Assemble | Avengers | Second Part

Captiolo (27) Ventisette ~ Going Home

~Avery~

The team had long gone by the time Tony got that pinched look between his eyebrows, signaling his start of waking up. When that happened, I quietly stepped out of the room, calling Happy and asking him to bring Morgan and Harley to the compound. The three of them were still on their way by the time Tony had woken up, glancing around the small med room in confusion.

"Peg?"

"I'm right here, Tones." I gently squeezed the man's hand.

"What happened?" He grumbled, and I helped him as he moved to sit up.

"You were a dumbass, per usual." I playfully smirked, making Tony roll his eyes. "You pulled your IV out before doing the same to your arc reactor."

"Housing unit. It's different." He mumbled, his eyes squeezed shut as he rubbed his head.

"Tony, I'm not doing this with you right when you've woken up."

"Good. That's good, 'cause I didn't really wanna start something I know I can't finish." He nodded his head, making me give him a proper smile.

"The kids are on their way over. Should be here-"

"Dad!"

"-any second." I chuckled, watching Morgan fling herself onto Tony, who groaned in pain. "Careful, Monkey. Your dad's been through a lot. We've got to be gentle with him for a little while till he gets better."

"But, he will get better, right?" Harley asked, walking over to stand beside me.

"Kid, are you joking? I'm Tony Stark. The Grim Reaper takes one look at me and runs in the other direction." The man chuckled. "Now come here. I deserve a hug after cheating Death for the hundredth time."

"If it was the hundredth time, I'd do the Grim Reaper a favor and kill you myself." I lightly grumbled as Harley carefully sat on Tony's bed, wrapping his arms around the man and Morgan, who still hadn't let go of her father.

"I know, Peg, I know. Now come here. Join the family hug."

I shook my head in amusement as I sat next to Harley, joining the three in their group hug. Letting out a deep sigh, I looked at Tony, whose eyes were already on me.

"I love you." He mouthed, and my breath caught in my throat upon hearing something I almost thought would never be said again by my partner.

"I love you too."

~~

A couple hours later, Rhodey caught my eye, having been lingering in the hall. When the Colonel finally noticed my stare, he jerked his head to the side, beckoning me to follow as he left the hall.

"Um, I'll be right back. Kids, stay with Tony." I told the three, who looked at me in brief confusion before Tony went back to embellishing the story of his fight with Thanos.

"Rhodey? How'd it go? Where's everyone else?" I asked as soon as I found the man in one of the empty spare rooms.

"We think Thor and Olivia went to visit the Asgardians in Norway. Everyone else is in their rooms." He started, tiredly rubbing the back of his neck.

"You couldn't get them." I bluntly stated, making Rhodes' head shoot up to look at me.

"I... No. No, we couldn't. Thanos had destroyed the stones two days ago. There's... there's nothing we could have done."

"And what about Thanos? What happened with him?"

"Thor sliced his head off." Rhodey casually shrugged his shoulders, making my eyes widen. "I mean, Oliv made it easy for him, with her using her powers to hold him up and everything."

"Oh, my god, Rhodes." I sighed, moving to lean against the nearest table. "So, all those people, there just... gone?"

"Yeah, Avery. They're not coming back. Pepper and Peter aren't coming back."

My heart seemed to skip a beat upon hearing that, almost as if my brain hadn't fully processed the information when I first heard it.

"God, I just... I keep repeating to myself how lucky I am... I mean, I still have my partner, I still have one of my best friends, I still have my kids. But..."

"But you still lost people." Rhodey finished for me. "I get it, Avery. I might not have lost people like most have, but I get it."

"I wanted Pepper to be my maid of honor. And Peter was going to be our ring bearer." I sniffed, whipping the tears from my eyes before they fell.

"I know, Ave, I know." Rhodes walked up to me, engulfing me in a hug as I let my tears freely fall.

"Mama Avery?" A hesitant voice broke through my cries, and I quickly pulled away from Rhodey, whipping away my tears.

"Harley! Hey, kid, what's up?" I tried to smile at the teen.

"Um, Tony was just wondering if everything was okay. And Morgan keeps asking when he's gonna be able to come home."

"We'll be able to go soon, hun," I told him.

"But everything's not okay." He filled in.

"Yeah, kid. Everything's not okay." I nodded, holding my arm out for him to come join me in a side hug while Rhodey and I explained what was going on.

"So, Peter's not coming back? Or my mom?"

"No, honey, they're not coming back." I shook my head. "I'm really sorry, Harley."

"It's... it's not your fault." He mumbled, moving to hug me tighter.

Rhodey and I glanced up at each other, and he nodded at my questioning look.

"Alright kid, come on. I think it's time we go home." I rubbed his shoulder.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." I smiled. "Go tell the other two. I'm gonna go tell the team we're leaving."

Harley gave me one last squeeze as he quickly left the room, leaving Rhodey and me alone once more.

"You're welcome to visit anytime. We've still got that spare room set up." I smiled at the man.

"Thanks, but I'll probably be a bit occupied with things here for a little while."

After saying my goodbye to Rhodes, I made my way through the compound, letting Steve, Natasha, and Bruce know what was going on. I also made sure to stop by Nebula's new room, letting her know that if she needed anything while she was still on Earth to not hesitate to get in contact with us.

Bruce had walked us out with Rhodey, telling me to call him if Tony seems to not be digesting foods properly or if he just doesn't seem like he's putting weight back on. The man in question got offended by Banner saying this to me and not him, and when asking the Doctor about it the man replied "Because I know Avery will actually tell me, unlike you."

Tony stayed quiet as the kids and Rhodey stifled their laughter.

Not long after, the four of us got into the car the kids arrived in, Happy having already taken my car back to the house. After practically wrestling Tony out of the driver's seat and booting him to the passenger seat beside me, I allowed us all one last look at the compound, before driving off.

It was time to go home.