Chapter Twenty
"Oh I'm a mess right now, Inside out Searching for a sweet surrender, But this is not the end I can't work it out, How going through the motions Going through us, And oh I've known it for the longest time And all of my hopes, All of my own words Are all over written on the signs, But you're on my road Walking me home..." I'm a Mess, Ed Sheeran
"We went over the video feed during the battle." They'd returned to the office a few hours after Ada had finished washing up and changing into a fresh outfit. She'd been covered in ash, smoke and debris from the battle. Now, a fresh wave of exhaustion swept through her when she came back. She longed for a comfortable bed where she could crash on for the next few hours, but something told her that was out of the question, now. "You went over the line, by not only nearly getting yourself killed, but exposing yourself in front of everyone."
Ada exhaled deeply at that. She knew that she was in for an earful the moment she told Ross and the others that she worked for SHIELD. It wasn't just a matter of exposing herself, though. Director Fury was genuinely concerned for her safety, something of which she wasn't used to. When she first joined SHIELD, he hadn't shown the least bit of concern over her safety. It was usually Coulson who had to remind her that she was still just a kid, and one who was still under strict regulations because of her age.
"I wasn't going to let that thing hurt the Hulk," she replied, crossing her arms as her eyes met his, "Look, I get that I risked everything by exposing myself, but, they wouldn't have trusted me had I not told them the truth."
The Director let out a sigh of frustration when he saw the logic behind her statement. This job was anything but easy, as far as Ada was concerned. She was thankful that Banner had gotten away from the military. She was even more thankful that he still trusted her enough not to turn his back on her, in the end. That alone told her that what Ross thought about the Hulk and Banner was entirely wrong.
"Nonetheless, you and the Hulk managed to stop the… what did you call it? The Abomination?" Ada gave a faint nod, chewing the bottom of her lip as she recalled the battle. It may have only been a couple of hours ago, but, it felt more like weeks ago. "I've got the Council on my ass about allowing a sixteen year old joining SHIELD in the first place, let alone handling that situation."
Her face fell at that. The fact that Fury had allowed her to join at all only left her wondering how much he'd left out when dealing with the Council. She was in fact the youngest agent to join SHIELD. But, she'd joined because of her powers, and in the hopes of finding out who or what she really was. SHIELD had knowledge on her past that she couldn't ignore. They managed to keep most of her files under lock and key, but once she was able to worm her way into those secrets, she knew they couldn't keep those files restricted forever.
"I can deal with them, if worse comes to worse," she replied.
At least, that was her hope. After spending endless hours in court trying to deal with judges who wanted to take Tony's Ironman suit, she knew how to deal with the Council. Even if she dreaded every second of having to deal with them.
"No. You need to go back," Fury told her, earning a look of surprise seconds later, "Your father needs you, now, more than ever."
For a moment, Ada didn't know what to say. She knew that Tony had been going through his own personal hell. Trying to find the cure for whatever the arch reactor had been doing to him. Lowering her gaze, she knew that Tony would be able to fix the problem at hand.
"Thank you, sir," she nodded, feeling more relieved than ever that he'd let her go without too much of a scolding.
…
For the first time, Ada was able to get a good look at what was left of the mansion. When they last stopped by, the place had looked like a mess. Fury had explained to her that due to the toxins produced from the arch reactor, Tony had been going overboard with the parties. Seeing the damage now only confirmed what she first thought of Tony's behavior.
"Ada, man am I glad to have you back!"
Before she could take another step, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her in a tight embrace. Ada didn't need to be told twice who was hugging her. She only returned the gesture with a hug of her own. It was good to be back.
"Dad, I really do hope you plan on fixing the place up," she scolded once they pulled apart.
"I've already got plans for the next one," he replied, "Besides, we've got bigger problems to worry about."
Ada blinked in confusion as she followed Tony down to the basement. To her surprise, and relief, the lab itself was intact, safe from the destruction above. Well, mostly intact. Tables were overturned here and there, and several cords had been pulled out. She could only assume that such equipment had been used to replace the arch reactor in Tony's chest.
Speaking of which, she'd only just gotten a glimpse of the new design in question. It came out with the natural glow and triangular shape that pointed up. The glow itself was what made the arch reactor so unique. While it had been used as nothing more than a publicity stunt to silence the environmentalists, the arch reactor itself was packed with energy.
"Dad, what's going on?" Ada asked once it became clear that something bigger than the arch reactor being replace was going on. She narrowed her eyes when she spotted a pile of boxes stacked on top of each other. A holographic image showed up after Tony typed up a few codes, revealing an older looking Russian man on the screen. She chewed the bottom of her lip after realizing this guy looked like an older version of the Ivan asshole that had attacked Tony on the racetrack. "Who the hell is that?"
"Language," Tony scolded her with a cross look. Ada only rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out as he sighed in frustration, before going over the information he was given, "Does the name, Ivan Vanko ring a bell?" He paused, looking down at Ada as she crossed her arms and studied the image warily, "I thought SHIELD might have a file, seeing as they seem to know everyone's business."
"First off, they do not go out of their way to know everyone's business," she retorted. Though, she wasn't going to admit out loud that Fury probably did know what they were doing right at that moment. The last thing she wanted was to give Tony the satisfaction that he was right, "Secondly, no. The name doesn't sound familiar."
"This guy really holds a grudge, against all the Stark's," Tony explained, ignoring her first comment, "His father was deported after he failed to bring in some new ideas for my father's company."
That was enough to catch Ada's attention. She couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something more going on. Seeing the look written across Tony's face suggested that he knew more than he was letting on.
"So, from what you've suggested, it sounds like this is a revenge story," she muttered thoughtfully. "So, what do you want me to do about it?"
"I've already called Coulson to keep an eye on you," he informed her while switching off the screen, "Jarvis has the place on lock down, so, there's no getting in, or out, if it's someone he or I don't trust."
His last remark was enough for Ada to glare back in annoyance. By now, he made it perfectly clear that he hated Emmett. With a passion. But, Ada also knew the reason behind that hate was the fact that Emmett was a guy.
"What part of 'I'm capable of making my own decisions' do you not understand?" she demanded.
Tony didn't look the least bit surprised with her response. Instead of making a response, he shook his head.
"Absolutely not," he retorted, "Now, get somewhere safe. I've got this."
She only scoffed as Tony left the building with the Iron Man suit. How he managed to get the thing on so fast was beyond her. The moment he was gone, though was when she smirked knowingly.
Like a lock would ever kept me out, she thought, already scheming an escape plan. She'd already overridden the passcode Tony tried writing, having gone through this routine more often than he probably would have liked.
The Stark Expo was all the way in New York. Which meant she would need to hitch a ride. The good news was, being a SHIELD agent meant that she had friends in high places. She was beginning to see some of the benefits of signing up for SHIELD, now.
"Hey, Clint, how fast do you think you can get here by helicopter?" she asked after pulling out her phone.
"You realize I'm still in enough trouble for your last escapade you dragged me in?" the archer groaned in response.
Ada couldn't hide the smirk that followed. Of course, Fury had chewed Clint out as well as Ada, herself for 'borrowing' one of his rides. But, like the last time, she had a legitimate reason for asking. Besides, she knew he wouldn't turn down the offer to help out if it was really needed.
"Look, something serious is going down at the Stark Expo, and I need a ride to get there," she explained. "Besides, since when has getting into trouble ever stopped you?"
Well, she wasn't wrong about that. Clint had gotten away with a lot of crap, from the stories that she'd heard and read as a rookie agent. She knew she was treading on thin ice as it was by bringing that up, but, at least Clint didn't bother arguing with that logic.
She waited outside the mansion where she could hear the familiar sound of a helicopter approaching just minutes after her call. Relief swept through her when she spotted Clint flying the helicopter. To her surprise, though, Coulson was waiting for her with a knowing look written across his face.
"You said the Stark Expo?" he asked once she climbed inside.
"From what it sounded like, that's where the firefight's about to happen," she nodded, and Coulson wasted no time in signaling to Clint that they needed to get moving, now.
…
The helicopter landed on a nearby landing pad just an hour after they'd left the mansion. With Clint's piloting skills, they'd beaten a record. Along with numerous other laws that would probably be overlooked by the time this was over. At least, that was Ada's hope.
According to the recent news that Coulson had received, Justin Hammer had planned on revealing a new weapon he developed recently at the Stark Expo. That alone left Ada feeling worried and annoyed. Hammer was an idiot by far, and he would do anything to gain the public's attention. Even if that meant breaking a few laws himself. She'd seen what most of his weapons were like, and that all of them always seemed to backfire on the handler of said weapon.
Luckily, they'd arrived just in time for the presentation to begin. It didn't take long for Ada to spot Pepper, and to her surprise, Happy and Natasha were with her. She glanced over her shoulder, not missing the look written across Clint's face when he too recognized Natasha.
"Ada!" Pepper called over to them after recognizing her; she rushed over to Ada and wrapped her arms around her in a warm hug, ignoring the fact that Clint was close behind her, "Where were you? We were worried sick!"
"You mean dad didn't tell you?" she asked, hoping to use Tony's lack of talking things through with Pepper as an excuse. Pepper finally let go of her, giving her a chance to catch her breath, "I went on a… personal business trip."
"Yeah, that's what it was," Clint scoffed under his breath, earning a quick jab in the ribs from her elbow.
"No, he didn't tell me that," Pepper sighed, shaking her head as she looked between Ada, finally taking notice of Clint's presence, "Who's this?"
"Clint Barton," he introduced himself without missing a beat, earning a look of surprise from Pepper. Ada hadn't missed the fact that Natasha kept glancing in their direction. She was surprised the redhead hadn't said anything, given the fact that she and Clint had likely worked together. While he'd tried keeping their past history together a secret, he made it obvious enough. "Her… business partner."
By now, Ada was stifling a fit of laughter at the confusion written across Pepper's face. She was thankful that Pepper bought it, though. Especially since the presentation was about to begin just seconds after their introduction.
While Hammer was going on about how great his weapons were, trying to pass them off as the solution to the problem, Ada's gaze swept across the crowd. Ivan could be just about anywhere, as far as she was concerned. If her hunch was right, then Hammer had likely hired Ivan out of desperation. What surprised Ada the most was that the suits Hammer presented were controlled purely by computers, and not another human. She scowled at the thought, suddenly aware that those systems could just as easily be hacked into.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the War Machine! Worn by Colonel James Rhodes!"
That was enough to catch Ada's attention. Her eyes narrowed when an Iron Man suit – the very one Tony built for Rhodes, appeared from under the stage. What annoyed her the most was seeing the red, white and blue paint that covered the suit.
What the hell is he thinking? Ada wondered, suddenly aware that the tension between Rhodes and Tony must have exploded into a firefight before Rhodes left him. A sudden sense of dread clouded her thoughts as she realized this was just another sting of betrayal.
"You have got to be kidding me?" Pepper groaned, voicing Ada's thoughts.
"We need to move, now," Clint warned her after noticing how tense the atmosphere had gotten.
She only nodded in agreement, following him as he pushed his way past the crowd, ignoring Natasha's presence entirely. They didn't get very far when the Iron Man suit suddenly landed on the stage minutes later. By now, the crowd was going wild, believing it was part of the act, as Tony stood between Rhodes and Hammer.
"Any idea what's going on?" Clint asked once they were far enough away from Pepper and the others.
"Well, dad's warning Rhodes that Ivan's with Hammer, and Ivan is likely hacking into the—" Ada stopped just when the suits that Hammer designed started firing into the crowd. "—System." The crowd was already beginning to panic, and understandably so. Ada turned to face Clint, suddenly aware that this could turn ugly, fast, "You mind clearing out the crowd? We need to evacuate the area as safely and quickly as possible."
"Luckily, this isn't my first rodeo," the archer replied before doing just that.
Once he made a full sprint into the crowd, clearing them out faster than Ada expected, she fired a fireball at the nearest suit, knocking it over in an instant. More suits were already making their way towards her. She watched, keeping one eye on the suits while glancing up slightly to see Tony flying back into the air, leading whatever suits he could from the overpopulated area. Natasha and Happy had already left the area, and Clint was leading Pepper away from the crowd.
Which gave Ada the chance to fight back. Carefully, she touched the ground, remembering what had happened back with the solders.
She could already feel the rush of energy sweeping through her from the earth, until suddenly, the ground itself began to tremble. Ada watched in amazement as a piece of cement crumbled and lifted in the air, until flying into Hammer's suit. The suit came crashing down seconds later from the impact.
And, you said I wasn't ready, she thought, feeling a surge of satisfaction swell through her.
'That kind of power is dangerous, if one cannot control it,' the voice from earlier pointed out.
By that point, the area had been cleared of the crowds from earlier, and the suits, aside from the ones Ada had taken down earlier. That voice from her time with Banner had returned, and Ada decided to ignore it. Once she was sure that the area had been cleared, she pulled out her phone and gave Tony a quick call.
"Dad, where are you?" she asked when he finally picked up, hoping she didn't sound too shaken from what had happened.
"On my way to Pepper; where are you?" he asked, sounding more irritated than anything else.
She knew she was in for an earful, after defying his orders for the umpteenth time.
"I'm by the information booth," she explained.
Her heart was racing with dread when she noticed with a start that the suits were still activated. The blinking lights only told her that they were ready to go off in a massive explosion. With Hammer's history dealing with weapons, she wouldn't be surprised if such an occurrence happened.
"Ada, get out of there, now!"
Tony's shout fell on deaf ears as Ada stared at the scene before her in horror. A wall of fire had already formed from the explosion, and, it was headed in her direction. She only had seconds before she was scorched from the intense heat.
Thinking fast, Ada reached down and willed the earth to wrap around her in a protective barrier. She didn't stop until she was wrapped around in a cocoon of cement. She crouched down, praying that the worst of it would be over within seconds.
…
Rhodes was flying as fast as he could against the speed of the flames. Ada was down there, somewhere. According to Tony, who'd sounded panicked beyond belief, she wasn't even supposed to be at the Stark Expo. Though, considering who she was, and who her adopted father was, he was hardly surprised that she managed to get there on her own.
Finally, he reached an area that looked promising enough. The information booth. Tony had given him the coordinates just moments ago after the chaos with the Hammer-suits was resolved. By now, the worst of the explosions had cleared the area. All that was left of what had happened was a path of destruction, and, the remnants of the fire and smoke.
He started walking after landing and surveyed the area. It wasn't until spotting an unusual looking pile of rocks that Rhodes stopped and tilted his head to one side. But, that wasn't what had caught Rhodes' attention. A golden light filtered through the tiny cracks of the rocky pile, and Rhodes realized with a start that someone was buried in the rock pile.
Carefully, he knelt down and started moving the rocks away. What surprised him more than anything was that the rocks had been pieces of cement pulled from the ground. He'd noticed with a start that certain areas of the pavement had been torn apart, as if someone managed to scoop them up. While the rocks themselves had been badly charred from the intense heat, he seriously hoped that whoever was underneath hadn't been.
"Ada." The mask came off when Rhodes finally saw who was underneath the rubble. Sure enough, it was Ada. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he realized she must have lost consciousness. The good news was, she was still alive. "Come on, Ada, it's me, Rhodey."
He reached out, gently gripping her shoulder until she was shaken awake. Her eyes widened, and Rhodes couldn't hide the look of relief that followed.
"Rhodey?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but at least she didn't look as if she'd received any fatal injuries.
"Hey, kid," he sighed heavily, knowing that he'd never forgive himself if anything had happened to her, "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Is everyone safe?" she suddenly asked, catching Rhodes by surprise when she tried standing back up.
He was always amazed that even after everything she went through, she was still looking out for the safety of everyone else over her own. People who kept comparing her to Tony obviously didn't know her well enough.
"The area's secured," he assured her, "You should go to a hospital," he suddenly added after noticing what looked like several old wounds, and fresh ones.
She only brushed him off and straightened up, acting as if nothing had happened, "Where's dad?" she asked.
He was afraid she would ask that. Seeing that she would refuse medical attention, much like Tony, he knew it was better to answer than drag her to a hospital against her will.
""He's with Pepper right now," he explained. "Do you wanna explain how you were able to make that?"
He pointed to the pile of rocks that were now nothing more than a pile of rubble. Her face betrayed the slightest hint of surprise, and immediately, Rhodes thought back to what had happened on the racetrack. She was leaving a lot left out, a lot that explained only half of what was going on.
"That's classified," she replied, her voice suddenly cold and emotionless.
"Ada—"
Rhodes didn't get the chance to finish when they both heard the sound of an engine running. He stiffened, looking up in surprise as a helicopter hovered just inches above them. Ada followed his gaze, her eyes narrowing slightly as a ladder fell from the helicopter.
"Talk to you later, Rhodey," she called over her shoulder after climbing onto the ladder.
He was ready to follow, when he thought better of it. Tony was going to kill him when he found out about this. It wasn't until spotting the pilot that Rhodes blinked in surprise. His eyes narrowed once again as he caught sight of a tall, muscular soldier looking man with blond hair.
The helicopter was already gone, leaving Rhodey to deal with an already pissed off Tony. This was not going to be fun.
…
She was waiting at the SHIELD base, standing next to Clint as Tony arrived.
A day had passed since Ivan Vanko was taken to one of SHIELD's most secure prisons. From what she'd gathered, he'd built a suit and used it on himself and tried killing both Tony and Rhodes. But, they had used the missiles from the Iron Man suits on themselves. The attack had caused an explosion, nearly killing both them and Ivan.
It was a stupid and risky move, as far as Ada was concerned. But, it had worked in the end. Now that Tony knew she worked for SHIELD, she had a feeling that things between them wouldn't be the same. He hadn't been angry when he found out. Yet, Ada couldn't shake off the feeling that his attitude would change depending on how many missions she was sent on.
"So what, you control all the elements, now?" Clint asked, looking at Ada curiously after reading the reports that were filed on her abilities.
"I'm not sure," she admitted, crossing her arms as she chewed the bottom of her lip, "I don't know the full extent of these powers… but, I do know that they're dangerous. Some of them, at least. Too dangerous to use out in the public."
"Sounds like you've still got a lot to learn."
She could almost hear the smugness in his voice. After training with him for nearly two years, they had gotten to know one another well enough that he knew what was on her mind. Learning to control her powers was the least of her concern at the moment. She had enough time and patience that she could teach herself how to control them when the timing was right.
"You're telling me," she rolled her eyes.
She looked up as the car pulled in. Once Tony got out, Ada rushed over to his side and gave him a much needed hug. Natasha slammed the door shut and hoisted her duffel bag over her shoulder before joining Clint.
"You still haven't gotten that arm looked at, yet," he started in an accusing tone.
"Don't need to," she replied with a shrug, "The wound kind of healed itself."
She pulled up her sleeve to show him what she meant by that. Tony looked at her arm in disbelief. Sure enough, the wound from the other day had been healed. Previous bruises and scabs were still there from her training with Clint. She still didn't know the extent of her powers, and it was beginning to make her wonder just how far they could go.
Natasha led them to the office after explaining to Clint what had happened with her mission. The two had been partners longer than Ada realized. She hadn't missed the fact that Natasha especially kept looking at her with that piercing gaze. Something in the back of Ada's mind told her that the redhead had a few choice words for her after the way she'd handled the mission with Banner.
Fury was already waiting for them once they arrived. Natasha left with Clint to catch up on what they had missed. Ada had no doubt they were planning on discussing how difficult dealing with not one, but two Stark's was.
Ada swallowed hard when manila folders were handed to both herself and Tony. She'd seen the Avengers Initiative logo, before. Coulson talked about it, a few times, before dropping the subject when they were working together. But, Ada suspected there was more to this initiative than even Coulson let on.
"For you, Mr. Stark, this is agent Romanoff's review to see if you're qualified," Fury explained. "And, this is agent Barton's report on you, Miss Stark."
Tony rose an eyebrow at the mention of Clint's name, but said nothing.
"Not qualified," Tony started while reading the report, "Textbook narcissist?"
Ada opened the file that Clint had written on her, hardly surprised by what she saw, "Doesn't follow orders well, has a tendency to rush into things without looking, but shows the skills of handling missions well."
Tony had been reading over her shoulder throughout, eyes widening in surprise when he realized just how much she had changed.
"Wait a minute, you've worked with this Clint guy, already?" he asked incredulously.
"Relax, dad. He's twice my age," Ada rolled her eyes after noticing how Fury pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"I heard that!" By now, they were both laughing at Clint's shout seconds later.
"Ada's already part of SHIELD," Fury told them, "She will continue acting as a liaison. And, seeing as you have accomplished your training with Agent Barton, I'd like you to move on with someone who has a bit more experience in hand-to-hand combat."
That was enough to catch Ada's attention. She knew there were plenty of agents who were perfectly qualified for the position. But, seeing the look written across Fury's face told her that she knew who he was referring to. Something told her that she was going to regret agreeing with that notion, especially as she remembered how easily Natasha had taken down Happy.
"You can't have me," Tony said after standing up, with Ada following suit, "But, you better make damn sure that you keep her safe."
Great, as if my life hasn't gotten complicated enough, Ada thought, rolling her eyes at Tony's overprotective nature. She understood why he was that way, though. After what had recently happened, it was going to take time for her to make him understand that she could take care of herself.
"You do realize that I'm sixteen now, and that I'm legally old enough to drive," she reminded Tony.
Tony threw her a look that said it all. She grimaced after realizing she would have to explain herself on that one. Being part of SHIELD meant that she would have to learn various skills, such as driving, piloting, and other skill-sets.
"What do you mean by 'legally'?" Tony demanded.
"Clint taught me how to drive a few months ago; it was a requirement," she replied.
"That crazy, son of a—" Tony caught himself when Ada threw him a glare. She crossed her arms as they reached the car, hating the fact that Tony was letting his overprotective nature get in the way again. "You already know what I'm about to say."
She was about to argue when she thought better of it. If there was one thing she had learned after living with Tony for ten years, it was to know what she should say to him, and what she should keep bottled up. If Tony planned on keeping this up, she didn't know what she was going to do with herself.