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What Carol had said when she first arrived after the original Snap in Wakanda really stuck out to Steve.
That, if she had been there, none of this would have happened- not this way. They would have won.
But she was busy, and then dealing with the fallout of the chaos of Thanos and the post-snap tragedy that occured across the universe.
The whole universe.
For a man from the 1940's who woke up from the ice fourty years after human beings had landed on the moon, and then he fought real, live aliens not long after that...
Well. Sometimes Steve really was a little old fashioned.
But he'd always stuck up for the little guy. He'd been the little guy, the bullied one. He had his fair share of bruises and ass-kickings to last him, well, nearly two lifetimes at this point.
But the whole universe...?
They won the second time around.
Tony was gone. Nat was gone.
He'd attended his fair share of funerals, too.
Those who survived entrusted him with returning the Infinity Stones to their correct timelines before their absence changed the world too much.
Everyone he encountered somehow echoed Carol's words.
We need more people fighting the good fight. And not just on Earth- or in this small solar system.
Maybe it was his brief but intense interaction with the Ancient One- the mystical arts teacher of the Doctor Strange guy. How she saw in him something that he himself had only begun to realize something deeply rooted.
"You've been told you can't live without a fight, Captain," she'd said. "Can you?"
He lingered when he saw Peggy again- a Peggy Carter who would recognize him and remember him for more than five minutes. Someone he loved, and missed, so desperately.
But to him, he'd already seen how she moved on. How she'd lived a long, full life.
How much she wished the same for him.
The whole universe.
Steve saw some of the universe, when he met The Red Skull on Voromir.
Kind of an awkward interaction.
The phantom was dumbfounded. "You're bringing it... back?"
Steve shrugged, the material of the quantum suit shifting as he lifted the stone to view.
It disappeared from his fingers.
"It took enough from me," Steve's gaze didn't rest on the ghoul long- instead, drifting toward where Nat had...
Nat. Intertwined so deeply with everyone. Truly the soul and the spirit of the Avengers.
Did he even want to stay around on a planet without her? One of his best friends? One of the few people who simultaneously proded him to be better and better, but also accepted him as he was?
The attention from Johann's phantom was unnerving. Steve always hated how the hair on the back of his neck stood on end when Johann gave him attention.
"You're not stuck here, you know," Steve offered.
It was beyond strange, looking into that red face.
But he'd done stranger, and been less kind to better people.
The Red Skull hummed, floating next to Steve.
"There is no place for me anywhere else," was the answer.
Steve shrugged again, and tapped on his wrist display to head home. "I don't disagree."
The ghoul didn't say anything else as he watched Steve's helmet appear, and in another second, Steve was back on that platform outside of Tony's cabin and the Red Skull was alone again for another eternity.
But there are better people out there, who didn't deserve to be alone- unrescued, forgotten by even the whispers of history.
He couldn't help but look between Sam and Bucky, who, for them, had only just seen Steve leave.
Bucky, who Steve could have easily rescued from Hydra on this very mission. But would he be standing here today if he had? Would he want that? Would that be what was best?
And Sam, who worked so hard to get half of what was handed to Steve. Who deserved the recognition, and honor, and earned the responsibility of taking on a name that didn't quite fit Steve anymore.
Captain America. It was almost a joke, to him.
He hadn't chosen that name for himself- it was something for the headlines when he first survived the procedure and went on the sales tour. He wasn't even an official captain, but everyone just assumed when he woke up and didn't need to correct them.
He stood up against bullies- regardless of where he was, or where they were from. Humans, aliens, gods, or anyone else- if they abused their power, he was there to stand up for those who couldn't and with those who needed voices.
Sam could do that, too. Especially now, people needed someone they could better relate to. And Steve knew that that wasn't really him anymore.
"Mission success?" Sam asked, with that brilliantly blinding grin.
Steve nodded, stepping off the platform and setting the empty case on the table beside it. "Everything back to the way it should be."
"Nice. Hey, I was thinking, yanno, while you were gone for just a second- Do you want to come visit my family? Yanno, have a break on the bayou?" Sam asked.
It was hard to say no to him.
Steve nodded again, with a simpler smile in response. A fond one. A grateful one. "Yeah, sure. Today?"
Sam laughed in his surprise, but clapped his hands and raised his eyebrows. "Let me just call my sister and see if there's room for you." He turned away, and then it was just Bucky.
Who wasn't just anything, just anyone.
If he would have thrown away his life for anyone, it would be for Bucky. Because Bucky already had.
"What're you thinking about?" Bucky asked. His hands were in his pockets, his expression reserved.
He'd gotten good at hiding things from Steve.
Steve's gaze followed Sam, who was just out of earshot, facing away, with a cell phone to his ear.
"He'd be a good fit," Bucky endorsed. It felt... easy. "For the shield. He's a good man."
"You've only heard me talking about him, Buck," Steve almost laughed, but appreciated the way he couldn't hide anything from his first friend.
"You're the best man I know, Steve. If you think he's good, I think he's good."
Steve nodded once, still watching Sam excitedly telling his sister about Captain America coming to visit.
"You've always had so much in your eyes," Bucky said.
From one good man to the other, Steve turned his attention.
Buck cleared his throat. "The space lady who, uh. Rescued Stark. She sounded like she could use some help, apparently."
He always knew what Steve was thinking. Reading Steve seemed instinctual for Bucky, especially with his Hydra training.
"Eventually, Buck," Steve wasn't ready to go yet. He scratched the back of his neck as he looked down to the dirt under his fancy time travel boots.
Something was holding him here, to Earth.
Maybe it was Bucky.
Bucky looked out across the lake, toward an empty bench, hands still in his pockets.
A quiet contemplation.
Steve realized he wanted to see more of this version of his friend.
But it was his turn to chase. Really run after something, instead of reacting without a plan. Take some control, lead a story- find and choose people, not just be handed to strangers.
"You should do it," was all Bucky said.
"We've got Earth covered."
We. Huh.
Maybe they did.
Sam returned. "Any time is good for us, Cap," he said.
Steve smiled as he turned to face Sam, and approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder as they walked toward the car they drove here in.
"Yanno, Sam, I've been thinking..."