Chapter 4
A look of confusion fell over her face. “The Avengers? How… how many of you are there?”
Before Natasha could speak, a man carrying a bow and arrows walked up the ramp. He sat across from the woman, head down, and huffed out a breath. When he did finally look up, he paused, looking the woman in the eyes. He turned his head, moving his eyes away last, and asked Natasha,
“Is this her?” Natasha nodded once, and he turned to face the woman once again. He seemed a bit skeptical, but if Nat trusted her, he supposed so did he. “Hi there. My name is Clint Barton, they call me Hawkeye.” The woman stayed silent. “Wow, not very talkative, is she?” Natasha grimaced and hit him on the arm. “Ow, geez, sorry…”
“Where are the rest?” Natasha asked. There were more of these people?
“Finishing up. Cap is on his way back, and Tony is double checking, making sure we got everyone to safety or in cuffs.”
“Or body bags.” Natasha added. Sigrid’s face recoiled a bit at the comment. Noticing, Natasha quickly moved on. “They better get here quick. I want to get her to Banner as soon as possible. Make sure she’s alright.”
Sigrid furrowed her eyebrows. Who were these people, seeming as though they cared about her? What was their game? This had to be some kind of ploy, right?
“So kid, what’s your name?” She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Clint for a moment, before turning her head sadly from his gaze.
“She, uh.. she doesn’t know.” Natasha spoke. Softly, Sigrid said,
“It’s not that I don’t know. I know what it was. I’m just…” she sighed. “That isn’t who I am anymore…”
Both of the agents were silent. Clint chimed in after a moment.
“Well, is there something you would like to be referred to as?” She looked at him, confused. They were being so kind and understanding. It was refreshing, but at the same time, uncomfortable. She was used to decisions being made for her, her opinion never mattering. She was used to being told who she was and what she would do. It had been a long time since someone asked her what she wanted. She shook her head gently.
“I don’t know…” she whispered. Natasha placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll figure it out,” she said with a smile. Sigrid gave a minute nod in return, before two more men walked onto the jet. They were bickering, almost like an old married couple might.
“I was doing just fine, Tony,”
“Yeah, sure, for your age, maybe.” The dark haired man turned to the seated woman. “You must be the one we were sent to get.”
“You were sent… to get me?” Sigrid asked after a moment, studying the man’s face. He chuckled once.
“You bet. Originally the plan was to take you into custody, probably throw you in maximum security, but Cap here saw something in you that made us change our trajectory.” He placed a hand on the other man’s hulking shoulder. She looked at the blond and her eyes went wide. How did she not see it the moment he stepped into her view?
“You… you’re Captain America…” The blond chuckled.
“I suppose you’ve heard of me?”
“Well, your name was thrown around quite a bit. HYDRA was quite infatuated with you...” The blond’s smile dropped at this.
“Right. We, uh, go back a while…” he said quietly. It made sense. HYDRA had been after him ever since he first came to fruition. He had disappeared once, but somehow, unknown as to how to her, he had come back. And HYDRA wasn’t pleased. He’d become a topic of discussion a lot recently, that much she could remember. It was interesting, the things her mind chose to keep. Mainly it was what she had done as The Angel, but occasionally other things would come back too.
“What made you change your mind regarding me?”
“There was surveillance on you from a few years back. You seemed wild, out of control, until at one point you just stopped. You were about to take someone out,” Cap stated. She dropped her head, looking away from the blond man.
“Yes… I remember that day…” She had been severely punished for that. It was the one and only failed mission she had.
“I could see pain in you. It got me wondering why someone so powerful and unaffected would suddenly drop everything and save who they were previously attempting to take out. There had to be more. I guess it’s a good thing we looked into it. Discovered you were being held captive. Being brainwashed and tortured for the benefit of HYDRA. So we instead took on a rescue mission.”
“Well,” the dark haired man chimed in, “that, and we also doubted our ability to take you on in a fight. That’s quite a punch you’re packing.” She looked at her hands, ashamed. Natasha took notice and went to change the subject.
“Did you recover any documentation?” She asked. The man grumbled.
“The jackasses had burned it all up before we could recover anything. Who knows what kind of information could’ve been in there…”
Natasha sighed. “Well, now that we have her, let’s get going. I want to get her to Banner, have her checked out. I also want those cuffs off of her, but they seem pretty technologically advanced.”
Cap eyed them, seeing the blue haze from inside the contraptions. “A restraint made from the power of the tesseract? I wasn’t aware HYDRA had accomplished anything like these with it…”
“If they’re connected to the tesseract, they need to be destroyed. Tony, can you get them off?” Natasha asked. The dark haired man scoffed.
“Is there anything I can’t do?” He asked, immediately kneeling down and tampering with the cuffs. Sigrid watched gently with furrowed brows. They were being so kind… she had almost forgotten kindness like this existed. Natasha spoke again, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. She raised her head to look Natasha in the eyes.
“Everything’s alright now. We’ll get you somewhere where you’ll be safe.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Stark Tower, New York.”
-
The woman had later been properly introduced to the people around her. She knew Natasha and Clint, and obviously she knew the famous Captain America, but learned that the dark haired man was Tony Stark, a name she had heard once or twice but that had no meaning to her before. She also learned there was another dark haired man back at the tower, who was referred to as Bruce Banner. When she first met him, he softly shook her hand, introducing himself and asking first and foremost if she was alright. He was gentle and caring. She could tell he had a kind soul.
Tony had managed to get her out of the cuffs, to which Bruce walked with her down to the building’s infirmary. She was battered and bruised, and had a lot of scarring, but was nonetheless alright. He attempted a physical, but noticed abnormalities with her physiology. Things that just looked a little different. She seemed to be healing rather quickly in regards to the scarring and bruises she’d received. Bruce assumed it was likely an experiment on HYDRA’s part, but was sure to bring it up with Tony. Other than those confusing discoveries and a highly effected brain from the electrocution she’d been put through, she seemed healthy in body. He advised she take it easy and rest.
Rest. That was a luxury that she didn’t really have before. Sure, she was allowed to her cell, maybe the occasional shower, but it was never restful. There was always fear and panic in the back of her mind, when she was even present. Questions and self loathing that floated almost constantly through her sober mind. But now… now she could relax. She no longer had to worry about when the next time was that she’d be stuck in a chair that fried her brain. She didn’t have to worry that armed gunmen would storm her room, cuffing her to take her to “train”. She didn’t have to worry that she would be sent off on another bloody mission. She could simply exist. That was enough for her.
After two weeks of living with the Avengers, she was having a routine check up with Banner. It was to be her last, if she still came out of it looking healthy. She’d passed every previously attempted physical, and her body was improving daily.
She had gotten to know Bruce, and everyone, slightly better. They had been so kind to her, and she greatly appreciated it, but she still was out on edge by it. She spent most of her time in her room, sealed away from the band of heroes and secluded away with just her thoughts. Well, and the mysterious voice from the walls. It seemed nice enough. It would be a while before she began to trust wholly again, and that was progressing particularly slowly.
“Well,” Banner stated, smiling, “you’re as healthy as a horse.” She scrunched up her face at the comment.
“That’s.. good… right?” She asked softly. He chuckled and smiled wider.
“Yes, that’s good. It’s just a saying. You’re perfectly healthy. Now we don’t have to do check ups every few days.” She nodded, smiling minutely at his strange saying.
“Thank you, Dr. Banner. I greatly appreciate it.” He placed a hand up, stopping her from saying anything more.
“Please, just call me Bruce. Dr. Banner is a bit formal. And it was my pleasure. I’m just glad you’re ok.” She began to collect herself to leave, before Bruce piped up again. “Uh, have you.. have you thought about anything you would like to be referred to by?” She glanced at him, her eyebrows knitting together gently. “It’s okay, if not, it’s just.. hard trying to talk to others about you or having to grab your attention with just ‘hey you.’” He said, nervously chuckling as he did. She sat back down and looked at Bruce.
“I.. I really haven’t given it much thought.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, why not the name you had before? You said you remember what it was.” She looked down at her hands, fighting the urge to develop any tears.
“Dr- …Bruce… that person doesn’t exist anymore. She died a long time ago. When the Angel was created. I..” her eyes began to blur, “it’s almost as though I don’t feel worthy of my old name, given all that I have done. That name was special. Given to me by the one closest to my heart. I am not worthy of carrying the name that once meant love and acceptance to me. I want to bury that person with my family. But… I don’t know who I am, if not her…” Bruce placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Listen, I know what you’re going through is hard. Please understand, though, that anything the Angel did was not you. You are absolutely worthy of your previous name. I’ve only known you for two weeks, and I can tell you are a kind and generous soul. Don’t think that you’re unworthy of any title. But if you do want to retire that name and be called something else, we will all support you. That is your choice.”
She smiled softly at the man before her, finally letting a few tears go.
“Thank you, Bruce…” she said quietly. “I suppose finding my worth again will be a challenge for me, but thank you for being behind me through it.” He nodded a ‘you’re welcome’ before she continued. “But I think it is time I let the past stay in the past and become someone new.”
“Well, if I might, I may have a suggestion if you would like… for a name, I mean,” Bruce said, a little nervous. She tilted her head curiously.
“Yes, please, what did you have in mind?”
“Well, it just popped into my head one day. I don’t know why, but when I thought about it, it just fit, you know?” He paused for a moment. “What do you think about the name Persephone?” She furrowed her brows, thinking. Bruce continued, pulling up a web search for the name origin. “She’s a Greek goddess. Granted, she has quite the tragic backstory, but then again, it was Ancient Greece, so they all did...” She turned to read the description of the goddess. He was right. This goddess truly did have a tragic backstory, and yet there were people who worshipped her, who thought her beautiful and worthy, who prayed to her. The only thing that truly scared her about the name was the referring to her as ‘the dreaded Persephone.’ She didn’t want to be someone to be feared. Bruce could see the conflict in her eyes. He chimed in again. “Persephone has become something of a pop culture icon. People love her, and often try to reframe her story, from one of abduction to one of love and choice.”
“She was feared by people…” she said softly.
“I suppose she was feared by some. It was the fact that she was queen of the underworld that scared people. But she was also loved and worshipped by others. Well, her spring version, or Kore, was. But that’s the thing about mythology. It’s all up to interpretation. I mean, we have a literal god on our team, and his mythology doesn’t match who he truly is or how he lived.” Her eyes widened at Bruce’s statement.
“You have … a god on your team??” She asked incredulously. Bruce waved his hand.
“Story for another time. Regardless, I just like the name. It’s a beautiful and regal name in my mind, and it just seemed to fit you. If you don’t like it, I won’t be offended. It was just a suggestion.” She sat and thought, rereading what was written about the goddess. It was true, she could see herself in this goddess. She too had been abducted, feared for something that she didn’t ask for. For heaven’s sake, the name literally meant ‘bringer of death.’ Would she want a name that only reminded her of her sins? Then again, this goddess seemed to take what she was handed and make the best out of it. It seemed that she even grew to love her husband. In spite of being dealt a poor card in life, she took it all head on. Perhaps, she could learn to do that too.
“Alright,” She simply stated.
“So, y-you like it?” Bruce stammered. This made her chuckle softly.
“Yes, I like it. It not only references where and who I’ve been, as much as I’d like to forget it, but she was a goddess who overcame her trials and the harshness of her world. If she can do that, I can do it too. She was dealt a poor card and was feared for something that was beyond the scope of her control. Titled ‘bringer of death’ simply because she was queen of the underworld and was in charge of the afterlife. She took what she was handed and endured it all. She seems like a woman of great strength and endurance. It would be an honor to be named after such a woman.” Bruce smiled at her dissection of the goddess.
“I’m glad you like it. Now there is just one more step. Do you have a last name? Either the one you previously had or one you want?”
She stopped to ponder before smiling softly. “I’ll use the one I used when I got my American citizenship. The one of a dear friend of mine.” Bruce smiled when she said her whole new name out loud. He made a note to look for her citizenship and get everything in order with her new name, her offering hesitantly her previous name to aid in his search. After a moment, he looked back at her and smiled.
“Let’s go properly introduce you to the team.”