Going Back
The ride to the cabin was silent, nobody could find any words to say to one another. Kat was trying to hold back another round of tears; she could tell Steve was doing the same. Loki and Thor were sitting next to each other, solemn looks on their faces, the same with Sam. Bucky looked very uncomfortable and Steve had told her that he felt like he shouldn’t be going, after what he had done to Tony’s parents. Steve told him that Tony had forgiven him, that Tony realized it really was Hydra that was controlling Bucky and he had no choice, and that he didn’t even know what was happening. Steve had also said that Tony had planned on offering Bucky a place on the team id they had defeated Thanos.
Nat held the same stoic look on her face she always had, but Kat knew that it was taking everything she had in her not to break down. Not only had Nat lost Tony, but she lost Clint too. After Tony’s funeral, Nat was going to the Barton farm to have a funeral for him, even though they didn’t have a body to bury.
When the jet landed and they exited, she could feel the sadness in the air. They walked up to the house and opened the door, Kat immediately going over to Pepper. The older woman wrapped her arms around Kat, rubbing her hands down her back.
“I’m so sorry Pepper. I’m sorry for how I acted.” She cried into Peppers shoulder. Pepper shook her head and pulled back.
“No Kat. You loved him like a father. You’re our family. Don’t ever be sorry for being sad.” She told her.
Kat nodded, wiping a tear from her face. “How are you holding it together right now?”
Pepper let out a soft laugh. “I don’t want Morgan to see me cry, she’s already sad enough.” Kat nodded, understanding, and quickly wiped a tear when Morgan came around the corner.
“Hi Auntie Kat.” She said, a sad smile on her face. Peter was trailing behind her and gave her a small smile.
Kat kneeled in front of Morgan and gave her a hug. “Hey little miss. How are you doing?”
Morgan shrugged, looking down at the floor. “I miss my daddy.” Kat had to hold back more tears.
“I miss him too kiddo.”
“Is Uncle Steve here?” She asked in a small voice. Kat smiled and looked behind her to Steve, who was leaning against the wall with Bucky.
“He sure is, let’s go see him okay?” Morgan nodded and held out her hand for Kat to take. They walked over to Steve and he smiled at them.
“Someone wanted to see their Uncle Steve.” Kat told him. Steve picked Morgan up and she buried her head into his shoulder.
“Can we get some juice pops?” Morgan asked him. Kat smiled as Steve laughed, nodding and taking Morgan into the kitchen.
“He’s gonna be a great dad someday.” Bucky told her. Kat nodded and looked down. “He told me a little about what was going on. How are you feeling about everything?” He asked.
“I honestly don’t know. I don’t know what to do. I guess I really didn’t think it through. I love them both, and I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t know what to do Bucky.” She told him. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.
“Just follow your heart, you’ll know what to do.”
Kat ventured outside when Pepper was ready to gather everyone. More people had showed up than she expected. She saw Dr. Strange and Wong, T’Challa, Shuri and Okoye, The Guardians, Carol, Maria, a young boy about Peter’s age that she didn’t know, Peter’s Aunt May and Nick.
She went to stand with Loki, but he nudged her to go further, to where Steve was standing. “Go, be with your family love, I’m not going anywhere.” She squeezed his and walked past Thor to where Steve was standing. She slid her hand in his and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Pepper and Morgan made their way down the dock with an arrangement of flowers. In the center was his arc reactor. She put it in the lake, followed by his ashes. Kat wondered if anyone would say anything, but she figured that nothing needed to be said. They knew what they had lost, who they had lost. Everyone stood in silence for several minutes before they started trickling back into the house to eat.
The ride back to the tower was silent again, nobody knew what to say to one another, or what they would do now. They knew the stones had to go back to where they came from, so that was the first thing to do. Kat promised to come visit Pepper and Morgan as much as she could, so did Peter.
As soon as they got back to the tower, Bruce went to work on the time machine. A feeling of dread came over Kat when Steve told her that he was going to take all the stones back. She knew that there was a chance he wouldn’t come back. That he would go back to Peggy. It wasn’t rocket science.
They met Thor and Peter back in the lab, where Thor was making the last-minute preparations to head to New Asgard with Rocket, before heading off into space with the Guardians. Loki had asked Peter and Steve to help him play a little prank on Thor before he left.
Peter gave them the thumbs up and Kat got a wicked smile on her face, nodding to Loki. He walked over to the table and picked up the hammer, turning to hand it to Steve.
“Don’t forget to take this back Captain.” Loki said. Thor’s eyes went wide and he dropped the bag he had been carrying.
“Brother, how is this possible.” He gasped. Loki looked from the hammer to Thor and shrugged.
“I don’t know brother, I guess I’m worthy now too.” He smirked at Kat, tossing the hammer to her. Thor yelped when she caught it, twirling it in her hands like she had seen Thor do.
“You know.” She said. “It’s not as heavy as I thought it would be.” Thor’s eyes looked like they were going to burst out of his head at any moment.
“In fact.” Kat said as she started to bend the hammer, making Thor pale. “It’s really just a flimsy thing, isn’t it?” She said, breaking it in half. Thor screamed and walked over to her, and Loki and Peter had to turn away to stop their laughing.
“What did you do! What is happening!” He yelled, taking the hammer from her. His face turned from anger to confusion as he crushed the material in his hands.
“It was a prank Thor.” Steve told him, tossing the real hammer back and forth in his hands.
“We. Had. Peter. 3-D print us one.” Kat said, laughing in between each word. She put her hands on her knees to try and catch her breath as Thor’s face relaxed. He let out a nervous chuckle as he sat the crushed hammer on the table.
“Oh, well, it was a very good prank Lady Katherine. Well done!” He clapped her on the back and made quick work of grabbing his bag and leaving the lab. Everyone burst into laughter, Peter falling on the ground he was laughing so hard.
Yeah, definitely worth it.
A few days went by before the machine was ready to go. She didn’t want Steve to go, she wanted him to stay with her, but she knew it wasn’t fair to anyone. They all stood around the time machine, Steve in his uniform, ready to go.
“Remember, the stones have to go back to the exact time they were taken.” Bruce told him. Steve nodded and Bucky walked up to him, pulling him into a hug. There was something different about their exchange and it just confirmed what Kat was thinking. He wasn’t coming back.
She let go of Loki’s hand walked up to Steve. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. When she pulled back, there were tears in his eyes.
“I love you, more than I have ever loved anyone.” He whispered against her lips. She nodded, kissing him one more time.
“I love you too Steve. Thank you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for being there for me, but mostly, thank you for loving me.”
Steve smiled and kissed her again, slower this time, wanting to remember how she tasted, to remember everything about her. As if he could ever forget.
“Go, be happy Steve, you deserve it more than any of us. We’ll be okay. I’ll look after Bucky, and he’ll look after me. And I’ll make sure he and Sam don’t kill each other.” She told him. A ‘Hey’ could be heard coming from both Bucky and Sam, making Steve chuckle. He slowly let go of her and stepped onto the platform. Bruce powered it up and with a click on his wrist, he was gone.