Clint walked into the room, aiming a gun, when he was greeted by a teenage girl, staring at him with piercing gray eyes. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked, and she was in a cage. She was medium height with medium toned skin and long black hair.

"I'm here to take down this base. The name's Hawkeye." he said, letting her out.

She cracked her neck. "Hah. NICE TRY!" she shouted at a camera in the corner.

"Listen. I'm a good guy. I'm here to get you out of here."

"You're going to have to be more convincing than that. You've tried this already." she said, laughing. "I'm not stupid."

"Kid, I don't have time for this." he muttered, grabbing her arm, when she turned to metal and wrenched her arm away.

He rolled his eyes and shot an arrow behind her, missing purposefully. It exploded on contact with the wall and she turned around, shocked. While she was turned around he put her in a chokehold and waited until she went unconscious, then picked her up and ran out the building.

They went back to the plane and Clint put her down.

"So you actually are a good guy." she muttered.

"How are you conscious so fast?"

"Super soldier." she said.

"Wow. You and Steve will get along great."

"where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Avenger's Tower." he replied.

She stayed silent.

"What can you do, mini cavalry?" Clint asked, as they walked back into the tower.

"I can do this." she said, taking a deep breath and turning to mist. Then she reformed and turned into steel, then she went back to normal.

"My eyes used to be brown. Then this happened." she said. "And who's the cavalry?"

"Melinda May." Clint replied. "You remind me of her. Let's go meet everyone else." he said.

"Kay." She said, popping a bubble in her gum. They walked in and Steve raised an eyebrow.

"This is the powered individual?" he asked.

"Yup. Name's Ava." she answered.

"Any last name?" Natasha asked.

"No." she responded nonchalantly. "Do you have a gym here?" she asked.

"You do realize where you are right? Of course we have a gym. What do you take me for?" Tony asked.

"Of course. I was just asking."

"Why?"

"It's called manners, maybe you should learn some." She replied. "Yo J! Where's my room at?" she called out. The rest of the avengers were shocked. She's basically a mixture of Tony and Natasha miniaturized and different looking.

"Upstairs, 52nd floor is yours."

"An entire floor? Well that's a minor upgrade." she said.

"Where were you living before?"

"The streets of New York." she said. "Since the Chitauri invasion."

Steve winced and she rolled her eyes. "Don't get a big head. It wasn't your fault. I was on the streets of Brooklyn before. Never had a home to begin with." she said. "And don't give me that look. I'm fine. I don't care." she said.

None of them believed her.

"I'm going downstairs to work out. I'll be back later." she said, going downstairs.

"She's hiding something." Vision said.

"No really?" Clint asked.

"Steve should go ask. You're the most approachable." Natasha said.

"I think Wanda would be the most approachable. They're fairly close in age too." he disagreed.

"Okay." she said, going downstairs.

"Hello Ava." she greeted.

"I'm not going to tell you anything." Ava replied.

"Why do you think I'm here to ask you something?" Wanda replied.

"Because. I heard your conversation." she replied.

"How?"

"Super soldier serum." she replied. She punched the punching bag hard, causing it to swing off the hook and land on the back wall, a large hole in the center.

"How?" Wanda asked.

"Experiments." she said, grabbing another bag.

"Use Steve's." Wanda interjected. "It'll hold your strength."

"Are you sure?"

"He'll be fine."

"If you say so." she agreed, grabbing it and putting it up easily, not being bothered at all by the weight.

Steve walked downstairs and saw her using his punching bag. He looked at Wanda questioningly.

"She's a super soldier." she said.

"How?" he asked.

"Experiments." Ava replied through gritted teeth.

"Who?" Wanda asked.

"Hydra. Where did you think Clint found me?" she asked.

"I don't know." Wanda said.

"Well, he didn't find me in a luxury mansion." she said, and not for the first time they both noticed how she tried to hide the fact that she has nothing but muscle, which was probably only there because of the serum. There was no fat anywhere on her. She was literally skin muscle and bone.

(ONE MONTH LATER)

Ava was still not used to living in the tower with a bunch of other people. She was glad nobody had tried to get her secrets out, but she also didn't really know how to interact with them.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Steve asked.

She looked at him. He had been particularly persistent in trying to get her to interact with everyone. From what she could tell, he was the leader.

"I'm fine." she said.

"You know, it's Thanksgiving today." he said.

"It's what?" she asked, looking at him confused.

"You've never heard of thanksgiving?"

" . . . No. should I have?"

He came in and sat next to her. "Thanksgiving is an American holiday where we gather with friends and family and eat together and show thankfulness for the people in our lives." he said.

"I don't have a family." she said.

"Well you have friends, come on. We're attempting to cook right now. I can cook a little, so can Wanda and Natasha and Clint." he said.

"I can't cook."

"Don't be boring. Come on." he said, standing up.

She stared up at him. "Why do you even bother?"

"Because you need to socialize. You were fine the first few days and after that you haven't even left this room. Come on. Let's go." He said, grabbing her hands and pulling her up.

She gave him a look. "Do I have to?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd come willingly but yes. Yes you do."

"I have a choice you know."

"Not this time you don't." he said, gesturing to the door. She rolled her eyes.

"And if I say no?"

"I'll get Natasha in here and she can get you to join us."

"why? Can't do it yourself?"

"I can. I don't want to and Natasha will be quicker anyway."

"Why don't you want to? Because I'm a girl?"

"Because you're a kid."

"I can take you down any day." she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah?"

In a split second she had him flipped on his back, and her knee, now metal, pressing against his chest and a knife at his throat. "Yeah." she said, her eyes glinting.

He smirked and flipped her off, and she vaporized and appeared on her feet, but he was already back on his feet with her knife at her throat. "Touché." she muttered as he moved away.

"So? Are you coming or not?"

"Fine, I'll make a deal. We spar. If I win, I don't have to do this. If you win, I'll come willingly." she said.

He nodded. "Okay, and if I win, you have to come train with everyone every day for a month." he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but was fairly confident she could beat him, so she nodded. "Deal." she said, holding her hand out.

He shook it. He knew he would win this. She has power and strength, but she doesn't know how to strategize. He noticed this when she attacked him. She doesn't adapt her fighting style according to her opponent. And she doesn't have experience. He doesn't know how long she's had the serum, but he's estimating not long, considering she relies more heavily on her other abilities.

She gestured to the door. "Let's go then." she said.

He smirked. He knew she thought she would win, it was plainly written on her face. "It's not too late to back out."

"You're a softy. I can back out whenever I want. Not that I will." she called back.

He shook his head. "You're insane. Are you sure you don't want to eat first?"

"No no no. You're not going to trick me into doing that."

"Pity."

"So Natasha and Bruce?" she asked.

"Yeah." Steve replied. "What about them?"

"They're together, aren't they?"

"Yes. Why?"

She shook her head. "I don't like them together. Not one bit. They're totally incompatible." she said.

"How would you know? You spend all your time holed up in your room."

"Your point? I don't need to leave that room to get all the dirt on everyone."

They walked into the kitchen where everyone else was. "Would you look at that! Her royal majesty decides to grace us with her presence." Clint teased.

She rolled her eyes. "We made a deal. If I beat him I don't have to do thanksgiving, or whatever it's called. If he beats me then I don't get a choice." she said.

"Well good luck. I don't think you'll beat cap." Tony said.

"Hm. I think she could do it. She is a super soldier after all." Natasha mused.

"And a shapeshifter." Wanda added.

"She doesn't have experience."

"I'm still here." Ava said. "And I have plenty of experience. You don't know anything about me." she said. And then she saw the pie. It looked so good, with creamy pumpkin filling and perfectly swirled whipped cream on top. Suddenly her stomach started growling.

"Well, we were going to start eating now. Why don't we eat together and then you can spar." Clint suggested.

"No. that was the condition." Ava protested.

"I can see it in your eyes. You want some." Tony said amused.

She looked at him defiantly. "No. I don't."

"Yes you do." Natasha agreed.

She rolled her eyes, but kept them trained on the pie as it was moved to the table.

Steve laughed behind her and she jumped, forgetting he was there. "You're practically eating it with your eyes." he said.

She hesitated. She hasn't eaten in front of them, actually eaten, ever before. She's a super soldier, she eats a lot. And by a lot, she means a lot. She burns through everything so fast that she needs to eat ten times as much as the normal person. So she's starving.

"You're not eating enough." Steve whispered, knowing that she would hear it even though there was a foot of distance between them.

"What are you talking about?" she whispered back, almost inaudibly.

"You're a super soldier. You need to eat more. You'll get sick if you don't."

She glanced at him. "You can't trick me."

He shook his head slightly. "I'm not trying to. Eat. Sparring will take up a lot of energy anyway. And I don't plan on going easy on you."

She sighed, hearing her stomach rumble, and she knew he heard it too, because of the smirk on his face. "Fine." she muttered.

"Stupid people. Stupid hunger. Stupid stupid stupid." she grumbled, sitting down.

Steve gave her an amused look. "I saw you eyeing the pie. I'm sure that's not stupid." he said.

She glared at him. "What's your problem?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I don't have one. Do you?"

"Yes! Why are you so persistent! Can't you send me to jail or something instead of forcing me to talk to people. I hate people. I hate being social! I hate all of it! In fact, I would be great with solitary confinement! Maybe then I'll go certifiably insane instead of only questionably sane so I will never have to talk to people again! Do you know what it's like, to not have contact with people except for torture for seven years straight? I didn't think so! Well let me tell you, it sucks! I just want the food and then I'm going back upstairs." she said, grabbing the pie and walking out.

"Hold on a second! You can't just take the whole pie!" Steve protested.

"The hell I can't! I can and I will!" she replied, making a run for it.

"Kid, you'll get some. Relax." Steve said, looking at her.

"Don't call me kid Rogers."

"Oooh using the last name. Watch out capsicle." Tony said.

"Just hand over the pie." Steve said cautiously.

She glowered at him. "Never." she said, running again. He ran after her, catching up quickly. They may both be enhanced, but he has longer legs.

He grabbed the pie and held it up higher than she could reach. "No."

she glared and disappeared and appeared again sitting on top of his shoulders, grabbed the pie, and reformed back on the ground with the pie in hand.

"HA." she said, smirking.

"Oh come on! That's not fair."

"Neither is your height advantage. Sucks to be you." she said.

He glanced around and saw the perfect plan. He grabbed a plate, a plastic plate, and threw it like he would throw his shield, letting it bounce off the wall and head towards her face. He knew she had good reflexes and would avoid it, which is exactly what he was hoping for.

She turned into metal and brought her hands up to catch it instinctively, and while she was off guard, Steve snatched the pie and slammed the button to turn the power inhibitors on.

She glared. "Give me the pie."

"No."

"Yes." she said, reaching for it, but he held it away from her.

She was hungry now, really hungry, and she was ready to do pretty much anything for that pie. Not to mention she was kind of sort of having fun, not that she would admit it.

She grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back, grabbing the pie as it flew into the air and holding it with her metal hand. He grabbed her leg and twisted it, not painfully, causing her to flip over onto her back and he got up quickly, grabbing the pie. Everyone else was watching this with great interest.

She kicked up, causing him to lose balance momentarily and let her grab the pie, when he sweepkicked under her and she fell, dropping the pie, which Steve grabbed.

She aimed a punch at him, to which he narrowly avoided. She aimed another, again nearly missed, cornering him. She managed to grab the pie by faking right and going left, when Steve decided to end it, using the most successful move he knew.

He tickled her and she screamed. "WHAT THE HELL! STOP- AH- THAT- TICKLES- STOP!" she shrieked, the pie falling as she fell, and she and Steve both dived for it, but ended up missing, leaving the pie splattered on the floor.

Steve held out his hand and she took it, getting up. He nodded. "Good training exercise. You need to work on defending your legs. Varying your tactics. You don't seem to cover your six all that much either. We'll work on it." he said. "There's three more in the fridge, come on."

"But you didn't win."

"Neither did you. And it looks like you wanted that." he pointed out.

"Touché." she muttered.

(A FEW MONTHS LATER)

"Hey Ava. Press conference here in a bit. The world wants to meet you!" Tony said, walking into the open room.

"Can you tell the world to go away?" she asked.

"No I can't. Well I can, but I don't want to." he said.

"Do I have to change?" she asked.

"Yes. Business casual." he replied.

"Ugh fine." she muttered. She got up and walked over to the closet, grabbed a loose flowy button up white dress shirt and threw it on like a cardigan over her black tank top and tight jeans.

"Ready." she said.

"Are you going to button it up? And maybe wear some slacks." he said.

"Nope." She said, popping the p.

Tony rolled his eyes. "You know, they're not going to take you seriously like that." he said.

She smiled mischievously. "You think they'll take me serious if I'm made of metal?"

"Ava!"

"I'm fine like this, and honestly, I'm not hurting you by wearing this. Cap would tell you that you're infringing my liberties." She said.

"Okay. Let's go ask him. Capsicle!" he called.

"What do you want Tony?" Steve asked, walking in.

"Can you make her royal highness here wear business casual?" he asked.

"No." he replied. "Why don't you want to anyway?" he asked Ava.

"Because. I'm comfortable like this." she said. "Be glad I'm not wearing shorts. Or sweats. Oh sweats sound really nice right about now." she said.

"You're strange." Tony muttered, leaving. "You have custom silk shirts from France and you want to wear the trashy tank top."

"My tank tops are not trashy. They're just not high end." she objected.

"Anyway, Steve, guess what Natasha bought me?" Ava asked him.

"What?" he asked.

She walked over to her closet and pulled out the black tank top with the avengers logo written out in white. "Oh and she got me these!" and she pulled out a pair of sweats with Steve's shield on the side. He rolled his eyes.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because. Natasha thought she would buy them but she didn't want to wear them. She said it would be amusing to pretend to be one of those fangirls that's 30 years younger than you." she said.

"I'm not even thirty years old yet." Steve said, smiling.

"20."

"That means they're six."

"Okay, 10." she relented.

"That's still slightly creepy." he said, laughing.