Disclaimer: I own a lot of things in this story, but the avengers universe ain't one of them.
A/N: THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT SO FAR GUYS! YOU ALL ROCK!

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The God of Thunder, Thor did not know what to make of the woman in front of him. He only truthfully knew what he'd seen, and it'd been nothing any Midgardian of the past had accomplished to his knowledge. They'd finished their fray at the HYDRA compound, and had hence been searching the woods for any last stragglers that'd escaped the battle. He and his comrades had found a small blood trail after much searching. In turn, he'd come across a figure that laid against a tree, unmoving and at rest. Their body frail with the red of blood coating their arm and matted blonde hair covered their face.

He'd seen they were armed, before the shadow of the tree that loomed above them became darker. He'd been rendered speechless as the body fell back into it, the gun and holster seeming to phase through it, and the midgardian creature all together vanished. He'd turned to his archer companion, Hawkeye at the time who'd looked just as surprised. He took that is it was not a common occurrence.

They'd laid low when they found a form moving in the back, and had been about to pouch when the shadow cast by the branches of the tree grew dark once again, causing them to pause. A woman, similar to the one that had just fallen away, stumbled out. Scars stretched or shrunk with her facial expressions as they marred various parts of her face, neck, and shoulders. The shirt from before had remained, but she donned new breaches and foot wear. Her hair was clean and smooth, and sharp eyes gauged the area, shrewd and alert. A grimace was on her face and she'd noted the weaponry on the ground and had moved to collect it.

They'd watched the exchange between the woman and the HYDRA soldier that too had witnessed the event. Her voice was soft and low. It was apparent she did not want to be found anymore than the enemy did. As the moments ticked on and the tension grew, it became more likely that the soldier would not let her go unharmed.

Thor thus was not surprised when the enemy was shot down, and the creature caught them. With some compassion, she lowered the wounded man to the ground, and wasted little to no time attempting to flee. Clint's voice grumbled quietly to the others, but other than that, Thor pounced after her, raising into the air as she fumbled and fell over a root. He landed in front of her. His hammer pointed at her as he regarded her, and he asked, "What manner of creature are you?"

When he got no response and a glower, he remained puzzled. The Hawkeye's arrow was knotted and pulled back, aimed as he stepped around and by Thor. She stiffened and curled, eyes narrowed. Clint watched as her muscles coiled like a wound up spring ready to break free as she moved to the balls of her feet.

"Move, and I'll put another arrow in y-" Clint paused and stared at her shoulder. She was supposed be wounded, but there was a significant lack of blood. He glanced at Thor, who shared his confused look. He reached for his Comm, "Hawkeye to base, we have an enhanced we'll be bringing in… some sort of shadow jumper…" Even that didn't seem to properly cover the term. The revving of a motorcycle rang in the background; the Captain had arrived. If he was here, the Black Widow would not be far behind. As the whirl of quiet engines entered his ears, he could only assume the Iron Man had finished up his job.

Tony Stark took a step beside him. "I thought I told you to wait back there." He looked her up and down, "On the other hand, you look ten times better. Mind telling us what happened?"

Erika's mind was racing as she attempted to decide what to do next. She was surrounded, the tree the only thing at her back. Her frustration grew, she could not shake them, and it seemed this world was against her silent simulation from the moment she entered. It was partially the fault the Lord, and the other fault however…

It used to be so easy to keep a cool head in these situations. To let the ideas come to her to get out of this… She could feel the wheels turn, but also found that something was caught to make them stutter and pause.

Her fingers wiggled at her side as she attempted to ground herself and focus. There was always a way out, always. She tried to analyze what she'd seen. The Archer and the Iron Man had long range covered. The man with the cape could fly, and had aerial. The woman and the man on the motorcycle had speed and short range and-

Where was the green giant? She needed to go dark and she couldn't. She looked towards the robot, "I didn't stay there." The obvious answer wasn't what he was looking for. He looked over at the Captain, who nodded. Switching his suit to stun, Tony raised his hand and shot at her. She fell quickly and unconscious to the ground...

"…I know I shot her." Clint growled as he stared at the monitors, hours later to see the strange woman coming around in the holding cell. They had relocated to the Avengers jet. Their newest compatriot separated from the HYDRA soldiers who were on different transport all together.

Tony Stark, now having abandoned his suit, scratched at his beard as he eyed the monitor as well. Behind him, a man with black hair swept back, and soft brown eyes was rubbing his face. He wore a gray suit and a button up white shirt that was unbuttoned a few at the top. His name was Bruce Banner, and he was also the green monster that had been smashing buildings and soldiers earlier.

Now he stared at x-rays they had taken upon their arrival. The sound of opera rang through the headphones that covered his ears and he didn't like any of what he was seeing. The woman was scarred on the face from what he could only assume were old knife wounds. The skin puckered lightly in areas of the cheek and on the jaw. There was a clear dark pink wound across the left jugular of her neck and a jagged scar peeked to further damage under the khaki shirt.

The x-rays showed mended fractures which didn't make sense. The bones had lines that spoke of damage, but that was the only clear sign they had been affected. Otherwise they looked as though they'd never been touched. For the time being, his eyes traveled over to the monitor, the blonde hair on her head blocked her face, her hands were bound to the chair. Scarred arms flexed and attempted to pull against the cuffs before her head rose.

He removed the headphones and looked towards Tony Stark. "And you say she just… came out of a shadow?"

Clint spoke up from the cockpit, "After a damn-near corpse fell into it. I shot that woman; they don't just pop out of the dark fully healed."

"She is not of this world." Thor stated confidently, Bruce looked to him after he removed the headphones. The Asgardian's arms were crossed as he eyed the monitor. The god of Thunder frowned and turned towards the scientist, "The magic that surrounded her entering-"

"Energy." Stark corrected quickly.

Thor gave him a reproachful glower, "It is not of Midgard."

"So we rule out enhanced." Banner grunted, "Alien?" He looked at the Asgardian. Thor nodded.

"It is not of this world but, it is magic. The only things it rings true too however comes in stories told to our children on Asgard." He shook his head.

"Well, story book or not, goldilocks is up." The red haired woman in a black catsuit stated from behind them towards the back of the flight deck. The Black Woman, Natasha Romanoff stared at the monitor in front of her. The transparent tablet changed screens as her fingers danced over its surface. The woman's vitals came up, she threw them over onto the big monitor. "Looks human."

"Well whatever she is." Steve Rodgers rested his hands on his belt, his helmet removed for the time being. He glanced at Natasha, "Someone is going to have to go in with her."

Erika's ears rung against the silence in the room. The bite of metal against her wrists had long since become warm from her body heat. She didn't want to lift her head to observe the box she was in any further. It reminded her too much of the cell she'd escaped hours ago. So she just focused on breathing.

She shut her eyes and she saw them-


long smooth black hair, green dress and playful golden eyes. She was lovely…


She gritted her teeth against the memory and attempted to shove it off.


The children held each of her hands as green flats with golden trim skipped against the ground. Their laughter rang through the air. A strong smoky hum accompanying them. Erika felt content as they skipped ahead. Her daughters hairs bouncing, golden and curly or black as the night. Her spouse's voice echoed through the air, "Eri, catch up now darling, we mustn't be la-"

Erika caught her face, pale as snow, lovely, hazel eyes glinted gleefully in the sunlight-

Her foot touched a single shadow, and gasped as the world went dark. Familiar, undefined, she stood on nothing quite stable. Her hand reached out towards where they'd been. Where the world was. Her eyes widened as realization washed over her and her mouth opened to scream out.


Erika's eyes opened against the memory and she tried to slip back into the world that was the box. She flipped her hair back and felt the heat on her cheeks. Hands clenched into fists, her nails bit into her palms. She tried to find another distraction. There had been so many lately; the battle, the super humans, the archer, so many thankful, blessed distractions.

Where was another? She needed another… The door slid open with a hiss, red puffy eyes locked up onto the woman red head that entered the room. The one that had been on a vehicle, shooting down the enemy. She took the seat across from her before she straddled the chair and leaned against it.

"Hello." Erika almost slouched in relief. A wonderful distraction. "My friends say you aren't human." Erika tilted her head for a moment, mission focused. So far she only had her mission after all, and this woman, her head tilted the other way, this woman came into the room and spoke of confidence and a high profile nature. She needed a contact, she needed resources. Could this woman get them for her? Erika lowered her gaze for a second. "Luckily you're not our first… Imagine how awkward that would be." She looked back up, "So as you're not much of a talker, can I guess why you're crying?"

"…If it humors you." Erika's hands loosened from their white knuckled bite. She felt the warmth of blood on her palms and smeared it with her thumb, "Guess away."

"Ex boyfriend." Her new companion exclaimed, "You're crying because you two got in a fight, and you decided to leave. So you came here and realized it wasn't what you wanted.." She gave a sigh and raised brows to her with almost an impressed air, "I'm surprised you chose planets, usually people just leave town.

Burns felt perplexed if only for a moment and then leaned back. Such an incorrect statement, but nonetheless it brought a very small smile to her lips. "Is that so?" She looked about and then at the woman again, "I would say it hasn't worked out for me, miss."

"Romanoff." The woman supplied, head tilted, "And no, I wouldn't say it has. So. Aren't you? Human?"

Erika wondered if this woman once again, could be her contact. So she let out a very low breath and pursed her black lips. She refrained from giving the instinctual shake of her head as she wet them and leaned back in the chair. The tension alleviated from her arms. If the contact went south, what would she do? Kill her?

Her lover's plea for no more necessary deaths rose up in a whisper and she inhaled deeply. Her shoulders tensed and she shut her eyes against the itchy feeling of tears again. She then clenched them tighter and grit her teeth under closed lips before she exhaled slowly. Grounded, she opened them and looked back towards her. Her dark eyes gained a small green hue the longer she stared.

If it came to that, perhaps that would be how it ended. The stare she gave Romanoff almost predatory as she slowly shook her head, "I'm afraid not Miss Romanoff, I've not been for a long time."

Natasha Romanoff leaned back, hands gripping the chair as she got up and leaned forward on the table. Erika looked her up and down in her stance before she settled on her face, chin lifted and body instinctually back. Natasha's voice lowered softly, "Then what are you?"

Erika bared some of her teeth as she gave her a lopsided grin, the spite towards her situation, towards her Lord so high she could practically feel running her mind. "Well, I have been called 'warrior' as of late, but at the simplest of titles, I prefer a private investigator of sorts."

Natasha frowned, and leaned back. "And what in our world are you investigating?" Her hair rose up on the back of her neck and she fought back the urge to pull out her sidearm. The blonde had leaned forward and stared up at her through long eyelashes. At one time, Romanoff thought she could've been very pretty, but now the scars separated the areas of smooth skin. Those eyes had now reached a dark green that reminded her of lush forests. The smooth hair she had fell over her shoulder and covered some of the scars that on closer detail, peppered her neck and collar. Her lips were in a frown though, stretching a vertical scar that rested on the left corner of it.

"Well Miss Romanoff, if you must know…" Erika fought back the urge to bite back the words that she could feel rested on her tongue, Her voice lowered as a soft growl reverberated in the back of her throat, "I'm trying to track down the person that at the moment, is going to be responsible for ending it." She looked about the room, and then back towards the Super Spy's face, "But I do believe, the investigation's off to a rather rough start."