Chapter 6

Five days after the incident Fynleigh managed to convince the doctors that she was perfectly fine and was ready to be released. Her thinly veiled contempt and snarled death threats, she was sure, had in no way hurried along her release. She had never been overly fond of doctors, nurses, or hospitals and she had no qualms about expressing her unease and distrust. In the three days she had been conscious, she had managed to frighten, enrage, and exasperate every nurse and doctor that dared to touch her. She had even tried to punch one annoyingly cheery nurse in the face when she tried to take a blood sample.

She noticed with a small amount of satisfaction, that everyone in the medical bay was glad to see her walk out the door. Steve and Natasha were standing just outside when she stepped out into the hallway. She made her way towards them with a small huff. While she was glad to be out of the med bay and that lumpy cold hospital bed, she was still stuck aboard the Hellicarrier and that was almost as depressing.

"Hey." Natasha said with a small smile. "How does it feel to be free?"

Fynleigh shrugged. She didn't really consider herself free. She had never been free. The idea of freedom (as pleasant and inspiring as it was) had never been one she had entertained.

"Freedom is fool's notion. It is the hope of the desperate and the naïve. Honestly, I wouldn't know what it feels like. I doubt I ever will." She said in monotone.

They both looked at her oddly as she began walking towards the control room.

"Don't look at me like that. I know I sound like a cynical old hag, but the truth is there. I may not have grown up knowing who I am, but I have always know what I am. While I can be free of a tyrannical government, free of dependency, free of so many things, I can never be free of what I am, of what lives inside me. It is something that will haunt me until I die, mocking me for every mistake and every moment of weakness." Her voice never rose, never wavered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I just meant that it must feel good to be out of the medical bay." Natasha said softly from behind her. The redhead cast a worried glance at the man beside her, his own eyes filled with a myriad of emotions.

Fynleigh sighed. "I'm sorry, Natasha. That was a bit harsh. I just don't like confinement, and that's all I feel in this place."

She felt a heavy hand fall on her shoulder. Looking up, she was met with sad blue eyes full of understanding and warmth.

"You don't need to explain anything to anyone, Fynleigh."

"He's right. We've all been through some pretty horrible things. We all get snappy from time to time." Natasha smiled.

Fynleigh smiled back, or tried to at least. The corners of her lips curled slightly upwards for a brief moment before she walked through the doors and into the control room of the Hellicarrier. Brilliant sunlight filled the entire room thanks to the large glass walls and gave the room a feeling of openness. The remaining Avengers sat around a long table with Fury standing at the head of it with his back to her.

She honestly didn't like the man. He was rude, demanding and incredibly infuriating. Still, he was a soldier and a warrior in his own right; she supposed he deserved to act however he wished. It was his ship and his command. He had worked hard to gain it. She moved towards him as he turned around, stopping to stand toe-to-toe with him. She held his gaze for a long moment without saying anything. The brow above his good eye rose slightly, asking a silent question.

She held out her hand to him, waiting for him to take it. As he shook her hand, he nodded. Still without a word she pulled away and moved to take a seat beside her father. She spent most of the meeting looking around the room or out the windows at the sea of clouds.

She was very well zoned out when a hand was waved in front of her face. She heard someone say her name. Shaking her head she came back to the present. She could feel her cheeks burning as the others looked at her expectantly.

"I - um - I wasn't listening. Sorry." She smiled sheepishly.

"Natasha and I were just telling Director Fury that you would require a good deal of training in order for you to join us. If you want to, that is." Steve flashed a winning smile as her eyes widened comically.

"You – I – you want me to join you?"

"Sure, but only if you want." Natasha said from across the table. The others nodded in agreement, and for a long moment she simply stared at everyone. Was she really the hero type? Did she even want to be?

"I…suppose. I've never really been the one to play the hero, but I don't see what it could hurt to try."

"Well…"Tony smirked from his place across the table, "You could fail miserably and die a horribly painful death."

"Stark." Steve warned with a glared.

"What? I'm just being honest. It could happen to any one of us." He shrugged and kicked back in his chair as he threw his feet up on the table, tapping at the glowing disk in his chest.

"You can ignore him, if you like." Bruce smile slightly. "We do."

"That is not very nice, Dr. Banner. I am offended." Tony retorted, a pout on his face.

"Are you always so childish?" Fynleigh asked.

"Growing old, for most of us, is required. Growing up is optional." He winked.

Fynleigh fought the urge to roll her eyes and glared at him.

Stark sat up and looked at her for a moment before looking at Steve. He glanced between the two several times before cocking his head to the right. "Huh. Guess there's no denying the relation."

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked, confused.

"No, he's right." Clint said, looking at them in much the same way Tony had. "It's a little creepy."

"You look much like your father, Lady Fynleigh. The similarity is unsettling." Thor chimed in.

This time, she didn't bother to contain her annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "Aren't kids supposed to look like their parents? Isn't that sort of the point?"

"Yeah, sure but…wow."

"How articulate, Mr. Stark." She sneered at him.

"Are you all finished?" Fury glared at them. "Can we get back to work, now?"

The meeting continued as before and after a few minutes, Fynleigh was back to staring blankly out the window as her mind wandered. She thought about how much her life had changed in just a week's time, and just how much more would change now that her origins were being dug up.

She was nervous, terrified and curious all at once. Then there was that nagging cold that filled her, and the paranoia of being watched. It was all too much. She sighed as she watched the others at the table. Everyone was paying full attention to the discussion, but she caught solemn brown eyes flicker away every time she looked towards him.

There was something about him that drew her gaze, but she couldn't quite place what it was. She smiled slightly as their eyes locked across the table, feeling her face flush at his grin. She looked away as she tried to gain control over the rising heat in her cheeks, her hair falling across her face and hiding her from view.

'Silly girl, he's just being nice.' A mocking voice whispered in her mind. 'What would anyone see in a monster like you?'

'Shut up." She whispered, earning an odd look from Steve. She just smiled and shook her head. "Ignore me. I'm just talking to myself."

He nodded and turned back towards Fury. She sighed again and propped her chin up with her hand, her elbow resting on the table. 'Yes,' she thought, 'this is definitely going to be interesting.'

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's Note

Well, this took long enough. _ I lost all inspiration for this fic for quite some time. I honestly hope that it won't happen again, but I can't promise anything.

Anyways, here it is. It's probably not what everyone was wanting, but it's a transitional chapter. Sadly, they must exist. Also, it's been decided that this will be a Fynleigh/Bruce pairing with Steve/Natasha as a secondary pairing.

Don't forget to review, let me know your thoughts and feelings. Love it or hate it.