Chapter Text
Tony had barely gotten a chance to blink as he stepped onto the familiar water of Vormir when he felt someone pull him into a tight hug.
“Whoa, there, Peter, I’m here, don’t worry,” Tony assured him as he wrapped Peter up in his arms.
“I-I know, but like, this is really happening, I just have to make sure,” Peter answered, muffled from where his face was up against Tony’s chestplate.
Swallowing hard to fight back tears, Tony closed his eyes and squeezed Peter tightly. “This is really happening, kid. We’re all going home.”
Another pair of arms wrapped around them, almost crushing Tony despite the suit.
“Fuck, Tony, you didn’t have to go and prove me wrong that hard,” Steve got out, hugging the pair and lifting them both off their feet.
“Not you too, Cap!” Tony groaned, hearing the way Steve’s voice broke towards the end. Peter gave a strangled laugh against Tony. “You’re the one that’s supposed to keep it together for the team.”
“It’s all over, I can afford to let myself get emotional,” he quipped, setting them down and letting go. “It’s just so good to have you back.”
Tony patted Steve on the arm, smiling warmly. “Aw, you really did miss me, didn’t you?”
“He came out of retirement for you,” Bucky added, giving Tony a small nod of greeting, “so I’d say he really, really missed you.”
Steve gave him a halfhearted glare as Tony’s smile grew wider, “And you finally gave retirement a shot too! What a miracle.”
“Yeah, I gave it a shot,” Steve admit with a shrug. “But I’m planning on doing things right this time,” he added, throwing an arm around Bucky’s shoulders as Bucky grew pink and looked away.
“And the miracles continue,” Tony grinned as Stephen joined their little group, patting Tony on the back wordlessly but giving him a soft smile to welcome him back.
Rhodey punched Tony’s arm playfully, also coming up beside him. “You’re lucky I’m too happy that you’re back for me to chew you out for dying.”
“You’ll get around to it,” Tony shrugged, pulling his best friend into a hug as Peter turned to Stephen and excitedly told him about how cool the Mirror Dimension trick was.
Not too far from them Quill was pulling Gamora into a tight hug as well. She smiled past the tears that pricked her eyes. “So are you still going to be my Titan-killing, long-term booty call?”
“Oh, God,” Quill cringed, pulling away but not letting go of Gamora as his hands dropped to hold hers. “I can’t believe I fucking - I really fucking said that! That was one of the last things I said to you! Jesus, why -”
Gamora leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “That’s because you’re optimistic. You didn’t think that was the last time you were going to see me.” She squeezed his hand. “And you were right, because here I am, so don’t you ever change.”
A series of vines and twigs suddenly wrapped around Gamora’s middle, pulling her away from Quill and right into Groot.
“I am Groot,” he said, sniffling as he hugged her tightly.
She hugged him back, trying not to cry again. “I missed you too, Groot.”
“It is good to finally have a formidable battle partner again!” Drax grinned, raising a triumphant fist as Gamora laughed. “Quill is weak compared to you and Nebula still does not understand that sparring is not always to the death.”
Nebula rolled her eyes, but the smile tugging on her lips was noticeable as Mantis whispered to her, “Whenever I spar with him I always put him to sleep. Do you think he’s noticed?”
Rocket gave Gamora a quick hug, pulling away after a second and clearing his throat. “You’re - you were the last one missing so that our family could be all together again.” He kicked at the ground, embarrassed of having been so open and honest.
“Oh, come here, you little rat,” Quill sighed, scooping Rocket up and pulling him into the hug that Groot was still giving Gamora as Drax, Mantis, and Nebula fondly watched on.
“Alright, big guy, I really missed you too,” Natasha laughed as the Hulk picked her up in a crushing hug, slowly putting her down as he shrank back to Bruce.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he said, voice muffled against her shoulder. “Clint told me what happened - never again.”
“I’ll fucking come get you again and kick your ass if you ever pull a stunt like that again,” Clint echoed, coming and hugging her from behind, creating a Bruce-Nat-Clint sandwich.
“Not planning on going through that anytime soon,” Natasha promised, pulling away to give Bruce a wide smile as she patted Clint on the head when he stubbornly clung to her like a koala. “Glad to see you’re back to your old self, no more in between.”
“Yeah,” Bruce shrugged, “I definitely feel more comfortable in my own skin again.”
There was a gentle tap on her arm, and Natasha turned to see Sam sheepishly spread his arms in a small gesture for a hug. She complied easily - with Clint coming along too.
“Romanoff,” Fury said quietly, once she had stepped away from Sam. He nodded at her stiffly, his eyes shiny with tears, and Clint let Natasha go as she crossed over and pulled him into a tight hug.
“C’mon, Fury, no need to be so formal,” she teased, managing to sound put together despite the lump in her throat.
“It won’t hurt you to show an emotion other than annoyance, you know,” Maria chimed in, and when Fury sighed loudly Natasha couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“We did a good job,” Thor smiled, turning to his brother as they watched the happy reunions all around.
“I guess we did,” Loki shrugged. They watched as Nebula approached Tony, giving him a hesitant hug, while Okoye patted Natasha on the arm and Shuri and Peter laughed as Natasha asked T’Challa if she was allowed a hug from the king of Wakanda. Scott and Hope got in on the reunions by snagging Tony for a quick hug, and even Wanda joined in before moving on towards Natasha.
“Go on then,” Thor said, nudging Loki’s arm. When Loki only glared at him, Thor shook his head with a sigh. “I know that you’re fond of the group now. Go on and say hello.”
“And what’ll you do, then?” Loki quipped, eyes narrowing.
“Well, I’m going to go say hi to them too!” Thor grinned, dragging his brother over to Gamora and the rest of the guardians.
They were all laughing and joking with each other, the heady relief of having Gamora, Natasha, and Tony back leaving them light and giddy, and as they all started to pile into Starlord’s Milano and T’Challa’s Talon Fighter, they couldn’t wait to finally go home.