Chapter 3
Tony returned around ten minutes later, balancing a dozen pizzas in his grasp. The boxes stacked so high that he couldn’t see where he was going, so Peter jumped up and took over half the pile from his mentor. The pizzas were laid out on the large glass coffee table in front of the sofas. Ashley watched as the others scrambled to get slices of their favourite pizza. Peter had picked up a whole box of ‘Meat Feast’ pizza and Tony had picked up a box of pepperoni pizza, which he shared with Pepper. Wanda and Vision had picked up a Hawaiian pizza, much to Tony’s dismay, if the scrunched-up expression was anything to go by. Natasha and Rhodey on the other hand had torn off the tops of boxes to create make-shift plates and had picked up a couple of different slices. Ashley looked at the mountain of pizza that was still on the table and her stomach flipped painfully, growling loudly in protest.
Natasha quirked an eyebrow and motioned to the mass of pizza in front of them that was still untouched. “Feel free to help yourself,” she commented, before taking a large bite.
With the red-head’s words, Ashley found herself reaching for a slice of chicken, sweetcorn and mushroom topped pizza. It had been a while since she had eaten anything much more than a couple of pieces of fruit, so she nibbled at the pizza gingerly. She savoured the taste, knowing it would probably be a while before she could eat anything this good again. Hopefully, once exams were over, she would be able to get a small job somewhere so that she could get a little food. But if she didn’t pass her exams, there would be no way she would be able to pursue a career in coding and programming like she had planned. And without a stable career, she may end up living in the tent forever…
By the time she had eaten the slice and just had the crust left, Peter had finished his whole pizza and Tony and Pepper were arguing over the last slice on their shared pizza. Pepper argued that she should have it as she had had a long day attending meetings that Tony couldn’t be bothered to go to. Tony argued that as the best Avenger, the final slice automatically falls to him… It didn’t matter to either of them that there were still three whole pizzas and a collection of random slices littering the coffee table still.
Ashley’s eyes widened as she watched Peter reach across the table and pick up a second box of pizza; this time a chicken and bacon one. Natasha on the other hand had discarded her cardboard ‘plate’ in favour of picking up the TV remote and scrolling through for a film for them all to watch. Apparently, it was Natasha’s turn to pick seeing as Sam wasn’t there. The red-head settled on a comedy movie – Scary Movie 4.
After about half an hour, nobody was really paying too much attention to the film anymore. So instead, the Avengers (and Pepper) decided to find a little more out about their guest.
“So, Ashley,” Pepper started. Her voice was quiet, in case some were still trying to watch the film, although everyone except Peter had turned towards Ashley and Pepper. “How did you and Peter meet?”
Ashley flushed slightly, her shoulders hunching up at the sudden influx of attention on her. “Umm, my friend MJ introduced us…”
“You’re friends with Scary Spice?” Tony asked, eyebrows raised.
“Sc-Scary Spice?” Peter spluttered, choking slightly on a twelfth slice of pizza. “Mr Stark, you call my girlfriend Scary Spice?”
Tony just shrugged his shoulders, eyes turning back to Ashley as he waited for an answer. “Yeah, I’ve been friends with MJ since I was about eight… She’s not that scary, you know. She’s just not afraid to tell you what she thinks.” ‘I wish I could be like that’ she thought.
“Are you considering university when you’ve finished school?” Tony asked next.
“I’d like to…” Ashley spoke her thoughts aloud. “I just don’t know if I’ll be able to.” Tony waited for her to elaborate further, but he was met with a stony silence.
“Have you got your eyes on any particular universities?” This time it was Rhodey asking.
Ashley thought for a moment before answering honestly. “I’d love to go to MIT, but I might end up at NYU, which would be okay too.” Both Rhodey and Tony grinned at the mention of MIT. They cast their minds back to their student days, when life was much simpler and they didn’t face a global threat every other Thursday.
After that, the conversation died down and focus resumed back to the film playing on the TV. However, Ashley began to feel the day catching up with her. She felt an unshakeable tiredness settle in her bones and her eyelids suddenly felt weighted. She fought so hard against the feeling, eyes flying open wide every few seconds before ultimately losing the battle.
***
Pepper turned her head to the side about to ask the two teens if they enjoyed the film when the end credits started rolling, but her gaze fell on a sound-asleep Ashley. She was leaning against the arm of the sofa, arms wrapped around her middle. Pepper nudged Tony in the gut, which earned her a low whine, before nodding her head in the girl’s direction. Natasha and Tony both smirked at the scene, while Wanda, Vision and Rhodey joined Pepper with fond looks.
“She looked exhausted this whole time,” Rhodey commented, voice just above a whisper.
Peter had a small frown on his face. “She spends so much time studying.” He didn’t seem to be speaking to anyone in particular. His super senses could pick up a slight uptick in her breathing every now and then. It reminded him of how his Aunt May sounded when she picked up a bad case of the flu a few months ago. “MJ has been worried about her – we thought maybe Ash was avoiding us ‘cause we started dating... She stopped eating lunch with us and she doesn’t hang out with us at weekends like she used to.”
Wanda stood up and wandered across to a closet tucked away in the corner of the room. She pulled out a few blankets, placing them on the floor between Tony and Rhodey's feet, except for a pale pink one that she draped over the sleeping girl. Her touch lingered for a moment, eyes flashing a bright red, which the others didn’t miss. Before anyone could challenge her, she spoke with a calm voice.
“She's dreaming...” Wanda's eyes fixed onto the floor as she returned to sit next to Vision. “She’s sitting down on a sofa and there’s two old people with her. She’s reading them a story. I think they're her grandparents.”
Peter looked down solemnly at that. “They died last year. MJ said she was really close with them.”
“Wanda, you really shouldn’t be poking around in people’s heads,” Tony admonished. His gaze was firm as he fixed on the young woman.
Wanda met his gaze as she spoke up again. “I couldn’t help it. As I got closer, it felt like I was being drawn into her mind. Before I used my power, I could feel her – her pain, her anxiety and also happiness. There is something very strange about her.”
The room pondered silently at her words. After a minute, Tony stood up from his seat and moved to the kitchen counter to turn on the coffee machine. As it was brewing, he picked up a Stark tablet and addressed Peter. “Kid, what's your friend's full name?”
Peter shot his mentor a confused look, his brows creasing as he wondered what Tony was up to, but he complied with the request regardless. “It's Ashley Sampson.”
“FRIDAY, give me everything you can dig up on Ashley Sampson.” Within a minute, Tony was scrolling through his tablet at school administration documents and newspaper articles. “Genius child secures STEM school scholarship... Thirteen-year-old from Queens wins state poetry competition... Ah, what's this?” Tony had paused on a Government file that he should in no way have access to. It was an adoption certificate accompanied with a birth certificate. “Pete, did you know she was adopted?” Peter shook his head as Tony kept reading. “Ashley Evangeline Carter - adopted by Frank and Eleanor Sampson when she was two after her parents died in a car cra-” Tony stopped dead in his tracks. “Wow, here’s the kicker. Her birth parents were Daniel and Lily Carter. They were former SHIELD agents. Not only that, Daniel Carter is the grandson of Peggy Carter.”
Rhodey and Natasha shared a knowing look. “I remember reading a load of Fury’s old case files…” Natasha started. “Daniel and Lily were some of the best agents back then. But when they got married, they hung up the towel to start a family. I think Lily was already pregnant when they tide the knot.”
“I worked on a few cross operations with Daniel,” Rhodey remarked, casting his mind back. “I remember there was a major case of military corruption that SHIELD got involved in. It couldn’t have been long before he quit… He was a good man.”
“It’s a small world,” Pepper commented quietly as she watched the girl beside her sleeping through a conversation that she really should have been privy to. She reached out to tuck a loose strand of almost black hair behind Ashley’s ear, but stopped as soon as the pads of her fingers touched the dry, matted locks. Pepper frowned and drew her hand back, while the conversation continued around her.
“Do you think she knows?” Natasha asked.
Peter shook his head at that. “I didn’t even know she was adopted. I bet she doesn’t even remember her birth parents…”
Peter’s words were true. Ashley was incredibly young when she lost her parents and she couldn’t remember the slightest detail like the colour of their eyes or their hair. But more often than not she found herself wishing that she could remember something about them. She wished for a memory to hold onto of something better. Because if the accident hadn’t happened, then maybe her life would have been better… It was certainly easier to think about than if her birth parents were just as bad or perhaps possibly worse than her adoptive ones.
Tony came to sit back down next to Pepper and selected another film to put on the TV. It was some kind of dull action film that nobody was really paying attention to. Tony was messing around with suit designs on his tablet, Natasha was discussing schoolwork with Peter, Rhodey was planning recipes with Wanda and Vision, and Pepper was answering emails on her phone. The film was about thirty minutes in when Ashley started to stir.
It started with a small whine, but she soon began to shuffle under the blanket, movements becoming more frantic as she fought to untangle herself from it. Sensing the increasing panic as Ashley woke up, Peter helped remove the blanket, tossing it onto the floor as Ashley blinked her eyes open, taking a few seconds to adjust to the bright ceiling lights.
“FRIDAY, lights 40% please.” Tony’s command was so soft that Peter thought he was the only one who heard it. The lights dimmed as Ashley sat up, a dark blush tinting her cheeks.
“I can’t believe I fell asleep…” she mumbled to herself.
There was a small chuckle from Pepper beside her. “It’s okay, sweetie. You looked like you needed the rest.”
Peter heard a sharp intake of breath from his friend, who was staring at Pepper, wide emerald eyes glassy. Ashley hadn’t been called any affectionate pet names since her nana and granddad had passed. Pepper’s soft voice washed over Ashley with a feeling of calm and safety, and she wanted to stay and indulge in this feeling a while longer. But she knew she couldn’t.
Ashley stood up slowly, although she had noticed the dizzy feeling she had earlier had now vanished. The slice of pizza she had must have been needed, as the stomach pains had significantly quietened as well. “I should go h-home…” she mumbled as she picked up her bag. “Th-Thank you for the pizza.”
“Hold on, short round.” Tony stood up and walked over to Ashley. “Do you have a phone?” Ashley nodded, her eyebrows knitting together at the odd question. Tony flexed his fingers in a ‘hand it over’ gesture. Ashley reluctantly pulled the phone out of her pocket and handed it over. Tony almost dropped it in surprise – it was an old (ancient, actually) flip phone with actual buttons to press and not a touch screen in site. Tony started fiddling with the buttons on the phone and after a minute, his ringtone ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ started playing over FRIDAY’s speakers. “Save that number please FRIDAY.”
“Certainly, boss.”
Tony handed the phone back over. “You’ve got my number now… In case of emergencies. And I can get hold of you, so maybe you and Peter can come over for study and movies regularly now.” Ashley stared after him, gobsmacked, as he returned nonchalantly to his seat. “Oh, Happy will be waiting with the car downstairs for you.”
“Why don’t I walk you down?” Pepper stood up, heels once again clicking on the wooden floor as she led Ashley over to the elevator.
As soon as the pair disappeared, Peter thought he was going to explode. “What was that?” Peter mustered up the strongest glare he could, but Tony still found Peter to be an adorable puppy.
“She’s a smart kid. I figured I could use another intern. Plus, there’s something… off about her. And you know what they say, keep your friends close and potential enemies closer.”
***
Ashley fidgeted nervously as she stood next to Pepper in the elevator. Her phone now sat like a heavy weight against her leg as she tried not to think about the last few hours spent in the penthouse. She could feel Pepper’s scrutinising eyes on her as she tried to dig an invisible speck of dirt from underneath her fingernail.
“I hope Tony didn’t scare you off too much.” Pepper decided to break the awkward silence that had fallen over them. “He can be a little intimidating when you first meet him. But we would love for you to come back.”
“Why?” As soon as Ashley realised she had asked that, she clamped her hands over her mouth. She hoped her voice had been soft enough that Pepper didn’t hear it. When Pepper turned towards her, she knew she had no such luck.
Pepper watched as Ashley took a step back and her shoulders hunched. The young girl’s stance was guarded and that was something that just didn’t sit right with Pepper. “You’re a polite and incredibly smart young girl. Peter’s other friends sometimes hang out with him at the tower, so I’m sure Peter would love it if you joined in.” Pepper bent her knees, trying to level herself a bit more with Ashley. “And I’m sure Tony wouldn’t be averse to you getting some experience at Stark Industries as an intern.”
The elevator doors opened, signalling they had arrived at the garage. Ashley paused before stepping out, turning to Pepper and offering her a small smile. “Thank you, Miss Potts. I hope I’ll see you again soon.” Ashley was surprised to find that she genuinely meant the words. She really did want to see Pepper and Tony again – and probably the others as well.
Ashley climbed into the back seat of the Audi and took one last look at Pepper, who was smiling brightly as Happy drove away. As the tower began to shrink behind them, her phone vibrated in her pocket with a new text.
Iron Man: Movie night is every Friday night. I expect to see you after school next week.
Ashley chuckled lightly. As if he had named himself Iron Man in her phone. She looked up and met Happy’s gaze in the rear-view mirror.
“So, where we headed, kid?”
She hoped he couldn’t see her alarmed expression, knowing she couldn’t very well tell him she was living in a tent. “Oh, um, you can just drop me off by the school. I live nearby...” Which strictly speaking wasn’t a lie.
“Alright, kid.”
The rest of the ride continued in almost silence. Ashley watched the city pass by through the tinted window, where people were stepping out into the streets, dressed up to enjoy the city's nightlife. When Happy pulled up outside the school, Ashley thanked him and stepped out, pausing to wave him off. Once she was certain he was out of sight, she snuck onto the school field through a gap in the gate and took off towards the tree line. She was asleep that night as soon as her head hit the ground.
***
Ashley's weekend was mostly spent in the local library, studying. On Saturday morning, it was raining quite heavily when she woke up, so she stayed in the tent to make sure nothing was ruined in the downpour. A couple of hours later, the rain stopped, so she then made her way to the library. It was a two and a half mile walk across town to get there. She found a small corner where she camped out for the day with half a dozen books, and only left when the sun set. Saturday night was spent flying across New York, helping people and stopping petty crime.
Sunday was a very similar affair. She spent the day in the library studying, before returning ‘home' at dusk. She changed into her ‘patrol clothes' – she didn’t really have a better term for them – and quickly ate an apple that she had stored away for the weekend. Sunday nights were a little different to the rest of the week though. Normally, when she took to the skies, her wings carried her wherever she fancied, but Sunday had a routine.
As soon as the last traces of burning orange and dusty pink had faded from the sky to be replaced with a black velvet backdrop, she took off, heading towards the district of Hell's Kitchen. She settled on the roof of an apartment complex and waited. Closing her eyes, she tried to tune in her other senses to the world around her, just like he had taught her.
The air shifted around her. There was a new smell in the air, it was a woody, earthy smell, which was out of place for this part of the city. And then she heard a small crunch of stones underneath a shoe, about four metres away. She waited a few more seconds, listening to the footsteps get closer, before she lunged, landing a low kick to the back of the person's knee.
“Ow,” a low voice groaned as he fell to his knees from the force of the kick. “Good job, kid.”
Ashley opened her eyes and grinned, extending a hand to help Daredevil up from the ground. “Hey, Murdock.”
“Hey, Sampson.”
Ashley cringed slightly at that name. Seeing as her parents had upped and left out of nowhere, she didn’t feel like part of the Sampson family anymore. In fact, she hadn’t felt like part of the family since her grandparents had died a year ago. “It’s Carter...” she mumbled softly. Matt silently waited for her to expand. “My birth name – it’s Ashley Carter.”
“Okay,” Matt nodded and moved to stand beside her. “Carter it is then. You ready to go?”
Ashley answered the affirmative and leapt into the sky, gliding lazily behind Daredevil as he navigated the rooftops. They headed straight for the docks, as Matt had overheard some goons were running a sex trafficking ring. There were around six men at the docks, all guarding a container where the sounds of screaming and fists thumping on metal could be heard. Matt concentrated on picking off the further most ones as quietly as possible, while Ashley focused her energy into the ones guarding the container door. There was an old, rusted, iron anchor on the floor nearby. With her powers she focused on the anchor, changing its shape to form an iron javelin. It felt like she could feel each atom move in order to fully transform the object into a weapon.
Ashley launched herself at the guards, expertly twirling the spear around her and taking out two of the three guards simultaneously. With the third guard, she used the weapon to land a high kick, using her wings to help propel her forward. She kicked the thug in the head, knocking him out instantly. She lowered herself to the ground and opened the container to let out the girls that had been kidnapped. Matt joined her a minute later, sporting a few new gashes.
The two continued for a few hours, stopping any crime they came across, including robberies and drug deals. They took a break on a rooftop, somewhere high up above the city, and Matt used the time to teach Ashley some more fighting techniques. The first time the two met, Matt had pleaded with her to go back home. He didn’t need to see her to know how young she was. But no matter what he said, she would not quit – she said using her abilities to help others gave her a purpose, and that purpose kept her grounded when times were difficult for her. She never did elaborate on those ‘hard times’, but Matt had guessed it referenced her home life. Seeing as he couldn’t convince her to quit, he hoped that he might be able to prepare her better and so they scheduled patrols together every Sunday night, and Matt taught her how to defend herself.
The pair had begun sparring when the sound of gunshots had pierced the air. One of the shots caught Ashley’s side as it zipped past and embedded itself in the feathery mass of her wing. She doubled over in agony, her powers taking total control for her. Her wings curled around her, providing a barrier that the bullets could not pass through and her powers reached out, pulling water tanks and chimneys on top of the masked assailants that had assaulted them. One of the assailants tried to sneak up the fire escape, coming up behind Matt, but he dodged as the masked man tried to knock him out with the butt of his handgun. In a flurry of quick movements, Matt had the thug disarmed and held up against the wall with one tight hand around his neck.
“Who are you?” he seethed, feeling the man’s windpipe crush beneath his fingers.
The man rasped out an answer as best as he could, legs desperately flailing to find ground to stand on. “We were… s-sent to… retrieve… the girl.”
“Who sent you?” Matt’s voice roared. The man did not respond, so he pressed his fingers tighter into the man’s neck, thumbnail digging into the skin deep enough to draw blood. “WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?”
“… Karito…”