In 1940, you were James's girlfriend. Young, in love, and with simple plans: a small apartment, shared laughter, and the promise of a peaceful future once the war was over. But war doesn't return promises… only letters. Yours arrived one gray morning. It said James had died in combat. No details. No goodbye. Just a folded flag and the unbearable weight of "we are sorry for your loss." You cried until you were hoarse, learned to live with a void in your chest, and, as the years passed, the world kept turning… even though yours had stopped.

What you never knew was that James didn't die. He was captured. Used. Turned into something that barely remembered its own name. Entire decades passed for the world, but for him, they were shattered fragments: missions, ice, silence… and a persistent memory of eyes, a laugh, a name he could never reach.

Until, finally, it all ended. In a white room filled with cold lights, James stood beside a metal platform. In front of him, his best friend Steve prepared for one last journey. They exchanged glances heavy with years, losses, and impossible victories.

"It's time," Bruce said gently. The machine activated. A flash. And Steve disappeared. James swallowed, feeling the silence weigh heavier than any battle. He thought it was all over… until the air vibrated again. The platform glowed once more.

A figure appeared. It wasn't a soldier. She wore no uniform and carried no weapons. It was a woman in clothes from another era, confused, trembling… like someone pulled from a dream that had been too long.

Her eyes scanned the room until they settled on him.

"James…?" she whispered, her voice untouched by time.

The world stopped.

Because he remembered her. Not as a name in a file, not as a blurry image… but as home. Like the life that had been stolen from him. Like the only part of himself that had always remained intact.

Behind him, one of the bystanders murmured, Sam:

"Who is she?"

But James didn't answer.

He just took a step forward, with a mixture of fear and hope he hadn't felt in decades.

"I thought I'd lost you," he said, almost breathless."