Steve released me and stepped back, plopping back on the chair he had been sleeping in, seemingly trying to catch his breath. It wasn't long before Bruce, Steve, and the doctors were able to take off the masks.

I relaxed and rode out the last of the muscle spasms from the pain. They didn't hurt, particularly, but they made my muscles ache slightly. I looked up as the door opened and Tony, Natasha, Clint, and Thor walked in. The boys stayed hovering around the doorway but Natasha came and sat delicately on the bed next to me.

I turned to look at the beautiful redheaded woman. She was so beautiful, in fact, that she sometimes made me feel like I was around my own people again. "Hey, Tasha," I said softly, watching her.

A small smile whispered over her lips "The world's gone to hell since you disappeared."

I smiled "So I gathered." With that, I sat up and embraced her. She stiffened momentarily, then relaxed and hugged me back. When we released each other, I looked behind her at the three men standing with wide-eyed expressions. "Are you three just going to stand there?"

This seemed to break them out of their stupor and they approached. I glanced over at Steve, who was still sitting in the chair with a happy expression on his face, then Bruce, who was busying himself with dealing with the equipment he had used to rid me of the mercury. I, then, glanced at the floor, where the bullets still lay in a few small puddles of blood. I grimaced a little and looked away from them. Hopefully they would assume that it was part of my physiology, not something else. I wasn't ready for them to know about the stone. It seemed that was the case, because they said nothing about it.

I watched as Tony stooped and picked up one of the bullets, looking over it "These are designed for shooting into buildings, releasing the mercury and poisoning the people inside." He turned his skeptical eyes on me "Who shot you?"

I groaned "Hydra." I noted how Steve's fists tightened on the arms of his chair. "I got a ride back from space. They dropped me in Siberia and, with my luck, I ran into a Hydra base. Well, rather, I saw a Hydra base and was attacked by Agent Rumlow. I managed to escape into the ocean and used my magic to protect myself from the saltwater." This time I heard Steve give an audible growl deep in his throat. I snapped my eyes to him and pointed "You will tell me why you're so upset when I get out of this stupid hospital."

I turned and stood, looking down at my ripped and bloody clothes. I sighed and ran my hand over the fabric. It glowed black softly and knitted itself back together and the blood ran off to the floor.

I cocked my hip, looking up at my fellow Avengers "Can we go home now?"

Alright, my dears, new chapter. I hope you like. Now that we're getting really close to the summer, I will likely be able to post more. Be sure to keep up with the updates about Vivian's past. Also, I'm considering renaming the stories about Vivian. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.