Seeing Beyond

7

Months had gone by, the school year was somewhat dwindling, and relative normalcy had ensued. Except Pepper had left the tower and that really bothered Aurora. She and Tony were "on a break" according to him. That meant they were done. She'd left and a ton of her stuff was still in the tower. Aurora had a backpack slung over her shoulder and was ready to leave, slipping her sneakers on.

"Stop, you're not going today," Tony grabbed the backpack.

"I have to watch Peter, man."

"No. You're done with that mission, man," he mocked.

Aurora looked around and saw almost all of the Avengers around her. Something was up. "So you're gonna let this kid in a shitty hoodie and goggles run around the city unsupervised?"

"We have something more important. Besides, the tracker I made you slip on him broke, so I don't know where he'll be anymore."

Aurora rolled around and joined most of the Avengers in the living area. 

"Are you kidding me?" Aurora gaped after Tony explained the idea of the Accords to her. Sam and Rhodey were currently arguing, Steve was flipping through them, and now Tony was slumped in a chair. Nat was nearby listening. "In what planet is this a good idea?!"

Wanda (who Aurora wasn't all that familiar with, she just didn't see her and Vision often. She didn't see many of the Avengers often, since they mostly did their own things right now and they had the complex in process) and Vision we on another couch, Wanda seeming nervous.

Tony went into his lecture about some kid who died in Sokovia.

"Why are you asking me?" Aurora shrugged. "I'm not an Avenger, you don't let me go on missions."

"Yeah, I was gonna see how you felt about changing that before I spoke at MIT but my time's been cut a little short. Congratulations, kid. Feel free to decline."

"I'll argue later, I'm so tired right now," she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was going back to the whole 'treating her like an adult when its convenient and like a child when he wants.'

She listened to the arguments for and against it while on her phone.

Peter
Where are you? You never miss

Aurora
Something came up :/ idk when I'll be back.

Peter
Sounds serious. Hope whatever it is is solved soon.

"I gotta go," Steve muttered and quickly left.

Aurora pulled Tony out of the room. "Where's Bucky for all of this? You can pull him out of cryo, you know."

"About that..."

"Jesus Christ, Tony."

"We don't have him. We don't really know where he is."

"I can't believe you!" the girl hit his shoulder. The man recoiled and pointed at her.

"Hey, we established no hitting from day one. Don't get violent."

"I wanted to get over my fear of him and you told me he was in cryo? Where is he actually?"

"We... don't know."

"Are you fucking kidding me? You lied to me!"

"To protect you."

"From what?"

"I can't--Aurora, you need to listen to me."

"No! No, Tony," she scoffed and raised a finger impatiently. "You let him get taken, didn't you? You basically gave him to HYDRA, probably. But I guess I won't know since no one ever tells me the truth."

"He left on his own after saving Steve's life. We think he's with HYDRA."

"You need to start telling me the truth from the start and stop acting like I'm so fragile!"

"Aurora--"

"No. Sign the Accords if you want, but it's gonna come back to bite you in the ass. I'll work with all of you, but I'm not becoming an official team member if it means having to sign them."

With that, she walked back to the living room, leaving Tony with his huge headache: literally and metaphorically.

"I'm gonna miss going to DC," Aurora sighed.

"Ain't nothing fun there," Sam shook his head. "Bunch'a old white guys."

"My favorite. I'd be going with friends, though."

"You have friends?" Vision asked.

"Vision," Wanda sighed and put a hand on his  shoulder.

"Oh, excuse me. I thought because you were on a mission...you wouldn't..."

"It's fine," the young girl sighed. "I know what you mean."

"You made friends?" Natasha questioned. "Seems counter-intuitive for a mission."

Aurora rolled her eyes, Natasha had always kind of bugged her. She had a bad taste in her mouth from day one when she'd said that they should lock a child up, she was too much trouble. Aurora was also a little afraid Natasha would stab her in the back. She's seen the Red Room files, she knows what the older woman is capable of.

"Well, Tony told me to act like a normal kid. Teenage girls, from my experience, have friends other than teenage boys."

Natasha pursed her lips. "Well, I'm glad you found friends," Wanda smiled. "You've always seemed very nice, and I want to be able to get to know you. It seems like you'll be around more often?"

"I think so. I mean, it seems like Tony's pulling me from school."

"You're leaving school?" Rhodey asked.

"I mean, he said that he was gonna offer for me to join the team."

"You should stay in school."

"Why? I'm not going to college. I'll be doing...this."

"You're 16, right?"

"It doesn't really matter."

"It does. You've never had a proper education."

"How old were you when you knew you wanted to be in the military?"

Rhodey went quiet.

"She's gotcha there," Natasha muttered. 

"Exactly. I can read, I'll read everything I get my hands on. That's my education. I'm already pretty smart at everything but science."

Rhodey sighed and made some coffee. "Is Steve still not back?"

"No," Sam frowned. "I think something's wrong."

"And where's Tony?"

"He's not gonna want to be around a group for a bit. He's mopey."

"What about?" Natasha asked.

"Uh... it's me, I'm guessing," Aurora rolled her eyes.

"How?"

"I kinda freaked out on him. He's made me think that you all kept Bucky and he's in cryo when apparently he's been out of everyone's sight for forever. I wanted to get over my fear of him a while back but Tony told me he was in cryo."

"I'm so sorry," Wanda sighed as Sam put a hand on the girl's shoulder. 

"Plus, I don't really know what's going with him and Pepper. Pepper left...God knows when and she hasn't been texting me back. So..."

The room was quiet and the girl was suddenly aware of her surroundings.

"Oh, God. Sorry. I just turned this into a group therapy session. I'm...sorry."

"No," Natasha reached out. "It's okay. We're here for you whether you join the team or not."

"Thank you," the girl smiled at her.