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"Damn it, Nat! I want to see the damn baby!" Elizabeth whined, trying to snatch the phone out of Natasha's hands.
"The baby is named after me-- I get first dibs on looking at the little sucker," Natasha teased.
"Pietro deserved for Nathaniel to have his name rather mine. I kick Clint's ass-- I don't save it. I'd rather the kid be named after the guy who saved his dad's life than his favorite aunt--" Elizabeth sighed.
"You're such a softie-- what the hell?" Natasha scoffed, slamming the phone into her outstretched palm, shaking her head. Elizabeth squealed excitedly, playing the video over and over again.
"He's just laying there," Natasha shrugged, watching the video again over Elizabeth's shoulder.
"Oh my goodness, then he is the cutest lazy thing I've ever seen!" Elizabeth squealed. Natasha laughed quietly as Elizabeth put the phone back in her hand.
"Rogers was looking for you outside," Natasha said, nodding towards the door. Elizabeth nodded, scurrying off towards the front doors of the new Avengers training facility. She saw Steve and Tony standing outside, vigorously trying to explain something to Thor.
"But if you put the hammer in an elevator--" Steve argued.
"It would still go up," Tony sighed.
"Elevator's not worthy," Steve sighed.
"Is this really what you guys talk about when I'm not here?" Elizabeth scoffed, waking up to the group.
"I'm going to miss these little talks of ours," Thor sighed, chuckling.
"Well, not if you don't leave," Tony proposed.
"I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. That's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position--" Thor explained.
"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony asked.
"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve asked.
"I do. Besides this one, there's nothing that can't be explained," Thor said teasingly, pointing at Tony.
"Anything we can do from here?" Elizabeth asked.
"This is one I have to do on my own," Thor sighed. Elizabeth nodded. And with a swing of his hammer and flash of lightning, he was gone. The only trace of him was a circle that was burned into the grass.
"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance. I'm gonna miss him though. And you're gonna miss me. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears," Tony teased.
"Come on, Steve-- I want to see manful tears," Elizabeth teased.
"I will miss you, Tony," Steve sighed.
"Yeah? Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book and build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up," Tony shrugged.
"Damn it, I want a farm," Elizabeth mumbled.
"The simple life," Steve sighed, dropping his head.
"You'll get there one day," Tony said reassuringly.
"I don't know, family, stability. The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out," Steve sighed. Elizabeth could tell his head was somewhere else. Thinking about his own life, his future, wasn't really his thing. He tried to avoid it all costs. Elizabeth's face dropped for no longer than a half a second, completely unnoticeable. A part of her wondered what a future with Steve would look like-- but he had basically just confirmed that he didn't want a future.
"You alright?" Tony asked as he climbed into his car.
"I'm home," Steve sighed. Tony smiled and nodded, closing the car door and speeding off.
"Is this home?" Elizabeth asked seriously.
"My mom always told me that home isn't a place, it's the people who make you feel at home," Steve sighed. Elizabeth smiled.
"Wise woman," Elizabeth said, chuckling.
"Yeah, she was," Steve sighed.
"I was meaning to ask you if you were going to stay here-- I know that's a lot to ask, but I need you to stay here and help me," Steve pleaded.
"My apartment can miss me for a little while longer," Elizabeth sighed, a smile slipping onto her face.
"You think you can call it home for a little?" Steve asked, laughing.
"Like you said-- it's not the place, it's the people. So, yeah-- this is my home," Elizabeth said gently.
"Come on, let's go home," Steve sighed, leading her back inside the facility. They found Natasha standing alone in the corridor, staring blankly at the wall.
"You want to keep staring at the wall, or do you want to go to work? I mean, it's a pretty interesting wall," Steve teased.
"I thought you and Tony were still gazing into each other's eyes," Natasha scoffed.
"There were manful tears," Elizabeth said quickly, winking at Steve teasingly.
"How do we look?" Natasha asked.
"Sexy, but not like we're trying too hard," Elizabeth shrugged. The two on each side of he looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.
"And the recruits look okay, too," Elizabeth added teasingly.
"Well, we're not the '27 Yankees," Steve sighed.
"We've got some hitters," Natasha sighed hopefully.
"I'm looking for a home run," Elizabeth said.
"They're good. They're not a team," Steve sighed.
"Neither were we," Elizabeth said quickly.
"Let's beat 'em into shape," Natasha said with a sly smile slipping onto her face. They stood at the edge of the hallway, looking down at their recruits.
The Falcon. The Scarlett Witch. The Iron Patriot. The Vision.
"Avengers--" Steve said loudly.
"Is this the part where I say assemble?" Elizabeth asked quietly, making them both laugh. She just looked over at Steve and smiled, happy to see that he felt at home. She looked back down at the recruits, excited to turn them into a team, just like Fury had done for her and her team.
★
a/n: Alright, so that wraps up Age of Ultron. CIVIL WAR LET'S GO!
