sunset. [wanda maximoff]

prologue

Natasha rolled her eyes as she tucked the phone back into her pocket, not impressed with Nathaniel Barton in the slightest. Hearing the soft steps behind her, she grimaced for a second before turning to face the man that had started them on this path they were all on.

"One of our tech boys flagged this, splashed down in the Banda Sea. Could be the Quinjet. But with Stark's stealth tech, we still can't track the damn thing," Nick Fury told the assassin, passing her a tablet with the information of the last sighting of the Hulk. It was no secret that the events of Ultron had certainly brought the anger machine and the assassin significantly closer, even if they all knew it wouldn't have worked out anyway.

"Right," Natasha murmured, trying to avoid giving anything away. She was upset, yes, but this was just another person to have left them in the space of a week.

"Probably jumped out and swam to Fiji," the man told her as he tried to lighten the mood slightly. "He'll send a postcard." Nastaha scoffed slightly, rolling her eyes as she passed the tablet back to the one-eyed man.

"'Wish you were here!'" She joked, a small but happy smile gracing her lips for a quick second. Her mood turned instantly, remembering why the man was standing in front of her. "You sent me to recruit him, way back when. Did you know then what was going to happen?"

Fury shrugged, his hands flittering across the tablet as they searched for the recent file that he knew the spy was also wanting to see. "You never know. You hope for the best and make do with what you get. I got a great team."

Natasha looked out across the grounds of the new Avengers training facility as she nodded slightly in agreement. She could see Tony, Steve and Thor walking across the grass deep in conversation and she knew that once Steve was the only one remaining they would begin their first training session with the new recruits. Wanda and Sam were settling into the team nicely and Vision was providing them with some strange but interesting insight into everything they were doing. There was just one person missing.

"Casey?" She murmured, not even attempting to hide the concern in her voice as she turned around to actually face the man. He scowled slightly, an obvious sign that there either had been no news on the girl or the news certainly wasn't good to hear. Natasha knew that when he opened his mouth it was going to be the latter.

"Scottie was last spotted crossing the border of Albania and into Greece, but that was three days ago now. We have no idea where she is, and her tracking device has sparked out - something that the tech boys think has been caused by a surge in her powers. Making Ultron, even if she barely helped, it really took a toll on her. She's not going to come back for a while, if ever."

Natasha nodded, putting back on her stoic face as she looked out the window again.

"Nothing lasts forever," she reminded him, but also herself. They had been walking a dangerous line for many years now and she knew that sooner or later they were all going to be shaken off it.

"Trouble, Miss Romanoff. No matter who wins or loses, trouble still comes around."

Natasha supposed he was right. After all, Scottie Casey had only seemed to bring them more trouble by her leaving.

_____________

"The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. That's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us," Thor told the other two men, his hammer grasped tightly in his hand as he prepared to make the jump back to Asgard. "But once all these pieces are in position..."