Firebird

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the battle, Steve was staying at one of Stark's many houses, along with Romanoff and Stark himself, to avoid the press and to wait for S.H.I.E.L.D to clear everything up. It had taken him almost two weeks to review all of the footage from the Iron Man suit, and (with Romanoff's help) isolate the girl's face, back searching her face with ID records and the like until they had found her name. From there, it was relatively simple, but Steve still could barely believe it.

"Technology is amazing these days." he said, gazing at the huge screen, then glancing at the others in the room.

"My technology is amazing." Stark clarified, without looking away from the computer.

Romanoff snorted.

The screen they were examining was filled with pictures, forms, files, certificates, and videos, all of or about one person: Ayana Harrison, also known as the pyrokinetic girl who had managed to stay off S.H.I.E.L.D's watch list her whole life. She was an orphan —mother dead, no father listed —and lived with her great aunt in the Bronx. There was a death record for her grandfather, mother, and great uncle, along with a hospital bill for her aunt, who had broken her hip. Regardless, she looked to be a very good student, at a very good school, on a lot of financial aid and multiple scholarships. She received the free breakfast and lunch at her school, and was a regular at a homeless shelter for the evening meal. There was also a series of checks that had been brought to the bank the last year and a half, a good amount of suspicious money transaction at the auto repair shop her great uncle had owned, and two arrest records, one in the same auto repair place, and one in her house.

"Had it hard, this kid." Steve said absently, watching a clip of security camera footage where the girl was sitting in a public library, stacks of math work around her.

Romanoff gave a hum of semi-agreement, turning back and forth slightly in her spinning chair. "It's actually amazing that she managed to stay off S.H.I.E.L.D radar, considering how often she's been near a police... situation."

"She's right," Stark said, finally looking away from the computer, "S.H.I.E.L.D has devices to pick up readings from gifted individuals, and none have shown up until the invasion."

"Maybe it was latent —as in, it was only activated when she really needed to defend herself?" Suggested Steve.

"That's a possibility," said a voice from the door.

Steve jumped off his chair and to his feet —it was Nick Fury.

"Should I even ask how the hell you got in?" Stark muttered, sounding frustrated.

"Another possibility," Fury continued, ignoring Stark completely, "is that the girl's been on the Index since she was two, and a suggestion for a participant in the Avengers Initiative, but her records were hidden."

There was utter silence in the room except for the soft beeping of the computer.

"I was unaware of her." Romanoff spoke quietly, in a dangerous voice.

"Yes." Fury said simply. "But I was also unaware of her until three years ago."

Steve raised his eyebrows in an invitation to continue, Stark, who had also jumped up, sat down slowly, and Romanoff rested her elbow on a side table.

"Occasionally," Fury said slowly, taking another step into the room, "one of my high ranking agents decide to keep secrets from me. One of the most common perpetrators was Agent Coulson. He had handled many gifted individuals in his service, and was very good at gauging their threat level. About thirteen years ago now, he and an Agent May were investigating the death of a field agent at the hand of the Triad, in New York, when he came across a guy who knew something. Guy named Ellot Harrison." He gave a significant look at the screen behind them. "Now, Mr. Harrison owned an auto repair store, and had a lotta friends in all sorts of places. So Mr. Harrison tells Coulson that he'll tell him everything he needs to know, as long as his niece's daughter gets protection. See, Mr. Harrison knew what kinda agent Coulson was, and knew what we do with threatening individuals, so he wanted to protect this girl. Naturally, Coulson goes to check it out, and finds a tiny baby girl who can set the curtains on fire by sneezing." (Steve snorted, and Fury gave a wry grin.) "He was apparently pretty desperate, 'cause he agreed, got his information, and got out. He listed her on the Index with a series of complex codes so no one could see her unless there was a report of damaged cause by her, and from then on, he kept his promise, and anytime S.H.I.E.L.D caught wind of the kid, he'd cover it up. When Mr. Harrison died three years ago, Coulson went to check on the girl, and I finally figured out what he'd been up to. I looked through her files and decided to put her on the list for the original Avengers Initiative."