Team Spangles; Reunited
Steve Rogers sat down onto a kitchen stool, eating a bowl of pasta, which was surprisingly delicious, that he had managed to make. Cooking seemed so much harder to him, in the modern times. There were so many buttons and admittingly complicated procedures involved in creating a simple meal. But, somehow, he had coped.
Just as he had finished his meal, he heard someone knock on the front door of his apartment. His walked over to the door with furrowed eyebrows, wondering if someone had perhaps gotten the wrong apartment. Steve pulled the door open to reveal a very familiar figure.
"Director Fury," the super-solider acknowledged.
"Captain," Fury greeted him with a nod.
Steve tilted his body slightly and gestured, with his arm, into the interior of the apartment, signalling that the other man could enter.
Nick Fury stalked inside and stopped once he reached the living room, looking around in, what appeared to be, approval.
"I like what you've done with the place."
Steve couldn't help but mentally disagree. Though it was clean and had several items of furniture, there wasn't anything to indicate towards the person living there. No personal items or added colour. No personality.
So he just nodded at Fury's statement, choosing not to say anything extra.
"I've got a mission for you."
Steve laughed quietly, channeling his inner-Daphne. "Well, you're certainly not beating around the bush."
The Director smiled tightly. "You've spent too much time with Agent Collins."
Steve crossed his arms but didn't attempt to correct the man. For some reason, Fury's comment irritated him. "I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing," he replied, defending the mutant woman. "Anyway, what's the mission?"
He handed the soldier a picture from his coat pocket. It showed a thin man with circular spectacles and short greying hair. "This is Luis Eichenberg. We have received Intel that he is attempting to create an army of sorts. We'll need to bring you in to headquarters to debrief you. You'll be working with one of our agents."
"Which agent?"
The Director seemed to smirk at the question. "You'll find out soon enough."
The Captain nodded once, though slightly reluctant considering he didn't know who he was working with. "Okay, when do I leave?"
"A car's outside already. You'll have an opportunity to gather the things you need, once you're debriefed," Fury told him before turning on his heel and striding out.
"What should I expect from the mission, sir?" He called out after the retreating man.
Nick halted and swiveled his head back towards Steve, with - what appeared to be - an amused smirk. "The unexpected," he answered mysteriously.
"Why do I get the feeling that you've said that before?"
"Because I have."
And then the Director was gone from the apartment.
Steve glanced out the window to see that there was, indeed, a standard SHIELD SUV outside. Sighing heavily, he grabbed his brown, leather jacket, put on his shoes and left his apartment. He made sure that the door was locked before going down several flights of stairs and outside of the apartment complex.
He climbed into the vehicle, buckling his seatbelt up - which wasn't really necessary for him, a car crash wouldn't kill him with his enhanced strength and healing factor.
The SHIELD agent said nothing as he started the car and drove through the busy streets of New York.
Steve pondered on what he might come across during the mission. Why would someone create an army? And an army of what? Humans? Super-soliders? Mutants?
His mind soon traveled towards the agent that he would be working with him. Who was he? Or her? Someone he already knew? That would probably explain that suspicious look on Fury's face.
He continued with his internal monologue, for the remainder of the journey, until they reached a large structure that was the SHIELD headquarters. Steve got outside of the car, took a deep breath and walked to the entrance of the facility.
》》》》》》
SHIELD headquarters. Debriefing room. Day. Daphne
"Have you ever... kissed a dog?"
"What? Please tell me why anyone would do that?" Maria Hill looked thoroughly annoyed and slightly disgusted at the inquiry, while Natasha and Clint just held expressions of amusement, though the redheaded assassin covered hers up better.
Daphne smirked, cheering mentally. Irritating Agent Hill was fast becoming her favourite pastime. It was one of the only things that was even remotely entertaining. So why pass up the opportunity?
"It was just a question. God, no need to get your knickers in a twist."
Director Fury 'oh so' conveniently decided to step into the room at that point, quickly earning silence and stiff postures from Hill and the two assassins. Daphne being Daphne, however, didn't think it necessary to give him that courtesy.
"Ah, Nicky! How've you been, mi amigo?"
She was rewarded with Fury's one-eyed devil stare. So generous...
"Well, I'm assuming you have a plethora of free time, since you decided to drag me into this lovely little room of yours." Remember to note the very heavy sarcasm there.
"You're an agent of SHIELD," Nick reminded her, unamused.
Daphne leveled her expression to one of frustration. "Then tell me the mission you brought me here for. Or do you expect me to read your mind?" She gave him a look of feigned sadness. "Sorry to disappoint, but I do not have Jedi mind powers."
"Patience is a virtue," Fury told her in a calm voice.
"Yes, and it's also something I lack." She stood up then, turning up her sass mode. "So I bid you adieu and may the force be with you. Hey, that rhymed!" She chuckled at her revelation.
"Sit down, Agent Collins."
She blinked at the Director in disbelief before laughing loudly. "What do you think I've been doing for the past..." She pulled out her phone to check the time. "Two hours?"
"Annoying the agents?"
Daphne raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, well that's not hard. You need to train them better in the resistance area. That needs work."
Clint smothered a snort of laughter which earned him a withering look from Hill.
"Not to mention, I've been in my suit for the whole time! Do you have any idea how hard it is to squeeze into the skin-tight suits? How much time and effort it takes? No, you don't. What was going through your head at the time? 'Oh let's get Daphne to get dressed into her suit and arm herself with hundreds of weapons-"
"It's not quite hundreds, Daph," Clint interjected.
"Shut it, Katniss! I'm ranting. Where was I? Oh yes, 'with hundreds of weapons and make her wait for two hours for fun'? You called me at ten twenty-three, in the morning, by the way. That's a despicable time to call someone. I could've been asleep, you know. You're lucky I woke up early. Anyway, it's now about half-past twelve. That's eating time! Do you realise that I could die right now?"
Hill coughed something that sounded like 'overreaction' which made the mutant woman glower towards her. I'll show her overreaction. Stupid little-
Daphne opened her mouth to make some sarcastic remark, or maybe a string of profanities, when she was rudely interrupted - again - by Clint. Maybe it was for the best. She wasn't sure what was about to come out of her mouth, but she could guarantee that it wouldn't be pleasant.
"Why didn't you just teleport out?"
She paused in her reply, cursing herself for not thinking of that. She quickly scanned her brain for an excuse, not wanting the agents to know that she forgot about her own abilities.
"It's called 'being polite'. Maybe you've heard of it?" She directed the question towards Fury. "Anyway, it would probably knock me out since my energy is already too low. I need sustenance!"
Director Fury rolled his eyes - well, eye - at her dramatic complaints and Daphne just had the thought that she could easily become an actress, if she wanted.
Before anyone could break the awkward - albeit short - silence, there was a tentative knock at the door and everybody span towards the sound.
"Enter," Fury barked out.
Geez, someone's got a stick up his ass.
A young, blonde male agent slowly opened the door. He tried to look firm and steady, but the slight tremble of his mouth and the constant flicker of his eyes, betrayed his fear. Whether he was afraid of Fury, the three fearsome agents or the 'dangerous' mutant, Daphne wasn't sure.
"Director, Captain's here."
The female mutant perked up at the word 'Captain', suddenly showing an intense amount of concentration.
"Let him in."
The male agent stepped aside, allowing the 'legendary' Captain America through the door. He was wearing a normal, blue T-shirt with jeans and a brown leather jacket. But let's be honest, he could be wearing a bin bag and still look hot. Normally, Daphne would reprimand herself for those thoughts but she couldn't think of a suitable reason why she should. No shame, no shame.
She practically squealed at the sight of her good friend and ran towards him, tackling the soldier in a tight hug. "Stevie! Oh, thank god. I've missed you! And you've come to save me! My knight in spangly armour!" She rambled into his chest, feeling his arms circle her body to return the embrace.
Daphne could feel Steve's chest rumble as he chuckled fondly. "I don't know about that."
She pulled back with an expression of mock hurt. "How dare you. Don't ruin my hopes and dreams."
He just grinned at her, making her finally release the laugh she was holding in.
"It's good to see you, Daph," he told her in a soft voice, ruffling her hair affectionately.
"Team Spangles are together again!" She cheered happily.
They heard a sharp exhale and turned their attention to the Director. "If you're finished," Fury sneered at them.
They both turned back towards Fury, Hill, Natasha and Clint. Steve gave the two assassins a nod of greeting, which they returned, before going into 'Captain America' mode. The pair both sat down at the long conference table, Steve to the right of Daphne, and looked up at Fury to continue.
The Director brought up a picture, on the monitor in front of them, of a thin, grey-haired man with spectacles. She started to fumble with the chain around her neck. A pit formed in Daphne's stomach when she saw the picture, and was dragged down into the depths of memory lane.
》》Seventeen years earlier
A seven year old Daphne was sat on the family sofa, drawing a picture of the forest that was, for all intents and purposes, her back-garden. Their cabin-style, two-storey house was surrounded by thick patches of trees which made the perfect scene for the little mutant to draw.
Since Daphne had been practically isolated from the outside world, she had been given all the free time in the world to build up her artistic skills. Of course, she was home-schooled as well though. Her parents wouldn't leave her uneducated.
She was adding tone to the trees when she heard voices. She immediately recognised the first two as her parents' but the third was unknown to her. She could hear that the person was a male and had a strong accent that was unfamiliar to her.
She padded down to where she could hear the voices coming from, poking her head round the corner of the corridor she was in.
Her parents and the mystery man were inside the kitchen. Her mum looked a mixture of worried and angry, and she couldn't see her father's face as his back was to her. The unknown man was thin and had brown hair with quite pretty hazel eyes. He had an expression of hope on his face.
"Please," the man was saying. "She could help us so much."
Her mother shook her head with her arms crossed tightly. "She's a child, not a weapon at your disposal."
"But she's incredibly powerful, as you've witnessed. Especially for her age."
"Luis," her father began. "Our daughter is not for sale. Please try to understand that."
They were talking about her? Why? The man, Luis, had mentioned her being powerful. So, were they talking about her weird abilities?
"Can I at least speak to her? I would very much like to meet her."
Daphne's parents exchanged glances before nodding reluctantly, starting to walk towards the direction that they thought their daughter was in.
The small mutant's eyes widened and she quickly ran back to where she was originally, picking up her sketch pad and throwing herself back onto the sofa, pretending to draw.
The three adults made their way into the living room and Daphne looked up at them expectantly. Luis crouched down in front of her with a look of tenderness and... awe?
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Daphne." He smiled at her. "My name's Luis."
She tilted her head to the side, trying to decipher the man in front of her. "Hello," she greeted timidly.
Luis grinned at her. "You're a very special girl, I understand. Hopefully, when you're older, you'd like to help me."
"Help with what?" She asked, confused, noticing the worried looks exchanged by her parents. Then she remembered her mothers words 'not a weapon'.
"Well, there are other people out there who are like you. They're also special like you, like me."
"You can do stuff too?"
He nodded softly. He held his palm us towards the small girl, making sure she was concentrating on his hand. She watched in amazement as his hand projected a bright light.
"I can manipulate and project light," he explained as he allowed the light to travel up his arm.
Daphne seemed entranced by the light, mostly relieved that there were other people like her. "It's so pretty," she whispered in wonder.
"Nowhere near as beautiful as what you can do, my dear."
She glanced up to his face when the light disappeared, waiting for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Instead, he stood up and with a soft 'goodbye' to Daphne and a few quick words with her parents, he left.
The young girl stayed sitting on the sofa, looking at her own hands now, pondering on the man's strange words.
》》Present day
"Luis," Daphne whispered, not believing her eyes.
Everyone in the room stopped to stare at her then. Fury and Hill seemed suspicious, Clint was shocked, Natasha was expressionless to the untrained eye, but Daph could see the surprise, and Steve was confused.
She cleared her throat, averting her eyes from their probing gazes, especially Steve's.
Fury broke the uncomfortable lapse. "This is Luis Eichenberg. Fifty-six years old and born in Germany. It is reported that he had developed extra abilities at a young age and we've received Intel recently that he's been starting a mutant army." He glanced at Daphne as he said that, much to her annoyance. "His abilities are unknown to us, at the moment."
Daphne couldn't believe what she was hearing. A mutant army?
"What is the Intel based off of? This could just be a rumour," she suggested, not wanting to think of the impacts that would arise, should an army of mutants be created.
Fury looked at her with an unreadable expression. "We have a reliable source situated inside of the network."
Daphne raised an eyebrow at the vague answer, deciding to move on to her next question. "Do we know why he's creating an army?" She asked the Director, trying to ignore the - almost - accusing looks he was giving her.
"Apparently he's not too fond on the human race. But maybe you know a bit better, judging by the look on your face."
The female mutant sighed heavily. "I met him once-"
"Why didn't you say anything when it happened?" Hill demanded.
"Oh, maybe because I was seven." She paused with a light exhale. "He was talking to my parents about wanting me to help him with something; he wouldn't explain what. Judging by his desperation, I assumed it was important."
"Do you know of his mutant power?" Natasha asked her.
"He has the ability to manipulate and project light energy," she answered honestly.
"Doesn't sound too dangerous," Clint scoffed.
Daphne chuckled, though it had an edge to it. "Don't be fooled by how it sounds. He could easily blind you with excessive amounts of light. And then what use are you?"
Fury intervened before any more could be said. "We don't know how vast his network is, so we want you two to find out and then dismantle it," he told Daphne and Steve.
Steve looked affronted at this information while the mutant woman burst out laughing. "You want us to destroy an extensive mutant army network? Just us two?"
"I believe you're both capable," Nick told them.
"And I appreciate the compliment, but, like you just said, we don't know how large it is. I don't know if you know this, but a lot of mutants resent humans for how they have been treated. That's going to result in a huge scale for us to work with. They probably have networks within networks."
"This is a serious threat."
"If it's so serious, then why not call in all of the Avengers. Or get more of your agents involved."
Agent Hill, Natasha, Clint and Steve were giving her an obvious look that roughly meant 'Fury's going to kill you'.
"It's not a worldwide problem yet. And we have to remain inconspicuous. Sending in dozens of SHIELD agents would raise suspicion."
"And sending two known Avengers isn't at all 'suspicious'?" She asked sarcastically.
"You'll be undercover."
She scoffed. "That makes it so much better, does it?"
"You're a mutant with the ability to change illusions into reality. You can disguise yourself and Rogers."
Daphne stared at the SHIELD Director with disbelieving eyes. "I can't hold two majorly powerful disguises for long," she told him.
"You'll only have to hold them whenever you're with a mutant of the network."
"And if that's for a whole day?"
"Then make an excuse to leave. It shouldn't be too much of a problem for you."
"That's a shitty explanation and you know it," she spat at him.
"Well, that's the only one you're getting," he replied with finality, speaking with just as much amount of venom.
"No, you're not listening to me. This is reckless!" She yelled at the stubborn director, gesturing wildly as she spoke.
"Recklessness is necessary when dealing with forces larger than us!" He retorted harshly.
They both glared at eachother in a way that would've made a normal person cry. The other occupants of the room even looked uncomfortable at the argument between the director and the mutant.
Steve cleared his throat, seeming to try and bring the subject back to the mission.
Agent Hill picked up and where Fury last left off. "Eichenberg was last seen in Moscow, Russia. That's where you'll be going."
"A plane will be taking off in an hour and a half. A SHIELD vehicle will take you to the airport once you're ready. Go back home and pack warm, the winters can be quite brutal. Remember your weapons. Oh, and SHIELD also has a top hotel suite ready for you two, so you don't have to worry about accommodation," Natasha added.
Daphne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Who are we going under as?"
"You'll be going as husband and wife. Say hello to Lucas and Lilia Ross, multi-billionaire mutants with an interest in what Eichenberg is trying to achieve." Clint explained as he dropped two files onto the table in front of the pair. "Inside is everything you'll need. Information for your cover story, wedding rings, and all that jazz."
Daphne noticed that Steve had pulled out the passport that was inside of his file, and saw him becoming thoroughly confused when he saw that the picture was of someone who looked nothing like himself.
"That's who we're going undercover as, and that's also why we need illusions," she clarified, giving him a small smile which he returned.
"Uh, one problem though," the super-solider began in concern. "I'm not a mutant."
"With your enhanced physical aspects and senses, you could pass as one," Agent Hill told him with a blank expression.
Steve and Daphne exchanged glances, nodding in a mutual agreement of understanding.
"There's a Gala you'll be attending once you're settled in," Natasha told them, handing them another file which contained information about the SHIELD asset. "You'll meet the contact there, where he'll give you any information you may need. Try to schmooze your way into their good books - it would be advantageous for you both."
"Anything else?" Captain questioned the agents.
"Good luck," Fury told them.
The two stood up from their seats with a nod to their superiors, and left the room, letting the door close behind them. They both looked at eachother and let out small smiles before Daphne decided to break the tension.
"See? I always knew we had a connection," she joked, nudging his arm with her own.
He grinned down at her, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "It's fate, I guess," he joined it, chuckling.
"We should get ready. See you in a bit," she told him, giving him a side hug which he quickly returned.
They both left SHIELD's headquarters to see two SUVs outside. Steve went into one while Daphne went into the other, and they each went back to their apartments to pack for the mission.
Well, at least I can say that I'm married to Cap, Daphne thought and then proceeded to laugh out loud, causing the agent, driving, to look back at her oddly.
End of chapter. I'm so so so so sorry, I promised action in this update but it ended up too long. Their mission will start in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed. Thank you to all who have reviewed, followed or favourited either me or the story. You're all awesome!
Also I'm going to start replying to reviews starting with the next chapter. I started a while ago but stopped because... well, I have no excuse.
Love you guys
-Jess xo