Chapter 49: Unconventional Family

"It's nice to be home."

Harvey said as he sat down on his living room couch. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he sunk deeper into the seat.

"That jet was really uncomfortable." Pietro fell onto his lazy boy chair and pulled out the leg rest. "My back hurts."

"I missed this couch." Wanda said as she sat on the opposite side of the couch Harvey was sitting on; she then raised her legs and rested them on Harvey's lap. "Oh, and my bed. Most definitely my bed."

Harvey chuckled and saw Amy walk into the room with a tray; there were four cups of iced coffee. She then handed them out to everyone. Amy then sat down on the floor in front of Harvey's legs and leaned back.

"I think I'm gonna take a small break before I leave again." Amy said with a tired sigh; she then took a long sip of her iced beverage. "Maybe a month off will do."

Harvey smiled and nodded. After the mission they had, they all earned a well-needed break. Lifting his phone, he saw the date. It was now November. The year was almost over. With that in mind, the current school year should wrap up soon. Senior year would be right around the corner soon.

The brown-haired young man wondered what he would do after graduating high school. Would he go to college and continue his education? Chuckling, Harvey shook his head. He already knew what he was going to do.

"What's so funny?" Wanda asked as she dug her foot into his side.

"I was just thinking about the future." Harvey answered as he looked up at the ceiling. "About what I'm going to do with my life."

At that, the four stayed quiet; it seemed his answer them to stop and think as well. Except for Amy, she was scrolling through her phone and laughing at memes.

"I've never thought about the future." Pietro said as he leaned forward on his chair. "All I could think about was killing Stark."

"With our life's mission completed, what will we do now?" Wanda asked as she sat up and pulled her legs to her chest.

"Anything." Harvey said to the two. He stood up and walked forward, causing Amy to squeak in surprise since her backrest left. "You two can do anything you want. You're not restrained by your vengeance anymore."

"…do we have to leave?" Wanda asked in a small voice.

"Of course not." Harvey smiled at them both. "You two can stay as long as you want. This is your home now, too. We're a family. An unconventional one, but a family."

Wanda's eyes widened, and she burried her face into her knees. All she could do was nod. Pietro got up and smiled at him. The silver-haired speedster then walked over and hugged him.

"Thank you, my friend- no. My brother." Pietro said as he let him go and patted his shoulder.

Harvey smiled and felt a swelling feeling grow in his chest. "Or course."

"This is so sweet." Amy said as she cried into her forearm; she then stood up, hugged Harvey and Pietro, and squeezed. "Wanda! Get in here!"

Wanda looked up with red eyes and nodded quickly. She stood up and joined the group hug; everyone was smiling and enjoying the hug. Suddenly, Pietro's stomach growled loudly, prompting everyone to laugh at the embarrassed speedster.

"How about I make chicken paprikash tonight?" Wanda said with a chuckle.

"This day just keeps getting better." Pietro said with a massive grin as everyone separated and laughed.

Harvey smiled as he looked at his friends. He was grateful he met them all. To him, they were some of the most important people in his life. He would make sure to keep them safe and happy. Looking to his side, Harvey remembered someone else was waiting for him at a house a few blocks away.

•••

"That should do it."

Alex twisted her Philips head screwdriver to the right and placed it down. Looking over her work, the young genius nodded in satisfaction. Lifting the exo frame glove, Alex slid her hand and snapped some patches down. Flipping a modified switch connected to a car battery, the gloves scattered LEDs lit up in power.

"Now for the pressure test."

Bending over, she grabbed a cut-down steel pipe and placed it in the palm of her gloved hand. Slowly, Alex started to tighten her grip. After a minute, nothing seemed to happen, but gradually, the steel pipe began to bend into the shape of the glove. Alex smiled in excitement but suddenly felt the glove begin to heat up.

"Oh no, not again!" Turning to the switch, she flipped it off, stopping the power flow into the glove.

"Okay, this time was better." Taking the glove off and laying it back down on her desk, Alex rolled to the end of her desk and wrote down some notes. "Test number eleven: The glove was able to finally bend the steel pipe slightly, but it wasn't able to regulate the proper flow of energy, causing the surrounding materials of the glove to overheat."

Alex then stood up with her notebook and started jotting down a new schematic of the glove. Completely overhauling the design to meet the adjustments she just added. Looking at her work table, she saw several scattered pieces of technology of steel parts. Alex definitely made use of Haley's side of the room after she left.

"Now, if only I could find a way to properly control the energy flow to not overload the glove's circuitry." Alex asked herself as she stopped writing and looked to the right side of her table. A photo frame with a picture of her and Harvey before they left for homecoming sat untouched by her mess.

Walking over to it, Alex placed her notebook down and lifted the picture closer to her face. Tracing the image of Harvey, Alex couldn't help but smile lovingly at it. It's been around eight days since he left for Sokovia, and she's had no communication with him. Alex couldn't help but worry.

TAP TAP TAP

Alex let out a loud squeal and almost dropped the picture frame. Hugging the frame close to her chest, she turned around and looked out her window. Raising an eyebrow in confusion at not seeing anything, Alex placed the frame back and walked over the window. Looking around, she saw nothing outside that could have caused those noises.

Alex shrugged and was about to turn around when three more tapping noises sounded out from the glass. Feeling nervous, Alex grabbed the bottom of the window and raised it. She then stuck her head out and looked out the window. Alex was surprised to see a familiar young man in a black hoodie standing on her right, looking up at the night sky.

"Beautiful night, ain't it?" Harvey said as he turned down to look at her, a smile on his face.

"Harvey!" Alex said in surprise. A huge smile grew on her face, and she crawled out the window to stand next to him. Without hesitation, Alex jumped up and hugged the man who stole her heart.

"Careful! I missed you too!" Harvey laughed as he held her close and steadied them.

"When did you come back?" Alex asked as she separated from him. "How did it go?"

Harvey lost some of his smile and looked down. Alex felt like she just asked the wrong thing. "Let's head inside. This isn't necessary rooftop conversation."

"Of course."

Alex and Harvey made their way back inside her room. Once Harvey was inside her room, Alex started to feel self-conscious. After all, this was the first time she's had a boy in her room. Panicking, she began to freak out and tried to cover her messy work table.

"Oh! This is uh- I was gonna clean this up!" Alex spread her arms out as she tried to hide her mess.

"You know this reminds me of Stark's lab." Harvey walked over and looked at her exo frame glove. "This is amazing, Alex."

Alex felt her face grow warm, and she shuffled in her spot. A feeling of pride filled her chest. "Wait a minute- you said you were in Tony Stark's lab?!"

"I was… when I threatened to burn his soul into hell." Harvey awkwardly said.

"Ah…"

"We're on better terms now." Harvey waved his hand quickly as a nervous smile grew on his face. "Really."

Alex nodded slowly as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. She then walked over and grabbed her glove. "I know this isn't nothing compared to what Tony Stark could create. But it's a work in progress."

"No. No, this is amazing." Harvey said as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "After all, Rome wasn't built in a day."

Alex turned to him and nodded. "Thank you."

"I've been gone for a while." Harvey sat down on her work chair and motioned to her bed for her to sit. "Let's catch up, yeah?"

Alex sat down on her bed and nodded. From that point, they just talked about everything that happened to them in the last eight days. It ranged from her mom's over-the-top Halloween decorations to visiting Cal Tech to decide if she wanted to go there for college. Harvey filled her in on his mission, but Alex could tell he was holding a lot of information back.

Overall, Alex could tell they accomplished what they set out to accomplish. The Maximoff twins were finally able to acquire closure to what happened to them as children. Alex couldn't help but feel happy for them. It was horrible what they went through.

"What will they do now?" Alex couldn't help but ask.

"Anything they want, they're no longer tied to their mission of revenge." Harvey leaned back and turned to her work table. "They're free to decide on their own."

Alex nodded and followed his eyes to the picture frame. Slowly, her face heated up in embarrassment at him looking at the picture.

"You framed it." Harvey stated with a smile.

"…I did." Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, Alex looked away from him. "I… can't wait for our date."

Harvey closed his eyes and nodded. "Me too. I think it's time I started looking at Alex Dunphy as more than just my best friend."

Harvey then stood up and walked over to her. When he got close enough, he kneeled on one knee and grabbed her hand. Alex felt her heartbeat start to race.

"It's time I looked at you as something more."