Antonia is bored of her standard lecture about staying with Happy Hogan at all times. She mouths her father's speech word for word with a furrowed brow and a scowl.

Tony remains, firm, "...and you call me if anyone even dares to look at you the wrong way. You hit that emergency button- Antonia Vivian!"

The girl stares forward, eyes wide over being caught mouthing him in their limo. She grins innocently, "Hi dad."

"Are you listening?"

"Always."

Tony can't hold back a smile, cupping her chin, "Love you, Half-Pint. Good thing you're half as cute as I am. It makes you half forgivable."

She sticks out her tongue.

Pepper reaches over their daughter to hold Tony's hand as they exit the vehicle;

"Stay close baby."

Antonia slips out from her parents to dazzle and pose for the crowd. She loves the attention and she knows exactly how to ensure all cameras stay on her.

Tony forces a smile and a wave for a camera, talking through his teeth;

"I hate New York."

Pepper nudges him and forces her own smile, "Don't blame the state…Hold on, you have something on your jacket."

"A tag?"

"Worse,' she licks her thumb and tries to brush the red stain with her finger, 'Ketchup? Really?!"

He sighs and tilts his head, "Anna wanted a cheeseburger!"

"Sure, blame our child."

"Where is she-."

"-Hey! Relax. She's fine. She's working the red carpet like it's her runway…Tony?"

"Pep?"

She smiles, "Seriously; take a breath. Enjoy the evening."

Maria catches his eye and he swears under his breath, "Who invited that-you-know-what."

"She's head of the security team for the evening, remember?"

"No."

Pepper releases a guttural moan, "Hello, Director Hill."

Maria clips her earpiece, "Stark."

He responds with snark, "What other surprises am I going to get pissed off about tonight?"

Maria takes her keycard and swipes to let him inside of the rental space, "Empty your pockets for the metal detector."

"Seriously?" ...The Irony.

Pepper complies and pushes her husband along, "Can you behave, please?"

"It's my party, don't tell me what to do."

Izabella tries to enter as confidently as she can, tugging at her long align purple skirt and plain white button down.

There are too many people for her liking but she's present, nevertheless. The confidence vanishes the instant she starts to headcount while tugging at the emerald stone on her necklace for comfort's sake...

The plaques, tech boards and displays remind her of him. Of science conferences and college booths…

She's yet to find a familiar face among the lights, the glitz and glam. It's much less educational and much more 'party'...a little too much 'party' for her liking.

Izabella has no intention of returning to 'hero' duty, but curiosity has taken over. And after texting Steve to confirm her RSVP, she's learned there's someone else attending she's eager to see.

"Guess who!"

She knows the at voice, excitedly wrapping her arms around his neck, "Brody! You are so tall now!"

Her adopted brother scoops Izabella up into a hug, wearing his camo uniform;

"It's really bad when I can pick my sister out in a crowd of thousands...literally. What are you even wearing?! It's a gala not a yearbook meeting."

"Are you done?"

"Yeah,' he laughs and returns her to the ground, waving a thumb to the right, 'The old man called and said it was an emergency. Which, I now no longer believe. Unless he meant your fashion picks. What is going on? How is mama?"

Svetlana.

"Good, she is good."

"And college! My big sis the doctor-."

"Nurse," she corrects, tugging at her necklace, "Are you flying yet?"

"Soon! I hope. Wow, Izzy. I'm so glad Steve wrangled us. I miss you."

She lifts a shoulder, eyes soft for her brother, "I miss you."

"Have you gotten my letters?"

Izabella releases her necklace, "I read all of them."

Brody lifts his finger and points, "Is that Mrs. Jameson?"

"Waters," Izabella corrects, the siblings sharing a glance as Jennifer steps closer with two young men standing at her side and reaches to hug the boy.

"Brody! I want you to meet my friends," Jen pushes the taller one forward, "This is Rick and this is Peter."

"Rick?," Brody extends a hand to shake, "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Brody…but Jen said that already."

Jennifer reaches to hug Izabella next, "These are the Mikhailovs."

Peter smiles, "I read about you! You have cool hands."

Jen points, "Peter Parker here is in need of a new suit. He's also a big time nerd."

"You're talking to the right person; My sister is the nerdiest, most science lovin' girl you're ever going to meet," Brody laughs

Izabella is far more fixated on the other young man.

Rick Jones, the one standing closer to Izabella, offers her a hand, "Mikhailov? Do I get a first name?"

"Name," she says, leaving Rick standing awkwardly with his hand out. She's mesmerized by his eyes, "Name! Izabella. My name is Izabella."

Rick laughs, "It's nice to meet you. And you two are…siblings?"

Brody lofts a finger and points to his sister's and then his face. He calls out a difference in skin tone, eye color, facial structure;

"Can't you see the resemblance?"

Izabella shakes her head over the joke, addressing Rick, "Where are you from?"

The blue eyed boy laughs, "Actually, it's a funny story; I have no idea. I sort of woke up in the middle of New York with limited memories. I explained it to Jen as just this- poof. I suddenly just appeared. I know it sounds crazy."

Izabella is distracted when Jennoovits to hunt down Steve Rogers. She feels a buzzing in her skull, rubbing at her temple and looks over her shoulder;

" Dobryy den', droog moy. "

"Hi Izzy."

All heads turn to the sweet smiling dark haired girl on the arm of Garrett Barton.

Izabella takes a breath and hugs her friends. She admires Riley's fitted and more modern Hanbok, navy and blush in color, "Riley! You look beautiful!"

Riley reaches a hand that lands on Izabella's shoulder, "I'd return the compliment but I have no idea if you've gone gray at twenty or tattooed a panda on your face...your hair does feel shorter."

"I am so happy to see you."

Riley grins wider, "I'm happy to hear your voice."

"Brody, my brother!" Garrett offers Brody one of their old handshakes both boys still remember.

Violet slips up behind Riley, pointlessly covering her eyes and mumbling with a giddy squeak, "Guess who!"

Riley grits her teeth, "Vi, get your hands off my face! It takes me hours to do my makeup."

. * . * . * . * . * .

Over in the corner, a golden eyed figure holds a shot in each hand. She has her black pants to match her black cami, the sleeves of a light gray plaid fitted and feminine blazer rolled up a quarter of the way. Her makeup is done, smudged smokey eyes serving to brighten the natural yellow shade of her irises.

"You should seriously start tying those laces."

Lucy's cheeks puff full of whiskey when she looks back toward the engineer. She gulps her drink, emptying her cheeks;

"Tony Stark...You're going gray."

Stark smiles and offers to click their glasses, "You're old enough to drink?"

She jokes without even blinking, "Nah. Fake ID."

He rolls his eyes, "Where's your mother? I thought you two were inseparable."

"And I thought you were so young and cool."

"Easy on the insults," he snickers and refills her glass.

"Lucy?! Is that you,' Pepper slips forward to give her a hug, 'Oh my goodness! You grew up!"

"That's what kids do,' she smirks and twirls the contents of her glass, 'How's Cali? Perfect?"

Tony smiles, genuinely happy to see the girl, "Better than New York."

Lucy stands with her feet apart, unable to remain still or keep the liquor in her glass for more than a minute, "Anywhere is better than New York. I'm thinking of moving back. I miss the beach…"

Pepper rubs Lucy's shoulder, "What have you been up to? Are you going to college in the area?"

"I am... well,' she chips at the navy paint on her fingernails, 'I'm taking a year, or six, to figure it out. So! Your baby; Antonia looks like a teenager in that red dress. Not my personal taste but she does look like she's ready for a senior prom."

Tony cringes over her words about Antonia and ignores the rest, wishing his baby could stay little forever, "Please don't ever bring up senior prom again in the context of Antonia."

"She's loving the attention as well, I wonder who she gets it from?"

Pepper laughs, "She's definitely her daddy's daughter."

Lucy latches her lips around her glass, "I can relate to that."

Tony checks his watch, "We should get to the presentation, Pep. Let's catch up sometime, Lucy."

She accepts his attempt at a hug, "Okay."

"I'm in New York until Friday. I'll call your mother. If she'll talk to me."

Lucy groans, "Probably? She doesn't really hold a grudge unless your name is Mary MacPherran, Brian Banner, Emil Blonsky, John Jameson, oh and, literally any Ross, including Bob Ross- yeah! I know! How can you hate Bob Ross? I couldn't watch the artist growing up just because his name was 'Ross'. Anyways…"

"Anyways," Tony laughs.

Lucy and Jennifer are the closest living realities to his beloved Bruce. He feels some sort of responsibility for the twosome and is suddenly aware of a bit of guilt he has for ignoring them;

"Text me, chic. You have my number, right?"

"Somewhere. In the burner phone, probably," the girl checks her pants pocket with a playful cringe, checking her flip phone to ensure Tony's number is accurate, "Gotcha."

"I hate to interrupt," Clint chimes in from behind.

Jameson looks over her shoulder, lifting a hand to offer Clint Barton a proper handshake/'bro' hug;

"Clint! My man!"

Barton sighs, "Don't announce me too loudly."

"Is Garrett here?"

Clint coughs with a grumble, "Ten o'clock."

"Damn! Dude, he's like.. huge. What is he? Six foot something. Woah, he's hot too. What did you feed him on that farm?" She looks over at the group, accidentally spotting the one face she was hoping to avoid.

It's clear that Izabella has seen her as well, time almost frozen when they share awkward eye contact.

Just like that the memories come rushing back for Lucy; it's all Izabella's fault.

Natasha and Bruce's disappearance is all on her. It's Izabella's stubborn lack of memories to blame for not being able to locate the couple, or use her powers to properly track her steps.

The mistake that caused Lucy to snap, her parents to split, and for the Avengers to go underground. For HYDRA to rear its ugly head and to keep growing in the background.

Lucy chokes when she looks down at her drink; that stupid girl is to blame for all current hell. From the Jessica Walker breakup to the reason she pummels people to the ground for cash.

Lucy leaves Clint with a sly smirk, knowing exactly how to reconnect with the crew.

"Boo!" She shouts when she reaches the clearly closed off circle.

She stops short of gagging with an instinctive reflex when Izabella genuinely squeals.

Riley reaches to take Garrett's hand possessively once she hears that voice;

"Is that... Lucy and her infamous 5 octave vocal range?"

"Four and a half. And then I turned 21 and lost it all," the Jameson girl invites herself into the circle and forces a sarcastic smile she knows Riley won't see.

"Lucy,' Garrett moves from Riley to greet her first, 'You look amazing."

Brody cringes and talks through his teeth, "Awkward."

Riley looks about ready to murder until Lucy tries to hug her next. She squirms uncomfortably and barely returns the touch.

Violet rocks back on her heels and brushes her hair behind her ear with a soft pity whistle.

"Rick Jones," the newbie introduces himself to Lucy and Izabella takes notice.

"My name is Peter Parker. I'm Spider-Man," the next boy offers his hand.

Lucy leans her elbow on Garrett's shoulder and taps at her nose ring, "And I'm the heroine-heroine, daughter of the green heroine but we don't have to unpack any of that at this moment seeing as children are present and you're clearly still a minor."

Peter squirms, "Oh! You're that Lucy, my lawyer's daughter!"

The girl sips her drink and mumbles ready to move on, "Brody! I'm loving the getup. You're in the army now? Navy?"

"Air Force,' he points to a badge, 'I'm earning my wings."

"Yes! You go, my brother."

Izabella focuses on Lucy, eager to start a conversation with the long lost friend she hasn't seen in years. She swallows away her nerves, "How are you?"

Lucy shrugs and checks her now empty glass, "…I'm sure you've seen the mugshots. They always capture my bad side."

"They capture all sides…it's a mugshot," Riley mumbles.

"I'm surprised Riley here has never needed to hunt me down."

She holds a sarcastic grin, "Your petty crimes will catch up to you, Jameson."

A few of them giggle, unsure of how to react over the obvious tension. Everyone seems grateful over Tony Stark finally taking the mic and starts his speech;

"Good evening, partiers!"

"Thank god," Garrett mutters under his breath.

Riley's expression changes drastically when her mental focus shifts from off Stark and onto the crowd. She lowers her chin as she tries to mind read the room.

Violet dips a knee. She hasn't run- seriously run - in years. She directs her remark through the side of her mouth upon sending Riley's mind read, "You're feeling unsafe? I can circle the perimeter? If I even remember how…"

Riley shuts her eyes. It helps her focus, lifting a finger to shush Violet and concentrate on Maria Hill's mind, currently stationed above them at the balcony.

"Well?" Violet whispers.

"Mom is uneasy,' Riley answers. 'that's not good."

Izabella turns and taps Brody's arm with a tremble, losing her breath when she glances toward the wide open windows. Her life has come full circle when she spots a familiar uniform, yelling breathlessly;

"HYDRA…"

Maria shouts her orders next, "Everybody get down!"

Garrett ducks and pulls Riley with him, bullets suddenly firing through the window. The girl reaches for her weapon, calling out a warning before she takes a shot.

Brody lifts his head in shock, "Well, that's smart! We give guns to the blind now?!"

Garrett mumbles, "Just to the Blind Bandit. And she's got a better aim than I do."

"Bro! There's no way," Brody ducks with a yelp.

"Come on," Izabella protectively grabs her brother's arm and their friends follow behind, moving to locate a safer location.

Tony Stark comes prepared while Happy moves to take care of Pepper and Antonia. His trademarked red and gold suit seems to appear out of nowhere.

Jennifer takes her stance. Steve snatches up his shield and Clint his bow.

Rogers gives the archer a nod, "Barton."

"Cap."

Tony lands beside them, while Sam Wilson calls his own suit. He grumbles, "You're all way too prepared for this to be an accident, folks."

Rogers cocks his head, "We needed to draw out HYDRA."

Jennifer whines, "...I really just wanted to party tonight. I put on my heels and everything."

Tony checks the circle his back is to, "Who is the new guy? What do they call you?"

Sam huffs out a laugh, "The Falcon."

"I like it. You can join me for pizza after we battle," Tony quips, flying upward amongst the screams to circle the perimeter.

Riley stands at the center of the room, kicking off her heels to feel the vibrations of the ground and tries to focus on breaching one mind rather than a few thousand.

There's something familiar lingering in the air and with a deep inhale, she stands and heads fast to the exit, hoping to reach their estranged friend before it's too late.

She clutches her earpiece she calls for her mother;

"I'm going after Linda."

Riley ditches her com before Maria can react.

Garrett looks like someone has taken all of the air from his chest over seeing her bolt in the opposite direction.

He sits and pants against the barricade Izabella has lead them to;

"I shouldn't worry, right?! Riley's smart... Right?"

Izabella nods half heartedly, trying and failing at being reassuring, "Yes. She is a strong fighter."

"I really don't want her to fight anybody."

"Sorry."

Lucy throws her head back with an eye roll. Her reassurance looks a little different from Izabella's "Riley is a badass. You're the dramatic baby."

Garrett accepts it, "Okay…I mean you're right but...harsh."

Brody reaches for his weapon next, leading his friends when Izabella comes to a dead end.

Peter is freaking out over a flying metal suit, his eyes wide, "Woah! Was that Mr. Stark?! Is that a new suit?! I've never seen that one before! You guys think we should help?! You all have powers right?"

"No!" They yell in unison.

"No one else has powers?!" Parker definitely sounds freaked out now.

"No one is moving from here!" Brody shouts.

Izabella glances over at Lucy who is now snapping her gum as if nothing just happened. She explains with a shrug, "I'm counting, breathing, trying to stay calm, I don't think I need to explain why my freaking out would be bad."

Rick Jones is next to her, subconsciously mid breathing exercise as well, "I feel that on a really deep, emotional level. There's something in my core telling me to avoid stress as much as possible."

Lucy scoffs in his face, "I'm sorry to tell you, you've picked both the wrong lawyer, and the wrong party to crash if avoiding stress is such a necessity."

"For the millionth time! I poofed! Your mom was the only lawyer in town who offered to take my case."

"Don't you know who she is?! Does the term 'hulk' ring a bell?"

"I know exactly who she is-!"

The ceiling above them drops in on itself. Lucy pushes her friends forward, "To be continued."

"Look out!" Izabella screams, heat thumping much calmer when she sees Rick and Lucy come through the debris, still firing one liners at each other.

"You are nothing , like your mother, no offense."

Lucy laughs, "None taken! I find her to be an overachieving, drag-."

"Run now, talk later," Izabella reaches to pull Lucy by her wrist.

Lucy scoffs, "Sure, okay. You think you can get us out? Great. Go ahead..just don't kill us like you did with..you know who."

Rick panics, "What? Who?! Izabella killed someone?!"

She starts to look teary-eyed, "I didn't!"

Lucy interrupts, "It's actually a long story...Stick around for a while, I'll slip out with it eventually."

"I did not kill anyone- vy ne ponimayete ," Izabella protests Lucy's remarks, letting go of her hand.

Peter runs forward, "Guys! One of the agent's has an octopus symbol on her jacket! Is now a bad time to tell you that octopus and I don't get along? Mechanical ones specifically."

"It's HYDRA," Brody and Garrett correct in unison.

"What's a HYDRA?!"

Riley is chasing down an agent with a knife at her hip and pistol in her hands on the hunt for her best friend turned nemesis.

When she senses Linda's landing on the balcony, a swing knocks Riley off of her feet. The two wrestle with a similar fighting style. And they have Natasha to thank for that.

Linda can predict all of Riley's moves, deviating from the programmed training with an action she's learned from HYDRA.

It's not the first time these two have gone toe to toe. The blind agent and the human bomb, harsh in their attacks and yet still subconsciously holding back a bit from completely tearing each other to shreds.

Riley doesn't need to see to breach her mind and plan her next move. And Linda anticipates all of it with ease.

Battling on the balcony, Linda prepares to knock Riley off balance, caught off guard by a gust of wind and a blur.

Violet collects her friend and smiles proudly opposite the building.

Riley snaps over being removed from Linda;

"What are you doing?!"

"I rememberEd how to run," Violet suddenly looks defeated, the pride disappearing from her face, "What? I just saved you-!"

"You didn't-! Violet! That was Linda!"

"Linda?!"

"Yes! I was tracking her."

"And you haven't killed her?!"

Riley slumps forward and holds her elbow, her hair falling over her face when she no longer senses their sister's presence, "Shit."

"I'm sorry," Violet nips at her lip, adjusting the skirt of her dress.

"It's okay," Riley throws her head back against the brick building in defeat- so close and yet so far to pinning down her primary nemesis for actual answers.