A/N: I have nothing to say for myself. If you know what happens in this chappy plz tell me bc I have no idea wth this is. This chappy was supposed to be done three months ago.

/

He didn't seem fazed over the next couple of days. She was, strangely enough, not as broken about it as she thought she'd be. V avoided him, but he clearly didn't mind. She'd run into him as she continued her nightly routine of getting up and going to the kitchen for a snack, and he'd be there every time. So she stopped. She became closed off a lot more than she usually was, and even though Wanda, Vision, and basically everyone except Pietro, they all assured her that they'd find Tony and Peter. No one mentioned Stephen Strange. No one knew he was involved except V herself, and Bruce. She didn't care to dwell on it, either.

And although she would never admit it—not even to herself—she was eyeing that backpack and tried to calculate an exit route too many times over these days. Tony was missing. Her father. And now Pietro was back, and hated her. That only made her angry, not as sad. No, that was the old V. The new V had a family. She had a real dad, HER dad, and she had the Avengers. She missed Steve and Natasha and Wanda and Vision, sure, but she tried not to let that slip as she often seemed to.

So far no one, not even Shield, could find Tony Stark or Peter Parker. Peter's Aunt May had been at the tower and in her nephew's room about as much as V had been in Pietro's.

After Pietro finished off whatever V thought they had, she began to sleep in Tony's old room instead of Pietro's, wearing his old t-shirts. No one said much about it. No one except Natasha.

The big sister V never had. Nat would never admit to it, but she admired the girl. V had called her out on it soon after her return and promised not to say anything.

Here V stood, beside Natasha, in the main meeting room—and former office of Tony Stark—discussing their next moves.

Wanda was retelling what happened in Edinburgh, Pietro and Vision beside her.

Vision suggested they destroy the stone in his forehead, but Wanda refused the idea. V shifted uneasily beside Natasha, who watched.

Steve intervened. "We don't trade lives, Vision." The silence that followed became heavy. "I think I might have an idea, but we have to hurry."

"Is he accepting visitors?" Natasha finally spoke.

"He wouldn't hesitate if I ask." Steve replied. The two shared what seemed to be a telepathic conversation before he looked back at everyone. "Start packing your things, bring hot clothes. We're going to Wakanda."

Sam, Rhodey, Vision, Wanda, and Bruce left. Leaving V with Steve, Natasha, and Pietro. None of them moved for a long time.

V was staring at the floor, but when she looked at Pietro he looked away from her. Natasha rolled her eyes. Steve watched V. Both Natasha and Steve were directing their concern at the two kids, V felt it. It was like being able to feel sound waves, but with greater impact on her because she wore her heart on her sleeve, no matter how much she hated that she did.

Finally Steve spoke, "We'll find them." V knew who he was talking about. She almost forgot Peter had also gone missing, alongside Tony and.. and Strange.

She jerked herself forward slightly, using her weight to push off of leaning on the wall so she stood upright. "I know we will." She said, but she may as well have just tossed each into the Arctic Ocean. Natasha suddenly felt pity, and V glared at her.

"We're doing everything we can, V." Steve said, his tone sending a chill up her back. Steve had only ever been this upset one other time.

"I know that." She rolled her eyes, her head tilting just slightly. "But you always are, aren't you?" She asked, then continued without waiting for an answer. "That's all you people do. You do all the action stuff. But what about the people affected by it? How many people died in New York eight years ago? One too many. How do you think it was for those countless families? Parents, and their kids?" She was biting back tears now. She fumbled on words as she tried again to speak, but as soon as she tried, the dam broke and her entire being seemed to fold inward, onto herself.

Natasha pulled her into a rough, tight hug even though V tried to swat her away. "We WILL find them."

"I KNOW that." A pause, then, "What if something happened to them?" Her mind raced as she pulled out of the embrace, one hand on her forehead. "They're with Strange…" she continued to cry, more now. "They have no idea what he is, that MONSTER." She backed away from Natasha and Steve, seeming uneasy. "I'll, uhm.. I'll see you on the jet." With that, she hurried away from them, back into Tony's room.

Once back, V locked the door behind her, and turned around. She closed her eyes, almost unable to look at anything in here, but she couldn't leave. Not now. She moved to lay on the bed, her finger tracing the wooden corner of Tony's nightstand as she lay there.

A knock on the door sent V bolt upright, she guessed she'd fallen asleep. When she saw Pietro standing in the doorway, she just stared at him, guessing he'd somehow opened the door despite the lock. He seemed nervous, bashful. This made V want to guilt him even more, but she wouldn't. No matter how tough she tried to be, she was never tough enough. She would never hurt anyone she cared about, and she didn't think she'd ever put them in deliberate danger unless she knew for certain that they'd be fine. If she needed to sacrifice herself to save one of these people, she would, despite any issues in the past.

As she braced herself, he started walking toward her.

"Can I help you?" She asked, confused.

"The Captain seems to think you and I made a good team." Pietro's voice was low and angry.

"I wouldn't have guessed. I don't usually work with shallow unknown clowns."

"What?"

V grinned at her joke's effect. He was a clown for hating her just because of her last name. It was better because calling him a clown wasn't enough, that he was a clown no one knew about.

"Nothing. Just.. What's your point?"

Pietro sighed. "He's ordered that we stay together on this entire trip."

"Okay.." She waited for more, but nothing came. "Is this what you want to do?"

"I don't know."

That was funny. He was always so quick to know what he wanted, even in the days before the airport fight. She wondered if he was beginning to see sense, that it was stupid to be so upset with her over a parentage that she couldn't control.

"Why are you in here?" He asked innocently.

V shook her head. "No. No, you don't get to do that. You don't get to just care all of a sudden."

"Fine, don't tell me." He looked as he sounded, completely fine with this. V knew he couldn't be.

"You can't be. Not after all that the other day and then just earlier."

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"It seems you don't know me like you thought you did." He snipped. "Why is that?"

"I don't know."

He was in front of her, just inches away. "Liar." His entire demeanor changed. Instead of his gentle, masculine, and protective approach, he now seemed more like an attacker than a protector.

"I swear to you on my father's life, I don't know!" She started, her voice growing louder as she continued, "I don't know why anything is happening! I don't know why my dad's gone, I don't know why Strange came back, and I sure as HELL don't know why I can't feel you!" That seemed to make him get a grip. Pietro's eyes softened and his brow knitted.

"What do you mean, you can't feel me?" He wasn't angry anymore, that V could tell.

"I just can't. I know what everyone else is feeling except you."

"And you have no idea why? Seriously?"

V was confused at his new tone. "How could I? I've never seen anything like this before."

"V, what is one thing I've done that no other person ever has done?" She shrugged, hiding her fear. "I died. V I died and came back."

"Why does it matter to you anyway?" She fired back.

"Because it does!" His voice boomed. He collected himself again. "You have no idea how much it matters."

"Then tell me! I'm right here! I'm listening!"

"But you're a STARK!"

"Why does that matter so much to you anymore? Wanda's completely fine with it, she still talks to me! She still talks to him and to Pepper and Morgan."

"She had time to adjust, I didn't! I was alone in some bunker in the middle of nowhere for YEARS!" That made V stop short.

"What?"

"They didn't tell you where they found me, did they? How I rose from the dead?" She shook her head. "Of course not." He waved it off.

"Pietro, what happened?"

He turned her question back on her. "Why do you care?"

"Because I just do. I care about you. After you left without so much as a goodbye? You don't think that hurt a little bit? And then for you to come back, after three years and just hated me out of nowhere?"

"I don't hate you."

"Really? Because you could've fooled me."

"I lo-" He stopped.

"You what? Loathe me?" She almost hissed at him.

Pietro sighed. "No, I don't loathe you."

"Let me ask you this; you liked me in a more-than-friends way three years ago, right? What's keeping you away now? Why is it so bad that I'm a Stark?"

"That's not why I'm here. The Captain sent me to get you so we can leave. Your stuff is already packed and loaded." He hurried out of the room.

V sighed where she stood, looking around Tony's room. She let out a shaky breath, then followed slowly to the hangar and joined the group in the Quinjet.