"Where are we again?"

"Um….somewhere in Nebraska, I think."

I glance at Bruce as he studies his tablet and then back out the window at...Gretna, Nebraska, I think. Rain pattered against the jet widows and blurred my vision of the small, dusty town. We had tracked Betty, Jane, and Darcy here, but it wasn't easy. Bruce, Dad, and I had to find signals no one even knew existed and hack into some important databases.

I motion for Bruce and Thor to stay in the jet with the pilot while I tug my hood over my head and dash into the rain towards the normal looking, albeit slightly run down, house across the street.

I come to a stop in front of the front door and softly knock one, twice, three times.

About a minute passes, and I'm about to head back to the jet when the door creaks open about an inch and I see a flash of silver.

I take a step back and raise my hands. "Whoa, cool it. I'm not government."

"Taylor?"

"In the flesh."

A pause. "What was Betty drinking in Australia?"

I sigh. "A grasshopper, because she liked green and we thought it would be a funny gag gift."

Another pause. And then the door is flung open and Darcy is hugging the life out of me. I squeeze her back as she mumbles about me being an idiot and scaring her.

I eventually pry her off after profusely apologizing for being an idiot and saving the world and turn towards the doorway.

Betty and Jane are standing there grinning like idiots. I give them each bear hugs, and then scan my three friends for blood or bandages. "Everyone okay? Nothing missing, no extra holes anywhere?"

They all shake their heads. "We're all okay, Taylor." Betty promises me. "We all got out."

I bite my lip and nod slowly. "You better not be hiding something from me. Because, I swear, if you are, I will get my dad and Jarvis to lock you out of the labs for a month. Do not test me, Elizabeth."

"Not fair!" she whines, "I can't extend your name."

I snort and glance at Jane, who is glancing around the porch nervously.

"Thor and Bruce are in the jet." I offer and point through the rain.

Jane's eyes shine and she looks relieved as she and Betty both hug me again before sprinting through the downpour.

I look at Darcy. She holds up a finger. "Give me a second."

I nod as she runs back into the house and emerges about a minute later with a collapsed umbrella.

"Who are geniuses now?" she crows, causing me to almost fall over and suffocate on my laughter.

She moves her thumb to push the button and expand the umbrella, but she hesitates. "Are you really okay?" she asks, her voice soft and serious and grave for once.

I sigh and ruffle my hair. "No. Probably not. But…I will explain, okay?"

She nods and smiles slightly, popping the umbrella and linking her arm with mine as we make our way into the rain.

We take our time getting back to the jet, jumping into puddles and kicking water and snatching the umbrella.

Because sometimes, in the midst of the business meetings and saving the world, I forget the fact that I am still a teenager, and so is Darcy.

Bruce and Thor help us into the jet and toss us towels for our hair. I plop onto one of the overstuffed couches in the jet and have shove Darcy over so I don't become a seat. Betty and Bruce take the couch across from us while Jane gets a recliner and Thor is sprawled on the floor with her socked feet on his stomach.

"So what happened to you three?"

They all look at each other and silently debate who will go first.

"Fine." Jane groans. "Well, starting in the safe house. Bruce had taken us to the basement, you know the one off the kitchen? Yeah. So he took us there and we just sat and waited. We could hear the gunfire." She pauses and they all shiver. I lay a hand on Darcy's shoulder and give her a small grin, sending sympathetic glances towards Betty and Jane.

"What happened next?" Bruce asks softly.

Betty sighs. "Suddenly the lights all went off. We couldn't see a thing, not an inch in front of our noses. We all froze, because we are not trained for this. Well, I am, but Darcy and Jane aren't, and we-"

"Betty." I interrupt. "You're rambling."

"Oh." She blushes slightly. "Well, when the lights came back on, Bruce was gone but nothing else looked like it had been touched. I knew we needed to get out, so I started rooting around for anything to help us. I found a shoe box full of pistols and magazines, and after we got them handed out, we all wormed our way through the basement window-"

"The one near the ceiling?"

She nods. "That one. Then we ran."

"And how'd you end up in a small town in Nebraska?"

"Oh! Can I say this part? Okay. So we walked until we found a little rental car place, and Betty made up this sob story about how she was taking her sister and cousin away from a maniac father and uncle and we needed a car but didn't have enough money. The owner was a nice old grandpa-looking man, and he took the fifty dollars, cash, we had and we got this clunky old station wagon. Like, from the sixties, I swear. We found some Washington State license plates and we replaced the car plates. We switched out driving for a while. By the way, I got my phone taken. And my StarkPod. You owe me one, again." she groans.

I sigh. "I have some extras at home. Remind me to make them untraceable.

Darcy nods, looking pleased. "So then we come across this home. I think it must have been the home of some family of vacationers. Poor saps. Luckily for us, they didn't have a security system. They should really get one." she trails off, frowning slightly.

I nod thoughtfully. "Remind me to send them a system."

"You should have your phone remind you. Much more reliable."

I smile sheepishly and fish my phone out of my pocket.

I type in the notices, and I'm about to put it back as it buzzes.

Clint: hey. You done extracting troops yet?

Me: hey yourself. Yeah, we went, we found them safely, and we're on our way home.

Clint: good. You have any plans tomorrow night?

Me: no. Why?

Clint: *gasp* you forgot?

Me: uh…one second.

"Jarvis, is anything special happening tomorrow?"

"Affirmative, ma'am. Tomorrow is June twelfth, 2018. Also known as one year since you and Mr. Barton officially became romantically involved."

"Oh. Okay, right. Thanks, Jarvis."

Me: of course not. Psh, why would I do that?

Clint: I'm gonna surprise you. Mind wearing a dress?

Me: Do I have to?

Clint: no, not really, but I'm going fancy.

Me: it's a surprise.

Clint: okay. Love you, see you soon.

Me: love you too.

I pause and stare at my phone.

"Does anyone know where I can get a dress on short notice?"