A/N: Again, thank you to all reviewers. It means the world to me to know that people like this enough to take the time to actually tell me. Also, please remember that if there are any issues you have with the story, I'm opening to hearing them and maybe I can tweak it. This is an ongoing process for me, and I value everyone's input!


"Liz, where'd you go," Clint asked over his earpiece.

There was no answer.

"Jarvis," Tony asked, "Is Eliza in the tower?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is she alright?"

"Ms. White has told me she is fine. However she does not wish to be disturbed."

"I wonder what's up with her," Tony asked.

Clint mentally face-palmed. Natasha seemed to come to the same revelation at the same time. The orphanage. The poor girl had probably not wanted to be involved in anything that involved... those types of places.

"I say we leave her be," Clint told them, making eye contact with Natasha as if to confirm his suspicions. She nodded.

The Avengers split up then, some heading off to their rooms, others, like Pepper and Natasha, decided to go out for the late morning. Do a bit of shopping. Steve spent most of his time reading at the kitchen table while Bruce decided to bake a cake.

"You're baking a cake," Tony asked him in confusion.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I'm hungry for cake."

Tony shrugged and went up to his workshop.

It wasn't until nearly three o'clock that afternoon that they reconvened in the kitchen. Bruce's cake was cooked, frosted, cooled, and ready to cut. It was then that they realized that Eliza was still nowhere to be found. Clint groaned as he realized he had to go find her.

"Jarvis, is Liz in her room?"

"No, sir."

"Damn," Barton groaned, "Is she in the vent shafts?"

Jarvis didn't reply.

"Ask her to come down here, J," Tony added helpfully.

"Of course, sir."

A few moments passed.

Jarvis interrupted the silence, "She has said she will be "right down, don't worry."

"Good," Clint snorted.

After maybe five minutes, the whole team jumped from the table as a crash was heard in the next room. They ran to see what had happened, and found Eliza crawling out of the ceiling vent, a sheepish look on her face. She grumbled a sorry.

After fixing the grate back up with her telekinesis (she was too short to do it by hand), Eliza and the other Avengers headed back inside to the table.

"So, Steve, it's almost the Fourth of July… Just a few more weeks," Liz started, waiting as Pepper cut the cake.

"Here we go," he mumbled.

"Come on, mate," Tony poked him in the arm, "The kid's right you know. You've got to go give a speech. Your Captain freaking America!"

"Yeah, come on man," Liz mimicked Tony.

Steve rolled his eyes at the two of them.

"Hey Bruce," Eliza mumbled through her cake, "This is delicious!"

"Thanks," the doctor shot her a small smile, "But you shouldn't talk with your mouth full, Liz."

"Woops."

Jarvis interrupted the little gathering, "Director Fury of SHIELD is on the phone, sir."

Tony picked up his cellphone from where it sat on the table and answered it, "You have reached the amazing, awesome, genius, billionaire-"

"STARK!"

They all cringed as Fury yelled at Tony Stark. But Tony, he didn't care, he just smirked.

"What do you want, our all-powerful overlord?"

"We've found the orphanage where Aftershock, Ember, and Singularity were raised. I'm transmitting the data to Jarvis as we speak. I want two Avengers sent to investigate the area. The others are to spend time trying to locate Superior's base of operations. Is that understood?"

"Sure. We'll get right on it," Tony nodded.

Fury cut the call and the Avengers turned their full attention on one another to see what would happen next.

"Bruce, Stark, the two of you need to stay to search for anything that might be related to the Bastards of Evil. Clint, you and Natasha should remain here as well. Search through SHIELD's databases and scrounge up any information that might be useful. You two have the highest clearance of all of us," Steve told them, "and Eliza, you and I will visit the orphanage. A national figure and a child might persuade them to cooperate."

Eliza grimaced. This is what she had been dreading. Yet, it was to be expected. No one except Clint and Natasha knew about how she reacted when orphanages were brought up. Well, they knew some things, but not the full extent. The nightmares, the panic attacks, the nasty feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. The terror, the grief, the guilt that it triggered.

She locked eyes with Natasha and then with Clint. They were both staring at her. What would her reaction be? Would she say no? How could she? Eliza had little choice- she had to go with Steve. This was her job, and without a job she was nothing. Without her team, she was nothing.

When she realized all eyes were on her, most of the Avengers wondering why she was so pale and silent, she faked a smile, "Right. I'll go pack."

Clint and Natasha followed her out, having to jog to catch up with her. They slipped into the elevator right as it was closing.

"You sure you want to do this," Clint asked her seriously.

"Yeah."

"Can you handle it," Natasha added skeptically.

Eliza sighed, feeling utterly defeated, "Look, I don't have much of a choice. I'm the logical person to go investigate this orphanage. Steve's right about all our assignments. It's only logical."

"I'm sure if you explain things to him, he'd change his mind," Clint insisted.

Eliza snapped her head up to look him right in the eyes, "On no circumstance are the others to know about this, is that clear," she pleaded, "Please, Clint.

Clint stared at her skeptically but nodded. Natasha followed suit.

"So long as you are in control of your abilities and aren't irrational, your secret is safe. But if it puts the team in jeopardy," Natasha warned, "We're obligated to inform them."

"They won't think any less of you," Clint added, "We all have our weak points."

When the doors opened to Eliza's suite, she stepped out and turned back to look at them, "We all have our secrets. And they should stay secret."