A/N: Ok so chapter 2 is now up, and Phoenix returns to Avengers tower. I'm finding myself writing a lot less lately so I don't know how regularly this story will update, but I will try my best to update whenever I have a new chapter. I don't really have much else to say about this chapter other than please read, review and enjoy.
"What did I do?"
Phoenix had been silent up until that point. She finally broke out of her silence to ask her question, glancing into the mirror where she knew Natasha could see her. Her eyes were wide, and filled with concern; it was an expression Natasha had not seen Phoenix use before. For a moment she took in the sight of the young girl in the backseat.
Once Phoenix had stopped muttering after her interrogation Natasha managed to pull her to her feet and take her out to the car. Phoenix had barely even made any sound whatsoever as she walked with Natasha, her face blank the entire time. Maria had just watched them leave, stoic, but obviously making her own observations.
"You don't remember?" Natasha inquired. She checked Phoenix's expression again, the concern and worriment was still evident, but there was confusion as well. Natasha knew the answer before Phoenix did, and yet she asked anyway.
"No, I mean yes. I-I uh no," Phoenix shook her head. "I don't know, I can remember some things, like I'm getting a bad signal to my memory, there's too much static. Did I hurt anyone?"
"No you kind of just shrieked," Clint answered, his eyes glued to the road as his knuckles were nearing the point of white on the steering wheel of the car. His voice was flat, and he spoke through a tight jaw as he flared his nostrils a few times. Natasha could see that he wanted to say something more; eventually he succumbed to the temptation and tapped his hands on the wheel three times before speaking.
"Maria was out of line."
There, he had said it.
"Clint," Natasha started but he cut her off with a sharp hand gesture.
"She knew what kind of questions she was asking, and she knows how delicate Phoenix is," Clint gestured to Phoenix in the backseat as he talked about her. Natasha watched as the one hand he kept on the wheel was stable while he flapped the other arm of his around, talking with his hands as he always did whilst agitated. "She was trying to get a reaction out of her, and don't even try to convince me otherwise Nat."
Natasha clamped her mouth shut, Clint had a valid point, but tough interrogations were supposed to be something that they dealt with on a regular basis. They weren't supposed to have such strong emotional opinions on it, and they certainly weren't supposed to contradict the actions of a superior officer. Now they were questioning everything, and Natasha didn't like the idea of what might come next.
"Clint it's fine, it wasn't her," Phoenix leaned forward, shaking her head dismissively. "I was weak, I couldn't handle it. It was my fault."
"Don't say that!" Clint addressed her sharply, causing Phoenix to flinch and Natasha to look at him closely. He only ever became this over emotional when he was discussing something that impacted him greatly. Natasha could see it all over him, he cared about Phoenix, deeply, he only reserved such emotions for people of high importance to him. "None of this is your fault Phoenix, so don't even think about believing that bullshit for a second."
Bullshit. An interesting choice of words that sparked an eyebrow raise from Natasha. Clint pulling the bullshit card happened often, whenever he couldn't think of a better word to say, that's what he went with. Every time he would say it, it would amuse Natasha for some weird reason.
"Maria was just following orders Clint," Natasha reminded him once she deemed him calm enough to have a rational discussion.
"Can we please stop talking about it," Phoenix spoke softly and Natasha looked back at her, noting the desperate look in her eyes and recognising what she had just said as a request, not a question. The cracks from her earlier breakdown were beginning to appear much clearer, and if they drove her over the edge, she could lose it again.
Clint clearly picked up on this as well because he was the one to change the subject. "I think I should warn you in advance, with all the chaos focused around SHIELD the media is in an uproar, and we've taken strict measures to avoid the public getting a glimpse of you. Which means you won't be able to leave the tower very often," Clint informed her, trying his best to focus Phoenix's attention on something other than her delicate mental state.
It seemed to work, and Phoenix looked to the two adults in the front seat, rather surprised about what Clint had told her. "Why would the media care about me?" She asked.
"Well Natasha and I are technically supposed to be underground, and if they saw us escorting you into the Avengers tower they might think you were our daughter or something," Clint told her, earning an even more surprised look from Phoenix.
"Why on earth would they jump to such a conclusion?" Phoenix looked like she was questioning everything she knew about human behaviour. "Natasha is too young to have a 15 year old daughter, and I don't think I share any physical similarities with either of you."
"It's the hair," Clint shrugged and Natasha shot him a look, which he saw and looked at her in disbelief. "Come on Nat, you both have red hair, that's enough to convince anyone. It's practically your defining feature."
"I've been a spy for how long Barton?" Natasha demanded rhetorically. "I think I'm world renowned for more than just my hair. And besides, my hair is a much different shade of red to Phoenix. My hair is a dark red colour, Phoenix's hair is more of an orange colour."
"Don't have a go at me for it; it's the press that will jump to those conclusions not me. I'm just warning you to be careful ok," Clint said as he narrowly avoided an argument with Natasha, who practically always won.
Phoenix's statement from earlier when she mentioned her age to be 15 stuck on Natasha's mind. She turned to look at Phoenix. "When's your birthday?" She asked her.
"My date of birth is 04-07-1998," Phoenix replied automatically like she was speaking about a serial number. "The Fourth of July."
Natasha cocked an eyebrow. "You were born on Independence Day. Interesting."
Natasha could see Clint running the information through his head as he tapped absently on the steering wheel. "You know there can't be that many missing girls with that exact same date of birth, if we ran your details through the system we might be able to find your real parents."
"No," Phoenix said sternly.
"Don't you want to know who you really are?" Natasha questioned her in confusion. "You could find your real family again."
"No," Phoenix repeated herself. "I don't have family."
Clint drove around the back of the tower, quickly slipping into the underground car park before he could be detected by the paparazzi that always lurked around various spots of the building. They seemed to be everywhere, and there were more of them since Tony had renamed it the Avengers Tower.
Phoenix knew the tower well enough, but she was thrown a little when she walked in because Tony had redecorated and refurbished yet again. She stayed close by Natasha's side as they walked through the grand foyer and to the main room where Tony would no doubt be waiting with a ridiculous and over-the-top 'Welcome Home' banner.
Tony had gotten lazy, Natasha and Clint noticed when a scanning device did not pop out to greet them like it had done the very first time they had ever entered the lift. Phoenix watched the numbers on the elevator, increasing as they made their journey upwards, with vague interest.
The doors to the elevator slid open and before they could step out there was a loud POP! that sent Phoenix jumping backwards in shock. Tony had managed to get his hands on several party poppers and had decided that setting one off was a good idea. "Surprise!" He grinned and set another one off.
Phoenix realised what had made the noise and did not freak out upon hearing Tony set off the second one. Natasha had called it right, Tony had set out a Welcome Home sign in honour of the occasion. Tony had at least put effort in, Natasha had to give him credit for that.
"Long time no see kid," Tony greeted her as Phoenix dropped her things beside the elevator as she exited it and stepped into the room. She was smiling at the sight of all those gathered in the room to welcome her home, despite her earlier breakdown Natasha was glad to see some recovery.
Bruce stood next to Tony and smiled at Phoenix politely. They exchanged a brief greeting before Phoenix was swept up by Pepper's embrace. In Pepper's arms, Phoenix flinched like she had received an electric shock and kept her arms close by her side as Pepper hugged at her. Two friendly hugs in one day seemed too much for Phoenix to comprehend. She muttered a hello to Pepper, before looking at her feet and stepping away awkwardly.
The eyes of Natasha and Phoenix both spotted someone across the room and Natasha cocked her head in surprise. "What are you doing here Steve?" Natasha asked him curiously. "I thought with the information I gave you, you'd be halfway around the world by now."
"I postponed my trip when I heard Phoenix was coming back," he answered with a glance in the teenagers' direction. "I figured it would be better not to start the search straight away, I still need more time to process the information properly."
"What search?" Phoenix asked curiously.
"I'm looking for an old friend," Steve answered before Natasha could tell her that it wasn't any of her concern. She didn't like telling Phoenix too much, The Winter Soldier was Hydra, and whatever happened she did not want Phoenix wrapped up with Hydra. That point she had made very clear to everyone before allowing Phoenix to return to the tower.
"And who's this?" Phoenix set her sights on the individual standing next to Steve and her discomfort was immediate. She stepped backwards, tensing her shoulders and tightening her facial expression. She stared at the African-American man standing next to Steve like he had just jumped through the window brandishing a weapon.
"Phoenix this is Sam Wilson," Natasha introduced him quickly so Phoenix didn't attack. "You can trust him."
At those words Phoenix relaxed as if on command and she directed her attention on Sam and began carefully inspecting his appearance. "Phoenix I guess?" Sam asked as he walked towards and held out his hand. She shook it respectfully and nodded in response. "Yeah Cap told me about you, I heard you can do this, freaky fire thing."
"It's more of a basic pyrokinetic ability," Phoenix seemed confused. "It's not freaky at all."
"Well you create fire out of nowhere, for some that might be a little freaky," Clint shrugged from his new position where he had perched himself atop the back of the couch.
Phoenix thought for a minute and then shrugged like he had a fair point, it was a casual gesture that a lot of teenagers tended to do. Natasha wondered for a minute where Phoenix had picked it up. "I don't really create the fire out of nowhere," she looked down at her feet and scuffed them a little. Was that shyness?
Natasha found Phoenix's new behaviour both interesting and alarming at the same time. Where was she getting this from?
"How do you do it then?" Bruce suddenly asked. "What do you create the fire from?"
"Atoms," Phoenix replied simply, she held out her hands in front of her, palms opened towards the ceiling. "To create fire all you need are enough atoms moving at a fast enough speed and they ignite. I can't see the atoms, but I can feel them. I just reach out and create the flame."
A fire ignited in her upturned palms. "Woah!" The sudden flame caught Sam off guard and he jumped backwards. Phoenix looked at him as if his surprise amused her. "That's definitely classified as a freaky fire thing," he said after a moment's pause.
"Once I have the fire, I can do whatever I want with it," the fire began twirling itself around her hands as she talked. It moved slowly, it actually looked quite enchanting when she wasn't trying to kill people with it. "It took me a while to master creation, manipulation however is easy."
"And it doesn't burn you?" Sam asked, walking forward to look at the fire closer. "That's, that's...that's some strange stuff right there."
"I don't know why but the fire doesn't hurt me," Phoenix shrugged as she focused closely on her fire. "I was told why once, but I can't quite remember. I think it was something about an immunity in my skin, or my bloodstream. The real danger for me is smoke inhalation."
The fire slowly faded from Phoenix's hands, she looked embarrassed now that every eye in the room was fixated on her. She was feeing out of place, Natasha could spot that easily, but the question was why did it matter to her? She hadn't expressed any emotions such as these before. It peaked Natasha's interest to breaking point.
Sam's initial shock over Phoenix's ability had worn off, and instead he looked impressed. "Well Cap I'd better get going," Sam looked to the elevator. "I gotta get started on what we discussed, so I'll be seeing you whenever you want to continue with what we were doing."
"It was good meeting you Sam" Phoenix nodded at him as he moved to exit the room.
"You to Phoenix," he waved at her as he walked towards the elevator. "And goodbye to the rest of you Avengers. Continue, you know, saving the world and stuff."
"Come on Sam I'll walk you down," Steve smiled at the goodbye words of his friend, and clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder as they moved towards the elevator.
Phoenix watched them go, head titled to the side as she scanned their movements. Natasha found herself doing the same thing, this fact was not a comforting thought to Natasha, because it was a possibility Phoenix's brain was hard wired permanently to scan and analyse every single person she ever met. It wasn't exactly a trait you expected to find in someone of her age.
"Hey Phoenix I forgot to give you something!" Tony's words caught the attention of Phoenix, who turned to look at him at the same minute he threw something in her direction. Phoenix caught it easily and carefully inspected the odd, lumpy, shaped item that had been wrapped by ludicrously red wrapping paper and tied with a piece of black ribbon.
"What is it?" Phoenix held the object far away from her face as if it were a radioactive substance.
"A little housewarming gift I got for you," Tony answered with a smirk. "What you've never gotten a present before?"
"No."
Tony sighed, obviously forgetting that Phoenix had no idea what a rhetorical question was. "Just open it kid."
Cautiously Phoenix pulled on one end of the ribbon like she expected it to pull apart easily, and when it did not she proceeded to pull the string off the wrapped gift without any more attempts to untie it. She did practically the same thing with the wrapping paper, and ripped the whole thing off in one swift tearing motion.
"Um," Phoenix stared at the object in her hand. "What is it supposed to be?"
"Something every child should have."
Phoenix looked at the teddy bear like it was an alien, and to her it probably was alien. It was a generic light brown colour, and from what Natasha could tell it was probably made with synthetic material to not only make it look cute, but also cuddly. To top off the childish look, it had a red bow tied around its neck.
"But what is it?" Phoenix poked the teddy bear in confusion.
"It's a stuffed toy Phoenix," Natasha answered flatly, with a blank stare at Tony, to hid her annoyance at the recent shenanigans of the billionaire. "Tony I distinctly remember telling you with all seriousness that any coddling of Phoenix would result in an activity of knife throwing that you will not enjoy."
"I am not coddling her, I'm giving her the base necessities of childhood," Tony responded hotly.
Phoenix was ignoring their confusion and had devoted all her concentration to figuring out what the teddy bear was. "How is this thing a toy, toys do things, this is just a fluffy ornament. Does it have a hidden purpose?" she held it up to Clint, her facial expression a mix of annoyance and confusion.
"Come here Phoenix I'll show you," Clint thought the whole situation hilarious, and was trying not to laugh as Phoenix handed him the bear and hopped up onto the back of the couch to sit beside Clint. He held out the bear in front of them. "Little kids have hyper imaginations and they sometimes pretend that these things are real. It's basically a companion, usually given to a kid by their parents. Kids name them, dress them up, have tea parties and even go on fake adventures with them. Stuffed toys are usually bears, but they can be other animals as well."
Phoenix thought on his words, and still did not understand. "That makes no sense, they are inanimate objects and are not actual living creatures. They can't drink tea."
Clint really did want to help her, but he couldn't find a way of simplifying what he had already told her into terms she would understand. Natasha nearly applauded his patience, but he was always extremely patient, especially with children. That and he was clearing showing he had a soft spot for the young girl, which Natasha frowned at. She had always thought that she would be the one with a weakness for Phoenix, but obviously not.
"Give it some time you'll figure it out," Clint told her as he plucked the bear from her hands and placed it on the couch behind them where it would not give her any more confusion. "Social norms dictate that when anyone gives you a gift, you accept it gladly and return their kindness with gratitude."
Phoenix gave him an odd look. "What?"
"You need to say thank you to Pepper and Tony for buying you a gift," Clint repeated himself in blunt terms so Phoenix would have a vague idea of what he was talking about.
Phoenix looked to Natasha, who nodded to her, indicating that it was necessary for her to do what Clint was asking her to do. Unsure of how to word her sentence, Phoenix looked at Tony and Pepper with her mouth slightly agape before speaking. "Uh, thank you I guess, for the, thing." Her words were like broken jigsaw puzzles that someone had tried to piece together hopelessly.
She didn't know how to say thank you. She didn't even know what thank you meant. So far Natasha had encountered three different versions of Phoenix. The version that blindly followed Doctor Blake like a mindless killing machine, and then the version that was left behind after she killed Doctor Blake, that was nothing more than a hollow shell who hid away in the confines of Stark Tower after her recruitment, and the version standing before Natasha now.
After finally learning the truth, and adjusting to life without the psychopath she called her Master, the real Phoenix had been revealed. A teenage girl, lost in her own confusion and stuck in a world she didn't understand. Helping her adjust to life might be nearly impossible for Natasha.
But she couldn't turn her back on this girl, especially not now after everything she went through to save her. Natasha also had Clint, whatever happened she could count on Clint to be there, always.
"So Phoenix," Natasha looked to her with a smirk gliding across her face. "Are you ready to begin your training?"
Phoenix smiled in return. "Let's do it."