Disclaimer: I own my OC, but everything else belongs to Marvel.

CoffeeTableWriter: Yeah, admittedly I was a bit concerned about throwing in the whole "I killed someone under orders when I was just a teenager," but it seemed to work out fine in the end. Steve is really sweet, yeah. In fact he's probably my favorite Avengers character because of his sweetness-next to Bruce of course. This chapter, unfortunately, doesn't have a lot of Bruce and Hope relationship building, but there will be a lot in the next chapters to come. Thanks for your review-I know (or at least hope) that I've said this before, but I meant it: you are the fuel of this story. Without you, I'd completely give up. So thank you.

Author's note: I am so, so, so sorry for not having updated recently. Life just spontaneously decided to say "screw you, Taylor," making it difficult for me to write anything. I hope you enjoy/can forgive me for making you wait so long.

Chapter 12

They'd been walking for some time, to where Hope wasn't really sure, when suddenly she was reminded of something.

"So what exactly was it that awakened the Hulk?" she began conversationally. Bruce paused at the question, as did the rest of the Avengers who were very curious to know the answer but lacked the guts to ask it. No one seemed to know their way around Dr. Banner like she did.

Bryce ran his hand through his hair as he thought. He finally let out a sigh and mumbled something Hope couldn't quite make out.

"Excuse me, Doctor, but I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?"

He rolled his eyes, and just as he opened his mouth to repeat what he had said, someone collided into Hope, causing her to stumble, though she caught herself just in time.

"Sorry," the person mumbled in apology. Hope smiled, about to say something along the lines of "it's alright," only to stop short when she caught a good look of the person's face.

She looked very different from the last time Hope had seen her, but that could be attributed to the fact that she was now wearing a wig and contacts that changed her eye color. Though this girl seemed to display a meek, timid attitude, Hope knew her for who she truly was.

A method actress. Which of course meant that the girl before her was a lie, a fake invented for her own purposes, whatever they may be. But Hope suspected she knew just what this girl was planning in that pretty little head of hers.

"It's perfectly alright. Just...be more careful next time, okay?"

She nodded, apologized once more, then left. Hope watched her go. She knew that the girl knew who she was. It was obvious by the glint in her eyes, by the flicker of a smile curling on her lips as she apologized. She just hoped that whatever it was that was being planned wouldn't hurt anyone. After all, it was the only thing she could do.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the others. They were all looking at her expectantly, and with a flushed face, she quickly rejoined their ranks.

"So...about the Hulk appearing in Times Square..."

Even as she listened to her friend tell a a tale that had her feeling very sympathetic to his plight, but at the same time made her want to laugh, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to the plan that had been concocted under all their noses...and what consequences would follow.


Something was wrong with Hope. And whatever it was, the Black Widow decided, had happened around the time she had been bumped into. She had been perfectly fine beforehand, but afterwards, she was always acting rather paranoid. Always looking over her shoulder, watching what she said, jumping whenever someone spoke to her...Queen of Subtlety she was clearly not.

But ever time she'd ask her what was wrong, Hope would insist that everything was fine. So finally Natasha resorted to spying and investigating, her specialty and something she should've done to begin with. She found out the name of the agent who'd crashed into Hope, a Samantha Warner. She didn't have a very clearance level, being a newbie and all, and she had a squeaky clean record. Nothing too eyebrow raising about her, if the files on her were true.

Then again, with her skills as a superb hacker, the electronic file could have been forged for all Natasha knew. This, of course, brought into question her trustworthiness. But her coworkers liked her well enough and they didn't find her to be a suspicious character at all, so maybe she was overthinking things. However, if she was overthinking things that still didn't explain why Hope seemed so spooked all of the sudden.

Clearly there was more to this girl than meets the eye.

"Is everything alright?"

Natasha blinked, turning her head to look over at her partner. Clink raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her reveal all.

"Because, you know, you were spacing out and frowning, two things you don't normally do let alone do at the same time."

Natasha hadn't realized she'd been doing either of those things, but she must've if he noticed. She shrugged, not really knowing how to phrase what was haunting her mind without sounding paranoid.

Something flashed through his eyes, an emotion, a feeling she couldn't quite place for the life of her. He glanced around, surveying the area, before he leaned in and whispered, "It's Hope, isn't it?"

It was times like these that forced her to remember just how well Clint truly knew her. If he didn't know her as well as he did, then he wouldn't have known it was Hope that was bothering her. She was just that good at keeping her true emotions hidden. Natasha gave the briefest of nods, and Clint muttered something too low for her to hear under his breath.

Louder, he confessed, "I noticed it, too. In fact I think even Tony noticed something was bothering her. She's not very good with hiding things, is she?"

It came out more as a statement than an actually question, but she decided to answer it anyway.

"Nope."

She was gifted with a wry smile, courtesy of Clint.

"What do you think we should we do about it?"

Once again, she shrugged.

"I've already done what I do best and that didn't really get me anywhere. In fact I think I have even more questions than I have answers."

"We could always follow her around for the whole day. Observe her movements, ward off undesirables, that kind of thing."

Natasha considered the suggestion for a minute before she smirked.

"Let's do this."


Following Hope was like watching paint dry. It was both boring and uneventful. But it did provide some helpful insight into Hope's character. Something striking that they'd discovered after watching her for a few hours was that she wasn't very good with technology. She could do simple things with a cell phone, but beyond that she was utterly hopeless. Laptops, computers, tablets and other items were beyond her. There was one time that she actually had to ask someone how to copy and paste.

"How did she survive working with Tony?" Clint remarked, sounding horrified. Natasha could only hum in agreement as they both watched her stare blankly at a tablet she'd been handed.

"Maybe she did everything on paper," she supplied, banishing the idea as quickly as it had come with a shake of her head. Paper just wasn't Tony's way of doing things.

"Do you think we should track down the the agent that caused Hope's shift in mood and interrogate her?" Clint asked.

"I mean, I know you've already done a background check on her, but interrogating usually gives us way more information than a simple look through someone's records would."

Natasha tilted her head, considering the idea, before a thought struck her. Hands on hips, she narrowed her eyes at him and demanded, "How did you know I looked up the agent already?"

He scoffed, holding a hand to his chest and looking mock-offended.

"Please, Nat, you insult me. You said you've already done what you do best, right? So of course that means you've already done some sleuthing. I'm not an idiot, you know."

Rolling her eyes and snorting, she said, "You could've fooled me."

His eyebrows knitted together and he muttered a low "ouch."

She smiled and strolled past him, knowing he wasn't the least bit hurt by her words.

"So what's the plan? Corner her and force her to talk?" Clint questioned, having already fallen into step behind her. Natasha shook her head, twirling one of her throwing daggers in her hand as she thought.

"We need to be more casual. Make her think that we don't suspect a thing. Let's make her squirm without letting her know the real reason why we're talking to her."

Clint nodded. "Classics senior intimidation tactic it is then."


Damn them. Damn these agents to hell and back. They found me out.

"I-I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

Still, she needed to keep her cool. Keep up the façade just a little while longer. Just until she could nab Hope and get the heck out of dodge.

"W-what is it you want from me? My coworkers just asked me to go on a coffee run, and I need to get going."

The Russian's eyes narrowed. Mentally she cursed herself.

Damn it, girl. You need to be timid and submissive, not upfront and demanding. Tone the bravado down.

"I, uh, can't show up late like I did l-last time. So please let me go. I can't be late again."

Their stances softened, but she was not one to be so easily fooled. They were lulling her into a false sense of security.

Two can play at that game, she thought, before she purposefully dropped the paper that had the list of what her caffeine addicted coworkers were craving.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Excuse me."

Bending down and forcing her hands to shake, she reached for the list. Agent Barton, however, beat her to it, something she had been counting on.

What she hadn't been counting on was their eyes meeting. She blushed as they did so before quickly averting her gaze, realizing too late that, unlike the other times, the reddening of her face was by no means forced. Then again, her blush could work in her favor.

Wordlessly, Agent Barton handed her back the list, and she took it with a mumbled "thank you." Both stood back up, and to give herself an opportunity to reorganize her thoughts better, she began to smooth out the slightly crinkled list as best she could without ripping it.

"What are you two doing?"

Natasha and Clint jumped, startled, before turning to face the one who spoke: Hope. Her eyes instantly zoomed in on the figure between them, eyes widening as she recognized it as Agent Warner.

She directed her attention towards her teammates and said calmly, "I'm not an idiot, you know. I know when I'm being watched."

The way her hands shook and the way she glared at them made it clear that the empath was angry.

"You have no right to follow me as you did! Nor did you have any right to look into Agent Warner's files!"

At that Natasha drew herself up, enraged.

"I had every right! You weren't acting like yourself after you collided with her! Of course I had to do some investigating!"

She stopped, shuddered, then took in a deep, calming breath. In a softer tone she continued, "You're my friend and I was worried about you."

It took some time and a lot of convincing and apologizing, but eventually Hope managed to calm down. And when she did, she set her sights on Agent Warner.

"Hold it right there," she demanded when she noticed the agent trying to subtlety edge away from them. The girl let out a squeak of surprise of being called out so suddenly before she focused her attention on Hope. Natasha and Clint both silently and mutually agreed to let Hope handle this, though they would step in should the need arise.

"Y-yes, Agent Ashton?"

Hope groaned. "Cut the act already. I understand what you're trying to do

The result of her words was staggering. Immediately, the girl dropped her pretense and stood, arms crossed against her chest and a smug smirk on her lips.

"Shouldn't have bumped into you, huh?"

Even her tone was different. No more was it quiet and begging to be pitied-now it was filled with an ego and confidence that rivaled that of Tony.

Hope shook her head.

"No, you shouldn't have."

The girl cocked her head, then sighed, admitting defeat. She uncrossed her arms, allowed them to hang at her sides, then locked eyes with Hope.

"Still...it was about time. We couldn't waste any more time bringing you home, especially with everything we've risked. I think even you'd agree, right, Mother?"


Again, a meh ending, but with a twist all the same. Kudos to those who figured it out, though I know I wasn't exactly subtle about it.

I know I didn't take her Mary Sueness in a way that I promised you I would, but that's just because her inability to use/understand technology really well is only one of the many faults she has that I've presented to you. Have faith, readers, that there will be more faults to come.

Just an FYI, most of this story-as well as my other stories-has been written with an iPad, so that's why some words don't make sense. It is the iPad's autocorrect function that is making some words out of context, not me deciding to mess with your heads-I'm mean, but not that mean. Unfortunately, I lack someone to read my stories over, and while I do try, some mistakes slip past, and for that I apologize.

I'd also like to apologize for the rather inconsistent formatting of the chapters, particularly with the end author's note and the beginning. From now on, these should be always italicized (though the disclaimer will remain "normal") and the "Chapter so-and-so" at the beginning will be bolded, with the number not written out and placed smack-dab in the middle. Response to reviews will be bolded as well. All of these are minute details, I know, but their differences throughout the chapters has been driving me crazy. Now, though, it shouldn't, since everything's cleared up.

Also, can someone explain to me what a "beta reader" is? Is it in any way like an editor?