Marvel What If?- An Autism Story

Suprise

"Remember, you have to return the stones to the exact moment you got em or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities", said bruce, handing Steve the small black case that held the coloured stones.

He took it and nodded. "Don't worry Bruce, clip all the branches".

Sam walked along, stepping on the fallen leaves as he offered to go with the blonde but was declined. "Thanks Sam. This ones on me though".
There was an understanding between the men as Sam stopped to let Steve speak to Bucky alone.

For a moment neither of them said anything. Bucky fidgeted slightly from one foot to the other and Steve watched with a small smile to try and reassure him.

"Don't do anything stupid till i get back".

The familiar phrase did reassure the brunette, making him chuckle some of the tension away.

"How can i? You're takin all the stupid with you".

After a brief hug Steve turned to say goodbye to the others whilst Bucky tried to keep his worry from showing. It would only be seconds for them but for Steve it could be months, and people can change in that time. It might have been selfish to think about but Buck liked how things were at the moment, he didn't like change.

It wasn't long before Steve stepped onto the platform as it whirred to life, and the white uniform grew around him.

"Are you ready cap? We'll meet you back here ok?" Said bruce, flicking buttons that only he and Tony understood. "Going quantum in 3... 2... 1..."

Captain America and the stones all disappeared in a flash of red, everything going according to plan.

"And returning in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1".

The lights switched back on but no one appeared. "Where is he?" Asked Natasha looking slightly worried.

Bucky watched the empty platform with dread inside. Had Steve gotten hurt when returning the stones? Why wasn't he back yet?

Bruce was equally confused as he stared at the screen with no sign of anyone. "I d-don't know where he is. He blew right by his time stamp".

Tony ran over to inspect the computer, aggressively tapping on it in the hopes it was just a small technical issue but nothing changed.

Everyone had started to panic, demanding someone tell them what was going on but the two geniuses were ignoring them as they lay on the floor making sure everything was plugged in right.

Suddenly the machine started to whir even though Tony was fairly sure he hadn't actually done anything to fix it although he'd still take the credit.

The lights appeared again but this time there was a flash and something suddenly appeared in the centre of the platform.

Bucky took a desperate step forward and breathed out a sigh of relief when Steve finally came into view, but that same breathe caught when he saw something in the mans arms.

It was hard to tell as the blonde was down on one knee with his shield attached to his back.

He slowly stood up and everyone froze. In his grasp was a tiny child hiding into his chest. All that could be seen was the back of her dirty clothes and her mid-length, bright blonde hair.

"Uh cap?" Sam asked, nothing else needed to be said because the question was obvious.

Steve looked at everyone cautiously before slowly zeroing in on Bucky. The closer he got the more nervous and confused he became.
By the time Steve was stood in front of him and looking straight into his eyes, everyone else had gathered around.