"Shhh…be quiet, princess. We wouldn't want anyone to hear us now, would we?"

"You look so much like your mother…I can see her in your cute little nose and those rosy pink lips."

"Don't cry. The pain won't last long, I promise."

Emma eyes shot open as she woke up from her nightmare. It was the same nightmare she had repeatedly been having for the past three months…ever since it happened. She didn't have the nightmare every night…just on the nights that she dreamed. Emma was forever grateful for a night where she was locked into a dreamless sleep. She could only pray for nights like those.

Emma calmed her breathing down as she sat up in her bed. The blonde looked up, expecting to see her tiny, shabby looking room back at the Hydra base but was met with a much different sight. Instead of the concrete floors and white walls, Emma was met with the sight of marble floors and glass windows that took up the entire wall. She stiffened when her memory started coming back to her. The Avengers invading the Hydra base…Barton and Romanoff.

Captain America.

Emma quickly surveyed her surroundings and deduced that she was in some sort of medical room. There was medical equipment all around her, making it look much more like a hospital room than any sort of random room the Avengers could've put her in. It was empty for the time being which Emma found odd. Why would the Avengers leave a Hydra assassin alone in a room without some kind of guard watching over her? Something felt a little off to the thirteen year old and Emma decided that she didn't like it one bit.

"It's good to see that you've finally awoken from your rest, Miss Rogers. Might I ask how you're feeling?" A British voice inquired and Emma narrowed her eyes as she searched for whoever it was that was speaking. She couldn't spot anyone in the room with her and it also sounded like the voice was coming from the ceiling. How odd.

"Where are you?" She demanded in a hostile tone.

"I am Jarvis, Mr. Stark's Artificial Intelligence system." The voice told her. "Do I need to call for medical assistance, Miss Rogers, your heart rate has elevated at an alarming rate."

"I know what my heart rate is!" She hissed although she felt kind of stupid for being angry with something that wasn't even a real human being. "I don't need some computer to tell me that."

"Very well. Since you're awake I shall alert Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho right away." Jarvis told her. Emma couldn't help but wonder if his tone sounded a little offended when she had spoken to him like that. Wait…should she even refer to him as a he if he was, in fact, an artifical intelligence system. Emma wasn't entirely sure who Jarvis was talking about but she needed to prepare herself for the worst possible outcome. She wasn't about to let another couple of scientists experiment on her like Hydra did. Emma was new to these people so they would probably have to start all over and she simply refused to be put through that again.

Emma watched intently as two people made their way into the room, both of them pausing when they saw her sitting up in her bed. It was a man and a woman. The woman looked very petite and small…delicate looking and Asian, Emma noted. Her skin was like porcelain, her eyes a soft brown color, and her hair just as dark. The woman only looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties at the most. She knew that it wouldn't be difficult taking the woman down if she had to.

The man, on the other hand, was a bit more sturdy looking although he still looked very soft. Not at all muscular like Barton and Captain America. The man had a slight tint to his skin, proving that he had spent a lot of time in warmer climates. His hair was a dark brunette with unruly curls and streaks of gray that made him look a little older than he actually was. Emma guessed that he was probably in his mid forties. His eyes looked to be a warm, comforting sort of brown but Emma knew better than to trust someone just because their eyes looked kind. The man offered her a kind smile as he walked into the room and looked at her.

"Hello, Emma, I see that you're finally awake." He greeted softly. "My name is Bruce Banner, I'm a friend of your grandfather, and this Helen Cho…she's been working with us for a while." He grew closer to her, offering his hand for her to shake but she just stared at his hand coldly. Bruce awkwardly rested his hand at his side when he saw that Emma wasn't going to shake his hand.

"Where am I?" She asked in a demanding, cold tone. Bruce was surprised by the coolness of her voice as she spoke. It wasn't something he had expected from a thirteen year old.

"You're in Avenger's Tower, Emma. You've been here for the past two days." Bruce told her gently. "You gave all us quite a scare when you wouldn't wake up."

"I'm in New York?" She inquired, ignoring his comment of concern. Emma was sure it wasn't real anyways…Hydra had always pretended to be concerned for her well being as well but she had long ago figured out it was just another one of their many tricks.

"Yes, you are." Bruce confirmed before glancing at Dr. Cho. There was something oddly chilling about the way the blonde stared at him. Her eyes were the act same shape and color as Steve's eyes but they held none of Steve's friendliness or kindness. Those familiar ocean blue eyes just looked cold and calculating on her. "Do you want me to call your grandfather? He's been very worried about you."

"No, I don't want you to call my grandfather." Emma sneered as if Bruce just suggested something that was entirely silly and foolish. It was odd how she could make a person feel stupid just with her tone of voice.

"Alright…maybe later then. How about you let Dr. Cho and I take a look at you in the meantime just to make sure you're doing okay?" Bruce suggested softly. "Is that alright with you?"

"Sure…whatever you want." Emma replied with a feigned tone of acceptance. Bruce should've known that it wouldn't be that easy but he didn't think any of it when he gestured for Dr. Cho to follow him over to one of the holographic computer screens. As soon as both of their backs were turned. Emma eyed the metal tray of medical utensils that was laying off to the side of her. How stupid was it of them to leave a tray full of potential weapons. Emma quietly grasped her hand around one of the medical scalpels, not even making the slightest bit of sound as she obtained the the scalpel with ease.

"You two aren't the smartest, are you?" Emma questioned in a bored tone as she held up the scalpel, pointing it in their direction as they turned back around to face her. "It's not that wise to turn yours back on someone like me." She told them as she waved the scalpel around with an alarmingly amount of confidence. Bruce and Dr. Cho stared in shock as the sweet faced thirteen year old pointed the scalpel in their direction. Bruce had heard about how resistant the girl had been before. Clint's broken bow and Natasha's broken arm were enough evidence of that but he hadn't expected her to be this hostile.

"You don't want to do this, Emma, just put the scalpel down." Bruce told her gently, trying to coax her. Emma narrowed her eyes at him as her grip around the scalpel tightened.

"No? I don't want this?" She questioned sarcastically as she glared at him. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Bruce Banner, I've done a lot more to people for a lot less. I'm not about to let you poke and prod me with a bunch of needles. Hydra cured me of that curiosity."

"We don't want to poke and prod you with needles." Bruce told her honestly. "We just want to make sure that you're doing okay."

"I'm fine." She spat. "I don't need a doctor to tell me that. I must implore you not to patronize me like I'm a child since I really hate doctors. So be smart and don't test me." Emma threatened and Bruce took a deep breath. Dr. Cho gave him a wide eyed look, probably afraid that he was about to turn green. She's just a little girl, Bruce told himself, there's no need to feel threatened by her.

"Emma, what are you doing?" A new voice said and Emma turned her head, seeing Captain America standing in the doorway with a bewildered expression on his face. Her grandfather himself. Emma gritted her teeth as she looked at her relation.

"I'm not letting those two doctors anywhere near me with a needle." Emma hissed but the captain just a wore a calm expression as he slowly approached her.

"No one's going to use a needle, Emma. They just want to make sure you're healthy." He explained but Emma still looked distrustful.

"Why did you bring me here?" She asked, changing the subject. Steve's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden demanding tone of her voice.

"I already told you why. We came to rescue you from the Hydra base so you could leave it all behind." Emma scoffed.

"I don't need to be rescued." She told him. "I'm perfectly fine on my own. I've been on my own for the past nine years so I think I've managed pretty well so far."

"You're thirteen, Emma, you shouldn't have to be on your own." He reminded her and Emma glared at him.

"I know how old I am! I don't need you to remind me!" She said venomously, anger in her blue eyes. "I know I may look like a kid but I've been trained to think and act like an adult so don't insult my intelligence by talking to me like I'm a child." Steve, Bruce, and Dr. Cho were all taken back by how much malice and coldness lingered in her tone. She did seem to talk like an adult but that still didn't make her one.

"Fine." Steve relented but then spoke in a more serious tone, his voice full of authority which reminded everyone in the room of his role as team leader. "But you're not on your own anymore. You're here now and you're never going back to Hydra. I'll make sure of that."

"What? Are you going to make me spill all of Hydra's secrets?" Emma asked sarcastically. "I didn't work for Hydra…I was their slave so good luck with that."

"I don't care about Hydra, Emma." Steve told her firmly as he fearlessly took a seat next to her on the hospital bed. He didn't seem to care if the scalpel was dangerously close to him.

"I'm here because I care about you…we're family and I intend make sure you're treated as such. You're here to stay so you better get used to it." Steve paused as he glanced at the scalpel in her hand. "Now can I have the scalpel?" Emma looked between Steve and the scalpel in her hand carefully as she thought about her next course of action. She listened to his heart beat to see if he was lying but she couldn't detect it beating any faster than normal. His eyes seemed sincere and Emma wanted to trust him. She just wasn't sure if she could.

"I promise that no harm will come to you while you're here. No harm will ever come to you again if I have anything to say about it." Steve promised. Emma stared at him for what felt like an eternity, identical blue eyes locked onto each other. It was a moment later when she finally relented, loosening her grip on the scalpel and turning it over in her hand, holding the small utensil out for him. Steve smiled at her warmly before he took the scalpel away.

"It's not like I need it anyways. If they attack me I can just kill them with my bare hands." She defended bitterly but Steve didn't look bothered by her comment.

"Thank you." He told her before getting up from the bed. Steve went to stand at the other side of the room so Bruce and Dr. Cho could do their work. "Oh and I wouldn't test that theory on Dr. Banner…he's a little temperamental." Emma glanced curiously at the nerdy looking doctor after Steve made that comment. Why? What could the doctor do that was so intimidating? Part of Emma was curious to know and another smarter part of Emma told her that she really didn't want to know.

It was hard for Emma to put even the slightest bit of trust in Steve but she knew that she didn't have much of a choice anyways. She was in a strange place with strange people. Emma had absolutely no clue what her surroundings were or what other possible options she had to escape. Where would she even go? Now that she was free from Hydra it's not like she really wanted to go back anyways. The other thing that was holding her to Hydra was her father but apparently he was gone too. So what was the point in going back? It wasn't like Emma had Stockholm syndrome or anything. No, Emma was better off with her newly found grandfather and all his weird friends. At least for now…until she could find her father.

Oh Papa, Emma thought to herself, what have you gotten me into?

"He never left the room when you were asleep." Emma looked up from the book Steve had lent her. It was entitled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and the book was apparently a popular children's book. Emma had protested at first at the idea of reading something for a child but she eventually relented when she got bored enough to actually open it and read the book. The blonde was surprised by how much she enjoyed it and realized that this was the first fictional book she had ever read. Hydra never wanted her to read fictional books because they told her they didn't serve a purpose…nothing that would help her out on missions.

It was Natasha Romanoff that had spoken. The redhead was looking at her with an unreadable expression on her face. The former Shield agent had been tasked to keep Emma company while she was in the hospital looking room. Emma also suspected it was to keep Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho safe from her after the events of the day before. Things were a little awkward between Emma and Natasha especially with Natasha's arm now in a sling which was pretty much Emma's fault. Emma hadn't wanted to attack the redhead but at the time she was trying to escape and Romanoff was in her way. Emma felt a bit curious at Natasha's words but she knew exactly who the woman was talking about.

"Oh, really?" She asked in a bored tone, feigning disinterest as she casually flipped a page in her book. Natasha smirked and Emma got the strongest feeling that the spy could read her like no one ever had before. The feeling was unsettling since Emma spent most of her life trying to keep her emotions at bay.

"Yeah, ever since you arrived he spent every waking moment in this room with you." Natasha told her. "He was very worried about you. Banner and I had to practically drag him out of the room so he could get some rest. You woke up not long after that."

"That's nice." Emma said in her fake bored tone.

"He was really pissed when he found out that Banner didn't call for him right away." Natasha looked the bored looking girl over but she could tell from her quick glances, in her direction, that the blonde was more curious than she would like to admit. "He cares about you a lot." Emma snorted at Natasha's comment.

"He doesn't even know me. And if he really did know me then he would've left me there." Emma told her coldly.

"He already knows everything about you, Rogers. Barnes sent him a complete file on you. Steve knows all the experiments that were done on you, your training, all the torture…he even knows how many people you've killed." Emma's eyes widened as she looked up from her book. It was the first time that the blonde had displayed any real, genuine emotion.

"He knows?" She questioned and Natasha nodded.

"We all know." Emma stared at her for a moment, her blue eyes analyzing her under close scrutiny.

"Then why am I here? Why didn't you kill me? Why not send me to some prison for spies and assassins?" Emma questioned. She was a little scared at the prospect of someone knowing that much about her let alone a group of people. How could someone possibly want her there in the same building as them knowing all the things she had done?

"Because you're just a kid." Emma glared at her. If there was one thing she hated most in the world it was being patronized like she was a child. "What? You are a kid, Rogers. It's not like any of that was your own choice." Natasha told her and Emma looked down at her book with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Well, no…but that doesn't change what happened." Natasha's gaze softened as she looked at the blonde. The older woman then sat herself down on the bed next to Emma as she tried to think of something that would bring the young girl some comfort.

"We're a lot alike you and me." Emma looked up when she said that, her eyes wide and curious.

"I may not have been raised by Hydra but I was raised by the KGB." Natasha told her as Emma listened intently to the redhead's story. "I was only a few years older than you were when you were kidnapped from your home. They trained me to be a killer from the very start…made it seem like it was just ballet but it was so much more than that. They pitted us against each other, making us fight to the death and we would because it was survival. We had to kill to survive because it made us stronger and it made it easier to kill outside the Red Room." She paused in her story as she looked at the young girl who had a look of understanding in her eyes.

"You understand, don't you?" She asked Emma and the blonde nodded. "Killing for us isn't a choice…it's survival."

"But how did it you make it out of there? How did you leave it all behind?" Emma asked her honestly, curious as to how someone like the famous Black Widow was able to retire from that kind of life and become a Shield agent and Avenger.

"Someone decided to take a chance on me." Natasha told her with the small hint of a smile. "He had an order to take me out but he saw something in me…something redeemable so he gave me a chance."

"And it was that easy for you? To just let everything go…just like that?" Emma said, her voice laced with doubt. The smile slowly vanished from Natasha's face as she answered Emma's question.

"Nothing's ever that simple but with time I was able to let go but it never goes away completely. It still haunts my dreams most nights but I've been making up for it…trying to get the red out of my ledger. All this avenging really helps, I guess." Emma watched Natasha's expression closely, trying to see if the redhead was lying but she didn't seem to find any signs of deceit. Emma frowned. It seemed as though Natasha actually believed that. It was sad really…nothing could make up for all the lives she had taken. There was nothing in the world that was able to erase that unless she could find some sort of time machine.

"Steve's your person." Natasha told her suddenly and Emma was broken out of her thoughts. The smile had returned to the redhead's face but Emma only looked at her in confusion. She was at a lost as to what the former Russian spy meant.

"What?"

"Steve's the person who's taking a chance on you. He sees something in you and not just because you're a kid or his granddaughter but because he genuinely sees you." Emma swallowed as she processed what Natasha was trying to tell her.

"I can't be the person he needs me to be. I'm not going to be granddaughter of the year or anything." She said although her tone sounded sad. Natasha just shrugged.

"He doesn't expect you to be. You're his family and he wants to get to know you." Natasha stared into her eyes with a serious expression. "Let him in. Steve's a good guy and he won't hurt you. Sometimes he's so nice that it's actually kind of sickening."

"Fine…I'll give you guys a chance, I guess. It's not like I have anything better to do." Emma reluctantly said after Natasha stared her down for a couple of minutes. She went back to reading her book with mild interest, her thoughts still lingering on Steve…her grandfather. Natasha seemed satisfied with the blonde's answer and got up from the bed to go back to standing by the door. Emma glanced back up from her book, her eyes focused on Natasha's broken arm that was in a sling.

"I'm sorry I broke your arm. I'm also sorry that I broke Barton's bow." Emma told her, sounding as sincere as she possibly could. Her expression seemed innocent enough as Natasha stared at her but Natasha knew better than that. Natasha was the leading expert of innocent, pretty faces after all. She practically invented false innocence so there was no way this kid was going to fool her.

"No, you're not." Natasha deadpanned, looking quite bored. Emma allowed a small smug smile to reach her face before she buried her nose in her book. Maybe staying in Avenger's Tower wouldn't be so bad. She still wouldn't say that she trusted them but Emma didn't think they were out to hurt her like Hydra was. Besides…this place had to be a million times better than Hydra. It was only her second day there and she was already allowed to read a fictional book and not beaten for her disobedience. If this was what freedom was like then Emma was sure she could get used to it.