Chapter 14 – Return Home

Tony rubs firm circles into his temples with one hand, the other keeps track of where he is on the screen in front of him. 'You think these are the best new locations?' he looks up at the Wakandan king.

'The best we can do in the circumstances for now,' T'Challa agrees. 'We're lucky Ororo has so readily agreed to take one of the stones.'

'And whilst the Hong Kong Sanctum may not be as secure as Kamar-Taj,' Strange adds, 'at least it's precise location is not known to anyone on the team.'

'Valkyrie should be able to keep one stone safe for the time being,' Thor says, 'we should not need it to be for too long. Soon we shall reclaim our friends and vanquish our enemies, and enjoy revels to celebrate our victory once again.'

Even Tony can tell Thor's optimism is forced, Loki's expression is strained. 'Are you certain you do not want us to come with you?' the trickster asks again.

Tony shakes his head. 'I need you to buy us as much time as possible with the UN. Get the Wakandan Accords through, keep HYDRA fighting on two fronts, and I'll…' he swallows and heaves a sigh, 'I'll…try and keep this team from falling apart.'

T'Challa grips Tony's shoulder. 'Where will you go?'

He's grateful that the king doesn't try and give empty words of comfort; everyone can see how badly shaken Steve, Natasha and Clint are, and it's knocked the rest of them. Tony barely slept last night, keeping watch over Steve when the soldier managed to catch an hour or two of fitful sleep. Everyone this morning has dark circles under their eyes and lines showing the strain on their faces. 'HYDRA is wanting to get the entire team under their control or kill us, so we'll go back to the US where we can fight on home soil with home advantage.'

'You'll go to the facility?' Strange asks.

Tony shakes his head. 'For some things we'll visit there. But no…I've got an idea of where I can take them where we're off the grid and can be as safe as possible. Here,' he hands each of them a slip of paper with a location on it. 'Burn these so no one can find it. This is where we'll be.'

'If this is where I think it is,' Strange smiles, 'you really are a genius, Tony Stark.'

He knows the smile he gives is not quite hitting the mark but he tries. 'I'm not so sure I'd agree with you right now, but thanks anyway Doc.'


'We'll keep you updated on any changes,' T'Challa reassures him. 'Shall I tell Fury where you have gone when he returns?'

'Please,' Tony nods, 'I'd rather not risk-'

'I know,' the king smiles in reassurance as the team trek past them, having already said their goodbyes, putting their bags into the Quinjet. 'Take care of yourself, Tony.'

'And you, T'Challa,' he gives the king the Wakandan salute.

'Call us if you need anything. And don't lose hope,' he replies, returning the salute and standing back as Tony boards the jet.

'Budge over, Barton,' he says, taking the pilot's seat, 'I'm turning off all navigational systems and flying us under the radar.'

'Where are we going?' the archer asks.

Tony sighs. 'You'll see when we get there. We're going somewhere no one would ever think to look for us.'

'And where exactly would that be?' Sam asks, coming and standing behind their chairs as Clint fires up the engines.

'We're going home,' he replies. 'In more ways than one,' he mutters to himself, raising a hand in farewell to T'Challa as they lift off from the rooftop of the Wakandan Embassy. 'Sam? Can you check on Steve for me?'

'Sure thing, Tony,' the man fixes him with a look, 'as long as you promise not to start sinking into yourself again whilst trying to look out for all of us.'

'Sure thing, bird brain,' he smiles half-heartedly at him.

'Why does that not fill me with confidence?' Sam sighs, rolling his eyes but leaves them in peace.

'We heading back to the facility?' Clint asks him.

'No, I'm taking us somewhere else.'

'Where?' the archer raises an eyebrow at him.

'Safehouse,' Tony grins at him, relieved to see the echo of one back as he parrots the archer's words to him from when they faced Ultron. 'One I haven't thought about in years, so even Wanda wouldn't know of it.'

'Now you got me intrigued.'

'Take a nap, Clint,' he suggests. 'We all need all the rest we can get.'

'And you?'

'I'll rest when we get there.'

Clint sighs but doesn't argue. He also doesn't fall asleep, but Tony doesn't comment. Not like any of the rest of the team are either, even though no one is talking much.


It's late evening by the time Tony brings the jet to a soft landing on the grass lawn outside the dark and silent house.

'Where are we?' Sam asks, looking out the window. The rest of the team have gathered behind the pilot seats, peering out curiously at the looming structure in front of them. Tony feels so tense he's waiting for every tendon in his body to snap.

'From what I saw on the way in I'd say we're near Long Island,' Clint says, looking at him out the corner of his eye.

'What's in Long Island?' Bruce asks.

'Tones…you sure about this?' Rhodes voice is quiet.

'It's the only place I could think of that no one knows about, Rhodey,' he sighs.

'I didn't realise you still had this place,' his friend replies.

'What is this place?' Sam asks.

'This…this is the place I grew up,' Tony forces himself to release his death grip on the controls in front of him, sagging in defeat into his chair. 'This is the family home in Long Island.'

'Tony, you sure about this?' Steve asks quietly, his hand reaching down to take his, rubbing soft circles onto the back of it with his thumb.

No, he thinks. 'Positive. Though…I'm not sure how well it all still works. It should still have running water and everything, but…well no one's been here in decades so…'

'We might be lodging with the dust mites?' Natasha suggests with a small chuckle. 'I think it's a genius idea, Tony.'

'You might not be saying that when we find out there's a rat infestation and half the roof has collapsed,' he points out. 'Come on, lets get in and see the state of the place.'

No one talks much as they collect their bags and head down the ramp. Instead of taking them to the front door, Tony leads them around the side.

'Ah ha! FRIDAY came good and delivered supplies,' he points out the boxes stacked next to the side door. 'Had her get a food order delivered to the facility, then had drones bring it here. Now…let's see if I can remember which brick Jarvis used…'

'Jarvis?' Clint asks. 'As in AI before FRIDAY?'

'Nope,' Rhodes chuckles, 'Jarvis as in Edwin Jarvis, Howard's old butler.'

'Butler,' Tony lets a smile creep onto his face, 'yeah right, just a butler who could kill you quicker than Nat on a good day.'

'Yeah, he was scary man,' Rhodes laughs. 'British, all prim and proper, and then I see him once put a guy through the pavement for insulting Tony when we were like, ten.'

'Ah ha!' Tony finds the brick he's been looking for, pulling it out to reveal a key hung on a hook inside the space behind it.

'Wait,' Rhodes frowns. 'Are you telling me that the ex-British secret service guy who was basically your dad's right-hand man, hid the spare key behind a loose brick?'

Tony winks at him as he holds up the key. 'Nope. Ana did.'

'Ana being?' Wade asks.

'His wife,' he replies, fitting the key into the side door and, taking a deep breath, turns the lock. With a quiet click the door opens and Tony steps through into the old kitchen. As the team files in behind him, some of them going back out for the boxes of food, he has to fight off the swarm of memories that flood him as he looks around the old kitchen. He can almost hear Ana's scolding at how much dust and dirt he's allowed to gather on her work surfaces, and moaning at the fact the salt cellar had been knocked off the shelf, spilling its contents onto the table and down onto the floor. If he closes his eyes he can smell dinner in the oven and hear Jarvis' rhythmic slice and thud as he chops vegetables for Ana.

Sam finds a light switch and flicks it, flooding the room with light and bringing Tony back to the present.

'Something tells me we're going to be splitting our time tomorrow between cleaning and investigating,' Wade says, running a finger along the table and holding it up for everyone to see. 'Because I've eaten off some questionable surfaces in my time, but I'm drawing the line here, Tin Can.'

Sam laughs. 'You know it's bad if Wade is complaining about the cleanliness.'

'When was the last time you were here?' Bruce asks, looking around.

'December 19th 1991,' he answers. He'd stayed long enough after the accident to pack what he wanted and then left. Locked the door and hadn't been back since.

'Is there enough space for all of us?' Peter asks, coming and leaning tiredly against Tony's side. He's not sure if it's a gesture of support, Peter seeking comfort, or a mixture of both. Whatever the reason he struggles to speak past the lump of tears.

'They'll probably need as much cleaning as this room, but there'll be somewhere we can crash for tonight. We'll set to work on sorting out something more lasting in the morning,' he replies. 'Come on I'll show you all where to go.'


A/N: Hi everyone. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I found it tricky to get the right mood for it so I hope it works. I'm so sorry I haven't responded to all the reviews yet, I will be doing it this weekend.

Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews that have been left on this story so far. Please do let me know what you think. I've changed around the order of how the next few stories are going to go, so it'd be interesting to hear what you all think as I'm still in the planning stages.

Love always,

L x

The girliest screech Tony has ever heard has him banging his head on the bottom of the boiler the next morning.

'What the hell was that?' he demands.

'Clint,' Natasha sighs, bending down to check on him where he's rubbing the spot on his head that connected with the boiler. 'I guess he didn't get the memo this morning.'