Chapter 8:
"Do you want anyone else to come with us, or just the three of us?" Nat asked, as she saw Rhodes and Tony walking towards them, talking.
"I think maybe just you two?" Sienna said hesitantly. "I haven't been able to visit them since I was on the run, and I don't want too many people to see me like that."
"That's perfectly fair." Said Steve, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But you don't have to be embarrassed in front of us. We won't allow anyone else to come this time, but you shouldn't worry about anyone judging you for how you react to things, okay?"
"Okay." Sienna said, and walked side by side with Nat and Steve to the van.
"Why don't you sit up front with Steve, and I'll stay in the back." Nat suggested, as Sienna was heading towards the back doors. "That way you can tell us where to go."
"Okay." Sienna said, hopping in the front.
Nat sent a quick text to everyone else in the house as they were heading out, explaining the situation.
Sienna directed them as best she could, as she never used to take the roads when getting to the gravesite, despite having a car. "I think if we just park here, I can better maneuver us while we walk."
Steve parallel parked, then they all jumped out, with Steve and Nat following a bit behind Sienna as she made her way.
At the entrance to the cemetery, a vendor was selling single roses.
"Six, please." Steve said, pulling out his wallet. Sienna looked at him skeptically. "One for each of your parents for each of us to put down."
Sienna was thankful for this as she hadn't thought of bringing anything, and gratefully accepted the two roses from Steve.
They walked an intricate path, but it was one Sienna knew by heart, despite not having been there for quite a while.
"They're just over there." Sienna pointed, before stopping under a tree and turning to her guardians. "Do... do you mind if I go see them first? Alone?" She didn't want to hurt their feelings, she just wanted to be alone with her parents, something she hadn't been in a while.
They didn't seem hurt by this, though. "Of course. We'll be right here whenever you're ready." Nat said, smiling, and putting her hand on Sienna's forearm, squeezing gently.
Sienna nodded her thanks, and began to walk the rest of the way to her parents' shared gravestone. It read;
Two eagles have spread their wings and have taken flight, their destination known only to them.
Richard T Montgomery, 01/01/1970-05/04/2012
Amelia M Montgomery, 11/16/1970-05/04/2012
"Hey mom, hey dad." Sienna said as she got there, "I'm sorry I haven't been in a while, but I was trying to stay away from the man, and I think you would have understood that."
She put the flowers in front of the gravestone, one on each side.
"But, the man caught me. I gave 'em hell along the way, but I guess there's only so much running you can do. Maybe I'll do it again someday, but for now, my foster family seems to want to keep me. I know we all know that could change, and they could be taken away just as easily as you were, so I'm keeping the apartment."
She began to laugh a bit, thinking of her parents and the way they would take the predicament she was in. "You wouldn't believe these people. They trust banks, the government, they have more money than they probably know what to do with. There's an indoor pool the size of our old community pool. Decently different from our old lifestyle, but I'm okay with it. I don't think I could take it if another family tried to be just like you guys." She began tearing up quite a bit. "I just miss you so much. I wish I could take that day back and tell you not to go to that meeting. I wish I could tell you I love you and give you a hug one more time. I just want my family back."
She fell to her knees, crying at the ground. Not fifteen seconds later, she felt a hand on her back, and Steve was crouching down beside her. She leaned into him.
"Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery. It's nice to meet you. I'm Steve." Steve said, putting down his flowers beside hers. "I wish we never had to, and that your family could be whole, and your daughter with her parents."
This wasn't terribly comforting to Sienna, who cried more. But Steve wasn't finished. "But it is now my privilege to care for this amazing daughter of yours, and I promise to be the best caretaker I can. My friends and I have made this commitment, which we will not be going to break any time soon. Thank you for raising such a wonderful girl, and giving her, as far as I can tell, such great values. I promise that you will live on in her."
Sienna had stopped crying a bit, and now leant in to Steve's side more, thankful for his support.
Nat walked up to the grave stone, and put her hand on it. "I'm Nat." She said, feeling a little strange to be doing this, but knowing it would help Sienna. "I'm Steve's friend. And I, too, promise to take care of your daughter. I don't know what else to add onto what he said, other than I'm sorry that you had to make the sacrifice you did, and I will make sure it wasn't in vain." She had recognized the date on the gravestone, as did Steve.
She put her flowers down, and backed up to beside Steve and Sienna.
"I miss you. Hope Heaven is treating you well." Sienna said, then turned around, walking away.
Steve and Nat were surprised by this sudden goodbye, but knew she knew her limits.
"Hey, we actually have a friend who has a grave here, why don't we go visit?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Should we get some flowers for them, too?" Sienna said, looking back at the six roses on her parents' grave.
"No," Steve said, unsure, now. "He didn't actually die, he just needed to make the bad guys think he was dead."
He was worried about her reaction. His friend had fake died while her parents actually did.
He needn't have worried, though. "Wow, so we're visiting an empty grave to keep up appearances?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Nat said, as she navigated her way towards Fury's gravesite.
"Well I know it's probably not, but I'm going to pretend like this is a covert plan and really important to keep up, then, because I know at this point that's as close to a 'mission' as you'll ever let me get." Sienna said, her face bright despite the dried tears that had settled on her face.
"Yeah well you're right about one thing; you aren't getting any closer to a mission than this." Steve said, an authoritative tone to his voice that said he wouldn't argue the matter further.
Walking up to the headstone, Sienna read the name. "Was he always mad? Did his name suit him?"
"Not always." Nat said, laughing.
"But his name still does suit him." Steve said, reminding Sienna lightly that Fury had only fake died. "Don't get on his bad side."
"Since unfreezing, Steve has only been in trouble one time. It was with him." Sienna's eyes widened at this realization.
"You got into trouble? But you're Mr. Perfect!"
"Oh no I'm not." Steve said, laughing, "I'm just everyone's elder and therefore the wisest." Nat snorted. Steve glanced at her, smirking, but said nothing to her. "But being in trouble... well, that kind of trouble, we all have been in danger every now and then... it had a different effect on me than most people I know. I haven't repeated my misdoings."
"I am perfect and I don't know what you're talking about." Nat said, turning around and bumping shoulders with him as she passed to head towards the van.
"Hmph." Steve said, looking at Sienna, who smiled.
SM
On their way home from the cemetery, they got a text from Wanda saying that everyone had gone out for dinner, and that they should meet them there.
Sienna and Wanda weren't allowed to sit beside each other, but they were allowed to sit across from each other, and so they did. They talked throughout the meal, ignoring the others around them, about books, and the movies Sienna should watch.
"You should watch the new Superman movie. I don't know if you've seen the old ones, but you don't really need to. And, Superman is hot." Wanda said, before taking a bite of her pasta.
"Actually, I'm not big on superheroes, funnily enough." Sienna said, laughing. "I really like kids movies, though, and comedies. I mean, I never really got to see much before my parents died, because I was so young, so I don't know if my cinematic tastes have evolved."
"That's fair. Well, we can figure it out." Wanda said, eating more. She hadn't really been able to watch many movies, either, when she had been captured, but that was all they did in the beginning, when she first came back to America with the Avengers between training sessions.
"Do you think I'll ever be able to watch you guys train?" Sienna asked, spooning a mouthful of soup into her mouth.
"I highly doubt it." Vision said from beside Wanda. "Steve wants you kept as far away from this as possible. We know how dangerous it is, and we have a duty to continue it. You don't. So you won't."
"But shouldn't it be my choice?" Sienna asked, frazzled by this, once again.
"No. As your legal guardians-" Vision began, but Sienna cut him off.
"For now."
"We reserve the right- excuse me?"
"I'm just saying no 'legal guardian' I've ever had has stayed that, by their own volition or not. And as much as you guys say you'll be there, it's hard to believe. People leave. Whether by death or by choice, and you guys seem to be in the line of business where leaving by choice would be to protect me from death, and death could be around every corner. So yeah, you're my guardians, for now, and when you inevitably leave, I'll be left defenceless, because no one will teach me a thing."
With that, Sienna stood up, alerting everyone at the table to their discussion, which, miraculously, no one else had heard, pronouncing she was finished.
"Sienna?" Rhodes asked, as he was sitting directly to her left, "are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm finished eating. I'd like to wait in a car, please."
"Do you want someone to take you home?" Rhodes asked again, as he was finished, and could easily take her home, assuming Tony was paying.
"No, you all continue to eat your dinners and talk. I'm just going to be in a car."
Tony, sensing that the best course of action would just be to do as she had requested, handed her a set of keys and his cell phone. "Watch something online while you wait, then." He said, and she grabbed them before walking out.
She headed to the parking lot, pressing the unlock to see which car she could climb into, and found it at the end of the line. She crawled into the backseat and turned on his phone. It had a passcode on it, but also a message from Steve which she could see saying "2857" she punched in the numbers and got into his phone, before texting Steve back.
Got in. Thanks. SM
There's a button labeled Netflix. You can watch a movie or something on there. SR
She pressed the button he said, and found herself on a strange website filled with movies. She pressed the kids button, found Spongebob Squarepants, and mindlessly watched her favourite show as a kid before falling asleep.
SM
Back in the restaurant, everyone was shocked.
"What happened?" Steve asked, looking down the table to Wanda and Vision.
"Hold on, she doesn't have my passcode. Text her 2857 so she can get in."
Steve did so, while Tony said, "we're getting her a phone."
"Alright, what happened?" Clint asked, as the Steve was distracted, texting.
"She was asking to train with us and I explained that she couldn't." Vision said, matter of factly.
"She wants to train so she can protect herself if she needs to because she thinks one way or another we're going to leave her." Wanda said, pushing her finished plate away.
"She still thinks that?" Nat asked, incredulously.
"After all we've done for her?" Rhodes asked.
"If you come to think of it, we haven't really done all that much for her, that other foster families haven't." Sam said, getting everyone's attention. "Sure, we gave her a roof over her head, but she could have gotten that from a different foster family, or from a group home. Our place is a very nice place, only because we have the money. But all she does is read, which she could do anywhere else. We've punished her, forced her to eat, which maybe she didn't always get from the other places, but those are both negative things. Maybe buying her clothes is doing something, but we did so with the money the government gives us for fostering her. So really, we've done nothing out of the ordinary. I think it's fair of her to thing that we will be leaving her, because all we've done is the same thing I'm sure everyone else has done, but with more money as a backbone."
"So what do you suggest we do? What do other foster parents not do?" Tony asked.
"There's probably nothing we can do but stick it out." Sam said, thoughtfully. "I think we just need to show her that we aren't going anywhere. And you can't buy that, or show that, really. That's something that will come with time. A couple weeks in just isn't enough time. And it's only been three years since her parents died, and she's been in how many different homes? People haven't wanted her before, it's hard for her to imagine they do now."
"Three years ago." Steve said, and everyone looked to him. "I'm sure in some capacity we all remember what happened three years ago, but what we saw today confirmed my worst fears."
"What is it, Cap?" Asked Tony.
"Her parents were killed on the day of the battle of New York." Nat finished for Steve, who had looked away. "So either it was just a coincidence, or we couldn't save them."
"I don't blame her for thinking we'll leave." Steve said suddenly. "It was probably partially our fault that her parents died. She probably thinks we'll take away another good thing from her."
Everyone was shocked at this, but mostly Clint and Tony, the only other ones who had actually been there.
"So why hasn't she brought it up, why hasn't she blamed us?" Clint asked, feeling horribly guilty.
"I wish I knew the answer to that." Steve said, "I really wish I did."
Wanda, knowing that the four of them were hurting, desperately tried to change the subject.
"Can she train?" She asked Steve, looking pleadingly up at him. He had tears in his eyes as he looked at her. "She just wants to know how to protect herself if she needs to." Steve nodded at her, and Wanda almost couldn't help the smile that was threatening on her lips.
"Well, let's pay the bill and go let her know." Tony said, getting up with everyone else and throwing enough money on the table to cover everyone and leave a generous tip.
Tony walked out towards his car, the extra keys in his hand to unlock it, and looked in the backseat.
"She's out cold." Rhodes said, looking at the girl still clutching the phone in her hand.
He and Tony got into the car and drove off towards the Avengers building, trying to avoid every pothole and bump they could. Once they got there, Tony got Sienna out of the car and carried her to her room, putting her, clothes and all, to bed.
"I'm so sorry." He whispered, as he walked out.
SM
Sienna awoke the next day as usual bright and early. She had no recollection of coming back last night, but decided it didn't matter.
She got up and out of bed, and walked towards the library, as she was pretty sure she had only been banned from there for a day, and that day had been yesterday. All she wanted to do today was read, and forget what she said yesterday at dinner. Hopefully they would, too.
She appeared to be in luck. No one came to visit her until about 9 o'clock, when she was asked to come for breakfast. At breakfast, though, she received a shock.
"We're going to let you watch us train." Steve said, looking up from his plate at her.
"Really?" Sienna asked, excitedly.
"Yes. And we're going to eventually teach you how to defend yourself. But for now, we just want you to watch."
"This is so cool!" Sienna said, bouncing in her seat.
Tony put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't make us regret our decision before we even let you in."
"Also, this comes with rules." Nat said, getting the girl to switch her attention to her. "You will weigh yourself with one of us every week. You need to build up muscle, and gain a little fat. Both of those things will need to be monitored to make sure you're healthy. Okay?"
A little crestfallen, Sienna mumbled an "okay" but quickly perked up again when Wanda said, "I'm so excited! You'll finally get to see how my powers truly work!"
"Alright, well everybody suit up. Meet back in the training room in ten." Steve said, getting up. Sienna jumped up, but didn't know what to do.
"You're with me." Clint said, coming up behind her. "We'll be watching from our bird's eye view."
He lead her down the hall she knew to lead to the training room, but turned to the right just before entering, opening a door that lead to a staircase. Getting to the top (huffing and puffing on Sienna's part), they sat down on the edge, resting on the bars in front of them.
"This may be boring. All we have to do is watch." But Sienna didn't care. As everyone came into the room, she was amazed at their suits, and at the way their demeanour changed when they were wearing them.
"Okay. Warm up." Steve began leading the team in a warm up, and then he and Nat took turns directing the gang on hand-to-hand combat, defence attacks, and backing up each other as a team.
Wanda was showing off for Sienna, and everyone knew it, but no one said a thing, knowing they, too, were showing off a bit as well.
That was until Wanda missed a completely obvious punch that would have sent her flying back if she didn't see it just in time to throw Sam into the air.
"Wanda!" Pay attention. We know you want to show off, but we all have to make sure not to actually harm each other. And you know you aren't supposed to use your powers like that." Steve reprimanded, giving Sam a hand up.
"Sorry." Wanda said sincerely, then looked to Sam. "Really."
"It's alright. Next time I'll actually get you and we'll be even." Sam said, winking.
"Don't encourage that behaviour, Sam." Nat said, tackling him. "And pay attention. This is the second time you've landed on the floor in less than a minute. And you're supposed to fly."
SM
Back up at the top of the training room, Sienna and Clint were talking strategy. "Are they supposed to be showing that much of their backs?" Sienna asked.
"No, they aren't." Clint said, surprised at how basically everyone but Nat and Steve were keeping their most vulnerable side open.
"Here, I got this." Sienna said, taking the glass of water Clint had gotten her a little while earlier, and taking the straw out of it. "Do you have paper?"
He did, and he also saw where she was going with it, so he didn't try to stop her.
"I learned a few tricks from my younger foster brothers." Sienna said, balling up a small piece of paper, getting it wet and putting it in the bottom of the straw. "I'll help the training."
For the next half hour, whenever someone wasn't looking properly, she would shoot at them, and the wet pieces of paper would fly across the room, always hitting their targets. Everyone saw it hit other people, but they all assumed they had been clear. When the training session was almost up, Clint and Sienna made their way down and into the training area.
Clint walked in first, announcing, "well looks like you guys still need me after all. Can't even protect your backsides if you tried."
"What are you talking about?" Wanda asked, not realizing she had about 5 swabs of wet paper stuck to her back.
Apart from Steve and Nat, none of you were protecting your backs. Sienna, a completely untrained assassin-"
"Who was shooting water bombs and isn't completely untrained in the sport of it-"
"-was able to hit all the rest of you."
"For every hit, you will be running a mile this afternoon." Steve announced, making everyone but Nat groan. "Nice work, Sienna."
Wanda was bristling. All she wanted to do was show off for her new friend, but now she had to run five miles.
SM
After lunch, Wanda decided to get her miles over with. She moodily stalked off to her room to put on her shoes. Leaving her room, she almost ran straight into a sorry faced Sienna.
"I'm sorry you're running these miles because of me." Sienna said, grabbing ahold of the witch's hand and dragging her to her room. "So if you wait for me, I'll come with you!"
"Okay, sure!" Wanda said, now excited to be spending time with her friend. "We can do our five miles, then explore, if you want to."
"Wait, we're going outside?" Sienna asked, excitedly.
"Of course, where else would we run?"
"On the treadmills in the training room?"
"I'm mad at Steve and he'll be in there. I'll just wear a fancy watch Tony gave me that marks how far I've gone, and then they'll be able to see that I did my bit. C'mon. We'll leave a note."
So I know I said I would update weekly, but last week was really too busy for that... I will try to stick to my schedule from now on. I promise. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the update! I was going to continue, but I think this is a good place to stop. Thanks for reading! If you like it, let me know. Also, if you have fanfiction recommendations, I'd love to hear them! (I would also love to read a story like this, so if you know of any, let me know!... I'm also not opposed to DC, Harry Potter, etc.)
