As the sun set over the city, the destruction that had taken place that day truly set in. The final rays of light glinted off of the shards of metal, which formerly took shape of skyscrapers and cityscapes, now lying on the ground discarded from the after math of the battle. Amongst the rubble, citizens searched for valuables, pets, and even loved ones as their hope of finding anything important drew to a close along with the day. Amongst the civilians, a lone figure sat, staring into the wreckage. He perked up as he heard someone approach from behind.

"We could have stopped it. We could have been here sooner. We could have kept Loki from destroying these people's homes, their lives, everything…. These people have lost so much, and we could have helped them not to."

"Steve, you can't think like that. You know that you did everything you could for them. Some things are just out of your control. You tried your best, that's all that matters to them, or the team, or me," the female sits beside him, grabbing his hand and leaning against his shoulder. He leans into her, letting some of the weight he had been bearing go, as he visibly relaxes.

"Come on, Cap. It's getting late, and we've had a long day. It's time to get home."

"Ari, I honestly don't even know where home is anymore."

"Home is wherever we have each other. Home is with the team that we fought with until the end today. Home is with the people that, despite all of our fighting, still love us. It's not a physical place, it's the people we're with. So let's go home to them, ok?"

"What would I do without you?" he says, as he puts his arm around her, softly smiling.

"Hopefully that's something you'll never have to find out," Ariadne smiles back to him, "Now come on. I'm starving, and Stark mentioned Shawarma."

As the two heroes stand, you can see how disheveled the battle has left them. Captain America, as the world knows him, looks exhausted, his uniform torn and dirty, and his shield bearing several new scrapes. Ariadne has fared the battle well, not being in the action as much as he was, since she acts as the teams' analyst. It was only towards the end that she was really pulled into the heat of things, managing to hold her own well enough, but not escaping without a few cuts and bruises.

"Hey, there they are! New York's finest!" Clint shouts, spotting the approaching duo. The team has already assembled around the table in one of the few untouched rooms at Stark Tower.

"How you feeling, ace?" Clint asks, as he goes up and pulls Ariadne in for a hug.

"You know, I've felt better, but I'll definitely survive. I'm feeling pretty bruised, though."

"It was impressive how you handled yourself out there. For a rookie," Natasha says, as she brings food out to the table with Pepper.

"Yeah, who knew you had it in you? All that gun shooting, and fan kicks. It almost looked choreographed. You should join us in the field more often" Tony adds, as he enters the room. At this comment, you can see Steve visible stiffen.

"I disagree. I think she's safer behind the desk, and that's where she'll stay," he replies.

"What's wrong, Rogers? Don't want your best friend having more fun than you out there?" Tony says, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"You'd call that fun, Stark?! That out there was war! That was innocent people losing their lives! That was women and children losing their husbands and fathers. That was kids being left orphaned, and engaged couples being left widowed before they even made it to the altar! None of this is fun! We almost lost half of the team itself! So forgive me for not wanting an untrained member of this team to go out there and almost get herself killed again," Steve says, slamming his glass on the table before storming out of the room.

At this outburst, everyone in the room becomes deadly silent, as the memories of their day come racing back. Tony, more than any of them, understands the weight of the events, as he almost didn't return to the team alive after his stunt with the missile. Pepper comes and lays her hands on his shoulders, hoping to alleviate some of the pain that comes flooding to his mind. You can see it in the eyes of Dr. Banner and Thor that neither of them can forget the damage they've caused to others' lives today, despite it being for the greater good. Clint and Natasha exchange a knowing glance, before leaning into each other, realizing that today could have been their last day together.

Ariadne is left speechless, staring out of the tower at the setting sun, fully understanding the consequences that her actions could have led to today. She didn't even think before running into the battle today. As she saw the missile coming in on her radar, she knew that the team had little to no time to fix things, and there was nothing she could do from her position at the tower. She understood that they had very little time left, and as she saw it, the end was imminent. The only thing she had on her mind was getting to her best friend, the man she had grown to know better than anyone else in her life over the course of the last several years. If this was indeed going to be the end of them, she wasn't going to sit by and watch it happen. She was at least going to be with the people that she loved.

In coming to this decision, she didn't realize that the Chitauri would have no awareness that it would be over soon. They would still be fighting to the death, and she would just be another human target to overcome. She had managed to go relatively unnoticed, racing block after block towards the main team, only having to stop to shoot at a few of the aliens. She had almost made it unscathed, too, until she rounded the final corner. It was here that she locked eyes with Steve, and let her guard down. As she slowed down her pace, one of the creatures grabbed her, and could have ended her right then and there had it not been for the timing of Dr. Bruce Banner. She would forever be grateful to him for saving her there, and delivering her safely to the team.

Now, reflecting on everything that had happened to her alone, Ari can't imagine how the rest of the citizens of New York must be feeling. Torn apart, scared, lost, and alone. The gravity of today would be a weight on her shoulders for a long time to come. But this was what she had signed up for. She signed up to help save the world from whatever she could, and she knew that she can't win them all… but she never thought that losing one would feel as God awful as this one did.

Sensing the tension in the room, Thor finally decides to speak up. Raising his glass, he spoke out to the team,

"I know that today was rough for many of us. I am forever sorry for the trouble and pain that my brother has caused to your people. But know that we are now a team. We are now a family. I will do whatever I can to help your world regain its strength. Today we fought as one, and we will win as one. We cannot focus on our downfalls, but only on our strengths. For tonight should be a night of celebration, as today was filled with enough darkness to last us many moons. So let us forget our pain, if only for a while. Let us sit, and enjoy, and eat!"

This seemed to be the encouragement the team needed to snap out of their daze, as they moved towards the table.

"Wait, where's Steve?" Bruce asked.

"Don't worry, I'll go find him. This could take a bit, so you guys can go ahead and start," Ariadne replied, snapping out of her reverie.

Pepper walked over, and gave a small hug to the obviously shaken and hurting young girl. "He'll be fine, sweetie. So will you. We all will be. Because we have each other, right?"

The others all nodded in agreement, and as Ariadne looked around the room, she saw the encouraging faces of a new family. Clint and Natasha sent her warm smiles that seemed to reach their eyes, as Bruce gave her the encouraging fatherly look she'd come to love from him. Thor gave her a beaming grin that made her heart warm, and even Tony sent her a look that said 'I'm here for you, and him.' Though it was disjointed, and abnormal, it was her perfect family, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Thanks, everyone. Go ahead and eat. Just make sure Thor and Banner save us some food for later," and with a wink and a smile, she walked down the halls of Stark Tower to find where her super soldier had gone.

Hi, all! This is my first Avengers story that I've published, so please let me know what you think of it! I'm a huge Marvel fan, so I love being able to create a little bit more backstory on how the MCU interconnects these lovely characters, and what really happens with the others when things get tough for one of the team members. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please, review and let me know what you think!

-C.

PS: Disclaimer for the entirety of this story: I do not now, nor have I ever (to my knowledge) owned anything more than a small piece of stock in the Marvel company. Therefore, the Avengers, characters, and story lines surrounding them are owned strictly by the wonderful Walt Disney Corporation and all those involved. I am merely a humble fan who loves putting her own spin on things.