Sid was panting as she stood in the elevator, jabbing at the penthouse button and murmuring curses as it moved too slow for her liking. She was in the tower now, her chat with the professor was blunt and probably edging on bitterness on her side, but she thanked him for everything they had done for her and told him she needed to get back at once. Logan had taken it upon himself to drive Sid on his motorcycle. There weren't many options available to her at that moment and she felt a little absurd requisitioning the jet, so she climbed on the back of Logan's death bike and got her ass back to Manhattan at something close to mach five and not for lack of terrified begging to go slower.

The lights kept flickering in the elevator and the tower must have been damaged pretty badly since Jarvis was acting all sorts of off. The communications seemed to be out, because she couldn't get a verbal response from him no matter what she tried. Her heart was thrashing against her sternum during her slow ascent in harrowed silence. It had only been three hours since she saw the newsreel about the Avengers.

The last thing she'd seen before going into that fateful training session was a brief rumor about an accident at Avengers Tower that was all very hush-hush. She originally shrugged it off as some classic Tony and Bruce antics, but before she could find anything else out, she'd been stabbed, burnt, and basically quarantined for what she now knew to be bullshit reasons. She understood what Xavier was trying to do, giving her time to heal before jumping face first to a possibly catastrophic situation while severely injured and emotionally unstable, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

And of course, he was right. She didn't really spend any time thinking about getting herself back to them, she just knew she had to. In the time warp that was the elevator, she was now forced to stare down her disastrous decision to leave both the school and the tower. She had known it was a mistake pretty much immediately after she left the latter, but she didn't really know how to fix it other than walk back in, yell 'April Fools' not in April and hope they'd laugh it off.

Sid had tried to do what she could to make her distance from them at least worth something. Many days were spent with Xavier, trying to process her trauma, and when that grim business was done, she snuck into a few classes and tried to think of it as "bettering" herself — whatever that meant. She knew she couldn't carry all of the last year or so's accumulated baggage and keep pretending to be okay when she was shattering inside. She may not have accomplished much in the amount of time she was away from them, but it was a start. She knew she'd face failure in the future, but she decided that she'd rather work on herself while part of something that mattered to her. Part of them, whatever her role would be.

As the door opened, she froze, completely unsure of what the fuck she thought she could say to these people she abandoned when they might have needed her the most. Choking on her own terror for a second, she didn't notice the two Iron Soldiers as the elevator opened until their blasters were in her face and they were both monotonously blaring INTRUDER in a voice that was definitely not Jarvis.

She yelped at the initial shock and then realized that they had probably seen her coming and Jarvis not talking to her meant that he was very mad at her. It sent her mind for a loop that a program could be angry at her, but she heartily believed Jarvis could do anything. She swallowed back another whine as the blaring continued and she muttered to herself, "I probably deserve this."

The set of machines eye's flickered for a second and Sid flinched before hearing someone call out, "Sid is that you?"

"Oh shit." She whispered to herself as the steps got closer, she couldn't see anything past the giant metal expanse in front of her and their brightness and whirring seemed to dull pretty much every other sound around her.

"Stand down!" She heard a muffled voice, feminine, shouting out from behind the metal mountains. Then a pale, elegant hand shoved between the two suits with frustration, before a lovely mane of red popped itself through and was followed by Pepper's rosy grimace. "Stand down!" She growled again as she shoved and the two suits sharply shifted to parade rest. "Thank you Friday." Pepper's glare remained for just a second until she tugged her clothes and smile into place before officially facing Sid.

"Ms. Potts," A female voice chimed around them and Sid gasped in indignation in the second before it continued to speak, "My protocols are unclear in this moment, I seem to be… Malfunctioning. I'm contacting Mr. Stark."

"No!" Both Pepper and Sid yelled. The second after, they met each other's confused gaze. Pepper's pinched features probably indicated this Friday's suggestion would be an inconvenience and likely incite panic, the sentries were probably there for a reason. Sid mostly just feared facing the consequences of being such a massive friendship-failure. Shame flooded into her gut and settled in to stay, while her thoughts used her many personal failings as the tails for her mental whip.

"Ms. Potts, I have an automatic response encoded that requires me to notify Mr. Stark in the event of an anomaly." Sid recognized a sensual Irish brogue and immediately rolled her eyes at the man who was Tony Stark. Pepper noticed and gave her an empathetic look.

"Fine, but I want you to know that Sid is a dear friend to the Avengers. I don't think Tony had anticipated updating you on that after the mess with Jarvis." Pepper choked off the last word, clearing her throat and blinking back a bit of mist that formed in her eyes.

Sid felt her heart drop, "Jarvis?"

Pepper looked up at Sid with sorrow, but she seemed to finally take Sid in and her eyes went wide before she blurted, "What happened to you?"

Sid felt her stomach clench and she spat out, "I was at Xavier's." As if it were a good enough explanation for her frightful state.

Pepper paused for a moment, taking stock of Sid one more time with her wind blown, singed hair, her body curled over slightly as if she were nursing one side, and the random patches and stains left over from Sid's run in with pasta salad and existential crisis. "I mean —," She paused and her mouth flapped for a just a second and Sid felt the terror of rejection start to creep its way up up her throat like bile, "— I guess they would know mutant biology best." Pepper finished as judiciously as ever, then she grimaced slightly, "Your hair though…"

Sid gave her a weak smile and gulped back that little bit of her terror for the moment, ever thankful for Pepper's grace and tact, "I tangled with two other mutants, one had sharp things and the other had fire eyes. I fucked up big time, got half skewered and a laser beam to the face area, but I promise I'm healing okay. I would have been here sooner but Xavier used my injury to sequester me when everything going on here went down."

Pepper remained moderately impassive, trying not to show just how excited she was to see Sid again. They got to bond a lot, surprisingly. She ran a company out of the building half the time and while Sid tried to keep Bucky busy, they'd always end up running into Pepper somehow and stop to chat if she could. The woman was brilliant and fascinating to boot, ever mindful of the innermost workings of the company she ran to perfection. Sid always enjoyed their talks, especially the ones when the Avengers actually got together to relax because Pepper had a dry humor and razor sharp wit that was unmatched.

But the time for relaxation seemed to be over.

"What happened? There were robots? And the robot made a comet?!" Sid finally begged, her desperation very obvious.

"Oh shit. Ultron. Right." Pepper shook cobwebs from her mind, "I was barely here for any of it really. I left for a business meeting in Canada after the party celebrating another successful Hydra base destruction. The last few weeks you've been away there was a resolute determination to finally uproot the maniacs." Pepper waved Sid's pained look away and started in on the bare bones of the rest of the story, "The Cliff's Notes version is Tony and Bruce were creating something, Ultron, to be a program of peace, but it went totally wrong when they used Loki's scepter." Pepper sighed softly, "The program was something completely different. It wanted to gain peace through extinction — the Avengers' extinction. It - it dismantled Jarvis, overtook some suits and the rest…" Her voice went watery again as she paused to take a deep calming breath.

"Dismantled?" Sid muttered softly, swaying slightly at the news and not truly understanding what it meant. If he was taken apart, it must mean that Tony could put him back together again, but when she looked back up at Pepper who had tears in her own eyes, Sid felt her chest tighten and her diaphragm clench. She opened her mouth to say something, but she had no words.

Pepper gave her a sad smile and reached out her hand, "Let's go sit down. We have a lot to go over and they'll probably be back before I can finish."

Sid followed as Pepper made her way to table and pushed aside the paperwork that had blueprints of Avengers Tower all over it and invoices that were probably for repairs. Pepper pushed an unopened bottle of water over to her as they sat and then nudged a plate of snacks in Sid's direction. Sid held onto the bottle but couldn't even look at the food, so Pepper dove into the story that sounded so absurd that Sid could barely believe it. Tony and Bruce accidentally created a hostile AI that was basically beyond the comprehension of anything known to man. This AI tore through the Avengers and wreaked havoc across the globe in its rapid and insidious quest to destroy the only remaining plague on this earth: humanity. The entire team was shaken up by the AI's demonstrable strength and ingenuity, but also his enhanced allies which were a result of Hydra's brainwashing and experimentation on mutants. With switching sides and general intrigue, Pepper brought Sid up to date with the fighting in South Korea, but didn't get to finish as the doors at the back of the common room banged open and swung shut revealing Natasha, scanning the space until she locked in on Sid.

The ferocity of Natasha's focused gaze made Sid's adrenaline spike so sharply that she jumped to her feet, contrite and terrified all at once, unsure if she wanted to run towards Natasha or away. Natasha seemed unbothered by the tension, making her way over casually, her face not betraying a thing. Sid's mouth popped open to say something but Natasha just wrapped her in a hug and pulled her close.

"Don't ever do anything like that again." She rasped into Sid's ear and she wasn't sure if it was a threat or an emotional admonishment. Sid figured either way, she needed to heed the advice.

For a moment, she let herself sink into Natasha's hug, gripping at her just to substantiate the moment and make it more real. The peaceful hum of their interaction was quickly interrupted as two beefy arms wrapped about both of them and Clint nuzzled his face between them and muttered, "Who's got two thumbs and ordered a cuddle buffet?"

Sid laughed heartily at that and even Natasha shook her head and was forced to hold back laughter.

"We'll talk, but a lot is going on." Natasha said as she pulled back, squeezing Sid's shoulders in reassurance.

"And since we're all relatively emotionally stunted, I'll send you some reading to get you caught up on the facts." Clint agreed as he stood to his full height and gravitated directly to Natasha's side.

"Pepper started to, but I'd appreciate any help I can get." Sid smiled, thankful they were even willing to look at her.

"And hell you got bigger things to worry abou—," His words tapered into a pained groan as Natasha elbowed him in the gut sharply.

"Yeah," Sid nodded with a bitter laugh, "Yeah, I know. I deserve it, Clint, so when the time comes, let me have it."

Clint gave Natasha a smug look and she rolled her eyes at him before looking back at Sid with a bit of softness to her features.

"They missed you." Natasha insisted softly.

Sid bit the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into tears at the revelation, so very thankful that Natasha had said it.

"Thanks." Sid's words struggled their way through a tight throat, "When there's time, I'll come see you." Natasha and Clint nodded, heading towards the stairs to make their way up to their nest.

Tony wasn't far behind them. He was quiet and alone and for some reason, Sid felt like that looked completely wrong on him. He approached Pepper and gave her a solid kiss before muttering a few things about invoices. His playful whine with Pepper and the absolute adoration in his eyes for her warmed Sid's heart and she was happy to see that Tony Stark could never truly be broken. His eyes settled on Sid's and they seemed sad again, but he smiled anyway. He came over and gave her a big hug with a quick, "Glad you're back." Before he careened off in the direction of what was sure to be his lab.

Sid frowned at the lonely sight of his singular frame walking away and turned back to Pepper who was now gathering her things. "Bruce?" Sid asked hastily, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

"Johannesburg was an accident, but many people were quite upset. He was struggling with it. Tony thinks he ran because he was a threat to the Avengers as a team." Pepper sighed heavily, a tiny quiver of the lip cracking through her reserve.

"Oh Bruce…" Sid's hand went to her mouth to contain the cry she wanted to let out. Bruce had to be absolutely devastated about the incident and Sid couldn't be mad at him for running. She'd done the exact same thing. Her heart was aching until she heard the door open behind Pepper.

They both turned abruptly and saw three people that Sid had never met before. She was taking in the three of them until Rhodey wound around them and made a beeline for Pepper.

He grabbed her arm gently, guiding her to forget about the paperwork as he muttered, "Did Tony go to his lab?"

As he pulled her along, Pepper didn't resist because it wasn't like Rhodey ever did anything without a purpose, "Yes, why?"

Sid only caught the last of it as Rhodey nodded to her with a strained smile in passing and lowered his voice only slightly as they walked away, "He's gonna need us, it's about his parents."

Sid was distracted for a moment as she watched them disappear, but she heard a familiar voice chime that just about knocked her breath out of her chest.

"You are Sid."

Sid turned to shout at the ceiling in glee but her face almost collided with the person in front of her, who on second glance, may not have been human at all. He was inches away from her, staring at her in fond fascination, his skin was plated in a deep maroon, his eyes were almost mechanical in the way the pupils dilated as he studied her further.

"J-Jarvis?" Sid muttered stupidly.

He was taken aback by that for a moment, almost slightly insulted before something clicked in his brain and he nodded with understanding. He tilted his head slightly, looking concerned, "That's unfortunate. I'm sorry to be the one to inform you that I assimilated him."

Sid gulped back something like dread and tried to formulate some kind of response that wasn't probably super rude to whatever he was exactly, "Ultron?!"

"No!" He insisted emphatically, looking disappointed she would think so.

Sid heaved out a sigh of relief, trying to make sense of this moment was making her dizzy, "So you're not —? Then you —? Uh —?"

"I am Vision." He said simply but then smiled a bit impishly, "It's complex."

Sid nodded slowly in profound confusion as she stared at Vision, a person or creature unlike anything she'd ever seen. "Okay." She eventually got out.

"I do retain Jarvis's memories." He stated it like it was an apology. "I am incredibly impressed with his uniqueness and tenacity for such primitive design. He brought a brilliant stepping stone to my evolution." He leaned forward slightly as his eyes roved over her in something like fascination, but somehow in a way that was polite and not intimidating. His voice was so familiar and yet so strange, "He was fond of you."

Sid bit her lip and couldn't help the tears that broke through her reserve. She sniffled a little bit and tried to stuff it back in with the back of her hand, but Vision reached for her, their hands met and a strange sort of energy buzzed between them. Sid was slightly dazed in the minute contact, the jewel crested above his brow glittering like starlight as he gazed at her curiously for a few beats of silence.

"Will you introduce us?" Another voice chimed in and broke the moment. It was sultry in a way, almost deeper than Sid's voice. Sid found the source after she tore her eyes away from Vision's and spotted a petite brunette with striking features, dressed in a simple way that seemed casually elegant. Another taller man was glued to her side, smiling lopsidedly with grey fringe bobbing in front of his eyes.

"Jealous." He disguised the word as a cough but the woman smacked his arm and hissed something beautifully sharp in their native tongue.

Vision was distracted again and he beamed at the woman who came to his side, "I would be honored." He looked genuinely enthused as he turned back to Sid and guided the woman closer, "Wanda, this is Sid. She is a very close friend of Captain America and The Winter Soldier. Jarvis knew her and now she knows me." His eyes went to Sid, seeming like he was restricting his true excitement for the moment behind the calmness of his voice, "Sid, this is Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlett Witch, and she can manipulate energy. Her twin brother is Pietro and he is extremely fast and strong."

Pietro nodded and whistled, "That Cap." His accent was as thick as his sisters, but he spoke with less restriction than she did. Some of his sounds were exaggerated, probably by the extra energy he had zipping through him. "He and his friend are tough dudes."

Wanda rolled her eyes at her brother, "Pardon him, he has an incredible affinity for being an idiot."

Pietro just beamed even brighter at his sister and she couldn't help but chuckle.

Sid felt entirely out of her element at the moment, meeting these new people in such an odd situation. She pieced a few things together from the news reel showing them assisting the Avengers in Sokovia. She figured new friends were just as good as old, "It's my pleasure. I really hope I get to see you guys around more often."

"You shall." Pietro winked as he grabbed Vision by the shoulders and started to steer him away.

"We live here now." Wanda smiled and waved before she followed her brother's now constant chattering to a raptly listening Vision.

In the silence of their retreat, Sid heard the door open again.