Avengers: Peace in our Time

15-Personnel Changes

Tony had been in the process of having a new headquarters built for the Avengers. The place was a massive, refurbished warehouse that had been outfitted to house the team. It was spread out across an expanse of land, framed by trees and facing a large lake. As the quinjet flew toward it, he joked that this was yet another thing he'd been keeping from them.

"But this isn't some terrible secret or anything," Tony promised as the quinjet softly landed in the massive hangar. "No killer artificial intelligence or anything like that."

Weak smiles met him and he didn't push it. In the aftermath of Sokovia's destruction, some changes were announced among the team. Clint, having had too close a brush with death, had decided that his family needed to be his only priority.

"I understand," Steve said as he reached out and shook Clint's hand.

Clint looked at everyone and smiled warmly. "But this doesn't mean I'm out of the game for good, guys. You know that. You call me and I'll be here."

Thor laid a hand on the archer's shoulder and smiled down at him. "Go and be with your family, Clint. "Family is important and yours needs you."

"I don't want you guys to think that I'm just running away from this," Clint began.

Natasha raised a hand to silence him. "No one thinks that, Clint."

Clint smiled and looked at the massive compound and smirked. "Modern digs, huh?"

"You want a tour before you leave?" Tony asked. "I'll show you your room for when you stay here."

Tony, Clint, Sam and Rhodes took off walking across the concrete and Natasha slowly moved to follow. Dean reached out and took her hand and she turned and met his gaze.

"He left," she murmured. "There's nothing to talk about. He's gone."

"Banner may return," Thor suggested. "Perhaps he just needed some time to recover from all of this."

"I think we all need that," Steve added.

Natasha shook her head emphatically. "No. I need to keep moving. I don't want to stop and think right now. I need to stay busy." She looked at Dean and squeezed his hand before turning and walking after the others.

Steve stood with Thor and Dean and looked around at the massive, sprawling compound. "Place is huge. Good thing though, considering how big the team's getting." He looked at Dean and smiled softly. "Of course, like Clint, some of us may want to tap out for a little while."

"No, I won't be tapping out anytime soon," Dean assured him. He looked over Steve's shoulder and watched as Wanda and Vision stepped off of the jet and walked across the way. Wanda's eyes met him for a moment and she gave a little nod before continuing on toward the entrance to the new headquarters.

"She's decided to stay with us," Steve said. "After everything that's happened and the way she's had to live, she wants stability. Not that being an Avenger provides too much of that."

"At least she won't be alone with all of her thoughts," Dean said. "She has all of us."

As Steve walked after the others, Thor pulled Dean against him. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I don't know, to be honest," Dean sighed. "I'm tired. All of this has been so draining. On so many levels."

"Then you must rest," Thor said as he lifted Dean off of his feet and carried him. "Let's go and see what our new room looks like."

"It's certainly got better views than the tower did," Dean appraised as he looked at the expanse of forestry that bordered the grounds.

"The best views are wherever you happen to be."