Steph had been in Wakanda to visit Bucky, then had gone to check on a lead she'd gotten from Fury on a terrorist group selling Chitauri weaponry that they'd been trying to pin down. It had turned out to be a dead end and had been more trouble than it was worth as she'd had an unfortunate run-in with Ross' SWAT team along the way. Unfortunate for them, just mostly inconvenient for her, as she then needed a place to lie low for a while. Thankfully, Sam and Nat got her back.

She arrived at the safehouse in a suit that terribly needed a wash. So did she, actually. "Sorry for the trouble," she told Nat, tugging down the hood of her jacket as she entered. "But thanks for coming to my rescue again."