Erik's PoV: I rubbed my face and sat up. "Ah, dude, what *happened*?" I moaned. I felt like my head had been invaded by radio static or bumble bees.
A voice across the room replied, "That, my friend, is the feeling of a caffeine crash."
"But..." I tried to wake myself up by doing mental calculations but my brain refused to think straight.
"Don't even try it, Rhodes," Sean said, passing my bunk and appearing absolutely normal.
"Why aren't you...ya know...having issues?" I asked, sliding down from my bunk to the cold floor.
"I didn't drink three liters of Mountain Dew last night," he replied, laughing at my predicament.
"Oh. How soon will it wear off?" I started getting ready, wondering how long we'd slept for.
Sean was already ready and handing something to JJ; the latter was sitting on his bed and fiddling with something in the sheets. When JJ accepted a small piece of coiled wire from Sean, he faced me and answered, "A couple hours at most. You'll be fine until then. We've been given until noon to recover from our little party last night."
"What time is it?"
"Eh, ten something, I think?"
JJ nodded from his position on the bunk, adding, "Yep, 10:22."
I groaned and rubbed my forehead before heading to the kitchens to grab a bag of poptarts. Oberon had been eating half a box a day since August had let him try one, so now we had to hide the box of poptarts. I ripped open the foil wrapper as I walked to the lab.
On my way, I ran into Uncle Bruce and Natasha. They were talking quietly together as they walked, skirting close to the wall to take up as little hallway space as possible. "Erik?" My uncle called me over. I swallowed my mouthful of sugary pastry before joining them. "Have you met Agent Romanoff?" he asked.
I hesitated. "Um, well, sort of. I mean, I was on the mission and all. But we haven't really met," I stuttered.
She smiled and held out a hand. "Natasha Romanoff, nice to uh, officially meet you."
"Erik Rhodes, nice to officially meet you too," I replied, shaking her hand. For an assassin, she was not what you'd imagine. She was a whole hand shorter than me and I was only 5'9". Cherry red curls bobbed around her shoulders, and her smile eliminated anything about her that might appear dangerous.
As we stood there, Agent Barton joined us and another round of introductions followed. The conversation continued and the longer we talked, the more Agent Barton began to sound like a grown up version of JJ. They looked a lot alike too; they had the same sandy hair and mischievous smiles, similar attitudes and thought processes. The only major differences I could notice were their eyes and physical build; JJ was leaner and taller by a couple inches and his eyes were a greenish hazel, whereas his uncle's eyes were blue.
I realized that the fuzziness in my brain was gradually going away as we talked. The adults traded stories of their adventures and various run ins in the years they had been apart. I leaned on a wall until noon when I excused myself to the lab to meet Sean.
"Hey, did you ever figure out the calculations for the model on your bench?" he asked me as I collapsed into my swivel chair.
"Yeah why?" I answered, picking it up and tossing it to him.
He caught it and copied the calculations from the bottom onto a sheet of notebook paper already covered in doodles and geometric drawings. "I was just wondering."
He tossed it back and I caught it, setting it back on the bench. "Any commands from Fury?" I asked.
"Two hours of training this afternoon but other than that, just to take it easy."
YOU ARE READING
New Beginning
AdventureFury has a plan, but it could cost him his position as the director of SHIELD. He's brought together a group of skilled teenagers that show promise but aren't exactly a refined team. It'll require work, but can Fury bring them together before the...
