Annabelle

I remembered Steve's arms.

It wasn't a recent memory, but it wasn't too far, either. The last time I had felt them like this was many months ago, when I was only half aware, half alive—maybe not even alive at all. He'd carried me then like he carried me now, close and desperate, like if he let one finger slip I'd be gone. Maybe I would. My heart had never ached this badly, my blood pooling in unnatural places inside and out of my body. I felt like I couldn't breathe, like everything was being pushed and squeezed in all different directions. I felt so close to death, but I wasn't afraid. Oddly enough, I felt that things were going to be okay, even when I lost feeling in my arms and legs, and my vision eventually faded away. I would be alright. They wouldn't let me die. Even as I felt death approaching, I knew they couldn't possibly after all we'd been through.

This wasn't the first time I'd felt death so strongly. I remembered it from the Chitauri attack a few years back, when everything was cold, without color, and completely suffocating. I felt like I was slipping, slowly losing myself. It was as if my soul was being torn out of my physical body. I was only semi-conscious of the alien weapon still speared through my chest, though not aware enough to think to remove it. I wanted to thrash and scream, break free of the awful feeling, but I couldn't move. I wasn't even strong enough to open my eyes and see the person who had scooped me up and pulled the weapon out, the one who tried to run me to safety before it was too late. All I wanted then was for the pain to stop. And then...nothing. It's bizarre to feel absolutely nothing. It's like being suspended in time, or existing in a completely separate realm. It should be scary, but it isn't. It's nothing. I felt nothing. I was nothing. That's what death was like. I felt it then, and I felt it now.

But, I woke up then. Something pulled me back out of that lull and I sputtered awake, all the pain and horrors spilling into me as I was forced back into the real world. I hated it then. I didn't want to live anymore. I was completely content in that lull. But my father revived me, took everything I was and made me forget it. Perhaps that's why it was so bad, waking up the first time. I woke up a different person. I wasn't the same Annabelle.

This time, however, when I found myself being pulled out of my quiet lull of death, things were different. I couldn't get my eyes open, nor muster up enough strength to move a single muscle, but I didn't need to. The colors that I felt, that sixth sense of mine, were so vibrant around me that I could easily tell where everything was. Downstairs I felt the brilliant gold light of Thor, sitting in a room that was most likely the kitchen, because I could see the humming electrical light of the appliances near him. Natasha and Clint resided in the same room a bit farther away from him, both sitting in close proximity to each other. Steve was a few doors down from myself. As for the two remaining men, I found that they were in the exact same room as me, hovering nearby. Bruce's energy, which was a dull color somewhere between a deep blue and violet, popped with sudden surprise.

"Annabelle?" I heard him ask after a moment, moving closer to me. Tony followed behind. I took a moment to breathe, one deep breath in and out. It was strange how awake I felt, and strange that I was in this building that, so far, I didn't recognize. My last memory was that of Steve picking me up, and that felt like it was only a moment ago. I had to wonder how long I'd been asleep between then and now.

I inhaled deeply again before forcing my eyes open. The light above me was too bright, washing away the features of Bruce as he leaned over me, his curly hair pushed out in all directions as if he hadn't combed it for days. I squinted and lifted one weak arm over my face.

"J, turn the lights down a bit," I heard Tony say. I waited, then hesitantly lifted my arm again. The light was dimmed significantly. Though any light at all was still too much for me at the moment, this was better than before.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked quietly. I opened my mouth to speak, moving my jaw around a bit to make sure I still could before answering.

"I'm not sure."

"Well, you're alive. That's a good sign," Tony commented from behind Bruce.

"Do you feel different?" Bruce asked again.

"I feel...like I can see clearly." I focused again on all of the colors I could feel swarming around the building, even outside the building, if I tried hard enough. I hadn't felt them this strong in a very long time. Realizing that this wasn't something the men could understand, though, I quickly rethought my answer. "I mean that my abilities feel stronger. Much stronger."

"So it worked after all…" Bruce leaned back a bit and let out a breath of relief. "We weren't sure if we were doing the right thing."

"What did you do?" I asked, though I had a feeling I already knew the answer. That mechanical hum, the unsteady beats of my heart, was no longer there. It beat normally—fast, but normal for me. Nothing was clouding my abilities.

"We removed the metal from your heart. We weren't going to, but you kept waking up, screaming about it before passing out again. We thought maybe it was the reason you couldn't fully wake up. You were close to death as it was—we thought we might as well give it a shot," Tony explained. Bruce nodded in agreement.

"Your tests came back from the SHIELD lab that said you had uncanny regenerative abilities. I suppose we already knew that, but having lab proof eased my mind a bit. We wouldn't have taken it out completely if it wasn't for those tests. We probably would have just repaired it," he said.

"But, lucky for you, the tests supported the idea that you could repair your heart and the rest of the damage," Tony added with a small smile. I lifted a hand and set it over my chest, which I didn't realize until now was mostly bare besides a large bandage wrapped around my torso and a robe draped over my shoulders. From what I could see, that large, ugly scar that stuck out so prominently on my chest was gone. In fact, as I lifted my arms to examine them, still in a bit of a lull, I realized all of my scars were gone.

"It was kind of a shame, though, taking it out. I didn't know your father was so good with mechanics. That thing was incredible," Tony continued, bringing my attention back.

"Did you keep it?" I asked, using my elbows to slowly push myself up. Bruce wrapped an arm around my back to steady me.

"Yeah, I'm keeping it. Going to tinker with it a bit, if you don't mind," Tony said. I nodded.

"Do whatever you want with it. Just don't put it back in me."

"Will do. It really is an interesting little thing. The metal is like nothing I've ever seen before." He trailed on to himself, his eyes drifting, his mind lost in thought.

"We should let everyone know she's up, Tony. Especially Steve." Bruce said. He looked down at me with those kind eyes. "He was beside himself when he brought you out of the rubble. He was convinced you were dead and it was his fault for not helping, or keeping you back from the fight. I think he really cares for you." My heart fluttered, my real heart, which was a strange feeling that I was unable to experience with the mechanical limitations I'd been living with before.

"Hey, we all do," Tony added. "You're part of our little family now, whether you want to be or not."

"I want to be," I said, finally sure of it. I hadn't been able to decide what I wanted before, but for the first time since I'd gotten here I finally felt like I'd be able to stay. After all I'd been through here, I couldn't imagine going back to my father, like I had originally planned. That, and I realized that no matter how dangerous I was, no matter what threats I posed, they would find a way to handle it. A seed of worry had been planted in my mind by Kathrine, though, who had warned me about the full potential of my powers. Now that the piece my father implanted in me was gone, would I be even more unpredictable? Would I be consumed by emotions I couldn't control? My father's last words to me rang loud and clear: this is bigger than the both of us. My abilities were too much for anyone to control.

Bruce and Tony exchanged a look, then Tony smiled, unaware of my internal conflict.

"We'll get you a permanent room at the tower. You can decorate it how you like, all that jazz. Sound good?"

"I think I want to try to find my own place," I said, doubt still weighing on me. I'd participate in what they wanted me to, but living in close proximity to them like that seemed unnecessarily dangerous.

"Why would you want to do that?" he asked, almost sounding offended.

"You have so much technology there and it gives me a headache sometimes," I said, avoiding expressing the rest of my inner dialogue. It was true that electrical waves took their toll on me, though I'd tried to ignore it while I was staying at the tower. Before I had my memories back, I'd just assumed my nausea was from the accident. I knew better now.

"When I rebuild the tower I could build you a whole section for your needs. Limited appliances, archaic technology. Would that be alright?" I'd almost forgotten that Stark Tower had been destroyed, the image of that giant alien creature flashing through my mind. My heart leaped at the thought. Those fangs had been so huge, dripping with thick saliva, that tongue snaking around through the air...I couldn't think about it.

"...you'd do that for me?" I asked quietly, remembering his question. He nodded.

"Sure. After all, I'm thinking this time around I'll remodel it for everyone. An Avengers tower, you know? It's the least I can do. It'll have everything that everyone needs."

"Sounds like a big project, Tony," Bruce said, pushing his glasses into his breast pocket. I hadn't realized he'd released my shoulders; I was sitting up just fine on my own.

"Of course we'll have to stay in different places until it's finished. I've got my place in Malibu. Bruce, you can stay there too."

"Oh, no thanks. Don't want to wreck anything there. I'll find a place."

"I'll help with that. Let's see—Steve has his place. Thor has his 'Asgard.' That just leaves you, Annabelle."

"Like I said, I'll find a place."

"Or, how about this, you could room with Steve." He raised his eyebrows and lifted his hands to point at me in somewhat of a mocking gesture, a playful grin on his face. I didn't crack a smile, though it took an effort not to.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not."

"I appreciate you trying to get us together, I guess" I slowly slid myself off the side of the cot I was laying on, the solid ground cold on my bare toes, "but you can't just force these things. I'm fine." I tied the robe loosely around my waist, making sure I was all covered before heading for the door. The robe was nice; it wasn't one of those unflattering medical robes that left your backside completely exposed, thank goodness. I didn't look half bad for someone who almost died, though I didn't want to think about what shape my hair was in.

"Okay, but you definitely just confirmed you'd want a relationship with him. You heard that, right Bruce?"

"Oh, no, I'm staying out of this, Tony."

"You always stay out of it."

"There's a reason for that."

I slipped out while they were still talking, though I was sure they noticed me leave. I stopped in the hall and waited for them to run after me, pull me back in to lay down, but no one came. It seemed they were letting me go, for once. I moved quickly down the hall, having a little difficulty getting my feet to move in the direction I wanted them to. Using the wall to steady myself, I eventually found my way to a large metal door, or, as I saw it, the door that Steve was hidden behind. I brought my fist up and gave a few gentle knocks, my heart sputtering uncontrollably. I'd forgotten how spastic the natural heart could be. It was almost annoying. Almost.

Steve pulled the door open, a surprised look on his face as his blue eyes fell on me. Those glorious blue eyes…

"Annabelle? You're up. Are you supposed to be up?" he asked slowly.

"They didn't stop me when I left," I answered. "I'm feeling pretty okay."

"You don't feel faint at all? You've been in such a bad condition all this time, maybe you want to—"

"I'm okay, Captain," I interrupted. "I've come to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"For bringing me to safety."

"Anyone would have done it. No one would have left you there in the rubble. No need to thank me."

"During the Chitauri attack, you saved me. Do you remember?" He scrunched his brow, a sure sign that he didn't. I elaborated: "I was there. I fought. I died. You picked me up. I…didn't see you. But I just have this feeling, like I know it was you."

"I picked up a lot of people. That whole day was…a mess."

"Do you believe me?"

"I don't have a reason not to. I'm sorry I don't remember."

"It's okay." I fumbled around with the edge of my robe, running my fingers repeatedly across the fabric. "I didn't remember it until now anyway. My whole life—my whole timeline is just a jumbled mess of…" I trailed off, looking up at him. "That's not the point, though. I just heard that you were feeling bad about what happened to me, so I came to thank you and tell you that it's all fine. I'm okay. Tony and Bruce resolved the problem. I'm even feeling better than I have since I met you all. So, there's no need to worry."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for letting me know."

I nodded my head, though I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to embrace him. I pulled at the side of my robe a bit more roughly, stopping myself. That would be inappropriate. It would make me look stupid. I never wanted to look stupid, especially in front of him.

"Where are we?" I asked, hoping to distract myself from my own thoughts. I wasn't sure if it was because he had saved me, or because I'd just woken up from near-death, or some other strange reason, but I'd never been so attracted to him. And that was saying something, considering he had been my idol for years of my life.

"Safe house. Tony requested it."

"Are we still under attack?" My mood sank a little at the thought. If all of our efforts had been for nothing, I didn't know what I'd do.

"No, no. We won." He smiled a little, a smile that absolutely melted my stupid heart. "After you brought that thing down the rest of them started to get really spastic. We took one more down while they were in bad shape, and then they retreated. Right back into the sky."

"Hopefully they've realized they aren't welcome here," I mumbled.

"What did you do? To the big one, I mean. It didn't look like you were doing anything—you both took a fall pretty suddenly." He searched my face, eyes somewhat squinted, looking for an answer as if he could see it in my eyes. I took a deep breath, thinking back to my last attack. I hadn't realized what I was doing at the time, but the motions were just there, ingrained in my brain.

"I ripped its soul out," I answered softly. I could still hear the screams of the creature in my head, the screams of something being ripped away from itself. My body shuddered.

"Ripped its soul out?" Steve repeated, a peculiar look on his face.

"I can't explain it to you. You don't see the things I see. But…there's two parts to every person—the physical body, and the soul. I guess. I don't know if what I see is actually a soul, or maybe a consciousness, or…" I trailed off again, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to think. How could I explain something so incredible to someone who couldn't experience it?

"Hey, don't strain yourself. It's alright. We'll talk about it when you're well. If you even want to talk about it, that is. I was just curious." He put a hand on my shoulder, my body shuddering again at the touch. I nodded my head once.

"Annabelle Green!" Thor's voice bellowed down the hall. He came towards us with his arms wide open, a brilliant smile on his face. He grabbed me in a monstrous hug, nearly crushing my weak body.

"Hey, Thor, not too hard," Steve said, though he looked half amused. Thor released me, but kept a hold on my shoulders.

"You were brilliant in your first battle!"

"I—oh, thank you," I responded, a little taken aback. He beamed, the white of his teeth almost blinding.

"I was hoping you would wake before I took my leave."

"Leave? You mean back to Asgard?"

"Yes. Dark things are happening, and I must leave this world and return to help my own. It is my hope that nothing drastic has occurred in my absence."

"Well, best of luck." I said. I smiled and brought a hand up to pat one of his, which still had a firm hold on my shoulder. His palms were warm.

"When will you be back?"

"I cannot say. But soon, I hope. I will come whenever my friends here are in need of me." He gave my shoulders a great squeeze before releasing me, nodding at Steve.

"We'll see you soon," Steve said with a nod in return. Thor flashed one last smile before moving around me, departing through a door farther down the hall. I lifted a hand to wave, though I wasn't sure if he saw. I focused in on his energy outside, watching it until it suddenly vanished, as if sucked up into the sky. Perhaps that's exactly what had happened. There was a strange sort of mist that hung around where he'd been, like something had scooped him up and taken him away while leaving some of itself behind.

"Green." Tony poked his head out of the door to the room I'd woken up in, which was only a few doors away. It had seemed much farther when I walked it just a few minutes earlier. That was probably because my body and mind were disoriented, distorting things.

Bruce peeked out from behind him, giving one of his shy smiles.

"Still feeling okay, Annabelle?" he asked, to which I nodded and gave him a lazy thumbs up. Tony made his way fully out of the room and closed the distance between us, draping an arm around my shoulders.

"So. Let's talk real estate. What kind of place are you looking for? Big? Small? With a big, muscular roommate?" He raised an eyebrow at me and shot a look at Steve, who didn't seem to be following.

"Small is fine. Somewhere close, but not too close. I don't want you dropping in all the time," I said with a smirk, trying to ignore the latter half of his comment. Tony made a face.

"Me dropping in all the time would be a blessing. You just don't want to admit it."

"Oh, yes, you caught me."

"My building might have a place or two for rent," Steve offered, to which Tony nearly lost it. I gave him a good whack on the back of the head, though it wasn't very hard due to the fact that my arms were still weak.

"I'll have to look into it," I said, looking over at Steve.

"Do you need to borrow any money?" Tony asked. I bit my lip. Of course I hadn't even thought of money. That was how stupid and out of it I had become. Not to mention I, as a grown woman, had never really needed to worry about my own money—everything was my father's. My mind, my body, my actions, my things...all of it had always belonged to him, and he commanded everything I did with them. But, not anymore.

"No," I said slowly, "I've got it covered." This was a lie, of course. The best idea I could come up with was to get a job, though I wasn't really sure how to go about that. There were so many things I needed to figure out, simple things, before I'd be able to really face the real world. But I'd figure those things out on my own. I didn't need the help.

"Just say the word and I'll help you out," he assured. I nodded in thanks. "And it won't be for long. Like I said, I'm hoping on getting the Avengers Tower started pretty quickly. I've already called Pepper, and she's on her way to help." Pepper Potts. I couldn't wait to meet the woman crazy enough to date Tony Stark.

"Avengers Tower?" Steve asked.

"Oh, Cap, just wait. It'll be great. It'll blow your old-man mind."

"I don't doubt that," he said, an amused expression on his face. I ran a hand through my mess of hair, zoning out on the conversation. This was it. This was my place. These were my new people. And honestly, I'd never felt so content. But there was still a part of me that felt uneasy, a part that I couldn't quite focus on. Was I scared? My life was about to change forever. Or, maybe it already had, and I was only just catching up to it.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," I said, crossing the hall to get to the door from which Thor exited. Just as before, no one followed. I pushed the door open and was hit with a rush of chilled winter air, though it wasn't nearly as cold as what I had felt at our last safe house. Instead, this cold was almost refreshing. I pulled the robe tighter around me and walked down the steps, looking out at the empty field surrounding me. I couldn't see far with the low clouds that were rolling in, but I didn't need to. No one was out there. There was no threat. I let out a breath, fog billowing from my mouth. A handful of tiny snowflakes danced down from above me, melting as they hit my skin. Bringing a hand to my chest, I let my eyes fall closed. For once in a very long time, I felt relaxed. Whatever came after this would be rough, and what came before was too painful to think about. But now, in this moment, I was at peace.

I felt Steve approach before he spoke, his steps quiet as he came to a standstill next to me.

"It's cold," he said. I nodded. "Feels kind of nice, though, doesn't it?" I nodded again.

"I feel like everything is going to be okay," I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear me.

"Yeah," he replied, "me too."

This is only the beginning.