The next day, by the time Ashley woke up, it was already well into the afternoon. She sat up groggily and was met with the slowly lowering sun streaming through her window, those gentle rays causing her to squint but smile at the same time. The mission had ended extremely early that morning and the children had safely been dropped off to their extremely thankful and distressed parents, so she was at peace.

Ashley smiled slightly at the memory and yawned, rolling her head from side to side before swinging her legs out of bed and padding over to her bathroom. She intended to have a chilled day, as her body was struggling with the transition from barely using her powers to suddenly using them at full capacity. Once she finished washing her hair and everything, she dressed in her favourite pair of dark blue cotton shorts and a large baggy top, tied her damp locks up into a mid ponytail and left her bedroom.

There was nobody in the kitchen / living area for once - which was bizarre for the Avengers Tower. "Not complaining," Ashley murmured to herself as she stepped into the kitchen. She rummaged in the large polished fridge and found a few steaks that she'd added to the shopping list a few days ago - and immediately knew what to cook.

A melted cheese and shredded steak sandwich, with plenty of cheese and gherkins.

As she began slicing the steak into thin pieces with a content little hum, the elevator door pinged shrilly. Her head to snapped up to see who it was.

And, what a surprise, who else could it be?

"Oh! Hey," Steve blinked with a little smile as he stepped out of the lift. Ashley smirked at him and gave a tired wave before diverting her attention back onto her food. Food always took precedence. "How…how're you doing?" Ashley frowned over at Steve's question.

"Me? Oh, I'm okay, thanks," she fluttered her eyelashes at him whilst placing the knife back down on the surface and leaning on her palms. "How are you?"

"Great, thanks," Steve nodded, walking over to her to see what she was doing. Within seconds he was standing incredibly close to her and, as usual, her whole body began to tense up. "Whatcha cookin'?"

"Steak and cheese sandwich," Ashley hummed as casually as possible, before picking the knife back up again.

"Woah. You always make the most interesting food," Steve shook his head in awe, leaning against the kitchen counter so that he was facing her as she continued her prep. Ashley giggled at his words and rolled her eyes. A sandwich was hardly interesting - but she wasn't complaining about receiving compliments from the guy.

"Thanks," she beamed instead. There was a small silence in the room before she spoke again. "Have you ever…tried a Philly cheese steak before? I practically lived off them when I first moved from London."

"Can't say I have yet, no," Steve shook his head with a small smirk, "last time I was up for air, it was all about regular steak and boiled potatoes…potato and hot dog salads…" Steve broke off with a little chuckle after seeing the look of disgust register on Ashley's face.

"Potato and hot dog salad? What, were you living in poverty?" she shuddered, turning her attention to oiling up a large frying pan. Steve laughed properly then - a hearty laugh coming straight from the chest.

Ashley adored the sound of his laugh. It was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard and she could listen to it forever.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Steve finally managed to catch his breath to ask politely. Ashley placed a finger to her pouted lips in a thoughtful fashion.

"Let's see…you can get me a kitten! Kittens make me happy-"

"I mean with the cooking, Ashley," Steve smirked playfully, crossing his arms.

"Ohhhh! You can mix some butter and garlic salt together in one of those handy little ceramic bowls and slather it on these super soft baguette slices over there?" Ashley offered lightly as she handed him the fresh baguette.

"Yes ma'am," Steve confirmed with an army like nod, taking it from her and getting to work. Ashley started to fry slices of onion with some salt and pepper whilst humming a little tune to herself as Steve got to cutting the baguette and mixing the garlic butter.

It was sweet - they looked like somebody's parents.

"So, I heard about the mission you had yesterday," Steve spoke up, casually glancing across at her.

"Ah, yeah - it was kinda a rough one," Ashley mumbled without looking up.

"Really? Nat's been singing your praises all over the agency," Steve frowned back. This time Ashley did look up, those dark eyebrows knitting with confusion.

"She was?" She chewed the inside of her cheek uneasily. "I swear, sometimes she acts like I'm the best thing since sliced bread. I didn't do any more than what she did."

"I mean it's not only her - but the S.H.I.E.L.D agents too. When I touched base this morning, your name was a hot topic," Steve blinked innocently. This confused Ashley more than anything - she found her performance in the last mission clunky and thought it needed mass improvement, so what on earth they were all excited about…she had no idea.

Steve noticed her silence and spoke up again. "Apparently, it was something to do with how well you handled the kids…?"

"Ohhhh," Ashley gave a slow nod, suddenly understanding.

"Are you a…fan of kids?" Steve asked a little awkwardly as he got to spreading. Ashley smirked up at him before searching the fridge for cheese slices.

"Steve, you really don't know how to talk to women, do ya?" she had to laugh.

"Nope. Not at all," Steve admitted, ducking his head in embarrassment. "Never have."

"Oh my god. You're too cute for words, you know that?" Ashley cooed sweetly. Steve glanced up at her for a few seconds too long this time, and she felt her cheeks flush hot under his gaze. She quickly cleared her throat and straightened herself up again before it got awkward. "I do love kids, but with the children yesterday…I found it hard to cope."

"You did? Why?" Steve probed gently.

"I…well…part of my dream," Ashley began - but the words got stuck in her throat and she couldn't carry on. Opening up about the dream was still a struggle, no matter who she was talking to, and she still retained the look of horror on Steve's face when those pictures first popped up in Bruce's apartment.

"It's okay, Ash," Steve murmured as a quiet reminder. Ashley sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth and gave a calming breath out before trying again.

"When I caused the supermarket disaster and came back down again," she tried a brand new intro, eyes focussed firmly on the frying pan. "I just remember seeing these…tiny hands poking out of the rubble. There were kids in that place, and I…I killed them. So when I saw the helpless little kids yesterday I just felt super obliged to save them, thinking it would help me cope with the my wrongdoings in the past."

"And did it?" Steve blinked, noticing her olive green eyes suddenly well up with tears.

"No, of course it bloody didn't Steve," she sniffed. She turned her head away from him so that he didn't see her cry - but it was too late. He put the baguette and butter knife down to reach over and take her hand instead, pulling her straight into his chest. If Ashley wasn't an overemotional mess in that moment, she would've been a lot more excited than she felt. His bulky arms enveloped her and she was pressed up against his firm broad torso, soaking his top with her tears.

"It's okay. Let it out," Steve breathed calmly, feeling partially responsible for causing her to tap into her past. He rubbed the small of her back with one hand and kept the other hand placed respectfully on her upper back.

"I just feel like every single death I've caused needs to be fixed by a saving of some sort. An eye for an eye, you know?" she cried with those gut wrenching sobs that she found herself unable to control. "When I come out of those missions feeling as guilty as I do on a daily basis, it feels like I've failed - whether the numbers add up or not."

"Ashley, it's not as if you have to fulfil some kinda quota," Steve released a sad chuckle, peering down to the sobbing girl in genuine bewilderment, "you weren't even in control on that day. I don't think anyone is blaming you - you were a kid as well."

"I know," Ashley sniffed, lifting her head and wiping the tears. She had heard it all before. "Bruce told me the same thing on the day of our little session."

"Yeah, and he of all people would know. He's had it kinda rough himself, you know?" Steve let out another small laugh as Ashley absentmindedly placed one hand on his chest to take in deep breaths, finally composing herself. "Hey," Steve murmured to get her attention - but she refused to look up. In fact, it was almost like she physically couldn't look up. Her head felt too heavy. Steve placed the hand that was placed on her back to cup her jaw instead, gently tipping her head up so that she was looking at him directly. Ashley's shaky breath shuddered and hitched straight in her throat, her eyes darting from Steve's sea blue eyes back down to those beautiful plump lips. "You didn't do anything wrong," he muttered, his lips barely moving. Ashley ran her tongue over her bottom lip, feeling her heartbeat pick up and get faster and faster as she felt herself get lost in his gaze. She felt herself begin to lean in, and she could've sworn that Steve was doing the same, until-

"Miss Ashley," came the sudden sound of JARVIS' voice, interrupting the intimate moment.

Steve cleared his throat and released her, letting his hands swing by his side whilst Ashley straightened herself up and dried her damp eyes properly. "Sorry to interrupt but your steak is becoming…rather well done?" Ashley gave a harsh gasp and rushed over to the stove to flip the steak strips so that they didn't stick, just as the elevator doors pinged once again.

"Damn Red, cooking again?!" came the singing sound of Stark's voice as he marched out with Pepper behind him. "And Rogers? Dude, you gotta stop eating all our food, I gave you your own kitchen for a reason!"

"I was just leaving Tone, don't worry," Steve rolled his eyes back. Ashley frowned at his words and turned the off stove.

"Leaving? Where…where are you going?" she spluttered. Tony raised an eyebrow at the panic in her tone.

He could only imagine what they were discussing before he turned up.

"Washington. I go for a week or so at a time," Steve told her with an apologetic smile, finding it difficult to look directly at her after their little tender moment. "Don't worry, I'll be back when…well, when I'm needed."

"It's my birthday in two weeks," Ashley pouted as she served up three sandwiches without even glancing down. "You have to at least come back for that. I'm turning 25 for goodness sake!"

"Oooh, fun!" Pepper gasped with a smile as she put her bags down.

"Sounds like a party opportunity to meeee!" Tony sang, creeping over to the sandwiches and trying to sneak one away. Ashley wrapped the biggest and juiciest sandwich up in foil, made her way over to Steve and passed the sub to him with a small smile. Steve smirked back at her, about to take it - but was surprised to see Ashley retract her hand again before he could.

"Promise me you'll try and come to my birthday?" she hummed. Steve let out a light laugh and nodded.

"I promise," he chuckled with one hand risen nobly. Ashley beamed up at him and properly passed him the sandwich…before boldly taking her chances. She placed a gentle hand on his forearm, and got on her tiptoes to press a shy kiss to his perfectly sculpted jaw.

"Stay safe," Ashley hummed sweetly against his skin, sending shivers directly down his spine as she took a sandwich, leaving the other one for Tony, and flounced back to her bedroom.

…

Ashley was lounging on the sofa with Pepper one evening about a week later, watching some random film whilst scoffing on popcorn covered in a thick cream blanket. Pepper was due to leave for a business trip for a few days so she and Ashley decided to have one last blow out before she left. They were midway through Pepper's favourite scene when suddenly, JARVIS popped up, automatically pausing it. "Ladies - so sorry to interrupt - but there is somebody on the line for Miss Ashley," his smooth voice spoke.

"Me?" Ashley blinked, eyes darting to Pepper who just gave a nonchalant shrug back. "Where…where do I take the call?"

"In your room - it's a video call. The receiving end will pop up in your dresser mirror," JARVIS informed helpfully. Ashley nibbled on her bottom lip but threw the blanket off of her regardless.

"Who is it?" Pepper hissed with wide eyes.

"I didn't ask!" Ashley whispered back.

"Well…tell 'em I said hi!" Pepper called out with a lazy wave as she scurried out of the room. Ashley burst into her bedroom and let the door swing shut behind her, before slamming herself in the chair at her dresser and awaiting connection.

Within seconds, her mirrored reflection had disappeared - and the face of someone else popped up instead.

"Scott?!" she gasped.

"Heyyyy Ash," Scott gave her a little wave back with a huge grin. Ashley giggled back at him and wiggled her fingers back. "How ya been?"

"Ohhh great, thanks," she beamed back, running her fingers through her long curls to loosen them up a little. "It's so nice to see you again…it's been a while."

"Yeah! Just wanted to check in, since you kinda left without saying goodbye," Scott mused, leaning on his fist. "We miss you back here!"

"You do?" Ashley spluttered as she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Ash. Why the hell wouldn't we? You were a pivotal point of our days," Scott made a little face at her question. Ashley rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair with a grunt.

"I was a pivotal point of your jokes," she corrected him with a light grimace, "and that's okay! You don't need to act like me going was such a travesty."

"Why do you assume it's an act? We all freaked out when you left, we had no idea where you'd gone. Do you know what we thought had happened? We thought you ran off to the forest…again," Scott hissed the last line, edging closer to the lens.

"You freaked out when I got out of your hands, you mean," Ashley quietly corrected him with a startling lack of emotion. "But when I was miserable within those four walls, all you guys could do was laugh. I remember everything, Summers." Scott jerked his head back at the underlying bitterness that he was picking up in her tone. He had never heard it before.

But Ashley herself had caught it too, so she simply cleared her throat and straightened herself up in an attempt to mask her mistake.

"Anyway-"

"No, Ash - what did you mean by that?" Scott pressed her, interrupting the new front that she was trying to put on. Ashley bit down on her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she had never let it slip out.

"Nothing. What are you actually calling for, Scott?"

"Ashley, you haven't even attempted to communicate with us in almost two months," Scott cut straight to the point, running his tongue over his teeth. "Don't we have the right to be worried?"

"I don't get why you would?" Ashley scoffed back, starting to laugh - but then she thought about it and the smile immediately fell from her lips. "Has Dad been predicting me to do great evil again?" she murmured. Obviously she couldn't see Scott's eyes, but she already knew he was rolling them.

"Listen, the Professor doesn't think you're sent from hell, Ash-" he began to groan in boredom, having had this conversation time and time again.

"Oh Scott give it up!" Ashley cut him off roughly. Scott closed his mouth, now completely taken aback. "Look, my dad was holding me back for years, and only now that I've come to a whole new team have I noticed just how much he was afraid of me-"

"Afraid of you?" Scott repeated.

"Afraid of me. He was so cautious of every little thing I did that he emitted his anxiety onto me," Ashley continued on boldly, having never spoken about her father like this to any of the X Men before. "He made me nervous. He made me feel like I was a walking time bomb."

"And I get that, I really do," Scott sighed, his shoulders drooping lower and lower, "trust me, we've alerted him of his mistakes. But he knew how much potential you had and he just wanted you to be able to control it before-"

"Before it controlled me?" Ashley guessed, shutting Scott up yet again. "Yes, I know. I've heard this crap all before - so you really have been speaking to him about me." Scott didn't know what else to say. He had called with every intention of persuading Ashley to return, but clearly it wasn't going to fly.

"We miss you," he muttered again hopelessly, knowing when it was time to give up. Ashley's expression softened a little.

"I miss you guys too," she admitted quietly. It wasn't a lie - they were her family first.

"Are you…safe, Ash?" Scott asked her seriously, now that he had her honesty for a second.

"Safe? I mean, being surrounded by a couple of assassins everyday could be considered as the new 'safe', I guess," she replied warmly, shooting him a playful little smirk. Scott's shoulders tensed a little then. That 'assassin' word had come back up again, and now it was playing with his paranoia a little too much. He opened his mouth to ask her to clarify who these assassins were, when he was suddenly interrupted by someone else popping into the lens over his shoulder.

"Scott, ya didn't tell me you were calling her now!" came the familiar high pitched Southern drawl as Rogue's head poked in shot. Ashley's eyes lit up at the sight of her close friend, seeing those cheeks rosy with excitement.

"Marieeee!" Ashley sang, letting out a giggle of joy.

"Ashley! Oh baby, you look so pretty," Rogue gasped, keeping her hands dramatically placed on her chest. "Clearly the city does you good, doll."

"Aw stop," Ashley blushed shyly. "How are youuuuu?!"

"I'm good, we're missin' you so much though," Rogue pouted. Scott extended his hands as if to say 'see?!'

"Ahhh, you're so cute," Ashley hummed back.

"Have you done anything cool? Met any cute guys yet?" Rogue asked with an indiscreet whisper. Ashley giggled at the childishness of the question - then giggled even more at the thought of Steve's face. Scott raised a sceptical brow, wincing at the loud laughter that Rogue was now emitting. "I take it that's a yes! Who is he and what does he do? Is he a mutant? Oh! Will y'all have mutant babies?!" she squealed, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Oh god, why is that even important?" Scott jumped in before Ashley could even answer. Rogue did a double take, before shooting Ashley a small knowing smirk.

"Don't get jealous, Scott. You had your chance and you flopped," Ashley reminded him lightly, flicking her hair behind her shoulders. Rogue did her best to bite back her laughter.

"I'm not jealous, I just feel like there are more pressing questions to ask instead how hot some guy is," Scott spoke over her loudly.

"First of all, he's not some guy. Secondly, more pressing questions like…? Because ya had the opportunity to ask me other stuff way before Rogue came over, lad," Ashley yawned, lazily leaning her head on her soft palm.

"Likeeee have you actually learnt how to control your powers yet?" Scott suddenly asked.

"Yep yep," Ashley answered, equally as abruptly. "Next?"

"You have?!" Rogue gasped in wonder with wide eyes full of awe. "Oh Ashley, that's fantastic! I knew you could do it!"

Scott, on the other hand, had a completely different concern bubbling within him. He had to talk to the Professor - and soon/

Whilst Ashley took her call, Tony had walked back into the living room with an exhausted yawn. Pepper briefly glanced up from the TV to give him a little wave. "Hey honey. Where's Red?" Tony asked casually as he stepped over to the fridge to pull out his daily chilled green smoothie. "Thought you were doing a girl's night?"

"She's on the phone so hushhhh," Pepper shushed him, her eyes still trained on the film. She had seen it what felt like a thousand times, but that didn't matter. She was engrossed.

"Ashley had a phone call?" Tony retorted with his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Who from?"

"I didn't ask, Tony. Now please, ssshh!" Pepper hushed him, rapidly waving a dismissive hand in his direction.

"You didn't ask who was calling though even though nobody has tried to contact her for the entire duration of her stay?! PEP!" Tony yelped in genuine surprise. Pepper rolled her eyes and decided not to answer so that she could re-immerse herself - but that only lasted a few seconds more, as she next heard the following words, "JARVIS, who's Ashley speaking to?"

"Tony!" Pepper hissed as she scrambled around for the remote to pause it. "That is a complete invasion of her privacy! Don't be so-"

"She appears to be speaking to somebody named Scott Summers, sir," JARVIS responded smoothly, cutting Pepper off.

"Who?" she recoiled in disgust. Tony rolled his eyes at her sudden change of tone and turned to look at her.

"See now why do you care?! You were about to tell me off for finding out in the first place!" he reminded her hotly.

"I just…she's never spoken about a Scott? She's mentioned old friends before but…" Pepper frowned. Tony raised his eyebrows and leaned back up against the countertops.

"Well I hope Rogers actually does come back for her birthday party…cos for all we know, he might have competition with this 'Scott' guy. He sounds like a jackass. Scott is a jackass kinda name," he yawned as Pepper's eyes grew wide in wonder. "And if she does get caught in the middle of a love triangle, by the way - I call Team Cap!"

"We're all Team Cap, Tony," Pepper rolled her eyes dryly, before resuming the TV.

...

team scott or team cap for ash? team x men or team avengers? can't wait for you to see how this transpires!