My Love

                                    

                                          
It was odd for Allie to see the place that the Avengers Compound once stood now clear and in complete daylight. There was no breeze the morning that she, Steve, and Bucky met with Sam and Bruce to return the infinity stones to their proper timelines. Allie knew that they were all just accompanying Steve there and not going with him, but it was still an odd feeling nonetheless.
                          
It had been a week since they had been staying with Steve. May had found an apartment for herself and Peter and they were moving into it within the following days. In that time, Steve had sat both Bucky and Allie down one day to talk to them while May had been out on the hunt for an apartment and Peter had been at school for the first time since he had disappeared for five years.
                          
"I want to retire," Steve had said as they sat down in the living room. 
                          
"What?" Allie asked as she looked over at him.
                          
"The last thirteen years have been hard, Allie. I don't think I've stopped fighting since I came out of the ice. Hell, I don't think I ever really stopped fighting before I went in the ice. I just want to relax," Steve sighed.
                          
"Well, I can understand that," Allie nodded. "You've just always been so determined."
                          
"I'm still myself," Steve shrugged. "I just want to have a chance to live some idea of a life that we all would have had if we'd made it back here to Brooklyn. I just want to be at a point where Uncle Steve isn't on the verge of dying all the time."
                          
"So, why are you sitting us down to tell us?" Bucky asked as he ran a hand through his hair.
                          
"Because," Steve took a deep breath. "I talked to Bruce and I'm going to be the one to take the stones back to where they belong. I'm going to take extra particles with me because I'm going to find the shield and bring it back."
                          
"If you want to retire, why bring the shield back?" Allie furrowed her brow.
                          
"I want to pass it down to Sam," Steve said and both Allie and Bucky's eyes flew to meet his. "I know that it's followed us ever since Howard gave it to me, but I trust Sam. I know that he's a good man. The three of us have never had even an ounce of a normal life since before we all went overseas. I just want the three of us to be back to some form of that life."
                          
Allie looked down at her hands that she had placed in her lap. Bucky had taken a deep breath before looking over at Allie who simply nodded her head. It seemed to be hard for the both of them to realize that Steve had definitely made up his mind about the topic. Taking a deep breath of her own, Allie looked back up to Steve.
                          
"Then we'll be there to support you," Allie smiled at her brother. "And Uncle Steve will get to be the kind of uncle that we know he'll be."
                          
"Thank you," Steve smiled over at his sister. He was ready to have some sense of normal back for the three of them.
                          
Bruce opened the case with the stones once more to show Steve. Sam stood beside Steve and from where they stood, Allie and Bucky looked in their direction with knowing smiles. Steve walked over to them, giving them each a quick hug before taking his place with the briefcase and the hammer that he'd used in the battle.
                          
"Try not to get lost," Allie teased and Steve rolled his eyes at her.
                          
Bruce gave a countdown from five before Steve disappeared. Bucky and Allie's eyes widened in amazement. The world was far different now than the world they had known as young adults, and watching Steve disappear on his trip to the past was evidence of that. Bruce began another countdown from five and when Steve reappeared, Allie looked at him in confusion. The shield was very clearly at his side, but a bag was slung across his shoulder.