"Look, I'm not saying that Bruce Banner is our biggest threat. I'm just saying that the heroes that we're putting our trust in aren't always going to be the good guys."

"So you're saying they're, what? They're our enemies?"

"I think that we can't have one without the other, yes. Just because the Hulk has the power to protect us doesn't mean he always will. That goes for all of them."

"Well the footage from yesterday still has this country reeling tonight as our government heads into damage control..."

Riley stared up at the television screen in the corner of the bar, her attention fading as the topic of discussion began to move on. They had been playing footage of the Hulk in Johannesburg over and over, and within the past hour that Riley had been sitting at the end of the bar, she had witnessed the same replay five times. The Avengers were on the world's radar, and that's exactly what Ultron wanted.

They were his distraction. They were his red herring.

Gulping down the last of her drink, Riley motioned for the bartender to pour her another glass, reaching into her pocket to pull out the remaining cash she had. It had taken her almost twenty minutes to find the small time from Clint's farm, and even when she made her way through the Main Street and into the bar, she had no idea where this really was.

"We close in two more hours," the bartender advised, watching as Riley looked at the clock on the wall. "Thought I'd let you know. You seem like you're settled in for the night."

"I'm settled in for as long as this buys me," she sighed, throwing a fifty dollar bill onto the bar.

"Well, if you buy the good label stuff it'll get you another half hour," he suggested with a chuckle. "But the lower range stuff? That'll take you right to closing time."

Riley laughed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Low range whiskey takes up half my diet, so pour away."

The man began pouring the glass of whiskey, topping off the glass with a few ice cubes as he noticed Riley's eyes locked on the television screen. The Hulk was everywhere, and interviews with government officials and politicians began flooding every news channel available.

Months ago, Riley would have watched on and agreed with them as they criticised the Avengers and their actions. But right now, knowing what they were dealing with and how little control they had over everything unfolding, Riley found herself feeling very different. Bruce wasn't to blame for what happened, and he was certainly punishing himself enough without the news jumping onto it as well.

The world had no idea what was really going on.

"Crazy, isn't it?" the man shook his head, beginning to polish a tray of glasses.

Riley nodded as she took a mouthful of the whiskey, feeling it burn as it ran down her throat. She sat the glass down, tapping at it mindlessly with her finger while staring up at the television.

"They don't know what's going on," she shook her head, watching another politician chime in for an interview.

"No one does. The Avengers keep to themselves and let everyone else deal with the fallout," the man shrugged. "Where are they now? They should be the ones doing a press conference and cleaning this shit up."

Riley pulled her eyes away from the screen and to the man in front of her, noticing how he shook his head and glared up at the television. She knew that there were plenty of people out there who disliked the Avengers, but she hadn't realised how big that population had become. These days, more and more people were voicing their opinions of the heroes.

After New York, the world had been divided. Why were heroes exempt from the law? Every war they fought seemed to be brought on by their own actions, after all. Especially the downfall of SHIELD. That's when the world really began to pay see how the cons of the Avengers far outweighed the pros. At least, that's how Riley had thought.

"Not a fan of the Spandex Circus?" Riley asked, lifting her glass to finish the whiskey.

The man laughed, shaking his head.

"You could say that,"

Before Riley had to even ask, the man was pouring more amber liquid into her glass, topping it off once again. She watched the ice cubes rise in the glass, clinking together softly and swimming around invitingly. She had gone too long without a drink, and she was finally feeling her edge begin to shed.

"How about you?" the man asked, screwing the cap back on the bottle and setting it down.

Riley shrugged, swirling her glass around.

"I haven't drank nearly enough to answer that,"

"Oh come on, it's a simple yes or no," he persuaded, leaning against the bar. "Do you think they're actually helping?"

Riley's eyes flickered toward the television screen once again for a moment before settling back on the man in front of her.

"Well, if you ask the people they saved-"

"I'm asking you," he insisted with a cheeky grin. "Did they save you?"

Suddenly, Riley was back in Strucker's lab, sitting on the cold concrete floor in her cell. She could see the thick metal bars that surrounded the small area and remembered staring at the door just metres from her confines. On good days, she would imagine being saved. Maybe the police would be monitoring Strucker's hideout, maybe they were planning an attack, maybe someone knew about all of this. She remembered thinking of the Avengers.

As much as she hated them, as much as Wanda and Pietro spoke obsessively about their demise, Riley had a tiny spark of hope that they would come. After all, that was their job. They saved people from these kinds of things. Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

"No," she told him, staring down at her glass.

"Well, there's your answer."

Riley considered that for a moment, taking another mouthful and swirling it around in her mouth before swallowing, her lips tingling from the burn of the alcohol.

"I'm not anti-Avengers, I'm just..."

"You're just not pro Avengers, is that it?" he chuckled.

"I don't think anyone should act like the Earth's 'saviour'," she shook her head. "It's unrealistic."

"I agree. It's not like they're saving anyone," he shrugged.

"But they do. I mean, I saw them in New York. When all that shit came out of the sky?"

"The shit they brought here,"

"They didn't bring it here," Riley argued, shaking her head once again. "And a lot more people could have died if they didn't show up,"

The man stared at her then, confused.

"Wait, so you're pro or con Avengers now?" he wondered.

Riley just laughed, letting out a long sigh as she once again brought the glass to her lips.

"Told you I haven't drank enough to answer that,"

The sun had well and truly set by the time Steve stepped out of the house, noticing Tony leaning down against the wooden railing around the porch. They had spent the last few hours discussing their next plan of attack with Fury, eating dinner surrounded by Clint's welcoming family. It felt oddly normal to be sitting at a large table, arms reaching over one another, passing around warm dishes of home-cooked food.

It was surprisingly pleasant to have Fury back in the team as well, even though he had been just as overwhelmed with their next step. The intel he did have for them helped form their current plan, which resulted in Tony planning to head to Nexus in Oslo and Steve taking the rest of the team to Seoul. Ultron was planning to form a new body - an enhanced human body - to possess.

But they were still missing one person.

"She couldn't have gone far," Steve spoke quietly, folding his arms as he moved to stand beside Tony, looking out at the bright moon.

"Clint said there's a bar in a town about forty minutes from here," he explained, turning to Steve with a shrug. "Where do you think she is?"

With a long sigh, Steve lifted a hand to rub at his temples. Riley had been very clear about her relationship with alcohol and how it calmed her and Steve was sure that after the day she had, any kind of liquor would do.

"It's been over four hours," he countered.

"You really haven't experienced any kind of buzz before, have you?" Tony asked, rolling his eyes.

"You think she's been drinking for four hours, do you?" Steve bit back. "Four hours?"

"It's not hard," Tony shrugged. "Especially for an alcoholic. Trust me on that."

"No, she's not an alcoholic," Steve shook his head. "She's just..."

"An alcoholic," Tony nodded, summing it up. "And you know what? I'd be the same if I were her. Sometimes you have to have no control over yourself to actually have some control. To numb things, to...to just stop thinking about it all. I might not be able to move crap with my mind or cause an earthquake, but I know that."

Steve watched him carefully. Tony never really spoke openly about his own past struggles, at least not in depth, and never to Steve. He told the team what they needed to know when the moment called for it, but otherwise Tony kept his past in his past. But Steve didn't need Tony to tell him what he used to be like, because the billionaire's life had been all over the media and on every platform.

So when Tony explained to Steve why Riley turned to a bar to deal with all of this, he didn't argue.

"I should go find her,"

"You're not exactly her favourite person," Tony shook his head.

"Well, she doesn't really have a favourite person,"

"She needs time to cool off," Tony insisted.

"We're heading to Seoul before the sun comes up," Steve reminded. "She'll want to be ready. If Ultron's going after Dr. Cho, he'll have the Maximoff's with him."

They both remained in silence after that, knowing Steve was right. Riley wanted to jump right back into chasing down Ultron, and now they had their lead, and she wasn't here. There was no way they could leave without her, but if she didn't come back, they couldn't afford to wait.

It was colder than she had expected outside, the chill hitting against her neck and causing a shiver. Her navy jacket had been zipped up all evening, hiding her bandaged shoulder and when Riley stepped out onto the dimly lit sidewalk she reached down into the pocket and pulled out a half-empty pack of cigarettes. The barman - Matt, as she had discovered - was finishing packing all the stools onto tables and wiping down the countertop for the final time that evening.

Riley's hideaway was closing, and right now she didn't know where she wanted to go. There was still the lingering possibility that she wouldn't even be welcome back at the Barton's, not after her dramatic departure, and she began looking around the empty street for any signs of life. This tiny town was a complete opposite to New York, and Riley found herself missing the endless bars and busy pavements.

She missed feeling invisible, melding into crowds, passing each day just like any other.

Leaning back against the cold brick wall, Riley lifted a cigarette to her lips and lit it quickly, shoving her hand back into the pocket for warmth. It was too quiet in this town, but the one thing she did appreciate were the stars up in the sky. She could see them all so clearly now with no buildings around to cloud her view, and she was mesmerised.

"So this is what you've been doing," a voice called from the side. "Staring up at the sky?"

Riley's head whipped to the side at the sound of Tony's voice, her eyes glowing orange and her body tensing. He was wearing a jacket over his plaid shirt, the hood pulled up over his head, but once Riley saw the familiar goatee she began to feel her adrenaline spike wash away.

"You can cool it with the evil eyes," he sighed, hands sliding down into his pockets as he slowed his pace, standing to stare back at her.

Riley watched him closely, feeling her eyes fade from their orange hue.

"They're closed," she told him softly, gesturing to the bar behind them. "And you wouldn't even like their top shelf stuff."

"Pity," he smirked. "Looks like you didn't mind it, did you?"

"I don't drink top shelf," Riley shrugged, taking another drag of her cigarette.

"Shocking,"

With a small glare, Riley blew out a puff of smoke toward the man and watched as he frowned in response.

"You look homeless," she chuckled.

"And you look like you can barely walk,"

"I'm tired," she argued.

"You smell like scotch,"

"Not really a fan of scotch," she shrugged. "But it all works the same in the end, doesn't it?"

Tony stared back at her, folding his arms and leaning up against the wall beside her. Tony was right to hold Steve back from coming here, he couldn't image what sort of scene another argument would create, especially in this small town street. Riley didn't need a lecture or a guilt trip. Even if that wasn't Steve's intention, that's how it would come across right now.

But Tony had a feeling he knew Riley better than either of them would care to believe. He could see parts of himself in the way she acted and the things she said. Tony could do this back and forth with her all night if that's what it took.

"I wasn't aware I had a curfew," she muttered, flicking some of the ash from her cigarette onto the pavement.

"I'm not here to drag you back," Tony shrugged.

"Good, because I don't need to be dragged back," she snapped. "I'm not running, if that's what you were assuming."

"Not running, huh? So what do you call that exit you made earlier?"

After one final drag, Riley took the cigarette from her lips and threw the butt onto the ground, crushing it beneath her boots. Tony watched as she shook her head, folding her arms and leaning back further against the cold brick wall.

"You have no idea what it's like," she warned.

"What? To run from stuff?" he countered.

"To have no control over yourself," she explained, looking to him now. "I can't even be in someone's house for ten minutes without fucking something up,"

"You dropped a plate," Tony sighed, frowning. "You didn't tear the place apart-"

"But I almost did," she cut him off. "A few seconds longer and the roof could have fell in. I could hear everything in that house shaking and I could feel my body surging, and I couldn't stop it. So yeah, I ran off. Seems to be the safest option."

Tony watched her look back down at her boots, moving her shoulder slightly and wincing as her stitches pulled. He could see how tense she was, noticing her foot tapping wildly against the pavement. It was like her body refused to stay still for even a moment.

"Ever think you have trouble controlling it because you never really let it out?" he asked genuinely.

Riley shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly at his words.

"And what would happen then, huh? Do you actually know how many enhanced freaks like me are out there? We all know what happens to people like us. We know there's a place for us, built to keep us in and never let us out. We'd become the government's lab rats," she explained, her voice full of anger and frustration. "Not everyone can parade around like your team does. At the end of the day, you can take your suit off, can't you?"

Tony stared back at her, listening to every word and learning very quickly why Riley wanted to live in the shadows. He could feel guilt rising in his stomach at the fact he had been the one to hunt her down in the first place and find her at that bar.

"None of us want you handed over to a government lab," Tony assured. "We're not going to ship you off there when this is all over."

"You speak for everyone, do you?" she challenged.

"Is that what you're afraid of? That we're going to put you in a cell?" Tony countered.

"I'm not afraid of you or the others," she clarified. "But ever since Strucker, there's only two ways my life is going to go now. I either get locked away somewhere or I die. I know that normal life isn't an option. How can it be?"

Tony looked down at his own feet, noticing the pavement beginning to tremble and crack beneath them. Riley took a deep breath and shook her head, willing her body to calm down.

"Look at everything that's happened the past few years," Tony began, trying to refocus her attention. "There is no normal life anymore, not for anyone. If that's your goal, you're never going to reach it. You're stuck on the idea of not having these powers, but they're in you and they're not going anywhere."

"Your pep talks are just amazing," Riley sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the pack of cigarettes.

"And you're kind of an asshole, by the way, if you haven't noticed," he continued. "So you don't really give the team a chance to trust you. You had our backs out there and we've got yours, that was the deal. You need to trust us too."

Riley lit her cigarette and looked back out at the empty street, trying to ignore the reality of Tony's words.

"I don't want any of this," she shook her head. "I don't want these powers, I don't want this fight, I don't want to be up against the only two people in this world who know what happened in that lab. I just want everything to stop, I don't want to think about any of it."

Tony watched her slide the cigarette between her lips again, taking a long drag and resting her head back against the bricks.

"Is that why you can't seem to go a day without a drink?" Tony asked, nodding toward the bar behind her. "Helps you stop thinking about it all, huh?"

Flashing him a small glare, Riley breathed out a grey cloud of smoke before she bit back.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice tired and pleading. "I gave you all fair warning that I don't do well in teams and that I'm not campaigning to be a fucking superhero!"

"We're not asking you to be a superhero," Tony defended. "We're asking you to cooperate with us. We all want the same thing-"

"I'm not cut out for this shit," she shook her head. "I don't know how to cooperate,"

"You cooperate just fine when you stop overthinking," he shrugged. "In Sokovia, you helped us get through Strucker's defence and yesterday you helped us fight off Ultron's minions. You weren't thinking about losing control, you were in control."

Riley scoffed, shaking her head.

"I wasn't in control, I was pissed off," she corrected.

"Whatever works," he offered. "We all have things that drive us through the fight, believe me."

There was a moment of silence between them as Riley continued to smoke her cigarette down to the butt, tossing it down beside the other and crushing it once again. The lights in the bar behind them flicked off as Matt finally locked up, leaving them in the darkness of the deserted street.

Riley looked back at Tony, her arms still folded across her chest.

"How did you get here?" she asked, looking around.

"One of Barton's old pick-ups," Tony shrugged with a small smirk. "It's not much for speed but people don't look twice at it,"

"And it goes with your outfit I bet," she smirked back.

Tony felt a small smile pull at his lips.

"Come on," he gestured, turning for Riley to follow. "Wheels up in a few hours,"

"Wheels up?"

"I'll fill you in on the way back," Tony nodded, looking back at her. "If you're still up for it."

Riley watched him as he continued to walk along the street, thinking about everything that had been running through her mind all evening. But after a few moments of quiet panic, Riley's feet began following behind Tony, keeping her distance.

Hey guys! Thanks for continuing to follow this story. I hope you're enjoying!

Please leave a review with any thoughts. I will be attaching a photo of my character 'Riley' just for you guys to put a face to the name and envision her as I do.

Thanks xx