A Starbucks, somewhere in Manhattan

Natasha and Clint sat opposite the man in the coffee shop. He was one on Natasha's more reliable informants, a tall man with a nondescript face, and knew almost everything about the city's criminal underworld.

"Who attacked our friend, and why?"

"That's beyond my sphere of influence. That's high profile stuff, you know that. But since you are such a good client, I'll put you in touch with the Healer. Isn't nothing happens around here she don't know about. I get most of my stuff from her."

Clint was about to speak, but Natasha silenced him with a glance. "How do I know the Healer will speak with me? I found her once before, and was turned away by her operatives."

"Tell her you were sent by Johan, sent by me in the name of Hestia. She'll see two, no more. Be there today, at noon, in Anbar's place." He dropped twenty dollars on the table and walked out, the door swinging shut behind him.

TIME SKIP

Tony glared at Annabeth. "Natasha and I will go, take this Healer in and bring her back here for future questioning."

"No," said Annabeth. "This is related to our side of things. Hestia is... a kind of code word. Percy and I will go."

The debate continued until a frustrated Clint fired an arrow three inches into Tony's steel table with a resounding clang, effectively silencing the argument.

"Steve will go, as this enemy directly targeted him, and he deserves to know what's going on. Percy will go as well, as clearly one of those two must go and Annabeth has spent the last twenty minutes yelling that Tony is an immature idiot and should go boil his head in the Phlegethon."

Undisclosed location, three minutes to noon

Percy and Steve stood awkwardly inside the nondescript building, facing a tall man, wearing black. He called himself Anbar. "We are here to see the Healer in the name of Hestia."

"We have been expecting you." The man tapped twice on a door behind him, before opening it and closing it once they were through.

The room was plain, dark grey. Two chairs faced a desk and another chair, this one tilted around to face a large window of mirrored glass. In it sat a girl, late teens, short, dark hair, lounging across the utilitarian chair like a cat melting in the early spring sunshine.

Percy identified her instantly as the girl who had been with Steve, and uncapped Riptide. Steve, oddly, made a choked noise in his throat. This was enough to startle the girl into turning. Her eyes widened in shock and happiness, and she leapt out of the chair.

"Eagle? You're okay!"

Steve hugged the scarred girl warmly. "Dragon! Where have you been? I thought you were dead!"

"Never mind that, you were shot! You could have died!"

Steve frowned. "That was classified information! How did you - oh. Dragon, you shouldn't have done that. I would have gotten you out. My team is absolutely furious - especially Tony."

"He thinks he rules the world. Time someone knocked him of that gilded pedestal."

She laughed; it was a clear, light sound. Percy noticed her eyes were the exact colour of Annabeth's - light, stormy grey, only marred by that bold, dark scar. He wondered vaguely how a seventeen year old had such a scar, and then dismissed the thought. He had enough by the time he was seventeen, after all.

Percy spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt, but what the hell is going on here?" Riptide was still uncapped and in his hand.

The girl looked at him, took two short steps back and bowed.

"Perseus Jackson, it is an honour to meet a hero such as you."

Percy looked closer at her eyes - Athena cabin eyes - then nodded. "Legacy, right? I'm guessing second generation Athena."

"Yes. Second generation Athena and Hephaestus. How did you know? I have no demigod powers, and almost no scent."

He grinned. "You have Athena eyes. I'm dating an Athena girl, so I should know."

He recapped Riptide and slid it into a pocket. She wobbled, grabbing the back of the chair for support to regain her balance.

Steve glared at her. "When did you last eat?"

"I definitely ate Friday night... Uh, what day is it?"

"Wednesday. What have I told you about skipping meals?"

"I can look after myself, Steve. And besides, when I'm hungry I'm safe from Midnight."

He glared at her. "No matter what you do or say, I'm still your older brother. You're coming back with us."

Back at the tower

The scarred girl looked nervously at the team. She wasn't used to being near more than two or three people. She seemed to have unconsciously taken a protective stance in front of Steve. Interesting. A teenage girl, protective of Captain America.

Steve looked at Tony pleadingly. "Please, Tony. One night. I haven't seen her in.. a long time, and I want to keep an eye on her."

Tony nodded reluctantly. "One night. One. And only if she will answer our questions, here and now."

She nodded, "If that is what Steve wants." She scanned the team, assessing them, before holding out a polite hand to Tony. "Hi. I'm Dragon."

Tony snorted. "Nice name." She ignored his barbed comment.

Tony went first with the questions. "How can you be Steve's sister? He's like a bajillion years old."

"Adopted sister. Since I was thirteen." Tony raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

Clint asked quietly, "Do you intend to be a threat to anyone?"

"I'm a Radical Pacifist - literally the opposite of a threat."

Percy and Annabeth both passed, but gave her a look that said, later, our questions are about the other stuff. Thor had been AWOL for almost a week now, due to an unspecified emergency on Asgard.

That left Bruce, who said, "So, Captain here says you have some mental health issues?" She glared at her older brother, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
"Yes, some."

Natasha went last, asking, "So, where were you before you met Steve?" Steve went to stop her, but she gently pushed him away. "I promised the truth, but you won't like it. I was... I was in training with HYDRA."

Within seconds, Natasha had a dagger pressed against her throat. "Hands flat on the table. Where we can see them. Now."

The girl complied easily, her grey eyes calm. Steve objected vehemently, "She's okay. I've known the girl a long time."

Natasha shook her head. "If she's HYDRA conditioned, then she won't have broken free. Not fully. No one ever does."

Dragon shook her head. "Let me explain. I was with HYDRA from when I was four until I was thirteen. I went through conditioning, true, but with Steve's help, I was able to break free - mostly. I'm still dangerous whenever I lose control, but Steve and a couple of other friends can tell when I'm relapsing, and put me somewhere I won't do any damage until I regain control."

She looked at Steve as though daring him to disagree. "If you, any of you, feel unsafe with me here, I can give you your information and leave now."

"No," said Tony. "We had a deal. One night to set Captain Little Ass' mind at rest, you give us the information we need. Then you leave."