Author's Note: *sniff, sniff* Okay, guys, here is the last chapter! It has been quite the adventure with you all, writing past writer's-block, working with deadlines, adjusting to reviews, and incorporating the Avengers to help me with the fanfic. I have come quite the long way with many difficulties and victories. I have officially been writing this for over a year and, thankfully, you have been with me all of the way! I am so lucky to have such awesome readers! I hope the last chapter is perfect for you guys. Assemble to read the last chapter of Avenger Tower Tidbits.
Chapter 42: Home
You sit on the floor, staring at your hands for what seems like hours. You hear the occasional tinkling of glass bits that fall from what remains of the windows. The floor beneath you is split down the middle, and it looks blackened as though it has been burnt. A fresh breeze flows through the room, playing with your hair and chilling the room slightly.
You still feel the residual energy gently stirring inside of you, almost like ripples left in a water after a stone was thrown into it. You are slightly hunched over, your breathing long and hard, and your mind still buzzing.
You hear a few of the Avengers groan as they struggle to their feet. Glass crunches under Steve's feet as he pushes himself off of the ground and comes running towards you. Skidding to his knees next to you, he quickly checks you up and down. "Y/N…are you okay?" he asks.
Almost instinctively, you hug him, grasping onto him as though he is the only thing keeping you in this reality. Everything that just happened suddenly comes crashing back to you, and you feel your grip on your friend tighten as you squeeze your eyes shut. You shakily exhale. In the distance, you hear the other Avengers slowly approach you.
Natasha kneels next to you and Steve, placing one of her hands on your shoulders to comfort you. Fenris snuffles the hair away from your ear, tickling your neck. You open one of your eyes to peek over Steve's shoulder to see that Fenris almost looks tiny.
"It's okay, you're here. You're here," Steve says softly, almost to himself.
"And you're not going anywhere," Natasha's voice says.
"That was…a sight to behold," Loki says softly.
"Yeah. You did it, kiddo," Clint says.
You close your eyes. You did it. Your safe. You gently pull away from Steve, but you keep your hand on his arm. You need to know that all of this is still real. "I'm sorry, but I am confused," you say. "I don't really understand how I mastered the Infinity Stones. Some of them, I get, like the Time Stone and Tesseract, but I don't really get how I got in control of the Soul Stone or some of the others."
Immediately, everyone's' heads swivel to look at Loki for the answers.
Loki rolls his eyes for a moment before elaborating. "The answer is rather simple. It was more of a subconscious battle rather than physical. The reason you overcame the Stones, in the most simplistic terms, is your loyalty. With all of your might, you held onto us; to this world. You had something worth fighting for, and it gave you drive. The Stones could feel that your loyalty grounded you, and that was far more powerful than any Infinity Stone. Because of that, they realized that this is exactly where you belong."
"Aww, Loki got sentimental!" Tony says gleefully.
You nod slowly, contemplating his words. "Did…did you all see my Mom?" you ask softly. You really hope that they didn't see that exchange. In fact, you wanted to forget it. It was too painful. You were forced to choose between two completely different lives.
Steve nods, and your shoulders sag.
"Hey, don't feel embarrassed," Steve said. "What you did, it took guts. We all have wanted normal lives at one point or another, but we never had to make the choice."
You close your eyes for a few seconds, letting everything sink in. But, you are here. Your friends, no, your family is right here. You are right where you need to be, and that is how it is going to stay. You think about all that you have gone through and everything that you have learned. The Avenger's Christmas traditions, Clint's piano playing, Thor first trying bubble gum, Loki cheating at go-fish only to loose to Natasha at spoons, Tony can't go swimming with the arch-reactor, Clint looses at WII archery, Tony 3D printing his suits, and even Bucky being afraid of spiders. You smile fondly at all of the memories. Not all of them were bad. In fact, most were good, and you have a feeling that the rest will stay that way.
Then, you hear something loud coming from outside. Since the windows were broken from the energy burst, you can hear everything from outside a lot louder.
"What is that?" you ask in confusion as the sound gets louder. "It sounds like a Quin-Jet."
"It is," Tony says, as heat waves blow into the complex.
"Come on, there's someone I want you to see," Steve says, helping you to your feet. You feel curious and slightly concerned as to who the new person could be as you all stumble out of the complex. You lean heavily on Steve as you all walk through the empty window panes and onto the lawn. Your legs feel like noodles, but you also feel sore. Fenris pads up next to you, allowing you to put some of your dead-weight onto him too.
Sure enough, a large, silver jet is hovering over the landing-pad, blowing up dust with the exhaust. The air feels stiffly and hot, almost as though you are standing next to a running car in the middle of the summer. You scrunch your face and shade your eyes with your hands as you watch the jet carefully land.
Once it sets down, Steve gently pulls you forward as you hear the engines whirring down. You walk around the jet until you reach the back ramp. The jet is still powering down, so you are all forced to wait for a few minutes.
You give Steve a side-glance, and you see that he has a slight smile on his face. "Who is it?" you ask.
"Just wait and see," he says, looking back up at the ramp.
The jet creaks and steam billows from the seams in the ramp as it slowly opens. You bit your lip and stand on your tiptoes as you try to see who is inside. The ramp takes its sweet time in opening, and you can just see the top of a person's head.
Then, as the ramp continues to open, your mouth drops open, and you feel happiness bloom to life in your chest.
A very familiar woman is standing at the base of the ramp, her eyes scanning the complex until they land on you.
"Mom," you breath.
Your mother's face breaks out in a smile as she hastily descends towards you. "Y/N," she calls, holding out her arms.
You quickly stumble over to her, collapsing in her embrace. You can't help a few tears sliding down your cheeks as you feel your mom in your arms, hear her heart breathing, and listen to your voice. She's right here. She wasn't created in the other reality, and she doesn't belong there anymore than you do. Your mother is right here.
Your Mom backs away a few steps, her hands not leaving your shoulders as she looks you up and down.
"Y/N, are you okay? Steve called, he said that there was something with your powers. He said not to worry, but-"
"Wait, wait, wait," you interrupt, waving your hands and frowning. "Steve called you?"
"Yes," she says, her concern still evident.
You twist around to look at the Avengers. Steve is smiling almost mischievously at you. You give him a playful glare before turning back to your mother.
"Don't worry, Mom, everything's fine," you say. "I just had some…sorting out to do."
Your Mom gazes at you with the mother-look. "Are you sure?"
A soft smile breaks out onto your face. "I couldn't be happier. Come on inside, I have a lot to tell you."
You grasp her hand in yours and pull her towards the Complex.
"Need I remind you that we also have a lot of cleaning up to do?" Tony asks, and you roll your eyes.
"We can have a few minutes, can't we?" you ask, pulling the ultimate puppy-eye look.
Tony looks up at the sky. "Great, she's learning from you, Steve," he says.
Steve smiles at you as he grabs your free hand. Each of the Avengers grabs one of the other's hands until there is a long chain of superheroes and one very confused mother. Even Loki's hand is buried in Thor's fingers. Even he now feels like part of the team.
Steve squeezes your hand slightly, and you feel happy.
You are home.
You lead the group inside to tell your mom all about your adventures, and you can't wait to hear the Avengers adding their little tidbits to the story too.
Loki: Well, it wasn't terrible. *sniff*
Tony: Dude, are you...crying?
Loki, angrily: It was very moving, all right?!
Okay, let's put the knife away, thanks, Loki. *smiles at camera* This is the last official chapter, but, I might post some more tidbit chapters every once in a while. But, this is a wrap for the Avenger Tower Tidbits story! Woo-hoo! We all made it.
Avengers: Thanks guys!
Tony: All of the reviews and likes really meant a lot to us.
Steve: We wouldn't be here without the support and imagination of you guys.
Natasha: Even though it's over, it's not the end.
Clint: You can always reread or find new adventures.
Bruce: You just have to look for them and be patient.
Thor: There is always a new adventure waiting around the corner.
...
*everyone looks at Loki, who glares*
Loki: What? Oh, now I have to say something caring and sentimental? Ugh, mortals...Um, have a nice day...see, I can be nice too!
Thanks, guys. I am now label Avenger Tower Tidbits as 'complete'!
*Avengers wave goodbye*