A Stark Predicament

Chapter 48 Going Back

The Avengers and the X-men made their preparations to leave. There was, of course, a feast held in their honor the night before. Alina was finally able to convince Thorin to let her go. He was convinced she was too weak to attend. But with a little sweet talk and an okay from Bruce, Alina was allowed to attend the feast. It lasted well into the night.

The next morning the Avengers and X-men gathered at the gates of Erebor. Tony turned on the teleporter and set it for Xavier's mansion. Alina walked forward and hugged all the X-men, tears welling up in her eyes as she said her goodbyes. She sniffled when she hugged Logan goodbye.

"Hey, none of that, Kid. I'll be back in a week with Tony and Bruce, so don't you start the waterworks."

Alina giggled and nods but when she gets to the Professor she bursts into tears.

"Oh Professor, I'm going to miss you so much!" She says as she hugs him tightly.

"And I shall miss you as well, Alina. But it won't be forever. I have every intention of checking up on you with Tony's help and will be here for the birth of my grandchildren." Charles told her as he rubs her back trying to comfort her.

Thorin walked over and shakes Charles' hand. "Goodbye, Professor, may Mahal bless and keep you safe. And know that you and your people are always welcome in our kingdom." Thorin says as he pulls Alina into his arms.

"Thank you, Thorin, perhaps one day you can come to the school and meet the students and meet more of the X-men."

That being said, Thorin placed a sack of gold in Charles' lap. "For your school," Thorin says with a  smile.

Charles looked at the sack of gold in his lap that he could barely lift, looks at Thorin and Alina then back at the gold.

"I would give you more, but Alina says it will be hard enough to convince you to take this small amount."

Charles nods, "She's right, Thorin, I couldn't possibly accept this generous offer."

Thorin smiled at him and placed a large hand on his shoulder, "Please accept it. Think of it as my way of thanking you for raising, protecting, and loving my Azyungâl the way a father should."

Then Logan snorted, "If that's the case, Thorin, that would make Charles you're father - in - law."

Charles smiled, "Then let me perform my fatherly duties and tell you that if you hurt her, I'll make you think you're a six-year-old girl for the rest of your life," Xavier says in a serious tone.

Thorin looked at him a little worried, then Charles started laughing.  Everyone else starts to laugh as well. "No, but seriously I will," Charles said between laughs.

Thorin takes a step back from Charles. This only causes Charles to laugh harder. "I know that Alina is in good hands with you Thorin, no need to worry."

Logan walks up to Thorin and pats him on the back, then goes and stands next to the Professor taking the sack of gold off his lap and tucking it under his arm, "Alright, gang I think we should be on our way."

Tony opens the portal and with one final wave the X-men step through and vanish.

It was now time for the Avengers to leave. But it turned out that they couldn't leave just yet, a certain redhead was missing. Tony looks around for Natasha.

"Damn, where the hell could she be? We have to get going, I need to start working on the teleporter and my surprise."

Something suddenly occurs to Clint, "Oh god, I think her and Dwalin are at it again. At this rate, we're never going to leave."

At that moment Natasha and Dwalin come running around the corner. Natasha gives her teammates a sheepish grin, she runs her fingers through her hair and goes to stand next to Clint. Clint just stares at her.

"Shut up, okay?"

Clint puts his hands up in surrender. "I didn't say a word."

Tony just smirks, he turns on the teleporter and sets it for Stark Tower, then he walks up to his sister gives her a kiss on the cheek and hugs her tight. "See ya later, Honey Bunny, you take good care of yourself and I'll see you in a week."

Alina kisses her brother on the cheek, "Bye Big Brother, you be careful and don't do anything stupid. Remember I won't be there to back you up."

Tony rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah." Then he walks up to Thorin. "Take care Bro. and take care of my sister and nephews or nieces. Make sure she doesn't push herself too hard."

Thorin hugs and pats Tony on the back, Tony winces. "Take care, Brother, we shall anxiously await your return," Thorin tells him.

The rest of the Avengers are saying goodbye to the others when Natasha walked up to her best friend. "I don't know if I can be back in a week with the others, so do me a favor and look after Dwalin for me make sure he doesn't do anything stupid and I'll watch over Tony the best I can."

Alina nodded, "Don't worry, Nat, I'll have Thorin keep Dwalin busy so he doesn't get too depressed. Just hurry back home as soon as you can."

Natasha cocked an eyebrow, "Home? This is home no,  isn't it? Yes, Alina, I will do my best to come home as soon as possible."

The girls hugged tightly, then Natasha lets go of Alina. She then steps up to Thorin. "Well, my King, I'm off but would like to ask if I may return?"

Natasha knew she could, she just wanted to be formal about it and ask. Thorin looks at Dwalin then at Natasha, he places a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course you can, Natasha, I could never take Dwalin's One away from him. Besides I'm sure he would murder me in my sleep if I didn't."

Natasha chuckles, "He probably would," Natasha shakes Thorin's hand, "See you later then." Thorin gives her a slight bow.

Natasha makes her way down the line of Dwarves saying her goodbyes, but when she gets to Dwalin, she leaps into his arms and starts making out with him. Alina leans into Thorin and whispers. "Well, it's not going to take her long to get pregnant."

Thorin looks at her and nods. Natasha and Dwalin finally break apart and he gives her a fierce hug then places his forehead on hers. "I'm going to miss you so much, my love, come back to me soon."

Natasha sniffled. "I'm going to miss you too, Baby. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can, hopefully by the end of the week like everyone else."

Dwalin kisses her again then hands her a knife, "To remember me by."

Natasha took with tears in her eyes. Tony rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on, she's not going off to war, she just going back to resign, jeez." They both glare and Dwalin growls at him.

"Watch it whelp." Tony huffs. Natasha smiles.

With that, the team finally assembles in front of the teleporter, wave goodbye and step through. Once through they all end up on Tony's floor.

"Now that was an adventure! I'm going to go try out this Elven bow." Hawkeye says.

Everyone turns and looks at him, "Where the hell did you get that?" Tony asked.

"Oh, I traded with Legolas, I figured I can always get another compound bow but when am I going to get a chance to get a real Elven bow?"

Steve just looks at him, "The next time we go to Middle Earth to visit?"

Clint shrugs, "Yeah well, there's that." Then he leaves for the archery range.