Life After the Fall

Chapter 2

A/N: When I wrote the first chapter, I intended it be just a one-shot. But I kept wondering what would happen next so this chapter happened. As of writing this chapter, I have no bigger arc/plot or idea in mind yet so I'm going to take this one chapter at a time, writing chapter ideas as they come. Not a lot of planning on this, I'm planning as I go so I'm not sure how much sense it will make but I hope you like it! By the way, I'm not incorporating a BuckyNat subplot in this one. I'm adapting MCU's (ridiculous) decision of ignoring one of the best romantic relationships in the comicbook universe.

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When Steve and Natasha emerged from the quantum tunnel, Steve immediately knelt down and set Natasha on the platform. She was still unconscious. Their quantum suit deactivated, leaving them in their old uniforms. Steve gently shook her again but her head just lolled on his forearm. He also noted that she seemed to be a bit warm.

"Is that ---," a familiar voice in a distance trailed off.

Steve looked up and saw Bruce, Sam, and Bucky all staring at him in shock and surprise. He was so focused on Natasha that he forgot they were waiting for him there.

"Nat?" Bruce spoke again.

Steve nodded with a smile. It was Sam who moved first. He jumped on the platform and knelt by Natasha's side. He did not know what to do, his hand hovered for a while in the air, wanting to touch Natasha to see if she was real but was afraid at the same time that she might be already dead cold.

Steve clasped Sam's hand and said, "It's okay, Sam. She's fine."

Sam eased up a bit and finally reached out for Natasha's hand. He gasped and smiled to feel her warmth. Steve looked up and saw Bucky kneeling by his side, near Natasha's head. Unlike Sam, Bucky did not hesitate and just reached out to gently touch her braid.

"It's red again," Bucky whispered with a smile.

Steve chuckled and was about to warn Bucky that this redhead was already taken when a large shadow loomed over them. Steve looked up and saw Bruce kneeling across him.

Bruce did not make a move to touch her, but his eyes were scanning her from head to toe, a thousand and one questions swarming inside his head.

"I thought it didn't work. I thought it can't be undone," Bruce said in disbelief.

"The snap didn't bring her back, Bruce," Steve said, "the stone did."

Steve watched as Bruce tried to make sense of everything.

"I have no idea how exactly this happened, but I think we can all agree, that doesn't really matter," Steve said with a smile.

Finally, Bruce smiled and nodded in agreement.

"She's hot," Bucky said.

Steve chuckled and looked at his best friend incredulously but then Sam spoke.

"Steve, she's burning up."

Steve immediately touched her forehead. She was burning up. His jaw tightened as he contained the panic that suddenly crept inside him, afraid that Natasha's resurrection possibly did come with a catch and it was happening now. He slid his one arm underneath Natasha's knees and wrapped the other around her waist. He stood up and started to get off from the platform.

"What are you doing?" Bucky asked.

Steve did not bother answering. He just kept walking towards the compound and based on the rustles and crunches of grass and fallen leaves, he knew the three were following him.