I Thought You Were Different: Part 5

Family

It wouldn't take long for the team to reassemble at the compound, coming in from all directions around the globe, and they had all come to the same exact conclusion on their own; the war had begun, and they were to be its epicenter. There had been no word from Loki about Thor's whereabouts, and the worst was assumed; he had been lost as a casualty, just as Vision had. That was the only way that any of you could move forward, to mourn the loss and go on, because there was no time for that now. There had been no communication from the Guardians either, and you treated it exactly the same. They were lost, so the team moved on from it. It felt cold, heartless, and wrong, but it was self-preservation at its worst.

As Peter and Bucky arrived home first, they met an eerie reception at complete calm and silence rather than the feared battle that they expected after receiving Steve's warning; they hurriedly searched every corner of the compound only to find that there was no one home, but no appearance of foul play either.

"Cap," Bucky called out to him over the comms, "there's nobody here. Even Wanda's gone."

"Any idea where they went?"

"No, there's really nothing at all to go on. It looks totally normal."

"Okay," Steve sighed, trying to keep his optimism, but Bucky knew his best friend better than that, "keep on it, and let me know if even one rock is overturned in a way you don't like. We're about an hour out."

"Roger that," Bucky nodded towards Pete, who had been listening in. "Alright, you heard the man. I'll go back towards the main complex, you take the hangar and maintenance building. Call out anything."

"On it," he agreed readily, turning to leave but stopping abruptly when his senses alerted him. "Hey, Buck? Is that anything?"

Bucky spun around to meet his teammate's voice and to follow the line of where he was pointing, just past a large grove of trees at the edge of the grounds. A strange flash of orange brightened the sky above the tree line, disappeared and reappeared again several times as the two men began their sprint towards it. Bucky's anxiety began to build with each step closer, knowing that the two of them alone were ill equipped to handle this kind of fight on their own, and it would be at least an hour before anyone appeared to help them.

"How are we doing this?" Parker called out as they ran. "I'd like you to go in first, do some of that super soldier stuff, take the first few hits to wear 'em down."

"If we live through this, I'm gonna remember that."

"You cheated!"

The two men stopped their sprint at the sound of a familiar voice, now completely confused at what they were hearing. There was one voice in particular that was added to the sound, one that was unexpected but immensely welcomed, filling the air around them with a wash of happiness that they thought had been suffocated away forever.

"I did not!" Anthony laughed, holding his side as he bent over to try to catch his breath between gasps. "You said we could portal anywhere! It's not my fault that you've never been to Germany!"

"I've been to Germany, you little brat," Wanda laughed with him, "it was just a shock and I got disoriented!"

"Hey guys?" Bucky interrupted, an uncertain hand up to wave them to his direction. "I mean this in the best way that I can, and sorry kids, but...what the fuck?"

"Hey, watch the fucking language around the children," Wade scolded.

"It's okay, Uncle Wade, we've grown up around the Avengers, remember? It happens." Brooklyn added.