Chapter 18
Wanda had just gotten out of the shower after a long training session with the Avengers. There was a deep ache in her muscles from being tossed around by Peter like a ragdoll. Sometimes, the kid didn’t know his own strength. Wanda made a mental note to request a partner swap for their next session – maybe someone who didn’t have super strength. She got dressed into a pair of flannel pyjama bottoms and a hoodie and made her way upstairs to the penthouse, a towel wrapped around her wet hair.
Clint, Bucky and Sam were playing Mario Kart on the screen, with Steve and Natasha spectating. They were playing Rainbow Road, so as she passed them on her journey to the kitchen, she called over to Natasha “five bucks on Bucky to win and Clint to go off the road at least four times.”
Natasha smirked. “Ten bucks says Sam wins and Bucky pushes Clint off the road.”
“I’m not gonna go off the road!” Clint called loudly. Precisely a second later there was an audible whine as Clint’s screen faded to black, signalling that he did in fact drop off the road.
Wanda smirked and made her way to the fridge, pulling out a carton of juice to pour herself a glass. At the kitchen island, Tony was sat going through his Stark pad. He and Pepper had just come back from their business trip. Tony seemed to be deep in thought, especially when he didn’t answer when she asked him if he wanted a drink. Pepper appeared a moment later, settling an arm over Tony’s shoulders as she looked at the pad over his shoulder. She gratefully took Wanda up on the offer of juice.
“Tony, how many more times are you going to look at these files?” Pepper asked, an exasperated sigh passing her lips.
“Something about this just doesn’t add up. Fury kept this whole incident so hushed that the names were never broadcast in the original reports. Once upon a time I could hack into SHIELD’s servers and find the names of everyone listed on Fury’s payroll – official or otherwise. But this one incident report is bugging me. SHIELD agents die in the field all the time and you can find their reports anywhere… But whoever these two were, Fury didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Why are you looking into two dead SHIELD agents?” Wanda asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“Someone asked me for any information I could get relating to a group called Karito. They’re like the low-rent, Japanese equivalent of Hydra and they’re hunting the newest vigilante in town, along with any mutants that seem to catch their eye. Apparently, these guys have got both Winter Soldier and Red Room secrets, which makes them very dangerous. They’re looking to create an army of super soldiers by splicing DNA and they have their sights set on someone in particular for the base genetic code.”
“Who?” Wanda asked hesitantly, but she was already expecting the answer.
“I think she calls herself Pegasus… Dumb name, if you ask me.” Tony’s words may have been light, but there was a heaviness in his eyes. Wanda swallowed nervously, trying not to meet Tony’s eyes. It sounded like Ashley was in a lot of trouble and Wanda wasn’t sure she could keep the girl’s secret if such big hitters were after her. Although, the look in Tony’s eyes suggested to her that she probably didn’t need to keep the secret, as Tony was obviously very concerned for this vigilante’s safety, which meant he knew them personally.
“H-How did the SHIELD agents die?” Wanda asked, her voice wavering slightly. She took a long gulp of her juice to try and play off the nervous tone.
“Apparently ‘redacted’ had been targeted for a while by these people, with several attempts to capture ‘redacted’, but all of which had failed. Operatives from Karito targeted them on a trip out of New York. They were on their way to the airport when their car was attacked. Karito had gotten their hands on numerous explosive devices and a large amount of military-grade firepower through underhand deals that were later revealed to have been undertaken by Obadiah Stane within Stark Industries.” Tony sighed sadly at the last sentence.
“Is there a date on the report?” Pepper asked, scrolling up on the screen. “It was thirteen and a half years ago, and the incident was listed publicly as a car crash.”
Wanda pulled out her phone and googled the date on the report. Sure enough, the first search result was a car crash that happened on that day. A freak accident where a ‘drunk driver’ had smashed into five vehicles, one of which was carrying Daniel and Lily Carter.
Wanda hesitated. Should she show this to Tony? If there was any doubt about Ashley’s identity, this would definitely confirm it. However, it could help Tony and the others to better protect her. Secrets are only good if your friend is alive to discuss them with, so she slid her phone, open on the news article across the counter to Tony and Pepper. Tony rolled his eyes, as if he should have put the pieces together himself. There was a quiet, mumbled ‘of course’ from him as he held his head in his hands.
Pepper on the other hand let out a horrified gasp as she read the article. Her eyes then narrowed dangerously into a glare as she watched Tony’s face carefully. “You knew?” she hissed through gritted teeth. “She’s going out there as a vigilante every night and youknew?” Pepper’s voice was rising with each breath, so Wanda quickly excused herself from the room. As she headed to the elevator, the argument really started up.
“I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but I had my suspicions,” Tony defended weakly.
“So you didn’t think to share those suspicions? There is a fifteen year old girl on the streets risking her life every night and you’re just letting her get on with it! We could help her Tony! We could keep her safe!”
Wanda walked back to her room, intent to stay in there for the rest of the evening while Hurricane Pepper blew on upstairs. She sat on her bed and was about to turn the TV on when she noticed the watch Ashley had given her sitting on the bedside cabinet. The LED screen was lit up with the word ALERT flashing brightly.
“EMMA, what’s the alert?” she asked the watch. A second later, the AIs soft voice answered.
“Miss Ashley has lost a lot of blood from a deep laceration. I have also detected multiple contusions, lacerations and broken bones. Her heart rate has slowed, and I believe she requires emergency medical attention.”
Wanda’s face paled. She snatched the watch off the cabinet and sprinted back to the elevator to get back to the penthouse. Pepper was still shouting at Tony when she got back up there, and the rest of the Avengers were now spectating their argument rather than the video game. Bucky was first to notice Wanda’s pale complexion and the tears that had started running down her cheeks. Wanda just ignored any questions he had and ran straight for Tony, brandishing the watch at him.
“She’s in trouble.”
***
It was a quiet night for once in Hell’s Kitchen. Matt was perched on top of a roof near the docks. He had caught word of a shipment of guns that were being smuggled into the city through the docks, and he had dealt with that fairly quickly. Mahoney had just arrived with his team to arrest the perps that were all lying unconscious around the shipping containers. Matt scoffed as the Sergeant – sorry – Detective Sergeant muttered something about damn vigilantes doing his job and leaving messes for him to clean up.
Matt was on his way back to his own rooftop when his phone started ringing: ‘Stark… Stark… Stark…’ He fished the phone out of his pocket and answered it, knowing that when it came to Stark, it would probably set him up for a bad mood for the rest of the night.
“Where’s Pegasus?” were the words that greeted Matt as soon as he picked up the phone.
“I don’t know – home I expect. Why?”
“She’s been hurt. And home is not what is listed on her Internship contract. Apparently the Sampsons haven’t lived at that address in two months. I just had a nice chat with their old landlord and the family just upped and left one day, took all their belongings, except for some stuff left in the girl’s room. He’s now renting it out to a nice Brazilian family.”
Matt was panicking. The only words he could focus on were ‘she’s been hurt.’ “Can’t you trace her phone?”
“Oh, I did that… I’m in Koreatown now, surrounded by bodies from Karito. Two of them have got katanas through their chests, another two are out cold on the floor, one with a broken leg and the last one has got a nice katana-shaped hole in his stomach. I’ve got Bucky, Nat, Steve and Clint patrolling the streets nearby and Vision and Sam in the air looking for her. But so far nothing. So, if you have any idea where she is.”
Matt’s mind was reeling. He was vaguely aware of the sound of panting, which was coming from him. He hadn’t even realised that he had started moving, traversing the rooftops, heading towards… Midtown? Matt supposed that might be a good place to start with it being where her school was. “I’m heading towards Midtown. She’s mentioned about living near school a few times before.”
“Okay I’ll head up that way now.” The call disconnected a second later. Matt noticed the sound of motorcycles below – Bucky and Nat were combing the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Matt ran, his legs were burning as they carried him across the rooftops, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop until he got to the school. Once he arrived on the roof of Midtown Tech, only then did he stop moving. He listened carefully and registered the sound of the Iron Man suit nearby and heading closer. He could still hear the sound of motorcycles circling the streets below. He tried to tune out those sounds. Eventually, Matt was able to pick out a heartbeat. It was slow, slower than he’d like and was accompanied with whispered breaths. He kept his focus on that sound for a minute, pinpointing where it was coming from. Just as Tony landed beside him, Matt straightened up and launched himself off the roof. He started running across the school field towards the trees, following the sound of the heartbeat and although the sound grew softer, Matt knew he was getting close. He dropped to his knees when he found a tent. There was a coppery scent in the air that was overwhelming Matt’s senses, drowning out any scent from the grass or the Earth below his feet.
His fingers traced over the deep cut across Ashley’s side, his other hand resting on the feathers of her left wing. Ashley hadn’t stirred at all since Matt had arrived. Her skin was icy, and Matt could taste faint beads of sweat in the air. He had registered that Tony had landed behind him, but he paid the Avenger no mind, all of his focus on Ashley.
“Come on, Ash. You’ve got to wake up for me.”
“Murdock,” Tony’s voice was low. “Move out the way. I can get her to the tower, we’ve got a med team standing by. She needs help.”
Matt let out a low growl, but moved nonetheless. Stark would make sure she got the help she needed, and Matt couldn’t very well dump this on Claire. It would be too much. There was a faint whine as Tony scooped Ashley up in his arms. As he carried her out the tent, Tony turned back to Matt.
“Gather all of her things and come to the tower. I’ll send Nat and Clint to help you.”
***
Seven hours. Seven hours Tony had sat, paced, sat some more, drummed his fingers on his thighs until Pepper elbowed him and then got up and paced again. Seven hours Ashley had been in surgery with Dr Cho. Bruce had scrubbed in to help, despite him not being ‘that kind of doctor’. Cho had been gobsmacked when Tony had brought Ashley in. It wasn’t everyday a person with literal wings was dropped at your front door, bleeding out. However, as soon as Tony had put Ashley down on one of the beds, he had been ushered out of the room and told to wait while Cho tried to save her life. Wanda and Pepper had been there from the off, both of them glassy-eyed and looking miserable. About an hour later, the other Avengers joined, closely followed by Daredevil and his associates Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. Karen was crying while holding onto Murdock who was still dressed in his Daredevil suit. His footsteps faltered every so often, a testament to how distraught he was.
Apart from the odd sniffle and sob, silence fell over them all as they waited. At some point Natasha, Clint and Sam had done coffee runs for everyone and brought blankets, as Wanda, Pepper and Karen were all starting to fall asleep. It was just gone seven in the morning when Cho and Bruce reappeared, both covered in blood. The sight made Tony pale, a nauseous feeling settling in his stomach. A quick glance around the waiting room would have told him everyone else felt the same way.
“She’s stable,” Cho announced. “We’ve managed to stitch her back up, and we’ve got a blood transfusion going, but she’s hypothermic so our main concern now is getting her temperature back up. She’s also malnourished, which presents a whole host of other problems. Honestly, I’m surprised she’s still alive.” There was a faint growl from Daredevil at her words. “I don’t know how to treat the wing though. It’s clearly broken, but I’m no vet so I don’t know how to set the bones correctly.”
“Her wings are really sensitive,” Matt spoke up. His voice was hoarse and he was clutching rosary beads in one hand and Karen’s hand in the other. “I pulled a bullet out of them a couple of weeks ago. She was in a lot of pain, but the feathers grew back within a couple days.”
Dr Cho simply shook her head in disbelief. “If I start moving bones right now we risk sending her back into shock and we do not want that. You can visit her, but I’m going to put a limit of three at a time, so fight amongst yourselves.”
Matt immediately stood up along with Tony, Pepper, Wanda, Karen and Foggy. The six of them argued it out for a minute before it was announced that Tony, Pepper and Matt would go in first. Tony had to bite back a gasp when he saw Ashley propped up in the bed. Her wings were spread out behind her, one bent at a very unnatural looking angle. Under the oxygen mask covering most of her face, the cuts and scrapes had been cleaned up and taped. Some of the worse ones had had to be stitched and she was sporting some purple bruises across her face, neck and arms. She looked impossibly small under the mass of soft bed sheets, black wings trailing down to the floor.
Matt stood on her left side, minding the IV line that was inserted in the back of her hand. He reached a hand out and gently ran his fingers over the black feathers of her wing. Ashley let out a long, contented sigh her shoulders relaxing with the motion. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony could see both Dr Cho and Bruce watching with fascination. Beside him, Pepper picked up Ashley’s right hand, placing a brief kiss against a patch of skin that hadn’t been bandaged. Apparently her knuckles were split, but those injuries were a few days old and showing signs of infection, along with a gash that had been crudely stitched up previously on her side. When that particular wound was mentioned, Matt dropped his head sheepishly. Tony rolled his eyes – only Ashley would let the blind guy stitch her up…
“So, what happens now?” Matt asked. His gruff voice was so quiet it was barely heard over the beeping of the machinery monitoring Ashley’s condition. It was an open ended question and Tony wasn’t sure of Matt’s exact meaning behind it if there was an exact meaning. Tony needn’t have spent time trying to come up with an answer though, as Pepper spoke up before he could.
“We’ll apply for temporary custody and once she’s up to making a decision, we’ll ask her if she wants to stay with us. Our legal team are already working on the papers.”
“Wait, what?” Tony was dumbstruck. “Are you seriously suggesting we adopt a child?”
“Look at her Tony! Are you just going to let her go into any old foster home after this?” Pepper asked, a hint of anger in her tone. Tony simply shifted nervously under her gaze, knowing full well that he would never let her go into a foster home. “That’s what I thought.” Matt scoffed lightly, drawing Pepper and Tony’s gazes towards him. “Do you have an issue with that, Mr Murdock?”
Matt shook his head, a small smirk on his face. “It’s just funny. So many people are willing to lay down everything for this girl, myself included. If I could, I’d give her the whole world. There’s a lot more people besides the ones on the other side of that door who would do the same. I think she’d be happy here, and after watching you, I’m inclined to trust you with her. But you should know, if I or any of the New York vigilantes get word that you’ve done something to hurt her – intentional or otherwise – you will have an army knocking at your door.”
“Is that a threat, Murdock?” Tony snarled.
“No, simply a fact.”
After a couple of hours, Matt excused himself to meet with some of his ‘associates’ to let them know what had happened. Tony and Pepper followed out after him, allowing Wanda, Foggy and Karen to go in and see Ashley. Before he left the tower, Matt had made Tony promise to contact him if there was any change. With that, he jumped out of the window and made his way South-West across the Manhattan rooftops towards Hell’s Kitchen.
Tony and Pepper returned upstairs to the penthouse to pour over the documents their lawyers had left for them. The case for temporary custody had been filed and representatives from CPS would likely be with them within the hour. Their case was tight, and it was rather likely that CPS would like to get this one dealt with rather quickly, considering Ashley was an attendant of a STEM school and was an employee under the Stark Industries internship programme – all recipes for a very big, very public case. When (not if) the press got hold of this, if CPS were found to be negligent in their role or dragging their heels unnecessarily, it could incite a full government investigation, which would likely not end well for them.
But there was the smallest seed of doubt in Tony’s mind. “Are you sure we’re up to this Pepper?”
Pepper gave Tony a fond look and placed both hands on the sides of Tony’s head, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her stare was firm and filled Tony with the confidence he didn’t have. “I am certain. You love that kid in there as much as I do – I can see it in your eyes. That’s the reason you’ve spent so much time going over those old SHIELD files – not because you think some big threat is on the horizon, but because that kid is in danger. We can do this together.”
Tony nodded his head and pulled Pepper into a tight hug. “You’re right of course…” He stepped back and straightened his tie as Pepper pulled away to find the heels she had been wearing earlier that evening. “We better go greet whichever numbskulls they’ve sent from CPS.”
“This is the easy part Tony. The hard part comes afterwards.” Pepper teased as they made their way to the elevator.
“Oh? What’s the hard part then?” Tony asked, expecting the answer to be ‘parenting’ or ‘raising an enhanced teenager.’ The answer was neither of those things, but it did inflict a sense of fear in Tony.
“You’re going to be the one to tell Peter and Harley.”
“Oh shit,” Tony groaned. “They’ll never let me live this down.”