:: Wow, I'm surprised by the attention this has gotten! Here's the next chapter for those of you who've asked- I'll get more regular soon. As always, if you have any tips or concerns about the characters or story, let me know! I'm still working on finding the right voice. ::

Natasha woke to the sun streaming in through a half-opened shade. Her door was now closed, the window slightly cracked, judging by the gentle breeze ruffling the hair on her arms. She sat up and wiped the sand from her eyes, rolling both legs out of bed.

Stepping out into the hall, she was met by the sweet, powdery smell of fresh pancakes and the slightly bitter glow of fresh fruit. Thor stood over the commercial stove, busily working with four fry pans. Hunched over the bar, her chin on her forearms, was the girl from the bar. Natasha glanced at her, then went to the kitchen instead and got the orange juice from the fridge.

"Good morning," she said, reaching past Thor's head for a glass. He shifted easily out of the way. "I see you're already busy."

"I've been asking this girl why she's here," Thor said. He didn't look up from the stove- all of his attention was on the strips of bacon sizzling in grease. On a cutting board by the stove was a bowl and a plastic package of raspberries, still wet from being rinsed. "Would you like some?"

"I'm okay." She looked at the girl behind his back. She was sitting in the exact same position, staring at nothing. "Why is she here?"

"She says you brought her here."

Natasha went to the counter in front of the bar. The girl's eyes flicked up, then down, and up again. Natasha held her gaze. "I took you in," she said. "Now you need to tell me what you are."

"-t anything," the girl mumbled.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"I'm not anything."

"Okay." Natasha took a sip of her juice, one finger tapping on the glass as she studied her ward. For that's what the girl was now, wasn't she? She couldn't just leave. Not only would she not feel right letting her back onto the streets, but Tony would have a fit if a new person with superpowers, as he put it, slipped away before he could question them. His fascination with people like Banner, Thor and Rogers was fierce, almost to the point of obsession. Sometimes she wondered about him.

Lifting her chin and snapping back into what Tony jokingly called her "mom voice" (at least when he thought she couldn't hear him) she said, "Well you can't stay here unless we know how you're going to act."

"I don't want to stay here anyway," the girl said sourly.

"Then why are you still here? You could have left this morning before any of us woke up."

"Breakfast," Thor said, carrying the bacon pan to the sink and pouring the strips and grease over a paper-towelled strainer, "is the most important meal of the day. Before beginning any journey, one must take care of themself."

The girl ducked her head against Natasha's raised eyebrows.

"Okay then." She took her orange juice and a magazine to the living room, settling in one of the overstuffed chairs at an angle where she could see the kitchen and the hallway at the same time. The magazine was some men's fitness garbage and she spared it just a glance before tossing it back onto the coffee table.

Thor was talking to the girl again. His voice was gruff as usual, but the amusement in it grew more obvious as he chattered on about eating, and keeping healthy, and how this world had so many different things to eat and had she heard of Sports Illustrated? and the Fitness Manual? They had wonderful tips and even tricks, he said, to staying active. The whole time, he busied himself with drying bacon and sausage, which she hadn't noticed earlier, scrambling eggs, buttering toast, and rinsing some glasses of questionable cleanliness from the other side of the sink.

When he was finally done, he made up three plates and brought one out to Natasha. She took it and thanked him, eyeing the lightly crisped toast and fried egg- he somehow was able to guess how everyone liked their food, and always seemed delighted when they didn't know how to react when he gave it to them. He'd cooked for her before though, and she gave him a small smile, which seemed to be enough, as he turned and went back to the kitchen to feed the girl.

"What's your name?" Natasha asked, filling her fork with egg and sausage.

The girl started, as though she'd forgotten Natasha was there. "Rogue," she said.

"Rogue." Interesting. "That's a pretty name."

"It's okay." The response was a reflex. The girl began shoveling food into her mouth.

"Goodness. Take some time to chew."

Thor took his own plate to the counter in front of the bar and ate standing up. They all ate in silence for a few minutes, the only sound the occasional scrape of fork on plate or a cup being picked up and set down. Just as Natasha began to wonder where the rest were, she heard faint footsteps on the floor upstairs. Thor heard them too and he disappeared into the hallway, leaving his half-eaten stack of bacon on the counter. Soon she could hear low voices from upstairs- she could hear them if she really wanted to, but she preferred not to.

"So, Rogue," she said, "where are you from? Do you live somewhere in the city?"

"Why?" Another defensive response. Used to being grilled.

"Because if you want to get home, you'll need a ride or at least directions. You have no idea where we are and since you have no phone- I checked- you won't be able to map your way around. It's easiest just to tell me so I can get you where you have to go."

The girl ate quietly. Natasha sipped her juice and waited. It wasn't her first rodeo, as some people put it, and she had nothing but patience. The gears clicking in the girl's head could probably be heard the next state over.

"I don't live around here," the girl - Rogue - said. "I'm from the country. Mississippi."

"Mississippi? You're a long way from home."

No reply. Natasha changed tactics.

"Do you have another name? One that isn't code for something?"

The back of the girl's neck turned red, and she turned around, scowling. "No. My name is Rogue."

Natasha nodded, raising a hand in surrender. The girl went back to her food.

Heavy footsteps on the stairs, then in the hallway, and Thor reappeared with Tony on his heels. Tony looked furious but his expression softened a bit when he saw Rogue at the bar.

"Hello!" he said, approaching and sticking out a hand. "Pleasure to meet you. I know we didn't really get to meet each other last night, you know, with you being asleep and all. I'm-"

"-Tony Stark," the girl said. She looked sick. Both elbows were pinned to her sides. Every muscle in her neck stood out like they were carved in wood. "I know who you are."

"You do?" The last of his irritation melted away. "Well. Of course you do." He looked down at his hand, then at her, and took it back with a short laugh. "A joke, obviously." He turned, glimpsing Thor putting the last of the breakfast into Tupperware containers. "Hey! I haven't had any."

The girl tracked him across the room, still not moving, barely even seeming to breathe. She looked like she might snap at any second.

Natasha got up from her chair. The girl stiffened at her touch on her back, but didn't move away. "Tony, this is Rogue. She's going to stay with us for a while."

"I gathered that from the fact that she's sitting in my kitchen, eating my bacon," Tony said, gesturing over his shoulder at her with his plate. "How long is a while?"

"However long she wants."

Thor looked pleased, grinning at the girl. "I still have to show her my magazine collection."

Natasha felt the girl's back relax a little under her hand. "And I have some things to ask her." At that, it stiffened again. She bit back a comment that might either assuage or heighten the fear, and tried to stifle the guilt she felt at making her afraid at all.

"Oh, speaking of things to ask, I have a few questions of my own," Tony said through a mouthful of eggs, "mainly how is it possible that you can actually suck-"

Natasha squeezed the girl's shoulder, and as she did, the image of the men lying in the alley pale and bulging with death flashed through her mind. She was immediately relieved that the girl had a thick leather jacket on, and even beyond that, that the girl didn't seem that angry towards her, in case it was controlled with her mind.

"Later, Tony," she chided, in that special tone she had only for him- the that's enough voice. He promptly petered off into mumbles, munching his way into the hallway on a piece of toast.

"How about this," she continued, looking down at the girl, who met her gaze with a mix of hope and fear and dreadful curiosity in her eyes. Her body ached to see it. "You and Thor go look at his muscle-building book collection, then you and I will talk. If you want to stick around for a bit, I can get you some new clothes, a car, money- you can keep going the way you are but better prepared."

The girl frowned. "Or?"

"Or?"

"There's always an "or"."

"No "or". You can take what I give you and go. At least to give me some peace of mind." The girl looked confused but didn't ask, and Natasha didn't feel like explaining. She let go of the girl and stepped back, putting her arms around herself. Maybe if the girl stayed, she could teach her something. How to defend herself without using… whatever it was she had. Teach her some life skills for goodness' sake. How not to walk into dark alleys alone, or if she did, how to ward off attackers. A small girl like her, with her face, in this world- in this city- if she couldn't take care of herself, she had no chance wandering the streets. None at all.

Thor took her dishes and the girl slid off the stool, slipping past Natasha with all the room she could spare. As they walked into the hallway, the girl stopped and looked back. Natasha felt cold when the full focus of that stare hit her.

"Don't touch me again," she said, and then, as if to mute the sharpness of it, added "Bad things happen to people who do." Then she was off after Thor, who'd poked his head back in the hall to see where she'd gotten to.

Natasha stared after them, wondering what she'd done.