A/N: Well kiddos, it's here. It's the final chapter of this story that I didn't think I'd ever finish. But I did, so go me. I have truly and sincerely loved writing this for you all over the summer; it was a lot of writing and a lot of updating and there were times when I thought no one except myself was as passionate about it anymore but clearly, that was a lie. You guys came through every time, and I love you all so very much for it. I made it too 100k+ with this story, and that's pretty insane, especially since half of the story was all derived from the movie. Not to fear though, this isn't the end of Katniss' journey. I'll get to that in the author's note I reserve to the end though, so this little tidbit should be incentive enough to read to the bottom: I give sequel info. Now read away.

Chapter Twenty Five: Wednesday Morning

New York was a different place than Katniss remembered.

What she remembered was fire raining down, rubble scattered all over the streets, a haunting silence that was still filled with the echoes of sirens and screams, people running in every direction as they tried to take cover, and the skies filled with alien aircrafts. She could still hear the screeches of those Chitauri as they zipped around corners, flying through buildings and leaving trails of destruction everywhere they went. The acrid smell of smoke, the sweat pouring down her face and neck, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, her arm slowly starting to feel like jelly with the repetitive aim-fire method she'd developed for herself. Natasha landing on that car. Gale falling to his death. Steve being that close to her, kissing her. Tony shooting up into the sky in the wormhole and then everything going black—all of it was clearly etched into her memory as the Quinjet zipped over the sky line, bringing all those memories back to the forefront of her mind.

She hardly recognized the city that was below them, and she could feel everyone's gaze returning to her as she gaped out the window in awe. It seemed normal, almost beautiful from above without aliens pouring from the sky. There was a sort of peace that came along with seeing Manhattan for the first time for what it really was: just another city on the map. The sounds of the birds chirping, sun shining and a small breeze twisting and twirling past them, all of it was so docile and relaxing. If this was how New York really and truly was, then maybe there was hope for moving past all of what had happened. Maybe she'd stop flinching every time she heard a car horn or saw a bird flying overhead.

"Guys, it's down here!" came Tony Stark's typically loud mouth from the other end of the graveyard, which earned him a glare from Natasha that was strong enough to knock him into a grave of his own.

"Jesus Christ, Stark, have you ever heard of respecting the dead?" grumbled Clint, hands shoved deep into his pockets as they walked past the rows and rows of headstones. Katniss couldn't help but to take in each individual grave marker, reading the names as best she could as Bruce shuffled her along. There was word about them being on a time limit; clearly, the Avengers couldn't stand around in a graveyard for longer than five minutes but there was no issue on SHIELD's end with them strolling around in the open as Thor took Loki back to Asgard. Things like that baffled Katniss.

It had taken a great deal of batting eyelashes and empty threats in order for her to get out of her last bit of physical therapy. Fury wasn't willing to budge on it, but thankfully Dr. Maxfield had deemed her well enough to return to everyday life. The only problem with that was Katniss had no inkling of an idea as to what everyday life was. Her everyday life had been shattered the minute that Fury nabbed her from Twelve. Now, she was left to start a new one, almost like Bruce had pointed out in the cafeteria that night; it was a new day. A new page in a new book, and there were endless possibilities now on how to fill them.

"I'm very familiar with the concept, thank you," Tony said, his voice slightly quieter as they grew closer to him, his arms folded over his chest. "But, as Cyclops told us, we have to get on with the program, and as you can see, this is one monstrosity of a graveyard." He swiveled around, his arms extended as he gestured around him. "We'd be here for hours if we decided to look for Coulson one by one, or worse, spread out."

Tony's eyes narrowed as he set his gaze dead on Steve, who had suggested that idea in the first place. Steve's hand shot up in innocence, and Natasha rolled her eyes. "Tony, you act as though you have some large itinerary lined up when you know you have nothing else better to do today, get over yourself," she growled. Ah, yes, Katniss thought, the Avengers in a graveyard early on a Wednesday probably wasn't the best idea Fury's had. But, if this is normal, then I can definitely get used to this.

Katniss' eyes locked on the headstone in front of her, reading to herself. Phillip J. Coulson, loving friend and mentor. A pang struck her in the chest as she thought back to the conversation that she'd had with Coulson; what was probably the first and only time she'd really talked to him. "You know who you are," his voice echoed in her head. "Give it some time. You will."

Natasha's voice cut through the memory of Coulson's, reading aloud the quote that had been added on underneath his name and the dates. "We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears. We must not demean life by standing in awe of death." She sounded entirely too calm as she read it, the silence consuming all of them. "David Sarnoff," she tacked on at the end, most likely an attempt to dispel the awkwardness around them.

"You know who that quote's by?" Tony asked, baffled.

She shot him another look, and Tony shrouded away in silence once more. Thor's booming voice was quick to pick back up—if they hadn't been standing at Coulson's grave, it would have been a hilarious sight watching his large figure in that even larger costume bend down and place the flowers that they'd all collectively decided on—sounding rather distraught. It went over Katniss' head initially, but the realization that he'd been close to Coulson and had considered him more of a friend than anyone else on the team sank in as his words seemed to echo. "Friend Son of Coul, you shall be truly missed."

"Uh…yeah, what Shakespeare said," Tony uttered out quickly. It was evident that he was trying not to come off too susceptible, or hell, even cry. Katniss had never seen Tony even close to showing such emotion before, and she was a little scared the more she thought about it. Tony was almost like Clint and Natasha; good at showing no emotion, even when it was getting to him.

"He would have been really happy," Natasha mumbled. "Seeing us all together. It was what he wanted, what he believed in."

There was more silence after that, the leaves rustling around some of the trees that stood over the graveyard. It was obvious that no one knew what to say or what to do; Coulson had been their biggest supporter and believer the whole time, but there was a lack of words in everyone else's mouths. Katniss just stared intently at the dates on the grave, trying to keep her own mind off of the waterworks threatening to rise. Today was supposed to be a happy day. Today was the day that things truly started over, a day of rebirth. Crying over Coulson wouldn't do him any good, it wouldn't save him or bring him back. Tony readjusted his sunglasses, pushing them up higher on the bridge of his nose. "Well children, shall we?" he finally said, pointing towards the array of vehicles on the opposite end of the graveyard.

Fury was all for sticking undercover, and he'd pulled out all of the stops in order to make sure that they remained as incognito as they possibly could. He'd made sure that they had a SHIELD car, Steve's motorcycle, Tony's sports car—Tony was a little hard to work with, eventually accepting that making Tony unrecognizable or forcing him into doing such wasn't going to work, and they were going to have to hope for the best. The rest of them, minus Thor and Loki, were all wearing street clothes and looked more normal than Katniss had expected them all to. Clambering into the back of the SHIELD-assigned car with Bruce, she saw Thor marching off with Loki, who had been extracted from the car only moments before. "Where are they going?" she asked.

Bruce shrugged. Clint, who had slid into the driver's seat with Natasha right behind him, spoke up. "They're flying. Thor claims it's faster, and frankly, you'd have to drug me before I willingly escorted around his bastard of a brother," he explained.

"Definitely not bitter, are we?" Natasha said dryly. Clint growled and the car lurched to life, speeding off right on the heels of Tony's sports car.

The entire car ride to Central Park consisted of Katniss lounging in the backseat with Bruce, the two of them animatedly conversing with Clint and Natasha and the radio playing in the background. For a moment, Katniss forgot that the pair were a couple of assassins who were completely capable of killing anyone and anything, had done years of espionage and missions and could appear to be machines at times. She wondered if this was the real and true version of Clint and Natasha; laidback, chatting away and ignoring the fact that they did have one of the most demanding jobs on the planet. They were just people. Bruce interrupted her train of thought, leaning over and tapping her on the arm. "Are you going back with me and Tony after this?" he asked.

Katniss shook her head. "No, I'm only giving Tony my bags. Steve and I are—we're going somewhere," she admitted sheepishly. "I'm just not sure where." Clint, true to his code name, was watching her through the mirror like a hawk. "Oh relax, it's just for the afternoon."

Bruce was oddly enough quick to side with her, Katniss watching him with a rather surprised look on her face. "Admit it Barton, you and Natasha are off on some date after this too," he teased. Katniss found herself laughing and Bruce's audacity, clapping him on the shoulder as she giggled. Clint's face was set in a stony expression, and if her eyes weren't mistaking her, he was blushing a little.

"We don't date," Natasha interjected coldly.

"Sure you don't," Katniss sang out.

The car rolled to a stop in front of a small bridge there in Central Park, everyone climbing out as Thor and Loki strolled on through to the middle of the circle. They were all quick to follow behind, Steve shooting Katniss a small smile in reassurance. She hadn't seen Loki since that day in New York; what with her being so preoccupied with getting better and being forced to watch Tony play charades with more unwilling participants from her bed, she hadn't even thought about dropping by where they were holding Loki prisoner. It was probably a good idea, because the minute her eyes honed in on him, she felt her blood run cold. There were all sorts of suppressed feelings of fear and anger rising inside of her, and it took a moment of counting her breaths and focusing on the fact that she was alright to keep from killing him or throwing up.

They all stood in a circle, watching and waiting. Someone opened up a briefcase, Bruce standing over it with metal tongs as he placed the Tesseract into the container that Thor had a tight grip on. Katniss looked around at all of the people walking by, hardly noticing their presence there. She found it a little puzzling, but didn't question it. Her gaze then went around the circle, taking in everyone's expression. Tony had a smug smirk on his face, arms crossed and eyes locked dead on Loki. Clint and Natasha were standing close to each other, Natasha whispering something into Clint's ear that made him smile. Steve, as usual, was standing with his hands folded neatly behind his back, watching on closely. Bruce backed away from Thor and Loki, Thor giving him a small nod as he himself made sure to make eye contact with all of his teammates.

It happened rather quickly; Thor turned the handle on the container that held the Tesseract, and it was like the heavens opened. For a moment, Katniss thought that more Chitauri would come flying out, but instead, a large beam of light struck down and took Thor and Loki up. The wind blew her hair straight back; eyes squinted as she looked up to try to find where the pillar of light had come from. As soon as it had arrived, it was gone, nothing standing in the place of where Thor and Loki had once been. It's over.

Clint and Natasha turned into the unofficial bag deliverers, pulling bags out of the car and handing them to Tony and Bruce. Katniss stood there idly, not sure of what she was supposed to do. She watched as Clint pulled her duffel bag out of the trunk, internally chuckling at the fact that they'd given her such a big bag for her belongings. She knew that there was hardly anything in there with the exception of minimal clothes changes, one of Clint's quivers filled with arrows and her bow. He handed it off to Tony before turning to face her.

She was slightly taken aback at how fast Clint pulled her into a hug, but she was quick to return the gesture. "Love you, kiddo," he whispered into her ear, pulling away a few seconds later.

"Love you too," she replied, catching sight of Steve lounging up against his motorcycle and waiting on her.

"What time are you getting back to the Tower, I'll make sure Happy knows to look out for you?" Tony called out. Katniss just shrugged, she still had no idea what Steve was planning on doing. "Right, I'll just have him camp out downstairs, sounds like a plan." He shot his goddaughter a thumbs up and a wink before clambering into his sports car with Bruce.

Right as she started over to where Steve was, she felt a hand tug on her arm, turning her around. Katniss found herself face to face with Natasha, who had a small smile on her own face. "Give Tony hell," she said softly. "And…for you." Natasha extended her other hand, dropping something small into Katniss' hand. When Katniss opened her fist, she saw a small rectangle pendant resting in her hand. Her fingers ran over the edges, finding a place to pull it open. Inside were two pictures on the farther panels, the one in the middle empty. One of the photos was of Clint's arrows, the other of Natasha's utility belt buckle.

"I'm sorry it can't be actual pictures of us, it's just not safe even if you weren't going out into the field," Natasha apologized. "Maybe if I can do some digging and find baby pictures of me and Clint—"

"It's…it's fine. Really, it's beautiful," Katniss insisted. "Thank you."

She pulled Natasha into an unexpected hug, not realizing that she could probably get killed for making such a bold move until she already had her arms wrapped tight around Natasha's neck. "You're, uh, you're welcome," Natasha replied awkwardly, the two of them separating almost instantly after. "Have fun with Steve, alright?"

"Have fun with Clint." Katniss gave her mom a small smile, mouthing the words 'I love you' to her, since she knew Natasha wouldn't say them out loud. Natasha winked, turning on her heel and clicking back off to the car where Clint was waiting on her.

There was a newfound spring in her step as Katniss pocketed the necklace, beaming as she approached Steve. "You ready?" he asked.

"Born."

Steve's motorcycle frightened her a little; there was really no denying that. But she had told herself that living in this new world would require warming up to all of these things, and if Steve was used to it, then she knew she was behind. He mounted the motorcycle, balancing it so Katniss could climb on. "Alright," he began. "When she goes, she goes, and I don't want you falling off, so hold on." Katniss swung her leg over the motorcycle, adjusting herself on the seat before wrapping her arms around Steve's waist.

Resting her chin down on his shoulder, she smiled at him. "Gotcha."

The sound of the motorcycle roaring to life startled her a little, her grip on Steve tightening as he lifted his feet off the ground and they shot off through the streets. Katniss could feel the terror settling into an adrenaline, one that she was more than content with as they rode through Central Park. There was something about the wind blowing her hair back behind her, unable to hear anything but the sound of the air rushing in her ears. It almost felt like flying, in her mind. She grew more comfortable with every minute that passed, her locked arms loosening a little so she had a little more freedom to lean back and embrace the sun that was spilling over the tops of the trees. This was what life was, not the dark dingy past of living in Twelve or being cooped up on the Helicarrier.

Katniss' eyes had been closed for so long that when the motorcycle finally stopped, she hardly recognized where they were. Steve kicked the breaks down, sliding off with ease and extending his hand for Katniss. She took it graciously, softly muttering her thanks. "You okay?" he asked her.

She was half-paying attention to him, half-paying attention to the vibrant greenery around her, the shade of a tree in the middle of the park with a small blanket sprawled out underneath it. Her eyes met his, twinkling as the sunlight caught a hold of them. It didn't take long for her to think of her answer to his simple question; even though he had meant it for one thing alone, she had taken it in as a whole. Smiling up at him, she nodded. "Yeah, I think I am."

A/N: THAT'S IT! WE HAVE ARRIVED AT THE END OH MY GOD YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW PROUD OF MYSELF I AM FOR THIS. This has honestly been one of the most fun stories I've ever written mainly because I wasn't writing for someone else, I was writing for me and you all just so happened to enjoy it. Thank you times a million for all of your follows, favorites and reviews, they mean so much to me. I promised you sequel info so here it is: on YouTube, you can go watch the trailer for the sequel (which is five hundred zillion times better than the trailer for Lights Out, I can guarantee it) and you can also read the first chapter of the story now if you go back to my profile! The sequel is titled 'Inferno' and I am honestly so excited for this, you really have no clue. I hope that you'll go check that out and leave a review over there telling me what you think. Thank you so much for making this so much more wonderful than I had expected it to be. Can officially check my eighth/ninth grade self's dream of this being written down off the list. I love you all. :)