"Remember," Bruce Banner told my brother. "You have to return the Stones to the exact moment you got them or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternate realities."
"Don't worry, Bruce," Steve said, closing the case that held the six Infinity Stones. "Clip all the branches."
"You know I tried. When I had the gauntlet, the Stones, I really tried to bring her back," Bruce said, sadness lacing his words. "I miss her, man."
Bucky tightened the arm he held around me and I sent him a soft smile, hopefully reassuring him. Natasha had been a friend to all of us, but I knew she and Bucky had spent countless nights searching for me. My heart ached as I tried to imagine the pain my husband must be in.
"Me too," Steve said.
"You know, I could come with you if you want," Sam told Steve as they walked up to the time machine Bruce had built last night.
"You're a good man, Sam," Steve stated. "But this one's on us." He squeezed America's hand and she smiled up at him.
The two of them came up to us. "Don't do anything stupid till we get back," Steve told us.
"How can we? You're taking all the stupid with you," Bucky commented and I chuckled, reaching up to wrap my brother in a hug. Bucky hugged America before we switched.
"Look after each other out there," I said.
"Of course," America said, wrapping an arm around Steve's waist.
We shared a final smile before Steve and America climbed onto the time machine. Steve picked up Mjölnir and America took the case that contained the Stones. They pressed a button to make their white and red quantum suits appear while Sam walked up to me and Bucky.
"How long is this gonna take?" I asked Bruce, who stood behind the control panel.
"For them? As long as they need. For us? Five seconds," Bruce answered.
America took Steve's hand in hers before smiling at us. "You ready, guys?" Bruce asked them. "All right, we'll meet you right back here, okay?"
"You bet," Steve stated.
The quantum masks covered their faces and Bruce announced, "Going quantum in three... two... one."
They disappeared in less than a second and I felt my stomach tighten.
"And returning in five... four... three... two... one..." Bruce pressed a button and I held my breath. The time machine remained empty and Bruce turned to his screen with great confusion.
"Where are they?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. They blew right past their time stamp," Bruce replied, continuing to press buttons and flip switches. "They should be here."
"Get them back," I said.
"I'm trying," Bruce said.
"Get them the hell back!" Bucky called.
"Guys," two voices spoke behind us in unison and we whipped around, spotting America and Steve standing a few feet behind us with wide smiles on their faces. I didn't hesitate to jog up to them to hug them both in a tight hug.
"What happened? Why didn't you come back where we agreed?" I asked, pulling back to look them over. Something seemed different about them. They looked happier.
Steve wrapped an arm around America's waist, pulling her against him. "Well, after we put the Stones back, we thought, maybe... We could try some of that life Tony was telling me to get," he told us.
"How'd that work out for you?" Bucky asked.
America shrugged and motioned to her stomach. "Three months in," she said with a bright grin and I smiled, locking her in a hug.
"Congrats, guys. I'm so happy for you," I said.
"You deserve this," Bucky said.
"Thanks," Steve said. "Oh, Sam?"
He came up to us. "Yeah?" he asked.
"We got you something." Steve reached down and picked up a circular package that I hadn't noticed until that moment. He took off the cover to reveal his shield, brand new and shiny. Sam's eyes widened as Steve held out the shield.
"W-What..." he started, but nothing else came out.
"I want you to have it, Sam," Steve said. Sam turned to Bucky and me and we both nodded, letting Sam know it was totally fine. "Take it."
Sam slowly slid his arm through the straps and held up the shield, sticking out his chest with pride in his eyes.
"How does it feel?" Steve asked.
"Like it's someone else's," Sam answered.
"It isn't," Steve replied.
Sam smiled. "Thank you," he said. "I'll do my best."
"That's why it's yours," America said with a smile. She turned to Steve. "Wanna go home?"
He smiled. "Yeah, let's go," he said.
"You guys coming?" Mer asked us.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Lyra was playing catch with Morgan, Peter Parker and Clint Barton's kids. "No, we're gonna stay for a bit," I replied.
"Okay, we'll see you later," Steve said. He held out a hand for his wife and she took it. The two of them travelled to Steve's Harley Davidson and clambered on. With a final wave, they disappeared from our sight.
"Hey, guys," a new voice spoke up and I turned around, seeing Pepper Potts standing in front of us.
"Pepper, hey," Bucky said, greeting her with a smile. "I just want to say sorry again, for your loss. How are you holding up?"
She swallowed thickly. "We're getting by. Thank you," she said before turning to me. "I wanted to thank you for coming. It means a lot to us."
I tried to smile, but instead, a wave of tears pooled my eyes. I pulled Pepper in a hug. "I'm so sorry," I said softly. "I'm so so sorry."
"It's okay," she whispered, pulling back. Her eyes were bloodshot but I could see the strength. "Your daughter gave my daughter's day a little bit of happiness. I am more than grateful for that."
"Maybe they could meet up again soon, if that's okay with you, of course," I suggested.
She smiled softly. "I'd like that," she said, nodding. "I should head back. It was nice talking to you."
"Hang in there, Pepper. We'll see you soon," Bucky said. She walked away and I let out a shivering sigh. "You okay, doll?"
I wrapped my arms around his middle and looked up at him. I couldn't believe this was my life. I was married to my childhood best friend and the love of my life. My brother had finally found true happiness and love after all these years and I had a niece or nephew on the way. I had a wonderful daughter who had brought so much joy and peace to my life. HYDRA was gone from my mind and someday, I might be able to say that the guilt was gone too.
"Yeah, I'm okay," I said and this time, I meant it.
★★★★★★
★THE END★
★★★★★★
Hi everyone! This is it. The end of Winter Warrior. I'm so sad it's over but I'm also really happy with how it turned out. This has been one of my favourite books to write and I can't stretch it enough how much I fell in love with the Captain America movies. I had so much fun creating Anna and building her relationships with Steve and Bucky and the others was such a fun process.
Although this is the end of the story doesn't mean more content won't be posted. With the release of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, I have decided to write a sequel for this book! I'm so excited for you to read it because I've got some really fun ideas that I hope you'll really like :) You can find the cover for the new book below!
I want to thank wildflowersandink for the amazing collab we did! Having America in my book was such an honour and I hope we can do something like this again in the future!
I also want to thank every single one of you that read, voted and commented on this book, I saw every one of you and I hope you enjoyed this amazing journey! I'd love to know your thoughts and as always, I love you all and thank you for reading! ❤