Yay, the last chapter! I told you guys it'd be up within a week! Anyway, to:

everyone who reviewed, followed, and/or favorited - Thanks so much, guys! I noticed a bunch of people following and favoriting, so I hope you all are liking this fic!

1noel11 - Well, this is the conclusion, so here it is! Thanks for reviewing!

MaddyR - *winks* Thanks for the review! I hope this fills out to your expectations!

I do not own Supernatural or The Avengers, but I hope everyone has enjoyed the previous chapters and will enjoy this last one. This one's for you guys! :)

Time of the Unknown

Chapter Five

To say that Tony was startled when he realized that two of his fellow Avengers were missing from his other fellow Avenger's funeral service was an understatement. He had stood there for several minutes fuming after JARVIS's call, slightly - just slightly, he swore - upset that his AI had even seen fit to attempt to argue with him. He supposed he had given it too many examples between himself and Pepper.

He had tried to focus on the service, then, staring at the pastor, before discovering, after more than a few minutes, that he was really just watching, with the words entering one ear and exiting the other. Once that realization was made, Tony had subconsciously checked to see if any of the others had noticed his lack of attention.

What he noticed was the look of utter thought on Thor's face, the suspicious absences of Steve and Natasha, and the way Bruce was watching him instead of the pastor. Just as Tony's eyes met the doctor's, Bruce shifted away, his eyes shying back toward Clint's casket.

Tony rolled his eyes, despite being conscious of the fact that his shades covered the movement. Didn't anyone ever understand that looking away just made them more suspicious?

"Bruce," he wheedled in an undertone, careful to not distract anyone else. "What do you know that I don't? Where are Cap and Tasha?"

"Firstly," Bruce replied, "Natasha will kill you if she hears that you called her that. Secondly…"

Bruce's pause lasted long enough that Tony recognized it for what it was: a stalling tactic.

"Yes?" He prompted, drawing the one word out and poking the other scientist on the shoulder. For the first time, Tony realized that Bruce was wearing a dark purple shirt; it wasn't black, but it was so much more fitting for so many reasons.

"Yes, my friend?" Thor interjected, and Tony jumped a bit, just keeping the toes of his dress shoes on the grass. For such a large guy, the Asgardian had startling sneaking abilities. "What are you hiding from us? Where are the Captain and Lady Natasha?"

Bruce hesitated more. "I'm not supposed to tell you, Tony," he admitted.

"I won't say that you did, promise," Tony said. "I'll say that I figured it out on my own… it'll just be stretching the truth a bit." He let a small grin shape his mouth, his lips curving at the corners just enough to be the slightly cheerful features of a grieving man experiencing happiness for the first time since a close friend's death. SHIELD agents weren't the only ones who could act.

Bruce didn't say anything, but his eyes shot toward Clint's casket and then back to Tony's, a sure sign that even if his body hadn't physically moved, he was beginning to see Tony's side of things.

"Doctor?" Thor prompted.

Bruce sighed. "Don't call me… you know what, fine. If you want to get Steve angry this soon after-" He halted, his gaze once more shifting to Clint's coffin.

Tony barely bit back a full out smile. If nothing else, he would obey Clint's wishes to not cause their teammates even more grief. Sure, they would be happy originally, with the knowledge that he wasn't completely gone and had stuck around, but then they would be forced to go through the grieving process once more when Clint said "yes" to whatever reaper came to pick him up. If they had any say in it, then Tony and Thor would be the only Avengers to ever know the full truth about Clint's ghost. They would be the only ones to ever grieve twice for the same man.

Bruce shook his head, and Tony tried to pay attention again.

"C'mon," the purple-clad Avenger - wrong, Tony's mind hissed, it's the wrong man, wrong Avenger, why is he the one wearing purple? - said. "I'll tell you on the way."

Together, the three friends snuck away, and Tony briefly felt a pang of guilt before telling himself that Clint would understand. Glancing back, Tony counted Nick Fury, Maria Hill, two more SHIELD agents, the pastor, and two others who hung back from the ceremony at opposite ends of the gathering. One, Tony realized with a start, looked extremely similar to the Avenger lying in the casket at the front of the service. The other appeared slightly familiar, but Tony couldn't figure out where he had seen the man before.*

Tony turned back to see where they were going, and just stopped himself from colliding with Bruce, who had halted next to one of the two limos that the Avengers had taken to Barton's funeral. The black vehicle stretched out along the curb of grass, and Tony didn't hesitate to hop into the back. Thor and Bruce quickly followed.

"To Avengers Tower, Happy," Bruce said quietly. "As fast as you can."

Tony watched as the brown-haired scientist turned to stare out the window, but he couldn't let his friend get away that easily. "Bruce, what were you saying? About Cap and Natasha?"

Bruce sighed, and Thor put on an encouraging smile. "Come, Doctor Banner, surely it isn't cause for that much sadness?"

Bruce looked up at that, an unrecognizable look passing over his face. "Steve got a call from JARVIS; the Winchester brothers broke into the tower and went up to Clint's floor. According to Steve, they're both known for grave desecration. Steve and Natasha went to stop them. JARVIS isn't to let them into Clint's room, but he also isn't supposed to let them out again; they should be taken care of by the time we get there."

"What?!"

Tony hadn't meant to let the outburst escape. He knew that the Winchesters worked well in the shadows, and that Clint didn't want to let the rest of the Avengers know about him, but it wasn't just them that this mission was about. Not anymore. Somehow, it had transformed into a universe-saving, devil-beating war, with Sam, Dean, Clint, and that ring in the very middle of it all.

"No, that can't happen!" Tony continued. He leaned forward in his seat, straining against the seatbelt that he had unconsciously buckled. "Happy, step on it! We can't let them get arrested!"

Thor stared at him in horror, eyes widened and mouth gaping, but Tony shook his head, still leaning against the leather strap supposedly keeping him safe. He was safe, but what about the Winchesters? What about the universe? No matter how much he hated it, some peoples' wishes had to be pushed to the side with this if it meant that the world could still be saved.

"Tony?" Bruce asked. "What are you saying?"

"I can't believe this!" Tony threw his hands up in the air. "Happy, I thought I said to step on it?!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but the traffic-"

"I don't care about the traffic! Dammit, JARVIS!"

"Stark," Thor said, his voice lowering with a clear warning tone settling in. "Be careful of what you say."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Thor," Tony snapped. "If Sam and Dean get arrested, the world is a goner!"

"You're lying," Steve said, faintly realizing that his shield had lowered even more. He hefted it higher, unwilling to take any chances. "Monsters aren't real."

"Oh, yeah," Dean snorted. "Says the guy who fought against aliens not six months ago. Sure, monsters aren't real. You keep thinking that, and one day you're gonna look back on this conversation feeling pretty damn stupid."

"Wow," Steve heard faintly from Sam, "You sure got over your fanboy phase pretty quickly."

"Nuh uh, Sammy," Steve made out from Dean. "I don't fanboy."

"Sure… You keep thinking that, Dean."

"Hey!" Natasha called, still in her position next to Steve. "We were having a conversation?"

"Oh, we were?" Dean asked sarcastically. "I thought we were having a session with our therapist, who just happens to resemble Captain America."

"Oh, c'mon," Steve protested. He glanced down at his suit, tie, and dress shoes before looking back up at the brothers' jeans, plaid shirts, and hiking boots with Dean's additional leather jacket. "I just… monsters? What happened to you guys being criminals with murder charges?"

"Let's just hope we're not too late," Tony huffed as he sprinted up the stairs of the Avengers Tower. "JARVIS, could you maybe open up an elevator?"

"I am sorry, sir, but I was ordered to shut them down."

Tony groaned. "No need to sound so frosty, JARVIS."

"Do you not have a… ride over, is it?" Thor asked, sounding distinctively less winded than Tony and Bruce.

"Over ride!" Tony gasped, stopping to bend over with his hands on his knees. "Thor, you're a genius!" He paused, sucking in a deep breath. "JARVIS, over ride code Turkey Omelet New York Steve. And get a freaking elevator down to the… what floor are we going up to?"

"Seven," Bruce answered, an incredulous look still on his face after their conversation in the limo.

"Floor seven, then, JARVIS. Destination is floor 92."

"Very well, sir. Over ride code activated. An elevator will be waiting on floor seven."

"Thank goodness," Tony groaned.

Together, the three Avengers trekked the rest of the way up the flight of stairs, exiting directly next to the open elevator. Gathering inside, they watched the numbers zoom upward. Several seconds went by before anyone spoke.

"So…" Bruce started. "That over ride code?"

"Shut up," Tony said immediately. He paused a bit, observing how fast the numbers changed. "… it stands for Tony S."

"Ah…"

"Not one word."

"I wasn't saying anything."

Someone, Steve groaned, had to have it out for him today, because not only did the rest of the Avengers show up just before he was about to whirl his shield at Dean Winchester, but they showed up in the elevator. The very same elevator that Steve and Natasha had been required to pass on, and were therefore forced to climb every single set of stairs to their destination.

"Doctor Banner," Steve greeted curtly, and watched as Natasha nodded at the others. "Tony. Thor. What a surprise."

"What a surprise is right, Cap," Tony answered, pushing his way in front of both Steve and Natasha. He turned so that his back was to the corridor's wall, enabling him to see both ends of the hallway and, as a result, both parties taking up residence on the carpet. "Imagine my own surprise when I discovered that JARVIS betrayed me, and for you of all people."

"Stark," Dean said from the far end of the corridor. "It's about time you showed up."

"You know each other?" Steve asked, his mouth opening a little in shock.

"As of yesterday, yeah," Tony answered. "But no worries, Capsicle; Dean's just as big a jerk as he seems to be, but he's not a crook. And he's certainly not a murderer."

"I'm not sure whether to take offense to that or not," Dean said. "But we can settle that later. Tony, I need you to let the Captain and Black Widow over there know that Sam and I aren't gonna harm any of Clint's stuff."

"You already got what you came for?" Tony questioned.

Steve peered at what Sam held up in response, something that looked like a ring.

"We got it," Sam assured.

There was a beat of silence all around, from all seven men and woman, before another, very familiar voice spoke up.

"Well, this is all very well and good, but I think the faster Sam and Dean stop the apocalypse, the better off the whole world will be."

Steve didn't know about any of the others, but in that moment, no matter how cliché it may have sounded, his heart seemed to stop. His eyes whipped from the ring in Sam's hand to the shorter man standing in the middle of the hallway, his body so pale that Steve could literally see through to the purple wall on the man's other side.

"Clint."

The word drifted through Steve's head, bumping around between his ears before he managed to recognize his own voice.

"Holy…" Steve continued, unsure of exactly what word should follow.

"Hey," the archer answered, giving a little bit of a wave.

"Hey? That's all you have to say?" Steve asked, feeling his heart thump at top speed in his chest and his jaw clench. Looking to his left, he saw that Natasha's face was essentially emotionless, though he knew that it wasn't like that inside her. Behind him, Bruce was stoic while Thor lacked any surprise. In front of Steve, Tony just looked glad to see his best friend. "Tony was right about you haunting the tower all along, but you never showed up to the rest of us until now."

"You're right… and I'm sorry, but I actually do have a good explanation."

"Do share," Natasha said, speaking for the first time in several minutes.

To Steve's additional surprise, it wasn't Clint who answered.

"Ghosts don't start out very powerful," Sam said, taking a few steps forward. Steve's fingers clenched around his shield, but he didn't lift it any higher. "Hawkeye would've been able to see you, hear you, follow you around and talk to you, maybe even lift a few things if they're not too heavy, but you wouldn't be able to see and hear him until he got strong enough."

"But once you got strong enough?" Steve asked.

Clint hesitated, his weight shifting from one foot to the other. "… I didn't want you guys to grieve more than once. I couldn't do that to you, no matter how much I wanted a proper chance to say goodbye. The only reason I played any tricks and then showed myself to Tony and Thor is because I needed to get something to the Winchesters. In fact, the only reason I'm still around is because of them."

"Why's that?" It was Bruce who spoke up then, and Steve realized that the scientist hadn't been told everything.

"The apocalypse," Clint answered. "They needed Death's ring. He gave it to me so I could get it to them. As soon as a reaper shows up, I'm gone again."

"Look, we're sorry for the confusion," Sam said, pulling Steve's attention back toward the brothers. "But in all honesty, we've been looking for this ring for a long time, and the apocalypse has been going on for even longer…"

"You need to leave," Bruce guessed. Both Winchesters nodded in confirmation.

"All in favor, say aye!" Tony said.

"Aye!" Thor answered, and Steve watched as Clint, Tony, and Bruce raised their hands. After a moment of hesitation, Steve lifted his own, and all eyes fell on Natasha. Another second passed, and one of her hands rose from her glock.

"You're free to go," Steve told them.

"Our earlier agreement still stands," Tony added.

"We'll let you know how it goes," Sam replied.

"Come personally, okay?" Tony said. "The tower is plenty large. You can't have Barton's floor, but I could get two more set up."

"It's a deal," Dean answered.

The Avengers all parted as Sam and Dean walked toward the elevator, the younger brother tucking the ring into his front pocket. As the metal doors closed, both raised their hands in farewell.

"Good luck, Hawkeye," Sam said.

"Good luck," Clint replied.

Two weeks later:

Tony hadn't been very surprised to hear from Dean Winchester just a week and a half after they parted. It had been a shock that the apocalypse was over and the devil defeated that quickly, but Tony had been looking forward to getting the news. Dean hadn't said much, though. His voice had been rough, whether from disuse or something else, none of the Avengers had wanted to say, and his message was short.

"This is Dean. I'm coming to New York soon. I'll probably stop by on Saturday around noon; make sure everyone's there. Don't call this number back."

Two days after the message, and all of the Avengers were sprawled around their joint living room, with Tony in the back behind the bar. Thor leaned forward in his chair, propped his chin in one hand, and observed the clock for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"He is late."

"Wonderful observation, Thor," Tony said.

"In Dean's defense, he did say around noon," Steve pointed out, leaning back with a sigh. "And it's only twelve thirty. Let's give him some more time."

"You're rather casual for someone who wanted to take his head off just a few weeks ago," Natasha said.

Steve shrugged. "Guess he's grown on me."

"Really?" Tony said. "And doesn't it make anyone else curious?"

"Make us curious about what?" Bruce asked.

"The fact that Dean said he'd be stopping by, instead of both of them-"

"Master Stark," JARVIS interrupted. "Dean Winchester just entered the elevator. I suggested he get off on the common floor; he is on his way."

"There we go," Tony said, "Right on time!"

Thor shot him a somewhat wounded look. "He is still late."

The elevator doors opened with a hiss, and Dean walked out, rubbing at his ears.

"Still popping," the hunter said. "Stark, you've gotta fix that thing."

"My things don't need fixing," Tony answered. "And you look like hell."

"Thanks," Dean answered, but Tony and the rest of the Avengers still frowned at him. Tony hadn't been lying; the eldest of the Winchester brothers really did look awful. His voice was still rough, though now that he was here, Tony realized that it must have been from crying, because his normally green eyes were tinged with red, and his cheeks were still slightly puffy. His hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days, and his clothes were rumpled and obviously slept in.

Dean glanced around, his eyes taking in the scene.

"Hawkeye's moved on?"

"Yeah," Tony said, moving from the bar to one of the couches. He plopped down next to Steve and took a long drink from the glass in his right hand, offering the glass in his left to Dean. "Take the drink and then sit down."

"Tony," Steve said, frowning at the billionaire.

"It's five o'clock somewhere," Dean mumbled, taking the glass and downing it. He sat in the chair next to the couch, sinking into the soft material as if he hadn't relaxed since he last left the tower.

Silence answered him for several seconds before Tony spoke up. "Anyway, one of those reapers came not too long after you and Sam left. We all said our goodbyes, swore we wouldn't grieve too much, had a nice mush fest, and watched Clint walk into the light."

"Good," Dean said, his eyes practically glued to the glass in his hands. "I'm glad something went as planned."

"Dean?" Steve questioned, finally asking the question that they had all been wondering about. "What happened? Is the apocalypse…?"

"It's done," Dean whispered, looking up and staring at all of them. "It's all done. I just wanted to stop by before I left the life for good." He paused, one hand detaching from the glass and reaching for his shirt, clenching it next to his chest. Looking down, as if in surprise, the blonde shook his head and almost forcefully let go of the fabric. "Yeah, the apocalypse is over. Lucifer's back where he belongs. Hawkeye's probably in Heaven. I'm headed to a nice, normal old life with a girlfriend and a picket fence. And Sammy…"

This time, Dean looked back down at his glass and let his hand travel back up to his shirt, gripping it hard and tugging at it as if it were something else. The silence lengthened until one of the others cleared his throat. "What about Sam, Dean?" Bruce asked, his voice quiet. "What about Sam?"

Dean's gaze came back up, and Tony started when he realized that tears were actually pooling along the other man's eyelashes.

"He's gone," Dean said, his voice strangled and harsh. "He sacrificed himself for… for the whole, entire, fucking universe."

The Avengers stared at him, not completely taking the information in. They had lost Clint, found him, and lost him again just in time for Dean Winchester to lose his little brother.

Tony drew in a deep, choked breath that rattled in his lungs, and he found himself staring at the arc reactor, the only thing keeping him alive and his heart pumping.

"They're both gone," Tony whispered.

THE END

* In case anyone was wondering, these two men do happen to be Barney Barton (Clint's older brother) and Agent Phil Coulson. One estranged from what's left of his family, and the other thought to be dead, and as a result required to attend in disguise. Wow, Clint… the people you attract to your funeral service… xD

Anyway, I know Clint actually "going into the light" and everything is totally ignoring canon, but oh, well... And hey, at least I brought Supernatural back to where it's supposed to go!

In addition, I wanted to thank you all for helping me write one of the longest pieces I've ever written! Seriously, I typically stick to short stories and poems. This was truly a journey for me, so thank you!

I really do hope that you all enjoyed this fic, and please review!