In the darkest hours of the night, many souls lay awake. Their minds filled with possibilities or horrors. With what ifs and what could have beens. With the sweetest of notions, or the darkest of desires. From the best to the worst of us. From the richest to the poorest. All of us at some point, have lain awake pondered our reason for being, or the enormity of the universe. And so, it was tonight for a particular billionaire. Though he wasn't tossing and turning in his bed, but behind the wheel of his Audi, speeding back to the compound.

It wasn't as if being up all night was unusual for him. Between he and Bruce, sometimes Tony could swear that they didn't rest from one week to the next, if they were working on some new equation of invention. But tonight, was different to his usual coffee and blueberry fueled sessions in the labs. Tonight, he was returning from the funeral of an old friend. And instead of doing what he should have, which was to stay over night in the best local hotel he could find, and make his way back home in the morning. He had chosen to drive the many hours back. Needing the dark of the night to help him think. His mind filling with ideas of his own mortality. With all the things that he had done and hadn't done. With fears that he may not have time to do all he had left still to do. And the fact that he hadn't found someone that would love him, despite his playboy persona.

Suddenly, a large bang brought him back from his thoughts. The cracked windscreen of the Audi telling him that he must have connected with something large. At first, he thought that he had hit a deer. One of the odd ones that was foolish enough to make their way onto the road. His drowsiness and thoughts disappearing as he pulled the car to the verge, knowing that he should not only check on the damage to the front of his machine, but also see what he had hit and if the poor animal needed putting out of its misery.

Slowly Tony climbed out the vehicle. The brightness of the full moon that hung high overhead, making the usually dark stretch of treelined road, shine. The low-lying mist giving the whole scene some kind of magical, yet incredibly eerie aura.

Cautiously, he made his way back down the road to where he saw a prone body. His breath catching in his throat as he realised what he had actually hit, was not a deer, but a woman. Her naked body appearing battered and bruised, yet as he rushed to her side, thankfully found, was still alive.

"Send the medical team now. Use the tracker on my car to get my location. I'm not far from the compound.........No. Its not me........I........hit someone. Get here quick." Tony stammered down his phone. The billionaire carefully brushing away the hair from the prone woman's face as he pushed his cell back into his pocket.

How could he have been so stupid? This was all his fault. If had had stayed over night and not chosen to come home. If he hadn't been tired and let his mind wander. If he had been watching where he was going, like he should have been. None of this would have happened. And this woman would not be fighting for her life, thanks to him. Yet what a naked woman was doing in the road, in the middle of the night, was another thing. Something, that if she recovered, he was going to have to ask her about.

"H-h-h-help....m-m-m-me. P.....please." The woman suddenly gasped. Tony jumping back as she made to grab at his hand. The billionaire quickly crawling back to her side and taking off his jacket so that he could wrap it around her. The breath catching in his throat, as she saw a brief glimpse of a pair of perfect pale eyes looking at him.

"Someone is on their way. Its ok. Just stay with me." Tony replied as he sat next to her. His hand placed reassuringly on her shoulder as she appeared to drift back into unconsciousness. A relieved sigh emanating from deep inside him, as he saw the flash of lights head towards them.

                                                          >>--------------------------------<<

"Well?" Tony asked, as Bruce and Helen emerged from the room. Both of them looking at the pad in Helen's hand. Both appearing exceptionally confused.

"Well........." Bruce began, as he looked at Helen who just shrugged. Bruce sighing as he realised that he was going to have to try and explain to Tony, something he wasn't sure that he could explain.

"When we first got her here, she had a couple of broken ribs. A cracked tibia and fibula from where she was hit by the front of the car. Possible concussion from hitting her head on the road, and internal bleeding. But............."

"But what?" Tony interrupted. Desperate to hear what else he had done to the poor woman. Hoping that the news wasn't going to get any worse.

"She hasn't now." Bruce simply replied. Tony's brows furrowing in confusion as he looked at the two doctors.

"What do you mean? She hasn't........now?" The billionaire enquired. Waiting for a suitable explanation in reply.

"Just what I said. Up until a few moments ago, the lady had all those problems. We were even talking about operating to see what we could do. But now........she doesn't have anything wrong with her. We have checked, double checked, and checked again. And she is.......well, she's fine. The only thing is that she is still unconscious. Apart from that, she is as healthy as you or I." Bruce tried to explain. Passing Tony the pad, that detailed the woman's condition.

"But......but.....how?"

"To be honest, we don't know. We've checked for any serums in her system that might make it possible. For any mutations in her DNA. For anything else that could result in her ability to heal herself, and we haven't been able to come up with anything. Well, apart from........"

"Apart from what? Will you just tell me what's going on, Bruce?" Tony complained. Needing to know why the woman that he had hit with his car. The woman that he had seen battered, broken and bruised. The woman that had had serious injuries. Was now fine.

"We found something in her blood. Its not something that we have come across before, and we are going to have to do a little more research. But it could be the thing that explains why this was all possible." Bruce explained.

"Though why she was naked and on a dark road in the middle of a wood, is something we will have to ask her when she wakes up." Bruce added. As all of them turned their attention to the woman that was laid in the bed. Tony feeling relieved that he hadn't actually killed someone. And intrigued as to how she had survived, and in fact, recovered, from what he knew had been a serious accident.

"So, what you are actually telling me, is that we have an unknown woman, that likes to run naked, in the middle of the night, onto roads. That when hit by a car at high speed, can heal herself of all injures in the matter of about an hour. And has something in her bloods that neither of you have ever seen before?" Tony enquired with a chuckle, as he handed the pad back to Bruce.

"Er.....pretty much.....yeah." Bruce replied with a nod. Knowing that there really wasn't much more to say.

"Well. I have a feeling that this is going to turn out to be something very interesting." Tony said, as he made his way into the room. The billionaire taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. Knowing that he wanted to be there when his mystery beauty woke up.