Hey guys! I'm gonna start off with answering a couple of reviews for those of you who have been awesome enough to leave them and ask your questions!
everything-is-black-and-white: Oh gosh I wish I could say yes to that, because how freaking adorable would THAT be! Unfortunately, Rose's part in the whole Captain America creation wasn't really celebrated too much by the public. Her involvement was public knowledge, but just as there's no playing cards for Abraham, there's none for her.
And to the guest who asked who would be stronger: Rose or Steve…well, perhaps you're not the only one curious about that. PERHAPS there will be a Rogers sibling showdown somewhere in the future! ;)
And to the others who have been dropping their love for this story and Rose/Tessa…THANK YOU ALL! I'm so glad you're liking it! With all that out of the way…heres the mandatory disclaimer that I still have yet to obtain rights to anything Marvel. And now you can enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Tessa sat in the silent room alone, with nothing but the chair she sat in, the barren table before her, and the empty chair across from it. She had been brought into the room once they had arrived at the facility and asked to wait. That had been nearly an hour ago and Tessa was growing bored and frustrated. Her eyes swung over to the large mirror she knew doubled as a one-way window and stared down who ever was on the other side.
After a minute of her staring down the window, unblinking, Tessa heard the door pull open, drawing her attention to it instead. She watched as a tall, dark-skinned man with no hair and an eye patch strode in. His face was low and serious, and based on the frown lines that had begun to form around his face, she had made a calculated judgment that this man never spent much time not frowning. He strode up to her with a large manila folder in his hands.
"That was quite the show you put on in Monaco." He said walking in with an air of authority. "Perked our interest, so to speak. We have access to resources you would not even believe. That's why when we couldn't even pull up a single record on you….well, it garnered my attention." He told her, pausing to pull out the chair across from her before sitting down. "No records in any criminal or civil database, no social media presence, nothing but off-shore bank accounts, layers and layers of DBAs and corporations, no traceable paper-trail of any kind. It's like you don't even exist." Came his deep voice. "I mean keeping yourself off the radar like that….it takes skill. Which means, you were trying very hard not to be found."
Tessa said nothing, she just stared across at the intimidating man, trying to exude the notion that she wasn't internally screaming. "I've got to admit, you have me intrigued. It's almost as if you are a ghost." He told her before dropping the heavy stack of papers on the table top with a thud.
She looked down at the folder and the picture that was paperclipped to the front of it. It was a picture of her. A picture of her from before the serum. She looked from the folder back up to the man's serious face. "Which I guess technically you are a ghost, seeing as you're supposed to be dead." He said, raising the one eyebrow she could see. "Care to share with the class how a sixty-five year old, dead woman is sitting across from me in my holding room?"
"I've you've read through that file, you should already know the answer to that." She said to him, nodding to the thick folder.
"Oh I get the serum and enhanced ability part, what I don't get is how you managed to stay under SHIELD's radar all these years. I mean, we've been watching Tony Stark for a while now, and for us to just now find you. I have to admit that I'm impressed." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"It's like you said, I really didn't want to be found." She told him, crossing her own arms.
"Let me guess….Howard Stark helped hide you…kept anyone from sniffing around too close." He said. Tessa kept quiet, not confirming, nor denying his suspicions. He let out a short laugh as he realized he was right. "All these years, and you've been right under our nose." He commented with a shake of his head.
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and all that." Tessa tossed out at him.
"Is that what we are?" he asked her. "Enemies?"
"You tell me." Tessa shot back. "I'm the one locked in here, not you."
"Ms. Rogers, I don't want us to be enemies." He told her.
"No? How about using me as a weapon to fight your own battles?" she asked him then, leaning towards him with a raised eyebrow.
"How about asking for your help." He responded, leaning forward as well, folding his hands together on the table. "There are forces in this world and outside it that you would not believe even if I told you." He told her. "Someone with your capabilities, well….it would do a lot of good having you in our corner."
"I've already been through a war, and it took everything from me." She told him with a shake of her head. "I don't want anything to do with another."
"I'm not talking about a man-made war here. You're focused on one little box, I'm talking the big picture." He said.
Tessa's eyebrow furrowed down. "I'm not sure I follow." She told him honestly.
"You think you're the first advanced individual I've come across?" he asked her then. "The universe is filled with people like you-people stronger than you. And not all of them are as friendly as you. Not all of them want to hide like you. What do you think would happen if one of them were to decide they wanted more from this world than the average person? What do you think would happen if they were bent on domination? Who would stop them?" he asked her.
Tessa's mouth dropped open and snapped closed a few times, not knowing what to say to that. "So, you would use me as a shield?" she finally said.
"In case in wasn't obvious with the name, that's kind of our job. We are the shield that keeps the world safe and ignorant of the things that would seek to destroy them. We provide protection to those who can't protect themselves." He told her. "Those who find themselves in positions of power are burdened with the responsibility for those without it."
"I never asked for these powers!" Tessa yelled out, slamming her fist down on the table in frustration.
The man looked down at Tessa's hand and the dent it created with a raised brow. "No, but you got it." He commented dryly. "The question is what you're going to do with it. Tell me Ms. Rogers, what's the point of all that power if you're not willing to actually use it? Someone like you….you could change the world."
Tessa pulled back her hand and let it drop into her lap. "Look, even if I wanted to…..I can't. I'm a little busy trying to save the life of the one person I actually give a damn about." She told him, knowing she already wasted too much precious time. Time she could have been using to find a solution for Tony's problem. "Tony Stark is dying. The palladium core of his arc reactor is killing him. How do you expect me to save the world if I can't even save him?" she asked with a deep sigh.
The man sat back in his chair, analyzing her for a moment. "We'll take care of it." He said after a moment.
"What?" Tessa asked, baffled.
"We have access to the greatest minds and resources in this world, Ms. Rogers. We'll take care of it." He said again.
Tessa let out a breath of disbelief. "You'll take care of it?" she repeated letting out a humorless laugh. "Tell you what, if you can help me save Tony Stark, then I'll put on whatever costume and do whatever dance you want." She told him with an arched brow.
"That's a deal I can shake on." The man said, holding out his hand. Tessa hesitantly reached forward, pausing just before making contact with his hand. She gave herself a moment to consider the life-altering decision.
"If you do keep your end of the deal and I do this….I won't be kept on a leash like a dog to call. If I choose to help you, I choose to help you. I won't blindly follow orders I don't agree with." She warned him. "My brother was the soldier, not me."
The man narrowed his eye in thought for a moment. "I can work within those parameters." He finally said with a nod.
"Then it's a deal." She told him with a nod, before pushing forward and slid her hand into his larger one.
After her agreement to join S.H.E.I.L.D. under the stipulation of their helping to find a cure for Tony, they sent her on her way, being driven back to Tony's mansion in the back of an SUV, sitting beside Agent Coulson. Tessa had spent the majority of the trip just staring out the window, deep in thought, but the feeling of eyes on her was beginning to get to her. "Are you going to actually be saying anything, or are you just going to keep staring the whole way?" Tessa asked, looking back over at Coulson.
She turned and found him staring at her with a look…well, with a look that Tessa didn't understand. His eyes were wide with a sense of wonder, it was such a drastic shift from his serious façade from earlier that Tessa reeled back in confusion. "What?" she asked.
"You're Rose Rogers." He stated, having been told her true identity after brining her in.
Tessa's lips dropped down in the corner. "Not anymore." She told him, stiffening.
"You helped create the serum that made Captain America. Steve Rogers is your brother." He continued.
Tessa's frown dipped down more. "He was my brother. He's gone if you have forgotten."
"Right, sorry." He muttered to her, looking away for a moment before looking back up at her. "It's just…. I've been a huge Captain America fan since I was a boy." He told her in admittance.
"What, do you have a collection of his trading cards or something?" she asked in sarcasm, eyes drifting out the window with thoughts of her dead brother.
"They're mint condition." He said back, causing Tessa to pause and look at him again. When her eyes met Coulson's again, she found him smiling at her.
"You're serious?" she asked him.
"Like I said…I'm a big fan." He told her.
Tessa crossed her arms, fully turning and studying him. "What's his birthday?" she asked, testing the lengths of his so-called admiration for her brother.
"July fourth nineteen eighteen." He responded without missing a beat.
"His middle name?" she asked then.
"Douglas." Coulson responded easily.
"His mother's name?" she asked, wondering just how much he knew.
"Sarah." He answered her, once again not having to think over the answer.
Tessa raised her eyebrow and gave a small shrug. "I guess you are a fan of his." She said before her mind began to trail back to thoughts of him and what he would have thought about meeting fans of his so many years later.
"Can I ask you something?" she heard Coulson ask. She turned her head and nodded at him. "Why did you refer to Sarah as 'his' mother and 'our' mother?"
"Oh." Said Tessa, blinking. "Uh-Sarah's not my mother. I was adopted." She told him, not expecting the question.
"I….I didn't know that." Coulson said after a moment, his face drawn down in thought.
"Don't feel too bad, not many people do. In fact, I'm not sure there's anyone left who would know that." She told him with a raise of her shoulder. "You should count yourself lucky. You now know a piece of Captain America's life that no one else does." That seemed to pull his face into a bright smile.
Tessa spent the remainder of the drive answering all Coulson's questions. She found it amusing all the little things he wanted to know. What his favorite food was. What his favorite pizza topping was. What his favorite movies were. What his favorite books were. What he liked to do in his spare time. What his shoe size was. Tessa gave him all the answers he wanted, finding the whole situation amusing. As they pulled up Tony's long driveway, the questions stopped, and his serious stature returned.
"Thank you for your time Ms. Rogers. We'll be in touch, but in the meantime, Agent Romanoff will be looking after things and reporting back." He told her as the vehicle slowed to a stop.
Tessa looked over at him in confusion. "Agent Romanoff?" she questioned.
"I believe you know her as Natalie." He explained, letting the pieces click together in her mind.
"Oh." She said, blinking as she processed the news. "Okay, well you just tell Director Fury to hold up his end of the bargain and I'll hold up mine." She said before pushing the door open and stepping out.
"Good night Ms. Rogers." He said to her before she shut the door and moved towards the house as the car began driving away again. Pepper's car was still sitting in the driveway, letting Tessa know that the woman was still there. She drew in a breath and transported herself inside, not bothering with keeping her powers hidden any longer. In truth, if felt good not to hide who she was from Pepper anymore. Tessa appeared in the main living area to find Pepper and Natalie…or Agent Romanoff…sitting on the couches with phones pressed to their ears. Most likely dealing with the blowback from the disaster that had occurred in Monaco. "Where is he?" she asked, announcing her presence.
Pepper whipped around, having been startled by her. "Jesus Tessa, you scared me!" she said, holding her hand over her chest.
"Sorry." She Tessa said in apology before her eyes land on the agent sitting behind her. Their eyes locked briefly, and Tessa knew that she knew that Tessa knew. "Natalie." She greeted, her brow lifting ever so slightly, still not sure how to feel about the woman pretending to be an innocent assistant.
"He's downstairs and doesn't want to be disturbed." Agent Romanoff said, before returning her attention back to the phone call, not letting her façade fault in the slightest.
Tessa ignored the warning and instead flashed herself down the stairs and into the lab. She found Tony sitting in one of his antique cars, several screens displayed before him. Tessa crossed the space separating them and moved around to the passenger side of the vehicle. She pulled open the door and lifted herself up into the car, shutting the door behind her and adjusting herself on the leather seat. Her eyes swept over the images Tony was studying. He hadn't so much as acknowledged her presence. He just sat and stared at the news articles of a scientist named Anton Vanko.
"How'd it go?" he finally said after a minute of silence.
"Hmm." Tessa let out with a shrug, not wanting to add her stresses on top of his own. "Who's this?" she asked, motioning to the images in front of them.
"This would be the father of Ivan Vanko." He said, identifying him. "Ivan said something when I was talking to him. He said that the only reason I'm alive is because of his father. His designs weren't just similar, they were almost identical. He knew exactly how to build the reactor, and not only that, he-" he said, pausing to pull his eyes off the screens to Tessa's face. "He knew about the palladium. He just knows too much, and I need to know how."
Tessa studied him for a minute, noting just how drained he looked. "Hey." She said reaching over and brushing the back of her fingers across his clammy forehead. His skin burned under her touch and the concern bloomed in her chest. "Tony, you have to stop worrying about this right now. Ivan in behind bars and you have other things to worry about, like yourself." She told him.
"I-I'm fine." He said, brushing her hand away. "I just need to replace the core." He said, getting up and pushing himself out of the car. Tessa went to follow him, but as he went stumbling to the side, Tessa transported herself out of the car and next to him, catching him before he could hit the floor.
"You're not fine!" she said, helping take the weight off his feet and guided him over to the seat behind his desk. Tony dropped down into the chair as Tessa pulled open the box which held the replacement cores inside. A box that was alarmingly running low. Tony pulled the reactor out of his chest, smoke rising up from the burnt core that emerged from it.
Tessa took the reactor from him and pulled out the old core, shaking her head at the state of it, before sliding in the new one and handing it back to Tony. "Thanks." He muttered before turning around and sliding the device back into his chest. Tessa caught something peeking out from under the collar of Tony's shirt and she leaned forward to pull the fabric down to get a better look at it. The black lines that had been extending out from his chest were now creeping up his neck. She let out a sigh as she let the fabric fall back into place, bringing her eyes up to meet Tony's. And the look on Tony's face broke her heart. He looked so…..scared.
Tessa moved her hand up to cradle his cheek, needing to comfort him. "It's going to be okay." She told him for what felt like the hundredth time. "There's a solution to this. I….I just have to find it."
Tony's face didn't shift in the slightest. If anything, he looked sadder. "I never got the chance to say goodbye to my mom and dad." Tony began causing Tessa to shake her head, knowing where he would be taking that train of thought.
"And you're not going to have to say it to me either." She told him fiercely. "You're not going anywhere. I'm not going to let you."
Tony ignored her words as he pressed forward anyways. "I just…I need you to know how much you mean to me. I don't know how I would have done any of this without you, Tess. You're all the family I have left, and I know I can be stubborn and hard-headed…and I make reckless decisions, but through it all you've been there for me. So…..thank you….for always being there to pick me back up when I fall."
Tessa could feel the tears building in her eyes as she watched Tony struggle under the weight of his emotions. "I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, kid." She told him giving him a gentle smile, dropping her hand from his cheek. "I'd walk through hell for you Tony Stark and I'm not going to let this problem take you away." She told him, motioning towards the reactor glowing in his chest. " I'm going to fix it." She promised. "So, you go upstairs and rest while I figure this out."
Tony looked up at her for a moment before nodding and coming to a stand. He made his way towards the door quietly as Tessa watched him. Once he was up the stairs and out of view, she dropped herself down into the chair with a heavy sigh. She was in a race against the clock and the finish line was closing in on her faster than she would have liked. She needed to find the answer. She needed to find the answer soon. So, drawing in a deep breath, she sat upright and got back to work.