The Path of Time ★ [3] ✔ (EDITING)

Home Is Where The Start Is

⏳ 2016

Heartbreak was real. It wasn't a myth. I'd felt it. I'd felt it about my parents. I'd felt it about Peggy. I'd felt it about the people I'd left behind in 1945.

But none of that compared to how I was feeling now. Leaving Andi was one of the hardest things I'd ever gone through. My heart was shattered into so many pieces that I'd misplaced too many to put it back together again. I felt lost. So very lost. I felt like the glue that was keeping me together, keeping me sane, had been ripped from me, taking everything that made me who I was from me. I was completely hollowed out. I had nothing left. Nothing.

It had been seven months since we'd left the Chronos and Andi behind. Seven long months of nothing but heartache. We tried to get back into the usual job of saving the world, but it wasn't the same. I couldn't help but feel we'd drifted apart. Stark would only help if he needed to and if he got something out of it. Thor was still dealing with Asgardian business. Natasha was putting most of her efforts into finding Banner, who was still missing. Clint had retired and returned to his farm to be with his family. Wanda had her own problems.

The only person I felt I could rely on was Sam. Sam was with me and there for me one hundred and ten percent. It seemed that I couldn't say the same about the others. That proved to me more than ever that Andi was truly the glue that had kept us together, and we were falling apart without her.

I sighed, swinging my legs off my bed to stand. I ran a hand through my hair in exhaustion. I needed a change of scene. The boxing ring in the gym downstairs and my bedroom were too familiar a territory right now—a place to vent my anger and a place to hide what I was truly feeling.

The base was empty, the only sound bouncing off the walls were my boots loud on the tiles. I knew I was the only one around. Only Wanda and I lived fulltime at the base. Tony had his penthouse in Manhattan. Sam had his apartment in Washington. Clint had his farm, and who knew where Natasha bunked. Wanda spent most of her time hidden away in her room, so I had the freedom of the facility to myself.

I needed air, so I took the staircases down to the hanger on the lower floors. I did this often. I found it comforting sitting on the hanger pavement and watching the stars, hoping that the hundreds of prayers that I'd sent to the heavens would be answered—to bring her back to me.

I entered the hanger and took a seat in line with the opened doors. The night air was warm, a nice breeze on my face, windy fingers running through my hair. I breathed it in and tasted freshness. The base was situated in a beautiful place. It was nice to be out in a natural area, rather than cooped up in company with skyscrapers and suburbia like Brooklyn. I loved the comforting air of the nearby forest and the bustling and dirty alleyways of Brooklyn equally, but I just couldn't be in Manhattan right now. The memories there hurt. Both of my childhood and...her.

A new sound blasted my eardrums behind me. I shot to my feet and spun around. The atmosphere rippled in front of me. I reached over my shoulder to my back for my shield, but didn't feel it there. Goddammit. I raised my fists defensively instead.

A portal ripped open in front of me, and my arms dropped to my side. My heart thumped like a storm in my chest, blood thrumming in my ears deafeningly. 

It couldn't be. No. No way.

The portal's swirling vortex rippled, signifying that someone was coming through. A booted foot stepped out, followed by the rest of a body dressed in a dark red suit. Flaming red hair caught my eye, as well as startling green eyes. A smile tugged at her lips, melting me inside and out. Everything inside me was as warm as the glow that surrounded her.

I did the only thing my mind and whatever left of my heart ordered me to do. I ran to her and pulled her into my embrace, burying my face into her hair. Arms wrapped around me tightly. Her sweet scent was intoxicating, and I was grateful for that. I never thought I would ever get to hold her again.

I pulled away, cupping her face in my hands. I wiped away a tear of hers with my thumb. "You came back."

She stroked my cheek before running a hand through my hair. "I couldn't leave my best friend behind, could I?"

"But how? You said you had to stay."

"Well, I'm pretty much breaking every rule in the book by being here. But you know I'm not one to follow rules." She took my hands in hers. "I made a compromise. Every five years, I return to the Chronos to govern it for two. In the meantime, Astra and Gilliam look after things while I'm gone. I still do my duties, but away from home."

I felt a grin tug onto my face. To say that I was more than thrilled would be an understatement. "So, does that mean you're staying?"

She smiled affectionately. "I'm staying."

The mending process of my heart had finally begun. The glue. The piece that had been missing. It had returned. Everything was going to be okay.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too."

I kissed her. The taste of her lips was something I missed so dearly, and was glad to have back. I would never let her go again. Never. Never again.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there! As if I was going to keep these two lovebirds apart ;) If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a quick vote! Thanks for reading!