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Chapter 9
There once was an idea. . .
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TESSA SAT HOLDING AN ICE PACK TO THE SIDE OF HER THROBBING HEAD.
Herself and Jungkook found themselves sat at the same conference table as the one when they were discussing Loki's plans. They were joined by Steve and Tony, all four sat around the table in a solemn silence. Thor and the Hulk were no longer on the ship for reasons they didn't know, they guessed they were sent overboard during the attack. Natasha was too busy attending to Clint, who has managed to break free from Loki's mind control.
They had thought they dealt with the attack fine and had been successful, when in fact, it was quite the opposite.
The heroes were scattered. Their base in the sky was barely still flying with only three out of the four engines working currently. They had lost many members of their team, including Phil Coulson— one of the more known and respected members. The mood was low.
Jungkook rubbed at his eyes. The arrow Clint had shot that temporarily blinded him, had irritated his irises and were still bothering him. He may be enhanced but he still had sensitive senses, especially his eyes.
"Don't rub it," Tessa reached over and pulled his arm away from his face to stop his attempts at rubbing away the irritation. "You'll only make it worse." She mumbled.
Fury finally walked into the room, grabbing everyone's attention.
"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them," Fury said as he tossed the bloodstained Captain America trading cars on the table in front of everyone.
The four of them stared at the bloody cards and frowned. Steve was the only one to reach over and pick one of them up, fiddling around with it in his hand. Tessa swallowed the lump that had gotten stuck in her throat, playing with her shirts sleeves as she pulled it over her hands.
"We're dead in the air up here," Fury sighed. "Our communications. The location of the Tesseract. Banner, Thor. . . I got nothing for you." Fury explained, coming to place his hands down on the table. "I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming."
No one said anything and that didn't seem to bother Fury in the slightest as he continued speaking his mind. He felt he needed to explain himself and now was the best time.
"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract," he confessed, his one eye scanning the group of people in front of him carefully as he stood over them. "I never put all of my chips on that one number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a remarkable group of people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles we never could."
Tessa and Jungkook exchanged glances. The female felt moved by the Director's words and she took back any malicious thoughts she felt against him and SHIELD— the reasoning behind the project was for the greater good of the Earth, and that's all that mattered to her and Jungkook. To all of them.
"Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea— in heroes." Fury finished.
That was the last draw.
Tony suddenly stood up. They all watched him and thought for a moment that he was going to say something, but they were proven wrong when he stormed out of the bridge wordlessly. Tessa folded her arms upon the table and watched him leave, her blue eyes not once leaving his form; even lingering on the empty doorway when he had gone.
"Well," Fury sighed to the three remaining members. "It's an old-fashioned notion."
Tessa couldn't sit there any longer. The guilt and suffering you felt after losing someone close to you was beginning to grow too much for her. Phil had helped her feel comfortable and welcome in such a daunting place; treating her no different to others despite her powers. He helped her believe in herself and now he was gone. This was all becoming too much for her young self; never had she imagined this is what it would be like joining the Avengers. She arose from her seat and ran out of the room, leaving the three boys.
She needed to be alone right now. . .
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Jungkook and Steve found Tony lingering in the place where Loki's cell once was. Now it would have crashed into the unsuspecting earth below, the God of Mischief no longer in its sights as he was long gone by now. . . and they had no idea where.
The two stood from a distance and exchange silent glances, as if encouraging the other to speak up first and break the tense silence first instead of the other. Jungkook didn't blink, his stare intense and it didn't take long for Steve to break. The younger smirked as he watched Steve try and think of something to say.
"Was he married?" The Captain chose to ask and Jungkook wished now he had spoken first.
Tony shook his head. "No. There was a, uh. . . cellist. I think."
"I'm sorry," Steve expressed his condolences for the man despite not knowing him long. "He seemed like a good man."
'He was.' Jungkook thought to himself admirably.
"He was an idiot." Tony contradicted sharply.
"Stark." Jungkook warned as he glared up at the man— now wasn't the time for his insensitive comments, even if he was mourning too.
"Why?" Steve asked, "For believing?"
Tony turned to face them and began to walk towards them. "For taking on Loki alone." He answered.
Jungkook scoffed. "He was trying to do the right thing to save us. To save the world. He was doing his job. . . that doesn't make him an idiot." He grew defensive of the man who was no longer here to do it for himself.
Tony focused his gaze on the young male. "He was out of his league." He clarified before sighing. "He should have waited. He should have—"
Steve cut him off. "Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."
"Right," Tony scoffs. He then turned on his heels and began to stride away from the pair, but the two only followed him as he continued talking. "How did that work out for him?"
"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked him, his old mannerisms shining through— once a soldier, always a soldier.
Tony turns around sharply, his jaw clenched tightly. "We are not soldiers!" He pointed a finger adamantly between the three of them and paused for a moment. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."
"None of us are." Jungkook assured.
Steve nodded. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. But right now we've got to put that aside and get this done," he affirmed before crossing his arms over his large chest. "Now, Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list—"
"He made it personal." Tony said as he stared distantly at the blood stained wall, which had yet to be cleaned.
"That's not the point." Steve sighed and shook his head.
Tony turned back to face then both. "No, that is the point. That's Loki's point. He but had right we're we all live, why?" He asked.
Jungkook opened his arms, his eyebrows raising. "Isn't it obvious? Because he wanted to try and tear us apart— he has no disadvantages with us all out of the picture."
"Exactly!" Tony exclaimed, patting Jungkook on the shoulder. "He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. . . he wants an audience."
Steve nodded in agreement. "Right, I caught his act in Stuttengard."
Tony waved him off. "Yeah. That's just a preview, this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered on it. . ."
'Sounds like someone I know,' Jungkook thought to himself.
Tony suddenly paused when he realised something and that realisation was shown through his expression clearly. . .
"Son of a bitch."
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Jungkook sighed before he heavily knocked on Tessa's door.
Not long after she had fled the bridge and he and Steve talked with Tony, he made it his responsibility to go after her and see if she was okay. It was only fair he was to check up on her, after all she did it for him all of the time, especially when he had first arrived at SHIELD. Tessa was the closest to Phil out of the team, even more so than Jungkook— maybe it was because she was more sociable.
"Who is it?" Tessa's voice sounded from inside.
Jungkook leant his forehead against the smooth, cool door. "It's me." He answered. He knew he didn't need to specify his name as she knew his voice well enough by now.
It was silent for a moment, and Jungkook thought Tessa wasn't going to let him in to talk. However, his enhanced hearing allowed him to hear shuffling through the steel walls. Not a moment later, the door open to reveal a gloomy-looking Tessa. Never had Jungkook seen her so sad, he's used to bright and happy Tessa 24/7.
"You okay?" He asked the generic question one asks when trying to console someone. . . he didn't know what else to say, he wasn't exactly qualified or experienced in the art of comforting.
Tessa wordlessly nodded before she shuffled her way over to the single bed in her room and sitting herself upon it. Jungkook awkwardly watched as she crossed her legs and stared at him from across the room. 'Does she want me to join her?' He wondered, feeling confused about whether or not he should leave or stay.
His confusion was cleared however, when Tessa patted the mattress beside her, telling him it was okay for him to stay. She wanted him to stay.
Jungkook did as he was told, striding over to her bed and sitting himself upon the soft sheets. He seemed stiff and if Tessa wasn't feeling so down, she would perhaps laugh at him and his obvious awkwardness.
Trying to relax himself, Jungkook broke the silence. "Do you wanna tell me what's wrong?" He asked as he looked at her tentatively.
Tessa stared at him for a long moment, as if contemplating whether or not she should tell him, before choosing to answer. "It's just this grief, Kook. I've not felt like this in a long time and I've forgotten how shitty it makes you feel." she confessed.
After making her thoughts known to him and the universe, Tessa sighed as she began to play with the end of her shirts sleeves. Her head sank low as she focused on her fingers in her lap, not daring to look up at Jungkook. She knew his gaze would be sympathetic, and she hated anyone feeling sympathetic towards herself.
Jungkook sighed knowingly as he hesitantly wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him so she could rest her head against his shoulder. Which she happily did, snuggling closer to him.
It was silent for a moment as Jungkook racked around his brain, trying to find the right and most appropriate words to say. It didn't take him long to find them. . .
"Losing someone we care about is never easy and I'm not gonna pretend like it is. I'm not gonna sit here and try and tell you to forget about it and move on because what's done is done. I mean, yes, we can't change what happened and you have every right to be sad. However, it's about thinking what would they want. What would Phil want?"
Tessa slowly looked up to meet Jungkook's tender gaze. He could see she wasn't crying physically— it took a lot for Tessa to break down and cry in front of someone, even Jungkook. Although, her eyes portrayed the sadness she felt within.
"I don't know." She mumbled, her eyes showing genuine confusion mixed in with the sorrow.
She looked like a wounded puppy.
"Phil wanted us to believe we were heroes," Jungkook affirmed before continuing to explain, "We have to prove to him, now more than ever, that what he believed was right. We can be good. We can use our powers to help others rather than hide ourselves away. Phil never once thought us monsters or incapable of anything and if we wallow away in self-pity and grief, we'd never get the chance to prove to anyone that we are strong and that we aren't the freaks ourselves and some think us to be. We can't have that now, can we?" he smiled.
Tessa forced a smile. "Who are you and what have you done with my Kookie?" She teased, "I never thought I'd hear these words spill from your mouth. It's always me trying to convince you this."
"Yeah well, maybe I've realised that being here and being me, isn't so bad after all. . . who would've thought?" He chuckled.
"I always knew you loved the superhero life deep down." Tessa smirked before it fell to a frown. "Although now I'm starting to realise that it's not as glamorous as I first thought."
Jungkook patted her on the back. "It's definitely a dangerous occupation and with danger comes loss. We'll need to accept that unfortunately." he admitted with pursed lips.
Tessa nodded her head slowly as she looked away from him and around the room. "I think we're both pretty accustomed to the feeling and effects of loss, sadly." She smiled, although it didn't quite reach her eyes.
The two looked up to the ceiling.
"Tess, you're always telling me how proud my parents would be of me despite what I've become. . . well, I'm telling you right now that I know yours feel the same." Jungkook admitted with a small, yet fond smile.
Tessa lowered her head to gaze into Jungkook's comforting die eyes. "Thankyou Jungkook. It means a lot, really." She expressed her gratitude with a matching smile.
Jungkook doesn't say anything else, he only grabs both of her hands in his own and squeezes gently. He was reassuring her that he was there with her, and this time he was here to stay.
And that was all she needed. . .
Suddenly, the door to Tessa's room swings open unannounced and the two turn to see who it was. Steve marches in dressed in his red, white and blue uniform with his matching shield. His expression was serious. Determined.
They each notice Clint and Natasha stood waiting out in the hallway; dressed for a fight too. Jungkook and Tessa narrow their eyes at the Captain.
"I'm gonna need you kids to suit up."
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aww we love to see Jungkook and Tessa being friendly with one another! In upcoming chapters I'd like to write flashbacks of them and when they first met etc, so you guys get an idea of just how far back they go and why they care for one another so much... even if they don't show it sometimes ahaha!
Do you guys ship them? I'm wondering if any of you ship them romantically or as friends/siblings? I'd be interested to know lolll...
And yes! The major and final battle will begin next chapter and take place over 2 chapters before we have the final chapter of part 1– then we'll move on to Captain America: The Winter Soldier!! My favourite film tehehehe. And we may or may not meet 2 new characters in part 2. . . we shall see 😏
Maze runner is up next!!