Quick note:

And finally, another chapter! Thank you to those who have been so patient, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this next installment. A brief word on the 'other language' in this chapter: I do not speak Latin, nor do I pretend to speak it. I have taken a large amount of poetic licence, so please suspend disbelief if you are Latin fluent :) Also, if you care to, the conversation should mostly translate in Google Translater.

Enjoy!

Chapter 17

"Thor, I distinctly remember saying 'no visitors'!" Tony snapped from where he sat lolling, feet up on one of the work benches, chair tilted back, bowl of popcorn held aloft in one hand. Doing a double take as the God of Thunder pushed bodily through the lab's door, the captain following close behind, Tony was on his feet in an instant. "I don't remember ordering a side of unconscious beggar with my pizza," he commented, eyes widening as he took in the blood and injuries upon his team mates.

Ignoring the billionaire, Thor pushed forward briskly, demeanor hard with concern. He approached the nearest table and without regard for what lay upon it brusquely swept it clear, laying the pale girl upon its cold surface.

"Oh, that's nice. Would you like to ruin everything else in my workshop while you're at it? Why don't you bleed on my floor a bit more?" Tony asked sardonically, though his tone was more curious than biting.

Steve frowned. "Tony", he admonished.

Continuing to ignore the billionaire, Thor turned to Banner who was already standing over the limp figure laid out upon the table. "We discovered the female in an alley upon our journey back to the tower," the god said tensely. "She was attacked. Are you able to help her?"

Bruce pursed his lips, clumsily pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one hand as he briefly examined the girl. After a moment, he said, "She's lost a lot of blood. Get her upstairs to the medical bay. Now." There was a sense of authoritative urgency to his manner that was not lost on the group.

Without a word, Thor lifted the girl and followed the doctor up the stairs.

"Place her there," Banner pointed to a sterile looking gurney. "No- lie her on her back, please."

The god complied then hung back awkwardly for a moment as the doctor moved quickly about his unconscious patient.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Steve questioned quietly, trying not intrude upon Banner's concentration.

"Yeah, like bring you a hose," Tony supplied loudly, gesturing at the grubby state of the girl.

Banner frowned slightly. Not looking up from his current activity he said, "a bowl of warm water will suffice, thank you."

"I think you're going to need more than one bowl there," the billionaire retorted.

Banner did look up then. "Then get me more than one. Tony."

When Stark didn't move Steve pulled his eyes from the blood soaked girl. "Tony," he said, pointedly.

Tony smirked mildly as he moved closer, peering at the slip of a girl lying supine upon the bed. "I don't think I could possibly carry that much water. Get Thor to do it. He has big arms."

The Thunderer started from whatever reverie he was lost in and looked up, his forehead creasing. "I will fetch water if you require it," he offered, the mild slight obviously lost upon him.

"Thank you, Thor," Banner replied, swatting at Tony's hand as the scientist reached out to twitch away the girl's dirty shirt from her leg wound. "If you want to do something useful, Tony, why don't you squeeze that bag there?" The doctor indicated to a bag of fluids he'd just hung as he swiftly finished connecting it to a drip in the girl's arm.

"Who said I wanted to do anything useful?" Tony replied, but Banner's grave countenance and his pressured movements were not lost upon the scientist, and even as the words left his lips he moved over to the bag specified and began doing as requested.

Banner went silent then, his brow furrowed in concentration as he worked steadily to resuscitate the shocked girl, his only being words to thank Thor when he returned with five tubs of warm, soapy water. After what seemed like an age, the doctor seemed to release the tension in his face, looking relieved when he saw something change on the monitoring machines.

They stopped alarming after that.

Finally Banner looked up, appearing startled that the three men were still in the room. "Um... if you three could just... uh, wait outside please. I need to..." he indicated at the girl's exposed leg with the wave of a hand.

"Oh! Right. Yes. No problem," Steve stammered slightly.

"Hey! I was helping- I was very helpful, you know," Stark protested as the captain ushered him from the room, the Thunderer following close behind, still looking concerned. Banner closed the cubicle's curtains as they left.

It was some time later before Banner emerged, drying his hands on a towel. By now, all five of the Avengers had gathered in the antechamber outside the medical bay. Thor stood up expectantly.

Banner looked up, mildly surprised. "She'll be fine. She lost a lot of blood, but I've fixed the wound and given her some fluid and blood as replacement. I'm going to keep her asleep overnight and see how she is in the morning."

Thor looked relieved. So did Steve.

There was a moment's silence, then, "So, are you going to tell us what the hell happened?" Barton quipped from the corner where he sat, legs dangling over the arm of a large, soft chair.

Everyone looked at Steve.

The captain sighed. Despite having had a shower he looked exhausted, and large, purple bruises had begun to flower beneath his skin along the side of his face, neck, and arms. Shifting tenderly in his chair, he spoke. "Thor and I were making our way back to the tower when we were attacked by... well, to be honest, I'm not sure what we were attacked by. It became very dark... too dark, and cold and almost icy, and there was something awful around us, like a.. a presence that was also a.. a thing. I never got to see it, but it - they - definitely had wings. And there were two-"

"How do you know it had wings if you never saw it?" Natasha queried.

"I could hear the... flapping." Steve shuddered.

"I saw one."

Everyone turned to look at Thor.

"Well, sort of," the Thunderer admitted.

"Sort of," Barton repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"At the finish of our second encounter, when I lit up the sky, I witnessed part of the wing of the creature I was assailing. It was made of feathers."

"Feathers?" Barton asked flatly.

"Verily."

"Are you saying that you were attacked by fucking angels?"

"I know not," Thor responded. "What are angels?"

The archer ignored him. Instead, he looked at Steve. "Seriously? Angels in America? That's what you're saying."

Steve opened his mouth to reply, but before he could voice an answer Stark laughed.

"Did you just do what I think you did?" the scientist inquired, amusement written on his face. When Barton just gave him a smug look Stark grinned at him in open appreciation. "Gimme a bit of love," he said as the two of them fist bumped.

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"What just happened?" Steve looked at Banner, who shrugged.

Stark looked back at Thor. "So, manly moments aside, you said twice." When the Thunderer gave him a blank look he explained. "You said that you fought these angels twice? What's the go with that?"

"Well perhaps if you let the captain finish instead of interrupting," Natasha admonished Stark, also casting a reproving glance in Barton's direction, "you might know why they had to fight these creatures twice."

The archer pulled a face as Stark made a snide retort.

Natasha narrowed her eyes, giving Stark an icy stare before turning to Steve. "Steve, please continue."

The captain, who had been watching the commotion with a tired expression, merely nodded and continued with the story. When he'd finished the group was silent for a moment.

Tony, unsurprisingly, was the first to speak. "Well shit."

The God of Thunder turned to the doctor, who by now had found a comfortable looking chair and was sprawled inelegantly in it. "Friend Banner. May I inquire as to whether you discovered anything about the girl during your healing of her?"

The doctor looked up, blinking as if he'd only just realised there were other people in the room. "Such as what?"

Thor shrugged. "I do not know," he admitted.

"How about whether she's actually human," Stark supplied. "Or, if she is, how old she is?" He paused for a second. "Is she a mutant, perhaps?"

Banner gave him a shrewd look.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Wait- what do you know?"

Banner's eyes shifted to the rest of the group who were now openly staring at him. He shifted uncomfortably. "Uh- well... I was curious, so...I did some bone testing. To see if I could figure out her age..."

"...and?"

Bruce shook his head, a bewildered expression crossing his face. "It's as if she doesn't have an age. Or... I mean... it's like she was just born, except she doesn't have an infant's body."

Surprisingly, Stark let the obvious comment slide and instead said, all curiosity, "what do you mean, exactly?"

"Well. Exactly. Other than her most recent injury, her body shows absolutely none of the normal signs of wear and tear. It's as if it's never been used at all. Examining her endocranial sutures and epiphysial fusion it would appear that she's around twenty three to twenty six, but it's like... they don't look like they actually grew to that point. They look more... it's as if..."

"They've always been that way," Tony supplied, his eyes narrowing.

"Mmm," Banner agreed.

Barton shifted in his seat. "So, what you're saying is that some angels attacked an apparently ageless, helpless girl who also just happened to show Thor images of his brother... while you were walking home?" Barton looked gave the group a pointed look.

"Clint," Natasha said, a slightly warning in her voice.

"What?!" he protested. "I'm just pointing out that it's all very convenient for... for his brother," Clint near spat the last word as he tipped his head in Thor's direction. He took a controlled breath and then said, a little more steadily, "I just want to make sure that we've considered, as a group, that this may be part of a larger ruse, and that perhaps we should be just a little cautious about trusting whoever this girl is."

"Fine," the assassin responded, "fair enough. Point noted."

Clint scowled but didn't say anything else.

"Actually, I have a question." Tony looked at Thor.

"Yes?" the god responded

"How did you do the whole... lightning thingy with a toaster? My new toaster, I will remind you. I thought that was a hammer thing?"

"I simply harnessed the lightning held within its metal skin," the god rumbled.

The two scientists exchanged looks.

"Uh... Thor... toasters don't-" Banner broke off at the open expression on Thor's face. "You know what, never mind," he muttered.

The God of Thunder refused to vacate the medical bay overnight, instead opting to doze in one of the small couches, looking highly uncomfortable as he attempted to squeeze himself into its small confines. Banner had insisted on checking on him and the captain, despite their protests that they were fine, and seemed satisfied that Thor was already healing his wounds whilst Steve had a mild concussion but nothing more serious. The next morning the group trickled down gradually, with a mixture of curiosity, suspicion and concern to see whether the mystery girl had woken.

Banner stepped out of the complex, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"She's fine. She's just sleeping normally now," he said, addressing the group.

"Has she woken yet? Has she made mention of my brother?" Thor blurted, unable to still the burning question on his tongue.

The doctor looked at Thor. "Not yet, no," he replied gently. "I think it's best if we let her wake naturally, without having everyone in the room, so that we don't frighten her."

"I would like to be present at her bedside when she wakes."

Banner gave him a dubious look.

"He did save her life," Steve piped up, coming to Thor's defense. The god gave him a grateful look.

Banner sighed. "Alright. You may go in Thor. But only you. And don't wake her please, let her wake on her own. And don't start asking her a hundred questions as soon as she's awake, either. Let her get her bearings first."

"Of course. You have my word."

"I think that I should be allowed to-"

"No, Tony," Banner interrupted, turning to usher Thor into the room.

As the door to the medical bay closed once more, Stark screwing up his nose at the offhanded dismissal, Steve decided that now was probably as good a time as any to make the confession about his promise to Thor.

It did not go down well.

Eventually, Jarvis's voice cut over the din.

"Mr Banner would like to thank you all for waking his patient, but would now kindly request that you remain quiet as the noise is not assisting with the current situation."

Everyone in the antechamber went momentarily still, then burst, as one, into the medical bay proper. The scene that greeted them would have been comical had the doctor and god not been currently trying to calm a very agitated, wild looking creature who was presently backed into a corner, pushing forward a scalpel blade with shaking hands. She'd managed to dislodge her drip in her panic, and there was a trail of fresh blood splattered messily across the floor from the gurney to where she now crouched, back to the wall, twitching like a terrified bird.

"Would you like me to-?" Romanoff left the offer hanging.

Banner shook his head sharply once, never taking his eyes off his patient, keeping his hands where the frightened girl could see them.

Upon seeing the rest of the group the girl's eyes went wide, her still-grubby face turning a deathly shade of white. She held out the small blade more forcefully.

"Lentus abesto! Lentus abesto!"

The group collectively blinked.

"Est Licuit. Nemo vobis nocebit."

Everyone turned to stare at Natasha, who gave them a blank look in response.

"Uh... What just happened?" Stark asked.

Ignoring Tony and not taking his eyes off the girl, who was now regarding the assassin cautiously, Banner said, "Tell her we're not going to hurt her. That we're here to help."

"I just did," Natasha responded. "Ne paveatis. Nos volo te adjuvet. Vos es laedi. Placere posuit cultro descendit."

The girl eyed her warily.

"What are you say-" Steve began to whisper, but was abruptly silenced with a glare from the red head.

Stark rolled his eyes. "Geeze spangle pants. A bit more decorum? Please?"

It was the Thunderer who shot a frown in the billionaire's direction this time.

If Tony was going to make a retort, it was cut short as the girl chose that moment to speak. "Qui estis? Quid tibi vis mecum?" She still held the small scalpel, but now looked at the group with an expression that was slightly more wary than frightened.

"His duobus obturaverunt impetum in vos," the assassin responded, her voice steady and quiet as she indicated to Thor and Steve. "Tu factus laesae. Adduxerunt te hic tractare vulnera tua. Nihil amplius. Vos estis in nullum periculum."

The trembling girl tilted her head, frowning slightly as she listened to Natasha's words. She looked down at her leg then, quickly examining the neatly bandaged wound, only taking her eyes off the surrounding group for a moment. The stick-thin creature pursed her lips and said, "Quam can ego exsisto certus vos es non per lemma?"

"Te fore mortuus."

The girl stared at her. Slowly, she placed the scalpel blade on the tiled floor, but kept it close enough that she could pick it up in a hurry if required.

The entire room seemed to release a breath it didn't even know it had been holding.

There were a few moments of tense silence until Thor rumbled, "She appears to be cold."

This got the girl's attention. She looked at the Thunderer suddenly, as if she had not noticed him prior to this moment, and stared, face full of curiosity. The god watched her back. Eventually, she furrowed her brow, as if trying to dredge up a memory, and then her eyes cleared and she tilted her head. "Vos obturaverunt mea fortuna."

"She says that you were the one who stopped her fall," Natasha supplied as Thor raised his eyebrows in question.

The Thunderer smiled at the girl, and nodded. "Yes, that is correct my Lady."

Natasha translated.

The girl's face broke into a wide, beautiful smile then. She pushed herself up unsteadily from her half crouch against the wall. Banner and Thor carefully followed suit. Leaning against the wall for support, the creature made her way over to the god. Standing in front of him, it was a sharp juxtaposition to see her small frame beside his as he towered over her. Nonetheless, she commanded his complete attention as she peered intently at his face, reaching up to touch his cheek with a dirty hand as if to make sure he were real. Then she ginned again, and the Thunderer found himself smiling back.

"Tibi gratias ago pro salvares me."

"She says thank you for saving her life," Natasha said, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"Oooo, too bad. You missed out buddy!" Stark taunted, looking at Steve with a smirk.

The soldier rolled his eyes.

The injured creature looked up at Stark's words, her face questioning.

"Omittas eum. Hes morionem," Natasha told her.

The billionaire snapped his gaze to the assassin. "What did you just say?"

She smiled sweetly. "Nothing."

"Look, could you please-" Banner cut in suddenly, his tone annoyed. He took a deep breath. "Natasha. Could you please tell her that I would like her to come over here? That I need to have a look at her? I want to make sure that wound hasn't opened up."

The assassin obliged. The wild girl frowned slightly and then gave Banner a suspicious look, backing away slightly, placing Thor between herself and the doctor.

Stark smirked.

"It's alright; I'm not going to hurt you. I'll just look, okay?" Banner said gently.

Thor turned to face her. "There is nothing here for you to fear, child. I shall accompany you."

The wild creature looked toward her translator, Natasha once more providing the words meanings.

The girl still looked hesitant, but nonetheless followed Thor as he gently led her to where the doctor was waiting. Banner turned around and gave the group a pointed look. Barton and Steve took the hint and turned to leave.

"You too, Tony." Banner's tone was firm.

"What about talk-a-lot over here?" he protested.

"Natasha needs to translate. You don't. You can come back later."

The assassin gave Tony a smug look, which was returned with an eye roll. The billionaire gave the girl one last curious look before turning and leaving.