Author's Note: Wow. Here it is, you guys. I don't even know what to say, except thank you so much for giving me and this story a chance, and sticking with us until the end. It has truly been an honor.

I'm not giving up on these characters just yet, so I do plan on doing some serious work on Alone Together and the coming Bruce/Sága companion piece, so keep an eye out for those if you're interested. I'm also planning to go back through and edit the heck out of this story soon, to hopefully obliterate any errors that may be present.

Also, let me just say I'm sorry that the first half of this chapter is almost entirely blocks of text, while the second half is almost entirely fluff. I did what I could, and I sincerely hope that this doesn't disappoint. Thank you again, and I love you.

Epilogue: White Magic

Sága hummed softly to herself, grabbing a whistling kettle off of the stove and pouring steaming water into two overlarge mugs. Many decades ago, when she was still prone to regular visits to Midgard, she had spent nearly an entire year traveling throughout Eurasia—particularly England, China, and India—and had learned the art of brewing the perfect cup of tea. The intricacies of the various coffeemakers Tony had installed around the tower continued to baffle her, and she had no objection to deferring such responsibilities to the faceless Jarvis. In all honesty, he made what she firmly believed to be the best cup of coffee in all the realms. But tea was simple and elegant and familiar, still made in much the same way as it always had been—though the arc reactor-powered stove had initially given her some grief—and she enjoyed making it. This was hers.

For all her pride and strength, magic had very little use here on earth—aside from the rare battles she fought alongside the Avengers, and the unceasing joy of sneaking up on Barton and vanishing before he could manage to loose an arrow. Occasionally, there were wounds that she could help to heal, though admittedly such healing magic had never been a strength of hers.

But with the exception of such occasions, her unique skill set was not entirely helpful here. She knew little of earth technology and customs (though her knowledge of human languages was rivaled only by Natasha Romanoff), and so could contribute very little to the day-to-day workings of Stark Industries.

Tony had named her as Head of Security for Stark Tower—and paid her what she suspected was a considerable amount of Midgardian currency (the understanding of which was another of her weaknesses. She was no longer allowed to go shopping unsupervised)—but given that the only members of tower security included herself and Jarvis, the title was merely a front to allow her to live there unquestioned. Likewise, Stark Tower itself was now a front for the Avengers headquarters.

Tony and Bruce stayed at the tower for obvious reasons.

Once they returned from their leave of absence in Budapest, Director Fury had assigned Agents Romanoff and Barton there to "supervise" Tony Stark and report back.

Steve Rogers was currently travelling the country, determined to see the changes America had undergone during his absence; while he had not yet done so, he had been adamant about returning to New York once his trip had ended.

They had all more or less taken up residence and jobs within Stark Tower, and Sága couldn't help but feel a bit…useless.

After what she had done to the motorcycle, Bruce and Tony had been ecstatic about the opportunity to experiment with her magic and examine its properties as an energy source. But aside from providing the material, she could do very, very little to help them in the lab.

Director Fury had seemed pleased to see her, and allowed her to keep the earpiece she had grown so fond of. But she was not sent on missions or asked to complete reports like Natasha and Clint were.

And even though she was determined to fulfill her duties as Head of Security, she had a difficult time operating Jarvis' interface and even understanding the technology behind his systems.

At times, it seemed like the only thing she could do was make tea.

So this was her routine: spend the day feeling massively inadequate; brew a pot of tea after most everyone had gone to bed; and then drink tea on the balcony outside, listening and watching out for potential threats and reminding herself that she was still useful.

Only tonight, she had a guest.

She discarded the tealeaves and took a sip from her mug. After adding a spoonful of sugar and just a hint of milk to each, she knew they were ready. With a grin, she carried both mugs outside, handing one over to the waiting Tony Stark.

"Took you long enough," he muttered under his breath, wrapping both hands around the mug to warm his fingers. She watched expectantly as he took his first sip, thoroughly pleased when he raised a single eyebrow in surprise. "Whoa. You weren't kidding," he acknowledged, taking another, much longer sip.

She smiled, taking her own hearty swallow and looking out over the city lights. "I told you."

He chuckled, resting his arms on the railing. "So this is what you do, huh? Just stand outside, with your tea…and look at stuff?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that," she laughed, "but essentially, yes."

"Hmmm. Seems boring. And cold. Though you probably don't notice that in your, uh…glorious attire," he teased.

She shot him a half-hearted glare. He seemed to hold some personal vendetta against her decision to wear long johns and Bruce's sweatshirts on a nightly basis. They kept her comfortable and warm, and she did not care to hear his endless tirades about Midgardian women's fashion. Even his last-ditch argument that Bruce would surely like to see her in something more presentable fell on deaf ears. Bruce was wholly unconcerned with what she wore; particularly at night, when their interactions tended to involve a distinct…lack of clothing.

"It is getting cold," she conceded to him. "Asgard is always warm. Will it get much colder than this here?"

He nodded, smirking. "Oh, yeah. It'll get way worse."

She nodded in response, thinking. It had been a very long time since she had encountered a cold winter. She remembered them as harsh, dreadful things, but for some reason felt unusually excited for this one. "I hear that New York snow is the most beautiful sight in all of the nine realms."

"You've heard right," Tony agreed with a broad grin. "That's one of the reasons Pep and I decided to relocate. She loves snow."

Sága instinctively grinned at the mention of her new friend, Pepper. The woman was kind and hardworking, while smart and determined enough to keep the unruly Tony Stark in line. She was an impressive woman, though currently traveling to visit with relatives for the holiday season.

Thanksgiving was coming in a couple of weeks, with Christmas soon after. Pepper was determined to have all of the Avengers together to celebrate the holidays—even managing to convince an unwilling Natasha to join in—and thus had gone to see her family now, while she could.

"I like her," Sága admitted.

"Who, Pepper?" Tony chuckled softly. "I like her, too."

After that, they fell into companionable silence, drinking tea and watching the ever-present bustle of Manhattan.

But all good things must come to an end, and soon Jarvis' voice broke through their silence. "Excuse me, sir, Ms. Heimdalardóttir. It seems Dr. Banner has fallen asleep in the laboratory again."

Sága smirked at the thought, pushing away from the railing. Bruce had a tendency to get consumed in his work, often neglecting to eat or rest until he simply fell asleep from exhaustion. This would not normally be an issue; but Bruce also had a tendency toward nightmares that were capable of triggering his transformation. They had all learned first-hand that a sleepy, disoriented Hulk, newly awakened from a nightmare, was not nearly as fun as he sounded.

"Thank you, Jarvis. I'll go to him right away," she promised, stepping back inside the tower, Tony following her closely.

"Very good, Ms. Heimdalardóttir."

She groaned as Tony slipped into the elevator beside her, pressing the button to take them to one of the lower-level labs. Tony had needed a surname to put on all of her (forged) paperwork when he hired her. She knew now that she should have simply made something up, rather than give him her unwieldy Norse patronym. "Jarvis, please stop calling me that. Override whatever Tony told you. I don't much enjoy waiting twenty minutes for you to finish pronouncing my name before I can listen to your message. Just call me Sága."

"Very well, Ms. Sága."

"Close enough," she grumbled, rolling her eyes at Tony.

"What makes you think I told him anything?" Tony asked, trying to feign innocence and fight back a smirk.

She ignored him, stepping through the elevator doors as soon as they opened. "Goodnight, Tony."

"Goodnight, Sághildr Heimdalardóttir!" he called back with much more emphasis.

She sent him an obscene gesture, something she had picked up from Barton and which was remarkably satisfying, just as the elevator doors slid closed. She grumbled to herself as she walked down the long hallway, draining the last of her tea.

Any bad mood Tony's teasing had put her in vanished immediately when she stepped into the laboratory and spotted Bruce Banner asleep at his desk, chin in his hand and glasses skewed. His free hand still held a pen pressed to paper for taking notes, though the movement had long since ceased. With a smile, she set her mug down and approached his desk, beginning to put things away.

She didn't know what the vast majority of the equipment did; but after many hours of watching Bruce and Tony working, she at least knew where everything went. She moved quietly, careful not to wake him up. She knew from experience that if he woke to unfinished work, he would argue to be allowed to stay for a little longer, only to fall asleep again shortly thereafter. Putting his tools away beforehand made him much more compliant.

Finally, she slid the pen out of his grasp and laid it aside. She placed her hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Bruce, darling, wake up," she murmured in his ear.

He started, eyes snapping open as he looked around, trying to remember where he was. "What? I-I was just—I'm not sleeping. I just needed a quick nap. I was working…"

"I know you were," she agreed. "And you did a very good job. But it's time to sleep now."

He looked around at his cleared desk, then blinked at her a few times, and nodded. "Yeah, sleep… Sleep sounds good."

She grinned. "It does, doesn't it? Come on, darling."

She led him down the hallway, into the elevator, up a few more floors, and back to their room. They climbed into bed together almost immediately.

"Will you sleep tonight?" Bruce asked, murmuring against her hair.

She thought about it for a moment. The days passed differently here than they did on Asgard, and she grew tired much less often than a full human. More often than not, Sága would spend her nights laying beside Bruce, wide-awake and continuing her ever-vigilant guard for attacks.

It was a bit of a strange arrangement, but she very much liked the way Bruce curled himself around her while asleep. She liked having his body close to hers. All the same, they both agreed that it was best when they both slept, which she hadn't done in several days now. She could feel the fatigue nagging at her vaguely, and slowly nodded her head. "Yes, I think I will."

A slow smile spread across his face. "Good. Sága, I…" He fell silent for a long time, pulling her even closer, wrapping his arms and legs around her and holding her safe and tight. She figured he had forgotten what he wanted to say, and let her eyes drift closed… "Sága, I love you."

Her breathing came to a halt, and she froze. He… They'd never said that before. Her eyes snapped open, wondering if he had just been muttering nonsense in his exhaustion; but he was watching her sharply, waiting expectantly and nervously to hear what she would say. She wanted to be absolutely certain…

A broad smile made its way across her face before she even realized that she'd made a decision. She couldn't think of any reason not to. She had no doubts to speak of. "I love you, too, Bruce."

The words tumbled out of her mouth in a rush of white magic that she breathed into him, sealing such a weighty admission and promise with a worthy kiss.