Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing related to Marvel, either the comics, movies, TV shows, etc. All of that belongs to the Disney Corporation (though I might try kidnapping Captain America and Hawkeye some day, just for fun).

AN: Here is the end of the story, as well as the film. The sequel should be up within a week or two, depending on how quickly I'm able to write out the chapters. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me! Enjoy, and please review!

Epilogue:

Shawarma with the Avengers was not as thrilling as most people would think it would be.

First, they were all exhausted from battling a huge alien invasion army, so it pretty much took all of their focus and remaining energy to get to the restaurant, order, sit, and eat their food. When I saw how drained they were, I ordered a round of sports drinks, to help get them a boost to the system. Me, I needed caffeine after such a long day in my coma, so an extra-large soft drink was part of my meal.

Second downer was that the eatery was in shambles. It was actually a miracle that the owner and his wife were able to put together our order, considering how messed up the place was. But considering that Tony was offering cash for our meal, I think the owners were happy to have paying customers, especially since there were so many of us. Still, it was still kind of depressing watching the owner's wife clean up the trashed place while we ate.

But there was one funny aspect of our meal: Cap ordering off of the menu. He wasn't sure about the whole thing, so I had to order for him. After the first bite, though, he was hooked; it might have been because he was starved after such a long day, but once you find out you like it, shawarma can be addictive. Believe me, after finding a shawarma place near my old apartment complex, I would know.

The meal was eaten in silence, with me being the most functional person in the group –and given that I'd been in a magical coma for who-knows-how-long, that's saying something. I had to make sure that no one fell asleep over their food, and that they all ate, because after a long day of fighting, there was no doubt in my mind that their bodies needed sustenance, very badly. I had to occasionally prod Natasha into taking bites, or to get Cap to take sips of his sports drink, which he didn't really like, but consumed anyway, at my insistence.

When we'd finished, Tony gave a generous tip, and the rest of us very politely thanked the two owners for our meal. The owner simply nodded to us (he was probably still in shock about the state of his establishment), but his wife was cheered by the extra cash in the till, so she was a bit more friendly as she waved us off.

Outside the restaurant, we broke up into groups. Tony went back to his place, since it was only a few blocks away from his building. Some SHIELD agents showed up to take Clint, Natasha, Thor and Bruce to a secret safe house where they could rest up. Cap and I were offered a ride to our apartment complex, which we refused; given the state of the roads, it was easier to walk. There agents were nice enough to provide Cap with some clothes, so that he wouldn't be seen by witnesses and compromise his secret identity.

But before we left, I made a point of asking after Phil Coulson's condition -I'd seen him get blasted by Loki, but had no idea if he was fine or not. Unfortunately, all I got in the way of an answer was that Phil was still recovering, and needed rest. After that, the agents refused to cooperate, and I was left wondering when I'd see him again. In the end, I left for home with Cap, who made sure that we got there without too many issues.

To my relief, our apartment building was still standing, though most of the windows on the upper and lower floors had been shattered by enemy invaders. Luckily, our place was too far above the street and too far below the highest floors to suffer broken windows.

The only problems were that a few things on the walls had been knocked off, due to the building shaking when the invaders had been blasting away at the place, and the fact that electricity was spotty, so there was the chance that any food we had in the fridge was probably going to go bad soon. Considering the circumstances, though, I counted us very lucky.

Cap and I immediately went to shower and change into something clean, as we were covered in dust and grime from walking the streets. Once we were cleaned up, I just about fainted when he came to ask me check his wound for him. I'd never seen him shirtless, but the sight had me staring at him for a good ten seconds before I snapped out of it.

Seeing to his injury wasn't easy, either, since Cap was quite literally in perfect physical condition. As a female, I was very aware of it as I checked his wound and made sure that it wasn't infected. It was so hard not to notice how muscular he was, and how those muscles flexed whenever I accidentally hurt him while patching him up.

Surprisingly, Cap didn't seem too bashful about my seeing him shirtless. I had thought that he would be all flustered, but he was fairly calm and collected as I asked him what hurt and what didn't. Maybe he was used to having wounds being treated, or perhaps it was his military training, but whatever it was, it kept him in from being awkward about the whole thing.

After he was seen to, I sent Cap off to bed, with strict orders to sleep in. "You need to rest and recover," I firmly told him. "Even with that special serum in you, you've got limits, so don't push them. The war is over, at least for now, so rest up."

He reluctantly obeyed, and the next morning, we both got up late. After a quick brunch, Cap and I sat down for a brief lesson in music and history, the two of us attempting to get back to 'normal' while the world outside was still in a bit of chaos.

Two days later, we got a call from Natasha Romanoff. Apparently Loki was going to be taken back to Asgard by Thor, and the other Avengers were going to see them off. They wanted Cap there, and since Cap wasn't going to go without me, he insisted I go as well. I agreed, and wrote down the time and place to meet the next day.

It wasn't until later that I realized that we needed transportation. The agent assigned to drive us around was busy doing other things, and Cap and I had no other means of getting to the location.

Director Fury must have thought of this, because not long after Natasha's call, two things happened: the first was a motorcycle being delivered to our apartment building, for our use; and lucky for us, the streets were barely cleared enough to drive the bike through them. And then, not long after that, Tony himself phoned, offering us a ride.

I, of course, told Tony that we had a ride, but when he offered a stint in one of his finer, more expensive sports cars, I was torn between wanting that ride in Tony's car and riding with Cap. I elected to go with Tony to the site, and ride back with Cap, since I didn't know what Tony had in mind after Thor and Loki had left. Cap wasn't too thrilled about my decision, but once I swore to go with him on the ride back, he gave in.

But before that happened, I needed to do what I felt were some very important things.

It was a gathering that felt like 'goodbye,' but also not. It more resembled a farewell between friends who were destined to meet again in the future, when they were needed to do so.

The group known as The Avengers gathered together in a beautiful, open place that was also away from the prying eyes of the public. To ensure that this moment was not interrupted, a perimeter of SHIELD agents formed a barrier against intrusion.

Through the air flew Thor, Lord of Thunder, and his captive. The Lord of Mischief, Loki, was shackled and muzzled with Asgardian items, sent by Odin; all were laced with magic, to keep him from causing more harm than he already had. The two landed swiftly within a heavily wooded area surrounded by agents, who led them discreetly to the agreed meeting spot.

A series of cars and other transports produced the other Avengers. Tony Stark, carrying the dangerous Tesseract in a reinforced case, gently handed out Adena Philips, while Steve Rogers quickly dismounted his motorcycle and went to stand beside her. Agents Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton escorted Doctor Bruce Banner to the area, while from a large armored vehicle emerged Doctor Erik Selvig. In Selvig's hand was a device sent from Asgard, which would be used to transport Thor and Loki back to that world.

Under the watchful eye of the other Avengers, Banner carefully moved the Cube to the Asgardian device, where it was quickly secured for use. As Thor made ready to accept the device and depart, Adena rushed forward, an excited and anxious look on her face.

"Wait!" she said, rushing up to the large warrior. "I have something for you to take back with you."

From her purse, she produced a small wooden jewelry box. "These are gifts for your mother and father. Both are of Celtic design, with symbols for thanks and friendship, in the hopes that we can be friends with your people." She smiled shyly. "I noticed the designs on your hammer, and thought they would be a nice peace offering."

Thor smiled as he accepted the box. "I'm sure they will be honored to receive such a gift," he said, tucking it safely into his belt. "Thank you, my friend."

Beside him, Loki's eyes narrowed as he eyed the young woman. It was clear that his ice blue eyes held anger, disappointment, and madness, but there was also a dark flicker of desire in them. Steve Rogers saw this, and went to stand behind his tutor, who was too busy giving Thor a brief hug to notice how Loki was looking at her. Steve, meanwhile, barely managed to hold back the urge to beat the hell out of Thor's prisoner.

Gathered together, the Avengers stood around the departing pair. Thor gave them all a farewell nod before offering the other end of the teleporting device he held. Reluctantly, Loki took the other handle, and with a twist of the wrist, both he and Thor vanished in beams of blue light. The Tesseract gone from Earth, the other Avengers breathed great sighs of relief.

But their day was not yet finished.

Adena gently elbowed her charge in the ribs. "Go make peace," she whispered while glancing in Stark's direction. "I really would like for you two to be friends –or at least decent to one another, since we might be seeing more of him in the near future."

In this, Steve was in agreement with -and so he went to make his peace with Tony Stark. Shaking hands, the two men exchanged genuine smiles and nods of respect. Even if they weren't exactly friends as of yet, they at least were willing to try and be acquaintances, if only for Adena's sake.

Acting on a previously made promise, Tony motioned towards Bruce Banner, who went to fetch his meager belongings so that the two could ride back to Stark Tower. There, Tony intended for his fellow genius to put his great mind to work while relaxing and having fun in his own section of the research and development department.

While the three men exchanged temporary goodbyes, Adena went to hug Natasha Romanoff, the two women exchanging phone numbers and e-mail addresses, so that they could stay in touch.

"I'll stop by New York whenever I can," Natasha promised. "We'll get together then."

Adena smiled. "Send me something cool from wherever you and Barton are going?" she teased.

Barton grinned. "You can count on that," he replied, reaching to shake her hand. "Take care of yourself, okay? And the Captain, too."

Then the two were gone, off to visit who-knows-where. It was doubtful that even Director Fury knew for sure where the two assassins would end up next.

Stark and Banner, meanwhile, came to exchange hugs with Adena as well, who gave them both a farewell kiss on the cheek. "We should all do lunch soon," she said, earning a smile from not only the two of them, but also Steve. "I'd also like to meet the infamous Pepper Potts, if possible?"

Tony took the hint. "Sure," he agreed. "You call me, I'll talk to Pepper, and we'll do lunch, dinner, brunch, and everything fun in between."

Laughing, Adena hugged him again. "See you soon, Tony."

"But not too soon," Steve put in. "You still have a job to do, remember?"

Adena smiled and shook her head. "Hey, it wasn't my fault Loki wanted to take over the world and interrupted your education process! Don't blame me for that!"

With a final wave, the four split: Banner and Stark sped off in Stark's sports car, while Adena carefully climbed onto the back of Steve's motorcycle.

"I've never ridden on one of these before," she said nervously. "We really should invest in helmets, Cap. We can do that on the way back."

Smiling, Steve started the bike as her arms slid around his waist.

With Adena seated behind him, Steve felt a sense of relief. She was safe, her arms wrapped tightly around him as they sped off into the city. Best of all, she was under his watchful eye, right where he wanted her to be. It would be a long time before he'd be fully able to relax his protectiveness of her.

As they rode onwards, Steve knew that with Adena guiding him, he might be able to cope with anything. And he would do his best to make sure that she stayed safe while doing so, too.

AN: The end! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next story!