Hope for the Hopeless

Chapter Eleven: Secure Storage 10-C


It shouldn't come as a surprise to Holly that a man of Thor's size would be able to consume as much food as he was inhaling at the moment. It's only natural for him to have a huge appetite to make up for the energy used to maintain his colossal build. But even so, the young woman couldn't help but to stare up at him in awe and morbid disgust as he was shovelled the lunch pack into his mouth.

It had been his third serving in the span of fifteen minutes.

"You're going to give yourself a really bad stomachache if you don't slow down," Holly pointed out. Her careful words cut through the air of loud chewing and delightful moans, noises that Thor was making despite the looks others were sending the both of them.

Holly looked around her and noticed with a wry smile how everyone had avoided sitting near them and had inevitably created a wide berth of empty spaces around their table.

She didn't mind that – although they could have used a little more tact – because she would rather everyone leave them alone then to have them come up to Thor, asking him to perform magic tricks for entertainment.

It can get pretty mundane on an espionage ship, you see. And, well, Thor is a god. And gods are most often omnipotent. So naturally, everyone would be interested in what abilities he could have as a deity.

What she didn't expect, though, was to see S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personnel avoiding him like the Bubonic Plague.

"I shall be fine," Thor replied in a booming voice dripping in contentment. "We, Asgardians, are blessed with extraordinary health. We do not suffer from trivial maladies such as that of overeating."

'Of course you don't,' Holly mused and watched as the Asgardian pushed the finished box aside and reached for a new one.

"Hey, stop!" She pushed the untouched bottle of water towards him and pulled the fresh lunch pack towards her instead. "Here, have some water first before you continue, at least."

Thor took the bottle of water with a grateful nod and proceeded to chug the contents down. Within less than a minute, he had emptied the bottle, much to Holly's chagrin. He raised the empty bottle above his head, poised in a position where it looks as if he was going to slam it down on the floor when he stopped and instead, place the container back onto the table with a forlorn sigh.

Then, he pulled the lunch pack back towards him and resumed his eating, slower this time, however, and with the absence of his contentment from before.

"Is something wrong?" Holly asked, confused and mildly startled by the sudden drop in his mood.

Thor swallowed the mouthful of steamed chicken and gave another sigh.

"There is a tradition in Asgard; when one is content with what one has consumed, they will throw the dish down as a sign of satisfaction and good grace. The breaking of the dish is seen as a good gesture," He explained and fiddled with his spoon, turning the disposable plastic over and over in his beefy hand. "I did that the first time I was on your planet. It was a special drink. Your people call it the coffoo?"

"Coffee?" Holly offered.

"Yes, that is the one. I threw the cup onto the ground and was chastened for it. It was a wonderful memory that I've kept dear."

"I'm assuming the other person in this memory is a woman."

"You are a perceptive one," Thor chuckled heartily and much to Holly's surprise, a faint red blossomed across his cheeks. "She's more than just a mere woman, Lady Holly. She is but the fairest, wisest and most beautiful lady I've had the good fortune of meeting."

Thor paused and looked up at his companion with uncertainty. "But that is not to say you are not a lady kind of good character. Jane is just one that is unparalleled."

Holly laughed and nodded. "I understand. It's only natural for you to compare the one you like to other women."

"What's this I hear about women?"

The two looked up to see Coulson's stoic face staring down at them with a tightly packed sandwich in one hand and a slim, black tablet in another. He raised his brows at the stack of empty boxes and the pile of lunch packs that were waiting to be emptied.

"Well, somebody's hungry."

"Morning, Uncle Phil," Holly smiled, reaching over to press a kiss on the agent's cheek, much to his displeasure. Coulson coughed to hide his embarrassment and instead focused on working to extract his sandwich from the tightly packed plastic wrap. "I didn't know you're allowed breaks, what with being the right hand man of Fury."

"I'm not," Coulson replied. "But even Life Model Decoys require recharging and maintenance every now and then."

Holly scoffed. "With the way you're working, I'd have thought you were one of them."

"How does Loki fare, Son of Coul?" Thor asked.

'Son of Coul?' Holly mouthed. Coulson merely shrugged at her.

"The same. He's refusing to talk and is settling for glaring at the security cameras," Coulson answered.

Thor frowned at that. "And the Tesseract?"

"Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark are still working on its location," Coulson turned back to Holly and frowned. "What are you staring at?"

"What's that in your pocket?" Holly asked in response, narrowing her eyes at the suspicious looking bulge in Coulson's blazer.

Coulson looked down at the spot she was staring at. "Nothing."

"It's those powdered donut things, isn't it?"

"It's my gun, Hols."

"You've got a gun in the shape of a long roll," Holly retorted. "Do I look like an idiot to you? Come on, take it out."

Thor looked between the two in obvious befuddlement, having not a single idea what they were arguing about.

"I'm telling you, it's my gun."

The young woman squared her shoulders and glared up at the agent. "Don't make me go over there and take it out for you, Phil."

Coulson fixed Holly with his trademark glare, something that had never failed him in intimidating anyone – including the abrasive Tony Stark who had once been threatened by him with a taser and 'supernanny'. The younger of the two merely faced him head on with a piercing stare of her own.

Her eyebrows rose in challenge. Coulson's followed.

There was a beat.

Then, Coulson looked away.

With a firm scowl in place, he reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out the roll of Little Debbie's powdered donuts. He slid it across the table, reluctantly, towards Holly who confiscated the roll with a triumphant grin.

"I've told you before, these things are bad for you," She reasoned and waved the sweet treat in front of the agent intentionally before slipping them into her satchel. "They're 4% protein, 52% carbs and –"

"44% fat," Coulson interjected with a defeated sigh, having heard Holly repeat the donuts' contents to him many times before.

Holly patted the agent on his hand gently and smiled. "It's for your own good, Uncle P. I'm saving you from a lifetime of diseases."

"Says the one who eats cakes on a daily basis."

"I'm young," Holly rebutted. "And I work out," She widened her eyes and peered up at Coulson through her dark hair. "I worry enough about you and your job already, don't add powdered donuts to the pile, please."

Coulson sighed again and nodded curtly. Thor chuckled, amused at how easily the normally composed man had given into Holly with just a peer of her eyes and a whisper of her soft voice. "Fine."

"Thank you," Holly took a quick glance at her watch and gasped, having lost track of time while she was watching Thor eat. "Alright, you guys enjoy your meal. I've got to go see Steve now."

The agent looked up from his tablet and quirk a brow at her. "On a first name basis now, are we?"

Holly shot her uncle a look.

"I call Thor by his name too," She quipped and slung her bag over her shoulder. Quick hands smoothed down the front of her blouse before she reached up to tuck her necklace under it. "You don't hear me calling him Odinson."

Coulson's look of interest only intensified at her even response. Thor's amused expression faded back to one of confusion again. He could never, for the life of him, catch up with the numerous topics that bounced among the people of Earth.

"Can I get his location, please?" Holly asked and reached over the table to watch Coulson tap away at the screen with nimble fingers. He pulled up a map of the helicarrier and scanned the numerous red dots roving in the ship with sharp eyes.

"Why are there only so little dots on the map? I thought there'd at least be a few hundred agents onboard," Holly asked and leaned closer to the tablet. The bright screen flickered for a moment, causing Coulson to look up and shoot her a look. The younger woman leaned back with a sheepish smile. "Whoops, sorry."

"If we were to put every single agent on the map, we wouldn't be able to locate the more important ones when we need to," Coulson explained.

"There we are, my friends!" Thor exclaimed, having abandoned his food to peer over at the tablet as well. He pointed at a cluster of three stationary dots flashing in one of the rooms and started to flail his arm about to see if the dot representing him would copy his actions. "This world is full of such wondrous inventions."

Holly chuckled at his awe. "Wait until you see the toaster."

"Captain Rogers is currently on the way to the laboratories," Coulson said, pointing to a flashing dot traveling along one of the carrier's corridor.

The nurse nodded her head, mumbled her thanks and reached over the table to press another kiss onto Coulson's cheek. This time, the agent grimaced noticeably as he cast another look at the other people in the room.

"Will you stop that?"

"I'll see you later, Uncle P. You too, Thor," Holly grinned, ignoring the agent's indignant cry and turned to leave the cafeteria.


Holly was nearing the familiar glass laboratory when she chanced upon Steve exiting the room. Smiling, her hand rose in greeting as she waved, only to have the super soldier turn away the at next second as he strode down the other end of the corridor without another word, his steps heavy and purposeful.

The young woman traced his tensed, squared shoulder and frowned, feeling uneasy at how he had promptly ignored her presence and was obviously upset about something. Confused and worried that she had done something wrong, Holly gnawed at her bottom lip in worry before casting a quick look through the laboratory's window.

More computers and other electronic devices were set up in the room as compared to when Banner had been the only one to utilize it. As always, the good scientist was working behind one of the flat screens, tapping and altering the numerous switches flashing on the glass panels. Loki's golden scepter – thick and glistening under the laboratory's clinical light while the blue gem attached to its tip seemingly glowed and pulsed with a life of its own – sat atop a wired contraption that was connected to a briefcase laptop which Stark was working on.

"Oh," Holly muttered when her eyes landed on the billionaire inventor's form.

Of course.

Perhaps Steve wasn't upset with her after all. Everyone else was not likely to be the culprit that angered the super-soldier if Stark was in the room. It seemed that whenever the billionaire opened his mouth, Steve would be insulted, offended or just plain annoyed by the words that slipped out and the two would just end up going at each other's throats.

Although Holly hadn't known the both of them for a very long time – Steve for three days and Stark for less than one – she could tell that their personalities were the complete opposite of each other; almost like fire and water.

While Steve was calm and levelheaded, Stark was impulsive and volatile. One was a captain used to giving orders and leading armies to victories in wars while the other was an arrogant billionaire genius who could care less for orders and rules because he does whatever he wants to.

It's no wonder Steve was always riled up by Stark's abrasive and blunt personality.

Holly could only hope their topic of disagreement this time round didn't concern what Stark had chanced upon the night before. Thinking back, she regretted putting Steve in that position, knowing that if Stark found out, he was going to be teased by the man endlessly. She could have tended to him immediately after the meeting at the bridge regarding Loki's and his plans had concluded.

But no, she just had to let Steve suffer through the agony a little, giving herself a slight sense of satisfaction in knowing that he could have avoided the bodily pain had he been honest with her in the first place.

However, when the grim enjoyment faded away, the tiny guilt nagging at the back of her head increased and surfaced at the thought of the poor, sweet man losing sleep over the injury he sustained to his arm.

So, with her satchel in her grasp, Holly got out of bed and made her way down the hallway towards Steve's room to tend to his injury like a normal nursing attendant would.

It was not because she wanted to see him and his shy, bashful smile again or to hear him stumble over his words. She definitely did not have a thing for Steve and his endearing awkwardness around women.

Definitely not.

Now, concerned for the man, Holly hurried along the same corridor Steve was thundering down moments ago, hoping to catch up to him before he ended up destroying all of the helicarrier's punching bags (or the helicarrier itself) in an attempt to alleviate his rage. She passed a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D agents who barely spared her a second glance, although one of them did cast her a look of suspicion when she came to a dead end and had to retrace her steps back from the main hallway.

This part of the helicarrier was alien to Holly since there was no need for her to stray too far from the bridge. The living quarters, cafeteria and medical bay were all on the same floor and the furthest she had ventured was to Banner's laboratory, which was one floor above the one she frequented. As compared to the main part of the aircraft, the area Holly was in right now was quieter. There wasn't anyone in the hallway except for her, and as she moved deeper inside, it only seemed to get more and more desolate.

She looked around her, hoping to see a map or directory even though the chances of one was very low. Giving up, she whipped out her phone to call Coulson for help when a single noise from somewhere to the left of her caught her attention.

"Hello?" She called out into the still air. "Steve?"

Holly punched in the speed dial for Coulson's mobile phone and held it tightly in her hands. She took a step towards the hallway to her left to see that it led off to a dead end with two doors lining the sides.

"Hello? Is anyone ther –"

Her words, shaky and whispered, were cut off when a hand clapped onto her lips tightly while another one snaked around her waist, holding her in a vice-like grip and pulling her into a dark crevice of the corridor.

Holly screamed, her cries for help muffled against the captor's hand while she struggled in the chokehold he had on her. She kicked and flailed and although she wasn't a skilled fighter in any way, the brunette managed to land a harsh foot onto his thigh. But that only caused her captor to tighten his hold on her. There was a moment when something flickered around Holly before the silvery threads wrapped itself fully around her. The thin film pushed against her captor, but to no avail.

'Goddamnit, he's strong!' Holly thought desperately as she increased her kicking.

"Stop!" The man whispered against her ear and pulled her deeper into the gap. "It's me."

Holly stopped her struggling and turned her head, as best as she could, to the side. Seeing Steve's blue eyes staring at her, imploring her to remain silent, she gasped, though she quickly stifled it when a set of footsteps neared them. The two of them watched from their cover of the darkness as a figure stepped into their line of sight.

Holly's eyes widened at the sight of the heavy machine gun clutched tightly in the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's white-knuckled grasp and proceeded to push herself further into Steve's protective clasp.

The heavily equipped agent cast a careful eye along the length of the quiet hallway, but stopped when he caught sight of the dark gap Steve and Holly were hiding in. He raised his weapon, aiming it straight at Holly and was about to take a step closer to them when he stiffened and reached up to press a finger against his ear. The agent frowned at whatever was being said through his earpiece before he lowered his weapon and turned to leave.

Steve waited for the soldier to leave the entire stretch of corridor before he loosened his hold on Holly and stepped around her to check from behind the wall.

Holly leaned against the wall and took a deep breath to calm her wild heart as it thundered against her chest. She was sure the agent had heard her heartbeat, that's why he turned to check on their hiding place.

She turned to Steve when he walked back towards her and glowered at him. "Why are you sneaking around?"

One of Steve's brows rose. "Why are you sneaking around?"

"I'm not," Holly rebutted. "I'm following you while you snuck around."

"Why are you following me, then?"

Holly flushed. "I was just passing by and you looked sneaky."

"You were just passing by." Steve deadpanned, giving her a skeptical look. "Here?"

"Yes," The young woman bit out. "Is that a problem?"

Steve merely shook his head in response and stalked towards one of the dark grey door with the words 'SECURE STORAGE 10-C' stamped in yellow ink across its surface and with quiet, careful steps. He peered into the small glass window then took a step back to study the entrance thoroughly.

"What are you doing?" Holly whispered.

He looked at her and pursed his lips. "Confirming some suspicions."

"Which are?" Holly prompted. Steve paused and pushed against the door lightly.

"Stark and Banner had this notion that Fury's hiding something from us. Something in regards to…" He broke off and looked uncomfortable. "Using the Tesseract."

"Like what? Weapons?" Steve's expression darkened at her assumption. "You can't be serious. I thought the whole point of this mission is to recover the Tesseract because it's an unstable, destructive energy. Not to weaponize it!"

"Fury had been planning to turn the cube into a source of limitless energy for the planet. Who's to say he wouldn't use it for other purposes?" Steve countered and then reached out to grab the steel handle on the door. Holly's eyes roamed along the length of the entrance and stopped when her eyes landed on the rectangular black box installed on the wall beside it.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s eagle insignia gleamed brightly in a light amber backlight above a set of number keys. The box consisted of a retina scanner and a fingerprint reader that Holly was positive none of which they possessed.

"Wait, Steve. You need a passcode –" The metallic screech of the door being peeled open by Steve's blunt force stopped Holly midway in her words. Slowly, the metal gave way inch by inch, until there was an opening large enough for Steve to pass through and all that's left were the imprints of his hands on the smooth surface.

Holly blinked and shrugged. "Or we could you know, just do that – push the huge, heavy metal door open with our bare hands."

Steve grinned at her and slipped through the door before stepping aside to allow the young woman entrance behind him. The soldier turned his head this way and that, straining his ears for any sign of another occupant before he started creeping forward cautiously. Holly trailed behind him with clumsy, anxious steps as compared to the light footfalls of Steve's tensed posture.

The two arrived at a capacious storage room that had a steel wrought iron bridge on both sides of the wall. Large silver crates lined the darkened paths, each secured by a heavy-duty padlock.

Steve turned towards Holly and held a finger up to halt her movements. "Wait here."

With that, he moved towards one of the crates and stepped onto it for leverage before leaping onto the steel platform with ease.

Holly gapped up at him from below and watched as the man strode down the platform before appearing once again. He pointed to the path in front of Holly and motioned for him to follow her, until they both arrived at a set of metal stairs leading to the platform Steve was on.

"We're going to be in such big trouble," Holly whispered and smiled wryly when Steve reached out to help her up the steps. Even during times like these when they were risking their lives, Steve still remembered his manners. "Phil's got a computer that tracks our locations. He's going to know we've been wandering where we shouldn't be."

Holly tucked her hair behind her ear and folded her arms across her chest in an attempt to make herself smaller. "Not to mention, you tore the door open!"

"I didn't tear it open," Steve corrected as he pointed in front of him. "I pushed it aside. Now hush up."

The two moved into down the platform, leading them to a second corridor that branched off from the main walkway. The same silver crates were arranged neatly in the space except the fact that they were slightly bigger than the ones on the lower floor.

Steve walked towards two of the crates and promptly ripped off the latches securing them shut with their locks still intact.

"You tore those for sure," Holly pointed out, earning herself a grin from the super-soldier. She huddled closer to Steve as he lifted the covers open, revealing the contents that glowed eerily under the dim light.

Holly peered into the crate and frowned. There, lying on a bed of dry stuffing was what looked to be a dark fitted outfit for a single soldier. There was a gas mask, a red and navy undershirt for the suit lying beside it, a grappling hook, two guns and a hefty weapon that reminded Holly a lot of a military bazooka.

She stole a glance at the man beside her and was even more flummoxed at the look of absolute scorn directed towards the objects. The amount of revulsion in his expression twisted his boyish features, and for the first time since she had met him, Holly could finally see the 1940's leader Steve had been and clearly still was.

This was not a man who was lost in time and had lost all that he knew and treasured when he woke up from a supposed sleep.

This was a man that had seen some horrible things. Things that had caused him to lose a great deal and of which he never wanted anyone else to go through.

"What are these?" Holly asked, the beginnings of a bad vibe twisting up her spine. Her finger trailed over the strange, foreign insignia of a skull with six octopus-like curling arms beneath it.

Steve let out a harsh breath and turned towards her. His stormy ocean eyes shone with unbridled vehemence.

"HYDRA."


Edited as of 15 April 2015