Chapter Six: The Truth

~FLASHBACK~

Phil Coulson was only just starting out at SHIELD in the late eighties. Back then, being a field agent didn't have half as many perks as it did in this day and age. For now, he was stuck going on less dangerous missions that were beyond mundane. So when Phil was given his new assignment to investigate an abnormal amount of radiation that seemed to spring up out of nowhere, he didn't think that it was at all important or worth going to. He would find, however, that this mission would be more eventful than he had previously thought.

Everything seemed normal there upon the initial inspection: trees were growing, plants were flourishing, there were animals and other insects moving about and living. But deep in the bowels of the woods, in what was unknowingly the very center, there was a tiny infant laying, bare, in the middle of a bed of white roses. The little girl seemed happy; blue eyes open and attentive, she reacting normally to lights and movements of the butterflies and birds that flew about. Coulson moved toward the girl slowly, as not to frighten her, and slowly crouched to his knees, locking eyes with her. How could a newborn baby be so at peace, abandoned, in the middle of dense trees? The child looked to be as comfortable there as she would have been in her mother's arms- a though that, twenty-odd years later would be proven to be not too far off.

~END FLASHBACK~

The room fell silent and Violet stared at the strange man with wide, curious eyes.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before? If we have, I don't remember you."

Phil gave a slight smile to the young woman and opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by an annoyed Tony.

"Yeah, how do you know about her? You been tracking my internet browsing history again? I thought I told you to kn—"

"Mr. Stark," interrupted Phil as he slowly walked to the couch to sit beside Violet. "Please, let me speak. I'll explain everything."

With a grumble in response, Phil sat and turned his attention solely on Violet, who was far too preoccupied with the SHIELD badge the man wore on his suit's breast pocket.

"A long time ago, when you were a baby, I was sent on a mission to check out an odd level of radiation in the middle of the woods in Washington State. There was really no explanation as to why the radiation had picked up the way it did, and I never actually found out why. What I did find, however, was a tiny little girl laying in a bed of roses, all alone, in the middle of what seemed to be secluded territory."

Violet's eyes had risen to meet the man's, she searching for any signs of validation that he was, in fact, telling the truth. Only when she found that did she nod for him to go on.

"I took you somewhere safe, got you looked over by doctors. We found that…that you could do /extraordinary/ things with nature. Plants, weather, animals…anything you touched would react in a way that seemed superhuman. When you cried, it rained. When you smiled, the sun would come out. It was an amazing thing to witness."

A grand smile had formed on his face the more he spoke, and this smile triggered a smile of Violet's own. But it faded slowly once the man shook his head.

"You had no one. No data bases recorded your birth, no one came to claim you. So we had you integrated into a new family; one that was connected with SHIELD. An organization that would keep an eye on you and keep you safe."

She shook her head. "No…no, the Samuels told me that /they/ found me and took me in. I…why would they lie to me?"

"We asked them too."

Tony poured himself another drink and moved to sit in the couch opposite the one that Violet and Phil were.

"We asked them too," repeated Phil, "because we knew that the less you knew, the more normal you could become. We didn't anticipate their deaths, or that you would possibly evade us the way you did. But it happened. And you grew up just fine."

In the silence of the room, two pairs of eyes were on the young woman, who was staring at her empty glass of alcohol with the oddest sense of fascination. Eventually, she spoke again, voice quiet yet sure.

"Washington."

"Washington." Phil gave a warm smile. "It's a lovely state, filled with lush forests. The weather is always dreary, but there is some amazing land up there."

Violet nodded slowly but, after another silence, she spoke up. "But where did I come from? You said I was just lying there, on the ground, in some flowers. I had to have had someone out there…a mother or a father…"

Phil shook his head slowly. "If you did, no level of FBI, SHIELD, or local authorities could find anything about anyone. You just…were there. I'm sorry."

Tony snorted and watched as Phil stood up. "Why come all the way down here just to give no answers and a spotty biography? What's your motive in all this?"

"Motive?" Phil looked at Tony and shook his head, though he pulled out a sort of business card and handed it to Violet. "I don't really have a motive. I just saw that she was in the area, so I thought I would stop by. Reopen the case, maybe even…"

Tony gave a curt laugh. "Ask her to join the boy band? Listen, I seriously doubt that Violet wants to fight with a group of 'heroes.' I mean, she doesn't even know why she's in New York."

"We need everyone we can get." Spoke Phil, looking to Violet. "Tony has all the information, ask him to go over it with you. We're trying to help people- something that I know you like to do." His gaze moved to Tony. "We need everyone, Mr. Stark, including yourself. So think it over," he looked back to Violet, "and call me with some sort of acceptance or declination."

Phil gave a small nod before leaving the room, Tony only speaking when the elevator had gone back to the ground floor. He looked at Violent with an odd intensity, eyes swimming with confusion. He slowly took the card from her and set it on the coffee table beside her glass, a small sigh passing his lips.

"Bedtime, kid. We'll talk about this tomorrow."