Children of a Lesser God

Like countless times before, Jetta’s sleep was far from peaceful. Rather, it was filled with a magnitude of disturbing imagery and sounds. The sound of a nuclear siren was wailing throughout the city, as well as the distinctive thump-thump-thump of a helicopter. While people were leaving most of their possessions behind to scramble onto busses, a scientist in a white lab coat shoved Jetta into a crate and tossed her into a van.

As the van started moving, the avian hybrid gazed out the window through the bars of her crate and found herself staring at the smoldering remains of reactor #4.

Suddenly, the female was no longer in a van, escaping from an apocalyptic nuclear accident; she was sprawled out on a bed inside a steadily darkening room. Jetta pulled herself into a sitting position and absently gazed at the wall, pushing a hand through her red-and-blond hair. It took her several moments to remember that she was in New York City, staying in Tony Stark’s home with the rest of the Avengers team.

Jetta pushed herself off the bed and stepped over to the window, silently watching as the sun slowly sank below the city skyline. Although the sight was beautiful, it didn’t do much to soothe the female’s rattled nerves. After several seconds, Jetta let loose a hopeless grunt and stepped back to the bed; she threw herself onto the bed and let loose a deep breath before lazily gazing around the empty room.

“Um, JARVIS, right? What…time…is it?” she asked hesitantly, feeling more than a little awkward for talking to an artificial intelligence.
“Approximately 8:45 PM.”
“Oh. Well, um, thanks, I guess.” Jetta was silent for several seconds before acknowledging JARVIS again. “Uh, is Agent Romanoff around…?”
“She’s currently out in the living room. Do you require her assistance?”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Jetta commented. Despite herself, she was slightly relieved that the agent had kept to her promise.

“Are you alright, ma’am? You appear to be shaken.”
JARVIS’ observation caused Jetta to shake her head and roll her eyes as she pushed herself off the bed; she found it both sad and somewhat amusing that an artificial intelligence was worried about her.
“Absolutely fine, JARVIS.”
“Well, your rest seemed disturbed. May I suggest that you try to get some more pleasant rest?”
“Seriously, JARVIS? Why would I want to go back to sleep after I just woke up from nightmares?”

“My apologizes, ma’am. No need to get snappy.”
“Whatever, JARVIS. If you don’t mind, I don’t need your help right now,” Jetta told the AI as she stepped out of the bedroom.
“Alright, ma’am. Let me know when you do require my assistance.”

The female ignored JARVIS’ last comment and stepped into the living room, where Natasha was watching television on the sofa. The redhead turned her attention to Jetta as she joined her on the sofa and gave the taller female a slight smile.

“Hey, Jetta. Feeling better now that you had some rest?”
“Not really. I feel like crap,” Jetta grumbled, causing concern to cross Natasha’s features.
“Why is that? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
Jetta turned her attention away from Natasha to the television and shrugged.
“Just had an extremely screwed up dream.”
Jetta’s comment caused Natasha to frown and rest a hand on the other female’s shoulder.

“Do you feel like talking about it?”
Jetta shook her head. “No, not really.”
“That’s perfectly fine. If you ever do need someone to talk to though, don’t be afraid to ask me. I assure you that I don’t bite.”
“Thank god.”
Jetta’s sarcastic comment caused Natasha to raise an eyebrow before changing the subject.
“So, Jetta. Is there anything in particular you’d like to watch?”
“I couldn’t care less,” Jetta said.
“Well, okay. Have it your way, then.”

The pair watched TV in silence for several minutes following that comment until JARVIS spoke.
“Captain Rogers is showing interest in coming to your level, Agent Romanoff. What should I tell him?”
“EW, no! I’m not in the mood for dealing with that-“
“Tell him that we’d be thrilled to receive a visit from him,” Natasha interjected smoothly, cutting the other female off.
“Very well. I’ll bring him up, then.”
Jetta shot Natasha an angry glare as JARVIS finished, but Natasha ignored it; this caused the taller female let loose a frustrated sigh and muttered a string of swear words in Ukrainian.
Jetta’s angry comments caused Natasha to let loose a quiet chuckle. “There’s no need for profanity, Jetta.”

The female immediately turned so she could reply to Natasha, but she got cut off by the elevator doors opening. Both Jetta and Natasha turned around to see Steve step out of the elevator with his hands jammed into the pockets of his pants; the male had removed his leather jacket and had the sleeves of his plaid shirt rolled up. A bright smile appeared on Steve’s face as he made his way over to the sofa.

“Hello, ma’am. Hello, Agent Romanoff,” he greeted both of the females cheerfully before turning his attention to Jetta. “May I?”

Jetta ignored him and kept her eyes focused on the TV, but scooted over a bit so the super soldier could sit down.
Another smile appeared on Steve’s face, and he lightly took a seat beside Jetta. He placed an elbow on the arm of the sofa and rested his chin on his fist, following the red-and-blond’s gaze to the television. After a few minutes, the blond turned his attention from the television back to Jetta.

Steve slowly ran his tongue over his lips before addressing the female.
“I owe you an apology for earlier, ma’am. I believe I was out of line, and therefore we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Well, that’s nice.”
Undaunted by Jetta’s irritated reply, Steve pushed on. “There are many things I stated that I shouldn’t have, and I hope that you’ll accept my apology; I came off as a jerk earlier and that was not my intention. However, I was sincere when I stated that I do not believe that you are beyond saving. You seem like a very fascinating person, and I’d like the chance to get to know you.”
“Whatever. Can you just be quiet? I’m trying to watch the movie, if you don’t mind.”

Natasha caught Steve’s gaze and shook her head, causing the blond to let loose a heavy sigh and return his attention to the television. The trio watched the rest of “Batman Begins” together in tense silence; as the credits came on, Steve pushed a hand through his golden hair and turned his attention to Jetta.

“Ma’am, I feel truly awful for some of the comments I made earlier. Will you accept my apology?”
Jetta let loose a frustrated snarl. “If it gets you to leave me alone, then fine.”
“Jetta, the sassy remarks are uncalled for. Captain Rogers is trying to apologize to you.”
The avian hybrid rolled her eyes. “I realize this, Agent Romanoff. Believe it or not, I can hear.”
“Then I think you should drop the attitude and listen to what your team leader has to say to you.”
“Oh, please. I sure don’t want to be on this team, and he doesn’t want me on it either.”

A pang of regret shot through Jetta’s chest, and she instinctively turned to Steve; the super soldier’s expression was apologetic, which caused Jetta to roll her eyes again.
“That was one of the things I said that was out of line,” he stated quietly.
“I guess that I appreciate your attempts at an apology, Captain, but honestly, I don’t care. I come to your defense when Stark is bullying you to make up for the remarks I made earlier and what do you do? You push me into a wall and tell me that you don’t need my help, along with labeling me as a hypocrite. And then you come up here all cheerful and try to get me to accept an apology? Well, guess what. It’s not going to work. You really screwed up, Cap.”

Jetta pushed herself off the couch as she finished, letting loose an irritated growl as Natasha called to her.
“Where do you think you’re going, Jetta?”
“Anywhere but here, which right now, unfortunately means to bed,” the tattooed female shot back and turned around without getting Natasha a chance to reply.

“Ma’am, wait.”
Steve stated as he quickly pushed himself off the sofa; a few quick strides later, he was standing in front of the avian hybrid. Jetta let loose an audible groan and tried to step by him, but the super soldier used his large body to intercept her. After a few more unsuccessful attempts to step by Steve, Jetta let loose a frustrated snarl and glared viciously at him.

“What do you want?”
“A chance to make things right.”
Jetta rolled her eyes at Steve’s pleading tone. “Oh, please. I already told you; it’s too late,” she told him, putting a hand on the male’s shoulder so she could shove him out of the way.

Before she had to do so, Steve quickly reacted by taking a hold of her wrist and pulling her hand away from his shoulder. Jetta narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to tell him off, but Steve wasn’t looking at her. The avian hybrid mentally cursed as she realized that was the hand she had slammed into the wall earlier.

Jetta froze as the super soldier gently took her hand into his larger one so he could get a better look at the side of her hand. He hesitantly lifted up his free hand and gingerly ran his calloused fingertips against the faded bruise; Steve’s soft touch caused a small shiver go down the female’s spine. After a few moments of inspecting the injury, the blond let loose a breath and turned his attention to Jetta.

“How did this happen…?”
Jetta regained her composure and quickly yanked her hand from Steve’s. “It’s none of your business, Captain,” she snapped.
“Ma’am, it is very much my business when a member of my team is injured.”
Jetta was getting fed up with the whole situation at this point; she ignored Steve’s comment and shoved past him, letting loose an infuriated scream when she realized he was following her.

“What part of “leave me alone” do you not get?”
“That bruise is from when you slammed your hand into the wall at SHIELD Central, isn’t it?”
Steve’s quiet statement caused Jetta’s eyes to widen, and she turned to gaze at him in shock.
The super soldier’s tone was calm as he continued. “Ma’am, there are much better-“

Before he could finish his sentence, Jetta cut Steve off by violently shoving her elbow into his muscular stomach. The blow was powerful enough to catch the super soldier off guard and knock the breath out of him, causing Natasha to quickly spring to her feet and agilely lunge for the avian hybrid. Jetta quickly aimed a spinning backfist at the agent, but Natasha was prepared this time and quickly dodged the attack before retaliating by performing a quick jab at Jetta’s chest.

Jetta flinched for a split second, and Natasha used this to her advantage to tackle Jetta to the ground. Like before, she quickly straddled the other female to prevent her from getting up, but Jetta sucker punched Natasha in the face; she quickly flipped the two of them over so she was straddling Natasha and went for another blow, but Steve quickly pulled Jetta off the redhead and restrained her.

Jetta struggled against the super soldier in a feeble attempt to free herself, so Steve responded by using one of his powerful arms to put the female into a chokehold.
“That is enough, ma’am. Attacking us for no reason is completely uncalled for,” he hissed into her ear.

After several seconds, Jetta slowly stopped struggling against Steve as the lack of oxygen started to make her light headed; after a few more moments, she became limp against the blond’s sturdy build.
“I’m truly sorry ma’am, but you’ve left me with no choice,” Steve told her quietly as she passed out of consciousness.



“Look, Captain. She’s starting to come around.”
“Ma’am! Ma’am, can you hear me?”

The vaguely familiar voices were the first things that Jetta heard as she slipped back into consciousness. The avian hybrid kept her eyes shut as she tried to gauge where she was and who the voices belonged to. She was aware that someone was carrying her as he walked, since she could feel a pair of heavily muscled arms holding onto her; every step that the male took caused Jetta’s head to pound.

Despite the throbbing in her head, the red-and-blond let loose a groan of affirmation to the recent statement before finally opening her eyes. The first thing she noticed that Steve was the one carrying her as he watched her with a concerned expression on his face. His blond hair was slightly tousled, causing some loose strands to fall into his eyes. When he noticed that the avian hybrid was awake, relief shot across the super soldier’s features.

“Thank god. Ma’am, are you all right?
Jetta ignored Steve’s question and instead started struggling against his grip. The blond was expecting the struggle and simply tightened his arms around the female.
“Jetta, it would make things much easier if you stopped struggling against us.” Jetta quickly recognized the female’s voice as belonging to Natasha.

The agent’s comment caused Jetta to roll her eyes. “Where the hell are we?” she managed to ask.
“SHIELD Central,” Clint replied shortly, and Jetta recognized him as the one who had alerted Steve that she was awake.
Jetta turned her attention from the marksman back to Steve. “And, why did you bring me here?”
The male’s face became unreadable, and Jetta was barely aware of a dark presence brushing against her psyche. However, it was gone before the female could be sure it was there at all.
“Fury told us to,” he stated quietly.

Jetta resumed struggling against Steve’s grasp, causing the male to tighten his grip to the point that it was uncomfortable.
A new voice spoke up as the group stepped into an elevator, and it took Jetta a few seconds to recognize it as Phil’s. “Captain, I can Tase her to stop her from struggling. It would make things much easier for you.”
“Thank you sir, but I’d prefer if you didn’t,” Steve replied shortly.

Phil looked like he was going to argue with the Captain, but decided against it as the elevator started moving upwards. Fury was waiting for the group as they stepped off the elevator several seconds later, and he didn’t look too happy.

“Ms. Monroe, I understand that you aren’t happy about your situation, although I would have liked to believe that you had enough common sense to realize that attacking your fellow agents with no provocation is uncalled for.”

The SHIELD Director glared at Jetta as he acknowledged her, causing the female to visibly pale as she sink closer into Steve’s arms. It was several seconds before Fury acknowledged the rest of the group.
“Everything is prepared, so if you guys would follow me.”

There was an anxious aura surrounding the group as they followed the Director, although a majority of the anxiety was coming from Steve. Jetta could feel his distress rolling off him in waves, which caused her own anxiety to increase tenfold.

So needless to say, the female was surprised when Clint was the one to question Fury.
“Is this really the best idea? Several hours ago, she was in suspended animation for God knows how long.”
“I have an emotionally unstable avian hybrid with the strength of Captain Rogers randomly attacking people, one of which is your partner. If anyone has a better idea, now would be the time to fill me in.”
“Sir, in all due respect, I have to agree with Agent Barton. We have no idea what effect a prolonged period of sedation will have on her system,” Steve interjected.

“Ms. Monroe has highly modified genes, Captain. Truth be told, they’re even more modified than yours. Rest assured, the drugs will have no negative effect on her system. I also assure you that Ms. Monroe will only be under for a few days until Dr. Banner arrives.”

Steve didn’t look convinced, but he said nothing as the group entered the medical wing; Fury led the group to an empty bed without a word and motioned for the super soldier to place Jetta on it. Steve did so gently, making sure not to cause the female any discomfort. The male watched silently as a nurse disinfected the back of Jetta’s hand with rubbing alcohol.

A man wearing scrubs bearing the SHIELD logo and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Hugh Laurie turned his attention to Jetta as he prepared an intravenous needle.
“Have you had anything to eat in the past eight hours?”
“We stopped at a drive-thru on the flight from Jo’burg. Of course I didn’t have anything to eat,” Jetta retorted sarcastically, causing Steve to lightly place one of his large hands on her shoulder.
“Ma’am, please don’t do this,” he commented quietly.

Jetta flinched away from Steve’s touch, causing the male to let loose a heavy sigh and run a hand through his tousled hair; the avian hybrid watched him until the anesthesiologist acknowledged her.
“Okay, Ms. Monroe. You are going to feel a slight pinch."

Jetta looked like she was going to make another sarcastic comment, but Steve cut her off her by grazing his fingertips over her cheek; the unexpected feeling of the blond’s rough fingertips against her skin took the red-and-blond’s attention off the pinching sensation of the needle breaking her skin. She snapped her head up to viciously glare at Steve, but he ignored it and brushed some hair out of her eyes before continuing.

“Promise me that after you wake up, you’ll stop fighting us,” Steve told her quietly as the sedative took effect and her eyelids started to become heavy. “Just go to sleep now, ma’am.”

The male’s apologetic expression was the last thing that Jetta saw before she passed into unconsciousness again.