"Why didn't you tell us about him when the team first first adopted you?" Steve asked once I'd finished my story.
"Because I had no hope that you were going to be able to keep my brother imprisoned." I explained "I thought it'd be best to make sure they stayed out of trouble as much as possible." Cassie hugged me tighter and I laughed quietly as I hugged her back. I was sitting next to Scott too and he was holding both Cassie and I in a hug, smiling like a goofball.
"Paxton and Maggie are going to be happy to see you." he said with a grin "They're coming over soon." My eyes widened at the thought of seeing the two after so long. The rest of the team went with Luis upstairs to find a place to put their stuff, while I stayed downstairs with Scott and Cassie. Eventually, a car pulled up in front of the house and a familiar couple hopped out.
"Don't say anything!" I exclaimed as I set Cassie down and ducked behind the couch. The door opened and I could hear Cassie saying hi to her parents excitedly.
"What's up Paxton?" Scott asked casually as he greeted him and Maggie.
"I think I have a lead on where Sadie is!" Paxton said breathlessly "Her older brother, from my records, has been captured by the government, but I can't find where Sadie is. The records say her brother was captured in New York, so that's definitely somewhere to look."
"Or behind the couch." I said, standing up from my hiding place. Paxton and Maggie stared at me in shock before rushing over and hugging me as much as they could with a couch between us. I clumsily clambered over it so I could hug them properly. "I missed you guys." I whispered.
"We missed you too Sweetie." Maggie gasped "Are you OK? The last time we saw you..."
"I'm fine." I assured her "The Avengers and SHIELD captured my brother and took me in. I didn't want to risk any heat falling on you guys so I didn't tell them anything. That's why I didn't come back. I'm sorry."
"Oh don't be sorry Sadie." Maggie said as she and Paxton continued to hug me "We're just so happy that you're OK. Did you come by yourself?"
"About that..." I said sheepishly as Luis walked into the living room with everyone trailing awkwardly behind them. "um, meet part of the Avengers." Maggie and Paxton waved wordlessly at the team. "That's Steve, Bucky, Pietro, Wanda, Clint, and Sam." I rattled off "Guys, this is Maggie and Paxton. My unofficial/official parents." The team all said hi a little nervously, but I think everyone was getting along so far.
"So!" Scott butted in, trying to cut through the awkwardness "Maggie, Paxton, if you guys want to stay for dinner so we can all get to know each other, that'd be fun."
"Yeah!" I said eagerly "I can catch you guys up on everything."
"Sounds great." Paxton said with a smile "We'd love to."
"Cassie I can see you feeding the ant!" The girl giggled and shamelessly tossed some more of her food to the ant that was twice her size. The team had been a little freaked out when they first met it, but they eventually warmed up to it. All of the adults, even Wanda and Pietro, were talking amongst themselves leaving Cassie and I to hang out together.
"What are the Avengers like?" Cassie asked excitedly. I made a face as I tried to think.
"They're all idiots." I teased "Nowhere near as smart as you. Or as fun." I bopped her nose causing her to laugh even more "I missed you Care Bear." I said softly, using my nickname for her "You're like the sister I never had." Cassie gave me a tight hug, forgetting all about the ant she was feeding.
"You're not leaving again, are you?" she whispered. I sighed heavily and sat her upright so that she was looking at me.
"I don't know Cassie." I admitted "My life's pretty messed up right now, and I don't want to mix you up in all this. I'll tell you this though, I will stay as long as I can. I already left you guys once, and I don't want to do it again."
"Me either."
Bucky's POV
"Thank you, for taking Sadie in." the man, Paxton, said "We thought we'd never see her again, so to know that she has a family is amazing news."
"It's not really a family anymore." I muttered.
"The Avengers are going through a breakup." Wanda elaborated "With the Sokovia Accords and everything, those of us who didn't sign are kind of criminals. Sadie included."
"Why would they make her sign them?" Maggie questioned "She's underage, and she doesn't even have any powers!"
"She's living with us, so that means she's affiliated with the Avengers." Steve explained "We're trying to keep her in a family environment, so normally we'll send her to one of our family's houses, but we couldn't do that this time."
"They came to me for help." Scott said proudly.
"It was a last resort!" Sam defended himself. They would have gotten further into the argument, but a shriek of laughter interrupted them. We all looked over to see Sadie and Cassie swatting each other with pillows and bouncing on the couch together.
"Sadie's different when she's here." Pietro noticed "She seems... happier, almost." He wasn't wrong, this was one of the first times since the Sokovia accords happened that I had really seen Sadie actually laugh and smile.
"I'm not looking forward to being with her when we leave." Sam griped "She'll be impossible to live with." Everyone mumbled in agreement and Maggie, Paxton, and Scott frowned at this.
"What do you mean?" Scott exclaimed "She's one of the sweetest, happy-go-lucky people I know!"
"Not anymore." Wanda said sadly "Sadie's been really upset about the accords and about being taken away from the tower every few days and being thrown into a new environment. We're trying to keep her happy, but she's just been moody." Just ten, our conversation was interrupted by Steve's phone going off.
"I'll be right back." he said quickly, walking out of the room.
Sadie's POV
"You're it!"
"No fair Cassie! You made the ant run over me!" Cassie squealed and quickly ran away as I darted after her. We raced all over the living room before dashing down the hallway where Cassie ran straight into Steve who laughed and caught her before she could fall over.
"Sadie, I need to talk to you and the team in the kitchen." he said as he picked up Cassie who climbed to sit on his shoulders.
"What's happened now?" I whined as I followed him and Cassie, who was still happily sitting upon Steve's shoulders.
"You won't like it." he warned.
"How is that different from anything else that's happened." I mumbled. Steve wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we walked into the kitchen. He handed Cassie to Maggie and I hopped onto a nearby chair, waiting for the bad news.
"The Secretary has decided that because of the unfortunate incident at the UN," he was referring to the incident where some maniac who lost his family in Sokovia had planted a bomb at the UN and killed several people including the king of Wakanda "that the Sokovia accords are now required. Any person who is asked to sign them and doesn't, will be considered a fugitive from justice."
"Where does that leave us?" Bucky asked quietly.
"If we don't sign... criminals. If we do, then we're still Avengers." There was silence as everyone processed this. Steve sighed heavily and looked at everyone. "I assume none of us are changing our minds?"
"Sadie, maybe you should." Wanda suggested "You're already underage, maybe it'd be best to just cooperate with the government."
"About that," Steve said awkwardly "the secretary has said that Sadie can be exempt from the Accords and any charges the government might have against her for her past will be dropped."
"Great!" I said happily.
"But only if you have no further contact with the people who didn't sign the accords."
"Not great!"
"That's not a big price to pay." Bucky reminded me "As long as you don't talk to us while we're on the run, you'll be fine." I glared at him and he immediately looked down at his lap sheepishly.
"I'm not doing it." I said firmly "I'll go on the run with you guys before go crawling back to the government."
"There has to be another option for her." Paxton argued "She's underage and this shouldn't have applied to her in the first place." I glanced up at Steve who looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than here.
"Sadie has one more option." he admitted "Either she drops all contact with the people who refused the accords... or the team gives up custody of her and she's given to a new home. She'd still be able to have contact with everyone, but she wouldn't see any of us." I stared at him in shock, trying to wrap my head around this.
"So," I said slowly "either I go back to New York, but don't get to talk to the people sitting at this table, or I go somewhere completely different, but still get to talk to everyone on the phone, but no seeing you in person."
"Pretty much." Everyone was watching me, waiting to see what I would do.
"I need to make a phone call."