Dinner is takeout containers spread across the common room coffee table. The kind of chaotic spread that suggests nobody agreed on one cuisine, so everybody got their own thing and now there's a small food court happening on the glass table.

The view of Manhattan at night glitters through the floor-to-ceiling windows, all expensive and cinematic. Very dramatic. Very "we're the heroes, this is our tower, we eat shawarma sometimes."

Tony is mid-sentence about something he definitely thinks is brilliant. Sam is not convinced. Clint is eating directly out of a pizza box like it's a personal challenge. Natasha is drinking coffee at 9 p.m. like a woman who has given up on sleep and embraced chaos. Steve is eating a sandwich with the posture of someone raised in the 1940s. Bruce is trying to eat a salad while Tony's fries migrate toward his side. Thor is holding a box of Pop-Tarts like it's a sacred relic. Bucky is in the corner, arms crossed, pretending he doesn't love this. Yelena is sitting on the back of the couch, legs swinging, eating mac and cheese straight from the pot.

And then—

The ceiling explodes.

Not in a "small crack, some dust" way. In a "the universe has decided to redecorate via demolition" way. Plaster, metal, and wiring rain down. A body crashes through the skylight and slams into the floor hard enough to crack the marble.

The team is on their feet in seconds, weapons drawn, stances ready. Well—most of them. Clint trips over the pizza box. Nobody mentions it.

And then a second figure drops through the hole, landing in a crouch, long dark hair whipping around her face. A mask covers the lower half of her face. Her eyes—

Her eyes are the kind of thing that makes smart people start backing away slowly.

The first body groans. It's not dead. That's almost a shame, because the woman straightens up like a predator deciding whether to finish the job.

Natasha's gun is up. Steve's shield is ready. Thor's fingers are crackling.

The intruder takes one slow step toward the groaning body on the floor.

And then she looks right at them.

Y/n is standing in the middle of the Avengers Tower, surrounded by Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and she doesn't look scared.

She looks like she's exactly where she meant to be.