Welcome to my first post-AoU story! I'm really excited for you guys to read this one because Wanda's a really interesting character to play with. So here's what you need to know:

Characters: mainly Wanda but everyone is here

Rating: it really could be K+ 1/2, so I went with T to be safe

Warnings: none you should be too concerned of. Just spoilers for AoU

Pairings: Clint/Laura, Pepper/Tony, Sharon/Steve, Thor/Jane, and Bruce/Natasha. So canon pairings basically

Disclaimer: You know I own nothing

So that's about it from me. Enjoy the story and feel free to drop a review!

The morning sun peered through the scarlet curtains and danced across Wanda's face, waking her from her slumber. She lazily opened her eyes and blinked a few times in confusion. The room she was in was not her own – at least, she didn't think it was. She felt an odd sense of familiarity when she looked more closely at her surroundings, as if the room was a part of a dream she no longer remembered.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door.

"Wanda, you must get up now if we are to get there on time," a voice – a voice Wanda knew and loved – said in a tone that let her know he was excited for something. She hadn't heard that voice in far too long, but for some reason she couldn't remember why.

The door swung open, and Wanda felt a sudden jerk. She blinked a few times while she steadied herself and realized that she had been moved from her spot under the covers. She was now standing, and her bed had been neatly made.

"Now will you please get ready?" Pietro pleaded impatiently.

Wanda froze. Something was very wrong. Pietro wasn't supposed to be there. He couldn't be. He was gone.

At least, she thought he was. What had happened to make her believe that? She searched frantically through her memories but couldn't find anything that would explain things.

"Are you okay, Wanda?" Pietro asked, the impatience in his voice replaced completely by concern. He brushed the hair away from her face and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. Wanda looked into her brother's eyes for a moment. They certainly seemed real. Could she have been wrong?

It was just a dream, a voice in her mind said suddenly. Everything is okay.

Of course she had been wrong. He was standing right in front of her, wasn't he?

"I am fine, Pietro," she heard herself say, "I must have had a bad dream."

Her brother looked unconvinced. "Are you sure? Because if you do not feel like going today, I'm sure the others will understand."

"I want to go. I promise I am all right," Wanda assured with a small smile. She wasn't exactly sure where they were supposed to be going, but she didn't want to worry her brother further.

"Okay," he relented. "You'd better get in the shower then. I will have breakfast ready by the time you are finished."

Once Pietro shut the door, Wanda took a deep breath. "It was just a dream," she whispered without thinking. "Everything is okay." It was strange, but the more she repeated the mantra, the calmer she felt. In fact, soon she couldn't remember being upset at all. She even recalled where she and her brother were going. They and their fellow Avengers had a party of some kind at least once a month. It was something they both always looked forward to. Why had she not remembered?

Deciding she would feel better after she had a hot shower and some breakfast, Wanda headed towards her bathroom. After she had cleaned up and gotten dressed, she found her way to the kitchen where she found Pietro waiting for her patiently at the table. He presented her with a plate of scrambled eggs and a piece of toast, along with a glass of orange juice.

"Did you get enough to eat?" Wanda asked out of habit. Growing up, she and her brother often did not have enough food. There had been many times where Pietro had eaten very little or not at all so Wanda would have plenty. She had hated it and had always tried to refuse extra food from him, but he was as stubborn as he was overprotective. Even now when they had plenty of food Pietro had a tendency to not eat as much as he needed, which with his enhanced metabolism was a very dangerous thing. He needed almost five times as much food as a normal man to keep him going, and that was if he wasn't using his powers a lot.

"I ate three eggs, two pieces of toast, and five waffles. Does that satisfy you?" he smirked. Wanda rolled her eyes and took another sip of juice. She still couldn't believe her brother had started eating waffles for breakfast. What would their mother have said? Wanda thought back to when she and her brother were little. It was a rare treat when their mother allowed them to eat a waffle topped with their favorite fruit, and even then they usually had to eat a plate of vegetables for dinner in order to earn it.

Once she had finished eating, Pietro cleared the table then retrieved a set of car keys from a desk drawer.

Wanda raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you drive?"

"I've been driving for years," Pietro said with a confused look on his face. "I learned when Tony bought us the car and our house. You know this, Wanda. Are you sure you're alright?"

Sudden images of Stark presenting the keys to a nice sports car and a beautiful house to them with a huge, flashy smile flooded Wanda's mind. Of course she knew that. How could she have forgotten?

It was just a dream. Everything is okay, her mind told her repeatedly.

She managed to smile at her brother. "Part of my brain must still be asleep. I am fine now. Shall we get going?"

To her surprise, Pietro didn't press her any further. Instead, he smiled and opened the door that led into the garage. Wanda saw the stunning red Jaguar and couldn't believe she didn't remember a car like that. Once they were both seated inside, her brother inserted the key into the ignition, and the engine roared to life.

Pietro sighed happily. "I never get tired of hearing that sound."

"So who is hosting this month?" Wanda asked once they were on the road.

"Thor and Jane. He just got this big new grill, and I understand he's very anxious to use it," he replied with a chuckle.

It only took them half an hour to reach their destination. Thor's house was very large and quite beautiful. The outside was somewhat akin to a log cabin with dark wood lining its exterior, and the second floor was covered in floor-to-ceiling windows. There were several other cars parked in the driveway, but Pietro had no trouble finding a place to park the Jaguar.

"It looks like Tony and Clint are the only ones not here yet," Pietro observed as they walked up to the front door. They rang the doorbell, and less than a minute later the door opened and revealed Jane standing there with a little girl resting on her hip. She looked to be about three years old and had long, blonde hair that definitely came from her Asgardian father.

"Wanda, Pietro, it's so good to see you both!" Jane said with a large smile as she hugged each of the twins.

"You look lovely as always, Jane," Pietro complimented as he kissed her on the cheek. He then leaned down to the toddler. "And Ms. Thalia, you are getting so big! Trying to catch up to your father, yes?"

Thalia just giggled in response.

"The others are in the backyard hanging out," Jane said. "Pepper called and said they were going to be late, but Clint and Laura should be here any minute."

Wanda and Pietro followed Jane through the main floor of the house until they came to the Odinsons' huge backyard. A beautiful wooden patio greeted them as they stepped outside, and a large swimming pool lay just to their left. On the other side of the yard, there was a picturesque pavilion and an outdoor kitchen. Thor and Steve were currently engaged in an enthusiastic game of corn hole near the pavilion, and beside Rogers there was a pretty blonde woman Wanda remembered to be Sharon. Watching the game nearby was Bruce and Natasha. Bruce had his arm around Natasha's shoulder, and on her hip was a baby girl with dark, curly hair.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Wonder Twins!" Bruce called out.

"Wonder Twins? You should know that Tony has already made that comparison many times," Pietro laughed as he and Wanda made their way to where everyone else was congregated.

After the group had taken a few minutes to properly greet the newcomers, Steve and Thor went back to their competition while the twins watched with Bruce and Natasha.

"So, how do you both like being parents?" Wanda asked. In the back of her mind she was still worried she would fail to remember something, but so far her memory had cooperated. She knew Thor and Jane were married and had a daughter named Thalia. Bruce and Natasha were also married, and they adopted a daughter and named her Claire.

"Well, it's certainly nothing I've ever been trained for, but we're having fun figuring it out," Natasha replied with a grin as she bounced the baby up and down in her arms. Bruce nodded in agreement and tickled Claire's tummy, causing the little girl to start giggling.

"I still think it's wonderful you chose to adopt from Sokovia," Pietro said and smiled at the child. "A lovely face like that does not belong in an orphanage."

"I'm surprised we were able to bring her to America so soon," Bruce admitted. "I expected it to take at least two more years, but because the Ultron program has been so successful in global peacekeeping, many countries – including Sokovia– have become more open to international relations."

Ultron.

That name made Wanda feel anger like she'd never felt before. She knew it brought nothing but pain and destruction, and all traces of it needed to be erased from existence.

It was just a dream. Everything is okay. It was just a dream. Everything is okay.

Of course, now she remembered that there was nothing bad about Ultron. Ever since Tony and Bruce brought him to life, he had done nothing but help mankind achieve peace. He was the reason the Avengers were no longer needed. The reason they could have days like this. Ultron was good.

"I'm sure the fact that both of you are former Avengers didn't hurt either," Steve pointed out, pulling Wanda from her thoughts.

"That's true, but enough about us," Natasha said. "How about we talk about the fact that Captain America has finally bitten the bullet and gotten engaged!"

Sharon laughed and held out her hand so they could all see the ring. "I'm still in shock myself. I was starting to think he'd never propose."

"I was just waiting for the right time!" Steve defended.

"But wasn't it you who told me not to wait too long with Natasha?" Bruce questioned.

Rogers sighed in defeat. "Okay, so maybe I do tend to let things drag out a bit. Better late than never, right?"

Wanda gave her support in the form of a smile. She was happy for Steve, even if the only thing she could remember about his fiancé was her first name. Didn't she work at SHIELD, too? Wanda wasn't sure. Why was she having so much trouble today?

"Clint, my friend, it is good to see you and your lovely wife!" Thor boomed, causing Wanda to shift her eyes to the patio door. Sure enough, Barton had arrived with his wife.

"Where are the kids?" Natasha asked after she hugged her best friend.

"Well, Lila's at her friend's lake house upstate for the weekend, Nate's at some amusement park with his little league team, and Cooper is spending the day with the kid that's going to be his roommate this fall," Clint replied as he and Laura made their way over to the rest of the group.

"I still can't believe Cooper is going to be in college," Bruce said, shaking his head.

"Oh, don't even get me started," Laura sighed. "I'm still in denial."

"He is going to NYU, right?" asked Pietro.

Clint nodded. "For the first four years, at least. He still hasn't decided what he's majoring in yet."

"Well, he has plenty of time to figure that out," Jane assured them. "But if he happens to be bitten by the astronomy bug, tell him he can come over and use my telescope any time."

"Wouldn't accepting help from a Nobel Prize winner be considered cheating?" Natasha teased.

"I couldn't have done it without Erik or Darcy," Jane said with a proud smile, "but it is nice to have finally gotten recognition for all the hard work I've done."

"It certainly is a great accomplishment," Bruce agreed. "You should see the fit Tony throws every year when he hacks the nominations only to find out he's not one of them."

"Did I just hear my name?" Tony questioned as he emerged from the house with his wife following closely behind him. "Seriously, guys, it's not nice to gossip."

"Don't flatter yourself, Stark. We have much more interesting things to talk about than you," Steve teased good-naturedly as he shook the man's hand.

"I'm sorry we're late. Somebody was making it hard for me to leave the bathroom this morning," Pepper sighed as she rubbed her enlarged abdomen. The other women winced sympathetically.

"There is no need for apologies," Thor assured as he politely greeted his new guests. "I can remember many days when Jane was sick while carrying Thalia."

"Don't remind me," Jane said with a shiver.

"Here, Pepper," Steve said as he stepped forward with a chair and presented it to the pregnant woman.

"I see you're still quite the gentleman," Pepper smiled. "Sharon is a very lucky lady."

"Which brings up the million dollar question: who's your best man gonna be?" Tony asked, earning groans from everyone else. He continued as if he hadn't heard them. "Because, I assume it's going to be me, but I just want that verbal confirmation, you know?"

"Tony," Steve sighed. "Bucky is going to be my best man."

When Wanda had first met Bucky, she had been wary. Steve had told her what had happened to him wasn't his fault, but she had heard too many stories about the Winter Soldier while in HYDRA to think that he could be Captain America's best friend. However, the Avengers had given Wanda and her brother a second chance, so she decided she would do the same for Bucky.

She was very glad she did. Although at first he had been shy and walked as if a massive weight rested on his shoulders, he had gradually opened up as he spent more time with the Avengers. And though his mind was still fractured, Wanda could now see a glimpse of the man Steve had told them so much about.

Tony stared thoughtfully at Rogers for a moment as he considered his next move. "Fair enough," he relented with a shrug. Even Tony Stark knew better than to try to put himself above Bucky.

"How is Bucky by the way?" Natasha questioned as she wiped some drool off of Claire's cheek.

Apart from Steve, Bucky was closest to Natasha. In the beginning, Wanda had thought it was because Natasha had been a big part of finding Bucky and bringing him back. However, she had soon found there was something else drawing them together. The Red Room and HYDRA had provided them with similar experiences. They both knew what it was like to be beaten into submission and treated as nothing more than weapons. They had both been taught that emotion was bad and pain was trivial, and that nothing mattered more than the mission. Natasha related to Bucky in a way not even Steve could, and it had become a great catalyst for their friendship.

"He's doing great, actually. He just got a new apartment in Brooklyn near our old neighborhood, and he hasn't had a flashback in almost three months," Steve said happily.

As the group sat and talked about what was going on in their lives, Wanda found herself getting more and more frustrated. Her brain felt like Swiss cheese. She looked around to see if anyone was sensing her discomfort, but they all seemed happily oblivious. Even her brother, who normally knew immediately when she was upset, didn't even look her way. This only upset her more. Sure, she was the only one who could actually read people's thoughts, but one would think with all the professional spies and certified geniuses before her, at least one of them would be able to notice something was wrong. Not wanting to make a scene, however, she told herself to at least try to pay attention while everyone shared their newest developments.

Clint and his family had abandoned their farm to move to a house outside the city near Bruce and Natasha. Steve was now co-director of SHIELD and SHIELD's military liaison with Sam and Rhodey working closely beside him (the two men couldn't come today due to scheduling conflicts at work). Clint and Natasha had opened up a gym together with a built-in dance studio and shooting range. Bruce was a top science professor at Cornell University. Pepper was due in just three and a half weeks, and though Tony had once claimed he never wanted to have kids, Wanda could see he was very excited.

"So, Pietro, how about you come work at our gym as a personal trainer?" Clint offered. "Since I'm going to be handling the shooting range and agility and Nat's going to be the dance instructor and gymnastics expert, we could use a man with your speed to get people moving."

Pietro laughed. "I highly doubt any of your clients would be able keep up with me. I'd get tired of waiting."

"If it'd help, you could always train ten people at once," Natasha suggested.

"Tempting. I may have to accept."

"What about you, Wanda? Getting tired of the stay at home life yet?" Steve questioned.

Wanda thought for a moment. If she was tired of staying at home, she didn't remember. What did she even do all day? This was getting ridiculous. Maybe she should say something...

"I have no idea what I could do," Wanda admitted after deciding it was best to just play along and pretend nothing was wrong. "I don't even really know what I am good at other than breaking things and scaring people."

"That sounds more like the Hulk than you," Bruce pointed out.

The Hulk. Wanda remembered the Hulk. She had been inside the Hulk's mind. She had felt Banner's consciousness fight desperately to stay in control only to be overtaken by the blind rage she had caused. The memory made her feel guilty. But why had she tampered with the Hulk's mind? She vaguely remembered someone telling her to do so, but whoever it had been was gone from her memory.

"Don't talk about the Jolly Green Giant, Bruce. It hurts too much," Tony said, faking a sob.

"It was for the best, Tony. Things are much simpler this way."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I still miss him though."

Miss him? Was the Hulk gone? What had happened to him? Had Wanda done something?

"Anyway, Wanda," Steve said, preventing her from further contemplating the matter, "if you are looking for something to do, there's always a job at SHIELD for you. Nothing that would involve combat, of course. I just need help training some of the new enhanced recruits. None of them are super dangerous, but there are a few who have issues with controlling their powers, and I figure if anyone could help them with that, it'd be you. Interested?"

"Perhaps. When would I need to start?"

Steve shrugged. "Whenever you want, really. The world no longer needs saving, so there's not really a deadline."

"I will consider it," Wanda promised, though she couldn't help but think the captain would not be offering her such an important job if he knew what was going on inside her head.

He didn't know though. None of them knew. They were each happy in their own little worlds. Bruce and Natasha were playing with Claire, looking at her like she was the greatest thing the earth had ever produced. Tony and Pepper were currently discussing baby names with Clint and Laura, and the Bartons were giving them the precious gift of advice that could only come from veteran parents. Steve and Sharon were talking wedding plans with Jane, and unbeknownst to her, Thalia had fallen asleep in her lap. Finally, Wanda turned to her brother. He and Thor were engaged in a lively debate on whether or not Pietro could run faster than Thor could fly. Everyone but her was perfectly fine.

"Well, I think somebody's ready for a nap," Jane announced as she observed the sleeping toddler in her lap.

"I suppose Claire could use one too," Natasha decided.

"Thor, why don't you get the grill fired up while Natasha and I go lay the girls down upstairs?" Jane suggested.

"Of course, my love," Thor replied happily and kissed his wife and daughter.

"Now, Thor, you are serving us meat from Earth, right?" Tony questioned.

The Asgardian laughed. "This time, yes. I have for us today the finest steaks Midgard has to offer."

"Sounds good to me. Let's get these puppies cooking!" Clint declared.

For the next few hours, Wanda was able to put her worries behind her and enjoy being with her friends. The steaks were delicious, and afterwards they all went swimming in the giant pool. They also had a corn hole tournament (which Clint won), a lawn dart tournament (also Clint), and a bocce tournament (which Clint was banned from participating in so Bruce won).

No one left until it was near nightfall. There was lots of hugging and promises to call along with Tony's declaration that as soon as the baby was born he'd fly them all out to his new beach house in the Bahamas for a week. When it came time for her and her brother to finally go, Wanda was more than a little sad.

"Be careful driving home, you two," Jane ordered as Wanda and Pietro headed out the front door.

"We will," Pietro promised. "Thank you once again for hosting us."

"It was our pleasure," Thor smiled.

Once they finished saying goodbye, Wanda and Pietro made their way back to the Jaguar and began the trip back to their house.

As she got ready for bed that night, Wanda reflected on her day. It should have been perfect. Her brother had certainly thought so. The entire ride home he had gone on and on about what a great time he had had and how he was already looking forward to next month. She couldn't remember the last time Pietro was this happy.

Wanda probably would have been the same way if she didn't have the constant feeling that something was wrong. Of course, she was unable to figure out what that something was. Was she just going crazy?

It was just a dream. Everything is okay.

No, she wasn't crazy. She had just had an off day. It happens to everyone. All she needed was a good night's sleep. She was sure things would be much better in the morning.

Now convinced that there was nothing to be worried about, Wanda laid her head down on her pillow and allowed sleep to take her.