To All Those Brave and Lovely

when the world stops falling (we finally make a home)

When the news gets out that both THE GIRL WHO WALKED AWAY and Iron Man were safely recovered, the whole world goes into an uproar.

She's become their favorite person overnight, and Fury had to assign agents to go through all her fan mail and make sure there was nothing dangerous.  Everyone seemed to think that this was some sort of a Cinderella fairy tale, where she got lifted out of nothing and became more than she could ever dreamed, living with a nice house and surrounded by heroes, getting a great family and a great boyfriend, all the while leading to the moment when she would become a hero herself.

And maybe it was that story.  The fairy tale, where someone comes to save her and Nora never has to worry about the ugly parts of the world, because she knows they can handle it, as long as she can stick together.  Or maybe its the old fashion kind of fairy tale, where before you get to the happy ending you have to go through a lot of pain and suffering, where the ugly stepsisters slice off their toes to squish into the shoes and people you trust are actually evil queens in disguise.

Either way, Nora was happy to be back home.  There had been a time where she couldn't imagine ever calling the tower that, but now all she wanted was to sit in the kitchen and listen to Pepper and Tony bicker, to have the living room be a revolving door for scientists and superheroes alike, to be able to lock herself in her room and have Jarvis carry down the messages that other people are leaving for her when he dutifully tells him that she's out with Peter.

But before that happens, they have one more thing to do.

"You ready kid?"  Tony tries to smile, but since he was still sore it was more of a grimace.  "First ever press conference."

Pepper had set it all up for them.  Said this had raised questions from the public that need to be addressed.  She had promised it would only be the reporters they liked.

"Of course I'm ready."  Nora helped him shrug on the jacket, and they both pretend not to notice how bad it hurts him.  "The people love me."

He smiles and rests an arm around her shoulder, managing to turn a need for support into a fatherly hug, then partially opens the door.  It lets in a wave of sound, and they can hear Pepper talking to them already, giving the general statement they had agreed on.

Tony was hesitating.  This was always his least favorite part, and she knew that it was the last thing he wanted to be doing, seeing as how much pain he is in, so she leads the way.  "I've got this."  She pushes the door open and smiles into the sudden flash of the lights, waves a hand in greeting an slows her pace to match Tony's.  "We just have to keep smiling."

It wasn't bad.  The reporters were just as well behaved as Pepper promised, none of them shouting questions, all of them letting them take their time before answering.  She wouldn't mind taking over for Pepper a few times, just for fun.

"Last question."  Tony said, smiling patiently down at all of them.  "This one's got homework."

It wasn't really a funny joke, but they all laugh anyways.  They all laugh when Tony makes a joke, no matter how lame.  

One reporter steps up and out of the crowd, which was cheating, but Tony clearly thought it showed initiative, so he picked him.  Nora would have chosen anyone else.

"This ones for Nora, sent in from our listeners."  He's got a microphone sticking out to her and a Bluetooth in his ear, no doubt broadcasting their every word to some radio or podcast.  "We heard that you had a suit made for your rescue mission.  Do you have plans to continue the Iron Man legacy?"

She had, once.  Nora had liked to think about how she'd be able to fly around the world and fix things, but lately, she's realized that there's a lot of pain and problems right in front of her, and they just need someone to pay attention to them.

"I don't think I'm cut out to be that kind of hero."  She tightened her grip on the podium, trying to channel her inner MJ and make the words come out right.  "There's a lot of things to fix in this city.  A lot of quiet battles that need more people to fight in them.  So that's where I'm going.  But if I'm ever needed, the suit's there."  This would be replayed on every news station and twitter feed for the next week.  "Starks aren't the kind of people who walk away from a fight."

Evangeline's waiting for them both out front, leaning against the car.  She's officially on Nora's guard duty, mostly because Tony demanded an agent from Fury and Nora refused to take anyone else for the position.

(Peter said she was soft, and Tony said she was stubborn, but Nora knows the truth.  She just has trust issues.)

"Ms. Stark."  Evangeline grinned at her as she opened the passenger door and ushered her in.  "Where to?"

Later, there would be things to worry about.  People to save, benefits to host, fundraisers to hold.  Relationship problems to work through, and eventually, another round of doctor's visits to get these stupid sensors out of her arms.  But for right now, for what was maybe the first time in her life, she didn't have to worry about any of that.

"Anywhere you want, Eva."  They'd shortened it, to give her a name that hangs onto the past while giving her room for the present.  The ability to reshape herself into something new.    "Adventures await."

Evangeline got in the driver's seat, shoved her sunglasses up to the top of her head.  "You're the boss, Nora."  She threw it into drive, and then they were moving, cutting through the crowd and into the open road.  Nora throws her hands up and lets her hair streaming out behind her, trying to memorize this feeling, of what it means to be young, young and brave and lovely, and above all alive.

It is one that she is trying to keep for as long as she can.

Peter comes over for dinner.

Pepper is there.  And Tony.  And Natasha and Bucky and Thor and Bruce, all of them switching between updating on the official situation of the Pheonix group and saying how glad they are that they all ended up okay.

"It seems to strange, that it's over."  Pepper says, and Nora can not help but agree.  It feels weird, to have been able to walk away from the fight, like getting to the place where you are okay takes just as much getting used to as the bad thing did.  Like the fear had made a home in you, and now you have to find something to fill up the hole it left.  "What are we going to do now?"

"Well,"  Tony reached out to her and she met him halfway, because moving still hurt.  Since Tony insisted he was fine and tried to act like he could do everything on his own, you had to anticipate every move before he makes it.  "We've got a wedding.  That still in the plans?"

Bucky made a sound that might have been a cat-call, and then Pepper giggled, leaning into Tony.  He let her, even though it must have hurt.  Under the table, Peter tries to hold her hand, and Nora lets him.

"Yes."  Even with everything, Nora had never felt happier.  Maybe this time she would get to keep it.  "That's still on the agenda."