Upon returning home exactly two weeks and one day after being freed from Hammer, the household quickly realized there were a few problems to be dealt with, and made preparations for those alongside the others they were aware of already.

The very first night Laynie spent in the hospital, with Tony sprawled across the couch, she woke him up crying and shouting in her sleep. If not for all the medication, she probably wouldn't have slept that night.

The nightmares kept persisting into the weeks afterward, but Laynie gradually learned how to calm herself down and control the things happening in her dreams.

Carter had nightmares too, but they didn't seem to bother her as much, and they rarely woke her in the middle of the night.

The second big hurdle was the fact that Carter wasn't sure if she wanted to suppress her power. She was slowly learning how to control it, though people often passed right through her when they went in for a hug or high five.

The third hurdle, at least for the parents, were the boys.

Laynie and Carter were inseparable that summer, but especially so during Laynie's hospital stay. They watched Disney movies and bad soap operas while they ignored their buzzing cell phones and the things that were haunting them.

But when they got home, James stomped into the apartment and angrily gave Laynie a hug, and then slapped Carter on the arm.

"That was for making yourself a human bartering chip," he said angrily.

And then he lunged forward and kissed her right on the lips. Laynie let out a startled laugh, then quickly exited the room.

Laynie caught up with her blog and answered some messages, and then faced the most pressing messages of them all.

78 new messages from Shawn. her phone read.

She let out a defeated sigh, and called her friend. She couldn't bear to read the messages yet; she was trying to forget everything that happened and she really didn't feel like counting the days she had lost.

"Shawn?"

"Laynie! Oh my god!" There was a frantic scramble in the background, a shout, a slammed door, and the unmistakable sound of Shawn crashing into his creaky bed. "Are you okay? Where have you been?"

She smiled. It was nice to hear his voice again. "I'm okay. I may or may not have been kidnapped."

"What?" he shouted. "There hasn't been anything in the news about that!"

"Tony worked really hard to keep it all very hush-hush. Nobody has to know but us."

"Are you okay?" He asked in a low voice.

Laynie smiled. So many people had been worried about her, it really made her realize how loved she was. Then she realized she would have to tell him everything, and let out a ragged sigh.

"I was kidnapped by Justin Hammer and a crazy scientist named Arthur Parks. Enemies of my dad. Hammer roughed me around the edges and Parks used Carter as a lab rat, but we're home now. We're okay."

"Laynie..." he floundered for words. "How bad is it?"

"Eh, nothing awful, Carter just has to concentrate very hard so she doesn't fall through the floor."

He made a frustrated noise. "No, Laynie. You. How bad is it for you?"

"I told you, I'm fine. I tore up my wrist so I have a cast, but other than that it was just a little concussion and a few bruised ribs."

He sighed. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. If you want to talk, I'm here."

"I know you are." Laynie twisted her bed sheet in her hand. "I don't really want to talk about it, honestly."

"That's okay." She could hear his smile from across the country.

Shawn had been one of the only reasons she had made it through that time with Walter. It was without a doubt the darkest time of her life, but she made out like a bandit with the best friend since Carter. Her return home had been a little bittersweet when she first thought they would lose their friendship, but they quickly realized that there wasn't a problem. Their relationship worked long distance just as well as it had in person.

Shawn broke the silence. "You owe me some pizza, you know."

Laynie laughed. "We could always Skype pizza?"

Shawn laughed too. "That could work, yeah, but I was thinking more up close and personal. You know I got a job..."

"No. No way Shawn. You can't spend all your savings-"

"It's my money! I earned it, I believe I get to do what I want with it."

Laynie could just imagine him sticking his chin out and shoving his dorky glasses onto his nose.

"Alright, tell me what you'll do with it then."

"I talked to my mom and she said I could fly you out or come visit you. Either way."

Laynie's heart swelled. "Shawn, I can't believe you."

"I can't really believe me either, it's like I'm too good to be true or something."

Laynie shook her head. "Shawn, I'm sorry, but I can't go out there. It's too close to Walter and... I'm scared. I don't want to be away from my family."

"Of course, I understand. I have to get off for dinner, but I'll text you later. Maybe I'll get a response this time?" He teased.

"If you're lucky. Tell your mom and sister I said hey."

"Will do. Stay safe."

The line went dead, and Laynie sighed. It would be so nice to have Shawn visit. The last time she had seen him, it was to turn him down for after-school pizza.

Maybe they had a chance for something now.

"Miss Stark, your father would like to be sure you're alright."

Laynie rolled her eyes. Everyone had been doing that recently, especially her dad. It was annoying, but reassuring at the same time. She would never be taken from them again, with the way she was being watched.

"Tell him I'm fine JARVIS. Where's he at?"

"In his apartment with Miss Potts. Would you like me to warn them you're coming?"

Laynie made a face. "Will I be interrupting anything?"

There was a fraction of a pause from the AI. "Mr. Stark says certainly not."

"Thanks buddy."

Laynie wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and shuffled out of her room. It seemed as though Carter and James had finished making out for the moment, and were crashed on the couch instead, watching television in silence.

Laynie pressed the button for the elevator with her elbow and sat down for the ride. Even with all the time to heal and intensive care she had gotten at the hospital, she still hadn't fully regained her strength. The doctors thought some of it was mental.

The elevator doors chimed open on Tony and Pepper's private suite, and Laynie let herself in.

Her father was laid across the bed with his girlfriend. Their legs crisscrossed on the sheets, with one of each of their hands folded on Tony's chest.

Laynie quietly stretched out on a couch beside their bed.

"You okay kiddo?" Tony asked after a while.

"I'm okay," she responded. It was true, she really was 'okay', but that was all. She wasn't fantastic and she certainly wasn't happy, but she was okay.

"We're thinking about going to Malibu for a few weeks before Christmas," Pepper said slowly. "You'd be welcome to come with or stay behind."

"I don't know what I would want to do," she responded honestly.

"Right now, what we're going to do is stick together and stand by you girls. We're here until the bitter end for you two, you understand?"

Laynie nodded. Pepper sometimes got very passionate about these things.

"We made it through," Laynie said suddenly.

"We made it through," Tony echoed.

He gestured for Laynie to jump up on the bed, and they squished her between the two of them. Tony rubbed his scruff against her forehead and she cringed away, a smile pulling at her mouth.

Pepper pushed him away with a few fingers. "Be nice."

Tony laughed and threw an arm over the both of his girls. There was nothing more satisfying than his new family. If he thought it wasn't dangerous, he would recommend the most powerful group hug ever, but someone would end up suffocating.

No. He definitely wanted the group hug anyway.

Laynie lay there watching as her father drifted off, eyes rolling into the back of his head and a snore escaping his throat.

Even though it had been his enemies that attacked herself and Carter, she saw him as her true dad. Walter wasn't even a close comparison.

And then there were Bruce and Steve. They were like secondary parents. And Natasha and Pepper, while they couldn't replace her mom, were comforting and motherly all the same. Thor and Clint were like the crazy uncles, but she wouldn't have it without them.

In fact, there wasn't a single thing about the family that she would change. Laynie realized as she drifted off that after all, maybe coping with the Avengers wasn't so hard after all.

Maybe it was even a little fun.

The End

Author's Notes:

Lartovio: *sniff sniff* It's been real, guys. Thanks for all the support you've given us through these two arcs! (And we're terribly sorry about our erratic updates... we should probably commit to a schedule with the next arc...) Speaking of which, the next arc is in the works right. now. Be excited, because this is going to be the best one yet. *hugs everyone* Thank you for reading!

Dawn: So here it is, the last chapter of Coping With The Avengers. Thanks for sticking with us even with our extremely sporadic updates. Currently we are working on the third arc, so make sure to keep an eye out for it. Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed it. :D