Steve weaved between the automatons and buildings towards the shack which Victor had indicated marked as the entrance to their underground prison. With ease, he pulled the door right off it's hinges and headed inside. Apparently, all the guards had run outside, as he didn't run into anyone in the underground corridor.
"Can we please hurry?" A voice behind him prodded. He spun around, startled, to see his red-headed friend standing behind him, hands on hips. He silently nodded and hurried down the hall, checking each door. Most of the cells were empty, surprisingly, although they found a few villagers, which they released and told how to escape the chaos above ground. At the end of the corridor, the found a door slightly ajar. Natasha's grip on her guns tightened as Steve carefully pushed the door open.
There was the cartel drug lord, Julio Gonzales, standing over a young woman's motionless body with a dagger in his hand hovering over her throat. With a loud yell, Natasha sprung on top of the repulsive man, flipped him to the ground, kicked the knife away, and drove her heel into his wrist as he screamed with pain. As the assassin dealt with the kingpin, Steve hurried over to check on the woman. It was hard to tell, but when he looked on her right wrist, he saw the heart shaped birthmark Bruce had told him about. This was Emily. He took a pulse and checked her eyes. Alive, but weak and unconscious. Gently, he lifted her off the cold metal slab. Using her earpiece, Agent Romanoff alerted the rest of the team that they had Emily. Steve looked down at this strange girl in his arms. She looked nothing like Bruce, except for her eyes. Steve couldn't forget how green they were when he had been checking her vitals. They were just like her brothers. She had long, slightly wavy chestnut hair and tanned skin he imagined was naturally fair. She obviously needed medical attention.
Steve followed Natasha as she dragged Gonzales out and down the corridor to outside. Clint, Steve, and Bruce had taken care of the majority of the Cartel's forces and were now dispatching the stragglers. When Bruce saw Gonzales, he bellowed with rage and ran to grab dove to stop Bruce, but he simply dodged his flying friend and snatched up his prize, squeezing tightly. His team did everything they could to loosen his grip, but to no avail. Suddenly, Steve felt Emily stir in his arms. He tightened his grasp so as to not drop her. Weakly, she climbed out of his arms and stumbled to Bruce. Steve started after her, then stopped. She collapsed against Bruce's side.
"Br- Bruce?" She said weakly. "Please. Stop…" He immediately stopped and dropped the man in his fists to pick her up gently in his arms. No one thought he was capable of such gentleness in this form, but he treated her as though she could break if he breathed wrong. She curled up against his chest and looked up at his face, smiling tiredly. "Hey…" She gently touched his face. Something must have happened between them, because his muscles immediately relaxed and he had a look of peace on his face as he slowly began to shrink down to his human shape. Tears ran silently down his face as the green drained away. When he was human again, he crushed his little sister to his chest and sobbed with joy.
"Emmy. Oh, dear sweet little Emmy. What did they do to you? You're so weak. But so beautiful. You've grown so much…" She lightly put her fingers over his lips and he quieted down, eyes still tearing. She smiled gently and whispered simply "I missed you", which is all her brother needed to hear. She then tried to stand on her own, which she managed to do with a little assistance from Bruce. Steve seized Julio by the collar as he tried to slink away.
"Oh no, you don't." He snarled. The malice in his voice caught Tony and the assassins by surprise, but they said nothing. They all felt the same way about this man. Given the chance and the choice, they knew they would not hesitate to slip a knife between his ribs. However, they knew he should be turned into the proper authorities. Natasha knocked out the despicable man with a pressure point on his neck. With him unconscious, the Captain patted him down, removing any technology and weapons. Tony grabbed him and flew above their heads towards the village to stash the drug lord in a hut and have the men watch him until the others would be able to reach them to discuss what to do with him. The walk was slower for the others this time with Emily in the condition she was, but she insisted on trying to walk on her own. Everyone was bursting with curiosity, but they held their questions back so they wouldn't overwhelm her, instead keeping questions to recent events.
"What did that guy want with you anyway?" Clint asked as he helped her untangle her brown woven skirt from a shrub.
Pushing herself back up, she thought about it and replied, "He thinks I have some sort of hold over the village. He wanted me to lead them to grow his marijuana for him. Obviously, I refused to help him. They barely have the time or resources to grow enough to feed their own families, let alone grow his drugs from which they benefit nothing." She stopped to take a breath and Nat offered her a flask of water which she accepted gratefully. Suddenly, she looked sharply to her left and threw her new female friend out of the way just as a bullet whizzed past where the agent's head had just been not moments before. Without a moment of hesitation, she launched herself through the brush and immediately, the team heard a man screaming. They hurried to go see what was happening. As they burst through the bushes, they saw Emily crouching on the man's chest with a small knife she had swiped off of Clint.
She looked up at them. "One of his men. Should we bring him along?" Clint nodded angrily and, using a vine he cut of a nearby tree, he bound the would-be killer's hands.
Natasha looked at Bruce. "I think the real question here is why is our good doctor still normal size and his pale and pasty self? That should have been plenty of adrenaline."
Bruce looked at Emily as she brushed herself off and handed the knife back to Agent Barton. "It's her. Part of her… Well, you'll see." He smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her proudly. The Avengers knew then that they would most likely be taking on a new member.