"VALENTINA ROSE?" TONY STARK simply walked into her apartment with no given consent. For about a week now he'd been curious about the new super in town and needed information on her stat. When Spider-Man came to him carrying everything he needed, Tony decided it was about time to give the girl a visit. 

His eyes scanned her apartment quickly. Tony was assessing her living conditions and so far so good. How someone lives can say a lot about themself. 

Her apartment was clean and sleek. Not a single thing was out of place beside the ice cream bowl on the couch with a messy blanket. Tony also noticed that Valentina seemed to be in pajamas. It was 9 pm after all.

Sofia is suddenly so glad she didn't take off her contacts yet. Tony may ask for any sort of proof of her powers and not wearing her contacts would have led to disaster. 

She allowed her jaw to slightly drop, but not too much. "Mr. Stark, what are you doing here?"

Walking over to the kitchen, Tony swiped a finger across the counter, probably checking for dust. When seeing the counter was crystal clean, he faced Sofia. "I'm here because a little birdy told me about what you do in your free time."

Play dumb, Sofia thought. She crossed her arms, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Miss Rose, there's no need to act stupid," Tony pauses and reached for his pocket, taking out his phone. With one small tap, a holographic image of Apex comes on. Sofia studied the picture. It looked like it had been taken during her first outing as the superhero. "That's you, right?"

Sofia says nothing, allowing Mr. Stark to continue. "Would you look at that," he amazed, "You stopped a building from collapsing using your eyes. Impressive." 

Tony made his way towards the couch, taking a seat. Sofia followed behind him. She exhaled awkwardly, trying to show her nervousness about what comes next. Tony grabbed the bowl of ice cream she had left and grimaced. "Mint chocolate chip? Really? That's disgusting."

"What?" Sofia was thrown off by the random question, "It's good."

"Yeah, if you like eating toothpaste," Tony sighed, "Anyway, we're getting off track. Where did you get the suit? It doesn't look like a DIY project."

This is it. This is where she can prove to Tony Stark that she's smart enough to become an Avenger. "I actually did make it. It took me a while but it's a mix of spandex and Kevlar. The chest area also has a bit of carbon polymer to resist stabbings and ballistic damage."

Tony was obviously impressed but tried not to show it. "You know your stuff. Where did you learn about all this?" Tony had a guess on where she learned but wanted her to confirm it.

Sofia knew that her fake government file said she hopped around schools a lot, being too smart for them all. She also took many self-defense classes and studied the Avengers. "I learn a thing or two on the internet, but mostly just by watching you- The Avengers," Sofia played around with her fingers, "I was in New York during the 2012 attack. Watching you six save the world really changed my life, forever." She actually wasn't there, she was in Miami with her foster family.

"I see," Tony replied. Sofia had just confirmed everything from her file. Seems like she's legit. "Does anyone else know that you're Apex?"

The only person Sofia has said 'Apex' to was Spider-Man, which confirms that he went and told Tony everything. "Wow, Spider-Man really likes to talk, huh?" Sofia attempted a light joke, "But um, no. No one else knows. I guess hopping around schools wasn't any good for making friends." 

Ah yes, the loner story. All superheroes have one and they all sympathize with it. 

Tony brought up another holographic image, only this one showed Valentina's personal details. "Says here you live alone. Both parents were born and raised in Venezuela then decided to come here and have you. Mother died of cancer and the father is not in the picture, correct? You went into foster care but then escaped? Can't say I blame you, the system sucks." Tony swiped to the next page in the file, "Age 16, almost old enough to live on your old without a guardian."

"Do you have files on everyone you talk to? That's kind of creepy." 

Tony rolled his eyes, "I'm trying to offer you something, alright?"

Here it was. Another step closer to the Avengers. Another step closer to Barnes.

"Until you're 18, you legally can't live by yourself. You won't be able to hide from CPS forever and eventually, you'll be dragged back into the system." Tony closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket. "However, I could pull some strings...if you considered coming to the compound with me, and the rest of the Avengers. Your name would disappear off the CPS list and you could work full time as New York's one and only Apex."

Everything she has done has led up to this moment and it did not disappoint. 

"And before you say anything, I just want you to know that you wouldn't be an Avenger... yet. You'll have full access to training and all the facility's fun toys, and one day you might see yourself becoming one of us." Tony abruptly stood up from the couch, taking out a small card and handing it to Sofia. "You don't have to decide now. Call me within a few hours to let me know what you pick."

Sofia stared down at the card. Of course, he would make a card of himself with bold lettering saying 'STARK INDUSTRIES'. 

"Oh and please don't sell my number on E-Bay or something because I will track you down and call CPS on you," Tony grabbed the ice cream spoon and scooped out a small chunk of mint chocolate chip ice cream and ate it. His face then showed great disgust. "Yup, it's still disgusting."

Without another word, the billionaire left Sofia's apartment. It was an easy choice really, but Sofia didn't want to seem desperate. She decided to call him in exactly an hour and fifteen minutes.

Sofia rushed to her computer and downloaded everything there is to know about the Avengers. It was people like Wanda Maximoff and Natasha Romanoff that she was scared of the most. Wanda is a known witch with many unknown powers. Natasha Romanoff can tell if someone's lying before they even get to blink an eye. 

Well, then it's a good thing Sofia's a pathological liar. 

Suddenly a notification appeared on the top right corner of her laptop screen. She clicked on it without hesitation, a gut feeling telling her to do so.

Ever since all of HYDRA and SHIELD's secrets were poured onto the internet, Sofia has been keeping tabs on every single name in relation to HYDRA. They had been working with the Winter Soldier which makes them her enemies. 

But now, one of the names on her list was just spotted in the American Museum of Natural History. 

Since Sofia wasn't the best at hacking and had no access to security cameras, she decided it would be best to see it with her own eyes. But this time, she wasn't going as Apex. 

-♕-

Sofia stood outside the museum, away from any place visible to the public eye. 

She was wearing the original suit that Felicia had designed for her. It was mostly red and black and covered her entire body besides parts of her arms and right shoulder. Her boots also added an extra two inches of height. The suit itself was made of similar components to her Apex suit, but this one seemed a lot more professional. 

Since she didn't want to look too similar to Apex, she wore a black hood that was attached to the suit and a mask covering everything under her eyes. It looked a lot like the Winter Soldier's mask. She was also wearing a voice changer. If she didn't, someone could surely make the connection between her and Apex.

Sofia was on top of one of the many buildings in front of the museum. She was currently visually scouting the perimeter and planning emergency exit points if things were to go wrong. 

After a few minutes, Sofia decides to enter through one of the side doors. Obviously, she knew there would be security guards at every single entry and exit point, so she'd simply had to remove them quietly. 

"Hey! You can't enter through there!" 

It was her first encounter with a security guard and she was excited. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir. I had no idea! I swear I bought a ticket- it's in my back pocket," Sofia pretended to get something out of her pocket and held out her hand for him to check. Once he realized there was nothing there, it was too late. 

Sofia forcefully grabbed his hand and slammed hers onto his mouth, not allowing him to scream for help. Slowly and carefully, she begins to heat up her hand. After a few short seconds, she feels the fire growing and the guard crying out in pain. 

She was melting his mouth off. 

"Shhhh," Sofia whispered in his ear, "At least now you won't be able to tattle tale on me."

The girl let him go as he collapsed onto the floor, passing out from the pain. Sofia simply dusted off her hands and continued forward. 

Before, she had been in an area with no security cameras, but the second she walks into the public area of the museum, everything she does will be on camera. 

Good, she thought. Give the Avengers something to worry about.

And besides, Sofia doesn't even have to worry about leaving fingerprints everywhere. Felicia had wiped all records of Sofia Alurez from every single database in the country. Well, excluding physical files but no one used those these days. And why would someone have a physical file of some random girl?

Sofia Alurez was practically invisible. She was a nobody to the government.

The second she steps out into the camera's view line, the police and extra security guards might come after her. And while she enjoys a little fun with the cops, her top priority is the ex-HYDRA agent.

She steps out, now in the cameras. Sofia decides to give a little wave before moving on. 

People in the museum would give Sofia stares, but not linger on it too much. New Yorkers are used to seeing strange things every day so a girl in a super suit did not surprise them at all. 

It didn't take long to navigate toward the area the agent was spotted. He was easily found in one of the fossil exhibits, admiring the large T-Rex skeleton. 

He wore a red scarf alone with a black jacket and jeans. He looked like a typical civilian but Sofia knew otherwise. Ever since HYDRA fell, the ex-agents all tried to lead normal lives without paying for their crimes. Sofia was going to stop that.

In her opinion, they were all disgusting creatures who did not deserve to live. She hated them more than the Avengers which truly says something. And one by one, she was killing them off her list. 

This man will be the fifth ex-HYDRA agent she's killed, and Sofia's not looking to stop. 

"Tyrannus Cordin!" Sofia called out loudly, spawning a ball of fire in her hands. Ironic that his name is similar to tyranny. 

Tyrannus Cordin was the head lieutenant of Baron Strucker. He attacks criminal empires and makes them his own. He is also a highly trained assassin and had the habit of strangling his victims to death. 

The general public around her began panicking when seeing the ball of fire in her hands. Sofia did not look friendly right now. The people tried leaving the room as hastily as possible, but the exit was crowding up. 

"Who are you?" Tyrannus asked, cautiously. He glared at the fire she created and attempted to back away, slowly.

Sofia liked what she was seeing. "Who am I? That's not important. What's important is who you are," she paused and acted like she was thinking, "Tyrannus Cordin, aka Baron Strucker's second in command. I'm sure you'll be sad to hear that Strucker died, but I'm not."

Cordin became angry very quickly. He's lived undercover for three years now without a single disturbance. He had even thought it'd be safe enough to go to a public location. Guess not.

Getting closer to him, Sofia glanced at the skeleton structure next to her. Suddenly, an idea popped up in her head. 

She grabbed a large piece of the dead dinosaur's leg using her free hand, causing parts of the structure to collapse but she didn't much care. Sofia thought of a new tactic on how to brutally murder Tyrannus. 

Lighting the bone on fire, she twirled the newly made weapon in her hand.

Usually, regular fires aren't strong enough to burn bone, but Sofia didn't just create any ordinary fire. Normal fire reaches temperatures of 1,000-2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but Sofia's reached almost 6,000 degrees if she wanted it to. 

She wasn't sure why or how, but she didn't care enough to learn.

By now the room is completely empty and police would be getting here any second. She needed to hurry up.

"I don't work with HYDRA anymore," Cordin tried explaining.

"Does it look like I care?" Sofia rolled her eyes. "In case you haven't noticed yet, I don't give a shit."

Almost out of nowhere, Cordin pulls out a small handgun from his jacket while muttering something about always being prepared.

Sofia took note of where he was aiming and moved before he managed to shoot her. She ran up to him and went for his legs, hitting the weak point on his knees. 

Cordin doubled over but resisted letting go of his only weapon. With a loud groan, he began widely shooting, not having the time to aim beforehand.

The wild shooting was harder to dodge than precise shooting but that did not stop Sofia from pushing on. Using the skeletal bone caught up in flames, she whacked his head, hard. The quick contact with the fire didn't do any permanent damage, but Cordin still felt a sting.

Sofia began laughing menacingly, "That all you got, Cordin?"

Cordin threw a punch and swiped his leg under her legs. Sofia hit the ground with a thud but got back on her feet within a second. Now, this is where those games in the subway came in handy. 

Sofia grabbed his arm and pulled his entire body closer to the floor. She then took the opportunity to hastily wrap her legs around his neck. Using the momentum, she twisted her hips and caused him to topple onto the floor. 

With a large smirk, Sofia picked up the flaming bone off the floor. "It's funny actually. Once you die in a historic museum, you become part of its history, too." 

Sofia stood directly on top of Cordin, staring right into his eyes. She knew that he would not submit or beg for mercy. None of the HYDRA agents do. She held the bone right above his heart, "Fuck. You." 

Without further ado, she plunged the weapon into his chest. 

The fire on the bone did not die out which led to his clothes catching fire. Then surely his inner organs would, too. 

Sofia knew now to wait too long but she needed to know he was dead. Leaving too early could give him a chance of survival, like what had happened to her all those years ago. 

She grabbed the gun in Cordin's cold, stiff hands and fired at his head. She watched as the blood began to pour out from the mouth and nose holes. It gave her a slight sense of joy in a dark, messed-up way.

She dropped the gun and was ready to make her grand escape. She could already hear the police hustling outside the room, trying to get the door open. 

Creating a large ball of fire in her hands again, she threw it towards a wall. According to her calculations, this wall led outside, making it easy for her to leave without police catching her. 

She threw another, and another until there was a giant hole in the wall. Right as she was leaving the room, Sofia pulled out her phone. She quickly checked the time. It had been exactly an hour and fifteen minutes since Tony Stark left her apartment. 

The police managed to get the door open as she jumped out of the building, landing hard on her feet and into a roll to distribute the gravitational force. The fossil exhibit was only on the second floor, thankfully. 

Pressing the 'call' button on Tony Stark's newly made contact, she brought the phone up to her ear. It didn't ring for long which meant Tony was waiting for her call. 

"I'm in."

A/N 

so here we get Sofia's idea of "fun" lmfao. 
Now she'll be living at the avenger's compound with the others that signed the sokovian accords. In this fanfic, civil war happened, but not like the movie shows. In this, Cap told Tony about the winter soldier killing his parents the second cap figured it out. So Tony realized that cap was right and is working on getting them all to come home legally.

Also, here's are both of Sofia's suits. Both of which are made by the very talented ANIKKA.B on TikTok. 

Alias: Apex

Alias: ???