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“She’s a worse candidate than Tony. Tony. I never thought I would say that – ever.” Steve sits the file down on the glass conference table in front of him and slides it toward Agent Coulson. The late morning sun is streaming through the large wall of glass, giving all of the Avengers and Phil a golden tone. Tony stretched his arms above his head before giving an affronted look Steve’s way.

“Aw, Cap, that hurts. Right here,” Tony says tapping the arc reactor with his thumb, the faint glow showing through his Black Sabbath shirt. Steve simply rolls his eyes in reply.

“What I mean is, we don’t need another member who is head-strong and trigger-happy.” Steve continues, mock smiling at Tony. “Her background also seems hazy. What do you really know about her?” Phil looks at all the Avengers present in the conference room, with the exception of Thor, and seems to hesitate before continuing. He wasn’t sure how much Fury wanted the team to know about her.

“I know that she’s a weapon-specialist with a very powerful ability. I know general aspects of said powers, but only Fury knows specifics – top secret and all that. If she hadn’t been pulled into the CIA as an infant, she probably would have found her way to the X-Men. However, she’s expressed interest in joining The Avengers and I wanted to ask you all before I reject her,” explains Coulson, picking up her file. “I feel you’re making personality assumptions here, Steve. She’s worked great on her team at SHIELD and she’s not even the leader. She follows orders.” Coulson’s face softens, remembering when he first met her. “She’s a good kid.”

“But we already have a weapon-specialist,” Clint says gesturing to Natasha.

“You can never have too many, I say,” the red-head says with a smirk. “I vote we at least meet her. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“If Nat says go, I say it’s fine,” adds Clint.

“Why not?” says Tony. “I wanna ask her about her powers. She could be a great partner in battle with Iron Man. I’m pretty sure she’s flying in one of these blurry photos.” Steve looks at Bruce then, the only other Avenger currently present. The doctor looks up from staring at his interlaced fingers.

“I can’t say all these personality types are great for my stress levels, but I’ll at least give her a shot.”

“You guys just like stressing me out,” Steve says in exasperation. When everyone avoids making eye contact, Steve is reminded of children who get caught stealing cookies from the jar. Steve has enough trouble dealing with Tony some days. The last thing he needs is someone else there to be a female version, though Phil is right, he is making assumptions. But she grew up in the CIA – she’s probably cold and reserved – a trained killer. “Well Coulson, guess we’re meeting her,” he says with a sigh.

“Great,” Coulson says clapping his hands together and standing up. “Because she’s downstairs.”

“What?!” Steve exclaims. “What if we had said no?” Steve stood up now, looking much larger than Coulson. Bruce excuses himself from the room, claiming he needs some tea. “You had no right –"

“But you didn’t, so…” Steve rubs a hand over his face. Coulson walks out of the room, followed by Clint and Natasha. Tony stands up and stretches next to Steve.

“Come on, Spangles, get your panties out of a knot. You haven’t even met her yet. Reports can exaggerate sometimes.” Tony pats Steve on the shoulder and the team leader seems to relax.

“Fine,” Steve sighs, following Tony out of the room as well, the metal conference doors swishing shut behind them. Everyone else is waiting by the elevator including Bruce, nursing his cup of tea. Their conference room was on the 57^th floor of Avengers Tower, and after everyone huddles into the elevator car, the descent is spent in awkward silence laced with anticipation. Steve could still see a slight smile tugging at Natasha’s lips. He could understand – she would have someone with similar skills as her and is a female. Doesn’t happen very often. The doors open with a soft whoosh noise to the tower lobby. Steve stops and stares for a moment at the woman standing in the sunlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Everyone begins to file out towards her with Phil at the lead.

She’s dressed in a gray tactical suit similar to Natasha’s except for the slashes of orange on her chest making the abstract design of wings. One side of her hair is cut short, not quite shaved, and she wears red leather gloves that cut off half way down her fingers in the openings. She’s tough, strong, but in a beautiful way. She is so different than any woman Steve has met before being frozen. He’s the last one off the elevator so he sees her sad expression change to a smile, seeming to light up the room, as she turns to see the team emerging. Steve then notices a small mole under her left eye.

“Striker, this is The Avengers.” Coulson gestures to the group of them. Everyone is smiling – Striker’s grin infectious even to Steve.

“Hey guys, how’s it goin’?” Upon her speaking, Steve sees the two black rings glinting in the light pierced through either side of her lower lip. He can’t quite wrap his head around how different she is. She grew up in the CIA?

“Pleasure to meet you, Striker,” Tony says taking her hand and kissing the top of it, sarcastically, only possible by Tony himself. She raises an eyebrow of amusement at him, but continues unperturbed.

“Please, call me Phi. The boys back home did,” she explains, shaking her hand free of Tony’s. No one says anything, just standing exchanging glances with each other. “What?” Phi questions.

“Well,” Steve says finding his voice, “your file was very vague so we were expecting someone more… Natasha-like?” he states, looking at Nat herself who curves one side of her lips in a smile at him.

“Oh, well I already know all of your names, right? Be weird if you didn’t know mine too,” she finishes rubbing her hand at the back of her neck. “Steve, Tony, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce,” she names looking at each of them in turn. Coulson pouts quickly but Phi catches him. “Oh, we all know I know who you are, honeybun.” Which then makes Coulson blush and shake his head. The Avengers furrow their eyebrows in confusion at the same time for the nickname.

“Makes sense,” Tony interjects picking up the string of conversation. “Phi short for something or is that your secret code name?” Phi hooks an arm around Tony’s neck and whispers into his ear conspiratorially. Tony’s eyes widen in surprise. “You’re shitting me.” Striker just throws her head back and laughs openly.

“I’m totally shitting you, Tony. It’s short for Ophelia,” she said returning her arm to her side. “It’s nice to officially meet you all. You’re pretty amazing, from what I’ve seen.” Most of the team just scoffs off the compliment and looks a little embarrassed except Tony, obviously.

“Well of course we are, I’m on the team,” he states smiling, rubbing his chin. Steve sighs next to him, looking exasperated.

“Please, Ophelia, don’t encourage him.” She tilts her head slightly to the side and seems to analyze Steve for a few seconds. Steve stares back, a slight crease between his eyebrows.

“Please, call me Phi,” she says smiling.

Tony laughs. “Yeah, good luck with that.” Phi raises an eyebrow again in question.

“He has a thing. Against nicknames,” Natasha chimes in, nothing but fondness lacing her tone.

“What? I do not!” Steve says with raised eyebrows, looking at the team who all have expressions of disbelief on their faces aimed at their leader.

“Well as lovely as you guys are to hang around, what is your answer?” Coulson asks, shifting from foot to foot, a sign he’s got other stuff to do. Steve looks at the team then, sees their relaxed expressions, even Bruce who is smilingly to himself between sips of tea. Striker fits pretty well here so far and she’s nowhere on Tony’s level, he admits. Yet. She could fit here.

“I think we should run some team exercises; see where Ophelia’s skill level is and how fluidly she works with the team,” Steve directs at Coulson. He smiles, acknowledging Steve’s initial approval.

“Great.” He turns his attention to Phi. “Just come back to the base whenever you’re done,” he says walking towards the glass doors. Phil hears a “yes, sir” and knows it’s Phi.

“Coulson,” Steve says, causing the agent to stop and turn back around. “It’s really good to see you. Alive,” he says, the slightest note of anger still laced there at the stunt they pulled when Loki was attacking.

“Yes, good and well, but you have a promise from all of us that we might not handle the same stunt pulled a third time quite as well, so please let Fury know whenever you see him,” Natasha says, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. Phil shakes his head, remembering Fury and his charade to discover how compromised SHIELD truly was by Pierce.

“Dramatics seem to be the only thing that clicks with you bunch,” he says turning and waving good-bye over his shoulder. He’s out the doors before anyone can reply.

“I heard about that. I think they just like seeing how much you lot care about them,” Phi says turning her attention back to the team. They all seem to ponder that a moment and then shrug collectively, neither acknowledging or denying their affections toward the two men.

“Alright, let’s do some hand-to-hand sparring before we move to team exercises. You okay to start now, Ophelia?” Steve asks, pushing the elevator button.

“Sure,” she confirms as they all fill the small space. Steve pushes the button for the 36^th floor and the elevator starts to ascend.

“You can just spar with Natasha and I today,” Steve says as they exit the elevator. He leads the group down the hall to where the workout room is, complete with sparring mats. “Natasha, you’re up first.” Both she and Phi glance at each other, an excited smirk on their faces.

 ~***~

About twenty minutes later, all three men are staring wide-eyed at the two woman sitting on the navy sparring mats. They’re both exhausted, panting hard, but smiling at each other like it’s the most fun they’ve had in years. Maybe it is. Nat is the one to stand first and offer a hand to Phi to help her up. She takes it and they both walk over to snatch a bottle of water and chug it in one go. Steve, Tony, and Bruce stay seated in the folding chairs near the wall.

“Well that was the hottest thing I’ve seen all day, and I’m pretty sure I glanced in the mirror this morning,” quips Tony, smiling at the both of them. Nat just shakes her head in exasperation and Phi rolls her eyes.

“Stark,” Steve chastises. But Steve is still in shock of how fluidly Ophelia was able to keep up move for move with Natasha, a feat even he has trouble with and he’s got the serum.

“You ready to do this, Cap?” Phi asks, quirking one eyebrow up. Steve thought she might ask to wait a bit but she’s giving him a look that’s all challenge, and really, Steve is excited. They walk over to the navy mats and Phi reaches back to tighten her ponytail and wipes a hand across her forehead to remove the sweat gathered there. She nods, which Steve returns, and they’re gone.

A fury of movement, it’s like dancing but barely touching, no doubt Phi avoiding Steve’s super strength but the fight goes on for what feels like hours. It takes Steve a bit to realize but wherever Ophelia is landing hits, an electric shock is piercing through, and she smiles when she knows he caught on. She isn’t hitting any vital areas on purpose, Steve acknowledges, but also understands how deadly she would be fighting an enemy. He also realizes the little shocks she’s hitting him with may have something to do with her powers mentioned, but she’s going easy on him regardless. Steve had actually broken a sweat and she was going easy on him. Which meant she was probably going easy on Natasha too.

Phi does a complicated combination of strikes to Steve’s abdomen with regular hits and electric ones and then swings herself around Steve’s shoulders, twisting him and effectively throwing him down to the mat. Straddling his waist, she places a finger to his forehead directly between his eyes and somehow Steve’s instincts know that signifies she wins. The room was deathly silent for a minute until Phi jumps up and offers her hand to Steve, effectively hauling him to his feet. His skin tingles everywhere from the small shocks, but he takes her hand and turns it over, running fingers across the metal plate atop the red fabric. When no shock occurs he pinches his eyebrows together in confusion, thinking it could simply have been the gloves making the energy too.

“Sorry,” Phi whispers. “I didn’t use it on Natasha but figured you could handle it,” she says looking up at Steve. “It’s hard to explain my abilities to people without showing some of them first.”

“You guys okay?” he hears Bruce ask from across the room, no doubt wondering why they haven’t walked back over. Steve drops her hand and rubs at a place on his bicep that had taken a couple of electrical hits.

“It’s alright. Your hand-to-hand combat skills are impressive even without your power’s aid,” he says and turns to walk back to the team, Phi trailing behind him. Phi can’t help but feel impressed by Steve’s combat abilities – not to mention just the raw power she could feel behind every move he made. She’s not going to lie to herself and say she doesn’t find it attractive. When they are all standing together Clint lets out an impressed whistle.

“That was amazing to watch. You guys looked phenomenal. I would hate to see you fight an actual enemy, Phi,” Clint says in awe. Phi just sort of shifts uncomfortably, obviously not used to praise.

“Yeah, for real, remind me not to ever piss you off,” Tony says looking intimidated.

“You, Tony? I’m sure you never piss anyone off,” Phi quips, smiling.

“Alright, guys,” Steve interjects. “We’re going to meet for team exercises in about an hour at three. Tony, don’t be late,” he says giving Stark a hard look.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Cap,” he says saluting and walking out the metal door. Bruce follows him, mentioning something they were working on in the lab before Coulson came by. Clint and Natasha leave too after saying a quick goodbye to Phi and Steve, Clint challenging Natasha to a quick tournament of Mario Kart. Phi laughs at the ridiculousness of it before turning her attention back to Steve.

“I’ll have to discuss my powers with you before team exercises, Steve. It’s supposed to stay classified but I trust you and I’m sure Fury knows you would have to be briefed,” she says looking at him earnestly but with a serious edge that conveyed how potent her abilities must be. Steve could tell then that whatever her powers were, Ophelia had spent her whole life trying to keep them out of the hands of the wrong people. Had probably struggled with using them even against enemies. A shiver ran down his spine but he nods anyway.

“You can brief me after we’ve both showered. There are some back here you can use,” he gestures toward the right side of the gym where a door is.

“You saying I smell bad, Captain?” she asks quirking an eyebrow that reminds him of Natasha. Steve’s face flushes and he’s trying to figure out what to say when Phi laughs. “I’m kidding, of course. Although I don’t have any clothes to change into. I didn’t know whether I would be staying at all,” she says, revealing her doubts about the team giving her a chance. “I’m used to doing things on my own, but I wanted to find somewhere I belong. Somewhere I don’t feel like a trophy or an outcast.”

Steve’s memories flash back to the days he was parading around doing shows as Captain America and he remembers how much he hated being shown off even if the purpose was to inspire. He remembers the boot camp he was in before the serum where everyone shunned him because of his physical appearance, never bothering to get to know him. He then flashes to the Howling Commandos, laughing around him in some bar they stopped at after a hard battle. He remembers all their faces, smiling at him like he was just another one of the guys. He sees Bucky, raising his glass towards Steve and tipping his head forward – “

“Steve?” Phi has a hand gripped tight on his arm and is looking at him with concern, the small shock she gave him still tingling in his arm. “Are you okay? I’m sorry if I said something to – “

“No, it’s fine,” he cuts her off. “I’m fine, just some memories.” She looks at him skeptically but releases his arm all the same. “I’ll get you a set of my clothes while one of Tony’s machines washes and dries yours. Your uniform should be ready before we meet for team exercises.” She nods her head in understanding. “I’ll come back in ten minutes to get you,” he says and then turns to leave, trusting Phi can figure the showers out on her own. Back in his own room, Steve just stands under the hot water letting it hit his back and relax him. He rests his forehead against the gray tile and closes his eyes. If he stays in a little longer than necessary, trying to coax the memories away, no one else will know.

In the bright hallway, Ophelia follows behind Steve, watching his back muscles move under the thin gray shirt as he walks, admiring them because, hey, who wouldn’t? His sweat pants are slung low on her hips because of being too big and his white shirt seems to hang off her, making her feel even smaller, no doubt because of Steve’s wide shoulders. They end up in a small, informal conference room with just four lounge chairs arranged in a circle. Steve sits down and Ophelia takes the chair diagonal from him, throwing the long side of her still damp hair over her shoulder.

“Thanks for the clothes. I didn’t realize how much bigger than me you are,” she says trying to lighten the mood. “Seriously, I had to roll these sweats up like four times before they weren’t dragging the floor.” Phi points to her bare feet where the material has obviously been rolled several times.

“Yeah, sorry, we don’t really keep extra female clothes in the tower cause Natasha just likes to wear her own and well, she’s the only female unless Tony is starting to indulge in weird habits again,” Steve says smiling, remembering the time he came home to Tony in a dress claiming it was a dare and Clint laughing his ass off.

“I don’t think I even want to know,” Phi says shaking her head.

“You really do, but I’m sure Tony doesn’t want you to.”

“Well,” she starts, smile faltering a little. “Let’s get down to business. I mainly wanted you to know that if you want to actually see my powers, they’re ones I would never use on any of you. They’re extremely destructive and painful, which is good in fights of ill intention, but not friendly ones or sparring,” she says holding up her hand and turning it around in the air, examining it.

“I could feel the electric shocks you were putting into my body, but I could tell you were avoiding anything vital,” Steve says, still impressed by the fight. “What else can you do?”

“That only scratches the surface, literally. Those are small sparks I sent through just so you would feel it. In a real fight I can send them strong enough to tear muscles and organs, effectively incapacitating whoever I’m fighting in seconds. I don’t even have to have direct contact with your body to do so,” she says, pulling her brows together. “It’s so fragile, the human body.”

Steve studies her for a second, and takes in the idea of how deadly that would be. Who would ever stand a chance against an attack like that? His healing powers might help some, but Ophelia is so quick it would be impossible to recover quickly enough. “How are you able to use your powers?”

“Well, that leads to the other half of them. My power’s parameters go far beyond that of electricity, though that’s what I specialize in usually for attack purposes.” She seems to hesitate a moment before continuing. “I can control atoms, Steve, which means I can control all matter including solids, liquids, and gases.” She lets that sink in and waits to see the realization on his face. “I can literally rip you apart without even touching you. I could suffocate someone by taking away their oxygen. The list goes on and on, and none of them are good for enemies.” Steve just stares at her, trying to wrap his head around everything she can do with that ability alone, considering atoms make up, well, everything – the perfect killing machine.

“I cannot only attack and defend with everything in the environment, I can also heal myself and others to an extent, communicate information over any distance without direct technological assistance, and levitate using atoms in the air for manipulation and control over my own body. The electric shocks I gave you were me gathering atoms and manipulating them to give off charges, just like regular electricity. This same concept is applied to all electronics who relay information I just don’t need wires to send it from one place to another,” Phi finishes, nervous that Steve might deem her too high risk for the team.

“So what’s the catch? Everyone has a weak spot, even if it’s simply exhaustion,” Steve looks at her, explaining that he also has weaknesses of his own in turn.

“Well, as you may know, you cannot create matter from nothing. If I have nothing to work with, I can’t do anything, which is unlikely. However, I cannot simply take atoms from the air and make them into, say, a gun. I don’t have molecule arrangements memorized, and even if I did it would still be almost impossible to concentrate on doing during battle. I feel atoms’ presence more than anything. The negatively charged electrons are the easiest to sense and thus why I typically use electricity to attack.

“Because of this limitation, my healing capabilities are still stilted. I can heal a bullet wound by taking the tissue already there and manipulating it depending on the damage, but say your arm was blown off, unless I can find all the atoms that scattered I could not replace it unless taking them from somewhere else on your body.” Steve shook his head; that made sense. He needed Phi there to explain every time Tony or Bruce went on a scientific rant he couldn’t follow.

“Also, the more atoms I am trying to simultaneously move, the more difficult it is. For example, manipulating my own atoms and those around me, allowing flight, takes more concentration than simply creating electricity and attacking someone. Though not impossible, levitating multiple people or things of extremely large mass would be possible with more training. And, the more ‘familiar’ I am with the atoms I’m controlling the easier it is. Levitating myself is pretty easy now, but it would take some time to levitate another until I became more, for lack of a better term, acquainted with their atoms.”

Steve gave her a puzzled look. “How do you become familiar with a person’s atoms?”

“Well…” Phi thought how best to explain something that came as easy as breathing. “You know how your senses are constantly taking in information of the environment around you? Especially you, because yours are heightened. My powers are a lot like a sixth sense. I can feel atoms, almost like a ghost, lingering touches that I become familiar with, like the smell of someone’s cologne or what their footsteps sound like. That feeling of their existence becomes more familiar over time and allows me to control them easier. Think of your body like a puzzle made of atoms; it’s easier to see the big picture if you know where all the pieces go.”

“So you can sense me right now? Every atom?” Steve’s eyes were wide, processing the explanation Phi has just given. She reaches out with her powers, ghosting imaginary fingers over Steve’s un-seeable atoms with feather-light touches. She sees him shiver and pulls back.

“That’s what it feels like when I am trying to familiarize with your atoms at a more… aggressive pace,” Phi says laughing. “But no, I can’t feel every atom. There’s approximately one-hundred trillion atoms in each cell of your body, constantly changing too, and there are about that many cells in the entirety of your body. That’s a hell of a lot, so I just feel a general presence unless I was to regularly familiarize myself the way I just did.” Phi can see the slight uncomfortable look in Steve’s eyes, a normal reaction people have to her powers when they feel it. It’s like someone opening a door that should forever stay locked. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I don’t use my powers that way very often – not hurting people – that I forgot about normal social boundaries. I should at least ask you on a date before molesting your atoms.”

Steve laughs at that, smiling, and seeming to shake off whatever he was thinking about. “It’s okay, it didn’t really bother me. Just felt different from anything I’ve ever known before.” He shakes his head as if to focus. “Back to your power’s battle tactics: those points are restricting but I can see there’s not a whole lot of holes in your defense. I assume also if someone were to be very fast, or maybe not visible, you would still not be able to attack them, correct? You must see the atoms to manipulate them,” Steve observes.

“That’s entirely true except for air. I could theoretically control atoms without seeing them if I was very familiar with their make-up, such as a comrade, but it would still be risky. Also, yes, exhaustion would set in eventually from straining both mind and muscle,” Phi says, giving Steve a small smile. He grabs a pen off a side table and holds it up between them.

“Can you show me?” Steve asks, eyes intense, dancing with curiosity. Phi’s smile grows, causing the light to catch on her snake-bite piercings. She nods and holds her hands up, concentrating on the pen. She can feel the atoms colliding with each other, vibrating but not really moving because of it being a solid, and brushes her mental fingers over the atoms, getting a feel for them. She then begins moving her actual fingers, pulling the pen apart in whole pieces at first, taking the bottom off, the ink out, twisting the cap off. Steve watches, transfixed that she’s doing so without touching it, his hand still held out in the air. She takes the atoms then and begins molding them into something new. To Steve, with the atoms being separated it looks like the pen disappeared, but it quickly reappears in the rough shape of a black ring. The black plastic appears to keep refining itself until it is again the previous smooth consistency of the pen and drops into Steve’s hand. Phi drops the other unused pieces onto the table and smiles at Steve.

“See if it fits,” she says fanning her hands in a ‘go on’ motion. Steve picks up the plastic and slides it onto his pointer finger, finding it fits perfectly. Phi nods her head in triumph.

“That’s… amazing. You just turned a pen into a ring with nothing but your mind.”

“I’ve had the ability since I was born, apparently,” Phi shrugs one shoulder. She runs a hand over the shorter hair side of her head. “It took them a while to actually figure out what my powers were and even longer for me to be old enough to actually understand the ramifications. I basically grew up on a military base and have been practicing since I was very young,” she says. “It’s all I’ve ever known.”

Steve thinks back to when he was young, even though sick, his mother was there taking care of him and he had Bucky. He had school and playing with some kids in the neighborhood. Phi didn’t have any of those experiences and that stabbed Steve in the gut and twisted just the wrong way. Where were her parents? How is she still so open and inviting when she grew up on a military base, trained to be a killer with no other path in life? A shock on his finger brings Steve back to the present.

“You seem to zone out quite often,” Phi notes, nodding her head to the ring indicating how she shocked him. “You sure you’re okay, Cap?” He shakes his head yes.

“Yeah, it’s just a lot to take in. I mean, I’ve gotten used to Asguardians whom people deem ‘gods’ but even they pale when considering your powers.”

“Oh yes, Loki and Thor, I’ve read reports about both. I appreciate the compliment, then,” she says laughing. “We had better go get ready for the team exercise, if you still think I would be a good fit here,” Phi says, cautious but understanding. “I know I can be an asset but also a risk on the field.” Steve eyes her, taking in everything he’s just learned. Not only did Ophelia seem to get along decently with the team, her abilities would always give them the upper-hand in a fight, and he liked her a lot already.

“Of course. Let’s suit up.”

The team exercise battles had gone just as good as Steve imagined they would. Because of their similar backgrounds, Natasha and Ophelia work seamlessly together, fighting side by side with weapons. She’s able to project Steve’s shield at a velocity slightly above his own speed and having someone other than Tony flying makes it easy for the team to get around. At one point, Clint jumped out of a tree, arrow at the ready, allowed Ophelia to catch him mid-air and throw him over where the circle of bots had gathered and shot an explosive arrow into the midst of them, then simply rolled to safety on the other side. He can’t deny it, but Ophelia has this air about her that immediately makes you trust her. Ironic since everyone on the team has trust issues, including Steve. He wasn’t sure if Ophelia also had such problems with socializing. It seemed to be a weak spot for The Avengers – aside from Tony’s fake smile and smoozing.

“So what’s for dinner? I’m starving!” Clint asks as they walk back into the tower from the docking bay. “Seriously, I could eat enough for three people.” The large hanger doors began to close causing the sunlight to be replaced with fluorescents. The team stops in a disjointed circle in front of the glass doors leading to the tower.

“Here I thought you were full from all those cookies,” Nat states, smiling when Clint glares at her.

“Is that why you were so heavy when I threw you?” asks Phi, laughing when Clint just sighs and says ‘you people.’ “Aw, come on Barton, you were light as a feather.”

“Specifically a hawk feather. So how about Chinese? I would love some dumplings right now,” Tony says, now out of his suit. “JARVIS, order us two of everything on the menu at that Chinese place we love,” Tony says to the air.

“Right away, sir. I would also like to inform you Miss Potts called during the exercise and requested you call her back,” says the AI.

“Oh, now you tell me. JARVIS! Quit trying to ruin my love life,” Tony grumbles, shrugging at the team when he doesn’t follow them into the main living room they all share.

“I would never dream of it, sir.”

The team laughs as the doors shut behind them, ending what they can hear of Tony’s conversation with JARVIS. They all take seats lounging on different furniture with Clint scurrying up to sit in the rafters (which Tony added just for him). Bruce joins them shortly after, carrying a tablet with him. He hands it to Steve before he sits down and just shakes his head fondly at Clint.

“That’s an analysis of the team today and how well you guys did having another player on the field. I see you guys being more effective by at least forty-nine percent after just one exercise,” he says as Steve reads the data supporting his findings.

“That’s good, right?” Phi asks from the other side of the couch Steve is on.

“Yeah, Phi, that’s good. Basically the team is already more efficient with you and your abilities on it,” Bruce says smiling. “Although, more exercises would have to be done to get extremely accurate information because simply adding a person will increase some of the efficiency,” he finishes.

“Yeah, but we were short two team members out there and were still doing pretty good,” says Clint from up high. Natasha nods in agreement.

“Well, we have no idea when or if Thor will be coming back after having to deal with Loki. Even after what happened in London we haven’t heard from him,” says Steve, lying the tablet on the table between him and Bruce. There’s a few minutes of comfortable silence until Clint speaks. Phi takes in the living room with its overly stuffed furniture in shades of beige and maroons that is very comfortable. The floor is a sleek gray tile that has a soft, dark red rug encompassing the seating area’s floor space. Though the windows are tinted to prevent some light from coming in, Phi can still see the New York skyline and can’t help thinking how beautiful it is. Though the twenty-foot high ceilings give the room a large feel, she can’t help also feeling it’s cozy, comforting. Though the T.V. is large, it doesn’t seem overwhelming in the space, hung on the stone wall above a small fireplace that makes a break in the window covered wall.

“I’m sure he’ll come back eventually,” Clint says breaking the silence and hopping down to the floor. “Food’s almost here.”

“Damn, that was quick,” Phi says standing up to follow Clint to the elevator. Steve comes as well but Nat and Bruce stay behind. Phi tilts her head in confusion but doesn’t say anything.

“One of the reasons it’s Tony’s favorite place to get Chinese from. Pretty sure we’re their number one customer, considering how much we eat,” Clint says stepping into the cab. The descent is quick as always and the doors open to the lobby. They wait a few more minutes until a man comes to the glass doors with an entire cart full of food.

“Thanks,” says Steve as he lifts two of the cardboard boxes filled with bags, one on each shoulder. Phi and Clint each grab one for themselves. “Did Stark already pay?” The Asian man nods and looks at all of them carrying food.

“Do you need help carrying it up?” the delivery man asks, adjusting his baseball cap.

“No, we’ve got it,” Steve replies turning to push the elevator button again awkwardly with his elbow. “Plus, it has a facial scanner that only allows certain people to use the elevator,” he explains. The guy’s eyes go wide and he shakes his head, turning to leave with his cart.

“Stark’s tech never fails to impress,” Phi says shouldering into the cab.

“You think that’s impressive, wait till you try this food,” Clint says, inhaling largely through his nose for emphasis and sighing happily.

“I’ve never had Chinese food before,” Phi says quietly while looking at the floor. Steve can see her face is a mixture of sadness and happiness: her brows pulled together but a smile curving her lips. He hears Clint gawk and exclaim a “What?!” but simply nudges her shoulder with his elbow. When she smiles at him Steve thinks for sure he wants Ophelia to join the team, even if it’s not his decision alone to make. He also remembers waking up to a brand new world where he was able to try new foods, hear new music, and watch new movies. He imagines Phi is a lot like that, after being sheltered for so long on a base.

“You’re going to love it, I’m sure,” Steve says smiling, as the chime sounds for the doors to open.

And Phi does love the food and the weird sci-fi movie they watch but mostly she loves the company. She loves how they are like a family who accepted her with open arms and no questions. She loves the bickering and the fond looks of exasperation, mainly when Tony talks. However, the memories just make her small quarters at the SHIELD base seem colder and lonelier, so she pulls the covers tighter around her, wishing for sleep to come.

Chapter Text

            Phi walks down the hall, red paint to her left and glass to her right. She’s walking – definitely not sneaking – slowly because she knows Tony’s workshop is at the end. Well, the entrance is, because the whole lab is on display through the glass wall. Phi can see him, Tony’s back to the door, slinging holograms through the air for some schematic. His hair is sticking up all over no doubt from running his fingers through it in frustration, and the white tank he has on is filthy. Tony has been down here three days and Phi had gotten worried. The other team members were used to such behavior and claimed he would eventually come up for air.

            So here Phi is: worried and intrigued. For all of Tony’s bravado, he can back it up, and she watches while mesmerized as he works. Small black robots roll around to help him assemble something and as Phi approaches the door the muffled thumps of music can be heard.

            Tony turns around then with welding torch in hand and Phi freezes next to the door’s handle. He stares at her with glazed eyes for a moment before shaking his head and coming out of his haze. Tony’s face splits into a huge grin when he realizes it’s Phi and gestures for her to come inside. She pushes opens the glass door and steps in, immediately assaulted by loud rock music. Wincing, she covers one ear with a hand and gestures to the other signaling for Tony to turn it down.

            “JARVIS, volume to twenty percent,” he says sitting down on a bench. The music drops to a lull in the background and Phi sighs gratefully before walking further into the workshop. “They’ve sent in the big guns to bring me in, huh?” Tony questions while flipping through some holographic schematics again, the teal light casting shadows on his face.

            “Not exactly,” Phi says scratching the back of her neck. “I was just worried because you’ve been up, for, well, three days and I’m sure that’s not healthy. And I’ve never seen your workshop before,” Phi says spinning around to take in the space. One wall was entirely covered in wires and computer monitors while the center was mostly clear for the holograms to project. The wall directly behind Tony had other Iron Man suits in glass cases and other scraps of metal were strewn around her.

            “Well, I can’t say it’s a healthy habit, but one I assure you I’m used to,” Tony says, smiling at the awe on Phi’s face. “Even before I picked up the Iron Man gig, a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist doesn’t get much sleep, if you know what I mean,” he says with a leer. Phi rolls her eyes.

            “What are you working on?” She asks instead, looking at the schematics.

            “Upgrades to the suit,” he says zooming in with a gesture of his hand.

            “It needs upgrades?” Phi questions, raising an eyebrow.

            “I know I may seem the embodiment of perfection, but the suit is constantly having updates to make it more efficient. I’m currently trying to improve the thrusters for slightly increased speed.” Phi “Hmms” in understanding.

            “I can’t help but notice Pepper hasn’t come by the tower in the past week I’ve been coming to train,” Phi observes without thinking, and then purses her lips, wishing she could take it back. The feeling of regret is only increased by the look that quickly flashes across Tony’s face before he slaps on a smile.

            “Well, you know, she’s busy, I’m busy. It happens. I’m not really worried. Have you met me? There’s no one better, of course. I spend plenty of money on her anyway, buy her whatever she wants, lord knows I’ve got enough to spare. And stuff she doesn’t want, including but not limited to, strawberries. She’s allergic to them you know – “

            “Why do you always do that?” Phi asks, frowning and furrowing her brow. Tony stopped his fiddling with the computer a moment to look at Phi in confusion. “You deflect with fake smiles and jokes about money or with sexual innuendos. People see you as an open book, I’ve read reports and news articles, but you’re so hidden behind walls I’m not sure I’ve even seen the real you.” Tony looks away at the wall of Iron Man suits, body tense.

            “It’s easier to hide behind a suit of armor when you’ve been hurt so many times before,” he whispers. Phi walk over to stand beside him and sees a small crack in the armor Tony has himself wrapped in. She’ll be damned if she’s not going to worm her way in. Behind his confidence, behind his snarky comebacks, she can see someone who’s very lonely. She reaches up and cups the side of his face, turning him to face her.

            “Eventually the rest of the team is going to figure out you’re not some frivolous person who doesn’t care, no matter what you may say,” Phi says, concern lacing her words and a grim smile on her face. Tony closes his eyes taking in a shaky breath.

            “I’m afraid they already have,” he says wrapping his hand around her wrist and pulling her hand away from his face gently. “You think you can just walk in here and break down everyone’s walls? Sometimes they’re all we have left, Phi.” When Tony opens his eyes, Phi is grinning up at him.

            “Hell yeah I will. I know how lonely it is behind all those shields.” She ruffles his hair fondly. “I know how hard it is to break down the walls that you’ve built for years to keep yourself safe. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that secluding yourself while surrounded by such evil in the world is the fastest way to become what you’re fighting against. I don’t think the Loki’s and Pierce’s of the world had friends to show them they’re not alone.” She contemplates for a moment. “Or inform them when their ideas are crazy or they need to sleep after three days of working.”

Tony stares down at her. He couldn’t help mentally comparing Phi to that singular light in the darkness that inspires hope – a true hero even outside of a suit. Something clicked inside him that day and he would protect this person, who was both damaged yet innocent, with everything he had. Tony smiled at her then, a real one that crinkles the corners of his eyes.

            “Hey kid, you still living at the SHIELD base?” Phi seemed tripped for a moment by the subject change but righted herself quickly enough, taking a step back out of Tony’s personal space. She could tell the smile Tony is wearing in genuine though.

            “Uh, yeah, where else would I be?” she said chuckling. “Not sure how Phil would live without me.”

            “Oh yes, I need to harass him about that “honeybun” nickname you called him. Haven’t done that yet,” he says tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe send flowers?” That quickly, the tension in the air was gone and the two were talking like nothing happened.

            “He might actually kill you, Stark,” Phi says laughing at the visual of Coulson getting flowers with the tag marked honeybun. “However, if you said they were from Cap…” Tony laughed this time, ushering Phi towards the door.

            “Seems everyone knows about his fondness for the good Captain,” he agrees, opening the glass door and turning off the lights. Phi continues walking down the hall, even though confused.

            “Tony, where are we going?” The older man is walking directly beside her now.

            “Well, I’ve gotta shower and consume nutrients before I sleep for the next twenty-four hours. You wanna make spaghetti?” He gives her a skeptical look. “Do you know how to make spaghetti?” Phi scoffs at him as they near the elevator.

            “Maybe,” she says, a tad too defensively. Tony just laughs again.

            “Guess I’ll have to teach you. It’s easy, I promise. Also, do you want to move into the tower? We’ve got the room,” he says as the elevator pings open to the common room floor. He heads for the kitchen and starts rummaging through the dark brown cabinets for a pot.

            “A-Are you serious?” Phi asks, standing just outside the kitchen area. Tony pokes his head out to wink at her.

            “Deathly kiddo. Now come over here and fill this pot up with water,” he says waving it around in the air. Phi is surprised at his nonchalance of inviting her but assumes Tony is that way with things he deems important – another component of his armor.

            “Thank you, Tony,” she says taking the handle. She hears a grumbled “yeah, yeah” while he digs through another cabinet for pasta. After a little while, the smell of food somehow attracts the other Avengers (even on different floors) and the four other members stop and stare at the sight before them. Not only did Phi manage to convince Tony to leave his workshop, she’s convinced him to eat. They watch as the two crack up at some unheard joke while Phi stirs in tomato sauce. Steve sees how genuine Tony’s smile is and watches as his face softens to something tender while Phi grabs bowls from the cabinet. Clint coughs next to him loudly, causing the two cooks to turn their heads.

            “Oh!” Phi says, looking at the four of them, then at Tony. “Guess we can all eat together then!” She grabs more bowls and begins serving pasta into each. After they’re all seated in the living room, Phi looks around and furrows her eyebrows. Tony is digging into his pasta like he hasn’t eaten in days (which is probably true) but the others are all smiling to themselves into their own dishes.

            “What?” Phi asks confused. When everyone just smiles a little bigger but stays quiet she asks again. “Come on guys, what is it? What?” She drags the last one out coming close to a whine.

            “You guys better eat or the food’s going to get cold,” Tony says around a mouthful of pasta. The others oblige and Tony shares a knowing smile with Phi. She just rolls her eyes, giving up on trying to figure it out, and digs into her own spaghetti.

            “How about archery lessons, cause why the hell not?” Clint had said when Phi mentioned she wanted to learn how. Thus, he had agreed and they were now in the archery range Tony had installed on the sixty-ninth floor (yes he laughed every time) to practice. Phi had been with the team for almost two weeks now and she and Clint were pretty comfortable around each other. Sometimes the lesson would be carried out in a comfortable silence with a few instructions and others they would chat amiably the whole time. Phi enjoyed meeting every time, though a question was nagging at the back of her mind she was dying to ask.

            “Well, what is it?” Clint asks while retrieving arrows from the targets. All of his were bullseyes while Phi was happy to have at least hit the damn thing. If she used her powers it wouldn’t be a problem.

            “What’s what?” she asks, running her hand along the bow she uses.

            “Whatever has you distracted. Your face is easy to read usually,” Clint says walking back towards her, his steps echoing softly from the concrete floors around the large room. Phi frowns at the analysis but asks anyway.

            “I’ve just wondered where you go off to.” Clint raises an eyebrow so she elaborates. “Last week you were gone for two days and this week three.” She scuffs her boot on the floor, looking down. “I didn’t think you had missions that didn’t include the whole team.”

            “Ah, that,” Clint says helpfully. He hands her the arrows. “The rest of the team just doesn’t seem to ask. Guess we’re still used to being on our own too.”

            “I’m sorry if it’s too personal to ask. You don’t have to answer,” Phi says while taking her stance and readying an arrow to shoot.

            “No, I just… I go to visit some people I care about. They aren’t mixed in with this life,” he says gesturing between them, “to keep them safe.” Phi smiles and releases her arrow, landing in the ring just outside of the center. “Great shot!” Clint says, excited that his lessons are helping.

            “Great teacher,” she says smiling. “Thanks, Clint.”

            “Yeah, well, you still can’t get a bullseye every time like me, but…” he mocks, taking aim with his own bow. He lets the chord snap and just before the arrow hits the board, Phi moves it slightly off course to hit next to her own arrow. Clint just stares for a minute, jaw hanging open, before he rounds on Phi.

            “You didn’t! Never mess with a man’s perfect shot!” She grins widely at him before she takes off running towards the door, crashing through it to reach the elevator. She flips the lock on the door just as Clint reaches it so he slams into the metal when he chases her. “Phi, get back here!”

            She beats him to the elevator and it opens just as he comes running through the range’s door. “Better hurry up Barton – it’s movie night!” Phi says as the doors swish shut just before he reaches her. She ascends to the seventy-first floor where the common room is and heads to the kitchen where the other Avengers are grabbing their popcorn and drinks.

            After a few minutes, Clint comes barreling off the elevator, a mad gleam in his eye. Phi is standing by the counter with her bowl of popcorn in hand while the others already occupy their usual spots in front of the T.V. “What’s the rush, Clint?” Phi asks sarcastically before handing him his own bowl of popcorn. She moves past him and plops down on the couch next to Steve. “You know we wouldn’t start the movie without you.” Clint just grumbles something and stuffs his mouth with popcorn as he takes his seat next to Nat, her legs falling into his lap.

            “Children, children, calm down,” Tony says while gesturing flippantly with his hands. Phi watches him snuggle down into the oversized beige chair he’s occupying. “Lights, JARVIS.” The room goes dark and a sun begins to rise on the screen, some song playing in another language.

            “What? Oh, come on, Bruce. Disney again?” Clint sighs.

            “Classics can never go wrong,” the doctor says, giving his head a small affirmative shake.

            “Get ready for a tear-jerker, Phi. Bruce always cries when Mufa – “

            “Tony!” Steve says cutting him off. “Don’t spoil it!”

            “Whoops,” Tony says, shrugging. Phi was only half paying attention to them, instead watching all the animals playing across the screen until giraffes appeared, bringing lyrics with them. Steve looked from the corner of his eye at her transfixed face and smiled softly.

            Clint may or may not start a popcorn-throwing war with Phi halfway through as retribution for earlier, which may or may not lead to everyone joining in. The newest member looks around at everyone laughing and is eternally grateful Tony recommended this idea shortly after Phi moved in, stating: “they must cure her of cultural ignorance” causing movie night to happen three to four times a week with someone different picking the movie each night. The side effect of team bonding was just a bonus. Movie nights were definitely Phi’s favorite.

            Phi stands nervously outside of Bruce’s lab, bouncing on the balls of her feet, trying not to be loud on the glossy, black tile floor. She fiddles with her tactical suit in the distorted reflection the metal doors provide, pondering the difference in privacy Bruce and Tony desired for their labs simply based on the material each’s wall is made of. She holds the present behind her back, not quite working up the courage to knock yet. She’s about to, hand raised, when the metal slides open to reveal Dr. Banner standing there stopping mid-step to avoid colliding to Phi. He looks surprised and Phi slowly lowers her hand.

            “Hi,” she starts lamely before hanging her head on a sigh.

            “Hi yourself,” Bruce replies eyeing her warily. He’s unsure if Phi’s presence is a set up for a third prank today by Tony and Clint. When Phi glances up he gestures for her to come inside anyway, slightly perplexed by her uncharacteristically glum behavior. After walking inside, she spins around observing the similarities and differences in Bruce’s lab compared to Tony’s. No holograms floating around but lots of glass screens set up with data flowing on them.

            “Uh, well, hi – again – I like your lab. It’s very clean. Tony’s workshop is filthy. But, uh, I have this,” Phi shoves the bag at Bruce while continuing, “It’s not a big deal, I just heard you talking and…” she finally remembers to breathe. “Happy Birthday.” Bruce stares down at the plain brown bag while Phi finishes her rambling. He looks up at her, smiling fondly, and she’s scratching the back of her neck self-consciously without looking directly at him.

            “Thank you, Phi. You didn’t have to get me anything.” Bruce looks over to the pile of about one hundred teddy bears in the corner of his lab and rolls his eyes.

            “Tony’s ridiculous,” Phi says laughing as Bruce opens the bag and pulls out a package of tea. He recognizes the label immediately even if it’s written in Khmer and his eyes fly up to meet Phi’s. “I heard you mention to Steve about this small tea shop in Cambodia you loved when staying there a while back. The old lady said she’d been waiting on you to come back and buy your usual tea,” Phi rushes through, but smiling at the woman’s memory. “She sure was feisty.”

            Bruce stared at his newest teammate in shock, his jaw dropped more than polite. “How did you… I know you can’t buy this online.” He runs his thumb across the handwritten label in disbelief.

            “I can fly almost as fast as Tony, you know. It didn’t take very long.” She shuffles her boots before speaking again. “There’s, uh, something else in there,” she says nodding towards the bag. Bruce was so surprised and happy about the gift he felt unceremoniously speechless. After sitting the tea package down on the opaque, white glass table, he reaches back inside the birthday bag. He holds up the CD jewel case, cocking his head slightly to the side in question.

            “It’s a mixed CD. Of all my favorite classical or instrumental music. They’re, you know, pretty relaxing and I know that you listen to that type of music a lot – not that I’m trying to be creepy – but I thought you might not have heard some on there and would like them, but if you don’t that’s totally okay because obviously music is subjective and you know –” Phi sucks in a large breath again. She quickly hugs Bruce, wishing him a happy birthday again, and rushing out through the metal doors. Dr. Banner goes from confused, to happy, to caring in the few seconds after Phi has left. He keeps smiling to himself while going to put the CD into a computer to play around the lab.

 ~***~

            Later that day, Phi finds a Post-It note stuck to her bedroom door. She’s still not used to sharing the seventy-second floor with Steve but she’s adapting. The space is much more welcoming than the clinical feel of the SHIELD base. She and Steve each have their own large bedroom and bathroom but there’s also a small lounge area that they occasionally share – sometimes reading or talking.

            She plucks off the small square of paper and recognizes Bruce’s small handwriting immediately, reading: ‘Thank you for the presents, Phi. The tea is delicious and I enjoyed all of the songs – especially the third one.’ She pushes open the lever handle to open the wooden door into her bedroom. The lights automatically come on when she walks in and the view of New York through her windows still takes Phi’s breath away. It’s a bit like flying, being up so high, an activity she misses being able to do freely. She smiles at the paper and sits it on the nightstand for safekeeping. She does have a secret party to attend.

            “I had to tell him, Phil. He’s the team leader, so he deserved to know the full possibilities and capabilities behind my powers to gauge the risk it applied to the team. You know that,” Phi says into the phone. She shifts in the plush blue chair of hers and Steve’s lounge area. He doesn’t usually come up from working out in the gym until seven so she has about thirty minutes of privacy.

            “I know, Phi. I do understand, and Fury does too, he just gets…protective. You know how he is. And if you can trust anyone with classified information, I’m sure it’s Steve Rogers.”

            “Oh don’t go on one of your adoring Cap tangents again, honeybun. I’ll get jealous,” Phi says laughing when Phil sputters on the other end. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. You taking care of Dad?”

            “I resent that Fury being “Dad” implies I am “Mom” but he seems to be doing okay. He checks in with me so I know he’s still alive. Hill seems to be adapting to leadership pretty well though.” Phil waits a few minutes before saying anything, talking to someone else wherever he is. “It’s different not having you here. Jeremiah just told me to tell you “hi” from the whole team. They’re about to leave for a mission.”

            “I miss you guys too,” Phi says smiling. She should go visit – SHIELD headquarters is just on the outskirts of the city anyway.

            “I never said anything –“

            “Uh-huh.” Phi is so caught up in her banter with Phil she doesn’t hear Steve come in the main door. He stops when he sees her sitting in the lounge, early morning sun coming in to outline her face. She’s smiling brightly to whoever she’s on the phone with, even though Steve can only see the side of her face. He leans against the wall, enjoying hearing her laugh.

            “So how are you holding up over there, kiddo? I know it’s been three weeks.”

            “I really like it here, Phil. We all get along really well, most of the time – Tony likes to push buttons – but it’s like I found a family. Well, a second family because you guys will always be one too. Don’t think I don’t miss you all. We all work well as a team in combat too, though we’ve only done tests. They’re all amazing people, even if they think so little of themselves personally. Tell Fury he did a good job picking them. I’ve also learned how to cook! Well, basic dishes, but I’m learning. I enjoy cooking for everyone and I think they like it too, even though sometimes it’s a disaster,” she finishes her long list laughing. “They’re definitely a unique bunch, but ones I would do anything for.” Steve feels a tightness in his chest, smiles at Phi, and moves quietly into his own bedroom without being seen.

            “I’m glad, Phi. You sound happy.”

            Natasha walks into the common room and is a little surprised to see Phi asleep on the couch in her tactical suit. She ponders over why Phi never wears anything else when the person in question starts pleading in her sleep which quickly turns to screaming. Nat is next to the couch in a heartbeat, trying to shake Phi’s shoulders to wake her up. It doesn’t work but the screams shift to sobs so Natasha tries to soothe her. “Shh, Phi, it’s alright. You’re okay. You aren’t in any danger. Come back to me. You’re okay.” Nat sits on the couch and wraps her arms around Phi while lying her head on her lap. She calmly runs a hand over the side of Phi’s face while whispering soothing words in Russian until she seems to calm down and drift back off into sleep. Natasha leans her head back against the couch and closes her eyes, willing her own nightmares to stay at bay.

 ~***~

About an hour later Phi startles to wake up in someone’s – Natasha’s – lap. She sits up quickly and stares at the other woman like a deer in headlights. “Nat, I’m confused. What happened?” Nat quirks her lips to the side and raises an eyebrow before stretching her stiff arms and back.

            “When I came down here a little while ago you were having a night terror. I stayed until you calmed down since you wouldn’t wake up.” Phi looked shocked and then guilty, rolling her bottom lip under her teeth causing her hoop piercings to stick out. “It’s okay, Phi. We all have our problems.”

            “Yeah, but you shouldn’t have to… But thank you, anyway. I’m sorry if I freaked you out or anything. I haven’t had a night terror in a long time, I’m not sure what triggered it.” Phi could still see pieces of it flit behind her eyes, fragmented and disjointed.

            “Rapid fire, take cover.”

            Windows shattering.

            He’s going to kill them.

            Flash of orange light.

            I’m falling.

            What have I done?

            Maybe I shouldn’t slow down.

            Darkness.

          “Phi are you okay?” Natasha asks, lightly touching the other woman’s arm. “If you need to talk, I’m more than happy to listen. But you don’t have to,” she says with a small smile and assurance in her eyes. Phi knows Natasha has been through a lot, probably worst, than she has. She latches onto that strength she sees and lets it give her support.

          “No, I’m okay. It was just a past SHIELD mission. Not the best one… Thank you though. If I ever need to talk, I’ll come to you. That offer extends both ways, alright?” Phi smiles and stands up, stretching next to the couch. “I’m starving. You want me to cook you something?” Nat smiles back, happy to see Phi’s optimism back in place. She knows the newest teammate is what has given the team the drive it needs to be better. She knows Phi is what drives a person to be better, even if she doesn’t realize it.

          “You can only hope to be a better you today than you were yesterday. Something a wise woman once told me. Well, she was telling the two munchkins but I took it to heart,” Nat says and nods towards the kitchen. “And yes, I’m starving. You better fix me some food to make up for my numb ass.” Phi laughs and gets out the items needed to make chicken parmesan for two after turning on the oven. “You know you better make enough for everyone. The guys seem to have a sixth sense for when food has been cooked.”

          Phi sighs. “You’re right,” and gets out more ingredients. Natasha realizes again that Phi is wearing her tactical suit and remembers her curiosity over it.

          “You know, I’ve never seen you in clothing other than your tactical suit. Do you have anything else to wear?” She looks down at her own navy shirt and gray cargo pants. Not that Natasha is the most fashionable, but wearing a suit all the time would have to suck.

          “Um,” Phi says scratching the back of her head. “Not really. Some clothes I had were issued by SHIELD and I left them when I moved in. I haven’t gone out to buy anything else I guess.” She starts cutting the fat off chicken breasts to coat in breadcrumbs.

          “That’s terrible. I know my tactical suit isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world for casual days. Yours can’t be much better. Tomorrow we should go get you a few clothes,” Natasha says sitting down on the breakfast bar stool diagonal from Phi.

          “Won’t people recognize you?” She asks turning around to give a worried look to the red-head.

          “I’ll wear a disguise,” Nat says wiggling her eyebrows uncharacteristically. “It’ll be fun.”

          Phi laughs. “Alright, as long as you don’t wear a mustache or anything.”

            Steve wakes out of his sleep to the sound of screaming. It can’t be too far away so he jumps out of bed assuming it’s Ophelia. When he gets to her door it’s locked and he shakes the handle furiously while the screams continue on the other side.

            “Dammit, JARVIS, let me in!” Steve demands to the air.

            “Allowing unauthorized admittance would violate safety and privacy protocols, Captain Rogers.”

            “JARVIS, if you don’t open the door I’ll rip it off the hinges. You can sense her elevated stress! Is someone in there with her?” His thoughts turn dark and his blood runs cold at the possibility someone could be in there harming Ophelia. “Open it. Now.”

            “She is alone. As you wish, Captain,” the AI responds and Steve hears the lock click. He pushes the door open, anticipating an attack but only sees Phi thrashing around in the blankets, her form outlined by the city lights coming in through the windows. He takes the few steps to her side and grabs her face with both hands, which seems to calm her movement some but the screams continue.

            “Ophelia! Wake up! It isn’t real. I am. Listen to me and wake up,” Steve pleads and her screams fade out to silent tears. Her eyes suddenly flash open, glowing bright orange in the darkness. Steve tenses, but her eyes fade back to their usual green and he’s left staring at her tear-streaked face. “Ophelia, it’s okay. You were having a nightmare I – “

            Phi’s face crumbles and she starts crying again, one hand grabbing onto Steve’s forearm and the other twisting in his white shirt. “Steve… please don’t go.” She leans forward and rests her head next to her hand on his arm. “I’m not strong enough.”

            “It’s okay, I’ve got you. Come on, why don’t you lie down, okay?” Phi does lie back down but doesn’t release her grip on Steve’s shirt. He chuckles and climbs onto the bed, lying down beside her. She shifts closer to his front, her forehead resting on his chest and he compulsively wraps an arm around her.

            “I can’t… What if they come back?” Phi asks after a few minutes. She leans back and looks up at Steve, her eyes glowing a faint orange and tears streaking her cheeks. “I don’t know why they’ve come back.” Steve takes his thumb and wipes away a tear then pulls her head back up against his chest.

            “Then I’ll be here if they do,” he whispers while running a palm over the shaved portion of her hair. Eventually he feels Phi’s breathing even out and knows she’s fallen asleep. Steve relaxes and let’s himself drift off as well.

 ~***~

            “Can you tell if Phi’s been sleeping alright, Steve?” Natasha asks quietly after pulling the team leader aside while everyone exited the quinjet. She looks over at Phi whose pale complexion and dark circles leave little doubt to the question’s answer. Steve didn’t look Natasha in the eye when he answers.

            “I doubt it. A couple days ago I woke up because she was screaming and went to check on her. She was having a nightmare and so I laid with her until she fell back asleep. However, the past nights she has screamed again but ordered JARVIS not to let me in. I could break down the door but felt that was not what she wanted.” Steve sighs and looks up at Natasha.

            “The same thing happened with Phi and I in the common room about a week ago,” Nat says furrowing her eyebrows. “She said her night terrors didn’t happen very often. I wonder what triggered it?”

            Steve frowns. “I don’t know how to help her. She won’t let me in.” Natasha scoffs and laughs disbelievingly causing Steve to raise an eyebrow.

            “Trust me, if she’s going to let anyone in, it’s you.” Natasha starts walking towards the tower doors from the flight deck to catch up with the others. “Maybe you should just talk to her.” Steve looks at Phi’s face when they reach them, her usually bright smile duller, and makes his decision.

 ~***~

            Later that day, Steve finds Phi in their personal lounge reading a book. He clears his throat to get her attention before speaking. “Ophelia… can we talk about the other night? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable or you feel like you can’t trust me, but I – “

            “You make me uncomfortable? Steve, I made you sleep in my bed!” Phi interrupts, lying her book down and twisting around to see him. “And I trust you with my life. That should never be a question.”

            “Then what is it then? Why did you order JARVIS to keep me out even though I know you’ve still been having the night terrors?” Steve demands walking closer to her chair.

            “Because I should be able to handle my personal problems on my own.” Steve sighs and runs his fingers through his hair.

            “But you don’t have to… Look, I get it. I just want you to know you can leave your door unlocked if you want to. If you have a nightmare I’ll come stay with you, but it’s just an offer. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want,” Steve says and turns around to go back to his own room.

            That night, sure enough he hears Ophelia screaming again, but not quite as loud this time. He gets up and walks over to her door, surprised to find it unlocked when he tries the handle. He’ll be happy about that later – right now he needs to calm Phi down. He climbs in bed and pulls her against him again like the other night and holds her until her crying fades out into quiet breaths.

            “You ready?” Nat asks after knocking on Phi’s bedroom door. She hears a muffled affirmative and soon the door swings open to reveal her teammate. Phi takes in Natasha’s red hair pulled back in a ponytail under a navy baseball cap and the casual T-shirt, jeans, and khaki jacket she has on. She looks down at her own borrowed clothes from Natasha: a pair of gray sweat pants and black shirt and looks tacky, she thinks, but closes the door behind her anyway.

            “So where are we going shopping exactly?” Phi asks as they wait for the elevator, shoving her phone and wallet into her pockets.

            “A small clothing store not far from here. It’s not usually very crowded,” Natasha replies as they step into the lobby. It’s evening so the usual bright sun streaming in the room is replaced with white artificial lighting. “We can even walk.” They walk out onto the street and Phi feels herself tense. She’s not used to being around so many strangers, shoving between people as they walk towards wherever Nat is leading them. She’s had minimal public exposure because of her powers. Actually, she didn’t even phone Phil and check if this outing was okay. Nat seemed to sense her hesitation and slowed to a stop, stepping out of the flow of people.

            “What’s wrong?” The red-head seemed to be scanning the area checking for threats Phi may have picked up on before her.

            “Nothing, I just… haven’t really been around people before. My missions were always either solo assassination ones or low-key team infiltration ones. Crowds are, um, new, so to speak,” Phi explains. Natasha nods in understanding before speaking.

            “I understand. Do you want to turn back? We don’t have to go. I wasn’t sure about your social interactions in your past. You and your personality are quite a conundrum,” she says half-smiling fondly. “You remind me of a puppy who instinctively knows whom to trust and is endlessly loyal. There’s definitely that innocent factor but I’m not sure if you do those puppy-dog eyes on purpose or not.”

            Phi does the exact eyes in question, saying, “What? I have ‘puppy-dog’ eyes?”

            “See. I still don’t know,” Natasha says laughing. Phi has relaxed now, even with so many people.

“I’d still like to go shopping. I sure as hell need some clothes,” Phi says, deciding to push through her discomfort. Nat nods and they continue on their way.

 ~***~

            An hour or so later, the sun has set behind New York City’s skyscrapers and the twilight city is illuminated by street lights. Phi and Natasha walk side-by-side, each carrying a bag of clothes from their trip. Natasha sees the gas station she frequents, about a block from the tower, and grabs Phi’s arm.

            “Hey, do you mind if we stop in there real quick?” She asks, gesturing her head towards the illuminated sign Corner Market. “I wanted to grab a drink and I owe Clint a candy bar.”

            “Sure,” Phi agrees. “Why do you owe Clint?”

            “Lost a bet,” Nat replies, purposefully remaining obtuse.

            “You’re not gonna tell me, are you?” She sighs as they walk through the doors, causing the bell above to chime. Phi takes in the older man behind the counter, a mom and young son checking out, and the teenage girl talking on her phone still walking down the aisles. After instinctually assessing the threat level, she follows Natasha to a wall cooler where the woman grabs a blue Powerade from the shelf.

            “You want anything –” Nat starts to ask but cuts off when two men come through the doors and her instincts tell her to fight or run. She sees recognition flit across Phi’s features even though her teammate’s back is to the door and they both drop to the floor in a crouch, blue drink and candy forgotten. Natasha motions that there’s two targets and that she’ll go left if Phi comes around right to disarm one from the front. Phi nods and they take off quietly, looking at the reflective circles hung from the ceiling for clues.

            “Just put the money in the bag and no one has to get hurt,” I deep but stressed voice demands.

            “There isn’t much, only fifty dollars is kept in the register at a time. But here, please don’t hurt any –” A gun fires and Phi’s heartrate speeds up. A woman screams and Phi guesses from the sound it’s the mother who was so close to the counter. What she doesn’t expect to see when she looks around the shelf corner is the little boy – maybe seven or eight – lying on the ground bleeding with the mother holding his head crying. The cashier looks shocked and terrified while he starts shoving the money into their bag.

            “How could you?! He’s just a little boy!” The mother screams in anguish. Phi sees the man closest to her point the gun at the woman.

            “Shut up, or I’ll shoot you too. He shouldn’t have come at me like that. Who does he think he is, Captain America or somethin’?” the guy asks snidely. The kid is still alive, Phi can see him breathing, but she needs to act fast if it’s going to stay that way. Her heart is racing though, she’s never seen a kid injured before, never out in public where she doesn’t have a comm and there’s no plan of action. Natasha attacks first, coming up behind the other man and jumping on his upper body to swing him down to the floor, disarming him in the same move. He fights back though and Nat has to continue striking him as they fly through a shelf of chips. The man who shot the boy swings around to aim at Natasha and Phi jumps out, now not able to see the gun, but enough familiarity with weapons to send it flying out of his hands and to the ground causing her eyes to glow for a second.

            He whips around and sees Phi, charging at her with a snarl on his face. She just keeps thinking she has to help the kid. She can hear the mother pleading him to keep his eyes open and yelling at the cashier to call an ambulance. Yes, and the police, Phi thinks before using her powers to sling the guy to the back of the store, into the wall coolers, causing the glass to shatter. She runs to where the boy is lying down and the mother guards him by pulling him tighter into her arms. Phi lifts her hands innocently in front of her.

            “I can help, I promise,” Phi pleads, urging the woman to believe her. “He’ll die if I don’t.” The mother nods and places her son back lying flat on the white tile floor, streaked in blood. Phi’s eyes glow orange again as she brushes her powers over the boy, searching for where the bullet is. Luckily it hasn’t shattered, and she finds it lodged in his shoulder bone but it’s torn quite a few muscles on its way in and nicked an artery. “Hold his arms down. This is still going to hurt.”

            Phi concentrates on the bullet’s atoms and pushes them to be skinnier, till they’re seemingly non-existent to the naked eye until a smashed bullet drops down on the floor next to them. Next she works on mending his artery to stop the boy from bleeding out, coaxing the atoms back together, even though she can feel him thrashing around. She’s just started on some of the muscles she can fix when a sharp pain shoots through her abdomen.

            “Phi!” She hears someone yell, and her vision is shaken from the boy’s body back to the corner market where she sees the mother staring at her in horror. She slowly looks down and sees blood rushing out of a wound near her navel, her hand coming up to put pressure on it. There’s yelling behind her, a man’s voice, but it sounds far away, then a crack and the man is screaming. Phi can’t find the energy to turn around and see what’s happening. She fights herself but reluctantly wills herself to stand up, looking down at the mother.

            “He’ll be…okay. I… stopped the…bleeding,” she grounds out before blood starts pooling in her mouth. She turns around to see Nat knocking the man she tossed through the air earlier out with a gun, his arm bent in an unnatural direction. Everything seems to be going in slow motion as she walks toward Natasha, but Phi knows this whole scenario happened in a matter of minutes. The blood is rushing through the fingers pressed to her abdomen now – she needs to heal herself.

            “Phi! Phi, hold on, I called the tower and the guys are on their way.”

            Phi can’t stand up anymore. She falls to her knees on the floor, Nat’s hands tugging violently at her own hair as she paces. She’s never seen Nat so stressed before.

            Phi’s eyes glow amber as she quickly searches for the bullet’s damage, realizing it went clean through. Many muscles are torn but thankfully her spine wasn’t damaged. Her spleen was hit and that’s what is causing the massive bleeding. She doesn’t have the original atoms to heal it, guessing they got taken somewhere else with the bullet. She’s lost too much blood to use those so she rips more skin from the outside, causing her to scream. The atoms will work as a patch job for now.

            Her eyes fly back to the market, Phi’s breathing coming in shallow, rapid gulps. She sees Steve running towards her, but that can’t be right. Am I hallucinating? She thinks.

            But then his arms wrap around her and he picks her up quickly. Phi sees the mom standing next to the boy as paramedics come rushing up to him. The woman looks at her and smiles with tears still running down her face, mouthing a ‘thank you’ to Phi. It’s all hard to make out with her head jostling with Steve’s movements and her vision starts to swim. As Steve turns around and heads quickly back to the van, everything goes black.

 ~***~

            When Phi wakes up, the room is bright even behind closed eyelids that don’t want to open. Her body aches and the throbbing in her head feels like she died. She tries moving her fingers and finds that doesn’t hurt too badly. Her abdomen throbs in time with her head though but she hears a voice much too loud next to her.

            “Phi? Phi can you hear me?” She can tell it’s Steve by his voice but also the feel of his presence. She brushes her powers reassuringly against him and tries to open her eyes. The light burns and she ends up squinting terribly.

            “Shit, Rogers, turn the lights down,” she grumbles.

            “JARVIS lights at twenty percent,” Steve orders and sure enough it dims so Phi can open her eyes completely. She has to roll her head to the right to see Steve sitting next to her bed. She realizes it’s actually her bed in her room and looks at the machines hooked up to her. “You know how Tony is about hospitals,” Steve says as explanation. “We figured you would be more comfortable here too, after your surgery.” The city lights outside twinkle in the dark while Phi tries to recall what happened. She can’t remember. Everything from when she and Natasha went inside the Corner Market is just gone.

            “I can’t…” she starts and has to cough away the dryness in her throat. “I can’t remember, Steve. Nat and I walked in the market not far from home and it’s just black after that,” Phi says and tries to sit up, wincing at the sharp pain. “And why does my stomach feel like I got shot?”

            “Not your stomach, but close. Your spleen was damaged when these two guys came in and tried to rob the store. You were healing a kid, Nat told us, and he shot you from behind,” Steve explains, with anger lacing his voice. “The doctor said you might have some short-term memory loss because of the traumatic event.”

            “Is Nat alright?” Phi asks urgently, not even thinking otherwise before.

            “Yeah, she’s fine. Just some minor scrapes and bruises and a broken finger. One of the guys knew how to fight surprisingly well,” Steve assures her. “They’re all waiting in the common room for you to wake up. It’s been a little over a day but we figured your body might need more time to heal.” He stands up and looks down at her. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”

            Phi smiles up at him. “Me too, Steve. Me too. Oh, how about the kid? Is he…?”

            “He made it. They took him to a hospital nearby and he underwent surgery but they said somehow the bullet was gone and didn’t cause much damage. The mom said you “pulled” it out,” Steve replies while grabbing a stack of clothes from the table over by the door.

            “Sounds like a miracle then,” Phi laughs, taking the offered clothes and realizing they were the ones she and Nat had bought earlier. “I’m happy he’s okay too.”

            “You better hurry and change because if we leave them sitting down there much longer they might explode. Clint bakes when he’s upset and so there’s about ten dozen cookies and counting in the kitchen,” Steve says chuckling. “Great diet to get you better.”

            “Aw, but Clint makes the best chocolate chip cookies. Now I’m excited. But please tell them no hugs ‘cause this still hurts like a bitch. You sure they gave me pain pills?” Phi says grimacing as she takes off the sweats she was in and changes into dark gray cargo pants with a navy shirt. Steve studiously looks at the door while she changes but still flushes slightly anyway, turning his ears red.

            “Yeah, doc said you can take some after you eat whenever you woke up.”

            “Alright, Cap, let’s get going,” Phi says clapping a hand on Steve’s shoulder as she walks through the door and heads for the elevator. When the doors open and she steps off, the other four team members automatically whip their attention to the chime noise. The relief and happiness Phi sees on their faces makes warmth blossom in her chest and she grins at them.

            “Hey guys. Miss me already?”

            “I didn’t know you could draw,” Steve says surprised when he walks into their floor’s lounge and sees Ophelia sketching the buildings outside the window roughly. She quickly stops and pulls the pad closer to her body, covering the drawing. “Hey, no need to hide it. Looked good from what I saw,” Steve assures. “I’ve drawn these exact buildings a lot too.” Phi turns around surprised.

            “You draw?” She asks with disbelief.

            “Yeah,” Steve chuckles. “Is it that hard to picture?”

            “No, I just never read anything about it in your files,” Phi says flushing slightly. “Not that I read those a lot or anything, just – “

            “I know, Ophelia, don’t worry about it. Your file has almost nothing personal in it either,” he observes. “Wait here a sec.” Phi watches Steve walk into his bedroom and reemerge with a sketchpad of his own. Her eyes widen when he hands it to her.

            “Is it okay to look?” She asks but her hands are itching to open it.

            “Of course. Just don’t laugh if you think they’re terrible or anything,” Steve says sitting on the couch next to her. He doesn’t sit far away from her, close enough to see the sketches, but not quite touching anywhere. They may share a bed most nights because of the night terrors but Steve’s afraid of Phi’s reactions during normal day-to-day situations. One step at a time.

            Phi opens the cover and the first drawing is of Times Square. She gasps at all the detail, all the people walking, that Steve managed to capture. It’s beautiful. She looks up to tell him this but he talks instead, smiling out at the city bustling on the other side of the window.

            “Times Square was one of the first places I saw when I woke up. I went running out of wherever SHIELD was keeping me and came busting into this modern city unlike anything I had seen. It was chaotic and terrifying but also beautiful in its own way.” Steve wasn’t looking for praise, avoiding it actually, from what Phi could tell. She could wait till the end to tell him, figuring the rest of his drawings were just as good. After flipping through a few Phi stops on a portrait of a stunning woman, very young, with dark stained lips and military uniform. She’s smiling, but Phi can’t help thinking her eyes look sad.

            “Who is this?” She looks up at Steve and sees he’s wearing a similar bittersweet smile as the woman in the drawing. She was obviously someone Steve knew and judging by her hair style it was from before the ice incident. “You don’t have to tell me,” Phi says, moving to flip to the next page but his words stop her.

            “Peggy. Her name is… was Peggy. She was one of the commanding officers when I first joined the army. She worked to help us defeat the Nazis and the Red Skull; she was also a founding member of SHIELD, back in the day. She…” Steve pauses and Phi can see this is difficult for him. Remembering Peggy. She grabs Steve’s hand and squeezes. He gives her a crooked smile and continues. “She passed away a few months after the alien invasion. She had Alzheimer’s but remembered me, especially since I looked the same as back when… back when we worked together.”

            “You loved her.” It’s not a question, Phi didn’t want it to be, that way Steve isn’t required to answer. The next sketch is of a woman that looks vaguely familiar but very old. Phi realizes it must be Peggy, how she was when Steve found her in this time period.

            “In a way, I still do,” he says looking at the sketch fondly. Phi feels this overwhelming flood of emotion go through her. It’s hard to picture Steve hurt or sad but he’s lost so much. He seems so open and dependable but she doubts anyone knows the real Steve Rogers. Not really – well – maybe Peggy did.

            “Thank you,” Phi says, a bit too loud for the quiet that had settled over the room and she flushes. “Um, thank you for showing me this, and telling me about your past, and being a great team leader, and for helping with my night terrors, and thank you… for just being you, Steve. I ramble when I get nervous. I ever tell you that? Was terrible for undercover missions –” Steve pulls Ophelia to him by the hand he’s still holding and wraps her in a hug. She doesn’t squeak, she swears. He puts his face to her head and sounds muffled by her hair.

            “I feel like I should thank you Ophelia. The team feels… whole with you on it. You didn’t know everyone before you arrived, obviously, but they’ve all been more chipper and energetic with you around. I’ve never seen Natasha smile so much – it’s a little uncomforting – in a good way.” She feels him smile. Phi lets out a sigh and enjoys the comforting familiarity being in Steve’s arms has now. But there’s also guilt there, for making him stay with her at night, knowing he can’t be sleeping enough because she wakes him up. Phi also feels as though she’s taking advantage of his kindness and she doesn’t want to admit her slight crush may be clouding her judgment. She pulls back but lets her hands stay pressed up against Steve’s legs in front of her.

            “I’m sorry about the night terrors. They switched from past memories to focusing on the robbery. It came back to me one night, and now I keep having it over and over, sometimes with different scenarios. I die, Nat dies, the boy dies, his mother dies, the cashier dies, everyone dies. Over and over I keep having it and it won’t go away.” Phi looks out the window, willing the tears to stay away. “I know it’s not real but I can’t seem to wake myself up like I used to do as a kid.”

            “There’s nothing to apologize for. Night terrors aren’t something you can prevent or cure. Well, it’s something you have to fix but on your terms. You’ll figure it out – it took me a while and even now I still have them occasionally. About Bucky. Or about the ice.” When Phi looks back at Steve all his attention is on her. “Completely accepting that something happened, it is what it is, was the best way for me to cope with them. You may be different, but I would try it.”

            Steve’s phone starts ringing and he grimaces before pulling it out. He mouths ‘sorry’ before answering quickly. Phi turns her attention back to the sketchbook while Steve continues talking to whoever is on the other end. The next few pages are of the team – Tony dazedly drinking coffee after he first wakes up – Natasha quirking an eyebrow with the hint of a smile – Clint with furrowed eyebrows and his tongue sticking out while intensely playing video games – Tony again tinkering with a piece of the suit – Bruce in his lab typing on the glass screens with information and graphs on them – Phi is surprised by the next sketch. Mostly because it’s of herself, sitting in this same lounge while laughing on the phone, with her back mostly to the viewer. Steve has it drawn with sunlight coming in, casting an ethereal glow.

            “When you smile, you tend to make everyone else smile too. Did you know that?” Phi makes a scoffing noise and closes the sketchbook.

            “I doubt that,” she says standing up to stretch. Steve watches the flex of her muscles under the black T-shirt she’s wearing before glancing away.

            “Why?” he asks, voice a tad more serious than he intended.

            “I grew up labeled the monster everyone feared – everyone wanted to control but never wanted to get close to. After the age of four I was pretty much in solitude except for training exercises and when they took blood samples,” Phi says bitterly before turning to look at Steve. “No matter how good I did it was never enough to earn respect as a human being. Respect as a weapon… I had that since birth.”

            “Ophelia…” She seems to remember herself and shakes off the negative thoughts.

            “All of that changed though when Fury invited me to join SHIELD. He didn’t have that look in his eye I got from everyone in the CIA – like I was going to kill them any second – but maybe that was just because of the eyepatch,” Phi says chuckling. “He admitted later that he was nervous meeting me, but after talking knew he was right to extend the invitation. Said he could just tell, whatever that means.”

            Steve knew exactly what Fury meant. “Nick Fury is a smart man.”

            “He sure is and I know Mom – Phil – please don’t ask – misses him too. He’s bound to come back home eventually,” Phi says smiling. Steve smiles back and stands up since Ophelia isn’t showing any signs of sitting back down.

            “I don’t think I want to know. Come on, let’s go see what everyone wants for dinner,” Steve says walking down the wide hall towards the elevator. Phi uses her powers to push the button before he’s able to. Steve frowns and turns around.

            “You fall for that every time, Rogers,” she laughs as she steps around him into the elevator.

            “It’s not something people expect to happen!” Steve mock complains before the doors slide shut.

ONE WEEK LATER

          “Are you seriously losing that bad, Clint? I thought you were Mario Kart King. Ophelia seems to be beating you pretty bad there –“

          “Shut up, Steve!” Clint barks as his whole body swerves with the Wii remote. Phi crosses the finish line in first place right before Clint. “Shit! I swear somehow she’s cheating. Not fair.”

          “Barton! Man up and admit I’m just better than you. Your skills must be getting rusty, old man,” Phi mocks him after punching him in the arm for accusing her of cheating. “You wanna have a go against him, Steve?” She asks holding the controller up towards him where he’s standing behind the couch. Natasha watches the conversation lazily from the chair she’s lying in – legs slung over the arm – before flipping to the next page of her book.

          “No, actually I need you, so Clint will have to ask Bruce or Tony to play,” Steve says.

          “They can’t. They’re up there working on some project in Bruce’s lab,” Clint complains. “Don’t take away Phi, she’s the only one who will play and actually challenge me.”

          “Sorry Clint, it’s important.”

          “Why don’t you go ask a civilian? I’m sure they’d be excited to play video games with the superhero Hawkeye in real life,” Phi suggests with a shit-eating grin.

          “No one knows who I am! It’s all Cap this, Iron Man that, Thor, whatever you get the point,” he huffs.

          “Aw, does poor wittle Clint need a hug?” Phi asks in a high pitched voice. “I can give the poor baby a hug. Come here,” Phi mocks, diving at Clint on the couch, but he jumps up right before she grabs him.

          “She’s finally lost it. Maybe all these video games are killing some brain cells. Go on, get, shoo,” Clint says fanning his hands indicating for Phi to leave. “Take care of her Steve,” he adds giving their leader a serious look. Everyone knows Phi hasn’t left the tower since the robbery incident. Steve is getting a similar look from Natasha.

          “You’re just tired of getting your ass handed to you,” Phi says after finishing tying her boots’ laces, missing the silent conversation between the other three.

 ~***~

            “So where are we going?” Phi asks as the elevator doors open to the garage just below the ground floor level. The space is mostly unfinished gray concrete but the dreary atmosphere is brightened by all the LED lights everywhere. Phi expects Steve to walk to one of the generic black cars they use, passing all of Tony’s older collectable ones, but instead he stops at his motorcycle. “You’re kidding right? You barely fit on there, let alone two people,” Phi scoffs.

            “Are you calling me fat?” Steve asks giving her a playful look. She flusters for a moment.

            “What? No, of course not, Steve. Have you seen yourself? It’s all muscle and… and… I’m gonna shut up now,” Phi finishes, accepting the helmet he hands her. He just grins at her.

            “One: It’s a surprise where we’re going and two: you’ll just have to sit extra close which shouldn’t be a problem,” he answers, pulling his black helmet (surprisingly modern compared to his bike) over his head. Phi follows suit and looks at the small space left behind Steve on the seat for her with a speculative gaze. But hey, she’s not going to turn down the chance to freely run her hands down those abs while they ride wherever they’re going, so she hops on behind him and wraps her arms around.

            Steve kicks the bike to life and they take off up the ramp, garage door opening just in time for them to fit, and sunlight hitting them as Steve swerves them in between traffic. Phi holds on tighter because she didn’t expect Steve to drive so… freely. Dangerously. It was exciting and she got to see a new side to the man she may or may not have a crush on. She also appreciated that Steve wasn’t treating her with kid gloves like the others were doing since the robbery.

            Blocks later Steve came to a stop outside of an apartment building that was once painted white but most of the color had flaked off now to show the red brick underneath. He pulls into a small alleyway next to the building and turns off the motor. Steve gets off the bike, secures his helmet, and turns to make sure Phi is following but is surprised she’s still sitting on the motorcycle.

            “My legs feel like Jell-O after that last crazy stunt you did,” Phi explains after taking off her helmet and holding it in her lap. Steve sighs in exasperation and walks over, picks Phi up like she doesn’t weigh a thing, and sits her back on the ground. She wobbles and he holds her steady by the shoulders. “I’m pretty sure you were trying to kill me. Where did the grumpy old man Rogers go?” Steve laughs and moves the hair out of Phi’s face tucking it behind her ear. Phi seems to realize how close they’re standing then and her legs feel weak for a whole other reason.

            “Guess you tend to bring out the younger me,” Steve whispers between them, smiling. His hand slides down to cup the side of her neck and Phi holds her breath. A loud crash makes both of them turn their heads suddenly, crashing together.

            “Ow!” They both say simultaneously as they watch garbage cans roll away from a dumpster with a cat scurrying away, obviously the culprit. They both turn and look at each other, holding their own heads, and burst with laughter. The moment is gone but it seems forgotten as they laugh and Phi hangs her helmet on the bike handle.

            “Come on,” Steve says walking back towards the street. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” Phi nods and they head towards the front door. Steve pushes a buzzer and a woman’s voice responds asking who it is. “It’s Steve Rogers, ma’am.” The woman lets out an excited “Oh!”

            “Of course! I’m so glad you could make it. Come on up!” The door clicked unlocked and Steve held it while Phi walked through first. The lobby was small with a manager’s desk directly to the left and a hallway directly in front of them flanked right by a staircase. Steve walked down the short hall which led to an elevator and he pushed the third floor button once inside. Phi kept giving Steve nervous glances which just made him smile more. Once in the hallway, Steve walked to the door marked 3C and stopped with Phi standing directly beside him.

            “It’s the little boy,” he says quietly. Phi looks at him with her brows drawn together. “From the corner store,” he finishes. Realization dawns on her face while excitement and nervousness course through her. She doesn’t know what to say to someone after you’ve saved their life. Steve knocks on the door with his left hand and Phi grabs his right one, her nerves getting the better of her. She relaxes some when Steve threads their fingers together and then the door opens to reveal the same dark-skinned woman from the corner market – the mother.

            Judging by her face, the woman is happy to see them there, and she opens the door all the way so they can come inside. Steve walks in first and pulls Phi in behind him where she was frozen in place. “Steve, it’s lovely to see you again. I’m happy it’s here instead of that dreary hospital this time.” She turns her attention to Phi. “Hello again. My name is Martha Wilcox. It’s an honor to meet you again as well,” she says and Phi can see the tears pooling in her eyes and she doesn’t know what to do because no one has considered her an honor before so she looks at Steve and he just nods in encouragement.

            Phi holds out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wilcox.” The woman shakes her offered hand and smiles. “My name is Phi.”

            “Phi. It’s nice to know your name. Captain Rogers here didn’t want to tell me without your permission so he referred to you as Striker instead. He told me you were new to the team.”

            “Um, yes ma’am. Sorry I don’t have a last name to give you, or I would,” Phi says, scratching the back of her neck, feeling awkward.

            “Oh you poor thing,” Martha says, offering a sad smile. “Oh! Eric is in his room playing video games – you know how eight-year-olds can be – so he hasn’t heard you. I’ll go get him.” With that she disappears through an open doorway. Steve squeezes Phi’s hand.

            “You’re doing fine, Ophelia. I didn’t… I didn’t know you never knew your parents’ last name,” he whispers. Phi just shrugs and gives him a ‘what can you do’ face.

            “On the record it’s Harris but that was just the one I was given. I don’t know my real one.” A few seconds later a kid comes running through the doorway and slams into Phi’s lower body. She would’ve been knocked over if Steve hadn’t been holding her hand, but she releases it once she’s stable to hug the kid back. His face is buried in the black T-Shirt on her stomach but she hears a muffled “I’m so excited to meet you” before the kid pulls back and looks up at her.

            She holds out her hand and he shakes it with enthusiasm. “Nice to meet you Eric. I’m known as Striker, but you can call me Phi.” He smiles up at her and Phi notices then that he’s wearing a Captain America shirt and she laughs. “I really like your shirt.” She glances at Steve and his mouth draws into a straight line and raises an eyebrow but there’s amusement in his eyes.

            Phi squats down and whispers in Eric’s ear: “Don’t tell anyone but he’s my favorite too.” Eric laughs and glances at Steve, who appears to be faking being frustrated for the kid because Phi can tell by his blush he heard what she whispered. “So, you wanna show me your room? I’m sure you’ve got some wicked stuff in there,” Phi says, standing up.

            “Yeah! It’s this way,” Eric says walking back where he came from earlier. His room is covered in Avengers posters and products. Captain America is the most prominent but there’s some of everyone too, even Clint. Phi whistles.

            “Impressive,” she says spinning around the room slowly. “We’ll have to let you meet Agent Coulson. He’s a big Cap fan too. I’m sure he has some cool collector’s stuff he could show you.” Eric sits down on his bed leaving the desk chair open for Phi to sit in.

            “Who’s Agent Coulson?”

            “He’s like the second-in-command at SHIELD. One of the best guys you’ll meet,” Phi says fondly. She looks over to see Eric looking at her with amazement.

            “And I can… I can meet him? I still can’t believe I’m meeting you. Or Captain America. I can’t believe you saved my life… You’re going to be a great Avenger.” Phi laughs.

            “Of course you can meet him. I’ll have them arrange you a trip down to headquarters, okay? And I sure hope so. Being a superhero is exhausting,” she finishes, winking. Eric lets out a sigh and fiddles with a string on his comforter.

            “I wish I could be a superhero,” the kid admits softly. Phi smiles sadly at him. She honestly didn’t know whether she would have been happier with or without her powers.

            “Hey,” she says so he’ll look up at her. “Being a superhero doesn’t always mean you have powers.” She rolls the chair so she’s sitting in front of him. “It’s about what’s in here,” Phi says knocking a knuckle over his heart. “You can be whoever you want to be when you grow up. Sometimes the best heroes aren’t the ones flying around in capes or suits. Don’t give up on your dreams, okay? Don’t give up on your ability to choose who you want to be.”

            Eric smiles up at her and she can see it. She can see that he’s going to grow up to help people one day, no matter what career he chooses. Phi won’t ever know if the Avengers are what influenced him or if it would’ve happened anyway but she glimpses for the first time that she can really help people being who she is. This kid hasn’t rejected her. This kid also hasn’t fawned over her for saving his life. This kid has just accepted Phi for whoever she is, no questions asked. She stands up and pushes the chair back under the desk.

            “Thanks, kid,” she says rubbing a hand on the top of his shaved head. He ducks but smiles up at her.

            “What for?”

            “For being you.” Eric gives her a confused look and she resists saying ‘you’ll figure it out when you’re older.’ Instead she says: “Come on. Smells like your mom started cooking lunch. Let’s go help out so Cap doesn’t burn anything,” Phi says walking through the door.

            “Captain burns food?” Eric asks surprised.

            “Oh yeah. He’s a terrible cook,” Phi says laughing as they emerge back into the living room. Steve turns around from them doing something on the counter looking affronted.

            “I heard that.” Eric and Phi just look at each other and burst into laughter. Steve and Martha share a smile and turn back to cooking. Phi decides to show off a little and reaches out with her powers to lift Eric off the ground.

            “Whoa!” he says, causing Steve and Martha to turn around again, but he’s already sitting on Phi’s shoulders with her eyes fading back to green. “She just – She just made me fly!” Phi laughs and walks into the kitchen area.

            “Technically, yes,” She says and notices the surprised look on Martha’s face. “It’s perfectly safe. I can, uh, move things with my powers. Including myself, others, and bullets.” She adds the last one so Martha can have a better understanding of how she removed the bullet from Eric’s shoulder. She sees the mother understands and nods to Phi another silent thank you. “Hey, maybe one time I can take you flying. If your mom says it’s okay.”

            “Please Mom! That would be so cool!” Eric pleads. Steve laughs and wipes his hands on a towel, now mixing something in a pot Phi can’t see.

            “Well I don’t see why not,” Martha answers handing some cheese to Steve to add into the pot. “As long as you’re careful.”

            “Yes!” Eric says pumping his fist, his elbow narrowly missing Phi’s face. Steve turns to see the giant grin splitting across the boy’s face atop Phi’s shoulders.

            “Aw, don’t tell me Striker is your favorite now.” Eric just looks around and shrugs his shoulders, still grinning. “Phi, you’re stealing my fans!” Everyone laughs and Phi levitates Eric back down onto one of the kitchen island’s stools. He told her how it was really cool her eyes glowed and that was how Steve and Phi spent the afternoon eating mac and cheese in apartment 3C.

Chapter Text

FIVE DAYS LATER

            “Seriously, how can none of you be morning people other than Rogers?” Phi asks, scooping scrambled eggs onto a plate. They’re in the kitchen, each member of the team in different stages of wakefulness. Tony is nursing his third cup of coffee like his life depends on it, Clint is sitting on the counter sulking about being awake but eating the toast Phi made him, and Nat is sitting at the island with her head resting in one hand, staring hungrily at the plate of bacon and eggs Phi is about to hand her. Steve looks over his newspaper at her and feigns hurt.

            “You say it like I’m not special,” Steve says, taking a sip of his orange juice. Nat just rolls her eyes and stuffs her face, humming happily. They were all unhappy when Phi initially told them she was a morning person that liked to get up by six a.m., but after she cooked them all breakfast one morning, it’s become a routine now almost every day. Phi always makes Tony’s coffee extra strong with unhealthy amounts of sugar added and has Clint’s toast done medium with strawberry jelly smeared on it. Natasha seemed bashful the first time she scarfed down the bacon and eggs but since then has been very obvious about her love for Phi’s cooking. Which she honestly just learned after living in the tower for so long, but hey, the internet teaches all.

            “Of course you’re special, Steve! Look at that pretty face. It’s why you get to be team leader,” Tony quips, his third cup finished and the caffeine kicking in.

            Steve sighs and goes back to looking at his newspaper. “And here I thought it was my tactical skills and leadership abilities,” he grumbles. He glances at Ophelia who’s standing at the sink, washing dishes, but smiling like there’s no where she’d rather be. Maybe there isn’t and Steve understands, enjoying the new morning routine that started happening since Phi moved in a little over a month ago. Tony stands and walks over to where Phi is, sitting his cup on the black and white granite counter before planting a kiss on her cheek.

            “Thanks, doll,” he says turning to raise a leering eyebrow at Steve. Steve can feel the heavy frown on his own face and shovels another spoonful of Captain Crunch (say it’s ironic and he will happily punch you in the face) into his mouth trying to ignore Tony.

            “Yeah, whatever, stud. You better go change, you smell like workshop,” Phi says while wrinkling her nose. She finishes drying the last dishes and turns around to face everyone again.

            “He permanently smells like that,” Natasha says, stretching her arms after standing up. “Come on Clint, let’s go get the quinjet ready.” She and Clint both leave the room and Tony soon follows, declaring he’s going to “shower away his late night technological infidelities.” Steve stands and walks over by Phi to wash his bowl and cup in the sink.

            “Too bad Bruce never joins us,” Phi says conversationally, taking a step away to give Steve more personal space. He isn’t sure if he’s sad or relieved at the distance.

            “Yeah, he said he would never get up before nine. Says it causes undue stress on his body and well, he and stress obviously don’t mix so good,” Steve says, turning to face Phi. “How are you Ophelia? Still like putting up with all of us?” There’s a smile on his face, but the question is serious. A month should be long enough for her to know if she really wants to stay. Phi looks at him like he just asked if the sky was blue, but then she laughs and looks down at her feet.

            “It’s great Steve. Really. I’ve never had… anything quite like this,” she says motioning to the kitchen. Her team at SHIELD had respected and cared for her, but they still viewed her as different.

            “You found somewhere you belong. I hope you stick around, and I’m pretty sure the rest of the team feels the same,” he says smiling fondly down at her. He feels that tug, the strange whisper over him that only happens when Ophelia is using her powers to sense him, learn him. She told him one day she can get some transfers of emotions through it too. He closes his eyes and just lets her feel, used to it by now. Phi would randomly do this once or twice a week with him and Steve always wondered if she also did it with everyone else on the team, but was too afraid to ask. He felt her begin to pull away then.

            “Thank you, Steve. For giving me a chance,” she says smiling at him with unlimited amounts of gratitude and something else Steve can’t quite figure out in her green eyes. “You know, if this alert from Hill turns out to be nothing, I want to learn how to dance. You think Tony would hire a teacher?”

            “Dance?” Steve asks, seeing flashes of memories from before he went into the water, into the ice.

            “When I was a kid, I used to sometimes see one of the women on base watching these old black and white movies where people would be dancing. It looked so elegant but I’m not usually perceived as someone who would like that type of stuff I guess,” she says chuckling and pushing off the counter top. Steve stops her by grabbing her wrist though, looking almost as surprised as Phi himself by what he did.

            “I’ve always wanted to learn too. Before the war I didn’t and well, after… I think it would be great if it’s not weird or anything –” Steve cuts himself off before he sticks his foot further into his own mouth. He watches as Phi’s face changes from shock to confusion to a smile that he feels literally lights up the room.

            “Seriously?” she asks, eyes crinkling from her smile. “Dance lessons wouldn’t be awkward or anything? You have time between your training for tactical skills and leadership abilities?” She asked, smiling more when Steve laughed at her repeating his words from earlier.

            “I’m pretty sure I can find time in our busy schedule. Now come on, we better go yell at Tony to hurry up and leave Bruce a note about the meeting,” Steve says beginning to leave the kitchen. He gets stopped by Phi giving him a hug, arms around his neck, and another whispered ‘thank you’ into his shoulder. He pats her back and tries not to think about how it felt like butterflies beating against his stomach. She pulls back and smiles up at him.

            “I’m glad the night terrors have stopped. I’m pretty sure it’s from visiting Eric and Martha, which you arranged, and I can’t thank you enough. He’s really a great kid.” Phi says, touching Steve’s shoulder gently.

            “I’m glad too, Ophelia. You should see the way he looks at you… like you hung the moon. And… if you want I don’t have to lay with you at night anymore. Since they’re gone,” Steve says, somewhat awkward to talk about their sleeping arrangements. They had never really discussed them and Steve felt they should considering, well, there wasn’t a particular reason to do so anymore.

            “Yeah, maybe we should…” But Phi looked unsure and that gave Steve hope even if they stopped their current arrangement. “Just to help get things back to how they were. I know it would be easier for you to sleep in your own room anyway. It’s where all your stuff is.” Steve opens his mouth to reply but is cut off.

            “You lovebirds coming or what? Maria gets all huffy if we’re late!” Tony yells from the elevator. “I already left Brucey a note. Come on.” Steve and Phi give each other a small smile and head out of the kitchen towards the elevator where Tony is babbling about how Maria tasered him one time for being two hours late.

            “Kree? What’s a Kree?” Tony asks, already looking it up on his tablet. Obviously finding nothing, he looks back up at Agent Hill. She looks the vision of immaculate with her crisp clothes and neat bun. “I must decree that the Kree are not known unto me.” Everyone sighs at Tony, Steve shaking his head. They’re all assembled in their usual briefing conference room at SHIELD, sitting at a large rectangular table with only clerestory windows for privacy.

            “We don’t have a lot of information on them, an alien species, except for what Thor has told us. We are trying to contact him now so that we may inform him of the strange ship we’ve spotted orbiting close to our moon, though he probably is already aware of its existence.”

            “How big is the ship?” asks Natasha. Phi can tell by the expressions on all their faces they’re thinking of the last alien invasion they fought against, each doing their nervous tick from tapping fingers to twirling their weapons nonchalantly.

            “Based on satellite images, it’s about the size of one helicarrier, but its design is really unique. It looks like a black, rectangular cube was twisted.” Hill pulls up the image showing a silhouette of the shape she just described.

            “What the hell? That doesn’t even look efficient,” states Tony in obvious disgust. “Why are we worried again?” Steve gives him a harsh glare.

            “I don’t know if you remember or not, but those aliens that attacked last time weren’t very pretty either and they did damage just fine,” Steve chastises.

            “Yeah, yeah, you know all about pretty –” Tony goads.

            “Guys, come on,” Phi intervenes. “Are you twelve?” Both men look away, pouting but reprimanded. “Any thermal readings on how many people may be aboard?”

            “Negative,” confirms Hill. “Though they’ve been stationary for the last four hours. We aren’t sure if they intend to make contact or keep moving because they’re skirting right on the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.” Phi seems to consider this then speaks.

            “Tony, can any of your suits function in space yet? I doubt we have any crafts capable of going up there any time soon, let alone docking on their craft. Plus the numbers would be heavily against those going to come back alive.”

            “Unfortunately, I don’t. The energy it takes to reach that altitude is too much for current suit models to handle,” Tony says, sounding mildly frustrated. “Though, if you could fly up to the upper layers with me and give a boost I might could make it.”

            “Absolutely not. We can’t send you in there alone, not knowing their intentions at all,” says Steve in a tone that doesn’t really offer room for negotiating, not that anyone disagrees.

            “Guess that means we get to sit around here and wait to see what they do, hoping it’s not an attack. I hate feeling like we’re so vulnerable as a planet, as a species.” Tony stands and walks to the door. Phi sees Nat whisper something to Clint but doesn’t catch what she says but he nods and they stand up too. Steve looks at them warily.

            “Guys, try to stay out of trouble, okay?” He says, scrubbing a hand down his face.

            “Me?” Tony questions. “Confined in a building with nothing to do and no lab? What are you trying to say, Steven?” He asks, sarcastically faking insult before walking out the door.

            “We’ll be around whenever you need us, Steve,” says Natasha before her and Clint leave too.

            “I feel like their mother,” Steve states glumly. Phi laughs, hard, making Steve and Hill smile too. Phi is reminded of Phil and how he runs SHIELD.

            “Guess that makes me the Aunt that spoils them.” Steve laughs at that and Hill gives a puff of agreement through her nose, trying not to laugh. “Where’s Coulson at?” Phi asks after a beat of silence. “He’s the real mother hen.”

            Hill hesitates but then explains. “He’s trying to make sure the scepter is under extra protection here. We don’t know if it’s for sure what they’re after but with the tesseract gone, there’s not much else to be seeking. He’s putting a highly trained skeleton crew on the lowest levels, trying to keep it safe but with minimal casualties if something like last time happens,” Maria says, clearly remembering the base collapsing after Loki’s visit. Fury has told Phi about it but she hadn’t been on base at the time. Her team was chasing a mobster across Europe and didn’t return until after the Pierce fiasco.

            “Tell him if he needs anything, just to ask,” Steve says, standing. Phi follows him out into the hallway after nodding goodbye to Agent Hill. She’s happy to be out of the small conference room, devoid of any windows or color.

            “You want to go spar for a bit? There’s not much else to do here,” Phi asks, throwing two fake punches to Steve’s bicep while walking around to face him. He raises an eyebrow.

            “I’m not going to go easy on you,” he says adding a smirk. “I’m gonna win this time.” She turns and walks down the hallway she knows leads to the gym/training rooms. This base may be familiar but it’s huge and Phi had to learn every square inch of it when she moved in. Part of her missed it here.

            “In your dreams, Spangles,” she says over her shoulder before running down the hall. She’s a little surprised to find Steve chasing after her, easily catching up and falling in stride next to her. Agents they pass first look at them in alarm but then confusion when they see the smiles or hear the laughs. They reach the sparring room in no time, Steve opening the door like a perfect gentleman. The room is kind of small because they have individual ones for training, but there’s a mat and two of the walls are covered in mirrors making the space seem bigger.

            “Seriously, I’m not going to go slow this time –” The door isn’t even shut, nor Steve’s words finished, when Phi picks him up using her powers and throws him over on the mat. It’s easy for her to do now, being more familiar with Steve than anyone else other than herself. Steve’s shocked face makes Phi laugh when she runs over to attack him again. He rolls out of the way though, jumping to his feet and dodging two more punches that hit hard on the mat instead.

            “That was so unfair,” he says grabbing her by the calf, intending to pull her down, but she spins herself effortlessly around his body and has her arms wrapped around his neck loosely in a chokehold.

            “You gonna pout, Cap?” she laughs next to his ear. Steve grabs her under her shoulders and flips her body over his, allowing her to land face-up on the mat in front of him.

            “No, I’m going to win,” he smiles down at her. He needed this. Not only did he not get his usual workout this morning because of the early meeting, sparring with Ophelia is different than anyone else. Not only can she keep up with him well, she doesn’t treat him with kid gloves like the others tend to. He blinks and Phi’s back up again, going on the offense with fast combos Steve just has to block for the moment. He doesn’t realize he’s being backed against a wall until his back hits it and he catches Phi’s fist mid-punch. She sends a small shock into his hand for the trouble and because he’s totally showing off his strength.

            Steve takes her momentary distraction and flips them around so Phi’s pinned to the wall. She gasps and Steve leans down, smirking, bringing his face inches from hers. There’s tense silence for seconds, both playing a game of chicken, and Steve breaks first. “I win,” he whispers, letting her hand go that’s pinned to the wall.

            He steps back but then feels the ghosting touch of Phi’s powers, barely-there pressure on his lips, and he furrows his eyebrows, studying her.

            “Did you now, Rogers?” she asks, stepping around him, the feeling of her touch going with it. “I’m gonna go clean up. Bathrooms and showers are down the hall to the left.” After the door shuts behind her, Steve slides down to the floor with his back to the wall, knees pulled up close to his body. He hangs his head between them as he lets out a long breath.

            “She’s literally going to be the death of me.”

            The alarms blaring approximately three hours later have the whole Avenger team, now joined by an updated Banner, heading toward the main control room. Hill looks at Tony distressed. “Someone is hacking our system, your system, and we can’t seem to stop it.” She gestures to the screens around the room to see red coding flying by too quickly to understand… well, unless you’re Tony apparently. He pushes the nearest person out of their seat and starts typing furiously. The code slows down, turning back to its usual green, and Tony giving a ‘ha!’ of triumph before all the screens go black.

            “Shit,” he says sighing and shrugs. “I tried.” Everyone turns their attention to the screens, waiting to see what will happen. Finally, a man appears on the main screen with iridescent blue skin and striking purple eyes. He has what looks like black tar smeared on his face in resemblance of war paint.

            “SHIELD of Earth, I am Sol-Aran, Kree from a distant planet of Kree-Lar. It has come to our attention you have possession of the scepter Loki used, which he stole from us, and we would like to negotiate for its return. We will send down a small craft with myself aboard to meet at your location.”

            “And if we refuse?” asks Coulson from his spot next to Maria.

            “That would not be wise, Earthling,” Sol-Aran says before the screen goes black again. Eventually the computers come back to life, no sign they were ever breached.

            “So what now?” Clint demands. “He seems real nice. Bet he’s great fun at parties.”

            “He didn’t leave us much choice about meeting them,” Steve says. “But we can at least be prepared. Tony, Phi, and I will meet them on the deck. Natasha, you and Clint will help Coulson and Hill set up multiple barriers to the scepter with you guys protecting it.” Steve turns to look at Bruce. “I want you as a last line of defense, Bruce. Stand inside the vault in case any of them get that far and don’t hesitate to smash a few blue people.” Bruce seems hesitant but agrees anyway. Steve sees Kate among the agents and motions her over. “Can you get emergency escape vehicles ready for me that will evacuate everyone here? You can never be too careful.” She smiles at him and nods her head in a yes.

            “Of course, Captain Rogers,” she says, slightly too sing-song before walking away. Steve feels a prickle on the back of his neck and turns towards Ophelia, but she’s dutifully ignoring him at the moment, asking Tony something. He walks towards them and notices Phi tenses slightly, but he doesn’t say anything about it.

            “Stark, once their smaller ship enters the atmosphere, do you think you could fly up and get a scan on it? Knowing how many we’re dealing with will help.”

            “I could fly with you as back up, if you want,” Phi offers. Tony smiles at her, but shakes his head.

            “No, if you go with me, who will be here to save his pretty ass if the craft is a decoy and they attack us from a blind spot?” he asks, using his thumb to point in Steve’s direction. “I’ll be okay, Phi. I did do this solo before I decided to settle down and go steady.” Steve ruffles Tony’s hair and pushed his head down playfully.

            “Oh, please, I’m surprised you’ve even kept Pepper this long. “Settle down” and “steady” aren’t in your everyday vocabulary,” Steve teases. Tony scoffs and tries to fix his hair before smirking.

            “Someone sure is chipper. Did you get laid?” Tony asks, gesturing obscenely. Phi smacks her face into her hand and Steve blushes bright red from ears to neck. “Something did happen! Was it that blond who just walked off? Good taste Rogers, I must say –”. Steve could practically feel Ophelia bristle next to him and Tony must have, too, because he just stayed silent for a minute. Phi just sighs angrily and walks off, needing time to reign in her unprofessional behavior and slightly elevated temper.

            “Steve you didn’t…” Tony asks, not needing to finish his question for Steve to understand.

            “Of course not, but… it’s complicated, I guess. We keep dancing around each other and we don’t know one another very well,” Steve finishes, rubbing his face. Tony smiles at him, more understanding than condescending or explicit like usual.

            “She’s one of those people who is so open and gives love freely; people like us want to take as much as we can get. The instinct to protect and trust her comes naturally and she seems like someone to cherish. I feel like an older brother with her around,” Tony finishes, chuckling. He pats Steve on the back. “If there’s a chance there, Rogers, don’t pass it up. You and waiting don’t have the best track record,” he says walking towards the place Steve knows he stored the Iron Man brief case suit. Steve understood everything Tony had said, but he didn’t think of Ophelia as a little sister. He knew the attraction to her was different.

~***~

            Within the hour, the Kree are entering Earth’s atmosphere and their technology allows them to do so with no burst of flames and incredible steering ability. Tony oogles a little as he watches from the ground, suited up, and preparing to fly up for a closer look – the smaller ship wasn’t as ugly – just a matte black shaped a bit like an egg. Tony uses his thrusters to gain ground and then speeds off towards the ship. It takes him a minute to realize Striker is following him.

            “What the hell? I told you to stay at the base!” Iron Man says over the comm, coming to a stop high above the city.

            “You’re nuts if you think I’m going to let you go near that thing alone. They just entered our atmosphere without a scratch. Stop being so stubborn,” Striker says, flying off towards the black silhouette again. Tony catches up with her and they climb the little way higher that lets him close enough to scan.

            “JARVIS, give me a thermal scan and an analysis of the ship’s make up.”

            “There appear to be eight life forms on board, sir. The analysis of the ship will take a bit longer to process. Would you like some music while you wait?” Tony rolls his eyes.

            “No, thanks, just give me the report when we get back to SHIELD. Striker, I want to get just a bit closer, see if I notice –” Phi feels the atoms vibrating even though neither one of them can see anything.

            “Tony! Stop!” she yells, but slings Iron Man back in the opposite direction anyway for good measure.

            “What gives?” he demands after spinning to a stop.

            “Initial findings would indicate some type of energy force field surrounding the ship. Sir, if these signatures are correct, any contact would cause immediate incineration.”

            “Oh. Let’s start with that next time, buddy. Thanks, Striker. Guess I shouldn’t go barreling in like that. Come on, let’s go back. I’ve got all the scans we need.” Tony can feel his heart beating quickly at the thought of almost dying. If Striker hadn’t been with him to sense the force field… “Seriously, thanks,” he says again.

            “It’s what team mates are for, Tony,” she says brushing her powers against his atoms like she does with Steve, only she rarely does so with the others. He laughs at the contact.

            “Quit that, I still feel like you’re looking at me naked or something,” he says before thumping down onto the concrete landing deck.

            “That’s not a mental picture I want, thanks,” says Phi, landing softly after him.

            “What about seeing Stark naked?” Steve questions when they walk up to where the team leader is waiting.

            “Glad to see your priorities are in order. Yes, I got the data, and yes, I almost died but I’m fine,” Tony sasses but when Steve just frowns at him more he explains. “Striker did that… mind-atom-touching thing she rarely does and every time it freaks me out because I feel like she’s seeing me naked or something. I don’t usually enjoy being exposed.”

            “You don’t do that regularly with everyone?” Steve asks, confused. Striker blushes and scratches the back of her neck, looking down.

            “Not quite as much, no…” When she offers up no information, Steve turns his attention back to Tony but mentally doing a small happy-dance.

            “So what did you find out?”

            “Well, there’s eight Kree aboard. They also have some type of energy shield around the ship that JARVIS says will incinerate on contact.” Tony takes a minute for JARVIS giving him more information in the suit before continuing. “There are some indications of weapons but we can’t be sure. They’re very technologically advanced compared to us.” Steve nods and looks around at the agents standing scattered on the flight deck, looking up at the ship.

            “You, Striker, and I should be the only ones out here when they arrive. I’ve got a bad feeling about this guy and I don’t want anyone getting hurt,” Steve says. He relays the information to Hill inside through the comm and a siren sounds, causing the other people to exit the platform. The ship is close now, about to land. “Natasha, if something happens to us, you get that scepter, and leave. We have to keep it safe,” Steve instructs over the comm.

            “Sure, Captain,” she says before all the lines go silent as the ship lands, causing the concrete below the three heroes to shake. They watch as a door falls down, creating a ramp from the middle of the ship. The man from earlier, Sol-Aran, walks down with seven other Kree fanning out behind him to form a triangle with him at the front point. His gray and black robes drag the ground and his hood casts a shadow over the features below it.

            “Avengers,” he says, gesturing wide with his arms, seemingly unarmed with weapons. “I would like to exchange some of our technology, which I’m sure Iron Man has gathered far exceeds your own, for the scepter you house here.” Steve shakes his head.

            “We can’t just give some alien the scepter, knowing how powerful it is. Sorry, but no thanks,” Steve says, tone firm. Tony considers it for a moment, knowing just a glimpse of how their tech works would allow them to better protect themselves from the situation they’re currently in. Earth is a sitting duck for intergalactic attacks.

            “Cap, maybe we could consider…” Tony starts but stops at Steve’s glare.

            “Are you sure, Captain? I would hate to have to take it by force. So much unnecessary death and destruction over a silly little scepter,” Sol-Aran says, taking an imposing step forward. The men behind him pull out some sort of weapon, resembling a large gun, which glows a teal color between the black exoskeleton. Sol-Aran smiles darkly.

            “Looks like it’s going to be a rodeo,” Tony says, holding up glowing hands, lasers at the ready after his faceplate shuts into place.

            “Striker, it might be time for a little less air around here,” Steve hints, watching as Phi lifts her hand in the air towards Sol-Aran. She cuts off the air flow into his lungs, causing her eyes to glow amber, erasing the appearance of her iris. This causes the Kree to attack, firing small beams of teal light at the heroes.

            Tony takes out two decently easy, firing lasers while dodging the foe’s attacks. Steve launches his shield, hitting one just below the jaw to kill him, and catches the disc when it returns. Phi zig-zags to dodge the teal bursts of energy while maintaining her hold on Sol-Aran. She sends out a bolt of electricity to kill one more Kree and then scatters the gun’s atoms so no one else can use it. One of the last guys gets a good shot at Tony’s flank, appearing to burn gouges into the red metal.

            “Be careful,” Tony warns. “Whatever those weapons are they did some decent damage to the suit.” He kills the one who shot him with double laser shots to both head and chest, leaving two more Kree and Sol-Aran who is currently grappling at his neck while staring daggers into Striker. Steve begins hand-to-hand fighting one of the Kree when Phi notices another taking aim to fire. She yells Steve’s name in warning but knows he won’t move in time.

            Her other hand not holding Sol-Aran glows orange around it before she concentrates and rips the arms off the Kree, causing the gun to land harmlessly on the ground before she snaps his neck. Steve grabs the alien he’s fighting around the neck and turns toward Iron Man where he hits the Kree in the chest with a laser, and Steve then throws the body to the ground.

            Sol-Aran’s body is beginning to go weak from lack of nitrogen, but he saw what Striker did, and knows now she’s the one he needs to take down. Sol-Aran waves his hand, getting her attention, and focuses his strength. As soon as Phi makes eye contact, she loses control of his airway and starts being dragged into a black void, passing out.

            Steve catches her before she hits the ground but Sol-Aran hits his arm with a blast from one of the guns, causing Steve to wince and scrunch his face in pain. A burn with four deep gashes are left on his shoulder and bicep.

            “You okay?” Tony asks, hands raised at Sol-Aran now that the other Kree are dead. Steve just nods, still holding Phi in his good arm while sitting on the ground. Luckily the burn seemed to also cauterize the wound so it’s not bleeding too much.

            “You think that,” Sol-Aran gestures to Iron Man’s hands, “Is going to hurt me?”

            “I don’t know but hitting you will at least make me feel better,” Tony replies, glancing worriedly at Striker in Cap’s lap.

            “What she did… what she can do… I think I’ll take her and the scepter.” He squats down to be eye level with Steve. “What do you think, Captain?” He asks sneering. Steve snarls right back.

            “I think you can kiss my – “ His retort is cut off by the cylindrical tube of light that flashes down onto the concrete about fifteen feet away, announcing Thor’s arrival. Tony uses the distraction to blast Sol-Aran with both lasers, sending him flying to the ground at Thor’s feet. Thor frowns down at the Kree. He then hefts him up by the robe’s collar and carries him over to where Tony, Steve, and Phi are.

            “It is good to see you again my friends.” He looks down at Phi. “I see you have a new comrade.”

            “Good to see you too, buddy. That’s Phi,” Tony says, gesturing at her with his head.

            “What did you do to her?” Steve demands. She was still unconscious and Steve was seriously starting to worry now. She should have woken up already.

            “Like I would tell you –” Thor picks him up midsentence, this time by the neck.

            “Tell the good Captain what he wants to know,” Thor says, squeezing harder. Coughing, Sol-Aran agrees, shaking his head quickly.

            “There is no translation in your tongue, but we call it ‘Sa-Maldo’. It is an imprisonment of one’s mind. We use it as a final test for Kree warriors…” He smiles darkly. “And torture.”

            “I was not aware the Kree have such abilities,” Thor states surprised.

            “There is much you don’t know Asgardian.” Sol-Aran spits, making Thor furrow his brows. Steve lays Phi on the ground gently and stalks toward Sol-Aran, intent to kill written all over him. Tony steps between them, raising his hands to push against Steve’s chest.

            “Steve, whoa, no, killing their leader would be bad. Who knows what they’ll do with that big ship up there in space? Back off,” Tony says, trying to reason with him, but Steve has a rage in his eyes Tony has never seen before. It actually scares him, if he’s honest with himself.

            “I don’t care. You saw what he did to her. He’s going to die. Move, Stark.” Steve tries to push Tony but the man only takes a few steps back. “Move. Now,” Steve warns.

            Tony grabs his shoulders, raises his mask, and looks his leader in the eyes. “I care about her too, Steve, but killing him will not help the situation right now.” Thor watches as the tension between the two hangs heavy for a few more beats until Steve huffs out an angry breath. Thor grabs Sol-Aran’s wrist, pinning them behind his back while Steve leans down to scoop Phi up off the ground, leaning her head against his good shoulder.

            “Sol-Aran, you better pray to whatever God you have, because if she doesn’t come back to us, you’re a dead man.” Steve turns and walks towards the base doors, Phil and Maria already waiting just inside.

            “We should put him in the Hulk’s containment chamber,” Tony says walking the same direction with Thor and Sol-Aran right behind him.

            “That seems too nice of a prison for Sol-Aran,” Thor says, pushing the Kree forward.

            “I wasn’t talking about him.”

            Steve insists he go with Phi to her room before letting the doctors clean up his wound. He’ll heal eventually regardless. Nat touches his arm after they have Phi on a hospital bed in the hallway, about to head for the medical wing.

            “Steve, she’s going to be okay.” But by the sound of her voice, he wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. Natasha tells him she and Clint are going to help clean up the Kree bodies and Tony is already back on their ship with Bruce touching everything. Steve nods and follows Phi and the doctors through two automated steel doors leading to the medical wing.

            After having his shoulder cleaned up and sterilized, Steve sits by Phi’s bed, watching her chest rise and fall steadily with SHIELD written across the T-Shirt. It’s strange and he thinks maybe he’s a bit jealous it’s not an Avengers shirt…or Captain America… because she’s on his team now, not theirs. “You better come back to us,” he whispers.

            Phi covers her eyes against the brightness suddenly thrust upon her, blinking to adjust to the light. She’s standing in a corridor that’s white everywhere – white walls, white floors, white ceiling, white doors. She examines all the doors lining either side and the one at the very end of the hall. She reaches out with her powers but the atoms feel nonexistent yet familiar at the same time. Confused, Phi walks to the first door on her left and pushes it open. She’s overwhelmed by sadness and then her vision clears to see a memory from when she’s six.

            Hiding in a coat closet, Phi listens as her two female caretakers talk – the ones who always keep her at an arm’s length distance with fake smiles and fear in their eyes.

            “She’s terrifying. Think about how much harm she can do when she’s older and doesn’t simply do whatever she’s told.” The other woman “m-hmms” in agreement. “Destructive powers like those can hardly be used for anything good.” Phi was sad no one liked her. She couldn’t help that she had these powers – she was born with them! She would prove them wrong. She could do it – she could be good. Phi watched her younger self wipe away the tears, new determination filling her face.

            The door closes and suddenly Phi is thrust back into the hallway, blinded by the starkness again. She still walks to the next door across the hall and pushes it open, overcome by freezing cold and extreme exhaustion. She remembers this – it’s the first time she flies.

            Running through the woods, there’s mud she keeps sliding in because of the rain, but she can’t stop. She can hear the dogs barking behind her and men shouting. Phi is eleven here, fleeing for her life during a CIA “intense training exercise.” All she has to do is find the tower and get the red flag. She’s done it so many times before but not when it’s raining, not with the actual threat to her life.

            Phi finally finds the rusted metal tower but sags in disbelief when she sees they put the flag at the top instead. She hasn’t learned how to move things from that far away yet, but she can move herself. “So that’s the reason for all this. Fine, you want to see me fly, I’ll fly.” Phi knows they’re listening, cameras hidden everywhere around the training grounds.

            She concentrates her powers on herself, ignoring the clashing atoms of the rain, the mud, the air. She moves her body upward, screaming in pain because it’s too much to hold herself together and keep everything else out. It’s too much. But then she’s snatching the flag and falling, headed towards the ground, only slowing herself right before she lands on her back. Phi smiles up into the rain listening to the siren blare indicating she had won.

            Door closes, another opens. Door closes, another opens. Memory after memory.

            Phi opens another door and immediately feels pain everywhere. She’s fifteen now and in a fighting ring with a guy at least double her size. He’s covered in prison tattoos and she knows they falsely promised him freedom if he’s victorious – if he kills her. There’s a crowd of CIA agents and scientist gathered to watch, some taking notes.

            She isn’t fast enough. She can’t keep dodging his attacks and healing the blows already landed. Phi begins using her electrically charged punches then, tearing muscles where they land in his legs and arms but he keeps going – the need of a desperate man fueling him. He lands a particularly painful blow to Phi’s stomach and she’s laid flat on her back with the impact. She grits her teeth. They want to see how much pain she can endure before she snaps. Phi refuses to give them the satisfaction.

            Before he can move in to finish her, Phi holds up her hands and concentrates on blocking off his airway. He grabs at his throat, confusion marring his features, but finally tumbles backwards falling to the mat unconscious. She stands up then, holding her stomach.

            “No matter how much you may want me to, I will not kill unless the situation actually warrants it,” she says glaring at all the people in the room, especially her current mentor. Phi climbs out of the ring and marches through the doors, slamming them behind her. She’s thrust back into the white hallway again.

            Door closes, another opens.

            This time when she opens a door, Phi sighs in relief when she sees Fury’s face. Hope is the emotion flooding through her as he explains she can leave the CIA now that she’s eighteen. She can apply to transfer to SHIELD where their training is less… aggressive. He’s already approved it. She watches herself pack the few meager items she owns and run down to the car waiting outside.

            This is when Phi meets Agent Coulson, and her first reaction is to hug him. He expectantly freaks out from the voluntary human contact but just pats her shoulder, smiling in confusion. She releases him and sighs in relief. “Sorry, I’m just happy to finally be leaving that place. I’m free.”

            Phil smiles small, already liking their new recruit. “Welcome to SHIELD, Miss Harris.”

            Phi gets thrown back into the white hallway once more and she bangs on the door, wanting to return back to that memory. No matter what though, it won’t open again. She suddenly feels exhausted and slumps against the wall to sit on the floor. There are only three more doors left but she feels like she’s been in here for days. Her eyes slip closed and she rests for a while.

            Phi startles awake to find she’s still in the same white hall but she has a sense of urgency now. She needs to get out and her instincts are screaming with it. She can feel a tug, a presence, from somewhere else pushing her to hurry, to come back. Back where? She thinks.

            The next door Phi opens she’s washed with a feeling of fear. Twenty now, she and her SHIELD team are on a mission hunting terrorists in Syria but were ambushed. Thankfully no one had gotten injured but they were hiding behind crumbled walls taking heavy fire. Phi’s fear isn’t for her, it’s for her team. They don’t know about her powers yet, but they’re about to. The fear of their rejection just adds to her emotions but she pulls bullets from her suit anyway, holding them in her palm.

            Jeremiah – J – her team leader, has his ‘what the hell are you doing?’ face turned towards her. Phi just closes her eyes, feeling with her powers where the five men shooting at them are located. She breathes out, lifting the bullet into the air, and launches it around the wall sending it into the intended target. Four more times Phi does this until the gunfire ceases.

            “What the hell Phi?” J actually says standing and scoping the room for more people. He sees the men lying dead on the ground, some fallen from around corners. “How did you just do that?” The rest of her team is looking at her with questioning glances, but then they all smile.

            “Damn, that was awesome though,” Dante says, clapping Phi on the shoulder. She smiles back, relief replacing fear at their acceptance.

            “I’ll tell you guys about it when we get home. First we gotta get our guy.” She still remember that day – remembers how her team thought her powers were really cool once she showed them – although she didn’t tell them the whole truth. Phi and Fury decided that the less people know her full capabilities, the better, so she only told them she could move objects and control electricity. They were safer that way.

            Back in the hall, Phi goes to open the next door and immediately wants to shut it again. Anger and self-loathing seeps into her and she knows the building in an instant, even in the dark of night. She can do nothing but watch as she follows J up the stairs with dim lights casting large shadows. Phi is already twenty-three now and they’ve been tracking this German mob boss named Volkard for two years. They thought he was trapped when they broke up his human trafficking ring in Austria but he wasn’t even there.

            As soon as they’re through the door, gunfire starts and both agents duck behind a metal cabinet. “Taking heavy fire here. Where the hell are you guys?” J asks into his comm. Suddenly the other three members of their team bust through the windows, adding shattering glass to the noise around them. The gunfire stops and she and J stand up, swiveling to sweep the room. Phi sees their target through a doorway but he’s not running like she expected, no, he’s holding a detonation device with a smile on his face.

            Phi could have severed his hand or scattered the devices atoms – should have – but her anger at the threat of her team overwhelmed her. Not only was he the terrible man they’d been hunting for so long, he had the audacity to threaten her friends. Phi lost control.

            She brought her hands together, palms facing forward, and aimed with the orange aura surrounding her hands and causing her eyes to glow orange. Phi suddenly ripped her hands apart and in their motion ripped apart their target – his body’s pieces landing on the floor.

            Phi flew backwards with the force of it, rage letting her control run wild, causing her to crash through a window. To this day she was never sure if it was an accident or on purpose that she didn’t slow her decent towards the ground two stories below. Before everything went dark, all she could think is: “What have I become?” Phi is thrust violently back into the hall, landing on her back, while tremors rake her body. Every other time she had simply incapacitated her opponents or killed in the most humane way possible. She knew her teammates didn’t have that luxury, but ripping someone apart crossed a line. Phi didn’t recognize her own animosity. Had she become what she feared most? What others feared?

            Everyone at SHIELD had congratulated her when she woke up from surgery, but she felt empty, like a piece of her had been lost that day. It took a long time for her to return to “normal.” The last door was at the very end of the hall and Phi really did not want to open it. She looked back at all the doors she had gone through and drew in a breath. She was sweating and panic started thrumming through her as she raised her hand to open it.

            She finally stepped into the darkness and was surprised there was no overwhelming emotion or memory shown, just an empty room.

            The door closes behind Phi and the light flick on, revealing that the wall in front of her is completely covered in a large mirror. It wasn’t her reflection though – at least not one she recognized. This Phi had medium-gray skin color and her usual glowing amber eyes. Instead of caramel brown hair, it was pitch black, and she had a wicked smile of someone who revels in death and chaos.

            “No,” Phi whispers. She raises her hand and the reflection follows. “I don’t want this! I won’t become this person!” she shouts. Her reflection moves on its own, slamming both hands against the mirror, laughing manically.

            “You think you can run from it? I am you. There’s nothing you can do to stop this,” she says, leaning back to gesture to herself. “This has been your destiny from the beginning and all those people you call friends are going to die because they trust you. Because they care about you.”

            “Stop it!” Phi yells again, slamming her own fist against the glass. “I refuse to ever let myself become a monster because of my powers – a monster like you,” she whispers between them. Her reflection leans back, smirking.

            “Who says you get a choice?” And then she disappears, along with the lights, leaving Phi alone in the room. Her fear turns to rage as she draws on her powers, trying to feel the room she’s in. The atoms are there, but not, like a ghost. Gathering her strength, she concentrates on pushing the walls outward, and eventually they shatter. The floor gives way too and Phi is falling into a black void again. She screams until her throat is raw, then falling in silence.

            A light flickers far away and Phi tries to pull herself towards it. The feeling is familiar and she uses the last of her energy to reach it, letting the light surround her.

            Her eyes fly open and see Steve’s face, and he’s calling her name until she brushes her powers weakly against him. He sags in relief in the chair next to her bed, watching Phi’s eyes fade from amber to their usual green.

            “Ophelia? Are you okay? I should go get the doctor…” She grabs his wrist lightly to stop him.

            “Don’t go. Just… give me a minute. That last room was the hardest.” Steve gives her a confused look but stays regardless knowing Phi looks pretty shook up. She mentally goes through her body checking to make sure everything is still in order. “I’m fine, I just checked. What happened?” She asks, moving to a sitting position in the hospital bed.

            Steve looks down at the floor. “Sol-Aran put you in some mental prison. There… There was a chance you’d never wake up.” He looks at her then. “You’ve been out for six hours.” Steve’s face is an interesting mix of fury towards Sol-Aran and happiness that Phi is okay.

            “I can see why some never come back,” she says quietly. “It shows you the most prominent memories of your life, good and bad, and then at the end I’m assuming your greatest fear. Even after I broke through the walls of the prison I was just falling in the darkness of my mind until I could sense your presence.” They both seem to realize Phi is still holding Steve’s wrist at the same time and she pulls away. “Guess Sol-Aran didn’t take too kindly to me cutting off his air.”

            “He took very kindly after he saw what your powers could do.” Steve glances at his injured shoulder. “He threatened to take you and the scepter.” Phi can see the fear in his eyes and her chest tightens, twisting into a knot.

            “But you guys didn’t let that happen,” she says, noticing the angry looking red scars peeking out of Steve’s sleeve. She closes her eyes and brushes her fingertips along his skin, concentrating on mending it back together.

            “You didn’t have to… I heal fast and you must be exhausted,” Steve comments while watching his skin shift to smooth, unmarred flesh again. Phi lets her hand fall back on the bed.

            “Yeah, but it still hurts, right? I’m sure you heroically saved my life anyway or something. Least I could do,” she says with a small laugh.

            “No, that honor would go to Thor. I just caught you.” There’s a comfortable silence for a few minutes in which clouds move in front of the sun, causing the light streaming in the window to dim. Phi notices and looks out for the first time, able to see part of the alien spaceship still on the landing deck. There’s lots of people scurrying about it but Phi has no desire to go near it right now or Sol-Aran.

            “If you ever want to talk about what happened, I’m here,” Steve says, giving her a small smile. “I don’t want your night terrors to come back.” Phi’s eyes widen slightly because she hasn’t even thought of that, but right now she just has to get through the day first. “Think you can walk?” Steve asks when Phi doesn’t say anything. “There’s a lot of anxious people out there waiting for you.” She looks at the door to her room and feels a wave of anxiety roll through her.

            “A lot? That’s weird. You guys should be interrogating Sol-Aran,” Phi scolds half-heartedly as she swings her legs around to stand up. She wobbles a bit from dizziness after a few steps but Steve steadies her with one hand on her shoulder and the other on her hip.

            “Take it slow. Trust me, they aren’t going anywhere.” Phi sits back down on the edge of the bed to recheck nothing is damaged. Coming up empty she has to assume it’s just mental exhaustion. She can push through that – has before.

            “Where is Sol-Aran now?” She asks standing up again.

            “Thor and Tony put him in Hulk’s confinement chamber. Though for our protection or his, I’m not so sure,” Steve says chuckling, but Phi can sense a dark edge to his laugh.

            “What do you mean? His protection?” Phi questions with a raised eyebrow. Steve looks sideways out the window and mumbles.

            “I might have tried and then threatened to kill him… if something happened – if you didn’t wake up.” He looked back at her with a lop-sided grin. “Tony stopped me though.”

            “Tony was the voice of reason?” Phi shakes her head and watches Steve put his hand on the door’s lever handle. “I was gone like five minutes and you guys freak out.”

            He laughs. “You think that’s bad – I’m pretty sure Clint has spent the last five hours either pacing the waiting room or baking your favorite chocolate chip pancakes,” he says pulling the door open towards them, allowing Phi to walk out first. “There’s going to be pancakes for days.” Phi laughs loudly but is hit then by the contrasting stilted silence of the waiting room.

            All eyes and heads immediately move to look at her making her feel self-conscious. Phi takes in the relieved faces of the Avengers, now with Thor, along with agents Coulson and Hill. She’s taken by surprise when she recognizes J – Jeremiah – and her old SHIELD team are there as well. The smile she gives them couldn’t be bigger.

            “Since when did all of you guys have enough free time to lounge around in the med wing?” Phi asks walking closer to her friends across a small hallway. Everyone is returning her smile and she can’t help thinking that she’s home – this is where she belongs.

            J walks up and wraps his arm around Phi’s neck, digging his knuckles into her scalp affectionately. “What the hell, Phi? We were all worried sick about you. Got yourself a good team here,” he says gesturing his head to the Avengers.

            “I know I do,” she says huffing but then smiling and pushing his arm off. J’s dark brown hair is a little longer than she remembered but he still has his five o’clock stubble.

            “Clint makes awesome pancakes too even if it is a slightly weird stress reliever,” her former team leader chuckles next to her. Phi gasps, clutching her chest dramatically, and for a moment everyone tenses.

            “Barton, you gave away my pancakes? We aren’t friends anymore,” she says hurt, but winks at Clint.

            “Trust me, Phi, there’s still enough left to feed a small army. Five hours is a long, long time,” says Natasha before pushing Clint off the arm of her chair so he lands half crouched half lying on the floor. Everyone laughs and Phi cranes her neck around J to see the other three guys who made up her SHIELD team.

            “I’ve missed you guys. Haven’t seen you in, what, six months? Maybe you can come over to the tower and hang out some time.” Phi glances at Tony. “As long as it’s alright with Mr. Big Shot over here.”

            Tony smiles and gestures his hands forward in a serving motion. “Mi casa es su casa,” he says, standing to give Phi a quick hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, kid,” he whispers for only her to hear before sitting back in the blue vinyl chair. Though judging by Steve’s warm smile she’s guessing his super-hearing caught it.

            Rick, one of Phi’s old teammates, stands and walks over to ruffle the shaved side of her hair. “You still haven’t let this grow out yet? It got shaved two years ago.” Phi shoves at his shoulder playfully.

            “Yeah, whatever. You’re bald; you don’t get a say.” He strokes his precisely cut beard thoughtfully.

            “It’s all about the facial hair, anyway,” Rick replies smiling.

            “Wait. It got shaved?” Steve asks with brows furrowing. “As in you didn’t shave it on purpose?” The other Avengers seemed to perk up listening for a reply, obviously thinking the same thing.

            “You never told them the infamous Striker tale?” asks Dante when Rick sits back down next to him. Rick hits the dark-skinned man on the shoulder.

            “She doesn’t like to brag like we do,” he says after blocking Dante’s retaliation smack and winks at Phi.

            “Please, do tell, Dante,” pushes Tony. Phi flashes a pleading look at Steve but the other man has already started the story.

            “We had been chasing this German mobster, Volkard, for about two years when we finally caught up to him in London. After killing his men, we had him trapped, so he tried to take the coward’s way out and us along with him. Phi saw the detonation device in his hand before us and took him out but the recoil from her powers sent her flying through a two story window. She didn’t have the fast thinking to stop her fall,” Dante teases slightly. Steve can tell there’s more to the story though from how rigidly Phi is standing next to him but all of her teammates are smiling at the memory. “She had a pretty bad head injury and they ended up shaving her head to operate,” he finishes. There was a collective “oh” from Tony, Clint, and Bruce.

            Steve can see Natasha watching Phi, also knowing something isn’t quite right. “Sounds like quite the courageous tale. You saved your comrades lives, Ophelia,” Thor says way too chipper.

            Phi smiles, though slightly strained. “Don’t you start too. Call me Phi,” she says pointing a finger at Thor. “And yeah, so I just kept shaving it. Seemed easier than awkwardly growing it back out.” The group seems to collectively agree with “mhmms” and nods. Phi notices her other old teammate Sal is giving her a weird look but she shakes it off to being exhausted.

            “So. I’m starving. Let’s go eat in the cafeteria and you better go get some of my pancakes, Barton,” Phi says changing the subject. There’s resounding “whoops” of agreement as everyone stands and shifts to leave the medical wing. Steve feels Phi brush her powers against him, not sure whether to reassure him or herself.

            Once back in the sun-filled hallway, Nat pulls Phi aside next to a polished steel wall. “You guys go on and save us some seats. We have ‘girl stuff’ to talk about first,” Nat calls when the group slows down. Most of them cringe and keep going but Steve smiles at Natasha and nods his head in thanks before following.

            “Phi…are you okay?” She asks with her brows drawn together in worry. Phi just looks down at the concrete floor and scuffs her black socks along a seam.

            “Yeah, whatever Sol-Aran did hasn’t had any physical effects. Just tired is all.” Nat crosses her arms which causes Phi to look up and see a heavy frown on the red-head’s face.

            “You know that’s not what I’m talking about; although I am grateful you’re not hurt. Do you want to tell me what happened with Volkard?” She can tell Nat isn’t analyzing or judging her based on the open look she’s giving. Just concern.

            “I just...” Phi starts but doesn’t keep going until Nat nods in encouragement. “I just didn’t handle the kill well. Before then I either didn’t kill at all or did it quickly. I had never used my powers with such disregard for human life, no matter how much of a scumbag they were, and it terrified me.” Phi runs a hand across the shorter side of her hair. “I guess I thought maybe if I died it would be over: the constant responsibility for my powers, always controlling my reactions, the risk my existence caused to those around me. I never let my hair grow back because I lost a part of myself that day – I never quite forgave what I did.”

            Natasha thought back to all the hits she had carried out. They had taught her not to feel anything – ripped out her soul and replaced it with a monster. She had trouble overcoming that part of herself every day. “You can never take back what you’ve done…only try to change who you want to be for the future,” Nat says, lying a hand on Phi’s shoulder.

            “There may be things in my past I regret but I’m here now, surrounded by friends, trying to make the world a better place. I’m just grateful every damn day that this is where I ended up,” she continues while smiling at Phi. “Just know that whatever you did Phi was to protect those you care about and none of us will ever think less of you for that.”

            Phi crushes Nat in a hug and it takes Natasha several moments to recover and pat back. “Sorry,” Phi says sheepishly after releasing the other woman. “I know none of you guys are used to hugs but… I never got or gave them as a child so I don’t have great impulse control now that I’m...kinda…allowed.”

            Natasha just smiles at her. “You do a lot of stuff we’re not used to, including making awesome breakfast.” Phi laughs and she feels that warmth spread through her chest again. Nat is like the older sister Phi always imagined she would have. Everyone assumes the redhead doesn’t feel or is emotionless but really Phi thinks she is one of the most caring people she’s met.

            “I think breakfast may be your favorite meal of the day,” Phi kids as they walk the short distance to the cafeteria double-doors. They swing inward to reveal a huge room filled with long rectangular tables and blue plastic chairs. There’s a lot of noise from everyone chattering but Phi welcomes it over the silence of her imprisoned mind.

            “No doubt. But now we’ll be eating pancakes for at least three days,” Nat says, rolling her eyes. They sit down at one of the long tables: Phi by Steve and Nat by Clint, receiving echoes of greetings as they do.

            “Remind me how that’s a bad thing again,” Phi says smiling at Clint who just grins and hands a plate of said pancakes to Phi. “Oh hell yeah!” she exclaims shoving some into her mouth. “You’re my favorite again, Barton.”

            “Ouch. Don’t sugarcoat it on our account,” Tony jokes from across the table. Phi just sticks her tongue out at him between mouthfuls of pancakes. They all settle into casual conversation but eventually Phi starts to feel the exhaustion from earlier and falls asleep with her head on Steve’s shoulder. Steve is happy but turns red from the snickering and sappy comments everyone makes; however, no one dares to wake her up.

Chapter Text

FOUR HOURS LATER

            “What should we do with him? I’m sure his crew, cult followers, whatever, are getting anxious up there,” Tony says pointing to the ceiling. He and Thor are standing on a grated metal platform outside of Hulk’s glass containment chamber – very similar to the helicarrier’s design except it drops the cell deep into the ground in case of an incident. Sol-Aran keeps pacing around his cage and both heroes can’t help but find amusement from it.

            “I believe I should take the scepter back to Asgard and ask my father if he’s even heard of Sol-Aran. I know that Earth’s atmosphere makes the Kree faster and stronger, but not much other knowledge is imparted on me,” explains Thor. Both of them are pointedly not making eye contact with Sol-Aran and the Kree keeps getting more and more frustrated.

            “Yeah, good luck getting SHIELD to release the scepter to you, buddy,” Tony scoffs. Out of the corner of his eye he catches Sol-Aran flash a smile and stop pacing. Tony’s hopeful – he didn’t believe this would work but Nat said bad guys just loved to spill their evil-plan-guts all over the floor for recognition. “Know something we don’t?” he asks the Kree.

            “I and my people may have appeared to fail in retrieving the scepter, but I believe we are not the only players in this game,” Sol-Aran replies, laughing darkly. Tony smiles and raises a hand for Thor to fist-bump.

            “Thanks, doll,” Tony drawls before he and Thor turn to leave. He has enough time before the doors seal behind them to see a very confused but outraged expression on the enemy’s face before it turns into a snarl.

“Please give my regard to Striker!” Sol-Aran calls vehemently, the last syllable getting get off by the doors. Tony is overcome by the urge to go back in there and kill the guy just because.

“Steve, did you hear what Blue Man Group just said? We need to go check on the scepter, like, yesterday,” he says over the comm, already knowing it picked up their conversation crystal clear. Considering it sounded like something just got crushed, Steve also heard the guy’s parting jab. But Sol-Aran’s information hadn’t been what they were expecting – more Kree on their way to take out SHIELD, sure – but that some other unknown party was scheming too, no.

“I’m looking at the security feed and it doesn’t seem like anything is wrong…” Natasha adds over the line. Thor and Tony make their way to the elevator to return to the upper-floors with everyone. The team hears Clint ask Nat to replay the last six hours on fast forward so he can try and find something they missed.

“It’ll still take about two hours even fast-forwarded. I’ll let you guys know if Nat and I find anything,” Clint says. He pulls up a comfortable chair in front of the computer monitor and prepares himself while Nat finds the footage.

“Okay. Tony can you, Bruce, and Thor go update Hill and Coulson about the situation? You can do a perimeter sweep and see if anything comes up. Ophelia and I can join you after I wake her up,” Steve says, and heads off towards the Quarters wing after an affirmative from the three of them.

“Have fun with Sleeping Beauty,” Tony quips.

“You know how to wake up Sleeping Beauty, right?” Clint snickers, but Steve chooses to ignore them, simply rolling his eyes instead before leaving the room. When he rounds the corner into the Quarters wing, he’s surprised to see Jeremiah leaving his room. Steve decides all the help they can get would be appreciated so when J smiles at the sight of him he fills the other team leader in.

“You sure Sol-Aran isn’t just bluffing? To get us all riled up and distracted from his big ship in the sky?” J questions honestly, gesturing with his thumb towards the windows on the other side of the corridor.

“He might be, but that scenario is just as likely as someone trying to break in and steal the scepter. I’m not sure what your team’s current mission is –” Steve says but J cuts him off.

“Currently don’t have one. We were supposed to be briefed tomorrow morning but then all this happened.”

“Would your team mind helping with checking the building? There’s six floors, not counting the Vault, that need to be swept and see if anything seems out of sorts. Tony, Thor, and Bruce are helping with perimeter sweeps now.” J is already nodding and walking backwards towards the way Steve came.

“Yeah, Cap. I’ll go rally the guys. See you in a bit,” he says, giving a half-hazard salute with two fingers.

Steve chuckles. “Thanks, Jeremiah,” he says before heading back towards Phi’s room.

“Good thing Phi already warned me about the nickname thing!” the agent hollered back down the hall. Steve shook his head good-naturedly before scanning his thumb print to enter Phi’s quarters. He mutes his comm and pushes open the sliding metal door. She’s still asleep on the twin bed-sized cot and Steve smiles, just happy to see her again. He tries gently shaking her shoulder to wake her but she doesn’t rouse completely – just enough to brush her powers against him like usual – like it’s the same as breathing.

“Come on, Ophelia. I know you’d sleep through a tornado when you’re off of your usual sleep schedule but you have to get up,” Steve says, and laughs when she just grumbles angrily and pulls the blanket up higher. “No, no, come on. We have a mission.”

Phi grudgingly sits up at that, warm bed forgotten, and already rubbing at her eyes. Steve notices a couple of photographs lying on the nightstand – Dante, Rick, and Jeremiah; Himself looking at the sky; Ophelia and Tony in his lab; and an old photo of a young girl. Phi follows his line of vision and smiles at the memories.

“I keep them here just in case I ever come back but I suppose it’s time to bring them to the tower,” she remarks. “Sam snagged that one of you on the bridge before SHIELD collapsed. He totally has a fan crush on you.”

“I’ll get him back for that,” Steve says chuckling. “Is the young girl you?” Phi’s face falls a bit looking at the worn picture, used for her file at the CIA. The girl looking back at her has rage, has sorrow, has loneliness – Phi can still remember the emotions vividly.

“Ophelia?” He asks, breaking her from the past.

“Yeah… Yeah, it’s me. When I was seven. Was in my file for a while but I snagged it before they tossed it out,” she explains, shaking off the memories. It’s the only photo she has from her childhood. She notices Steve is in his uniform and looks down at her sweats.

“I’ve gotta change y’know,” she says to switch the subject. “Or are you staying for the show?” Phi expects Steve to blush or run like usual but he smirks instead and oh, that was unexpected. Rogers can have a playful side.

“As much as I would love to, there may be another group trying to steal the scepter and we still have Sol-Aran to deal with, so…” Steve goads, smiling.

“Seriously? These people and that freakin’ scepter,” Phi says brushing off the prickle that goes down her spine. She notices Steve is giving her that face though, like he wants to say something else but doesn’t know if he should, so she sighs. “What else is bothering you Rogers?”

“I just… A part of me wishes you would quit… quit being a superhero,” Steve blurts quickly, pushing some words together in his haste.

“What? Why? If you’re worried about my safety you have no room to talk because you do the exact same thing,” she says frowning and shifting so she’s facing him with her legs hanging over the side of the cot.

“It’s not that. The world… no, people, just tend to find beautiful things, use them, and then throw them away once they’re bored. All that’s left is a broken shell of what they used to be and I don’t want that to happen to you – don’t see how it hasn’t already, given your past.” Steve won’t look her in the eye now, choosing instead to stare at the floor. She can’t tell if he’s speaking from personal experience or not but she stands up and hugs him anyway. He’s surprised but hugs her back almost immediately, tightly just shy of painful.

“I haven’t broken yet Steve. We’ll be okay,” Phi assures him, muffled slightly from talking into his chest. She never wants that fate to fall on any of her teammates.

“The world hasn’t seen you yet though. After you go out on our first public mission they’re going to see your powers – they’re going to try and monopolize you. Shatter who you used to be,” he says, cupping the back of her head with one hand and Phi lays her ear against his chest in comfort.

“Guess you’ll have to be there to put me back together then, huh?” Phi asks, the end coming out with a dry laugh. She listens to the calming rhythm of Steve’s heart before she pulls back to look him in the eyes. “You can’t ever give up. That’s the breaking point. I’m stronger than you give me credit for though.”

“I know you’re strong,” Steve says, before cupping the side of Ophelia’s face and running a thumb across her cheekbone. “I just worry about you. I couldn’t stand seeing you get hurt. I don’t know what I would do – I don’t know what any of us would do – if something happened to you. You’re able to bring this team together in a way no one else can.”

“I can’t promise you nothing will ever happen, but just know I feel the same for all of you,” Phi says smiling, but there’s a sadness to it Steve doesn’t understand. Phi sees flashes of her reflection – that “Dark Phi” – she saw in her mind’s prison flicker behind her eyes. “I would do anything to keep you all safe.”

Steve chuckles. “That’s what worries me.” He stares at Phi a bit longer, torn between kissing her, but they have a mission to do so he drops his hand and smiles instead. “I’ll step outside and let you get changed.” He doesn’t miss the slight disappointed look that flashes across Phi’s face, so he adds in explanation: “The team is waiting on us.” She nods and he steps outside, pulling the door closed behind him.

It only takes Phi a few minutes to change into her tactical suit and then she and Steve are walking down the corridor towards the ground floor entrance. Steve unmutes his comm system. “Tony where are you guys now?” he asks.

“Out here behind the garage – North East corner – but we haven’t had any luck yet Cap,” Tony replies over the line. “You headed this way?”

“Yeah, be there soon,” Steve says and turns to Phi. They’re standing outside now, the front of SHIELD headquarters, where a round drive is laid in front of the double doors with the familiar bird crest in it. “Can you fly me too or are we walking?”

Phi just raises an eyebrow at him before her eyes glow orange and they’re both lifting off the ground. Steve tries not to move around too much while she flies them to Tony’s location and he actually enjoys it – the feeling of flying. He sees why Phi says it’s one of her favorite things to do. Steve spots Iron Man’s red armor and soon they’re both landing next to their other three team members.

“Steven, Phi, it is good to see you,” Thor says as greeting. Bruce nods and Tony flips over a rock, sarcastically looking under it.

“You too, Thor,” Phi replies. “Tony, what the hell are you doing?”

“You never know. Maybe there’s tiny Ant-People hiding under rocks planning to steal things from the base,” he says dryly. “Like that would happen. No, we haven’t had any luck seeing where someone could break in and steal the scepter. It’s four stories below ground for Christ’s sake. In a Vault. In the Vault. I think Sol-Aran was bluffing.”

“JARVIS hasn’t picked up anything in the scans either,” Bruce adds. Phi reaches out with her powers and tries to sense if anything is off but she comes up empty too. The base seems in order and she would know, she lived here for so many years.

“I got nada,” she informs them.

“Maybe he was just trying to buy himself some time. Come on, let’s go help Jeremiah finish scanning the floors,” Steve says. He’s not sure whether to be relieved they didn’t find anything or more apprehensive. Tony picks Bruce up under his arms and flies off first, followed by Thor and then Phi levitating herself and Steve.

“Natasha, can you give me Jeremiah’s team’s location?” Steve asks over the comm once they walk back in the front doors. The group passes through the lobby – earning stares from other agents – to the elevator. Windows usually let in a lot of natural light into the two-story space but as evening was approaching the LED lights were the main source for illumination. Phi always liked the glossy, gray tile floor throughout the room.

“They’re on S1,” Nat replies, indicating what sublevel they’re on. “They’ve already cleared all floors above that.” Thor reaches to push the elevator button but Phi uses her powers and beats him to it. The Asgardian looks around confused while Phi and Tony snicker to themselves. Bruce pats Thor on the shoulder.

“You’ll get used to it,” he says comfortingly.

“Thanks Natasha. Tell them we’ll meet them on S1. I’m sending Thor, Phi, and Bruce up to you. Jeremiah’s team, Tony, and I will join you guys after we’re done.” Steve steps into the elevator cab and ushers Tony to follow. “Guess you guys will have to take the next one,” Cap says, smiling before the doors close.

-***-

The Avengers, J’s team, and Agent Hill are all assembled in the security room where Clint is still watching footage. The walls are lined with other computer monitors showing live streams of the base and the room is dimmed – most of the light coming from screens. Everyone has moved desk chairs to sit in a disfigured circle except Clint. Everyone came back upstairs, their search proving unfruitful.

“But if he was bluffing why do it at all? If the plan was to strike while we’re distracted he missed the opportunity – ” Bruce is saying when Agent Hill’s phone rings quietly.

“Sorry,” she says before answering. After a few moments she turns and glares at Tony. “You didn’t.” He points at himself with an innocent expression and mouths ‘Me?’ “Yes, yes I understand. Just go ahead and send them up,” Maria says to whomever is on the phone and hangs up. “I cannot believe you ordered ten pizzas and had them delivered here!” She fusses.

“Oh calm down, Maria. It’s almost night and none of us have eaten dinner, so, out of the kindness of my stomach I ordered enough for everybody,” Tony says while spinning in his chair. Phi rolls over next to Tony and hugs him with one arm.

“Thank God I wasn’t the only one. My stomach is starting to eat itself,” Phi complains. Maria looks at Steve as if expecting him to chastise his children.

“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not going to turn down free food. It’s already here anyway,” Steve says, shrugging his shoulders.

“I’m glad we get to eat. Thanks, Tones,” J says, accompanied with nods from his team. There’s a knock at the door and Phi opens it with her powers, revealing an agent carrying ten pizza boxes.

“Don’t mention it,” Tony says in reply and walks over to get the boxes. “You, my friend, have just saved the world,” he says with fake seriousness to the young male agent before taking the food. The guy practically beams with delight and nods before walking off. “Alright, let’s get these sorted out and then we can talk about evil alien plans while eating.”

After everyone has their boxes to pick from, the previous conversation starts up again. “Bruce has a point. It’s uncomforting that nothing has happened yet. I mean, his ship is still up there and they know he didn’t come back,” says J around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza.

“Which means either we’re missing something or something hasn’t happened yet. Either way, we’re stuck running around like chickens with their heads cut off,” Tony says with a disgruntled face. “I don’t like not having the upper-hand. It’s like we don’t have any hand.”

“Well maybe we should check the records for everyone who has had access to the Vault within the last couple of days. See if anyone –” Phi is offering when Clint yells ‘there’ while pointing at the screen. Everyone goes silent and turns to him.

“I saw it! About four hours ago, in the Vault, the scepter looked like it vanished out of existence for a moment,” Clint explains.

“We need to get down there. Now,” Steve says, standing up and finishing his last bite of crust. “Phi, I want you and some of Jeremiah’s team to stay on Sol-Aran’s floor and guard him as a precautionary measure. The rest of us will go check out the Vault.”

“Yeah, also it could be a trap and we don’t want all our eggs in one basket,” Tony adds and Steve glares at him. “What? I’m being a realist.”

“Rick and I can go with Phi,” says Sal. “J should be there and Dante has experience with disabling bombs…just in case.”

“Natasha, you and Clint should stay up here in case the spaceship decides to pay a visit. All agents and personnel have been briefed on evacuation plans if something does happen,” Steve offers. No one objects and the atmosphere in the room shifts, everyone getting in the right headspace for a mission. Maria walks with them to the elevator outside the door.

“Good luck,” she says before the elevator doors close and her two best teams descend into the unknown. Phi, Rick, and Sal exit the elevator on S2 where Sol-Aran is being kept. Phi brushes her powers against Steve in comfort before they leave and he smiles in return. The three-man-team walks down the corridor to where the automated metal doors of Sol-Aran’s room are and stand outside.

The other five step off at the next floor with guns aimed and shield up. There’s nothing waiting for them as they exit the cab so they begin walking towards the Vault doors: Steve and J in the front followed by Tony and Dante, and Bruce at the rear. Once to the doors, Steve prompts for the keypad to open and enters his passcode in.

The two heavy, metal doors take longer to slide open than others on base but when they do it reveals the room seemingly normal. The layout is designed like a wheel, with the scepter on an elevated platform encased in a blue motion detector shield at the center, and shelves spanning out like spokes towards the exterior walls lined with crates full of data and artifacts. Bruce watches while everyone enters, going in different directions to canvas the room, and he stays outside to guard for an attack. The doors slide shut and he has to hope they’re all safe inside.

“Clear,” J says after he and Dante have searched the right side of the room.

“Clear,” Steve repeats back after he and Tony have done the same with the left. The four men meet back in the middle by the scepter. Tony disables the security shield surrounding the weapon so he can do a scan. It only takes a few seconds.

“It would appear that this scepter is a hologram designed to represent the same weight as the original. The schematic is almost identical,” informs JARVIS. Tony relays the information out loud to the others.

“Shit. So who the hell took the real one?” asks J angrily.

-***-

            “You think one of us should go in there and check on the guy?” asks Sal as they all muddle around outside Sol-Aran’s chamber.

            “Considering I might kill the guy, I’m not the best candidate,” Phi says smirking.

            “Your idea. You get to deal with the crazy blue man,” says Rick, shaking his head. “I don’t wanna deal with him either.” Sal grumbles a ‘fine’ and then opens the doors to go inside.

            “Striker, the scepter has been stolen. We’re going to look around the Vault for clues before we come up,” informs Steve over the comm. “Keep your eyes open.”

            “Will do, Cap. You guys be safe too,” Phi replies over her comm.

            “Is there, uh, something going on between you and the Captain?” Rick asks while facing forwards, seemingly keeping watch.

            “What? No! No, why would you think that?” Phi asks, turning red.

            Rick smiles at how flustered she is. “No reason. He just seems different when he’s with you. And that giant-ass grin you just flashed was a clue too,” he says.

            “Rick this is so not the place for a protective big brother talk,” Phi chastises him but her smile lessens its impact.

            “I do have to agree. Hardly the place for such talk,” says Sal, reemerging from the doors. Phi can hear something off in his voice but before she can even turn around a gun fires and Rick screams in pain before falling to the floor and clutching his stomach. She’s about to attack Sal when she feels a sharp prick in her neck and reaches up to feel a syringe.

            She sees Sol-Aran’s face smiling down at her after she falls to the floor. Phi turns her head to see Rick staring at her with eyes full of fear and pain. She summons all the strength she has left to cast her powers out towards Steve, two stories below, laced with panic and terror. Phi closes her eyes and doesn’t open them again.

            “Okay human, we must get to my ship; it still sits where we first landed. Pick her up so we can leave,” Sol-Aran says as he pulls out some piece of Kree technology – a black rectangle with glowing cyan veins all over. Sal picks Phi up and throws her body over his shoulder while Sol-Aran walks towards the elevator.

            “What about him?” Sal asks, gesturing his head towards Rick, still lying on the floor and bleeding heavily. Sol-Aran steps inside the elevator and turns to face the agent.

            “He’ll die before they reach him,” the Kree says, smiling darkly. The three ascend to the third floor where the hanger and landing pad are and as soon as the elevator doors close behind them Sol-Aran shuts off all power to the base, including backup generators, with the device in his hands.

-***-

            Steve and the rest of the team are searching for clues in the Vault when the leader feels Phi’s powers brush against him but instead of comfort bring fear and panic. “Guys, something is wrong. We need to get to Ophelia,” he yells to the others in the room. They make their way back towards the Vault doors when suddenly the room goes dark – not even the emergency lights kick on.

            “Tony what’s happening?” Steve demands, but Tony is already scanning the building and trying to find an answer. “Open the doors!”

            “Something took out the base’s power source. There’s no way for me to get it back online from here. JARVIS says the signal came from… floor S2 originally but is now on 3.” Steve punches the Vault wall, leaving a dent in the steel. Before Tony can offer a theory on how to open the heavy doors, Steve moves into action.

            “Get down!” the Captain yells before launching his shield at one door, denting it, and following directly behind it with his fist. The combo puts a sizable dent in the door but doesn’t break through. Steve punches again and again until his knuckles are bleeding and surely broken.

            “Steve, move,” Tony says, gently pushing the man from the doors. “Banner, something has happened to Phi. We would really appreciate it if these doors weren’t here,” Tony says over the comm to Bruce, just outside the Vault doors. “Everyone might want to step back.”

            As soon as Tony offered the advice, the doors began to creak and bend in on themselves before being ripped from the walls completely and thrown into the hallway. Tony was sure alarms would be blaring if there was any power. With the light from his hands and chestplate everyone could make out Hulk’s silhouette standing in the opening.

            “Good job, buddy!” Tony praises as he walks towards Hulk. Thor and Steve follow but J and Dante hang back in the Vault and Tony notices their hesitation. “Uh, I would tell you not to worry, but really there’s no predicting what he’ll do with strangers sometimes. Maybe wait there for a bit, yeah?” The two other agents just nod, scared, which is to be expected at your first meeting with the Hulk.

            “Phi,” Hulk says as the four men walk down the hall.

            “We aren’t sure what happened Hulk. We just know something is wrong,” Steve offers as Tony scans the hallway looking for an alternate exit since the elevator is down.

            “There appears to be an emergency evacuation tunnel 118 feet to your left, sir, but no handle or command is present to open it,” JARVIS says.

            “Here,” Tony says pointing his hands at the place on the wall JARVIS indicated. “There’s a tunnel that should lead outside somewhere but there’s no way to open it.” Steve smiles at Tony and then turns to Bruce and points at the wall.

            “Hulk, smash,” the Captain says and Hulk grins before pummeling through the wall. “Run as fast as you can, we’ll be right behind you.” With that Banner takes off, Thor flying behind him. Steve walks a little back towards the Vault. “Jeremiah, we found an exit. Should lead to outside. You guys can come on behind us, we’ll be traveling fast. If something happened to Ophelia something may have also happened to Rick…” He trails off as J and Dante step over the doors lying on the ground.

            “Bring her back, Captain,” J says, nodding. With that, Tony grabs Steve under the arms and takes off down the tunnel. With the suit’s speed, they soon catch up to Thor and Hulk, but by Tony’s scans they’re almost out of the tunnel.

            “Sir, I’m picking up readings that the Kree ship has departed from the landing pad.” Tony curses under his breath.

            “Steve, they’re going to be up in the sky by the time we get there. Sol-Aran is on his ship. How do we know Phi is with him?” Tony asks.

            “She’s not dead I would have… I can tell. He said he would take her and the scepter so I’m betting he’s keeping good on his word. We’ll just follow them Tony; they can’t be that fast,” Steve says right before they hear the first boom. The vibrations shake the walls of the tunnel.

            “That does not sound pleasant,” observes Thor.

            “Captain, the main Kree ship has entered our atmosphere and is attacking the base,” Nat says over the comm system. “We saw the security footage before the power went out. Sal helped Sol-Aran escape, shot Rick, drugged Phi, and now they’re about half a mile away.” Steve bites his lip to keep from swearing.

            “Stark, as soon as we clear the tunnel throw me onto Sol-Aran’s ship. You take down the force field surrounding the new Kree ship. Thor you help with evac until the shields are down then assist in offense. Clint get in the quinjet to pick up Phi and me; Nat, Banner is gonna need a lullaby,” Steve orders in full Captain America mode. Hulk smashes through the door sealing the other end of the tunnel and sunlight pours in.

            All of the men take in the sight of the new Kree ship attacking, fires scattered and debris piled up from explosions all around the SHIELD base. Tony keeps flying up while Thor turns left and heads down to help those trapped below, Hulk following behind him. JARVIS calculates the speed, distance, and trajectory needed for Steve’s best chances of landing on the Kree ship. “Go get ‘em, Cap,” Tony says before hurling Steve towards the alien craft. Once he’s sure that Steve makes the landing, Tony banks left towards the other attacking ship. He can see Thor on the ground tossing rubble for people to escape.

            “Thor, can you hit the doors for the hanger with a lightning bolt? I can’t open them without electricity,” Clint says over the comm. Thor raises his hammer towards the sky and clouds roll in, providing the lightning the god needs before bright light strikes the hanger doors. Clint slams his hand on the button while a surge of energy goes through and the metal slides open just enough for the quinjet to fly through.

            The Kree ship attacks again, firing a missile that grazes the East side of the base but blows a hole in the side of the structure. Tony curses again while coming to a stop just outside of the ship’s force field.

            “JARVIS, find me a weak spot and where the shield’s power source is hiding.”

            “There appears to be a small breach in the shield where ships usually dock. Underneath the ‘wing’ on the right side.” Tony laughs at JARVIS’s tone because the AI also finds the ship’s design unpleasant – he did design him after-all. He ducks low, below where the frontal force field is and heads toward the weak spot, blasting through the side of the ship. Tony flies through a docking bay similar to Earth designs and dodges teal blasts from Kree aboard the ship.

            JARVIS navigates him to the room likeliest to house the power source while Tony starts blasting any Kree he sees. When he arrives outside the door, Tony attaches a computer chip to the panel that allows entrance and fries the system so the rough metal door slides open and he lets out a triumphant ‘Ha!’

            Upon entering, Tony sees a beacon of orange light in the center that disappears into the black ceiling. He fires a laser at it but the light only grows brighter.

            “It appears the energy source is similar to your arc reactor. Attacks with lasers will only increase the output,” informs JARVIS.

            “Then what do you suggest we do, buddy?” Tony asks, while blasting two Kree that come running down the hall towards him. He could blow it up but there’s no guarantee that would even work for disabling the shields and then he would have to hope he clears the blast radius…

            “You could always try the power button, located to your right, sir,” JARVIS drawls.

            “Oh. Wow, that’s uncharacteristically convenient,” Tony says, surprised, as he pushes the glowing orange button. The beam of light slowly shrinks until it winks out of existence. “I’m pretty sure the shields are down now guys. Give me a minute to make my exit.”

            “Success! Good job Man of Iron,” Thor praises over the comm link.

            “Well thank you Thor for being the only one to recognize my hard work,” Tony says in an almost scandalized voice. A synchronized ‘busy’ comes from Nat, Clint, and Steve. Tony flies back through the ship the way he entered, dodging occasional blasts from the crew still alive. He finally bursts through the hole he made upon entering and breaks into open sky. Tony looks down to see the main ship has done some decent damage to the base, but avoided main areas of the building most likely populated – so mainly just a get-away distraction then.

            “Alright, clear, have at ‘em guys,” he says, diving down and rounding to fire on the ship himself. The sound of Iron Man’s lasers and the rain of gunfire from the quinjet are chorused by thunder as Thor hits the ship with multiple bolts of lightning – all directly making their mark now that the shields are down.

            Meanwhile, Steve is fighting his way through locked doors on the ship – mostly by ripping them out of the wall. He’s gone through three different chambers with no luck finding Phi yet. He sends his shield flying into the next door, and it goes easily enough, while Steve catches his shield returning just as he jumps through the hole. He breathes in relief as an unconscious Phi is seen lying on the ground behind a glass wall. Distracted by his emotions, Steve gets thrown back into the previous room from somebody slamming into him. He jumps up immediately and goes to throw his shield when he’s surprised to see Sol-Aran standing directly in front of him. Faltering, the Kree’s right hook connects with Steve’s face and sends Captain America flying into another wall.

            “Did you think we would just let you take her?” Sol-Aran drawls as Steve wipes blood from his mouth. He steps closer to the wall Steve is leaning his back against. “Don’t worry, Captain, we won’t take her into space quite yet. But I’m afraid you won’t be alive to see when we do,” Sol-Aran punctuates his sentence by slamming down a lever on the wall causing a hatch door to open directly behind Steve. The air outside grabs him and pulls him out of the ship before he can catch the opening and then Steve is left hurling through the air watching the jet – watching Phi – get farther away.

            “I need a lift somebody. Ground is getting too close for comfort,” Steve says over the comm before taking his shield and positioning it below his body for impact, just in case.

            “Tony, if I open the quinjet doors can you push the Captain inside?” Clint asks. “He’s falling too fast for you to grab him.” After an affirmative from Iron Man, Steve watched through squinted eyes as Hawkeye positioned the quinjet’s rear doors perpendicular to himself yards below. Tony flies up underneath him across from the jet’s doors, now open.

            “Try not to break too many things playing pinball, Cap. Tech is expensive,” Tony gripes, and with that thrusts Steve inside the quinjet. He does bounce off quite a few walls before he manages to stop the momentum. “Damage report?” Tony asks, flying back towards the still-attacking Kree ship.

            “I don’t think I broke anything impor-” Steve cuts off, seeing the coffee maker smashed inside the wall. He looks at Clint with wide eyes full of fear.

            “What? Why did you cut off?” Tony questions. Clint shakes his head no quickly.

            “I’m not tellin’ him,” the archer says.

            “Tell me what? Guys! Rogers, what did you-” He doesn’t get to finish, distracted by the Kree ship turning sharply and beginning to head back towards space. “Cinnamon Twist is bailing on us!” Tony says, shocked.

            “Nat, are you and Bruce back in the building yet? How’s the power?” Steve asks over the comm link.

            “Yeah. Whatever Sol-Aran did to the power must have eventually turned off or got destroyed in the attack. Bruce and I are in the main control tower.”

            “Good. Can you tell where Sol-Aran’s ship went?” The quinjet’s windshield has a lot of cracks from weapons fired by the main Kree ship, making it difficult to see out.

            “I’m pretty sure it’s on your ten, but the exiting Kree ship is blocking your path.”

            “We’ve gotta get Phi back. I’m on it,” Tony says, flying through the falling debris of the larger Kree ship. He’s almost clear when Clint yells:

            “Stark watch out!” But it’s too late. The large piece of metal collides with Tony, sending him spiraling towards the ground.

            “He’s not slowing down, he’s not slowing down,” Nat says hurriedly. All of the Avengers were thrown back to the scene of Tony falling from the sky after fighting the Chitauri.

Thor shakes the memory off and begins spinning his hammer above his head before taking off too catch Tony. “I’ve got him.”

After Tony hits his arms they both get slung fast to the ground, splitting the earth open in their wake like a meteor, landing next to the base. As Clint turns the quinjet around to dock on the ground next to Tony and Thor, Steve watches the enemy jet, now a dot on the horizon, disappear with Striker on board.

Hours later in the medical wing waiting room, Steve is once again pacing the hall, the rest of the team watching him with concern. Everyone’s eyes occasionally flick to Tony’s door, watching for movement, in case he were to miraculously heal.

“I shouldn’t have let her use her powers in front of him. Then he wouldn’t have taken her too,” Steve finally grits out, running a hand through his hair.

“You don’t know that, Steve. Sal could have either told them before or planned on kidnapping Phi already,” Nat tries to reassure him but their leader just huffs through his nose, obviously still blaming himself and too emotional to see logic.

“It doesn’t matter because Ophelia is gone, Tony is in a coma with a seriously messed up arm, Thor got injured, and the base is a mess. I’m the team leader and the responsibility falls to me.” The room is silent for a few minutes until Thor emerges from another room a ways down the hall.

“Friends, do not worry on my account,” Thor says as he enters the waiting space. “My actions to protect my friends are no responsibility of yours, Steven. I would gladly do it again.” The Norse god sits in one of the chairs, seemingly unhurt except for bruises and scrapes. The rest of the team nods in agreement with Thor’s comment.

“We were able to track the Tesseract,” Bruce offers as a different conversation subject. I can try to do the same with the scepter. They give off similar gamma radiation signals. For some reason Sol-Aran is keeping it on Earth. I’m betting it’s for whomever Sal is working for.” They saw Steve perk up from his slouched position and a small bit of hope returned to his eyes. “I’ll go ahead and get started. You all need to shower because Coulson is going to get mad about the blood stains… again,” Bruce finishes, pointing at the smeared vinyl chairs. The team offers him a small smile and he nods before heading off towards the stairs. “You know where to find me,” he says over his shoulder.

“Until we hear an update on Tony’s condition, we can help with the clean-up the attack caused,” Steve says and then leaves the room to head down the opposite stairwell. He needed to shower, needed to calm down, needed to be alone. For right now he was just resisting breaking everything in sight – feeling useless for not being able to save Ophelia.

“Think he’s gonna be okay?” Clint asks after the room is quiet for a moment, the echoes of the door slamming behind Steve fading.

“I don’t think any of us will be until Tony is awake and we get Phi back,” Natasha offers.

“I am sorry for the loss of your comrade,” Thor says. But Natasha flinches slightly, the line sounding too much like Phi is gone permanently. “I believe I should return to Asgard and report to my father what has happened. He may also have more information regarding Sol-Aran and how to locate the scepter.” Clint stands and claps Thor on the shoulder – the action would have made a regular Midgardian wince with those injuries.

“Just don’t be gone too long this time. The Tower is quiet without you and all our Poptarts expired,” Clint says, smiling, before moving to the edge of the waiting room. Natasha stands to follow Clint out, smiling at Thor’s boisterous laugh that followed Clint’s remark.

“Go on. We’ll watch after the others,” Nat says to Thor before she and Clint leave the same direction Steve had gone. Thor returns to the landing pad he arrived on, before being enveloped in the familiar light of the Bifrost.

Chapter Text

            When Thor arrives on Asgard, Heimdall is waiting to greet him as usual. “I see the Kree have retreated back to the safety of space,” the gatekeeper observes. Thor pats him good-naturedly on the shoulder and gives a nod of greeting.

            “Yes, but I fear it was only a distraction. My new comrade Ophelia and the scepter were what they sought all along. Sol-Aran was most likely captured on purpose and the attack was to cloak their escape.” Heimdall hums in agreement.

            “You know how I see beings, correct? Each one is like a glowing light, with different colors and with different brightness, where often beings with significant impacts on their world glowing brighter than others. The Avengers, yourself included, all emanate a bright white light whereas most humans glow blue, but Ophelia…she shines the bright yellow intensity of a sun. When I could see her it was easy to tell how connected to the world around her she was because of the powers she possesses.”

            “She most certainly has a presence about her,” Thor says, smiling. “Wait… you cannot see her anymore?” he asks, changing to mildly panicked, hoping Heimdall would be able to help.

            “No. Nor the scepter. I fear Sol-Aran has used some magic or Kree technology to shroud them from me,” Heimdall says regretfully.

            Thor shakes his head. “This Kree man is troubling. Where is Father?”

            “He resides in the Throne Room at the moment, speaking to some citizens.” Thor nods his head in thanks before walking out to the rainbow bridge, only to take off flying towards the palace – no time to lose. Thor pushes through the large double doors to enter the throne room and kneels upon the red rug that extends the length of the center aisle.

            “Father, I wish to have private council with you. It is urgent.” The room is completely silent in the few seconds it takes Odin to reply.

            “Of course, my son,” the King replies, standing. Thor stands after receiving an answer as well and Odin apologizes quietly to the citizens he was speaking with before descending the few stairs from his chair. “Come – this way,” Odin gestures for Thor to follow him out of a side entrance onto the balcony they often speak on. Thor loves the whole view of Asguard it offers. Upon his father clearing his throat, the prince asks his first question.

            “Do you know of a Kree man called Sol-Aran?” Odin, whom is still Loki in disguise, cannot hide his surprised expression at the familiar name, but Thor takes no notice of it. While working with Thanos to originally acquire the scepter, Loki heard him speak of Ronan and Sol-Aran on multiple occasions.

            “I do. Sol-Aran was the second-in-command for a terrorist known as Ronan. You may have heard about his most recent and final attack on the planet Xandar but was stopped by some misfits calling themselves The Guardians of the Galaxy,” Odin explains. “Sol-Aran was in charge of their base on Kree-Lar while Ronan pursued an orb containing an infinity stone. I assume you have not brought the scepter back.”

            “No, Father. Sol-Aran came to Earth and stole it, along with the Avengers’ newest member,” Thor informs him, shaking his head. “Their large ship remains close to Earth in space but I believe Sol-Aran stayed on the planet, with the scepter, for some reason. Heimdall cannot track them anymore either.”

            “The Kree specialize in stealth for attacks. They have a great cloaking technology referred to as the aura of negativity, which is what prevents even Heimdall from tracking them,” Odin explains then waits a moment. “Why did he also take the Avenger?”

            “Her name is Ophelia, but she also goes by Striker. Captain Rogers said she possesses powers that are not easy to comprehend. He said something about her being able to control atoms,” Thor says – not fully knowing the extent of Phi’s powers, nor the explanation through Earth’s science. Odin’s eyes open wide in shock.

            “Thor, that means she can control everything. I’ve never heard of a human having such powers.” At this, Thor raises a questioning eyebrow.

            “Everything?” Thor asks, making an encompassing circle motion with his hands. Odin sighs in frustration – a bit of Loki leaking through.

            “Atoms make up everything in the physical world,” Odin begins explaining but seems to have an epiphany. “The scepter will give them knowledge and Ophelia will be the key.”

            “The key to what, Father?”

            “The key to evolution. The key to the Kree winning their blasted war that has been happening for hundreds of thousands of years between themselves and the Skrulls. The Crystal of Ultimate Vision froze their genetic coding in place to prevent further evolution. Since then they have sought out ways to circumvent this. Their genetics are similar to humans because they are still a young race,” Odin says, allowing for the pieces to fall together for Thor.

            “You believe Sol-Aran intends to test on humans with Ophelia’s DNA to see if the results would possibly work on the Kree race as well,” Thor states. The god of thunder is already dreading telling the Avengers this news, especially Steve. Hopefully they will keep Ophelia alive for all of this.

            “Exactly!” Odin says, sounding too much like Loki, causing Thor to give him a questioning look. Loki just continues explaining, hoping to distract his brother. “They already developed a weapon with similar capabilities to her powers, called the Psyche-Magnetron, but their bodies cannot withstand the radiation and usually die soon after exposure.”

            “We must find her and the scepter then before the Kree take her back to Kree-Lar. They would be the most powerful race in the galaxy with that type of weapon. Do you know of a way to track them, Father?” Loki is relieved as Thor’s skepticism fades quickly.

            “I’m afraid not. With their advanced cloaking technologies neither Earth nor Asguard has means to track them. I will contact Xandar though to notify them of Sol-Aran’s whereabouts. He is still wanted for treason and they will be able to remove the ship to eliminate its threat to Earth,” Odin explains.

            Thor nods. “Will they make contact with Earth to remove Sol-Aran?”

            “From the few interactions I’ve had with their council, they do not believe Earth is ready for inter-realm communication – except maybe a select few at SHIELD. Humans have already had a glimpse that they are not alone with the Chitauri attack, and it did not bode well. The wound is too fresh to meet any other extraterrestrials.” Thor nods again in agreement.

            “Thank you, Father. Give my best to Sif and the others,” Thor says, before giving a shallow bow. He exits after saying farewell to Odin, walking back out through the Throne Room, before taking off towards the rainbow bridge. When he reaches the Bifrost again, Heimdall seems surprised to see him.

            “Back so soon? It has been many months since you visited home,” the gatekeeper greets.

            “Oh, like you did not already know I was headed back,” Thor says with a smile. Heimdall returns the smile with a short laugh. “Keeping the Realms at peace is one of my responsibilities.”

            “Eavesdropping is rude; although, I know someone on Earth who may be able to assist in finding Ophelia,” Heimdall offers.

            “Really?” Thor asks enthusiastically. “Well get on with it.”

            “No patience, as usual,” he chides the prince. “His name is Charles Xavier, some call him Professor X, and he presides over the mutants called the X-Men.”

            “I believe I have read about them in some of SHIELD’s files. Thank you, my friend,” Thor says, clapping Heimdall on the shoulder again. “It is important we find her.” The gatekeeper is looking, not at Thor, but distantly into all the nine realms, seeing pieces fall into place across light years of distance.

            “You have no idea how unbelievably correct you are,” Heimdall says, coming back to himself. Before Thor can reply, he is consumed by the light of the Bifrost.

            Phi can’t open her eyes. She’s not sure why. She can’t move her body either and when she reaches out with her powers, nothing around her is familiar. Panic floods through her. She can’t stand the dark again. She can’t be trapped in her mind again…

            “She’s waking up! Give her another sedative. Now!” Phi tries to fight but that darkness pulls her back under again.

            “You want us to go ask some guy, whom none of us know, to help find Phi? What makes you think Bruce won’t find her?” Tony asks, sitting propped up in his hospital bed, the team all squeezed in the room around him. It’s night now, so the only light in the room comes from the bright LED lights above. After Thor arrived back at SHIELD, the team informed him Tony had woken up about two hours prior and was fine minus his fractured arm and severely bruised ribs. The god just finished explaining what his father and Heimdall said. Tony continued: “I thought it was the less people who know about Phi, the better.”

            “Heimdall said Charles Xavier could help and I trust his judgment. The All-Father also told me the Kree have very advanced cloaking abilities,” Thor also explains. “We will not be able to find them using regular technology from here or Asgard.” He may not know Ophelia very well, but based on how stressed the team is in her absence, he looks forwards to becoming friends – silver lining. “This girl has really impacted all of you,” Thor observes. No one says anything, avoiding eye contact and any display of emotion, except the small smiles they all share with their own memory of Phi.

            Thor sighs at all of them. “I believe the Professor is our greatest chance. Heimdall said it was important we find Ophelia. This is how we do so,” he concludes.

            “And we’re going to leave SHIELD defenseless with that ship –” Bruce begins.

            “Cinnamon Twist. Black Twizler. Manta Ray?” Tony interjects.

            “– still being a threat?” Bruce finishes unfazed. Tony pouts that no one likes his names. And that no one is enjoying his pain-pill-high with him.

            “Well, if Odin contacts Xandar, they should remove it soon enough. We can wait to go see Xavier until it’s no longer a threat,” says Natasha. “But the school is only about an hour away by quinjet.”

            “I want to go as soon as we can too, but a lot of damage can happen in an hour,” voices Clint. “I think we should stay until it’s gone – then go talk to the X-Men.” Everyone looks at Steve, who hasn’t spoken since the conversation began.

            The Captain clears his throat. “I think we should go.” He looks down at the file in his hand, reading the name Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters one more time. “We’ll wait three days maximum for Xandar to remove the ship, and if it’s still there we’ll go to see Xavier regardless.” His tone left no room for argument and the team nodded in agreement.

            The team only had to wait about a day and a half before they were radioed over their comm that the ship had activity. Its presence had also caused a disturbance among the public, being broadcast on news stations, causing fear of a repeat attack from almost a year ago. From the SHIELD base they watched as a shadow of multiple other ships – maybe five or six, slightly smaller – surrounded the larger Kree one and within minutes they were all gone.

            “We repeat, the ship is now gone from view. We are not sure at this moment what exactly happened. The official statement from the White House says it was a larger satellite that has now left the atmosphere, but others are claiming it as another alien ship. Either way, Earth is now once again safe from –” Tony turned the television in his hospital room off, cutting off the reporter’s speech. He swings his legs carefully over the side of the gurney, wincing at the pain it causes his ribs.

            “They’re all idiots if they think we’re safe,” he scoffs to himself. He unhooks the IV from his hand and stands up slowly. His arm still hurts, about the same as his ribs, but the cast and sling make it hard to move around, let alone put on clothes. Tony manages to get his pants on but has to call in a nurse to help with his shirt. The woman walks in and looks startled to see him.

            “Yes, I know, shirtless Tony Stark. Amazing. Now please help me become un-shirtless so I don’t blind anyone else with my beauty.”

            “Mr. Stark, you aren’t supposed to be up and moving around! You just got out of surgery two days ago!” The woman flusters around him. She goes to pick up the phone to call who-knows-who but Tony grabs her wrist.

            “Look. I’m fine. I’ve done this tango before, and I hate hospitals. I have to go with the Avengers to help them find Phi. So either you help me put my shirt on or I just walk out of here without it,” Tony gives her his face he reserves for scaring bad guys and she breaks.

            “Alright, alright. I can’t condone it, but here, let me help get this on,” the nurse says. After a few minutes of struggling, Tony is finally righted, wearing his Jackie Chan DJ shirt with the sling back in place. He’s about to grab his ear wick and insert it when his phone rings. He sees Pepper’s face appear and grimaces slightly before answering.

            “Yes darling?”

            “Tony! I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to fly in and see you. Phil called to let me know you had gotten hurt. Are you okay? Are you resting?” Pepper chatters from across the line.

            “Pep, I’m fine. Uh, yeah, I’m resting in the hospital. Nurse…” Tony looks at the nametag the nurse who just helped him is wearing. “Sierra just helped me settle in.”

            “You aren’t lying, right? The Avengers can function a few days without you. You need to rest, Tony.” He sighs. This seems to be their only interaction anymore. Over the phone and just Pepper telling him to rest or eat. He feels like they’ve reverted back to just being best friends and he is kind of okay with that. Tony’s not sure what to feel, really.

            “Look, Pep. I would love too. But I’m sure Phil has already told you they kidnapped Phi and you sure as hell know I’m not going to just sit around while they’re doing God knows what to her. It’s not who I am. I do appreciate the concern, I really do. And we need to talk. In person. Soon,” Tony finishes, hoping he didn’t sound curt.

            “I know, Tony,” Pepper says in that voice like she already knows everything he wants to talk about. She probably does – it’s one of the reasons he loves her. “Take care, okay?”

            “You too. Love you,” Tony says, smiling at the familiar words.

            “Love you. Bye,” Pepper finishes.

            “Bye.” Tony slips his phone into his pocket and puts the wick into his ear. He looks up to see the nurse still standing there, giving him this sort of bittersweet smile. Before she can say anything that might make Tony feel even more emotional than he is, he offers a thank you for helping him and then leaves the room to head towards the stairwell.

            “Cap, where are you guys? I’m going with you,” Tony asks over the comm.

            “We’re headed towards the quinjet now, but Tony, are you really okay to –”

            “Steve. I’m going,” Tony offers no argument.

            “Alright,” Steve offers. “Make it quick.”

            Coulson had encouraged them to go see Professor Xavier, having met the man before and quite admiring him. He reminded them to behave and warned them not to piss off Wolverine, whoever the heck that was, and waves them off as they leave on the quinjet towards the school.

            The team debates whether or not to wear their uniforms, but upon deciding that neither Clint’s nor Nat’s actually concealed their identity, Bruce’s was a no-go, and everyone already knew Tony Stark was Iron Man, it seemed kind of pointless.

            “We should probably work on that whole secret identity thing,” Clint remarks. They all just shrug and agree they’ll get to it eventually.

            They feel a bit ridiculous just walking up and ringing the mansion’s door bell, but it seems like the only option, so. After a few minutes of them shuffling in front of the front door and Tony’s third comment about selling Girl Scout cookies, the door finally opens to reveal a very grumpy looking man smoking a cigar. He is almost the same size as Steve – a feat in itself – but much hairier, with his hair coming to slight points on either side of his head.

            The man removed the cigar and scowled. “Well, what d’you want?”

            “We’re here to speak with Professor Charles Xavier if he’s avail –” Steve begins but is cut off by the door shutting in their faces.

            “Well isn’t he just a hairy ball of sunshine?” Tony asks sarcastically. The door opens again a few seconds later to show instead a smaller man with glasses and a friendly smile.

            “Sorry about that. Come on in – the Professor has been expecting you,” he says opening the door. The Avengers walk into a grand foyer covered in warm-hued wood panels and chevron parquet floors. A large, curved staircase is located directly in the middle as a focal point. “My name is Hank,” the second man to open the door offers. “Please ignore Logan. He’s just…” Insufferable, rude, paranoid, and protective all cross Hank’s mind but he settles on “Logan.” Logan snarls from where he’s leaning against the stair banister for emphasis.

“This way,” Hank motions for them to follow after rolling his eyes at Logan, causing Steve to smile to himself. Their exchange reminds him of how they treat each other back in the tower – like family. Logan brings up the rear, already bantering with Tony about something. Natasha and Clint are looking everywhere, heads swiveling, taking in as much information as they can. Bruce is fidgeting awkwardly while Thor just smiles to himself while walking jovially behind Steve as they walk through the corridors.

“You said he knew we were coming?” Steve asks as Hank stops in front of a set of double wooden doors. The other man nods.

“He always just seems to know.” Hank knocks on the door and a voice from the other side gives them permission to enter. He opens the door and stands back, motioning with his hand for Steve and the others to proceed inside.

Steve takes in the man sitting by his desk – the initial physical attributes – bald, kind eyes, and electric wheelchair. He then takes in the instinctual first impression – the initial feelings he gets – of kindness and trust, very similar to when he first met Ophelia. This person is special and his open, honest smile towards Steve promises a safe haven and the hope that everything will be okay. There was silence for a few moments until Steve clears his throat.

“Professor, we’re here to –”

“I know,” Charles says easily, after Steve starts. They all just look slightly confused while Hank just smiles.

“Newbies,” Logan scoffs before walking back outside of the office.

“I am a telepath, Steven, so I can read all of your minds… although I am having trouble with yours, Natasha. Quite strong mental walls,” Charles explains, still smiling warmly.

“Let’s keep it that way,” Nat replies, smiling way too brightly for it to be real.

“You might want to stay out of mine – it’s a wreck,” says Tony, alleviating a bit of tension. Charles raises an eyebrow at him.

“It’s not very nice to scan people’s houses without asking first,” Charles chides lightly. Tony just looks at the ceiling, obviously busted. “And your mind is quite fascinating, Tony. We will have to talk about your arc reactor some time.” Tony grins and everyone else sighs, even Steve putting his face in his palm.

“Please, please don’t get him started,” Clint pleads.

“Yes, Steven, I can help you find Ophelia. I will have to use Cerebro, but it gives me the ability to sense mutants from anywhere. Also, with her powers being so strong and unique, she should be easier to find… as long as she’s not too far away.” Steve is having to adjust to the professor answering his questions before asking them.

“What about their cloaking technology?” Bruce asks. “Will you still be able to find her?”

“We’ll just have to hope my powers are stronger than their technology, but I can assure you I’ve had many years to hone my skills,” Charles answers, smiling.

“You’re the best, Professor X,” Tony says enthusiastically. “You find our Phi and I might just have to kiss you.” Charles raises an amused eyebrow while the rest of the team just groans.

“I’m sorry,” Steve apologizes. “He’s always like that.”

“Judging by all of your memories that just flashed through your head, I can see that,” Charles says. “Hank, why don’t you show the Avengers around the estate? They can meet some of the students.” The professor rolls past Steve and places a hand on the wall, causing the wood panel to slide open, revealing an elevator.

“Of course, Professor. Wait till you meet everyone. I promise they’re friendlier than Logan,” Hank says excitedly, moving towards the door.

“I want one of those,” Tony says, pointing towards the secret elevator.

“Only if you’re good,” Clint mocks as the team exits the room.

“Hank’s going to have his hands full with them,” Steve says, smiling fondly at the doorway. A pang of pain hits Steve’s chest when he realizes how much Phi would have loved meeting other mutants.

“We don’t get many guests,” Steve hears a voice say in his head, causing his brows to bunch in confusion.

“Please accompany me, Steven,” is all Charles says before stepping into the elevator.

“Of course,” the team leader says before following him inside. “So you can project thoughts into others’ minds too?” Steve asks after the elevator starts descending.

“It’s easy in close proximity, but harder for people to lie, as well as emotions transfer easier,” Charles explains. “I asked you to come not only as their Captain but because it seems as though you have an… imprint of sorts on your mind regarding Ophelia. A familiarity with her mind, if you will, none of the others had.”

Steve flushes before mentally answering. “Well, she used to use her powers to become more familiar with my presence pretty regularly. Ophelia said it’s easier to recognize and control the atoms if she’s around them a lot. It was strange at first because it feels like she’s seeing you laid bare, with no boundaries for your own protection… I just got used to it eventually and it became more comforting.”

Charles smiles. “I can feel your deep affection for her through the link.”

Before Steve can think of a reply, the professor is exiting the elevator. Steve follows to step out into a large corridor, mostly covered in stainless steel or aluminum. The glossy, white floors and metal walls reflect a lot of light, making the corridor appear very bright. They both move to the end of the hall where two large doors are in the shape of a half circle. Once Charles approaches, a mechanical female voice greets him. A scanner slides out from the wall where he once again places his hand for access.

Steve watches as the two doors rotate upwards after access is granted, revealing a large, spherical room that’s dotted with devices all around it. He follows behind the professor onto a balcony where a helmet of some sort sits at the end. The doors close behind them, but instead of being immersed in darkness, a low red-magenta light comes on.

“I must say, Ophelia’s powers are extraordinary. She’s similar to a telekinetic except it goes down to an atomical level. Many telekinetics I’ve met have a difficult time even feeling molecules, let alone atoms. I would have loved to have her study here,” Charles says after allowing Steve to take in his surroundings. He picks up the helmet that has multiple chords coming from it and places it on his head.

“She’s definitely extraordinary but I don’t think it’s her powers which make her so… She reminds me quite a bit of you, Professor,” Steve says. He hasn’t known Charles Xavier for more than twenty minutes, but by interacting with him and communicating telepathically, he has a good sense of the professor’s core characteristics – his good intentions and large heart. Charles did say emotions transferred easier through the link.

“Really now? Perhaps after she is recovered, she would like to study here eventually. I’m sure she would like to learn more about her powers and have even greater control over them,” Charles offers. Steve watches as the room brightens as spider web-like tendrils of red-magenta light connect and intertwine from the devices all over the walls.

“I’m… I’m sure she would like that, Professor,” Steve finally manages to say. He can’t see everything Charles does. The individual mutants Charles is sifting through just look like brighter light orbs to Steve, but the professor is searching for Ophelia’s presence.

“I’ll be sure to invite her then,” Charles says after a moment. He knows Ophelia well from looking into Steve’s mind but he needs a better understanding. “Steven, is it okay if I look deeper into your mind to grasp a better understanding of Ophelia? It will help searching for her.” Steve agrees and feels a tug at his mind before someone is rifling through his memories. First seeing Striker in the Tower lobby is splashed behind his closed eyelids before it switches to her making a ring and telling Steve about her powers. On and on he relives brief memories of him and Ophelia until suddenly he’s left alone in his mind – a deep ache left behind of the loss he feels with Ophelia taken. Steve takes some deep, steadying breaths.

“I’m sorry… I forgot how emotional that can be for someone not trained for it. Please just try to breathe, Captain,” Charles says, still looking through mutants. He has a much better impression of Ophelia now and pushes on, searching through North America first.

It’s alright, Professor,” Steve assures him. “Anything to help find her.” When Charles still comes up empty, he expands to searching South America then Canada. Fifteen minutes go by in silence and Steve begins to feel anxious. The professor finally opens his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Steven, give me a bit longer. She’s not in either of the Americas or Canada. I’m going to search Europe next,” Charles says, trying to hide how tired he is.

“Thank you, Professor,” Steve says quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing reassuringly. Charles takes a deep breath and closes his eyes again. He sweeps over each country in Europe, finding nothing until he happens upon a country with a rather dark cloud hanging over it where he sees no mutants at all. Intrigued he delves deeper, fighting against the darkness until he breaks through to see a bright mind glowing gold and he gasps. He’s never seen a mutant stand out so much in Cerebro, but it may be because of his strong ties with Ophelia’s mental presence. He focuses on the building and can see her located underground, hidden away in some room. She’s not moving – sedated – but alive. He sees two other mutants but they appear new, just now discovering their powers at such a late age.

When Charles pulls himself free of Cerebro’s grip, his breathing is coming quickly and it takes a moment to calm down. He can tell Steven is not letting his mind fill with questions and is grateful for the gesture. He smiles tiredly.

“I was able to… locate her,” Charles informs him. The smile Steve gives him is pure joy and makes the Captain look so young. “She’s in Sokovia, a small country located between Germany and Austria. They have her sedated in a basement level inside a very large compound overlooking the city,” he finishes, taking off the helmet and placing it back on the stand. He rolls to the door and scans his hand again to leave. The mechanical voice from earlier bids him a good day. They walk back to the elevator before Steve speaks again.

“That’s just… amazing Professor. You can really see that far away?” Steve pushes the button for the elevator. He’s filled with energy just knowing Ophelia’s alive.

“Yes, but it’s quite exhausting. I will have to rest the remainder of the day, but it was for a good cause. Even in Cerebro, Steven, Ophelia appeared unique. I’m not sure why… but I wish you all the best luck in bringing her home,” Charles says as they ascend in the cab. “The students will be glad to have the afternoon off. Go do teenager things,” he says smiling.

“We will get her back, Professor. And a day off is good sometimes, especially with them being so young,” Steve says as the elevator doors open to the front foyer from earlier.

“I do worry about Anthony though. His mind appeared to be quite weak earlier. You may want to wait a few days for him to further recover before leaving,” Charles suggests. Steve acknowledges him but becomes confused as to where they’re headed after going down a couple of hallways. Nat’s voice over the comm startles Steve at first, especially because of her tone.

“Steve, Tony just collapsed.” Charles pushes open the door they stopped in front of to reveal the Avengers and some students in a game room. Logan is holding Tony bride style in both arms and Steve is sure he would laugh at that if Tony’s health wasn’t his first concern.

“How did you…” Nat asks, standing next to Tony and Logan. Steve gestures his head towards the professor, just as amazed.

“That’s extremely convenient. Can we get one?” asks Clint.

“Sorry, Professor, but it looks like we’ll have to head back to SHIELD,” Steve apologizes. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done. If you ever need anything, just give us a call.” Steve looks around the room at the students, all varying in age. “Don’t let them have too much fun.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Charles replies, smiling.

“Logan, thank you for catching Tony, but Thor can carry him to the quinjet, if you’d like,” Steve mentions, noticing the annoyed look on Logan’s face.

“’Bout time. Here, bub, take ‘em,” Logan says, handing Tony over. Thor happily accepts Tony’s weight and holds him similarly to before, with Tony’s head resting on his shoulder. They all begin to file out of the room, heading towards the front, the students trailing behind too.

“Steve…” Bruce’s voice pipes up with concern.

“He’s okay, Bruce. Charles says it’s just exhaustion from pushing himself too soon,” Steve replies, knowing the question before it’s asked.

“Er, Professor, what did Captain mean… too much fun?” a small brunette student asks.

“Steve was referring to the fact I’m giving you all the afternoon off, Kitty,” Charles says as they enter the foyer.

“Seriously?” she exclaims. “Woohoo! Come on, Kurt. Let’s go tell the others!” She grabs the blue boy’s arm and they’re both gone in a puff of purple smoke. The Avengers collectively stare for a moment before Hank laughs.

“You get used to a lot of unusual things around here,” Hank says.

“And you think we are a handful at the Tower, Steve. Imagine if we could teleport,” Clint says, smiling wickedly.

“I’d rather not imagine it,” he says with mock apprehension. “Thank you again, Professor, Steve says, offering his hand.

“The pleasure was mine, Steven,” Charles says, shaking the offered hand. The other Avengers thank Hank for showing them around and Charles for helping however he could. Once loaded back up on the quinjet, Nat seemed almost ready to explode.

“So? Did he find her?” She asks as soon as Clint takes off and they’re leveled out in the sky. All of the others perk up, awaiting Steve’s reply. Tony is strapped into a cot at the rear, still unconscious.

“He found her,” Steve says smiling. Clint gives a hoot of approval from the pilot’s seat. “They have her in a country called Sokovia, near Germany,” he continues.

Nat nods her head. “I’ve heard of it. They’re currently in a rebellion right now – a great place to lay low and hide. If we left tonight we could be there by morning.” Steve looks at Tony.

“As much as I hate to wait, you know I do, we can’t do this without Tony. Professor Xavier said Tony would need a few more days to recover mentally but with his arm it’ll be at least two weeks before he could fight with us,” Steve says, fist clenching at not being able to help Ophelia.

“Steve, by two weeks’ time they could have moved her or worse, left for space. Can we risk that?” Clint asks, surprised.

“Based on what Thor said, I don’t think they’ll finish experimentation that quickly. It’s always a risk, but I think we should wait. Tony will be essential to getting past their tech, especially concerning the scepter… and he’d never forgive us if we went without him,” Steve replies.

“The two weeks will give us time to recon at their Sokovia base. Learn their patterns while also keeping track of the Kree ship. We can’t go barging in on this one. Who knows what defenses Sol-Aran has in place? Or whomever he’s working with,” Nat offers. “Thor, Clint, and I can go ahead over there tonight while Steve and Bruce stay with Tony.”

“Okay. We’ve got a plan. We can do this,” Steve says, reassuring himself.

“We’re gonna get her back,” Clint says with utmost assurance.

“Let’s call Agent Hill and have her get some identities set up for you three so you can stay in a hotel once you’re over there. If you take a regular flight it will be longer to arrive but raise less suspicion,” Steve says, before calling Hill and Coulson to set everything up.

Once they arrive back at SHIELD, everyone’s been debriefed on what happened and the plan is set in motion. Well, everyone except Tony, who’s still unconscious. Thor carries him from the quinjet to a waiting gurney to wheel him to the medical wing.

“We’re going to go with Tony, so we can explain the plan to him when he wakes up,” Steve says to Natasha, Thor, and Clint. The three nod. “You’ll let us know when you’ve landed and secured your rooms, right?”

“Don’t worry, Mama Hen, we’ll be fine,” Clint says, patting Steve’s shoulder as he walks past him towards their rooms to pack.

“Everything will go according to plan, Steven,” Thor says cheerily. “We will report to base every night what we find in Sokovia.”

“Alright.” Steve looks at Natasha and they share a look laced with care and determination. “Be safe,” he says and Nat nods in response before following behind the other two. He and Bruce follow the nurse and Tony to the medical wing.

After an hour with no response from Tony, both teammates start to feel anxious. “You really think he’s going to be okay? Okay to fight in two weeks?” Bruce asks, breaking the silence of the now-familiar waiting room.

“The professor said he would be and I trust him,” Steve says. “And if Tony’s anything, it’s stubborn. He’ll recover.” Bruce nods.

“What about you? Are you going to be okay staying here for two weeks, knowing where she is?” Bruce asks as well. He’s got that look like he can see right through Steve, making the Captain sigh.

“I’ll try. I knew if I went to do recon I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from going in early to try and save her. It’s better I’m here,” Steve says.

“Well, I think Tony will be okay if just one of us is here when he wakes up. I’m going to go do some research on Sokovia and see if I can determine who Sol-Aran may be working with,” Bruce says, standing. Steve knew he also needed time to himself to work out his frustration. He wanted to go get Ophelia back as much as Steve did.

“Alright. Let me know what you find, and I’ll let you know if Tony wakes up,” Steve says nodding. Bruce heads down the hall towards the elevator – now fully up and running again – leaving Steve alone. Not for too long though. About ten minutes later, Steve sees Jeremiah walk out of a hospital room a few down from Tony’s.

“Jeremiah?” Steve calls when it looks like the man is going to walk the opposite direction. He perks up and turns around, surprised to see a familiar face.

“Captain. I didn’t expect to see you here,” J says, walking into the waiting room section.

“Tony collapsed again from his injuries during the fight,” Steve says, nodding towards the door. “How is Rick?”

“He’s… alright. The doctor’s say he has a better chance at recovering than not, but he’s not out of the woods yet,” J says, looking stricken. Steve couldn’t imagine – having your own teammate turn against you and not only kidnap a close friend but almost kill another.

“I hope he makes a full recovery,” Steve says smiling. J nods in thanks.

“Well, I’m going to hit the gym and work out some of this frustration at not being able to do shit with so many teammates down. Dante refuses to leave Rick’s room. I’ll catch you later, Rogers,” J says, before turning to head back in the same direction he came.

“See you later, Jeremiah,” Steve replies. He slumps down in his vinyl seat and rests his head on the back of the chair, letting his eyes slip closed to try and calm his mind down. He had a feeling he would also be spending a lot of time at the gym for the exact same reason as Jeremiah. He fell into a shallow sleep, thinking of all the memories Professor X dragged to the front of his mind.

About thirty minutes or so later, the light tap of heels on the floor woke Steve and he was surprised to see Pepper standing outside Tony’s door, which was now open. Her hand cupped her mouth and her eyebrows were pulled together in pain and concern. She hovers outside of the door, taking in the wires and tubes hooked to his sleeping – no, unconscious – form.

She can’t make herself go in, knowing the walls she’s built to protect herself will crumble and it won’t be bearable anymore. Pepper jumps when there’s suddenly a voice next to her.

“He’s going to be okay,” Steve says, trying to assure her. But she’s shaking her head no, doubt in her eyes and tense shoulders almost shaking.

“You all… You all always say that, but eventually… eventually he’s not going to be okay,” Pepper says with tears in her eyes. Steve raises his hands, reaching to steady her and try and comfort her in any way he knows how, but she steps out of his reach. “I can’t do this anymore,” she confesses on a whisper. Steve’s eyes widen as he watches Pepper walk away down the hall, evening sun setting her red hair aflame.

Steve curses under his breath – knowing losing Pepper too, right now, would break his friend. He decides not to tell Tony it happened whenever he wakes up. Pepper will, whenever the time is right for her. Steve isn’t sure if any of them will be okay until they get Ophelia back. They need their anchor, their stability.

Chapter Text

Sokovia – HYDRA Base – Time: 0600

“Mr. Strucker, the twins have made excellent progress. There appear to be no negative side effects and control over their powers has advanced better than anticipated,” Dr. List explains to Baron Von Strucker, one of the last leaders of HYDRA, and Sol-Aran. “Ophelia’s DNA mutation seems to give others unique abilities depending on how it fuses with the host’s DNA, but anyone who conceived powers similar to her own died shortly after. Usually quite gory, I might add,” finishes Dr. List, pulling up a video on his tablet of a failed experimentation for them to view.

“So you haven’t been able to replicate her powers?” Sol-Aran protests. “I want all of it, not pieces,” the Kree says irritated.

Dr. List huffs out an annoyed breath at the alien. “It has only been a week. Everyone has died during the experiments except the two twins, who have advanced remarkably quick,” Dr. List says, defending himself. He was proud of the accomplishments made so far, so quickly.” All he earns is a glare from Sol-Aran.

“Just give it some more time, Sol-Aran,” Strucker reasons with him. “We have more test subjects, but if none of them provide fruitful, you may have to begin testing your own people.” Strucker holds up his hand when Sol-Aran looks to protest. “We need to begin using the scepter for developing droids and advanced weaponry, as was HYDRA’s original intention. Dr. List will simultaneously continue the experimentations.”

“You said you would focus entirely on developing the powers if I were to let you keep the scepter,” the Kree growls, taking a threatening step forward.

Strucker seems unfazed. “Yes, well, that was before you kidnapped a member of the Avengers. Sal was only supposed to collect DNA samples but you convinced him to take the whole package. Now they’ll be searching for her even more so than if it was just the scepter stolen. All of us know she’s their favorite,” Strucker says vehemently. “So do not gripe at me for changing my plans when you also changed yours,” the leader says, before turning to leave from the lab located underground.

“I doubt they will find us with the Kree cloaking technology in place,” Sol-Aran sneers to the doorway Strucker just left through. “Dr. List, please see that you keep me updated on the results,” he says, waving his hand dismissively. “If you aren’t any closer in five days’ time, I’m taking both the girl and the scepter. Please let Mr. Strucker know.” Sol-Aran slams the rusted metal door behind him.

Dr. List just shakes his head before returning to his work. “That guy is such an asshole.”

FOUR DAYS LATER

U.S. – SHIELD Base – Time: 1500

“Tony, are you sure you feel up to it? As far as we can tell, Phi is still okay, so if we need to wait another day…” Bruce trails off. Tony looks up from his tablet, still sitting in the hospital bed – by force, he might add.

“For the eleventh time, I’m peachy. You could make the best damn peach pie you ever tasted outta me,” Tony snarks while flipping through all the reports Clint, Nat, and Thor have sent back.

“Alright, alright,” Bruce says, trying to placate Tony. “What else has you so worked up? I know it’s not just Phi.” Tony pauses in his swiping, unconsciously tensing, but Bruce still catches it. The genius just continues reading after a moment though. Bruce just sighs and is about to leave the room when he hears a mumble. “What?” he asks in clarification.

“I just… It’s crazy, right? How vulnerable Earth is? How far behind all these other alien races we are in terms of evolution and technological development. I saw what was on the other side of that portal in New York. There’s no way we could have beat that many, Bruce. No way. Everyone would have died – end of story,” Tony finally explains without taking a breath. The unspoken ‘And?’ hangs between them.

“What if we could develop something to protect the Earth? Something that would act as a warning, defense, and offense without needing constant human supervision?” Tony inquires.

“Artificial Intelligence?” Bruce asks, shocked. “Tony, you know how many negatives there are to opening that can of worms,” he says, shaking his head.

“But we could make it. Make sure those things don’t happen. Program him, just like JARVIS, but he’ll have a body like the Iron Man suit. The ultimate defense for Earth,” Tony pushes. He knows it’s risky. He knows that everyone else on the team would shut down his suggestion, but the fear of the unknown… it makes Tony’s skin crawl.

“We should at least ask the rest of the team,” Bruce finally answers him.

Tony scoffs. “You know they won’t let us.”

“Then maybe that’s a sign we shouldn’t do it,” Bruce counters.

“But Bruce, we could retire. No more risking our lives, no more Hulk, no more Avengers needed. We’d be free to live our lives.” Bruce’s eyes go wider at the revelation. Something tugs at him that he probably shouldn’t do this. Something that flashes the gamma ray experimentation through his mind but this is Tony. They should be fine.

“Okay, but I think we should get some prototypes done and then show the team. We can’t just release it onto the world,” Bruce agrees.

“Well of course not,” Tony says, like he wouldn’t do something like that. “They’ll have to agree, at least majority, and then the World Council and SHIELD will have to discuss it,” he finishes matter-of-factly.

“Alright. Once we get Phi back, we can continue what we started tinkering with,” concludes Bruce. Tony nods and sits the tablet aside, swinging his legs to hang over the side of the bed.

“Now, we’re gonna go get Phi back and kick some alien and HYDRA ass,” Tony says enthusiastically, unhooking all the wires and IV attached to him. “God, I hate hospitals. How could you keep me here, Brucey?” he asks with a pout.

“Sorry, Tony, you passed out again so we decided medical attention might be advised,” Bruce quips, causing Tony to stick out his tongue. Bruce laughs before Tony enters the bathroom to shower and change. Once he hears the water start, Bruce switches his comm on.

“Tony’s ready. Mission is a go in fifteen,” Bruce says to Steve.

Finally on board the quinjet, Tony, Steve, and Bruce are headed towards Sokovia. They have about four hours until they reach the landing spot, and the quinjet is set to autopilot as the three discuss the mission.

“Okay, so based off the intel they sent, the HYDRA base is going to be a bit difficult to infiltrate,” Steve says while the three look at a holographic map of the town hovering over a square table. “Luckily it’s not directly near any civilians, but that only leaves the Northern and Western walls to approach because of the town.” Steve motions with his hands, causing the map to zoom in on the area around the base.

“Isn’t the North lined by mountains?” Tony questions. “That really only leaves the West side, which is nothing but pine trees and a lot of snow.” He uses his left arm, the previously injured one, to zoom in again to the holo of the West entrance. The usage only causes a dull ache and he smiles briefly to himself.

“Which will help conceal us until we’re close to the base,” Bruce notes. Steve shakes his head in agreement.

“Yeah, but since it’s their obvious weak spot it’s going to have the most men and weapons,” Steve points out. He presses a button that causes red orbs to pop up scattered throughout the forest. “These were the bunkers Natasha was able to scan; all of which are capable of being active – not just for show.”

“The report said each was packing some pretty good heat too. Posts for at least four men with weapons at each one,” Tony offers, recalling from reading the reports so many times in the hospital.

“Clint also cataloged at least a dozen armored jeeps going to and from the compound with four to six men usually occupying each,” Steve continues. “The gate doors appear to be reinforced steel with a guard in both flanking towers around the clock.”

“You gonna need me to, uh, smash that?” Bruce asks, wringing his hands and pointing at the gate. Steve gives him a sympathetic look.

“No, we’ll need you to get through the initial onslaught of attack but then you can hang back and stop any reinforcements. After Natasha does the lullaby, you’ll swing back to the quinjet to pick us all up. Clint will be taking care of the gate by sniping the guards and having Tony drop him off in one of the towers. Clint can also pick off anyone else who tries to come through,” Steve concludes their entrance plan.

“What about Nat?” Bruce inquires. Steve swishes the holo map back out of existence.

“Natasha will assist taking out agents in the forest. She’s also supposed to capture one of them alive to see if she can get intel out of them,” Steve answers.

“Who’s getting Phi then?” Tony asks.

“I will. Tony, I need you to find the scepter in case it’s behind some type of barrier or alien tech. Plus, if Sol-Aran is there you’re the best one-on-one match for him. Ophelia mentioned, well hypothesized, that he could only do the mind imprisonment by making direct eye contact,” Steve explains his reasoning. Tony agrees but scoffs anyway.

“Uh-huh, sure, Captain Whipped,” Tony says, making the matching hand movement and ka-chow noise. Bruce snickers briefly before he covers it up with a cough.

“Whipped? I don’t understand –” Steve starts, brows furrowing in confusion.

“Nothing, Steve. Tony, play nice,” Bruce admonishes.

“Who? Me? Always,” Tony replies sarcastically but with his usual charm. Tony then stands up and walks back to the pilot’s seat, taking manual control. He needs the distraction.

“And Thor?” Bruce asks Steve rather than continue Tony’s banter.

“He’s going to stay in the forest and keep taking out HYDRA agents and bunkers we missed. Also, I want him to keep an eye out for the Kree ship, since he can also fly to stop it,” Steve says, hoping Tony didn’t mean anything weird by his comment. Did they know he likes Ophelia? He thought he was being subtle with his… crush? Steve wasn’t sure what to call it.

There’s silence for about ten minutes before Tony speaks quietly from the front. “This would be a lot easier if Phi was here to back us up,” he says, anger and sadness coloring his voice. Steve opens a smaller version of the holographic map, projecting from a black box the size of his hand.

“I know,” Steve replies just as quietly. He studies the rough schematic of the building – the only information taken from old blueprints of the construction on file. He wonders where Ophelia is inside – if she’s in terrible condition – how he’s going to handle it if something serious happened to her. His thumb flicks the switch on the box, causing the map to vanish again. He tucks the box away in a pack on his utility belt.

Steve looks out of the windshield, seeing the landscape flying by, determination etched into his features. “But we’re going to get her back. No matter what.”