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#post avengers 2012 where they each had their own floor in the tower is still the best timeline

bokuwaboku-datte · 6 months

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Loki s2e6 spoilers

I mean, it wasn't awful, but goddammit marvel, stop building up great character relationships and then throwing them away in favor of some sort of contrived "big damn hero" moment

Have Guardians set up the idea that the power of the infinity stones can be shared, then gather all the avengers into one place where they could do just that? Nah, gotta have a big emotional moment to kill off tony stark

Have Loki's bonds with his friends literally inspire him to manifest the strongest superpower in the mcu? Better treat those friends as nothing more than setpieces during the finale, make Loki spend centuries figuring out a solution by himself, and end up with him alone at the end of time

"found family separates at the end of the journey" is still the worst trope fight me

#big 'robot gathers information on the surrounding environment then discards it and drives into walls' energy #romanticism is dumb give me enlightenment #post avengers 2012 where they each had their own floor in the tower is still the best timeline #loki

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clochanamarc · 10 months

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i'm gonna keep talking abt the 2012 vibes tho bc i want to and i think it might be a healing moment for us all, so feel free to contribute to this list!

first of all, the endless fics where the entire cast of ANY show/movie/universe were living under the same roof. like it didn't matter who it was, they all lived under the same roof and had breakfast together and saved the world while arguing over who ate the last of the chicken curry. it was a glorious era in which we gave no fucks at all about realistic content or logic, we just wanted the avengers and the cast of doctor who to somehow be living together in the avenger tower.

following this up with the delightful array of hc posts that can STILL be found where it's like, lists of the avengers' starbucks orders, or the cast of merlin's ideal breakfast, or how the characters in doctor who or supernatural or sherlock spend their days off, and they were so lovely to read bc it was simple and effective and displayed a perfect amount of understanding of the characters??

the shipping??? the SHIPPING. nobody gave two shites about what was reasonable nor canon, and the shipping landscape proved that. i remember reading this incredible fic of oneshots where maria and pepper got married and the next morning tony proposed to thor. it was SUBLIME and there was no angst, sb just wanted to write about thor and his designer cape and tony using the cape the next morning to wear while he made pancakes.

i wanna go back to the "living under the same roof" bc i remember reading SO MANY fics that described in exceptional detail the interiors and layouts of each of the individual floors (not rooms, FLOORS) of the tower that each of the avengers occupied, and they were always different but they always made sense, and lately i feel like there's this very incorrect belief that if something is different from another thing, one of those versions MUST be wrong, and like. no. i have five mugs that are very different but i love them each equally. idk when we started giving into this weird idea that "i know X says that tony likes black coffee, but i feel like he prefers macchiatos, and i worry that i might be wrong--" BESTIES IT'S FICTION WHY ARE WE DOING THIS TO OURSELVES

basically yeah that says it all

it's all fiction! like that's the point of it all, i feel like the reason it's so exhausting to watch movies from a franchise is because everyone immediately attacks it and says "oh it's terrible bc it doesn't follow THIS portrayal and lmao what a stupid line why did poe say "somehow palpatine returned" how stupid--" like, that isn't aimed at anyone here, but i see it in yt and insta and twitter and it's just like. it's so exhausting to LOVE a movie/series anymore, isn't it? since when did i start giving a feck about what some stranger in los angeles had to say about a movie that i actually really enjoyed?

i say that we should just start enjoying stuff again without the brutality of other opinions making us question our own tastes. i loved the eternals movie, so why does it matter what the straight white fanboys say? it doesn't! the eternals was an EXCELLENT movie! that wasn't what i wanted to end this post on but i feel it's important nevertheless.

#( out of souls. )#( okay to reblog. )#( idk if anyone wants to it's more me saying 'i don't mind if u do' )#( like damn i seriously felt BAD for enjoying movies and tv shows for a while )#( which sucks! )#( love what u love! it's okay! maybe the reason it's so exhausting in the rpc lately is bc we feel like we CAN'T love these things )#( but yk what? )#( i didn't see anything wrong with the line 'somehow palpatine returned'! )#( it struck me as a pretty realistic line! )#( how should poe or anyone else KNOW how the fecker came back?? )#( i'm getting off topic )#( time to nap )#( or caffeinate )

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peter-pan-hoe · 4 years

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My anaconda don't

Just some chaoticdumbass!reader antics my brain spat into my mouth this afternoon.

Pairing: Loki X reader

Word count: 1,200+

Warnings: swearing, mentions of mind control?, stabbings, sorry if you have ophidiophobia.

I also apologise in advance to anyone who doesn’t actually want to read this. You’ll have to scroll through the entire thing to get past it. My laptop has been fucking up and so I’ve had to post this from my iPad which is just the mobile app on a bigger screen and it won’t give me the option to put a “keep reading” cut. Sorry.

~~~

After all the nonsense with Thanos and the infinity stones, it had come to light that Loki had been under some kind of psychological manipulation at the hands of Thanos during the attack on New York.

Due to this revelation, while still under scrutiny, Loki had been allowed to spend however much time among the rest of the team as he liked, just like his brother.

Much to Thor’s delight, the team slowly warmed up to Loki’s occasional presence as he could find something in common with almost any member.

His quick wit could match the sass of Stark, A happy discovery that Tony made was that Loki also enjoyed a strong drink.

His combat skills he enjoyed demonstrating in sparring matches with Bucky or Sam.

Bruce he’d managed to bond with after the fall of Asgard and their time together after meeting again on Sakaar.

Natasha he truly respected after she managed to manipulate him into confessing his motives when the Avengers had him in holding briefly in 2012.

Clint was still very stand off-ish, understandable, and while Natasha had assured him there wasn’t a threat there, Loki didn’t try to win over the man, knowing full well the mistrust one would experience toward someone who had invaded their mind.

Being one to appreciate books and learning, Loki got along really well with Steve, and the two could often be found in the kitchen together either sitting in a comfortable silence while each read their respective literature, or sometimes in a discussion about something Steve had most likely grumbled about while reading the newspaper.

You, however, he had the best relationship with.

You’d joined the avengers shortly after Thanos had been defeated and the stones had been returned to their place in the timeline.

A former mercenary who’d been the private security guard to a local underground arms dealer.

When that arms dealer had revealed he’d been holding into some Chitauri weapons he’d gotten his hands on after New York, and that he’d decided to start selling them as he’d finally figured out how all of them worked and how to manufacture his own ammunition, you’d turned on him.

No amount of money or job security would convince you to allow those weapons back out onto the streets.

So you’d gathered up all the weapons before he had a chance to get the word out, apprehended the man yourself and taken it all straight to the Avengers compound where you handed him and the weapons over to Stark.

He admired your honour and obvious skill -given the thug was hog tied at your feet without a scratch on him, suggesting that you managed this quick and easy- and offered you a place among them.

You had accepted after being told there would be free accommodation in the tower to move into at your own leisure.

You and Loki often sparred and competed in the training rooms. You loved watching him delicately twirl his daggers around as if they were a part of him and not the deadly weapons you knew them to be.

He had taught you to do the same after you demonstrated perfect aim when throwing his beautifully weighted daggers at the targets.

You were skilled in hand to hand combat and many different types of weaponry but hadn’t taken the time beforehand for showing off or playing.

You were both witty and could go toe to toe in a verbal debate, often leading to someone (most likely you) drawing a hidden knife out to make a point.

You both also enjoyed a good prank.

And that was todays problem.

You were absolutely fuming as you walked into the huge kitchen looking for the God of Mischief and cracking your knuckles when you found him sitting at the table like he usually was, flipping through one of his many books.

You didn’t look to see who else was in the room but you could feel their eyes on you.

He didn’t look up when you walked in but you could see the amusement on his face.

Obviously sensing something was up, Steve looked up at you from his seat at the other side of the table as you strode from the hallway and across the room with the most determined expression he had ever seen on your face this early in the morning.

“Y/N?” he asked worriedly only to have you hold up a finger to silence him.

You didn’t even look at him as you stared down the dark haired god.

“Loki,” you stood in front of him and kicked the leg of his chair, effectively turning him to face you.

The amused look on his face never wavered as his eyes met yours, in fact his smirk grew as he saw the rage behind your eyes.

That tipped you over the edge.

“Thor?” You turned to where the huge man stood by the coffee machine. “Asgardians heal a lot faster than humans right?”

“They do,” he said carefully, not trusting your motives.

“How much faster?”

“I suppose a wound fatal to a human would be healed completely after maybe a day or two for an Asgardian,” he shrugged.

“What about Frost Giants?,” You asked as turned back to Loki noticing the smirk was still plastered across his face but there was something else. Fear? Unlikely. He definitely dreaded where this was headed however.

“The same if not faster,” Thor’s answer was all you needed.

Drawing one of your knives seemingly from nowhere, you brought the blade down straight into Loki’s thigh.

He hissed in pain and jumped backward slightly in surprise, the harsh noise of his chair scraping along the tiled floor piercing your ears.

He stared at you in shock as the others looked on in amazement that you’d caught the Trickster so of guard.

“What the-,” he began, but you bent down to get in his face and cut him off.

“Go and get rid of it,” you said firmly, pointing down the hallway you’d initially come from.

The smirk returned to his face as you seethed before him.

“Get rid of it now,” you drew another of your knives and pointed it at him. “Or this goes in your other leg,”

“But you said you liked snakes,” he feign innocence but his voiced dripped with what you could only described as sadistic joy.

When you woke up not a half hour before you stormed into the kitchen this morning you’d heard a strange thud coming from your bathroom.

A thud followed by the sound of the hand towel hanger, rattling on its fixture like something was running against it then the soft *plop* of the towel falling to the ground.

Confused but not (yet) fearful you rose from your bed and opened the door only to slam it shut immediately.

“When I said I liked snakes I meant something like a python, the cute little ones with fat heart-shaped heads and little puppy faces,” you were shouting at this point. “I did NOT mean a full grown anaconda left to knock shit over in my fucking bathroom. Go and get it out. Now,”

You stormed off in the direction of the elevator, heading for the training room to blow off some steam, leaving the team members who witnessed the early morning assault in shock.

“Where the fuck did you get an anaconda?” Tony finally broke the silence.

“I may or may not have stolen it from the zoo,” Loki replied plainly before cursing and wincing in pain and he pulled the knife from his leg, eliciting a small laugh from Thor who watched from across the room.

“Not fun being stabbed is it, brother?”

#loki fan fiction #loki #loki god of mischief #loki (marvel)#loki x reader #loki of asgard #loki x you #loki crack fic #marvel fanfic #avengers x reader #avengers reader insert

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dirtyhelen · 3 years

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The Most Annoying Accidental Co-Worker in the World: The Bucky Barnes Story

AKA 1000 words of not!fic rambly nonsense of how the Bucky and Reader from i've got the girl on my mind (all the time) became slightly antagonistic BFFs.

(This is the backstory I alluded to in my author's note on that post and it turns out all I needed was one (1) request to feel compelled to share it with "the world". The target audience of the following 1000 words is specifically me so please do not feel obligated to read!)

Okay so basically, i've got the girl on my mind (all the time) takes place in a post-CA:TWS canon divergence where Bucky comes home with Steve at the end and they move to Avengers Tower with everyone else like it's 2012.

Except it's less “moving to the Tower” and more Bucky is technically an international criminal and the Tower is the most secure place to keep him while the rest of the team pretends they have no idea where he is and tries to convince the US government he’s not a terrorist. At which point they will be like, “Wow he was here the whole time? Wild!”. (Ignore unimportant things like how The Law works.)

So Bucky is grounded and not allowed to leave the Tower and definitely not allowed to go on missions with the rest of the Avengers. Except Bucky might not know much (including his own name sometimes and dumb shit like what year it is) but he knows this: Steve Rogers Is To Be Protected (And Cannot Protect Himself).

Bucky experiences intense anxiety whenever Steve is away because he can’t stand not knowing if he’s alive or dead, and not being around to watch his back. Steve tries to alleviate this by telling Bucky he's got a whole team of people to protect him, including analysts in the Tower. Bucky's like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Steve, you're so dumb--WAIT! Analysts in the Tower?”

So the next time Steve goes on a mission, Bucky breaks out of Steve’s floor (which he’s known how to do since the first week he got there and he’s gonna have a word with Stark Jr. after he’s done exploiting his security failings) and finds his way to the analysts’ offices.

They all know about Bucky’s existence because they hear the Avengers talking over comms and Steve is obsessed with Bucky and won’t shut the fuck up about him. They’re mostly ex-SHIELD and they’ve been sworn to secrecy by ironclad NDAs that basically promise to drone strike them and everyone they love if they even breath a word of top-secret shit so hiding a maybe-terrorist is really just a regular Tuesday.

Picture the Winter Soldier wearing his Murder Face and Captain America pajama pants (Nat thought it was funny) going door-to-door to figure out which analyst is on the current mission until he finds You.

He Murder Struts (you know the one) into your office, hauls a chair around your desk so he can sit next to you, and does a finger-to-his-lips shhh motion all while you just sit there staring at him, cup of coffee halfway to your mouth while the Avengers babble in your ear.

That first mission you’re too shit-scared to do anything (except your job, very nervously) but you seem to pass the test because when the mission is over and the Avengers have disconnected comms, Bucky looks at you, nods, and leaves your office. (As soon as he’s gone everyone on your floor piles in to your office to ask what the fuck just happened. You have no idea.)

And thus begins Accidental Co-Worker Bucky "The Winter Soldier" Barnes.

You get comfortable with each other very quickly after that because it’s hard not to get comfortable around someone when you spend several hours every week or so sitting inches apart in a confined space, under high-pressure situations.

You become so comfortable around him, in fact, that any fear you once had of the fearsome Winter Soldier becomes pure, unadulterated annoyance instead.

Bucky doesn’t always agree with your calls, and he makes it very clear when that happens.

(This is how the Avengers finally figure out Bucky's been listening in on missions. Mid-mission Bucky tries to wrestle your mouse out of your hand without breaking your hand (or the mouse) and you forget to mute yourself when you shout, “Bucky, if you don't fuck off I SWEAR TO GOD.”)

He also frequently steals your coffee (sometimes right out of your hand) and one time you unlocked your office door and turned on the light to find him sitting behind your desk and it scared the shit out of you and he laughed when you screamed.

At first, he’d leave as soon as the mission was wrapped, with not even a single word thrown in your direction. But as time goes on, he starts to stick around after, since the Avengers still have to fly back from wherever they’ve been. Then, when the secret’s out, he just comes by your office whenever he’s bored, or you hang out at his and Steve’s apartment when you’re off.

It’s during these times that you start to talk to each other and get to know each other.

You talk about Steve, and movies, and music, and Steve, and the cute girl in Accounting you have a crush on, and the best way to break someone’s neck (“The way Steve did it on that last mission was totally wrong, doll, that’s why he needs me around!”), and how sad you are that the cute girl in Accounting cheated on you (“You want a practical demonstration on that neck-breaking technique?”). You introduce Bucky to Naruto because Naruto reminds you of Steve and Bucky becomes obsessed. His favourite character is Hinata.

(Yes, I’m watching Naruto right now and yes, I’m projecting my favourite character onto Bucky, what about it?)

And then somehow months have gone by and you’re best friends now.

(Headcanon—of my own fanfiction so I guess just “canon?”—that Bucky remembers having little sisters and this is part of why he is naturally just the Most Annoying to you but also super protective.

He may or may not have broken into Accounting Girl’s house and stolen literally all of her shoes because she broke your heart, but also one time he spent an entire meeting throwing tiny paper balls at you when no one was looking.)

And then Bucky’s name is cleared and he’s allowed to go on missions, so you get less of his backseat driving, and for a minute you kind of think maybe you won’t be friends anymore but you’re dead wrong because Bucky is a ride and/or die bitch and you’re besties for life now.

Plus he still makes sure to sit in on any missions Steve is on without him (which basically only happens when Bucky is injured).

And there you have it! 1000 words of rambly backstory for a 4000-word fic that isn’t even about Bucky because I wrote like three lines of dialogue between him and the Reader and became obsessed with a non-existent fictional relationship of my own creation.

#not fic #how do i even tag this?#bucky barnes & reader #background stucky #i've got the girl on my mind (all the time)#just pure crack #bucky barnes and reader

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

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Stark Spangled Banner Ch 54: The Time Heist

Intro: It’s time...for the Time Heist. The team split and head to their various places and points in time to retreive the stones, Katie, Steve heading with Tony, Banner and Lang to New York 2012. But of course, it doesn’t all go to plan and one member of the Avengers pays the ultimate sacrifice...

Warnings: “Language!”

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

**Ok so we all know what’s coming in this one...little bit longer than normal but there’s a lot to cram in. Hope you all enjoy**

"I've missed this suit," Tony smiled, patting Steve on the shoulder. “It’s the very reason I call you Spangles.” “Which is exactly why I have never worn it post New York” The Soldier rolled his eyes, turning to look at Thor who walked into the large room outside the armoury with Rocket.

"You're wearing that to Asgard?" Tony looked him up and down, taking in the grey hoody and red sweater.

“Yes, what’s wrong with it?” Thor asked.

“You look like Santa Clause with a crystal meth addiction.” Tony replied and Thor frowned, as Rocket began to laugh.

As the three of them began to bicker about Thor’s appearance, Steve looked up to see Katie emerging from the locker room, dressed in the first cat-suit he could remember seeing her in. His pants instantly felt a little tighter round the crotch. That suit clung in all the right places, especially now her figure was slightly different to what it had been eleven years ago. Mind you, she still looked extremely passable as a 2012 version of herself and Steve found himself wondering how on Earth he had managed to actually fight any aliens back then when she looked as hot as she did.

She caught his gaze, flashed him a smile which he returned and she took one of the GPS bands off Tony as he handed them out to the assembled team. One by one, as the bands were activated, the red and white Quantum Tunnel suits formed around each of the avengers. Steve picked up his shield, and nodded around to his team.

“Let’s go.” Together they strode through the hangar, Steve leading them towards the large, glass platform with the early morning sun cascading through the large glass hangar doors from where it was just starting to peak over the trees. As they walked Katie looked over her shoulder at Natasha, winking and the red head grinned back at her, biting her lip excitedly. Katie knew she’d been waiting for this for five years, an opportunity to undo everything. They all had.

As everyone took their place around the glass platform, Banner behind the control panel, Steve looked around and cleared his throat.

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... we lost family... we lost a part of ourselves.” he looked around at his team “Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs.” He took a breath and Katie smiled to herself as he continued “Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other.” Another breath “This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win.”

At that point Tony gave Steve a look, his eyebrow raising slightly, a soft smile playing on his face. Steve met his face, with a determined expression of his own. “Whatever it takes.”

He nodded at Tony before he looked around at the team. “Good luck.”

“He’s pretty good at that.” Rocket said, his arms folded.

“Right?” Scott jerked his thumb towards Steve and Katie smiled.

“All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green.” Tony called to Banner.

“Tractors engaged” Banner nodded before joining them on the platform.

Katie took up her position between Natasha and Steve, making sure her GPS was set to the right time and date.

“You ok?” Steve asked softly

“As Ok as I can be given I’m about to time travel back to an alien invasion.” She muttered back and Steve chuckled.

“When we get back you and me are cracking open that bottle of Kauffman vintage that I know you hid from Thor in your room.” Katie turned to her left to look at Natasha.

Natasha gave a grin, “Deal. Hey Rogers!” Steve turned to look at her.

“See you in a minute!” Nat wriggled her shoulders and eyebrows excitement and he huffed out a laugh at her enthusiasm. This was the most animated he had seen her about anything in the past 5 years.

The machine began to whir slightly, glowing, and the mechanism above their heads shifted. Their helmets all formed round their heads. A second later they were hurtling back through time.

Katie felt a little bit dizzy as her feet landed on the ground in the middle of a side street in New York, a block or so away from the tower. The sounds of cries, screams, gunfire filled her ears as the red and white suit vanished from around her.

“All right, we all have our assignments.” Steve looked at everyone “Two Stones uptown, one Stone, down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock.”

At that point he whirled round as 2012 Hulk passed, smashing everything in his way. Bruce put his hand on his face, embarrassed, as Steve turned to look at him.

“Maybe smash a few things along the way” the Captain suggested.

"I think it's gratuitous, but whatever." Bruce muttered, tearing his shirt off. He walked over to a car and lightly punched it, making a small dent, all the while making growling noise which Katie doubted would even scare a kitten. Then he picked up a motorbike and threw it at a wall, wincing as it smashed before he continued his journey down town.

The rest of them parted to their own assignments, Tony and Lang taking off, Katie and Steve making their way to the entrance of Stark Tower.

“First rule of not being seen?” Katie stopped at the door and looked at him, he raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t hide by any chance?”

Katie snorted “You got it.” “Yeah well I kinda figured it might be the same as the whole going on the run mantra.”

“Got to hustle, guys. Things look like they're just about wrapped up here.” Tony’s voice said in their ears.

“Got it. We’re approaching the elevator now.” Steve repled, following Katie as she strode confidently across the Tower Lobby.

She was right, no one paid them the least bit of attention as they stepped into the lift, everyone was too busy running around in a blind panic. Katie smirked to herself as the door shut. Pressing her palm to the pad at the side, she selected the button for the sixty-fifth floor which housed Tony’s office- where they were going to hide until it was their time to make a move.

“Uh, Mr. Rogers. I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass.”

Katie sorted and Steve rolled his eyes.

“No one asked you to look, Tony.” He said exasperatedly.

“It’s ridiculous” Tony continued.

“I think you look great, Cap. As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass.” Scott replied, and that was when Katie gave in and began to laugh as the elevator stopped and they stepped out.

“I like your ass.” she grinned up at him and it was his turn to laugh.

“It’s all yours baby.”

***** Up on the Party Floor, Tony was smirking to himself at having managed to successfully wind Steve up again on a job. Well, would it really be an Avengers Mission if he didn’t?

He and Lang ducked out of the way as the elevators opened and the SHIELD-slash-Hydra team lead by Rumlow and Sitwell entered the floor.

“Who are these guys?” Lang asked.

“They are SHIELD, well, actually Hydra. But, we didn't know that yet.” Tony explained

“Seriously, you didn't? I mean...they look like bad guys.” Lang continued.

“You're small, but you're talking loud.” Tony said, an edge to his voice. He was getting kind of tired of people pointing out the various flaws in judgement or errors to their methods when they went back over past missions.

“On my way down to coordinate search and rescue.” 2012 Rogers spoke. Tony had to smirk. Steve always denied he had changed that much, but he really was as far a cry from that pompous, stick-up-your-ass jerk as he could get.

Tony watched Loki transform into Steve for a second in imitation and the Billionaire had to snort. As far as imitations go it was pretty flawless. Then, as Loki was gagged and lead way by Thor he spotted that his 2012 self was tapping at the security pad on a briefcase which contained the Tesseract.

“All right, you're up, little buddy.” he spoke to Lang “That’s our stone.“

“Alright.” Lang nodded, speaking from Tony’s shoulder. “Flick me.”

There were so many things wrong with that instruction, but Tony didn’t have time to unpack them right there. Instead he did as he was told, flicking the ant sized Lang straight towards the box where he scrambled up Tony’s arm, to his beard and then down his top.

Tony remembered with amusement the next bit. This was when Hulk had tried to take the elevator. Grinning he watched as his 2012 self-informed Banner that the maximum occupancy had been reached, and 2012 Thor told him to take the stairs. In a fit of temper Hulk punched at the elevator door once it was shut, before grumbling to himself as he headed to the other side of the floor to get to the stairs. With a smirk Tony backed up, threw himself out of the window, his suit reforming round him.

*****

Katie and Steve found their floor completely deserted. As such, they’d been stood, hovering by the elevator waiting for the signal which came over their radios not long after they had heard Lang tell Tony to ‘flick him’- yeah, Katie and Steve both thought there was a lot wrong with that instruction.

“All right, Cap, Kiddo. I got our scepter in the elevator just passing the 90th floor.”

“On it.” Steve said, hitting the call button for the elevator.

“You remember what happened last time we were in an elevator full of Hydra dickheads?” Katie looked up at Steve as she grinned.

He snorted, and was just about to answer back to assure her he didn’t intend on flinging them out of the side of this one from almost twenty storeys up, but he didn’t get chance. The elevator doors stopped and then opened. Katie and Steve both glanced at the STRIKE-slash-Hydra agents, Sitwell and Rumlow both doing a double take as they saw them. Steve gestured for Katie to go in first, and she did, turning to the button pad. She randomly selected a floor below them before she moved to the middle of the lift.

“Captain. I thought you were coordinating search and rescue?” Sitwell looked at Steve.

“Change of plans.” He said simply as he turned to face the elevator door as it closed.

“Hey, Cap, Nova.” Rumlow spoke, glancing over his shoulder.

“Hey Brock.” Katie smiled. It fell silent for a while, the situation feeling familiar to the two Avengers, as they noticed that the agents were sharing nervous glances. Steve looked around, before he spoke again.

“I just got a call from the Secretary. Agent Stark and I are gonna be running point on the scepter.”

“Sir? I don't understand.” Sitwell frowned, turning to face him.

“We got word there may be an attempt to steal it.” Katie supplied, holding his gaze.

“Sorry, guys, but. I can't give you the scepter.” Rumlow shook his head and Katie saw he was reaching for his gun.

“Yeah, I'm gonna have to call the Director.” Sitwell began.

“That's okay. Trust me” Steve insisted as Katie reached out and wrapped her hand around Rumlow’s wrist, fully anticipating there was going to be a struggle, but thanks to Steve’s quick thinking, it never came.

He leaned forward, his mouth close to Sitwell’s ear. “Heil Hydra.” he whispered, loud enough for them all to hear. Sitwell looked up at him, Steve simply gave him a knowing nod and Rumlow glanced at Katie. She released his wrist smiling at him.

“You kept that quiet Stark.” Rumlow looked at her.

“Isn’t that supposed to be the point?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Touche.”

The elevator door stopped and Katie nodded to Steve.

“If you’ll excuse us.” he gestured to the case which held the Sceptre. Rumlow handed it to him and Sitwell moved to allow them to step out. They began walking away from the door, exchanging a smug glance as they went. Once they heard the doors Katie turned to Steve grinning.

“Heil Hydra?” she laughed “You clever bastard!”

“I have my moments.” he shrugged. “What floor are we on.”

“Twentieth.” she said. “Oooh, if we head down the stairs to the fourteenth it has a glass walkway that connects the left to the right side of the building, so we should be able to use that to get a decent view of what’s going on in the lobby.”

She led Steve over to a heavy door which housed the Stairs and they both winced as they could hear Hulk yelling.

“SO MANY STAIRS!” his words echoed and Katie glanced down to see he was a few floors below them. Nodding to Steve they began their descent.

***** In the Lobby, Tony was watching with amusement, the slight difference of opinion his 2012 self and 2012 Thor were having with Alexander Pierce. Back then there had been a minutes or so argument until Pierce had snatched the Tesseract from Tony. Thor had then been incandescent with rage. Eventually, Fury had diffused the situation by getting Pierce to back down and allow Thor to take the Tesseract back to Asgard. But that wasn’t for a good few hours, which was why they needed to steal the cube before Pierce took it from the building.

“Loki will be answering to Odin himself.” Thor shook his head when he was instructed to turn his brother over.

“He's gonna answer to us. Odin can have what's left.” Pierce said “And I'm gonna need that case, that's been SHIELD property for over seventy years.”

“Hand over the case, Stark” a SHIELD or Hydra agent instructed.2012 Tony shook his head and began to protest.

“All right, move it, Stuart Little.” Tony said from his place in the lobby, he was dressed in a SHIELD Tactical Kit, one he had stolen of some guy he’d had to knock out. “Things are getting dicey up here. Let's go.”

“You promise me you won't die?” Lang shot back.“

“You're only giving me a mild cardiac dysrhythmia.”

“That doesn't sound mild”.

“Do it, Lang!”

“Get your hands off!” 2012 Tony was yelling.

“Window's closing. Pull my pin!” Tony insisted.

“Here goes!” Seconds later 2012 Tony dropped the case, clutching at his chest.

“Stark? Stark!” Thor bellowed as 2012 Tony fell to the floor.

“Look, he's convulsing.” Pierce said “Give him air! Medic!”

“MEDIC!” Tony said, some amusement as he watched his past self, writhing on the floor “This guy needs some help, some help please!”

In the rush and melee that followed, the case suddenly slid across the floor to Tony who grabbed it hastily with a smile.

“Good job.” he said into his comms “Meet me in the alley. I'm gonna grab a quick slice”

Only he never made it, as right at that point Hulk smashed through the door from the staircase into the lobby, sending Tony flying to the ground. The case burst open and the Tesseract slid towards Loki.

“NO MORE STAIRS!!!!” Everyone began to run from Hulk's rampage and Loki bent down to grab the Tesseract, using it to teleport away, his brother and guards completely oblivious as they were too busy dealing with 2012 Tony’s collapse. Thor held his hammer and tapped it with his palm, sending a bolt of electricity though to 2012 Tony’s chest, bringing him back round instantly. And then all hell broke loose as they realised the case and Loki were gone.

“That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?” Scott asked, as he stood on Tony’s chest. Tony sighed and looked around as the 2012 Thor and Tony began frantically talking into their coms.

“Oh we blew it.” Tony groaned.

****

“Tony, what's going on?” Steve demanded as he followed Katie round the corner towards the walkway. “Tell me you found that cube.”

At that point he bumped straight into his wife who was stood stock still in front of him staring right at his 2012 counterpart.

“Oh, you gotta be shitting me.” he groaned.

“Cap,” a familiar voice from behind 2012 Steve spoke and Katie’s mouth dropped open as her 2012 self sprinted onto the walkway, skidding to a halt behind the Steve from her time. “What the fuck?”

2012 Steve’s eyes flitted from 2012 Katie to 2023 Katie and back again.

“This is clearly some kind of spell.” 2012 Steve spoke, and 2012 Katie nodded in agreement as he continued this time talking into his comms. “We have eyes on Loki. 14th floor.”

“I’m not Loki.” Steve put the case containing the Sceptre down taking a step forward so he was level with his Katie. “And I don't wanna hurt you.”

In a flash, 2012 Steve engaged. Steve raised his shield, the clang loud as the Vibranium discs clashed against one another. Katie ducked past the duelling captains to stand in front of her younger self.

“Why are you doing this Loki?” 2012 Katie looked at her, taking up a fighting stance “You could have just fucked off-”

“I’m not Loki.” Katie shook her head “And neither is Steve.” “So who are you then?”

“That is a really, really long story.” she muttered “And also a crazy one so…”

“You’ve seen what’s going on out there?” the 2012 her scoffed “I doubt there’s anything that could surprise me anymore.”

“Alright,.so I’m you, from 2023.” Katie shrugged as she looked around. “Tony invented a time machine so we could come back and get something we need.” 2012 Katie raised her eyebrow before she laughed. “Whatever” and with that she launched forward.

Steve saw his wife starting to engage with her 2012 self, and his moment of distraction cost him. His younger self kneed him in the chest, knocking him down harshly.

2012 Steve looked down at him, smirking. “I can do this all day.”

“Yeah, I know.” Steve sighed, shaking his head as he waved him away whilst he stood up again “I know”

Had he really been that lame?

With another flick of his arm, Steve threw his shield toward 2012 as he did the same, the clang loud as the Virbanium discs ricocheted off one another. Without their shields the men began to fight, furiously. At one point Steve was flipped off his feet by his younger self and jumped up, repeating the favour. As the blows were traded and kicks landed, one of them, he had no idea who, managed to send the case containing the sceptre through the glass side of the walkway, causing it to shatter.

Katie heard the smashing behind her but she didn’t look round, she was too busy going toe to toe with her past self. She was just about getting the upper hand too as eleven years on she knew a lot more moves thanks to Natasha and Steve’s training. As her younger self leaned in with a pretty savage right hook Katie stopped it with both hands and then used her 2012 self’s arm as leverage to push up from the floor. Swinging both legs round in a scissor action she managed to lock her knees round 2012’s neck using the momentum and strength in her legs to bring 2012 her crashing over backwards to the ground, hard. Before 2012 could get up Katie flicked one of Natasha’s widow bites at her and winced as she watched her younger self convulsing on the floor.

She didn’t have much time to contemplate it however, as the sound of a loud yell made her look up just in time to see 2012 Steve flipping both Steve’s off the walk way, smashing through several glass landings and down a few of the smaller flights of stairs which connected a some of the other floors together until they eventually landed on the lobby.

Wincing Steve managed to push himself up, taking a deep breath he swayed slightly and looked up as 2012 Steve was brandishing his compass at him, his mouth open and brow furrowed. Of course, he won’t have even gotten the compass back yet, and he wouldn’t do until the following year when he went through his stuff for the Smithsonian exhibit.

“Where did you get this?” 2012 asked, his voice low. “And why does it have a picture of you…or me, and Miss Stark in it?”

Steve didn’t answer instead he ducked trying to retrieve the sceptre, and he might have been successful if he was up against a normal opponent, but 2012 Steve was quick and he placed his foot on the sceptre, throwing Steve off balance slightly. In a flash he was behind him, putting the older Soldier into a choke hold. Steve threw all his power backwards, throwing the pair of them to the ground where they began to writhe along the floor, both trying to get the upper hand, Steve trying to manoeuvre them to the sceptre. Unfortunately for Steve, 2012 was just as clever and as he reached out with his right hand the younger man jerked him backwards, his legs round his waist, arms tight round his throat.

Steve knew he had to distract him, so in desperation he spluttered out something he knew would have made his 2012 self stop dead in his tracks “Bucky…is…alive…” He felt the grip around his neck release, and he fell forward coughing.

“What?” asked 2012 Steve, but he never got his answer as Steve sucker punched him right in the face with his right hand, before he grabbed the sceptre, pointing the tip of it at his chest. 2012 Steve froze in mid-air before collapsing forwards.

Steve let his head fall back in relief. Jesus that had been brutal. His face, ribs, neck, back all hurt like hell. At that point the door to the stairs burst open and he looked up to see his Katie running over the floor to him.

“You ok?” she asked, offering him her hand. She pulled him to his feet and gently cupped his face with her hands, her thumb stroking the bruise that was forming on his left cheek.

“Yeah, you?”

“Had to knock myself out with a widow bite” She grinned, before looking down at the Unconscious Steve and frowning. “What did you use?”

He held up the sceptre, before he reached down and grabbed his compass. Sticking it back in his pocket he took another deep breath before he noticed Katie was looking down at him, or rather his 2012 self.

“Lang’s right,” she mused. “that is America's ass.”

Steve rolled his eyes, collecting his shield as a smile tugged at his lips, “Let’s get out of here.��

****

“Are there any other options with the Tesseract?” Steve said gently, his voice pleading, pleading to hear that there was another way. The news they had lost it had been devastating, and as Katie watched her soldier who was glancing down at his feet, she could see he was trying to think but as he raised his head to look at her she could see the utter disappointment on his face. She swallowed, feeling it too. They’d come so far, and looked to be set to fall at the final hurdle.

“No, no, no. There's no other options. There's no do-overs.” Scott said loudly “We're not going anywhere else. We have one particle left. Each That's it, alright? We use that– Bye, bye. You're not going home.”

“Yeah, well if we don't try, then no one else is going home, either.” Steve’s voice rose a little.

“Wait,” Katie looked up and idea suddenly popping into her head. “We need more Pym Particles, right?” “Yeah, that’s what I said.” Scott began but Steve silenced him, recognising the look on his wife’s face. She was running through an idea.

“Let’s just go back and get some.” she breathed, astounded the idea hadn’t come to any of them beforehand.

“What?” Scott frowned.

“There has to be some point in time and space that we can get more.” she shrugged, “Let’s just go steal some and try again for the Tesseract.” “I can go one better than that.” Tony scrambled out of the trashed car he’d been sat in. “There's a way to retake the Tesseract and acquire new particles at the same time.” he looked at Steve “Little stroll down memory lane. Military installation, Garden State.”

Katie and Steve looked at one another, instantly understanding before they looked at Tony.

“When were they both there?” Steve asked.

“They were there at a–“ Tony paused “I've a vaguely exact idea.”

“How vague?” Katie pressed.

“What are you talking about? Where are we going?” Scott frowned.

“I know for a fact they were there–“ Tony began again but was cut off.

“Who's they? What are we doing?” Scott’s voice was gathering pitch as he got more and more frustrated.

“And I know how I know.” Tony looked at Katie and she suddenly understood

“Dad.” she said, swallowing.

Tony nodded.

“Guys, what's up? What is it?” Scott demanded to know.

“Well, it looks like we're improvising” Steve spoke, as the Stark siblings were still looking at one another.

“Right. What are we improvising?” Scott asked as Steve turned to him, handing him the Scepter.

“Scott, get this back to the compound”.

“What's in New Jersey?” Scott tried again.

Katie and Steve began to program their watches to the date and location Tony was telling them- 4th April 1970.

“Are you sure?” Scott pressed again, before he stepped forward “Cap. Captain. Steve, sorry, America. Rogers. Look, if you do this, and this doesn't work, you're not coming back.”

Steve swallowed as Tony glared at him. “Thanks for the pep talk, piss ant”

Lang was right, if they were wrong, he’d never see his kids again. They’d never see their kids again. No, he couldn’t let Katie come, not knowing that. Their kids needed at least one of them…

“Katie.”

“Oh no!” she folded her arms “You are not benching me.” Steve shook his head. “It’s too big a risk.” “So is going just the two of you! Your face is so well known, even more so back then and there, at the first SHIELD base?” she sighed “Don’t forget, half the people in that place are already Hydra. If you’re recognized…” she trailed off “Baby, this needs three heads. Just in case…”

“Do you trust me?” Tony spoke, looking at his brother-in-law.

Steve looked at him, with a deep sigh he nodded. “I do.”

“Then it’s your call.” Tony glanced back at him, then to Katie. Steve was torn, he really was.

“Whatever it takes Steve.” Katie reminded him. She wasn’t scared in the slightest, she had utter faith in Tony.

Steve took a deep breath and against every bit of better judgment he had in his body he gave her a short nod “Here we go.”

*****

Katie and Steve knew exactly where the secret SHIELD base was, having already been in it way back before they took down the Triskelion.

Using some stolen clothes and ID Badges from the locker rooms, they managed to get into the base reasonably easy. Steve was dressed in an old military uniform, Tony in just a plain suit and Katie in a skirt and blouse, with her hair pulled up into a high seventies style pony tail. They didn’t get challenged, although there was one woman that was definitely giving them a very attentive look over in the lift. Katie was glad when it was their floor, and Steve allowed her to step out first. As they passed a chair outside a room, she noticed some files someone had left behind. Quickly, she scooped them up in an attempt to make her look like any other normal office worker that was mooching around the area.

Eventually, thanks to Steve’s photographic memory being able to recall a floor map that was on the wall outside the elevator after one simple glance at it, they found Dr Pym’s laboratory and continued down the corridor until they reached an office that wasn’t occupied. Katie distracted everyone in the corridor by dropping the files she was carrying all over the place whilst Steve slipped inside, unnoticed. He looked down at the phone on the desk and gave a little groan. This hand set was something completely alien to him, but he scanned the various buttons and saw one labelled operator.

“Not that different.” he mused softly to himself. He picked the phone up and hit the button, asking to be put through to Dr Pym and a few minutes later he was connected.

“Hello. Dr. Pym?”

“That would be the number that you called. Yes”

“This is Captain…Stevens from shipping” he winced slightly at his unoriginal name. “We have a package for you.”

“Bring it up”.

“Well, that's the thing, sir. We can't.”

“I'm confused. I thought that was your job.”

“Well, it's just– Sir, the box is glowing and, to be honest, some of our mail guys aren't feeling that great.” He paused, waiting.

“They didn't open it, did they?”

“Yeah, they did.” Steve smiled as the man took the bait. “You better get down here.”

He placed the phone down and glanced out of the door through the small pane of glass. As someone handed Katie the last file they’d helped her tidy up, she thanked them and looked at Steve. He gave her the thumbs up and she smirked, before turning her head to see a frantic looking man in a white coat shoot out of the lab a few doors down and run off towards the elevators.

“Excuse me!! Out of the way!”

Once he was gone Katie headed to the lab. She hastily looked around, searching as she passed various filing cabinets, ant farms, a few desks piled high with research. She stood, hands on her hips as she glanced to her right and her face cracked into a grin.

“Bingo.” she walked towards the large, class cabinet that bore the radioactive warning symbol on the front. Opening the door she hesitated, and selected five of the tubes. One each for her, Steve and Tony, and then two spare just in case. She tucked them into the pockets of the skirt she was wearing and headed into the corridor, Steve joining her as she went.

“Got em.” She said, as the two of them strode towards the lift, quickly and quietly.

And they were so close, so close…

“Shit.” Katie mumbled, stopping. Steve, who had been checking over his shoulder looked round and saw the elevator lady talking to a number of military security guards.

“And you've never seen these two men, or this woman before? “

“No, I've got an eye for this. They looked fishy.” the woman said, turning to walk towards them.

They both began to turn around when Steve spotted an office to his left.

“In here.” He opened the door and gently guiding Katie in before he stepped in after her. He flattened himself against a book shelf, watching through the frosted glass for the figures to pass.

Meanwhile, something on the desk had caught Katie’s attention. A photo. A photo she knew.

A photo of someone she knew inside out.

“Steve,” she whispered. He glanced up to see her staring at something on the desk. It took him a few seconds but when he realized what it was he too frowned. It was a photo of him, the one from his SHIELD file. It depicted him before the serum in a white T-Shirt, dog hags hanging out of his collar. Katie had a copy of that very same photo in her office because she loved it too.

The pair of them looked at one another, before they turned and read the name that was etched into the glass on the office door. And even backwards it was easy to see what it said.

Margaret Carter. Director

He’d steered them into Peggy’s office.

“Katie, honey, I swear, I didn’t-“ he began but they were both cut off by the sound of voices behind them causing them to spin back round and watch through the spaces in the blinds which covered the large window into the other side of the office.

Steve stepped forward whilst behind him Katie hung back, not quite sure how to deal with this. She’d been with Steve now for ten years, married for almost eight and she knew he loved her, she truly did but still she couldn’t help that feeling of trepidation which flood her system as she watched her husband smile as his first love stalked around the other side of the office. This was, what, Nineteen Seventy? Some twenty-five years after he had been lost in the ice.

Katie found herself wondering if the woman ever truly did let go of Steve, or if she merely spent however long in a marriage pining for a man she could never, or would never have.

Peggy was shouting at another agent for something, shaking her head in frustration and generally thundering around in a manner Steve could recall very well and he couldn’t help a fond smile which spread across his face. It was a far cry from the old, frail lady he had imprinted on his mind.

“She looks so, well, good.” he muttered gently. “You know, not ill.”

It might have sounded stupid but that was the only way he could explain it. It was nice to see her so happy, healthy and doing what she did bed. When Katie didn’t reply he turned to see her watching him, her arms folded across her chest as if she was hugging herself.

“Yeah,” she whispered, giving him a small smile, “she does.”

Steve threw one last glance over his shoulder to see Peggy leaving the room. He walked towards his wife, dropped an arm round her and kissed her forehead, curling her into him. Her body language was still stiff as her hands slid round his waist.

“You know I love you.” he whispered softly, nuzzling into her hair. “There’s never been anyone who’s come close.”

“Yeah.” Katie relaxed slightly into his hold.

“Good.” he smiled, tilting her face up so she was looking at him. He dropped a soft kiss to her lips, and she smiled at him. “Now let’s go find your brother.”

***** Getting the Tesseract had been easy. What hadn’t been easy was bumping into his dad. Tony had fumbled over his words, walked into chairs, basically lost any of the Stark suaveness he prided himself on having and had introduced himself as Howard. Howard fucking Potts. Howard Stark, however, didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, and Tony had managed to walk right out of the lab with the Tesseract in his suitcase because being with Howard Stark was keeping him from even being looked at.

All in all, it was the perfect cover.

“So, flowers and sauerkraut. You got a big date tonight?” Tony asked.

“My wife's expecting.” Howard replied and Tony’s mouth fell open. Of course she was, with him. “And, uh, too much time in the office.”

“Congratulations” Tony smiled at him

“Thanks. Hold this, will you?” Howard asked, passing over the flowers and sauerkraut.

“Yeah, sure.” Tony took them off him “How far along is she?”

“I don't know– Uh– “ his dad held his hands out indicating the size of his mother’s bump “She's at the point where she can't stand the sound of my chewing. I guess I'll be eating dinner in the pantry again.

“I have a little girl” Tony stuttered “Well…I kinda have two actually.” “Kind of?” “Yeah, the eldest, well she’s actually my sister. Our parents died when she was very young and I ended up with Custody of her so.”

“Oh I’m sorry.” “I’m not.” Tony shook his head and as Howard raised an eyebrow he started to explain “I mean I am sorry our parents died but not that I ended up looking after kiddo, you know, wouldn’t have had it any other way. She’s an incredible person, smart, funny, beautiful. Married to a soldier now, couple of kids of her own.”

The other man smiled “You know, a girl would be nice. Less of a chance she'd turn out exactly like me.”

“What'd be so awful about that?” Tony asked.

“Let's just say that the greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interests.”

Tony nodded for a moment, before the elevator stopped and the walked out of the bunker. “So, where are you at with names?”

“Well, if it's a boy, my wife likes Almanzo” Howard looked at him. What the fuck mom?

Tony shook his head as they crossed to the middle of the road in between the various military vehicles and troops that were running down it. “Huh, Might wanna let that stew a while. You got time.”

“Let me ask you a question.” Howard turned to him as they reached the middle “When your kid was born, were you nervous?

“Wildly. Yeah.” Tony smiled, and he had been. He’d been a wreck in the delivery suite, Pepper at one point ordering him out until he calmed down.

“Did you feel qualified? Like you had any idea how to successfully operate that thing?”

Tony shook his head. “Well, I’d already looked after my sister but this was different, you know, she was mine to look after from birth and, well, I literally pieced it together as I went along, I thought about what my Dad did, and– “

At that point, over his Dad’s shoulder he spotted Steve and Katie stood in the distance and Steve gave him the thumbs up.

“My old man, he never met a problem he couldn't solve with a belt.” Howard shook his head.

Tony looked back to him from where he had been watching Steve and Katie glancing around cautiously before he spoke to the man again.

“You know, I thought my dad was tough on me. And now, looking back, I just remember the good stuff, you know. He did drop the odd pearl.” Tony smiled.

“Yeah? Like what?”

"No amount of money ever bought a second of time."

“Smart guy.” Howard nodded.

“He did his best.”

“Let me tell you.” Howard smiled gently “That kid's not even here yet, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for ‘em”

Tony felt his eyes beginning to well, he simply nodded as Howard walked past him towards his car.

In the distance Katie squinted and jerked her head questioningly at Tony, trying to figure out why he was holding a bunch of flowers. He raised his briefcase pointing to it, the expression on his face telling her to calm down. She heard Steve let out a breath and a smile crossed her face. The plan had worked. They had the tesseract. She was about to jerk her thumb over her shoulder to instruct her brother to leave whatever it was he was doing, until she saw the face of the man he had been speaking to.

“Oh my god.” she whispered “That’s, that’s my dad.”

Steve had realized the same thing the minute the guy had turned around to shake Tony’s hand. Besides him, Katie took a step forward and he made to gently grab her arm.

“Katie, you can’t.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do Steve.” she snapped, a little harshly “You just took your trip down memory lane, now I’m gonna take mine.”

She jerked her hand from his grasp and headed over to where her brother was handing over the flowers and a tin of sauerkraut, of all things, to the man, before they embraced.

“Everything's gonna be all right.” She could hear Tony as she approached. “Thank you–“

“Thank you?” Howard frowned.

“He means for everything, you've done for this country.” Katie finished, swallowing slightly as she reached her brothers side. Tony glanced down at her, shocked for a moment before he hastily re-arranged his face.

“Howard, this is my sister the one I was telling you about. Virginia, meet Howard Stark.” Virginia?

Katie smiled and shook her dad’s hand “It’s so good to see you, I mean meet you, you know, after hearing all about your work.” she hastily recovered.

“Your brother tells me you’re married to a soldier. He based here?” “Used to be.”

Her dad paused and his head tilted to one side. “You know, you look a lot like my wife, only with different coloured hair, she’s blonde.” “Yeah I know.” Katie replied, before she spluttered “From photos.”

“You’re a lucky girl.” Howards smiled, “Maria’s stunning. Now I really have to go…nice to meet you both.” he shook their hands again and then turned and headed away.

As they watched him go, Tony slung his arm around his sister’s shoulder, “the guy by the car?”

“Yeah?”

“Edwin Jarvis.” Tony replied simply, and she grinned.

With a final look at their father they turned and made their way back towards Steve.

“We good?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.” Tony mumbled hastily.

They made their way round the corner to a deserted part of the base before they each tapped their wrist bands to activate the suits and, with a fresh container of particles each they were ready. Keying in the correct time and date, they were sucked once more into the Quantum Realm and as they sped through the void Katie looked to her right to notice they had been joined by other members of their team. With a grin on her face she emerged onto the platform, her suit disappearing.

“Did we get them all?” Bruce asked. Scott held up the sceptre, Tony waved his briefcase and Rocket was holding a vial containing the Aether.

Rhodey who was holding up an orb in his hand positively beamed. "You mean to tell me this actually worked?"

Katie looked around eagerly, but paused when she got to the space that Natasha had occupied beforehand.

She wasn’t there.

Biting back the panic that was rising in her throat she looked to Clint. He was soaking from head to foot and, as she watched, he took a step forward and dropped to his knees.

“Clint, where's Nat?” Banner asked as the rest of the group caught up with the fact they were a person short.

Clint’s head remained bowed. He swallowed thickly and when he finally did look up his eyes met Katie’s first, then Steve’s. He didn’t speak, he didn’t need to, his broken expression told them everything.

Steve looked down, taking a deep breath as his heart plummeted through his chest. Besides him, Katie shook her head frantically.

"No, no, no. She's not gone. She’s just delayed right?” she swallowed, “Clint, tell me Natasha is going to be here!”

There was a loud thud as Bruce knelt down, his large fist pounding the platform angrily as Katie looked helplessly from Clint to Steve. Steve’s eyes were full of tears as he reached out to her.

“Sweetheart.” his voice cracked and she shook her head again, turning back to Clint.

"Clint?" this time her question was a plea. A plea for him to tell her that her best friend was fine, and that there was just a temporary glitch, one which they could fix.

Clint looked up at her, his own tears now falling as he shook his head.

“She’s gone Nova.” his head dropped and his shoulders began to shake.

Katie’s jaw began to quiver and, as she turned to Steve, her face crumpled. Steve pulled her to him, one hand firmly on her back, the other tangling in her hair as he held her, gently rocking her side to side as she began to cry. He looked up at Tony who locked eyes with him, wiping his face with his hands and it was then that Steve’s vision became blurred by his own tears. He buried his face in his wife’s hair, allowing her sorrow to hide his own as they both cried for their fallen best friend.