Chapter 36: A Good Day For
Screwing Things Up

"You know the truth hurts, but the secrets kill." —Unknown

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AVENGERS TOWER

LOCATION: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

JULY 13, 2016

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TONY panicked when she fell unconscious, asking FRIDAY to monitor her heart rate and blood pressure. She started to get pale so he ordered the pilot to move faster, cradling her body in his arms. At that moment he almost forgot about what Zemo said about her, still loyal to HYDRA. That it was even after they rescued her that she still had a mission to complete. And yet she decided to rebel against the very organization that raised her and made her own mission to eliminate the remaining survivors of HYDRA.

Meanwhile, the teenager succumbed to a minor coma that lasted almost two weeks. Natasha would visit but nevertheless, Aurora appeared to be sleeping peacefully in bed. Besides Tony, Pepper still felt she had a responsibility to watch over her, even if the pair wasn't on friendly terms. The girl couldn't move but only waited and pondered, hearing everything around her yet unable to do anything. It was strange however that she suddenly got sick and weak, Tony sent Doctor Cho to examine her symptoms.

Turns out that before she left, Aurora was given a pill as a precaution and managed to override her powers temporarily. It was a backup plan from the Secretary of State, thankfully the toxin would be flushed out of her system within days. It was still unknown why she didn't wake up or react but was under careful watch from different doctors who were sworn not to reveal anything. That was until it became the evening that she was able to slowly wake up from her sleep. Adjusting her sore body and eyes to see a figure not too far from her sitting in the chair with a book in hand.

"Mom?! What are you doing here?" The young Stark realized who the person was, shocked to find her at the Tower but what was more terrifying was the evident worry and how exhausted to appear. The goddess peered over the book and had a sigh of relief, reaching forward to check on her daughter.

"Blame it on your father, I haven't heard anything ever since he told me about... well, about the Lagos incident. What matters now is that you're awake," Athena leaned forward to delicately kiss Aurora's forehead tenderly, stroking her cheek as if she was still a little girl.

"... So you know. Are you mad? A-About what I did and why I had to do it?" The teenager questioned hesitantly, fearing what was to come. Sure her father doesn't scare her much but her mother was a different story. Remembering that Thor told her a story of being scarier than any of her siblings, even Ares, the most intimidating of all the Olympians says something about her.

"No... I believe you trusted your instincts and I understand you did it for someone you care about. I too made mistakes," Athena revealed, remembering the bittersweet moments that lead to her biggest heartbreak.

"You?" Aurora asked curiously, often she saw her mother as a perfect goddess since she is the literal representation of wisdom. Intrigued by the new information, the Olympian Queen gently indicated to sit beside her which the girl immediately listened.

"Hard to believe it but... I made the mistake of trusting someone I love. And in return, I lost half my siblings and my father, it nearly cost my life too. I know it's not easy to turn your back on everything you know but it's harder not listening to your heart even if you might lose everything." She revealed with a hint of sorrow on her face, Aurora grabbed her hand and gently consoled her as she knew what it was like to care for someone.

"Bucky's been my guardian since... forever, I had to prove he was innocent, Mom. He's been alone and I helped him get better the last few years, Dad... doesn't understand why I had to do it." The girl pleaded to her mother, understanding that she might get punished by either of them.

"Love... can affect us in different ways. Like right now, your father is fighting for custody over you instead of the US government taking you. He may not understand and be upset about your decisions but he is still fighting for you." Athena wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder, leaning together for support.

"Does Dad know you're here?" Aurora whispered as the goddess perked up at the question.

"Oh no for Zeus' sake, Pepper told me." She said, eventually a nurse came over to check if everything was alright. Aurora asked for Doctor Cho so that she could be cleared and start moving because she hates the feeling of being in a hospital, a makeshift one that is.

"I want to talk to my dad," The teenager insisted, hating how one of the wires was pinching her arm.

"Mr. Stark isn't expecting you to be awake for at least another day–." Doctor Cho declared, checking the monitor for abnormalities although in most of the tests, she was cleared of the toxin.

"What can I say? I'm impatient, Mom, can you help me." The young Stark started to remove the wires and get the clothes that were in a duffel bag. Taking off the white hospital gown and putting on her undergarments before wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, getting a pair of Converse. Her doctor tried to warn her about the consequences but Athena grabbed her daughter's hand and teleported, phasing through thin air.

It didn't take long to find Stark as he was on the phone talking with someone before realizing who it was. Retracting his arm and immediately canceled the phone call, staring between the two. There's a crazy resemblance between them if it weren't for Aurora's petite figure, "Firecracker? Diana?"

"It's Athena, remember?" The goddess recalled calmly, understanding that it would still be a bit difficult to adjust for him.

"Still not used to it, when did you get here?" Tony accidentally used her old name, glancing around but also looking at Aurora who appeared equally calm but anxious.

"Through the portal and don't worry I didn't destroy the ceiling. You know it's actually just the constant movement of atoms and suddenly your body vibrates at a high frequency and essentially phases through anything." She explained, thinking he would try to channel his frustration on her instead of Aurora.

"For me, I just open a portal and walk through it. But yours is so much cooler, Mom." The girl explained, doing a small demonstration by opening a small portal. Enough to put her hand through it and grab a snack from the kitchen, before it flickered away.

"Sorry for interrupting your little conversation but I thought we had a deal," Tony remarked at the goddess, walking forward to look directly at her.

"We did, you keep her for the rest of the year and she goes with me during the summer," Athena stated at the deal they made a year ago, their daughter watching from the sidelines as the adults were talking.

"No, I mean that she's grounded forever." Stark retorted, leaving no room for argument. But he thought wrong.

"Now don't be ridiculous, Tony. Don't act like you never did anything wrong when we first met." She slyly tried to get some leverage as Tony was also quite the rebel when they were dating.

"Although that may be true, Aurora hasn't been completely honest with us. Apparently, she lied about not being with HYDRA and why she was protecting her so-called guardian." He revealed as the young teenager feels their attention goes to her.

"Is that true, darling?" Her mother gently asked, her eyes holding worry while Tony was disappointed.

"Yes, I didn't have the guts to tell you both the truth, I was afraid that they would take me away but also that they might hurt them— the Avengers. HYDRA always wanted me to produce the next super-soldier with Bucky's DNA, if you knew that I was still active... you would see me differently. That... maybe you wouldn't want me anymore." Her voice became shaky, her heart pounding against her ribcage as she awaited their response.

The goddess kneeled and reached forward to embrace Aurora, who was afraid at first but eased at her touch. Athena was... disappointed but not for lying, rather that she didn't tell them what really was at risk for her. She wasn't going to judge her decisions or what else she was hiding but at least give her some support. Her mother spoke firmly, "Sweetheart, I wouldn't trade you for anything in the universe. Nothing could ever change the fact that I love you, this is the reality you grow up with. Both of us may not know much but we can try to understand it if you just tell us. Right, Tony?"

Stark felt Athena nudge him discreetly, almost telling him to agree with her. He merely muttered a small yes, not believing that his ex-lover was going to let Aurora off the hook. The teenager glanced at him, they were still not on good terms ever since the argument at the helicopter. Both were stubborn but also wanted to apologize to each other, something that would take time when it came to the Starks. The goddess hummed in agreement, "Alright that settles it—."

"No not yet, Aurora needs to learn a lesson." Tony disagreed immediately after hearing Athena not giving a punishment.

"Well, what do you propose?" The Olympian Queen remarked, standing up to look directly at him, wondering what he had in mind. Tony really didn't think it through, only that their daughter needed to understand the importance of being a superhero.

"Since she likes having a partner around, I'll assign her to help train a new superhero I found. And you are going to school this fall semester." Stark firmly stated, the teenager abruptly let go of her mother as she held a look of disbelief and annoyance.

"You want me to be a babysitter? No way, absolutely not! I won't do it!" She disagreed as Aurora crossed her arms to appear like she won't budge on her decision.

"It's either you go to school and help train Spider-Man or you can forget about going to Olympus for the next year." Tony declared as he knew that his daughter would do anything to visit her mother and aunts and uncles. The goddess pondered on his proposition, it would be a good idea to have Aurora interact with kids of her own age. Knowing it must be lonely having to be at the Avengers Tower all day with no one to talk to.

"It... can be an opportunity to help you find friends, darling." Athena for once agreed with Tony, the man smirking that he was able to convince his ex-lover. Aurora immediately widened her eyes as she mentally groaned that she had no choice but to agree. For two reasons, she was slightly afraid of her mother, and two she could go back to using her abilities.

"Fine..." Aurora agreed, mentally groaning that she was stuck on babysitting duty. And now she has to go to school? This was some kind of elaborate plan her dad must have been making for a while then.

"It's settled then. Sweetheart, I must return to Olympus but remember you can always talk to me about anything," Athena sweetly reminded her, caressing Aurora's cheek as she'll miss her daughter during the summer. The teenager wore a bittersweet smile before a thought crossed her mind and nearly forgot about it.

"Wait! Before you go, I made your birthday gift... since I missed it." The young Stark waved her hand in the air as blue mist momentarily before a small gift box appeared in her palm. Handing it to her mom with a smile, "I've been practicing my powers... but I hope you like it."

Athena carefully unwrapped it and inside held a beautiful charm bracelet, a replica of Aurora's but with some newer charms that matched the goddess. Immediately, the older woman clasped it around her wrist, admiring it before saying, "Thank you, dear. I'll treasure it forever. Also, your Aunt Aphrodite sent a message, she told me that you'll be meeting your soulmate soon."

"Hold on, soulmate? Oh no, no daughter of mine is getting a boyfriend." Tony retorted, taking Aurora by the shoulders while simultaneously shaking his head in disagreement. He wasn't aware a thing like that exists and now he'll try anything to prevent that from happening.

"You can't stop destiny, Tony." Athena insisted, rolling her eyes at the stubborn man since it was something every Olympian was granted with.

"Maybe not but I'll definitely prolong it." He asserted firmly, not letting go of his daughter. However, the goddess remained calm and slyly pondered about what he said earlier.

"Then you're going against your word of her punishment to make new friends." She gave a small smirk, now it was Tony's turn to slightly glare at her for being it up. Meanwhile, Aurora was trying to process finding her soulmate... she wondered who it would be? Eventually, Athena gave one last hug before letting Tony know that if anything happens to Aurora... well, let's say she won't be happy about it.

Once the goddess returned to Olympus, both Starks took a moment in contemplating what to say to each other next. However, the older Stark simply turned to the girl as he stated calmly, "Now go to your room, we'll discuss this in the morning."

"You're scared of Mom, aren't you?" Aurora teased with a wide smirk, crossing her arms above her chest. He first narrowed his eyes at the joke she made, but he did have to admit that Athena is a force to be reckoned with.

"...A little, she'd take your side over mine in a heartbeat." He agreed as he cracked a tiny smile, a rare moment that they were getting along. Nonetheless, it was short-lived when he received a phone call, glancing down and debating if he should answer or not.

"Fine, I'll go now. Guess it's another trait we Starks have... solitude." She rolled her eyes, heading to her room without looking back. It was getting dark outside as the sun was setting in, since she was going to be bored staying at the Avengers Tower why not sightseeing in New York for a change? The teenager checked if Tony took her stuff like he said he would– and he did. Thus, she looked for her old one from HYDRA in the vent hoping it was still there, sighing in relief when she found it.

"Matt...? Where are you?" Aurora called out to her A.I. so it can sense her, hearing the familiar ringtone while searching for the mirror.

"Good evening Miss Hunter, it seems you have awakened from your slumber," M.A.T.T.H.E.W. replied as the girl finally found it, it was hidden under some clothes in the closet. She opened it to see if she missed any notifications, thankfully nothing was missing. Aurora put on the suit along with the black domino mask as she made sure no one was looking, putting her mirror in the pocket.

It felt... strange wearing the old suit but something about being Phantom was exhilarating to her. Sneaking out the window as she turned around, her back facing the outside world before freefalling. She missed this feeling as if she could control her own death at the palm of her hand. The last rays of the sun casting over New York City were a stunning sight to behold, the wind brushed through her hair as she continued to fall towards the ground. A few meters before reaching the ground, Aurora created small portals to step on and explore for a bit.

She didn't know where to go, only having an idea that she was going to be out for a while. Landing on a nearby building and started jogging to jump onto another roof, thinking it would be easy to conceal herself from wandering eyes. In truth, this is the first time she's seen New York from above instead of on the ground in a car, a distraction she needed. Seeing civilians going about their normal lives... in a way, she envied them, they didn't have to care about anyone besides themselves. And then she didn't, because she had something they didn't... powers.

Of course, if anything, that's what makes her unique. A teenage girl who grew up to be a feared assassin in the world, Aurora was no hero to anyone. But she wasn't a villain either, somewhere in between... like an Anti-Hero. She continued forward, leaping off and on building roofs to create the illusion that she was free. Doing a few tricks to keep up with her training considering it's been a while since she did it. That was until police sirens and fire trucks were heading in a direction, intrigued by what was happening.

"Matt, search for police scanners," She ordered, chasing after the vehicles while maintaining some distance. Her A.I. alerted her that there was an attempted robbery at a corner store, holding some people hostage as leverage.

The thief was holding the cashier against their will and demanding to place the money in a black duffle bag. Aurora was debating to help but if this was live on TV, Tony would kill her for sneaking out and then kill her again just to make sure. Landing on a building across the store to see everything unfold, the girl tested if she could mind controlling the man from a long distance. Nothing was happening but did notice that his actions were much slower, so the effects were barely working on him.

However, a string of webs appeared by the side of the door, and a red and blue masked hero came swinging down and entered like nothing was happening. 'Well that was stupid,' Aurora thought as she felt like the person was familiar. Meanwhile, the hero webbed up the thief, returning the money to the cashier before dragging the thief to the authorities, making his escape when they were distracted. Everything happened rather quickly, somewhat impressed considering he was still new at being a hero.

He landed on a roof a couple of buildings away, looking down until suddenly leaving the scene. Phantom was curious why the sudden change of plans so she quietly followed behind for roughly five minutes, noting he would often observe the streets for any crimes happening. So basically he stops petty crime– not much use of his abilities if Aurora had to say. Once he stayed there for a while she thought might as well give the hero a surprise, recalling their prior interactions in Germany. Slowly coming out of the shadows, the girl called out to him, "So... you're the new hero New York has now. Spider-Man, is it?"

The masked hero seemed shocked, as most people do when he saw Phantom standing behind him. Getting up from his crouching position, unable to phrase a few words, thinking if she was still mad about what he did before. She smirked at his nervous state, getting closer as she glanced down below, "Night patrolling? Kinda lame if you ask me."

"P-Phantom? But I thought the government got you...." Spider-Man finally managed to say something, the girl slightly raised her eyebrows at his question. Perhaps the last thing he did see was her being taken away, nonetheless, she playfully tilt her head to tease the hero.

"Please no one can catch a ghost, just like how you failed to web me up," She crossed her arms above the chest, the masked hero was still astonished to find the infamous assassin with him. Under the mask, he was nervous as he only heard about her so he tried to keep his guard up, trying to memorize her but the night sky didn't help much.

"I-If you're still mad about what happened in Germany, it was Mr. Stark who told me-e too," Peter tried to explain, apprehensive as he saw she chuckled lightly before strolling closer towards him. He was already at the corner of the roof, unsure what she was planning to do with him.

"Well then, I have something you should know about Mr. Stark. He wants me to train you in becoming a better hero or whatever." The young Stark declared, based on Spider-Man's body language, he was taken aback by what she said.

"Is– this some kind of joke?" Peter without a second thought remarked, however, he didn't get the reaction he wanted. Aurora rolled her eyes, somewhat offended that she would make a joke, standing on the edge of the building before looking back.

"Please I wish it was. This is more my punishment than yours," She told Spider-Man, her back facing the ground. Her hair was against the gentle breeze, helping her conceal her face better as she noted the hero observing her close.

"Did he tell you why? I thought I-I impressed him back there," Peter explained, wondering why she had to train him. He was slightly afraid of her in both real life and the stories they say on the internet, how ruthless she is with her victims or a powerful weaponized being.

"You thought wrong, webhead. It'll take more than just swinging around and shooting webs from your wrists to prove you're a hero." Aurora retorted as she grabbed the small dagger out of the necklace and playfully examined it. Spider-Man subconsciously lifted his right wrist in case she wanted to attack so the girl said while putting it away, "I'm not going to use it geez, just thought it would be funny to see your reaction."

"But... you aren't a hero, you're an assassin," Peter recalled from the short recap he heard from Happy, Aurora stayed silent after that. He did have a point but that was something he would have to ask Tony about.

"While that may be true– I'm an Avenger, and you aren't." She remarked with a mischievous smile, knowing she got him there. Thinking Aurora stayed long enough, the girl momentarily glanced down before saying, "Look, you can ask him if you want to... I'll let you know when we start training."

Jumping off the building, Spider-Man thought he was being pranked as he tried to follow her. Aurora made small portals to step on and make her escape but the red and blue hero was trailing behind calling out to her, "Hey wait!"

"We'll see each other again soon, Spidey." The girl declared before distracting him with a portal that went to the Brooklyn Bridge which he managed to barely dodge. The next moment she was gone, another large portal was open until it closed. Peter grunted that he missed his chance to ask more questions, but what concerned him was if Phantom will be following him from now on. He didn't want to take that chance, heading back to his apartment for the night.

Peter needed to ask Mr. Stark if what she said was true, he never got any messages ever since he returned from Germany. Crawling inside his room to change out of his suit, scrolling through his phone to message Happy. His aunt wasn't at home so he went to turn on the living room TV, changing the channels to get any information about Phantom or the Avengers. He did, however, see some about Spider-Man, questioning who this new superhero is. But no updates about her or anyone from Captain America's team, only that the United Nations will hold another meeting to discuss the future of superheroes.

At the same time, Aurora got to the Avengers Tower safely and luckily no one checked to see if she escaped. Getting inside to get out of the old mission suit and hide it for safety reasons, she noticed a small package on her desk. There was no address from the sender however it was addressed to her. Taking a short breath before seeing a medium size wrapped item and an envelope. Deciding to read the letter first, she didn't expect to get it from her guardian Bucky.

Hey Little Star,

I hope you're doing alright and I want you to know that I'm safe. Steve found someone we can trust to help me get better but I promise that this won't be the last time we'll meet. By the time you are reading this, I will be in cryosleep. You're the closest thing to a daughter and you'll be the last thought on my mind. Don't worry about Steve or your friends, he'll rescue the others from the Raft Prison and help them be safe for the time being. I want you to remember that you were always meant for something far greater in life than just being an assassin. Don't let those years in HYDRA define who you really are, a special girl with big dreams. I wish you the best in finding something meaningful in your life, you're still young and deserve to live like a normal teenager. Here's my last piece of advice: find someone you care about as life can get lonely sometimes. Promise you'll do that for me, okay? Take care, Aurora... I love you.

From, The White Wolf

P.S. I left something else in the package for you. Take care of it so that it will be our reason to reunite once again.

The young Stark reaches for the wrapped gift, finding his diary with some small trinkets he collected while she was gone. A bittersweet smile came across her face, cherishing the gift as it eased her worries for a while. Tony came to her room later on, notifying her that she has an orientation at her new high school tomorrow. Saying she'll have some time to do school shopping before school starts, not saying much after that so they said their goodbyes.

Aurora could never imagine that this will change her life forever.