not," Mrs. Hopkins said, readjusting her aprons and biting back a smirk of her own before, with a huff, she dismissed the issue, put her more professional expression back on, and stepped aside to make way for two newcomers. "Mr. Pennyworth, I'm sure you remember Mr. Summers and Miss Gordon," Mrs. Hopkins said almost cheerfully. "It appears as if they've been given an assignment from Master James and would like a moment with Miss Nguyen."
Both Mrs. Hopkins and the two guests were focused primarily on Jade, even though Miss Gordon gave Alfred a friendly wave, even as the staff and Alfred excused themselves so that they weren't intruding on the discussion. The two teenagers were obviously dressed like SHIELD agents, though they were both too young for that designation.
Summers looked more uptight than Gordon, his posture ridged, like he wanted to be anywhere but there when there was work to be done, his smile obviously forced. Gordon, while she didn't look particularly thrilled, was at least better at faking it.
"Hi," Gordon said. "You must be Jade." She only waited for the nod Jade gave in response. "I'm Barbara, and this is Scott. We're on our way to District Eight, where there have been some reports about some rebels going missing. There's been a lot of Hydra activity in the area, and if they weren't killed, then they could be in serious trouble. Scott and I volunteered for a rescue mission, but the director recommended we talk to you to see if you were up for a mission, give you a chance to get your feet wet on the right side of the fight."
Jade wasn't proud that it took her a minute to understand what she was being asked, but once it did click she, instead of answering, she turned calmly away from Barbara and found a nice spot on the furthest piece of vacant countertop to slowly place her bowl. It was a pathetic means of avoidance — she knew that — but she needed five seconds to think. Logically, she had known that SHIELD would likely send her off on some kind of assignment sooner or later; she just never thought it would be offered to her as though she had the option to say no.
She wouldn't, but it still felt strange to know that she could.
Unfortunately, she wouldn't even get the chance to answer, because before she could turn back around, a new voice was jumping on the opportunity.
"I'll go!"
Jade whirled around. She hadn't even heard Artemis come in, though she knew Artemis had known she was in the kitchen; she must have come looking. "No," she snapped before Barbara or Scott could say anything one way or the other. "I'll go," she added in a tone that was much more even. "But she is staying here."
"I'm going," Artemis argued; a glare in her eyes that Jade could match with ire to spare.
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"No. You're. Not."
"Yes. I. Am."
"N-"
"Okay," Barbara interrupted, taking a step forward as though to place herself between them, like that was going to help the situation any. "You're Artemis?" Barbara asked as she turned toward Artemis, who nodded. Barbara's expression softened, and an uneasy pit settled in Jade's stomach, as she couldn't predict what Barbara's next move would be. "Scott and I will take all the help we can get, but we're trying to bring families back together, not split them apart. I would rather you only come if it's okay with your sister."
Oh, screw you too Barbara, Jade thought to herself. "We need a minute," Jade said before she left the kitchen, with Artemis trailing behind her.
"I'm going," Artemis insisted.
If Jade had to hear that sentence one more time, she was going to pick Artemis up and throw her out of the highest window she could find in this place.
"No, you're not." The reply was becoming robotic, and marching into her room, she could only hope that she could slam the door fast enough and loud enough that her sister wouldn't be able to follow.
"Yes, I am."
"No, you are not!" Jade seethed, spinning on her heel so fast she had to brace one hand against the doorway for balance, her voice high and raspy with frustration. "No you're not, no you're not, no — you are not! If I have to tell you that one more time Artemis, I swear I'll—"
"You'll what?!" Artemis all but screamed. "You'll send me to my room? You're not Mom!"
"Oh, and om would let you go?" Jade challenged as she crossed her arms over her chest with the demand. "Mom would be perfectly fine with you running off with secret agents to get yourself killed?"
"You're going."
"That's different," Jade spat out with a tone of cold finality, "I, unwillingly, have been trained to handle this sort of insanity. You haven't." With that Jade, turned her back to her sister, a part of her almost believing that Artemis would finally give it up.
However, stubbornness was a family trait that ran much deeper than Jade would have liked.
"I've been trained too," Artemis argued.
Jade was glad she had her back to her sister, because she had no desire for Artemis to see the pain on her face when she closed her eyes. "Don't remind me," she said, turning around to face Artemis, who had gone from looking furious as all hell to angry and desperate. She had to think for a moment, to try and figure out a way to explain her motives without upsetting Artemis any more. "Look, we have both been through a lot lately—"
"You can say that again," Artemis scoffed, and Jade frowned.
She was right. They'd both been through a lot; neither of them could just sit back and watch the revolution unfold around them.
"Fine," she conceded. "You can go, but you stay close to me and you do exactly as you're told. Got it?"
Artemis nodded with a very bright and excited smile. "Got it!"
Jade thought they were going to ship out first thing the next morning, but it wasn't until after they'd gotten the latest intel and picked up their director-approved SHIELD agent that the group found themselves bidding goodbye to the staff members that had taken it upon themselves to see the various groups of kids off. Scott swore up and down to Mrs. Hopkins and Alfred that they would soon be returned with no harm done, even as the gruff housekeeper couldn't help but fuss over him before he left.
The flight to Eight only took a few hours, but it gave them time to run through the plan. According to the intel that got them this far, Norman Osborn, one of Eight's former victors, was trying to take control of his home district in the midst of all the chaos the revolution had brought. SHIELD had discovered that he had been kidnapping rebel fighters and experimenting on them, but the intel didn't say what exactly Osborn was trying to achieve through those experiments, though it appeared as though he was hoping to augment the men into something … more. It didn't sound like he cared about their lives beyond a means to his own end.
By the end of the flight, all that was left to do was to check their weapons. Artemis had her bow beside her; her quiver was loaded with all kinds of trick arrows in addition to a healthy supply of conventional ones and secured snugly onto her back. She also had a much smaller crossbow, just in case, with just as many bolts to go with it. Jade only hoped that Artemis wouldn't need to use any lethal force on this mission.
Jade's weapons were a little smaller — but every bit as deadly. The SHIELD uniform she had been given wasn't all that different from her Hydra jumpsuit, aside from the insignia on the shoulders. It had a holster on one calf for a tanto, along with an additional belt that allowed her to secure both her precious sais. She also had an impressive amount of kunai tucked into various pockets throughout her outfit.
The transport brought them to a building not too far from the center of the district, a tall tower that really needed nothing more than a flash of lightning across the sky behind it to complete its ominous look. They snuck around the back, where a man in Sentinel armor was waiting for them.
"You must be Sentinel Stacey," Scott said in a reasonably friendly tone as they filed out and into the open door. "I didn't realize we had good Sentinels in Eight, too. So … thank you."
The Sentinel— or former Sentinel now — nodded while he closed the door and shut them all in. "Just get in and out fast — and make sure you get all the kids out with you."
"Believe me, sir; that's our intention," Scott replied. "Our SHIELD agent chaperone is waiting nearby and ready to give cover if required. We'll get everyone out."
Well, that was certainly a conversation on its own, but it was one Jade could stick her nose into later. For now, she had a job to worry about, and she made a point to look like she was minding her own business as she attended to her weapons.
The little group moved through a network of back hallways; according to the intel they'd gotten, getting into the lab was going to be the easy part of this mission, but getting out with the captives would be a whole other story.
When they arrived in the lab, Jade could see why.
It actually wasn't the lab, not the main part of it, anyway. No, this was a large back room that was probably used to keep test animals or, as far as Jade knew, maybe even mutt creations, once upon a time. But now, the cages that lined the walls were empty and rusted
Barbara swore under her breath, a perfect summary of the situation.
Scott's expression was solemn as the four of them crept into the room, his jaw tight as they looked past the bars into the empty pits of blackness. The whole place smelled like a hospital.
"They have to be here," Scott muttered, mostly to himself, and while she may have only been dragged into this yesterday, Jade felt her heart settling heavy in her chest when she saw a discarded teddy bear inside one of the empty cages. These cages… the equipment… they'd been used on humans, and there was no telling what happened to them.
"Hello?"
The inquisitive whisper came from the very end of the room and had Scott and Barbara racing until they dropped to their knees in front of the final cage.
"Oh my God!" Barbara exclaimed and if Jade didn't know better, she might even say she heard tears in her voice.
"Don't worry; we're getting you out of here," Scott said as he started to work on a way to do just that.
"Is there anyone else here?" Barbara asked the young man in the cage, already turning her head as though another voice was going to call out.
"No," Jade heard him say as she and Artemis drew closer. "Not anymore. It's just us. The others… They're all gone."
That hurt, but at least this wasn't a total waste. Still, Jade had to wonder who "us" was. The cage wasn't all that big, originally meant to hold maybe a large dog in good conditions. But all the other cells were occupied, so whoever else was left had to be crammed in there with this battered young man.
"Alright," Scott was saying as he began looking around the lab. "Don't worry; we're getting you out. Why don't you tell me your name. I'm Scott?"
"Ah, Bobby," the young man said, leaning to the side to watch Scott as he searched for a key. "Bobby Drake."
Artemis turned to look at the lock in question, which was old-fashioned and clearly opened only by a manual key, which was very unlikely to be lying around in the open in here.
"I've got it," Artemis announced as she fitted a bolt into her crossbow. Everyone, Jade included, jumped back without argument, though Bobby was protesting and pressed against the back of the cage with his curled-up cellmate — with nowhere to go should she miss.
But the bolt hit its target — the lock — and let loose a small explosion that sent the annoying piece of metal broken and clattering to the ground.
"You couldn't have used a quieter arrow?" Jade commented, but Artemis only smirked at her.
Scott and Barbara leaned into the cage to help the young man out of it, they had to pull him to his feet. Once he was up, Scott hadn't taken a hand off of him, which Bobby clearly needed. Jade couldn't see many of his features in the low lighting; from what she could see, he looked to be about Scott's age, maybe a little younger, but not by much. He was skinny — too skinny — and blond, but most importantly, he was leaning heavily on Scott's shoulder with his right foot hovering over the ground. He had a black eye and more scrapes and bruises on his arms than any person should… yet he was still trying to smile through it all.
"Hey," Bobby said with a winning grin. "Fancy meeting you guys here."
Jade gave him a nod, unsure of how else to respond to him. Barbara was back in the cage, pulling out the other rebel, and Artemis had crowded behind her just before she let out a gasp.
Jade watched as her sister took a shaky step back while Barbara hauled the last prisoner out. She couldn't understand Artemis's reaction — this guy didn't look like he was in any worse shape than Bobby; he wasn't even standing straight up yet. He was just a curled up, pale, bloody, mess of—
Oh, that's why.
He wasn't just any rebel turned lab rat. This was someone neither of them thought they would ever see alive again. This was Roy "Red" Harper. He wasn't standing straight up but was leaning heavily on Barbara, with his right arm around her shoulders. He looked just as beat up as Bobby, with the notably huge exception that, unlike Bobby, he was missing the majority of his left arm.
"Jade," Roy said in a breath, clearly more in shock than was usual for a simple greeting.
Before she knew it, Jade had lunged forward to wrap her arms around his neck. He let out a slight "oof" when she hugged him, curling over as best he could at the awkward angle; it was entirely likely that he had broken ribs. She backed off right away, and suddenly, she was aware that she had no idea where to go from here. She couldn't hit him, not with his arm horribly amputated and especially not with Scott and Barbara standing right here. But she couldn't do anything else. She couldn't—
"Ok…" Scott said slowly, a little confused at her reaction to the newcomer. "We've got to move before—"
The sound of gunfire from nearby finished that statement for him.
Artemis rushed ahead, Scott rushing up on her heels and dragging Bobby as he hissed at her to wait. Jade looked back at Red. She wanted to help him, but Barbara had him all set. A trade off would only cause a time delay, so she ran after the other two and trusted Barbara to follow.
They managed to get further than Jade would've expected before they ran into their first guard, who just barely took the time to call to his friends before he started shooting.
While Jade didn't want to admit that she was grateful she had caved and let Artemis come, she couldn't deny that they'd be dead if she hadn't. Even with Scott and Barbara both firing with deadly accuracy with SHIELD-issue guns — and with Barbara throwing in a few martial arts moves that her Head Sentinel father had probably taught her — they were barely able to push through, and Artemis firing arrows left and right certainly helped clear the path.
She took out a guard with her sais and two more with her kunai, and Artemis shot a guard between them and freedom in the shoulder, sending him spinning into a deadlier shot by Scott...
Okay, so she owed Artemis one.
They were almost free, could quite literally see the light at the end of the tunnel — and then they noticed that the door was propped open by something.
Wait… what?
They were already at the door; there wasn't time to question the wrongness of it being open… until they saw what was propping it: Sentinel Stacey, badly bleeding, though he had a grip on his weapons still and was keeping Osborn's guards from getting to the team or their ride.
"Get out of here," he told them through his teeth.
Scott gasped as they skidded to a halt, but only for a second before Barbara grabbed his arm, her own eyes wide. But when Stacey's eyes unfocused and he slipped sideways, they knew they couldn't save him.
"Come on," Barbara said, and Scott finally nodded, straightened up, and quickly lead the way to the transport.
