An hour and thirty minutes later, Holly and her friends arrived at Stark Industries. Steve looked out the window, staring at the building in awe. He couldn't believe that his dear friend's company had grown so much since he last saw it. His happiness immediately changed to sadness, and he looked away.
Neville's forest-green eyes blinked when he saw Steve looking disappointed and sad.
" What's wrong, Steve?" Neville asked.
Steve turns his gaze to Neville.
" I wish Bucky and I had watched Howard become the successful man we knew he was going to become," Steve mumbled.
Holly briefly looks at Steve and Neville from the rearview mirror.
" You know. Grandpa has always told me that he appreciated that you and Bucky gave him the motivation to bring his dreams and goals to reality," Holly speaks.
Steve fondly smiled, feeling glad that Howard appreciated him and Bucky motivated him to bring his dreams and goals to reality.
Holly looks away and drives the minivan into Stark Industries parking lot. She puts her right foot on the break and turns her gaze to the security guard.
" Hello, I am here to see Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts," Holly informs the security guard.
The security guard nods their head in response, and they turn to grab a phone. They dialed a number, and they began to speak to someone.
" May I know your name?" The security guard asked.
" My name is Holly. Holly Stark," Holly introduced herself to the security guard since she figured he was new.
The security guard's eyes widened in surprise when they heard Holly's name.
" Jackson! Let her in," Happy's voice shouts from the other side of the phone.
" Yes, Sir!" Jackson shouts in response and presses a button, letting the gate go up, allowing Holly to enter the parking lot.
Holly drove her minivan to an exclusive parking spot with her name on it. She parks her car and turns it off, seeing Happy walk out of the elevator.
" Happy!" Holly unbuckles herself, and she gets out of her minivan.
" Holly! I am so happy to see you," Happy hugs Holly tightly.
Holly hugs Happy tightly, looking and feeling delighted and relieved to see her father's childhood best friend.
" There must be a reason why you are here," Happy lets go of Holly, and his chocolate brown eyes intently stared at her bright green eyes. " Ever since your father got kidnapped. You stopped coming here," He murmured.
Holly grabs Happy's hands, and she tightly grasps them.
" We found him, Happy," Holly emotionally speaks.
Happy's chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise when he heard that his best friend, Tony, was found.
" Really?" Happy mouths out, looking and feeling in disbelief since it has been a month since his best friend got kidnapped.
" Yes! Yes! Uncle Rhodey and his men are on their way to get him. He is finally coming home," Holly hugs Happy again, and she begins to cry.
Happy hugs Holly tightly, and he begins to cry as well, feeling so relieved to hear that his best friend is finally coming back home to them.
Holly's friends watched Holly and Happy hugging each other and crying. They looked at one another and smiled, feeling delighted and relieved to know that Holly's father was alive.
Hermione's chocolate brown eyes blinked when she heard and felt her cell phone vibrate. She grabs her cell phone and sees a familiar number.
" I am going out for a bit," Hermione informs her friends, and she gets out of the minivan.
Hermione walked a foot away from the minivan and picked up the call.
" Agent Granger speaking. What can I do for you, Director Fury?" Hermione asked.
" Agent Granger. Please, meet with me at the nearest diner of your location," Director Fury responded.
" Of course," Hermione nods her head in response, and she hangs up.
' I should let the others know that I will be leaving,' Hermione tells herself, and she walks back to the minivan.
Hermione opens the door, and she looks at her friends.
" Hey. I got to get going. Work called, and they need me," Hermione looked at Luna and Neville with a knowing stare. " Can you tell Holly that I am so sorry that I will not be there to watch her reunite with her father?" She asked.
" Of course," Neville nods his head in response.
Luna blankly stared at Hermione, and she hummed when she saw her friend wearing feminine medical attire and interacting with an unknown man wearing a masculine medical attire at an undisclosed location.
" Do call us to let us know that you are safe wherever they sent you?" Luna asked.
" I will," Hermione reassures, and she waves goodbye. She turns around and walks towards a black van. She looks at her surroundings and teleports.
A few seconds later, Hermione appears at an alleyway. She looked at her surroundings, saw no one, and walked out of the alleyway.
' I wonder what my new mission will be this time. And I hope it is not a long one,' Hermione internally speaks, and she walks towards the nearby diner.
Hermione opens the door, and she steps inside the diner. She looked at her surroundings and hummed when she spotted Director Fury drinking a cup of coffee at the back of the restaurant.
" Hello, are you here to dine or take food to go?" A waitress kindly asked.
" I'm here to dine, and I see my companion waiting for me," Hermione responded. She walks away and heads toward Director Fury's table.
" Director Fury," Hermione formally greets Director Fury and sits down across from him.
Director Fury looks at Hermione, and he nods his head in response.
" Agent Granger. Good to see you," Director Fury greets Hermione.
" I had to leave Holly and the others to get here. This mission better is important," Hermione's chocolate brown eyes intently stared at Director Fury's dark brown eyes.
Director Fury intently stared at Hermione. He grabs a black folder with the S.H.I.E.L.D's logo on it and passes it to Hermione.
Hermione's chocolate brown eyes blinked when she saw the folder in front of her. She grabs the folder and opens it seeing a picture of a familiar figure.
" Do you know this man?" Director Fury asked, looking curious when Hermione looked at the picture with mixed emotions.
" That's Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. But, he mostly goes by Dr. Bruce Banner. We studied Biochemistry for our Doctorate at Harvard," Hermione whispered.
" After graduating, Dr. Banner and I parted ways, but we briefly kept in contact," Hermione murmured. " He continued to pursue other Doctorates in Nuclear Physics, Radiophysics, Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, and Mathematics," She fondly smiled. She remembered she would read Bruce's Thesis papers every night before turning them in to his superiors.
Director Fury smirked when Hermione looked at the folder fondly yet carefully. He knew he had found the right Agent to get close to Bruce and learn about what caused him to become the raging beast he is now known.
" Your mission is to locate Dr. Banner and regain his trust," Director Fury speaks, causing Hermione stares at him in disbelief.
" It has been years since I last spoke with Dr. Banner," Hermione confessed. " I do not even know where to search for him," She murmured. " And why me?" She asked.
" You have a connection with Dr. Banner that the other Agents do not," Director Fury bluntly speaks.
Hermione lightly bites her lips, feeling uncomfortable since she isn't sure if Bruce wants to see her. They had a fling, but they broke it off so that he could continue to pursue his other Doctorates.
" Are you aware that Dr. Banner has become well known because of his other self?" Director Fury asked.
" His other self?" Hermione mouths out.
Director Fury pulls out his cell phone and shows Hermione a video of Bruce being a green-like monster and wrecking a town in Idaho.
Hermione's chocolate brown eyes widened when she saw the green-like monster roaring in the video.
' Bruce. What happened to you?' Hermione asked herself, looking in disbelief.
" The last place we heard from him was in a country in South America, specifically Brazil," Director Fury speaks, bringing Hermione back to reality.
Hermione's hands lightly grasped the folder. She hasn't seen Bruce for almost nine years. She was worried he wouldn't want to see her. But she also wanted to be there for him and asked what caused him to turn into a Beast.
" Alright. I shall do this mission. When do you want me to leave?" Hermione asked, determined to reunite with Bruce and be there for him since she felt he was all alone now that he had become a raging Beast.