★ ★ ★

3 YEARS AND 2 MONTHS AFTER DECIMATION

AUGUST 16, 2024

★ ★ ★

Marlena stared at the bright computer screen with tired hazel eyes. She was absolutely exhausted, but that was her own fault. She had the choice to stop everything she was doing in order to get a bit of sleep, but she refused to quit until she had everything done. After so many years, Marlena had finally been given the chance to live life as normally as a psychologically damaged Avenger could live. She finally had the chance to make things right, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

"You've been sitting in front of that screen for almost four hours now," Steve said to Marlena from his place against her bedroom door frame.

Marlena didn't turn to look at him; all she focused on were the words printed on the screen. "What's so wrong about that?" she asked him, her voice low.

"For one, you're working on a research paper that isn't due until January," Steve scoffed as he pushed himself off the doorframe and started into the room. He hadn't seen her so concentrated on a task in years, but he figured schoolwork served as a bit of a distraction for her. It was because of that reason he suggested she start back to school. Not to mention, he wanted her to find a way to have the normalcy she longed for. "For two, it's your birthday and you're locked away in your room when you could be spending time with the people that love you."

Marlena only frowned and stopped typing. She looked at the date sitting in the corner of her laptop screen and shook her head. It was, in fact, her birthday, but the last thing she wanted was to celebrate it. The last time she celebrated her birthday—or any holiday for that matter—had been before Thanos made his unwelcome appearance on her planet. Each year after that, Steve always suggested having a celebration of some sort, and each year Marlena hadn't been one for celebration. She didn't feel comfortable celebrating the fact that her life continued on while a handful of those who made that life worth living were forever indisposed.

"I really don't want to celebrate my birthday, Steve," Marlena said quietly as she slowly began typing again.

Steve let out a breath and closed her laptop, eliciting a sigh from the brunette. "I get that, I do, and I've politely backed down each year you say that exact same thing, but I can't ignore this year."

Marlena pressed her lips together and looked up at him with a raised brow. "And what exactly is so special about this year?"

"You're 30, Marlena," Steve reminded her.

"Oh, my god."

Marlena nearly choked on the air in her lungs when she remembered how old she was. The past few years had been such a blur to her. She didn't care too much about keeping in touch with the details of life anymore. She stopped keeping track of the days and the nights and the weeks and the months. She stopped worrying about what the next day would consist of. For the most part, everything worked out in her favor until something reminded her of everything she'd tried so hard to forget.

Thirty was a strong number, however. The time passed by so significantly fast, yet so slow all the same. Marlena was only 19 years old when she met Bucky. She was only 19 years old when she was thrust into the exhausting reality of being a part of the Avengers family. Eleven years had passed since her life changed for not only the best, but the worst as well. The thought made her uncomfortable. She wasn't aware something as trivial as age could make her feel so much discomfort.

"I can't even begin to express how uncomfortable that makes me," Marlena muttered to herself.

"What?" Steve chuckled, "Your age?"

"Yeah," she spoke slowly and pressed her glasses back onto her face. One annoying reminder of her age sat on her face. Getting older meant switching to her glasses instead of dealing with the laziness associated with having to put in her contact lenses, granted she would've preferred she didn't have to use either one of them. "I always thought time was passing by so slowly, but now I realize it's passing by incredibly quick...and I hate it."

"Why do you hate it?"

Marlena shrugged and sat back in her seat. She'd become much more talkative lately after spending the better part of two years as a virtual mute. Watching her transition through her grief was something so bittersweet for Steve. He knew as much as Marlena refused to completely move on from the loss of her family and friends, he could see the part of her that needed to breaking through to the surface. Lately he was finding more and more of the Marlena he'd once known walking around his apartment, but there were more days than not she still spent struggling immensely to move on. She wasn't the only one, however. Steve still had a ways to go before he was completely okay again, as did the remainder of those on the team. Thanos and what he'd done to the universe was something they found took a lot more time to process than that of a normal death. Everyone was still confused, still clinging on to some lost hope that there was more to be done for those lost.

Well, everyone except for Marlena.

Marlena's hope for anything disappeared that day in The Garden. The stones were gone. The stones Thanos used to completely destroy her life were gone, or at least too far out of her reach or anyone else's. In Marlena's eyes, they were the key to reversing whatever happened. They were the key to seeing her family again, but she knew better than anyone just how hard it was to unlock a door without a key.

"I don't really know how to explain it," Marlena finally answered Steve.

"You don't have to."

"Can I please have my laptop back?" Marlena asked him.

Steve hummed as he looked at her. She was giving him those eyes, those eyes she knew she could use to get whatever she wanted. And while Marlena was normally successful in pulling that trick, this time was different. Steve refused to let her have her way.

"No." Steve grabbed the back of Marlena's chair and rolled her away from her desk. He then looked down at her, and the look on her face told him she was more than fed up with him for the day. He expected it, though, so it didn't phase him whatsoever. "I need you to come with me."

Marlena groaned as he gently pulled her off her chair. "I'm not leaving, Steve."

"No one said you had to," Steve said. She could practically hear the smile in his voice. He was up to something, but she just didn't know what it was or how she was going to handle it when she figured it out.

"Steve, I really don't know about—"

"Surprise!"

Marlena jumped back at the unexpected noise and the unexpected faces. Spread across Steve's kitchen and dining room was Natasha, Bruce, Rhodey, and Tony. Marlena covered her mouth as if to suppress the smile on her face, but everyone could see it in her eyes. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to spend your birthday with you, I figured that was pretty obvious," Tony said to her.

"We've tried to be with you every year for your birthday, but Steve's been letting us know just how uncomfortable you've been with the thought of having company," Natasha added. "We haven't seen you in a year and a half and you literally live forty minutes away."

Natasha's words were true, though, and it was only now being in front of everyone that Marlena felt incredibly guilty because of it. She tried as hard as she could to stay connected to everyone after the snap and their final confrontation with Thanos, but with each passing day Marlena grew farther and farther away from herself. If she didn't have the strength to uphold her relationship with herself, there was no way she could find the strength to uphold her relationships with the team.

"I'm sorry," Marlena apologized to them with a frown on her face. "I've just been—"

"You don't have to explain yourself, kid," Tony quickly walked over to her and grabbed her arms gently. "We understand, and we're here for you. We always have been. Regardless of it all, however broken we may be, we're still a family."

Marlena forced herself to hold back her tears and she nodded her head, wasting no time at all in wrapping Tony in a tight hug. It felt good to hug him despite the other part of her that wasn't quite ready for human interaction. She'd forgotten just how much she loved these people surrounding her. She'd forgotten how capable they were of making her feel something other than sadness, even if it was only for the smallest amount of time.

"Not to mention, we were not going to miss your thirtieth birthday," Rhodey said to her.

Marlena chuckled and shook her head. "I'm still not understanding what makes the thirtieth so special?"

"Thirty marks the tenth year you've had the absolute honor of knowing us," Tony answered smugly. "Also, Steve's been planning this for months, so that's the other thing that makes it special."

Marlena looked at Steve, who was rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He knew she hadn't been up for for seeing anyone in months, or even in years, but he also knew she needed it, whether or not she knew it herself. Keeping in contact with the rest of the team and Marlena herself was what helped Steve get through his hardest days. They were his family and always would be.

"You planned this just for me?" Marlena was surprised, but at the same time she wasn't. There was no limit to what Steve wouldn't do for her, and while she wasn't totally aware of that, she did know how much he cared about her. She didn't deserve it, though, as she'd been off the grid for the better part of three years. She didn't deserve the love she got from her friends, but she had it, and even without her abilities she could feel that she always would. It only made her love them, and Steve, so much more than she already did.

"I did," Steve breathed out. "I know you need your family, no matter how many hours you spend locked in your room, and just know we need you too, Mar."

Marlena smiled widely and walked over to Steve, wrapping him in a tight hug. He hugged her back, his arms gently enclosed around her petite body. "I love you so much," she pulled away slightly and then looked to Tony and Natasha, and the remaining Avengers she called her family. "I love all of you, and I'm so sorry I haven't been acting like it lately."

Rhodey shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets. "We understand; we all have our ways of coping."

"Hell, I haven't heard from Thor in two years," Bruce added, putting a frown on Marlena's face. She missed the God of Thunder and desperately hoped he was okay. He hadn't taken their loss well at all, but neither had anyone else for that matter.

"Rocket did tell me to send his regards, though," Natasha chuckled quietly. "He said, and I quote, 'I would love nothing more than to celebrate another year closer to the chick's impending death, but I have better things to do.'"

"I can always count on him to make me feel better," Marlena said with a roll of her eyes. Their presence was helping her mentally, and the feeling was a wonderful relief. Her mind was clearer than it had been in years, though she still had a while to go. She was just happy to know what helped the process along. "What exactly is it that he had to do?"

"He was watching Hot Tub Time Machine when I left the compound," she answered.

Marlena shook her head and grabbed Steve's hand, tugging on it gently as she started towards the kitchen. "That's okay; I have everyone I need right here," she smiled and looked back at Steve, who was more than thrilled over the outcome of his plan. "Thank you so much for this."

"You're welcome, Marlena," he said with a smile.

"Can we eat now or...?"

Marlena laughed at Tony and pulled Steve toward the kitchen. Her research paper could wait a few hours or so. She had something more important to do, and that was spend time with those left of her little family. Although she remained broken, the team was as well, and together they needed each other to help pick up their broken pieces. Marlena was okay with that, as she found love to be one of the greatest medicines, and at the moment, whether they were laughing away in Steve's kitchen or stuffing their face on the couch, there was an absolute abundance of it, and the last thing she wanted was to lose it.