Tony Stark.
The man was... a conundrum. He was a contradiction. An enigma. Impossible. Unprecedented. Confuting. Contravention. Mystification. Perplexity. He was a contrast to everything her father had ever told her- everything Hope had ever believed until she'd met him.
He was her friend.
And wasn't that a shocker?
Hope didn't make friends easily or often, mostly due to her cold, unapproachable demeanour, but somehow this billionaire, genius, superhero had managed to get under her skin to the point that he was quite possibly her closest friend. And she had no idea how that had happened.
To be honest, Hope had always shared her father's view about the Starks. She had believed them to be arrogant, untrustworthy, irresponsible imbeciles whose only saving grace were their undeniable talent in inventing. A lot of this had come from recounts of her father's experience with Howard Stark, but she had formed her own opinions of the man's son based off of what the media peddled constantly back when he was seen as nothing more than a drunk college student with a penchant for throwing wild parties and having sex with anything that moved, and then later as the Merchant of Death. That was why meeting the man in person had made her feel incredibly surprised at his generosity and more than a little guilty for having previously judged him so harshly before even meeting him. Hope had been severely reminded of the fact that the sins of the father were not the sins of the son, and that they shouldn't be seen as such.
Hope had met Mr Stark at a technological conference in Japan about four months after the 'Civil War'. The man had shown a keen intelligence and had complimented her father's work building the Ant-Man suit, of which Hope had denied. Mr Stark just raised a brow and hummed, clearly not convinced, before asking her to consider collaborating their technologies to expand into other fields, such as medicine and agriculture- which she had never even considered before. He talked about ending their fathers' feud and forming a partnership between Stark Industries and Pym Technologies over the next few years. He also expressed a desire to work her and her father in the Research and Development aspects of their companies and asked her to think about it.
Needless to say, Hope had left that night feeling thoroughly vexed as to how Tony Stark had made an impression which contradicted everything he thought she knew about him. She had initially intended to turn down his offer but, after giving it a lot of thought, Hope found that she was curious enough to see where it would go. She was not, however, prepared for how important the man would become in her life.
A week after the conference that they had met at, Hope placed a call to Stark Industries, which was received by Miss Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, the famous CEO, herself. Miss Potts had barely shown any surprise at one of SI's rival companies contacting them, which caused Hope's respect for her to heighten. It took a lot of guts for a woman to survive in business and, contrary to popular belief, a CEO of such a renowned and successful company can't sleep their way into the position. Miss Potts must have been a very smart woman, one who she knew she must not underestimate.
It was when she was put through to Mr Stark, however, that Hope was really surprised. The genius engineer was quick to invite her over to Stark Tower- formerly the Avenger's Tower- so that they could go into the R&D labs. Hope pointed out that while she was familiar with a fair number of the aspects of engineering, she operated more on the business sides of things and that it would be better if he talked to her father about the production stage of whatever he was working on. Mr Stark just told her that she would really want to see what he had been working on, and that it wasn't just about technology. Curiosity piqued, Hope left a voice message for her father to let him know where she was going and knowing that she was likely going to be lectured later. She didn't care, though, she was far more interested in what Mr Stark would have to say to her at this point.
She was eternally grateful that she had listened, because that was the day that Tony Stark became Tony and the two of them began healing the rifts between their companies caused by their fathers' grudges. That was the day she realised that the man under the mask of 'Tony Fucking Stark' was far more considering, deep and worth-while than almost anyone knew as he showed her his new, efficient, affordable water-purifier. That was the day they began a tentative friendship, that would end up growing and blooming as new trials were put in their way each day until it became a force of nature in its own right.
The board members of their respective companies had been understandably scandalised to learn of their new alliance. Hope and Tony made their case and talked about the work they hoped to achieve together with relief efforts in cities like Lagos, that had been brutalised by heavy attacks. They also tempted them with prospects of the technology that would be possible if two of the leading technological companies worked together. The board members were still uncertain, and a bit apprehensive to let go of the past, but when her father- Hank Pym-, who now helped oversee the R&D of Pym Tech, had advised that they give it a shot the boards realised that it was the start of a new era and acquiesced.
Hope had been surprised that her father had agreed to give Tony a chance, considering that he had spent so long preaching about the immorality of the Starks, but she knew that he had been re-evaluating his opinion on the billionaire since he had supported the Accords. She thought it likely that he had finally realised that the faults of the father are not necessarily the faults of the son, and although he had been extremely reluctant to admit that he may have been wrong all these years, he eventually had done so. In fact, they now had a new, weird, sort-of friendship, even though her father would never admit it. They both definitely respected each other, and not just for their minds and tech, but for their moral opinions and political stances and whenever they had a disagreement they always listened, talked and managed to find a fair and peaceful compromise. Hope had never even dreamed seeing the day. They were all building a new world.
But that world still needed protecting. That was why, when Tony began building the New Avengers, Hope joined as the Wasp- in honour of her mother. She already knew how to handle the suit rather well, but she soon found that working with a team was a lot different, but also better than going it alone. Hope found there were many things that she could do as a team that she would never even consider attempting on her own, and she found it refreshing to be able to rely on others to have her back. She worked particularly well with Thor- and that was definitely a surprise-, Dr Strange- now just Stephen-, as well as the Hulk. Hope was also particularly good friends with Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanov, Jean Grey, Sue Storm, Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, Jessica Jones, Ororo Munroe, Danny Rand, Jim Rhodes and Jennifer Walters. That was more close friends than she had ever had, for which she was forever thankful.
And all of this had happened because Hope had bumped into Tony in Japan.
Well, Tony had given her the life she had now and had supported her through all of it. It was about time she began returning the favour.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Scott Lang followed the rest of his team into the conference room in the Avenger's compound with no small amount of trepidation. He had been thinking a lot about his choices recently and he had the horrible feeling that he might've made some bad ones. Really bad. Oh Christ, what had he actually been thinking three years ago. He had thrown away all the work he had put in becoming the father his daughter deserved because he hadn't bothered to find out what he was really fighting for- who he was fighting against.
Scott was no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law, but he had always fought for a cause that he believed in so that he could help people, like when he was imprisoned for taking on Vistacorp. This time, however, he had allowed his hero-worship of Captain America and general animosity towards Stark make his decision for him. It was something he was deeply regretting now, especially after the confrontation in the compound living-room. Scott realised that he was extremely lucky that Stark had, for whatever reason, managed to get a pardon for him and the others. He didn't know where he would be if it wasn't for that man, and he definitely owed him a lot. Starting with an apology.
He had planned on making Steve spill his guts about everything that they didn't already know that morning, but they had been informed by FRIDAY (who Scott still couldn't wrap his head around) that Miss van Dyne had asked to meet with them immediately to sort out some official things, as well as have a personal talk. Scott was undeniably nervous about that information, but that still didn't stop him feeling angry at Steve for lying to them as well as annoyed that his confession had been delayed. Even so, that was not what he needed to be focused on right now if Scott wanted to survive this meeting.
When Scott looked to where the head of the long, white table was, he was met by the sight of Hope, looking as professional as she always did, tapping a fancy pen on a stack of papers. His breath caught at the sight of her- he had been warned that they would be meeting her, but he was still unprepared for the onslaught of feelings that the sight of his presumably ex-girlfriend would bring. He distantly heard Steve send out some sort of platitude greeting, but he was currently caught in Hope's unreadable eyes. Hope vaguely dismissed whatever Steve had said.
"Yes, thank you, Mr Rogers." Her tone was cold and professional and it made Scott ache. "Hello Scott." Her voice took on a tone that was still cold, but more personal and slightly... wistful? Scott was aware of his friends' curious eyes on him, which turned sympathetic and understanding when he replied.
"Hey, Hope." There was a moment of silence as the ex-couple took each other in, before Hope shattered the spell, her voice becoming detached once more.
"Everyone, please take a seat." Everyone obeyed without a word, sensing that they should not do anything to antagonise the woman. Smart, considering what had happened yesterday. It was only after they had sat that everyone noticed the presence of the burgundy android who was standing off to the side.
"Vis..." Wanda started in surprise. Vision spared her an indifferent glance that only a few picked up on.
"Good morning, Miss Maximoff." Wanda recoiled slightly from the impersonal dismissal. Before anyone could continue with the tense encounter, Hope spoke again.
"I think it's best if we cover the official reason for my being here today before we get into any personal talks." She looked to Vision, asking a silent question it appeared, because he gave a nod before coming to sit next to her at the table. Scott looked at his own teammates who seemed shocked by how well Hope and Vision seemed to know each other.
After a moment Sam shook off his surprise and agreed on behalf of the team that that would be for the best. Once, he would have glanced at Steve before making a decision, but since yesterday things had been awkward and tense between the two friends- were they still friends? Although, the same could be said for the rest of the team. They hadn't heard Steve's side of the story yet, though, so no one had completely written him off and he still had some amount of sway over the group.
"Good," was Hope's crisp reply before she began doling out the documents she had next to her. Scott noted that he had received an extra one and a glance showed that it was related to his suit. "These are documents detailing that any and all products from Pym Technologies being used in relation to running missions, policing, and going to battle, may only be used when the aforementioned activities are sanctioned by either myself, the United Nations or the Avengers' Council. There are clauses for extreme circumstances that allow for use without consent, such as sudden emergencies or large-scale events like the Chitauri Invasion in New York. Failure to abide by these terms, should you sign, will result in a fine at the least and jail time at the most, depending on what was used, how it was used and any extenuating circumstances. Is that quite clear?"
Scott's team sat in silence for a moment after Hope had finished speaking and he was overcome by the deep ache in his chest that had appeared when listening to his ex speak. God, he had missed her. He had missed her so much, and it was all his fault. Scott was under no delusions that his feelings for Hope were still reciprocated- especially considering what he'd done- but he really wanted to find a way to at least befriend her again. When he was in Wakanda, Scott had realised that he was in love with Hope, but he had done his best to push down his feelings, knowing that he had likely ruined whatever they could have had. He had thought that he had succeeded in the three-and-a-half years he'd been away, but he apparently hadn't, if the deep longing he could feel was anything to go by.
Trying to distract himself, Scott once again looked to the others in the room with him while he tried to think about the content of Hope's speech, rather than just how both wonderful and horrible it was to hear her voice. He noticed that Sam and Clint looked rather thoughtful, but in a way that suggested that although they were apprehensive of any legal document and the possible repercussions of signing, they believed it might actually be a good idea; Wanda looked mostly comprehending, but still unsure as to if there would be any other consequences; Bucky was already nodding, eager to do whatever it took to redeem himself in the eyes of his country; but Steve... Steve looked like he was trying very hard to find an argument just for the sake of not being legally accountable for anything else. Scott actually thought that the contract was a good idea and he knew that Pym Tech had been more than fair with what was contained. For the sake of showing his support, as well as to get the legalities over with, Scott decided to voice his response.
"Uh," he cleared his throat, "Has anyone got a pen?"
~0~0~0~0~0~
Sam looked up in slight surprise when he heard Scott ask for a pen. Of all the people he had thought would break the ice, he wasn't expecting it to be the Tic-Tac. Although, Sam knew that he didn't give him enough credit when it came to making decisions, probably because he always just seemed to follow Cap's lead. But it wasn't like Sam hadn't done the same since he met the American icon. The man just seemed to bring out the obedient puppy-side in everyone, and it was only very recently that Sam had considered that that might not be a good thing.
He had been understandably wary to have another contract placed in front of him with the expectation that he sign, but he had been hard pressed to find a valid point for not doing so. All in all, it seemed like a very reasonable request.
Hope van Dyne, the CEO of Pym Tech, was apparently a very smart, ruthless and determined woman. Her professionalism had thrown Sam for a bit, considering that he knew from Scott that the two of them had been dating, but then he thought about how Tony and Pepper managed to make their relationship work, for a time. Huh, opposites really did seem to attract.
Sam realised that he was not the only one to have been surprised by Scott's initiative, but he was the first to recover and wordlessly handed him a pen.
"Thanks." Scott nodded to him before scrawling his name at the bottom of the contract and handing it back.
"No problem," Sam stated, signing his own before he could think better of it, "Anyone else need one?"
There was silence for a beat before Barnes held out a hand, causing Steve to finally speak up.
"Buck?" He began in uncertainty, "Are you sure that's a good idea-"
"Yes R- Steve," His voice was annoyed and determined, and Sam noticed that only Clint and himself seemed to have caught onto the fact that he had to correct his address from 'Rogers' to 'Steve', "I think it's a very fair agreement."
Following the tense exchange, the others in the room all signed as well and, after a moment of consideration, Sam turned back to where van Dyne was sitting, her eyes taking in every detail about his team. She immediately noticed when their attention was back on her.
"Mr Lang," she began, "the other document is related to the use of the Ant-Man suit. I advise you to read it thoroughly before you sign, so there are no misunderstandings. Ask FRIDAY when I'm available if you have any questions or wish to sign." The two of them made eye contact and a sort of sad understanding seemed to pass between them.
"That concludes the official side of our meeting, and unless there are any questions, we can now move onto the personal side of things." Van Dyne's tone didn't give any indication as to how she felt about the upcoming conversation, but Sam knew enough to be very careful in what he said. His team all exchanged glances before Scott answered for them.
"We don't have any questions right now, so yeah... I guess we're ready."
Van Dyne nodded in acceptance and waited while the contracts they had just signed were collected and put before her. After a moment where she exchanged glances with Vision once more, she looked at them again and, Sam realised, that he was now facing Hope van Dyne, the human, not the CEO. He was understandably nervous.
~0~0~0~0~0~
After taking a moment to prepare herself for the personal 'discussion' that she was about to partake in, Hope abandoned her persona of Miss van Dyne, the professional business woman, and instead let Hope van Dyne, the strong-willed, fierce, human being, come to the forefront. She could tell that the others had noticed the shift in her bearing and saw that Scott appeared to have done the same. Before they could begin, however, Vision stood and announced that he would leave them to it, but that if Hope should need assistance, she need only alert FRIDAY and he would be there within seconds. Hope easily accepted this but she noticed the others in the room looked appalled at the knowledge that he didn't trust them not to hurt his friend.
"Scott Lang." Once she had everyone's attention with her quiet but powerful voice, she continued. "I have a lot to say to you. You left. You left me, you left Cassie, you left your responsibilities and your life behind to fight the Accords and become a fugitive. I am really pissed off about that. Talk."
"Hope... I, uh..." Scott trailed off before beginning again with purpose. "Hope. I fucked up big time, as you know, obviously. I really screwed up and I failed you, Cassie, Hank, Maggie and, well, the rest of the world too. I am so, so sorry, Hope. And I'm gonna spend the rest of my life doing whatever I can to make amends to you all, especially you and Cassie. Hope, I don't know what I can do, but whatever I can, I swear, I will."
"Yes, Scott, I know you will." Hope said in preamble. Listening to Scott had caused her to be assaulted by mixed feelings of grief for what they had had (and what it could have become if he hadn't left) as well as relief in the knowledge that the ex-con with the heart of gold she had fallen for wasn't completely lost. "You will have many opportunities to make things up to us, now that I'm an Avenger and we'll be working together even more." Hope took pleasure in the stunned surprise she could see on the Rogues' faces at that announcement. "Luckily for you, Tony was also good enough to ask for Maggie to at least talk to you first, before filing for a restraining order for her and Cassie. He seems to think that you are redeemable, in fact he appears to believe that most of you are. I don't know why exactly, considering the absolute pile of bullshit you all left on his plate, but I respect him enough to at least try and see what he does."
"Wait a minute," Scott's incredulous voice was something Hope had grown to both miss and resent over the last few years without him, "did you just say that Stark, of all people, talked to Maggie to ask if I could see my daughter again!? Also, I thought you and Hank hated him? And since when is he 'Tony'?"
"And what do you mean when you say you'll be working with us as an Avenger?" Roger's confused tone added. Hope waited a moment before calmly replying to all the queries.
"Yes, Scott, Tony was the one who pleaded your case to Maggie- in fact, he did the same with Mrs Barton on behalf of Hawkeye," she saw as Barton's jaw sagged and his face grew paler, "And yes, you know very well of my father's hatred for all things Stark, especially the person himself, but that grudge should have died with Tony's father. Tony and I bridged that gap and he has shown me who he really is, and Scott, I can honestly say that he is my best friend now. Pym Tech and SI have been working together for a while now, and even Dad is happy with how things have turned out- yes, Hank Pym is gladly working with Tony Stark. The work we've done is... It's phenomenal, and not just for us, but for all the people we've managed to help with our relief efforts. Tony also saved me, Scott, in a way that only you have done before. He gave me a new outlook and taught me how to see the value of people, even myself. He's been 'Tony' for quite a while now." Hope addressed the rest of the Rogues then.
"And when I say I'll be working with you as an Avenger, I mean that we'll be going on missions together in the future. I am the Wasp. Basically, I can do what Scott can, but I also fly and have more experience. I'd say it's an honour to work with you, but I'd be lying. We're going to have to have a lot of training together until I can stomach working with you, especially you, Rogers. I don't know exactly what you did to Tony, but I know it was bad, and for you to hurt him that much... Well, you'd better watch your back around his friends, because we are not happy."
"Miss van Dyne, I don't like what you seem to be implying here," Rogers spoke in a sternly disapproving voice and missing Scott's frantic signals for him to stop speaking, "We've let you say your piece, especially since you were Scott's girl, but now I want reassurance that my team will be safe."
Hope's face grew eerily calm and blank, while the Rogue's all stared at Rogers incredulously, even Maximoff and Barnes. Rogers looked as though he didn't see a problem with anything he had just said and Hope's anger burned like a star under the surface of her skin at that realisation.
"You make me sick." Her voice, laced with disgust and rage, burned the Rogues, who fearfully turned their gazes to her. "You want assurance that you'll be safe from a group of enhanced beings? You? Rogers, you have the audacity to ask for that when you refused to give the same to 117 countries who collectively asked that from you- and when 117 countries can agree on something, you should bloody well discuss it with them at the very least. Tony said that you told him that the safest hands are your own, but I'll tell you now that anarchy doesn't work, and oligarchy is not a feasible solution. I honestly can't believe that you were allowed to lead the Avengers when you consistently act like nothing more than a whining child. I can't believe that two of you left your homes and families based on Captain America's word without listening to what your other friends had to say or thoroughly discussing it with your partners. I can't believe one of you just followed Rogers like an overeager puppy begging for scraps of attention and just stood by as he broke the law and the people in his way. I can't believe another one of you left the compound after being part of a major international incident involving lost lives, on top of not even having a visa, and sent Vision 50 feet underground for trying to non-violently stop you. I can't believe you all told the world's people to go fuck themselves and then left Tony to deal with the whole mess. I can't believe Tony had the fix what you all broke, alone, and then decided to bring you back. I cannot believe the hypocritical bullshit that you insist on spewing out your mouth. You revolt me, and I am horrified that you are allowed to continue inflicting yourself upon the world."
Hope took in the pale faces of Barton and Wilson, the open-mouthed blank stare of Barnes', Maximoff's horrified features and shimmering tears, and Roger's frozen, flinching state. Scott was leaning on the table so he was supported by his elbows and had his eyes covered by his hands. He, at least, seemed more resigned than surprised at Hope's display of devastatingly honest, verbal warfare. Well, he had always known what she was capable of. All the same, Hope couldn't wait for them to face Pepper and Natasha if this was their reaction to her.
"I think we're done here." After a few moments where she savoured the devastation her wrath had wrought, Hope concluded their meeting. "Scott, we'll meet in a fortnight to get you and the suit sorted and after that we'll all begin training together." Scott nodded mutely, his eyes still covered. "The rest of you... Well, my money's literally on Natasha taking you apart, but you won't be having an easy time of it with whoever you face in the next few days. Good day."
No one moved as Hope left the room and when she made it outside she found a small smile on Vision's face which told her he'd been listening in. She returned it when he spoke.
"That went well." he remarked with clear amusement.
"Yes, it did." Hope replied in a bright tone as if discussing the weather.
"It'll certainly give them a lot to think about."
"Hm. You know, I rather think it will."
~0~0~0~0~0~
"Damn. FRIDAY, make a note to never get on Hope's bad side. Oh, and send a copy of the security footage to Hank- he'll feel so proud."
"On it, Boss."