Frostbite

Five

"Are you sure you're okay to go alone?" I asked again, nervous about Natasha going to Tokyo by herself. Rhodey had tracked down Clint finally, learning where he would be next. Who he was hunting now. Thinking about what he had been doing sent chills through me.

Natasha was going to confront him after all these years, and I didn't like that she'd be going alone. I knew she could handle herself, lord did I know that, but the people Clint had been killing weren't the friendliest.

She chuckled, a small smile appearing, "I'll be okay. Like you said, our Clint is still in there. Besides, it might be better if it's just me so that he doesn't feel like he's being ganged up on."

"I know," I sighed, "I'll try not to worry. This all just seems to be happening so fast, ya know?"

"That's a good thing, Mel. This is gonna work. Everyone will come back," she assured me. I flashed a meek smile, nodding at her words. It seemed easy to say, but what we were trying was huge, it couldn't be that easy. It never was. "I'll be back before you even miss me."

She pulled me in for a quick embrace, sauntering toward the hangar to her awaiting jet. I watched her disappear and let out a shaky breath. Nat was right, I was probably just being paranoid. At least I hoped she was right, because I didn't know what we would do if we failed a second time.

I wandered around the compound aimlessly. Tony didn't necessarily need my help building the Quantum tunnel, as he called it. Steve had been the one helping him with that, to my surprise.

Rhodey, Nebula, and Rocket were supposed to be arriving soon, all of them flying in. Bruce would be leaving with Rocket once he arrived to go and try dragging Thor here after all these years. My favorite Asgardian had avoided us since Thanos' death.

I paused in a corridor, pulling my sling ring from my pocket. There was no way I could just sit here uselessly. I hadn't been to the sanctum in days, and I needed to pop in and make sure everything was undisturbed. Stephen would kill me if I let someone somehow break in and make off with any of the relics there.

The thought of him brought a small smile to my face. I missed my friend and was excited to finally see him again if this worked. The others, too. The moment I craved to see was when Steve was reunited with Bucky. He had hidden it well over the years, but I knew it ate at him relentlessly. The brothers seemed to be dragged apart every time they had come back together. My heart ached at his pain.

I raised my hand to open the portal, but a voice from behind made me stop.

"What, no goodbye?" Steve joked as I turned to face him.

I smirked in response, "I was coming back. I thought you were busy."

"Tony needed a break from the tunnel and- I needed a break from Tony," he chuckled, moving closer, "Your brother can be a little manic when working."

"Yeah, that sounds like Tony," I snickered, "I'm surprised you've lasted this long down there with him."

"So where were you sneaking off to?"

I rolled my eyes at the choice of words. "I wasn't sneaking. And I was going to the sanctum. Wanna join?"

"You've never invited me before," he realized in mock astonishment, cocking a brow at me. I shrugged and opened the portal effortlessly.

"I always just go when you're out at one of your meetings. It's never anything exciting. No one has lived there since Stephen and Wong so-"

"I'm just teasing baby. Let's go."

We walked through, and I let the compound disappear as we stood at the bottom of the stairs in the large foyer. Steve glanced around in wonder, his eyes absorbing everything with interest. I led the way upstairs, and he followed behind closely. We weaved through several rooms, stopping when something in particular caught Steve's eye. I took the time to explain different objects when I could, sating his curiosity that radiated through his eyes.

"Oh- and don't touch anything. I don't know what everything does, and lord help us if we set something off without Stephen here," I warned with a dark chuckle.

He glanced at me wide-eyed, "You don't have to tell me twice."

We made our way through the entire sanctum, stopping once we had made a circle back to where we had started. I didn't tend to spend too much time in the sanctum anymore; it was lonely and depressing like this. I didn't know how much I'd miss Stephen and Wong bickering through the halls until that first time I had entered the eerily silent building after the snap.

"So, when they come back," Steve pondered, waving at our surroundings, "What will that mean?"

I glanced at him in confusion, not entirely understanding what he meant. He realized and explained further.

"Will you come back here? You obviously belong here, with your abilities. You're one of them; it would make sense," he admitted, his jaw twitching slightly as he voiced his thoughts aloud.

It took me a moment to gather myself, having not expected his train of thought. I took a step forward, pressing my hand against his cheek in reassurance as I said, "I belong with you. Did you think I'd just give up everything we have so easily? I don't have to dedicate my life to the mystic arts to be one of them."

"I don't want to hold you back; I want you to be whatever you want to be. Bringing everyone back changes everything. I don't know if what this all means is just now hitting me, but I don't want to tie you down when you have something as amazing as this-," he waved his arms around us again, "-waiting for you."

I scoffed, curving my hand around the back of his neck and pulling him down to me. My lips lightly brushed against his, once, twice, and a final time before I pulled my head back to meet his eyes again.

"Steve, bringing everyone home changes everything," I whispered, "but it won't change this. I promise, you aren't holding me back from a thing. If you remember, I tried leaving the sanctum once to find you... and that was before the snap. You're all I need. Plus, I'm sure I could woo Stephen into letting you move in if I really wanted to live in the sanctum again."

He laughed and then smiled sweetly down at me, his hands resting lightly on the small of my back. God, that smile melted me.

"You're stuck with me, Cap," I teased.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

I grinned, saying, "We better get back before the others start arriving. And I'm sure Tony will miss his lovely assistant." He snorted, his face twisting in amusement. "You don't know how happy it makes me that you two are on speaking terms again."

"Me too, Mel," he breathed peacefully, grabbing my hand as we walked through a portal back into the compound. The others had begun to arrive.