Meanwhile in San Francisco...

It was raining in San Francisco. Pedestrians with umbrellas, wrapped up warmly in scarves and raincoats, scampered down the streets, trying to keep out of the cold downpour. Rain ran down windows and trickled off awnings. It wasn't a good day to be out and about. Especially if you were Hope van Dyne, and you didn't have any clothes on.

Hope stood on the sidewalk, her feet bare against the cold concrete, her wet hair clinging to her neck and her shoulders, her nipples stiff in the cold breeze, her upper arms and inner thighs prickling with goosbumps. She was cold, and wet, and bedraggled, and naked. She didn't even have an umbrella. She'd tried to pick one up, but it had twisted out of her hands and blown away. The magic that kept her naked didn't want her to cover up even a little bit, it seemed. She wasn't allowed to protect herself at all. She just had to stand there, feeling the rain lash her bare skin and run down her blushing cheeks, while inside the cafes people sat and sipped coffee and pointed at her through the window. It wasn't very much fun at all.

She wanted to shrink down so small that nobody could see her.

But she didn't have her super-powered shrinking suit. One of the side effects of being kept permamently naked. Hope van Dyne was just an ordinary woman. Right now, she didn't have any powers at all.

She stuck out her thumb. A cab roared by her, splashing her with a tidal wave of cold gutter water. Hope shrieked and jumped back, too late to avoid a soaking. She heard laughter from inside the cafe, and gritted her teeth in frustration.

She really, really missed being a superhero. If she had her suit, she could make herself small enough to dodge between raindrops, and fly all the way to her destination. But she didn't. She didn't get to feel like a powerful Avenger any more. She just got to feel like an ordinary girl. A naked, uncomfortable, soaked, stupid-looking girl. With stiff nipples.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

And she'd been trying to catch a cab for twenty minutes. She was beginning to feel like the Stark Industries driverless robot taxis were ignoring her on purpose. Almost like they wanted to make her stand naked on the sidewalk for as long as possible.

She had ****.

She was going to have to walk all the way downtown, to the office building Stark's co-ordinates had directed her towards. A long walk. Over an hour. In the pouring rain. Through some of the busiest parts of San Francisco.

With no clothes on.

Hope steeled herself for the ordeal, and tried not to whimper with shame. It was like a nightmare come to life. A long, naked walk through a crowded city, with everyone on the streets looking and giggling and taking pictures on their phones...

With a little abashed squeal, she threw her hands acrosss her bare body and began to jog off down the street, in precisely the wrong direction. Inside the cafe, someone chuckled, and took a snap of her bare bottom.

And from a nearby alleyway, a figure emerged. A tall, dark-haired, serious-looking woman. Her eyes trained on Hope's disappearing behind, she did her best to ignore the cheers from the cafe at the emergence of another unfortunate, undressed lady. Water ran between the cheeks of her full, bare bottom as she set off after Hope, doing her best to blend into the umbrella-carrying crowd. Though, considering her nudity, it was hard not to be conspicuous.

Ava didn't know where all her clothes had gone. But she was pretty sure the Avengers had something to do with it. And she wanted ****.