AN: I couldn't decide how to continue the Pietro-is-a-ghost storyline, so I just wrote up both of my ideas. This chapter is Version #1.

AU V: Life After Death (my body's dead but I'm alive so take that and shove it where the sun don't shine)

Captain America strode into the room, the Black Widow right behind him. He stood there for a moment, looking out over the group of Avenger trainees, before he said, "Avengers... assemble."

Wanda took a few steps forward, shooting a smile over at the ghostly form of her brother.

"Now, the four of you—" Steve started.

Pietro crossed his arms and humphed, and Wanda quickly interjected, "Five of us."

Steve and Natasha looked at her, the former confused, the latter skeptical.

"You all need to start training, if you want to join the Avengers," Steve started again. "Now, if the four of you—"

"Five of us," Vision spoke up. "She's telling the truth. Pietro is here, actually."

Steve sent the synthezoid a disapproving glare. It seemed cruel of Vision to humor Wanda's unhealthy fantasy that her brother was still alive. She'd only be hurt more because of it.

Wanda rolled her eyes at his thoughts.

'I totally called it, didn't I?' Pietro said, grinning as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and nuzzled a cold cheek against her warm neck.

"You totally called it," Wanda grinned, leaning into his embrace.

The others were all looking at her, now—Steve felt pain and pity for her, Natasha thought she was up to something, Sam felt a pang of empathy as he thought about the grief she was dealing with and he thought about offering her counseling, and Rhody thought she was crazy but didn't particularly care as long as she pulled her weight.

Vision was... well, Vision.

"I believe I explained earlier," Vision continued, "that his spirit exists in an immaterial form composed of light that the human eye is incapable of seeing. He likewise speaks on radio wavelengths that humans are incapable of hearing."

"Yeah, sure," Rhodey said, shifting his weight in the metal suit, "can be get on with the training now? Because I don't think that debate is going to get us anywhere."

'Can I go push him?' Pietro asked, letting go of Wanda so he was standing beside her again, nodding over at Captain America.

"Probably not a good idea right now," Wanda told her brother, before turning to nod at the others, ignoring Pietro's disappointed huff. "Yes, let us begin training."

'Please tell me this won't be boring,' Pietro muttered with a sigh.

Sam Wilson didn't notice anything at first.

It wasn't until, as he was straining at the benchpress, he glanced over at the bench next to him and saw the barbell there moving up and down in the air by itself.

Sam froze, his own barbell held straight above him as he just stared, blinking and shaking his head.

But no, there was nobody there. And there was no telling scarlet energy of Wanda's.

The barbell was just... moving up and down in the air, like someone was pressing it, except that... there was nobody there...

Sam's arms were trembling, and as he looked back up at the barbell he was holding even as his arms gave out, and it fell towards his face—

Sam instinctively winced and flinched away, bracing himself for the blow, only... it never came.

Opening his eyes, Sam saw that the barbell was hovering there above him. Then it moved through the air and was set down on the ground.

Sam shot into a sitting position, dark eyes wide. "What just happened?" he asked, staring down at the barbell as if it would grow legs and start walking away.

He felt a clap on his shoulder, and whipped his head around.

But there was nobody there.

The first uncanny thing that James Rhodes witnessed was the bullets he fired missing the target.

Or, more accurately, the target missing the bullets.

Because, from one moment to the next, the target had moved about three feet to the left.

Rhodey narrowed his eyes at the target and raised his hand again, feeling annoyed that he had to practice shooting a hand-gun when he was already proficient at it, and he'd be doing all the fighting in his War Machine suit.

He readjusted his aim for the target's new position and fired.

He missed. Because the target was back where it used to be.

"What the hell?" Rhodey asked, reloading the gun and aiming again, dark eyes narrowed. He shot the target. It didn't move.

"Okay then," Rhodey drawled out, shooting again.

That time, the bullet didn't hit the target. But the target also didn't move.

The bullet just... disappeared. He fired a gun, and the bullet never hit anything.

"What the hell?!" Rhodey demanded, lowering the gun as he looked around. "What kind of a trick is this?!"

And then there was a clattering sound, and he glanced down to see the bullet lying on the ground at his feet.

He knelt down and picked up the bullet, examining it.

The bullet was in perfect condition, like it hadn't hit anything.

"What the hell?!" he demanded again.

Steve Rogers didn't realize what was happening at first.

He was sparring with Wanda, and she was very good at deflecting his attacks with her magic, though they would need to work on her actual hand-to-hand combat skills and her concentration levels.

Every now and then her hazel eyes would slide away from him, either behind him or to the side, and she would laugh or snort, and wouldn't be paying attention enough to block his next attack.

And yet, his attacks were continually blocked, and Wanda would always looks surprised when Steve was thrown across the room.

He thought it was just her magic reacting, at first. But upon continued sparring, he determined that her use of magic was always shown by scarlet wisps or flares of energy, but not the reactions that surprised her never had the scarlet wisps to go along with them, and she would always apologize and mention Pietro. Steve would ignore the statements, make a mental note to get her to talk to someone later.

Often, after Steve had been thrown across the room and was pushing himself back to his feet, he would see Wanda facing away from him and gesturing her arms as though she were talking to someone, even though nobody was there. He thought her delusion had manifested in her magic.

It wasn't until he threw his shield at her at it stopped a foot away from her, remained still in the air for a moment and then shot back at him, knocking him off his feet and knocking the breath from his lungs that left him gasping for several moments that he even started to reconsider.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Wanda said, hurrying over to his side and kneeling beside him, hands hovering above him like she wanted to do something to help but didn't know what. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, Pietro's very protective of me, and he doesn't know his own strength, sometimes.

She turned her head, narrowing her eyes at a spot beside her, hissing, "Pietro! You really need to stop doing that!"

A pause, and then she said, "I would have blocked it with my magic, you didn't need to do that! And you need to be more careful, you know. We still don't know the full effects your current state has on your strength and speed."

Steve caught his breath and sat up, giving her an odd look.

She looked back at him, smiling, offering her hand to help him to his feet.

He accepted it with a nod, taking her hand and standing—and then almost flying across the room as something pushed him in the back.

"Pietro!" Wanda shrieked, hands on her hips as she stared at a spot in the air. "I told you to stop that!"

Her gaze softened and she sighed, reaching out a hand, as if resting it on the cheek of someone slightly taller than her. "I know, Pietro. I know. But we're not there anymore. These are the Avengers. That's Captain America. He's not going to hurt me."

Steve was staring at her, eyes narrowed, head tilted slightly to the side.

She turned to smile apologetically at him. "I'd make him apologize for himself, but I'm afraid you can't hear him, so there would be no point."

"Where is he?" Steve asked, eyes flicking around, before landing back on her, his eyebrows raising.

There was a tap on his shoulder, and Steve turned, but there was no one there.

Wanda giggled.

Steve whirled his head around to narrow his eyes at her.

"Sorry," she said, stifling her giggles quickly. "He was making funny faces at you."

"He can touch, but he's not visible or audible?" Steve asked dubiously, stance tense as he looked at her.

"He can make himself corporeal if he concentrates hard," Wanda said, her shifting around him, and Steve felt pokes in his back, sides, stomach, shoulders, face.

He stepped back, glaring around him.

"He's still getting used to it," Wanda said, smiling slightly as she wrapped her arms around air and leaned in a way that shouldn't have been possible without her falling to the ground. "He likes knowing he can touch things." Her hair was brushed back behind her ears without her moving.

She looked relaxed, calm, happy.

Steve straightened his shoulders, holding out a hand. "Then I'd like him to shake my hand," he stated.

Wanda straightened and nodded to the air beside her.

Steve's hand was suddenly grabbed in a firm, cold grip, shaken once, and then let go.

Steve stared down at his hand as if it had turned into a pirate hook.

Glancing back up at Wanda, he asked curiously, "Can he hold a pen and write on paper?"

A moment later there was a cool breeze and his hand was clutched around a slip of paper.

He blinked, opening his hand and carefully unfolding the piece of white parchment.

In messy, fast scrawl with a ballpoint pen, were written the words:

didn't see that coming, did you?

The exercise equipment didn't do anything for Vision, what with his ability to alter his density.

'Need some help with that?' Pietro asked, suddenly leaning against the air beside the synthezoid like one would lean against a wall, arms and ankles crossed, a grin scrawled across his translucent blue features.

"What are you suggesting?" Vision inquired, raising a hairless eyebrow of his red face.

Pietro snorted, from where he was now seated at a table, his right elbow resting on the surface. 'An arm wrestle, of course.'

Vision blinked his light blue eyes thoughtfully. "That is worth a try," he acknowledged, walking over and sitting on the opposite bench, resting his own right elbow on the table and clasping hands with the ghost. "On three?"

'One two three,' Pietro counted quickly and shoved the Vision's arm down against the table, grinning.

Vision hummed in his throat, looking at Pietro with interest. "I wasn't prepared that time. Rematch?"

'I never turn down a challenge,' Pietro smirked, letting the synthezoid's arm up so they could try again. 'I'll even let you do the counting this time.'

"One, two, three," the Vision said, and that time their arms went right through each other.

The both blinked at each other.

'And I was doing so well,' Pietro said, pulling an expression that might've been a pout, but might've been a frown.

"Then let us try again," Vision offered. "Perhaps we will be able to deduce what it is that changes you from intangible to tangible."

Fifty arm wrestles later, and the score was:

Cat's Game: 21

Vision: 19

Pietro: 10

Natasha walked through a section of air that was unusually cold.

She whirled around, narrowing her eyes at the spot, waving her hand through it.

Nothing.

She walked through the spot again.

Nothing.

She glared at the spot suspiciously for a moment, before turning and beginning to walk again.

A few steps later and she ran into something.

Taking a step back to regain her balance, she blinked in surprise.

There was nothing in front of her.

She reached forward.

Still nothing.

Pursing her lips, she took a few more steps forward, till her hand hit something solid, even though there appeared to be only air.

She frowned, using both her hands to try to map out the object, realizing quickly that it felt like a toned chest.

So she punched where the face would be.

The—invisible person?—reeled back, but there was no sound of them crashing into anything, and nothing she could see in the hallway moved. But then, there wasn't much that could move in the smooth metal hallways of the new Avengers base.

A moment later and there was a punch to her jaw, knocking her back and causing her to follow the momentum of the swing and flip, landing in a crouch, body buzzing with tension.

Her eyes scanned the space for a moment before she launched forward with a quick, her foot passing through cold air.

More whirling punches and kicks, but she didn't hit anything. She paused, glancing around, heart rate raised slightly.

There was nothing and nobody there, and the air was warm again.

"An impressive performance."

Natasha whirled around to see Fury standing there, arms clasped behind his back, wearing the usual black eyepatch and black trenchcoat. "May I ask as to the reason for such a display in an empty hallway?"

"Obviously, it wasn't empty," Natasha said coolly, posture straightening and loosening, falling into stride beside him as he began walking down the hall again.

"And what was it that was there?" Fury asked just as coolly, as if they were discussing the weather.

"Well," Natasha said casually as they walked, "have you heard Wanda's claims about her brother still being around?"

"Her brother's dead," Fury stated.

"Yes," Natasha agreed. "He is."

Fury turned to give her an appraising glance. "But you think there might be something to her claims?"

Natasha shrugged. "We should talk with her, just to see."

"Natasha, Fury," Steve greeted when the came into the large training room, striding quickly over to them. "I have something I need to talk to you about."

"We have something we need to talk to Wanda about," Natasha said coolly, giving him a look, as if just daring him to protest that.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Steve said honestly.

Fury raised the eyebrow of his good eye at the captain. "You've been witness to paranormal activities, then?"

"You could say that," Steve agreed, shoulders straightening.

"Guys?"

The three of them turned to see Sam walk up to them, grinning awkwardly as he gestured behind him. "Did anybody happen to mess with the barbells and not tell me about the trick? Because that was weird."

"What was?" Fury half-asked and half-demanded, rounding to face the veteran.

"Uh, the barbells lifting themselves?" Sam said, glancing between their faces. "Is that not a thing that you guys set up that I just didn't know about?"

Before any of them could answer, Rhodey walked up, arms crossed, expression unamused. "Alright, who the hell messed with gun range? Because that kinda shit is not appreciated, and something I'd expect from Tony, not one of you guys."

He glanced at the four of them, who were all looking at him, and then turned to look at each other.

"You guys are hiding something from us, aren't you?" Sam asked pointedly, cross his arms and raising his eyebrows at the Black Widow, Captain America, and former Director Fury.

The three of them shared a glance before turning to the Avengers in Training, and Fury stated simply: "Something's hidden from all of us."

"Paranormal activities," Natasha clarified, face remaining carefully blank and neutral.

Sam and Rhodey glanced at each other.

"Are you believing this?" Rhodey asked, jerking his thumb at the others.

Sam shrugged. "You heard what Wanda and Vision keep saying about Pietro still being here, man. If we're gonna be joining the Avengers, I get the feelin' we're gonna have to get used to some weird shit happening 'round here."

"Ghosts aren't weird," Rhodey said with a roll of his eyes. "They're just stories. They don't exist."

"We used to think the same thing about aliens," Fury pointed out.

"I think we're missing out on a debate we should be part of," came Vision's voice, and the five of them already standing there turned to see Vision approaching, Wanda beside him, looking like she was trying not to life.

"Look at her smile like that!" Rhodey exclaimed, gesturing at her. "Obviously, it's a trick."

A moment later and Rhodey was lying on the ground and gasping, eyes wide as he tried to catch his breath back from getting knocked down.

Everybody except for Vision and Wanda tensed.

"Pietro!" Wanda said, crossing her arms and glaring next to her. "How many times have I told you not to do that now?!"

Rhodey pushed himself into a sitting position, glancing around wildly. "What the hell just happened?!" he demanded, getting back up to his feet and brushing off the back of his pants.

"What happened to me several times earlier," Steve replied, arms crossed, staring at Wanda expectantly. "Tell everyone what you told me earlier."

Wanda smirked slightly, glancing between them one by one. "I'm not hallucinating. Pietro's soul is actually still alive. Are you willing to take my word for it and would you rather he show you all personally?"

They didn't even get a chance to answer before the world blurred, and everyone except for Wanda stumbled as the tried to catch their balance after being deposited on the other side of the room over by the barbells.

"Okay," Sam said, clutching his stomach, "that was nauseating."

A barbell lifted in the air and started getting spun around.

Sam's eyes widened and he pointed at it accusingly, saying, "See?! See?! I told you! I told you!"

Wanda was snickering, and Steve sent her a look, before narrowing his eyes at the twirling barbell and saying, "Pietro. Stop this. Go get the pen and paper."

The barbell was set down, and Wanda snorted. "He just flipped you off," she informed the captain, hazel eyes twinkling.

"Well, since I can't see him, I guess he can flip me off as much as he wants," Steve said calmly.

A moment later and there was a pad of paper floating in the air in front of them, with these words written in messy scrawl:

this is Pietro hi do you believe me yet or would you like me to punch you in the face?

"Oh man," Sam said, glancing at Steve as he gestured at the floating pad of paper, "I knew your world was crazy, but this is crazy."

Rhodey glanced between the faces of all of them, eyes flicking back and forth, before he laughed awkwardly. "C'mon, guys," he said, shaking his head and shifting his weight, "do you really honestly expect us to believe this?"

the punch offer is still open you know, was written on the pad of paper.

Rhodey stilled as he read it.

Wanda smiled, walking over to the pad of paper and taking it out of the air, setting it down on the floor before wrapping her arms around the air like she'd wrap her arms around her brother's neck, and then her knees were lifted so she was sitting bridle-style in the air.

She was spun around, laughing lightly.

Everyone stared.

Wanda was set down, smiling, and the pad of paper was picked up again.

seriously if you don't believe I'm real yet I'm going to punch you, was written.

"Nobody needs to get punched," Fury spoke up, trying to gage where Pietro's face was so he could kind of look at where Pietro's eyes were. "How did this happen?"

don't know, was written. I woke up a few hours after I got shot and stood up, leaving my body lying on the table. I've been like this since. I don't eat, I don't drink, I don't sleep, I'm stronger and faster than I used to be. It's pretty cool, actually.

took me a while to get the hang of moving around and touching things, now if only I could make myself visible and audible... only Wanda and Vision can see and hear me.

"I had to change my visual and audio settings to include ranges of light and sound that are imperceptible to humans," Vision explained when everyone looked at him.

"Well," Fury said. "I think we've spent enough time on this particular revelation. Everybody, get back to training." He shot a look at the space above the pad of paper. "That means you too, Pietro. Vision will be your training partner."

oh and what am I supposed to do? appeared on the paper.

"I'm not in charge of that," Fury said simply. He pointed at Captain America. "Ask him."

Then Fury turned and strode out of the room.

Wanda laughed, and they all looked at her.

"Oh, sorry," Wanda grinned, tucking a stray stand of hair behind her ear. "Pietro just gave Fury a compliment, is all. And now he is vehemently denying it."

"I do believe it was a compliment," Vision added, and then was suddenly thrown across the room.

The synthezoid shot off the wall and collided with something in the air in the middle of the room, exchanging blows with the air.

"Boys," Natasha said with a roll of her eyes, and Wanda laughed.

"Always jumping into fights," Wanda agreed, even as she sent a scarlet blast of energy at the Black Widow, who flipped out the way and then launched her own attack.

"Looks like everyone's pairing off," Sam remarked, crossing his arms and looking between Rhodey and Steve. "And here we're left with an odd number."

Rhodey raised an eyebrow. "So, what, does that make this a threesome?"

Steve fought the urge to sigh and roll his eyes. "Sometimes I forget you're Tony's best friend, and then you say something to remind me."

"Now you're missing him, aren't you?" Rhodey grinned.

"Not quite yet," Steve said, lips twitching. "You two go put on your suits and spar outside. I'll be walking around keeping an eye on everyone."

Sam elbowed Rhodey in the side. "He means that he's going to analyze all our strengths and weaknesses," Sam informed him, and Rhodey snorted.

"Good, he'll be doing his job," Rhodey said, as the two of them turned and started walking away towards where their suits were being stored, Sam sending Steve a lazy salute over his shoulder.

Steve nodded at him, before turning his attention to the sparring match between Vision and Pietro's... ghost. There wasn't really a better word for whatever Pietro was.

Steve could only see the way Vision was fighting, but sometimes, when they collided blows, there was a flicker of blue, and a few times Steve thought he might have been able to make out the outline of Pietro's form.

One of the members of his team was a ghost.

And here Steve had thought he's seen enough that nothing could surprise him anymore.

Captain America, Black Widow, and their new team of Avengers met up with Iron Man on their first mission.

"The weapons are in the building on the left," came the Scarlet Witch's voice over the comms.

"How the hell did you know that?" Iron Man asked as his suit analyzed the buildings and came up with the same conclusion.

"Quicksilver did recon," she said.

"Who the hell is Quicksilver?" Iron Man demanded.

"Quicksilver is Pietro," came Captain America's calm voice. "You remember Pietro, right?"

"Pietro's dead," Iron Man said flatly.

"Only kind of," came the voice of the Falcon. "He's also kind of still alive."

"I'll explain it to you later," came the voice of Vision.

"287 soldiers coming from the right, 344 coming from the left, and 456 coming at us from behind," came the Scarlet Witch's voice. "Quicksilver counted."

"Let's do this," Captain America said.

It wasn't until Iron Man was surrounded by troops and getting shot at from all directions, having trouble standing and getting his bearings, and Captain America ordered, "Quicksilver, go help Iron Man out," that Tony started to believe they weren't actually pulling his leg.

Because in a moment the troops were knocked down and all their guns were taken from them, and something invisible helped Tony back to his feet.

After that mission, Tony worked with Vision to create special lenses that would allow them all to see Pietro, and a special comm that could pick up Pietro's voice so they could hear him.

'Can you see me?! Hear me?!' Pietro asked excitedly once Tony and Vision had finished the project and had brought the entire team to check it out.

The speedster was bouncing on the balls of his feet while standing a few inches above the ground, grinning.

"Yeah, we can see you," Sam said, and chuckled indulgently when Pietro fist-pumped and exclaimed, 'Yes! Now I won't have to use the stupid pen and pad of paper any longer!'

"You're blue," Rhodey remarked dryly.

Tony started humming the song 'Blue (Da Ba Dee)' by Eiffel 65.

Pietro shrugged and said simply, "Yeah, and you're black. So what?"

"Nothing," Rhodey said with a roll of his eyes. "I just didn't expect you to be so blue."

Clint was frowning at the speedster and the holes that went through his chest, arm, and leg. "Are those the bullet wounds?" he asked, nodding at them.

Pietro glanced down at himself. 'Oh, yeah,' he shrugged. 'I don't know why they're there. But they don't hurt so much any longer.'

"I'm sorry," Clint said quietly, expression pained.

'Don't be,' Pietro said with an easy roll of his shoulders. 'It was not your fault.'

"The bullet wounds don't hurt any longer?" Natasha asked the speedster, raising a red eyebrow.

'I don't really feel pain in this state,' Pietro shrugged, before he looked at them all and grinned. 'Hey, you know what this means, right? Now you can all see it when I do this,' and he flipped them all off with both hands.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of body language," Tony said with a smirk, and Steve sighed.

"Well, this is certainly going to make missions easier," Steve said, stepping forward and holding out his hand for the speedster to shake. "It's good to officially meet you again, Pietro."

When Thor came back down to help them with a mystical threat, he took one look at where Pietro stood and greeted boisterously: "Greetings, Pietro! I was not informed that you still walked this Realm!"

'I don't usually walk it,' Pietro shrugged, smirking. 'I prefer running over walking.'

Thor laughed and clapped Pietro on the incorporeal shoulder. "I do not know how you escaped Valhalla, but I shall be glad to fight by your side."

Pietro glanced over at his sister and gestured inconspicuously at the God of Thunder, pulling a Can you even believe this guy? expression.

Wanda giggled.

When the Hulk reappeared on the radar, Quicksilver was the first Avenger to get there.

'I'm here' Quicksilver said into the comm, sliding to a stop in front of the green giant that didn't see him and couldn't touch him. 'He's angry.'

"It's Bruce," came the Black Widow's voice. "He's always angry."

'Good to know,' Quicksilver said, tilting his neck as if to crack it and interlacing his fingers, flipping his hands around to stretch his arms out in front of him. 'Any suggestions for what I'm supposed to do until the entire team gets here?'

"Keep him from hurting any civilians," came Captain America's voice.

'Got it,' Quicksilver said, eying the green giant as Hulk smashed up buildings while civilians ran screaming. 'Okay,' he said, shifting his stance, 'I've never tried to move something this large before, but it shouldn't be impossible.'

Dashing forward, he grabbed one of the Hulk's huge wrists and, using all his concentration, managed to zip the Hulk out of the city and out into the middle of a nearby forest, not so much letting go of the Hulk as losing his concentration and becoming completely incorporeal, unable to hold onto the Hulk any longer.

The Hulk spun in a circle, growling, but he didn't see a threat and just ended up standing there.

'Okay, I got him out of the city,' Quicksilver said, sitting down in the air to keep an eye on Bruce Banner's alter ego. 'We're in the forest now. Hulk seems appropriately confused.'

"Good job, Avenger," came Captain America's voice.

Pietro tried not to grin too much. 'Just get your asses out here and deal with this guy,' he muttered. 'Slow pokes.'

It was never a good idea to walk around the Avengers base while not wearing the Quicksilver-Vision lenses and Quicksilver-Audio earpiece. If he saw you weren't them, you were going to get pranked, which Steve found out when he ended up with a bunch of post-it notes all over his suit that said things like, "KICK ME" and "GERIATRIC."

Taking them off in order to ignore Pietro never worked, as Clint found out when he got tired of the kid's antics and went to shoot of some steam in the archery range, only for Pietro to snatch every single one of his arrows out of the air before they could hit anything.

Everyone had to get used to get zipped around from place to place by an impatient speedster, though only Wanda ever actually seemed comfortable with it.

When not on mission, they were always together, and it wasn't an uncommon sight to see him running through the halls with a laughing Wanda in his arms as he weaved around people, and Wanda would say, "Pietro, slow down!" and Pietro would laugh and say, 'What did you say, sister? Go faster?' and then speed up.

Vision seemed to gravitate to the two of them, and the three of them were often sighted training together, or just talking.

'You're a synthezoid and I'm a ghost,' Pietro said to Vision once. 'Some people could argue that neither of us are real. But that doesn't matter, because even if the entire world believed that, Wanda would still know that we are real. And also, we can walk though walls! That is pretty cool, you have got to admit.'