"If it weren't for those Accords, Vision would've been right here," Rhodey argued with General Ross, Bruce listening in from the other room as him and Pepper shared a pot of coffee. Scottie was still upstairs getting changed out of her clothes and having a quick shower.
"I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel," General Ross warned him as the man began to pick a fight about the paper that had torn the Avengers apart - and had taken Scottie away from them.
"That's right. And I'm pretty sure I've paid for that," he said, his hand lightly touching the braces on his leg. "We all paid for that."
General Ross paused for a moment as he realised that they had paid for that. Scottie Casey certainly did anyway.
"You have second thoughts?"
"Not anymore."
Before either party could say anything else, five sets of footsteps caused them both to turn around and see the so called fugitives stumbling into the room. A small smirk appeared on Rhodey's face as he looked at the team, even if they did seem extremely worse for wear and were practically carrying Vision.
His eyes paused on Wanda for the slightest moment longer as he thought about the girl only a few floors above him. That was a reunion that he was glad was going to happen sooner rather than later.
"Mr. Secretary," Steve nodded to the digital protection of the man whose lip had curled up in an angry snarl in the direction of the man.
"You got some nerve. I'll give you that."
Natasha laughed bitterly, her eyes boring into the man as she almost invited gum for a challenge. "You could use some of that right now."
"The world's on fire. And you think, all is forgiven?"
Steve shook his head, taking a form step forward towards the projection. The scruffy beard on his face reminded Rhodey exactly of how long it had truly been since they had all last seen each other. After Steve's letter to Tony, the man had told General Ross that the remaining members of the Avengers would NOT be carrying out any search missions to find the others.
"I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defender. So we're here to fight. And if you wanna stand in our way... we'll fight you, too."
Bruce and Pepper shared shocked looks as they tried to process the fact that their friends had shown up at the perfect time. Putting their coffees down, they both began to move through to the room.
"It's great to see you, Cap," Rhodey told the man after disconnecting the call between him and the war general. Steve smiled warmly at the man, his eyes briefly looking at the brace that rested on his leg.
"You too, Rhodey."
The men both shared a quick hug before Rhodey also hugged Natasha, having missed having the woman around. He pulled back before letting a small teasing chuckle fall from his lips.
"Well. You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years."
"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star," Sam said, an identical smile on guys face as he felt relief at the pleasant welcome from Rhodey. Just before anyone could say anything else, a small voice caught their attention from across the room.
"Uh, I think you look great," Bruce interrupted. Pepper was standing awkwardly next to him as Bruce and Natasha locked eyes, a romance that would never again be explored still hanging in the air between them.
"Uh... heh... Yeah. I'm back," he said awkwardly, shrugging as he tried to figure out what to say after his entrance. He could see the confused look of Sam as he had never really properly met the man but he knew who he was instantly.
"Hi, Bruce."
"Nat."
Sam leaned back to share a look with Vision and Wanda as a soft smile rested on his lips. "This is awkward."
Steve rolled his eyes, looking directly at the blonde woman who was already making her way towards the group of fugitives. He waited for a moment to see what she was going to do, before smiling as she opened her arms for a hug from the super soldier.
"Thanks for coming back," Pepper breathed out and they all could see how stressed the woman was. "A lot has happened in the past few hours."
Pulling back from a hug with Natasha, the assassin nodded as she rubbed Pepper's arm sympathetically. The women had been in each other's lives for almost ten years, and while they never spent much time together they understood each other a lot better than anyone really knew. Losing Scottie had hurt both of them in a way no one else could relate to; she had been like a daughter to them both.
"We heard about Tony," Natasha gently told her, causing Pepper to nod slightly. "And about Spider-Man too," she added afterwards, remembering how they had watched not only the man of iron enter that spaceship but also the spider boy that they had fought against and with the last time the team had been together on that concourse in Germany. Everything had changed since then.
"He'll come back to us, he always does," Pepper said without a hint of hesitation in her voice. She was worried to her breaking point about Tony and the ever pressing fear that he was dead already or that he would never make it home to her, but she didn't need to stress the team out when they had only just arrived.
"If there's anything I loved the most about the team, it was that faith we all had in each other. I believe you Pep," Steve said, a soft and comforting smile on his face as he cast a look backwards at where Wanda and Sam were still supporting Vision as he clutched at the mechanically twitching wound on his torso.
"Can we take him to the medbay?" Sam asked, already shifting on his feet as he prepared himself to help the android down the stairs. It was only just a few rooms away so it wouldn't take them too long to get him looked at.
There was a brief moment of silence before Rhodey, Bruce and Pepper shared a quick glance - one that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the room. The three all seemed to have a silent conversation as the question remained hanging in the air, Wanda stepping up slightly protectively of Vision as a small burst of anxiety filled her at the idea that they might refuse to help.
Before she could open her mouth, Natasha beat her to it. The woman had analysed the looks between the three and instantly knew there was something they weren't disclosing to the fugitives.
"Wait, what else happened?" Natasha asked, feeling the building tension in the room. Wanda's attention was immediately torn away as Vision groaned, his hand moving from his wound to touch the stone at the top of his head. The witch sunk slightly as his weight leaned more on her, allowing Sam to quickly readjust and try to support more of the groaning Android.
While all the fugitives shared panicked looks, Pepper looked at Natasha sheepishly as she instantly knew why the stone was lighting up. Natasha's eyebrows furrowed as she instantly started to jump to conclusions, when her eyes saw that stupid brown leather jacket that was strung over one of the chairs in the back. She almost cursed herself for missing it, but instantly stopped when she realised the full weight of the conclusion she had came to.
"The stone, it's reacting to something," Vision murmured in confusion, knowing exactly where he had felt this sensation before. Natasha spun back around to look at Pepper in disbelief as her voice dropped to barely a whisper.
"Pep, is this what I think it is..." she trailed off, unable to let the words fall from her lips as she stood up straighter. Wanda looked up at the urgency and desperation in Natasha's voice, having only heard it from the woman when she had to inform them that Scottie Casey had died before Tony could get back and save her.
"I think it's me."
All heads snapped to the left as the door slid open. Steve was sure that everything had seemingly slowed down as everyone tried to process what they were seeing.
"The stone, I think it's me that it's reacting to."
Scottie stood at the door, her dirty blonde hair still pulled into two tight braids, one at each side of her head. She was wearing different clothes now, ones that Bruce assumed Pepper had found her to change into for the time being. Her blue eyes had widened as she took in everyone who was standing in the room, all but Pepper, Bruce and Rhodey staring at her in complete shock.
A thick white bandage wrapped around her left arm and hand stood out against the cuts and bruises on her arm, but it didn't seem to be bothering her as she raised it slightly before allowing it to fall back down to her side. She was overwhelmed, not having expected to see the fugitives all at once.
She went to open her mouth and say something - anything - but it was the person at the other side of the room holding up the Android that instantly took her attention.
Wanda's hair was longer than Scottie remembered it. It was still that shade of red that she had loved, and from where she could see the girl's wrist, she noticed the familiar leather band that matched the one she had snapped around her own arm. The dirty trainers on the girl's feet were a welcoming surprise along with the hoodie the girl was wearing, especially since they originally had belonged to Scottie. She wasn't sure when the girl would have had time to snatch them from the headquarters since being on the run, but she had a gut feeling a certain retired archer would have had something to do with it.
It was like everyone else in the room had became non-existent as the blonde girl stared across the room with tears in her eyes. Natasha and Steve shared a knowing look, both filled with deep emotion at the sight of their friend being alive and being in the room with them. They both wanted nothing more than to just run to the girl and embrace her, but time had told them more than once to be weary of how someone could change after being resurrected.
"Wanda," Scottie muttered softly, watching how the Sokovian girl tensed up instantly at the soft tone that carried across the room. The red head had felt the extra energy enter the room but she had thought her head was playing tricks on her again. She didn't want to look away, afraid that if she blinked Scottie wouldn't be there. "Wanda."
The girl relaxed slight as her name was called slightly above a whisper this time, her heart soaring as her eyes studied the pair she hadn't seen in almost two years.
"Scottie," Wanda breathed, tears pooling in her eyes as she stared at the girl who looked slightly worse for wear. She barely noticed Bruce moving to support Vision with Sam so that she was free to move closer towards the blonde at the other side of the room.
Wanda took one cautious step down the first stair as Scottie slowly started to walk towards the girl, a slight limp present as she hobbled. There was a slight pause in their movements once they were a couple of metres apart, and the tension was unbearable.
Just like an invisible band had snapped, the two collided into each other's arms. Scottie's face was buried in Wanda's hair as they held on to each other for dear life. Despite everything going on around them in the world, neither of them wanted that moment to end.
Pulling back from Wanda as she noticed her other friends in the room with her, Scottie couldn't stop herself from moving away from Wanda and grabbing Steve and Natasha into a group hug.
Natasha held her to her own body tightly, afraid that if she let go then she would lose the girl again. It had been a reoccurring theme for her; losing Scottie just as they got her comfortably settled in, so she knew that this time she was going to have to break the curse.
And even though the world was falling apart around them all, Wanda finally began to feel in that moment as if her broken world was finally putting itself back together after almost three years.