CHAPTER TWO:
THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE
THREE DAYS HAD PASSED before Cordelia and Theodore were asked to do something, something that wasn't exploring the flying boat they were invited on.
Naturally, without the threat of Shadow Haze, the two teenagers eagerly took the chance to be kids again; they ate everything they could get their hands on and pulled pranks on any agents that were lucky enough to fall into them. No one minded though, or at least no one shouted at them for it. The two enjoyed it, more than they had enjoyed anything in the past few years.
Agent Coulson had also given Cordelia an iPod, a small device that played music through headphones after she had thoroughly enjoyed the radio during the car ride to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. Now, when she wasn't messing with Theo, the brunette had her headphones in, listening to whatever music that was downloaded onto there (mainly Taylor Swift and ABBA, but Cordelia didn't complain).
Right now, Cordelia was sat at a table above agents working on computers, eating an apple. Her headphones were on and 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey blasted into her ears, her foot tapping lightly along to the rhythm. She stared down at the sheet of paper in front of her, before taking a bite out of her apple. Fury asked Cordelia and Theodore to fill in a form each, because, according to the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, they had both been missing for years - five for Cordelia and three for Theodore. He didn't have time to do it formally, because he was needed elsewhere as soon as they started talking.
Cordelia had filled out the sheet the best she could. Her handwriting wasn't the most legible, due to barely picking up a pen in those five years, unless trying to levitate it counted. Schooling was never of importance in Shadow Haze. Nevertheless, she could make out what everything said. The brunette couldn't fill all of it out either; she didn't know her parents' names or what affiliated meant. But she did know she was allergic to cinnamon— it prevented her from eating cinnamon swirls, which upset her deeply.
Cordelia sighed deeply as she put her pen down by her pile of four apple cores. Her fingers tapped along to the music in her ears while she looked around the large room, boredom setting in; dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were sat at desks, gazing into computer screens and typing on keyboards. It had Cordelia think— maybe she and Theodore trusted Fury and Coulson a little too quickly? They had just escaped from a highly guarded facility... Had they landed themselves in another one? The pair were allowed to mess around and cause minimal havoc, but if they wanted to leave, could they?
The brunette stood up from the chair, cracking her spine as she did so, and wheeled it under the table. She stuffed her hands inside of the hoodie she had been given from Coulson; it was dark blue with a S.H.I.E.L.D. badge ironed into the front of it. Being quite tall for her age, it fit Cordelia almost perfectly, as well as the sweatpants she also received.
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."
"Two little children," Cordelia repeated between the two, "Does that sound familiar?"
"No. Because I'm not a child." Theodore retorted, narrowing his eyebrows. However, after a few seconds passed, he waved his hand dismissively, "Actually, if I get to be a superhero, call me kid any day."
"We're not becoming superheroes, idiot. They barely know us. Why would they tell us to save the world from the God of Lightning?"
"Because we're Avengers." The boy wafted his hand through the air above them as if showing a billboard to the brunette, dreamily. Cordelia sniggered slightly, pushing him back towards the end of the corridor as it sounded like the conversation was coming to a close.
━━━━ ༻✧༺ ━━━━
BEING SURROUNDED BY AGENTS had its perks it seemed after all. Cordelia and Theodore had met a red-haired agent going by the name of Natasha Romanoff; she had brought the two a backpack each, both containing clothes (which Cordelia changed into straight away) and other normal necessities, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and sanitary towels. She also gave Theodore a new pair of glasses with his prescription, replacing the cracked ones.
Right now, the two teenagers sat across from Agent Romanoff, who was eating a sandwich Agent Hill had just given her. Theodore watched the redhead devotedly while resting his chin in the palm of his hand as Cordelia glanced at him, shaking her head with a chuckle, "You're drooling."
"Huh? What?" Theo tore his eyes off Natasha, before using his sleeve to wipe his lips. He looked at the girl beside him, "Shut up. No I don't."
"I think she's a little out of your league, Theodore," The brunette spoke, crossing her arms as she leaned back into her chair. Theodore scoffed at her response, his eyes widening; he shook his head gently.
Silence surrounded the two teenagers as they sat at the table. Nick Fury had told them to wait there with Agent Romanoff, without any activities. Cordelia and Theo both obliged without any questions, thinking whatever they were being dragged into wouldn't last long. However, half an hour later, they were still there, clueless as to why and growing increasingly bored by the minute.
Despite the desire to do something active, it gave Cordelia the time to think. It had been a day since she and Theodore eavesdropped on Fury's conversation and they were still none the wiser as to what an Avenger was, nor as to why they were seemingly getting dragged into it. Coulson and a few other agents had spoken to the two teenagers separately, attempting to get some sort of grip on the people they had befriended.
They were asked to demonstrate what their powers could do in an isolated room, in order to control it if it grew out of control. Luckily, Cordelia and Theo both had a hand on their abilities. The brunette also learnt that the boy could also inflict harm onto others by opening old wounds or scars, as well as healing them, whereas Cordelia could produce and retract ice.
She knew where this was going though. They were going to be asked to do something with their abilities, save someone or protect something. It made an uneasy feeling develop inside of Cordelia's stomach; she didn't want to harm anyone with her abilities and, although she was glad about it, being out of Shadow Haze's grip also released a sort of protective shield around her. Unlike now, she wasn't free there, but at least the people around her were undoubtedly safe.
"Wait," Theo shattered the silence, his voice louder than needed. Breaking Cordelia out of her unbidden thoughts, it made both her and Natasha look at the young boy, evidently making the tips of Theo's ears grow red as he made eye contact with Natasha. He apologised to the agent quickly, then turned to Cordelia, who was attempting to hold in a laugh. He spoke in a much quieter voice, almost whispering, "Shut up. Did I not tell you? Do you not know?"
Sitting up straight in her chair, Cordelia stopped laughing, her eyebrows furrowing. Had he found something? "What? Tell me what?"
"I don't like girls," Theodore said flatly, "So... I wasn't drooling."
Cordelia didn't speak for a moment, nor did she move an inch, so Theo tapped her on the shoulder, mouthing 'Hello' to his friend. Then, small chuckles escaped the brunette's lips and she turned away from the boy, her hand closing over her mouth. He watched her curiously, using his fist to hold up his head, "What's so funny?"
"Wh-What, what? Nothing. Nothing. You caught me off guard." Cordelia replied, trying her best to conceal her fit of giggles. Instead of staying confused at this, Theodore started laughing too, leaving the two teenagers with tears brimming their eyes as they cracked up at the other's laughter. Natasha watched them slyly, a small smile painting onto her lips as she took a bite out of her sandwich.
It took a while for the laughter to die down, but when it eventually did, Theo was the first voice to enter the atmosphere, "Why... Why are you laughing? Why am I? What? Nothing was funny. Am I just naturally hilarious?"
Cordelia wiped the tears from her cheeks, small giggles still escaping her diaphragm, "I don't, I don't know. It's just— It's just unexpected. I thought you were gonna tell me a secret. But... good for you, I guess. Girls are better than guys, but I don't judge."
"Really? But they're so... so—"
"So pretty? So beautiful? So—"
"Okay! I get it. You're in love with girls." Theo smiled at Cordelia, who returned it.
A warm feeling entered both of them; they felt safe in each other's company, something neither of them had experienced in a long time.
Cordelia leaned back in her chair again, placing her feet on the table in front of her. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself slightly as she watched the ocean waves out of the window behind Natasha. Theodore pointed at her feet, raising his eyebrow as he glanced up at her face. The brunette wore mismatched socks on her feet, one a bright pink, the other a deep red. She wiggled her toes in response to Theo, but before she could speak, another voice interrupted them.
"They're here? Okay. Okay, I'm coming now." Natasha Romanoff's voice rang through the air, making the two teenagers glance up at the woman. She spoke into her earpiece while pushing herself up from her chair, "No, they're fine. They didn't need me, so I'm sure they can handle themselves for a few more minutes, Coulson."
She sent a nod towards Cordelia and Theodore as a goodbye, before walking out of the room. The two's eyes followed her until she was out of sight, before connecting. Cordelia mumbled her words, diverting her attention back onto the horizon, "Wonder what that is."
"Probably some top-secret spy shit," Theodore pushed up his glasses as Cordelia scoffed, "Maybe something to do with Loki. Or the Avengers. Or both."
"Hey, I was meaning to ask," Theo looked at the girl after these words left her lips. He tilted his head to the side slightly as the cheerfulness of her tone dropped. She continued, "What do you think about that?"
"What, the Avengers thing? I mean, we get to be superheroes—"
"Come on, Theodore. Like, seriously."
"I don't know, Lia." He sighed, pushing his glasses up onto the top of his head. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands as he spoke, "I don't know. We don't even know if they want us to be a part of whatever it is. And, like you said, Loki and Thor— they're just myths. I think we're overthinking it."
Another silence appeared. Biting at her nails, Cordelia watched the back of Theo's head as he dropped it onto the table by her feet. She felt he was stressed about the whole situation too.
And he was, ever since they got in Fury's car; his reasons were similar to Cordelia's, but she was a big part of his worries. He didn't want her to get hurt any more than she had to.