"Honey, I'm home!"
Helicarrier landing strip. Day. Steve
The Quinjet finally arrived at the Helicarrier and smoothly landed on one of the runways. The jet ramp opened up, allowing Steve and Phil to descend down the ramp where an agent waited to greet them. She had shoulder-length, red, wavy hair and obviously had attractive features that seemed to make any woman's self-esteem plummet. Not the same beauty that Daphne had though. He cleared his throat, shaking off the thought.
Phil stepped forward to start the introductions. "Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers." He made hand gestures to signal the person he was referring to.
"Ma'am?" Captain nodded.
"Hi," she replied simply.
It was at that moment that Daphne decided to make her grand appearance by running down the ramp, dramatically yelling, "Honey, I'm home!"
Steve chuckled at her boisterousness, wondering where her energy came from, and Natasha glared at her in distaste, whilst Phil just slapped a hand across his forehead.
Daphne stopped abruptly when she caught sight of the redheaded female agent. Her face went immediately blank and disgust was clear in her cerulean eyes. "Romanoff," she greeted bluntly, venom leaking in her words.
"Collins," Natasha replied, just as sharp. She scoffed at the brunette. "SHIELD must be desperate if they called you in."
Daphne glared. "Honey, they were desperate a long time ago," she started, and then said, feigning realisation, placing a hand under her chin in a 'thinking' face. "Oh, around about the time you became an agent actually." She smiled a sickly sweet smile.
If looks could kill, they would both be dead, resurrected, then dead again.
Steve was confused throughout this whole encounter, wondering what happened for them to be this hostile to each other. Had they always hated each other? Though Daphne didn't seem the type to 'hate' people.
He looked towards Coulson, hoping that he might intervene between the women - only to see the older agent just shake his head in exasperation. Steve didn't really want to get involved with something he didn't know about.
He heard a slight snicker coming from Daphne. The soldier looked at her, worried that she had temporarily gone insane.
Then she burst out laughing, leaving Steve with whiplash at her seemingly bi-polar mood.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," she breathed out, between laughs. "You haven't changed, Natty!" She pulled the redhead into an embrace.
Romanoff broke out in a small grin. "Neither have you, Daph." Returning the hug tightly before pulling away and swiftly clearing her face of emotions.
"Oh yeah, they need you on the bridge. Face time," she informed Coulson, who didn't look perturbed by their unusual greeting.
"Way to kill the moment," Daphne grumbled to herself.
He nodded. "See you there," he responded and walked away, leaving Steve with Daphne and Natasha.
The three started moving towards the railing of the ship, making conversation, Steve in between the two women. "There was quite a buzz around here, finding you in the ice." Natasha started offhandedly, Steve shifting uncomfortably. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"
"Trading cards?" Steve questioned, befuddled. He knew that the merchandise had been produced back in his day, but it still made him slightly unnerved.
"It took him a long time to collect them all," Daphne chipped in, smiling fondly. She seemed to have a close relationship with Coulson.
They soon approached a very nervous-looking man with curly, brown hair, who kept on glancing side to side, fidgeting. He doesn't seem to notice them until they were right behind him. Steve had a hard time believing that this anxious, shy man could turn into the Hulk.
"Dr. Banner," Daphne acknowledged the scientist, shaking his hand. "I'm Daphne Collins. It's a pleasure to meet you. Your work is amazing, I must say," she told him genuinely.
He floundered for a moment. "Oh, um, thank you, Miss Collins. Please call me Bruce." He smiled shyly.
She grinned. "Well, then please call me Daphne."
Steve then stepped up to shake the Doctor's hand too. "Dr. Banner."
"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you were coming."
"Word is you can find the cube," Steve announced, getting to the point.
Bruce shifted. "Is that the only word on me?" He asked nervously, as if fearing the answer.
"Only word I care about," Steve shrugged, being honest in his words.
Dr. Banner visibly relaxed after hearing those words. "Must be strange for you, all of this," he said, directing the statement at Rogers.
"Well, this is actually kind if familiar," he corrected, gazing at the surroundings. He remembered the ships during his battles so this didn't look too different to him.
Natasha, who had been silent during the exchange, warned them. "Gentlemen," Daphne coughed loudly, as if offended - which amused Steve. "And lady, you may want to step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the Helicarrier started shaking.
"Is this a submarine?" Steve guessed, amazed.
"Really? They want me in a submerged pressurised metal container?" Bruce asked sarcastically.
They both moved to the edge of the Helicarrier and watched in awe as four huge fans, mounted on the sides, started to lift them into the air.
Bruce smiled. "Oh no, this is much worse." Steve heard Daphne let out a snort of laughter at the comment.
》》》》》》
Helicarrier bridge. Day. Daphne
Daphne, Steve and Bruce followed Natasha until they reached the 'bridge', where dozens of agents sat in front of their computer screens. A dark haired, attractive female agent, Maria Hill, yelled orders to leave and then turned to Director Nick Fury.
"We're at lock, sir," she said.
"Good," he began. "Let's vanish."
Daphne chuckled. "I swear that's his favourite catchphrase."
The Helicarrier swiftly rose higher into the air and the reflecting panels that covered the ship appeared, essentially making them invisible. Badassery at its finest.
The Captain and scientist took the opportunity to look around the bridge, the look of awe not leaving their faces. Daphne had a feeling that she would be winning the bet.
"Gentlemen, Collins," Fury announced.
"Really? I'd thought we'd be on a first name basis by now, Nicky," Daphne complained playfully.
Fury fixed her a look that told her she should shut up - he was probably still peeved about the whole 'strangling Sitwell' issue. Nick had, of course, been a bit put out with her and had threatened to fire her, but the mutant knew that he would never do that. He was too worried that she'd use her 'abilities' against SHIELD.
Steve suddenly turned his body towards Daphne, pulling a ten dollar bill out of his back pocket and handing it to her, his eyes still scanning the room. She smirked, feeling smug. It was never in doubt that Steve would lose the bet, but it was always a question of 'when?'.
Fury held his hand out to Banner to shake it, which Bruce reluctantly complied to. "Doctor, thank you for coming."
"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?" He asked, his eyes constantly moving around, never settling.
"Once we get the Tesseract, you're in the clear," Nick assured him. The brunette mutant saw something flash in his expression, but it changed before she could identify it.
"Where are you with that?" Bruce questioned eagerly.
Nick gestured for Phil to explain while Nat squatted next to a computer screen, staring at a picture of Clint.
"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. If it's connected to a satelite , it's eyes and ears for us," Phil cleared up.
"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha inputted, though Daphne suspected she was mostly thinking about her partner. She felt a wave of sadness then, she had forgotten that Clint was under the control of a madman.
Bruce thought for a second. "You have to narrow the field," he began as he took off his coat, rolling up his sleeves. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"
"How many are there?" He inquired.
Banner displayed an air of confidence when he spoke about science it seemed, which contrasted greatly with his apparent timid nature. "Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and callibrate them for gamma rays. I'll go rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Fury looked impressed and pleased at the Doctor. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?" Natasha nodded once, leading Bruce down the hall.
"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys," she grinned as they left the bridge.
Steve and Daphne had been quiet throughout the conversation, throwing confused glances at each other as Banner said big, scientific words.
She noticed the distrusting looks she was receiving from a couple of the agents, she sighed in annoyance. Couldn't they see that she was not out to kill them all?
She exhaled softly, needing to release all of the tension building inside of her. "Well, I'm gonna hit the gym. Coulson can keep you company," she told Steve, grinning an evil smile and clapping him on the shoulder.
"Wait-" he cried as she sauntered off.
"Have fun, Cappy!" She sang, running out of the room, laughing loudly as she went.
》》》》》》
Helicarrier gym. Day.
Daphne entered the gym, breathing out, perfectly at ease, debating on what area to start on while getting changed into her training clothes. She was wearing three-quarter length, black leggings and a matching black sports bra. She decided on target practise first, tying her thick hair up into a ponytail.
He walked over to the array of weapons, her calculating gaze weighing up the pros and cons of each type of weapon. There were a multitude of SHIELD issue handguns, knives, bows and arrows. Daphne grabbed hold of a gun and positioned herself a long distance away from the targets, flipping the safety switch off, firing off ten bullets consecutively. She had hit the head four times, the chest three times, all fatal shots, and put three bullets in the crotch for good measure.
Thoroughly pleased with herself, she then continued with knives until she finally reached the bows and arrows. She remembered when Clint had first taught her how to shoot arrows.
》》6 years earlier
An eighteen year old Daphne pestered her close friend, Clint Barton, pleading that he teach her how to shoot arrows. She was always fascinated by the gracefulness and beauty of the weapon that she had been dying to try it out. So far, she was failing to convince the archer.
"Pretty please Clint! Come on, let me try," she begged, fluttering her big, doe-like eyes at him.
"No, no, no... My final answer is no," he asserted adamantly.
"But-"
"No, Daphy."
He started to walk away, but she wasn't going to let it go that easily. She pulled out the big guns, knowing how to break him.
"I'll stop making you brownies," she threatened him, her voice eerily quiet but he heard her loud and clear.
He gasped almost inaudibly, turning around in less than a second. "You wouldn't dare."
"Are you willing to risk it and find out?" She retorted, knowing she had him cornered. Her brownies were Clint's Achilles' heel, his weakness.
He struggled to find words, obviously mentally debating with himself. Bow or brownies. Bow or brownies. Bow. Brownies... Brownies.
"Fine," he grumbled. "But you better not break my bows."
"Relax Birdie, they'll be safe."
》》10 minutes later
"Alright, so I'm going to first show you how to properly handle a bow and arrow."
He handed her a bow and demonstrated the way for her to hold it and position herself. She complied and passed that test with flying colours.
"Okay now, place a bow onto the quiver and pull back towards your ear," he instructed.
She did as he told her with no problem.
"Aim for the center of the target, and release."
"Well, duh," she muttered which earned her a smack across the back of her head.
"Hey!" She cried, indignantly.
"Don't get smart with me. I don't have to teach you this."
"And I don't have to bake you brownies." She smirked.
"Just shut up and shoot," he said, exasperated.
She held up the bow, pulled back the quiver and aimed, breathing deeply and evenly. She released and it hit the center.
"Woo! Aha, I did it!"
"Beginners luck," Clint grumbled.
"Aw, you're just worried that I'll become better at archery than you." She laughed. "Don't worry Robin Hood, you'll always be number one and besides, I prefer my blades and whips."
He still sulked over her ease with the bow. "Come on, Mr Grumpy Pants, I'll make you some extra brownies today."
His face automatically perked up. He was so easily pleased.
》》Present day
Her face fell when she remembered where Clint was and felt a surge of determination to find him, to make sure he was safe. After all, he had helped her through a lot of her problems and always looked out for her when there was trouble, so she would return the favour to help him. To help her unbiological brother and one of her best friends. And with that thought she continued training more aggressively than before.
Hope you all liked this. Next chapters will be up soon. Comment any advice or criticism, it always helps.
Love you all
-Jess xo