Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers! Rights belong solely to Marvel. I do however own my OC.
At least two years after the Sokovia Accords, the Avengers had moved back into Stark Tower. Despite the changes made to the Accords more than a few were unhappy about having to sign on, but it meant they would no longer be criminals in, and their citizenship would be valid once more. Conflict, however rose amongst them as they were now in close proximity to each other. Most of the conflict was limited to Rogers and Stark, but also cropped up among others. Vision found that his friendship with Wanda was under strain, Natasha felt betrayed by Bruce, and even Clint found it hard to remain on friendly terms with Nat. They both knew that they'd never regret their choices, but the decisions regarding the people they'd supported had put a strain on their relationship that nothing else could have matched. They were not uncivil towards each other, but they could only compromise so much of their beliefs in order to maintain a civil friendship. Having taboo subjects made it much harder for them to keep up a conversation, especially when they knew that the subject should be hashed out, but they knew there were only so many places where they could find common ground.
Matters weren't the same way with Steve and Tony. They had never been close in the sense of friends, but there had been a sense of camaraderie which was utterly lost. The two teammates had now become bitter rivals. Tony made a point of avoiding Steve as much as he could before inevitably they'd run into each other. Thor, who knew very little about the fight was the only Avenger who could step between the two of them without being in danger of getting hurt or Hulking-out. It didn't really make much of a difference. Physical fights weren't really allowed and so much of the fighting was verbal. But it made the Tower a poisonous place to be. Pepper had tried to calm them both down and they had responded out of respect for her, but she too was biased towards Tony and pissed off at Steve for abandoning him in Siberia. And since getting pissed off involved her getting quite fiery in the most literal sense, Pepper decided to call it quits with Tony. They parted friends, mutually understanding they'd been heading there anyway, and besides they'd managed to stay friends for over twenty years, a breakup was nothing. It gave Steve an excuse to be horrible to Tony about it, and the venomous air between them grew even more potent.
Somehow Bruce managed to avoid the two enemies completely except for Tony when he went in the lab, but after the first time Tony had ranted Bruce had put his foot down and asked that the lab be kept a bitterness-free zone. Tony had complied easily, and it had been fairly peaceful bar the few times Tony had stormed in like a tornado and worked himself in a frenzy. He'd emerge after 98 hours or so to grab coffee and donuts and then go to bed leaving Bruce to sigh in relief and clean up his mess. Around Natasha however, he was a different story. He'd tiptoe around her and never made eye-contact which was frustrating, but since there was already so much conflict around the tower she never pushed and he never apologised. Clint would often look between the two of them with a worried air, but he never interfered understanding the importance of peace.
It wasn't the same story with Wanda and Vision. Vision had asked for her side of the story to try and understand her reasons, and she'd complied but not without a touch of bitterness. She'd hated being restrained and Clint brought out the best in her, encouraging her and understanding her. He'd given her appropriate space, but he'd never let her mope and she'd appreciated it. They understood each other's views but simply couldn't reconcile. In addition, Wanda was still mourning Pietro's death, and found after all the stress she needed time to cope. So Vision let her be, and although they argued, it was always moderated by Clint and was never let out of hand. It was simply strained, but not marred by close friendships with the other team members, who'd known each other far longer than they had.
Natasha found herself on not so great terms with Tony. He'd been hurt by her changing sides, but he also knew she'd been trying to even the playing field for herself and still have options. He could respect that in her, but he couldn't look at her the same way. To him she'd aided and abetted Steve and Bucky. It hurt both of them, but they held a weird sort of mutual respect for each other that ran too deep for her to properly be hurt by his accusations, and he couldn't cast her off simply because she'd played all the fields. If he'd been in her position he would have done the same thing. Her actions kept her in neutrality with King T'Challa, Steve and himself and he respected her for that, just as she respected him for standing his ground.
Clint had gone to Tony and told him that his reasons, and for some reason Tony understood. They'd both wanted the best for Wanda, but Tony had gone about it the wrong way. Clint hadn't wanted to hurt him he'd simply gone with the person who'd called him first. He'd taken one look in Tony's sad, brown eyes and apologised profusely. Tony let him back in and asked after his "agents" as he jokingly referred to Clint's family. They'd drunk cheap beer on the balcony and planned a few pranks on Wanda that would be funny.
Sam had no clue where to fit in. His friendship with Steve had placed him firmly on Steve's side, but he tried to maintain as neutral a status as possible. Natasha creeped him out, Clint was cool, he was fond of Wanda, but Thor was a freaking God, Bruce was the Hulk, Vision was a bit deep to have a normal conversation with and Tony, well. He couldn't look at Tony without being reminded of the heartbroken look on the man's face when Rhodey had dropped from the sky. He'd bow his head every time he passed the man and a sickening sensation would enter his stomach. He couldn't physically stand being in the same room as Rhodey himself and guilt swamped him nightly like darkness.
Rhodey would stick to Tony like glue, and for all Tony's many faults according to Steve, no comment was ever made on how Tony would fuss over his friend. Natasha would ask him if he needed help and he struck up a budding friendship with her. As a man who'd had a lot to do with diplomats and politicians, he appreciated a woman who was a master of both without being boring. He like Tony admired the way she'd made a place for herself with everyone. It was a bit disconcerting, but he still admired her for it. And he enjoyed drinking cheap beer with Clint, and playing card games. With everyone else bar Wanda, he pulled the neutrality card. Wanda was young, only a teenager and so he made a point to stick around her knowing the teenage years were often the hardest, and that she'd lost her twin.
Scott had begged off the Avengers and Ross hadn't particularly cared about him so he was dropped. He'd still visit, but they were infrequent and he was enjoying a peaceful life for a change. As for Peter Parker, he was a minor and Tony had revealed this to Ross without letting his name slip. So Spider-Man was a non-Avenger, but he still sent emails to Tony and chatted to Bruce about science. T'Challa was a King and so he remained in Wakanda, and sent regular updates to Steve about Bucky.
However, the fights still continued and Pepper needed Tony to sign paperwork and things like that. So she decided to find a personal assistant, who could easily work among the Avengers. She posted an ad detailing a job working for herself and immediately received a flood of applications.
Pepper sighed as she sifted through the job applications that had been delivered by post or dropped off. Chelsea from Public Relations had sifted through the files and marked the ones that wouldn't be good and the ones that would be. Pepper made a mental note to thank her as she reached for the stack of bad ones. The first résumé looked fairly good, until she reached previous jobs. The kid had worked in retail, and hairdressing. Pepper winced and set the résumé aside, reaching for another one. There were hairdressers galore, baristas, pool attendants, retail workers, there was even a surveyor putting in a CV. The bad stack was depleted, and Pepper reached for the good stack. It was full of interns, secretaries, and real estate agents. Granted most of them had the qualificationsnecessary, but she still felt unhappy with the majority. By the twentieth good CV Pepper had taken to skimming through them and so reached the bottom of the stack faster.
At the bottom lay one marked both good and bad, and she hesitated before picking it up. The kid called Kaitlyn Donaheilly had graduated school at seventeen, and had jumped straight into the army. She'd stayed there for nine and a half years, leaving with the rank of sergeant major, and then went through college with a part time job. She'd graduated with two degrees, one in political science, and one in public relations and started work at Stark Industries as a junior intern for the IT department. Pepper read it twice over, and set it aside.
A few quick searches dug up plenty of information. She'd buried her grandparents at twelve and fourteen, her parents at fifteen, and then she'd graduated top of her class. Her three brothers were already in the army and she joined them, rising to the rank of sergeant major after six years of service, and had been assigned with them to Afghanistan, where two of her brothers had died. The third was paralysed, crippled for life, and the girl dissolved into an alcoholic. She went to rehab and her brother died in her second month there. In her third month she left after going cold turkey, and attended her brothers funeral. A former colleague had recommended her to a job, and she'd gone to Uni to get her degrees while paying off her bills with money from her army pay and the job she'd taken in retail. After she'd graduated she'd taken the job here, and had been working steadily for four years. She was currently thirty-three, and working towards a degree in computer coding online. There were many letters of reference from former colleagues and teachers which painted her in a good light. Pepper skimmed through the file once more, tapped her teeth, and then reached for the phone.