Relentless // The Avengers

Chapter Sixteen

The bright sunlight filtered through the window on the Quinjet. I cracked my eyes open, the smell of fresh grass filling my nostrils. Weird. I looked around and noticed that Pietro was in the process of stretching. The realizations from last night came back to me, and I smiled softly to myself.

"Good morning, Jenna," Pietro said, grinning at me, as if he read my mind. His voice was slightly rough due to just waking up, but to me it was pure adorableness, if that's even a word.

"Good morning to you too, Mr. Sunshine," I replied.

He was still stretching and part of his shirt came up revealing a chiseled stomach with abs clear as day. I blushed and looked away. Unbuckling myself I stood up and stretched as well. My muscles were tight and if we had to face battle soon, I would need to get loosened up. I walked outside and was greeted with the blinding rays of the sun. I shielded my eyes from the giant ball of fiery gas and looked around.

The Quinjet had landed in a wide open field of grass and flowers. Well, I guess they didn't care about being inconspicuous as of now. On the right, a forest was visible closeby. I walked further forward off the ramp and noticed movement to my left. Looking over, I found almost everybody seated at a couple picnic tables eating some cereal and cooking the ever present bacon on a portable stove thing. A burst of laughter exploded from one end of two picnic tables. It was Bucky and Sam. I grinned and grabbed a plate, shoving it full with bacon. A chorus of hello's greeted me when I sat down.

"Hey Jenna!" Tony said. "Hope you slept well?"

"Yeah, I did," I replied. I shoved some bacon into my mouth. It was heaven.

"It is a beautiful day, is it not?" Thor's booming voice rose above the others. "I rather like this California. We must go more often."

I was slightly confused, though, as to why we weren't marching into Los Angelos right now to figure this stuff out. Everyone seemed almost too relaxed. A subway train there was just destroyed and I doubt that local authorities have gotten the mess cleaned up. I voiced my questions.

"Why aren't we heading to Los Angelos right now?" I asked to nobody in paricular, although speaking loud enough for someone to hear me.

Tony looked over at me. "We can't march in right now. Police have it mostly under control, but we need to be careful. The weird dude might be lurking around the city, waiting for us to pop up. We're just fueling up on energy and trying to get a little rest. Like the calm before the storm, I guess. Battle really does take a lot out of you, you know." He popped another piece of bacon into his mouth and licked his fingers nonchalantly. "It's not until minutes before the battle or the action that everyone begins to get all energized and jumpy," he added. "We need to all take a deep breath and relax right now. We're leaving in about half an hour, though, so get whatever you need and be ready by then. We'll head towards the city to check out the situation."

I nodded and began to finish off my plateful of food. I went back into the Quinjet to grab my uniform and began to get ready. My thoughts wandered to the concept of battle. It was really an interesting, yet tragic thing to think about. There could be many ferocious, fearless soldiers fighting, but in the end when the battle has been waged? Many of the wounded are reduced to a fraction of who they used to be. They cry out for help only to find the dead answering back in the soft whispers of their passing. My cousin was in the army once, until he got wounded and had to be sent back home. He once described the horrors of battle, how truly devastating it is. At that moment, I realized that everything the world has been telling us is all glossed over and glorified to make it seem half as bad as it truly is. He described the cries for help echoing across the battlefield, but nobody aids them for fear of their own lives being taken away with a barrage of bullets. He described the heart thundering missions that they were sent on, unsure if they'd ever come back. Not enough people look at their lives with gratefulness, with a thankfulness on their lips. Life is truly a precious thing. So fragile, yet so powerful.

By now, I had walked outside, everybody slowly getting up and stretching comfortably. My thoughts were interrupted with a Pietro hollering at everybody to "get off their asses and follow the Captain's orders." Steve was walking around, his outfit on and shield ready, with a tablet in his hand. He seemed to be talking to somebody, whom I could probably already guess.

Cap looked down at the screen and began talking. "Fury, we are all ready to go. Shall we head towards Los Angelos now?"

A voice came out of the tablet. "Alright, Rogers. The city looks clear from my view and the security checks, so yes. But be prepared for anything. The man may have a few more tricks up his sleeve that we don't know about. Good luck and don't get killed."

Cap nodded at the tablet. "Right, sir. I will see you later."

"You better."

Cap looked up from the tablet, glancing at everybody who had gathered closeby. "Alright. We'll get a move on right now. Is everybody ready?"

I nodded my head along with everyone else.

"Let's head out, then." Cap gestured for us to follow him, and we began jogging.

My parents came up and ran alongside me after we had been running for a few minutes.

"Jenna," Mom began, her voice slightly strained. I doubt it was from the short jog we've done so far.

"Yeah?" I asked. I was worried about where this conversation might go. I was most definitely not staying back at the Quinjet in the safety of its metal walls and highly advanced technology. Not with all my friends out here fighting. I mentally prepared myself for a possible argument, even though they had allowed me to come back at the Tower.

"We know how strong you are now, and the courage you've shown since we got to New York is truly unbelievable." Mom paused, and my dad began talking.

"You're a beautiful, wonderful, strong, and amazing daughter," Dad said. "But you're also a brave, courageous young woman who is willing to sacrifice herself for others. That's why we allowed you to go on this mission."

My mom cut in again. "You need to be careful, Jenna, and we have no doubt that you will. But we don't know who or what we're facing in this times. Especially in these times. We all need to be extra careful. And we love you Jenna, so..."

"Damnit!" my dad burst out, interrupting my mom. "Just don't get killed. We can't handle the pain of loss again." He shook his head and furrowed his brow. "We just... can't. We're both trying to let go and accept that you've grown, that you're a young woman now."

I squeezed my dad's shoulder, as best as I could because we were jogging, in a comforting gesture. "I love you, Dad, Mom. I'll be as careful as I can," I said softly. "But don't let go completely. You're still my parents."

We ran for only about fifteen minutes, which was basically nothing for us seasoned warriors. As we got closer to the city, we slowed our pace, and soon found ourselves sneaking around buildings, attempting to avoid attention.

But as always, a group of many superheroes is hard to conceal.

As we turned a corner, an ambush that we could never have prepared for was waiting for us. Ashley gasped and wheeled back into me, almost knocking me over. The ambush was a sight we'd never forget. It would be a battle for our lives. And at the head of the ambush was the man.