Heya guys! Here's chapter 16!

Disclaimer: I do not own the following lyrics or characters, besides Ellie.

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When you walk away
I count the steps that you take
Do you see how much I need you right now?

-When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne

"Ellie!"

She sniffed and angrily wiped the single tear that was rolling down her face. Her teeth clenched tightly as she stopped walking and her hands tautened into fists at her side. Steve jogged behind her, minding his knife wound carefully. He paused a few feet behind her on the catwalk above the living room, trying to find the right words to say.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "Ellie, I didn't mean to –"

She spun around. "Oh yeah, sure," she shot at him, "but you're right anyway. I mean, nightmares? That is so cliché, huh? Do you even get a more pathetic level than that?! Like a little fucking child, dreaming about monsters crawling out from underneath the bed, right?"

He stepped forward, opening his mouth to say something, but she went one. "God, you know, I'm so fucking useless. Medication doesn't even work on me! That's how pathetic I am! There you go!" she raised her voice again, gripping her hair with her hands and beginning to pace. "Like a child, right Steve? Just like a fucking child!" she snarled aggressively. "Well, y'know what? I said it before and I'll say it again –fuck you."

That time, she pushed her hands against his shoulder, shoving him back once more. Again, the effect on him was minimal and he only staggered back slightly. She had stopped crying. All she had left was rage. At that point in time, small things around them, and in the living room, had started levitating to her emotions –like a switch somewhere had suddenly turned on. Steve looked around, moving a step back cautiously. It seemed as though either Ellie hadn't noticed it, or she didn't really care.

"Ellie, calm down," he finally made out the words. "I'm sorry, alright? Just settle down." She ignored him. He progressed closer to her, slowly and watchfully, using short glances around the room to see if either of them was in danger. "You're right, Ellie, about everything, just put everything down nice and easy."

She listened to him that time, afraid of breaking anything or harming anyone. Although it wasn't directly within her full control, she relaxed and closed her eyes, trying hard to get rid of her anger. Trying to think of something else. Trying to remember what made her happy. Eventually, everything got put back down gently. Not a single thing broke. She opened her eyes, automatically meeting a big star on a blue chest. She looked up, her glower still as evident as ever. Then, she disappeared.

…

She first went to her room to change her clothes, then she found herself in the middle of New York City. She had spent hours roaming around New York at that point, even took a few cabs and subways to other parts. The sky was darkening quickly, indicating how close the nighttime really was. All she really wanted was sushi. She was traveling to a place she hadn't been to in a few years time. Hell, she wasn't even sure if it was still there or not. It was a Japanese restaurant –a somewhat typical sushi bar with the same decorations as all the others she'd passed on her way. But she liked that particular one, so that was the one she was going to.

As she walked with her hands in her pockets and her head down, her phone suddenly began vibrating against her thigh. She quickly dug around her the pocket of her jeans and whipped it out to see who it was. It was Pepper. At first, she hesitated. She didn't want to go back to the Tower and she knew that that was what Pepper would want her to do. But, she answered anyway.

"Ellie speaking."

"Ellie! Oh my God, where are you?" she heard the redhead panic.

It managed to trigger a small chuckle from her, though. "Relax, Pepper," she laughed, glancing up at the street name on the corner of the curb. "I'm going to this sushi bar downtown. It's down on Sixth Street, Brooklyn if you really have to know."

"Alright. I just wanted to know that you're safe. You've been out for a good couple hours now."

Ellie checked her watch frantically. Sure enough, it had been nearly three hours since she left the building. She knew that she'd spent a lot of time dawdling around, but never expected to have taken that much time. "Oh shit, I'm sorry, Pepper," she apologized, crossing the street. "I lost track of time. I'll be a few more hours though. Not sure how long I'll be at the sushi bar. Besides, I'm a big girl. Don't be an asshole like Steve, please."

Pepper sighed. "Are you alright?" she asked with a softer tone.

Ellie put the phone to her other ear as surveyed her surroundings for a brief moment. "Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, sure Steve was acting like a total douche bag, but other than that, I'm fine."

"So you're still mad at him?"

"I'm not mad, Pepper, I don't know what I am to be honest. But fuck him, you know? Life goes on."

"Yeah…it does, I suppose. He's being all morose in his room right now. Typical man if you ask me," she whispered the last part into the phone.

Ellie shook her head. "As if it's my fault," she muttered softly in disbelief. "He has nothing to be mad about. He's acting like a child, just ignore him," she huffed, getting annoyed by the simple thought of him sulking in his room over nothing.

"So which restaurant are you going to? Like what's the name?"

For a moment, Ellie stopped. Why did she have to know? Why was she being so nosy? "It's called Sakura's…why?" she hesitated, then half smiled into the phone. It was nice to hear a friendly voice. It was nice to talk to Pepper. "Are you coming to join me?"

"What? No, sorry. I can't, I'm leaving for DC in an hour, so…."

Finally, Ellie reached the restaurant. Thankfully, it was still open. She stopped in front of it and looked up at the pink, blue and green lights surrounding the board that read 'Sakura's Sushi Bar' and smiled to herself. It had been such a long time since she'd stopped to read that particular sign. The last time, however, she was with her mother. That part made the memory bittersweet. She wanted to remember the good times they had there, without having to remember that they were spent with her mom.

"Well alright then," she said after a while. "Enjoy DC, Pepper. I gotta go. Nice talk."

"Of course. See you in a couple of days."

Ellie put down the phone and shoved it back into her pocket as she pushed the door open with one hand. The place wasn't full. The only other people inside was the staff and small bundles of people clustered around the place. A woman dressed in traditional Kawaii clothing immediately welcomed her and sat her down at a table in the middle of the place. She took her order and scampered off into the kitchen.

For a few minutes, she sat there by herself, first looking around the place to see what had changed since the last time she'd been there, but everything was almost exactly the same. When her drink came, she took small sips as she blankly stared at the door.

"Excuse me, miss," a soft, high-pitched voice slashed through her inattentiveness. She looked up at the small, blond boy smiling a half-toothless grin at her. His eyes were blue-grey she noticed immediately, just like someone else she knew. His blond hair was pushed back messily. He looked about five or six. Ironically enough, he was wearing a Captain America t-shirt.

"H-hi," she forced a smile and looked away, trying to avoid having to buy raffle tickets or anything like that.

"You're a superhero. My mommy told me. She says she saw you fighting the big scaly monster," he said, holding out a notebook and pen. She immediately paused and looked at him again with widened eyes. "Can you please sign this for her?"

It took a few seconds to process what was happening, but she nodded anyway, after pulling herself together. "Sure, kid," she agreed and took the pen from him. "You like superheroes?"

He nodded wildly. "Yep. My favorites are Captain America and Hulk," he told her, pointing at his shirt and stretching it out.

"The Hulk's pretty cool, huh?" she laughed a bit at his eagerness and confidence, especially at such a young age. He had literally just met her five seconds ago, yet he was apparently already so comfortable around her.

"And Captain America!" he added. "I have a Captain America suit with a shield and everything! I'm gonna go as him for career day 'cos I wannna be just like him when I'm older! He signed by book, too y'know."

Her forehead creased, playing along for the sake of the kid. "Really? You have Captain America's autograph?" she asked him jokingly. He nodded again and yanked the book out of her hand to flip to the page. Sure enough, there was Steve's handwriting scribbled in his notebook. Her lips moved as she read out the short message above his signature.

'Don't let anybody say you can't do it, because you can. Trust me, soldier, I know.

From: Captain America'

"Wow, look at that," she snorted, practically visualizing Steve saying something so righteous and inspirational. But she was mad at him. She rolled her eyes to herself, making sure that the boy didn't see.

"But this book is for my mommy. She likes superheroes too."

"Yeah?" she puckered her brow, then looked around the restaurant. "Where is she by the way?"

He closed the book and tucked it underneath his arm. "She's over there," he said, pointing to the building on the other side of the street. She turned around, leaning over her chair to see what was there, and frowned when she realized he was pointing at the hospital. "She said I should come down here to eat."

She was shocked. He was only about five years old, yet his mother allowed him to roam the streets freely at night. "By yourself?" she gasped.

He nodded again. "Yeah. She's in bed."

'In bed', she thought. Her frown turned into a gape of sadness. She knew what he meant. "Oh," she sighed softly to herself. "Alright, uh, have you eaten yet, kid?"

"Yes. I was gonna go back but then I saw you sitting here. Where are the others?"

Another small smile took on her lips. He was a typical child, she thought. Filled with nothing but innocence. He didn't really construe the situation at all. All he knew was that his mother was for some reason, in hospital and that Ellie was an Avenger. He didn't know which one was more important.

"They're at home," she explained to him, "watching TV."

"Why aren't you with them?"

She shrugged. He suddenly slid onto the chair opposite her, not caring about anything else around them. Ellie looked around the room nervously for some reason, hoping and praying that maybe he'd have to go soon. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy his presence, but she'd just wanted some time to herself, to think and imagine. Now, there was that boy, confidently staring at her from the opposite side of the table. "Is Captain America your friend?" he questioned some more. "And Hulk?"

She let out a small, nervous giggle and stroked her collarbone to give her fingers something to do, otherwise, they'd just tap on the table. "Yes. Hulk's my friend. Captain America, well, sort of."

"How come it's 'sort of'?" he was suddenly filled with questions. He put his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands while swinging his feet up and down, as if expecting some kind of story behind her reasoning.

She knew he wasn't going away soon. She knew she was going to have to entertain him. They were too far gone. With nothing else to do, Ellie played along only for his benefit. She figured he must've been going through enough, especially with his mom in hospital and everything. But before she responded a part of her knew that she should've just said that Cap was her friend to avoid even more questions, but there was no going back. "It's complicated adult stuff," she puffed, folding her arms and slouching. He set his book on the table and mimicked her actions.

"Is he your boyfriend?" his voiced teased. His big grin resurfaced.

Her eyes widened in shock. "What? No. No no no. Why would you think that?"

She was genuinely shocked at that point. He barely even knew her, yet he felt that he could make such accusations. Inside, she nearly freaked out at the thought, but calmed down after reminding herself that the person in front of her was only a kid.

He huffed irritably as if he was losing his patience with her. As if she wasn't answering to his satisfaction. "Because that's what mommy says about her boyfriend," he told her, pulling a disgusted face. "Yuck."

Ellie's face softened. She never was good with children. Her waitress arrived again, with her order of sushi and carefully placed it in front of her. The boy watched. Ellie tried to ignore it as she thanked the waitress and picked up her chopsticks. "Oh, well, I promise you; Captain America is not my boyfriend," she compelled a laugh and shook her head. What a charming little boy. She smirked it off, mixing her wasabi in her soy sauce.

"Well, lady, I gotta go back," he sighed, kicking himself off the chair and gathering his book. "Seeya."

"Yeah," she smiled, nodding. "Nice meeting –"

But he took off in a sprint, holding the book close to his chest.

"Hey, wait!" she called after him, but he ran out the restaurant, ignoring her. She suddenly felt obligated to ensure he was safe, and by the looks of things, he was planning on running straight across the street. Ellie pushed herself out of her seat and ran after him frantically, keeping a close eye on the busy road ahead. "Kid, slow down!" she yelled, frustrated with him that he was ignoring her. He looked back, acknowledging her, but still ignored her. Then, he made broke into another run across the street without even paying any attention to the traffic.

"Shit!" she cussed to herself and followed him, bumping into the front of at least three cars and two yellow cabs. The traffic light was projecting a bright green light, indicating that she and the child we in the wrong. Cars hooted furiously and tires screeched horribly as the scraped against the black road. "Hey, open your fucking eyes!" she hissed at one car that nearly knocked into the boy and angrily punched the hood.

Finally, they both reached the other side. "Hey, kid, STOP!" she shouted after him and thankfully, he obeyed. She caught up, frowning down at him. "Are you crazy?!"

He shook his head.

"You could've gotten seriously hurt," she stated crossly and went down on her knees to be at his level. "Your recklessness nearly got us –"

For some reason, she stopped. A sudden rush of déjà vu settled over her all at once. She abruptly saw herself standing before and saw herself as Steve, reliving what had happened earlier on. She saw what he was trying to get across and how she just disregarded him and blocked him out. She realized that she had done exactly what the boy had; irresponsibly ran off for the greater good, or at least that's what she thought. She realized that she was wrong for cursing him out like she had and although he had wounded her by bringing up her nightmares; he was still right about everything.

Sure, the Avengers was a team, but Steve was the leader, and she knew that even before she joined.

"You okay, lady?" the boy asked her, tilting his head to the side.

Her fingers went up to her lips, gently touching them as she nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. I'm alright. Are you alright?"

He nodded. She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Don't ever do that again, okay? Believe me, I know. Now go back to your mom, alright?"

Again, he nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she assured him and he turned to the hospital after bidding his last goodbye. Ellie stood up, expressionlessly staring at the sidewalk. She knew what needed to be done.

She needed to apologize. That was the only way.

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At least she realized she was wrong, right? Thanks for reading!