Chapter 99

Except it turned out that wasn't the end of the world.

At the sudden return of every single person who'd vanished five years ago, the world erupted into overwhelmed celebration. Everywhere became a party, everywhere people joined together and sang and cried and held each other so tight they bruised. It was a confusing mess of people reappearing out of thin air, five years younger than their counterparts, but everywhere they were welcomed with open arms.

Parents reunited with their children. Friends cried on each other's shoulders. Husbands and wives ran down streets to throw themselves into each other's arms, crying through their laughter.

Brothers and sisters found each other again.

Helicopters, jets, trucks, and ambulances descended on the shattered ruins of the Avengers Facility, where they found a tired and victorious army waiting.

The Avengers stood vigil with their arms around each other's shoulders as Bruce Banner carried Tony Stark's body to a waiting ambulance.

The world did not yet know who they had lost. But when they did learn, they raised a glass to Tony Stark and Natasha Romanov, the strongest Avengers.

Doctor Strange portalled the armies back to their homes, and the Avengers with families rushed off to hold them close.

Maggie and Pepper didn't leave each other's sides. Pepper held Maggie's hand on the ambulance ride to the hospital, and Maggie held Pepper's hand as they arrived at the wooden house by the lake in a Quinjet. Fallen leaves fluttered in the jet exhaust.

Happy and Morgan were waiting for them on the porch when the Quinjet ramp slid down. Happy took one look at Maggie and Pepper at the top of the ramp and instantly understood. His face crumpled. Maggie's heart broke anew for him, and at the way he didn't let Morgan see his reaction.

Pepper drew in a deep breath, took a step onto the ramp and then froze. She looked back at Maggie.

Maggie sat in a wheelchair borrowed from the hospital, her eyes red and watery in her pale face. Once the medics had gotten her out of the nanotech it became apparent that her right leg below the knee could not be saved. They'd immobilized and numbed the leg for now, but her surgery was scheduled in a matter of hours. She couldn't bring herself to care.

Maggie met Pepper's eyes. "Go. I'll catch up."

Pepper's lips trembled. "I don't know how to do this."

Maggie rolled to the top of the ramp and reached up to hold her hand. She could see Morgan on the porch out of the corner of her eye, craning her neck as if waiting for her father to appear. Maggie's throat constricted and she turned back to Pepper. "Yes you do," she murmured. "Tell her the truth, and answer her questions." She squeezed Pepper's hand. "I'll be right behind you."

Pepper's eyes welled with tears again, threatening to spill down her face, but then she drew in a breath and her calm, beautiful strength resolved in her eyes. Maggie didn't know how she did it.

Pepper squeezed her hand and then walked down the ramp onto the lawn. Maggie watched her climb the stairs onto the porch and drop to her knees in front of her daughter. She murmured something in a low voice, then picked Morgan up and carried her inside.

Happy stayed on the porch.

Carefully, her fingers white on the metal rim of her chair's wheels, Maggie rolled herself down the Quinjet ramp. It was slow going. Her muscles ached and she felt tired down to her very core. She hadn't had a chance to speak to anyone before the medics had rushed her onto an ambulance. Bucky had come with her to the hospital, and most of the others had followed, but she'd come to the house alone with Pepper. She didn't feel numb and void of emotion like she had after their last fight with Thanos five years ago. She felt every painful second.

Happy met her at the bottom of the ramp. Tears streamed freely down his face.

"Happy," Maggie breathed, unable to stop her own tears at the sight of his.

"He's really gone?" Happy asked, high and desperate.

She nodded. "I'm sorry," she croaked.

Happy heaved a shuddering sob and dropped to one knee to wrap Maggie in a tight bear hug, his tears staining her borrowed hospital scrubs and his sobs reverberating into her body. Maggie held him back and allowed herself to cry once more.

When Happy quieted, he leaned back with red-rimmed eyes and swiped a hand across his face. From the distraught look in his eyes Maggie knew what he was going to say next.

"Morgan…"

Maggie looked over his shoulder at the quiet house with the sun shining on the roof. "Let's go inside."

Happy pushed Maggie through the front door and into the living room, where Pepper and Morgan sat together on the couch, their limbs entwined and tears on their faces. Maggie looked at Morgan's tiny hand gripping the back of Pepper's neck as if terrified that she'd leave too, and thought: no matter how smart she is, she's too young to understand this loss.

Maggie knew this, because she'd been the exact same age when her father died. She'd been too young then to understand what the deaths of her parents meant, too young to realize how much she'd miss them.

Morgan clung to her mother and cried, because she understood enough and it was plain from Pepper's face that something terrifying and heartrending had happened. She mostly absorbed the emotions around her – the sudden change, gravity and grief in the air had to be terrifying. Pepper looked utterly devastated.

So when Happy pushed Maggie into the room and Morgan looked up at her, she didn't give Morgan heartbreak and devastation. She rolled toward the couch, leaned forward and looked Morgan Stark in the eye.

"Whatever you feel, it's okay," she said. She pushed down the part of her that wanted to scream until her throat was raw. "How do you feel, Morgan?"

Morgan's eyes gleamed. "I miss dad," she whispered.

Maggie tried not to let her face shatter. "I miss him too, Morrigan. I miss him a lot, and that's not going to go away. But you know what else won't go away?" Morgan shook her head. Maggie reached out to stroke her hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Our memories of him. We're… we're going to remember your dad, Morgan, we're going to remember how funny he was, how brave he was, and how much he loved you. We're going to keep him with us in here" – she tapped Morgan's forehead – "and in here" – she stroked a thumb over Morgan's heart.

Beside her daughter, Pepper shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut in a silent sob. Morgan still looked scared.

Maggie took her niece's hands. "Does that sound okay?"

Morgan nodded and leaned in. Maggie wrapped her arms around her in a warm, too-tight hug.

"But he's not gonna be here," Morgan whispered, her voice tight.

Maggie did start to cry again at that, and she cradled the back of Morgan's head as she made eye contact with Pepper. Pepper looked like a ghost, a wraith made of grief.

"No," she breathed. "And that sucks."

Morgan burrowed further into Maggie. "Shit."

Against all odds Maggie laughed. A moment later she recalled Tony's concern that he was teaching Morgan bad words, and the laugh turned into a sob. "You're right." She stroked her head again. "You're right. Morgan, one day I'm sure you're going to be sick of me, because I am never going to stop telling you how proud of you your dad would be." She closed her eyes. "It sucks that he's not here. No one can replace him. But your mom is here, and so is uncle Rhodey, and uncle Happy, and me, and so many other people who are going to keep you safe and love you so much. I promise."

"Okay," Morgan murmured. Her grip around Maggie was surprisingly strong. Maggie held her for a few more minutes, tears streaming down her face. Because she didn't know if Morgan would remember any of this, or if her talk had helped her at all, or if she'd mostly been trying to make herself feel better, but god it had to be enough.

Morgan pulled away and went of her own will to wrap her mom in a hug, and as she watched them Maggie heard Tony's voice so vividly it was as if he were standing over her shoulder: You are stronger than any loss.

Maggie wished she had told him I'm strong because of you.

She still was.

While she was in surgery, Maggie dreamed. She dreamed that she flew across the blasted, burning battlefield and took the gauntlet from Tony. She snapped her fingers in his stead, and Tony lived to go home to Morgan. In the dream she fought harder, she did better, she died, and then she woke up with a strangled scream.

But as her heartbeat settled and the doctors she'd frightened rushed around her, checking machines and drips and readouts, Maggie felt calm.

Because she didn't feel like she'd failed her brother. In a way she knew it would end like this; that Tony would meet his death in protecting the entire universe, because that's who he was. He was a shield.

They were a team to the last, and he'd made the choice at the end. She knew that most of the people on that battlefield, probably her included, wouldn't have been able to withstand the Stones long enough to use them, but Tony had. Tony was strong.

Throughout the day as she lay in a hospital bed with an empty space below her right knee, she swung between curse-filled rages and screams, silent sobbing, and tearful laughter. One moment her heart would be at peace, and the next moment the prospect of a future without Tony filled her with terror and she hyperventilated until the nurses came running in.

Fireworks spiraled into the sky outside.

Avengers filtered through her hospital room, but one never left: Bucky stayed by her side, holding her through her tears and her rages and her laughter, murmuring to her in the darkness, holding her hand.

Maggie slipped in and out of drug-induced slumber, and each time she woke her heart broke all over again. My brother is dead.

She was furious with him.

She was so, so proud of him that her heart felt like it would burst.

And she'd made him a promise.

Two Days Later

Tony Stark's funeral wasn't really much of a funeral, at least not in the traditional sense. Everyone had arrived in black suits and the house had been decorated with flowers, but there was no preacher or priest. No order of proceedings. It was just Tony's friends and family gathering together to share stories and say goodbye to the remarkable man who'd brought them together. It's just what he would have wanted, Maggie reflected. A party with himself as the center of attention.

There were memorials for him and Natasha all over the world, of course – tributes and ceremonies and long parades. But this was for family. They'd already laid his body to rest at a cemetery in New York, beside the graves of his parents and the empty grave that read Margaret Abigail Stark. Maggie still felt that leaving her tombstone there was the right thing to do, as she'd discussed with Tony on a cold morning years ago. It meant there was a part of herself always resting there with her family.

That had been a small ceremony, but now was the real memorial. Maggie had never seen the house so full. She watched the Avengers' faces shift from tears, to wet laughter, to silent contemplation as one by one, they each shared a story about Tony. They had come together to support one another in their grief; Peter and his Aunt May stood beside Thor's sturdy, comforting presence, Scott offered Bruce a glass of water. Clint rested a comforting hand on Rocket's shoulder. Nick Fury and Carol Danvers stood side by side. A boy Pepper had told her was called Harley Keener stood with the Bartons. When Rhodey began to weep, Steve and T'Challa rushed forward to give him a tissue.

Maggie had never been to a funeral. She'd expected a heavy, oppressive sense of grief that would crush the breath from her lungs. But the atmosphere inside the house startled her; the air was thick with emotion, as if everyone's grief and love had poured forth into the space for them to breathe it in together, like an incense. But it didn't feel bad; this felt like a space she could cry in, but it was also a home to laughter. It felt, strangely, as if Tony was there with them.

Pepper and Morgan sat together on the couch, with Happy by their side, and Maggie stood behind them with her hand resting gently on Pepper's shoulder. It was there for comfort, and also for balance – she'd had only two days to adjust to the loss of her right leg below the knee.

She currently wore a prosthetic from the line that she'd developed with Tony: right now just a metal rod with a foot-shaped attachment, slotted into a black shoe. She technically wasn't supposed to be walking at all yet, but with a great deal of concentration and the aid of a cane, she'd been able to move. Her balance was all off and the stump below her knee ached non-stop, but the loss of part of her leg was nothing compared to losing her brother. The skin under her eyes was raw from crying.

As Nebula spoke in soft, clipped sentences about she and Tony's lonely hours on the Benatar as they tried to get to Earth, and Tony's easy kindnesses, Maggie glanced over her shoulder to where she could feel Bucky's eyes on her. He stood between Steve and Sam, the expression in his grey-blue eyes impossibly complicated as he looked at her. His brow furrowed: how are you doing?

She drew in a deep breath and slowly nodded. There was no easy way to answer his silent question. He had always seen the deepest, darkest parts of her, and five years apart could not keep him from seeing the grief which pummeled her from all sides, twisting in her heart and choking the breath in her throat. His gaze deepened – seeing her grief, offering her a place to rest her pain.

"Maggie?"

She turned around to see Pepper looking over her shoulder at her, a gentle look in her eyes. She glanced. Everyone else was looking at her. Nebula had finished speaking. Oh. My turn.

She swallowed. "I… I've actually got something of a surprise." She crouched, careful to keep her balance on her uninjured left leg, dipped a hand into the large bag she'd brought with her and straightened to reveal a red and gold Iron Man helmet. The room stilled. "Tony left this."

Yesterday, F.R.I.D.A.Y. had sent Maggie a set of instructions to pick up the helmet. Maggie hadn't yet seen whatever message Tony had left on the helmet hard drive – she'd been entrusted with the role of message-bearer. Slowly, with the support of her plain metal cane, Maggie limped around to the coffee table. She only got three steps before Rhodey rushed up to help her. When he took her elbow and supported her weight, she looked up at him with a smile.

Rhodey glanced at the helmet in her hand. "Tony always said he'd be the biggest VIP at his funeral."

She huffed a laugh. Carefully the two of them walked toward the coffee table – Maggie with her awkward, unfamiliar prosthetic leg and cane, and Rhodey in his cybernetic exoskeleton. They whirred and clanked as they walked. When they made it, Maggie set the helmet down and glanced up at Pepper and Morgan. Morgan looked confused, mostly, but beside her Pepper looked terrified.

Maggie touched the side of the helmet and stepped aside.

For a moment, nothing happened. But then the helmet's eye slits glowed with a bright white light and projected an image on the far side of the room by the fireplace.

Maggie's stomach dropped away. Her hand flew to her mouth even as her eyes flooded with painful tears, because sitting mere feet away was her brother.

The holographic video message showed Tony sitting the wrong way around on a wooden chair, his elbows propped on the back of the chair as he wore a dark suit – Maggie recognized it as the one he'd worn at the compound.

A smile flashed on his face, quick-witted eyes only betraying a small hint of nerves. "Heyyyy," he drawled.

Startled laughter broke out across the room filled with Avengers, closely followed by sniffs and clothes rustling as people wrapped their arms around each other.

Maggie stared at her brother. With the blue light etching out every detail of him, he looked so alive. She reflected back on their conversation in her room before they'd started the time heist, as the moon had shone down on them and Tony had spoken about 'saving your big dramatic goodbye for afterwards'. She'd written her own 'if I die' letters after that, but this… well, Tony had always been a bigger showman than her.

She glanced at Pepper and Morgan – Morgan's eyes had gone wide and round, and Pepper had burst into tears. As Maggie turned back she caught a glimpse of Steve's pained, glimmering eyes.

"Everybody wants a happy ending, right?" Holographic-Tony began, spreading his hands. "But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time…" He cocked his head and his dark eyes deepened. "I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration. I hope… families are reunited, I hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored." Maggie tore her eyes away from Tony's hopeful eyes and looked around the room full of people they thought they'd lost. She remembered standing in this very room only a week or so ago, thinking that this could never be possible.

"If there ever was such a thing," Tony mused. He scratched his chin. "God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, y'know, to this extent, I mean…" He shook his head, his eyes glimmering. "I – I wouldn't have been surprised, but c'mon, who knew… the epic forces of dark and light that would come into play."

As it always had, the look of wonder in Tony's eyes made Maggie smile. Rhodey put his arm around her shoulders.

Tony let out a breath. "And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's going to have to find her way and grow up in." Stillness fell over him, and his hand came up to rest over his mouth. Maggie saw the fear in his eyes then, just a flash – the fear of a father going off to war.

"So I thought I'd probably better record a little greeting in the case of an untimely death," he said, then gestured outward, "on my part. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely."

Maggie took in a deep breath, shuddering slightly as she let it out again.

"This time travel thing that we're going to try and pull off tomorrow is… it's gonna be… it's got me scratching my head of this whole thing." He touched a hand to his mouth and looked into the middle distance. But then he shrugged. "Then again that's the hero gig, y'know? Part of the journey is the end."

Maggie felt the room still once more at that.

"What am I even tripping for?" Tony questioned himself. He climbed to his feet. "Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to."

For a moment Maggie thought that was the end of it – he'd set his hands on his knees and looked down, a look of calm on his face. But then his eyes lifted, looking directly at them all, and a shiver ran down her spine. She suddenly had an image of Morgan re-watching this when she'd be older and taller than her father ever was. She shuddered.

The corner of Tony's mouth turned up. "I love you 3000."

He smiled, stepped away, and the hologram faded out.

Maggie's breath stilled in her chest, and for a moment her heart hurt just as much as it had when she'd seen the light leave Tony's eyes back on the battlefield. But then the sharp pain faded enough for her to breathe, and she turned to look into Pepper's eyes. Morgan was still staring back at where her father had faded into the air, but Pepper had turned to Maggie.

Her face stained with tears and her eyes gleaming as a trembling smile lifted on her mouth, Pepper nodded at Maggie.

Rhodey straightened and looked around at the gathered, speechless Avengers. "Let's go outside."

Maggie walked out of the house beside Pepper and Morgan, her gait uneven and precarious as she strode by their side, supporting her unsteady steps with her cane. At the bottom of the stairs, Morgan took her hand.

She drew her strength from Pepper, who walked with her head held high and the specially-made wreath in her free hand. She nodded at the Avengers waiting outside. It was a bright day, the sun warming their faces and glittering off the wide, still lake. Wind rustled the tree branches and wafted dark green forest smells toward them.

Together they walked down the wooden jetty. Maggie's prosthesis and cane landed with a heavier clunk than the other footsteps. She spotted the tin rowboat on the shore to their left and the rope swing beyond, and her heart twisted. The closer they got to the edge the more her heartrate rose, sensing that this was one of those pivotal, terrifying moments. A goodbye.

She sensed the Avengers behind them, lined down the jetty and across the lawn. A family. Behind her stood Bucky, and Steve, and Clint and Bruce and Thor and Sam and everyone else she'd found room for in her heart which she'd once believed incapable of love. She took a deep breath, using their steady presences behind her to bolster her resolve. Not a goodbye, she told herself. An 'I love you'.

They reached the end of the jetty, and Pepper sank to a crouch beside Morgan. Maggie couldn't crouch so she stood beside them, leaning her weight on her cane and her hand hovering by Morgan's shoulder.

"You ready?" Pepper asked Morgan softly. Morgan nodded, though Maggie could see her fingers shaking.

Together, Morgan and Pepper dropped the wreath onto the surface of the lake. It landed with a small splash on the calm water, drifting in place for a moment before the breeze pushed it out and away from the jetty.

Maggie watched the arc reactor float out on the water on its wreath of greenery and flowers.

Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.

She glanced down at Pepper and Morgan. The sun gleamed in their hair as they held each other and watched the reactor on the lake. Maggie stood tall over them, protective and watching.

You can stay, you know.

It was as if Tony stood just behind her, sunglasses on his face and hands in his pockets, his tone carefully light.

Okay, Maggie mouthed. I'll stay.

In their own time the Avengers walked away from the jetty in twos and threes, towards the food laid out on wooden tables in Pepper, Tony, and Morgan's garden. Maggie turned away to give Pepper and Morgan some time alone and found herself walking in step with Peter and Happy.

Peter glanced up at her face, then down at her metal leg, and his eyes skittered away. His face was stained with tears, his eyes red rimmed and filled with devastation.

Maggie took in a deep breath. "You're going to be okay, Peter." He glanced up at her. "I know it doesn't feel like it now, and I know saying this doesn't help you feel better, but you will be."

He shuddered. He wore a clean dark suit and seemed so much older than his fifteen years. "I just… I don't know what to do without him."

She let out a breath of a laugh. "Me neither. But we will figure it out. I promise."

He choked in a sob, then before she had a chance to speak again he darted in and hugged her. She wobbled on her leg but he held her tight, his face pressed against her shoulder and his arms a tight band around her chest. Heart heavy, Maggie put her arms around him and stroked the back of his head.

May Parker caught up with them, her hand full of tissues, and looked the two of them over with sad eyes.

When Peter pulled away, Maggie said: "He kept a photo of you in his house for five years, Peter. He never forgot you." She made sure he was looking into her eyes. "We'll never forget him either."

Peter nodded, his eyes welling again. He wiped his face. "Yeah," he said softly. He nodded jerkily. "Yeah."

May Parker stepped in and took his arm in hers. "C'mon, kiddo." She shot Maggie a consoling look, then steered Peter toward a seat in the shade.

For a moment Maggie stood, cut adrift, in the middle of the garden as the Avengers mingled around her eating finger food and speaking in low tones. Morgan and Pepper had made their way over, and Pepper held Morgan on her hip as they spoke to Bruce and Steve. She spotted Bucky standing a few tables away, talking to the Guardians. He looked up when he sensed her eyes, but she shook her head at him. Stay. She knew if he came to offer her comfort now she'd fall apart completely.

So for a few minutes she stood alone, watching them all. This family that Tony had cobbled together through mistake and happenstance. This family that Tony had saved.

She turned, and her eyes fell on a tall, dark-haired figure in a sharp suit who was looking straight at her.

Maggie hobbled toward Doctor Strange. For a few moments they just looked at each other, calm and measuring. They'd never spoken outside of a battle before.

Maggie spoke first. "Fourteen million, six hundred and five possible futures," she murmured. Strange's eyes deepened. "And one where we win. You told him that."

He met her eyes calmly, though she saw something that looked suspiciously like sympathy there. He hadn't struck her as a particularly empathetic person. He was a surgeon, all about cold, precise focus. She trusted him to give it to her straight. "Yes," he uttered.

She straightened. "Was there ever…" she swallowed. "Was there ever a way that I-"

"No," Strange said softly. His eyes glinted with sympathy again. "I am sorry, but this… was the only way."

Against her own will, her head bowed and tears spilled from her eyes once more. It surprised her when Strange rested a scarred, slender-fingered hand on her arm out of comfort, but she leaned into it all the same.

Apparently the wake after a funeral was the most acceptable place for one to walk around with tears all over their face, because no one really looked at her twice as she pulled away from Strange to share a few words with each of her old and newfound friends. She spoke to the team who had helped Tony save the world, and she spoke to the ones they'd brought back.

When she spoke to Thor, he set a heavy hand on her shoulder and said: "I am… so sorry, Maggie."

She looked up into his tearful eyes and sighed. Thor knew exactly how it felt to lose a brother. And in his eyes she saw an echo to the dream she'd had while the doctors cut off her leg. She saw guilt.

She rested her hand over his. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Thor."

His face crumpled and he pulled her into an almost suffocating hug that lifted her off her feet and made her wheeze when he finally set her down again.

Maggie finally came to stand beside Bucky, to borrow from his strength. He stood in a small circle with Valkyrie, Scott, Rocket and the tree named Groot, talking lowly, and when Maggie limped up beside him he put his flesh arm around her, his warmth seeping into her bones.

"Hey doll," he murmured. Maggie sensed Rocket glance between them, a light in his eyes as if he finally saw what she'd been missing all these years. Bucky's thumb smoothed over her arm.

Maggie closed her eyes and leaned into him.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed. She wasn't asleep but her mind was too tired for words so she simply stood, cradled in Bucky's arm, as the low murmurs of conversation moved around her and over her.

And then:

"That's my uncle Bucky."

Maggie's eyes snapped open at the young voice. Bucky had frozen beside her, his fingers suddenly rigid on her arm as he halted in mid-sentence to Thor.

Bucky and Maggie turned to see Morgan, standing a few feet away by her mother's side as she clutched a juice box and looked up into Bucky's face.

Bucky stared down at the little girl. He'd learned about Morgan, of course – Maggie could still see the heartbroken look in his eyes when Maggie had told him where she and Pepper had to go, after Tony died. I missed so much, he'd whispered to her yesterday in the cover of darkness in her hospital room. He'd seen Morgan for the first time when he showed up for the funeral, and he'd kept his distance out of respect.

But there was no keeping his distance now. "What?" he managed to stammer.

Maggie's eyes flickered to Pepper, who was crying again, and then back down to Morgan.

Morgan looked right up at him. She was usually shyer with strangers, but she met Bucky's eyes with utter certainty. "You're my uncle Bucky," she said. "I know 'cause of your long hair and your metal arm."

Bucky looked to Maggie, who had started crying again without really realizing it, to Pepper, and then back to the dark-haired five year old looking up at him.

Morgan didn't break his gaze. "My dad told me so."

Bucky's whole face wrenched, and Maggie saw the shift in his eyes; until now, he thought he was at the funeral of a man who'd wanted him dead. Some day, Maggie would tell him everything about the five years he'd missed. She'd tell him about the time Tony had looked across at her and said tell me about Bucky, and the time he'd explained to Morgan that she had another uncle. For now though, she just watched the emotions shift deep in Bucky's sea grey eyes: surprise, gratitude, humility, settling on a soft shade of grief.

Bucky stepped toward Morgan. "Then…" he swallowed. "Well then, I guess I'm your uncle Bucky." He crouched down, settling his hands on his knees and looking into her eyes. "It's nice to meet you, Morgan." He looked around, at all the dark clothes and the grief. "I really admired your dad, you know. He was brave, and clever as all hell, and he really loved his family. How are you doing?"

Morgan pressed in closer to her mom. "I don't know."

Maggie's lips quivered. As if he could sense it, Bucky reached back with his flesh hand and rested it on her shin, steadying her.

"I bet," he said softly to Morgan. "And that's okay. I don't know how I'm doing half the time and that's okay too. I am a hundred years older than you, though."

Morgan's nose wrinkled. "No you aren't."

"I sure am."

Bucky drew Morgan into gentle, childlike bickering, and Maggie watched them with wide eyes. She glanced up for a moment and saw Pepper doing the same, a small smile on her lips.

They stood together, the four of them, and Maggie's knees nearly buckled when Morgan reached out to touch Bucky's metal hand.

They held Natasha's funeral the next day.

The team gathered once more at the ruins of the Facility, a blasted crater of rock and twisted rubble with the lake and forest beyond the border of where the fighting had been. They'd thought about having her funeral somewhere else, but in the end this was the only place that made sense: Natasha had found her heart and her family here, and she'd spent the last five years here trying to make the world a better place.

Tony's life had been so well-documented and publicly available, but even Natasha's own teammates knew little about her life before they'd met her. And yet, the two Avengers funerals felt much the same.

Standing in the bright sun overlooking the lake they shared stories about their smirking, red-haired leader who had believed in the Avengers from the start. Maggie learned so much about Natasha that she hadn't known – how she had doted on Clint's children, how she and Bruce had forged something precious in the midst of fear, how she and Tony had liked to pull pranks on Steve. Maggie shared the story of the first time she'd properly met Natasha at the airport in Germany.

"She listened to me, and I could tell she believed in what I said. She said as much. So I relaxed, thinking we'd finally gotten somewhere, and then she tazed me." The gathering of Avengers chuckled. Maggie smiled at the memory. "Natasha… she had the heart to listen to me even when all I'd done was bring her pain in the past, even though we were in the middle of a battlefield. That took guts. But she was smart, too. Hence the tazing."

At the end Clint gave a speech, his voice strained and his eyes full of tears, with his family around him.

"She knows we won," he said near the end, sharing a glance with Wanda. His chin lifted. "And she's proud of each and every one of us." He paused. Maggie's hand slipped into Bucky's metal one. Clint cocked his head and looked around at them. "Well, she'd pretend she wasn't proud, but I know she would be. She'd tell you all to… to stop looking so godawful miserable."

That got a laugh. Maggie leaned over to squeeze her arm around Steve, who was crying as he laughed.

Clint's jaw clenched. "Nat would… she'd tell you that she chose this. She'd tell you that it's okay." Tears spilled down his cheeks, gleaming in the sunlight. "So go out there and be the… be the best, bravest, kindest version of yourselves, and rest easy knowing that somewhere, Natasha Romanov is pretending not to be proud of you."

One by one, when they were ready, they walked up to the memorial stone that had been set in a quiet, wooded area overlooking the lake. Whatever this battlefield got turned into in the future, they had ensured that the stone would never be moved.

When Maggie's turn came she paced carefully over the uneven ground, her prosthetic foot crunching on the ash-covered fallen leaves, leaning heavily on her cane and the surrounding tree trunks to support herself. She reached the stone and looked down.

A single marble stone jutted out of the ground, with an etching of the Black Widow symbol in the middle. Above it the stone read, simply, 'Nat'.

Maggie let out a slow breath and leaned over to place a single black rose, with the thorns still attached, at the base of the stone. It rested beside dozens of others, a midnight bouquet for the assassin turned hero. Then she swiped up the bottle of vodka standing to the side, poured a shot for herself – wincing as it burned down her throat – and then poured one out beside the bed of black flowers.

For a few moments, she just looked down at the white marble stone. She hadn't known Natasha as well as she wished she could; they'd only really gotten to know one another after the Decimation, when both of their souls had turned to voids. But Maggie remembered Natasha's tungsten-steel strength, brittle and yet impenetrable, and her wry smiles even in the darkest moments.

Maggie nodded at the marble stone. "Spasibo, Vdova," [Thanks, Widow] she murmured, with that small smile she and Natasha used to trade.

Then she turned and walked back into the sun, where the rest of her family waited for her. In the shadows at her back she imagined an answering reply: Ne blagodari menya, Viverna [Don't thank me, Wyvern]. She smiled.

Maggie knew that this would be the last time she'd see many of the Avengers for a while, so she made sure to take her time sharing memories with each of them. They'd spread out along the edge of the lake, talking in small groups as some of them stepped out onto the hard, rocky scar on the earth where they'd battled Thanos's armies.

She spoke for the first time with Nick Fury, who she was very pleased she and Bucky had been unable to kill, and finally met Scott's partner Hope. Clint appeared silently by her side at one point, his jaw clenched so tight that it looked painful. She put her arm across his shoulders and they stood in silence as the people around them spoke about the people they'd lost.

After a few minutes of silence, Maggie jostled Clint gently and nodded at his family. "You and I should get to know each other one of these days. Invite me over to your place sometime."

He cracked a smile. "I think I just might. Next week?"

"Next week sounds perfect."

He turned when his youngest ran up to him, and Maggie spotted Steve standing with his hands in his pockets, looking out at the lake. She limped over and stepped in silently beside him.

"She'd be proud of you, Steve."

He smiled sadly. "Yeah. I think Clint got it right in his speech. She'd tell us all to stop moping around."

"Probably," Maggie acknowledged. "It's only been a few days, though. I've got plenty more moping scheduled in for the next, uh… forever."

He huffed. "True. Though Nat'd also probably tell me I need to get a life."

"Lots of life to be had now."

He glanced across at her appraisingly. "Yeah. There is."

"Maggie," called Bruce from behind her. She looked over her shoulder. "The space lot are leaving soon, they're flying to New Asgard."

"Just a moment," Maggie called back. She drew in a deep breath and focused on turning around, leaning on her cane as her right leg hopped to keep herself balanced. Steve reached out to steady her. "Thanks."

He glanced from her prosthesis to her face. "I never asked, in amongst… everything else. Are you doing okay?"

She grimaced. "To be honest I haven't had much time to think about it in amongst everything else. Ever since the leg got injured I've been compartmentalizing it. It…" she shook away the memory of seeing her ruined, bloody leg and glanced down, to where she knew the metal prosthesis extended in a padded cuff over the stump below her knee. She felt the cloth rubbing against her hot, uncomfortable stump with its red tissue that had not yet faded into a scar. "It sucks. It's shit, as my niece would put it." Steve chuckled and they both looked over at Morgan, who sat on Pepper's lap at one of the tables with food laid out on it. "I'll, uh… I'll learn to live with it."

"I'm sorry, Maggie," He said lowly. His eyes gleamed, and Maggie knew he wasn't talking about just the leg anymore. "I wish I-"

Maggie put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to wish anything, Steve. What happened… it happened. It's shit, and I'm probably going to go home and cry for a few hours, and who knows, in a month I might feel worse than I do now, but… this is it." She looked out at their gathered family, the sun shining down on them. "This is the world Tony and Natasha gave us. So we've got to live as best as we can, to make it worthwhile."

She met Steve's eyes, seeing her words sink in, then patted his arm. "Now help me down this embankment, I'm still about as stable as a drunkard in an earthquake."

He obliged with a smile, taking her arm and guiding her down the slope of grass and rock toward the gaggle of aliens gathered near the Benatar. They looked up as she approached.

"I can't go to New Asgard with you guys," she said breathlessly, nodding her thanks to Steve before he paced away. She turned back. "So this is goodbye."

"Who are you again?" asked Quill, squinting at her.

"This is Maggie," Rocket scolded, scowling up at Quill, then scurried across the rock and climbed up Maggie's metal cane to give her a hug. Those who'd been vanished by Thanos raised their eyebrows at the unusual display of affection.

Rocket's small paw patted Maggie's shoulder. "You stay in touch, kid. I'll keep an eye out for nice legs for you. And let me know if your boy changes his mind about keeping that arm."

"I'll keep you posted," she smiled, then let him go so he could jog back to his tree friend. Nebula stood nearby, very pointedly not looking at her until Maggie turned toward her. They reached out and clasped wrists. "You be good."

"No promises," Nebula murmured.

Maggie grinned, then turned to nod to the rest of them, smiling briefly at Mantis. "It was nice to meet you all. You've got friends on Terra next time you're back in this corner of the universe."

"Obviously," muttered the bulky, pale-eyed alien standing at the back of the group, but the rest of them just nodded.

Maggie turned away and spotted Valkyrie striding up to the ship, in her strange dark Asgardian tunic. She tipped her chin. "Val."

The other woman scowled. "I told you not to call me that." But then her face softened. "I'm sorry for your loss, Maggie."

"Thank you."

"Come to New Asgard again sometime soon. We could catch a storytelling together in the tavern. Your metal-armed-man is invited, as is the little one and her mother."

Maggie's lips turned up. "That sounds… nice."

Thor strode up, his face heavy after leaving his rose at Natasha's memorial stone, clearly not in the mood to talk. Maggie paused just long enough to kiss him on the cheek, then shook his hand and watched him walk with Valkyrie to the Benatar.

She limped past Clint and Sam and nodded to acknowledge them, heading for the Wakandan cohort who were gathered around their own jet – she knew they needed to return to their country soon. T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye looked up as she approached.

She smiled warmly and reached out to shake their hands. "Ndiyabulela, izihlobo." [Thank you, friends].

"You are welcome in Wakanda at any time," T'Challa replied, inclining his head to her.

Shuri nodded. "I know I saw you checking out my lab when you came last time."

Maggie didn't bother to point out that she'd visited Wakanda many times since Shuri was last alive, because that was a whole sad can of worms she didn't want to open right now.

"I'll visit," she promised. She glanced over her shoulder at Bucky. "I've been promised a beautiful view of the sunset over a certain lake. And goats."

Okoye rolled her eyes. "Let's never hire him for our tourism industry."

Maggie stayed to chat with them a few more moments, but then she spotted a lone figure standing just inside the treeline of the forest. She said her farewells and then loped over.

The red-headed figure wore a long black coat, her back to the rest of the Avengers. She didn't flinch at Maggie's loud, awkward footsteps and clanking cane as she approached. She'd known she was coming.

"Hey, Wanda."

"Maggie." The witch's voice was low, still softly accented despite her years away from her home country. Her unreadable grey eyes looked out at the forest.

Maggie paused to catch her breath, then reached out to take Wanda's arm in hers. They looked into the forest together. "How are you doing?"

Wanda took a deep breath, her eyes lingering on the dark shadows clinging to the trees. "There's lots of grief here. It's hard." Maggie nodded slowly, patiently. "It's not… it's not the kind of grief that shuts you down, though. This is remembrance."

"That can often be harder to live with, in my experience."

Wanda sighed. "I know it's been five years for some of you, but for me… it's only been three days."

Three days since she fought Thanos and lost. Three days since she watched Vision die twice over. Maggie closed her eyes. "I know." She rubbed Wanda's arm. Wanda seemed so poised in her grief, as if pain refined her elegance. "We… we had a funeral for him, of sorts, back after it happened. We can have another one-"

"No," Wanda murmured. "I don't think I'm ready for that."

"I get it." Maggie chewed on the inside of her cheek.

Wanda looked over her shoulder, at where Bucky had walked up to Clint and Sam's conversation. The sun gleamed off his metal arm. "Don't feel guilty."

"I'm not-"

"You are." Wanda's eyes flashed red and she smiled briefly. "I can tell." She placed her hand over Maggie's on her arm. "But loss isn't a competition. And we deserve to celebrate what we gained. Take comfort in the happinesses you have. I will come to terms with things with Vision… in my own time."

A few moments of silence followed that. The two of them looked into the depths of the forest. To the left, Maggie could just see the white gleam of Natasha's memorial stone.

She shifted. "You know, Vision always told me that he thought you and I would get along." She cocked her head at Wanda. "He's the smartest being I ever knew. How about we test his theory?"

Wanda smiled, a genuine wide one that lit up her face. "I'd like that."

A while later Maggie turned and loped back to the main group. Her hand hurt from pressing her weight down on the cane, and her leg stump throbbed painfully, making her scowl as she walked.

Bucky stepped away from Clint and Sam, his hands in his dark trouser pockets as he watched her walk toward him. She stopped a few feet away to just look at him. Every time she saw Bucky it felt like a jolt to the senses. The sun gleamed on his dark, shoulder-length hair, and his sea-grey eyes looked back at her from under a heavy brow. The breeze drifted through the air between them.

His eyes deepened. "How are you doing?"

She shrugged. "About as well as can be expected." She cocked her head. "You?"

He shrugged as well, a small smile flickering at the corner of his mouth. "Just trying to catch up." He'd said it with a smile, but the depth to his eyes betrayed him.

"Catch up… with me?" Maggie couldn't exactly quantify it but she knew she'd changed a lot these five years – there was a darker tint to her soul, and the years had weighed heavy on her shoulders. She'd gone so many places and done so much. She'd become an aunt. She wondered if he still recognized her.

"No!" Bucky held up his hands as if he sensed where her mind had gone. "No – well, maybe a little." He sighed and dropped his hands. "I just… I felt like a second had passed, but the whole world moved on without me. It's not exactly a new feeling, but still… disconcerting."

Maggie eyed him. He looked different too, now she thought about it. He wore his grief on his face as a deep stillness, with a permanent furrow in his brow. He seemed softer than she remembered. More still. Maybe he'd been this way back in Wakanda - she hadn't had the time to notice what with the oncoming battle. And since he'd been brought back, they'd spent most of the last three days together but it had been a whirlwind of surgery, grief, and funeral arrangements. Aside from hurried conversations packed with information and soft consoling, they hadn't had a chance to properly talk.

She sighed. "You and I should probably have a real talk, sometime soon."

Panic sparked in Bucky's eyes. He tried to hide it but she noticed it, as well as the way his shoulders tensed.

"You don't need to look so worried," she said with a small smile. "I promise I've told you all the big stuff that happened while you were gone. I just meant that we should… you know. Catch up." She stuffed her hands in her pockets and tilted her head back in a sigh. "I seem to remember communication being our strong suit."

"Talking… sounds good," Bucky murmured. She tilted her head back down and looked at him. He seemed… almost shy. His hands were in his pockets and his shoulders were hunched, and he looked at her tentatively, as if unsure what she'd do next. They hadn't truly been together for six years (well, over a year for Bucky). They hadn't gone back to the way they used to be, but Maggie still felt that spark of connection glittering in the air between them. A spark that could be more.

She surprised Bucky by stepping forwards and wrapping her arms around him until they were chest-to-chest and toe-to-toe, looking into each other's eyes. He slid his arms around her a moment later, and some of the tension left her spine when his warmth seeped into her. He watched her face, reading her. His metal arm was firm against her back, and her prosthetic foot nudged against his shoe.

"For what it's worth, handsome," she murmured, "you can take your time catching up." She smiled despite the heartache still churning in her chest and her red-rimmed eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled back, and leaned down to press his lips against her own in a chaste kiss. It was far from the wild, desperate kiss they'd shared on the battlefield, but it made Maggie's bruised heart glow.

Someone behind Bucky cleared their throat. She and Bucky broke apart and turned to face them.

"Carol," Maggie acknowledged. The former pilot stood tall in her dark suit, cropped hair just brushing her forehead.

"Maggie." Carol didn't look at her, since she was apparently too busy staring Bucky down.

Bucky didn't seem to know what to do about the strange woman staring at him.

"So you're Bucky," Carol eventually said. Her eyes flicked over him.

Bucky nodded. "Uh… yeah." He glanced sideways at Maggie, then back. "You're Carol, right?"

She didn't answer at first, though the question made her narrow her eyes. Finally, she said: "You treat her right."

With that, Carol turned on her heel and went to go talk to Fury.

Bucky and Maggie watched her go.

"You made a friend," Bucky said faintly.

Maggie tucked her arm into his. "I'm a very friendly person."

That day, Bruce and Maggie started work on a new Quantum Tunnel. They built it a few hundred yards away from Natasha's memorial, in a grassy clearing in the forest with the sun shining down on the metal pylons and glass plates they used to build the device. They worked slowly; Bruce's right arm was in a sling after his encounter with the Infinity Stones, Maggie still hobbled around on a cane, and they both spent time away from the machine to visit with their friends and family. There was no rush, after all. The Infinity Stones rested in a heavily fortified metal briefcase. There was no one left to steal them.

A week after they started the work, the Tunnel was finally ready. The rest of the team had all left Earth or returned to their lives, so the only ones who showed up on the day were Bucky, Sam, and of course Steve, who had volunteered to return the Infinity Stones to their original timelines. He'd been the only real choice.

It was another sunny day at the Facility grounds. The afternoon light cast long shadows across the ground. Maggie knelt her good leg on the stairs of the Quantum Tunnel, running her final checks with F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s help. Bruce stood back at the computer setup, looking over the code. This Tunnel wasn't as grand as their first one – it was smaller, hooked up to portable generators and solar panels. It looked like a backyard science experiment, but Maggie knew it would work perfectly.

"That's the last check finalized," came F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s smooth voice.

"Thanks," Maggie murmured. She straightened her back with a sigh. A breeze blew against her face, brushing her hair away from her eyes as she looked around. They'd set up temporary shelters around the Quantum Tunnel – a few small prefab buildings, a couple of trucks, and a heavy-duty yellow tent for metalwork that needed to be done in controlled environments. She heard the sound of a helicopter buzzing by overhead; there'd been no end of armed forces sticking their nose around the battlefield grounds.

Maggie sighed and scooped up her cane, resting against the side of the Tunnel, just as Steve and Bucky strode out of the big yellow tent. Steve wore a new iteration of his uniform, and Bucky wore dark jeans and a jacket that mostly covered his metal arm. They walked in tandem, smiling but with gravity behind their eyes.

Maggie frowned and strode forward to meet them, still wobbly but a lot faster than she'd been a week ago. "What's wrong?" she asked, glancing between them. Bucky looked… not sad, but–

"Nothing's wrong," Bucky murmured, reaching out to set a hand on her elbow to steady her. The reflex was natural by now, as was the way she leaned into it. Bucky glanced at Steve. "You know how us old men like to talk about the old days."

Steve's eyes crinkled in a smile before he clapped Bucky on the shoulder and then went to talk to Bruce.

Maggie watched him go, then turned to narrow her eyes at Bucky.

He just shook his head and stepped in closer to wrap an arm around her. "We were just… saying goodbye." They paced slowly toward the complete Quantum Tunnel together.

"He's only going to be gone for a few seconds," she pointed out.

Bucky nodded slowly, and then turned to look at the Quantum Tunnel. His eyes flicked across the gleaming metal surfaces. As Bruce gave Steve his final briefing, Maggie and Bucky stood in silence with their arms looped around each other and the breeze blowing in their faces. His warm, solid presence beside her was a weight off her shoulders.

"So you guys really figured out time travel," Bucky eventually murmured.

"Yep," she said, thinking as always of Tony. "It's like, really easy."

He snorted and cast her a flat look, and she smiled. She'd told him all about the past five years and their adventures through time, in a series of long 'catching up' conversations that involved a lot of tears and, surprisingly, laughter. Maggie missed Tony so much, more and more every day without him, but her memories of him still made her laugh.

Back at the computer consoles, Steve picked up the Infinity Stone case and then strode with Sam in the direction of the Tunnel. When they drew near, Maggie disentangled herself from Bucky and limped over to Steve.

"Don't go tearing any holes in space or time, okay?"

He nodded at her, smiling. "I remember the rules, don't worry. You, uh…" he glanced at Bucky, who stood a few paces behind her. "You two take care of each other."

"Yes, Captain," she said teasingly.

He rolled his eyes and then stepped in to hug her. Maggie frowned at the earnestness of the hug, but she supposed it would be a while before he saw her again.

"You be safe," she muttered, patting his shoulder. "Tony…" she swallowed. "Tony and Nat would be proud of you."

Steve's eyes gleamed as he pulled away, and he took a deep breath. "No, they…" he managed a smile. "They'd be making time travel jokes and making fun of my uniform right about now. And telling me to get a life."

"You're right," Maggie chuckled. She reached up to wipe her eyes. Steve squeezed her hand with one last earnest smile, then stepped past her to talk to Bucky.

"Don't do anything stupid before I get back," she heard Steve tease. Maggie walked away to give them a little privacy just as Bucky replied: "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

Sam stood a few feet away from the computer array, his hands in the pockets of his brown leather jacket and a warm look in his eyes.

He nodded at Maggie. "You good?"

She blinked, and realized she'd been staring at him. She shuffled toward him and rested her weight on her cane. "Yeah, it's just… it still takes me by surprise whenever I see you guys. Y'know, seeing you walking around, breathing and talking and…" she shrugged.

Sam watched her closely. "It must have been really hard for you guys."

"We… made do. Did Steve tell you about his therapy group?"

He laughed. "Yeah, he did. Never thought I'd see the day."

"He did really well."

Sam eyed her, shifting his weight slowly. "And you?"

"I… didn't always have the healthiest coping mechanisms at times. I sort of ran off to space."

"I heard. And now?"

Maggie squinted at him. "Always the therapist, I see." He huffed a laugh. "There's no real way to answer that. I told Thor a little while ago that it's okay to not be strong all the time. That was easier said than done, but… I'm living with my grief this time, rather than running from it."

Sam's eyes warmed as he smiled at her, shaking his head. "It's always a little offputting to see how surprisingly mentally healthy you are."

"Good genes," Maggie said with a wink, then looked over her shoulder at the clunk of the Quantum Tunnel engines engaging as Steve stepped onto it. "Gotta go."

She strode over to Bruce and stood beside him at the computer console. She met his eyes and they shared a nod. On the Tunnel platform, Steve engaged his Quantum suit. Bucky watched with his hands in his jacket pockets.

"How long is this going to take?" Sam called to Bruce and Maggie.

"For him, as long as he needs," Bruce replied. "For us, five seconds."

On the Tunnel, Steve picked up Mjolnir in his free hand. Maggie eyed him as he took a deep, steadying breath.

"Ready Cap?" Bruce asked. Steve glanced over and nodded. "Alright we'll meet you back here, okay?"

"You bet," Steve replied. The suit's helmet slid up over his face until they could only see his eyes behind the blue-tinted visor. He looked down to meet Bucky's eyes. Maggie felt a shiver of nerves, deep in her chest.

"Maggie?" Bruce murmured.

She nodded silently and looked back down at the computer console. Her fingers danced, doing the work that Bruce's single hand couldn't.

"Going Quantum," Bruce called, "In three… two… one-" he hit the last button and out of the corner of her eye, Maggie saw Steve's form shiver and disappear. Her gut churned but she concentrated on her work, watching the readouts. All's well.

Bruce rested a hand over the controls. "And returning in five, four, three, two, one." He hit the relay switch and Maggie saw the Quantum Tunnel's power spike – only to level out, the excess energy feeding back into the generators.

As one she and Bruce looked up at the Quantum Tunnel. Where Steve had stood only seconds ago was nothing but empty air. Bruce glanced back to the computer, eyeing the readouts that Maggie had been monitoring, but Maggie's gaze turned to Bucky.

"Where is he?" Sam murmured.

Maggie's eyes were round with panic as she stared across at Bucky, but he didn't look alarmed. No, she saw the hint of a smile on his face.

"I dunno," Bruce replied, "he blew right by his timestamp! He should be here."

Maggie frowned and looked back down at the computers, her numb fingers moving to help Bruce sift through the numbers. Panic started to claw up her throat.

"Well get him back," Sam said tersely.

"We're trying," Bruce replied.

"Get him the hell back!"

"He said we're trying!" Maggie snapped, not looking away from the computer screen. She didn't see anything wrong, everything had worked exactly as it should–

"Sam."

Maggie's head jerked up at Bucky's voice, and she looked first at the back of his slightly tilted head, and then over his shoulder. Her heart clenched.

"Bruce," she murmured. Bruce paused his frantic scrambling at the computer and looked up. He went still.

By the lake front, silhouetted by the afternoon sun on a wooden bench, sat a lone figure.

As one, Bucky and Sam slowly paced closer. Maggie grabbed her cane and slipped out from behind the computer array, shadowing their steps without getting too close. The air had gone still, almost reverent, the clank and whir of the Quantum Tunnel forgotten.

Sam and Bucky stopped in the shadow of the trees, a short distance away from the seated man. Maggie paused behind them. The sun filtered through the branches and her breath caught in her chest when she realized that the lone man's hair gleamed silver.

"Go ahead," Bucky murmured to Sam. Maggie could hear the smile in his voice. When he turned to look at Sam, her heart wrenched at the expression in his eyes.

Sam walked toward the seated man and Maggie moved forward as well, matching his gait. She came level with Bucky just as Sam stepped around the wooden bench to look into the newcomer's face.

"Cap?" he murmured.

"Hi Sam," replied a faded, yet familiar voice, barely audible from where they stood, and Maggie heard the rush of air as she gasped. When the man turned his head slightly, the light catching on his face, she fumbled sideways until her hand wrapped around Bucky's arm.

A few moments passed. Maggie tore her eyes away from the old man's – Steve's – face and looked at Bucky. He watched his friend with a complicated, bittersweet look on his face.

"You knew," she whispered.

He looked across at her, blue-grey eyes calm.

She opened and closed her mouth. "Peggy?"

He nodded.

Overwhelmed, Maggie looked back to where Sam stood beside Steve on the bench, both of them silhouetted against the sun gleaming on the lake. Steve grabbed a circle-shaped bag and pushed it toward Sam. They spoke for a few more moments before Sam suddenly went very still, then glanced back toward Bucky. Bucky nodded to him.

Sam turned back. Bucky's hand slipped down and wrapped around Maggie's.

Sam reached down and pulled the Vibranium shield from its bag with reverence written clear across his face. When he slid it onto his arm and lifted it, Maggie squeezed Bucky's hand. Tears glimmered in her eyes.

"He'll do a good job," she breathed, her voice trembling. She nodded jerkily.

Bucky was quiet for a few moments as they watched Sam wear the shield. "Eh, he'll be alright."

That made her laugh, and Bucky pulled her in so she was half-laughing, half crying against him, their arms wrapped around each other as they swayed on the grass. It felt almost like dancing.