Chapter Eleven

A fist suddenly collided with her cheek as Ada was thrown out of her train of thoughts. Her eyes narrowed with fury as she caught the fist and threw the attacker over her shoulder. The attacker in question landed on the ground with a heavy thud, only to be replaced with another. The second attacker was stronger, this time, using her size against her by pushing her to the ground. Ada winced at the sudden impact of their leg hitting her side.

She began running the minute she could, escaping their grasp before the others could attack her at once. She would have thought by now that running wouldn't get her anywhere. In this case, though, Ada had quickly learned that using as little energy as possible before unleashing her full power was important. Flames erupted from the tips of her fingers as she managed to round the corner and narrowly avoid another hit to the face.

The idiot that followed her wasn't aware of the plan that she formulated. That gave Ada an advantage as she suddenly whipped around, unleashing a storm of fire upon the advancing attackers. It only took minutes for the attackers to collapse on the ground, resembling what appeared to be melting metal figures. A shiver ran through Ada when she noticed how eerily close they looked to a burning human body. While she had never seen one in person, she dreaded the day when that might actually happen.

"Simulation complete," a computerized voice suddenly announced.

Within seconds, the city-like structure dissolved into a room made of dark gray steel walls. Ada's shoulders sagged in relief as she kicked aside an android figure that she and another SHIELD agent had designed for these particular simulations.

"Let me know if you find something that can withstand a little heat," she quipped after walking out the door.

Two years had passed since she first joined SHIELD's training program. Since then, Tony had been focusing most of his attention on building suits and the company. With so much going on, Ada had been helping him out more recently with the Stark Expo now about to open. The expo itself had been a big deal when Tony brought it up. It was something that his father, Howard Stark, had begun and stopped after his death. With the Iron Man suit now fully established as a reality, Tony used that to his full advantage, giving the public exactly what they wanted: A hero, and someone with a ridiculously huge ego.

Tony was the kind of person who used the attention people gave him to his advantage. While he hadn't admitted it out loud, he did have feelings for Pepper, who also happened to be his new CEO. Ada hadn't had a problem with that notion, especially since the promotion was well-deserved. She just wished that Tony would get over himself and admit his feelings out loud instead of keeping them bottled up. Maybe than she could use his relationship as a distraction to escape when she was needed at the facility.

Truthfully, Ada hadn't had the heart to tell him that she joined SHIELD. She knew that if she had told him, he would react badly. It was one of the many reasons she hadn't told him about her powers. She was terrified of how he would react and treat her if he knew that she did have powers. There were times when she thought of telling Pepper, or maybe even Happy. But, Ada couldn't shake off the feeling of dread any time she thought of doing so. Maybe, it was better she kept it a secret. Besides, SHIELD could be the key to finding out the truth about where she came from, and how she was born with powers.

Her powers were just another problem that she had been learning to cope with. They were constantly fluctuating and changing depending on what sort of situation she threw herself in. Coulson had warned her that it was possible her powers weren't fully stabilized. And if that was the case, she would make a dangerous enemy if she did end up losing control.

"That's the best simulation test that we've designed," an annoyed Jimmy Baker groaned.

Jimmy was one of the few friends that Ada had made while working with SHIELD. He was a tech genius, much like Tony, and he was in his early twenties. With shaggy brown hair, lightly tanned skin and few muscles, he basically looked like one of those characters from the Big Bang Theory. His line of work was more in engineering and designing new technology for people like herself. They often worked on projects together when she wasn't busy getting her ass kicked by Clint.

She had to admit, it was nice being able to spend some time away from the constant training Clint put her through. Jimmy had a good sense of humor, and they would often spend hours just working on whatever projects were assigned to him. He had been trying to build droids that were able to withstand a blow from someone with powers like hers. Because of his line of work, they were trying to figure out what defensive systems worked best against anything the world threw at them.

"Yeah, well, I'd say it's time we got back to the drawing board," she replied with a smirk, "Might be a good idea to build a droid that doesn't get burned to a crisp anytime it pisses me off."

"You're not gonna stay and help me build them, are you?" he quipped, giving her a dirty look as she grabbed her coat, "You know, just because you're Stark's daughter doesn't mean you can leave whenever you want."

"Oh, so you're gonna pull that string on me?" she snorted with laughter, not missing the amusement flashing in Jimmy's eyes, "I've heard this song and dance before from the boss; he isn't going to control me just because I'm new."

By now, Jimmy was struggling not to laugh at her response. He knew she meant well – she actually did have somewhere to be tonight. Besides, the longer she stayed at the base, the higher chances she had of getting caught by Tony. Right now, she wasn't in the mood to explain why she had been at a SHIELD facility in the first place. His lack of trust in the agency was understandable. But she had joined in the hopes of finding out who or what she really was. The hardest struggle was trying to keep it from him, especially since he was nosy enough that he'd hack into her files.

"Happy birthday, by the way," he called over his shoulder.

She simply gave him a wave, not bothering to guess how he of all people knew that today had been her birthday.

…

A display of fireworks and women dancing on the stage in the background could be seen in the distance. Once again, Ada stood in the back of the crowd while watching the Iron Man suit flying down. She simply rolled her eyes as that only got the crowd even more riled up.

The Stark Expo really was a big deal. After fifty years since the World's Fair, Ada knew that people treated this like it was: A frats party. She enjoyed the science part of it, though, and she spent a lot of her free time looking at the technology that people often presented to Tony.

The younger generation that presented some of their projects to Tony had been eager to prove themselves. In such a competitive world full of technology, Ada wasn't surprised with that notion. She had been impressed with some of the projects in question, especially when she knew how difficult it was to get the funding behind some of them.

What amazed Ada the most was that there were well over a thousand people standing in the crowd, just to get a glimpse of the Iron Man suit.

He loved soaking in all the attention the crowd would give him. Before he told everyone he was Iron Man, he'd promised her that he wouldn't let the attention get to his head. Ada nearly rolled her eyes when she thought of how quickly that promise had been broken. Now, he treated the whole thing as if it was a joke, even going as far as showing off a few times when he had the chance.

"Well, look at you; don't you look beautiful?" She whirled around, eyes widening in surprise at the familiar sound of Emmett's voice.

She couldn't hide the sheepish grin that followed when she saw him standing there, holding two glasses of wine in hand. They'd made up since their argument on the beach. Ada knew that things could have ended miserably between them had they not talked it through. Luckily, Emmett was the listening type, and he had bought her story full-line sinker.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after accepting his offer gratefully.

Underage or not, she didn't care much. At least she didn't get drunk like Tony, and throw wild parties as a result. Or, sleep with random people and not even remember their names the next morning. She tried not to let her disgust show at the thought of how many women had walked in and out of the mansion. The only consolation she had now was that Tony had been trying to change his ways since he promised not to drag her into said mess. Ada wasn't in any hurry to endure the parties that he threw, especially when she had better things to do.

"Come on, it's the Stark Expo," he reminded her teasingly. "Anyone who's anyone will be here. I've got some great photos too." He added the last part with a sheepish grin. "So why aren't you up there with your father?"

Ada grimaced as she looked over her shoulder to the stage where Tony was giving his address. There were many reasons she didn't feel like joining him on that stage. She hated when people tried comparing her to Tony. Or, when they judged her just because he was her adopted father.

"Let's just say that I don't mix well with cameras," she muttered, "Or, the press. I'll let my dad do the talking, for me." Emmett just chuckled in amusement at that, knowing full-well she was dead set against facing the press and admitting that out loud. "How's work going for your dad?" she asked curiously.

"Not bad," he shrugged, "Your father has some interesting ideas on how to create sufficient energy that is also cost effective for civilians."

That was enough to put a smile on her face. Tony really had been hard at work making good on his promise about ending the weapon's industry. He did so by designing products that were energy efficient and cost effective towards consumers. Ada had offered some insight on some of the tech, after talking to a few people working regular retail jobs who couldn't really afford anything fancy. Those who did talk to her were often taken by surprise by how open she was asking them various questions.

Tony had been grateful when he received a full report on her feedback. It was a popular idea to design tech that anyone living on minimum-wage job could afford. Because of that, the stocks in the company had begun skyrocketing.

"So, what have you been up to?" he added after noticing that she wasn't as tense as normal, "I haven't seen you this relaxed since we took that trip to the beach."

She chewed the bottom of her lip as doubt suddenly clouded her thoughts. If she was being honest with herself, she really had only felt relaxed when she was working. Clint was the first to point this out during some of their many sparring sessions. The archer may have seemed intimidating at first, but Ada soon learned he wasn't all that difficult to get along with. So long as she didn't piss him off – the last thing she wanted was to be used as target practice.

"I've been busy, with my uh… job," she admitted. She knew the look he was giving her. After being together for almost two years, Emmett seemed to read her like an open book. She had to make a mental note on that, to learn how she could keep people from reading her emotions, "It isn't the kind of job you're thinking of… it's something that can't be said out loud."

Of course, she knew better than to tell anyone she worked for SHIELD. It would only put their lives in danger. To make matters worse, she wasn't sure if Emmett would trust her if he knew the truth. It was better that she keep it a secret.

"A secret, huh?" Emmett shook his head disapprovingly. "So, what sort of secret job could a young woman such as yourself hold?" She threw him a scathing look, knowing full-well what he had been thinking. It was enough to make her stomach twist in disgust. "I'm sorry, it's the first thought that crossed my mind," he held his hands up in self-defense as she rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, I am nothing like my father," she snapped, "The last thing I plan on doing is throwing myself at every man that sees me."

A few SHIELD agents had learned that the hard way when they tried flirting with her. Between her explosive anger, Coulson's surprising protectiveness, and the fact that she spent a lot of time with Clint, those agents had learned to avoid her at all costs. And that she was off-limits. It had been fun watching their reactions when they tried pulling off a move on her. Considering she was one of the youngest recruits within the agency, it was a bit overwhelming.

"I know," Emmett nodded in agreement, flashing her a charming smile, "That is one of the many reasons I admire you."

She couldn't hide the small smile that followed. If it wasn't for the fact that they had already reached the spinning globe of the Stark Expo, Ada would have spent more time just talking to him. She loved moments like these, where it was just the two of them and she had no overprotective father or agent looming over her shoulders.

"I should get going," she sighed after glancing at the stage when she noticed the crowd had begun to dissipate.

By now, Tony was finished with his opening statement. She knew he would go looking for her, and if he caught her with another guy, he'd flip. Emmett was yet another secret she had been keeping to herself. Because Tony was so overprotective of her, she had no doubt that he would overreact around meeting Emmett in the first place.

"Same time, tomorrow?" he asked hopefully after giving her a quick kiss.

That couldn't stop the rush of butterflies that fluttered in her stomach. Or the heat from rising to her cheeks as she realized how far along they had gotten in their relationship. Even after being with him for almost two years, she never got tired of that feeling.

"I've actually already made plans for tomorrow," she admitted guiltily, knowing that she would be spending the afternoon with Tony looking for new interns. "But, maybe later in the evening."

Emmett didn't look surprised with her ever-busy schedule. She tried making time for just the two of them. As he walked over to his Chevy parked in the lot nearby, she knew that she would see him again, soon. Once Emmett drove away, Ada was left alone in the parking lot. She was hardly aware of how alone she was until realizing that most of the crowd had already left.

"Where were you?" Tony's voice made Ada freeze on the spot. She whipped around in time to see him out of his Iron Man suit, looking at her with an expression filled with annoyance and worry, "I've tried scanning the crowd multiple times, but, you weren't there."

"Maybe that was the idea," Ada muttered under her breath, ignoring the look he gave her. "Look, dad, I'm fine. I'm sixteen now; I think I can handle myself."

Especially after all the training she'd been through thanks to SHIELD. That alone was enough to remind her that she was getting stronger every day, whether Tony liked it or not. He would never approve of her joining SHIELD if he found out.

"Speaking of being sixteen, I've got the party all arranged for you," he told her, changing the subject faster than Ada could blink. After seeing all the other parties Tony threw, and having put up with them, she could only imagine where this was headed, "We're going to Monaco in a few days to see the race."

"Really?" Ada's eyes widened in disbelief as she realized what that meant. She'd always wanted to attend one of those races. Going to Monaco was just a bonus, one she knew she couldn't afford to miss, "Thank you!"

Maybe, this wouldn't be such a bad birthday, after all.

…

Her cheerful mood didn't last long, though when they returned to the mansion. She blinked in surprise upon seeing the envelop that Emily had given her before leaving the orphanage sitting on the bed. She already had a vague idea who put it there, though it irked her to know they'd broken into the mansion and in her room.

I'm sixteen now, she silently reminded herself. She remembered the lettering on the envelop that she now knew came from Coulson himself. She carefully picked up the envelop, noting that the handwriting reminded her of how Coulson himself had been looking out for her ever since she was found as a baby.

Curiosity got the better of her as she picked up the envelop. Time felt as if it slowed down as she opened the small package, eyes widening when she saw what was hidden inside.

A golden necklace, with a locket at the end of the chain slipped into her waiting hand. It was beautiful, and it looked as if there was a tiny Trinity symbol etched in the center of it. But, what really caught Ada's eyes were the letters encrypted in the back of the locket.

'Ada'.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she realized that her name was encrypted on the back. It suddenly made her wonder if this was what her mother or father left her before leaving her at the orphanage. She knew of a few stories where children were left with gifts from their birth parents, in the hopes that they would understand why they were given up for adoption. What caught her attention was the fact that the lettering on the necklace had been in French. Strange markings on the back of it were impossible to make out. She couldn't help but feel as if that was another language in itself.

A scream of agony erupted from her lungs the minute she tried putting it on. Fire felt as if it tore through her body, ripping her apart in pieces. In a matter of seconds, the room felt as if it was spinning. She struggled to remove the necklace before it could cause further damage, when she suddenly felt frozen on the spot.

'Ada, don't.' Her eyes widened at the voice that echoed through her mind. 'It is a bond to keep you safe.'

"Safe? Safe from what?" she choked out, her teeth grinding together as they pain slowly began to fade.

'You are too young to understand the dangers you are in,' the voice replied.

Ada tried to restrain herself from speaking out again. The voice sounded oddly soothing, much like a mother reprimanding her child. As Ada finally managed to grip the bed frame, she tried standing up again, only to collapse from the shakiness of her legs.

"What do you mean? Why is my life in danger?" she demanded, her voice barely a whisper.

'You are not ready, Ada,' the voice replied, 'Not ready…'

The voice began to fade out, as black spots appeared at the edge of her vision. The last thing Ada saw in her room before going dark was the ceiling that she stared blankly at. The last thing she heard was that voice whispering she wasn't ready, before passing out.