Title: Finding the Way Back Home
Rating: PG/K+
Originally posted: 22nd January 2022
Originally written for: flipflop_diva
Characters/Pairings: Steve/Nat
Notes: for Seasons of Drabbles Exchange, Winter 2022 at Dreamwidth and AO3.
The plan was set, he knew exactly what he wanted, and for once in his life, Steve Rogers was going to be selfish.
At least, he thought he knew what he wanted, until now.
Five stones already returned, the sixth was put back into place in Vormir, the mission over, everything as it should be.
Apparently, that didn't quite mean what our hero thought.
"Steve?"
He turned, amazed to see her standing there.
"Natasha?"
He was happier than he could ever have imagined as they ran to each other, embraced tightly, tears falling from their eyes.
"What happened?" she asked eventually, pulling back to look at him. "Did we win?"
"We won," he confirmed, nodding madly, caught between the thrill of seeing her and the pain of recalling the final battle. "There were losses... we thought one of them was you, but you're here. You're back."
"Apparently." Nat nodded, glancing left and right at their eerie surroundings. "So, now... we go home?" she tried, hope in her voice that was more than understandable.
Steve opened his mouth to explain, to tell her he had other plans for where and when home was going to be, but the words wouldn't come.
Natasha was back. His Natasha.
It wasn't that he no longer loved Peggy, he did, he always would, but she was the past, literally.
Here in his arms was a possibility for the present, for the future, handed to him like a miracle in the most extraordinary way.
"Steve? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he assured her, finding a smile. "I am more than okay. Let's go home... together."
"Sounds like a plan." Nat smiled back at him.
The plan was set, he knew exactly what he wanted, and for once in his life, Steve Rogers was going to be selfish.