2| making friends.

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Bellona underestimated the man and this SHIELD. The last thing she expected was to be sitting in a high-tech jet, flying over the sea, completely undetectable from the outside world. Their equipment was state of the art, something that was more advanced for their own time.

She stared out the window, watching the faint reflection of the jet hovering over the waves. It was nothing but silence, every now and then the sound of the pilot flipping a few switches. 

Finally, there was the sight of something new. The jet approached a helicarrier, which Bellona knew immediately that they had reached their destination. Bellona made note of the large symbol on the helicarrier; a golden falcon inside a dashed golden circle. The jet descended and she was escorted out. She watched as a skinny, red-haired woman approached her with a faint smile. 

"I suppose you're my welcome party," Bellona said to the woman. The red-haired woman briefly nodded.

"I'm Agent Romanoff," she introduced herself.

"Bellona," she introduced herself. Romanoff began walking, but slow enough to allow Bellona to follow her. 

"I've read your file," the woman began. "You're a strong fighter. Fury said you're a Goddess of War?" She asked.

Bellona smiled at the compliment. She figured this Fury the woman was referring to was the man she had met yesterday. "Yes, I am. Being an excellent fighter is a necessity for my duty."

Romanoff turned and her eyes met the Bellona's. She scanned her face and body, taking notice of how youthful she looked. "So, I guess immortality with you Gods is an actual thing?" 

"Somewhat. We can still die, we're not invincible. We're much harder to kill than you humans," she explained. Romanoff nodded her head and focused on walking. They approached another jet, watching as two men exited from it. One man was in a black suit, the other in more casual clothing yet seemed old-fashioned. Immediately, Bellona realized he was Captain Steve Rogers.

She had read his file, learning about his time as Captain America during World War II. It amazed her that he managed to survive after all this time of being frozen. It was a fascination she would love to learn more about, but she knew that it had to wait. There were more important things to tend to.

"Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers," the man in the suit introduced. He then glanced over at Bellona. 

"I'm Bellona," she informed them.

"Ma'am, Miss," Steve greeted.

"Hi," Romanoff replied, her voice coming off more deadpan than she meant. Her attention then went to the man in the suit. "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace," she told the man in the suit.

"See you there," he said before he left the three. Romanoff's eyes quickly scanned Steve's body and then began walking, the two quickly following after her.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice," she told the man. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon," she joked. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

Steve's brows furrowed as he looked at her. "Trading cards?" He asked.

"They're vintage. He's very proud," she responded with a small smile. Steve then glanced over at Bellona.

"I've read your file. You're strong, stronger than even me. And you're weapon choices, what are they? How do they work?"

Bellona couldn't hide the smile that formed on her lips. It was moments like this that reminded her of the simple beauty of humans; their curiosity. "I'm naturally gifted, Rogers," she replied. "And I'm sure you know what a shield and sword are, as for my lasso, well, that's something I'll have to explain to you when we're not so pressed for time."

Steve nodded his head, understanding the circumstances. Though, there was no doubt he'd come back to that question. He definitely wanted an answer about her lasso.

As they continued walking, they came across a man who was obviously confused about where he was. He stumbled as he turned in a circle. Bellona took note that it was none other than Dr. Bruce Banner, the Hulk himself.

She remembered watching the footage of him fighting off a strange creature, while also some other footage of him flipping large government tanks. It interested her as to how he managed to create such a creature by gamma radiation.

"Dr. Banner," Steve called out. With his attention grabbed, the man stopped tumbling and followed the sound of Steve's voice. He approached the three of them, confused.

"Yeah, hi," he said as he held out his hand to shake Steve's. "They told me you were coming." He then held out his hand to Bellona, shaking hers as well. 

"Word is you can find the cube," Steve said to him.

Bruce then looked around nervously. "Is that the only word on me?" He asked.

"Only word I care about," he said.

"Lady and gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's going to get a little hard to breathe," Romanoff said with a slight smile. Suddenly, the sound of gears changing, metal moving, and a voice over the PA could be heard.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked, walking towards the edge of the helicarrier.

"Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?" Bruce commented. Bellona stayed beside Romanoff, watching the two men as they walked to the edge. She quickly realized that it wasn't a submarine as she felt the floor rise. The three of them took to the agent's words and headed inside, quickly making their way to the helicarrier's main room.

All around, there were computers and agents either working at them or walking around the room, tending to whatever work they had. They all wore the same dark blue suits, each with that same falcon symbol on the sides of their shoulders.

"Minvera would love this place," Bellona muttered to herself as she admired the scene. As she walked further in, she caught the sight of the man from yesterday, standing at the center of the room and at a control panel. Once he finished giving an order, he turned to face Bellona, Steve, and Bruce.

"Gentlemen and lady," he greeted. Bellona watched as Steve approached him and handed Fury a ten dollar bill. She was confused, on the matter, yet decided not to dwell too much on it. Fury then approached her.

"I'm glad you decided to join us," he said to her.

"I've missed the battle," she replied, a small smile forming on her lips. He then left to tend to Bruce. Bellona listened to agents as they talked about their progress in locating the agent they had lost. Bruce gave his intel, which turned out to be helpful, and he and Romanoff left so that she could show him his new lab.

*  *  *  *

Hours had passed, and there was still no news on Loki's whereabouts. She hoped Bruce's ideas would be enough to help and speed up the process, yet there was still nothing. She didn't know whether this SHIELD's equipment was as great as they made it out to be. She began to doubt whether they'd actually find the man. 

It wasn't until she heard an agent call out about a possible match. He began calling out the percentage of the match, each one getting higher and higher. Once they learned of the location of Loki, Bellona and Steve knew it was time to suit up. 

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