Chapter 10
“Alright, Addie, do it again,” Wanda said, standing behind her.
“I—I don’t know if I can.”
“You’ll get tired sometimes, and right now, that’s okay. You’re only training,” Steve said in understanding. “But when you grow up, and you’re doing this for real, being tired might be the difference in life or death for someone. Get used to it now so you can push past it later.” Adelaide nodded.
“Okay, Uncle Steve. I’ll try.”
“Good girl. Go ahead, Vision!” Instantly, four training holograms appeared around her, courtesy of Tony Stark’s training system. They were all of equal size, but they had various strength levels, and she had to take all of them out, using only her powers. She was much better than she used to be, but not anywhere near Wanda’s level yet. She stared at them with blank eyes, but her mouth was quirked up in a half-smirk that was truly terrifying.
“Davay igrat',” she said with a giggle. Without changing her facial expression, she destroyed the robots or dismantled them quickly, only moving her arms and shifting her weight. They kept coming in waves of four, each at different speeds and difficulties. By the time she reached the tenth wave mark, she was sweating and panting with exertion. (Let’s play.)
“Addie, do you need to stop?” Steve asked. “We can if you need to. You’ve done great.”
“No, Uncle Steve. I’m alright. Just winded.”
“You sure?” Wanda asked. Addie nodded.
“A bit more. I’m fine. Just a little longer. I know when to tap out.”
“Alright. Keep going then,” Steve instructed. By wave twenty, her legs were shaking.
“I’m done, Uncle Steve,” she said, her voice quaking. “I’m done.”
“Stop it, Vis,” Wanda called. The holograms disappeared instantly, and Vision appeared next to them, calmly looking at the three.
“I think you did spectacular, Miss Barnes,” he said. “You have improved substantially.”
“Thank you,” Adelaide answered, letting Steve pick her up and carry her to the bench nearby.
“You did great, Addie,” Steve congratulated. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Yes, that was wonderful,” Wanda said, sitting down next to her and handing her a water. “You’ll be good enough to be an Avenger sooner than you know it.”
“Hey, slow down there, Wanda,” Steve said. “This is to just make sure she can defend herself. No real-life fighting until I say so, you understand me?” The two girls nodded. “You good, Addie?” She nodded.
“I’m okay, Uncle Steve. I can go again tomorrow.”
“Okay, we’ll do that. Bright and early, you hear me?” Adelaide nodded.
“Yes, sir, Captain Rogers, sir!” she said with a giggle, saluting him smartly before hurrying off down the hallway, dragging Wanda behind her. They could hear Steve laughing behind them until they entered the common room, large smiles on their faces. Wanda and Adelaide stopped in their tracks, looking at the new-comer.
“Thor,” Wanda said in greeting.
“Lady Maximoff,” the man replied loudly. Adelaide looked at the man with wide eyes. He was taller than Uncle Steve! He also looked a bit strange. He had the same coloring as Uncle Steve, but he wore strange clothing. Except for the cape. That was cool. “And who is this fair maiden?” he asked in an accented voice, looking down at Adelaide.
“This is Adelaide, Sergeant Barnes’s daughter,” Wanda introduced her. “Addie, this is Thor of Asgard. He’s a friend.”
“Greetings, small lady,” he said with large smile wave. She nodded back at him.
“Hi,” she said shyly, backing behind Wanda.
“She’ll warm up to you, Thor,” Tony said from the kitchen. “She likes me! Then again, who doesn’t?”
“My dad,” Adelaide supplied. Wanda, Thor, and Sam laughed, while Tony look a bit surprised.
“He said that?” Adelaide shook her head, remembering what her dad had said to her.
Make me proud, myshka.
She wasn’t helping anything by saying that. She shut her mouth and looked to the ground.
“Addie?” Sam asked. “What’s wrong?” She shook her head again and let go of Wanda’s hand, going down the hallway to the outside yard. She walked into the forest and climbed a tree, sitting on one of the thicker branches.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said to the air. “I’m not sure I’m making you proud anymore. I miss you so much, and Uncle Steve is doing his best to keep me happy and entertained, but Mr. Stark isn’t exactly nice, and I know what he did to you, even though you couldn’t help what you did to him. You were only trying to keep me safe, I know that now. I’m sorry I’m such a bother. I don’t mean to be. I miss you. I’m trying, I really am. I just don’t know how much longer I can take this. I’ll be fourteen soon, and you’ve been gone for so long. And I haven’t grown much, either. Just—come back soon, please?”
“There you are,” a voice said from the ground. She looked down and saw Clint looking up at her.
“Hi, Uncle Clint,” she said quietly.
“Hey, pumpkin. Room for one more up there?” She nodded. Clint climbed up the tree and sat next to her, swinging his legs back and forth. “”So, whatcha doin’ up here, all by your lonesome? I was expecting a warm welcome, and all I got were sad stares. Wanda said something’s upset you.” She shook her head. “C’mon, you can tell Uncle Clint.” He pulled her against him and held her shoulders. She remained silent. “Why don’t I tell you about my trip home then?” She nodded. So, Clint launched into a detailed story about his return home, and everything that he and his family had done. He told her about his animals, and the tractor that Tony had fixed, and his kids, and the baby, who wasn’t so little anymore, and his wife, and his projects in the house. “I told Laura about you. She really wants to meet my little niece. Lily and Cooper want to have a new playmate, too. I was thinking you, me, and Wanda could head down there this weekend. Whaddya say?” She nodded again. “Great! Well, come on, let’s get out of this tree and go get you packed, okay?” She slid away and jumped out of the tree, landing in a crouch. Clint laughed and landed beside her. “I’m gettin’ too old to go climbing trees. Let’s go, Adds.” Feeling much better, the two went inside, smiling brightly at each other.
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“Do it again, Addie! You’re doing great!”
“Keep going, Addie!”
“Almost there!” Adelaide spun left and right, destroying hologram after hologram with her little daggers of light. She was a whirl of light and dark, never stopping as she trained, the sound of her family cheering her on.
“And, done! Good job, kid. That’s a new record.” Adelaide made her weapons disappear and turned to face her audience, who was clapping and cheering. She smiled and Steve picked her up and spun her around, laughing.
“That was great, Addie,” he said. “I’m so proud of you. You’re doing so much better than you were.” He put her down, and the others crowded around her.
“I think this calls for some ice cream,” Sam said. Adelaide nodded eagerly and followed her family down the hallways back to the kitchen. Not much had changed for her in the two months she had been at the Avengers Compound. She had only grown about three inches, but she was still tiny for a thirteen year old. She had gotten stronger with her telepathic and telekinetic strength with the help of Wanda and Vision, and Clint, Steve, and Tony had helped her get better with her new-found power of creating objects out of a light she could make appear and disappear at will. Natasha and Clint had tried to teach her hand-to-hand, but they quickly realized that she needed no help in that department. Both of them proudly admitted to being flipped and pinned by a girl less than half their size. T’Challa had only contacted them once in the time she had been there. He and his scientists had perfected a new arm for her father when he woke up, but he didn’t tell them anything about how soon that would be. He talked to Adelaide for a quite a bit after everyone else had left the room. He was like a big brother to her, and he told her stories and jokes, and the two had a great time. Just before he ended the transmission, he gave her a serious look.
“I will return you to your father, Adelaide Barnes. I swear on my name as king of Wakanda, it will happen.” She had shaken her head repeatedly.
“I don’t want you to swear by your title,” she said quietly. “I just want you to do the best you can without hurting him. Just do what you promised. That’s all I want.” He had nodded, then said goodbye before the screen went black.
“Whatcha thinkin’ about over there, squirt?” Tony asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts. Tony had accepted her rather quickly after she had fixed Rhodey’s back. He liked to surprise her with presents and things of that nature, and he let her work with him in his lab on various projects.
“Nothing much, Uncle Tony,” she said. Yes, she had accepted him that much. The man had changed, and she had explained to him everything about her father when he was the Winter Soldier. He had forgiven him, and the two were thick as thieves.
“Well, you better eat your ice cream. It’s gonna melt.” Adelaide scooped out a giant bit of her blueberry ice cream into her mouth and smiled at him. “Much better.”
“Sir, there’s a call for you. It’s urgent,” FRIDAY said.
“Who is it?”
“Privately, Sir.” Tony sighed and walked off, patting Adelaide on the head as he passed. Everyone else finished off their ice cream, and Adelaide headed off to go change out of her training clothes. A knock sounded on her door, and she looked up from where she was pulling off her socks. She hated those things. They made her feet fell claustrophobic.
“Yes?” The door opened, and Natasha’s head poked in.
“Hey, you busy?” She shook her head.
“No, ma’am.” Natasha laughed quietly and came in.
“What’s is going to take to get you to stop saying that to me?” Adelaide shook her head, going into her closet to change.
“It’s how I was raised,” she answered. “You’ll have to deal with it.” Natasha laughed again.
“Alright, missy. Wanda and I were going to go shopping later today. You want to come?” Adelaide poked her head out of the closet.
“Did you ask Uncle Steve if I could go?”
“He said you could if you wanted to. I asked.”
“Yeah, I want to.”
“Well, we’re going to wait for you in the garage. Meet us there when you finish, alright?”
“Okay, Auntie Nat. I’ll be there soon.” Natasha left, and Adelaide hurried to finish changing, eager to go shopping with the only other girls there.
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“Uncle Clint, you’re back!”
“Hey, pumpkin! Yeah, I’m back. Wasn’t too hard of a mission. In and out in no time. You miss me?”
“Yep!”
“I missed you too. What’d you do while I was gone?”
“Auntie Nat and Wanda took me shopping. I got new clothes.”
“Did you now? Can I see them?”
“No. Auntie Nat said I have to wait and surprise everyone.”
“Did she now? I may have to talk about that to her. Oh, did you get a call from Scott today? He said he was going to call you.”
“No. He probably forgot.”
“You’re probably right. Tell you what. When I’m done talking to Stark, you and I’ll call him and see what he wanted, okay?”
“Okay. Uncle Tony’s in his lab with Uncle Steve right now. They were talking about trying to find someone. Do you know who it is?”
“I might. You wanna come with me?”
“Sure.” Adelaide was hoisted onto Clint’s back and carried down to Tony’s lab, the two of them entering the room with loud laughter.
“Hey, guys,” Clint said, letting Steve pull Adelaide from his back and set her on the work table he was standing next to.
“Glad to see you back, Legolas.”
“How’d the mission go, Clint?”
“Fine. In and out. No problems. Addie said you two were talking about trying to find someone?”
“Yeah.” Tony looked down at the screen he was typing away on and got a somber look on his face.
“Is it someone special to you, Uncle Tony?” Adelaide asked, trying to see the screen from where she was sitting.
“Yeah, kiddo. It is. He’s a good friend. He’s been missing for about a year now.”
“Can I help?” she asked.
“Sure, squirt. I’ll let you know, okay?”
“Okay. I don’t like you being upset, Uncle Tony. You should be happy that all of your other friends are with you, even if one is missing.” Tony huffed and shook his head.
“You’re too smart for me sometimes, Bit. You’re a hard one to figure out.” Adelaide scooted around on the table as the three men talked about different methods of trying to find the missing person and got a look at the screen Tony had been working on.
“I know him!” she said loudly, pointing at the screen. The three men spun to look at her. For one thing, that was the loudest she had ever been.
“What did you say, Addie?” Steve asked.
“I know that guy!” she exclaimed happily, pointing at the picture of a man on the screen.
“How? Where’d did you see him? What did he say? Was he alright? Was he hurt? Did he hurt anyone?” Tony asked questions rapid-fire, and Adelaide giggled.
“Uncle Tony, I can’t talk if you don’t stop speaking.” He got quiet and looked at her eagerly. “I saw him while Daddy and I were in Brazil,” she said. “He took care of me when I got sick. I don’t know if he’s still there, but I’m sure I could find him again now that I can control my powers better.”
“Why didn’t we think of that? Tony, she’s been all over the place with Barnes; she’s the mostly likely of all of us to have seen him,” Clint said. “Could you try, Adds? Do you think you could find him?” Adelaide nodded.
“I can try. I’ll do the best I can.” Tony scooped her up into a tight hug.
“Thank you, Addie. You are a big help.” She smiled and hugged him back.
“Uncle Tony, you have to put me down so I can focus,” she giggled after a moment. He put her back down on the table, and she pulled up her legs to sit cross-legged. She looked at the three men. “It might take a while.”
“We’ll wait,” Steve said. “You want anything for later?”
“Can I have a glass of lemonade? Wanda put some in the fridge earlier.”
“You got it,” he said, heading out the door. Once he was gone, the other two sat down in chairs nearby. She closed her eyes and focused. She had been sitting quietly for about fifteen minutes before she opened her eyes and shook her head multiple times, shaking the stiffness out of her neck.
“Here, Addie.” Steve handed her the glass of lemonade and stood next to her.
“Did you find him?” Tony asked anxiously. She nodded.
“Yes, but he doesn’t want to talk.”
“What do you mean, he doesn’t want to talk? You can talk to him?”
“Sure. It’d be like hearing a voice in your head. I told him I had to tell him something, but he didn’t want to listen. I wasn’t going to force myself on him. I felt like he had a lot going on in his head at the moment. I’ll try again later. I can find him faster now that I have an idea of where he is.”
“Thanks, Addie. It means a lot.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Sir, Miss Maximoff would like for me to tell all of you that she and Vision have finished preparing dinner,” FRIDAY said to them.
“We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Good job, Adds,” Clint said. “Let’s go eat.”
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‘Are you busy now?’ Adelaide asked the man quietly as she sat on her bed, the bedside lamp on.
Who are you? Why do you keep talking in my head? He didn’t sound too happy that she was there.
‘I’m sorry. I don’t want to bother you, but it’s really important.’
That doesn’t answer my question. Who are you, and how did you get in my head?
‘My name is Adelaide Barnes, and I’m a telepath. You took care of me in Brazil.’
Why are you looking for me?
‘My family is trying to find you. Please, will you listen to me?’
Fine. What do you want?
‘There’s something that’s going on that needs your special touch on it, according to Uncle Tony. I don’t know what it is, but it’s really important to him. Please, will you let us come get you?’
By ‘special touch’ do you mean the Hulk?
‘No, the other touch. The reason you’re a doctor. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s enough that Uncle Tony needs to find you quickly. Will you please help us?’
Let me think about it. I left for a good reason.
‘I understand. May I ask you again tomorrow night?’
Give me two days, then you can ask.
‘Okay. Do you mind if I have your name? They won’t tell me.’
It’s Bruce. Bruce Banner.
‘Okay. Goodnight, Mr. Banner.’
Goodnight, Miss Barnes.
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‘Mr. Banner? Have you decided? Uncle Tony is practically climbing the walls. It’s kind of funny actually.’
I’ll come. I’ll meet them in the mountains of Peru.
‘When?’
I’ll be there when they are.
‘I will tell them. Thank you, Mr. Banner. It’ll make Uncle Tony so happy. He’s been rather upset lately.’
You’re welcome, I suppose. Goodbye, Miss Barnes.
‘Goodbye, Mr. Banner. I hope we meet in person soon.’