Prologue

Tony Stark was more than unhappy when his tower got destroyed in the second Battle of New York. But, it gave him the opportunity to rebuild not only the tower, but himself and the lives and the rest of the Avengers.

So, he named the new tower for all of them. Thus, Avengers Tower was born, and not only was it home to the Avengers and their friends, but it was also an unofficial SHIELD base, where a couple of SHIELD agents resided. Darcy Lewis, Skye, Maria Hill, and Sharon Carter are the agents stationed at the tower, but Darcy is with Jane in another country, and Skye was called months ago for a mission in Puerto Rico.

One of the other agents, Antoine Triplett, had gone also, and only a couple days later, the team received news of Trip's death and the development of Skye's new abilities. No news had come since then, but the team didn't sit well with that, so Tony hacked the network. Nothing was there, so the team has been in the dark on the situation ever since it was a situation.

Now, Avengers Tower is full of life as its occupants enjoy the rare opportunity to relax. Tony is nowhere to be seen, as he had left to get the pizza. In his Ironman suit.

Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter, and Thor sit on the couch in front of Clint and Natasha, casually conversing about the assassins' recent mission. Sam Wilson, Maria Hill, and Bruce Banner are locked in a conversation by the bar.

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy stand slightly away from the group, talking alone. Gwen's family had recently moved out of New York City, so she's struggling a little bit. But, with Peter there, she feels better, and it reminds her that they can never know that she's still alive.

Finally Tony Stark walks into the room, carrying four boxes of pizza. "You'd think from living in New York people would get used to seeing me flying around." He says, putting the pizzas on the coffee table in front of where Steve, Thor, Sharon, Clint, and Natasha are sitting. "I mean seriously, the guy took fifteen minutes just to get the pizzas and cash in my credit card."

"Well, you are a billionaire who owns the most advanced technology business in the world, and is also one of the people who saved the world. Twice." Peter says, walking up to the group with Gwen. "I would be a little nervous."

"Actually, I recall you being nervous when I first met you." Tony exclaims.

"That's only because Pepper was with you." The spider replies, grinning. The group laughs as they all take turns grabbing slices of pizza from the boxes.

Tony just rolls his eyes and sits down in one of the armchairs. Sam sits next to Steve, and Gwen takes a seat by Sharon. Bruce takes the other armchair, and Peter and Maria sit next to each other on the last double-seater couch.

"You have to admit, Tony, Pepper's pretty intimidating." Clint says, grinning. His eyes widen as he takes a bite of pizza. "Holy shit! Where did you get this pizza?"

Tony ignores him. "Pepper's only intimidating because she's married to me."

This statement causes the others to scoff and roll their eyes, while some add stories or comments on just how intimidating Pepper Stark would be if she hadn't married Tony. The billionaire chooses to ignore them and he eats his pizza in silence.

A comfortable bubble surrounds the group as the subject of their conversation keeps changing. They're all smiles, enjoying this small, quiet moment in their huge lives.

Suddenly, Steve's phone starts to ring, and he excuses himself, walking a couple feet away before fishing it out of his pocket and answering: "Hello?"

"Hello, Captain."

The blonde's eyes widen. "Coulson?" the other occupants of the room hear him and their conversation quickly fades as they look at the captain.

"That would be me." The director responds, "Sadly, I'm not calling on a happy note. We have to activate Theta protocol."

Steve sighs, looking at the floor. It had to be tonight, didn't it? "What's the mission?"

"Sokovia," Coulson replies, "Hydra's got ahold of Loki's scepter, and who knows what they're planning to do with it."

"We'll leave as soon as possible." Steve promises.

"Good luck, Captain."

Hanging up the call, Steve puts his phone back in his pocket before turning back to the rest of the Avengers, who are looking at him with confused faces. Tony and Sam stand up. Steve takes a deep breath.

"Time to suit up."

"What are you going to do while we're gone?" Steve asks, walking side by side with Sharon toward where the jet waits.

She laughs. "Stay here. Trust me, we're all excited to have you boys out of the tower for a couple of days."

"It's too bad I won't be staying with you." Natasha says, sighing playfully as she walks past the two blondes. Sam follows right behind her, smiling at Steve over his shoulder as he heads toward the hangar also.

Steve smiles and shakes his head as he follows Natasha through the door to the landing room. Sharon follows, and Steve turns back around to pull her into a gentle hug. She pulls away from it first. "Stay safe."

"I will."

She smiles and pushes him gently toward the jet. The two aren't an official couple yet, but they'd both like to be, and so does the rest of the team. Escpecially Tony. He's sick of the sexual tension that happens everytime those two are in a room together. He's not afraid to tell them that either.

Sharon's about to say something more, but decides against it, and turns around to join Gwen, Sam, and Maria in the corner of the room. Steve's eyes flicker briefly with disappointment, but he turns around also and boards the jet.

Gwen had just finished saying goodbye to Peter, who now walks confidently towards the jet in his new suit,. It's still the classic red and blue, but now the Avengers symbol is on one shoulder, and the SHIELD symbol is on the other. His girlfriend was pleased to find out that the material was now thicker and nearly bulletproof.

The four girls and Sam watch and wave as the jet takes off into the New York night, before filing one by one back into the tower.