( ON HOLD ) AFTERTASTE , Marvel

𝒊𝒊. the avengers initiative

Walking through the corridors of the base was extremely awkward. Cordelia smiled at every person she met eyes with, and many almost stopped her, wondering why a child was onboard until their friends tapped them on the shoulder and said something along the lines of 'she's with Fury'.

After a while of attempting to navigate through the rooms and find Theodore, a voice drifted out from one of them, "This is out of line, Director."

Director. Cordelia's mind immediately flew to Director Nick Fury and, no matter how immoral she knew it was, her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know what was so important Fury had left her (a possibly dangerous stranger) alone without any supervision, so she stopped walking and hovered at the entrance of the door, out of sight. The male voice continued to talk, "You're dealing with forces you can't control."

"You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight?" Fury asked, confirming Cordelia's thought that he was there, "Did you feel an overabundance of control?"

A small silence ponded over the conversation and the brunette held her breath, not wanting to get caught without any sort of answer, "You're saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?"

"Not Asgard. Loki."

"Well, this sounds interesting." A voice whispered in her ear. Cordelia jumped with fright, her hand slapping over her mouth to conceal any noise from escaping as she spun around. Also dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie, Theodore stood behind her, an amused smirk growing onto his lips. She smacked him in the chest, glaring at him, while he spoke in a quietened voice, "What are you doing spyin' on people?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to know what's happening."

"Ah, so you're being nosey?" Theo said, raising his eyebrow at her over his glasses' frame. Cordelia blinked multiple times, before just deciding to ignore his comment and turn back around. A hushed chuckle came from behind her, "I'm not judging, I wanna be nosey too."

"Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile, but he's worlds away." There was a short pause, "We can't depend on him to help, either. It's up to us."

"Thor? Why does that sound familiar?" Theodore spoke up quietly, confusion laced within the tone of his voice.

It seemed familiar to Cordelia too. She scrunched up her face, searching in her mind, "Thor... Wait, the God, the God of Mischief or laughter or, or something?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, an-and Loki. His brother? Or... lover? I think brother. The God of Lightning or Thunder." Theodore tapped her on the shoulder, getting her to turn around. His face still showed signs of confusion, "But why familiar?"

"I don't know. There was probably a book or whatever about it we got read. I thought they were myths anyway."

"I never really listened to them. Found it boring as hell."

"Okay, shush then. Listen to this instead."

"This isn't about the Avengers." Fury said, a hint of frustration hidden in his voice.

Cordelia glanced back at Theodore, who just looked at her blankly, "What in the world is an Avenger?"

He shrugged, exhaling as he ran his hand over his hair, "Sounds like a superhero."

A lady spoke up with time after a slight pause in the conversation. It seemed whoever Fury was talking to were growing tired of the subject, they all sounded rather monotone, "We've seen the list."

"You're running the world's greatest covert security network," A male voice butted in quickly, "And you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks and two little children."