sunset. [wanda maximoff]

2.5

Pepper placed her hand lightly on Scottie's face as she rejoined the woman in the study that they had previously been sitting in before Rhodey was forced to take General Ross' business call. Wanda was still supporting Vision with the help of Sam, but their reunion had been largely bittersweet and necessary.

There were a lot of things hanging in the air with the team that hadn't spoken to half of the room for years. In fact, Natasha hadn't even been as sure as Steve that they would of been welcomed back so easily. She knew that the fight on the German concourse had gone much deeper than just a school ground disagreement, and she certainly was worried that James Rhodes' condition would have resulted in a hostile reception from the man.

She was certainly not expecting the man to have welcomed them with open arms, a gentle smile on his face as he saw the faces of his friends that he had long abandoned. She wasn't expecting Pepper Potts to even have been at the facility after the news that Tony had disappeared into space along with the Spider-boy that Tony had introduced to them during the fight. But she guessed that the reappearance of not only Bruce Banner but also Scottie Casey had done much to remind everyone that there was much more to life than following rules.

Scottie smiled as she placed her hand on top of Pepper's to remind the woman that she was really there. There had been a lot of time spent between both sides filled with anger and resentment at everything that had happened, but Scottie had always been someone that held deep connections with almost everyone on the team.

Sitting down on the armchair that she could tell was often used by Tony, if not for the slight tear of where his leg had clearly bounced on it many a time but also by the fact his old jumper was strung over the back, Scottie smiled gently as Wanda came to rest next to her. The red head placed her hand gently on Scottie's, lacing their fingers together as she rubbed her thumb lightly over a scar on the back of Scottie's hand that she had never known to previously exist on the girl.

Steve stood in the centre of the room, his authority instantly falling back into place as he studied the members of the Avengers; past and present. Pepper excused herself from the room as her phone began to ring, Scottie knowing that it was most likely Happy calling the woman to make sure that she was ready to be picked up. Pepper wasn't an Avenger, and there were much safer places that she could go than the battleground.

Turning on the lamps in the room for a better lighting effect, Bruce finally turned to Scottie with a furrowed look on his brow as he tried to process what this newest development was.

"You were dead?" Bruce checked, even though he had heard it from the girl earlier he hadn't realised that it had been over two years since they all presumed she had died. He knew he had been away a lot longer, but they hadn't thought the man was dead at least.

"I was in a coma," Scottie started to explain, watching everyone turn to look at her. She was fiddling with Wanda's fingers as she stared down at their hands before looking back up at the expectant faces of the team. They needed this explanation more than she needed to say it. "I think anyway. One minute I was passing out in the hospital bed and the next thing I knew I was stepping out of a cyro-tank, surrounded by dead scientists and with two aliens staring at me. I tried to shoot them with my beams but I just ended up blowing a hole in the wall to discover I was being kept in an underwater facility."

"Thanos' goons," Bruce filled in, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

Scottie nodded as everyone else shared looks, having all had a run in with the creatures minus Rhodey. Steve and Natasha shared a concerned look at the fact they had purposely gone after Scottie which meant that the girl must have something - whether it be knowledge or power - that Thanos needed in his quest for world dominance.