Note: This part takes place just before Civil War. Timeline should be pretty self-explanatory from here on out.
2016
It was 6 am. Ava couldn't sleep, so she was laying in bed, reading a book. Ever since the Avengers had rescued her and her "siblings" from the HYDRA research facility when she was 13, about two years ago, she'd had a lot of catching up to do (including the realm of science-fiction novels).
She heard footsteps outside her door, then the door knob turned, creaked open…and Steve "Language" Rogers, a.k.a. the-star-spangled-man-with-a-large-frisbee, walked in.
Ava raised her eyebrow with a grin. "Hello, Steve."
He smiled at Ava. "Hey kid."
"Whatcha reading?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.
Ava glanced down at her book. "Oh, uh, I'm reading Ender's Game. I think it might be my new favorite book."
Steve raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Don't you say that about every book you read?"
She shrugged sheepishly. "I mean…you're not totally wrong," she admitted with a laugh.
"Well," Steve interrupted, changing the subject and drawing her eyes back to him, "I saw your light on as I was heading out for my run, figured I'd ask if you wanted to join me."
Of course the answer was yes. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask," Ava replied. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, grabbed some running shoes, and within a few minutes they were out the door into the large space that was the Avengers compound, where they'd relocated after Ultron.
They settled into a nice jog. Ava was fast - having raptor (the bird type, not the dinosaur) DNA was helpful in that regard - but not quite as fast as the super soldier, so she knew Steve was holding back some.
When Ava wasn't even three years old, she'd been kidnapped by some HYDRA scientists for their new animal-human experimentation facility. There, a cocktail of raptor DNA, primarily belonging to the Eurasian Eagle Owl, had been injected into her body. She had been poked and prodded and experimented on for 10 years before the Avengers showed up.
While she loathed the circumstances that created them, she had to admit her abilities were pretty cool. Owls have incredible eyesight and hearing, which she inherited. She didn't have the 270° neck that they did, but she wasn't complaining because that would just be creepy.
Her favorite ability from her owl DNA had to be the silent flight. HYDRA hadn't given her many opportunities to stretch her wings, so she hadn't realized until her rescue how amazing it was. Somehow, it wasn't just her wings that were silent. Even now, her footfalls were barely audible, especially compared to Steve's.
As Ava and Steve rounded out their tenth mile, Ava caught Steve's attention and motioned to take a break.
The sun was just rising as they sat down on a bench and Ava uncapped her water bottle. Steve glanced at her as she sipped her water contentedly and watched the sun rise. "Mind if I run a bit more?"
Ava nodded. "Go ahead." She was very aware that Steve held back when he ran with her, and even though she knew that he enjoyed the company, she also knew that he needed some time to go faster.
She watched Steve as he started running. Within a few minutes, he had completed a mile and a half. She'd timed him before, and he was comfortably able to finish a mile in about two minutes.
Glancing upwards, Ava couldn't help but notice how inviting the sky looked. She grinned as she took a little running start and leapt into the air, her wings unfolding behind her and pulling her swiftly higher.
She loved her wings. Her soft brown tawny feathers had a wingspan of about 14 feet, and they carried her above the compound, flapping and gliding silently.
Flying was one of her favorite things to do. The first time she'd really tried it was just after she was rescued. Since then, she would sometimes spend hours each day soaring above the compound.
She liked finding things to focus on happening below her. Now, she caught a glimpse of Rhodey on an early morning walk around the main building, grinning and waving when he noticed her and gave a little wave.
After ten minutes, Steve caught her attention and gestured that he was going inside, so Ava coasted down and landed softly next to him as he walked back to the "house". They walked to the common room, where Kat was putting together a puzzle, and Ben was watching cartoons. Sam noticed them as they walked in and waved with his spatula from where he stood in the kitchen.
"I'm making pancakes," he said, motioning towards the stove, where he had several pans running. Two large bowls of batter sat off to the side, waiting to be used. "And don't worry," he added. "Nat got about a million chocolate chips on the last grocery run so we're not gonna run out this time."
"Where is Nat?" Kat asked, not looking up from her puzzle.
Her and Natasha were pretty close, and not even because their nicknames were so similar. Kat, short for Katrina, was twelve now and like Ava, had been given animal DNA by HYDRA. Ironically, she shared some genes with felines, giving her enhanced senses, agility, and an uncanny ability to land on her feet. Nat was the best for giving spy tips, which worked insanely well with Kat's abilities.
Steve shrugged. "My guess? The gym."
"I think Steve's right," Ava chimed in. "I think I hear her in there. Unless that's Wanda, but I don't think Wanda's usually awake this time on a Saturday."
"Yeah probably," Kat agreed. "I'll go tell her pancakes are on the way."
Wanda walked through the doorway in her pajamas, as if summoned. She blinked a few times as Kat ran by, then entered the living room. "I smell pancakes."
"You're up early," Sam commented. "But yes, there's pancakes. The two food machines are first in line, but I'll add you to the queue." Sam was referring to Ava and Steve. Both had enhanced metabolism and ate several times more than the average person. On some level, Kat was included in this group but not nearly to the same extent.
Wanda nodded, and plopped on the couch next to Ben, poking his shoulder. "Hey there - oh!" She yelped and drew back when it shocked her. Ben just grinned sheepishly. At seven years old, he was the baby of their little Avenger family. According to his HYDRA files and what the girls remembered, he'd been struck by lightning as a baby in a freak accident which killed his original family, and that, combined with some HYDRA experimentation, had given him the ability to manipulate electricity. His propensity for small static shocks had given him the nickname Sparky.
"First pancakes are ready!" Sam called.
"DIBS!" Both Ava and Steve lunged for the plate. Being taller, Steve got there first and teasingly held the plate just out of Ava's reach. She groaned, and after trying to reach it with little success, punched him lightly in the stomach with a grin.
That moment, Kat returned with Nat, who tsked at Steve. "Now, now, sharing is caring," she said, smirking.
Steve smirked back and rolled his eyes, letting Ava take half. They sat at the table, Nat and Kat joining them, and started eating.
"So, Nat," Ava said, swallowing her bite, "What's the plan for today? Any meetings or Avengers stuff going on?"
Nat glanced at Steve, before replying, "I've got some paperwork to go over. We have some solid intel on some remaining former SHIELD/HYDRA agents. Chances are, we'll have a mission later this week."
"Any chance I can come?" Ava said, with a wry smile. She yelped as she received a sharp elbow in her side from Kat, and glared back.
She and Kat knew how the Avengers felt about them joining on missions. While the kids were welcome to join in training from time to time, they were too young to come on any missions. Which, while valid, was extremely annoying. Plus, Ava was fifteen now. She was pretty sure that at her age, Steve was already trying to join the war efforts.
"Not my decision, птичка [little bird]," Nat said with a knowing glance. "And I'm pretty sure we talked about this last week."
Vision chose that moment to phase through the wall and join the conversation. "If it makes you feel any better, I likely won't be going either." It didn't make her feel better, but she appreciated that he tried. Wanda yelped and clutched her chest.
"Vision!" Wanda admonished. "We've had this conversation. Use the doors!"
Vision looked confused. "But I…sorry." He shook his head. Vision still seemed to have trouble understanding the ways of humans. It probably didn't help that he was living with some rather unusual humans.
A clatter from the kitchen drew everybody's attention. Sam teetered with a stack of pancakes that reached a foot over his head. When he noticed everyone looking at him, he startled, causing the top section to fall off. He yelped and tried to catch it with his other arm, nearly dropping the original stack.
Wanda, heading to the table with Ben, caught them with her red energy just before they hit the ground, and she gently set all the pancakes down on a stack on the table.
"You know," Steve said, as they all turned back to Sam, who had the decency to look embarrassed. "You could've just asked for help."
Kat shook her head. "In what world was that a good idea?" They all laughed. She looked at Ava and Nat mischievously. "Иногда он такой глупый. Быстро, теперь он думает, что мы говорим о нем. Время розыгрыша!" [He's so stupid sometimes. Quick, now he thinks we're talking about him. Prank time!]
"Wait, what did she say?" Sam said, panicking. "Somebody translate!"
Ava grinned, playing along. "И я думаю, что эти шоколадные чипсы имеют фантастический вкус. Кому нужен апельсиновый сок?" [And I think these chocolate chips taste fantastic. Who wants some orange juice?] She gave Sam a sideways glance and laughed softly.
"They're talking about me!" he exclaimed. "What are they saying?"
Nat laughed loudly at Ava and stared hard at Sam. "Я бы хотел немного апельсинового сока. Подождите еще несколько секунд, прежде чем вы поймете, я наслаждаюсь тем, как он извивается," [I'd love some orange juice. Wait a few more seconds before you get it though, I'm enjoying watching him squirm,] she said, her ominous tone not matching the lighthearted words. Sam paled and looked at Steve helplessly.
Ben just stared back and forth, following the conversation. "I'm confused, you're not -" The girls shushed him, loudly, and cackled at his confusion.
"Sam, I think you're overreacting," Steve said, smiling. He'd picked up a bit of Russian when the kids first came.
Sam shrugged. "You never know with these guys. Either way, there are now enough pancakes for everyone, and thanks to Wanda's quick thinking, they're all safe."
As everyone else started eating, and the conversation turned to other topics, Ava smiled to herself. She loved her family.
—
A few days later…
Ava sat on the couch in the lobby of the compound's main building, the TV blaring loudly in the background.
Kat and Ben were watching TV on the huge screen. It was a Saturday, so no early morning training, plus, most of the Avengers were on that mission. The kids had begged to watch cartoons on the big screen in the lobby, so Ava had obliged, bringing her laptop down with her. The screen, while not technically supposed to be used for personal use, was enormous, and since nobody was home Ava figured it wouldn't hurt.
Ava was working on some "homework", part of the homeschool program that Tony had devised before stepping away from hero work. Since they were all still of school age, the kids were legally obliged to take part in some sort of schooling. Ava couldn't complain, though, that it was online. She was most definitely not a people-person, and it gave her more time for training.
Besides, the kids had too much catching up to do as a result of being secluded from society for a good portion of their lives – so homeschool allowed them to move at a faster pace. This included learning how to be around other people…
The first few months that they'd lived there, Ava and the others had barely spoken to anybody. It was hard to trust even their rescuers after their experiences at the hands of HYDRA. Once they had finally started to trust the Avengers, it had been easier to talk to them, but the prospect of being around hundreds of other people, her age, was frankly kind of terrifying.
Speaking of the Avengers, she was a bit irked that they hadn't even bothered to tell her where they were going. She understood that it was technically classified, but…so was she, so…
Suddenly, an alert popped up on her screen. She had a notification set for whenever the Avengers were featured in the news. All the notification displayed was, "Breaking News in Lagos: Avengers…"
Ava felt her mouth go dry and her heart sink. She grabbed the remote from the couch next to her and began flipping through channels, earning protests from Kat and Ben.
"Hey!" Kat whipped her head around to glare. "What do you think you're doing?"
Ava didn't answer, her eyes fixed on the TV until she finally found a news station. The news anchor, a serious-looking blond woman, narrated over footage of the destroyed market in Lagos.
"Oh," was all Kat could say. They listened.
"...local authorities say the Avengers were trying to find Brock Rumlow, also known as Crossbones, a former agent of SHIELD who was revealed to be a HYDRA agent in disguise. But things turned sour when the chase entered a local market, where Rumlow, who was killed in the explosion, detonated a bomb. An attempt to contain the explosion by Wanda Maximoff backfired, destroying several floors of a nearby building. Emergency personnel are arriving on the scene to assess the damage and look for survivors. The search is still on for…"
Ava turned off the TV. Kat was frozen beside her, staring at the blank screen
"What happened?" Ben asked. His eyes were wide with fear and shock.
"I- I don't know, Sparky," she said, her voice cracking as she pulled out her phone. "I've gotta call Cap."
—
That evening, eating dinner with Vision, they learned the full story. Rumlow had been trying to steal a bioweapon, and a bomb vest around his chest had detonated in a moment of confusion as he fought Steve. Wanda had caught it just in time, but had only been able to launch it up in the air to avoid the market. The current count had 26 people dead from the explosion on the building.
They'd talked briefly to Steve, who sounded shaken. "I know that if Wanda hadn't caught Rumlow's bomb when she did, so many more people could have died. But she shouldn't have even had to do that in the first place. I should have been paying better attention."
The Avengers were staying to help with the cleanup, but planned to head home in the next couple days.
It was quiet on the compound with only Vision, Kat and Ben, Ava thought. Rhodey, who also spent a lot of time at the compound, had left immediately to go start dealing with the nightmare that was the press and the government.
Kat came into Ava's room that evening. "I can't sleep, my mind is too busy and so much just happened and I -" she broke off.
Ava sighed, staring at the wall beside her bed. "I know. Me too."