35

Steve's pov:

"Does she know I'm here?"

Steve froze at her words. Did she-? Did she not know that Katherine was-? Steve thought about it. It made sense that she wouldn't know. Until Steve had brought her up, Ashlyn had never wanted to know about her mother. Steve clenched his jaw. He never thought that he would have to be the one to tell her. He didn't want to, but she deserved to know. Ashlyn was watching him carefully, Steve knew that she was trying to read him so he kept his face natural.

"Does she?" Ashlyn asked again.

Steve swallowed.

"Katherines.... Well, she's..." Steve didn't know what to say. How do you tell the daughter of your ex-girlfriend that her mothers dead? Steve didn't know how Ashlyn would react. She had never wanted to find out about Katherine so maybe-? Steve sighed.

"Katherine's dead"

Ashlyn's face remained neutral but Steve could see her eyes widen slightly. His heart broke slightly when she let out a small

"Oh"

Ashlyn's pov:

"Katherine's dead"

Ash froze. She's dea- what?!

Ash had spent her entire life thinking that her mother just didn't want her and that was why she sent her to live at that awful place. But now-

"Oh..." Ash wasn't sure how to respond to that.

Was she sad? Ash wasn't sure. She had never met Katherine, but she always thought that her mother was out there somewhere. As much as Ash hated to admit it, a small part of her hoped that someday she would be able to meet Katherine.

There was silence for a few minutes. Steve was watching Ash, Ash was staring blankly at the wall. She wasn't going to cry, she has never met her mother, nothing has changed, but still-

"I'm gonna go" Steve pointed to the security camera in the corner of the room "Call if you need anything."

With that Steve left the room, leaving Ash to think. Ash had kept the picture Steve had given her of her mother. She had placed it securely under her pillow at the apartment. Ash didn't know what made her want to keep it, but it was comforting somehow. It reminded Ash that she didn't need or want anything to do with Katherine. That the only piece of Katherine that she wanted was that little photograph. But now, Ash wasn't sure what she wanted.

----(time skip)----

It had been a few hours since Ash had last heard anything from the Avengers. She had stayed still for the most part. Her wrists were slightly red from the few times she had tried to break free from the chains. However, they wouldn't budge so she was still stuck to the bed. There was a sudden knock at the door and Ash's head shot up. She said a casual

"Come in" And the door opened revealing Bucky, with a tray of food.

"Figured you might be hungry," He said as he closed the door behind him and walked further into the room.

"A bit" Ash muttered. Her mood had changed ever since she had found out about Katherine. She didn't feel all that confident or cocky anymore and she hated it. She wanted everything to go back to normal, she didn't want to feel like this. Ash wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling, sadness, regret, anger, relief? She wasn't sure.

Bucky set the tray down in her lap and lifted the top of the hospital bed so that she was now in a sitting position. He also loosened her chains so that she would be able to bring the food to her mouth. Ash looked down at the food he had brought her. It was two slices of cheese pizza and lemonade. There was also a donut on the side which made Ash smile slightly. In all truth, Ash was very hungry so she immediately brought one of the slices to her mouth and began eating.

"How's Maya these days?" Asked Bucky

"She's fine, probably wondering where I am but she'll be fine," Ash said as she took a sip from the lemonade.

"I can let you make a call if you want to let her know what happened"

Ash thought about it for a moment, she probably should tell Maya where she was, she would then also be able to tell Jackson who could tell the rest of her team that Marcos was dead.

Ash nodded and Bucky took out his cellphone. He handed it to Ash and she typed in Maya's number. Ash wasn't worried about Tony being able to track where the call was going too because Maya had installed walls to prevent that. The phone rang a few times before the line clicked and she heard Maya's voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Maya, it's me"

"Ash? Where the hell are you? Jackson said you disappeared"

"I jumped off a helicopter, landed in the ocean, now I'm tied to a hospital bed, it's a long story but I'm fine"

"Oh, my Goddess Ashlyn, one of these days-"

Ash laughed a little as she heard Maya muttering to herself.

"Tell Jack, the mission's complete, and tell him to tell the others" Bucky tilted his head when he heard Ash say Jack's name, and Ash knew that he would ask about it after.

"Do you want him to tell Oliver?"

Ash hesitated, She knew Oliver would want her dead once he knew the mission was completed and that Hydra no longer had a base. But Ash didn't want Maya, Liam, or Jack to get caught in the crossfire. Oliver wouldn't be able to hurt them if she was in the Avengers Tower.

"Yeah, tell jack to let him know."

Maya agreed and Ash hung up the phone, handing it back to Bucky who slipped it into his pocket.

"Who's Jack?" Ash knew that this would be the first thing Bucky asked her and she already had her answer ready

"Maya's boyfriend"

"And who are the others?"

Ash had also expected this question

"The others that you fought at the wedding" Bucky nodded but didn't say anything.

Ash ate her food, Bucky occasionally making a comment or a joke. When Ash finished the last bite of her donut Bucky took the tray back.

"Do you prefer to sit or lay down?" He asked.

"Sit"

Ash held out her wrists so that Bucky could tighten them again but he shook his head.

"Steve seems to think we should leave it like this," He told her

"And what do you think?"

"Well you haven't tried to kill me or escape and that's good enough for me."

Bucky left the room leaving Ash to her thoughts again.

She figured that was the last time she would talk to anyone for the day but she was proven wrong when a few minutes later the door opened again revealing Natasha.

"We checked over some of the Hydra information we have" Natasha started talking and Ash listened. "Turns out you were correct, Tyler was a spy"

Ash didn't say anything but just nodded. Of course, she was correct, she's a freaking genius, well Maya was the genius but Ash was pretty smart too.

"What are you willing to tell us about Phoenix?" Natasha asked after a few seconds. Ash thought for a moment. Now that Oliver was her main problem she could definitely use the help of the Avengers to take him down considering he had a few hundred assassins at his beck and call.

"An organization" Ash started, Natasha was listening intently but Ash could also hear a few other heartbeats from outside the room. "They get children and use them for their own gain"

"What do you mean by use them?" Nat asked

"The children get trained, three different departments, Brains, Strength, and mechanics. The kids get sorted into one of the three groups" Ash told them. She didn't want to say too much, she didn't feel like telling the Avengers her whole life story.

"What happens then?" Asked Nat. Ash looked her dead in the eyes and Nat just looked right back. Ash sighed and began to speak again.

"Then they train"

"You're saying this in the third person, weren't you part of Pheonix?" Ash didn't respond and Nat took that as an opportunity to talk again "What group were you put in?"

Ash wasn't going to start talking about her time at the Orphanage. If the Avengers wanted to know what they did there then she would tell them, but she wasn't going to start complaining about how horrible her life was. Ash kept her answer simple as she responded,

"I was put in strength, Maya was put in Brains."

There was a few moments of silence, Nat seemed to be thinking

"We're more alike than you think you know," She finally said. Ash tilted her head in confusion. "We both grew up learning to fight but had no choice, yet after we escaped we stayed in this lifestyle"

Ash thought for a few moments, what Natasha was saying made sense, they were similar in that way however Natasha had missed one minor detail

"And yet that's where we're different, you fight to save, I fight to kill."