chapter 21
"Addie." The voice cut through her dreaming. "Addie, wake up." Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Wanda's smiling face looking at her front the seat in front of her. "We're here." Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she looked through the front window of the SUV to see a bunker of some sort. Clint gave her a reassuring pat as the car pulled to a stop in front of the building. Everyone climbed out, and Steve knelt down in front of Adelaide.
"Addie, this is where we're going to be staying for a while.
You're safe here; it's probably the safest place on the planet right now. Wanda's going to be in the room right next to yours, and I'm going to be across the hall if you need anything at all, okay? You don't have to be nervous or scared, you know that right?"
"Yes, Uncle Steve," she said with a small nod. "I know."
"Good," he said with a smile. He patted her head and stood up. As they walked towards the front door, a man stepped out. Adelaide paused for a split second before continuing on her way. Although Tony Stark wasn't her favorite person at this moment in time, he obviously felt sorry for what he did and wanted to make amends. The group reached the front door, and Tony greeted them.
"Cap," he said tensely.
"Good to see you, Tony," Steve said with a small smile.
"Yeah. Well, come on. Let's get inside." Adelaide looked around the building, taking in the sheer magnitude in size and technology and decoration. She decided that yes, Tony Stark certainly was a billionaire that liked to show it.
"Adds," Clint said, breaking her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him, and he nodded towards Tony. She looked at him, and he was looking at her while fidgeting with the cup of whiskey in his hands. Oh.
"Hello, Mr. Stark," Adelaide said, nodding at him in greeting. "Thank you for letting me come stay here with everyone."
"Yeah, no problem, Bit." She looked at Steve in confusion.
'Just go with it,' he mouthed at her. She nodded again and followed everyone as Tony made sure everyone still knew where their rooms were. Adelaide held in a squeal of excitement when she entered her room. She'd never seen so many stuffed animals in her life! Of course, T'Challa's bear was packed safely in her belongings, but there were lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) and birds and dogs and cats and so many other animals of all shapes and sizes. She turned to Tony in her excitement and hugged his legs.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark!" she said happily. "It's wonderful!" Tony looked shocked at her actions and patted her head.
"You're welcome, Bit." Adelaide looked up at Steve, who was watching her with an amused smile.
"Is it alright if I stay here, Uncle Steve? I want to look around my room."
"Sure, Addie. Just stay out of trouble."
"I will. I promise." The rest of the group headed on their way, and Addie turned to sort through her things. She actually had surprised herself at how vocal she was today. She hadn't spoken this much, and to complete strangers no less, since before her father went under. After arranging the animals on her bed as she liked them, she went back into the hallway and back to the common room, where she heard a conversation she didn't know if she was supposed to here.
"How is the girl reacting?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
"Addie?" Wanda's voice asked. "Good. She's come a long way from when I first met her. She smiles more, and talks to all of us now. She even hugged Stark when she saw her room. That shocked all of us."
"She seems like a hardy young girl."
"I don't know if I could have done as well as I did while we were in Wakanda if I hadn't had her. We developed our powers together. She's quite the interesting little girl, when she comes out of her shell." There was silence for a moment, then Wanda spoke up again. "How is Rhodey?"
"Colonel Rhodes is well, given the circumstances. He lost the ability to walk during the fall. Mr. Stark has made braces for his legs that allow him to continue walking, and he has adapted well."
"That's good. She was very upset that she didn't save him, you know. She cried quite a bit over that."
"She sounds like a wonderful girl."
"She is. She means so much to all of us. I don't think she knows how much she helped Clint and Scott while they were separated from their families. They adore her." Adelaide decided to enter the room now and padded in on bare feet.
"Wanda," she said quietly. "I'm hungry." She looked at the man next to Wanda and nodded politely.
"Adelaide, this is Vision. Vision, this is Addie, Bucky's daughter." The man nodded to her. He had red skin, and a yellow stone in his forehead. His voice was calming, and had a British accent. She smiled back at him.
"Nice to meet you," she said quietly. "Wanda, I'm hungry," she repeated. Wanda laughed.
"Well, I suppose we should raid the kitchen then, shouldn't we?"
Adelaide nodded, and Wanda picked her up, swinging her about a little, before walking over to the kitchen. Adelaide laughed as Wanda began to list things under her breath that were edible, but didn't sound good to either of them. "What about strawberries? Those look good." Adelaide nodded enthusiastically. That was her favorite fruit. "Alright then. Let's see if we can find some sugar to dip them in." After rummaging around the cupboards and pantry, they found a bowl and filled it with powdered sugar and set in on the counter between them. Adelaide sat on the counter, and Wanda stood on the other side of the bowl, the two of them laughing and chatting quietly.
"What are you two up to?" Clint's voice asked from the doorway. Adelaide giggled and held out a sugary fruit to him.
"We're getting a snack," Wanda said.
"What you're doing is getting into Tony's strawberries," a new voice said. Adelaide looked over and saw a man walk unsteadily into the room, two braces on his legs. She tilted her head at him, then looked to Clint, who was greeting the man.
"Hey, Rhodey. How you doing?"
"Alright, Barton. Good to see you back."
"Good to be back. How's the back?"
"Eh, it's alright. Still hurts a bit, but nothing I can't handle." The man sat down on one of the nearby couches and looked over to the girls. "Miss Maximoff," he said with a nod. "Miss Barnes." Adelaide hopped off of the counter and padded over to him, reaching a hand out to his braces.
"May I?" she asked quietly.
"Sure, I guess," he answered. "I'm Rhodey, by the way."
"I know." With gentle fingers, she ran her fingers over the metal. She wasn't aware that as she inspected the braces, the others filtered into the room. Steve, Clint, Scott, Wanda, Sam, Tony, Natasha Rominoff (who Adelaide had only briefly seen once), and Vision all watched her quietly from behind them. Adelaide hummed a song under her breath that her father had sung to her once as she explored the various gears and bars of the braces. Then, her hands went to Rhodey's legs. The entire group was mesmerized by how gently she moved and how carefully she touched the braces and legs that would no longer work. Her eyes had closed, but a gentle, soothing mint-colored light filtered slowly from her fingertips and into his legs, disappearing beneath the fabric of his pants.
Rhodey felt a tingling go from where her hands rested all the way to his back, then what felt like tiny pokes and prods at his spine, as if someone was stitching up a wound. As slowly as it had started, the feeling retreated back down his body and back into her fingers. Adelaide's eyes opened, and she gave him a small smile, before nodding to him and going back to her spot on the counter. Nobody moved, except for Adelaide, who quite happily munched away on her strawberries.
"Rhodes?" Tony finally asked, breaking the silence.
"I'm fine, Tony."
"What'd you do, Addie?" Scott asked.
"I fixed him," she said simply, biting into a fruit.
"You what?" Rhodey and Tony asked.
"I fixed you," she said to Rhodey. "You don't need the metal legs anymore."
"They aren't legs, Adds," Clint said. "They're braces, to help him walk. It's not like your dad's arm."
"He doesn't need them. I fixed him." Everyone's gaze snapped to Rhodey, who looked a bit nervous.
"How do you feel, Colonel?" Sam asked.
"My back doesn't hurt. Maybe she did fix it."
"That's impossible," Tony said. "The doctor said they couldn't fix it. How could a child do what they couldn't?"
"She's no ordinary girl," Wanda said. "She's quite extraordinary. We have all seen her do amazing things in the past few months."
"Maybe you should try it, Rhodey," Natasha said. "It won't hurt anything."
"Except his back," Tony said.
"We're all right here, Tony," Steve said. "We'll help him if he needs it."
"Tony, quit being a mother hen. I'm going to try."
"You sure, Rhodes?"
"No, but I'm going to do it anyway." He unhooked the braces from his legs, and put them to the side. Adelaide watched quietly as he looked at her uncertainly before bracing himself on the arms of the chair. With everyone watching nervously, Rhodey lifted himself up and put his feet on the ground, gradually adding more and more of his weight. Then, he was standing on his own, and he wasn't in any pain. He put one foot out and took a step, then another, then another, until he had crossed the room and was standing in front of Tony,
whose eyes were wide with disbelief. "Tony, I'm okay. I can walk." The room exploded into cheers and congratulations. Suddenly, Adelaide was swept up into a tight hug before being put back down. "Thank you," Rhodey said. She nodded back. "No, really, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." She looked down shyly. After the excitement had calmed down, Clint and Scott stood in front of her as people began to trickle out again.
"We have to go, Adds," Clint said.
"Our other families are waiting for us," Scott said. Adelaide nodded.
"Okay. I'll be good, I promise."
"We know you will, cupcake," Scott said, hugging her tightly. "Oh, I'm going to miss you. I'll bring my little girl over to play with you sometime, alright?"
"Okay, Uncle Scott."
"You be the best little girl you can be, alright?"
"Yes, sir."
"Bye, Ladie." He kissed her cheek and hugged her once more before stepping back and heading out of the room.
"See you later, Adds."
"Bye, Uncle Clint."
"Next month, you, me, and Wanda. Two weeks. My farm. Got it?"
"Okay. I'll ask Uncle Steve if—"
"No, you're not. You're going with me and Wanda whether he says you can or not, understand? You need to be a little girl for a bit, before you're all grown up. You're going."
"Okay, Uncle Clint. I'll be ready."
"Good girl. You behave for Uncle Steve, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir." Clint wrapped her up in a bear hug and set her back down on the counter.
"I'll see you soon, pumpkin spice." Adelaide laughed at the strange nickname he had up with for her.
"Bye, Uncle Clint." He patted her head and left through the same door Scott had. Putting her dishes in the sink (only by standing on her tiptoes and being careful), she padded back down the hall to Uncle Steve's room, knocking on the door.
"Come in," he called. She poked her head in and looked around.
"Uncle Steve, are you busy?" she asked.
"No, Addie. Not for you. Come on in." She shut the door and hopped up on the couch next to Steve, who was clicking through the channels on the television. "What's up?"
"Uncle Scott and Uncle Clint just left," she informed him.
"Oh yeah, they told me they were leaving. I don't blame them. They haven't seen their families in months."
"I know. I just thought I'd tell you." The two were quiet, watching a show that Steve had stopped on. "Uncle Steve?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you heard anything from T'Challa?" Steve sighed.
"No, Addie, I haven't. Don't worry. He'll call if he makes any progress."
"I miss him."
"Who?"
"Both of them."
"I know. I miss them too. They're family, aren't they?" She nodded.
"It's not fair," she said angrily. "Why'd it have to be him? Why couldn't it have been some other person?" Steve sighed again.
"I've asked myself that a lot, and I still don't have an answer. I wish I knew, Addie, I wish I knew." They were quiet again, and Adelaide curled up against Steve's side, watching the T.V. "You know, he'd be proud of you," Steve said suddenly. "What you did today was good. Bucky'd be very proud of you." Adelaide sniffled.
"I miss him," she said again.
"I know, Addie. I know."
"What if I'm all grown up before he wakes up?"
"Don't worry. T'Challa will do everything he can as quickly as he can so Bucky'll get out of there. We don't want him to miss you growing up any more than you do. We know how much he loves you. He wouldn't stop talking about you while we went to Siberia. He was worried about you the whole time. We're doing everything we can for him; you'll see him soon."
"How do you know?"
"I just believe it." Adelaide thought about it for a minute, then nodded.
"I think you're right. I believe it too."