Archive of Our Own ^beta

"I still don't understand why you had to change everything about her. She doesn't know either of us, anymore, Phil. She doesn't even know herself." Clint complained, his boots up on Coulson's desk.

"We had to do a complete overhaul, Clint. She has to be here with us, so Cassandra Campbell had to disappear forever. We had to make it where she wouldn't question being here, wouldn't try to get back to Captain America or Stark Tower. So, she had to be a SHIELD agent. To be an agent, we had to create a whole new, non-Red Queen back-story for her."

"So, now she's got memories of a childhood that didn't happen, parents she didn't have, and has lost all the memories of us being together. How does that help me?"

"Happy parents she didn't have. A happy childhood she didn't have. One where she ran around with other kids in the woods and got nominated for homecoming Queen in high school, but lost so she learned humility. She never got to have a pimply teenaged boy stumble through asking her to prom or fumble with a corsage, but now she has those memories. She had a childhood, now. So, now she's well-adjusted and happy to be here and if you think you're supposed to be with her, Barton, then you will just need to win the heart of Agent Catherine Carpenter."

Clint dropped his boots and shook his head. "I really didn't want you to completely change her, just bring her back to the real Cassie. I mean, you even dyed her damn hair."

"Well, you should've thought it through, Barton. Taking her was an act of war, so we had to make her disappear. We couldn't leave a trace of Red Queen for Tony Stark and Steve Rogers to find. No trace of Joanna Schmidt for Loki to follow, God forbid that asshole shows up on Earth again." Coulson sat on the edge of his desk and looked down at Hawkeye. "No trace of her means a cover ID even she doesn't know is fake. Just get acquainted with her file and don't say anything stupid."

"She's on the Index? Does she know she's on the Index?" Clint asked, looking down at the tablet.

"Yeah, but not because of Red Skull. She thinks her Mom, Sylvia, signed up for a genetic experiment while she was pregnant and Catherine mutated when she hit puberty."

"Catherine Odette Carpenter. Mom: Sylvia Rose Carpenter-Deceased. Dad: Stephen Prince Carpenter-Deceased. Brother: Dylan Marcus Carpenter, Level 3 Agent of SHIELD-Deceased?"

"Parents were killed during the Battle of New York, brother was killed on an Op in Syria. He's why she joined up." Phil responded, walking around the desk. 

Clint sighed and tucked the tablet under his arm. "Maybe I'll just get to know her the old fashioned way. You know, instead of automatically knowing everything about her, I'll get to learn about her slowly, over the course of many frustrating months."

"That's how we did it in my day, Barton." Phil said, dropping into his swivel chair.

"Hey, I'm not, uh, not gonna be competing with you on this, am I? For her attentions?" Clint asked.

Phil looked up at him, then shrugged. "Maybe. She's a whole new woman. New hair color, sans the scars, both physical and mental. I may or may not be interested in her."

"Great, now I have another thing to worry about. Thanks, Phil." Clint said, as he walked out of the office. 

"I live to make your life easier, Hawkeye." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Catherine walked up the ramp onto the 'Bus', she stopped in front of a shiny red classic Corvette. She stared at it in awe, her bag dropping to the metal ramp as she circled the car. "Ah, I see you noticed LOLA." A voice called. Phil walked down the spiral staircase and stepped toward her.

"How could I not? She's gorgeous. What is she, a '60?" 

"A '62, actually." Phil extended his hand to her and she took it. "Phil Coulson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Cat Carpenter. I'm honored to be here, sir." 

"If you'll follow me, we'll get you bunked and then we can introduce you to the rest of the team." 

She picked up her bag and followed him to the stairs. "I-I don't know if you remember him, but you met my brother about 8 years ago. You did a lecture at the Academy about the rising occurrences of 0-8-4s. It definitely shaped the way Mark thought about Supers. Made it a lot easier to talk to him about my thing. I didn't have to hide it from him after that."

"I remember him. He was a good man, a good agent." Phil walked to a small bunk and slid the door open. "This one's yours. Mine's up in my office. That staircase, there."

She dropped her bag on the bed and smiled at him, pushing her hair behind her ears and smiling at him. "Again, sir, I am so honored to be here. I... when HYDRA took the Academy before I was able to graduate, I thought my chance was blown. I almost gave up, started looking into the FBI and considered the Army, but... I'm glad you got SHIELD up and running again, I'm glad to be here."

Phil smiled and nodded toward the briefing room, where three people were standing in conversation. "Come meet the team." Catherine followed him into the room, where everyone immediately stopped talking and turned to them. "This is Agent Burrows, he's our pilot. Agent Johnson, our resident Inhuman expert and Agent Barton, Ops expert and killer marksman." 

She smiled, extending her hand to each agent and shaking their hands. "Cat Carpenter. It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard and read so much about you, Agent Johnson, and of course I've heard of Hawkeye. I lost my parents in the Battle of New York."

"Daisy. You don't need to go crazy with the formalities here. You spent more time in the Academy than I did."

"I'm just fine being called 'Hawkeye' or 'Clint' or 'Barton'. Just don't call me 'sir' and we'll be fine." Clint said, regretfully dropping her hand. 

She smiled at them, feeling a bit uncomfortable as the room seemed to stare at her. "Okay, well. I will... go set up my bunk. I'm looking forward to working with all of you." She nodded at them and exited the room. The eyes followed her until she disappeared into her bunk, then everyone looked to Phil.

"I still say this is weird, Coulson." Daisy said, leaning against the computer table.

"Noted. Go with it."

"She looks wrong with brown hair." Clint grumbled.

"Yeah, that's the problem with this setup. It's not that SHIELD basically kidnapped this woman and turned her into a completely different woman; it's that she's not blond, anymore." Daisy said, sarcastically. 

"If you're not on board with this, Daisy, you can stay at HQ." 

"Coulson, you know I've got your back and I know that you think you're doing the right thing here, but... I'm not wrong." She said, pointedly.

"Yeah, but... this is how things need to be."

"Because that's how you two want things?" Daisy asked, gesturing between Clint and Phil, who glared at her. "Like I said, I've got your back and I'll help with this, of course, and I know that wiping out the bad and giving someone a new life can be a good thing; just look at my dad... but did you really wipe her because it was the best thing for her?" 

"She wasn't herself, anymore. She was... a sex-crazed, violent, terrible, rude..." Clint started.

"Look, her life was terrible. Her whole life has sucked, from the minute she was created to when she took over HYDRA and ruined Bobbi and Hunter's marriage. We took all of that from her, gave her a background of happiness and family. We lasered her scars away and gave her a new purpose. This is better for her." Phil answered.

Daisy nodded and headed out of the briefing room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky leaned against the wall, watching as Steve punched the heavy bag over and over. Steve had been angry and distant since Cassie was taken. He didn't want to take his anger out on his friends, so he'd taken to beating every sandbag in the Secret Avengers headquarters to death. "Steve."

"What?" He didn't stop punching as his best friend walked up to him. 

"Wanda made dinner."

"Not hungry."

"Yeah, you said that about lunch and breakfast... and dinner last night. Unless you wanna end up scrawny, 'getting your ass kicked all day' Steve again, you'll eat something."

Steve turned to Bucky and sighed, beginning to unwrap his knuckles. Even knowing that wasn't how the serum worked, Bucky was worried about him, so it was best to give in. "Fine. What'd she make?"

"Corned beef and boxtys. My suggestion. Thought a little Irish cooking might soothe you a bit."

"Don't know how well that'll work, Buck. It's not my mom's recipe, so..." 

"Nah, but it's my mom's recipe. At least for the boxtys. Can you believe Wanda had no idea what a boxty was?" 

"Uncultured kid." Steve said, with a small smile. "Okay, well, if you could remember your mother's boxty recipe a hundred years later and Wanda could replicate it, then maybe it'll make me feel better."

Bucky put his hand on Steve's shoulder and walked him toward the dining room. "Have you heard from Stark?"

"Not since the original 'I cannot believe you lost Cassie' freak out. I don't know what he's doing but he's promised to find her. And Clint and Natasha and he seemed a little... homicidal on the thought of finding those two."

"I would be, too. Man, I knew that Barton guy was a dick, but I can't believe he would enlist Black Widow and a group of commandos to steal her." 

"Well, I can't help but wonder..." Steve started as they entered the dining room and the smell of frying oil hit his nose. "...if they take her memories, her childhood memories and all the memories that she's created since Loki read her trigger words, she's gonna be so confused. Why wouldn't she have called Tony? He's her go-to when she's scared."

"Maybe Clint has confused her mind, again, on purpose. Maybe he has her depending on him for... everything." Wanda said, dropping two large bowls on the table while Sam followed with plates.

"That seems incredibly manipulative for Clint. Loki, sure, but Clint?" Steve said, sitting down and scooting his chair closer to the table. 

"He was very obsessed with getting her back. Even before he knew he'd lost her. Remember his reactions when she was first with Bucky again?" Wanda reminded them as she placed a set of tongs in the bowl of boxtys. 

"And how he reacted when we decided to walk away?" Bucky added.

"And just generally... he was manipulating her from the moment they met, didn't tell her that he spent two years watching her and knew everything about her. Didn't tell her that he was the reason Loki even knew she existed." Sam finished.

Steve sighed. He didn't want to think about Clint gaslighting Cassie into submission, distorting her view of reality until she was dependent on him. "Hey. We'll find her, Steve." Bucky said, sitting next to him.

Steve nodded and reached for the tongs. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We can't know that she didn't run off to hide, Stark. She didn't want to sign the Accords, in the first place, and we both know that her 'undercover assignment' in HYDRA only became that after you convinced her she didn't want to follow her father's footsteps. She's unstable and flaky, Stark, much like you. I didn't expect her to stick around and actually be a part of the new U.N.-run Avengers."

"And I'm telling you, Ross, that she was taken by Natalia Romanova and a half a dozen guys in decidedly SHIELD-like gear. Are you really just ignoring this?" Tony growled at his phone as he tinkered with one of his suits. 

"Bring me proof, Stark. More than just the sworn statement of a fugitive and CCTV footage of Romanoff going into that hotel. Bring me Romanoff. Oh, wait, no one can find her. Just like no one can find Schmidt."

"It's 'Campbell' and I'll find her myself. Thank you, so much, for your support. FRIDAY, hang up the phone."

The sound cut out of the speaker and Tony threw his screwdriver at the wall. It stuck in the plaster and he sighed as he grasped the tool and pulled it out. "Is there anything I can help you with, Boss?" FRIDAY asked. 

"You happen to know where the Headquarters for SHIELD is, FRIDAY?"

"Unfortunately, I don't, Boss, but I could start lookin' into locations fer Natasha Romanoff and Phillip Coulson and Clint Barton. Would that be helpful?"

Tony ran his hand over the hole in the wall and sighed. "Yeah, that'd be helpful." He dropped the screwdriver on the work table and sat on the edge of it. "I promised her she wasn't gonna be erased again. I promised and then I let Romanoff get the drop on her. How am I supposed to find her when she might not even know who she is, anymore?"

"I could issue an alert. An all points bulletin fer her and Barton."

"Yeah." Tony stood, and headed for his office. "Yeah, you know what, FRIDAY, do that. Send out an APB for any information leading to the whereabouts of Cassie. Attach a reward to it. Quarter mil."

"That's gonna bring out a lot of false information, Boss, and crazies looking fer the limelight."

"We'll set up a call center and hire some PIs to run down any leads." Tony said, sitting down at his desk and looking at the mosaic hanging on his wall. "We have to find her. I promised." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catherine woke with a start, her eyes snapping wide. Her dreams were weird since she was reassigned to the Bus three months previous. Dreams of robots and HYDRA agents and the terrible uncomfortably sexual ones about the Asgardian villain she'd never met. She sighed and sat up, running her hand through her hair and looking into the mirror on the wall of her bunk. Her roots were starting to show again and she had an irresistible urge to dye them, which she made a note to do as soon as they landed at HQ again. She slid her bunk door open and exited, stretching out as she headed for the small kitchen area. Clint was standing in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other. He smiled when he saw her, something he was prone to doing. Catherine looked down, pulling open the mini-fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. "Hey, Cat. You hungry?"

"Nah, just... wanted a bottle of water." She said, moving away from him. She knew he was interested in her. He was enthusiastically interested in her life and was always offering to give her pointers or spar with her. She was polite with her distance, but she was getting a bit fed up with his attentions. The man was more than a decade older than her and, while he was perfectly attractive, she didn't feel they had anything in common. Even their reasons for joining SHIELD were different. "Uh, do you know when we will be back?"

"About four hours." Clint said, before taking a bite of the sandwich.

"Okay, well... I'm gonna..." She trailed off, taking the top off of her bottle of water and heading back to her bunk. Daisy met her in the lounge on her way back. Catherine smiled. "Hey! I was thinking, when we get back we're supposed to have a weekend, right? Barring a random 0-8-4 popping up, of course. I was thinking we could do a girls' weekend. You, me, Jemma, maybe May, have some wine and a spa day. I've gotta get my hair done and I haven't had a pedicure since before SHIELD fell. What do you think?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sounds great, actually. We'll have to clear shore leave with Coulson, but that sounds amazing. I'll give Simmons a call, see if she's up for it."

"Awesome!" She smiled as she climbed into her bed. She liked Daisy. The Inhuman was only a year and a half older than her and had taken her under her wing as her SO, so they became fast friends. Jemma had been distant, at first, but had warmed up to her over the last month. May, of course, was impossible to read.

Cat grabbed her phone and sent a text to May, inviting her, and lied back down. It'd be nice to have a break.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cat was on her fourth mimosa, a small Asian woman painting her toenails. Jemma was in the chair to her left and Daisy to her right, both in the exact same condition. "So... what's the deal with Barton?" Cat asked.

"What do you mean?" Simmons asked, setting her mimosa on the table beside her and leaning back.

"He's just... kinda... a creeper." Cat responded, looking between the other agents. "He stares at me, a lot."

"He's got a crush, is all." Daisy responded. 

"He's a grown man. Like, a way grown man. Too old for a crush."

"Too old for you?" Daisy asked, taking a sip of her mimosa.

"Way too old for me. I mean, I'm sure I could look past it if I was interested in his personality, but we have nothing in common. I mean, I've got more in common with Coulson than Barton."

"Oh, are you gonna look past his age?" Jemma asked, amused, prompting Catherine to snort derisively.

"Nooo. He's way, way, way too old for me, also our boss. Come on. I wish my dating pool weren't so small." She sighed and leaned back. "I, honestly, just wanna find a nice guy or girl to spend the little bit of free time I've got with." 

"Girl?" Jemma asked, surprised. 

"Don't judge." Daisy ordered, amused.

"No! I-I'm not judging. Just... surprised."

"It's cool. It's not like I fly my half-rainbow flag anywhere. It's mostly just easier to pretend to be straight." 

"So, have you... are you interested in anybody at work?" Daisy asked.

"Honestly? I've got a small crush on May, but I think that's just a reaction to her absolute badassery. Nothing serious, though. Maybe I'll meet somebody tonight." She mused. 

"Oh? Is that... the plan for tonight?" 

"You don't have to come, Jemma. I know Fitz would probably freak if I took you to a dive bar where we'll definitely get hit on." Cat said, finishing off her mimosa as the woman applied clear coat to her toenails. "You, also, don't have to come, Daisy. I'm sure you want nothing to do with that."

"Are you kidding me? Do you know how long it's been since I relaxed with a beer in my hand, listening to a jukebox? I'm so there." Daisy said, reaching over to clink her champagne flute against Catherine's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's a lesbian dive bar in the West Village, Coulson. I'm pretty sure we aren't gonna run into Iron Man or Captain America here." Daisy held her cell phone to her ear and looked into the bar through the glass on the front door. Catherine was sitting at the bar, dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a low-cut white tank top, the heel of her stiletto boots hooked on the crossbeam of the barstool. She was smiling brightly at the bartender. In the three months that Catherine had been with them, Daisy had never seen her glow like that. 

"You're, literally, 2 miles from Avengers Tower."

"Again, in a lesbian dive bar, and I'm pretty sure Stark doesn't live there, anymore. It's not like I can tell her to go home without an actual reason, Coulson."

"I can make up an emergency, call you both in."

"Dude, Coulson, back off. She needs a break. She's been nonstop since you brought her in. She deserves some time off. If you try to call us in, I'm gonna quake our phones." She said, in a tone that told him that she was absolutely not playing around.

"Fine. Please, don't forget that there is a $250,000 bounty on her head. Keep her safe."

"I will. Good night, Coulson." Daisy put her phone in her pocket and entered the bar. The jukebox was playing a Destiny's Child song which she bounced to as she approached Catherine. "Not bad, for a dive. Kinda expected it to be darker and there are more guys here than I expected."

"Hetero-friendly environment." Catherine answered, sliding a beer to her friend. 

"How do you know this place?" 

"Oh, I heard about this place when I was in college, before the Academy. Never came here because I was too busy, but always wanted to. Heard the bartenders were amazing." She gave that glowing smile to the bartender, a skinny redheaded woman, who smiled back. 

"Your friend's cute." The bartender said as Catherine picked up her beer and headed for the corner booth. Daisy smiled at her and picked up her beer to follow.

"So, are you actively trying to find somebody to take back to the hotel with you? I'm just wondering how much I'm supposed to play the blocker here."

"Well, you don't have to worry about me getting drunk and making a mistake. I'd have to drink an inordinate amount of beer to get that gone. I'm not really trying but if I find someone..." She shrugged and took a drink of her beer.

"I'm kinda jealous of your ability to drink whatever you want and never get drunk."

"No, I can get drunk, it just takes a lot." Catherine said, turning in her seat to look out at the bar. "And sometimes, it'd be nice to get drunk off of two beers like other women my size."

"Still jealous." Daisy said, with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daisy watched from the corner booth as Catherine danced with a tall woman with black hair, who was wearing a minidress and far too much makeup, in Daisy's opinion. The jukebox was playing some Country song that was not even disguising that it was about sex and Catherine was holding the black haired woman very closely and whispering in her ear. Daisy took several pictures with her phone to show to Coulson and Barton and stood. "Hey. It's getting pretty late. We got a jet to catch in the morning and I am not able to run on almost no sleep, so I'm gonna head back to the hotel. Don't get in any trouble, okay?"

"Only trouble I got is in my arms." Catherine said, before waving Daisy off. Daisy nodded at her and pushed her way through the crowded bar.

An hour later, Catherine started walking toward the hotel, holding the hand of the black-haired woman, giggling between kisses. "Miss Campbell?" A voice above them called. They looked up at the sound of the voice and both furrowed their brows as Spider-man dropped to the sidewalk in front of them. "Cassie Campbell?"

"I thought your name was 'Chloe'." Catherine said as the black haired woman dropped her hand and said, "I thought your name was 'Cat'."

"Uh, look, Spider-man? I, uh, don't think either of us are the person you're looking for." Catherine said, grabbing Chloe's hand and walking around him to continue to the hotel. "That was weird."

"Yeah. Why's that name sound familiar, though?"

"'Cassie Campbell'? I don't know. Doesn't sound like anybody I've ever heard of." Catherine said, pushing the door into the hotel.

"I'm tellin' you, Mr. Stark, it was her! She had brown hair, though, and she was kissin' another chick and she said her name was 'Catherine', but it was her!" Peter said into his phone as he paced across the roof of his apartment building.

"You expect me to believe that I've spent the last 3 months looking under every rock to find the blond girl and you found her two miles away from home, on the arm of a lesbian?" 

"She's not blond, anymore." Peter answered. "Look, I followed her and the other woman to the Jane Hotel, okay? Look into it?"

Tony sighed, rolling his eyes. Sometimes Peter was a fucking handful. "FRIDAY, can you get me patched into the WiFi at the Jane Hotel? Check for any devices that are also linked to SHIELD's servers and grab me a guest list for the hotel." 

"Would you like me to patch into the Closed Circuit Television, as well, Boss?"

"Sure. Let's get a look at these lesbos." Tony said, picking up his tablet as a list of rooms and people in them popped up. "Pretty standard. Bunch o' 'John Smith's, a Norma Jeane Mortenson, and two rooms rented under... 'Catherine Carpenter'."

"Yeah! She said her name was Catherine." Peter exclaimed.

"Hey, FRIDAY, got any information on this Catherine Carpenter?" Tony asked, flipping to the CCTV footage and turning it back to 2 am. The camera was aimed at the door, giving him a perfect view of the women as they entered, holding hands. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw her. She was okay, smiling and really into the black-haired woman. 

"I'm sorry, Boss, but the information I have on this Catherine Carpenter is sparse. There aren't very many records tying back to her. I have the credit card that she used to rent the rooms but nothing else. Even that was only issued three months ago."

"Can you get the social the card was issued under?" Tony asked, playing it back to a point on the footage where she'd laughed at something the other woman had said.

"It's fake, as is the driver's license that she used to check in at the hotel. Also only existed fer the last three months." 

"So, new social, new cards, whole new identity, coincidentally right after they took her." Tony said, shaking his head.

"They couldn't make Miss Campbell come quietly, so they wiped her and gave her a whole new life?" Peter guessed.

"Fuck SHIELD." Tony growled, setting the tablet down and grabbing his jacket. 

"What's going on? Are you gonna suit up, fly down?" Peter asked, pulling his mask on. 

"She doesn't know who she is, kid. She didn't know you and she's not gonna know me. So, I have to... do something here. I don't know what, but I know that if I bring in a suit, it's gonna turn into a fight and that's the last thing I want." 

***************

Steve was halfway through his morning run, on a treadmill that seemed to hate him more and more with each morning, when his phone went off. "I found 'er."

"Really?!" Steve hit the emergency stop button and the treadmill seemed to thank him as it groaned to a halt.

"Okay, Spidey found her. Whatever, she's been found."

"Where? Where is she?"

"Right now? The West Village."

"She's in New York?" Steve put the phone on speaker as he sat at his desk.

"Not the whole time. Based on her credit purchases, she's on a little vacay."

"So, she's-"

"Oh, it gets better, Capitan. They wiped her."

"Well, we knew-"

"Completely. She doesn't even know who Cassie Campbell is. She thinks she's Catherine Carpenter, which I think is just lazy, honestly."

"Why would Barton turn her into someone completely different?"

"My knee-jerk on this is 'If Legolas can't have her, no one can' but it was probably a tactical decision on account of you and I both jumping on the 'Don't fuck with the Queen' bandwagon. If they rebooted her back to any point after Austria, she'd run back to the Tower and their plan would be boned. Any point before Austria, she'd barely know Barton."

"A new personality would give Clint the opportunity to win her over again, without our interference."

"Yeah, I think that kinda backfired on him, 'cause she took a woman up to her hotel room."

Steve's face fell in shock. "She did?"

"Yeah. Guess Miss Carpenter likes her lovers a little soft on top. Look, I've got eyes on her room and I'm hacking SHIELD's database, see what they have on her. They've got a couple hackers almost as good as me so it's taking me a few minutes. You might want to get your spangly ass to Manhattan."

"I'll be there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Her tribute to Sappho stumbled out about 30 minutes ago. Movement in the room says she's getting packed. If she gets on her Quinjet, we'll lose her. Ready to jog some memories?" Tony asked, gesturing at the hotel.

Steve took a deep breath and they both headed into the Jane. He knocked lightly at the door Tony indicated. The door opened and a green-eyed woman with dark caramel-colored hair looked up at him. He swallowed, cleared his throat and smiled a tight smile. "Miss Carpenter?"

"Wow. I'm meeting all kinds of superheroes in New York." She called back to another woman with black hair, who grabbed her cell phone from her pocket, panic painting her face. "At least this one got my name right."

"Shit!" The other SHIELD agent exclaimed.

"Yeah, go ahead and call your boss in. I'm pretty eager to talk to him." Tony said, as she rushed past them into the hallway.

"And, Miss? Don't stray too far. We've got some questions for you, too." Steve said, before stepping into the hotel room.

"Coulson, we've got problems." Tony heard as he closed the door behind him and Catherine leaned against the far wall.

Steve took a seat and looked up at her. "Look, normally, this is the sort of thing you'd ease into, but we just don't have the time. You aren't who you think you are, Miss Carpenter."

"Your name, at least your preferred name, is Cassie Campbell." Tony leaned forward, handing her a file folder.

"And I've never heard that name before last night. I don't know who that is!" She exclaimed.

"It's you. Before Coulson and Barton got their hands on you and fucked with your head. Open the file." Tony ordered.

Catherine sighed and made a show of opening the file and flipping through it. "Okay. I can understand the confusion. We definitely look alike. We could be sisters. But we're not and we're not the same person, either."

"You are. You've only existed for three months."

"That's not true. I've been Catherine Odette Carpenter my whole life."

"Well, Catherine Carpenter's only existed for three months, so..." Tony threw the printout of her SSI info at her feet and moved to sit on the bed. "Don't you think it's convenient that everyone you knew before three months ago is dead? No family or friends to go looking for?"

Catherine scoffed, picking up the paper. "Even if I did used to be this Cassie chick, why would I ever want to go back to that?"

"What?" Steve asked, sadness creeping into his voice.

"Just a cursory look through this tells me that her life has sucked. She was experimented on, tortured, made to kill, imprisoned and isolated, and her love map was so distorted she fell for a man three times her age, got pregnant, lost the baby, and tried to drown herself in liquor. She was, obviously, a severely damaged woman. Maybe she's better off as me."

"But you're not you." Steve urged.

"I understand wanting to erase your regrets. I created tech to go into my memories and fix my daddy issues, but I don't use it. I just relive those old memories the same way every time. Because, honestly, my daddy issues are 80% of my personality and without them, there is no Tony Stark."

"While that's very enlightening, Mr. Stark, did you miss the part of this file where Loki carved her to pieces?" She grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled it down to her bra-line. "I don't have any scars. I never have. I'm a super. I heal too fast to scar."

"Laser treatment. Probably at the same time they were digging in your brain."

"Oh, so they healed my scars and gave me a better life. I'm supposed to be mad about it?"

"Clint and Coulson didn't do this for you." Steve said, quietly. 

"They did it for them." Tony said, as FRIDAY alerted him to several SHIELD operatives outside the building. "They both blew their shot with you; one with a tiny brunette cellist and the other with his fist. You were moving on."

"You were comfortable with your scars, comfortable with yourself, you were happy... we were happy, and Clint couldn't take it, so he had Natasha grab you, take you from me." 

"Look, I hate to be like this, but I don't remember any of this, okay? I don't remember being her or dating..." She made a face. "...Coulson and Barton. I don't remember dating you. I remember my high school boyfriend, Mike. I remember my mother and father. I remember my brother, Mark, the only person in the world I ever let call me 'Katie'. I remember falling apart at his funeral and at the memorial for everyone who died in the Battle of New York. I remember fighting for my life when HYDRA took the Ops Academy. I don't remember any of this!" She exclaimed, flipping through the file again. 

"Wait, Sokovia? She fought Ultron?" She stopped at a still photo of Red Queen, with her blond hair a mess, flying everywhere as she crushed an Ultron with her batons. She ran a finger over the chess queen in the middle of the super shirt.

"You remember Sokovia?" Steve asked, hopefully.

"No." She answered, shutting the folder. "I just have weird dreams, sometimes."

"How many IQ points do you think they docked when they were fucking around in her brain, trying to Stepfordize her?"

"Hey!" She exclaimed, offended.

Tony flipped the folder open to another picture of Red Queen. "That is you. Those dreams are your memories trying to dig themselves out from wherever they got buried and if you shoot me, Agent, you're gonna have a bigger international incident on your hands than the one you got brewing with not-so-blondie, here." His attention flowed seamlessly from Catherine to Coulson, who kicked in the door with his gun raised.

"It's an Icer." Coulson defended.

"Pumping me full of puffer-fish poison gets you the same issue."

Coulson shrugged and holstered the gun. Barton did the same, sighing. "Look, Tony, just-"

Tony shook his head and pointed at Barton. "You don't talk." Stark almost growled, before stepping to Coulson. "I have very few people. I have Happy and Pepper. I have Rhodey and I have her. You took one of my people. You took her and you killed her."

"Don't be dramatic, Stark." Clint rolled his eyes.

"I said, you don't talk." Tony glared at Clint, who shrugged. He turned back to Coulson. "You took a genius and dumbed her down. You took a superhero and pushed her into the shadows of SHIELD. You took a perfectly violent woman and turned her into this... mush. The only good thing you did was make it where she wasn't interested in either of you. Give me one good reason why I don't call in the UN and every media source I know to label you as a terrorist... again." 

"I'm not mush." Catherine said, standing. "Daisy, is it true?" Daisy cast her eyes downward, which was more than enough answer for Catherine. She took a breath and nodded. "Right. So... according to this file, Cassandra has been having her head fucked with since she was a child. She almost had a baby with you and was engaged to you. You both, at least at some point, loved her." She swallowed and looked down. "If she was okay, if she was thriving despite all of this horribleness in her past... why would you change her?"

"Because she didn't love them, anymore." Tony answered.

"No, that's not it. She changed." Phil responded.

"People do that!" Catherine exclaimed, dropping the file. "People change. All the time, people change. You used to be a thief! Tony used to be a weapons magnate. All I wanted was to be an Avenger and be allowed to be myself!" She looked down, the words she said on instinct hitting her. She took a shaky breath and licked her lips. "I don't know who..." She shook her head and grabbed her bag. "My head hurts. My heart hurts. I am confused and... I'm gonna take a walk. If I see anyone following me, I start shooting." She pulled her pistol out of her bag and held it up. "And these aren't Icer bullets." She said, pushing through the small crowd and out into the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catherine sat staring at the memorial wall. She could remember her parents' names being on the wall, but... they weren't there. No Carpenters listed, at all. She shook her head, sadly, as a tall man with long brown hair stepped up to her, cautiously. She didn't recognize him, but she could tell by his expression that he recognized her. "My parents are supposed to be on this wall." She pointed to the middle of the third column of names. "Right there. But it turns out, I don't have parents. My dad died in the 40s and I never had a mom, which is a sentence that no one should ever be able to say."

"You know, a normal man would think you crazy, saying somethin' like that."

"You walked up to a teary-eyed woman sitting on the grass in the middle of a memorial park. You either know my story, or you were expecting crazy." She looked up at him, searching his face and blue eyes for some piece of recognition, which didn't come. "I don't remember you, so don't ask."

"That's okay, Doll. I remember you." The man sat next to her and crossed his legs. "This isn't the first time you've had your memory messed with. You came out of it okay last time."

"Was I a whole new person, then?" Catherine sighed. "With a whole life of fake memories in my head?"

"No." He shook his head, slightly. There was a moment of silence and Catherine pulled her knees up to hug them to her chest. "Can I tell you about... you?"

"I saw the file." 

"You aren't your file." 

Catherine looked over at him, lying her head on her knees. "Okay. Tell me about Cassandra Campbell."

"Cassie. I don't think I've ever heard anybody call her 'Cassandra'. Except her, once, when we first got to Wakanda. First time I saw her, she was 8, maybe 9. She was tied down to a table in a HYDRA lab and they were experimenting on her. She wasn't crying or anything. She was used to it. It was her life. She was so... stoic, until I refused orders and bent down next to her lab table. Soon as we locked eyes, I knew she was like me. Strong, angry but unable to do anything about it. I touched her hair, but I couldn't really do much more than that to make her feel better." He pushed his hair out of his face. "Second time I saw her, she was comin' to help me and Steve with a crazy Sokovian. She was... gorgeous. She stumbled out of this van and started making jokes about her father. I-I didn't recognize her, at first, because it'd been almost twenty years. She was so... tired. She was hiding it well, but I could tell. She was engaged to this jerk and she was so afraid that he wouldn't love her anymore if she wasn't perfect. So, she made it seem like she was, but when she saw me... I saw her. She was hurting, there was so much weighing on her, already. She gave me this look, like she knew that I could see her and that I'd understand her better than her jerk fiancé ever would. He freaked out on her, of course, because he was that kinda guy. She went to jail because she was helping me and Steve, doin' what she thought was right. That's the kinda dame she is."

He leaned forward and smiled at her. "She got out of jail and she flew out to Egypt to meet up with me and Steve and we trekked through half of North Africa together. Little under two weeks in close quarters. I learned a lot about her. I learned that she is a good woman. I learned she was too good for the archer, that the only reason she was with him was because he was persistent and manipulative and he knew her old self... what she thought was her true self. When she actually did become her true self, she went back to him and when she wouldn't fall to her knees and beg for his love, he decided to dig into her head and fix her. He convinced... a lot of us, myself included, that we needed to wipe her memories and make her forget the things she did for HYDRA."

"Did you change your mind?"

The man shook his head, strands of long brown hair tickling his forehead. "No. Steve did. She talked to Tony Stark, and once he was convinced that she was still the same amazing woman underneath it all, he convinced Steve and Steve, he convinced me. We decided that we had no right to change you... her... and when Steve finally got her to sit down and talk to him, he realized that she was different, but that wasn't a bad thing. All the pressure I saw in Germany, all the sadness I saw in Africa, it was gone. She was finally learning how to be happy and... Steve never wanted Betty Crocker, anyway."

"She sounds like a pretty awesome woman." Catherine said, uncurling her body and standing. "Why do you think they chose to change her?"

He stood, pushing his hair out of his face again. "I think one of 'em mighta thought he was doin' the right thing, but Barton, he wanted her to be his and as soon as she stopped being who he wanted her to be, he had to change her." He sighed. "I don't think he wanted you to be someone completely different, but... I saw how he acted when you changed, when the real you came out and you let all the pressure go. I saw how obsessed he was with getting you back."

"So, you think he wanted to control me?"

"He thinks he fell in love when you were with Coulson. He watched you for 2 years, knew everything about you, lost his marriage because he was so obsessed with you. But that's not love. When SHIELD grabbed you, Steve was full of rage. When I went off the train, when he thought I was dead, that's how he reacted to them taking you. And Steve, he loves me. Obviously not the same way, but he does." He smiled. "That's love. Wanting to be with someone, rolling with the changes in them. Steve loved you when you were Cassie, he loved you when you were Red Queen and he would love you as Cat Carpenter, but... I think you should get your memories back, if you can, because the world doesn't need another SHIELD agent. The world needs Cassie Campbell." 

"It's done okay the last few months."

"The world adapt, but... Steve and I would rather we didn't have to."

She looked down. "What's your name?"

He offered his hand. "Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. Friends all call me 'Bucky'."

"Thank you, Bucky. Hope I'll remember you some day." She slung her bag onto her back and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catherine stomped onto Zephyr One and up the stairs. She brushed past Daisy and headed for the kitchen where Clint always seemed to be. "You're gonna fix me." She demanded.

Clint's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "I didn't break you."

"Bullshit. Bucky told me-"

"Of course, he found you. He's been trying to get you since Leipzig. Don't get me wrong, Cat, I had Coulson mess with your head, but he's the one who did a full 'wipe and replace' on you. I just wanted my fiancée to remember that she loved me. You can bet that, if I'd known how to use that piece of equipment, you wouldn't have been given a whole new life." Clint took a drink of whiskey. "So, I don't know how to fix you and, honestly, I'd rather you be a lesbian with no memory of me than the woman Loki turned you into."

"What gives you the right to make that decision? What gave any of you the right to treat me this way? You're no better than Loki."

"The woman you were when I fell in love with you, she wouldn't have wanted to be..." He took another drink of whiskey. "I did the right thing."

"You did the selfish thing. I think I was happy, Clint. I think, for the first time in Experiment Four-Fifty-Two's miserable existence, she was happy and you couldn't stand that. What does that say about you?"

"I'm a jerk. Never hid that."

"Well, I wouldn't know, would I? I can't remember what you kept hidden from me." She shook her head and stomped toward the spiral staircase to Coulson's office.

"I love Cassie. I'd sacrifice anything to have her back." Clint called after her.

"Well, that's not your choice, is it? And my memories weren't yours to sacrifice." Cat barged into Coulson's office and glared at him across his desk.

"Cat, I-"

"That's not my name, is it?"

Coulson looked down, guilt tinting his face. "I'm sorry. We had to-"

"No, you didn't. Now, you fix me."

"It's not that easy, Cat."

"Make it that easy, Coulson, or I'm going to Director Mace. And after I go to the Director, I'm gonna go to Secretary Ross, and then I'm going to the New York Times, the New York Post and the Daily Bugle, tell 'em all about how you kidnapped and brainwashed an agent of the United Nations; a damn Avenger who did nothing wrong except get into an argument with her ex-fiancé. You fix me, now."

"I-"

"You fix me or Stark does, but if I go to Stark, you lose everything. I will make sure of it."

Coulson nodded. "I don't have the equipment on the Bus. We'll have to go back to HQ."

"Fine." As she walked down the staircase, she bent the railing out for no reason other than she was feeling destructive, and then sat on her bunk and stared at her brunette hair in the mirror.

"I'm sorry." Daisy said, walking up to the bunk. "I told them it was fucked up."

"But you went along with it, anyway. All of you. How did you-"

"Because I met you when you were dating Clint. The Christmas after Sokovia. That woman and the woman who... slept with a married man and sent video to his wife as revenge for sending him to spy on her, those women were vastly different. I thought, maybe, you'd be better off not remembering her. I was wrong." She pushed her hair behind her ears. "I was misled. I talked to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers after you ran at the Jane. Well, they talked at me. You were super repressed before, like Fury thought he'd get rid of what HYDRA did to you if he hid you from all things... vice. You were different after Loki made you remember, but... you should've been allowed to be different."

Cat shook her head. "I just want to be... I don't care that I was different. I don't remember being different. I just remember being wrong. I'm wrong like this." 

"Do you remember fuckin' Loki?" Clint's voice called across the plane.

"Shut up, Clint." Daisy and Cat echoed. 

"No. No, I'm not gonna... you read that file, you know what he did to you and you fuckin' fucked him. You..." Clint stomped forward toward the bunk. "You, or Cassie, whatever, you fucked the man who raped you. How can you be okay with being that woman?"

"It's not your choice!" Cat yelled, jumping up. 

Daisy came between them. "Look, she can obviously kick your drunk human ass, Clint. We're in the air, though, and I think letting her take her rightful anger out on you might cause a bit of turbulence, so... let's step away from each other and finish this conversation after she's got her memories back."

Clint glared slightly before stumbling away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as she walked into SHIELD HQ she was ushered into a small room off of the lab hallway. Sitting in a chair was the unmistakable Nick Fury. Cat scoffed. "Well, how humbled I am to be haunted by the former Director of SHIELD."

He raised an eyebrow at Phil. "Good. You didn't fuck her up too bad. She's still in there." Nick stood and sighed. "Phil wasn't supposed to make you into somebody new."

"I had to."

"No, you didn't." Nick looked down at her. "You don't remember me, but I've known you since you were a child."

"I read the file."

"You aren't your file."

"So people keep saying. Look, if you're gonna try to convince me not to get my memories back, you can save your breath. I'm getting my brain back."

"Of course, you are. I wouldn't have it any other way, Cassie, but... maybe you should take a few tweaks." 

"Tweaks? What do you mean?"

"You've read your file. You really want all the bad? We can change a few things, make them easier on you. We can give you the knowledge of things  that happened without giving you the memories that go along with them."

"Sir... I'm sorry, that's a very... very nice offer, but... I want to be whoever I'm supposed to be." 

"Now, you have to understand that last time you remembered all this, you attacked your fiancé and took over HYDRA." She swallowed. "If you come back evil, we'll put you where you belong."

"Back in prison?" Cat nodded, then chuckled. "Honestly, Col. Fury... I don't think you could get me in a cell. I'm 27 years old and genetically enhanced. You're old and you've got shitty depth perception. Just give me my life back."

"Wow. She's quoting herself and she doesn't even know it." Nick nodded. "We'll talk when you get done." He walked away as Jemma sheepishly put an oximeter on Cat's finger. 

"Go ahead and lie back. It, um, it's going to hurt." Simmons said as Catherine jumped up onto the exam table with the archway over the end of it. She placed her head under the archway and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about all of this. I..."

"It's okay, Jemma. Coulson... thought he was doing the right thing. Made you guys think he was doing the right thing." She sighed and licked her lips as Coulson walked up next to her. "I know you're sorry, Phil, and I know you thought you were helping, but you were wrong."

"I know, Cassie. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I ruined your thing with Steve Rogers."

"I'm not even thinking about that, right now." She looked up into his eyes and smiled. "I think it's just... it's about damn time people stop fuckin' with my head, ya understand? It's hackneyed, at this point, Phil. HYDRA, SHIELD, Loki, Wanda Maximoff, it's old. You fix me, so I can be whoever I am, and then I can focus on other things. No more identity problems, no more relationship drama based on those identity problems, just me. Understand?"

Coulson nodded and looked to Simmons, who tapped at her tablet, activating the machine.

As soon as Cassie opened her eyes, Jemma stepped back from the table and Phil stepped up. "How're you feeling?"

"A bit homicidal. You might wanna step back." She glared as she sat up, but he stayed next to her. "I can't believe you did this to me, Phil! You erased me! You realize the people who've done that to me, right? Wolfgang Strucker, Loki, villains, Phil, and you somehow managed to do it worse than they did."

"Cass-"

"Oh, and let's talk about my name! How lazy was naming me an alliterative 'C' name? 'Cat'? Really? Zelda Zimmerman was taken?" She jumped down and glared up at him. "And I swear, Philip, if you've ruined what I had with Steve, I'll kick your ass."

"I thought-"

"I know what she said, but I am not her. After a man who couldn't see the greatness at his feet and one who expected nothing less than perfection because that's what he saw through a scope, Steve is the realest thing I've ever had and I will..." She smiled tightly and lowered her voice as Fury and Director Mace walked in. "You don't get to take it from me."

"How are you feeling, Agent Carpenter?" Director Mace asked.

"Just fine, Director. Feeling better by the minute."

"I'm happy to hear that. The former Director would like to speak to you when you're feeling up to it."

Cassie looked over at Coulson before jumping down from the table and striding toward the door. "Ready when you are, Nick."

Fury followed her through the hallways until she stopped at an empty lab. "You okay, Campbell?"

"I don't think I've ever been as angry as I am right now, Nick, and I've been under the influence of a Berserker Staff." She turned and leaned against the lab counter. "I could kill him. I could kill Clint and Phil. I could kill you for encouraging them. I'm that angry. What exactly do you have to say to me that might fix that?"

"A pissed-off super soldier is the last thing I need in my life, Campbell." Fury sighed. "Do you remember the conversation we had when you were in Africa?"

"When you told me about the second SHIELD agent I killed and then told me to calm down?"

"When I told you that there were options for you if you didn't freak out about remembering."

"I didn't freak out, not once I remembered."

"You don't think breaking Barton's hand and taking over HYDRA on a whim counts as freaking out?"

She smiled and ran her hand through her hair, grimacing a bit at the brunette strands. "You seem a bit confused at the chain of events, there, Nick. I remembered and I went home. I was gonna fake it, just like I had been since Sokovia. I was gonna pretend like nothing had changed but Clint wouldn't let me pretend. He assaulted me, Nick, then got butt-hurt that I hit back."

"You were gonna kill him."

"Hindsight being what it is, I should've gone through with it. Do you know how easy it would've been to break his neck instead of his hand? Would've saved me a lot of trouble in the long run."

"This is what I'm talkin' about. This isn't an overreaction?"

"I loved him and he erased me! He hit me for being a bit different, he convinced half of my friends I was in need of reprogramming, stalked me once I moved on to another man and erased me once I got into the other man's bed. How is this an-"

"Cassie, you sent Winter Soldier to beat Steve, you told Clint you were going to kill every Avenger on the roster and you-"

"Wasn't going to kill anybody. I didn't want to kill anyone." Cassie rolled her eyes. "I do not feel like I overreacted to anything, Nick, but I suppose I could have... talked more of it out."

"You ready to be reasonable?"

"That supposes that I've been unreasonable. Ask Stark. I was completely-"

"Campbell. I'm not here to argue. I'm here to give you an out."

"An out? Out of what, exactly?" Cassie asked, her expression softening.

"Out of the situation I put you in when you were 10. I shouldn't have locked you away. I should've used you."

"What, turn me into Romanoff?" She scoffed.

"Less 'femme fatale', more 'scary-smart, well-trained Operations agent'. I should've made you a SHIELD agent years ago. You were born for it." Nick leaned forward. "SHIELD doesn't need Cat Carpenter and Mace will throw you in a lab doing daily lie detector tests if he finds out who you really are. We both know you don't wanna be Thaddeus Ross and the UN's personal errand girl."

"Yeah, okay, but... I could always go be with Steve."

"Haven't you been locked away in secret facilities enough of your life?"

"So, what would you have me do instead, Nick?"

"What do you know about the Infinity Stones?" Nick asked, a small smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Steve walked into his gym to run his daily 15 miles, he stopped cold, unsure if he was dreaming still. "Good morning, Steve." Cassie said, from her perch atop the pull-up bar. She dropped down, landing gracefully on the pads of her feet.

"Cassie? I mean... are you..."

She nodded. "Phil fixed me."

Steve smiled. "I'm so happy to hear that! You don't know how worried I've been. Come on, let me show you around." He grabbed her hand, but she wouldn't be pulled.

"I'm not staying."

"What? No, of course not. Tony moved all of your stuff to the Compound, so I know you'll probably go-"

Cassie pulled her hand back. "I'm not interested in being the UN's lackey any more than I am in hiding here." She sighed. "I've been tapped for something bigger. Nick Fury-"

"Fury was the first on the platform to erase you!"

"I know, but it doesn't change that I'm the right woman for this mission. I have access no one else does."

"So, what? You came to say 'Goodbye'?" Steve didn't try to disguise the pain in his voice. "You're not even going to say where you're going? Spent the last 3 months not knowing where or who you were, and you aren't going to tell me where you're going?"

"Asgard." She stepped closer to him, catching his eyes. "I'm going to Asgard to research the Infinity Stones."

"Wait. What? You can't just go to Asgard. You're Midgardian. They won't let you-"

"Of course, they will." Cassie smirked. "I'm the closest thing Thor has to a sister. Odin has Huginn watching me. So, I just need to get Huginn to tell Odin to tell Heimdall to send the Rainbow Bridge." She placed her palm against his chest. "Asgard has histories, lore, about these stones, Steve. They keep popping up, and they are powerful. Just think about what Vision is capable of. We need to get ahead of this."

"I thought Thor was looking into the Stones." Steve placed his hand over hers and gently squeezed. 

"Yeah, but can you imagine Thor in a library? He's probably getting his info from Odin, which is unreliable, at best." Steve's eyebrows tucked together in confusion, but Cassie didn't elaborate. "I'm a wiz at research, Steve, and I'm going. A little time away to get my head right will do me good, too."

"You've been away the past 3 months." He complained.

"Cat Carpenter worked her ass off for the last 3 months, Steve. A nice alien landscape, with some books I need to translate as I go along, surrounded by books..." She trailed off as Steve dipped his head closer to hers.

"Don't let the Asgardian men steal you away from me. Thor's told me about the charming warriors they have there."

She smiled, slightly. "What about the women? Because, apparently, that's something I like."

"Don't make me fear losing you to a whole other gender, too, Campbell. That's just not fair."

"As long as you want me, Steve, you don't have to worry about losing me." Steve responded by pressing his lips to hers. She moaned, grasping at his skintight cotton shirt. When they pulled away from each other, their lips were reddened. "I wish I weren't on a time constraint, Steve, but I am and I've got three more 'Goodbyes' to say. Four, if you count Barnes."

"No one counts Barnes." Steve joked as Bucky stepped into the doorway.

"He helped me decide to get my memories back. He's a good man."

"Your girl's got low standards, Steve. I mean, she's dating you, so I guess you knew that." Bucky said, a small smirk on his lips. "It's good to see the real you again, Cassie. She still taste like whiskey?"

"None of your business." Steve said, chuckling.

"Now, what's this about 'Goodbyes'?"

"I've got a mission. Recon and research. I'm going... off-world and so... ta-ta for now, I guess."

Bucky shook his head. "No. You'll be back before we notice. No 'Goodbyes'."

Cassie scoffed. "You keep that in mind. Steve's gonna need reminding."

"Who else? You've got three more people to say 'Goodbye' to." Steve asked, holding her body to his as he tried to keep her from leaving.

"Well, Spider-man, for one. That kid's the whole reason I got saved. I'd still be running around as Cat if he hadn't recognized me. And Tony, of course. Can't go into space without talking to Dad." She chuckled. "And... Clint."

"I don't know if that's a very smart idea, sweetheart." Steve whispered.

"I have to talk to him, Steve. I won't hurt him, promise."

"Okay. I trust you. Is there any way that we can... talk or communicate while you're..." Cassie shook her head. "Well, you need to get to work on that. 'Tall order' was a while ago, wasn't it?"

"When I get back from Asgard... well, it won't be much use to us, then, will it?" She leaned up and gave him a kiss, before pulling away. "I'll be back before you know it. Okay?"

"You better be, Doll." 

"Take care of him, Barnes." She said, before stepping out of the gym.

"Have been his whole life." Bucky responded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Your aunt is, like, super-overprotective, isn't she?" Cassie asked, her eyes on the classic Gameboy in her hands as Peter walked into his bedroom and stopped in his tracks. She got to the end of the level of Kirby and looked up at him. "Told her I work for Stark so she'd let me in, which isn't a lie, really." She stood from her spot on his bed. "Pepper's still putting a salary in my account every second Friday, so I'm still a Stark employee even if I'm kinda freelancing for a SHIELD derivative at the moment, and no, that's not code for HYDRA. I'm pretty sure your aunt thinks I'm trying to get on your jock. Do I look that young?" She asked, setting the Gameboy on his desk.

Peter moved to close the door, but his aunt shouted from the living room, so he left it halfway open. "You're doing that thing Mr. Stark does, where he rambles."

"It's amazing what I picked up from him." She chuckled. "And I think of it less as 'rambling' and more as, you know, 'stream-of-conscious speaking'. You didn't answer my question: do I look young enough for your aunt to worry about?"

"Well, yeah. I told you when we met that you look a lot younger than you are. She probably thinks you're an intern, too, and she's my aunt so she has this thing where she just assumes that chicks will look past the nerd deficiencies and want to date me. I think she's totally forgotten her teen years. Chicks like you, like my aunt, like Liz, you don't go for nerds like me."

Cassie smiled. "You've never met Phil Coulson, have you?" Peter shook his head. "My first boyfriend. SHIELD agent. He was Director for while, but it didn't last. He's too hands-on. He's, also, a massive nerd. Oh, he hides it well with his Men In Black suit and the dark sunglasses, but Phil is obsessed with history. That, and powered individuals. He can quote the Index, okay? Maybe not now. That list has grown a lot since the Inhumans started popping up, but... point being, you'll find someone. You're ridiculously young and a superhero. You've got this." She whispered.

Peter blushed, then cleared his throat. "So, why are you here? Not for Mr. Stark, right, 'cause I can't even get Happy on the phone, so I'm assuming-"

"Happy doesn't like you. He's not a fan of enthusiasm. He's kinda a humbug. Like, year-round humbug. But you managed to get him on the phone when you saw me head into the Jane."

"No, I had to call the Hotline!" Peter exclaimed, before moving further into the room and looking over his shoulder at his aunt's back. "I had to leave a message with my name and number so Mr. Stark would call me back. And he didn't even believe me until he brought up the video footage from the hotel."

"Well, I'm glad you... you called, Peter. If you hadn't been so sure of who I was, I'd still be under SHIELD's control. You saved me, Peter."

He smiled, his eyes lighting up. "I did?"

"You did, and look, you're young, so people are gonna be dismissive, but once you learn to deal with that, you're gonna be the stuff of legends, kid."

"Thanks. Hey, if you're not busy, I was about to head to the 'library'..." He did subtle air quotes. "...if you wanted, you could help me study for the Academic Decathlon."

"Wouldn't that be 'training' since it's a decathlon?" She chuckled. "I would, but I've gotta go."

"Where?"

"Um... remember how we were talking about... my marriage that I had to have annulled?"

"Yeah, to Prince Narcissus?"

*Damn, this kid's good at speaking in code.* "Yeah, exactly. There's this massive library there, with all the information we could ever hope for on... magic and astronomy. So, I'm going on a research trip."

"How are you- wait, you aren't still talking to..."

"When necessary, yes. Which is now. Now it's necessary. I gotta get there."

"Wow, I can't believe you're going... there. You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back. Like, take atmospheric readings and pictures, and samples of soil and building materials and..." He cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, Peter. I like your enthusiasm." She patted his shoulder. "And I'll happily share when I get back. Anything that doesn't get classified. Thanks again, Peter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Boss. Like what you've done with the place." 

"Cassie!" Pepper exclaimed, with a smile.

"Or, is it 'Cat'?" Tony asked, setting a screwdriver down on his worktable next to an Iron Man mask.

"If I never hear the name 'Cat Carpenter' again, it'll be too soon." She stepped into the workshop and picked up the mask. "Remote control, Tony? You can't even bother to be present while you're being Iron Man?"

"Anywhere I am, I'm Iron Man. Sometimes, suiting up isn't the best choice. Like when I rescued you from Clint Barton. I did that, right? That wasn't a dream?"

"I think that was more on Bucky and Peter, right? I mean, Peter found me, Bucky convinced me to stop being Cat. What'd you do, again?" She smirked as she set the mask down. Tony chuckled, picking the mask up.

"He missed you, ya know?" Pepper said with a smile.

"Of course, he did. I'm awesome." Cassie smiled, then cleared her throat. "Hey, Pepper, can I have a minute, please?"

"Of course. It's good to have you back." Pepper wrapped her in a tight hug, then walked out, her heels clicking on the tiles.

"Where are you going?" Tony asked, not looking up from the mask.

"Asgard." She responded. "Researching the Infinity Stones. It needs to be done."

"And you're Thor's sister-by-forced-marriage, so you're the one who gets to go. I get it."

"Tony. Are you gonna look at me? I'm trying to say 'Goodbye' before I get shipped out to space." She moved to lean over his worktable, trying to get his attention. "You know... Space, where I'm not gonna be able to talk to anybody, only in contact with aliens."

"Second cabinet from the left." Tony pointed behind him, still not looking at her. She sighed and headed for the cabinet. She pulled out two cell phones with wires and antennae attached to them. "Called in Erik Selvig and Jane Foster. We went over their research about the Convergence. They helped me put that together. I was supposed to give one to Thor next time I see him, but... you'll see him before I do."

"You finished developing my Interstellar Communication Device?"

"Oh, were you-were you working on one of those?" Tony said, nonchalantly, looking up at her as she set them on the table.

"You know I was! I promised Thor at Christmas. My plans were on the main server."

"I didn't-didn't see any plans, must've just come up with similar ideas." He stood, pressing a button on one of the devices to bring up a screen. "No, you had a good foundation, but without the data from the Convergence, you never would've finished it." 

Cassie chuckled. "Of course. I... never would've thought of that. It's why you're the boss. So, I'll be able to call. I'll be able to talk to you guys, give over what I find out in real time. That's great!"

"Yeah, I was thinking less about the information and more about the going to another planet and only knowing two people there. I'm sure you could handle that, but you don't need to, you know?" He leaned back, looking at her and twirling the screwdriver in his hand.

"You know you're gonna miss me."

"Of course, I am. But I'm used to it after the last few months. Least I'll know where you are, this time." 

"Steve said the same thing." 

Tony seemed to ignore the statement, but he put the screwdriver on the table. "I'm only a bit worried about you, 'cause you seem to get in trouble if you're out of my sight for too long."

"I'd invite you to Asgard, Tony, but something tells me that the Allfather wouldn't take well to having multiple Midgardians around."

"Miss Foster told me about Odin. Tried to send her back when she showed up. Only let her stay when the Aether inside her threw him across the room. Pretty sure he'd hate me."

"Definitely." Cassie smiled, wrapping her arms around Tony. He placed one hand firmly on her back, but didn't embrace her back. "I'm gonna miss you, Boss. I'll call with updates every day and you have to keep me apprised of what's going on here. Okay?"

"Of course. Now, get off of me. You know, I don't hug."

"And you know I do." She pulled back. "I'm going to space, Tony. Don't you think I deserve a real hug before I go?" 

Tony sighed, dramatically, but wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "You stay safe, kid. I'm not above storming Asgard to get you back if shit goes pear-shaped."

"How would you even go about getting there?" She asked, letting herself take comfort in the pressure of the hug and the familiar smell of his expensive cologne. She laid her head on his chest.

"I'm Tony Stark. I'd figure it out." He whispered, and it came out less a cocky assurance and more like a promise. 

"Thank you." She whispered back.

"Yeah, yeah. All right. Now, let's cut the sappy shit." Tony said, squeezing her one last time before pulling back. She smirked and nodded. "Call every day."

"Yes, boss."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When did you start letting Kate groom Lucky? He's got silky fur."

"You here to kill me?" Clint asked, dropping his bow by the door.

"Maybe next time. Lucky for you, Clint, I promised Steve I wouldn't touch you this time. He's a lot better person than either of us."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to thank him next time I see him." Clint said, sarcastically.

"You know, I get it, Clint. I really do."

"What do you get?"

"I get how hard it is to watch someone you love fall in love with someone else. I've been there, remember?" She offered a piece of old pizza to the dog, who accepted happily. "Difference between us, though, is when I saw my time was up, I left quietly and didn't try to manipulate him into loving me again, and I had an ace up my sleeve that would've easily made him commit. You went several steps past manipulation to Brainwashing. I mean, when you go, you go all-in, so kudos, but... you're gonna regret it."

"What, are you gonna kill me next time you see me?"

"Yeah." She said, succinctly.

"You can't just... you work for the U.N.. You can't just kill people for-"

"I have a half dozen people who will swear, under oath, to your psychological abuse of me. Now, I suggest you grab what you feel you need to bring and hop a quinjet back to the farm. I'm going on a little trip and when I get back, New York is mine."

Clint's face fell. "But... the people in this building, they're under my protection. If I'm not here, the Russian-"

"That's not my problem, Clint. I'll be gone long enough for you to figure out alternate protection for the building. Maybe Kate. Maybe Daredevil. He had some issues with the Bratva a couple years ago. He might take 'em out for you."

"Cassie."

"You know the worst part of all of this? I still loved you, Clint. Right up to the point that Natasha shot me with those dendrotoxin bullets." Cassie patted the top of the Golden Retriever's head, then straightened. "I was furious, I was moving on, but I still had love for you. In the future, I might've forgiven the night in the barn, we might've been friends. You could've learned to coexist with the new me. But..." She shook her head. "You fucked up, Barton, and no rationalizing or apologizing is gonna fix this one. Get your shit in order and hope we don't run into each other in the future because I won't hesitate and I won't hold back." Cassie's eyes narrowed as she headed for the door.

"Don't blame the others. Natasha, Phil, they thought they were helping."

"Helping? Helping you, maybe."

"Phil gave you happy memories. A childhood you never got because you were in the Fridge. He was proud to give you that. He wanted you to be without the scars, wanted you to know happiness."

Cassie chuckled. "I've known happiness, Clint. Taking away my bad memories doesn't do a thing to help me. It dulls my happiness because it makes me appreciate the happy less." She stepped up to the door and opened it. "Let Kate have Lucky. She'll take better care of him than you." She said, before walking out and into the alley beside the building. She nodded to a raven sitting on a fire escape on the third story, which cawed and flew away. Cassie caught sight of Clint leaning over the edge of the roof before she was enveloped in light and the Bedford-Stuyvesant landscape disappeared and was replaced by the rapidly passing sight of space. 

She stumbled as she came to a sudden stop in an extravagant room. She looked up at a tall man with no hair in heavy armor. "You're not Heimdall."