The hideout was impressive. James noticed this immediately. The sun had long since set on the Cartagena coast leaving James at a slight advantage as he left his minijet. It was slightly dark. Not yet pitch black out but for the Super-Soldier it wasn't a problem and he began to analyze where he was.
The word jungle described this island perfectly. Tons of wild trees surrounded by jutted out boulders that must have weighed a couple of tons each. There was a variety of different flora that covered the island which might make you believe that it was impossible to traverse the landscape.
But beside a huge rock formation which included multiple waterfalls James could see a rather primitive bridge, which was just a log that was spanning from one landmass to the next allowing for travel deeper into the island. There was no doubt in his mind that was where Hood was at the moment.
And if he didn't pick up the pace then he'd be gone before he got a chance to catch him. Before he could get deeper into the island James needed to deal with the four men guarding the waterfall entrance.
Taking off in the water the Super-Soldier swam faster than was humanly possible shooting off like a rocket towards the four men.
They were dressed in the exact same gear the Villamos Cartel used for their own men. But James could immediately tell that these men were just a bit different as they noticed him before he made it to land. Something the men employed by Ernesto and Carmelita could never manage.
Spotting the impact he was making in the waves James suddenly found himself getting shot at but this was what he expected.
Despite their reactions to his presence they still couldn't hit the Super-Soldier as he swam deep under the waters making it almost impossible to see him let alone hit him.
As a Super-Soldier he had no problem holding his breath for a few minutes and swam up towards the rock formation until he was right in front of the men who stood at the cliff's edge, unaware that their prey was right under them.
"Think we got him?" The first goon questioned. James could hear them despite the water rushing through his ears.
"Maybe let's just stay on guard." The second man responded evenly. It was a good strategy but it was already too late. James braced himself under the water, briefly curling up like a cannonball before shooting out like a rocket flying out of the water.
To their credit they reacted fairly well. But James was better as he was peppered with bullets he deflected each and everyone with his energy shield. He flipped through the air and briefly landed on the ground, but he wanted to press his advantage.
Using his momentum to his advantage he sprang forward to the first man slamming into him harshly. The force was so great that the man went flying into his friend and James didn't let it end there. Instead as the two men crashed into each other he kicked them once more and they slammed into the other two men, flying through the air until they smacked into a tree, knocking them into a daze.
In just moments he punched each one out cold ensuring they wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. Not even giving himself time to think James continued to push forward, shield in front of him as he began to speed through the jungle's harsh terrain.
It seems I'm making pretty good time, at this pace I'll catch him in no ti-KRAK!
It was only the reflexes of a veteran that allowed James to get his shield up in time, A ginormous fist came seemingly out of nowhere nearly smacking him in his left side if not for his shield.
And even still the shield hadn't proved to be an impenetrable defense. Despite the block he was sent flying and could do nothing to stop himself from smashing into a large boulder, his body managing to create a crater in the thick rock.
That probably broke something. James groaned slowly, opening his eyes only to find another large rock coming straight for him, hoping to sandwich him in between the rocks. There was barely anytime to react and he just avoided getting crushed.
Stumbling out of the way of a rock he found himself being forced to catch a fist. Someone else had been hoping to catch him off guard. Yeah, well I'm not that out of- "GAHHHHHHH!"
James screamed out in pain as the man's palms suddenly released a burst of electricity. The man in front of him grinned wildly, revealing missing teeth within his deranged smile, as he caused the Super-Soldier pain.
It was all James could do to rear his head back and slam it into the electricity based man, forcing him to let go.
As the man's grip faltered James roughly ripped his hands away and jumped backwards, creating some space between him and his opponents. He well and truly didn't have much time but he needed to analyze the situation. Who was he dealing with?
For the former Captain America he figured a glance was all he was going to get. And luckily enough for him a glance was all he was going to need.
As his eyes scanned the terrain he quickly figured out he was fighting two men, who he believed were both natural mutants on Banshee.
The first man he spotted was nearly 8 feet tall, covered in brown fur, His eyes were green with vertical slits like a true apex predator. And yet he looked human enough, underneath that brown fur was light brown skin. He wore baggy black cargo shorts, but no shirt, his chest showing a litter of scars that proved he had been in many fights and came out the victor. From the quick look he had he used, the man was nearly 450 pounds and most of it was muscle.
To call him strong was an understatement. James wagered the man could probably make Torunn work a bit before she got serious. And that was a strength level currently above his own. However that hadn't been what was worrying in regards to this Beast-Man.
Rather it was his speed, and how light he was on his feet. He managed for a moment to catch James off guard, and that meant if he did it once, chances were he could do it again. A couple hits from the Beast-Man would not only be fatal but it'd more than likely stop him from getting to The Hood.
The next man was the one with electricity based abilities. He was dressed in all green. An armored jumpsuit if he could call it that. The padding of the suit almost looked like insulation which made James wonder just how the man's power's functioned.
He was short, around 5'6", Caucasian, had black hair and was scrawny. Sharp features on his face revealed a cunning and feral look. He was out for blood.
James was slightly shocked that it had only been two people. Just two opponents for a brief moment, had him on the ropes.
The moment he stopped analyzing them it seemed the attacks were back on. The electrical villain launched himself back into the air seemingly looking to strike an aerial attack, whereas the beast man sent to boulders flying towards James at rapid speeds once again, before taking off towards the Super-Soldier himself.
Hmph, maybe they were right. Something like this was pretty dangerous to undertake on my own. And without my real shield too. I've cracked a rib or two, and that wound on my abdomen from my last fight definitely reopened. But this isn't enough to stop me…This is not enough to make me crumble!
James made the split second decision to launch himself forward taking off in a dash towards the Beast-Man and the boulder that was soaring through the air. He didn't have time and needed to hit his maneuver perfectly.
Launching himself over the large overstretched hand of the Beast-Man who had taken a large swipe at him with a furious overhand. James soared through the air like an acrobat and met the boulder as it continued to travel towards his prior destination.
It became like a springboard for him as he wasted no time and leapt once more to his target, the electrical man in the air.
He tightened up his body pulling himself close together to avoid a blast of electricity. He dodged again, and again and he saw that with each passing miss the electrical man got angrier and angrier.
He was nearly 10ft away from the man when he began his own attack, turning his energy shield on and hurling it towards a tree that happened to be almost perpendicular to the man in the sky. It slammed into the tree, and the man ignored it as James' having poor aim. It was a bad choice.
It came rearing back towards the man as if it had been James' real vibranium shield, and slammed straight into the man's back pushing him towards the Super-Soldier.
Of course James' momentum was still pushing him forward and so as the electric-man began to fall through the air and James continued to ascend he stuck out an arm and allowed it to slam straight into the man's gut, James could feel the instant the man was knocked out cold. His body went limp almost immediately. James expertly with his one free hand managed to grab onto a nearby tree branch and threw the man's body on top of it, figuring the rather large tree would be a safe spot for the man.
And now there's just one more. Looking down for a second he saw the Beast man was already preparing another attack, a boulder in hand and he looked ready to throw it despite the fact that it would definitely hit his partner as well as the young Avenger.
Unwilling to let that happen James swung himself down from the tree, flying down to meet the Beast-Man once more. The boulder once again came for him but James was prepared this time and with his energy pistol managed to blast it into chunks of rock. It was a dangerous tactic and not without fault as rocks blasted towards him.
He found himself grimacing as a piece of rock hit his forehead, causing blood to gush from his head, another sizable rock slammed into his left forearm, luckily he was offered far more protection with his suit which absorbed much of the contact, but it didn't stop the pain.
Forgetting about that for a moment James reared back his fist as he got in range of the Beast-Man. He wasn't surprised to see that man only grinned and held his arms up in the form of an X, guarding himself from the attack.
It wasn't a bad idea, but it wasn't a good one either James flipped forward in the air gaining some momentum before slamming his foot straight into the man's knee. Despite the man's size James could immediately feel his muscles buckle under the power of the Super-Soldier and he was proud to see it.
The man immediately fell to one knee and attempted to counter attack, swiping at James' chest. He truly was fast as he managed to get three of his claws to cut the front of his costume drawing blood. But it was a price James was willing to pay as he flipped over him and kicked apart a long solid tree branch grabbing it and immediately putting it around the Man's neck, choking him out. James' feet were against the tree as he crouched directly behind the man pulling with all his might on the branch hoping to choke him out.
James knew the man was stronger than him so this would not be enough. But it wasn't all he had, as the man immediately began to pound on James' shoulders attempting to get the young Super-Soldier to let him go James' wrist device released a batch of knockout gas, the same one S.H.I.E.L.D. had used at the Villamos Cartel's place.
The man was strong as for a couple of moments he continued to punch the Super-Soldier, but the boy was prepared to take a beating. After a minute or so of punching at James he began to slow down as the knockout gas took effect, along with the Branch against his neck. The man soon was unconscious and James let him drop to the ground, throwing the branch away and falling to the forest floor himself.
It was a surprisingly tough fight, but James figured that despite the situation he had been through worse. But he would need to end this fast if he didn't want to pass out from blood loss. The good thing was of course the Serum was handling these injuries far better than any normal person could imagine.
Already certain small cuts were healing, depending on how the rest of the day went his ribs would definitely heal by tomorrow as well.
With one wipe of his forehead, he turned on his shield and took off towards the center of the island, his enhanced ears picking up on noise that must have been human. A minute later after traveling nearly two kilometers. His ears picked up the telltale noise of a sniper rifle, before the bullet had even been shot he had dodged out of the way, and pulled out his energy pistol.
The sniper missed and James shot one blast of his gun, knocking the man straight off his perch in the tree, and James simply continued to haul ass towards The Hood.
James was actually pleased as he saw a large clearing, a chasm in the jungle right in front of him, a jump that he estimated was around 35 ft horizontally while he was already nearly 75ft in the air based on the cliffside he was currently running on.
But that wasn't what made him happy. What made him happy was the five goons with guns on the other side of the cliff waiting for him. They began to shoot the moment they saw him but James only expanded his shield and let the bullets fall harmlessly to the ground as he ran to the cliffside.
When it came time to jump he gave one large leap and his powerful legs sent him barreling over the ledge with ease. The men pointed their guns to the sky attempting to shoot him down, but their aim proved to be less than true and soon enough James' descent ended and he landed right beside one of the men and began his own attack, jabbing forward with his shield and sending him to the ground.
He ducked under the butt of another gun and avoided gunfire with his shield, leg sweeping the one on his right to the ground before pulling out his own energy pistol and knocking two more of the men down and out for the count.
Leaping forward from the ground shield first he blocked the gunfire and slammed the man's shooting arm with his knee, sending the gun flying through the air. He then pivoted on his left foot slamming his right foot into the man's skull knocking him out.
There was no time to admire his work as James heard the telltale sounds of a plane engine getting ready for takeoff.
He took off as fast as he could and was genuinely worried as he saw the jet prepare to take off. Eight or so men stood in front of him as the jet sat on a platform around 500 metres behind them. It was a small private plane that had clearly been modified. From a distance he could see a pilot, and two more men in tactical gear on the plane. But at the door of the plane was the man he had been searching for.
In a white button up shirt, brown slacks, and a large red hood holding two mini pistols was The Hood. "You won't get away with this Hood!" James yelled out furiously, but was immediately under fire from the men in front of him.
The young Avenger knew time was ticking and simply ran forward with his shield blocking the gunfire to the best of his ability before leaping up and kicking two of the men in the head. It was all he was willing to spare as he ran towards the airplane.
"IT WAS A GOOD ATTEMPT SOLDIER! BUT I'M AFRAID YOU LOST THIS ONE!" The Hood yelled to James. His laughter rang throughout the forest and James could only grit his teeth as he began to run even faster as the plane began to move.
"I'll NEVER LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" James responded as he dodged a hailstorm of bullets. The plane was going to shoot out of sight so James pulled out his grapple and shot towards the plane latching onto the tailfin.
Almost immediately he was lifted up into the air. He flew behind the plane connected only by his grapple hook, the men on the ground shot at him and nearly all of them missed but despite how fast the plane was taking off James nearly released his grapple as a two bullets hit him, one passing through his right arm, and the lodging itself in his shoulder.
Come on Rogers, shake it off, shake it off! James demanded of himself, he was still hanging to the tailfin when the plane began to ascend and he needed to hurry or else he wouldn't make it.
Pulling out a combat knife with his other hand, James stabbed into the aircraft and began his trek forward. Luckily for James the plane wasn't very large and after a few lunges forward he found himself over top of a window.
The injury riddled hero slammed his knife through the window and then slipped through the tight space himself and just narrowly avoided getting shot by one of the two goons that made it on the plane.
There was almost no time to talk at all as the men engaged in combat. He dodged a wicked haymaker aimed for his head and jabbed the backside of his knife into the man's chest before clocking him on the head with an overhand fist and bended backward to avoid two more bullets this time from The Hood as his other goon landed a kick to James' leg in the confined space.
Despite the force behind the kick James didn't buckle and instead grabbed the Man's leg and flipped him over, making him hit the plane floor roughly before stepping on him, ensuring that for this fight he was finished.
He dodged a couple more bullets from The Hood before he got close enough to smack the gun in his left hand right out his grasp and onto the ground. He tried to fire his other pistol but James quickly smacked it upward, letting it discharge harmlessly.
"This is it Hood. You have no chance at escaping." James spoke matter of factly. And it seemed he was right. The goons on the plane were dispatched rather easily, making James understand that Hood's plan was truly to stall him. He never expected James to get on the plane.
"Heh, I guess I should have expected as much. That's my fault for underestimating Captain America." The Hood laughed derisively.
"So you knew, and yet you still underestimated me." James pointed out cockily. It seemed it wasn't the response the man expected as his eyes crinkled and he let out a laugh straight from the belly.
"Hahaha, wow boy…You truly are not your father." The Hood responded "I only figured it was you when you stormed this island. Anything before that was pure speculation. We had no proof, you moved fast and your disguise held up well."
"Why'd you do it? Why did you start this drug ring, why did you drag innocent people into this?" James had to ask.
"Innocent, I hope you aren't talking about those Doctors. They were as much scum as me and my men. Nothing innocent about putting a superdrug in your daughter. Or using her as a test subject for your work."
James fists tightened as he prepared to retort, but he kept quiet. Because deep down he believed the same thing. It eventually worked out but there was no doubt that nine times out of ten this situation goes left. It was fairly lucky that Carmen was coming out of this alive.
If not for James she'd more than likely be dead and it would have undoubtedly been her Parents fault. "And everyone else, the civilian lives you've ruined?"
"Look kid, what do you want me to say? That's just the way the game works. I wouldn't do this shit if I cared about everyone else would I? You may think I'm some sort of a monster, and maybe I am but…I like who I am." The Hood explained with a small chuckle.
"Early in my life I told myself that crime was something I was forced into. That I had no other choice. That the extenuating factors in my shitty life were the reason I did what I did. But I could have pulled out years ago. Collected some good money and disappeared to some remote country and enjoyed my riches, but it's not enough."
"It's never been enough! The money, the power, fame, and notoriety! Those are things I crave! That's what I do this for! I see a situation I can take advantage of and I don't hesitate. When Ultron started fucking shit up, you know what I thought? Was I scared, worried? No, I thought to myself, what he has, I want it! I've been preparing for this moment for years. To see the first part of my operation going down in flames is honestly a bit crushing." The villain finished monologuing.
"You're sick Hood. You need help." James said simply, as he took a step forward to the man. "I hope the Raft can give it to you."
James figured there was nothing else to be said. He wouldn't waste anymore time. He wasn't surprised when the Hood started laughing, but he was shocked when he heard what the Hood said next.
"Oh you naive Captain, I hope you didn't think I was going to go out without a fight?" James lunged for the man as he finished speaking and bit down hard on one of his teeth. James wasn't worried it was a cyanide pill, no definitely not. It was clear the Hood loved life far too much to ever kill himself. Which meant this…this had to be, "Banshee. This is idiotic Hood, you won't beat me, you're just killing yourself!"
In James' mind this was almost as bad as Cyanide not only would it kill him but it would also make it that much harder for James to fight.
But the Hood ignored James and instead gnashed his teeth and slammed his fist onto the side of the plane, warping the metal from his obviously now enhanced strength. "Don't speak like you know me kid, I'm not like the rest!"
It was James' only warning before the Hood lunged at him with enhanced speed, The Super-Soldier thought he was well prepared until the Hood blinked out of existence and appeared behind him grabbing his head and slamming into the side of the plane.
The young hero was seeing stars for a brief moment but managed to force the Hood to keep his distance by kicking his leg out and him and jumping back.
"Let me let you in on a little secret. There are a few ways to get around Banshee that most people don't know or understand. You could one, Be a natural mutant, you still probably die but if you manage it well you could take it over 100 times before it really starts fucking you up."
"Two you have to be like the kid. Born and bred for this, and even then I'm not sure she's completely safe. But I'm sure you know that very well, ain't that right Soldier?" Hood mocked, and as he spoke there was a slight red tint in his eye, signifying that there was more to Parker Robbins than he initially thought.
"The third and hardest way to surpass Banshee's limits…IS MAGIC!" The Hood exclaimed and teleported in front of James slamming his forearm against his shield. They clashed for a brief moment before the villain teleported back.
"Heh, quick reflexes, you really are impressive."
"How does magic help you with Banshee?" James ignored the man's compliment.
"Simple, it's magic. Banshee destroys the system every time you use it and it's no different for me or anyone else. I've just got the ability to combat the effects because of my magic. Banshee for me is an enhancer with almost no downsides allowing me to use magic and gain incredible strength!"
As he said this a beam of reddish energy shot from his outstretched palm and slammed into James energy shield sending him to the back of the airplane from the force of the blast.
Okay James. On the downside this is a fight you didn't expect to have to fight. At least not like this…On the brightside…It's just one more fight soldier. One more win and we are done. For Carmen and Teresa. And for everyone else affected by this man and his drug.
James then stood up to his full height and took a deep breath, wiping the blood that was dripping from his arm and his forehead as his exposed wounds continued to hinder his movement.
"What a mess you are James Rogers. Give it up and I'll let you live…well I'll drop you out of the plane and if you survive that, then I guess you deserve to live." The Hood mused confident of his victory.
"You know in the end I think I like fighting guys like you the most. You're confident. You see my battle scars and think, 'there's no way he beats me.' 'There's no way I can lose this.' 'He's not even at full strength'." James explained.
"It's funny. Most of you never seem to understand how much we hold back against people like you. Now come on. Let me show you why this power up of yours means absolutely nothing."
The Hood frowned and pushed running towards James and the Hero ran forward to meet in the middle as well. There wasn't much space in the plane and so they met pretty quickly. Or at least they would've had the Hood not teleported at the last second.
As the Hood prepared to land a strike to James' injured shoulder he was surprised when his face met boot. As the Super-Soldier twirled around and slammed his foot in his face and set him flying through the doors to the cockpit.
"Come on." The Hood heard as he got up from his daze. "Don't tell me that was it? My little brother's got better tactics, And he's like 13 man." James told the man cockily.
It did the trick and roused the Hood up who immediately teleported once again this time above the boy but James rolled forward and Hood's kick missed wildly, he teleported again only for his fist to meet shield, he moved to the Super-Soldier's right only for James' fist to clock him in the temple slamming his head against a seat.
He fired a blast of magical energy only for it to tear straight through the roof of the plane nowhere near where he had thought James Rogers had just been.
"This-
"Isn't possible?" James finished for him, and The Hood looked up nursing his broken face. "That's what you were going to say right? Well let me explain it to you in simple terms. I am in the prime of my life. Actually in a month's time I'll probably be even stronger than I am now. And you're a relic of the past begging to stay relevant in an era that has no need of you. No-no that doesn't get you to grasp the picture the way I want you to."
James murmured to himself as he walked up to The Hood and grabbed him by the collar, "Mr. Hood, I don't think you understand. I AM Captain America. I don't lose to freaks like you. Captain America never has. And Captain America never will."
With that said James reared his fist back and slammed it into the face of Parker Robbins one more time sending the man into a cold sleep.
He dropped the man's body to the ground and took a moment to take a deep breath. Everything was good now he just needed to deal with this plane.
Walking up the plane he quickly found himself entering the cockpit. The man flying the plane shakily held a pistol in one hand and was trying to focus on flying the jet with his other one.
His hand trembled with every step James made, and eventually the young pilot turned to him, sweat dripping down his face, and his fear evident "D-don't come any closer."
James simply took the gun from his hand and sat in the co-pilot seat. "This is what you're going to do, friend. You're going to turn this plane around and fly it to these coordinates. You're going to do it without question. If you don't you'll end up like your buddies over there. I need you to understand I can fly this jet myself. You get it?"
"I understand. No problem sir." The pilot immediately switched up his tune. For the next couple of minutes James was content to tie The Hood and his men up and then ensure the pilot had followed his directions.
When he did that he finally opened up his communicator and dialed Daisy. The young super-soldier sat in the co-pilot's seat and idly began to wrap some gauze or his right arm which honestly looked pretty terrible. Note to self when you get shot, don't take too long to deal with the bullets.
"Rogers, how are you, what's your status? Are you…in the air?" Daisy quickly questioned the young Avenger.
"The situation has been dealt with. I've got the jet flying to the coordinates I just sent to your communicator."
"Yeah? That's good to hear, and what about you? How bad is it?"
James gave himself a once over, three large cuts over his chest. Broken ribs, a bullet in his right arm, and a gash in his forehead, he was covered in his own blood and probably had some head trauma, but in the end, "I'm fine, it's not that bad. I'm pretty sure I've had worse."
"That's honestly not that comforting coming from you." Daisy told James honestly. James laughed a little at that fact, and thought that was probably true.
"I'll be there in 15 minutes Daisy, I hope you're ready for transport."
"Will do…You're not going to ask me how La Bandera's mission went?" Daisy reminded him. Of course James was well aware there were two parts to this mission. But he simply wasn't worried about it. He believed in them.
"I don't need to, I know you guys got the job done. I trust you."
There was a small pause on the line before James heard Daisy laugh slightly, "You are something James Rogers. See you in fifteen."
The line went dead and he just let out a small sigh, closed his eyes and waited to get home. I'm glad that this is finally over.
CARTAGENA COLOMBIA, SANCHEZ PRIVATE AIRSTRIP, APRIL 28, 2011, 8:43 PM EST"You said it wasn't that bad."
"Yeah, pretty sure it's not."
"You were basically covered head to toe in your own blood."
"That seems like an exaggeration."
"You didn't even bother to take that bullet out."
"Seemed like a hassle to do it on a jet with none of the right tools."
"Your ribs were broken."
"With my healing factor, I'm pretty sure they've already mended back together by now."
Daisy Johnson sighed and threw her hands up in the air, she couldn't help but be slightly exasperated with James. The nonchalant way he talked on the phone and even right now really didn't do justice to the terrible state he had shown up in just 10 minutes prior.
At the moment the 17 year old Super-Soldier sat at the back of the SHIELD emergency vehicle covered nearly head to toe in bandages.
He refused nearly all forms of serious treatment and just insisted that they take the bullet out and give him some bandages. He'd be fine without anything else. When Daisy had initially seen the boy carry the unconscious Hood out the jet along with his men she was honestly shocked.
She couldn't remember a time when the Super-Soldier had been so injured. It had been a long time since simple robots could do that to him, and neither the Masters of Evil or Annihilus' situation had gotten that bad for him.
She couldn't help but feel like the young Captain had been more than a little reckless.
"You know one thing Fury always says is that you are far more reckless than your father." Daisy told the young boy.
James seemed to contemplate that, before shrugging with a small smile. "I guess I got it from Mom. And how would he know that anyway? Fury can't be a day older than 35."
Daisy herself shrugged, not exactly having a great answer for that "He just knows things."
The two enjoyed a quiet silence for a moment and Daisy took this as another chance to analyze the boy. He was staring up into the sky, clearly deep in thought. It wasn't too hard to wonder what he was thinking about.
Hell Daisy had to admit she probably spent a little too much time thinking about it herself. Was James really going to do this? Become a guardian, a caretaker? Would he really become…a parent?"
She wasn't exactly sure of the relationship between Carmen and James. Nor his relationship with Valentina. But she did figure through all of this she noticed a calmness in James. An eagerness to help the girl out. He seemed to enjoy being around her and vice-versa. He seemed to be happy having the opportunity to help someone in a way that didn't directly involve his fists.
James was doing good, and she figured she wouldn't let anyone ruin that for the moment. Not SHIELD, and not even James himself.
"You keep staring like that and I'll get the wrong idea." James eventually called her out.
"Oh please," Daisy shrugged him off, grinning as she did so "We all know you're madly in love with Garcia."
The boy snorted but didn't deny it. He wouldn't go that far, but he was enjoying his relationship, that was for sure. He figured that despite the situation, he had enjoyed a lot of things this past month. And yet despite that…Am I ready for this? Will she even want this?
"Guess even the great Captain America can psych himself out, huh?"
"Daisy…"
"Look James, I'm only going to say this once. So you better listen up! It's time to stop doubting yourself and be the adult you think you are. The decision you're making isn't an easy one. That much is obvious. Having to be the guardian of a kid is going to change your entire way of doing things."
"Life's never going to be the same, you know? You're taking care of someone else now. And I know it seems scary but I've never known you to lose James. And definitely not without a fight. Chances are that you aren't the perfect guardian. Not right now. But we both know you're going to do whatever it takes for that to become reality."
"And if you're worried about what she's going to say when you ask her, Don't be. Anyone with eyes can see that kid adores you. Just relax James and take it one step at a time." Daisy finished her little speech.
James thought it over contemplatively and begrudgingly admitted to himself that his ex-girlfriend touched on all of his fears almost perfectly.
But in the end Daisy was right. He might not have been perfect right now, but he'd try his best to become that for Carmen. Because he wanted to be good for her. It was the least she deserved.
"Thank you Daisy." James eventually said. "I needed that."
"I know you did, now come on. Now that you aren't overthinking it, I've got two people who want nothing more than to see you."
"Wait, Val and Carmen, they're here?"
"Come find out for yourself."
James followed Daisy around the Airstrip towards a small building that was swarming with SHIELD agents. As he got to the front, he saw the doors to the building swing open as Valentina and Carmen rushed out to meet him.
"(Oh my gosh, James! Baby, this is insane!)" Valentina exclaimed as she hugged James tightly. "(What happened to you, and I don't appreciate getting hung up on.)"
James laughed a bit awkwardly. He knew that stunt would get him in a bit of trouble. "(Just had to take care of business Val. But everything's good now."
"(Good. I was worried about you. We were worried about you.)" As Valentina said that last part she pulled away from James and allowed him to see Carmen who had been standing behind her the whole time.
The young girl's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of James' injuries, and the young hero wished she didn't have to see all of that.
"(You're hurt? Are you…are you going to be okay?)" Carmen asked him.
"(Of course Carmen. I'll be just fine.)" James insisted "(You were worried about me kid?)" The young girl nodded yes, and her eyes clearly conveyed just how worried she had been.
She suddenly rushed the Young Avenger and embraced him in a hug that James returned back. "(So it's all over. No more fighting?)"
James smiled and was proud of the answer he could give her. If nothing else, James could give her this "(Yeah Carmen, you don't have to be scared anymore it's all over.)"
HEROES OF TOMORROW
