Wow. This is it guys, the very last chapter. It's hard to believe, and I almost don't want to believe it, because I long to stay in this world forever. It's been a long and wonderful journey writing this fic, and I am almost heartbroken to be finishing it with this last chapter. But who knows? Maybe we'll see them again in another story sometime. ;) Sorry if it's a bit sappy, but I figured I tortured these two enough during the last twenty or so chapters, they pretty much deserve a nice, happy ending, don't you think? :) I want to one last time thank all of you guys so very much from the bottom of my heart for following and reviewing and loving this story and these characters as much as I do. I couldn't have done it without your support, so thank you all so much! 3

The Only Exception: Epilogue

The next month and a half passed by in a blur. Once Clint, Bobbi, and Rebecca returned to the Avengers compound with Natasha, everyone it seemed wanted to see her and welcome her back. For the most part, it was a friendly homecoming. There were some ball-breaking comments from Tony, which everyone expected, and a warm and pleased welcome from Steve and the rest of the Avengers. When Maria called her into her office, Natasha emerged an hour later, red faced and triumphant, while Maria came out looking quite shaken.

After that, it was the last anyone had mentioned Natasha's disappearance or her subsequent return.

All anyone wanted to talk about, it seemed, was Osborne's drop in popularity and in the polls. Ever since he was humiliated on national television, his numbers had been steadily decreasing. Rebecca swore it had nothing to do with her and more to do with the public finally starting to realize how much of a evil spirited bigot he was. But Natasha's eyes sparkled with pride whenever the topic came up and she looked at her.

Since her book was finished, and ready for publication, there wasn't any reason for Rebecca to continue living at the compound. The realtor had the paperwork all ready for her when she got back, so all that was left was to move her belongings to the new house. Seeing it again made her love it even more than the last time she saw it. She still had the rest of her belongings to bring up from her old apartment, of course, but that could be done over the course of a few weekends. She was enjoying setting things up in a place she finally felt was all hers, a place near her friends; a place she belonged. The first check from her agent had come in, and her and Wanda had spent a long weekend picking out various furniture pieces and having, overall, a very fun time indeed.

Natasha had been coming by at nights and on the weekends, when she wasn't tied up with training or missions. The first time she had come by, she passed through the rooms slowly, silently, running her hands along the furniture and door frames as if she were committing it to memory. She hadn't officially moved in yet, although she spent most of her free time there. It was an adjustment for her; having a home, a person and a place that was permanent, and Rebecca understood that it would take some time to get used to the idea. She told her to take all the time in the world, but she did long for the day when she wouldn't have to watch her receding figure leaving the driveway at the end of the day or first thing in the morning.

She thought of where she was and who she had been six months ago and almost couldn't believe how much had changed...in a good way.

She looked out the window, watching the sparrows crowd each other at the birdfeeder she had hanging on the front porch, and smiled softly.

Life was good.

She saw the first car roll up the gravel driveway and couldn't help but smile. Her friends were starting to arrive.

It was the day of Wanda's Birthday party.

...

It was a small affair, planned by Vision, and when he had asked her to have it at her place she was overjoyed. He invited only a few people, just the other Avengers and their significant others, if they were available to come, and as the house filled with people as the night wore on, Rebecca's heart warmed and she felt so overwhelmed with warmth and happiness she thought she would burst.

When Wanda finally walked in, and everyone yelled surprise, she was so pleased she burst into tears.

"Don't look at me," Rebecca said with a grin as her friend turned her gaze to her. "This was all thanks to Vision."

Vision was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, looking as if he wasn't sure what to do next. "I just wanted to make sure your Birthday was enjoyable, Wanda," he said.

Without even hesitating she flew into his arms and enveloped him in a hug. "Oh thank you, Vee," she said, over come with emotion. "Thank you!"

Vision looked startled, then pleased as he held her in his arms.

The rest of the party clapped and cheered.

Clint looked as if he would like nothing more than to intervene, possibly with force.

Rebecca slid her arm through his. "Easy there, papa bear," she said with a grin. "They're fine, leave them alone."

"But they..." he sputtered, "She..."

She squeezed his arm. "They're fine", she reiterated.

...

Dinner passed by with no incident, the restaurant that had catered and delivered the food had been excellent. Vision had insisted on baking the cake himself, which turned out to be a slight issue when Tony bit into his slice and realized that he had used salt instead of sugar. Luckily, Pepper had brought cupcakes as a precaution, which turned out to be a stroke of genius when considering Visions baking skills.
The wine flowed, the glasses emptied, and the wine flowed again.

...

Later in the evening, as they all stood around in small groups talking, Rebecca's phone vibrated in her pocket.

"Oh god," she said blanching as she pulled it out and looked at it.

"Who is it?" Wanda asked, looking over her shoulder.

"My mother," she replied, hitting the ignore button and slipping the phone back into her pocket.

"You don't want to speak with her?" Wanda asked.

Rebecca laughed nervously. "Ah, no. Not really. She's been hounding me ever since she saw that interview. You know, the one where I admitted to dating a woman on national television. She grimaced. "I'm really not looking forward to that conversation."

Wanda snorted. "You faced Norman Osborne head on and you are telling me that you are scared of your own mother?"

Rebecca turned and caught her in a hug, grinning. "That's because you don't know her," she said.

"Know who?" Natasha said, walking up and slipping her arm around Rebecca's waist, effectively stupefying any coherent sentence she might have wanted to utter.

Wanda saw her expression and laughed. "We were talking about Beck's mother," she said. "Apparently she's very terrifying."

Natasha scoffed. "She doesn't scare me."

Rebecca laughed. "Just wait until you meet her. You'll see."

Wanda smiled at them. "I'm going to go see if Vision needs anything." She walked away, leaving both women alone.

"Hi," Rebecca said breathlessly.

"Hi," Natasha said, kissing her shoulder.

"Did I happen to tell you," Rebecca asked, "how beautiful you look tonight?"

Natasha laughed. "You did, as a matter of fact. About ten times already."

She was wearing a long black skirt with a slit up the side, with a black top that buttoned in the front. Her hair fell in soft auburn waves against her neck, and she looked so absolutely delicious that it was all Rebecca could do to keep her hands off of her.

Natasha raised Rebecca's hand and laid a kiss against the inside of her wrist. Rebecca felt her pulse spike and her heartbeat throb against the other woman's lips. Natasha bit down gently on the soft skin there, causing a thread of desire to tighten within her. A sound somewhere between a hum and a growl rose from her lips. It was Natasha's way of asserting dominance.

And it was sexy as hell.

Clint had wandered over and was eyeing them with humored disgust. He snorted and rolled his eyes. "You guys are too fucking weird sometimes, I swear."

"Feel free to look away if it's too much for you, Clint," Natasha said, smiling mischievously.

He shook his head and walked away, chuckling.

Rebecca stood there, still speechless as Natasha looked at her, her eyes glowing with wicked intentions. "Think they'll notice if we slip away for a bit?" she asked.

"No," Rebecca gasped out. "But even if they do, I'm really not sure that I care."

"That's my girl," Natasha said as she grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards the stairs.

...

Rebecca had barely closed the door of the bedroom behind them both before Natasha was upon her. She fumbled behind her in an attempt to find the light switch.

Natasha growled, "leave it," against her lips.

She left it.

The voices and laughter from the guests downstairs were a dim noise in the back of Rebecca's head which was being swiftly drowned out by the dull roar of her heartbeat which seemed to be resounding in her head. She had wanted to touch her all night, and now that she finally was, she thought she might die from the sheer exquisite delight of feeling her hands against Natasha's skin.

Rebecca ran her fingers through her hair, tightening her grip as she pulled her closer, eliciting a pleased hiss from Natasha and causing her to push her against the door even harder.

Their mouths met in a furious tangle of tongues and lips and teeth. She didn't think there was a time when she had been more turned on. She felt as if she were on fire.

She ran her hands up Natasha's torso and fumbled with the buttons on the front of her shirt.

Natasha pushed her hands away and whispered, "there's no time for that, kitten. I need you and I need you now."

Rebecca shuddered as a wave of desire pulsed through her. Without missing a beat Natasha ran a hand up her thigh and slowly, torturously slid a finger along the edge of her panties. She mewled in frustration and thrust her hips against the other woman, trying to get more of the sensation. She was half crazed with arousal, her thoughts misfiring from one thought to another with no coherence, her body careening towards an orgasm and she had barely even been touched yet. She flushed, embarrassed.

Even in the dark Natasha could sense her reaction. "I love that you get this hot for me," she whispered before softly biting her neck. "You're always so wet; so ready to go." She quickly pulled her panties aside and plunged two fingers into her heated sex.

Rebecca cried out in pleasure as she rocked her hips to the rhythm of Natasha thrusting in and out of her.

Natasha chuckled huskily. "Quiet, Becks, or do you want all your guests to hear me fucking you?"

Rebecca let out one more strangled cry before Natasha covered her mouth with hers, swallowing the rest of her moan with a kiss. She increased the pace, using her thumb to caress the tip of her clitoris with each thrust.

It was enough to send her plummeting off the edge.

She saw sparks as she came.

It took a few moments to come back down, which felt more like an eternity as she stood there, trembling, clinging to Natasha as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Wow," Rebecca said as she slid her back down the door onto the floor, finding herself suddenly unable to stand. "That was..." she trailed off, unable to locate a word that accurately summed up being screwed senseless against your bedroom door with a houseful of guests downstairs.

"I like leaving you speechless," Natasha said, joining her on the floor. She laid her head in her lap and looked up at her quietly, her green eyes visible in the patch of moonlight that was splayed across the room through the window. Rebecca ran her fingers through her red, silky locks, brushing the stray tendrils away from her face.

"What are you thinking?" Natasha asked her.

Rebecca smiled softly. "Just that I can't even fathom what I did to deserve you."

Natasha intertwined their fingers together. "I just thinking the same thing," she said. "So how about this then," she said, "I say we just plan on spending the rest of forever trying to make each other happy. How does that sound?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rebecca said as tears filled her eyes and her heart rose in her throat, leaving her unable to respond further. She felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest, she was so happy.

Natasha chuckled softly. "Now you're learning," she said, "that's exactly the answer I was looking for, kotkyu."

She leaned up to press her lips once more against Rebecca's.

~*~ Finis