Bruce stepped in front of Chelsea, hand held up as if to convey his harmlessness. He looked a bit angry, and Chelsea felt a shiver of fear. Just because she couldn't die didn't mean she wanted to see the man Hulk out. He stared menacingly at the men pointing guns at her.
"Ok," he said, and took a deep breath, "Ok. What's going on?"
The one in front coughed and put down his gun sheepishly. He opened his mouth to answer, but Tony beat him to it.
"You're the girl that died in the explosion." He said it confidently, probably recognizing her violently pink hair. She nodded shakily.
"I- those things- I was in the room, and then- then- arrows!" She had started speaking with the intention of acting hysterical, but as the adrenaline wore off, she found that it wasn't really an act.
Tony looked mystified. "Ok. Bruce, you deal with this. I'm gonna go…do…something else." He made to leave, but Bruce stared him down. Tony sighed, ran his hand through his disheveled hair, and sat heavily on a stool. "Fine, fine, I'm staying."
Bruce glared at the men. They had all lowered their weapons by now, and looked distinctly embarrassed at having chased a dead girl through a government facility with guns.
"I'm taking care of this," Bruce said firmly, and they stumbled over one another in their rush to leave. Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Impressive. Who knew gentle little Brucey could be so commanding?"
Bruce chose not to answer, instead looking pointedly down at Chelsea, who was shaking violently on the floor. He crouched, so he was eye level with her.
"I'm Bruce. What's your name?"
Chelsea's spoke in a tremulous voice. "I'm Chelsea."
"What happened?"
"I was in the building with my friends, and then those things attacked and I think I broke my ribs. Then there was an explosion-"
Tony coughed sheepishly.
"-and something hit me. I woke up on a hospital bed and I was scared. So I left and then people were chasing me and someone shot an arrow through my shirt."
She fingered the torn back of her shirt ruefully. "I liked this shirt."
"And then?"
"And then I ran in here."
Bruce nodded. He seemed to accept the fact that Chelsea had risen from the dead fairly easily.
"Has this happened before? The dying thing?"
Chelsea blushed deeply. "Yes?"
Bruce frowned thoughtfully. Tony took the opportunity to intervene.
"How does that work? Don't your organs start to decay? Your brain would deteriorate without blood flow, and you definitely didn't have a pulse, Jarvis said so. And you're not even a little bit brain-damaged! I can't wait to run some te-"
Bruce held up a hand, effectively silencing Tony.
"You're not running tests on a teenage girl." Tony started to protest, but evidently thought better of it.
Bruce reached for a phone. He made a call to someone called Fury while Chelsea got her shit together. She had to be prepared if she was going to field questions from government spies. She thought of the advice James had given her. Say as much of the truth as you can. Don't be afraid to give personal details. Humanize yourself.
She jumped a little as she realized Bruce was speaking to her.
"-Fury'll be down in a minute with the other Avengers. I guess we should call your parents-"
"No!" Chelsea may have shouted a little bit. Bruce frowned at her.
"It's just that, um, this wasn't exactly my first time dying, and my parents don't know that I'm alive."
"Why didn't you go back to your parents?" This came from a black man in a long trench coat. An eye patch covered one eye but did not conceal the scar running through it. "Nick Fury."
"Chelsea Summers. I was afraid they would hate me. They're not really that…tolerant towards mutants."
This was a blatant lie, buts she didn't need to tell Fury anything. He nodded once.
"Ok. Age?"
"Sixteen."
"Birthday?"
"November 21."
"How'd you die the first time?"
Chelsea shivered. "I drowned."
Fury nodded. "What you've told me so far checks out. But you are staying here until we get more information on you."
Bruce made to protest, but Fury fixed him with a hard stare. "She can't die. Not only is she a potential threat, she is also a target. Are you willing to consent to testing?"
Chelsea nodded. "Not all testing. But maybe some."
"Agreed. Now we should probably tell the others you're not dead."
oOo
Chelsea walked next to Tony as they made their way upstairs. They had given her sweatpants and a t-shirt to replace the one Hawkeye had destroyed. He was chattering excitedly at her.
"What's your blood type? Are your parents mutants? I'll admit, genetics isn't really my area of expertise, but I can totally make an exception!"
He stopped abruptly as they entered the conference room. Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Thor were all sitting inside, staring at them. Well, Steve and Thor were staring at them. Clint was looking at her guiltily. Natasha may have been surprised, but since her default face was a mask of cool indifference it was impossible to tell. They stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, and then Thor stood up and embraced her, lifting her several inches off the ground.
"I am most pleased to see you not dead!" Thor boomed. Chelsea squeaked. Natasha looked amused.
"Thor, put her down. She's probably running out of air."
Thor dropped her immediately and stooped to peer at her worriedly. "I am most sorry! I did not mean to cause you any harm, child!"
"Um. That's okay."
Bruce cleared his throat and looked sternly at Clint, who stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry I shot at you. I guess."
Chelsea grinned good-naturedly. "That's ok. I guess."
Steve was still staring at her, and she could feel a blush creeping along her cheeks. Natasha, thankfully, seemed to notice, and managed to order everyone out without actually doing anything. When they were alone, Steve spoke.
"I thought I'd killed you. I apologize. I threw my shield, and I didn't think about the consequences. I –"
Chelsea smiled. The plan had worked, at least until they had failed to retrieve her body.
"It's ok. I'm fine. You just have to be more careful next time."
She saw him clench his fists, and smirked inwardly. She could still salvage the mission. She just had to guilt it up until her friends came to rescue her.
oOo
Ellie winced as James shouted at her. She hadn't even bothered to explain what had happened. A failure was a failure was a failure. Drew stood in the doorway, gazing sympathetically in.
James snarled at her. "Drew and I will lead a team to take control of the helicarrier. And you, Ellie, are going to work on the containment fields until they are complete. No breaks. I want them ready by the time we subdue the Avengers."
Ellie nodded wordlessly.
"Once you're done those, you need to figure out Stark's arc reactor. We both know palladium wouldn't sustain him, and you are going to figure what he's using and how to harness it."
Ellie bit her lip, but nodded again. She wouldn't be able to start working on the arc reactor until she had Stark's notes. She was brilliant, yes, but she didn't hold a candle to Tony Stark. With his notes and technology, though…
Ellie smiled tightly and got to work.
A/N: Ok, people. The amount of story alerts/favorite stories/hits are NOT COMPATIBLE with the couple reviews I got for last chapter. PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW! I love to hear your thoughts! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!
(shameless, I know): I have just published another Avengers fic called Conspiracy. Please check it out!
