Ice and Defenders- Book 2 of the Frostbite Series

Until Next Time

It would be a long time before the city would be fully cleaned up after the attack. News reporters were everywhere once civilians were cleared out and officials deemed the area safe. We were able to make our escape before any questions were asked. There was also a lot of controversy over whether we were good people or not. Some thought of us as heroes, others thought of us as dangerous. But that wasn't our main priority.

The Avengers with Loki met with Eric Selvig in Central Park at the Bethesda Terrace. We weren't wearing our suits, except for Loki and Thor, but what are people going to do if we're recognized?
Loki was chained and had a guard on his mouth, he stood with Thor who was holding his arm. 

Eric Selvig brought over a glass, cylindrical container and Bruce brought over a briefcase that carried the Tesseract. Bruce placed the cube into the container using large tongs, and Eric handed the container over to Thor. We all agreed that the Tesseract was safer in Asgard, a place where people knew how to deal with its power. 

Thor held the container by a handle on one side and Loki took the other.

"Farewell, my friends." Thor nodded to us all. 

"Until next time, Thor." I smiled. 

Thor turned his handle, activating the Tesseract and he and Loki disappeared with a blue light.

We turned back to the road, where SHIELD agents stood facing the rest of the park, a car owned by SHIELD was parked along with Tony's car, and Steve's motorbike. 

Natasha opened the trunk of the SHIELD car and handed everyone their bags that contained our personal belongings from the helicarrier. 

Natasha and I hugged after she handed me my bag, then I walked over to Clint and gave him a hug.

"See you soon, Ellie." Clint said. 

"Only for a family visit," I patted his back. 

"Take care." We pulled away and Clint got into the drivers seat of the car, Natasha in the passenger seat.

I backed away from the car as they drove off. I turned to watch Steve and Tony shake hands and I approached them to say my goodbyes to Tony.

"Hey, nice take down of the Chitauri beast." Tony said. 

"Thank you." I smiled. 

"Stop by the Tower anytime, door is always open." He patted my shoulder and got into the car with Bruce. 

"See ya, Ellie." Bruce nodded to me. 

"Bye, Bruce." I put my hand up as a quick wave.

After they drove off, I looked to Steve, who was standing at the stone railing that overlooked the Bethesda Fountain and lake. I leisurely walked over and stood next to him.

"It's a nice view." He said. 

I looked at the quiet lake and breathed in. "Yeah, it is." 

"What do you say? Shall we head home?" Steve looked down at me. 

"I'd like that." I nodded and we turned and walked over to his bike.

Steve got on then I climbed on back and put my hands on his shoulders. He started the motor and let off the brake, the bike moved forward and as we rode down the street, I looked around at the park. There was a smile on my face, and I believe there was one on Steve's too.