The Black Cat

Chapter 17: Space

It had been a while since that first date. We had gone on a few more and sadly, the public was taking notice. It seemed that newspapers and magazines had taken interest in us, which I did not like very much. I think Steve felt the same seeing how this was his first relationship since the 40’s and wasn’t comfortable with keeping his personal life open like this. I felt bad for him and he knew I did, so we didn’t go out as often as we did. We did go running with Sam every morning, however and I had a blast. Steve would always say, “On your left!” and eventually, I adopted “On your right!” Sam was just as slow as Steve had described and we made fun of him all the time. People were calling me Steve’s ‘girlfriend’ which was very uncomfortable. We hadn’t really said what we were and weren’t “official” in a way. I was just glad the public hadn’t found our running spot every morning, or we wouldn’t be going out at all. Sam was just ahead of us and we were about to sneak up. Steve went ahead, passing Sam with a quick, “On your left!” “Dammit Steve! Is your girlfriend right behind me about to-“ “On your right!” I interrupt, running past him and stopping next to Steve to look back at him as well. “I swear to God,” Sam says, catching his breath, “You two are just trying to killing me.” Steve snapped his fingers together, acting defeated. “Darn it! He’s discovered our plan, Jackie!” I sigh, shaking my head and going along with him. “Looks like we have to throw him into the lake,” I comment. “Or,” Steve quickly grabs me and throws me over his shoulder, causing me to squeak out, “I can throw you into the lake.” “Steve! Don’t you dare!” He begins to walk toward the lake, laughing. I’m laughing with him, slightly worried he was actually going to toss me in. “Steve, I swear-“ My phone begins to ring from my back pocket, my ringtone sounding off. “Steve, let me go. I need to answer it.” “What’s in it for me?” He asks. “You won’t get punched.” He chuckles a bit and slides me down. “Fine,” he replies. I punch his arm and answer my phone as he gave me a ‘really?’ look.

“Hello?” “Tagan, it’s Hill. I ‘ve got a mission for you,” Maria states. “Am I going to be gone for six months again?” I question. “No, actually, this mission is less than a day. I need you to head out and interrogate this kid in Carefree, Arizona. Sam Alexander. He’s been suspected to be causing extraterrestrial happenings in the area and needs to be questioned. You’ll be back in D.C. by nightfall.” “Gotcha,” I speak, “I’ll be leaving shortly.” I hang up the phone and turn back to Steve, looking at me confused. “I’ve got to go. Mission. I’ll be back tonight.” Steve comes up to me and hugs me tightly, holding my head gently. “Be safe.” I nod, running to my car to change into my spare S.H.E.I.L.D. uniform. I get the next plane to Arizona, taking some time to relax.

~’’~

I was at the doorstep a few hours later, knocking on the door gingerly. A woman answered the door a minute after, a slightly worried expression on her face. “Can I help you?” She asks. “Mrs. Alexander, I presume?” She nods. “I’m Agent Jacqueline Tagan of S.H.E.I.L.D. and I have a few questions for your son. Is he home?” “No, I’m afraid not. He’s at school.” She says. I don’t believe her. I pick up my phone and retrieve his file that Maria sent. “Mrs. Alexander, I don’t mean to sound rude but based on his attendance record I have here, I don’t think he’s at school.” She sighs, rubbing her temples. “You know what he is don’t you? I told him to be careful about this kind of thing or he’s going to get caught! I should have never let him do it!” I raise an eyebrow, confused by her outburst. “Mrs. Alexander, I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all. Let him do what?” As if it was on cue, an explosion fired behind the house and smoke flew from the backyard. I look back at Mrs. Alexander, who has her head in her hands. “Won’t you come in?” She speaks in a stressed voice. I rush in to look through the glass doors to the yard, a teen holding a strange helmet looking back at me. His face pales, knowing I was here for him. He comes in, looking like a puppy that got taken away from his siblings. “Sam Alexander?” I ask. He nods, not looking me in the eye. “I’m Agent Jackie. I have a few things to ask you. Do you have a place we can talk privately?” He nods, leading me down the hall to another room. He turns on his light, revealing his bedroom, a giant Avengers symbol framed above his bed. “You a fan of the Avengers?” I ask. “Was that one of the questions you came to ask me?” He retorted. “No,” I say, “I just think it’s cool you like one of the people I’m dating.” His head pops up, realizing who I was. “You’re that girl with Cap!” “Shhh,” I hush, “You didn’t hear that from me.” He sits on his bed and I take the seat in front of his desk.

“So, I’m here because you are suspected to be the cause of ‘extraterrestrial’ activity. Now, based on seeing you crash land in your yard, I can see the suspicion is correct,” I state, “I’m not going to take you away or anything. I just want to know why. Your mother mentioned ‘what you are’ so, what are you?” He sighed, gripping onto his helmet. “I’m a Nova. It’s all the helmet. I’m part of the Nova Corps which is like space cops. I basically got it from my father. When he went missing, I got the Nova helmet and Rocket Raccoon and Gamora told me everything and-“ “Wait, wait, wait,” I stop him, “Rocket Raccoon and Gamora? Who are they?” He shakes his head. “Forget it,” He drops, “Here.” He hands me the helmet for me to inspect. “It gives me powers. Flight, strength, energy manipulation, you name it.” I go to place it on, putting it over my head. “I wouldn’t-“ Sam is stopped as the helmet falls completely on my head, giving me a whole matching outfit and shooting me upward through the roof. I scream as I am shot into the next atmosphere before my very eyes and just as quick, I’m floating above Earth. “Oh my god!” I exclaim, looking at my surroundings. It looked like every satellite picture I’d ever seen, my heart pounding hard. “Where do you wish to go, Nova?” A voice asks out of nowhere. I gasp, unsure to answer. “I don’t know where-“ “To Knowhere.” The mysterious voice says. I am once again shot somewhere else, taking my breath away by shock. I’m landed as soon as I was set off, crashing into dirt. I look up from my place and up to a whole mess of a place. Space ships were parked above and at my level were shops and stands. In the whole area, no one looked even close to human. Different colors, shapes and species crowded the area. I stood, surveying the area for a human.

“What’s a Nova doin’ here?” Someone said angrily. “Go back to Xandar!” Another said. “Get outta here!” Exclaim someone else. “Xandar?” I ask myself. “To Xandar.” The same voice rang in my ear. “Not again!” I yell before I’m shot upward to someplace else. I land on the ground between a group of people, coughing as I stood. I’m face to face with a man and an older woman. “Oh thank god, there are humans.” I breathe out. I rip off the helmet, getting confused stares from the group. I turn and see a green woman, a blue man, and a raccoon holding a pot, all standing together. I’m speechless, blinking in total loss. “Care to explain yourself?” The older woman. “Okay,” I say, “First, please don’t kill me. I come in peace. Um, wow, it’s been a day. Basically, I went to talk to this kid and he had this helmet and I put it on, being the idiot I am, and I’ve been flying around space, about to barf my brains out and I just want to go back to Earth. That’s all I want.” The man stepped closer to me, acting all cool. “We can take you. No problem,” He said, “I’m Starlord. But you can call me Peter.” I backed away a little, my back lightly hitting the blue man. “I’m Jackie.” I say, slightly terrified.

Peter and the other led me to their ship, helping me in. “Everyone,” Peter calls, “Introduce yourselves.” The green woman walked up to me, looking at me in the eye. “I am Gamora,” She says simply. “Ah! Sam was talking about you! You and a raccoon.” “I,” the raccoon came into my view and started to talk, “I am NOT a raccoon.” My eyes widen at this sudden outburst. “Oh my god, it talks…” I talk to myself. “Unfortunately,” Gamora adds. “Hey!” The raccoon yells. “Quiet down,” The blue man orders, “I am Drax. It is nice to meet you, Jackie.” “Cool, cool,” Peter says, “Let’s go ahead and get you back to Earth.” He leads me to a set of seats and takes the steer. “Hold on,” He warns before flying us away, out of Xandar.