A:N/ Hey guys, our journey is almost over, sadly. But, I have decided to write a sequel, for once. I'm not sure what it will contain, or what the focus will be, but there will be a sequel. Anyways, here's the last chapter. Please, leave a review telling me your thoughts about anything involving the story!

I was sitting there, mulling over what Loki had said. Was I in love with Steve? I didn't think so, but what do I know about love? I looked over to where Loki was and saw that he had fallen asleep. I turned back to the window, and quickly became los in thought.

"Melody?" I heard a voice gently say behind me. A voice that made my heart start to flutter.

"Steve. Did we do it? Did we save the world?"

"Yes. Everyone is safe now." I turned to face him. "Melody? What's wrong?"

"Look, Steve. Look at New York. It's completely destroyed. How could we have allowed this to happen? Why didn't we stop him before now?" The tears started flowing freely.

"Oh, sweetie." He gathered me into his arms and just held me. I buried my head into his shoulder, or at least what I could reach, which ended up being his chest. I heard a door opening, but didn't care anymore. I was numb due to what had occurred. I just didn't care about how I was viewed by the team, I was just done with it all.

"Cap, what happened?"

"Look to Loki. I'll take care of Melody." I felt him pick me up gently and move me over somewhere. "Clint, I can take care of this. You go make sure Loki isn't going to run off."

"Just, be careful with her."

"Always." He mumbled this last thought and sat down, placing me next to him. "Melody, what happened while you were up here with Loki?"

"Steve, not now, please." I begged, yes begged. I was broken. Loki had succeeded. He broke me. Not just physically (I could feel what bones were broken), but mentally.

"Alright, Melody." We stayed quiet for a while before Steve broke the silence. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you come up here and face Loki. I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me, Melody."

I looked up at Steve, and saw tears forming in his eyes. I reached a hand up and touched his face. "Steve, I chose to come here. I antagonized Loki. This is my job."

"It's a pretty crummy job, if you ask me."

I laughed, for the first time since this whole battle started, I laughed. This almost felt, normal, something I wasn't used to at all.

"Question for you, Steve."

"Alright."

"Do you miss Peggy?" Subtlety wasn't a strong point for me when I wasn't undercover.

"I used to, but now, I think I can let her go and live my life with someone in the here and now." He gave me that smile that makes my stomach flutter. I smiled back and saw Clint over Steve's shoulder.

"Hey, lovebirds, are you ready to get Loki out of here." I looked over at Steve quickly.

"Hold your horses, Clint, we're coming." I got up slowly, cautiously, and walked over to where Loki was sitting on the stairs. I was trying to control my trembling, so as not to let him see how he had gotten to me, how he had succeeded in breaking me. I felt an arm wrap around me and knew that it was Steve. I subconsciously leaned into him, reveling in the safety I felt when I was around him.

Loki looked up at us, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

We took Loki into custody and took him back to the now repaired Helicarrier. The weeks that followed were some of the best I remembered.

Steve came to m room one day, earlier in the morning. He was frantically knocking at my door. I was already awake, reading, when he first knocked at my door. In the thirty seconds it took for me to get up and cross from the bed to the door, his knocking had reached a panicked state. I opened the door, and had to dodge a fist flying towards my face.

"Whoa, Steve. What's the matter?"

"Melody, I've made a mistake. I'm so sorry. I should have told you sooner. I should've gotten you out of New York before all the fighting started. I shouldn't have told you to follow Loki. It's my fault what he did to you. Please, don't leave."

He found out about me wanting to leave SHIELD. I hadn't had a chance to tell him about it. "Steve, it's not anything you've done. It's been a compounding of things. This has been my entire life. It's been all that I've ever known. I'm ready for a new thing, a new part of life."

"Please, don't leave. Don't leave me."

At that, my heart broke. I realized that Loki was right, I had fallen in love with this man out of time. This man who had given everything for the country that he loved and was considered dead for seventy years. This man who came to my room at night when he heard me screaming from the nightmares that now plague me. Who never wanted anything more from me then my companionship, who only stayed long enough at night to calm me down. Who I found laying outside my door some mornings, where he had gone to sleep after comforting me during the night. And I had been in love with him since he came after me in New York. Since before then, actually.

"Steve, I can't live like this anymore. I can't continue being a puppet for SHIELD. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you. I can't stand the thought that one day, you'll leave on a mission and never come back. I'd rather I had a friendship with you and leave then to have had more and lose you." I started to cry, sobs shaking my body. Steve gathered me in his arms, pulling me close enough for me to bury my head into his shirt.

"Shh, sweetie, shh. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here. I don't want to lose you either, but if you leave now, we'll lose each other. I can't promise that I won't go off on missions and need you to come rescue me, but I can promise that I will always come back to you."

"I can't lose you, Steve. I can't." My voice was muffled by his shirt and body.

"You won't, Melody. I love you, Melody Barton. I love you." He pushed me away from his chest and held me by my shoulders. I looked up at him, and saw something in his eyes that I hadn't seen in a long while: love. As I tilted my head, giving over to instinct, he tilted his, and leaned down to me. We both hesitated, our lips centimeters apart, our breath mingling. Then, I went up on my tiptoes and met his lips in a slow, chaste kiss. We both pulled away.

"Melody, let me take you on a date."

"Alright," I paused, "After we take care of the Loki problem."

"Alright, fair enough." He gave me a quick kiss, then started to walk away. "Mel, get some sleep."

"Steve, stop worrying about me," I called out to him. He turned around and walked back over to where I was standing.

"Melody, the first time you fought with me was when you gave me permission to worry about you." He kissed me, then picked me up and carried me over to my bed. He took my book from where I had placed it and put it up on my bookshelf, in it's correct spot, oddly enough. "Now, get some sleep. We say goodbye to Thor tomorrow as he escorts Loki back to Asgard."

"Fine. Can I have my book back, please?"

"After you get some sleep."

The next day, all the Avengers were gathered in Central Park to watch as Thor took Loki back to Asgard to await judgment from Odin. Thor was saying goodbye to everyone while Loki was just standing there, almost glaring. He, Loki, saw me looking at him and proceeded to wink at me. I started in disgust before Thor walked in front of me.

"Lady Barton, it has been wonderful to fight with a warrior maiden such as yourself. The Lady Sif would love to fight alongside one such as you."

"Thank you, Thor. It has been a pleasure fighting alongside you, as well. Visit us again, some time soon."

"Of course, Lady Barton." He kissed my hand, then walked over to where Loki was. Dr. Banner brought over the tesseract. Thor took hold of it, and jerked it towards Loki, causing Loki to grab onto it. They disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

I walked over to where Steve was leaning against his bike. Before I reached him, however, I was distracted my Nat and my brother, openly flirting. "Get a room, you two love birds!" I called out. I felt an arm wrap around my waist. I knew that it wasn't Steve. I elbowed him in the solar plexus, then, as he was leaning back and over in pain, I grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back, causing the air to lose his lungs.

"Tony! Keep your hands off my sister!"

"No worries," cough, "Legolas." Cough, cough, "I won't be making that mistake again."

I smirked and walked over to Steve. "You ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah." He handed me my helmet and got onto his bike. I looked back at the group behind me, hoping I wouldn't have to fight alongside them again, but knowing that the odds were against that wish. I got on Steve's bike, and we rode off.

A/N: Here is the last chapter, guys! I hoped you enjoyed this story, and will be on the lookout for the sequel. Until then, check out any of my other stories! I am considering this a birthday present from me to you, seeing how it is my birthday today! Have a great day, an I'll be seeing y'all again, soon.