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Chapter Fourteen

Tony kept true to his word. As soon as Loki was taken care of, the entire group made their way to the restaurant. 

Before they did, Tony insisted on removing his armor, and turning Hulk into Bruce, who somehow managed to do so himself. The rest of them? Yeah they were all stuck in their battle gear.

So they all walked into this covered in dirt and grime, bloody, completely tired, and dressed terribly. Elizabeth knew she should probably get taken care of because she was not like some of the others and couldn't just heal herself, or be fine. But at the same time, the wound on her stomach had stopped bleeding (or so she thought) and she just wanted food.

No one even dared to speak after they got their food. Everyone just sat in utter silence, devouring the food.

Bruce and Steve were at the head of the table, Thor to Steves right, and Natasha to Steve's left, leaving Tony and Clint next to Bruce, and Elizabeth was positioned on the ground, stretching while chomping away. Her muscles, and bones ached like no tomorrow, and when in doubt, stretch. She was just tired at this point, the adrenaline had worn off, and she had no energy for anything.

"Dude," Tony started as he watched her. "You look like shit. We need to work on getting you something better for fights."

Elizabeth rose her eyebrow slightly taken aback. He was implying that she was going to be fighting again, and nonetheless he seemed to want to do a project with her. "Certainly, Mr. Stark."

He only nodded before turning to Bruce, "So, do you have anywhere to go?" Tony had figured that Bruce didn't, because Natasha had found him in Calcutta, India. As much as he slightly admired the way Bruce had went to those poverty stricken areas to help, he wanted him to stay here.

"I do," he nodded into his food, that he wasn't even trying to be neat on eating.

"Oh," everyone couldn't help but notice the obvious disappointment on Tony's face.

It wasn't too long after that small conversation that they all walked out. Elizabeth couldn't help but notice that Bruce had hung more towards the back, in deep thought, so she decided to join him.

"Hey," she gave him her signature smile and hip bump (that she instantly regretted because wow was she in some pain). And she didn't even bother to pull away, because she was honestly scared that she might pass out soon, even with food in her system. "You know," she lowered her voice. "You can stay at my place, right?"

"I have-"

"You and I both know that that is a lie," if by a place to go was possible a trip to where ever on the planet, then sure.

"I wouldn't want to burden you."

"Bruce, you couldn't never be a burden to me," and not a single part of her was lying. "Besides, I might need a little bit of medical attention, Doc."

So that night Bruce found himself walking into Elizabeth's house, her trailing in front of him. And he would be honest, it felt weird. It was as if seeing a whole new side of her. Also, it didn't help that she had left him standing there to go get her first aid kit, some towels, and a tweezer for him to use.

The house was small, but was perfect for two people, at best, along with a spare. Most of the furniture looked rather old, except the large round chair thing in the corner. Despite this, overall it was very eccentric with the books that was tossed everywhere, along with the consistent splashes of neon. It was obvious that she took her time in decorating.

A shelf near the fire place held tons of photos, along with a variety of awards. There was family photos, and just some random photos of scenery. One that caught his attention was Elizabeth stood between two couples, a waterfall behind all of them. Looking at her grandparents and parents, he could definitely tell that she was their kid. Along with the photos were many, many awards, that caused him to chuckle. There was both athletic, and academic achievement awards from both school and college, her diplomas, along with one naming her valedictorian of her class. It didn't stop there because there was an influx of dance awards, and even several photos.