Second Chance - Romanogers

Epilogue

Old hands were placed gently on the edge of the window sill. Green eyes gazed out onto the familiar view of the fields that were the places of many picnics and flowers that had been smelled oh so many times. The sound of a soft buzz was enough for Natasha Romanoff to turn her gaze away from the view she had been looking out upon for many years now.
Instead, how her attention was turned to the small black and yellow striped bee that was making its way through the flowers that were planted just below the window. The peace was much more than she ever couldn't hoped for.
A warm hand connected with Natasha's shoulder and her breath hitched for a second before she turned around to see a familiar shade of blue.

"What are you looking at?" Steve Rogers rough voice asked her as he took his hand off her shoulder in order to make his way over to the old sofa.

"Nothing, just the field. And the cherry tree." Nat softly replied before deeply sighing.

The sound was off putting, because although her face showed no sign of any emotion but pure happiness, her sigh seemed particularly saddening.

"I wish this moment could last forever." She turned around to stare at the man whose eyes never looked away from her.

"Don't spend this moment thinking about it ending then!" He exclaimed with a laugh and gestures for the woman to join him where he sat.

She of course agreed to this and leaned into his shoulder with her head as they both gazed out the window together in peace.

The leaves on the trees began to fall one by one until they were all littered on the floor in heaps of orange and red. And then the snow came and piled onto those leaves. Soon enough the warm winds came and the snow was reduced to a few small puddles. The tree's leaves grew back greener than ever, blowing ever so softly in the slight summer breeze.

The cycle repeated over and over again as the years went by, and every year the change in the tree was seen by two pairs of watchful eyes.

Young bodies became old souls and days turned into months and months turned into years.

Aged hands gently scrubbed the dishes while listening to the words of the Mrs.

Natasha Romanoff talked of Thanksgiving dinner; a big beautiful turkey, the cool fall weather and their friends by their side to enjoy it.

While on the subject of friends, Steve Rogers couldn't help but let his mind wander a little bit. Regret began to set in more and more until Nat's words were just background noise.

"Steve?" She suddenly broke through his train of thought and got up from her chair to look him in the eye.

"I've got something I need to do." Was the only sentence he could muster up the courage to say.

At first confusion was the only thing that filled her head, until Nat looked into Steve's eyes and recognized his expression. She knew in that moment what he wanted to do and knew that this would happen sooner or later.

The pair moved away from the sink and the dishes and towards the front door without a word.

She gave him a slight nod and rubbed his back reassuringly. "I suppose I'll see you later then, Rogers."

Steve gave her a big smile before nodding back.
"Yeah yeah, see you soon... Rogers."

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A distantly familiar car pulled into a distantly familiar house.

A man was sat on top of the porch but immediately stopped his daydreaming when he noticed the car pull up.

At the sight of Steve Rogers, the man practically sprinted to greet him.

"It's nice to see you, Captain America!" Scott Lang exclaimed, to which the captain just shook his head at the formality.

"Good to see you too, Scott!" Steve gave him one of his good old Captain America smiles. "This might seem a little out of the blue... but you don't happen to have any Pym particles lying around, do you?"

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2025

"Where is he?" Sam Wilson asked in a worried voice.

Professor Bruce Banner looked wearily around his quantum equipment in confusion.
"I don't know. He blew right by his time stamp. He should be here."

Bucky Barnes tuned out their voices as a sad smirk brushed across his face and he turned away from the quantum launch pad.

"Well, get him back."

"I'm trying."

"Get him the hell back!"

"I said I'm-"

"Sam..." Bucky suddenly spoke, making the other men finally turn their attention to him.

His back was turned away and he was looking off not too far into the distance.

Sam followed his line of vision and walked up to his friend.

There was a man.

A figure of a man was sat on a log, facing the beautiful view laid out in front of him.

"Go ahead." Bucky whispered to Sam, his smile still present on his face.

Sam walked up to the man and the second their eyes met he instantly recognized him. "Cap?"

"Hi, Sam." Steve Rogers hummed. He was certainly much older than the last time they'd seen him.

"So did something go wrong, or did something go right?" Sam finally was able to collect his thoughts and form a smile on his surprise-struck face.

The old man's smile widened at his words. "Well, after I put the stones back, I thought, maybe I'll try some of that life Tony was telling me to get."

"How'd that work out for you?"

Steve silently sighed to himself. "It was beautiful."

Sam nodded his head. "I'm happy for you. Truly."

"Thank you."

"Only thing bumming me out is the fact that I have to live in a world without Captain America."

"Oh, that reminds me." Old Steve bent over sideways and came back up, his famous shield in hand. "Try it on."

Sam raised his eyebrows and looked over at Bucky, who was watching the scene unfold. The dark haired man nodded to his friend, and Sam reached out to take that which was handed to him.

"How does it feel" Steve asked.

Sam fixes his posture. He had to admit, the strap fit his hand better than he would have expected, and with the shield he felt powerful. But it also felt almost like it was ill fitting. "Like it's somebody else's."

"It isn't."

Sam sucked in a shaky breath, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. "Thank you. I'll do my best."

"That's why it's yours."
Steve leaned forward and Sam offered his hand, which he took. The pair shook hands and Sam noticed the ring that was placed on Steve's forth finger.

"You wanna tell me about her?" Sam asked, although he had his suspicions.

"No," Steve straightened his back and looked off into the distance once again. "No I don't think I will."