Music is "My Oldest Friend" by Andrew Belle.

Picture is The Avengers.

••••••••••••••••••••

CHAPTER TWENTY: Homecoming

{May 7, 2012 - Present Day}

The Avengers reconvene at the Stark Penthouse suite where we left Loki. Natasha and Clint slip in just as Loki is gathering enough strength to push himself off the broken tile flooring where the Hulk left him minutes ago. Natasha glares at the mischief god, scepter in hand. "What do we do with him now?" she asks.

"He has to face justice for what he's done," Steve says, giving a look of concern towards Thor.

Thor nods in agreement. "I will take him back to Asgard. He will face my father's justice there."

I nod in agreement. "The sooner he's off our little green and blue ball, the better. I agree with Thor."

Thor gives me a thankful smile, and we watch as Loki slowly pulls himself up. Clint loads an arrow onto his bow, aiming it at Loki's head as he turns around.

Loki groans in pain, offering, "If it's all the same to you...I'll have that drink now."

After a moment of the group collectively glaring, Clint scoffs, "Yeah, not likely. Move your ass. You're going home."

Loki scowls. "I haven't it."

Natasha turns to the group, "Fury just sent me a com that says he won't be able to pull us out of the Stark Tower for another few minutes. The streets around this place are a mess. He suggests we find a place on the lower levels to stay until he can get a team here."

Tony grins and turns to the rest of us. "Swarma, anybody?"

Steve nods to Loki. "What do we do with him?"

Tony's grin grows wider. "I think I have an idea."

••••••••••••••••••••

In a small, debris-ridden swarma restaurant, the Avengers sit and wait in disarray, slumped around a table with baskets of sandwiches and fries in front of them. In the background, an older couple in aprons clean the messy eatery.

Thor takes a weary bite of his sandwich, eyes glued to his brother who is tied up and gagged, sitting cross-legged on the ground a few feet away from the table. The mischief god glares collectively at all of us, eyes moving from one to the other in displeasure.

Bruce, now calmed down quite a bit, lifts a French fry to his mouth, slowly chewing it. Steve, sitting to my left, leans his chin onto his fist. On my right, Natasha and Clint partially share each others chairs, Clint's feet on Natasha's chair and vice versa.

Tony stares expressionless at the wall across from him, chewing his swarma with a distasteful look on his face. He balls up his napkin, tossing it like a basketball into the recycling bin across the room, beside Loki.

No one says a word.

••••••••••••••••••••

"Despite the devastation of what has been confirmed as an extraterrestrial attack, the extraordinary heroics of the group known as the Avengers has been to many a cause not only for comfort, but for celebration--"

"--I don't exactly feel safe with those things out there. It just seems like there's a lot they're not telling us--"

"--It's just really great knowing they're out there, y'know. That someone is watching over us--"

"--Superheroes in New York? Give me a break--"

"--These so-called 'heroes' have to be held responsible for the destruction done to this city. This was their fight. Where are they now?--"

"--Tough questions are being asked about the Avengers themselves. Their sudden appearance and equally sudden disappearance--"

"--What, this is all somehow their fault? Captain America saved my life. Wherever he is, wherever any of them are, I would just...I would want to say 'thank you.'"

I press the off button on my phone, and it darkens. I see my reflection, as well as Grant's behind me, in the dark mirror of the screen. "At least someone is grateful," he mumbles, hands shoved in his pockets.

I turn and give him a smile as I slip my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. "Heroes will always be the subject of controversy," I reply, wrapping an arm around the shoulders of my adopted fifteen-year-old. "Just as they always have been. Some want you decorated, some want you decapitated. It all depends on who tells the story and what facts they include."

We both turn and watch as Doctor Banner lifts the Tesseract, using metalic grips, and places it in the Asgardian container for transport. Both Tony and Steve watch from either side, looking solemnly at the source of power, both for different reasons I'd imagine. "Well, you're all heroes to me," Grant replies. "Who cares what anyone else thinks."

I press a kiss to his forehead, smiling in response. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Thor pats Eric Selvig on the shoulder, silently thanking him for his help. He turns to Loki, who is still chained and gagged, and offers the opposite handle of the Tesseract for transportation back to the Realm Eternal. Natasha and Clint, who stand guard of the war criminal, turn to each other. Natasha whispers something in his ear, and Clint grins widely.

I'm not so sure I want to know what that's about.

Loki takes the handle, and Thor turns, nodding in thanks to the rest of the team that surrounds him and his brother. He twists the handle, and they shoot into the stars in a stream of blue light.

"So, what now?" Grant asks the obvious question.

Steve chuckles, walking over to us both. "Fury said we're off the books for as long as we want or need. He said we deserved a leave of absence."

"But that doesn't mean we have to disappear altogether," Natasha replies, waltzing over to us with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face. "Are you two headed back to Paris?"

I turn and look at Grant, then to a hopeful Steve. "No, I think we'll be selling the apartment in Paris. I missed the United States more than I realized, and Fury's wiped all records of my banishment. We're citizens again."

Steve sighs in relief, and Grant grins. "I was hoping you'd say that," Natasha chuckles. She turns to talk to Steve. "What about you, soldier? You leaving the fight for good, or can I convince you and the Lady to stick around and play SHIELD for a while longer?"

Steve turns to me, and I shrug, grinning. "Why not?"

Tony calls Steve over to say his goodbyes, and Clint pulls Grant aside to show him how to contact him if he's ever in need. In the privacy between the Black Widow and I, I ask, "Where are you headed, Natalia Romanova?"

She shrugs, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth as she glances over towards Steve, who's shaking Tony's hand. "Oh, I think I'll follow wherever you two go. Something tells me we're going to get along quite nicely."

I nod in reply, and Natasha leaves to get a bag from the passenger's seat of her and Clint's car. She hands it to Bruce. Clint slides in the driver's side, and Natasha joins him. Tony and Bruce hop into the red convertible, and Steve boards his vintage motorcycle.

As the rest of the team leaves, Steve turns to me as I hand a helmet to Grant. "Where to, Barnes'?"

I rev the engine and give my oldest friend a smile. "Home."

••••••••••••••••••••

{July 4, 2012 - Two Months Later}

"Happy birthday, Steve. Make a wish!"

Steve smiles at the three of us across the table, then takes a deep breath in and blows out the candles. Rose claps swiftly, a huge grin on her face, as Steve easily blows out the number of candles of his physical age. We all cheer, and Rose stands to pull out each of the twenty-six, waxy candles. "Ada boy!" she exclaims, patting her big-brother figure on the back. "What did you wish for?"

Steve sits back in the wicker chair in Rose's kitchen with a sigh. "A bigger stomach, obviously. This cake is all for me. What are you guys eating?"

Grant laughs whole-heartedly and adjusts his red bandanna. "You wish!" He stands from his seat, practically bouncing to the cabinet  "I'll get the plates, Aunt Rose."

Rose turns and says something to Grant, correcting him on which plates to get. I turn to Steve, whispering, "What did you really wish for, Stevie?"

His face falls a little. "Clarity."

I nod, placing my hand gently over his as we hear a knock at the apartment door. Rose turns to me in confusion. "Did you invite someone else?"

I grin, standing to my feet and walking to the door. When I open it, Natasha Romanoff stands on the other side with several gifts in her arms. She smiles cheerily at us, and I motion for her to come inside. "Happy birthday, Rogers," she says, a smirk on her face at the super-solider's confusion. "A little birdy told me that you'd be celebrating incognito at Rose Dugan's place." She stretches her hand towards Rose. "Natasha Romanoff. I've heard quite a lot about you, Mrs. Dugan."

Grant takes the gifts from Natasha as Rose shakes her hand, pleasantly surprised. "All good things, I hope?"

Natasha retracts her hand, placing them on her hips with a chuckle. "Well, between Director Fury and Peggy Carter, there's been a bit of both."

I turn to her and ask, "Peggy?"

Her usually calculated expressions falter to a small frown for a moment. "She may have not been the Director of SHIELD when I was... recruited, but she sure as hell made sure I stayed. For that, I owe her a great debt. I still visit her as often as I can in D.C. So does Fury, Maria, Clint, and Couls--" She trails off, picking up an envelope from the stack. "This is from Clint. He's sorry he couldn't come. Girlfriend problems."

Steve thanks her and tells her to tell Barton the same. He opens the letter, reading the colorful card first. He chuckles, reading it aloud, "'Happy 95th birthday, Grandpa!'" He flips the card over. "'Happy birthday to someone old enough to have lived through the hardships of not being able to Google something.' Then Clint wrote, 'Seriously, man. Happy birthday. Trust me, the only thing you missed that's better than when you froze yourself is Starbucks. Go crazy. Clint.'"

Steve pulls out five one-hundred dollar gift cards to Starbucks. Grant gasps, eyes going wide. "Daaamn! Can Clint get me a birthday present?"

Steve looks to me, almost expectant. "What's a 'Starbucks?'"

"A famous coffee chain all over the world," I answer.

Natasha rolls her eyes. "Clint is obsessed with coffee."

I chuckle, and Rose hands Steve her gift. "Mine next!"

Steve opens her little box, pulling out four movie tickets. "Tickets to...a Star Wars marathon night? What's Star Wars?"

Rose grins. "A really great movie series that came out in the 70s and 80s. You're literally the only adult on the planet who hasn't seen them, so I'm treating you, me, Emma, and Grant to a showing at an old theater in Brooklyn."

Steve hugs her tightly. "Thanks, Rosie."

She pats his back, and I nod to Grant. The Korean teen grabs the blue box and hands it to Steve. "This is from Mom and I. I helped her with the idea."

Steve thanks us both, and opens it. Inside, he finds a vintage Brooklyn Dodgers jersey and two tickets to their upcoming game in Los Angeles. Steve looks to me with a thankful expression. "You didn't."

I grin, reply, "Oh, I did. We're going to L.A. to see the Dodgers. Not quite like old times, but close enough."

He place the jersey and tickets down and gets up to embrace me tightly. "Maybe we should stop trying to recreate 'old times' and just focus on the times we have now. Because I'm starting to like now."

I nod in agreement, and Steve takes his seat again. Natasha picks up an envelope from the three remaining gifts. She hands it to Steve. "This is part one of Tony's gift. He said to open it first."

Steve takes the envelope and opens it carefully. Inside, he pulls out a slip of paper. It looks like some kind of medical document. After his eyes breeze the page, he turns an unimpressed look to Natasha. "He sent me a social security check?"

The room fills with laughter, mostly Grant's obnoxious one. Steve glares at the social security check and places it on the table, along with the envelope. A smug look on her face, Natasha motions to the red, white, and blue box that goes along with it. "Also part one."

Steve gives her a look of concern as he tears the wrapping from the box. "Now I'm nervous."

Inside, he finds two small gifts. "An inflatable walker and a retirement countdown block set at zero days," Steve announces, shaking his head. "Hilarious."

After the laughter dies down, Natasha hands him Tony's actual gift. It's a small box, no bigger than her hand. "This is his actual present. I saw JARVIS wrap it myself."

Steve takes it gently, opening it with careful movements of his hands. He opens the small box, a confused look on his face. He pulls out a small, silver key. He holds it up, looking to Natasha. "What's it to?"

She smirks, shaking her head. "Open mine next, then it'll all make sense."

Perplexed, but in agreement, Steve takes her flat box and opens it. Inside, he finds two badges, files, and security clearance pass codes. Steve picks up one of the badges, a SHIELD badge, and reads the name inscribed on the front. "Steven Grant Rogers -- Captain America." He looks up to Natasha. "Is this what I think it is?"

She nods, leaning against the nearby wall casually. "It's a SHIELD badge for you," she nods to me, "and Emma. It's been two months since New York. You've settled in, and now I'm asking if you'd like to come work for SHIELD on a more permanent basis. You'd have Level 5 clearance, a team of your own, missions to do. You'd work out of the D.C. Triskellion."

She nods to the key Tony sent. "That's an apartment in Alexandria, Virginia. It's right out of Washington on the Potomac River. It's yours, if you want it. Tony paid the first year of rent."

Steve turns to Rose. "What about Rose? She's family. I won't leave her."

I ease his worries. "We can visit weekly, Steve. Quinjets travel faster than trains."

"I have friends here to keeo me company, and if I get too lonely," Rose suggests, "I'll move to Washington. It's easy as that. Don't worry about me, Stevie."

"You'll be closer to Peggy, too," Grant mentions.

"But we'll be farther away from Bucky," Steve replies, almost to himself. Steve turns to me, his expression asking for my thoughts.
 
I shrug, giving a small smile. "We're moving forward, remember? What better place to do that than with a new friend," I nod to Natasha, "and in a place we've never lived? As long as you don't go an make yourself a Capscicle again, I say we do it. Being a teacher really just isn't me anymore, anyway. But working for SHIELD? I think I was made to do that. And I think you're itching to get back out there and help people fight bullies."

Steve nods, a satisfied smile on his face. He turns to Natasha with an answer. "We're in."

END CHAPTER TWENTY: Homecoming.