Work Text:
Date: 28/04/17
Time: 9:22 pm – 11:17 pm
It felt like yesterday Steve was sitting in the common room of Avengers Tower watching a movie with Tony, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Vision, Scott, Wanda, Pepper, Peter, Bucky and T'Challa it was one of the rare times they got the chance to spend some time together. Clint was throwing popcorn into Thor's mouth, Bruce was pretending to be doing something on his Starkpad but was really paying more attention to the debate Peter and Tony were having over the uses of green energy and magic.
Pepper, Scott, Sam and T'Challa were trying to figure out what movie to watch next while Bucky was in the kitchen making more popcorn, they would have a huge mess to clean up in the morning but that was okay. It was always like that after movie night. Half way through one of the countless movies they had watched that night they had pushed the couches back and gathered all of the bedding in the tower and made a bed on the ground, they curled up and enjoyed the movie.
Steve closed his eyes leaning against Thor arm as Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and Bucky used him as a pillow, they were all touching in some form or another. The net time he woke up he was alone in the tower, the blankets a pile on the floor just like they had been when he went to sleep. Except he was the only one curled up in the blanket trying to blink back tears as he watched countless movies.
He was alone. Thor, Tony, Bruce, Natasha and Clint were gone – had been for a while. Peter, Scott, Sam, Bucky, T'Challa, Pepper and Wanda had done their best to comfort him as they moved on. It was hard to get used not having Clint dropping from the vents, Natasha walking into the kitchen after a workout in the gym. Tony sitting at the table on his Starkpad talking to Bruce while he cooked, two large cups sitting next to the coffee machine.
Thor would seemly appear out of nowhere, asking them how the were and grabbing the box of Pop Tarts from the cupboard and put two in the toaster while munching on a third, Steve had always found Thor's obsession with Pop Tarts amusing and had listened to more than one debate between Pepper, Jane, Darcy and Natasha about how many Pop Tarts Thor was allowed and if Pop Tarts and coffee were considered a meal. In the end Thor could eat no more then ten on their own and had to eat something else with them.
Steve would sometimes think he could hear Clint climbing around in the air vents or Bruce and Tony in the lab and Natasha in the gym or Thor telling Bucky about Asgard while he waited for his Pop Tarts. They were ghosts. Steve had tried to put on a brave face for the New Avengers and try not to show just how much the death of his friends were affecting him. Steve left their training to Bucky while he was in Asgard, Mjolnir had chosen him. It was a shock as was finding out he wasn't human but Asgardian.
He tried to visit Midgard as often as he could. Tried to spend as much time with Scott, Peter, Bucky, Sam, T'Challa, Wanda and Pepper as he could. They had been watching a movie the one time they were together. Everyone ended up using him as a pillow. He fell asleep and woke up alone again staring up at the wall. Steve blinked, looking around when he heard his son – Tex asking him to come and look at something, Bruce and Tony's coffee cups were still sitting next to the coffee machine, there were a box of unopened Pop Tarts sitting next to the toaster.
He could see Bruce standing at the stove cook, taking to Tony while went over something on his Starkpad, Natasha looking through the fridge for something to drink while chatting to Wanda in Russian, Clint and Bucky were sitting across from going over Tony going over their weapons. Bucky his gun, the Winter Soldier's mask sitting next to him. Clint was checking his arrows and fiddling with something on his bow, his quiver was slung over the back of his chair. Steve blinked and they were gone.
Bucky's mask and arm sitting on the table where he had left them for in the morning when he woke up. Clint's bow was slung over the back of his chair. Natasha's windows bits were sitting on the shelf next to the fridge with Peter's web shooters, Sam's phone, T'Challa's mask and Pepper's wedding ring. It was a time capsule. The only physical evidence of the Original Avengers. They had been all but forgotten.
"Dad are you coming or not?" Tex asked his hologram appeared in the door way, he smiled sadly when he saw the tears tracks on his father's face. He knew his father missed Thor, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Bruce, T'Challa, Bucky, Peter, Sam and Scott a great deal. Tex did his best to make the 'bad' days a little easier on his father allowing him to have that time to himself.
"Dad? We're going to be late. Sion is more than capable of looking after everything until we get back," Tex said quietly his hologram gently touching Steve's shoulder. He thought he heard the sound of people laughing for a second but thought he was imagining it. Steve nodded smiling sadly as he looked around, he would be back soon. His daughter Natalia Alianova was getting married today and he promised he wouldn't be late. She was so much like Natasha it was a little scary. His little Princess was all grown up now.
Being Heimdall's apprentice was interesting, being the King of Asgard was harder but he had somehow managed. He was glad he still had Logan, Vision, Wade and Rogue. There were some days he couldn't get out of bed, too caught up in the past. He would often find himself on Midgard in the tower, trying not to break because he missed his team and family.
Some days he just couldn't be king he just wanted to go home and pretend his family was still alive and hadn't been gone for nearly 20,000 years. They were in times of peace though there was always something happening on Midgard to keep things interesting. His shield and Mjolnir never left his side, on those days they were the only things allowing him to get through the day until he could go to Midgard. Natalia was absolutely stunning, she looked much like her mother but Steve could see Natasha, Pepper, Wanda and Peggy in the way she moved.
Even though she had been grown up for a long time now she would always be his little Princess.
Tex was a Forge Master, able to make absolutely anything. He had cried when he realised the Tex who had made his prosthetic left arm and right leg was in fact his Tex had had nearly hugged him to death. Steve sometimes forgot he was even an amputee. He had gotten shrapnel in his left arm and right leg a little above his elbow and knee after rescuing Bucky from the Azzano HYDRA base. It would have taken two weeks for it to heal completely but apparently, it wasn't fast enough.
Henry Williams, who was a little older than Howard and almost always put him down saying he was going to get nowhere. It had been such a long-time Steve couldn't remember why Henry Williams was even there, but he had sedated Steve who had woken up, unable to move while they removed his left arm and right leg. Tex had appeared and had given him his prosthetic arm and leg.
They looked exactly like his other arm and leg, he had complete feeling which he could turn on an off, he was still able to move and feel his arm or leg if he ever removed it which he sometimes did after the crash. Tex had used some sort of magic to allow his blood flow through his prosthetics. He had forgotten for a little while that he was even an amputee. He had wondered for a long time who Tex was and too find that Tex was his son he couldn't be prouder.
Steve just knew Tex was going to be a great king. Steve had been preparing Tex for his role as king even if he didn't know it. He wasn't going to be around forever. It was another 25,000 years before Steve stepped down and Tex was crown King of Asgard. Steve died 500 years later in his sleep. He was very old and had lived a very long life and very much wanted to go home.
He had one last dinner with Logan, Rogue, Wade, Vision, Tex, Natalia and her husband and his grandchildren on Midgard, they watched movies on the bed on the floor. They had used him as a pillow, it was a wonderful a night and one they wouldn't forget. He had taken off his arm and leg, resting his shield against the door way to the kitchen, Mjolnir sitting next to the box of untouched pop tarts, his sketch book sitting on the coffee irony of the situation didn't escape Logan, Rogue, Wade, Vision, Tex and Natalia.
They had known it was coming. Tex made the announcement and Steve was given a send-off. One on Asgard and another on Midgard. Just before they were about to leave the apartment and lock the top of Avengers Tower Tex was sure he heard the sound of laughter, he turned around and was shocked when he saw Tony, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Vision, Scott, Wanda, Sam, Pepper, Peter, Bucky and T'Challa appear along with five other men he didn't recognise.
Steve smiled.
He looked happier than Tex remembered ever seeing him. His left arm and right leg were sliver just like Bucky's arm. Tex smiled and walked out of the room and stepping into the elevator with Logan, Rogue, Vision, Wade, Natalia, her husband and children, they all had a sad smile on their faces. Stephan "Steve" Grant Rogers, Captain America and the King of Asgard was finally home.
He would be missed but would never be forgotten. Tex made sure everyone knew about Captain America, the Avengers and the King of Asgard and everything he had achieved. He would never be forgotten if Tex had saying to say. The world had forgotten about the Original Avengers, they had become nothing more than myths, he wouldn't let that happen to his father.
"You certainly took your time Captain,"