Turns out I was being taken to a cage. Iron Man laid me down tenderly on the floor of said cage, then walked out with the advanced cuffs he had on me. As soon as he leaves and the door shuts, the glass that I had thought made up the cage turns into mirrors, all reflecting me back at me. Discomfort immediately settles within my chest and the desire to shift appears as well.

"Report." I stiffen at the words in my head but turn towards the back of the room and make my hair act as a curtain to conceal my lips as I speak.

"I'm in a cage. Terminate mission?" I ask hesitantly. It's not up to me to decide the path I should take. The superiors decide that.

"Negative, V. Continue the mission. Confirm?"

"Confirmed." I agree and turn back around only to be met with my reflection once again. I strain to hear anything outside my cage, but there must be sound proof seals all around it to prevent me from doing just that. Suddenly, the mirrors are replaced by glass once again and I find myself breathing a sigh of relief. I stare out and see Captain America, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, and Nick Fury. Captain America hasn't even changed his shirt that I stabbed him in. He's staring at me expectantly, waiting for something. Finally, I give in to the temptation of shifting. I shift into multiple creatures within the minute, a panther, a python, an alligator, a gorilla. Nick Fury flicks a switch on a large keypad and nods to Captain America. He steps forward and when he speaks, I can hear him.

"We don't want you to fight with anyone Victoria." He assures me. I settle on the form of a tiger and pace within my cage, watching this man that I stabbed stare at me with concern. How does he know about that? I sit down in the middle of the cage and flick my tail back and forth absentmindedly. "Ria, what happened?" He asks gently. His tenderness catches me off guard and my tail freezes at the sound of that name. It's as if my entire brain suffers from a glitch. After a moment, I recover. I stand on all fours again and shift into the easiest form to maintain; myself. I see the man in front of me take a deep breath, as well as Tony Stark. More confusion settles within me as I watch their faces. They seem to know me, somehow. The temptation to speak to them grows within me, but I fight it, knowing others will hear my words. "Is there some reason you can't talk to us?" He asks me and I can tell he knows the answer just by the way I stiffen as soon as the last word passes his pink lips. His arm raises and he points at his ear. He mouths unnecessarily, "Coms?" Hesitantly, I nod. There would be severe punishment later if the superiors found out. Captain America turns back towards his compatriots and Nick Fury once again flips the switch. I put my head in my hands and talk quietly to the superiors.

"Permission to terminate coms? They've been compromised." I ask and explain, but that's all. I certainly don't tell them that I want to talk to these strange people who seem to know me. There's a longer pause than usual, making me nervous and twitchy.

"Granted. Proceed with the mission without coms. Do not be distracted. Confirm?" Finally, they answer and I release a pent-up breath.

"Confirmed." I reply and take the com out of my ear. Immediately I feel better. Freer. I knock on the mirror/glass and say, "Captain America." The mirrors fade and I am surprised to feel the amount of relief flood me that does when I see his face. It's a charming face, as faces go. I hold up the com between my fingers and crush it as he watches. Steve Rogers seems pleased, but Tony Stark does not.

"We could have tracked that feed!" He says indignantly. I look at him, impressed. That was exactly why I destroyed it instead of handing it over. The Captain soothes him shockingly quickly before turning ack to me.

"Is that my name?" I ask him, genuinely curious. Although breaking my superior's commands makes my brain hurt and my heart race with fear. "Ria?" I try it out on my tongue and like the taste. It seems happier than my real name.

"What? Ria?" He asks. I nod my head to answer his question. He looks down at the floor, seeming a little bashful. "Victoria is your name, but I call you Ria. It's an endearment of sorts." He tells me and I can hear the vulnerability in his voice. I nod slowly, not understanding at all. "Did you find your parents?" He asks and my body freezes and my brain rewires. My arms go down to my sides and my feet clap together in a soldier pose. I am a soldier after all.

"I don't have parents." I respond mechanically. "I only have the Superiors." I quote and once the words leave my mouth I relax again, my breathing more labored than before. While Captain America looks saddened by my words, as well as Black Widow, Iron Man looks enraged.

"No, you don't have superiors! You are your own superior." He says, heatedly. My eyes narrow at this man and I shake my head.

"That is a figment of your imagination." I say firmly. I look into his shining black eyes and continue. "Whether you are aware of your strings or not, your life is never truly your own." I say the words mechanically, but I feel sorry for this man. The illusion of freedom is worse than bondage. Iron Man steps forward with his mouth open to reply, but Natasha Romanoff steps in front of him and shakes her head. He stops, but his eyes remain on me, filled with emotions I don't understand. Captain America steps forward and questions me again.

"Do you have any memories at all? Of anything?" He asks and I can hear the exhaustion in his voice. Idly, I wonder when was the last time he slept. Then, I wonder why I'm wondering that. I shake my head at him.

"Memories only anchor us to the past and prevent us from moving into the future." I recite and see his halfway hopeful expression crumble. He is quick to respond though.

"That isn't true." He mumbles. After clearing his throat, he repeats himself. "That isn't true. Memories make us who we are." I go to the glass he's standing in front of and sit down Indian style.

"Really?" I ask him quietly, leaning forward until I'm almost touching the glass. "What memories made you?" I question him and see the surprise cross his face. His eyes go a little glassy and I'm guessing he's going through his memories. Jealousy runs through me, making me return to an upright position.

Finally, he answers, "All of them." I blink, surprised. I look down at my hands when I speak again.

"Then what does that make me since...I don't have any?" I ask, and even to me, my voice sounds sad. I look back up into Steve Rogers's blue eyes and he walks forward until we're less than a foot apart.

"Lost." He tells me. "But, we'll help you, okay? We all know you." He gestures behind him to Natasha Romanoff, Nick Fury, and Tony Stark. I frown, disliking the word lost. I shake my head.

"No. No, I'm not lost. I have the mission. A focus." I say aloud, mostly to myself. Reminding myself of the Superior's words. Don't get distracted. But these kind people are so very distracting.

"What's the mission?" Black Widow asks me. I look at her and her flaming red hair. I adopt it, but dismiss the chance of me answering that question. Instead, I ask another question of my own. I change my hair back to normal and look back at the man with blue eyes.

"Why should I trust you?" I ask them all, but my eyes remain locked on Captain America. He stares back at me and sighs, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

"We're...friends. We care about each other." He tells me, but I'm not convinced. I have no memories of that. He takes another step towards the glass and sits on the floor so we're talking face to face. Not counting the glass, of course. His hand is on his stab wound to keep the pressure on it. It should heal in a few days because of his accelerated healing. At least I tell myself that to keep the slight feeling of guilt away. I look back at his eyes and change my own to match. I receive the gift of his lips twitching, although he doesn't actually smile. Something about his eyes, they're familiar. Like they're from a dream. "I know you have burns on the soles of your feet and around your ankles, I know you have a scar shaped like a comet on the small of your back, I know you love to train, you like swimming, spaghetti, and vanilla milkshakes." He finishes sadly. I consider all of these things with interest, knowing that at least the physical things are true.

"But why can't I remember you fully?" I ask him, frustration barely tinting my voice. His eyes take on a little more life than before as he speaks again.

"You remember me?" He questions. I look him up and down, hesitating.

"There's something familiar about you. Your eyes, especially." I respond, leaning in slightly once again.

"Alright, well that's enough meet and greet talk. I would like to know what happened when you were gone." Nick Fury speaks and frightens me enough to make me jump to my feet. I allow my eyes to change back to their normal color as Steve Rogers stands carefully. He puts out a hand and lets it hover in front of Nick Fury's chest, surprisingly Nick Fury hesitates.

"Fury, stop. I'll ask her that." Steve Roger's says and Nick Fury looks back at him with sympathetic disdain.

"This isn't time for fuddy-duddy fluff, Captain. We need some answers. If we get them, we may even find out what happened to her and how to get her memories back." He says and walks around Steve Rogers's hand, focusing on me. "Answer please." He says nicely. I see Natasha and Tony flank Steve and wish I could hear their whispers. "I'll repeat myself, what happened after you left this building?" Nick Fury asks again. I frown at him. This man is clearly in charge, so I must answer, but I don't like him. I look back at Captain America and answer, I like him better. He nods once at me and I sigh, giving in.

"I was sent away to complete the mission." I answer Nick Fury, but I look at Steve. Nick Fury looks back at Steve, but nods, content with just getting an answer.

"For whom?" Nick Fury asks.

"The Superiors." I answer immediately, but the aftertaste of the words is sour.

"What are their names?" He asks and I wrinkle my nose at him. I decide to test this system; their forms of punishment can't be worse than what I've seen before.

"No offense to you sir, but you kind of seem like an asshole." I tell him, but my voice does waver slightly with fear. I look back over at Natasha, Tony, and Steve and take in their smiling faces. I smile a little at the three of them, but my gaze stays on Steve. He winks at me and my smile grows along with his, at least until Nick Fury turns towards them and they all pretend they weren't smiling.

"Yeah well, I'm the asshole who gets the answers. Now, what are your parents' names?" Nick Fury asks again, but this time I hesitate. This is, after all, real information that would get me in serious trouble later. While endeavoring to think of an answer I watch Tony in my peripheral vision press buttons on the keypad to my cage. The door opens and he waltzes inside while I press myself against the glass on the far side of the room. "Stark, what the hell are you doing?" Nick Fury asks, but Tony just smirks and shrugs. He holds his hands up and walks to the middle of the room, then sits.

"Here, now I'm trusting you not to kill me, so please don't. Could you maybe sit with me?" He asks me nicely and pats the floor in front of him. Eyeing him warily, I sit against the far wall from where Tony is, but he accepts it. I like these people, but every time I've been put in a cage with someone, it's been to fight. "Alright, close enough. Now, is there anything familiar about me?" The man asks and watches me carefully.

"Stark, I don't see how this is really a priority-" Nick Fury starts, but Tony holds a hand out to him and fixes him with a deadly stare as I survey the man now inside my cage.

"It is to me. And to the rest of the team." He says and returns his intense gaze to me. I scoot forward a little when a hint of his scent reaches me. I know it! I know that smell, I swear. "Anything?" He rephrases and repeats. I lean forward and take a deep breath. I smile, a real, face lights up, eyes shine, small dimples appear, smile.

"Your smell." I say quietly. "I know your smell." I say with certainty and close my eyes to focus better. I move forward even more, so I'm within reaching distance of Tony. I can't help it. His smell is so familiar, and almost...homey. "It smells like a new car, oil, and a bit of Axe deodorant." I sigh happily and move directly in front of him, although I'm careful not to touch him. I open my eyes and blink once at the hope on his face. "I like it, Mr. Stark." I say sheepishly. His face turns surprised when I use his name. I look at him, confused. "That's your name, isn't it?" I ask.

"My last name." He confirms after clearing his throat. I glance over at Steve to see him rushing towards the keypad, obviously he's seen something I haven't. Tony snatches up my hand and I stand immediately, startled. He stands as well and manages to hold on to me. Suddenly, he brushes his lips across my knuckles, making me freeze. "Why are you fighting what's between us?" He says in a teasing tone, but his eyes sparkle with sincerity and intensity. I blink, feeling the familiarity of those words and that action. My eyes shift from the floor to his face and I feel a thousand emotions cross my face, then finally it settles on incredulity.

"I, uh, I know those words." I say and tears fill my voice as pain stings my head. "I...I know you." Speaking the words starts to hurt, but Tony doesn't seem to notice. His arms wrap around me and I let him, although with the pain in my head I wouldn't be able to if I wanted to. His smell shrouds me and I give in to it. Tears stream down my face with pain and frustration. Pain from my head and frustration from not being able to remember all of the man in front of me. Barely, I hear him talking to me.

"Never again, kiddo. Never ever again. You are grounded, you can't leave my sight for forever." The words are comforting, in a weird way. Memories of him return to me and my arms wrap around him, tight. As if by holding onto him I can hold onto the memories of him. They seem waterlogged in my mind. Hard to see and difficult to hang onto, but there. As soon as I grasp one tightly in my hands pain strikes my body and I start shaking. Just as my memories slip away from me, so does my consciousness.

A/N

I. Love. Tony. Freaking love.