Author's Notes: SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME.

This is the story of Steve returning the Infinity Stones to their rightful places in the timeline, and making the decision to take his own rightful place.

A followup to my previous Captain America story, "Have that Dance." Read at s/9849946/1/Have-That-Dance .

Steve would be the one to return the stones. Someone had to do it; Bruce had promised they would. They had to go back to preserve the time stream, Banner explained, both to where they had been taken from and when, to the very moment from which they disappeared. And Steve knew he the best man for the job.

A few of them had balked when he volunteered. "We have all the time in the world," Clint argued. "Can't we… take a breath for a minute?"

Steve could hardly blame him. All of them were raw still, after everything that had happened. It was hard to live through an apocalypse, even when you'd managed to turn things right again. Five years of it would not be shaken off in a few days. And even though they'd brought so much back of what had been taken, there still were consequences that could not be undone. Vision, Natasha, Tony— the wounds still gaped with the emptiness of their loss. After everything they'd gone through, the battles, the funerals, the struggle, it was only natural that it had left them all spent.

But even now, the work was not yet done. Not until the loop was closed and the stones were returned to their proper places in the timeline. Yes, with Pym's technology they could return to any moment at any time time. But Steve couldn't rest until he was sure.

Moreover, it had to be Steve. They had been through a war, for Christ's sake, and their bodies were battered as well as their souls. With his accelerated healing factor, within a matter of days he was nearly mended again, while everyone else was still recovering. Even Bruce, whose Hulk body usually regenerated at least as fast as Steve's did, was still struggling through the aftermath of having activated the stones. It made sense for it to be Steve. And so the others had to agree.

But even though he was physically whole, he couldn't say the same for the rest of him. A low ache remained in him, dull but pervasive, from somewhere in his bones or deeper. He felt stiff and heavy as he suited up, as if his body would not quite obey. It reminded him of right after his transformation, the first time he'd tried to pick up a pencil with his new hands.

Bucky came to him as he was getting ready, sidling up and looking Steve over with a concerned eye. "You all right?"

A reflexive affirmative came to his lips, but this was Bucky, who could always see right through him. "Yeah, it's just…" He sighed, dropping his head. "I'm tapped out."

Bucky nodded, corners of his mouth turning down. "I don't blame you. After everything you've been through."

"We've all been through it."

"Maybe. But doesn't change things for you."

"Doesn't matter. There's things to be done." Steve forced a smile, tipping his head to the side. "That's what Captain America's for."

Bucky regarded him. "You don't have to do this."

"Of course I do. It has to be finished."

"You could wait a while."

"No." Steve was surprised at his own forcefulness. "I need this."

"Need this?" Bucky echoed. "Why?"

Steve didn't know how to answer for a long moment. "Because… I don't know what else to do."