"Iris I think you should cut your hair, you keep getting frustrated with it during your chores." Carter muses aloud while I lie facedown on my bed, buried in blankets.

"I think you're right. Know any barber animals, Snow White?" I lift my head and hold my upper body up with my elbows.

"No. Unfortunately, my fox barber died last winter." He replies in a casual tone while getting up.

"Wait really?" I ask, eyebrow perched.

"I thought you were supposed to be the sarcastic one." Carter mutters under his breath. I feign shock and slap a hand over my heart.

"Of course I'm the sarcastic one! I just didn't know a simple mind could actually comprehend all my sarcasm." I smirk and watch as the old man shakes his head while making his way over to me.

"I know a few things about cutting hair. How short would you want it?" I look at Carter, who is standing in front of me patiently.

"Below my shoulders a couple of inches?" I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the couch.

"That I can manage."

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With a quick gust of air, Pietro is standing in front of me. There's this look in his eyes...this concern that could even melt Jack Frost's frozen, cold, dead heart. Tentatively, he reaches forward and brushes the hair that had been swept into my face behind my ear. He doesn't seem fazed in the slightest that it's much shorter since we last saw each other. The speedster then brings his hand back and rests his palm against the side of my face. He's close enough that I can feel the nervous energy rolling off of him in waves. To him, I must seem like a fantasy, one blink and I'm gone. "You know how you said you needed a rain check on that date?" I whisper quietly, looking up into his paralyzing eyes with relief and joy. Yeah, I still want to kick his butt, but I'm so shocked that he's alive and well and standing in front of me that the thought gets pushed to the back of my mind for the time being.

"Yeah?" He questions with worry flickering in his eyes suddenly.

"Well, it has been like, a month. Do you think you still wanna cash that in?" I smile mischievously, despite the many onlookers. Before I know it, Pietro's other hand has found the other side of my face. He pulls me closer to him while he tilts his head and leans down to my level to press a hard kiss on my lips. Shocked, and taken back, my eyes widen but I fold into the kiss nevertheless and place my hands on his wrists. I hadn't even entertained the idea that I had ever meant anything to the speedster, nor could I have predicted just how deeply he had fallen for me. It seemed that all those feeling had somehow grown and manifested in my time away. I couldn't deny that from the moment I met him there was a spark between us. I hadn't even realized how I myself felt about the twin until this moment. Odd just how fast two people can fall for each other. I don't know if this is love, lust, or just longing. I've never known any of the three, but I knew that whatever this was...it wasn't fake. It was genuine care and ardor.

A sharp whistle echoes throughout the lofty area. No doubt it came from Stark. A second later, Pietro pulls back to look into my eyes to seemingly search for something. This causes a small smile to creep up on my face as it warms with embarrassment which makes Pietro aim a cocky smirk at me. "I'm so relieved that you're alright, Pietro." I quietly comment before being pulled into Pietro's chest, where I bury my face in his shoulder. "I was worried."

"I was worried about you as well. I thought we lost you." He admits while his hold tightens a fraction. There are soft 'awws' coming from the Avengers, minus Natasha I'm sure, from where they stand or sit throughout the room.

And that's when I know.

I'm home.

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"Dang! I look good with shorter hair. Why didn't I think about this sooner?" I say, looking into a dusty mirror while ruffling my newly cut hair, compliments of Carter.

"Maybe because you were too busy with dealing with the Avengers and their problems?" Carter asks, the sass in his tone rivaling my own.

"Eh, seems legit. Hey! Since I haven't been attacked by the rooster and the hens are getting used to me now, do you think I'm able to do more stuff around here so I'm not sitting on my butt all day?" I ask while retreating from a fully functioning bathroom in the cabin. Yes, I know, cabins usually have outhouses. That's what I even thought. But apparently Carter said he was, and I quote, "Too damn old to be walking in the snow in the middle of the night in bear country to take a crap!" So, he had a bathroom put in that worked off of collected rainwater. If there happened to be a drought, he could use lake water. Pretty nice.

"Well, I can show you the different crops I'm growing and have you check them in the morning to see how they're growing." He strokes his beard thoughtfully before looking at me with a grand smile.

"Great!" I exclaim and smack my hands together.

"You'll be saying that until you get to a crop that may have spiders crawling on it."

"WaiT WHAT?"

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"So you mean to tell us that you spent almost a month and a half in the woods in a cabin with an old medicine man that originally took you in after you escaped HYDRA? And he nursed you somewhat back to health?" I think for a moment and then nod.

"Yeah, pretty much. He had a horse and chickens too." I add the last sentence as if it's a second thought. Tony simply shakes his head before spinning around in his chair to continue looking at my radiographs, grumbling about me. Since I've been gone the team had split up. Tony has decided to take a break from working but decided to join the New Avengers on the last job because it was apparently big. Like, HYDRA big. I only wish I had come back sooner so I could've assisted in furthering their demise. I mean, dang, what is it with HYDRA? Can they like, not stay dead? Are they allergic to it? Anyways. After Bruce, ahem, the Hulk threw Ultron out of the bird he's been MIA. Natasha seems to be taking it hard according to Tony. Thor returned to Asgard to deal with the issue of four infinity stones showing up over the past few years and Steve and Natasha created the New Avengers. And of course, Nick Fury created this new facility. Furthermore, whatever remained of SHIELD had moved into the facility with their best scientists, doctors, and agents. And as for the New Avengers, Steve and Natasha are training Sam Wilson, James Rhodes, The Vision, Wanda, and Pietro to become the next Avengers. Together they made up the New Avengers.

How delightful.

Occasionally they all come to hang out here when they're not all busy. Clint's only here since he was assisting with the last mission, but technically he's retired. I can't blame him. "So why didn't you contact us?" Pietro questions from where he's sitting in a chair beside me. He's been surprisingly quiet this entire time. Mainly he's just been looking at me, probably memorizing my face like in one of those cheezy fanfiction books written by a young person on the internet after a character is either about to die or has just 'returned from the dead.'

Wait. Holy crap, my life is literally a bad fanfic.

"It's not like I had internet or a phone for that matter." Everybody gives short nods. I just sit here for a second, thinking it over before shaking my head to clear the thoughts. "I mean, I was going to." I tap my fingers against my leg. "But, I knew that if I did, you guys would come and pick me up right away. I don't think I would have been able to deal with the stresses of having to cope with the aftermath and backlash of the problems Ultron created, let alone the press that would surely be documenting our every move. And of course the fact I don't think I could deal with Tony keeping an eye on me day and night while I was healing. There's only so much Tony you can deal with when you're healing." I hear a 'hey!' come from where Tony is sitting, looking at the blown up digital photos of my ribs on one of his transparent computer screens. I shrug at him apologetically. "I actually wasn't even supposed to come back until Carter and I agreed that I was well enough to leave. I mean, I was well enough to leave, but not as well as I want to be. But, when we both saw the recent paper...we decided it was time to come home." I pluck at my nails while speaking, casually looking around the room as I do so, a small smile on my lips. Eventually, my eyes rest on Pietro, who is now smiling at me.

"Well, I'm glad you're back, Iris." I turn my head toward Steve.

"Aw, thanks, dad." I joke, chuckling as I earn a tight smile from Steve. Then my eyes widen suddenly and I reach over to my bag, digging around in it until my hand grasps the old card Carter gave me. "If it's not too much to ask, Carter requested that I have the team sign this and then send it back to him so he knows I got back to NYC safely." I smile shyly, holding the card out to Steve. But before the superhero can reach for it Tony slides across the floor with a surprising amount of speed on a wheelie stool and snatches it from my hand quickly.

"I can do that."

"Tony! The entire team has to sign it."

"Relax, I'll leave a small area for them to sign also."

"Tony you're tearing this family apart."