[1.4] "DUDE! PMS DOESN'T COVER INSURANCE!"
*****
"I DON'T THINK SO, DIRECTOR." Kevin said, stepping up towards Fury. Freya felt herself tense.
"What was that, Agent Jones?" Fury's deep voice echoed in confusion.
"You don't just pull my fourteen year old daughter out of school, tell her she is a part of some 'superhero team', send her here and then tell her to go fight some dude from mythology without my permission!" Kevin yelled at Fury.
Freya rolled her eyes. She was nearly fifteen, he was seriously overreacting. Freya could take care of herself, hell for a few years now she had. Her father had always been working and rarely came home. Freya used to go over to a trusted neighbour's house for weeks on end, but the last few years her father would send her money and Freya learnt to do her own shopping, pay the bills on the house. Freya understood why her father was reacting the way he was, but it was unnecessary.
Fury took one step towards Kevin, "Let's talk about this somewhere more private." But, that just seemed to make Freya's father more angry.
"No! Let's talk about it here and now!" Kevin demanded to Fury. Fury narrowed his eyes at Kevin with disbelief.
"Stand down, Agent Jones before I put you down." Fury threatened, but Kevin didn't listen.
"No I will not stand down! This concerns my daughter. I will not have her go on missions where she can possibly die!"
Fury stepped towards Kevin so that now the two men were face to face, "You're daughter can handle herself. She also knows she is not allowed anywhere near Loki or his mind controlled loons. Have more faith in her," Fury took another step towards Kevin. "And I apologise for not warning you beforehand, but we are in a very desperate situation."
Kevin clenched his jaw, something he did when he knew he was in the wrong but didn't want to admit it. Freya had seen this look beforehand in arguments they've had. Fury leant down and whispered in Kevin's ear something inaudible before moving away. "Now if you wouldn't mind escorting Captain Rogers and your daughter to get their uniforms and equipment. It would make my life ten times easier."
Kevin sneered before he turned towards Steve and Freya and gestured for them to follow him. Steve and Freya followed him obediently to a bunker that had their uniforms in it. Kevin presented one of his brown eyes and badge to the scanner and the door opened up.
Steve walked in first, heading straight ahead towards the bright red, white and blue star covered uniform. It looked nearly exactly like the one Freya had seen in history books and films Steve had done. His shield of the same colours shone from the light hitting it.
Next to Steve's, was Freya's. It was a black leather bodysuit with a few red patches around the arms, on the sides of the legs and in the centre under the breast area. Above the breast area was a cut out of a straight love heart, (at least that's how she saw it). It came with matching black combat boots, a little pocket on the side of the right leg, and a matching black mask that would cover half her face. Freya thought the suit was amazing and just stood there mesmerised by it.
"Hurry up and put it on Frey, you've got to go catch a bad guy." Kevin snapped. Kevin was still obviously not happy with his encounter with Fury. Whatever Fury whispered to him must've been really persuasive to make Kevin's stubborn ass back down. Freya grumbled under her breath before reaching for the costume. The feel of the material was cool against her skin, sending goosebumps up Freya's arms and slight tears to her eyes. This is something Freya always wanted ever since she saw a Batman cartoon and saw how awesome his costume was.
"It's also fireproof," Kevin interrupted Freya's moment. "You know, just in case you erupt into flames."
Freya laughed and shook her head, "Thanks, but you know I can't do that."
He pulled Freya into a hug and kissed her forehead, "I love you, be safe out there."
Freya smiled into his embrace, "Don't worry, I will be."
***
Freya had changed quickly into her uniform on and packed a small backpack as swiftly as she could and left for the Quinjet, but not before taking a picture and sending it to Maddie, Brody and Tyler, which Freya knew wouldn't have sent (but hoped it would anyway) because the group were hundreds of meters in the air.
It was just Steve, Natasha, some random agent Freya didn't know, and herself in the Quinjet to Germany and it was pretty quiet. For the first half of the flight she watched a movie she downloaded on her phone before it died. Freya then became bored, fidgeting around a lot, humming, singing. It wasn't until Freya saw Steve across from her gazing around the Quinjet that she decided she could do something she should've started a week ago.
"So Cap'n Crunch, I was just wondering.. umm, " Freya said nervously, "Do you want to help me with my assignment.. about you?"
Steve scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, "Cap'n Crunch?"
Freya mentally slammed her head against a wall. "It's a type of cereal."
Steve just nodded unsurely before answering Freya's question with a small shrug, "Sure."
Freya smiled widely before grabbing a notepad and pen she had stored in her small backpack she had brought with her before sitting next to Steve. "So in class we are learning about World War ll and since you were a huge part of that, we were also learning about you. I actually was meant to go on this excursion tomorrow to the Smithsonian because they have an exhibit on you and that was were I was meant to get the information for my report but since I'm here, I kinda can't"
Steve looked perplexed. "There's an exhibit on me?"
Freya nodded, excitement bubbling up inside her, "Of course there is! We wouldn't have won the War without you! Also you were the world's first superhero and the origins of how you came to be is really remarkable." Freya has realised she had been rambling and flushed from embarrassment, face in her hands, "Oh my god I'm so sorry!"
Steve chuckled at the young girl and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "It's perfectly alright. Now, what do you need help with?"
Freya has somehow managed to muster the strength to lift her head from her face. "Well what I have to do is research and explain the difficulties and experiences that Captain America and his Howling Commandos would've faced from a reliable source, which I would have gotten from the Smithsonian but," Freya looked Steve up and down, "you seem like a reliable source to me."
"Oh," Steve said quietly, his body tensing, "well it was a very difficult time. Um-"
"We're here, get ready to jump guys." Natasha interrupted Steve. Steve looked relieved and jumped up to put a parachute on.
Freya was confused as to why Steve was relieved before realising why while watching him put on his parachute. He had just woken from being preserved in ice for seventy years. The events of World War Two were probably still pretty fresh in his memory. Freya was hit with a sudden feeling of guilt.
Freya didn't say anything while she put her earpiece in her ear and put on her parachute, copying exactly how Steve was doing it. Freya struggled a little but she got there. When Natasha finally told them it was almost time to jump, Steve checked her parachute to make sure it was secure and tight.
"It's all secure. Ready to jump?" Steve asked Freya. Freya looked at the back door of the Quinjet.
"As long as I don't die from a heart attack beforehand then yeah, I'm ready."
"Okay guys," Natasha's voice boomed from the front, "Time to jump. And Freya." The girl turned to face her. Natasha stared at Freya warningly, "Stay out of the way."
Freya rolled her eyes as Natasha opened the back of the Quinjet, wind rushing in and blowing her hair everywhere. Steve looked at Freya before giving the young girl a smile and yelled against the wind, "You'll be okay." Then he jumped out. She took a deep breath. It was now or never.
Then Freya jumped after him.
***
Steve was waiting for Freya as she slowly floated to the ground. She scurried to get the harness of the parachute off, before they both ran towards where Loki had gathered a group of German citizens and hid behind a large decorative bush that was up the stairs higher than where Loki and the civilians were gathered, kneeling to the ground.
Freya made the wrong choice looking towards Loki, who looked exactly the same way she saw him in her dream. Same ridiculous golden horns and green, black and gold armour. Same pointed staff. Same blue, menacing eyes. Except this time, he was in front of her in the flesh. The insides of Freya's stomach were churning just looking at him.
Loki had finished saying his villainy monologue when an elderly man stood up from the crowd and faced Loki. "Not to men like you."
"There are no men like me," Loki gave the man a wide grin that sent shivers down Freya's spine.
"There are always men like you."
Freya saw Steve clenched tighter to his shield in his hand, shifting positions when Loki sneered and pointed his sceptre at the elderly man, "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." Before Loki could unleash a blast of blue energy from his sceptre at the man, Steve ran out and jumped in front of him with his shield up. The blast rebounded off the shield and hit Loki square in the chest, making him tumble to the ground.
"You know," Steve began, stepping on his shield and making it bounce back into his hand, "The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing about everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."
Loki looked up to Steve, "The soldier. The man out of time." He spat out in disgust.
"I'm not the one out of time." This was the cue for the Quinjet to come out of hiding, zooming above everyone and stopping, pointing a gun towards Loki, with Natasha threatening him over an intercom. Deciding it was time to come out, Freya left her spot behind the bush and joined Steve's side, making a flame dance around her fingers to hide how scared she was.
Loki chuckled from the ground and stared at Steve with an intimidating grin. He then beamed another blast of blue energy towards the Quinjet, with the Quinjet just dodging out of the way. Steve threw his shield towards Loki, which hit him square in the chest before Steve caught it again and then the two started fighting.
While they were busy, Freya started helping people get away from the fight and towards the streets. "MOVE IT! GO RUN! HURRY THE BLOODY HELL UP!" She yelled over the screams of the civilians, reusing what she used to say to all the kids in the hallways of her school. There were just some people who walked ridiculously slow.
A small toddler let go of their parent's hands and fell over as people were scrambling past. Freya stormed through the crowd to get to the screaming girl. "Quick! Grab my hand!" The girl's wide eyes stared at Freya with wonder before grabbing her hand. Freya pulled her up and placed the child on her hip. "Where's your mommy or your daddy?" She asked the girl. The girl sniffled and pointed in the direction of where they were.
In the distance Freya could see a lady pushing through the crowd worriedly, yelling out a name Freya couldn't quite hear. Freya pointed towards that lady, "Is that your mommy?" The little girl looked at the lady and nodded. As soon as the little girl did, Freya started running to the lady.
When Freya reached her the girl started yelling out to her mom. Freya placed her on the ground and she ran to her mom. Her mom forcefully pulled the child into a protective hug and gave a smile of gratitude towards Freya, speaking in German. Freya smiled back, not understanding the woman and ran towards where she came from. Freya pushed through frightened people running away and turned up just in time to see Steve being hit and flown to the side. Freya yelled out his name and Loki jumped around.
Freya tensed up as Loki made eye contact with her and smirked, pointing his sceptre at Freya. Knowing what was about to come, Freya quickly jumped to the side, avoiding the bright blue blast. She watched as it hit a parked car, creating a massive hole in it.
"Dude! PMS doesn't cover insurance!" Freya impulsively yelled, although regretting it immediately as she now knew Loki was going to let her get away with that, and also that she wasn't meant to get involved with the fight and now she blew it. In a frenzy, Freya conjured a fireball in her hands and sent it hurtling towards Loki's darkly face, which he effortlessly moved out of the way.
Loki swiftly attained small, sharp metallic objects from his suit and threw them expertly at Freya. She dodged them out of pure luck. When Loki ran out of daggers, he grabbed his sceptre again, sending another blast her way and charged towards Freya. Freya threw herself to the ground, narrowly avoiding the blast. She hissed as she felt pain in her knee.
When Freya looked back up she noticed Loki was getting too close to her and shuffled backwards until she felt her back hit a corner of the concrete wall. Freya frantically searched for a way out, but it was too late. He was too close for her to run. She wouldn't be able to avoid him.
When he stood above Freya, he grimaced. "Finally," He whispered, bringing his sceptre down to touch her chest where Freya's heart would be. A last second decision entered her mind.
Freya squeezed her eyes shut and held her hands up in front of herself, hoping for the best, but the invisible force she was hoping would arrive didn't. As the sceptre drew closer, Freya hastily- without thinking it through (as most of her decisions were)- kicked Loki in the shin with her good leg. Loki stumbled and she used this short amount of time to get up from the ground and begin to run, but she felt him grab at her ponytail and tug her towards him.
"Damn it," Freya hissed in pain. She officially has had no option left but to attack him back now. Using the fighting techniques she learnt from Natasha and Clint, Freya lifted her elbow up and brought it down to his stomach. Loki grunted in pain and loosened his grip on Freya's hair. She used this to her advantage and quickly turned around and balled both her hands into a fist, delving it into his shoulder.
'So much for staying on the sidelines,' she thought, 'I am going to be in so much shit'.
Loki regained his stature and attacked back using his sceptre to block the rest of Freya's attacks and pushed her to the ground. His eyes met Freya's and they burned with rage "You will regret not choosing the right side," He growled down to her.
Before he could bring the end of his sceptre to her chest to hold Freya down, she rolled out of the way and smirked up to him, "I do not care." That was a lie, but she wouldn't let him know that.
Loki growled in frustration and flung is sceptre in an attempt to knock Freya over, but luckily for her, Steve rolled in front of her with his shield held high. The sceptre and the shield clashed, creating a loud metallic sound, but that didn't phase any of the men. Steve immediately jumped back into the fight before Loki could do so.
Freya, deciding now was the time to get away, ran as quickly as possible away from the fight before suddenly, AC/DC started blasting through the Quinjet speakers. Steve, Loki and Freya snapped their heads in the direction it was coming from with looks of confusion on all their faces.
Well, Steve's and Loki's confusion was different to Freya's, theirs was because they had no idea what this was. Freya had no clue why it was playing, until a metallic red and gold suit dashed through the air and stopped in front of Steve and shot a bright beam at Loki, sending the God of Mischief flying into the stairs. Iron Man lifted his arms up, pointed all his weaponry at the Norse god, his robot-like voice saying, "Make your move reindeer games."
Freya chuckled under her breath at Tony Stark's nickname for Loki, before getting up and walking to his side. Loki lifted his hands up to a surrender pose before his armour faded into just a normal green, black and gold attire. All of Tony Stark's weaponry went back into his suit and he stood down from his threatening pose.
"Mr. Stark," Steve addressed the billionaire.
"Captain," Tony Stark addressed Steve without looking at him. Tony Stark then turned to Freya and pointed at her, "And you are?"
"Freya. Freya Jones." Freya said confidently. Tony Stark nodded, scratching the top of his nose before holding his hand out, "I am-"
"Tony Stark." Freya smiled, "I know. I've grown up in New York my whole life." Freya turned away from Tony Stark and, despite the anxiousness that she felt when she was anywhere near him, grabbed Loki by the arm and pulled him up from the steps.
Natasha parked the Quinjet and opened the back. Freya pushed Loki in and sat him on a seat, placing the handcuffs that Natasha had just passed her onto his wrists. "Don't even think about trying to get away, it won't work."
"Oh don't worry," Loki said calmly, "I don't plan to." Freya gave Loki a weird look as Tony and Steve got on the jet, then Natasha finally took off.
***
They all sat in silence for a while, none of them really having anything to say. After a few more minutes of silence, with only Natasha talking and giving Fury updates, Steve got up and stood next to Tony, whispering, "I don't like it."
"What?" Tony asked, "Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"
Steve nodded, "I don't remember it ever being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."
"Still, you're pretty spry, for an older fellow," Tony turned to Freya, "And you, for one, look a bit too young to be fighting. What are you, twelve?"
Freya rolled her eyes, "I'm nearly fifteen, Mr Stark." Tony shrugged.
"Close enough," Tony retorted. "What are you doing anyway? Fighting the guy? You could've gotten hurt, or killed."
"She was meant to stay along the sideline, making sure everyone got off the streets," Natasha said pointedly, turning her head to look at Freya. "Fury won't be happy, I hope you know that Frey."
"He doesn't have to know?" Freya suggested innocently, bashing her eyelashes. Although, Natasha didn't look convinced as she raised her eyebrows at her and turned back to direct the jet. After a few moments of silence, Tony turned his attention back to Steve.
"What's your thing? Pilates?" Tony sighed as Steve gave him a look of confusion, "It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a few things, you know, doing time as a capsicle."
Freya couldn't help but snort, Steve on the other hand, did not look impressed. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."
"Me either." Freya grumbled, still slightly annoyed at his twelve comment. She knew she was young and short, but she wasn't that young and short. Freya was old enough to make her own decisions.
"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you both," Tony said, "mostly because one of you is a fourteen year old tall dwarf."
Freya snapped her head in the billionaire's direction and sneered, "Ha ha ha. Funny. Height jokes, my favourite."
"I thought you'd like them."
There was a loud boom of thunder and a crack of lightning nearby, making the Quinjet shake violently. Freya gripped her seat and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping it would end soon. "What's the matter? Scared of a little thunder?" Steve asked.
"Yes," Freya mumbled but Tony put a metallic hand on her shoulder saying, "Not you, it's quite clear that you are." Freya shrugged off his hand from her shoulder and sent a glare his way.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Not even a second passed after Loki said that there was a thud on the roof, causing Freya to let out a surprised squeak. Tony put on his Iron Man helmet and pressed a button on the Quinjet, opening the ramp, walking towards it.
A tall muscular man with blonde hair that just went past his shoulders, wearing armour similar to Loki and wielding a hammer, who Freya recognised as Thor from the videos she saw on the tablet, jumped onto the opening of the ramp and stepped into the jet. When Tony advanced on Thor, Thor slammed his hammer into Tony and advanced towards Loki and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and off the seat.
Thor started dragging Loki to the edge of the ramp, swinging his hammer. Freya realised what was about to happen and jumped up, grabbing onto Loki's arm tightly, trying to pull him back into the jet. But instead, Loki grabbed onto Freya's upper arm and pulled her with him until suddenly she felt nothing under her feet as they started zooming off into the sky. Far away from the jet.