Chapter Text
”Dad, I’ll be fine!”
Ava covered her face with her hands to avoid her father’s judgmental glare.
”I’ve done this for over a year. Why are you so damn grumpy about it today?”
Tony rolled his eyes, before a baby tomato came flying in her direction. Almost more by instinct than consciously, a force field formed. The tomato hit it with a soft thud before she managed to catch it.
”See, I got the evil tomato,” she stated as she put the tomato in her mouth.
”Thanks, FRIDAY.”
”You’re welcome, miss.”
”What about the ATCU then? It was this close,” her father reminded and showed with his fingers, ”that they began to hunt you down.”
Ava sighed as she began to walk back and forth in their ridiculously large living room.
”One time, Dad. I admit, I was stupid and reckless. But they don’t know who I am. And you're the one to talk. Didn't you retire only a year ago, Iron Man?”
”I’ve got a suit of metal, you're a fourteen year old kid!”
With a groan, Ava slumped down in the couch. Her father had never argued about it before. Why he was doing it for the moment was a mystery for her.
”Okay, but I'm almost fifteen,” Ava said.
”Look, I could be the reason why people’s families are alive. If I hadn't been close to that bank, a dozen of civilians would have been dead. Please, I promise, I will be careful, just let me go out.”
She pouted while trying her best to do puppy eyes, even if it wasn’t her best skill.
But it was worth a try.
”Your puppy eyes sucks,” Tony commented but smirked, much to her relief.
”Just promise that you will be careful, kiddo.”
Ava smiled and went over to hug him quickly. She continued to thank him dozens of times even as she raced to her room. For some reason, Ava had folded the suit rather nicely. How sad that it wouldn’t stay that way.
Ava held it out in front of her, before she began to strip down. A black catsuit sounded like hard work to put on. But no, it certainly wasn’t. At least when her father made one. The extra markings that glowed whenever she wanted wasn’t bad either.
After she had put on the nano mask, it’s transparent material darkened. From a flimsy skin-like film, to a black full face mask. That and the fact that she could make her eyes glow felt… odd. It wasn’t in a bad way, simply a strange one. Almost she was an entirely different person when she donned the suit. Ava briefly wondered if Daredevil had felt the same way, whenever he had put on the helmet. He had probably not thought like that.
On the other hand, what had she known about him?
”Wow, aren't you my little lava lamp?” Tony said as she returned she was heading for the balcony.
”As much as you're my old shellhead.”
How strange that she often exited almost the same way her father had been tossed out. Although, she didn’t break the windows.
”I’ll see you later.”
Ava jumped off the balcony like a madman and felt the air dance around her body. Before anything bad could happen (like smashing into the pavement and become a bloody pancake) the falling slowed down before she was hovering in the air. She had to look like an alien. More than she already was, that was.
Her secret pocket vibrated numbly against her thigh. Confused, she turned off the voice changer and answered.
”Hiya, Peter.”
”Hey, we might have to work a bit later, gotta clean up in my room and stuff…”
”Yeah, it’s cool, I just need to run an errand too,” Ava lied as she flexed her fingers.
”Awesome, glad I won’t be late then.”
”Hold on, is that the traffic? Where are you?”
”It’s just the music. You know what? I need to fix something too, see you later,” Peter suddenly said, much to her own confusion.
”Sure, see you at four,” Ava replied and hung up.
Once again, she turned the changer on. She sank down, maybe a few feet above the streets. Otherwise she wouldn’t hear a thing if anything happened. And of course, something did happen. A couple of men dressed in masks entered a grocery store. She was very certain that they weren’t mere cosplayers.
With ease, she landed on the asphalt before she ran into the market.
Luckily for her, the cash register was close. Sadly, every one of the robbers were armed. Either with baton or gun, but still, not a very great combo. Also, every one of them wore masks that were hideous copies of the Avengers. What was it with ’disguising’ themselves as the Avengers all the time?
”Just give us the money and no one will get hurt,” fake Iron Man shouted at the pale faced cashier nearest to Ava.
Most, if not all of the customers were on the floor, hands raised. Fortunately, no one seemed to have been hurt.
”Oh, the Avengers are here,” she commented and managed to catch their attention.
Of course, the rendered voice was hard to not hear. According to herself, she sounded like a robot.
Before any of them could react, Ava shot an energy blast at the fake Hulk, who quickly fell down and hit his head. Hopefully, he wasn’t too injured. The fake Thor tried to use his baton. And boy did he fail. Every swing was easy to dodge. Almost like child. But he managed to her once, the pain throbbing like a tiny heart. Ava narrowed her eyes and formed a force field over her hand.
”Honestly, Thor, you have to get a job.”
After backhanding him in the face, he was down and cursing over a concussion.
Two down, three to go, and one of them was holding a gun.
She had encountered guns before, but it hadn’t been a pleasant experience.
The next two robbers that were disguised as Rhodey and Vision (she was impressed) came charging at her while fake Iron Man was yelling at the poor cashier to hurry up.
”I don't want to hurt you,” Ava admitted, right before she shot them both in the stomach.
”Stop right there! Or I’ll shoot him!” ’Iron Man’ yelled at her as he held the cashier in a chokehold with the gun to his temple.
”Nobody will call the police, or you’ll be scraping brains off the wall!”
She backed off, the glow from her hands fading. What else could she do? She couldn't exactly go all Wanda. Also, she couldn’t risk hurting the cashier either, which she would if she tried to attack.
From all of sudden, something shot out from nowhere and yanked away the gun from the robber, before a red and blue figure appeared and kicked ’Iron Man’ in the face.
”Oh sorry! My bad!”
That quickly gave her the chance to run over to the cashier, who was paler than a sheet. She slowly set her hand on his arm, slow movements. He’d been threatened to death, quick movements were a foolish choice.
”Hey, you okay?” Ava asked as she led him to the rest of the civilians.
The cashier nodded, before he looked at her and widened his eyes.
”You’re Strike!”
Ava had to admit, that people nowadays knew about her was an accomplishment. It made things easier, but harder too.
”To your service.”
No one among them seemed to have been hurt. At least there was nothing that was too severe. One guy seemed to have been knocked down but woken up again, the big blue bruise on his forehead was a rather big clue, after all.
By the time she had made sure everyone was all right, Ava turned back to the robbers. She was happy to see that all of them were bound and ready for the police to arrest.
”Nice glasses,” Ava said and nodded towards his outfit.
A red and blue pajamas like one piece with huge googles over his eyes. She wasn’t sure if they were for his identity or his powers. Ava could relate, though. Being a walking energy source was something that she’d had to learn to live with.
”Says Glow stick,” Spider-Man replied.
Ava crossed her arms, a small smile playing on her lips.
”You’re the newbie, huh?” she questioned as she roamed his body quickly.
Maybe six or seven inches taller than her, but that was the only thing she could get from him. The suit made it slightly harder to see his figure. Unlike her own, which was skin tight. Although his voice didn't sound like an adult or a kid. He was probably around her own age. She must have heard his voice before. It sounded awfully familiar, but that was simply ridiculous. No one in her school could be Spider-Man.
”I’m not a newbie, I’ve been doing this for half a year now,” he protested while Ava could feel the civilians’ eyes on them.
”Dude, I have been here for a year,” she replied and grinned before she began to gather up the robbers in one place.
”You didn't kill them, right?” Spider-Man questioned wearily and gestured to the fake Vision and Rhodey.
”I mean, you seem like a really cool person, but if you're killing people, then we can’t have tea parties together—”
”No, of course I didn't kill them, I'm not a savage,” Ava said.
”I just knocked them out. Honestly, what do you think of me?”
Of course, pulling her punches was scary. Too much power, and she could have someone’s blood on her hands. Only that mere thought made her blood chill.
”Then I gotta say, glowing powers are awesome.”
”Thanks, I guess spider powers are awesome too,” she replied with a smile before she glanced at the clock on the wall and froze.
She definitely had go, otherwise she’d miss her appointment. And she’d hate that.
”I gotta go. Maybe I’ll see you another time, Spidey.”
”How did it go?”
Ava burst into the top floor through the open window. Almost inhumanly fast, she ripped off her mask as the glow in her eyes faded.
Five minutes later, she rushed out in only a towel to her room. She tossed everything she needed in her backpack before she slung it over her shoulder and almost flew out
”See you, Dad!”
In times like these, Ava often considered simply blowing a part of her cover and fly. That was, until she got reminded of the vigilante status she had gotten. What else had they expected her to do with her powers then? Become an entertainer for kids? She had to say, she was rather fond of the temperature of the sub. Otherwise she would have been drenched in sweat.
Minutes later, she was just outside Peter’s apartment. Luckily, she did not smell sweaty. And if she did, she would have had to kill some bacteria.
”Hi,” May greeted her with a smile on her face as she opened the door.
”Peter’s on his room.”
Ava nodded as she made her way to Peter’s room and knocked carefully. With a muffled ’come in,’ she opened the door. To her surprise, she found Peter stand in only a pair of jeans while seemingly trying to find his shirt.
”Oh god, I'm so sorry!” she exclaimed and immediately looked somewhere else that wasn't his torso.
She wasn’t sure how conscious he was over the binder. To not make it awkward for him, Ava kept her eyes on her bag as she zipped it open. A couple of crumbled papers, a notepad, pencils. Everything to make an essay about science.
”Sorry for barging in, I thought you were dressed,” Ava apologized and sat down in the bed.
Peter quickly followed, and accidentally hit her in the side. A sharp pain spread in her as she tried to cover up her wince. Somehow, his elbow had found its way to the place where she’d been hit by fake Thor.
”Hey, you okay?” Peter wondered as Ava carefully touched the area and cursed lowly.
”I think I only walked into something.”
She lifted the tee up. Blues and greens painted her skin, her skin being a canvas for discomfort. Hopefully, it would fade within tomorrow.
”I still don't get how you manage to get bruises all the time,” Peter stated and shook his head.
You have no idea, Ava thought as Peter was looking around for his things.
”You’re not the only one. So… What famous person in science shall we write about?”
”I think I have some ideas, I'm not sure if they are very good, but…” Peter began as he drummed on the book with his fingers
”Maybe Howard Stark?”
Ava raised her eyebrow, not sure if he was joking or not. Not only had he been more of an engineer. But also, she wasn’t very fond of her grandfather. Not after the few stories her father had told of his parents.
Hadn’t he recently visited a place and talked about them?
Something about the B. A. R. F. she believed. Seeing her expression, Peter widened his eyes and raked his hand through his hair.
”Sorry, I was just joking, because I know that he’s your grandpa,” he said with Ava waving away his apology.
”Nah, it’s cool, I just thought that you didn't know that he was also a scientist,” Ava stated.
”But how about Bruce Banner?” Peter suggested.
”I mean, the info about him is quite easy to get, and most people will think about Hulk instead of something else.”
”Sure, why not?”
She missed the days Bruce had been living with them. It also had been good for Tony, who finally had been able to talk normally instead of dumbing it down for people all the time. Ava may have inherited her father’s genius intellect, but given the fact that he was older than her, he did have much more knowledge than she had.
”So… What more do you know about Banner than ’Hulk smash’?”
”Let me guess, you'll write your assignment about me, won’t you?” Tony asked her while he was mixing together a green smoothie.
Ava grinned as she flipped around in her history book because of that goddamn test she almost had forgotten about. And that they would have tomorrow was annoying. Not that she couldn’t do it, she always felt a bit nervous about tests that didn’t have anything with science to do.
”Nah, Peter wanted to write about grandpa, but we are writing about Bruce instead,” she replied and received a glass of green juice from her father as she flipped page.
”Mostly because it’s nice to read stuff about him that isn't about Hulk all the time. I miss Bruce. I wish Hulk could send a snap with him sunbathing at some beach in the Bahamas. And where the hell would Bruce shave? I mean, imagine Hulk with a beard.”
”I prefer not to,” Tony replied and shuddered before he almost down his entire green juice that tasted like apple and ginger.
”Speaking of assignment things, you're working with Parker, right?”
”Yeah, how so?” she questioned and tilted her head slightly while suspecting her father’s question.
”He seems nice,” he remarked.
”Yeah, he is. Likes Star Wars a lot, and Harry Potter. We often have discussions about the Houses.”
”What was he?”
Ava grinned and shut her book before taking a sip of juice. Her father had become really good at doing them. That tiny hint of orange really did something.
”Hufflepuff,” she said.
”Slytherins and Hufflepuffs do get along well, after all. Ned’s a Ravenclaw, he mentioned. The three of us could take over the world.”
The fact that she was an Inhuman with psychic powers helped a lot too.
”Hell yeah you would,” he said.
”You wanna go to the Facility today?”
Ava raised her eyebrow in the middle of her drinking juice over the sudden shift. When had been the last time he had been to the Facility? A month? More or less? Not that she complained, it was just surprising. On the other hand, Pepper had moved out just a month ago. Even though she hadn't been Ava’s birth mother, Pepper had been like a mother to her.
”Sure,” Ava replied and shrugged before she downed the rest of her juice.
Tony had acted strange since yesterday. To not let her go out as Strike? He never said no to that. Even if he hadn’t been fond of it at first, he let her. Why she had had to bicker with him over that had been… odd. And now with the Facility? Something was wrong. Ava didn’t know what yet, but it was something.
”Yeah, I’ll see you there,” Tony said and hung up as Ava opened the door to his car and got inside.
”Who was it?” she questioned while her father drove out from the garage as AC/DC screamed right into her ears.
”Thaddeus Ross, you know, the secretary,” he replied while Ava tried to turn down volume.
”Sorry, miss. Your father wants to keep this volume,” FRIDAY apologized and made Ava roll her eyes while Tony was grinning at her in glee.
”No worries, FRIDAY. Why were you talking to Ross? Has this something to do with me going to the Facility?”
Tony scoffed, but didn't reply. Obviously, that confirmed her suspicions even further.
”Dad…”
”Look, it will be fine, I will tell Ross to make some exceptions,” he began and began to ramble on about politics.
That, of course did not satisfy Ava’s curiosity.
”What are you talking about? And what do you mean with Sokovia Accords? Look, I may be a genius, but I'm not a politician. Could you please tell me everything but in English?”
Tony simply sighed and leaned back in his seat while Ava was trying to figure out what he meant by everything he’d said.
”Ross will explain everything, I promise,” Tony said before he began to sing along to Highway to Hell, leaving Ava with her own thoughts and theories.
Accords? Sokovia Accords? Some kind of accords she was involved with, along with the Avengers? What did they have in common? They knew Tony, and they were all enhanced or cool. She was loathed by the Bugle, so superhero was not something she had in common with them.
Ava had no idea how long she hide her other persona. So far, the only people who knew about it was Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and Wanda. But the rest? No, she hadn’t chosen to tell them yet. Ava didn’t not trust them. It was simply something she had decided to keep for herself.
”God, I've missed this place,” Ava mumbled as she got out of the car.
She quickly spotted another car approach them, a black SUV with bulletproof glass.
And coming out from that car was Ross and his assistant, who was carrying a huge compendium, much to her suspicion. Could those be what her father had called the Sokovia Accords?
”Mr. Stark,” Ross greeted her father as he extended his hand for him.
”Secretary Ross, nice to see you again.”
”Secretary,” Ava said stiffly and shook his hand quickly while feeling his eyes on her.
”Miss Stark, I will be delighted to hear why your father wanted you here on this meeting later.”
”As do I,” she replied, but fortunately, the secretary didn't seem to have heard it.
”Dad, what the hell is he talking about?”
The thing with Ross was that he was cold. He wasn’t a bad man, not really. Ross was simply… lawful. Hell, he could probably torture someone for ’the greater good.’
”You’re deemed as a vigilante by the government, kiddo. So, I thought that, if you just told him about everything, you could get rid of the worst guys that might be after you.”
”What?” she said as they got to the living room, where most of the Avengers already were, except Steve and Wanda.
”You’ll understand, I promise,” he assured as they sat down in one of the chairs behind the Avengers’ table, just as both Steve and Wanda arrived to take their seats too.
At first, Ross told them about his heart attack. Ava simply let slide past her brain since it didn't really matter to her. He was alive after all.
”The world owes the Avengers an un-payable debt. You've fought for us. Protected us. Risked your lives…”
What he said, it sounded too good in her ears. Too good to be true, specifically. Why else would Ross be here? Not to talk about the obvious, she was sure of that.
”While a great many people see you as heroes. There are some… who would prefer the word vigilantes.”
And there it came. Wasn't that the word people called her? It wasn't like she worked for NYPD or the government. And why would she? The risk of her abilities being abused by either of them was higher than she wanted it to be.
”And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?” Natasha questioned.
”How about dangerous? What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignores sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind them?”
Suddenly, a screen appeared up with the world map, where the first place it zoomed into was New York. Ava’s gut sank.
”New York,” Ross mumbled as a footage of the Battle of New York was shown.
Ava held her breath for a moment. She remembered that day. The battle had occurred just after she had come home. A hole right above their home. Aliens, her father and the rest, fighting against them.
Her gut sank even further down when she saw the death toll; 74 people.
”Washington DC.”
Another footage, this time of the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, people had drowned after the Helicarriers’ crash into the water. Ava could still recall that she had felt nauseous when she’d found out that her name had been on ’Project Insight.’ It would’ve eliminated people HYDRA had seen as a threat to then. The amount of casualties; 23.
”Sokovia.”
One of the more recent events, with a city that would have erased all life on Earth. It had been a week before her Terrigenesis. 177 people, so many lives lost.
Ava cast a glance at her father. He seemed to have stopped looking at the screen, his face paler than it had been before. She couldn't forget all those times he’d barged into her room, only to check that she was still there, in the middle of the night.
”Lagos.”
And there it was, the most recent event that had made Ava look at the screen with a stone forming inside her stomach. Not only because of the footages she saw, but also because of herself. What if she accidentally let loose and ended up killing people instead of saving them? It was one thing with being ruled by agencies, but being controlled by her own powers was just as frightening.
”Okay, that’s enough.”
Ava looked up after hearing Steve’s voice. Her eyes fell on Wanda, who was no longer looking at the screen. Sometimes she forgot that she wasn't the only one with dangerous abilities.
”For the past 4 years, you operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution,” Ross explained as he was handed the huge block of papers and gave them to Wanda.
”The Sokovia accords. Approved by 117 countries. It states, that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations Panel, only when and if that Panel deems it necessary.”
Was this her father’s solution? Signing her on some deal that would give the government control over her? He must have lost his mind. Especially if those Accords also were for the Inhumans. She guessed that they were. Ava didn't want to imagine that list of enhanced people getting into the wrong hands. She’d heard enough from Steve about such things.
”The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that,” Steve spoke up, making Ava want to pat his shoulder.
”Tell me Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of 30 mega tonne nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance, that’s how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground.”
”So, there are contingencies?” Rhodey questioned while Ava was still trying to figure out why Tony wanted to her to sign on those things.
”Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. So, talk it over.”
”And if we come to a decision you don't like?” Natasha asked while Tony nudged on Ava, as if he wanted her to rise up.
”Then you retire,” Ross stated and gestured to Ava to rise up, much to her dismay.
”Miss Stark, if you could come over here.”
Ava cast a concerned at her father, who simply nodded and gave her a small assuring smile. She didn't find it assuring at all. But she got up from the chair and positioned herself on the other side of the table.
”Miss Stark, can you tell us why your father has decided to even bring you here to this meeting?” he questioned as everyone’s eyes were on her.
Ava took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She cast a glance at Tony, who nodded slightly. Then at Rhodey, who smiled in assurance, and then at Ross, who waited for her to talk.
”Well, you’ve heard about the Inhumans?” Ava began as she could feel her blood spark with energy.
”The part aliens who have haunted the news these months, and appeared up last summer? Also, for around a year ago, New York received a new vigilante. They began to call her Strike.”
Ava couldn't believe that she was holding a speech about herself in front of the whole Avengers, that she was actually revealing this to the government, even though she herself believed that there would be consequences that she wouldn't like. But if her father believed in it, maybe they weren't too bad.
”You're looking at her right now,” Ava told and made her hands burn with electric blue psionic energy.
With the secretary’s expression, she immediately stopped and tried to not look the rest of the Avengers in the eye.
”I guess that’s my little party trick.”
She quickly returned to her seat beside her father. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. What she had done, it had felt wrong. Ava wanted to leave, anything get rid of that feeling she had in her gut
Seconds later, both Ross and his assistant made their way towards the exit, with Ross casting one last look at them all.
”You’ve got three days.”
The silence seemed to go on for ages, the time stretching out like hard toffee. She hoped that anyone could say anything. Her father, Rhodey, anyone.
Luckily, Steve finally broke the ice, much to Ava’s relief.
”Except on what we have heard on the news, do you know something more about the Inhumans?” he asked, making Ava nod.
”Yeah, with the help of some contacts, we finally found out more, actually,” she admitted.
”The Inhumans were failed experiments by the Kree. A race of intelligent aliens who was fighting a war and needed bioweapons. The genes for Inhumans were passed down for generations and could be activated through a process called Terrigenesis.”
Just after her little speech, civil war broke out in the room.
”Dad, how is exposing myself a good idea? There's no logic in this.”
The Tower was eerily dead, despite after FRIDAY had turned on the lights. Ava sat down in one of the couches, her father quickly following.
”You said that Ross would explain everything, but he didn’t. And what exceptions did you talk about but Ross didn't even mention?”
”I talked with Ross about secret identities and stuff. And since you're my daughter and I’m Iron Man, the secretary agreed on that you don't have to reveal your identity to anyone but Ross and parts of the government. On the condition that I kept an eye on you, so you don't mess around and decapitate people,” Tony stated and poured himself a whiskey, much to her dismay, and not only because of the smell.
Ever since Pepper had left them, those glasses of booze had increased slightly. Ava remembered finding Tony by the dining table with a large bottle. She had taken Tony to the bathroom and let her father throw up in the toilet for a few minutes as he mumbled on about nothing. She had even ordered FRIDAY to keep an eye on him for the rest of the night, especially if he had neared the bar.
”But I have to sign on the Accords?” Ava asked.
”Yeah,” Tony confirmed and took a sip of it like the liquor was water.
”I promise, your crime fighting will be easier, cops won’t run around after you…”
”But I have to become their bitch, right?” Ava interrupted and raised her eyebrow.
”Dad, this is insane. I'm not an Avenger, I'm just someone who helps people to get back their laptops or punches robbers. Why would I need oversight?”
”You’re still part alien, Ava. What if aliens come down here, just like last time, and they somehow make you become their bitch? If the government wouldn't know who you are, they would blow you to pieces. Look, we still got three days to talk about this, I promise, it will be okay.”
”Fine,” Ava mumbled and sighed.
”As long as I don't have to wear a label.”