fiction | Part of the journey is the end

2. Five years later

'Five Years Later.'

Everyone gasped.

"Are you serious? Five years later?" Rhodey said disbelievingly.

"We've been dead for five years?" said Peter weakly. "I was supposed to graduate college in 2023."

Tony's eyes widened at this realization. "And you will," he said firmly.

Scott was frantic. "I was stuck in the Quantum Realm for five years?!" Everyone winced.

There were many abandoned boats gathered around the Statue of Liberty, and an empty stadium was shown.

Everyone sucked in a breath at the aftermath of the Decimation.

"This is horrifying," Natasha said in a shaky voice.

"Disturbing," added Vision.

"It's unnatural seeing New York City so empty," Peter shuddered. Bucky and Steve agreed with him.

Strange grimaced at the sight of how abandoned at empty New York City was. Was it the right decision to give away the Time Stone even though everyone comes back if the world is like this?

Steve was leading a support group, and there was a poster saying- "Where Do We Go, Now That They Are Gone?"

Sam looked at Steve with wide eyes and softly said, "You're running a support group?"

Steve gave a watery smile, and tears welled up in his eyes. "To honour one of the best men I know, of course."

Sam pulled Steve into a hug. "You're unbelievable, man."

A note appeared to Sam, which read, "Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey looked out for your sister and nephews during the five years. They made sure your family was okay and taken care of."

Tears welled up in Sam's eyes. He was worried about Sarah, Cass, and AJ, and it made him feel much better knowing that they were being looked after.

"Thank you," Sam croaked out to Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey.

"Of course, man," Rhodey said with a smile. "You're our friend."

A man said he had gone on a date for the first time in five years and had no idea what to talk about. Steve asked what they'd talked about, and he said they'd talked about how things had changed, their jobs, how they missed the Mets, and then things got quiet as his date cried while they served the salads, and he cried just before dessert.

Everyone was numb. The aftermath of the Decimation was too horrifying to comprehend.

Natasha shuddered. "We have to stop this from happening. At all costs."

Steve said that was great as he had taken the jump without knowing what would happen next, and they had to take these baby steps to find purpose and be whole. "I went in the ice in '45 right after I met the love of my life. Woke up 70 years later." Steve said with a brave smile, "You got to move on. Got to move on.

Steve sighed. He didn't think he would be able to.

"The world is in our hands. It's left to us guys." Steve said bravely, "And we got to do something with it. Otherwise...Thanos should've killed all of us."

"That's great advice, Steve. You're great at this, you know," Sam said proudly. Steve gave him a slight smile.

In San Francisco, a van was kept in a storage facility with 'Lang' written on a small poster in the front.