Author's note:

I feel that i must apologize for any confusion involving Elda's age. I wasn't calculating the math correctly. I have since changed her age to twenty three. I am sorry for the confusion. Thank you RoxanneRay for your review.

As always enjoy reading and I will enjoy your reviews.

Lots of Love

Storybooksage

Ps. If I owned Captain American I would be living in a castle somewhere on the coast of Scotland. Unfortunatelly, he is not mine and as a result my castle is merely fiction.

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Elda stepped out from behind the tree, her knife leaving her hand before she could see her opponent. The second knife was more accurate; it pierced through the leather coat of the man with the sword.

He stumbled back at the force. Before recovering and pulling the stiletto out of his heart and the other out of his shoulder. "You are learning quickly, Griselda." His heart-breaking, brain-turning-to-mush smile spread across his well shaped face. "I can see that the student is surpassing the teacher." His gorgeous green eyes sparkled with admiration and pride, "You are turning into a strong and beautiful warrior." He tucked a loose strand of Elda's bleach blonde hair behind her ear, "You will make a formidable enemy someday."

He kissed her forhead just as the wind picked up speed. "I am due back in my own land." His fingers trailed down her arm leaving goosebumps in their wake, "I will meet you here next Sunday." He brought her hand to his lips.

"No!" Elda sat up in the hospital bed and wimpered sharply at the pain in her leg. She wiped her hands down her face, smearing sweat and tears. The room was suddenly too cold and the bed too lumpy. The light from the virtual window told her that dawn was approaching and the clock on the wall confirmed the early hour.

The door silently swung open and a pleasant looking woman peaked into the room. "Hello Agent Wentworth, how did you sleep?" The question was a rhetorical pleasantry, the monitors would have told her exactly how Elda had slept. "We are prepping your cast now if you are ready."

"Do I have a choice?"

Several minutes later she was stretched on a flat metal table. A large machine moved around her leg. She couldn't see what it was doing but the doctor had given her a small book detailing the surgery.

The machine was finding every piece of bone and fitting it in place like a puzzle. In between every sliver and in the spaces where fragments were missing, a strong glucose based substance worked as a bonder and filler. It would hold the bones in place untill they healed and then it woukd melt into her bloodstream the same way sugar from candy would.

The same glucose substance would also be wrapped around her bone, working as a cast underneath the muscle and skin. Casting a bone like this provided a quicker, gentler healing process and allowed her to perform normal functions without having to work around a bulky cast.

Once the bone was sufficiently set the robotic doctor would reattach the muscles, tendons, blood vessels, and skin almost flawlessly. Anyone looking at her leg, even hours after her surgery, would never notice that her skin had been opened nearly six inches. Even if they knew to look for it, only a very faint, thin line would betray any scar tissue. But her body would soon heal that too.

The local anesthesia seemed to be affecting her head and the surgery seemed to be taking a long time. Elda's eyes fluttered closed and the world faded fron existance.

"Miss Griselda, you really shouldn't lay in the sun for so long." The silky voice purred just outside her line of vision, "You'll blemish your flawless skin."

Her eyes shot open and she found herself safely tucked into bed in her S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital room. She hadn't thought about that green menace in over two years and now he was showing up in her dreams twice in the same day.

Elda breathed in deeply and forced her mind to go blank. She forgot who she was, where she was, and why she was there. She pulled up all memories involving him and threw them into her mental incinerator. Removing them from her mind. She would not dwell on it again.

When she finally breathed out and opened her eyes, her focus had shifted to the mission at hand. She slipped her legs over the side of the bed, testing her weight and finding that she felt little pain where she had been injured. The briefcase that Director Fury had given her has been stored in a cupbored next to the bathroom.

Upon seein the door Elda suddenly realized that she had not used the facilities since she had left for her mission three days ago. A tug on her uninjured thigh caused her to look down at the clear tube peaking out from underneath her hospital gown and connecting her to a plastic bag hooked to her bed. A catheter.

Sever options on how to deal with this inconvenient situation battled until the least offensive and embarrassing won. Sitting back on the bed she paged the nurse with the big red button on her bed. Of course it was a male nurse that answered her call.

Doing her best not to blush or stammer, Elda looked him straight in the eye and glared, "If you don't mind, I believe that I am well enough to use the restroom on my own." She clenched her jaw and spat out the next sentence, "I would appreciate the catheter removed at once as I don't require it anymore."

To his credit he completed the procedure in the most civil and professional manner possible and had left her room in less than five minutes. She however had been highly embarrassed at having him looking up her gown to remove the infernal device from her bladder. Her jaw was still clenched as she ducked into the bathroom to enjoy control over her own body functions.

A long relaxing shower later found her sitting cross legged on the bed. She was wrapped in a warm fleece house coat over flannel pajamas with her kitty slippers warming her toes. The shower has helped clear her mind, and while she was not happy about the details of her assignment she reasoned that she could suffer through a month. By then she would be completely healed, her leg as good as new and her mind refocused.

As she reread through her cover story she realized that pieces of her identity would be very beneficial. Being twenty one (Fury could have just as easily aged her at eighteen) meant she could buy alcohol- not that she would be able to get drunk- and her 'job' as an online tech analyst would provide her with a rather comfortable budget as well as an explanation of why she never seemed to actually go to work. Her cover name, Gabriella, was close enough to her own name that getting used to it would be simple.

She had never gone under cover before, not with a full identity. She was used to wearing disguises and introducing herself as her 'alter-ego' but this was a whole new level. Luckily the cover story was vague on most of her background to allow her to add some truth of her past to make her lie more believable. Apparently Father Time knew about her real identity but he had secrets he needed protecting too so he wasn't likely to spill hers.

A knock on the door pulled her away from the documents. "Hello again, Agent Wentworth." The doctor smiled at her, "Your car will be here soon so you may want to change into something you'll want to be seen in."

Elda slugged off the bed and traded her comfy lounge clothes for loose fitting jeans and a basic t-shirt. She left the pajamas on the floor as well as the slippers she had upgraded to sneakers; whichever S.H.I.E.L.D. intern was assisting her would deliver them, along with the rest of her personal belongings, to her new apartment.

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As always thoughts and suggestions are encouraged.

Don't forget to watch the super bowl Sunday. Go Hawks! :p