One Month Later

Danielle stared out the window of the compound located in upstate New York. It was the first time she had ever been somewhere-other than NYC- in America. She liked the view of the fields then the woods just beyond it. There were Quinjets, soldiers, agents, doctors, scientist, then her fellow Avengers.

When she first moved in, Danielle was intimidated. A compound full of Avengers. She slowly shrunk back into her shell of shyness as she traveled around, but she increasingly became closer to them.

It was like living in college dorms, but nicer and more advanced. Tony gave the three advanced phones and laptops so they could purchase anything they'd like to decorate their rooms. Jack didn't have trouble at all as he spent the billionaire's money to buy rock band posters, black bed sheets, and a gaming system to connect to the surround sound system in his room. Wanda felt uncomfortable using Tony's money, but reluctantly she used it to decorate her room in an artsy and peaceful way. She had a guitar, a lot of pictures of Sokovia, and many intricate pieces of furniture.

Danielle, on the other hand, had the most trouble decorating her room. She wasn't sure what she wanted or what she was good at. She had been taken by HYDRA for three years and practically brainwashed to the point where her memories of herself before she was taken were a blur. So, she left her room plain and white.

One day, while walking through the compound, Steve noticed this. The super soldier seemed to feel drawn to the three enhanced. They were practically kids- Danielle was a kid- and they had been put through immeasurable pain and turned into experiments. Wanda had volunteered at an older age in life, but Danielle and Jack were children kidnapped and orphaned.

Steve entered Danielle's room while she sat on the edge of her bed playing with a pencil as she used her powers to take it apart and piece it back together- Steve had suggested to start with small things to control her powers better. She lifted her head a bit at his entrance. "How's everything here?" He asked.

Danielle shrugged in response. Steve noticed that after Sokovia, Danielle didn't speak much. Well, she didn't speak much to begin with, but she seemed to return to her original state of not speaking to anyone but Jack and Wanda.

"You haven't decorated your room much." Steve pointed out.

Danielle frowned and looked around the room with a sad expression. "I don't know how..." She mumbled.

"I don't really know how those tablets work either, but I can ask Tony-"

Danielle shook her head. "I don't know how to decorate the room." She clarified.

Steve frowned. He wasn't sure how to fix this. But he knew a place he could start. After his conversation with the teen, he crossed the hall to where Jack was staying. "What was your sister like before HYDRA?" He asked him.

Jack seemed a bit caught off guard by the question, but once he heard it he smiled to himself as he recalled how innocent and happy she was back then. "She was smart- a genius. Not like Stark, but like Bethoveen."

"She played instruments?"

Jack nodded. "She played the piano, if I remember correctly. My dad didn't really know why my mother had even bothered buying a piano to begin with. But once he heard Dani play at her first recital..." Jack's smile grew at the memory. "She was also a skilled dancer. My mother also threw her into being a ballerina. She tolerated it- and was actually really good-but she liked piano a bit more." Jack nodded then looked up at Steve. "Why do you ask?"

Steve sighed. "She doesn't seem to feel too comfortable here, and I just thought if we knew more about her we could help her feel more at home."

Jack nodded. "So you gonna put a piano in her tiny room?"

Stevr chuckled. "No, but I'll talk to Tony about putting one somewhere else in the compound."

It wasn't long before Danielle woke up one morning to find a large, black, shiny grand piano sitting in the corner of the main living space in the compound. She wasn't sure how to react to it. It could have been out there by accident, or Jack could have boughten it. Either way, Danielle stared intently at the instrument before she went to sit on the edge of one of the couches a few yards away.

The piano before her brought back many memories of times before HYDRA. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not. However, it took only a few minutes before notes on the piano began playing itself. It started off slow, but the pace picked up quickly as the song, First Step by Hans Zimmer, carried on. It was one of the last songs she ever played on the piano, and now she was playing it again three years later without even touching the keys.

Danielle was so captivated in the music, she didn't seem to notice the small crowd gathered around in the room. The remaining Avengers slowly seeped into the living area at the sounds of the piano being played; Steve, Jack, Wanda, Thor, Clint, Tony, Natasha, and the Vision all watched silently as she played from a distance. When the final cords were struck, the room filled with a small applause.

Danielle's head shot up in shock from the entire team having just watched her. "Nice job, Mozart." Tony complimented.

"I haven't seen you play in four years almost." Jack exclaimed. "You're still the best."

Danielle blushed and bowed her head. "Why didn't you tell me you played?" Wanda asked.

The teen shrugged. "I didn't remember I could until I saw the piano." She muttered.

After her mini-recital that morning, she played a lot more. Some with her hands, some with her powers. Slowly, she began to remember who she was before HYDRA. The smart little school girl from France. And just as Steve hoped, she began decorating her room. She now had a lavender bed set; light pink carpet; a small wood desk by the window with a sketch pad and a lot of markers, pens, and pencils; Tony put in a large bookshelf at Jack's request and filled it with young adult novels of the sorts; and she even got herself some purple Bests headphones while she listened to hundreds of downloaded songs in her phone. Over the month, she became a more open, but still shy, Danielle.

It was the beginning of a new chapter about another month later when the Avengers began to discuss their futures. Thor was leaving to Asgard, Tony was headed back to civilian life, Clint went back to his farm and family, and the three enhanced decided to stay out with the remaining members of the team. Not to mention, the new recruits of a man named Falcon, a.k.a Sam Wilson, and Col. James Rhodes, a.k.a War Machine.

It was the first day of training in the compound, and Tony had left the three enhanced a few new gifts after having already departed. Wanda now wore a scarlet suit with boots and a large coat instead of her normal dress; Jack had a pitch black running suit with yellow stitching lines that lit up each time he used his powers; and Danielle was wearing a dark blue cat suit with dark gold entrails and of course, the dark gold mask Steve gave her.

They all met in the large training room; Vision, Falcon, War Machine, Statix, Scarlet Witch, and Eris. A few moments later, Steve and Natasha came in wearing their uniforms as well. Steve stood at a ready stance with Natasha behind him as he announced, "Avengers, assemble!"


Six Months Later

It was seven months after Sokovia and the Harper siblings had set up their homes in the Avengers compound. They got into their routines fairly easily. Danielle awoke at five every morning and made herself a small breakfast of either a banana and nutella sandwich, toast, or Fruity Pebbles before putting on a pot of coffee for the rest of the Avengers that would wake soon enough. Vision usually came out of his room- he didn't exactl sleep- and came to talk with Danielle. They found each other interesting. She'd ask him philosophical questions about her powers and since the gem on his forehead was where they came from, he'd try his best to help her understand.

That conversation usually lasted an hour and after that, Steve would come our from his room to grab himself some coffee before going out on his morning run. Sam would join him about half an hour later and they would both return an hour after that. Steve or Natasha would then go train with the recruits at the military part of the compound while Sam and Rhodey held their own trainings. Wanda would then wake up to have her mid-morning coffee and breakfast alongside Vision and Danielle before her and the android would go out to train.

Danielle would the hide out in her room sketching, listening to music, or playing piano before Steve would take her out to the compound cafeteria for lunch. Sometimes Natasha, Sam, Rhodey, or Wanda would join them, but usually it was just the two. Danielle would try to help Steve catch up on modern history she learned in primary school while he helped her out on historical events that happened while she was captured in HYDRA. After a while, the conversation transitioned over more funny topics like on whether or not Jack could charge phones with his fingertip, if an escalator could carry Thor's hammer, or how many recruits would trip over their shoelaces if Danielle tied them together using her powers. Danielle and Steve became close as the months went on and Danielle was practically Steve's adopted daughter.

After their lunch, Steve would go off for more one-on-one training with Sam and Wanda and usually after that, Jack would wake up to join them. Then by afternoon, Danielle would be watching her favorite TV series- Once Upon A Time-when someone would have called her out for dinner.

Everyone usually sat around the conference room table eating either Chinese take-out, home made Sokovian food-compliments of Wanda-, pizza, burgers, BBQ, or the rare occasion Tony and Pepper would drive through town to make them dinner on special occasions.

After dinner most of the team would usually wind up playing some sort of game or watch a movie. Sunday was movie night, Monday was Monopoly, Tuesday was Guitar Hero, Wednesday was another movie night, Thursday was Pictionary, Friday was Trivia, and Saturday was Scrabble. Whoever won game night the night before usually wound up picking the next movie night movie-which Sam and Rhodey called bullshit on because of the fact most of the people in the room were enhanced in one way or another.

The routine was practical and nice for once. It was kept for the most parts, except fr when there were missions.

Missions were a hard topic for the Harper siblings. Steve was reluctant enough to let Jack and Wanda come, but when it came to Danielle, he was all the way against. There were times the team had full out arguments on whether or not she should have been able to come or not, but Steve always managed to come on top with the excuse of her being a kid.

"A powerful kid who held a meteor flying towards the Earth still for over forty seconds without even lifting a finger." Rhodey pointed out during one of the meetings. Usually they would be held in the conference room after hours while they thought Danielle was asleep in her room when she really had teleported to hide in the shadows and listen.

"She barely has control over her powers. You have no idea what she's capable of if she looses control." Wanda exclaimed.

"That's the problem, none of us do." Sam pointed out.

"Shouldn't she be the one to decide this?" Jack interjected.

"No!" Everyone shouted simultaneously.

Steve sighed and recomposed himself. "She doesn't go on missions. And that's final."

"Fine, she doesnt go on missions." Natasha agreed. "But if she doesn't go on missions, what do you expect her to do?"

"She's fourteen. Children her age go to high school, don't they?"

"You're suggesting Miss Harper be enrolled in school?" Vision asked.

"Can she even do that?" Sam asked. "I mean, she's not even from America, not to mention she's a wea-"

"Don't say the 'w' word." Rhodey warned.

"Enhanced." Sam corrected himself.

"She may or may not have control over how much power she uses, but she sure is in control on using it all." Steve stated.

"And what happens if someone provokes her?" Jack inquired. "Do you expect her to stay content? Cause I sure as hell don't."

"Language." Steve scolded and Natasha held back laughter. "Danielle is a smart and sweet girl. She knows what's wrong and what's right and I have trust in her not to use her powers for her own personal gain."

"Perhaps we should have a vote." Vision stated.

Steve gazed around the room. "All for Danielle going to school, raise your hand." Sam, Wanda, Vision, and Steve all raised their hands leaving Natasha, Rhodey, and Jack with their hands down. "It's settled then. I'll talk to Tony about setting up a fake alias for her and a small apartment in New York somewhere."

"Where would she be going?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll leave that up to Tony to decide."

"Yes, because he's always so trustworthy." Natasha quipped.

Steve sent her a glare. "I trust him enough to get her into a good school."

"What if she doesn't like it?" Wanda asked.

Steve sighed. "If she doesn't like it in her first semester, then we'll pull her out."

Everyone in the room was silent before Sam spoke up, "I don't know about y'all, but I ain't gonna tell her."

"I'll break it to her tomorrow." Steve said.

Danielle hardly got any sleep that night as she tossed and turned in her bed. How was she supposed to react to having to go to school especially with these powers? What if someone recognized her? What if they bullied her? What if they treated her like a freak? What if HYDRA found her again? What would happen if she accidently used her powers? These frantic questions danced inside Danielle's head until she finally fell asleep. The next day, the routine was the same. Breakfast, sketch, tension-filled lunch with Steve, piano break, training session, and dinner.

By the time game night rolled around, no one had said anything yet. That was until halfway through Monopoly when Sam cursed about Vision having bought Boardwalk. "This is ridiculous!" The Falcon exclaimed. "This is the fifth time he's boughten Boardwalk! At this point, he's cheating."

"Called it!" Rhodey exclaimed as he rolled the dice and moved the little metal car five spots over and passed on buying Vermont avenue.

Danielle laughed as Natasha rolled her turn and moved the small iron to land on Park Place. Sam glared st her. "Don't do it..." He warned. "Don't you do it-"

"I'll take it." Natasha turned to Steve who was playing the banker in this round.

"Oh, come on!" Sam shouted in protest as she handed the play money to Steve who handed her the card.

"They're working together." Jack accused as he pointed to Vision and Natasha as Wanda used her powers to roll her turn.

The red mist of her powers enveloped the tiny dog as it moved ten places to land on 'Go To Jail'. "Aw." She pouted as Steve placed her piece in the jail.

"Yeah, one less player on the field we have to worry about." Rhodey nudged Sam.

"I thought we said no team ups." Natasha glared at the pair.

"Tell that to you and the Android." Sam retorted.

Natasha rolled her eyes as Danielle took her turn and ended up landing on 'Free Parking'. "I call bull!" Jack declared as he pointed at his sister who collected the five hundred dollars worth of money in the center of the board.

"Language!" Everyone around the table scolded playfully much to Steve's dismay.

"But this is the second time in this round she's gotten 'Free Parking'!" Jack exclaimed.

"What is it with you three and accusing us of cheating?" Natasha asked.

"They're just being sore losers." Wanda replied with a grin. Everyone laughed at that.

"Yeah, besides let Dwnielle get away with 'Free Parking'. She's gonna need all the wins under her belt she can get before Steve sends her off to boarding school." Sam said playfully before receiving multiple wide eyed stares and a few glares from everyone around the board. "You didn't tell her yet?" He whispered to the super soldier.

"Steve..." Danielle mumbled. "Is that true?"

Steve glared at Sam before setting down the money he had organized. "Look, Danielle, we just think you're not reedy for missions yet. You're much too young, and we just want you to have a normal life."

"But I'm not normal."

"Just because you're not normal yourself, doesn't mean you can't have a semi-normal life. Don't you want that?" Danielle bowed her head and frowned a bit in response. Steve sighed. "Why don't you sleep on it, alright, kid?"

Danielle nodded before she vanished in thin air to teleport back in her room. Her money stack dropped onto the table in front of where she sat and the rest of the players fell silent as Steve dropped his head into his hands.

"If she's not playing, can I take Illinois Avenue off her hands?" Sam asked.

Everyone turned to stare at him. Steve then sighed before standing up. "I'll go talk to her." He said before heading off to her room.

"Is that a 'no'?" Sam continued.

Steve knocked Danielle's door before entering. She was sitting behind her desk sketching, her headphones on as she listened to House of Gold. Steve pulled up the small stand from behind the keyboard in the corner of her room to sit beside her. Danielle looked to her side and pulled off her headphones, but continued to color in the sketch before her. It was an image a small town being overlooked on by a green hill. A large lake was drawn in the background behind the village and more mountains surrounded it. "Where is it?" Steve asked.

"Where I'm from," Danielle replied. "Zilina, Slovakia."

"It's beautiful."

"It was..." Danielle remarked as she blew off the entrails of left behind pencil markings. "I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if my father never went to work for HYDRA. If he had just stuck to what he was good at: helping people."

"You would be going to school, like a normal teenager. With normal friends, normal family, normal hobbies, normal lifestyle." Steve told her. "But you're not normal. And you don't always get what you want." Danielle stayed silent as she continued to stare at the sketch. Steve went on. "I'm not forcing you to go to school. I'm giving you an option. You can go to school, graduate, maybe to to college, get a nice job, meet someone. And on weekends we'll visit you or you come visit us and you'll be old enough to go on missions." Danielle smirked a bit at the idea of that. It didn't sound all too bad. "Or, you can live everyday stuck here in the compound while the rest of us to off to fight while you sit here and look out this window. Maybe after a few years we'll take you on some missions, but do you really just want to do that all your life? Missions?"

"We save people." Danielle pointed out.

Steve nodded in agreement. "We do. Because that's our job. It's not your job."

"But I'm an Avenger."

"But you don't have to be just and Avenger." Danielle gave Steve a confused expression and he sighed. "Look at Tony. He's an Avenger, but he still lives in New York with Pepper while working at Stark Industries." The teen gave him a curious look and Steve chuckled. "I know, I know. Interesting example, but that's not the point. The point is, you can have a normal life and still save lives. You think you would want something like that?"

Danielle played with her fingers as they sat in her lap before mumbling a response, "Do you think I could go on missions with more training in between school days?"

Steve smiled. He couldn't deny the pride that filled his chest as he nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure with enough extensive training from Wanda, Vision, and Jack would benefit your chances on going some missions during breaks. If you want, every weekend you can come visit the compound to work not only on your powers, but some hand-to-hand with Nat and I."

"Really?" Danielle looked up at him hopefully.

"Absolutely. But you'd have to keep your grades up."

Danielle smiled a bit. "When can I start?"