Returning The Stones

6. Morag, 2014

Steve appeared on Morag and began to walk into an old abandoned temple. As he walked in, he saw Peter Quill lying unconscious on the ground.

Steve thought about what Nebula had said when discussing the plans for the Time Heist.

"The power stone is on Morag. Quill stole it from an ancient temple in 2014."

"Quill stole an infinity stone?" Tony asked. Nebula nodded. "That's hard to believe."

"He was still stupid enough to get arrested." Rocket said.

"You got arrested too." Nebula said.

"Yeah, we don't talk about that." Rocket said.

Steve was about to continue into the cave when he heard footsteps running out. Steve hid behind a pillar and saw Nebula run out of the cave and over to the pod.

"Barton, Barton come in! Romanoff! Come in we have a problem! Come in we have a prob- Thanos knows. Thanos-" Nebula said, and then looked out of the pod to see Thanos' ship beam the pod into his ship.

"So that's how it happened." Steve said.

"Ugh, what happened." Peter said, standing up and rubbing his head. Steve looked back at Peter and Peter saw that Steve was holding the orb in his hand. "Hey, are you the guy who knocked me out?"

"What, no-" Steve was cut off by Peter shooting at him. He took out his shield and blocked the blasts. "I don't want to fight you, Quill."

Peter stopped. "How do you know my name?" He asked.

Crap. Steve thought. "Lucky guess."

"I need that orb." Peter said.

"Okay, I need a ship." Steve said.

"Why do you need a ship?" Peter asked.

"I need to go to a planet called Vormir." Steve said. "How about I'll make you a deal. You drop me off at Vormir and I'll give you the stone."

"Stone? Is that what's in there?" Peter said. "Okay, deal."

Steve followed Peter onto the ship and immediately saw how bad of a pigsty it was.

"Have you ever heard of the word clean? Did your mom not teach you anything?" Steve said.

"My mom's dead, never knew my dad." Peter said, looking up Vormir I'm his ship's GPS.

"Sorry." Steve said.

"It's fine."

Steve looked around the ship and ran into a stack of items, knocking everything onto the floor.

A hatch in the floor opened and a woman with pink skin and brown hair came out. "Peter, what was that?"

Peter looked at the woman. "Hey, I'm gonna be completely honest, I forgot you were here."

"Oh my gosh." Steve said, looking at Peter. "This whole place, it's disgusting. Including you."

"Sorry man." Peter said.

"Here, let's get you some clothes," Steve said, helping the woman find some clothes. "You're going to drop her off someplace, right?"

"Yeah, I'll drop you off first." Peter said. Peter set the autopilot to Vormir and sat back in his chair. "Hey, I never caught your name."

"I'm Steve." Steve said.

"And what were you doing trying to take the orb from me?"

"I wasn't trying to take it." Steve said.

"Really? Cause it sure seems like you were, given you have it in your hand." Peter said.

Steve sighed. "I was trying to put it back, but then I thought I could exchange it with you for a ride."

"Put it back? It was just there." Peter said.

"You know what, nevermind. Just ignore I said anything." Steve said. "You wouldn't understand."

"Are you calling me stupid?" Peter said, standing up and walking towards Steve. "Cause I am not-" he tripped over a pile of papers on the floor. "Dang it." He muttered, standing up. "I am not stupid."

"Uh huh, sure you aren't." Steve said. Steve walked over and looked out the window into space.

"How much longer will it be?" Steve asked.

"Not long." Peter said. "Just a few more minutes."

A few minutes later, the ship landed on Vormir. "Thank you." Steve said, giving the orb to Peter.

"Why did you need to be dropped of here?" Peter asked.

"I have my reasons." Steve said. Peter nodded and walked back into the ship, flying to who knows where.

Steve sighed. Last stone.

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