The Avengers compound in upstate New York felt massive, as one might expect from a converted former Stark Industries warehousing site. The extensive acreage nestled snugly in the crook of a small bend in the Hudson, with the facility proper hugging the river and surrounded by vibrant forest. The main central building—a six-storey, sloped structure emblazoned with the Avengers logo hosting the living quarters and a bunch of the more commonly-used facilities—was the one that I pictured when I thought of this place, to the point where I’d almost forgotten that there even were other buildings.

The former warehouse proper was easily the biggest, by a wide margin—smaller than the facility that Eliza had based herself out in San Francisco, but still big enough that it had been converted into a hanger capable of housing at least a half-dozen Quinjets or similar aircraft, with plenty of space still to spare for a large area set aside for indoor training exercises. Beyond that, there were a half-dozen other, smaller buildings clustered around the two main ones, surrounded by well-cared for gardens, neatly manicured lawns and pleasantly peaceful outdoor areas. The site had three separate parking lots. One of the buildings had even been constructed over a small, artificial channel that had been carved into the river—presumable a former, fully-enclosed boat dock.

…Or possibly not-so-former? Did the Avengers have a boat? Questions for later.

Steeling myself, I followed Steve up the stairs into the central common area of the main building, Pietro trailing behind us. The rest of the Avengers were already here, most already sitting down at the conference table in the ‘briefing room’ segment of the space. The common area was several rooms put together, really, with no walls between them—a huge kitchen with breakfast bar, a dining area with a couple of small square tables, a lounge with comfortable couches and dark wooden furniture, lit by warm standing lamps, and an open, full-featured briefing room.

It was slightly less fancy than the ultramodern Avengers Tower had been, but something about it felt more welcoming. Homier. It might just have been the memories. I had them tickling at the periphery of my mind. Nothing really of any solid substance… maybe memories was the wrong word. They were more like vague feelings of recognition. Déjà vu. Just little things like not needing to be told the layout, or where the bathroom was. I just… knew, my body almost operating on autopilot. It felt comfortable, like I’d lived here before. Which was clearly impossible. Wasn’t it?

Tony perked up at our entrance, surprise and annoyance warring across his features as he shot a Steve questioning look. He had several small plasters covering cuts on his face, and a large, ugly purple bruise traced the left side of his jaw and neck. As Pietro and I moved to take our seats at the table, he touched Steve’s shoulder, leaning in to speak sotto voce—not quietly enough that I couldn’t hear him, though, thanks to my enhanced hearing. “I thought we agreed we were going to have a private chat, first?”

Steve gave a small shake of his head. “You wanted to have a private chat. They deserve to be here. I don’t want to talk about her behind her back,” he said, quietly but firmly. Tony continued to look put out, but dropped the issue and sat down.

Once everyone was settled, just as Tony looked like he was about to speak, I opened my mouth. “Alright, so what’s this all about?” I asked, completely unnecessarily, my tone already tired. I was pretty sure I knew exactly what this was about.

Tony paused, reconsidering his words, then sighed. “Look, I don’t mean to be ‘that’ guy, but—”

“Oh, that’s accidental?” I interrupted again, feigning surprise.

“Wanda,” Steve said warningly. “This can’t be how these discussions go. We need to be able to talk things through as a team.”

“Sorry,” I said, looking down at the table and feeling suitably chastened. I’d complained about Steve not treating me like an adult and but here I was, the meeting barely started, acting like a brat.

“The Mind Stone,” Tony said, gesturing toward the pendant at my neck. “We need to decide what’s going to happen to it now.”

“I’ll stop you right there and save us all some precious time,” I responding, my expression hard. “It’s going to stay with me. Next issue?”

Tony set his jaw, glaring at me a little. “We’re really okay with leaving one of the most powerful, destructive forces in the universe—Thor’s words, not mine—in the hands of someone prophesised to destroy or rule the cosmos—her words, not mine? After she created a homicidal AI that tried to kill us?”

“That’s not fair.” Natasha shook her head, glaring at him. “We can’t let strange prophecies dictate our actions, and there’s no point in picking each other apart over who was at fault with Eliza. This is petty, Tony, even for you.”

“Sorry, Nat, but honestly I’ve gotta agree with Tony,” Bruce spoke up, glancing briefing in my direction and grimacing. “What are we even talking about? Why is this a discussion? Wanda blew it. You don’t want to get into it about Eliza, fine, but then what happened with Wanda‑3…”

Pietro frowned at the scientist. “Worked,” he pointed out. “It worked. Wanda-3 took down Eliza, just like Wanda said she would.”

“Oh, yes, please, let’s talk about Wanda-3 for a second,” said Tony, a tinge of sarcasm entering his tone. “After the little heart to heart the two Wandas had, does anyone here seriously think Wanda is stable enough to be responsible for the Stone?”

“Tony!” Nat snapped, straightening up.

I clenched my uninjured hand into a fist on top of the table. “First of all: Fuck you. Second of all… Are we really going to sit here and do this again?” I asked, looking around at the assembled Avengers. “This is effectively the third time we’ve had this discussion. Are we really going to just keep relitigating it over and over again until Tony gets the outcome he wants?”

“We need to resolve this properly,” said Steve. “Get everyone on the same page. Clear the air.”

“I think Wanda’s best qualified to hold onto the Stone,” said Bucky. “She understands it and what it can do better than anyone, and she has the power to keep it controlled.”

I could tell that Tony was starting to feel a little outnumbered. “If you're going to be an Avenger, there has to be some conditions—”

“No,” Clint said, interrupting him. “No conditions. Wanda and Pietro are Avengers.”

Happiness surged in my chest and I couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on my face.

“Are you being serious right now?” Tony shook his head in disbelief. “Hand on heart, you’re all completely comfortable with her keeping the Stone after what happened in Wakanda? After what she did behind our backs?”

“You wanted to create an AI, too, Tony,” I interjected. “And you jumped right on board once Wanda‑3 was created.”

“After it was already done, when there wasn’t any putting the genie back in the bottle,” he responded immediately. “We’d talked it over and said ‘no, we aren’t doing this’, and I was willing to accept the team’s decision on that. Why weren’t you?”

“Because the team’s decision was wrong.” My tone was firm at first, but I faltered after the words came out. “…I thought the team had made the wrong decision. We were in danger,” I clarified, hedging a bit.

Tony looked at Steve, gesturing toward me with a hand as if to say ‘see?’. “And what about the next time she thinks the team’s decision is wrong? And the time after that? How many chances does she get? She’s out of control, Steve.”

I scoffed. “And there it is. Because that’s what this is really about, isn’t it? You can’t control me. Tell me, Tony, how does it feel?”

Tony’s expression flickered. “How does what feel, Wanda?”

“Being you.” I gestured toward him. “Are you blissfully unaware or, deep inside, is some part of you banging on the walls, screaming?”

Tony shot me a big, sarcastic grin. “Being me feels great, actually. Like snuggling up in a warm blanket.”

“Sure, yeah. It would be such a shame if you were forced to examine yourself with a critical eye.”

Tony was about to respond again when Steve cut in, his tone hard. “Stop it, both of you. Sniping at each other like that isn’t helpful.”

“Sometimes we’re just going to disagree,” I said, looking at him. “You can’t tell me that that would stop you from doing what you feel is right in the moment. I’ve seen you do the same.”

Steve nodded slowly, though he didn’t look happy about it. “Tony, you’re right. I’m not completely comfortable with it. What happened with Wanda-3 can’t happen again. But Wanda’s not wrong, either. There might be times when any one of us might feel like we have no choice but to act on our own—the team has to be a team, not a straightjacket, or it won’t work. We need to be able to support each other.”

“We need to be able to trust each other,” Tony countered. “Otherwise, we’re not a team at all. Not really.”

“What alternative are you suggesting?” I asked. “Because as much as you feel like you can’t trust me with the Stone, I can’t trust you with it, either. If you’re going to argue the Stone should stay in your lab, then we don’t have anything further to talk about, as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a non-starter.”

That was the truth. I’d always been a little worried about letting Tony have access to the Mind Stone, even after I’d destroyed the nascent mind that would have become Ultron. Even without the Scarlet Witch messing with his head, he had always had a pretty poor track record when it came to making good decisions. What would he use the Stone for, now that he knew what it was really capable of? Back in Wakanda, he’d suggested making an AI based on himself—after Eliza, would I be willing to risk the possibility of him deciding to use the Mind Stone to take a crack at Ultron 2.0? No. Absolutely not. No more AIs.

Tony set his jaw, looking annoyed. “You always make things more difficult than they need to be. We can’t afford to have another Eliza situation on our hands.”

“We won’t. The only reason we had an Eliza situation in the first place was because I didn’t have access to the Stone when I needed it, thanks to you,” I said firmly. “It stays with me, end of discussion.”

“Tony, lay off about Eliza already,” Clint spoke up. He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Wanda’s not an idiot. She’s not going to go around creating more AIs.”

Steve looked in my direction, weighing me with an appraising gaze for a moment. After a second, he nodded. “After everything that’s happened, I’d like to think that Wanda—out of anyone here—is most aware of the dangers involved.”

I was pretty sure Tony had a smart-ass remark about that, but he bit it back, taking a moment to compose himself before talking again. “Look, we have to be sensible, here,” he said, spreading his hands in a pleading gesture as he changed tacks. “There are other concerns at play. Eliza originated in Avengers Tower. The optics are really bad and people are asking some pretty pointed questions. Secretary Ross is demanding a full debrief on where Eliza came from, her capabilities, and what actions she took on US soil. We can keep some stuff close to our chest, but we can't just completely refuse to cooperate with the government. If Ross finds out about the Mind Stone, do you really think he’ll be happy to let Wanda hold onto it? What about the president? Even if Wanda’s an Avenger, she’s not a US citizen. She doesn’t even have a visa.”

“‘They don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction’,” I said quietly, quoting Tony’s words from the original timeline.

“As far as Ross and the rest are concerned, Loki’s sceptre was US Government property, stolen from SHIELD by HYDRA. If we’re looking after the Stone collectively—as a team—it gives us a bit more of a solid claim on keeping it when they come knocking,” he argued. “Beyond that, our recent track record hasn’t been great. Sure, we’ve defused tensions with Wakanda. Great. But outside of that? Russia is still up in arms about what happened with the Red Room. Eliza pulled a 9/11 on Avengers Tower, then for her follow-up act she parked an army of drones above San Francisco, not to mention breaking SoMa. The president was on the verge of deploying the military to seize Stark Industries sites.”

There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as Tony spoke. Incident after incident. Giant public spectacles capturing the whole world’s attention. I remembered exactly what that had led to in the original timeline. Something else I thought I’d averted, before Eliza had come along and blown it all to hell.

Nat nodded slowly. “A major corporation on US soil was effectively seized and weaponised by enemy interests. The president is going to need to be seen to be doing something about it.”

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Clint looked pensive. “You think they’re gonna hit us with sanctions?” he asked.

“…the Accords,” I said quietly, eyes down at the table. “They’re talking about the Accords.” I heard everyone shift and didn’t need to look back up to know that I was, once again, the centre of attention. I looked up anyway. Tony looked a little puzzled—he didn’t know about the Sokovia Accords, obviously, but he was unknowingly describing pretty much the exact situation that had originally led to them.

Steve tilted his head questioningly. “What accords?”

I gestured vaguely with my bandaged hand. “The Sokovia Accords. The Avengers no longer allowed to operate as a private organisation, only under the supervision of a United Nations panel. Some other nasty stuff built into it, too. Mandatory registration of enhanced individuals, among other things. But basically every country in the world signed off on them. I didn’t think they’d be a thing this time.”

Bruce grimaced. “Of course. I love you guys, but there’s no way I’d let the Hulk fall into government hands,” he said, glancing over at me. “I bet I didn’t stick around, after that.”

“Actually, you didn’t have to deal with any of this—you’d sort of banished yourself to space. Or the Hulk had.” I saw his expression and shook my head. “Uh, it’s a long story. Not really important or relevant right now.”

“Something like that happening isn’t really surprising,” Nat said, looking in his direction briefly. “You didn’t have to deal with all the Senate hearings after what happened with SHIELD. There was a lot said behind closed doors that wasn’t publicly aired. Honestly, it’s a miracle we’ve come this far without the government trying to take a firmer hand with us.”

I’d thought we were safe from the Accords. No Ultron meant no Battle of Sokovia. The Hulk didn’t rampage through Johannesburg. “Most of the original inciting incidents weren’t going to happen anymore, but—fuck,” I cut myself off, thinking it all through. Lagos… Fuck. I could have kicked myself. Things fucking rhyme, indeed. “The last straw was an international incident involving Wakanda. One that was… that was my fault. Again. I think the Accords were signed, in part, because people were scared of what I was capable of.”

“Eliza wasn’t your fault,” Bucky said firmly, shooting a challenging look in Tony’s direction as if daring him to contradict that statement.

“Neither was the other thing, but I still got blamed for it,” I said, amending my statement slightly. “I thought I’d stopped the Accords from happening, but Eliza just put them right back on the table again, didn’t she? Can just one fucking thing stay fixed in this fucking world?” I slumped forward onto the table, feeling miserable. Laying my head down, I focused on the feeling of the cool wood against my cheek and started to go over things in my head.

“Even if it does happen, it’s really not your fault,” Nat said gently, reaching over to touch my arm. “Something like this was probably inevitable.”

If the Accords came… ugh. So much for being an Avenger. Would the team even survive intact at all? And Tony was right—if the government found out about the Mind Stone, they’d probably exert pressure on the team to hand it over. I already wasn’t remotely comfortable with the idea of giving the Stone to Tony, but giving it to the US Government? Abso-fucking-lutely not.

But what could I do to avoid it? How could I stop or delay the Accords, or something like them? I had tried my hardest to keep the Avengers from breaking up. I’d laid groundwork that looked like it might be able to grow into a three-way alliance with Wakanda and Kamar-taj. I’d done so much work and it was only just starting to pay off. There had to be some way I could fix this. I lifted my head, feeling stressed.

Steve frowned. “What happened in the other timeline with the Accords and the Mind Stone?”

“I don’t know a lot of the details of what was talked about behind the scenes. I was effectively under house arrest,” I confessed, shooting Tony a vaguely resentful look before turning back to Steve. “And you didn’t tell me anything, really. I was still just a kid to be protected, to you. Vision, he…” I trailed off, remembering the night Clint had come to liberate me from this very facility, when Vision had tried to stop me leaving. It was sudden and vivid; seizing control of Vision’s connection with the Mind Stone with my magic, sending him smashing down into the Earth. Why could I so clearly remember that from my own perspective, rather than as pictures on a screen?

I can’t control their fear, I’d told him. Only my own.

“You’ve said before that the Mind Stone was part of Vision,” Bruce prompted me.

“…Yeah, it was. But the thing is we didn’t even know what the Mind Stone was until after it was already in his head. Vision was powerful. They couldn’t just repossess him. And when it came down to it, Vision agreed to the Accords. He thought we needed oversight. Accountability. I… fuck,” I looked at Nat, forehead creased. “When Tony found out about his parents, did you tell him everything I told you?” Across the table, Tony went rigid, his face suddenly expressionless.

Nat shot him a worried glance. “Yes. Everything.”

“Okay,” I sighed. “I told you that Tony found out about his parents at the worst possible time, when there was already a lot of friction in the team.”

Bruce grimaced, rubbing his chin absently with one hand. “You called it the end of the Avengers. It broke the team.”

“Well, the Sokovia Accords were the beginning of that end. Everything was happening at once. The UN passed the Accords. The team had already started to split down the middle—Tony was pro-Accords, Steve was against them.” Steve was looking at me askance, so I clarified. “It was surrendering our right to choose what we do. You worried that the UN panel might try to send us somewhere we didn’t think we should go, or that there might be somewhere we needed to go and they wouldn’t let us.”

Steve nodded slowly. “That makes sense.”

“Bucky was still on the run, but he was framed for killing King T’Chaka and Steve went rogue trying to save him.” Framed by Zemo, who was still a hanging thread here, too. I didn’t really know what to do about him. He’d worked with HYDRA to capture Peter and I, but he’d also freed us after I showed him some of my memories. Did that warrant any further action? His family were safe in this timeline, after all; he would never have a reason to go after the Avengers. Either way, he wasn’t something that needed to be dealt with immediately. “We all fought against each other. It was a big mess. Then Tony found out about his parents and… that was that. He tried to kill Bucky, Steve put himself in the way. You almost killed each other.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Steve asserted, glancing briefly at Tony.

The other man’s expression could have been carved from stone, but he shifted his head fractionally before taking a deep breath. “No, it’s not. Barnes didn’t kill my parents. The Winter Soldier did. HYDRA did.”

“That doesn’t help stop the Accords, though, or keep the Mind Stone out of government hands. The Avengers need to stay together. The team is important… now, more than ever. The Avengers falling apart is one of the reasons Thanos won in my visions. We were separated. Weakened.” I shook my head, rubbing at my temple with my fingers. “Now? When my visions aren’t worth as much as they used to be, and we’ve actually got the start of some potential alliances with Kamar‑taj and Wakanda? What we’re building here is important. Not just to us, but to the continued existence of the world—of the entire universe.”

“And you don’t want to jeopardise that,” Steve said, his expression pensive. From the way he was looking at me, I thought he’d already followed my train of thought to what I thought was its logical conclusion.

“…If I’m unaffiliated, the Avengers get plausible deniability. You can’t be responsible for my actions. I can’t be potentially brought under control if I’m not on the team. Ross can’t use a legal or legislative bludgeon to try to force the team to hand the Mind Stone over if the team doesn’t have the Stone. We’re in a better position if I’m framed as an ally that needs to be negotiated with, like Wakanda or Kamar-taj. If the Avengers are to survive—to thrive, then…” I stopped, a lump forming in my throat. “When Pietro and I first escaped from HYDRA, all I wanted was to be an Avenger. But we don’t always get what we want. With everything that’s happened, I just… I don’t think I can be. Not officially, at least. Not right now.”

“You are an Avenger. You’re one of us,” said Nat, shaking her head. She glanced at Pietro. “Both of you are.”

“This is bigger than me. It’s not just the government stuff, either. Wakanda might have cleared Pietro and I, but they still don’t like us. Especially not me; not after everything I did. I don’t want to be a constant source of friction between Wakanda and the team. Kaecilius is still out there, but that danger will pass soon and the Ancient One might decide to move me up her priority list.”

“We won’t let the Ancient One do anything to you,” Bucky said. “If she wants you, she has to go through us.”

“That’s exactly the problem, though,” I let out another sigh. “Kamar‑taj and the Avengers should be allies. You need to be, for the world to survive what’s coming. In my visions, the sorcerers played a key role in stopping Thanos. If I end up standing in the way of that…”

“I don’t like it,” said Clint hesitantly. “But it does make some sense, if we want to get ahead of things.” Nat looked over at him, forehead creased with concern, but she didn’t argue.

“After what happened with SHIELD and HYDRA, the idea of the government trying to take back the Stone is concerning. We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own,” said Steve firmly. “Ross is… He’s loyal to his country and its people, but his methods can be…”

“God,” I said. “Ross is probably going to freak the fuck out when he finds out there’s another Hulk, too.”

“It’s not our place to disclose Wakanda’s secrets,” Steve said firmly. “If Ross asks, we just tell him that if he wants details relevant to Wakanda’s operational security, he needs to talk to Wakanda.”

I nodded slowly. “Good. King T’Chaka will appreciate that. They need to be the ones to decide if they want to come forward and reveal themselves properly to the world.”

“So, what? You just leave? Waltz out with the weapon of mass destruction?” Tony asked, not looking thrilled.

“Yes. No. Not leave leave. I’m not abandoning what we’re doing here. I can still be around. We still need to work together. There just… there needs to be some space. Some degree of separation between me and the Avengers,” I gestured toward the corridor on the far wall, next to the kitchen, leading to the living quarters. “I can’t stay here.”

“Leave you off the lunchboxes,” Clint said wryly and I nodded.

Steve was looking at me. I met his gaze evenly, feeling a bit nervous. After a moment, he nodded slowly. “There are some downsides, but I can see the potential benefits. Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

Okay, I really appreciated the way he was handling this. Steve didn’t want to make the decision for me—he wanted to support what I wanted to do. “No. But I think it’s the smartest play right now. We can revisit the situation later, when a bit of the heat has died down.”

“Okay,” he said, simply.

Nat was still concerned. “Where will you stay?” she asked. She didn’t outright say ‘you’re homeless and have no money, remember’, but I knew she was thinking it.

“We’ll work something out,” Pietro said.

I knew he was going to argue, but that wasn’t what I had in mind. “No, Pietro. I’ll work something out. There’s no reason you can’t stay here.”

“If you go, I go,” he said stubbornly.

“We’ll talk about it later.” I held up a hand to silence any further discussion on the topic. “So… is that all you wanted to talk about?”

Tony and Steve exchanged a significant look. From his expression, I could tell that Tony still had things he wanted to say—the discussion had focused heavily on the Mind Stone, but Tony’s issues with me obviously ran deeper than that. He’d originally wanted to talk behind my back for a reason. There was still stuff he wanted to say that he wasn’t willing to air directly in front of me. “…For now,” he said, giving a shallow nod.

I took a deep breath, a tight feeling of loss welling up in my chest. It wasn’t permanent. I had to remember that. I was an Avenger. This was just a strategic decision. “Well,” I said, standing up. “I guess I’ll just… I’ll go get my stuff.”

--

“I am not letting you go off on your own,” Pietro said, glaring at me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, though honestly it felt nice to have him argue about this. It made me feel a little less shitty about it, reminding me that there were quite a few people who wanted me here. “I won’t be far. I promise. We’ll see each other all the time still. I just need you to stay here, okay? Be part of the team.”

“You don’t need me here,” he said stubbornly.

“Yeah, I do.” A flicker of movement caught my eye and I looked over to see that Natasha had just emerged from the corridor leading to the living quarters. She smiled as I perked up and started toward us with long, purposeful strides. I lowered my voice so she wouldn’t hear me. “Look, I’m not going to be around all the time, so I need someone here that I know for certain I can trust. Who’ll be able to keep me in the loop. Nat… I love her and I hope she won’t keep anything from me, but I can’t trust that for certain right now. Not after what happened. Please, Pietro. I really need you to do this for me.” Shooting him one last pleading look, I turned back to the rapidly-approaching Nat.

She walked up to us, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a set of keys before wordlessly offering them to me. I took them, staring at them for a moment before looking up at her questioningly. “My apartment in the city. You can stay there,” she said firmly. “As long as you need.”

I nodded slowly. “Thanks. That would actually be perfect, I think.” A small smirk curved the corner of my mouth. “We haven’t even had ‘The Talk’ yet and you’re just going to go ahead and ask me to move in with you?”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled back. “I’ll be staying here mostly, so it’s more like you’ll be moving in with Yelena than anything else—she still hasn’t gotten her own place. Good luck with that. Are you good to portal there?”

I grimaced and shook my head. “I guess I’ll call a cab? It actually feels super weird trying to use the sling ring with my other hand. I might even just… hold off on portals for a little while unless I absolutely need one. I think relying on them all the time puts me in a weird headspace. I’m not always in a rush to get everywhere,” I said, then paused, thinking about just how much I’d been rushing around lately. “I think I need to slow down, in general. Take my time with things for a bit. Ground myself. Kaecilius is still out there, but we should still have lots of time to prepare for that. I don’t need to be constantly rushing all the time. It’s not good for my head.”

Pietro was nodding along, though his mouth was still twisted in a small frown. “You need to let yourself rest. Relax for a bit. Since we left Sokovia it’s been one thing after another, almost nonstop.”

“You need to process what happened with Wanda-3 properly, too. And Eliza, for that matter. I’m here to talk if you need to. Anytime. Both of us are,” Nat said softly, glancing briefly toward Pietro. “I could drive you into the city, if you wanted?”

“That’d be nice. How about you take me to dinner, then back to the apartment so you can have your way with me?”

“Wanda,” Pietro whined, pulling a face.

“You need a day or two to heal up before I have my way with you again, remember?” she scolded me lightly. “How about dinner, then back to the apartment for ‘The Talk’?”

I stuck out my lower lip in an exaggerated pout, but nodded. “I suppose.” Turning to Pietro, I reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. “Will you stay here? Please?” I wasn’t quite begging him, but it was close.

I might have been exaggerating, just a little bit, when I told him that I couldn’t trust Natasha. The broken trust between us definitely still needed some time to heal, but I honestly wasn’t actually that worried about it. The biggest reason I wanted Pietro to stay was because I thought it would be good for him.

Neither of us really had many friends. I was perfectly comfortable being by myself—I was never the most social person—but Pietro always got so restless when it was just the two of us. He needed others around so he could burn off that excess energy, and he was starting to get on really well with Steve and Bucky. I really didn’t want to take that outlet away from him. Pietro had already sacrificed so much to follow me around and deal with all my bullshit and I didn’t want to just keep using him like that. He needed to have something of his own… if the Avengers couldn’t be that for me right now, maybe they could for him.

“Ugh, fine,” Pietro grunted unhappily. “I’ll stay.”

“Quicksilver,” I said, shooting him a grateful smile.

He looked confused. “What?”

“Your superhero name. As an Avenger. It’s Quicksilver.”

“Is it?” he scoffed, the corner of his mouth tugging upward slightly. “Decided for me, huh?”

“No, sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m pretty sure this one’s on you.”