LIFE WAS BETTER OFF THE GRID || 1

Agent Holographic Flames

 That was fun we'll need to do that again." I tell Steve as well back back to the big kitchen. "That wasn't fun." He replies. "Yes it was." I argue. Then I notice everyone else in the room. I wave. "Hey guys."

"My god, Ave, are you bleeding?"

"Oh stop acting like a worried mother for two seconds." I tell Clint. "Besides, compared to Budapest, this is nothing." Nat winces. "She's not wrong." Clint turns to her. "Who's side are you on?" He asks her. She shrugs. "Yay! Redhead power!" I say remembering what Nat and I used to say as kids. "You're a brunette." She points out.

"And Stark is an idiot. Doesn't seem to bother him. And the red is starting to come back." I show her the red seeping through in my roots. And Tony starts to protest. "No. You're staying red." Clint points to Nat. "And you're staying brown. I need to tell you two apart." He points at me. I roll my eyes. "Yes, mother." I don't notice Bruce moving over to my to examine my hand until he takes it off the counter.

I flinch away.

"Oh I'm sorry." He apologizes. "Its, uh, fine. I just don't like touch." The lie rolls off my tongue. It's so easy that it's become second nature. Clint is give me a knowing look, understanding my uncomfortableness.

"Hey, Ava."

"Hmm?"

"Fury wants us at the Fridge." Nat head snaps up at that. "Only you two?" She asks. 'Fury wants us at the Fridge' is code word for, 'We're going to the farmhouse'. "Yeah. Sorry." Clint says. I sigh. "Time to go see the bundle of joy."

~

The ride from the Tower to the farm house is two hours. Once Clint got us into the air, he put us on autopilot and fixed up my hands. "We need to talk." He says sitting across from me. "I know." I reply. He sighs. "How? How are you still alive? I watched you die. You bled out in my arms."

"Well, I did die." Truth. "But, remember that episode from Friends when Ross and Monica's nana dies twice?" He nods confused. "Well that's what happened to me." Lie. "When I got back to S.H.I.E.L.D. they did everything in their power to keep me from going brain dead and my heart from stopping." Truth. "Once I was stable, they sent me to Tahiti for physical therapy." Lie.

"Ok, now that that's covered, why?" He moves on. "Why would you hide away, leave. Let me believe that you were dead for five years?"

"Well what would you do if Barney shot you in the head and you didn't die?" I shoot back. He's silent. "Where were you?" He finally asks. "I was off the grid." I answer. "Yeah, but where?" I sigh. "Rose Hill, Tennessee." He closes his eyes. "Did you plan on ever coming back?"

I don't answer.

He lets out a dry laugh. "Of course you weren't."

~

We land near the farmhouse and we walk down the ramp of the Quinjet. The tension was unreal. When we get inside, Clint calls out. "Honey, I'm home!"

Laura Barton comes over to use a sponge in hand. When she sees me she drops the sponge and runs over to me. "Avianne!" She hugs me. "Oh my god. They- Clint- they said you died." She sqeezes me.

"Laura. Need. Air. Please." I choke out. She lets go just as feet run down there stairs. "Daddy!" Two kids run over to Clint, hugging him. Cooper is the first to look up and notice me. His eyes widen at me. "Auntie Ava?" He asks in confusion. How Cooper remembered me, I don't know. He was one when I left. I guess Clint kept photo albums. "In the flesh Coop." I say. He smiles. "Auntie Ava!" He says louder and runs over to me and hugs me, almost knocking me over.

The little girl walks over to me slowly. "Who are you?" She asks. "I'm Avianne." I say kneeling down so I'm closer to her level. "Really? That's my middle name! I'm Lila Avianne Barton!" I glance over to Laura and Clint surprised. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Lila." Cooper comes back over to me. He stands in front of me and tilts his head to the side. Then he grins.

"You're the Blue Renegade!"

"Yes I am."

"You're my favorite Avenger!" Lila exclaims. "Hey!" Says Clint. We turn to him. "Sorry, Daddy. You're my third favorite." She tells him. "Who's your second?" He asks. "Auntie Nat." I smile. "She would love to hear that."

"Where is Auntie Nat?" Cooper asks. I glance a Clint. "She's back at the Tower." He says. "Will we ever get to go there?" Lila asks. "Lila, we talked about this." Laura says. An idea pops in my head. I stand back up. "Clint, Laura, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" I ask. They nod and we walk to the kitchen. "I think I found a way they can go to to Tower and the team won't know they're your kids."

"No."

"Clint. Let her speak." Laura says hitting his arm.

"Thank you, Laura. Anyway. Back in Tennessee, I did some babysitting jobs. We can say that they used to be two kids I used to babysit and they wanted to see the Tower and meet the Avengers." I suggest. Laura is quiet thinking it over. "They would never believe that you babysat." She tells me. "Well I did. They can go ask Harley Keener." Clint says nothing. "Clint?"

"No. I'm not endangering my kids."

"They would be surrounded by superheroes they won't be endangered."

"Avianne. Do you hear yourself? Or did the bullet damage that too." I gasp in shock. Is he freaking kidding? "Ave—"

"Nope. You shared your thoughts. I'm going back to the Tower. Alone. Have Nat pick you up in the morning. And really Clint? You're one to talk." I walk out saying my goodbyes to Lila and Cooper. "Avianne." I hear Clint coming after me. "No. Clint. Let her vent." Laura says.

~

When I arrived back at the Tower it was two in the morning and I doubt that anyone else is awake. "Welcome back, Agent Found." JARVIS greets. "Hey, JARVIS. Can you delete the ship's log from the past 24 hours?" I ask. "May I ask why?"

"Nope." I walk off the helipad and into the Tower. "The ship's log from the past 24 hours has been deleted." He tells me. "Thanks Jarv. Hey, is anyone else awake?" I ask once I'm in the elevator. "Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are in the lab and Miss Romanoff and Captain Rogers are asleep in their rooms."

I'm quiet and think. "I need some sarcasm in my life." I say. "Take me to the labs, JARVIS." The elevator starts to go down instead of up and we stop at the 40th floor. I walk out and I see a lab. A lab with a working Tony with his back to me. And a sleeping Bruce with his head on a table. "So this is what you guys do in your free time. Interesting."

Tony spins around at my voice. "At least nothing is blowing up." He states and turns back to the screen. "How was the little ray of sunshine today? Enthusiastic as ever?" I roll my eyes. "You know, he's not that bad." He raises a brow. "He just doesn't like you." He gives me a look. "Ok, he doesn't like a lot of people." I allow.

"Is it like? Or it trust?"

"It varies from moment to moment."

"But he trusts you?"

"He can count the few people he trusts with one hand. I like to consider myself one of those people."

"And why is that?"

"When did this all become about me?" I ask. He shrugs and continues on with his work. I walk closer to the screen. "Is that what I think it it?"

"If you think it's a Chitauri helmet, then you are correct." He states spinning it on the hologram, or whatever it was. "So, what's up with the alien hat?" I ask. "I'm... Studying it." He says awkwardly. I give him an Are-You-Kidding-Me Face.

"Stark, I am a spy and you are lying straight through your teeth." He rolls his eyes. "So what? It's not like it'll explode on the screen." I smirk and take out my phone. I start a small hack and soon the holographic helmet is in holographic flames.

"You were saying?"