BLUE [BUCKY BARNES]

NEW YORK, 2012

The matching white and red suits that they all wore were surprisingly comfortable, Elizabeth noticed. All of them walked up the ramp leading to the platform in the middle of the hangar, each of them standing according to their teams.

Elizabeth stood between Steve and Tony, smiling at the two widely as she tried to get rid of all the jitters she felt from around her. She rolled on the back of her heels lightly before she looked up and met Natasha's eyes, who stood beside Rhodey. The redhead winked at her with a smile which Elizabeth reciprocated happily.

"Everyone know their missions?" Steve asked everyone, looking at each one of their nodding faces carefully. "You get the stones then we can get them back," he reminded them all what they were doing it for in the first place as he lifted up his wrist, asking all of them to check the time travel band that they each had.

"We have one round trip each. No mistakes and no do overs," he told them all. "Just because most of us are going somewhere we know doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful, and look out for each other," Steve said. Across from her, Elizabeth saw Pietro nudge his sister's shoulder playfully making the twins smile at each other.

"This is the fight of our lives," Steve continued as Tony and Elizabeth both shared a dramatic 'wow' under their breaths. Both of them not doing well under the pressure. "And we're gonna win, whatever it takes." Steve said determinedly before he sucked in a deep breath. "Good luck," he ended with a sigh.

Rocket looked around at all of them, as if asking if they all heard what he did. "He's pretty good at that," he looked up at Scott with a shrug.

"Right?" Scott exclaimed, all giddy and excited as he stared at Steve in awe. "It's so cool," he whispered to Rocket as if Steve couldn't hear him from three feet away.

"Alright you heard the man," Tony called out to Bruce who stood by the control panels. "Press those keys Jolly Green."

Elizabeth looked between Steve and Tony with a shrug. "You think 2012 New York had some good food?" She asked the two, trying to ease the anticipation she could feel from all of them.

Tony smirked at Steve quickly before answering her. "I know a good shawarma place," he said with a grin and even Steve managed to smile a little at that. "But maybe after we get the stones and save the whole world," he added nonchalantly.

"Right," Elizabeth nodded with a smile, happy that she got the two to relax. "After," she repeated what Tony had said just as Bruce came up to the platform. He looked around to check that everyone was ready before he pressed a button on the watch around his wrist.

There was a distinct beep from somewhere in the room before the platform they stood on slowly moved its gears below the surface. The tangle of wires and metal from above came down to dangle above their heads, with the whirring of machinery.

Each one of them keyed in the year and place on the devices around their wrist carefully, making sure not to mess it up. Elizabeth read over the dates she had placed in twice over, New York, 2012, before pressing the confirm button.

The helmet of her suit activated and covered her head so everything she saw was tinted blue from her visor. The last thing she was was Pietro waving at her before she got shrunk down into the quantum realm.

***

A blur of colours flashed past Elizabeth's eyes and she felt herself grow lightheaded. Just when she thought she was going to pass out, she felt the soles of her feet land on solid concrete.

She blinked rapidly to let her eyes adjust to the bright sunlight that shined in through her visor. Her helmet opened and the rest of the white suit she wore disappeared into the fabric of her usual dark suit.