Out Of Time

forty-four

Y/N had been at Clint's secret house for about two weeks before Clint had received a phone call from Fury. He was personally requesting Y/N back in New York City and that Clint help get her there. Y/N was confused because Fury wouldn't tell Clint or her what the problem was. Y/N nervously bounced her leg up and down as Clint flew the quinjet to New York. It had to be extremely important if Fury was going to request her to come in during her time off. Coulson was there to greet them when they landed on the roof.

"Coulson," Clint gave a small nod to the man he greeted.

"Barton, Rogers," Coulson responded.

"What's wrong?" Y/N immediately asked. She couldn't stand not knowing what was going on for another second.

"Clint," Coulson started, "I need you to stand behind Y/N."

"What? Why?" Clint questioned.

"Just do it." Y/N and Clint warily eyed each other before Clint moved behind her. "Y/N. I need you to stay calm. Because what I'm about to tell you is going to change everything."

"What?" Y/N asked, confused. "Phil, what is going on-"

"Steve Rogers is alive," Phil stated.

"What?" Y/N gasped in shock.

"Your brother is alive."

"I..." Y/N stumbled back, Clint steadied her. "I... Steve's alive?"

"Yes. And he's a few floors down waiting for you."

"He's... He's... I can't wait any longer then!"

Y/N was in the stairwell and gone before either men could say anything. She knew which floor he'd be on, because she was put on the same floor when she first woke up. When she got to the floor, Y/N burst onto it, scaring the agents on the floor. They knew who she was though and let her sprint passed them and into the room she was heading for. She froze almost as soon she entered the room. There he was, facing away from her. Her brother. One of the men that she never thought she would see again.

"Steve?" She quietly called, tears pricking her eyes.

Steve spun around. "Y/N," he smiled.

"Oh my gosh! Steve!" She ran at him, jumping onto him. "You're alive!"

He caught her with ease and held her close. "I'm alive? You're alive. I watched you fall. I thought-" His voice cracked. "I thought I'd lost you for good."

"Well I'm here," Y/N cried into Steve's neck. "I'm right here."

They stood there, crying and holding tightly to each other, for a long while before moving to the nearest couch to talk. Steve sat and listened to Y/N talk about her last few years awake. He carefully asked questions, trying to gage what life is like now. Y/N couldn't tell him exactly everything, like Tony, because SHIELD missions are classified.

"It seems like you've been getting real busy," Steve noted.

"There was really nothing else for me to do," Y/N shrugged. "SHIELD was the first thing I knew waking up, so it just made sense to stay. Plus, Peggy helped convince me."

"Peggy's alive?" Steve's eyes widened with hope.

"Yes, Steve. Peg's alive. But she's much older now and has lived her life. And... she's forgetting things. A few months back she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Slowly, she'll forget everything."

"That's..."

Tears shimmered in his eyes as Steve tried to wrap his mind around it. He'd been awake for almost a whole day at this point. But, to him, he'd just kissed Peggy a few moments ago. Y/N reached over and grabbed one of his hands.

"We can visit her sometime," Y/N suggested. "I try and visit her as often as I can, which is not enough. She's not too bad right now. But we don't know how long that will last."

Steve's hand gripped onto Y/N's. "I would like that. I'm just scared to tell her I'm alive."

"She took the news about me really well. So I can only imagine how ecstatic she'll be to see you."

Steve responded with a small smile, rubbing his fingers over Y/N's hand. A look of concern swept over his face. Suddenly, he flipped Y/N's hand over, causing his eyes to widen slightly. His fingers carefully ran over the scars that covered her hand.

"Was this..." He whispered, lost in the memory. "Was this when you..."

"It was caused when I picked up the cube on the plane, as well as when I grabbed it on the way down."

"I know that I probably shouldn't be saying this, but..." He met his sister's eyes. "I'm glad you're here. That I'm not alone." He quickly wrapped her up in a hug. "And I'm sorry you had to be alone for so long."

"I survived. But nothing was the same without you or Buck-"

"Nothing will ever be the same without Bucky... Do you..." Steve pulled back to get a good look at Y/N's face. "Do you still love him?"

Y/N thought about Bucky, and she thought about Tony. She loved Bucky. She would always love Bucky. But she also loved Tony. And, sadly, she would never be able to have either of them.

"Yes," she quietly replied. "I will always love him."