Dear Diary,
They're gonna cry when they realize what I was able to do.
—————
I appeared on the pedestal as I had been seemingly five seconds previous, but with a lot more than they could have ever anticipated.
"What the-" Banner started. "How did you- I don't unde-"
"Well," I started to explain, walking off the pedestal with a shield case as well as Tony and Natasha at my side. "When I went to Vormir, I gave the Clint of that timeline the Soul Stone and took Natasha, seeing as the past doesn't alter this reality and he was gonna lose her anyway. As for Tony, I went to the seconds just before he snapped his fingers and took him with me, allowing the me of the past to snap his fingers instead, seeing as it makes no difference to us now. Basically, I took them both right before they died so that they still have memory of what truly happened in this reality."
"That's genius," Bruce admitted, coming up to hug Natasha.
"We can explain the rest to them later," I announced, walking away and leaving Bruce to talk to the two of them.
"That's why you didn't want me going, huh?" Sam asked.
"Well, actually, no," I clarified. "That's part of it, but there's a few other things I had to do on my own. For example," I placed the shield on the ground and opened it. "I went to see Peggy Carter in 1945 and made a realization."
"What's that?" Bucky asked.
"This mantle- Captain America?" I began. "It's not me anymore. I need to get some of that life Tony was telling me about."
"Only thing bumming me out about that is the fact I have to live in a world without Captain America," Sam pointed out. I shook my head and nudged the shield over to him, making him look at me like I was crazy. "What're you- that's your sh-"
"Try it on," I pushed him. He looked at me like he wasn't sure, then over at Bucky all the same. Bucky nodded at him to go ahead, so he picked it up and put it on his arm. "How does it feel?" I wondered.
"Like it's someone else's," he looked at me, unsure of all this.
"It isn't," I replied with a smile. "The legacy of this shield is... complicated- but it's in good hands."
He sighed and waited a moment. "Thank you. I'll do my best," he promised.
I shook his hand. "That's why it's yours," I assured him.
We all looked over at the rest of them, though they'd already been watching us.
"You retiring?" Natasha asked with a smile.
"We both are," Bucky answered.
"I think it's time all of us originals do," Tony said frankly. "This is our second chance. We can't waste it, especially Nat and I."
"What now?" Sam questioned.
"Well, there's only one place left standing for us all to go," Tony replied. "Right? I mean, the Avengers Facility is in ruins... so?"
"So, let's go tell everyone we're back," Natasha reminded him. "And, then, we ca-"
"Then... we can go to Stark Tower," he cut her off. "Where it all began."
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And that couldn't sound more perfect.
~ Steve Rogers