𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃| 𝐒. 𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 |

twenty two

Steve sits outside to catch a breath of fresh air after the absolute failure that was Bruce's version of time travel. He inhales deeply, wondering if he'll ever get to see Milana's face again. If Bruce- one of the smartest men he knows- couldn't pull off time travel, it's likely he never would.

Just then, the smartest man he knows comes revving his engine down the road, parking just outside the building. 

"Why the long face?" Tony asks, rolling his window down. "Let me guess, he turned into a baby."

Steve nods reluctantly. "Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?"

"It's the EPR Paradox." Tony gets out of his car. "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you pushed time through Lang. It's tricky, dangerous, someone could've warned you against it."

"You did." Sterve admits defeat. 

Tony turns to look at Steve dramatically. "Oh, did I? Well, thank God I'm here." He pulls out something on his wrist. "A fully functioning time-space GPS."

A smile returns to Steve's face, knowing that Tony wouldn't let him down. "I knew you could do it."

"I just want peace." Tony holds out a peace sign, closing his car door. "Turns out resentment is corrosive, and I hate it. We do have a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities. Bring back what we lost, of course. Keep what I found? Absolutely. And maybe not die trying?"

Nodding, Steve gives Tony his hand to shake. "Sounds like a deal."

After the handshake, Tony ushers Steve to follow him to the back of his car. The billionaire lifts the trunk up, and there sits Steve's sheild that he left in Siberia all those years ago. 

Steve looks at the sheild with doubt and guild gnawing at him. The last memory he has with it is dropping it at Tony's close to dead body, after using it to beat him up. "Tony, I don't know."

"Why?" Tony asks. "My dad made it for you. Plus, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

"Thank you, Tony." Steve says genuinely, holding the sheild. 

Tony nods, giving Steve a small smile. "Will you keep that one quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team. We are getting the whole team, right?"

"We're working on that right now."

-

Some hours later, the rest of the team begin to show up at the compound. Nebula, Rocket and Rhodey arrive, and later bring a rather depressed looking Thor with them. Natasha manages to locate Clint also, and they all assemble in the meeting room of the compound after they establish that Tony's version of time travel works. 

"Nearly everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones." Steve announces, standing at the front. 

"Or substitute 'encounter' with 'damn near been killed by'." Tony quips.

"I haven't." Scott looks around. "I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym particles for one round trip each." Bruce adds. "And these stones have been around a lot of places in history."

"So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?" Tony takes his sunglasses off.

"Which means we have to pick out targets." Clint realises, folding his tattooed arms. 

"Correct."

"So, let's start with the Aether." Steve puts his hands in his pockets. "Thor, what do you know?"