'𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓.'
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Follows through the journey of Nova Adler, her finding a path towards life as an avenger and dealing with the hardships that come along with it, all while finding a family within them, a fa...
It was a free afternoon at the Avengers compound. Nova sat on the ground while Nat braided her hair. Tony walked in, abruptly. He had a bag in his hand.
"Hey, uh what are you—" Nova was about to ask but Tony just headed towards the lab. Nova and Nat passed each other a confused look. "Yeah, I'm gonna see what that's about." she said to Nat.
She followed Tony to the lab, where she observed him set his briefcase on the table. "Hey Dad, what're you doing here." she inquired.
"Warm welcome, thanks." he said, she rolled her eyes. "I've been extremely bored lately, it was driving me insane. So I decided to give your suit an upgrade." He flicked open the briefcase to reveal a new suit all in it's glory.
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"You mentioned once you wanted a skirt right?" he said.
"Oh my god this is great Dad! I love it!" she hugged him excitedly.
Suddenly Nova's phone rang. She took it out of her pocket to see an unknown number calling and excused herself to the side to take the call.
"Hello!" Nova answered in a jolly tone.
"Hello, I'm calling to speak to Nova Adler." the woman on the other line spoke.
"Yes this is her."
"I'm Victoria Nelson, Rick Snow's lawyer," the mention of his name forced her mood to shift abruptly. She felt uneasy. Her face went blank, a knot in her stomach. "I called to discuss his will."
"His will?" Nova mumbled.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Deepest condolences. You do know of his passing, right?" she informed. Nova didn't know how to feel. She felt empty, unable to know what to emote.
"Uh, no, this is— this is the first I'm hearing of it." Nova said. Her voice was quiet and coarse.
"I was wondering if we could meet." Victoria suggested.
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"Refill?" the waitress asked, breaking Nova's train of thought. Nova looked up at her and nodded. The waitress refilled her coffee and left.
Nova was at a diner, waiting for Victoria. She had felt uneasy the entire day after that call. She still did not figure out quite how she felt. She just imagined she wouldn't have to think about Rick ever again in her life, and yet here she was.
A blonde woman walked in, followed in by a teenage girl. The woman walked up to Nova's table.
"Hello, Nova Adler?" she asked.
"That's me." Nova mumbled.
"I'm Victoria, we spoke on the phone." she smiled, Nova tried her best to return a smile. "This is Angie Snow, Rick's daughter." she informed, referring to the teenaged girl. Nova gave her a smile, she had no idea that Rick had an actual daughter of his own.
The two sat down. "Uh, Rick left me something?" Nova asked abruptly.
"Yes, he did. He left you a quarter of his money and estate." Victoria revealed.
"Me? Why would he?"
"Can you clarify your relation with Rick Snow?" Victoria inquired.
Nova looked down at her coffee. "Uh, I was his— sort of, step daughter. He was with my mother for a few years." she said, avoiding eye contact, but she could feel Angie's eyes on her.
"And then?" Victoria said.
Nova looked up at her confused. "And then what?"
"Your mother and Rick, they broke up?"
"Uh, yeah, he left." Nova said giving a half truth.
"And there's no blood relation between you two?" Victoria asked further.
"No." Nova answered.
"I see." Victoria said, looking down at her papers.
"Look, do I have to take it?" Nova asked, Victoria looked up at her furrowing her eyebrows. "Whatever he left me. I don't need it."
Victoria squinted her eyes. "I'm gonna give you and Angie a moment to talk." she said as she left and went to sit at one of the counter stools.
Nova sipped her coffee nervously.
"How was Rick, I mean as a dad— to you?" Angie asked.
Nova looked at Angie, with her eyebrows raised. "Uh, he was um, not that good. He kinda sucked yeah." Nova let out a stifled chuckle.
"Yeah, same. Although, He changed when he came back." she revealed.
"Right." Nova said. "I'm sorry I'm confused by the timeline of all this."
"My father left us when I was five years old. He came back after a few years, a changed man, a good man. I'm guessing those few years were spent with you and your mother." she explained.
Nova had the realisation that maybe the last time she saw Rick, whatever happened, it changed him, made him be a better man and a better father.
Nova nodded. "He never mentioned having another family." she muttered. Angie didn't say anything. Nova sighed and looked out the window. "Look, Angie, I don't need whatever he left me, frankly, I don't want it."
Angie nodded, "I understand."
"It was good meeting you. I'm glad to hear that he changed, eventually." Nova stood up, "I better get going now." she avoided looking directly at Angie. Angie nodded solemnly.
What a great thing, he changed, but she still had to endure everything he put her through. But what a great thing. Nova was bitter. She didn't know whether to hate him. If he had changed, he couldn't have called once and apologised? He couldn't have come to the funeral of her mother? Had he put her in his will to gloat at the last chance, to show her that he was capable of change but she wasn't worthy of it?
Nova furiously walked to her car and drove home.
All the power in the world, but not enough to make a dead man grant her answers.
