"It had been a few months after the infamous Battle of Sokovia. A battle which resulted in a devastating civilian casualty count of 177 with an overall loss of $474 billion in damages. Ultron, an artificial peacekeeping program created by the good guys, was the cause. An uncontrollable bot who grew smarter, and faster than the ones who built it," 

"The silver android malfunctioned in the making, it instead seeing humanity itself as the greatest threat to peace on Earth, and attempting to create a technological singularity by committing genocide against the world," 

"The Avengers, of course, did their part, and won the battle as any actual peacekeeping vigilantes do, but at what cost?" 

"Well, for them it was doubt. The world was on edge like a hinge about to bust out of a wall, or like a fire alarm about to go off. The Avengers saved the day, but with each day that followed their "Heroic" light kept on becoming darker, and darker." 

I was flown out to see the newest Avengers facility in upstate New York by Nick Fury who wanted me to see the place. 

So, I took a break from being in hiding, and went along with his request. 

I didn't have the heart to say no to him, and it had been awhile since I had last seen Steve. While I did say to him that goodbye really isn't goodbye, that doesn't mean that goodbye sometimes doesn't feel like a really lengthy "See you around". So, I wanted to catch up with him. There was a lot to say. 

Once the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft grounded itself along the landing strip I got out, the base which was plopped smack dab in the middle of a field of green staring back at me. 

The main buildings roof was sloped, and it consisted of a large cuboid, clad steel structure. The architectures white skeleton exposed, visible from the joists to the support beams. It looked almost transparent because of the glass, and solar panels on every side, and it was fashioned with the latest cutting edge housing accommodations. 

"Thanks for the ride, Hill." 

"No problem." The Deputy Director said, her helmet, and goggles still on before once again she took off into the air, the plane creating a windstorm in it's wake, and I shielded my eyes from the sailing gravel, and leaves. 

"Well, look who decided to take up my offer." I heard the renowned S.H.I.E.L.D. operative say, his long black leather coat billowing in the breeze. 

"Well, it was hard to pass up. You're persuasive, I'll give you that." I greeted just as a band of Military soldiers doing laps around the premise sprinted past us. 

"It's nice to see you again, Agent Rebecca." 

"It's nice to see you too, Fury, but I'm not an Agent anymore." I defended. 

"You'll come back." Nick responded, his expression stern like usual. 

"Not so sure about that." I told him, but like always once Foxtrot set his mind to something there was no changing it. 

"You'll grow to miss it. Once a soldier always a soldier." 

"Well, I haven't thought of myself as a soldier in a long time," I said to him. A lie, but still. "Though, anyway. Thanks for keeping our locations a secret." 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nick averted, always good at dodging not only death, but words too. 

"Sure, you do. I know you know where we've been staying, and all of our hideouts. I'm just saying I appreciate it, for keeping our whereabouts secret." 

"I'm just doing what I feel is right," Nick stated. "But, now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to work. See you later, Agent Rebecca." 

I opened my mouth to object, but just wound up waving him off. There was no changing Fury's mind anyway, and besides it's not like I actually hated being called "Agent", it's just that it wasn't apart of my life anymore. 

I took to strolling around the base, the building vast, and substantial in order to accommodate all that it was being used for. Such as scientific research, Military training, weapons development, and of course, the new Avengers program. 

Though soon I found myself staring at the Spangled Man himself, him looking the same as always. 

"Hey, I love the new base." I announced, catching his attention, and just like that the blonde hero hugged me tightly. 

"It's good to see you again, Becky." 

"Yeah, you too," I said, wrapping my arms around my dear friend. "But, how are you really?" 

"Well, we're just trying to regroup, you know," Steve began, the inevitable topic needing to be brought to the surface. "Ultron was a big blow." 

"You ever get tired?" I asked. "Sure, we had some shit back in the day with the beginning stages of the Tesseract, and the whole "Super Soldier" fad, but nowadays? With artificial intelligence, the technology, and threats growing every minute, and then out there in Space. That's a whole new mess of stuff with Aliens, Gods, the unbelievable..." 

"Yeah, it does weigh on you." The Captain said, his voice riddled with the pain of dealing with so much, too much. And, sometimes I couldn't help but think about how some people often forget that the Living Legend was also a 100 year old man. 

"Though, speaking of which," Steve continued. "Here's the God of Thunder now." 

True to word the blue eyed, long golden haired, hammer wielding Asgardian bounded over to us, followed by the billionaire himself, Tony Stark. 

"Well, if it isn't the lovely mortal, Lady Rebecca," Thor complimented, kissing my hand, and winking at me. "Though I'd love to chat with you more I'm afraid that there's much to learn." 

"Good to see you again, Ice Block." Tony added, glancing over at me before the God began to speak. 

"The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. It's not a coincidence. Someone's been playing intricate games, and made pawns of us. Once all of these pieces are in position-" 

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony interjected as we stepped back out onto the green turf. 

"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve asked. 

"I do," Thor remarked before patting Tony's shoulder. "Besides this one, there's nothing that can't be explained." 

With a nod the God bid us farewell before he thrusted himself into the sky with his hammer, and took off in a cloud of lightning back into Space. Leaving behind a burnt mosaic in the fresh grass. 

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance," Tony quipped, pulling out his keys, and with a "Beep" his snazzy sports car came rolling up beside him on the granular strip of road. "I'm gonna miss him though, and you'll miss me. There's going to be a lot of manful tears." 

"I will miss you, Tony." Steve said to the Iron Man who was putting away his Iron suit, at least temporarily. 

"Yeah, well it's time for me to tap out," Tony furthered. "Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book. Build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up." 

"I didn't peg you as being the "Farm" type." I butted in. 

"Yeah, well maybe not an actual "Farm", like it can't be Green Acres, but still the simple life stands the same. You gonna be alright, Cap?" 

"I'm home." Steve answered. 

"And, you recluse? You good?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said. 

"Well, always a pleasure. See you around, Popsicle's." The genius cleared out before slipping into his car, and zooming down the long, winding route. 

"So, I know you might be on duty, but could you spare some time for an old friend?" I sought out, and Steve just smiled. 

"For you, I've got time."