A/N. Hiya :) So there were a total of 13 quotes from the movie in the last chapter (counting two that were altered to fit the context). Congrats to any and all who recognized them :D If you're interested in what they all are, PM me or if you're a guest reviewer, review and I'll post it in on my profile for a short period of time :) Enjoy the last official chapter of SCWCR before the Epilogue and stuff. Again, to all who are reading this, YOU'RE AMAZING! Just sayin' ;)

CHAPTER XXXVII

Tania remembered everything that happened. Honestly, she did. It was all fresh in her mind and while she was lying in this hospital bed, she had nothing better to do than think about it all.

First, on the fourth of January, she and Pepper had gone to Philadelphia for a business trip. That was the day that Arnold Austerlitz tried to kill her but she escaped and was sent home.

Second, she and Clint had been attacked at the Statue of Liberty while Steve, Tony, and Natasha were in Europe investigating. Clint had killed around ten people that day. And she'd fallen from the top of the monument.

Third, bullets had tried to penetrate the Tower when she was on the party deck.

HYDRA had been trying to kill her at first, but in the end, they kidnapped her instead along with Steve because the opportunity had presented itself after Steve and the others returned from Germany with only the world, "Wizard" and a phone number they could only assume had belonged to Dominik Schmidt.

At the theatre on the ninth, Pepper, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Steve, and Tania had investigated HYDRA's designated meeting point. That was where Klaus recognized her and gave her away. That was also the night that she thought Clint and Natasha might be dead.

She and Steve woke up the next day in the HYDRA base, where she'd tried to break out but had just been thrown with Steve for her efforts (bonus). That was a horrifying week she did not want to remember – but she always would. There had been torture and periods of muteness and death and emotional turmoil but she was out of there. Schmidt was dead, by her own hand. Her first kill and it might as well have been the Devil.

She had to admit that she felt no remorse for killing Dominik. He was an evil, horrible man who tortured them for fun and revenge and he did not deserve to live. But didn't everyone deserve to live? Didn't everyone deserve a second chance? A chance to make things right?

No. Not in this context. He had been about to kill Steve. She never would have let that happen. She'd had no other option. It was either kill the man or watch Steve die. She'd chosen the former and she didn't regret one bit.

It was still hard to come to terms with, though. She had taken away a person's life. She had sent someone away from life. She had killed a person, taken away their hopes and dreams – even if those hopes and dreams revolved around revenge on Captain America. He was gone. Dead. Finished. Deceased. Passed on. Forever. He would never say another word, move another inch, or open his eyes ever again. Not that he had eyes anymore. Or a body.

She assumed that he and any others in the area had been in the explosion. The huge one that had rocked the Earth had nearly ripped her legs off when Steve had shoved her onto the ground, curled them both into balls and hid beneath his shield. Because of this, she had to assume that Klaus was dead to. That he hadn't survived the explosion.

Earlier, she had assumed that the Avengers had all died in the explosion and she became hysterical. But the doctors assured her that they had all survived. How that had happened she had no idea. They'd said that her brain was foggy and that she wouldn't be able to comprehend anything they explained and that she should go back to sleep.

She knew that she was on the helicarrier. This was the SHIELD med bay. She also knew that they had touched down in New York again and that her brother would be coming to see her today. On the seventeenth.

Yeah, her birthday had come and gone and she'd been unconscious for the majority of it. But Steve's wishing her a happy birthday had honestly made her entire day. Even if that day had only been a couple hours long for her.

She was officially twenty-five. But what did that matter? It didn't. At least not right now. What mattered was that she was safe again and Steve and the others were okay and everything would go back to the way it was – for the most part. Nothing would be exactly the same as it was before, but it would be close.

She and Steve had shared something so personally intimate in that compound. She felt like their hearts had been melded together permanently. There was something different about them; a new dynamic to their relationship that hadn't been there before. If anything, Tania would say that it had grown ever stronger, as had her relationships with the rest of the Avengers – especially Clint. She felt like he was honestly her step-brother or something.

So now her bonds with the others (especially Steve) were stronger than ever. She felt like they really were her family instead of just telling everyone that's what she thought of them as. They were her family, just as much as Graham was. And with the help of said family, she knew that she'd be okay one day. Not right away, though. Everything was still too knew. Still too fresh. Still too scarred.

She was dying to know how Steve was doing. She wanted to know how the others had found them. She wanted to know if Klaus had survived. She wanted to know how everyone else had survived. But she was stuck in this hospital wing with doctors who didn't know the answers to the questions she was asking.

Until the door opened. "Tani?"

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Gray!"

Graham barged right in and practically tackled her in a hug. "Oh my God, you're here!" She squeezed him as tightly as she could until he said,

"OW!" and she pulled back immediately. That was when she noticed the bandages. He was in even worse shape than she was.

"What happened?!" She eyed the gauze around his arm and the brace on his other wrist and cuts and scratches and knew for a fact that there was more gauze underneath the blue collared shirt he was wearing.

He shrugged. "I'll tell you some other time. Right now I'm just so happy to see you!" Hu hugged her again and she couldn't question it. She didn't even want to pull away. She closed her eyes, allowing her tears to soak through his shirt, knowing he wouldn't care.

"I missed you so much!" she sobbed.

"I missed you too. But we're together now, and nothing is ever gonna break us apart. Not now, not ever."

"Pinky swear?"

He laughed and pulled back to hook his pinky with hers just like when they were kids. "Pinky swear."

She threw her arms around him again, unable to get enough. "I love you," she whispered in his ear.

"Don't tell anyone, but I love you too, Sis."

She snorted into his shoulder and held on tighter, unable to believe that he was really here. "You're such a doofus."

"Whatever. Happy Birthday."

"Thanks. But my birthday was yesterday," she pulled back a little, keeping her hands on his shoulders.

He chuckled. "Not according to the Avengers. They're dying to see you. Tony brought in all your birthday presents and confiscated a whole room in the helicarrier so that we could celebrate it when you woke up." He helped her sit up and swing her legs over the edge of the bed. "Now, you have some of the least amount of injuries out of the whole team, so some of them are banged up pretty bad." He handed her a pair of crutches and she took them to help herself stand up.

"What are they?" she asked as they began to make their out of the room.

"Well you know what yours are: major burns all over your body and a twisted ankle. Tony was electrocuted pretty badly but other than that he's fine. Peter's got burns just like you and a pretty bad concussion. Bruce has burns too but from electricity, unlike you. Thor is perfectly fine. I mean come on, he's a God. Agent Hill is fine too; a little scraped up, but fine. The agents piloting the quinjet… well, they're dead. But let's not dwell on that. Clint has some cracked ribs, burns, and a small concussion. Natasha still has that bullet would by her collarbone, a new broken arm, and a concussion. Rhodey has one cracked rib that punctured his lung. He's still in the med bay so he can't make it but the doctor's think he'll be fine."

"And Steve?"

"He has really bad leg burns, like you, but a lot worse, and a concussion that's gone away already with the effectiveness of the serum, and his bullet wound is still healing but it should be good by tomorrow. However, the doctor says that it's going to scar, which is a complete shock cause, you know, super soldier! He explained it to me but I kinda zoned out and anyway, his ear is all good and yours is still healing and that's about it. His burns are really bad though, so he's on crutches like you. But unlike you, he's only on them for today."

"What about you?" she asked as they made their way through the hallways of the helicarrier. It was painfully obvious to her that every step Graham took was excruciating to him from the look on his face and she wanted to know why.

"I've got all my ribs broken, a sprained wrist, a stab wound in my arm, my concussion's gone, and a little bit of glass in me. Oh yeah. You and Steve both had glass shards in your skin which the doctors had to remove. Clint did too at some point but I think that was a little while ago…"

"How did you get your wounds? You weren't there, were you?"

"No. There was an attack on the Tower by Justin Hammer and his army of Hammeroid robots. Pepper and I fought them off with help from Betty and Happy. Oh and the police helped too."

"What?! When did that happen?"

"While you were gone." He held the door open for her and she entered a brightly lit, rather large, room full of people she loved.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they cheered and the tears immediately started up again. Everyone was here. Everyone she loved and cared about was here and smiling and a lot of them were hurt but they were all here and okay.

"You guys are amazing!" she squealed.

"We know," Tony answered back with a shrug from a little to her left.

She dropped her crutches and lunged at him, hugging him as tightly as she could and sobbing into his shirt. "Ow! Ow! Okay, ow! Good to see you too, but OW."

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I just," she pulled away and wiped at her eyes. "I missed you."

Tony's wall broke down. "Ah, come here you!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her to his side. "I missed you too, Piggy."

She rolled her eyes. She missed his constant stream of nicknames. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Love you, Tony," she mumbled so no one could hear.

"Ditto."

Tania pulled away from him to see Pepper. "Pepper!" The two of them met in the middle in a hug.

"Tania! Oh my Gosh, you're alright! You are alright, aren't you?" She pulled away and began inspecting the brunette from head to toe while Tania laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm… I'll be fine."

"Don't I get some love?"

Tania turned. "Come here Clint!" She opened her arms wide.

The archer grinned and made his way over to her. "Careful! Ribs are still healing."

"Okay." They hugged tentatively. "Thank you."

They pulled apart and he looked confused. "For what?"

"For doing such a good job at protecting me."

His expression darkened. "Tania, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." She began signing. You're the best and I don't blame you for anything.

He grinned. No, you're the best.

She rolled her eyes. Don't start with me.

"Okay, what?" Tony called out. "Since when can these two communicate in sign language? I think they're plotting against us! I forbid it!"

Graham walked up to him and began signing. I don't think so.

"You can sign too? What is this?" Everyone laughed. ASL was going to drive the billionaire crazy.

Tania moved on to Natasha and opened her arms. "Do I get a hug?"

For two seconds, the assassin didn't move. But then she slowly moved forward and awkwardly opened her one good arm. The hug was awkward and new but it something the two of them had never done before. It was progress.

Seeing Natasha's uncomfortable-ness in this situation, Tania moved on to Bruce. "Thanks for saving me."

Bruce, who looked nauseatingly exhausted, simply stared at her for a few seconds before he wrapped her in a hug so tight she thought the Hulk might be hugging her too. She held her breath so as not to choke and hugged him back, closing her eyes and letting it sink in that she was actually here, and they were with her, and she was safe. It was an amazingly good feeling.

"You're so welcome," he whispered.

Tania opened one arm. "Get in here, Betty."

Bruce's wife joined the mini group hug and they stood there for a little while before pulling away. "I'm glad you're safe," Mrs. Banner said while wiping tears of her own.

Tania smiled at her. Thor enveloped her in a giant bear hug before she could even move and she once again found herself unable to breathe and unable to touch the floor. But she hugged back tightly. "It is a pleasure to have you back, Lady Tania! The others and I have missed you greatly."

"I missed you too, big guy," she managed as he put her down and she sucked in large gulps of air.

Next up was Peter, who fist-bumped her awkwardly. "Welcome home and Happy Birthday."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

She limped over to Jane. "It's nice to see you again, Jane."

"It really nice to see you too." Jane leaned forward and gave Tania a gentle hug, which the brunette quickly returned before moving on to Erik.

"Long time no see."

He nodded. "Too long." He patted her on the back in a friendly manner. "Welcome home."

Tania spotted Darcy and for some reason Graham couldn't explain, he suddenly felt nervous. No one noticed. Tania stepped forward. "I don't believe we've met." She stuck out her hand. "Tania Banks."

"Darcy Lewis." They shook hands. "Graham's told me all about you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I would say 'likewise', except under such circumstances I don't think that really fits, so I'm just going to not say anything. That okay with you?"

Tania laughed quietly. "That's fine."

Finally, there was Steve, standing with his crutches and smiling softly at her. She limped forward and wrapped her arms around his middle, burying her face in his chest. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he said back, forgoing the crutches all together and wrapping his arms around her. Yeah, the pain in his legs was now excruciating, but it was worth it. He reached behind him and produced a flower: a lilly. He tucked it behind her ear. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand, This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

She laughed into his chest. "Did you just quote Shakespeare?"

He blushed and nodded.

She grinned slyly at him. "Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, to which he returned, one hand resting against her cheek and neck.

When they pulled apart, Steve spoke up again. "I had a whole monologue planned to do in private for your birthday but I didn't get a chance to memorize all of it before today. So that's all I've got, I'm sorry. But Tony had all of your presents moved to the SHIELD base in New York and… well…" he reached behind him again and pulled out Romeo and Juliet with a hard cover and a ribbon bookmark. "Sorry it's not wrapped. I hope you like it."

"Wow…" she took the book from him. "I didn't know you knew I liked Shakespeare."

"When I first met Graham, you told me you liked it."

She looked up at him. "You remember that?"

"Exceptionally well."

She beamed at him.

He nudged her arm. "Open it."

She opened the cover. On the inside was a note in the corner. "Read it out loud!" Pepper requested.

Tania blushed but turned to face the giant circle they had created in the room that was void of everything but people and apparently a giant pile of presents. She started to read.

"To my Darling Tania, I know this is late and I know that you've probably already read this play a hundred times, but if I know you as well as I think I do, you'll never get tired of reading it. I hope that whenever you read this, you'll think of us and how our love has grown over such a short time, and how we cannot be separated nor can our love be broken – not even by death." She sniffled. "I bought this for you a while ago, before I knew what was going to happen, but I still think it's just as effective. I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and will follow you to Asgard and back if you want me too, just because. After this whole ordeal, I realized something very special. I never want to leave your side. I want you to be mine – forever. And I don't think I could survive very long without you. I promise you that I will never leave you willingly and that I will do everything in my power to protect you, keep you safe, and make you happy. It would be an honour to not only sit at a coffee shop with you, but to have coffee with you and share coffee with you. You are my other half and I hope this letter proves that. I love you so much. Your Captain, Always, Steve."

She cried happily as she closed the book, not wanting to ruin it with her tears. "This is perfect," she told him, "thank you." She hugged him again before pulling away and turning back to the circle. "You guys are going to drain me of water by the end of the day."

Light laughter echoed in the large room. By some unspoken agreement, everyone chose to sit on the floor instead of stand, and so they sat in a very large circle like a kinder-garden class.

"Me next!" Clint said, waving his hand up in the air like a child. The pile of presents stood behind Steve and Tania and he instructed her which one it was. She grabbed a shoe box from the top of the pile and smiled knowingly. She knew exactly what it was he had gotten her. They had discussed it on top of the Statue of Liberty that day. Sure enough, when she opened it, there was the pair of suede boots that she had wanted. It was teal coloured.

"They're beautiful," she complimented, lifting them up for everyone to see. "Thank you."

"There's more," he said with an excited grin.

A little more excited, Tania pushed away the tissue paper and gasped. It was a Harry Potter wand. "Oh my GOD! Clint, you rock!" she took it out of the box and admired it. "It's perfect! Thank you so much!"

"Did you really think I wouldn't surprise you after you told me you liked surprises?" He asked with a shrug and a smirk.

She laughed. "Thank you."

"I guess I'll go next," Natasha said. "Mine's that one." She pointed to a small box in the pile that Steve handed to his girlfriend

She opened it and smiled. It was a beautiful hair clip that looked like gorgeous pink lilly on both sides with pearls popping out of the middle.

"How did you guys know I like lillies?"

"Steve told me."

She turned to him.

"You told me the day we went to Bucky's grave. You said you didn't know what his favourite flower was so you got your own. Which was lillies."

"Wow, you're really attentive."

He shrugged. "It's because I love you."

"Awwww…" everyone echoed.

Tania returned her gaze to the red headed assassin. "Thanks Natasha, it's wonderful."

"My turn!" Pepper exclaimed.

Steve handed Tania an actual wrapped present with a rectangular box and purple and brown gift paper. She opened the box and chuckled. There was a headband that was striped with red and blue with white stars dotting all along its length. It was a matching accessory to be paired with the scarf Pepper had gotten her for Christmas. "Nice. Thanks."

Next up was Thor, who handed her a teddy bear with a velvet ribbon around its neck. "I have been informed that animals of the stuffed variety are a good choice on occasions such as these."

"Thank you Thor!" Tania gushed, hugging the bear to her chest. "I'm totally naming him Copper!"

After Thor came Jane, who had hastily bought a sketchbook last minute and said it was from her, Darcy, and Erik. After them came Betty, who gave her The Cuckoos Calling by J.K. Rowling and an Avengers bookmark.

Tony was up next. "According to Pepper, you've met my original birthday present and hated it with the passion of a thousand burning suns, so you and I will just go car shopping at some point and I'll buy you whatever you want, kay? Kay."

Next came Bruce Graham, who brandished a painting Tania had drawn – but as a child. When she was twelve, she had gone outside and painted the side wall of the house they shared with Aunt Gemma. It had taken her several hours (all day) but she had been proud of how it had turned out. She'd completely forgotten about it up until this point. In the painting, it was bright afternoon and Aunt Gemma was cooking in the kitchen window while the grass blew in the wind on the ground. Graham had found it and gotten it framed for her birthday. It was definitely going in the art gallery on the wall of fame.

Lastly, there was Bruce. After so many great presents, he had a lot of pressure to get a good one. And boy did he deliver. He blushed and fiddled with his fingers nervously. "Um, well, yours, I've been kind of… working on in the lab. With Tony's help, of course. And… well… I hope you like it." He reached into his pocket and slid it across the circle to Tania's feet.

She picked it up the small box that was a little bit bigger than a ring box. She opened the lid curiously and was met with bright, shining light. But it didn't blind her. She dumped the object into her hand, only to feel nothing. Yet the light rested above her palm. "What is it?" she asked in wonder.

He cleared his throat. "It's an artificial star. Tony and I manufactured it in the lab to act like a really tiny star in the sky that emanates warmth but doesn't blind anyone if they look at it. It's… um… kind of a pointless gift, really. But it will make a good night light." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Tania gaped at the star in her hands. "And it floats?!"

"Um… yeah. It hovers."

"This is so cool! Thank you! It's amazing. You too, Tony."

"I know I am."

She rolled her eyes. "You guys are the best. And I'm just… I'm so glad to be home. Even if… you know, this isn't actually my home. But with all of you here, it'll always feel like home."

"Wait, we've got one more surprise for you," Pepper said giddily as she pressed a button. A holographic projection appeared in the middle of the room of an old woman.

"Happy Birthday, Tania," she said with a smile.

She gasped and tugged on her boyfriend's sleeve. "Steve, it's Peggy."

He stared at the screen, wide-eyed. "Peggy…" he breathed.

She looked so different. Her hair was completely grey and a lot thinner than they remembered. Wrinkled lined her face and she appeared to have a hunch but her eyes were exactly the same – bright and fiery. She smiled at them through the camera. "It took you long enough to contact me, soldier. You too, Missy."

"Peggy, it's so good to see you!" Tania gushed, trying to stand but failing with her twisted ankle. Steve eventually had to push her from behind (seeing as he couldn't get up either from the burns on his legs) and she hopped closer to the holographic screen. "Sorry it took us so long and I'm sorry that I lost your knife."

She waved it away. "It's no problem, honestly."

"But honestly," Tony interrupted, pointing his finger between the two of them, "you have some 'splainin' to do!"

"What?"

"We know about the time machine."

Peggy, Steve, and Tania all performed perfect double takes. "What?!"

"Jarvis told us everything he knows. Now spill everything YOU know."

The trio exchanged wary glances. "Um… okay."

So Steve and Tania took turns telling the tale about their time expedition. They started with waking up in the forties, and then finding places to sleep, the bank, the train, finding Howard, etc. When Tania got to the part about when Howard had kissed her, she had been totally absorbed in the story and forgotten that Tony was in the room.

"WHAT?!"

Everyone flinched at the volume.

"You kissed my dad?!"

"He kissed me!"

"Same thing!"

"Is not!"

"What the Hell?!"

"Tony-"

"That's so gross! He's like, three times your age!"

"Not back then! Back then, we were the same age! And by that logic, Steve would be three times my age too!"

"Still!"

"Look, I know how weird this is for you, for me too, but it happened a long time ago and-"

"You kissed my dad! Did you have feelings for him?"

"What?! No, of course not! We were just good friends!"

"Yeah, friends with benefits!"

"Ew! Tony! It didn't mean anything and if I'd had it my way, we wouldn't have kissed at all!"

"But you did!"

"Against my will!"

"This is so weird…"

"Anyway," she emphasized, continuing on with the story. Peggy added in her parts with the love triangle and with the HYDRA attack, to which the Avengers all had varying reactions of worry, horror, and anger towards HYDRA. At the end, Tania changed her tone to a whisper. "Guys, the world shouldn't know about this. The time machine is destroyed and no one knows how to make another one. No Tony, that was not a challenge. I don't think the world is ready to know about time travel. Can I trust you guys not to tell a soul?"

Nods and murmurs of agreement floated around the room. All of a sudden, Graham began to sing. Soon, everyone started joining in and singing Happy Birthday and Betty switched off the light. Peter walked forward with a cupcake in his hands and a candle on top and handed it to Tania carefully.

"Let's just pretend this is my birthday present to you," he whispered while everyone was still singing.

She winked at him and blew out the candle. The Avengers then burst into For She's A Jolly Good Fellow while she ate the cupcake. When the song was done, she couldn't help but lean into Steve's side and bask in the glory of knowing she'd won.

She'd defeated HYDRA along with all of her friends and family and maybe even saved the world. She hadn't allowed HYDRA to break her to the point where she was as good as dead. She'd been broken, but now she felt whole. Each of her family was a piece of the person she'd felt she'd lost. And they were all together. With time, she would be able to rebuild all those pieces into one big person: herself. But she would be better, stronger, and happier knowing that she'd survived this whole ordeal and come out on top.

With all that she'd gone through, victory was just that much sweeter – about as sweet as the cupcake she'd just eaten. Mmm… vanilla.

THE END

I LUV YOU GUYS! THANKS FOR BEING THE BEST READERS/REVIEWERS *EVER*! YOU GUYS ROCK JUST AS MUCH AS CLINT DOES FOR GETTING TANIA A HARRY POTTER WAND XP Stay tuned for the Epilogue! ;)