"Ready, baby girl?" Ava recognized Tony's voice as he backed up to focus the camera on Elli. A man she recognized from other videos, Platypus, Teddy-Bear, Sour-Patch, Rhodey she finally figured out when a strawberry blonde woman called his name one Christmas recording, held a small bicycle steady as they stood in what looked to be an empty parking garage.
"Yes, daddy!" Elli's face filled the tablet's screen, her wide smile filling Ava's heart before the child runs to the bicycle Rhodes is holding. The girl's feet barely brushed the concrete as she attempted to push away from her godfather.
"Not so fast, sweetheart." Rhodey tightened the strap around her chin, securing the bright blue helmet before clicking her bracelet on. "Now we're going to try this without powers, alright?"
"How come?" Elli looked back at her godfather.
"Well, when you ride your bike just with Peter you can use your powers." Tony was talking now. "But if we go to the park or you ride at Eugene or Ned's house, we need to keep them a secret."
Rhodey put his hand on top of Elli's helmet and tilted the girl's head to look up at him.
"So, you have to build the strength to balance without them." He pauses, a sideways smirk full of affection gracing his features. "Because your bracelet can't…uh…malfunction…every time you make a new friend."
Elli snickered at the reference while Ava made a note to ask Tony about it later.
"Okay okay," Elli began to push off the ground again. "Let go already, Uncle Rhodey!"
"Alright, alright." The man stepped away from the bike as it started to roll forward.
"Watch me, daddy!" Ava smiled as her daughter picked up speed and rolled away from her father. "Rhodey and JARVIS too!"
"Of course, young miss."
"I am!" Rhodey walked behind the camera's sight as Tony spoke. "Elli, baby, how about you turn around and come back this way?"
"Kay!" Ava raised a hand to cover her mouth as Elli jerked the steering wheel to the left, the sudden movement causing the bike to come out from underneath her.
"Oh, shit!" The perspective of the video flawlessly transitioned to one of JARVIS's cameras as Tony dropped his phone and ran to his daughter, Rhodey right on his heels. Elli was just lifting her head when her father scooped her up from her armpits and into his arms.
"Oh baby girl, that was quite the fall." Rhodey strokes Elli's hair back from a small scrape on her face. Both of her hands make a cup around her mouth as both men frown. "What's wrong?"
A small trickle of blood drips down her chin as Elli takes her hands away, holding them palm up. JARVIS zoomed in as Elli's gaping mouth turned upward, her two front teeth blatantly missing from her smile.
"The Tooth Fairy is coming! I'm gonna be rich!" Elli whips her head at Tony, the man's face pale as his eyes focus on the two red drops that hit his daughter's shirt. Rhodey squeezes his shoulder and uses his sleeve to wipe the blood from his goddaughter's chin, her smile falling slightly. "Daddy?"
Ava watches as Tony releases a breath before he chuckles softly, kissing his daughter's head."And what exactly do you need money for, pumpkin?"
"CANDY!" Elli bounces in his arms. "And a flashlight!"
Rhodey snorts. "Why a flashlight?"
"Eugene said you need a flashlight to tell ghost stories." Elli is beaming again. "And a bedsheet. And a lot of candy!"
"Well, he isn't wrong." Tony squeezes Elli one more time before switching off her bracelet, allowing her injuries to begin to heal. "How about we go get cleaned up and we'll try the bike again tomorrow?"
Elli nods as she inspects her teeth again.
"Can I call Peter after?" Tony follows Rhodey to the elevator.
"Sure, baby girl."
The video pauses after the elevator doors shut. It had been a few weeks since Tony had sent the StarkPad for her to use, and she spent almost all of her time invested in her child's life. This was the last and most recent video JARVIS had for her to watch.
Ava taps her fingers together, little sparks dancing before she looks up from the StarkPad at the super-soldier sketching in the corner.
"Steve?" Removing the StarkPods, Ava tries to get his attention. She tries a little louder. "Hey, Steve?"
He continues to sketch, his eyebrows furrowing in the way Ava remembered when he was checked out from his surroundings. Her energy crackled under her fingertips as she let it fill the room. A playful smile lights up her face as the blue light gently picks up the chair Steve is sitting in.
"Steveee." Ava quirks an eyebrow as he still remains absorbed in his sketchbook. It is only when his head gently brushes the ceiling that he flinches, his reflexes keeping him from falling off the chair.
He looks up before looking down at Ava, taking in the gentle glow of her eyes as her hair floated around her. A warmth fills his chest as the chair lowers and she laughs into her hands.
"Get a little lost up there?" She slides off the bed and he rushes to meet her.
His large hands overwhelm hers as he gently squeezes them. Her strength was returning but he wasn't quite ready to let go yet.
"Just a little bit." He admits as her energy flutters under his skin before ruffling his hair. "But you always knew how to get my attention."
"How did you get along without me?" Her hand brushes his cheek as she smirks, her touch filling his face with warmth.
I didn't, Steve only smiled and tucked a golden lock behind her ear.
"Did you need something?" He asks.
"Yes!" She pulled her hands from his and clapped them together. "Do you know how to ride a bike?"
"Yes?" He laughs and tilts his head at her.
"Great! JARVIS, I need a bike." Ava crossed her arms before scrunching her nose. "Actually make that two."
"Of course, Miss Ava. They will be here in the morning."
Tony had given her access to order whatever she wanted through JARVIS after her third week at the compound. She didn't ask for much but the AI had grown increasingly fond of the Skīr-r during their chats. JARVIS had requested some purchases be made when Ava mentioned how much she missed pastries after watching Elli destroy the cake during her first birthday.
JARVIS I wish you could taste what the humans create. They are so clever with everything they make but especially with food. Steve used to take me to this bakery by his and Bucky's apartment, they had this cake. Oh, what was it called? It had so many layers. And apple pie! They make it so many different ways. Oh, but it is always so good with ice cream! I have never not liked any apple pie Steve brought me.
The AI rarely asked his creator for anything, so Tony didn't know how to respond when JARVIS asked for apple pie. Until he asked why, and then Tony truly began to appreciate how much Ava treated JARVIS like an individual rather than just a computer program. Ava was Elli's biological mother, but she was also JARVIS's first friend.
Tony duly noted where Elli got her sweet tooth and immediately had JARVIS order one of everything from the nearest bakery. Steve had nearly tripped over the pastry boxes scattered around the floor when he walked in to see Ava surrounded by floating cakes and frosting on her cheek.
Steve! Darling! You have to try this! They turned apple pie into a cupcake!
"Why do you want a bike?"
"Elli is learning how to ride one. To ride with her friends from class." JARVIS had told her that many human children ride bikes with friends and family when he brought up the video earlier that morning. "If I get to meet her, I want to be able to do that with her too."
"When you get to meet her." Steve frowned.
"If." Ava pulled Steve toward the door, ready to get her fresh air for the day. "No matter how much I want to spend time with her, I have to do what is best for Elli."
"Ava," Steve stops. "You have the right to meet her. And Elli needs her mother."
The Skīr-r frowns as she is stopped by his grip on her hand.
"Steve."
His eyes follow hers to his hand engulfing her own. She pulls away as he reluctantly let go and runs his hand through his hair.
"I just," his shoulders tense before he sighs. "I just know you would be great with Elli. That you'd never hurt her, despite what Stark and Fury might think. I know you better than anyone, Ava."
She doesn't answer right away.
"But you don't know me. Not anymore."
Steve feels his heart flutter as his stomach drops. "Ava please-"
"I have spent the past seventy years alone. Without you." Her arms curl around her as she laughs. "Well, never really alone. There was always someone there. Conducting their next experiment. Watching me. Torturing me."
Energy flows through the air, making a shiver run down Steve's spine. It felt powerful. It felt angry.
But she also felt scared.
They used her power, her very being, to create weapons. To ruin innocent lives. They messed with her energy, corrupted it. It felt different from before. She watched the energy crackle in her hand before she snuffed it out.
"And I hurt them for it, Steve. Killed them for what they did to me." They forced her to go against her very nature as a Skīr-r, as a creator, a nurturer. It was a pain she didn't see clearly until she woke up at the compound. Until she processed what she had gone through. "But I don't regret it."
"You're still the same Ava." His eyes were desperate but they didn't understand. "My Ava."
"No, I am not. I don't know how but I am not the same." Ava's smile did not quite reach her eyes. She had enemies along with her demons. "And I will not meet Elli until I find myself again. Until I know myself and I can trust myself to protect her."
"You're being unfair to both you and Elli." His hand reached out. "Ava, whatever Stark said to you-"
Steve felt his heart drop as she pulled away.
"I think I need some time." She brushed past him back into her room, his glowing art supplies deposited right outside the threshold of the door. "Alone."
He gapes at his stuff on the ground before he steps towards the door.
"Please, Ava. I didn't mean to upset you, I love you."
She reached out and his soul lifted when she kissed his cheek. But disappointment only followed with her words.
"I love you so much, Steve Rogers." She kissed him again on the lips, her petite hand on his cheek. "So, very, much more than I ever thought was possible. But we have both changed since 1943. It's time we acknowledge that."
Her hands rested on his chest, a chest she is still unfamiliar with, before she gently pushes him out of the door frame.
"I'll have JARVIS call you sometime next week."
Steve stands in the hallway staring at her closed door, feeling like he just woke up from the ice all over again.
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Hey all. TBH this year really sucked and I've been encouraged by my therapist to try writing again. Plus I finally succumbed to Covid despite being vaccinated so I decided to edit a draft I had and wrote the rest of this chapter. I'm fine, just tired and quarantining in my bedroom but I literally get tired doing anything but sitting in bed.
Anyways, I always pictured Marisa Tomei's Aunt May as a little bit of a hippy with a bunch of plants and art supplies so I thought she needed to help Hulk and Elli with finger painting. (Go see no way home if you havent seen it yet). I'll try to write the next chapter between naps, I hope to include Bucky and maybe Deadpool (I don't know what to do with him lol) in the next chapter. Thank you all for your patience. I hope you enjoyed the two-part update.
