Imagine If You Assembled The Avengers: Volume 2

Aftershock (Avengers-no reader)

BUCKY: I remember all of them

Steve risked everything for Bucky, and it wasn't lost on the man; Bucky had seen first-hand what Steve was giving up, going so far as to question his own worth in the moment. He had done so many terrible things that he couldn't forgive himself for, but here was this man from his past who didn't think twice before forgiving. Steve was so committed to bringing his friend back from the evil that Hydra had done, that Bucky couldn't bring himself to risk letting them get control of him again if it meant that he could hurt him. Just as the cold began to fill his cryo chamber and he felt the temperature shift around him, he looked at Steve one last time and finally felt the pain of separation; he finally understood. Bucky Barnes had seen the first glimpse of his true self in years as he drifted to sleep.

RHODEY: WARMACHINEROX with an X

"It hasn't changed my mind...I think." Rhodey never questioned his purpose or his mission, following orders as they were given and giving them in return with the expectation that they would be followed in kind. When the Secretary dropped the Accords in front of him, he questioned their intent but didn't question the order. He signed because it was the right thing to do. But now, standing with the help of mechanics and prosthetics, barely able to hold up his own weight on the parallel bars, he wondered if it was all worth it. For the first time in his military career, he considered if his beliefs were followed blindly, or if they were ever really his. For the first time, James Rhodes was taking no one's orders but his own.

PETER: I've got homework

Once Peter had been given a taste of what it was like to really be in the realm of superheroes and fight against people that matched or surpassed even his own abilities, he wanted more. He wanted to live in a world that would understand his new powers but also where he could use them freely to do the good that he wanted to do. But that wouldn't be his life, at least not yet. He was still a teenager, still living with Aunt May, and still saddled with the homework that he had told Mr. Stark he had to do. It wasn't a lie. It was his reality. So when all was said and done, he woke up the next day, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, and walking out the door like it was any other day. But it wasn't; Peter Parker had been given an opportunity to be a part of a larger world, and he was more ready than ever before.

SHARON: Depends on where you're standing

When SHIELD fell, Sharon found an easy transition to the CIA, where her skills could be well suited with an organization that she could find trust in, and one that would give her distance from Steve Rogers. When Peggy passed away, it was inevitable that she would see him again, and the truth of her lineage would come to light. She didn't owe him anything; she had been doing her job in D.C., protecting him on Fury's order, but she still felt guilt for the lie. Maybe it was because it was him, the poster boy for honesty, or maybe it was because she kept the secret from Peggy too, she wasn't sure. All she knew was now that she had helped Steve and his team against direct orders, she was certain to run into him again as she fled. Sharon Carter was torn between duty and loyalty, hoping that her choices could maybe honor two legacies.

SCOTT: I'm the boss

Scott had tasted life on the run before, so he was a greater help to Steve than anyone would have thought; it wasn't like Captain America would know how to hide and blend in behind the scenes. Scott could easily hide anytime he wanted with use of the suit, but his new friends and new team didn't have that luxury. Hank helped to find a hideout location while Hope helped to set up security and aliases for the group. Scott could come and go easily, quickly becoming one of Steve's closest teammates. Scott had admired the group from afar for years, and had now become one of its most trusted members. Scott Lang really was the boss and he loved every minute of it.

WANDA: I can't control their fear, only my own

Of everyone affected by the events of that final day, none were affected the same way as Wanda had been. She couldn't fight back against Vision as he held her in place, allowing them to put the collar around her neck that would negate her powers, and allowing them to use him to break her trust. She could only watch helplessly as they dragged Clint away, his hand slipping from hers as he called out to her, promising that he would get her out. The Wanda that was taken prisoner that day was a different Wanda than the one that existed now. When Steve rescued them from the Raft, she didn't speak, nor did she thank him for her freedom; she was trying to control her fear, just as she had said only days before. Wanda Maximoff had decided that she was in control now, and she would bring hell to anyone who challenged her again.

T'CHALLA: I am done letting it consume me

Life without his father would never be easy for T'Challa, he had known that long before his loss; even as a child, he knew that when the day came, he would become a changed man for both better and worse. To witness T'Chaka's loss was a trauma that eviscerated him, leaving a gaping hole in his heart and a wide scar across his soul, allowing the vengeance that had clouded his mind. Now, with the battle done and his mistaken judgments under repair, he would focus only on becoming the leader that his country needed and the leader that his father would expect. He held precious cargo under his guard, one that he had sworn to protect, knowing that if Steve Rogers was willing to give his life to protect his friend then he would afford the same promise. T'Challa was no bureaucrat, but he was nothing if not a man of his word, leaving Steve with the reassurance of let them try.

VISION: I became distracted

Humans are odd, Vision had once said, and he stands by the statement even now. The arguments about right and wrong, good and bad, all of it, felt inherently sorrowful to him, if he had an understanding of the feelings he was now experiencing. When he told Wanda that he had never eaten anything before, it was more than just the sensory experience of taste; he wanted to lift her spirits but had no context as to how food would do that. Without his own perspective, those words meant nothing. But now that was beginning to shift within him and he didn't know why or how. He didn't know how to interpret feelings, and without Wanda to help him, he felt what he believed he could call lost. Vision had hoped that one day he would understand the stone that had given him life, even to control it, but now he felt that goal slipping even further away, along with the one person who could help him find his way back.