~Amina~
Another day of tests. They pull me away from watching My Little Pony to do exercises. They pat me on the head, give me candy, spout how helpful I'm being to the cause and while I jog on a treadmill they whisper about how the Avengers are taking down their bases. I know it's too much to hope for but I wish with all my heart that they find this one.
At night, after I've eaten and they've drawn blood, I'm locked in my room. I guess if I really wanted to I can break out but then I remember their promises to hurt Grammy, Aunt Cleo, Uncle Nico and my cousins and I cry because I don't want them to die, not like Mama.
It's a really boring way to live and I've been doing the same thing for three years. It's been that long since they took me from Mama, since they killed her and Joe. I try really hard not to think about it and crawl out of the bed. They let me have this expensive mirror so I can do my hair. I refuse to let any of them touch it. Next to my mirror is a picture I cut out of a newspaper of Captain America. I don't really feel like doing much to my hair so I brush it back into a huge puff and somehow manage to get a hair tie around it. I look at Captain America.
"Well Dad it's another day. They keep running all these tests on me which is stupid. How much could I change in a day? I like the days where they have me train best but I haven't gotten many of those since you fought the Winter Soldier. I read some of his file once when I was in the room while they wiped his memories again. I think they wanna brainwash me, take my memories like they did to your Bucky." I could never use his name when with him. Everyone would freak out, I had to use his code name. "I'm not supposed to know what they do to him but they don't really try to hide it either. Bucky is nice and I miss him. I think he was my only real friend even though everyone was scared of him." I can hear footsteps coming down the hall, sounds like heels. It's probably Dr. Jones. I don't like her at all. I pull the picture down and tuck it into a pocket then sit on my bed like the good girl I'm supposed to be. I hear the key turn. A red head stands there wearing this all black outfit. Black Widow. I've seen enough on TV to know she fought Bucky and she works with Captain America. What's she doing here though? I scramble backwards.
"What're you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" I can easily take her out at least I think I can but I don't wanna try.
"Hi," Her voice is soft. "Let's get you out of here."
"No! They'll hurt Grammy and-"
"We won't let them."
"'We'?"
"Yeah, got some friends that came with me." I grab Snuffles, my stuffed rabbit Aunt Cleo got me. It was the only thing they let me have when they dragged me out of my home. Thought it might keep me quiet.
"Why're you here? This is a secure location. They say it all the time. No one knows about it!"
"An old friend of Cap's didn't forget about you. He may be in the wind now but he left a note. Said there was a scared little girl in a secret HYDRA facility that he couldn't get to."
"Wint-Bucky?" She nods and crouches.
"Trust me now?" Black Widow holds out her arms. No one has done that to me in a while. As much as I love Bucky, if they ever saw him give me affection they'd wipe his memory. It happened once so I used to be really careful. I walk over to her, wrap my arms around her neck, then I'm lifted off the floor. I cling to her as she carries me out. I can hear explosions, people yelling, the alarm going off and through it all I keep my eyes shut and hold on.
"And where are you going you sneaky bitch!" My eyes pop open hearing Dr. Jones. I turn my head to see her in the hallway with a gun and a bunch of guards. "Put her down! She's property of HYDRA." Black Widow gives me a squeeze then sets me down.
"I'm gonna kick her ass now if that's okay with you," She tells me.
"I don't mind. Punch her for me?" She gives me a smile then gives my ear a tug and she's off. Dr. Jones never stood a chance. Black Widow takes care of all the guards without breaking a sweat. Of course Dr. Jones tries to shoot her. Doesn't work. Widow easily knocks the gun out of her hand and slams her into the wall then she punches her which knocks her out cold. I hurry to her side. She takes my hand then we're both running. Station X has a self destruct thing in it so when I hear the alarm go suddenly quiet I tug Widow's hand and run faster, getting us out just as the place blows sky high. We land in the grass. I'm really sore but happy and give her a big hug.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Into her ear piece she says, "I've got her." Someone must've said something to her because she says back, "Got it." To me she smiles again and stands up. We watch for awhile as the place burns.
"Lovely view isn't it?" My eyes grow wide as Thor lands next to us. "Part of me wishes to go back in time just to see it burn again."
"You did that?" He grins at me. "I thought the self destruct…"
"Tony disabled it."
"Tony?"
"That would be me." Tony is Iron Man. Right. How could I forget that? He lands next to Thor. His face plate goes up. "You must be Amina right?"
"How'd you know?"
"Barnes," Black Widow answers. Of course.
"I-I was named after a warrior queen.'
"It is a very pretty name," Thor tells me.
"Bruce is bringing the jet around," A man says as he hops out of a tree. Hawkeye. "You're the kid right? Jesus you have his fuckin eyes."
"And smile," Widow adds.
"Seriously?" Iron Man turns to me. "Smile for me, please." I do as he says and they all laugh. "Holy shit. Nat's right."
"Nat?"
"That's me. Natasha or Nat. Thor," She points to him. He smiles at me again. "Clint," She points at Hawkeye. "Tony." Iron Man gives me a bow.
"Where's Hulk?"
"That would be Bruce, he had to scoop up Cap. There they are now." She pulls me back a little as the jet hovers low enough for us to get on.
"That her?" A dark haired man asks once we're all inside.
"Yeah."
"Hi honey, I'm Bruce." He holds out a hand which I shake. I like him instantly.
"So this is Amina." Captain America is behind him. He takes his helmet off. His expression is serious. "Bucky told me about you." I squeeze Snuffles tighter. "How old are you?"
"T-ten sir."
"Steve you're scaring all the innocence out of her." Tony slaps a hand on his shoulder as he goes by.
"You have any family I can leave you with?"
"NO!" He raises an eyebrow. "I-I mean no s-sir. They'll kill them. Like they did Mama and Joe." He lets out a sigh and scratches his head.
"I have no idea of what I'm doing."
"That's okay. If you drop me off at a bus stop-"
"I'm not dropping a ten year old at a bus stop."
"Oh." I drop my head. All the other talking has stopped.
"Hey." He's lowered himself to a knee. "Just because I don't know what I'm doing doesn't mean I'm not going to try. You'll try too right?" It's embarrassing to admit but tears roll down my cheeks. "Come here." I go to him without hesitation and wrap my arms around him. He lets me cry. Eventually he picks me up to put me on a small cot. He sits next to me, takes hold of my hand. "You're my little girl no matter what HYDRA did and I'll do everything I can to protect you."
"Okay…Dad." He gives me a big smile at that and it makes me happy.
"Did we recover any of their files?"
"I got as much as I could before Thor went lightening happy." I'm bundled in Dad's bed with Snuffles, my back is to Dad and Tony making it easy to pretend that I'm sleep. "I know HYDRA is a real shitty organization but to steal your sperm Cap?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D had some frozen for whatever reason. They used to want blood samples, urine samples, all of it. They ran countless tests so it's not surprising that HYDRA got a hold of it."
"But to wait that long to knock up some woman. They must've really wanted her to be the perfect agent."
"But obviously something went wrong."
"From what I've read, her mother, a Nefertiti Russell, agreed to it." It sounds like he's looking through papers. "She worked as a HYDRA agent right out of college and must've impressed the higher ups because she was chosen. Amina was raised with her mother and her family with regular checkups with HYDRA goons up until she was seven. I guess when HYDRA came calling for her permanently, she changed her tune. They killed her and her boyfriend Steve. Amina was right there. Here." I think he's handing Dad the papers. I grit my teeth and fight back the memory of Joe getting a bullet to the head as he screamed for us to run. "We only made it to the dining room when they came in the back door. Mama pleaded with them to leave me alone, that they could take my blood and make another but they didn't want another, they wanted me. Mama died protecting me. She could've taken them all on if I hadn't been there" There's foot steps and then a door closing. Dad lays down on the bed and pulls me over so my head is on his heart. Hearing it beat calms me down.
"Tell me about your mom, what was she like?"
"She…" I rub my nose as all my good memories come back and I push the bad ones away. "She was really into African history. Her boyfriend, Joe, he was Nigerian. She talked about us moving there one day. Mama loved food but couldn't cook. She burned everything." That makes Dad laugh. "Once she even burned soup. Uncle Nico always brought food over for us."
"Is that her brother?"
"Yeah. He taught me all I know about kicks."
"Kicks?"
"Shoes, Dad."
"Oh!" He laughs more and it's the best sound in the whole world.
"I used to have a cool collection of Chucks and Jordan's mostly. Uncle Nico didn't have any kids yet so he'd spoil me all the time."
"How old is he?"
"Now he should be twenty two. He and Aunt Cleo stayed with Grammy, Aunt Cleo is two years older. She cooks the best food. And she always has my cousins over."
"I thought your uncle didn't have kids, are they your aunt's?"
"Neither of them do. They're Grammy's nieces and nephews. I miss them."
"I promise I'll get you to see them." He kisses my forehead. "Now get some sleep. Nat said something about taking you shopping tomorrow."
When I get up Dad's gone so me and Snuffles leave the room. I remember, all the Avengers have their own floor but there's a big kitchen area where they all eat. I ask the voice in the house which floor to go to and he tells me. The elevator takes me right to the kitchen where I see Thor eating out of a tub of ice cream. He gestures for me to sit down then gets me a bowl. It's Rocky Road. I'm pretty sure Dad wouldn't want me to eat this for breakfast but Thor's eating it and seems to really want me to. I finish it in no time which makes Thor put more in my bowl.
"Steve isn't gonna be happy when he sees you stuffing her with ice cream man," Clint walks to the fridge.
"Hi Clint," I say with a mouthful of ice cream.
"Hi yourself kid." He grabs a bowl then holds it out for Thor to put some in. He sits next to me. "What's the plan for that hair?"
"I could fix it," Thor says. I grin and shake my head.
"Usually I just put it in a big puff. Mama used to have her friends braid it for me."
"I could braid it."
"Thor you're not touching her hair, probably make it worse."
"Ice cream for breakfast? Who's idea was that?" Bruce comes in with a newspaper.
"Thor's," Me and Clint tell him.
"Of course." He makes some coffee then sits with us. We eat ice cream while he reads the newspaper. When he's finished with his, Clint starts taking some of mine. Then he dabs some on my nose. He's about to put some on my cheeks when Dad says,
"I hit the gym for a couple hours only to find you guys giving my little girl ice cream for breakfast." We all point at Thor who shrugs. Dad sighs and gets a bowl for himself. We keep eating while they talk about where some scepter could be. By the time we finish Natasha is waiting with car keys.
"She can't go to the mall in your old shirt Steve."
"Why not? I think it's adorable." She holds out a bag.
"Picked up something just to get started today. Ready to get dressed?"
"No rainbows and unicorns!" Clint calls after us. Natasha helps me wash up then gives me new underwear and a shirt with a skull wearing a bow on it's head and some jeans. She's even managed to get me a purple pair of Chucks!
"Thanks Nat!"
"Clint picked the color. Let's get your teeth brushed and your hair together." She helps me pull my hair into it's usual puff then I'm following her into the elevator to a garage. Dad's waiting by her car. I run over to him. He picks me up and swings me around two times. There's a sound of a camera going off. Natasha took our picture. "You're adjusting to this dad thing pretty well Rogers."
"Yeah?" He looks at me since he's still holding me. "Am I?" I nod. He tosses me in the air one last time which makes me giggle then we're in Natasha's car zooming out the garage. The trip there isn't bad. I buckle Snuffles in and stare out the window while they listen to the radio. We end up at some small kids store. Dad hates it instantly, says it's too bright. Natasha tells him to man up and takes me inside. When they're distracted by someone wanting an autograph I sneak off to the boys section. I grab jeans, shirts, a few hoodies and back in the girl's section I get leggings and even a few skirts that don't look too bad. When they find me I hand them the stuff. Dad approves, Natasha not as much. I think she wanted me in more frilly things. She gets me underwear and socks too. When we get in the car I say,
"Thanks Nat."
"No problem. Someone had to do it. I can't see Tony or Thor being a big help in this area."
"Next time leave me out too. That was exhausting." Dad leans back in his seat as Natasha starts the car.
"Hey can we…"
"Hmmm?"
"Shoes."
"She used to collect them," Dad explains.
"Where to then?" Natasha asks.
"Footlocker." I'm not really a big Footlocker fan, Uncle Nico used to get our shoes online but I don't remember the sites and I really, really, really want some Jordan's.
"Welcome to Footlocker, you folks have anything specific you looking for?"
"Do we?" Dad looks down at me.
"Uh the Flight 3's."
"You know J's huh?"
"A little."
"Come with me, I'll show you what we got." I spend an hour in there after I get the shoes because some idiot thinks James is better than Jordan in his prime which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. We get into this big debate where he tries to say I wasn't even around when Jordan played. I've seen all his old games. Uncle Nico had them and there's also a thing called YouTube. The Footlocker guys thought it was funny how I completely dismantled his argument. Dad had to throw me over a shoulder to get out of the store. They told me I was welcome back anytime.
"You really like basketball," Dad says once we've made it back to the car. I'm already putting the Jordan's on.
"I'm pretty good too!"
"We'll have to test that out," Natasha smirks at me in the mirror.
"You play?" Dad and me say at the same time.
"Helps keep my girlish figure." The entire way back I try to imagine what she'd be like playing basketball.
Later on, Tony stands with me in my new bed room that was an extra on Dad's floor. We both look over our work. He helped me hang up posters of basketball players, Uncle Nico and Aunt Cleo play. Tony got me purple and black everything, sheets, a star shaped rug, curtains and a couple of lamps. Clint liked my color choices, Natasha thought it should be more girly. Dad was happy he didn't have to help.
"We did a good job short stuff."
"Yep. What should we do now?"
"Wanna check out my lab?" He wiggles his eyebrows at me which makes me laugh. Together we go down a couple of floors. Tony lets me ask whatever questions I want and even lets me see some of what he's working on.
"Sir?"
"Speak to me JARVIS."
"Mr. Rogers is requesting your presence. A HYDRA scientist has been located."
"Got it." To me he says, "You wanna stay here or go see what your old man wants?"
"I wanna go."
"Alright then, hop on."
"On where?"
"My back! Piggy back rides, kids still like that stuff right?" I nod and use the stool I'm sitting on to climb onto his back. On the way to Dad, he tells me about a prank he and Clint pulled on Thor. They convinced him Bigfoot was real. He was gone for days trying to hunt it down. When we get to the conference room, everybody's there and they look serious. "If this is about making Clint a dating profile, that was all Bruce."
"Tony you swore you didn't do that!" Clint doesn't seem that mad about it.
"Hey my fingers were crossed buddy."
"Amina, can you give us a few minutes." Dad asks but it's more like an order. I go back to the main living room everyone shares some floors up. I can't think of anything to do except watch TV so that's what I do. I'm on my third episode of Ninja Turtles when Dad sits next to me. He doesn't say anything, just watches the show with me. "Why do they live in a sewer?"
"It's where they grew up, it's their home."
"Got it….is that a rat?"
"That's Master Splinter. He raised them."
"A rat raised them in the sewer?"
"Yeah."
"Not the most unbelievable thing I've seen."
"Where'd everybody go?"
"Avenger stuff."
"You didn't wanna go?"
"And leave you behind? Nah, I'm fine here."
"So we have this whole place to ourselves?"
"Yep." Dad finally looks at me and grins. "What should we do first?"
We stay up late that night eating pizza and ice cream. Then we watch old movies from Dad's time which aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. In the morning I go with him to the gym where he teaches me how to punch a punching bag. We eat breakfast then play hide and seek but only use two floors. We play around in Tony's lab, jump on Clint's bed and hide all of Thor's hair conditioners, he has a lot by the way. Jumping on Clint's bed reminds me of a trampoline. Dad finds a place that sells them and we test them out. The salespeople didn't like that very much. We picked a plain black one. I sat with Dad while he put it together then we jumped on it until I got tired. Since lunch was only Natasha's leftover smoothies, we ordered a bunch more pizza. I see where I get my appetite from. Later I sit on Dad's back while he does push ups. By nighttime I'm super tired. Dad has me resting on him again so I can hear his heart. He's clicking through all the channels.
"Right here!"
"This?"
"Yeah! Regular Show is the best!" We watch for a few minutes then he says,
"This is...different."
"Good different or bad different?"
"Haven't decided yet. They let you watch cartoons?"
"Whatever to keep me happy except let me see my family."
"How long did you know I was your dad?"
"Mama was honest with me, she never hid it. She felt I should know since HYDRA wanted me to be their weapon. It was really cool when they brought you back because I never thought I'd get to meet you." Dad wraps an arm around me. "I'm glad you don't hate me."
"Mina, honey it wasn't your fault. How could I hate you for that?" I can tell he's looking at me but I watch Rigby and Mordecai. "Hey." I glance up. "I'll never hate you okay? I can hate HYDRA but never you."
"Okay. Dad?"
"Hmmm?" He's gone back to watching Regular Show.
"I love you," I say it kinda quietly hoping maybe he doesn't hear. He does. Dad gives me a kiss on the head.
"I love you too Mina. Loved you the moment I saw you standing there with that bunny."
"Snuffles."
"Right, Snuffles," He laughs a little. I snuggle more into his shirt while we watch TV.
"Oh my god. Nat tell me you got a picture."
"Got several."
"Send it to me please. I think this has to be the most adorable thing I've ever seen."
"I agree Brucie. Should we leave them?" Clint, Natasha, Bruce and Tony's voices wake me up. They're all gathered around looking at the pictures Natasha took. Bruce is holding his phone out.
"Got it, thanks."
"I've never seen him look so peaceful," That's Thor. I spot him standing a little further away. He sees me awake and gives a wink.
"Wha-" Dad's waking up. "Guys?"
"Awww man he woke up," Clint drops his bag then sits in the other chair.
"What time is it?"
"Nine am Cap. Want a status report?"
"Give me a minute."
"JARVIS has informed me we now have a trampoline in the gym. I would like to go test that out," Tony starts walking away.
"Wait! What is a trampoline?"
"You're missing out Thor! Let's go." Nat sits in the other chair, going through her phone. Bruce walks down the hall, to the kitchen I guess because he comes back with a bowl of fruit. I want to get up but it's nice where I am. Dad's gone back to sleep and if he's not getting up then neither am I.
"Wore him out kid," Clint tells me. "He never sleeps this late. What'd you do?"
"We got a trampoline, ate a lot of pizza, watched old movies, played hide and seek, a bunch of stuff. We even hid Thor's conditioners." That makes Bruce almost choke on his fruit because he's laughing so hard.
"How'd your mom used to do it?"
"She'd braid it sometimes or my aunt would."
"Has Steve even put a comb through it?"
"No. Natasha did it for me at first but she's been out of town."
"Come on man, you should've called me sooner!" I like Sam, he's funny. We're sitting at the park because I wanted to go for a walk. This is my first time meeting him. I guess he met up with Dad to tell him about what he's found so far on Bucky but I don't think Bucky wants to be found. I toss some bread to the geese.
"I thought it was okay. It looks fine."
"No the hell it doesn't."
"Sam."
"Language in front of Amina, sorry I know. Look I have a cousin who owns a shop not too far from here. Let me take her."
"Well…"
"She'll be fine. The girl's half black. You can't just pull it back...," He gestures at my hair. "...and let her run around without doing anything to it. My mom would've cussed me out if she was my daughter." Dad rubs the back of his neck then raises an eyebrow at me.
"Can Sam take you to his friend?"
"Yeah. To be honest, I'd like it a lot more."
"Alright, fine. Where're we headed?" The hair shop we go to is filled with women getting their hair and nails done. It's loud, hot and exactly where I want to be. All the talking stops when Sam and Dad step through the door.
"Samuel Wilson is that you?" A short woman with a brightly colored scarf tied around her head asks.
"Nancy! I would've called but.."
"Look at you!" She walks over to give him a hug. "I haven't seen you since Uncle Mike's birthday party."
"Been a little busy, sorry. This is uh-"
"Steve Rogers, ma'am."
"Honey I know who you are, just not sure why you're hangin out with this silly cousin of mine."
"He said you could help me." Dad tugs me forward a bit.
"Isn't she the cutest thing. What's your name baby?"
"Amina, ma'am,"
"How old are you?"
"Ten." Her eyes go from my face to my hair.
"Who did this to her?" Some of the women tut in disapproval. Sam points to Dad. "You should've brought her sooner Sammy!"
"I know!"
"Come here baby," Nancy holds out a hand which I take. "I'll put her hair in a style that lasts, micros. That way it'll be easy to take care of."
"You want me to get anything?" Sam asks her.
"No. Just sit and wait. You two are lucky my client cancelled." Nancy washes my hair and combs it out. Then she gets extensions to braid into it. I've had micros before and know it'll take a while. I glance over every once in a while to see the ladies chatting up Dad. He doesn't seem to mind, I think especially because no one asks for his autograph and they're all mostly giving him tips on what to do with my hair. They probably assume he adopted me or took me in or something like that.
"Thats your daddy huh?" Nancy whispers. "You don't have to answer. You got his eyes and carry yourself the same way. I don't know how Captain America got a child when he hasn't been out of the ice very long but I won't question it. You're definitely his. Your daddy can save the world from aliens but can't comb his baby's hair, that's a problem." She laughs a little. " Don't let him do that again. Call Sam or me, I'll give you my number."
"Thank you." After a few hours she spins my chair around to look in the mirror. There's a ton of small braids in my hair. I grin. She holds her hand out and I give her a high five.
"Well how'd I do?" She says to Dad and Sam when they walk up.
"That's amazing!" Dad touches my hair. Sam rolls his eyes.
"He's still learning. How much Nancy?"
"On the house because Mr. Rogers here is sexy and I appreciate not having my city overrun by aliens. I'll charge next time." There's some whistles from the other women. Dad smiles and shakes his head.
"I really appreciate this."
"It's no problem."
"Come back any time Captain!" Someone shouts. More whistles and laughs. I'm pretty sure Dad's ears turn red. I skip the whole way out.
~Steve~
I've watched the recordings too many times. It's one thing to hear from someone that a ten year old could probably take down HYDRA's elite but that's exactly what I've been watching over and over again. They wanted to turn my girl into another Winter Soldier and because of my serum laced DNA she's stronger and faster than her opponents.
"Easy on the beer bottle. I'm not mopping tonight." I don't bother looking at Nat, just ease my grip some.
"Steve you've watched these a million times now, what more can you learn?" Bruce has a point but it's my only window into what Amina went through. She won't talk about it, Clint mentioned she's afraid I won't want her anymore which couldn't be further from the truth.
"She doesn't talk about it. I just…I need to know. I wouldn't even have known she existed if it hadn't been for Bucky's note." More like a letter he left attached to my bedroom door. How he got in undetected, I have no idea. I've taken it as a sign he's doing better. From the videos, it seems he's known Amina for awhile.
"It makes sense when you think about it," Nat is saying. "They basically wanted another Winter Soldier only with your DNA, someone they could control so why not have the current one mentor her?"
"Doesn't make me any less angry. They were teaching her how to kill a guy when she was five!" This time the bottle breaks. I've got beer all over my hand and some on the chair. Bruce sighs.
"Stop beating yourself up over it. You can't change anything now, you have to make sure she has a somewhat normal childhood from here on out." God knows I've been trying. I registered her for school the other day because learning everything from Tony is the last thing I want.
"I don't understand how her mother could do this."
"They sold her a dream, she bought it," Nat shrugs. I don't bother answering, instead I start cleaning up the glass. "Nefertiti Russell is shown a lot in these videos, not just happening to be there but she trained Amina herself. She was pretty good to be just a scientist. Amina never mentioned that?"
"She doesn't talk about her unless I ask so no. But she didn't mention Bucky had a hand in her training either."
"You think…"
"What is it Bruce?"
"Her fighting style...it looks like a style of karate, maybe mixed with a few things. I lived in Japan for a bit. Maybe if we find who trained Nefertiti we can get more answers."
"You don't think it was just HYDRA goons?" I ask him. He shakes his head.
"No I don't. I've seen this before but I can't remember where exactl-"
"MAMA! MAMA!" I'm already moving to her bedroom where she's kicking and screaming in her sleep. She doesn't have nightmares often but when she does they're bad.
"Amina, it's me. Calm down." I gather her up, try to get her to relax. "It's alright, I'm here." She stops moving and presses closer to me.
"Mama…" Amina whispers. I wish I could take away everything that's happened to her and it hurts that I can't. I hold her and rest my head against the headboard, thinking of a million ways to make HYDRA pay.
~Amina~
"Daddy! Daddy! Get UP!" I run into his room. Dad's on his back with a pillow over his face. Everyone says he sleeps a lot more now that I'm around. It's even become a joke that he doesn't get up nearly as early as he used to.
"What! What is it?" He bolts upright, still half asleep it looks like.
"School! I'm late!"
"Crap," He seems to give up because he just flops back down on the bed. I rush over and tug on his arm.
"Dad get up! You said you'd take me!"
"Actually Clint volunteered…"
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddddd!"
"Ok! I'm up!" Before leaving the room I make sure he's out of the bed then race back to mine where I throw on some clothes. In the bathroom I brush my teeth as fast as possible. Dad pops in behind me. He picks up one of the sprays I use on my hair
"No time!"
"But Nancy said-"
"No time Dad!"
"At least let me pull it back for you."
"Alright." I let him put my hair in a bun which takes too much time. He's barely finished when I'm rushing out the bathroom to the kitchen. That's where I see Thor flipping pancakes. Clint's at the table with my lunchbox and Sam has my bookbag.
"Sit," Thor orders.
"But I'm late."
"I was told breakfast is the most important meal of the day by Jane. You must eat."
"Daaaaaddddd!"
"She's getting really good at that," Clint says as I sit down.
"Too good." Dad sits next to me as Thor sets the plates down. Thor's a pretty good cook most of the time. I practically inhale my food which makes Dad give me his most disappointed look.
"Did you even taste that?" Sam slides my lunchbox over from Clint.
"Yep. It was good Thor." He smiles proudly. "Can we go? Please?"
"Fine. Nobody touches my food. I'll eat it when I get back."
"They won't be any good by then," Sam's already reaching over for Dad's pancakes.
"Wilson, get your hands off my plate."
"Yes sir!" Dad rolls his eyes.
"Come on Amina."
"Finally!" I give Thor, Clint and Sam a hug, grab my stuff then take the elevator down with Dad. The whole ride to the school I'm excited. We visited last Friday. The principal was a little starstruck but was nice. I got to see where my classroom was and meet my teacher. The whole time HYDRA had me, they had tutors come in. I'm positive I could test out of my grade but I wanna be with kids my own age.
"You got the phone Tony gave you?"
"Yep."
"All our numbers are in it?"
"Yep."
"Nervous?"
"Nope." Even though I haven't been in school in a long time, I've always had an easy time making friends so I'm not worried about that. When the car pulls up to the building I almost fly out but Dad makes me wait. He's practically moving at grandpa speed and I'm almost one hundred percent sure he's doing it on purpose because he's smiling. When we finally get to the office, the principal, Mrs. Harris, is waiting. She walks us down the hall and we stop outside my room.
"Well here we are Amina. You haven't missed much yet," She tells me. Dad adjusts my book bag.
"You'll be ok?'
"Yeah Dad."
"If you need anything-"
"I know." We've been over this a million times. I kept trying to tell him I'd be fine.
"I guess if you're sure then I'll be going."
"I'll see you later." He hesitates a second then starts to walk down the hall with Mrs. Harris. I forgot something. "Wait!" I run down the hall and throw myself at him. He catches me, gives me a big hug and whispers,
"Love you Babydoll."
"Love you too Dad." When he sets me down, I feel a lot better. This time he waits until I open the classroom door before he leaves.
I sit outside in a tree while I wait for Dad. A couple of my friends are waiting for their parents too. Julian is pretty cool. He's really into sports and has a big brother that's a big deal in high school football. Kat is a little nerdy and doesn't have many friends but I like her.
"You're gonna go then, right?" Julian wants me to go to his birthday party next week.
"Sure. Who else will be there?"
"Most of our class plus my annoying cousins. I HAD to invite them, my dad said so."
"At least your dad didn't clap and be extremely embarrassing at your piano recital." Kat's face turns red at the memory. "My teacher still laughs about it."
"That's nothing. My pops always yells for me when we're in the store even if I'm in the same aisle!"
"But does your dad tell lame jokes when he's in a group? It's awful. No one laughs."
"What about you Amina? Is your dad like that too?" Julian asks. They've all been so caught up that they didn't notice him standing right behind them.
"Am I Babydoll?" Julian and Kat's heads snap to him. Their eyes get really big. It's kinda funny.
"Not yet but I'll give you another month before you're doing dad jokes."
"Pepper said the same thing." He looks down at Julian and Kat who are still staring. "These your friends?"
"The girl is Kat and the boy is Julian."
"How're the two of you?"
"You're Amina's dad?" Julian asks.
"Yeah...is that bad?"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! THAT'S AWESOME!" I giggle. Dad looks around nervously as Julian starts bouncing around. "I wish you were my dad! Can we trade Amina?!" I slide out of the tree then take Dad's hand.
"Nope. He's pretty cool so I'm keeping him." Dad laughs and waves to my friends, Kat's still staring and Julian won't be quiet. As we get closer to the car I see Nat behind the wheel.
"What's for dinner?" I ask.
"Bruce wants to try this small Chinese place."
"Can we get ice cream later?"
"As long as Thor doesn't pick the flavor again." When we get to the car, I put my backpack in.
"Amina you were greatly missed. Steve had no idea what to do with his free time," Nat tells me. Dad kinda gives a sheepish smile.
"I really didn't. Think I drove everyone nuts today without you there." I give Dad a gentle push.
"Tag, you're it." He blinks then gives me another smile.
"Seriously?" Nat complains. "We're doing this now?"
"Don't wait up Nat!" I yell as I run.
"You're gonna have to be faster than that Babydoll!" Dad calls after me. He gave me a head start but that's ok. I really do have the best dad in the whole world.