Leave Me Behind [Winter Soldier] III

Whatever It Takes [Chapter 6]

"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience."

Victoria Holt

His eyes were closed, but when he opened them, Steve was not on the mountain of Vormir, he was somewhere else entirely. Seemingly endless water surrounded him, the sky met with the water, each reflecting the other making Steve feel dizzy and uncoordinated. It too had a faint orange glow, just as the stone itself did. Steve took a few steps, water splashing around him – he felt as if he was inside the stone, though he still held it in his palm.

He had asked it for Ophelia, and had yet to receive an answer. His focus was on her, he remembered what she looked like, how her voice sounded. Her smile, and how she could light up a room, how she could light up Bucky. Finding his strength and determination despite being out of his depth, Steve was ready to do anything to get her back.

"Whatever it takes," he told himself again.

He heard the stone whisper back to him, "You cannot have her."

The words shocked him, even though Steve had known it would not be easy. Nothing Steve had ever done had been easy. Joining the army had been near impossible, stopping HYDRA had been a lifelong struggle, coping with the loss of half the universe had broken him, losing Tony and Natasha to get them back had felt like an impossible ultimatum.

"What reason do you have for keeping her?" Steve challenged.

"What reason do you have for thinking you can get her back?" The stone spoke all around him, and yet the voice was only in his head.

"Her life was ended too early, she never reached her full potential," Steve said, looking around as if hoping for some form or shape to take place. Something he could fight, something solid he could defeat. But the stone was more than that, and they both knew it.

"Not many have, Steven Rogers."

"What will it take?" Steve asked, getting right to the point.

"What would you sacrifice?"

Steve thought about that. What would he sacrifice to save Ophelia? What would he give up to bring Bucky back the one person who meant more to him than anything else? Steve thought about the life that he wanted, the one where he showed up to that dance, where his date with Peggy would have gone wonderfully, and he knew how it would have played out from there. That was why he went back through the time portal on his own, so that he could live that life.

"Do you mean it?"

Steve dipped his head. Did he mean it? Would he give up that life for Bucky's happiness?

"Yes," he replied without much more hesitation. Even though it was the life he longed for, he had been happy throughout his time since waking up from the ice. He had many solid friendships, people he loved. Bucky didn't really get much of that. So Steve said again, "Yes, I would."

"Your intentions are true," the stone accepted. "But that is not for me to take."

"You gave yourself to Thanos to take half the universe, why can't you give one more life back for all the harm you caused."

The stone laughed; the stone did not have feelings. It did not care for the people it stole, nor the ones who it gave back. The stone collected souls and did not relinquish them with ease.