Disoriented » Captain America

chapter twenty four

24 x assemble carefully (like ikea furniture)

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"But I don't want to play team leader," I was groaning as Steve essentially dragged me down the hall.

After my lovely declaration had come a lively discussion, the most of which I can honestly say I don't recall. This is mostly because I was wallowing in self-pity over the fact that I would have to face Reed Richards, who seemed to unknowingly push my buttons by asking too many questions in regards to my powers, along with one Johnny Storm, who I once teleported to the Himalayas because he was being annoying.

I did, however, catch that there had been some sort of agreement made that not only was contact with the FF required (I mean, I knew that) but they also were going to need to collaborate to figure out what teams would be placed where, given Magneto had already declared he planned on attacking whatever unfortunate souls happened to be in DC.

Why would a villain declare he was going to attack? I don't know. It's the same as asking why the good guys in history always shout 'attack' when they're attacking. I mean, there's a lot of things I don't understand about war -- declarations being one of them.

"You're the best mediator we have, Jo," Steve sighed. He was physically pulling me by the arm down the hall. Had I worn shoes with no traction, I could've pretended I was water-skiing. "You know everyone. Literally."

"Something I currently regret," I declared. On the bright side, I was no longer frowning. On the not-so-bright side (for Steve, that is) I was stubborn as ever and seriously did not want to do this.

Apparently he'd picked up on that quicker than I'd realized, because the next thing I knew he was throwing me over one shoulder and picking up speed. I squeaked out of surprise at the abrupt change of events, briefly confused by the sudden flip to my vision, before I let out an indignant huff. "This is highly unnecessary."

Steve scoffed. "Right, because I wasn't just dragging you down the hall, or anything. This clearly causes a bigger dent to your ego."

I glared at his back for a moment before realizing arguing was pointless, and going momentarily silent. "But what if I'm bad at it?" I eventually asked, once I realized we were headed toward where we'd left the rest of the Avengers.

I could feel him tensing given my current position, but he answered without hesitation. "You couldn't possibly be bad at it, Jo."

I sighed, propping myself up on one elbow on his shoulder, attempting to twist myself to see his face. It didn't work well, I mostly got a side-preview. At least I could see him now, though. "I might be."

"Jo Wilkes," he said sternly, "you are one of the most strong-headed people I've met, and everyone I know would follow you anywhere. And even if they didn't, I still will. I'll always have your back." He paused then, and I could hear the smile in his voice, "And your sides," he began to tickle me, eliciting laughter, "and your front. I've got you."

I was still giggling when he paused in his tickle-attack, and after I took a breath in effort to calm myself, I spoke again. "So we're actually going to do this?"

"Depends on how willing you are," he pointed out.

We were rapidly approaching the room where the Avengers were. Nat had gone on ahead of us earlier, and Tony had gone off to take Pepper out of state. The X-Men had gone back to their mansion, and we were all going to meet up at the Baxter Building in several hours.

I had only several hours to come up with a game plan.

"I mean," I began slowly, "I don't see how I could back out after your lovely declaration."