Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one has paid me for a single character recognizable within this work as a part of an English language. No one should sue me for anything. Seriously, there would be absolutely no point.

Cassie is able to tell that whatever happened in Africa must have been bad all the way from her spot on the porch, and what's more is that she doesn't even need to advance her vision all that much to do it. Barton is in the lead of the group and has an arm around Natasha, supporting at least half of her body weight. Steve and Thor are flanking Bucky on either side, and the look in Bucky's eyes means Cassie doesn't need three guesses to approximate why. Banner is stumbling along at the back of the group, wrapped in a shock blanket with his shoulders hunched over so far he's lost about four inches of height.

It's going to take more than Cassie to try to get a handle on sorting this out so she leans her head back in to the house and calls out for Reyna who arrives a moment later from the kitchen rubbing her palms across her jeans to dry them. "Are they back?" she asks as she approaches from behind. Cassie turns to nod at her and Reyna must see the look on her face and read it quickly because her expression shifts. "How bad is it?"

The question is one that should be answered honestly before either of them dive in to this so Cassie takes a moment to look back at the approaching team before she answers. The part of her that is looking at her friends and boyfriend gets shoved in to a box so that each and every one of them can be judged with a medical eye. She catalogues Natasha's limp, the raised veins and muscles in Banner's neck and face, the bruises on Stark's face and the way some of his knuckles are swollen and purple. She notes the dull seriousness of Thor's expression, the scrapes on Barton's arms, and the singe marks on the material of Steve's uniform.

Her analysis complete she takes a deep even breath and lets it out slowly before answering Reyna. "Bad," she says. "It's really, really, bad Reyna. Maybe not so much physically, but psychologically... Gods whatever this is is a mess."

A look of extreme concern mixed with what Cassie thinks might actually be fear flies across Reyna's face for a single moment. Then she straightens her spine and the look is gone, replaced by an immovable expression of calm efficiency. This is the face Reyna used to wear when she led the legion and had to appear calm for her troops.

Cassie knows what this look means. She's not generally a promoter of emotional repression as a good idea or mental health strategy but there are times when you had to put up a wall to get things done. Cassie's wall is medical knowledge, viewpoints, and capability. Reyna's wall is her leadership skills.

Well hey, they're both kids abandoned by one parent, they've almost died multiple times pretty much every year since age eight, Reyna was forced to banish the ghost of her father and spent months trapped by pirates after living as a handmaiden to a powerful sorceress and Cassie scattered her mother's ashes all by herself shortly after accessing the powers of Mercury to "borrow" a boat in Florida. It's not like either of them was ever that emotionally healthy to begin with. A little more emotional repression isn't gonna kill them.

Probably.

At least if it does kill them it'll be a new and exciting way to go. It might be a fun explanation to give the panel of judges down in the underworld too. And people say she isn't an optimist.

Clint meets them at the top of the porch steps. He's still half-carrying Natasha and his exhaustion is obvious in the nod he gives them in acknowledgement of their presence as he steers them in to the house with the others following behind him. All of that exhaustion is immediately shrouded though as he calls out for Laura and the kids and is greeted by Lila's excited squeal of "Uncle Clint!" and the pattering of tiny feet.

Barton murmurs something to Natasha that sounds like "incoming". Natasha nods once in acknowledgement and ducks to the side, holding her weight almost imperceptibly farther to the least injured side of her body. Barton let's her go and leans down, opening his arms in one smooth motion to catch the little girl and boost her up off the ground. "Hey Sweetheart," he says gently as Lila giggles happily in to his shoulder and presses her palm along his face.

The image makes something ache distantly deep in Cassie's chest. Chiron was a great teacher and he practically raised her. The centaur had given her encouragement, advice, physical training, and positive reinforcement. He had set curfews, talked through bad dreams, made her eat protein when she didn't want to, taught her Greek and Latin and how to survive, he had even hugged her a few times...

But he had never been her father or uncle. Her father and uncles and all the rest of her family are gods who will live forever and never give her a hug like this one. They will never walk through the front door and pick her up as she giggles happily. She never got to be that little girl and never will be, and even though she's had a lifetime to get to the point where she can accept that reality and be okay with it, every once in a while the concept pops up like a punch in the gut.

"This is a specialized agent of some kind," Stark says, gesturing at Lila. "A super secret miniaturized agent armed with the power of giggling, and tiny pigtails. With a few authentically missing baby teeth."

Lila doesn't seem to notice Stark at all and for that the child wins Cassie's hearty approval if she didn't have it already. Instead, she looks up at Clint Barton with wide, imploring blue eyes. With a start Cassie realizes that Lila must have inherited them from Barton's brother. No matter how different they may have been in personality or how they chose to live their lives, the brothers must have had the same large dark blue eyes. "Did you bring Auntie Nat?"

That's when Natasha chooses to announce her presence by shifting in to Lila's line of sight. "Why don't you hug her and find out?" When she says it her voice is warmer and softer than Cassie has ever heard it be before and a wide and undeniably sweet smile spreads across her space as Lila practically launches herself out of Barton's arms and in to hers. Natasha catches her gamely just in time for Barton's arms to be free, allowing him to lean down and hug Cooper as the boy skids down the hall to him for a greeting.

Stark stares in astonishment as Barton ruffles the boy's hair affectionately and greets him. "That's a very slightly taller specialized mini-agent," he declares.

For the moment Barton follows the example set by his small niece and ignores Stark, instead looking between the two children. "Where's your mom and the baby?"

With the kind of impeccable timing normally only found in theatrical queues, Laura Barton picks that moment to enter the room with baby Nathaniel strapped to her chest in a baby carrier. "I'm here," she announces, giving Barton a careful hug around both of her sons before greeting Natasha. "Hey Nat."

"Hi Laura," Natasha greets warmly. She shifts Lila slightly to balance on her hip and leans down to get a better look at the baby. "How is my littlest nephew?" she asks.

At the question Laura grins, both down at her baby and at the rest of the world in general. Suddenly Cassie is sure that no matter what else Laura Barton might be, she is without a doubt a good mom, a mom who smiles like the sun and loves her kids more than anything else on the planet. "He's good," she answers. "He eats all the time and burps like a trucker."

Natasha very nearly coos at that as she reaches out and strokes two fingers over the downy brown fuzz of hair on the baby's head. "Awww... His Auntie Nat is so very proud of him."

A quiet clanky crushing sound makes Cassie look up to see Thor trying to be subtle as he nudges pieces of broken Lego to the side with a toe. Kid proof Lego may be, god proof it is not. Maybe god proof Lego is a project Leo can work on when he gets bored, and knowing Leo as she does, she feels safe saying that it really is just a question of when and not if.

"Agents, agents all of them," Stark is muttering.

Barton seems to realize that this is as good a moment as any to start making some introductions. "Gentlemen, this is my sister-in-law Laura, my nephews Cooper and Nathaniel, and niece Lila. Laura, kids, this is the rest of the team."

Laura turns to look at the team and gives them a small, tired, smile. "Hello. I do, of course, know who you all are. It's a pleasure to meet you in person."

Unsurprisingly, Steve is the one to step forwards and take point in this situation. Thor might have done a decent job at being nice and respectful in a situation like this but Earthly customs were still not his specialty. Steve on the other hand, simply dusts off the impeccable manners instilled in him some time during the thirties. "We're sorry to impose on you."

It's beautifully done for the circumstances so naturally Stark cuts right in and ruins the tone. "Yeah, sorry. We would have called ahead but we were busy not knowing that any of you guys existed."

Barton smiles placidly, displaying the patience of the sniper he is and sets Lila down carefully on the floor. "Yeah well, Fury helped me set this place up as a safe house when I first joined SHIELD. I fixed it up on and off for years in my down time. Then last year after the data dump a lot of the security things blocking information about these guys went FUBAR. My brother Barney had died about a month before so it turned in to the best place to keep Laura and the kids." He looked at each member of the group in turn. "This place is completely off the grid. I'd like to keep it that way."

At that moment the door opens and shuts and Calypso comes through, stopping when she sees the crowd already assembled there. Her cinnamon colored braid is messier than it was the last time Cassie saw it which probably means she's just gotten back from her trip around the property edge with Jason. "Oh," she pauses and then takes a further step in to speak. "I'm sorry I don't mean to crowd. I just wanted to say that Hazel and I just finished sealing up the borders around the property. We can still get out but we've done what we can to make sure nothing comes in."

"Thank you," Cassie says gratefully. "Guys, this is our friend Calypso. Calypso this is Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, James Barnes, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and Thor." She gestures to each of them in turn as she names them and everyone involves gives the socially required gestures of greeting and introduction.

Thor tips his head with interest. "I believe I have heard of you before Lady of Ogygia," he says formally. "My mother used to tell stories of a most remarkable garden you tended there. I believe she rather admired your skill before her passing." He gives a small, courtly bow. "I am honored to make your acquaintance."

Calypso handles the situation with the kind of grace only achievable for a person who has survived for longer than three millennia. She inclines her head in a regal gesture. "The honor is shared Lord Thor," she says. Then she redirects her focus to the group at large. "A small forge and loom have been constructed by Leo, Annabeth, and I in the back yard. Any damaged armor should be brought out there for repairs."

"Uh, what?" Laura asks, leaning around to look at Calypso. "Did you just say that there is a forge in my back yard? The one near the house where my children live and where they play? A forge with heavy objects and fire?"

Perhaps unfortunately, this is the moment when Leo swings through the door and appears at Calypso's shoulder. "Don't worry Mrs. B," he says with a grin that's probably supposed to be reassuring. Leo has a nice grin. It's one that can make you want to smile back or get in on the joke or ask what he's planning and back away slowly. What his grin is not, is reassuring. "We've screened the area and covered everything with fireproofing and Percy is hovering around with a hose. I promise the whole thing will be disassembled before we leave."

Laura doesn't look completely convinced but she nods as Leo introduces himself and gives her children quiet instructions to not go in to the backyard without an adult to watch them. Given the presence of fire, that's probably a good idea. Lila seems to take that instruction as an invitation to get to know the new people in the house and wanders her way over to Thor, examining his red cape and shiny armor with interest as Cooper intently follows the conversation Stark embarks on with Leo about the benefits and mechanics of being fireproof.

Internally, Cassie groans and remembers a time not so very long ago when she had made an important mental note to never ever let Stark and Leo meet each other. Well, best laid plans and everything. Actually, that proverb might be the actual summary of almost every plan she and her friends have ever made barring the ones that managed to save the world from annihilation by an ancient hostile force.

As she's thinking that, Thor abruptly turns away from Lila and leaves without explanation. Steve frowns and follows after him after a worried glance at Bucky. Cassie follows his eyes and runs a quick secondary assessment of the man. There's nothing physically wrong with him that she can see but his eyes... Gods his eyes just look... shattered. Yeah. Shattered is the word.

However, Reyna seems to have the situation handled. Cassie wishes she hadn't needed to view her friend and his mental state as a "situation". Hopefully in a day or in a week, all of this insanity will be over and she won't have to any more.

At any rate, Reyna has taken Bucky by the hand and seems to be leading him away from the drifting and chattering crowd, presumably to go somewhere quieter and less overwhelming sensorily. Bucky doesn't seem to be fighting her physically, but as Cassie watches Reyna reaches out to take his other hand, the metal one, he jerks back with a flinch. To her immense credit, Reyna seems to take it in stride and simply changes her grip to a two handed one on his flesh and blood arm as she continues to lead him away.

Lila has changed her attention to Dr. Banner and seems to be enjoying poking and tugging at his shock blanket. "Lila honey," Laura is saying. "Dr. Banner isn't feeling so well right now. Maybe we should let him get some rest in one of the spare rooms? Don't you think so?"

Those words make Lila look at Bruce with wide eyes, lip beginning to tremble very slightly and Cassie and Calypso both make moves to intervene. Surprisingly, Bruce beats them both to it and holds up a placating hand. "It's alright," he says. His voice is seems scraped raw but he swallows and tries again, looking down at Lila. "I get sick sometimes," he says softly. "It makes my head hurt. I'm not quite better yet."

Lila nods seriously and then tugs with the gentle earnestness only a child can manage on Bruce's dangling and oversized shirt sleeve. Banner is a good sport about it and sits on the couch as Lila indicates before the little girl wonders away. She returns a moment later and sticks a large fluorescent blue bandaid on his forehead. "Good," she says decisively. "It's better now."

Banner gives her a small smile and for a moment Cassie thinks it looks almost sad. "Thank you."

Cassie can't help but smile at the sight and turns away as Lila, encouraged by her success, climbs up beside Banner on the couch and begins to ask questions about his shock blanket. She can hear Banner patiently explaining how it works in the simplest terms possible as she turns to look at the rest of the room. Apparently, more of her friends are better with kids than she ever would have thought they might be. To back that up, Barton is taking a turn holding Nathaniel and Natasha is giving Cooper notes on a French homework translation.

The only team members now unaccounted for out of the Avengers team are Thor and her own boyfriend. Last she saw them they had both headed out in to the front yard and Cassie decides to go after them. She makes it outside just in time to see Thor spin his hammer and shoot up in to the sky. Cassie uses her enhanced vision to follow his progress and sees a faint ripple of the magic in the air as he breaches the newly established protective bubble around the property line. She's impressed. Whatever Hazel and Calypso did must be pretty damn strong if she can perceive it visually.

She hears Steve inhale sharply and blinks, pulling her vision back to normal as she looks at him. The look in his blue eyes is one of exhaustion, as though he's been using all his energy to juggle everyone else and keep everything together and is starting to worry that he won't be able to for much longer. Of course, Cassie's sure he can and will be able to keep going as long as he has to. The ability is part of what makes him such a capable leader, but that doesn't change the fact that the effort is fraying his nerves.

"So..." Cassie ventures after a long moment. "You haven't told me what happened but obviously it was a whole lot worse than just a fight. It has to have been because Natasha "I feel no pain" Romanov is limping, Thor just blasted out in to the stratosphere, Bucky looks one step better than catatonic, there are holes in your uniform, and I spent about an hour watching new footage of Tony and Bruce pummel each other on television. But my you know," she wiggles her fingers. "Healing mojo doesn't work on mind stuff which means that I don't know how to help you. So you have to tell me."

Steve has been just staring at her as she talks and has yet to break eye contact. In fact, Cassie's not even sure if he's blinked yet. "You," her voice breaks a little before she manages to keep going. "You need to tell me what you need and how to help you because Ultron isn't dealt with yet and we're all going to have to go out to deal with him and if we try to do that while none of you are okay then I'm scared you won't come back, and I'm not scared by very much. Now I've been talking too long so-"

In the next moment she has no choice but to stop because between one word and the next Steve has gone from standing feet away at the bottom of the porch stairs to being so close that he's completely filling her range of vision. Her feet are off the ground and he's holding her so tightly that her arms are pinioned to her sides and she can't see anything but the toughened dark blue material of his uniform because the angle she's at has her face pressed against his clavicle. His breath gusts, hot and shaking over the nape of her neck as Steve buries his face in the hollow of her shoulder, nuzzling her hair out of the way as he does so.

The bones of her ribcage bend slightly as they absorb the brunt of the force Steve is putting in to this hug and her lungs feel a bit constricted. She tries to move, not to back up, just to wiggle an arm free and Steve's arms tighten around her with a jerk that cuts off her breathing with a gasp. It happens as an automatic reflex, and Cassie is more durable than most human beings on this planet, but at this moment she is painfully reminded that her boyfriend does in fact possess the raw strength necessary to crush reinforced steel like rice paper and arrest the force of a helicopter in take off.

Her ribs are not made of reinforced steel. Her ribs are made of bone. Crushable, splintery, marrowy, bone. She needs those bones. She likes them and they're very attached to her. The fact that she can feel them compressing in her chest is a major motivator for action.

"Steve," she manages to gasp out. "Steve, Sweetie, you have to loosen up a little bit." Her vision shudders and it takes Cassie a moment to realize that it's not her. Steve's entire body is shaking, and being pasted against his body is making her body shake too. She also realizes distantly that she doesn't think she's ever called him Sweetie before. That thought takes a back seat to a sudden sharp pain that lances through her ribcage. Given her abilities, she's able to isolate the source as being the lower ninth rib on her left size. "Steve!"

This time it's more of a choked shout and Steve releases her with a shuddering gasp. Cassie inhales sharply as her ribcage relaxes and her lungs decompress as air rushes back in to her body. It's a sunny day and the light beams down on her, cocooning her torso in seconds. There's a faint click as the tiny fracture sets, then a blast of heat as the sides of bone melt and re-fuse. The whole process takes about thirty seconds which is fast even for her.

Steve is staring at her with something approaching horror. "I'm sorry," he says shakily. "God I'm sorry Cassie. I'm so sorry." Cassie takes a step forwards, moving to try to reassure him that the bone is healed but he takes a step back. "I've never done that before," he says, sounding miserably. "I've never lost that control. I can't do that to you. Not to anyone."

"Hey!" Cassie interrupts, injecting her voice with the kind of snap she normally only uses with stubborn medical patients. Maybe it isn't the best tactic but she needs to stop this boulder before it gains momentum on the downhill plummet and crushes them both. "Enough with the guilt train you've started riding, okay?" Steve stops talking but doesn't look any less damaged or upset which means that his run of self-criticism has probably just gone internal and is no longer being verbalized. "And stop thinking it!" she follows up. "Now answer these questions honestly. Would you ever in a million years hurt me on purpose?"

"No," Steve says. "But-"

Cassie throws up a hand to stop him. "Did you stop the second you knew I was hurt?"

He frowns. "Barely. You told me I was holding you too tight and I-"

"Steve!" she snaps again. "Look at me for a second." He doesn't seem to want to but manages it after a moment. "Good." She pulls up the side of her shirt, revealing her torso. "You know what a broken bone looks like. You see bruising and form problems and it's really freaking obvious. Does this look at all broken to you? I'll answer, it doesn't. It's healed, you didn't do it on purpose, and I know that it will not happen again because I'm tough and you know how strong you are and you are careful about it. Right now you aren't quite being you which means that whatever happened that you still haven't told me about got right in to your head and messed you up."

With that she takes another step forwards and gives Steve a glare to pin him in place where he stands so he doesn't back up. "Steve I know you're a super soldier but honestly! I'm three-quarters a god and am fully capable of setting you on fire or slamming you with a sound wave. If a moment ever came when I felt endangered or like I needed to hold you back I would be fully able to do that. An ancient Roman wolf goddess, an immortal centaur, and a life time of monster attacks has made sure of that. Trust me, my blasting reflex can be very twitchy."

She watches critically through narrowed eyes as Steve swallows and then seems to sag as he releases tension. "Understood."

"Good," Cassie says decisively. Then she reaches out and cups one side of his jaw with her palm. "Now what I do know is that you left on a mission and came back obviously really needing a hug and physical contact and so psychologically out of it that you did something completely out of character and lost track of things enough to crack a rib. And I know that you haven't told me what happened yet. Now, I can fix a rib and deal with that as a one off injury inherent to dating someone who can take on a jet and win. What I refuse to do is let the cause of that injury, of that problem, exist without addressing it."

She takes a breath. "So, what we're both going to do is sit on that step right there," she says pointing. "You are going to tell me what happened out there while I listen and ask you some questions. I'm going to tell you about my friends and what they can do so that you're strategic, detail oriented, super soldier brain can get kicking, and while we talk you're going to hold my hand, and wrap your arm around me because I've been worried about you for at least a full day and that will make me feel better."

He sits without argument, not that she's really left him any room to make one (which she gives him points for realizing), and she sits beside him. She looks up at him expectantly and waits until he gets the point and wraps one arm gingerly around her side. Cassie grips his other hand and squeezes firmly until he gets the point and increases his pressure to the point where this can actually be called a hug. "It was the girl- Wanda Maximoff," Steve says. "The one who was in Sokovia. Her powers are all mental. She got in to our heads and made us see... stuff. Our worst nightmares."

Cassie nods in understanding. "Well that explains why the Other Guy showed up. If I had an Other Guy and was forced to live my worst ever nightmare with absolute reality he'd probably pop out too. It explains Bucky too," she gives his hand a small squeeze. "I'll check in on him later but I think Reyna might have better luck getting through to him than I will right now."

Steve gives an appreciative hum and then manages a carefully controlled breath. "Mine was a dance hall," he says. "A forties dance hall when the war was over. Maybe it was V.E Day I don't know. It was a party full of people and I was in uniform. Peggy was there, she told me that the war was over and we could go home. We started to dance and then the next time I looked at her she was you, and you were smiling at me in that way you do. Like you weren't looking for me but I'm exactly who you wanted to see, and you said almost the same thing, that we could go home. Then people in the crowd started bleeding to death in the middle of the party, and the next time I looked around you were gone. I was alone in an empty room." His arm slips around her a little more firmly. "Ultron said that I couldn't live without war. Maybe the vision meant he was right."

Well, Cassie refuses to let that statement stand so she shifts herself half way on to his lap and cradles his face to make him look at her. "Ultron is an Artificial Super-Intelligence with access to every file, internet article, and published study ever written about you," she tells him. "That doesn't mean he knows you. It means he knows how to get in your head and make you doubt yourself. What the girl did was dig in to your head and pull out an image that highlighted that."

She leans up and kisses him gently. "You aren't afraid of not being at war," she tells him. "I think- I think that you just never planned past it. You signed up for a medical experiment that very well could have killed you, and when it didn't you pretty much literally dropped yourself in to a war zone to go get Bucky. Then the two of you and the Commandos were, you know, off to the races. You wouldn't have been thinking about the future, or maybe you were," she amends. "But I'm guessing it was in kind of a vague way. Not specified."

Steve processes what she's said in silence for a moment and Cassie doesn't interrupt it. After all, she knows what it's like to be so buried in a trench that you can't see past it. The fact that she actually lived past the age of eighteen is still something she considers on par with a miracle. Or at least, the result of a series of smaller miracles.

"I had plans," Steve says slowly. "Not detailed ones like you said but- but there were plans. Plans with Peggy and Bucky and maybe even Howard Stark back in Brooklyn, but when Bucky died the images wouldn't form any longer. I didn't want to die on the plane it wasn't- wasn't-"

"I know," Cassie assures quickly. "I know. But not trying to die isn't the same as expecting to survive. You crashed not expecting to survive it but you did. And when you woke up you were alone in the world."

She lets those words hang until the next time Steve speaks. "It knocked me unconscious first," he finally says. "The initial impact slammed my head in to the control panel. I woke up still in the pilot's seat sitting in eight inches of ice water and there wasn't any light anywhere. I- I tried getting up but my legs had gone numb and my skin was either burning or numb."

Cassie nods and holds him a little more tightly, sliding closer to him. She's never had frost bight, but what he's describing tracks with what she knows about the symptoms. What she doesn't do is speak. Steve hasn't ever talked about any of this before and now that he's started she isn't about to interrupt him.

"Water kept pouring in, and I could feel the plane sinking," Steve says. "I knew I had to be under the ice and it was too cold. It was so cold I couldn't move so eventually I just... stopped. I got to the driest part I could find and in the end the numbness and the pain all stopped and I started to feel warm again. It was like- like falling asleep."

At that Cassie nods, thinking that this is probably the end of the story. "That's what frost bight does," she says gently. "Why it's so dangerous."

Steve leans down and kisses the top of her head. "I can't sleep when it's cold," he murmurs. "I know you know that but I don't think I've ever said it before." A second kiss lands in the same place as the first. "I didn't sleep at all between the ice and New York," he confesses. "The serum helps prevent fatigue, and I'd space out for a few hours at a time, but I didn't sleep."

The fingers of his free hand slip through the ends of her hair. "You help me," the words are muffled, like he's speaking around a knot in his throat and Cassie shifts to look at him. His eyes are clear and almost painfully open and honest. "Every day."

"You know that you help me too right?" she asks him. She thought it was obvious but listening to him now, maybe she has to reassess that. Steve blinks and then nods and Cassie leans in, kissing him very gently before pulling back. "Good." He still looks unsettled and disturbed and Cassie remembers in a rush what they were talking about minutes before. "You aren't afraid of living without a war," she repeats. "You're afraid of waking up and being completely alone. Everyone is afraid of that. The only difference between you and everyone else in this case is that unlike the rest of us, you've actually been forced to experience it."

Steve shuts his eyes for a moment, taking that in and then nods. When he opens his eyes again he looks calmer. "You should probably tell me about what you're friends can do now," he says, obviously preparing to go in to tactical analysis mode.

Cassie shrugs. "I think you've actually met most of them already between Christmas and Percy's birthday. We've covered Leo and Calypso and- Oh!" she breaks off as she realizes something and nudges him in the side with her elbow. "Will's here! You know, my half-brother."

At her words Steve goes completely rigid against her. "Your brother is here?" His voice is what Cassie likes to call 'repression of imminent panic' calm. "As in, an honest to god member of your family is on this property and within one hundred yards of me?"

"That would be correct," Cassie confirms, actually managing to crack a smile. "Will. He's my oldest half-sibling. He and Nico have been dating for years and it's adorable. Most of the time he's a pile of fluff balls and sunshine unless you try to disobey medical advice. Then he turns in to a tiger so if he tells you to sit still and stop bleeding on his medical supplies you better do it."

"Uh huh," Steve says, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. "Can this brother of yours shoot things?"

Cassie feels her smile widen. "Basketballs," she says. "Honestly in the ranking of things that might try to kill you any time in the near future I think I'd prioritize the murderous robot if I were you."

Steve's expression doesn't really change. "You're not meeting my brother who might shoot you from really far away."

"Oh yeah?" Cassie challenges, eyebrows shooting up. "Exactly what is Bucky's range on a sniper rifle? A mile?"

"Point taken," he mutters. Then he releases her hand from his hold and uses his to rub across his eyes. "Come on," he gestures for Cassie to get up so he can stand too. "We've crashed about sixteen extra people in to Laura Barton's house without warning. The least we can do is take care of things around the property. And someone should probably keep an eye on Stark if there's an open fire around."

Well, there's no arguing a statement with that much truth.

They spend the rest of the day splitting wood, establishing a new garden bed, clearing the gutters, entertaining small children, recovering however they can, mending armor, and fixing a hole in the roof. It really is amazing the kind of things that you can get done with six hours and about a dozen super-powered friends. Stark and Steve have some kind of fight and Tony goes off to fix a tractor and comes back with Nick Fury, mysterious and dramatically black-clad as ever, eyepatch firmly in place.

Dinner is eaten in shifts. It has to be done that way because there's absolutely no way that the laws of physics can be stretched enough to allow them all to fit in there at once, even with eleven demigods, a former titan, and Tony Stark on the case. The farmhouse is spacious and the kitchen is undoubtedly big enough to hold Laura and her children plus a handful of guests, but there's no possible way in the universe it'll fit nineteen adults and three children.

However, they are by no means short on food. Leo and Calypso both love to cook and Laura Barton turns out to be a stress baker. The products of their labors in addition to Pipers cornucopia are enough to keep even the super soldiers and those in positions of hyper-efficient metabolisms well fed. The cornucopia also provides a distraction for the kids when Piper, in a wave of brilliant inspiration summons the makings of an extravagant gingerbread house at a little after two in the afternoon. With a little guiding input on structural stability from Leo, the end result is actually pretty impressive.

Once all of the food is cleared away and Laura takes the kids upstairs to get started on their bedtime routine every other occupant of the farmhouse somehow manages to file in to the kitchen, or at least within hearing distance of it. All Cassie can say is that it's fortunate that none of them is picky about personal space and that Barton had picked a house with an open downstairs floor plan. For her part, Cassie saves everyone some floor space by perching cross legged on a countertop.

Fury lays out all of the details with minimal question about the extra demigods present. Tony throws a dart at a board on the wall somewhere in the middle of everything and Barton immediately tops the shot without looking and merely shrugs at the glare Tony points his way. Cassie shuts down the non-verbal contest by impaling the sharpened end of a pencil in to the dart Barton had used for his bullseye.

Natasha's verbalized doubts prompt a speech from Fury. "I have you. Back in the day I had eyes everywhere and ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream of. Now here we all are back on Earth with nothing but our wit, and our will, to save the world. Plus a few," he gestures vaguely at the demigods. "Extra talents. Ultra says that the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And weather or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this," he gestures around him. "Laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha deadpans.

Steve actually rolls his eyes in exasperation. "You know what Romanov..."

"Is he actually made out a of platinum?" Leo asks. "Because mechanically speaking-"

"As someone whose father very explicitly did not marry there mother before or after my conception I resent the disparaging comment made about bastards," Will pipes in.

"If we're going by the technical definition of bastardship then I think at least three-quarters of the room is playing on that team," Nico comments disinterestedly, mapping out a human skeletal system in condensation from his water glass on the table top.

Annabeth steals a blueberry off of Percy's plate and casually pops it in to her mouth. "Eleven out of seventeen isn't seventy-five percent," she points out. "More like sixty-four point seven. Anyway are we still technically bastards if we've been claimed and acknowledged by our parents?"

Nico scowls but it's not with any real malice. "Bastardship doesn't historically change with recognition unless a king or lord officially legitimized the child in question," he informs them. "So maybe. We'd probably have to check with the gods and there's no way in Tartarus I'm trekking up to Olympus to ask that question. And when I did the math I was estimating on the higher side in case Barton, Fury, or Romanov was joining us in the category."

"I probably do," Natasha acknowledges. "I can't remember so we may as well say yes."

Barton shrugs. "You can throw me on the list." Cassie studies him and makes a mental note to check in to that backstory further at a later date. Like, maybe when the world isn't ending? She has yet to figure out if she and Barton are related and it's a question that's weighing more and more on her mind.

Nico nods once at each of them in acknowledgement and turns back to Annabeth. "There you go. That's at least thirteen out of seventeen. Seventy-six point four seven percent."

Annabeth concedes the fact and Reyna moves to sit at the table across from Fury. "Fun as that detour was," she says, splaying her fingers on the table "I think we should ask ourselves one question. What does Ultron want? From there we can figure out where he's going to go and what he's going to do."

"He wants to become better," Steve answers immediately, standing straighter in the doorframe he had been leaning on. "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

Stark frowns and crosses his arms. "Person shaped bodies. Human form."

That comment makes Annabeth frown too. "The human form isn't efficient."

"That's true," Cassie agrees. "Biologically speaking anyway. We're outdated. We're vulnerable and compensate the vulnerability with technology so evolution hasn't had a chance to get in and fix the problems."

"Right," Stark continues. "But Ultron still keeps on coming back to it. He's a super intelligence so you's think he'd be smart enough to move on and try something different but he hasn't yet."

Banner has moved to lean over a piece of paper on the kitchen table and Cassie cranes her neck, trying to see what it is. "When you guys programmed him to protect the human race you amazingly failed," Natasha comments. The statement is accurate if nothing else.

"They don't need to be protected," Banner says darkly, still staring down at that same piece of paper. "They need to evolve." He holds up the paper he had been looking at. It's a picture of a butterfly Lila had made that afternoon, brightly colored and cheerful. "Ultron is going to evolve."

Annabeth frowns and leans forwards but it's Frank who speaks first. "What does that look like?" he asks. "How do you evolve if you're already made out of an indestructible metal?"

Annabeth's fingers begin sketching over the table's surface in the way Cassie knows they do when she's trying to plan. "You said Ultron was designed to protect people originally right? To like them, to value them?" she inquires to Bruce and Tony who both confirm that she's right. "Well there you go," Annabeth concludes with a shrug. "People can act randomly and change their minds. Artificial Intelligences can't do that. Programming is programming no matter how advanced."

Out of all of the people to stumble on to her meaning Leo is the first one there. "Ah!" He bounces up and down on his feet. "Human!" he says pointing from Stark to Cassie and back again. "He likes human form even though it doesn't work with engineering. He wants humans to go all evolved but he wants to be more human first. Going backwards! That's his evolution!"

Leo has hit the point of excitement where his hair has started to smoke and Annabeth shoots a look at Percy who glances over at Piper who is standing closest to the sink. Piper turns the water on, understanding the meaning and Percy lifts a hand and flicks his fingers. The water immediately redirects, floating up and shooting sideways in to Leo's hair, putting the fire out with a slight hiss. Leo shakes his head like a dog, sending water everywhere. Percy rolls his eyes. "Come on man," he says and throws up a small waterproof bubble up around Leo so the only person getting wet is him.

Jason sighs, flicking a hand at a dishtowel and sending it from where it's hanging over the stove bar straight in to Leo's face, covering his head with a gust of air that ruffles Cassie's hair. "Dry your head off," he instructs. "Don't set the towel on fire."

"Thanks Bro!" comes Leo's voice, muffled by the material of the towel. "'preciate it."

Jason smiles and Calypso reaches up to rub the towel across Leo's curls. "No problem." He leans down and angles his head to look at the tiled floor. "Can someone with dryness abilities clean up the floor? We're guests here."

Cassie stands but Will comes forwards, beating her to it. "Can I try? I've been working on this," Cassie gestures him forwards with an encouraging smile. The fact that there are things she can still teach her little brother, that there are things her little brother can still learn, never fails to make her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Will crouches down and holds out his hand with a look of intense concentration. After a moment a faint golden-orange glow emits from his palm and in a few moments the floor is at least eighty percent dry. "Yes!" Will fists pumps and Cassie claps, giving him a high five when he stands back up.

Fury has been watching the whole thing with narrowed eyes. "I'm gonna need a full ability profile on all of you people," he declares.

"Uh- no," Percy declares with equal weight, crossing his arms. "You might want one, but you aren't getting it." Fury opens his mouth but Percy doesn't let him get the words out. "No."

Fury looks from Percy over to Jason. Leadership is a strange quality in how it announces it's self. Decisions normally filtered through Annabeth or Reyna while Frank was a strategist, but when it came to leadership in conjunction with power the front runners were Percy and Jason. Similarly, Tony and Steve led the Avengers. They had never explained any of this to anyone, but Fury seemed to know regardless.

Jason meets his eyes levelly, crossing his arms in a mirror of Percy. It was in moments like these when Cassie could fully believe that the two of them were related. "We're here because Cassie and Reyna asked us to be," he says clearly. "And because this is a threat to the entire Earth and we live here too. We are not a part of your superhero team and we will not ever be working for your government. And when this is over we're going back to out lives. You aren't going to follow us, and you aren't going to keep files. We aren't going public, and you will not make us."

"That would be messing with our homes and personally, I'd see it as you messing with my friends," Percy says. As he speaks his eyes are the deep churning green of a deep ocean in a storm. "I don't like it when people mess with my friends."

There's a long moment of silence and surprisingly Bucky is the one to break it. "That's fair." It's the first time Cassie has heard him speak since before their mission to Africa and she's received to note that is voice isn't that much rougher than normal.

"I agree," Steve says. Then he looks up and over at Tony. "Stark?"

Tony seems surprised but not displeased to be acknowledged in the situation and stands a little straighter. He nods concisely. "Seems square to me." He glances around. "This being the land of democracy and all, any dissenting opinions?"

No one says a word and for the moment the matter settles.

They go back to talking about what Ultron will do next and how they should counteract it. They end up concluding that Ultron will probably go after Dr. Helen Cho to force her to use the skin cradle to give him a more human body. As a person who assisted a little with the development of that skin cradle, Cassie feels very slightly personally offended by that.

What they don't think about is the fact that she, as a recorded user of healing magic and skin regeneration, might be a target for Ultron too.

Seventeen hours after that planning session, Cassie's kind of wishing that they'd all thought about it a little bit more.

Hindsight is funny like that.

A/N: So what did you guys think? I know this is late in the week for a new post but this is when things were done. It would have been a few days sooner but my first draft of the chapter got deleted by computer fluke so I had to re-write. What did you think of all the demigod interactions? I tried to make them as realistic as I could and to get everyone talking but coordinating dialogue for so many characters turns out to be really complicated. Who'd have thunk right? I also wanted to show Steve trying to process his vision because I always found the content of it fascinating and wanted to take a shot at working it out. Plus I thought the bone breaking hug was pretty realistic for the circumstances involved. There are people without super strength who could break a rib with a hug so someone with it I think definitely could. Anyway, as always I am open to criticism and making edits if you guys have suggestions. Review for me! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo