Beep… Beep…Beep

Bella opened her eyes, and blinked. An all too familiar smell washed up her nose. Antiseptic. She was in a hospital.

"SHIELD private hospital, in case you were wondering." Came Tony's voice. He was sitting in the chair next to her, still in the same clothes as before. "You were out for three days, Bella. You nearly died."

"So, business as usual then." She said weakly. Tony shook his head with a laugh.

"You really are a Stark, we're the only ones who would be making jokes just after waking up from a coma after nearly dying." Bella smiled, but suddenly frowned.

"What about Renee?" she asked. Tony sighed.

"She disappeared, not a trace." Bella squeezed her eyes shut. She felt Tony's hand on hers.

"I'm so sorry Bella." He said. Bella sighed.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"Well, between two science geniuses, and two master assassins, hacking into the security footage of the city wasn't too hard."

"Remind me to hug them later." Bella said, attempting to sit up, and wincing. "What's the damage, by the way?"

"Five ribs damaged. Two cracked, three broken, several lacerations, and a broken nose. You also have quite the vibrant shiner there; I didn't think bruises could get that purple."

"Lovely." Bella croaked. "So, when can I get the hell outta here?"

"They want to keep you overnight, so tomorrow. The rest of the family's out in the waiting room, want me to bring 'em in?" at Bella's nod, Tony left.

(Steve POV)

Steve sat in his room, his drawing pad in his lap. He was drawing absently, his mind on other matters. Last night he had danced with a girl for the first time in his life, and somehow, deep down, he knew that he had found the right partner. He remembered Bella, looking so beautiful, the two of them moving gracefully, as one. Part of his mind offered it's two cents, saying that they had looked better together than any other partner she had had. But she had looked very comfortable with Johnny Storm, he remembered.

He and Johnny got along fairly well, but the fact that they looked so similar always threw him off a bit. Johnny loved it, always saying how attractive Steve was, even to the point of flirting with him. Which meant he knew what Johnny looked like when he was flirting. And he had definitely been flirting with Bella.

He glanced down at the pad, and started. There she was, looking like an angel in the white dress that she had worn out. Everything was perfect. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail at the base of her neck, strands falling loose here and there. Her head and eyes were downcast shyly, the way she had done when he told her that she was beautiful, her mouth curved into the slightest hint of a smile. He felt a smile on his own face. The right partner indeed.

"Steve, you better get up here." Natasha's voice rang out over the intercom. "Better hurry. It's Bella."

Within minutes of undergoing his transformation, he had chased a Nazi spy all the way to the docks. He thought he was running as fast as he possibly could then, but he was wrong. He was now running as fast as he possibly could, and was in the living room a mere ten seconds after Natasha's words had faded.

"What happened?" He demanded the moment he entered the room. Tony was there, and he could tell that he was worried out of his mind.

"Bella went to the bathroom, and never came back; security found traces of blood on the floor, and Bella was nowhere to be found."

"Do you think it was Renee?" He asked urgently. If it wasn't, that was a good thing, that meant that she was still alive, if it was Bella's mother, then she might already be dead.

"Of course it was fucking Renee!" Tony yelled.

"Tony, calm down, we'll find her." Steve promised. Tony took a deep breath, and looked at him.

"Alright Star Spangled Man, what's the plan?

In all the time he has known Tony, Bruce, Natasha and Clint, he has never seen them work so intently and urgently. Only ten seconds after starting their task, they were into the security tapes. It was Renee that had taken Bella, they had seen her dragging their lost family member across the blacktop, and into a car. They followed the car from camera to camera, before they finally found the destination, an old abandoned warehouse. They were suited up and out the door before you could say rescue.

Tony, Bruce and Thor crashed through the roof, while he, Natasha and Clint broke down the door. There was Bella, her angelic white dress now red. Renee was nowhere to be seen, having fled what must have been mere minutes ago. Bella was still conscious, and his blue eyes met her brown.

"Bella!" he shouted, panicked, and rushed to her side. She had fainted in the time it took to get to her, the obvious blood loss getting to her. Everyone was in a circle around them. And he quickly lifted her into his arms. As much as he wanted to simply take Bella and run, he needed to command his team, and he wasn't the fastest.

"Tony, take Bella to the Hospital, SHIELD, they have the best doctors." He ordered. He placed her into her godfather's metal arms, and he was off at once.

"Natasha, Clint, what do you make of this mess?" He gestured to the scene, maybe they could give them some insight into what had happened. The two looked all throughout the warehouse.

"Bella was tied to the chair." Natasha said, gesturing to the overturned chair. "And judging by the blood on them, Renee had cut Bella, before she tricked her into cutting her loose by moving. They fought, both of them inflicting damage, before Bella managed to get a hold of the knife." She gestured to the knife. "Bella won, and started to make her way to the door, and that's when we arrived." Steve nodded. "You two try to track down Renee, if you find her, bring her in. I want her alive, so she can do her time, understood?" The pair nodded unhappily, and walked out of the side door Renee had used.

They stopped by the Tower, to pick up some things. By the looks of Bella's injuries, they would be staying at SHIELD HQ for a while, and there was no way they would be leaving her alone there. She was family, and they wouldn't leave her. He wasn't going to leave her. She was his partner; he was in love with her.

Steve POV

They had spent a day, a whole 24 hours in the waiting room while Bella was in intensive care. She had the best doctors and medicine available; no one could refuse 'America's Golden Boy' as Tony had once called him. At the end of that day; the day that went on for forever, they were told that she would make it, but was in a medically induced coma, and would stay so for a few more days.

They were allowed to see her then. They tried to only let Tony in, but again, no one seemed able to refuse them. Maybe it was Tony threatening to take their coffee machines offline for a month, maybe it was Natasha's 'I can kill you in 500 different ways with my pinky' glare, but no one stopped them other than that one time.

Bella looked like a ghost. Her face lacked any color whatsoever, with the exception of the bright purple bruise that circled her eye, and spread to her nose. He would have thought she was dead, if it had not been for the heart monitor. The steady beeping was proof that she was alive, so he couldn't find it in him to be annoyed by the constant repetitive sound. Tony immediately went to Bella's side, and he wanted to do so himself, but was unsure. A small shove pushed him forward, and he glanced back to see an all too innocent expression on Clint's face. He rolled his eyes good naturedly, and sat a Bella's other side. Bruce and Thor sat next to Tony, while Clint and Natasha sat with him. Both he and Tony each held one of Bella's hands, and they waited. They waited for two days, taking shifts, so Bella would never be alone.

The second day Bella was due to wake up, and SHIELD put their foot down. Too many people would disorient Bella, and she would be disoriented enough without them adding extra. Tony stayed with her, and promised to get them as soon as Bella was functioning. The time dragged by, but finally; finally, he came to get them.

Bella was propped up on a gigantic pile of pillows, and smiling weakly at them all. Her bruise was still there, but had shrunk considerably, and color had lightly returned to her face.

"Bella." He said, relieved at seeing her awake again.

"Good to see you awake Sleeping Beauty." Clint said with a grin, walking forward and pulling her into a gentle hug, an expression previously only seen around little children (which Clint secretly doted on) on his face.

"Good to be awake." She said in a quiet, raspy voice. "Anyone willing to be my Prince Charming and get me a glass of water?" he immediately jumped up, and got her what she needed. She smiled at him when he handed her the small paper cup.

"My hero." She teased, and drank the water greedily, sighing in relief when she was done.

"So, three days." She said when she was done. "I miss anything good? Any world domination plans foiled, little old ladies helped across the street, or kittens saved from the big bad trees?" She was teasing them, a sure sign that she was feeling better, the unseen tension of the past three days evaporating from them in waves.

"The kittens could wait." Natasha said quietly, a look that was almost tender on her face. "We stayed with you."

The surprise on Bella's face was heartbreaking, and not just to Steve. All of them moved closer, until they were in a tight circle around her bed. Thor moved first, wrapping his arms around Bella in the gentlest hug they had ever witnessed Thor give. Suddenly all of them had their arms around Bella, giving her the group hug of her life. When they parted, Bella was smiling brightly, looking at them all with such love clear on her face that all of them just wanted to hug her again. So they did. They eventually let her go, and spotted a mischievous glint in her eyes that told them that trouble was on the way.

"So, any chance that the super highly trained group of superheroes can bust me out of this Hospital?"

Bella POV

"Alert. Security breach, floor 1, section 5."

Bella was being pushed along in a wheelchair, faster than you could believe. She was laughing in delight, enjoying the feel of the wind rushing around her, and waving happily to the astounded SHIELD agents, staring at what must have been one of the most peculiar sights that they had ever seen.

Tony Stark, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, the Norse god of thunder, Dr. Bruce Banner, Captain America, and two of their own agents, and some brunette girl in a wheelchair, being pushed by aforementioned Captain, and all of them cackling and giggling like fools.

When the alarm went off, they tried to stop them, but they managed to evade them all. They reached a locked door, but Natasha got them through easily.

They were in the parking lot, where one of Tony's many cars waited for them. Bella was placed gently in the passenger seat. Bruce, Nat and Steve crowded into the back seat, and Thor grabbed Clint and flew away. with a screeching of tires, they were gone, and headed back home, all of them laughing like madmen. No one had noticed Clint disappearing momentarily while they escaped, but, when the mess at SHIELD was cleared up, the most certainly knew. How you may ask? Simple.

Only one person had the agility, stealth and childish nature to break into Nick Fury's office and spray paint 'Livin La Vida Loca' onto his wall.

Renee stumbled down the alleyway, clutching at the bricks of the wall to hold her up. She was desperately trying to staunch the blood pouring from the wound her daughter had given her, the little bitch. Avoiding the Avengers sent after her was almost too easy; she couldn't believe that they were trusted with the safety of a dog, let alone humanity.

Her strength failed, and she fell to the ground, blood pooling on the concrete around her. A cold laugh rang out, and she snapped her head to the mouth of the alleyway, where a tall, feminine figure stood, her back to the light, face lost in shadow.

"How weak you humans are, it's pathetic." The shadowed female said.

"What the hell do you mean, humans?" Renee snapped at the woman. "What do you want?" the woman smiled, showing teeth, brightly white.

"We both want the same thing: The death of Isabella Stark." Renee perked up at that. At least, as much as someone with a fatal wound bleeding out can perk up.

"I'm listening." The woman smirked.

"How do you think you would take to immortality Renee? I can offer that as well. What would you give for that?"

"Anything." Renee said at once. "I'd burn myself alive for that." An evil glint lit up the shadowed woman's eyes.

"Good, because burn you shall." And with that, the woman stepped into the light, to reveal fiery red hair, and bloody scarlet eyes.

"I am Victoria, and you…" She let out a cold laugh. "You're my new pet."

Unbeknownst to Victoria, there was a third person in the alleyway. A tall man, pale enough to be a Vampire, but with burning emerald eyes watched them intently, a long, pointed staff in his hand, glowing with a blazing blue light. He smirked to himself as Victoria carried the human away. How dull and stupid Midgardians could be, human or not, could they not tell that he was there? All the better, now he had the upper hand. He may not be overly fond of the Avengers, but he would protect the life of the innocent that was in the Avenger's care, he owed it to the universe at large.

Now, to recruit.

Alice sighed as she ran. She was leaving, never to return. The rest of the family had been alienating her for a while now, even Jasper, her 'Mate'! Well, once upon a time, they were mates, not anymore, they had been distant for a while now, ever since Bella's tragic birthday. He, like the rest of the family, blamed her for not seeing the paper cut coming.

Bella, her sister, her poor sister that she had manipulated, had forced to do things against her will, the now all too familiar guilt again washing up inside of her. She had been in the dark, but now saw the light, Edward's influence gone.

She wanted to apologize, and was going to when she and the Avengers had come, but she hadn't got the chance. And then of course she had that vision, and everything had gone to shit.

Edward, No one would believe that the family's little Golden Boy was a manipulative, sadistic bastard. He wanted Bella, for her body, and for the sweet nectar of her blood, and the hidden power she possessed. At first Rosalie had been on her side, acting mean to Bella to drive her away from Edward, to keep her safe, but she was inevitably converted to Edward's dark gift, Alice falling into his web soon after.

He wasn't the telepath that he had led the other's to believe, he got into your head, poisoned your mind. And if he couldn't get into your mind, like with Bella, there was also the sweet poison of his voice, which she had unfortunately fallen into. Trapped, a lamb against a lion, utterly helpless.

Not anymore. Pride at her sister's strength and skill in the battle welled up within her. It had taken hours for Edward and Rosalie to heal. She was healing from Edward's poison, and becoming the woman she was supposed to be, in mind and body. The Avengers were helping her, especially Steven Rogers. A smile played across Alice's lips as she ran, that vision, the one Edward had seen, the one of Bella and Steve, falling in love. Of Bella, strong and proud, her power at it's height. Everything that Edward had been working to keep from being. Everything that Alice had been forced into helping him stop. Another shudder ran through her, before she brushed it off and continued running, she was free now, and she was going to make amends, and that's what mattered.

"Not many can escape a Silvertongue's grasp, consider me impressed." A soft voice carried out. Alice stopped abruptly, and saw a man, standing in her path, a man that had not been there a second before. He was tall, and his bright green eyes bore through her, into her soul, if she even had one now.

"Who are you?" She asked cautiously. He had a similar air about him that Edward did, that calm aura that drew you in, but it had no affect on Alice now, she was disenchanted, and her gift was working clearly now, she saw things for what they were now, something that Edward had blocked.

"I am a Silvertongue as well, like the wretched boy that you flee from." He said. "I am Loki, of Asgard." Alice immediately took an instinctual step back at his comparison to Edward.

"There is nothing for you to fear from me, Vampyre." Loki said calmly. "That is the reason I have come to find you, you are disenchanted, you cannot be fooled, I have no power over you, your power has grown to it's fullest, you sit in the dark no longer."

"Why do you need me in particular?" Alice asked, still cautious. She knew that Loki was supposed to be the God of Lies, but she felt deep down that what he was saying was true. That didn't mean that she trusted him though, she had already been burned by a 'Silvertongue', and she wasn't going to let it happen again.

"We have the mutual wellbeing of one particular human as our focus." Loki said in his collected voice. "One particularly gifted human."

"Bella." Alice gasped. "She's in danger." Loki nodded.

"The female called Victoria, she has been gathering allies, and plans to kill Isabella Stark, I wish for that not to happen."

"Why?" Alice asked, still weary. "What's Bella to you?" Loki sighed.

"An innocent girl who has suffered because of my mistakes. To borrow a phrase from a… 'friend' of mine, I have red in my ledger, and I would very much like to rectify that." He said, and then paused, looking at her. "Another thing we have in common, I believe." Alice bit her lip, and finally, nodded.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Loki gave her a small smile.

"Victoria gathers evil around her, we shall do the opposite. We shall gather the good. Tell me, did Isabella have any close friends that you know of?"

(Bella POV)

When they got home, Thor and Clint were already there, oh the perks of flying. Clint was being strange –I mean, stranger than usual–, he had music blaring, and was dancing around the room, singing.

"Upside, inside out! Livin' La Vida Loca!" they all looked to Thor, who was staring at Barton, perplexed.

"He began his chanting when we arrived, and not ceased since." He told them concerned. They all tried to quiet Clint, but it was impossible. Tony had cut the music, but Clint had continued to sing, not a care in the world. They rolled their eyes, and went about their business, settling Bella on her and Steve's couch, the latter never leaving her side for a second, and making sure she was comfortable, the caring and concerned expression on his face making Bella fall just that deeper for the blonde.

"She will wear you out! Livin' La Vida Loca!" Clint sang.

"I'll order pizza." Tony said, and made to walk away.

"Livin' La Vida Loca!Livin' La Vida Loca! Livin' La Vida... Loki!"