FIVE

YEARS

LATER

At last
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song, oh yeah

"Rosie?"

At last

"Rosie?"

The skies above are blue

"Rosie!"

The loud whisper jolted Nyla-Rose from her slumber and she sat straight up, pushing herself away from the cluttered desk she'd fallen asleep on. The lamp was still on, emitting a headache inducing glow over the small area and the speakers near her computer was softly playing Etta James. The little raven haired girl that had slowly inched into her room clutched at a frayed teddy bear nervously as Nyla rubbed the exhaustion out of her eyes.

"Wren? Honey, what are you doing up? It's—"

She glanced at the desk clock.

2:37 AM.

"It's way too early for you to be out of bed," she chided softly.

The girl nodded.

"I had another nightmare, Rosie," she whispered.

Nyla-Rose sighed and opened her arms. Wren eagerly climbed onto the young woman's lap and wrapped her arms around her neck, snuggling her head against her shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Wrennie," she pressed a kiss atop the girl's head, "everything will be okay. I promise you."

"Will they come back?" Wren murmured as Nyla patted her soothingly. She didn't need to ask who the eight year old was referring to, but the question always struck a dart of anxiety in her chest.

"I don't know, honey," she said truthfully, "I hope so."

"I miss them."

"...I miss my family, too."

—————

"Good morning, Nyla-Rose!"

Nyla gave her fellow coworkers a bright smile as she walked into the huge kitchen full of mouth-watering smells. The one to greet her was Jenevieve, a perky brunette with beautiful dark skin and bright green eyes whose thick, curly hair was tied up in a bun, giving her a few inches of height that everyone liked to tease her about.

"Morning, Jen. Morning, everyone!" The other workers, a mix of men and women, chirped their greetings or nodded in acknowledgement as most were busy preparing breakfast.

Nyla straightened the collar on her loose fitting button up before approaching a young woman that wore earphones and bobbed her head to whatever song was playing. She tapped on the girl's shoulder, making her start.

"Oh, hey, Rose."

"Nice 'do," Nyla said, pointing out the light purple streaks in her blonde hair. Charlie, otherwise known as Charlotte, was one of the teenagers that Jenevieve had recently welcomed and she wanted to make sure she was fitting in nicely which was coming along well due to the kind spirits of everyone in the Tower.

"Thanks. I got Rio to do it for me in the bathroom yesterday." Nyla nodded knowledgeably and let the eighteen year old get back to whatever task she'd been given.

She made her way out of the kitchen and into the brightly lit cafeteria that was separated by a swinging door where a few more young adults were busy setting up the long tables with plastic cups and cutlery. Greeting them all individually, she left the cafe and snaked down a long hallway that led to the dorms. Nyla took a deep breath.

"Rosie!"

A streak of black hair launched itself into her arms as soon as she walked through the doors and Nyla laughed, spinning the girl around before setting her on her feet. "How was your sleep, Wrennie?" She asked, crouching to ruffle the girl's hair. After she'd quickly fallen asleep, Nyla had carried her back to bed.

"I counted sheep like you said, but I couldn't do 'em backwards."

"The important thing is you got some rest."

"Uh-huh!"

Wren bounced away and Nyla straightened, dusting her jeans off and watching as little groups of children darted in and out of the hall with toothbrushes and towels in hand, shouting out greetings and giving her big, toothy smiles. On both sides of the wide yet empty hallway were rooms. There were a different number of beds in each room, all varying in size and color. Little things on top of the carefully folded blankets and pillows served as a personal claim to the beds. Stuffed animals, picture books, charm bracelets. On the opposite walls stood bookshelves holding more books and crates of toys.

Three floors of joint-personalized rooms. It was a difficult system that Nyla had to work out and it only got easier once she managed to find people that genuinely cared about the work she did. Doctors, schoolteachers, therapists, social workers. People from all walks of life joining in on the cause.

Which was taking care of children that were left without families when the disaster occurred.

The idea had thrilled Natasha more than she ever thought it would and with Tony's help, an orphanage of a sort grew into existence. They'd scoured the city for any children living by themselves and managed to fill up the old Tower with kids ranging from the age of three to nineteen willing to accept their help.

Some were siblings, others alone. Nyla was glad to have something to do to take her mind off of the reality of the world and she could tell that the others enjoyed it just as much. When everything settled into a rhythm with a trusted work force that Nyla put together, small things were brought to her attention.

Pietro running around the playground that Nyla had built for the younger ones, taking part in their silly games with a smile on his face.

Rhodes and Rocket, a strange pair but good nonetheless, dealing with the withdrawn adolescents and helping them adjust.

Bruce and Tony improving the Tower and all its inner workings they both thought could use upgrades with the assistance of curious children.

Carol going back and forth between helping out the kitchen staff and playing flag football with rough youngsters, boys and girls alike, in the grassy field that Tony had bulldozed behind the Tower.

Steve and Thor quickly learning the ways of toddlers and joining in on finger painting and snack time with eagerness for the latter.

Nebula, who had to be coaxed into the Tower by Nyla-Rose, slowly getting to know the joys of having "fun" as Tony put it. The older teens introduced her to video games and Nyla noticed she was around just as much as the others.

What hit Nyla the most was when she'd stumbled upon a room full of little girls and excited teenagers drowning in pink tulle and giggling as an assassin tied up her ballet slippers and proceeded to show them a few dance moves. That was when Natasha was happiest and Nyla loved to watch as she moved throughout routines as fluid and graceful as a swan cutting through the waters of a calm lake.

It was a sign of hope to her. That the heroes could be more to the world than just heroes. They could be friends, actual parental figures, someone that the children could trust and love.

It was the blooming flower in a world full of adversity.

The work had been difficult, Nyla had to admit that, but it was all worth it. The older ones had always been harder to manage and Nyla didn't force them to stay. Their choices were their own, but somehow, with uttered excuses that Nyla pretended to believe in solemnity with an inward feeling of great joy, they always found their way back. A plus was that they were great with the younger children and when the ball begun to roll, they soon became a family.

And then came along little Morgan H. Stark, a blessing of sunshine in Tony and Pepper's life. A short few months was all Nyla and the others got to help take care of her before Tony decided to move out of the Compound. She didn't take it personally. There was too much memories in that place and Tony wasn't one for holding onto the past. Of course, he was calling her almost every day and demanding she visit every other weekend that it really didn't feel like he was gone at all.

In five long years, the home they'd built swelled in numbers and togetherness, creating a family where there had been none. True sadness and grief had bloomed in the children when Nebula and Rocket dispatched back to space with Carol who had business to attend to on other planets shortly after the orphanage began to run smoothly. Rhodes found his own business elsewhere as well and not one of the heroes left with dry eyes.

Their visits were few and far between, but gladly welcomed. Especially, and very much personally for the brunette, Carol. Their relationship had bloomed steadily from puppy love to something more deep and intimate, not excluding the stolen kisses in empty hallways or the sensual looks that lingered across rooms or the scorching brush of a hand over bare skin that disappeared as fast it had come, leaving behind a searing heat. She remembered the day they had told everyone that they were in a relationship.

Natasha was so amazingly happy, she'd hugged the life out of them both, Steve and Pepper following suit while Tony only stared in shock. He had gotten up after a few minutes of gawking and gave Carol an awkward hug, but admitted to Nyla hours later that he was a little disappointed he had no one to intimidate. Nyla was glad that she'd found happiness with Carol save the distance. Coupled with the fact that she was always away, she also kept a steady eye on her family's progression.

Pietro decided to take some time for himself and disappeared without a trace, just like Bruce. Thor, whom Nyla-Rose tried her hardest to support emotionally, had his own people to tend to and with much grace and sorrow for his departure, took his leave. She hadn't seen them in the last four years. Steve was trying his hardest to move on, more than Nyla could say for her mom. More often was she pacing around the Compound in search of answers that couldn't be given and her own visits to the Tower had become scarce. It was then when one of her ballet students, a bright eyed blonde girl, approached Nyla-Rose, questioning her mom's whereabouts at breakfast.

"Jaz, honey, Ms. Nat won't be here for awhile. She's a little busy," Nyla replied, a spark of guilt setting her chest aflame as the girl's face dropped. She was about to ask if she wanted to sneak a ice cream sandwich in the kitchen when an excited smile graced her lips and the squeal of young girls all over the cafe echoed through the room like a dozen police sirens.

"Ms. Nat! Ms. Nat! Ms. Nat!" was the popular and vigorous chant as the assassin walked in and began to greet her students and other children with big hugs and a huge smile.

"Jaz! I told you I'd be back, sweetheart."

"Mom."

"Hey, Rosie."

Nyla moved to embrace her mother and pulled back, keeping her hands on her shoulders. Her hair was longer and Nyla felt a rush of sentiment for the shade of red that had grown back in, the tips a dull blonde from a long five years. The crinkles at her eyes were the only signs of distress and exhaustion she'd suffered, but even then did Nyla-Rose think her mother was absolutely beautiful.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in a meeting with the team," her voice drifted at the intense expression she wore, her eyes boring into Nyla's with a sense of unbearable hope.

"We found something..."

Nyla's breath caught in her throat at the tone of her voice and the sudden excitement that creeped into her chest made home there as Natasha gripped her shoulders tightly.

"It's our best shot."

"Then count me in."

—————

Nyla crossed her arms with a smirk.

"So a time machine?"

"Okay, yeah! Let's call it that, then!"

Scott Lang's impatient tone made her laugh as he tried to think of something more cool and advanced to call the main point of his plan. She'd set up her leave at the Tower with Jenevieve, making sure everything was taken care of before coming back to the Compound where an exasperated and starving Scott explained his story around a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Hey, I'm not one to speak the language of quantum physics, but if it works—"

"When it works. It will. We just—we have to try!"

"And you talked to Tony already?"

"We did," Steve chimed in, "that's a no go."

"He's not putting in his two cents? Weird."

"It is. But Bruce—"

"Bruce?" Nyla looked around the room. "You guys talked to him too?"

"He's actually here."

Nyla didn't miss the faint blush that made her mom's face the slightest shade of pink, but she turned away, pretending to cough.

"Here as in?"

"As in the lab. The time traveling machine? We're gonna try it out," Scott wiped his mouth with a napkin before crumpling it into a ball and cracking his neck nervously.

"And we're sure about this?"

"89% sure to be exact."

Nyla rolled her eyes to the ceiling as he pep talked his way down to the lab, muttering encouragements with Steve and Nat right behind him.

"FRIDAY?"
"Yes, Ms. Romanoff?"
"How sure do you think Scott's test run will work?"
"56% sure."
"That's a whole lot less than 89."
"I'm 100% sure he will not die."
"That's comforting."
"I'm glad to hear it."

She made her way to her room, sentiment for the place growing as she opened the door and sat down upon the bed. Nyla was barely at the Compound as she chose to live in the Tower to be close to the children of whom became her first priority. She didn't stay long. Lumbering down the empty halls, she could hear quite a lot of ruckus going on in the lab and she smiled a little. Whatever hope she had, Nyla still held it deep in her heart for those lost to them five years ago. She didn't know how much time had passed after she'd fallen asleep on a couch on the top floor before making her way into the foyer, rubbing her eyes sleepily before a gasp slipped past her lips at the sight of a sleek black car.

"Tony!" Nyla pushed past the doors and flung her arms around her brother as he squeezed her tightly, holding onto her as though he hadn't see the young woman in ages.

"I missed you!" She exclaimed, withdrawing from his arms to sock him in the arm. He winced and rubbed the sore spot with a disdainful look as Nyla noticed that Steve had been standing near her the whole time.

"Oh, sh—Sorry. Did I—did I interrupt—"

"No, you're fine!"

"I mean, I saw the Audi pull up, I just didn't—I kinda didn't see you—"

"I'll leave you two alone." Steve gave the siblings a warm smile and took his leave. Nyla watched him walk back into the Compound before turning to Tony. A little more wrinkles than before, a little more gray hairs, but still the same old smirk.

"The shield?" She asked with a little smile.

"The shield. So, how've you been, kid?"

"I'm 25, Tony. And I've been better."

"The kids overrun the Tower yet? Burn it down? Set fireworks off in the elevator?" They began to follow in Steve's footsteps, Tony pushing the door open for his sister before falling in step beside her.

"All healthy and happy," Nyla reported, taking his arm in her own, "though I can't say as much for the weepers around here."

"Oh, tears. So demeaning."

"Aren't they? How's my niece doing? I've been meaning to kidnap her sometime this weekend."

The Stark siblings walked into the foyer and made their way through the Compound, stopping on a platform that served as a large balcony, protruding out from the second floor. A loud blasting noise sent waves of grass tumbling through the air and Nyla raised her eyes up to see Rocket's ship landing into the yard. Nebula descended from the steps and the loud clunk of metal against stone made Tony peer downwards, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

"Looks like we're getting the band together."

Nyla nodded, her nerves buzzing with uncontainable excitement for what was to come.

"About time."

—————

This was so exciting to write, I got the post-jitters until I realized this story is almost over! I wanted to implement the orphanage idea because I thought that would have been such an amazing thing to see in Endgame thus why this chapter is unusually long. We could have had a lot of touching and playful content between the existing team and children that survived after the Snap.

I'm overwhelming myself.

Thank you so much for reading! 💓