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Okay. [He says it slowly as he drops into a chair and rests the phone on the table in front of him. Tony's clearly giving it all of his attention, eyebrows drawn together thoughtfully.]

And you don't want to do this in person?

Well-- [She considers, she'd opted for video because it seemed easier, and easy was good. Especially when talking about it can be Hard. But he has a point. Hell, given how insane this all gets she might need a drawing board.]

Are you putting together a lab? If you're up for guests, might be cool to stop by.

[Skimpy pretense, but it's something.]

Working on it. [He gestures at the empty room around him with a wry look.] But you're welcome to come check it out. Might need to bring your own chair.

Where are you setting up? [There's a touch of a smile, pushing away from her desk, warm enough she doesn't bother with her coat.] I'm sure I can find something. Maybe one of those terrible folding chairs.

I'll text you the address. [There's a slight pause.] I'm kidding about the chair.

Alright. [There's a slight touch of a laugh.] So was I. Folding chairs are for chumps. I'll bring soda, though. Anything else and you're on your own.

Soda's fine. [He snorts, amused. He's not going to be drinking anything heavier with a kid around, anyway.] Swing by whenever, I'll be up.

See you soon.

[And then she flips the video off. It doesn't take her too long, and she is true to her word swinging a six pack of coke in one hand when she stops by. She's still not sure if this is better face to face or if she could have used that scant distance. Oh well.]

Hey.

[She looks around, setting the soda down, pulling two out and handing him one. They're even cold, go figure.]

[The space is, as promised, pretty damn empty. There's a desk, a chair and some stools, but that's about it. There are chalk lines all over the floor demarcating something that clearly makes sense only to Tony, and one wall is essentially torn open to reveal the wiring.

Tony himself smiles faintly as he takes one of the cans and gestures her towards one of the stools.]

So what was it you wanted to tell me?

[Ava takes it in, eyes the chalk markings and the open wall and smiles as she steals one of the stools, opening a can as she frowns faintly.]

It's you, so I guess I can at least start at the beginning. [She pauses, takes a sip of the soda.] So, what if I told you someone had successfully weaponized quantum entanglement? Been able to find a way to not just manipulate and create the connections, but make it so we're no longer talking about electrons, but complex objects.

People.

[His eyebrow lifts at the it's you, then curves even higher as she starts actually talking.]

Not just developed, but weaponized? [It's an important distinction, especially for a former weapons developer.

Tony's eyes narrow just a little, his focus sharpening. She's got every bit of his attention now, but there's something almost sympathetic in it. He can guess where this is going.]

What happened to you?

[It's not like she would talk to Steve about quantum entanglement. But she knew Tony would get it.]

The idea was to make a sort of entangled army. People that could interface with people with clearance codes and information in governments and corporations around the world. The biggest security breach the world could imagine. So, yes- weaponized.

The short version is that when I was nine the people responsible for this project were somehow able to leak information through SHIELD ensuring that Fury would send Natasha to handle it. We were the first successful test subjects though it took years before we realized there was something going on.

The long version starts with the fact that the people that developed it were my parents.

[Tony's frowning a little as he tries to work through the implications of that. And then his brain catches on Natasha and we and he just. Stops.]

Wait. You were what, tied in with Natasha?

[That's a slightly terrifying concept for anyone, let alone someone as young as Ava is. And it had apparently taken years to realize -- how old had she been?]

[She nods, takes a slow sip of her can of soda, and there's a smile that's a little thin.]

She was Natalie Rushman when you first met her. From Legal.

[Which is to say yes, but proving the point. Something she shouldn't know, but does, because that's what they'd made her to do. There's a clear touch of nerves, because she'd never had to tell anyone about this before. The people that knew already knew, and the ones that didn't, it was easy enough to shrug and figure that if Nat and Tony didn't think they should, that was good enough for her.]

We broke the link, but I still have her memories. It's not reflexive like it was when we were connected, but I.. I fight like her too.

[There's a slightly kneejerk reaction Tony has to people knowing things they shouldn't, but he fights it back just as quickly. Ava's already looking uncertain enough, and Tony's not enough of an asshole to pile on to that. Especially not for something she clearly didn't want. Who would?]

Okay. So Romanoff-lite. [It's faintly teasing, though his expression hasn't changed much. At least he gets why Ava seemed to know him so well. Few people know him like Natasha does.] Is it still causing you problems, or?

[Basically, is there something she needs fixed or is she just letting him know.]

[She flashes him a look that's a little apologetic. She understands what it's like, and how knowing Natasha means she knows pieces of other people, too.

But then he says Romanoff-lite and she can't help slightly rolling her eyes. At least it's better than Natasha Junior and Mini-me... Oh wait, it's not. She guesses she would have been surprised if he hadn't teased her about it, though.]

Not really. I mean-- it's better than it was. But, the powers? I got those when we killed the device. Natasha was off handling the bad guy, which left me trying to wire a state of the art SHIELD drive with our code on it into the motherboard of a machine made with tech jut past the end of the Cold War. So when it works, and the thing goes up, I'm at ground zero.

[He nods once, though there's a slight smile playing over his mouth at her obvious irritation. Yeah, he's never letting that one go.]

Good to know. It mean, it sounds like a clusterfuck, but clearly you managed.

[She's irritated, but it's a familiar sort of irritation. It's not that she likes it, but it's one of those things that makes this world seem a little like the one she left behind. The people, at least.

Tony's just as endearing and frustrating as he was before. Not exactly shocking.]

Mm. More or less.

[It's a little evasive, but it's personal. And oh yeah the boy I was in love with died making sure I could take it offline isn't a conversation she's ready to have with anyone.]

It's always something, isn't it?

Always. [The agreement is dry, but there's an understanding in it. Something is always fucked, and if there's anyone who gets that on a fundamental level, it's Tony Stark.]

So once I finish getting set up here, I'm gonna start on your fireproofing. [He gestures vaguely around him as he says it. Not quite a subject change, but at least trying to get them out from under the worst of the heavy stuff.] I'm thinking maybe safe polymers, at least until we can figure out how to get your thing more under control.

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