Man Out of Time - A Captain America / Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Bernice felt as though she were Ishtar descending into the underworld as she passed through the increasing layers of security to access the bowels of the Triskelion. It was an intimidating place, made all the more intimidating by Nick Fury's glower. Access she had only gotten because Tony Stark had refused to sell the government any more energy weapons unless they kicked their sorry rear-ends out of denial and allowed the most qualified person on the planet to interrogate the alien.

Not that Bernice felt qualified. She wasn't qualified to do much of anything, really. She was a 23-year-old woman with a bachelor's degree in fine arts and an increasing number of Stark Industries engineering-for-dummies classes under her belt. But it had been her sharp eyes that had spotted the pattern to the alien behavior. And her sharp eyes that had spotted proof of shape-shifting on the surveillance cameras. All she could do now was hope she could piece together the weird feeling they were all missing something and figure out what that something was once she met with Steve's alien friend, Count Rugen.

An enormous man stepped in front of her. Even taller than Steve. She had spoken to him several times on the USS Gerald Ford, but it still amazed her she was speaking to the Thor. The one she had read about in the tales of myths and legends she had devoured as a child. Thor had been one of many fantasy characters she had sketched to fend off her sadness over her mother's death.

"Commander Rogers hath requested I accompany his beloved on her quest," Thor said, arms crossed to communicate he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He turned to Bernice. "I am to protect thee from harm."

"Thank you, Thor," Bernice said.

His chivalrous manner always put her at ease, even if it did make her want to giggle. Steve had been quite unhappy she was coming without him. She clutched the digital photos she'd snapped of her and Steve together before she came, designed to communicate to Count Rugen the reason Steve had been missing was because he had been injured.

"Has Doctor Banner already arrived?" she asked.

"Doctor Banner is already down in the holding area," Nick Fury said. "As is Tony Stark. The Count has been agitated Steve hadn't visited in two weeks. His ability to communicate may be limited, but that much he's been able to make us understand."

"Steve is the closest thing to a friend he has," Bernice said. "Can you blame him?"

"He's an enemy combatant," Nick Fury said. "I don't care what he feels. Those bastards are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people."

Bernice couldn't argue with that. Her brother had found a litter of abandoned puppies once in a gully. Their father had been in the throes of grief over her mother's death when Caleb brought them home. Turned out, they weren't dogs at all, but coyote pups. No amount of training could domesticate them and more than once they'd gotten nipped. They'd finally ended up bringing them to a wildlife rehabilitation center, earning a stern lecture from the staff about attempting to domesticate wild animals. She would keep that lesson in mind as she attempted to transfer some of the trust Steve had earned to herself so she could communicate with the creature.

"What about Agent Barton?" Bernice asked.

By the twitch of Director Fury's cheek, she gathered Agent Barton wasn't going to be there today. Not that Bernice blamed him. The last thing the archer wanted was a reminder of what he'd lost.

They cleared the last level of security, Thor at her back like a solid brick wall. The others nodded greeting. She had seen video footage of the room where they kept the alien, but it still looked like something out of a science fiction movie, the enormous circular glass cage with a pit and a narrow catwalk. The Chitauri drone paced back and forth like a caged tiger, visibly frustrated as a young man she didn't recognize attempted to get it to communicate via pictures.