November's POV
We tried to help as many people as we could until it started to get late and we had to head back to the training base.
The others decided to stay the night at the training base, and as we walked into the entry of the center, my dad was standing there with his arms crossed.
"Dad," I say, taking a step back, having never seen him like this.
"Morgan, your mom is in the kitchen waiting for you. November, go to your room; I'll be there in a moment, and the rest of you GO HOME!" He practically yelled at all of us, causing us all to run our separate ways.
When I got to my room, I quickly changed into clean clothes, not knowing when my father would come up.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" my father demanded as he barged into my room and slammed the door shut.
"You know I didn't want you to fight. You know I don't want you to leave this place unless Wanda is with you. You know I don't want you training." My dad said, walking closer and closer to me, causing me to back into the wall just like what Fury made me do.
Suddenly I sensed the feeling of fear and coldness wash over me. I wanted to scream, to cry, to kick, to fight, to curl into a ball, to sob, to be a teenager for once, to be free.
"You don't deserve anything I've done for you; you just act like you don't care!" My father yelled, towering over me.
Suddenly something in me snapped; yes, I saw Nick Fury combine into him, yes, I wanted to scream for help, but no one ever stood up for me other than Stephen. Now it was my turn to stand up for myself.
I shoved my father as hard as I could, throwing him into the wall by the door, not knowing the strength I was capable of.
"Then you shouldn't have stolen me from Stephen, you shouldn't have locked me in here, you shouldn't have died!" I yelled at him as tears started to form in my eyes.
"Ember," he said, shaking his head.
"Don't Ember me, Dad. No one ever listens to the child, especially you and the fucking government. And maybe if you did, you wouldn't have died; maybe I wouldn't have been tortured and raped and had to run for my life," I yelled as tears started falling from my eyes.
"November, I wanted to, but I had to. I wanted to; I took care of you; I raised you," he said, standing up, looking like a weak puppy.
"NO YOU DIDN'T," I yelled, throwing a glass cup at him. "For as long as I can remember, it was Bucky who played games with me, it was Bucky who dressed me every morning, and Stephen was the one who made me smile; he was the one I crawled into bed with when I had a nightmare, he was the one who held me while I cried over your death, he's the one who found me outside, he's the one who didn't die, he's the one who listened to me. It wasn't you; it was Bucky and Stephen who took care of me!"
"Ember," he said, looking sad as if he wasn't the reason this was happening.
"Get out," I demanded, pointing at the door.
"Please just—" He started to say until I cut him off again.
"I said GET OUT!" I yelled, throwing another glass at him.
He scrambled as he ran towards the door and threw it open and shut it as soon as possible.
When I was sure he was long gone, I collapsed on the floor sobbing.
It was midnight, and I was barely able to crawl into my bed when the door opened and someone walked in.
As soon as I felt the arms around me, I knew it was Stephen.
"Stephen," I whispered, sitting up and trying not to cry even harder.
"It's okay, Nove, I've got you," he said, pulling me into his arms.
I started to cry harder and harder until I fell asleep.
When I woke up late the next day, I saw that Stephen was gone and the shattered glass was cleaned up.
I slipped out of bed and put on some clothes, then I set out to get a protein bar without seeing my father.
When I walked into the kitchen, only Stephen was in there sipping a cup of coffee while reading the book I gave him a month ago.
"Your father and Bucky are with Peggy and Elizabeth in the city," he said without looking up.
I went to the cabinet and grabbed one of the protein bars, and then I turned back to Stephen.
"I'm going to go for a run; if you would like to join," I said, walking over to him to give him a hug.
"You know I won't be able to keep up with you," he said, laughing as he hugged me back.
"Yet you know you want to," I said as we pulled away from the hug.
He shook his head and then said, "Only because I love you."
"I love you too," I said, smiling for the first time since talking to the police yesterday.
I have run from myself my entire life; it never worked, but it eased my brain for a while. Stephen was able to keep up with me for a lap until I sped up too fast for him to keep up. I'm not sure when he sat down on the bench to rest, but he did, and I kept running faster and faster.
When I'm running, every worry goes away; I'm free. I'm away from myself, from the stress of being an Avenger, from being a teenager, from the expectations of the world, from everything.
I'm not sure how long I've been running, but I know it's been a while.
When I walked over to Stephen, he was on the call with someone, but before he responded to what the person said, he saw me and hung up.
"What was that about?" I asked, nodding towards his phone.
"Don't worry about it," he said, looking at me softly. "What were you running from?"
"Everything," I responded, looking over at a bird that flew onto the lamp post beside us.
"Do you want to go get some ice cream?" Stephen asked me, and I nodded my head.
I knew that to get ice cream I had to go into the city where my dad was, but I was with Stephen, and when I was with Stephen, everything ended up okay.
We sat at a small table outside the shop as we began eating our ice cream.
"Hey Stephen," I said, looking up at him.
"Yes," he said, giving me a small, calming smile.
"Last night, did you hear anything?" I asked, and I saw his face harden with pain.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't hear most of it," he said, looking up at me.
I nodded my head and then said, "When he first walked in there and was yelling at me, he kept walking towards me, and I kept walking backwards until I hit the wall."
Stephen nodded his head, telling me to keep going.
"Suddenly he was even taller than he was before, and he looked more like a killer; his face started to flash between his and Fury's, and I kept wanting to run and hide; I wanted to run to you," I said, looking down as I felt tears start to flood my eyes.
Stephen nodded, and then he stood up, walked to my side of the table, and hugged me.
"Can I ask a question?" he asked as we pulled apart.
"You just did, but yes," I said.
"Why did it remind you of Fury?" he asked as he sat back down in his seat.
I hadn't told anyone about what happened while I was kidnapped by Hydra; I knew there was going to be a day I would have to tell him, but I knew I would break if I did that now.
So I ignored him; for the first time, for as long as I can remember, I didn't answer Stephen's question, and he didn't push.
When we finished our ice cream, we decided to go to Long Island and walk around.
Suddenly I froze; Stephen turned to me and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Me, Arlo, and Billy," I said as realization came to me.
"Sorry?" Stephen said, looking at me confused.
Suddenly I pulled out my phone and texted, "Hey Jeff, do you want to get a DNA test with me to see who our mothers are?"
"What's wrong, Nove?" Stephen asked, sitting on the bench beside me.
"Yesterday when Hydra came to the bakery, my friend Jeff was showing us this yellow mystical mist he could create, and then Wanda and a kid named Billy came into the bakery. Wanda froze when she saw Jeff, then left, but Billy warned us something was coming and stayed to fight with us, but while I was escaping from Hydra, I created this purple mist like Jeff's and Billy's, and the three of us were all using it at the same time," I said, looking over at Stephen.
"Okay, why are you bringing this up?" he asked, looking confusedly at me.
"Because it looked like the same type of mist Wanda can produce," I said, looking at him.
"It's probably just a coincidence," Stephen said, standing up.
"Probably," I said as I felt my phone buzz.
I pulled out my phone and saw that Jeff texted me back, and it read, "Yeah, when do you want to do it and where?"
"Is it noon tomorrow at the DNA office on 57th?" I texted back.
He sent me a thumbs up in response.
"Who is that?" Stephen asked.
"Jeff, he and I are going to get DNA tests tomorrow," I said, looking up at him.
Stephen nodded his head, smiling.
"What?" I said, laughing.
"You know your father doesn't want you to find out who you are, right?" Stephen said.
"Exactly why I'm doing it," I responded.
He chuckled, and we decided to walk back to the training base.
When I went up to my room, I saw my dad sitting on my bed holding one of the pictures I have on my nightstand.
"What are you doing here?" I asked bluntly, not wanting to see him.
"I want to talk to you," he said, looking up at me.
I rolled my eyes and went over to my windows to open them up.
"Ember, please," he said, standing up.
"Normally I would never have stood up for myself in front of anyone, especially you," I responded, turning to look at him.
"Why?" he asked, sitting down on my bed.
"Because to every single person here, except Stephen, I'm just the kid. I'm the kid everyone has to lie to; I'm the kid everyone has to protect; I'm the kid who is the backup plan; I'm the kid who has had to save everyone," I responded, walking towards my door.
"What do you mean, the backup plan? What do you mean, the kid who has to save everyone?" My father asked, standing up.
"Fury, Bruce, Wanda, Pepper, Clint, and Thor only come to me when they're losing a fight or need comfort after everyone else is fighting or everyone else said no. Fury was sending the team on death missions, and when I realized it, I took it into my own hands to fix his plans and hope he didn't know. I got an hour or two of sleep every night for two years until I was kidnapped," I said, walking out of the room.
"Ember," my dad said, walking towards me.
"You're the one who didn't listen. I tried to warn you; I knew something was off, yet you still didn't listen. Stay away from me until you prove I can give you my trust," I respond, walking out of the room.