RABBIT HEART || MARVEL (1)

SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEB: AN OLD FRIEND

AFTER RECOVERING, MAGGIE WAS SENT TO GIVE STEVE ROGERS INFORMATION ON THE ISSUE.

It was only a few hours after Loki took the Tesseract. Fury was the one who sent her to go recruit Steve, believing their old friendship would persuade him to join. Ever since they both joined SHIELD, Maggie and Steve's reunion was awkward. Neither of them believed the other was still alive until they were put into the same room.

Steve was a mess when he saw Maggie for the first time. He believed she died when she fell from the train. But was relieved to find out she was alive and had endure the same situation. Of course, he didn't know the true reason why Maggie was still alive. She couldn't bear to tell him that the people how sacrificed himself to stop were still around.

Maggie entered the local gym, seeing Steve punch a punching bag right off the chain. She watched with very little surprise. Out of the two of her, he was the stronger super soldier while she was faster. She waited until he grabbed another punching bag to make her presence known. In one hand, she had a manilla folder containing and in the other, a freshly lit cigarette.

"Trouble sleeping?" Maggie asked, walking over.

"I've slept for 70 years, Mags, I think I had my fill," Steve said, continuously punching the bag.

"Then you should be celebrating. Seeing the world."

Steve stopped punching the bag and walked over to the benches, standing in front of the shorter woman. Maggie thought he looked like a giant compared to her. He sat down on the bench and unwrapped the cloth from his hands as he looked up at her.

"We both went under, the world was at war," Steve said. "I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."

"Well, they've made some mistakes. Some very recently," Maggie replied, her Brummie accent light. "Fury sent me himself to sweep you away."

"You here with the mission?" Steve asked.

"That I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

"Trying to save it just like old times," Maggie said, handing Steve the file.

"HYDRA'S secret weapon."

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what Fury thinks, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs. Or so Fury believes."

"Who took it from him?" Steve asked.

"A man named Loki. Looks like he's on his way to some Renaissance Fair," Maggie answered. "He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten stranger than you already know."

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me. Especially after I believed you died falling off the train."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong," Maggie bet. "There's a debriefing package waiting for you back in your apartment," she continued as Steve began to leave the gym. "Is there anything you want me to tell Fury about the Tesseract that he ought to know now?"

"They've should've left it in the ocean."

Steve then left the gym, leaving her by herself as she stomped out her cigarette. She only sighed and sent the punching bag flying off the chain without touching it. She didn't even look at it as she left the gym.

The next morning, Maggie was on a large ship in the middle of the ocean with her mentor Natasha, the new SHIELD headquarters since the Tesseract destroyed the last one. By request, Maggie waited beside Natasha on the docks, waiting for a specific carrier to land soon. All Maggie thought about was that night prior, looking at her hand. How was she able to absorb that power?