Let's be honest, my new year resolutions died before I even made them. Sorry guys.
"Do I really have to?" Elli hung from Bruce's neck like a monkey, despite her only having one arm on the moment. The scientist tried to pull the younger Stark off but was failing miserably. She wove around his body like he was a jungle gym, her eyes glowing a slight blue whenever his hands got too close.
"Don't you want to go back to school?" Tony's back faces the struggling duo as he puts the finishing touches on his daughter's arm.
"Nope," a few giggles escape the girl as Bruce sighs in frustration.
"Don't you want to see your friends?"
"Nuh-uh," Elli pops up over Bruce's shoulder, making the man grunt in surprise.
"Not even Peter?" Tony screws on the forearm plate leaving the faux skin off to the side. Elli pauses for a moment on Bruce's head.
"…Peter can come over here?"
"He could, but I still think you need to put your arm back on," swiveling on his stool, Tony grins at his pouting daughter. Seeing his opportunity, Bruce quickly drops to the floor and lays on his back. With no where to go, the ethereal child is caught in his arms.
"Gotcha," the mild mannered scientist smirked in triumph before attacking the little girl with tickles. Squeals rang through the lab before Tony hooked his daughter around the waist, saving her from the gamma scientist's attack. A few laughs were still escaping her as she is set on the work bench, a silence washing over the room.
"Ready?" Kneeling in front of his baby girl, Tony gripped her only hand.
The golden orbs disappeared from view as Elli squeezed her eyes shut. She hated this part the most but she also knew that there was no getting out of it—and she did miss having her legs, it made getting around the tower easier. Taking a deep breath, she bobbed her head up and down.
"There's my brave girl," Tony kissed his daughter's head as he squeezed her flesh hand tightly, "remember to relax your shoulder."
Another small nod was followed by a death grip around Tony's middle fingers. The two breathed deeply together, following the mini lesson Bruce had on meditation earlier that morning. The grip on his hand was still strong, but the rest of her body visibly drooped into a relaxed state making the billionaire sigh in relief—loose muscles made the nerves much more receptive to the connection. Rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, the genius nodded to Bruce who had already finished the wiring.
Wasting no time and having been shown how to do it beforehand, Bruce pushed the two ports together, careful not to snag any wires. The resulting click was quickly followed by a muffled scream, the silver haired child grinding her teeth together as her shoulder felt like it was lit on fire. A protective growl responded to the cry, causing Tony to glance up at the doctor. Despite being warned of the pain the limbs cause when reattached, the gamma scientist had to take a few calming breaths to keep himself from going green.
Tears streamed down her face as the younger Stark sniffled. Taking a shaky breath, she smiled softly up at her daddy, assuring him that she was alright. The elder Stark returned the look with one of pride with a hint of remorse, wiping tears from her face. No child should be that used to pain.
"Want to take a break?"
"Nope," popping the p and taking a few more deep breaths, Elli flexed her metal fingers as her powers helped her nerves recover in seconds. There was still a dull pain, but that would be gone in a couple of hours, "Can we do both legs at the same time?"
"Whatever you want, Princess," Tony stood up to go get her legs from the bench.
"Go ahead and blow sweetie," Bruce handed Elli a tissue and put a mug of hot chocolate next to her thigh. Throwing the tissue in the trash can Bruce offered, Elli's eyes were still a little watery but at least she could breath a little better now.
Tony had just been about to start connecting the wires between the ports as the door slammed open, Steve storming in with Natasha following behind.
"Eleanor Maria Stark, why're there polka—" The war hero stopped as he took notice of the rest of the room, the spy behind him almost bumping into his back, stopping just in time due her quick reflexes. The elder Stark couldn't help but groan and glare at the ceiling.
"Jarvis! Does do not let anyone into the lab, ring any bells?! A basic security system would do a better job than you! Hell, even a deadbolt would!"
"My apologies, Sir." The dry tone makes Elli giggle, the A.I. seemed to do whatever he wanted these days. Her daddy would never give up Jarvis though, no matter how much he misbehaved. Besides, she may have also encouraged Jarvis to ignore the order, but she would never admit to that.
"Ugh," Tony rubbed his head before plopping the two legs next to Elli, "can this wait, we're sort of in the middle of something here."
Natasha moved around the mass in front of her, annoyed that the Captain had stopped. When her eyes landed on Elli, she felt her eyes widen slightly before softening on the six-year-old's cheeky smile.
"Zvyozdochka, what kind of mischief have you been up to?" The woman sauntered over the still smiling child, an air of playfulness surrounding them both. Tony was grateful for the woman's outward indifference to the fact that his daughter was currently missing half her limbs and had been obviously crying.
"I don't know what you're talking about," if she had legs, Elli would be kicking them back and forth in a nonchalantly.
"So you don't know why Steve's shield has new decorations?" A single eyebrow was raised in a don't even try to lie to me kind of way. Tony blinked in surprise, the youngest Stark had been immobile and under constant supervision for the past few days. When and how she had managed to pull her latest shenanigan off was beyond him. Bruce could only snort as the smirk grew.
"No idea, but I bet it looks amazing. A single star in the middle is kind of boring, dontcha think?" Elli leaned back on her hands, her eyes laughing with mischief.
Natasha just hummed in agreement, allowing the child this one before giving a meaningful look to Stark and proceeding to drag the speechless Steve Rogers out the room.
**LINE**
"Explain."
Tony jumped three feet in the air, nearly losing the whole pot of coffee as the super spy appeared behind him, the super soldier a few feet behind her as well. He glared before getting two more mugs from the cupboard. Elli and Bruce were on the couch, both dozing to the news cast.
"Could you not give me a heart attack? For once?" The two guests sat down at the counter as Tony poured the coffee.
"No. Start talking." Rolling his eyes, he handed the two a Stark pad and watched their reaction to the video that played. He saw confusion, anger, sadness, and then anger once again before the two looked up, questions ready to burst from both of them.
"Who was that?" Steve handed the tablet back over, all his willpower focused on not crushing it.
"No idea. All I know is that they left Elli and a note saying telling me to take care of her," popping a blueberry into his mouth, Tony accepted the tablet and pulled up Elli's previously locked baby photos. Steve awed at the cuteness but Natasha wasn't to be distracted.
"Have you ever tried to find out?"
"Once, at the beginning. But whoever left her either didn't want her or was in such deep shit that they were desperate to leave her with me. I didn't exactly have the best reputation back then—still don't," Natasha snorted and Steve blushed in embarrassment at the reminder of his previous impression of Stark, "so I figured it was best to leave it alone."
"Really?" A perfect eyebrow arched in question.
"Really."
"So if this person was in," Natasha raised both hands before doing the gesture of quotations, causing Tony to nearly spit out his coffee, "deep shit, aren't you worried someone might come looking for Elli?"
"Nat," recovering from the choking episode, Tony leaned on the counter, "it is my experience that if you go looking for trouble, trouble finds you. And I'm not risking Elli for the weird wizard guy, even if he or she may have saved her."
"But—"
"Nope." Natasha could only sigh before returning to her floor, leaving Steve and Tony behind. The two sat in silence, Steve rubbing the handle of the mug while Tony proceeded to down his second cup—no wonder the man was always so jittery. The Captain turned to watch the news cast talk about the Avengers latest endeavor.
"So," Steve snapped his head up, still a little weary of Tony despite having been working together the past couple of weeks, "want to do me a favor?"
Ava sat on the bench at the edge of the playground with the last of her pupils that were waiting to be picked up. All of the other teachers had left for the day, feeling it was fine to leave the new girl in charge of the stragglers. Not that Ava minded, she had nothing better to do.
It was surprisingly warm out today so she gave in when the last remaining students asked to play outside. The little trio she had noticed on her second day teaching had been reduced to a duo the past few days of Elli's absence. She couldn't help but watch with a reminiscent smile as Eugene and Peter played with a tennis ball together.
Eugene was like a mini Bucky, charming and athletic but just a hint of smugness. He was often trying to impress the little ladies in her class, but often picked on others while doing so. She did hope that he grew out of that—he could be quite the young man if he did. Not for Elli, though, Ava thought with a quiet laugh. No, it seemed that the mother and daughter had the same taste in men. The shy, scrawny boy that was Peter Parker reminded her of a lot of Steve. They both had this sense of goodness to them that seemed to stay strong despite all the challenges the world liked to hurl their way. Ava couldn't help but wonder if the three would remain friends in the future. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she hadn't even noticed the man approaching her.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Ava whipped around, startled at the familiar voice, "I'm, uh, here to pick up Peter."
Ava stared at the muscular giant in front of her. It was his voice and his face, but her Steve was a toothpick and would catch a cold at even the thought of an autumn breeze. This man looked like he could take on a hurricane.
"Uh…Ma'am?" Ava blinked.
"Right, could I get your name please," Ava reached for her clipboard, scrunching her nose in thought. She flips to the pick-up log where she had written down a name earlier after Mrs. Parker had called. She missed the look the man gave her.
"Steve Ro-uh…uh, Hogan. I'm Steve Hogan. I'm Elli's uncle," the man rubbed the back of his neck, before extending his hand to shake. Ava ignored the hand.
"You sure about that Mr. Hogan?" Ava felt her a heat in her stomach grow, there was no way he was here. This had to be a trick. Maybe Hydra had already found her and wanted to torture her a bit before trying to drag her back. That was stupid, though. She was just being paranoid.
"Yes, ma'am. And call me Steve, please," he awkwardly drew his hand back when it became apparent that she wasn't going to shake it.
"Only if you don't call me ma'am," she scowled before waving to Mrs. Thompson with a pleasant, elementary school teacher grin, "you're clear to pick up Peter, May Parker called in earlier this afternoon."
Both watched as Peter retreated to the swings after being left by his friend, not having noticed Steve yet. Said man was staring at the teacher in front of him, confusion and sadness swelling in his chest. Some of her features were different, but the woman in front of him looked just like the woman he had fallen for but had never had the chance to love. But there was no way she was here; it had been seventy years. His Ava was dead; she had died before he had even gone under the ice.
"Will Elli be back in school soon?" Steve blinked before swallowing tears he had forgotten he had.
"Uh, yeah she should be back tomorrow." Nodding, the woman stood up to gather her things, calling to Peter as she did so.
"Well Steve Hogan, it's been a pleasure, but I need to go," Steve nodded and stuck his hand out again, a playful smirk on his face.
"You know, usually you introduce yourself to someone when you've just met. Maybe even greet them by shaking their hand," Ava rolled her eyes, annoyed at the man and how much he reminded her of him.
"Ava, and I know what a…" the golden haired beauty trailed off as she stared at something behind the super soldier's back.
"Wait, did you just say your name is Ava?"
"Get down," the woman rests a hand on his chest, making Steve realize how tiny she is.
"What?"
"Actually, scratch that. Get Peter and leave. Now," the woman scooped Peter up with surprising ease and placed him in Steve's arms.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Just go, Steve."
"Please just talk to me," but Ava was no longer listening as she started towards the school. Steve followed behind her, shifting Peter in his arms. He jumped and curled his body around Peter as a series of gunshots went off.
"Alright Eve. Time to be a good little science experiment and come home!" A man perched on top of a trophy shelf, clad in a red suit with two swords strapped to his back.
"Are you crazy? There is a child here!" Ava practically growled, not sure whether to take her anger out on Steve for not listening to her or on the guy in red.
"Well, maybe," the merc blew on his smoking gun, "but the kid's fine. Cap is bullet proof. I think. That might be another boyscout. I always get the big guys in blue mixed up."
"Ms. Lane, I'm scared." Ava cupped the boy's cheek, kissing him on the forehead.
"I know Peter, but I need you to be brave for a few minutes more, O.K.? Close your eyes and cover your ears, everything is going to be fine," Ava glared at the man beside her, "Leave. Now."
"I can't just leave you here."
"Do you not see the nine-year-old in your arms? The nine-year-old that you're responsible for?!"
"She's right pussy cat," the red clad mercenary dropped his gun before slapping both hands on his face, "Just think of the children!"
Steve blinked at the strange man before yelping inn surprise as Ava suddenly shoved him to the ground. He watched as a metal hand wrapped around her neck, lifting her tiny body up.
"Bucky?!"
"Yo! Sugar pop! That is my target, stay away!" Deadpool drew two more guns out, practically growling at the Winter Soldier.
"I really, really do not have the patience for this," Steve's jaw dropped even further as Ava started to glow before sending out a force of energy that sent the two men after her flying in different directions. A being made of pure light stood in front of Steve pulsing every few seconds as if trying to catch her breath. She kneeled down next Steve and Peter, tendrils of energy flowing around her ethereal head.
"Wha-"
"Time for you to go," a swirling pool of light surrounded Peter and Steve, engulfing them.
Tried my best with Deadpool, he is fun but kind of hard.
No promises on when the next chapter will be out. I have heavy work load this semester so updates won't be regular till May most likely.
hehe XD
