Siren

By, SilentTaboo

Author's Note: I'm so sorry I dropped off the face of the planet. I've had several complications writing this chapter. Hopefully it's worth the wait.

Chapter 2:

Nick Fury stood at one end of the helicarrier's roof watching the two of the Avengers from afar. He really was curious as to how they would react when Melody arrived. Doctor Banner seemed pretty skittish just from being over open water. He doubted his anxiety would get any better when he saw what had been done to Melody.

Agent Hills came up beside him standing at attention waiting to be addressed. "Yes, Agent Hills?"

"Doctor Banner has arrived and I've checked with the Captain. We are clear for takeoff when you are ready."

"Hold off on that. Agent Coulson is bringing in one more." Agent Hills looked confused.

"But Sir, I thought all on the project were here and except Stark who is coming in this evening." Fury nodded.

"All except one. Have you ever heard about Project Siren?"

Hills shook her head. "Only rumors, and I tend not to put much store in those."

"Well Agent, the Siren will be joining us here in a moment." Weather that shocked the Agent or not, she didn't let show. "Also have Agent Romanoff escort Doctor Banner and Captain America below deck. Best the Hulk not see her arrive."

She gave a swift nod before leaving while talking into her commlink. Two minutes later Fury watched as Agent Romanoff escorted Banner and Rogers below deck as a helicopter began to land.

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Phil looked over at Melody who was curled up against his side, engulfed by his suit jacket, and sleeping relatively peacefully. He didn't really want to wake her up, but he could see the helicarrier through the window to his right.

He touched her shoulder gently trying not to startle her. He'd like to avoid another electrocution fest if at all possible. "Melody, wake up. We're almost there."

Her eyes opened sleepily and she nodded not moving away from Phil. She'd stuck like glue to him since they left, fearful green eyes staring at any agent that had gotten too close. Honestly, Phil wasn't all that surprised. She had seen maybe six people in the last three years. Only three of those people she had actually been sure weren't going to hurt her.

The helicopter landed and an agent walked up to open the door from the outside. Phil exited first, quickly followed by Melody who blinked in the sunlight. Her pale skin almost glowed and her dark hair tangled in the wind. She looked truly small clinging to the edges of his jacket with standard draw string shorts acting more like capri pants and bare feet silent across the pavement.

"Hello, Director." Phil said walking up to him. Melody, two steps behind, gave a small wave. "Have the others arrived?"

"All but Stark. He claims to be coming later this evening. I trust you had no issues with the release."

"No, sir."

Fury nodded. "Good. Follow me. Once we're inside and we're out of the water, I'll take the collar off and then I'll take you to be introduced to most of your team." He said addressing the last bit to Melody.

She gave a Cheshire grin nodding vigorously. 'Then can I talk?' she signed.

"As long as you avoid certain words that would cause a natural disaster, I see no reason why not."

If Melody could have squealed like the girl she was, she would have. She practically skipped below deck dragging a very amused Coulson behind her.

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The happiness and excitement Melody had moments before began to evaporate as they traveled down the long, narrow, and dark hallways. The looks of slight agitation, confusion, and occasionally fear the agents they passed kept throwing at her caused her to shrink closer to Phil. Phil, noticing her agitation, put an arm around her and gave solid glares to anyone that gave more than a passing glance in their direction. Three years of being her care taker –and now her handler- wasn't something he took or was going to take lightly.

When they entered the viewing deck, Melody felt like all the air got knocked out of her lungs. There were so many people. She was only mildly relieved to find most of them were too interested in computer screens to bother even throwing the newcomers a glance.

Phil gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze before quietly saying, "I've got to go check on something real quick, and Fury's got to finish getting the helicarrier under cover. I want you to stay by the door for me. I'll be right back I promise."

Melody gave a wide eyed nod gripping the edges of the formal jacket Phil had still neglected to ask for yet. With the way she white knuckled it as he walked away, Phil wasn't entirely sure he was ever getting it back.

Checking on the FaceTrace had been an expected disappointment. The program was working fine, and had been running since Coulson had left to pick up Melody; however, Barton was a first-class agent when it came to staying off the grid. Something told him this Loki character was too. So far the closest match had been 19% and protocol said it had to be at least 50 before anything else could be done.

Phil glanced up at Melody meeting her wide eyes, before giving her a reassuring smile. He could tell that this transition was going to be hard on her. Adults, let alone children, didn't go from three years of strict isolation to perfectly sociable in a matter of hours; it just didn't happen.

Across the room Melody had long sense realized this. In an effort to calm herself, Melody kept her eyes locked on Phil, and it was working- until someone opened the door next to her. From between the automatic doors came a really tall man with blonde hair, and a red head woman that reminded Melody a little too much of the woman that used to live across the road from her family three years ago. They both passed by her without sparing her a glance, but the third, a shorter dark haired, dark eyed man, seemed to want to avoid attention as much as she did. Her corner of the room seemed to be the perfect spot for it.

When the man glanced up from his feet long enough to realize Melody was occupying the corner that he was originally heading to, they both stared at each other in various degrees of shock before his face gave way to confusion, and then, upon further inspection mild anger. Melody's went from shock to fear.

"Director Fury." A deceptively calm tone came from the man as he demanded Nick's attention. Melody shivered wishing with all her might she could call Phil to get this man to stop staring at her, to keep people from glancing at her with that look, to hide her.

Everyone seemed to momentarily freeze seeming to Melody almost as afraid of this man as she was. They just happened to have screens to pretend to be looking at.

The man's eyes had yet to leave her, and with his quiet demand for the Director's attention, the red haired lady, the blond haired man, Fury, and to Melody's relief, Phil were all staring at the pair.

Fury spoke first. "Yes, Dr. Banner?"

"Why is there a kid here?" disgust dripping in his tone before he turned to the red head, "You weren't kidding Agent Romanoff. They really do start that young, don't they? Do you have toddlers in training?"

"Siren is actually the only person under 18 on this entire helicarrier. Her circumstances are unique, and most people in this room don't have the proper clearance to know any more about her. When you know the situation, you should understand why she's here." That didn't seem to help matters as the man began to throw another sarcastic comment at the Director.

At this point Melody could feel the full blown panic attack setting in. She locked eyes with Phil and began to frantically sign. "Phil. Phil. Phil. PhilPhilPhilPhilPhilPhil."

Phil came to the quick conclusion that he needed to get Melody away from Dr. Banner before one or both of them lost it, get her to some room without other people, and calm down before she got electrocuted in front of the entire crew. Phil walked up the few stairs from the lower level to the top before stopping just a few feet from the franticly signing girl, and the men that either looked really confused (Captain America) or on the verge of being really angry (Banner and Fury).

"Dr. Banner." Phil said in his usual calm voice.

Bruce seemed to snap out of it a little before turning to Phil, "What?"

"Could you get a few steps away from the girl please? There are reasons behind Siren" – Melody flinched at the name—"being here, but she is not very used to people. Things have a tendency to go very wrong when she gets upset."

Banner looked confused, but hesitantly complied. Once Banner was far enough away, a cautious Phil approached the near hyperventilating Melody with what he hoped to be a calming smile. He should have known that this many people would have been too much for her. He honestly thought it would have been fine as long as she had a clear view of him and no one tried to approach her.

Melody watched with relief as Phil made the man back away from her, with a look that told her she was fine and everything was ok. She continued to sign his name until he was within a few feet of her, and only stopped to keep Phil's coat from flying off of her as she raced to hide behind and as close to Colson as humanly possible. Phil kept his eye on her a moment longer as she fisted the back of his shirt before the blonde haired man got his attention.

"What was she signing?" He asked with confused curiosity.

Before he could reply Fury answered. "She was signing Agent Colson's name. For the most part signing is how she communicates. You will have proper introductions later. At the moment I don't believe that's such a good idea. Coulson, come with me and bring her with you. I think there's something that has been left unattended for too long."

Phil nodded before carefully uncurling Melody's fists from his now wrinkled shirt and leading her out of the room and down halls to an office that seemed to be about half the size of the viewing deck.

"Have a seat Melody. Agent Coulson, make sure the door's locked. I don't want anyone wandering in. I have enough explaining to do as it is."

"Yes, sir." Phil answered as Melody tracked his every move.

"Melody." Fury said drawing her attention back to him, though he could tell half her attention was still on where Phil was. "I need you to tilt your head to the left. I need to be able to get to the control box. Be as still as you can. If I mess this up, we'll both be electrocuted."

Phil saw her pale a little at that before nodding. The process was quick, thankfully, and Melody was free of the collar in less than five minutes. The only thing that showed the collar had ever been there was a mess of burn scars and an imprint that would fade over the next hour. At least, Phil hoped it would fade.

Fury left after removing it, taking the collar with him. He sincerely hoped his boss was going to destroy that torture device. Melody just remained on the chair staring at Phil with a mix of awe, disbelief, and mild fear. Now that the collar was gone, she wasn't entirely sure what to do. She'd have to watch what she said, she knew that, but what should she say? What did her voice sound like now? After three years of maturing and disuse, it had to sound different than she remembered. What if she only had a limited amount of time to talk, and the Council would put her right back where she came from when this was all over. Well she would just have to use her words to the fullest and make sure what she said mattered then wouldn't she?