"You look like shit."

"I won't deny, I've had better days."

The chair moves in front of her and she rolled her eyes, pressed her lips, and looked at him.

"What's the occasion?"

"Oh, you know..."

"No, I don't."

He snorted.

"Seriously, if you got nothing, I've got work to do."

He didn't say anything for a while but then he asked.

"How's the arm?"

"Broken. Uh...4 more weeks."

"I see. And everything else?"

"Functional."

He took a deep breath, "So...are the rumors true?"

"No. I'm not pregnant, mate. Seriously you should stop paying mind to those nonsense click baits." she waved her hand off

"You know I'm not talking about your pregnancy rumors."

She paused her work again and looked at him.

"Please get to the point."

He leaned in, "Are the rumors about HYDRA true?"

"Depends on what you've heard."

"Are they still functional?"

She nodded, "Unfortunately."

"Europe?"

"I don't know. I haven't been able to spare much time for HYDRA-hunting."

He took a deep breath and nodded, running a hand through his light blonde hair.

"Well, The Wizarding World now knows about HYDRA. And considering the threat, they've posed in the past to us, our magic and our secrets...people are worried."

She exhaled loudly, leaning back on her chair, "Look, I get it. But like I said, I cannot do much at the moment. Right now, my priority is not getting kicked out by the board for... I don't know...incompetence, conflict of interest, or some other bullshit."

"Aren't the true by the way?"

He then yelped when she zapped him with a hex.

"That bloody hurt!"

"That was the point of it."

"Like I saying, there is going to be an ICW meeting pretty soon. I was hoping you could attend."

Rose took a deep calming breath, "Most people there don't like me."

"But they cannot deny the fact that you are a very resourceful person." he shifted closer, "You and I both know the threat HYDRA poses over the magical world. Are you really going to gamble this?"

She sighed, "When is it?"

"Three weeks or less, give or take. Most probably less."

She looked outside, thinking, "I'll think about it." she looked back at him, "If not, George is gonna attend on my behalf anyway."

He shrugged.

The door opened and the two looked as Toy walked in.

"Hey, didn't know you had someone over."

"He has a bad habit of showing up unannounced. Quite rude, in my opinion."

"Well, you have a bad habit of stirring hornet's nests pretty much all the time. You don't hear me complaining." he looked at Tony, "Mr. Stark."

"Mr. Malfoy." Tony nodded back, standing next to Rose, "So what brings you across the pond?"

"Word was that Rose was in too deep in every possible way. However did she manage that, I wonder."

"You are the last person I need a performance review from," Rose scoffed

"Hey," Tony kept a hand on her shoulder and gestured for him to continue.

"Anyway, In the midst of all the things going wrong, I thought you might appreciate some good news."

"which would be," Tony asked

He leaned back and pulled out a file from under his blazer, handing it to Rose.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"You never asked."

"Sod off."

"Guys!"

Rose quickly flipped the pages, eyes scanning the lines before they widened and she looked at him, "This...you got it?"

He nodded with a smile, "Well, it is all based on your research. I expanded it and what would you know, it worked."

She handed Tony some paper while she read others.

"The prototype?" Tony asked

"Minimal issues, sir. It is quite highly functional."

"She never gave the green light for prototype testing," Tony muttered, noting the absence of the particular detail in the report.

"Yeah, I had to take the risk and make that call. I got the product confirmation when you went AWOL helping Captain America and exposing HYDRA. Then Ms. Potts informed me that she was unwell. My department was running a little behind on certain schedules so I had to go on with the prototype testing. It requires a little upgrade and a better design but other than that, we are in the clear."

"That is good enough for me." she looked at Tony then back at him.

"I know I don't get to say it often, but I'm glad you are on board." she smiled, got up as Tony handed her the papers, "I'll have Bora skim through it once, and then I'll send it for designing."

And she left.

"Well, this is the closest you are gonna get to a thank you." Tony chuckled

"Yeah, I know."

"Is everything else alright? How's your mother?"

"Mother's fine. Living her life." he chuckled, "I'm fine too. Compared to Rose, anyway." he took a deep breath.

Tony took the chair Rose just abandoned and looked at him, "Draco?"

"Mum visited Aunt Andromeda a while ago. Dragged me along." He exhaled, "Teddy's worried about her. Last he saw her, she was leaving the house for a regular office meeting. then he hears about all this drama that just happened, that she's in hospital, Winter Soldier was there. He's not saying it outright, but he wants to see her. Make sure himself that she's fine. I'm not a parent but I do worry about the little guy."

Tony nodded, "I understand. And trust me, she wants nothing more than that. But ever since the...incident, the entire world's eyes are on her, on us. she's been guarding these secrets for years, Draco. Now would be a terrible time if those secrets got compromised."

"that's why I didn't say anything to her. she has enough on her plate. It's better if she focuses on one thing at a time. Kid's smart. but he's still a kid."

"She loves Teddy more than almost everything. If she hears anything about Teddy, she'll drop everything to go visit him."

"I know. I wonder where she gets that from."

Tony chuckled, "I'll talk to Teddy tonight. If possible, I'll visit him very soon. And once the waves calm down, I'll take them both for a much-needed family vacation."

"I'm sure they'd both appreciate it." he exhaled and stood up, "I should check in with Rose before heading back."

Tony nodded and got up too when the door opened again and this time Nat came in.

Draco looked back at Tony, "I was wondering. Where's Brittany?"

"Hometown. Planning her wedding."

"she got proposed? That's wonderful."

"This is Natalie Rushman," Tony introduced, "She's temporarily filling in for Brittany."

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rushman." He extended his hand which she shook, "Draco Malfoy."

"Feeling's mutual, Mr. Malfoy."

"Well, I should be leaving. Good to see you, Mr. Stark. Have a nice day, both of you." and he walked away

"He didn't have a scheduled appointment," Nat noted

"Yeah, he has a habit of dropping in unannounced. Where were you?"

"I just had to drop some papers down in Accounts. Quick question, that was Lucius Malfoy's son, right?"

"Yeah..."

"so what? he works for Rose?"

"So to speak, yeah."

"So to speak?"

"He's the Director of R&D of a subsidiary that makes tech specifically with magic for the Wizarding World."

"Quite a young age to be at that high post."

Tony shrugged, "He's got skills and smarts. Anyway, did you get that reservation?"

"Yes. Got it. I messaged the guys to meet us down there. Hill's with them. Pepper would be coming with us too."

"Sound about right."


The other group was the first to reach the restaurant. Clint had messaged others and they were told that they were running a little behind.

The staff had them seated. Others arrived after 15 minutes.

"What happened?" Bruce asked

"Trust us, you do not wanna know."

"Then we won't ask," Clint muttered, flagging down a waiter.

The whole group placed their orders and once they were done, Steve pulled out the proposal.

"Wow. This is thick!" Rose lifted it, flipping the pages.

"We tried to make it as legible as possible. No fine prints. Everything is just about" Steve said

"You are going to be dealing with politicians. And they are experts of nitpicking." Pepper said

"and if there's someone any one of us have ever had the honor of royally pissing off, trust me, they are gonna make this hell for us," Rose added

"We were thinking of a group of us to represent the team rather than all of us attending," Thor suggested

"That's a lovely idea." Tony said, "So who all are going?"

Everyone looked around.

There was a clamor of footsteps and soon their orders were brought to the table.

There was a chorus of "Thank Yous" and then they were left alone again.

"so maybe I shouldn't go," Nat added

"Tell you what..." Rose began, "I think Steve, Clint, and Dad should go."

"And what's your reasoning?" Tony asked

"Steve can represent genetically mutated people. Sorry, couldn't think of a better term. But basically, people who got their powers due to experiments, drugs, and stuff. You, Bruce...you know."

"Me," Nat added

"Clint can represent people who were trained to become enhanced. That'd make pretty much all of SHIELD employees. If Clint's not in the mood, Hill would do an amazing job as well. You were a higher up in SHIELD. so maybe talk it out between you guys. You," she looked at Nat, "fall in both categories. And Dad can represent civilians who wanna be a part of it. That'd include Uncle Rhodey, Sam...uh...you know that kind of people."

"What about people who were born that way?" Bruce asked, "You and Thor, you guys didn't get your powers from any scientific method and neither were you trained to become enhanced. You were born enhanced. Don't you guys think we should have a representation of that as well?"

"I agree, Banner, but I believe that Midgard's politicians might take advantage of the aspect of me being an Asgardian and exploit it to their benefit. And I don't believe that Rose is in a healthy condition to face such situations."

"Thank you, Thor." Pepper piped in

"But not having a representation of your types might bite us in our butts later," Steve said

"Rose?" Nat asked, noticing her thinking face.

"I'm not really sure if it is a good idea..." she pressed her lips, "ICW is going to have a meeting soon."

"What's ICW?" Clint asked

"International Confederation of Wizards. It's our version of the UN. Thing is, word got across the pond about HYDRA and...so ICW is gonna have a meeting soon to discuss this problem."

"When is it?" Tony asked

"I was told that it is in three weeks, but I can...um...ask them to make it short notice. I can try to get it before the UN thing." she pressed her lips again, "If I managed to talk and convince these people of our cause," she tapped at the spiraled draft, "not only will we have their support, I'm talking numerous nations, but also I know a certain someone who's very good at talking politics; we'd have him too."

"Can't you ask this guy without this whole ICW thing?" Hill asked

Rose tilted her head, "He does things by the book for the most part. And he and I aren't exactly chummy. Besides," she shifted a little in her seat, "This would also work in our benefit in a way that these international magical diplomats can more or less influence their mundane political leaders."

"But you'd have to attend this?" Pepper asked

"Yeah," Rose nodded with an exhale

"You sure about this? Let's say you do get the date before the UN meeting, you've been busy with SI for the whole week." Steve asked

"I'll probably take a sick leave. I'm entitled to a few. and I've to drop by Hannah's for a follow-up check-up to make sure everything is healing nicely. I'll do both while I'm there."

"Sounds good to me," Tony said and he quickly met Pepper's eyes. She seemed like she wanted to protest but Tony gave her a nod and a look that said they'd talk later.

"Well, she's our magical expert." Clint leaned back

"But if this doesn't work out, we'd need backup," Nat said

"If this doesn't work out, the only backup I can think of is I've gotta attend the UN meet," Rose said

"Between UN and ICW, I'd rather you attend ICW," Pepper muttered

"If Tony and Pepper have no issues..." Steve trailed off

"Cool. I'll make the call and see if they do one on quick notice." She pulled out her phone and moved a little out of the group, placing a privacy charm around her.

"Hullo."

"Hey, Kingsley. Is this a good time or should I call later?"

"Rose, it's good to hear from you. No, no, you caught me just fine. How are you?"

"You know me. Everything's functional." she chuckled

"Ah, you've been setting the bar a bit low these days."

She just snorted.

"So, what can I help you with?"

"Malfoy told me that there's an ICW meeting coming up? Do you know the date?"

"They haven't finalized it but I believe it is in a fortnight. Why?"

"I was wondering if the date could be moved up ahead. Maybe in a week or less."

"A week? Isn't that too much of short notice?"

"I know and I'm sorry about it but I'm planning on attending this one and the agenda is a bit important."

"How important?"

"HYDRA."

She heard him take a sharp inhale.

"I'm afraid only the Supreme Mugwump has the authority of setting the date, Rose."

"I know, but he's your friend, isn't he? Can't you put in a word?"

He took a deep breath, "I'll see what I can do. Meanwhile, I suggest you contact him on your own accord and try to convince him to set a sooner date."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Can you send me their number?"

"Of course."

"Thank you so much, Kingsley. I owe you a solid."

"I'll keep that in mind." he chuckled

"Alright. thank you. Bye." and she hung up. she exhaled and joined others, dissolving the spell.

"So?" Hill asked

"No, not yet. I just got the number of the head honcho. I'll talk to them as soon as I can."

"Let's say these three are gonna be there," Nat started, "You've gotta buckle up."

"I'm sure we can talk politics and shit later. Food's getting cold, guys."

That got a chuckle out of everyone as they started eating their lunch.


Rose exhaled a puff of smoke and she toyed with her phone. She looked at the number took a drag and then pressed call.

It rang for a few minutes but then it was picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Supreme Mugwump Somchai Charoensuk?"

"This is him speaking."

"Hi. Good Evening, sir. This is Rose Potter."

"Ah, Ms. Potter. I've been looking forward to your call. Kingsley mentioned that you'd be contacting."

"That's nice of him," she muttered

"So, Ms. Potter, what is the purpose of this call?"

She took a deep breath and a drag, "Sir, I'm sure you must have heard of HYDRA by now. HYDRA's threat is...um...quite eminent. They've proven to be formidable enemies in their past and I'd dare not dream what all they possess right now. A friend informed me today that ICW would be meeting soon to discuss this very problem. I was wondering if I could be of any particular help."

She paused, catching her breath.

"Go on,"

"I was hoping if the ICW meeting could be scheduled this week."

"And why would you make such a request?"

She took another deep breath, "Ever since the fall of SHIELD, there's no one to keep HYDRA in control. So we, Avengers came together to start a new Global Security Agency with the same name to replace SHIELD and do a better service. For the same, we have scheduled an appointment with the United Nations in the next 8 days.

As a witch within Avengers, I have as much duty towards the magical world as towards the mundane world. I believe that the magical world could highly benefit from allies such as Avengers in their fight against HYDRA."

"You want the support of the magical world?"

She exhaled and a cloud of smoke dispersed, "And vice-versa. But that'd be the bottom line, yes."

"Hmmm. I see." he paused, "Very well, Ms. Potter. I'd consider your request, discuss it with fellow senior delegates and see what comes of it."

"That'd be amazing. Thank you."

"But do keep in mind that I make no promises."

"Of course, sir. I understand."

"If that's all then, I bid you good night."

"Good night to you too, sir. Thank you once again."

And he hung up.

She hung her head and took another drag. Something's better than nothing.

"Do you have an extra?"

She yelped, jumping slightly, and looked to her left where Steve stood, looking amused.

"What the fuck, Rogers?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"Then wipe that smug look off your face."

Steve chuckled and came to stand next to her.

"Do you have another?"

She looked at him and realized that he asking for an extra smoke.

"Yeah, I do." she hesitantly said, "But dad can't know about it." she quickly added

Steve looked at her, "Tony doesn't know?"

she raised a brow, "You really thought I tell dad everything?" she turned and headed to her room, opening a drawer and taking out two cigarettes before putting them back.

Heading back to the balcony, she snubbed the one she was smocking, it was pretty much finished anyway and tossed it down before putting the new one to her lips and extending the other to Steve.

"It is way different from the one you are used to."

Steve shrugged, taking it, "A smoke is a smoke."

She snorted, making a little fire over her index finger with a snap. Steve lit his from that and then she lit hers.

"I'm serious, Steve. Dad can't know. No one can know."

"Got it." he nodded, "Secret's safe with me."

They stood there for a while before he spoke again.

"That was a neat trick, where did you learn that from?"

"Storm, actually. Back in the day, he taught quite a few tricks with fire."

He nodded, "And how long has it been going on?" he gestured to the cigarette

"A couple of years. When drowning in stress, anxiety, I crave a smoke. it is a bad habit, I know. Smoking leads to all kinds of issues. TB, asthma, and all that shit." she took a deep breath, "They do say old habits die hard."

"Well, back in the day they used to have special cigarettes as a cure for asthma."

"I know. which is why I said that it'd be different."

He hummed and nodded.

"I just spoke to the head of ICW. He'll consider my request but made no promises." She said after a few minutes

He nodded, "We can just hope things turn out fine. Speaking of things turning out fine, I think I may have made an improvement with Bucky."

"Really?" she asked, jaw clenching and face tight, both of which Steve failed to notice.

"Yeah, he usually looks at me blankly but two days ago he looked at me in a different way. At first, I thought I was seeing things, wishful thinking. But when it happened for two days continuously...it felt good, Rose. That's why I came to talk to you. What do you think I should do next?"

She chuckled, exhaling the smoke and then making patterns out of it with her magic, "Figures that you'd only come to see me when you need my help."

"Hey, it's not like that,"

she looked at him, "Is that so?"

"We've both been busy in the past week or so. You with your full-time job and me with this new initiative and Bucky..."

"Steve, I'm usually not one to call people out on their choice of not spending time with me but don't bullshit me."

Steve looked at her and she looked away, "Is this about my lunch meetings with Sam?"

She didn't say anything, as she continued making small animals out of the smoke.

Steve studied for a moment, noticed her passive-aggressive look, "Are you jealous that I'm spending time with Sam and not you?"

She gave him a stink eye, "Really, don't flatter yourself."

"I don't know, Rose. I can hear a little jealous undertone."

"Okay fine! Maybe I'm a tad bit jealous. Because I miss my best friend." she took a deep inhale and exhaled a huge puff of smoke, "We are busy but then you somehow have time to go on lunch dates with Sam. I spend my free time with Dad or in the lab because I don't have a best friend available to hang out with. I've gotta keep it all professional with Nat during office hours and Dad's...he's my father. He's one of the very few I'm closest to but I just can't share everything with him. Fuck, he doesn't even know I smoke!" she looked back at him, "So maybe, yeah, I'm a bit frustrated ad irritated and," she took a deep drag, "jealous," she muttered

She took a couple of deep breaths before sparing him a quick look, "Trust me, if Kevin, Mia, or Ron were here, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you."

Steve just kept looking at her.

She rolled her eyes and looked at him, "As for Barnes, bring in old pictures. That should speed things up, I suppose. Ask JARVIS to get them for you or I'm sure Smithsonian would happily lend you their collection."

Steve didn't say anything but then tilted his head, "I didn't know you felt that way."

"Why did you think I called you about four times in the past week alone asking if you'd like to meet up for lunch, after lunch ice cream, evening coffee, and snacks, or even after-dinner ice cream. Every time it was either Barnes, Sam, UN, and the proposal or the old SHIELD files. So, I gave up."

It was at that moment Steve realized that he was terrible at realizing clues and cues.

She exhaled again, "You know what? Nevermind. I'm just a bit on the edge. sorry about the outburst." she muttered when her phone rang again.

"Excuse me," she muttered and answered the call, "Yeah, Kingsly?"

Steve exhaled, taking one last drag before he crushed the cigarette under his foot and then kicked it out as Rose had. He then turned and walked back in, leaving her alone with the phone call.

"Did you speak to him?"

"I did, yeah. He said he'd consider and discuss with his people but can't promise anything."

"Well, that is better than a solid no."

"I guess." she muttered, "Thanks for putting in a good word for me. Might have been the reason he even decided to consider my request."

"It was no problem. And don't sell yourself so short, Rose. You have a reputation that precedes you more than you think. People all over have heard of you. It was your name much more than my contribution."

She chuckled, "Still, thank you."

"It was my pleasure. Now, let's just hope for the best."

"Sure."

"Good. Well then, good night."

"Good night to you too." she smiled and he hung up.

She took the last drag off her cigarette before crushing it against the metal railing and tossing it down. She exhaled ad sighed, looking at the night Manhattan in front of her. She then popped a mint in, just in case.

she stayed there for a few minutes when she finally decided to go back in. It was around 10 PM and she still had her medicine to take.

And then, her phone rang.

the number was unknown to her but a quick called ID scan showed her who it was.

"It is probably the worst time you could have called," she said slowly

"Don't tell me I caught you in the middle of your sexcapede?"

Rose didn't reply.

"Not in the mood? Alright, no biggie."

"What do you want? Can't this wait?"

"I'm afraid not. I heard that SHIELD kinda went...kaboom!"

"Yeah, it did."

"Oh, that's good. I've heard that house blowing up builds character. You blew up an entire organization. I really wonder how much character have you built up."

"God," she groaned, "Just get to the point."

"Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Rumors are HYDRA got a tough ass-kicking."

"Why are asking the obvious?" she deadpanned

"Alright. I won't then. What about the Asset?"

She took a deep breath, checking over her shoulder once, "He's secure."

"So, he's alive. That's surprising. I was expecting his head mounted on your wall of trophies along with others."

"Things didn't go as I planned. I had to improvise."

"In a way where you had to save him? God this is hilarious! This could be made into an Oscar-winning Hollywood movie."

"Look, I don't have time for this. You wouldn't just call to ask about Barnes."

"I called to confirm about SHIELD. That is it. Say, Princess, do you need a little extra help from me?"

"Eventually, maybe. Not now. Right now, it is best if we kept it minimal."

"I gotta wait? Really?"

"Well, some of them have figured out that I had someone feeding me information about HYDRA. But they didn't find much. So if you have even a shred of self-preservation, stay in the shadows and out of everyone's reach. I mean it."

"Didn't find much? I thought they were top-level SHIELD operatives. They couldn't be this incompetent."

"That's on me. I never wrote everything in that file. Some of the stuff I kept to myself."

"Aww, are you having trust issues with your team? That'd be adorable."

"I'm not and that is none of your concern."

"Hmm. Alright. Well, it's night and it's time for me to get to work."

"Don't blow up places or get on anyone's radar. I won't be able to bail your arse out of those situations."

"Got it. Anything else, General?"

"I'm serious. And next time towards, call me on my burner. Not my personal."

"Got it. Don't blow up places or get on anyone's radar and next time onwards, burner. Well then, gotta go. Ciao, fellow Italian!"

Once he hung up, she quickly deleted the call history and sighed. This wasn't a good sign. She knew that this conversation would take place eventually, but at the moment she could have done without this added stress.

She exhaled one last time and walked back into her room, closing the balcony sliding door behind her. She pulled out a drawer and took out all the medicines. Just as she was taking them, there was a knock, the door opened and Tony walked in.

"Hey," she greeted

"Hey, you." he chuckled, "Wow, that's a lot of stuff."

"Yeah, they taste nastier than they look," she responded, "So...what's up?"

"I wanted to talk." he sat down in front of her

"Well, talk away, father of mine." she smiled

Tony chuckled, "First things first, did you talk to Teddy? Kid's most probably worried about you. The last time he saw you, you were leaving the house for a regular meeting and then all of this happened."

Rose nodded, "I actually did. The night I spent at the hospital; we spoke. He's quite reassured now."

"Oh," Tony muttered, realizing maybe that's why Teddy wasn't demanding to see Rose.

"Now that you reminded me, I'll probably call him tonight again. I was going to do it in a couple of days but I'm sure he'd appreciate today."

"I'm sure he'd love that." he patted her knee, "now the second thing. Pepper and I spoke about it last week and we think you should go back to therapy like old times."

"Dad," she chuckled hesitantly, "I'm fine. It's just the regular office stress. I'm fine."

"Pumpkin, you don't have to lie to me."

"Da-"

"I saw you, Rose. The way you've been acting the past couple of weeks. I'm worried about you. You never really prioritized your physical health let alone your mental health. And you know what happened the last time you worked yourself to the ground."

She sighed.

"Call Trish. Reschedule everything."

Rose sighed and looked at Tony, "if I go from 2 appointments in a month to 3 in a week, office work will get compromised. And we are already against a ticking clock with the UN and the Board. I can do it later."

"No. There's no later. Rose, don't do it." he took a deep breath, "Tell ya what? I'll take half of your office hours. It'll reduce your burden, you'll get time for therapy and I'm sure Pepper would very happy to see me getting more involved with the company. Whatcha say? It's a win-win situation for everyone. Come on, Rosie."

she took a deep breath, "Yeah, sounds good."

"Good? alright. That's great. Now the final thing, I saw Capsicle when I was coming up. Was he with you?"

"Yeah, why? Did he say something?"

"No, no he didn't but he had this look on his face like he was planning something. I thought you two were at each other's throats again."

"No, it wasn't that. I may have kinda sorta snapped at him but it was stress and...medicine induced." she shook her head, "I apologized."

"I'm not gonna step between whatever happens between you to as long as you don't get hurt." He patted her knee, "Call Trish in the morning and reschedule your appointments."

"'Kay,"

"Good."

Rose nodded and looked at him, "Did Draco say anything to you?"

"Uh...nothing particular. He mentioned Teddy but that was it. Why?"

Rose just shook her head.

"Okay," he leaned and kissed her forehead, "Get your sleep."

He got up and began walking out but paused near the door and looked at her, "Rosie, does Teddy know about Winter Soldier?"

she took a sharp inhale, "Ted does know that Winter soldier tried to kill me. But he doesn't know that he's living in the same building as me. And I'd rather not tell him that."

Tony just nodded. "Just wondered. Go to sleep."

"After talking to Teddy."

Tony nodded and walked out, closing the door after him.

Rose took a deep breath, placed all her medicines back in the drawer, and pulled out her MacBook. She hoped that Teddy would be free right now and not in the middle of getting ready for school.

The call to Ted rang for a few minutes before it was answered and she was greeted by Teddy's cheerful face.

"Mum!"

"Teddy Bear!" she grinned back, "what's up, buddy?"

"Everything's great. How are you?"

she extended her arm and showed herself, "See for yourself."

"What happened to your arm?"

"Accident and it broke."

"Like a hairline fracture?"

"No, baby, it's much worse. But I'll be fine. In about 4 weeks it'll heal all nice and fine and everything will be back to normal." she settled in, "so, how's school? Gran? Coop, Lila, Aunt Laura? How's everyone else?"

"Everyone's fine and great. And school's boring."

"I feel ya there, bud." she smiled softly, "And? anything else going on that you wanna tell me?"

Teddy thought for a while before he answered, "Gran started teaching me the basics of transformation magic so I could control this better." he pointed to his head. A few seconds later his hair was the exact copy of her own hair."

"Wow. Now we can prove to the world who we are without a DNA test."

"I guess." he grinned and his hair turned black again, "So, when are you coming back?"

She took a deep breath, "It's a bit complicated right now, champ. But I'll try my very best to make it as soon as possible."

Hopefully, if the ICW meeting was set as she requested, she could pay him a surprise visit.

"I get it. You are an Avenger. You have a very important job."

"That I do, baby. But nothing in this world is more important to me than you. You are my strong boy and I want you to be strong for me and Grandpa as we set things straight and I promise as soon as we are done, I'll take you, Coop, and Lila to Disney Land just as I had promised." she smiled, "Till then, we both just gotta hold to our stuff."

Teddy nodded. He pressed his lips and leaned a little ahead, "Will you be alright, mum? I heard Aunty Hannah telling Gran that you were badly injured when they got you to hospital. Are you really okay?"

Rose took a deep breath, folding her knee and tucking it under her chin.

"Thank you for worrying about me, kiddo. I'll be fine. I have Grandpa here with me. And all of the Avengers. I will be alright. I'm so sorry I cannot be with you right now. I wish I was there with my little Teddy Bear. I want that so much baby boy. and it hurts me so much that I cannot be there with you."

Teddy smiled, "I wish that too, mum."

She just smiled.

"Teddy! 40 minutes to school!"

"That's Aunty Laura. I should get ready." he stood up.

"Hey, can I talk to Aunty Laura?"

"Sure." he picked up his tablet ad started rushing down.

"Hey, no running down the corridor and stairs."

"Sorry, mum!"

Soon she saw the living room behind Teddy.

"Hey, Ted. You need something?"

"Mum wanted to speak to you."

"Oh. thank you, Teddy. Now, go get ready for school."

And then she saw Laura's smiling face.

"You are a sight for sore eyes, Laura."

"I could say the same. Oh, God! Are you okay?"

Rose chuckled, running her hand through her hair, "I wish people would just stop asking me that. I'm fine. It's just a stupid plaster."

"Don't take offense to this, but you are looking kinda worse than what Clint and Hannah told me and Andy."

"No offense taken. I've been told I look like shit."

"You need a vacation. Big time."

Rose laughed, "Ever since I got into the Avenger business, the first time I took a vacation, my house got nuked, the second time New York got attacked by...something. The third time, this happened. So I think I'm gonna stay away from vacations for some time now."

"Oh, darling. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. None of it was on you." she took a deep breath, "How's the backyard?"

"You are gonna love it. I hope." Laura then moved and exited through the backdoor and switched to the back camera, showing the backyard to her. Moving from side to side, every angle Laura could manage.

"You built a deck." Rose blinked, "Did you build a bloody deck on my backyard all by yourself?"

"I had a little help."

"Laura, this is amazing! This is so good. I kid you not. Oh wow! You know what, wait a sec. I'm gonna show this to Clint." she took a screenshot and sent it to Clint's mail.

"Please tell me I haven't gone overboard. I feel like I went overboard."

"Laura, love, look around. A beautiful deck. Fairy lights. A couch, fireplace. It's perfect. You are incredible. Thank you so much."

"You don't have to thank me."

"You are right. You live there too. It's only proper that you have your mark there." she smiled

"Mom, I'm ready!"

"I guess cavalry's ready." she switched on the front camera as she went back in.

"Cooper! Teddy!"

"On my way!"

"Just five minutes!"

"Hey, Aunty Rose."

"Hey, Lila!"

"Lila, breakfast."

Then Teddy came in front of the camera. "Alright. gotta go to school now. Boring! I wish I didn't have to."

"Trust me you don't want that."

He shrugged, "If you say so. I gotta go. I love you, mum."

"I love you too."

"I love you three!"

"Oh yeah, I love you ten."

"I love you hundred!"

"I love you two hundred!"

"I love you ten thousand!"

"That's not how we increment!"

Teddy laughed.

"Well, in that case, I love you ten million."

"I love you ten billion."

"I love you ten trillion."

"I love you...hundred quadrillions."

"Let's end this, I love you infinity."

"I love you infinity plus one."

Rose laughed, "Okay, you win champ."

"Bye mum!"

"Bye, baby. Have a good day."

"Have a good night." and he hung up.

She smiled to herself as she closed her MacBook and exhaled, before she slipped under the sheets and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would come to her sooner than later.


I was on a bit of a roll, so here you go.

And thank you to everyone who gave me their assurances. and those who didn't but are still lurking and reading.

You know the drill.

Ciao