A/N: This is...it. This is the end. Of L2R, at least. I'm glad there were so many people who've shown support for this little fic, named and not. It's been a real blast to see what you all have said and loved about Andy, Mina, and what I've done with the movieverse.

So you're all probably wondering 'will there be more?!' Well, given that the goal was to get this done by IM3's release, why not! So I hope to soon have a remix of Iron Man 3, tentatively titled Reignite, live within a week or so of IM3's release. I do, after all, have to see the movie, get the ideas, see where I can work in Andy and everything else that happens, maybe see the movie again...

Anyway, thanks for the support, everyone, and enjoy the conclusion of Live to Rise!


11: Not Alone

The first thing I was very dimly aware of was my face. The area around my right eye was itching, all the way back to my temple along to a fine point at my hairline. The second thing was that I was breathing in smoke and gas and concrete. So someone had my mask off. Maybe Mina had done that.

I thought I could hear a voice saying my name, and my chest hitched a little as a spark shot through my awareness.

I wasn't dead, that was for sure.

Something warm and soft pressed against my mouth, and I realized someone was kissing me, someone else's tears were hitting my cheeks. My eyes flickered open in surprise, but all I really had to see was Steve's mussed golden hair and I closed them again so I could kiss him back. I was…alive. I was alive. And right now it felt really, really good. Steve broke off his kiss to pull me up off the ground, armor and all, and embraced me fiercely. I dug my chin over his shoulder, cheek against his neck, as I kept regaining consciousness.

"…Steve," I murmured, nestling a little tighter against him before getting my arms tight. I couldn't say much more than that as the last thing I had seen flickered into my mind: the man in his throne with the silent voice. Loki hadn't been the major threat. He was. And he knew where I was, who I was.

No doubts he was going to gun for me. Not now, but sometime, soon.

"I was so worried," Steve mumbled, rubbing my back plates slowly, but I managed to hold myself up, turning to see Thor and Hulk watching us. But…where was… I turned back to Steve, trying not to let my voice shake.

"…wh-what about Tony? Is…is he…?" I asked, but Steve winced apologetically. That was okay; if he had been worried for me, I didn't blame him. He moved out from in front of me, and behind him on the ground, his mask torn off rather than lifted like mine, was Tony, eyes shut and not moving.

No. No no NO!

I moved past Steve and dropped to my knees at Tony's side, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him weakly. No…no…I couldn't have gone through all that with him just so he could die!

"Tony!" I yelled at him, though my throat was sore and as it was I shouldn't have been screaming and yelling yet. "Tony, don't you dare, don't…don't you dare…you selfish bastard!"

I slammed a fist down onto his chest as the tears came, my shoulders hunching forward. I hit him again to try and hide the sobs clawing out of my throat. I felt Steve's hand on my shoulder, saw Hulk out of the corner of my eye watching me, but it wasn't enough.

"…you can't die on me, Tony," I pleaded, shaking him again so I didn't accidentally break one of his ribs. Steve's hand moved around my shoulders, and I didn't turn away from the consoling hug he offered, burying my face against his shoulder and crying mercilessly. I couldn't have failed him…how could I have lived while he had died? I heard Hulk huff in disgust before roaring, so close it made me start slightly. But I heard a familiar yelp, plus a slight kick in my back, and I turned away from Steve, eyes wide to see Tony awake, eyes wide and disoriented. I didn't give him a chance to recover from his shock; I let go of Steve and fell right onto my brother, clinging tightly and crying on him instead. Tony's arms tightened around me, though he was shaking.

"…did you call me a selfish bastard?" he asked after a moment, and I couldn't help but laugh weakly.

"You were going to just leave me all by myself, of course I called you that."

"…'m not a selfish bastard…"

"No, you're my selfish bastard," I retorted, "so shut up and hold me."

Tony sat up a bit as he did so, and I looked around behind him, at Steve and Thor and Hulk, and I realized, even if Tony and I had done the literal saving part, we couldn't have done it without them. We had all saved the world. Of course a major surprise was Hulk reaching down to scoop the both of us up and actually hugged us tight, though it probably hurt more than it should have, and when he let me and Tony go Steve came to give me another hug.

"…we did it," he told me – us – with a smile. I couldn't help but offer a cocky smirk as I managed to stand up.

"We so did," I agreed, though I had to catch Tony before he nearly fell over.

"Hell yeah we did," he added, though I was propping him up. Sigh. Selfish bastard plus overprotective elder brother, no doubt.

"Okay, Tony, stay calm, probably still a little disoriented from being out there –"

"Can we try shawarma after this? I dunno what it is, but that's a cool word."

Yeah, definitely a little bit oxygen-deprived. I slung one of his arms over my neck so he could still stand upright though I was mostly carrying him.

"How about after we finish dealing with Loki, uh, big guy?"

"Aw, I'm the big guy now?"

"Because Hulk's the bigger guy," I retorted, which got Hulk to snort in amusement. "Now shut up and breathe, Tony…"

"I am breathing…"

"You know what I mean…"

All in all, we hadn't lost anyone. The Chitauri had apparently been out for more scare tactics than actual killing, because we didn't see any dead non-Chitauri in the streets. Midtown hadn't entirely collapsed yet, but I knew there would have to be a lot of reconstruction work. NYPD and the National Guard had held the line on the ground, and for that I was infinitely grateful. Who knew what those monsters would have done if we hadn't contained them so quickly?

Barton was none the worse for wear when he shambled out of the building his perch had been on, though he was out of arrows and had glass bits dug into his shoulder blades. He didn't seem too fazed by it, and picked up a couple arrows on the way to Stark Tower. I made Tony give us access to "his" elevator (Hulk, obviously, didn't fit, so he opted to get up to Stark Tower via other buildings), and soon we were up in the ruins of what I guess had been his and Pepper's apartment. Hulk landed inside as we stepped out, and Nat appeared from the balcony, toting Loki's scepter and head held high.

"Got the portal closed?" I asked her, noticing a faint smirk in her lips.

"Obviously."

"At least you didn't close it before me and the crazy one got through, so…thanks. Natasha."

"Well, that's an improvement," was all she had time to comment. Loki was starting to crawl out of the indentation Hulk had thrown him into, and Barton was pushing forward through us.

"Move it, people, this guy get an arrow to the eye socket…"

"Barton. Seriously?" I asked, following him and half-dragging Tony with me.

"He puts me under mind control, I gotta get something off him…"

"Can't you be happy with threatening him?"

"Why?"

"He's got his brother to deal with, too, remember."

Thor nodded at me as we arrayed near Barton, while Loki got himself to a nearly-seated position, his back to us. Tony was able to stand by this point, so I squared my shoulders behind where Barton was crouched, taking his aim, and when Loki turned I smirked at him darkly. He seemed to know he was defeated, and I noticed, a little uneasily, that instead of blue his eyes were suddenly green. That…wasn't normal.

"…if it's all the same to you," he sighed, slumping back against the floor where he had dragged himself, "I…think I'll have a drink now."

"Just get out," I noted. "Out of this building, out of New York, and off Earth. I'm sure Thor'd love to take you."

Loki seemed to be taking it quietly, but when Thor hefted him past us Loki grabbed my arm, leaning close to me.

"…you saw him," he stated, almost…afraid. My brows folded a little as Loki continued, "Do not underestimate him. He is more powerful than you know."

No one else seemed to hear Loki's warning as Thor tugged him away, and though Tony left to get out of his armor, Hulk began turning back into Bruce, and Nat and Clint found someplace to lie down and crash I was one of two that stood still, shuddering a little. So I was right. Loki wasn't the source.

I managed to move from my spot and shed my armor, getting it to pack up on itself so I didn't have to carry it, rolling my shoulders and stretching before Steve came over to my side, smiling a bit as he set his shield down next to my packed armor. He softly brushed some hair out of my face, but his eyes turned concerned as he looked at the burn around my eye.

"…how did that happen?" he asked quietly, for Nat and Clint's sakes, since Bruce had shuffled upstairs to borrow some clothes from Tony. I shrugged a little, more enjoying his hand on my face.

"…there was something else out there, Steve," I said eventually, sighing a little. "Something…bigger than Loki, bigger than the Chitauri."

I lifted one hand and carefully touched the skin around my eye. It felt raw and warm, but it didn't sting, nor did I need to squint on account of it. I swallowed a little before glancing up at Steve, his concern written plainly on his face.

"He knows we've won, and he's going to be back," I finished uneasily. "We have to be ready when he does."

"…so what's that?" he pressed, obviously meaning the scarring. I thought it through and settled on the most obvious explanation.

"A death mark. I think."

"Well he's not getting you," Steve insisted, easing his arms around me. But I remembered Loki's threat, of killing everyone I cared about. If that hadn't really been Loki, but the thing using him…

"…then he's not getting you, either," I told him firmly. "You, or Tony, or anyone else. He'll try to take you first, you or Tony, but I won't let him. I won't."

I hugged Steve tightly at my declaration, and he held me right back, rubbing my back softly. I pressed my cheek against his chest gently, and…I knew. I knew this was what I had to do. Protect them, these people SHIELD had brought together, who couldn't really get along but could manage to set aside their differences long enough to do what had to be done.

"…just let me worry about you, all right?" Steve murmured softly, and I chuckled a little.

"Something of an impossible task, Captain…"

"Well, I have this bad habit of taking the impossible tasks. Something we have in common, I think."

"So…is…this your way of saying you…like me?" I asked, moving back a little to look up at him. Steve smiled at me faintly.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

I couldn't help a bout of shyness. After all, this would be my first real boyfriend ever. Kissing me down on the ground had been different. Any kissing, like from before I left for Long Island, was going to be different. But maybe different was good for me.

"Even though I'm definitely not the sort of lady you'd meet in your time?"

"Andy, I don't have to be in 'my time' to know a good woman when I see one."

My cheeks got warm at that, and I scuffled my feet a little at his praise.

"…even with the funky burn on my face?"

Steve retaliated by resting his hands on my arms and leaning forward to kiss the aforementioned burn. Well then.

"…you missed," I corrected him before resting my hand on the star emblazoned on his chest and kissing him properly. I think I could get used to this.

Except.

"…well this is awkward."

I broke off from kissing my boyfriend for a moment.

"…one second, Steve…"

I turned on Tony and charged at him with all the little-sister annoyance I could muster.

"TONY LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE RIGHT NOW!"

So, as you might expect, life went back to nearly normal. I say nearly because it took about a week for Selvig and Bruce to build the containment device, following some of Thor's parameters, that would take the Tesseract, him, and Loki back to Asgard. Within that same week, though, I flew up to the helicarrier, not to debrief with Fury, but to face the council that effectively dictated SHIELD's every move.

So it was, three days after the battle in New York, I was standing, in full armor sans helmet, in a secure communications room facing the video and audio feeds of the four shadowy figures that controlled SHIELD, and, in essence, controlled the security of the entire world. I had an idea of where to trace them, but very little as to who they were. It didn't matter.

"Where are the rest of the Avengers?" one of three men asked, his voice accented with something that sounded like Spanish, or at least continental Europe. I kept my hands clamped together in the small of my back.

"That's not for you to know, sir. The Avengers don't answer to SHIELD."

"You, Agent Stark, answer to us, as do Barton and Romanoff," the lone woman on the council retorted, but I kept my cool.

"In my capacity as an agent for SHIELD, yes. But as the effective leader of the Avengers, I am telling you, once and for all, the Avengers do not answer to SHIELD. We're not going to be co-opted and put in a situation where we cannot operate to our best efficiency. So here's the deal. You leave all of us alone, except those of us who work for SHIELD and are willing to operate in that capacity. And when something as big, or even bigger, than Loki and his army comes knocking, we'll be ready."

"You realize you're telling us that the most dangerous people in the world are simply going to disappear, and there is nothing we can do about it," another one of the men, his voice stone-cold Northeast, remarked.

"That's not quite it," I clarified. "See, the world knows we're here. And they know we'll do our best to fight for them. But so does every other world out there."

"Is that the point of all this? A statement?"

I straightened up to tilt my chin at the defiantly.

"A promise."

I turned and walked out at that. Fury was just outside, and he smirked at me in what seemed to be amusement and pride.

"Nice choice of words."

"It's true. So consider that mission done, then. All I get to do is make sure Loki gets off Earth smoothly."

"…then good luck, Agent Stark," Fury replied, offering his hand to me. I tentatively took it, shaking as he added, "I'm sure you'll need it."

"Thanks. I think."

A couple days later, the Avengers – plus Loki and Selvig – assembled one more time, unofficially, in Central Park to see off Loki, Thor, and the Cube. I had to hide a smirk to see that Loki was gagged when I swung off my recently-arrived custom bike, unzipping my biker jacket a little as we circled the area. In short, they left without a hitch, and the rest of us began separating. Nat and Barton shot off on their own, and Tony came over to nudge me in the side.

"Hey, I had this idea…"

"…and it was terrible but you're running with it anyway?" I quipped, getting him to grin.

"You saw what happened to our building, right?"

"Uh, it's your building, Tony…"

"That's not the point, just…look, okay?"

I did, following Tony's gaze, and seeing the A, standing out proudly on Stark Tower…suddenly I knew what he was getting at. There'd be other Stark Towers around the world, but the Avengers needed both a home and a base of operations. There was a house I currently wasn't living in, and an office building that was effectively marked as our territory. I looked away from the building to look at Tony, who was grinning at me.

"Get it?"

"I think so. So you're going to give me the building?"

"Maaaaybe. Only maybe, gotta clean up the place first."

"But I'm still allowed to stay with you, right?"

Tony squeezed me tight around the shoulders, and I nestled into his embrace. I'd take that as a yes.

"So where're you off to?"

"Only the amazingest place in New York," he told me with a firm head kiss. "Showing off to Banner, maybe get him to stay."

"Fine, fine, whatever, just don't let other-him out, okay?"

"No promises!" Tony laughed before he jogged for his shiny-new Acura convertible and waved for Bruce to climb in. They both waved before Tony drive off, and soon it was just me and Steve and our bikes.

"…so where do we go from here?" Steve asked with a smile. I shrugged a little, despite my grin back.

"Well, no doubt you've got a lot to catch up on, and I have to wrangle Tony, make sure things don't explode, y'know," I replied. "But I have to work on me, too."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. Some body work, gotta keep lookin' good, I have SHIELD and you crazies to deal with, plus I'm finally in a real relationship, so, y'know…"

"Well, I hope you can fit me into all of that schedule," Steve replied, easing an arm around my waist. I replied by resting my arms around his neck as he added, "'Cause it looks like I've got a real relationship to work on, too…SHIELD…catching up…"

"Well, maybe we can do the SHIELD stuff together sometime."

"And the relationship?"

I smiled widely.

"That, too," I told him before kissing him warmly.

Ready or not, world. Here I am, and I am not alone.