JUST AS Natasha promised, the drive to the Avengers facility is short. Colleen expects maybe a twenty minute drive, but they have to have been in the car for only half that time. In that span of time, the kids in the back seat manage to warm up to Natasha quite quickly. Anna Beth explains some of her favorite books to her while Ben questions her about the car. Sloan leans over Ben to look out the window at Brooklyn and Manhattan as they drive. While the three feel right at home, Colleen feels awkward sitting next to the woman. Despite having telekinetic abilities, she finds Natasha extremely intimidating. There's danger in her eyes and grace in her every movement.

Secondly, the Avengers facility is much bigger than Colleen originally thought. They drive through Brooklyn, over the East River, and into Manhattan where the building sits beside the Hudson. The building itself is massive; it towers over the river and has a long drive way. The afternoon sun casts light that catches the pristine windows that stretch across a large, rounded wall. As Natasha's pulling up to the front, a helicopter flies overhead and lands on the helipad on the roof of the building.

Natasha parks in front of the large row of glass front doors. There's a sign that says no parking, but her confidence as she shuts the car off and opens her door gives Colleen a feeling that she might be an exception. Either that, or she isn't a big fan of that rule.

"This place is huge," Ben voices his amazement as he climbs out of the car. Soon, all three children are out and stand by Colleen's side. Colleen cranes her neck to look up at the building, suddenly feeling minuscule.  It looks so pristine and prestigious. She looks down at herself, suddenly feeling very underdressed in her ripped jeans, old top, and worn sneakers.

When Natasha ushers them inside, Colleen and the kids follow like lost puppies, like little minnows in the ocean. Colleen remembers Natasha's wearing a leather jacket and dark jeans and feels a little better about her casual wear. The kids—each wearing their normal clothes as well—don't seem to notice their appearance makes them stand out among the others.

As soon as Colleen steps inside, the feeling of being tiny only intensifies. The entrance hall is a vast space illuminated by natural light coming in from the windows. There are some business-looking people buzzing around the space, paying no mind to the group of five who just entered. It's intimidating, to say the least. Natasha leads the group further inside towards the sleek elevators.

"Coll, look!" Sloan tugs on the bottom of Colleen's shirt as she points to a mural of the Battle of Titan on a far wall beside a little area that resembles a food court.

Colleen smiles and bends over to pluck Sloan from the ground. She rests the small girl on her hip as she continues walking, allowing Sloan to keep gawking at everything without falling behind. "Isn't that cool? It's like your drawings on the fridge."

"Are we going to meet one of them?" Sloan asks, eyes filled with a twinkling wonder.

"Maybe." Colleen taps Sloan's nose, making the small girl's face break out into a wide grin. Her excitement and happiness definitely coax Colleen to drop some of the worry settling in her chest. Still, she doesn't let herself get too comfortable in this unknown territory. Letting her guard down could lead to monumental consequences that she doesn't even want to fathom.

Colleen looks forward at the Avenger leading them into an elevator that comfortably fits all five of them. She's trusting her not only with her own life, but with the kids' as well.

Natasha presses a button and the elevator doors close. The floor lifts, all the kids scrambling to look out the window to watch as they depart from the ground.

Ben presses his face and palms against the glass. Fogging up the glass, he breathes, "Woah."

Anna Beth removes her stare from the window to the woman they have been blindly following for the past few hours. Curious, Anna Beth tilts her head to the side and studies Natasha, a telltale sign that she's reading her thoughts. She doesn't have much of a reaction, and Colleen figures she didn't learn anything interesting, so she turns to look out the glass again.

"You're making the glass all smudgy," Anna Beth scolds Ben.

Ben presses his nose against the glass so it looks like he's got a pig nose and exhales loudly. The glass fogs up.

Anna Beth huffs and turns to Colleen. "He's being gross and disrespectful."

"Ben, I know you don't like listening to Ab, but be respectful," Colleen says to please the frustrated ginger at her side. Plus, they haven't even been in the building for two minutes and Ben is wiping his nose on the glass. She thought she taught him better manners, but they haven't exactly gone out a lot, so it should be no surprise that they wouldn't all be in line.

Natasha glances at the four. Amusement tugs at her lips as she sees Colleen's maternal side.

Ben rolls his eyes and leans away from the glass just as they reach their floor. Natasha exits first.

"I'm taking you to meet some of the others on the team that arranged my mission to retrieve you," Natasha briefly explains as they make their way down a naturally-lit hallway. They pass doors and offices of important-looking meetings taking place. Anna Beth peers into a window to a room holding a meeting. Although she cannot hear what they are speaking about, she can hear their thoughts. Her bright green eyes flicker to a marker board where there are equations written out.

Colleen pauses in her tracks when she notices Anna Beth's presence is gone. Glancing over her shoulder, she spots the curious girl eavesdropping on a meeting she has no business listening to.

"Try to keep up, Ab," Colleen calls out to her.

Anna Beth tears her focus from the office and follows her family again. "This place is pretty cool. I can see myself working here one day."

Ben scoffs. Anna Beth shoots him a glare. Before either can snap at the other, Colleen shoots them a warning look. They disengage and look away.

Natasha stops at a door. She doesn't bother knocking before turning the handle and entering. The family of four step inside as well.

It looks like one of the conference rooms that they passed on their way through the building. There are windows on the far wall that provide a view of the sun reflecting off the Hudson River. In the center, a long table with chairs. In those chairs sits the archer from before (now that Colleen thinks about it, she realizes he's probably Hawkeye, or Clint Barton, one of the original Avengers), Steve Rogers, and two women in business suits that Colleen doesn't recognize as any of the Avengers. They must work behind the scenes.

While the Avengers' presence does not shock Colleen, it definitely sends waves of surprise and excitement through the kids.

Surprise flashes in the eyes of those sitting at the table as well. The two business women seem agitated, while Steve just seems confused. Clint saw the kids before, but he's still confused as to why they're there.

Ben turns to Anna Beth and hisses, "It's Captain America, an Avenger!"

"Congratulations, genius. Did you not notice that we were being escorted by an Avenger this entire time?" Anna Beth replies in a condescending tone. Confusion crosses Ben's features. Anna Beth looks ready to face-palm. "She's Black Widow."

Ben whips his head around to stare at Natasha. "But Black Widow has red hair?"

"She dyed it," Clint supplies from where he's sat at the conference table. "She got tired of the red and dyed it blonde, then decided that wasn't enough of a change, so then she just chopped a bunch off."

Natasha raises her brow at Clint as he makes the dramatic action of cutting off hair with scissor fingers.

"What the hell is this, Romanoff?" one of the business women, one with dark hair pulled up into a tight bun and big almond-shaped eyes, says as she brings seriousness into the room. Steve and Clint glance at her as she speaks. "Why are there children accompanying you?"

Sloan wraps her arms around Colleen's neck and pulls herself tight against the older girl. She hide her face in the crook of her neck to hide from the sharp voice the woman had used. Colleen sets a hand on her back and runs small circles into her shirt.

Steve rests an elbow against the desk and looks to Natasha for the answer. She doesn't seem intimidated by the sharp tone at all or the anger behind the business women's eyes. "She doesn't live alone like we thought."

This doesn't appease any of the confusion in the room.

Natasha turns to Colleen and the kids. "Why don't you guys have a seat?"

"Hold on," the other woman says. She motions to the kids. "We're not having this discussion with children present."

"I'll have you know that I am intellectually adept," Anna Beth cuts in with a tone as sharp as the woman's.

Ben, feeling like he needs to be apart of the conversation as well, adds an enthusiastic, "Yeah!"

Colleen turns and gives the two a stern look. Their fire falters and they quiet. Natasha, Steve, and Clint seem to have found it amusing, but the other two women are a completely different story. Their features hold permanent frowns of disapproval and frustration.

"Wanda's in the building today," Steve says. He looks to the women across the table from him as he suggests, "She could watch them while we speak with Colleen."

Colleen's heart beats faster. She has to leave her kids? "What if"s run through her mind as she thinks about what could happen while they're out of her sight. She hasn't met Wanda, but since they're in the Avengers facility, she makes the assumption that she's Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch. She's a hero around Colleen's age, but she just doesn't know her enough to know if she can trust her with the kids.

She doesn't know if she can trust any of these people with the kids.

But she doesn't speak up in time. Clint calls out, "Friday?"

"Yes, Mr. Barton?"

Colleen almost jumps back at the unexpected voice that comes somewhere in the ceiling. Sloan looks around for the voice with narrowed eyes.

As Clint asks for Wanda to come down to their conference room, Colleen realizes that Friday is some sort of AI that seems to be wired throughout the building. She doesn't know how they managed to do it, but with Tony Stark on their team, she can't say she isn't surprised.

Before Wanda arrives to take the kids, Colleen lowers Sloan to the ground and kneels to be eye-level with all three.

"Don't cause any trouble," Colleen tells them in a low voice to keep their exchange as private as possible in with five sets of eyes on them. Then, in a quieter voice, she says, "But stay vigilant just in case. I won't be long."

The kids nod. Colleen straightens Anna Beth's shirt, fixes Ben's hair, and gives Sloan a little bop on the nose before standing. As she straightens, the door opens, revealing Wanda Maximoff. She's wearing a casual outfit comprised of a loose-fitted shirt and leggings.

Colleen meets Wanda's eyes and wants to introduce herself, to make a quick exchange to perhaps ease some of her worry. Before she can even start to open her mouth, one of the women in the business attire says, "Have a seat, Colleen. We have much to discuss." Rather than a friendly invitation to sit down, it comes out as an order to be obeyed.

Giving the kids one last lingering look, Colleen turns and allows Wanda to take them out of the room. When the door clicks shut, Colleen is suddenly hyper-aware of everything in the room. She feels their eyes on the side of her face and she can hear her own heartbeat.

Colleen doesn't dally. She slips into the chair across from the women and beside Clint. She lies her hands on the table. She doesn't know what to do with them. She rests them on her thighs, then wrings her hands together, then decides to just fold them on her lap.

Natasha takes a seat as well. She sits beside the woman with her hair pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head so the table is even with three on each side.

The two women beside Natasha introduce themselves as Veronica and Chen.

"Judging by your compliance thus far, I can assume that you're on board with working with us?" Chen says in a voice so professional that it makes Colleen want to fold inward. She's surrounded by kids all the time, so she doesn't hear a lot of professional tones, not even with Anna Beth. She sounds like an adult when she speaks, but not like a robot; her voice is usually excited or full of attitude. Not even Colleen's boss talks so mechanically to her. The last person who did was from Hydra. And she's not too fond of those memories.

Colleen nods. "If you'll help me take down Hydra and rescue the kids from the child experiments, then yes, I'm on board." She doesn't even know what they want her to do exactly, but if it means bringing those kids still in Hydra's clutches to safety and burning each base to the ground, then she's completely in.

Steve exchanges a look with Clint before looking at Colleen. "Child experiments?"

Colleen freezes. She forgot they didn't know about that. She glances at Natasha across the table before clearing her throat and saying, "They're pretty quiet about them."

"And how do you have this information?" Chen presses, her voice dripping with suspicion.

Colleen straightens as she grows defensive. From the way the two women are looking at her, she guesses they think she is working with Hydra. The idea of working for those cruel monsters is sickening. "I was a child experiment, I broke out when I was twelve. I realized that I wasn't the only one, so I started rescuing others."

She watches as Steve and Clint connect the dots and realize that the kids with her were rescues. Something hardens in Steve's gaze and he looks away.

Colleen turns to Veronica and Chen with an impatient look. "So no, I am not an undercover Hydra agent, and yes, I am aboard as long as you help me burn Hydra to the ground while getting those kids to safety."

The three Avengers look sold, but of course, Veronica and Chen do not. Veronica clicks her pen and pushes her glasses up her nose. "I'm sorry if you misunderstood, but you're here to help us, not the other way around."

Colleen's brow pulls forward. "What's the difference if we have the same goal?"

"We do it our way and you play by or rules," Veronica replies smoothly.

Colleen opens her mouth, but then decides to close it and think about what her next move should be. Should it matter the technicalities of this whole situation as long as the outcome is Hydra burning and saving the kids? Why does this deal stir unease in her stomach?

Seeing no better option, Colleen nods. "Okay, fine. I'll play by your rules." 

"Great, we'll have someone show you to your quarters and you can get settled—"

"Woah woah woah, what?" Colleen leans her elbows against the table and frowns. Show me to my quarters? Are they keeping her there? What about the kids? Panic washes over her as she suddenly remembers that they're out of her sight, somewhere with someone she doesn't know.

Natasha senses her panic and says, "Each of the kids will have their own room, they'll stay here, too. Wanda and a few others live here as well, there is a floor where all the rooms, living area, and kitchen are."

"Do I have to pay any, like, rent to stay here?" Colleen asks.

"No, it's free," Steve replies, drawing Colleen's attention from across the table to him on the other side of Clint. "Completely free and completely optional since you live in Brooklyn and that isn't too far away."

Colleen pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and looks down at her hands indecisively.

"How big is your apartment?" Natasha suddenly asks.

Colleen frowns and looks up, meeting her gaze. "Not very big, but it's got a bedroom and a bathroom."

"One bedroom for four people is pretty cramped," Natasha says, but her words aren't meant to offend Colleen or make her feel ashamed. She's just trying to persuade her to stay. "You'll each have your own rooms, the kids will have enough space to move around and play."

Colleen weighs her choices. On one hand, she could just stay at her shabby apartment where the kids only have about 600 square feet to live in. The small apartment is their school, home, and playground. Ben, Anna Beth, and Sloan share a room—which the older two equally hate—and Colleen sleeps on the couch. On the other hand, Colleen could agree to stay here at the Avengers facility. Anna Beth would be able to keep her light in her room on all night so she can read as late as she wants. Ben could leave his bedroom window open without getting yelled at by Anna Beth to close it. Sloan would have much more space to dance around and to just be a kid. Colleen's little apartment can't do that.

Looking up from her hands, Colleen meets Natasha's eyes. "We can get our things from the apartment though, right?"

"Of course."

"Okay." Colleen nods. "I think we'll stay here, then."

Finally, Veronica and Chen show some emotion other than irritation. Chen flips a page of a packet in front of her and jots something down in ink. "Great, we'll allow you to get settled in today, and then we'll get to work tomorrow." She clicks her pen when she finishes her note and gives Colleen a brief smile. "Welcome to the team."