The next chapter!

I feel I need to remind people that I have absolutely no intention to abandon this fic. There might be long intermissions between chapters, but I know where I'm going and it's all going to end. It's just that my muse sometimes takes a vacation without informing me beforehand.

Enjoy!

Chapter 16: One Capsicle to go

The pounding centered right between his eyes that greets Steve when he wakes up is irritating to the extreme. He almost wants to lift a hand to try and apply some pressure of his own to the area, but his limbs feel weighed down. Also, he's pretty sure he'll just smack himself in the face if he tries, and that's the last thing he wants right now.

So instead, he forces his eyes open to figure out where the hell he is.

A golden ceiling greets him.

He stares up at it uncomprehendingly before past events come crashing over him.

He'd died.

Jerking upright drags a harsh gasp from him, but his hands are already pressed against where he can still feel the blade that finally got him sink in. That's what he gets for letting himself get separated from everyone. He can almost still hear Tony screaming at him to get away, but there hadn't been any way for him to. Not with a bum leg that had already brought him to his knees. In conclusion, there's no way he should've been able to survive what followed.

And yet here he is, alive.

Flailing movement off to his right makes Steve whip his head in that direction, and it's just in time for him to see Evelyn go tumbling off the chair she'd been sitting in moments before. She hits the ground in an undignified heap, blinking up at him as he stares down at her.

"Eve?" Steve prods when she shows no signs of moving.

Red blooms across her cheeks and she scrambles back to her feet. "Can't believe I just did that," she mumbles, plopping back into the chair she'd recently vacated. After dragging a hand down her face, she exhales explosively before finally looking at him again. "Hi Steve, how are you feeling?"

"I died," he returns bluntly.

She dips her chin down. "You did."

He blinks at her, needing a better answer than that. "Then why am I here?"

"Because we only lasted two years after we lost you," she says softly, haunted memories clouding her eyes as she tips her head back. "It was just Loki and I in the end, and I'd been hit by a death spell. He managed to keep me alive for a week, but I was rapidly slipping away. We both knew I wasn't going to last the night. So my husband gambled everything and sent my soul back through time with Soul Magic." An amused yet bitter smile twists her lips. "I woke up back under the cupboard I hadn't seen since my youth. Apparently my soul returning resulted in my magic blowing the stairs above me to smithereens."

The explanation, while it makes a certain amount of sense, also makes him suspicious for reasons he can't name until he can finally dredge up the few conversations he's thinking of. "Eve, you were forced to live in that cupboard until you were ten." And she looks the same as always, only far more relaxed than he's ever seen before.

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, and apparently a few interesting friends looking out for me." For some reason, she reaches up to tap a pendant hanging in the hollow of her throat. "If I took this off, you'd see that I am actually physically ten years old at the moment. The pendant is specifically tuned to me and grants me my adult body for certain amounts of time depending on what Realm I'm in. It's a tricky bit of Runes and Charms and Transfiguration that frankly has me rather astounded at the complexity of it all."

Well then.

Steve's never tried to truly understand the magic that she and Loki weave, only concerned with what it was they could do so he could add it into his battle plans. If she says that's the way the pendant works, then that's the way it works.

Of course, that still doesn't answer his question of how exactly he's alive now and remembering things.

"Eve—"

She interrupts him with an exasperated expression. "The Soul Magic was supposed to only give me my memories, with the possible exception of Loki as he's the one who cast the magic in the first place. Instead, we both quickly realized that both Thor and my cousin Dudley remembered as well."

The mention of their fallen comrade is like a punch to the gut. A wounded noise rumbles in the back of Steve's throat as he bows his head. He absolutely loathes that he keeps losing people. First it was Bucky on that damn train. It was swiftly followed by Peggy, Howard, and the Howling Commandos when he'd sunk the Valkyrie in the Atlantic. That might've been his choice and his fault for those particular losses, but they still hurt all the same when he'd woken up again. Then, despite his aching heart, the team had come together and he'd had himself a new family. He'd known the dangers already. War is kind to no one and there was no guarantee that they'd all make it out to the other side. That doesn't mean he wasn't any less broken when Thor fell. They'd all been stunned. While the two Asgardians on their team weren't any less mortal than the others, they'd still seemed almost larger than life. None of them had ever really contemplated the idea that that meant that they could die just as easily as the rest of them. To have Thor be the first of them to fall shook every single one of them. Badly, deeply, and Steve wondered in some of his darker moments if Thor's death dealt them too sharp a blow that they'd never recover from.

Eve reaches out and lays a hand over one of his clenched fists. "We weren't entirely sure if they remembered simply because of close proximity to us when our souls returned," she continues softly. "When Loki proceeded to break my godfather out of prison and my skin touching his returned his memories to him, we knew something significant was going on. We tried again with my father's other friend, and the same thing happened. The instant I touched him, I felt the Soul Magic in me flare and his memories were returned." She squeezes his hand gently. "So we started looking for you. We obviously had a general idea of where to look, but Heimdall has other duties on top of what we were asking him to do. We would've had to return to England within the next week or so even if we hadn't found you because I need to be there to receive my Hogwarts letter."

"Because you're ten again," he says slowly as a reminder to himself, because he can't quite wrap his head around that particular fact with her looking like she usually does. Her hand retreats from his, and he lifts his head just in time to see her wry smile before she unclasps the pendant. He sucks in a sharp breath when she goes from a full grown woman to a child.

"Because I'm ten again," she quietly repeats, tucking the necklace away into a pocket. She pulls a rather comical face. "I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to having to go to school again. The first time was unpleasant enough, now I'm going to be thoroughly bored out of my mind because I already know everything."

Steve snorts out an unexpected chuckle, because they all learned early on that a bored Evelyn was a dangerous Evelyn. "I take it you can't just skip going?"

She sighs heavily. "Unfortunately, no. Too many people expect me to go, and it's better in the long run to have England on my side rather than against me. To say nothing of the fact that Riddle will pursue me wherever I go, so I'd rather just deal with him in England to begin with instead of inflicting his terror onto any other country."

Steve rolls the unexpected name around in his head. "And Riddle's the man who killed your parents and wanted you dead?"

"He is indeed." Her smile turns bitter. "One of the downsides of how far back we came is that that bloody bastard is still alive. Still, at least this go round I actually know how to kill him, so I don't have to constantly play nice with Dumbledore if I don't want to." She abruptly claps her hands together. "But enough of that. We'll have plenty of time to discuss everything once we're all together again. Right now, we have friends waiting for us to join them." She slides out of her seat. "Give me a minute and I'll get Healer Eir to release you." She trots off without waiting for an answer and Steve just watches her go.

He realizes that she's never actually said just where exactly they are. However, from the stories both Thor and Loki told, along with the obscene amounts of gold he can see all around him, he figures they're probably on Asgard. Exhaling loudly, he leans back and rests his head on the wall behind his bed.

So, they've gotten a second chance.

A second chance to do things better this time.

It's something everyone wishes for but never really is granted.

Steve wearily scrubs a hand over his face, already overwhelmed with ideas of what they could all do differently now. Each one has consequences, and he doesn't even know who all will remember, or who Eve wants to have remember. Not to mention, the mere fact that they do remember is already screwing up everything they know happened before. Heck, he's been found way before he was last time, and that's going to affect so many things.

"I'd tell you off, cause I can almost see what it is that you're thinking about, but I've done similar this last month." Eve's dry tone cuts through his jumbled thoughts. He blinks his eyes open, wondering when exactly he closed them, to find her standing at the foot of his bed. She's holding a stack of clothes in her arms that she lays on the bed. "Changing area is right over there," she continues, pointing a finger to his left. "We didn't manage to save your clothes, but we've got a working harness to hold your shield." She reaches down to rap her knuckles against something leaning against his bed. Steve's more relieved than he cares to admit at the familiar ringing tone produced. "Go get dressed and I'll take you to see everyone." She gives his foot a quick pat before walking briskly away.

He gives himself a moment before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. The coolness of the floor seeps through the socks on his feet, but Steve doesn't really mind. It's just another reminder that he's actually alive. He'll take as many of those as he can get.

The clothes that Eve left are soft yet sturdy to the touch. He drapes them over an arm before shuffling over in the direction she'd pointed. It's always a relief to take off any sort of hospital clothes. No one on the team ever enjoyed time spent healing from injuries. All of them were obnoxious for various reasons whenever they landed themself there. Because of the super serum, he rarely managed that, so he was always incredibly impatient to get out.

It's when he's pulling the new top over his head after shimmying into the new pants that he belatedly remembers another thing of importance concerning Evelyn's age. She's ten. That means it's either late 1990 or early 1991. He goes stumbling back out into the hospital proper to find Evelyn sitting on his bed, his shield beside her.

"Eve, the date," he gasps, breath catching in the back of his throat.

She blinks at his sudden appearance before understanding washes over her face. "It's the 15th of July, and the year is 1991."

He sits down hard on the bed opposite her, dropping his head into his hands.

Bucky hasn't been sent to kill the elder Starks yet. If they time it right, they might be able to keep him from doing it all together. And then hopefully Eve will still make good to her promise to help Bucky recover from all the hell HYDRA put him through. Steve had started giving up all hope of finding him the further the Realms had collapsed, and then he'd gone and died, bringing the search to a rather abrupt halt. It's another second chance he hadn't thought he'd ever have, and this will definitely be one he grabs with both hands.

Inhaling deeply, he raises his head.

Evelyn is kindly not looking at him. She does twist when he moves, offering a small smile. "Good now, Captain?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good."

"Excellent." She slides off the bed and hefts his shield with a grunt that has him scrambling to his feet as well. "I'm so out of shape it's bloody ridiculous," she grumbles, letting him take the shield from her without protest.

Steve shoots her a fond yet exasperated look while also accepting the harness she passes him. "Eve—"

She waves him off. "Yeah, yeah, I'm ten, I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it, Cap." A shiver shakes her whole body. "You ought to know just how much I despise not being able to stand on my own two feet."

With the harness on and his shield once more a comforting weight secured to his back, Steve drops a pat onto the top of her head for all that she shoots him a truly unimpressed look. "And you know that's why we're a team. We help each other when they can't stand on their own for whatever reason." He gives her a rueful smile. "You certainly drilled that into my head about Bucky."

"You were being a bit of an idiot, but not enough of an idiot that it couldn't be rectified." She huffs out a sigh. "We all tend to be idiots when it comes to our friends. We just have so much more at our disposal that when we're being idiots, the consequences are much more severe than the average person." Steve both marvels and despairs at how tiny her hand is as she slips it into his own. "Come on. Knowing my brother like I do, he's most likely bouncing around the training grounds and driving my husband absolutely bonkers. Let's go put both of them out of their misery."

Steve barks out a hoarse sounding laugh, but does let her pull him out of the hospital. The halls they enter are just as obnoxiously decorated as the hospital was. He gets some curious looks whenever they pass someone, but Evelyn is given respectful inclines of heads. Steve doesn't have to see her face to know that she'd rather they didn't do that. Still, she marches unerringly onwards.

Sunshine washes over them, and Steve lets out an unintended sigh of relief. Apparently his dislike for Asgardian buildings is stronger than he'd originally thought. That or he's just thankful to be outside on a sunny day with no visible batte in sight. Everywhere had been a battlefield by the end. Evelyn tosses a questioning expression over her shoulder back at him, but continues onward when he shakes his head.

When they start approaching what Steve recognizes as organized training grounds, Evelyn finally lets go of his hand only to go sprinting towards two specific figures. Steve's taken aback at the childish shriek of delight that Evelyn lets loose when she's swept up into Thor's arms. His teammate's booming laughter echoes through the air as he spins the two of them around in a circle, his expression one of pure delight. Then he's setting her back down on her feet and turning to Steve.

"Captain!"

Finally having the entirety of Thor's attention focused on him, Steve couldn't have stopped the sob that rises out of his throat even if he bothered trying. He stumbles forward with Thor meeting him halfway. He fists his hands in Thor's clothing, clinging as though the man will vanish if he lets go. Thor doesn't protest, he simply stands there and lets Steve take as much comfort from his presence as he needs. And that's really really helpful, because Steve feels way too close to fracturing. Right now, he just needs to focus on the fact that Thor is alive again. Anything else can follow later when he doesn't feel quite so raw.

"Evelyn just sent for my brother, so I assume he will arrive shortly," Thor murmurs for all that he makes no move to release Steve.

Steve inhales sharply and makes himself let go. He can't cling to Thor for forever, and while he knows Loki won't ever use a truly emotionally raw moment against any of them, he'd still rather not give the man any ammunition for later. And because Thor's mentioned this, he also realizes that the person Evelyn's standing beside isn't her husband. His cheeks flush with heat when he sees it's very much a woman that Evelyn's chatting with.

"Ah, let me introduce you." Thor wraps an arm around his shoulders. "Sif! This is our comrade Captain Steven Grant Rogers. He has fought in many a battle, and I am proud to call him shield brother. Steve, this is Lady Sif, a fellow warrior whom I've grown with."

Steve can immediately tell by the set of her shoulders that Sif is ready to defend herself if he's stupid enough to make a derogatory comment about her being a woman. Given that she most likely has no idea just how much he's worked with competent women, he doesn't begrudge her her wariness. Instead, he offers his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. Thor talked about you quite a bit in his stories."

Sif blinks at him, then turns to look at Thor. "Loki had mentioned something similar." Steve's a little bit impressed when Thor's cheeks flush pink for all that he's staring determinedly at his boots. An amused smile tugs at the woman's lips as she accepts Steve's hand. "I look forward to training with you, Captain."

There's a whirlwind of magic that lands nearby, and Evelyn's off again. This time it is Loki she runs too, although there are three other people who arrived with her husband that Steve doesn't recognize. Two grown men and a boy who appears to be about Evelyn's physical age. All three look rather dazed.

"Steve's awake!" Evelyn exclaims happily.

"I can see that, alskling," Loki returns with a fond smile. He drops a kiss on top of her head before turning his attention to Steve. "It is good to see you again, Captain."

Steve snorts out a hoarse chuckle. "I think I should be thanking you for even being able to. Something about Soul Magic?"

Loki's smile turns pinched for all that he comes over to clasp hands. "Very rarely does one ever get thanks for performing Soul Magic, but in this instance, I will take it. The alternative does not bear thinking over." The sound of Evelyn's laughter has the both of them looking back to where the two older men appear exasperated with something, but content all the same to watch Evelyn laugh without interfering. The young boy is shaking his head with a hand over his face. "They are her father's childhood friends whom she lost during their blood war," Loki says softly.

"She mentioned them when she was explaining the Soul Magic to me," he returns just as quietly, loath to interrupt a rare moment of unburdened joy from the woman who'd pulled them all together tighter than they'd ever imagined possible. He knows from first hand experience how heavy the weight of the world's troubles feel when carrying them alone. She'd torn into both Tony and him about how she'd done it and had nearly failed. About how the man who should've been her mentor had done it, and how it had cost him everything, including Evelyn's trust in the end.

And Evelyn's trust is a heady, powerful thing to have.

"She is quite happy to have a second chance with both men for all that she had to grow up without them." Loki huffs out a sigh that Steve only hears because of how close he's standing to the man. "And they deserve to be able to watch her grow unhindered."

Steve raises an eyebrow at that last bit, but doesn't comment. Loki had hoarded Evelyn's time a decent amount before she'd taken him to task over it. He'd relented, because it was Evelyn asking, but that doesn't mean he hadn't watched all of them like a predator stalking its prey for months afterwards. Him being willing to admit to others needing Evelyn's time beyond just him is something that they'd all figured wouldn't ever happen. He allowed it, because no one denied Evelyn time with those she considered family without feeling like the lowest of scum, but he never came out and said it.

Then again, having the entirety of your world come crashing down around you would motivate a person to do better, Steve muses to himself. In any event, he'll take it for the blessing that it is, and not mention it to give Loki some peace. The last thing he wants right now is the self proclaimed God of Mischief coming after him in retaliation for a perceived slight.

"Steve!"

He snaps out of his drifting thoughts as Evelyn comes barreling back towards him. She's dragging both grown men with her, not that they're protesting the man-handling at all.

"Steve, I'd like you to meet Heir Sirius Orion of House Black, my godfather, and my soon-to-be Head Retainer and Steward Remus John Lupin." Her joyful smile turns wicked, and Steve immediately knows that she hasn't told them the entire truth as to who he is. "Padfoot, Moony, this is Captain Steven Grant Rogers. He's one of the many people I fought with during the war that consumed the Realms."

The black haired man, Sirius, doesn't do much of anything other than give him a once over at the mention of his name. Remus, however, does a full on double take, green eyes going wide and jaw dropping as his gaze darts from him to Eve and back again in stunned disbelief.

Steve lets a rueful smile spread across his lips. "Yeah, I'm that Captain Rogers." He offers his hand again, which Remus seems to take purely on instinct. "I have to say, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin. Eve told me quite a lot about you, including how you were the first competent Defense teacher she had. I look forward to getting to know you better. Both of you." He tacks on that last bit, inclining his head to include her godfather.

When Remus doesn't say anything, just continuing to stare, Sirius turns to give his friend an exasperation look. "Moony, why in Merlin's name are you looking at the man like he's the next best thing since Honeydukes' dark chocolate?"

"You don't—?!" Remus starts to sputter, face flushing bright red. "How do you not know—"

"Pureblood, Moony," Eve cuts in softly. "Not to mention Azkaban."

And just like that, the man deflates.

"I'm missing something, aren't I?" Sirius demands.

"You're missing quite a few things, Padfoot, but in this particular instance your Pureblood upbringing is working against you," Evelyn explains. "Captain Rogers here is something of a Muggle war hero from World War Two, which was when we were dealing with Grindelwald."

The affronted expression on the man's face morphs into confusion as he gives Steve another look. "He's a Muggle, yeah? Then how much he isn't as old looking as Minnie or Albus?"

Evelyn rolls her eyes. "He sunk his plane into the Atlantic Ocean, and was pretty much frozen in time until we fished him back out."

Sirius blinks then shoots his goddaughter a deadpan look. "Evie, even wizards would die in those conditions if caught unawares. There is no way at all that a Muggle would survive."

"I'm a bit of a special case," Steve interjects.

Sirius sniffs in a rather indignant manner. "'A special case' he says. We gonna be meeting any more special cases?"

"Possibly," Evelyn says, turning her nose up in haughty dismissal while Steve's heart lurches in his chest. "Depends on my luck."

The comical look of horror that spreads across both mens' faces has Steve laughing because he completely understands depending on Evelyn's luck. If it goes your way, the results tend to be beyond anything they could've thought of. When it goes against you, all you can really do is hold tight and pray.

"Thankfully, we should have more than just Potter Luck to get us by," Loki calmly states over Steve's laughter.

Remus shudders before muttering, "Thank Merlin for that."