Cold Enemies, Warm Romances

Chapter Twenty-Five ~ WB039 ~

Jessie finished telling her father their story, and she sat back, blowing out a breath. Her father stared at her for a second before rubbing his temples. "So over the course of these last few months, you've been attacked by these Frost Giants and those people who tried to take over the world about a year ago?"

"Sums it up, yeah," Jessie agreed.

Her father shook his head. "I can't believe this."

"Reports say that Loki was here in the area," Natasha told him, leaning forward. "Did he ever drop by?"

"Do you have a photo?"

Clint pulled out his iPad and pulled something out, then held it out to Lieutenant Commander Nightshade. "We found evidence of him in Killeen as well," he told him.

He looked up. "Isn't that where - ?"

"Saleen grew up," Jessie nodded. "She's headed out there now, with the rest of the party."

Lieutenant Commander Nightshade looked at the image and shook his head. "I don't recall seeing him here, no," he said, handing the iPad back. "If he's some sort of magic user, couldn't he have become someone else?"

Thor nodded. "It is possible."

"How many people have access to the Pentagon?" Clint asked.

Even Jessie knew this one. "Nearly thirty thousand," she told him, shaking her head. "He could've been any one of them."

"So it's not a good thing to go asking around if any of them recalled being possessed or copied by this guy," Fitz assumed.

Ward snorted. "Good assumption."

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Jessie's father asked.

Jessie looked from person to person. "Is there any way we could have footage from security cameras?" Simmons finally asked.

"I can try," the Lieutenant Commander replied, turning to his computer. "If it could help, maybe."

Jessie then realized something she hadn't noticed before. "Dad?" she asked. "Where's your ring?"

Her father looked down at his left hand and sighed. "Your mother called it shortly after you left," he admitted.

"What?" Jessie demanded, standing up in shock. "You divorced?"

He nodded. "As she said, in her own words, 'I can't believe you could support a thing like that.'"

Jessie shook her head. "Unbelievable," she muttered, pacing the front of the desk. "That is . . . " She shook her head. "Not a word for it." She took out her phone and called Saleen real quick.

She answered on the first ring. "Jess! There you are!"

"Did you make it to Killeen yet?" she asked right off the bat, sure her brimming anger showed in her voice.

"Almost there," she replied after some discussion. "With May the only one flying, it's taking a while. Is everything all right?"

"Just peachy," Jessie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just found out my parents are divorced."

"What?" Saleen yelped. "When was that?"

"Not long after I left."

"Oh, God, Jess - !"

"I'm fine, really, I am," Jessie told her. "Just be careful. We don't know where Loki is."

"I know. We'll be there in about half an hour."

"Thanks," Jessie told her as she walked around to see what her father was doing. "Then we can hopefully - " She trailed off when she saw something in the corner of the security footage. "I have to call you back," she cut off quickly, hanging up and pointing. "That right there."

"Was that Sally?" Ward asked.

Jessie looked up at him. "Saleen," she corrected before seeing the glint in his eyes. "Thanks," she told both him and her father when he enlarged the image, and she pointed. "There he is," she told him. "So our good friend Loki made it into the Pentagon without being seen, or nobody knew who he was."

"What was he looking into?" Natasha asked, coming around the desk.

The Lieutenant Commander blanched. "Secure archives," he replied. "Access to nearly every military official in Washington D.C."

"Damn," Clint cursed as he pulled out his phone.

Jessie got her phone out and was about to make a call when she realized something. "Hold on a minute," she muttered as she turned her phone on and looked through her settings. "Clint, weren't all our phones connected to JARVIS?"

"They should be, yeah," he replied, looking up. "Why?"

Jessie held up her phone. "Then how come I'm not receiving his signal?"

***

So, this wasn't my best chapter - sorry about that - but sophomore year has been giving me a bit of a pain in the rear.

Hopefully this suffices! And hopefully this thing is back on track! Until the next time I write for this. ;)

WB039