Alrighty, folks, here's the epilogue. It's a bit short, but that's because I'm just wrapping things up

The title of this chapter is from P!nk 'U+Ur Hand'

I think you all know by now that I don't own Marvel

Epilogue

It's over before it began

The thing about life is that so many unexpected things can happen.

Like becoming an Avenger, or having a mental connection with my step-sister, or having an evil voice in your head constantly bugging you, or suddenly being sucked back into the past you tried to forget, or reuniting with an old friend only to have to leave them again, or falling off a cliff….

…. or your adoptive military 'father' showing up at a New Years Eve party in Malibu.

But, hey, life happens, and I've learned to not be so surprised by unexpected changes. So if the Times Square Ball suddenly explodes when the countdown reaches 1, I'll have totally expected it.

"60!"

Everybody shouts, staring at the multiple TVs in Uncle Tony's Malibu house. He invited all of the Avengers, including their girlfriends, Mom, and unfortunately, Mason. Turns out, when he called Mom a couple of days ago at the island, she told him about what was happening. And then, of course, he flew over.

After a private pep talk about disobeying his orders, which ended up in me walking away in the middle of his lecture, the party started and we haven't talked since. Which is fine by me.

I glance over at Jane, who is sitting at Uncle Tony's bar with a beer in her hands, next to Bruce and Betty. Unfortunately, right after we left the mutants at the island, Thor disappeared for a few hours and then came back saying that he had to leave Earth for a while. Jane's been pretty bummed ever since. I don't blame her; he didn't even get say goodbye to her.

"49, 48, 47…." Uncle Tony shouts the loudest, standing in front of the TV with Clint, Madison, Mom, Mason, Pepper, and Natasha. The Times Square Ball is slowly falling down, shimmering with multicolored sparkles.

A bit away from them, Steve is standing with a blue plastic cup in his hand, looking utterly confused. I watch as Jane beckons him over and says something, probably explaining the whole 'Ball Drop' to him.

Next to me, Darcy shifts the objects in her hands. We're currently hiding behind a curtain.

"You ready?" I ask, tightening my grip on the gadget in my hand. She nods, a mischievous smile on her face, and giggles, "This is going to be so fun!"

"Shh!" I shush, glancing out from behind the curtain. She rolls her eyes and scoffs, "It's not like they can hear us. Just listen to them."

"30, 29, 28, 27…" They continue shouting, oblivious to the two missing girls. I laugh a little and Darcy pretends to cheer, "25, 32, 97, 56…"

"20, 19, 18, 17…"

I grab one of Darcy's objects and put it in her mouth. She narrows her eyes and nods with fake seriousness. I grin and prepare to yank the curtain back.

"10!"

Uncle Tony turns down the music for the last ten seconds of the countdown.

"9!"

Pepper lets out a loud woot, clapping her hands in the air.

"8!"

Bruce and Betty stand up and join the group.

"7!"

Steve phone buzzes. He puts it do his ear, "Peggy?"

"6!"

Madison grins at Steve and fist pumps Uncle Tony.

"5!"

Mason pulls Mom into a deep kiss, which I wince at.

"4!"

Clint and Natasha give the two lovers strange looks.

"3!"

Darcy and I tense up, ready to spring into action.

"2!"

Jane takes a sip of her beer.

"1!"

The Times Square Ball doesn't explode.

Grinning maliciously, I rip away the curtain. In a split second, I have the bullhorn up to my mouth and scream, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" At the same time, Darcy blows two air horns while tooting a noisemaker in her mouth.

Jane spits out her beer in surprise and falls off her chair.

Madison, Betty, Pepper, and to my surprise, Clint, all scream, whirling around to face the darkness of hell.

Mom and Mason jerk away from each other with a loud smack.

Uncle Tony, Steve, and Bruce jump so high they almost reach the ceiling.

Natasha just raises an eyebrow and stares at me.

Meanwhile, Jarvis showers all of us with multicolored feathers.

Darcy and I burst out laughing at their reactions, cackling like maniacs on the floor. Tears of laughter stream down my cheeks and I high-five Darcy.

The others just stare at us, some looking disapproval and others looking amused.

Still giggling, I roll onto my back because my ribs ache and make a snow angel with the fallen feathers. Darcy snorts and does the same. Mine looks odd, because my broken arm is still in a cast, but we just laugh and mess it up even more. At some point, we get into a rather violent feather fight that Mom has to interrupt, but we just crack up all over again.

Let me tell you this.

That was the best New Year party of my life.

The next day...

"Don't lose your bows, alright?"

Clint pulls me and Madison into a tight hug, and then takes a step back. "Remember to practice," he says, "And if you break an arrow, call me."

Madison giggles and replies, "We will."

I turn to Natasha and give her a hug. She smiles and says, "Don't forget what I taught you about knives."

"What?" Steve, who's waiting to bid his good-byes, asks sharply. He stares at Natasha with wide eyes and exclaims, "Wait, what did you tea-"

Before he can finish, Madison shuts him up by tackling him in a tight hug. I laugh and give Natasha fist-bump before moving towards Bruce. Our hug is short, since I know I'll be seeing him once in a while for my 'Wolf Checkups' that he wanted. Yep, we're sticking with it. Not so sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

"Practice." he says once we part, "And if the Wolf causes trouble for you whenever I'm not there, text me."

I nod and step back as Madison hugs him. She glances over her shoulder and says, "It's a shame Thor couldn't be here. I wonder what happened that made him leave so soon?"

Bruce hugs her back and then pulls away, "He's probably fine. Maybe just a prince thing on Asgard."

"Yeah," I say, and then turn around. I move to hug Uncle Tony, but he stops me by ruffling my hair.

"No need for that, kiddo." he says casually, "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other often."

I smile and say mischievously, "Then I'm looking forward to it." He laughs and, once Madison walks over, pulls her into a side hug, "We're gonna have a bunch of fun. Whenever your mother gets tired of you, she can just send you guys over to me."

Rolling my eyes, I flash him a grin before turning around. Steve stands before me with his arms open, "Don't forget about me!"

I giggle and wrap him in a one-armed hug, since my other is broken. He hugs me back, being mindful of my injuries, and murmurs, "Try not to kill yourself back home. No falling off cliffs."

I laugh and nuzzle into his side, "How about roofs?" He chuckles and pulls away.

"Remember to call me sometimes," he says, and then takes out his phone. After giving it a perplexed look, Steve waves it in the air and adds, "Because I can't." I laugh again, and to my surprise, he leans down and kisses me gently on the forehead. Blushing, I take a step back and let Madison say good-bye.

Once she's done, the team and the two of us just stare at each other with sorrowful smiles. I gaze at them, but my eyes linger on Steve for a few seconds longer.

I know it might sound a bit cheap, but I think I'm going to miss him the most.

"Zoey!"

I look up at who called my name as I get out of the car. SHIELD was nice enough to escort Mom, Madison, and I back to our vineyard. Phh, yeah right! I bet they just wanted to make sure we stayed away from Uncle Tony.

I let out a groan as I see Finn running towards us at top speed. Next to me, Madison pats her knees and grins, "C'mere buddy!"

The Austie dashes towards us and leaps into her arms. He covers her face with licks and yelps, "OhmydogImissedyouguyssomuch!" He wriggles out of her grasp and jumps on me. I grunt, my ribs throbbing in pain, and scramble to hold him with one arm. The fact that he only weighs about 40 pounds helps.

Finn licks my face as well and I grimace at the doggy spit.

"Hey, are we going home now? Did you bring donuts? You smell weird! Where were you? I really really really missed you! Why are you hurt? Hey, can I have bacon? Angus wants some too, he said so!"

"No, I didn't."

I hear the familiar rasp of the old dog's voice and look up to see Angus limping towards us. Madison squeals and covers him in kisses, "How are you, Gussy Gus? Are you feeling better?"

Angus gives her a giant lick and then turns to me. I toss Finn to Mom and bend down to pet him.

"You were gone for a while, pup." he rumbles and nuzzles my hand.

"A lot has happened."

I glance over my shoulder as the SHIELD car drives away. Mom puts down Finn and says, "Alright, come on! Let's go to the house! I bet Chelsea and a bunch of other workers are wondering how your camp went."

"Camp?" I echo, raising an eyebrow, and then my eyes widen, "Oooh, camp. Right."

As far as the workers know, Madison and I have been away at winter camp. So that's what we're going to tell them about. Man, how're we going to come up with a story?

Mom leads the way down the dirt road to our house. As we walk, I see my horse, Moon, cantering along the fence with Pepsi. Finn runs ahead of us and scratches at the door with his paws.

To my surprise, the door opens and Chelsea walks out. Her eyes light up as she sees us coming and opens the door wider.

Madison and I immediately walk towards the fridge. We grab a couple of popsicles and are beginning to open them when Chelsea suddenly gasps. I turn to her and see her staring at me with wide eyes. Oh, right. We probably should've told her I got hurt.

"Oh my God, Zoey!" Chelsea exclaims, "How did you get hurt?! What happened?!"

Sighing, Madison and I glance at each other.

"You explain." I say before walking away, sucking my popsicle.

The End

It's doooooooooooonnneeeee! Man, it feels like only yesterday that I posted this story. So, Zoey and Madison are going to be chilling for a while and, ya know, healing.

*in a commercial man voice* BUT, WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

Stay tuned for the sequel! It's going to be called 'The Scent of Magic' in which Zoey is put into the events of Thor 2 and she meets the infamous LOKI! How are these two mischievous people going to react when they meet? How is the Wolf going to react to the Aether? How the hell did Zoey wind up on Asgard? Find out next Saturday when I post it!

I'll post an Author's Note on this story when it's up.

R&R

Ta ta, for now!

-Periwinkle Skittles