I'm sort of sad, guys! It's almost the end. I think I'm going to cry.

Born To Die

Part of Me

"This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me."

Katy Perry

Tony Stark ignored the desperate pleas of the brunette sprinting after him.

Well, he ignored her until she made that action impossible. Which she did by literally tackling him to the ground. He rolled away, pushing her off of him none too gently. Trying to avoid her hurt eyes, they both stumbled to their feet, Tony attempting to get as far away from her as possible.

She had hurt him. Was this what all the blonde bimbos had felt when they woke up to realize he didn't give a shit about them? Ana had left him involuntarily and voluntarily, lied to him and cheated on him. There was a huge, gaping hole in his heart, and while he knew he could never live without her, he couldn't be with her anymore. He had thought he could fix her, and by that, fix himself, but now he wasn't so sure.

He felt strong hands grasp his shoulders tightly, and he angrily tried to escape, but the way she was holding him made it almost impossible for him to move without the help of his suit.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you seriously using one of your master assassin super-secret moves on me?" He turned to the stunned group of Avengers standing about thirty feet away. "Guys, help! I feel threatened!" No one moved, not even the Hulk, who was actually watching the exchange with curiosity.

"Why are you leaving? We won, we're good, can't we just-" Ana trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Don't you understand? You left me, twice!" He spat, struggling harder, but she still wouldn't let go. Ana crushed his warm body to hers, trying to keep him with her.

"Well, I'm sorry for caring for my team!" She retorted

"I'm sorry for ever thinking you'd actually stay with me! Actually, you know what? Good thing I got rid of you; you're just a bitchy ex-assassin that needs psychiatric help," Tony sneered.

Ana instantly let go of the billionaire, backing away as if she had been burned. Tony had always been the one who built her up, stood up for her. She saw Steve defiantly open his mouth out of the corner of her eye, but Clint clapped a hand over his captain's mouth before he could say a word. She turned back the man in front of her, wondering if this was really the man who held her tightly on the beach. It couldn't possibly be the same man she made love to, who had stubbornly demanded her attention even when Captain America had stood over her protectively. Her Tony had dealt with every blow directed toward him, even the time bomb of the team and her own inner problems, which pretty much added up to the equivalent of a nuclear war. This Tony… This Tony was giving up.

Some part of her deep inside told her that she was watching him finally accept the terrible truth about her, but now the horrible, derisive words were bubbling up inside her, and she was no longer able to hold back her opinion about him.

"Yeah? Well, you're a egocentric, gauche bastard that couldn't see past the whores in his bed and realize that his partner was killing billions of people with his own stupid weapons!" She smiled slightly at Tony's stunned look, getting an immense amount of pleasure from being able to hurt him like he hurt her. She vaguely saw the shape of Natasha shrugging at the honesty of her words, and her lips split even further.

But Tony wasn't the king of wit for nothing. "So did you come up with that all by yourself or read the tabloids from two years ago on the plane ride here?"

"No," she spat, "I read them the night before you took me out to lunch the first time, to remind myself to never fall for your sleazy tricks!"

"What about you, Miss I-killed-people-for-a-living-for-twenty-years-and-try-to-ignore-it? How many men have you batted your eyelashes at in order to take them into the next room and choke them, huh? How many?" Ana flinched. She hated to be reminded of that time period… She had been so weak.

Tony smirked, and Ana snapped defensively, "Don't you dare presume to know me, Anthony Stark! You know, I think-"

"Hold on," he interrupted. "Let me turn on the part of my brain that cares about what you think - oh wait, it doesn't exist."

"I think you're just like your father."

Tony eyes flashed a dark hue – later Clint would claim that, for a split second, they were a brilliant red, but no one ever listens to Clint – and his features were so livid that Ana immediately regretted her words. Her statement had been so low: too low. "Stark, I-"

He interrupted her, stalking toward her and backing her into the wall of the church. "I hate you," he hissed before bending down and brutally taking her lips with his. She arched into his touch, her five-two frame curling into his taller one. He grasped her hips, probably bruising her, forcing her against the flat surface even harder. The back of her head fell onto the wall, a sharp pain echoing though her skull.

Steve turned to the two master assassins beside him. "Should we…" he began, trailing off awkwardly and gesturing toward the couple.

Natasha shook her head, watching the two with careful eyes. "Only if it gets violent. Otherwise, they need this. They'll never get back together unless they get honest with each other, and to tell the truth? The Avengers Team, not to mention SHIELD, needs both of them."

Clint agreed. "Yeah, but just in case… Hulk? You ready to get in there if Ana starts swiping at the moron with fiery fists, buddy?" He paused. "Not going to lie; I'm pretty proud of the alliteration in that sentence."

"Not your 'buddy'," the Hulk grumbled in response, but the green giant still watched Ana and Tony carefully with surprisingly intelligent green eyes. He really liked the Iron man, and to be honest, Fire Girl –Ana, he corrected; he had just learned her name- was pretty intimidating.

Steve gave Clint an odd look. "Alliteration? You mean that thing in poetry?" He questioned dubiously.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Agent Barton recently sat in on an English class at Oxford during a reconnaissance mission. He's very proud of the knowledge he gained… in that Freshman English class…" She trailed off sarcastically.

Clint huffed. "No judgment, Nat," he said, acting truly wounded. "Hey, want me to tell them about the time you took that ballet class, just for 'gathering intel about the subject'? That's what was in your report, right?"

"Shut up."

Steve stared in wonder at the two assassins before him. Funny, he used to think all they did and thought about was killing.

Ana broke away from Tony, spinning and pinning him to the wall instead. The four other Avengers turned back to watch the soap opera that was playing out in front of them. "If you hate me so much, then why the hell did you kiss me?" The brunette demanded. Clint shrugged; it was a valid point.

Tony froze for a minute. Then, the words tore out of his mouth. "You're just another pretty face. That's all." His eyes flickered back down to her to her lips, but Ana had already backed away in shock.

"That's all?" she repeated in disbelief, her voice barely above a whisper. "You know, that's what the Russians thought, and probably what SHIELD and my family thinks, but I sure as hell didn't expect that from you, Stark," she said, her voice rising with every word. "Did you ever care at all?"

Tony narrowed his eyes, shaking in head in disappointment. He could feel his hands trembling. "I loved you, Ana. I loved you so much, but it wasn't worth it!" He yelled.

Ana's mouth dropped open in shock. "You're a bastard!" She shouted.

Tony laughed. "And why is that?" He sneered. Ana retaliated immediately, unable to stop the words from tumbling from her mouth.

"Because I love you!"

She regretted the words as soon as she spoke them, clapping a hand over her mouth when the weak phrase escaped her lips. Five heads spun to stare at her, all in varying stages of astonishment. She began to back away quickly, stopped only by the expression on Tony's face. He was obviously shocked, more shocked than the others. Ana was horrified, and the billionaire's astonishment faded into slight smugness.

Tony wanted to hear those words again. He wanted to hear those words over and over and over again. He stepped toward her, ignoring her instinctive step back. He was still in a high stage of disbelief. "Stop the fucking presses and run that by me again. You what?"

Ana rolled her eyes, taking an angry step forward. "Oh, fuck you!" she yelled, still not meeting his eyes. She couldn't believe she had told him that she loved him. But it, unfortunately, was the truth.

The billionaire's eyes lit up mischievously at her answer. "You already did," Tony shot back, completely and utterly self-satisfied.

Ana's head jerked up, and the second her eyes met Tony's, they both burst into hysterical laughter. Soon, Tony fell to his knees from the lack of air, and Anastasia stumbled over. Natasha, Clint, and Steve looked absolutely shocked at the sudden mood change, but the Hulk just pounded his fists happily.

"I love you," Ana repeated, her voice no longer a shout, but a firmly happy tone. She fell to the ground next to her Tony, and he wrapped her tightly in his arms telling her that he loved her over and over again. The laughs turned to sobs, and whispered promises of never, ever leaving again.

"You're part of me," Tony breathed. "This team - shoot me now for admitting this –is part of me now. And I'll raise hell if either of you are taken from me."

Ana smiled. "You'll never have nothing again if I have anything to do with it."

The Hulk bounded up to them, lifting them both separately into the air with each hand before squashing them together once more. "Ana and Iron Man kiss," he demanded, pressing their bodies together even more tightly. Tony wormed his arms around Ana carefully.

"I was about to say the same exact thing, Big Guy," Tony replied, before capturing Ana's lips in his.

They ignored Clint's catcalls, and Natasha's groan. They ignored the honking cars, the terrified screams of the general populace as their eyes caught on the giant, green, rage monster. It felt like a huge cocoon surrounded them, and they were completely impervious to the rest of the world.

And that was exactly how it was supposed to be.

AAA

It was a thirty-minute cab ride to Tony's Malibu house. They joked around on the ride there, Ana laid out on top of Tony, Steve, and Clint, with a passed out Bruce in the truck and a smiling Natasha riding shotgun. The cabbie didn't say a word, and Tony gave him a huge tip upon their arrival.

No one said a word as they went inside, seeing six bags lined out neatly on the kitchen table. Ana gave Tony a curious look, but he avoided her gaze, settling for wrapping an arm around her shoulder and grabbing their bags in his other hand.

They spent all of ten minutes in Malibu.

When they reached the garage, Tony tossed the keys to his bright yellow Lamborghini to Natasha. "This is going to sound so ironic, but you're the only one I can trust with this car," he explained. Natasha rolled her eyes, catching the keys and squeezing the billionaire's shoulder in a very Un-Black-Widow-Like move. Tony flinched slightly, before relaxing and giving her a quick, genuine smile. It was the first she had ever gotten. "Rev it up, Red," he ordered as she slid into the front seat. Bruce and Steve immediately joined her.

Ana and Clint had already fought over shotgun in the red Ferrari convertible adjacent to the yellow car, Ana winning when she literally flipped over the archer, using his shoulders as anchors, and into the seat perfectly.

"Ever think of gymnastics instead of being a master assassin?" He grumbled.

She pretended to ponder this, before smiling back at the grumpy Hawkeye in the backseat. "Nah," she replied with a smirk. "I like being the best at what I do."

Clint was about to retort defensively, when Tony entered the car. "Okay, guys, road trip!"

They sped off, Natasha following Tony closely.

"What's the plan?" Ana asked her billionaire.

"We're going on vacation," Tony replied softly, covering her hand with his. "We're picking up Thor and Jane, and we're going on a long, SHIELD-is-paying-for-everything, vacation."

The Lamborghini and the Ferrari sped next to each other down the two-lane highway. All the surrounding cars pulled off or sped up when they saw them. And Steve was pretty sure they were making the general populace pretty furious, because Tony and Natasha started a game of 'Who Can Make Their Music Louder And Sing Along'. Natasha was blasting Remember the Name and Ana turned up Payphone so loud the speakers were literally shaking.

Clint was the loudest in the red car, but surprising, Bruce ran away with the award for best singer in the yellow car.

Tony turned to Ana, raising a playful eyebrow, as if to say 'Who'd have thought?'

AAA

Jane Foster hung back, watching the six Avengers make their way into the private jet. She observed them closely, trying to gather some sort of information on the people that Thor had called 'family'.

The one that immediately caught her eye was the serious redheaded assassin, a clouded yet extremely sharp look in her bright green eyes. She walked with a purpose, not touching anyone, yet a wired man had his hand on her arm, and they were having a whispered conversation.

The archer, as she knew him, was stocky but strong, with a congenial smile pasted on his face when he greeted her for the first time. She knew that he hid sharp eyes beneath his ray-bands, always on the lookout for danger.

Thor was regaling the seemingly shy scientist with a tale of his latest battle. The scientist walked with a slight slump, though he seemed more social than Thor had originally described him. Jane smiled; the Avengers team must be doing something for him. His hands were deep inside his pockets, but Jane could tell he was fiddling with something. As a scientist herself, she knew how that was. He was the first Avenger she could see herself being friends with.

The super soldier walked alone, deep in thought. He was tall, Jane observed, and well muscled. All in the entire perfect male specimen. He was shooting long looks at the beautiful, yet extremely quiet brunette, who –like the redhead- had said nothing to Jane when Thor introduced her. She had only pierced the astrophysicist with a knowing stare, before turning to speak to the redhead. Jane wondered why the assassin didn't return the soldier's affections.

And that was when her eyes drifted to the couple.

Because they were so obviously that. A couple. The brunette walked alone from the car, but the billionaire quickly caught up to her, slinging a suit jacket-clad arm around her strong shoulders. Jane was certain that she would push him off; the assassin didn't really seem like one for affection. But she was wrong.

The brunette gazed up at the man next to her with a fond smile. There was a sudden change of connection, and suddenly their arms were linked tightly together and the man had his free hand on hers, a sort of staying motion. He was whispering conspiratorially to her, an encouraging half smile on his face. She tilted her head back, letting out a bubbling laugh. Jane nearly jumped at the noise. Then she noticed the brunette call out to the super soldier, who shot a witty comment right back at her. And suddenly, the entire Avengers team was laughing, including the three master assassins.

But now Jane understood.

How could she have thought that the soldier and the assassin would fit well together? After her recent experience with love, how could she possibly still think it was the conventional relationships that lasted? No, it was the ones you struggled for, the ones that weren't perfect, even though the person you were with was your soul mate. Jane knew that feeling, and suddenly she was connected to these people. There were no more descriptions in her thoughts, only names.

Natasha. Clint. Thor. Bruce. Steve. Anastasia. Anthony.

Anastasia. Anthony.

Ana. Tony.

Jane now had the urge to slap herself. She was starting to sound like a fan-girl.

Natasha turned to Bruce, and they talked and laughed, entering the plane as one.

Thor ran up the walkway, shouting questions to Bruce about how this and that worked. Jane rolled her eyes fondly; her boyfriend was such a handful.

Steve dropped a long kiss on Ana's cheek, patting her gently on the shoulder, and Jane had this sudden feeling in the pit of her stomach. That was important, but she didn't know why. Steve then entered the plane, his questions drowning out Thor's.

Tony turned to his girlfriend, his avenger, his Ana. In the eyes of none but Jane –she didn't believe in God after Thor; who could? – Tony leaned in, kissing Ana hard on the lips. On the outside, it was a harsh embrace, his hands twisting her hair and her nails scratching through his t-shirt, but Jane could see further.

It was beautiful, it was gentle, and it made Jane's eyes prickle with happy tears. She wanted it to be like this with Thor, she wanted this love, this trust. Tony never wanted to let Ana go. And Jane suddenly wanted in on this, wanted to keep them together. Finally, they broke apart, and in an innocent gesture that completely contradicted their earlier embrace, Tony reached down and took Ana's hand. She gave him a smile that was not only happy, but also so full of emotions that Jane could not even begin to understand. They walked up the incline together. Jane knew that their struggle was over, and oh god, they had struggled.

Thor called her name, requesting her to join him in this 'flying bird'.

She watched Ana and Tony disappear, completely content with the other, and closer than Jane thought she could possibly imagine.

Ana turned back, her eyes catching those of the astrophysicist. Before Tony turned her back so he could kiss her softly on the temple, the ex-princess shot the other brunette a wry smile.

Jane could also not possibly imagine how long it took them to get there.

AAA

So, almost the end! Only the epilogue left, I think.

Let me know what you think! I am decently content with this chapter, I think!

Thanks for all the reviews, you guys!