Chapter 4
“How…What? Are you suggesting that Tony used magic?”
Scott and Hope look at each other, not sure how to answer. You lay back on your chair, sighing in exhaustion and confusion. Stephen’s eyes also looked as confused, but he was completely still and unmoving. You don’t understand why it seemed to affect him so much, but you had other things to worry about.
“Okay, so– what do we do now?” Was all you managed.
“I guess we figure out what Tony did piece by piece. Do what’s logical. Thank you Scott, you’ve been a great help, but I think we should get going now.” Stephen states, hastily standing up. Scott and Hope say a goodbye and you murmur one back, before running after Stephen.
He summons a portal in the backyard, and just like that you’re both back in the Sanctum. “What was that all about?” You ask him. He looks at you confused, so you clarify. “The way you ran out of that place.”
“Oh. It’s nothing,” He walks off into a library, and of course you follow him. “What do you mean it’s nothing? Now it definitely seems like something,” You say back.
He rolls his eyes but answers, “I just have a hunch and I need to see if it’s right.” He looks through more books, but doesn’t find what he needs and groans in frustration. “What are you looking for anyway? Maybe I can help,” you offer.
“That’s sweet and all, but how could you possibly help?” He says, snarkier than it should’ve been.
“First of all, rude. Second of all, I know everything that happens, remember? Seer type of shit. So maybe I know whatever’s going on.”
He thinks about it for a second, and sighs in defeat. “The multiverse is filled with billions of possibilities,” He states, still looking around the shelf for a book. “Almost endless. Endless possibilities means endless versions of people. The Tony Stark you and I know was smart, a genius even.” he continues.
You nod for a bit, “What are you suggesting?”
He pauses his search for books to look at you deeply, “I’m suggesting, the Tony Stark you may have met was not our Tony Stark at all.”
Okay, so now you were definitely confused. “What do you mean by that? That I was with some alien multiversal Tony Stark? I mean he knew about the time traveling scheme and all that jazz, he seemed like our Tony.”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” Now he fully turns to face you. “I meant that Tony you met could’ve been a variant of our Tony, and I’ll assume you know what variant means. He could’ve gone through everything our Tony went through, including the time traveling and that’s how he knows about it, but the difference is this variant could be smarter than our Tony, if that even is possible.”
You sigh, leaning on a bookshelf. “This is going so fast, I usually have 6 episodes to at least process what’s happening in your shows.”
“What?”
“What?” You mimic instantly, covering your last statement, grabbing a random book out of instinct to cover your face.
He sighs but moves on, giving up on looking for whatever book he was looking for. “I need to go out, are you okay here on your own?”
“You— what? Where are you going?”
“I need to find a certain book about the multiverse. It might help us figure out how to fix this. No doubt whatever is happening here has caused a temporal riff through the timelines. God forsake the TVA show up. Once I get to Kamar-Taj and figure out what’s happening, you’re going straight back to your universe.”
His last sentence caught your attention. “Wait, what? No don’t send me back to my universe just yet,” You whined. “I haven’t even met half the people I had on my list!”
He exhales loudly, while putting on his sling ring. “Fine whatever, why don’t I drop you off at Barnes’ place and you can spend your last few hours in this universe with your man crush?”
You gasp dramatically in retaliation, “Stephen Strange how dare you insinuate that I have a man crush?” Which gets him to roll his eyes. “Like I said multiple times before, I don’t have a ‘crush’ on Bucky. He’s just nice.”
“See? You’re already on a first name basis,” He gives a sarcastic smile, opening a portal to outside Barnes’ apartment. “I might take a while in Kamar-Taj, so you might have to spend the night at his place. But just remember the second I get back, you’re going back to your universe.”
“Yes dad I get it,” you shot back. He gave a slight face of disgust at you calling him dad, but didn’t say anything about it. He stepped back into the portal as he waved a final goodbye at you, and closed it.
You felt at ease now, not feeling as discombobulated and weird since the first time you got into this situation. You proceed to knock on the apartment door in front of you, but get no response.
Two knocks this time. Three. Four. Ah fuck he’s not home.
What were you supposed to do now? Stephen’s gone already, Bucky’s out, and you were just standing here with no one. That's when an idea slipped into your head.
The date.
If yesterday was a broadcast of John Walker becoming the new Captain America, then today would be the day Bucky went out to meet Sam Wilson right? That means they would be out and about. Tonight he would be taken into his required therapy because he’d miss it.
You decided you’d just meet him there.
But for now, you had to pick Bucky’s lock to get into the apartment. “Sorry Buck, got nowhere to stay,” You muttered, explaining yourself to nobody.You picked the door with a hairpin in your pockets, getting in with ease. Living in New York has taught you too many things.
The door clicked open, and you peaked inside the apartment. As you expected, no one was there. You eased and settled on the couch, knowing you’d be there a while until the sun falls. You can’t remember how or when, but you fell asleep.
The first thing you noticed when you woke up was that the sun outside had set. You get up groaning, disoriented and still groggy. You checked the time, 8pm. “Oh shit.”
You were late. They’d be leaving for Germany to release Zemo in an hour and you’d be left alone with no one and more importantly– no money.
You got up and ran out of the apartment, hoping to make it to your destination in time. Being a New Yorker in your own universe had its perks, one of them knowing where the shortcuts in the streets were.
Soon enough, the police department was in your line of sight. The police department that held Barnes when he missed his mandated therapy. You looked around, not a Sam or Bucky in sight. Oh you really fucked up.
Now you were alone with no money, what were you going to do? I mean you could alw– “You looking for someone sweetheart?” A voice behind you cuts off your thoughts .
You swiftly turn around, knowing New York well enough to not trust strangers. But this was no stranger. It was Bucky. You sigh in relief, you weren’t late, they were still here. “Jesus Bucky, I thought you were gone.”
He raises an eyebrow, “Gone where?”
“To Germany,” You state matter-of-factly. “To visit Baron Zemo?”
“How do you know that?”
You gesture with your hands, “Magic.”
He rolls his eyes, promptly remembering how you knew these things. “Will you come with us?"
Oh. You hadn’t expected that he would offer you to come with, you thought he would need a little convincing. Turns out not. “Yeah I’d love to come with you guys. Considering you might need my magical mystical skills.”
“You watched movies about us for half your life and now you know things about us. Wouldn’t call it magical mystical. I would call it ‘you need a hobby’.” Bucky says as he walks towards some police cars. You follow behind him, unsure where he’s headed to until you see another man waiting beside the cars, arguing with two other men.
“Whatever you think you’re doing, stop it,” One of the men said. He was wearing a Captain America get up, John Walker, you presumed. You looked beside him, His partner Lemar seemed tired of the argument.
“I’m not doing anything you think I’m doing. You’re wasting your time, Walker.” The man who’s back was turned to you and Bucky said. Once you both got close enough, you recognized the voice immediately. Sam Wilson.
Sam seemed to have the situation handled, because when you got there Walker and Lemar were already walking away. “What’d they want?” Bucky asks beside you. Sam turns around to face him, sighing deeply in frustration of the two earlier men.
“I don’t know, I tune out every word that comes out of that man's mouth. He wanted something with– who’s this?” He points at you while his eyes flicker to you then back to Bucky, waiting for an explanation.
Bucky gives your name to Sam, then explains what you were doing with him. He hadn’t told Sam that you were from another universe or that you knew what happens in the foreseeable future, but he had told him that you were vital for them which wasn’t wrong, but still high praise from someone who told you that you needed a hobby just a minute ago.
Sam didn’t seem to immediately trust you, which was understandable. He offers his hand out for you to shake, which you promptly take. “So, we flying out to Germany?” He asks Bucky, withdrawing his hand again.
Bucky sighs, “I fucking guess.”