Chapter 28
It happened out of nowhere…
Natasha and Clint were in Indonesia about to board the quinjet they had spent days waiting for at their extraction site.
It happened in a blink of an eye. Natasha bent down to pick up her bag and when she stood up the bright blue sky was grey.
Clint who was carefully packing his bow and quiver away didn’t realize it at first.
“Clint.” Natasha said.
“Yeah I’ll fly the jet.” He said.
“Something’s happening.” Natasha said still looking at the grey sky.
“What do you…” Clint said turning to see her only expecting to see her fiery red hair but instead seeing dull grey hair. “You didn’t dye your hair did you?”
Natasha just gave him a look.
“Hanna.” They both said before quickly grabbing their things and boarding the quinjet.
Back in New York….
Bruce was in the lab working on with an enzyme that could breakdown plastic and help clean the polluted ocean. The enzyme solution he had been working with was bright yellow when suddenly the solution turned a cloudy light grey.
At first he thought that maybe the enzymes had destabilized so he recreated the solution again but it would not turn yellow.
He did it a third time to no avail. He took a sample and looked at it under the microscope only for him to see perfectly stable enzymes.
“Uh oh…” Bruce said.
Vanaheim…
After his most recent battle The fiercest warriors in the nine realms had decided to take a day to help rebuild the local village. Thor was helping hunt their dinner when the lush and lively forest surrounding them went from a lively green to black and dull. The moss growing on the rocks near the river were no longer green.
“Something is very wrong.” Thor said.
“Thor?” Fandral asked.
“Heimdall open the Bifrost!” Thor commanded raising Mjolnir up to the sky before the light of the Bifrost beamed down on him and he flew up into the sky.
It was dark, that was all there was, darkness. I felt like I was falling down a never-ending bottomless pit and them out of nowhere instead of falling something was pulling me up towards a light until suddenly I felt like I hit something hard.
I sat up coughing struggling to catch my breath. The water poured out of my mouth as the tightness in my chest started easing even if my lungs still felt like they were on fire.
“Hanna?” Steve said.
“Uh.” I coughed still not able to get a word out.
“Hey.” Steve said kneeling down to help me onto my side and patting my back as I coughed up all the water.
“Uh that was gross.” I said laying on my stomach panting.
Steve just stayed where he was watching me in shock.
“Are you okay?” He said.
“You mean after being inside a house that got blown up, being pinned down under a house under water and drowning… All things considered not too bad.” I said turning to looks at him but he kept giving me this weird look. “What?”
“Uh nothing. We should go.” Steve said. “It’s dark and you’re going to catch a cold.”
“Well I’m kind of homeless now.” I said looking around and realizing that it was night. But something felt… off. “And Tony’s probably in Tennessee by now.”
“Tennessee?” Steve said.
“Everything happened the way it did in the movie so he’s in Tennessee.” I said.
“His house got blown up and you drowned.” Steve said.
“He didn’t have a choice. He got knocked out when he crashed into the ocean and the suit’s auto pilot took over.” I said. “Besides this is probably for the best. He’s too stubborn to listen to anyone. Maybe getting knocked around a bit might do him some good.”
“That’s a bit harsh.” Steve said.
“I drowned. I think I’ve earned the right to be a bit cranky.” I said getting up. “Does something feel off to you?”
“Maybe you should sit down for a minute.” He said.
“I’m fine.” I said.
“Hanna, slow down.” He said. “Maybe just take a minute.”
“You’re being weird. Why are you being weird?” I said.
“What’s the last thing you remember after the water?” Steve asked.
“Being pinned under a beam as the wreckage of the house kept falling on us.” I said. “but you got me out. Right?”
“I tried.” Steve said.
“Tried?” I said.
“I couldn’t move it.” Steve said.
“Then how did I…” I started.
“You didn’t. You didn’t just drown. You died.” He said.
“But I’m right here. You did CPR and it worked…” I said but the look on Steve’s face said it all. “It didn’t work.”
“I couldn’t get you out and you were gone but there was this light and then the wreckage was gone and I got us to shore but you were still…” Steve said.
“Okay that’s… Well I’d say impossible but I’m also the girl that fell into another universe and started seeing color so I don’t think I’m allowed to say that word anymore.” I said. “You know what lets just put a pin in this and get somewhere warm and with dry clothes while we figure out what to do next.”
“Yeah… and where would that be?” Steve said.
“The house is gone so…” Steve said as he looked up to the cliff. “You mean that house?”
“Huh?” I said turning to where he was pointing. “That’s not the house.”
“But its exactly where the house was.” Steve said.
“But that’s not the house. The windows are all wrong, the balcony didn’t have a railing like that and there weren’t vines growing on the side.” I said. “Okay Natasha and Clint set up an emergency go bag at Union Station for me in case things ever went wrong and I needed to disappear fast.”
“And you didn’t think to use it before the house got blown up?” Steve said.
“I didn’t think Tony was going to be so damn stubborn.” I said. “We can take the metro and a few buses and be there in under two hours.”
“Or…” Steve said.
Apparently his or was stealing a car.
“Wow who knew Steve Rogers could be a bad boy?” I said and just smirked.
“We’re just borrowing the car.” Steve said.
“So were cars this easy to hotwire in the 40’s?” I said.
“How’d you…” He asked and I just gave him a look. “Movies.”
“You and Nat bonded over it.” I said. “She and Clint are going to give me the biggest ‘I told you so’ ever.”
“I think the one you’re going to give Tony might beat theirs.” Steve said. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah. It’s not the first time I almost die.” I said. “Of course it’s the first time I didn’t purposely try to off myself. My therapist might consider this growth.”
“I don’t think any near-death experience is growth.” He said.
“Says the guy that crashed a plane and spent 70 years on ice.” I said. “We should ditch a car about a block from the station. Police check all the plates coming in and out of here because everyone thinks it’s a good idea to ditch a stolen car at a train or bus station.”
“Did Natasha and Clint teach you that?” Steve said.
“No, My old neighbor did.” I said.
“The drug dealer?” Steve asked.
“He had a very diverse business portfolio.” I said.
“And a very long wrap sheet.” Steve said.
“Tomay-to, tomah-to.” I said with a shrug.
“I know I’ve been gone a while but I don’t remember the city being this… crowded.” Steve said as we passed by a makeshift homeless encampment on the sidewalks.
“You never really made it out of Malibu.” I said. Though now that he mentioned it, there did seem to be more people living in the streets and more lofts for rent in the area than the last time I made it downtown which was only a few weeks ago.
“Let me know of you see anywhere I can park.” Steve said.
“I don’t think it really matters.” I said. “It’s not our car.”
“Right.” Steve said pulling over next to an abandoned lot. We took a walk and made it to Union station in less than fifteen minutes.
It was practically empty considering how late at night it was which was probably best. Two people sneaking into a train station to grab a mysterious duffle bag out of a locker was suspicious enough.
“What’s the locker number?” Steve asked.
“616.” I said looking at it until I found it. “Here we go. I quickly entered the locker combination, the date of the battle of New York and then pulled the handle up but it wouldn’t budge.
“Did you put it in right?” Steve said.
“Yes.” I said doing it again. “It must be jammed.”
“If it was jammed it wouldn’t move at all. Are you sure you remembered the right combination?”
“Steve I can remember almost word for word witty conversation you and the rest of the guys had throughout ten plus years. I’m sure I can remember three numbers.” I said.
“Here.” Steve said looking around making sure no one could see before using brute force to force the locker open. But unfortunately the locker was empty. “It’s empty.”
“I can see that.” I said.
“Are you sure…” he said.
“For fucks sake, I told Tony his house was going to get blown up and it did, I told you Hydra was in SHIELD and that Bucky was alive and that both happened. When I say I’m sure I am fucking sure!” I shouted finally snapping.
“I’m just trying to figure out what…” he said. “You’re the one with all the answers.”
“Yeah I have all the answers and I still don’t know how I came back from the dead.” I said slamming the locker door shut before walking away.
“Hanna…” Steve called out.
“I need some air.” I said walking away.
“I’ll go look for a pay phone. Maybe I can call…” Steve started.
“Knock yourself out.” I said not bothering to look back.
I went outside crossing my arms trying to stay warm. The outside of the building was pretty much empty except for the one security guard staring at his phone wearing a black face mask as he leaned against a hand sanitizer stand….
Wait a second.
What train station had free hand sanitizer stands for the public? And who wore a facial surgical mask in 2012… hell no one outside a hospital wore a face mask until…
Then as a gust of wind blew a scrap of newspaper at my feet the front headline caught my attention.
“Ukraine Holdouts in Mariupol Surrender to Uncertain Fate.”
What the hell… Russia didn’t invade Crimea until 2014… and it wasn’t until the beginning of 2022 that…
And then I finally saw the date on the paper.
May 18, 2022
That was the day I jumped off the edge of that rooftop bar. The day I fell into…
“Oh Shit!” I said before running inside.
Steve had taken this time to find a pay phone and was currently trying every phone number he had memorized. He was going to have a tough time getting and long distance inter dimensional calls through.
I quickly ran over and hung up the phone.
“Hey I finally got a call to go through.” Steve said.
“Trust me you didn’t and whoever you just dialed isn’t someone you know.” I said giving him the newspaper.
Steve gave me a skeptical look before reading the newspaper.
“Russia invaded Ukraine? That didn’t happen.” He said.
“It didn’t or hasn’t happened in your world yet.” I corrected.
“I don’t understand.” Steve said.
“Look at the date.” I said.
“May 18, 2022.” He read before it hit him. “We’re in the future.”
“Not only that, we’re in my universe.” I said. “And this is the night I fell into your universe. In fact I’m pretty sure I’m already there.”
“That’s impossible,” Steve said.
“That’s what I said the first time it happened but here we are.” I said.
“How did this happen?” Steve said.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how it happened then and I don’t know how it happened now it just did.” I said. “All I know is that right now we’re on our own.”
“We’re in another universe.” Steve said still processing that.
“We are.” I said taking a breath. “Okay there’s no go bag but we’re as far away from the Mandarin, Hydra or anyone else that could possibly looking for us. So silver lining. For right now we need to get cleaned up, maybe sleep for a few hours…”
“Where do we do that?” Steve said.
I thought about it… really there was only one place.
“I know a place but we’re going to have to borrow another car.” I said taking Steve’s hand and leading him out. It wasn’t hard to find a car and the drive went by pretty fast.
He got off the freeway and ditched the car before walking the last three blocks.
“This is a bit of a rough neighborhood.” Steve said.
“Don’t make eye contact and don’t step on the rats and you should be fine.” I said before stopping at a door next to a shabby hole in the wall ramen shop.
I looked at the buzzer and started buzzing each one over and over again until about thirty seconds later someone buzzed me in. “Works every time.”
“Great security.” Steve said as we walked in before going to the freight elevator. “Is this safe?”
“The building used to be a firehouse until the 80’s when they converted it into an apartment building.” I said as he slid the vertical makeshift wooden doors down shut. “Not like that.”
I took it and yanked them down hard until I heard a click before I pressed the button and we went up to the fourth floor.
I walked down the hall and turned to the left where a there was a wooden door painted dark blue. Or at least it used to be dark blue now it was faded and chipped in places. I reached for the doorknob but the door was locked.
“Hold on I’ll break it down.” Steve said.
“No.” I said turning to the dead Ficus in the corner and reached behind it to pull out a set of keys.
I slid the key in but the lock was finicky. There was a specific way to do it. You slid the key in. jimmied it a bit before turning it half way and lifted a bit before turning it the rest of the way while giving the door a hard shove with my hip.
“Like riding a bike.” I said letting Steve in. there was only enough room to open the door before a set of stairs led up to the rest of the loft. I locked the door behind me before leaving the keys in the key ring next to the door. Before running upstairs.
“This place is exactly how I remember it. Though technically I was here five or six hours ago.” I said.
“This is nice.” Steve said looking around.
“You can be honest. It’s a death trap.” I said.
“You said it used to be a firehouse?” Steve said. “Where’s the flagpole?”
“It was surprisingly not kid friendly.” I said. “I had the building manager take it out.”
“Oh…He looks like you.” Steve said picking up a frame with a picture of me and Jamie before he saw the other photo that was face down next to that one. “Who’s the guy?”
“No one important… Uh I might have some clothes in your size in his stuff….” I said.
“His?” Steve mumbled to himself.
“Here we go.” I said pulling out a pair of grey sweats and a white tee shirt. “Might be a bit snug but it’ll do until we figure something else out.”
“This is fine…” Steve said looking around awkwardly.
“Oh the bathroom’s through that door and let the shower run for a minute before jumping in.” I said.
“Okay.” Steve said confused before going into the bathroom.
I looked around almost as if seeing the apartment for the first time. Which in a way I sort of was. If was the first time I was seeing color and damn… This place was weirdly mismatched but somehow it all fit together.
The walls were a reddish dark brown because of the exposed brick but the walls were painted matte grey. The dark hardwood floors contrasted the grey and white pattered rug. The coffee table was round and made out of rustic reclaimed wood with dark metal accents. There were randomly colored and patterned cushions and a jade macrame knit pouf next to the table.
It was all mismatched yet somehow it somehow fit together. Instead of clashing it complimented each other. Not bad considering everything came from garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets and the Facebook for sale/free section.
I walked over to the closet to look for some clothes. All of my clothes were black or really dark shades they may as well be black. I settled on a pair of black leggings and an old college tee shirt. It had a couple of holes in it but I never threw it out because of how soft and comfortable it was.
Steve came out of the shower in the very snug clothes I handed him. The original owner of those clothes would have been drooling all over him and maybe fainted.
“UH you know the water that comes out of the shower turns brown right?” Steve said.
“Yeah, that’s why you’re supposed to let it run for a minute before you get in, not turn the hot water faucet handle more than half way and keep your shower under 10 minutes…. 8 if you’re showering during the day.” I said.
“Oh…” Steve said not knowing how else to answer that. “I’ll take the couch.”
“Okay.” I said going to the closet to take out extra blankets and pillows and handed them to Steve. “The couch is a pull out so… pull out.”
“Oh good… It was going to be a tight squeeze.” Steve said relieved.
“Night.” I said before going to the bathroom and taking my five minute shower. I had to enjoy what was left of the hot water for the night.
By the time I got out of the shower Steve was asleep or at least pretending to be asleep. Maybe Natasha and Clint should have given him some spy pointers. I’m not always the most observant person but even I could tell he was not sleep and had maybe taken the five minutes I was out of the room to snoop. It also didn’t help that the pull-out bed springs squeaked really loudly when you moved on them.
Either way that was a problem for tomorrow.
I slipped into my bed which was not as comfortable as the bed I slept on in Tony’s house. Of course that bed and that room were now underwater…
Shit I was underwater and died.
“Fuck…” I said out loud.
And I was back in my universe… back in my life…. A life that I had sort of blown up and ended with me ending it all….
“Fuck!” I cursed.
“I’ll have what she’s having!” Someone out in the street called out.
“UH” I said grabbing a pillow and tried to smother myself to death or at least passed out.
Unfortunately things don’t work that way.
Back in Earth-616…
Natasha and Clint arrived in Malibu and arrived at what used to be Tony’s house. Shield was already handling the situation trying to clear out the rubble probably to take one or all of Tony’s suits if they had the chance.
The first thing Clint noticed was the furniture and priceless works of art randomly placed around the driveway surprisingly not the least but damaged despite their home being blown up.
Natasha turned to Clint wondering if he could see red again and that’s why he was staring at a random painting.
“Hanna?” Natasha said realizing someone had probably moved everything out in preparation for some sort of disaster.
“Probably.” Clint said clenching his fists trying to keep it together.
“Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff…” One of the agents said. “There’s something we think you should see.”
Natasha and Clint followed him to where the mansion door used to bee and they pulled out a very familiar red, white, and blue frisbee like SHIELD.
“Steve was here when…” Natasha started before Clint walked over to the ledge and looked over.
“What are the odds he can survive crashing into an ocean a second time?” Clint said.
“He can take a hit… I don’t know about a house.” Natasha said.
“This day just keeps getting better and better.” Clint said.
“It’s not over yet.” Natasha said spotting one of Tony’s helmets with a blinking light and quickly going to pick it up. She slipped the helmet on and immediately the helmet scanned her retina to identify her.
“Agent Romanoff there is a message from Sir.” Jarvis said.
“Play it.” Natasha said.
There was no video but Tony’s voice played.
“Han… uh hey… whoever’s listening to this. I uh… I kind of… well not kind of… I completely screwed up. Han…” Tony hesitated as his voice cracked a bit. “Hanna tried to warn me and I was too stubborn to listen and now she’s… she’s gone and so is Cap. Natashalie and Birdbrain are going to kill me when they find out which I deserve. But that’s going to have to wait. I can’t change what happened but I can make this guy pay for what he did to Hanna… I have a lead and I don’t know where it’s going to take me but I have to do this. I owe it to her…”
With that the message cut off.
Natasha slipped off the helmet and looked to Clint.
“He’s going after the Mandarin.” Natasha said.
“Where?” He asked.
“He didn’t say.” Natasha said. “Sounds like he called from a payphone or burner. The call cut off.”
“So we’re right back where we started.” Clint said. “Great.”
Earth 1218- The Next Morning
The night flew by and after I stopped tossing and turning and actually got some sleep reality just had to pop its ugly head in, in the form of a very loud ambulance that sped down the street.
“UH…” I groaned as the sun hit my face. I hated to admit this but living with Tony, I had gotten a little too used to the good life. Mainly the orthopedic memory foam mattress and the sound of the ocean in the distance being my morning wake up call.
Steve was surprisingly still asleep.
I guess the adrenaline rush of getting blown up yesterday really took it out of him. I got out of bed and went to the kitchen to start the coffee maker and maybe start on breakfast. Of course since I was not planning on coming back I hadn’t done groceries. And I was also out of coffee.
Maybe I should do groceries… but I was going to need money for that. I did have money in the bank… I just didn’t have my bank card. I had left it… at the rooftop bar I jumped off of the night before. I could pay with my phone but I also let that at the bar.
Okay this is why I always kept a some petty cash in the loft.
In the form of random bills in old purses, the jeans in the dirty laundry hamper and that that one random decorative vase I thought would look cute but really I just put all my spare change in when I don’t want to jingle.
It only took me five minutes to find a 20 and some singles before I headed down the block to a small donut shop that also did breakfast sandwiches.
“Morning Hanna…” Mrs. Kim the shop owner said. “The usual.”
“Two actually.” I said.
“Two? Does that mean you and Theo back together?” She said asking me the same thing every time I came here.
“No Mrs. Kim. We are not back together because we were never together.” I said.
“Why not? He so handsome and you getting old.” She said pouring me some coffee.
“Why do I always come here?” I mumbled to myself.
“Two coffee, two sandwich and a donut. You’re too skinny.” She said ringing me up and not adding the donut.
Oh right, that’s why.
“So who number two?” She asked.
“Just a friend.” I said.
“Boyfriend?” She asked.
“A Friend.” I said again giving her the money. “Thank you.”
“Thank you.” She said. “And say hi to Theo.”
“We don’t talk anymore.” I reminded her before I left the shop.
When I got back to the apartment Steve was up and looked like he was on the verge of a freak out.
“Hanna? Where were you?” He said.
“Went to get us some breakfast. I figured you might be hungry and I haven’t really done any groceries recently.” I said handing him a breakfast sandwich and coffee.
“Oh…” He said
“We should probably come up with a plan while we’re at it.” I said.
“A plan for getting back?” Steve asked sipping his coffee.
“More like what we’re going to do in the meantime.” I said.
“What’s there to talk about? We’re going back.” Steve said “We are going back right?”
“We are but we also have to look at all the facts.” I said. “We’re in another universe. I don’t know how we ended up here or how I ended up in yours. We’re going to try everything we can to get back but, in the meantime, while we’re here we need to think about how we’re going to get by.”
“How long do you think it’s going to take figure out how to get back?” Steve said.
“I didn’t fall into another universe until I was 26 and it was six months after that that we ended up here. It’s safe to assume we’re going to be here a while.” I said.
“Okay.” Steve said. “This is your universe so what do you think we should do?”
“Well… I currently have five dollars and twenty seven cents on me. I don’t have my phone or wallet so maybe getting those back would be a good start.” I said.
“Where did you leave them?” Steve said.
“The rooftop bar I jumped off of last night.” I said. “If no one stole them.”
“Alright then lets go.” He said.
“Steve.” I said. “Maybe I should go by myself.”
“We should stick together.” He said.
“Yeah but… those sweats are really tight on you and don’t leave a lot to the imagination.” I said.
Steve choked on his coffee before blushing red.
“Sorry...” he said. “I can change.”
“Your clothes are muddy… Uh wait here.” I said running down to the laundry room. There was a lost and found and if I remember hearing the neighbor screaming right six months ago she threw out her deadbeat boyfriend and all his stuff. Sure enough I found a pair of grey ripped jeans, a red and black flannel and a random unknown cover band promo tee.
Not the best but it would fit Steve better or at let him go outside with some dignity.
I went back upstairs and handed them to Steve.
“This might be better.” I said.
“These pants are falling apart.” Steve said.
“They’re trendy.” I said.
“Are they meant to be this tight?” He asked.
“I can go by myself.” I said.
“No Just give me a minute.” He said going to change in the bathroom. I heard him grunt and bump into a few things before he finally came out. “People actually dress like this?”
“A lot of people say the same thing about how people in the 40’s dressed. We should work on our hair.” I said wondering when the hell Natasha was going to give him that makeover she kept hinting was coming.
“What’s wrong with my hair?” Steve said defensively.
“It’s a bit old fashioned but it works for you.” I said quickly covering my tracks. I did not want to get into it with him. “Alright a few rules before we go out. Keep your head down. Keep a low profile. Don’t make eye contact with anyone on the bus or train and…”
“Hanna I’m from New York. I’ve taken a bus and train before.” Steve said.
“In the New York of another universe. Things are different here. Superheroes only exist in comic books and aliens are still the stuff of conspiracy theories.” I said. “Just… try not to be so… you.”
“Sure.” Steve said not entirely happy about what I was asking him to do.
Of course what was the first thing he did when we left the apartment… He went out and was himself. To start he saw a man sitting on a curb holding a cup. Steve decided to give him the spare change he found in his jeans pocket. Except the guy wasn’t asking for change. He was on a break from working on remodeling one of the empty shops that was being turned into a boba shop.
Steve dropped his change in the guys over priced coffee and he was not happy about it.
“Hey! What the fuck asshole?!” he shouted.
“I’m sorry I thought…” Steve said. “You were…”
“This is what hard work looks like jackass.” The guy said before throwing his coffee splashing Steve’s shoes and pants.
“I’m…” he started but the guy was already gone. “He looked…”
I didn’t say anything just kept walking to the bus stop and it only got worse from there.
Steve gave an elderly lady his seat on the bus only to be groped inappropriately more than once by both the elderly lady he gave up his seat for and then a very handsy guy.
“That’s why you sit down and don’t get up it’s time to get off.” I said to him when we got off and transferred to a train.
“It was the right thing to do.” Steve said.
“You were warned.” I said.
“Why are you being so negative?” Steve said.
“I’m not being negative. It’s called being realistic.” I said. “You’re not from this universe. There’s a reason I tell you not to do something because I actually know how things are done here.”
“This world is not as bad as you are making it out to be.” Steve said.
“Yeah because this world is all sunshine, lollipops and unicorns shitting out rainbows.” I said sarcastically.
“So there are problems here. Our world isn’t perfect either.” Steve said.
“You’ve been here five minutes. You know nothing Steve Rogers, including the reference in this sentence.” I said. “Just keep your eyes on the floor and stop pissing people off.”
We stood in silence as Steve did the exact opposite. The first rule of public transportation: do not make eye contact with other people on the bus.
And especially do not make eye contact and smile.
Steve just had to do both. To a woman with a girlfriend.
Suffice to say we had to get off the train and walk the rest of the way. Almost a freaking hour and I picked the worst shoes to wear that day.
“I’m sorry…” he started.
“No… Just no.” I said. “I’m going to this part on my own. Just stand there, face the corner and don’t move until I get back.”
With that I headed inside and went to look through the bar. The place was in the process of being cleaned and the staff were moving around to get ready for that night.
As I looked around and finally stopped at the place that was supposed to be the end of it all but ended up being the start of something else.
“Hello darkness my old friend.” I said looking down at the street.
“Careful you don’t want to fall.” One of the waitress’ teased.
“Yeah that would be one hell of a fall.” I said.
“Were you looking for this?” She said holding out my phone and purse.
“Yes!” I said.
“Hope you made it home okay. We didn’t even see you leave.” She said.
“It was pretty packed.” I said. “I did pay my bill right?”
“Oh yeah and left a nice tip.” She said with a wink.
“Course I did.” I said. “Thanks.”
I looked back at the ledge and started wondering whether I actually had died when I jumped off the ledge and that everything that had happened during the last couple of months was my brain trying to soften the blow of my bloody and extremely painful death as it started to shut down.
Nah… what kind of afterlife would involve breaking the fourth wall?
I shook it off and went to get Steve. He was right where I left him. Not staring at the wall but close enough.
“Alright. I have my wallet back, now let’s get you some clothes of your own and a haircut.” I said.
“Did you see anything?” Steve asked.
“Besides a closed bar? Nothing worth mentioning.” I said.
“This is where it happened right? The first time.” He said.
“Steve the answer to interdimensional travel is not in a bar.” I said.
“Did you feel anything?” Steve said.
“Besides my feet killing me because I had to walk more than ten blocks in shoes with no arch support? Nothing.” I said.
“Hanna I’m trying here.” Steve said.
“There is such a thing as trying too hard.” I said as we got into an elevator.
“At least I’m trying.” He said.
“This wasn’t about trying. This was running an errand to keep us afloat before we start to brainstorm ideas to get us the hell out of here.” I said. “This isn’t your world Steve. Things here are different if that wasn’t obvious already. It’s a very hard world to be in. An unfair world and most of the time pretty fucking hopeless so trust me I want to get back home as much as you do and if you don’t believe that, believe I want to get back and give Tony the biggest I told you so in history.”
Steve was quiet for a minute as the elevator took us down to the ground floor.
“You’re right.” Steve said surprising me. “This isn’t my world and I should listen to you so what do we do now?”
“Now…” I said eying him up and down. “We get you a new look starting with your hair.”
“What’s wrong with my hair?” Steve asked.
“In this universe not even 90-year old’s wear their hair like that. Mostly because they don’t have hair. You need to blend in better.” I said. “Come on. Oh Natasha is going to be so mad I beat her to it.”
“Beat her to what?” Steve said following after me.