Bulletproof ➙ Steve Rogers

Epilogue

Regina gripped the dirt under her fingertips as a faint tingle took over her body, every cell feeling like it had fallen asleep. Her skull threatened to split open as her head pounded with pain. Her body was limp with cool dirt against her healed skin as she laid on the ground. The woman slowly peeled her eyes open, her vision black and hazy before sunshine started cracking through the trees above her and invaded her brown eyes. She raised a hand to block the rays, fully opening her eyes.

It took a minute for the woman to process where she was, let alone if she was even alive. The only thing she could see was green leaves layered on a blue background, grey clouds slowly forming across the sky.

Regina sat up quickly, her vision turning dark as she groaned. Her joints were stiff and her muscles tight as she forced herself to stand up. Somewhere nearby, a familiar voice said her name.

"What happened?" Regina squinted her eyes as her vision returned to normal. Bucky was standing a few feet away from her, looking around with a confused expression on his tired features. "Bucky." Regina mumbled as she ran over to the man, embracing him in a tight hug.

"Did we win? Did we stop Thanos?" Bucky asked as he rested his chin on Regina's shoulder, trying to pull the woman as close to him as possible.

"I don't know. I don't remember anything." Regina answered as the pair pulled away, glancing at each other. Bucky's face was smeared with dirt and there was creases around his features but he still looked the same as he did the last time Regina saw him. She wasn't even sure when that last time was. It felt like she had just fallen asleep, and woke up a few hours later. Something about Wakanda was different though, a strange feeling was itching at Regina but she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

The woman's face fell in realization as she turned her eyes away from Bucky. People were missing.

"Where's Steve? Steve!" Regina called out for the man as she walked away from Bucky, her heart slowly shattering as she realized the bearded soldier wasn't around. "No, no, no. Bucky please tell me he isn't dead. STEVE!"

"Okay, calm down. Maybe he's just...somewhere else. Maybe he's with the king and-." Bucky was cut off as King T'Challa came walking over, a similar puzzled expression on his face.

One by one, people started joining Regina and Bucky in the clearing of the forest. The ground was no longer torn up from where Thor's lightning had collided with Thanos and the battleground was silent and deserted.

Regina was happy to see the familiar faces of Sam and Wanda as they walked side by side. Even the living tree was alive, who Regina still didn't know the name of.

"Where's everyone else?" Sam asked with a demanding tone. Wanda glanced over her shoulder to see that Vision was gone, his destroyed body had been moved after Thanos brutally ripped the Infinity Stone out of his forehead.

"We don't know." Bucky replied.

All of a sudden, two geometric spheres of orange light appeared that startled anyone nearby and caused them to jump back. A dark haired man appeared with a maroon cloak draped over his shoulders and his hands curled into fists at his side.

"My name is Doctor Strange. I need all of you to come with me." The man spoke with a stern expression as he glanced at every person that stood in a group in front of him.

"Do you know what's going on?" Regina spoke up, catching the attention of Doctor Strange.

"Yes. The Avengers need you." Doctor Strange replied, perking up the ears of all those around him. He moved his hands in a wizardry way that formed large rings of fire that weren't transparent. The trees on Wakanda were replaced by what looked like a dark battle ground. "Go through, you'll find Captain America on the other side."