Hey, guys!
So sorry this chapter took a while to get posted. And also, I won’t be able to update all of my stories this week because I’ll be out of town for four days….
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“You know what?” I exclaim as I smack my fist on the desk and stand up. The computer monitor shakes slightly. I’ve grown tired of just sitting and waiting for any news of my family, which is still 0% in progress. “Somebody needs to go out there now!”
Maria, who is sitting beside me in front of the monitor, flinches and holds my hand. “I know, Ronica. But even if Sin makes another move now, who knows what it would cost.”
I take a tight grip of the aluminum box that has the Blue in it on my other hand. I seat back down and something flashes in the screen. It’s green in color. It reads Incoming call from S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier… Maria taps on it and it reveals a video feed of a bald guy with dark skin and an eye patch.
“Director Fury,” says Maria.
“Agent Hill,” answers the guy on the screen who Maria just called ‘Director Fury’.
He looks at me then back on Maria. “Is that her?” he asks, as if he is disgusted.
“Yes, sir, we were just discussing something about Sin,” she answers.
“She’s still not letting you lay a finger on the Tesseract rubble?” Director Fury asks.
“No, sir,”
I clear my throat. “I’m right here.”
“Any news of Stark?” asks Director Fury.
“Negative,” answers Maria.
Even I’ve been wondering where Tony Stark is. The last time I saw him was back at my school after fighting off Sin with him and Steve.
“Anyway, is Rogers still there?” asks Director Fury.
“Yes, sir, but he spends most of his time at the rooftop,” answers Maria.
“Tell him that he needs to go back here,” says Director Fury.
“Why do I need to go back, sir?” a voice behind us makes me flinch. I look over my shoulder and it’s Steve.
“120 hours have passed and Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton just arrived from Germany.”
“Germany?” I cut him. “Did they find my family?”
“Yes, they did,” says Director Fury. “And Rogers, we need you in the helicarrier in the next 24 hours. We have some things to discuss with the whole Avengers Initiative.”
My whole attention turns to Director Fury when he said the words: ‘Avengers Initiative’. “Excuse me, sir, but if you’re discussion is gonna be about my family and the Blue, I would come there with Mr. Rogers.” Even though Steve and I are on first name basis, I still would prefer to be polite in front of other people. Even I would call Maria ‘Agent Hill’ in front of other people.
“No, Ms. Lorenzo. We think it’d be best if you stayed home. And what’s this ‘Blue’ you’re talking about?” Director Fury asks.
“She means the Tesseract, sir,” says Maria.
“The Tesseract,” I repeat. “And I won’t give it to you until you found my family and get them back here safe and sound.” I say, calmly. “And I also won’t give it to you if I don’t get to come there and witness the discussion personally.” I add.
“Just get back here, Captain Rogers,” says Director Fury, who sounds like he won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
“Yes, sir,” answers Steve.
The screen turns black and I’m a little offended because it seems that Director Fury was ignoring me. I would actually take it if he ignored me for my attitude but if it involves something important like my family, I might lose it.
I turn to Steve. “No matter what he says, Steve, I’m still coming with you,” I mutter.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
Fury, back in the helicarrier, is getting pretty impatient with Ronica, whom he is talking to through the computers. She’s got some attitude, even though she’s only thirteen.
“And I also won’t give it to you if I don’t get to come there and witness the discussion personally,” Ronica says from the screen.
Fury ignores her and turns back to Steve. “Just get back here, Captain Rogers,” says Fury, who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
“Yes, sir,” Steve answers from the screen.
As soon as he gets the answer, he turns off the screen. His hands are behind him as he walks to the conference room, where Bruce and Thor are. As he gets near the door, it slides open and he enters the room, finding the two seated at the table. They are reading some files on a transparent screen Natasha and Clint have gotten from Jane and Erik back in HYDRA base.
“How is the Tesseract rubble?” asks Bruce without looking at the Director.
“Well, she still won’t let anyone touch it instead of her,” answers Fury.
“But have you told her that it rightfully belongs to Asgard?” asks Thor.
Fury walks to the screens. “I haven’t. But Agent Hill is taking care of that.”
“How about the other pieces in this land you call ‘Germany’?” asks Thor.
“Right now, we have to wait for another threat coming from them before we retrieve the rubbles and save Jane and Erik.”
Thor frowns as he hears the names of two people, especially Jane’s. How he wishes to be there right now and save her and his promise to her that he will return to Midgard for her.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
I zip my backpack quickly as I finish packing my clothes in a disorganized way. Even though I still haven’t received permission from Maria, grandma or grandpa that I will be going with Steve to the helicarrier, whatever that means, I just packed so they won’t have second thoughts about it. Even Steve doesn’t know I’m coming with him. I walk out of my room and head to the guest room where Steve stays in. I twist the knob and it’s locked. Maybe he isn’t there anymore. I run fast back to my room, wear my gray hoodie and wear my bag on my back. Then, I take my phone and iPod from my bed and put them on my pockets. I run fast to the first floor. As I set my foot on the floor, Maria stops me.
“Whoa, whoa! Where do you think, you’re going?” she asks, nicely.
“To set everything right,” I reply with attitude.
“What do you mean ‘set everything right?’”
“It means I’m going to S. H. I. E. L. D. with Steve and there’s no stopping me.”
“What if – “
“I said there’s no one stopping me.”
Maria gives me a concerned look, telling me I shouldn’t go for my safety.
I put down my bag, which is killing my back. I touch her arms on her sides. “Look, Maria. What if your family is in the same condition as mine? What will you do?”
She sighs. “I don’t have any family, Ronica.”
My heart sinks at her statement. Crap! Stupid, stupid! Be sensitive! “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
She touches my face with both of her hands. “It’s fine. But let’s say for example, you’re my daughter, I would be doing the exact thing you’re doing.” She smiles then, she hugs me. “Go,” she says softly on my ear. “Just please take care of yourself.”
I hug her back. “Thank you.” We release and I wear back my back pack. “Wait. What if Director Fury kills you for letting me go?”
“I can handle him,” she says with a wink. She touches her earpiece and says something in codes that I have no idea what they mean. But there is a part she says that I can go with Steve, or at least that’s what it means.
Maria walks with me towards the gate and my grandparents come rushing towards us.
“Young lady, where do you think you’re going?” exclaims my grandmother.
“You better not be sneaking out of here!” adds my grandfather.
I look at Maria.
“I’ll handle this,” she whispers. She walks towards my grandparents. “Mr. and Mrs. Alvarez, you’re granddaughter –”
“Listen here, missy,” grandma cuts her off and Maria flinches. “You don’t speak for our granddaughter!”
For the sake of Maria’s butt, I walk towards them. “Grandma, grandpa, I hope you understand that I’m doing this to save mom and my brothers.”
“Sira ulo ka ba? Ang bata bata mo pa! Sa tinging mo kaya mong makipaglaban sa mga sundalo? (Are you crazy? You’re too young! Do you think you can fight off those soldiers?)” asks grandpa, angrily.
“Lolo, sa eskuwelahan ko nga po nakipaglaban ako sa mga sundalo, diba? Sa tingin niyo po ba hindi ko kaya? (Grandpa, didn’t I just fight off soldiers at my school? Don’t you think I can this time?)” I answer, having a tone. I never answered my grandparents or my mom with a tone before. Now, I feel bad about myself. But still, I need to stand up for myself.
They both have scared looks at me. I frown and hug them. “Grandma, grandpa, I’m doing this for the sake of our family,” I whisper softly.
“Just take care of yourself,” says grandpa on my ear.
“We love you, Ronnie,” adds grandma.
“I love you, too. I promise, when I return here, it’ll be with mom, James and Jonah,” I swear.
We hug for the next five minutes in silence. Then, we release. They both give me a kiss on my head and grandma takes something out from her pocket. She hands it to me. I open my hand and it reveals the plain black hair clip I always wear at school, and which remained missing the whole week until now. It makes me smile and relief since it’s now found. I put it on my hair and hug grandma to express my gratitude. I release and grandpa also hands something to me. It’s his Swiss knife. I hug him, too, for that.
After the family moment is over, I walk out the gate with Maria and meet Steve standing by the SUV.
“Ronica! What-what are you doing here?” he asks, worriedly.
“I’m coming with you,” I answer, with a little smirk.
“Does Fury approve of this?” he asks.
I just give him a look that says ‘no’. Then, he looks at Maria. “Agent Hill?”
“I’ll handle this with Fury. In the meantime, take care of her,” says Maria.
We turn quiet for a minute.
“Rogers!” exclaims Maria and it makes Steve flinch. Then, she wraps her arms around me, my face is squished. She looks at Steve. “If anything horrific happens to her, I swear on my life, I will make you run for your yours and chase you while shooting my guns at you!” Now, she’s scaring me. She’s even more protective than my grandparents.
“Well, ma’am, I can’t actually say that she’ll be completely safe since she’ll be around dangerous people,” says Steve. I shrug.
“Maria,” I say. “You’re squishing me.”
She lets go. “Sorry.” She kisses my head, again. “Take care, alright?”
I nod. “I will if you stop worryin’!” I say, annoyed.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
Two hours has passed and Steve, Agent Jasper Sitwell, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who’s bald and has glasses and is in a suit instead of a spy suit, and I are still in a black SUV on our way to the military airport. The ride was very quiet so I had my earphones stuck on my ear for the past two hours. Jasper is driving and Steve is in the passenger seat while I’m on the backseat, behind Steve. I look out the window and see cars around us at a stop. Yet, I’m a little glad that we are only five minutes away from the airport. I didn’t ask them if we’re there yet because I’ve the directions to the airport memorized in my mind because whenever mom is going out of the country, if we have to go on a plane ride or if we have to drop off someone in the airport, I never sleep and just memorize the street signs while on the road.
We are now at the checkpoint area, wherein while entering the airport, you get your car checked. I remove my earphones. Jasper rolls down his window and the guard greets him.
“Good afternoon, sir,” and the guard still have a Filipino accent.
Jasper shows some sort of I.D. to him. The guard’s face turns to a serious expression. He looks at me. “What about her, sir, does she have a clearance? And she looks like a local.”
“I am a local,” I intervene.
“Pasensya na, iha, pero hindi ka pwedeng sumama sa kanila (I’m sorry, kid, but you can’t come with them)” says the guard.
“Please, don’t talk with your native tongue while we’re present,” says Jasper.
“I’m very sorry, sir, but she can’t come with you unless she has clearance,” says the guard.
“Well, we can’t definitely leave her here,” says Steve.
“Wait!” I take out my iPod from my pocket and unlock it as I come closer to the guard and Jasper. I open my email and tap the one that Maria gave me earlier. It’s actually my clearance. “I think this might help.” I face him my iPod.
He looks at it. “I’m sorry for the trouble, sir, ma’am,” he looks at Steve. “Sir.” He gives Steve a salute.
The guard says something to his walkie talkie in codes, something about S.H.I.E.L.D. and a request for assistance to lead us to the government security office of the airport.
As the car stops, I take my bag beside me and wear it. Then, I open the door and step out of the vehicle. I close the door and brush my hair behind my ear. Steve and Jasper step out and we all head to the office. Steve puts his hand on my shoulder, caressing it for comfort. I look over him and he smiles at me.
“Don’t worry, kid,” he says. “We’re close to bringing back your family.”
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
After answering the crappy questions of the head of security with sarcastic answers, we’re now finally on our way to the jet. We walk in the grounds, like in the military movies, and we stop in front of a black jet. It has a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on its tail wings and side wings. A number 42 is painted on its side. And it has two rocket boosters between the tail wings. The back portion of the jet starts to open and I just stared at it in awe. Steve and Jasper enter the jet as I follow behind them.
The inside of it is a little bright for it has windows on the ceiling. The seats are on the sides, facing the walkway. The pilot’s control room can be seen and it has no door blocking it. There are parachutes on the sides behind the seats and there’s a computer on the right side.
“Take a seat, Ronica,” says Jasper.
“Oh. Thanks,” I say. Then, I put my bag down on the seat beside the computer and take my seat beside it. I fasten my seatbelt and put my earphones back on.
Steve sits across me and Jasper faces the computer. Two men, who are in gray jumpsuits, enter the jet and I assume they’re our pilots. They greet the three of us and head to their station.
“So, Ms. Lorenzo,” says Jasper. I remove my earphones. He’s handing me a transparent glass, which I think is a tablet. “Here’s something to pass the time as we fly. You can read some files of the Avengers here.”
“No, thanks, Agent Sitwell but I think my music is enough,” I answer, politely.
“I’ll just put here just in case you get bored,” he puts it on the seat beside me. I smile at him and put my earphones back on.
Steve, on the other hand is just sketching something on a small notebook of his.
Minutes later, we take off. This is going to be a long flight.
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A/N: Again, sorry for the late update...
I hope you liked this chapter...
Until next time…
~Ronica :))