Hi again everyone! So a quick reply to a couple reviews:
ChildishAssassin – To what you pointed out about the new element powering Tony's suit. I wish I could insert that Hercules meme where the little angel on his shoulder goes "No, no…he's got a point." Like ABSOLUTELY Tessa would love to dive in deep to the possibilities that could come from that! But, unfortunately, she kinda gets wrapped up with SHIELD and doesn't really have the time to look into that much.
Luthien Oropherion – So, here's the thing with the MCU timeline, does anybody know really? Lol Like even the MCU is inconsistent (the first Iron Man movie Tony was underage when his parents' died, yet during the later Avengers movies it's established he was 21). Iron Man 2, Thor, and Steve getting pulled from the ice all happen around the same time. So, for my storyline he just hasn't been found yet. But mayhaps next chapter he willlll beeeeee ;) I'm so excited for it so get ready because the feels train is coming!
As always, thank you all so much for choosing to follow along and enjoy Tessa's story with me! Hope you like where she goes next! So, here's that mandatory reminder that I do not own anything Marvel and now off you go! Xoxo-NickyLynn
When Tessa gasped back into consciousness, she shot up and instantly regretted it. Her head was pounding, and a sharp pain was shooting out from her shoulder and up through her chest. She let out a groan as she brought her hand up to her temple, rubbing at the swelling veins beneath. Her memories hit her, and she looked around in alarm as she realized she was no longer in the clearing she remembered last. She looked around the white walls and of the hospital room and her alarm turned into panic as unwanted memories filled her from the last time she had been in a the care of a hospital.
"Well, good morning sleeping beauty." She heard, and she turned her head to find Tony sitting next to her.
"Tony?" she asked, looking around confused. "What happened?"
"Long story short….you stopped Ivan, but he had the drones rigged to blow. I scooped you up and got the hell out of Dodge." He said with a shrug. "You had lost a lot of blood though, so they had to patch you up." He said, motioning to her shoulder that was wrapped up in a thick layer of bandages.
"And Hammer?" she asked, looking from her wounded shoulder back to Tony.
"Locked up where he belongs. We'll have to send him a bar of soap." He told her with a smirk.
Tessa let out a breath of relief at the news, though her nerves were still on high alert. She looked down at the tubes protruding from her skin before she gripped onto them and began pulling them out.
"Hey, hey what do you think you're doing?" Tony asked, standing up and rushing over to the side of the bed.
"I need to get out of here." She told him as she finished ripping the tubes and cables off of her body. "I can't do hospitals." She said under her breath as she tore the blankets off herself.
"Look, I think you should-" Tony began before Tessa cut him off with a withering look.
"Tony I can't do hospitals." She told him seriously. Tessa had never told him about what happened when she had been given the news of Steve's death. He didn't know how much the white walls surrounding her and the smell of antiseptic filling her nose bothered her. "Please, I-I'm fine. I just need to get out of here." She said, hoping he would understand.
Tony was about to argue that she really should stay put before the look on her face gave him pause. "Alright, well at least let me find you a change of clothes." He said, motioning to the gown she had been wearing. Tessa looked down at herself, her nose wrinkled at the uncomfortable fabric.
"Fine." She relented. "First clothes, then we get the hell out of here."
True to his word, Tony helped find her clothes to change into. He managed to convince one of the nurses to give them a pair of scrubs. They were two sizes too big and a hideous shade of brown, but Tessa changed into them anyways, willing to wear nothing if it meant her getting out of that hospital. After she changed, Tessa walked out of her room and headed towards the exit, much to her attending doctor's displeasure.
Once they left the hospital doors Tessa's uneasiness slowly began to dissipate. Once they were back on the private plane and headed back towards Malibu, Tessa felt like she could breathe again. But it wasn't until she was walking back into her own apartment, in desperate need of a shower and decent sleep that she truly felt like she could relax again. The relaxation didn't last long, however. After she showered and was heading back towards her kitchen to make herself some food as she was starving, she nearly jumped a mile into the air when she caught sight of a shadow of a man out of the corner of her eye. After letting out a high-pitched yelp in surprise, she began to try to calm her racing heart as recognition washed over her. "You know that breaking and entering is a crime, right?" she asked the man, lounging in her favorite chair. "Just because you work for the government, doesn't mean the laws don't apply to you."
"I'm not sure a dead woman can legally press charges." Came his retort.
"What do you want Fury?" she asked, crossing her arms, not in the mood for a late night visator.
"You did good in New York." He said, coming to a stand and walking towards her.
Tessa rolled her eyes and resumed her trek to the kitchen. "That's not an answer. What do you want?" she asked again as she moved onto the tile floor and pulled open the fridge.
"You know I don't get you." He responded, still choosing to avoid the question.
After grabbing hold of some questionable leftover, Tessa shut the door, staring over at Fury who was now leaning against the kitchen doorframe. She stared at him for a moment before turning and moving over to the microwave. She chose not to give him a response, seeing as he wasn't giving her any.
"With your powers, your skill set, your age….I mean you could have been one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D. along side Howard Stark and Peggy Carter." He said. Tessa's muscles tensed up as she slid her food into the microwave. "Hell, you could have been director of the whole damn place."
"And then be the one doing the breaking and entering into women's apartments in the middle of the night?" she sassed back to him as she pressed the numbers and started her food, turning to lean against the counter with crossed arms while she waited. "I think I'll pass."
"I'm serious." He said, giving her an unamused look. "So, what gives?"
"You want serious?" she asked him, voice raising in volume. "I never wanted any of this! I never wanted to join a war! I never wanted to create a super-soldier serum! I never wanted to be kidnapped by Hydra! I never wanted these powers! I never wanted to watch everyone I love be taken from me, while I just always stay….this!" she shouted in anger. The beeping of the microwave filled the long stretch of silence that followed her outburst. "Everything I've ever done was to protect the people I love. That's all I've ever wanted." She said as she felt tears burning in the back of her eyes. "And I've failed every time." She admitted quietly as images of the people she had lost flowed through her mind. Her eyes dropped down to her hands as memories flooded her. "People have died because of me." She admitted. "What I can do….what I have done…you shouldn't be recruiting me, Fury. You should be locking me up and throwing away the key."
"You know, I've met a lot of bad people in my life." Fury said after a stretch of silence. "Powerful people. And the thing about power is that on its own it holds no value. It's the person it's endowed to which gives it definition. Power can uplift….power can depress…power can curse…and power can bless." He said seriously. "I'm not going to lock you up." He told her with a shake of his head. "You've already done that to yourself. Ms. Rogers, I'm going to hand you the key to the cage you built around yourself and offer you the chance to redefine the power you've been burdened with."
Tessa watched Fury's face as he spoke, and she was surprised to see the sincerity in it. "Why do you even care so much?" she asked him.
"Because we all deserve the chance to prove that we're capable of being more than our worst mistakes." He said simply as he pushed off from the wall and reached into the pocket of his long coat. "If you want to take that chance, I suggest being there at nine o'clock sharp." He said, handing over a white business card from between his middle and index fingers.
Tessa took the card in her grasp as Fury released it, turning as he did. "Don't be late." He warned as he walked out of her kitchen and then her apartment, leaving her alone again. As she heard the door click shut, Tessa looked down card. On the front was a symbol of the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, an eagle made out of block like shapes. She flipped the card over and read the address scribbled down in messy writing. She took a breath, looking back up to where she had seen Director Fury last. The truth was, she did want to take the chance he offered. She wanted to prove not only to the world, but to herself, that she was capable of being more than her worst mistakes. She wanted to believe that more than anything.
So, at nine o'clock the next morning she was pulling up to the address she was given, only to find a vacant lot out of town, with one unmarked helicopter sitting on its overgrown grass. She came to a stop at the end of the dirt road and switched the vehicle into park, shutting off the engine. She locked eyes with the overly serious black man leaning against the frame of the aircraft and drew in a breath. She pushed the door open and stepped out. She shut the door behind her as she trudged forward.
"Good, you made it. Get in." Fury said, moving from his position against the side of the helicopter and moving to the door on the side, pulling it open.
Tessa looked at the craft in apprehension as Fury stepped up into it, shutting the door behind him. "Well, no turning back now." She muttered to herself before transporting herself into the passenger seat, next to Fury. He jolted up in alarm at her sudden appearance, his hand flying up to his chest. Tessa's lips pulled up in a smile as she took in his reaction. "Sorry." She told him with a smirk, not feeling sorry in the least.
"Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to." Fury said, pulling the headset over his head. "Like a god damn poltergeist." He muttered as he flipped the necessary switches and the helicopter's blades began whirring into life.
"So, are you taking me to your super-secret spy headquarters now?" she asked him as she took the headset he was holding out for her. She slid the device over her ears, hearing his voice come through the speakers of it.
"Something like that." He said before taking hold of the gears and lifted them out of the air.
Tessa didn't know what she was expecting to see. Perhaps some bunker built deep underground, hidden from the world. Or maybe even some fortress built into the side of some mountain in the Himalayas. What she was not expecting to see was a large carrier vessel, like that of a war ship…and it was flying. As Fury guided their helicopter closer, moving above the large, floating vessel, she looked down at it in wonder. There were several jets and other helicopters littering along the long stretch of air strip on it, and Fury was bringing the helicopter down on one of the empty landing pads. Some crew workers were guiding his descent as he carefully brought them down to a landing.
"Any chance you'll give me access to the blueprints of this thing?" she asked looking over to him, finding the mechanics of large flying craft intriguing to say the least.
"If you choose to stick around, maybe." He said, looking over at her after touching down on the helicarrier's surface. Tessa smiled over at him, suddenly finding herself eager to have access to this new technology and the practicalities she could apply it to. "If you think she's amazing now, just wait until you see what magic tricks she's got up her sleeve." Fury told her, pulling off his headset and killing the power to the helicopter as the crew members outside attached thick cables around the legs, attaching the craft in place.
"What does she turn invisible or something?" she deadpanned, only to find Fury giving her a single raised brow. "You're kidding, right?" she asked, as Fury pushed open the door with a smile and got out, stepping down onto the helicarrier. Tessa followed him out, not bothering to use the door. "Fury, please tell me this thing can turn invisible!" she nearly shouted in excitement as she appeared next to him, falling into step beside him.
"It may possess a cloaking shield." He responded with a shrug. Tessa's lips pulled further into a grin, suddenly feeling like a kid in a candy shop. "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't seem so bad now, does it." He told her, tipping his head in her direction.
"Oh, you still have plenty of time to disappoint me, don't worry." She responded as she followed him in through a door, stepping inside the remarkable machine. She followed him as he led her through the spacious interior, passing through hall after hall. There were shield agents everywhere she looked, all dressed in black with the familiar logo patched onto their shoulders. He brought her out into a large, open room, full of ceiling to floor windows, filling the entire room with light and a view of the blue sky around them. There were rows and rows of people sitting in front of monitors, the sounds of clicking keyboards filling the area.
"Hill." Fury said as they stepped out into the space above the rows of agents. A woman with brown hair, pulled back into a slick bun spun around from her place above the group, a large monitor before her.
"This is Commander Maria Hill." He explained as they came to a stop in front of the stern looking woman.
"Hill, this is Rose Rogers, out newest agent." He said in introduction.
Tessa tensed up, hearing her name fall from his lips. "Tessa." She corrected. "Please call me Tessa." She said, reaching forward and shaking hands with the woman.
"Tessa." Hill greeted, shaking her hand. "I've read the reports from Monaco and New York. Impressive." She said, dropping her hand and moving it back behind her back as she stood at attention. The stance reminded Tessa of the time she spent working in the military and she had to shake her head to rid herself of the thought.
"Uh, thanks." She said, unsurely. "I guess."
"Maria here's my second-in-command and one of the best minds in S.H.I.E.L.D." Fury explained to Tessa before turning to Maria. "Where are Agents Romanoff and Hawkeye?" he asked her.
"Down below, in the training center." She informed him. The two began a discussion back and forth over some things that, frankly, Tessa didn't understand, so, she let her eyes trail around the room again, taking in everything she could. Her eyes drifted to the blue sky outside and she began to get lost in thought before Fury's deep, impatient voice pulled her back down to reality.
"Well come on then, I don't have all day." He called over to her and she turned to find him walking back out of the room, heading in a different direction than the one they had come from.
"Uh, nice to meet you." Tessa told Hill before transporting herself back next to him. She followed him as he led her down a flight of stairs and down some more halls until he pushed open a door that opened up into a large gym area.
Tessa looked around at all the equipment as she was guided over to the corner where a set of large mats were built into the ground. The sound of fighting drew her attention, and she turned her head to find two bodies throwing hits and kicks at each other. The red hair caught her attention as she recognized Agent Romanoff, now in a pair of tight black pants and a black tank top. She was facing off with a man Tessa didn't recognize, and, well…. she was kicking his ass. Fury cleared his throat to announce their arrival as Romanoff flipped the man over and he landed on his back with a thud.
Agent Romanoff stood at attention at Fury's arrival, not looking out of breath in the slightest. The man, however, was staring up at Fury and Tessa from the ground, his chest moving up and down heavily. "Oh, hey." He said between breaths.
"I believe you remember Agent Romanoff." Fury said, motioning over to the woman. "The agent she has just cleaned the floor with would be Agent Hawkeye." Tessa raised an eyebrow down at the man who was pushing himself back up onto his feet.
"So, Fury's managed to reign you in too, I see." Romanoff said, stepping off the mat and coming a stand in front of them. "Natasha." She said, reaching out her hand. Tessa slid her hand into the other woman's. "And this is Clint."
"Nice to actually meet you." Tessa said in greeting.
"Well, I have places to be….people to debrief. You guys give Tessa here the run down and I'll be back later." Fury said, turning and making his way back out of the room. Tessa watched him walk away, suddenly feeling incredibly out of place and nervous. She turned back around to find the two agents watching her.
"So, you're the girl who can do all the…" Agent Hawkeye began, flickering his fingers out around him.
Tessa lifted a brow at the display. "Yes?" she answered unsurely.
"Cool. Wanna show me what you got?" he asked her, crossing his arms.
"I-I'm not sure that inside of a helicarrier, thousands of feet above the ground, if the best place for me to be demonstrating my powers." She told him. "They can be…volatile."
"Oh, come on, just a little something?" he pressed.
Tessa looked from him over to Natasha. "He's not going to stop pestering you until you give in, believe me." Natasha said, giving her a shrug of her shoulders.
Tessa let out a breath before deciding she could at least show him the not so dangerous stuff. She let herself blink out of view, only to appear in the rafters above them, sitting on the metal beam that spanned the length of the room. "Looking for someone?" she called down to them, after they had been swiveling around in confusion for a minute.
Clint's head snapped up to the direction her voice had been coming from and a wide smile pulled up the corners of his mouth. "That's cool." He commented as she pushed herself off the beam and fell through the air. She transported herself out of the air and landed back onto the floor in front of them. She then let her powers snake out and wrapped them around one of the weights off to the side of the room, near the bench press. She lifted one from the top of the pile and then sent it speeding towards them. She reached out a hand and caught it in a tight grip as Clint ducked down in panic.
She let her powers retract as she brought the weight closer, flipping it over in examination as she did. "Ta-da." She said, unenthusiastically, feeling much like a side show freak.
"Woah. Remind me never to pick a fight with you." Clint said, looking down at the fifty-pound weight in her hands that she held up like it weighed no more than a gallon of milk.
"So, what's your story?" Natasha asked her, crossing her arms.
"Story?" Tessa asked, confused.
"Oh come on….a girl like you has got to have one hell of a story to tell." She said.
Tessa paused before sending the weight back over to where she had found it. She looked up at Natasha with an arched brow. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." She shot back, knowing there was something dangerous hiding behind the woman's deceptively beautiful face.
Natasha tipped her head as a smirk pulled up one corner of her mouth. "Come on, I'll show you around." She said, choosing to let the topic go….for now.
Tessa spent the next few months training with Natasha, Clint and even sometimes Coulson. She had spent so long being terrified of S.H.I.E.L.D. that she had never let herself consider the possibility of it being a good thing. She came to find that she rather liked spending time with the other agents, especially Natasha. After the two women felt comfortable enough to delve into their pasts, they came to find that they both held striking similarities to each other. They both knew what it felt like to be turned into a weapon for somebody else's war. They both knew what it was like to live with skeletons in their closets. A friendship Tessa had not been expecting began to form and it turned out that maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't as bad as she had once thought.
Tessa spent the majority of her time working on the technical side of things or following Coulson during his 'lighter' missions, but every so often there would be a mission that would be more dangerous than others and they would bring her in to help things go more smoothly. There was still a part of her that refused to trust the institution fully and held onto her right to refuse missions should she so choose to, but for the most part she had found herself actually enjoying herself. Knowing she was allowed to fully be herself, with no judgment on the things she was capable of, well….it felt good.
The months past by quickly and before she knew it, she was a fully indoctrinated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Her and Natasha were currently sparing off in the training facility, somewhere that they had spent a large portion of their time these last few months. While Tessa's powers were more than helpful in any given situation, they were not infinite. If she used too much power without giving herself time to recharge and rest, she found her body suffering from it. Exhaustion would take hold of her and as the incident with Ivan Vanko proved, she would eventually loose consciousness. So, a large part of her training was learning how to be less reliant on her powers. And when it came to hand combat, there was no one better than Natasha.
Tessa was currently on her back….again….glaring up at Natasha's grinning face. "That's three." Natasha said in triumph. Tessa pushed herself off the mat and squared off with the Black Widow again. "You know, I think you might actually be getting worse." Natasha goaded. Tessa felt the frustration rise in her and she could feel the shift her eyes made as they flashed unnaturally. "Oh, did I make you mad?" Natasha in mock concern.
Tessa took off towards her again, letting out a yell as she did. She went to strike Natasha, but the skilled agent ducked out of the way, dropping down to her knees and slid behind Tessa. Tessa felt something wrap around her feet and she was suddenly sent tumbling forward. Before she could hit the ground, she used her powers to brace herself, keeping herself hovering just above the mat. She let out another groan and dropped her powers, falling the last two inches down onto the mat. She rolled over and glared up at Natasha. "Four."
"I can count you know." Tessa told her as she took hold of the hand she had offered out. Natasha helped pull her onto her feet until she was upright again. Tessa let out a heavy sigh, raking her fingers through her hair.
"You have to control your emotions. Being angry just makes you sloppy and ineffective." Natasha scolded.
Tessa, who had been taking a drink of her water, looked over at the woman. She brought the water bottle back down, wiping up what drippled out of the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. She smiled over to Natasha before using her powers and pulled her feet out from under her. Natasha let out a yelp of surprise as her back collided with the mat. Tessa smirked down at her. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I make you mad?" she tossed back at her.
Natasha smirked back up at her before quickly spinning around, using her legs to lock around Tessa's feet, and with a quick twist, brought her down to the ground as well. The two women went back at it, both of them trying to overpower the other. While Tessa was stronger and faster, Natasha had spent her entire life perfecting her skills and it made her a very dangerous woman.
It was when Natasha was sitting on Tessa's back, holding her arm painfully behind her, that a phone rang. Natasha answered the call while keeping Tessa pinned in place. "Romanoff." She said into the device. She was quiet for a moment, listening to the other end as Tessa struggled underneath her. "Understood." She responded after a minute before hanging up and shoving the phone back into her pocket. "Fury wants to see you." she said, releasing her hold over Tessa and standing up.
Tessa rolled back over, rubbing at her sore arm. "Did he say why?" she asked.
"Yes. Then he invited me over for some tea and biscuits." Natasha said, helping Tessa back up onto her feet again.
"Okay, point taken." Tessa said before moving back towards her water bottle. She picked it up and stepped off the mats, making her way out of the gym. "I like training with Clint more, by the way!" Tessa shouted back over her shoulder.
"That's because you can beat him!" Natasha shouted back as she neared the exit.
"Exactly!" Tessa called back as she pulled the door open and went to find the Director.
Tessa had spent the past few months, getting used to her new life. She had just begun to feel comfortable in where her life was heading. Little did Tessa know that her life was about to head in a direction she had never seen coming. A direction that she didn't even think was possible. A direction that would change everything.