Summers' Purpose

Epilogue.

It's been a few hours since their battle against the Mad Titan as the Avengers assembled outside Tony's lakeside cabin, trying to gather themselves and figure out their next move. The air between them was a painful and confusing mix of relief and sorrow, having escaped what would've been another catastrophic event, but at a cost each of them paid for differently.

Happy stepped out of the cabin with a tray of drinks in his hand, going around and offering it to the team. Initially, he felt ridiculous doing so, but the relief and gratefulness on their faces when he handed them the drinks changed his mind. This battle did a number on them, Happy thought, shaking his head. He headed to Steve, offering the tray to him. Steve had a faraway look, eventually turning to grab a mug, nodding silently at Happy to thank him.

"That's, uh, lavender tea," Happy mumbled, not knowing what to say. "Supposed to help with calming down and stuff." He cleared his throat as Steve gave him a small smile in appreciation. They sat silently side by side, looking around at the team until Happy spoke up again. "How's everyone doing currently? Anything else I can do?"

Steve took a long sip of his tea, savoring the warmth. He wanted to say that everyone was okay or was going to be but he knew it wasn't true at this moment, especially when his eyes found Wanda, who had been quiet and distant ever since they left the battlefield. He sighed deeply, looking at the amber liquid in his mug before his gaze returned to her. "For the world as we know it, we'll be fine. Can't say the same for some of us, though."

Happy's eyes followed Steve's, understanding immediately. "I heard," he sighed heavily. "T'Challa took Y/n in?"

"Yeah. They wanted to help give us some time to settle things on our side first before preparing for the..." Steve's sentence trailed away, "for the funeral. Anyway, how's Morgan?"

"She's fine. Tucked her in earlier. Made me promise to take her to see her daddy ASAP. Took some negotiation to get her to go to sleep. Definitely got that from her dad," Happy let out a small laugh which Steve replied with a smile. "I hope he makes it. I don't know how to tell the lil' stinker if..."

"I know he'll make it," Steve patted Happy's shoulder. "He's stubborn as hell, he's not going down that easy."

.

Wanda sat by the water alone, grief-stricken and stonewalling, not having the strength to look at, let alone speak to anyone. Every time she looked at the team, she kept expecting to see Y/n around. Her mind replayed Y/n dying in her arms repeatedly. She blamed herself for not being able to help her earlier, the guilt eating her up from the inside. She hated feeling helpless earlier, but now she despised how useless she seemed. I couldn't even save her. Why? Why didn't I try harder?

Clint went over to sit next to Wanda and they both gazed silently at the peaceful lake for a few moments, watching the way the moon was starting to reflect on the surface. Clint offered her the mug he had brought over for her and waited until she took it from him. Eventually, she did, though she only held it in her hands.

"She was stubborn, huh? Pretty sneaky too, always going around the plan we'd decided on. If there was a solution that would keep us relatively safe, then that's the one she'd gun for, even if it meant she was on the line. Needed to learn to communicate better with the team more, that lady," Clint chuckled dryly. "But I'll tell you one thing. I admired her for how fearless she was, no matter how scared she felt inside. Didn't back down. Always putting up a brave front no matter how much we told her we were there for her as well, that she was not alone anymore, and that she didn't have to take the full weight on her shoulders. I hope she knew that."

Wanda stirred at Clint's words, her hand gripping the mug tighter as her lips quivered as an overwhelming sadness engulfing her.

"Thanks for the drink. What are you doing here? You have a family waiting for you back home," Wanda retorted. It hurt her to hear that Y/n was willing to put herself on the line without considering who cared for her well-being, and her frustration was reflected in her tone when she spoke to Clint. She noticed the flash of hurt on Clint's face before he looked away.