Everyone watched the surfer call for its board. It stepped into the silver liquid that lapped over its feet, before it lifted its knees to drive its vessel upwards. Shooting into the sky, the Avengers waited until the alien was nothing but a silver gleam through the thick smoke. After it disappeared, the smoke that layered above them parted and dispersed. White clouds occupied the space with a bright blue background, the return of birds and insects bringing life to the Earth's atmosphere. Thanos was gone and everything could flourish as it was meant to.

'I'm a little confused...' Scott was the first to speak. The thick tension was tough to break, and the man walked towards the group that stood together looking to the sky. From where he stood with Doctor Stephen Strange, Bucky, Sam and the Wakandians, the silver surfer was seen exiting the huddle before it then flew off without another word. Amongst everyone else, Scott was unsure about what their next move was.

'We're all a little confused,' Bruce replied and squinted at the sunlight.

Pepper and Peter were stood to the side, still wiping away their tears. But from their position at the end of the huddled group, they were able to see the movement that once laid still against the pile of debris. Peter, whose eyes were cracked with redness and skin caked in dirt, perked up from his hunched posture and gaped at what he saw. Pepper let out a gasp and her shaky hands cupped her open mouth, the noise making everyone turn to the duo.

'Oh my god!' her voice was muffled through the palms of her hands. With pinched eyebrows, the group followed Pepper's gaze and turned back to the couple that they were previously mourning.

Susan stirred first; her eyes that had slid shut fluttering open. The wound that was the culprit of her death was healed, leaving the smooth skin of her abdomen as the only thing in place of the torn suit. Blood remained over the ripped edges of the material, but its predecessor was nowhere to be seen.

The woman's eyes moved back and forth between their edges, the haze of her death still present. But Susan was alive. Her chest rose and fell and the Avengers' gaped at the way her arm lifted to wipe the back of her wrist across her chin. Blood smeared from the action and Sue let out a cough, the last of the pool splattering out of her mouth and onto the dirt. She leant forward and arched her back, letting out a groan. A small ache burned where Thanos' blade had pierced through, yet, there was still no wound.

'Yikes, that hurts,' Sue hissed quietly to herself, before lifting her head and looking at the wide eyes and open mouths above her. She stopped her actions, her arm twisted around to her back to soothe the burn. 

Thor was on the end of the huddle and her eyes travelled from his furrowed brow and gaping mouth to Clint, who wore a similar expression. Bruce was at the back, his large, green figure towering over everyone. His eyes jittered in their sockets, trying to find a logical explanation to the miracle. Next was Johnny, who spluttered noises and half-formed words. He was sure that he was hallucinating. Maybe he had been hit in the head by the surfer, the betrayal to Thanos all being a façade to get the upper hand on them.

Sue's journey along the gaping Avengers finished on Steve, Rhodey and Wanda, who all stood rigid with wide eyes. Steve glanced next to him, looking down the line of his team to ensure he wasn't the only one seeing such things. But just like Steve, everyone was gobsmacked at the revival of Susan Storm.

'What?' the word slipped from Sue's lips like normal. Her raised eyebrows and inquisitive stare baffled the team, and no one had the strength to answer her question. They had all watched her die. The immense blood loss teamed with the impaled vital organs was undeniably fatal. But here she was breathing and growing irritated with the lack of response from her friends.

'What did I miss?' Sue blinked but the team continued to be unresponsive.

A loud gasp broke added to the shock. Everyone within earshot jumped, their heads whipping from one miracle to the other. Tony's eyes sat wide open, fog in his mind at first but clearing to take in his surroundings. He gasped for air and his chest heaved, the arc reactor in his suit suddenly glowing brightly with life. Despite his fatal wounds lining the entire right side of his body and face, Tony jerked his head around with a frantic stare.

'What happened?!' he cried through his gasps. 'Did we win?! Why do I taste almonds?!'

'Jesus fucking Christ, I've lost it. Completely, definitively lost it,' Rhodey clutched his head as he walked away. Everyone else thought about doing the same, but decided to watch in awe as Tony's frantic stare landed on Sue, who sat up next to him. The two paused, their memories hazy of the last few minutes, but their yearning for each other remained.

Tony's lip hitched up into a smile, but his mouth stayed open to take in the air he was deprived of for his few minutes of death. The life that flourished in Sue's brown eyes and the warmth in her plump lips reminded him that he had lost her. Her smile grew and his heartrate soothed, the idea of having his love back filling him with an unspeakable joy. It hurt for Tony to lean over, but he did so anyway to encircle his uninjured arm around Sue's shoulders. She did the same, leaning forward and using both of her arms to clutch at Tony's suit that was half destroyed. The absent hair from the side of his head looked gruesome and she noticed his ear was missing, but Sue was here, and she was in Tony's arms. She was unaware of what happened after her passing, but she caught a glimpse of the smoking gauntlet that sat metres away and the lack of appearance from Thanos himself.

'This is... weird,' Tony mumbled, pulling away to gaze at Sue closely. The veins still lined her face but her smile made them disappear in his eyes. He reluctantly tore his gaze to the watching crowd that hadn't yet grasped the situation.

'What happened? We won, right?' he asked, eyeing Steve specifically. Smiles started to grow at the sound of Tony and although they couldn't explain it, it was true that Tony and Sue were alive. Steve let out a huff as he grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling from underneath his helmet.

'Yeah, Tony, we won.'

---

Nick Fury fell into his office chair as files levitated in hues of light green and electric blue. Swiping through the information and reading with his one eye, a ring pitched from the side of the files to display the name 'Johnny Storm'. Nick almost didn't want to answer it, but with a wave of his hand, the call was accepted, and he forced out a greeting.

'Johnny, I thought I would be hearing from you soon enough.'

'Don't sound so excited, Nicky. It was you that wanted the details. I'm just following up,' Johnny's matter of fact tone irritated the Director, but he sufficed with an eyeroll in frustration.

'Well, I did the digging, and I have some things for you. That is if you'd actually like to hear and aren't going to just throw quick whips at me while I talk.'

'You have my silence, Director Furious.'

Nick eyed the icon of the telephone and thought about ending the call, but he remembered his training. Instead, he looked to the files that lit up his office and stood from his chair. He walked around the table and stopped in front of them to read.

'The silver surfer was from the planet Zenn-La. Thanos visited the planet years before the blip and before he went searching for the Stones. I assume he struck up some sort of deal with the surfer and there was a promise to spare Zenn-La along with his so-called lover, Shalla-Bal.'

'Sounds extra-terrestrial.'

'He served with Thanos and was his personal spy, observing planets before Thanos' arrival. He would then decide whether it was worth conquering, before moving to the next. But then he got all the Stones and did what we know. Zenn-La was cut in half and Shalla-Bal was blipped. Obviously, the surfer was betrayed, and he helped you guys during the battle. That's all that we know so far.'

'Huh,' Johnny sounded. 'Did you get his name?'

'All we've found is the name Norrin Radd.'

'And you haven't seen him around Earth since?'

'Nothing on our radar.'

'Right, well, thanks for all the digging, Nick. I think we're done.'

'We can send out an investigation team, Storm,' Nick leaned back against the table, one eyebrow raised at the tone of Johnny's that indicated he was done with the conversation. 'Space travel has been advanced a few years since Stark came back from light years away. Especially with Miss Denvers. We can go out and find him. Hold him accountable for his actions during his time with Thanos.'

'Nah. The guy can time travel from what we found out, so I think upsetting him anymore could be fatal. But I appreciate the sentiment,' Nick could picture Johnny clutching his heart in feign feeling.

'So, that's it? What about Susan?'

'I think she's happy where she is. And I am too. We're done with being hotshots. Well, I am. Sue's well on her way into retirement. Tony too.'

'Alright, well, I can't say it was a pleasure knowing you, Storm,' Nick put his hands behind his back and eyed the telephone icon. 'But I hope you and your sister have a good life. Don't burn too much. Maine's full of flammable wildlife.'

'Always the charmer, Nicholas. I'm not the only one you have to worry about now. Ruby's starting to light up Pepper's curtains.'

'Goodbye, Johnny.'

'Goodbye, Nick.'

---

'Dad! I think I figured out how you and Mum survived the purple grape!'

'Really, squirt? You wanna tell me about it after dinner?'

'Yeah!'

Booker ran past Tony with a book over his head, either side of the thick, glossy cover in each of his hands. He went to follow his son but stopped with a wince when his leg stopped mid-walk. The machine that powered his right side glitched and the electric blue light that ran along it flickered. FRIDAY was yet to configure a consistent matrix for the machine to power from a miniature arc reactor that sat at his knee. Sometimes it jittered, but it always fixed itself. And it did so this time, allowing Tony's foot to fall to the mahogany floors of the living room.

'FRIDAY, look into the knee joint for me? I think that's where its malfunctioning,' he said aloud and put his hand over the reactor.

'Yes, boss. Looking into it now,' FRIDAY replied throughout the house. 

The wooden house in Maine was whole for the first time in five years. With the sun setting over the treeline and the fireplace lit (although FRIDAY kept a consistently toasty temperature), the Stark household was full of life. The lamps in the living room were dimmed while the kitchen was illuminated, the smell of spaghetti Bolognese wafting into every corner. Footsteps hurried towards the dining room where the table was laid, and a highchair sat at its head. In the highchair, was young Morgan, who sat with a bib around her neck. She squealed when Susan sat in the chair next to hers, a plastic tub of Bolognese in her hand with a yellow spoon ready to serve up the meal.

'Wow, Mum, this looks great!' Booker cheered, jumping into the closest chair. 'Did you know that Bolognese came from the city of Bologna in Italy?'

'I didn't know that,' Sue chimed and lifted the first bite to Morgan, who opened her mouth willingly. Booker grinned and picked up his fork, doing his best to twirl the pasta without making a mess.

Tony entered the dining room and pulled back a chair. Sue looked up and saw him slowly lowering himself as carefully as the machine could manage. He attempted to cover the wince that washed over his face, but Sue caught it. She put down the tub and spoon and stood, her chair scraping against the floor.

'Tony, let me help-'

'I've got it,' he stopped her, his backside successfully in the chair. Sue watched as his legs inched around and he let out a small sigh in relief once he was facing the table. He picked up his fork with his left hand and scooped up some pasta. Sue half-smiled when she saw Tony eat with his non-dominant hand and went back to feeding Morgan, who babbled nonsense with sauce around her mouth already.

A knock at the door interrupted the barely started dinner, and Booker jumped out of his seat without being told. Tony looked over his shoulder towards the door while Sue wiped at Morgan's mouth, glancing in the same direction with a raised eyebrow.

'Were you expecting more dinner guests?' Tony asked sarcastically and Sue shook her head. The two heard the door open and waited for an indication for who it was on their front porch.

'Captain America! What are you doing here?!'