Athena Erskine was beautiful and bold. A female scientist in a world of men. Athena lived every day outnumbered but not outsmarted. Athena had to force her way into every room. So that she could demonstrate how much brighter, she is than all the men...
"A true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
- Unknown
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Athena was sat in the corner of Steves gym once again. This was a regular occurrence for the couple. They often struggled with sleeping. Steve would come and take out all his feelings out on a punching bag. And Athena would read up on some scientific thing that pickled Steves's brain. Today she was doing some brief reading on some Biochemistry. On Fury's order, Athena had access to most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientific databases. Fury seemed to understand that once Athena got caught up, she could be a beneficial mind in his arsenal.
Athena briefly looked up at the sound of a punching bag landing on the other side of the room. She could see that it had spilt its contents on the floor from where it had landed.
"I pity the cleaners, you know," Athena called to Steve.
Steve looked over at Athena, breathing heavily. Athena just laughed at him before she turned back to whats she was reading previously.
Steve didn't say anything as he picked up another of the punching bags neatly arranged in a row next to him. Clipping the bag back on, Steve carried on training. At least he was working at a slower pass this time.
"Trouble sleeping?" A voice that Athena recognised as Fury called.
"I slept for seventy years, sir." Steve told him, "I think I've had my fill."
When Fury looked at Athena, she shrugged, "There are some blankets in Steves's bag. I sometimes nap in here."
"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world." Fury suggested.
"Believe me, I have tried," Athena laughed, "but Steves not quite ready for that."
Steve looked over at Athena as he walked over to his bag. "I went under, the world was at war, I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost." Steve told Fury as he unravelled the tape from his hands.
"We've made some mistakes along the way." Fury told him. "Some very recently."
When Athena spotted the folder in Fury's hands, she stood up and walked towards him. When she reached him, Fury wordlessly handed the folder to her.
"You here with a mission, sir?" Steve asked, eyeing the folder.
"I am," Fury nodded.
"Trying to get me back in the world again?" Steve nodded as he carried on unwrapping his hands.
"Trying to save it," Fury corrected.
Having decided that this hand piqued his interest enough, Steves came around to Athena. He stood so her back was pressed to his front. Steve then propped his chin on Athena's shoulder as he looked at what she was reading.
"You need a shower," Athena murmured so only Steve could hear. His only response was to nuzzle his nose into the base of Athena's neck, placing a soft kiss there.
"Hydra's secret weapon," Steve murmured as he looked at the picture.
"I remember doing some experiments on their weapons," Athena murmured, "they packed a punch."
"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you two." Fury told them, "he thought what we think. The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs.
"Who took it from you?" Steve asked, not even looking up from the record.
"He's called Loki," Fury told them, "he's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."
"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me," Steve told Fury.
"Ten bucks says you're wrong," Fury told Steve. Athena knew who was winning that bet. And it wasn't Steve. Fury then carried on. "There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment."
Steve placed a final kiss on Athena's neck before getting a punching bag and his gym bag.
"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury asked.
"You should have left it in the ocean," Steve called back, not even missing a beat as he carried on walking.
Athena turned to Fury, "I watched a man disappear into space because he touched it. You really shouldn't keep this. Not because I don't trust you. But I don't trust the people who may get their hands on it." And with that, Athena turned and walked off to catch up with Steve.
