EPILOGUE
So apparently, as Fury had previously explained, HYDRA didn't have only one goal. After their resurrection, it became apparent that Dominik had gotten his hands on some of the Chitauri technology from the attack back in May. He had been secretly dealing under the table to try and obtain as much alien tech as he could. He'd acquired quite a bit by the time Steve and Tania had been captured and had already been experimenting with it for a little while.
Because HYDRA was already familiar with the properties of the Tesseract (sort of), figuring out the technologies of the Chitauri was little easier than those who had no experience at all. It was with these weapons that they created the technology Tony, Clint, and Natasha had faced in Berlin as well the chains that had been able to restrain the super soldier. It was also with this tech that they were able to make that powerful tank that ended up taking out the entire compound.
With those weapons of mass destruction, HYDRA had been planning something big – however, with Schmidt and all his followers dead as doornails, there was no way to find out what that plan was, no matter how hard SHIELD tried.
As Tania pondered these thoughts, she sketched on the pad she'd received for her birthday from Jane, Erik, and Darcy, who'd gone back to New Mexico a few days prior. On the paper, was a woman with long brown hair in a high pony tail in a SHIELD uniform with blue boots, a red, white, and blue belt, a red, white, and blue headband, and a pocket watch necklace. All of a sudden, she was approached by Steve from behind, holding one mug of steaming hot coffee. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and she turned around from her place on the bench looking out the window at the falling snow.
Her face lit up. "Hey."
"Hi."
She pointed to the mug. "Is that for me?"
"It's for us."
She grinned at him, eyes sparkling, and shifted on the bench so that he could sit next to her under the blanket. He laid his arm on her shoulders and held the mug between them. "So skating was fun this morning."
She laughed. "I hope so. I haven't gone skating in years."
"Me neither. Not since I was a kid."
"I can't believe I remembered all those moves."
"You never told me you could figure skate."
"I didn't know I could. I just applied a little of the dancing I knew and applied it to the ice."
"You looked incredibly beautiful. It was a good way to start off our anniversary."
"Good. So what have you got planned tonight?"
"Skiing of course. Why else would I take you to Whistler?"
"Why else indeed," she repeated back, taking a sip of their coffee. "So are we going during the evening?"
"Mmhm," he confirmed while nodding. "Should be fun."
"Can't wait. Are the others coming?"
"Of course."
After such a long period of separation from the other Avengers (one week that felt like a year), Steve and Tania had agreed that they didn't want to part with their family quite yet. It was the twenty-sixth of January, nine days after Tania's birthday party on the seventeenth. Everything was still too fresh in their minds. So the two of them had elected to bring their family along for their anniversary vacation in Whistler, British-Columbia, Canada. They currently sat in one of the lounges of Tony's chalet, looking out over the mountains through the falling snowflakes.
"So I was thinking," he said while shifting a little on the bench, "maybe we could exchange presents now instead of later because I don't know when we'll be coming back."
"Sure. I'll got get yours." Steve stood up to let her out and she returned a few minutes later with a rather large box wrapped in snowflake wrapping paper and a purple ribbon. She handed it to him. "Happy Anniversary."
He smiled and took it from her, allowing her to sit on his legs (which had totally healed by this point) and open it. He lifted the lid to see a photo album. He placed the box aside and opened the cover while Tania bit her lip excitedly. "Wow…" he murmured, eyeing the first page. It was a black and white picture of him as a kid, all scrawny looking and everything. Beneath it was an inscription: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. You are all three.
He chuckled. "Wow."
"It's a scrapbook," she explained, scooting closer. "There's a table of contents on the next page. There are two pages for every person you've ever been close to. And then there's a section for your time in the past and a section for your time here. And then at the end I just put in a whole bunch of pictures at random to symbolize how you may have lived in two time periods, but they've come together in one life: yours."
"Wow…" he repeated, flipping through the pages. He closed the book. "You and I can look at it later tonight, in bed. It's lovely, thank you." He pecked her lips with his own. "But right now, I really want to give you your gift. I'll be right back." He got up to leave and Tania quickly took another sip of their shared coffee.
She turned her head to the entrance when she heard his return and gasped, rushing over to meet him halfway. "Oh my God, is that a puppy?!"
Sure enough, sitting in Steve's arms, was a tiny German Shepard puppy. He handed the dog to Tania who cooed and snuggled the cute little thing. "Her name's Rocky. She's a pure breed."
"Oh my God… she's amazing! Where did you find her?"
"She followed me home one day when it was my turn to go grocery shopping. I tried to see if she had an owner or anything. She was too young to not have a mother or a master but I couldn't find anything. I had her tested for everything and I bought her a collar and named her Rocky."
"She's so precious… but you want to give her to me?"
"I'm giving her to us. We'll take of her together and we'll be like a mini family."
She eyed him suspiciously. Was this his way of testing to see if she'd be a good mom? She had no idea if he was going to propose. Of course Pepper had explained to her that the ring had actually been hers and not Tania's, to which the brunette had quickly congratulated her best friend, but she had been a little disappointed, if she was being honest with herself. She had been a little excited that Steve had thought they were ready for such a big step. But she knew she wasn't. Not yet, anyway.
"She's beautiful. I love her." She pressed a kiss to Rocky's head, who barked and licked her face. Tania laughed and swung the dog back and forth. "Oh my gosh, this is so amazing! But isn't Tony allergic to dogs?"
"Bruce has been working on a formula to cure that. But until then, we can keep her on our floor. Tony only sneezes when the dog is actually in vicinity. He'll be fine."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"What about her stay here? In the chalet?"
"Bruce and Betty didn't want to go skiing, so I asked them to watch Rocky for us."
"Wow… Steve, I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this is!"
"Happy anniversary, Darling." He stepped closer and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips with his hands on her shoulders and Rocky in between them.
She kissed back eagerly. "Happy anniversary, Dear."
A/N. In case you were wondering, the girl Tania was sketching was herself. Next up is the bonus scene that would be the one you'd see after all the credits have scrolled by. Hope you enjoy :D
BONUS SCENE
Tania walked forward through the halls of the helicarrier that she was slowly learning the layout to. Her heels clicked against the linoleum floors as she strode towards Fury's location with a purpose. On her head, she wore the hair clip Natasha had given her for her birthday paired with a bright red business suit made up of a pencil skirt, white blouse, and matching red blazer with three-quarter sleeves. Her white stilettos polished off the look as well as the bun her hair was in. She carried five file folders in the crook of her left elbow as she walked.
She entered the meeting room that looked over the many working agents and found Director Fury looking out over the balcony with his back to her. Yet still he knew she was there. The clicking of her shoes probably gave her away. "Can I help you, Miss Banks?"
"Yes, actually, you can." She stepped forward and tossed the five folders onto the table, spreading them apart like a fan. The sound drew Fury away from the balcony and towards the table. He picked up the first one and began to flip through it. She knew that he was looking at her own file. "I have a proposition for you."
He tossed the folder back onto the table. "And what might that me?"
She had caught his attention. Good. Just think of this as a business meeting… deep breath. "The BETA Iniative."
"Beta?"
"Back-up Enforcement for Team Alpha. Or Team Avengers. You pick."
He raised both eyebrows. "Are you saying you want to put together a team of people to help the Avengers?"
"Sort of. See, this team would work for SHIELD technically. But we would only go on missions if the Avengers request assistance."
"We? Are you a part of this Iniative, Miss Banks?"
She nodded. "Under the code name Sonata. Although everyone knows who I am, it would be like Black Widow. Everyone knows who she is too."
"And who else would be on this team?"
She gestured to the files on the table and opened the cover of each and every one of them. "Pepper Potts, code name: Rescue. Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, code name: Iron Patriot. Peter Parker, code name: Spider-man. Graham Banks, code name: Agent Banks. Tania Banks, code name: Sonata. I will also go by Agent Banks unless we're both in the same room. It's the same way you call Spider-man Agent Parker. Before you ask, I already received the permission of each and every member to be a part of this team. I asked Betty if she wanted to join as well but she said that she had no interest in becoming a SHIELD agent or fighting in the field. She said, and I quote, 'someone has to hold the fort while you're gone'. However, she is the one who will operate Jarvis and manage things at the Tower at all times. Also, the five of us all have lives outside of this initiative, unlike the majority of the Avengers who sit around the Tower all day. No offense to them. Peter and Graham have school, Pepper and I work, and Rhodey is in the military. So please take that into account if you ever plan on giving us our own missions."
Fury's lips twitched upward. "Consider it done. Have I given you clearance level seven yet, Agent Banks?"
Her blank face turned into a wide smile. "Not yet, Sir."
He picked up Graham's folder just as someone Tania didn't know walked in behind her. She turned to face him.
"Welcome to level seven."
A/N. More Brownie Points to those who can guess who the guy Tania doesn't know is. It's pretty obvious xP Especially if you've seen the MARVEL's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D trailers. Anyway, thank you everyone for your kindness in reading and reviewing! Following and favouriting! I cannot even begin to describe how happy emails from fanfiction saying people are doing any of the above make me. So thank you :D
Special shout-out to Fellowship of Avengers, Lollypops101, Assassin'sVow2012, and xxdreamloverxx for being totally loyal and awesome reviewers :D You guys have been totally supportive of me, some of you from the very beginning and I'm so grateful for all the comments on my stories you guys have given me :) and to SheepRainbow, who did the same to HCWSR, I thank you too. I appreciate any and all reviews and luv every single one of you reading this. But for now, this is good-bye. I have no idea how I am going to end this, so I'm just going to say, "Farewell." :D
THE REAL END