After the War

Eyes in the light

Maria

Don't ask me how we did it, but we did it. We won and the Avengers were free to go. Same went for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Guardians. We walked calmly, well, most of us walked calmly, FitzSimmons, Daisy, Shuri and Harley and Parker, which we had stumbled upon on our way out, were more like happy puppies... The rest of us walked calmly out of the courtroom, not speaking till we were in the giant hallway.

"Well, that went fantastic, didn't it?" Tony was the first to speak. "That sure went better than I expected," Steve replied. "They couldn't put us in jail after realizing we were heroes, now could they? Was about time they did." "Tony, it's starting to sound like your ego is going to run wild again." "Shut up, Rogers, we are heroes. We saved the world... twice. And now we saved the universe!" "You know Thanos will come after us, right?" This shut Tony up for a few seconds, "Yes, he will. And we'll avenge Bruce when he does. But let's take some rest first, we need it. And I can't think of a better way to take rest than to party." Steve rolled his eyes, "A party?" "We deserved it after everything we went through, besides, WE WON! What better reason to celebrate than our freedom? I mean, you're Captain "friggin'" America, don't you like... really value freedom?" "I do," Steve admitted. "Well then? Where's your patriotism, Steve?" "Tony..." "Party at the Avengers compound tonight, who's in?" Everyone cheered, even Steve, after being poked in the stomach by Natasha's elbow.

"So... you just gonna let them think they won this themselves?" Pepper asked me as we were walking to the door to finally leave this damned building behind. We were walking a little bit behind the group. "Hmm?" "Well, your speech seemed to have played a really big part in all of this." "Oh please, like they actually would have locked the Avengers away." "They have done it before, back in 2016, remember? Wanda, Clint, Scott... I don't know who else but there might have been others." "This is different." "How?" "Because now there's a known threat. Thanos. The U.N. knows they can't defend the planet without the help of super powered people..." "You really think they actually care so much about that?" "They should." "I don't think so. They'd just try to kill him with all their firepower and then regret their previous stupid decisions." "Might be." "It sounds like something they would do, and then they'd beg the Avengers to fix it." "And then blame them for the destruction that would have been caused to the planet." "Sounds like it. But we've gone a little off topic." "Have we?" "Yes, the topic was you being of a lot of help today." "Oh... that." "Yes, that." I sighed, "Really, it's fine like this. I'm used to it. I mean, I used to work with Nick Fury a lot and he never really acknowledged my help, so..." "Yeah, cause telling me that really makes me think you don't need to be appreciated a little more." "I prefer to let things like this be, okay? I mean... they should be the ones thinking of it. I shouldn't have to tell them."

I didn't feel bad about the Avengers not acknowledging my help. I didn't, I mean... I was used to it. I'm used to being underappreciated. And let's be real, some of the Avengers have such big ego's that they'd think they could have done it themselves. Those would never admit that someone actually helped them. Apart from that I'm also used to staying on the background a little. I mean, yes, I was Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I knew quite a lot about my agents, who knew close to nothing about me... and I really don't know where I was going with this... Anyway, it's fine that they forget about me, I only helped them stay out of jail... that's all I did. It's not like I pulled of anything special... I don't care what they think. Not the Avengers, not the Guardians, not even the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. It's all fine by me... It is, really. Is it though?

Daisy

As we left we had somehow started to sing "We are the champions"... loudly. And with loudly I mean loud enough to probably be heard on the other end of the street. Some of us sounded good, others sounded horrible, I'm not gonna name any names though. Anyway, it was great, singing as loud as my throat and lungs would allow my while feeling the freedom and all. And of course the thought of the upcoming party! A party at the Avengers compound! With the Avengers! I mean, that's awesome, right? Yeah, it most definitely is. Especially when my friends are there to celebrate with me.