Hey babes! Back again with the FINAL CHAPTER of this little story here. Thanks so much to everyone who's read and reviewed. Your support has been awesome and I've loved getting to hear what you've all thought of this world my friend and I created. We love these kids and I'm glad you all do too. :)

Enjoy!

*3 1/2 years later*

Staring at the background photo on her laptop, Ava lets her mind wander to everything that's happened to her and those around her over the past few years.

She smiles at the particular memory invoked from the photo. It's of her, Adian, Lacey, and Tyler, from the first time they went to visit Adian at the Inhuman Sanctuary, not long after he moved there to start working on getting a hold of his abilities.

It had been tough on both the twins, to not have each other around constantly for training, but they managed to get through it all. With Ava being able to visit her brother at the Sanctuary, it definitely made things easier for the two of them.

"Today's the day. The day we've been waiting for since we first got here. We're finally graduating. We finally get to become real agents. This day couldn't have come fast enough."

Ava smiles from her place sitting at her nearly empty desk. "I can already feel that today's going to be a really good day," she tells her friend, not looking away from the photo and the happy smiles staring back at her.

"You really think so?" Lacey asks.

Ava nods. "Absolutely." She turns in her chair. "I mean, I can't think of much else aside from the fact that we're finally graduating, but I just have a really good feeling about the day in general."

"Well I've learned to trust your 'feelings' over the last four years," Lacey says, "so I'm going to believe you."

Ava laughs quietly. "Good plan. And why do you always have to put air quotes around it whenever you say feelings?"

Lacey shrugs. "I don't know. It fits, though. Nobody else does what you do, so I'm choosing to put air quotes around it."

"It's not like it's a superpower or anything," Ava says. "I've just always had these gut instincts about stuff that I've learned to trust over the years, even if other people tell me I've crazy."

"Like the simulation mission with the Operations cadets our second year?"

Ava groans. "Do not even remind me about that right now, Lace. I got so much crap afterward, everybody thought I cheated somehow."

"Well the important thing is that you didn't."

"Yeah." She takes a deep breath and sits up a little straighter in her seat. "Do you want to head down together?" she asks her best friend.

Lacey nods. "Yeah, sure."

"Great. I think I'm just about ready to go." She turns back to her laptop, finishes typing a few lines of code, and then closes out of the program and locks her computer, shutting the lid of it.

Standing from her chair, she looks over at her roommate and takes a deep breath in, letting a smile crawl across her lips. "Alright, let's do this."

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Standing outside in the warm spring air, Ava watches all the people gathering together in the open stadium, cadets and civilians alike. Many of the visitors are talking amongst themselves as they wait for the ceremony to start, while many of the cadets are sitting anxiously in their seats as they also wait.

"There's the beautiful almost-graduate."

Smiling wide, Ava spins around quickly to see Brian standing a few feet away from her, dressed in a dark suit with a smile on his face. She immediately runs toward him, jumping up into his arms and hugging him tightly.

Brian hugs her back, burying his face in her hair and breathing in deeply.

"I thought you weren't going to be able to make it back," Ava says when they pull out of the hug. "You were supposed to be gone for another week."

He nods. "I know. But the mission got finished earlier than we expected. Figured I'd come here and surprise you."

"Well this is definitely the best surprise I've ever received," she tells him. "I really missed you while you were gone."

"I missed you too. I spent every day out on that mission thinking about you and how much I can't live without you."

Ava smiles up at him, her arms wrapped up around his neck. "You certainly know how to sweet talk a girl."

"Well that's where you're wrong, my little flower," Tyler announces his presence as he approaches the couple, a big smile on his face. "For we both know that I am the true master when it comes to wooing the ladies. I'm just waiting for the day when you realize this bozo isn't your true love and you leave him and come running into my arms and allow me to sweep you off your feet. Both literally and figuratively."

Ava rolls her eyes. "Yeah, in your dreams, Ty."

Tyler winks playfully at her. "Always, sweetheart."

"I could hear Ava's eyes rolling as I approached," Adian speaks up as he nears the small group. "Was Tyler hitting on her again?"

"Why do you always assume it was something I did?" Tyler asks his friend.

"Tyler, how many times over the last four years has Ava rolled her eyes at someone?"

"Way too many to count."

"And how many of those times was it because of someone other than you when you were hitting on her?"

"Not very many."

Adian nods. "Exactly."

"Okay, I see your point there."

Adian chuckles. "Good, I'm glad that you do."

"Doesn't mean I'm going to stop hitting on her every chance I get, though." He grins.

Ava laughs quietly. "You wouldn't be the Tyler we all know and tolerate if you didn't hit on me at least once an hour," she jokes. "And it's a good thing Brian's not a jealous, insecure guy or we'd be having some real problems."

"So is this where the pre-party is?" Lacey asks as she joins her group of friends. "Brian!" she exclaims when she sees her best friends' boyfriend, quickly pulling him down into a hug. "I didn't know you'd be back for this. Ava said you weren't supposed to get back until next week." She lets him out of the hug and takes a few steps back.

"I wanted to surprise her," Brian explains, wrapping an arm around Ava's waist and holding her close. Ava gladly leans into her boyfriend's hold, smiling as she rests her head on his chest. "Our mission got done earlier than expected."

Lacey nods in understanding. "Ah. Well we're glad you could be here."

Brian smiles at the blonde. "Thanks. I am too."

"Lacey," Adian speaks up, getting the girls' attention, "hi. Uh, did you do something different with you hair?"

Lacey gives him a small smile and touches the ends of her hair. "Sort of."

"Well it looks really good."

She tucks a few loose strands of hair behind her ears. "Thanks." She clears her throat and looks at the rest of the group. "I'm uh, I'm gonna go and find my seat. I think the ceremony's supposed to start soon."

"I'll come with you," Adian says with a small smile, quickly falling into step beside Lacey and engaging in quiet conversation with her as they walk.

Tyler rolls his eyes and sighs. "I swear, Adian really needs to accept my offer of teaching him how to flirt with a girl he actually likes. It makes my heart ache watching him get all flustered around Lacey."

"I think it's cute how nervous he gets," Ava says with a small tilt of her head as she watches them walk away. "And I'm definitely rooting for them to actually get together. My best friend would become my sister and I can't think of anything better than that."

"I can think of plenty of things better than that, but I know you don't want to hear them, so I'll go find my seat instead."

Ava smiles. "It only took three years, but he's finally learning," she teases.

"You're hilarious, Ava," Tyler says as he slowly backs away.

"Of course I am."

"I'm always going to love you, my little flower," he tells her as he turns around.

"And I'll always reject you, Ty," she calls after his retreating form, a quiet laugh escaping past her lips.

"Hey, Ava, can I talk to you for a minute?" Brian speaks up, catching his girlfriend's attention.

Ava looks up at him. "Yeah, sure, what's up?"

"Let's talk over here," he says, grabbing her hand and pulling her over into a small alcove just off to the side.

"So what's so important you had to drag me away from the zero people near us?" Ava asks her boyfriend once they're stopped and facing each other.

"Well, I wanted a little privacy so I could ask you something."

"What is it?"

He takes a deep breath and shifts on his feet. "Um, well, we've been together for about two and a half years now, and they've been really, really great. I honestly can't imagine living my life without you in it."

Ava's brows furrow. "Brian, what are you going on about?"

"Listen, I know we're both still fairly young, and we don't have to do anything about it right away if you don't want to, I just...I never want you to be out of my life." He takes another deep breath, dropping down onto one knee and reaching into his pants pocket.

Ava's eyes go wide in realization. "Brian!" she whisper shouts. "What the hell are you-"

"Ava Rose Ward," he cuts her off gently, holding a small black box up in front of her, flipping up the lid to reveal, a simple, yet elegant diamond ring. "Will you marry me?"

A slow grin spreads across her face and she nods her head. "Yes! Of course I will!"

Brian grins as well, rising back up onto both feet to slide the ring onto Ava's waiting left hand then pull her in for a searing kiss, one of his hands circling around her waist as the other cradles the back of her neck.

Pulling away after a long moment, Ava rests her forehead against Brian's, her arms wrapped securely around his neck, a smile still very evident on her face.

"I love you so much," Ava whispers.

Brian smiles. "I love you too, Ava. I can't wait to tell everyone that we're engaged."

"Neither can I." She slowly pulls away from him and slides the engagement ring off her finger, slipping it into the pocket of her pants.

Brian's brows furrow. "What are you doing?"

"I want to tell everyone, believe me I do, but I want to wait until later today. Once we're all together somewhere celebrating becoming agents we'll tell them. It'll be like the icing on the cake. Is that okay with you?"

He smiles and nods. "I'm fine with whatever you want. I'm just thrilled that you said yes."

"Did you ever have any doubt that I would?" she asks him with a small smile.

He shakes his head. "Not for a second."

"Good." She takes a deep breath. "Now, I should go find my seat with the other cadets, while you go find your seat in the audience."

"Your parents agreed to save me a seat," he tells her.

"My parents knew you would be here before I did?"

He smiles sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry."

She sighs with a tiny smile, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. "It's fine. I just love how well you get along with them. It'll make telling them we're getting married so much easier. Though, my dad might freak out a little because I'm pretty sure he still sees me as his innocent little girl."

"He's your dad," Brian says. "He loves you and wants what's best for you. And I think he'll be okay, because I may have asked your parents for permission to marry you."

Ava's eyes go wide. "You what?"

"They said yes," he tells her. "But I probably would have asked you even if they had said no. Because I am hopelessly in love with you and never want to be without you by my side."

"Well I feel the same way about you."

"I'm glad."

Ava rises up on her toes and presses a quick kiss to Brian's lips. "I need to go find my seat, but I love you, and I'll see you later after the ceremony. By the way, we're all getting together for dinner tonight to celebrate graduating. The whole family's gonna be there. And Tyler and Lacey."

"When you say the whole family..."

"I mean all of the Avengers as well. At least, the ones I grew up around."

He nods. "Right, yeah, okay. Just checking."

"We can tell them all tonight, if you want to."

"I do want to," he assures her. "I'm just a little worried about the Avengers being there. The last thing I want is Iron Man giving me the death glare when we tell them all."

Ava rolls her eyes and waves off his concern. "Uncle Tony's practically harmless, he's like a teddy bear. Auntie Tasha is the one you really want to watch out for. She'll come at you and you'd never even see her coming."

Brian frowns. "Gee, thanks Ava. That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Ava laughs quietly at the look on his face. "I'm sorry. I promise you everything will be fine. I really do have to go find my seat." She leans up to give him one final kiss. "I love you." She smiles at him as she turns around and makes her way over to the seating for the cadets in the stadium.

Her eyes search the crowd as she nears the back of the area, immediately finding her brother sitting in the last row of chairs, chatting with the cadet sitting next to him.

She makes her way over to him, politely pushing through a few cadets and then falling down into her seat next to her brother.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Adian asks his sister once she joins him, after finishing his previous conversation.

Ava fights the wide grin that threatens to break through again at the thought of her fiance. There's a part of her that just wants to tell him now and not wait; he's her brother, her best friend, they tell each other everything. For the most part. "Oh, uh, I was just talking to Brian about our plans for tonight."

Adian nods. "Ah. So is he coming to dinner with all of us then? Or are you two gonna do something just the two of you?"

"He's coming to dinner. But he may have freaked a little when I told him the whole family is gonna be there."

Adian nods again and chuckles quietly. "Yeah, that makes sense. But hasn't he met some of them already?"

Ava shrugs. "Yeah. But that was for academic purposes. This is off the clock, very intimate and personal. That would freak anyone out."

"Yeah, I guess so. Are you guys doing anything after dinner? Tyler, Lacey, and I are gonna hang out afterward, I think. You can come with us if you want."

Ava smiles knowingly. "You're hanging out with Lacey, huh?"

"And Tyler."

Ava nods. "Uh-huh. And are you the one who invited Tyler?"

Adian shrugs. "Maybe."

Ava sighs and shakes her head at her brother. "Adian, you're never going to be able to spend time with Lacey alone and tell her how you feel if you keep inviting other people to hang out with you guys. Keep it up and she'll lose interest."

"That's the last thing I'm worried about, Ava," he tells his sister.

"Sure it is, whatever helps you sleep at night."

"I sleep just fine, thank you."

"Probably dreaming about asking Lacey out," she mumbles under her breath.

"I heard that."

"Good. You were meant to. Now hush, they're almost at Lacey's name."

Adian and Ava listen attentively, their eyes fixed on the stage as their Nana May, being the Deputy Director, reads off the names of the graduates.

"Lacey Donaldson."

The two twins clap their hands as loud as they can in excitement for their friend.

Ava casts a sideways glance at her brother, catching sight of the beaming smile on his face as he watches Lacey walk onto the stage and collect her certificate.

"Yeah, you obviously have no interest in her."

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"Tyler Marcus Parks."

Adian and Ava clap their hands with wide smiles on their faces as they watch their friend saunter up to the front of the stage, accepting his certificate from Phil.

Ava wants to shout out something at Tyler, knowing he'd react well and shout something back. But this isn't the right place for that.

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"Adian Leo Ward."

Taking a deep breath, Adian moves down the rest of the aisle and up the stairs onto the stage, accepting his certificate from Phil, shaking his hand. Phil pulls his pseudo-grandson into a quick hug before giving him a quick nod.

Adian smiles back at Phil and then makes his way down the stairs and back toward his seat, quickly making eye contact with his parents in the crowd and flashing them a smile.

"Ava Rose Ward."

Ava smiles brightly as she moves down the aisle, up the steps, and to the center of the stage, meeting Phil in a handshake as she accepts her certificate. She gives him a slightly longer hug than Adian before making her way back down to her seat by her brother.

A few more names are called before everyone is back in their respective seats and Phil is back at the podium smiling at them all.

"Congratulations, Cadets. I'm sorry, I mean to say Agents," he says with a small smile. "You've all come a long way since your first day here, and I've very proud to be able to witness the next generation of agents who have decided to dedicate the rest of their lives to helping keep this planet safe from anyone or anything who tries to cause it harm."

Adian leans over to his sister with a small smile on his face, his eyes never leaving the stage where his grandfather continues to speak. "So, you ready to start saving the world, baby sister?"

Ava grins, clutching tightly to the engagement ring inside her pocket. "Oh, I am so ready, big brother."

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

It's over, you guys, oh man. Thank you again, to everyone who's read and reviewed this story. It's been fun.

But don't worry, I am currently working on a sequel for this story. No posting date in mind yet, because I still have to really nail down the plot and finish writing it. But keep an eye out for that anyways. :)

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!