Make You Feel My Love
~Book IV~

Disclaimer: I do not own Civil War or any other Marvel characters in this story. All I own is the story I've come up with and my own characters.

Chapter 2

"You sure you don't want to keep the car?" asked Logan. "I've got my truck back hom-"

"No, please, keep this," said Maria, earning a scoff from Logan.

"It broke down once," he said, rolling his eyes. "Why not let it go."

"It didn't just break down, Logan, it started smoking and coughing," said Maria, shaking his head. "No, that thing is dangerous to the environment and to you. Keep this car. You'll live longer that way."

Logan rolled his eyes again, watching as she exited the very car Tony Stark had given to her when she had left the Avengers six months ago. He did as she did, exiting the car though staying by its side, leaning against it. She rounded the car and joined him, turning her head to look at the Avengers HQ standing off in the distance, waiting for her return.

"You sure you don't want to join us?" asked Maria with a small smile. "Like I said, there can never be too many heroes."

"I ain't joining any more groupies," scoffed Logan before ruffling her hair. "Besides, this is your family, not mine."

Maria smiled at his gesture before nodding her head. "Thank you, though, for everything. I don't think I could have made it through these past six months without you."

"Load of bullshit, but okay," scoffed Logan.

"Shut up," giggled Maria, gently punching his arm. "I'm trying to say goodbye."

"I hate goodbyes," he replied.

"And I mean it. Thanks for sticking by my side through it all. The training with Xavier, the training of my dad's men… It means a lot to me," she said before sighing, opening the back-door and grabbing her bag. "Now to face the surprise of the Avengers."

"Yeah, they'll be surprised… But they'll be happy too," said Logan before wrapping a single arm over her shoulder. "Bub, take care of yourself."

"You too," she smiled as he let go of her.

"You know me, I never do," he grinned at her as he sat back down behind the wheel, closing the door after him.

Maria stepped back slightly as she watched Logan swiftly drive away from her. As he disappeared at the horizon, she turned her face once more towards the path leading up to the Avengers HQ. This was something she had been dreading to do for the past six months; to walk back to her old life and return to the family she left behind. In all honesty, leaving them had been a good decision. Not only had she had the time to clean up what her father had left behind, but she had also had the time to come to terms with her life, her past and her current powers. Professor Xavier had helped her with that, having helped her train and truly get back her abilities from her childhood. They were weak as they had been dormant for so long, though they were there now and she could feel them. She had actually always been able to feel them, just that she had never understood what they were. It felt like a small, nagging void inside of her which now had grown because her powers were back, though it felt good. She clung onto that void for dear life, knowing that that void was her and that it was the only thing telling her that she was still alive and not there in the vast darkness that had been death.

What were her powers, you ask? Apart from being able to move smaller objects away from her or towards her, she did not know. Neither did Xavier know. But the ability to move things with her mind, albeit they were small things, was more than she wanted. Though they had both felt that there was more inside of her. And considering that Hydra had been after her powers, Maria doubted that the small telekinetic power she did have was all she could find inside of her. Why else would they have been trying to recreate her and her powers if there wasn't more to it? She had the nagging feeling her father knew, but she refused to go to him again. He was out of her life and she wanted to keep him out of her life.

Walking up the gravel pathway towards the HQ, Maria sighed to herself. Yes, the past six months had been crazy and this was the thing she had dreaded the most, but now that she was on the path and seeing the building with her family waiting inside – although they did not know she was coming back – made her feel content. More content than she had felt in the past six months and more content than she had actually thought she would be. The void inside of her which fuelled her powers was still there, though it felt better than before and she smiled, knowing that she was on her way home.

Although things did not go as smoothly as she had thought they would go. Just as she was about to come within 500 meters of the building, a shadow passed over her and two feet landed behind her. She would have turned around, had her eyes not noticed the person's shadow had had wings.

"You are trespassing on military ground," said a familiar voice, causing her smile to widen. "Please state your name and business here."

"I would think I of all people won't have to do that. I was a part of the founders, after all," she said, turning around slowly with a smirk now visible on her lips. As her eyes were about to land on her dear friend Sam Wilson standing there, fully dressed in his suit, a pair of strong arms engulfed her – surprising her so much she lost her grip on her bag and stumbled back a few steps.

"Maria…" breathed Sam into her ear and she chuckled, gently placing her arms around him as well.

"It's good to see you too," she said with a wide smile, causing the man to let go of her and step back to look her over.

"Where on Earth have you been all this time?" he asked her.

"Oh, a little bit of here and a little bit of there," she said with a shrug. "I've been… reminiscing."

"Don't use no fancy words with me, miss," he said, wagging a finger at her jokingly. "You've been gone too long. I lost the bet."

"Bet?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He grabbed her bag for her and began to walk her towards the entrance of the HQ.

"Me and Stark made a bet for when you would come back," he said. "I bet five bucks you would come back within two months. And here you are, six months later… He ain't gonna stop talking about his win."

Maria chuckled, "Glad people took this all serious."

"Come on, M," said Sam. "You belong here. Of course we ain't gonna take it serious."

She only shook her head at that as he opened the door for her, his wings already retracted so he easily could enter behind her.

"Besides, you weren't actually gonna leave Steve alone after that kiss," he teased, clapping her on the back as he led her down the hallway.

She blushed, remembering the fiery and passionate goodbye between her and Steve. At the moment, she had not thought about the fact that everyone had been watching the two through the windows, and now that she did think about it, she could not help but find it a little embarrassing. Though the embarrassment went away as she realized that she would meet Steve soon. The void inside of her lit up, as though someone had literally placed a match inside of it and lit it. Her entire body tensed up at the thought of seeing Steve, though it tensed up in a good way. She had missed him and wanted nothing more but to meet him again.

"Also, what's up with the 'you're trespassing' thing?" asked Maria, the two still walking down the hallway.

"Oh, just a new thing Stark installed when he came to visit us a while back. Some security in case anyone did find this place," said Sam. "I'm on guard-duty today."

Maria snorted, "Guard duty? What's that?"

"If the alarm actually goes off, I'm supposed to check it out," said Sam, gesturing towards his wrist where a, what looked like, small apple-watch was attached to his wrist. However, as he touched the touch-pad, it lit up with a small holographic picture of the facility. A small, red dot was visible by the entrance where Maria had triggered the system and she watched as Sam, with a small flick of his finger, removed the dot. Much to her surprise, the lights inside of the building became slightly brighter and she realized a silent alarm had been on the whole time she had been in there. "If it's big, I call for back-up."

"That's why you're suited up," explained Maria to herself, nodding her head. "Alright, pretty cool."

They entered the kitchen and living room area on the second floor. Much to her delight, which surprised her as she had been ready to feel miserable and nervous when returning, the others Avengers were there as well. Vision, Wanda, Natasha and Rhodey. Albeit the newest Avengers were still somewhat of a mystery to Maria, she was still happy to see them. Upon seeing Maria, Natasha stood up from her seat at a kitchen counter, her mouth forming a surprised O.

"Maria?" she asked and before Maria could respond or even nod her head, Natasha's arms were around her. "Not that I didn't know you would come back…"

Maria smiled widely as they let go of each other, "It's good to see you too, Nat."

"But I gotta ask, why did you come back now?" asked Natasha. "From what I've heard, you were starting your own team."

"What?" asked Maria surprised. "Where did you hear that?"

"I've got contacts everywhere," shrugged Natasha, nonchalantly walking back towards the kitchen and beginning to pour herself a cup of coffee.

"Well, you're not wrong. I suppose in a way I'm still their, uh, leader," said Maria. "But they can manage on their own. My father left some unorganised people behind and I trained them to something else than they were."

"Meaning Hydra agents?" asked Natasha, the other three Avengers and Sam simply watching them interact.

"Yeah," nodded Maria. "But they're better now. They run a shop, earn honest money, and make sure the city's safe at night."

Natasha glanced back at her, simply nodding her head. It was obvious she was thinking something, wondering something, though deciding against stating her thought out loud. Maria could not help but wonder if Natasha had the same doubts as her about the group of previous criminals she had just left behind. Of course both she and Natasha, and Wanda standing a little away from them, were all three previous criminals as well and none of them had yet gone back yet. Then again, none of them wanted to be criminals either. Those men Maria had left behind… she was not sure of what they wanted.

"So, how's everything going?" asked Maria, turning to look at Vision, Wanda, Rhodey and Sam.

"You mean with their training?" asked Natasha with a smirk on her lips, leaning against the counter. "Good. Though they still need some more time before we can call them a team."

"I'll be glad to help," said Maria, smiling at the four newest members.

The lights were dimmed suddenly, making Maria tense up slightly. Sam's watch beeped and as he lifted his arm, a holographic picture of the facility showed a small, red dot on the roof. Wanda looked up, a small worry in her eyes. Maria did not miss the concerned look Vision sent Wanda when she did not notice and a warmth spread through Maria's body, wondering if Steve ever looked at her like that when she was not looking at him… She briefly wondered where he was when Sam cut her off.

"Duty calls… again," said Sam before jogging off.

Rhodey and Wanda shared a glance, making Maria furrow her brow.

"This never happens," explained Natasha as she walked over to stand next to Maria. "The alarm never goes off. And now, it's gone off twice in one day."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," said Maria, looking back over at the three newest members as though to reassure them. "Is there anyway to communicate with him?"

Nat nodded her head, grabbing something from her pocket. It was a small ear-piece which she handed to Maria, "Welcome back."

With a smile, Maria placed the ear-piece into her ear and walked over to the large windows placed by the sofas and TV. While Nat stayed by the kitchen area, the three newest members joined Maria by the windows. She pressed a finger to her ear-piece.

"Sam? What do you see?"

"I'm not seeing anything…"

Albeit none of them could see up on the roof through the windows, all of them tried to crane their necks to see upwards, all but Vision who probably knew it was no use to even try.

"Wait a second…"

"What? Sam, talk to me."

"I can see you."

Maria exchanged a look with Rhodey who had a question in his eyes to which she shook her head, "He can handle this until he says he can't."

"Hi, I'm Scott."

Through the ear-piece Sam had kept on, Maria and the others could vaguely hear the voice of a man. Albeit the voice sounded worried and a little nervous, there was something about hearing a unfamiliar voice that triggered all Avengers' worry. Natasha joined them by the windows, standing next to Rhodey.

"What are you doing here?"

"First off, I'm a big fan." Maria and Natasha exchanged a look, not quite knowing what to think of the situation.

"Appreciate it. So, who the hell are you?"

"I'm Ant-Man."

"Ant-Man?" His voice sounded amused and Maria pressed her ear-piece.

"Don't judge people's name, Sam. That's not who we are," she said, earning a look from Natasha to which she just shrugged. "Just saying…"

"What you haven't heard of me? Nah, you wouldn't have heard of me."

"You wanna tell me what you wan't?"

"I was hoping I could grab a piece of technology. Just for a few days and return it… I need it to save the world… you know… how… that is, heh…"

"Bring him in," ordered Natasha. "Let him talk to us."

"Copy that. Ant-Man, you're coming with me."

"Sorry about this!"

"Sam? What's happening?" asked Maria.

"Breach is an adult male who has some sort of shrinking tech!"

"Did he attack?" asked Maria. "You need back-up?"

"No, ma'am, I can handle this. He's the size of an ant, what can he do to me?"