LEO WAS INCREDIBLY SMUG WHEN PACKING UP HIS THINGS. He had been told that this was a long-term excursion, as he would now be working at the New Avengers Facility full-time regardless, which meant he was allowed to pack up whatever he had chosen to leave at his desk, as he was never coming back.

"You got canned, Legacy?" Agent Madsen called out, openly gawking at Leo, the others not far behind, some trying to stay focused on their work, others having given it up in favor of asking questions.

"Nope," the young man sighed, officially disconnecting his computer and taking a step back, "I'm just out of here."

"What are you doing to do?" Agent Warren asked, a woman a few years older than him who would always ask if he had any plans before they all went home, her hair in a neat bun and eyeglasses slipping from her nose.

Leo paused from where he was making his way up the steps, pausing halfway through. He looked down at a large room where a good number of agents were looking at him with expressions he could read, others he couldn't, all of them sharing a similar look of curiosity mingled with some other emotion he couldn't be bothered to read.

His lips curled into a smile and his gapped teeth peeked out as he spoke with the utmost satisfaction.

"That's classified."

º º º

The drive upstate was a rather long one. Coming from New Jersey, Leo didn't quite understand what was meant by upstate, but it was clear that it was quite a ways away from New York City and its boroughs, as, when he woke up, he was sprawled out across the lap of Phil Coulson who was just scrolling through his emails on his phone.

"I am so sorry!" Leo shouted, much too loud for the close proximity, practically throwing himself into the opposite side of the car, rattling it worryingly.

"Remember your training, Oberholt," Coulson said, not even looking up from his phone, but his lips were tugged up in a relative smile; Leo wasn't actually sure what Director Coulson's deal was anymore, but he could only hope he wasn't about to be relieved of his duties.

He looked out the window he had pressed himself up against and gasped, seeing a large, white building coming into view from behind the tree line. It was up on a hill, and he could see rows of what he assumed were military or recruits of some line doing their drills on the grounds. There was a jet hangar, the main building, and he was sure others that he just couldn't see.

He smiled his tooth gapped smile and turned to look over at Coulson who was watching his reaction, nodding appreciatively, looking out as well. "It's pretty, great, huh? Get comfortable, Oberholt, because you'll be staying here for a while."

"What do I do when I'm done monitoring?" Leo asked, jumping too far ahead to see, but still worried about the future nonetheless.

Coulson shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

The car parked at the top of the incline, right by the building, and Leo climbed out shakily, unsure of whether to follow Coulson who had climbed out as well. Their driver, a man who hadn't introduced himself to Leo when they first met, got out his suitcases from the trunk and handed them over to him.

"Thank you," he chirped, smiling, and the driver simply nodded his head before walking back to the car, and leaving, narrowly missing Leo's foot.

He watched the car fade from view, realizing that he was now a long ways from the two places he had ever called home, and the last link he had to that home had just now disappeared from view. It would have been poetic if he wasn't so afraid.

"Oberholt," Coulson called out, but it was much kinder than expected, walking towards him to place a firm hand on his shoulder, "Are you alright?"

Leo turned to look at him, giving him a shaky smile. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm just...haven't really been away from my family or home before, you know? I mean, I'm from Jersey, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was always there, you know? Legacy and all that."

Coulson didn't say anything, just gave him a sympathetic smile. "Let's get you inside, everyone wants to meet you."

Grabbing his suitcases, he scrambled to follow Coulson, nearly tripping over and falling face first on the concrete. After gaining his balance and adjusting his grip on his suitcases, he followed Coulson inside the building and down a hallway.

"There are training areas, and there are many agents bustling around since this facility doubles as a research and safeguard protocol, as well as those affiliated with Stark Industries, so you're not the only agent around, but you're the only one who's affiliated with the Avengers," he explained, as they climbed some stairs, bumping into a few people.

"There are also designated training areas, lots of them, and gyms, though you can find those on your free time," he continued, and Leo wondered why the man was giving him the tour if he didn't even live there, "Most of these agents, however, go home when their work is done, so there's a separate area for those who live here."

"That's neat," Leo commented, figuring that he should probably try to get a word in, "This place is huge, not just the building, but the acreage."

"It gets even bigger when you actually go out there."

That wasn't said by Coulson.

Leo nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned around and found himself staring at a very large Steve Rogers, his wet hair letting him know that he had most likely just finished showering after training or a run, and his heart was beating out of his chest as he stared at the man who was giving him a polite smile.

"Oberholt?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"L-Leo," he replied, still awestruck as he shook his hand, desperately trying to make the grip as firm as he had been taught, though it was no match for the firm grip of the super soldier.

"Nice to meet you," Steve replied, and it was then that Leo realized that the man was rather young, most likely only a few years older than himself, "The rest of the team are waiting. Good to see you, Phil."

"Nice to let you know I'm alive," Coulson replied, and the two shared a laugh; Leo hadn't known the Avengers were aware that Director Coulson was alive, though it was probably for the best, Clint Barton had taken the news harder than the others.

"We can take him from here," Steve said, and Coulson smiled appreciatively, but still continued to follow them, saying that he wanted to greet the others before going back to check on the other agents.

Leo's grip tightened on his suitcases as he followed Steve to a living room of sorts where most of the Avengers were lounging about, chatting like they were just regular people and not international saviors.

When they stepped into view, Sam Wilson immediately looked up, giving them a friendly smile, and Leo noticed with a start that he had a gapped tooth as well; he felt safer already.

"Hi," he greeted, standing up, "You're the babysitter, huh?"

"Um..." Leo said, intimidated by the man who wasn't all that much taller than him, "Yes? Not yours, though, I don't think?"

"We know," another voice said, standing up and walking over towards Leo, his hand outstretched, "James Rhodes. Call me Rhodey, everyone does."

"O-okay," Leo stammered, "I'm Leo Oberholt. It's nice to meet you."

"Relax, we don't bite," a feminine voice drawled, and Leo looked over to see Arabella Rivendell sprawled out along a couch, smiling over at him, "I've heard of your family, Leo, it's great that we've got a legacy with us, specially someone my age."

"So an infant," Clint Barton quipped, laughing as he easily caught the soda can that was flung over to his head by Arabella's chaos magic, "Just kidding. Welcome to the team, kid. You seem nice enough, be good to the kid."

Leo nodded, remembering the debriefing as to why Pietro had gotten shot in the first place; Clint most likely owed his life to the young man, and would no doubt give Leo hell if he hurt him. This was going to be interesting.

"Nat is on a mission, Wanda is with Pietro who's getting checked out in the infirmary, but other than that, you've met everyone except maybe Vision," Steve said, "At least, the ones who live with us or are still around."

"We still have no word on Bruce Banner and Thor?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Thor comes and goes as he pleases, but we don't interact much since he only ever stays to just say hi," Arabella explained, glancing over to Steve who stiffened at the mention of the thunder god, "And he probably doesn't stop by over here or else he might just decide to stay. Right, Steve?"

The blond simply coughed and motioned for Leo to follow him. "I'll show you to your room."

Picking up his suitcases again, Leo followed Steve down an expansive hall with glass windows to an entirely new building that was just connected by what he figured was a bridge. He wasn't sure if he should ask questions or not, given that he was new and was in the presence of a national treasure; his words, not anyone else's.

"Am I meeting Pietro today?" he asked, because that was why he was there, he might as well know where he stood.

"Yeah," Steve said, slowly down so they could walk side-by-side, nodding, "We usually all have dinner together, you can meet him there. Or even earlier, you might run into him if you go explore the grounds, which you can, if you want."

"Okay," Leo said, "Thank you, Mr. Rogers."

Steve laughed at that, shaking his head. "I might be a dinosaur, but biologically, I'm, what twenty-six? Maybe?"

"I'm twenty-four," Leo gasped, utterly scandalized and nearly being the same age as him, "Are you sure?"

Steve laughed and nodded, leading him into a pristine room with a desk, TV, and bed, everything plain and waiting for some sign of life, a door leading to a bathroom in the corner. "I'm pretty sure. Make yourself at home, Leo, I have to lead a training excercise."

And with one last nod, Steve was gone, leaving Leo alone.

The redhead sighed as he set his suitcases on his bed, which would force him to unpack if he wanted to go to bed. He closed his door softly, looking back at his rather spacious room, unsure of how he wanted to feel about any of this. It was a really nice room, better than what he had back home, but it was so bare, so new. It was beautiful to look at, but the feeling of having to live there made his stomach turn.

He had always been too easily attached, something his family always tried to break him of, because S.H.I.E.L.D. agents couldn't afford to become compromised. Maybe he should have listened to them.

Walking to the bathroom, he looked around, nodding to himself; whenever he had to stay anywhere, he always checked out the bathrooms; if they met his standards, he would be fine staying there. The shower was much nicer than he had back home, and he figured that was probably a sign.

"This is fine," he said to himself, turning to the mirror, "You'll be fine. Just go out there and make the most of it."

Make the most of his new home with people he didn't know in a place he had never been.

He sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a mint, popping it into his mouth before steeling his nerves, stepping out of the room and back out into the hall.

Out to the rest of his life. Hopefully, it would be a good one.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 05.12.18 )

I actually hate this chapter, honestly, it's pure exposition, deadass nothing happened, and I'm so sorry. God, this is such a bad chapter, but it's necessary? But it's the worst. Pietro's showing up next chapter, promise, and maybe then things'll get more interesting.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!