Tori stood at the airfield waiting impatiently, ruffling her hair, fixing her dress and fidgeting like she was possessed. She couldn't believe it. She could. Not. Believe. It.

He was coming home. He was coming. Home. To her. She kept randomly laughing to herself and smiling, until she heard the plane roaring above her. She watched it intently as it landed so gracefully. She'd never been in a plane before, but it looked so amazing. She could only imagine how beautiful the world would be from up above, and how anyone looking down at the ground could want to destroy it. The plane landed and she started walking up towards the hanger. As she approached it the engine stopped and came to a dead halt.

When she saw the door drop open, her heart skipped and her stomach felt sick. She was joined by a few other women, who she smiled at giddily, who all looked just as happy and sick and crazy and nervous as she was.

One by one, men climbed out of the plane. More than just the Howling Commandos, she guessed that they'd maybe saved a few more guys on their travels, and how happy their families must be to get them back. Eventually she saw Dum Dum, then Gabe.

Then Jim, James and Jacques.

She shook her head in disbelief, Steve and James were probably arguing over who gets to get out of the plane first. She waved to the guys, who all stopped dead in their tracks. They didn't look happy to be back, and definitely they didn't look happy to see her. She felt her hand stop waving, and suddenly the sick feeling in her stomach didn't feel like happiness anymore. She saw them turn around and followed their gaze up as Steve ducked out of the plane door. She saw Dum Dum shout something up to him, the clanging in her ears didn't let her hear it, and he turned to lock eyes on her. Her bottom lip started quivering, and she shook her head slowly in shock. She started to walk towards him, feeling panic rise up her.

"No. If this is some sick joke, I will not be happy," She called to Steve, who started to walk towards her. As soon as she could make out his face clearly, she could tell by his facial expression. He looked pained and hurt and angry, and seeing him like that caused those feelings to ripple through her. "No. Where's James?" She asked, as Dum Dum rushed to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Vitoria-"

"No. Stop. Steve, where is he?" She practically screamed, feeling physical pain in her chest.

"I'm so sorry," Dum Dum told her, holding her momentarily in his arms. He let her go and left her facing Steve, while he and the other men walked away to give them space.

"Is he on that plane?" She asked, starting to walk by Steve, who looped an arm around her waist to pull her back. "If this is like last time, do you know for certain? Definitely? Do you..."

"Tori, I'm so sorry," His voice was shaking. "I couldn't... I'm so sorry," He felt her body go limp as she collapsed to her knees, heaving and crying and breaking her heart the exact way she'd did a month before. Steve sat down beside her, tears streaking silently down his face.

"Please, please tell me this is a nightmare," She choked out, putting her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am," A voice above her said, and she looked up to see a flag being thrust towards her.

"I don't need another flag, I need hi-" Her voice fell away and she screamed, feeling her heart rip out of her chest. There were no words to describe the pain she was in. He was coming home. He was supposed to be coming home to her. But instead all she'll take home is a flag and another set of dog tags.

"Tori," Steve put a hand on her arm gently and she looked up at him. He'd taken the flag for her and put it on her lap. "I know you'll never forgive me, but-"

"I don't know what I'm going to do without him," She interrupted him, her entire body shaking trying to combat the pain. He looked her in the eyes, and felt her pain. She looked lost and so young. Too young to have to deal with pain like that. He'd known Buck his entire life, and he felt lost. But he knew what had happened and he signed up to be scared that this might happen, she never asked for any of that. He helped her to her feet after she fell silent and gave her the flag. She held it tightly against her chest, hugging it as hard as she could as he led her away from the hanger. She looked up to see Peggy climbing out of a car and running to them.

"I tried to find you before..." Peggy looked almost as guilty as Steve, but Tori just shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Tori,"

"Yeah, me too," Tori nodded and walked out of Steve's grip, heading towards a taxi.

"Sorry, Agent Carter, I have to..." Steve trailed off and motioned to Tori. Peggy nodded, understanding.

"Of course. Whatever you have to do," She told him, squeezing his arm for a bit, before pulling her hand away quickly.

Steve rushed after Tori and climbed in the taxi next to her.

"So you didn't get the last letter?" Steve asked her. She shook her head, not sobbing anymore. Tears were still falling from her eyes, but it was like the outside world had stopped existing to her. As if she'd went black and white in a world of colour. "He, uh, he wrote you a-"

"I know what a last letter is. I've had 2 before," She replied quietly, staring straight ahead of her.

"Do you... do you wanna know what happened?" He clasped his hands in front of him nervously, and glanced at her. She shook her head, then she nodded. Then she nodded her head again and a sob choked out of her. She let her head fall onto Steve's shoulder, who pulled her into the tightest hug he could give without crushing her. "We, uh, we had to recon this train that Doctor Z... that's not important to you. Um," Steve gulped and took a deep breath in. "The train... was on a mountain and... the door got blown open-"

"Oh God," Tori sobbed harder, pressing her face into Steve's shoulder.

"I couldn't get him, I couldn't reach him Tor. I'm so, so, so sorry. If I'd just-"

"Steve, stop," She shook her head, wrapping her arms around him. "It's not your fault,"

"But it was me-"

"But nothing," She practically shouted, wiping her face and letting him go. "If he knew you were blaming yourself he'd beat you up," She mentally shook herself, but she couldn't shift the pain constricting her chest. Steve took her small hand in his big one and squeezed it. "Look how selfish I'm being," She wiped at her face, no longer caring how her make up looked, after 2 painstaking hours of making sure it was perfect this morning. "You've lost him too," She looked up at him and frowned. "I'm sorry Steve,"

"He really loved you," He told her quietly, swallowing hard and trying to keep calm. She could see his body physically shaking as he tried to keep everything contained. "You were the best thing in his life,"

"Yeah," She nodded, solemnly, squeezing her eyes shut and willing herself to wake up from the nightmare. She was praying for the numbness to set in, thinking if she just let go the pain would drift away. Instead it just shook through her in aftershocks, each second getting worse. She took a deep breath in, and accepted he was really gone. He'd been taken from her again, but this time Steve saw it. James is never coming home. "He was the best thing in mine too,"