Chapter 9

Anne was reading up lore on Loki when she was told Phil and Steve Rogers were about to land. Upon hearing this, she arrived at the landing strip within 3 minutes. You could say she was a bit eager to meet the new arrival. As she waited, she recalled the project she had made on Captain America in her sophomore of high school. She only had to hold herself back a little bit to keep from appearing too excited.

The plane arrived at 4:15 p.m. Men were running along the strip, stabilizing engines and tying down other air vehicles. Anne instantly recognized the Captain when he stepped out of the hull along with Phil. She walked over to them to introduce herself, but Phil beat her to it. "Agent Fisher, Captain Rogers." "Ma'am"

So polite, she thought as she smiled and held out her hand. He shook it firmly. "Hi, Captain. Phil, they need you on the bridge for the base trace." She could see a slight look of relief on his face as he nodded and said, "See you there.' and walked away. I wonder what he did that was so bad. Anne decided to make small talk with the Captain as they started walking towards the entrance of the helicarrier.

"So it was quite a buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was going to swoon." She smiled, remembering their last conversation. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" "Trading cards?" Rogers looked surprised at the question. Guess not. "They're vintage. He's very proud." She offered him a friendly smile, hoping to loosen him up. He looked down at her and smiled back. So cute.

They both looked up and noticed a very confused looking man shuffling around, seeming flustered by all the people running around. 'Dr. Banner." The Captain walked over to the man and shook his hand. "Oh, Hi." So that's the big guy. "They told me you were coming." "Word is you can find the cube." "Is that the only word on me?" Banner looked around nervously, knowing he probably wasn't as welcome by everyone on the boat. "It's the only word I care about." Anne smiled at the Captain's kindness. She knew they said he was polite but she was happy to see that wasn't just another lie in the history books.

The two continued to converse as she got word through her earpiece that the helicarrier was about to take off. "Gentlemen, I advise that we step inside. It's going to get a little hard to breathe."

The two men looked around to see all the personnel latching down the aircraft on the launch pad. Then, the sound of huge engine turning on boomed from the sides of the helicopter. "Is this a submarine?" Steve asked. "Really?" Bruce said sarcastically, "They want me in a submerged, pressurized container?" Anne smiled to herself as the two men walked over to the side of the helicarrier to see huge turbines surfacing from under the water. Realization dawned on the men's faces as they figured exactly what kind of machinery they were standing on. "Oh no this is much worse." Bruce yelled out as the sounds of the engines and turbines started to get deafeningly loud.

Anne noticed that the personnel were putting on their oxygen masks so she yelled out, "I know it may have seemed like I was kidding but we really do need to get inside before we start suffocating!"

Anne lead the Bruce and Steve inside and two them inside and into the main control room. Fury was standing front and center when she went up to him and stated, "They're here." She looked back to see their faces as they looked around at all the agents, computers, and the big windows that displayed a beautiful view. Agent Hill was announcing statistics and conditions to the agents around her. She finally turned around and stated to Fury, "We're at level, sir." "Good" he responded, "Let's vanish" Anne knew that right then that the helicarrier was using it's reflecting panels to turn invisible. "And so it starts." she thought

Fury turned around the address the two men, "Gentlemen" Steve walked up to him, counted money in his hand and handed it to Fury who smiled at it victoriously. Anne rolled eyes, "Fury and his bets." Steve walked forward to look around more. She couldn't help but still feel a little at awe that she was in the presence of Captain America.

Fury went over to Dr. Banner to thank him for coming. He assured him that once they got the Tessaract, Banner would be able to go back to a semi-peaceful life. "Where are you with the location?" He asked. Fury motioned towards Coulson who was standing nearby, "We're sweeping every wireless accessible camera on the planet," he said on cue, "Cell phones, laptops..." As he continued to explain, Anne spotted Clint's profile on one of the agent's computers. She felt a pang of pain in her chest and bent down to look at it.

"...It's eyes and ears for us." Coulson finished. "It's still not gonna find him in time." she stated, having heard every word. Anne could feel worry seeping into her conscious but she quickly pushed it aside. She needed to be at her best to find him and worry will only cause her to drag and become emotionally compromised. She couldn't risk being weak, not now.

As she was thinking, she could hear Bruce talking science about faster ways to find the Tessaract. "You a place for me to work?" Fury nodded and looked over at Anne, "Agent Fisher", her cue. She nodded and started walking as she smiled at Dr. Banner. "Your gonna love it, doc. We got all the toys."

She started making small talk with Banner as she led him to the lab. She could sense how tense he was with all the guards, the agents, and being on a huge, flying military base. They got to the lab and Banner set his coat down on one of the chairs. "You're safe here, doctor." He looked up at her, unsure, "I know it's a little intimidating but it's surprisingly stress-free." She flashed him a friendly smile. He nodded, appreciating that she was being kind to him.

"I guess we'll see."