The universe hates me
Ava was given two options, either return home and be monitored the rest of her life, or become a member of the team. She was shocked at the proposition, trying to reasoned that she didn’t know how to fight. Tony quickly dismissed this saying she would start training with the team, and until she was ready she’d be their “one woman med. team”.
Although the prospects of helping this amazing group of people was incredible Ava still hesitated. The prospect of using her powers so much was frightening, mostly because she’d been hiding them all her life. The inevitable pain that would come with her powers wasn’t exactly something to look forward to, however, she couldn’t see herself back in her mundane life.
As soon as Ava said she’d join Tony arranged for everything in her apartment to be brought to the tower. She did convince him to let her go back to D.C. to get her motorcycle and ride it back. She figured it’d be the last scenic ride she’d be able to go on for quite a while.
Two days later, after being introduced to the rest of the team, except Thor but he would be there soon to start looking for Loki’s scepter, Ava was back in her now bare apartment. She smiled at the memory of the group movie night, Clint and Tony bickered over which movie to watch. Steve, Sam, and Bruce watched with exasperation but in staying in their own conversation. Natasha talked to Ava about any self defense she knew, and what she’d start with in training. Ava looked around at the apartment one last time, feeling nostalgic but still glad to be moving on.
Her door didn’t give her any problems when she’d entered and again as she locked it for a final time, almost like it knew. Mrs. S was waiting by the front door to say goodbye, and hold onto her key for the landlord to pick up.
“Dragă, I’m going to miss you,” she patted Ava’s arm, “but it’s time for you to leave this dump.”
Smiling Ava hugged her, she was going to miss her, “You have my number if you ever need help.”
The old woman chuckled, “Don’t worry about me, dragă.”
Ava slipped out the front door, excited to get back on her motorcycle, after all it’d been a few days without it. As she kicked it to life she grinned, the deep rumble instantly calming her. Before she pulled out she texted Tony to tell him she was leaving, and that she’d text him again when she stopped for gas. Ava had waited for dusk before leaving to avoid the traffic of the day. It’d be a four hour drive but she could make it three and a half if she sped, within reason.
She’d decided to take a slightly more scenic route to enjoy the country side before getting back into the big city. With the odd route she’d decided on Ava was growing suspicious of the black SUV following her. She spotted it just as she left D.C. and even though it stayed quite a way behind and disappeared from her mirrors every so often, but it’d always show back up.
It’d been steadily gaining on her as she neared the next town, she didn’t need gas just yet but decided to stop and text Tony. He’d grown, in the short time they’d known each other, to be a sort of older brother figure, and had insisted on the check in texts.
As Ava started filling up her motorcycle the SUV parked at the gas pump next to her’s. With her helmet on they wouldn’t be able to see her eyes, so she discreetly looked over. The windows in the back were so tinted she couldn’t see into them, even if it was light out, the front she could see two men. The driver got out to pump gas like normal, but the passenger was staring at her intently.
Ava repressed a shudder as she texted Tony the situation. Most of the team was off on a small side mission before they started going after Hydra bases looking for the scepter so the Quinjet was out of the question. Ava didn’t want to be such a bother either, she’d had that habit since she was a kid, so she just asked for him to monitor her location from her phone’s GPS. If she didn’t text at the next gas station or the signal went off track then Tony would know something was wrong, and then send in the calvary.
She thanked him before putting the nozzle back and kicked her bike to life. Back on the road Ava made sure to speed just as much as she had been before to keep from raising suspicion from the men in the SUV. Sure enough the SUV soon appeared in her side mirrors.
“Hey, Bruce?”
“Hm?”
“Can you come look at this?”
Said scientist looked up from his research to Tony on the other side of the lab, a large monitor displaying a map with the outlined route Ava was taking to get there. Once Bruce stepped beside Tony he saw the small blinking dot labeled “Ava” that was stationary. He studied the map around the dot, it was on a long stretch of road between two small cities, and she was stopped just shy of the middle.
“Do you think she ran out of gas?” Bruce offered, trying to quell some of the nervous energy Tony was giving off.
“She stopped two towns ago, she’d still have at least three-fourths of a tank.”
“Blown out tire?"
Tony grunted in frustration, “I doubt it, I think it’s that SUV she told me about.”
“What SUV?”
Tony explained what Ava had texted him just a few minutes ago.
“So you think that whoever it was did what?”
Tony threw his hands up in exasperation, “I don't know! Kidnapped her or ran her over or something!”
Suddenly the little dot they’d been staring at disappeared, Jarvis piped up, “The signal for Ms. Caine’s phone has been lost.” Tony jumped up, fully intent on flying out there in the suit to figure this out.
“Hold on,” Bruce stopped him, “you can’t just rush out there, at least call Natasha or Clint they know how to track people that go off the grid.”
Tony slumped back down, grumbling and patched himself through to the Quinjet. Luckily the team, Clint, Nat, and Steve, were almost back to the tower. Bruce stayed behind to monitor everything from the lab while Tony headed out with the other three to search the last location of Ava’s phone.
They searched the stretch of road for almost a hour before they found her helmet and motorcycle hidden in a culvert under the road. Bringing both on to the Quinjet they found shattered glass and plastic that must have been Ava’s phone in her helmet. No one wanted to leave that lonely stretch of highway, but there was nothing else there to point them in her direction.