Note: I don't own anything except Jo and the plot (which will follow the Avengers movie to a point)...I took some dialogue straight out of the movie because it fit the scene so don't kill me over it...Enjoy!
When I got home, Steve was already in the kitchen. He had raided my fridge and made a huge sandwich. I had to chuckle at him since I knew his metabolism was very high but we had barely eaten that pizza an hour ago. His eyebrow raised when he saw the Army duffle bag stuffed full.
"I got a bit of everything. Those khakis you like to wear and jeans, T-shirts, button ups, some flannel shirts, socks, underwear, and a couple pair of shoes. I kept it as close to what you used to wear in the '40s but some of the T-shirts are updated with current bands or things. I'll tell you all about them so you know what you're talking about when someone asks. I also picked up some books on current topics."
"Thanks, Jo. I hope you didn't go out of your way to get the clothes."
"Not at all. I had to send a girl into the back to check on sizes but that was the only issue. I'll drop the bag off in your room and you can unpack and relax. We don't have to be at S.H.I.E.L.D until tomorrow morning. I've got some paperwork to do in the office. Since you were working for the S.S.R when you disappeared and have reappeared, you are entitled to back wages. I need to figure out inflation and the total amount of wages they owe you.
"Unless you want to sit down and talk. I don't want to overcrowd you after just waking up though."
"Go and do your paperwork. I'll be in my room reading those books you got me."
"You sure? I feel like I'm abandoning you."
"Don't be, Josephine. You have spent 70-ish years looking for me so it's going to be an adjustment having me back. I was alone and frozen so it's going to be an adjustment for me too. Go do your paperwork, I'll read, and we'll build up to where we were before I disappeared."
I hugged Steve and kissed his cheek. Heading into the office, I booted up the computer and sat down. I couldn't believe that Steve was back. I felt so warm but the pressure was still around my heart. If the cold was from Steve being frozen, could the squeezing pressure be from Bucky?
Sitting back in the chair, I closed my eyes and took stock of myself. I had the pressure around my heart but I was feeling something else now. My left arm felt odd. I couldn't put it into words except that it felt heavy, tingly, cold, and just very weird. Taking a breath, I focused on pushing these new feelings back so I could continue to function normally.
Pulling up a simple inflation calculator on the Internet, I learned that a single American dollar in 1945 could buy what roughly $12 buys today. Not factoring in interest, Steve's annual wage of $3,300 in 1945 equals about $41,000 today. That would have changed each year so rather than doing all that math, I estimated that S.H.I.E.L.D owed him about a million dollars. More if I threatened them with hazard pay. I'm sure they would get some accountant grunt to do the actual math and then pay the million since it's a low ball figure.
"Is there a gym around here? I can't really sit still," Steve said, popping his head into the office.
"There's one on the corner, an old boxing gym that's still open. We could hang a punching bag here if you want."
"I'll go check out the gym first. Want to come with me? Show me around the neighbourhood."
We stopped in at the gym first and Steve signed up. The owner and Steve talked boxing and stuff while I waited. Afterwards, I took him around the neighbourhood and we compared it today to what it was like in the '40s.
"Fury wants to debrief you in the morning so we'll have to head in for 0800. Fury's a morning person and I mean morning person. He tried to have me meet him at 0700 once because his reasoning is if he's up at the crack of dawn, every S.H.I.E.L.D employee should be. I kinda told him where he could stuff it."
"Stuff it?"
"It means I said no and for him to never recommend a meeting that early again."
We finished up and Steve headed back to the gym. He would be back later after a few rounds. I offered to spar with him but, naturally, he couldn't spar with a girl. I headed back to the apartment to relax.
The meeting in the morning went quickly; it was the follow ups in Medical that took forever. They wanted a baseline reading of what Steve could do and needless to say, he can do a lot. I ended up in the shooting range to pass the time. Over the years, my marksmanship has drastically improved and I kept a target for every time I practised.
"Jo, I need a partner," Natasha Romanoff said, as she strolled into the armoury.
I was handing in the weapon and collecting my target when she entered. Not often did Natasha ask for a sparring partner but each time I always agreed, just to have my ass handed to me. It was the only way I was going to learn any new moves.
A couple hours later, Steve found us in the S.H.I.E.L.D gym beating the shit out of each other. Natasha tried a roundhouse and I was able to duck out of the way at the last second. I attempted a left hook and she blocked. My brother stood on the edge of the mats and watched us. We ducked, weaved, and punched for another 10minutes before calling it quits.
"You've gotten better," the Black Widow said.
"I still see my martial arts instructor twice a week."
"Rumour is that isn't the only thing you see him for."
She was right. After those lessons, we usually end up in bed together. Something with the endorphins and the fact my instructor looks like a God. His body isn't too muscular, more on the leaner side, but you know his strikes could be deadly. He knows how to move his body through the moves and to watch those lithe muscles ripple is quite arousing.
"Rumours aren't always right. Ready to go, Steve?"
Over the last couple of months, Steve has gotten into a routine of jogging around Brooklyn, going to the gym, jogging around Brooklyn, and going to the gym. He wasn't meant to sit around and wait but Fury wouldn't clear him for any missions. The only time he spent relaxing was when he's catching up on the last 70years. I had made a small list of things for him to learn about, movies to watch, and some music to listen to. I left out bands like Marilyn Manson and Skrillex but had him listening to AC/DC, Hendrix, and Johnny Cash among others.
I had also been benched from missions for the last little while, probably because of the slap I gave Fury. I didn't mind since I had other things to work on. I was working on a paper for an Ancient Civilization class when my cell rang. The ringtone, a death march, signified Fury so I let it ring a few times before answering.
"You're needed for a mission."
"Well, hello to you too."
"I need you in Calcutta. You need to convince Dr. Banner to come back with you. The information is on the jet. You leave in an hour."
"Dr. Banner? Haven't seen my old professor since he went MIA. Sure, why not?"
"Go armed," he warned before hanging up.
Going to my wall safe, I punched in the code and removed my Sig Sauer gun. I checked the barrel, the clip, and grabbed an extra clip for more ammunition. I didn't know why Fury said to go armed when it's just Dr. Banner but it never hurt to have a weapon with you. True, I always carried a knife but a gun can be a better choice at times.
Leaving a note for Steve, I left the apartment and headed to the airfield. Even in the jet, the trip to Calcutta was going to take a few hours so I brought along my laptop to finish off my paper if time permitted. Unfortunately, time didn't permit because I studied the info package Fury left concerning the Tesseract. He had a file on Dr. Banner but I already knew what it would say.
Touching down in the city, I blended in to watch Dr. Banner for half a day. He was weary about where he went and always looked over his shoulder. I couldn't just walk up to him but I could have him come to me. With speaking to a local in the poverty stricken community, I learned there was an outbreak of a disease that caused people to be bed ridden and sick with a fever.
The agents who came with me cleared out a small shack for me to use for the meeting. I paid a little girl to grab the American doctor and bring him here. It wasn't the best way to ask for his help but I'm sure he would have run if I had just approached him in the street.
"Hey, little girl," he whispered, coming into the shack.
I watched as she jumped out of a window and he looked stumped as to what was happening.
"Should have gotten paid up front, Banner," he mumbled to himself.
"Hello, Dr. Banner."
I walked out of the shadows with my hands empty and raised.
"Ms. Rogers? What's going on?"
"I'll explain for the rouse if you could sit for a second."
"Who are you here for? General Ross?"
"Who?" I asked. "I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D and they are requesting your help. Your expertise in gamma radiation is needed, Doctor, to literally save the world."
"Why you?"
"Because I work for S.H.I.E.L.D and was available? Because I was your student and they thought you would trust me easier? At least it's me and not another agent who would have bagged and tagged you by now."
"The Big Guy wouldn't allow that."
"What Big Guy?" I asked.
Dr. Banner stared at me in surprise.
"They brought you in and didn't tell you? What if the Big Guy killed you?"
"Whoever this Big Guy is can't kill me. I'll let you in on a secret, Dr. Banner. I can't be killed. I've been like this since about 1943. Now, I don't care about the Big Guy. I just need that big giant brain of yours. This Tesseract has enough power to wipe the human race off the face of the Earth. We're trying to stop it from happening."
I slid over the small computer tablet to Dr. Banner and let him scan through the documents.
"It emits a low level gamma signature that is too weak for us to trace. No one knows gamma radiation more than you and I know that's true since I sat through your lectures."
"I always wondered why you were in my class."
"Science credits. I wanted to take something different and I saw you walking across campus and someone mentioned your course. So I signed up."
It didn't take long before he was agreeing to come with me. I escorted him out of the shack and he noticed the gun tucked into the back of my jeans.
"Weren't planning on using that on me, were you?" he chuckled dryly.
"Fury said to come armed so I came armed but I wouldn't have shot you, Dr. Banner. I think I could have taken you down hand to hand if you attacked."
"They really didn't tell you."
"Your file is in the jet but I know about your academic achievements and all that. I don't think there's anything else I need to know when you're helping us find the Tesseract."
Dr. Banner made me read through the file on the way back to the States. I scanned the documents on his exposure to gamma radiation and the result because of it.
"Huh? That's you? Shitty. Sorry to hear that but I'm more concerned about the cube. I lost my brother because of it 70years ago and will not lose him again for another 70. We need to find this thing and then hide it away."
We had to transfer to a helicopter after touching down with the jet. Where we were going, the jet wouldn't really be able to land. It was a short trip but I could hear Dr. Banner whispering under his breath. The helicopter landed on the Helicarrier and we disembarked. I noticed Steve talking to Natasha near the side.
"Dr. Banner," Steve called, offering the man his hand.
"Oh, yeah. Hi."
"They told me you'd be coming. No one can say no to Jo. Word is you can find the cube."
"Is that the only word on me?"
"The only one that counts."
"You must be related to Ms. Rogers."
"Her older brother actually."
"This must seem strange to you after being frozen for 70years."
"This actually seems familiar."
"Gentlemen, you may wanna step in side for a minute? It's gonna get hard to breathe," Natasha said.
"This a submarine?"
"Oh, that's smart. Put the Big Guy in a submerged pressurized metal container."
"Not quite," I yelled over the noise.
The Helicarrier began lifting out of the water and the giant engines could be seen.
"Oh no. This is much worse," Dr. Banner quipped as we headed inside.