The radio in the old pick-up truck crackled as they drove out of the small town. Squealing static was the only sound between Riley and Tony who had stayed silent ever since the less-than-reliable motor rattled to life. In that moment, Riley felt like a young teenager being driven back home from a party she shouldn't have been to. Despite the amount she had drank throughout the evening, her body still felt tense, even as her buzz kept her feeling rather light-headed as they passed street lights that eventually faded out into a dark, lonely road.

Tony's hand reached down and switched off the radio, letting out a small sigh as he looked back at the road and mindlessly scratched his beard. Riley looked over to him and noticed the dark circles forming under his eyes, knowing that the rest of the team would be looking just the same despite their day of rest.

"Ever think about going back to NYU?" Tony asked, his voice soft and curious.

Riley was taken aback for a moment, looking out to the road ahead.

"Uh, not really," she shrugged, clearing her throat.

"You were majoring in mathematics and analytics, right?" he continued. "Why those?"

Shrugging her shoulders once again, Riley watched their dull driving lights illuminate a few metres of the road, seeing absolutely nothing ahead. There was nothing to be seen around them either, as if they were driving into a black hole. Clint certainly made sure his home was isolated, and Riley wondered if she would have been able to get back on her own after all.

"I like numbers," she admit. "They make sense to me."

"You don't take me as a numbers person. Actually, you don't take me as a college person," Tony told her with a small smirk.

"Well I wasn't always such an asshole like you say," Riley bit back, her words lacking any real heat. "And I'm not a college person. Not anymore."

"You could always go back," he offered.

"I'm sure that would end well," she scoffed, shaking her head at the idea.

"I'm just saying," Tony shrugged. "You don't have to spend your days working behind a bar until sunrise-"

"Let's just make it through all of this first, and then we can analyse my shitty life, okay?" she countered. "I might not even have one when this is done."

"What? A life?"

Riley looked to him, watching his furrowed brows.

"Wanda showed you something too, didn't she?"

Tony's eyes flickered over to her for a moment, turning back to the road soon after and adjusting his grip on the wheel.

"Nothing I didn't already see coming," he sighed, his voice barely a whisper.

"That's usually how it goes," she nodded.

"What'd she show you?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't actually get an answer.

If there was something Riley and the team all had a in common, it was the fact that whatever Wanda had forced them to experience was too painful and raw to actually talk about.

Death. It's coming.

"Nothing I didn't see coming."

"You were right, y'know? We weren't prepared for them."

"You weren't prepared for Wanda," she corrected. "Pietro might have his speed, but he can't hurt people like she can. That's why Ultron went for her."

There was a beat of silence as Tony entered the intersection, turning onto yet another dark and lonely road. Riley wondered how Tony knew where he was going, but he looked confident in their direction as they began to pick up speed once again.

"So where are we going?" she finally asked.

"Well, you're going to Seoul," Tony began, rubbing at his tired eyes. "You, Cap, Widow and Barton. Checking up on Dr. Cho. She's got this...it's called a regeneration cradle. It can create tissue and basically build a body."

Riley looked over to him, eyes wide.

"What the fuck? Why?"

"It's for healing purposes. It's really changing the game in the medical world," Tony explained. "But our bet is that's what Ultron's after."

"To become a human?"

"To have a human form," Tony nodded. "To evolve."

Riley turned her gaze back out at the rod, shaking her head in disbelief.

"How fucked up can this all get?" she groaned, running her fingers over her temples. "Wait, where are you going? And Banner?"

"I'm going to NEXUS to try and draw him out," he huffed. "Banner's heading back to the tower,"

"How are we all going three separate ways with one aircraft?"

Tony looked over to her nervously, preparing himself. Riley had made it very clear that she was not a fan of the government or their organisations, especially ones that specialise in dealing with people just like her.

"You wouldn't happen to know of a charming man named Nick Fury, would you?"

Steve was standing on the front porch when Clint's old pick-up truck made it's way along the long driveway and into the garage. Tony had been gone for close to three hours, and Steve was beginning to reconsider going out to bring them both back when he spotted the headlights approaching.

The rest of the team were in bed, trying to get some rest before their next journey. Not that any of them were getting any shut-eye tonight with Wanda's visions still lingering in their minds, but it was worth trying.

"So, what am I expecting?" Fury asked, leaning against the railing beside Steve. "If I can handle Stark's attitude-"

"She gives Stark a run for his money," Steve shook his head. "And you never really know what attitude you're going to get."

"I'm surprised you brought her along," Fury chuckled lightly. "One argumentative teammate seems enough,"

"She's not part of the team, really. She makes that very clear," he sighed. "Riley's in this to bring down Ultron, after that...who knows?"

"Can you see her living out there after all this? Considering how you found her?" Fury wondered.

Steve thought to himself, shaking his head. He really couldn't see what Riley would be doing after all this. She had no job to return to, no apartment, no life, thanks to their own actions.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, folding his arms as he heard the doors of the pick-up slam closed.

Tony was the first to approach, leading the way for Riley who staggered along behind him. She had her hands buried deep in her jacket pockets, her hair all pulled to one side as she struggled to keep her eyes open. It was clear where she had spent all of her evening.

When Riley looked up from the dirt in front of her feet, she stared directly at Steve. It wasn't a look of anger or frustration this time, but just one of exhaustion. Her eyes were dark with lack of sleep and her skin was paler than ever as if she was about to be sick, but she held back all of those urges to throw herself down somewhere and wait for daylight. Instead she glanced over at Fury, her jaw clenching at the sight of the man.

"Let's just remember there are people inside sleeping," Tony began, looking between Riley and the two men on the porch. "And kids, and a family we already kinda barged in on, okay?"

"There's no need for an argument," Steve insisted, shaking his head. "We just want to talk about tomorrow-"

"I know the plan," Riley sighed, rubbing her eyes. "On the jet before dawn, off to Seoul to stop a batshit insane robot from making a human body, got it."

"Seems she's up to speed Cap," Fury smirked. "So, you're the other survivor. Made from the powers of the Tesseract in Strucker's lab,"

Riley glared at the man, biting on her bottom lip.

"Seems that way,"

"Most people come looking for SHIELD when they get back from an underground experimentation gone wrong," Fury continued.

"Didn't really go wrong, did it?" she bit back. "Is there a reason you crawled out of your hideaway to come here and try to piss me off?"

"I like to know who we're working with," he shrugged, his voice less than intimidated by her angry voice.

"You're not working with me," Riley shook her head. "So I think we can cut the bullshit, don't you?"

Tony let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Alright, seems like a conversation for another day, huh?" he offered, looking to Fury. "No need to stir up more trouble, we've got plenty to go around."

Tony had assured Riley that Fury wasn't here for her. He wasn't here to take her in or throw her into a cell like the ones she had been talking about. Fury was here to help his team, even if SHIELD was non-existent now and the Avengers weren't exactly under his control. Whenever the world was under threat, again, the Avengers always took his word.

But Riley had far less respect for the man and the organisation he used to lead, and she made no effort in hiding that.

Letting out a huff of annoyance, Riley stepped away from Tony's side and reached back into her pocket to pull out her almost-empty pack of cigarettes. Slipping one between her lips, she slowly disappeared from their view as she walked down toward the jet. All they could see of her now was the glowing orange tip of her cigarette, mimicking her own eyes.

Looking back to the other two, Tony shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Couldn't just cut the shit for one night?" he groaned, aiming toward Fury. "I know you couldn't live without your speeches Fury, but maybe back off this one?"

Fury eyed the man, folding his arms.

"A short temper doesn't bode well for battle, Stark," he defended.

"Well that rules out the whole team, doesn't it?" Tony countered. "Personalities are kind of off the table right now."

"You have a hostile tagalong. More hostile than anyone else you've got here," Fury began, looking between both Tony and Steve. "You need to contain her before walking into a fight."

"She's contained," Tony shrugged. "She's here, ready to go, willing to fight."

"That's far from the point,"

"Look, we could all use some rest," Steve cut in, hands on his hips, a tired sigh escaping his lips. "We've only got a few hours until we're on the move."

Tony looked over at him, eyes glancing at Fury for a moment before he gave a nod of agreement. He really wasn't in the mood to engage in an argument, especially since he was sure there would be plenty of that over the next 24 hours anyway.

"Yeah, rest," Tony shook his head. "Enjoy the haystack."

When the jet took to the sky in the early hours of the morning, just as the sun was rising, Riley clutched at the large bottle of water in her hands and willed herself to keep it together as they adjusted to a smooth speed. She had spent the night slumped against the back of the jet, covered by her jacket, desperately trying to get a few hours of sleep. Coupled with her emerging hangover and continual frustration, Riley was far from the perfect teammate.

Steve, Natasha and Clint were all suited up and ready to walk into another battle, looking rested even if they did only get two or three hours of actual sleep. Then again, they hadn't spent the entire evening at a bar like Riley had.

"Feeling okay?" Steve asked, wandering over to where she sat in Bruce's usual nook by the window.

Natasha and Clint had taken the helm of the jet, calculating routes and coordinates while Steve and Riley settled in for the journey.

"Never better," Riley groaned, taking another long gulp of water.

She was currently laying back against the cool wall, her jacket rolled up behind her head as a makeshift pillow. Steve stood by her side, arms folded as he surveyed her carefully. Her eyes were dark, her skin paler than usual and she had beads of sweat forming over her forehead. A mixture of hangover and withdrawal. Just what he needed on this mission.

As Steve continued to watch her, his eyes moved down to glance over her shoulder. No longer covered by the gauze patch and bandages Steve had applied the day before, her skin was completely clear. Steve's eyes narrowed, searching for a sign of the bullet wound.

"That's..." he trailed off, lifting his hand slightly to gesture to her shoulder.

Riley saw his baffled expression and looked down at her shoulder, realising what he was referring to. It had been a long time since someone had actually questioned her healing, she almost forgot it wasn't normal.

"Quick recovery," she shrugged, looking back up at him. "Good as new, right?"

Steve continued staring at the smooth skin, unable to comprehend how there was a bullet lodged inside a day before.

"You heal fast," he breathed out, surprised. "There isn't even a scar."

"Skin pulls itself back together," she added. "Can't get any new scars."

Steve couldn't help staring at the skin for a while longer, amazed that there was absolutely no sign of any wound ever being there. But he knew it was. He remembered pulling the bullet out, pressing against it to stop the blood running like a tap, bandaging it up in hopes it wouldn't bleed through.

"I guess my stitching was pretty useless then," he shook his head, giving her a small smile.

Riley watched him carefully in return, shrugging.

"Healed a lot quicker after being stitched up," she offered. "Always do. Even if my medic was pretty brutal,"

Steve let out a small chuckle, shaking his head.

"Well, the patient could have been a little more cooperative,"

Riley scoffed, smirking.

"So I've been told."

Steve stepped over to the long bench by the window, just to the side of Riley, and took a seat. Riley watched him as he let out a long sigh, rubbing his forehead with one hand before leaning down against his knees. It was only now that Riley realised how worn out the Captain looked.

Riley wondered if each mission the Avengers went on took such a mental toll on them all, but she knew this one hit them particularly hard. Each mission brought new lows, new reasons for the world to hate them and for the bad guys to hit back, but Wanda had taken them all apart this time. She had shown them their deepest fears and insecurities at a time when they couldn't afford the distraction, and they were still dealing with the consequences.

"There's a big chance the Maximoff's will be there," Steve informed, looking up at her.

"Figured they would be," Riley shrugged, folding her leg over the other as she stretched out.

"Are you ready for that?" he asked, cautiously.

Riley looked back at him, unflinching at the possibility of once again meeting the twins.

"Are you?" she countered.

"We can't afford another hit," he shook his head, looking over to Natasha and Clint. "We've taken enough. If Wanda gets in our heads-"

"She won't get in mine," Riley assured, her eyes beginning to glow. "Not again."

"You sound sure of that,"

"I am," she shrugged. "I let her get to me last time, I thought she was still sane enough to reason with. But I guess Ultron's crazy must have spread to her as well."

Steve thought for a moment, shaking his head slightly and once again running his hand over his forehead, trying to wake himself some more.

"She's just a kid," he sighed. "You all are."

Riley scoffed.

"We're not kids," she denied. "That shit stopped a long time ago. We might have been when we were taken into that lab, but we weren't when we came out. If that's how you see us, you need to stop. Strucker made us into weapons, and maybe I'm an asshole and they seem naive and corrupted, but in the end that's what we are. Weapons."

"Reluctant weapons," Steve added.

"Not them," she shook her head. "They knew what they were signing up for. Everything they are is what they asked for."

Steve watched her carefully.

"That bothers you, doesn't it? They got what they asked for and you didn't."

Riley rolled her eyes.

"I'm a lot of things, but a spoiled brat isn't one of them," she warned. "I just don't feel sorry for them."

"They wanted to protect their people," Steve continued. "They wanted to fight for their-"

"They wanted to fight you," Riley snapped. "You and the Avengers and anyone else who took it upon themselves to be superheroes and ignore all the little people."

Steve's jaw clenched as he stared back at her, growing defensive.

"That's not-"

"I'm telling you why they did this, okay? I'm not attacking you," she explained with a groan. "Look, they've had a shitty life, I know. But they sat there in those cells and watched me scream for it all to stop, and they didn't even blink. They just waited their turn to be stabbed by needle after needle. And after all of that, they consider it betrayal that I don't want any part of it. I don't hate them, I don't...I couldn't hate them. But they wanted this, and nothing's going to change that."

Steve didn't attempt to argue against that. Riley was talking about something Steve had no right pretending to understand. He cooperated in his own experiment, he willingly had that serum injected into his body, and everything that happened after that was a consequence of his own choice.

But Riley wasn't a willing participant, and Strucker was a cruel man.

"We work as a team from here on, okay?" Steve offered a moment later.

"I thought we had been," she looked to him. "I've been playing nicely."

"You can't run off on us," Steve explained.

Riley glared at him, holding back the urge to roll her eyes. She knew he was right, and she had been sitting with guilt ever since she had returned, but Riley was never going to be comfortable with being told what to do. Even when she agreed. Maybe it was the need to rebel against authority. Maybe she was just a kid after all, at least part of her.

"Not really used to having people who want me to come back," she sighed.

"Well we do," Steve assured. "And more than that, we need you to come back. We can take on a lot of bad guys, even ones from other worlds, but this...we could use your help."

Riley stared back at him, giving a small nod of understanding.

"You've got it," she shrugged. "I'm here, aren't I?"