NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
2015

JUNE sat in stunned silence for the majority of the car ride.

She and Natasha cruised down 45th street in Nat's coal-black Stingray, which brought back stale memories of the day June first got wrapped into this mess. She was so nervous she could taste bile in the back of her throat.

"It won't be as bad as you think," Natasha reasoned, trying to sound optimistic. "It's not like Steve is notoriously impolite."

June brought the knuckle of her index finger to her lips. "That's what's terrible," she murmured. "He won't even be human enough to hate me."

Natasha tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "You want Steve to hate you?"

June shrugged limply. "If I was him I would."

"Maybe that's just you."

June threw her an incredulous glance. "What do you mean?"

Natasha did not reply for many moments. "I just think," she said at last, "that if you think you deserve what Steve is doing, you need to improve your opinion of yourself."

"But I—"

"You did nothing that constitutes nine months of avoidance. How Rogers felt—or feels—about you is irrelevant when it comes to what you deserve. And you don't deserve to be entirely in the wrong."

June bit the inside of her cheek. Something stirred in her. Something like relief. It would be a lot easier to sleep at night if she was not exclusively to blame for her and Steve's falling-out.

"I should've told him Bucky was there," June whispered.

"You should've told Barnes to get lost," Nat corrected, a sudden edge to her tone. "If we're talking what you should have done, it's staying away from the psychologically sick assassin for your own safety. But you took him in. For Steve."

June shifted her leg upon the leather seat. "I guess you have a point."

Natasha kept her feline eyes on the road ahead, her face firm and carved from marble. "I don't like seeing you beat yourself up over this. Especially after Bucky . . . after things got quiet."

New York City glided past the tinted windows in a gleaming blur. In the distance, June could see the Avengers tower stretching up into the magnificent blue sky. Her stomach flipped.

"What could I even say?"

"To Steve?" Natasha arched a red, sculpted eyebrow.

"To Steve," June repeated, "and to . . . all of them. What do you talk about with the greatest heroes on earth?"

Natasha seemed to think for a moment. "The weather," she decided. "Or their powers. Special abilities. Origin stories. Take your pick."

June swallowed hard. "Okay."

She did not think talking about the weather with Thor would be a wise choice. But she kept the opinion to herself.

• • •

TONY was waiting outside the tower when June and Natasha pulled up at its doors.

A chauffeur scurried beside them as soon as the Corvette slid to a halt and ushered Natasha out of the driver's seat; June followed, nauseous with dread. The chauffeur began to pull away, and soon June's only means of escape was turning around the corner.

"C'mere, Junebug," Tony ordered. She saw him beckoning her in her peripheral. Giving into juvenile impulse, June shook her head.

She heard Tony sigh, and whisper something to Natasha. "All right," he said. "I'll come to you."

He was at her side in a moment, holding a paper coffee cup under her nose. "Chamomile tea," he explained, "with half a Xanax crushed in it. We gotta rip the bandage off, June."

She took the cup. "Dealing with my problems was never my forte."

"And sobriety was never mine," Tony replied. "But here we are."

Silence for a long stretch. With a defeated sigh, June took a sip of tea, and turned toward the tower doors. "Here we are."

She didn't want to hide anymore. Not from Steve. Not from Hydra. Not from the Avengers. Cutlass did not hide.

Neither could June.

"Can you go first?" she asked Tony.

He smirked. "Sure. I won't hold the door."

The three of them stepped inside with Tony in the lead, marching them to the elevator. The trip up, which June had by then taken a million times, had never seemed so eternal. It was like she was climbing the shaft to her death.

At last, the damning ding sounded, and they jerked to a halt. June was tempted to make a run for it, but knew immediately that Tony would catch her and if not him, Natasha.

June definitely couldn't outrun Natasha. So she stayed put.

The elevator doors opened and revealed a large space June seldom ever visited. It was obviously used primarily for business, a long table taking up the room's center. Like most rooms in Tony's home, there was a lounge tucked in the corner; broad windows filled most of the walls.

And at the head of it all, four Avengers stood waiting.

June could put names to them all at once: Bruce Banner stood nearest her, looking a bit disheveled with his glasses slightly crooked and curly black hair sticking up near the back as if he had been called in without any warning. Next, and quite unmissable was Thor, who, with gold hair nearly as long as June's and a stature that made Bucky seem small, was undoubtedly one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. A man June assumed was Clint nodded his head at Natasha as she entered the room, though his face returned to an unamused scowl a moment after.

There was one hero left, but June didn't have to look to know who was watching her carefully.

Steve stood with broad arms folded, jaw set, and eyes downcast. He looked tired. He looked his real age. A physical ache spread through June's body at the sight of him, and in a violent rush of emotion, she wanted to do nothing more but run to him and wrap him in as tight a hug as she could.

But Steve had that effect on people.

She gripped her cup with both hands, wishing someone would say something, something to fill this agonizing silence. Finally, Tony cleared his throat.

"Well," he said. "We're gathered here today to celebrate the union of—"

"Tony," Nat interrupted, "not a good joke. Get to the point."

Stark made a face, but resigned. "All right. But don't complain when things get dark and there's no one upholding our light and breezy dynamic." He turned and spread his arms towards the four Avengers. "Hydra's at large and there's no Shield to stop it. It's up to us to take them down before they spread, get farther in their experimentations, and try to take over the world. Again. There," he wagged his eyebrows at Natasha. "Straight to the point."

Steve took a step forward. "That's impossible," he insisted; simply hearing his voice again was enough to knock the wind out of June. "We took Hydra down for good last April. There haven't been any notices about it resurfacing."

Tony shrugged. "That's the thing with secret societies and organizations, Cap—they're good at staying secrets."

"Excuse me if I'm out of line," Banner began, eyes quizzical behind his glasses, "but shouldn't normal homeland security be dealing with Hydra? I don't see why we are the first people to be contacted."

"Stark did not mention the most crucial detail," Thor supplied in a severe tone. "Energy currents like those of Loki's scepter have been detected. If such matters are involved, we'll need to be the first to respond."

There was a tense quiet suspended over them all. Tony fidgeted slightly with the cuff of his sleeve, obviously unhappy with being reminded of the scepter and what it had meant for New York all those years ago. He had shared with June all of his fears and traumas, giving her a different perspective on the Battle of New York—one the news and monuments and holidays didn't cover. Only she noticed his discomfort.

At last, Clint spoke up. "Well," he sighed, "if there's a job to be done, let me know. I'm not exactly operating on a steady income. I'd be happy for some target practice. And seriously, let me know beforehand because I gotta stretch."

Tony gestured tiredly at Clint. "That's the attitude I like."

"This isn't a joke," Steve cut in. "If Hydra is still operational and it has Loki's power, then there's no time to waste. Have you tracked down an exact location?"

Suddenly roused with a bolt of courage, June said, "Not an exact one. It seems like the scepter is being passed around between five different strongholds. It's difficult to pinpoint its definite whereabouts."

Steve stared at her for many moments. No one dared speak a word. He cleared his throat. "Then we take down all five."

"How long would that take?" Bruce asked.

"My best estimate is three months, give or take a few weeks," replied Tony. "We'll have to space out every assault."

"To prevent a full-on war," concluded Natasha.

There was another long stretch of silence. No one looked very excited about the tasks ahead, but they knew they had to be done. Peace had to be kept. Hydra couldn't continue to abuse the power of Loki's scepter; there was no reasoning with that fact. So they'd stomach their discomfort—with each other, with the assignment, and with the looming knowledge of what failure would bring.

If this amount of petrifying responsibility was what being an Avenge meant, June was sure she wanted no part of it. She could help. But bearing the title was not in her future.

• • •

TWENTY minutes later, Tony suggested the newbies get to know each other. Of course, the only newbie was June, so she felt quite awkward getting acquainted with everyone one at a time, while the others essentially sat and watched.

Clint felt like the safest first option. Natasha stood with them and mediated the conversation.

"I'm June Ivanski," June said, offering Barton a hand. "Tony's roommate. He had rent troubles."

"Good to meet you, Ivanski," Clint replied. "What's a nice, normal girl like you doin' with this band of freaks?"

Natasha frowned. "Hey . . . ."

June forced a laugh. "I'm, uh . . . quirkier than you think. Trust me, I'm just here to help a little. Wherever I can."

"Help which will no doubt be gravely needed," a thunderous voice added. June's eyes snapped up to find that Thor, who was even more overwhelming up close, had joined them. He smiled brightly at her, his blue eyes crinkling at the edges, and June actually found herself covering up a giggle. Thor was marvelously charming. "Thor Odinson," he said, shaking June's hand, which felt minuscule in his, "God of Thunder, Prince of Asgard, and the strongest Avenger here—"

"Hey!" Tony shouted from across the room. "You can't lie to newcomers, Swayze."

"Ah," Thor continued to grin broadly, "shut up Stark."

June laughed. "I think I believe you. You could probably bench press Tony."

Thor looked at her funnily. "Probably?"

Before June could backtrack, Bruce cut in. "Could I steal you for a moment, June? I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you."

Puzzled, June excused herself and followed Bruce a few paces away. He gave her a kind smile. "I know this must be daunting for you," he said. "We're kind of an overwhelming bunch."

June nodded. "Consider me extremely daunted. Tony crushed up a Xanax in my tea, so," she gave the cup a little shake, "my collectedness is a complete farce."

"Well," Bruce chuckled, "drugged or not, you're handling it very well. How did you get wrapped up in all this, anyway?"

There. There was the thing June knew everyone was thinking—why is she here? With a sigh, she wondered if she could even supply a substantial answer.

"Hydra abducted me when I was twenty," June said, deciding to skip frivolous additions. "They conducted their first experiments since World War Two on me. When the effects of the chemical science began to interfere with my assignments, they dropped me on my ass."

Bruce offered a sympathetic look. "And then?"

June almost laughed. "They erased me from the minds of every person I'd ever known."

"Not your memory?"

"Nope."

Bruce's sympathy turned to shock. "June . . . don't you know what that means?"

Suddenly nervous, she shook her head. "No."

He examined her face with astoundment. "It means whoever began their experiments on you wasn't finished. If they had been, why go through the trouble of erasing hundreds of memories when they could simply kill you? Someone was going to come back to you."

Mystified, June furrowed her brow. How could she have never realized this? Of course Strucker had been saving her for something—for what, or why, she did not know, but Bruce was right. Why not just kill her?

"Steve and Natasha and I stopped Hydra's advancements, though," June argued. "At least at the time. If my captors had already gone five years without trying anything and then suffered the destruction of Hydra's foundation, do you think they would still be after me?"

Bruce pressed his lips tightly together. "I don't know. But I think going into this mission you should keep one thing in mind: You still have enemies—personal enemies—inside Hydra."

note.
im so proud of junie in this chapter. she's so cute and weird omg. we got to see her meet the avengers!!! that was pretty fun to write ngl. june and steve make me sad tho :,(
(don't worry they're gonna make up soon ;))
also bucky isn't gone forever either *wink wink*