Iron Soul [2]

Chapter 21

Everything felt numb. There was a slight ringing in her ears as she slowly felt her senses start to come back to her. It started with her sense of touch. She felt as if she was laying on her back. There was a stiff object placed underneath her head. She felt a slight pressure on her right pointer finger. There was something underneath her hands that felt almost like paper. 

Her hearing then picked up as it returned to its normal heightened state. She heard beeps repeat after each other, another person's heartbeat, and the slight clamor from a tv. Her sense of smell revealed the strong scent of antiseptics.

Her eyes then slightly fluttered. They felt heavy and she struggled with it for a few minutes. She felt like a log. As if she could sense everything around her, but she could not move or open her eyes to see it. Eventually, she felt her muscles began to relax and she felt a twinge of muscle in her toes. She finally succeeded in getting her chocolate  eyes to open. She opened them, only to clench them at the amount of brightness in the room. She cracked them open to reveal the staleness of the room. She looked to see what she had been feeling was the sheets and pillow of a hospital bed.

The beeping was a heart monitor and the tv was from a small tv in the corner of the room. Her mind was fuzzy as she tried to figure how she got there. Her first thoughts went back to the car accident all those years ago. But she knew that wasn't right. Thoughts were spinning around in her head as she tried to figure out why she was in there.

Memories then hit her like a brick and she raised a slightly shaky hand. Her fingers were now dainty and slim. She looked around for a mirror, but finally saw her phone sitting on the table. She turned the camera towards her and looked at herself on the screen. Her cheeks were no longer chubby with baby fat, but with defined cheekbones. Her face looked older and more worn. It was not the face of a little girl staring back at her, but a young woman.

It worked. 

"Glad to see you're finally up." 

Her eyes darted to see who had spoke. She was met with the kind, blue eyed, blonde haired 90 year old man himself. She set her phone back down and smiled as he sauntered over to hug her. He wrapped his arms around her as best as he could, since she was laying down. He pulled back and inspected her for anymore wounds.

"You had me worried sick," he shook his head. "What we're you thinking? Natasha called and said you weren't waking up. They stabilized you there and then she got a jet and flew you back here. You're dad would kill me if anything happened to you."

"I'm sorry. I'm fine, I promise. Just healing," she assured. 

Steve examined over her in awe at how well her plan had worked. He hated to admit that her plan had ended up working out, despite his criticism for her disregarding her safety. He just wanted to keep her safe. He had promised Tony he would take care of her and make sure she stayed safe and out of trouble.

"How do you feel?" 

"I feel fine," she spoke. "It feels weird. Like I woke up in someone else's body." 

"I know what you mean," he reminisced. "That's how I felt after the serum." 

Ada smiled at him as he reciprocated the action. The two did not share a lot of moments like these together, so it was a nice change of pace. 

———————

Ada was discharged the next day. When she arrived at the apartment, she received a phone call from Tony, in which he yelled at her for going against Steve and putting her well being in jeopardy. After he got that out of his system, the two then shared a laugh about her not following  rules set in place, much like her father. That led to Ada wondering when she would be able to move to New York with her father.

The truth of the matter was, neither knew. No one in the government had accounted for a miraculous growth of a child to where they went from 13 years old to a 21 year old. For the mean time, Ada still had to go to therapy sessions and live with Steve in his apartment in DC. 

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Still no."

"Oh I forgot I'm a grown ass woman who can go and do it herself," Ada stood and headed towards the door. Coming back as an adult certainly cause Steve a headache. Especially since she technically was an adult and could make her own decisions. 

"Language and that's not happening."

Ada turned and quirked her brow. "Since when are you the boss of me anymore?"

"Since Tony left you here," he challenged. "You might be physically older now, but you live in my apartment."

"I could skip town if I wanted to."

"You have to stay here until they figure out the situation with you and your father. You're not getting past me and SHIELD."

Chocolate collided with crystal blue. The younger woman tilted her head to the side as she folded her arms over her chest. The super soldier took a deep breath as the woman's gaze intensified. He groaned as he tilted his head back before looking at her again.

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Yes, just...don't get a dog that makes a mess everywhere."

"Don't worry, Steve. It's gonna be fun." She picked up her phone as she began to walk to her room. She called back, "Besides, dogs are supposed to have a lot of health benefits."