2019!

"She's so little," Elena smiled, holding the baby, "And I just know I'm already her favorite, isn't that right, Auntie Ellie is your favorite."

Tony rolled his eyes, "You better be, cause her middle name is Elena. But for the record, I know I'm the favorite."

"Neither of you feed her," Pepper quipped, "I am definitely the favorite."

"She has a point." Elena stated, "Pepper always has a point."

"You're such a kiss up." Elena stated, and Tony looked at her in offense, "Is it to late to change the middle name?"

"Rude."

"You're really good with her," Pepper stated, "Did you ever want kids?"

"Yeah...it's not really in the books for me though. I can't have them. And I know there's other ways to become a parent, it's just- the world loses 50% of its population, because of six stupid rocks. I can't think about losing a kid, or a kid losing me." She paused, "Maybe one day though. One day I might end up with the perfect person and want a family, but I couldn't do it alone."

"I get that." Pepper smiled, "I found my perfect person, and here we are."

"Yeah," Elena said softly.

"I need a drink." Elena announced walking in the room where Valkyrie sat, "Vodka?"

"Yup." Elena flopped down beside her, "You ok?" Valkyrie asked.

"I met my goddaughter today," Elena spoke, "And I am jealous of Tony Stark- of all people, Tony."

"Yeah, I'll go get the vodka. Sounds like you need it." Valkyrie stated, and within a few minutes she was back.

"So, why are you jealous of Tony Stark?" Elena reached her hand out for the bottle, taking a shot.

"He has a gorgeous, healthy baby. What's there not to be jealous of?" Elena asked, downing more vodka.

"So you're jealous because you want a baby?" Valkyrie asked.

"I'm jealous because I can't have a baby, even if I wanted one. Which I don't." Elena noted, "I feel that only course of action here is to retire from my non existent job and become a cat lady."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Valkyrie laughed, "You know what you need?"

"Vodka. A cat?"

"To get out of this building for a while." Valkyrie smiled, "Come on," she held out her hand, and Elena begrudgingly accepted it, standing up.

Elena was more than grateful for Valkyrie, somehow she always knew what Elena needed in the moment.

Valkyrie looked at Elena like she was the only girl in the world, not that Elena ever noticed that.

Elena had the same look in her eyes, complete and utter love.

"Where are we going?" Elena asked, "You like running, to clear your mind?" Valkyrie asked.

"Yeah, why?" Elena asked, "We're going for a run." The other woman stated.

"You hate running." Elena stated.

"I am aware Elena," Valkyrie smiled, "this is about you though, not me."

"Thank you."

So they ran and ran, until the point where Valkyrie felt like she was dying. And instead of clearing Elena's mind she began spiraling.

Like a lot.

All of the sudden Elena stopped running, and the sudden loss of her running partner caused Valkyrie to slow down. "Are you ok, Elena?"

"I lied to you." She said suddenly and Valkyrie rose an eyebrow in question, "Apparently I am incapable of lying to you, so I am going to tell you the truth."

"Okay." Valkyrie said softly.

"The fact that I can't have kids isn't medical...well it kind of is. Umm..." she took a deep breath, "Take your time," Valkyrie gently touched Elena's shoulder.

Elena exhaled, "When I was sixteen...I was uh, I was uh-" She paused, "And it uh ended up being ectopic pregnancy, which basically means it grows outside of the uterus. I ended up losing a lot of blood, they had to remove both of my fallopian tubes and some other shit I don't remember."

"Anyway, that's the truth...I've never told anyone the whole story." Elena spoke her eyes avoiding Valkyrie.

"I'm so sorry Elena," Valkyrie whispered as Elena leaned against her, "Did they ever catch the guy?"

Elena scoffed, "He was my foster brother, rich and untouchable. No, nothing ever happened to him."

"I'm sorry, Elena." Valkyrie whispered, gently hugging the other woman.

"Yeah."