Chapter Twenty-Five: Epilogue
One month later...
Alice ran her fingers along the smooth tiled wall, her reflection looking back at her in the black sheen. It was a nice parting gift, this place: practical, elegant, functional, everything the new Avengers would need. Tony had done a good job.
"I've got something for you."
She rolled her eyes and turned to face Nick Fury. He handed her a tablet with a heat sensor map already pulled up on the screen, ripples of blue and green and yellow.
"One of our tech boys flagged this, splashed down in the Banda Sea." Nick shrugged. "Could be the quinjet. But with Stark's stealth tech, we still can't track the damn thing."
Alice felt her heart traveling up her throat and swallowed it back down.
"Right," she said, tracing the vaguely jet-shaped outline with her fingers, "Right."
"Probably jumped out and swam to Fiji," Nick said, almost sympathetically, "He'll send a postcard."
"Wish you were here," Alice muttered bitterly, "Hope he finds what he's looking for."
"What are you looking for, Miss Ripley?" Nick asked, eying her shrewdly, "What do you think you're gonna find in Malibu?"
"Nothing," Alice said, "But a girl's gotta have a job, and Pepper offered me one."
"You really think you belong at a desk?"
Alice sighed. This was an old argument, one she and Nick had been having for almost a month now. Nick started ticking off the highlights on his fingers.
"Clint's retired. Tony's tapping out. The New Avengers could really use a good pilot."
"Sam's a good pilot," Alice said, "Steve can fly decent enough. Hell, Rhodey's a colonel in the Air Force, if he can't fly I don't know who can."
"You are a part of this team-"
"Yeah, well, nothing lasts forever."
She handed back his tablet with a pointed force. Fury smirked a little as he took it.
"Trouble, Miss Ripley," he said, "No matter who stays or who goes, trouble always comes back around. You can't escape that, no matter how far you run."
...no matter how far or how long you run, you will always be the woman who helped make my life worth living...
Alice clenched her jaw and made an effort to match his smirk. "If you think I'm trying to escape trouble, Nicky, then you don't know me at all."
Nick sighed and shook his head. Then, to Alice's surprise, he stuck out his hand.
"The offer stands, Miss Ripley," he said, as she reached out and took it, "You will always have a place with us."
"I hate to break up this competing job offer-" Tony said, sauntering in and deliberately pushing himself between them, breaking off the handshake, "-but I really don't. You ready, Baby Bird? Jet's waiting."
"Yeah," Alice said, looping her arm with Tony's, "I'm ready."
They turned to go, but Alice could feel Nick Fury's eye on her long after they were out of sight. She squeezed Tony's arm a little more tightly.
"Are we really sure about this?" she asked, "I mean, Nick's right about one thing, I've never been a desk jockey."
"I never said you were," Tony agreed, "Pepper doesn't think so either. Did you even read the contract you signed?"
"Um, kind of?" Alice admitted, "There were a lot of big words, and I just sort of figured Pepper wouldn't let you screw me over."
"I'm touched by your faith in me," Tony drawled, pulling his sunglasses down to give her a snarky look, "Really. It's heartwarming. But you probably should have read the contract."
Alice raised an eyebrow. "What? Is there an indentured servitude clause hidden in the fine print? Do you now own my eternal soul?"
"We're putting you to work with the Stark Relief Foundation," Tony said, stopping to dig around in his pocket, "Independent contractor. Kind of a make-your-own-hours, choose-your-own-patients, travel gig. You even get company transport!"
He pulled out a key fob and pressed it into her palm, closing her fingers over it.
"We pay your room and board, medical supplies wherever you set up shop," he said, looking at her intently over the tops of his glasses, "But you choose, Alice. You can pick anywhere you want to go. And now—-" He glanced back the way they had come, back toward Fury...and the tablet he'd shown her. "-I'm pretty sure you have a good idea where to start."
"...crash landed somewhere over the Banda Sea...could be the quinjet..."
Tony was watching her, Alice realized, watching the comprehension slowly write itself all over her face, the enormity of what he was offering. When it was clear that she had a full grasp of the situation, Tony grinned and lifted her hand, pressing a kiss to her closed fingers.
"Bring our boy home, Alice."
Then he winked and sauntered off, hands shoved in his pockets and whistling tunelessly without another glance back. Barely daring to breathe, Alice opened her fingers. A strange, yet incredibly familiar key fob was nestled in the palm of her hand. Before she could think, or plan, or question, she turned in the opposite direction and started running.
Klara stood on the lawn of the New Avengers facility and shut her eyes, letting the sun warm her face, the breeze ruffle her hair, breathing in deep of the fresh, green smell that was so quintessentially Midgardian.
You're home, Klara...if you wanna be.
What was that Midgardian saying? 'Home is where the heart is.' Was Klara's heart destined always to be torn in two? Between what had been, and what could be?
No knowledge she had where her home should be...
She determinedly shook away that voice, the whisper in her head. Loki was dead. Lord Thor had held him in his arms as he died. She had mourned his loss, had experienced pain and grief beyond anything she had ever known. He was dead, and he wasn't coming back. So then why...?
On what little honor I still possess, the girl is safe with me.
Who would send such an apparition? Why were they protecting her, if that was indeed what they had been doing? How would they have even known that she needed protecting? If someone was watching her...was that even possible? Heimdall himself could not see her. Who would have Sight more powerful than the Watcher of Worlds? And why would they send...him, why take that form?
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings...
There were too many questions, questions that Klara's heart would not allow to rest.
She heard approaching voices and opened her eyes, settling her shoulders and clasping her hands behind her, preparing.
"...once all these pieces are in position-"
"-triple Yahtzee?" That was Tony Stark, along with Lord Thor, and...
"You think you can find out what's coming?"
Klara stiffened as the three men rounded the corner, stepping into the sunlight: Lord Thor, Tony Stark, and Steven Rogers. They had not yet seen her, but they would. They would all see her.
"I do," Lord Thor assured the captain, putting a companionable hand on Mr. Stark's shoulder, "Besides this one, there is nothing that can't be explained." He turned his grin to Klara. "Are you ready?"
Klara's heart lodged in her throat. They were all looking at her now, and Klara could not meet their eyes. She dropped her gaze to the ground and swallowed. She should have said something before, but...she had been afraid. Afraid that her courage would fail her, as it was failing her now. Her choice was clear, her mind made up, but...oh, how unfair it all was, how cruel...
"You're going back."
She blinked and looked up, startled. Captain Rogers had moved forward without her realizing, and she could see a shimmer of regret in the blue of his eyes that she could not soothe.
"I have to," she confessed, and to her surprise, he nodded.
"I know," he said, resigned, "I know you...saw something, in Novi Grad. Something you don't want to talk about."
Forgive me, dearest...
Klara's throat closed up and she blinked back the threat of tears. Steven's smile was soft and sad as he reached out to touch her elbow. Klara's hands unclasped almost of their own accord, allowing him to draw one toward him, passing his thumb gently over the skin of her knuckles.
"Do what you need to do, Klara," he said, "But when you're done...I want you to know that you can always come back."
He reached up and brushed a loose curl back from her face, his fingertips lingering against the skin of her cheek, just briefly, like the flutter of wings.
"You can always come home."
Home...
...come home, Loki... Promise me...
I swear to you when all is done...I will return to Asgard.
The one lie Loki had told her, like a stab of ice to her heart. But...was it a lie? Loki was dead, her mind knew this, but her heart... If she did not go, if she did not see for herself, her heart would never be whole. She would never be home.
She rose up onto her toes and pressed her lips to the captain's cheek.
"Fare you well, Steven Rogers," she whispered, "May the Norns see fit to weave our threads together again."
She squeezed his hand and then slipped out of his grasp before her resolve faltered. Lord Thor was waiting patiently, her small satchel already slung over his shoulder. He clasped her shoulder and met her eyes with perfect seriousness.
"Are you certain?"
Klara shut her eyes.
Forgive me, dearest... His voice still whispered in her ear, like a breath, like a song.
Her eyes opened.
"Yes. I'm ready."
Lord Thor smiled.
"Then hold on."
She wrapped her arms about him and held on tightly, bracing herself. Her eyes fixed on Steven, and his blue eyes were the last things she saw before light, color, and then darkness swallowed her whole.
...forgive me, dearest.
"That guy has no regard for lawn maintenance."
Steve couldn't help but smile as Tony kicked at the burned symbols in the grass, the only sign of the Bifrost and the departed Asgardians. The tightness in his chest loosened a little.
"I'll miss him though," Tony said, eying Steve as they meandered toward the service road, "And she's gonna miss you, and you're gonna miss me, there's gonna be a lot of tears cried into pillows tonight."
Steve's smile widened.
"I will miss you, Tony," he said, sincerely. He would miss this part anyway, this incessant need to fix, to make things better, to care so much and not know where to put it except into a joke, a laugh. He would miss this Tony Stark.
"Yeah?" Tony said, sounding incredulous as his car came around the corner, "Well, I-"
An alarm started blaring within the compound, followed by the sound of hissing hydraulics as the underground launch bay opened. Steve tensed and lifted his hand to his ear, ready to make a dash for- And then he noticed Tony. Standing there. With his hands in his pockets, absolutely no expression on his face as one of their brand new quinjets slowly rose into the air, cloaking the second it cleared the launch doors.
"Tony?" Steve asked, with a resigned sort of sigh, "Why is one of my quinjets making an unscheduled departure in stealth mode?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer that, Captain," Tony said, as the shimmering mass rose further into the sky, "It would be a breach of a Stark Industries employee contract. I'm gonna need a court order if you want that kind of information."
"We need those quinjets," Steve said, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
"I'll build you another one."
"You just built that one!"
"I'll put a rush on it," Tony assured him, shading his eyes as the engines ramped up to full power, "You'll thank me later."
Steve shook his head helplessly. "We'll see, I guess."
In rush of wind and a flash of light the shimmering mass that had been the quinjet was gone. Tony smiled.
"Yeah. I guess we will."
Alice set her coordinates and sat back, watching the clouds stream by the cockpit window. She dug into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a worn photograph, unfolding it carefully and pressing it into the space between two control panels. The sun still shone in Bruce's curls, his brow furrowed in concentration, his sleeves rolled up. He was still there. He would always be there. And Alice was going to find him if it was the last thing she did.
She punched the accelerator and shot across the sky.
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"Hey! New girl!"
The redhead looked up from beneath the hood of a black SUV, and Sam waved at her, leading Steve across the concrete floor in her direction. She set down her wrench and took off her grease-stained gloves, smoothing a hand over the mess of curls tied in a knot on top of her head. The automotive repair shop in the new Avengers facility was huge and noisy, filled with techs in gray jumpsuits and machinery that defied the logical definition of the word 'automotive', but the new girl hadn't seemed to have any trouble settling in. That was good. Sam had been a little worried about that. The girl had a way with machines, but this...this was a whole new ballgame.
"How's it going?" he asked as they got within speaking distance.
She glanced over her shoulder at the engine of the SUV and shrugged.
"Damn thing's energy efficient as hell, but makes it a pain in the ass to maintenance," she said, "No wonder you guys have so many gadgets and doodads, you must spend all your time in the shop!"
"That's Tony Stark for you," Steve said, his smile earnest, but still tinged with a touch of grief that Sam wasn't sure anyone else could read, "Always finding a way to be a pain in the ass."
"Danielle Cavanaugh, meet Steve Rogers," Sam said, and the girl held out her hand with a professional smile, not the usual expression that most people had when they met Captain America for the first time. But then, she'd already had her celebrity encounter, he supposed. That's why they were here.
"Pleasure, Captain," she said as she took Steve's hand, "Thank you for taking me on."
"I hear you have some special intelligence, Miss Cavanaugh," Steve said, as he shook her hand, "And not just about machines."
Dani's green eyes hardened along with her smile, turning sharp as steel. Or vibranium.
"That's why I'm here," she agreed with a cheeriness that now felt forced, "And Sam has assured me that our...intentions concerning this intelligence are aligned?"
She phrased it as a question, hopeful but also insistent, an ultimatum. Steve's smile never faltered and his own expression took on that earnest determination everyone found so inspiring.
"We just want to talk, Miss Cavanaugh," he said, "He's my friend too."
A little of the tension bled out of the girl's expression and her smile took on a mischievous twinkle.
"Well then," she said, sweeping back her hair and turning to shut the hood of the SUV, "I guess we should get started."
A/N: That's right, folks! We have set-ups for, not one, not two, but THREE new fics! The first draft of "You Go To My Head" (featuring Danielle "Dani" Cavanaugh, and a very special one-armed PTSD victim) is already finished and just waiting for editing. It should be up in January 2019! I have also started work on "A Friend Indeed", the next step of Alice's adventure (set mostly in a magical place called Kamar-Taj!) and "Realms Apart" the next step in Klara's journey (with a little more insight into what the actual HECK our favorite trickster has been up to!), both of which should be up and running in 2019! There's also a fourth fic (I know, I'm crazy ;P) that I'm working on for the Guardians of the Galaxy (Volumes 1 and 2!) and it should be ready shortly as well.
'Why such a long wait?' you might ask. Well, along with all of these fics, (as well as eating, sleeping, socializing, and an actual job that pays bills) I also write original fiction and I've fallen woefully behind on that! November is dedicated to my original work (you can find the first book in that series-"Doubt The Stars" by Emily Selleck-on Amazon, or pretty much anywhere you find ebooks), so I won't be able to start editing until December at the earliest. I'm working as fast as I can, I promise! I'm as excited as you guys!
I just want to take a minute to thank all of you for going on this journey with me. I know it might not have been quite what some of you were expecting, but if you've gotten this far, I hope I made it a story worth your time. It was certainly a blast to tell, and your reviews and encouragement were a big part of that. So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! And I'll see you all again soon!