Chapter 19

Ember's POV

We were sitting on wooden seats in the court room, Stark had asked his lawyer to help us with this situation. There was no one else in the room except for the judge, Aurora, Bucky, Mr Pine and I.

Aurora was sitting on my lap, leaning against my chest holding my metal hand that had a glove on it.

'I'm surprised the Dark Soldier hasn't broken out yet.' Bucky whispers in my ear, I jump at his sudden voice and Aurora giggles.

'Well, that's the thing, Bucky. When Zemo said the "new" words, the Dark Soldier began fusing with me-'

'Fusing?'

'Yeah, anyway. Before Bruce and Fury freed me from Hydra, they said that if I was free, the Dark Soldier's soul and mine would join together. So, you know it's like two people share one body, I can communicate with her, I can switch out and shit like that.' I quietly explain, the court doors swing open. A man and a lawyer enter, that must be the dipshit that Fury told me about.

The man sits on the other side of the court room, he was glaring at Aurora and I wrap a protective arm around her, narrowing my arms at the man.

'This isn't going to end well for anyone.' I mutter to Barnes in Russian; he nods in agreement.

'Let's just do the best we can and protect Aurora from that shithead.' He snarls in Russian while in his cute protective mode, I smirk. The man was watching us and snorts, but then looks up to the judge.

'Alright, let's begin. My name is Mr Wood if you don't know me already and I will be your judge today.' The judge says, flipping through papers. 'So, Mr Barnes, Miss Atlas, you're here on behalf of the Avengers?'

'Yes, your honour.' I reply with a nod.

'And this must be little Miss Aurora you're holding in your arms?' Aurora looks up at the judge and nods shyly, the judge's gaze turned onto Aurora's father.

'You must be-'

'Mr Seldon, yes. Can we just start this this already so I can get my daughter back?' Mr Seldon snaps with impatience, Mr Wood sighs.

'Alright, I'll ask you to come up and sit down on this wooden chair and answer questions the opposing lawyer is asking you. We'll start with Miss Aurora.'

'Can Ember come with me?' Aurora asks shyly.

'Just get your fucking ass up there!' Mr Seldon snaps, I growl.

'Mr Seldon! Enough! Yes, Miss Atlas may join you up here.' I put Aurora on the ground and walk with her up to the chair, I sit down and put her on my lap.

'Aurora, how long have you been living with your dad for?' Mr Seldon's lawyer asked.

'Since I was about one.'

'And how old are you now?'

'Seven.'

'What have you been doing over the years?'

'Teaching myself, cleaning the house, buy groceries, etc.'

'Has Mr Seldon helped you with any of these?'

'No, he's always sitting on the couch with a bad drink, watching tv.' Mr Wood glares at Mr Seldon who looks pissed off at Aurora's response.

'Alright, thank you. Mr Barnes, could you come up please?' The judge asks, Aurora and I walk back to our seats and watch Bucky walk up to the wooden chair.

'Alright Mr Barnes. How are you?'

'I'm good thanks Mr Wood, how are you?'

'I'm very good, thank you for asking. You're the first person who has asked me all day, take it away Mr Ball.' Mr Wood said to Mr Seldon's lawyer.

'Where did you find Aurora?'

'On Crotchet Street, in front of Bruno's café.'

'How did you find her?'

'She accidentally bumped into me when she was running away from her father.' Bucky said, hanging on the word "father" for a bit longer than he needed to, clearly trying to prove a point.

'Did Mr Seldon have a weapon at the time of event?'

'Yes.'

'What weapon was it?'

'A chef's knife.'

'He's lying!?'

'Mr Seldon?!' Mr Wood yells, he huffs in frustration before signalling to continue.

'If I was lying Mr Seldon, then why do I still have a recent scar on my right cheek? And if you don't believe me, ask Skyfire over there.' Everybody looked at Aurora who faces me shyly.

'Do I have to answer?' she asks me softly; I gently shake my head.

'No, you don't have to answer.' I say gently, Aurora nods in understanding.

'Thank you, Mr Barnes. Miss Atlas, your turn.' I stand up, leaving Aurora sitting on the wooden chair as Bucky went strolling towards her.

'Good luck.' He mumbles in Russian, so nobody could hear nor understand it. I sit down on the chair, and look at Mr Ball.

'Ok, Miss Atlas. How did you meet Aurora?'

'Mr Barnes introduced me to her when I was going through something personal.'

'How long have you known her for?'

'A couple of days.' I say honestly with an emotionless face, Mr Ball chuckles.

'And she trusts you fully? That's impossible.' He laughs, I sigh.

'You'd be surprised how loyal Aurora is in a couple of days.' I defend, Mr Wood looks at me with wide eyes that showed he was inspired.

'That's incredible for a seven-year-old. But I believe your turn is up, Miss Atlas.'

'Thank you.'

'Mr Seldon, your turn.' Mr Seldon growls and storms up there as I sit down next to Aurora and Bucky.

'You really think I'm loyal?'

'Think about it, you've known Bucky and I for a couple of days and you already fully trust us. I've been alive for about ninety-two years and I still have trouble trusting people, you're special Aurora.' I mumble, I look at her with a smile.

'Alright Mr Seldon.' Mr Pine says as Mr Ball sits down, grabbing a piece of paper.

'You were chasing away on the day that she ran away, correct?'

'Yes.'

'Were you carrying a weapon?'

'No.' Mr Pine sighs, it was a "I hate my job" sigh. If he can't survive this, then I can't possibly imagine how he survives with Tony.

'Multiple security cameras show footage of you chasing away with a chef's knife, and then your interaction with Mr Barnes. So, why were you chasing Aurora with a knife?'

'Because I needed her to come home. When she said she wouldn't; I threatened her with a knife and chased her down the street.'

'Have you abused Aurora while she was under your care?'

'No.' I sigh.

'Yep, this isn't going to end well.' I grumble in Russian.

'Miss Aurora, will you go to Mr Pine?' the kid looks at me and I nod, she walks over to Tony's lawyer.

'May you roll up your sleeve?' Mr Pine asks gently, kneeling down in front of Aurora. She nods and does what she was asked, she reveals scars, bruises and scratches.

'Mr Seldon, you have been sentenced to jail for life due to child abuse.' Mr Wood slams his wooden hammer on the desk.

'I don't think so.' Seldon snarls, he grabs Aurora's arm, she yelps in shock and pain. He gets a pistol out of his pocket; I narrow my eyes at the angry adult who was staring at me. I stand up and stand in the big row.

'Stay back unless you want to get shot.' He threatens, I growl.

'I'm going to take that chance.' I hiss I charge towards him and he shoots me in my left shoulder but I don't stop.

I snatch his pistol and throw it on the floor.

'Bucky, get everyone out-' Seldon punches me in the jaw and then the nose, I knee him where the sun don't shine. 'NOW!' I yell, he obeys and evacuates everyone out of the building.

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Aurora's POV

Everyone was waiting outside, I was sitting on Bucky's lap, leaning against his chest. They've been in there for a while now, I hope Ember is okay. We had called the police and the ambulance as well; the police were checking in with everyone and seeing if they were hurt.

The court doors swing open and my father waddles out with two police officers next to him. Ember limps out with a bloody nose and just is bleeding really heavily.

'Ember!' I call out, jumping off Bucky's lap. She finds me and kneels down, clearly in pain.

'Hey kiddo.' She says weakly, I hug her.

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah, just sore.' She replies, one of the paramedics come over and help her stand up and walk to the closest ambulance. She sits in the ambulance for a check-up, we follow her and stand in front of her, happy that she's okay.

'How are you doing Ember? You good?' Bucky asks with a smile, she shrugs.

'I don't get why everybody aims for the jaw, really? It's painful!' she complains which makes me laugh, the paramedic got all of the bullets out and did a x-ray.

'Your jaw is really close to being fractured, so I recommend not talking a lot for about a month, otherwise you're good.'

'Thank you.' Ember thanks.

'Ha! Now we won't have so much noise around!' Bucky jokes, Ember punches him playfully in the shoulder and then laughing.

'You should talk to Tony about that.' She says, standing up with a huge grin on her face. 'How about we go get some ice-cream?' Ember suggests, Bucky and I agree to this.

'I like Vanilla.'

'Really! Me too, that's my favourite!' Bucky says happily.

'Mine too.'

'Ember?'

'Yeah?'

'That was really brave what you did back there for me and everyone else, I'm really grateful. Thank you.' Ember smiles and messes up my hair.

'Anytime kid.'