Epilogue

III

Allie

III

The team sans Thor caught up to Gabie and I an hour later. I didn't say anything to Clint.

Gabie and I spent the night in our own apartment while Tony, Natasha, and Steve pretended to not be lurking in the living room. Clint pretended to not be creeping in the vents. Gabie pretended not to notice when I snuck into the living room to cuddle my soulmates.

The day after Loki is due to be returned to Asgard.

III

Gabie and I are wearing matching blue sweater dresses and black boots. I have a bad limp while Gabie just grits her teeth whenever she moves. The rest of the team is dressed casually.

We stand on a Central Park bridge waiting for Thor. Finally, Thor arrives dragging a muzzled Loki behind him.

He shakes hand with each member of the team in silence.

"Thank you for saving my life," I whisper to him as he shakes my hand.

"It is my duty. You two fought very well, you are good warriors," he commends making me blush.

"I hope we meet again," Gabie says. Thor nods in agreement and moves to the center of the park bridge. The whole area is blocked off thanks to Shield.

Thor embraces Dr. Selvig then turns to Tony. Tony opens the Tesseracts case and Bruce takes it out and places it in a glass tube held by Thor. The tube has two golden handles on each end.

Thor gives Loki the other end, who reluctantly takes it. Clint stands and stares sternly at him. Natasha leans over and whispers something to him that makes him grin. I have a feeling it's an inside joke.

Thor scowls at Loki and turns a handle on the tube. One turn of the handle causes a brilliant rainbow energy beam to descend from the sky and consume the Asgardians. The beam disappears as fast as it, came only leaving an elaborate burn mark on the ground.

"That was cool," I breathe out. The whole rainbow display looked so surreal. My eyes are bugged out for sure.

"We have to take her to see the northern lights," Natasha murmurs to Tony who nods in agreement.

It's quiet for a minute as we all let out a breath of relief. It is well and truly over now.

"Ready?" Steve inquires to me, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," I reply and tighten the straps on my backpack.

Steve won the arm wrestling contest between Natasha and Tony so he got first dibs on me. He's taking me to his Brooklyn apartment for a few days. After that I go back to hang with Gabie for a day, then I'm off with Natasha for a weekend. Once I return from that I get three days with Gabie and then I'm off with Tony.

"Alright, Gabie I'll be back in a few days. What will you do while I'm gone?" I murmur to my best friend. Gabie smiles fondly and pulls me into a hug.

"Missing you is the main thing but I'll also continue attending art school and hanging with Izzy," Gabie replies and I grin. The bond may always connect us but when we are apart I do miss her.

"I'll miss you too," I whisper. "I'll make sure to check in every now and then." I wink at her obnoxiously and tap my forehead. She gets the message.

"Me too. Now go say goodbye to your soulmates," she says and shoos me away. I move to Natasha and jump into her arms. She catches me seamlessly making my heart sing.

"I'll see you in a week," I promise and wrap my legs around her waist. Natasha chuckles and holds onto me tightly.

"I can't wait," she mumbles into my hair. Nat gently sets me back on my feet and kisses my forehead making my heart flutter. "Go say bye to Tony before Steve gets moody." Steve promptly huffs and rolls his eyes at her comment.

Moving to Tony I embrace him and squeeze him tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you," I mutter. "I won't see you for two weeks."

"Hey there peanut it's okay!" he assures quickly and cups my face. "I'm sure I can convince Gabie, Steve, or Natasha to let me swing by for a visit before then."

"I'd love that," I admit and stand on my tippy toes to kiss his cheek. Tony blushes and pokes me in the nose affectionately.

Turning to Bruce I hold out my hand and give a tight smile.

"It was nice to meet you," I say. Bruce takes my hand and shakes it.

"To you as well," he responds somberly. It stings to be this formal with him but it is what he wants.

Finally, I go to Clint and give him an enthusiastic handshake.

"I look forward to working with you more!" I exclaim then lower my voice to whisper to him. "I've never had a friend who wasn't at risk of losing their hearing because of me."

"I've never had a friend who needed a person like me," he counters with a cheeky grin. I giggle and bounce on my feet.

God, he is perfect for Gabie. I can't wait till they finally get together.

"Promise me you'll keep an eye on Gabie while I'm gone?" I say intently. I can feel Gabie roll her eyes behind me.

"Archers honor," he jokes. It doesn't make any sense but it's still funny.

"Thanks."

When that's over I turn to Steve and nod.

"I'm ready now Steve," I announce. The super soldier grins and takes my hand. He climbs on his motorcycle and I get on back.

"Hold on tight miss," he advises.

"Yes sir," I chime back and wrap my arms tightly around his waist. Nerves are bubbling crazily in my stomach but holding to him comforts me.

Steve revs the Harley and then we speed away.

III

Gabie

III

Watching Allie go is bittersweet. I'm really happy she's found her soulmates but I'll miss her.

"Well, Dr. Banner shall we?" Tony prompts and tears his gaze away from the parting pair. Bruce nods and throws a bag into Tony's convertible.

"Goodbye," Bruce says shyly to the remaining team members.

"I'll see you around," I reply politely.

The entire time I've been analyzing his mind and storing any pertinent details in my mind. He will not break Allie's heart on my watch.

"Don't be strangers, feel free to crash at the tower any time," Tony invites.

"Will do Mister Stark," I say. Clint and Natasha seem to just be nodding to all the goodbyes.

Tony gives a peace sign and then hops into his convertible. Soon he's driving away as well.

Taking a deep breath I spin on my heel and force a smile for the spies. Once they're gone I'll be alone.

"It was a pleasure," Nat remarks and gives me a thin smile.

"Same to you," I respond. "If you ever need an off the grid place to crash our place is always open."

"That's very nice of you," Nat muses.

"I figure I might as well be friendly if you're gonna be hanging around with Allie," I explain and shrug. "Besides you guys don't seem so bad and Allie is always saying I should make new friends."

"You made one! Me!" Clint declares and hugs me out of nowhere. "I'll definitely be stopping by. I have huge leave because of this whole thing so we can hang out. When your back heals I can teach you to shoot!"

He's being sincere, surprisingly. No one besides Allie has expressed so much excitement in hanging out with me.

"I'd like that very much Hawkeye," I reply and playfully elbow him. It feels warm and fuzzy having him so close to me. "I look forward to your visits."

"Same to you Quiver."

Clint and I hold eye contact and let the tension build as we firmly shake hands. A staring contest soon ensues.

Natasha coughs once and snaps us both out of our staring contest.

"Till then."

Natasha gives another nod of acknowledgment and Clint excitedly waves before they both get into a Shield van and drive away.

It's just me in the park now.

A sense of completion and triumph washes over me. For the first time in a long time, I feel truly joyful.

Looking up I gaze at New York and grin at the tower. All the letters in Stark have fallen off except for the A. It's fitting honestly.

Avengers, I like the sound of that.