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Wednesday marked the last day of summer vacation for Cooper and Lila. As it happened, that was also the day the new Avengers facility reached completion.

Of course, Steve invited the entire family to come and see the new place. And Clint agreed.

Pietro noticed how he didn't even have to tell Cooper and Lila not to tell. The kids had been raised on vows of secrecy for their entire life; they knew not to bring their fantastic tales to school. In fact, they technically weren't allowed to say they'd had two Avengers staying at their house for the entire summer. Taking a quick field trip to a top secret government intelligence base was just routine stuff.

"I hear Pepper decorated your rooms based on your personal preferences. You'll have to see how you like them." Laura said as everyone piled into the car for the two hour drive to the facility.

The twins exchanged a glance. Pietro was very sure he'd never talked to Pepper Potts about his 'personal preferences'-considering he'd never talked to her at all. "Did she send you blueprints?"

"They're not of very good quality and there's no location for obvious reasons…but you're welcome to take a look." Clint handed him his very secure SHIELD smartphone-which was only to be used for very important SHIELD reasons. The blueprints were large and sprawling; the rooms took up a very small percentage of the base's total floor space. With just a cursory glance Pietro could pick out two swimming pools, two training areas, four dining rooms, two kitchens, eight separate dens, over fifteen different conference areas, and more bedrooms than he could count. "What are all the spare rooms for?"

"New members." Clint replied. "Steve's hoping to make the initiative bigger-to have a whole range of superheroes he can call upon if times get bad. You two might not be the only Enhanced out there-we have to be ready for anything."

"Doesn't that increase the risk of betrayal?" Wanda asked.

"Yes-but think about the Battle of Sokovia. What if we'd had more people on our side? The battle could have been over more quickly-and things could have gone a lot more smoothly."

Pietro could guess his meaning. I wouldn't have died. He glanced over toward Cooper and Lila to see how much they were paying attention; to put it simply, they weren't. Clint had broken out the portable DVD player the first time Lila had asked "Are we there yet?" Now the kids were happily watching a movie, seemingly oblivious to the entire conversation. "Do you believe there are others like us?"

"Honestly? Six months ago I wouldn't have thought it was possible for someone to run faster than the speed of sound. I thought mind control was completely imaginary. These days, though? I really do believe anything is possible. I'm not going to count out the possibility that there might be more people like you-kids who were too confused and too desperate to realize who they were really siding with. And if they're out there…we'll find them. We'll offer them sanctuary-and we'll offer them a home. Just like we did with the two of you. And if-when-that happens, we can only hope they'll be like you. That they'll be willing to join the Avengers and fight the good fight."

He shivered. What if there were others like him-twisted and corrupted by HYDRA?

What if they wouldn't change sides?

He looked over the blueprints for the rest of the journey to the new base. He should have been prepared-in fact, he thought he was. Since coming to the US he'd seen some pretty amazing things-he shouldn't have expected anything would surprise him at this point. But he was wrong. Nothing could prepare him for the sight of the new base-long and sprawling across the empty countryside. It was filled with people, moving here and there across the ground like insects. A large A was emblazoned across the top of the roof.

Clint pulled into a small parking lot, flashing his ID card as he did so. "Don't suppose you two have yours yet." he said as he parked the car. "Stark will have to get on that. Being an Avenger comes with its own benefits, you know."

"What sort of benefits?" Wanda asked.

"Free Starbucks."

That was good enough for Pietro.

Cooper and Lila were looking out the window in awe. "Wow." Cooper whispered, his mouth practically hanging open.

"It's really something, isn't it?" Clint asked, helping them put away the DVD player.

"Pietro and Wanda are going to get to live here? All the time?"

"Yes-for as long as they want to."

"You should see the inside. It's even more impressive." Tony said, striding across the tarmac towards them. He looked put together: hair gelled, suit pressed, and trademark smile turned to full wattage. "Good to see you again." he said, shaking hands with Clint. "Lovely of you to make the trip, Laura."

She laughed. "Like I'd refuse."

Tony gave the kids high fives before turning to face the last two members of the party. "Hello Pietro, Wanda. I'm glad you could make it."

"If this is going to be our home for the foreseeable future, I suppose we should make sure we approve of it." Pietro replied. He could still see it, even after all these years; the one shell that refused to go off, lying in the smoking rubble of his apartment building, with the words Stark Industries emblazoned on its side. He was glad that Tony was retiring from the team for the time being. He didn't know how he could handle having to see him every single day, at least at first, knowing that because of this man his parents were dead and the only home he'd ever known had been destroyed.

"Don't worry. You'll like it." Tony led them inside, through two separate metal detectors. "Sorry about all the security. With this place so new and all…"

"It's fine." Clint said. "Looks like this would be a pretty expensive place to rebuild. I'm guessing this isn't paid for by taxpayer dollars?"

"God no. The government would kill us. SHIELD takes care of it-and Stark Industries pays for the difference. It's really quite something, if I do say so myself. Romanoff and Capsicle really put a lot into it." They went through stainless steel front doors that opened and closed seamlessly.

The inside of the base was even more amazing. Framed pictures of top level Avengers hung on the front wall. There was one for every member of the team, both new and old. Pietro raised an eyebrow when he realized that someone had taken the time to add pictures of both himself and his sister. The rest of the Avengers were waiting inside: Rhodey, Sam, Vision, Steve, and Natasha.

"Finally." Nat said, shaking Clint's hand. "You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago."

"Traffic going to the city. Nothing we could help." Clint replied. "How're you doing, Natasha?"

"Same as always." she replied. "Just a little more responsibilities and a few less margaritas."

He sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to make drug references around the kids?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's a margarita. Honestly."

"Let me show you around." Steve replied, leading them into a small sitting area. "What do you think of the place?"

"It's amazing." Clint said appreciatively. "You've really outdone yourself this time."

"It's a base, to be sure-but I also want it to feel like a home away from home. As much as something like this can." He turned to the twins and smiled. "What do you think?"

"It's amazing." Pietro said honestly. He glanced at Wanda to see if she had anything to add but she had already retreated to the back of the group to talk with Vision.

"Do you have a laser tag arena here?" Cooper asked.

Steve laughed. "I think we forgot to add one of those."

"We have just about everything else." Sam added. "You ever played laser tag, Cap?"

"I'll have to add it to the list." He glanced at the clock; it was just after noon. "Anyone else hungry?"

They trooped up to the dining room, talking about a lot of people Pietro didn't know and places he'd never been to. "You're so lucky." Cooper muttered, falling in step beside him. "This place is super cool. I wish we could live here."

"Yes." Pietro muttered. "Me too." He felt like he'd just gotten used to his new life-and now things were going to change yet again.

Steve made chicken sandwiches for lunch-and grilled cheese for Cooper and Lila. "So, how have things been around the farm?"

"Not bad." Clint replied. "We're planning on starting the harvest in a few days-and Lila and Cooper start school tomorrow."

"You two excited?" Rhodey asked, glancing at the kids. They both shook their heads vehemently.

"Did you have enough time?" Steve asked, glancing at the archer almost as if they were in on a secret none of the other Avengers were privy to.

Clint glanced down at the table for a minute as if trying to think. "I would say so. They're all yours. But be sure you look after them. They're a part of the family now."

Pietro felt a prickling on the back of his skull, like he was hearing something he should remember but couldn't.

"Don't worry. They'll be in good hands."

Wanda was sitting next to him, though he might have been invisible for all the attention she paid him. She was still talking to Vision; Pietro didn't understand how they never ran out of things to talk about. He was a robot; how much did he actually know about the world?

"It's hard to believe you two are related." Rhodey said, grabbing another handful of potato chips. "I mean, you don't really look like siblings."

They exchanged a look. "It was more apparent before the experiments." Pietro replied. "The scepter kind of bleached my hair when it gave me my powers." He still shivered involuntarily whenever he remembered the experiments. Had it been worth it to volunteer? Sure, they'd done what they'd promised to do-he was stronger, faster, and had even been able to defend his homeland. But now he could never lead a normal life. Essentially, he could never be normal ever again.

It was just a small part of the price there was to pay for greatness.

"There's talk in San Francisco about a new superhero." Steve said, steering the conversation back into familiar waters. "Name's Scott Lang."

"What are his powers?" Clint asked.

"He doesn't have any-but his suit has the ability to shrink down to the size of an insect. Know what he's calling himself?"

Nat rolled her eyes. "Just tell them."

"Ant Man."

Rhodey looked like he had to fight not to snort lemonade out of his nose. "Seriously?"

"I know how it sounds-but apparently he defeated a new generation of super soldiers-suits that can also shrink. Hydra was trying to buy them."

"So what are we planning to do about him?"

"I don't necessarily feel the need to do anything-at least at the moment. It seems like Scott's a good guy and it's not like he's doing anything extremely reckless or anything like that. But maybe in a few months, if he's interested…"

Sam seemed to realize where this sentence was going. "Oh no. Not another one. There are seven of us. Seven is just fine."

"You're just jealous." Rhodey replied. "Considering he threw you around and all that."

Steve decided to ignore them both. "I mean, it's not like we don't have the room."

"We have plenty of those." Natasha replied. "Any outward doubts-aside from the obvious?"

Pietro didn't say anything. If Steve was even considering this 'Ant Man' for a member of the team, he must have at least a few redeeming qualities. Cap had a special talent for seeing the best in everyone-he was able to look past any flaws or mistakes in favor of finding the potential hidden deep inside.

After lunch, they continued the rest of the tour. For once Cooper and Lila were shocked into silence with every room they passed, each more impressive than the next. Some had tables paneled in heavy oak wood while others were framed in gold leaf. The rooms were practical and efficient yet unusually decorative. "Aren't you afraid this place will get blown up and you'll have to replace all of this?" Pietro asked.

"I would hope that wouldn't happen-this place is fireproof, bulletproof, and bomb proof. You're probably standing in one of the most secure facilities in the country-besides the US Capitol, of course." Tony replied proudly.

"And this is the main training area." Nat said as she pulled open a door to a long, high ceilinged room with floor to ceiling glass windows that looked out on the surrounding forest. A set of adjoining rooms contained all sorts of weapons-knives, guns, and even a couple quivers of arrows. "Get used to it-we train a lot."

Lila reached to grab the blunt practice knife nearest the ground but Natasha took it before she could. "Can I keep it?" she asked, using the full power of her puppy eyes on the Russian assassin.

"Nice try. You don't need to know how knives work."

"Please?"

"Nope." Natasha could handle a lot of situations-she knew exactly how puppy eyes worked. "Besides, I don't think your mother would want you to have a knife."

Laura nodded in agreement. "Next thing you know you'll accidentally stab your brother when you get into an argument."

"Would that really be such a bad thing?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "The amount of sibling rivalry they have is amazing."

Even so, they moved out the training room and into the wing of the base specifically for the private quarters of the Avengers. They passed all sorts of empty rooms that Pietro doubted would ever get filled.

"What do you think ours will look like?" Wanda asked, falling in step beside him again. She seemed to alternate between him and Vision as it suited her.

"I don't know." He personally hoped they wouldn't overdo it. He didn't want a lot, honestly. "So, what has the android been doing for the past three days?"

"His name is Vision. And he's been helping to get the base ready. Moving furniture and things like that."

"So I'm guessing he isn't trying to destroy the human race?"

She rolled her eyes. "What kind of problem do you have with him? Honestly, Pietro."

"I just don't trust him. That's all."

"That's ridiculous. You're just jealous that he can fly."

"Not really. Flying is overrated."

It was obvious she didn't believe him. "He believes my powers could allow me to levitate by manipulating air currents. I'm thinking about trying it."

"Sounds dangerous."

"It's a good thing no one asked your opinion."

He laughed as he messed up her hair just to annoy her.

Just then they started seeing names on the closed bedroom doors. They passed Steve's, Sam's, Rhodey's, Vision's, and Nat's until they came to two adjacent doors at the very end of a long hallway. Pietro opened the door labelled with his name, bracing himself for the worst.

His room actually looked how he'd imagined he would furnish it; the walls were painted a soft blue and it was furnished sparingly with a desk, chest of drawers, and white bed. Two windows afforded him a view of the countryside. He could still see all the workers moving to and fro, comparing schematics and moving things around.

Someone had thought to include a door between the rooms so he went to see what Wanda thought of her rooms. It looked much like his-except her walls were painted a deep red. "What do you think?" he asked, taking a seat in her desk chair. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"It's nice." she replied. "It's not overwhelming."

"Do you like it?"

"Yes. What about you? How's yours?"

"Same. Should be interesting."
"Can you believe we'll actually be living here in a couple of weeks?" It didn't seem real-most of the time he couldn't even remember that he was really an Avenger. The Avengers team was the face of safety and security worldwide; they were all household names. And yet they were willing to accept two Sokovian survivors with absolutely nothing to their name and nothing special about them except for some freakish abilities. It put a lot of pressure on both him and Wanda, trying to live up to everyone's expectations.

"I know. It's amazing-but we'll be very behind."

"We'll learn and adjust. We always have."

~IT~

The final stop on the tour was an outdoor courtyard filled with shade trees and stone benches. It was quiet and tranquil; Pietro already knew he'd be coming there a lot. However, the main focal point of the yard was a long wall made of black granite, stretching across the border of the property. The words Wall of Valor had been painstakingly etched at its top. "What's this?" he asked, going to investigate. The entire wall was blank.

A hush seemed to fall over the group as Steve replied "It's a wall of remembrance for everyone who's fallen in the line of duty. Luckily we haven't lost anyone yet."

Pietro ran his fingers over the cool stone. By all rights, his name should be up there. He should be dead. But somehow he'd been brought back…and the Wall of Valor remained blank.

"Who wants cookies?" Tony asked after a minute of silence. "Pepper made them so they should be delicious." That seemed like a good idea to everyone else, but Pietro opted to stay outside-just for a couple of minutes.

Usually he tried not to think about the fact that, for some amount of time, he'd been dead. Though he wasn't always able to keep the nightmares at bay-nightmares of a deep and eternal blackness while he'd hovered on the edge of life and death; neither one thing nor the other. Even Wanda didn't know about it-and he hoped she'd never have to. Of course, he was glad to be alive…but he wasn't sure that by all rights he should be.

"What's on your mind?"

He looked up as Wanda took a seat next to him. "Not much."

"You're lying. You look upset."

He sighed. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"If something's wrong, I want you to tell me."

"Nothing's wrong!" He didn't mean to snap and afterwards he felt terrible about it…but the damage was done.

"Fine. I'll be inside." She turned on her heel and left.

"Wait." Pietro said, but she didn't so much as look back.

~IT~

They didn't head back to the farm until much later, when Laura finally had to break up the gathering because Cooper and Lila had school the next day and needed to get a sufficient amount of sleep.

Of course, the kids were practically climbing up the walls when it came time to go to bed.

"I'm not tired." Lila replied. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow."

"Why not?" Laura asked. "It'll be fun."

"No it won't."

Clint sighed. "The sooner the year starts the sooner summer will come again."

"It's nine months of our lives we're never going to get back." Cooper replied.

"How about the twins walk you to the bus stop tomorrow morning? How does that sound?"

Of course, they both liked that idea.

"Remember, you have to tell your friends that they're your cousins from out of town." Laura replied.

"We know, Mom!" Cooper said. "You've only told us like a thousand times!"

"Just making sure you still remember. Now, I'd say it's time for you to get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."

Finally, Lila and Cooper were in bed and asleep. Clint invited the twins to watch football with him, but Wanda declined and went to her room to read. She didn't so much as look at Pietro as she left.

He sighed and tried to focus on the television.

"Something wrong?" Clint asked, sensing the invisible tension.
"No." He didn't want to talk about it-when he wasn't even sure what was going on himself. Hopefully things would be better in the morning. After all, it had been a long and busy day and they were both tired. They probably weren't using the best judgment.

Besides, he didn't want the incident to ruin his last few days of 'summer vacation'. He only had a few days left at the farm-and he was determined to make them count.

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