See Chapter One for Disclaimer
Party Time
"So. Where are all the ladies?" Maria raised an eyebrow at Tony and Thor, and the two men shared a look.
"Oooh, don't even get them started." Thor looked down with a grin as a small hand slid into the crook of his elbow. "Tony will start bragging about his CEO girlfriend and Thor will be forced to retaliate by mentioning Jane's nobel prize considerations, all subtly of course."
Maria smiled at the woman that Thor had quickly pulled close to his side. "I know you. Although I haven't officially gotten your name," she added pointedly, causing the woman in front of her to laugh.
"To be honest, I didn't know my real name until recently." She held out a hand, and Maria shook it. "My name is Dannie Marsh. It's great to officially meet you."
Maria's eyes widened, but he smile didn't waver. "Likewise. It's always great to add another woman to our numbers."
Dannie grinned. "Yeah, you're definitely outnumbered." She squeezed Thor's arm. "What exactly is the party for? Thor here didn't mention that in his cryptic message."
"Oh nothing big," Tony spoke up. "Just that we finally got back little brothers scepter and destroyed the last major Hydra base, that's all."
"Oh." Dannie nodded. "So…just another day as an Avenger?"
"Pretty much." Thor admitted with a grin. He sobered. "I know how hard you've been working though, and I thought you could use a…break."
Dannie shrugged. "You're not wrong." Something caught her eye, and she disentangled herself from Thor. "I'm going to go meet the rest of your team," She explained slowly.
"Do you want me to introduce you?" Thor asked, moving to follow her.
"No!" Dannie shook her head quickly. She grinned. "I don't need a wingman for this one." She winked and hurried off.
Thor huffed, his arms crossing as he watched her weave her way through the crowd.
Then he turned to Maria. "But Jane IS quite busy, what with her nobel prize consideration," He spoke up.
Maria started laughing and Tony sputtered.
"Boo."
Bucky didn't jump at the voice, but he did grin.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. He looked for Steve to find him speaking in low tones to Sam, and Dannie shrugged.
"Thor invited me. He said there was a party, and I love parties, so of course I showed up." She smiled. "It's some…party."
Bucky chuckled. "It's a Stark party." He shook his head. "So this is what you get."
Dannie tilted her head. "I vaguely remember another Stark party I went to years ago…but it wasn't this Stark."
The first thing that came to Bucky's mind was the impromptu party Howard had thrown between missions…in 1943. He slowly looked at Dannie.
She smiled. "It's not all there." She tapped the side of her head, "and things come and go, but" she shrugged. "I remember you. And him." She tilted her head in Steve's direction. "I'm sure the three of us would have a lot to talk about."
Bucky snorted. "You can say that again."
Dannie scanned the party. "I don't think now is an appropriate time." She patted Bucky's shoulder and moved away. "But," She called out over her shoulder, "Soon."
"Promise?" Bucky called back, and she winked at him, then disappeared into the crowd.
It wasn't ten minutes later that Steve was at Bucky's side.
"Did you see who was here?" He hissed into Bucky's ear.
Bucky nodded slowly.
"What do we do?" Steve's eyes were wide, panicked. "What do I do?"
"We let her enjoy the party." Bucky rolled his eyes. When Steve opened his mouth to protest, Bucky shook his head.
"I spoke to her briefly." He explained. "She's starting to remember things; her brother probably jumpstarted her memories, to be honest. She said she remembers us, and she wants to talk to us. But this is a party," Bucky stressed the last word, "and it's no time for serious conversations. I did get her to promise to talk to us, so," Bucky clapped Steve on the shoulder. "It'll happen. Soon. But for now," Bucky searched the crowd to find Dannie speaking animatedly to a group of women, "Let's just enjoy the party."
Steve nodded. "Okay." He agreed "You're right. We'll talk later." And Steve did his best to enjoy the rest of the party.
He spent most of it watching Dannie…but at least he tried.
Hammers and Robots
When the guests had left and it was just Steve, Thor, Tony, and the rest of their team, relaxed and cracking jokes and unaware of what was going on downstairs, Tony threw out the Hammer challenge, and smirking, Thor had let them have at it.
Thor's smile widened as everyone seemed incapable of lifting the hammer. The smile dropped for a moment, when the hammer wiggled in Steve's hand, and then completely when Dannie appeared.
"I thought you had left," Thor spoke when she walked into the room.
Dannie shook her head. "I had to take a phone call," she shrugged. "Why? Are you kicking me out?"
"No." Thor shook his head. "Of course not, I was just…surprised."
"Okay," Dannie said disbelievingly. "So what are we all up to?"
"Apparently nobody is on Thor's level." Clint shook his head. Dannie raised an eyebrow.
"The hammer." Bucky clarified. "None of us can lift it."
Dannie's eyes widened, and a large smile lit up her face. "Really?" She turned to Thor with her arms crossed. "Is that so?"
Tony shook his head sadly. "I really thought I was going to win that bet," he complained. "I would've been a great ruler of Asgard."
Dannie's smile widened, if that was even possible. She opened her mouth but Thor spoke over her.
"You're not invited." He said harshly.
Dannie crossed her arms. "Why not?" She teased.
Thor made a face. "Because." He muttered. "Just…sit down." He grabbed Dannie's arm and pulled her onto the couch next to him. She rolled her eyes but settled into his side.
The conversation continued for a few minutes longer…
And then the robot showed up.
Dannie tilted her head as the thing spoke, and she listened attentively. When he began to attack, Thor threw her over the couch and she crouched into a ball. When the couch was thrown, she ran to find further cover, grabbing the doctor she'd befriended and helping her hide. A bot went to shoot at them, but stopped and moved away.
Then Dannie's phone began to ring.
With a huff, she reached out a hand. She heard Thor's irritated "Hey!" as the hammer flew into her hand, though it didn't stay there long as she quickly threw it in the bot's direction.
She hit the thing right in the metal skull, and its body collapsed. The bot fell to the ground, the room quickly went silent, and Dannie answered her phone.
"Hello?"
"Why are you out of breath?"
"Long story." Dannie rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"
"I am just inquiring as to when you'll be home."
"I'm leaving now." Dannie said after a moment, smiling apologetically in Thor's direction. She strode towards the exit phone still at her ear.
"Oh? Was the party not to your satisfaction?"
"No, it was fine, fine!" Dannie assured, "It was totally…"she paused next to the battered bot at her feet. "Weird." She admitted. "It was so weird." She laughed. "But with the Avengers…what would you expect! Hold on," Dannie continued into the phone, "Gotta say goodbye to your brother."
She grimaced in Thor's direction. "I'm just gonna let you deal with…this." She gestured to the destroyed room. "It looks like you'll be busy. We'll catch up," She raised an eyebrow in Bucky's direction, "later." She finished meaningfully.
She turned away and returned to the conversation on the phone.
"Seriously…the good guys are SO weird!"
A Lost Girl Recruit
"Hey, Ma."
"Charlotte." Dannie set down the homework she was looking over. "This is a surprise."
"It's a work thing." Dannie grimaced and pushed the math problems across the kitchen Island towards Kate.
"Looks good," she smiled at Kate, then moved to the living room. "What's up, Char?"
"I've got a potential for you. But it's a doozy."
"Well," Dannie looked back to the kitchen, where her girls were busy getting ready for school. "Kate's in high school now, Quinn's a junior and Sam graduates in two months. I think they can take care of themselves for a while."
"Great. Ever heard of Sokovia?"
"Nope." Dannie answered brightly. "Is that where I'm going?"
"No." Charlotte chuckled. "But that's where our girl's story starts."
"So where are you sending me?"
Another chuckle. Dannie frowned.
"Well, either you'll sneak onto a private jet filled with America's most observant, or you'll have to find your own ride."
"To?"
"How do you feel about Africa?"
Dannie smirked. "A-frican love it!"
"Lame." Charlotte chided. "Pack a bag. I'll send you the coordinates."
"Wonderful." Dannie hung up her phone and turned to the three girls at the table.
"No rest for the wicked." She sighed.
Kate glared down at her math homework.
"Tell me about it."
A loud ruckus from below interrupted Tony mid-quip.
Which was unfortunate, as it had been a good quip.
"It seems your men do have some form of loyalty," Ultron said dryly.
"Nah." The captain of the ship shook his head. "They only unload when someone's shooting at them."
"So…who's shooting at them?" Clint asked.
Not even a minute later a familiar face came into view.
Dannie Marsh, wearing black from head to toe, paused mid-flight to turn and shoot at her pursuers, a gun in each hand. She scrambled onto a Stark missile and shot a few times, then leaped for the bridge that separated Ultron and the Avengers from each other, beginning to climb it. She reached the top and lifted herself over it with a loud grunt, turning as quickly as she got her footing to begin shooting at the men who followed behind her.
She quickly pivoted, one hand still shooting in the same direction, but the other flipping to shoot behind her as well.
After a moment, she ran out of bullets.
Her pursuers did as well, and Dannie dropped both weapons with a huff.
"Now that that's over," Dannie smiled brightly at Ultron, more specifically at his human agents.
"Wanda Maximoff, right?"
Wanda leaned back in surprise. "Yes?" She said after a moment.
"Hi." Dannie's smile widened. "I can obviously see that you're busy, but I'm really just here to give you," She pulled a small piece of paper out her pocket and held it out.
Wanda tilted her head, but didn't take the card.
Dannie scrunched her nose. Her voice lowered. "Really." She advised. "I would take it."
Wanda grimaced, but took the card. Dannie beamed, and stepped back.
"Call anytime." She winked and turned, pausing at the sight of the Avengers. Her gaze paused on Steve, and a slow smile of recognition grew on her face.
"Hey." She smiled, and Steve slowly smiled back.
"Hey?" He repeated slowly.
The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Dannie shook her head quickly.
"Whoops." She smiled at the group apologetically. "Lost myself for a second there. Well," Dannie shrugged. "See you!" She leaned over the railing as if to jump and Steve spoke up quickly.
"You're bleeding…you know that right?"
Dannie stepped back from the ledge and looked down at the sticky red patch of blood on her left side. "Oh." She looked closely at it. "It's just a few stab wounds." She shrugged. "It'll be fine."
"And the blood patch near your shoulder?" Bucky asked dryly.
Dannie poked the wound. "Bullet wound." She announced. "Clean through, it'll also be fine."
"So what's wrong with your arm?" Wanda's thick accent had Dannie turning.
She narrowed her eyes at her left arm, which flopped uselessly at her side. "Dislocated." She shook her head. "Nothing to worry about. Seriously," She shot Wanda a look, "Call me. I can help you." Then she was jumping off the bridge and running off.
Ultron looked at the Avengers dryly.
"Now…where were we?"
A Lost Girl: Lost
"Ma, bad news."
"Bad news how?" Dannie hissed as she slapped gauze-soaked alcohol onto her wound.
"Well, Hydra wise, we're pretty much down for the count, though some idiot is trying to restart from scratch. But I kept all their files and it looks like our girl and her brother were experiments of Hydra."
"Experiments how?"
"like…enhanced."
"No!" Dannie filled her voice with fake awe, and Chloe chuckled.
"I figured you knew that part, what with your little ship fight, but I just thought you'd like a confirmation."
"Hmm. You'd be right." Dannie admitted. "What else you got?"
"Well, it looks like our girl and her brother are Ultron's only human agents, so there's really no way to sneak in any doubles. But I was going over your statement on Ultron's grand entrance? At the party?"
"Yeah?" Dannie cut more gauze and slapped it against her lower stomach, grabbing wrap and twining it around her body to keep the gauze in place.
"He put his weapon down instead of taking out Cho."
"Something he'd only do if she'd be useful to him." Dannie huffed. "I'm a horrible mom and I don't remember everything she has in the works."
"Some chamber device that will regenerate dead human cells and tissue."
Dannie paused. "How likely is it that this chamber thing is also possible of creating tissue where there was none before?"
"Bad news? Highly likely." Chloe admitted, and Dannie grunted.
"Wonderful. Get me a ticket to Seoul, then."
"Are you sure?" Chloe asked slowly. "I'm apparently out of a job, I could help out?"
"Standby." Dannie ordered after a moment. "I'll probably need you, but let me go in first to assess."
"Understood. You need me to take care of your travel plans?"
Dannie tied off her ribs and shook her head. "Nah. I got that part covered." She grinned. "Let me just make a call."
"Let me get this straight. You expect me to drop everything, use my plane and my fuel, pick you up in New York, fly you to China, drop you off, and then leave you there?"
"Which part do you object to?" Dannie threw a few weapons into a bag, smiling absentmindedly at Kate, who handed her a makeup case filled with grenades.
"All of it!" The shriek had Dannie jerking her phone from her ear. There was a low laugh. "Sorry. It's been a crazy week for me. The last part, ma. I'm not leaving you without an escape plan."
"Jody, it'll be fine. A few friends will most likely stop by, if I'm really as unlucky as I think I am, and I'll hitch a ride back with them. If not," Dannie grimaced as she tried to think up a plan B.
"How about this? We hit up Seoul, you do your assessment, and I'll check out their shopping until you've given me the go-ahead. That way I'm there if you need me."
Dannie zipped up her duffel bag and sighed. "Alright fine. When can you get here?"
"Ma. I've been in New York since you called in a Code Mint."
Dannie rolled her eyes, though one hand fell to her wrapped ribs. "Right. You girls are overprotective."
"You saved our lives. We've been waiting for the chance to return the favor."
"Give me three minutes." Dannie said with a chuckle.
"I'll give you five, so maybe you'll take those extra two minutes and just BREATHE."
"Hey who's the mom?" Dannie retorted. "Me. So chill out, and I'll see you in a few minutes."
"You better not get hurt again." Quinn, Kate and Sam stood in Kate's front door, their arms crossed.
"Not you guys too!" Dannie groaned. "Listen…All I'm doing is going to make sure your sister stays alive. I don't plan on going in guns blazing."
"Promise?" Kate raised an eyebrow.
Dannie took a few steps and pulled the three girls into a hug. "I promise." She whispered into Kate's ear. She stepped back before things got too mushy. "Now. I'll see you tonight." She blew her girls a kiss, shouldered her duffle bag, and then hurried down the stairs.
"She's gonna get herself killed." Kate shook her head.
"Of course not." Sammie argued. "She'll just get herself NEARLY killed."
Quinn pursed her lips, then nodded. "The second one sounds about right."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The gun pressed against Ultron's back would be useless against the bot, but it was more a gesture than an actual tactic.
"Why not?" Ultron asked dryly. He knew exactly who it was, the unknown woman was always appearing at the most inopportune moments.
"You see," Dannie's voice was light, a contrast to the deep guttural tone she'd just used to stop Ultron from using the scepter against Helen. "I'm not a big fan of the whole mind control business, it's hurt a lot of good friends of mine. Besides, I've got a better idea."
Ultron moved the scepter away from Helens chest, intrigued despite himself. He still had the upper hand, it was Helen and this woman against himself and his agents. Their only weapon was a gun. He might as well humor her.
"You want to use Helen's chamber to make yourself a body."
"It doesn't do that." Helen whispered to Dannie, who shrugged.
"It can." She admitted. "And he wants you to make it happen." She turned to Helen. "I think you should do it."
"You want me to give the crazy robot a workable body." Helen said numbly. "Why?"
"I think…" Dannie tilted her head, then looked at Wanda, "It will help explain a lot of things…open a lot of…minds." She added.
Wanda tilted her head. Then her eyes widened, as if she understood. She nodded slowly.
"So here's the deal, bot." Dannie turned to Ultron. "Helen will do what you want, as long as you DON'T blue-brain her, or hurt her in any way, and we all get what we want."
Ultron considered her.
"Why?" He asked. "Won't the Avengers be angry with you? You are helping me, and going against them."
"Oh." Dannie laughed. "I'm not an Avenger. The only reason I'm here is for my girls." She smiled at Helen, then shot Wanda a look. "They're all I care about. If helping you is the only way to protect them, well then, I'm in."
"Interesting." He mused. He turned to Helen.
"I can really create a body from scratch?" She asked slowly. "My machine can do that?"
"Well," Ultron shrugged and smashed the scepter, revealing a blue gem. He held it up. "You can as long as you have the right materials."
"And apparently we do." Dannie said dryly. She clapped her hands. "What are we waiting for?! Let's get to work?"
As Dannie had predicted, Wanda was appropriately horrified at what she found in Ultron's brain. When Ultron was distracted Helen disabled the machine, and when
Ultron struck in anger, Dannie took the shot meant for Helen. She rushed her out of Ultron's line of fire, and Wanda and her brother did the opposite. Ultron found himself without any human agents, and angry, he rushed off with the machine.
But the Avengers were on his tail.
Knowing this, Dannie left them to deal with Ultron while she got Helen out of there.
"Jody! No time to explain, just go!"
"I'm going, Ma, don't get your panties in a twist." The pilot of the plane quickly pressed all the necessary buttons, and Helen sat Dannie down quickly, grimacing at her wounds.
"Hey Helen, long time no see," Jody called over her should.
"I wish it were under better circumstances," Helen muttered, causing the pilot to look back. Her eyes widened.
"Ma!" Jody screeched. "What happened?"
"I was doing my job," Dannie glared at her new wound. "Taking care of my girls."
"How did you even know I was in trouble?" Helen asked slowly, and Dannie smiled.
"I'm a Ma." She explained airily. "I know everything."
Helen huffed and Jody chuckled.
"You're a ma who doesn't know how to take care of herself," Helen scolded, and Dannie shrugged. She opened her mouth to argue, but all of a sudden a light knocking on plane door had everyone pausing.
"Uh," Dannie furrowed her brow, "come in?"
The door opened to reveal Wanda, standing their nervously.
"Wanda." Dannie greeted slowly. "Where's your brother?"
"With the Avengers," Wanda shrugged. "We figured they could use some help."
"I'm guessing Team Ultron isn't looking so great anymore?" Dannie guessed, and Wanda grimaced.
"I do not want him to succeed." She said simply. "And you said you could help me?"
"I can." Dannie nodded. "Come on in." Wanda stepped into the plane and shut the door behind her.
"I'm glad you're here," Dannie said warmly.
"Same!" Jody called from the cockpit. Helen didn't look so sure, but she stayed silent.
"Hate to interrupt, but uh, where am I going?" Jody asked. "Hospital?"
"I don't need a hospital!" Dannie shook her head quickly. Her expression grew thoughtful. "What we need to do is get back to New York. I think it's about time The Lost Girls made themselves known, and if whatever you saw," Dannie jerked her head in Wanda's direction, "is as bad as I think it is, we're going to need all the help we can get."
Wanda grimaced, but nodded.
"New York it is." Jody confirmed.
Helen continued to fuss over Dannie's wound, and Wanda looked at Dannie.
"So," she began slowly, "Who are the lost girls?"
Dannie smiled. "It's a program I developed on accident," she began. "It's got a bit of a long back story too,"
"I've got time," Wanda said firmly.
"And I love this story." Jody spoke up brightly. "I've heard it a million times," she confided to Wanda with a grin, "But it never gets old."
And Wanda, after Dannie had told her the entire story, found herself agreeing.
It WAS a good story. And the offer Dannie made…sounded VERY interesting.
The Lost Girl Program
Fury wasn't as successful as he'd hoped in finding the agents he'd wanted to help evacuate the flying city, and Coulson and Hill hadn't done too well either.
And then the brunette woman who'd introduced herself as Grace years ago and been shoving her nose into his business ever since burst into the room, eyes bright.
"Danielle Marsh." She introduced brightly. "And once again, I'm here to do your job for you."
"Fantastic." Fury said dryly. "Shall I take the day off, then?"
"No," Dannie grinned. "I'm not running this op, I'm just here to help." Dannie looked at Fury's door with a sly smile.
"More like," She amended, "We're here to help."
Fury stood, interested despite himself. "Who's we?"
Dannie dropped one single, bright pink glove on his desk. Fury's eyes widened in recognition, and Dannie shrugged.
"The Lost Girls." She responded simply.
"They're not ones to work with others," Fury spoke slowly. "From what I understand, they never have before."
Dannie shrugged. "This is a special case," She admitted. "Listen: We're here to help. You want us or not?"
Fury only had to think for a second.
Then he handed Dannie back her glove.
"Yes." He said simply. Dannie pulled the glove onto her right hand, then held it out for Fury to shake. She beamed, and Fury reluctantly found himself smiling back as she bounded towards the door.
"Let's go save some people!"
Steve watched the helicarriers land from afar, Tasha and the fast Maximoff at his side. He shook his head ruefully.
"Glad you like the view Romanoff. It's about to get better."
From the clouds rose a welcome sight: The helicarrier.
"Nice right? Pulled her out of moth balls with a couple of old friends," Fury paused meaningfully, and on the helicarrier, Dannie shot him a wide smile. "And new friends." Fury added. "She's dusty, but she'll do."
"Fury, you son of bitch," Steve responded, and Fury laughed.
"Oh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?"
Maria Hill checked the stats of the ship, and another agent, counted down.
"Take them out," He ordered, and from the hull of the Helicarrier came over a dozen smaller ships…obviously meant to be used to get everyone off the flying city.
"This is Shield?" Over the comms, Dannie overheard Wanda's brother speak.
"This is what Shield is supposed to be," Steve answered, and Pietro's, "This is not so bad," had Wanda smiling.
"Let's load them up." Steve ran to meet a ship.
He paused for a moment when it was Dannie who came out to meet him.
"How many?" She asked briskly, and Steve shook his head, speechless. Dannie smiled. "your silence isn't comforting." She gestured to the group of women behind her, all dressed in head to toe black except for the pink glove on their right hands. "Tell the civilians to look for the pink gloves." She shrugged. "We'll take it from there. Focus your team's efforts on keeping this rock upright. We'll take care of the people." She smirked. "You've got bigger bots to fry."
Steve nodded, but didn't seem inclined to move. So Dannie pushed him. "Go." She ordered, and finally, he moved.
"Everyone hear that?" He checked.
"Looks like we have more backup than we were expecting." Bucky spoke up.
"And if I'm not mistaken, your girlfriend is a Lost Girl." Tasha said slowly.
"A What?" Steve furrowed his brow.
"A females only secret intelligence organization with no ties to the government, or…anything, really. I've heard of them, but never seen them in action, let alone in a group this size." Tasha shook her head. "They're the good guys though."
Steve nodded slowly. "Well, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouse. Avengers, let's give the Lost Girls some room to work."
"Roger that."
With all of the Avengers focused on keeping Ultron from the power source, He had no chance of letting the rock drop early.
In a rage, he commandeered a jet and turned its sights on one of the woman who was helping with the evacuation…specifically with the woman who was not hours ago supposedly on his side.
But Wanda saw him coming, and her special abilities kept both herself and the boy in her arms safe.
The Hulk took care of Ultron after that, and the Avengers who couldn't fly hurried to the ships.
Captain America was the last one to board the ship, everyone else safely situated and ready to get as far from the former city as possible.
He paused next to Dannie, whose hair was disheveled, but her smile was bright.
"Good work Captain," She congratulated.
"I could say the same to you." He smiled and leaned forward to wipe a streak of dirt off her cheek.
She raised an eyebrow but let it happen.
"Not that this isn't adorable," Bucky strode toward them, "but we should probably take a seat, and maybe not stand so close to the edge."
"Especially not with all of the injuries you sustained." Helen joined the group, arms crossed. She shook her head. "The adrenaline is going to wear off soon and you should probably be sitting down when that happens."
"I appreciate the concern." Dannie began, "But," Her eyelids fluttered, and she began to sway. Before anyone could catch her, she toppled over the edge.
"Anybody on wings?" Bucky called out into the Comms quickly. "The city ain't the only thing that's falling!"
"On it." Rhodey responded, and Bucky grinned.
"She's fine." He shrugged.
"Again?" Steve turned to Bucky. "She falls…AGAIN?"
"So she's a little clumsy." Bucky explained, and Helen snorted. "A little?"
Rhodey appeared a few moments later, an unconscious Dannie in his arms. He deposited her on the ground of the ship.
"Should we wake her up?" Buck asked, but Helen shook her head.
"She's a better patient when she's unconscious," She admitted. "Help me get her to the temporary Med corner?" Bucky nodded and lifted Dannie into his arms, following Helen as she led the way to where the other injured parties were.
Steve watched them go, shaking his head.
"You alright?" Sam asked.
Steve huffed. "I'm alright." He turned to watch as Thor and Tony blew up the now empty city. "I'll just feel better when we finally reach the ground."
Sam chuckled and clapped Steve on the shoulder.
"You and me both." He agreed.
Making a Merger
"Nick." Steve shook Fury's hand. "Where are we?"
"A house." Fury looked around the large foyer with a smile. "It was a great hideout last time." He shrugged. "Figured it would work well again."
"As a hideout?" Steve raised an eyebrow. "What are we hiding from?"
"Not hiding," Tasha joined Fury and Steve in the foyer. "Waiting."
"For?" Bucky raised an eyebrow at Tasha. "Our next mission?"
"Of a sorts." Fury stepped into the living room and gestured for everyone to take a seat. The doorbell rang and Tasha went to go get the door.
"Whose house is this, by the way?" Bucky sunk into the comfortable couch, then jumped up. "Because this chair is awesome. Steve come here, I think both of us can fit in it." Steve rolled his eyes but squished himself next to Bucky.
"It's not mine." Fury shook his head at the two grown men. "I would never have a chair that size."
"Why not? It's awesome! Let me see if I can fit too." Sam climbed in between Bucky and Steve, who grunted by tried to make room for him.
"Its unnecessarily large," Rhodey pointed out. "If you need a chair that size, why not just get another couch?"
"Well what's the fun in that?" Tony shook his head. "that chair is amazing."
"Everyone's here." Tasha announced, pushing Rhodey and Tony onto the couch.
"Not exactly," Fury admitted, pausing at the sound of the front door opening.
Dannie appeared a few moments later, Wanda and Pietro behind her.
She blinked blankly at the men in front of her.
"How'd you get into my house?" She finally asked.
"You live here?" Sam brightened. "This is your house?"
"And that's my chair." Dannie dropped the duffle bag she'd been holding to cross her arms. "Seriously?"
"It's so big." Bucky complimented.
"That's what she said," Pietro, Wanda, and Dannie said together. They shared a smile, then Dannie pointed a finger threateningly at Fury.
"But really…why are you guys in my house?"
"We have…" Fury shrugged, "A proposition."
Dannie's eyes narrowed. "Okay." She took a seat on the couch, and Wanda and Pietro followed suit. "What do you have in mind?" she asked, and Fury smiled.
"I'd have to think about it," Dannie hedged.
Fury nodded, as if he'd expected this answer.
"What?" Bucky jumped up. "Why?"
"Because the Lost Girls is less the organization you think it is and more of my way to help girls. We're not the strategic team of agents you think we are. We're just a bunch of women who help where we can."
"Maybe that's how it started, but it's more than that now." Steve pointed out. "Your girls a widespread group that can access nearly every database known to man, probably the president, even."
"One of my girls is Secret Service," Dannie allowed, "but that proves nothing!"
"It proves our point." Fury argued. "By teaming up with the Avengers and teaching classes at the soon-to-be-developed facility, you can reach more than just six girls at a time. Not only can they help you find the girls, they can help house them and find them jobs."
"I'm not teaching more girls so that you can keep them for yourself." Dannie crossed her arms.
"Of course not." Tasha spoke up. "You'll still be independent of The Avengers, and you have full authority to what those girls will do once you're done teaching them. We'd just like the opportunity to offer them a position if we'd like to and if we need back-up, that the Lost Girls would be our Allies."
Dannie's eyes narrowed. "Okay…" she said slowly. "What's the catch?"
"No catch." Tony promised. "I'll be funding the facility, so really, Fury has no authority in any of these fun new plans. It's really that guy you'll be directly collaborating with." Tony pointed at Steve, who smiled hesitantly.
"Oh really?" Dannie started to smile. "So maybe we should continue this discussion over coffee, the both of us?" She winked. "See if we can come up with a mutually beneficial partnership?"
Steve nodded quickly and jumped up. "I agree." He said seriously.
"Well then what are we waiting for?" Dannie quickly strode towards the front door.
"You guys can let yourselves out," She called over her shoulder.
Fury snorted when he heard the door slam.
"You should've started with the Steve card," Bucky admitted.
The rest of the room nodded in agreement. Fury nodded thoughtfully.
After a three-hour conversation between Steve and Dannie that was less about the future and more about the past, the two of them came to an agreement.
The Lost Girls were no longer entirely free agents, The Avengers had new Allies, and Steve and Dannie were finally reunited…officially.
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