Chapter 2✔

I pulled my phone out of my jean pocket. "Hey.." I trailed off as Ginny's voice shouted into the my ear.

"Where did you go?! Those Avengers guys are gone now, came in after you left and paid their bill and ours too." She said with loud music blaring behind her. Probably still at the bar with Lexi.

"I just went home. I'm fine." I told her, not missing a beat. I heard her sigh and the music died down. She must have gone outside.

"Don't lie to me, El. We don't lie to each other. Not since-"

"I know." I interrupted her, sitting down once I walked into my little apartment. I closed my eyes and took a breath. "They know." I told her once the air left my mouth. There was silence for a moment before I interrupted it. "That Bucky guy was asking me questions and so I might of rumored him to forget me-"

"Ella!" Ginny snapped at me.

"I know, I know. But I freaked out. I'm a freak, Gin." My voice got smaller as I spoke, like a kid who was scared of being scolded for a bad grade.

"You are not a freak, Ella. You are a hero to many." She told me with determination in her voice. "They just don't know you." I smiled at her words as I switched the phone to my other ear and got up to go to the small kitchen.

"Yeah, well tell that to the Avengers. They've been looking for me for years now. Think I'm some murderer or some shit." I told her as I poured myself a whiskey. The memories bubbling up.

"Dad's death is not your fault." Ginny told me. I let out a dry laugh.

"Tell that to him." I took a swig and laughed again. "Oh wait, you can't. He's six-feet under."

"El..."

"No, it's fine." I told her as I took my drink over to the balcony and walked outside, lighting up a cigarette. "I had him jump. That was on me. I influenced him." I told her, wiping a stray tear from my face as I inhaled the smoke, letting it come out of my nose slowly. The memories of that night is one of the main reasons for my smoking problem. Trying to rid those memories from my mind was hard. Sometimes I wish I could just rumor myself to forget. I can't. Trust me, I've tried.

"Ella, you were defending yourself." She reminded me. I shook my head. "If you wouldn't have told him to jump- Ella.. He was going to-"

"Anyway," I interrupted her, "I'll reschedule our little club night for another night. I just had to get out of dodge." I told her as I puffed the smoke out, making circle rings. Sometimes I wish I could be like Alice in Wonderland instead of Cinderella. To be able to just jump down a rabbit hole and escape this world would be a dream come true. But a dream is definitely not a wish your heart makes. It's just hope. Empty, hollow, probably has that weird echo that is just annoying, hope.

"Sure." She sighed, "Maybe club night out of town next time?" She offered. I smiled, she was trying to keep me safe as always. She was the closes to me. Lexi was the daddies girl before his untimely death. Sometimes I wonder how she isn't mad at me. But, I knew she believed me. I just wish things could have been different. That he wasn't the monster he was and I was just a normal girl. Maybe even have my mom alive. Yeah, that would have been nice.

"Sure, maybe take a ferry out to New Jersey? I hear they know how to party." I told her which made her giggle. She loved Ferries as much as Derek Shephard did on Grey's Anatomy, which is where she got her love for them from. The week Derek died on the show was a week of tears and ice cream with Ginny. She was in love with a fictional character. But who could blame her? Everyone gets a fictional love at one point right? Mine was Al Carver on the movie Wild Hearts can't be Broken. A Disney movie we stumbled on from our Cinderella marathons at Lexi's place.

Ginny was a nurse in the hospital near Town Square, which is why she had a love for Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Med, even though she loves to point out what they do wrong in them. Whereas, Lexi was a news reporter for The New York Times. She always did love gossip, but wanted the real news, not fake. She did work for Cosmo once though, when she was younger, she's the oldest between the three of us. She may be the party one, but she is also one of the smart ones. Something they both got from Alex Tanner. But that was the only good thing they got from him. That's at least what I tell them all the time.

"Oo! Can we take that one ferry with the fairy lights? They've got the best drinks for the ride." I rolled my eyes at her excitement.

"Sure, Gin." I told her with a bit of a laugh. "I'm going to bed now. Night sis."

"Awwh come on, El! It's still early!" She laughed at me. "Gosh, you're not even 30 and you act old." I could hear the pout she was wearing.

"Well, I have some errands to run tomorrow and I prefer early morning. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, alright. Night!" She said as she hung up on me. I smiled as I pulled my phone away and took another drag from my cigarette. I looked out into the distance, seeing the Avengers tower standing perfectly in my line of sight. The big A was lit up brightly, bringing hope to any person walking by. I wonder if they were trying to figure out where to find me now. They knew my first name. Knew Lexi and Ginny's names. They knew I had sisters now. I let out a dry laugh as I realized I gave them all they needed to find me. All they had to do was run the different Lexi's and Ginny's who were sisters to find the missing girl who disappeared from her home eight years ago. With them having Tony Stark, the guy who was a genius with technology, they should be able to find me within the hour.

Thinking back on that night now, the look of greed in Alex's eyes as he tried to use me. The way his eyes rolled back as I told him to jump out of the window which ended in his death. Looking out my window to see his body splayed out in odd directions on the pavement. The blood that pooled from around him. The screams of Mrs. Montego, who was our elderly neighbor, who walks her dog, Tito, late at night.

I took a shaky breath as I pushed away from the balcony, putting my cigarette bud in the planter next to me and walking back into my little home. It was a quiet apartment. Small and cozy, for the right person. Mine was empty nearly. The furniture that Ginny helped me get to make it comfy was just enough to make it look like a display piece at the very least. No pictures, no pets, no mess to say someone lived here. And although I told Bucky I had a Tv, I didn't.

Now led me to the question of the day. The Avengers could find me. They knew me. Do I just sit here like a sitting Duck for them to find, which could result in them getting to my sisters. Or do I go to them.

I sighed, grabbing my leather jacket off the stool and grabbing my keys as I left the apartment, locking up behind me. This might be the stupidest thing I've done. But hey, you only live once, right?

That's how I ended up standing right in front of the tower that lurks right outside of my apartment balcony. The tower had no appeal to me. It almost looked similar to a jail. Without the electric fence and guards at every corner of course. Is that what was keeping me from stepping inside? The feeling of being locked up? What if Ginny is right? They could consider me a hero like a lot of children and women do. But then again the Avengers is made up of mostly men. Two women and an android.

"Shit.." I muttered as I thought about turning back and packing my stuff up and running. Running. It was what I was good at. It helped me relate more to the title of Cinderella. The fact that she ran from the Prince at midnight. Of course, she really didn't have a choice. I do. Why was this so hard? I've never done anything to them personally- other than making Bucky forget he had met me. But I'm sure Steve helped him remember. They were best friends from what the museums said. My mother used to take me to those all the time since my grandfather fought the war with them. He used to tell me stories about the amazing people he worked with. The amazing woman he came back home to once the war was won.

Colonel Chester Phillips. I look nothing like him, I know. He married my grandmother, Elaine Rodriguez. That was of course on my mothers side. Grandpa was close to not only Captain Steve Rogers, but also Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark. If they have looked into my history, they might know all of this by now.

I took a breath as I thought of how ironic is was that I was tied to three of the Avengers right there.

"Are you just going to stand there or come inside, Cinderella?" I snapped my gaze to the side to see Tony Stark standing there, fully decked out in his Iron man suit. Did he fly down here? How did I not hear that noisy piece of machine? Was I that deep in thought? Wait..

"What did you call me?" I asked, taking a step back. I had to make sure I could get away if I needed to. Of course I knew I couldn't outrun Ironman. He can fly. Honestly, he could just zap me with his hand and I'd be down for good.

"I ran your picture on the security camera. Ella Regner. Daughter of Charlotte and Firenze Regner. Granddaughter to Colonel Chester Phillips. Ironic, my dad and your grandfather were somewhat friends." He explained, almost like he was reading off my file. He probably was, his suit was very high tech. I scoffed at him.

"My grandfather thought your father was a lunatic." I told him. He always did tell stories of how Howard Stark would pull off insane machinery and experiments. Tony frowned inside his helmet as I stepped back again.

"Are you really going to run? I can fly you know. And we aren't locking you up. We just want to ask you some questions." He told me, honestly. Holding his hands up to show he wasn't going to harm me. His helmet opened so I could see his face. The goatee iconic on his chin, brown aged eyes showing me his signature sarcastic look.

"Promise?" I asked him. His eyes changed from the sarcastic look to one that was sympathetic. His eyes trying to read my situation without asking me anything. How much of my file did he read? What did it include?

"I promise." Tony told me, he was sincere about it. I nodded, taking a breath as he led me into the lobby of the tower. A woman sent Tony a flirty smile with a wave. He smiled and winked at her as he took me to the elevator. Once the doors close, Tony turned to me. "So, you're not going to rumor us to forget you or anything, right?" He asked. The mask of his suit still open so I could see his stern look. I felt the guilt of what I had done to Bucky hit me. I guess Steve told everyone what I had done.

"I didn't think about doing that." I told him, which made him give me a humorless look. Like he was trying to make sure his kid wasn't going to cheat on their math test or something. "I won't. I already feel bad for removing myself from Bucky." He gave me a look of disbelief. "I'm serious. I only did it so he would quit asking questions. And when Steve showed up, I freaked out. I have plenty of people looking for The Cinderella. Having you guys know who I was just made it so others could find me easier." Tony looked deep in thought for a minute as we waited for the elevator to stop.

"So, you've been on the run for a while?" He asked. I nodded, looking away from him.

"A little over eight years now." I looked over at him as he looked to be doing some math.

"How did you survive all those years on your own?"

"I wasn't alone. I took what I could from the guilty. It helped that Lexi and Ginny were there for me after I helped Ginny." I explained. He nodded looking like he was about to say something but the elevator doors opened stopping him. He led me out of the elevator and to the living area, or at least that's what it looked like. The team seemed to be gathered on the couches. They looked up as soon as Tony cleared his throat.

"Look who came to visit!" Tony announced, stepping out of the suit. I saw everyone staring at me, which made me really uncomfortable. Steve and Bucky were staring at me intensely. Bucky was giving me a look, trying to figure me out it seemed. A intense glare settling on his face.

"Uh- Hi." I waved awkwardly at them. Suddenly it felt like someone was poking around in my head. I looked over to the Scarlet Witch. "Could you not?" I told her. She gave me a small sorry.

"Why are you here?" Bucky asked. I looked over at him. I could tell he was mad that I used my power on him. The worse part, he couldn't even remember me using it on him. "Come to make us all forget you?" He snapped at me. I flinched a bit. I saw Steve try to stop him from talking, placing his hand on his shoulder, but Bucky pulled away from him.

"N-no, I-" I stammered, trying to put words together. He was really mad at me. Not that I could blame him.

"Well its not like I can remember you anyway. So I guess you don't need to worry about me." He muttered, walking out. Steve shot me a look.

"Sorry about him. He's had a rough time with memories." He said before running after Bucky. I looked at the others and then to Tony.

"I'm sorry- I didn't know." I said in regret. A woman stood up and came up to me, Black widow.

"Hey, He went through a lot so he's a bit snappy. Don't worry about it." She told me with a small, almost not even there, smile. "Anyway, I'm Natasha Romanoff." I took her hand when she offered it.

"I'm Ella. It's a pleasure to meet you." I responded with a shake of my hand, before pulling back.

"Oh I know. Cinderella. Big fan of your work. Protecting defenseless women and children. You are a true hero." She told me. I let a breath out at the word hero. She saw me as a hero. Like one of them.

"I thought-" I started.

"That we thought you were a bad guy- er villain?" Someone spoke up. I looked behind Natasha to see Hawkeye. "Villain's don't save people on the daily." He grinned at me as he came up to me as well. "Clint Barton. It's fantastic to meet the woman who has saved so many people." I shook his hand, which he held onto for a bit more.

"So why did you guys look for me if you think of me as a hero? You've been sniffing after me like I was a criminal."

"We want you to be a part of the team." A kid piped in. "You get to be an Avenger!! How cool would that be!?" He exclaimed as he bounded up to me like an excited puppy who just got offered a walk around the park. "I'm Parker by the way- I mean Spider-" He hit his hand to his forehead. I let a small laugh out. It looked like he was trying to reboot his brain. "Peter. Peter Parker. Also Spiderman, it's so awesome to meet you! Your alias is so cool! Using a storybook fictional character as your super hero name has made you such a legend!" He shouted excitedly. I cringed a bit at his excitement.

"I didn't actually pick it you know..." I told him, which made him confused. He definitely was resembling a puppy now. Like when you tell your dog there's no more chicken on your plate and they just look so lost at you.

"How did you get it then??" He asked.

"Uh- someone just started to call me it.. I don't really know." I explained bringing my arms around myself. I was feeling really uncomfortable with the small innocent questions this teenager was asking me. I have no idea why, probably because he was just so innocent and excited. I was worried to disappoint him.

"Oh. Well, still! You get to be the third woman on the team!!" He said happily.

"No." I said firmly without any hesitation. Everyone looked at me, shocked. Peter looked even more lost than before, I'm sure if he had a dog tail it would be between his legs. Tony had stopped pouring himself a drink.

"What?" Peter asked at the same time Tony said, "What do you mean No?"

"I'm not joining the Avengers."

Word Count- 2,361

Final Word Count- 3,056