Hello everyone what an amazing adventure this has turned out to be and I'm so glad to be taking it all with you. Love your feedback, and I can't wait to give you guys the next chapter. You can find this on as well. So, I don't own Marvel, its intellectual properties or its characters. I do this just for fun.
Chapter Twelve
Steve and Natasha dressed quickly into everyday street clothes, which consisted for Cap a plain white t-shirt, denim jeans and boots, while Nat on the other hand, did not have a set of extra clothes to wear. So she borrrowed some of Steve's sweat pants and pulled the draw string as tight as she could stand and slipped into her suits boots. It was hard for Steve not to laugh, as her outfit was completely mismatched with the SSR shirt, sweatpants and boots looking ridiculous on her. "It's not my fault my clothes are in the wash right now. One chuckle from you or Sam and you'll be needing more than a few bandages to patch up."
Steve held up his hands in a gesture of peace and made a motion of zipping his lips, locking them and throwing away the key. Natasha's stern face dropped for a moment before she replied. "You're such a dork." Once they were both ready the met Sam in the hallway, with Cap behind Black Widow drawing his hand across his neck in a cutting motion in the hopes his friend would see it and get the picture. Fortunately, Natasha didn't see it and Sam picked up on it and not a word was said. The three of them made their way down to the parking garage, but had barely stepped out of the elevator when they found themselves stepping through a portal, walking into Doctor Strange's base of operations, the Sanctum.
The Sorcerer Supreme was there to greet them, giving them each a smile and a nod before wordlessly stepping aside, allowing James Buchanan Barnes to come into view, a wolfish grin spread on the man's face. All three friends were stunned beyond belief, with Captain America recovering first and rushing forward to crush his brother in a hug. "Easy, easy Steve! Need to breathe!" Once the first Avenger let up, Natasha was next, pulling Bucky in for a warm hug as he said, "I'm sorry for hitting you like that." As they pulled back the Black Widow mearly shook her head as she said, "Hey, I'm alive, Steve's alive, you're alive, we're good."
Falcon pulled Bucky into a brotherly hug as the Winter Soldier replied, "Yeah about that being alive part." The others waited patiently for Bucky to explain, so he decided to just be as straight forward as possible. "I'm not exactly back for good. I'm the Guardian of the Soul Stone now." Stunned silence followed until Steve asked, "How are you it's Guardian now? I know Strange said something along those lines, but you're alive. You don't have a ghostly appearance like Red Skull did." Bucky continued to explain then, "Schmitt became the Guardian when he tried to control the Tesseract, which protects the Space Stone. It instantly released the Soul Stone's previous Guardian and turned Red Skull into it's new one as punishment. That's why he didn't have a body. I kept mine basicly because I volunteered."
Nat looked thoughtful for a moment before she asked, "So since you are here right now, I can assume then you are free to protect the Soul Stone from wherever you want, right?" Bucky shook his head no and told them that he would have to return to Vormir should anyone ever enter it's solar system or land on the planet's surface and protect the Soul Stone until someone who understood it's worth and consequences came for the Stone again. Sam pipped in then, "That doesn't sound like a bad gig then, I mean, it's not like every single day somebody's gonna be after that Infinity Stone, right?" They all seemed to be in agreement to this, so Doctor Strangen then said.
"I'm glad I was able to help in all of this and help you all get back little something, but unfortunately I am afraid you'll have to conduct your celebrations elsewhere. While there are no immediate threats to Earth, there are plenty out there in her many other realities that require my attention so if you'll excuse me." Steve then turned to the Sorcerer Supreme and asked, "Wait, did you say other realities?" Strange was already in deep concentration as he walked away, a portal opening before him and closing quickly once he stepped through it. Wong stepped over to him, bowing as he said, "Apologies, I'm afraid the Sorcerer Supreme has become preoccupied. Know that he sends his sincerest apologies for leaving so abruptly and that he wishes you all the best on your endeavors."
With that Wong opened up a portal for the four of them and they stepped through, waving one last goodbye to the Sorcerer before the portal closed. They found themselves to be in Central Park in New York. The sun was high in the sky, with people enjoying the day with various activities and picnics. Natasha spoke up then, "So, boys. What do you want to go do now?" Bucky immediately said in an exhausted tone, "After all of that, all of what we have been through, I want a drink!" Sam laughed while Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and smiled. "A drink? But you can't get drunk, you're a super soldier like Steve right? And it's not even five o'clock yet!" Natasha said with a smirk and a tilt of her head.
The Winter Soldier just laughed as he replied, "It's a principle kind of thing, and who cares? It's 5 o'clock somewhere." Sam mentioned going to one of the local sports bars, saying they usually served alcohol all day long. Steve looked to Natasha and she looked down at herself and said, "Hell no, I'm not going to be going out anywhere looking like this. It's bad enough I'm this far from the apartment as it is." Steve smiled as he relented and walked with her to the park exit to hail down a cab. "You can go with them if you want to." Nat said to Steve as a cab rolled over to them. "Are you sure? I don't..." She kissed him on the lips gently before looking up into his eyes with a smile on her lips. "It's alright. Your best friend for over a hundred years just got a new lease on life like you, go have a few drinks with him."
"I'll go see Pepper. We can meet back at the apartment after. Debrief each other later about what we find." Natasha said with a wink, watching as the biggest grin she had ever seen spread onto Steve's face as he caught on to what she said as he remembered a moment between them that those very words had been spoken. "A private debriefing? Just the two of us? Steve asked with one eyebrow slightly raised and his hands on her hips. "Yes, sir!" Natasha said and the two shared a passionate kiss before she got in the cab and Steve turned around to see Sam and Bucky smiling at him, a subtle nod of Bucky's head and the first Avenger suddenly found himself slightly embarrassed to be the center of attention. "That's how it should have happened, all those years ago in Berlin." Sam said as Steve caught up to them as a cab came over for them. "Get in you knuckleheads." Bucky laughed before whooping like curley from the Three Stooges.
Alright everyone that is chapter twelve! I hope you all enjoy it! I will be posting this on the fansite and I will have Chapter thirteen up soon!