A/N: Italicized text can represent several things (dialogue in another language, inner thoughts, flashbacks, etc.) please be aware of this and the context to better understand what is happening!


August

Natasha and Odette kept to their words.

The former worked with the federal Government, setting up waystations for children that had to suddenly move in with distant family members, amassing funds so that older children (teens, really) left orphaned didn't lose their homes, and creating a task force that would serve as caretakers for kids on the move.

The latter worked with the federal Government and Natasha's agency to compile a comprehensive list of people who were Vanished in The Snap. It was mentally taxing, reading the names of everyone who was gone. Seeing friends and strangers alike as a name, a piece of data. It nearly stripped them of their humanity. "What I wouldn't give to have Sam here." Odette pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Ladies," Steve walked into the meeting room, looking down at his tablet, "Any reason why The Accords are trending online?"

Natasha and Odette slowly turned to each other. "Nope, she is just as confused as I am." Odette realized when Natasha's eyebrows shot up and her lips pursed in confusion. Odette shook her head and turned back to Steve, "No?"

Just then, Brooke walked by with a bowl of chips, leaving the kitchen behind as she crossed the space towards the living quarters. "Brooke?" Steve called, making the young girl freeze, "Come here."

Brooke sighed, but she turned on her heel and obliged. "Yes?" She asked, setting her bowl of chips down. Natasha absentmindedly reached for some.

"Why are The Accords trending?" Steve asked, setting his tablet down on the table and resting one of his hands on his hips.

"I don't keep track of the whole internet, Steve." Brooke deadpanned.

"M&Ms and Lays?" Natasha quirked an eyebrow up.

"I don't judge you for your food habits, miss hot-sauce-and-syrup-on-eggs." Brooke was quick to respond, dragging her bowl closer to her.

"Focus." Steve snapped his fingers in her face.

"Do you know, or do you not?" Odette asked, really hoping the conversation would not be dragged out any further so she could get back to work. She and Nat had families to connect and people to track down.

Brooke turned back to Steve, her eye twitching, "Okay, so maybe I know why it's trending."

"Spit it out, kiddo. It'll be easier on us all if you do." Natasha sat back in her seat.

Brooke sighed, "I might have leaked the fine print of the Accords and annotated each article within on what human rights they violate."

The three Avengers went quiet.

So quiet they could have heard a pin drop from the far side of the campus.

"You did what?" Odette asked, breaking that silence.

Brooke sighed and rolled her eyes, clearly hoping that they would have simply dropped the conversation at that as well, "So, maybe I didn't read it through thoroughly the first time," her jaw was tight as she spoke, "maybe the political language of it all just confused me and I was being mad and petty and nasty and," she threw her hands up in defeat, "and I signed to be mad and petty and nasty at y'all."

"Maybe I should have asked, 'why did you do that?' instead." Odette interrupted.

Brooke sighed. She picked up Steve's tablet and swiped through it, "You really need to learn how to close tabs," she muttered under her breath as she pushed a projection out into the room.

It was an article, posted not long after their live stream last month.

Should Captain America and The Black Swann be forced to sign The Accords? Revisited

Odette shook her head with a deep sigh. Civilians could be so exhausting.

"They want you guys to stop working. And they want Nebula, Rocket, and Carol to sign as well and anchor them to Earth." Brooke explained, "Said that if they decided to 'stick their noses' in Earth's business that they should obey 'Earth's Rules'." she put the last words in air quotes.

"They want an alien and a raccoon to sign the Accords?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah! Exactly!" Brooke exclaimed, "It's stupid! So, I went through, detangled all of Ross's legal jargon, hyperlinked the human rights page—did you know there are thirty basic human rights? Pietro...taught me that…" Brooke trailed off at the mention of the speedster. She took a breath, "Anyways, so," she quickly breezed over his mentioning, even if Odette could see the tears in her eyes, "I hyperlinked the human rights page to every violation Ross was making annnnd leaked the documents online."

For a moment, none of them said anything. Then, Steve chuckled, "You couldn't have done this a few years ago?" he asked, jokingly.

Thankfully, Brooke understood he was joking and she laid his tablet back down on the table, "Was kinda busy being mad and petty and nasty, and then busy running from the law."

"And getting pregnant." Natasha added.

"That was an accident." Brooke pointed out, "Speaking of the little speedy spawn," She turned to Odette, "Doctor Carter was wondering if you would be her hands for my virtual check up again?"

Odette blinked in shock, "Oh, uh," she turned to Natasha, "we have a lot of work to do…" She frowned.

However, Natasha gave a half shrug as if to say, 'up to you'.

So, she turned back to Brooke and nodded, "Alright, sure. When?"

Brooke looked down at her watch, "Uhhh, about twenty minutes?"

Odette nodded, "Anything new we need to set up this check up?" Brooke shook her head. "Okay, I'll meet you in the clinic." She waited until Brooke had left with her bowl of chips and candy before she let out a heavy sigh.

"We need to find a safe local doctor." Odette sighed, "Or Brooke is going to have one hell of a pregnancy."

"She'll be fine so long as we're here." Steve reassured her.

Still, Odette couldn't help but feel sick as she entered the clinic twenty minutes later. Brooke was already on video call with Dr. Linda Carter, running through the normal check up questions as they waited.

Linda Carter was a name Odette found in the files left behind when most of The Avengers campus staff was Vanished. She apparently specialized in covert superhero health care. And she came highly recommended, according to the file. The only drawback was she was in Massachusetts, and Odette wasn't willing to risk teleporting Brooke there and possibly expose her to other germs or bacteria in Dr. Carter's clinic. Of course, when Dr. Carter realized who was calling, she immediately agreed to help—even if it had been several years since her rotations had taken her through OB training—and had walked Brooke and Odette through what Brooke could expect to happen to her, her body, and her growing baby between their first 'visit' a month ago and this visit.

"I see you've sent over your weight tracking," Linda spoke with an air of distraction as her eyes scanned a second screen that they could not see, "everything looks to be okay there. How are you today, Doctor Swann?" She smiled politely as she turned back to the camera.

"I'm fine," Odette lied through her teeth, "How are you?" It seemed foolish to ask that question nowadays, no one was doing okay—half the world had vanished!

"I'm well, thank you for asking." Linda answered, "So, we're just going to do the same thing we did last time, so we will need a blood and urine sample."

"Got your cup of pee already packaged." Brooke kept her arms crossed over her chest.

"So, Doctor Swann, if you would not mind drawing a sample," Linda instructed.

"Try not to destroy the clinic this time." Odette tried to tease her niece, but her dry and exhausted tone made it sound more like she was scolding the young woman. She turned to the sink—the same one she'd previously slipped from—and washed her hands.

"I don't like needles." Was all Brooke said as she turned her head away from her outstretched arm. That was understandable. After being tortured and injected with raw energy from an Infinity Stone, it was natural to have an aversion to needles.

Odette put on a pair of gloves. She was careful when drawing blood, and she made sure not to speak or make any unwarranted movements so Brooke would not psych herself out.

Dr. Carter kept Brooke occupied, asking her questions and answering the ones Brooke had in return.

"How's the morning sickness?"

"Awful. I feel nauseous all the time." Brooke griped, "does that go away?"

"For most women, yes. Typically by the end of your first trimester, the sickness will ease up or go away entirely. But, some women have experienced it throughout the entirety of their pregnancy." Dr. Carter answered. "I know you said you feel nauseous, but have you experienced any food cravings or aversions?"

"Done." Odette informed Brooke quietly. She took off her gloves and discarded them.

Brooke rubbed her arm absentmindedly as she thought, "I mean, I guess I developed an aversion to red meat." Just saying so made her grimace and go green around the gills, "and, I wouldn't say it's a strong craving because I've always liked this combo, but the only foods that don't upset my stomach are salty and sweet things."

"We'll need to make sure you eat those in moderation, okay?" Dr. Carter looked to Odette, "fruits and veggies are a must, whole-grains are good. I hope you've been off of coffee like I said."

"Yes," Brooke groaned, "I stopped drinking it."

"Good. Now, did you wish to do that viability check today?" Dr. Carter asked.

"Does that mean I have to have that awful goop on me?" Brooke quickly laid her hand on her little bump.

"Yes." Dr. Carter chuckled.

Brooke turned to Odette, "Do you care?"

"It's your baby." Odette answered before she could stop herself. She took a breath, "What I mean to say is, if you want to know more, I will stay. If you feel done for the day, we can go."

Brooke looked exhausted, but she sighed and nodded, "Yeah...Yeah I guess we'll do that too."

Odette left Brooke sitting on the bed in front of the camera and went into the supply closet. A mysterious donor—Tony, because who else would it have been—had sent a bunch of equipment the clinic would need to help Brooke through her pregnancy. "And that man just can't stop himself from spoiling Brooke." She thought as she followed Brooke's instructions on how to hook the machine up to the computer so Dr. Carter could see the screen on the ultrasound machine as well. Once that was done, she grabbed a fresh pair of gloves and slipped those on.

Brooke awkwardly laid back on the bed and lifted her shirt just enough for Odette to squeeze the ultrasound gel onto her small, but growing belly. "I hate this." Brooke mumbled under her breath.

"It's all a part of the miracle of growing a human." Dr. Carter said jokingly.

Odette rubbed the gel around Brooke's stomach, "How do you think I feel?" She wanted to ask, "I was trained to treat traumatic wounds, not babies." But she knew how awful Brooke felt already about being pregnant and causing a disruption to their lives as Avengers, so she kept her comments to herself.

"How's it going?" They both turned back as Steve poked his head in.

"God, please, just give me peace." Brooke whined, her cheeks glowing red as she tried to bury her head into her pillow.

"We're about to do a viability test." Odette answered.

"Want me to go?" Steve asked. Odette felt a little bad for her friend. Steve had been trying his best to remain respectful of Brooke's privacy and other needs during this stressful time, but it was clear he was in over his head when it came to women and pregnancies and all the things that went along with it. Still, underneath all of his awkward attempts to keep things feeling normal, it was plain to see that he was just feeling protective and wanted Brooke to remain healthy and safe.

"No," Brooke sighed, "it's fine." And that was all the invite Steve needed before he stepped into the clinic and crossed the room towards them.

"Dr. Carter."

"Captain Rogers." Dr. Carter smiled, then she turned to Odette, "whenever you're ready."

Odette picked up the ultrasound transducer and laid it on Brooke's jellied stomach. It took a second for the image to come through on the machine, and then a few more seconds before Odette stopped moving the transponder around.

"Whoa." Brooke voiced Odette's own thoughts.

What was once a small dark hole now had an actual form curled up inside of it. It looked like a little wrinkly peanut.

"Is that..?" Steve asked. Odette nodded.

"Yup, there they are." Dr. Carter beamed, "Your little baby."

Odette glanced at Brooke out of the corner of her eye.

Up until now, Brooke seemed to have been in denial about the whole situation. But now, seeing the little bean proved to her several things; that Pietro had existed, that she had a piece of him within her, and that she was going to bring new life into a world that had just lost half of its population.

"Well, the possible good news is that it isn't twins." Dr. Carter said, and Brooke let out a deep sigh of relief. "And, it seems to be developing inside the uterus as is normal." Dr. Carter read something on her other screen, likely where the data from the ultrasound machine was displayed, "heartbeat seems strong. That's good." She smiled as she continued to scan the data, "everything seems to be going along smoothly."

"Thank God." Brooke sighed.

"Alright," Dr. Carter smiled, "Once I get the samples from you guys, I'll run some tests just to verify that everything is indeed okay, and then we'll meet again next month. Sound good?" She asked Brooke.

"Hm? Oh yeah." Brooke nodded absentmindedly. She turned to Steve, "there are wet wipes in the storage closet, can you grab some?"

Steve nodded and left, allowing Brooke and Dr. Carter to finish talking and Odette to finish cleaning and packing things up.


September

"Clint's ankle monitor went offline," Rhodey reported at the next meeting. "Agents were sent to his farm, but no one was home." Rhodey, Carol, Nebula and Rocket, and Okoye had called in as separate projections in the meeting.

"That doesn't surprise me," Odette mumbled, her chin resting in her hand, "The rest of his family was reported as missing."

"Well then, why isn't he here?" Steve asked.

"Clint doesn't always know when to call for help. He's probably off somewhere blowing off steam." Natasha pointed out, leaning back in her chair to cross her arms, "Keep us updated if you hear anything?" She asked.

"Will do." Rhodey obliged.

"How're things on your end, Danvers?" Natasha asked.

"Quiet. And not the good kind." She answered honestly, with a slight grimace, "people everywhere are in a panic."

Some people are starting massive wars over the sudden change in population

Why would they do that?

Life wasn't equally cut in half.

Odette's eyes narrowed slightly. Carol was likely keeping this between them to keep the rest of the Avengers on Earth. No point in dragging themselves ragged across the galaxy.

"Same on our end of space." Rocket said he and Nebula nodded in agreement.

"Battles are warming up, no one can agree if what Thanos did was a blessing or a curse." Nebula added.

"What, like some people are grateful for what happened?" Rhodey asked.

Grateful for the opportunity to kill their enemies while they're down.

I think the saying is 'kick them while they're down'.

Same thing.

Odette resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Yes." Nebula answered plainly.

"Okoye?" Odette spoke up, "How is Wakanda?"

Okoye looked as exhausted as the rest of them, and broke out of her thoughts as she was addressed, "The queen mother has resumed her role as Queen of Wakanda, we are," she took a breath, "slowly recovering."

Recovering.

The word caught Odette like a deer in headlights. She tuned out the rest of the meeting, absentmindedly tapping her pen on the table as the—for lack of a better word—team discussed plans for when they would meet next.

How could she even return to 'normal' after all she'd been through?

She'd lost Bucky—

Again!

And just like the last time she'd lost him, there was no body. There was nothing physical she could use to tether his memory to the Earth—aside from his dog tags, but Odette would rather die than take them off her neck.

Whatcha thinking about?

How can people possibly be recovering already…

Haven't you?

On the video feed, Carol tilted her head.

No.

The two shared a concerned look.

Too many memories?

I keep myself busy. I block them out.

Nothing good comes from blocked memories. Trust me.

Trust me. I know. I just wish there was something I could do for everyone.

Hard to help everyone.

I know...

And then, as the rest of the team hung up the call, Odette had a thought, "We could make a memorial…"

She wordlessly left Steve and Natasha in the meeting room once everyone had left, heading straight to her office where a growing list of people was continuously scrolling across her screen. She sat behind her desk and immediately got to work drafting up emails. She kept a notepad and pen nearby to keep track of who she had to email and what she had to do to get this to work.

"And not just for The Avengers," Odette thought as she looked at the constantly growing list, "For everyone."

It would take a lot of work, but work was what kept her mind off of everything. So much of her life was teetering on the edge of pure madness, she needed some semblance of control. And if that meant pushing off her grieving process to help others along with theirs, so be it. People didn't have bodies to bury, ashes to cling to, a place to reflect and remember. There needed to be some closure, and Odette was going to make sure they got it.

"Doctor Swann, Agent Romanoff would like me to remind you that dinner will be ready in twenty minutes." Friday advised her.

"Mhm." Odette hummed in response, a pen between her lips as her fingers furiously tapped across her keyboard.

She'd been working in silence for hours, unbothered by the three other tenants of the living quarters. In the back of her mind, Odette could feel the weight of their empty campus on her shoulders, but it only pushed her deeper into her work.

"If you had any more pens in your head you'd get ink poisoning."

Odette's eyes moved up, spotting Steve through the clear screen of her computer. He was standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. She blinked, focusing on her own reflection. She had a pen between her lips, two in her hair (which was tied back in a bun at the base of her skull), and one behind her ear. She also had three pens in her hand, one she was actually using, and two she somehow grabbed but was just holding for some reason. She sighed, realizing just how deep she had been in her work now that it had been interrupted.

She reached up and pulled the pen out of her mouth, "Isn't that a myth to get kids to stop drawing on themselves?" She asked.

"Is it?" Steve raised an eyebrow. Before she could answer he made a pointed look down at her desk, "What're you doing?"

Odette took a breath, "I was planning on using the data we collected on the people lost to construct a memorial."

"A memorial." Steve repeated, nodding as he looked down. He glanced back up at her, "You really don't think there's anyway to get them back, do you?"

Odette crossed her arms on her desk, and frowned, "I don't know, but I can't just sit anymore and ruminate on it...I have to keep my mind busy somehow...and besides," she huffed, blowing a loose curl out of her face, "I know how it feels to have nothing to hold on to." She instantly knew Steve was thinking back to their conversation a month ago, "It's not your fault." She reminded him quietly.

"You keep saying that," Steve frowned, "that doesn't make it true."

Odette sighed. She so did not want to have this discussion again, "Steve—,"

"But," He said, cutting her off, "Now don't get mad."

Odette looked at him curiously, "Okay," she cautiously dragged out the word, "I won't."

"I'm glad it wasn't you." Steve admitted.

Odette couldn't stop the tightening in her chest, nor the fluttering in her stomach as Steve watched her process his words. "Stop that." She told herself.

"Dinner is in fifteen, by the way." Steve said, suddenly taking his leave with a bow of his head.

Part of Odette wanted to isolate herself in her work. But, begrudgingly, Odette ceased her work for the evening and joined her three companions in the dining room for dinner.

Neither she nor Steve brought up their conversation—it wasn't meant for Natasha or Brooke regardless—but they wouldn't have been able to anyways. Most nights their dinner subjects veered away from everything happening in the world and the work they had to do. It was Natasha's rule.

She decided they dealt with enough of the bullshit from outside for the first three quarters of the day, the last few hours belonged to them and whatever they wanted to do.

But, if Odette was being honest, she figured it was just because Natasha needed a nice distraction from everything and she was probably the most excited for Brooke's little baby. Whenever Odette was too wrapped up in her work—today for example—Natasha took over the role of caregiver (even though Brooke swore up and down that she was fine aside from her morning sickness). Natasha was reading up on everything she possibly could, going into conversations at length with Brooke about what to expect. Out of all of them, Natasha probably had the most experience with kids, often using her downtime to visit Clint and his family.

Odette's jaw tightened.

Clint's entire family had been Snapped. No one could get in contact with him. "I just hope he is okay…" Odette thought with a frown. Clint could take care of himself just fine, but that didn't stop Odette from worrying about him.

After dinner, Steve and Odette cleaned the kitchen in silence.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked as he handed her a wet plate.

Odette absentmindedly took it, wiping it dry with the rag she had. "Hmm?" She hummed in response, slowly pulling out of her own mind.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Steve asked, turning so he could tap his soapy finger twice on her forehead. "You were quiet all of dinner."

Odette wiped the soap away and carefully laid the dry plate in the open cabinet before her. "Just thinking," she sighed heavily, "about Clint and his family."

Steve frowned. "Makes you wonder who else lost their families."

"What?" Odette asked, her heart skipping in her chest.

"Didn't Sam have a sister?" Steve asked, "Does she know? Is she alive?"

Odette nearly dropped the glass she was holding. "Oh my God…" she hadn't even considered that! This whole time she'd been focusing on the Avengers, their own personal loss, and the loss of half of the planet! She hadn't even considered the families the Avengers had left behind. "Sam had a sister! Scott had a daughter!" And who knew who else was gone? Did Peter have a family? What about Maria or Nick? "I can't believe…" Odette gripped the edge of the counter tightly, unsure if she wanted to rip it up or slam her forehead into it. The campus was empty because people left to find their loved ones, and Odette didn't even consider the family members of her own team!

"I have to get back to work." Odette blurted out, quickly finishing the last dish before she darted back to her office.

She locked herself in her office, pouring over any data she could find on her former teammates.

Odette remembered very little about what Sam had ever said about his sister, Sarah. Just that she'd stayed home to help with the family business, whatever that happened to be. It took some digging through Sam's personal file to find next of kin and contact information, but she was able to find it on her own. She copied the information down.

Peter had an Aunt, but she'd been registered as a Vanished within the first week of Odette opening up her database. He had no other family listed, which made Odette's heart ache for the young hero. "Does Brooke know?" She wondered. In the brief moments they had interacted, that Odette had witnessed, Brooke had seemed protective of Peter. "Plus, they're both kids who got special treatment from Tony." Odette hadn't forgotten the way Tony hugged Brooke upon his return to Earth. Disappointed, Odette made a copy of Peter and his Aunt's information for safekeeping.

Fury's file didn't have much in the way of his personal life. She knew he had a mother, but his file did not say if she was alive or dead, only that she existed. "Leave it to Fury to make things more difficult than they need to be." Odette grumbled as she scrolled through the many pages of redacted information.

Maria's file was somehow emptier than Fury's. Hardly anything existed of Maria prior to her joining S.H.I.E.L.D. "Friday, any reason Maria's file is so empty?" Odette mused out loud.

Friday took over her screen shuffling through available data until she extracted a note from Fury's file.

"It seems it was at the request of Agent Hill." Friday said.

"Agent Hill has requested all personal data be expunged from file."

The date included with the note was back from twenty-fourteen, just days after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Odette sighed, hoping Scott wouldn't be a dead end like the previous three had been.

And, because it was just her luck, Scott's information was a harder to find. He had someone named "Cassie" as his next of kin, but his emergency contact information was all rerouted to "Hank Pym" and "Hope Van Dyne".

"But Pym and Van Dyne were on the list of Vanished." Odette frowned, remembering their names on the list of other victims. She sat back and chewed on her pen for a moment, going over her options.

"Friday?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Is there any way you can find Scott Lang's prior resumes? Any with a contact list where the person's name is not on our database of Vanished?" Odette asked, it was a long shot, but so was Scott himself.

"Give me one moment." Friday requested. Two databases popped up on Odette's computer. One rifled through various accumulations of government paperwork attributed to Scott's name. The other pulled names from Scott's paperwork and compared them to the list of Vanished.

"Two names come up repeatedly." Friday informed Odette as she rifled through the mess.

"Who are they?" Odette asked.

"Luis Peña, and Margaret Lang." Friday answered.

"Margaret Lang." Odette blurted out, "She's gotta be the connection between Scott and Cassie." She thought. "Pull up everything you can on Margaret."

It took a second on Friday's part, but she managed to pull up a public record of Margaret, "Margaret Lang is Scott's ex-wife. She remarried a man named James Paxton." Odette sighed, feeling as though she'd hit a dead end with Scott until Friday said, "But, before they divorced they had a daughter, Cassandra Lang."

"Cassie?" Odette asked, sitting back up.

"That would be short for Cassandra, ma'am." Friday answered.

Odette deadpanned, "But, Cassie lives with Margaret, right?"

"Correct." Friday answered.

"I need contact information—thank you." Friday had Margaret's contact information pulled up before Odette could finish her request.

Odette looked at the clock in the lower right corner of her screen. It was only six in the evening where Sarah lived, and four in the afternoon where Margaret lived. "I've got time." She reassured herself as she reached for her phone.

She pulled her notepad over and copied Sarah's number into her phone. She hit 'call' with only a seconds' hesitation.

The phone rang.

And rang.

And rang.

And—

"Hello?" A mature woman's voice came through.

"Hi," Odette suddenly felt very aware that she was absolutely breaching an unspoken Avengers rule. Her chest tightened. "Is this Sarah Wilson?"

"This is she...who, may I ask, is calling?" Sarah answered cautiously.

Odette chewed on her lip for a moment before answering, "My name is Odette Swann...I worked with your brother, Sam."

Sarah was silent.

Odette turned around in her chair to look at the many pictures on the shelves behind her. She found one of her, Steve, and Sam at an Avengers party back in the city. His smile broke her heart.

"Sarah?" Odette called out, realizing neither of them had spoken since she'd introduced herself.

"I was hoping beyond hope," Sarah's voice was little more than a whisper, "That his name had been put on your list by mistake."

Odette suddenly felt very hot and ashamed for reaching out, but she powered through her feelings, "I'm...I'm very sorry you had to find out that way."

Sarah sighed heavily, "Life of a superhero, I guess. Whole world gets to know everything, but the family back home stays in the dark."

Odette's mouth was dry and her throat was tight...was this how her parents felt when she'd gone missing? When she'd been assumed dead? She hadn't asked Clara, and Clara hadn't said… And before she could stop herself, Odette said, "If you'd like, we have some of Sam's things...We could arrange a trip—,"

"Ms. Swann," Sarah sounded exhausted, so Odette didn't correct her, "I got two kids and a business to take care of, I can't just up and leave for New York."

"No, I understand." Odette was quick to reassure her, spinning back around to rest her elbows on her desk. Sam had never mentioned his sister having kids. Odette's heart broke even more for the Wilson family. "But, perhaps I could bring anything you'd like to you? And," and again, her mouth spoke before her head could have a say in what came out, "And if it's help you need, please, let us know. Sam was," okay, ouch, referring to Sam in the past tense made it all too real that he was gone, "Sam was an amazing and trusted member of our team." Odette's eyes burned with tears as she recalled their time together, "I don't want you to feel as though we don't care about his life and family…"

"I don't need your pity." Sarah was quick to say.

"No, that's not," Odette sighed, reaching one hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, "If Sam were here, he'd have a better way of putting this…"

For a moment, the line was silent. "One of his little sayings." Sarah agreed quietly.

"Yes," Odette said with a sad laugh, "One of his fortune cookie sayings."

Sarah laughed quietly. Then she sighed. "I don't know Ms. Swann—,"

"Please," Odette's throat felt tight, "Sam was like family to me, too. Call me Odette."

Sarah was quiet for a moment, "Odette...I don't know about you coming here...like I said I got two kids and a business…"

"It doesn't have to be tomorrow." Odette desperately wanted to make sure Sarah knew that Odette would be there for her, "It can be whenever you're ready." Sarah was all that was left of Sam.

Again, Sarah was quiet. "I'll...I'll think about it...Odette." Odette sighed with relief. "Thank you for reaching out…"

"Like I said, if you need help with anything—and I do mean anything—I'm a call away." Odette reassured her. "And, again, I'm so sorry you had to find out about Sam through our database."

"I get it...busy life and all." Sarah was quiet.

"We'll do better," Odette promised, "For all of them."

"Yeah…" A noise that sounded like a toddler whining interrupted Sarah, "I gotta go…"

"Good night, Sarah." Odette wished her.

"G'night, Odette." Sarah sounded like she had one less weight on her shoulders as she said goodbye.

And the line went dead.

Odette made a note on her notepad to personally check in with Sarah every two weeks. Then she flipped to Scott's information on her notes and dialed up the last known number of Margaret Lang.

The phone rang.

And rang.

And rang.

And continued to ring.

And just when Odette was worried no one would pick up—, "What if they were all Vanished? No, no, no, I need to know what happened to Cassie. I should just teleport—,"

"This is Paxton." A man's voice answered.

Odette froze, not expecting Margaret's new husband to answer, "Oh." She breathed out without meaning to.

"Half the world's gone and I still get spam calls," Paxton grunted under his breath.

"No!" Odette was quick to defend, "I'm sorry, I'm looking for Margaret? Margaret Lang?"

"Who is this?" Paxton asked.

"My name is Odette Swann. I worked with Scott Lang." Odette answered.

Paxton was quiet for a moment, in the background she could hear a woman speaking. "It's The Black Swann...says she worked with Scott...are you sure?" Odette nervously rubbed her thumb and forefinger together, waiting to hear a response from them.

"Hello?" An exhausted woman's voice came over the phone.

"Margaret?" Odette asked.

"Maggie's fine, you said you worked with Scott?" Maggie sniffed. It was clear she'd been crying recently.

"I did." Odette confirmed.

"So you're one of the ones who left him in prison?" Maggie asked.

Odette frowned, "I…"

"You know, he spoke about you guys a lot." Maggie said. "Told Cassie all about your little team."

"Actually," Odette cut her off before she could go on, "Cassie is why I'm calling."

Maggie pulled away and said something to her husband that Odette couldn't make out. When she came back to the line she said, "Why are you calling about Cassie?"

"I'm calling to make sure she's okay." Odette explained. When Maggie didn't say anything, she carried on, "We lost a lot of good team members...Scott included. He stood up for us when no one else would. He sacrificed a lot to help us." Odette suddenly felt very, very bad about how she'd judged the enthusiastic man. "I just want to make sure his family is taken care of."

Maggie was silent for a moment, "You—you really mean that?" She asked, her voice breaking as it got caught in her throat.

"Yes." Odette answered quickly. Maggie was taking deep breaths, clearly trying to calm herself down. "I know what it means to lose someone that means the world to me." She added quietly.

"I'm sure." Maggie practically cried over the phone, "I mean, you're a superhero for goodness sake." She let out a sad laugh. "I just...I never expected...I never thought that you guys actually cared...none of you ever visited Scott and," Paxton said something Odette couldn't make out and Maggie quickly said, "You're right. You're right. They were all in trouble. Okay…"

Odette licked her lips nervously, this would be a long shot, but—, "Is there any way I can talk to Cassie right now?"

"Right now?" Maggie asked. She was quiet, muffled. She'd put her hand over the receiver of her phone. "Why?" Maggie finally asked.

"I want to reassure her of something." Odette explained.

Maggie was quiet again, "I'll go get her." There were several noises in the background indicative of Maggie moving throughout her house, "Cas? Cassie, sweetie...there's a friend of your dad's on the phone...do you wanna speak with her?"

There was more shuffling, and then, a tired, sad, little voice croaked over the line, "Hello?"

Odette quickly put on a soft, gentle voice, "Hi, is this Cassie Lang?"

There was a sniffle, "Yeah."

"Hi, Cassie. My name is Odette. I worked with your father, Scott." Odette said gently as she could. "How are you doing?"

"Good." Cassie lied, likely out of courtesy on behalf of Odette being a stranger.

"Cassie," Odette was soft with her, "It's okay to not be okay. And you're not okay, are you?"

Cassie sniffed again, "I miss my daddy." She said in a voice that broke Odette's heart. She wished she could teleport there and scoop the little girl up in her arms.

"Well, Cassie," Odette forced herself to say, "I wanted to call and tell you how much of a hero your daddy was." She mimicked Cassie's language, "He was my hero." Bit of a stretch—okay, so a total stretch, but this was something Cassie needed.

"He was?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah." Odette nodded, "Your daddy really helped me and my friends out a few years ago. He helped me prove that my friend was innocent of a crime he didn't commit."

Cassie let out a breathy sound, "Daddy was good at that."

"I'm sure he was, sweetie." Odette smiled. "And Cassie?"

Another sniffle, "Yeah?"

"Your daddy loved you so much." Odette emphasized every word so Cassie would understand her, "He would have done anything to protect you, you know that, don't you?"

Cassie was quiet for a moment, "Yeah. I do." She said quietly.

"He was so proud of you, and so proud to be your father." If Scott staying behind on the Raft was any indication of how much he was willing to do to be with her, Odette knew her words were true. "If you need anything at all, Cassie, you call me, okay?"

"Okay." Cassie said.

"Can you hand the phone back to your mother for me, Cassie?" Odette requested.

"Okay." Cassie obliged.

"Take care, sweetie." Odette called as the phone was being shuffled around once more.

"Hello?" Maggie answered.

"Maggie, like I told Cassie, if you or your family needs anything, please," Odette pleaded, "Do not hesitate to reach out to me." She swallowed, her mouth dry, she hadn't spoken this much since their news conference last month, "The Avengers are like my family, and by extension, that graciousness extends to you and Cassie."

"Th-thank you, so mucth." Maggie sounded on the verge of tears.

"I'm so sorry this is how we have to meet, I wish it could have been under better circumstances," Odette sighed, "But, please, don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you." Maggie choked out.

"Okay, I've got to go now, Maggie." Odette glanced at her clock, she'd been on the phone for nearly an hour, "Take care."

"Y-you, too." Maggie answered, "Have a nice day."

They said their goodbyes and then Odette was left alone in her dark office.


Thank you to everyone who has already favorited/followed/reviewed!

Hey guys, three quick updates:

1) I will be out of town and without access to reliable internet for about a week, so there will be NO UPDATES NEXT WEEK (October 12th and October 14th). Updates will resume OCTOBER 19TH.

2) I finally got my placements for observations, so I start those October 18th and will be using my Thursday mornings to complete observations, so updates going forward will happen in the afternoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3) I am finally at a place where I am happy with the side story for Brooke (basically her POV as an Avenger) so, hopefully when I get back I can start posting her story. I really think you guys are gonna love it! When I start posting her story I will probably dial this story down to update once a week, that way I can keep up with two fanfics. So, keep an eye on that!

See you Tuesday the 19th!