Artemis (A Steve Rogers Story)

3- Somewhere

We headed back to the compound after what happened with Thanos, I decided to be the one to break the news to Anthony about what just happened. Steve asked if I wanted him to come with me and I told him no, that I would be okay to do this. He nods as he heads back to our room, and I walk to the infirmary. I walk up to the room that Anthony is laying in to see Pepper seated beside him, and I knock on the door.  Pepper looks over seeing me in my suit, and she gets up from her chair and walks over to me. "He's still resting, what did you? Where did you guys go?" she asks me.

"We, we discovered where Thanos went and we... we went after him. He used the stones again; he destroyed the stones. Thor... Thor killed him" I tell her.
"Oh, God" Pepper says to me, "Umm what, what should I tell Tony?" she asks me.

"Just let him know I came by to check on him, I don't want him worried about anything anymore" I tell her as I try not to cry. "Tell him that he knows where I will be if he needs to talk, if either one of you need to talk" I say as I then hug her. 

"I will, are you and Steve staying here, or are you going to one of your townhouses?" she asks me.
"I don't know, I really don't know what we are going to do" I say to her.
"I have known you for years Willow, and you are a strong woman, you and Steve been through so much, and whatever happens next I know you guys can get through it" she tells me.

"I hope so, keep in touch okay" I tell her.
"You know I will" she says as she then goes back into the room. I stand there for a moment, before taking a breath as I head down the hall, and toward the rooms.

I walk into the room, to see Steve sitting on the bed, already changed out of his suit, sitting there in his t-shirt and sweatpants. "Hey" I say to him.
"Hey, how is... how is Tony?" he asks me.
"Still resting, I talked to Pepper though, they are going to leave in the morning" I tell him.

"That's... that's good" Steve says.
"Umm, I think, I think we should go tomorrow too, head into town check on the people, make sure those that are not gone get the help that they need" I say to him.

"Yeah, that... that sounds good" he says as he then sighs, and I go to sit down beside him, and he wraps an arm around me, and holds me close to him.
"What... what are we going to do now Steve?" I asks him, and he doesn't say a word to me, "that, that was our last chance" I say to him.

"I know Willow, I know, but we just I guess we try our best to move on, see where things go. We can wait to get married if you want" he says to me.
"No, I think... I think we should, not this minute, but I think it's what Bucky would have wanted us to do, what Sam would want us to do, what probably everyone would want.  But once everything is all settled down, once we all figure out our lives" I say to him.

"I can agree to that" he says as he kisses the top of my head.
"I'm gonna go get changed, and then get some rest" I say to him.
"Yeah okay" he says as I then get up from the bed, and I gather my clothes and head to the bathroom. I enter the bathroom, and walk up to the sink, and I turn the tap on. I stand there leaning against the sink, as I splash water onto my face.  I wasn't sure where we would go from here, this was a loss that I know none of us were going to be able to handle but I knew that we had to handle it. We were going to be the faces that everyone would be looking toward and will want answers, answers that I know we weren't prepared to give.

A few days later after everything that happened, I had talked to some of the SHIELD agents that were still alive, and had them start to travel the world organizing things all over. I made sure that the agents that are in charge where the right ones to handle everything. I was exhausting myself making sure that things were safe for those that were still alive. Steve could see the exhaustion taking its toll on me, and he was forming grief meetings for those needing to deal with their losses. We were seeing less and less of one another, and it was taking a toll on us.