Tearing Relationships Apart (Book Eleven of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Chapter Fourteen

So I wrote this section already - just to see how it would work - and pitched it to my good sis shavingforsherl0ck. She was quite enthusiastic about it, and I daresay . . . this is one of my favorite chapters I've ever written. The 50th and the two mega crossovers were awesome . . . but this one here is also amazing. I hope everyone shares my opinion. :)

Welcome back Alexandra Daddario as the Third Bad Wolf, and hoo boy, has she got things to share. Enjoy chapter fourteen!

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"I gotta say," the Third Bad Wolf shook her head, her eyes raking over Tony and Steve, taking in their injuries. "You two sure know how to make a mess of things. Ruined suit, punched black and blue . . . dial everything to eleven, why don't you? Yeah, way to go with your public images."

"No, no, no, hold on," Tony held up a hand. "You can't be here. You're dead!"

"Dead," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Please. All I did was regenerate. That doesn't make me dead. A memory is never dead as long as it's remembered."

"Jessie, what are we doing here?" Steve asked, looking around.

He got a stunned look from her in reply, then she did something unexpected. She burst out laughing. "Jessie?" she repeated. "Oh, you think I'm that simpering bitch?" There was a flash of gold in her eyes, giving them a maniac gleam. "That's cute."

Steve took a step back. "You're her," he whispered, Tony looking at him in confusion. "You're the Mad Wolf."

"And give the super soldier a medal!" the Mad Wolf gave a crazy grin to match, clapping excitedly. "Ooo, wait," she pouted. "There were two super soldiers . . . all right, give the non-HYDRA super soldier a medal."

"He doesn't work for HYDRA any longer," Steve narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, I know that," the Mad Wolf rested her hand on his shoulder before tilting her head and pointing at Tony with the other hand. "See, I don't know if you've gathered or not, but the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist over there doesn't seem to know, though."

"What right do you have to say that?" Tony snarled, stepping towards her angrily. "He killed my parents!"

"I have every right!" the Mad Wolf snapped, pushing him back. "You know what, Captain? I'm going to have to take back that medal. Let's try again, shall we?" She turned back to him, and in a flash of silver, she suddenly had metal attached to the side of her face. "Who am I?"

Steve swallowed hard. "Miss Clever."

"And he got his medal back!" she cackled, jumping on top of one of the rocks and doing a spin. "Hello, nice to meet you, yadda yadda yadda and all that fun jazz. I don't actually care a bit in the world, so let's get down to business! My current sane self, for whatever reason, believes that seeing something from her past can help settle this little testosterone fight of yours. Personally, I don't think so, but might as well give it a shot. I've got nothing better to do since she locked me up." She hopped off the rock and headed off. "Shall we, gentlemen?" She stopped, turning around, a mock thoughtful expression on her face. "Ooo . . . should I call you that? I don't know . . . you're not really acting like them."

Steve cringed. "What the hell happened to you?" Tony stared at her.

"Oh, your buddy's pal can answer that better than me," Miss Clever waved at Steve. "Considering he was the one that experienced the same thing."

"Brainwashing," Steve answered. "Like the Winter Soldier was the brainwashed side of Bucky. Miss Clever is your side."

"Hey, the super soldier gets another medal!" Miss Clever grinned before frowning at Tony. "My, Mr. Stark, you really need to catch up."