Chapter 13 - Initiative

Once the smoke had cleared and S.H.I.E.L.D. had gotten on the scene, it would not be long before Director Fury appeared to personally debrief Ramirez, Stark, and Rhodes. Since War Machine was officially Air Force property, Rhodes returned with it. Stark had no qualms about that, as it stopped the Department of Defense from harassing him about turning over his creation. This way, they only had the suit and would have to reverse engineer everything from that – Stark never said he was going to make it easy for them.

Currently, Julia was in a dimly lit room with an un-talkative, suit-wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, waiting for Fury to call her in for the debriefing. Tony had been summoned first, but it wasn't been too long before he was escorted back.

"Mr. Stark, if you would wait here-" the agent started.

"No way am I waiting here; I have a perfectly good Rolls Royce waiting outside. I'll let you look inside if you follow me right now," Tony replied dismissively, and after winking to Julia, left the room again.

Another agent escorted Julia in to meet Nick Fury, who sat at a table temporarily set up in this warehouse that S.H.I.E.L.D. had decided to set up camp in.

"Ms. Ramirez," Fury greeted her, standing to shake her hand. "Thank you for your patience."

They both sat, and he looked at her steadily with his elbows on the table, hands clasped beneath his chin.

"You're probably wondering what all this is for…" he paused and slid a folder across the table to her – Avengers Initiative Preliminary Report. "It's to discuss this. As you are already well aware, Agent Romanoff has been collecting information on both Stark and yourself to reassess your suitability for this initiative. However, the past few months has proved to be much more of an acid test for both you personally and your alter-ego. That said, you'll find many positive remarks about your performance in those papers."

Julia was silent as she scanned the report, yet a sentence at the end of Romanoff's assessment made prompted her to look up at Fury. "Recruitment assessment for Avenger Initiative…I passed?"

"Yes. Both you and Dark Maiden."

"I don't understand, sir."

"It means that you, Julia Ramirez, and you as Dark Maiden, are both suitable for the Initiative. Your activities both in and out of this role make you a stable candidate."

"Thank you, sir."

"While this is still in the recruitment phase, you are not required to start immediately; however, you are being formerly invited to begin working with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Right now?" she asked, surprised.

"I am the director and I am inviting you, so it doesn't get more real than this," Fury responded. "If you need some time to think it over, you can have twenty-four hours – there's no rush."

Julia was silent for a moment, thinking it all over, but she already knew deep down what she wanted. "I accept," she said solemnly.

Fury's eyebrows raised and he leaned back in his chair a bit. "Just like that?" he queried, seemingly unconvinced.

"It's the right time," she said simply, "for a number of reasons."

"Well then, Julia Ramirez," Director Fury stood again to shake her hand, "welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Julia managed to wait until she and Tony arrived back at the house to break the news to him. Fortunately, Yinsen was also at the house, so it didn't take much arranging to get the three of them together down in the workshop.

"How did your meetings go?" the doctor asked eagerly.

"Basically, my suit qualified to be in the Avenger Initiative, but I didn't," replied Tony. "However, Fury wants to have me on hand as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. so I'm cool with that."

"That sounds like a good start," Yinsen commented. "After all, you have a lot of new things happening in your life right now." There was a knowing look in his eye, as he had been informed about Tony and Pepper finally starting a romance.

"What about you?" Tony questioned Julia. "You've been really quiet."

Julia let out a sigh in an unconscious effort to relieve the tension she felt in her chest. "I was accepted for the Avengers Initiative, and Fury asked me to start with S.H.I.E.L.D. right away."

"Not fair!" Tony exclaimed.

"And I accepted," she continued quietly. "I've got a few days to get things organized, but I'll be moving out." Julia looked up into their faces – Tony had a look of shock, while Yinsen smiled.

"I believe that you will be satisfied there; it will be a good fit for you," the doctor told her.

"You're leaving?" Tony murmured, the realization still sinking in.

"Tony, it's time that I walk my own path. We've gotten each other through a lot, and we both need to start again. Besides, you have Pepper – you two need time for yourselves."

"I must confess," Yinsen began, "I have also accepted a position in Europe, and S.H.I.E.L.D. has also requested my consultation from time to time."

"You too?!" Tony spluttered.

"I'll still make house calls as your doctor, but I need to share my skill set with others to really make a difference."

The trio shared mixed emotions of pride and sadness. For such a long time they had been everything to each other, and even though there were uncertainties that lay ahead, Julia, Tony, and Yinsen needed to get on with their lives.

"Damn, I'm going to miss this," Julia muttered, a grin on her face and tears in her eyes.

"Group hug, everyone!" Tony shouted, and pulled the other two in for an embrace.

Saying her goodbyes to her family felt all too familiar – it was much like when she had left for Afghanistan. Yet along with the normal apprehension, there was a measure of relief. Julia was finally able to come clean on her identity as Dark Maiden – though it was no real surprise as they had all suspected it – and the fact that she would be working under a more professional and official capacity with S.H.I.E.L.D. and not the fly-by-night operations with Stark. Nevertheless, it was still difficult, especially for Julia's mother, to see her go off to battle again.

"I'm going to be alright," Julia tried to reassure her.

"I wish that was enough to convince me. After Afghanistan, I…"

"I know," she replied and embraced her, "but I've got more eyes on me now, and on the family."

"We have all the instructions for the emergency evacuation?"

"Yes, and everyone has been over it. I can only hope that we never have to use it, but we're still prepared."

Though Julia had decided not to mention the threat Marius Dellinger posed, she did explain that her it was vital that the family stay safe in case her identity was compromised.

"Okay then, Julia," Mrs. Ramirez said at last, "go get them."

Julia left the house and went straight to the airport by taxi. Her clothing was in a duffle bag, her bike had been sold, and she had already bid the Stark mansion farewell. She couldn't deal with the sight of any loved ones waving goodbye at the gates. That said, she was surprised to get a call from Pepper Potts as she was on route.

"Julia, I hope I didn't catch you too late," the woman said.

"Not at all. What's going on?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye before you left."

"But we did that…" Julia said, confused.

"Yes, but with Tony right there I couldn't say what I was hoping to say. I wanted to apologize actually. I felt like I've been giving you the cold shoulder these past few months; I thought that you and Tony were…more than friends. I felt kinda jealous, but mostly I tried to be happy for him, even though it seemed like you both were fighting a lot. It seems silly now, since I know what was really going on."

"Virginia, I didn't realize that's how things looked to you. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."

"Really, it must have been incredibly stressful, so you have nothing to apologize for! I also wanted to thank you for taking care of Tony. He's going to miss you a lot."

Julia could feel a lump in her throat at the mention of that. She was missing him already.

When Julia arrived on the east coast hours later, she made one last detour before going to report in at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. At an apartment block, she stared at the name on the directory out front before pushing the numbers for Elian Pratt.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Pratt, it's Julia."

There was a noticeable pause as he likely registered the shock.

"Come up."

She found him waiting there with his door open. Her former colleague and boyfriend looked both suspicious and pleased with this unannounced arrival, yet she could still see the hurt in his eyes from the last time they had seen each other.

"What brings you all the way out here?" he asked, getting right to the point once she had stepped into his place.

"In a word: S.H.I.E.L.D. They made me an offer, and I decided to take them up on it."

"That's awesome! I think that will suit you better."

"Better than being with Stark?" she asked with a wry look at him.

"Better than acting without regulations. You've never strayed too far from the rulebook, Julia. But why are you here?" Pratt pressed the issue.

"Because S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to send me all over the place and I'm not sure when our paths will cross again. I couldn't leave things as they were."

"You know I go overseas in a couple days, right?"

"Yeah."

He gave a sigh and looked at her. "What if we just left everything and started out from scratch with just you and me?"

She had half-expected Pratt to make a last-ditch effort, but she could never find the words to make a reply. Her face said it all though.

Pratt sighed again and smiled sadly. "You're looking for something, and I'm just not the answer."

"I'm sorry we never could get back what we had," Julia said.

"Thanks for coming to see me though. Take care of yourself."

The black SUV that S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent to pick her up from the airport was still waiting for her downstairs. The driver hadn't even made an issue of going out of the way for this personal request; nor did he comment on Julia's tear-stained face when she re-entered the vehicle.

"Okay, we can go," she muttered quietly.

This chapter was closed and Julia was on to a new one.

The End

A/N: It's been like 2 years since I posted anything to this story, and I apologize. I really needed to focus on some things in my life and pretty much gave up on writing. However, I'm also thankful that I could finish what I started, and deeply appreciate the many encouraging messages I've received from people. Thank you.