We're Okay
The world was restored, but for the Avengers it was still broken. Tony had yet to wake up. Nebula had been in and out and Natasha was conscious, but Tony was completely out of it. Stephen, Pepper , and Rhodey sat constantly by his bedside, Happy coming in with Morgan every so often. They all knew that he would have been staying there permanently as well had it not been for all of the work that he had to figure out.
“Any change?” Wanda asked, peering into the room from the door.
“No, but he’s holding on. I’m just not sure why it’s taking this long,” Stephen said with a sigh. Pepper had gone to get a coffee and Rhodey was with Happy and Morgan, having promised to get the little girl ice cream to try and cheer her up. Wanda slowly entered the room and took one of their empty seats. They sat in silence for a few moments before the young sorceress spoke again.
“You know, eight years ago, I would have liked nothing better than to see this,” she said. “I wanted him dead, and I thought that nothing could possibly change my opinion of him. I never considered that he might have a family. That he had people that would actually care about him. When I saw him with the other Avengers, it just fueled my beliefs. They didn’t care about him then and I figured that it meant no one did.”
“And now?” Stephen asked.
“Now… now I think that I might be one of the people that I didn't’ believe could exist. Now if you were to tell me that he wasn’t going to wake up, I think I’d be upset,” she whispered. Stephen grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
“It won’t come to that,” he said. “He’ll be awake and back to being his annoying self in no time,” Stephen said, reaching out and taking Tony's hand. He felt something cold and metallic against his fingers and looked down to see the ring that he had been planning to give Tony before infinity war on his finger. Wanda smiled when she saw it.
“Clea told me that you’d spent the week before Thanos debating whether or not you should propose,” she said. She gave it to him that he’d have proof of knowing you when he went back in time, but I’m pretty sure that it was just her shipping you two hard,” she explained before getting up to go check on Natasha. She paused at the door and turned.
“You know, I’m pretty sure he’d say yes, you know,” she said before heading back down the hallway.
~
Natasha had many visitors during her time in the hospital, the most frequent being Wanda, Steve, Bucky, Clint, and Sam. That was why when the door opened later that night, Natasha expected it to be one of them. It was not.
“Mestin,” she greeted. “I didn’t expect to see you,” she said. The mage shrugged slightly before stepping fully into the room, a large package by his side.
“The others are preparing to put the infinity stones back in their proper places,” he reported, sitting down. “You did well.” Natasha smiled slightly, looking down at the bandages that swathed her arm and neck.
“I did what I had to. For all of us,” she said. They sat in silence for a few moments before Natasha spoke again.
“I’m sorry about Emilia… I didn’t know her, but she seemed like a good person. SHe sacrificed a lot.” Mestin nodded.
“We’d been friends for over two hundred years,” he said. “On Enexion the aging process is much slower than on Earth. For every ten years an Earthen human ages, we would age one,” he explained upon seeing Natasha’s disbelieving expression. “Emilia was my best friend, both Silven and I’s, actually. We’d been friends since the beginning of our training. She knew what it meant to sacrifice. What it took to win a war. That’s why I know that she’s at peace. Wherever she is, she’s at peace,” Mestin said before holding out the large package.
“What’s that?” Natasha asked curiously.
“Yours,” he replied. With her good hand, Natasha slowly peeled back the rappers to see Emilia’s sword. The hilt was still cracked and the blade was lined with scorches, but it was still good. “On Enexion it is custom for a warriors weapon to go to the one who avenges their death. That would be you,” he explained.
“I- thank you,” Natasha said. Mestin only nodded before leaving the room to go and talk with the others from Enexion about what their next step was.
~
Pepper watched as Morgan examined peter’s Iron Spider suit, the junior Avenger sitting calmly and letting her explore, already having assured Pepper that nothing dangerous could be activated unless Peter gave Karen the direct order to activate it.
“She likes him,” Rhodey noted, sitting beside her.
“She likes all of them,” Pepper replied. “Tony was right when he said they’d get along. They seem like they’ll be good influences.” Rhodey hummed in agreement as he watched Morgan scrambled onto Peter's back to get a closer look at the metal spider legs protruding from his shoulders.
“I don’t want him to be Ironman anymore,” she confessed. “Before it was different; it was only me he’d be hurting when he got hurt or possibly killed, and that I could live with. Now though… I know what it’s like to lose someone. I don’t want her to have to know as well,” Pepper admit quietly.
“I don’t think he does either,” Rhodey said. “For you, for her, for Stephen and the juniors, I think he’s ready to be done.”
“I hope so,” Pepper said.
~
Tony’s entire side felt numb when he woke up. He was lying in a hospital bed from the smell of it, and his guess was only confirmed when he opened his eyes. He tried to turn his head but found the task almost impossible.
“Hurng,” he said in an attempt to speak. He heard a rustling sound beside him in response and then felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder.
“Tony? Are you with us?” asked a familiar voice.
“Steph-” Tony began, breaking off in a fit of coughing.
“Yeah, it’s me. You’re alright,” Stephen said reassuringly as Tony’s coughing slowly died down. “You should take it easy with the talking, you’ve been out of it for two weeks now,” the sorcerer said. “Peter’s barely left except to spend some time with his aunt, and the other juniors have been checking in at regular intervals,” he informed him. Pepper’s brought Morgan in a few times, but we all decided that it would be best to keep her away for a bit.” Tony forced his head to obey him and nodded his thanks. He didn’t want to scare Morgan with his current state.
“You’re lucky to have survived,’ Stephen commented, forcing his voice not to crack. “We thought we’d lost you for a while,” Tony said nothing for a few minutes.
“How’s Nebula and Nat? “He questioned, voice still scratchy and hoarse.
“They’re fine. Natasha’s been up for a while now, and Nebula’s been in and out for a while, but gained full consciousness yesterday.” Tony sighed in relief.
“Why didn’t you see that happening in your vision, doc?” he asked and Stephen sighed.
“In the future I saw, Enexion was not present. Emilia Corvell wasn’t there to turn into Natasha and so Natasha wasn’t there to help you take the power of the stones, and Nebula’s confrontation with her past self took much longer so she wasn’t there either. It was just you taking the power of all the stones yourself,” Stephen explained, clutching Tony’s hand.
“Well, that’s… that’s rough,” Tony said finally. “How are the others?” he asked, changing the topic.
“Well Peter is currently with Morgan, Pepper, and Rhodey and I’m pretty sure the other juniors are heading over there as well. The Avengers are working on how to return the other stones and the sorcerers are trying to destabilize the Earth. Our friends from Enexion are currently discussing what should be down when they all head back. Most have already returned, but Mestin, Silven, and Jax are sticking around for a bit longer.”
“We should hold a funeral,” Tony said. “For Emilia. None of this would have been possible had t been the real Natasha that was thrown over that cliff on Vormir.” Stephen nodded.
“I’ll let the others know.” He made no move to get up though, and Tony was grateful for that.
~
“You sure this is going to work?” Sam asked, looking untrustingly at the machine. Steve gave him a reassuring smile.
“Of course it is. It already has once,” he said. “Besides, we don’t have much of a choice. If we don’t return these stones back to their proper places in time than all of those timelines are forfeit,” he said. Bucky gave him a small smile.
“Well, good luck captain,” Sam said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Thanks, Sam,” he said, returning the gesture before turning to Bucky.
“Don’t do anything stupid till get back,” he said.
“How can I,” the other soldier said, eyes downcast. “You’re taking all the stupid with you.” he took a deep breath and headed over to the machine. He had tried to talk to Tony before coming out to put all the stones back but had been met by Peter and Frost, neither hero keen on letting him pass. In the end, he had left without seeing Tony, and he had a feeling that Tony would have wanted it that way had he been awake. With one last glance at Bucky and Sa, Steve was off into the Quantum Realm.
Bucky and Sam waited, the latter growing more agitated with every passing second. After a full thirty seconds passed, Sam shook his head.
“He should be back by now,” he said. “What’s going on?” Sam demanded.
“I don’t know,” Bruce replied, examining the machine. “He should be-” he cut himself off though, something by the lake catching his eye.
“Sam, over there,” he said, gesturing to where an old man said looking out over the water on a wooden bench. Sam slowly walked forward until he was beside the man on the bench.
“Hey Sam,” he said.
“Steve,” Sam greeted, making the other man smile. “I take it you returned the stones?” Steve sighed and nodded.
“Yup. I put them all back, ran into Red Skull on Vormir which was definitely a shock, but it didn’t pose any problems. Then, when I finished up, I decided I wanted to hang around for a bit.”
“So, no more Captain America?” he asked.
“Well, not quite,” Steve replied, opening a large package at his feet to reveal the shield in all its glory. “It’s yours now,” he said. “Hopefully you’ll do better by it than I ever did,” he added, a sad shadow reflecting in his eyes.
“So… you wanna tell me about her?” Sam asked, catching sight of the golden wedding band on Steve’s finger. Steve looked back out of the lake and smiled.
“Nah,” he said. Sam looked up at the sound of footsteps behind him and turned to see an old man with long hair and a metal arm standing behind him, and gold band on his finger.
“Hello Sam,” Bucky said. Sam stared blankly at him.
“How do you-”
“I explained it to him,” Steve cut in. After I returned to the forties I had my dance with Peggy and then went and freed Bucky,” he said.
“After everything Hydra through at me, time travel didn’t seem too unbelievable,” Bucky added.
“So this is it, then,” Sam said. Steve nodded.
“It’s for the best. The Avengers were never going to be able to move forward as long as we were there. Tony knew it, and so did I. If the rumors I heard before going back were true he plans on retiring, and we all know that there was nothing for me to go home to in 2023.” Sam nodded. With everything that Steve had done; the heroics in World War Two and the atrocities of the Civil War, Sam still thought that he deserved a bit of peace in the end.
~
“Tony, no,” Pepper said firmly.
“Why not?” The iron hero demanded, crossing his arms. Had he not been pouting in a hospital bed, he would have looked far more intimidating.
“Because that’s not how it works, Tony,” Stephen said in exasperation. “Nebula is a grown woman and not even a resident of this planet. You can’t adopt her!” the sorcerer supreme said, at his wits end with the conversation. Tony continued to pout.
“But she was raised by fucking Thanos,” he stressed. “And Morgan already sees her as a big sister.”
“Mr. Stark, I think Dr. Strange is right,” Peter said, walking in. “I mean, can’t she just stay with you?” Tony sighed dramatically.
“Fine. I will be bringing this back up, though,” he promised.
“We know. Believe me, we know,” Stephen grumbled. They all looked up hen Natasha walked in.
“Hello Agent Romanoff,” Tony said.
“Tony,” she replied. “I see that you’re awake.”
“I see that you’re walking. That’s good,” Tony said. “Nice sword, he added, catching sight of Emilia’s blade.
“Mestin gave it to me. It seems that I got off easier than you and Nebula,” she stated. Tony sighed.
“Yeah, it’s about as bad as it looks. I’m thinking of making some sort of covering for my arm, and I’m already planning Nebula’s replacement. I can make something for you as well and make it match… We can be the Infinity Squad! It’ll be great!” he declared.
“How much pain medicine are you on again?” Natasha asked, and Tony looked offended. “I’m kidding. I just came by to let you know that Morgan and Nebula are coming by.” Tony lit up.
“My daughters are here!”
“For the last time, ONLY ONE OF THEM IS YOUR DAUGHTER!” Stephen said in exasperation.
“Sure…” Tony said slyly, making Stephen and Pepper roll their eyes. With that, Morgan came bursting into the room, pushing pass Natasha’s legs and jumping onto Tony’s bed.
“Daddy! Daddy! Nebula taught me how to play paper football!” she said excitedly.
“Your daughter is quite skilled,” Nebula said, entering the room as well. “I have been beaten.” Morgan grinned and wrapped her arms around Tony’s shoulders before pulling back slightly.
“Daddy, where’s your ring?” she asked, grabbing his hand and staring in confusion at his finger. Tony looked down in confusion to find that Morgan was right; the ring was gone.
“Stephen! The ring is gone! Do you think someone stole it? Maybe some dark sorcerer or-” Stephen’s laugh cut him off.
“Thanks a lot, Morgan, I had a whole night planned,” Stephen whispered playfully, and Morgan giggled.
“Stephen?” Tony asked in confusion.
“I- uh, I assume that you’re aware that the ring could only be taken out of the wards by the sorcerer supreme?” he questioned. Tony thought back to his conversation with Stephen’s predecessor and nodded, a realization slowly dawning on him.
“You were already planning on giving me that ring, weren’t you?” Tony asked.
“You wouldn’t believe how long he was trying to get up the courage to do it,” Clea called from the hallway where she and Wanda definitely weren’t listening in with Wong.
“We had to deal with his conflict every day!” Wong added. Stephen put his head in his hands.
“I hate all of you!” he called back. Nebula snickered and Pepper picked her up off of Tony’s lap.
“We’ll give you some space,” she said, patting Stephen reassuringly on the shoulder. “Peter, come on, you can ship them later,” she said, forcefully dragging Peter out of the room with Nebula right behind. Stephen sighed.
“This is not how I imagined this going down,” he said. Tony smiled.
“Given that it’s me your with, I’m surprised you didn’t see it coming,” he replied. Stephen sighed again.
“Well then I’m guessing you’ve figured out why I took the ring back, and why I had it in the first place,” he said.
“Yeah, I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Tony replied. “So I’m telling you now that if I don’t have that ring on my finger in thirty seconds, I’m gonna lose it,” he added. He smiled as Stephen rolled his eyes and pulled the ring out of his pocket, and he heard Peter say something excitedly from the hallway. Stephen narrowed his eyes and closed the binds with a flick of his wrist, much to the annoyance of everyone outside.
“ I love you,” Tony said.
“I love you too.”
~
They all stood at the lakeside, the heroes from Enexion at the front of the group along with Natasha and Carol as they mourned the death of Emilia Corvell. Each person placed a flower on her shield which floated lazily in the water, and the Avengers stepped back to let those who had known Emilia have a few moments to themselves.
“Frost, shouldn’t you be up with the others?” Wanda asked upon seeing the winter spirit approaching.
“I have already paid my respects. It would be cruel of me to take time from the others,” he stated.
“I imagine you’ll be heading back to Enexion now?” she asked, but Frost shook his head.
“Though I know that it is what the others wish, it is not something that I am willing to do. Too much has happened there since I left, and Oliver’s home is here. I have agreed to keep in contact this time, though, and so it will have to be enough for them.” Wanda nodded, content. “With Rogers and Barnes in the state they are now, and Tony retiring, what is to become of the Avengers,” he asked. Wanda shrugged.
“I imagine that the team leaders will be stitched up, and Riri will take Tony’s place as the main iron fighter. She’s technically an adult, so her training in the Junior Avengers program was always meant to be quicker than the others. More of just an integration technique,” Wanda replied.
“Do you think you’ll return to the field?” Frost asked. Wanda considered his words for a moment before shaking her head.
“Not yet. I want to finish more of my training first. I’m still not completely confident that I won’t lose control again. I don’t want a repeat of Lagos.” Frost nodded before heading over to talk to Tony, who had an arm around Stephen and a hand on Nebula’s shoulder.
Wanda headed inside with the other Junior Avengers and watched as Harley and Peter bickered over something involving a potato gun, and Gina began serving drinks. Wanda felt her chest tighten at the way the other android reminded her of Vision, but she pushed it down. Though the mind stone was gone, Tony had told her that there might still be a way to restore Vision as his body had been stored in Shuri’s lab after the dusting, no one sure what to do with it. He had warned her that it had a very low chance of success, but Wanda held out hope.
Tony looked around at the assembled heroes. As he and Frost discussed the designs for a ship that would be able to take those from Enexion back home without having to use the Nox, Nebula drifted away and was now engaged in a game of paper football with Morgan. Peter and Harley were still arguing about the potato gun, and Natasha was talking to Steve and Bucky. While Tony wasn’t going to particularly miss either, he knew that they meant a lot to the other Avenger.
“Mr. Stark!” Peter called, him and Harley running over. “Mr. Stark, what do you think about the new potato design? Harley thinks his is better, but mine is far more efficient,” he said.
“It is not!” Harley shot back indignantly. Tony chuckled.
“Alright, bring it here,” he said. The two boys grinned and Tony smiled as they hurried over to the closest table and lay out their designs. Yeah, Tony thought, the Avengers would be okay.