“Do you think anyone’s coming?”

“Do you think anyone’s coming?” Mocked Tony, voice a pitch too high and snarky as ever. “Don’t be stupid, Steve. Pepper knows I wouldn’t miss date night. Not to mention Peter was supposed to come by but he’s here too. Pep probably has Nat and Y/n looking for us if they aren’t already here.”

Steve crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a glare at Tony. The billionaire matched his pose and raised his brows, waiting for a challenge. Steve sighed and relaxed his posture after a moment, though he kept his arms crossed.

He leaned against the wall, chin resting on his chest. The cells were silent amongst the men after the brief exchange, sighs and groans of frustration and irritation being the only sounds heard aside from leaking pipes and constant dripping water.

“Pepper, what’s the status of the entrance?”

“Looks like Wanda, Okoye, Carol and I took care of everyone. Wanda’s coming in to help you and do an interior sweep. I’ll stay out here with Okoye and Carol to make sure everything stays secure,” came the reply.

“Mrs. Stark, the Van Dyne woman has reached the central control room and secured it, though she reports she could use some back up,” Friday relayed to Pepper.

“Gamora, Nebula, you guys get that from Friday?” Pepper called and lowered herself by the only accessible entrance to the abandoned warehouse. The facepiece separated and folded back as she made eye contact with the Wakandan warrior and blessed-by-an-Infinity-Stone pilot, giving a small nod of appreciation.

“Yeah, en route,” Gamora answered.

“Are we sure the girls are looking for us? I mean, what if they are finally relieved not to have to put up with us anymore?” Peter paced his cell and smacked the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I haven’t wooed this Gamora to fall for me yet!”

“Quit your whining would you? It’s annoying,” Bucky grumbled, shifting on the cell floor, glancing at his left shoulder. A sigh left him and he closed his eyes. “How the hell did we get in this situation?”

“Because you weren’t paying attention and were the first to get knocked out,” Sam snarked at him. When kicked-puppy blue eyes met his brown ones, he swallowed thickly and nodded. “Right, sorry, Buck. Look,” he lowered his voice and moved to sit with his back to Bucky’s, despite the cell bars separating them, “this is on all of us. We all rushed in without having the proper knowledge on what we were getting into. It’s not any one person’s fault. We’re all to blame here, alright?” Bucky glanced over his shoulder and smiled at Sam, nudging him with his right shoulder.

“I am Groot.”

“I know, Buddy. I’m sure they’re on their way to save us,” Rocket reassured Groot, paw on the adolescent tree’s shoulder. Thor looked at Groot and smiled, kneeling down beside him.

“Hey, don’t worry. I promise you Loki won’t let us sit here long. She’s got quite the temperament when it’s others picking on and being mean to those she loves and cares about,” he explained. Groot looked up at the Norse God and nodded, giving a soft “I am Groot” in reply.

“She? I thought Loki was your brother?” Drax inquired, head leaning back on the wall he sat against.

“Yes and no. Loki is gender-fluid.”

“I thought he was a God-human thing?”

“N-what? No. Gender-fluid means that when Loki feels more masculine, she’ll use he/him pronouns, but when she feels more feminine she will use she/her pronouns. So she doesn’t really feel solidly one gender but sometimes both or somewhere in between, in limbo kind of,” Thor tried his best to explain what Loki had once -a long time ago- explained to him. Everyone glanced at the powerless God before nodding and settling back into the uncomfortable silence.

“They have comms too, don’t they, Y/n?” Loki asked, eyes scanning the hall for anyone they might have missed. She ran her hand along the wall, pausing in wait for your answer.

“I think so, but I couldn’t tell you what channel they’re on,” you replied, M9 crossed with your flashlight as you lead her down an empty corridor that smelled of mildew. A glance to the corners where the wall meets the ceiling confirmed your suspicions of mold. You pulled a face and glanced back at Loki, admiring the black and green velvet battle dress she wore. “Why?”

“Just wondering if we could possibly find the right one and let them know we’re on our way with a plan,” her tone masked a deeper meaning but you didn’t want to push. Best to let her do what she wants and be done. She’s not hurting anyone, you reasoned with yourself.

You continued on down the seemingly endless hall until a cool hand on your shoulder stopped you. You turned to Loki, the force field dissolving from around you and appeared to dissipate at her hand.

“What? Did you find something? Someone?” You couldn’t help the hopefulness that leaked into your tone, you just wanted everyone back. She shook her head no but had a smile plastered to her face. She reached to you and fiddled with your ear piece a moment before many familiar voices came over the comms.

“Hey, Mr. Stark, Sir, do you really think they’re coming to get us? What if Mr. Quill is right? What if they are finally fed up with us and just leave us here?” The spider-boy’s anxious voice filtered in through the comms link. You breathed a sigh of relief, thankful at least one of the guys were safe, probably two if he was actually talking to Tony.

“Hey, Kid, come on. Breathe. Easy. Alright, settle down. I have no doubts that they’re coming for us. Much as we might annoy them, they love us, otherwise they wouldn’t put up with us,” Tony’s voice rang loud and clear over the ear piece. You exchanged smirks with Loki.

“Alpha, Wolf Strike, we have one way comms with our lost little soldiers. Not sure what Loki did but we’re gonna see if we can establish two way comms. Until then, switch to 7-Delta to hear them.” You called in over the comms to the rest of the team. Murmurs and whoops and cheers all deafened you for a moment and you couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled it’s way from your chest at your team.

“Wolf Strike, Command, I’ll try and hack the disabling system that’s bugging their equipment. It appears to be a simple jammer, should be simple enough. Give me 5 Mikes-10 tops,” Shuri called to you one way.

“Copy that, Command. Let me know when you get it. You have my location right?”

“Negative. Seems that whatever is jamming their comms is just in range enough to reach your tracker,” it was Hill who responded this time, furious clacking of a keyboard sounded in the background.

“I’ve got it. You go ahead and look for them. I won’t be long and you’re not alone,” Loki waved then was gone. You startled slightly at her magic display, suddenly questioning if she had ever even been there.

“Ahh, Brother. What a fine mess you seem to be in. Such a pity that it wasn't my doing though. Fortunately the craftsmanship is poor, the intellect weak, and the numbers few,” Loki walked down the cell block, tsk-ing at the use of old iron and aged cement.

“Loki! By Gods, you are here! You haven’t the faintest idea how pleased I am to see you!” Thor yelped in shock, moving to the cell door. “Our comms are shot, we’ve all lost what makes us each individuals, and we were all so worried you wouldn’t be able to find us!”

“That was your first mistake. Your second was doubting us. Now!” Your voice rang out through the men’s earpieces and their eyes lit up. Music started drifting into your ears via your comms and you couldn’t help but laugh. Leave it to Shuri to bring the music during a rescue mission. “Ladies all across the world, listen up we’re looking for recruits! If you’re with me, lemme see your hands, stand up, and salute!” you sang along softly and darted back to the corner hallway where Loki stood waiting; her apparition faded from Thor’s view on the other side of the locked metal door. His face twisted from happy to annoyed that Loki hadn’t actually been in the room.

Curse her and her stupid magic tricks, he thought with a huff.

Ba-boom!

Bucky and Sam jumped to their feet at the explosion. Bucky’s eyes wild with fear for a brief moment as memories flashed before his eyes. He shook his head and with the help of Peter, who had gotten tossed in his cell, pulled himself from his mind and readied himself for a fight. Everyone stood tense and on edge as the dust cleared.

“Miss me, Boys?” You tilted your head to the left and beamed at them, Loki walking up behind you. She rolled her eyes at your antics but slipped a key into your hand nonetheless.

“Let’s hurry. I didn’t see anyone but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t hiding out somewhere waiting to ambush us,” she hissed.

“Right. Alright, well, be prepared for the death of the king!” T’Challa raised a brow at you and crossed his arms.

“Did you just quote Scar from The Lion King?” Peter inquired as you open his and Bucky’s cell first. With a shrug and a lopsided grin you moved on to Cap and Tony while Loki broke out Thor, Strange, Vision, and the Guardians. The Wakandan King seemed to relax at the realization of your quote, courtesy of Parker, and shook his head.

“Purgatory maybe,” you sniggered and stepped up to the cell with people in it and curtly bowed your head. There were groans of protest from behind you at your reference to the Supernatural post you had shown everyone when it crossed your Tumblr dash. “King Panther,” you hummed and opened the door. T’Challa stepped out holding an unconscious Bruce, with Scott and Clint following him.

“They’ve sedated him to keep the Hulk at bay,” Clint answered your silent question, absentmindedly signing as well. “I also think some of the others have a similar serum. I saw them administering shots of a green-ish liquid into them.” He continued to sign as he spoke. You nodded and signed “thank you” back before ushering them towards Loki and continuing your investigation of the room. When you gave the all clear, Loki projected a malleable forcefield around the group as she led them back the way you two had come.

The guys all filed in line behind Loki, Thor taking over carrying Bruce, and you brought up the rear with Bucky and Sam in front of you. Between you and Loki, and the sassy comments from the rest on comms, you had given the basic escape plan to them and told them not to worry about their losses for now. It took about five minutes of reassurances from everyone that the others were fine aside from Bucky’s missing limb and some scratches, and nothing needing urgent care. Once that was done, everyone fell into a content silence, at least over comms.

“But how will you bring me Mjolnir if you cannot pick it up? Only those worthy can, and I cannot call it to me,” Thor questioned as he followed close behind Loki. She glanced at him over her shoulder and nodded to you and Peter, with whom you were in conversation with.

“Surely one of those two can do it, yeah? We’ll figure it out or you can come get it, but not until we’ve covered the grounds and cleared it out. You’re pretty useless right now,” she grinned and continued to backtrack through the halls leading back to the main entry point. It was quiet for a little longer.

“So tell me dear Brother, how did the mighty Black Panther get captured? Wakanda nonsense is that?!” Shuri chided T’Challa over comms after about ten minutes of silence. Laughter broke out from all ends at her pun and the King just groaned at his sister.

“Not right now, Shuri. Can’t this wait?” He pleaded, exhaustion seeping into his voice. “It’s bad enough I don’t have the necklace you gave me for the suit, I don’t need your chastising too. Don’t add insult to injury,” he sighed, defeated.

“You lost the necklace that contains the suit? Brother! What the hell were you thinking? It’s a good thing that not only did I program it specifically to you, but that no one else can get ahold of the Black Panther’s gifted flower!” Shuri yelled at him.

The laughter ceased and the line went silent at the berating of the King by the Princess. Everyone seemed to have the same thought, staying out of that, as they all lowered the volume or turned off their earpieces completely. It wasn’t their business what the Wakandans argued over nor was it their right to take sides. Especially not after the last time when Steve and Tony fought. Everyone remembered that.

“Hey, Loki, hold up. I think I heard something down this hall. I’m gonna go check it out. I still have that personal force field right?” You called and backtracked about three steps.

“Yes it’s still good, but don’t go alone. We haven’t scoped out anywhere else. Take someone else or wait and come back with Natasha and Pepper or something,” she suggested and halted, turning to look at you. The sound of metal buttons snapping was heard and you nodded to Sam, Bucky, and Steve.

“Come with me. You can shoot, right?” You rhetorically asked and passed them each a gun; Bucky your M9 pistol, Steve your .44 revolver, and Sam your M4A1 from your right shoulder, while you swung the Remington R4 from your left shoulder around to your hands. “I think I’m covered,” you beamed and lead the trio of soldiers down the damp hall.

“Come on, let's get out so we can get you lot patched up,” Loki heaved a sigh and touched the wall. It lit up in a bright green rune before disappearing as if nothing happened. Thor raised a brow but didn’t ask his sister why she had been marking the path with ancient Nordic runes.

“Everyone step back. I’m gonna blow the lock,” you ordered and pulled a small electronic gadget from your cargo pants pocket after shouldering her gun. Sam raised a brow and shook his head with a laugh. You pressed a couple buttons on the side and set it snug against the iron lock before pressing one more button and backing away quickly.

“Is that a variant of Tony’s repulsor from his suits?” He asked as you joined the group at the far end of the room, where you had blown off yet another door. You grinned and gave a subtle nod in his direction before covering your ears. They all followed suit.

“If it’s what I think Y/n is using, then yes it is. It’s similar, except that is a small bomb. Small and handy like a grenade but can be as explosive as ten C4 bombs if the setting is changed,” Shuri’s voice explained over the comms, music still played in the background, though it couldn’t be made out anymore.

Ba-BOOM!

You waved your hand in front of your face at the dirt and dust kicked up from the explosion. It took the guys a little longer to get reoriented with their senses, and by the time they had, you were on them with your arms full. You passed Steve his shield, Sam his wing pack, and you tugged Bucky towards the table where the rest of everyone else’s gear lay.

“Sit,” you ordered gently and waited until he was situated on it before you helped him remove the top half of his tactical gear so you could reattach his Vibranium arm. Sam and Steve collected the remaining gear while you worked silently. It took you all of five minutes to get Bucky back to being fully functional again.

“Arm up. Wiggle your fingers. Roll it. Twist it, does it feel off?” You instructed and watched to make sure nothing stuck or had been damaged.

“Thanks.” He smiled and shook his head no as he slid from the table, redressing himself while you hummed and busied yourself in double checking that Steve and Sam had collected everything. A flash of red caught your eye and you rounded to where you thought you saw it.

“What was that?” You pulled your flashlight out and shined it along the wall until the light landed on the -very dirty and wet- cloak. You recognized it immediately as Strange’s. “Oh no. You poor thing,” you cooed, as it seemed to flap anxiously, and you immediately began trying to pull the iron railway spike from the wall without ripping the cloak.

“Here. Allow me?” Steve offered and raised his shield. After a moment you nodded and stepped back, watching as the Captain wedged the shield between the wall and the spike and used it as a lever to pry the spike out. Bucky grabbed the spike as it came loose and gently pulled the cloak from the end. He tossed the spike to the side and held the soggy clump of cloth to you.

“You poor dear, let’s get you to Strange and then we’ll get you home and all cleaned up, ok?” You murmured softly to the cape and cradled it in one hand and grabbed the bag with everything else in your other. You slung the bag onto your shoulder and glanced around one last time. “Alright, looks like that’s everything. Let’s head back to the others.”

The trio had given you back your guns, Sam threatening to put them back in their holsters himself if you didn’t take them. You conceded to prevent that, at least under the circumstances, otherwise they knew you’d have taken off for them to play catch up. It was a silent walk back, though the happiness that radiated from the men was contagious and you couldn’t stop smiling if you wanted to. They seemed more relaxed and content now they had their belongings back.

It wasn’t long before you were stepping over downed soldiers and rubble and debris. You were trying to squeeze through a pile of -probably dead- Hydra agents and the wall when your knee connected with something sturdy. You let out a yelp and stumbled forward into more bodies. Sam rushed to you and helped you back to your feet as Steve and Bucky moved the pile to find what you had tripped on, or to see if it had been a survivor in hiding.

The blonde huffed and shook his head at the sight of Mjolnir resting on a guard’s chest at the bottom of the pile. Of course it wouldn’t have been knocked over or moved even with all the bodies piled on top. “Y/n,” Steve called to get your attention.

“Shit. How are we supposed to get Mjolnir back? We can’t pick it up,” you groaned inwardly at the conundrum as you glanced back over your shoulder. Steve stayed quiet as the realization of what hammer it was didn’t register with the other two.

“What do you mean? It’s just a hammer isn’t it?” Sam and Bucky asked in unison. They shot glares at the other before turning back to you and Steve. Steve chuckled and gestured to the God’s hammer.

“If you think you are worthy, then wield it,” he suggested and took a step back to watch the events unfold. You pursed your lips and joined the Captain while Sam and Bucky played Ro-Sham-Bo to see who would try to pick it up first.

“Hah!” Sam smirked, “Paper beats Rock!” With a minor adjustment of his wing pack on his back, he strutted to the table and grabbed the handle, “Watch and learn, Barnes.”

You rolled your eyes at their egos but hummed in contentment anyway. It was going to be fun watching Sam and Bucky fail to lift Thor’s hammer. There were only three people you knew could do so; Thor, himself, and Peter Parker, the Spiderling. You had opted to not embarrass yourself when everyone else was having a go at after Thanos’ end. Your eyes widened and jaw went slack as you remembered something. You turned to Steve.

“You!” you cried hysterically and pointed at him, realization dawning on you. You watched his face tinge pink and he laughed with a nod. “You just wanna see them try and fail, don’t you?” you hiss at him as Sam struggles -and fails- to even get the hammer to budge. Bucky almost doubled over in laughter.

“Maybe. Sometimes they both need to be taken down a peg or two,” he shrugged nonchalantly and watched as Bucky and Sam switched places. The second super soldier slipped his Vibranium hand through the holding strap so it rested on his wrist and gripped the handle. He flashed a smile before giving a tug to the hammer. It didn’t lift, but it did shift slightly as it had done once before with Steve. He tried again with the same results.

“Fuck, man, I don’t think we’ll be able to bring this back,” Bucky sighed and retreated to the group with a hit to his ego and his pride bruised. Sam nodded in agreement while you giggled at them. Steve sauntered up to Mjolnir and grabbed the handle.

“Or maybe,” he tugged and it moved as though it weighed nothing, “you’re just not worthy.” You groaned aloud as he quoted Thor from several years ago. He winked at you and nodded. “Let’s go, shall we?” He took the lead as you fell back into step behind him, leaving Sam and Bucky to fall in and follow. Bright green Nordic symbols lined the way and it wasn’t long before you regrouped with the whole team.

“Ladies all across the world, listen up we’re looking for recruits! If you’re with me, lemme see your hands, stand up, and salute! Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots! Representing all the women, salute, salute!”

Steve trudges down the hall to the common room and kitchen in a worn out white tee and a pair of sweatpants. He tilts his head as the lyrics meet his ears. He hesitates before continuing into the kitchen for breakfast, deciding to skip his usual morning run.

“I’ve heard this song before, but I can’t place where?” He scrunches his face, brows furrowed as he tried his best to remember.

“Yeah. Y/n plays it all the time. It’s kind of her theme song. She always has it in her workout playlist and Shuri played it over our comms when we saved your ass just a couple weeks ago,” Nat smirks smugly from the island bar with a plate of bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast, and waffles.

“Language,” Steve startles at her voice, having not noticed her when he walked in. He gives a friendly wave and small smile before what she said registers and he scowls at her. His eyes scan the room and land on Wanda who is fixing a plate at the table, also smirking. “And you know that wasn’t our fault right?”

“Oh yeah. EVERYONE gets bad intel from time to time. Just, yanno, usually it’s not like over half the team,” your voice cuts through the song and Steve glances over to see you -making more waffles and bacon- swaying and shuffling to the song, stomping when the lyrics “lace up your boots” is said and mock saluting when “salute” is said. He shakes his head at you.

“That’s not funny. We thought the emails and intel came from Fury,” he counters and grabs a plate from the stack beside you. You raise a brow and cock your head to the side, smirk on your face.

“That is funny. I don’t recall Nick getting a gmail account,” You giggle and flip the waffle maker to evenly cook the batter through. “Or better yet, I didn’t know he was doing it differently by not making an appearance and scaring the ever-loving shit out of everyone,” you smile at the way Steve shifts uncomfortably at your cursing.

“Hey, stop making the Cap feel old, well older than he is. You know how much a lady swearing makes him feel even more out of place,” a teasing voice calls from the entrance. Natasha and Wanda smile while you try to ignore the male, but you can’t help but smile as you take out the waffle and start making another. You sense him before you feel his arms around your waist and his lips on your neck with a hushed “good morning, Beautiful” against your skin.

“Go shower then you can have waffles,” you ignore the almost inaudible cries from Sam but you only shoo him from you. “Shower or no waffles, Samuel,” you grab the hand towel from the counter, wind it up, and pop his backside with it as he finally concedes defeat. He yelps in surprise and turns to see you with the towel over your shoulder, swaying to the last few lines of “Salute”. Nat and Wanda laugh behind their hands while Steve stared in bewilderment at what just took place. Sam rolls his eyes and heads to the bathroom to shower. He passes Tony with a “good morning” said between them.

“I think you’ve managed to confuse and startle everyone with not only your cunning wit, rivaling sass, but your knack for going Captain on them,” Tony teases and grabs a plate. You glance at him and shrug, offering him the just-done waffle.

“I learned a lot in the Navy. It’s how you survive,” you respond and set everything aside and get a plate to make for Sam. “Besides, the best way to prevent someone from being condescending is to establish dominance. I do that by going Drill Sergeant,” you explain and set the plate on the table.

“Ahh yes. I remember when you first met everyone. You had them all scared out of their pants! They all snapped to attention and looked ready to salute,” the billionaire laughs at the memory. “If I recall right, that was your theme song too, the one that was just playing? I remember Happy telling F.R.I.D.A.Y. to play it when you went to spar with Natasha.”

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me--how did y’all know we were all captured?” Steve pipes up from the table. Tony raises a brow while the other females smile. You busy yourself making your own plate before answering.

“Honestly? I just knew you, Sam, and Buck were out on a mission together. Then Nick dropped in and asked where Tony was, which sparked interest in Bruce, Scott, and Strange’s whereabouts. When I didn’t have an answer, we tried to look up any info we could manage. We didn’t think anything like a hostage situation until Shuri called to see if T’Challa was here. She said that she hadn’t heard from him in a few days and the last thing she got was a notification on her Kimoyo bead bracelet for T’Challa saying he lost signal about two hours prior. She thought maybe some Stark tech was jamming it but then when it didn’t come back on she decided to make some calls,” you recall and bring the orange juice jug to the table with your plate of food.

“That’s right. After Y/n got off the phone with Shuri I found Pepper to see if she knew where you were, Tony. That’s how we knew you were gone. She said you had promised to be here for dinner and when you didn’t show she got worried, then Parker called and said you had missed coming to his school and we knew we had to start looking. Then May showed up her that night saying he never came home from school and the school was saying he left around lunch,” Wanda adds as she moves to the table with Nat. Sam slides into the seat beside you, freshly showered.

“Then Loki showed up and she went off about Thor and we knew that something big had happened. When we called Nick to verify the missions he supposedly gave out he just gave us his bitch face and we knew something was very wrong,” you pour syrup over your strawberries and waffle. “You’re just lucky we got there when we did. Y’all owe Dr. Cho, Shuri, Hill, MJ, and May big time. They were holding it down here and giving us anything and everything we needed to know. Oh and for future reference? Nick will never email or send someone else in his place when giving orders. It’s proven to be too much of a security issue,” you state and dig into your breakfast so they won’t continue pestering you about the day you saved them.

It had been nonstop questions about how you had planned the rescue, who had been team leader in Cap’s place, who decided who went and who stayed, and so on and so forth. You were over it and your answer seemed sufficient enough for Steve and Tony as they began to eat their food, a comfortable silence settling over the compound for the first time since everyone got back.

“Hey, don’t forget we have some new S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to whip into shape,” Sam nudges your arm, making you pause with a piece of waffle halfway to your mouth.

“I completely forgot. Let’s hurry then,” you perk up and finish your bite.

“How is she not tired of this playlist yet?” Rhodey crosses his arm, standing beside Tony on the upstairs overhang in the gym. The same playlist you turn on every time you train loops through F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s speaker system.

“She’s crazy, that’s why,” Tony sasses and chuckles.

You and Wanda are grappling while you wait for Steve, Sam, and Bucky to get back from taking the new agents on a mile and a half run. Natasha watches from the sidelines, yelling pointers and reminders for certain techniques the two of you are trying to smooth and perfect. It’s when Wanda pins you to the mat, red encircling from her hands up her forearms, that you tap out with a huffed laugh.

“Using your powers is cheating. This is a spar for hand to hand only, no powers,” you tease and buck your hips so high that she rolls off you, over your shoulder. You both sit up and she gives you a large smile, wiping the sweat from her brow as the red dissipates.

“I’m working on it,” she shoots back. She nudges her shoulder against yours and nods to the door. “Looks like the kids are here. Want me to get them ready with stretches?”

“I think they need cool down stretches and a water break from the looks of their run. I think Steve and Buck went overboard again. Damn super soldiers,” you laugh and push yourself to your feet, offering Wanda a hand up. She accepts it and heads over to the group of barely standing recruits.

“Everyone go get some water and line back up. We’ll do some cool downs since our soldiers like to overwork you first thing in the morning,” Wanda jabs at the old soldiers before shooting them a wink. They both flush pink and duck their heads as they retreat to the boxing ring. Sam laughs and snatches his water bottle from the bleachers and gives the witch a questioning look. She tips her head to you on the far side of the gym, talking in quick, hush tones with Natasha.

“Look, it’ll be funny. You saw the video of when I first, officially, met the guys right? It’ll be kinda like that,” you grin and bump her hip with yours. Her eyes narrow slightly, a playful glint in them, and she nods.

“Fine. You can have this group. I’ll get the next ones. I’m recording this though,” the Russian quips and grabs her jacket and water bottle. She nods at Sam in passing, heading straight for Tony and Rhodey upstairs.

“What was that about?” Sam inquires and leans against you. You raise a brow at him, swipe his bottle, and take a sip. He pouts for a split second before you hand it back to him.

“Just some good ole’ pranks on the unsuspecting newbies,” you chuckle and lean away from him. He follows so half of his upper body weight is leaning on your left side. You give him a fake sigh. He pulls back slightly and goes to lean back once you give him a smile, but you side step just out of his reach and he stumbles.

“Hey!” He yelps and grabs your wrist, pulling you close once he has his balance back. His dark eyes are bright with mirth and mischief. “I thought the pranks were for the kids?”

You lean towards him, noses brushing. For a moment you both just stare into the others eyes, lost in contention. You break eye contact and giggle.

“I mean, aren’t you a kid?”

“Oh har har har. Very funny, Y/n.”

“Thanks! I was thinking of quitting the Avengers to do my dream job; be a comedian!” You cheer and give his shoulder a nudge. “You know I’m just playing. Anyway, time to go scare some new agents into shape! Oh, and tell the Soldiers to slow the pace or I’ll have them supervise the kids on treadmills instead.”

“Aye aye, Ma’am!” He salutes and takes a seat on the edge of the boxing ring where Steve and Bucky are stretching. “You two heard the lady.”

“Ladies all across the world, listen up we’re looking for recruits! If you’re with me, lemme see your hands, stand up, and salute! Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots! Representing all the women, salute, salute!”

The music slowly fades in as Wanda addresses the recruits to get back in some formation. You slink up behind them, waiting for one of them to notice you and say something. When they don’t, you have F.R.I.D.A.Y. turn up the volume of the music just a little, waiting for the right moment, timing it with the lyrics of the song.