"The Avenger"
The door of the hold opened once again and Jemma glared up from her seat in the corner, however, instead of the captain standing the doorway, a looking android walked in, holding a tray. She smiled down at the hostage, “Hello, I am Helen Cho, I’ve brought you some food, I though you might need it after this ordeal.”
She knelt down and Jemma took the tray, she was actually very hungry and very thirsty but she wasn’t going to be caught dead going to the captain for those necessities.
Helen Cho was a rather small android with beautifully crafted skin and face, she wore a full white dress uniform that made her look like a scientist. She held her hands in front of her and waited for Jemma to take a bite of the soup that was on her tray. Jemma closed her eyes as she tasted it, it was very good.
Helen gestured to the place next to her, “May I sit?” Jemma was slightly taken aback but she nodded quickly before scooping another spoonful into her mouth. The android sat calmly next to her and smiled.
“We do not usually have visitors here.” She stated plainly, “Despite the unfortunate circumstances, I am glad you are here. I expected to find you in the Captain’s quarters.” She tilted her head questionaly,
Jemma cleared her throat and took a sip of the water with her meal, “It felt wrong being in there.” She grimaced, “I’d rather just wait this thing out, being in her room just feels.. I don’t know..” She shuddered and took another bite.
Helen nodded, “Yes, you do not get along with the captain. That is understandable, however, the bedroom will be better suited to your human needs.”
Jemma sighed but gave in, “Okay, I suppose I’d have to go in there eventually, it’s the only bathroom on this bloody ship.”
“That is accurate.” Helen agreed happily,
They were silent for a few minutes, while Jemma ate and Helen kept her company, her processors whirring rhythmically, speeding up every time Jemma shifted or moved. Eventually though, Jemma felt the need to point something out, she felt comfortable around the android, who was calm and sweet and most importantly not the person who shoved her into this awful situation.
“You know you don’t have to stay with her, right? There are laws against keeping androids against their will these days, and that applies to nearly 6 galaxies.”
Helen chuckled kindheartedly, “That is very sweet of you, but I am not here against my will, you see I've known the Captain since we were very young and she is a dear friend, and there’s no place I would rather be. Nothing I would rather do.”
“But this is such a hard life, what on earth is keeping you..” Jemma gestured to the the ship, “Here? I’m sorry but I don’t understand.”
“That is okay,” Helen explained calmly, “You see there is nothing so near to heaven as exploring the wonders of the universe with the one that you love the most in all of creation. I am a rather old model but I was never built to serve. To serve and protect is what chose to do, and I do it with whom I love the most. Our modest living may seem unorthodox, but to me it is the greatest possible outcome of a long and difficult road.”
Jemma was slightly enthralled with the androids calm voice and the way she explained it, but she still didn’t quite understand, “W-who--?”
“She’s talking about me, Dr. Simmons.” Jemma jumped as the harsh voice crackled through the intercom around them. Helen smiled and patted the floor of the hold. The AI sounded irritated, “My wife is the most typical of romantics, Dr., but she is right, so stop insinuating that she’s being held here against her will like you are, I won’t have talk like that in here. I have a lot more power than you think, human.”
Helen laughed at Jemma’s shocked face, “There she is, my wife, Alecta, she’s held this place together for many, many years.”
“You’re wife? I thought Artificial intelligence marriage was illegal in all sectors?”
Helen laughed, as if such a question was ridiculous, “We just stole an entire cargo full of valuable items to be given to the O-Nah government as a sign of peace, and we took you hostage, legality does not matter to us. Additionally, our union was bound long before politics decided it was worth judging.”
She paused and patted Jemma’s arm, “Do not worry, leaving civilians unharmed is something the captain holds very highly, it was her mother’s only rule, to leave the innocent unharmed. You will be home soon. Please, come into a more comfortable environment.”
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.
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“Captain, we just intercepted an interesting transmission.”, A blond man entered a lavish room off to the side of a massive control center. He was, second in command of one of the most notorious pirates ever to plague the void, a disheveled looking man with short blonde hair and blue eyes. Clint Barton was an unsuspecting ally in the world of pirates.
The Captain glanced up calmly from her personalized station, barely interested in what her second in command was saying. Captain Natasha Romanov, also know as “The Black Widow” was nearly as unassuming as her second, beautiful and elegantly put together, she had the look of a model more than that of a pirate but she stalked the universe unrelentingly and gained the fear of some of the largest and most powerful governments in space.
“What is it, Barton?” He handed her a sleek hand held device and she promptly watched the hologram that it emitted a second later, her disinterest faded and she cocked an eye brow at the hologram of Captain Morse describing a rather profitable situation.
When the transmission ended she leaned back with a confident smile, “So Skye bit off more than she could chew this time. What’s so important about this woman that she would be worth so much alive to Morse?”
“She was a temporary ambassador, apparently taking something of value to the O’Nah government.” Barton informed her immediately,
The captain waved her hand dismissively, “Ambassadors go missing all the time out here and the items weren’t stolen, I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“Well,” Rogers offered, “Morse has gotten a lot of friends in high places since she left the pirating world, if I didn’t know better I’d say this was personal. She’s never lost a passenger before, this messes up her perfect record. Also, Morse seems desperate to keep this out of the media. She wants to stay under the radar.”
“I think that’s it, whatever the reason, she is willing to pay more than some pirates make their whole lives, for this Dr. Jemma Simmons to be returned alive.” Natasha smiled wickedly, “I think it’s time for us to pay our young friend a visit. Morse wants this as a favor, the money would be nice but I'm not going out of my way for Morse's reputation since she left us.”
“The Hula Girl's” technology is extremely inferior to ours and she has a skeleton crew, taking the woman shouldn’t be a problem.”
The captain tutted him with a hand held up, “Don’t get too confident, Barton, and don’t underestimate Skye, she’s resourceful and we don’t know what she’s capable of if she’s backed into a corner. I’d like to do this without causing a fuss. Set the coordinates.”
Barton saluted, “Yes, Captain.”
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Jemma had to admit, it was a comfy bed and in better circumstances, she probably would have fallen asleep immediately on the worn and soft bed, underneath the flexible blankets. However, she didn’t sleep at all throughout the night and she spent most of the time staring at the wall wondering what her family was doing, what Fitz was doing. Did they know what happened yet? She hoped they didn’t.
The ship was also anything but quiet, she could literally hear the vessel ripping through space, the beeps, the creeks, and the random bangs within the walls made her jump constantly. Helen had dropped her off in the room and neglected to warn her of the sounds that one could hear in the walls and under her body.
Her mind flew several times to the Captain, and a mixture of dislike and awe filled her every time. Perhaps she was being to hard on the woman, in reality, she could have been much worse. Skye was right about that. In fact, she didn't even act like a captor, so far she had been nothin but certeous and friendly, but she robbed a class five transport vessel with two people, she was obviously easy to underestimate.
But no. She’s still the reason that the was in this terrifying position. Jemma reminded herself, the bitterness making her feel better about the situation. Still. It could be worse.
Jemma didn’t jump when the doors slid open, she heard the footsteps coming to the door, those heavy boots. She remained on her side underneath the covers with her hand stiffly wedged between her head and the pillow. Out of the corner of her eye she could make out the captain’s figure.
“Good morning. Thought I’d fix the shower real quick.” Then the footsteps moved around the bed and into the bathroom. Jemma didn’t answer but Skye didn’t seem like she expected an answer.
Jemma’s eyes remained glued to the wall while her mind raced. Several clanking noises came from where the captain was working, some glug glug sounds and a few slapping sounds filled the room. As was mentioned before, there was no sound control in this ship.
Jemma sighed and sat up in bed, she was still wearing the exact same thing as what she was captured in, Helen had shown her some sleeping garments, she smiled and took them but then set them down on the floor next to the bed once the kind android was gone.
She swung her legs over the bed and walked to the bathroom, perhaps it was lack of sleep but she felt empty inside and she didn’t want to care anymore. She sat on the edge of the sink next to where Skye was tinkering with the shower. She didn’t glance at the captain but continued to stare at the floor sadly.
“Didn’t get much sleep last night?” Skye guessed from where she was trying to man handle a pipe from out of the wall.
Jemma shook her head dully, “No.”
Skye didn’t say anything but continued to wrestle with the defunct shower. A few minutes passed while Jemma watched Skye working. Jemma, who had a degree in biomechanical engineering, already knew what needed to be done but she stayed silent and let the captain tinker with the shower device.
“How long until we get there?”
“Uh, well, I’m still figuring that out but We’ll get to O-Nah in three days, if I can figure out a way to get you onto the planet without getting arrested then you’ll get to leave then. If that’s not possible then we’ll go to Tah-Woh (That's where all my black Market goods are going to be exchanged) and dock there, you can take a shuttle to O-Nah, and then you’ll be home free.” She grunted as she pulled something out of the wall.
"Where in Tah-Woh is that?"
"Port of Et-Tah-D." Skye didn't hesitate to give her the information,
"Eh-Tah-D?"
"Yeah, it literally means port of those beneath the ground. Nice place."
"Ah."
Several minutes later and Skye suddenly leapt up, “That’s it! It should work now!” Jemma’s eyes followed her as she moved around the bathroom. “Shower on.” She commanded. The shower head trickled at first but then burst to life a second later and Skye raised her arms in triumph.
She looked over and saw that Jemma still had that same blank stare, she sighed, guilt had made it nearly impossible for her to sleep the night before as well. “Hey, why don’t you take a shower and then join me at the bridge for some breakfast?”
Jemma nodded silently, “That’s the spirit, this’ll all be over with soon. I promise.”
Then she grabbed her toolbox and left Jemma sitting on the edge of the sink alone. For once she actually listened to the captain and took a shower. It felt amazing and by the end of it she felt more ready to handle what was happening. When she got out she searched the drawers in the room like Helen had told her too and she got dressed.
She had picked out one of the nicer things in the captain’s drawers which was a blue jumpsuit uniform, probably for working in the tunnels. She tied the top around her waist and put a white T-shirt underneath it. It was practical and comfortable.
At least she didn’t have to worry about getting lost on this ship, she though as she left the room and headed for the bridge. She found the captain sitting at a console, messing with some flickering hologram, when Jemma entered she turned it off and gesture to the plate of breakfast food by another console.
Jemma sat down and took a bite, as was last time, it was very good and she was pretty hungry. The monitors and the consoles beeped through out the silence between them, until Skye turned towards her hand outstretched.
“Here, I dug out your ring and necklace from the loot, figured it was the least I could do.” In her palm was the gold jewelry.
Jemma took them and inspected them for a little bit, she looked up at the captain, “Thank you, these mean a lot to me.” She slipped on the ring and the necklace, then she laughed, “God, listen to me, I’m thanking a pirate for giving me back something they stole from me in the first place.”
Skye laughed and leaned back in her chair with a wink, “See, it’s a slippery slope, Dr. Simmons, next think you know you’ll be robbing a cargo ship.”