⏳ 2016  

I watched the doctors check Bucky over, examining his vital signs and his metal nub of what the signature Winter Soldier arm used to be.

It had been two months since we ran. Two months since we broke the Avengers out of the Raft. Two months since...

They others hadn't taken it well, especially Wanda. She didn't speak a word to anyone for almost two weeks. Sam had tried to keep a brave face for my sake, but even I could see that he was struggling. So was I.

As the doctors let Bucky be for a minute or two, it was time for me to say goodbye. "You sure about this?"

Bucky took a deep breath. "I can't trust my own mind." He looked up at me. "So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head...I think going back under is the best thing." He smirked weakly. "For everybody."

I understood where he was coming from. As the last of HYDRA's Super Soldier, he was still a threat. If someone got their hands on that book and those words, the Winter Soldier would cause chaos. Bucky was right. It was best for everyone if he went under, at least until we figured out how to cure him; to get him back to normal. And I would find a way to do that.

He nudged me. "You gonna be okay?'

I clenched my jaw before plastering on a brave face. "Yeah."

I glanced over at Astra and Gilliam standing silently by the second cryogenic tube. The one that held her frozen body where Bucky was soon to go too.

I wasn't giving up on her. I was going to save her. I was going to find a way to get her back. There had to be a way, and I was going to find it.

I watched Bucky climb into the cryopod. He shot me one more smile before closing his eyes and embracing the ice. Soon he would be placed deep down into the catacombs of this place where he would be safe. And she would go too. Not yet. But soon.

I moved to the window and looked out into the expansive distance before me. I felt her aura before she arrived beside me. Her hair had grown out to her shoulders, so different from the short, sharp look she had when I first met her. She looked kinder with long hair, but her purple eyes spoke differently about that demeanour. She still retained the glaring eyes of a woman on a mission. Resolute.

"I tried to save her," I uttered, the words still raw.

"I know, Captain," Astra replied.

I licked my lips. "What does this mean for the Chronos? Will Gilliam be the Lord now?"

Astra thought about her reply, choosing her words carefully. "The people will choose their new leader. It will be them who decides who will lead the Chronos. That is what Andromeda would have wanted."

A proud smile beamed onto my face. That sounded like her. My girl. The sadness set in again, ripping the smile away. I'd never see that smile again—that beautiful grin that screamed danger, but kindness and age. There was nothing but a cold thin line on her porcelain face where that smile should be now.

Astra's hand to my shoulder forced me from my thoughts. "Will you be all right?"

I pulled on a brave face. I had to for her sake. Though she tried to hide it behind her steely look, I could tell from those purple eyes that she was hurting too. The bags plaguing underneath them signified that she'd cried recently. No doubt the entire Chronos had. Time itself had wept for the loss of one of its darling jewels.

"I'll be okay," I lied. "I'm gonna save her."

Astra pursed her lips. "Steven—"

"Astra." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I can't believe that she's dead. I just can't."

She pressed her hand harder onto my shoulder supportively. "I cannot believe she is gone either. But she is. She is not coming back, Steven. Her aura has faded. And so has her life force."

"The impossible can happen." I spread my arms. "I'm a ninety-nine-year-old man in the body of a thirty-two-year-old. I'm the impossible. So are you." I resisted a glance at her cryopod and failed. "She...She w...is the impossible."

Astra sighed, blinking those purple eyes slowly in thought. "You are not going to change your mind, are you?"

The look I gave her was my answer. No. No, I wasn't going to change my mind. It had been made up from the moment I carried her body from the jet to the pod. I was going rectify this.

Her lips quirked up into a smirk. "Then we will see each other again, Captain Rogers."

She left my side to rejoin Gilliam, and the two left through a portal, shocking the doctors who watched on with gaping mouths and wide eyes. I chuckled. That was me once. That was me the moment I saw what Andi could do.

I inhaled and exhaled, pocketing my hands as he joined me. "Thank you for this."

T'Challa clutched his hands behind his back and sent me a long look. "Your friend and my father...they were both victims." He gazed out into the distance through the glass. "If I can help one of them find peace..."

He didn't need to finish his sentence. I understood. "You know, if they find out he's here..." I looked to him in warning. "They'll come for him."

A daring smile clawed onto his dark face, and he turned back to the glass, looking out into the green forests, cascading waterfalls, and towering mountains, thick fog choking the kingdom. It floated along enough for the obsidian, Vibranium panther to roar silently, striking fear in any who risked setting foot in its jungles.

"Let them try," the King of Wakanda dared.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there! If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a quick vote! Thanks for reading!