Author's note: Hi! So, saw Avengers: Age of Ultron, and this is just something that got stuck in my head. There may or may not be eventual pairings that were not featured in the movie. I'm not sure yet. But,, obviously, this is post AOU, so if you haven't seen that, DO NOT READ THIS. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Summary: Post-AOU. Retirement was meant to be nothing but smooth sailing, right? Wrong. Avengers do not retire, and Tony Stark finds that out at great personal cost. The others are left to try and pick up the pieces before Tony does something drastic, and worry about infinity stones all at the same time. The world just can't seem to stay saved.

Prologue

It was dark.

He could not move, could not breathe. It was dark. It was dark, and he thought that he just might suffocate on this darkness. Yet he felt nothing emotionally, not even fear at his inability to do anything. There was no anxious flutter of his heart at his inability to move, the one thing he had been able to do. He was not smart, not like his sister. He was the muscle, she was the brains. She had made all of the major decisions. His one purpose was simply to follow her lead and keep her safe while doing so.

How could he do that when he was… wherever he was?

. . .

Pietro's funeral was simple. Mr. Stark had volunteered more, a grand memorial even, but Wanda had declined. Pietro was cocky at times, but he would not have wanted that. He would have wanted to be buried by their mother and father, so that was what Wanda had them do. The tombstone was not grand, simply holding his name and the length of time that he lived.

The only people in attendance aside from herself were the other Avengers and that Fury man; the green one was not there, but she was not terribly upset by this fact. He had apparently gone missing. She could have tracked him, easily, but none of them had asked her and she was too busy grieving to offer it. Pietro, her other half, had died for these people, for her. Pietro was a hero.

And now he was gone.

They had both started out on the wrong side of the fight, originally siding with Hydra and then Ultron after. They had been the enemy, tried to kill these people. Yet, they welcomed her into the ranks. They attended her brother's funeral, actually saddened by his loss. The archer- Clint, she reminded herself- had actually felt remorse for the comments he had made against her brother. It surprised her, seeing that in the man's mind. He had not meant the remarks, yet he still felt responsible for Pietro's death. He did not make her brother save him and that boy. It was not his fault.

Then there was the demigod. A quick look into his mind showed endless amounts of sympathy, dark hair, and bright eyes. His brother, Loki, had died recently, too, but from the looks of it had been distant long before. Regret, for Thor had not been able to spend more time together with him. Pity, because now neither could Wanda.

The Captain felt similarly, although his brother was not of blood and still out there somewhere. To top it all off, he had been the one to carry her brother's body onto the helicarrier. Had he not, she would probably be unable to bury him. She would have felt his loss deeper, with no sense of closure. She was thankful to him, for having the foresight to grab her brother.

The assassin and Fury both felt saddened by lost youth, but both had seen plenty young deaths; many were younger than her brother. They mourned his lost potential more than they mourned him. She did hate them for this, though. It was in their nature, and they were strangers to her. She expected less than what they felt, honestly.

The most surprising mind for her to peer into was that of Tony Stark. She had hated that man since she had been a little girl that spent two days under a bed with her brother expecting to die any second. She had essentially started this hoping he would get himself killed. She had almost inadvertently cause the extinction of life on Earth in an attempt to make his life fall apart just as her and Pietro's had. She had brought this on all of them, killed her brother, but this man took all of that blame on himself and multiplied it tenfold. He brought Ultron to life, sure, but that was it. She planted the seed in his mind, had helped Ultron. He had done nothing but write the code that made him sentient. Yet, he felt the loss of her brother so deeply without having known him. Glimpses of four young soldiers, an old doctor… The pain made sense after some discreet digging on Wanda's part. He was a bit of an asshole outwardly and hesitant to think out the consequences of his actions, but he cared so deeply for each and every loss that could even slightly be related back to him.

She wanted to hate him, all of them. But she found she could not do so. Not with how they mourned her brother by her side. Not with how they welcomed her to their group, trusted her like she had never been an enemy. Pietro would have loved them, would have flourished amongst them. Since he could not, she would do so in his place.

She would love them for Pietro.

. . .

It was taking some time to get used to not having his best friend speaking to him at all times. Tony had actually called for JARVIS more than once, feeling extremely saddened when Friday would respond instead. He felt like a part of him was missing. There was not anymore snarky comments when he was in the suit or working, merely pre-programmed remarks. Friday did no actually care for him.

Then there was Vision. The few times the other spoke, that ache would ease. To most people Vision was calm and respectful, but around Tony part of JARVIS must come out because no being not even a year old was capable of those levels of snark and sarcasm. The first thing after the whole shock of him being… Well, him that Vision had said to Tony had been some off-handed quip about how much Ultron hated him. JARVIS was in there, and not as just some voice module and ignored protocols. JARVIS was alive.

"You seem lost in thought, Mr. Stark." That voice. Tony looked over his shoulder, offering the other a kind smile as he came to stand beside him. "I cannot say I am surprised, given all that has happened. Your expression is not very joyous, however. What ails you, Tony?"

"You always used to know. You could just tell." He crossed his arms over his chest and gave a shrug. He still was not sure how to act around him. He doubted that he ever would.

Vision's expression turned sad. "No, JARVIS used to always know. I… I am more than JARVIS, Tony. Surely you must know this." His tone was gentle, a tone Tony knew so well but he was right. This was not JARVIS. Not really. And it hurt. That hurt Tony more than anything else that had happened recently: Pepper not going to the party, everyone hating him, Bruce just disappearing. It hurt, deep and for reasons Tony did not want to think of. "However, I believe I now have better… insight into emotions. You can talk to me, Tony."

Tony gave a laugh at that. He half expected it to startle the other, seeing as he was still extremely young. But instead he found Vision grinning at him. Granted, he had all of JARVIS' memories. He could reference any other time Tony had reacted just like that. "Thanks, really. I don't need to burden you youngsters with my issues, though."

"Your friendship will never burden me, Tony." That tone was so sincere, so child-like. But still so very JARVIS.

The engineer smiled softly at Vision, nodding. "Thank you."

They both turned to their right at the clearing of someone's throat, spotting Steve still in his uniform. Tony rolled his eyes at that, but said nothing. "Vision, can I steal Tony for a bit? I believe you have drills soon anyway."

"Of course, Captain Rogers." Vision nodded a quick good bye to Tony before moving quickly away to the training are of the new Avengers base. Tony watched him go sadly before finally directing his attention to Steve.

"Time to go?" He asked, raising a brow at Steve. The Super Soldier nodded, and Tony sighed. "Retirement, here I come."