The Sapphire Legacy (Steve Rogers)

Chapter 23

I sat with Steve in our apartment, basically attached to his side. I couldn't believe that after a whole year he was really here. He came back to me. Something still didn't feel right though, like something was wrong or that I would wake up and this had all been some crazy dream. My grip on him tightened and he rubbed my back soothingly. "Taylor? Everything okay?" He asked, placing a kiss on my head. "Yea I'm okay." I kept a tight grip on him as the show played in the background.

I started to feel weaker and I glanced up at him. "Steve?" "Yea?" He looked down at me again. "I don't feel so good..." I whispered. He immediately pulled away and placed both hands on my cheeks. "What do you mean?"

"I mean my energy it...my power it's not working. I don't feel right." My breathing started to get shallower with each breath. Steve's brow furrowed with concern as he watched my uneven breathing. "Taylor?" He said, holding me up. Then everything went black.

Steve's POV

"Taylor?" I said, holding her up. She opened her mouth to say something but her body slumped into my arms. "Shit." I quickly picked her up and carried her quickly out of the apartment complex and into the car. "FRIDAY?" "Yes, Captain Rogers?" "Take me to Banner." I said to the AI, hoping Banner was in New York. "Routing to Dr. Banner." I sighed in relief as the GPS activated. I sped the entire way and carried Taylor inside.

"BRUCE?!" I yelled, barging in and startling him. "Steve, what-...how?" He stuttered as he sat up from being hunched over a microscope. "No time for questions, it's Taylor. She passed out." He quickly walked over to me, concern on his face, "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I just got back from the quantum realm. Strange found her in some weird dimension, don't ask cause I don't know, and said her energy felt like it was fading. Then she just passed out. She said her powers and energy felt weak." I blurted out and motioned towards a table where he hooked her up to a monitor. He quickly began to run some tests.

"Something is wrong with her energy levels." He said as I paced the room anxiously, unable to shake the feeling of helplessness that was consuming me.

Bruce looked back at me with a grave expression on his face. "There's no easy way to say this," he started, "but Taylor's energy levels are dangerously low. If we don't do something soon...she could die, Steve. Whatever Hydra did to her, she can't live without it."

I felt a surge of panic shoot through me. I can't lose her, not after everything that's happened. She just got me back. Hell, I feel like I just got her back. "What can we do?" I ask him and he looks at me sympathetically. "There's only one thing I can think of and it's just a theory..." He started, looking at the ground.

"What Bruce?? Anything??" He took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. "I think we can somehow balance her energy again...but we'd need the tesseract." I ran my fingers through my hair and resumed pacing. "How?? The tesseract is gone. Thanos destroyed it and I just came back from returning the one in 2012." I paused and looked at him for a moment, "I'll go get it. We have to try it. Anything. I can't lose her."

Bruce nodded, looking resigned, "Okay, but there are risks Steve. Messing with time again." I took another deep breath and nodded, "I know. I don't care."

He hooked her up to some IV's in hopes that it would help her so I could go back in time to retrieve the Tesseract...again...

Bucky met us at the mini quantum tunnel, "is she okay??" I shook my head and stood with my hands on my hips as Bruce worked with the machine. "She's dying Buck." "So what do we do?" He asked. "Bruce thinks exposing her to the raw energy of the Tesseract can somehow help her. Like they did at Hydra. He says it's risky but it's worth it. I can't lose her. Not now, not ever." Bucky sighed and nodded, "when do we leave?" "Buck, I can't ask you-" "If you think I'm going to let you go in there alone, you're wrong." He cut me off and I gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Buck." He nodded as Bruce called us both over.

"Okay. I've got it up and running, you know what to do. Get the stone. Stay out of sight of 2012 you and then future you who's stealing the stone, and then future future you who's returning the stone...does that make sense?" Bucky and I stared at him for a moment and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay...let's do this then. On the platform. Teleporting you to 2012 in three, two, one."

Bucky and I activated our suits and went quantum until we arrived in New York, 2012. "Okay, right about now I'm probably watching myself fight myself...before returning the mind stone. Which means I should be returning the Tesseract soon. It's going to be harder because we won't have Tony having a heart attack as a distraction." I explained and Bucky thought for a moment. "How about the Winter Solider?" I stared at him, "That could work..." Bucky found a jacket and put it on to hide the black metal arm. He made himself look like the winter solider again and I nodded, "pretty convincing." We rushed out of the alley way and I saw Taylor sitting on the bench with a newspaper. I smiled as I watched her, waiting for Bucky to create a diversion. I watched Taylor take the Tesseract quickly before another version of me was about to slide the box back over.

Right on que, Bucky started a large diversion causing the shield agents to disperse. Shit. I found myself in the hallway about to slide the cube back. I looked confused at what was now going on...probably because this didn't actually happen when Taylor first retrieved the stone. I snuck up behind to make myself fall unconscious. I grabbed the case and started walking away. I can't believe that worked. I waited for a minute before Bucky rejoined me and we engaged our suits, going back to the present.

"That was weird." Bucky said as we reappeared on the platform. "Did you get it?" Bruce asked and I held up the case, "yea but it's going to be a bitch to return." I joked as we quickly made our way back to Bruce's lab where Taylor was. "You're back!" Sam said as he walked up to us. "Is she stable?" Bruce asked him and he nodded. "Good. This might take me a while. I'm not sure what to do from here, kinda just winging it." He laughed nervously and walked to another part of his lab. I took my spot next to Taylor and grabbed her hand, "you're gonna be fine." I whispered as Sam placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I can't believe I was gone for a whole year, only to come back and I'm about to lose her. It's like going into the ice all over again." I said and he gave me a sympathetic smile. "She'll pull through, Steve. Bruce is a genius, if anyone can figure this out...he can." I gave him a small nod and sighed, placing my head against the table Taylor was laying on. "If something happens...just promise me you won't go full super villain like I did." I snap my head up and look at Taylor, placing my hand on her cheek. "Now is not the time for that Stark sarcasm I love so much." I press a kiss to her forehead and feel her squeeze my hand. "You're not going to die. You're going to be fine and then we're going to move out of that apartment and into a house where we can have baby super solider's with hopefully no teleportation powers. That would make tag and hide and go seek miserable."

"Steve..." "Don't. You're going to be okay. You have to be."