Combustion ✦ STEVE ROGERS² [✓]

13 | ELEVATOR'S NOT WORTHY...

𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴 𝚆𝙴𝙴𝙺𝚂 𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚁

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"THE RULES HAVE CHANGED," STEVE STATED MATTER-OF-FACTLY.

Kato, Steve, Tony, and Thor were walking down the corridor of the new Avengers facility. It was a nice place in upstate New York, much larger than the tower, and a lot more space to work with. It was a good thing they'd moved, too. Replacing everything in the old Avengers tower would've cost a lot of money.

Now, Kato was with Steve, Thor, and Tony in the facility, listening as the three men discussed the reasoning behind Vision's ability to lift Thor's hammer. Luca was gone, back home to Kansas. That left her with Steve, who she hadn't really spoken to since their little "moment" back in Sokovia. She didn't even know how to approach him about it, let alone what to even say. So she'd just decided to leave it alone and try to forget it ever happened.

"We're dealing with something new," Tony said, bringing Kato out of her thoughts.

"Well, the Vision's artificial intelligence," Steve pointed out.

Tony nodded in agreement. "A machine."

"So it doesn't count."

"No. It's not like a person lifting the hammer."

"Right. Different rules for us."

"Nice guy, but artificial."

Steve nodded. "Thank you."

Thor smiled at the two. "If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone. It's safe with the Vision and these days, safe is in short supply."

The four of them stood for a moment, going over Thor's words. Kato hoped he was right, and that the Mind Stone really was safe with Vision. Considering how powerful it was, having it fall into enemy hands was the last thing they wanted.

There was a moment of silence before Steve spoke. "But if you put the hammer in an elevator..."

"It would still go up," Tony said.

Steve shook his head. "Elevator's not worthy."

"I'm going to miss these little talks of ours," Thor said with a grin.

"Well, not if you don't leave," Kato told him.

Thor shook his head, his smile fading. "I have no choice." The group continued their walk through the facility, and Thor went on, "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. But once all these pieces are in position-"

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony suggested.

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

"I do," Thor replied.

The four left the elevator, walking out onto the front lawn. It really was a nice place. The facility was by a lake, and the forest surrounding the base made it quiet and sheltered it from the outside world. It was much safer to have it there. The threat of the loss of civilian life was much lower there, almost non-existent.

Thor patted Tony on the shoulder. "Besides this one," Thor said, "there's nothing that can't be explained."

And with that, Thor stepped away from them. He raised his hammer, and the portal of the Bifrost enveloped him. Thor was surrounded by a tunnel of golden-white and rainbow-colored light as he returned to Asgard. Then, it and Thor were gone, leaving nothing behind but a large, intricately designed burn circle in the grass.

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance," Tony muttered. Then, he, Steve, and Kato walked over to his car as Tony added, "I'm gonna miss him though. And you're gonna miss me. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears."

Tony pointed his keys at his car, and as they walked, it pulled up alongside them.

Steve nodded at Tony. "I will miss you, Tony."

"But I won't," Kato said with a smirk. "In case you forgot, I still don't like you."

Tony grinned at her, draping one arm around her shoulders. "Oh, you're gonna miss me, Kate-Kat. And when we all meet up again, we'll have a big ol' party. And we might actually see you in a dress this time, yeah?"

Kato scoffed, though the smirk didn't leave her face. "Don't count on it, Shellhead."

Tony removed his arm and turned to her with a smile, this time a genuine smile - not the snarky or witty ones he usually gave. "But honestly, though, I... I will miss you, Kato."

Kato's smirk turned into a warm smile as well. "I'm gonna miss you too, Tony."

With that, Kato gave him a warm hug. Tony hugged her back - a little awkwardly, but still a hug nonetheless.

After a moment, Tony cleared his throat and stepped back. "Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book and build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up."

Steve nodded. "The simple life," he said, a somewhat longing tone in his voice.

"You'll get there one day," Tony assured him.

Steve rolled his shoulders as he rested his hands on his belt buckle. "I don't know," he said. "Family, stability. The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy five years ago." He gave Kato a slight glance. "I think someone else came out."

Kato saw Tony send him an 'are you sure?' look his way. She'd noticed it. And surprisingly, it was sent her way as well.

But Kato understood what Steve meant. She'd given up any chance of family and stability herself a very long time ago, and that feeling had intensified when she became an Avenger. But now, if she was being honest... she felt like times were slowly changing for her. More and more of her was beginning to believe that VICE was gone for good, and she could truly move on with her life. And that meant that she could finally embrace what it meant to be free. What it meant to be human.

The sound of a car door opening startled Kato out of her thoughts. So she watched as Tony turned to get into his car, then stopped and faced Steve. "You alright?" Tony asked.

Steve let out a soft sigh, looking at their surroundings. "I'm home."

Tony gave Steve a slight smile and a nod. And with that, he drove off.

With that acknowledgement, Kato and Steve returned to the base to talk to Natasha. It was time to gather the team. They had work to do.

"You wanna keep staring at the wall, or do you wanna go to work?" Steve asked Natasha, then gestured to the wall and said with a small smile, "I mean, it's a pretty interesting wall."

Natasha huffed and shook her head, approaching him and Kato. "I thought you and Tony were still gazing into each other's eyes."

The three of them began walking, and Steve handed Natasha a tablet listing their new recruits.

"How do we look?" Natasha asked.

"Well, we're not the '27 Yankees," Steve said.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at the names, passing the tablet to Kato. "We got some hitters."

"They're good," Steve agreed.

"But they're not a team," Kato pointed out.

Natasha smirked. "Let's beat 'em into shape."

They walked out of the main building and into a large, glass-walled hangar. And, standing below us, were the new members of the team, all suited up and ready to train. Rhodey stood in his War Machine suit, and retracted the face plate to nod at the three. Vision turned around to watch as the trio stood on the balcony. Sam, wearing his winged Falcon jetpack, glided down and landed on the floor before retracting his wings. And finally, Wanda Maximoff, who slowly floated down to the floor using red telekinetic energy before looking at Kato, Steve, and Natasha in anticipation.

Their eyes roamed over each new member, and Steve smiled at Kato before he nodded in approval.

"Avengers!" he said.

It was time to go to work.