ADORE ↠ b. barnes [III]

two

"Hey, frændi." Uncle. She smiled. But after seeing the look on both their faces, she chuckled and spoke. "I'll heal. Soon." She stated, knowing that the pain was just the stone healing her skin.

"Not completely. The blade was made to harm the stones." Vision told her, Nadenka rolling her eyes.

"Then I'll live."

"Mr. Secretary." Steve spoke, the entire team walking into the room where James Rhodes and the holograms were standing.

"You got some nerve. I'll give you that." The man replied, Natasha rolled her eyes.

"You could use some of that right now." She told him bitterly.

"The world's on fire. And you think, all is forgiven?" Ross asked, making Ezekyel give him a look of disbelief.

"We're not looking for your forgiveness. It's worthless compared to everything going on."

"This isn't even your planet."

"Yet I protect it more than you ever will." Ross glared at the alien, Natasha holding Ezekyel's hand since she could see that his yellow eyes were agitated.

"We're not looking for forgiveness. And we're way past asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defender. So we're here to fight." Steve said smoothly. "And if you wanna stand in our way... we'll fight you, too."

"Arrest them." Ross ordered James. The man nodding, almost mockingly.

"All over it." Then he hung up, the politicians disappearing. "That's a court-martial. It's great to see you, Cap." Steve hugged Rhodes then Natasha and Ezekyel right after.

"Well. You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years."

"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star."

Rhodes observed Nadenka, his eyes widening at the sight of the eighteen year old. "You should be two years old and under experimentation. You're their daughter, aren't you?" Steve felt protection rise up in him, knowing that there could be a small grudge against Nadenka because of who her parents were. Nadenka looked at him blankly.

"And you should be arresting us. But you're not, are you?" Rhodes snorted, nodding at her lightly with a smile of approval on his face, which made Steve almost sigh in relief.

"You spend too much time with your uncle, I take it. I'm James Rhodes." Ezekyel almost gave a grin, but his expression remained stoic. Nadenka nodded, stretching her hand out to him; the one that didn't have any blood on it.

"Nadenka Barnes."

"You're no exception to the crappy looks, kid." The blonde smiled at his comment, a voice interrupting the witty reply that she had already come up with.

"Uh, I think you look great."  Their eyes turned to a man by the door, Nadenka tilting her head in confusion as everyone's mouths almost dropped. "Uh... heh... Yeah. I'm back."

"Hi, Bruce." Natasha said, Ezekyel waving at him.

"Nat, Ez."

"This is awkward." Sam said quietly. Nadenka turned to her uncle, her eyes confused.

"Why?" She asked him, Sam sighing.

"He left in a quinjet to god knows where, and didn't come back." Nadenka nodded in agreement, now understanding.