And we've arrived at the last chapter. In which Gabriel and Gadreel have a very serious and much-needed talk, and Peggy and Steve have a slightly less serious but probably equally necessary talk with Tony. Alatar mostly left that last part to me, so... x)

Which was totally fine, as awkward conversations about relationships are awkward regardless of who's involved. x) And everyone's totally cool.

This has been a really great ride, and I've really enjoyed working with alatar on this. It's been a lot of fun. I hope you guys have enjoyed it just as much!

So, please, have at the last chapter. :)

Chapter 12

The night sky was beautiful with no human lights to hide the stars. The air was humid and warm, smelling of rain. If he sharpened his hearing, he could even hear the storm front rolling in, bringing thunder and lightning.

It was absolutely gorgeous, and there wasn't a single human around.

Lying back in the sand of the beach he had sequestered himself on, Tony closed his eyes, letting the salty breeze wash over him.

It was exactly what he needed after everything that had happened.

Memories still sat in his mind that he knew he'd need to go over at some point. Memories of what else he'd done, what his other parts had gotten up to. Gabriel's were at the forefront, mostly; it was primarily space and Gabriel seeking out whatever solace he could find in a universe where he had to rediscover that there was no Heaven.

Later, of course, there were the memories of the tower and how Gabriel had helped, but for now Tony let himself relax, his mind's eye wandering past nebulas and stars. It wasn't like he didn't deserve some time alone to recuperate.

It was a few hours later when Gadreel arrived with a soft flutter of wings several dozen feet away. The storm front Tony had sensed earlier was visible over the waters, but still far away enough that they had some time before it was close enough to the beach to be a bother. He could already hear the faint rumbles of thunder.

Tony didn't look over as Gadreel slowly walked over, his shoes sinking into the sand and scattering particles into the wind as he lifted them. "Ever been on a beach before?"

"No." Gadreel came to a stop next to where Tony was lying, eyes scanning the horizon. "It's beautiful."

"No one's made it here yet," Tony said, propping himself up on his elbows. "It's untouched."

Gadreel took a moment before responding, head dropping to meet Tony's gaze. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I can leave if you want."

"It's all right." Tony shrugged, settling back down. "Take a seat."

Gadreel did, looking only faintly surprised at how soft the sand was. He ran his fingers through it, picking up a handful and letting it fall back to the ground. "This is sand?"

"Beach sand. You get darker shades depending on where you're at." Tony picked out a shell that he'd nicked when he'd first arrived. "Kids like collecting these."

Gadreel took the shell, inspecting it carefully. "This is for oysters, isn't it?"

"And some other marine animals." Tony watched as a pair of seagulls flew over their heads, crying out at nothing in particular.

He watched as Gadreel put the sea shell into a pocket before the other settled down to watch the oncoming storm approach. Gadreel didn't make any move to break the silence, so Tony let himself relax, watching as the light gradually faded from the sky as the sun's rays disappeared behind the storm.

"Try putting it to your ear," he said after a moment. Gadreel glanced down at him; Tony could tell he was surprised without looking.

"Why?"

"You can hear the ocean in shells." Tony told him, keeping a straight face.

Giving him a suspicious look, Gadreel pulled the shell out, holding it closely to his ear. It took a few seconds before he said, "This is just the echo of the blood circulating in my ear."

"Oh, come on," Tony groaned, slapping at Gadreel's arm. "It's supposed to be poetic. You put the shell to your ear, listen to it, and then say it's the ocean!"

Gadreel looked confused. "I hear the ocean?"

"That's the spirit."

Giving the shell one last speculative look, Gadreel put it back into his pocket. "I gather that's something humans do."

"They're good at that," Tony agreed, linking his hands behind his head. "Dreaming up new things, always going for the next big thing… They're constantly changing."

"I see why you fell in love with them," Gadreel said quietly, his jacket collar fluttering in a particularly sharp gust of wind sent ahead from the incoming storm. "They are different, but that's what makes them unique."

"Along with all the other crap that comes along with being human," Tony said. "But that's part of living."

There was a rumble of thunder, and Tony saw flashes of light in the clouds.

After another few minutes, Tony said quietly, "You didn't come here to talk about humans."

Sighing, Gadreel tilted his head back to look at the darkening sky. "It isn't terribly important."

"But it's bugging you."

"Yes," Gadreel admitted after a moment, frowning slightly as he registered the figure of speech. His expression cleared quickly, and then he glanced down at Gabriel. "It was something Loki said. The Loki that was you, I mean."

"He said a few different things," Gabriel said slowly. "What's bothering you in particular?"

"The bleed-over he mentioned…" Gadreel visibly hesitated, one hand gripping his leg tightly. "He suggested that you must have hated an angel to despise them so much – that it…might even have been yourself."

Letting out a long, slow breath, Gabriel looked away from Gadreel, eyes going to the storm that was increasing in intensity. "I'm not proud of a lot of the things I've done," he said finally. "That's not to say I wouldn't do it again, but…I didn't like it."

"Because of what you became?"

"I left Heaven," Gabriel said. "And I didn't think about what Michael and Raphael would do once I did. But I just couldn't stand it up there anymore. So I…"

"Left," Gadreel finished when Gabriel didn't continue.

"Yeah." The word left him on an exhale, Gabriel's eyes closing. "If I'd been there…maybe I could have stopped some of what Michael and Raphael pulled." Or maybe they would have stopped him. Gabriel had absolutely no idea.

"What happened wasn't your fault," Gadreel said softly. "You had nothing to do with it."

"Because I wasn't there." Gabriel rested his hand on the sand, running his fingers through the fine grains. "I'm an archangel, Gadreel. I could have done something." He was the fourth most powerful being in Heaven, and everything had still ended up hitting rock bottom. "What happened to you was the least of it. If I'd known…"

He wouldn't have been brave enough to confront Michael about it, much less do anything to try and get Gadreel out, if he was being completely honest with himself. What could he have done, without appearing like he was sympathizing with someone associated with Lucifer's side? Archangel or not, back then if he'd done anything like that most likely he would have been the next Fallen.

"That was not your doing," Gadreel replied. A tremor had gone through his Grace at the mention of his punishment. "You cannot blame yourself for that."

"It wasn't just that." Gabriel shook his head, staring up at the sky and the dusting of stars. "Ever since the Fall…so much went wrong. And I ran, instead of trying to do actually anything about it."

Father had forgiven him for it, and Gabriel knew it had been the right decision for him. But had it been the best one for his family?

"But you did," Gadreel said, his attention on Gabriel. "You did. You faced down Lucifer and gave the Winchesters the tools they needed."

"Yeah, because Dean verbally kicked my ass and made me realize what a coward I'd been."

"You are not a coward, Gabriel." Gadreel turned sharply towards him, eyes piercing. "You never have been."

"Cowards run." Gabriel avoided Gadreel's eyes. "And I did."

"A coward wouldn't have returned," Gadreel persisted.

"Just because of one thing—"

"Not one thing," Gadreel cut him off. "You have done so much good. You've helped many people."

"As if that makes a difference?"

"It does."

"Gadreel, saving people here doesn't change things so that what I did before never happened." Gabriel sat up, putting himself on the same level as his brother. "Or make up for what I didn't do. I had a responsibility and I ducked it because I couldn't deal with what was going wrong."

"You weren't responsible for all of Heaven." Gadreel wasn't nearly as calm as he'd been before, brow furrowing. "That was Michael's job."

"Yeah, well, Michael had a lot of jobs. Didn't mean he did them," Gabriel said, trying not to sound bitter and failing.

"Just because Michael forced one of his responsibilities on you doesn't mean you had to take all of them," Gadreel said forcefully.

"Someone had to do it!"

"And that someone had to be you? It couldn't be Raphael?"

"Raphael wasn't doing anything about it either! What was I supposed to do, force them to do their jobs?" Gabriel snapped. "You know how dangerous confronting Michael about something like that would have been. Even before the Fall—" He cut himself off then, not wanting to go down that line of thought.

The truth was, Michael had always been dangerous.

Gadreel was looking at him like he knew exactly what Gabriel had been about to say. "Looking out for yourself," he said softly, "does not lay the blame for what happened on you. You say you failed to prevent it. Were you even in a position to stop it in the first place? To fix it?"

"It's because I wasn't there that I couldn't! I should have stayed!"

"Our Father forgave you for that. He said you'd made the right choice, Gabriel."

Gabriel, torn between saying what he wanted to and flat-out disagreeing with what He had said, looked away, staying silent. He heard Gadreel heave a sigh.

"Just because you had the capability to help—" he began.

"I should have," Gabriel said, still not looking at Gadreel.

"And so you blame yourself for everything that went wrong?"

"Do you have any idea—" Gabriel forced his anger down, because no, Gadreel didn't have any way of knowing, and getting angry wasn't going to help. It would just end up hurting Gadreel if he lost control of himself. "What Raphael and Michael did – if I'd been there—"

"You could have stopped what they did?" Gadreel shook his head. "No, brother. We both know that Michael was too determined. I may not know much of what happened the first time Lucifer was freed, but I do know that there was no avoiding it."

"I'm the one who gave them that Message," Gabriel forced out. "That it was supposed to happen."

"Isn't there a saying they have? 'Don't shoot the messenger'?" Gadreel replied. "Delivering a message doesn't make you the root of the problem. If Michael was so fixated on the content, then that is his fault. Not yours."

Gabriel stayed quiet, and Gadreel seemed to take that as permission to reach out a hand, offering a comforting touch. "You're a good man," he said quietly, "and I don't wish to hear you devalue yourself."

Gabriel relaxed under the touch, letting their Graces intermingle. "Not so much a man," he murmured.

Gadreel didn't let that distract him, persisting. "You're my brother, Gabriel, and I love you. You remember what I said before I came here with you, don't you?"

Swallowing, Gabriel nodded once.

"That hasn't changed any," Gadreel said quietly, pressing their shoulders together. "You warned me that this place was different – that there were none of our siblings, but that doesn't matter. I spent so long in Heaven's prison…suddenly hearing the Host again was overwhelming. You offered me peace and forgiveness that I hadn't known for years."

"What happened wasn't your fault," Gabriel said. "You trusted Lucifer—"

"As you trusted Michael and Raphael?" Gadreel's hand squeezed Gabriel's shoulder gently. "If what happened wasn't my fault, then this wasn't yours either. You've made mistakes, brother; we all have. But there is no need to take on the weight of Michael's and Raphael's as well."

"I still could have done something different," Gabriel muttered.

"And I could have chosen not to let Lucifer into the Garden," Gadreel replied. "There are many ways we both could have gone, in the past. But I speak the truth; it wasn't your fault."

Gabriel looked away, Gadreel's unconditional belief in him suddenly too much to handle. He knew there was some truth in what Gadreel was saying, but if it was true, then he would have to admit that there had been no way of fixing what had gone wrong. That it wasn't just his fault but also Michael's and Raphael's. That he had no influence over their actions because they wouldn't have listened to him, would have shut him down before he could have even tried.

That didn't mean it was easy to accept, that he wasn't at fault for what had happened. The words couldn't just silence what he'd been telling himself for so long. The human soul that was a part of him affected him, but it didn't make him any quicker to change.

Gadreel's arm moved to settle around his shoulders, and Gadreel by now was much closer to Gabriel than he'd been before. "Blaming yourself will not change what happened, brother," he said softly. "Nor what you chose to do."

Gabriel snorted. "I know that."

"Then why do you continue doing so?"

"For the same reason humans do." Gabriel rubbed his face. "Because I keep going back and looking at what happened, looking to see what I missed because I was too ignorant to see what was right in front of my face, and I know I could have done better. I know objectively that I couldn't have done anything, but that doesn't change what I feel."

Gadreel took a few seconds to respond, the words slow in coming. "I think I understand."

"It's not just a human tendency," Gabriel said, the corner of his lips tugging up in a small smile.

"No, it isn't." Gadreel returned the smile with one of his rare ones that didn't look like someone had painted it on. "But," he added, "I hope you'll think about it."

Sighing, Gabriel pulled his right leg to his chest. "I told Loki one time that we change slowly. It doesn't come easily, even if you know something's wrong."

"You can still try," Gadreel said. "Even if it's difficult. Wasn't it you who said that whether or not something was easy didn't dictate when to give up?"

"Yeah, along with several other humans." The reproachful look Gadreel shot him wasn't at all surprising. "Which doesn't mean it's not true."

"But you'll try?" Gadreel asked, worry clear in his tone. "If this happens again – unlikely as it may be – I would rather not listen to Loki or any other version of you once more say that you hate yourself."

"Yes." Gabriel met his gaze. "I'll try." Then, because he was just that much of a dick, he said, "But how likely are you to know if it's actually working? It's not like you knew before."

"Gabriel."

"That's my name."

Gadreel sighed, glancing away for a moment. "Does it help you," he asked, "to make light of things constantly?"

Subdued, Gabriel looked down at the sand, where he'd absentmindedly buried his fingers. "Having fun got a little more fun if I compared it to all the crap I knew I'd have been tangled up in."

"So you regret leaving, and yet you do not regret it." Gadreel sounded puzzled.

"I do. It's just—" Gabriel made a frustrated noise. "I wish I didn't have to."

"Is it the circumstances, perhaps, that you regret?" Gadreel suggested.

"…Maybe," Gabriel admitted, leaning back again and lying on his back. What was he supposed to say, if even he had trouble figuring out exactly what he felt? Especially when the conversation centered on events that had taken place thousands of years ago. "I just…tried to distract myself, I guess. From everything."

"From what I understand, this is also a human thing."

"And angel." Most of his siblings hadn't reacted well – to the Fall, to the absence of Father's presence – even if it hadn't been immediately obvious. Michael distanced himself, while other angels found their own ways to cope. "It's a 'having a conscious mind' thing. The need to…try and escape reality when reality sucks."

"I can sympathize." Gadreel's face was turned towards the storm, but his eyes looked somewhere much farther away. "If there is no option to leave…"

Gabriel found Gadreel's hand and gripped it. "You've got the world at your fingertips now," he said lightly. "Like you said. Can't change what already happened."

"If you only reluctantly took that advice, I hardly think you should be the one to repeat it back to me." Gadreel was smiling faintly, though, when he looked back down at Gabriel.

"Hey, I'm allowed to be a hypocrite."

"I don't believe that's a good thing."

Gabriel shrugged. "Maybe not. But everyone's a hypocrite in some shape or form."

Gadreel didn't seem convinced, eyebrows scrunching together. "You're sure of this?"

"As someone who's spent a lot of time with humans and their ilk, trust me," Gabriel said, nudging Gadreel's side. "Being a hypocrite isn't necessarily a bad thing, all right?"

"I don't see how that can be," Gadreel said. "Isn't it bad, to do the opposite of what you tell others to do?"

"On the big things, it makes you untrustworthy, yeah," Gabriel agreed, remembering quite a few times during his human lifetime when he had done so. "But on the small things, it's okay. Especially if you want others to be happier."

Gadreel was silent for a moment. Then, in a soft voice: "But what about you?"

Gabriel watched the storm for a few minutes; he could taste the rain now, and his face was wet with seawater. "It takes a little work," he said quietly. "But I'll get there." Giving Gadreel a small smile, he added, "I promise."

"You're moping."

"I'm not moping."

"I know how you look when you're moping, and James agrees with me on this."

"What reason do I have to mope?"

"Well, for starters, you haven't talked with him since he pulled himself back together."

Hovering outside the kitchen, Tony had the uneasy feeling that he shouldn't be listening in on this. But then again, this kitchen wasn't exactly private.

Why would Steve be moping?

Sure, he hadn't exactly approved of Tony's life choices and his morals, but that was one of the things they knew they wouldn't agree on. Just because Steve knew a little more about Tony than he had a month ago didn't change that.

There was a small sigh from Steve. "I don't know what to say."

"About what?" There was a small rustling noise as Peggy did something. "Or is this about what we talked about before?"
Steve didn't respond, but Tony could just picture the rather guilty look on his face.

"Why are you so worried?" Peggy's voice was soft.

"I just…" Steve's voice was just as soft. "I don't know…"

"I think you do."

"I'm…" Steve sighed, the sound followed by another rustling noise that was probably him putting his head in his hands. "I want to." His voice was muffled. "But everytime I do, I just think about what happened last time and I just…freeze."

Peggy's tone was carefully neutral. "Did he hurt you?"

"Nothing like that, no!" Steve answered quickly. "But it was…uncomfortable."

"Oh, Steve…" Peggy laughed. "Emotional conversations aren't supposed to be comfortable."

Leaning back against the wall, Tony put his head back, looking up at the ceiling. He could feel JARVIS eyeing him disapprovingly for eavesdropping on this, but he'd eavesdropped on a lot more personal conversations entirely by accident, and this wasn't even his fault.

"But I don't even know what to say," Steve was saying, woebegone.

"Do you even have to say anything?" Peggy asked gently.

"Yes, I do." The words and tone were adamant. "I want to know what the hell you meant by 'sorting it out,' and since you won't tell me, I have to ask Tony."

There was only one thing Steve could want to know about Peggy and Tony, and that wasn't something Tony really wanted to talk about.

As he'd said to both Gadreel and Steve, emotional topics were really not his forte.

"Whatever you decide, I'll be here for you," Peggy said. "I just won't be physically in the room."

"You're part of the conversation," Steve said.

There was a short pause. "If you're absolutely sure…"

"I am, Peggy."

Tony took a moment to compose himself, trying to make it less obvious that he had listened in on this. Then, bolstering himself, he pushed away from the wall and walked into the kitchen, giving both Steve and Peggy a nod.

"Fancy seeing you here and not in your own kitchen," Tony said easily, making a beeline for the fridge. "Or were you planning on cooking for something so J doesn't have to?"

His back to the two, Tony didn't see Peggy nudging Steve, but he did hear the rustling and the small breath Steve took.

"Actually," Steve started, "I wanted to talk with you."

Grabbing a juice bottle so that he'd have something to play with, Tony closed the fridge, leaning back against it. "I'm here."

Steve took another few seconds before he nodded to himself, frowning slightly. "Peggy said you guys sorted something out when it came to me."

"That sounds dirty," Tony said before he could stop himself.

"I may not have a rubber ball, but I'm sure I can do something with the fruit bowl," Peggy said.

"Please," Steve pleaded. "Can you listen?"

Fingers rubbing patterns in the moisture on the bottle, Tony nodded. "I am. I promise."

"What did she mean by that?" Steve asked. "What did you guys do?"

"It's nothing bad, Steve." Tony moved forwards, pulling out the chair opposite of Steve and sitting down. "But I'll go on the record to say Peggy suggested it."

"You agreed," Peggy pointed out.

"You know why I did."

"Why don't you explain it to me instead of talking in circles?" Steve sounded frustrated. "You don't want to see what I'm picturing at the moment."

Tony bit back the instinctive joke in favor of taking a breath and nodding. "You know what we talked about before."

Steve's eyes darkened and he nodded, swallowing audibly. "Yeah. Hard to forget."

"Well…" Tony tried to think of a good way to phrase the next bit. "Peggy and I had a little talk after she came here."

"Should I be worried?"

As most of this was Peggy's fault as Tony would have been perfectly happy just rolling along and doing his thing without any of this "possibly-in-a-weird-threesome" mess, he gave her a pointed look, tapping his apple juice definitively on the table.

Peggy looked back at him for a few seconds before sighing and nodding. "I noticed how you looked at him, Steve. He cured my Alzheimer's and gave me a choice because he wanted you to be happy. It took me a few days to really make sense of what I was seeing."

"And that led to what?"

"A threesome," Tony drawled, getting a glare from Peggy for his input.

"It's not a threesome," Peggy insisted.

"Possibly a threesome," Tony conceded.

Steve was frowning. "It can't be a threesome if I don't know about it."

"Which is why 'possibly.'"

"There is no 'possibly,'" Peggy disagreed.

This wasn't a fight Tony was going to win, but he was definitely going to send some books for Peggy to read. He shrugged in acquiescence and returned his focus to Steve.

Steve didn't look impressed. "That still doesn't tell me what you guys talked about. The longer you avoid the issue, the more I'll think that you set something up behind my back. Which you technically did."

There was a stab of guilt in Tony's chest, because what Steve said was true. Tony had just never thought that it was something Steve needed to be told. Nothing had changed, and that had been the entire point of the agreement between him and Peggy.

"I didn't think it necessary," Tony said honestly.

"Yeah, well, I do," Steve said flatly. "So what's this you set up between the two of you?"

"Nothing, really," Tony said. "We just keep things the same."

"Then what was the point?"

"That was the point," Peggy said when Tony didn't. She rested a hand on Steve's shoulder, the touch gentle. "I could see what was going on between the two of you, and I didn't want that to change simply because I was there. So I asked that nothing change, that he continue to be there for you the way he had always been. We both want what's best for you, Steve; we always will."

It took Steve a moment to respond, and when he did his voice wavered slightly. "Did either of you think about asking me what I wanted? Instead of cooking up this arrangement?"

Tony's grip tightened on the juice bottle, the plastic denting dangerously under the pressure. "…No," he admitted. "I didn't think about it." Because nothing had changed.

"Of course you didn't," Steve murmured, sounding slightly disappointed. "Peggy?"

"I've become too used to keeping secrets," Peggy said slowly. "Even if I no longer have to. I'm sorry."

Eyes on the juice bottle that was now irreparably squeezed to hell, Tony slowly opened it to relieve the pressure. It sighed in relief. "Do you want things to change?"

"Which means what?" Steve asked, alarmed.

"Whatever you want it to."

"Tony…I liked how things were – are. I would've liked to know what you two talked about, but late's better than never. I don't want anything to change." Steve brought his hands into visible view, stretching out to gently pry the bottle out of Tony's grip. "I don't get why you needed to have this conversation in the first place."

"Generally," Tony started slowly, desperately wanting something in his hands now that the juice bottle was out of reach, "when people enter a relationship, things tend to change. I wasn't planning on anything changing, but Peggy brought it up." He gave a one-shouldered shrug, not sure what else to add.

"He could be there for you in ways I couldn't," Peggy said. "And I know some who wouldn't be comfortable having their partner in an intimate relationship like that."

"An emotional affair," Tony said dryly.

"Peggy." Steve looked pained. "You're not lacking."

"Perhaps not now, but later?" Peggy's voice was calm. "I know my limits, Steve. Besides, I love you, and I know that talking with Tony makes you happy."

"Talking with you makes me happy."

"You talk with Tony over just about everything," Peggy said quietly. "Including things you hesitate to share with James and me. And what Tony did for me was only because he did it for you."

Tony kept his eyes on his hands as he felt Steve's gaze flicker to him. He couldn't honestly say that he would have done it for anyone else without them asking him first. Pepper and Rhodey, yes, and the same for his kids. But he didn't have the same relationship with the other Avengers as he did with Steve, even if he was attached to them.

"Okay…" Steve took a deep breath, running a hand over his face. "The crux of this arrangement you two came to was that nothing should change."

When Tony didn't answer beyond a small nod that Steve might have missed, Peggy confirmed with a verbal yes.

"Well, now I know about it," Steve said.

Tony reached for the fruit bowl, picking out an apple. "Meaning what?"

Steve cracked a smile that was hiding far too much mischief. "This is now officially a threesome."

Tony lasted all of three seconds before breaking down into laughter, burying his head in his arms on the table. He could just hear Peggy say "Oh bloody hell, Steve, seriously?" over Steve's too innocent sounding "What?"

"That doesn't mean we're not finished talking about it," Steve said once Tony's laughter had died down, "but I need a bit more time to think on it."

Tossing the apple back in the fruit bowl, Tony grinned at him, utterly relieved. "You know where to find me."

The next few days were rather awkward, the team trying to find their footing around Tony. As he had other things to take care of, Tony didn't really particularly care. They'd sort it out on their own terms, and it wasn't his job to make them comfortable around him.

He had unfinished business left over from the Trickster, and he hated leaving a job undone. It didn't take long for him to finish with the last of Wilson Fisk's associates, inflicting their own medicine on them. Then, washing his hands of the whole sorry affair, he left the rest of Hell's Kitchen to the so-called Devil.

Once the guy was a bit more established, Tony would see about reaching out to him, but for now they'd leave him alone. Steve's impression of him had been rather vague aside from "tough" and "had a bone to pick with the team." James's had added "stubborn" and "as much as an idiot as Steve."

The picture they'd painted along with the info Gadreel had gleaned from his body while healing him was intriguing, but Tony wasn't that much of a jackass that he was going to stalk the guy and see what he did and then jump on him while he was unaware.

Besides, he had bigger fish to fry.

Loki had returned to Asgard after making sure that everything was fine and there would be no further issues. He and Tony had also caught up on how Loki was handling the whole "advisor to the king" shtick, and while Loki had made some cryptically worrying comments, Tony wasn't going to pry it out of him.

There would come the time that this universe would realize that Earth wasn't unprotected, but hopefully that was still a ways off. Many alien species had other things to worry about than one relatively backwater planet in the Milky Way galaxy, and while Earth hadn't yet made any big waves, things would change eventually.

For now he'd kick back, relax, and do team stuff like go out and kick random villain ass.

Even if the villains were obnoxiously annoying like the Wrecking Crew, since they didn't seem to get the message that things would be a lot less painful for them if they just stayed behind bars.

Not that Tony really blamed them for wanting to get out, since orange was a ridiculously bright color and prison was generally drab, but one would think they'd have gotten the message.

It started with JARVIS alerting Tony in the workshop: "Sir, the Wrecking Crew has been spotted robbing a bank on Fifth Avenue."

"What – again?"

"Yes." JARVIS sounded longsuffering.

They didn't need to bring everyone to handle the four superhumans that made up the Crew, but everyone was itchy enough that it didn't matter. It would make things easier in any case.

"I call the guy with the really big ball of steel," Clint said over the comms.

Tony didn't even have to look to know that Clint had already taken his position on a building opposite the bank.

"Crowbar's mine," James said easily.

"I'll take him, too," Natasha said. "It'll be fun."

"I'll chase down Piledriver," Peggy said, her motorcycle revving in the background.

"What – I get the guy who can pound me into the pavement?" Steve sounded affronted.

"Relax, Cap." Tony landed in his signature three-point move next to Steve. "I've got your back."

Peggy's motorcycle dropped into view directly before she hit Piledriver with it. She gave the man a mocking salute before revving the engine and driving off, the infuriated villain in hot pursuit and about to run straight into a trap. Hulk would enjoy pummeling him into a pulp.

Natasha and James were tag-teaming Wrecker, both of them too fast for the other to hit with his crowbar.

"You know we could just finish this in five and go get pizza," Tony offered casually, pulling out of range of Bulldozer's charge. He landed behind him and fired a repulsor at his back, knocking him off balance long enough for Steve to get in a good hit.

"You could," Clint said just as casually, firing an arrow that would net Thunderball's wrecking ball and render it useless, "but then where would we get our fun?"

"Pizza after," James said, punching Wrecker in the face with his left hand.

"Not that it wouldn't be fun seeing you hand their asses to them," Natasha said, slightly breathless.

A repulsor blast reflected off Steve's shield knocked Bulldozer back into an already ruined wall.

"I'd be down for getting this done in five," Steve said, flinging his shield directly into Bulldozer's face. That it knocked the villain out cold was only thanks to a little angelic interference. Catching the shield with one hand, he looked at Tony with a small quirk of the lips that Tony recognized as a silent "thank you."

"Too fast and it's suspicious," Peggy pointed out. "They don't go down easy."

"Says who?" Natasha electrocuted Wrecker with her Widow's bites, jamming them into his neck after she landed on his shoulders. A quick punch to the head later from a solid metal arm and Wrecker was out for the count. "Thanks, Iron Man."

"For what?" Tony's voice was innocent.

"Real cute." Clint swung down from the building, notching another arrow to his bow and letting it fly, electrocuting Thunderball as it pierced his shoulder. "Man, if these guys were robots I could just blow them up."

"No," everyone said at once.

"It's like you guys don't trust me," Tony said, firing a blast directly into Thunderball's other shoulder and knocking him back. "Robots are boring."

"We trust you," Natasha assured him.

"Enough to know that robots are not going to be your go-to thing," James added.

"Let's just round them up," Steve said, sighing.

On cue, Hulk landed in their midst, crumpling the asphalt beneath his feet; he tossed the unconscious form of Piledriver on top of Wrecker, huffing in disgust. Peggy pulled to a stop seconds later, head tilting as she scanned them with her visor. She didn't flinch as Hulk dumped the other three members of the Crew on top of Wrecker.

"That was fast," Peggy said, head turning to Tony. He couldn't see her face, but he knew what look she was wearing.

"We have a plan now," Tony answered. "These guys are chumps."

"Curse you," Wrecker said faintly, twitching feebly under the weight of his fellow teammates.

"Been there, done that," Tony said loftily, sending a message to the force in charge of picking up villainous superhumans. "And you're being sent back to where you belong, which is sadly not the sewer system."

"Considering it's sentient, that could be classified as abuse," Natasha pointed out.

"It's not sentient anymore," Tony protested. He and Gadreel had made sure of that, and Tony'd gone to tell Reed off.

"It was still sentient."

"Does that mean it's technically a corpse now?" Clint asked, glancing down.

"If this shows up on twitter and people start petitioning for the sewers to be buried, I'm blaming you," Steve told him.

"It's technically already buried," Tony said. "Y'know, since it's under our feet and all."

"They'll argue for moving it," Peggy said, smirking. "We can't have a corpse being desecrated."

"Why are we talking about corpses?" Bruce asked, confused, having de-Hulked a few seconds ago. Hulk hadn't seemed very intrigued in their sewer system conversation.

"Because," Clint said unhelpfully, offering him a jacket.

"Because why?" Bruce frowned.

"Because it's a sewer system and I'm in the mood for pizza," Steve said firmly, hitching his shield on his back.

"That doesn't even make any sense," Bruce said, zipping up the jacket. "But I'm good with pizza."

"I'll order in," Tony said. "Same as usual?"

"No anchovies," Clint said immediately.

"Have we ever gotten it with anchovies?" Tony asked.

"I don't think so," Steve replied. "They are pretty gross."

"Extra cheese," Natasha said noncommittally, inspecting her Widow's Bites far too innocently.

"Lots of cheese," James added.

"I'll take extra meat," Bruce said.

"So same order as usual." Tony let JARVIS finalize the order on the HUD of the suit before sending it off. "Last one back tips the delivery kid."

"Do you remember what happened last time Steve went to do that?" Clint protested.

Since Steve had incidentally been shirtless thanks to an unfortunate spillage of hot chocolate moments prior to opening the door, the memory was fresh.

"I don't think the kid was complaining," Peggy said thoughtfully.

"Who would complain when confronted with that?" Tony teased. "Unless the person in question had nudity issues or something."

"Ha, ha," Steve said sarcastically, a blush dusting his cheeks. "Can we talk about something other than me being shirtless?"

"Preferably on the way back to the tower," Clint said. "I'm starving."

"I call a ride back with Tony," Natasha said. "I don't have any money for a tip."

Clint wrinkled his nose. "Pass on that, unless it's with the suit and not your weird magic thing."

"It's called flying, and it's only magic if I don't feel like using my wings," Tony shot back. "But if you want to hang onto the suit across half of New York, feel free. I'll ask Gadreel to catch you if you fall."

"Like I said, pass."

Shrugging, Tony held out an arm for Natasha to hold onto. "Your decision." Then, without a second's warning, he took off.

There were several outraged exclamations over the comm, accompanied by Natasha's snicker as she clung to his side.

"They're going to get you for that," she told him, the suit's microphone easily picking up on her voice.

Tony grinned, eyes on the rapidly approaching tower. "Bring it." He didn't mind.

Everything was as it should be.

Thanks for sticking with us all the way through!

Please drop a note and tell us what you really enjoyed! This is not the end of this series. If you want to keep up to date on events and ask me questions about the series or characters, feel free to follow thelastarchangelaskblog on tumblr. Thanks for reading!