Author's note: Here it is. The final chapter. Thanks so much to everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed, or even just read this fic. It warms my heart to know there are people out there who actually like my work! Fear not, for a sequel is in the making; who wants to see Wendy's daughters and the other next-generation Avengers having adventures together? But this chapter of our story has come to an end. And so, without further ado, I give you Chapter 25.

Less than a week until the twins were due, Bruce and I were unpacking in our new home. It felt sort of weird, doing normal family stuff like this. Heh… if you could call us a normal family. Not that there was much to unpack, mind you. Neither of us really owned much of anything.

"Can't you see it?" I said as we explored the house. "This will be the nursery until they get too big. When they grow up, we could put in a bunk bed."

"A bunk bed? There's enough space for two beds in here." I just looked at him, incredulous.

"It's a bed with a ladder!" He rolled his eyes.

"Of course, what was I thinking?" I ignored his tone and walked into the room. The cribs were already set up, and Tony's mobile was hanging from the middle of the ceiling. There was a bay window on one wall, and a walk-in-closet, which I imagined being used more for secret bases than actual clothing. "It's a kid's dream." I said. "We need a bookshelf, you know. For all the books Phil gave us."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I can build one, easy." I smiled. Typical DIY Bruce. I walked into the room with him, looking around at the place our children would be raised. "This is going to be your room!" Bruce said into my belly. I giggled as he spoke to the twins in baby-talk.

"They can't even hear you, you know.:

"Of course they can. It's supposed to be good for them, to talk to them in the womb."

"You're also the one who wanted to put headphones on my baby bump and play Mozart for them."

"It was a great idea!" He stood up, smiling.

"Yes, but you didn't see Natasha's face when she walked in on me!" I sort of wished he had. Her reaction had been pretty fun to watch.

"Wendy?" She'd said when she walked in on me in the rec room, reading a book with a pair of headphones over my tummy. "What are you doing?" She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Reading, what's it look like?"
"No, I mean with the headphones."

"They're supposed to make the kids smarter." Now I just felt ridiculous. It was probably a trick of the light, but I thought I saw Natasha trying to hide laughter. I couldn't blame her, anyway.

"Alright, then. I'll leave you to that." She exited the room, leaving me to smack my palm into my face. Why did I ever listen to Bruce? I gave up, put the headphones on properly, and started playing Vampire Weekend.

"It would have worked if you'd stuck with it." Bruce said, back in the present.

"I don't care! It looked ridiculous!"

"I just want them to have the best chance we can, alright?"

"What, given the gene pool?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"You have a good point…" If they were Bruce's kids, they'd be doodling scientific theories on the walls by the time they were three. We walked around the whole rest of the house. It was three stories, counting the roof. Two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining/living room, and a ladder up to the roof where you could watch the world go by. A little slice of heaven.

"Hey, there isn't anything in the fridge, is there?" I asked as we sat in the living room. We didn't have any proper furniture quite yet, but we did have a few surprisingly comfortable folding chairs.

"I guess you're right. I should go shopping, I guess."

"Do you know any stores around here?"

"Yeah, there's one a few blocks down." He stood up.

"Alright then, let's go." I tried to stand up too, but sat back down fast. My back was killing me.

"Oh, honey, is it your back again?" Bruce hovered worriedly over me.

"It's fine, Bruce." I smiled. "Go already! I'm starving!" He grinned back.

"I'll only be fifteen minutes or so. Twenty, at the most." He kissed me goodbye, then hopped into the minivan (courtesies of Tony, who seems to love throwing money around like candy) and drove off. I occupied myself by trying to see if I could switch the lights on and off from the chair. I stuck my tongue out in concentration, gesturing with my hand to the bulb. If I concentrated… there! I made the lights flicker a bit. That's when I heard a crack of thunder, and the lights went off completely. Huh… guess it wasn't me, then. I walked to the window.

"Oh, great." I mumbled to myself. "He didn't bring an umbrella." I sat in front of the window, watching the rain pour down. It was December, anyway. Wasn't it supposed to
be snowing? I blame global warming. It was really coming down out there. I could feel the tingle in the air of lightning waiting to strike. "3… 2… 1…" I counted down under my breath. I was spot on, too; lightning stuck just at zero. The one thing I hadn't predicted was the blackout. All the lights in the house went out, and I was left in the dark. "Oh, great. That's just frigging great." I fumbled around the boxes looking for the one with my flashlight in it. That's when lightning struck, again; only this time it struck me. I felt a jolt of energy as it hit me, the familiar feeling of a caffeine buzz on steroids taking me over. "Oh great, now I'm a lightning rod!" Then I felt it; and it hurt. "A contraction." I said to myself. "Shit… shit shit shit shit shit!" It was too early! The twins weren't supposed to come for a week! I put my hand over the comm, trying to get through to Bruce. No such luck; the storm was interfering with the signal.

"Hello? Wendy?" I heard Pete's voice at the door. I ran to open it. "Oh, thank goodness!" He was in street clothes, which were soaked to the bone. "Hey, I was out trying to find these special breakfast chimichangas for Wade and my car broke down, and of course it started pouring. Do you think I could stay here until it passes?"

"I'm in labor." I blurted out.

"Wh-what? You're what?" He sputtered.

"In labor!" He stared, dumbfounded. "Don't just stand there, get me to the fricking hospital!" We ran out to the street, hailed a cab, and drove to the hospital. By the time we got there, I was already pretty far along. Don't ask me why, even the doctors couldn't figure it out, but somehow I think it had something to do with being struck by lightning. Pete helped me into the building, and they got me a room, fast. Where the hell was Bruce? How long did it take to buy a few groceries?

"Come on." One of the doctors said to Pete, when he tried to leave the room. "She needs you right now."

"But I'm not the father!" He protested.

"Doesn't matter. She needs someone with her." He walked up beside the bed I was in, sweating nervously. Something told me this was his first delivery.

"Um, what should I do?" He asked.

"Just hold my hand. Please." He obliged. Another contraction came, and I squeezed his hand. Hard. I could swear I heard a crack. He just gritted his teeth and bore it.. Don't get excited; I'd rather describe my own conception in detail than tell you exactly what happened in the delivery room. Use your imagination, would you? I can tell you, though, that when the twins were finally born, I got to see them for all of a second before they were taken away.

"What's wrong?" I asked the doctors frantically. "What's wrong with them?"

"They were born a little early, we need to make sure they're alright." A female doctor answered. "Don't worry, alright?" My eyes began to brim with tears. What if they died? What if they were deformed, or disabled, just because of... of the way I was? Bruce… I needed Bruce here. Pete was waiting in the hall, most likely emotionally scarred. Where was he…

"I'm here." Bruce burst through the door. Just when I needed him. "Pete called me, are you alright? Are they alright?" He rushed to my side, and, seeing the tears in my eyes, started to stroke my hair and whisper in my ear. "It's okay. It's alright." He said.

"No, it's not alright! They took them away, Bruce! They were born too early, there might be something wrong with them!"

"They'll be fine, Wendy, I promise!" He held me in his arms there for a good long while, until Pete came in, nursing the hand I had nearly crushed.

"Hey. The doctors said you can see them now." Bruce helped me out of the bed, and, with the humiliatingly necessary help of a walker, we made our way to the… what's it called? Ah, I'll just call it the baby room. We peered through the window into the room full of bassinets. My eyes immediately found two, teeny little babies in the corner.

"That's them." I said.

"How can you tell?" Pete asked.

"I can tell." I studied them critically. They were breathing. And moving. One opened her eyes; they were a beautiful shade of hazel.

"I suppose that's Belle, then?" Bruce said. I nodded.

"And there's Persephone." I pointed to the little bundle next to her.

"Belle and Persephone?" Pete questioned.

"Yeah. That's them. I looked up at Bruce. "Still think you can't do it?" I asked.

"No. Not at all. How could I manage to mess up something that perfect?" I leaned on him, my arms around him as I watched Persephone and Belle observing the world for the first time.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you too."

The next few months were incredibly hectic. Amid visits from friends who "just had to see the new babies", the quest to get some actual furniture in the house, and trying to figure out the whole "parenthood" thing, the last thing I needed was to be an Avenger. I was actually starting to regret taking the job. One day, when the twins were sleeping and I was nearly passed out on the couch, Bruce came in holding a package.

"What's that?" I asked, sitting up.

"I don't know. It's addressed to you, though." He handed the package to me, and I opened it. Inside was a note.

Trescott.

I saw you itching at your neck like something's missing. Don't deny you feel naked without it. I turned it off, so it's just a pretty bit of jewelry now. And, I suppose, a reminder.

-Fury.

My eyes widened. He couldn't have, could he? I tore through the tissue paper in the box. He did.

"The collar?" Bruce asked as I lifted it up.

"Yeah." I said. I studied it. It had scorch marks all over, probably from my tussle with ma. It looked like someone had done their best to scrub them off. Thank you, Fury. I made a mental note to thank him for it later. A real, sincere thank you. "Could you help?" I asked Bruce. I turned around and let him put the collar on me, the ends connecting with a satisfying "click". It felt good to have this around my neck again. I felt the cool metal with my fingers, proudly. I felt like Wendy Trescott again. I got a call on the comm.

"Trescott, do you read me?" It was Fury.

"Hey, I got your little gift!" I said, grinning.

"You can thank me later. Carnage is wreaking havoc on Times Square, and Pete needs backup." I sighed. "We're on it."

"What was that?" Bruce asked.

"Call the babysitter, would you? Fury needs us." I said. The babysitter, a perky, slightly nerdy college student named Alice, appeared in a heartbeat. We chose her specifically because she lived close to us, close being just next door.

"If anything goes horribly wrong, you know the number, right?" I asked as we headed out the door. I was already in my battle outfit, ready for action. She nodded.

"But, where are you going, Mrs. Banner?" I chuckled. She liked to think of Bruce and I as already married.

"It's Tesla, right now." I said. "And we're just going to save some asses, is all." We walked out the door, and Bruce immediately let the other guy out. He tends to be easier to control if Bruce lets him out on purpose. "Well?" I said. He picked me up in his arms, and ran off in the direction of the problem. Running in the arms of my giant green fiancé to fight alongside the Avengers, who considered me a superhero. That was my life now, I suppose. And god did I love it.

~FIN~