Okay, so, I know I'm not completely done with my other story, Yesterday's Adventure, but I'm not really sure where to go with it at this point, and I've had this idea for a while. If all goes as planned, this will be the first installment in a much longer series that may even eventually tie my other stories together. As for now, though, this has nothing to do with Yesterday's Adventure or The Tale of the Widow and the Hawk. This is part of my 'Bigger World' universe, but this is much more of a prologue that introduces my OC, Captain Jolene Elye.

If that made sense, good for you, if not, it's not that important anywayXD.

"And the night was alive and anhungered of life as a tiger from toils cast free:
And a rapture of rage made joyous the spirit and strength of the soul of the sea.
All the weight of the wind bore down on it, freighted with death for fraught:
And the keen waves kindled and quickened as things transfigured or things distraught.
And madness fell on them laughing and leaping; and madness came on the wind:
And the might and the light and the darkness of storm were as storm in the heart of Ind…."

Wind-driven rain lashed at the USS White Rose, blowing wildly and trying to steer the ship off course. Her captain stared out over the ocean, taking in the monster storm. Some twelve or thirteen miles off the coast of Burma, large storms were not an uncommon occurrence. But this one was, for a lack of a better word, a doozy. Winds that bordered hurricane speeds fought to push them off-course, working with waves that were large enough to occasionally wash over the deck of the destroyer. Bright streaks of lightning drew jagged streaks across the sky, lighting up the sea around them as if it were momentarily daylight. Those who dared walk outside were soaked to the bone within seconds.

Another bolt of lightning flashed along the horizon, illuminating the pale face of the woman at the helm. Her overall appearance pointed Irish descent, with porcelain-pale skin and bright freckles across her nose. Sea blue eyes sparked with energy and a bit of something feral and wild, something that seeing it, you just knew she grew up barefoot. She was lithe of build and average of height, neither tall nor short, and she was a bit more thin than thick. If she made the effort to look good, she supposed she could be considered fairly attractive. She was not, by any means, drop-dead gorgeous, nor did she have the looks of an actress or model, and that much she knew for sure. No, the captain was pretty average-looking, maybe pretty in her own way, but certainly nothing to turn heads. She was perfectly okay with that, it meant less complication and distraction at work and it meant that men usually paid attention to what she wanted when she talked to them as opposed to how she looked.

"How's it lookin', Cap'n?" Someone asked. Commander Grey Parks stood to the side, watching her. "Pretty rough, right?"

The captain shook her head, pursing her lips. "Ain't seen a storm like this in a long time," she conceded. A thick southern accent blanketed her words, giving her voice a warm tone. She turned to one of the nearby navigators. "Burnes, chart a course and try to stay out of the worst of it; I don't like the look of that lightning. Commander Parks, go make sure everything is properly stowed and see to it that there is no one on deck that shouldn't be. It's gonna be a long night."

"Yes ma'am," Parks said, disappearing out the door.

"How does it look, Lieutenant?" she asked, Parks' earlier question having set her into wondering. She walked over to the younger navigator and peered over her shoulder.

"See for yourself, ma'am," Lieutenant Mariah Burnes said, adjusting the computer screen to show the captain the radar. The captain's eyebrows shot up in silent surprise. For miles around them, a mammoth storm blanketed the ocean. Lightning symbols popped up periodically just west of them, confirming what she had seen earlier. "Wind speeds reading up to 73 miles per hour, ma'am," Burnes said. "The ship alone has seen three inches of rain. I doubt even the fish can survive all this."

"Well we'll just have to try to stay out of the worst," the captain reiterated. Concern showed on her face momentarily before it was replaced with excitement. "Avoid lightning and winds much higher than this."

"Ma'am, shouldn't we head for port?" Burnes asked, somewhat nervously. She glanced down at the radar screen again before looking back up at the captain.

"Mariah," the captain said, blue eyes hard. "There are men on board who haven't been stateside in months, maybe even over a year. Our ship can ride this out, and we're not turnin' tail just because of a little thunder!" She smirked proudly, almost cockily. "We're the White Rose, and it's not like we don't have anything to prove." The two shared a grin for a moment.

"Ma'am!" A radioman exclaimed, waving the captain over. "I've got someone out in this storm who needs assistance. It's one of ours."

"One of ours? Who?" the captain asked, her brow furroing in confusion and concern. Even she knew that no one should have been flying in a storm like this.

"I don't know, I haven't responded," the tech said.

"Why the hell not?" the captain demanded. She shook her head. "Patch me through," she demanded, picking up the headset and listening intently.

"This is Tony Stark, of SHIELD team Avengers, requesting permission to land. Is anyone out there?" She blinked. Well, it certainly sounded like Stark, if the press interviews were anything to go by. But why was Stark in the middle of the freaking Bay of Bengal? This wasn't making any sense. "Anyone?" He asked again, and she realized she had been thinking for far too long.

"This is Captain Jolene Elye, of the USS White Rose. What's your location?" she asked, moving back toward Mariah and the radar map on her computer screen.

"It's good to hear a friendly voice, Captain Elye," another voice came through. Jolene pinned that as the voice of Captain America himself. Her eyebrows rose in the only show of her concealed intrigue. Was this the entire team of Avengers? The radar hadn't picked up a jet, but she had handled- or dealt with, actually- S.H.I.E.L.D. before and knew that they were sometimes off the radar.

"We're currently about three miles south of the And Man Islands," Stark's voice said after a moment's hesitation. Jolene frowned in confusion for several moments before she started searching the map on the radar screen. She realized what he meant in seconds.

"Andaman Islands, you mean?" She asked.

"Yeah, that," he agreed. "We're about three…four miles south of there. Or, at least, we were about half an hour ago. I've got no GPS right now, so I really can't tell you." His voice sounded strained. 'Trace it,' Jolene mouthed over her shoulder. The tech jumped up to do just that.

"We're getting pretty beat up out here," Captain America said. Jolene could hear a roaring sound in the background of his radio, threatening to drown out his voice. Her eyes widened in realization of what it was.

"Captain, Mr. Stark, are you outside?" Jolene asked, horror tinting her voice. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Classified," Stark said evasively.

"What's your position?" Captain America asked.

"We're about two minutes south and west of yours, if our technicians are anything to go by," Jolene said, looking at the slip of paper the technician handed her. "We'll come to you, just try to stay on your course." She handed Lt. Burnes the location, and the young lieutenant immediately began altering their course. "How many of you are there? Any injuries?" Jolene asked.

"It our whole team," Captain America confirmed. "Six of us. We're banged up some, but nothing major that we can see. A bit of first aid would be a big help." She heard a few faint voices in the background, sounds of protest, and smirked. People and their denial of first aid… She imagined they would behave as her own crew usually did, seeing medical care as a weakness.

"I'll personally see to the infirmary being prepared," Jolene said. "Hang in there, boys, we're on the way." She started taking off the headset, but Stark's voice stopped her.

"I don't think we'll be able to stay out of the water for much longer," he said, his voice faintly nervous. Jolene frowned, her level of concern skyrocketing with one statement.

"How much longer do you-" The radio crackled, and the next thing she heard was a loud boom and crashing sound. "HOLY SHIT!" someone screamed, and then, nothing but static.

"Stark? Captain?" Jolene called into the radio silence, growing frantic. She received no response. "Shit!" she cursed. "Get a bead on that call and get as close as you can," she snapped at the room. "Some of ours are flying out there; they need help! As of right now, we are diverting on a rescue/extraction mission. Someone get S.H.I.E.L.D. on the phone, the rest of you, I want every steady-legged shipman out on deck with lights and slickers looking for those people. See to it that happens. Lieutenant Burnes, when you're done with the trace contact the infirmary and tell them I'm on my way," she finished, disappearing out the door. She barely heard the chorus of "yes, ma'am!" behind her as she sprinted down the passage.

Reviews appreciated, hope you like it!

BA&A