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Chapter Text

“In other news, no word from Stark Industries on when Toni Stark will be available for a statement. It has been almost two weeks since the infamous press conference and the Accords Council has simply stated that they will make an announcement when they have all their facts and such in order. Until then be advised, arrest warrants for the Winter Soldier and former Avengers, sans Iron Woman, War Machine and Vision are still out with the instructions not to approach. But some can’t help wonder if that is the right call-”

“FRI, turn this off.” A certain genius commanded as she walked slowly through the entry way of the common room. Everyone besides Rhodey who had been resting on the short couch jumped up from their various places.

“Evie!” Mrs. Rhodes chastised as she and her husband ran to support her to the nearest couch which Izzy and Harley cleared. “What are you doing up?! We told you to let us know when you were awake!”

“Sorry, Mama R. I just thought-” Evie hissed as she was lowered onto the pillows that Pepper piled on for her, “I could make it on my own.”

“You foolish girl, what I ever did to be cursed with another stubborn daughter, I’ll never know.” The older woman teased tapping her nose.

“Can’t blame me for your son bringing me home.” She shrugged.

“She’s right let’s blame him. It’s easier.” Mr. Rhodes agree with a chuckle.

“Hey! I thought I was your favorite.” Rhodey protested pretending to glare at them. Evie laughed before groaning.

“Oh, stop it hurts to laugh.”

“You heard her, second favorite child.” Harley joked as he spread a blanket on her and Izzy handed over her tablet.

“Oh, great everyone is against me even the minion. I quit!” Rhodey declared crossing his arms.

“Permission denied.” Maria countered causing everyone to burst into laughter.

“Get used to it, Colonel. Your stuck with us.” Daniel ordered causing Rhodey to mock salute.

“Yes, sir!” Evie shook her head as Izzy and Harley flicked through the channels and found a movie playing causing everyone to settle down as Mrs. Rhodes moved to finish making her specialty soup for her proclaimed babies.

It had been almost two weeks since she had awoken from her coma and three days since she and Rhodey had returned to the US, unfortunately to the Compound for the next few days until Rhodey could get around. The doctors had been reluctant to release them both, her more so than Rhodey. But Helen had fought them and won.

Pepper was managing alerts on her own tablet and looked up at her friend.

“Evie, Danny Rand wanted to meet with us about the Accords and he also put in another request saying he wants to reassure himself that you are alright in person.” Pepper informed her as she sorted through her emails. As she took her bowl of soup from her pseudo mother figure, the brunette mulled over it.

“I can meet him, if you don’t want to.” Rhodey offered immediately not wanting to stress his friend out. They all knew the importance of keeping her calm in the few coming weeks.

Evie knew that Danny wasn’t the first person she wanted to see, but he had been one of her closest friends since childhood and keeping him in the dark seemed cruel and callous. She wasn’t stupid (hello, certified genius), she knew he had joined up with other enhanced. Yes, she kept an eye on him (sue her), in case he needed backup, but he never did.

Besides, she knew Danny would have her back. They always did when they were children before life got in their way. And it was high time they got back to that, and hopefully became even closer.

“No, I need to do it. See if he’s amendable to come to the Compound the day after tomorrow, if not two days later when we are back in the city.” Pepper nodded and forwarded the message. “Oh and let him know if he wants to bring a few friends, I’m amendable to that as long as they are cool with FRI monitoring.”

“Me as well.” Pepper added sternly.

Evie smiled slightly everyone insisted on making sure she was in good company unless she was in the privacy of her own room. Most of the time it was Pep, Maria or Moira. Christine and surprisingly Hope would arrive once they returned to the city. Rhodey still won’t admit to what was said between him and Hope so she’d press for details on that later. She returned to absentmindedly tapping away on her tablet designing a solution for Rhodey’s legs.

“Evie! Rhodey!” Mrs. Rhodes chastised standing in front of the television brandishing a wooden spoon with her hands on her hips. “If I have to come in here to tell you two one more time to eat your soup, I’ll spoon feed it to you both myself! Don’t test me!” Both heroes ducked their heads.

“Sorry, Momma.” Both piped before eating the food. Once she was satisfied, she nodded and walked back into the kitchen area. Mr. Rhodes shook his head at the two.

“Don’t think she won’t do it.” Evie giggled slightly before hearing her phone ring. She dug it out of the mass of blankets and went wide eyed at the number.

“Vis?” The synthetic humanoid rushed over to her side. “Can you help me go into the other room and sit with me for a minute? I need to take this in private or somewhat private.” Her friend nodded and supported her in getting up while she answered. “Hey Sergeant Pretty Boy.” She greeted teasingly ignoring the looks sent her way. A scoff was heard on the other end of the line.

“It’s Lieutenant, Evie.” He countered. Evie grinned as Vision shuffled her to the next room and helped her sit down taking a seat next to her.

“I know. But I guess I’m a little nostalgic for the first time I called you that and you sputtered in frankly quite an adorable manner.”

“I was 21!”

“And I was 18, your point?” Evie countered.

“And here people thought you were more mature, Ms. Stark.”

“And don’t you know me better than that, Mr. Jarvis?” A chuckle was heard.

“That I do.” 

“I missed this.” She murmured the words spilling out before she could stop them. “Us, being able to talk and joke around carefree without all the baggage.” She looked down avoiding Vision’s curious gaze. 

“Me too. We should talk about that.” He returned after a pause. Evie bit her lip.

“Isaac... we are really bad at that. The last time we did so much damage... we cut each other out of our lives. I don’t want us to do that again. I can't take losing my oldest friend for years again.” 

“E... I don’t want that either, but we can’t keep going on like we have been.” 

“We’ve been fine so far.” 

“Have we? The ten minutes in my office in Berlin were the most honest moments I think we ever had in a long time.”  

“... When are you back stateside?” She asked knowing this was a conversation neither would avoid. 

“A week or two. They are letting me resume my bereavement leave as soon as we clear the main issues up. That coupled with my saved up vacation time means I get pretty much a full two months off.”

“That’s good. Would you be amendable to swinging by the Tower when you come back?”

“Yeah. I really would.” Evie could hear the smile in his voice. “Though I have to ask, does that mean we are going to talk?”

“Yes, Isaac we are.”

“Why change your mind now?”

“Because I got a second chance and I don't intend to waste it.” She promised.

Chapter Text

“Rhodey!” A voice whispered as a hand shook the colonel out of his sleep.

“No, Mom! Let me sleep.” He groaned back absentmindedly batting at the hand on his shoulder.

“Mom?! Ew!!!” The voice squealed. “I’m younger than you, genius. Calling me Mom, is insulting and weird. Rhodey finally opened his eyes.

“Evie, it’s seven in the morning, what is it?!” Something else popped into his mind. “And what are you doing out of bed alone?!” She rolled her eyes.

“Relax, Colonel Grumpy Pants.” She teased. “Your mom made Vis stay with me last night remember? He helped me up and is waiting in the hall.”

“For what?” He threw back giving up on getting back to sleep.

“Come down to the lab with me, and you’ll see.”

“You’re not allowed lab time, Evie.” Rhodey reminded her whilst rolling his eyes wondering what could have her so worked up this early.

“I’m not allowed in the lab alone, with you and Vis, I’m good.” Rhodey sighed as he accepted his fate.

“You’re not leaving till I get up, are you?” Evie nodded with a wicked grin on her face. “Fine! Send Vis in to give me a hand getting ready.” Evie complied and walked to the door, Vision replaced her and assisted Rhodey in his morning routine and soon he was wheeling his way down to the lab. Evie walked over to the holographic interface and activated it sliding the design that popped up Rhodey’s way.

“What do you think?” She asked hopefully. Rhodey’s face contorted to one of shock and awe.

“Evie… are those…?”

“Legs, your going to walk again, Rhodey.” She confirmed with a small smile. Tears sprang into her friend’s eyes and he wheeled up to squeeze her into a hug, Vision watched on in contentment until Evie extended an arm to him and he joined in.

“Let’s get them tested out then.” Rhodey told her after they broke apart. Evie nodded and had Friday start production.

Two Hours Later

“Mrs. Rhodes, Mr. Rhodes, would the two of you please head to the equipment room, your children wish to show you something.” Vision asked walking forwards. The two put down the ingredients for breakfast followed the humanoid stopping at the entrance as they saw the rest of their makeshift family waiting.

“What’s going on?” Mrs. Rhodes questioned. Pepper shrugged and they all filed into the room. Evie stood in front of Rhodey before moving and letting him take a hesitant step with the braces. “Oh, my…” Mrs. Rhodes was speechless. Rhodey took one more before stumbling. Evie quickly caught him with Vision rushing over to help lower him to the floor. Mr. Rhodes and his wife quickly pulled the two in a hug while the rest smiled on with some tears in their eyes. Which some (Happy and Helen) would deny to their last breaths.

“Thank you, Evie.” The matriarch whispered in happiness.

“Anytime, Mama.” She whispered back relishing as the woman’s arms tightened around her.

“Look at that.” Pepper muttered to the doctor.

“Pulled a miracle out of her head in less than two months. Glad she’s on our side.” Helen returned as the two exchanged smiles. Eventually the group got up and headed out to have breakfast.

“Any modifications you can think of?” Evie asked as she sat besides her brother in all but blood.

“Maybe some AC?” Evie laughed.

“Sure, how about a cup holder to go with it?” She quipped back. The two laughed and clinked their mugs of Aunt Peggy’s special hot chocolate together. Evie looked through her tablet reading her messages. A few from one Laura Barton surprised her. She listened to the latest.

“Ms. Stark, it’s me, Laura Barton… again. I- we just saw the conference and to be honest I’d understand completely if you want nothing to do with me because of Clint. But… my kids, someone is going to realize the connection soon. I don’t have the means to protect them by myself anymore. So, I’m begging you… help us.”

Well check that one of her list. She would have helped anyway (not that she blamed Clint’s kids for their father’s stupidity, or Laura for that matter). She’d do all she could to help the family.

“Happy?” Evie called.

“Yeah?”

“How do you feel about making a pickup while the rest of us are moving back into the tower tomorrow?” It would be nice to have a kitchen that didn't have a crater in it and to be back in the city again.

“Depends, who are we picking up?” Happy questioned with the others glancing over.

“The Barton family, the asshole left them dry and high and if someone recognizes him from the news report, it won’t be pretty. There’s a baby in that house.” Everyone who didn’t know of the Barton family looked shocked a man could leave his family, including a baby.

“You got it, Boss.” Happy promised.

“Great, FRIDAY will also be there with a suit and two Iron Legion, just in case.”

“I can control the suit.” Harley volunteered.

“No.” Evie responded.

“Absolutely not.” Moira added. Both glanced and grinned at each other while Izzy snickered.

“Tell you what, Kid. You finish your schoolwork on time and you can come and help, as long as your mom is cool.” Harley gave his mom the puppy eyes.

“Can I?” Moira groaned.

“If you behave yourself.” Harley whooped in victory.

“Boss,” FRIDAY’s voice came through the speakers, “there is a deliveryman at the door, i have scanned the item already, it poses no threat to the saftey of those in the compound.” Evie pushed her chair back and Rhodey and Pepper followed. An older man stood beyond the security doors holding a package in his hands. Evie walked up to the intercom system.

“Can I help you, Sir?” She asked. The man tilted his sunglasses down so he could read the package label.

“Are you, Toni… Stank?” He asked. Evie raised an eyebrow and her two friends began to snicker.

“Yes, yes this is Toni Stank.” Rhodey confirmed as his snickering got louder. “Thank you for that.” Evie gave him a look. “Never dropping that, by the way.” As he began to tease them all about it, Pepper keyed the coded to the door and with a soft hiss it opened for them. The deliveryman handed her the form to sign and Pepper grabbed package examining it. She quickly scribbled her name while examining the older man.

“You look familiar.” She muttered. The man shrugged and tipped his hat to her.

“Have a nice day, Ms. Stank.” He turned away and Evie could have sworn she heard him mumble, “Excelsior!” Pepper was deeply frowning at the box in her hands like it had offended her in some way.

“Is it me or is this, Barton’s handwriting?” Evie nodded after taking a peek at the handwriting. “Only the asshole would take a stupid chance to be an asshole.” They all joined their family in the living room.

“What is it?” Daniel asked wheeling next to his goddaughter. Evie opened the package and pulled out a letter reading it silently.

“Bastardo! Chi pensa di essere?! Dono di Dio per l'uomo?!” She handed Daniel the letter too fuming to explain. Daniel read the name on the bottom and understood.

“It’s from Rogers.” He spat with loathing. Everyone straightened and payed close attention as he read out loud.

Toni,

I'm glad you're back at the compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours. Maybe more so than mine. I've been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere, even in the army. My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but maybe they shouldn't. I know I hurt you, Toni. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but I can see now that I was really sparing myself, and I'm sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should. So no matter what, I promise you, if you need us– if you need me– I'll be there.

“How dare he?!” Pepper demanded. “He nearly killed you and he sends this?!”

“Izzy could do a better apology than that at 5!” Moira snapped.

“Did basically send you a note that said, “I know I hurt you. But I’m still right.”?” Mr. Rhodes asked. Evie shrugged.

“No Dad, he sent one that said, “you lost, get over it and come crawling back to us.” Rhodey corrected darkly.

“And what’s that about, not having anyone, what about Barnes? Didn’t he risk this all for him?” Helen scoffed.

“As well as he had Mr. Howard Stark, Ms. Carter and the Commandos in the army.” Vision mused. “I fail to see how he couldn’t fit in.”

“Yes, to all of the above. And he sent this offending dinosaur of a phone as well.” Evie told them holding up said piece of tech.

“What are you going to do?” Izzy asked quietly leaning against Evie's knees.

“I’m turning both of these into the investigating team.” Evie told them all. “He wants his scapegoat back. Not going to happen. No more Ms. Nice Girl.”

Queens

“Hey, I’m no fashion expert. But something tells me that’s not your color.” Peter told the two muggers below him as he swung onto a fire escape. Both jumped and Peter webbed the purse to the wall while quickly shooting another at the first to tie his hands together. The second pulled a gun out but before he could fire a shot the trashcans began to rattle. The mugger faced the alley entrance as let out a shot.

“Ah!” The gun was blasted out of the man’s hands and Peter webbed him to the wall. He jumped down to see a young woman in a black suit leaning against the brick wall blood covering part of her shoulder from where the bullet had nicked her. Her short hair was damp with the shine of sweat covering her face.

“Are you alright?” He asked. The woman breathed heavily.

“I think- so-” The woman gasped before passing out. Peter didn’t know what to do but he picked up the sound of sirens so he gathered the woman in his arms and swung towards his apartment.

‘Good thing Aunt May is out of town for the next two days.’

Translation: Bastardo! Chi pensa di essere?! Dono di Dio per l'uomo?!

Bastard! Who does he think he is?! God's gift to man?!

Chapter Text

Evie stood in front of the mirror looking over at herself as she finished getting ready for her meeting with Danny and his associates. She could tell she looked different, that she felt different. It was as if a weight was slowly being lifted off her shoulders. Normally for meetings and such she would go for a simple pantsuit and tying her hair up and out of her face. But she remembered that one of the reasons for doing that was people (like Rogers and such) refused to take her seriously if she didn’t look the part.

And now, she was through following other people’s expectations. She was Antoinette Evelyn Stark and it was time she let that show. She instead dressed in white tank top, dark blue skinny jeans and a peach pink cardigan along with letting her curls loose to frame her face before slipping on some tan wedges. She met Pepper in the entryway.

“Look at you.” Her friend commented smiling brightly. “Gone is “Stark”, and here is Evie. I missed you.”

“Shut up, or you’re fired.” Evie joked as they stepped into the elevator.

“You can’t fire me, I run things.” Evie scoffed.

“Everyone likes me better.” Pepper huffed.

“Don’t get too full of yourself.” Both exchanged a glance and burst into laughter as the doors slid close.

Queens

Peter jerked awake as he heard the woman from the day before groan in pain as her eye fluttered open. She looked around her eyes widening as she did not recognize where she was. She sat up jerkily and cried out in pain. Peter yanked his mask on and kneeled in front of her pushing her down.

“Hey, it’s okay. You're safe.” The woman looked at him in confusion, his mask heavily clashing with his pjs. “We never got introduced, I’m Spider Man. I bought you here after you passed out yesterday.” He held out a hand and the woman gave a sarcastic chuckle.

“You’re just a kid.”

“W-What? No, I’m…”

“A kid.” The woman stated again sitting up whilst holding her shoulder. “What are you, like thirteen?”

“Sixteen.” Peter admitted in defeat.

“Why don’t you take that off, I won’t tell who you are. It doesn’t really match the War Machine jammies.” Peter sighed and tugged off the apparel running a hand though his hair.

“Peter, Peter Parker.” The woman grinned.

“Daisy, Daisy Johnson.” She then hissed as she moved to stand but screamed in pain.

“Sorry! I bandaged you shoulder as best I could.” Daisy held up a hand.

“No, it’s my arms in general,” she held them out and Peter was shocked to see marks all over them, “my powers affect my bones and it looks like I’m close to fracturing them again.”

“And there is nothing to treat that?” He asked while passing her some pain killers and a bottle of water.

“There is… but I don’t have access to them anymore. I’m kind of living off the grid right now.” Peter bit his lip.

“Look, I know someone who might be able to help. But you’d have to trust me.” Daisy leaned back.

“Why?”

“Because instead of leaving you to bleed out on the street I bought you here, to my home. I risked outing myself to my neighbors and my aunt by doing this. And I highly doubt Toni Stark is going to hurt you or me.” Daisy’s mouth dropped open.

“You know Toni Stark?” Peter nodded. “Alright.” Peter grinned and pulled out his cell.

Barton Farm

Happy stood as the quinjet they took landed. Harley quickly unbuckled himself and the two agents Maria assigned to them silently followed as they walked to the front door while Friday piloted the suit and the two legionnaires to circle the perimeter. Happy knocked and the door slightly opened to reveal Laura’s suspicious face one of her arms out of sight.

“Mrs. Barton, I’m Harold Hogan, I am the head of Stark Industries security division, these are Agents Moro and Jenson, and this is Harley Keener.” He finished putting a hand on Harley’s shoulder.

“Keener? You wouldn’t happen to be related to Moira Keener, would you?” Harley grinned.

“She’s my mom.” Laura’s posture lessened slightly.

“Why are you here?”

“Miss Stark sent us.” Happy answered. “We are here to escort you and your children to Stark Tower.” Laura lowered her eyes for a moment. “Mrs. Barton, I know this is a shock but we are here to help. Miss Stark knows better than anyone that the sins of the father do not extend to the family. She left you her business card to help you. So please, if you could put down the handgun and let us do that.” Laura stepped back fully opening the door.

“Sorry about that, just for the record I wouldn’t have drawn on you. Not when you have a child with you.” She apologized stashing the gun in the waistband of her jeans and letting her shirt cover it. “We’ve received some pretty unsettling calls over the last two days.”

“How so?”

“Someone in town finally recognized Clint from the newsbroadcast, and it’s only a matter of time before some idiot posts it on the internet. For the past twenty four hours, I’ve had calls ranging from I should be ashamed to be married to him, to “oh honey, how can we help?” Harley snickered and Laura turned her gaze on him.

“Uh, is there anyone I can help pack?” Laura cracked a small smile.

“Cooper!” Her oldest ran down the steps.

“Yeah, Mom?”

“This is Harley, Miss Stark sent him and these people to help us, will you go with him and pack a suitcase?” Cooper nodded and the two ran upstairs chatting away. “As for the rest of you I’ll show you what I need packed. It might take a few trips to get the crib and such-”

“Actually, ma’am, we don’t need to move that, just pack as few things as possible.” Laura crossed her arms.

“Why?” She demanded.

“Miss Stark asks that you trust her and leave the house and farm as is, and to not alert anyone that you’ll be leaving. She will explain it all to you tonight.” Laura bit her lip. She should just blindly trust these people, but her gut was screaming at her to do just that. So, she did.

Stark Tower

As Danny and his teammates exited the elevator in Stark Tower, Matt focused on what his senses where telling him about the two woman who were behind the doors. One was tall and seemed to radiate confidence as she bustled to and from the conference room. The other sat in a chair moving slightly but he could hear the slight inhale of pain and the rustle of bandages as they shifted.

“Your friend is in serious pain.” He muttered to Danny. The man cursed slightly as the entered the conference room.

“Danny.” Evie greeted with a smile pushing herself into a standing position. The man walked forwards and smiled widely.

“Hey, Toni.” He returned gently embracing her.

“You’ve met my co-CEO Pepper Potts.” The two shook hands.

“These are my associates, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Matt Murdock who is also my personal attorney.” Evie and Pepper shook their hands as they all sat down with Evie in between Pepper and Danny.

“Personal attorney?” Pepper repeated amused. “I really hope, Mr. Rand doesn’t plan on suing us, Mr. Murdock.” The man smiled back.

“Why? Do you have anything to hide, Miss Potts?” He bantered back.

“Of course not.” Evie rolled her eyes.

“So, Danny, what do you want to talk to me about?” She asked.

“I heard the Avengers might need to some help in or even new recruits.” At this smile Evie raised an eyebrow.

“Really? Well that is kind of true, but do you know anyone who might be interested?” Danny exchanged glances with his teammates. “Would you feel more comfortable if Pepper, left the room?”

“No, and she doesn’t seem to feel comfortable with the suggestion, either.” Matt pointed out. Pepper sputtered.

“Do you trust her?” Luke spoke up for the first time. Evie nodded.

“With my life.”

“Well, I have super strength, enhanced speed, durability and stamina.” Jessica admitted wanting to get the whole thing over with.

“She also has an advanced healing factor, used to be able to fly and is resistant to mind control.” Danny threw in before grunting as Jessica kicked him under the table.

“So, you’re like a female Cap?” Pepper asked.

“Oh, I don’t go beating people into comas.” Jess retorted leaning back and crossing her arms. 

“Jessica.” Luke admonished. Evie held up a hand.

“No, don’t. I’m won’t hold it against her.” She reassured.

“Well, I also have the same abilities as her, except the flight.” Luke informed them. Pepper then turned to Matt and Danny.

“You two?”

“Well, my long story of the years I was gone-” Evie held up a finger.

“Which I want the full story on later.” Danny laughed.

“Done, we’ll get pizza or something and swap origin stories.” Both laughed. “But anyway, using the power of chi, I can do a few abilities, the one that matters the most is called the Iron Fist Punch, which is resistant to pain and such.” Both women snickered. “Seriously?!”

“I’m sorry, but did you come up with that name yourself?” Evie asked.

“No, some monks gave it to me.” Danny grumbled. Pepper regained herself.

“I apologize, Mr. Rand. I’m sure that is a very serious power.”

“It glows.” Matt supplied and Pepper rejoined Evie in her snickering. “You have a great sense of humor Ms. Potts.”

“Thank you. And what do you do, Mr. Murdock, besides serving people with subpoenas?” Matt looked down.

“It is a long story but basically when I lost my sight, my other senses were enhanced. After a while I found someone who helped train me them and myself to work with it.”

“To be the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.” Evie asked causing Matt to stiffen.

“How?” He was astonished that she had figured it out in a few seconds.

“Well, there are only four enhanced running around the Kitchen. Process of elimination works fast, especially when you have my IQ.” Pepper exchanged a glance with her best friend.

“Then I suppose we should thank you.” Pepper retorted causing everyone to look at her with confusion. “We’ve been trying to take Kingpin to court for a while, we suspected he had a hand in Obadiah Stane’s dealings. But the cops there did not do a damn thing. You on the other hand took care of the problem for us.”

“Your welcome.”

“Mr. Murdock-” Evie began.

“Matt, please.” He interrupted.

“Matt, would you and your associate be willing to help work on the Accords? Since you four all hang out around the kitchen together it would be easier. Obviously for this you would be on retainer by the Avengers Division of SI. Maria Hill, our director can forward you a contract.” Matt nodded.

“I would have to discuss this with Mr. Nelson, my associate. But I think we could work out a business arrangement.”

“Then we look forward to working with you, all of you. Since myself and Colonel Rhodes are out of commission right now, we would appreciate if you could handle any crisis that come our way.”

“Count on us.” Luke promised.

“Good, once things are more settled down we can work more on how this will work going forwards but for now I think our main focus should be the Accords.”

“I agree.” Matt nodded.

“And if old Cap comes a calling, just give me a ring.” Jess promised with a malicious grin.

“I like you too.” Evie responded. With that they all rose to adjourn the meeting.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” Danny asked his old friend. Evie nodded and the two hung back as everyone else filed out. “How are you, Toni? Really.” She sighed loosely crossing her arms as if to hold herself together.

“We talking physically, or mentally?” Danny shrugged.

“Both, I suppose.” Evie laughed bitterly.

“Physically? I’m basically being held together and there are a lot of things I need to consider in the next few months. I could really use some friendly support.”

“You got it, from me and even some new ones too.” He swore immediately.

“And mentally, I’m a fucking mess.” She bluntly admitted. “The blinders got yanked off in a big way and right now I’m not really comfortable airing it all out.” Danny surprised her by pulling her into a hug.

“I got your back, Toni.” She embraced him as well.

“Danny, you can call me Evie. I think it’s long overdue.” Danny pulled back with a grin.

“Evie it is, then.” The two then made a time to meet for pizza and he headed back out. As Pepper walked back in, Friday pipped up from the speakers.

“Boss? When you have a moment I believe, you should contact Mr. Parker. He has called three times in the last two hours and says it is urgent.” Evie groaned.

“Crap! The kid!”

Chapter Text

“Boss.” Friday greeted causing Evie to lift her head from where she had been resting on the couch. “Mr. Parker and his guest have arrived.” Evie shut her book and shifted slightly wincing in pain. Mrs. Rhodes came up and helped the younger woman off the couch.

“Do you need me to stay with you?” Evie smiled.

“I’ll be fine, Mama.” She reassured. “Vis is probably already on his way up.”

“You are correct, Evie.” He spoke as he walked in through the doorway.

“All right.” The mother spoke. “How does my famous beef stew sound for dinner?”

“Lovely.” Evie responded. An afterthought came to her as her honorary mother walked away. “Mama.”

“Yes, love?”

“Can you please make enough more for three extra people? At the very least one of our guests is probably going to end up staying.” Mrs. Rhodes nodded and headed for the kitchen to begin prep work. Vision and she walked towards the lift. “Friday, are they heading to the medical space?”

“Affirmative Boss, and Director Hill will be on her way down momentarily, she is just finalizing the official Avengers press release that will remove Rogers and his followers from the roster with Ms. Keener.” Evie nodded in acknowledgement as the elevator rose and dropped them off at the floor. Evie caught sight of Helen examining a young woman with Peter hanging around the door checking his phone.

“Hey, Kid.” She greeted quietly. Peter’s head shot up and he threw his arms around her waist.

“Ms. Stark!” Evie grunted as he held her tightly.

“Ugh, Kid… broken ribs.” She grunted. He jumped back.

“I’m sorry! Are you okay?!” Evie tried to answer. “Of course, your not okay, you were in a coma! I should have done more, I shouldn’t have been showing off, should’ve-”

“Peter!” Evie interrupted grabbing his shoulders. “Breathe.” The young man took a breath. “There you go. And none of this is your fault.” She reassured.

“But-” Evie quickly interrupted again. She had spent years tumbling in a hole of guilt and doubt over many things that weren’t her fault. She’d be damned if she let Steve Rogers lead someone else down that hole.

“Is your name, Steve Rogers?” He shook his head. “Then none of this is your fault.”

“I concur with, Ms. Stark.” Vision agreed. Evie smiled wide.

“So, why don’t you introduce us to your friend.” Peter smiled and they all walked in not noticing Maria coming down the stairs on the other end of the floor.

“Daisy, this is Toni Stark and the Vision.” The woman looked up wearily at them.

“Hi, I’m…”

“Skye?” Maria asked entering the room astonished.

“Agent… Hill?” The surprised young woman returned.

“What are you doing here, Skye? Why aren’t you with your team?” Daisy scoffed in anger causing some of the equipment to rattle and Evie to raise an eyebrow.

“Some team in the last few months. And I go by Daisy now. Daisy Johnson.” Evie whistled to get everyone’s attention.

“Maria, fill me in?” She ordered.

“So, remember what I told you after the fall of SHIELD?”

“I really owe you one, Isaac.” She commented.

“I want that recorded and made as my new ringtone.” He joked back.

“How about the next time you’re in NYC, I owe you a trip to that dinner, Anna used to take us to?” She offered.

“I can live with that.” He responded. “I have to go, bye Evie.”

“Bye, Isaac.” She softly responded before walking back to what was becoming her and Maria’s mission control to see the other woman wipe a bunch of non-extracted agents off the map. “Did one of the agencies we are working with get another bunch?” She asked curiously. Maria fumbled to form an answer.

“No, uh…” Evie narrowed her eyes.

“I gave you my trust, Maria. Don’t make me regret it.” She warned.

“There was a vetted group of SHIELD agents that survived the initial fall. A team, that Fury handpicked. They extracted those agents.”

“And how do we know this team isn’t HYDRA?” Evie shot back crossing her arms.

“I know the lead agent, worked with him for years and trust him with my life.” She promised. Evie nodded.

“Maria, I’m going to trust you on this, but we can’t be seen working outside the law on this, that’s what got us into this mess in the first place. We do this by the book, okay? And I will ask no more questions on this mystery team.” Maria nodded.

“Okay.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Skye over here was their team hacker.” Evie scrunched up her face in thought.

“Wait, Skye? As in former Rising Tide, Skye?” Daisy looked down.

“Yeah, how’d you know about that?” Evie rolled her eyes.

“A few of those idiots tried to hack my servers, one of the security features is a nasty piece of malware that hacks them in return. I learned quite a bit. If you had not dropped off the grid to join up with SHIELD, I was going to offer you a job where you could make better use of those skills.”

“Cool.” Daisy muttered. Maria shook her head.

“Anyway, why are you off the grid and how did you get these powers?” Daisy sighed and gave them a rundown of all that had happened in the last few years with the remnants of SHIELD. “I told Phil to burn that Index!” Maria seethed. “Nothing good would come out of tracking all those people, most who wanted to be left alone.”

“Phil, as in Coulson?” Helen demanded having heard about the man through Evie and company.

“Yes, he was brought back to life via experimentation with alien technology and biology.”

“I knew it.” Evie muttered. She then shook her head. “Okay, we’ll deal with that later.” She insisted before looking at the inhuman. “This girl you hid, is she secure?” Daisy shrugged.

“As secure as I can make her, they’d find her soon enough to track her though if I don’t move her or cover her tracks.” Evie nodded.

“Fine, I can help you with that.” She calmly told the girl. “Helen how bad are her arms?” Helen shook her head throwing up the projections.

“Repeated fracturing and such, her bones aren’t used to the vibrations they seem to take in and put out. I don’t have anything to treat it.”

“SHIELD does.” Daisy supplied quietly rubbing her arms. Evie nodded.

“Can you get me in, I can get to the formula they have for it without going through so many back doors.” She told the girl handing her a tablet that was laying on the table. Daisy typed slowly hissing through the pain in her arms but managed to break past her firewalls in a way that would not arouse suspicion. Evie took over and typed in a few sequence codes.

“Voice Identification required.” A voice flared over the speaker.

“Access Code: Lima-Echo-Golf-Alpha-Charlie-Yankee. Stark, Antoinette Evelyn.” Evie spoke calmly.

“Access granted.” Evie passed the tablet to Daisy again.

“Pull whatever we need for you arms and anything that either is yours or you need to keep that girl safe.”

“How the hell did you do that?” Maria asked. Evie smirked.

“My godmother is Peggy freaking Carter.” She reminded Maria bluntly. “And despite numerous orders and threats not to pull me or the other legacies into SHIELD, she had a feeling they wouldn’t listen. So, she literally ensured none of us would go in blind. That access code is a hidden back door into the database that allows us access, all the while the system is none the wiser just looking like a basic glitch.” She explained. “Fri?”

“Yes, Boss?”

“Set aside a room for, Ms. Johnson here and arrange for a copy of the Accords to be sent to her.” Daisy looked shocked, could she finally find another safe spot to land after leaving her first heartbroken?

“I can stay?”

“You can stay.” Evie confirmed with a small smile. “Weather you join the Avengers, and such is up to you, but yeah. I got a soft spot for computer nerds.” Daisy grinned.

“Thank you, Ms. Stark.”

“Call me Toni.” Evie told her before grabbing Peter’s shoulder and steering him out of the room. “Now as for you and your underage, unsupervised heroing-” Peter interrupted her.

“I want you to train me. To be better and all.” He butted in; Evie’s mouth dropped open. This was going easier than she thought. “I’ll join the Avengers, sign the Accords, whatever. But first I need you to help me tell my aunt.” Evie nodded.

“Well, you got yourself a deal, Kid.” The two shook hands.

Chapter Text

Peter took a deep breath as he made to unlock the door but froze before he could insert his key into the lock.

Could he really do this? Tell the most important person in his life his biggest secret and potentially shatter her world? A thousand different scenarios were running through his head at the moment. What if she could not accept him like he was? What if she was put in danger because of his secret? What if-

A hand on his shoulder stopped his train of thought, he turned to see Toni standing behind him with Vision and Colonel Rhodes behind her.

“You are going to be fine. We are going to be right here to support you.” She reassured him, squeezing his shoulder. Rhodes and Vision smiled and nodded as well.

Feeling a bit of his confidence return, Peter quickly unlocked the front door and let the other three heroes enter the apartment behind him. He paled at seeing May’s overnight bag on the couch meaning she most likely had just gotten home.

“May?” He called out and felt a bit of pride of the barely detectable nervous pitch in his voice.

“In here, Pete!” She called from her office. He motioned to the couch and told his companions to make themselves at home before heading to the office. “Hey, I was wondering where you were at. Hanging with Ned?” Peter stuck his hands in his pockets in an attempt to appear casual.

“No, I was actually at Stark Tower.” May brightened.

“Miss Stark finally contacted you. That is great, how is she?”

“Um, fine per say. Actually, there is something I need to tell you and she offered to help me. She, Colonel Rhodes and the Vision are waiting in the living room.” May raised an eyebrow but saved her work and followed her nephew out to sit on the sofa greeting her guests.

“Would you all like anything to eat or drink?” She questioned trying to play the good hostess when in reality, she just wanted to know what the hell was going on with her nephew.

“No thank you, Mrs. Parker.” Vision answered as the others shook their heads.

“Okay, Peter.” The boy in question stood up and went to the middle of the room.

“Well, do you remember how before- Ben died… I was acting off?” She nodded.

“Yeah, you had been pushing us away ever since that field trip your class took.”

“Something happened to me on that field trip. Something that changed me… I like to think for the better, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out.” He began to pace refusing to meet his caretaker’s eyes. “And I should have told you ages ago, but I was so afraid of how you’d react… if you would treat me like a freak, or if I would put you in danger. I am sorry for not confiding this to you when it all began. I-” May leapt to her feet and grabbed his shoulders.

“Peter, I’m listening. Tell me now.” She encouraged. He froze for what felt like hours, but it could only have been a few minutes.

“I’m Spiderman.”

At that declaration, a million thoughts were swimming through May’s head simultaneously. Her sixteen-year-old nephew was the hero that had been protecting Queens for over a year?! How had he even gotten those abilities? Why hadn’t he trusted them sooner? What was he thinking go out there and fighting every bad guy in sight?! He could have been hurt or killed!

“May?” The older woman quickly drew him into a hug.

“What were you thinking going out there and fighting crime with little to no training?!” She demanded holding him at arm’s length after she had gotten her fill.

“I-”

“And you!” She raved whirling on the only other female in the apartment. “Letting him go out galivanting on his own without informing me? And taking him to what was a free for all in Germany?”

“Which I do apologize for, if I had known the outcome, Peter would have stayed here.” May looked taken aback for a moment.

“What?”

“I bought Peter, for the sole reason of safely capturing Rogers and his allies. His webs have allowed him to bring in dangerous criminals with little a scratch on them. But recently I have become living proof that Rogers will not let anyone stand in his way. I wish I had known earlier so I could protect Peter better from that.” The brunette finished apologetically. Peter grabbed his aunts’ hand and squeezed.

“And she only found out about me recently, May. And she already has made steps to protect me, she gave me a better suit. One that would keep me safe and she’s the reason I found the courage to tell you about this.” May took a seat on the couch her anger partially abetted.

“Peter, a part of me wants to tell you I am proud of you for standing up for others.” Peter smiled slightly. “But a larger part of me is terrified about you out there on your own doing this.”

“We actually may have a solution for that.” Toni spoke up. May turned towards her.

“I’m all ears, Miss Stark.”

“I think we both know he won’t stop just because we tell him to.”

“I won’t.” Peter agreed.

“And the fact is he is underaged. Which is why the next recommendation for the accords that we are going to submit will include a clause protecting heroes like him from having their identify compromised and sparing their loved ones from potential retaliation.” Vison nodded.

“The same is being proposed for adult heroes but with the option of revealing their identities, with minors they will not be required and will be safeguarded. It will be up to him to choose at any time who he decides to entrust with his secret and if he reveals himself to the public once he reaches the age of eighteen.” He explained further. Rhodey jumped in.

“We also figured that with your permission we could have Peter here join the Avengers, it would still be under the guise of an internship. With it he would get training to better control and expand his abilities while also giving him mentors to look up to and confide in.”

“That will also grant him back up if he ever needs it.” Toni threw in. May sighed.

“I guess over the summer we could give it a trial run.” Peter pumped his fist in victory. “But make no mistake, school comes first when the new semester starts. You will have to maintain at least a B average and dedicate one or two nights a week to socialization with your peers. We can discuss other things later. And if you ever hide anything like this again, you will be grounded for at least a month.” Peter nodded and threw his arms around his guardian.

“I love you, Aunt May.” He whispered.

“I love you too.” She returned.

“If you would like I could arrange for you both to sit in on the next session of accords planning so you can get a feel of what’s happening.”

“I appreciate it, Miss Stark.”

“Toni please. And you both are also invited to dinner later tonight at the tower. Rhodey’s mother cooks an amazing meal.” May beamed.

“Then you can call me, May. And we’ll be there.”

Stark Tower Landing Pad

Evie stood watching as the ramp was lowered and Happy and Harley escorted the Barton family out of the quinjet while the agents went to put their things away. She walked forwards.

“Happy, Harley. I trust everything went well?” Happy nodded.

“All set, Boss. Just like you ordered.” He informed while Harley shot her a thumbs up.

I expect nothing less.” She grinned before looking over at the nervous woman in front of her. Harley, why don’t you take Cooper and Lila to the common area, pick out a movie maybe see if Mama Rhodes will let you all have some of her famous brownies. Happy if you could go supervise the agents then in about an hour and a half go down to Queens to pick up the Parkers, they are joining us for dinner. I need to speak to Mrs. Barton.”

Happy nodded and Cooper reached over and took Nate’s carrier from his mother as they all exited. Evie motioned for the other woman to follow her and they took the elevator to her floor and she sunk down onto the couch in relief.

“Are you alright, Miss Stark?” Laura asked concerned her mothering instincts kicking in. The woman in question nodded.

“Yeah, I just think I overdid it today. Thank you for your concern. Please, Mrs. Barton, sit.” Laura sank down and mumbled something under her breathe. “What was that?”

“Um, please call me Laura, hearing my married name has made me feel as sick as the time I first started as a SHIELD agent.”

“Well then call me Toni, and I didn’t know you were an agent.” The mother of three nodded.

“Yes, former, retired after Clint and I got engaged. I used to work as the second in command of PR.” Evie filed that information away to speak to Pepper about later.

“Okay, now before we get into all the questions, I assume you have after the quick departure from your home. I want to know do you feel comfortable staying here?” Laura’s mouth dropped open.

“What?”

“I don’t hold you or your children responsible for Clint’s actions, but if you hold me accountable, then I can understand that to a degree. So whatever you need, you have my help with, if you want new identities, a new place away from here, I will help you. I made you a promise and I don’t break my promises lightly.” Laura felt tears gather in her eyes.

“Can I hug you?” She asked. Evie was a bit confused but nodded. Laura wrapped her arms around her as the tears spilled over. “Thank you, and I do want to stay. I tolerated a lot with Clint, but I can’t condone this. I won’t. And I want to stay here for as long as you’ll let me, and maybe work on making a new start for us with your help, if you mean that.”

“I do.” Evie swore.

“Okay then.” Laura smiled. “So, Toni, may I ask why you wanted me to only pack essentials and pretty much leave my home as is?” Toni laughed.

“As you know, before Clint and his teammates were broken out of prison, they were held in the RAFT facility.” Laura nodded having heard a few stories about that place from fellow agents. Their jailor was Secretary of State General Thaddeus Ross.”

“As in the guy who chased the Hulk all over the place.” Laura stated.

“One in the same. And he wanted the whole set, including the two super soldiers, and I know he was just starting to dig into the pasts of the others when I left to go confront Cap. He might still be doing that to find leverage against one of them to draw them out, and in turn draw out Rogers and Barnes. The pile of info he was sorting through included the data dump.” Laura gritted her teeth.

“And you think he’ll find out about us through that.” Evie nodded. “Well you’re not wrong, the farm is in my maiden name, the same name that’s on my marriage license and in any SHIELD files that I worked on.” She felt another surge of hatred for Clint at this fact.

“Which is why I wanted to move you right away. I don’t want you all to get hurt over someone else’s moronic decisions. But right now, with the position he has, even I can’t stop Ross. Not without it coming back to bite me, my family, and the people under my protection, which now includes you and your children.” Laura seemed to read her mind.

“You want to set a trap for him.” Evie nodded impressed with how quickly the other woman had figured it out.

“I have been wanting to take him down for a while now, and I think this might be the way to do it. We can plan for all possibilities; Clint is not high on Ross’s list right now, so we have about a month or two, maybe even three, before everything goes down. If you’re okay with this that is.” Evie finished.

“I’m in. A chance to screw with and take down that psychopath sounds awesome.” Evie laughed slightly.

“Laura, I have a feeling you will fit right in.”

That Evening

“Boss?” Friday inquired as Evie finished reviewing the cases of slander Legal was currently working on.

“Hm?” She tilted her head towards the nearest camera.

“Miss Everhart and… Dr. Van Dyne have arrived.” The AI announced albeit saying the second name with a bit more discontent.

“Fri.” Evie warned as the elevator announced her two extra guests.

“Boss?” Friday mocked with the same tone. Christine squealed and ran to embrace her friend.

“Evie! I’m so happy your alright!!” Evie laughed and returned the embrace.

“Christine, it’s good to see you.” The blonde pulled back to examine her friend.

“Your looking a bit better than James described.” She smiled happy to see the improvement.

“Feeling a bit better.” Evie returned. Hope watched on hanging back as her conversation with Rhodey shifted through her mind.

“Colonel Rhodes.” An exhausted voice spoke up. Hope bit her lip.

“Hey, Rhodey.” She offered trying to maintain some peace.

“What the hell do you want, Hope?” The man demanded with venom. Hope felt tears in her eyes.

“I know your not my biggest fan right now, that any of you are.”

“Got that right, Van Dyne.” Rhodey practically spat back. “After what you did. After what your dad’s fucking protégé did, none of us are pleased with you.”

“She’s still my friend too.” Hope tried through her tears. Rhodey laughed.

“Do not even go there. She let you slide once, and your crazy friend tried to fry her suit from the inside!”

“He did what?!” Hope felt her anger at Scott rise ten times fold. She could not believe he was that stupid. Actually, she could. Scott had been listening to her father’s hate rant for weeks as if it were gospel.

“Yeah, and if he wasn’t at the airport, we might have stopped Cap and Barnes there along with the others. I wouldn’t be lying in this bed wondering when I’ll walk again, and Evie…” Here Rhodey trailed off and Hope latched onto that statement.

“What about Evie?” At the continued silence she felt her panic grow. “James… What happened to Evie?!”

“If you really want to know what’s going on, watch the press release, Hope.” He spat venomously before hanging up.

“Hey, Van Dyne. You with us?” A familiar voice drew Hope out of the memory. Evie was looking at her with confused eyes. “You kind of zoned out there for a moment. Everything good?” Hope surprised her friend by throwing herself forwards and embracing her tightly as tears flowed through her eyes. Evie grunted in half pain and half surprised.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.” Hope whispered repeatedly. Christine stepped forwards but Evie shook her head as she hugged Hope back.

“It’s okay, you’re here now and trying to make amends… that’s all that matters. We’ll figure the rest out as we go.”

Chapter Text

“Okay, let’s see if you can crack this.” Daisy challenged the genius as a virtual battleship using the towers holographic screens, so the genius didn’t have to move around so much. Evie stayed silent for a moment contemplating her move before typing in a guess. The screen flashed green, declaring a hit. Daisy groaned and typed in a guess hissing when the screen flashed red. Evie laughed.

“Got to be better than that.” She teased the young woman who was quickly becoming a good friend.

“How are you so good at this?” Daisy demanded causing Daniel to snicker from his book.

“She’s a math genius, never play a game of probability against a math genius.” Pepper nodded.

“That’s why game nights are reduced to only once a month.”

“And why she has a standing invitation to my poker night.” Mr. Rhodes chimed in. Laura laughed from where she had been encouraging Nate to walk towards her while the other children were having a movie marathon.

“She’s a horror.” Hope confirmed to some laughter. It was a challenge getting back her place in the circle, but she felt that being here and currently working on a press release with both Laura and Moria to assist her, the release that would disavow Scott publicly was the first step, she felt to repairing the fractures in their relationships.

“Boss?” The familiar and comforting Irish lit wafted through the speakers.

“Yes, Friday?” Evie questioned tilting her head to the nearest camera.

“The head and second in command of the Accords Task Force are in the lobby wondering if you are available for a quick chat.” Evie thought about it.

“I have nothing to hide, send them up.” She answered sitting up so she could get to her feet when they arrived. The elevator soon dinged, and her eyes widened as the two men stepped off. Vision helped her up and she strode forwards ignoring the slight shake of her hands.

“Commander Ross.” She greeted extending a hand. The man smiled slightly and shook it.

“Dr. Stark, thank you for seeing us.” He waved the person behind him forwards. “I believe you know my second in command, Lieutenant Jarvis?”

“I am familiar with him, yes.” She answered a smile playing on her lips as she extended her hand to him. “Welcome back to the states, Lieutenant.” Isaac’s grin was wide as he grasped her hand giving it a gentle squeeze.

“It’s really good to be back, Dr. Stark.”

“Ahem!” Rhodey coughed after a minute causing the two to jump apart looking anywhere but at the smirking looks of their friends and curious looks of the two newcomers.

“Well, may we speak privately?” Everett inquired after he figured the two had suffered enough.

“Y-yeah! Right this way.” A flushing Evie motioned. She led the two men to another room. As soon as they were out of earshot Daisy turned to the others.

“Okay, I need details.” She demanded with Laura nodding in agreement.

“That was, Isaac Jarvis, the son of Howard Stark’s butler and cook.” Pepper explained. “He and Evie grew up together in Stark Mansion.”

“He’s also the first-person Evie ever slept with.” Rhodey added with a shit eating grin on his face. The couple he had been secretly rooting for all these years was finally face to face again.

“What?!” Laura demanded. “They slept together?”

“Multiple times over ten-year period.” Helen clarified absentmindedly.

“So, what was it a friend with benefits thing? A relationship?” Daisy demanded; she had seen the look in the man’s eyes when he first saw the genius. It reminded her… of the way Lincoln looked at her.

“From what I’ve gathered it was more towards the relationship side of the spectrum.” Rhodey explained waving the other screen to him to play a new game of battleship.

“No one knows how it ended.” Christine said ominously. “It’s taboo to even ask.”

“From what I’ve heard though, it was a pretty big fight.” Hope shrugged.

“A stupid fight is what it was.” Daniel scoffed causing everyone to look at him curiously, but he kept his eyes on his novel. “I’ve heard bits and pieces over the years, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it wasn’t all their fault, Obadiah Stane had a pretty big role in it as well.” Some of the faces around them instantly darkened.

“So why haven’t they worked it out themselves?” Mrs. Rhodes asked. Daniel laughed.

“When those two clash; they can be the most stubborn people on Earth! It took half a decade for me to get them into the same room with each other for more than two hours. Much less sit down and actually hash things out.” He then smiled a little. “Maybe this will finally be the proof they need to realize what Peg and I figured out years ago.”

“What is that?” Vision questioned. Daniel finally looked up at them with a twinkle in his eye.

“That Isaac’s been in love with Evie since he was nineteen and Evie has been in love with him since she was seventeen. And no matter their differences over the years, they never stopped.” He informed them.

In the Next Room

“So, what can I do for you gentlemen?” Evie asked slowly sinking into a chair and motioning for them to do the same.

“There are a few things the Accords Council want to go over with you before you meet in two weeks.” Everett said to her. Evie nodded and waved her hand motioning for him to go on. “The Avengers?” Evie smiled happy to share that piece of good news.

“Are still going strong, we have plans to release a press statement officially removing Rogers and his cohorts from the roster. As well as a few new faces that are not only willing to step up but will fully sign the Accords and adhere to their regulations, we are all currently working together to draft new amendments that we believe the Council will agree on. And that we believe will be better received by the public if we present it together as a united front. As such we are keeping the new roster private for now, but in case an attack forms here in the US, we have already made an agreement with the President for those who can respond.” Everett nodded while Isaac took notes.

“That is good to know, we had some concerns, but it is wonderful to hear that you all are on top of it.” He then cleared his throat. “Now on to other matters of business, as you most likely know that there is still an investigation into the Lagos catastrophe.” Evie nodded.

“Do you have any idea of why they were there, Dr. Stark?” Isaac finally spoke. Evie sighed.

“If I had to wager a guess, I’d say it’s about what Rogers has been obsessed about since the fall of SHIELD.”

“Sergeant Barnes, you mean?” Isaac said and she nodded.

“That is correct Lieutenant. But I may be able to help you find out for sure. FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Boss?”

“Have legal draft an agreement for the task force to sign that will give them access to the security feeds of the compound.” She looked them in the eye at this point. “I am willing to compromise if you need to broaden your search horizons in the future but for that I will need more comprehensive agreements.” They both nodded with Everett rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Are you sure, Rogers and his party won’t see it as an infringement on their rights to privacy?” Evie leaned back with a smirk.

“They signed NDAs as well as a contract when they moved into the compound, part of that contract included the monitoring to a degree. If they did not understand it or read it, that is not my concern. They were told if they needed help understanding someone from legal would be able to them. If they want to be willfully ignorant idiots, they will suffer the consequences.” Isaac chuckled.

“The Stark charm, never fails.” Evie winked at him.

“Now onto other unpleasant matters.” Everett muttered. “Dr. Stark, Siberia, what exactly happened?” Evie paled and took a few deep breaths. She felt a hand cover hers giving it a gentle squeeze. She locked eyes with the man across from her and nodded.

“A lot of things, gentlemen. That not only involved the three of us but also… my parents.” Isaac’s eyebrows rose. “I am not comfortable with repeating what happened, but I will have FRIDAY include the footage from the suit along with the security footage.”

“And your health?” Everett pressed.

“For now, that is up in the air, I am meeting with Dr. Wu and Dr. Cho Monday morning to discuss my options, which I will then discuss with the Council at the meeting.” He nodded and stood up shaking her hand again.

“Thank you for your time, Dr. Stark, we are all hoping for a speedy recovery.” Evie smiled slightly.

“I look forward to working with you all in the future.” Everett smiled.

“As do we.” Isaac stood up as well.

“Hey, Ev.” He spoke up causing his best friends head to snap to him. “Give me a minute?” Everett glanced between the two and nodded walking out the door. Evie stood up and faced her old friend.

“Evie.” He greeted his stance softening.

“Sergeant Pretty Boy.” She returned earning herself an eyeroll from him.

Years from now Evie’s still not sure who made the first move. Maybe her, maybe him, maybe both. But all she does know is that in seconds she finds herself gentle cradled in a familiar embrace, one that makes a long-forgotten part of her heart ache. She slots her head into the man’s shoulder and breathes the moment in. And just for a second, she is just plain Evie, back in Stark Mansion listening to the tinkering sounds flitting up from her father’s workshop accompanied by her mother’s melodies on the piano. The smells of Ana’s native cuisine wafting from the kitchen as well as Edwin Jarvis’s laughter as he attempts to assist her. All the while she and Isaac are rushing through the halls, excited to explore every nook and cranny. It feels, a bit like coming home.

After a moment Isaac lifts his head slightly as he feels small droplets on his shirt.

“You’re crying.” He mumbles to the brunette.

“Shut up.” Was all Evie responded. He chuckled and held her tighter, dropping his head back to the rest against hers.

“God, I missed you, E.” He sighed.

“Me too.” She returned. The two pulled apart and he immediately took stock of the way her face looked slightly pinched in pain.

“That bad?” He questioned in nothing but concern. Evie nodded not meeting his eyes while undoing the first few buttons on her shirt revealing the bandages. “E…” He reached out but she drew back.

“Don’t.” She pleaded not ready to fully bare it all out, even to him. He nodded. “Are you… Are you going to be working out of New York for a while?” He nodded.

“Yeah, we are, it’s just me and Everett plus a few new recruits for now anyway. Why?”

“Are you free, Friday?” She inquired meeting his eyes. He nodded.

“Yeah, after work.” She shifted her weight slightly as she struggled to find her next words.

“Can we go somewhere? Just the two of us? If we are going to finally hash this out… I want to do it in private.” She told him hoping he’d agree. He gave her a soft smile, the one he reserved only for her.

“Yeah, where did you have in mind?”

“Um, I owe you a meal at the diner but after that… Home?” Isaac’s face took on a shocked and wary demeanor.

“As in..?” Evie shrugged.

“Yeah, I think we both need to face whatever this is… where it all started.” Isaac nodded agreeing with her assessment.

“I’ll come pick you up around five then.” Evie allowed herself to grin.

“Great.” She then bit her lip as another thought floated through her head. “Isaac, don’t watch.” She whispered.

“What?” She stepped back into his space and placed a hand on his cheek, making sure he kept his eyes on hers. So that he could see the vulnerability she was exhibiting. She vaguely registered his hands slipping around her waist.

“The footage of Siberia, from the suit. It’s not pretty and… they were your godparents.”

“Evie, what-” Evie shook her head cutting him off.

“I can’t… not now. Have Everett give you a summary or whatever but don’t watch.” He sighed.

“Okay.”

“Promise me.” She pleaded; she could not let Isaac go through watching two of the people who helped raise him be brutally murdered, it would break him too. Isaac nodded.

“I promise.” The two stayed in the that position for a moment longer neither willing to move backwards or forwards. The blond man opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted.

“Boss!” FRIDAY called out through the speakers.

“Yeah, Fri?” Evie answered as they separated.

“You and Lieutenant Jarvis both need to go back to the living room. Something has happened.” Both exchanged glances before hurrying out of the room.

“What’s wrong?!” Evie demanded as they came to a halt in the living room. Pepper looked at her and Evie stiffened as she could see her friend vibrating with barley repressed rage.

“You both need to see this.” She hit a button and a holographic screen popped up displaying what had quickly become the bane of their existences over the past few weeks.

“Good Morning, I’m Steve Rogers, Captain America and I am here to clear the air on all this Civil War nonsense.”

“Son of a bitch!” Evie exclaimed.

Chapter Text

Stark Tower Thursday Afternoon

“Mr. Murdock, Mr. Cage, Mr. Rand, and Ms. Jones.” Pepper greeted as the four and Foggy entered the conference room. “And am I right to assume you are Mr. Nelson?” Foggy nodded and shook her hand.

“Please call me Foggy.” He countered.

“Then you must call me, Pepper.” She returned. “That goes for all of you if you like.” Matt stepped forwards to shake her hand.

“Then you can drop the Mr. and Ms. with us as well.” Pepper beamed and motioned to the table behind her.

“Shall we?” They all took seats. “Ms. Stark is on her way down with the Vision, Colonel Rhodes, Director Hill and a few others as well.” A few minutes later the group walked in.

“Evie.” Danny greeted as the two embraced.

“Hey, Danny. And friends.” She greeted before gesturing behind her. “This is the Vision, Colonel Rhodes and the head of the Avengers Division, Maria Hill.” She introduced. The three exchanged greetings and sat down. “This is Hope Van Dyne of Pym Technologies. She is the newest addition to the roster recently, she is the holder of the Wasp suit.” Hope greeted them and sat down.

“The Wasp suit?” Luke inquired.

“It runs on the same technology as the Ant Man suit that Scott Lang used in Germany, my father invented both alongside my mother. We entrusted Scott with it under the belief that he would use it with our permission and such but he betrayed our trust and now, I’d like to use mine and the advanced features it carries to reclaim the Ant Man suit.” The rest of the Defenders looked to their resident lie detector who nodded. Hope sat down as Evie motioned to Peter and May.

“This is Peter Parker and his Aunt May Parker, now before they go any further, I ask that no information leave this room. This is a highly sensitive matter.” When everyone nodded she leaned back so Peter could take the stage.

“I’m Peter Parker and I’ll be sixteen soon, two years ago I was bitten by a radioactive spider on a field trip. I developed abilities and long story short… I’m Spiderman.” After a few moments of silence May took over.

“I’m Peter’s guardian and I have decided to let him train and work with the Avengers provided he doesn’t lose track of being a student and a kid.” Foggy scribbled down on his notepad.

“So, I assume the first few amendments are going include identity protection with a focus on minors?” Evie nodded. “We can work with that right?” He asked Matt who nodded as well. The two Parkers sighed with relief and took seats at the table. Finally, Daisy stepped forwards.

“My name is Daisy Johnson; I was born to an inhuman woman and an unenhanced man.”

“Inhuman?” Luke repeated.

“A long time ago on Earth a race of aliens called the Kree, experimented on humans by infusing them with alien DNA. When activated by a substance called Terrigen, we overgo a transformation that gives us unique abilities and can also sometimes change our appearence.”

“You mean those news broadcasts about people becoming infected that happened in the fall?” Peter brought up. Daisy nodded.

“When I was born Hydra was hunting mt mother for her abilities, they slaughtered the village in China we were living in by the time a SHIELD team came it had turned into a bloodbath. I was the only survivor or so they thought. My father enhanced himself to the point of going insane and began to annihilate the team, not knowing the truth and fearing for my safety they left me at an orphanage in New York with explicit instructions that I was never to be kept in one place for too long.”

“Wait, it was St. Agnes, wasn’t it?” Matt asked curiously. Daisy raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah, it was. How did you know?” Everyone looked between the two confused.

“Mary?” Daisy gasped at the reminder of her old life.

“I haven’t used that name in years. Who are you?”

“It’s me, Matt.” Daisy grinned.

“Matt Murdock?” He nodded and she strode over quickly to hug him. “Oh my god! I can’t believe it’s you!” Matt laughed.

“Me either, little Mary Sue Poots.” Daisy laughed as the other occupants in the room exchanged amused glances at the name.

“Daisy. We have a lot of catching up to do.” Matt nodded.

“Save it for after the meeting. Finish your story.” Daisy nodded.

“I joined SHIELD before it fell and, in the process, acquired these powers but they way they were treating enhanced in some ways threw me and I decided to leave. That’s the short version.” Daisy finally sat down.

“I’m Danny Rand, this is Jessica Jones, Matt Murdok and Luke Cage. We are a team, the Defenders. We can talk powers later.” Foggy waved.

“I’m Foggy, a lawyer who works with Matt, so shall we get started?” Everyone nodded. “So, like I said I already have a few good ideas for precedents for the identity protection is there anything else anyone can think of?”

“Maybe a clause stating not to put anyone on the field who doesn’t have a good grasp on their powers.” Jess brought up.

“Or doesn’t pass a psychological evaluation.” Luke threw in.

“That’s a good idea, if Maximoff had been properly trained Lagos might not have happened.” Pepper agreed.

“I propose an amendment that stops one leader from having veto power over the other members of the team. It was how Ms. Maximoff got on the team despite Evie’s objection.” Vision also threw in. He had thought long and hard about the way Rogers ran the team, using his power to undermine Evie and seek to control her. Never again would that happen as long as he was present to stop it.  Foggy wrote everything down as fast as he could before looking around the table.

“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you all about, it would help this team if you all had named leader.” There was a beat of silence as they all pondered this. Finally Evie looked at Rhodey.

“I say you, Rhodey, you have the most leadership experience from the military.” She suggested.

“Yeah, but you have led the biggest tech company in the world for years by yourself and revolutionized it. You also know politics. Plus, you have the most experience as an Avenger and your brain works faster than mine, you’re a good tactician when the going gets tough.” Both grinned at one another.

“Okay, not that this isn’t heart warming and all.” Jess commented breaking the ambience. “But if I can make a suggestion, how about you both lead?”

“That’s a great idea, Evie can handle more of the politics and Rhodey can handle training and such.” Maria agreed. Evie and Rhodey exchanged glances before nodding.

“We are good with it if you are.” He told the others. Everyone agreed without hesitation.

“I also would like to help with funding.” Hope told her new allies. “I get SI’s Avengers Division runs it, but you shouldn’t have to bear the burden alone if we can help it.” Evie grinned at Hope.

“She’s right, same goes for me.” Danny spoke up. “I also have some ideas for rebranding, it’s what I did when I took back over Rand Industries. I think if we get people here on the Homefront to look to a new formula of this team, a better one, maybe Rogers team will lose more support.”

“Well, we can certainly draw up some agreement.” Evie began taking a sip of her coffee. “Pep, I know this isn’t your area of expertise since you aren’t an Avenger, but you have a lot of experience with these types of mergers-”

“I want a suit.” Pepper firmly interrupted causing Evie to spit out her coffee.

“What?!” She and Rhodey demanded.

“I want a suit, and to sign the Accords and to join this team.” Pepper calmly explained.

“Pep, if this is about getting revenge-” Rhodey began.

“It’s not.” Pepper interrupted yet again. She looked at Matt imploringly. “Tell them.”

“She’s telling the truth.” Pepper took a deep breath.

“This is about me, understanding the bigger picture, that you two have put your lives at risk for the world to protect everyone, and right now you’re standing up for the rights of those who probably would be crucified if not for these protections we are trying to put in place.” Her eyes filled with tears. A hand covered hers and squeezed and she looked to the blind man sitting next to her before squeezing back. “And this is also about me never wanting to know you all went out without back up, or without another person you can trust out there with you. I wasn’t there to protect my best friends once, never again.” Evie and Rhodey rose and embraced her.

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Evie conceded.

“I am.” The redhead repeated.

“I think this is a good start,” Foggy told the group, “We can meet again after the Accords Council meeting and go from there.” Evie straightened and Matt raised an eyebrow as he felt her heartrate quicken slightly.

“One more thing, are you all free this Friday evening?” At the confirmations or slightly unsure nods she pushed on. “One of the things that led to the breakup of the former team was a lack of trust and keeping secrets. We cannot have that again. I trust you all.”

“What does that mean?” Luke questioned.

“It means that I want you to know the truth about what happened in Siberia.”

Chapter Text

Everett flinched as he heard another crash from his partners office, followed by a loud string of curses in Hungarian.

“Uh, sir, should we go-” One of the new recruits motioned to the closed office door. Everett shook his head.

“Trust me, you do not want to go in there.”

"Önző seggfej. Néhányszor fejbe kéne vernem Őt egy égig magasztalt frizbivel és megnézném akkor hogy tetszik Neki!"

“You really don’t want to go in there.” He reiterated.

“What did you do to him?” Everett held his hands up.

“All I did was give him a case file.”

‘Not my fault it involves the woman he’s been in love with for fifteen years.’ A few minutes later the door opened, and Isaac stepped out adjusting his shirt. He looked at everyone who openly stared at him.

“I’m good, thanks.” He reassured as he shut the door behind him. Everett gave him a knowing glance.

“Do I want to go in there?” He asked jerking a thumb towards the office.

“No, you do not, take it out of my paycheck.” Everett laughed.

“I had them stock your office with old furniture and outdated tech they were going to dismantle and throwaway. I knew this would happen within five minutes of that video. Just leave a tip and buy a meal or something for the cleaning staff along with a thank you card.”

“Thanks, man.” Isaac responded shaking his hand. Everett examined him.

“Did you get a haircut? And change your clothes?” Isaac shrugged.

“It’s a diner, not a five-star restaurant. I’m not going there in a suit and tie.” He defended shrugging on his jacket and making his way towards the elevator. Everett shook his head and followed him.

“No, this is different from your other dates.” He mused as they stepped in. “You’re wearing that expensive cologne you almost never wear, your leaving work at three when you never leave early, your nervous and the other day I could have sworn I heard you rehearsing lines in the bathroom.”

“That’s it, I’m moving out.” Isaac shot back. “And furthermore, this isn’t a date.” He finished as they exited the building, and he hailed a cab.

“Yeah, but you want it to be!” Everett called to get the final word in.

Stark Tower

“Oh, look who is looking fancy.” Daisy teased as she and Laura waltzed into the brunette’s closet.

“Someone is hoping for a good date.” Laura added. Evie rolled her eyes as she adjusted her red short sleeved knee length sundress with black low-heeled sandals.

“As I told everyone else multiple times it’s not a date.” She gritted. “My ribs are still healing and everything else I own besides band shirts is a no go right now. She began trying to figure out her hair when Daisy stepped behind her.

“Let me.” She quickly arranged the older woman’s hair into a low ponytail over her right shoulder with a few strands escaping to frame her face.

“Thanks, and onto the reason I called you in here.”

“Besides us wanting to try on like everything in here?” Laura joked looking around the closet.

“You both have interviews with Pep and HR Monday at ten. They are just a formality and to get you guys started on paperwork, Laura you will have an extra with the soon to be retired head of PR so he can get a feel on who will replace him an hour later. And Daisy you’ll have one that afternoon with Maria about being with the Avengers Division for cyber security and analysis.” Both nodded.

“Boss?” Friday’s voice filtered in through the speakers.

“Yes?” Evie answered.

“Lieutenant Jarvis is waiting for you in the garage as we speak.” Evie took a breath and grabbed her tote bag.

“Thank you, Fri.” She made for the exit. “Oh, and if we are the same size, go nuts.” She told Laura before heading down.

Sometime Later

“Do my eyes besiege me?” Cecile Blythe asked as she walked over to the couple who had just entered her diner. “Evie Stark and Isaac Jarvis patronizing my establishment together again.” Both exchanged a smile before embracing the older woman.

“Evie over here owed me dinner, Cecile.” Isaac informed her.

“And what a better place then the one we have been coming to for over twenty-five years?” Evie added.

It was true, on an afternoon shopping with the children Ana had stumbled on the diner and after a while it became a place of sanctuary for the Stark-Jarvis family with occasional appearances by their extended family. The best part of this place was that for a few hours, the outside world melted away. Maria Stark had imposed a strong rule, all outside personal and business drama was left out the door.

“Well then, I’ll set you two up at your usual table.” Both nodded and she led them to a table close to the back barely seen by the rest of the diner.

“Cecile, is your grilled cheese and tomato soup still the best in the city?” Isaac asked.

“You know it!” She laughed.

“Then I’ll take that with some soda.” He turned to his companion. “Evie?”

“I’ll take some of your chocolate chip pancakes with a chocolate milkshake.”

“Coming right up, and it is really good to see you two together again. I missed you coming in here on your dates.”

“It’s not a date!” They both called after her before bursting out laughing at the other.

“You- too?” Evie questioned through her laughter.

“Yes! Everett wouldn’t shut up about it. I’m moving out.”

“We have really bad taste in friends.” Evie joked.

“Eh, there must be some qualities about them that is worth keeping around.” Evie shook her head.

“Well, since The Rule still stands, and we still have a lot of catching up to do…” Here she trailed off.

“Fire away.” Isaac challenged leaning forwards.

“Well, last I heard before we patched things up, you were engaged. What happened there?” Isaac groaned.

“Went straight for the jugular, didn’t you?” He asked still smiling slightly. Evie shrugged as their drinks were dropped off at the table.

“Who, me?”

“Alright, Smartass. It was good at first, but then major differences popped up. Like how I wanted to eventually move back to the US, and she wanted to sleep with her co-worker while I was on assignment.”

“What?” Evie was shocked and infuriated on behalf of the man before her. She knew he had a stubborn streak equally long as hers but when Isaac Jarvis committed to something, he stuck with it.

‘Unless that something fights back.’ She reminded herself.

“Okay, two can play at this game. What the hell were you thinking calling the Mandarin out like that?!” Evie straightened.

“Rule.”

“No, that drama doesn’t count since I wasn’t involved. So, care to explain yourself?”

“Really bad decision?” At his look she sighed. “I know, it was a callous and selfish action. But to be fair he would have come after me anyway.”

“Still doesn’t make the heart attack you gave us okay.” She reached over and took his hand.

“And I don’t think I ever really told you how sorry I was for that. You and I were still on the outs right after that. So, I’m sorry for scaring you.” He raised his eyebrows and leaned forwards.

“Evie Stark, I didn’t think those words were in your vocabulary when it came to me.” Evie burst out laughing.

“Don’t be an ass.” She warned leaning in as well.

“Such language.” Cecile suddenly appeared with their meals. She scrutinized the two grinning and leaning as close as possible to the other.

“Not a date, who are the two of you trying to fool?” Both quickly jumped back as the elderly woman walked away laughing.

“Why do we come here again?” Isaac grumbled.

“Nostalgia.” Evie shrugged back as they dug in. She looked up to see Isaac digging in with gusto. “Still good?” He nodded and held out a spoonful of the soup.

“Want a bite?” Evie nodded and took a taste. She leaned back with a sigh.

“Heaven.” Isaac chuckled and ripped off a piece of his grilled cheese.

“Tastes even better when you dip the sandwich in.” He informed her proceeding to do so and holding it out for her. Evie leaned forwards and he fed it to her.

“That was satisfying.” She admitted before offering him some of her pancake.

 They chatted briefly about their fellow Legacies and forty-five minutes later Evie was paying the bill while Isaac embraced Cecile.

“Thanks for the food Cecile, it was a nice way to come back.” Cecile pinched his cheek.

“You’re welcome, now don’t be stranger. I expect to see you more often now.” She turned to embrace Evie. “That goes for both of you, do you hear me?” Evie nodded.

“Of course.” Both bid her farewell and left the building into the cool summer night. “Home?” Evie asked her companion. Isaac nodded.

“Home.”

Stark Manor

“You know staying out on the stoop won’t prolong the inevitable.” Isaac teased. Evie rolled her eyes.

“I know, Smartass.” She snarked back. “Just… taking it all in.” Isaac put a hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” Evie finally reached over and unlocked the doors letting them step into the foyer. For a few minutes, the two just lingered as memories flew through their minds. Evie finally reached for Isaac’s hand and lead him through the house to the family den where the Stark-Jarvis family would gather. The two sat facing each other on the couch.

“You ready for this?” Evie asked. Isaac nodded. “Where to start?” She questioned more to herself.

“Thank you for telling me not to watch that video.” Isaac started catching her attention. “After reading the report I don’t think I could handle it.” Evie smiled softly and reached for his hand.

“They were your godparents, they helped raise you. You shouldn’t have had to see that.” Isaac squeezed her hand looking at her intensely.

“I wasn’t talking about that part, E.” He confessed shocking her. “That I could handle, but seeing you… in that position… I don’t know if I could handle it.” Evie looked down.

“I- I didn’t realize you still cared that much for me.”

“Just because we broke up… doesn’t mean the feelings went away.” Evie blanked at the admission. So, they were going to do this now. A familiar flight or flight reflex tried to make an appearance but the words she had spoken to Yinsen stopped her.

“I- I want to live.” She told him. “I want to live and make a difference for other heroes, and in peoples lives. Be with my friends and family. I want to fall in love and have kids.”

‘I can have that. But in order to do that I have to face the past and my mistakes.’ She took a quick glance at Isaac’s face and for a split-second saw something that she used to see everyday glimmer in his eyes. A familiar feeling blossomed in her chest.  ‘And maybe I don’t need to fall in love… I’m still already in love. Maybe I have a chance.’ She took a deep breathe.

“I’m so sorry, Isaac. I was so cruel to you in the end.” She choked out feeling tears in her eyes. Isaac scooted closer.

“You’re not the only one. I said things I regret too. But I never should have walked away so easily.”

“I didn’t give you much a choice remember?”

“Either you walk away, or I walk away.”

 “It was a cowardly way to end it. Mom always told me, if I loved something, I had to fight for it. I didn’t fight nearly as hard for you… for us.” Evie snickered.

“We were good together for those few years. What happened to us?”

“A lot of things.” He scoffed. “What do you think contributed to the end?”

“For one, I was self-destructive. And the other thing was, we never really defined what we were. We were friends, sure. Friends who had sex with just each other, but with things like the paparazzi hounding me all the time… we were both scared to put a label on it. Afraid the public scrutiny would destroy us. Which is ironic because we did a pretty fucking good job ourselves.” He nodded.

“I agree but a big part of our relationship failing was, Obie.” Evie shuddered as memories of what the man did to her flashed through her mind.

“He was a real piece of shit, wasn’t he?” Isaac could see where her mind was going and lifted her head to face him.

“Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. It wasn’t your fault you didn’t see him for what he truly was until it was too late. He put a lot of work into controlling you from day one, and by that, I mean when you were born.” Evie felt the tears spill over.

“He gaslighted us, said I had to focus on things like my image. And later that you were trying to use me and control me. Which is what he was doing. He pushed so hard especially after your dad died.” Now it was Isaac’s turn to look down.

“Dad didn’t trust him, and I didn’t either. He fed your self-destructive qualities. The more you messed up the more you trusted him to fix your messes. And he never allowed you to grieve after Aunt Maria and Uncle Howard passed. Dad really wanted to get you into therapy to help you and maybe have you see what he truly was. But he died before he could do it.”

“Obie would have hated that.” She commented squeezing his hand.

“Yeah, and I think after he could see that I was of the same frame of mine. Couldn’t risk losing his meal ticket. I wouldn’t have stopped trying to make you see the truth. And I took up a lot of your free time back then.”

“You really loved me.”

“I would have asked you to marry me.” He admitted. Evie gasped and leaned close to press her head against his shoulder.

“You would have?”

“Yeah, I actually was looking at a catalogue to see if I could find a ring that suited you. But he must have found out.” Evie narrowed her eyes.

“And pushed on my insecurities till they festered, and I burst. So, he could direct it the way he saw fit. That son of a bitch.”

“Glad he’s dead.” Isaac laughed.

“For what it’s worth, I would have said yes.”

“Really?” He inquired hopefully. Evie nodded.

“You were the only one back then besides the others who saw the real me, flaws and all, and loved me for it. The only man I saw a future with.”

“Same.” Evie relaxed feeling as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“So where does that leave us now?” She finally spoke.

“That depends…” Evie poked him teasingly. “I know I’m still in love with you.” Evie felt tears spring into her eyes again. But this time they were happy tears.

“And I still love you.” An arm wrapped around her pulling her close.

“Maybe we can try again?” He suggested.

“We are older and wiser.”

“That we are, but if works… what do you want out of this?” Evie pulled back enough to face him. She reached up and cradled his face in her hands.

‘I have never been this intimate with someone else.’

“I think the same thing you want. A chance. Our second chance. To try and build a life and a future together.” Isaac smiled softly.

“That sounds nice.”

Early the Next Morning

Evie’s eyes blinked open at the slight blaring from her phone. She took a moment to register her bearings and felt oddly comforted by the sight of her old room. She reached for phone fought against her blurry vision and read the message from Friday.

Time to take you medication, Boss.

She gently began to maneuver herself out from under the arm that was wrapped around her.

“Evie…?” Isaac groggily whispered. She turned and smiled softly.

“I just need to take my pain medication; I’ll be right back.” She murmured kissing his cheek. She bent down and grabbed her purse tip toeing into her bathroom. She downed the multitude of pills and quickly returned to bed. Isaac immediately pulled her into his chest.

“All good?” Evie nodded and cuddled as close as possible to him. “Great, need anything?” Evie tightened her grip on him as her eyes slipped closed.

“This is perfect. Let’s go back to sleep.”

“Kay.” He mumbled as sleep reclaimed them.

A Few Hours Later

Evie’s eyes reopened to find herself alone in the bed. She slowly sat up looking around.

“Isaac?” When she received no response, she left the room to go searching for him. Once she reached the end of the hall, she sensed the smell of coffee and food from the kitchen. She slowed down to take in the house, the style and stopped at the realization that while it was her home… It was like a time capsule compared to her other residences. Stuck in the past like a part of her had been. If it wasn’t for the housekeeper, she had hired to swing by every week to keep it in livable condition she had no doubt a thick layer of dust would cover every inch of this place along with weeds growing out of the garden.

  Evie shook it off and continued her way to the kitchen. She leaned in the doorway smiling at the sight of Isaac taking some bacon off the stove plating it next to an omelet and buttered toast. He turned to open the fridge and caught sight of the brunette watching him causing a grin to spread on his face.

“Morning.” She greeted.

“Morning, I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed.” Evie shook her head fondly and walked up to the island.

“This is more than enough, and I could have helped you cook.” She responded walking to the cupboards and grabbing two glasses.

“I thought about waking you, but you looked so… cute lying there.” He shrugged a hint of red appearing at his cheeks as he poured some coffee into two mugs while she poured the orange juice.

The two seated themselves on stools and dug in. While she munched Evie dwelled on her realization of the house. Isaac soon noticed that she had paused her consuming and was merely pushing her food around on her plate. He tapped her forehead causing her to startle out of her thoughts.

“I can hear you thinking, E. What’s on your mind?”

“I just realized as I was walking through the house. Why haven’t I ever automated it like my other ones. The more I think about it this, this place has been stuck in the eighties besides a few furniture upgrades.” Isaac pondered this for a moment.

“That’s true.”

“And now I think, why not upgrade it? I plan to make New York my permanent home base again. It’d be nice to have a place to come home to that’s separate from SI and the Avengers.” Isaac put his utensils down giving her his full attention.

“I’ve seen your Malibu place; it would be interesting to see what you do with this one.”

“Are you okay with this then?” He raised his eyebrows. “You do own some of the house.” He pretended to think.

“You’re including me in the whole thing?” Evie nodded.

“We did agree last night to try to build a life together. We could start with this, building a home that we both start our future in.” He smiled fondly at her.

“Think we could include a home office for me?” Evie giggled.

“We could even expand the pool out back and turn it into an indoor pool. I remember how much you love going on a swim in the morning.”

“Even better, and you could renovate the old workshop so you could work on projects here.” The two grinned even wider at the ideas flitting through their head.

“The architect and contractor who rebuilt the Malibu house did a great job, I could call her and see if she’d be willing to take it on.” The brunette suggested. Isaac leaned closer.

“We really doing this?” Evie nodded.

“We are.” She confirmed as he stood and pulled her out of her seat to wrap his arms around her. “It’s a new beginning.” She promised.

“A new beginning.” He confirmed before leaning down to finally kiss her.

Chapter Text

Stark Tower

Jessica Jones had made mistakes in her past, some that cost her dearly. She lived with them every day, they would never stop haunting her… but now she made a vow to herself, a vow to protect those that mattered to her as well as those that were innocent. It was that very same vow which was running through her mind as her group of friends and Foggy entered Stark Tower that Friday night. She had a feeling what would be revealed to them would change everything.

The group headed up in the elevator to the top floor, entering the penthouse. Tonight, it was bustling with multiple people all conversing with each other as they waited for the group to arrive.

“Hey, Matt!” Daisy greeted walking over to them causing Matt to smile fondly. According to him, the two had a close sibling-like bond when they were together at the orphanage, Jess had a feeling it would only grow now that they were reunited.

“Daisy, are we late?”

“You’re right on time.” Pepper said warmly as she walked over. Foggy elbowed Danny and Jess as he saw the look on his friend's face.

“That’s good to know, Pepper.” He replied matching her tone.

“Allow me to introduce you to the rest of the family, this is Moira Keener and her son Harley. Laura Barton and her son Cooper.”

“And yes, Hawkeye is my hopefully soon-to-be-ex-husband.” Laura grumbled before anyone could ask now or later causing a few chuckles to emerge around the room.

“Moving on, Laura, you can chat with the lawyers about that later.” Maria told her.

“Our head of security, Happy Hogan. Evie’s godfather, Daniel Carter-Sousa.”

“Hello, sir.” Danny greeting going over to shake his hand, remembering the man from a few past playdates with his friend.

“Danny, nice to see you again. I have heard you’ve grown into a fine young man.” Daniel returned.

“Thank you.”

“Dr. Helen Cho, Christine Everhart, and Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes.” Pepper finished.

“Don’t worry I won’t write a story about any of this, I’m here for moral support, not that I have morals.” Christine joked causing Foggy to be the only one to laugh.

“What? It was funny.” He said to his friends. Matt patted the man sympathetically.

“If you would all be seated.” Friday’s voice came through the speakers. They listened and made themselves comfortable among the various seats in the room. Matt found himself sitting with Pepper and Daisy on either side of him. Pepper gave him a pair of high-tech earbuds explaining that the AI would be narrating what he was unable to decipher himself with his sense of hearing. After a few moments the footage was shown.

No one spoke throughout the fifteen minutes of footage that ended once Rogers dropped the shield and left the bunker. Friday shut off the monitor and lit the room back up. After a few moments someone unexpectedly spoke up.

“That no good son of a bitch!!!!” Mrs. Rhodes screamed surprising everyone.

“Honey!”

“Mom!”

“Apologies that’s an insult to his mother. But the point is… HOW DARE HE?! He had better hope he never crosses my path! I’ll flog him with my good spoon!”

“I’ll help, I still have my shotgun somewhere.” Daniel said his voice dark.

“Only if I get to dismember him.” Christine told them her eyes glinting.

“Guess we are burying a body son.” Mr. Rhodes told his son who sighed but didn't disagree.

“You could always dissolve it in acid.” Harley said nonchalantly causing everyone to look at him.

“He’s right, I bet a super soldier couldn’t heal from that…” Cooper mumbled which caused his mother to snicker softly.

“Peter, do you know how to make acid?” May asked her nephew not even batting an eye as they all plotted a murder.

“Aunt May!”

“I like her even better know.” Pepper said to the room.

“Here, here.” Helen responded with Maria and Christine nodding. As the ideas bounced around Jess got up and went to the well-stocked bar.

“Who wants what? I need something strong to help me get the feel of punching Rogers in that not so perfect face."

“You’re my new best friend.” Moira told her standing up to help her.

“How many bones do you think I could break at once before he re-heals?” Daisy asked Matt as the room slightly shook due to her powers.

“I don’t know, but we can find out.” Matt promised darkly.

“We are holding down after Danny gets his punch.” Luke volunteered with the blonde nodding.

“I call breaking his legs.” Jess called to them.

“I find I would like to help with that endeavor.” Vision told her floating over to try one of the drinks she was making.

“Guess I’ll start working on your defenses then.” Foggy said taking a shot of vodka.

The Next Morning

“So how do you think last night went?” Isaac asked her as they waited for the elevator to hit the penthouse.

“Well, the police weren’t called for destruction of property… so maybe not as bad as it could have been.” She answered holding his hand as the doors slid open. They turned to see everyone staring at them. “Or maybe not…” Evie trailed off as they stepped off. Jess strode over to her and pulled her into a tight but gentle hug.

“He’s not coming within the same zip code as you, unless it’s to stand trial.” Jess promised. Evie looked at everyone who nodded and gave her looks at reassurance.

“We have your back, Toni.” Luke promised causing tears of happiness to spring into her eyes.

“Evie… my friends call me Evie.” She replied.

“Good, because I protect my friends.” Jess told her causing the genius to smile at her newfound friend.

“Let’s rebuild and make them sorry then.”

Chapter Text

The council room located in the New York City United Nations building was already full when Evie and Rhodey strode in. Both trying to radiate calm and confidence which is what they mostly had. Both stood at the podium placing their files down ignoring a certain glare from Ross while they waited for the meeting to be brought to order.

“The council session will now begin.” The delegate from Switzerland began as they had been recently appointed to chair the council. “First, we welcome the representative of Wakanda, Her highness, Princess Shuri. Will you be joining us for this meeting solely or is this a more permanent arrangement?” Evie glanced over at the young woman sitting with her bodyguards looking perfectly calm like her father had at many meetings before her.

“I shall chairperson. With my brother still trying to find his footing as king as well as dealing with the aftermath of my cousin’s coup we thought it best for I to deal with diplomatic relations while he and our mother take care of matters at home.” The princess acknowledged smoothly not giving much but also being honest.

‘Well as honest as she could be…’ Evie thought as the princess met her eyes for a second before someone else got their attention.

“Your supposed “cousin” was once a member of our military, how are we sure he is not still alive and feeding you military secrets?” Ross demanded untactfully causing some to murmur amongst themselves.

“Secretary Ross, did my report on the matter not hit your desk? I could email it now if you wish?” Everett asked with Isaac behind him trying to hide his snickering at the snark thrown.

“No, I have it. I’m just pointing out a fact.” Ross hissed.

“What fact? The supposed relation or that he is dead?” The Lagos delegate asked.

“Both.”

“I mean, it would be awfully ignorant to accuse Wakanda of not checking if the familial relation was true since we know they have the resources.” Evie mused out loud before smiling innocently. “But I’m sure that wasn’t what Secretary Ross was implying.” She finished causing the man to sputter and Rhodey to notice a few hidden chuckles and smiles at his friend from some of the delegation.

“Do you wish us to exhume the body so you could perform an examination yourself, Secretary Ross?” Princess Shuri added on catching onto the other genius’s plan.

“No.” Ross grumbled sitting down.

“Alright, on to other matters then.” The chairperson spoke to get them back on track as they only had a limited amount of time. “Officer Ross the floor is yours to update us.” Everett nodded standing up.

“Thank you, first allow me to introduce my second in command, Lieutenant Isaac Jarvis, we will be switching handling these meetings depending on our workload.” Isaac stood up and nodded at the delegation.

“How is the task force coming along?”

“Slowly but surely, we want to make sure those we vet are able to be impartial and also vetted carefully. So far, the ones we have now are doing an excellent job setting up and getting our work off the ground.”

“And the investigation into how Captain Rogers got the information on where Sergeant Barnes was hiding?” The German representative questioned.

“We have managed to trace almost all his steps from when he left Peggy Carter-Sousa’s funeral. I’m certain we will have the answer soon enough.” Everett supplied. “As well as how he recovered his gear for the airport battle.”

“Anything else?”

“We are also just beginning our investigation into the Siberia incident and how far it goes and if it bleeds into his motives recently. Our techs have just gotten access to Avengers Compound security footage provided by Dr. Stark. We will of course keep you posted.” Everett finished sitting down.

“Thank you. Now onto Avengers matters, Dr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes the floor is yours.” The chairperson waved. Both stood.

“Thank you, Chairperson.” Rhodey began. “First let us make you aware that we are not just the representatives we have been elected as the Co-leaders of the Avengers Initiative by the other members. I will handle more of the training and supervision while Dr. Stark here handles the diplomatic issues.” Evie then took over.

“As you all know, we recently came to an agreement with the President of the US to respond to any matter that is deemed too great a threat. A copy of that agreement is included in the documents we presented today. If this council or any individual countries have any questions or would like to amend that agreement individually, we would of course make time to meet with you to find a solution that fits well for all of us.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stark we will review and get back to you.” The chairperson acknowledged before nodding at them to continue.

“Now recently the initiative has grown. Attached you will find a list of new members.” Rhodey said pausing to let them peruse the documents.

“Why are some of the names clearly aliases?!” Ross demanded two seconds in.

“That brings us to our next point. We included the proposed important addition into the accords with the list.” Rhodey clarified before nodding to Evie.

“Spiderman, has revealed to us that he is in fact underaged.” She began noticing the way Ross latched on to that statement silently. “As you all know someone with new powers can be dangerous depending on how they use them. But someone young and inexperienced with powers can easily be lead down a wrong path. So, the older members of the initiative will step in and work with Spiderman on training and providing him backup when necessary.”

“We have permission from the young man’s guardian to proceed with this endeavor and our hope is to grow it into a further program so new young heroes can have mentors and such to assist them in these developments in life.” Rhodey added.

“That still doesn’t answer my initial question.” Ross growled out.

“We were getting there before you oh so rudely interrupted.” Evie snapped back causing many to chuckle. “You all know the dangers of retaliation when working within occupations such as this. Not only to ourselves but also to our families as well. So, we proposed the amendment to protect the identities of those who wish to remain anonymous and immediate mandatory protection to minors. It will be up to those who fall under this act to decide if and when they want to reveal their identity to the public.”

“To put safeguards in place they will have to reveal their identity to either a leader or a senior member of the Avengers who will assume full responsibility for their actions and if they eventually go down the wrong path will reveal their identity to the council and/or task force.” Rhodey finished.

“We humbly ask that the council vote on this amendment now.” Evie said. “We are aware this is unorthodox but the more enhanced see that they are being protected and considered in this process the more might come to us when they decide to reveal themselves.” The council erupted into murmurs.

“I strongly object. Enhanced should not enjoy the freedom of anonymity.” Ross commented. 

“Your objection is noted for the record but as we have said before, you are not a member of this assembly.” The chairperson spoke firmly. “Now I happen to agree with Dr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes point. So, we will vote now. Those in favor?” Almost all hands raised. “Congratulations Dr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes, you have successfully added your first amendment to the accords.”

Both grinned as the meeting went on not paying much attention until Evie was addressed again.

“And how are you doing Dr. Stark?” The Russian delegate questioned. “You have had quite an ordeal this past month.” Evie looked down before speaking.

“I am recovering albeit slowly, unfortunately… the damage I sustained to my already weakened rib cage was too great.” She spoke calmly letting that sink in. “Dr. Wu estimates about a year, if there are no interventive measures.”

“How so?” The Lagos delegate asked. Evie took a deep breath before informing them.

“The only option is Extremis.” She revealed.

“You can’t do that!” Ross exclaimed before anyone could answer.

“You will find that I can. Dr. Maya Hansen was smart and put my name as a co-developer of the formula. Since she has unfortunately passed, I am the sole owner of the formula. So, I very well can.” She stated firmly.

“Dr. Stark, is this safe?” Princess Shuri inquired softly.

“As safe as it can be, it should theoretically heal the damage done by Rogers and Barnes as well as potentially the injuries that lead to me needing the arc reactor originally.” Evie answered calmly. “The only unknown variable would be how it would mix with the dormant Extremis still in my system.”

“Well, Dr. Stark it seems we can’t stop you but caution you to be careful.”

“I will, and I will keep you updated, we plan on doing the procedure in two weeks’ time.”

After the Meeting

“Dr. Stark.” A voice greeted smoothly as Evie walked down the hall.

“Princess Shuri.” She returned turning and bowing her head in respect.

“Oh please, none of that, call me Shuri outside of the meetings if you would.” Shuri requested.

“Then please call me Toni, it is a pleasure to meet you. Your father spoke about you a great deal.”

“He did?” Shuri asked softly.

“You and your brother were the pride and joy of his life. I can tell he loved you very much.”

“Thank you, he spoke highly of you as well. Please sit and chat with me.” Shuri invited motioning to a table in the corner.

“He mentioned you were quite an intelligent young lady.” Evie said as they sat down.

“I would like to think that I am.” Shuri returned with a secretive smile.

“Well perhaps when you are free, we could get together and discuss some of our works. I’d love your opinion on mine.” One of the Dora flanking Shuri scoffed.

“We don’t need to associate with thieves, princess.” They spoke up.

“Ayo.” The other admonished.

“I’m sorry, thieves?” Evie questioned softly.

“Like father like daughter is that not how the saying goes?” The one called Ayo asked. Evie raised an eyebrow leaning back. 

“Tell me, what happens to a meteorite when it enters the atmosphere?” She asked leaning back and pulling her tablet out.

“It breaks up.” Shuri answered.

“Exactly, Friday?”

“Yes, Boss?” The AI responded causing the other woman to slightly jump.

“Pull up the photo from Dad’s records, would you?” Evie requested maintaining eye contact. The tablet dinged and Evie flipped it over to show the photo of Howard’s team extracting the Vibranium from the ocean.

“I believe you should think before you speak Ayo.” The other Dora commented. 

“Yes, General.”

“And I believe you owe the lady an apology.” Shuri said firmly.

“Now apology necessary.” Evie waved off. “But if I can offer advise… be careful of deadweight holding down your load…” She warned lowering her voice.

“What?” Shuri asked stiffening. Evie looked around before leaning in.

“The council doesn’t know this but all the Avengers gear which I outfitted is equipped with trackers. I can find them with one push of a button, and if those trackers are tampered with, they emit an emergency signal to Friday.”

“How long have you known?”

“I suspected when I was told that your brother brought in Zemo… I understand he was grieving, but housing Rogers and his group is going to have ramifications. The only reason they haven’t asked me if I have a way to track them is because I think they’d rather I recover first.”

“And then?” The general asked.

“Then they want their heads and frankly, so do I. But I imagine you’d like a shot of them as well since I know they aren’t the politest people to their hosts.”

“I see this one’s point.” The general murmured.

“What do you suggest?” Shuri asked curiously.

“Have your brother convince them Wakanda is a perfect place for containment. Isolated, and away from other civilizations. Plus, they won't see it as containment which is why it will work. When we can properly contain those like Maximoff… you’ll give them up. I would think that would help your diplomatic relationships and the relations in your country. Plus, can you imagine Rogers face?” Evie added giggling.

“I like this one.” The general smiled.

“Toni.” Evie introduced rising and holding out her hand.

“Okoye.” The woman returned firmly shaking Evie’s hand. Evie noticed someone down the hall with the women following her gaze. “Princess…”

“He’s here for me.” Evie said getting her bag. “It was nice meeting you, and here,” Evie wrote her information on a piece of paper, “I would love to talk outside of the hall if you're interested.”

“I am. I imagine we will be speaking soon, Toni.”

“I look forward to it, Shuri. Ladies.” Evie nodded before walking away.

*****

Shuri watched as the older genius walked towards the lieutenant Everett had introduced at the meeting. The man smiled softly and took her hand, pulling her close and kissing her. They talked silently for a moment before walking away arm in arm.

“That is… sweet.” Ayo murmured.

“That is love.” Okoye corrected.

“Did you, do it?” Shuri asked the general. The woman smirked.

“Of course, right when she gave you the information. Ayo moved in view of the camera, and I dropped the letter in her bag.”

“Do you think it is wise?” Ayo asked.

“She already knows they are in Wakanda. Besides, I agree with Barnes that she deserves an apology.”

Chapter Text

“Okay, I like this one design for the pool.” Isaac said holding up said design from the multitude spread out on his counter.

“I agreed. Check out the one for the master.” Evie motioned over her shoulder as she mixed the sauce.

“I like it, but can I at least have some closet space.” He joked raising his eyebrow causing his girlfriend to scoff.

“Taste this, and stop being silly.” Evie ordered with a soft smile putting a spoonful in his mouth.

“Good, could use some more spices.” He told her putting down the sketches and grabbing some from the cabinet above her.

“You have a designated spice cabinet?” Evie giggled as she added them.

“Who do you think raised me?” He reminded her after putting them away and wrapping his arms around her waist propping his chin on her shoulder.

“The most popular guess was aliens.” Isaac scoffed at the answer. They stayed in silence for a bit as Evie finished dinner enjoying the new normal they had found between them in the last few days. The front door suddenly opened causing the two to jump apart.

“Hey, I’m… home.” Everett called trailing off as he noticed the scene he had walked in on. Isaac backed up and cleared his throat.

“Uh, Ev. You remember Dr. Stark.” He motioned rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hi…” Evie waved anxiously. “I made dinner.” The older man smiled kindly at her.

“That’s very nice of you, allow me to set the table.” The three soon sat down to eat. “So, when do I need to start looking for a new roommate?” He asked Isaac.

“Depends on how long the contractors take right, Evie?” He asked his girlfriend.

“Right, my guess is sometime after the New Year.”

“Plenty of time then. I hope I get a chance to see the place one day.”

“You will.” Isaac promised.

“So, Dr. Stark, can you tell me any crazy stories about this one growing up?” He asked Evie.

“Ev!” Isaac hissed as Evie giggled.

“Well, there was the time he got caught sneaking out to go to the city.”

“Evie!” The man groaned as both laughed. The trio continued their meal chatting amongst themselves.

“You are welcome here anytime Dr. Stark.” Everett said as he took the dishes while Isaac handed Evie her jacket.

“Please, call me Toni.”

“Then you may call me Everett outside official channels.”

“It’s a deal.” Evie promised before bidding the man goodbye.

“I know he’s… Ev…” Isaac laughed rubbing the back of his neck when the two were alone in the hallway.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I can see how he’s a good friend to you. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine.” She responded smiling fondly.

“Yeah. So what time are they doing… the…” He struggled to find the words.

“The Extremis?” Evie asked curiously.

“Yeah.” He said as she stepped up to him.

“Around ten in the morning.”

“I want to be there or at least in the building.”

“Isaac…”

“Evie, let me be there for you.” He insisted taking her hands.

“Okay. You’ll be there.” She said with a small smile realizing he actually wanted to support her, the first time someone she was in a relationship with wanted to do this for her.

Stark Tower: The Labs

“Okay, so what do we think team?” Evie asked the others in the lab as they stared at the suit render in front of them.

“It looks very good.” Rhodey said passing popcorn around.

“I agreed, the design is similar to yours and Rhodey’s design but sleeker and more suited to Pepper’s personality.” Vision pointed out.

“I like it but why is it silver?” Pepper questioned causing Evie to hand her the tablet.

“Your suit, you pick the colors.” The woman pointed out. “Just don’t pick something tacky.”

“Like red, white and blue.” Rhodey chuckled.

“I concur.” Vision said.

“What do I look like, an annoying asshat who has no disregard for rules whatsoever?” Pepper asked nonchalantly.

“I believe that’s what you would call a burn.” Vision pointed out as the redhead finally decided on a color scheme.

“It was Vision, now all we need for your suit, is a name, Pep.”

“Rescue.” Pepper declared. “That’s what it’s for, to rescue my friends and anyone else who would need it.” They all shared a smile.

“Alright then. Friday, put it into production.” Evie ordered.

“You got it boss.”

“That’s another suit flying in the sky to us if we need it.” Rhodey said with a smile.

“About that, maybe we wouldn’t have to do that in the future.” Evie commented leading to confused looks.

“What are you saying?” Pepper asked.

“Response time varies depending on distance and carrying a briefcase is risky, so I thought what if there was a way to have it with us? A way they would think and react to us, tailored to our personalities?” Evie began pulling up her plan on the holographic screen.

“Nanobots.” Rhodey realized.

“Ingenious.” Vision breathed.

“Housed in these.” Evie continued bringing up the design. “Mini arc reactors.”

“Hold up, you’re not…” Pepper trailed off not wanting to say it.

“Implanting one in my chest? God, no. These would be something we’d wear, like a wristwatch, bracelet, anything on us. And then when we needed the suit…”

Instantaneous response time.” Vision finished.

“Bingo.”

“If anyone can crack it, it’s you.” Rhodey complimented.

“Damn straight.” Evie smirked.

Later That Night

Evie was switching things out of her bag since she preferred using her smaller purse or such when an envelope fell out. She kneeled down and saw her name in unfamiliar handwriting written on the envelope. Curious, she sat down and opened the letter to begin to read.

Dear Dr. Stark,

First off, I want to whole heartedly apologize for what I did all those years ago. It was inexcusable, I considered Howard a friend and to know I’m the cause of his death as well as the death of many others including your mother, will haunt me for the rest of my days.

You didn’t deserve the heartbreak of losing both your parents… especially in such a traumatic way. And while I know I do not deserve your forgiveness I will apologize to you everyday if you let me.

What happened in Siberia Dr. Stark… should never have happened. I won’t defend myself and say I did it because of x and y reason. That’s cowardly, I should have surrendered when the video was shown, I should have let you take me in so I could stand trial for the crimes I did with Hydra, but I didn’t. Instead, I stood with Steve and helped him nearly kill you.

Steve… had absolutely no reason to keep the death of your parents from you. Ever, his mother would be ashamed to have raised such a selfish person. Is it true that you funded Avengers missions? Because if it is… he had you funding the search for your parents’ killer? He deserved more than that punch; I actually punched him too after he released that video. And then he continued to attack you until you were on the ground, he wanted to hurt you and he didn’t care about the consequences and that I can’t condone and truly regret the part I played in that fight instead of doing the right thing and standing down.

I’m sure you already know where we are, the others may underestimate your intelligence, but I knew Howard to be a smart man… and from what reports have shown you are even smarter than he is. He would be proud. They offered to put me back in cryo sleep until there is a way to remove the triggers but to me… that’s still running from my crimes instead of facing them.

So, I leave my fate in your hands, I want to try and make amends and the best way to do it, is to offer my help with Steve and his team. I don’t trust them to stay put forever especially when they realize the tide has really turned against them. Lang rants about you being the devil as if he’s repeating lines from a play. Barton is angry all the time and that can be dangerous. Wilson is just Steve’s yes man, what Steve says goes. Maximoff… there’s something off about her, something I don’t trust. Romanoff acts like she knows everything but the Widows were professional liars and manipulators back in the old days.

Steve… I don’t know what happened to the boy I knew in Brooklyn, but this isn’t him. He’s changed for the worst. He believes he is the only one that knows what’s right. That’s dangerous, he’s dangerous. And he needs to be stopped. I’m willing to stay with them and report their activities to you, the Avengers and the council. Hopefully that might stop another tragedy from happening at their hands.

After they are captured, I am willing to go to prison as well. I want to stand trial for my actions and will accept whatever judgement the court gives me. As well as testify against the Rouges.

Once again, I know you might not ever forgive me. You may hate me, and that’s okay. I hurt you in so many ways. I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you burned this letter. Whatever you decide, I will accept it.

Sincerely,

James Barnes

Evie sat there shocked for a moment after she had read the final line. Barnes had done what Steve couldn’t. Convey an actual apology without trying to justify his actions. He had also offered to take responsibility for his crimes even though he had committed them under Hydra’s influence. As well as volunteering to be their inside man on the Rouges. All while believing, she hated him.

“I don’t hate you… not anymore.” She whispered. “You may be the only one who deserves redemption.”

6 A.M.

Alarms woke Evie from her sleep causing her to jolt up.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. what’s going on?!” She asked grabbing her robe.

“Boss, I’m detecting a high concentration of energy from the roof!” The A.I. replied. Evie grabbed her watch and hurried to the roof meeting Rhodey, Vision, Pepper, Maria, Daisy and surprisingly Laura.

“Is that…?” Vision questioned recognizing the light.

“Yep…” Evie said as they all raised their weapons as the light finally faded revealing a familiar figure.

“…Bruce…” Evie breathed. The man locked eyes with her and stepped forward.

“Hi, Evie… thank the universe you're okay…” He said embracing her tightly. Evie was still for a moment.

“FRIEND SAFE. CAP NO HURT HULK’S FRIEND AGAIN.” A deep voice rumbled from Bruce’s chest causing her to relax and return the hug.

They had a lot to talk about, but for now… she was going to enjoy the moment.

Chapter Text

“Okay, let’s run through this again.” Evie began pacing the main conference room where they had gathered. The Avengers who resided in the tower were seated and the Defenders were attending on the speakerphone along with Foggy. “You were gone spending almost the whole time as the Hulk for almost two years when to you it was only a few months because time passes differently on the alien planet you were on.” She stated pointing at Bruce.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“And on this planet, you became a gladiator fighting for the hell of it?” Bruce nodded. “And somehow Thor and a miraculously alive Loki arrived on the planet after being attacked by their big sister Hela, whom they had no idea even existed.”

Bruce nodded again

“And the only reason they know this is because Loki took over Asgard and stuck the “Mighty All-Father” in a nursing home and when they went to retrieve him, he revealed that upon his death Hela would be unleased? Because apparently, they can’t solve their family problems through therapy or whatever space Viking equivalent.”

“In a nutshell.”

“And after being unleashed she took over Asgard and you, Thor and Loki formed a team and “liberated” Asgard. And by liberated, I mean destroyed to all hell!”

“Yes…”

“And now, the survivors including Loki are on a ship headed for Earth to seek refuge and find a new home.”

“Yep.”

“Perfect!!! Have we left out anything else?!” Bruce opened his mouth, but she beat him too it. “Oh, I know. The fact that Loki was apparently under the influence of the Mind Stone during the attack on New York by some “big bad” who is apparently after the Infinity Stones to do whatever they so please!” Evie yelled, throwing her hands into the air causing Bruce to wince.

“Good job, Evie.” Rhodey said complimenting her knowing no one else could sum it up so beautifully.

“Thank you, thank you very much!” She rplied throwing herself into the nearest chair.

“So Matt, any ideas what we need to do?” Pepper asked changing the subject.

“Well, the council obviously needs to be informed so they don’t take the ship as a threat.”

“I can contact them and the task force.” Rhodey offered.

“Second, the main issue is Loki obviously…”

“I can’t see many people not calling for his arrest and potentially worse.” Foggy added.

“So, what do we do?” Daisy questioned.

“Mind control is a tricky subject; it’s going to be hard to say he was being controlled without definitive proof.” Matt continued. Evie sat up at this statement in realization.

“I actually might have that.” She mused, turning to Bruce. “Remember the scans we did of the scepter?” Bruce thought for a long moment.

“Yeah, we found it had a unique frequency.” He replied looking at her.

“SHIELD did scans of Loki when he was captured. So…” She prompted.

“So, we can find those scans in the data dump and see if he has the same similar readings…”

“And compare it with the scans done of some of the others who were mind controlled!”  They both exclaimed. Everyone looked at them amazed.

“Yeah, that happens a lot.” Rhodey stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Okay, we’ll start drafting, let us know if you get anything off those scans. Rhodey, let us know as soon as you speak to the council or the task force.” The call was soon cut, and everyone split up to go about their daily tasks.

Later that Day

“Run the simulation again now.” Evie told Friday as she worked on her nanobots project.

“Of course, Boss.” Evie smiled before picking up her buzzing phone.

“Hey, you.” She greeted softly.

“How did you know it was me?” Her boyfriend asked casually.

“Caller ID has been a thing for a long time now, Babe.” She joked.

“Funny, Ev just got finished cursing his luck at the news.”

“Yeah, it’s a shitshow.” She agreed.

“How are you?” He asked his tone softening.

“Would you like the convincing lie or the truth?” She groaned leaning back in her chair.

“Evie.” He stated.

“I don’t know, it’s… Asgard destroyed… we now know something is coming eventually… for the Stones… one of which is in Vision’s head. It’s more than we ever imagined. I always thought of the Tesseract as larger than life when Dad had it in his off-property lab. What could those Stones be capable of when they are put together?” She asked letting the exhaustion creep into her voice.

“Yeah, that thing always creeped me out to be honest.” Isaac told her. “Why didn’t your dad move it before the accident happened?” He asked.

“First of all, calling it an “accident” is lowballing it hard.” She joked marveling inwardly about how she could joke about that situation. “And he didn’t think his security had a giant hole.” She told him.

“Got a laugh out of you.” He pointed out. “But yeah, I don’t want to think about how we combat that.”

“And then there’s Loki.” She pointed out.

“Great, can you imagine the paperwork.” Isaac groaned.

“Aww, poor baby.” She cooed.

“But all jokes aside, with everything you must be having some thoughts.”

“That’s putting it likely, if he was mind controlled… it’s one thing but he still choked me…”

“Understanding doesn’t mean you have to let what happened go.” He pointed out.

“Doesn’t it make me a hypocrite?”

“No, you understand it wasn’t him. Just like you understand it wasn’t Barnes who killed your parents, but you still feel what you feel about the act.”

“When did you get so wise?” She questioned with a fond smile.

“Wisdom comes from experience.” He spoke, quoting Peggy. “Listen, I’m about done here, how about I pick up some dinner for two and swing by the Tower. We could have a movie night, take your mind off things?” He offered.

“I’d like that, Danny Rand keeps raving about this Chinese place.”

“Your wish is my command. Text me your order and the address and I’ll let you know when I’m on my way to you.”

“Okay, love you.” She said beaming brightly.

“Love you too.” He responded and that phrase only made her beam brighter.

“Boss, Dr. Banner is requesting permission to enter the lab.” Friday informed her. Evie looked to the door to see Bruce waiting patiently. She nodded to the nearest camera and Friday opened the doors.

“Hey, Evie.” Bruce greeted.

“Hey.” She said cautiously. She understood that he had been gone longer than intended but he had still left. That had hurt.

“I wanted to ask if I could review your medical records and the Extremis formula.” He told her getting right to the point. That was one of the things she enjoyed about working with Bruce. There was no beating around the bush, they were able to be blunt with each other.

“Why?”

“Pepper, Rhodey and Maria have been filling me in on what happened. They told me about the Extremis, Helen is an amazing doctor, but I want to look over things with my own eyes. If you’ll let me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” She inquired, wanting to hear it from him. Wanting to see if he had the guts to admit it.

“Because I left, you have no reason to trust me the way you once did. I took the coward’s way out, me and the Hulk both did.” Bruce stated plainly looking her in the eye. Evie looked at him before moving to the sitting area. Bruce followed and joined her on the couch.

“Why did you leave, Bruce?”

“After what happened to Johannesburg… I couldn’t trust myself. The Hulk and I felt more separated than ever.” He told her. “And after Romanov in Sokovia…” Here he trailed off looking away ashamed and a bit disgusted.

“Bruce, what happened with Romanov? She told us you just up and ran.” Evie asked, getting a bad feeling.

“I wanted to leave, with her. I thought the Hulk would make things worse. She disagreed and pushed me down a hole to trigger a transformation.” Bruce told her a hint of anger in his voice.

“She did what?!” Evie screeched.

“She did what she does best, manipulate the situation to her advantage.” Bruce spat out.

“That she does. But then why didn’t you come back, at least to me? I had to face the inquisition of the creation of Ultron alone. I needed you, both of you.” She emphasized.

“I know, I always intended to come back after we felt more in control. The Hulk didn’t feel safe there around her and…”

“Maximoff.” Evie finished reaching over and squeezing his arm.

“Yeah, but then something happened we hit a black hole or… I don’t know, my memory is still hazy. But then we were on Sakaar and we couldn’t communicate or change back. It wasn’t till Thor showed up that we found an equilibrium again. And I’m sorry, Evie. So damn sorry for what we did. You gave us a place to belong, people who accepted us and we left you when you needed us to stand by you. I wouldn’t blame you if you never trusted us again.” Evie melted slightly at this.

“The trust isn’t gone Bruce,” she said softly, “just smaller. But you being here now, willing to make amends… Is a good start.” She reassured him. Bruce smiled.

“So, the science sibs are back?” He asked hopefully.

“Yeah.” She laughed. “About the Accords…” She brought up.

“I’m willing to sign. This new team you and Rhodey are forming, I want to be on it. I trust you, even if Ross is involved. We trust you.” He reassured her.

“I’m working on getting Ross out, but it will take time. I want to nail him to the wall with an airtight case. So, he never gets out.” She promised.

“And any way we can help with that, you have it. Thor also said he’s willing to rejoin and take accountability. As well as ensure all his people protect their new home from any threats.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Well, he named me his ambassador, so you’ll be hearing a lot more of it.” Both laughed. “Speaking of which, he mentioned someone who might be a potential ally against threats like Maximoff.” He informed her gaining her interest.

The Next Day

“You sure this is the place?” Evie asked, slipping her hands into her pockets.

“177A Bleecker Street.” Bruce read as they looked up at the building.

Chapter Text

“Thor couldn’t give you any more info?” She asked scoffing slightly causing Bruce to shrug.

“You know him, giving vague pieces of information is what he does.”

“He should be the god of vagueness.” Evie stated as they walked up to the door. Bruce nodded and knocked once. No answer. Evie sighed and knocked again. The door creaked open slowly making an ominous noise. Both exchanged a glance.

“Uh…” Bruce was at a loss for words.

“Yeah, no. Excuse me, Mr. Wizard or whatever.” She called. “I’m not walking through the mysterious doorway without some reassurances that you’re not going to suck my blood or something.” A beat passed and a man stepped up to the door.

“Please step right in Dr. Stark and Dr. Banner.” He invited. Both followed him into the entrance hall of the admittedly impressive house. A man Evie faintly recognized from charity circles stood on the staircase.

“Dr. Stephen Strange… It’s been a while. I’m glad to see you are doing well.” She greeted inclining her head. The man seemed surprised she remembered him.

“Dr. Stark, thank you for the sentiments. Now why are you and Dr. Banner gracing my doorstep?”

“Thor sent us.” Bruce answered. “He says there’s a threat you might need to be made aware of, a threat to the Infinity Stones.”

“The Infinity Stones?” The other man repeated suddenly alert.

“Yes, does that mean anything to either of you?” Evie asked. The man waved his hands conjuring images.

“At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing, then… Boom. The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence.”

“Space, Reality, Power, Soul, Mind, and Time.” Strange finished clicking the amulet he wore and moving his hands in a strange motion. The amulet opened to reveal a glowing green stone.

“Wait a second, you have had that thing all this time?” Evie demanded.

“The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj mainly the Sorcerer Supreme have been the guardians of the Time Stone for centuries.” The other man answered. “We swore an oath to protect it with our lives.”

“So, there are more than one on Earth.” Bruce mused.

“I’m sorry we didn’t catch your name.” Evie told the other man kindly.

“Wong.” He introduced shaking their hands.

“So, what else do you all do? Besides making balloon animals?” Evie asked Strange who gave her look.

“Protecting your reality, smartass.” He shot back.

“That’s only cute when my boyfriend calls me that.” She told him. “And you’ve done a bang-up job, Loki… Maximoff… I mean well done.” She told him slowly clapping.

“Maximoff wasn’t on our radar. We thought enhanced were your problem.”

“A person who can do…whatever the hell she does is not enhanced. Whatever the Mind Stone did to her-”

“Wait, hold up… she got her powers from the stone?”

“Yeah, keep up.” She said waving her hands.

“Well, that would have been good information to have.”

“Your existence would have been good information to have.” She returned. Bruce and Wong watched the thrown barbs like it was a tennis match.

“Oh my god, there’s two of them.” Wong said.

“Yep.” Bruce sighed before whistling. “Break it up you two.”

“Bruce is right, what matters now is how we go forward. If there’s a threat to the Stones it’s not just to you, it’s to all of us. What if we worked together?”

“I’m listening.”

“You and all your group look at the accords and work on magical protections that would help you. And make it so you don’t need to be secret. The Avengers will back you. And in the meantime, we figure out a way to defeat this super-secret calamity causing cosmic entity with a flair for the dramatics.” Evie proposed causing Wong to chuckle.

“I like her.” Evie grinned.

“I like you too. So, what do you say?”

“We’d have to confer with other head sorcerers, but it could work.” Wong told Strange.

“We’ll debate it and let you know. But in the meantime, as a show of good will and teamwork we will investigate Wanda Maximoff.”

“I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership.”

Stark Tower a Few Days Later

“Okay, here we go.” Evie said to herself as the video call connected.

“Hello, Toni.” Shuri greeted warmly.

“Good evening, Shuri. How are you?”

“As good as circumstances would allow.” The princess said diplomatically.

“Are they being assholes that much?”

“Yes.” The princess deadpanned causing Evie to giggle. “But anyway, onto the matter at hand.”

“Yes, where is our mutual acquaintance?” At the question a mechanical hiss was heard and Shuri waved someone off camera over. “Hello, Sergeant Barnes.” Evie greeted neutrally.

Bucky’s POV

“Before you say anything let me say this in person, I’m so sorry for what I did to you. In the past and present.” The man said honestly looking her in the eyes hoping his showed the shame he carried for what he had been forced to do. James had thought long and hard about this when Shuri had told him the genius had wanted to speak with him.

“I forgive you.” The woman said softly, shocking him.

“What?”

“Let me rephrase, I forgive you for what happened in the past, you had no control over your actions. Hydra is the real monster, as for the present… I accept your apology and while I can’t forget what happens, I’m open to work towards forgiveness provided your remorse and such is genuine.”

“It is.” He replied immediately.

“Now onto matters at hand.” Shuri spoke after a moment.

“Yes, I want to inform you that next week at the upcoming council meeting, T’Challa will reveal to the council that you and the rest of the rouges are in Wakanda.” Dr. Stark told him.

“I figured that it couldn’t be hidden forever. Will Wakanda be in trouble for this?” He asked Shuri. He knew how much she loved her country and didn’t want to be part of the cause it was vilified or worse harmed.

“That is what we are trying to mitigate.” She answered solemnly. “I’ll be honest, my brother brought you all here without informing any of Wakanda. Our council has now been informed and are not too pleased with him. But they are also worried for the fragility of our place in the world, which is why I have stepped in to handle some of that. The fact that my brother took you and left Dr. Stark in Siberia will not go over to well.”

“As well as the fact that you are all wanted fugitives that have been given “sanctuary” in their eyes when they hear this.” Dr. Stark chimed in from the monitor.

“So, what can we do?” He inquired, wanting to do his part in helping.

“T’Challa and Shuri will make the case that Wakanda is the best place to hold them. They believe they are being protected from their actions and know that the rest of the world won’t give them what T’Challa is. So, they are placated. I and the rest of the Avengers will help by pointing out we have no way to hold them, Rogers, Barton and Maximoff sabotaged the Raft on their way out. Luckily no one was killed.” She said firmly causing him to wince. “We also have no way to contain Maximoff, we aren’t taking any chances again.”

“What is it with her? She’s off and those powers…” James asked wanting to know. Steve would be vague when he brought up the subject. Only saying that she was like him in a way. A victim of tragic circumstances. Dr. Stark frowned as she took in his question before sighing in acceptance.

“I will tell you only if you swear to me, you can keep your cool. If you storm back in there and attack her all this is for nothing, they will know what we are up to, and she could hurt the people around her to escape, she’s done it before.”

“I swear.”

“You are aware that HYDRA had Loki’s scepter in their possession during and after the fall of SHEILD correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well, the scepter contained an object called an Infinity Stone more specifically the Mind Stone which Vision now carries. But I can send you more detailed information later. The cliff notes version is the scepter was sent to a base in Sokovia, where they carried out experiments on subjects who most we believe were there against their will. But two of the test subjects were volunteers, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff… Those experiments gave them their powers and turned them into weapons for HYDRA.” She finished.

“WHAT?!”

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

“She’s HYDRA…” James said trying to wrap his head around it.

“Essentially yes.” He took this in before another thought occurred to him.

“Did Steve know?!”

“Yes. He supported her joining the Avengers against my objections.” She told him.

“And he let me work alongside her…” James was going to punch him all over again… multiple times… with a brick.

“Sergeant Barnes.” Dr. Stark said firmly snapping him back to reality. “You gave me your word, please don’t break it.” James’s shoulders slumped. It was true, she had no reason to trust him. But a part of him wanted to earn that trust and if this was how he started, so be it.

“I won’t. I’m not happy but I can play a part, one of the things I remember learning from HYDRA. But I would like more information if you can give it to me.”

“I’ll send to Shuri what I have on the twins and the Sokovia project. Now before we got sidetracked, we were talking about how we currently have no way to contain her. That is true we are working with some new allies to see if we can get a better understanding of her to do that but until then, best she not be unleashed on a population.”

“Once the Avengers are able to safely contain the fugitives, we shall give them up.” Shuri told James.

“I understand.” He was ready to face the consequences of what he had done for the better part of sixty years.

“However, if all plays out as we hope… you will not be going to jail with them.” Dr. Stark told him stunning him.

“R-Really…?” She gave him a calculating look before nodding.

“You so far have been the only one to show genuine remorse for your actions. Plus, your offer to be our inside man will not only help Wakanda’s position that they can keep Rogers there but will earn you goodwill in the council. Zemo has also confessed that he intentionally triggered you in Berlin and set you off on the building. Bastard is either playing a long game, or his conscience woke up for a moment. Since then the Task Force is digging into the information from HYDRA on the Winter Soldier. You did commit crimes as the Winter Soldier, but I think the fact that you are willing to own up to that and cooperate with any investigations will help strengthen your case. A lot of cold cases or cases that were blamed on other factors can be closed with your help. With all that I think that when the time comes, we can see about getting you maybe probation under the supervision of the Avengers.” She explained.

“But the triggers, I’m still dangerous.” He would not be used as a weapon again by anyone. If Zemo found him and found out about the triggers anyone could.

“That would harm your case, unless we deal with them.” She said motioning to her and Shuri who pulled up a design for a headset on a smaller screen.

“What is that…?”

“It’s what I call BARF, Binary Augmented Retro-Framing, it’s a device that can help clear traumatic memories in layman’s terms.”

“We believe that we can use this technology to treat your triggers.” Shuri told him.

“But there are some stipulations.” Dr. Stark cut in.

“Which are?” If there was a chance of removing the triggers he was willing to do almost anything.

“First, we can’t move forward without the approval of the council. Working in the shadows is what led to messes like this in the first place.”

“I understand. Full transparency.”

“Second, for this to work, you need to accept what happened to you.”

“I do.”

“No, you see the Soldier and you as two separate entities. But it’s not, I’ve read the reports. The Soldier, the thing you hate so much. Is the part of you born out of the need to survive. Accept that, accept the Soldier and learn to live a new life with that acceptance.” James sighed.

“That’s the hard part.”

“Nothing worth doing is ever easy, Sergeant Barnes.”

“James.” He corrected. “I’d like to be called James, Dr. Stark. I’m not Bucky or Soldat… I’m James.” She studied him for a moment before smiling.

“Looks like you just took the first step.”

Chapter Text

“You nervous about tomorrow?” Isaac asked her as they lay on a blanket on the roof of the tower, her back resting against his chest.

“Mmmm, a little. But I have no other option. I refuse to go down without a fight.” She answered playing with his fingers.

“You never do.” He told her softly causing her to laugh.

“That’s why you love me. I don’t make things easy.”

“That’s one of the reasons.” He agreed kissing her head.

“What are the other things?” She teased.

“You always stand up for things you believe in. You try to own your mistakes and make things right in the end. And you are incredibly smart and don’t let anyone forget it.” He listed.

“Awww, you get me.” She joked, turning around in his arms to kiss him.

“Alright, how about we go cook some dinner together?” He offered.

“Sounds like a plan. After, how about a movie night?”

“We could or… I realized I never got a tour of your lab.” He told her grinning at the light that shone in her eyes at the statement.

“Oh, you are in for it, Jarvis. Prepare for me to talk your ear off!” She told him pulling him to his feet.

The Next Day: Pepper’s Office

Pepper sighed as she stared again at the documents that lay before her. She had absolutely no energy to work while knowing what was currently happening a few floors up. She had wanted to be there, but it had been argued that too many people wouldn’t do any good. So, it had been decided that Helen, Bruce, Vision, Rhodey, Isaac and Dr. Stephen Strange would be there for the procedure. Rhoedy and Isaac for moral support, Vision if they needed swift intervention, and the others for their knowledge. And someone had to keep this building running so here she was.

“Ms. Potts?” Her secretary poked their head into the room.

“Yes?”

“A Mr. Murdock is here asking to see you.” Pepper sat up straight.

“Send him in.” She waved. A few moments later the man walked in tapping his cane and carrying a bag. Pepper closed the door behind him and activated the privacy blinds. “Matt, what are you doing here?” She asked as he placed the cane down.

“I thought with what’s happening you could use some good food and company.” He admitted rubbing the back of his neck hoping she couldn’t see the faint tinge of red on his cheeks. Pepper felt as if some of the load she had been carrying evaporated.

“I’d actually love that.” She admitted waving him over to the couch. He unpacked the bag of street tacos he had bought.

“So, I heard your suit is ready.” He told her.

“Yeah, it feels… unreal. I finally understand what Evie and Rhodey are always talking about. I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“What?” He asked.

“Will you teach me how to fight?” She asked, causing him to still.

“Uh, I’m not sure it’s a great idea. I’m not known for being gentle.” He told her. Did he want to spend more time with her? Yes, but not like that though.

“Well, I don’t want someone to treat me like porcelain. If I’m going to be an Avenger, I need to fight like one.” Matt sighed.

“Alright, we’ll start next week.” Pepper grinned.

“As a thank you, I’ll treat you to dinner after the sessions.” She promised.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” She insisted.

“Alright. So, I have to ask, where did the nickname Pepper come from?” Pepper grinned and launched into the story.

In the Lab

“Okay, so we know the procedure and how it’s going to be done right?” Helen asked.

“I’ll lay in the cradle without the regeneration part turned on and you’ll inject me with the formula. Then if any unforeseen complications arise you can shut the cradle and lock me in.” Evie told them having gone over this multiple times.

“Okay, are you ready?”

“Yep. Let’s get it over with.” She mumbled. She reached over and squeezed Isaac’s hand.

“I’ll be right here.” He promised.

“I know…” She replied before stepping into the workspace and laying in the cradle. Bruce came over with the serum.

“Last chance to back out.” He joked.

“Do your worst.” She joked back before closing her eyes.

Bruce injected the serum and stepped back into the room to monitor her vitals with Helen and Strange.

“Everything looks in range.” Helen spoke softly.

“If everything is in range then what’s the issue again?” Isaac asked.

“The issue is the dormant Extremis used to remove the arc reactor. We don’t know how they will interact with each other.” Bruce told him.

“Indeed, they could simply not mix, the new Extremis sees the other as a sort of cancer and attacks it or could cancel each other out.” Stephen added.

“Pardon my interruption but what was the plan if something unexpected happened?” Vision asked from the windows.

“Why?” Rhodey asked as they all turned to him.  Vision motioned the cradle, and they were all shocked to see electric green sparks emitting from it.

“What’s going on?!” Isaac demanded.

“I don’t know all the readings are normal…” Helen answered trying not to panic.

“That’s not normal!” Rhodey shot back. The lights suddenly went off before everything turned back on and the sparks died down. Bruce and Helen looked back at the readings.

“Everything looks… incredible…” Helen said showing Stephen the readings.

Meanwhile in the cradle Evie’s eyes opened flashing electric green before fading into their usual emerald green. She sat up slowly feeling a tad dizzy. The door hissed and hurried footsteps came.

“Evie?” Bruce asked. She raised her head and their eyes widened.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” She asked.

“No, it’s your face… you look…” Helen tried to explain. Evie stood up and looked in the glass. She gave a sharp intake of breath once she caught sight of her reflection. Staring back at her was, her… but she looked younger. More like a woman of 28 instead of closer to 34.

“The hell?” She said stepping back and placing a hand on the cradle to steady herself. The same electric green sparks came upon contact sparking up her arm and Evie’s eyes flashed electric green. For a brief moment, she felt a connection to the machine before pulling her arm away.

“What was that?!” Isaac demanded. Evie held her head as a faint almost hum invaded her senses.

“I… don’t know…” She said waving her other hand. An electric green spark flew out hitting the floor.

“Shit!” Rhodey called.

“Okay, someone start talking!” Evie spoke a hint of panic leaking into her tone as the humming grew stronger. “What just happened? Why do I look like I found the Fountain of Youth? Why did I feel like I was connected to the cradle? Why did something come out of my hand?” She looked around before looking at Strange. “And Strange, what do you have that keeps humming?!”

“What humming?”

“You can’t hear it?” Everyone exchanged glances.

“We do not hear anything, Evie.” Vision told her. Evie walked to stand in front of Strange.

“But I do… loud and clear.” She said before Strange’s amulet opened on its own accord.

“It’s not supposed to do that…” He began but trailed off as the Time Stone floated out in front of Evie. Her eyes flashed again and everything froze.

****

Evie found herself standing in a white infinite space. She looked around trying to gauge her surroundings.

“Hello?” She called. A flash blinded her and when she regained her bearings a larger version of the Time Stone was floating in front of her.

“Hello, Evie.” It greeted her, causing her to step back.

“You talk?”

“Only to you.” The Stone responded sounding… amused?

“How?”

“If you simplify it, we stones are merely the technology of the universe, so why wouldn’t a technopath be able to commune with us?”

“A technopath? I’m a technopath?” She asked amazed.

“With the ability to also siphon energy from technology for storage or to use it in defensive purposes. I’m sure someone of your skills and intellect will master their ability and make fine use of it in no time.”

“But where did I get this ability? And how?”

“To answer that question, let me take you back. To a time long before this.” The room shifted.

“This is… Dad’s lab.” Evie said before figures began to form.

“Mr. Stark, here’s the latest data you asked for.” An assistant told Howard.

“Thank you.” He said reading the notes. Behind him in a corner the Tesseract pulsed in its housing unit. An unfortunately familiar man walked over to Howard.

“Stane.” Evie hissed.

“Howard, I need to go. My meeting in London has been pushed up.” Howard looked up at him.

“That’s fine, Obadiah. We will talk when you return.” Howard replied before turning back to his task. Stane walked off and what felt like an eternity later hurried little footsteps followed by more heavy ones emerged.

“DADDY!” A five-year-old Evie called as an SI employee rushed after her.

“Ms., I told you the lab is off limits!” Evie ignored him weaving around tables before skidding to a stop in front of her father.

“Evie.” Howard greeted smiling softly. “I didn’t know you were here today.” He said kneeling to her level. The little girl huffed crossing her arms.

“Mommy’s meeting ran late, and Uncle Jarvis and Aunt Anna took Isaac to an appointment, so they dropped me off here. I wanted to come say hi to you… but they wouldn’t let me.” She told him while sticking her tongue out at the employee.

“Mr. Stark, I told her you asked specifically not to be disturbed… That you had important work to do and had no time for frivolous things.” The employee said to him. Howard rose, his face hard.

“Let me make myself perfectly clear.” He began picking up Evie and setting her on his hip. “My daughter is not a distraction. She is my child and an inquisitive one at that, her coming to see me or watch my work is not frivolous. That will be all.” Howard finished dismissing the employee with a wave. He looked at his daughter and found her staring at the Tesseract. “You like it?”

“It’s pretty cool.” She told him giggling.

“Yeah, I guess it kind of is.” He agreed. “Now let’s find you something to do, shall we?” He set her up at a desk with a notepad and crayons. About an hour later an alarm for one of the adjoining labs sounded. Everyone began to filter out in a hurried pace. Howard knelt next to his daughter. “Stay here, it’s probably a sensor got loose again. When I come back, we can go get you a snack and call your mother and see about meeting her for lunch.” Evie nodded and after her father left slipped off her chair to go stand in front of the Tesseract. It seemed to pulse more as she approached causing her to giggle.

“Hurry up! Who knows how long that alarm will keep them!” An unfamiliar voice said from the corridor.

“We’re being paid to successfully steal the thing, not be quick!” An angry voice responded. Evie’s eyes widened and she ducked under a desk. Two pairs of boots entered the lab. One of the men whistled. “When he said we’d know it when we see it, he wasn’t kidding.” They approached the housing unit looking around for the button to deactivate it.

“Oh no.” Evie whispered.

‘Think Evie, think!’ She told herself. ‘The silent alarm!’ Howard had installed it in all his labs as an extra security precaution. A button under his desk would trigger the alarm as well as alert the authorities and the rest of the building when pressed. The only problem is it was all the way across the lab. She peeked out from under the desk; the two men were preoccupied with shutting down the unit. She crawled out and under another row of desks using that as cover. She soon reached across from her father’s desk when she heard the unit power down.

“Perfect, go check the corridor while I put it in the case.” Evie froze as one of them walked by her hiding spot. She needed a way to reach that alarm.

“All clear.” The man said leaning against another desk. Evie clocked the chemicals in the beakers by the desk. Highly erosive. She picked up a pen from the floor and silently crept out before tossing it. For once her mark hit home and the beaker shattered splashing all over the man’s arm a few drops in his face causing him to cry out in pain.

‘Now or never.’ Evie raced out and hit the button before she felt a yank on her collar.

“AAH!”

“Well, what do we have here?” The other man said one hand holding her and the other holding the case that contained their prize.

“Let me go!” She shrieked struggling before the man violently swung her. She cried out in pain as her head hit the edge of her father’s desk, and her vision swam.

“Quiet! Well even if my partner slows me down, at least I have a hostage.” He adjusted his grip to hold her to him and Evie mustered all her strength to grab his arm and sink her teeth into it. “AAAA, FUCK!” Evie gave a kick back and the man dropped Evie along with the case he was holding. Upon impact with the floor, it opened, and the Tesseract sent out a pulse of energy sending the man flying hitting the wall with a hard thud.

Evie lifted her head and the Tesseract pulsed again, this time it seemed directed at her.

“You- Your welcome.” She whispered before blacking out. The object sent out a different pulse causing a shimmer to come across her skin before fading. The scene then faded.

“I don’t remember this part.” Evie breathed in awe of what she had seen. “I always assumed I blacked out after I hit the desk.”

“You did not.” The Time Stone told her. “Instead, you showed great strength and courage to protect the stone. You proved yourself worthy of being one of our favored.”

“A favored?” Evie repeated curious.

“When an individual in any corner of the galaxy steps up to protect one of us with no regard for what could happen to them, we honor that individual with a gift tailored to them, a gift that will serve them in their life as well as protect them. In cases as young as you this gift only activates when you are ready and of great need of it. The individual who receives this gift is recognized by all of us as a Favored of the Infinity Stones. One to be protected, for few as rare are found in the infinite universe.”

“So, there are or were others like me.”

“Correct, but they are long gone. And not all beings who seek or encounter the stones are as selfless as a child can be. You are the first that has been chosen in a while.”

“You said not all are as selfless as I was… does that mean you know who is after you?” Evie asked.

“We only know that whoever this individual is, he seeks to use the stones to “better the universe”.”

“Then we’ll find the rest of you, protect you and stop him.” Evie swore.

“Space was correct about you.” The stone replied warmly. “Serve us well, Evie. And in turn when you so need it, we will serve you.”

Back at the Tower

“What else happened?” Strange asked.

“Nothing, the Stone flashed, and I was back in the lab with you all freaking out.” Evie answered squeezing Isaac’s hand.

“Wong?” The man looked up.

“There are a few sparce references to “favored” long ago. But there’s not much information to go on. The Ancient One presumed that long ago someone destroyed most of the information to protect them.”

“Why?” Daisy asked.

“Can you imagine what someone who wanted the stones would do if they found out someone was able to communicate with them but was also someone who the stones would not harm if they could help it?” Bruce mused.

“It would be an advantage.” Matt added.

“But now it is ours.” Vision pointed out.

“Vis is right. If we can find the others, I can talk to them, show them we are here to protect the galaxy. This could work.” Evie said smiling.

“Alright, then it’s time to go to work. We need to be ready and tie up some loose ends.” Rhodey told the team.

“Let the games begin.” Evie smiled.

****

“Alright with all votes, the Magical Protections Act is passed as well as a formal welcome to you Dr. Strange into the Avengers initiative. We hope we can all do great things together.”

“Mr. Keener we are pleased to inform you that your application to Midtown School of Science and Technology has been accepted. We look forward to seeing you in the upcoming semester.”

“Nanotech stability at 100%, Boss.”

“I gave Scott Lang the Antman suit because I thought he would use it for good. And it is with a heavy heart I admit I was wrong. I formally renounce all association between Mr. Lang, myself, and Pym Technologies and will work tirelessly to right these wrongs.”

“The Rouges are where?”

“The council has lost a lot of faith in me… by appointing you as a co-ruler… perhaps I can show I am not as misguided as my actions have led others to believe. One more thing sister, I think you’ll need a suit.”

“Are you ready to begin, James?”

“Avengers, Assemble.”

Chapter Text

Midtown School

“So, have you figured out how to stabilize the formula?” Harely asked Peter as they walked into school. They had parted ways with Cooper a while back who was going to a high school near the tower.

“Almost, I need to run a few more tests.” Peter answered. He had been working all summer on a way to strengthen his webs in case they needed to hold something big together. “Have you decided if you’re going to join the decathlon team?”

“Maybe, I’m leaning more towards the robotics club.” Harley answered as someone came up to them.

“Hey, Pete!” The boy greeted with a grin. Peter matched the grin with one of his own.

“Ned, my man!” Peter cheered hugging him. “Oh, this is Harley Keener.” Peter introduced the two.

“Hey, welcome to Midtown.” Ned said shaking the other boy’s hand. He noticed Harely’s shirt. “Do you like Star Wars?”

“Is that even a question?” Harely demanded.

“I have the Lego death star.” Ned told him.

“I have the Millenium Falcon!” Peter smiled seeing two of his best friends get along.

“I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.” He chuckled throwing an arm around each of them.

“Or a true crime documentary.” His classmate Michelle commented as she walked past.

Wakanda: A Few Weeks Later

“This is ridiculous!” Steve told Natasha as they surfed the web for news. “It’s been almost five months; how have the Accords not been overturned?” How could the people be so blind? They were letting people who had no real-world experience make the rules for them and going along with it.

“I don’t know, Steve. Politics can be tricky…” And while they still had supporters they were slowly being drowned out. Not that she would say that to him though.

“This blows!” Clint snapped as he flipped through the tv with Wanda besides him. “We are stuck here while Stark spins the narrative to her liking!”

“Yeah.” Sam said as Scott merely grunted. Since Hank Pym’s press conference, the man had become withdrawn. As if all the fight was draining out of him. Steve also couldn’t help but think that Toni had a hand in that. She had been spotted a bit recently in the last few weeks. Mostly around SI. The blurry pictures he had poured over in the late nights painted someone who didn’t care if he and his team were suffering for doing what’s right. Someone who had just shaken them off like a bad cold and moved on with their life. He didn’t like it, didn’t like her ignoring him. He glanced over to Bucky who was reading a book the princess had loaned him.

Since starting treatment Bucky was slowly spending more time with the team but still not interacting in the way Steve wished. He barely joined the conversations choosing to sit back and be a “silent presence”. When Steve had confronted the man about it, Bucky had just looked at him blankly.

“I’ve spent sixty years with little to no social interaction, punk. It’s going to take me a while before I’m used to it again.” He bristled and Steve had let it go at that. Whenever things concerning Hydra and his imprisonment were mentioned, Bucky shut down and sometimes would walk away when Steve tried to press.

“Wait go back!” Natasha told Clint. He did and they gathered around the tv.

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled programing to bring you a surprise news update. Camera footage of what appears to be Spiderman interrupting an arms deal aboard a Staten Island ferry. We go live.”

The image that was produced was crystal clear but seemed to be switching at different camera angles, almost like there where several cameras…

The men exchanged some words before one held up a key.

“I’ll take those!” Spiderman called webbing them up and leaping down. “Hey guys, the illegal weapons deal ferry was at 10:30. You missed it.” A few men emerged from inside the ferry.

“Kill the kid!” The man in charge ordered.

“Uh, that’s a bad idea… cause one… cold and two…” Spiderman trailed off.

“Excuse me gentlemen?” Another voice came from above. “Do you have a permit for this little pow wow?” What Steve now deduced were drones moved and standing on the ships mast was…

“Stark.” Natasha breathed. Steve was transfixed as he sat in his seat.

The woman standing there was Toni, but different. She looked younger somehow…  Her long black hair was loose with a few strands pined back to stay out of her face. She was wearing an emerald green tank top with black paneled sides, a black mid sleeve cropped jacket with emerald green cuffs over that, black pants, and black combat boots. She also sported a necklace that had a circular pendant.

“Now, we can end this nicely, or not.” Spiderman spoke up moving to the bow of the ship.

“Take them down!” At this Toni whistled with a hint of a smirk.

“You see that would have helped you if you weren’t outnumbered.” She spoke before the whirring of repulsors came and two other suits landed beside Spiderman.

“Rhodes!” Sam cried in relief. He had been racked by what Steve saw as unnecessary guilt over the man’s injury and constantly poured over the internet for information on him.

“But who’s in the other suit?” Wanda asked. Steve examined what he could from the screen. The suit looked designed for a feminine shape and was decked out in blue and silver. Before he could give his opinion, gold sparks began to form on the screen, expanding into a circle which six more figures decked out in suits stepped out of. Two women and four men. Vision floated down from above to hover beside them. Wanda let out a whimper at the sight of her lost love. Finally, a woman in a black and yellow suit materialized out of thin air. Her helmet opened briefly as she stood with the team.

“Hope.” Scott breathed.

“Now…” Toni said touching her necklace before jumping down. The Iron Woman armor seemed to materialize around her. “This is the part where you surrender.” She said as she landed at this everyone sprang into action.

The Avengers

“Alright team.” Rhodey spoke through the coms as they launched into battle. “We need to divide and conquer. Pepper, and I will get the other boats in the harbor out of harm’s way. There is no need for more potential collateral damage. Strange, I need you to open a portal inside and you along with Luke and Jess get the crew and passengers out of here. The rest of you take these guys down. Daisy, if there is a compromise to structural integrity, I need you to stabilize the ship.”

“If someone can get me an intact piece of that equipment, I can absorb it, write a code to shut it all down and launch an EMP pulse.” Evie announced.

“You got it boss.” Hope said.

Wakanda

Steve watched the group battle in shock. They moved as if they had been working together for years. All seemingly watching each other’s back. The woman in the black and purple suit was busy taking out one goon when another was about to shoot her but the man in the devil costume took him out first. Steve decided to rewatch it later and take notes as to what he would need to improve on when he retook command of the Avengers. Spiderman engaged with the man shocking everyone before the man himself was shocked by a different attack. “Hope” materialized again and punched him before tossing his gauntlet to Spiderman who swung up passing it to Iron Woman. A few moments later an electric green pulse resonated through the battlefield, and all the weapons seemed to shut down. The heroes took out the rest of the goons and Spiderman webbed them up. The footage then cut back to the newsroom and to the shocked faces of the newscasters.

“Did you just see what I did Mark?”

“I did Rachel. It seems the Avengers have not only recovered from their injuries but have done some recruiting. Our man on the ground reports no injuries to any passengers or crew, all were evacuated safely via a portal.” Rachel held up a hand as someone spoke through her earpiece.

“This just in, the Accords Council and Avengers Division have announced a press conference tomorrow at 3.”

At that Clint turned off the tv, his face red with uncontained anger.

“We’ve been replaced.” He spat.

“Wait hold on a minute-” Sam began before Clint slammed his hand on the coffee table.

“What does that fucking look like to you, Wilson?!” He demanded. “They have people who fly aka you, people who can apparently fight aka Nat and me, a woman who shrinks aka Scott, a “magic guy” aka Wanda and enhanced aka Steve and Barnes. What more evidence do you need?!” At this Wanda launched up red sparks dancing around her and in her eyes to represent her fury.

“We need to go back! I will not be replaced!” She raged.

“Look calm down, we can’t afford to react badly.” Natasha spoke smoothly.

“I don’t know, how is standing up for our rights bad?” Steve asked rubbing his neck.

“It is if you don’t have the lay of the land.” Bucky spoke up causing everyone to jump.

“Shit Barnes, I forgot you were here.” Sam muttered.

“What do you mean, Buck?” Steve asked.

“I mean you don’t know anything about these people, much less how much backing they have. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is not going to do you all any favors.” Bucky told him. Steve thought about it for a few minutes.

“Cap?” Clint asked.

“Look, I hate to say it but Bucky’s right. We need to be smart about this. I promise we will go back soon and get the apologies we deserve.” They all seemed to deflate at his words.

“I think the best way we can start is to watch the press conference.” Nat told him. “In the meantime I’ll do a search on these people and see if I can find any information before.”

“Do that.” Steve told her while pulling out a piece of paper and making of list of questions with the others they wanted answered.

******

“That was brilliant, well executed.” Bruce told the team as they stepped through Strange’s portal back to the tower. As they stopped Evie’s suit retreated into her necklace, Rhodey’s into his wristwatch and Pepper’s into her bracelet. Bruce would never tire of the marvel that is the nanotech Evie had developed in the last few months. This mission had been the first field test and as he could see, they performed beautifully.

He had been monitoring coms and the drones since it had been pointed out that the Hulk wasn’t really needed for this one.  Knowing there might be some cases where the Hulk might not be suited as well as some where his vast knowledge wasn’t needed in the field, Bruce had trained on how to handle the drones that monitored the fights. They were a new collaboration between Stark Industries and Pym Technologies; Hank Pym had pointed out if any mission ever came into question, they could pull up the relevant footage and review it. It would be easier to watch the fights from a third-party point of view instead of a first-person point of view that their bodycams were equipped with.

While they were still wary of each other Hank had softened towards Evie somewhat. Especially after Hope and Daniel had knocked him over the head with information that HYDRA had been behind the attempted theft of his tech.

“Yes, and the drone’s integrity held up quite nicely.” Hank added.

 “So now we go onto the next big step… the press conference.” Pepper said causing many to groan.

“Do we have to?” Jess whined.

“Yes, we need to show the people we are back and able to protect them if another world ending threat arises. And Foggy will be there to curb any legalities.” Rhodey reassured.

“Are we sure that allowing people to submit their own questions is a good idea though?” Daisy pipped up.

“It shows that when questioned we are willing to answer to the people. Not hide behind our ego or popularity.” Matt explained causing most of them to snicker.

“Alright, remember to meet here at noon for a final briefing before we get underway.” Evie reminded her team.

“I’m going to do a final walk through of the press room for any potential security breaches.” Pepper said.

“Want some company?” Matt offered casually.

“Sure.” She answered with a fond smile. Evie and Danny exchanged glances, they could see that those two had feelings for each other but neither seemed ready to take the first step. There was an ongoing bet on when it would happen.

Wakanda

“I just don’t understand, Buck!” Steve ranted for what seemed to be the millionth time. “How could she do this to me?!”

“Do what to you?” James mumbled lying on the lounge chair in his room. Only an hour before he went to his session with Shuri, his internal clock reminded him.

“Ignore me! Act like I don’t exist.” Steve burst. “Like what we had- what this team had meant nothing!” James clocked the correction.

‘Fuck.’ it seems Steve’s obsession ran further than he thought.

In a way he got it, Toni was as beautiful as she was intelligent. Add in her caring nature and he could see it. He himself had developed a little hero crush on the woman initially but talking with Okoye and Ayo during sparing had shown him it was mostly him shifting his feelings of gratitude for all she was doing for him into something else. Okoye had also let it slip the woman herself seemed happily in love back home. So, James resolved to instead earn the woman’s friendship.

“Steve!” James finally interrupted feeling a headache coming on.

“What?” The man asked.

“You’re acting like Stark was your girl and she two timed you.” James stated. Steve sputtered. “I’ll be honest punk, from what you and the others have been saying about her that’s not the impression I would expect.” Steve flushed red.

“It… It’s different. There- there was always something there… we just danced around it.” He told him. “If she would just call me, we could work it all out. I gave her a way to contact me.”

“You what?!”

“I mailed her a package, with a phone and an apology letter…” Steve admitted rubbing the back of his neck.

‘And knowing you it probably wasn’t an apology…’

In Shuri’s Lab

“Alright, what’s eating you?” Toni asked James a few hours later after they had finished their BARF session for the day.

“Nothing…”

“Right… you believe him Shuri?” The woman on the screen asked.

“I do not.” The newly appointed co-ruler of Wakanda chimed in.

“Neither do I.” Okoye added. James rolled his eyes, those three lived to gang up on him.

“So, talk, Barnes.” Toni ordered.

“Did you or Steve ever have a thing?” He asked quickly. Toni’s eyes widened comically.

“… No… Fuck no!” She finally answered. “Why would I ever want anything to do with that moron?!”

“He implied there was something there. I don’t believe him.”

“Never. He’s not my type. And even if there had been, there is zero chance now. I am perfectly happy with my man thank you very much.”

“He is handsome.” Shuri complimented.

“We all should get dinner the next time you are in NYC.” Toni told her before turning back to him. “Look, Steve and I never really got along and despite what the tabloids imply I don’t like to mix work with pleasure.”

“I know, but Steve seems… obsessed. I think in his mind you are the last thing besides me that connects to the past by being Howard’s daughter. And we both know he likes to bulldoze through boundaries. Be careful.” She softened.

“I will, don’t worry.”

Chapter Text

New York the Next Day

“So, Ev completely botches the translation of what he was trying to say and ended up saying he wanted to eat the baby.” Isaac tells Evie as they made breakfast together in her apartment.

“Oh my god…” Evie burst out laughing.

“Yeah, it took our translator a while to sort that out.”

“Did you ever think it would be this easy again between us?” She asked sipping her coffee.

“No, but I’m glad it is.”

“To think all we had to do was talk to each other.”

“Young people make stupid decisions.” He said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah.”

“So, dinner tonight?”

“What do you have in mind?” She asked beaming.

“I have the strongest urge to pull out Mom’s stroganoff recipe.”

“I think I’d like that… Oh crap.”

“What?”

“I promised Peter, my intern, that I’d help him with his science fair project.”

“Oh… well then why doesn’t he just join us then?” 

“Are you sure?” Evie asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, you’ve been singing that kid’s praises lately, I’d like to meet him.”

“Okay.” She agreed smiling.

Wakanda (The Interview)

“And you are sure you submitted our questions?” Steve asked Natasha. When it had been discovered that there would be a forum to submit questions to be asked in the interview the group had worked for hours coming up with questions to submit.

“Yes.” She answered giving him a look. Steve snapped his jaw shut, he knew that look.

“Quiet, it’s starting.” Clint said as they sat in the living room to watch the tv. Maria Hill stepped to the podium.

“Welcome all, present and watching. I am Maria Hill, Director of the Avengers Division. Before we bring out the team let me introduce you to Franklin Nelson of Nelson and Murdock.” She spoke gesturing to a small table off to the side where a man who rose and nodded at the crowd. “He and his partner represent the Avengers Division in legal matters as well as matters dealing with the Accords.”

“I am here to curb any legalities that may come up in questions.” The man spoke into his mic before sitting.

“Dr. Hank Pym, is also here since he is collaborating with the Avengers Division.” Maria added gesturing to the man sitting beside Nelson. Scott gave a pained sound as the cameras zoomed in on the man.

“Sorry man.” Sam commented patting is shoulder.

“Without further ado, let’s bring out the team.” They all stepped out of the side room walking to the table set out for them and sat down.

“Why are some of them in costume?” Wanda asked, confused, causing them all to shrug.

“We will go through the roster and introduce the team before we take questions.” Maria began. “First the newly elected co-commanders of the Avengers, Colonel James Rhodes, the pilot of the War Machine armor.” Rhodes rose to greet the crowd.

“But Steve’s the leader!” Wanda shrieked at the television. Steve ignored this focusing on the co-commander’s tidbit. Who was the other leader?

“And as you all well know, the pilot of the Iron Woman armor, Dr. Toni Stark.” Toni rose smiling at the crowd who erupted into murmurs.

“What the fuck?!” Clint screamed looking ready to throw something at the screen.

“How could they elect Stark as the leader?” Wanda demanded.

“Did they learn nothing from Ultron?” Sam asked, causing Steve to nod his head.

“QUIET!” Natasha hissed fixing them all with a glare. “We can dissect this later, now I want to watch!” They all folded under the infamous Black Widow’s gaze.

“Next we have the Vision.” The being rose to nod at the crowd. Wanda gave a pained whimper that caused Clint to wrap an arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.

“He’ll come around, Wanda. You two were made for each other.” He whispered.

“Dr. Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk.” More murmurs occurred as the man rose. Steve took a moment to examine him, the doctor looked… different than he last remembered. More relaxed and collected. He snuck a glance at Natasha who for a moment let her mask fall before it snapped back into place.

“When did he get back?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know…” Steve answered. If Bruce was back and working with Toni, did that mean he supported the Accords? No, that would be ridiculous. Bruce would never knowingly work with Ross. Toni must have something on him. Or the Accords Council did, the Hulk would be a valuable weapon to use. Another reason to be glad he didn’t sign.

“Next one of the new faces, Daisy Johnson also known as Quake.” Maria continued as the woman stood up. “Dr. Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme.” A man in a strange outfit stood up, his red cape moved as well as if… was it waving?

“Sorcerer?” Scott asked. “As in magic?”

“Shield didn’t have any information on something like that.” Natasha said firmly. “It’s possible it’s like Wanda, exposure to something gave them powers and they called it “magic.” They all nodded and turned back to the tv.

“Dr. Hope Van Dyme, the Wasp.” Hope stood up and Scott got that faraway look in his eye again. Sam squeezed his shoulder, but the man shook it off. Steve resolved to speak to him later, they needed to be united, not divided by petty squabbles. “Our friendly neighborhood Spiderman.” The suited male rose giving an awkward wave.

“They know he’s a kid, right?” Sam asked concerned about the boy’s welfare. Wanda scoffed.

“Just like Stark to use child soldiers.” She snarked. Bucky glanced at her for a second before turning back to the screen.

“Next, the pilot of the Rescue armor, Pepper Potts.” Steve’s mouth dropped open as the redhead rose calmly and nodded to the crowd.

“Potts?!” Clint exclaimed. “I thought she hated the armor?”

“She did… I don’t know what changed.” Natasha answered him.

“Finally, we have the Defenders, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand, the Iron Fist.” The four stood together. “We will now open the floor to questions before we go to the forum.” A bunch of hands rose quickly, and Maria pointed to one of them.

“Why are there co-leaders of the team?”

“As a way to balance the responsibilities, one person can’t do it all. I handle strategy and the political field mostly.” Toni answered calmly.

“And I handle training and being on site since I have been permanently relegated to the Avengers by the Air Force.” Rhodey added.

“Plus, we figured this is another way of checks and balances, one person shouldn’t have sole authority.” The man known as Danny Rand added. Steve bristled at this. It had worked just fine under his command. Another person raised their hand.

“Why wait until now to announce the lineup?”

“It had to do with timing.” Hope spoke. “We were still getting our bearings as a team and training together. We wanted to present a cohesive unit.”

“Yes, while the old lineup is familiar with each other, we all needed time to adjust to our new friends and they to us.” Vision added.

“Do you all have powers?” A reporter called out.

“No.” Pepper spoke smoothly. “Some of us are enhanced by different means and some of us are plain human with access to tools to help us. Our general abilities that we chose to disclose will be listed under our files in the Accords Records.” Steve jotted that information down for Nat to look up later. He wanted to know more about his new team.

“But what about in depth or how you got them?!” Someone yelled.

“Please raise your hand!” Maria ordered the crowd while Nelson rose.

“That kind of information is classified under the Accords. Some of these individuals received their powers through horrible means such as via experimentation or horrific accidents. As you can imagine we wouldn’t want impressionable people to attempt to recreate that.” He said firmly whilst staring them down. A hand was hesitantly raised.

“Why are some of you in uniform with masks and going by your codenames? Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of “accountability?”

“Finally, someone says it!” Clint called.

“We chose to not disclose our identities to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.” Daredevil responded flatly.

“Yeah, like he said.” Spiderman agreed.

“The Superhuman Identity Protection Act is also a passed part of the Accords.” Nelson said into his mic. “Colonel Rhodes and Dr. Stark presented it as the first amendment to the Accords from the Avengers.”

“Basically, it states that should an individual come forward wanting to sign the Accords but keep their identity a secret, that would be allowed.” Toni explained.

“There’s also a guaranteed automatic protection for underage individuals like myself.” Spiderman said into his mic causing a lot more murmurs and the frantic scribbling of pens on paper.

“I’m surprised he admitted it.” Scott finally said.

“It’s not a good strategy; it turns the whole child soldier argument back on them.” Nat said.

“I don’t know,” Bucky began, “it seems like they are using it to show minors that they’d be protected. By revealing he’s underaged, Spiderman gave them someone to emphasize with.”

“I can see his point.” Sam pointed out as they turned their attention back to the screen.

“J. Jonah Jameson, Daily Bugle.” The man began. “You say this act protects Accord signees but how can we be assured the public is protected from you? What if one of you goes rogue and causes a calamity?! How can we hold them accountable if we don’t know who they are?” Steve could admit the man made some good points.

“Yes, we’ve all seen your “Spider Menace” articles.” Toni spoke holding the man’s gaze and getting a few snickers. Steve sighed, just like her to stir the pot.

“Are you saying you will harass a child if something happens that you deem them responsible for? Or their family?” Bruce asked causing the man to stammer.

“The Act also has failsafe protections for those exact scenarios.” Nelson piped up. “The individual in question is required to present their identity to a senior member of the Initiative. Should that individual go down a dark path those who know are required to reveal their identity to the council and rest of the team.”

“But since you seem worried about just me,” Spiderman added, “all members of the Avengers and a few others close to them know my identity. They have helped me understand my abilities better, have trained with me to help me defend myself, and most importantly helped me find a balance in my life as a hero and a person. I see all of them as true mentors and friends.” Spiderman finished causing the others to smile or look at him fondly.

“Dr. Banner, when did you return?” Someone from the back asked.

“I returned a few months ago, further details on how and why will be revealed in the next coming weeks.” Bruce answered smoothly.

“Do you support the Accords despite Senator Ross’s involvement?” Someone else called out. Bruce actually chuckled.

“That is a horrible misconception.” He spoke with severity. “Thaddeus Ross despite what some people think, did not in fact write the Accords. Nor does he have any involvement in them. He is not a representative to the council for the US. He also does not have any authority over the Avengers. He did present it to them, but as a member of the United States government. When I work in a lab, I answer a system of checks and balances as well. To keep myself and my fellow technicians and scientists safe. Yes, with the incident that created the Hulk that was an error on my part. But I take full responsibility for such incident. I have read the Accords and both me and the Hulk agree on them.” He finished.

“He’s different.” Natasha observed quietly.

“How so?” Wanda asked, which was reasonable. She had never known Bruce.

“He used to hate doing press conferences.” Clint explained. “Said they were too stressful and could cause the Hulk to come out.”

“Well, he’s all smiles now.” Sam scoffed.

“What about the Hulk? How can we be assured you have control?” A reporter spoke asking the same question Steve was thinking.

“Through my absence I was actually living as the Hulk for most of that time, through that experience and a lot of work, we have come to an understanding of each other. We coexist not only because destroying one would destroy the other, but also because we need and respect the other.”

“So, you can communicate with the Hulk?” the same reporter asked. Steve leaned forward as Bruce nodded. That was new. Could it be good or bad?

“Yes, once I realized that fighting the transformation and such was fighting a part of myself that I had to accept… it came natural.” Another hand was raised.

“The Hulk causes a lot of damage in property, what steps are you all taking to help with that?” At that question Steve rolled his eyes. All people these days seemed to care about was money, not the good they did. He vaguely remembered Toni telling him that they needed to try to minimize damage when Avenging. But all they did was necessary to keep the public safe.

“And I understand that. I am not just the Hulk. I am also a scientist, and my scientific expertise has been needed previously on missions before. But since I know there are some missions where the Hulk or Dr. Banner won’t be needed, I’ve instead trained on how to handle communications and the drones that were used to film the fight on the ferry.”

“What kind of drones are these?” At this point Hank Pym cleared his throat.

“Allow me to answer that.” He began. “Dr. Stark and I have designed the drones in question. They serve as a more flexible version of eyes and ears that the body cameras in each suit can’t mimic.”

“Dr. Pym, it’s surprising that you’ve collaborated with Dr. Stark given your viewpoint in recent years.” Someone pointed out. The man sighed.

“Yes, it’s been no secret my contempt towards the late Howard Stark. When we worked together with Peggy Carter years ago, I accused him of wrongfully stealing my technology from me. But as I learned recently, I was wrong as it was all a ploy manipulated by Hydra operatives in SHIELD. I never learned to let go of what I believed to be righteous anger and when he died, I took it out on the next available Stark. Which was wrong.” Scott frowned at the declaration.

“I don’t get why he’s saying all this. It’s like he’s reading from a script.” Sam grumbled.

“Probably, he’s trying to control the narrative, the Avengers are all one big happy family.” Natasha replied sarcastically as Pym continued.

“My daughter Hope, and Dr. Stark have been friends for years and she always lectured me on my wrongs, but I was too blind to see it. Now I hope to use my skills in collaboration with the Avengers including my daughter using the Wasp suit to do much better than Scott Lang could ever hope to do.” He finished with a smile causing Scott to frown deeper.

“And with that, the time for questions from the reporters is finished and we shall proceed with the forum.” Maria Hill spoke up and then looked at the screen in front of her. “Colonel Rhodes, this one is for you. “You sustained great injuries in the airport battle, it seemed as if you were paralyzed permanently. Yet here you stand, can you explain?”

“Yes, the reports and rumors were correct.” Rhodes answered simply. “I was- am paralyzed due the injuries I’ve sustained. As to how I am standing, well…” The man rose and walked to the front of the stage showing a pair of braces on his legs. “Toni, designed these for me, they help me walk, run, jump, and just about anything else I could do a few months ago.” Toni smiled fondly at the man as he sat down beside her again. Maria scanned the screen again.

“A few of these we have already answered so I’ll jump to ones we haven’t discussed. What are the plans for the Avengers Compound?”

“Right now, repairs are being done on the compound.” Vision answered. “Unfortunately, before she joined with Steve Rogers in Germany, Wanda Maximoff used her powers to throw me through several floors of the compound. The damage was extensive.”

“You did what?” Sam asked Wanda, shocked.

“I didn’t do it to hurt him! He wouldn’t let me leave!”

“Still, you could have killed him.”

“Sam, Wanda did what she had to do. I’m sure anyone of us would have done the same.” Steve spoke with finality.

“We are of course cooperating with the investigation and if charges are filed, we will respect the law.” Maria added causing Wanda to give a cry of fury.

“Vision would never betray me like this; this is Starks fault!!!”

“Don’t worry Wanda, she won’t get away with it.” Clint swore darkly.

“Dr. Strange, what are your powers exactly? I recognized you from medical journals, but it said you were in an accident.”

“That’s correct, I was a neurosurgeon but after a traumatic accident I lost the use of my hands to practice medicine. I searched for a cure and found the Order of the Mystic Arts. Their leader saw potential in me and trained me; when she passed, she passed the title of Sorcerer Supreme onto me. Unfortunately, I am still unable to practice medicine but have taken a consulting job at the hospital I previously worked at.” He explained.

“Perhaps you should explain a bit more about the Mystic Arts.” Vision suggested.

“We have existed for centuries, mostly in secret for fear of persecution. There are many subdivisions all over the world, the Sorcerer Supreme is seen as the Master of the Mystic Arts and the leader.  Moreover, there exist magic users all over, who are not associated with our order but keep to themselves. A few months previous, Drs Stark and Banner came to our doorstep and informed us of mutual interest to protect the world. We decided it was time to step out of the shadows and have added magical protection acts into the Accords.”

“How could SHIELD not have known this?” Steve asked Natasha who remained silent.

“Another question towards the general team. What will training and general living situations look like?” They all exchanged glances before Danny Rand answered.

“Well, for one thing we won’t follow the previous team’s example of living together daily.”

“Or mooching off one person.” Jessica Jones added causing murmurs to stir. “We all have our own jobs and living situations sorted. Some of us do work for Stark Industries but we are earning an actual paycheck, not just a paycheck of “Avengering”. We are all actual adults.” Steve felt that her comments were aimed at his team specifically.

“We have also one day of a few hours of mandatory training a week that works with all our schedules.” Rhodey added.

“Next question, what is the plan for property damage?”

“So, we have worked with the Accords Council on that. So long as the damage was not unavoidable, they will cover 30%, the country where the damage took place will cover another 40% and the Avengers Division will cover the remaining 30%.” Toni answered.

“Pym Technologies and Rand Industries is also partnering with the Avengers Division; we have worked out a deal to help with funding and covering property damage.” Hope added.

“Correct, while the Avengers Division will still mainly be a subsidiary of Stark Industries, we have worked out a legal deal that will give each company a 15% stake of ownership.” Pepper finished before Maria moved onto the next question.

“What about Thor? Will he be rejoining the team when he returns?” Bruce leaned forwards.

“Prior to my return I was with Thor and his people in a major altercation. The details of which now are classified. But Thor has made it known that upon his return he will stand by the people.” Steve smiled, Thor had always been on his side, and this was probably him playing the long game until he could join up with them again.

“Alright we are nearing the end of the time so I’ll read three more questions and then we will be done. “What about the other Avengers with Captain America? What are the plans to bring them back into the fold?” Maria frowned. “I will begin answering that with referencing the press conference at the beginning of the summer that disavowed the Rouge Avengers from the roster.”

“I will add that charges for the incidents they have been involved in, including the airport battle and Lagos are still pending or under investigation to bring charges.” Rhodey added.

“Now they are just being petty.” Wanda hissed.

“Next, do you know where the Rogues are now? And are there any plans to bring them to justice?”

“Like Colonel Rhodes just said, there are current investigations going on before any of that can happen. We are working closely with the Accords Council on those matters.” Luke Cage answered.

“Finally, this is for you Dr. Stark. What happened in Siberia, was the coma real?” Toni seemed taken aback for a moment before regaining her composure.

“It was very real; I had the scars to prove it. As to what happened, that is between me and the Accords Council for now as well as the Task Force investigating. When we are ready to share the full story, we shall. But I will say this, what happened in Siberia will make damn sure I will not work with Steve Rogers and his team again barring the imminent end of the world.” Toni finished firmly causing frantic murmurs and the scribbling of pens to paper.

“And with that we are adjourned.” Maria announced. “Thank you for coming.” She said before the feed was cut.

“We didn’t even get half of our questions answered!” Clint raged. “Now what?!”

“Natasha?” Steve asked the spy.

“…. I can try to hack the cameras at the compound and in the tower.” She finally said.

“Won’t FRIDAY stop you?” Sam asked.

“I’ve done it before, and JARVIS never caught me.” She pointed out with a smug smile.

“This doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Scott said.

“It maybe our only way to get information.” Steve pointed out. He noticed Bucky watching him warily. “Do it.”

Location: Unknown

In a dimly lit room Nick Fury sat watching the highlights of the press conference play on screen.

“What to do…” He mused before looking at a pager in his hands with a familiar red, blue and gold symbol emblazoned on it.

Location: Budapest

A young woman sat watching the end of the press conference before looking at the vials in her hands. She had retrieved them by the skin of her teeth. But there was no way she could pull this off alone. Maybe… she needed to place her trust in different people.

Stark Tower: That Night

“One of the kids in my year is making a volcano.” Peter told Evie as they entered her floor the smell of fresh home cooking filling their senses.

“So, they are going the safe option?” She asked depositing her jacket on the couch.

“Yeah, so I thought, go big or go home with my project.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see it.” She said as they entered the kitchen. “Honey, I’m home!” She greeted causing Isaac to laugh.

“Hi.” He greeted kissing her on the cheek. Peter watched feeling reminded of Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He could tell they seemed to love each other a lot. “And you must be Peter?”

“Yes, hello sir.’ Peter answered, shaking his hand somewhat nervously. Evie had told him Isaac did not know his secret, but he didn’t really let himself get close to people all that much.

“Please call me Isaac. You’re not one of my subordinates.” The man laughed causing Peter to smile. “Anyway, I hope you like stroganoff.”

“Aunt May says I can eat anything.” Peter replied as they sat at the table and served themselves.

“So, Peter, what sciences are you into? I may not know as much as Evie, but I do have an interest in them.”

“Really?” Peter asked, excited to talk about his favorite subject.

“Chalk it up to growing up in Howard Starks place. He used to let us hang around in the lab and would explain some of the things to me when I got confused.” Peter grinned before launching into questions. It turned into a better night than any of the three could imagine.

Chapter Text

Avengers Compound

“Come on Jess, kick his ass!” Pepper encouraged as Luke and Jess spared in the training room.

“You shouldn’t be encouraging this.” Matt told her.

“Lighten up, Matty.” She told him winking.

“Don’t call me, Matty.” He mumbled blushing. Evie snickered at the sight.

It was mandatory training day for the Avengers at the compound, and they were in the middle of sparing practice.

“And who goes next against Jess?” Danny asked nonchalantly as Luke was thrown out of the ring.

“I volunteer as tribute!” Daisy called raising her hand causing all assembled to laugh.

“Step into the ring, Katniss.” Jess mocked whilst cracking her knuckles.

“Boss?”

“Yes, FRIDAY?”

“Commander Ross and Lieutenant Jarvis are here along with some representatives from the council. They are requesting an audience with you and Dr. Banner.”  Both exchanged glances.

“Alright, we’ll go see them.” Bruce said as Evie passed the tablet over to Rhodey.

“They are in the main conference room. Lieutenant Jarvis is waiting in the side room for you Boss.”  Evie waved for Bruce to go on ahead before stepping into the room.

“Hi.” She greeted Isaac, kissing him quickly.

“Hey.” He said looking her over. Her workout gear consisted of a midnight blue sports bra and black leggings with sneakers.

“Like what you see?” She teased him.

“No… yes… lets go.” He said passing her a jacket.

“You weren’t complaining when I was wearing less last night.” She pointed out causing him to blush bright red.

“Evie.”

“What? Just having pleasant conversation.” She giggled.

“Yeah, trying to torment me is more like it.”

“So, any hints as to what this meeting is about?”

“All I can say is. It’s good and bad but not to you, Dr. Banner or the Avengers.”

“Alright.” She said skeptically as they entered the room. She immediately clocked the representative from South Africa and the head of the council.

“Gentlemen.” She greeted as she sat beside Bruce.

“Dr. Stark may I say, how wonderful it is to see you at full health.” The head of the council greeted with a warm smile.

“Thank you. Now may we ask what this is about?” She questioned getting right to the chase.

“We have gone through a lot of the security footage of the compound and found something that we had to share with the council immediately. After that it was requested to come see you two.” Everett told her.

“What footage?” She asked.

“It’s better if we show you.” Everett said taking the tablet and playing a video

The scene showed Rogers and Romanov looking at a map.

“What about South America? Maybe he’s looking for more Hydra operatives?” Steve asked the spy.

“No, that would be too obvious.”  Romanov said.

“Rogers!” A voice came and Evie stormed into the room.

“We are a little busy, Stark.” Romanov spoke.

“Well get unbusy.” The brunette snapped crossing her arms.

“Toni, this is unacceptable you need to tell us when you’re coming.” Steve said.

“Last time I checked, I still owned this building and funded this set up. So, I’ll march my ass down here anytime I damn well chose to.”

“Language!”

“Fuck off. I’m a grown ass woman, I can say whatever I want when I want.”

“Alright, what do you want Stark?” Romanov said rubbing her temples.

“I need to show you something, security footage from the quinjet in Johannesburg.” Evie told them, showing them the footage on the tablet in her hands.

“This is… interesting to say the least.” Steve said after a long pause.

“Interesting? Is that all you have to say after watching this footage?!”

“It changes nothing.” Steve told her.

“Nothing?! That witch set the Hulk lose! She fucked with Bruce’s head!” Bruce clenched his jaw besides her and Evie placed a hand on his arm.

“Now Toni, Bruce is gone and Wanda deserves a second chance. Be reasonable.”

“Reasonable? The people of Johannesburg want Bruce’s head! It’s only because of the foundations help that they backed off. They should be going after her! For god’s sake Steve, wake up and smell the roses. Wanda Maximoff isn’t the innocent flower you make her out to be. She was Hydra for crying out loud!”

“And who’s fault is that’s?” Steve countered towering over her.

“Hers. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I am not responsible for her parents’ death. I sold my weapons legally and I won’t let you shame me for it. Joining Hydra and consenting to be experimented on is on Wanda and Pietro.” Romanov watched the show with calculating eyes.

“So, what do you intend to do? Expose her? Let the world treat her like a criminal?” Steve yelled.

“If the pointed hat fits.” Evie hissed. “You may not care about protecting Bruce and the Hulk since they are no longer useful to you two, but I sure as hell do.” She finished turning to leave when Steve seized her arm hard. “Rogers, let me go!”

“You’re not going to do anything.” Steve told her harshly whilst squeezing her arm.

“Rogers, you are hurting me. And breaking my arm won’t stop me.”

“Toni, think about this, your reputation is still in shambles after Ultron. This will be seen as you trying to throw blame off yourself.”

“Are you kidding me Romanov?”

“Steve’s Captain America, he can do no wrong. While you’ve done plenty… who would they believe?” There was a tense silence for a few moments.

“You two are both batshit crazy.” Evie finally hissed.

“No, we are just protecting the Avengers.”

“You have a funny way of showing it.” She finally said as he released her arm and she rubbed some life back into it.

“So, you won’t mention this to anyone.” Steve said firmly. “And have FRIDAY delete the footage.”

“Understood.” Evie finally said marching out. The video footage cut out.

“Well, that is unexpected.” Evie finally said.

“Yes, as you can see, we were very much surprised.” Everett said.

“Yes. We can.” Bruce said in a strained voice.

“Dr. Banner.” The South African representative spoke up. “My country was very against you signing the accords and condemned you greatly for what we perceived as an attack on our country. And come to find out we were wrong. Please accept our apologies.”

“Accepted but really no apologies needed. You acted with the information you had available.” Bruce answered with a genuine smile.

“And I apologize for not bringing it up before.” Evie spoke up.

“Given the threats made, we can understand that.” Everett told her.

“Was your arm alright?” The head of the council asked.

“Badly bruised for a while but no lasting damage.” She said before thinking. “I still have the original footage from the quinjet.”

“Rogers told you to delete it.” Everett said, raising his eyebrow.

“When have I ever done what I’m told?” Evie asked a glint in her eye causing all assembled to chuckle.

“Due to the nature of this, the task force will be focusing some of their attention to the files on the Sokovia base. Especially anything pertaining the Maximoff twins.” Isaac explained.

“If we can help in anyway, please let us know.” Bruce spoke up. They adjourned the meeting and Isaac hung around telling Everett he’d get a ride back into the city.

“If I didn’t want to punch him before, I certainly do now.” He told Evie pulling her to him.

“Seconded and thirded.” Bruce added. Evie shook her head.

“Down boys.” She told them before looking at Isaac. “You look like you want to make me lunch.”

“Are there enough supplies to feed everyone?” Isaac asked amused.

“FRI?”

“The pantry was fully restocked Friday, Lieutenant. and I could go through a list of the recipes you and Boss share to see what would best suit everyone’s tastes and preferences.”

“I’d appreciate that, FRIDAY.” Isaac said heading for the kitchen while Evie and Bruce headed back into the training room.

“What happened?” Rhodey asked as the others wandered over for a water break. Evie and Bruce gave a brief summary.

“Okay now I really want to hit her.” Jess hissed.

“Yeah.” Luke agreed.

“I’m going to ask Wong to take a more personal role in researching Maximoff and not just have his students do it.” Strange added not liking where this information was going. “Mental Manipulation except in the direst of circumstances is against the laws of magic. If she truly is magical… then we need to make sure people are protected from her reach.”

“Great more complications.” Rhodey mumbled as they all went back to training before heading to the kitchen for some of loaded potato soup that Isaac had cooked.

“This is really good Lieutenant.” Peter complimented from behind his mask. He was starting to like the older man increasingly with the time he spent at the tower with Peter’s mentor. But he wasn’t ready to let another person in on his secret just yet.

“Thank you, Spiderman.” Isaac nodded.

“So, what’s the plan for the info about what Maximoff did?” Pepper asked.

“South Africa wants to do a press conference as soon as possible, the footage will be released, and they might want you two there.”

“No. Just no.” Evie groaned. “I’m pressed out. Between Avengers and SI stuff, I need a break.”

“Unfortunately, they’ll want to publicly acknowledge the aid you gave and that you tried to stand up to Rogers.” Isaac told her sympathetically.

“Woohoo.” Evie said leaning against his shoulder.

“On another note, soon Bruce gets to step into his ambassadors’ shoes.” Rhodey joked.

“Yes, Thor is due within the next few weeks or so is he not?” Vision asked.

“Yeah, Norway is saying they might have some land to offer up.” Bruce informed them.

“And Loki?” Peter asked.

“The council is still debating. It might be the same deal Barnes is going to be offered. Probation in the Avengers. But they’ve debated on asking for more magical supervision on him as well.” Bruce answered.

“Which means they’ll want me to have solutions.” Stephen piped up.

“Yeah, you might want to have some key points ready.”

“I’ll add it to my to do list.” The man said dryly causing many to laugh or chuckle.

“If I may interrupt.” FRIDAY’s voice came from the speakers.

“Go ahead FRIDAY.” Evie said looking to the nearest camera.

“There is a young woman at the door requesting to speak urgently to the Avengers. She insists it’s a matter of global safety.” They all exchanged glances.

“Show her in.” Rhodey finally requested. A few minutes later a blonde young woman appeared in the doorway. “Who are you? And why are you here?”

“My name is Yelena Belova. I came because I have put my trust in the wrong person. Someone who abandoned me to a horrible fate.”

“And that is?” Pepper asked.

“The Red Room. And now I need the Avengers help to stop it once and for all.”