Chapter Three:

Hela wanted nothing more than to grasp her father by the ear and smack him straight to Helheim. How dare he? How dare he let them all believe that he had died? How dare he allow all of Asgard to mourn, to allow his own children to grieve his death? How dare he waltz into Midgard as if no time had passed, as if he hadn't fallen into absolute darkness?

She watched as her father herded the mortals together, as he forced them all to kneel. She even raised an eyebrow, impressed at the older man that stood in defiance. She wasn't even mildly surprised when the man out of time appeared, with the man of iron joining him only minutes later. Hela was, however, surprised that her father gave himself to these strange mortals with hardly any fight.

Oh her trickster father was at it again.

"It appears our father is still alive," there was snarl in Fenrir's voice as he trotted to a stop beside his sister, donning his husky appearance. No one paid them any mind, still darting around in fear of what they had just witnessed. Their father was only now being carted onto the Quinjet, still flashing his manic smile to anyone within distance.

"It appears so," Hela's lips were pursed, her eyes narrowed. "We searched for him, Fen. We searched and found no trace of father. How is he here, and alive?"

"I don't know, sister. I don't know," he nudged her leg, offering the comfort they both sought. "Jörmungand located her."

That caught her attention. "And where is our littlest?"

Fenrir watched as the Quinjet rose before disappearing against the night. His enhanced sight kept a close eye on the vehicle as it dashed off. "Exactly where he is going."

Hela wasn't certain whether she should be relieved, or worried. "Father knows she's here then. He knows she's alive."

"He's not…right," Fenrir commented, tilting his head to catch his sister's gaze. "There is something strange consuming him."

"You're right, brother," she nodded, laying a hand on the top of his head. "Our father is certainly not well. Where is Jörmungand now?"

"With her. He crawled into her bag when they exited the compound. He should be with her now."

"Good. As relieved as I am that father is alive, I'm unsure what will come of this. Whatever consumes him, it hasn't left him in the right frame of mind. She will need to be protected."

Fenrir agreed. Their father would never forgive himself should he hurt his youngest while he was not himself. "Always."

Emily shuddered as a strange chill emerged in the room. She glanced down at her hands, worried that she had been the cause of the drop of temperature. But everything seemed as it should.

"Hello?" she moved towards the door, knocking lightly to gain the attention of the guards she expected to be standing near. "Is there anyone there?"

"Ma'am," a grunt sounded from the other side. "It would be best if you were to remain quiet and in your room."

A frown formed on her lips but she took a step away from the door and tried to clear her thoughts. She was just overreacting. Maybe the heat just needed to be turned on, or she was coming down with something. Though, as she thought about it, she had very rarely ever caught a bug or cold. Never had she even broken or sprained a bone when she was younger. She just had lucky genes, she insisted time and time again. Though those genes were still mysterious to her.

Time seemed to pass slower for her in her new cell than it did on the compound. At least there, tests were being administered and there seemed to be a constant stream of agents and scientists that wanted her attention. Here, she only had food brought to her by a single, boring agent that never caught her glance. It was the only form she had come into contact with, not even Coulson visiting her like he had promised.

Emily snorted to herself. She had learned too many times never to trust a promise given to her by a SHIELD agent.

She tried to busy herself as best as she could, but her entertainment was limited. She only had the one book that she had brought, not another one in sight in the small room. The journal she had tried to write in back in the compound had been confiscated the moment it was discovered. Apparently she wasn't even allowed her own thoughts. Everything needed to be dictated to her, even her own emotions.

Nearly bored out of her mind, Emily laid on the cot, the thin mattress lumpy and digging into her back. She thought about attempting to escape, only for the mild excitement that would ensue. But thankfully, that excitement seemed to brew itself.

Shouting sounded out in the hallway, crashing following it. She lifted herself, an eyebrow rising as she stared at the door. There were more yelling and shouting, even a few gunshots.

What was happening out there?

Emily wasn't sure if she wanted to know, or instead remain in the safety of her cage. At least in here, she was safe from the outside world. She only had SHIELD to brace herself against.

As footsteps approached, however, her concern began to grow. When they stopped outside of the door, her hands began to grow numb. She held them in tight fists, hoping to avoid the inevitable. Her abilities seemed to manifest during her emotional states. There seemed to be many of them in the last year or two, and she knew it was the reason they were keeping her close by. It wasn't as if she meant to. She didn't want to lose control like she always did. She didn't even want this.

She was ripped from her inner turmoil at the sound of something colliding with the panel outside of the room, the panel that was supposed to keep her locked inside. With only a few hard hits, the panel malfunctioned, the heavy door sliding open.

The room froze.

"You need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark."

"What isn't he telling us? He's a spy, Captain. He's the spy. His secrets have secrets."

"We have orders, we should follow them."

"I'm not one to follow. In fact, in a few hours, I'll know every little dark secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide."

But Steve couldn't wait a few hours. He wouldn't admit it to the arrogant billionaire, but he was just as intrigued as to why Fury had called on them now. Banner had been right; Stark could have been called in, consulted even. But he hadn't been. They could have utilized Banner's knowledge, or even use his own experience with the Tesseract. But neither of them had been contacted. Until now.

So what was SHIELD hiding?

It wasn't difficult to find himself in the lower levels of the Helicarrier, slipping between crates, evading agents as he sought out answers. Finding himself down a corridor, Steve frowned as he spied two agents standing on either side of a door.

"Sir, you can't be down here," a voice sounded behind him.

"Son," Steve turned, sending him a pointed look. "Just don't."

The agent reached for his gun, but Steve knocked him out in quick succession, doing so to the agents that had taken notice to his sudden appearance. Steve sighed as the agents lay on the ground, his shield back resting on his forearm. Shaking his head, he proceeded towards the door. There were no windows, no indication of what was behind that steel door. Instinct told him to brace himself as he used his shield to knock away the panel. The door slid open only seconds later.

What he discovered, he hadn't been expecting.

A girl, only in her teens, stood in the middle of the room, her eyes wide as she stared at him gaping. But it wasn't the sight of the girl that distracted him, and instead the state of the room.

It was frozen.

Ice covered the walls and ceiling, thinner patches littering the floor. And the ice only seemed to thicken, his own shield beginning to frost over. It was freezing, reminding Steve much of the moment that ship had wrecked in the ice 70 years ago. His hands curled into fists as he tried to fight away the memories.

"Miss?" he took a hesitant step towards her, returning his shield to his back. His gaze moved from her frightened stare to his iced surroundings. He had never seen anything like it. It was both spectacular and disorienting.

But where had it come from?

And why was this girl not even concerned, not even shivering from the temperature drop?

"Miss, are you all right?" when she scrambled back away from him, Steve held his hands up, offering no ill intent. What was a girl doing down here, anyways? What exactly was SHIELD hiding? "How long have you been down here?"

Emily was speechless as she stood staring at the man. She recognized him from the cards Coulson had shown her. He had blabbed about the soldier out of time for days on end after SHIELD had first discovered him asleep in ice. It was one of the few times his stories interested her. He seemed to have realized so, as he would promise a new story of the super soldier ever few days. He had even offered up one of his rare collectable trading cards – likely in exchange for her trust. She hadn't given it of course, but Coulson had still left the card on her bed after one of their talks.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Miss," Steve assured, slowly his approach until he was only a few feet away. She had halted eventually, eying him every time he moved. "Are you all right?"

"Y-you're…" her mouth felt dry as she glanced between him and the door. It was wide open, broken from whatever he had done. The thought of slipping outside, of escaping excited her. But once again, where would she go? They would find her long before they returned to the ground – if they were ever going to return to land. There didn't seem to be any point. She would just be discovered, just thrown back into a cell and likely treated worse than she already was. It didn't seem worth it. "You're Captain America."

A tight smile formed on his lips. "You can just call me Steve. What's your name?"

"Emily," she clasped her hands together tightly, doing her best to stop their shaking. Any worse, and it wouldn't just be the room that would be frozen.

"Is this your doing, Emily," he nodded around the room.

"I don't mean to," her heart was racing, her eyes closing. She never meant to, that was the problem. That was why she was here. Maybe if she had been able to learn control, SHIELD never would have found her in the first place. "It just…happens sometimes."

"It's okay," his smile warmed. "I know a guy that turns green when he's angry. We can't always control it."

Emily's eyes snapped open at this, and Steve was startled by how green her orbs really were. They were surreal, almost unnatural. Otherworldly, even.

"How long have you been with SHIELD, Emily?" he couldn't understand how someone so young could be caught up in this. But he remembered the agents that had stood outside of her door. She wasn't here by choice.

A laugh caught him off guard. "Been with SHIELD? They took me."

Steve wasn't surprised. He wasn't sure anything SHIELD could do would surprise him anymore. Stark would be gloating right about now if he knew he had been right.

"How long?"

"I…" her eyebrows furrowed. She had no idea. Not really. Coulson would try and celebrate her birthday every year, but she had lost count over the years. It was hard to tell days from weeks from months while being stuck in some underground compound and treated like a lab rat. "I'm not really sure. Years?"

Steve frowned further. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. He had watched the way Hydra had treated their prisoners, and he couldn't help but wonder if SHIELD was truly any better.

Sending another glance around the room, Steve knew what he had to do. He didn't take light of bullies.

"How about we get out of here?" he offered a hand.

Her eyes grew wider, petrified of what would happen if she took that hand. Was this just some sort of trick or ploy by Fury? Was this a test? Or was this man worse than SHIELD? Maybe Coulson had been right, that she was much better – and safer – right where she was.

But Coulson had spent hours upon hours telling her stories about the super soldier, about his kindness and loyalty. He had barged into a Hydra facility alone, just to rescue his long time friend. He couldn't possibly be as malicious as SHIELD was. But that was also 70 years ago, and Emily had learned a long time ago never to trust anyone again.

"You're SHIELD," she took a step backwards, shaking her head. She was better off here. If SHIELD were to learn that she had snuck off, they could do worse to her than they were already doing. They already saw her as a threat; she didn't dare worsen that.

"I'm not," Steve shook his head. "They were just the ones that found me, that gave me answers. But I'm not them. I'm not SHIELD. I couldn't be after knowing what they've done."

"But you're here," she insisted.

"Because there's another guy out there that thinks he's better than everyone else. That's it," he tried to assure her. "I'm a solider. I go where I'm needed. And right now, I'm needed here."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"I really don't like bullies," he nodded around the small room. "This seems a bit like bullying, don't you think?"

"I'm dangerous."

"You're just scared. And that's okay. It's okay to be scared. We all get scared sometimes."

Emily's hands were shaking again, the temperature dropping some more. "I can't control it. I-I'll hurt people if I leave. That's why I'm here. They don't want me to hurt anyone."

"Do you want to hurt anyone?" her head shook and he took another step forwards. "Then you won't. You're already one step towards controlling it. Maybe I can help you with the rest."

He was closer now, only within a few feet. His hand was still outstretched, just waiting for her to take it, to grasp it and allow him to lead her to her freedom. But could she take it? She was frightened. She had no idea what lay behind these walls. She may not have control, but at least within SHIELD, she couldn't hurt anyone. But was this any sort of life? She was experimented on, treated like a prisoner, all because she was different than the rest. For years she had been locked behind a door, barely even seeing the light of day. She didn't just want control of her abilities, but of her life. She would never have that control if she just let SHIELD keep her locked up between one cage and another.

Steve saw her hesitance, saw the struggle from within. "I know some people that could help, that are different. We can help you."

"But SHIELD…"

His gaze hardened. "I won't let them hurt you, Emily. I know it's not always easy to trust people, but you can trust me when I say I will do everything in my power to make sure SHIELD won't touch you again."

She took the risk she swore she would never dare. She trusted him.

Her hand was in his seconds later.