Chapter 6

The next day Annika's face was on every newspaper.

"Captain America's Daughter Seen in New York"

"Avengers Return to New York? Annika Rodgers Spotted in Central Park"

"America's Sweetheart back in the Big Apple"

And the headlines went on. Annika couldn't scroll through the main page of her web browser without seeing another article with her face plastered all over it. Who knew eating a hot dog in central part was main stream news? She closed out her web browser and decided to go watch some TikTok's. No chance that she would see her face pop up there. It was nice to have a way to escape this world and laugh a little. The compound may be home, but at this point, it was starting to feel more like a holding cell.

Annika had been confined to the compound for a month now only getting to go to school. She was grateful that no one at her school cared that she was the daughter of Captain America or that she lived with the Avengers. She was just Annika. Natasha and Clint kept trying to give Annika something to do outside of her homework by doing extra fighting and archery training during the week. They figured they had a captive audience and that it couldn't hurt to make sure she was prepared should anything happen. It also kept her from spending hours scrolling through TikTok Videos. They were pretty sure the warning about having scrolled for too long had come up at least 4 or 5 times a day. At that point they knew they had to intervene, if not for her sanity, then for their own.

The house arrest was starting to make her a little crazy, but she was enjoying being able to spend more time with her dad. Sure, he had a few missions here and there that he went on during that time, but she could tell that he was trying to be more intentional with their time together. Really all of the Avengers were. Peter would seek her out at school and was always checking in and Sam was always keeping tabs on her and checking in daily. Heck, he was even checking her homework every night. She hadn't fully grasped how much the team truly cared for her until this moment. She hated that it took her running away and scaring them all half to death to realize it, but she was glad it wasn't something more drastic.

"Annika, we're gonna be late" Peter yelled up the stairs

"I'm coming!" She yelled back. She had staid up way too late on social media and was dragging her feet a bit. These are the days where she wished she could just play hooky and stay in bed. What would it hurt anyway?

"Friday?"

"Yes Ms. Rodgers"

"Can you just tell my dad you think I have a temperature and should stay in bed?"

"I'm sorry I don't understand Ms. Rodgers. I don't detect a temperature. You seem to be perfectly healthy"

"I'm asking you to lie Friday"

"i'm sorry Ms. Rodgers, I can't do that. Mr. Parker and your father are waiting for you at the front door"

"UHHHHH! You would think that an AI created by tony stark would be smart enough to get when I need a day off"

"Sure she is, but today isn't that day" Came a voice from her door way where her dad was standing.

"Ppppllleeeaaassseeee Daddy! I just want one day to be able to relax"

"Isn't that what the weekend is for?"

"Come on dad, give me this one day" Steve pondered her question for a moment. One day of playing hooky couldn't hurt. "Alright, but you're going to school tomorrow" He replied with a pointed look.

Annika had a huge smile spread across her face "I would jump out of this bed and hug you but I've become one with the sheets and if I leave now they'll disown me"

"Uh hu" Steve said with a shake of his head. He didn't know where she came up with this stuff "Friday, let Peter know he can head out and that Annika is staying home today"

"Yes sir"

"Alright, don't spend all day in bed"

"I can't promise anything" Steve just shook his head as he left the room. His daughter was quite the character, but he was happy to be able to spend some extra time with her.

Around 10am Annika's stomach started to growl and she decided that she had to give in and finally pull herself out of bed and get some breakfast. She made her way to the kitchen and, no surprise, no one was around. They were all off doing their given assignments or in high level meetings. She used to be really curious about what it was the avengers did when there weren't big missions to do, but eventually she realized that they were never going to share with her and she resigned herself to that. She started pulling out what she needed for an omelet. When she was cracking the last egg into her bowl when Sam came around the corner.

"I'm sorry, I think skipping school is called truancy. Has the officer shown up yet to drag you back to school?"

"Hey Sam. Dad's letting me play hooky today so I slept in and now I'm making breakfast. You want any?"

"I wish my parents let me do that. What's up? Why aren't you wanting to go to school?"

"Do you know any teenager who enjoys waking up at 6am to go spend 8 hours getting talked at?"

"Touché. And I'm good. I'm actually on my way out. What do you have planned for today?"

"I have a few homework assignments I need to catch up on, but then I'm going to just watch TV and enjoy myself"

"Well you do that." As he was turning to walk away he stopped and looked back at Annika "You aren't doing this to try and sneak out are you? You know Friday's got this place on lock down"

"I know Sam. And no, I'm not going to sneak out. I learned my lesson. I genuinely just needed a day to myself"

"You better not be lying. Friday? Annika's here alone, don't let her leave"

"Yes sir. I have the babysitting protocol in place"

"Excuse me Friday? The WHAT protocol?"

"The babysitting protocol created by Mr. Stark. It allows me to monitor all your movements and report to your father and the avengers if there is anything happening that they have expressly forbidden"

"Of course Tony did"

"Have fun kid, thanks Friday"

"I hate you Sam"

"I love you too!" He shouted back. Annika was now in a bad mood. She wasn't a little kid, she didn't need a babysitter, much less one that is an AI. She got it, she messed up, but she didn't deserve to be treated like this. Peter was only a few years older than her, and they didn't treat him like this. He was allowed to be an avenger and go on missions where she was treated like a porcelain doll that could break into pieces at any minute.

She tried to put her frustration aside and focus on the task at hand. Once she got her food done she grabbed her favorite blanket and the remote and curled up on the tv before throwing on Gilmore Girls. She always imagined that she would have had the same type of relationship with her mother that Rory had with Lorali. With her dad being so stiff and regimented, she could only imagine that if opposites truly attract that Lorali would have had him meeting his match. She never got to meet her, and her dad didn't talk about her much, so she was really left up to her imagination. Any time she tried to talk to her dad about it it just felt awkward. She knew that they weren't exactly in love when they got pregnant with her, but she also knew that her dad wouldn't sleep with someone that he didn't know he could truly love. She would wonder sometimes if she looked like her mother, or if her mother would have been able to stand up to Tony and the Avengers when they tried to bee 'protective'. She imagined that she got her tenacity and her fight from her mom.

Eventually Annika fell asleep on the couch and was awaken to her dad shaking her shoulder.

"Hey Kiddo."

"What...what's going on?"

"You fell asleep on the couch. I got back from my meeting and found you here with your half eaten omelet and the TV on. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yea, I feel fine. I guess I really did need a day off" Annika said sitting up and wiping the sleep out of her eyes.

"No kidding. I'm glad you got some rest." Steve said sitting down next to her and putting his arm around her.

"What time is it?"

"2pm, Peter should be getting home from school soon and then we can start making dinner"

"That sounds good" Annika said cuddling up to her dad. For all his faults, he always made her feel safe.

"What was that show you were watching?"

"Gilmore Girls"

"They talk really fast"

Annika laughed. Of course that is what her dad would pick up. "Yea, they do talk fast."

"How do you know what they're saying?"

"You get used to it. Besides, girls brains work faster"

"Oh is that so?"

"It is. Science says so"

"Well then i'll have to try and catch up" They both sat in a bit of comfortable silence for a little bit. Finally Annika decided to breach the question that had been eating at her all day.

"Can you tell me about my mom?" She felt her dad's body tense beneath her and felt him to a deep breath.

"What do you want to know?"

"What was she like? Why did you love her?"

"She..." He took a pause. It has been a while since he had thought about Jenna. She was one of the few women he had met since his return that reminded him of home. She was a classy lady with a good head on her shoulders. She could stand with him toe to toe in an argument and he really admired that. He was just sad that he had only gotten to really know her right before Annika was born only to have her taken from them. "She was a lot like you. Stubborn, outspoken...she had a good head on her shoulders and she knew what she wanted"

"Did you love her?"

"Yes" He really did. Even though they started off as a fling, he did truly fall in love with her by the time Annika was born. They hadn't been able to get married before Annika was born and then the accident happened. It was one of his biggest regrets.

Annika thought about what she wanted to ask next. She knew it was a sensitve topic, but she felt like she had the right to know about what made up the other half of her DNA.

"Do I have any grandparents?" He knew that question could come up eventually.

"You do, but your mom wasn't close with them when I met her so I never got to meet them. They didn't know about you till your mom's funeral." That hit Annika a lot harder than she thought. She couldn't imagine doing anything that would cause her dad to disown her like that. This feeling of anger and hatred toward these would be grandparents started to well up in her. How could they treat her mom like that? How could they go so long without talking to her that the last time they see their daughter is at her funeral. Not only that, but to find out you have a granddaughter.

"Did they want to know me?"

"They...they did...they do...I just wasn't ready"

"Ready for what?"

"To share you. I didn't know them from Adam and my number one job was to protect you. After how I saw them treat you mom, I didn't want you to go through that" Annika could understand that. Her initial reaction was to hate them for what they'd done, and for her dad to have just lost his finance and be left with a baby to raise alone, of course he was going to be protective.

"I get it" Steve shifted so that he and Annika were not face to face.

"If you want to meet them, you can"

"What?"

"you're old enough now and I don't want to keep you from getting to know your grandparents"

Annika thought for a minute before responding "What if I don't want to?

"Then you don't have to."

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course, you're growing up now and, as much as I want to protect you from everything, I'm realizing i'm going to have to let you make your own decisions" Steve said touching her face. She reminded him som much of her mother in that way.

"I feel like if she were here she would have given you a run for your money with all your over protectiveness" Annika laughed

"Oh yea" Steve laughed along "Between the two of you I would have been running in every direction" They both started laughing. Annika appreciated that her dad was willing to talk about this. She couldn't imagine how hard it was for him to talk about this, especially telling her she had family out there. She was really going ot have to figure out how she felt about that. She laid back on her dad's chest.

"You know I'm going to be starting to date soon"

"Oh no you're not! You're not dating ever! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Annika burst into laughter. She always loved getting a reaction out of her dad.

"Sure dad, whatever you say" She said patting his chest and cuddling back into him. SHe always knew he would keep her safe.