A/N* Yay chapter 30!

I have a new story posted on my page that is a collaboration between two other writers and myself, if you have read Keeper of the Lost Cities then go check it out! (If not then read it! The series is worth your time!)

"Ms. Cristo, I advise that you try to sleep, at least for a little bit." F.R.I.D.A.Y's worried voice came over the speaker in her room. Aubrey was sitting on her bed in the dark, legs crossed and pj's on. The only light came from a little rabbit night-light, Miss. M got for her right after the surgery. Her mind...had been in a dark place for the last couple of days and every time Aubrey closed her eyes bloodied images flashed in front of them. Instead, she had started practicing, creating various shapes, and resizing them for hours on end. She had become fascinated with the Nanos and the possibilities they brought with them. Something in the drawer of her bedside table vibrated and Aubrey felt her back stiffen as the Nanos retracted and she leaned over, wincing slightly at the pull and ache from the scars on her back. The drawer slid open easily and immediately her heartbeat quickened at the sight of her direct line to Bucky lit up. Silently she scanned the message for their code words.

"The Fruit here is delicious, especially the Apples but I think I prefer the Apples from Mexico." The words became something different in her mind..they really meant something else: "I've picked up a trail where I am. Going to try and subdue the threat, will head to Mexico soon." Worry gnawed at her stomach but Aubrey knew BUcky could handle himself most of the time. Quickly she typed out a response.

"The moon here is beautiful" ("I'm still here") "How are you?"

It took several minutes for him to reply and her eyes stayed glued on the screen for the duration.

"Relieved you're okay." A small smile flitted onto her face at his reply.

"Not what I meant Bucky"

" I'm okay, how's training going?" His words implied that he didn't want to talk about himself.

"Not as quickly as I had hoped."

"I have to go but you'll figure it out."

"Stay safe Buck" Aubrey switched off the phone before tucking it back into the drawer, feeling reassured that Bucky was alright. She slid to the edge of her bed and eyed the wheelchair before looking at the crutches that leaned against the wall beside the chair. Miss. M had brought them in the morning before saying that soon she would be ready for them. A warning bell went of fin her head and she sighed, choosing, after a moment's hesitation, to slip into the wheelchair. She took ahold of the crutches and wheeled to the bathroom, flicking on the white light. The Doctor had been at her therapy lesson and had told Aubrey that her back was almost fully healed. But every move made the skin stretch and a thought niggled at the back of her mind. Carefully she positioned the wheelchair several feet away from the mirror and after summoning her strength, Aubrey jolted to her feet, kept steady by the crutches. She turned around and leaned against the counter, pulling open a drawer and taking out a handheld mirror. Carefully she leaned one crutch beside her before using the hand to pull her tank top up, keeping the other hand firmly grasped on a crutch. Holding up the handheld mirror, Aubrey glimpsed her back for the first time since the surgery. Wrippled scar tissue lined her spine, parts of it were bruised and stood out against her pale, porcelain skin. When she focused on a bruise Aubrey could faintly see the slow flash of a neon blue light. She and Tony had worked on the Commanders together but to see them in her body...saving her…..was something entirely different. The Doctor had said that it was likely that the scarring would never heal but she didn't know why. Silently, Aubrey questioned how her organs could be healed but not the scarring, and part of her wondered if it had to do with the invading materials now embedded in her spine and flowing in her blood. But it also felt like it made her...well her. It was another scar, just a more prominent one, unlike the many that she imagined littered her mind...it was there to remind her how strong she was and no one could take it from her.

Today, Tony took Aubrey to the roof of the Avengers building and he watched as she breathed deeply, observing as the fall leaves shuffled and took a ride on the fluttering wind before drifting to the ground.

"Tony, this morning it seemed quieter here." She started as he helped her to her feet, making sure she was steady on the crutches before backing away several steps.

"That's cause it is, Cap, Sam, Wanda, and Romanoff left this morning, said they found a lead on someone they needed to find. Vision is still rattling around here somewhere but I don't think you've met many people here, have you?"

"Not really...I wanted to keep my distance at first" What Aubrey wasn't saying was that she preferred to be with someone she knew rather than a stranger….and she hadn't wanted to have any awkward interactions with Cap. Wanda had been nice and she hoped maybe they could be friends one day.

"Which translates to you weren't sure you were welcome." Tony raised his eyebrows at her as she nodded, attempting to change the subject.

"Why are we up here?"

"Because, Aubrey, a great man once said, it's time to fly!" A grin lit his face as he ambled to the edge and threw his arms out dramatically.

"Who said this?"

"I did!-" he opened his mouth to say more but she cut him off.

"I'm not ready yet, I can make shapes but there's no way that I can...can make wings and jets."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to push you off the building expecting you to fly-" a mischievous smile lit up his face and something twinkled in his eye as he finished "yet"

A couple of minutes later he pulled a hologram out of his pocket and started showing diagrams of her old wings,

"I'm not sure this is safe" Aubrey muttered. Her wings sat on a table beside her and she wanted nothing more than to put them on. He explained the bones of wings and what she would have to command the Nano's to do.

"-Basically once you get this then I would consider you an expert" he finished as Aubrey visualized the shapes of wings and how they would form. The Nano's hummed in reply and she almost felt ready to try it...almost.

A/N* We're almost to a hundred followers!