Chapter Text
“It was a booster.” Anastasiya's head was propped on her arms. She looked at Tony as she spoke. He glared at Ava as she delivered their food,” A booster for what?” Natasha hit Wanda in the arm as she attempted to hit Sam with a bread stick.
“Our Red Room made it so we could still go on missions. That we have enough strength to do what's needed.” Nikolai responded with marinara sauce all over his mouth. Anastasiya wrinkled her nose in disgust as she saw Ilaria f ollowing Nikolai’s example and Pepper failing to wipe some of the sauce from the child's face.
“Why does it hurt?” Bruce asked, swiping some food from Loki’s plate which earned him a glare and a smack,” Everything in the Red Room hurts.” Veronica's words made the adults realize that they didn’t know how much these kids endured,” We have to learn to deal with pain and embrace it like a warm cookie.” Veronica and Anastasiya stared at Jordan dumbfounded.
“That's not the right analogy or metaphor.” Ava flicked Jordan's ear bringing in two damp clothes towards Pepper,” Thank you.” Pepper thanked the young woman as she nodded, handing Anastasiya her fork,” Eat just one bite is better than nothing.” Jordan was still rubbing his ear more for dramatics than anything,” What could be better than a warm cookie.” Jordan asked, making Morgan giggle,” A new toy.” Jordan shrugged his shoulders; he had never gotten a new toy so he wouldn’t know.
“A warm house,” Ava said
“Love.” Nikolai supplied
“A new gun,” Veronica said
“Better and newer tech,” Anastasiya added
“Your parents being alive,” Peter added
“Your father's approval and love,” Loki added
“A good childhood.” Bobbi turned to Jordan and swallowed the lump in her throat feeling guilty. Her other children had love, and a warm home, and have never been put through whatever these kids have been through.
“Freedom.” Ava’s words earned nods from everyone. Freedom was nice. Really nice.
“Money. Money’s nice.” Peter looked at Tony as he spoke.
“Do you wanna know what else is better than a warm cookie? Therapy. It’s great!” Pepper said excitedly as she looked at all the teens. She would be finding them a good therapist. One who knew how to handle all their trauma.
“No, that's not better than a cookie.” Jordan sighed, shaking his head,” That wasn’t the point Pep. You missed the point.” Pepper looked around the table to see the adults laughing silently,” It’s not funny.” Pepper hit Tony repetitively with the washcloth,” It’s pretty funny,”
“That wasn’t the point, Pep. You missed the point.” Sam mocked Jordan's words, which made everyone laugh even if some of them (ie, the 9 kids at the table) didn’t understand the joke,” I have to get back to work. Thank you, I appreciate you taking a bite.”
In truth, Anastasiya had taken 10 bites before putting her fork down and Ava gave her two to ensure she knew Anastasiya would probably be able to drink about half if not the whole thing after eating 10 bites.
“What is the Plan? Please tell me you do have a plan. And we’re not planning to bust into the Red Room? This isn’t one of your missions where you can just do whatever and pray that it turns out fine.” Anastasiya rolled her eyes at Ava,” Relax, we are thinking of a great plan.” Which was a lie no one had even brought up strategy plans at all,” Tomorrow we will run through a couple of plans.” Natasha informed them,” Oh my god we’re going to die and get imprisoned in the red room.”
Ava walked away from the table muttering something about “crazy kids and parents” Jordan looked at Anastasiya but she shrugged instead turning her attention to her phone,” We have to go pick up something with Ava so feel free to leave we’ll meet you at Shield tomorrow.”
“Woah did you not hear anything I’ve said? There are rules now you can’t just go off with strangers to do god knows what. The answer is no.” Tony said the teens shared a look,” We didn’t ask a question and Ava is not a stranger we know her.” Bobbi sighed leaning back in her chair,” Veronica you guys might know her but we don’t know her, so no you can’t go with her to do whatever you have to do. You might have not asked for permission but you can’t go either way.” Jordan scoffed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head.
“We’re not asking. We're telling you that we have to go get something. If you don’t like it, fine. You can start your parent power trip after we take down the Red Room.” Nikolai said
“It's not a parent power trip. It's our response-ability to make sure you're safe.” Steve interjected, which made Nikolai roll his eyes,” Yeah you’ve been doing a fantastic job with that.” Steve shook his head and wondered when they would stop using that over them, they had no control over protecting them when they had no clue they even existed.
“But that's the problem isn’t it Rogers? You didn’t know shit because you’re sloppy. No wonder they put the Sokovia Accords in effect. You only see one target that you need to take out, not the whole arena of targets lurking in the shadows as they watch you overlook them in exchange for taking down Hydre, Which by the way is impossible. Anyone who just liked the idea of Hydra can just rebuild it again, and again. There will always be Hydra agents who will want to restore it to its former glory. It’s inevitable.”
“You need to quiet down. You’re starting to sound like a nazi.” Bruce said seeing how some people were trying to peek into their corner while Nikolai went on his rant.
“Funny. We were raised by Nazi’s excuse for not sounding more American. I just came here 2 hours ago.” Jordan chuckled humorlessly.
“Okay enough,” Natasha said, placing her hand on Steve's leg,” You wanna go with Ava fine but Bobbi and I will tag along to be your escort.” The teens looked at each other contemplating the idea before they nodded in agreement.
“Well now that is over can we please eat and get out of here,” Tony said, picking his fork back up. This would be a long journey he never thought he would have to cross. One he didn’t think he had the strength to fight.