20: On Fire

  "You!"

  "I know, I know, I'll make it up to you." Johhe room only to see Raven furiously pointing her finger. It was already te at night, and he knew she had been on guard for at least three hours, more or less; he had been too busy to keep track of time properly.

  Raven took a deep breath, her face red—John didn't know if it was from anger or embarrassment, probably both. She then exhaled loudly before speaking through gritted teeth.

  "You're lucky I came. At least four people came looking for you during that time, and I had to turn them all away," which was difficult because even if the room had thick walls, she could still hear almost everything, and without a doubt, someone else would have heard if they got too close, so she had to prevent that.

  "Did you use my appearao deal with it?" John asked while finishing adjusting his clothes.

  "Ahem what to do, just like you taught me. I think I like giving orders. Maybe I should repce you since you seem too busy to do your job," she said reproachfully. John smiled in response, pg his hand on her head and ruffling her hair. Raven rexed a bit at the gesture but wrinkled her nose in the instant.

  "Maybe you should take a shower. I heard they've finished ing the bathrooms," Raven wrinkled her nose.

  "Do I smell bad?" John couldn't help but frown; he didn't think he had sweated that much.

  "You just smell weird... whatever. I need money, give me a sary," she extended her palm. It was already night, but she believed she could get something to read tomorrow.

  "I suppose you ear. In fact, your papers are already in order, so you're officially my assistant. I fot to tell you," Raven was his undisputed right-hand at this point. She knew more about him than anyone else, so since he obtained his new authority and with the help of some of Stark's tacts, he had mao create a perfect "identity" for her.

  Needless to say, Stark had somewhat misuood the reasons why John wao give her "fake" papers, although that helped in a way since he just gave John a knowing smile and helped without hesitation.

  "Is it still the same cover?" Raven asked, recalling the details she and John had ied a while ago in case anyone asked about her.

  "Exactly the same, well with some ges. Now you're 23 years old, half-British, and your name is Raven Grace Man, not just Raven Man, so remember that." Raven his to herself before returning to the topic.

  "So, about my pay..."

  "I'll give you a check, but before that, I need you to... well, return what I threw at you a while ago," he said, extending his hand toward her. Raven blinked in fusion before her face turned even redder. With a mumble, she poio a er of the room where John could see Agent Carter's panties lying.

  "Oh, thank heavens. It would have been bad if you lost them." He didn't know what excuse he would give the woman when she woke up and realized she had no underwear. Certainly, another sp in the face would be expected.

  Ravewitched as she watched him go to pick them up.

  "Maybe you should make that check have a few extra zeros."

  John paused before nodding.

  "Right, I think I have the budget for that." Who would have thought, using gover moo bribe his assistant? He was already ag like a proper politi, just missing the title.

  Seeing him pick them up and turn to re-ehe pnning room, Raven remembered something else.

  "Hey, one of the guys who came to see yht this," she said, taking a folder she had been holding for John.

  John took it from her hands and ope, quickly reading the papers inside, causing a mysterious smile to appear on his face.

  "Excellent, it looks like we'll be busy tomorrow. Go to sleep a well." Raven nodded, feeling a bit sleepy. Stifling a yawn, she said goodbye a, leaving John alone.

  John theered the strategiing room to see Peggy slowly beginning to wake up.

  Quickly and without her notig, he tossed her underwear into the pile of clothes on the floor.

  "Agent, I see you're awake. I heard the showers are avaible. Maybe you'd like me to help you take one?" he said with a smile as he closed the door behind him. Peggy tried to shake off the tiredness from her eyes, frowning at him.

  "I thought you had left," she said with a hint of annoyand relief in her voice.

  "I just o send my assistant away. She brought some news," he said, raising the envelope to show her and moving closer to embrace her.

  Peggy sighed as she felt his arms around her naked body. His warmth made her realize how cold it was in the room, and she clumsily tried to grab her clothes, grimag when she couldn't stand and almost tripped.

  "Let me do it," John helped her, taking the clothes and beginning to dress her with ease.

  "I should have brought extra clothes," Carter couldn't help but ent, still drowsy as she felt John fastening her bra.

  Then she remembered what John had said and, without thinking much, took the envelope, reading its tents while John slid her panties up her legs and then took her skirt.

  "The Xavier family? Why do you have the address of an ordinary wealthy family in New York?"

  "Cssified," he replied while zipping up her skirt. That made her blink, and she closed the envelope, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

  "I thought I was the Vice-Director," she said, a bit of red on her cheeks, remembering their previous discussion about the position.

  "So you accept the position?" John asked once he finished putting on her heels.

  Peggy stayed silent for a moment before nodding.

  John then finished dressing her upper half and sat o her.

  "Well, Vice-Director Carter, our objective is the liberation of Pond and the destru of all tration camps in the try. But that's just the surface goal; this is actually an assassination mission."

  That caught Peggy's attention.

  "Assassination?"

  "Well, there are maails to discuss, a lot of information I didn't mention before, but now that I'm a el and, above all, the Director of SWORD, I speak more freely. But that will have to wait until our first general meeting with the eeam because I'm not going to repeat myself. So, I'll leave you in suspense," he patted her bad then suddenly lifted her into his arms, making her yelp in surprise.

  "I don't like bei in suspense," Peggy said, ing her arms around his neck.

  "And nobody likes spoilers, so what do you say we try out those showers I mentioned and theo bed?" She looked at him with narrowed eyes for a moment before sighing and nodding in agreement. She was too tired tue any further; she supposed she would find out what she er.

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  The m, Snovation Fair, New York.

  "And here is where the various projects of the partits will be presented," Vernoured with his hands, causing John to nod. He carefully observed how dozens and dozens of stists of different ages from all over the Uates were setting up in their individual booths. It reminded him of a school sce fair but much more serious and with a much bigger budget.

  "I see it's almost about to start," he said, notig how everything was already in pce, and it seemed like the partits were just making sure everything worked as it should.

  "When you're a stist, you know that being on time actually means being te. All the partits have been here long before, preparing for this moment. It's inspiring, don't you think?" Vernon asked, looking proudly at the young stifids.

  "Certainly, maybe more young people should learn about that," John said, patting Raven's back, making her mumble under her breath. They almost arrived te because she overslept.

  She was lucky that her power allowed her to be ready in a sed.

  Raven, for her part, was in a bad mood. She couldn't sleep because her brain decided to bombard her with imaginary images of what had happehe night before whenever she closed her eyes.

  Even so, she had grown aced to chaotiights of sleep thanks to her days in Italy, so despite struggling a bit, she mao fall asleep and wake up just in time to follow John to the Snovation Fair.

  Of course, "just in time" was almost te for John, who had been ready long before.

  "Well, el, I have to finish a few things before everything starts. As you know, you be here and talk to any partits who catch your eye. Everyone here is free to choose their path, so it doesn't matter if you mao vineone before the presentations are made," Vernon said his goodbyes, leaving John and Raven alone.

  "What do you say, see anything that catches your eye?" John asked casually. He would have preferred Howard to e with them, but the man had several matters to resolve before he could fully join SWORD, so John had to e aloh Raven.

  James had no i in being near any stist other than Zo for the hundred years, and Zo was the exception only because, in his words, he po rip his head off and shove it up his own ass... So Joh him wander off with some thousands of dolrs and the promise that the war against Hydra would soon begin.

  Relutly, the man agreed a who knows where.

  Peggy, for her part, couldn't walk much, so Joh her sleeping with a note about his whereabouts and a list of things she could start doing as Vice-Director if she mao get on her feet before the day ended.

  "Well, I see something that looks like a on, so maybe... never mind, it just blows air," Raven said, watg as one of the stists used something resembling a silver gun to blow pressed air over some oddly shaped openings.

  "Hey, don't judge too quickly. Maybe what it's blowing is an incredible mae with many uses," John said. They would only find out if they asked, so John began walking over.

  .

  In another part of the rge hall.

  Hank Pym checked the status of the ptform where his particle "gun" would strike the sample objects prepared for today. Although he had had retive success in the b, successfully shrinking various inanimate objects, he still felt anxious about the results of this day.

  Not far from him, Ja was cheg the mae's software for perhaps the huh time that m. She was starting to get frustrated because Hank wouldn't let her help with anything else uhe excuse that everything had to be "perfect." It seemed that meant only he could check everything.

  And she suspected the only reason she could verify the software was because Professor Pym had already polished it as much as he could beforehand.

  As she thought about this, her gaze caught something strange ia dispyed. Quickly, her brai into overdrive, examining the data with extreme attention, her hands ready to start w. But before she could, Professor Pym stopped her.

  "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" His voice rose a bit, surprising her as he grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away brusquely.

  "Professor! I was just—"

  "Quiet! I told you to just watch! If something goes wrong, all my work will be for nothing," Hank quickly began cheg the data nervously.

  Ja massaged her shoulder, frowning, but said nothing more. W with Professor Pym had not been as good an idea as she had hoped, and she wished for this day to end soon so she wouldn't have to do it anymore.

  Hank reviewed the data without notig any errors. What Ja had seen was lost without him realizing it. Sighing, he looked at Ja and, in a softer voice, apologized.

  "I'm sorry, it's just that... this is important, okay? I need everything to ght."

  "I uand, Professor. It's your work," Ja said simply, stepping aside.

  The man was intelligent and passionate, perhaps too passionate. He got so focused on sce that he fot everything else, to the point where it seemed nothing else mattered to him.

  Ja sighed, w if w at SWORD would be like this, if the Captain—or rather, the el now—would act the same. But he didn't seem to be that type of man. She didn't know why, but she felt he was different. There was a strange kindness in his eyes and words when he spoke to others.

  She didn't know if it was his tone of voice or something else, but it was certainly noticeable.

  She wondered if she could see him ter. She knew he would be here, so she couldn't help but look forward to meeting him again.

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  John looked at what was in front of him with extreme i. He had been wandering around with Raven among the different booths, searg for iing things when he came across something that clearly seemed extraordinary.

  "Dr. Hortht? What you tell me about this?" he said, pointing to the hermetically sealed chamber with a thick gss opening that showed the "face" of a man sleeping, or at least that was how it appeared.

  Dr. Phi. Horton swallowed, wiping some sweat from his forehead upon seeing John. They had already been informed that the famous Captain Ameriow el, would be attending the event in search of alents for a project about which very little was known.

  The only thing the researittee had said was that anyone chosen by the Captain would receive the same bes as those chosen by the ittee, along with other secret bes that would only be disclosed privately if they decided to work for John.

  While many stists were excited to meet Captain America, they weren't all enthusiastic about accepting the mysterious offer. Everyone knew John was with the army, so any stist who agreed to work for or with him would be dragged int for the military and thus into the war effort.

  Many didn't want this, believing their iions and genius weren't suited for the ongoing war. After all, most stists preferred to work in pead without being disturbed.

  But Dr. Phi. Horton was different. His greatest dream had always been to achieve fame ah, all things the man in front of him had. He was Captain America, the most famous man in the Uates, the greatest living hero in the world! Horton was sure that with John's status and fame, there was no oer to help him reach such greatness.

  "Captain, sir, this is my greatest achievement," he gestured to the chamber and began to expihusiastically.

  "He doesn't have a , but he is a fully funal android, made of entirely syic materials and capable of mimig all human funs, including individual thought!" he said as grandiosely as he could. Since he knew he could work with John, he had abandoned his idea of ving the ittee for funding. Therefore, this was the presentation he had been preparing for, so he had to sell it as best as he could.

  Hearing this, John couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in astonishment. This, he remembered this, but from where? He began to think deeply about it, his brain quickly uhing old, very old memories from his childhood—a painfully dark childhood he would have preferred tet but o remember to figure out where the feeling of déjà vu was ing from.

  "Why is he locked up, then?" Raven couldn't help but ask, causing Horton's smile to visibly diminish.

  "Well, there's a small design fw, something I'm already w on fixing, of course!" Horton tried to find a way to expin it without making it sound as bad as it was, but he khere was no way to sugarcoat it or hide it. So he sighed aantly decided to be ho.

  "His syic structure is designed with what I call photovoltaic sor cells. They are the main power source, but, well, when they are activated, they create an unforeseen effect when ing into tact with air. It's better if I show you," he said and began to operate the chamber using a puter.

  From one side of the , a small opening revealed itself, allowing the air to start flowing through it. Then, the chamber began to hum slowly, and the face of the android i up with a faint glow, its eyes trembling slightly.

  The pair of eyes opened, admiring the world for a moment, but the instant, fmes began to erupt from every inch of its body as if it were bursting into an inferno. Raven took a step back at the sight, and Horton scratched the back of his head nervously.

  “Yes, this is the problem. The sor cells are too votile; when they e into tact with the oxygen in the air, they cause its entire epidermis to bust, igniting it pletely in fmes as if it were—”

  “A human torch,” said John, interrupting Dr. Horton.

  The man blihat wasly what he was going to say, but it propriate term as well.

  “Uh, yes, like a human torch. Fortunately, this strange phenomeno promise its structure or the syic materials it’s made of, so we don’t have to worry about damage. I just o find a way to stop this from happening.” He just needed a little more time, and a few huhousand dolrs to tinue his research.

  “How about this Doctor horton, I'll take it, how much do you want for he?” said John, pointing at the still-fming android, which was curiously its surroundings.

  Take it? Dr. Horton looked at John in surprise.

  “But it’s defective. I haven’t—” John cut him off.

  “You don’t have to say it twice, doctor. I’ve heard it. I know it’s useless while this indiary problem keeps . Even so, I think it has potential. Why don’t you let me take it? Just give me a price,” he said seriously, patting his shoulder.

  Maybe Dr. Horton was expeg a job offer, but John was not ied in the man at all and didn’t need him. After delving into his deepest memories, he now knew who the person in that was and how he could help him trol those fmes.

  Perhaps in his adulthood and adolesce, John had been too busy w to pay off debts to keep up with the test eai media in his world, so he had missed out on many things. But when he was a child, it wasn't like that.

  Even so, his childhood was dark, so he usually didn’t try t things from those times to light, especially now that his memory was much better and uhing old memories would make it impossible to bury them ba his mind.

  But in this situation, it was worth it.

  He remembered the death of his grandfather. He was only about six years old, and his retives began to dismahe old man's possessions in search of valuables to sell, throwing everything they thought was trash into old, dusty boxes.

  He remembered how he took one of those boxes and searched through it simply looking for something to py with.

  He remembered how he found an old, wrinkled ic book and flipped through it for a while to eain himself.

  He was only six years old; he shouldn't have been able to remember the tents of those pages. No normal adult would have been able to recall something they read casually at the age of six.

  But now, he was not an average adult or a normal human. He er-soldier, and memories that should have been fotten came back to life whenever he wahem to.

  This also happened with Ja. He hadn't seen or heard her name in any of the MCU movies he watched, but he had seen something about her in an old children's cartoon.

  He would have thought it was just a simir, though unon, name if it weren't for the fact that he could remember that the cartoon beloo Marvel. Heck, there was even an Iron Man, a Hulk, and other characters, so he knew without a doubt that the Ja he met and the Ja from those memories had to be the "same."

  The same thing happened with what he had just remembered. He could see the Marvel logo on the cover of that old ic book he read in his childhood.

  Horton sidered John's offer. It wasly what he was looking for, but at the same time, he didn't want to seem desperate. Maybe, if he sold this failed produd mao advance his research with the money earned...

  Yes, he could see it. Once his androids were perfect, he wouldn't need John to achieve fame ah; he could do it all by himself!

  "Two hundred... two huhousand dolrs," he said after thinking it over. Raven's eyes widened upon hearing it, then she frowrying to imagine how much mohat was.

  John smiled and nodded. "Agreed," he said.

  "Really?!"

  "Seriously?!"

  Horton and Raven spoke in unison, incredulous. Horton had named such a high figure simply to have a starting point fotiation. He didn't expect John to accept immediately.

  Raven simply did not expect John to be able to spend that much money out of nowhere.

  "I'm serious. I think it's a fair price." Horton stood still, processing the words before smiling and shaking John's hand vigorously.

  "Th-Then I'll prepare a tract. Be right back!" Horton quickly closed the opening in the android's , causing it to go back to sleep. He then gathered some things and quickly left.

  Raven watched him go, the man nearly tripping several times. She then turo look at John, who was still staring at the android.

  "Are you really going to buy it?" she couldn't help but ask. John made sure no one was around before replying.

  "Nah, that guy is just an idiot, and his research is far too dangerous. We 't leave something like that in the hands of a man like him..." He then looked at her seriously.

  "Raven, I want you to do something for me..." Raven became serious upon hearing this. That tone of voice—John only used it when he wanted her to carry out an important mission.

  An assassination mission.

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  Note:

  Little by little, John is finding more and more iing people.

  And remember that you find the chapter(and some more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon. maCruzader) All the support received helps me a lot ;D