Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers nor Marvel.

Don't get too happy about the word count. About 400 words of this chapter are my author's note.

coffeetablewriter: I'm glad that you liked this chapter and that you enjoy my story. It gives me the drive to move on. Yeah, as I was writing that chapter, I figured what she said would be something that Natasha might say-either Natasha, or Clint. One or the other. I hate to admit it, but her first mission was a tad bit on the easy side. At least I think so. I hope you enjoy this chapter, though! Keep on writing that amazing story of yours, too! I really like it!

Author's note: I am so, so sorry for not having updated in a while. School/homework has been piled on high lately, so it's been harder for me to find any free time to write.

I realized, as I read through this particular, very unedited story of mine, that Hope is coming off as a Mary Sue, something that naturally horrified me. When I started this story that was never my intention, but sometimes intentions can go awry. Rest assured, I will make sure there are things that she sucks at (maybe in the next chapter, *hint, hint*). I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for making my OC (unintentionally) a Mary Sue.

Also, there's another thing I've noticed that I'm surprised no one's yelled at me for yet. The fact that almost all of my chapter start off like "so-and-so amount of time has passed since [blank] happened..." Now, at first this was accidental and I was freaking out about it, but now I've decided that this will be the start of almost every chapter in this story. The reasonings behind that decision is that I am planning on writing another story, most likely called "Hope: The Missing Days" (or something along those lines, that, as the title implies, will detail days in the life of Hope Ashton that I missed in this story. I'll start publishing chapters of it when this story is done, and it'll include things like bonding moments, funny moments, emotional moments, and just random filler chapters.

The goal is, once both stories are done, to integrate this story with that "missing days" story. That being said, they may just stay separate, because if I do integrate those two stories together, I'll probably have to take down this story, work on it every passing second, then my whole life will most likely become a disorganized mess as I struggle to revise chapter after chapter. In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and that you don't ask me about its ending, because my lips are sealed. Now, after setting that mysterious undertone, I give you my permission to read on.

Chapter 10

The mission was simple, considering the fact that the Avengers had been called in. Hope hadn't bothered to pay attention to where they were going-the only thing she knew about their destination was that it was somewhere in Europe. More specifically, a Hydra base somewhere in Europe.

The Hydra base was to be taken down. It was a small base, so it wouldn't require too much work to take it down. Bruce was on standby in the Quinjet for this mission, but should they need him, he would come.

Steve took the role of leadership upon himself the moment they landed. He barked out orders and the rest of the Avengers obediently followed them. No one said much in terms of protesting, though Tony said a sarcastic remark at any order he wasn't happy about

Steve had wisely split them all up into different groups-Clint with Natasha, Hope with Tony, and Steve by himself. Thor was in Asgard at the moment, so he would be of no help to them.

Steve had first thought to pair Hope and Natasha up, in order to help with Hope's nerves, but then decided against it. He needed some way to wrangle in Tony and his rashness. So instead of the all female pair, Hope would be grouped with Tony', in order to help with his impulsiveness, and since Natasha and Clint worked very well together, he put the veteran SHIELD agents together. They made a very effective, quick team, which would help with clearing up the building.

And the sooner they got done clearing the sooner they could go be done with this mission.

The folder that Steve had been given in the debriefing gave a very detailed map of the Hydra base's layout. There were three entrances, and each group would enter a different one. They would all enter at the same time, however, once Steve knew everyone was ready and gave the signal.

Hope figured that this assignment had been picked specifically for her, seeing as this was her first ever mission as a SHIELD agent and they wanted to test her skills. That, and they wanted to confirm if she was true to her new allegiance, or if her loyalty still lingered with Hydra. Which was, of course, absolute folly. SHIELD had give her so much, unlike Hydra, which had taken things from her rather than giving them. So of course she placed her loyalty in SHIELD. There was no question in her mind.

This mission was her final test to prove where her royalties lied.

And she was not going to fail.

Tony and Hope where Team A. Natasha and Clint where Team B, while Steve was Team C. Hope worried for Steve, for he was a single man all alone, without any allies to watch his back, but she reminded herself that he was a strong, capable fighter and that no one would be able to get the best of him.

At least that's what she told herself. Even after repeating the phrase over and over in her head, her concern for Steve still lingered. But she knew that, in order to be successful and complete the mission, that she would have to stop worrying about Steve's own safety and worry about her own, as well as Tony's.

Yes, if anything, Hope needed to worry about the genius billionaire. He was so impulsive, so reckless, so stubborn and thickheaded. Sometimes he reminded her of a five year old, with their "my way or the highway" attitude.

If anyone was going to mess up the mission than it would be Tony. In truth, she wasn't sure why he was here in the first place. Anyone with a brain knew that the billionaire wasn't fond of SHIELD and its secrets. So why would he willingly go on a mission when he could do something "better" with his time?

Before she even begin to wonder about the answer to her own question, however, the signal from Steve came over their comms. It was a very straightforward signal, one that might have earned some sort of vocal response from Hope had they been doing something other than taking down a Hydra base.

"Team A, go."

Tony and Hope exchanged looks before they rushed into the Hydra base, both ready for action. The anticipation for the battle soon to come made Hope's heart pound. The sound was so loud that she was afraid one of her teammates might have heard her through the comm, but no one said anything about it, so she merely brushed it off as paranoia and continued forward.

They'd been in the base for a mere two minutes, surveying the area, before Hydra agents came flooding into the room they were currently in.

Hope, without any hesitation, plunged into the mob of men, kicking and punching anyone who was in arm's reach. The fight was too loud for either person of Team A to hear if the other teams had been called in or not.

She didn't want to use her powers in the fight unless absolutely necessary. If word somehow got out that a brunette woman was using powers not usual for the typical mortal, then he might find out. And if he found out, her life would be made into a living hell.

So yes, she wasn't planning on using her abilities anytime soon.

The fight was too loud for either person of Team A to hear if the other teams had been called in or not.

Tony, for his part, mainly just watched Hope fight, though he occasionally sent a few men into unconsciousness here or there. Figuring it was just laziness, she said, her voice a yell to compete over the loudness of the battle, "Are you going to help me or are you just going to stand there and gawk?"

He regarded her for a moment before yelling back, "Yeah, sure, use my Iron Man suit in a space of 400 square feet. Real smart. Oh, congratulations on your amazing skills of logic. They're just superb."

Hope glared at him for a moment, dodging the swipe of a Hydra agent as she did so.

"Tony, just shut up and help me," she snapped, and Tony, after rolling his eyes, did just that.

The battle didn't last too long, in Hope's opinion, considering the dozens upon dozens of agents they had had to fight. Once they were finished, they secured the area and went to the agreed upon meeting spot.

Only to find that they where the first ones there.

At first, Hope had panicked, fearing the worst, but Tony had managed to calm her down enough so that she wasn't going into hysterics. But she still worried. And she made sure to let Tony know of her worries, much to his dismay.

"What's taking them so long?" Hope demanded, and Tony sighed.

"I don't know. All I'm hearing on their end is static," Tony replied, only to widen his eyes as he realized what he had just said. Hope was now full on hyperventilating, pacing around the room, muttering, and running her hands through her hair, ll signs of extreme nervousness. Tony groaned. Great. Just perfect. Now Natasha was going to kill him for freaking out her friend.

Oh joy.

He had meant his words to be comforting, but she had interpreted them as "something was wrong." However, thinking over his words, he realized that it did sound exactly like that. It did sound like he had said comms weren't working (though he had really meant that no shouts of "mayday" were being called).

Before he could open his mouth to reassure her better, the doors near them burst open and Team B and Steve entered. Hope halted in her pacing and whirled to face the doors, fists clenched in anticipation for a fight. However, once she realized that it was her fellow teammates and not enemies, she quickly relaxed.

"Is it done?" Hope asked. She would leave questions like "are you okay" and "are you injured" for later, back when they were in the comforts of their agency, not here.

Natasha nodded but didn't expand any further. Without any more words, they headed off in the direction of the Quinjet.

No use staying in the place that rank of death. No use at all.

Meanwhile, on the Helicarrier...

To the casual observer, Agent Warner didn't look like much. Many people's attentions went to her for a second before they quickly dismissed her, moving on to someone they thought "more important."

This was fine by Agent Warner-in fact, she preferred it. Being passed by and ignored made her job, her mission, much, much easier.

Glancing over at the clock, she realized with a jolt that she needed to provide an update on the happenings in the agency. She glanced over at her superior and asked, "Excuse me, sir, but may I be excused?"

Her superior regarded her for a moment before nodding. Without another word, she quickly stood and got out of her seat. She walked as fast as she could to her assigned living quarters to give her report without fear of anyone prying on the conversation she would soon hold.

Once there, she closed the door, making sure it was shut. Then, without wasting anytime, she threw anything she might be holding on the floor and set off to establish a connection with her "friends" as quickly as possible.

She held a hand to her temple for a few moments, closing her eyes in concentration as she did so. Finally, after a long moment of silence, she dropped her hand back down to her side and opened her eyes again. A moment later, the shrill sound of phone ringing pierced the relative silence of the room. Agent Warner rolled her eyes and sighed before taking out her phone to answer it.

"Hello?"

There was quiet on the line for a while, then, "Is she there?"

Agent Warner sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers, obviously frustrated.

"She's currently out in a mission right now."

More silence.

"And when will she be back?"

She shrugged, then, realizing that the person on the other end wouldn't be able to see her shrug, said, "I don't know. I'm not exactly high up on the SHIELD food chain, so they don't tell me anything about upcoming missions. Especially ones that don't involve me."

Though she hadn't meant to reveal it to the other person, there was a slight bitter tone to her voice. Neither person commented on it, though, just continued on with their conversation.

"She is, apparently, doing quite well," Agent Warner said. This information had been gleaned from Mary, the subject of their conversation's trainer. In fact, come to think of it, she had sounded very, very happy about her pupil's progress.

Instead of the usual silence she thought she would receive in response to her words, the person on the other end asked, "They haven't...damaged her, have they? She is relatively the same as we left her?"

Snorting, the woman replied, "No, they haven't. As far as I know, she's still herself."

"Good. And when do you think we'll be able to get her back?"

Ah, now this was a question she had an answer to. With a smirk on her face, she assured the person whom she was speaking to, "Soon. Very soon."

Then, without another word on either person's part, she hung up.

Did you enjoy that rather ambiguous ending? I know I did. I will expand no further on the ending.

I understand that Tony's reasoning for not being very active in the start of the battle were pathetic/untrue. That was kind of the point, actually. I wanted him to give the most horrible excuse possible and then for Hope to smack some sense into him.

You'll have to read the next chapter to find out what happens next. "See" you then!