Author's note: Okay. College classes are starting tomorrow, so I'll try my best to update every week. Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you enjoy the first chapter. :)

Pain.

Rain clinked against the walls and windows of the abandoned building as it came down from the sky. Thunder roared right above us, accompanied by a small lightning show. The storms of mid-September had been brutal, and being on the run only made it worse.

Suffering.

The small room held all seven of us. The doors creaked underneath the old couches we pushed against them. The windows threatened to shatter against the hard rain, but kept intact for the time being. Mold covered the wall in places and the yellow wallpaper flaked onto the cold, wooden floor. One little lantern lit the room and cast shadows in every direction.

Guilt.

We lost interest in the game we were playing. Nobody seemed to be enjoying it or thought it distracted them. Truth was, it was only meant to keep us together and talk for once. Since the president put out a warrant for our arrests, we fled the tower and went on the run. The government had no right to put the blame on us. We weren't going to pay for their mistake. The team already carried the guilt.

Clint and Natasha huddled together in the corner. They whispered to one another and kept each other's attention. Nat always seemed distant, her emerald eyes wandering around the room, lost in thought. Barton ran his hand up and down her leg to make her remember where she was, hoping she would maintain a conversation with him. He tried to make her laugh and be happy, but there was no use. He felt like shit, but he wanted to make her smile before he would help himself.

Hell, he looked like shit. We all did. Clint went dumpster diving for some old computer parts to give to Peter, Tony, and Bruce to make something. He ended up finding a new watch and some unopened expired food. Out of all our complaints against it, he still ate it. His short brown hair was unkept and his dark clothes were covered in stains. Natasha tried to maintain her medium length red hair and kept it clean. Her gray hoodie and jeans were the exact opposite.

Peter laid down in front of Tony and Bruce. He rubbed his hands together and blew his breath into them to keep warm. He insisted I didn't light a fire because it would smoke us all out or draw attention to the building. His green shirt ripped on the side from getting stuck on a tree branch earlier and his tan shorts helped him stay comfortable, but definitely not warm. Peter added comments here and there to Tony and Bruce's conversation.

Banner bounced ideas off of Tony. The talk of new inventions and different sciences got his blood pumping and a small spark glistened in his eye. Banner's clothes were the murkiest of them all. I couldn't tell if the color of his shirt was blue or purple. Same went with his pants, which was a tragedy, since they used to be white. His wavy brown hair started to gray because of all the stress the Hulk put on him. We always gave him extra food and leftovers in an attempt to satisfy the big guy. We did anything we could to help. Bags were visible under his brown eyes through his glasses. He surprisingly hadn't broken them yet, unlike some people…Peter accidentally dropped his glasses a few weeks ago and crushed them as we were sneaking around some trees.

Tony wrinkled his forehead in frustration and glanced down at his hands. His brown eyes traced the outline of his whitewashed jeans, his red shirt, and up to his hands, which were shaking nervously. He shook them out and whispered, "You know, I would give anything to see Pepper right now."

I wrapped my arms around myself and leaned against the wall next to Steve. My hands heated up from my powers to keep me warm. The dark jeans I had on were smeared with dirt and ripped on one knee. My camouflage shirt blended in with the grime attached to it, but it itched against my skin. We hadn't been able to get new clothes in about a week. My long, brown curly hair hung in a ponytail to keep it out of my face. I licked my lips before quietly talking to Steve, "You trust me to have your back…right?"

Steve stopped playing with his hands and glanced over at me. His blazingly blue eyes searched my features for confirmation if I had really just asked that. He stretched his legs out in his blue jeans and his muscles tensed up underneath his navy blue shirt. Rogers' voice scratched against his throat at first until he cleared it, "Of course." He grabbed my hand gently and locked our fingers together. His eyes flickered over to Barton and Romanoff before speaking again. "Nat asked me that a long time ago."

His voice trailed off as he thought of what to say. "She once told me that 'To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved'. Now look at her. She holds onto Clint's words every time he says he loves her. It takes her forever to trust someone. That's good in this kind of business, but sometimes, you just need to trust someone. Love can be fake. But, he's clearly head over heels for her." Steve glanced down at our hands. "I think to be truly loved by someone else is the greatest compliment. Anyone can have your trust. There's only a few people that will ever truly love you."

A small grin made its way onto my lips and my hazel eyes glimpsed into his. "When did you get so sappy?"

Steve snorted and let a short silence kick in. "I've had a lot of time to think."

All of us had time to think. That's all we ever had time for. Sometimes, I'd lie awake at night with Peter and watch out for police or agents of any kind. I'd sit there and think about that horrible day. The nuclear bomb detonating. The mushroom cloud. How people would have been terrified in their last moments because they were about to be wiped from existence. No trace of them would even be left.

The guilt hurt the most. All those deaths…it was all out of the Avengers' hands. All because of the United States government. They didn't have faith or trust. We would have handled it. It might have been a while, but we would have gotten it. Now, the government has the scepter. They took it after they raided the tower. God knows what they're going to do with it…

"I can't believe we haven't seen Amelia in months. I loved having her around," Steve admitted to me and squeezed my hand. "She always made these cute sounds when she wandered around the tower. God, and her laugh…It's so shrill, but so adorable."

Amelia…Jeez, I missed her so much. Peter and I begged Aunt May to take her in and gave her ten thousand dollars out of Tony's account to help. I didn't want to put Amelia in harms way, and Aunt May loved the idea instantly. She adored children, especially when I said I was planning on adopting her. After all that happened, I owed Amelia that much. I promised to protect her, and I was adamant on keeping it. My lips twitched to hold back the sadness from my voice, "Yeah. It's been so long…So long."

Steve flinched and looked away. His expression hardened as his jaw locked in place. His fingers lifted from mine slightly, but quickly rested again. I found it quite peculiar.

The window caved in, glass spewing everywhere. We covered ourselves and shielded each other in the process. Rain pitter pattered against the ground, thunder clapping in the background. "Shit!" Natasha shrieked in panic and clawed at Clint's arms to get a grip. A grappling hook had clasped onto her leg like a leech and dragged her to the broken window. Glass pinched her arms and cut her up as if they were blades of a blender.

"Nat!" Barton yelled. Natasha slipped from his grasp and scratched at the floor. Peter dove and caught her, using his free hand to take hold of the ground with his powers. Adamantium claws jetted out of my knuckles, allowing me to slice the rope on the grappling hook. Natasha pried her leg free and backed away from the window.

All of us booked it and headed towards the escape route. It took the Government a while to find us, which seemed to be in our favor. If they were getting slower, they would eventually stop searching, even if there were warrants out for out arrests. Right? Tony knocked over the wood in the corner, revealing a hidden hatch leading to an underground tunnel. Whoever owned this house long ago in the middle of the woods must have been a criminal or something. An escape hatch? That's something pretty rare. I hopped in and looked up, waiting for Banner to jump. He was the last one.

I reached my arms out, ready to help him just in case. When he hesitated, I whispered, "Bruce, what are you doing? Come on! We need to leave! The rest of the group is waiting at the end!"

Banner glanced down at me and began to close the hatch. "I'm tired of running. I don't…I don't want to hurt anybody if the big guy comes out." His brown eyes reflected what he felt. Exhausted. Remorseful. Fed up. He wanted out of this.

Before I could say anything, the hatch closed. I heard agents breaking in through the door and the broken window, yelling at Banner to turn around with his hands up. I didn't want to leave him, but there was really nothing I could do about it. I caught up with the others at the end and closed the wooden hatch behind me. I froze it over to make sure it would take a while for them to break through, if they decided to go through the tunnel.

Tony scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. "Where's Banner?"

"He stayed behind. Didn't want the Hulk to get involved and hurt anyone." I watched everyone's reactions, but they were all blank slates. The information was understandable, considering he was looking out for innocent lives. Everyone just had to process it and accept it before they could show emotion.

Steve walked ahead and led the group. "Let's go then."

"To where?" Clint asked quietly. He helped Natasha walk for a moment until she got her bearings.

Peter scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Anywhere but here."