Ariadne was sound asleep when she felt the heat of bright sunlight brush against her face. She struggled to open her eyes, snuggling into the warmth next to her, which was a stark comparison to the otherwise cold concrete floor they were sleeping on. As she finally opened her eyes to look around at her surroundings, the weight of yesterday's events rushed back to her head. She looked back down to her left, to find a still peaceful Steve, sleeping where she had just been only moments ago. Quietly standing, she tried her best to not disturb any of the other team members who were still asleep in their temporary quarters. The majority of the tower had been destroyed in the battle, and so they opted for camping out together on the floor of one of the rooms with the least damage. It looked the most structurally sound at that point, and wouldn't let in as much of a draft as the other rooms that were lacking windows would.
As Ari approached the used-to-be kitchen, she realized that she was not the first of the Avengers to have woken. Bruce was standing, looking over the rising sun, and the city that only 24 hours ago stood in prestige. Now, the dawn of the new day brought to light all of the work that had to be done for the torn apart town.
"It's a new day, Doc. New hopes, new dreams, new chances," Ari said, approaching him to join in his silent watching of the world below.
"I suppose your right. A new day to see just how many new ways we can screw up this time," Banner responded, looking distraught over the damage he had again inadvertently caused to New York.
"You can't think like that, Bruce. You've gotta be positive, right now. That's what we all need. A little positivity."
"I don't see how you're always so positive, Ari. Doesn't anything bring you down?"
Ari took a moment before responding, looking at the scars that were left on her arm and in her mind from many years ago,
"You know, I used to… But then I realized, looking at all of the hurt and pain life brought me would only cause me more hurt. And anger…" At this word, Bruce looked down, feeling the words connect to him on a personal level… "And I decided one day, that's not how I wanted to live my life. So, I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and I've been dedicated to helping prevent others from feeling pain as much as I can ever since,"
"Well, sunshine, that's a beautiful way to look at things," Tony interrupted, walking into the room, and scavenging for any food that may have survived, "Speaking of keeping others from feeling pain, I'm starving. So you haven't seen anything that could be used to make an omelet, have you?"
"Good morning to you too, Stark," Bruce responded, chuckling at his partners antics.
Ariadne sat at the old breakfast table, playing around with the ideas that had been running through her head half the night when she finally decided to voice them. "You know, Tony, I was thinking about how we could start to rebuild the tower. If we spend the next couple of days cleaning up the place, we can start the remodel by Wednesday, and then I was thinking we could all have a room here, and this could be our new sort of team hub. I know you mentioned the idea to Bruce yesterday, and I think it's great. I know that you aren't always super keen on the team thing, but I figured after everything it may be better for us all to be toge—"
"Woah, hold your horses. This is entirely too much planning and thinking before I've even had my first cup of coffee for the day. I'll start planning the remodel after breakfast."
"We'll start planning." Ariadne added, with a pointed look that clearly read 'we're a team now, remember?'
"Alright, then. We'll start planning after breakfast. Now what do you propose we do about the current food situation?" Tony said, holding up what used to be some sort of fruit.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're clearly doing alright today," Pepper laughed, coming in to give Tony a small kiss on the cheek before standing beside him, "The others aren't up yet, so I'm planning on taking the car to find the nearest standing market and pick us up some food and supplies for the day. JARVIS, can you please bring the least damaged car out of the garage for me?"
"Right away, Miss Potts," the home's computer system responded over the internal speakers. As Tony went with Pepper to give her a list of things to get, Steve entered the room, stretching as a sign of just having woken up.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," laughed Ariadne, as she straightened the hair on Steve's head that was sticking out in a million directions. "Rough night?"
"You have no idea," he sighed, while slumping into the semi-melted chair by the open window. "I haven't slept on that hard of ground since 1942."
"Well, you won't have to worry about that much longer," chimed in, Bruce. "Our girl here, and Stark are gonna get this place into top shape in no time."
"This place? You mean we are all going to stay here? I thought that Tony was being sarcastic yesterday." Steve questioned.
"Look, I know you and Tony don't always see eye-to-eye, but I think it's best if the team has a place that we can all come back to. Together. It'll help us as a team, and personally," Ari said, while walking over to rub his shoulders.
As the three continued to stare out over the New York City view, they became lost in their own thoughts. Thoughts of what the future would hold for them, and how their team could ever regain its strength after the difficulty of last night.
"I heard Thor mention to Natasha and Clint last night that he's planning on taking Loki back to Asgard," Ari mumbled to the rest of them. "It's going to be strange not having him around."
"Don't worry. The big guy will always visit," Stark said, reentering the room. "Now, enough sulking. Let's get to work. JARVIS, will you pull up the schematics so we can assess the damage?"
"Right away, sir. Here are the blueprints. I've highlighted the trouble spots in red, as well as assembled a list of suggested repairs on the right."
"Alright, Grace. What are your thoughts on fixing this place up? You are, after all, 'the expert designer of this team.'" Tony shrugged.
"Stark, Fury said that about me once. Let it go. Besides, it's kind of my job, so…" Ariadne argued back, while approaching the projections that JARVIS had pulled up for them.
As the two continued to plan, Bruce and Steve walked away, leaving them to their work. The two Avengers moved into what used to be the dining room, observing the mess that surrounded them inside and outside of the tower.
Steve sighed as he leaned against a wall, laughing to himself as he felt it shift behind him.
"God, we sure did do a number on this place, didn't we Dr. Banner?"
"A number? We did the whole damn musical on this place. And New York… I don't know how we are going to be able to fix this all. It seems like everytime I come to help, I just end up hurting things more than anything…"
"I know the feeling. But at the end of the day, we have to think about everything we have accomplished, not everything that we couldn't. Or at least that's what an annoyingly positive little birdie told me…" Steve glanced through the broken wall back into the room where Ari was hard at work with Stark. Bruce followed his gaze, already knowing where it would be directed.
"She really means a lot to you, doesn't she Cap?"
Before Steve could argue, Bruce gave him a look that clearly told him to not even go there. Steve sighed, nodding his head as he admitted,
"The world has changed a lot. It's hard to find anyone who has the same ideas and values as I did when I went… Well, when I took a swim. She's one of the few people that actually understands what it's like to lose everything and have to rebuild. And she wears her heart on her sleeve. Ari would always be there for anyone she can be, whether she's known them for years, or she just met them…" At this, Steve smiled, recalling his memories with the girl that will forever be his best friend. "You know, it's funny. She actually reminds me… She reminds me a lot of…"
"Peggy. She reminds you of Peggy, doesn't she…" Bruce interrupts.
"Yeah. Yeah, I suppose she does. I mean, obviously not in the same way, because Ari and I are just best friends, but she really does mean the world to me… I guess that's why I couldn't imagine losing her…. Letting her down, too…" Steve walked to look down at the ground, picking up pieces of broken wood, and piling them as he thought. "Dr. Banner… Bruce, I want to thank you for what you did yesterday. For getting her out of harms way. I couldn't get there in time, and if it wasn't for you… Well, I don't even want to think about where she would be right now."
Bruce walks over to Steve, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Steve, you don't have to thank me. She means a lot to me, too. To all of us, really. We're a team now, Cap. We've gotta stick together."
As the two men smiled at each other, acknowledging the bond that had been created between them over the past several days, they heard the sound of cursing, and suddenly raised voices coming from the other room.
"We should probably get back in there before they kill each other, huh?" Steve laughed.
And with that, the two heroes went to face their biggest challenge of all: two brilliant minds trying to collaborate.
Alright, folks! Please, let me know what you are thinking of the story thus far! Right now it's pretty uneventful, since it's all establishing setting, time period and relationships right now. But action will come fairly soon, I promise! Reviews would be much appreciated!
Have a wonderful day!
-C.
