A/N: Bwahahaha! ALL of the follows! Haha, j/k. But seriously, thank you to all of you who followed/favorited the story already! I hope you all continue to like it.

New chapter time! :D

(Oh and by the way, I don't own Avengers. Obviously.)

chapter two:

"Amrita… Wake up. We're here."

Amrita frowned as she was pulled out of her pleasant dream by a masculine voice. She couldn't place where she had heard that voice before, but she knew it wasn't completely unknown to her. She mumbled "five more minutes", her head feeling fuzzy with the remnants of sleep. The owner of the voice chuckled, and she frowned at their cheeriness when she had just been rudely awakened from her sleep. She never woke up to anything but her body's internal alarm clock, and it threw her off to be awoken by someone else. She cracked her eyes open, finding that it was already light out. She was met with the sight of gray material, which she quickly realized was a suit jacket.

Amrita jerked away from the wearer reflexively, not knowing who it was she had fallen asleep on, her mind reeling at the circumstances that might have caused her to wake up in such a compromising position. She didn't get far before a tug made her realize she was strapped in by a seatbelt, and she was forced to pause and look at who it was she had fallen asleep on. The man that she vaguely remembered being stuck in a vehicle with the night before greeted her sight, and he was looking at her curiously and almost regretfully. She quickly averted her eyes to the rest of her surroundings, still feeling agitated and uncomfortable with her proximity to the unfamiliar man. When she realized they were in a plane that was just rolling to a stop on a runway, she quickly unstrapped her seatbelt and moved towards the door, jumping out onto the tarmac despite Natasha's call for her to stay in the plane until it had come to a complete stop. She jogged a few feet away from the plane before stopping, placing her hands on her knees and taking a few deep, calming breaths. She slowly became aware of the fact that there were a number of agents bustling about what looked like a floating military base, and a few of them were looking at her oddly as she stood there, focusing on steadying her breathing.

Natasha came jogging up to her, a faint look of concern on her face, though Amrita couldn't tell for sure whether or not it was genuine. It was nice to think that the stoic woman might care for her well-being, even if it was only because of her job. It had been a while since anyone had truly cared about Amrita as a person. It was almost a foreign concept to her current self.

"What was that back there?" the female agent asked. "I wasn't aware you knew of Dr. Banner's past."

Amrita was confused by the woman's statement. "Huh?" she asked dumbly. "Um. It's, uh…well it's more to do with my own past than anything," she said, shifting her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Let's just say…not exactly a good history with men, if you know what I mean. It's nothing to do with him personally, I'm just…not comfortable with strangers."

A light of understanding appeared in Natasha's eyes, and she nodded.

"I wasn't aware. If I had been, I wouldn't have stuck you next to him like that."

Amrita shrugged it off, not quite sure how to deal with the stoic agent. She felt like the years of solitude in India had made her socially awkward, with how few interactions she had with people, most of them having ended rather negatively.

"Either way," Amrita said, clearing her throat; something she often did when she was uncomfortable. "I'd, uh…like to talk to whoever's in charge, if I could."

Natasha nodded. "Of course. He'll be wanting to speak with you now anyway." She glanced over at a plane coming down on the runway and pursed her lips before looking back at Amrita. "I would take you myself, but I need to speak to another new arrival. I'll get another—female—agent to take you to Fury," she said, motioning another agent over and instructing her on where to take the other woman.

Amrita studied the new agent, feeling a little awkward at being escorted everywhere. She was so unused to socializing that the thought of being in such a highly-populated place made her palms sweaty with anxiety. She quickly wiped her hands on her sari, trying to make it look like she was just smoothing wrinkles out of her skirt but unsure if it looked anything less than totally awkward to anyone else. The new female agent gave her a quick smile before asking her to follow her. Amrita studied the back of her head and noted the harsh bun the agent's blond hair was pulled back into, not a single hair out of place. It was very no-nonsense-professional looking.

"I'm Amrita, by the way," Amrita blurted out, feeling color rush to her cheeks when the agent glanced back at her oddly. "Uh. What's your name?" she asked, pushing on despite her discomfort. She decided that at least talking felt less uncomfortable than the awkward silence between her and the agent that felt like it was smothering her.

The agent tipped her head towards Amrita in acknowledgment of her question.

"Agent Vale," she said, not slowing her brisk pace down the cool metal hallway as she talked. "I was part of the detail that transported you here."

Amrita nodded, vaguely remembering now that one of the people in the front of the Jeep she had ridden in had been a female with blond hair. Honestly, since neither of the agents in the front seat had spoken to her, she hadn't really taken the time to study them. She vowed to take more notice of the people she encountered in the future.

"Nice to meet you," Amrita said lamely. She wasn't sure if it was really appropriate to trade niceties with a government agent like her; wasn't sure if the woman would appreciate it or not. Then again, she wasn't sure of much when it came to interacting with other people. The only memories she had of being sociable seemed fuzzy and hard to access, as though she were watching them underwater, the sound muted.

Agent Vale just nodded her head, flashing her another one of those quick smiles that was gone as quickly as it had appeared without ever reaching her eyes. Amrita took that as a sign that she should shut her trap and wisely did so, pressing her lips together when the urge to break the silence came again. Not a moment too soon, they reached a large room full of people and technology, some of it vaguely familiar to Amrita, while most of it was completely foreign to her. A dark-skinned man with an eyepatch and trench coat spotted the two of them and crossed the room to meet them.

"Amrita Mehrotra," he said, all business.

She fought the urge to take a step back, finding his presence intimidating. Somehow, she thought he would find it a sign of weakness if she shied away from him, so she forced herself to stand straight, shoulders squared to face him despite the fact that she could feel her fingers trembling slightly. The fact that she was in a room full of unfamiliar people did nothing to calm her nerves, but she took solace in the fact that at least she wasn't the only woman in the room. She couldn't bring herself to quite meet the tall black man's piercing gaze though for fear it would undo her carefully complacent expression, instead opting to stare determinedly at the tip of his nose as he spoke.

"My name's Nick Fury. I take it you know why you were brought here?"

Amrita chewed the inside of her cheek before replying, "I have a vague idea."

If Amrita hadn't been staring determinedly at the tip of his nose, she wouldn't have noticed the way his lips twitched ever so slightly, making her wonder if he was forcing himself not to smile. Or frown. It could've been either one, really. When she thought about it, it was really more likely the latter.

"Agent Romanov didn't brief you on the plane here?"

Amrita could feel her cheeks heat up with an embarrassed blush. "I, uh. Slept the whole way here, sir," she muttered.

Fury exhaled heavily, his shoulders heaving with the action.

"Alright then. We'll brief you before we get everyone else in the meeting room. Agent Vale, if you could grab Mehrotra's file, we'll meet you there."

Vale gave a "yes, sir" and swept off, leaving Amrita to stumble after Fury as he strode out of the tech room and down another unfamiliar hallways with strides so long she just about had to jog to keep up. Fury stopped at a door before too long and pushed it open, holding it open for Amrita, who awkwardly walked past him before he closed the door behind them. She found herself chewing on the inside of her cheek again, uncomfortable in her current situation. She quickly moved to the other side of the table that was set in the middle of the room and sat down at the chair that was set the furthest away from any of the others. She caught Fury's eyebrow quirking up a bit, but it moved back to its normal place and he didn't show any other facial expression after that. He sat at the head of the table and folded his hands on the table in front of him, leaning in towards her. Amrita fought the urge to lean back away from him, instead grabbing onto the hammered silver charm bracelet on her left wrist and playing with the charms, letting the memories that were associated with it strengthen her resolve as she remembered the person she had been when she first received the precious gift.

"So. Amrita Mehrotra," Fury said, fixing her with a steely one-eyed stare. "Mind if I just call you Rita?"

Amrita blinked. It had been a long time since someone had given her a nickname. A nice nickname, anyways.

"Um. Sure, I guess."

Fury nodded. "Rita, then." He gestured to her. "I have an offer for you, but there's some things I want to clear with you before I make it. Just some things about your background that I'd like a little clarification on." He paused as the door opened behind him, holding out his hand and accepting the folder that Agent Vale placed in his upturned palm. "Thank you, Agent Vale. Just wait outside, for now." The agent wordlessly retreated, and he took a deep breath, checking inside the folder for a moment before tossing it on the table in front of Amrita. "I think you might find the contents of that folder quite interesting."

Amrita hesitated before flipping the folder open, jerking her hands away when the picture that stared back at her was the same sight she had witnessed in her nightmares for the past five months. She glared at Fury despite the feeling of moisture gathering in her eyes, threatening to fall.

"What's the meaning of this?" she hissed, on edge now that they had presented her with evidence of what she was.

Fury leaned back in his seat, steepling his fingers in front of his chin.

"Five months ago, there was an incident in the Indian village near where you lived. A middle-aged man was burnt to a crisp in a back alley." He quirked an accusing eyebrow at her. "Funny thing is, when the local authorities tried to determine the starting point of the fire, they found that it had started from inside the man's body." His expression was blank as he added, "His testicles, to be exact."

Amrita gave a derisive snort. It was both amusing and sickening to hear what she'd done from the stoic man's mouth.

He gave her a disapproving look before continuing.

"Naturally, SHIELD was interested when they found out the fire was possibly due to supernatural causes. So we looked into it, and our agents heard your name dropped by some of the people that had been nearby when the body was discovered. Something about the fact that there had been a young woman named Amrita living in the same hut for several generations, but she didn't always have the same face." He gestured to her. "Another interesting thing: Apparently, this woman could heal any illness that was brought to her. If you'd turn to the next few photos, I think you'll find them easier on the eyes than the first one," he said, nodding at the file.

Amrita, feeling oddly numb to the fact that her abilities had been thrown in her face, did as he requested, spreading out the other photos on the table in front of her. There were three photos in succession showing her mending a wound just by touching it, her eyes and fingertips glowing an eerie yellow. Then there were two pictures of her sitting in front of her fireplace, her eyes glowing orange before flames leapt spontaneously to life in the hearth. The last was an aged photograph of herself with the man who had given her the charm bracelet she still wore, though it was not exactly the current her, per say. Her hair and eye colors were the same as they were now, but other than that, she looked a completely different person. She had darker skin, slanted eyes, a smaller mouth and a heart-shaped face; as opposed to her current fair skin, almond-shaped eyes, full lips and oblong face shape. She smiled fondly at the picture, as it was one taken not long after she and her past lover had married in the 1950s. Due to her nature, unfortunately he was taken from her too soon, but he had been wholly accepting of her despite everything, and she looked back on their time together fondly. She fingered the charm bracelet once again, the smile falling from her face as she remembered when he had passed just a few years earlier.

"I take it you have an explanation for how you can take your own life and just end up coming back with a different face," Fury said, jerking Amrita out of her musing. She gave a wry smile.

"I have an explanation. It might not be one you'd like to accept, though."

Fury raised an unamused eyebrow.

"Try me."

Amrita exhaled loudly, slumping back a bit in her seat, her previously tense muscles relaxing a little as she began to realize this man was not an immediate threat to her. She chewed on the inside of her cheek a moment, trying to find the right words to explain her existence to a human who, despite being part of a top-secret government agency, she doubted knew much, if anything, about her or her kin.

"Have you ever heard the legend of the phoenix, Mr. Fury?"

"It's Director Fury," the man dead-panned. "And yes, I have."

Amrita gave a tentative smile. "Apologies. Director Fury." She inclined her head towards him. "That might make my explanation a bit easier, then. You see, I have walked this earth since the civilizations of humans were just beginning to explore the far reaches of the globe. Since before the Roman empire had conquered much of anything," she stated plainly. Whether Fury believed it or not was up to him. There had been a few occasions in past lives when she had explained this very thing, but those times were hazy memories at best. "I have had many faces before, but always the same name. It is…comforting to have one thing stay the same when I, myself, am constantly changing, whether I want to or not." She frowned. "I am like the legendary phoenix, Director Fury. I can die, but I will resurrect as a new person, with a new face. I will have memories from my past lives, but they are blurry, like a photo taken while moving, and they grow more so the more times I resurrect. For example, I can remember that I have been here since the Roman empire was but a fledgling, but I could not tell you hardly anything that I did in that lifetime."

Fury was silent for a long, drawn-out moment, staring at her, his one eye searching her face as though trying to discern whether she were lying or not. After a while, he took a deep breath and sat up straight in his seat once more.

"In that case, Rita, I'd like to make you an offer," he said, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. "I'd like you to become part of our staff. A medic, for a…special team of individuals I'm trying to put together."

Amrita was silent for a moment. She'd had a couple brushes with secret government agencies in her last life, but they had been brief and thankfully she had been able to disappear once they were no longer in need of her assistance. This seemed like it was going to be different, though. Different in a potentially-complicated kind of way. Amrita was a simple person. She didn't like 'complicated'.

"I need you to tell me one thing first, Director," she said, and at his nod, she continued. "If you're asking me to do this…is it because the world is in danger?"

The Director's lips pressed into a thin line. He was silent for a moment, as though reluctant to answer, but he did nonetheless.

"…Yes."

She nodded. "That's all I need to know," she said.

"I'm in."