Not That Lucky Chapter 13, an avengers fanfic

A/N: Thanksgiving really was supposed to be one chapter but apparently once i start writing i cant stop lolol. So now it's a two part thing. Thanks to those who have commented! It means a TON to me and i'd love to hear more feedback from y'all!

Chapter #13:

Accidents Happen Accidentally

"We need to find warmth where we can. Our hands wrapped around a mug of coffee. Our bodies wrapped in our favorite sweater. Our eyes, catching the warmth in our lover's gaze. It's a cold world we live in. Find the warmth." –rose c.l.

"Oh, hey, I just thought of this. Add this to your notes on things to put in the Avengers compound, I want—"

"Wait, the Avengers what?"

"The Avengers compound. You know? The compound for the Avengers."

"Tony, since when has there been an Avengers compound?"

"Well there isn't one yet, but there will be one. Ground's already been broken. I really do think I mentioned this to you before."

"I am 1000% positive you have not, Stark."

"…Are you sure?"

I sat in the single seat, knees pulled up to my chest, with my head turned away from the TV to stare at Tony who was playing on his phone on the couch beside me. Despite definitely having homicidal intent in my gaze, the genius, playboy, billionaire, dead man just gave me a nonchalant shrug.

Thor, who had been further down on the same couch as Tony, suddenly stood up with a smile and clapped his hands, "I will be going now. My stay here on Midgard won't be for too long and I'd rather not spend any time in your law system as a witness to Stark's timely demise." He clapped Tony on the shoulder with another grin, Tony's own nonchalance starting to crack, and began to leave, "It was nice knowing you, man of Iron, you will be missed."

Once the blond god of thunder was out of sight, Tony slowly turned his gaze back to me. He had the audacity to paste a wide, sheepish grin on his features, "Oops?"

"What the fuck is an Avengers compound?" I nearly growled out. Tony opened his mouth and I pointed at him sharply, "If you say a compound for Avengers, I will drag you out to the deck and throw you off."

Tony chuckled, "The Tower is great, of course it is I designed it, but I thought it was time we expand. Stark Industries owns a bunch of land upstate, so I figured why not? Real pretty area. It's got a lake and everything."

I buried my face into my hand with a groan, "How am I just hearing about this now and on my day off no less?"

"It's hardly even SI business, it's more just Tony business? So, no real stress."

"Tony, everything involving you is stressful."

Tony smirked at me, "Have I told you how pretty you look today?"

With a roll of my eyes, I pulled my phone out of my hoodie pocket and motioned for him to start talking. At this point, I should expect this kind of behavior. Tony leaned forward and began to dive into the details he had forgotten to tell me. Apparently, the compound was being built on his land, like he had said, and it was going to be crazy expansive. An entire campus of heroes. There would be rooms for the Avengers, much like they had floors here, multiple training areas, a cafeteria, his usual coffee shops, meeting rooms, and anything else a superhero might need to do superhero duties. If there was one thing to be said about Tony Stark it was that he did nothing halfway.

"If things stay on task, I'm estimating construction being done sometime next spring?" Tony shrugged, "Then we can start the transfer over."

"Alright, I have all that down, and you're also an idiot." I gave him a grin. Tony winked at me and I quickly stood up. According to my watch it was nearly one in the afternoon. Thanksgiving dinner was set to start at 6 PM tonight, but most of the guests would start trickling in earlier than that. Catering would be bringing in food and doing final touches in the penthouse kitchen around 4:30ish. "I'm gonna go get ready."

Tony gave me a curious look, "Already?"

"Well I have some work to do so I figured I'd get ready now and do that." I replied snidely. Tony snickered and I rolled my eyes again at him. I walked past the television to the elevator and the doors slid open before I even got there.

Clint, who was stepping out now, grinned at me, "Kid! What're you doing? You busy?"

"Not really. I was just gonna go get dressed." I motioned to my pajamas.

"Wanna go spar?" He asked excitedly.

It took me 0.02 seconds to immediately change my mind about doing work. I told him I'd meet him on the training floor and hurried down to my own to throw on some training clothes. Only ten minutes later, I was strolling out of the elevator onto the training floor wearing a red sports bra and spandex set while braiding my hair. Clint was there, but I was surprised to see him talking to Sam and Steve. All three were in their own training gear.

"Hey, y'all." I called out. The more the merrier.

Sam and Steve greeted me, and Clint threw me a roll of tape he had been holding. I caught it with ease and began to wrap it around my hands avoiding my metal bracelets. I made quick work of it but padded my knuckles well. I was halfway done with my second hand when I heard Sam whistle. I glanced up, still taping, and Sam nodded at me, "You're fast at that."

"Yeah. It's be fast or don't get tape." I chuckled and finished up my hand, tossing the tape aside, and motioned to him, "Sometimes they'd start fights early to try and catch me off guard and I hate fighting without at least something on."

Steve scooped up my yellow gloves. He tucked one under his arm and then opened the other so I could slip my hand in. Steve did the same to the second, strapping both for me, and I gave him a thankful smile. Having people help me prep my hands was such a small thing, but it made me feel so warm.

"How many fights did you usually do a night?" Sam asked. Steve and Clint both shot him a look and my eyes widened slightly. The question didn't bother me at all. I had just gotten used to them not bringing it up. "Just curious."

I shrugged, "Uh, depends. On my marathon nights it was usually like 10? Those were back to back. On normal days it was probably just 4 to 6 and those had breaks between them."

"The night we met, was that a marathon night?" Clint asked.

"Yeah. Your agent pal was number 10. I think she had a five-round marathon. That's usually how they start new fighters." I hummed in thought while beginning to stretch. "Actually, like 75% of my nights were marathon fights now that I think about it."

Steve blinked in surprise, "That's a lot of fights."

"I guess, but the competition wasn't so bad." I replied. Most nights I was fighting people I fought all the damn time. People like Hammer Head who were just like me. Every few days or so we'd have fresh faces show up, like that one agent, and give the ring a chance but most didn't stay long. It was hard to make a career in the ring and honestly, I was a little jealous of the people who failed. Making a career there was a death sentence. "Plus, like I said before I like fighting so…"

Clint pulled me up off the ground, "Because you're good at it?"

"Because you don't have to think." I smirked and immediately threw a punch. Clint ducked under and continued to dodge every attack I threw as I made forward progress and he backpedaled.

Hawkeye sidestepped me, "Come on, Aj. Gotta be quicker."

Clint lunged forward to grab me, but I swung under his arm and elbowed him hard in the sternum. The air left his lungs and I reset my position as he stumbled back. I smirked in pride, "That quick enough?"

"That was good." Clint wagged his finger at me. "Now it's time for your next lesson. Guys?"

I narrowed my eyes in confusion and caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I ducked just in time to avoid an attack from Sam only to stumble as Steve lunged forward. Unfortunately, I was too unbalanced to stay on my feet and ended up on my back. Before I could try to roll back up, Clint threw a punch down and I flinched, but he stopped his fist an inch from my nose.

"I have some questions." I said slowly, peeking out of one eye. "Starting with, uh, what the fuck?"

Clint stepped away and Steve offered me his hand with a smile to pull me up. The archer motioned to me, "You are very good one on one, but in our world you usually don't get lucky enough for it to be a one on one kind of fight. Did you ever fight multiple people in the ring?"

"Boss would throw me in with doubles sometimes just to screw with me."

"And how did that go?"

"I got my ass kicked." I replied.

Clint nodded and motioned to Steve and Sam who just grinned at me, "That's what we're here for."

"To kick my ass?"

"Well, yes, that." Clint nodded, "But also to teach you how to juggle multiple attackers. There's an art to it."

I could feel a slow grin fill my face. Clint wasn't wrong. Being in a fight never really ever scared me. Not to the degree it probably should, and it was because I was confident in my skills. Maybe at the end I wouldn't always win, but I knew I could do damage. Group fights though? That was not a skillset in my arsenal. Not in the slightest.

"How are you so happy about that?" Sam leaned forward and wrapped his arm around my neck, "Clint just said we're gonna kick your ass."

"I'm always happy when I get to learn a new fighting tactic." I replied then gave him a warm smile with my head tilted, "Plus, I also get to hang out with y'all."

Sam began to draw out the word 'aw', but I grabbed the arm he had around me, tucked myself in, and then slipped him over my shoulder. He hit the floor with a thud that Steve and Clint just laughed at. When his eyes made met mine, I winked, "Happy Turkey Day, Sammy."

"Now you're gonna get it." Sam rolled back up and lunged at me.

I had gotten significantly better at blocking, mostly because my tactic wasn't just 'get hit then hit back' anymore, and I was able to block the punches Sam was throwing at me almost too easily. The corner of my lips twitched into a smirk, but it didn't last long. I blocked one more attack just as someone from behind me cut my legs out from under me. The air left my lungs when I hit the ground. That was on me.

"Rule number one, be aware. You're usually pretty good at situational awareness, but it's easy for anyone to get tunnel vision in a fight. It's natural survival instinct." Clint explained, pulling me up, "You have to fight that urge."

Steve raised his hand with a raised eyebrow, "I thought we agreed that rule one should be not to fight multiple people. There's nothing wrong with running when you know you're outmatched."

"Yeah, we all read the history books, Captain America, when have you ever taken that advice yourself?" Sam chuckled and Steve shot him a look.

"That's a good idea, but I'm putting money on the fact that Aj would never be smart enough to run. Am I right?" Clint turned to give me a questioning look.

I crossed my arms and tried to pathetically defend myself, "Well, you never know—"

"No. She wouldn't." Clint cut in and I really couldn't disagree with him. Unfortunately, running had never been my style. Would've saved myself a lot of pain if I had learned that skill years ago. The only thing I knew how to run from was emotional maturity. "Now, next rule, you never let yourself get stuck between two or more people."

I nodded, "I know that."

"Yeah, I remember when you met us that first night. You were good about trying to get Nat and I both in front of you instead of being stuck between us. Not that it would've helped you there." Clint snickered and I rolled my eyes at his very true statement. "Third rule? Do not let yourself get taken to the ground. If you hit the ground when you have multiple people after you it's a death sentence."

I noticed Steve, Sam, and Clint's features all morphed into a serious look at the mentioning of this last rule. This sparring session with Clint had taken a bit of an odd turn. I wasn't complaining, this was something I really wanted to learn and practice, but I could see that "Avengers paranoia" seeped into their faces. Like they were expecting a group of their enemies to swing through the window and wrestle me to the floor. That was highly unlikely though. Wasn't it?

"Got it." I nodded my confirmation.

Clint gave me an encouraging smile, "Good. Come here." He pulled me toward him then swapped places so he now stood in front of the three of us. Steve was a little behind my left shoulder and Sam was a foot or so to my right. "Your goal in a fight with multiple assailants is to try and keep it one on one the best you can. Realistically, you can only effectively fight one person at a time. So, you circle." Clint reached out and grabbed my shoulders, "The person closest to you in target one. Then as you fight them", Sam moved toward Clint and he yanked me forward and circled to the right a little so both other men were still in front of him, "You watch and keep the field in front of you if you can. Then when you take the first one down, you move to the next closest."

"Alright, can we try now?" I shrugged out of his grip on my shoulders and reset my position in front of the three of them. Clint nodded once, his usual way of asking if I was ready, and I returned the nod while pulling my hands up in front of my face.

Then they attacked.

For the next hour, that's all we did. The three of them would gang up on me, kick my ass, and then we would reset, and I'd try again. Every once in a while, we would pause just long enough for one of them to correct me on something or give me a tip, but then we would be back at it again. Luckily, I was actually starting to get the gang of it. It was tough to ignore my "tunnel vision" instinct, but I was getting better at dividing my attention which I guess was the point of this in the first place. I also hadn't hit the ground in the past 15 minutes either so that was a victory if nothing else was. Granted, I knew each of them were pulling their punches so maybe it wasn't a huge victory.

"Keep moving." Clint barked while I was blocking hits from Steve. Sam was creeping in from the side so I side-stepped to the right trying to keep all the men in my line of sight. Steve smirked at me before throwing another punch and I shuffled back to avoid it. I was dripping sweat and exhaustion while Steve still looked runway ready.

Life honestly wasn't fair.

I saw an opening and a surge of excitement shot through me. Quickly, I ducked under Steve's arm when he swung, slamming my elbow as hard as I could into his side, and then lunged forward to grab Sam and throw my knee into his chest. My victory was short lived because right as Sam stumbled back I realized I had no idea where Clint was. I spun on my heel only to catch a punch with my face and go sprawling back.

Clint cursed loudly and my face ached as I laid on my back. Clint was in my line of vision again and he reached forward to lightly touch my face, "Jesus Christ. Tasha is gonna scalp me."

"I'll grab an ice pack." Sam chuckled and jogged off.

Steve knelt down beside me and grabbed my shoulder to pull me back up into a sitting position. I scrunched my nose, that same ache washing over my features, and lifted my hand to touch my nose. It wasn't broken and there was no blood. My left cheekbone was throbbing though.

"You alright?" Steve questioned, worry drawn on his face. He lifted his own hand to lightly touch my nose and cheek to check for himself.

I forced a grin, "I've taken worse hits before, Steve."

"That's gonna bruise. Oh, man, I'm so dead." Clint groaned. "I thought you knew where I was. Shit, I'm sorry, Aj."

"It's fine, Clint." I chuckled. "It was my bad. I did lose sight of you. Got too excited."

Sam jogged back over, cracking the ice pack then shaking it, and lightly set it on my face. I lifted my hand again to hold it over my left cheekbone and eye. Steve was scolding Clint, who was kicking himself, while Sam checked the rest of my features. I let out a loud laugh and all three of them stopped fussing.

"She's laughing for no reason. You gave her a damned concussion." Sam shot at Clint.

I shook my head and pulled the ice away with a smile, "I got three Avengers cooing over me just because I got hurt during a sparring session. I think there are girls in the world who would trade their kidney for this opportunity."

"Two Avengers and Sam." Clint smirked.

Sam snapped his gaze to him, "Hey, Avenger, at least I'm not sucker-punching women."

Clint groaned and began to argue with Sam. Steve shook his head and began to help me up from the ground. He nodded his head to me, "You sure you're ok?"

"Seriously, I am." I put the ice pack back on my face, but just on my cheekbone, "I think that was the one punch of that entire fight that y'all didn't hold back on."

"Who said we were holding back?" Steve smirked and grabbed the hand that wasn't holding the ice pack. He pulled off my glove, tossing it aside, and began to unwrap my hand.

I scoffed, "I wasn't born yesterday, Rogers." Steve quirked an eyebrow at me. I swapped the ice pack to my other hand so he could do the same to my left hand what he did to my right. I flexed my hand when he finished, "Thanks."

"Least I could do since Clint sucker punched you." Steve replied.

"Oh my God, it was a fucking accident!" Clint cried out.

Sam mumbled something I didn't catch, and Clint whipped around and began to argue again. Steve rolled his eyes and took my arm in his hand to drag me toward the elevator. We left the other two men in the training room and Steve didn't hesitate to hit the button to my apartment and abandon them.

"Lemme see again." Steve mumbled and peeled back the ice pack. I watched him as his eyes studied my face. He hummed and moved my hand back to my face. "Probably should let Bruce take a look."

The door opened and he walked into my apartment with me. Hopefully, Jane and Thor weren't here right now. It sounded and felt like it was empty though. I grabbed my phone off the couch, tossed the ice pack down, and turned to Steve, "Let's take a picture."

"Right now?" Steve questioned.

I opened up snapchat and flipped the camera to face the two of us. Through the screen I could see light swelling and a red mark that traced the upper line of my cheekbone. I doubted the eye itself would bruise. I stuck my lower lip out in a pout while Steve failed to bite back an amused smile behind me. Once the picture was taken, I typed out a frowny face as my caption and sent it to Natasha.

"Thanks for helping me train, Steve." I chirped. "That was a lot of fun."

"We should've been more careful." He twisted his lips in mild annoyance.

I chuckled, "I'm not made of glass. I promise I'm fine."

Steve motioned to it while moving toward the elevator, "Make sure you keep icing it. Get the swelling down."

"Sir, yes, sir, Captain Rogers." I gave him a small salute and he rolled his eyes at me. Steve chuckled and checked on me one last time before finally getting back on the elevator and leaving. I skipped to my bathroom to get back on track with my original plans. I was now behind an hour and I had a bruised cheekbone, but sometimes those ended up being the best kind of days.

The first rule of being on the run was not creating habits. A different path every day, a different task, a different everything made it harder to track you down. He knew that. Hell, he followed it in nearly every aspect of his life these days. Except for one thing. The diner.

The diner was just a small, family run restaurant that he found in the center of town. Despite being in the center of town, it was rarely ever busy. In fact, most of the people who came here were regulars. Kind of like him now.

Bucky sat at a table in the back, by a window, where he could see the front door and the only door going into and out of the back kitchen. The first time he had come here he hadn't known exactly why he grew so attached to it. It wasn't the mismatched décor or even the food. It wasn't until the fourth time he came here that he realized what it was. If Bucky closed his eyes, ignored the hum of Romanian being spoken around him, then it felt like he was home. There was something in the air, the aura of this small little restaurant, that reminded him of a small diner he used to go to with Steve. If he ever had to explain it in words he wouldn't be able to, but Bucky knew how he felt.

He ran his non-gloved hand through his hair and closed his eyes again.

"Are you finished?"

Bucky's eyes snapped open, too lost in nostalgia for a moment, and they landed on a familiar waitress. Her short blonde hair ended a little below her ears and her large, brown eyes were always filled with warmth.

"Yes." He replied back in Romanian.

She gave him another smile before taking his plate and disappearing. At this point, he should leave. Grab his hat, toss some money on the table, and bail. Today he was more stuck in his head than usual though.

Bucky was surprised when the waitress came back again. This time she had a small plate of some kind of pie and she hesitantly set it down on the table in front of him with a shy smile. In English, with an accent, she said, "Happy Thanksgiving?"

His eyes widened, "I—"

"Sorry, I just—" She began to speak again in her natural language, "I've heard you speak English before, and you sounded American. Today is your holiday, isn't it?"

Bucky nodded once, "It is. Thank you."

She turned slightly, to leave, but hesitated, "Can I… Can I sit down with you?"

"I…uh, yes." Bucky replied stiffly. Other than brief interactions, this was the longest conversation he's had in months. "Of course."

Her face broke out in a wide smile and she sat down across from him. She cleared her throat, "I see you here a lot. My name is Elena."

"Adrian." He introduced himself with his fake name of the day.

"Did you have a good holiday? With family or friends?"

Bucky wasn't sure how to answer. He could lie. Lie and end the conversation easily, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. He shook his head with a tight smile, "I haven't celebrated this holiday in a very long time."

"Oh." She looked embarrassed for even bringing it up, "I am so sorry."

"It's fine."

Elena paused before leaning forward on the table, "Do you… Do you want to talk about it? I hear it helps. You could tell me about…about your last holiday?"

Bucky thought back. The last real thanksgiving he had was before he got shipped away to war. Food was scarce as always, but the love and warmth weren't. His mom, his baby sister, Steve…

"It was with my family." Bucky chuckled. "My mother made my favorite food, my sister danced around the room, and my…my brother was there."

Elena gave him a kind smile, "That sounds very nice. I'm sorry you didn't get to spend today with them."

"Me too." Bucky said softly, mostly to himself. Things were so much easier back then. His life had such a destined path. A simple one. When he first got shipped off, Bucky thought he'd serve like the others, fulfill his duty, and then come home to his family. Start a new one of his own. Then when he was captured—Well, Bucky had just assumed then that he had reached the end of his line. Steve, a larger version of that scrawny kid who'd pick a fight with anything that moved, had saved him and suddenly he had a future again only to watch it disappear as he fell from that Goddamned train. Bucky was beginning to think his fate was to just repeat this vicious cycle of gaining and losing and gaining and losing…

"You deserve to find happiness, Adrian."

"How are you so sure of that?" Bucky asked desperately. To hear those words from someone sounded odd. He couldn't take it seriously. She didn't know who he really was. If Elena did, she wouldn't be sitting here telling him he deserved happiness. She would be running.

Elena chuckled, "Everyone does."

"I don't think that's true." Bucky argued. "I'm not… I'm not a good man."

She shook her head, "I've come to learn that the men who think they are not good are sometimes the best."

Bucky didn't know why the memory came to the forefront of his mind, but suddenly he pictured a pair of warm blue eyes telling him that he was her favorite person in the world. Looking at him like he hung the moon and stars. Begging him not to leave her alone. Bucky had spent night upon night convincing himself that he didn't deserve that gaze. She was dying from pneumonia and desperate for a hand to hold. He was just a convenience.

"Ah, I didn't know…" Elena chuckled sadly.

"Know what?" Bucky shook his thoughts away.

Elena motioned to him, "The look you just had on your face. You were thinking of someone you loved. Maybe…a woman?" Bucky blinked in surprise. Maybe he should've avoided this diner. Elena was very observant. That was risky for him. She continued, "Did you lose her?"

"It isn't…I'm not…You're mistaken." Bucky tried to backpedal. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he sucked in a sharp breath. How had this conversation gotten away from him so easily? He cleared his throat, "We weren't involved how you think. She was never mine. Even if I considered it now…I don't deserve someone like her. I'll never deserve anyone like her."

Elena seemed excited, "What is she like?"

"I barely know her. It's why you're mistaken." Bucky chuckled. "We knew each other for three days."

"Apparently those three days were enough to remember and think of her." Elena hummed. The woman was right about that at least. He knew her for only three days, two of which she was mostly blacked out, and yet that one day where she wasn't had been memorable. Maybe it was just because it was one of the first good memories he made since waking up from being the Winter Soldier. Maybe he had been as desperate as her. Both of them just begging for some kind of company. Still, Bucky couldn't reason away the way talking to her made him feel. It was like he had been lost in a snowstorm, freezing and cold, but the moment she opened her eyes and really saw him… It felt like walking into a glowing house, sitting by a burning fireplace. The cold melting from his limbs. She made him feel human again.

The worst of it was, ignoring the cold had been easy before then. It was his natural state. Knowing there was something else out there for him and then walking away from it? Bucky had to walk away though. He wouldn't scar Aj just because he craved warmth.

Elena slowly stood up, "You don't have to say it aloud. I just hope you find happiness, Adrian."

As she began to walk away, Bucky called after her. When she turned to look at him, he gave her a small smile and spoke in English, "Happy Thanksgiving."

She chuckled and left. Bucky picked up his fork and took a bite of the pie. A little more nostalgia wouldn't hurt anyone. He could afford one day of getting drunk on memories and the paths his life could've taken if the world was different.

I was mumbling a song under my breath as I came back up to the penthouse around 2:30. There were a few more things I wanted to check on with the caterers so I needed to call them and I wanted to get Tony's 'Avengers Compound' details into my Stark Pad rather than just being on my phone. I had changed into a pair of dark jeans, an oversized white knitted sweater, and pulled my hair up into a ponytail with the wisps and leftovers of my bangs hanging around my features. Hell, I even put in a pair of earrings. Special occasion and all that, right? Plus, I thought the earrings might distract from the quickly forming bruise on my left cheek.

While writing on my Pad, I walked up the stairs and into Tony's lab. I glanced up expecting to see Tony tinkering on something, but instead a small child was sitting on the lab countertop playing with something metal and Tony made in his hands. I blinked in shock and glanced around in confusion. The kid was probably a few years younger than Peter, 12 or 13 maybe, but he still looked small in stature. He had on a dark blue button up shirt and khaki pants with dress shoes. He had shaggy, dirty blond hair and big, gray-blue eyes.

He looked up from his hands to blink at me while I continued to just blink at him.

"Um, small child, how did you get in here?" I asked, glancing around again looking for an adult or some sort of clue that this was a joke, "Are you lost?"

He jumped off the counter, about 5 inches shorter than me, and walked toward me, "I'm Harley and I'm not small."

"As someone who is also considered small, I can accurately judge you on that." I countered. "Now, Harley, who are you? What are you doing here? This is—"

"Tony Stark's lab, I know, I've been here before." Harley shrugged and I continued to stare at him in confusion. He gave me an adorable smile, "I'm Tony's son."

My brain short circuited as I heard the words. Son. Son? Tony's child? I was like 75% sure he didn't have a kid, but if anyone on earth would be flighty enough to forget to mention a fucking kid to me it would be Tony Stark. Plus, I knew of his playboy past before meeting Pepper. This was a possibility?

"Tony's…son?" I said slowly and Harley nodded. "I…I haven't heard about you? Or seen you…at all? I—"

Harley nodded nonchalantly, still smiling, "Yeah, he's ashamed of me. I always thought we had a connection, but then there was that Christmas where he drove away from me, leaving me on a cold street, all alone…"

My eyes widened, but before I could try to comfort the kid the door opened behind us. I spun around to see Tony had stepped in wearing one of his more casual suits. Pepper must have wrestled him into getting ready already. He looked to Harley then to me with wide eyes.

"What happened to your face?"

"You abandoned your child!?"

We had both cried our questions out at the same time and then stared at each other. Tony finally shook his head and walked further in, "Did I what?"

"You abandoned your child!?" I said again motioning to Harley.

Tony rolled his eyes, "God, he's so dramatic about it." My eyes widened again, and Tony must have caught whiff of my building rage because he quickly shook his head, "He's my son in the sense that you're Clint's kid, ok? I met him last year when he helped me off Aldrich." Tony walked over and clapped his hands on the kid's shoulders, "Harley, this is Aj Bradshaw. Aj, this is Harley Keener."

Harley gave me a nod, "Nice to meet you. He did abandon me on a cold street once though."

"Abandon is such a strong word." Tony argued.

I shook my head, trying to shake the confusion away, "Uh, ok, nice to meet you?"

"You should get to know each other." Tony motioned to us and then looked to Harley, "She's your big sister, just FYI."

I rolled my eyes, "Isn't Clint my father in this analogy? Can't y'all just stick to one?"

"Fine, fine, fine." Tony scoffed. "Harley this is your cousin."

"So, you were adopted by the Avengers too?" Harley questioned.

"Apparently."

Tony let go of Harley to walk toward me and touch my tender cheek, "Now what the hell happened here?"

"Oh, I was sparring earlier, and Clint punched me in the face."

There was a brief pause of silence between us. Harley let out a low whistle and that snapped Tony out of it enough that he pulled me into his side, "That's child abuse. I'm calling CPS and officially adopting you. You're a Stark now, Clint lost his chance by being a terrible father."

I gave Harley a smile, "Does being adopted by the Avengers ever get any better?"

"Hmm, no." Harley shook his head. "It's stays about like this."

Tony snapped his fingers once, "Harley, where's your mom?"

"Oh, she's downstairs with Happy. Pepper met us in the lobby and they're catching up and talking and stuff."

"I assume they're staying for thanksgiving dinner too and you just forgot to add them to your guest list?" I asked Tony with a grin. Luckily, knowing Tony and the others, I made sure to order extra food just in case. I figured whatever we didn't eat we could donate to a shelter.

Tony motioned for us to follow him out of the lab, "Come on. Let's go greet our guests."

Harley asked to stay in the lab and Tony gave permission without hesitation. I wondered if Rhodey was downstairs too. It would be fun to meet the people Tony talked about so often. Though he hadn't ever mentioned Harley and Harley's mom before, I had heard plenty about Happy. We got into the elevator and JARVIS took us down to the ground floor.

"So is Harley a science geek like you?"

"Ok, replace the word 'geek' with 'genius' please." Tony countered as we stepped out. The Tower was mostly empty because of the holiday. He led me forward, "But yes. Kid's real smart."

Tony told me a little bit more about their meeting and how Harley helped him out. In his usual Tony way, the guy thanked the kid by taking him under his wing. It was cute that Tony did that. Harley sounded like a good kid and it was nice that he now had an actual father figure in his life. We reached the lobby and Tony stopped and motioned forward with a tilt of his head. Curiously, I glanced over to where he motioned to.

There was a man in a nice black suit talking to Pepper, who was dressed in something similar to me, and a woman I didn't recognize. She had a similar hair color to Harley's, and I assumed it was his mother. My gaze slid over to a face I did recognize though. She was older now, that's what almost 10 years will do to a person, but it was without a doubt her.

Granny stood beside Pepper wearing a soft pink blazer with the matching dress pants and a white sweater under the blazer itself. Her hair was still cut short, but the color she used to have had faded to gray and silver. She had on a pair of glasses, ones she hadn't had to wear before, but the warm smile that was signature for her was plastered on her face.

I felt a lump form in my throat. It was like the entire world just decided to freeze. This couldn't be real. This couldn't actually be happening. Granny, and the others, turned to look over at us and I watched as Granny's face softened at the sight of me. Without thought, I reached over and grabbed Tony's hand. He took mine and squeezed it once tightly. There were tears collecting in my eyes, I could feel it, and I glanced over at Tony questioningly. He just nodded once with a smirk.

Granny began to walk toward us, "Aimee Jane."

All it took was my name, her voice, and I fell apart. I pulled my hand away from Tony's hand and rushed toward her. We met halfway and I pulled her into a tight hug. It was the smell of her, that familiar floral perfume, that convinced me this was actually real. This was happening. I felt like I was a kid again. Curling up into Granny's arms after a fight in that first ring that went wrong.

I pulled back, keeping my hands on her arms, "Granny? How—?"

"Oh, Aimee Jane." Granny lifted her hand to swipe away a tear before cupping my face with both hands, "Look at you! So, grown up and beautiful and professional and…" Her warm smile faltered into shock, "And so stupid!" She swatted me on the hip. "Are you insane? Getting yourself tangled up in that mess up here. Why didn't you call me?!"

My eyes widened in shock and I whipped around to look at Tony who stood beside me, "You told her!?"

"Don't you take that tone with Mr. Stark." Granny scolded then turned to Tony with a smile, "You'll have to excuse her."

Tony lifted his hands, "It's alright, Rosie dear. I'm fully used to her at this point."

I shot him a glare that Granny just scolded me for again. Pepper was quick to herd the people around us to the elevator with a small smile in my direction. Now it was just me and Granny in the large, empty lobby of Stark Industries. Granny set her hand on my face again with a pained smile, "Oh, Aimee Jane."

"I'm sorry." I whispered, the guilt that slowly ate away at me for years was drowning me now, "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, dear."

"No, I do. You worked so hard to fix me and I messed it all up." I felt my bottom lip quiver. "I just threw it all away and—"

Granny shook her head tightly, "No, dear, no. I never fixed you because you never needed fixing." She pressed her lips together and brushed her thumb over the scar on my right cheekbone. "You've gone through so much, haven't you? I can see it in your eyes, Aimee Jane. You've lost so much…"

I couldn't ever hide anything from her. She knew me too well. She saw every scar and secret in my eyes, and her saying those words was all it took to break my carefully constructed dam. Tears began to fall, but Granny just pulled me into her and held me tightly as I cried in her shoulder.

Clint glanced around the room nervously, but he was still alone. At least, he thought he was alone. There really was no telling. His eyes darted around again, but still found no dangerous red headed assassin hiding in the corner for him. He knew she had to be though. The elevator doors pinged open and Clint nearly vaulted over the couch in response.

Tony, Pepper, Happy, and Harley's mom, Hannah, walked out though chatting happily. He collapsed back onto the couch in relief.

"Why does your Hawk look like he's about to shit himself?" Happy called out, he glanced around himself, "Are we concerned about a security breach of some kind? Do we—"

Tony let out a loud groan, "Absolutely not. Take a deep breath. Barton's just terrified because he abused his adopted child and now the Black Widow is spinning a web to end him."

The three people around him blinked in confusion at his words, but Clint shoved himself up from the couch with a point, "It was an accident!"

"Yeah, tell that to CPS, you bird bastard."

Pepper closed her eyes and took a deep breath before giving Hannah a smile, "Let's go find Harley. I haven't seen him in ages."

She pulled the mother away, shooting Tony a look, before focusing back on her conversation with the other woman. Happy was still looking around suspiciously despite not having any reason to be concerned, and Tony was just grinning at Clint in that stupid, smug way of his.

"I'm actually surprised she hasn't gotten to you yet." Tony chuckled.

Clint shook his head, "Since I caught Aj off guard she's going to catch me off guard."

Accidents happen when you spar. It was inevitable. Obviously, any punch or kick thrown wasn't done in I'll intent so the bruises and scrapes earned from it shouldn't be taken to heart. Still, it was an unspoken agreement between him and Natasha that the they'd pull their punches in first lessons. Once she got the hang of it, then they could go harder. It wasn't that they didn't think Aj could handle it, but with all the hits she's taken over the years they didn't want to accidentally give her an unnecessary concussion.

"Where is Aj?" Clint questioned. "I haven't seen her since this morning."

"She's downstairs with Rosie." Happy answered.

Clint's eyes widened, "Oh, yeah? She made it in? How did she handle it?"

Tony nodded with a smile, "Really well. That was…a good idea to bring in Rosie."

"And, uh, whose idea was that again?" Clint crossed his arms and stepped closer with a smug look of his own now. He knew the answer to that question. Everyone knew the answer to that question.

Happy motioned to Tony, "Wasn't it Tony?"

Ok, maybe not everyone.

Tony rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. It was a great idea, one I should've thought of, and Captain Geriatric wins a couple points for it." He shook his head with a shrug, "But, still, no."

"Oh, come on!" Clint cried with a laugh, "You're just being stubborn now."

Pepper walked back in with a questioning look, "What is he being stubborn about now?"

"Tony doesn't think Steve and Aj would be a cute couple." Clint answered.

Happy blinked in confusion. He quietly asked Tony if they were dating and Tony just shook his head and brushed the question off. Pepper narrowed her eyes at Clint, glancing at Tony, and then back to Clint.

"Steve and Aj?" Pepper reiterated then shook her head, "No."

"Yes!" Tony barked and pulled the woman into his arms, "God, I knew I loved you for a reason, Pep."

Pepper rolled her eyes but pressed her lips to the side of his face. She turned to Happy, the whole reason why she came back in the first place, and asked him to tag along. Happy, who was more content with walking the floor for security reasons, followed along without hesitation.

Clint just shook his head again, "Give me one good reason, Stark."

"They don't have that…oomph." Tony replied. Clint threw his hands up with a scoff and Tony stood strong in his trenches, "Pepper and I have oomph." He smirked, then motioned to him, "You and Nat have oomph. Even Bruce and Betty have oomph. Thor and Jane might. To be honest I haven't been around them as a couple long enough to really know yet, but Steve and Aj just don't have that oomph—"

"Say oomph one more time, and I'll oomph you." Clint threatened. "What the fuck even is oomph?"

"You know, that spark." Tony shrugged and walked around him to drop onto the couch. He threw his feet onto the coffee table. Clint pointed to his feet and Tony just tapped them together. "When you buy a coffee table with your own money, I'll let you put your feet on it." Clint rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch as Tony continued his point, "It's a gut thing. My gut says no."

Clint shook his head, "Nuh-uh. I'm the super-secret agent. I have the gut thing. You're just—"

"The genius?" Tony offered.

Clint scrunched his face up in annoyance because at this point in the argument anything he said would come out as a point for Stark. Tony, who knew this, just grinned at him. Clint opened his mouth to argue anyways, because he wouldn't be him if he just rolled over and gave up an argument with his dignity intact, but a loud slam from somewhere above them made him jump to his feet.

Tony burst into laughter as Clint whipped his head around with a groan, "She's just toying with me now."

"I'm surprised you're not hiding in the vents already."

"Are you kidding?" Clint scoffed. "That'll be the first place she looks."

Clint hesitantly sat down again. The chances of Natasha getting to him now were double. Now she could catch him off guard and have an audience. Lord knows Tony would get a real kick out of it.

We had moved the sobbing session back up to my apartment and I thanked all the gods of Norse mythology that Thor, Jane, or Darcy weren't up there to see me walk in red faced and near hysterical. I would've been mortified. Luckily, that hadn't happened and now I just sat on the couch beside Granny. My legs were pulled up into my chest, so I could face her entirely, while she just smiled at me.

"Why didn't you call me, Aimee Jane? I'm not upset about it. If you were in this much trouble though I just wish I could've been there to help." Granny held my hand tightly.

I shook my head, "I didn't want to you tangled up in all this shit."

"Language."

"Plus", I pressed my lips together, "I just felt so…"

"Dear, you have nothing to be ashamed of." Granny reassured me. "I love you so much, but I swear to the good Lord you're as dumb as a bag of hammers sometimes."

I let out a laugh with a nod, "More than sometimes, I think." With a smirk, I reached forward with my free hand and touched her hair, "I like the hair and glasses. You look like a real granny now."

"Oh, hush, you." Granny scoffed and I laughed harder. "I am aging wonderfully. I can't get over how beautiful you are." She cooed over me, touching my own hair. "You're so grown up now."

"How've you been, Granny?"

"I haven't fostered kids in a good bit, but I'm still working at the schools as much as I can." Granny hummed. "And of course, I still volunteer at the hospital and the senior center and—"

I shook my head, "I didn't think there were that many hours in the day."

Granny rolled her eyes, "You know I like to stay busy."

"True, and without me around I'm sure your free time doubled." I joked. There was a beat before I cleared my throat, "How much…How much did Tony tell you?"

Granny let out a low hum, "He told me you got mixed up with some bad men. That they hurt you. He told me…" She squeezed my hand tightly and her voice cracked, "He told me that I almost lost you. I almost lost you and I didn't even—"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I pleaded again. I could tell her I was sorry for every minute of every day for the rest of my life and it still wouldn't feel like enough.

She shook her head, "No, you don't need to apologize, dear. I'm just so happy you're safe. You are safe now, aren't you? Are you happy?"

"I am." I said firmly with a smile. It wasn't often in my life I could answer that question honestly. "I am really, really happy."

Granny lifted the hand she held and pressed it to her lips once, "Can you tell me more? I want to know more, Aimee Jane. Please?"

And because I could never say no to her, I told her everything. I started with college and how I got accepted into medical school. These were things she knew, but it led into where she lost me. I told her about Kyle and how I found the ring, about Boss and the debt I owed him, and between every detail I apologized again and again. I apologized for shutting her out, for the lackluster proof of life text I sent her after New York was attacked by aliens, for throwing the bachelor's degree she mostly paid for right out the window. Words couldn't express how sorry I really was.

"When I got kidnapped…" I explained and I could see the tenseness in her frame. There was no reason for her to know the exact details of that. "This Vladimir guy made me fight and I got beat up pretty bad. Really bad. But there was a man there. He called himself Toska and he saved my life, Granny… I later found out his name was actually Bucky Barnes—"

"James Buchanan Barnes? Captain America's best friend? I thought he died in the war?" Granny gasped in surprise.

I blinked in shock but then remembered one of her hobbies was being a giant history nerd. Granny read all those books and watched all the documentaries that existed on basically everything. I used to tease her about it endlessly, "Yeah. He didn't die. Bucky got caught by this evil group and they forced him to do terriblethings, but…he broke free and he saved my life and now he's… I don't know. Out there somewhere."

"All those jokes you made about my interests and it was one of my interests that saved your life." Granny chuckled. She wasn't wrong. I forgot about the irony there. "Is he as handsome as he is in those old photos?"

I let out a laugh and nodded, feeling my cheeks burn under her gaze, "Yeah. He was really handsome. That was my first thought actually. Other than 'Ow this hurts', I saw him and wondered how someone so gorgeous could end up in the same hell hole as me." I chuckled at the memory and nodded. "In my pain induced haze, I even told him I thought he had pretty eyes. So, that hasn't changed. I still have the charm of a half-drowned cat."

"Oh, Aimee Jane." Granny scoffed, "You still have no idea the effect you have on people."

I laughed, "Oh, I'm fully aware of the effect I have. It's why I get punched so much."

Granny swatted me lightly, "You assume everyone sees you the way you see yourself and, pardon my language, but you're a real bitch to yourself."

I gasped, "How could you say such a vile word to my virgin ears—?"

She swatted me again, "I'm serious. Aimee Jane, you're warm, and you have this natural ability to make the people around you feel that warmth." Granny held my hand with both of hers. Her smile soft and filled with so much love that it made my chest ache. "There's a fire in you. It's always been there. That fire is so hot, and you've been hurt so much… You deserve to lash out and burn cities to ash, but instead you just keep the ones you love warm. That's special, Aimee Jane. You're special."

"Granny…"

"I wish you had reached out to me, but only because I would've never let you forget that." She squeezed my hands. "I never would've let you forget how worthy you are of everything this world has to offer."

I leaned forward, breaking her hands off mine, to pull her into a hug. After a moment, I laughed and shook my head, "God, I'm gonna owe Tony my first-born child after this. I can't believe he reached out to you and brought you here."

Granny pulled away from me, "Actually, it wasn't Mr. Stark. It was his private jet I flew in of course—which was so nice. He sent his jet all the way to Alabama just to—"

"Granny, focus."

"Right." She said. "It was Captain America who reached out to me. Can you believe that? The Captain America, Steve Rogers, the 'Man with a Plan', called little ol' me and invited me for dinner. I nearly had a heart attack, Aimee Jane. Steve Rogers!"

I blinked in shock, "Steve… Steve called you?"

"He said you were missing me and that he wanted to bring me in as a surprise." Granny nodded then added, "Since you couldn't bring yourself to reach out yourself. Which is silly. Regardless of the time that has passed you should know I'll always be there waiting for you, dear."

My brain was still trying to connect those two pieces of information. Steve had called Granny for me? I remembered talking to him about her that one afternoon weeks ago. It was right before I forced him to dance with me. I never thought, in a million years, that he'd do something like this though.

"My Aimee Jane friends with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes." Granny fanned herself with a hand, "Who would've thought?"

"Um, no one." I chuckled then gave her a small smile, "I wish you could meet Bucky too. You would've really liked him."

Granny let out a small laugh, "He saved you. I owe him everything."

I quickly stood and swiped at my face making sure there were no stray tears, "Come on. I want you to meet everyone."

She didn't hesitate to follow me to the elevator, and when we got to the penthouse I was happy to see that the caterers were just now arriving and starting to set up what they needed in the kitchen. It also seemed like almost everyone was up in the penthouse milling about too. The first people I introduced Granny to was Natasha and Clint, then Bruce and Betty, Darcy and Jane, and then Thor and Sam. She already knew Tony, Pepper, and Happy, but I took this moment to meet Happy and Harley's mom, who was named Hannah, and Rhodey who had arrived not too long ago.

"She's a fantastic assistant. Very obedient." Tony nodded and I rolled my eyes at him.

Pepper set a hand on his chest and looked to Granny, "What he means is she's a very good babysitter. Makes sure Tony doesn't starve and gets him to bed on time."

"Great perseverance too." Rhodey raised his glass to me, "Tony usually has his assistant running out of here swearing at him by day two."

Granny chuckled, "Oh, my Aimee Jane is a tough one. I think she'll have Mr. Stark losing it before she ever does."

"You're right. Aimee Jane, here, hurts my feelings all the time. I'm fragile." Tony agreed and I narrowed a light glare at him. If he thought I was gonna let him keep calling me 'Aimee Jane' he had another thing coming.

I glanced around the room as they continued to talk and that's when I noticed Steve had finally come in. He was standing over by the window talking to Sam. Rather than pull Granny away from her conversation, I whispered I'd be back, and slid away. Both men, like everyone else, were dressed nicely. Sam had on a pair of khakis with a green shirt and Steve had on a light blue button up with navy dress pants. They noticed me approaching when I was about halfway to them. Sam lifted his drink up to me with a smile before saying something to Steve and walking back down the stairs to where everyone else was.

"Hey, you look nice." Steve greeted. "And your face hasn't bruised—"

I closed the space and threw my arms around his neck tightly. The action startled Steve, but he was quick to lower himself slightly and wrap his own arms around me. Honestly, it was a good thing he hadn't been holding a drink. I tightened my grip around his neck, "Thank you."

"Aj, it really wasn't—"

"No." I shook my head against his shoulder. "It was a big thing. It was a big, amazing thing. Thank you so much, Steve."

I pulled back from him, telling myself I wasn't going to cry again, and Steve just gave me a soft smile, "Anything for you, sweetheart."

A laugh left my lips. Quickly, I pushed myself forward and pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek before grabbing his hand and dragging him with me, "Come on, you have to meet her. She's the biggestCaptain America fangirl."

"Oh yeah?" Steve chuckled.

"Mhmm. She probably had your poster up as a kid." I joked. "She even used to make me watch documentaries about y'all. Not that I ever paid attention."

Steve squeezed my hand, "Wow, was I too boring for you?"

"Absolute snore fest." I replied without missing a beat. He laughed and I continued to drag him over by where Granny was still talking to Pepper. Happy, Rhodey, and Tony had drifted away at some point. "Hey, Granny! This is my friend Steve. Steve, this is Rosie."

Granny turned away from Pepper and her eyes widened comically at the sight of the man whose hand I was holding. Even though she had already spoken to him on the phone once apparently this was a whole different thing.

"Oh my goodness. Mr. Rogers. It is such an honor to meet you." Granny gushed.

Steve let go of my hand to offer it to Granny who took it with gusto, "Ma'am, the honor is all mine."

Granny looked like she was about to swoon, and I held back a snicker. She continued to shake his hand, stars in her eyes, and I gave Pepper a look of amusement that she returned. Pepper gave my shoulder a squeeze before mumbling that she was going to go find Tony.

"Thank you so much for looking after Aimee Jane. I am forever in your debt."

"No, really, there's no need for that, ma'am."

"No, no." Granny finally let go of his hand to lightly tap him on the side of his arm, "I know she can be a handful sometimes."

I smirked and shook my head, "Wow, Granny, I see how it is."

Steve chuckled, "Sometimes, but it's well worth the trouble."

"You too, Steven?" I gave him a look he only grinned at. Granny continued to gush about Steve's existence and the phone in my back pocket buzzed. When I pulled it out it was a text from Peter saying him and his aunt were here and in the elevator. "Hey, I gotta play hostess for a little while…"

"Go, go, we'll be fine." Granny cooed at me. Steve gave me a quick nod and I gave them both a grin. I was halfway to the elevator when it opened, and the Parkers stepped into the room. Peter's aunt was beautiful with long dark hair and a broad, pretty smile. She had on a dress and warm, tan trench coat over it. I lifted my hand to greet them and my feet faltered when Peter stepped out from behind her with an excited smile.

Peter had on a white button up shirt tucked into black slacks, but the kid was tall. Like significantly so. The last time I saw him, only three days ago, he had been about my height and scrawny like a twig. As I got closer, I realized he was multiple inches taller than me. He was still lean but had filled out. In three days. What?

"Uh, hi! It's nice to see you, Pete." I greeted quickly and turned to his aunt, "You must be Mrs. Parker. I'm Aj."

"Just May is fine!" She replied warmly and shook my hand, "I've heard so many good things about you, Aj. Pete won't shut up about you or his new Avenger friends."

"May." Peter hissed with a blush.

May continued, ignoring him entirely, "Thank you so much for inviting us."

"It was our pleasure! Peter's a good kid." I winked at him, and then lightly punched his shoulder, "Who has apparently grown since I last saw him?"

Peter quickly shook his head, "N—No. Me? No."

"Says the kid I've had to buy an entire new wardrobe for." May chuckled. She snapped her fingers, "Overnight. Just like that. I don't know what the school is feeding him."

Pepper, who was the professional hostess, strolled over at this time and lightly brushed her hand on my shoulder, "Hi! I'm Pepper. You must be Peter's aunt?"

They greeted each other and Pepper lead May further into the room showing her around and introducing her to some of the other women. Peter held his hands behind his back and rolled on his heels back and forth.

I shook my head at him, "Dang, kid, you really did shoot up."

"It's, uh, puberty."

"Aren't you 14?"

"15." Peter replied. "Late bloomer?"

"Uh huh." I chuckled and glanced around. My eyes finally found Tony who was talking to Harley across the room, "Come on, Tony's over there."

Peter followed me, but his eyes were wide, "I can't just walk over there and talk to Tony Stark!"

"And why's that?"

"He's…" Peter waved his hands, "He's Tony Stark!"

"You've already met him once."

"But still!"

I rolled my eyes, "He's not nearly as glamorous as the tabloids make him out to be. I've seen him tinker in his lab, use his screwdriver to stir a two-day old cup of coffee, drink it, and then continue working with the screwdriver."

Peter continued to look at me questioningly and I grabbed his arm to drag him into the room that was filled with warmth and a general buzz of happiness. Most of the guests were here, save for a few, and I felt like I was riding on cloud nine.

Maria found herself checking her phone again, but there was still no update. Realistically, they were at a point where no news was good news. If Coulson was sending her texts mid-mission then that meant things were going poorly on their end.

"Still quiet?" Natasha saddled up to her at the bar casually.

"For now." Maria replied. She lifted her gaze to trail around the room filled with laughter and a general air of ease.

Natasha hummed, "Are you sure he didn't need back up? Clint and I could've—"

"Coulson was adamant that him and his team had it handled." Maria reassured the red head in hopes that her words would internally reassure herself. Coulson had this handled. He almost always did. The only reason she was really worrying now was because SHIELD was still trying to heal and losing anyone they trusted would be a huge blow to that recovery. "List's base shouldn't be too difficult for them now that they have Skye back. Of course, Ward is also with them…"

Natasha narrowed her eyes, "Why haven't we just killed him yet?"

"It's not for a lack of trying." Maria mumbled. "Desperate times."

"We're desperate enough to let that HYDRA son of a bitch help, but not send us in?"

They whispered back and forth, a light argument on whether or not back up should be sent to Coulson regardless of the lack of 'SOS' text. As if on cue though, both women pasted smiles on their faces and switched gears mid-conversation when Aj bounced over.

"Hey", Aj greeted, "Where's Coulson and crew? We were about to start serving food, but I don't wanna start without them."

Natasha shook her head, "Something actually came up and they won't be able to make it tonight, Aj."

"Oh no." Aj frowned and glanced between the two of them, "Is everything ok?"

Maria gave her a small, reassuring smile, "Nothing to worry about. Coulson says he's sorry. He was really looking forward to this."

"Go ahead and let the caterers know that they can start serving." Natasha reached out and lightly touched her elbow, "And relax a little. Enjoy the party you put together."

Aj chuckled and gave them both a nod before disappearing again. Maria glanced over at Natasha with a small smirk. Her friend met her gaze with a quirked and questioning eyebrow. Maria just let out a small laugh in response, "You're nearly as soft as Barton is about her."

"She's…charming." Natasha replied.

Maria considered Natasha a good friend. One of her closest friends really. However, they still lived in a world where both of them were agents and both of them never really said exactly what they were thinking. Maria knew that two months ago Natasha was on the same page as her. Maybe not the exact same sentence, but at least the same page. The look in the red head's eyes now told her maybe they weren't even in the same book anymore.

"Coulson is sure to find more information on terrigenesis in List's base. The more we know about it then the safer I'm sure it is." Maria shrugged. Natasha's gaze hardened. A blink and you miss it kind of thing. That was the only answer she really needed. As much as SHIELD could use another inhuman agent, there was apparently no way they were getting to Aj. Not unless Maria could guarantee no negative effect. She liked Aj. This wasn't her trying to turn the poor girl into a stone statue. This was a top agent of SHIELD knowing that without growth they were going to start going the other way. Besides, Maria was convinced she was inhuman. Something was different about her and no full human could survive what Aj had survived. She gave Natasha a 'white flag' smile, "Have you gotten back at Clint yet?"

Natasha chuckled and shook her head, "No, it was just an accident after all. Clint will figure that out eventually. I'd guess by the end of the next week he'll be sure he's off the hook."

The usual dining room table in the penthouse had been replaced with a much larger one, with enough room to accommodate everyone, and now the tabletop was covered with various plates and dishes. It was the kind of thanksgiving feasts you'd see on television or in a movie. Everything cooked to perfection, filling the air with its mouthwatering aroma and warmth.

Last thanksgiving, I had sat in a bar snacking on saltine crackers and stale beer.

After thanking the caterers and giving a Tony Stark sized tip to each one, I came out of the kitchen to sit at the table where everyone else was beginning to settle. My seat was near the middle with Granny to my left and Darcy to my right. Steve was across from me, with Sam on his right and Thor on his left, leaving Jane, Bruce, and Betty in the other seats to my right with Bruce at the head of that side. Clint was sitting on the other side of Granny, claiming he wanted to hear every embarrassing story she had on me, with Natasha on his other side and Happy and Maria Hill across from them. Tony was sitting on the other head of the table, to my left, with Pepper on his left and Harley on his right. Peter was sitting by Harley, the two of them had hit it off quickly, and Rhodey sat on the other side of Pepper with May and Hannah beside him.

I never would've ever guessed that I'd ever be sitting at a table like this for thanksgiving dinner. Granny placed her hand over mine and gave it a tight squeeze. I gave her a soft smile. God, I prided myself on being tough, these last five years especially, but right now I couldn't be further from that. Literally, I was one step above puddle of happy goo.

"Excuse me." Tony cleared his throat and stood. He tapped against the glass in his hand as if he needed that to hold the attention in the room. "It's that time of the evening where the man of the house gives the heartwarming toast."

Clint cupped a hand around his mouth, "Nobody asked you to do that, Stark."

"And nobody asked you to use the airducts as your own personal, human version of hamster tunnels, yet here we are." Tony countered and a light round of laughter rose from the table. "Now, I wanted to thank everyone for coming. It's always nice to see everyone on a night where the world isn't burning down around us." There were hums of agreement. "I also wanted to take this time to turn the spotlight away from me for a moment—"

Rhodey was the one to speak up this time, "You think you can survive that?"

"It'll only be momentarily." Tony replied, then motioned to the table, "But if I'm interrupted again, you can be damn sure I'm adding thirty minutes to this little toast." He paused, as if testing the group to try and call him on his threat, and when he was pleased at the silence he smirked and continued, "I wanted to shine the spotlight on the newest, little Avenger. Emphasis on little."

Eyes glanced in my direction and I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. I did not want to be under the metaphorical spotlight. Although it wasn't Tony's style, if he said something even remotely sappy then I would most definitely cry. My tolerance was stupid low at the moment. If someone looked at me for too long I'd tear up.

"Without Aj we'd be eating Clint's hot pockets tonight. She organized this whole thing, even with a late start because someone forgot to tell her she needed to organize this, but regardless, she did a hell of a job on this. Everything looks perfect though I expect no less from her." Tony smirked, his eyes catching mine, and gave me a wink, "Can't wait to see how you top this next year, sunshine."

Next year. This was Tony's way of telling me that he expected me to be around next year and I could honestly say I wanted nothing more in life than for that to be true. I would be content in spending the rest of my life organizing last minute parties for the Avengers and family. Other eyes glanced my way. I quickly cleared my own throat and lifted my glass to the air with a tilt of my head, "Cheers to getting Stark to shut up so we can finally eat."

"Cheers!" Everyone lifted their glasses and cheered loudly.

Tony chuckled, sat back down, and everyone dove in. Plates were passed around and the food ended up tasting just as amazing as it looked and smelled. The table was filled with various conversations overlapping one another and voices being thrown down the table to loop others in. Clint suddenly leaned forward, "Rosie, I would love to hear—"

"Sicily 2009." I said with a raised eyebrow.

Clint's eyes widened and he grinned at Rosie with a nod, "—hear what you think about the weather up here in New York. It's gotta be a big difference from Sweet Home Alabama."

I smirked and mentally reminded myself to get Coulson's number from someone and text him a quick 'thank you'. Natasha leaned back in her seat to give me a thumbs up that I snickered at. I turned back to my food and smiled to myself. For the first time, in a long time, I had a lot to be thankful for.