Just an addition though! Enjoy!

The Avengers spent the whole week brooding over the loss of Ellesmere. Some of them, including Anne refused to believe she was gone for good. She woke up everyday with the hope that Elles would magically poof out of a portal with a goofy grin and say "Look at all of you, thinking I'm dead like that! ", but it never happened.

Tony decided to move their base upstate. Everyone tried their best to lead a normal life but more than twice in a while, a conversation would get the point where Elles would've made a comment and as if expecting her to, everyone would pause then reality would hit like an icy wall.

For days after the fight, Thor became practically glued to tons of frames of himself and Elles in London. In one photo, Elles had her head tilted, her almost golden hair held up in a ponytail, her mouth was wide open in excitement and she was holding a jacket up with one hand while the other was placed on Thor's head. Thor on the other hand, winked at the camera smiling happily, he had one hand up probably trying to snatch his jacket from Elles. Nat had taken the photo the day her house was burned down.

In another, they wore matching Tees smiling brightly at the camera, Ellesmere's shirt said on the front "Look at us" while Thor's said "And get punched in the face" and everytime Clint fell for it earning trailers of punches until his arm became sore. There were pictures of her, Tony and Steve at a sleepover party, they all wore pajamas except Tony. Ellesmere's had a large picture of Tony's iron mask on the front and Peter's mask at the back, with Spongebob shorts. Tony didn't want to wear any pajamas, he said he didn't roll like that. Instead, he had worn a loose grey shirt and pants but Elles had made him wear pink flip flops when they played truth or dare. The other pictures were either with Peter, Nat and Clint or Wanda. She even took one with Maria Hill.

"I can't believe she's gone. I can't believe it!"He had said to Tony and Steve who had literally been his body guards all day. They were all concerned about him and Jane and Anne. Anne had cried three days straight without stopping, Peter had been the one to calm her down, heaven knows how he did that!

"But I also agree with Banner, we're humans too and we need a break once in a while! " Tony said to Steve as they both exited the new Avengers facility. Thor and Jane stood outside talking inaudibly while Anne was behind them both, her head gently bowed and fingers crossed. The pair approached the waiting trio with a bright smile on their faces.

"So, Thor, what were you saying to me the other time? I didn't quite catch it! " Tony asked placing his hand on Thor's shoulder.
"I've decided to leave! " Thor said as he, Tony and Steve walked further out with Jane and Anne trailing behind, their hands locked around each other's.

"Leave? Where will you go? "Steve asked squinting his eyes to shield them from the bright morning sun. "I'm not sure yet but i'll know. . . eventually. "

They stopped in front of Tony's car and Thor beckoned to Jane. She gave Anne a last hug and smiled at her holding her shoulders before walking over to Thor. "I'll make sure to drop by sometimes! "He said. "Thank you all so much for everything! " Jane added looking totally grateful. Steve and Tony nodded appreciably then Thor swung his hammer swooping out of sight such that everyone's hair whipped around.

Anne stood solemnly behind Steve, her eyes still fixed to the ground then she cleared her throat gently and looked at the two superheroes before her, both just as sad as she was but had it perfectly concealed. Steve walked towards her with his arms crossed, his usual posture.

"I'm gonna go back to San Francisco. I have to work anyway so I really hope everything goes back to normal. " her voice was only loud enough for Steve to hear. "I'm really sorry Miss Belcher, I hope you take good care of yourself because that's what she'd want right? " Anne nodded smiling for the first time in weeks, "Exactly. Thank you Steve! " Her eyes shifted to Tony to which she nodded and he did likewise then she left.

"Funny how just one person brought us all closer! "Steve said as Tony opened his car door. "Yeah, and how that one person is literally tearing us apart from within bit by bit." Steve's face registered pain for a minute before he shook his head, "Any plans with Ms Potts?". Tony threw his head playfully, mouthing an 'ah' ,"We'll see how everything works out. How about you? Planning on getting a place in Brooklyn yet?" Steve turned to look at the facility. It buzzed with activities in the light of the day.

From where he stood, he could see Natasha, her red curls swooshing in the morning breeze, she wore a blue top inside a black hoodie and sweat pants smiling over at Clint who held his quiver in one hand and a towel in the other , apparently wiping off any traces of dust.

Wanda stared into space from the wide balcony, her red blouse gleaming under the sun that shone on only one part of her jacket and her eye illuminating them. Just then, Peter walked up to her, hands buried deep in his hoodie pockets. They were the same design as Nat's but his had those neck ropes. He tapped Wanda on her arm, making her jolt out of whatever thoughts had thrown her out of the real world. She turned to him without smiling then followed him closely.

Sam was back, he had a new beard cut. It was pretty cool and he had healed nicely whilst in Korea. Dr Cho seemed to have done wonders on him. His wounds were gone, almost as if he never had them.

Steve had been the one to tell him about Elles. He felt bad even though she had nearly impaled him once but Sam didn't hold a grudge. Maria Hill was behind him and Vision, all three walking behind Nick Fury. Maria held a clipboard and a pen, taking quick light steps even though her dress seemed to restrain her at the knees. Bruce was nowhere to be seen but the last time, he had been with Anne, talking to her about Elles. The pair seemed oddly solemn together but no one interrupted.

They had decided to hold a small funeral for Elles but Thor didn't want one, neither did Jane. It was a lot better to move on quickly. The only valuable item Elles had left behind was her sword pen, an object Clint wasn't surprised to see. Everyone else was pretty struck by its power. Thor had taken it with him to wherever it was he was going to. Jane wanted to get back to Austin even though she was still shaken from everything that happened. Dr Selvig had prodded her to stay for a few weeks, that he'd handle some business for her but she refused. It seemed that everyone was in a hurry to move on and forget about Elles. It hurt Steve to think that everyone had forgotten about her so soon.

"I think I like where I am! This is home! " Steve replied nodding absentmindedly. Tony nodded as well getting into his car, "You hang in there, Cap! "he said as he slid his window down then sped off.

Steve made his way back into the facility. Inside, lots of S.H.I.E.L.D personnel moved about - doctors, physicists, scientists and agents. Each one greeted Steve as he walked by replying with a nod. He imagined what it would be like if Elles had survived to see that this new facility had less glass than the Tower. "Aw, nothing to break! No fun! "She'd say. Tony was quite agitated at the collapse of his 'baby'. He wouldn't stop yammering about his $50000 couch and blah blah blah. The site where the Tower had been was handed over to a company as a test field. They used most of the junk and made new ones out of them or tried out new weapons there. The jet was destroyed too but they had a new one in no time. The entire thing seemed like one big nightmare to Steve but he'd seen worse. He had lost Peggy and Bucky and now Elles and for all three people, he couldn't do anything to save them, it was his fault they were.... Stop it! A voice snapped in his head. He walked over to Nat where Clint had left her, she was staring out into the wide field, the sun shining on her face and hair making her curls look transparent and almost fiery red like they were on fire.

"Where's Belcher?" She asked leaning on the railing. "Gone back to San Francisco. "
"Heard she works in a barn? "Nat asked scrunching her face trying to make out the correct information. "No, it's actually a Wine Company called The Barn." Steve corrected. "How about the newest recruits?" He asked leading Nat away from the stairs towards the large hall where the others were scattered about.

"They seem to be a good addition but they're lacking behind on a lot of things. " She answered as they stopped at the entrance gaining everyone's attention. Nick seemed to have found another group of skilled people. He had a good eye for the good stuff and was an expert in picking only the best. SHIELD was like that, with the number of soldiers they lost during the fight with Tigrahn, new recruits were what they needed. Although, HYDRA soldiers were more loyal to their cause than SHIELD soldiers were but it didn't matter. Nick just wanted a brand new swarm of bees to school. The recruits were a bit sloppy and weren't exposed to the kind of system SHIELD rolled with and Nick, as usual, wanted us to help with that.

"What do you suggest we do?" Steve asked looking at Nat who returned the look from the corner of her eye with her intimidating twitch of a smile resting on her lips.
"Let's beat em into shape! " she said before they both took the platform that overlooked the rest of the hall.

"Avengers. . ." Steve began.

                                 *******
Okay, you guys see what I did there? I'm not gonna say what I did. Figure it out.

This ends the ride guys. Thank you so much for your support, comments, votes and most possibly, shares. Another Asgardian is officially done and i'm really happy with myself. I've got another book to work on so i'll be doing that from now on. It's titled "Avalon". I'd really love it if you checked it out. It's not Marvel related, but it's gonna be equally interesting.

I love you guys so much for keeping the faith with me on this long journey. I couldn't be more prouder ***lets gather for a group hug***...... Thank you again.

Keep calm and.........

Lots of love...., xoxo❤❤
DuchessRI