Hi guys, here is another chapter. The next one probably won't be up until Thursday because because I have a busy week. I haven't decided if I am going to make Izzy and Pietro a couple, but I'm enjoying writing them flirting with each other. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

As always, please review :)


Izzy stood in the kitchen of common area at the compound measuring out flour for a batch of cookies. Sam and the others had been bugging her for the last three weeks to make cookies, but she hadn't had time while splitting her focus between Avengers and Stark Industries. Pepper really wanted her to take a more vested interest in the daily goings on at the company so when she turned eighteen, she could take over if she wanted to. Izzy never really saw that happening but especially over the last couple weeks since Pepper really wasn't around anymore except in the business sense it had been something that was draining her energy to maintain.

She understood. Really, she did, Pepper had gone through hell the last eight years with the start of Iron Man to Izzy becoming an Avenger, and though he wasn't actively involved in the fight anymore, Tony had still continued on with developing tech and building suits. Pepper was tired of it and she was tired of broken promises that things would change. None of that made it any easier for Tony or Izzy to deal with her leaving.

Things had been so crazy in her life but on top of everything the one thing that was really screwing with her head was a certain speedster.

It started out small, a brush on the back of a hand, sitting a little closer than normal, a hug that lasted a little longer, maybe brushing her hair behind her ear. Izzy wasn't imagining it, she knew something was different in the way Pietro behaved towards her. He was a flirt, she knew this, but it wasn't just that. She didn't mind it per se but there had been no time to actually talk about what was happening. They were more often than not on opposite missions lately and when she was back, she wasn't always at the compound.

As she pulled a pan of cookies out of the oven, she felt the air shift suddenly. She turned around knowing who she would see.

"Yes, cookies!" Pietro said reaching for one.

"Nope!" She smacked his hand away. "They need to sit for a second or you're going to get crumbs everywhere."

He just grinned at her and leaned against the counter to watch her continue baking. The twins had changed a lot, they had celebrated their eighteenth birthdays last month and they had settled in fairly well into the team. They were still learning, and they had a few bad habits but overall much improved and much more social.

"Not at the company today?" He asked.

"No." She said. "Finally, a day off."

Pietro nodded his blue eyes searching hers.

Last time she had seen him, she hadn't exactly been in her best frame of mind. Pepper had just left, Izzy had been on a crazy mission with Rhodey and Vision, and she hadn't slept in three days. Pietro had come to her lab in the compound to get her for dinner to find her sobbing into her arms on the table, too worked up to be able to tell him what was wrong. He had covered for her with the others and proceeded to sit with her for an hour until she was calm enough to talk. She didn't go into detail and he didn't ask, just offered a calm presence, a listening ear, and a shoulder to cry on. When she had finally become so worn down, she was drifting off he carried her to her room and tucked her into bed before leaving her to sleep.

It was yet another thing they didn't talk about.

"No training?" Izzy asked as she measured out some sugar.

"No, Steve and Natasha are away right now." Pietro said while studying what she was doing.

"Wanna help?" She offered.

He moved around the island counter to join her and she gave him instructions on measuring the dry ingredients. She was making five times the amount she normally did so they would last a little longer. As she handed over the measuring cup, turning to get the next tray out of the oven, she felt the subtle brush of his fingers in hers again.

Not commenting, she put on an oven mitt and grabbed the tray out.

"Where is Wanda today?" Izzy asked. She hadn't seen anyone since she got back so she didn't know how everyone was doing yet.

"She is practicing with Vision." Pietro said with a grimace.

Izzy tried very hard to school her smile. Wanda and Vision had gotten very close lately and Pietro didn't really like it. "That'll be good for her." She said in reply as she put cookies on the cooling rack.

"I don't like that they spend so much time together." He said with a frown.

"Well they are teammates." Izzy said pulling out some more eggs from the fridge and joining him at the island again.

"Not what I meant." He said. "He's not even human."

"Means she can't get knocked up." Izzy replied just for the golden response that was his expression. She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're such an egg head."

"I am not." He said.

Acting on impulse, Izzy brought up the egg in her hand and cracked it on his head, the yolk breaking and coating the curls on his head.

Pietro stared at her in shock, but she bit her lower lip, grinning at him. He got a smile on his face and tossed some of the flour mixture in her.

She squealed and tossed a handful back at him. That was how it started, how the spotless kitchen became the mess that Steve and Natasha walked in to see.

"What happened?" Steve said looking around.

The teens paused, each dropping their ingredient/weapon of choice.

Izzy laughed sheepishly. "We're baking." She said with a grin.

Natasha smiled as she stared at the two. Even Steve's eyes were twinkling with amusement.

"Get cleaned up." Steve said. "We have a debriefing in twenty minutes."

"Got it Cap." Izzy said as the two adults left. "You have egg on you, so you go ahead. I'll clean up here."

Instead of replying, Pietro vanished as he sped around the room and when he reappeared the kitchen was spotless, even the ingredients that hadn't been thrown were put away neatly. He grabbed a cookie off the rack, gave her a flirty grin, and walked away eating his cookie.

"That works too." She said to herself and pulled the last tray out of the oven.

Lagos, Nigeria

The mission was involving an old enemy. They had found information that Brock Rumlow, whom they had take to calling Crossbones, was planning on attacking a government building in Nigeria. The man had been at large since the DC incident when Hydra was exposed, now was their chance to capture him.

Since they needed a subtler approach, Steve, Sam, Nat, and Wanda we're going on this mission but Izzy and Pietro we're going to be backup just in case.

Izzy sat in the pilot's chair on the quinjet listening to the others talk on cons while Pietro fidgeted, pacing back and forth. She finally snapped and told him to sit down. He was making her nervous. He still bounced his legs up and down as he sat, anxious to do something. Izzy rolled her eyes and attempted to ignore him as she listened in.

"All right, what do you see?" Steve asked over coms. He was stationed inside a building across from the facility, while Sam was on a roof top and Wanda and Natasha were at a café across the street.

"Standard beat cops." Wanda replied. "Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?" Steve continued to question.

Wanda didn't hesitate. "Cameras." She said.

Steve continued. "Both cross streets are one-way." He said.

"So, compromised escape routes." Wanda replied.

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out." Steve said. "You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"Yeah, the red one?" Wanda said. "It's cute.

"It's also bullet proof, which means private security..." Natasha joined in. "Which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda asked and Pietro smirked.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature." Natasha replied.

Izzy smiled faintly as she listened to them. It definitely became second nature, she remembered Clint and Natasha both drilling these things into her head since the attack at New York.

Sam's voice was next. "Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" He asked.

Natasha sounded amused. "Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?" She replied lightly.

"Eyes on target, folks." Steve said. "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."

"If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem." Sam replied. "He kind of hates us."

"Sam, see that garbage truck?" Steve said suddenly. "Tag it."

Izzy pressed a few buttons on their end to see the video footage that Sam was picking up through Red Wing, the small surveillance drone that she had built for him about 5 months ago. He loved that thing.

"Give me x-ray." Sam said as the drone flew under the garbage truck that was currently pushing other cars out of the way as it went down the street. "That truck is loaded for max weight. The driver is armed."

Izzy tensed.

"It's a battering ram." Natasha said.

"Go now." Steve said.

"What?" Wanda said, not understanding.

The readout display in the jet showed Sam and Steve both on the move.

"What's happening?" Pietro asked.

"The police aren't the target." Izzy said as she pulled up other buildings listed on the street. "It's their center for infectious diseases."

Unfortunately, because the team didn't have cameras on their person, Izzy and Pietro were limited in what they could see of the battle, but it didn't sound too bad in the beginning. Until they encountered Rumlow and they escaped with some kind of biologic agent.

"They ditched their gear" Steve said. "It's a shellgame now. One of them has the payload."

Suddenly, there was an explosion.

"Steve?" Izzy said in a tense voice.

She heard another voice, faintly through coms. "There you are you son of a bitch." It was Rumlow. "I've been waiting for this!"

"Isabel, stay in the jet and figure out what they took." Natasha, who was second in command, ordered "Pietro come help us get that vial back. Go!"

Pietro barely waited for the ramp to lower before he raced out of the jet. Izzy turned back to her console and worked on hacking into the labs systems to learn what kind of horror they were looking to unleash on the world.

"Find anything?" Sam asked as they struck out with one goon.

"Yeah, it's not good." Izzy replied. "You guys need to get that vial now."

"Working on it." Pietro replied, barely discernible through the wind passing by as he ran.

I need to fix that.She thought idly.

Sam struck out with his target. Natasha tracked the last two, but got into a standoff with them, one threatening to drop the vial. Pietro picked that moment to arrive, knocking in to one with the vial, catching it before it hit the ground and Natasha taking the other one out.

"Payload secure." Natasha said.

Izzy focused on the fight with Steve

"Who's your buyer?" Steve demanded.

"You know, he knew you." Rumlow said. "Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky."

Shit.Izzy thought.

"What did you say?" Steve said in shock.

"He remembered you." Rumlow repeated. "I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in a blender."

Izzy looked at her system. "Steve, I'm reading a growing heat signature from Rumlow." She said.

The explosion was close, it caused a screech through the coms. However, what happened next was what would bring about the nightmare.

Wanda had been able to catch and initially contain the explosion with her abilities, but in attempting to clear the market place, Wanda launched the explosion up into the air, but it caught an apartment building, taking out a corner and four floors.

"Oh no…" Steve said. "Isabel, we need fire and rescue."