HEAVY ANGST WARNING

"What time are you meeting up with Buck?"

"In about an hour," Steve called out to you across your room, the sounds of his shower muffling his voice. "Did you want to come along? I'm sure he'd love to see you."

"No, you boys enjoy your time. I have a day full of errands to run before we see the kids tonight." A frantic jingle and heavy footsteps came up the wood-covered stairs and down the hallway towards you, making you quickly grab the pile of clothes that Steve had carelessly left on the floor before your four-legged friend could reach them. "No, Dodger, no socks for you today, sorry bud! Steve! Stop leaving your clothes on the floor!"

"Sorry, doll!"

"Boy, I'm telling you, next time I'm just gonna let you take them," you smiled down to your pup, giving him a much welcomed scratch behind his ears. "That's what he gets for leaving them on the floor, isn't that right?"

The water came to a stop and the dog's ears perked up, making him leave you to run into the bathroom to greet Steve the second that he stepped out of the shower, just as he did every morning. "Woah, hey, pal," Steve chuckled, "if you don't move, I'm gonna step on you. No...stop licking my foot...hahaha...no, stop that!" he chuckled, "Dodge, stop!"

"Dodger, come on, boy," you finally called to him once Steve's tone shifted to annoyance at the dog's persistence, "let's go get our list done." Taking the few steps to the bathroom, you stood in the doorway and watched Steve for a moment as he dressed and the steam started to clear so that you could see his outline, the beads of water running easily across his muscles before he wiped them away. For just a second, you thought about putting off your tasks for a bit, but the incessant whine of Dodger broke your thoughts and brought you back into the moment before Steve had a chance to catch on. "Alright," you sighed, "I'll see you in a few hours. Tell Buck that I said hi and that I miss him."

"Will do," he agreed, reaching out to you for a quick goodbye kiss, "love you, be safe."

"Always am. Love you."

~~~

The first stop on your list was one of your favorites, just as it was for Dodger, being at a small family-owned grocery store only a few blocks from your house. The sweet owner always gave your pup a treat for being such a well-behaved boy, going so far as to allow him to stay at your side as you shopped rather than having to tie his leash to the bike rack outside as most others did.

"Hey, Bill, how's your day been so far?"

The elderly and weathered grocer that you had come to know over the year since you had moved to Brooklyn stepped out from behind the cold seafood case to greet you, just as he always did each day, this time with a lobster in each hand that looked as if they were judging you for their upcoming fate. "Same old, same old, ma'am. I didn't wake up dead, so it's a win so far, right?"

"That it is," you smiled, pausing to let him empty his hands, gently setting each creature into the case full of water with shaky hands. "Did my order happen to come in this morning?"

"No, ma'am, sorry to say," he sighed, "we've got ourselves this new supplier...real young fella, mind's a little scattered if you catch my meanin'. I'm tryin' to give him the benefit of the doubt that he'll learn sooner than later, but I'm startin' to lose hope. Please tell Cap'n Rogers that I should have it in for him tomorrow, if you would."

"Definitely. No worries, Bill."

"Just put the cash on the counter and we won't have any trouble."

The young man's voice easily caught your attention despite the attempt to keep it quiet to not make a scene. You glanced up into one of the corner mirrors that hung high next to the ceiling, seeing two young men holding weapons at the grocer's wife at the front of the store. "Well, that's just fantastic," you groaned in a whisper, pointing Bill to move to the back of the store, "you stay here and hold on to Dodger for me. Keep him quiet."

"Ma'am, don't get yourself into no situation that could get you hurt," he urged, "they can have the money. Just let 'em go. There's no need for your Avengin' for somethin' this petty."

"Just stay here," you repeated, this time with a firmer tone and a sharp stare to keep him in his place. He ducked down behind the cases to where he wouldn't be seen, though he could still keep an eye on you as you moved from row to row until you were at the front of the small store with your targets in sight. "Excuse me," you interrupted, "I think you should put your weapons down before someone gets hurt."

The two young men spun around, their eyes wide and their shocked expressions easily giving away just how young they were; they couldn't have been much more that sixteen or seventeen, their clothes threadbare and their shoes worn through to the cold tile of the floor.

"Where did you come from?!"

"You didn't make a sweep of the building before holding it up?"

"No," the other boy answered, "so are there any more back...there..." he paused, squinting at you as he searched his mind for the recognition that was now bothering him. "Shit, I know who you are! You're an Avenger! You're (Y/N), aren't you?"

"Holy fuck," his friend hissed, his grip tightening on the handle of his gun which was now firmly pointed at you, "we're screwed. You probably called them all in, didn't ya?"

"I haven't called anyone," you softly answered, trying to maintain calm, "and I won't. I just need you to put your weapons down and walk away, and we can all go on with our lives, alright?"

"I don't believe you."

"You can have my phone if you want to check."

"C'mon, man, let's just go. I don't want any trouble with the Avengers. You know who her husband is? Or her dad?"

"I do, and I bet they'd pay a pretty penny to make sure you didn't hurt a single hair on that head of yours, right?"

"Guys," you tried again, now raising your hands to show that you weren't making any move to stop them, "just go, okay?" You took the smallest step forward, your foot barely leaving the ground to touch your toe down again, when one of the young men panicked, and the sound of a shot rang through the room around you.

"Man, what did you do?!" one of them hollered at the other, but now you weren't sure which was which when a sudden pain robbed you of your clear thought. "You hit her! They're gonna kill us!" A loud shuffling of feet and more yelling but muffled voices filled your senses, but they quickly silenced as the two would-be robbers fled as fast as they could.

"(Y/N)!" Bill yelled to you as he ran out from his hiding place with Dodger right behind, reaching your side just as you dropped to your knees. "(Y/N), where did they get ya...oh, god," he gasped, looking at the hole in the left side of your chest as you stared at it in disbelief as to what had really happened, having only a few seconds left before the blood loss would send you into shock. He tried to catch you in his frail arms when you fell forward to the floor, the final word that you might ever speak getting to him just before you hit with an unforgiving force.

"Steve..."

~~~

"Very good, Anthony," Strange encouraged, standing next to your son while he attempted to open a portal for their daily journey outside of the Sanctum, "hold your concentration. This is the farthest you've been able to take us. You're doing very well."

"Thank you, sir."

Brooklyn and Grant were standing off to the side, watching their brother work, their eyes alight with amazement that he had come so far and had become so powerful in just a year's time. "I wish Mom and Dad were here to see this," Grant whispered to his sister, "it's so cool."

"I know."

"I would like for all of us to travel this time, Anthony," the Doctor directed, his focus unwavering from Anthony's work. "I need you to put all of your energy into what you see on the other side so that we all arrive together."

"Okay...I think...woah, sir...I'm really dizzy..."

"Do you need to stop?"

"It's not that..." the boy mumbled, dropping his hands to allow the portal to close, his stance beginning to falter, "I don't know..." He stumbled back a few steps, nearly bumping into his siblings when suddenly he understood, and his panic was immediate, just before collapsing to the ground as the waves that hit him were too strong to fight and the world around him went black.

"Mom!"

~~~

It had been months since Steve and Bucky had found time to meet up for lunch, but today the stars aligned somehow and it all fell into place that they had free time to make it happen. After Steve had said goodbye to you, he made his way to a small café a short distance from home, choosing a seat outside to enjoy the scenery and sunlight on what was looking to be a perfect day.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in years, Buck."

"I know," his friend readily agreed, "how have things been?"

"Good," Steve smiled genuinely, "really good. It's nice to just live a normal life for a while. Yeah, we get bored here and there, but overall it's a welcome break."

"How about the kids?"

"The last report we got was positive," he nodded sipping on his hot coffee with a slight wince at the temperature, "they're moving faster than Strange expected, but I suppose that's not necessarily a bad thing. (Y/N) and I are going to head over there this evening and surprise the kids for dinner. We haven't seen them in months."

"That's gotta be hard."

"It is," Steve muttered softly into his cup, holding it just at his lips as he considered just how much he missed everyone back at the compound too. Seeing Bucky in front of him only made it hurt more, rather than making him feel better as it should have. "How's everyone doing?"

"Sam is driving me up the damn wall without you there to keep him off my back. Nat and Clint finally have this parenting thing down. I mean, come on, the kid's almost two. Tony and Banner keep building things that never work, but that's nothing new. Thor stops by here and there but you know how he can't just sit still for very long. Scott let Peter try on his suit and we almost lost the kid in the couch cushions under Vision's butt-" he stopped suddenly, leaning to look past Steve and pointing down the sidewalk past him. "Hey man, isn't that your dog?"

"What?" Steve gasped, turning around to see that Bucky was right. "Hey, Dodge, come here, boy," he called to him, grabbing his collar to hold him in place. "That's weird, where's your Mom, bud?" The dog was licking at Steve's face and whining, as if he were trying to tell him something, and it put Steve on immediate alert. "Something's up, Buck."

"Excuse me, Captain Rogers?"

The deep voice startled the two men and jolted them to the sight of a uniformed New York City police officer running towards them, bringing Steve to his feet almost immediately. "Sir? Can I help you?"

"That's a smart dog you've got there, led me right to you," the man panted, leaning forward to catch his breath. "I need you to come with me, please."

Bucky now stood too, taking his place at Steve's side when he could feel the air around them changing; it left him uneasy and holding his hand out to connect to Steve to keep him grounded. The look in the officer's eyes told him that this was something terrible.

"Can I ask why?"

"Sir," the officer sighed sorrowfully, leaning in just a bit closer to your husband, "I think it would be best if we didn't talk here. You should collect your children and come with us to Presbyterian Hospital immediately. There's been an accident."

~~~

Steve felt as if he hadn't moved in days, when in fact, he had been at your side only a matter of minutes. Time had stopped around him as he looked at you, refusing to touch you and watching your chest rising and falling with each breath that the machine next to you provided. A gentle beep of your heartbeat did nothing to soothe him, knowing that another machine was giving it to you; your heart wasn't going to beat on its own now. He wasn't sure if it ever would again.

"The bullet entered through her left ventricle and lodged in the septum between it and the atrium above it. The particular type that they used is extremely damaging. Once the slug imbedded into the tissue it shattered, all but shredding her heart muscle into an irreparable state. I'm sorry, Captain. There's nothing we can do."

"I can't accept that," he mumbled, his gaze fixed and staring for so long that his eyes stung from the dryness covering them. "She can heal...like I can."

"Captain, there are some things that even you can't recover from," the doctor answered solemnly. "I think it would be best to talk with Mr. Stark and begin to make arrangements."

Steve's stare was finally broken at the words that shredded his own heart now, the pain in his chest catching his breath and choking in his throat when he tried to reply. "Arrangements?"

"Yes. For removing life support and saying goodbye." The doctor gave him a supportive pat on the arm before turning away, allowing Steve the time to process what he had just said, though he also knew full well that the man may never reach a point of understanding. He took his leave quietly, passing by your father on his way through the door.

"Steve!" The sound of Tony's panicked voice did nothing to jolt the grief-stricken Captain, now lost in his own mind. Tony ran in a near-sprint to your side, stopping abruptly at the foot of your bed as he took in the sight that he feared with every second of his flight there; it was worse than what even he could imagine in his broken mind. "What happened? What did the doctors say?"

"Um...hey, Tony," Steve began uncertainly, "she uh...she got caught in a robbery...they said that they can't..." he stopped, dropping heavily into the chair next to you as if in a daze and stuck in a ridiculous alternate life, "they can't fix it. There's nothing..." Steve's mind seemingly chose this moment to catch up to what was happening, allowing his emotions to strike and send him into uncontrollable gasps of panic and grief when he tried to go on, "they said we should...oh, god...Tony, I can't do this..."

"What, Steve? What did they say?"

"They said...we should let her go."

Tony died in that very moment, and at the sound of those words; his body felt cold and numb, and the world became gray and cruel around him. It was as if the life had been sucked out of him and lost, feeling like it would never return, and that he didn't care if it did. "No."

"Tony-"

"I said no!"

Steve lowered his head into his hands to keep from yelling back, knowing full well that no matter what he said, it wouldn't matter; in fact, he found himself agreeing with Tony and not believing that this had to be it. "I was just talking to her three hours ago. We were going to see the kids tonight. I don't understand how we got here."

"I won't do this, Steve."

"Her accident...Hydra...all of it," Steve continued, as if he wasn't hearing anyone but himself now, "she fought back from it. All of that and the thing that takes her down? A couple of trigger happy kids looking for a few extra bucks."

A loud commotion just outside of your door broke the men's attention, turning towards the rush of voices and stomping feet; Steve put his hands up at the ready, knowing exactly who to expect to burst through the doors at any second.

"Mom!" Grant sprinted in, only to be caught in his father's waiting arms. "Dad, let me go! I want to see her!"

"Son, don't. Stay here."

Brooklyn followed close behind, rushing past and getting farther than her brother had, but finding herself swooped up and into Tony's arms to hold her tightly when she tried to fight and get away. "Grandpa, please," she cried into his chest, her small fists pounding against him, "don't let Mama die. Please...please, fix it. You fix everything, Grandpa. You have to fix this."

As his siblings fought to get closer to you against the strong arms that held them back, Anthony stood silent and perfectly still in the doorway, looking at you without emotion or reaction. When his instructor took a stand behind him to look around the room before him, the boy glanced back to see your file in his hands. "Can you do it?" he asked quietly.

"No, Anthony, I can't. It's not my specialty, and even if it were and if my hands were steady, I wouldn't be able to do a repair like this. I don't know anyone who can."

Ant turned slowly on his heel, his expression holding steady as he looked up at the man, feeling so much taller than his eight-year-old frame allowed him. "No, Doctor. I wasn't asking about your hands."