Ashes to Ashes

Hope

You and Steve finished dinner and went back to the compound where Natasha was finishing up a meeting with Okoye, Carol, Rocket, and Rhodey. Natasha had been an emotional mess when you and Steve finally arrived.

As hard as she tried, she wasn't able to put on a brave face anymore. Rhodey told her of where Clint was at recently in Mexico and what he had continued to do and she began to break down once the meeting was over.

"Nat," you said softly, not knowing what else to say to one of your best friends. "Are you okay?"

"Clearly," Natasha said, wiping her tears away before offering you a fake smile. "I didn't know you both were coming here."

"We had something we wanted to share with you," Steve said, smiling small.

"Oh my god. You're pregnant?" Natasha asked, looking at you.

"Oh no. No no no," you laughed softly. "That's definitely not the news."

"Oh," Natasha replied, almost disappointed. "I thought you guys definitely, you know."

"I'm not one to kiss and tell, Nat. But yeah, we most definitely have," you replied, smirking.

Steve turned bright red as you and Natasha began to laugh.

"Anyway," Steve said, desperate to change the subject. "We're engaged."

Natasha jumped to her feet to give you both a hug before pulling your hand to look at the ring.

"Not bad, Rogers. Not bad at all," Natasha said, looking at Steve with a smile.

"Did you not know this was happening, Nat?" You questioned.

"For once, Steve kept this all to himself," she said to you.

"He did pretty darn good," you replied. "I'm going to run to my room really quick. I'll be back!"

You left Steve and Natasha and went to your room, shutting the door behind you. You were happy, extremely happy, but you still felt guilty. Despite it having been five years since the blip, you felt as though you were betraying Sam by saying yes to Steve.

Knowing that you would never get him back, you tried your hardest to push past those feelings of guilt. You went to your desk drawer and looked through the photos once more. As much as it had killed you to admit it, your memories of Sam were beginning to fade. Even with those memories fading, you knew that loved him with every piece of your heart and always would. He had been your first love.

The thing was that you had started to fall in love with Steve. You loved him but you weren't sure if it was enough for him. You wanted it to be and you were trying your hardest to be enough for him. As you looked through the photos, you saw a selfie of you, Sam, Nat, and Steve on the quinjet.

"Damn, we've gotten old," you muttered to yourself with breathy laughter.

As the photos found their way into your desk drawer once more, you got up and went to rejoin Steve and Natasha in the front room.

"Is that anybody's sandwich?" You heard from an unfamiliar voice.

As you turned the corner into the room, you recognized the person who Steve and Natasha had been speaking to.

"Oh my god. Scott?" You ran and threw your arms around him. "We thought you were dead."

"It's a long story," he replied, offering a sad smile before turning back to Steve and Natasha. "What if we could better navigate the quantum realm and figure out how to enter and exit it at different points in time?"