A/N: Believe it or not I'm keeping to my update schedule. In case you hadn't noticed, I've been uploading every Saturday night, (Sydney Time Zone or UTC+10:00 for sophisticated people). Surprisingly I haven't missed one yet which is brilliant. Anyway, this chapter is entirely Phoenix focused, and is key for future events in this story. I had fun with this story, I borrowed the Word Association Test from Skyfall, and I had fun with it, giving you all a deeper perspective into Phoenix. That's enough rambling from me, don't forget to read review and enjoy.


Phoenix awoke, startled, she sat bolt upright in bed and clutched at the sheets, yanking them up to her chin. Trembling, she reached for the remote at her bedside table without looking, and turned on her stereo that was situated atop her chest of drawers.

As the music began playing, she relaxed, and exhaled calmly. Thankfully,, today wasn't a bad morning, and Phoenix hadn't found herself screaming as she woke. As Phoenix lay back in bed, she grabbed a wristwatch off her bedside table and checked the time.

0500. 5 AM in the morning. Phoenix was far from surprised. She'd been waking up automatically at 5 ever since she was five years old. Every morning, it still felt like the electric bracelet was shooting 30 volts of electricity through her body. No matter how hard she tried, Phoenix couldn't break the habits that came from Doctor Blake's conditioning.

Phoenix, her head still rested on the pillow, knew she would have to get up shortly. Lying on her bed and allowing her mind to wander, Phoenix found herself staring up at the ceiling. It was peaceful, being able to close her eyes and drift in the silence.

Phoenix sighed and opened her eyes after a minute of quiet, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, Phoenix rose to her feet and moved towards the stereo. She changed the CD to AC/DC, turning up the volume. Nodding to the best of the music, Phoenix searched her drawers for clothing.

She didn't own a lot. Most of it was gym gear, tank tops, tights and similar clothes suitable for training. As for her casual clothes, they were either former garments of those living in the tower, or the clothes Phoenix had acquired from her shopping trip with Natasha and Clint.

Phoenix was about to randomly grab her clothes for training when there was a knock on her door. Turning the stereo volume down, Phoenix made her way to the door and opened it a crack to check who it was. Upon seeing that it was Clint, she opened the door all the way and allowed him inside.

"Morning Phoenix," he greeted her as he walked inside.

"Clint," she acknowledged him with a polite nod. "Isn't it a bit early for training?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually. That, and a couple of other things," he sat down on her bed as he spoke, and patted the spot beside him as an invitation for her to sit down next to him. "Come and sit down Phoenix.

Phoenix tensed, any conversation that started like that usually meant that Phoenix would be on the receiving end of a lecture, or a confrontational conversation. Phoenix was not eager to experience neither of those things. She slowly moved towards the bed and sat down, staving off the inevitable.

"First of all, there's no training today," Clint informed her. "Natasha's busy tracking down Hanora's son on social media, and you and the Experiments have something else on. You're not going to like it Phoenix, but I'm sorry, I don't have a say in the matter."

"Is something wrong?" Phoenix asked hurriedly, her mind jumping to a serious of confusions, each as horrible as the next.

"Phoenix," Clint started, keeping his voice calm in the hopes of relaxing her. "Maria has a team coming in, who are be going to be doing a series of tests on you and The Experiments. They'll be examining your biology, your thought processes, but most importantly they're going to do an evaluation of your mental health."

Phoenix shook her head furiously. "No," she refused sharply.

"You don't have a choice Phoenix," Clint told her solemnly.

She buried her face in her hands. "I can't do it Clint, you know I can't," she murmured.

"Phoenix I tried arguing with Maria but she refused to change her mind," Clint placed a comforting hand on Phoenix's shoulder. "Steve told her about what happened two days ago, and she called for immediate action. She's trying to help you, we all are."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Phoenix argued flatly.

"I'm not saying that Phoenix. You've gone through a traumatic experience, you can't keep those memories to yourself thinking that it will all go away," Clint tried his best to reason with her. "Trust me, it is impossible to get over this sort of thing without help. That's all Maria is trying to do, help."

"Help," Phoenix repeated numbly, taking her hands away from her face and looking down, dejected. "I'll do it, but I don't think it's a good idea."

Clint placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, smiling, he looked Phoenix in the eye. "Maria's going to be right there if you need help ok. I promise, nothing will happen to you," he reassured her.

Phoenix attempted a half-smile. "It's not me I'm worried about."

Clint said nothing, but stood up and moved to Phoenix's window and ushered for Phoenix to join him. Once she was at his side, Clint pointed down and slightly to the right, his finger landing on an ordinary looking building. "That's where you'll be going," he informed her. "It's just over the road. They don't know about The Experiments connection to The Avengers, and they don't know about your abilities. Just in case someone plans on delivering juicy gossip to HYDRA."

"Do we have a cover story?" Phoenix asked, her emotions vanishing as she took stock of the mission.

Clint grinned. "You're good," he praised her. "You and The Experiments are a group of six troubled students from a local Manhattan school who have been chosen by your school counsellor to participate in this activity. Maria is your school counsellor by the way, she'll be wearing a disguise."

"What are our aliases?" Phoenix questioned.

"You're going by your real names for this one," Clint replied. "Since you don't have any records and The Experiments aren't used to undercover, we decided to play it safe. Maria has written up school records and everything. By the way, your school is East Side Community High School."

"I'll do some research," Phoenix nodded. She seemed to remember something at that moment and held up a hand to stop Clint from leaving. "I don't have a surname. Legally I don't even exist."

"Already handled," Clint informed her. "I borrowed one of Natasha's old aliases. Natalie Rushman now has a daughter by the name of Phoenix Rushman. You're a grade A student aspiring to be a violinist. I got a little bit creative, but I know you can answer questions about violins, you gave me a speech about what the bows are made of the other day."

Phoenix cracked a small smile at that comment. "Wasn't Natalie Rushman the alias Nat used when she went undercover at Stark Industries?"

Clint shrugged. "I thought it was fitting," Clint began walking towards the door, but turned around and walked backwards while he still continued talking to Phoenix. "You and the Experiments are meeting Maria at 9:45 in the foyer. Research your school a little bit for background knowledge."

With that he left the room, closing the door behind him. Phoenix turned up her stereo's volume once again, letting the music envelop her while she got ready to meet with Bruce. He insisted on meditation at sunrise, claiming it to be the most calming time of the day. Though at first she was skeptical, Phoenix had grown to enjoy seeing the sun rising over the tops of the buildings from Bruce's window.

Bruce seemed to know what the situation was, but said nothing to Phoenix. Instead, they continued with their exercises quietly. Silence was calming to Phoenix, and so was the darkness, so Phoenix closed her eyes, relying entirely on her muscle memory to complete the exercises.

Once they were finished and Phoenix began to leave the room, from behind her, Bruce spoke. "Good luck today Phoenix."

This both helped and hindered Phoenix at the same time. She felt a rush of positive energy, knowing that she was supported. However this clashed with her negative energy, coming from the feeling of patheticness. He believed that she needed luck to get through the day.

Phoenix had trouble forming a response, so she simply nodded before leaving. She headed for her room, her sanctuary. Once inside Phoenix placed her laptop onto her desk and turned it on. Her laptop was a gift from Tony that had been decorated by him, with a large amount of Stark Industries stickers, overlapping each other, making the back of her laptop look quite odd.

A quick search of East Side Community High School told her all she needed to know. She found their website, looked over several Facebook profiles belonging to a variety of students and found their school building on Google maps, canvassing the surrounding areas for anything of importance.

Once satisfied that she knew enough information about the school, Phoenix left her laptop and journeyed to the kitchen where she had a brief encounter with Pepper. She said good morning to Phoenix whilst making herself some coffee, but left shortly after, not wanting to be late for whatever meeting or CEO related business she had to attend.

After finishing breakfast Phoenix wasn't sure what to do next. She could always find Tony in one of the labs, but Phoenix had interfered with his work enough already. Steve was no doubt busy, and Bruce didn't like to be disturbed. Training was a possibility, but doing it before testing wasn't a good idea.

Phoenix ventured the tower, eventually coming across the person she was looking for in an office room, working on about three different computers at once. Natasha beckoned her forward, and pointed to one of the computer screens, a mildly irritated expression.

"I've been scanning Facebook for nearly an hour," Natasha informed her. "Not to mention Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine and countless other obscure, shady, social media sights. I think our Asgardian Prince is either camera shy, or has a vendetta against selfies."

Phoenix nodded along with Natasha's words, deep in thought about how she could help. "What about the local schools," she suggested. "Putting him in school is a good cover, and when schools admit a new student they need a photograph on file, so if you searched the school systems for a match you might find something."

"That's genius Phoenix," Natasha praised her. "I decided not to search the schools since he's an Asgardian, but you raise a good point. It might take me a while to get into each separate system though." She paused for a moment, thinking about what to say next. "Did Clint tell you what's going on today?"

"Yeah," Phoenix answered. Feeling Natasha's eyes watching her, Phoenix looked down and sighed. "I have a bad feeling Nat. What happens if I loose control? Sometimes I... I use my ability when I get angry. What if I burn someone like I did to him?"

A heavy silence hung in the air after Phoenix's words. Still unable to say his name, Phoenix would only ever address the man who had tortured her as 'him'. She could remember in explicit detail the events before and after his death, but what she couldn't remember, was actually killing him.

"Remember to stay in the moment," Natasha instructed her. "No matter what happens, remember that you are in a safe place and that he is not there. He's dead Phoenix, he's not coming back, I promise you. Don't forget to keep your cover intact as well, work on a story for your trauma in case the scenario calls for it. Don't stray too far from the truth, but don't tell them about us or your abilities."

"I will Natasha," Phoenix promised her. "The only concern I have is that The Experiments stick to the cover story. One of them could potentially slip up."

"Explain it to them," Natasha advised. "Lay out some guidelines for your cover story and make sure they know that if they give anything away then they'll be putting themselves, as well as everyone else, in danger. Besides you're all mentally linked, I doubt that anyone's going to slip up."

Before Phoenix had a chance to question Natasha about this supposed mental link, Clint put his hands on the doorway and peered around the corner at them. Both of the girls turned their heads sharply to look at them, and Clint was taken aback for a minute. Seeing two females with red hair, turn to look at him in sync, was slightly unnerving.

"Waffles in the kitchen Phoenix," Clint told her, and she nodded, understanding that Clint wanted her to leave the room for a private conversation with Natasha. She knew what they were going to talk about. Her, the breakdowns, the attacks. She definitely did not want to be present while that discussion was occurring.


At 9:45 AM The Experiments gathered in the foyer, stood before Maria. Except she wasn't quite Maria. She wore a Prosthetic Veil, giving her the appearance of a woman in her mid-40s, peroxide blonde hair styled into a bob, and with an angular face, almost Roman in appearance .

She spoke in a honeyed, sickly sweet tone. "This is an important exercise, but it also require complete discretion. Act as you normally would and be as honest as possible about who you are. Don't mention your connection to The Avengers, don't tell them about your abilities, and most importantly, don't say anything to raise suspicion."

Phoenix nodded vigorously while the rest of The Experiments mumbled varying unenthusiastic noises of agreement. Maria sighed, it was a good thing that she had a variety of extraction plans set up in case of an emergency. Otherwise the whole operations would rely on six teenagers keeping their mouths shut.

It was only a several minute journey across the road, before they came to the newly erected, Youth Health and Wellbeing Centre. Phoenix flanked Maria's right side closely as they entered the building in a group, each concerned about what they would be questioned on.

They were greeted by a woman in a white laboratory coat, a clipboard clasped firmly in her hand and a sour expression on her face. Phoenix transitioned into her character, greeting the woman with a sweet smile while Maria introduced them. Phoenix was the designated student spokesperson, but when she politely introduced herself to the woman, she coldly brushed her off and led the six Experiments down a hallway.

She sent them into a room, opening the door and ushering them inside with a dissatisfied frown, closing the door behind herself as she left them in the room on their own. It looked medical, white walls with sinks on one side of the room and cabinets with warning labels for people to keep out. There were beds lined up in a row, made neatly with white sheets, obviously for examinations.

They stood in the room, awkwardly clumped together in a group, except for Phoenix, who had wandered over the benches to inspect the cupboards. Six nurses entered the room, headed by a Doctor who was significantly more welcoming in appearance than the woman who had led them into the room.

"Good morning, I'm Dr Valerie," he greeted them warmly, introducing himself happily. Upon hearing his name, Mark snickered, but quickly covered himself by pretending to cough. Dr Valerie acted like he didn't hear him, and continued on with his explanation. "We're just going to do some routine blood tests to make sure there are no problems. Take a seat on one of the beds, and we'll begin."

They followed his instructions, each of them sitting on a separate bed, and watching the nurses circle around them, ominously prepping their needles. "I hear that you're all Biology students yes?" Dr Valerie questioned. "Here on a school trip?"

"Yes," Phoenix answered with a convincing smile on her face that made it nearly impossible to tell that she was making up her answer on the spot. "We're going to examine our results as a class and take a test on how Doctor's analyse blood and examine our physiological and biochemical states."

"How fascinating," Dr Valerie gushed over Phoenix's use of scientific words. "School has changed quite a bit since I attended."

Phoenix held completely still and did not flinch as the needle entered her skin. However it took quite some coercing before Josh managed to calm down and allowed the nurse to inject the needle into his vein, although he did whimper as the nurse did so.

Dr Valerie began talking to Phoenix as they exited the room, asking her what she knew about microbes, prompting an intellectual discussion about vaccines. Dr Valerie seemed overcome with joy to be talking with a teenager who knew so much about medicine and was clearly intelligent.

For the first time that morning, they were separated. Dr Valerie explained, that while one of them received an CT scan to analyse their brains, another would participate in a questioning exercise from a psychologist. At any time, four of them would be waiting while two others underwent their testing.

Phoenix was second to receive a CT scan, but the last person to take part in the questioning. The machine used for the CT scan was large and foreboding, lying inside it was far from comforting, but it was over quickly enough. It felt like a long wait before she was finally led into the room for her questioning.

She was greeted by a psychologist, a woman by the name of Dr Lorenzo, a woman of Latin American appearance, with soft features and a comforting expression. She invited Phoenix to take a seat on a chair in front of her. She held a notepad in her hands, and Phoenix hoped for a minute that none of The Experiments had given any indication to their true nature. Dr Lorenzo seemed very attentive and would easily pick up on anything suspicious.

"Hi Phoenix, nice to meet you," Dr Lorenzo was looking Phoenix up and down, taking in her appearance and analysing her. "We're going to start off with a simple exercise called word association. It works like this, I say a word, and you say whatever word comes into your head. For example I might say night, and you'll say day. Are you ok with this?"

"Yes that's fine," Phoenix nodded.

Dr Lorenzo nodded and held a sheet of paper in front of her face that obviously contained the words. "Home," Dr Lorenzo spoke the first word.

"Facility," Phoenix spoke automatically. She knew she had said the wrong thing, but held her expression, attempting to convey the appearance that what she was saying wasn't out of the ordinary. Dr Lorenzo picked up on the strange answer and jotted something down.

"Family," Dr Lorenzo continued with the second word.

"Unknown."

"Friends."

"Unattainable."

"School."

"Learning," Phoenix gave her first answer that was considered ordinary in the eyes of Dr Lorenzo who was beginning to grow concerned.

"Music."

"Peace."

"Violence."

"Tool."

"Dark."

"Welcoming."

"Water."

"Drink."

"Fire."

"Power."

"Sanctuary."

"Isolation."

Dr Lorenzo jotted down a large paragraph of notes as Phoenix tensed in her chair, running the answers through her mind that she had given. She was concerned that she might've given something away, but was doing her best to try and hide it.

"Now Phoenix," Dr Lorenzo leaned forward in her chair, placing her elbows on her knees and rested her head on her hands, she looked at Phoenix in a serious manner. "I want you to tell me you're your sleeping patterns are. What time do you usually go to sleep and wake up? Do you have any odd behaviour while you sleep? Severe nightmares?"

Phoenix was both impressed and terrified at this woman's analytical skill. She stammered something incoherent before she was able to form a solid answer. "I go to sleep at odd times, but I always wake up at 5 in the morning. Like clockwork. Every night, I-uh I wake up screaming, and the other night I sleepwalked and there was an… incident in which I attacked someone because of my nightmare," Phoenix informed her, avoiding her eye as she answered with the highest level of honesty she could muster.

"Has there been a significant trauma in your life to cause this?" Dr Lorenzo asked.

Phoenix nodded, clasping her hands together tightly and digging her fingernails into her skin. "I was kidnapped when I was five years old and kept captive for over ten years," Phoenix confessed, rubbing one hand across her cheek as she looked down. "He tortured me, hurt me; broke me. I don't know who I am."

Sobs began rising in Phoenix's throat but she pushed them down. She promised Clint she would be able to do this, even if it meant confessing her emotions to a complete stranger. Who did nothing but ask questions and take extensive notes.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Dr Lorenzo said empathetically. "What can you remember during your captivity?"

For someone who had just heard that Phoenix had been kidnapped, Dr Lorenzo seemed relatively calm, but it could be assumed that it was in her job description to be calm. Phoenix was torn, answering these questions was sending it rushing back to her, but she wasn't close to breaking down.

Not yet.

"It blurs together," Phoenix mumbled as she wiped at the spaces underneath her eyes. "I can't remember anything before he took me, I can't even remember my parents. I remember the torture whenever I try and sleep, I can't escape it. That's the only time I can remember explicitly, when I'm asleep and my walls are down, that's when he can get to me."

"Does it ever come back to you when you're awake?" Dr Lorenzo inquired carefully. "In flashes or brief glimpses."

Phoenix nodded. "Whenever someone say the names," Phoenix gave an answer that didn't even make sense to her, but Dr Lorenzo seemed to understand, and jotted something down.

Dr Lorenzo had an idea, more of a theory really, based on Phoenix's experiences compared to other similar experiences of different people. Occasionally, there was something dangerous that could develop after such an event, and Dr Lorenzo had to be sure that Phoenix was not a sufferer.

"Phoenix do you ever have experiences where you are in a car or on public transportation, and you realise that you don't remember what has happened during all or part of the trip?" Dr Lorenzo asked her. "Perhaps there might be times when you find yourself in a place with no idea how you got there."

Phoenix was caught completely off guard by the question, and sat in her chair for several minutes in complete silence before she even blinked. "Yes," Phoenix answered, stunned by her own answer. "Sometimes I'm doing something, and then all of a sudden I'm doing something else minutes later, and I have no idea what's happened during that time."

Dr Lorenzo nodded, writing something down on her notepad that was already filled with enough concerns, equivalent to a code red alarm ringing in Dr Lorenzo's mind. Phoenix watched Dr Lorenzo take down her final notes as she questioned her own reality.