|| LONGING || EDITTING

|| Chapter Fifty - Four ||

Sitting in the back of the car, twelve-year-old Arizona stared at her house that was a few blocks ahead of them in fear. She wanted to see her parents, she wanted to live with them, and have a normal life with them -- but, most of all, she was hoping to leave her past in the past, Pepper gently put a hand on Arizona, said redhead flinching and shuffled away from her so she wasn't being touched and Pepper gave her a lipless smile, "Do you want us to come with you?"

Arizona unbuckled her seatbelt and got out the car, mutely, walking up to the house but froze, Pepper and Tony watched through the little window separating them with Happy -- the driver, and Arizona began to move again, "You'll be risking their lives," She whispered to herself, each step filled her with more dread, "They could die because you were selfish," She added. She walked up to the stairs and went to knock, "You broke them enough, why continue?" She questioned herself, "I mean, you killed Pietro, do you really deserve a family?" She felt tears rise in her eyes, her sharp claws scratching at her arms as she began to walk backwards, away from the door.

"Shit," Tony cursed, he got out the car as Arizona began to slap herself, pull at her own hair,  and claw at her skin, he pulled her away from the building, "Arizona, calm down,"

"Let me go, let me go, let me go," She repeated in fear but Tony had to pull her further away otherwise her voice would've driven the Archer's attention, "Let me go," She began to repeat again, her eyes scolding his hands attached to hers.

Tony knelt down, looking up at Arizona as he gently ran his thumbs over the back of her hands and she found it soothing, watching his thumbs rotate in circles but still snatched her hands back as the soft feeling of his thumbs turned into a brutal grab, "It's okay, take your time," He raised his brows, bringing his hands back to himself, "You could wait forever to tell your family for all I care,"

Arizona nodded, sniffling as she wiped her nose with her sleeve, "Thank you..."

The sky had turned dark and the sun was setting, Arizona finally decided to get up and move from the bed after wallowing in self-pity ever since she arrived. She felt bad that she ignored every person who came to the door to check on her only for her to shut them out, but she didn't know how to handle the betrayal she felt -- especially because she hadn't felt such a deep betrayal before. She sat up and looked at her bags, seeing that Ellie had brought them in earlier and got up, Arizona rummaged through one bag until she found her outfit she had dedicated to 'Phoenix' her new Avenger name that she was proud to call herself. She changed into it and inhaled deeply, brushing it down as she tried to calm down, the redhead exited the bedroom, mask in hand, and entered the lounge that was also apart of the kitchen to see the trio scoffing their faces down once again and Ellie drinking a cup of coffee; the said brunette turned her head at the noise and gave Arizona a confused look, "Where are you going?" The question caught the trio's attention and they all turned their heads to see Arizona.

"I'm going out to go find some bad guys to punch," She shrugged, "Hopefully I don't kill them," Her tone was blunt.

Ellie stood up, "Zona, you can tell us what happened, okay?" She reassured, going to put her hand on Arizona's shoulder but she stepped back and Ellie received her hand, "We can help you and you don't need to go out to beat people up to feel better," She suggested.

Arizona shifted, gulping as her persona dropped from a distant statue to a kicked puppy in a matter of seconds, "I don't want to talk about it,"

Natasha got up, winking at Ellie before linking arms with Arizona as they walked toward the door, "I'll walk you out of the building and you can talk to me," She offered as they left the apartment; it was silent for a few moments that fleeted by but Natasha spoke again, "Arizona, nothing, absolutely nothing has ever made you want to leave home, not even Pepper returning home," She shrugged, rolling her eyes slightly, "I mean, sure you went to Wakanda for a short while but -" She pinched her brows, looking down at the redhead, "- you went home for Tony, so what happened?"

Arizona felt an anvil press down on her chest, tears blurring her eyes as fear bubbled inside her chest, "Nothing... I'm overreacting..." She replied.

"Arizona, we know something is wrong and something is stopping you from wanting to be at home," Natasha's voice was more stern, "What happened? You can talk to me," She consoled.

Arizona glanced up at Natasha and sniffled, wiping at her eyes and shook her head in disbelief that she was actually going to tell Natasha, "Tony told my parents I'm alive,"

Natasha halted in their step, stopping Arizona in doing so as well the older woman looking at Arizona with deep confusion and anger flared in her eyes, "He did what?" She snapped.

"He uh..." She shrugged, feeling smaller than she had ever been since Hydra, "He told me my parents found out, and the looks he and Pepper kept sharing? I -" She paused to wipe stray tears from marking her skin, "- I pieced it together," Natasha remained silent, bewildered by Tony's reasons; before she could come up with a reason to defend Tony, Arizona shrugged once more, "He said he can't tell me why," Natasha clenched her jaw, "I just..." Arizona sighed, annoyed at her emotions running around her head like a headless chicken, "I can't stand this feeling, this feeling of betrayal," She shook her head, "It's pathetic but when I was around him I felt like I could trust him..."

Natasha arched her brows, concerned for Arizona's well-being before giving her a sympathetic grin, "Tell you what," She leaned closer, "Go beat the crap out of some bad guys," Arizona looked up at Natasha, "Then," She grasped Arizona's biceps comfortingly, "Come back here, and you, me, Wanda, and Ellie can have a girls night,"

The younger redhead seemed to sparkle slightly at the mention of her best friend, "Wanda?"

The ex-assassin smiled, looking behind her, "Yes?" Arizona whipped around to see said Maximoff before her, Wanda was smiling and looked like she was glowing, "I hope you're saying all good things about me, I've got a bad enough reputation as it is,"

Arizona didn't hesitate to engulf Wanda into a tight squeeze of a hug, "I missed you," She muttered, Wanda chuckled, hugging back tighter, "Don't you ever, ever, ever leave without telling me, do you understand?" Arizona pulled away, giving Wanda a parental tone and stern expression.

Wanda laughed, nodding her head, "Okay then," She looked at Natasha with raised brows and an impressed look, "Look at our little Fireball growing up," She smiled down at Arizona, said redhead only being a few inches shorter before looking back at Natasha when Arizona told her she was leaving to scoop bad guys from the streets, "So, how come she's staying with Ellie?"

Natasha shook her head, "I'll tell you when we get back to Ellie's apartment, but first, I need to make a phone call,"