Nocturnus | Marvel AU (DISCONTINUED)

05 | The Ace of Hearts

Nobody knew Nadia's past better than Carol, her faux aunt from another mother – or whatever the saying was. Even if Nadia hasn't seen her in like two years. She hated how infrequently Carol came around.
If anyone could recite Nadia's life the most accurately, she'd put her money on aunt Carol. From her birth until recently, Carol definitely knew Nadia's story. Nadia woke up on the floor as usual. "God, my neck hurts," She mumbled to herself.

She groaned and pushed herself up and onto the couch, it wasn't much more comfortable than the floor to be honest. "Man, you seriously need to invest in a better couch. I'm going to get arthritis at 16." There wasn't any sound or response from Matt, "Must still be asleep," Nadia shrugged and decided to go to the bathroom.

Something red on the door caught her eye, blood. Nadia pulled the door open to find Matt holding a towel against his nose, "It's just a nosebleed, don't worry."

"God I thought you died or something for a second." He chuckled.

"Nobody's out to get me except this dry ass air." Matt constantly cursed around Nadia and in that moment she realized he was why she had such a bad mouth.

She nodded and left him to take care of his nosebleed, Nadia wandered into the kitchen still half asleep. "Does he have any actual food?" Nadia spoke to herself as she pulled open the fridge to find... nothing but the leftover pizza. "I'm gonna run to the deli, want anything?" She yelled in the general direction of the bathroom.

"No it's ok, I gotta go meet Foggy in–" She heard something clatter and then the sound of a robotic voice reading the time out loud, "Shit–I'm supposed to be there right now."
Nadia took that as her cue to leave. "Alright I'll clear outta here." She gathered her things and stole the change off the coffee table, "I'm taking this five bucks k?"

"Yea whatever! Be safe kid." She mocked him under her breath, "I heard that!"

—

Nadia ended up going on a walk with her newfound freedom. She could walk around in the daytime no problemo. It was like fucking magic. Nadia looked at everything she could, looking through those glasses felt like seeing the world for the first time.

There was no more hiding in the shadows, covering her eyes from the pain... just enjoyment of the beauty of the world during the daytime. It made her incredibly happy and sad. She missed out so much. She could have gone out with the other kids in the snow at the boarding school... she could have made more than one friend.

But god did it still feel so exciting to be running through central park around people. There were dogs and even cats being walked by their owners. Children threw coins in the fountains, food trucks were set up at the edge, it was so beautiful seeing humanity in the crowded city for the first time.

Nadia felt like crying, whoever made these for her deserved a big fat hug. She owed them the world.

Then her phone rang and she realized her dad called her three times while she slept, "Oh shi–Hello?"

"Are you okay?!" He wasn't angry... phew. "I tried calling you four times already."

She wracked her brain to figure out why but nothing came up. "Really? That's weird my phone didn't ring at all. It shows up in my notifications but I haven't been on it."

"Where are you?"

"Central park, taking in the sights." She smiled to herself, looking around her slowly.

He sighed, clearly relieved. "Oh, thought you ran off again–well you did but at least you're ok. Did you eat anything yet?"

"Yea I got a sandwich from that deli."
"Ah, okay. I won't be home until tomorrow, you got a key on you?"

She nodded, "Always. Thanks for telling me. When do I uh–when do I start school?" Nadia began chewing on her ring finger nail.

"Wednesday, which I think is stupid but their schedules work different I guess. I can take you the first week or so but then you gotta ride the bus."

"Okay, what about the internship thingy?"
Charles cleared his throat, "That's in the afternoon, they have transportation for you."

Nadia stared at the ground and nodded, "Alright... how will I get home?"

"I uh, I have a friend who agreed to pick you up for the meantime so I can get some decent hours in."

"A friend?"

"You'll like them I promise." She rolled her eyes, "Listen kiddo, I gotta go–I love you–please stay home most of the time I'm gone. Do the dishes too."

"Okay dad, I love you too. Bye." She hung up and sighed, wishing she could just stay in the park forever. "God, I got to do the dishes," A groan escaped her as she turned right into a body.

The woman's eyes were wide with worry as Nadia gasped, "You're the Ace of Hearts!" and "You alright kid?" Were spoken over one another.

The pale blonde helped a gaping Nadia up, "Gotta watch where you're going!"

"Yea I know, thanks." She was in complete awe, "You're so cool you know?"

Ace laughed and turned around, "Sure, don't run into anyone else eh?"

Nadia nodded quickly, too excited to speak.