Hey guys. So recently I just posted an Avengers fic for my first time, and that story was a little strange to say the least haha. I took it down because I wasn't terribly fond of it. But then I tried my hand at writing again and this appeared before me! If I'm honest I'm totally in love with my own story, as narcissistic as that is, and I would greatly appreciate it if you guys left reviews. They really help fuel the story, I know each and every one of you who writes understand how nice it is to know that someone likes your story. So please, honest feedback would be wonderful!

Thanks for clicking on my story, enjoy.

1

"Renaissance Stripe was declared dead Tuesday night at 11:03 without a penny to her name, and when the five people in her life attended her funeral, she was alive again. Would someone please care to explain what in the holy hell happened?"

"Uh, well Director Fury—"

"We have another superhero in our midst, or at the very least some kind of mutant, that's what. Now everyone needs to get up off their lazy backsides to find and retrieve this girl before someone else does."

Maria shut her mouth and calmly turned away from her royally pissed off Director. There were only two ways she knew how to calm him, and that was to bring him coffee or leave him the hell alone. She had already done one of those, and she wasn't going back in there to accomplish the second.

The worst part is that Fury wasn't even supposed to know about this. It was of course this week that he had decided to drop by when they were making major decisions without him. It was supposed to be a 'surprise' of sorts. Really, all they wanted was to see if this girl would be worth the trouble because other than not dying, she possessed no special skills.

Agent West had been informed of this story a week ago today. He had been sent with a small team of four to retrieve Renaissance and bring her back to headquarters unscathed. Yet he had not returned. There has been no word from him, or from the soldiers either. She had no idea where they could've gone or what they were doing.

Maria wasn't the type to worry or lose her mind to emotion, that's why she had this job in the first place, but something didn't quite add up. According to Renaissance's file, she was the type who would never harm another living creature in her life.

Renaissance had been a poor girl living in the shadows of Chicago. All she had was her mother, her father, her two younger siblings, and a bedridden grandmother. Her family lived in a small two bedroom apartment somewhere in the worst parts of town.

Her death was nothing remarkable, she merely got hit by a bus. It was the aftermath that took the world by storm.

To put it simply, there was no way a simple starving street girl could fend off a group of specially trained agents from S.H.E.L.D, not unless it wasn't her, and that was what made Maria worry. Just a little bit.

Because if that was the case, then she was far more valuable than anyone had anticipated.

Rena had never known pain until she died.

When she saw that bus coming, she knew it had to be karma. Why else would she have gotten hit right after her first time stealing a loaf of bread and some apples?

What could she say though, her family was desperate. Really, truly, terribly desperate. They didn't need to know that's she'd stolen it. In fact, she had been trying to come up with a suitable lie on her way back home but in her haste and distraction she wasn't watching the road.

Before she died all she could feel was an intense pain in the back of her skull. There was a sharp tang of blood in her mouth and she couldn't stop her eyes from closing as she thought that this was it.

It wasn't though. Because some time later she woke up, feeling perfectly fine.

When the memories started rushing back to her, she panicked and sat up, not recognizing where or what she was lying in. She was horrified to find that she was in the middle of a funeral. Her funeral. She was in a deep hole in the ground, wrapped in sheets and partially covered by dirt. She untangled herself and stood to see her father slowly burying her. When he saw her, he jumped away and turned pale as if he'd seen a ghost.

"R-Rena?" he said in a shaky voice, "Rena? My darling little girl, are you… really you?"

"Dad?" she asked questioningly.

Without hesitation he went over and hauled her out of the hole. Behind him she spotted the rest of her family and her mother stopped weeping when she heard the commotion.

"Renaissance?" she asked in her thick French accent.

"Mother, I don't know what happened either."

Her mom didn't jump up as quickly as her father, but she still came over to hug her nonetheless. Her younger brother and sister attacked each of her legs and their crying quickly turned to laughter as they merely thought this as just another game.

Two days later, the rest of the world found out about the phenomena that was Renaissance Stripe. Apparently the owner of the cemetery had lent them a small patch of land for her to be buried in as her father used to be friends with him a long time ago.

She wouldn't have gotten a headstone or anything, but an overgrown tree would've been symbol enough for the family.

However, he had been watching from afar, and he took a couple of hours to check his sanity to make sure he wasn't seeing things. When he got his mind set and was sure he wasn't crazy, he quickly contacted the police and they investigated the matter.

The press came in soon after and things just went in a steady stream of madness from there. There were many statements from policemen and doctors that had tended to her. They all said the same thing: her heart had stopped, rigor mortis had set in, and she had been stiff and cold when she had died.

They spent two days preparing her for her little funeral when all that jazz of her coming back to life happened. When the paparazzi stormed her and her family's house she was completely overwhelmed. She had been wearing a ragged sweatshirt and jeans when they had burst down the door in a chaotic frenzy.

She was soon whisked away in a torrent of questions and interviews. She got letters to famous talk shows asking if she would be willing to come on the air. Some even offered small amounts of revenue due to her sudden claim to fame and that helped the family out immensely.

Three more days later came another knock on her door. By now everyone had been used to it, so Renaissance went to answer the door with a smile.

Instead of flashing lights or cameras or mics, she was met with five sullen faces and men with large guns. Her smile faded and she tried not to shrink into herself, "How can I help you?" she asked nervously. Her already timid voice coming out like a tiny squeak.

The man in the front, the one without a gigantically obvious gun, reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He held up a little golden badge, "Agent Russel West. Don't worry, we aren't here to hurt you miss. We've merely come to collect you."

"Collect me?"

"Yes. As I'm sure you're aware of, normal people don't usually come back to life after they die. I'm with a top secret agency known as S.H.E.L.D and we would like for you to join us. May we come in to talk of this further?"

She didn't feel like she could say no, so she stepped aside to let them enter.

The rest of her family came over, curious, and they all spent a very long time talking.

There was a point where the agent asked to scan her with some little handheld device. She allowed him to and he did it quickly and quietly. She wanted to know what he found, to see what was on his screen, but he told her that he would tell her later once they were safely at their headquarters.

There was no choice for her to stay with her family, and they couldn't come with so Agent West said he would work on moving them somewhere safe where they could be comfortable and happy. Rena wasn't too delighted with this plan, but she didn't really want to find out if her rebirth had been a fluke or not. Those guns did not look friendly.

The group left swiftly after allowing Rena to pack a single duffel bag with whatever she so desired. She opted out of lots of clothing as those would be heavy and she figured she'd be getting new ones anyway if she was being taken away.

Instead she brought a couple of grainy photos, a sweatshirt for the ride there, and a small box that contained her most precious item.

It was a velvet, dark green box, and in the box was her family's heirloom. It was a ring made of 18k gold and inlaid with a single, large emerald. She was told that it was her great, great grandmother's wedding band. Her mother had made her promise never to sell it, no matter how awful things got, because family and memories were more important to her mom then money.

She also took a hat, just because she could.

When she was finished the group of agents led her into a black car parked just outside her family's shabby apartment and they drove off silently into the night.

Eventually they made their way to a tall building. They took the, rather crowded, elevator to the top where there sat a massive helicopter and a pilot. When she looked at the thing, she knew it was no ordinary helicopter. This thing was made for war.

Agent West helped her into the copter and told her to buckle up. The takeoff was smooth and there was a window by her head that she could look out of and admire the view.

Sometime into the quiet ride she thought it appropriate to ask where they were headed. She hoped it wasn't somewhere cold.

"New York. That's where one of our main bases of operations is, and also where Director Fury is as of current."

"Fury?"

"Director Nick Fury, your new boss so to speak."

She made a small 'o' with her mouth and looked back out the window, but instead of seeing the night sky she saw a dark gloved hand.

Rena wrenched herself from the window as best she could and let loose a scared shriek. Suddenly the door was wrenched open and another group of soldiers came bursting in. The other members rose to their feet and began fighting the dark green-clad attackers.

"Hydra members? Guess I shouldn't be that surprised," Agent West exclaimed. He pulled out a gun but before he could react he was promptly shot in the chest and knocked to the ground.

Rena screamed again and squirmed in her seat as the others fell quickly. They didn't say anything as they advanced upon her, but without warning the doors shut with a firm click and the helicopter started in a slow decent downwards.

The soldiers ignored her and headed for the cockpit. A door had come from nowhere, locking the pilot in and the 'Hydra' members were currently trying to bust down the door. There was a crackle of noise, and then a voice who she assumed was the pilot came over the speakers.

"I haven't known you long, but I know S.H.E.L.D wants you. If what they say about you is true then you should survive this. Get to New York, find your way to Stark Tower, and talk to Tony Stark. He can help you. Probably. Good luck."

One of the attackers got part of the door open, but before he could do anything, the helicopter crumpled into the water and promptly blew up.