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MAL FELT TREMENDOUSLY better than when she had first woken up after the wormhole. Given that the particular event had happened two days ago, and she barely left her bed during that time, it wasn't surprising. Her more superficial injuries had healed themselves, but there were bandages wrapped around her torso to help her broken ribs heal. As it turned out, she had broken not one, but three of them. Tony had graciously let her stay at Stark Tower – or, as he had told her in confidence, soon-to-be Avengers Tower. Mal had even gotten to meet Pepper, who absolutely adored Mal the second she laid eyes on her. It took everything in her not to adopt her on the spot. Mal had liked laying low for a few days, but now the time has come to see Thor and Loki off to their own realm of Asgard, and for the rest to go their own ways.
Mal felt the warm sun on her skin, her dress swaying slightly in the light breeze. It was a gift from Natasha, who said that green was definitely her color. She smiled at Thor, who grinned at her in return. The Tesseract was set in place in some kind of mechanism that Mal didn't totally understand, but she didn't particularly care about it either way. In a bright blue flash, Thor and Loki were gone. Mal sighed, hoping that Thor was going to be okay. Of course, he was a god, but she still worried.
Slowly, everyone gathered around Tony's very fancy car. Bruce was going to be staying with the billionaire, while Steve went his own way, and Natasha and Clint went back to business as usual at S.H.I.E.L.D.
"What about you, Mal? What're you gonna do?" Steve asked, looking down at the young girl. She was strong, and had fought well during the fight, but she was still just a kid. Mal shrugged, smoothing out the fabric of her dress that ended at her knees.
"I'm gonna be staying with Tony for a week or so while Fury can figure out another foster home for me." She said, and even though it hurt her heart to say the words out loud, she still had a smile on her face. "Legally, I'm not old enough to live on my own yet, and Fury won't even pull a few strings to let me. Something about me, 'being too much like Tony'?" She explained, using air quotes. Steve laughed, and Tony smirked.
"You won't have to look anywhere," Natasha interrupted, stepping towards Mal, who gave her a confused look. "You can stay with me." Mal's mouth dropped open in surprise, her eyes wide.
"Really?" She squeaked out, and Natasha nodded with a smile.
"I'll have to find a bigger apartment, but, I don't see why not." Natasha explained, and Tony stepped in this time, resting an arm around Mal's shoulders.
"Say no more, I'll take care of it. I want nothing but the best for my new mini-me." Clint snickered, and Bruce smiled softly. "Besides, she can join the science bros while we get everything arranged." Mal raised an eyebrow as Tony gestured between him and Bruce at the mention of science bros.
"Do I get to play with the suit?" She asked, smirking slightly.
"Absolutely not," Came a chorus of replies from everyone around her, making Mal groan.
"You guys are no fun." She said, but she was smiling all the while.
"Alright kiddo, time to go," Tony said, gesturing towards his car. "Romanoff, I'll get the apartment preparations rolling ASAP." Natasha nodded at Tony, before she was tackled by Mal, who was hugging her tightly. Natasha smiled fondly, returning the hug. Pulling away, Mal gave the same treatment to Clint before turning and setting her sights on Steve. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she grinned as he held his arms out. Mal ran and lunged, jumping up to give him a proper hug since he was so much taller than she was.
"Okay, I'll see all of you guys soon, alright? No ifs, ands, or buts. I demand regular lunch dates." Mal said pointedly after detaching herself from Steve. Everyone nodded in compliance, before going to their respective vehicles. Mal climbed into the back of Tony's car and smiled contently to herself. She had lost so much, gone through so much pain, but in that moment she was finally, truly, blissfully, happy.
–•–•–
The Other bows to a strange being in a chair, explaining the situation of Loki's failure to capture Earth as his own.
"Humans are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand. They are unruly, and therefore, cannot be ruled. To challenge them, is to court death." The strange being smiles wickedly at the idea of killing the Avengers.
"And what of the girl?" He asked, voice booming out into the wide expanse before him. "Does she know of the stone?" The Other stood, with his head still bowed, so as to not look at Thanos directly.
"No, she has no knowledge of it." Thanos seemed pleased with the response, smirking more to himself than anything.
