Work apparently did help, cuz here it is. The last chapter of Unconventional. I'm really glad I finally finished this. It's been a really rough road on this but at least it's over now. I hope you enjoyed it!

Disclaimer: for the last time, it's not mine, I swear!

They couldn't be together for New Years.

Pepper and Tony were in New York, still piecing together what was left of what was to be the Avengers Tower. Loki's army had decimated almost all of the top floors. Plus, as a well-known philanthropist (at least he thought of himself that way), Tony was encouraged to help the rebuilding of the rest of New York as well. And by encouraged, obviously I mean Pepper made him.

Thor had returned Loki to Asgard, then quickly came back to track down Jane and apologize for not returning sooner to her, like he promised. They were now holed up together in New Mexico, taking very few calls.

Clint and Natasha were both on missions for SHIELD. Whether together or not, nobody knew. But they were currently out of the country and hard to contact let alone to fly out for New Years.

Bruce had taken a job with SHIELD, officially. Though he also worked a great deal for Tony as well. Currently, he was in Spain, at a conference that Tony would rather skip and Bruce could host just as easily. Even if he was a bit shy and would rather fade into the background, there was no denying his genius, and the reporters fell over themselves to interview him just as much as they would Iron Man.

Steve had gone off on a road trip, trying to connect to who he once was and to say goodbye to all those he had lost. He visited graves and memorials of those he had lost and tracked down the few old army buddies who had managed to survive. It was hard, but rewarding. It was nice to feel like himself for a little while.

But even though they were all busy, all wrapped up in their own lives, each and every one of the Avengers, missed the rest. They had all fought, had pushed each other's buttons, had wanted to strangle each other on more than one occasion. But in the end they had come together and became a team. In some twisted sort of way, they became a family. A highly dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless. And they missed that. They missed belonging. They missed having people who understood on some levels and blew you off on others. They wanted to be a team again, be a family again and spend the New Year together.

They couldn't, of course. When you're spread that far apart, there's no way to come together that quickly. Well, Tony probably could have had a jet pick them all up in a few hours, but even he was too busy to even think about that. So instead, he gathered them on one large collective phone call a few days before New Year's Eve and formed a plan. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's, they would all stop what they were doing and have a moment for the group, to celebrate, even just mentally, with one another for just one second. It was cheesy, but Tony was willing to admit he missed them all enough to be a little cheesy. Just this once.

The problem quickly arose of, how exactly they were to do that, when they were all in different time zones. It was Steve who found a solution. They would use Zulu time. The standard time would perfect for coordinating their New Year celebration. So they all set their watches, cell phones, and other devices to the standard time, arranging alarms to alert them at just the right moment.

Tony's cell beeped at him while he stood on a balcony outside a party, dressed up in a tuxedo.

Jane had set up her own watch to alert Thor as they laid out on the rooftop of her lab, staring up at the sky.

Clint's watch beeped once as he stared down at his target from fifty kilometers away.

Natasha's phone trilled a second after she broke an Italian guy's neck.

Bruce's PDA went off while he sat in the conference, only half listening to the other men drone on.

Steve stood outside in the cold, staring down at his lost friends' graves as his watch began to beep.

Each Avenger paused, closed their eyes, and breathed. They silently wished the others a Happy New Year and promised that no matter what, next year they'd be together.