Chapter Twenty Five

"If you ever need someone to talk to, feel free to give me a call," Darcy informed her as she hugged her.

Ada couldn't help but return the gesture, knowing that she would likely do just that.

After reassuring Coulson that she would return to the base before she was shipped back home, she'd started packing her duffel bag. Jane hadn't necessarily been the same since Thor left. Ada doubted that she would feel like herself until he returned. Especially given how close they had been prior to his departure.

She and Darcy had exchanged numbers when the intern realized that Ada was leaving. She knew that she had overstayed her welcome. Despite that though, she and Darcy had hit it off immediately. She loved Darcy's carefree attitude, and she wished that they did have more time together. Jane wouldn't have appreciated her extra company though, and she knew that she had to get back before Tony decided to track her down. He wasn't going to be happy knowing that she had been in New Mexico in the first place. And to make matters worse, she had been involved with taking down the creature that nearly turned the town upside down.

With that thought in mind, Ada made her way back to the temporary base. SHIELD planned on keeping it up for another couple of days until they were positive the creature now known as the Destroyer was gone completely. Though, Ada suspected that creature wouldn't return anytime soon. If what Thor had said about the creature was true, then it wouldn't be able to go back unless someone decided to send it back.

She wasn't surprised to be greeted by security guards upon her arrival. One flash of her badge was all it took for them to let her in. She held back a sigh of relief once she was inside, noticing that the white tents were more like a network of tunnels, then anything else. The layout wasn't that much different from what a regular SHIELD base would look like, and Ada soon found herself reaching the temporary office Coulson had set up for himself.

"You wanted to talk to me, sir?" she started, already feeling uneasy enough as she noticed how tense he was.

"Have a seat," he gave a curt nod. She did just that, taking a seat in front of his desk. She suddenly felt like she was in school again, ready to get scolded for something that went wrong. Technically, things had gone wrong the minute she decided to side with Jane and the others. "You've been suffering from nightmares."

Ada sucked in a breath, feeling her heart nearly skip a beat upon that statement. She knew that any normal kid would have broken down within seconds if they had suffered from such nightmares. Then again, she was hardly what people considered normal. She swallowed hard, refusing to make eye contact as she gave a tiny nod. There wasn't any point in denying the truth. Coulson now knew what she had been suffering from over the last few years, and it was time she at least explained why she suffered from them.

"You read my notebooks," she muttered in an accusing tone.

"With good reason." Ada only scoffed at that excuse. She knew the reasons behind Coulson reading them. Whether it was curiosity or him just following orders, she doubted he would tell her the truth. "Look, Ada, I'm only doing this because I care about you."

She stiffened in surprise, feeling her fists clench as memories of those nightmares swept past. Yet, even as she pictured those images of people dying before her, she thought of the countless signs that someone had been watching out for her.

Before she and Tony had finally worked things out, she would always find a cupcake waiting for her in the fridge on her birthday. Even after that, something waited for her. It wasn't until piecing two and two together that realization dawned on her.

"Wait a minute… you're the one who was sending me all those gifts," she started, eyes widening in surprise.

Coulson offered a meek nod, "I've been with you since the day you were found by passing civilians," he explained. "I was assigned by Director Fury to watch over you; we knew something was different the minute we received word about your appearance."

For once, Ada didn't know what to say. She'd always known that someone had been watching over her. That feeling never went away, even after Tony adopted her. She never realized until now that that someone had been Agent Coulson of all people. It suddenly made sense when she thought of how protective he was when she first joined the agency. He hadn't been happy when Director Fury asked her to join. But he'd accepted that she needed the change, and that she needed the training.

"Why tell me this, now?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper as she finally looked up.

"Because, you're ready to hear it," he replied. "I've seen what you're capable of, Ada. I may not have taken the responsibility that Stark was given, but, if anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself."

Understanding swept through Ada. She couldn't hide the small smile that followed. It suddenly began to add up as to why Coulson had always stepped so carefully around her. Even when they first met officially at the mansion, he had been careful around her. She should have known that was the reason behind his tension.

"That's why you never agreed to become my SO," she mused thoughtfully, knowing that favoritism wasn't necessarily a good thing. Especially in an agency like SHIELD.

"I have a feeling that would have been frowned upon, by everyone else," he nodded in agreement, as if he'd read her mind. "Do you know anything about your heritage?" he suddenly decided to change the subject after pulling something from his desk.

Ada rose an eyebrow at that. It was one of the reasons she had paid a visit to New Mexico, in the first place. Though, Ada hadn't been sure at the time what she was looking for, she did find some answers. Her mother had finally responded to her questions, and given her some hint that she was never truly alone in this world.

"I know I'm not exactly normal," she shrugged, referring to her powers and abnormal intelligence.

Coulson passed across the desk what looked like a manila folder. When it reached her, Ada suddenly felt self-conscious as she opened the folder in question, eyes narrowing when she saw countless files within. Files that clearly revolved around her.

"We've been running our own research on how you arrived in this world," he explained, ignoring the look of surprise that followed, "Ada, you come from a long line of people known as the Aliquid." She simply stared at Coulson when she heard that strange name. "A few hundred years ago, a group of the Aliquid were attacked in Europe, the last of their kind. Soon after that, they disappeared from existence as we know it. Or, so we thought."

That was enough to catch Ada's attention. She knew what Coulson meant, by that. The voice she heard the other day had only confirmed her earlier suspicions. Yet, it only added to the confusion as to why her people had been hunted down so cruelly.

"So, exactly what is that supposed to mean?" she asked cautiously, not sure if she wanted to hear the truth.

"You should read them," he replied, gesturing to the files sitting before her.

She frowned as she scanned each paragraph carefully, reading the files that SHIELD had compiled throughout the years. Most of it was information that she had already known. Reports on how her powers had developed, and how she learned how to control them, were written down with detail. While she wasn't surprised that her powers had been logged, she was still unnerved that someone had been watching her all that time on the beach.

What did catch her by surprise, however, was the codename that SHIELD had given her.

She knew that most agents worked with codenames that were given to them. Usually, they corresponded with what their level of profession was. In her case, the codename that was chosen seemed to fit. Ada couldn't hide the small smile that followed as she read it over carefully.

"Phoenix?" she finally repeated out loud.

"The name sort of fit," he shrugged, offering a smile of his own, "When they first found you, they described it as a glowing light surrounding you."

She nodded in understanding. A small part of her could already picture something like that happening. The woman in her dreams had used whatever strength and energy she had left to send the baby she was holding away, to a safer place. Ada knew in her heart that she was the baby from that dream.

"I suppose there are worse names you could've called me," she remarked thoughtfully. She paused for a moment, thinking back to how the Aliquid had been hunted down like they were nothing more than wild animals. The fact that they had been treated with such cruelty sent shivers through her. She couldn't imagine what that must have been like, to live with that kind of terror. "Why did those people hunt down the Aliquid?" she asked warily.

"I'm afraid you aren't ready for that information, Ada," Coulson sighed with a shake of his head. "I need to get going, and, so do you. I've been reassigned."

"Where to?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Coulson was one of the luckier agents who got transferred all over the world. He'd sent her pictures of some of the places that he'd visited, and, Ada couldn't help but admire the fact that he'd seen just about everything. Though, given Tony's line of work, she was beginning to explore more and more of the world, herself.

"Antarctica," he replied once they left the office. Agents were already starting to pack up once the area had been cleared. Ada didn't bother asking where Clint had gone; he was more than likely still pissed off with her after their last encounter, "One of our teams found something promising in the ice."

She didn't bother asking further questions. Something told her that whatever that promising reading was, she'd find out about it sooner or later. For now, Ada could finally return to the mansion where she would more than likely face the music of leaving in the first place.

…

"Do you have any idea how dangerously stupid that was?"

Ada winced at the sound of Tony's voice when she made it back to the mansion in record time.

She may not have broken any traffic laws along the way, but, she knew the longer she waited, the worst her punishment would be. She was surprised that Tony hadn't flown to New Mexico, himself, given the circumstances of her disappearance. Then again, he was busy enough as it was planning the new building site in New York City.

"Look, I get that you're mad, and, understandably so, but, I had to go," she sighed, feeling the weight of her journey finally crashing down on her.

The trip itself had been exhausting enough. Though, she had already mentally braced herself for the scolding that would follow upon her return. Tony's overprotective nature was something that she could never get used to.

"What do you mean, 'you had to go'?" he demanded, throwing his arms up in exasperation as he paced around the living room. Ada was just thankful Pepper hadn't been there, otherwise she would have likely voiced her own opinion on the matter, "Was this because of SHIELD?"

"No, dad," Ada reassured him, wincing at the thought. Somehow, her decisions always seemed to cross paths with SHIELD, in the end. Luckily, she'd left on a high note after discussing matters with Coulson, this time. "This was more of a self-discovery kind of journey."

Tony rose an eyebrow when she explained what Coulson had told her, and, what she had discovered through the voice she now dubbed as Nadia. Between that, meeting Thor, Darcy, Jane and Erik, he looked both surprised and impressed.

He finally sank down into the chair after realizing what she had been through, over the last couple of days. Ada chewed the bottom of her lip when she sat down on the sofa. Knowing that she wasn't human had changed things. She wanted to ask Coulson why he only just told her all of that information when he could have saved her the grief of leaving the mansion at all. The only consolation about that trip was that she met a few new people along the way.

"So, you mean to tell me that you're an alien of some kind?" he finally asked after letting the information sink in.

"That's what it sounds like," she replied, "Coulson didn't exactly say that they came from another planet, but… he made it obvious enough. Besides, how many humans are capable of doing this?"

As if to prove her point, a tiny flame appeared at the palm of her open hand. She knew mutants were capable of pulling off such moves. Though, Ada suspected that she would have known if she was a mutant.

"Well, it explains a lot," he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he thought of everything that had happened, so far. She knew it was a lot to take in, and couldn't blame him for trying to register the information she'd passed on, "Look, I'm not mad at you for deciding to leave like that. I'd prefer if you warned me ahead of time if you're planning on stealing my car and going on a road trip."

Ada smirked at that. Even if he was angry with her, Tony couldn't hold that anger for long. She knew him well enough to know that he was a big softie at heart. Tony couldn't stay angry with her for long. Especially when he realized the reason behind leaving in the first place.

He had been more impressed than annoyed that she managed to do all of that on her own without his or anyone else's help. One of the many benefits of SHIELD's training was that it taught her to adapt to any situation she put herself through. Ada had quickly learned to appease to whoever she encountered on her trip. That was the best way to gain their trust, and whatever information she needed from them.

"So, what now?" she asked curiously, knowing that they had a lot to do if they wanted to move on.

"I've already got Pepper on board for the new tower I'm planning to build in New York," he explained once the worst was behind them, "But, maybe I could use a partner in designing it."

Her eyes widened in surprise at Tony's offer. Even though she was still sixteen, and likely had a lot to learn throughout her lifetime, he was entrusting her with a task that secured the future for Stark Industries. That alone was enough to make her heart swell with joy.

"When do we start?"

AN: At this point, I'm just rewriting this for fun. But, I do want to thank GetLegsBish-Aiya for reviewing! They do encourage me to update faster, so, reviews are more than welcome!

GetLegsBish-Aiya - Thank you! I'm grateful for your feedback, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it, so far :)