END-GAME

Theo merely stood there, eyeing him from a distance she had chosen to keep. Steve took a step forward, to which she responded by taking one back. He sighed and lowered his head,then raised it again.

She couldn't keep herself away for long though. Call it curiosity, call it an attempt to make sure her eyes weren't lying to her.

Theo approached him, very so slowly; each step she made caused her eyes to sting even more.

But now she could see him clearly at least.

Steve's lips parted as she came closer. Theo gulped down a couple times; she placed her hand gently on his cheek, enough to feel the wrinkles of his skin.

This could have all been a huge misunderstanding, she thought at first. But, as she was well aware of, no one could ever fake those eyes of his.

Even as he was, visibly much older, with wrinkles and lines and faint small nooks all over his face- Theo could tell this man, this senile man was Steve. Her Steve.

“It's..you”,she huffed out, her chest beginning to tremble as the words came out.

Steve smiled faintly, as much as it pained him to do so.

“Yes”,he said quietly.

Her face then changed. She was way past shock; at that point all she felt was betrayal. Her jaw was visibly clenched, enough to make Theo feel as if her teeth would break by the pressure. But,if she were to relax her body even by a bit she knew she'd end up crying and never stop.

“Tee-”

“You went back- back to her. Didn't you?”,she managed to say through grunted teeth.

Her voice,as Steve heard it, was devastatingly raw and cracked. Too low, as if it already took all the effort of the world to just talk in the first place. Steve wished he could curse; he wished he could put an end to this charade and just go and kiss her already. Say he's sorry.

But..as he knew, there was no going back now.

“You..”,she clenched her jaw again,took a small pause as the tears finally went down her cheeks; her expression showed anger,so much anger. But Steve knew better. “You called me crazy”,she huffed out. “When I.. When I suggested you might still have feelings for her- you called me crazy”.

“Tee...”,he called on to her quietly, “I'm sorry”.

“Don't be”.

Her words were almost sounding like a hiss at that point. Sharp like a blade against Steve's neck. She was fuming with anger- but it wasn't just that. The ache from merely seeing him was too much for her to bear.

Her throat was chafed, enough to make sure her voice would come out as strained as possible.

“You made your choice. You lived your life”,she continued,her eyebrows knitted together.

If Theo wasn't such a proud woman, as Steve knew her to be, if Theo wasn't who she was, she'd be convulsing. She'd be down on the ground trembling. Theo knew as much as well herself.

Seeing how Steve wouldn't speak back, her chest boiled even more. She felt a rush coming down her body, her anger not able to be held back any longer. So, she snapped at him. She now yelled, and tightened her fists, not minding the pain originating from her left arm.

“You've known me for ten years!”

Her voice was trembling, her throat aching too much for her to keep on speaking.

“-Three of which we've been together”,she raised her head,though she couldn't cover the redness of her eyes. “James- you've known him all your life. He's saved your ass more times than you can count. You risked both our lives trying to get him back- to what?”,she chuckled bitterly,seeing the irony.

“To go back in time and live with a woman you'd only gone out with once! You chose an absolute stranger over us! ...Over..me”

She grew quieter towards the end, the words fading out until all that remained was her lips opened, and eyes pleading for an explanation.

But Steve knew all that well that he couldn't give her that. He simply..couldn't. He wouldn't.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to prepare to say something. Anything at all. He'd been trying to find the right words to tell her months now. Still, he couldn't find anything fitting. Anything worth to be heard by her.

“I don't belong here, Tee. Never did. This wasn't my time. I was...I was an anomaly,here”,he breathed out quietly.

“That's bullshit”,she huffed out through grunted teeth. “You were selfish. You had it all...but it wasn't enough. You still thought something was missing- I.. I wasn't enough to fill that hole..was I?”,she chuckled bitterly.

Steve's lips parted. He walked towards her,despite her going backwards. She couldn't stand being too near him anymore.

He had to keep it going though. He had to make sure he wouldn't back down. He'd made a decision; now,he had to follow through.

“This had nothing to do with you, Theo. This was my choice, and mine alone”,he whispered.

She pulled her lips to a nervous smile as the tears went down. He had called her Theo; something he hadn't done in more than two years. It was always Tee, always a nickname- never Theo, never Theodora, never anything like that.

Theo's eyes were filled by the dark purple rods,spreading throughout her arms,down her fingers. Steve sighed as he looked at that. She was still unable to control herself,he thought.

“I suggest you do what you came here to do”,she said quietly, awfully so. “Have your goodbyes, make amends. Whatever you think you must”.

She then raised her glance over at him, “And then go off and live in an island, make a retirement plan. Don't ever show your ass here again,Steve. Cause..i don't know what I might do next time I see you”.

Steve clenched his fist against the shield. But it didn't matter much. Theo walked away long before he could say anything else.

Just as she did, Bucky walked towards Steve,slowly, Sam following along.

Theo figured that much. Bucky wasn't her friend in the end of the day. No matter how they got along, he had always been Steve's friend,not hers.

“Hey-”

Pietro showed himself right in front of her in a matter of nanoseconds, stopping her. They were already far away from anyone else standing there. He had stopped her, but he wasn't sure what to say- or to do.

He'd never, in all his years with the Avengers, seen Theo cry. He'd never seen her eyes red and puffy. He's never seen such an expression on her face.

They were never that close anyway. But he wasn't heartless. And,besides, Steve was never his favorite person.

“You okay Bennet?”

Theo took a deep breath, and as Pietro could figure the trembling wasn't gone just yet. “I'm not in the mood to mock your accent right now Maximoff. Move”.

She continued walking and Pietro let his head fall behind as he found himself in front of her once again. He could almost hear the voice of his consciousness yelling inside his head that he shouldn't leave her as she was.

“He wasn't that big of a deal anyway”,he shrugged. “Too pretentious Bennet. You're not into guys like him- never have been”.

Theo bit her tongue, her lips parted. She wished she could have been a nicer person, but she wasn't. She was angry. Devastated, betrayed- and very much pissed off.

She took a step forward, her face too close to his. This was an expression that not only Pietro, but many men had found to be intimidating throughout the years. Her absolute lack of fear. If a look could make you feel ashamed, this was it; this was the look in her eyes as she starred down at Pietro.

“Don't you ever again dare and pretend you know anything about me, you failure of an experiment”,she spelled out with raised eyebrows.

Pietro's lips parted at that certain remark of hers. This wasn't much of a surprise though- it shouldn't be. As it was said, Theo wasn't that close with him. Or anyone else in that matter. She'd get along with some, but never too close.

He formed a faint half smile, looking down. Still, he took a step back,motioning his hand for her to walk away. Which she did.

“You should come by to Asgard. 'll do you good,Bennet”.

She had had enough at that point. But, all things considered, she couldn't afford attacking Pietro. She couldn't afford activating her powers not even by a bit, for she feared she might not be able to stop. If Theo was to attack righ now- she'd aim to kill.

“Do I look like I'm in the mood to party? Are you that dumb?”

“C'me on on, you'll either drink alone, or ..you can come over and have some fun with yourself. Blow some steam, as you people say it,huh?”

Theo turned around to look at the others. The distance was great, but she could still manage and spot Wanda eyeing them both. This must have been her doing, one way or the other, she thought.

“Tell your sister I have no need for a babysitter. Get back to your hole”.

Pietro formed a sly smile on his lips,which only made her feel the more angry.

But,this wasn't it.

She didn't need a party. What she needed was a hole in the ground to bury herself. Warmth. She needed to feel like this had all been a nightmare.

Theo was about to live her life with a man she loved. Fifteen minutes ago she was supposed to go on, have fun, and then built a home- a life with the man she loved.

And now.. she was left with nothing.

And that's how it felt. Like a void rotting her from the inside out.