Title: "Ad Astra Per Aspera"

Rating: T

Genre: family, romance

Character(s): Adam and two OCs as main, but almost everybody gets a mention

Pairing(s): Adam/OC

Summary: "It seemed like it was just yesterday that he met her, under one of the worst circumstances at that. Still, the memory, and all the subsequent ones, brought a smile to his face, for that one moment changed his life. 'Okay,' he finally told his daughter. 'I'll tell you our story.'" Post-Lab Rats. [Written for Stardust16's contest.]

Notes: As noted, this is written for Stardust16's contest. (If you guys can, submit an entry! It's pretty fun. Just write an Adam/OC story, and you're in.) Regarding this little number, it features an OC that some may be familiar with. She's still the same, only she's placed in the 'default' universe with Adam. This is not connected at all to the story she was last in.

Ad astra per aspera is a Latin phrase meaning 'to the stars through difficulties.'

Hope you guys enjoy. :)

TW: some sensitive moments (potential emotional triggers), mentions of blood and torture, tackles racism and death

At thirty-four, Adam was finding it difficult to process how much age was beginning to catch up to him. Just ten years ago, he felt as if he was going to be invincible forever. He thought he would never feel the same aches and pains that his parents and his uncle had complained about. Backaches and knees that cracked loudly whenever he stood up sounded so impossible. Those wouldn't happen to him. Those couldn't touch him.

Now, as he did the simple task of perusing the small collection of storybooks stashed within his seven year-old daughter's princess bookshelf, he could feel all of those things, and then some.

Young people's idea of eternal invincibility. It just didn't connect with reality.

Given, he did have a long day today. There was a mission at the shipping docks that suddenly came up while they were in the middle of training. Saving the workers and lifting and tossing quite a number of industrial materials in the process sapped some of his strength. What really took a toll was what had to be done at the company. Of course a truckload of paperwork would have to be dealt with right after he came back from a mission. It was so tedious that he had to resist the urge to repeatedly hit his head on his desk until he passed out.

However, he still felt like he should have more energy than what he had now. His brain told him he could do more. He felt like he should be able to, at least. Yet, his body said no. After leaving his daughter's room, his bed would be his next and final stop for the day.

He frowned at one of the thinner storybooks on the shelf. Pulling it out, he stared at the artwork on the cover and wondered if it was something he had read to her this week. Unable to recall, he looked at his daughter to ask.

Immediately, he was answered by a shake of the head. "Not that, Daddy. I've heard that story so many times."

"Okay," Adam said patiently, putting the book back where it belonged. He skimmed through the titles printed on the spines of the other books. "How about…The Ugly Duckling?"

"Monday night."

"Little Red Riding Hood?"

"Tuesday Night."

"Ferdinand the Bull?"

Her face scrunched up into an indecisive expression, but from it he could tell that she didn't favor that option.

"Karina, you're going to have to give Daddy an answer here," he kindly prompted.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. It's just that I've heard all of those stories," the seven year-old said.

Adam got up, sighing. "Okay," he said. "Maybe we could borrow something from your brother's collection. What about that new one that he got two weeks ago? The Little Engine That Could…Do…Something." He frowned.

Karina chuckled.

Adam looked at her then grinned. "Alright, alright," he said. "So do you want me to get that?"

She shook her head. "No, I read that to Leo a lot. That's his favorite. I know it already," she said with a smile.

"Yeah. You do." He ran a hand through his hair as he thought. Reading to his children every night was always a good idea, until times like this come when there was nothing to read to them. He kinda wished Chase had bought Karina books instead of that chemistry kit. Then again, the girl had been coaxing her uncles (and even her Aunt Bree) for it for the longest.

He shrugged, surrendering. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but other than what we have there's nothing else," he said.

The little girl's shoulders sagged. "Okay."

"We'll see if we can buy some more this weekend for you, okay?" Adam said, walking over to her bed then taking a seat by her. He smiled.

She nodded though still disheartened.

He hugged her then gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "How was school today?" he asked.

"It was okay. Christie said she's going to watch the new Barbie movie this weekend with Kat and Lindsay."

"Do you want to go?"

She shook her head. "No, I wasn't invited. Christie just tells me her plans. It's only her friends who can come," she said factually.

Though saddened by her exclusion, he only said, "Well, you can always see if Aunt Kira would like to go with you."

Karina shook her head again. "No. I don't feel like it anyways. It's not really my kind of movie," she said.

He nodded with a smile, happy that she was not hurt. "You know, speaking of, if G-Mom and Pop-pop take you and Kira shopping tomorrow, maybe you can ask them to buy new books for you," he suggested.

"I guess I can," she said. Her brows furrowed and her head tilted before asking, "Is Leo coming with me tomorrow to G-Mom and Pop-pop's house?"

"No. He's gonna be with Grandpa Robin and Grandma Elyse."

"Is he gonna stay there the whole weekend?"

"No."

"Oh."

He saw a spark of insecurity in her eyes, and he knew it was because she was thinking that while she was away, her little brother would get to spend more time with their parents – again. Since his son was born two years ago, he had learned that telling her not to be jealous was counterproductive; it only made her more jealous. The wisest way to diffuse it, as he and his wife had come to understand, was to assure her. So with a smile, he said, "Sunday he will be staying over at Uncle Chase and Aunt Sam's house. He's not coming back until Monday afternoon, until after Mommy picks you up from school."

She nodded as if only mildly interested, but he knew that having alone time with her parents in those two days made her happy.

Karina withdrew to her own thoughts for a brief moment before inquiring, "Daddy? How long have Pop-pop and G-Mom been married?"

Adam tried to do the math in his head, but soon enough he got lost. He was too tired to count. "For a few years now," he answered instead.

"Like, fifty years?"

"No, sweetheart. Not fifty," Adam said, unable to help himself from chuckling. "Um, take Aunt Kira's age then add, oh, maybe three or four years to it."

"So…about fifteen or sixteen years then?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said, the grin on his face slowly weakening to a sad smile.

Not noticing it, Karina only continued. "What about you and Mommy? How long have you been married?"

That number, he could do. "Eight years," he answered easily.

"Oh! So my age plus one!"

"Yup."

She grinned, proud to have made that connection. In curiosity, she looked up at her father then asked, "How did you and Mommy meet?"

Adam chuckled, caught off-guard by that. "Oh, it's a very long story," he said.

Karina's eyes lit up. She wiggled into a comfortable position, pulled her fleece blanket up a little more, and then waited eagerly for her father.

Seeing the grin on her face, Adam frowned. When he understood, he laughed. "You want me to tell you how we met?" he asked.

"Please, Daddy?" the seven year-old girl said.

"Sweetheart, it's not as interesting as you think it is."

"Then make it interesting."

"Like, how – Once Upon A Time interesting or Comic Book interesting?"

"Hmm…I want it Real Life interesting," she said.

Adam pored over it. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and decided his wife wouldn't be home for a few more hours. She said she was asked to stay a little later at the firm to finish a few things before she was free to go for the weekend. That would give him and Karina an opportunity to go through the story from beginning to end – hopefully.

As he sorted through his memory bank, the narrative of how he and his wife came to be slowly emerged. He didn't think it had been that long. Twelve years. It seemed like it was just yesterday that he met her, under one of the worst circumstances at that. Still, the memory, and all the subsequent ones, brought a smile to his face, for that one moment changed his life. "Okay," he finally told his daughter. "I'll tell you our story."

"Yay," she cheered.

He grinned. "Okay, okay." After he had gotten comfortable, he began. "Well, I guess there's no better place to start than that day when I, and Uncle Leo and Uncle Daniel, were chasing this one bad robot person…"