𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 || 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘯 𝘛𝘰 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨

AS THE TWO began taking their amour off, Cooper spoke up. "You should just take her out on a date." He pointed out as Nova grumbled in annoyance as she peeled her helmet off her head. "Maybe coffee shop, a fancy restaurant, or hell maybe on a trip. Of course, after we're done with all of this." Cooper suggested as he took his helmet off and placed it on his desk in the hangar.

She huffed as she placed her hands on her hips. "You have to do it if you go on a date with Maria. I don't see you going about and making any moves. Real asshole thing to do with me if you won't act on your feelings." The blonde's lips clamped shut as he knew he was beaten. Detaching his chest and backplate that fell to the floor. Clenching his jaw as the girl smirked before shaking her head and doing the same.

"Coop, there's no time for me and Natasha to even go on dates. We're always busy, and busy means we won't see each other," She explained with a wave of her hand, "and being around me would be a curse. I'm too into my work for anyone to actually gain a connection with me."

It was the most truthful thing Nova had said in a very long time. She was too into her work for her own good. Often distancing herself from everyone and setting up shop at the back of the hangar where she worked on her APEX suit. Doing tests with Athena and trying to make it better than it already was. Something that Clint suggested to not do because her communication skills would be ruined.

But she had to focus on her work. If it helped gain the attention of her real father, then it was worth it. Just to have a conversation with him because of her work would be all worth it. So, she opted out of many trips to the bar or training to just sit at her APEX suit and work. Something she didn't mind.

The blonde chuckled lightly. "Your not wrong." Nova unzipped her jumpsuit and hung it up in her locker. "But the point is, love, in our line of work, is sorta...different?" She asked as Cooper turned to her now in his casual sweatpants and a black t-shirt. Dog tags just peeking out from around his neck before disappearing under his shirt. She had a black tank top on with her cargo pants with her own set of dog tags out and hanging in front of her chest.

"If we fall in love with someone or get in a relationship, our feelings will get involved. Things will become personal and if you act out; you're gone. And at the moment, I don't need to be in that position and neither does Natasha." She explained as she grabbed her jacket from the desk where Cooper stood by.

"But you don't believe that, do you?" He questioned as the girl huffed, turning to the blonde. "I mean, you speak about not gaining a connection with someone, but I would say I know you pretty damn well to call you my best friend." His arms were crossed over his chest while leaning against the desk. A frown on his face as he watched his co-pilot bite her bottom lip.

She didn't. She didn't believe that at all. What she did believe was that love is a decision- a choice. And she was choosing to not act out on her feelings because it could put her and Natasha in danger. It could destroy the friendship, or even ruin their careers. Nova wasn't willing to lose her APEX suit or hurt Natasha 'cause of her selfish feelings.

Inhaling deeply, Nova chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I believe we have the choice of what we want to do. We want love, we choose to love. We want success, we will have success. But we can't have both here." She explained as Cooper's frown deepened as he stood up.

"But you can't be serious, right? You don't think those two can work together?" He questioned sharply as Nova clenched her jaw.

Her hand clenched around her jacket that was balled up in her fist. Taking a step forward, she stared into the blonde large blue eyes. "I know, those two can't work together," she spat sharply as Cooper took a minor step back in shock. In all his time of working with Nova, he'd never seen her angry at anything. Maybe throwing a wrench across the hangar, but not to the point where she seemed ready to fight. It threw Cooper off completely.

"So, how about we get to the bridge and end this conversation, hey?" She didn't wait for an answer before walking past him. Bumping shoulders with him roughly as she passed and made her way to the door exiting the hangar.

Taking deep breaths to try and simmer her anger as she made her way down the halls. She didn't mean to lose her cool on Cooper. He just struck a spot for the girl that set her off and she couldn't help herself. The last thing she wanted was to make an imbalance in their relationship and create tension whenever they went out on missions together. But the last thing she wanted was to keep that anger and have it appear while talking to her stepdad. She didn't want to be grounded because of her feelings.

As she approached the bridge, guards gave her nods in greetings. She returned before the automated doors opened as she walked onto the bridge. Being welcomed by the sound of multiple people working away at the terminals scattered around the room. Steve Rogers standing at the front of the table in the centre of the room with Bruce Banner standing behind him. Clearly out of place from everyone else here.

"Gentleman," Fury greeted as his eyes flickered to Nova who was slipping her arms into her jacket. "Nova."

She bit back the snappy comment wanting to escape her lips from his tone. "Director," she replied, mocking the same monotone voice as his.

Their conversation was cut off there with Steve handing the man a 10-dollar bill before walking towards the control station. Nova walked to Natasha who was crouched down looking at the monitors searching for Clint. She bit her bottom lip as she crouched down beside her friend and sighed.

"I should've been there," she began as Natasha shook her head.

"It's not your fault," Natasha tried to reassure. "It's neither our fault. We were both preoccupied."

Nova shook her head in denial. "No, I was simply working on my suit," she stated. "If I knew he would be there and given authorization, I could've maybe helped. He's your friend and I should've been able to bring him back for you."

Natasha frowned at that. "Isn't he your friend as well?"

Pursing her lips, Nova shrugged. "He didn't get me cookies for my birthday. So, friend?" Nova laughed. "Up for debate." She quipped, causing Natasha to chuckle.

"I was the only one, huh?" She asked as Nova smirked.

"Only one on this entire ship." The pair chuckled, causing Nova to smile widely

If she was able to make Natasha smile at least the tiniest bit, then that mattered. She wanted to distract the assassin from her daunting thoughts. It did no one good thinking about their mistakes when they could continue to move forward and do something right.

"Where are you with that?" Bruce asked, getting Nova's attention as she turned to Coulson. Guessing they were talking about the progress of tracking down the Tesseract.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops... If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." The Agent explained to the Doctor who nodded.

"Still not gonna find them in time," Natasha countered.

"You have to narrow your field," Bruce told them as he began taking his coat off. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?" He asked.

Nova stood to her feet. "Should be able to get some set up. Why?"

"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays." He explained to Agent Coulson who nodded. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Bruce finished as Cooper stepped forward, slightly scaring Nova at his sudden appearance.

"I can help you with that." Bruce nodded in thanks.

"Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Bruce inquired, looking amongst the group.

Fury nodded and looked back at Natasha. "Agent Romanoff,  could you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?"

The redhead nodded. "You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys." She told him before looking back at Nova. "Don't forget-"

"Firing range. I know." Nova cut her off with a smile that Natasha mirrored before walking away with Bruce and Cooper in tow.

Now standing here alone, she didn't know what exactly to do. And as she glanced around, seeing people working. She felt the need to go back down to the hangar and work on her APEX suit. It would be a few minutes before she would have to go to the firing range.

"I see I am no use as of right now. I'll see you all later." She gave a forced smile and walked in the direction of the doors.

"The first hit we get on Loki you'll be going in, Pegasus." Fury called out, making the girl's movement falter as she stopped for a moment. Taking a deep breath and licking her lips. Turning around to her stepdad and giving a mock salute with a plastic smile. "Understood, sir." She snapped before turning back around and storming out of the bridge. Leaving a very annoyed Nick Fury and confused Steve Rogers from the interaction between them.

"Tough love?" Steve asked as Fury sighed. "The kid is reckless and can't seem to realize that. Have to keep her in check." He told the blonde who nodded, not wanting to overstep any boundaries between the family members.

SITTING AT ONE of the chairs at the back of the firing range, Nova stared at the holo pad screen. Watching a conference relating to A.P.E.X. Her father being introduced onto the stage where he took his place at the podium. A large smile on his lips as he waved to the crowd that cheered. Camer flashed lighting the stage the glowing red luminescent lights were around the edge of the stage. But right behind was the banner and logo of A.P.E.X that was being revealed.

Nova didn't understand why she was deciding to watch this press conference. She didn't understand why she was still following her dad's progress with her company. It might just be the fact that even from a distance, she wanted to make sure everything was all right with him. Make sure nothing bad was going to happen to it. That doesn't change the fact that she hates him for leaving. But she was allowed to still care and be happy knowing he hadn't vanished like she thought he did for a while.

"Thank you all for coming. Tonight is an exciting night for us as we will be unveiling the APEX suit and the logo officially for the company." Martin Usoro spoke as the crowd quietened down. He walked along the stage, leaving the podium where a mic was hung around his ear and near his lips.

"Here, in Stuttgart Germany, we were so happy to have been able to have our suits built in this city and Country. To be able to help the people in need was a blessing and we're so happy we could help everyone that needed it. From our projects helping the paralyzed by making robotic Exo suits to helping hospitals with our technology. I, and everyone at the company, want to thank you for letting us help you all who deserve it the most." Martin smiled as the crowd clapped and cheered.

Raising his hand, the crowd grew quiet once more before he continued. "But tonight is to show the future. Our future- the world's future of flight itself." In the middle of the stage, a square opened up with an APEX suit slowly rose up from the opening. Latched onto a soldier who seemed to be a volunteer showing what the suit was able to do. "I present you, the APEX suit!" He exclaimed as the flashing of cameras lit the stage.

Leaning back in her seat, Nova clasped a hand around her chin. Scratching at the skin as she watched Martin laugh and clap to the soldier who smiled. It hurt seeing him this happy and unbothered by the past and pain he'd caused for her. Like all the moments of him pushing her away didn't mean a single thing. But maybe it was what he had to do to make the progress he had made. To help the poor and weak that needed his technology the most.

"Now, I know what your thinking. 'How does it work, Martin?'" He joked as he clasped his hands together. "Well, Colonel Zimmerman will show you exactly." Martin motioned to the soldier who nodded.

After a few moments, the jet's activated and Nova felt herself pull the holo pad closer. Trying to figure out how it had been activated without the throttles she had designed. Even the engines were far more advanced with blue energy flowing through them. Not like her natural jet engines that she took from Quinjets and fighter jets that belonged to SHIELD.

Zimmerman slowly rose from the ground and began levitating with the blue energy growing wilder. "Through a neural interface, also known as BCI, he can control the engines from his mind," Martin explained as he put a finger to his temple. "With our powerful minds, we can control a powerful suit." He explained as he looked at Zimmerman. Motioning with his hand to continue.

The soldier took a few moments before he rose higher. The crowd aweing in fascination as the soldier began doing circles above. Not needing to lean forward as the engines move freely and angled the way he wanted to go.

From the blueprints left for her when her dad left didn't have these modifications. If anything, they had nothing to the sort of what he had done with these suits. "He gave me the fucking alpha build." Nova realized as she ran a hand through her hair. Stopping her movement as Martin continued talking again.

"There won't be any need for fighter jets anymore. No more people being put at risk. Our suits come with many gadgets such as missiles, flares and cloaking. More will be developed, but these are the main three that have been created with the base model." The crowd cheered in excitement as Nova felt her jaw tighten as Zimmerman landed back onto the stage.

Martin shook the soldier's hand before Zimmerman walked off stage towards the back. "Now, the last piece for tonight. Our logo." He smiled. "This logo had been in development for a very long time. Now, it is ready to be made as our signal."

With a motion of his hand, the cloth covering the banner fell and revealed the APEX logo. It was a red and white design of a helmet on the shape of a shield. The helmet has a sword through it with the letter A on the forehead of the helmet. Right below it in a large text, read,

𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐗
𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒

"This will be our logo. We will help combat enemies who threaten our planet and keep our people- our planet safe." The crowd cheered as Martin smiled proudly. "Thank you all. Have a good night."

Nova didn't wait as she shut the holo pad off and tossed it onto the weapons table. Holding her head in her hands as she clenched her jaw. Sniffling as she wiped her eyes and sighing. Why did she feel betrayed? More betrayed than she had already felt when it came to her father? When she grew up old enough to understand that blueprint, she believed that was his life's work. Everything he'd been working towards was given to her. But really, it was just a basic build of the APEX suit. Not at all what he had planned for the suit to actually do.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she leaned back in her seat. Jutting her jaw to the left as she glanced down at dog tags and inspected them. Remembering them being given to her the moment she finished her dog fight with SHIELD. A rogue jet fighter was planning an attack on a military base. She intercepted and ended up taking out the jet, but massively being wounded in the process. A long fall to the earth's surface with a broken leg and four broken ribs with a concussion to go with that.

Spent weeks in recovery and was grounded from flying until she fully recovered. But was gifted the dog tags from Fury. The gift was the most important thing to her now because it wasn't anything more than congratulations on her work. A gift that showed her he was proud, in some capacity, and knew what she had sacrificed that day and thanked her, in his own weird way. It was better than the blueprint from Martin that was just a facade to what he truly had planned.

The automated door to the firing range slid open with Natasha entered. "Hey, sorry to keep you waiting." She took off her jacket, placing it on the chair beside the pilot. "You ready?" Nova licked her lips and gave a brief nod as she stood up from the chair.

Natasha motioned to the wide selection of weaponry. Some hung up on the wall, others on the table where the holo pad was. "Pick your poison." Nova grabbed a Glock 19 and walked towards the shooting booth. Placing the pistol down on the counter as Natasha walked over.

"Doing dry fires?" Nova nodded with a hum as she grabbed the earplugs from Natasha's palm. The redhead frowned slightly before nodding and letting the girl warm up. Her eyes flickered to the holo pad that was beside the magazines of ammo.

Pulling the slide back, Nova glanced into the chamber to find it empty. Remembering the rules and advice Natasha had given her the first time they came here to train. Letting the slide snap back into position, she aimed down the range. The Pad of her right index finger rested on the trigger before pulling it back. A click echoed into the concrete room before she pulled the slide back and let it snap back into position. Easing her finger off the trigger under she heard it click again.

One thing Nova hated the most was guns. The whole concept of them was just unpleasing for Nova. Holding one made her feel disgusted while firing rockets from her shoulder made her feel alive. But with a gun in her hand, a person's life hung in the air. She had the power to take someone's life or spare it, and she didn't feel comfortable with that type of power. Flying around and firing stun missiles? Sure, she was fine with that. But nothing relating to guns had her up and about.

"You gotta talk to him, Nova." The Usoro girl stopped her moment and lowered her gun. Looking over her shoulder to see Natasha holding the holo pad with the screen on.

She felt her jaw clench as she placed the Glock on the counter and sighed. "About what exactly?" She questioned as she turned and walked towards the table.

Grabbing two magazines and walking back to the booth. "Well, just let him know you see him. Just something instead of watching from a distance." Natasha explained.

Nova scoffed, containing a laugh that contained more venom than she thought possible for herself. "When you mean "watching from a distance", do you mean being lonely?" Sad all the time? Trying to get him to notice me?" She inquired, glancing at Natasha. When she found the agent silent, Nova snickered. "He hasn't given me enough for me to entertain him with my time."

Sighing, Nova grasped the Glock and grabbed one of the magazines. Talking as she prepped the weapon for use. "I have been alone for a long time, Nat. No matter if I had Cooper, Fury, Clint or you, I was still lonely," she explained, prepping the weapon and the firing range. "It wasn't always like this, but it came to be the moment he left. Leaving only a stupid base build for the damn APEX suit." She grunted as she slides the slide back to see a bullet in the chamber.

"There's nothing I could say to him that would make him come back." She turned to Natasha, waving her hands dismissively. "I'm just like him. We're both passionate about our work and we don't really give ourselves time to talk or get to know people." She muttered biting her bottom lip. "We've never given ourselves time." She added quietly as she to the firing range. "We can't go running back to the people who don't want us there in the first place, Natasha."

Biting the inside of her cheek, Nova shoved the earplugs in. Grasping the weapon and flipping the safety off before taking aim. Firing a shot to give herself a quick reminder before firing another, then another, and another.

All until she finished off the magazine with the bullet clicking. Releasing the trigger, she didn't care to look at her success with the shots. Finding herself not wanting to be in the same room as Natasha. Only because her own words seemed to make her emotional and she didn't need anyone seeing that side of her. No one had seen that side of her and she preferred it that.

Pulling the slide back and locking it into place, Nova placed the gun down. Taking the ear plugs out and turning around with her head hung low. Dropping the two small buds into the garbage. As she was about to exit, Natasha grasped her arm softly.

Looking up, their eyes connect and Natasha smiled sadly. "But we can ease their mind," she stated gently, just like her touch. "Let them know we are here." She finally replied to the statement Nova had given. Shocking Nova slightly as she stared at the redhead in front of her.

Their moment stopped when the door of the firing range slid open. Cooper with his APEX suit on causing Nova to frown. "Cooper, what's going on?" Nova asked as Natasha let her arm go. "We got a hit on Loki. You two need to get ready, now." He told the woman who followed him out of the room.

"Where is he at?" Natasha asked as Cooper looked over his shoulder at the pair

"Stuttgart, Germany."

Nova's heart hiccuped in beat as her eyes widened. The redhead beside her also realized after seeing the conference for APEX Industries was also taking place in the same city. It couldn't be a coincidence that Loki was in the same country and same city as Nova's father. That was just a crazy inconvenience that didn't seem like it would happen on a whim.

But despite this sudden change and revelation, she let out a exhale and nodded. "Then let's get suited up."