They were in the meadow again; she was in the blue dress, surrounded by the white flowers.
She didn't acknowledge her at first; opting to play with the flowers she was sitting in.
After a moment, she gestured for her to sit down next to her, before laying back in the flowers and smiling up at her.
The recipient bit her lip as she wondered if it was going to be one of the good ones or bad ones.
"Why haven't you come for me?"
Bad one.
"I-We will soon. I promise." She lay down beside her, both of them turning to face each other.
"I'm lonely."
She felt her heart ache at her words.
"Only a little bit longer, My Love. Soon, we'll be together." She promised, pushing strands of hair out of her face and cupping her cheek.
Before she began to lean into kiss her and…
.
Pietro smiled slightly as his sister jerked awake, breathing heavily.
"They're happening more." It wasn't a question.
Wanda nodded, pushing her hair out of her face and swinging her legs over the side of her cot, facing away from Pietro.
"That's good, right?"
Wanda shrugged as she moved to grab the water that the HYDRA agents had delivered for her.
"Was it the meadow or the work site?"
"Meadow."
Pietro smiled; Wanda preferred the meadow. The dreams remained unchanged except for the location; sometimes a beautiful meadow, sometimes a dirty, dark, metal work site.
"What's she like?"
"I told you; I can't remember what she looks like," Wanda said, sounding sad. It was like it was on the tip of her tongue, but it was slowly slipping away the longer she was awake.
"I know, but what is she like." Pietro asked.
"… She's… perfection," Wanda said as Pietro's eyes fluttered shut in a desperate attempt to see her like Wanda got to.
"Always asking why we haven't retrieved her yet?"
"Yes," Wanda lied.
She already knew that her brother was jealous of the fact that she got to see her in her dreams, it wouldn't do much good to tell him that occasionally, she wouldn't ask why they hadn't come for her, but instead would curl up in Wanda's lap, allowing Wanda to put flowers in her hair.
But the moment Wanda tried to kiss her, the dream would fade away and Wanda would awaken, feeling all the happiness start to drain out of her.
"We'll find her soon," Wanda said, not reassuringly, but simply knowing.
"And she'll be ours," Pietro agreed.
.
"Good morning," Steve said, smiling at Maria as he made coffee, the girl just giving him a bleary look before going to the whiteboard hanging on the fridge and replacing the fifteen with a zero on the 'days since Maria pulled a door off its hinges.'
"Trouble sleeping?" Natasha asked, looking immaculate already.
"I fell into the YouTube wormhole," Maria muttered, plopping down onto a chair and giving a tired smile as Clint passed her a cup of coffee "My dad's not up yet?"
"He and Dr. Banner were up late last night in the lab," JARVIS said, Maria smiling.
"Thanks, Jarv."
"Of course, Miss Maria."
"So, am I allowed out today or am I still under house arrest?" Maria asked, the others exchanging looks.
"Listen, Maria-." Steve started.
"Oh come on!" Maria complained "It's been over a month; I've got a handle on it."
Steve sent a pointed look over at the whiteboard, making Maria sigh.
"I would pay attention if I went out. I'm going insane cooped up in here," Maria whined.
"… I'll talk to Tony," Steve said, Maria beaming at him before giving him a hug that knocked the wind out of him.
.
Most everyone in the world believed that Maria Stark had gotten some illness while abroad and was recuperating in the Tower.
That's just what they'd told one magazine, and the rest caught on.
US Weekly announced that she was dying of some mysterious disease, which Maria learned of while bench-pressing six hundred pounds.
With one hand.
Interestingly enough, the Onion got it the closest, saying that she was actually granted powers from the Asgardians as repayment for Loki stabbing her.
During the time she'd been locked up in the Tower, Maria had been learning to control her powers, which was a bit difficult at times, hence the whiteboard.
She had also been training.
Primarily with Steve, although Thor would spar with her so she could have someone closer to her level of strength.
Natasha also teaching her a few tricks that made Maria practically collapse at the end of the day.
Training was tiring, but remarkably, Maria's body didn't alter in the slightest from the physical activity; she still was soft and curvy with undefined arms.
But, now her weak looking arms could lift a car.
.
"What's going on?" Maria asked as the Avengers bustled around.
"Hill has a lead on Loki's staff," Natasha said "We're heading out now."
"Where are you going?" Maria asked.
"Sokovia," Clint said, putting on his quiver.
"Well, don't die," Maria said, the others smiling "That'd really suck if one of you did."
"Can do, Munchkin," Tony said as he suited up.
.
Maria paced the length of the room, sighing unhappily.
"Are you alright, Miss Maria?" JARVIS asked.
"No."
Here's a little secret about Maria; she tended not to mention when she was scared or worried or anything negative, not feeling comfortable enough around most people to do it.
And, sure, she was comfortable around Pepper and Tony, but…
She'd trusted people like she trusted them before, and it'd damn near broken her.
As a result, she rarely shared her feelings with anyone human.
JARVIS, on the other hand…
JARVIS was a third parent; he raised her just as much as Tony and Pepper did.
And he wouldn't let her down like people would.
"What's wrong?"
"… I can help," Maria said "I know I can. But, they won't give me a chance."
"You're a bit young to be putting yourself in life threatening situations, Maria."
Maria smiled slightly, whenever it was just her and JARVIS, he dropped the Miss.
"I know, but… Isn't it my responsibility to help? To protect those who need it?" Maria sighed, and rubbed her eyes "All I know is that I was protected by the others… And that maybe I was given these abilities for a reason."
"To do what?" JARVIS asked.
"I don't know," Maria admitted "Something good, I hope."
.
"Hey, Maria!"
Maria looked up as Tony jogged up to her.
"What's up?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah… I'm fine," Maria said slowly "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine," Tony said distractedly, walking away as Steve walked up.
"How'd it go?" Maria asked.
"Alright. Got the staff, but we ran into some enhanced and Clint got injured."
"Is he alright?" Maria asked worriedly
"He'll be fine," Steve confirmed, Maria sighing in relief.
"Who were the enhanced; what could they do?"
"They were twins; Pietro and Wanda Maximoff," Steve said, pulling up the security footage that Hill had shown him "The way Hill put it 'He's fast and she's weird.'"
Maria looked at the footage of them for a moment.
"Why are all the gorgeous ones homicidal maniacs?" She asked, Steve making a disgusted noise "Oh, does my sexuality make you uncomfortable, Captain Wholesomeness?"
"No. Your usage of Batman and Robin quotes does."
"Ten points to Gryffindor."
"Much better."
.
"Aren't you a little young for a place like this?" Natasha asked as she mixed a drink, making Maria laugh.
"Don't tell anyone, but I got a fake ID."
"Want a drink? Promise not to tell your parents," Natasha offered.
"Nah, alcohol doesn't affect me anymore," Maria admitted, Natasha raising an eyebrow.
"And you know this how?"
Oh, you know, tried to get drunk after learning my mother was evil.
"Take a wild guess," Maria said aloud.
"That brings the amount of people that can't get drunk on this team up to three," Natasha said, but before Maria could comment on the usage of the word team, Bruce came over, so Maria opted to slip away.
"Romanov wouldn't give you a drink?" Rhodey asked as she wandered over to him.
"She offered. But I can't be around the sexual tension without wanting to stab myself in the eye."
"Tell me about it," Tony said rolling his eyes.
"Aw, is someone jealous of Natasha?" Maria teased, Tony cuffing the back of her head.
Maria heard the beginning notes of Uma Thurman and reached for her phone.
"Who is it?" Tony asked.
"Jade," Maria said, walking away from the group and into the hallway to answer.
"Hello?"
"Heeey!"
Maria had to suppress a smile.
"Are you at a party right now?"
"Yeah! College is awesome," Jade slurred
"I bet it is."
"How's-How're you feeling?" Jade asked.
"Better, thank you for asking," Maria said "How many drinks have you had?"
"Only, like, two."
"Mhm," Maria said disbelievingly "Listen, do you need a ride? 'Cause I can send a driver to wherever you are."
"Nahhh."
"You sure?" Maria asked.
"When're you gonna come here?"
"The party?" Maria asked, frowning.
"Nooo; college."
"Sometime, I don't know," Maria said, starting to feel sad.
"Too busy smooching Captain America?" Jade asked, hiccupping slightly at the end.
"Exactly," Maria said "Listen, I'm gonna go."
"Mkay. I love you!"
"Don't go home with anybody. And don't drive," Maria said sternly.
"Don't you love meee?"
Maria smiled slightly at her friend's antics before replying far too sincerely for the current conversation.
"Yeah, I love you. Bye, Jade."
"Buh-Bye!"
Maria hung and smiled slightly at her phone, feeling wistfulness for a life she knew she could never have.
"Girlfriend?" Clint asked, coming up behind her.
"Drunken best friend," Maria said before nodding at Clint's phone "Girlfriend?"
"Yeah."
.
Once everyone cleared out, the Avengers, Maria, and Dr. Cho sat together, Thor placing Mjolnir down the table.
""Whosoever, be he worthy, shall have the power", whatever man! It's a trick!" Clint announced from his spot on the floor.
"Please, be my guest," Thor offered, chuckling as he gestured at Mjolnir. It went quiet for a moment as everyone gave Clint a look.
"Really?" He asked before standing up to walk over to it.
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony said, everyone chuckling softly.
"You know I've seen this before," Clint said to Thor before reaching down to try to lift it. After a moment of struggling he laughed "How do you do it?"
"Silent judgment," Tony said.
"Please," Clint said "Stark, by all means."
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. Its physics," He said, putting his hand through the loop on Mjolnir "So, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"
"Yes of course,' Thor replied.
"I will be reinstituting Prima Noctis," Tony informed them.
"Well, I'll just go vomit in a garbage can," Maria said from her spot beside Steve.
Tony sent her a look before he attempted to lift Mjolnir; nothing.
"Be right back."
He returned with an Iron Man arm and attempted to lift it.
Nada.
Tony and Rhodey with Iron Man arms.
Nope.
"Are you even pulling?"
"Are you on my team?"
"Just represent; pull!"
Bruce attempted to make a lame joke, which was met by awkward silence.
"C'mon, Cap," Tony called.
Maria caught sight of some slight wiggling; not surprising in the least.
Steve gestured to Maria, who laughed.
"I have better things to do then be humiliated."
"Like what?" Steve asked.
"Like challenge Thor to an arm wrestling match."
Maria and Thor had been a bit uncertain with each other; her only having met one Asgardian, who killed her, and him; being told his entire life that she was diseased. But, since she'd gained her powers, they'd found some middle ground, and were now getting along just fine.
"This won't end in your humiliation?" Thor asked sarcastically, everyone making a noise at that.
"Bring it on, old man."
Maria set her arm on the coffee table, Thor going across from her and grabbing her hand.
"Ready," Steve started "Set. Go."
For the first time in a while, Maria let herself use all of her strength.
And after a few minutes,
Thor's hand hit the table.
"You were saying?" Maria asked.
"Your all still not worthy," Thor informed her, making her laugh before a high pitched sound started.
"... Worthy... No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers."
Maria's eyes widened as one of her dad's robots stumbled in.
"Stark," Steve said.
"JARVIS," Tony said.
"Sorry I was asleep... Or... I was a dream..."
Thor pushed Maria behind him slowly.
"Reboot, we got a buggy suit," Tony said, tapping on his phone.
"...There was a terrible noise... And I was tangled in... in... strings... I had to kill the other guy... He was a good guy."
"You killed someone?" Steve asked.
"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."
"Who made you?" Maria asked, the robot tilting his head at her before a recording began to play.
"I see a suit of armor around the world."
It was Tony's voice.
"Ultron!" Bruce said, exchanging a look with Tony.
"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis... But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."
"What mission?" Natasha asked.
"Peace in our time."
Then the other suits burst through the wall.
.
Natasha was trained to notice things.
Like how Maria had quite a strong protective streak.
Before, she'd been unable to really act on those instincts.
But, now…
Natasha had started to drop subtle hints to Stark and Rogers about instating her on the team, or at least training her to one day be a part of it.
Neither of them picked up on what Natasha was trying to tell them.
But, as Maria tore off one of the robots heads with her bare hands, Natasha had to think they were noticing now.
.
"… He killed Jarvis," Maria said quietly, Tony giving her a sympathetic look.
"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," Thor said as Maria bit her lip.
"I'm sorry, I think it's funny. I think it's a hoot that you don't get why we need this!" Tony said.
"Tony, maybe this might not be the time..." Bruce warned.
"Really? That's it? You just roll over and show your belly, every time somebody snarls?"
"Only when I've created a murder-bot."
"We didn't, we weren't even close! Were we close to an interface?"
"Well, you did something right, and you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different from SHIELD," Steve pointed out.
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole."
"No, it's never come up," Rhodey said, deadpanned.
"Recall that?!" Tony yelled.
"A hostile army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealer all the live long day. But, that up there, that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating them?"
"Together," Steve said.
"We'll lose," Tony said.
"We do that together too," Steve stated, his eyes locking with Maria's.
.
As the Avengers prepared to leave for Wakanda, Maria jogged up.
"I'm coming too."
"That's an awful idea," Tony said.
"Well, we know where I get that from, don't we?" Maria asked before turning back to Steve.
Steve studied her for a long moment.
"Natasha?" Steve asked.
"You have to fight to kill," Natasha warned Maria.
"I was already planning on it."
Natasha nodded her head at Steve.
"Clint?" Steve asked.
"Once you're in the fight, you're in; no backing out," Clint said.
"I know."
Clint nodded.
"Bruce?"
"Are you sure you want this?" Bruce asked "You'll never be able to completely leave this life once you start it."
"Haven't I already?" Maria asked.
"Yeah…" Bruce nodded his head, Tony making an annoyed sound.
"Thor?"
"The Lady Stark has bested me in combat many a time; it would be an honor to fight beside her," Thor said, making Maria smile at him before turning back to Steve, who she knew had veto power.
"Welcome to the Avengers."