Chapter 29: the last avengers

It was close to midnight when Pietro and Clint finally went back inside. The rest of the team were still in the living room reading spell books, which both amused and touched Pietro. As the two of them entered the room, a couple of the others glanced up to acknowledge them.

"I take it you two kissed and made up," said Tony.

"Something like that," Clint said.

Pietro smirked.

"I'm surprised you guys are still going at this," Clint went on.

"Well we've still got a few leftover ingredients from the cure we used on Pietro the first time, so we can get the rest and use that one on you," said Steve.

"We've also been trying to find some other cure that won't end up with Pietro dead, but no luck so far," Sam added.

"Don't bother," said Pietro.

The others all stared at him.

"You're okay with being a vampire now?" said Natasha.

"Well, I mean, it's not the way I'd have liked my life to go. But it won't be so bad."

Pietro smiled at Clint and took his hand.

"Honestly, you might as well just put all those books in storage," Clint said. "I'm not gonna need 'em."

"Hang on, am I getting this right?" said Rhodey. "You're both just totally cool with being vampires all of a sudden?"

"There's no way any of those cures are gonna work for me," said Pietro. "And honestly, I really don't want to be dead. I can learn to live with this. Properly this time."

"And I'm gonna stay by his side," said Clint. "For better or worse. 'Til the end of time too, it looks like."

"Hang on, did you two, like… get engaged or something out there while the rest of us were in here slaving away?" said Tony. "'Cause that's kinda what this sounds like."

"What? Oh god, no!" said Clint. "I mean, not that I wouldn't mind marrying you someday," he added quickly.

"Love, you just told me you'd stay by my side for all eternity, I'm not exactly worried about your commitment," said Pietro.

"You two are idiots. Big, sappy idiots," said Bucky. "Just try and make sure you get married before we all grow old and die, okay?"

Pietro grinned.

"I think we can manage that."

A few surprisingly uneventful weeks went by. Pietro had readapted easily to being a vampire again, but more impressive was how quickly Clint had adjusted. Perhaps it was because of helping Pietro the first time, he already knew all the quirks and pitfalls of a new vampire and how to deal with them. Maybe he hadn't actually adjusted quite as much as he let on. Or maybe he was just meant for this. Pietro wasn't sure how much he believed in destiny, but sometimes this new lifestyle came so naturally to Clint that it really did seem like this was what he'd been building up to all along.

They had been living off of blood packets from the infirmary supplies and had been mostly cooped up indoors. They went out at night sometimes, but Pietro was more than a little paranoid that he would revert back to the predatory instincts he'd learned in the coven if he spent too much time around different humans. He trusted himself with the Avengers – he was accustomed to the scents of their blood – but he was afraid of what he might do around the blood of a stranger. Clint wasn't nearly as paranoid as Pietro, but the thought of losing control and hurting someone made him nervous, so they agreed to limit their excursions.

This of course led to both of them getting increasingly stir-crazy. They managed to entertain themselves well enough while stuck in the Tower (mostly they had a lot of sex), but neither of them were good at staying put for long and the fact that they couldn't sleep away some of the long daytime hours didn't help.

"We need to figure out a better way to spend eternity," said Pietro one afternoon.

It was a beautiful day, so he and Clint had thrown open all the living room windows so they could enjoy the fresh air. They were now cuddling in the blanket fort they had built to shield them from the sunlight now streaming through the open windows, watching old Star Trek episodes on Netflix.

"I might actually have a solution for that," Tony said.

He handed them each a mug of blood, then sat down in the entrance of the fort. Clint hit pause on his computer.

"Really? What is it?" he asked.

"Well, there's this big compound upstate that belongs to Stark Industries," Tony explained. "It hasn't really been used in ages, but I've been having some work done on it for the last… I dunno, half year, maybe. Turning it into an Avengers facility. Sort of an alternate headquarters to the Tower, so we don't have to spend all our time in the city if we don't want."

"And what's that got to do with us?" Pietro said.

"Well, it's out in the woods really. Town isn't too far away so it's not totally cut off, but it's out of the way. There's lots of space, a forest full of animals you guys could hunt if you want, not to mention the gym and training facilities are infinitely superior to the ones here in the Tower."

"Are you saying Clint and I could move there?"

"Yeah," said Tony. "It's ready. Construction finished last week. I was gonna tell the rest of the team about it tonight, open it up as an option if anyone was interested in living there. But I thought you two might like to hear about it first. It's been on my mind for a while now, actually. So… what do you think?"

Pietro turned to Clint and could tell right away that they were thinking the same thing.

"It sounds amazing, Stark," said Clint. "Thank you."

"Seriously, thanks," Pietro added.

Tony smiled almost bashfully.

"Don't mention it," he said, standing up. "I'll let you guys get back to your show."

Four days later, Pietro and Clint moved into the compound. Wanda would be joining them within a week, once she returned from a mission in Belarus, and the rest of the team would be in and out periodically. But for now, they had the entire place to themselves. The grounds were beautiful and the building itself was spacious and had all the high-tech Stark luxuries they had gotten accustomed to in Avengers Tower.

"This place is amazing," said Clint as they looked around. "If I'm ever rude to Stark again-"

"I'll know you've gone back to normal," Pietro finished with a smirk.

Clint rolled his eyes and laughed.

"So…" Pietro went on. "We've got the compound to ourselves for a few days. Wanna break in the place by seeing how many rooms we can fuck in before Wanda gets here?"

"Pietro," said Clint. "It would be my genuine pleasure."

The compound turned out to be the perfect place for them. They could go outside even in the daytime, provided it was cloudy enough, and the forest surrounding the headquarters was teeming with wildlife for them to hunt.

Soon, they started joining the team on missions again, strictly night missions and places with very little sunshine. Every once in a while, they'd have to be left behind as the others went somewhere sunny or tropic. Pietro and Clint both missed the sun and all the beautiful places it kept them from visiting, but Wanda always brought them back pictures and postcards. It couldn't replace the real thing, of course, but the gesture was appreciated and Wanda was a good photographer.

Over time, the rest of the Avengers moved into the compound permanently. Tony was the least constant presence, often flitting between New York City and his house in Malibu, but as the years went on, he started spending more and more time at the compound. The others would sometimes disappear for a while, either to spend some time at the Tower or for other reasons that Pietro never really bothered asking.

It was only three years before Pietro and Clint upheld their promise to get married before the other Avengers got old and died. It was a small ceremony; only the Avengers attended, plus a new recruit named Kate, who Clint had rather a soft spot for. Everyone who could got very drunk at the reception, then continued partying long after waving the newlyweds off on their honeymoon.

Time went by. A few new people joined the team. Bruce retired. Natasha left for a while. Clint said she'd gone to atone for the crimes of her past. She was quieter than usual when she came back.

Tony was the first of the team to die. Nearly ten years had gone by and even with the suit he couldn't move as fast as he used to. He got shot down in a fight over Damascus. Pietro and Clint weren't there. They didn't find out until the team got home with Tony's body under a sheet. Pietro had known it would hit him hard when this day came, but he didn't expect it to be this bad.

Rhodey left after Tony died. He moved to D.C. and became a high ranking official at the Pentagon. It was another three months before he picked up the phone to call the rest of the team.

Steve and Bucky were the next to die. They went down together in a blaze of glory, Butch and Sundance style, the kind of suicidal martyrdom everyone expected from them. It was lucky, Pietro couldn't help thinking, that they had died side by side. It was hard enough losing them as it was. He didn't think he could have stood to watch if one had outlived the other.

With Steve gone, Sam took up the mantle of Captain America. Everyone agreed that if someone else were to carry the shield, it should be him.

More people joined the team, filling in the gaping holes left by death and retirement. Pietro and Clint took on their training, meaning Sam could lead the more seasoned Avengers on missions without having to worry about the new recruits. They all seemed so young, and Pietro had to remind himself that he still looked as young as a lot of them. He didn't feel that young.

Clint didn't talk for a week when Natasha died. It had just been the two of them on a night mission, like the old days. It could have been avoided. But there was a miscalculation and neither of them saw the bullet coming. It was cruel that the greatest spy the world would ever know had fallen in what amounted to a freak accident.

They heard from Bruce for the first time in years only to learn that he was sick and wanted to see his old friends again before he died. It was strange seeing him again. The last time they had all been face to face was at Tony's funeral. Bruce had still been young then, starting to go grey, but mostly the same as he had been when he left the team. Now he was an old man, white haired and pale. Pietro was more aware of his immortality than ever.

Rhodey came up from D.C. for the weekend, Thor set aside his kingly duties to visit Earth, and the remaining members of the original Avengers sat together for what they knew would be the last time. They reminisced on old times, when all of them were younger and none of them had died. They laughed and drank and it would have all felt so normal were it not for the grey hairs and the four empty seats that even after all those years, none of them could bear to fill.

Bruce died four days later.

Sam was shot down five months after that in a fight outside Berlin. More people attended his funeral than Pietro thought possible. None of the remaining Avengers could bear to take up the burden of Captain America now. The shoes of Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson were too big to fill. Clint mounted the shield behind glass in the Avengers compound.

Three years later, it was announced that Attorney General James Rhodes had died peacefully in his sleep. Pietro, Clint, and Wanda flew down to D.C. for the funeral. As they sat in the church, listening to the eulogy, Pietro couldn't stop staring at his sister. Her dark hair was streaked with grey and Pietro was suddenly afraid that one day she simply wouldn't wake up, just like Rhodey.

Pietro was spared that pain for several more years. Wanda retired from field work, but stayed with the Avengers in a more diplomatic position – negotiating with foreign governments when their country was in danger, finding and talking to potential recruits, research and intelligence work. Pietro couldn't deny that he was pleased to have her out of the direct line of fire. Not that her job didn't still have risks, especially when it came to frightened young powered people who had yet to control their abilities. But she wasn't joining the team on missions anymore, so Pietro could rest easier.

Or so he thought. Thirteen years since they lost Rhodey and six years since her retirement, Wanda went to Portugal to warn their leaders of a potential alien attack on their capitol and propose sending in the Avengers. The aliens descended on the city during the meeting, destroying the capitol building and killing everyone inside. Including Wanda.

Pietro had always known this day would come, but nothing could have prepared him for it. After the funeral, he disappeared into the woods surrounding the base for a week. Clint didn't come looking for him. He knew better. When Pietro returned to the compound, he still barely spoke, and all the younger Avengers kept their distance. Only Clint stayed by his side.

"I'm lucky I have you," said Pietro. "I don't know how I could have handled this alone."

"I made a promise, remember?" Clint said. "I vowed to stay with you even when everyone else we love is gone. Well… we're the last ones now. We're the last of the original Avengers. The only ones who remember how this story started. We'll be there when the Avengers end for good. Probably when the world ends, too."

Pietro smiled a little.

"Just you and me, holding hands at the end of the world. I like that."

Clint leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Me too, kid. Me too."