Ellie Bishop: Yep.

Avengers Compound

Morning

In the kitchen, Angel, Lorne, Dawn, Fred and Wanda (who Bucky and Angel had helped to the kitchen) watched in disbelief as Bucky, Faith and Connor devoured the plates of food Fred had placed in front of them at alarming speed.

"We're sure they're human, right?" Dawn whispered to Angel.

"I'm the son of two vampires, I have to eat a lot food to compensate for my heightened abilities," Connor said once he swallowed.

"I guess that makes sense. But what about you two?" Fred asked as she looked over at Bucky and Faith.

"I'm a super soldier, my body requires a higher metabolism than a normal human, which requires more food," Bucky said before taking another bite.

"What he said, except for Slayers," Faith said, taking a drink of water before looking up at Bucky with a grin. "It's nice to have a guy around who can actually keep up with me though."

As Bucky laughed, Angel looked back and forth between them, wondering if he had missed something when his phone started ringing. Pulling it out, he saw it was Spike.

"Sorry, I have to take this," Angel told the others before walking out of the room.

Once he was in the hallway, he answered it.

"Spike."

"How much longer do I have to keep up this charade?" Spike asked instantly.

"Not for much longer, hopefully. Willow and Sam are flying back today with Dr. Pym, his wife and daughter," Angel said, sensing something in Spike's voice. "Spike, what happened?"

"…did Buffy tell you about the Principle? Wood?" Spike asked after a moment.

"He was the son of one of the Slayers you killed, right?" Angel asked, vaguely remembering Buffy and Faith mentioning him.

"I killed him last night," Spike confessed and Angel was so stunned he didn't process this for a few moments. "Hamilton came to me yesterday, said the Senior Partners wanted me to prove my loyalty. Hamilton told me to go to this place, I found these people beating Wood."

"They took him, brought him there so you could kill him," Angel realized. "Spike, you didn't have a choice."

"Yes, I did. There just wasn't a good one," Spike said lowly.

"If you hadn't killed him, they probably would have killed both of you. We all knew this wasn't gonna be easy Spike. You're in the belly of the beast. Just…just hang on, we're working as fast as we can," Angel told him.

"Well work bloody faster," Spike snapped before hanging up.

Angel sighed as he hung up. Spike could hide it behind anger and frustration, but he could tell that killing Wood was getting to him. Killing with a soul, it was different. Especially when it was someone he knew.

"What happened?" Angel whirled around, not having noticed Faith come up behind him. "It sounded like Spike's in trouble."

"No, he's just…the sooner we pull this off, the better," Angel finally said.

Faith frowned but, before she could ask him anything else, they heard the sound of hanger doors opening.

Sam and Willow were back.

Not long after, everyone had assembled in the hanger bay, Angel with a blanket over him to block out the sun, as the Quinjet landed. After a moment, the ramp lowered and Sam and Willow walked down, followed by a bearded man, a dark haired young woman and an older couple.

"Scott, hey," Bucky said, walking over and holding a hand out to Scott.

"Bucky," Scott greeted as he took the offered hand. "Nice haircut."

"Nice beard," Bucky quipped and Scott chuckled, his first real laugh since he'd lost Cassie.

"Yeah, I know. Luis has been teasing me about it for weeks," Scott said as he put his hand to his chin.

"Mr. Pym, Mrs. Van Dyne, this is one of the people who's going to be helping you," Willow said as she led them over to Fred. "Winifred Burkle."

"Please, call me Fred," Fred said as she held out her hand to Hank, who actually took it.

"I've read your work on superstring theory. It wasn't bad," Hank noted as they shook hands.

"Um…thank you?" Fred said not sure whether to be insulted or flattered.

"Forgive my husband, he's not always the best at admitting when he's impressed," Janet said, shooting Hank a look before smiling at Fred. "I look forward to working together."

"Thank you. These are my friends, Angel, Lorne, Faith, Connor and Dawn," Fred said as she introduced the others.

"Hey," Faith greeted casually.

"Hi," Connor said with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you," Angel said.

"Mr. Pym, Mrs. Van Dyne," Lorne greeted casually.

"Welcome back," Bucky said as Sam walked over.

"Should Wanda really be out of bed?" Sam asked as he looked over at her.

"You wanna tell her that?" Bucky asked dryly.

"Guess not," Sam noted.

"Which reminds me," Willow said as she walked over to the curious Wanda. "We'll need you at full strength for this."

Willow grabbed Wanda by the hand, holding a hand out to her side. Everyone was surprised when a faint glow emitted from Willow's hand to Wanda's side. Once it faded, Willow stepped back, dropping Wanda's hand and she felt better. Lifting her shirt slightly, Wanda saw that the spot where the bullet had pierced her skin was now fully healed, not even a bandage or stitch there.

"How-"

"Magic," Willow cut Wanda off with a smile.

"Okay, I'm convinced," Scott said after a moment of silence.

"So where are we on the rest of the team?" Sam asked as he turned back to Bucky.

"We're working on it," Bucky said simply.

Queens

Same time

In the kitchen, Peter was just finishing up breakfast with May. He didn't have school, as it was Sunday.

"So what are your plans for today?" May asked as she took his plate.

"I don't know. I guess do some homework, maybe get in some patrol," Peter said with a shrug.

Wasn't much else to do, to be honest. His best friend Ned and his sort of friend MJ had both been lost in The Snap, so he couldn't exactly hang out with them. And he'd never been popular, so he didn't have much in the way of friends.

Suddenly, the sound of someone knocking on the door interrupted them.

"Are you expecting anyone?" May asked him.

Peter shook his head no and May frowned before approaching the door. Looking in the peak hole, May was surprised. Opening the door, she and Peter stared in surprise at the sight of Bruce Banner.

"Hi. Can I come in?" Bruce asked politely.

"I'm honestly surprised to see you here Dr. Banner," May said as he brought him a cup of tea while she, Peter and Bruce sat around the table.

"I know, I'm sorry to drop by unannounced. Thank you," Bruce said politely as he accepted the tea, taking a sip before he continued. "Unfortunately, this isn't a social call. I'm here on Avenger business."

"Why now? It's been three months and none of you have approached Peter, even tried to contact him," May demanded defensively.

"Largely because he's just a kid," Bruce said, looking over at Peter. "We admire what you've been trying to do kid, how you want to help people. But Tony should never have involved you. No matter what his reasons, it was wrong to make a child soldier out of you. And you'd been through enough. But Sam felt you were a part of this, so we owed it to you to come to you with the offer."

"Offer to do what? What's changed?" Peter asked confused.

"There might be a chance we can fix everything. Like…like Thanos," Bruce said gently.

For a long moment, Peter just stared at Bruce, letting this all sink in.

"I just…I don't know. I tried before and I failed. Maybe…maybe I'm just cut out just to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," Peter said hesitantly.

"I get it kid, I do. I fought him twice and lost both times, First Hulk lost, then Banner lost and then, we all lost. So if anyone understands, I do. No one is gonna force you to do anything but…we have a chance at redemption here, for all of us. It's your choice but. We could really use you kid," Bruce said and Peter was silent for a moment.

"Aunt May?" Peter asked, looking to her.

"If I thought I could stop you, I'd take you to your room, lock the door and put bars on your windows," May said after a moment. "But, you're old enough to make this decision on your own. And I don't think you'd be able to live with yourself if you didn't do this. If you feel like you have to do this Peter…you have my blessing."

Peter stared up at her for a long moment, knowing how hard this was for her. And he appreciated what she was doing for him. And he remembered his dream with Uncle Ben.

"How will I know when to take that leap?"

"You won't. That's why it's a leap of faith. You won't know where you'll end up, but you'll know it was the right thing."

His resolve hardening, Peter turned back to Bruce.

"Where do we start?"

Wolfram and Hart

Not long after

Hamilton opened the door to Angel's office, leading Spike inside.

"Any particular reason you brought me up to Angel's office?" Spike asked.

"Oh, it's not his office anymore. It's yours," Hamilton announced to Spike's shock. "Angel's out and you're in. You've proven your dedication to the cause. We're behind you one hundred percent. Now, you have some work to do."

Hamilton then walked out, leaving Spike alone in the office. For a moment, Spike looked out the window, staring at the sun. Then, Spike walked over to the desk, his desk, and sat down in the chair.

It was a strange feeling, Spike thought after a moment. Seeing the forms on the desk, Spike picked them and began to read. As long as he was here, he'd have to play the part. He just hoped Angel and the others could really pull it off.

Avengers Compound

Not long after

Sam stood outside the Compound, staring up at the sky. Within a few moments, he saw it. The Benatar descended from the sky, landing a few feet from Sam, blowing all the leaves on the ground out of the way. After it landed, the ramp lowered and Nebula and Groot walked off.

"Wilson," Nebula greeted.

"Nebula," Sam greeted in kind.

"I am Groot," Groot said as he walked up to Sam, which Sam took to be a greeting.

"Good to see you to," Sam said politely.

"I am Groot."

"He asked if everyone else is already here," Nebula translated and Sam nodded.

"Almost. We're still waiting on a few more people," Sam as he saw something. "And there's one of them now."

Nebula and Groot followed his gaze by looking over their shoulders, seeing a Wakandian aircraft descending from the sky. It landed not far from the Benatar and the ramp lowered. T'Challa walked down the ramp, followed by his sister Shuri.

"Your Highness," Sam said politely as he held out a hand out to T'Challa.

"Mr. Wilson," T'Challa greeted as they shook hands. "Although I hear it is Captain now."

"We'll see. I might just hand the shield back to Steve," Sam said as he lowered their hands.

"So it appears I may have made the suit for nothing," Shuri noted as she approached them.

"Not for nothing, no," Sam shook his head. "I was needed as Captain America. But there's another man more suited for the job than I ever was. Now let's bring him back."

Washington DC

Same time

In his office, Secretary Ross was doing some paper work when his phone rang.

"Sir, Senator Brucker is here to see you," his receptionist said.

"Send her in," Ross ordered, straightening his tie.

Within a few moments, the door to his office opened and Senator Helen Brucker walked in, escorted by a few bodyguards.

"Senator," Ross said, walking over to her and holding out a hand.

"Mr. Secretary," Brucker said neutrally, taking his hand and shaking it.

"Did we have an appointment I was unaware of?" Ross asked as they dropped hands.

"Not all. There's business we need to discuss," Brucker said, waiting until her bodyguards had closed the door before speaking again. "You've been most helpful in the past Secretary. The Circle of the Black Thorne appreciates your loyalty. And now, it's time for your reward. The power you've always wanted. We can give it to you Ross."

"What are you saying?" Ross raised an eyebrow.

"The Hulk. We've long since had access to a sample of Bruce Banner's blood. Not only can we make you his equal, we can make you Bruce Banner's better," Brucker revealed. "What do you say? Care to shed this mortal coil and embrace true power?"

I know the last few chapters nothing has really happened, but next chapter will really get the ball rolling.

Yes, Ross is in league with the Black Thorne. And I think we all know what will happen to Ross. So stay tuned everyone, it's about to get good.