till the end of the line

6 Steve & Nat

Then there he was.

I got up and starting running, and soon enough I heard the voice I had grown to miss.

"On your left."

The man ran past me as I only ran faster, coming up beside him as I smirked.

"Gonna run any faster?"

"What?"

I sped up and soon heard the confused sounds of the man as he then sped up trying to catch me. Once I slowed down, he ran into me, catching me as he turned me to face him. Meeting my eyes, he then let go of me and fell back in his steps, shocked, "Kat?"

"Hey, Steve."

I jumped forward wrapping my arms around his neck as he hugged my waist, "W-what happened? You just disappeared one day and never came back."

"I'm sorry, I mean it was like only a decade ago. I'm sorry I missed that train, where's Buck? Can we go see him?"

He looked at me and then lowered his eyes as he placed his hands on my shoulders, "I think you've been gone for more than a decade, Kat."

"What do you mean?"

"Katerina. Buck's gone."

"What? What, no. No." He pulled me into his arms as tears began to brim in my eyes. I hadn't cried in over half a millennia, yet this broke me.

"Hey, shh. Shh, it's okay. I'll catch you up on everything. Come on."

I nodded and wiped my tears before we took a moment and started running again.

Soon coming to a stop, I followed Steve as he walked over to a man who leaned against a tree.

"Need a medic?"

The man laughed and looked up at us, "I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes."

Steve smiled, "I guess I got a late start."

"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap."

The man chuckled as we stood watching him before he looked back up at Steve, "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

Steve laughed and then looked down at him, "What unit you in?"

"58th Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA."

The man motioned for help up and Steve nodded helping him up.

"Sam Wilson."

"Steve Rogers."

"Yeah, I kind of put that together. Must've freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

"It takes some getting used to. Good to meet you, Sam."

Steve let out a breath as he grabbed my hand, "Come on."

"Steve, what defrosting thing?"

"I'll tell you later. First, I want to know what happened."

"It's your bed, right?"

We turned back around as Sam began talking to Steve. I tuned them out as I began looking around.

A lot had changed, but I was always able to sense and see these things, even from the cell in Asgard. But I didn't know anything that had happened to Steve or Buck. I never knew I could miss so much.

Pulling me from my thoughts, Steve took my hand as we walked to a car that had pulled up.

"Where are we going?"

"I have a mission, but I'll brief you in a sec."

I nodded as he motioned for me to get in the car. I climbed over the seat and sat in the back as a red-haired girl sat in the driver's seat. As Steve finished his conversation with Sam, I waited patiently and quietly.

She then looked back at me and gave me a smile before turning to Steve, "Who's this?"

"She's an old friend. Natasha, this is Katerina, Kat this is Nat."

She held out her hand with I hesitantly looked at before shaking. The moment we made contact, I felt a rush of emotions, a rush of experiences. I looked up at her as a small gasp escaped my lips, "I'm so sorry."

She took in a breath before pulling onto the road, "Right, anyways, our next mission."

Tuning out, I fell asleep in the back and soon we came to a stop. I felt another nudge but I only looked up and muttered something under my breath, "Loki?"

Opening my eyes, I met Steve's and he furrowed his brows confused as he helped me out of the car, "What's this about Loki?"

"Oh, umm, I'll explain it later."

He gave me a nod as we began to board a plane.

I changed my outfit again, into something more suitable.

I then found a seat as Steve quickly changed before he was briefed about their mission. I sat listening idly by until he came and sat down beside me, "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I mean, I was hoping of coming back and falling into my life again with my best friend and- ... well, I was just hoping to get back into everything."

"I get that. Come here."

He pulled me into a hug before standing up and prepping himself as did Natasha.

"Alright, I have to jump."

I shook my head standing, "I'm coming too."

"No, you're not. I'm not gonna leave you alone down there. You could get hurt."

I let out a sarcastic laugh before meeting his eyes, "Look, a lot of things have happened since that day. I'm capable of taking care of myself. Steve, just trust me."

He thought for a moment and sighed before handing me a parachute to which I gave him a look as I smiled, "You need it more than I do."

As he walked over to get ready, I stood behind him as Natasha got ready beside him.

"Did you do anything fun Saturday night?"

Steve looked at her and gave her a look, "Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really."

Natasha looked up and smiled before connecting her fabric around her waist, "You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes. Unless you're with Katerina here?"

Steve looked at me to which we both laughed and shook our heads.

"Nat, we're just really close. Besides, that's why I don't ask."

He walked up to the edge, keeping an arm around my waist as Natasha walked up to us, "Too shy, or too scared?"

Letting go of me, he looked backed and smiled, "Too busy."