Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Sixty

Aquila Cadman stood, her hands tucked into the pockets of her pants as she surveyed the decimation left behind from the destruction of the compound. Cranes moved around clearing up the mess and seeing what could be salvaged. 

She turned around as Steve and Quinn arrived, Steve clutching the suitcase full of the Infinity Stones with Mjolnir in the other hand. 

Aquila stood in the clearing next to the smaller version of the Quantum Tunnel Generator where Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, and Sam Wilson were also gathered. 

"Now, remember. You have to return the stones to the exact moment you got them. Or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities. 

"Don't worry, Bruce. Clipping all the branches." Steve said. 

"You know, I tried," Bruce said, looking towards both Steve and Aquila. "When I had the gauntlet, the stones, I really tried to bring her back. I miss them, man."

"Yeah, we all do," Aquila said, shooting them both a soft smile. 

"You know, if you want, I can come with you." Sam offered as Steve started on his final wave of goodbyes before heading off to put the Infinity Stones in their original places. 

"You're a good man, Sam. This one's on me though." Steve said before turning towards Bucky. "Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." Bucky joked, pulling Steve into a hug. "Gonna miss you, Buddy."

"It's gonna be okay, Buck," Steve replied before finally turning to Quinn, pulling her into a hug.

"You know that the option is always there, if that's what you want to do, alright? It's your choice, I'm not going to mind either way." Quinn whispered into his ear, the words just barely picked up by Aquila's enhanced hearing. 

"I love you," Steve whispered back.

"I love you too. Stay safe."

Steve turned once more pulling Aquila into a tight hug. "It's going to be alright, Aquila, yeah? Get out there and do something, go back home and visit your family, start a gym, I don't know! But it is going to all be okay. Oh, before I forget, here." Steve said, handing Aquila an envelope with her name scribbled on the front in oh-so-very familiar handwriting. "I don't think you need much of an explanation about who that is from."

Steve walked up the stairs to the center of the Quantum Tunnel Generator, donning the Quantum Suit. 

"How long is gonna take?" Sam called out. 

"For him? As long as he needs. For us? Five seconds." Bruce said, before turning back up to Steve on the top of the platform. "Ready, Cap? Alright. We'll meet you back here, okay?"

"You bet," Steve said, taking one last look around his closest friends that had gathered to see him off, his eyes lingering a little longer on Quinn and Bucky. 

"Going quantum. Three, two, one-"

With another white flash, slightly on the smaller scale this time, Steve was gone, sent into the Quantum Realm once again. 

"And returning in five. . . four."

"Three. . . two . . ."

Bucky Barnes let out a sigh, wrapping an arm around Quinn's shoulders. From the solemn expressions on their faces and from what Quinn had whispered to Steve earlier, Aquila already knew the outcome. Steve was not coming back, he was going to live in the past.

"One. . ." The machine clicked but nothing happened. 

Bruce's eyes widened as he frantically hit over the buttons on the panel. 

"Where is he?" Sam demanded. 

"I don't know. He blew right past his timestamp.  He should be here."

"Well, get him back!" Sam demanded once again. 

"Hey, I said, I'm trying!"

"Sam," Bucky said, stepping forward to put a hand onto the man's shoulder, shaking his head slightly. 

"I don't think he is coming back." Quinn continued, as Sam froze at her words. 

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked while still frantically hitting buttons.  

"He had his chance at going back, back to his previous life," Aquila added. 

Sam joined Aquila's side, both of them looking towards the smaller Quatumn Realm Generator in sadness before it suddenly clicked once again, revealing Steve with a smile. 

The five of them looked up at the generator in complete shock, hardly believing their eyes. 

"Hey," Steve said softly, stepping down from the platform. "Sorry I took a little longer, I had to take a little detour."

"You didn't end up going back, why?" Sam asked. 

"My past life was great but I built a new family, a new life right here. But I think it's time I try some of that life Tony always used to tell me to get. Which reminds me." Steve said, pulling out a bag from beside him, a brand new shield now resting inside, before passing it to Sam. "How does it feel?"

"Like it's someone else's."

"It isn't," Steve replied with a grin, pulling Quinn into his side. 

"Thank you. I'll do my best."

"And that's why it's yours," Steve said, pulling Sam into a hug, before the entire team joined into the hug as well.