First Light | Steve Rogers (Book Two)

Chapter Fifty-Six: Passing On The Mantle

We had returned five of the Infinity Stones. There was just one left to put back: the Tesseract.

It was a little difficult to get into the base unnoticed, especially since security was already looking for us, but we managed to sneak down to the storage area. A dim light glowed from one of the large steel-enforced cabinets as Tony used his suit to burn a hole through the door, forcing it open to reveal a bright blue cube. My heart ached a little as I saw him, urging me to find some way to warn him. But I couldn't.

"Arnim, you in there? Arnim?" we jumped slightly at the sudden shout, ducking into the shadows again as we watched a man approach Tony, who had only just managed to put the Tesseract into a briefcase.

Tony straightened up when he saw the man, turning to leave. "Hey. The door is this way, pal," the man called, "Looking for Doctor Zola. Have you seen him?"

"Yeah, Doctor Zola. No, I haven't seen a soul"

I glanced up at Steve in confusion, seeing his shocked expression. "Who is it?" I hissed.

His gaze met mine, "Stark"

We waited until they had rounded the corner, forcing the doors of the cabinet open once more. The cube glowed brightly as I pushed it into its stand, before slamming the doors shut. Steve and I let out a sigh of relief, holding each other close. He chuckled when we finally pulled away, "Let's get out of here, okay?"

There was a pause and I watched him closely, "You sure? This is your last chance to stay. Even if we don't stay for long, you could get that last dance, you could say goodbye"

"It's been twenty-five years since I went in the ice, it would only hurt her more. Let's get out of here, okay?"

"Yeah," I paused for a moment as I turned to look in the direction that the two men had left in. My words only came out as a whisper but I had the feeling he could hear me anyway, "Thank you, Tony"

——————

We landed back on the platform and I winced a little, my ankle still feeling a little sore from the battle. There was a sigh of relief and we turned to see Sam, Bucky and Bruce grinning at us. I turned to Steve once we had gotten down from the platform and he gave me a sad smile, "I gotta do something, okay?"

I nodded, watching as he and Sam walked over to a bench overlooking the lake. Bucky made his way over to me, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he watched Steve hand Sam a large, circular bag. "He finally asked you, huh?" Bucky asked as he glanced down at the ring on my finger.

"Finally? You knew about this?"

The man scoffed quietly, "I've known for a lot longer than you think. He told me his plan the night you guys stayed in Wakanda. When did he ask you?"

"Last night"

We stood in silence for a moment. "I'm glad it's you," he finally said, "After everything, you two deserve it"

I smiled sadly, "Yeah. You'd better visit us"

"Of course I will"

"And you and Sam have to look after each other. I'm not gonna be pleased if I hear that you two have gotten yourselves into trouble" I added.

He nodded quietly, "Same goes for you and Steve. No more missions, okay?"

"Don't need to tell me twice"

—————

I leant against the railing of the porch, staring out at the river. It was quiet. Birds chirped as they flitted around the trees and the sound of running water was enough to lull me into a tranquil state. 

Two children were racing around on the lawn, shouting and laughing as they chased each other. I felt someone wrap their arms around me from behind, gently resting their head on my shoulder. "Hey" I murmured softly, leaning into his touch.

"Hey," he reached a hand down to the large bump on my stomach and I heard a quiet chuckle fall from his mouth, "How's our little guy doing?"

"He's okay. Shouldn't be too long now. When are the others getting here?"

Just as I spoke, there was a knock on the front door. He pressed a quick kiss to my temple before rushing to answer it, the sound of laughter filling the hall. I waddled through the house, grinning at the three people stood before us. Bucky pulled me into a tight hug before smiling fondly at my baby bump, "How's Bucky Jr doing?"

I rolled my eyes, letting out a quiet laugh as the two children sprinted into the room, launching themselves at the visitors. Sam grinned as he lifted the small boy into his arms and Wanda pulled the girl into a hug, "Hey, kids!"

Once we had all moved into the living room, I sank down into the couch with a sigh of contentment, resting my head on Steve's chest. I couldn't help but smile as I watched the family around me talk and laugh, thinking back on everything we had been through. We were lucky to be there. I couldn't have been happier.

A/n:
That's all, folks! Thank you so much for reading this far, you have no idea how much it means to me. This book has definitely been my favourite to write so far and I really hope you enjoyed it. It was a little difficult as I came to the end of the book (I really hope that the writing was still good) but I kept going.

I have to admit, writing this character was kinda stressful. It honestly felt like I was just writing things down as she made decisions herself, which resulted in a lot of research. Rory has a tendency to do really dumb shit that puts her in danger and it's been quite hard to find ways for her to survive (I'm also fairly sure she developed a caffeine addiction, idk). 

I know that the crossover was pretty random, but I was so excited when I came up with that idea and I really wanted it to work. I'm sorry if it was a spoiler for you, but I did warn you. It also got real sad real quick, which was painful to write but I felt like it kinda worked.

Again, thank you so, so, so much for reading this. Please let me know what you think and maybe even leave a vote.

Love you!