Chapter Two: Nautical Dawn

Her StarkPhone unlocked at the sight of her face. She wondered if it would if she looked like her old self.

Hyacinth waited for her meeting with the Director with rising excitement, even though she didn't know what she could possibly tell him about what she was going through. The best she could figure, she was stuck in a coma in a real hospital bed, and whatever traumatic thing had happened probably had involved her family, too. Her mind was forming an alternate reality for her to cope with the few overheard words and phrases that made it through, just like Banner said. And if that meant she got to spend some time with the Avengers and get a cool new look with an actual superpower? She was okay with that.

The agent who came to escort her to the meeting didn't find it funny when she asked where he kept the hood to keep her from remembering the way.

The office he brought her to looked like a Marvel set, unsurprisingly. The tall, wingback desk chair was faced away from her when she walked in. As the seconds ticked by, she started to wonder if it was actually empty.

Finally, the chair turned, revealing Director Nick Fury.

As much as she wanted to say something, recognize his unlikely survival, offer some kind of thanks for his continued work, she knew it wasn't her place.

"I hear you've made an unlikely ally," he said to her by way of introduction. "Good. Man needed someone to angst over other than himself. Not that you'll tell him I said that," Fury said, glaring at her with his one eye.

"I didn't spend that much time at a HYDRA facility," she said.

"You're quick. Good." Fury barked. Then, without changing expression, he said, "Your doctors think you've gone off the deep end. Have you?"

"Sir, if you could be in a Star Wars movie, what color would you like your lightsaber to be?"

"Purple. What makes you think that will convince me you're not crazy?"

"How much of my conversations with Banner do you have access to?" she asked. His withering look of scorn was enough of an answer. "So you know that he told me I was pulled out of one universe into this one, right? What would you say if I said you're not actually real in my universe?"

"What sort of not real? You clearly knew who Banner was, to the point of being as confused as the rest of us are that he opened up to you so fast," Fury asked.

"The kind of not real that Star Wars is. I thought he was an actor, because for me, the person he looks like is an actor-and so are you. I've watched movies about the Avengers. I've watched other movies with most of the actors that play you guys. And honestly? If I can't just wake up and make this go away I'd opt to get zapped back to that universe if at all possible, because I'm not sure I'm ready for all the differences in this one."

"Well Star Wars still exists, so don't write me off just yet. I think I would have remembered a purple lightsaber, though."

"They let you pick the color."

"Damn straight they did. Looks like no matter what universe I'm in, I'm still me, at least." Fury leaned back in his desk chair. "So it's been a few days. You still think we're not real?"

She nodded, offering a smile of apology.

"What accounts for the length of time you've been stuck here, then? Let me hear how your brain works."

"Bruce-" she broke off when he looked surprised, wondering if she'd crossed a line. Fury made a dismissive gesture.

"If he doesn't mind, I don't either. Go on."

"He thinks I tried to escape the reality of what HYDRA was doing to me by coming up with a fake reality where you're all movie stars instead of real superheroes. I was thinking about that, though. Instead of the HYDRA thing being real, what if I was in an accident in my real, ordinary life. Maybe this is my coping mechanism, not the other way around." She'd been looking down at her hands as she spoke, but now she looked up at Fury.

"That's a well-reasoned response. I have a challenge for you, in light of that: embrace it. You think you're working through trauma? Do that. Throw yourself in with both feet. Because the truth is, we need you." He sat forward in the chair and folded his hands in front of him. It was so perfectly Fury that she wondered where the camera was. "You say you know us all from movies? Perfect. That means you probably know what you need to know. You've watched us fight, you've watched us hurt, you've seen why we need a healer. Join us. Be an Avenger. Live the dream."

Hyacinth stared at him for a long second, and then burst into laughter. Fury looked downright affronted.

"No, no!" she wheezed. "That was just- such a great speech, and I- You're REALLY famous, the actor that plays you, I mean. So when you sounded so emphatic, there, it reminded me. There was this one movie, you'll never believe it-" Hyacinth dissolved into laughter so hard tears started forming at the corners of her eyes. "It's about Snakes. On a Plane."

"Excuse me?" Fury asked.

She dared a peek at him and hiccupped. He was glowering at her.

"No no," Fury said in a deathly calm voice, mirroring her earlier words. "Do go on."

"I can't- the thing is, this is a really campy movie, but most of your stuff is just, stunning, and I'm ruining it but there's one line that's iconic, and…" she trailed off and took some deep breaths, wiping her face. Right as she was about to dry her hands on her borrowed pants, Fury tossed something to her.

It was a jet black handkerchief with an emblem in a circle. It felt so luxurious that she sighed when she picked it up.

"There is no way I'm snotting on this. It's soft as fuck," she said, risking the swear.

"If you don't tell me what that line was, I'll get JARVIS to doctor footage of you stealing it from me," Fury said. She looked up at him with full doubt in her eyes, but he just raised one eyebrow.

"'I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane,'" she recited.

Fury closed his eye and gritted his teeth. "Wipe your damned face," he said after a full sixty seconds.

"There are a whole bunch of other, better movies," she offered as she obeyed him.

"There'd better be. Don't tell me about them," he ordered. Fury waited for her to settle down, which involved a liberal amount of handkerchief use, and then he said, "So I hear you're going by Hyacinth right now."

She nodded. "It's not ideal."

"I'm glad you recognize that. The press likes a scandal, and having a new Avenger whose name came from a reference to HYDRA ain't gonna fly."

"Do you have anything in mind?"

He looked surprised. "I expected you would."

"Everything I can think of reminds me of another universe." She shrugged, though the action hurt her heart in the same way the original Little Mermaid's feet hurt with every step. "I can remember my parents' names, my best friend's name, and if I wanted to, I could find my name on one of your HYDRA files. Either this is all a dream and it doesn't matter, or it's real, and a new name with those connections would be painful."

Fury inclined his head. "I hear you. I've called a meeting for the Avengers tomorrow, I'll see what I can come up with by then."

He tipped his head back and regarded her for a moment. It was very intimidating, and she looked behind her at the door. "Was that a dismissal?" she asked, feeling her face flare red.

"Nah, you'd know," he said baldly. "I was just waiting for you to tell me you'd be awake by then, and I'd go back to not being real."

"I didn't think you'd appreciate me harping on it," she said, but he stood up and made a sharp noise of rebuttal.

"Bullshit. It wasn't on your tongue right away. That's progress. I'll see you tomorrow, at the Avengers meeting." Hyacinth caught the implication there, that she should be at the meeting, as a potential Avenger.

She stood and walked over to the door, feeling almost as if she shouldn't show her back to him-not because he was a threat, but because he was too important a person to turn away from. "See?" Fury said, and she looked over her shoulder at him. "That was a dismissal."

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Hyacinth was fully dressed, lying flat on her hospital bed with her two pillows on her head. She'd been like that for at least ten minutes.

"Ughhhh why can't I wake up? It's not working!" she groaned to herself. It was day three of this weird dreamscape, and in an hour, she was going to have to go to a room full of people she knew as famous actors, except they were the genuine Avengers, and she was a silver-haired complete fraud.

"Forgive me if I don't have that much sympathy."

She screamed, arms flailing out as she scrambled to her feet. The pillows went flying.

"Holy shit, Bruce, who are you, Clint Fucking Barton? I didn't hear the door!" she swore, pushing her staticky hair away from her face and making sure her clothes weren't indecent.

"Language," a second, recognizable voice said. Hyacinth froze with her back to both men.

"No. No you didn't. You did not bring Captain America to my room in a situation where a woman from any universe would scream and swear at you!" she growled, turning around slowly.

"You have to admit, if you were going to wake up, that would have been the time," Bruce said, his eyes dancing with held-back laughter. Beside him stood the ridiculously fit and handsome Steve Rogers as portrayed by Chris Evans.

In her humble opinion, there wasn't much difference between the two men, but that wasn't the issue in that moment.

"Sir, I am so incredibly sorry that my ex-friend's behavior caused me to act so out of character. It will never happen again," she said, opening her eyes as wide and innocently as possible.

"It's fine," Rogers said. "I'm sure Clint would appreciate the compliment."

"Can we, I don't know, start over?" she whimpered, covering her face with her hands.

"It didn't occur to me that we'd startle you, I'm sorry," Bruce said. "Anyway, I wanted to help ease you into that meeting today, so I brought-"

"You brought Captain America as an icebreaker? Even Stark would make fun of you for that, you know that, right?" she broke in. "Actually, though, that's kind of adorable?" She walked toward them and crossed her arms, laying one finger against her lips. "Psychologically fascinating, even. Does this mean you see all of the Avengers as equal, in your mind? Or did you pick Cap because he's impossible to dislike?"

"You were right," Rogers said to Bruce. "She'll be able to hold her own." He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. "Is there anything you need to know?"

"Other than anything about my supposed superpower? Nah, I'm good," she snapped. Instantly, she regretted it, stopping dead in her tracks and covering her mouth. "Gosh, I'm sorry. I think this has to be the longest I've gone without breathing fresh air, or something. It's messing with the sarcasm center in my brain."

"I forgot that you've seen the least amount of footage of yourself healing people," Bruce said quietly. "That's on me. We were finishing up your blood tests; the last lab came in this morning. They had you on something that blocked memory creation. It's possible they used it every single time they had you using the power." He was frowning and leaning back against the counter, both hands gripping the edge.

"Or, you know, it's a dream and I don't remember 'cause it's not real," she reminded him.

Rogers shot a look over at Bruce, then looked back at Hyacinth. "If I had a nickel for every time I wished this whole thing was a dream…"

"You'd be poor, thanks to inflation," she said. "Point taken, though. Fury said I should live like it's real."

Captain America walked over to her with one of the pillows she'd thrown. "That's why you came back and hid under your pillows and begged to wake up, right?"

"That's not very gentlemanly of you," she said, forcing a smile as she tossed the pillow onto the bed. Inside, she felt a bit stung.

"I can't afford to be gentlemanly to my teammates," Rogers said, his tone so earnest that the sentiment behind his words made her heart ache. He reached out slowly, as if giving her a chance to move away from him, and rested one hand on each of her shoulders. "Fury probably ordered you to buck up. I'm just asking you to try."

She didn't know whether to throw herself at him and sob or push away and scream. Instead, she balled her hands into fists and tried not to cry. "You deserve better," she gasped out. "I don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do. I have no memory of ever doing it! I've seen what you guys go through, you don't need a messed up dimensional shard of a teammate, you need good, solid medical tech!"

"Do you trust me?" It was Bruce's voice, from across the room.

"Yes," she said, without hesitation. Her eyes were still screwed shut, but she felt Rogers squeeze her shoulders gently and step back.

"Good," Bruce said.

"What are you-" Rogers said, sounding alarmed. Bruce hissed in pain, and she opened her eyes in enough time to see his hand moving swiftly, blood dripping from a small knife he must have found in the cupboard.

She rushed over, horrified. He'd put his large hand over the cut on his forearm, but when he saw she was standing beside him, he moved it away. The gash was deep and long, and she reached out even as, mentally, she shrank away from the horror of it.

"I don't- what, what do I do?" The words came out stuttered, as if he'd slashed at the room's air supply instead of his own arm. Bruce was wincing in pain, and she heard Rogers call out for a medic behind them. There was a definite green tinge at Banner's hairline.

"Heal it," he gritted out. "I trust you."

"Oh my God, you are the most amazing idiot," she muttered even as she steeled herself for whatever was about to happen and laid her hand directly on the cut.

Inside her head, she was chanting to herself -oh my god you didn't wash your hands you're going to give him an infection he's going to hulk out and rip you into pieces and he'll never forgive himself- but as soon as she made contact with his injury, something about her changed.

Captain America was saying something, but he sounded like his voice was filtered through a distant speaker and stretched out, as if it had traversed the distance between the moon and the Earth before reaching her ears. Beneath her hand, Hyacinth could feel every aspect of Bruce's wound. She could tell how deep it was, how many capillaries he'd severed, and much more. She heard Bruce's breathing and could tell that he was struggling to control himself not just by the way it sounded, but by the strength of his breath on her skin from their physical proximity. It was invigorating.

All of her senses were dialed up, but it was more than that. Her knowledge was, too. She knew the process of healing his wound, and at the same time, she knew that this knowledge was impossible to translate into English. Somehow she knew that inside her she had the power to speed that process up, as if the signals Bruce's nerves were sending had triggered the exact right messages in her own body.

Instinctively, she called forth the energy she'd need from each cell inside her body where it had been lying dormant. Hyacinth channeled that energy to power and accelerate Bruce's own body's healing mechanisms. She felt her face flush in waves. The sensation climbed over her hair and jumped off to land on her lower back, tingling along her legs to sink into the base of her feet. The pulsing of magic matched itself to her rapid heartbeat.

By the time she was finished hearing Rogers' exclamation of surprise, it was all over. Time crashed into her, as if the dilation she'd experienced was the lightning preceding the thunderclap.

She moved her hand away, curling it defensively and noting that the blood felt slick, not tacky as she would have expected had the moment taken as long in reality as it had seemed to.

"See?" Bruce whispered.

The second she looked up into his eyes, the electronic lock on the door chimed and a frantic group of soldiers and doctors piled into the room. Bruce shoved her behind him so fast she had to hook an arm around his waist not to slam her head into the counter.

"I'm fine, she healed me. Check the tape," he said.

The floor beside them was splattered with droplets of blood, small but vivid.

"Stand down," one of the soldiers said into his radio.

"I've got this under control, but thank you for your swift response," Rogers said. She peeked out from beside Bruce to see that Captain America was laying on his sheepish charm even as he positioned himself to block the group's advance. Everyone filed out with a succession of respectful nods and murmurs. The second the door clicked closed, though, Rogers spun on his heel and fixed Bruce with a reproachful look. "Cripes, doc, you want to warn me about something like that next time?"

She couldn't help the huff of relief, but probably should have stopped herself from resting her forehead on Bruce's back. He flinched, but immediately spoke.

"You're fine, I'm just… You're fine."

"I'm barely fine and you're a complete lunatic," she said in a small voice.

"You're welcome," Bruce said firmly. Rogers burst out into laughter.

"You need a new shirt," he told Bruce.

Hyacinth pushed off of the counter at an angle away from Bruce and toward the bed. "I started out in a pile on the bed under my pillows, but I think that was just a premonition. Seriously, just… Oh my god," she said, deciding she didn't have the coordination to collapse onto it without bouncing back off. She sat down weakly, instead.

"Did you know your hair was glowing?" Rogers said. "Looked golden."

"Better than green, though," she said, pointedly staring over at Bruce. He was rolling his sleeve back down, but the fabric had a bloodstain on it.

=This is your reminder that the meeting in the Avengers conference room starts in five minutes, which is exactly how long it takes to walk there.=

"Might want to encrypt that last ten minutes, JARVIS," Bruce said.

=The Director has already confiscated the video, Doctor Banner. He has added a one-on-one meeting for the two of you at-=

"Yes, thanks, very helpful," Bruce interrupted.

"Shall we?" Rogers said.

"Can you promise that this will be less eventful than those past ten minutes?" Hyacinth asked from underneath the pillows again.

"Yes," Bruce said at the same time that Cap said "No" just as definitively.

"Great."

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When the three of them got to the conference room, it wasn't as awkward as she had expected. She did regret putting her silver hair up into a ponytail to cut down on its frizziness from the pillow static, though, because she couldn't hide behind it.

Black Widow and Hawkeye were already at the table, both dressed in intimidating-looking black workout gear. They were seated near each other and talking quietly, but when she walked in, Barton looked up and offered her a thin smile. Fury and Stark weren't around, so the only other person at the table was Thor. He seemed preoccupied with his thoughts, but when Captain America called out a greeting from the door, it was as if he'd flipped a switch for the god.

"Ah! Our newest compatriot!" Thor said, shoving back from the table and leaping to his feet. He approached them and for a split second Hyacinth was convinced he was going to grab her into a bear hug. Instead, though, he inclined his head and held out a hand.

Bemused, she laid her hand in his. She barely felt the touch of his lips, but that was because his gaze was intense.

"It is an honor to meet you, Læknir. My colleagues are in sore need of your help."

The implication that he did not need her didn't slip her notice, but she didn't hold it against him. A line from Hamilton popped into her mind, and impulsively, she altered it for the situation.

"If it takes HYDRA interference for us to meet, it will have been worth it," she said, dipping into a pseudo curtsey.

"Hamilton. Nice," Barton said from the other side of the table.

Thor's grin was expansive. "Rarely has a Midgardian spoken to me with so much deference. It is greatly appreciated-"

Natasha Romanoff cleared her throat meaningfully.

"-but not necessary, of course," Thor continued so smoothly that Hyacinth couldn't tell if he'd changed the end of his sentence because of Black Widow.

Behind them, the door opened and Fury's voice boomed.

"Take your seats. I see everyone important is here on time, like I asked."

"Uh," Rogers paused in the act of pulling his chair out.

"Was there something?"

"Not at all, sir," Rogers said, settling into his seat. He traced a finger along a grove in the wood of the table. "Just that, you know. You're wrong."

"Out of all of you, you're the one sticking up for Stark? I'm disappointed, Cap." Everyone around Hyacinth cracked a smile, but Captain America stuck to his guns.

"The team's a team."

"I suppose you're right. JARVIS, do you have an ETA?" Fury said, sighing.

=Mr. Stark's arrival should be expected anywhere from three to ten minutes from now, sir.=

Fury turned to glare up at one of the ubiquitous speakers that allowed JARVIS access throughout the compound. "Any explanation for that spread?"

=None but vagaries of personality, I'm afraid, sir.=

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I've made a unilateral decision he's been pushing back on for a goddamned week," Fury muttered. He looked up and, presumably prompted by the way everyone was looking at him, flailed his hand towards the middle of the table and commanded, "Talk. Introduce. Mingle."

With an amused smile, the Black Widow pushed back from the table and walked the length of the three seats that separated her from where Hyacinth was sitting. Then, she thrust out her hand. "Natasha Romanoff. It's nice to meet you."

Beside her, Bruce scooted his chair back, which Hyacinth took to mean she had enough space to scoot her own and stand, affording the respect the woman deserved.

"It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Romanoff. Your strength and intellect are a role model for everyone," she said, hoping her handshake measured up. Romanoff's was firm without being painful.

"Thank you," Romanoff said, her voice thick with amusement. She shot a look over at Hawkeye. "Can I introduce you to Clint Fucking Barton?" she asked Hyacinth. Her expression as she spoke was one of flawless innocence, despite the profanity.

Hyacinth looked around at the other faces at the table, all of which were unsuccessfully holding back laughter. "So when JARVIS said that video was confiscated, what he really meant was he sent it out to everyone's personal phones to watch before the meeting?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Barton said, standing. "Thanks for the shoutout."

She shook his hand while covering her face in embarrassment with her other one.

"For the record, Doctor Banner?" Fury said. "Don't do that shit again, please."