Daughter of the Shield

Chapter 2

The battles...
The tesseract...
Peggy...
There was no other way!
Why couldn't he have found another way!
There was a loud bang as the punching bag broke and flew across the room. Steve Rogers just stood there, trying to control his breathing. He hung up another punching bag and went back at it.
"Trouble sleeping?" Nick Fury stood to Steve's right.
"Slept for seventy years sir, think I've had my fill"
"You should be out, celebrating, seeing the world" Fury walked over to Steve as he spoke. Steve glanced over at Fury and started to unwrap his hands.
"When I went under, the world was at war. When I woke up, they say we won, but they didn't say what we lost"
"We've made some mistakes along the way, some very recently" Fury revealed a white folder that had the Shield symbol on it.
"You here with a mission sir?"
"I am"
"Trying to get me back in the world?"
"Trying to save it" Fury handed Steve the folder. It contained files about the Tesseract.
"Hydra's secret weapon"
"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited, sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."
"Who took it from you?" Steve asked, handing bag the folder.
"He's called Loki, he's... not from around. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in" Fury paused. "The world has gotten even stranger, then you already know."
"At this point, I doubt anything can surprise me" Steve stood up and grabbed his gym bag.
"Ten bucks says you're wrong" Fury challenged. Steve grabbed a punching bag and made his way to the door. "There's a debriefing packet waiting for you at your apartment. There anything you could tell us about the Tesseract that we should know now?"
"You should have left it in the ocean" was Steve's only reply.

"No"
"Jo come on! We need you on this one"
"I said no!"
"They don't have experience working as a team, they need something to pull them together"
"I told you, I never want to see him!"
"He won't know who you are, as far as they know you're a Shield agent with special abilities. He knows nothing of your past, doesn't even know he has a daughter!" Phil pleaded. Jo sighed, Loki had the Tesseract and so Fury had to chosen to assemble his precious Avengers team. You had turned down the offer to join more than once, but right now the world was in danger. As a Shield agent, you had taken an oath to protect it.
"I'm Agent Jo to them, nothing more"
"Of course"
"And I'm only doing this once. I'll help get them to work as a team and retrieve the Tesseract, but then I'm done"
"We'll see"
"Phil" Jo warned, but he just smiled. Jo rolled her eyes. She had a feeling she was going to regret this someday.

Jo stood on the front deck of the helicarrier. She watched as people worked and Agent Hill gave orders. They were starting to take off and Jo couldn't wait to be in the air. She loved the view from above.
"Jo!" Jo turned around and smiled at Natasha Romanoff. The two had gone on missions together more than once. Natasha was one of the four people who knew of Jo's... condition. The two hugged. Jo then turned to the man standing beside Natasha.
"You must be Dr. Banner, it is an honor to meet you sir" Bruce Banner smiled and shook Jo's hand.
"The honor is mine Agent Jo" but Jo didn't hear him. She was too busy staring at Steve Rogers handing Nick Fury a ten dollar bill. She quickly turned her attention back to Natasha and Dr. Banner. Hiding her emotions. That would be what got her through this.
"How was your last mission?" Natasha asked, she had wanted to go with Jo, but Fury had another assignment for her.
"It went well, though running through the sewers of Spain was most certainly not on my bucket list" Natasha chuckled. Thor entered the room and they all gathered around the large conference table. Jo stood against the wall a bit away from the group. She had read every file on this team, the Tesseract, and Loki. She had no need to be brought up to speed.
Jo observed each member closely. Bruce Banner seemed a bit nervous, though considering he could Hulk out at any moment was probably a good reason to be. Natasha was at ease as always. Surveying the information and trying to figure out Loki's next move. She was also probably a bit worried about Clint Barton, who was currently under the spell of an evil Asgardian weirdo. Thor was both determined to stop Loki, but Jo could tell he was also worried for his brother. Steve was the easiest to read. He felt out of place trying to keep up with the conversation.
Tony Stark burst into the room spitting out long words and science terms Jo could care less about. This was wasting her time. Fury should have just sent her to take down Loki and retrieve the Tesseract. The whole idea of putting this team together was ridiculous. Jo quietly slipped away from the group and made her to the one person she had yet meet.
They kept Loki on one of the lower levels in a bullet proof glass container. He so much as scratched that glass the floor beneath him would open and Loki would become nothing more than a green pancake. He didn't seem that intimidating. A little crazy, but not intimidating.
"Do you plan to continue to watch me from the shadows?" Jo wasn't surprised Loki knew she was there. She stepped into the light and stared. "Is there a point to you being here?" Loki sneered. He obviously did not like to be watched.
"Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about"
"Excuse me?"
"You don't seem scary. Not even that intimidating" Jo tilted her head slightly, making sure not to blink. This was always a good tactic to use when you wanted your enemy to feel uncomfortable.
"Is that what I look like to you?"
"No, to me you look like a boy throwing a tantrum all because he didn't get his throne" Now that seemed to piss the Asgardian off
"What makes you think I care what a pathetic Midgardian like you think's?"
"Oh, I think you care about what everyone thinks" Jo smirked and walked away. She knew Loki was doing his best not to scream at her. He had an agenda to follow after all.

"Probably wasn't a good idea you got Loki all riled up" Jo ignored Steve's comment and continued to look out the window. "I'm Steve Rogers"
"I know who you are" Jo answered ignoring the outstretched hand. Steve awkwardly pulled his hand back.
"Coulson tells me you're a Shield agent, one of the best in fact"
"Fury says a lot of things" Jo mumbled.
"How long have you been with Shield?"
"Fifteen years"
"Fifteen! But you got to be at least-"
"Sixteen, I know. I look good for my age" Jo resisted the urge to walk away. She couldn't afford to piss him off, she needed him to work with the team. To work with her.
"But how-"
"It's a long story, one I'm not in the mood to tell" Jo finally looked him in the eye. She had his eyes. Hell, she could have been his clone now that she had cut her hair short. Her mother always said she looked like him, Jo just never saw it till now. "If you would please excuse, I have some things to attend to."

Jo found Coulson sitting behind a computer screen reading information they had on Loki. She plopped down in the chair next to him and started to spin around.
"What's wrong?"
"What's the point of this stupid team if they can't get along?"
"That's what we have you for"
"Oh yeah! Cause I'm great with people" Jo groaned, Phil, rolled his eyes at her sarcasm.
"You don't have to be best buddies with them, just lead them"
"I thought Cap was supposed to be the leader"
"Someone has to show him how we do it these days" Phil gave her a knowing look. "You look like him you know" Jo stuck her tongue out in response making Phil laugh. Suddenly, an explosion shook the helicarrier. Both Phil and Jo jumped to their feet.
"I'll go see what that was! you find Fury!" Jo ran off before Phil could respond. From the way the helicarrier was groaning it sounded like one of the rotors was destroyed. Before Jo could reach the area where the explosion happened, she got cut off by two men who were obviously not on her side. They attacked at once, their technics made it obvious they were shield agents. But why would they attack Jo?
Mind control!
Barton was obviously not the only one under Loki's control. It didn't take long for Jo to knock them both out and make it to the giant hole in the helicarrier. Jo spots another one of Loki's men with his back to her, shooting at Steve who was hanging on to some wire trying not to die. Jo quickly hit the man on the back of the head making him crumble to the floor. She reached Steve within seconds, grabbing his hand and pulling him to safety.
"Pull the red lever!" Steve exclaimed, Jo, did as he asked. Tony flew into the ship a few seconds later landing on the floor. Both Jo and Steve climbed back into the ship. "Do you know why they're here?" realization hit Jo like a bus.
"They're here for Loki and the scepter! Go get the scepter I got Loki!"
"But-"
"That's an order!" Jo barked before taking off. She could do it. She could reach Lokie before someone tried to break him out.
She arrived just as Loki locked Thor in the glass cage. Jo was just about to attack the guard when Coulson stepped into view and knocked him out. He was holding some giant gun Jo had never seen.
"Move away please" Coulson ordered, Loki slowly backed away from the control panel. "You like that? We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don't know what it does" Coulson pressed some button that made the gun, more like a bazooka, light up. "You wanna find out?"
Suddenly, Loki appeared behind Coulson and stabbed him in the back. Phil grunted in pain as he fell to the ground. Thor screamed. Jo couldn't even breathe.
Not Coulson!
Loki stepped back over to the control panel and pressed a button, the floor opened beneath Thor and then he was gone. Jo couldn't move. Coulson! She had to get to Coulson! But how? She couldn't take down someone as powerful as Loki. Loki began to walk away.
"You're going to loose" Loki stopped. "It's in your nature" Loki looked back at Coulson.
"Your heroes are scattered, your flying fortress is falling through the sky, where is my disadvantage?"
"You lack conviction"
"I don't think I-" A blast of orange energy shot from the bazooka in Coulson's lap, sending Loki flying through a wall. Jo rushed to Phil's side.
"So that's what it does" Phil muttered.
"Phil! Phil stay awake!"
"It'll be okay Jo, you'll be okay"
"No! Phil, please don't! I need you!" Jo's eyes began to water. She cursed herself for not stepping in. She could have prevented this!
"No, they need you, Jo, you'll be fine without me" Phil whispered, Fury rushed over and Jo stepped back. "Sorry boss"
"Just stay awake, eyes on me" Fury ordered.
"I'm clocking out here..."
"Not an option"
"It's okay boss" Coulson reassured. "This was never gonna if they didn't have something to...to...to"
Phil Coulson stopped breathing and a part of Jo died with him.