3rd Person POV with the Avengers

After restraining Loki to where he wouldn't be able to escape, the team met up at a blocked area with Dr. Selvig to send Thor and his brother off.

Instead of her superhero suit, Ash was wearing a black shirt under a larger button up red flannel shirt and some dark jeans which hid some one-size-too-big sneakers underneath as everyone wore more casual clothes except for two.

Thor, still in his armor, shook hands with everyone until he got to Ash and she leaped up to give him a hug that returned with one hand to pat her back.

"Have no fear Lady Phoenix, I will return soon." Thor assured her before putting her down and she went to help Bruce load the Tesseract into a glass tube.

As soon as Loki took the other end, he and Thor were off, back to Asgard.

"'Lady Phoenix'?" Bruce questioned.

"I think he was referring to my new hero's name. Ion Phoenix."

"I still say you should've run that by us before making it a thing." Clint joked before Tony cut in,

"Are you married to that name or is it still in the air?"

"Well I think it sounds geeky... but fierce." Nat interjected as she handed Bruce a duffel bag and Ash a bright red backpack from the car she and Clint came in.

"Thank you?"

"See ya round kid." Nat smiled before she turned her back to head back to base with Clint as Dr. Selvig left in his car, and Tony, Bruce, and Ash left in one of Tony's cars.

"So when we get to the Tower we'll run full diagnostics make sure you won't be goin' boom anytime soon and then we'll go pick your room, sound good?" Tony directed to Ash.

"As long as there are no needles." She pointed in his face as she said that.

"Deal." Tony nodded once and Bruce ruffled her hair a bit saying,

"I'll make sure of it too."

Ash laughed a little bit before she felt her eyes start to get heavy as all the excitement started to catch up to her.

"Take a breather Red, we'll let you know when we're there." Tony told her as they stopped at a stoplight.

Ash just nodded her head and closed her eyes, falling asleep within seconds.

"She must've been exhausted to fall asleep that fast." Bruce noted as Ash started to lean her head to the side.

"No kiddin', she completely fried, burnt, and melted anything that came near anyone, she's got the power, she just needs some training."

Bruce looked like he was about to argue but stopped when he realized that Tony had a point; there was no way someone like Ash would be able to walk around like a normal person without someone wanting to capture and study her, she'd at least need to learn to defend herself without her powers.

"But hey," Tony thumped a hand on Bruce's shoulder, breaking him out of thought, "Don't worry Pep's gonna love her and make sure she's taken care of."

"Imma hold you to that Tony." Bruce joked lightly as they finally got past the stoplight and continued their way to Stark Tower.

Short Driving Time Skip

A few minutes later, the three of them arrived at the driveway in front of the Stark Tower lobby.

"We're here." Bruce woke Ash up with a light shake and, to his surprise, she didn't wake up with a jolt like she had before on the jet to the Helicarrier, showing either just how exhausted she was or how much she was beginning to trust herself in her new surroundings. They got out and got their things together just as Pepper was making her way over to them, rushing as fast as she could in her high heels, toward Tony in particular.

"Tony..." She threw her arms around his neck before pulling away and hitting his arm scolding,

"Don't you ever go flying through a space portal ever again!"

"Pep not in front of our guests." Tony told her through a corner of his mouth as she took notice of Bruce and Ash standing behind them.

"Hi," Pepper switched tones to a more friendly cheerful one as she made her way over to them and shook their hands before introducing herself, "Pepper Potts, nice to finally meet you Doctor Banner and...?" She tilted her head as she motioned to Ash.

"Lumna, but you may call me Ash. A pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms. Potts." Ash nodded her head politely as she introduced herself.

"So polite." Pepper acknowledged before turning around telling Tony,

"Let's get them inside before the crowd starts showing up." Pepper motioned to the street where already a few people were snapping photos with their phones, pointing at Ash in particular.

"C'mon." Bruce led Ash away she was waving to them in a friendly manner.

"OK," Pepper pulled out her phone and started typing something in as JARVIS announced,

Welcome home sir.

"First things first, we need to add Dr. Banner and Ash's voices to the vocal recognition security system." Pepper held her phone out to the two of them,

"Banner."

"Lumna."

Vocal identification set. JARVIS announced after their voices were processed.

"Alright, let's get you to the Med Bay." A new voice sounded from behind them and they turned to see,

"Dr. Miller!" Ash exclaimed happily when she saw that the "newbie" had survived the Helicarrier events, dropping her backpack to the floor.

"Good to see you too Ash."

"Fury told me that she would be checking in on her favorite patient every now and then." Pepper notified Tony while Ash went to give Dr. Miller a hug.

"Let's go shall we?" Miller gestured ahead of her and she and Ash were on their way, chatting about how this time there'd be no needles involved in this checkup.

"She's really branching out." Bruce remarked as he watched them go before they disappeared around a corner after picking Ash's backpack up from the ground.

"Yeah, Copper Top managed her own while you were *ahem* taking your time gettin' to the fight." Tony raised an eyebrow as he coughed in the middle of his sentence.

"Yeah..." Bruce looked down a little at the "I just hope she doesn't grow up too fast, I still want her to enjoy being a kid I mean she's only 12."

"So what? Just because ya grow up doesn't mean you have to grow up y'know, I mean look at me." Tony spread his arms out at the last part of his sentence. Bruce grinned as they made their way up to Tony's lab to help Bruce settle into his new workspace.

A Few Hours Later

"Alright, you're good to go Ash, I'll see you in a few weeks." Dr. Miller gave Ash a handshake and a quick hug before she had to leave.

Ash, swishing around the candy she had been given in her mouth, made her way over to the new lab where she and Bruce would be working in when she saw Pepper making her way there too.

"Hi Ms. Potts." Ash ran up to her to catch up with her.

"You can just call me Pepper, Ash." Pepper smiled as she let Ash walk beside her as they climbed the stairs up to the main labs.

"How are you liking Earth?" Ash looked up at Pepper with a questioning look.

"I heard you 'weren't from around here' and with the flying aliens that came out of a portal that opened in the sky, I believe it."

"I am beginning to enjoy being here and as for my 'not being from around here', I am still unsure. According to Thor I might be a Chrysinthean, but I am still unsure of what I am exactly."

"Why?"

"When I landed on this planet, I crashed into a 'power plant' and the impact made me lose some of my memories, I only remembered my name and that my planet had been destroyed, but not much else." Ash pulled her pendent out of her pocket before opening it up to show Pepper the pictures inside as they stopped walking so Pepper could examine the photos.

"This is my mother and my little sister, I can't remember their names, but I know they're my family."

"And who's the boy in this one?" Pepper pointed to the bushy-haired boy that had his arm over Ash's shoulder while she did the same to him.

"I don't know... but I know he's not related to me familiarly."

"He must be very special if you carry a picture of him around then." Pepper smiled as they began walking again, Ash still looking at the boy.

"That is exactly what Natasha said, is that supposed to mean something to you humans that I would not understand?"

"Well," Pepper sucked in her cheek in thought before saying, "It really depends on the situation and given your... situation I guess it would be better to wait and see if you remember instead of jumping to conclusions."

"Yeah I guess that would be better if it wasn't so much fun to do." Tony butted into the conversation as they arrived at the main lab.

"Always with the snappy answer." Pepper commented somewhat critically.

"Ok, so you'll be bunking down in the room at the end of the hall so feel free to start settlin' in." Tony pointed to the room that was at the end of the hall and Ash nodded in thanks before picking her backpack up from where Bruce had left it.

When she made it to the room, she looked around and gaped at how it looked: a large bed already made with some white and pastel red striped sheets and pillows, the walls were painted a light orange color, the ceiling was still white but she could see little light green crystals spread out like stars, on the wall opposite from the bed was a large flatscreen tv, there was a metal desk with a matching chair in one corner with a lamp on top and a notebook with a pen next to it, and a bookshelf stood on one side of the bed, already stocked with fiction, science textbooks, and Earth informational books.

While she was still staring at her new surroundings, she didn't notice Bruce standing behind her until he asked,

"It's nice right?" And she turned to face him, nodding with her mouth still partly open and her hands on either side of her face, making him chuckle at her reaction.

"I figured if you're gonna be living here while I'm away, you'd want it to be a little more homely."

At that Ash's hands dropped down and she looked distressed before he continued with his explanation,

"I'm only gonna be gone for maybe a month or two, there's still a lot of people who need help in other places around the world."

"Then, I'll come with you." Ash spoke with some level of desperation in her voice at the thought of being left behind.

Bruce kneeled down and put his hands on Ash's shoulders to make her look at him before he started,

"I need you to stay here, where it's safe and you'll be able to hone your powers so maybe one day you'll be able to come with us."

Ash looked down with her eyes closed before nodding to show she understood. With a jump before he could stand back up, she threw her arms around Bruce's neck and he hugged her back, the soft sounds of her crying sounding through her sleeves.

As soon as they broke apart, Tony showed up with Pepper by his side as he informed Bruce that his ride was ready to go.

Picking up the mid-sized suitcase Tony brought in, Bruce gave Ash one last side hug before walking out, stopping one last time at the doorway to tap the side of his head with one finger twice before smiling and leaving with Tony while Pepper stayed with Ash.

"What did that mean?" Pepper questioned repeating the motion.

"It's his way of saying for me to 'always use my head'." Ash smiled before setting herself and her backpack on the bed. Pepper sat next to her asking,

"So do you like it?" Pepper gestured to the room.

"I love it, how did you know...?"

"Tony figured orange and red would be your color, Dr. Banner told us you love working and reading, and I figured that you'd want to catch up on some Earth stuff."

"Thank you." Ash gave Pepper a hug and she gently patted Ash's back before standing up and saying,

"Well you can get fully settled in and Tony will be waiting for you in the new training room to start your power practice." Pepper gave a small wave before closing the door to the room, leaving Ash by herself.

She looked around the room one last time before pulling the clothes, an extra pair of shoes, and her suit out of the backpack Nat gave her. She held the suit in her hands realizing that it had been cleaned and there was no sign of the dirt, rubble, and blood, both Chitauri and human, on it anymore, but it still meant something to her; that she could use her powers for good, if she learned to use them properly.

After pulling the suit on and lacing up the boots that went with them, Ash opened up her pendant and laid it on the desk before whispering,

"I'm OK now..." And walking out of the room, turning off the light and closing the door behind her to start her new life.

2285 Words

AN- Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, but school has been a real killer to both my free time and to my creativity. I am still trying my absolute best to update chapters when I can, but I'm also working on a separate project that I hope to reveal soon once I finalize some drafts. See y'all in the next movie and in-between story, which I hope to post soon.