"She's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow"

by OnceUponAPenname

- chapter five - "she's got lions in her heart, a fire in her soul" -

STEVE's P.O.V

ARMORY SEC., HELICARRIER

Steve Rogers was starting to think that being left alone in his block of ice was better than any of this. After only two years to catch up on seventy years of change, he was suddenly thrown into a war. Again. Only this time, he didn't have to defend his country from a dictator, but he had to save the world from a power-craving and instable North God/alien. God that was the – adopted – brother of one of his... teammates. Talk about emotional conflict. Not that he was judging; he had himself ignored all orders to go save his own 'brother'. He wasn't one to talk.

Afraid to get lost too deep into his thoughts, Steve shook his head and sighed as he got out of the lab, Stark's words still echoing in his mind. The son of his late friend was, also, an enigma to him. Though he had clearly inherited his brains from Howard, he didn't understand why Tony was so hostile to him. Steve had first been thrilled than one of his old friends had a legacy and the Captain had immediately researched the name he had been given : Anthony Edward Stark. And as much as the younger genius reminded him of Howard, both father and son were complete opposite. Where Howard seemed more opened and witty, Tony was closed off and extremely sarcastic.

Then there was Deputy Maria Hill. The cold, mean-looking yet young woman. Fury's second-in-arm. Almost as mysterious as the S.H. .D Director. She didn't seem to be older than twenty-five, thirty at the very last. Yet, everyone feared and respected her as the same time. Sure, she was the Deputy, but how exactly had she get this position? How experienced was she?

His train of thoughts was interrupted as he heard footsteps. Behind him was a young blonde woman wearing a lab coat and glasses and paying more attention to the file in her hands than to the agents surrounding her. Steve found himself observing her with amusement, smiling as people walked out of her to avoid a collision. As if she knew someone was watching her, the blonde woman raised her head and blue eyes met another pair of blue eyes. Steve wasn't oblivious to the way her eyes had widened in recognition, even though it had lasted a few seconds. Composing herself, the woman closed the file she was reading and said, crossing her arms against her chest:

"Hello."

"Hi."

"Hum.. are you lost? Do you need some help finding your way back to the bridge or something ?" She asked, her eyebrows frowned in confusion.

Steve lost his smile and his own eyes widened slightly when he realized that he, probably, shouldn't be on this side of the helicarrier. Nervously rubbing the back of his neck, Steve started to wreck his brain for an excuse.

"I was... looking for the bathroom?"

"Are you sure?" The blond retorted as she cocked an eyebrow, trying to stiffen an amused smirk.

"Yeah. Yes, sorry." Steve cleared his throat before adding "It's bigger than I thought and I may have gotten lost because I'm too proud to ask for directions."

The young woman let out a chuckle and her tense body relaxed as she did so. The captain flashed her a smile, sighing in relief when she looked away.

"You know, Captain, there is a lot of people in this ship that would be more than eager to help you.", she said.

"I assume you mean Coulson." Steve retorted, smirking in amusement.

"Well, I see you've met your biggest fan already." The woman snorted, looking as amused as the captain. "First bathroom is on your right, second door," she added, pointing to the corridor he had came from.

"Right. Well, your help has been much appreciated,..."

"Bobbi," the young biochemist guessed, holding a hand to shake. "Or agent Morse. Or 19. Whichever you prefer, sir."

"I prefer Steve." The blonde man corrected with a smile, shaking her hand "Thanks again, Bobbi."

"My pleasure." The agent replied, letting go of his hand.

Flashing her one more smile, Steve started walking in the direction Bobbi had indicated him. His eyes never left the door he had been so close to open and that seemed that keep so much secrets.

MARIA'S P.O.V

HELICARRIER MAIN BRIDGE.

The brunette clenched her jaw, restraining a yawn from escaping her lips under the amused gaze of Coulson. She glared at him, earning a playful wink from the older agent. Maria rolled her eyes : how could he be so playful and energetic when they were expecting the arrival of an alien army and had lost one of their own to the enemy camp? She guessed it had to do with the presence of Captain Stars and Stripes on board. Seriously the guy was excited about him it gave Maria a headache.

If you added the fact that Maria had been contacted by mutants and the military - she hadn't realized how much she despised her father until he tried to give her orders - the young deputy was ready to murder somebody. Closing her eyes, she took a breath, hoping it would calm her.

"Got anything new?"

Had she not been used to Nick Fury's imposing presence, Maria would have jumped and squealed. But she had been working - living - with him for ten years now. So she let out a sigh, opened her eyes and took the pad she had been using earlier to check on updates.

"Doesn't look like it. No sighting of Barton, Selvig or any turned rogue agents. The calm and normal weather, according to Thor, means that the attack. Invasion. Whatever you'd like to call it, won't happen if Loki stays locked up on the carrier. Porter is safe, so are Nathan, Potts and Laura."

"What about the crazy alien who currently resides here?" Fury insisted, frustrated by the lack of news.

"He.. has been sitting and staring at nothing for the past five hours, which is not only creepy but alarming. He hasn't talk to anyone but you either." Maria explained, pulling the security footing on the screens around them.

"Send in Romanoff. She'll crack him. What about Banner and Stark?

"I got nothing. All I know is that, a few hours ago, the camera in Bruce's lab stopped operating and we don't go eyes on the progression of his work anymore."

"You kiddin' me." Fury's eye was staring at her – and no, she was not squirming in discomfort -, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief. "And why am I learning about this just now?"

"I send Sitwell to find you the second I learnt about it." She protested – in vain.

The SHIELD Director rolled his eyes and turned away from her, his long leather dramatically whipping behind him. Maria kept her cool, calm posture as she listened to Fury swear under his breath, blaming Stark and his freaking AI. Taking a breath, the Deputy asked in a cold voice:

"Do you want me to deal with it, sir?"

"Damn it, you should've dealt with it hours ago! I'll handle Stark, you stay on the bridge and I want you to notify me the second you hear something."

"Roger that." Maria deadpanned, staring at him.

Again, Fury rolled his eye and walked toward the labs, still swearing and muttering under his breath about incompetent people and annoying geniuses. Maria sighed, closing her eyes one more time. And this time, when she felt like a yawn trying to escape her lips, she had her mouth wide opened

If you asked Maria now, she wouldn't be able to tell when hell broke loose. She had been overseeing the work of Bruce and Stark when she felt the helicarrier shake. And it wasn't a small turbulence. In fact, several agents were thrown back because of it. Then alarms started blazing, fires were being excinted and people got out guns.

Maria struggled to get back to the main console and started yelling orders, to whoever was listening to her:

"Turn on that engine! Number 3 engine is down! Can we get a run in?"

She didn't wait for an answer, running from agent to agent. Maria was aware of Fury yelling her name in her ear but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying. She ran over to the guy who was playing Galaga earlier, barking:

"Talk to me."

"Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air." The blonde man explained, pointing at the monitors.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, the young Deputy brought a hand to her comm and said:

"Fury, we lose one more engine, we won't be in the air anymore. Somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine."

Again, she didn't wait for an answer. Going back to the platform, Maria took her pad and pulled the video footage of each section on the viewing screens surrounding her. Running a hand through her messy hair, the young dark haired woman walked toward a tech and ordered:

"Patch me through the Rats section."

"Yes, ma'am" was the immediate answer.

Maria restrained herself from rolling her eyes at the term and gave a thankful nod when she was handed a comm. a few seconds later. She switched the comms and asked:

"Bridge to Labs, does anyone copy?"

She held a breath for a few agonizing seconds when, suddenly, she heard a static noise followed then by a familiar voice.

"Labs to Bridge, we copy. What the hell is going on?"

"Morse" Maria sighed in relief "We just lost one engine, the enemy's currently on board and the Hulk is destroying the lower floor so I need you to listen to me and keep your trap shut. I need you evacuate the Sci. section. Save and lock whatever you're working and get everyone to report to the main bridge. Do you copy that?"

"Loud and clear" was Bobbi's immediate answer.

Maria nodded - even though she could see her - and brought a hand to ear, ready to turn off the comm.

"Ria, don't be a hero, ok? Stay safe."

The young Deputy froze as she heard the quiet and nervous whisper of the biochemist. Maria swallowed, blinking a few times as her vision became blurry and muttered:

"You too, Bobs."

Taking off the earpiece, the young woman took an instant to collect herself before going back to the platform. She wasn't surprised to see that Fury had came back and was putting the fear of God in some helmsman. He turned toward her at her arrival and again, Maria had to restrain from rolling her eyes when he gave her a quick over. She gave him a glare saying I-am-fine-stop-your-shit and Fury replied with one of his quit-being-insolent-child glares. Sighing, she handed him her pad and explained:

"Lab Rats are being evacuated. Same thing is being done with the armory section." Looking around, she frowned in confusion when she noticed an absence. "Where's Coulson?"

"He's dealing with our guest." The older man replied, his eyes stuck on the viewing screens.

"I thought Romanoff had him."

"Right now, Romanoff seems to playing an intense game of tag with the Hulk." he retorted, pointing to one of the screens.

And sure enough, Maria could see an injured Natasha running for her life with Bruce chasing her and destroying every obstacle he encountered.

"We need a full evac on the lower hangar bay."

Exhausted and not knowing what was left to say, Maria nodded and went to leave when something rolled to her feet. It took her a moment before she recognized it and her eyes widened as she yelled:

"GRENADE!"

A few seconds later, it went off and Maria was knocked over by the blast, landing down the steps with a sickening crack. Her ears were ringing, her vision was blurry and a monkey seemed to be playing drums with her brain. She groaned in pain, slowly rolling herself on her stomach. Well, she wasn't overwhelmed with pain and could still breath, so no broken ribs for her. Yay. From where she was laying, she could see heavily armed and protected with kelvar men walking onto the bridge.

Fury was standing a few feet away, firing at anyone and everyone. Closing her eyes for a second, Maria slowly tried to hiss herself to her feet, wincing in pain. Leaning against the desk, she reached for the gun, hooked to her belt. Biting the inside of her cheek until she drew blood, the brunette leaned on her good, straightening and squarring her shoulders as she raised the weapon.

Her hands were surprinsgly still, her vision shockingly clear and the pain in her leg seemed to have dissapeared as she stood, ready to take the shot. Maria didn't hesitate to pull the trigger as she watched one of Barton's men walk toward Fury, armed and merciless. The young woman felt satisfaction when the man hit the floor, a hole in his head, dead and felt smug when her superior shot a shocked glance. She didn't feel anything, though, when she let herself slip onto the floor and lost consciousness.

WASHINGTON D.C,

VIRGINIA.

IN A SMALL DINER.

For the umpteenth time since he had step into the diner, Bruce yawned. His head was killing him, his arms were killing him. His whole body was in pain. He couldn't move without wincing in pain. The janitor who had found him in his birthday suit, had been kind enough to give him clothes that fitted him and two bills of ten - because either Bruce was an alien or a crazy person that needed help. So far, the gamma-expert had used five dollars for a cap and sunglasses and was, now, waiting for a nice meal for less than fifteen dollars.

Lost in his thoughts, Bruce jumped when the nice waitress from earlier walked toward him and put his double cheeseburger and fries on the table, with an additional glass of water and aspirine. With a smile, he thanked the young woman and started eating his hot meal with obvious hunger.

Being back in the States had its advantages, he thought, greasy food might be an unhealthy thing but it still brought him comfort whenever and wherever he was.

"Bruce?"

The man froze and slowly raised his head, almost choking as his eyes met her familiar brown gaze. Well, at least Calcutta was good for one thing. It didn't have Betty Ross.

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