Children of a Lesser God

As soon as the Captain was gone, Jetta let loose an infuriated scream and slammed the side of her fist into the wall. Wasn’t this just a wonderful situation to be in? First, she got rescued by agents of a top-secret espionage agency that tell her she was left for dead in a genetic research lab. She then got brought back to New York and told that she is being forced against her will to join a team of superheroes that battled an alien invasion the previous year.

To top it all off, the so-called leader of the team wanted the female to show respect to someone who hadn’t personally saved her, which was a notion that Jetta found absolutely ridiculous. Neither Fury nor the blond had done anything to earn her respect. Needless to say, she was pissed off at the Captain, pissed off at Director Fury, and pissed off at the whole situation in general.

Jetta slammed her hand into the wall one more time before turning around, becoming aware that every SHIELD agent in the lobby had their eyes on her.

“What the hell are you staring at?” she growled, dully aware of the throbbing in her hand.
“Now, now, Ms. Monroe. Snapping at everyone is only going to make things worse.”

The red-and-blond female spun around to see a brunette man in a black suit holding a Taser gun, watching her with an amused smirk on his face; Jetta was tempted to march up to the guy and wipe the smug expression off his face. She wasn’t in the mood for this. After several long seconds, she addressed the man.

“And, who may you be exactly?”
“Agent Phil Coulson. Director Fury has given me orders to escort you to Stark Tower.”
Jetta let loose a dry chuckle at his comment. “And, what if I choose not to go with you?”
“I have my ways to persuade you, Ms. Monroe,” Coulson said, lifting up his Taser Gun.
Jetta rolled her eyes and let loose another laugh at his comment. “Oh, please, Coulson. I’m pretty sure that I can take you on.”
“Oh, I have no doubts that you can take me on, Ms. Monroe. That’s why I have some assistance,” Coulson commented.

The male motioned toward the doors, and Jetta turned to see the Captain standing in front of them with his thick arms folded against his chest; his presence startled her, since she thought he had already left the building. Noticing the female’s gaze on him, the blond gave Jetta a small shrug.
“The last thing I want to do is hurt you, ma’am,” he told her.

Jetta narrowed her eyes at the Captain before seeing some movement out the corner of her eye; she pulled her eyes off the muscled male to turn her attention to the source of the movement. Clint Barton was across the lobby from her, prepared to fire another tranquilizer-tipped arrow at her. Jetta stared down the marksman for several seconds before turning her attention back to Coulson.

“If you even think about attacking me, it’s needless to say that Captain Rogers and Agent Barton won’t hesitate to take you down. Now, we can either do this the easy way or the difficult way. It’s your choice, Ms. Monroe.”

The tattooed female gazed from Coulson to the Captain to Clint and then back again for a good two minutes before finally letting loose an infuriated snarl.

“Fine. Whatever.”
“Atta girl,” Coulson told her, lowering his Taser gun.

Jetta watched warily as the Captain walked to her side and lightly took a hold of her upper arm; the feeling of his calloused hand against her arm caused the female to flinch. The Captain noticed and gazed at her from over his massive shoulder.

“Don’t try anything, ma’am,” he warned her quietly, removing his large hand from her arm and motioning for her to follow him.

Jetta glared at the Captain, but reluctantly let him lead her out of the building; while Coulson followed behind the pair, Clint remained in the lobby. The female figured that the agent was making sure that his assistance wouldn’t be required, which was the reason that she was letting the Captain and Coulson take her to Stark Tower. The last thing she wanted to do was get hit with another arrow, since that sucker was surprisingly painful.

The Captain led Jetta out of the building to an awaiting SHIELD vehicle, not unlike the one that had brought her and Natasha to SHIELD Central, and nonchalantly opened the door for her. He watched silently as the red-and-blond female climbed into the van, clearing his throat when the female didn’t move to the other side so he could climb in.

Jetta turned to give the Captain a smart remark before deciding against it and moving over so the blond could climb in; he did so without comment and sat down next to the female, leaving Coulson to step around the van and climb into the passenger’s seat. The brunette turned his attention to the Captain as the van started moving.

“Thank you for the help, Captain.”
The blond smiled at Coulson. “It was not a problem at all, sir.”
“Really, Captain. I couldn’t have gotten her to cooperate without your help,” Coulson replied.
“Well, I’m just glad I could be of assistance, sir.”

The exchange between the two men caused Jetta to chuckle and shake her head as she gazed out the window, causing Coulson to turn his attention to her.

“What do you find so funny, Ms. Monroe?”
“Dude, you’re like, obsessed with him. Is he your man crush or something?”
The Captain looked hopelessly confused. “His ‘man crush’, ma’am…?”
Coulson looked mortified at Jetta’s comment. “He is absolutely is not my man crush, Ms. Monroe.”
“Whatever. You’re a fan boy, then. Pretty much the same difference, dude.”

“A fan boy? Uh, I don’t think Agent Coulson has ever sold fans, ma’am.”
The Captain’s comment caused Jetta to turn to the male. “You are such a blond, Captain.”
“I don’t understand what me being blond has to do with your previous comment, ma’am.”
“Oh god,” Jetta exclaimed, clearly amused. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

Coulson looked irritated at the female’s jabs at the Captain.
“Captain Rogers is not stupid, Ms. Monroe; he’s been frozen for close to seventy years. Clearly, you’d be a little behind on things as well if you were in his position.”
The Captain looked irritated as well as he gazed at Jetta. “Are you implying that I’m stupid, ma’am?”
Jetta rolled her eyes at the blond’s question. “Oh, please. I was just kidding around. You need to learn how to take a joke.”
The Captain’s expression grew more annoyed, but he said nothing.

The rest of the trip to Stark Tower went by without incident, with Jetta staring out the window and not paying any attention to either Coulson or the Captain. She felt more than a little stupid for not realizing that Captain was short for “Captain America”, the super soldier that Dr. Abraham Erskine had created back during World War II. Being the first successful genetically engineered human, Steve Rogers was a scientific wonder of his time and the world’s first true superhero.

Being a genetically engineered human herself, Jetta had heard about the legendary Captain America for practically her whole life. Back during her days as a lab rat, the female had heard the scientists discussing the super soldier pretty much daily. She had gleamed from the conversations that Steve was a frail, sickly individual before he was injected with the super soldier serum.

Jetta couldn’t shake the thought that a “scientific miracle” was exactly what the blond was.

“We’ve arrived at Stark Tower,” Coulson suddenly exclaimed, pulling the red-and-blond female from her thoughts; her hazel eyes gazed up at Stark Tower in complete fascination as the two men opened up their doors and climbed out of the van. Steve immediately stepped around the van and nonchalantly opened up Jetta’s door.

“Well, are we going to go inside, or are you just planning to stare at the building all day?” Coulson was standing outside the car, watching Jetta with a clearly amused expression on his face.

The male’s comment caused her to turn and glare at him, but nonetheless climb out of the car; as soon as she climbed out, Steve took a hold of her upper arm and starting leading her to the building quietly. Jetta followed him reluctantly, trying to unsuccessfully free herself from the super soldier’s grasp. Coulson stepped ahead of the pair and entered the building ahead of them.

Natasha was in the lobby when the trio stepped in, along with a browned-haired man wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt. Jetta’s eyes caught sight of something glowing on his chest underneath the t-shirt. Natasha turned her attention to Steve and smiled at him, causing the blond to smile in return and drop Jetta’s arm.

“Hello, ma’am,” he exclaimed, stepping up to the redhead and pulling her into a hug; Steve’s gesture caused Jetta to turn away in annoyance.
Natasha looked shocked, but she wrapped her arms around the male’s broad shoulders to return his embrace.
“Hello, Cap. It’s been a while.”
“It sure has been, ma’am,” Steve replied, dropped his arms from Natasha.
Natasha turned her attention to Jetta as the blond returned to her side.
“Hello, Jetta.”
Jetta nodded her head in reply to Natasha’s greeting. “Um, hi,” she replied shortly, trying to mask her annoyance.

The man in the Black Sabbath t-shirt was watching Steve with an amused expression on his face.
“Well, if it isn’t the Capsicle! So, you got called in, too.”
“Mr. Stark,” Steve replied curtly, and Jetta could feel some annoyance creep up on her psyche that didn’t belong to her.
“Oh, cheer up, Captain! For the record, I missed you, too,” Stark replied, before turning his attention to Jetta.
“So, who’s the chick?”

“She’s the newest member of the Avengers, Mr. Stark,” Steve replied.
The male looked from Jetta to Steve to Natasha and then back again.
“We’re getting a new team member? I had no idea we were getting a new team member. How come I’m always the last to find out this kind of stuff?”
Another redheaded woman entered the lobby; she looked surprised to see Jetta for a second before realization crossed her face. She immediately stepped up to the wary female and extended a hand to her.

“Oh! You must be Jetta, the human-avian hybrid. I’m Pepper Potts. It’s nice to get the chance to meet you.”
Jetta gazed at Pepper’s hand for several seconds until Steve nudged her; the female glared at him for a split second before reluctantly shaking Pepper’s hand.
“Uh, how do you know my name…?”
Pepper looked a little flustered. “Oh, I’m sorry. Phil told me about you.”

Again, Steve was lost, and Jetta could feel his confusion. “Human-avian hybrid? What does that mean?”
“She’s part human and part avian,” Natasha replied, causing the super soldier’s face to become more perplexed.
“It means she has wings, pretty boy! Like huge wings. And, hollow bones that allow her to fly,” Stark interjected, causing Steve’s confusion to quickly turn to annoyance again.
“Stark, please,” he commented quietly. “I didn’t know.”

“Well then, Old Glory. You need to get with the program here. OsCorp Industries has been experimenting with cross-species genetics for years now.”
“English, Stark,” Steve retorted.
“Right. I keep forgetting how much you missed out on during your seventy years as a human Bomb Popsicle.”
Jetta could feel Steve’s annoyance quickly changing into anger; the sudden and rapid change of emotion startled her and she decided to step in before things turned ugly.

“You can hop off his dick now, okay? Just because he doesn’t understand doesn’t give you a right to keep picking on him.”

Everyone in the lobby froze and turned their attention to the red-and-blond female; Coulson and Natasha reached for their weapons, while the other three looked astonished.

It was a few seconds before Stark replied. “Well, look at that. The harpy over here is defending our All-American Boy. That’s actually almost cute.”
Stark’s comment caused Jetta to roll her eyes. “Oh, give me a break, dude. He’s your team leader, for God’s sake. Who do you think you are?”
“Please. Gramps knows that I’m just kidding around with him. And, I just so happen to be Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, as well as the one and only Iron-Man. I should be the one asking who you think you are.”

“Obviously, Sherlock. But, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t seriously pushing his buttons. I don’t care if you’re freaking Robocop; just do us all a favor and shut up. It’s getting seriously old. And, she,” Jetta paused to motion to Pepper,” just blurted out my name. But in case you didn’t hear, it’s Jetta. Also, like you were just explaining to the Captain, I was genetically engineered to have avian genes, which makes me stronger than the average human. So, I don’t think you want me to make you shut up.”

Tony and Jetta stared at each other for several tense seconds until Clint sauntered into the lobby; the blond took one look at the scene unfolding and help up his hands in a “Whoa Nellie” gesture.

“I stay behind at SHIELD Central for a few minutes to make sure that Jetta isn’t going to cause a scene, and I come here to find World War III about to unfold. What is going on?”

“Well, well. Hey, Link! I see you got called in, too.”
“The whole team, with the exception of Thor, got called in. That doesn’t tell me what’s going on, Stark.”
“Oh, yes! I was picking on the Star Spangled Man over here and bird girl decided to step in and defend him. Really, it’s no biggie. We’re all good. Right, guys?” Tony asked, turning to Steve and Jetta.

Both the super soldier and the avian hybrid simply glared at him.
“Like I thought. Anyways, if the whole team got called in, why aren’t Dr. Banner and Zapdos here yet?”
“Dr. Banner will arrive within the coming days. As for Thor, the Bifröst hasn’t been repaired yet. Since it’s difficult to reach Earth without it, Fury told me that he doesn’t want to call Thor in unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Natasha explained.

“Oh, well. I was looking forward to seeing the big guy again,” Tony shrugged before turning his attention to Clint. “Anyways, Robin Hood. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but you get the honor of flooring with Mr. Liberty while we stay here in my humble abode.”
“I have not heard that. If that’s the case, who is Natasha staying with?”
“Who do you think? The new chick, of course.”
“Stark, I swear, if you call me a chick one more time…”
“Seriously? Why can’t we stick Jetta with the Captain?”
Jetta opened her mouth to say something, but Natasha beat her to it.

“You cannot be serious, Clint.”
“You know, that would have been a really good idea. I bet Private Ryan and Lisbeth Salander would hit it off really well,” Stark chimed in. “It’s a shame Fury didn’t think to put them together.”
“Oh, please, Stark. The two can’t stand each other.” Jetta had completely forgotten that Coulson was still in the lobby with them until he spoke up.
“You kidding, Coulson? The two have so much in common; they’re both genetically engineered and have spent a period of time in suspended animation. I have more in common with Nat then I do with Rogers.”

Natasha rolled her eyes at Clint’s last comment. “Keep it in your pants, Cupid. She’s staying with me.”
“If you guys don’t mind, I’m going to excuse myself now,” Steve, who was watching in silence, suddenly spoke. He turned his attention to Jetta as he finished.

She was about to ask him what was going on, but the super soldier grabbed her arm again and pushed her into the wall, causing her to hiss in discomfort.
“What is your problem?”
“What you did a few minutes ago? That was a real hypocritical move,” Steve answered raucously.
“Wow. You’re getting on my case for trying to help you? That’s pretty low, Captain.”
“I didn’t need your assistance, ma’am. I am more than capable of handling Stark’s ridicule.”
“Oh, don’t even give me that bull. He was getting under your skin and severely pissing you off.”
“And, were you not doing that yourself earlier?”
Jetta was silent after Steve’s last remark, causing the male to snigger.
“I suggest you start practicing what you preach, ma’am.”

With that, the blond dropped Jetta’s arm and turned away from her; he took a second to push a hand through his hair before acknowledging Clint.
“Barton! Let’s head upstairs.”
Clint, who was watching the pair’s exchange in stunned silence, nodded his head quickly.
“Coming, Captain.

Everyone in the lobby watched quietly as the two men walked to the elevator. As soon as the duo stepped onto it, Jetta turned to look the other four. Much like Clint, they were much too shocked to say anything. After several seconds, however, Natasha turned her attention to Jetta.
“I think we’re going to head upstairs, as well; Jetta looks exhausted.”
Not in the mood to argue, Jetta pushed herself off the wall and stepped to Natasha’s side; the redhead rested a hand on Jetta’s shoulder and led her over to the elevator.

As the pair walked, Natasha acknowledged Jetta.
“You okay?”
“Mmhmm.”
“I knew that Steve was prone to being moody, but I’ve never seen him have an outburst such as that,” Natasha commented quietly as the pair stepped into the elevator.

Jetta opened her mouth to reply to the agent, but got cut off by the sound of a British man’s voice.
“I assume you’d like me to take you to your quarters, Agent Romanoff?”
“Yes, JARVIS,” Natasha replied.
“Very well.”

Jetta was gazing at Natasha in confusion as the elevator started moving upwards.
“…JARVIS?” she asked.
“Stark’s artificial intelligence. It takes care of everything in Stark Tower as well as assists Stark with his Iron-Man suit.”
“Do I even want to know what JARVIS stands for?”
“Just A Rather Very Intelligent System,” JARVIS interjected, causing Jetta to nod her head.
“That is…fascinating. If not slightly creepy.”
“I find that observation rather offensive, ma’am.” The AI’s reply caused Jetta to gaze at Natasha in shock.

The female’s reaction caused the SHIELD agent to give her a small smile.
“It takes time, but I assure you, you will get used to JARVIS.”
Jetta gazed at Natasha warily as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.
“We’ve arrived on your floor, Agent Romanoff. If you or your friend needs any form of assistance, simply let me know.”
“We will do so, JARVIS. Thank you,” Natasha commented before motioning for Jetta to follow her off the elevator.
“God, I hope you’re right, “Jetta told the shorter female as the two of them stepped off the elevator.

Natasha laughed quietly and led Jetta through the living room and into a bedroom; or at least, the avian hybrid assumed it was a bedroom. The redhead motioned for her to take a seat on the bed as she started rummaging around the room. A few minutes later, she presented Jetta with a plain black tank top and a pair of purple shorts before motioning for her to follow her again.

Jetta silently followed Natasha into another bedroom; she stayed by the doorway as she acknowledged the other female.
“Get changed and then get some rest; you’ve had a stressing day.”
“I like the sound of that,” Jetta told her, causing Natasha to smile.
“I’m glad. If you need anything, just let JARVIS know and it will gladly help you out.”
“Still find that thing creepy.” Jetta grumbled, causing Natasha to shake her head.
“Get some sleep, Jetta. When you’re ready, I’ll be out in the living room.”

The redhead then stepped out of the room and quietly shut the door behind her; as soon as she was gone, Jetta changed out of the clothes Clint had retrieved earlier and into the ones Natasha had given her. She tossed the old clothes on the floor before exhaustingly flopping down onto the bed and rolling onto her stomach. The red-and-blond female folded her arms over the pillow and leaned her head into them, shutting her eyes and allowing herself to drift off to sleep.