A/N: Hey all! Bit of a longer chapter today. Hope y'all enjoy it! Thank you again to everyone who's reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this story. Cookies for all!

Me no own Marvel/Avengers. Me sad. Hulk smash! (Juuust kidding.)

chapter five:

It was altogether too soon when Amrita's pager went off unbearably loud next to her ear. Groaning, she drew it closer and read the message; "Come to clinic ASAP". She sighed. It certainly didn't leave any room for misinterpretation, anyway. She hastily changed from her sleep clothes into her kurta and churidar, not wanting to slip back into her sari from earlier, which by now would be terribly wrinkled from the fact that she'd simply tossed it aside on the floor when she'd changed to go to sleep. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she popped a mint in her mouth, glad she'd thought to grab some at the cafeteria earlier for situations like this where she didn't have time to brush her teeth. With that, she clipped her pager to her pants and hurried down to the clinic, worrying about what sort of situation might be there to greet her.

When she got there, she was greeted by the sight of two men, one in a form-fitting, star-spangled outfit, and the other in plain clothes, though there was some sort of symbol glowing in the middle of his chest. He looked to be the more beat-up of the two, and was standing by the cabinets, examining their contents through the glass, while the other man was sitting in a chair at the end of the room. He stood when she entered the room, nodding at her respectfully.

"Evening, ma'am," he said.

She just about had a heart attack when she realized who it was.

Amrita schooled her expression before she could give anything away, keeping a cool, professional expression. She had met this man before, having worked with his unit in the army as a doctor. She had involved herself in the world wars when she realized how much was at stake, and had used her abilities when no human medical treatment would work. To see this man's face again was surprising, due to the fact that he should, by all human logic, be deceased given how long it had been since she'd met him. It was also unnerving, as if he came to recognize her for who she had been, he would start asking questions that she wasn't sure she was allowed to answer. So instead, she simply mumbled a greeting in response and put on her lab coat over her clothes.

"Which one of you requires treatment first?"

The man who was standing raised his hand, though he had a sour look on his face as he shot a sidelong glare at the other man.

Amrita nodded. "Alright, sit up on the table and take your shirt off," she said, turning to Captain America. "If you could just sit in one of the chairs out in the hall for a moment…?"

The Captain nodded, exiting wordlessly. The remaining man stared daggers at the man's back, waiting until he'd left before he hopped up on the examination table, starting to take his shirt off but pausing halfway.

"I do hope this isn't just an excuse to get me naked," he said straight-faced. "Because I have a girlfriend, and she doesn't like to share."

Amrita snorted.

"Don't worry, sir, I don't have any nefarious plans to take advantage of you in my clinic," she said sarcastically. "However, you do have to take off your shirt so I can see how bad the damage is. Director Fury wants me to do full physicals for both of you to make sure you're fit for duty."

The goateed man rolled his eyes, but finished taking his shirt off anyways.

"Fine. But I'm watching you," he said, making a 'watching you' gesture with two fingers.

"As you wish," she said, still using a sarcastic tone as she got out the paperwork to make notes on all of his bruises, the couple little cuts he had, and the fact that his lip was split. She carried on, shining a light in his eyes to make sure his pupils were reactive, then checking his vitals, then his reflexes, and had just started listening to his chest sounds when he started talking again.

"So, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" he said. "Other than…doctor-y stuff, that is."

"Eating. Breathing. Sleeping," she said, annoyed that he was making noise when she was trying to listen to his breath sounds. "I'm going to have to ask you not to talk while I'm listening to your lungs, sir."

"Sir…sir…hmm, nope. Don't like it. Call me Tony," he said. "I mean, you could call me Mr. Stark, but that's a little too impersonal. I think if we're going to be getting all touchy-feely like this, we should at least be on a first-name basis." He grinned at her cheekily. "What's your name, sweet cheeks?"

Amrita resisted the urge to give an aggravated sigh, but couldn't keep the annoyed look off her face. She moved back, dropping her stethoscope and scribbling the last of the information needed down on her paperwork.

"Amrita," she said in a hostile tone. "And don't call me sweet cheeks."

Tony had the gall to look wounded. "What? Are you insinuating that we don't know each other well enough for me to make up cute little nicknames for you? I just call them as I see them, I can't quite tell because of the lab coat but you look like you'd have a cute, perky little a—aghhh!"

Captain America came bursting through the door at the sound of Stark's girly shriek.

"What is it? What's the situation?!" he said frantically, only to notice Stark patting a small flame out of the seat of his pants, while the doctor just watched him flounder, her arms crossed and a 'serves-you-right' expression on her face. The star-spangled man raised his eyebrows, but said nothing further on the matter.

Amrita gave a stiff smile as Tony finally patted the flames out of his now scorched trousers.

"You're free to go now, Tony," she said in a sugar-coated tone. "I have all the information I need. You're clear for duty."

Tony gave her a death glare, but skittered out of the clinic before she could set fire to any other parts of his body, not trusting her with his well-being now that he'd seen her angry side.

Captain America glanced at the seemingly unspectacular woman in front of him with a small amount of nervousness. Doctors were supposed to heal, not harm their patients, right? But he had just seen her set fire to Stark's derriere not moments ago. Given, it was Stark, so of course she would have had to put up with all his annoying antics, but still… The Captain shook his head, resolving to try and stay on this doctor's good side. He'd hate to end up in a situation like Stark had by being impolite.

"Well, that's one way to get him to shut up, I guess," he murmured.

To his surprise, the woman grinned at him in response.

"I should warn you now, Captain, I do not take lightly to inappropriate remarks from my patients. As I try to be professional during examinations, I expect my patients to return the favor," she said coolly. "Though I suspect, due to your reputation, I don't have anything to worry about from you." She motioned to the examination table. "Have a seat, please. And remove your shirt, if you would."

Steve complied, stripping off the top half of his uniform. Part of what she'd said caught his attention, though.

"My reputation…?" he asked curiously.

Amrita blinked up at him from where she was washing her hands prior to the examination, shutting off the taps with her elbow.

"Yes, you have a reputation for being quite the gentleman," she said. "It's all positive, I assure you."

Steve gave her a tentative smile.

"I guess if you know about my reputation, then you already know about me, but I'll introduce myself anyways," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Steve Rogers, ma'am."

She gave him a smile. "Amrita Mehrotra. I would shake your hand, but…" she held up her freshly-washed hands.

"Oh," he said sheepishly, retracting his hand. "Sorry."

She chuckled. "That's alright. Let's get this over quickly so we can both retire for the night, shall we? I suspect from the fact that Fury said you had to fly out for your mission you might be a bit jet-lagged about now."

Steve nodded. The adrenaline from facing off with Loki, and then tussling with Thor and Tony, had kept him alert and even a bit antsy for the entire plane ride back, but now that Loki had been safely delivered to his cell, he could feel the fatigue setting in. It was a bit early yet to be turning in for the night, but he was an early riser, and he wouldn't mind going to bed an hour or two early, after he grabbed a shower and a bite to eat. Unfortunately, Fury would likely want them debriefed before he could even think about doing that…

Amrita went about the examination quickly, with practiced motions, and Steve couldn't help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu when he looked at the woman. He couldn't seem to place where he felt like he knew her from, but he felt like he did. Was he wrong? He was sure if he met anyone that looked like her, he would remember. She had almost an aura about her, one of mystery and untapped power. It was almost like the air around her was super-charged, just waiting for her to do something.

Then, when Amrita stared into his eyes before shining a pen light in them, he was struck by the reason he thought she was familiar.

It was those eyes.

"You know, I remember someone I used to work with had the same eyes as you," he said.

She had a vague look of surprise, though she didn't seem to show much interest in his statement.

"Oh?" she asked.

Steve nodded as she turned to her paperwork and jotted some more notes down.

"Yeah. She was a doctor, like you," he said. "It was before…before the plane crash," he said, not really wanting to talk about that particular sore subject. "I think her name was Amy, if I remember correctly. Amy something-or-other. She had hair like yours, too, reddish-brown." Her silence made him feel like she wanted to switch topics, so he ended it awkwardly. "She was Asian, though."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

She took out her stethoscope and listened to his chest sounds, muttering a request for him not to talk and to take deep, steady breaths. They didn't talk again until after she'd started scribbling down the final notes on her paperwork.

"You're good to go," she said. "You're clear for duty."

Steve nodded, feeling a bit awkward with Amrita after the failed conversation from earlier.

"Thanks. It was nice meeting you, ma'am," he said.

"You too, Captain," she said without looking up from her paperwork.

The Captain lingered for a moment, unsure, but then left the clinic, aware that he still had to report to Fury about the mission and what they were to do now that they had Loki captive. He missed the way Amrita's fingers had been clenched painfully tight around her clipboard, white knuckles betraying her otherwise calm exterior.

Amrita was left reeling after the blast-from-the-past that was Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. She was so glad she had adopted different names when she had helped out with the wartime efforts. Seeing as she had been working directly with government agencies during those times, she had deemed it necessary to protect her supernatural identity by masquerading under a different name so that she would be able to disappear without a trace once the world was no longer in danger, no longer in such desperate need of her talents.

Slumping down in her chair, she filed the medical paperwork for Tony and Steve in a locked cabinet, along with the basic health information sheets she had been given on them. It had been hard not to stare at Tony's arc reactor, and she would have done so had she not been informed about it beforehand. She heaved a great sigh, hoping that was all she'd been needed for, before heading out of the clinic, shutting the lights off and locking the door behind her. She took a couple steps in the direction of her room, but then paused, doubling back and peeking into the lab next door. She wasn't entirely surprised to see Bruce there, working still. She wondered if he'd even taken the time to have a cat nap yet. She decided she'd grab some drinks for both of them and pester him about his unusual sleep schedule.

It only took a couple minutes of her time to get something from the cafeteria. She had inquired the staff there about getting a couple to-go mugs of chai tea, and had been pleasantly surprised when the chipper kitchen lady had kindly put some together for her, with fresh spices and a fancy machine that apparently steamed milk for the tea rather than just using boiling water.

Amrita carefully tapped on the lab window when she returned, minding how full the to-go mugs both were with steaming hot tea. Despite that she would heal if she spilled on herself, as she had countless times before, it still was not a pleasant feeling.

Bruce looked up from his machine, grinning at her. He looked like he was going to motion her to come in, but then he seemed to realize both her hands were full and he got up from his work station, taking off his thin-rimmed glasses and tucking them in the pocket of his lab coat before opening the door for her to enter the lab.

"You know, I could get used to all these visits if you're going to bring me caffeine all the time," he joked.

Amrita chuckled. "I figured I'd check in and make sure you haven't passed out due to fatigue or malnutrition since the last time I saw you." She raised an eyebrow at him challengingly. "Did you get any sleep yet?"

Bruce shrugged, taking the mug of chai she placed on the table for him and making sure not to stand too close to her. "About an hour or so."

She gave him a disapproving look. He looked down at his feet.

"I dozed off while one of my algorithms was processing," he muttered.

"If I wasn't already so put off by how much human contact I've had today, I would smack you upside the head, Bruce Banner," she said with a tired glare.

Bruce grimaced.

"Oh, yeah. That can't have been fun." He shook his head. "How do you even put up with it? I'm sure you had plenty of male patients…"

Amrita exhaled heavily, sinking down into one of the chairs, tired of being on her feet so much. "It's not so difficult at the time. It just wears on me," she said. "Being a doctor, in a professional setting…it has a sort of power to it, understand?"

Bruce nodded. "I spent a few years at med school. Never finished though," he said. "That's what I was doing in India though, so I know what you mean."

Amrita looked at him, surprised and slightly impressed. "You're a very learned man, then," she commented. "But, yes. When I'm 'Doctor Mehrotra', I have a role that I'm to play. I'm no longer the woman who is afraid of men, but the doctor who is caring for her patient. It's like being an actor in a play, almost…I am able to make myself appear more confident, more professional, because it's a role that's familiar." She gave a small smile. "It's…reassuring that I can still do something like that despite what's happened. But it does get exhausting after a while."

Bruce raised his eyebrows. "I'll bet," he said before taking a sip of his chai. His eyebrows nearly shot up into his hairline as he tasted it. "Wow. Where did you get this? I wasn't even aware they had chai on here."

Amrita grinned impishly, taking a sip of her own. She had to admit, the woman had done an excellent job of making it. She was almost on the same level as the chai artisans back in India. If there was one thing she wanted to compliment SHIELD on, it was the level of expertise of their kitchen staff.

"I just asked for it at the kitchen. Apparently they have some fancy machine for steaming milk, and the kitchen lady used fresh spices," she said, waggling her eyebrows at him. "It's like a taste of home."

"Home…?" he said, looking at her contemplatively. "Yeah, that's been something I've been meaning to ask you about… All those rumors about you back in India," he said. "I heard some of them, and I was just wondering…how much of them are true? I mean, obviously some of them must be, seeing as Fury wouldn't have had you brought back here if you weren't 'special'," he said, using air quotes and a flat tone.

Amrita studied him for a moment. Fury had never told her she could tell others on board about her abilities, but then again, he'd never expressly told her she couldn't tell them, either… And after all, if she wanted to make an earnest attempt to be friends with Bruce, this sort of conversation would come up sooner or later anyway, would it not?

"Tell me what you heard, and I'll tell you which ones are true," she finally said. If he didn't already suspect it, who was she to speak of it? She almost felt like she was taking the easy way out, as she knew that there weren't rumors about every aspect of her abilities, but she didn't feel like giving him too much information all at once was really the wise thing to do, anyways. What if he took the information badly, or felt overwhelmed by it all? After all, even amongst mutants and super humans, most of her powers were practically unheard of.

"Well…there were rumors that you could heal anything. Like a superhuman healing ability," he said slowly.

Amrita lifted her mug. "True," she confirmed, taking a healthy sip.

Bruce nodded. "Okay, how about the one where you can kill people just by looking at them?"

She winced a bit, remembering the one time she had done just that. Bruce noticed, and started sputtering apologies, eyes wide. She held up a hand to stop him.

"Technically, yes, I could," she said, gesturing to herself. "Pyrokinetic," she said by way of explanation.

He nodded, hesitating before asking another question, seeming unwilling to upset her. "And the one where…you eat small children so you can live forever?"

Amrita just about spewed her mouthful of chai, choking it down and laughing loudly.

"Seriously? They said that about me?" She shook her head. "Heavens, I knew those villagers were a bit superstitious, but not to that extent…" She faked a somber expression. "I swear to you, Mr. Banner, I have not eaten any small children that I am aware of." She barely managed to finish her statement before she collapsed into giggles again. Bruce joined her, chuckling.

"Sorry. That was a pretty bad one," he said.

"No, no, it was good for a laugh at least," she waved off his apology.

They both went back to sipping their chai, each content with the silent solace of the other's company. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long.

Natasha stepped into the lab, straight-faced as ever.

"Doctors," she said with a nod to both of them. "The Director is just escorting Loki to his cell. We've been asked to monitor the surveillance in case anything happens."

Amrita raised her eyebrows, surprised that she was being asked to be a part of anything outside her doctoral duties. She glanced at Bruce, seeing he was surprised, too. Natasha motioned for them to follow her, and they crossed the hall to a large conference room that overlooked what looked like a large 'office' area, with several agents working away at computers. Natasha pulled up the surveillance footage of Loki's cell for them to watch. There were three other men already in the room—Tony, Steve, and a blond, well-muscled man she was unfamiliar with. No; man was not the right term. She could sense something unearthly about the male. An alien, perhaps? No, that didn't seem quite right, either…

Either way, she did not like the idea of being in a room full of mostly unfamiliar men. She gave an uncomfortable glance to Bruce, who looked a fair bit awkward himself. He gave her a wan smile and shrugged as if to say 'guess we're stuck', pulling out a seat for her away from where everyone else was sitting and pulling out the chair next to hers, but pulling it away a little. She gave him a grateful smile. All seemed to be going fine—until, that is, Tony caught sight of her.

"Oh, shit," he said, eyes wide. "Demon doctor!"