Chapter Two: When Erik Met Angel

A/N: Okay. Chapter 2, take 2. When I re-read everything, it was all so CRINGEY. Allow me to fix that and some of the OOCness. Anyway, this takes place immediately following chapter one.

The first thing Jane did when she got to her apartment was look for a first-aid kit. She didn't want to leave anything untreated. When she returned, however, Angel's face was unharmed, as if the crash never happened. Jane looked over the rest of her. No cuts, no scratches, no bruises, nothing. Picture perfect. She shut the door behind her, which she'd left ajar during her rush to find the kit, just as a storm hit outside. The previously clear sky was a blob of dark grey and rain poured down, beating random rhythms on her roof. She searched the freezer, looking for an icepack for her throbbing head. 'Well, it looks like I won't be sleeping tonight,' she thought to herself with an exasperated sigh. The infant, who had been sat on the table of her apartment's kitchen, crawled towards her, reaching out a hand with a curious cry.

"What is it?" Jane asked, turning towards her. She continued stretching an arm out, making unintelligible sounds that seemed like an attempt at several words at once. Jane went to her side, abandoning her search for the moment. As she tried to pick her up, making contact with her hand, her vision blurred and her equilibrium was thrown off. She jerked away… to find her head uninjured and scrapes from the blast of the crash healed. When she took a closer look, Angel's face was free of the burns sustained from the crash, nothing but a faint scar across her left eye.

"How did you…?" Jane questioned.

"Jane," she responded, pointing to the astrophysicist. "Jane hurt."

"You can talk?" Angel nodded once. "And you understand me?" The baby thought hard for a second and slowly nodded her head. Jane laughed. "I go out stargazing and end up going home with you to this unexplainable… This is so weird. This has to be just a really, really, really strange dream. So why can't I wake up?" she murmured to herself. She couldn't be more than… a year old at least, maybe younger. What else crazy could happen? "How do you know my name?" Angel shook her head, looking lost, and said something that sounded like, "Hungry," and Jane's stomach definitely agreed. The brunette was searched the fridge for something a baby could eat. As she did, Angel sat patiently, staring at Jane quizzically.

Over the next few months, Jane took care of Angel as if she were her own child, and, in a sense, she was. That didn't seem plausible though, seeing as how everyone who knew her would see right through that story. With her busy schedule, and the fact that she hardly took care of herself during a work binge (not sleeping, not eating, running on coffee, ignoring the rest of the universe, etc.), a child was out of the question. Not to mention she was not the kind of person who was irresponsible enough to end up pregnant somehow. It seemed better to say that Angel was a cousin or niece. It didn't feel that way though. Being around her sister's kids didn't feel anything like this. Angel was her baby sister then? Maybe. What's the worst that could happen? Her answer came in the form of Dr. Erik Selvig. He was an older man who was like a father to Jane, smart, kind, caring, and always looking out for her.

His initial reaction was a mix of shock, wonder, and worry. He thought she'd adopted or started a family without telling him. She dismissed those thoughts quickly, explained finding Angel in the wreckage of a plane crash on the side of the road. Jane had, of course, searched for survivors and found a wailing baby. She omitted the falling from the sky part. "She was the only survivor? What about her parents?" he asked. His piercing eyes could tell she was hiding something, but he didn't question further.

"They were passengers on the plane," she responded. "She takes after her mom a little. She looks a lot like her dad. The hair, the features. The eyes are mixed. The skin tone's like her mom's." Erik puzzled about this while helping Jane cook dinner.

"And you're sure?" he asked after they sat down at the table with their food. She nodded. He sighed, head in his hands, drinking the coffee she'd offered him upon his arrival. "Think about the future, Jane. You'll need to pay for child support, insurance, she'll have to go to school and the doctor. How I'll you explain her education, or her missing medical records? You barely make enough money for yourself as it is, so how will you support a child?" he rambled. Jane had to admit, he did have a point. She knew nothing about parenting or kids really. She knew nothing about Angel. What if the bodies weren't her parents? What if she had a family, a whole different life? These thoughts made her dizzy as she went over everything in her head. She didn't even know her birthday or her real name.

"I'm working on it, Erik. Besides, is anyone ever really ready to be a parent?" Erik just looked at her. "Look, she's not like other kids. She's intelligent and quiet and…"

"And…?" he questioned.

"She's something beyond your wildest dreams," she finished with a smile. "She's no ordinary child."

"Where is she anyway? If she's as amazing as you say she is, then I want to meet her myself."

"She's sleeping," Jane responded. "At least I think she is." Jane walked to the baby's makeshift room and laughed at the sight before her. Covered in crayon was her baby (sister?) wonder, dressed in a pink and white striped shirt and a diaper. Paper was strewn across the floor, each w/ drawings and, occasionally, words on them. One was a mess of scribbles. Another showed two serpents twisted into a figure eight shape, devouring each others tails. Erik picked up a drawing of shooting stars and a crudely drawn telescope that read "hi jAnE." He chuckled and moved towards Angel, who gladly held her arms out in glee.

"Aiw-ic," she giggled as he held her, to which he responded, "Hello, little one." Jane collected the art supplies during the exchange.

"She knows my name." Jane nodded.

"She knew mine too, before I'd even told her. Like I said, she's not your everyday kid. She shouldn't be able to do half the things that she can."

"I see… Now then, let's get her cleaned up," Erik stated, motioning for Jane to follow. She placed the papers on the table and took Angel from him.

"Jane," she heard her say, smiling. She led her to the bathtub, struggling to actually get her clean as bubbles and water splashed everywhere. Erik simply laughed fondly at the display. Jane joined him as she took in her soaked clothes and dripping hair.

"No, go on. You look like you're doing just fine," he told her when she suggested he try and do it. After fruitless attempts and ample minutes of trying, the infant finally complied, having had her fill of fun. It was then that Erik noticed. "What's that on her back?" he questioned, curious and suspicious, smile gone from his face.

"Oh, it's," Jane began, lifting her from the tub as the water drained and wrapping her in a towel. "It's nothing, really." He was not amused.

"Jane," he warned. She sighed, defeated.

"Look, there's another reason that no one knows about her yet. When I found her, she… She was like something from out of a story book. She… She has…" Angel looked between them, head tilted to the side in confusion. She let the towel slip down enough to reveal her back, where her feathery wings, now a more white shade, lay tucked. He asked Jane to turn her around. As she did so, Angel (attempted to) spread her tiny wings. One flapped lightly, still tucked, while the other spread halfway. Erik reached out and touched one, gently taking in the sight. He met Jane's nervous gaze.

"How is this possible?" he asked her.

" *shakes head* I don't know. All I know is that I found her like this, and that it's not safe for people to know about her until she learns how to control the wings."

"But that could take years, or who knows how long."

"I know."

"What if someone saw them, saw the two of you together? What if they told someone? What if the government-?"

"I won't let that happen."

"Jane, you don't know-"

"I know that I'll do whatever I can to keep her safe. She's not my child, but she is family, despite the circumstances. I named her, I've been raising her, I'll take care of her. Besides, there's hardly anyone out here. It's a small town in the middle of nowhere where no one is going to ask questions."

"And when she gets older? She'll want to go somewhere else, live the life of a normal child."

"I won't live here forever. After next semester, I'll be done. Sooner or later, I'll be getting my master's, and then I'll move on to my doctorate. I'll be at a bigger school in a bigger town-"

"So you want to go to school and raise a child at the same time?"

"No." she answered. "I- *sigh* I want to raise her, and when she's old enough, I'll go back to school and maybe… I don't know, she can live with my parents?"

"And you think they'd be alright with you doing this? You have your whole life to look forward to and plenty of time to start a real family-"

"So you're saying I should give her up to a foster home or leave her on somebody's doorstep?" she asked incredulously. "I know you don't approve-"

"Don't approve doesn't even begin to describe it. This is madness, Jane! For all we know, she might not even be human, fully human at least. You have no idea what you're doing."

"And you think you do? Erik, I don't want to fight with you over this. I will figure things out, and one day, maybe you'll think differently." She finished gently toweling off Angel before leaving the room to dress her. "Until then, she's going to keep living with me."

"If you ever need anything… Just call and ask. I'll help however I can." With that, he left, Jane looking sadly after him as the door closed.

She never knew that SHIELD was watching.

"Sir," Agent Coulson said from an undisclosed location near the apartment, "We found her."

Closing A/N: Still short, but rewritten nonetheless, and improved. Erik doesn't like the idea of Jane jeopardizing her future because she happened to find a baby, but I guess he's okay with it for now. And then there's SHIELD, so… Yeah.