ELEVEN
Amelia sat quietly in the kitchen, swirling a spoon within her cup of tea absent-mindedly. Faintly, if she concentrated hard enough, she could hear a conversation upstairs, barely making out the whispers shared between her brother and Bruce; or she could hear the sounds of the punching bag Bucky was currently working his frustrations and anger out on in the other room down the hall. She found it odd, how if she concentrated hard enough she could make out sounds that were further than a human should be able to hear. The only logical explanation she had for the matter was the experiments Hydra forced on her when they first took her in. Regardless she was amazed by the ability to hear things from far away, and found herself concentrating on that ability while she sat alone in the kitchen.
She wasn't sure what exactly Bruce and Tony were murmuring about, only positive that it had something to do with science like it always does with those two. Growing curious, the redhead pushed herself away from the island, trailing up the stairs after the tinkering noises and the voices of the two scientists. She entered silently, watching curiously, just as she did as a child, what her big brother was doing, fascinated by the movements he made and the things he created.
"What are you doing?" Bucky was beside her, looking over the two scientists with the same amount of curiosity as she was, although she could sense some apprehension in his glaze as well. While she was curious, deeply within her bones she still held some fear for scientists in general, something she was sure Bucky was feeling as well.
"Jarvis can stop Ultron," Tony gave the short answer. Barely looking up from the screen in front of him.
"Uhh," Bucky trailed off, confusion across his face as he looked down at Amelia for clarity, "isn't this what got us into this mess?"
"Yes," Tony called out, sparing them a quick glance, "but this is different."
"How?" Amelia wondered, stepping further into the lab. She ventured to her brothers side, looking over his shoulder curiously. "What's that?" She pointed to the orange mass.
"That is Jarvis," Banner spoke up this time, continuing around the pod that held the created body for Jarvis. "The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes." Banner continued, this time looking to Tony.
Amelia stepped away, joining Bucky at the foot of the pod, the two watching curiously, "I'm gonna say this once." Eyes wide Amelia looked towards Steve, eyes widening even further at the sight of the twins.
"How about "nonce"?"
"Shut it down!" Amelia stepped forwards, surprised to see the twins, when Bucky grabbed her arm remembering the last time they saw the twins and gained painful memories back.
"Nope, not gonna happen." Tony argued back, hoping to ignore Steve but knowing truthful it was useless to try to do.
"You don't know what you're doing." Steve stepped forwards. Amelia stepped closer to Bucky, sensing something was going to happen.
"And you do?" Bruce questioned, "She's not in your head?"
Wanda stepped from behind Steve, eyes glued to Bruce as she spoke before darting towards the redhead. "I know you're angry."
Bruce shook his head, "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."
Amelia looked towards the doctor in alarm, never once hearing the man chose violence as an answer in the short time she has known him.
"Banner, after everything that's happened," Steve began.
"That's nothing compared to what's coming!"
"You don't know what's in there!"
"This isn't a game.."
"The creature-" Pietro moved quickly, cutting everyone off as he unhooked the machines in record time.
"No. No. Go on, you were saying?" The glass floor under the speedster disappears, the man himself dropping down as well leaving his sister and Amelia shouting in worry.
"I'm rerouting the upload," Amelia ducks in seconds, missing the shield as Steve sends it towards her brother. Bucky moves with her, pulling the two of them out of the chaos as Wanda's hands glow the familiar red.
"Go ahead, piss me off," Amelia looks towards Wanda concerned, still worried for the first friend she made despite the terrible memory she brought forth.
She watches concerned beside Bucky as Steve and Tony threw each other around, and Wanda broke out of Banners grip sending him flying away with her red haze. She watches the red haze in wonder, not fully seeing it in the past due to Struckers strict rule of Wanda never using her powers near or around her in fear she would use them to make Amelia remember. It's only when Thor jumped into the room, landing onto the pod and drawing lighting into the room using his hammer, does she pull her fascinated gaze away from Wanda's magic.
Bucky pulls her closer to him, both shielding their eyes from the blinding light of the electricity that Thor gathers. Silence envelopes the room a moment later, the two peaking into the room as Thor steps down from the pod.
"What did you do?" Amelia questions in wonder, looking at the God of Thunder curiously. He was watching the pod closely, head tilted in a manner that reminded the girl of a puppy.
It was only moments later when Thor was thrown from the machine, the created body that was once inside now heading towards the windows towards the top of the room. It froze as it saw its own appearance, silence in the room as everyone watched cautiously.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Amelia laid on her bed, drawing in her sketchbook silently. Her music played in the background, her head bobbing along to the beat as she moved her hand carefully. Her mother's face filled the page, each delicate line and mark drawn with careful precision. Her mother was her idol, the older woman holding herself with so much grace even in difficult times.
The young girl looked up when the front door slammed shut, whispers and giggles floating down the hall a moment later. Eyes rolling in annoyance, she slammed her sketchbook shut, climbing from her bed and heading to the open door. She peaked down the hall, instantly darting back in at the sight of her half-naked brother and his current conquest of the night. She slammed her door shut a second later, annoyed that he had once again brought another random woman into their home. It wasn't anything new, she knew that, but it definitely annoyed her beyond belief everytime she had to try and drown out the sounds him and the girl would make.
Moving across the room towards her side table, the girl grabbed her earbuds, slipping them on so the music from before now played through the tiny speakers instead of the whole room. She fell back onto her bed, opening her sketchbook once again and returning to her drawing of her mother.
She often wondered what life would be like if she was still here. If the accident had never happened. She imagined that her mother would've continued teaching her everything she knew, telling the young girl all the little secrets of life she had gather in her many years on earth. She was sure her mother would've disapproved Tony and his current ways. So sure that Tony would've hidden it much better than he currently was just to avoid that signature mom stance and look their mother would often give them. Her father would've continued to be the workaholic he had been their entire lives, but he still would've been here more than he is now.
She missed them, both her parents more than she often let people see, specifically her brother who was broken from their death. While they were lucky to have Jarvis to guide and take care of them, she still felt like it was her job to be there and take care of Tony. Which is why she didn't let him see how much their parents death affected her.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
"It doesn't make much sense to me, " Amelia sat next to Pietro and Wanda, eyes glued to the floor of their ride to Sokovia. She was doing her best to explain things to them, to explain how exactly she already had such a close relationship to two members of their team. "But he is my brother, " she shrugged her shoulders. "What he used to do was terrible, and there's no excuses. But there is the facts that he stepped up to change it, he did change."
The twins were silent as she explained, until she mentioned Tony as her brother. Then they questioned her, seeing no resemblance in looks or in attitude. "And the metal man?" Wanda question, her words causing Steve and Bucky to look over in curiosity.
Amelia smiled, eyes locked with Bucky's blue ones from across the ship, "James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky, he's a World War II hero." Looking at the twins, the redhead couldn't help the smile on her face as she spoke about him. "He's kind, and sweet, and everything a girl could ever want. He is also the dead husband Strucker was talking about."
"They really wiped your memory?" Pietro questioned, hands fumbling in his lap in his frustration.
"Multiple times," Amelia responded. "It's why Wanda couldn't look inside my mind, they didn't want you to see what they've done or access any of my memories." It was odd how it felt like it was so long ago that she was living at the compound with the twins, when in reality it's only been a little over two weeks since Steve rescued her.
"You're remembering correct?" Wanda questioned.
"Slowly, the emotions came first, especially after the memory you brought forth. Slowly the images are following and giving me some comfort." Wanda looked upset at the mention of the memory she brought further, Amelia having no doubt the redhead saw the memory herself as well. "It helps though, having them with me as I relive the memories."
Pietro raised a brow in question, eyes darting between the two men the older redhead spoke of, "how?"
"They comfort me," Amelia stated. "When I relived our parents death, Tony was there to hold me every night through the night terrors that followed the memory. Bucky was with me every morning, walking me through the good memories I had with my parents or simply holding me as I cried. When I relived my child being ripped from my body, Bucky held me through the night terrors and tears, while Tony let me ramble to him and just provided that sense of safety. They both make me feel safe, something I haven't felt in such a long time, other than when I was with you two."
Wanda reached over, grabbing her hand, "I'm glad that your okay."
"I'm glad you two are here," Amelia stated, smiling softly at the two. While Bucky and Tony were her safety zones, Wanda and Pietro were her best friends. They were the ones, that despite everything, she felt she could speak most freely with and tell everything to. She loved them dearly, scared to imagine a life that didn't involve the two of them in it.
"Me too."