Chapter 15
Despite the several hours the four of them spent holed up in the tiny office, none of them felt like they were any closer to finding and stopping Karito. Karen had looked into recent property transactions in the last few months, to see if anything stuck out, but without knowing what they were looking for, they didn’t exactly find much. Foggy and Ashley were skimming over the reports on the mutants that had gone missing. These were only witness accounts though, as the police were not interested in dealing with mutants and half of them hadn’t even been mentioned. Wade had spoken to the families and friends of these people and provided the reports – although the vast majority were written in red crayon.
Matt on the other hand was trying to find connections between Karito and Hydra. Early that morning, before he and Ashley arrived at the office, Sam Wilson had dropped off a folder with all the information they had on the recent Hydra base raids they had conducted. The folder came with express instructions – ‘if Nick Fury finds out about this, we’re all toast.’
Ashley groaned loudly as she finished reading one of Wade’s more ambiguous crayon-scribbled pieces. A mutant by the name of Wes had been reported missing about a year ago. He could create illusions – trick people into thinking they were somewhere else by showing them what he wanted them to see. Apparently, one day he went out to work and never returned home. Whoever it was Wade spoke to said he was trying to save up some money to go to college.
“I might have something interesting,” Foggy announced slowly. He had been reading another of Wade’s ‘witness statements’ but something about this one was different. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. Foggy decided to start from the top and read out the whole statement.
“‘On 3rd October approximately two in the afternoon, Blink had been doing some ‘totally awesome, ass-kicking mission’ when she was approached by someone asking about Thunderbird.’ Wade has helpfully added in brackets here that Thunderbird is the unofficial leader of the underground – a group of mutants that were kicked out of their homes for being ‘freaky’. ‘Later that evening Thunderbird was attacked but managed to fight off his attackers who escaped before the Underground’s reinforcements could arrive. Thunderbird didn’t know who they were, but they were speaking a foreign language – Blink has since found out that language was Japanese.’ The rest of the page is just Wade’s crude drawings of this Blink person.”
“So, that means they’re being selective about their mutants?” Karen started. “This person could have had the opportunity to grab Blink but didn’t. Instead they were fixed on getting to Thunderbird. That means they know who all the mutants are and what they can do. They have specific targets.”
“We just have to figure out why these people were targets in the first place.” Ashley stated, looking over the papers in front of her. “Can Wade get us info on what these people can do?”
Matt nodded. “More than likely... I’m not getting anywhere with these SHIELD files anyway. Everything has been redacted.”
“How did Wade even get his hands on SHIELD files?” Ashley asked. She missed the shifty looks exchanged between Karen and Foggy.
“It’s Wade,” Matt answered very matter-of-factly. “It’s probably best that we don’t know.” Matt continued to skim through the files on his computer, fingers moving at a fast pace. He sighed deeply before closing the laptop lid, giving up for the day. “If only we could find out who those two SHIELD agents were that were murdered…”
“Wasn’t there that big SHIELD-Hydra leak a few years back?” Karen asked. “There was a bunch of information made public then.”
“Redacted… There was a whole bunch of SHIELD secrets leaked, but this was still kept top secret.” Matt paused. “That means that Nick Fury or whoever, is trying to keep their identities secret for a reason.”
Ashley pondered silently in thought. They needed information from SHIELD. She could maybe attempt to hack SHIELD from the Avengers’ Tower, but there was no way it would be easy. She doubted she could even do it without getting caught and certainly not when using Stark Tech to do so. Tony would probably be able to trace everything. The other option was she could tell the Avengers her identity. But then what would happen? Tony would likely terminate her internship on the spot and have Nick Fury drag her away. Best case scenario, she ends up back in her tent with no money coming in and a bunch of Japanese thugs still on her tail. Worst case scenario, she ends up locked away in the Raft forever more because she’s a freak even by SHIELD standards. Normal human beings don’t sprout wings after all.
So both of those plans were bust and that left them at square one. They were never going to find out who those two agents were. This was the biggest missing piece in their jigsaw, but it seemed as if it were possibly lost forever.
“I think we should take a break for today,” Foggy announced. He had spotted the growing look of frustration on Ashley’s face for the last ten minutes. They had been at this for hours and come away with almost nothing to show for it. Ashley was now massaging her temples, trying to stave off the oncoming headache with little success. “I think we’re all exhausted and hungry, and we seem to have hit a dead end.”
“Yeah, I should probably go home.” Ashley looked at her phone, noting that the afternoon was pretty much over. She looked out the window and it was already almost dark out. “Can I get these clothes back to you tomorrow, Matt?” Ashley asked.
“Sure thing, kid. Do you want me to walk you home?”
“No, it’s okay. It won’t take me long to get there. I’ll message you guys later.”
Once Ashley had left the law office, both Foggy and Karen rounded on Matt. “She’s going to murder you when she finds out the truth.” Foggy stated. He cleared away the rough scribbles supplied by Deadpool, angrily shoving the folder in the top drawer of the filing cabinet. “I thought the plan was we would do this…” Foggy gestured to the table in front of them. “… on the down-low. Keep her out of it to keep her safe. Instead you bring her in to help us, but you’re still not giving her the whole truth. Deadpool supplied the SHIELD files… Really, Matt?”
“Deadpool is a lot of things, but a master hacker he is not.” Karen supplied, clearing up the files she had been working on.
“She found out that Jessica, Luke, Danny and Frank are all involved as well as us and Wade. She didn’t take kindly to that information.”
“Does she know what happened to Jessica?” Foggy asked.
Matt should his head. “She knows Jessica was attacked, but I told her it had something to do with a case she was working on and that she wasn’t jumped by a couple of Japanese thugs in broad daylight in front of the school.”
“What are you going to do when she finds out you’re working with the Avengers?” Karen asked, arms folded across her chest as she watched Matt. He looked somewhat remorseful for his actions, but Karen couldn’t help but wonder what she would have done in his situation. She would do anything to keep that kid safe.
“Pray for forgiveness,” Matt answered shortly.
***
Apart from Geography, all of Ashley’s exams went by in a breeze. Geography was a bit trickier, especially as she couldn’t concentrate on studying over the weekend as all she could think about was the research she had been doing with Matt and the other two. But she was still fairly confident she had passed it. It might not have been top-of-the-class, but she could afford to drop one grade.
Friday came with relief for everyone. It was the last exam – Biochem – and it was also the turn-in for hers and Peter’s IT assignment. The pair were feeling confident about their assignment and were not-so-secretly hoping for it to be the best in the class. After class that day, Peter and Ashley had been promised a ‘party’ at the tower to celebrate the end of exams and also the end of term.
The familiar black Audi was waiting for them dead on three o’clock when school got out. Peter hadn’t shut up from the moment they got in the car, much to the chagrin of both Ashley and Happy. As soon as they got in the car, Happy had put the divider up between them, clearly not interested in whatever Peter had been rabbiting on about. Ashley simply plugged in her earphones and listened to some music, courtesy of Mr Stark’s Spotify account. She nodded her head along to the beat as she cycled through the messages from the last few hours.
Group Chat: Avocados at Law
Fogggy: Congrats on finishing your exams, Ashley! 14:26pm
Karen<3: We should go out X-Mas shopping this weekend to celebrate! 14:41pm
Matty: Well done Ashley. 14:55pm
Ash: Thanks guys. I’d love to see you all over the weekend x 15:13pm
The ride to the tower was longer than usual – traffic was always bad at this time of year. Ashley curled up on the seat, minding to not get her feet on the clean leather interior. She pulled the bottom of Matt’s hoodie down over her knees to get some more warmth. Matt had let her keep the hoodie. In fact, he had insisted on it and Ashley had to admit, it was very comfortable, and it certainly helped keep her warm.
“That’s a nice hoodie,” Peter commented. “You know someone at Columbia?”
“A friend of mine studied there,” she replied, absentmindedly twirling the drawstring of the hoodie between her fingers.
“You thinking about going there?”
Ashley paused in thought for a moment. “I don’t know… A long time ago, the dream was MIT. But things change. I’m not sure if I want to leave the city.”
“I feel the same.” Peter’s voice was quiet (for once) and he was staring at the window, rather than looking at Ashley. “I feel like if I leave New York, I’m running away from my responsibilities. I feel like I’d be letting people down.”
Ashley found that she could relate to Peter’s words a lot. She wasn’t sure what Peter’s responsibilities were. Perhaps he meant he would be leaving Aunt May on her own, which she knew Peter would find near impossible to do. Ashley didn’t want to leave the make-shift family she had built with Matt, Karen and Foggy. Or the family she was building with Mr Stark, Ms Potts and the Avengers. More importantly, the city needed her, despite the fact that she had spent the better part of the last two weeks running away from the fact out of fear. She was terrified of these people that were after her. But by letting her fear of them control her, she was letting them win.
Ashley pondered over those thoughts the rest of the car ride. What's the use in hiding away? If she continues to hide, maybe they'll still find her, or they'll start going after her friends to draw her out and she knows it would work. Matt would probably get mad at her, but at least this way, it would take the focus off him and the Defenders. And Ashley could take care of herself, despite what anyone else thought.
Of course, the tiny, rational part of her brain told her they knew that but were just trying to look out for her.
As soon as Peter and Ashley stepped out of the elevator, they were greeted by the tower's inhabitants, who were crowded round the entrance in a wide semi-circle. There were balloons and banners tied to various objects in the room and the Avengers each had something colourful in their hands. Ashley should have put two and two together when a resounding ‘POP!’ echoed out, but instead, her hands came up to cover her ears and she crouched down low, defending herself from a gunshot that wasn’t there.
Flashes of black suits and falling concrete clouded her vision and she could no longer see the familiar wooden floors of the penthouse. The gunshot rang incessantly in her ears and a feeling of dread creeped up Ashley's spine. There was shouting echoing somewhere behind her (or was it in front of her?) but the voices were unintelligible thanks to the high-pitched screeching in her ears and the familiar fast ‘thump thump thump’ of a heartbeat. A heartbeat that was probably hers if the dull ache across her chest was anything to go by…
Tony, Bucky, Steve, Wanda, Clint and Sam had been eagerly awaiting the teens’ arrival at the penthouse that afternoon. They had decorated with balloons and streamers and were holding onto party poppers ready to greet them once FRIDAY told them they were on their way up. Pepper had ordered in a cake, but refused to be part of the ‘frankly childish’ decorating the Avengers had decided to partake in. The penthouse looked like a unicorn had thrown up everywhere. The boys had of course taken things too far and as a result, there were over a hundred helium-filled balloons that Tony had tied to the various ornaments and furniture in the room, as well as countless multi-coloured streamers hanging from the air vents (courtesy of Clint).
Once Ashley and Peter had stepped out of the elevator, there was a loud chorus of “CONGRATULATIONS!” before the party poppers were set off, creating a resounding ‘bang’. The smoke from the poppers obscured their vision for a moment too long, because once it had cleared, they were greeted by the sight of Ashley curled up on the floor, hands clamped tightly over her ears. Peter had dropped to his knees beside her, shaking her gently, but she paid him no notice.
“Shit,” was all Tony said before he too fell to his knees in front of his interns. “Ash, come on buddy. Talk to me.” Her eyes were screwed shut and she was breathing erratically through clenched teeth.
Wanda was busy shooing everyone out of the area back towards the kitchen and Pepper had crouched down beside Tony. Unlike her fiancé, Pepper had no qualms and she sat back against the wall, pulling Ashley into her lap. Living with Tony had prepared her for this situation a hundred times over already, but at least she didn’t have to fear an Iron Man suit accidentally attacking her when it came to Ashley. She brushed her hands through Ashley's hair gently and exaggerated deep breaths for Ashley to copy. After a few minutes, the grip over her ears dropped and she breathed in time with Pepper's breathing.
“In two, three, four... out, two, three, four. That’s it, sweetie.”
Pepper kicked off her heels, tucking her feet underneath her as she held onto Ashley tighter, happy to just sit there in relative silence until she had calmed down. Peter and Tony continued to linger awkwardly. Neither of them wanting to stare, but also not wanting to take their eyes off the situation.
“S-Sorry,” Ashley mumbled, face burrowed in Pepper's fiery hair. The apple scent helped to calm Ashley's senses and she could no longer imagine the smell of the concrete or the gun powder from the rooftop. A part of her was starting to regret training her other senses with Matt.
“No need to be sorry.” Pepper's voice was soft and even. It held a comforting sense of authority in the tone. “Not everyone is a fan of loud noises.”
Ashley tensed in Pepper's hold. Pepper was giving her an out. She wasn’t pushing to know why she had freaked out and was seemingly happy to accept it as a phobia of loud noises. Slowly nodding her head, she agreed with Pepper. “Yeah... I'm not great around f-fireworks either...” Ashley managed a tight smile as she crawled out of Pepper's arms. It was becoming increasingly easy to lie to the people she cared about, and Ashley wasn’t sure she was ever so comfortable with that.
Pepper hovered around Ashley for the rest of that afternoon, occasionally resting a hand on the girl's shoulder, or brushing her hair with her fingers. Pepper had pulled Ashley to sit next to her when they queued up the evening's films (it was Peter's choice, which meant Star Wars of course) and was quick to tuck the girl into her side in a tight hug.
Ashley had relished in the feeling, choosing to indulge herself. She had been a little on edge all evening, trying to avoid the pitiful stares that she felt burning into her head. Not many people had the chance to say they had Captain America look at them as if someone had kicked a puppy in front of him, but Ashley was fairly certain she would prefer if he was glaring daggers at her instead. Pepper was comforting. The tight grip of the woman's arms around her brought back memories of her nana who would always give her a big hug before bedtime when she and her brother would stay at her house while her parents were out for the night. Ashley never felt safer than when she was in nana's arms and the feeling was almost mutual with Pepper.
On Ashley’s other side sat Wanda, who was offering her chocolate and popcorn to snack on every so often as the movie played out. Wanda clearly wasn’t watching the movie, choosing instead to look at memes on her phone and occasionally distract Ashley with a particularly good one she had found. Ashley didn’t mind – Star Wars was not something she was particularly interested in. Occasionally she had to stifle a giggle when Wanda showed her something funny, although apart from a couple of half-hearted glares from Peter, nobody really minded. Before long, Pepper had joined in with the pair, trying (and mostly failing) to laugh quietly and not distract others from the movie - Ashley's little meltdown all but forgotten.
Peter, Steve and Clint had fallen asleep almost as soon as the second movie started, and Tony had disappeared off to his lab somewhere around the half-way mark. Bucky, Sam and Natasha were playing a game of chicken with an asleep Steve, trying to see how many cookies they could balance on him before he woke up. Knowing Natasha, Ashley was fairly certain there was some kind of bet on it. It seemed Bruce, Vision and Rhodey were the only ones actually still watching the film, while Pepper and Wanda were playing around with Ashley's phone. The pair had installed a couple of games on there and were now helping her add music to her Spotify. Pepper had Ashley’s phone in hand when a message popped up on the screen.
Matty: We're going Christmas shopping tomorrow afternoon. Want me to pick you up? 22:27pm
“Who's Matty?” Pepper asked, a coy smile on her face. Ashley reached for the phone, but Pepper simply held it as far away from her as possible. “He wants to take you shopping tomorrow.”
Wanda squealed lightly, earning her a warning glare from Sam who was trying to balance a cookie on Steve's forehead. Ashley’s face crumpled in a displeased look. “Firstly, Matt is just a friend,” Ashley answered, “and secondly, I’m pretty sure he’s in his thirties... He's like my brother.” Ashley couldn’t deny that last statement and found that she would very much like a brother like Matt. “I'm just hanging out with him and his colleagues.”
“So, you’re going Christmas shopping?” Pepper asked rhetorically. “What are your plans for Christmas, Ashley?”
“Umm...” Ashley muttered. She didn’t exactly have plans for the holiday. “Probably just stay home...”
“Do you have family coming to visit?” Wanda asked, to which Ashley shook her head.
“What do you normally do for Christmas?” Pepper asked, handing Ashley's phone back over.
Ashley shifted a little in her seat. “We don't really do Christmas...” Another lie. Ashley's family did Christmas, but Ashley did not. She cooked the dinner and cleaned up after everyone but tried to stay in her room for as much of Christmas Day as possible. She would receive presents from her grandparents between Christmas and New Year's when they went to visit. Her last Christmas with them was when she was gifted Dr Banner's book.
“You're more than welcome to join us for Christmas,” Pepper spoke softly. She watched Ashley's face carefully and watched the smile spread across her face.
“That would be really nice actually.” Ashley was genuinely happy at the offer. She didn’t see the harm in spending Christmas Day at the tower, as she probably would have been alone in her tent otherwise.
The three stayed up for a little longer, occasionally chatting with those still awake. It was around eleven when Pepper announced that she was going to drag Tony out of the lab and force him into bed. Wanda turned to Ashley, who was stifling a yawn beside her.
“Wanna share with me tonight?” she asked, standing up from her spot and folding up the blanket she had wrapped around her legs. Ashley nodded and allowed Wanda to lead her down to her room, waving a hushed goodnight to the Avengers still huddled together in front of the TV. Bruce, Vision and Rhodey were apparently determined to finish the movie before they headed to bed. Steve had woken up about ten minutes prior and currently had Bucky held in a strong chokehold whilst Natasha and Sam were picking cookies off the floor and laughing themselves silly. Clint and Peter were both still fast asleep on their sofa, most of Peter's body weight flopped over Clint.
Ashley washed her face and changed into a spare pair of jog pants that Wanda lent her for the night and then crawled under the thick, maroon duvet next to the older girl. Wanda was quick to pull Ashley into a hug, her arms wrapping around Ashley’s thin waist. They were quiet for a few moments, and while Ashley wanted to relax, she found herself wide awake.
“Did I ever tell you about my brother?” Wanda asked quietly. Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she didn’t want to disturb the calm air around them. Ashley shook her head but remained silent for Wanda to continue. “My brother was the biggest flirt in all of Sokovia,” Wanda started, her Sokovian accent coming back in full force. “He loved the Sokovian people and tried to do everything he could for them, including stealing food and supplies to give to the people. He brought people the medicine they couldn’t afford or the food they didn’t have. And he stole pretty dresses for the girls. I remember there was one girl in particular, Agnes. He brought a blue dress to the town square with him one day. It was a long dress and it had sequins detailing the bodice. He gave her the dress – ‘this arrived just yesterday from Paris’ he had said.” Wanda paused, a sad smile spreading across her face at the memory. “I always worried he would get caught, especially when he started stealing dresses. I decided to wind him up a bit that day and I told Agnes that he had given a green diamond-studded dress to another girl, and that dress had come from Milan. It wasn’t true, but it was fun to watch Pietro squirm. He didn’t talk to me for a couple of days after that. He was convinced I was jealous he didn’t steal a dress for me.”
“Were you jealous?” Ashley asked.
Wanda chuckled lowly. “Maybe a little bit.”
“He sounds like a good person,” Ashley remarked, smiling at the thought. She was sure she would have liked Pietro, going by Wanda's story. He was kind-hearted and selfless, but he sounded like a bit of a rascal as well.
“He was. I used to blame myself for his death for the longest time. I should have been with him. I should have saved him. It took me a while to let that feeling go. I could never stop my brother once he had decided something. In the end he died saving his – our – people, and that is such a Pietro thing to do.” A few tears slipped down Wanda's cheeks, which she quickly wiped away on the back of her hand.
There was a calm silence that hung in the air between them for a few minutes. Ashley had thought that Wanda had fallen asleep when she could only hear the calm sounds of the older girl's breathing. Ashley sighed deeply and closed her eyes, pulling the duvet around her tightly. Wanda's grip around her waist tightened ever so slightly, signalling that she was still awake.
“You tired?” Wanda asked her. She propped her head up with her arm, trying to get a look at Ashley's face. The bruise from a couple of weeks previous had now gone, which she was glad about, but there were still dark circles under her eyes.
“Kind of,” Ashley answered, shrugging her shoulders. “I haven't slept properly for a while now.”
“Is it those dreams again...?” Wanda asked hesitantly. “About us?”
Ashley turned around and looked at Wanda wide-eyed. “You saw?”
Wanda slowly nodded her head. “I tried to wake you up, but nothing was working so I used my powers. I know I shouldn’t have and I’m sorry.”
Silence fell between them again. At first Ashley was mad. Wanda had gone inside her head, which was the ultimate invasion of privacy. But at the same time, Wanda had done it to help her, and if it hadn’t been for Wanda, she might have had to endure more scenes like that before she woke up. More dead bodies of the people she loves. Ashley wondered for a moment if Wanda would be able to connect the dots, but she didn’t have to ponder that thought for too long.
“You’re her, aren’t you? The vigilante.” Ashley didn’t respond. Should she tell Wanda the truth? A part of her wanted to, just so she didn’t have to lie. But would Wanda keep it to herself? “I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
Ashley sucked in a long breath. “Y-Yeah I am. I’m Pegasus.”