Chapter Text
(ONE YEAR AFTER ENDGAME)
"I brought schwarmaaaaaaaa!!!" Tony sing-songs as he enters the dining hall, pulling a cooler he modified to store hot foods behind him. He's followed by his young pseudo son Peter and actual daughter Morgan, who's walking hand-in-hand with her mom, Pepper Potts. Bruce Banner perks up when he spots Tony entering, pulling out of his conversation with Korg to greet the group, before re-joining it.
Tony does a scan of the hall and finds that a bunch of people has already arrived: Thor and Carol were at the head of the dining table in an arm-wrestling battle being reffed by Valkyrie, Clint and his family were setting plates and other dishes on the large table with the help of Natasha and her family, who showed up shortly after the end of the battle, to everyone's shock. Shuri, who has become close friends with Peter is bounding over to said teen with vine references spilling out of her mouth, and Bucky Barnes is talking with T'Challa about possibly moving back to his little hut in Wakanda. Scott is sitting at a neighboring table in a debate with Sam.
Steve... well no one knows where Steve went. When he went to return the stones, he never returned, but the computer relayed information saying he had completed his mission. Tony suspects Steve stayed in the past, but if he had there had to be some sort of record of him, right? Well, when Tony looked, he couldn't find anything! He checked with Sharon, and Peggy was still married to that other guy on records, so he had no idea where Rogers was.
"Damn!" Thor exclaims when Carol finally slams Thor's hand down on the table,
"I win!" Carol trills in a cheery voice, then turns to where Tony is standing, "Hey Tony!"
"Ah, Man of Iron! You've arrived!" Thor announces, "Great! Now we can start the festivities!"
later
Thor suddenly stands from his chair, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. The dinner was phenomenal, with every member bringing something from their world/home, (Thor with Asgardian food, Valkyrie and Korg with Sakaarian, and everyone else bringing dishes from their homeland or childhood recipes,)
"I would like to make a toast," Thor begins, "One year ago, we at this table, along with many others, fought against the Mad Titan. We braved against his forces and prevailed, but not without a toll. Many lives were lost, and I would like to take a moment of silence for those that did not return; Vision, Heimdall... and my brother Loki who all perished at the hands of Thanos, who sacrificed themselves so that we may be victorious, and Captain Steve Rogers, who was lost to time..." The whole table lowered their heads in recognition of the fallen: even though they still didn't really believe Loki was actually good, they trusted Thor and Bruce's words. A few moments passed before Thor continued, "I do hope they are looking upon us in Vallhala and that they know that we prevailed,"
Suddenly, almost as if it were summoned by Thor's words, an orange rectangle expanded at the other end of the table, "Is that Strange?" Clint asks, "I thought he and Wanda couldn't make it?"
"No, Strange's portals are different," Tony remarks, "They're much more... magical," At that the Avengers get into defensive positions, not knowing who, or what made the portal. They could hear muffled voices coming from it but the door was cloudy and looked almost like a piece of stained glass. Then, a figure falls out with its back facing the group,
"Norns-dammit, Sylvie!" roars the figure as it scrambles up to make a break for the door, only for it to disappear.
Thor stiffens... 'No... It can't be,' he thinks. But when Loki whips his head around to assess where he is, time stops.
"Oh, Shit..." Loki exhales.