War

Chapter 18

Janis' POV

  My world has forever altered. It's been 3 months since I accepted Fury's offer, and since then I've been on 5 lower-rank missions, ran with America's Sweethearts every morning, trained with Auntie Nat 4 hours a day, and finished production on my suit with dad. I still don't have a cool name or alias like the others, but everyone is pitching in their own ideas.

"How about Warhead?" Uncle Rhodey suggested out of nowhere as he walked by. This has been how everyone voices their ideas, with no real sit-down or brainstorming session.

"How about no? Sounds too scary." I responded, peaking over the mission folder I was looking at. "I'm trying to help people, not blow them up" I explained. The assignment folder was a B-rank that I was due to tag along with America's Sweethearts on. I was pulled from it that morning, so I was trying to figure out why. It wasn't anything too crazy at face value. We would head to France at 5 pm, get intel from a suspected sister outpost of HYDRA, and roll out.

"You still looking over that thing?" I heard a voice from behind the folder. I put it down and saw my sandy-haired sweetheart questioning my obsessiveness over being left out. I lifted my reading glasses above my head,

"Only because nobody seems to want to tell me why I'm not the ride-along anymore." I sighed, leaning back in my dining chair.

"I'm sure you have a hunch," He stated, glancing over at the window to the lab where my dad was. "He doesn't want you going on this kind of mission yet. Your suit hasn't been battle tested and it would be two to three days on a different continent, not to mention you'd be with me under my supervision." He smirked as he spoke, "Speaking of, is that why you want to go so bad? Not that I wouldn't love to have you there, just a question." I rolled my eyes,

"You may have had a chokehold on me for the past 6 months or so, but that's not why I'm wanting to go. If I'm going to be part of the action, I need to face bigger challenges." I explained. He put his hands up in agreement,

"I understand, and I believe you'd be great for it, but someone talked Fury into taking you off the list." I knew my dad had a hand in it, but I didn't think Fury would fold so easily. I got up and went to the lab for a chat, looking back at my man, who was giving me a look that told me to "play nice"

"Do you know why I was pulled from that mission in France?" I asked my dad, politely. He spun around and pretended to think about it,

"Well, you have an obvious problem with authority and don't like to be told what to do. For a mission like that, you'll need to stick to the plan and follow orders." He explained to me. My eyes widened,

"All of my reports from the past missions have been spotless. Where are you getting that idea?" I wondered. My father looked at me, knowing that I should know well that it was true. "Fair enough"

"If it makes you feel any better, you can spend the time that your freezer-burned boyfriend is gone to test your suit with your old man, eh?" He offered in an effort to make me feel better. I thought about it for a moment and was quick to concoct a plan as to how to get back on this mission. I nodded in excitement.

"We can do it right after my training with Aunt Nattie, say 4ish?" I suggested, putting the pieces together right under his nose. He agreed without suspicion.

   I had sent a message of explanation to Fury an hour before the team was due to leave the base, but still no answer. I took my shower after training and said goodbye to them before they went to prep for take-off. I knew I was going to try and catch up with or without the approval, but it would be nice to know that Fury considers my ideas more than my dad's when it comes to me. Dad and I both suited up, went over controls and commands, and took flight. It was working far better than expected, given the modifications made that dad had not tested himself. It felt great to be the one inside the tin can this time.