𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝐱𝐥𝐢

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 in the elevator, a little bit cramped, especially with Vision injured and unable to walk on his own. Adelaide swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet. It had been years since she'd been back in the compound, and even though the layout hadn't changed that much, many part of it were trashed; including Adelaide's room when she went past it.

There were blasts around the room, and small pieces of iron left from something that Adelaide couldn't quite work out as they strode past. However, Adelaide's anxiousness was topped by Pietro's utter fear of facing Thaddeus since his betrayal.

The elevator dinged to it's destination, and they all strode out and as they turned the corner, they heard snippets of Rhodes talking to the Secretary of State. But their conversation came to a stop when they heard the crew enter the room. Rhodes turned first, making eye contact with every member of the group except Adelaide. She turned her focus however to the special casing he was wearing around his legs and back.

Thaddeus just looked insulted more than anything, that these criminals would dare to show their faces in his presence.

'Mr Secretary.' Steve acknowledged Thaddeus as they walked closer and when they came to a stop, the secretary walked close to Steve, the hologram of the man shining.

'You've got some nerve.' Pietro shuddered at the man's voice, and Adelaide reached for his hand and held onto it, neither breaking their hard exteriors. 'I'll give you that.' Adelaide's fist clenched as Thaddeus made his way towards Natasha, getting a little close for Adelaide's liking. Wanda grabbed her tensed hand, and held on to it just as Adelaide did for Pietro.

'You could use some of that right now.' Natasha responded, with a coolness that likely offended the man as his hologram walked back over to Steve.

'The world's on fire, and you think all is forgiven?' Thaddeus questioned, attempting to break any of the crew, but their expressions stayed unwavering.

'I'm not looking for forgiveness.' Steve answered before Adelaide joined in.

'And does it look like we're about to ask for your permission to save the world... again?' Wanda smiled slightly as Adelaide spoke, and Adelaide felt Pietro soften inside his mind.

'Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight.' Steve carried on, Rhodes in the back smiling small. 'And if you wanna stand in our way, we'll fight you too.' Steve promised. Thaddeus stared at Rogers for a while, until turning to Rhodes.

'Arrest them.' Was all he said before walking away. Rhodes nodded.

'All over it.' That's the first time he looked at Addie since she came back, as if a silent promise was being made. Rhodes swiped his hand and the holograms blew away. 'That's a court martial. It's great to see you guys.' His gaze wasn't focussed on Adelaide then. Steve stepped forward, shaking Rhodes' hand and Natasha strode ahead too, greeting Rhodes. 'Woah you guys... really look like crap.' Rhodes smiled, and Wanda chuckled slightly. 'Must've been a rough couple of years.'

Adelaide's mind wandered to what had happened the last two years. She didn't want to remember most of it, didn't want anything to show.

'Well the hotels weren't exactly five star.' Sam spoke, smiling gently as he held up Vision with Wanda. Out of the corner of her eye, Adelaide saw something move, and she instantly teleported to it's origin, holding up a shadow carved dagger.

'That's not a very nice greeting.' Bruce spoke, report from the darkness and out. 'Uh I think you look great.' He said, unintentionally looking to Natasha. 'Yeah uh, I'm back.' Bruce chuckled and walked closer to everyone, pulling at his sleeves. Adelaide and Wanda could practically see the surprise and love seep from both Natasha and Banner.

'Hi, Bruce.' Natasha spoke, smiling. Adelaide cringed and Wanda giggled slightly.

'Nat.' Was Bruce's simple reply, and Pietro faked a gag and the girls erupted into laughter, making Steve turn around and tell them off with a look. Pietro shrugged.

'This is really awkward.' He said, and Sam nodded in agreement. Steve simply rolled his eyes. The team was back in action.

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

Adelaide paced around the room, nervous.

'Fa-  Thanos has one of the biggest armies in the universe, probably the biggest.' Adelaide explained, fumbling over her father's title. Rhodes pointed to Adelaide and furrowed his brows.

'Remind me why we're listening to her? And how the hell she knows so much about Thanos?' He asked, and Wanda narrowed her eyes at him. Steve sighed. Adelaide stopped pacing and looked to Rhodes, shaking her head.

'I'm his second in command, keep up.' She said and began pacing around the room again, shadow dripping from her fingertips. Wanda walked next to her and held her in place, holding her hand and running circles in Adelaide's palm with her thumb. The room they were in didn't really have a name as (along with many of the other rooms) this one simply had tech and a few tables and chairs. Not really a sitting room and not really a study or lab.

'And he's coming for Vision's stone.' Bruce confirmed, looking to Vision's forehead. Natasha looked to Adelaide and nodded towards her.

'And her. He'll want Adelaide back, that's for sure, right? So we guard Adelaide and the stone.' Adelaide nodded, and Wanda's fist clenched, jaw tightening. Adelaide whispered soft comforts inside their mind to calm her down, but failed.

'God I'll rip him apart if he comes anywhere near you.' Wanda stared towards the floor and the team went silent. Vision looked at Pietro, who smiled at him and then looked to the girl's, comforting one another.

'There's only one way to keep the stone away from Thanos.' Vision spoke up, and the Avengers looked to him. He nodded. 'We must destroy it.' Adelaide laughed, and shook her head, as did Wanda.

'No. No and you along with it. This isn't an option.' Wanda defended, and walked to Vision still holding Adelaide's hand and bringing her along. Wanda stood in front of Vision and glared at him. 'We are not talking about this, and God knows what it will do to Adelaide-' Wanda stopped herself from speaking, and gasped at her lack of self control. Adelaide sighed.

'Alright well now's a better time than ever to show you all...' Adelaide stripped off her top, and the male Avengers all shouted in protest and covered their eyes. Adelaide rolled her eyes. 'Oh don't be such babies. You're a fossil,' She pointed to Steve and Nat snorted. 'You're green,' Bruce nodded in agreement, 'You're.... you.' Rhodes shook his head and threw his arms in the air. Adelaide didn't talk she simply turned around and exposed her star flecked back to the Avengers. 'This is what happens when I'm near a stone. They talk to me, and.... give me things. That's the only way I can explain it.'

The team looked to Vision and the stone in his head.
'So we take the stone out, and leave Vision. He isn't just the stone, he's a whole lot more.' Steve spoke, and Bruce turned to him.

'Where on earth could we find someone to do that?'