He wasn't going to help her.

A stunned silence hung in the air as Amelia blinked down at Steve's boots and cursed herself for not seeing this coming. Never mind that it was the same thing she would have done if their roles were reversed. Knowing it was the right decision based on the information she had made available didn't make it any easier to swallow. She was going to suffer for her secrets.

Amelia's hands fluttered uselessly at her sides. Mentally she was going through her options, trying to decide what she could say to convince them that she was more useful without the collar than with it. She wasn't going to lie. They'd be able to tell if she was lying. But the truth wasn't exactly an option, either. What it came down to was neither Steve nor Amelia could bring themselves to unconditionally trust the other. Steve couldn't let a potentially dangerous Enhanced loose to run amok and Amelia couldn't tell them who she was or how she had ended up on the Raft to begin with.

It was going to be an uncomfortable stalemate.

Slowly Amelia let her stormy blue eyes drift upward to lock with the man himself. Captain America. The First Avenger. Leader of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Frustration, annoyance, awe... All shown brightly in the depths of her gaze, eyes far too expressive for her own good, but all Steve could focus on was the fear. Her eyes met his and he was stricken by the terror there. She was scared to death. Of him. "Mia..."

Amelia's mouth closed with an audible snap. She was scared but she wasn't in the habit of letting something as trivial as mind numbing terror curtail her and she wasn't going to tell Steve Rogers a damn thing. Amelia could deal with the collar for a little while longer. If none of them were going to help her than she would run off the first chance she got and find someone who would. Problem solved.

Steve saw the resolution cross her features. He'd seen that look before on a hundred other faces. Stubborn. Defensive. Someone who thought they could out-strategize him. Those people were usually wrong. A small smile hinted at the corners of his mouth as he tried to lure even a tiny bit of information from their tiny, frightened stray. "Mia. I'm not asking for a detailed biography," -yet- "Just a show of good faith. A little trust."

Sam had thought it would take a stronger woman than the one before them to be unmoved by Captain America. The man had an easy charm that most women, and a few men, found totally disarming but Amelia was not having it for a second. If the situation weren't so serious, Sam would have found it absolutely hilarious. Steve was rarely rejected with such enthusiasm. Instead, Sam just added Amelia's clear dislike for his patriotic friend to the ever-growing list of mysteries surrounding the stubborn blonde.

Steve hadn't taken his eyes off the girl, his gaze unwavering but as kind and gentle as his voice. He felt like he was trying to coax a skittish animal toward him. Move slowly. Speak calmly. Show her you mean no harm. Steve figured Amelia had every right to be a bit gun shy around strangers after being trapped in a cell for... Well, he wasn't sure how long she'd been down there. Steve was just trying to determine if she had been there for a valid reason. Or for a Ross reason.

"Can you tell us anything, Mia? Maybe about your Enhancement?" Steve watched her lips press together in an obvious refusal. "How about just your last name? Where you're from?" Still nothing. "How did you end up on the Raft? How long were you there? Anything, Mia. Give us anything." He took a step toward her and Amelia flinched back in alarm, bumping into Sam. Steve paused, looking frustrated by her aversion to him.

"Easy, sweetheart." Sam caught Amelia by her shoulders and made sure she was steady on her feet. "He isn't being unreasonable, you know." He peered down at her, amused by her stubbornness. Amelia looked up at him and Sam had to give the girl credit. She was shaking like a leaf but she was still facing off against Captain America and managing to not capitulate. Clearly she was not very bright, but Amelia was tough. "We haven't even started asking the hard questions yet."

Amelia pushed away from Sam and tugged at her collar, clearly frustrated. They didn't know what they were asking. How could they? Amelia would never be able to explain to any of these Avengers what it was like for mutants where she came from. At least not to their satisfaction and Steve was clearly not going to budge on this.

He had taken the girl from the Raft and that made Amelia, and any chaos she stirred up, Steve's responsibility. He couldn't just let her run wild. They were wasting time, hurtling through the sky toward the new Secret Avenger's headquarters in Wakanda. They had to come to some sort of understanding before the quinjet touched down. "Ok. Here are the facts. We don't know you. We don't know who you are, where you're from, what you can do, or how you ended up on the Raft. We don't even know where you got your... tech." He pointed to Felix. "These are all questions I am going to need answered before I can take that thing off your neck. Do you understand?"

With a nod, Amelia tried not to look too put out. "Yessir."

Steve's eyebrow popped up at the immediate, albeit quiet, military response. He hadn't been expecting that. She was tiny and soft and not trained in any fighting style that he could tell. Amelia didn't carry herself like most soldiers. Judging by how she'd behaved as they fought their way off the Raft, Amelia was more likely a dancer. It was possible he was wrong, but Steve was observant. That's probably why he couldn't shake the feeling there was something slightly familiar about Amelia. Something subtle that Steve couldn't put his finger on.

"I'm also not just letting you run off the moment we land, either. You're our responsibility until we can get some clarity on you and your situation." His statement made Amelia's eyes widen. She'd been planning to do just that. To take off the minute they turned their backs and go find a way to get the collar off on her own. Felix could do it if he had the time but her collar wasn't like Wanda's. It wasn't an old model. "Mia..."

"You don't understand. It isn't that I won't tell you. It's that I can't tell you. I know you have no reason to trust me but I'm not the threat."

"So there is a threat." Wanda had been listening carefully. There was a lot being unsaid that the girl's body language was saying for her. Amelia was clearly frustrated, not just with Steve and Sam, but with herself. She was scared of Steve, which Wanda found fascinating. People were almost always in awe of the man, downright respectful, but Amelia acted repulsed. Wanda could see Amelia's mind race with every question presented to her, and noticed the way she pressed her lips together, actively stopping herself from answering. When Amelia said she couldn't, Wanda believed her.

Expression pensive, the Scarlet Witch soothed her long fingers over the red mark that encircled her throat. She was slightly less patient than her older teammates and not nearly as military minded. Amelia had been kind to her. Helpful. Even on the Raft when Wanda had been strapped into that straight jacket Amelia's soft singing had been the only calming influence in an otherwise bleak situation. There was a way around Amelia's stubborn decision be uncooperative but Wanda didn't relish the thought of having to peek into Amelia's mind to forcibly pull the answers out. If the girl remained intransigent, however, there might not be a choice.

Truly, Wanda hoped it would not come to that. "Mia... Is there a threat?"

There was a moment of strained silence. Amelia's mouth worked soundlessly as she struggled to come up with an acceptable answer to Wanda's inquiry. She hesitated, miserable, and slowly nodded.

That small admission was more than Steve had honestly hoped for. He resisted the impulse to put a reassuring hand on the small woman's shoulder. Steve didn't like seeing anyone in distress but the way Amelia responded to his proximity indicated that touching her would not be well received so instead he just offered her a small smile. "It's a start."

"It's vague is what it is," Sam sighed. "What's the threat? Who's being threatened?"

A girlish shriek rent the air and everyone jumped. Steve turned to face whatever threat was bearing down, fists up. Sam yanked Amelia behind him, protectively. Wanda was on her feet, hands already wrapped in a swirling red energy.

Scott stood in the middle of the cabin, shaking out his hand and looking bashful. Wanda's discarded collar was on the ground in front of him, vibrating violently. "It shocked me," he grumbled. "I was only looking at it. That's a really high voltage for its size. If that had gone off around Wanda's neck..." All of their eyes moved to Amelia.

The blonde shrugged. "At least now we know there wasn't a bomb in it. You just had a shock collar."

"You don't seem worried," Sam observed. "What if yours goes off?"

"Mine's not a shock collar."

It was like pulling teeth with this girl. Steve and Sam both just stared down at Amelia until she broke with a scowl. "I'm wearing a custom made inhibitor," she growled. "A non-lethal, injection collar. He doesn't want me dead. Just contained so if I try to take it off, I get shot up with a paralytic. Even if I managed to ditch the collar, I get put down and can't move for hours. It gives him... It gives them time to find me and put me back in it."

Sam had not missed the rapid correction. He cast a look at Steve and a nod from the super soldier indicated he had heard it, too. "Mia, are you in danger?" Sam asked, his habitual amusement diminished.

"No," Amelia finally answered and cast her stormy eyes to Steve Rogers. "You are. I'm just here to help."