"Wait wait wait, don't kill him yet," Masha called out as she entered the landing followed by Charlotte & Knox. "There's someone who might be more deserving of excution for this particular crime."

This immediately caught caught Sharon's attention, and Ronan folded his arms, curious. "What?"

"And who might that be, love?" Victor questioned, letting Arlo's limp body go as he strolled over towards the former black widow.

"Eric Jenson," Charlotte strutted to where a confused Sharon & Ronan were standing "The one who actually gave the order to kidnap Ian-"

"Directly going against Stark's orders." Knox finished, gesturing to the currently unconcious man been barely held up by Luna. "The fella's cracked but not that cracked."

"You should know," Masha smirked.

"Haha yer hilarious, Masha Bear. Always leaving the dirty work to me."

Masha playfully stuck her tongue out at the Scottish vigilante, to which he returned the gesture.

"Real mature you two, real mature. Now speaking of leaving the dirty work, who fancies......disposing of this unconcious idiot? I sure as hell ain't doing it. All Starks are rank through & through." Luna let his body drop to floor with a thud.

Victor wrapped his arms around Masha from behind & pressed a kiss to the side of her head, softening her demeanour entirely, "We'll do it I suppose. Sprinkles, tie him up & load him into the jeep."

Ronan did as he was told, muttering profanities as he heaved Arlo's body off the ground & dragged him away to the dodgy industrial elevator.

The Misfits base of operation/their home had been an abandoned mansion of some kind, once belonging to the former Prince of Madripoor. He had been dead for years by the time Sharon took over the place. He had no children or relatives of any kind left, so he became the end of the pirate family that took over the island nearly two centuries ago. Ever since his death there had been no real governing body in the city, the biggest crime leaders - mainly Sharon herself disguised as the Power Broker, & Arlo Stark as the Benefactor - having free reign to do as they please whenever they please. Of course, both had very different ideas of what should be done with said power.

No country - not even the U.S. - would even try to step in, as the island was rampant with extremely powerful mutants who could single-handedly decimate their entire military if they felt like it.

Masha pulled up the hood on her new & improved widow suit that Charlotte had created, while Victor did the same with his hoodie that was covering his regular tactical suit. It was an upgraded version of the old SHIELD suits that Sharon nagged from Tony Stark's back-up inventory of weapons & gadgets a while back. Victor assumed that that secret inventory was exactly what Arlo had been interested in in the first place.

The couple climbed into the car as the sky darkened & the rain began drizzling down on top of the car as the engine roared with the turn of the ignition. Victor glanced over to Masha, who had opened her phone & briefly started scrolling.

"The forecast ain't looking good," Masha muttered. "Looks like a storm is on the horizon."

"Ah well our cargo ain't that precious. Besides all the more satisfying to fire the rotten git out in the middle of nowhere where he'll be soaked to the damn skin. Make him more sick than he already is."

Victor pulled out of the compound gate after getting the all clear from the guards.

"You're clearly not a fan of this prick.....but I don't believe you or Sharon have ever told me why."

Victor sighed. "It's not exactly something I like to bring up very often but considering you know just about every other dark spot of mine at this point, probably wouldn't hurt to tell you." Masha smirked.

"When Sharon first brought me here to this shit-hole, long before I met you, her & Stark were allies. Friends even. He was sort of like her guide to the criminal underground. Helped her live a double life after getting her pardon & working with the Avengers & doing her business here in Madripoor." He sighed.

"But of course, all good things tend to come to an end. Stark had - well, I'm sure he still has - a rotten jealous streak, in him, and he couldn't even handle the thought of ever being in Sharon's shadow, so he concocted a typically elaborate scheme for revenge, in the hopes that Sharon would end up taking herself out of the equation."

Masha clicked the power button of her phone and slipped it into her pocket, and took a glance at her boyfriend who's eyes were focused on the road ahead.

"And what exactly did this elaborate scheme entail?"

"I'll go lock Jenson up then until tomorrow," Knox stated with a nod towards Sharon as he turned and headed towards the questionable industrial lift. Luna shot her cousin a quick glance before speeding off after him.

"And I am going to go have a shower," Charlotte attempted to pull herself away from Sharon but the blonde's arms remained firmly wrapped around her girlfriend. "Not without me you're not-"

"Nuh-uh. You are going to stay right here, that way I can actually have a shower, not like last time," Charlotte pulled herself away from Sharon as the blonde faux pouted, "and besides, you need to have a chat with a certain someone in this room before tomorrow, and it's getting kind of late so."

And with that Charlotte gave Ronan a wink and exited the room. The teenager had no idea why she was being so vague about whatever it was, since they had been the only three in the room and he was the only one whose birthday was the next day. He looked over towards Sharon, and he could tell that her demeanour had changed completely at Charlotte's words.

Without saying a word, the woman moved behind her desk and sat down in her chair, crossing her ankles up on the desk, her typical position. Ronan half-sat himself on the arm of one end of the colourful couch and folded his arms.

"So....what was all that about?"

Sharon didn't immediately respond, instead grabbing the tablet that had been sitting on her desk and clicked the power button, the screen turning on and aluminating her face slightly.

Ronan could've just read her mind, but he had promised Sharon he'd try and stop invading people's minds, so he decided against it. Besides, clearly this was about something important and he wanted to hear from it Sharon herself.

"Are you just gonna ignore-"

All of a sudden Sharon tossed the tablet to one side and swung her legs off the desk, swivelling around to face the uneccessarily huge flat screen television mounted on the wall, and pulled out the remote from her pocket (hiding the remote in her pocket was an annoying habit of hers).

"Sprinkles I think you might want to see this....."

Suddenly the room's once awkward silence was broken by the obnoxious sound of a highschool marching band, which was displayed on the screen alongside some cheerleaders performing an elaborate dance routine.

"What the fuck is this-"

Ellen could feel the lighter that was strapped to the inside of her right boot. She had been cigarette free for nearly three months, not that she'd ever mention it to anyone outside of the team of course. Tony was obssessed with the 'New Avengers' public image - well no, his public image, and the idea that the seventeen year-old daughter of Captain America - whom he was technically the legal guardian of - was addicted to nicotin since she was fifteen wouldn't exactly reflect well on him.

She still vividly remembered the day she lost most of her family in that stupid fire - her younger cousin Ace, being the only remaining one.

It was weird however, because despite the fact that she supposedly had photographic memory thanks to her father, her mind felt....fucked up. She could barely remember anything else about her family besides their demise - Morgan excused it saying that it was because she was so young when she lost them, but Ellen didn't buy it - she was eight, not a bloody toddler.

Speaking of Morgan, Ellen shot a glance at her girlfriend sitting beside her in her nano-tech "Iron Gem" suit, minus the oxygen face mask.

Morgan grabbed her hand and squeezed it, but Ellen was so caught up in her own thoughts she barely registered the action, instead turning to look out of the helicopter down towards the crowd that had gathered in the football field of her & Morgan's school, Brooklyn Tech High. She could make out a marching band and a bunch of cheerleaders down below but obviously couldn't hear them due to altitude and the noise of the helicopter.

"Hey Rogers, you doing ok?"

Ellen turned back around to face the two men who sat across from her - one, practically shoving one of them stupid TV cameras in her & Morgan's faces, the other being her teammate and the closest thing she has to a father figure, John Walker. It was obvious who the concern had come from. Hint - it wasn't the camera man.

"Yeah I'm fine Walker. It's just not everyday I get to throw myself out of a helicopter 10,000 feet in the air on live television in order to get Tony and the team some brownie points from the media."

Ellen could tell that John wasn't convinced by her typically sarcastic answer but she chose to brush it off as the camera man began to count down.

"We are going live in three.....two.....one!"

Ellen and Morgan both put on their best fake smiles and shot the camera awkward thumbs up as Ellen stood up shakily and grabbed her black and gold shield, preparing to exit the aircraft.

She glanced down and winced slightly. Sure, this wasn't the first time she had jumped out of something flying at this height, but usually when she had in the past someone's life had been at stake and there was any time to think things through. Now the only life at stake was hers. Possibly Morgan's, but she had a highly advanced suit with built in rocket blasters and an emergency parachute to aid her. And she hadn't been stupid enough to say she'd do it without a parachute. That was a really stupid idea on her part Ellen must admit, but it was way too late to turn back now.

And with another quick countdown from the camera man, Ellen turned around, gave a little mock salute to her companions and forced herself to fall out of the aircraft backwards.

"See you fuckers on the other side!"

John just shook his head in amusement. He knew Tony was going to chew her out for cursing live on air, but he also knew that the pink haired girl couldn't give two shits.

"So basically.....Arlo payed your sister and this Sokovian weirdo Zemo to forcefully inject Sharon with Nagel's improved serum against her will?"

Victor turned off the end of Hell Road and pulled up at a group of abandoned buildings and turned the key to stop the engine. "Yeah.....might not seem like it nowadays, but back ten years ago Sharon was in a very dark place....she always thought that the serum would bring out the worst in her, turn her into some sort of monster like Johann Schmidt or something......."

Victor closed his eyes and sighed. "She had a gun to her head, crying for me to take Knox away anywhere far away, and to tell Stark that he'd won...." Masha noticed the tears starting to well up in his eyes, "If it wasn't for a call from a burner phone she'd given to Ronan & Conrad's mother, Wanda Maximoff, begging for her to take the kids away because she was convinced Tony Stark and the Government were going to do something to them, chances are Sharon would've pulled that bloody trigger-"

Masha grabbed his hand squeezed it, "Hey hey it's ok now, she didn't....Sharon's ok, and now she has Charlotte, Ian, Ronan, Luna, you, me, Knox, Conrad - hell, even Yelena is kind of her friend, she's got us all.....we're more than just some team of vigilantes....we're a family. A bit fucked up of a family, granted, but still a family."

A small smile came across Victor's face and he relaxed a little, giving her hand a squeeze in return. "Yeah....you're right."

Victor put his hand on Masha's cheek and leaned in, giving the assassin a passionate kiss that she happily reciprocated.

The pair were abruptly interupted by an annoyed groan from the backseat followed by an equally annoyed "get a room!".

Masha pulled away from her boyfriend a little pissed, muttering some Russian profanity that neither Victor or Arlo fully understood.

"Next time we are putting him in the fucking trunk."

Victor chuckled as they both got out of the car, and Masha yanked open one of the back doors of the car.

"Where are we-"

"None of your bloody business asshole," Masha responded, roughly grabbing Arlo by the collar and throwing him out of the car and onto the gravel, half of his body landing in a puddle with a loud slosh.

Victor folded his arms across his chest and leant against the side of the car. It still surprised him sometimes just how effortlessly strong Masha, and by extention Yelena, actually was. He had seen her body slam a guy three times her size with ease because the bastard wouldn't leave Luna alone.

Masha gave Arlo a few more punches - one successfully breaking his nose - and gave him a swift kick to the head, knocking him out once more.

"His cronies can come get him if they really want him," Masha used her foot to turn Arlo's limp body slightly so his face was more visible. "Our work here is done....for now."

Victor smirked and turned to open the car door for her, but Masha instead grabbed his arm and spun him around so he had her pinned against the car. "Personally I think we should continue where we left off before Stark rudely interrupted us."

Victor's smile only grew wider. "Is that so?" He leaned closer as Masha's arms snaked around his neck, "Well in that case then...."

Just as Masha locked lips with him the obnoxious sound of Single Ladies by Beyoncé came from the now also vibrating device in Victor's pocket.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Masha groaned, "What now!?"

"It's Luna," Victor put the phone up to his ear, "What's wrong sweetheart?"

"I'm eighty percent sure I'm probably interrupting something, but I don't really care. Sharon wants you to get pizza on your way back."

"Sharon or you?"

"Personally I feel that that is irrelevant to the matter, she  won't say no to pizza."

"Maybe if it's on her dime."

"Bitch we live in a mansion and she drives a fucking lambo I think a bit of chump change for pizza won't go a miss."

Victor chuckled, realising she had a point. "Fair enough. We'll be back in an hour with pizza."

"An hour!? Ah here I'd be quicker going and getting it myself!"

"Sorry love but not all of us can run faster than the speed of sound!"

Luna hung up the phone with a grumble and Masha smiled.

Victor looked at her confused. "What?"

"Nothing.....come on, we wouldn't wanna keep the wolves waiting."

Guess who has rose from the deep fiery pits of Hell and actually wrote a chapter after a three century *cough* *cough* like six month hiatus? This motherfucker🤪

I also wanna thank the wonderful Katie (dorkiest_nerd) for the stunning gifset at the top of the chapter! Go give her some love!

And another quick shoutout to -WORKOFGOD for this stunning screencap!!!!

AND show off my first ever attempts at streaming service graphics;

Vote & comment if you enjoyed!!!!!