Iron Soul [2]

Chapter 19

Finding Kamar-Taj once they got to Kathmandu was a lot harder than Ada initially intended. After hours of wandering around and asking people if they knew where Kamar-Taj was, Natasha and Ada were currently sat in an alleyway while they regrouped. 

"You'd think it'd be a lot easier to find this place," Natasha huffed as she looked through her backpack.

"I guess they want to protect this Eye of Agamotto I'm after," Ada chucked a rock against a wall.

Natasha watched the girl for a few moments while Ada picked at the skin around her nails. 

"Why do you want this so bad? You get to pick up right where you left off if you want it," the red head questioned her.

Ada sighed as she furrowed her brows to contemplate her response. She knew why she wanted it, but why not just pick up where she left off? Why should she sacrifice more years of her life? She had the opportunity to go to high school, go to college, and get a job with her dad. However, she was already halfway done with college classes before her kidnapping. 

Maybe it was the freedom she would get, maybe it was Jackson, or maybe it was just she wanted her idealistic life that had been robbed from her when full custody of her was put onto the shoulders of Tony Stark. If she was old enough, she could go underground, go by Ada Dawson and live a quiet life in France. Tony and her still hadn't fully patched their relationship, that was evident by the initial argument after Ada woke up in the hospital. 

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Tony and Pepper were both discharged as they anxiously awaited for Ada to wake up. The teen girl had no more visible injuries, they had healed within a day. However, she still was not waking up for reasons unbeknownst to any doctor in that hospital. Happy was down the hall and constantly asked about the young Stark. 

"Are we going to be okay?" Pepper spoke up as she glanced over at Tony.

"Yeah...I think we will be," Tony nodded as he met her gaze.

"Is she?" she nodded towards the teen who was currently passed out on the bed. 

Tony pressed his lips into a thin line as he pondered the question. 

"I don't know," her answered honestly. "You know, we get her back, but she's not the same Ada as she was before. Ada passed out in her thirteenth birthday because she scratched her leg and it started bleeding. I just witnessed her the other day threaten to rip a mans face straight off of his body. Then I did watch her rip Killian's arm off. This isn't the same Ada. I don't know what they did to her. I don't know how to fix her to not become a violent, murderous wolf thing, but hopefully we can't get her the help she needs." 

At that moment, Ada gasped as her eyes shot open. Only, they were not her eyes. What should have been a chocolate brown identical to her father's was replaced with black, void eyes. Her fangs were on full display when she started to scream. 

"I saw it! I saw it! We can't stop what's coming!" she continued to yell as she thrashed about. 

Tony stood and tried to hold his daughter down as she fought against his grip. 

"Pepper get the nurses now. Now!" Tony ordered as Pepper ran out into the hallway to get someone. 

Ada growled at her father and dug her claws into one of his arms. He grunted in pain. 

"Ada, honey, I need you to calm down, please," Tony tried to talk to her. His only response was a growl from Ada. 

Soon nurses rushed in with sedatives that they immediately began to push through her IV. Ada struggled for a few more seconds before she began to calm down. Her eyes turned back into their normal brown as her claws and fangs retracted. She shut her eyes and began to drift off once more.

Tony fell back into his chair as the nurses checked up on Ada in her unconscious state. However, Tony became concerned when they brought out restraints.

"Woah, what are those for?" he asked. 

"She can cause harm to herself and others. It's just for precaution, but it's be in the best interest if she were restrained." So, Ada was strapped down to the hospital bed as they awaited for the sedative to wear off. 

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When the sedative wore off, Ada woke up very perplexed by the binding that kept her torso, arms, and legs tied down to the bed. She looked around until her eyes landed on Tony as he sat in the chair by the bed. 

"Why am I tied down?" she looked back down at the restraints. She pulled on the one that bound her wrist to the bed. 

"Maybe don't do that," Tony placed a hand on top of her wrist. "You had an episode when you woke up, but your okay now." 

"Am I okay?" Ada tilted her head as she looked back up at him. "I shift into a creature with claws, fangs, and homicidal compulsion. That doesn't sound like okay." 

"You do not have homicidal comp-"

"Then why am I strapped down to a hospital bed right now?" she raised a brow at him. "I'm just fucked up and you know it." 

"Ada, you are not fucked up," he assured her.

"Ha! You would say that! You're part of the reason I am!" 

"Ada, I know you're confused and angry, but you do not need to be blaming everyone. You're not messed up, you're not a basket case, and I don't know why you think that." 

"Because of you!" she shouted at him. 

Her shoulders heaved as her anger grew. Tony opened his mouth to reply only to shut it. How could he respond to that without sounding arrogant?

"Yeah, because of you," her voice calmed as she spoke. "Mom died, and I was left with you as a sorry excuse of a father. You didn't care about me. You didn't want me. You finally decide to be a father, and I get kidnapped because I share your last name. I got experimented on. I was made a lab rat and got frozen for years, all because I share your DNA. So, yeah, you're the reason I'm fucked up." 

She turned away from him as she pulled against the restraints more. 

"And I know I have homicidal compulsions. I can smell the blood on your arm." 

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Ada shook her head as she thought back to the initial question that Natasha asked. 

"I want control of my own life, not just be at the mercy of SHIELD or whatever they did to me. I'd like to have the live I was supposed to have back. Not just what I used to have with Jackson, but career, lifestyle. I'd really like to move back to France after I learned control," she shrugged. 

"France? Why France?" Natasha turned towards the girl. 

"That's one of the few things I can say is undoubtedly my mom," she elaborated. "I was young when she died, but I still miss her." 

"We all have got people we miss. We like to hang onto them as much as possible, but we can't dwell on how much we miss them. Sometimes it's best if we just move forward and keep them close in our hearts," Natasha smiled at Ada. 

Ada nodded and stood as she walked further through the streets of Kathmandu. Surely someone knew where Kamar-Taj was.