[2] FAR FROM HIM // t.stark

Chapter Twenty-three

     We started to spread up. Ryder was up first. After changing into his uniform, he left us and rode towards Shield HQ. It took him around 30 minutes to be in position. Once he called in Rhodey, Sam was in the air in no time. He blended in with the sky so good that we can only hear him through out ear piece.

     Mine and Harley's cue was when Rhodey said, "Done!" which means, he and Ryder managed to hack in the security camera to trick Shield. When Harley and I entered the premise, our faces are not on the camera and we are not being recorded.

     To be safe, I found a young woman and make her sleep. Then I took her Shield uniform and wear it. Well, let's just say the Iron Man suit feels better than Shield uniform.

     "Ugh, this uniform is making me itchy. How in the hell Natalie can wear all day."

     "That's because she's born and made to be a Shield agent, you dumbass, and you're not," Ryder remarked.

     "Hey, I'm not talking bad about your girlfriend. I was just silently wondering."

     Ryder laughed. "I know. Just needed someone to be angry at."

     Before I could retort back, I heard someone muttered, "He's unbelievable."

~***~

The first time I saw the time machine, it was when they were sending Steve to return the gemstones back to its timeframe. They specifically asked me to be there with them. I don't know why, but I agreed. The next thing I know, I witnessed them all. It was sad knowing that Steve could return back in time to return the gemstones and, soon after, to be with the love of his life, but we cannot return what we've lost. If one thing that I wanted out of the things I have, was that to go back 5 years ago, to meet Dad and tell him that it's okay that he sacrificed himself, and that I'm alive.

     Before I left, I was given some time to meet Steve for the last time, but it also happened when Steve was already old. He looked happy, though his hearings and his eyesight weren't very good.

     "You know, I've always wondered how you'd look like parallel with your age. I never thought to be this ugly," I joked as I sat beside him, both of us looking ahead at the lake.

     Steve weakly laughed at my remark.

     "But I take that you're happy now, huh? Ugly and happy? That sounds promising. I hope I'll get that life, too, one day. Though, I don't wish to be ugly."

     "You'll get there, Terri, don't worry. It just takes the right person to make you feel like that. It might take hundreds of years." Steve smiled at me warmly. "How're you and your family?"

     "Oh, Steve. You know the answer," I answered.

     "I'm sorry, Terri. For everything. I– uh– I know you don't trust me anymore, but I made peace with your father and I thought I'd do the same with you. You know, this might be the last time you see me."

     "You said that 6 years ago, yet here we are."

     Steve chuckled. "No, Terri. This is for real. I have someone waiting for me now, I can't be long. I want to apologised for everything. The hurt, the lies, the betrayals. I wish I could take those back, but it's a cruel world. Sometimes, you have to learn the hard way."

     I don't know what to say to him. I can't tell him that I've accepted his apology because I haven't. I can't tell him that we're even because I don't think we ever will. He's got the person he wants all his life, meanwhile I lost them.

     "You don't have to forgive me now because we both know that you're your father's daughter." He chuckled while shaking his head. "But give Bucky a chance, will you? If you want to blame someone, blame me not Bucky. He was brainwashed, compelled. He didn't know what he was doing."