steve returns the stones, he comes back, hands the shield to sam. he never understood when erskine said he saw good in him, but he does when he looks at sam.
"i think i'll try some of that life that tony was always telling me to get", he says.
sam doesn't seem surprised. "you know we're always here for you steve."
"i know."
the people they lost are back, but they lost 5 years of their lives, 5 years where the people they left behind had moved on, 5 years that never was for them. steve knows a little about that.
so, he continues with his therapy group, dedicates even more time to it than he already did before. he meets regularly with sam and bucky, listens to them talk about their adventures and inside jokes and feels nothing but warmth. he made the right choice.
he meets with clint and his family too, he feels he owes natasha that.
he even meets with pepper and little morgan. they don't need him, but he always feels a little lighter after spending an afternoon with them.
they check in on him too. wanda likes to show up at random moments and cluck over his cooking skills, rhodey calls, peter shows up with him to his therapy group. they care about him, his family. he knows.
tony and nat died to make sure they got a future. steve lives to make sure it was worth it, to make sure it was the best possible future they could have.
he doesn't need to be captain america to do that.
it's not a life he pictured for himself, but that was okay. it's not a family he pictured having, but that was okay too. his family was unconventional, but it was his and as he once told tony, the man who wanted the wife, and the kids, and the dog went down in the ice. he now has a bunch of broken people who he loves, who love him, and he couldn't picture anything better for himself.
he lost people yes, he has always lost people, but he gained so many as well.
so he tells everyone the only way to move was onward. he tells them they need to keep their eyes on the years to come, not the years they lost.
that's what he tells everyone, and that's what he does.