TONY kept watching Lyra as she spoke to Steve and Thor about something. He stayed near his car with Bruce, waiting for her to come to him. He was worried. She was odd since the attack on New York. Her feelings and mentality had seemed to take a drop.
"You okay?" Bruce asked softly.
"I-I'm fine," Tony stammered as he was broken from his thoughts. He hurried to put on his sunglasses. "I'm fine," he said more certain.
By Steve and Thor, Lyra was eyeing Loki with distaste.
"You sure he'll be taken care of?" Lyra asked again.
Thor laughed. "Lady Lyra, I promise your metal man will not be hurt by Loki ever again."
Loki rolled his eyes.
Lyra glared at him. She grabbed his arm with a scowl. "You don't want to piss me off more than you already have, Loki."
"No, you really don't," Thor said as Steve nodded, rubbing his arm where Lyra had fought against him when screaming for Tony during the battle. "I have seen Lady Lyra's anger, brother, it is unmatched."
Loki could not talk, but she knew he was thinking something irritating.
"You better get that thing out of here," Steve pointed to the Tesseract and Loki. "I hope to see you again one day."
Thor nodded. "One day."
The two brothers disappeared after a quick goodbye with Tony and Bruce. Lyra walked over to Clint and Natasha with a sheepish smile. Clint rose a brow from under his sunglasses.
"What's that face for?"
She smirked. "If you talk to Fury, let him know I'll call him when I'm ready. I–I just need a break for right now." Her eyes flew to Tony.
Natasha nodded. "I get it," she whispered before hugging her. "You kicked ass out there. Truly."
Clint agreed. "Hell yeah, she did. That was all me, you know. I trained her."
Lyra grinned as she said a brief goodbye with a promise to visit Clint's family soon. She walked away to stare at the water under the bridge when Steve had walked over to the assassins to say his goodbye. She sighed as she shut her eyes, but all she could see were the Chitauri attacking her. Lyra picked at her nails as Steve approached her. When he touched her arm, she flinched.
"Hey, we're going to be all right," Steve murmured.
Lyra nodded with a gulp. "Eventually."
"Eventually," Steve agreed. Lyra took a deep breath before placing out her palm. Steve looked at her curiously. "What?"
"Your phone, Cap," Lyra responded with a roll of her eyes.
Steve fished out his phone quickly, eyes narrowing as she opened his phone to go to his contacts. She quickly typed something before handing it back to him.
"My number. If you ever need anything—anything at all," she paused, eyes meeting Tony's. He frowned. "Call me, okay? We're friends."
Steve nodded. "Are you going to keep working for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"I'm taking a break to make sure Tony and I are all right. I'll contact Fury when I'm ready," she responded. "You?"
"I guess it'll give me something to do," Steve said with a shrug. "Tony's eyeing me awfully. I guess you should go."
"He's a real softie," she promised with a laugh. Steve laughed as well. "Only a call away, Steve," she reminded him softly. "Anything."
He nodded and gulped as she hugged him. "Thanks," he whispered.
She nodded as she pulled away and walked off to Tony and Bruce. She pulled out her sunglasses, placing them on her face. Tony held out a hand for her to hold, and she took it gratefully.
Steve sped off on a motorcycle, and Lyra helped herself into the passenger seat while Bruce squeezed in the back. Tony grabbed her hand again as they took off toward Stark Tower—what was left of it.
Her phone rang during the trip, and she bit her lip before answering. "Hey, Pep—"
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN CALLING FOR TWO DAYS NOW!"
"Pep—"
"Happy, Rhodey, and I have been SICK with worry over the pair of you, and I—"
"Pep."
"—cannot WAIT to see you so I can hug you and kill you at the same time! I just—"
"Pepper!"
"What?" she sighed brokenly.
"We're dropping Bruce off, and we'll be back at Stark Towers. I'll talk to you then. Love you," Lyra said before ending the call.
Bruce laughed from the back. Tony smirked. "Pepper Potts. We wouldn't function without her."
When Lyra and Tony were alone in the tower, Lyra walked straight to the bar with her eyes already welling with tears. She threw off her heels and grabbed a glass.
Before she could fill it, Tony turned her body around and cradled her head to his chest as she sobbed. He sighed, running his hands through her hair.
"How could you do that!?" she whimpered out brokenly.
"Sometimes there isn't always a way out," he echoed Steve's words. "I'm sorry."
Lyra sobbed harder. "Every time I shut my eyes—"
"It's like they're still attacking. I know."
"What do we do?"
Tony kissed her forehead. "We get through it together. Okay? Together. I love you," he said sincerely. He kissed her once, wiping her tears as his eyes flickered to the large cut and surrounding bruises on the side of her forehead and face. "I love you."
"I love you," she said, leaning her head onto his chest.
"Together," Tony repeated to himself. "For now? Let's rebuild, okay?"
Lyra nodded as Tony tugged her to the couch. He threw off some debris as he laid down, gesturing for her to follow.
"Nevermind, rebuild later," Tony corrected with a grin. "Lay with me."
Lyra laid on his chest gently. He held her close as the pair listened to each other's breathing. He kissed her head again but both found they could not sleep without the nightmares creeping up on them.
So when Pepper burst into the tower, she found both lying what looked peacefully, but both's eyes were wide open as they fought against sleep. Because sleep, after all, were where the demons remained.