Thirteen - Rhythm
Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - Earth
2021
Nora placed a blanket over the sleeping Natasha's body. The Black Widow was sound asleep on the couch in the common room of the Avengers facility. That woman had been working extremely hard to keep the Avengers - those that were left after the Snap - going in the wake of Thanos's victory, but had definitely been working herself too hard, so she could use a much-deserved and equally, if not more, much-needed rest.
It was a quiet night at the facility. The Captain was leading another one of his well-attended and popular support groups, Natasha was asleep, and most of the rest of the team were out observing the quiet 'chaos' that was the new-found world order.
In many ways, the facility was like when Nora had first arrived three years ago, when the chaos had first struck, in search of the Avengers.
That was why when she heard footsteps striding down the hall, she jumped, startled at the sudden sound.
Her startled state fled as soon as the person appeared - a familiar blonde woman in a red, blue, and gold spacesuit.
"Carol! Wow, when you paged you were close by, you really were close by."
"I was. I wanted to catch you before you headed out into the world again."
"Don't you mean before you head out into the world again? Into the universe?"
"That too."
"Well you're in luck, I'm here, and not planning on heading out for a little while at least."
Carol winked and smirked, that signature smirk that Nora loved. "Lucky me."
The now intensely-blushing Nora cast a glance at the sleeping red-head on the couch. "Let's move to the kitchen maybe? Natasha has exhausted herself again and she is in need of a well-deserved rest."
Carol nodded and Nora led the way to the kitchen.
"Would you like some tea?"
"Sure, thanks."
Nora was about to turn the dial on the stove and start the kettle when she turned to the blonde. "Are you going to make me boil this over the stove or..."
Carol chuckled and came over, holding her hand against the side of the kettle and igniting her fist, boiling the water almost instantly with her powers.
"Still impresses me," Nora chuckled, readying two mugs and teabags, pouring in the freshly boiled water.
Mugs in hand, the two sat together at the counter, chairs turned so that they were facing each other, sipping their tea and chatting.
"So what's the update on your parents?" Carol asked.
"Is there really an update?" Nora shrugged. "It's difficult to investigate a disappearance when half the world - literally - has suddenly disappeared. Now, everyone's trying to investigate disappearances."
"True." Carol set her now empty mug on the counter. "Want to go for a walk in the grounds? It's a lovely night."
"Yeah, I'd love to. Let me just grab a jacket."
Soon the two were walking across the vast field around the facility. They weren't walking hand-in-hand, but close enough that their arms were touching during the whole walk.
"Look what I've been practicing-" Nora knelt down, entwining her fingers in the strands of grass. Carol watched as the ground beneath them began to glow pink.
"Damn, Doc." She smirked. "And I thought I was cool."
"You are."
"Okay, we're both cool." Carol nodded. "I'm proud of you, Nora."
"Oh, and why's that?"
"Lots of reasons. But you've kept things going - your parents' work, our training, figuring out your powers, dealing with the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., And helped keep things going here."
"Well..."
"No, you definitely have. I've heard Romanoff talk about how thankful she is to have you here. She needs your help. I've always thought you beat to the rhythm of your own drum, Nora."
"Well, thank you. You too. We're the cool ones." They shared a chuckled.
"And we're the lucky ones."
"Yeah. Nora reached out and took Carol's hand. "Yeah, we are."
Nora had cleaned up their tea dishes - even though Stark wasn't living here anymore, she always remembered how he liked to keep the kitchen clean - and was just heading to her room to bed when Carol entered the kitchen, wearing sweatpants and a U.S. Airforce T-shirt.
"You changed," Nora stated the obvious.
"Yeah, I did."
"I thought you left."
Carol smirked. "And I thought you were disappointed about that."
"I was."
"Nope, I think I'm going to stick around here for a while - if that's cool with you."
Nora smiled. "So cool. I'm glad."
Carol smiled back and offered her hand to Nora who took it. "Good, me too."
Was going to put this moment in my Carol and Nora sequel story, but I thought it would fit in well here, so we got it early, yay! ;)
To the Guest who reviewed (thank you for the review!) and who I couldn't private message, the first two stories are called 'Into Infinity' and 'For Eternity'! :)
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always! :)
