The Jackson Enigma

One Part Team Building

No matter what disarray the Avengers team may be in, evil never rests. That is why Steve Rogers proposed a team building exercise. When they are out there in the midst of battle or a mission, they can't afford to waste any time over in-fighting. The Avengers have a new team member, and they need to learn how to work together, despite all the questions and doubts off the field. As a soldier, the man out of time knew this, and he also knew too well what could happen if they didn't learn to be a cohesive team.

While the Captain knew how Jackson fought alone from when they tested his physical abilities, Steve knew nothing about how the teenager fought with other people. Perhaps Jackson was a terrible team player, and Steve would have his work cut out for him. Perhaps the newest addition wouldn't even be the problem and instead his well seasoned team members. The super soldier knew he also had other motives for the exercises. Learning to trust someone on the field often translates to learning to trust them in other areas of one's life.

Steve knew that included himself, and that he would have to make strides to trust Perseus Jackson. He had to lead by example. It wasn't too difficult to find things to relate to when it came to the teenager. They both had a tendency to wake up early and exercise, and while the super soldier didn't know the reason for sure, the eye bags and haunted looks in Jackson's eyes certainly helped to clue him in. Steve Rogers suspected it wasn't just habit that got Perseus up so early. Steve also suspected it was connected to whatever was on that camera. No matter his curiosity, the Captain respected one wanting to keep their experiences to themselves. There had been a time where Steve was surrounded by those looks, and he knew not to push. As long as it wasn't interfering with their work on the field, Steve would not insert himself without invitation.

"I'm not wearing this." Steve turned his pensive gaze from out the window onto the humorous sight behind him. There stood Jackson in a slim, purple, one-piece spandex suit. The experienced soldier had to hold in a laugh, but the teen frowned at his smirk. "Even if it didn't look like this, I'm not sure how this material offers any defense or extra security." Steve had to agree; the material didn't look particularly durable.

"Wow." Stark entered the room with a satisfied look on his face. He whipped out his phone and took a quick picture of the less than amused teenager. "That was so worth it. This moment right here is totally worth the time I spent making that. And now, I have this to blackmail you with." Stark threw the bag that he was holding onto the counter in front of Perseus. "Your real suit is in there, go get dressed." Steve shook his head, of course this was all a ruse, Tony Stark just couldn't pass on the opportunity to make a joke. For a moment the look of surprise was still on Jackson's face, but then he grabbed the bag and smirked.

"You, my friend, have no idea what you just started. You better watch your back, old man, from now on, you know no peace." There was a twinkle in the kid's eye and the captain chuckled. It was moments like these where the first avenger was reminded that despite all that they knew or didn't know about him, Perseus Jackson was still a kid. Steve didn't know where to be concerned or not. Tony Stark on a prank war tirade was terrifying enough, but Tony Stark against a teenager in a prank war tirade, the super soldier shuddered to think of what could happen.

"No, you watch your back. I have eyes everywhere, just ask Jarvis," The philanthropist snarked triumphantly. Jackson muttered a 'We'll see,' and left to go change. Once he left, Tony cursed under his breath. Steve resisted reprimanding him. "I'm in so much crap, that kid is scary." The captain walked over to where his friend and teammate was standing.

"The great Tony Stark, signature prankster of the Avengers, scared of a teenager's pranking? Don't tell me you're losing your touch?" Steve sure hoped he was. That would lead to a lot more peace and quiet.

"As if you hate that idea," the genius retorted knowingly, raising his eyebrow as if to say 'You're not slick.' "Anyway, have you seen that kid? He walks around like he's Natasha or something, all quiet and always thinking and seeing. He's like if Natasha was creative enough to prank." Steve barked out a laugh, patting Tony on the back.

"Don't let Natasha hear you say that, or you'll be in real trouble." He checked the time on his watch. "We have to start boarding, go suit up and meet us at the jet."

"Remind me again why I have to ride the jet when I can just fly over there in my suit?" Steve couldn't hold back his sigh of exasperation. I should've known he'd complain until the end.

"Because, Tony, this is a team building exercise so we need to travel as a team." Stark rolled his eyes, and Steve squinted his eyes in suspicion. He wouldn't pass Tony to fly over there by himself anyway. The billionaire smiled sarcastically.

"Yay, for the team," he said dryly. Tapping his bracelets, the engineer walked away, his suit of iron assembling on him as we moved. Rogers doubted he would ever tell Tony this since his ego was already big enough, but Stark's technological and engineering expertise wasn't something the super soldier thought he would ever get over or stop marveling at.

Steve made his way to where he knew Jackson's room was and knocked on the door. After a few moments of silence, he concluded that the kid must have already been on the jet, or at least on his way. That would make Steve the last one to make it there, as he already knew, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Peter were on the jet and that Stark was on his way. Thor was offworld and Steve didn't know when he would be back. He couldn't make a team building schedule around Thor's availability. The super soldier would just have to figure something out when the Asgardian god  was back on earth. Or, as Thor liked to call it, 'Midgard.'

Doing a quick pat of his pockets to make sure he had everything he needed, even though he had already checked several times over the past hour, he made his way to the elevator, hitting the button that would take him to the roof. After a brief ride up, the Captain was stepping out of the elevator and onto the roof where the jet was waiting, engines already up and running. Steve jogged the short distance to the loading door of the high-speed jet, walking aboard. The door closed behind him, signifying that they had been waiting on him. Shooting a quick smile at everyone, he went to a seat and buckled himself in for the takeoff.

"Nice to see you finally decided to join us," Tony remarked. Stark, of course, was standing, using the feet of his suit to lock him in place as the jet took off. Steve ignored him. Once they were steadily in the air, the super soldier unbuckled himself and walked to the cockpit where Clint, Natasha, Peter Parker were.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Rogers! Do you want me to move? I can move." Before Steve could even reply, the web-slinger had already gotten up from where he was sitting.

"Hi, Peter. And just Steve is fine." Steve didn't know how many times he had told Peter to just call him Steve, but he was hoping one day he would actually listen.

"Ok." Steve could tell the kid probably didn't mean that. "Can you tell me where we're going? Clint and Natasha won't tell me." Oh, but he can call them by their first name? Sometimes, Steve wished he hadn't been frozen in time.

"Sure kid. We're--"

"No!" Clint interrupted.

"Don't tell him," Natasha continued. "If he thinks he'll get answers, he'll keep asking questions." The super soldier huffed in amusement at the antics of his teammates, but conceded. He gave the spiderling an apologetic shrug. Peter, frowned, before brightening up.

"That's okay, maybe Mr. Stark will tell me." WIth that, Peter slinked out of the cockpit, laughing at the resounding groans of Clint and Natasha. Once he left, Steve turned back to the two remaining occupants besides himself.

"How long until we get there?" He asked.

"About an hour and a half. We'll be able to put it on auto-pilot in a little bit," Natasha answered.

Great, Steve thought. An hour and a half to make sure none of us kill each other. Steve Rogers often thought if he had kids, it wouldn't be much different than managing this team. Sighing, he made his way out of the cockpit.