Three years later, and not much has changed.

Grace's room has, of course, after that Christmas: white walls, a trundle bed with a gray comforter — minus the canopy — a new art studio in the corner with all new supplies, and a large book shelf to top it all off. She's been keeping in touch with Harley after all this time, and his life is pretty normal, too, especially now that he's had all that stuff for a while.

Savior is also finished now — has been for some time. Tony lessened the restrictions on her a little, and he taught Grace how to use the blasters and flight power. She's still as purple as ever.

Oh, and then there's the Avengers. Three years of seeing them off and on have caused some bonds to be developed.

Nat is still teaching her self defense when she has time, and Bruce is like a responsible uncle at this point. Clint has been around sort of often, too, and he's practiced archery with her a little bit. It's not her thing, but Clint is fun to be around. Steve is starting to grow on her, even if he is a bit of a square. She hasn't seen much of Thor, but he's cool, considering he can literally, like, control lightning. And, of course, her relationship with her father is as good as ever.

Life is amazing right now, actually. Her online classes are getting a bit harder, yes, but that's about it. She has Tony, Happy, Pepper, and, sometimes, the Avengers and Rhodey. Any missions Tony goes on are small, so there's really nothing to worry about.

She's had a lot of time to work on her art and read, too. She started re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia and recently did a water color of Aslan that's currently up on her wall. Now, she's just working on a flower painting for her mom to hang in her bedroom.

She hums softly to the music playing in her headphones as she paints, absently wondering when her father will be back from the mission he's on with the Avengers right now.

~~~~

The Avengers are attacking a Hydra base, fighting foot soldiers and the like to get inside. Clint is on the back of a jeep that Natasha's driving, Tony is by himself in the air, and Thor and Hulk are all over the place. Steve, meanwhile, is on a motorcycle.

Tony fights a few bad guys, but his main concern is the base itself; he's the one that's supposed to get in.

He flies towards it, thinking he'll just bust through the doors, take a few guys out, and get what they want — Loki's scepter. However, he bumps into an invisible force field. He swears. Loudly.

"Language!" Steve says from over the comms. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield," Jarvis replies. "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken."

Tony, then, hears Thor's voice. "Loki's scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." There's a pause, the sound of someone getting hit with Mjölnir. "At long last."

After another pause, Nat replies, "At long last is lasting a little long, boys." Then, gunfire.

"Yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise," Clint says.

"Wait a second," Tony butts in. "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?"

"I know," Steve says, sounding like he's rolling his eyes. There's a crash and some screaming, then, "It just slipped out."

As people on the ground shoot missiles at him, Tony dodges.

"Sir," Jarvis says, "the city is taking fire."

"Well, we know Strucker isn't going to worry about civilian casualties," Tony replies. "Send in the Iron Legion."

"We have an enhanced in the field," Steve suddenly says, his voice tense.

"Clint's hit!" Nat shouts. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" There's a roar — the Hulk. "Thank you."

"Stark, we really need to get inside," Steve says. It sounds like he's fighting as he speaks.

"I'm closing in," Tony says. He flies in and lands outside the base, shooting a few soldiers with his blasters. "Jarvis, am I — closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?"

As Tony continues flying, fighting soldiers along the way, Jarvis replies, "There's a pathway below the north tower."

Tony heads over to it. "Great, I wanna poke it with something." Tony flies down and just charges right into the power source, blasting it. The whole force field goes down. "Drawbridge is down, people."

"The enhanced?" Thor asks after a pause.

"He's a blur," Steve replies. "All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac," Nat says.

"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. You and Stark secure the scepter," Thor says, talking to Steve.

"Copy that," Steve replies.

"Looks like they're lining up," Thor suddenly says.

"Well, they're excited."

And, then, there's a clash and loud whooshing noise. Tony's sure they just did that boneheaded move they discovered while messing around in the tower: Thor hitting Steve's shield with Mjölnir. They broke a window. It's a wonder they didn't do more damage. Grace certainly found it amusing.

"Find the scepter," Thor says.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony adds.

Steve sighs. "That's not going away anytime soon."

Tony enters the base, seeing a multitude of soldiers aiming guns at him. He raises his hands. "Guys, stop, we gotta talk about this." They ready to attack him, so he attacks first with the guns on his suit, injuring them. "Good talk."

"No, it wasn't," one of them says.

He moves deeper into the base and finds another man typing on a computer. He blasts him, then steps out of the suit. "Sentry mode."

He takes the man's spot at the computer as Jarvis does as he said. "Okay, Jarvis. You know I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ."

"We're locked down out here," Nat says.

"Then get to Banner, time for a lullaby," Steve replies.

"I know you're hiding more than files," Tony mutters to the computer. "Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room, real quick."

"The wall to your left," Jarvis replies. "I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current."

"Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door." He pushes on one of the stones and a door opens. "Yay!"

Tony enters, looking through the large room. It's cluttered with things — weapons, tools. Things they probably shouldn't have.

"We have a second enhanced," Steve says over comms. "Female. Do not engage." Then, a few moments later, "Guys, I got Strucker."

Tony looks around. "Yeah, I got... something bigger." Finally, he sees the scepter. "Thor, I got eyes on the prize."

He goes to grab it, but then he hears a roar behind him. He turns, finding one of the leviathan from the Battle of New York. It flies over him, and he turns back around to follow its path.

Suddenly, he's somewhere else. It's dark — darker than the room he was in — and cold. He hears distant screams. In front of him, on a mountain of rubble, there are bodies.

It takes him a second to realize that they're his friends.

Hulk twitches. He's dying. Nat stares up, unblinking. Clint is slumped over, an arrow knocked in his bow. Thor looks as if he's sleeping, but his chest isn't moving. And, below him, Steve lay, his shield cracked in two. In the corner, he can see another body. He knows it's Pepper's, even if he can't see her face. He's glad of that, at least.

And, then, suddenly, someone grabs his arm.

He jumps, turning to find Grace. Her grip is like a vice, and her eyes are full of tears and pain. There's blood on her face, and a gaping hole is slowly expanding in her chest. Like she's burning away from the inside out. "You could have saved us," she says. Her grip weakens, and she slumps to her knees, still looking at him. "Why didn't you do more?"

"Gr-Grace..." Tony stutters out, sinking to the ground and reaching for her. But the hole grows, consuming her until she disappears completely.

He hears the leviathan again and looks up, seeing that gaping portal, leading to Earth. Again.

He stands, and it all disappears.

Turning, he sees a large dinosaur skeleton behind him. In front of him is the scepter again.

He catches his breath, wipes the tears from his face. Telling himself it was just a weird anxiety attack, he calls a hand of the suit to him and grabs the scepter.

He needs to get out of here.

~~~~

Back on the Quinjet, everyone is sitting around, all calm now. Bruce is on the floor, his headphones on. Clint is laying down, but he seems to be doing okay. Nat and Thor are sitting, the latter with his eyes closed, and Tony is flying. He glances down at his chest, just to make sure it's moving.

"Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever," he hears Nat say to Bruce, who takes off his headphones.

"Just wasn't expecting the Code Green," he says.

"If you hadn't've been there, there would've been double the casualties. My best friend would've been a treasured memory."

"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear."

"How long before you trust me?"

"It's not you I don't trust."

"Thor, report on the Hulk?" Nat asks.

Thor sits up; he was only half-asleep. "Oh, yes, um... The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Bruce groans, and Tony can feel the glare Nat is probably giving Thor right now. He continues. "Uh, but, not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, uh... wounded screams, mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh... and gout."

Tony rolls his eyes, amused, and then Jarvis says, "Dr. Cho is on her way now, sir. She will need a place to set up her equipment for Mr. Barton."

"Hey Banner, Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul; is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony asks.

"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around," Bruce replies.

"Thanks," Tony says. He begins talking to Jarvis again. "Tell her to prep everything. Barton's gonna need the full treatment."

"Very good, sir."

"Jarvis, take the wheel."

"Yes, sir. Approach vector is locked."

Tony turns and goes back into the main area with the others. The scepter is in the middle of the room. "It feels good, yeah?" Tony says to Thor. "I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but-"

"No, but this... this brings it to a close," Thor replies.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Steve asks.

Tony shrugs. "Banner and I'll give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard." He turns to Thor. "Is that cool with you?" Thor nods, and he continues. "I mean, just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Thor says. "A victory should be honored with revels."

"Yeah. Who doesn't love revels?" He turns to Steve. "Captain?"

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so... yes, revels," he replies.

Nat looks up at Tony, smirking a little. "And will Grace be joining us?"

Tony sighs and gives the exact answer Nat expected. "She wants to, but I don't know. You guys sure know how to party hard."

He pats Steve on the back at that, causing the latter to roll his eyes. But he says, "Of course there will be... some drinking, and the party would last well past her bedtime, but I don't see the harm in letting her hang around for an hour or so."

Tony feigns shock. "Since when did you become irresponsible?"

"I'm not. She just hasn't seen some of us in a while, so I figured it'd be fine if she at least came down to say hi." Truth be told, Steve has taken a liking to Grace. She inherits her father's sarcasm at times — and his stubbornness — but Pepper managed to instill some sense into her. Plus, she likes to draw, too. He makes her feel old, but not in a bad way. Like the responsible uncle he always knew he'd be.

"I second that," Nat says. She's missed her. It feels like every time she sees her, she grows a whole foot. And reads about ten more books.

"Yes, the young Stark is quite adorable," Thor says. He really thinks she would make a great warrior someday, and she has all the best parts of her father's personality, from what he's seen, as well as lively, pleasant parts of her own. "She did a drawing of me a few months ago, and, I must say, it is exquisite."

Tony chuckles. "Get in line, pal. She's done hundreds of me."

"Hey, it's my turn next," Clint says. It's easy to be with her. He'd babysit her any day of the week — but maybe that's just because he's had practice with his own kids. "She hasn't done one of me yet," he continues. "And, besides, I'll have plenty of time to pose when we get back."

Bruce chuckles, then says, "I think you should let her come down for a little bit, Tony. Might be good for her to get out of her room, see different people she hasn't seen in while. You trust everyone that'll be there, so what's the harm?" The only other people on the team who see her more than Bruce are Nat and Tony. And she confides in him sometimes when she's annoyed at Tony for whatever reason — at least, when Pepper isn't around. She also thinks all the stuff he does in the lab is interesting, so it's nice to have someone other than Tony to talk to about his work.

Tony sighs. "Alright, fine, you all convinced me. So, if something happens, it's on you."