Back again after some much needed vacations! Sorry for leaving you all on a cliff hanger last time, although we know most of what happens after Tony flies into the wormhole. The next part of the story is my favorite, because now we get some time for Josephine to become her own character!
Please review!
May 5th, 2012
"Maggie, look up."
Joei woke with a start, the image of Iron Man falling too fast for too long still burning behind her eyelids. It took a few deep breaths for her to remember that Hulk had stopped her father from falling to his death and that he had made it out alive and in one piece.
She sat up with a groan, realizing she must have been woken by Jarvis or Friday.
"What time is it?" she croaked, trying to blink away the image of blown up cars and smashed windows and aliens.
"It is seven forty in the morning, Miss Stark," Jarvis answered, "Miss Larson has laid out your clothes and left breakfast for you in the kitchen."
"Since Dad already knows her real identity, you might as well call her Miss Graham, Jarvis. Keep the fake name for when we have guests. Where's Dad?"
"He has gone to the airport to meet Miss Potts."
"Good. That's good. Is he still refusing to speak to me or answer my calls?"
"I have been told to mute all calls and text messages on your behalf."
Joei groaned again as she got out of bed, rubbing at her face when she reached the mirror of her vanity, "How long do you think he'll be this mad at me?"
Jarvis was silent for a moment, almost like he was thinking. Which Joei supposed he was in his own way, "Your health and safety have always been my primary directive, Miss Stark. Your father values you above any other person in his life. I believe that his pride may keep him from speaking to you for longer than he would actually like, but it won't be more than a few months."
"Great."
"It may be shorter with the interference of Miss Potts."
"I just don't think I've ever gone more than twenty-four hours without speaking to him, and that's only when we're in different states or countries."
"I am certain Sir will come around."
"I sure hope so, Jarvis. What's on the schedule for today?"
"Debriefing will take place in an hour and a half at S.H.I.E.L.D's New York Headquarters. After that you are scheduled to send off Thor and Loki at a currently undisclosed location."
"Where's the rest of the team?"
"Captain Rogers returned to his Brooklyn apartment for the night. Agent Romanoff has gone to a safe house in Queens. Agent Barton is in medical receiving an analysis on his mental state. Loki is in custody and Thor spent the night on the Hellicarrier. Dr. Banner and sir left twenty minutes ago to get breakfast."
Joei arrived half an hour before the Avengers were expected to be debriefed. Director Fury was already waiting for her in his office, however.
"Director," she nodded, shaking his hand as she sat across the desk. Agent Hill pulled up a chair on the side of the desk, between the two of them.
"Agent Stark. I was hoping you would show up early."
"I'm glad you made the time to see me if I did. There's still a few questions I have before we walk into that conference room."
"Fire away."
"Okay, for starters, what am I doing here? I know I've asked the same question over and over but your answers just keep getting more cryptic. I failed to rally your team, Fury."
"Did you?"
A wave un anger washed over her and she had to fight to keep her voice down, "Phil Coulson had to die before they could work together."
"Phil Coulson died for more reasons than to be used as a martyr, Agent Stark. He died doing what he signed up to do."
Joei sighed and sat back, "Then what role did I play in all of this? I shot a few aliens, sure. But it was Cap calling the shots out there. Natasha closed the portal. Iron Man…my father blasted himself into space with a nuke on his back to save the city. What did I do?"
"If I wanted somebody to shoot bad guys all day, I would have called in any number of students from Ops. But I didn't. Every person on this team brings something to the table. Your job is to make sure that this team doesn't lose their minds or their cool. We knew this wasn't going to be an easy first ride, but the job got done and it was in part because you made it that way. Your job from now on is to pick up the pieces of broken superheroes and make sure they are fit to fight another day. You'll be tracking down any potential new members, and try to get the current members to work together. They all trust you to some extent. Some day, they might trust you enough to follow every order you give them."
"That was still a little cryptic, but I guess I'll take it. What about Barton?"
"He won't be joining us until later today. He's being evaluated as we speak. Once the evaluation is ready, we'll send it your way and you can decide what to do with it."
"I thought he wasn't an Avenger."
"He won't be until you invite him to the party. Same goes for Romanoff."
"Noted. What about the press?"
"I'll leave that to you, I hear you've got a way with words when it comes to them."
"Yeah, as a ditzy heiress. This is going to be a much bigger issue. Besides, I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile when it comes to the public, aren't I?"
"Then write some statements and get someone else to read them. I'm leaving the fallout in your hands, Agent, which means I'm trusting you with the fate of this team. I don't trust a whole lot of people. The last time I did, I lost an eye."
Joei swallowed and nodded, "Understood, sir."
"Was there anything else, Agent Stark?"
"One more thing," she said, "What do you think the chances are of the Avengers agreeing to therapy?"
For the first time ever, she saw the director's stoic face break away into a small smile, and a chuckle escaped his lips.
"Slim, very slim." he said, standing and pointing toward the door. "After you, Agent 96."
"Yes, sir, Director." She nodded, making her way out into the hallway and toward the conference room.
Joei tried to catch her father's eye during the debriefing, but he was seated on the opposite end of the table, and kept his body facing the front. She'd been to enough Board meetings to know that Tony Stark was not the type to pay attention in meetings. He was going through as much trouble as he could manage to avoid her.
Steve sat beside her and kept casting confused looks between the two of them. With a slight shake of her head, she promised to explain later.
An hour later, the Avengers stood together as Thor and Loki disappeared in a blast of light, taking the Tesseract with them. Josephine was sure that the World Security Council would not be happy with the Asgardians taking the cube, but Thor was right. Earth and humanity was not ready for its power, or for the enemies that having such an artifact would attract.
As they began to disperse, Josephine looked over at her dad, but she knew it was still a lost cause. He wasn't going to speak to her. Instead, she walked over to where two motorcycles were parked, one classic model and one much more modern sports bike standing side by side.
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she smiled at Steve as he climbed onto his bike.
"It suits you," she nodded.
"Thanks," he smiled, "I hear you might have had some input over the model."
Joei shrugged, "I couldn't really see you touring the country on a Kawasaki."
"So, what's going on there?" Steve asked, motioning with his head toward where her dad was hoping into his car with Banner.
"He's angry. Very angry. He thought I was going to quit."
"You did promise."
"Yeah, because he was about to die and I wanted to honor his dying wish." Joei answered, watching the orange sports car drive away.
"But he didn't."
"He didn't," Joei agreed, "Which makes me immensely happy, but I also don't want to stop being an agent. I don't need to be an agent to change the world, but something in me says I should stay. I don't think I'll be satisfied with scholarships and orphanages and food banks. I can do more. I already did do more."
"That sounds familiar," Steve chuckled, turning on his bike.
Joei climbed onto her own motorcycle and turned the key, "You're not staying for Coulson's funeral?"
Steve sighed, "I haven't decided yet."
"That's a no, then," Joei smiled knowingly, "If you're ever near Willowdale, you should stop by. I'll text you my address. You did learn how to use a cell phone, right?"
"Very funny, Miss Stark. As a matter of fact, I have. Thank you for the cellular. I'll try to stay in touch but for the most part…"
"You want to see the sights." She said and he nodded, "Understandable. Take care of yourself, Steve."
"You, too, Maggie."
Joei smiled softly at the nickname and watched as he drove off without a helmet.
"I suppose super soldiers don't have to worry about brain damage," she muttered to herself as Barton and Romanoff drove away with a nod in her direction, leaving her alone with a perimeter of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Josephine stared at the spot where only minutes before, two alien Norse Gods had travelled through space by Asgardian magic, taking the bright blue cube which had started all this nonsense with them. With one last shake of her head, she shoved her helmet on over her head and drove away, heading back to the Tower in the hopes of seeing Pepper before one of them had to leave again.
May 6th, 2012
Joei pulled on her sunglasses the second she was out of her car, scowling against the intense sunlight.
"In the movies, funerals usually have a lot more rain." said a familiar voice.
"Professor Garner," she smiled softly. "It's nice to see a friendly face."
Dr. Garner walked toward her and extended his arms. She accepted his hug without much hesitance. In all honesty, she hadn't realized how much she'd needed a hug in the past two days.
"How's your leg?"
Joei groaned and let go of him to see that he was chuckling quietly, "My picture is all over the news, isn't it?"
"Yep. There's a particularly good one of you and Captain America standing back to back as you blast an alien with that Iron Glove thing. How's your dad?"
"Dad's not talking to me." Joei sighed, "Iron Glove? Is that what they're calling it? I haven't seen any of the news or released any statements yet. Between sending Loki back to his home planet, filling out paperwork, setting up Damage Control, and..."
"And this?"
"Yeah," Joei sighed, looking out at the cemetery as it began to fill with people. "You got anybody to sit with?"
"No, but don't you?"
Joei shook her head, "Barton and Romanoff are here but they are more than capable of handling themselves."
"Well, come on then, let's find a place to sit."
Agent Coulson had clearly never been short on friends. The space around his grave was surrounded by rows of chairs all around. Joei and Dr. Garner took a seat in the second row at the foot of the casket. The sun made her back itch as it hit the black blazer she thrown over a black slip dress. Around her, everyone was dressed in a similar fashion. Her eyes scanned the crowd and she found Romanoff and Barton, both sporting sunglasses over their eyes and stoic faces. She'd wondered if Barton would wear a suit, but he seemed to have opted for just a black dress shirt and black pants. He certainly didn't look like the type to wear a suit. The two agents caught her eyes and nodded at her. She nodded back and gave them a small, tight smile.
Professor Garner nudged her very lightly, and she looked in the same direction as he was looking. Across the space in the first row was a face she had seen only in an old picture on her professor's desk.
"That's her?" she asked, trying not to stare at the small and serious Asian woman, "She looks...different."
"She is," Dr. Garner said sadly.
"But you still love her. Were she and Phil close?"
"The closest," the professor nodded, "I think Phil is...was...the only person who really knew Melinda, even after that mission and our divorce. He was her greatest friend. I worry for her now. I don't know if she has anyone to share her pain with anymore."
The ceremony started not long after that, and Joei felt the tears flow silently from her face. She tried to push back the image of Agent Coulson slumped against the floor with a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. She tried, like the officiant said, to remember him as he always was. Confident in his own awkwardness, always up for a good pun, and always wearing a look of amusement in his flashing eyes. She made the mistake of looking down at her own hands once as they were standing, and a tiny gasp escaped her lips as she saw them coated in red again. Dr. Garner grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, not letting go until it was time to approach the casket and say their final goodbyes. Even then, he kept the tip of his fingers between her shoulder blades. It felt like without them she would float away and never come back.
The casket was closed, and Joei ran her fingers all the way across it as she walked by and whispered a soft, "Thank you...for everything."
She kissed her fingers and let them fall to the head of the casket.
"Goodbye, old friend," said Dr. Garner, touching the casket with his palm.
They walked away and began to head back toward the cars, but someone caught her arm before they could go too far. Joei jumped and whipped around, ready to grab the wrist of whoever had grabbed her.
"Hey, it's okay," Dr. Garner said.
"Sorry," Joei shook her head, "Still a little on edge."
"A natural response," a smooth voice answered.
"Melinda," Dr. Garner said tightly.
The small woman paid him no mind. She looked instead at Josephine with calculating eyes, "Was he in pain?"
Joei almost flinched at how detached the woman sounded.
"Melinda," Dr. Garner repeated, this time as a warning.
Joei shook her head at her professor, letting him know it was fine. Her voice didn't seem to get the memo, breaking and trembling as she spoke, "No I...I don't think so he...he was...I mean I think he was in...in shock. I don't..."
Images of red hands and red walls and empty eyes filled her vision again and she felt the world spin a little. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality, albeit slowly. She was crying again.
"Melinda, you should go," Dr. Garner said quietly, "She's not like you and Phil. She doesn't know how to do this yet."
"I'm fine," Joei all but whimpered.
With a slight nod, Dr. Garner's ex-wife was gone.
"Come on. You shouldn't be driving right now. We can come back later for your car."
They ended up at a practically empty tea bar, sitting in a corner with no windows.
"So what now?" asked Dr. Garner, "Am I allowed to ask that or is that classified?"
Joei shrugged, "Well Dad's not talking to me, like I said. He's not happy that I don't want to leave S.H.I.E.L.D and that I lied to him for so long. And Mom is trying to mediate between the two of us while running the company and having to deal with that fact that she was stranded on an airplane watching everything go down on a TV screen."
"Sounds complicated."
"Please don't psychoanalyze me right now, I'm just trying to talk."
"Not making any promises. What about the Captain?"
"What about him?"
"Well, you said before that you weren't sure where you stood with him. What about now?"
"I am now less sure. We didn't really get along until we were in the middle of a fight. And then when we saw Loki and Thor off we talked a little, mostly jokes and small talk. He's going to explore the country on his motorcycle. I gave him a debit card and cellphone and Fury told him to take a few months off, so I don't know when I'll see him again. I don't know if he still feels whatever it was he felt back then at the Retreat. And I don't think I feel the same way I did back then either."
"Which was?"
"I have no idea. I mean, I didn't feel the same way he did back then. But now...I don't know. I was a little hurt when he said we should act like nothing ever happened. But I'm not sure if I was hurt because I wanted to continue where we left off or if it was because he bruised my ego. There's also the fact that I have a boyfriend. Well, I think I do...I'm not sure how angry he was about the whole secret agent thing. And these past few days on the Hellicarrier...Steve was like a whole other person. I'm not sure which version of him is the real one."
"Well we all have different versions of ourselves. You're not the same person to the press as you are to your family."
"I know but...I guess I just realized how much we don't really know each other. It probably didn't help that he and my dad insulted each other at every chance they got. I had high hopes for them meeting...maybe a little too high."
"Well I'm sure there are plenty of unresolved issues there. But for now, I think you should put him out of your mind. If he's gone for a couple of months, try to figure out all the other things you've got on your plate. Have you thought about taking the rest of the semester off?"
"During finals week?" Joei laughed, "I'm not insane. Besides, I think I've taken enough time off for now. I'm getting back to school tomorrow. It'll be nice to have some semblance of normalcy in my life. And have a good excuse to ignore the press."
"After the last couple of days I doubt that any of your professors won't give you an extension on your final projects or let you take exams at a later date."
"Clearly you haven't met my math teacher." Joei laughed.
May 7, 2012
Joei stood in the middle of her room in her apartment in Willowdale, staring down at her cellphone. Alex had called her in the middle of the battle. Obviously she hadn't answered, but he hadn't called her again since then.
Before she could make up her mind, she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. She shoved her cellphone back in her pocket and went downstairs.
"Agent Barton," she smiled when she saw her S.O. dusting his sneakers off on their welcome mat before coming inside. Caitlin closed the door behind him and nodded at Joei before going back upstairs.
"Hey. You look better than you did yesterday." said Barton, adjusting the strap of the messenger bag he was carrying. He looked better, too, and much more relaxed than she'd ever seen him in a gray t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
Joei shrugged, "Sorry I didn't stick around."
"I heard Agent May caught up to you."
"Yes, yes she did." said Joei, motioning for the man to have a seat on the couch, "She's scary."
"I know."
"Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?"
"I'm fine," he said, opening the bag and taking out a file, "Just passing through to leave you this."
"What's this?"
"My shrink's analysis. I'm on the bench for a few months, scheduled checkups once a month. But he did conclude that I'm not a danger to anyone. I'm not sure why Fury wants me to bring it to you, though. I'm not an actual Avenger."
"Actually..."
"What did you do?" he asked warily.
"Hold tight for a second," she laughed, running up the stairs to the safe behind a painting on the wall and finding the file she was looking for. She ran back down the stairs and handed him the paper, "I might have made an analysis of my own. So, if you would accept, I would like to formally welcome you into the Avengers."
"I don't have any superpowers, kid." he shook his head.
"Neither do I. Neither does my dad."
"But he has a suit."
"And you have a bow and arrow and the best eye that S.H.I.E.L.D has ever seen. I'll tell you what...take the report, read it, and you can give me an answer once Fury takes you off the bench. If it helps, Natasha said she was in."
"She did?"
"Yep. And I know you can't go more than a few missions without her so...think about it. The offer will still be there when you get back."
"Mrs. Barton isn't going to like this."
Joei felt her jaw drop, "Was that a confession? Do you have a wife?"
"Sorry, kid," he laughed, "Just a joke."
Joei rolled her eyes and slumped back into the couch cushions, "Next you're going to tell me you don't live on a farm."
Barton laughed and stood up, "I should get going before it gets later. My safe house is a little far off."
"How far?" Joei asked cheekily, standing with him.
Barton laughed again, "You'll never get it out of me."
"Agent Barton, I think that is the first time I've ever seen you laugh this much."
"Yeah, well," he took on a fake accent, "Gettin' back to dem ole' chickens and hogs really gets me in all sorts a ways, darlin'."
"Oh God," Joei cringed, "Nope. No more farm jokes. That was terrible."
"Hey, you asked for it," he chuckled, reaching into his pocket, "I want you to take this."
Joei looked down at the small metal box, opening it to reveal a pretty ring shaped like an arrow that wrapped around the wearer's finger.
"It's a homing beacon." he explained, "The arrow is supposed to face up, but if you turn it around to face your palm and fold your index finger down on it for a couple seconds, it will activate, and I can find you if you're ever in trouble. Fury may have benched me, but if you need me, I'll be there."
"This is...really nice, Barton. Thank you."
"We look out for our own."
"Yes, we do." she nodded, putting the ring onto her right index finger. "Take care of yourself, Barton. Don't get too lonely wherever you're going, and don't give your therapist too much trouble."
"I won't." he said, walking toward the front door, "Take care of yourself while I'm gone. I don't want Iron Man to show up at my door and knock me out because I didn't take care of his kid."
Joei laughed as she ushered him out the door. She stood in the entry way to the apartment for a few seconds, before Caitlin came down the stairs again.
"Have you called Alex yet?"
"Nope," Joei sighed, flipping over the back of the couch so she landed on her back over the cushions, "I have no idea how to even start."
"Well we do have class in an hour, so you might want to start soon."
"Or I could hold it off until after class."
"You mean like how you've been holding it off for the past three days?"
Joei turned over, shoving her face into the couch cushions and groaning loudly into them.
"Joei, just press the call button and talk to him. The worst thing that could happen is he doesn't answer."
"That's not exactly comforting." was Joei's muffled reply.
"Fine. I'm calling him for you."
Joei's head shot up to look at her friend, who was already looking for the contact on her phone, making space between the two of them.
"Caitlin! No!"
"Caitlin yes!" the blonde responded with a laugh, holding the phone to her ear. "It's ringing."
Joei jumped after her best friend, chasing her into the kitchen, "Hang up right now!"
"Hey, Alex? It's Caitlin. Joei wants to talk to you."
"What?" Joei whispered, "No. No don't give me the phone I do not-"
Caitlin shoved the phone into her hand and ran back up the stairs. Joei took a deep breath and held the cell phone to her ear.
"Um, hey," she started shakily.
"Hey."
His voice sounded softer than she thought it would.
"So... I'm sorry I haven't called you back."
"Figured you were busy," he said, this time sounding more defensive, "Fixing the city and all that."
"Yeah I... well that's not exactly what I've been doing but..." Joei ran a hand through her hair in frustration, "Listen, are you busy right now?"
"Not really."
"Do you...want to come over? To the apartment. And I can tell you what happened while I was gone, and we can just talk."
"Don't you have class?"
"I think watching one of my friends die while I held their chest qualifies as justifiable absence. If not, then watching my dad fly a nuke into space might. Or, you know, saving the world from an alien invasion."
The other side was silent, and she figured Alex was trying to process what she had just said. Finally, he answered, "I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Okay. I'll be here."
May 8th, 2012
Joei woke but didn't open her eyes, groaning against the pain that seemed to bloom from nowhere in her head. She buried her face deeper into the pillow before realizing it wasn't a pillow at all.
Taking a deep inhale of the comforting fresh smell of Alex's cologne, she blinked her eyes open and looked up into his face.
"Good morning," he whispered blearily.
"Hi." she whispered back.
They were curled up in her bed, her head resting on his chest as he propped himself up with three pillows. They both still wore the same clothes from yesterday.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Like I spilled my guts to you and then cried myself to sleep," she mumbled against his shirt before rolling over onto her back. "Sorry I fell asleep on you."
"I'm not complaining," he smiled, stretching his arms, "Although maybe next time we could do this in pajamas instead of jeans."
"Agreed," she nodded, before a small smirk fell on her lips, "Next time, huh?"
He answered with a laugh and a sleepy kiss on her forehead, "Only if you want."
"Well it beats sleeping alone." she sat up, stretching her arms above her head and yawning, "Thank you. For staying last night."
"I wasn't going to just leave you here." he answered, sitting up beside her and resting his forehead on the side of her head, "You're my girlfriend. You were in a lot of pain and you needed somebody. I'm supposed to be that somebody who's always there for you. And... I love you."
Joei's breath caught in her throat, "You've never said that before."
"But I've thought it a few times. I just...it never felt like the right time to say it."
"Can I say something?"
"Yeah."
"I've thought it a few times, too," Joei smiled softly.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Alex put and arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him again.
"We have class in forty minutes," Joei pointed out, looking at the clock.
"Can we skip?"
"It's math."
Alex groaned and let Josephine go, rolling off the bed and to his feet, "I'm showering first, then."
"Hey! It's my bathroom!" Joei yelled, throwing a pillow at him as he walked away with a laugh.