Ava sat down in the cushy private jet, looking around at her plush surroundings. "This is really nice. Who's jet is this?" "Director Fury's." Jones answered, sitting down and grinning. "Fury sent HIS jet to pick me up? What the heck happened? Who threatened me? Russians?" The older man shook his head. "The mob?" Another shake of the head. "Aliens?" She joked. The man gave her a look and Ava sat up straighter, "Aliens? Aliens threatened me? Why did aliens threaten me?" "He was trying to get into Agents Romanov's head. He wanted her to be distracted, worrying about you." His mouth was in a thin line as he studied the girl's face. "He, you said he. Who's he? Why was he trying to get into Nat's head?" "His name is Loki and he is the brother of Thor. He had control of a large army of something called the Chaturi... Or something like that. This'll help explain." Jones pointed a remote at a small flatscreen and up popped the latest news. A pretty reporter stood in what looked like a war zone, her appearance disheveled.
"I am standing at ground zero of the battle of New York. The past two hours have been filled with destruction and devastation at the hands of an alien invasion. Stark tower is in ruins as is six blocks of Manhattan."
Video footage of ugly looking skeletal creatures shooting and burning looped and Ava sat speechless.
"In the end it was the heroism of six individuals, super heroes, that stopped the infestation. Captain America took the lead, defending our great city and stopping world invasion."
There was more video footage and the girl gaped when she saw Natasha taking on the aliens and fighting with Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk and Thor. Ava saw a clip of Clint and signed in relief. "Thank God, Clint was there." Agent Jones cleared his throat and angled himself so he was facing the girl. "There is something you should probably know, Miss Romanov... I told you that your location and you yourself had been compromised, but that's not all. Agent Barton was also compromised during the course of this... ordeal. We suspect that he was the one who told Loki about you and your location. Loki held him and a scientist named Eric Selvig under mind control. He was freed hours before the beginning of the invasion." Ava glanced back at the screen as a video showed a man dressed in green and gold glared at the camera with a smirk on his face. The girl shivered, "Can I speak to Natasha? Is she alright?" "Yes, she's fine. I'll have to talk to the director about that, but I don't see why not. Give me a moment."
Tony looked around the restaurant and grinned, the world outside was a wreck and they were in here eating. It was a funny situation and looking at the group he was eating with made it even more so. They were a ragtag bunch if he had ever seen one, Bruce had become himself again and borrowed some clothes, Cap and Thor was scarfing down their meals and the two assassins looked exhausted. They looked how he felt. Suddenly his cell phone rang and they all jumped as he glanced at the caller ID, frowning. The number was one he didn't recognize, maybe it was Fury. The one-eyed man had called earlier to ask about clean up and Tony had told him to shove off, but much less nicely. The dark haired man huffed, rolling his eyes and answering. "Fury, I told you before that we'd work out clean up later. Can't a man eat a much deserved dinner without you bothering him?" There was hesitation on the other line and then a young woman spoke. "I'm sorry. I- I'm not Director Fury... I'm actually looking for Natasha Romanov, is she there?" Tony was intrigued. "Yes, she's here. Whom may I ask is calling?" The red head perked up, suddenly listening in on the conversation, as was everyone else. "Ava. I thought that this was her new burner phone, I'm sorry I interrupted dinner." "No, no you're fine, Ava. Can I get a last name, for Agent Romanov of course." Romanov was standing next to him now, holding out her hand expectantly. "Um... she'll know who it is." "Well," Tony dodged the woman's attempt to grab the phone and stood, backing up. "Can I ask what the call is about?" "I just wanna know that she's okay." "Oh, she's fine, Ava. I might not be in a moment, though, so here she is." With that Tony threw the phone at the advancing assassin, who caught it and immediately put it to her ear. She spoke a greeting in Russian as she made a bee-line for the door.
"Ava?" "Natasha! Are you okay?" "I've been worse, how'd you get this number?" "I tried your burner phone and then Agent Jones gave me this one. Are you sure you're okay? I've been watching footage of this... Invasion and it looks bad." "I'm fine... where are you?" "On a plane, we're headed toward D.C." "Good. I can meet you in a few days."
Clint knew the moment that Tony said Ava's name there were going to be questions. Lots and lots of questions. He also knew that he was going to have to be the one to answer them. When Nat made for the door all eyes were suddenly on him. "Okay, Legolas, spill the beans." Tony leaned on the table, ready to hear a good story. "Tony, it might not be his place to tell us anything." Steve chided, but Clint knew he wanted to know just as much as the dark haired man. "I've told the story before, so I guess I'm in on the copyright." He still hesitated and Tony inched closer, "Who's Ava? Romanovs kid?" "No... Ava's not Natasha's kid, not by blood at least. She's Ava's guardian, has been for... I guess it's been..." He thought, counting the years that had flown by in his head. "Thirteen years." He looked around, giving Tony a pointed look. "She's a good kid, well she isn't a kid anymore, she turned 19 two months ago. But from the day I met her she always could light up a room when she walked in." Tony cleared his throat. "Right, of course. Natasha found Ava 13 years ago in Russia. SHEILD got a tip that a group of scientists in Omsk were trying to replicate Erskines super soldier serum." Clint glanced at both Steve and Bruce, who were now very interested. "The thing is they were using children. When the team was sent out they were told to sedate the kids and get them out. But when they got to the lab there were only four kids there and the scientists that were left were making a break for it out the back door. One of those kids was this big blue eyed little girl. They had put her in this dog cage and left her there for who knows how long, it wasn't a pretty picture. The other three kids were boys and Fury believes that they were left because they were all deemed hopeless cases. The team, which Fury was head of, took the kids and attempted to acclimate them to real food, human contact and a normal life... but two of the boys didn't make it. Henry and Ava were the only ones who lived to see the end of the month." Clint looked through the storefront window and met Natasha's gaze. The red head nodded and he returned the gesture, at least he had permission to tell the story. "They took them to Moscow and Henry was adopted by a wealthy family. He's a completely normal young man now, but no matter how hard Fury tried, no one wanted Ava. She was cursed, or something, according to the locals. So Nat decided to take over guardianship, with Fury as co-guardian." "What do you mean, people thought the kid was cursed?" Bruce asked. "She... Ava has a gift. She can fly. If she was here she would correct me and say that she can alter her own gravity, but to me it's just flying. That's why she was in a cage, which was bolted to the floor. They came back to the states and Natasha took Ava to live with her. She's super smart, picked up English and Spanish like they were nothing. By the time she was eleven she was doing high school work. Graduated from the SHEILD academy when she was 16 then went on and got her nursing degree a couple months ago. Last time I talked to her she wants to get her doctorate." "When Romanov was talking to Loki he said something about a little bird. Said that he knew where its nest was. Fury hopped on the phone pretty quickly. I just thought that the bird was some kind of asset." Steve said frowning, and Clint nodded. "I told him about her, because, honestly she is an asset. She's smart as a whip and has a... certain skill, of course. But she just wants to be a field medic, help, not hurt and all that jazz." "So the girl's been moved?" Steve asked. "Oh, yeah, I bet she's on a plane right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Nat disappears in a few days. Ava's seen the news footage by now, she'll be worried and will want to see Natasha as soon as she can get to wherever she is." "So, this girl can alter her own gravity?" Bruce finally spoke up and Clint nodded. For a second it was quiet and Natasha took that moment to walk back in. She handed the phone to the archer with a small smile, "She wants to talk to you." They switched places and Clint was out the door.
Clint knew what was coming, but when he spoke he knew exactly what he had to say. "Clint?" "Hey A, how are you holding up?" "I didn't just fight off the alien army, I should be asking you that question." The man sighed, shaking his head. "I've been better, but I'll get through it, I think Tony's gonna put us up in a real cushy hotel." "That'll be good, but nothing will beat going home will it?" Her voice was smaller than normal and he had the sneaking suspicion that she already knew. Knew that he had been the one to tell Loki about her. "No, no it wont. Look, Ava, I know what you're probably thinking. And I'm sorry, so sorry that you had to be moved. I had no choice, you have to believe that." "I know, Clint. I know. You were compromised, I know what that means, I've been told stories. I've studied the effects and I understand. I cant forgive you because there's nothing to forgive. That is, there wont be if you head home as soon as possible. Give my love to Laura and the kiddos."