But I eventually did. In a hospital. Surrounded by bright white lights.

I was having a severe case of deja-vu.

I turned my head and saw no one in my room, which surprised me because I thought at least one of my new mutant friends would come by to say hello. I lifted my upper body into a sitting position and noticed the rom to be unusually cleanly. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I looked up and a nurse in a hazmat suit walked in.

She smiled calmly. "Hello."

I looked back with uncertainty. "Hello."

"I brought you some breakfast," she said,, and set down a tray on my night stand. My stomach growled as I turn to see which tasty dish they had brought me. But I only saw a single piece on wheat bread on a plate, not even toasted.

"Um," I said picking up the bread. "What is this?"

"It's bread," the nurse said slowly, as if I had never heard the word before. "We weren't sure what you ate on your planet so we figured we'd start you with some Earth basics."

I shook my head, taking in what she was saying. "Wait, my planet? I live on Earth. I am a human!"

The nurse smiled another plastic smile through the protection of her suit, and I suddenly realized, they thought I was an alien. They must have seen me use my mutation.

"Where are my friends?" I shouted. "Is it just me?"

The nurse pursed her lips. "I'm not the one you want to talk to about this. I send in Dr. Schinner. He's the specialist."

I took deep breaths as I waited for the nurse to return. I couldn't remember anything that happened after I hit the ground and went unconscious. I hoped the team had taken my advice and got out of there, and were not captured like me. I got up from my bed and ran my fingers through my hair. I felt a twinge of pain in my shoulder, but figured it must have got popped back into place.

"Good Morning, miss," said a deep voice from behind me. I turned and saw a middle aged man with peppered hair and glasses standing in the door frame.

"No suit?" I observed. "You must trust me."

"Trust has nothing to do with it," he answered. "I merely want to observe your obviously alien habits. But anyways, Nurse Paldelcki alerted me that you had questions?"

"Um, yeah, where am I?" I asked.

"The Blackfoot Center for Foreign Artifacts."

"I am not an artifact."

The doctor looked appalled that I would even consider that. "Oh not at all. A being of your character is much more than a mere relic."

I didn't let his flattery affect me. "How did I get here?"

"Oddly enough you were found laying on our doorstep," Dr. Schimmer explained. "When we brought you in to repair your shoulder, all the water in the room exploded and flew around the room and created a large mess. That was when we knew you were special."

"Is it just me?"

The Doctor took a breath. "You're not the first we have in possession, but you were the only one delivered to us."

I looked up. "You mean there's more, of my kind, here in this facility."

He nodded. "Two other female aliens. One with the power to make people fall asleep instantly, and the other with control over plants and flowers."

"Can I...meet them?" I asked slowly.

The Doctor chuckled, "Of course, I don't see why not." He walked me into a room across from mine, where I saw two girls sitting in two separate beds.

"Girls," said the Doctor, "I've found another one. Meet.."

"Rhodie," I said. The two girls looked to me slowly. The girl on the farthest bed sat in scrubs twisting her curly red hair. Her ice cold blue eyes shot daggers into me. The other girl sat cross-legged on the bed and looked more enthusiastic. Her cropped black hair reminded me of Swirl's, except her's was decorated with pastel pink roses. She smiled at me through crimson lips and I assumed she was the one who could control plants.

Dr. Schimmer left us and I was faced with an awkward silence. The flower girl kept smiling at me, while the other one, the sleeping one, seemed utterly bored with me.

"Um," I said, "Hello."

"Hi," said the flower girl. "I'm Sprite." She extended her hand and a rose grew from it."

I took the rose. "Are you guys mutants too?"

"Well obviously," said the sleeper-girl.

Sprite wrinkled her nose. "Don't pay attention to Hypnos. She's just grouchy because she hasn't slept in days."

I turned to the red-headed girl. "You're an insomniac? But isn't your mutation making people fall asleep."

Hypnos sneered. "Well, isn't someone attentive?"

"Hypnos!" Sprite nudged the red head with her elbow. She turned back to me, "she's impossible."

"No it's fine, really," I said. "But I need your guy's help."

"You don't even know us," said Hypnos.

"But I know you're mutants," I inserted. "And us mutants have to stick together."

Hypnos and Sprite were both silent for a very long time. I kept looking to each of them to say something, but even perky Sprite fell hush for a long time. It was eventually Hypnos who spoke.

"I haven't used the word 'mutant' since they took my sister away," she said, almost to herself. "They raided our house. They called us 'mutants' and 'freaks'. They sent me here, and took my sister away."She made no eye contact with either Sprite or I, but instead sat with her head down.

"Are you a mutant?" asked Sprite, curiously.

I nodded. "You both are too."

Hypnos stayed in her heap of self-pity but Sprite's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Are there more of us?" she asked with wonder.

"Yes," I said almost laughing. "I know mutants who can walk through walls and control the weather." Sprite's eyes widened with every word I said. "I even know one who can turn his skin into solid steel."

"Wow," awed Sprite. Her excitement was shown in the vast amounts of roses that were currently growing in her hair.

"That's why I need your help," I continued. "I was separated from my team in the middle of a battle and I need to get back to them. How far is North Carolina from here?"

Hypnos scoffed. "Only on the opposite side of the country."

I could tell by Sprite's grimace that she was right. "Blackfoot's in Idaho, which is in the North West, and North Carolina is on the East Coast."

"Then I can't waste anymore time." My mind began to race with all the worse possible outcomes of that day. They could have all been trapped and sent to different research facilities. Or worse, Mystique could have killed them all.

"I want to help," volunteered Sprite, standing up out of her bed. Hypnos' eyes widened with shock.

"No way!" she shouted. "We are not going to help this old lady we have just met break out of her. No, we are going to stay here where it's safe."

"Please Hypnos! We have to!" pleaded Sprite. "I'm tired of living here day in and day out. I want to meet new mutants."

"Sprite, we're not going."

"Would you stop telling me what to do?" shouted Sprite, thorns growing from the roses in her hair.

"I have to," shouted back Hypnos. "If I don't, you're going to get yourself killed!"

"You always hold me back!" fired Spirte. "I want to help her!"

Hypnos groaned. "You are such a pain, Natalia!"

Sprite and I froze. Hypnos was breathing heavy and tears were running down her face. Sprite's thorns retracted into the roses and the two calmed down.

"Fine, we'll help her," said Hypnos, not making eye contact with either of us. "But on one condition. You take me to see my sister."

Sprite mumbled. "Hypnos she has no idea-"

"No, it's okay," I said. "We can look for you sister."

Hypnos finally looked up at me and I swear I saw a smile. Sprite clapped her hands excitedly.

"Okay well first thing," I said. "Hypnos, you have to put everyone we come into contact with to sleep. Then, Sprite, you're going to-"

Suddenly, a nurse opened the door. "Which one of you is the water one?" she asked. I stepped forward. "There's someone here for you."

Confused but also excited, I followed the nurse to the front of the building. Is it Logan, or Loki, maybe even Director Fury?

I turned a corner and stopped dead in my tracks.

There, squeezed into a miniature waiting-room chair, sat Steve casually reading a magazine.

"Steve," I gasped, and took off in a sprint towards him.

He looked up, and his expression brightened like a child on Christmas day. "Halle."

We embraced for a long time, and I realized I missed his hugs. Standing at 6"4, his strong frame towered over me as I allowed myself to sink in to our hug.

"I can't believe you're here!" I said breathlessly. "I've missed you."

"Not as much as I've missed you," he said, pulling me away and taking me in with his royal blue eyes.

"But how did you find me?" I asked, blinking away tears of joy.

"Well," he said, taking a seat in a chair, "I was worried when you didn't return my face messages or calls, so I wanted to go look for you. But-"

My happiness vanished. "Steve, what happened."

He spoke slowly. "S.H.E.I.L.D. has been taken over by Hydra. Apparently there have been Hydra agents in the system ever since the time of the Red Skull. They revolted, and S.H.E.I.L.D. became history."

"Oh no," I breathed.

"It's been really difficult for me, Halle," said Steve, his puppy dog eyes touching a nerve in my heart."

"What do you want, Steve?" I asked softly.

"I need you," he said.

Inside, I grimaced. I had a feeling he was going to say that. I thought I had made it very clear to him during our time together that I was not interested. I liked Steve, don't get me wrong; he was the most confident and kind man I had ever met and any girl would be lucky to be his. But, someone else laid claim to my heart, and he knew that, yet he persisted.

"Steve," I said, trying to put words together.

He took me by the shoulders. "Come back with me. Join me and Nat and help defeat Hydra. You're one of the best combat agents I've ever met."

"Even if I wanted to come back, Fury made it extremely clear that I was no longer welcome."

His expression was suddenly serious and it scared me. "Halle, Fury is dead."

The news hit me like a bucket of ice cold water. First Coulson and now Fury. No wonder S.H.E.I.L.D. went into the ground. I didn't know the director as well as Coulson, but because of our encounter after the Battle of New York, I couldn't help but slightly despise the one eyed man.

"How?"

"Hydra fired on my apartment when we were talking."

I tried to show some sympathy as I shared in Steve's loss. Fury was the first person who had come into contact with Steve after he was thawed from the ice, so I could understand the relationship of the two.

"Steve," I said. "I want to go back to S.H. E.I.L.D., I really do. But right now I have a team out there who could be in trouble because of me. I need to find them and take care of this mission I've already been given." I paused. "Then, when all is said and done, I will consider your request."

"Halle, I don't think you understand," said Steve, running his fingers through his chopped hair. I noticed his hair was not in the old-fashion combed over style it was in the last time I saw him, I'd have to remember to thank Natasha for that. "My world is falling apart. The only job I've ever known has been taken over by Nazis. Fury is dead. You've been injured on a mission who-knows-where. And I man I've thought my whole life was dead turns out to be alive. I need some stability in my life. I need you."

I had never heard more sincerity or pain in his voice. It strained my heart to look at him. But as we spoke, the rest of the X-men could be trapped by Magneto. There would be no way Professor X would know, so Sprite, Hypnos, and I were there only hopes.

"I'm sorry, Steve," I whispered, blinking back tears. "I can't. Not now."

He looked shocked, but in a way I had a feeling he was expecting it. It felt horrible having to keep turning him down, but this time, his timing couldn't have been worse.

"I'll see you again," I said, giving him one last hug.

"Don't be so sure." I shivered at the coldness in his voice, and he exited without giving me another glance.

I slowly walked back to my room, when I realized it was extremely silent throughout the hallway. There were no nurses or doctors bustling from room to room. I peeked in a few pristine containment areas, but each one was empty.

"Rhodie!" called a voice. I turned and saw Sprite's petite head sticking out around a corner. She motioned for me to come over towards her and I joined her and Hypnos around the corner.

"She did it!" said Sprite with a quiet but uncontainable joy.

I was confused. "Did what? Who?"

"Me, doofus," Hypnos said, boredly. "I put them all to sleep."

I blinked. "All of them?"

She nodded smugly.

"Then what are we waiting around for?"