Chapter 48
Fury rubbed his chin as he checked the project Sam and Jane presented him before he looked up at them.
“Do you have any idea how much this project will cost? The amount of money we will need to build these broadcasting towers? Can’t we emit this frequency from our satellites?”
“No way. It needs to be emitted from Earth.” Jane shook her head firmly.
“I don’t know. The cost is-“
“What cost are you talking about? Didn’t you talk all the time about the future of the Earth and the need to bring Sydney back?” Sam exclaimed in frustration. “And when we find the way to bring everyone back you talk about the cost?”
“We want everyone back, but what you just presented is just a theory. We can’t spend almost billion dollars for just a theory. And of course you can’t take from Stark’s money since he isn’t here. Even the Captain, who Stark gave him the authorization to use his money and he never used it, is in a coma and can’t help you with that.”
“All scientific facts were theories before.” Bruce pointed out with a glare.
“Just try to understand.”
“Understand what?” Castiel snapped suddenly in anger. “Do you care about their return or not?”
“Of course we care but-“
“But what? You placed a certain price for them you are not planning surpass it?”
“Just try to understand I-“ he cut himself off when his eyes landed on Bucky who was on the other side of the room. “You do know that he is on the top wanted people list, right?”
They looked at Bucky then back at him.
“Who?” Castiel said nonchalantly.
“James Barnes? The Winter Soldier? The one you are hiding here.”
“There’s no James Barnes here.” Castiel just shrugged casually.
“I am literally looking right at him!”
Castiel turned to his team. “Do you know who he is talking about?” and they shook their heads with secret smiles.
“Nope.”
“He is probably seeing things. Old age would do that to you.”
“Who’s Barnes?”
“Then who is this?” Fury practically shouted in frustration pointing at Bucky who was watching the scene with wide, shocked eyes.
“Oh, him? This is our distant cousin, Jack.” Sam answered with a small smile. “Come, Jack say hi to the nice man.”
Bucky approached them carefully and Sam placed a hand on his shoulder with a smile, then they all looked back at Fury with smug smiles on their faces.
“Fine.” Fury sighed in resignation. “There is no Barnes here. I will go now and see what I can do for your project. No matter the cost.”
With that, he left the room and they sagged in relief.
“I really don’t know how to handle all this kindness thrown at me.” Bucky shook his head with a disbelieving chuckle.
“You will get used to it.” They answered together without messing a beat.
***
“As I told you before, in my time, I am the leader of the Avengers.”
Sydney started while playing with her hands in a nervous gesture. She must have inherited it from Tony. “The team is literally my family, they are your descendants and the Avengers have been our family since we were born. I was chosen to be the leader because according to them, it is in my genes, thanks for that responsibility by the way.” She rolled her eyes at them. Tony and Dean just shrugged unapologetically. “The first Avengers are our council or something like that. When it considered the fate of the world they are the ones who take the reins and make the tough decisions, and that’s exactly what happened.” She sighed and looked up at them. “Castiel and St-“ she cut herself off and looked nervously at Steve who was listening intently then to Tony who shook his head at her, it was wise if Steve didn’t know that part of his future. It’d be harder to explain how the hell did he live that long. “Uhm, Cas and my other grandpa had a plan. By then future Tony, my grand- uhm, whatever, and my dad just finished building the time ship, but the time maps were incomplete which meant whoever went in a time jump he will be lost like I said before, but there was no enough time to finish the maps, the mission must be done. So, they asked JARVIS to elect who was perfect for that mission. He elected two people. I was one of them.”
“I don’t understand how the hell we allowed you to go on a mission like this.” Dean shook his head in disbelieve. “Why didn’t we stop you? Why didn’t your parents?”
“Each one of you tried to take my place in this so I won’t have to go.” Sydney shook her head with a chuckle. “But it was either the fate of the world or me, so Castiel and St-grandpa had to make the tough decision. So, future Dean, future Tony and my dad helped in preparing the ship by building the robot guardian to protect me and the ship. Then we set off and-“
“Wait, we?” Dean cut her off and she snapped her mouth shut and stared at him. “You weren’t alone?”
She looked at him silently for a second. “We didn’t know what to expect or how much time it will take until we manage to figure out the time map. One of us could get killed in an era so the other have to continue the mission.”
“So, there is another future Avenger in our time right now?” Dean asked with wide eyes. “And they are a descendant from the original Avengers too?”
Sydney sighed then nodded.
“You knew that the hole we chose will lead us here, didn’t you?” Tony asked suddenly.
Sydney bit her lip nervously. “The part about being lost in time was true. We traveled through the holes randomly. But the ship’s computer recorded each trip and was trying to analyze the map to figure out its secrets. When we reached the Nil Zone, the computer pointed out that that specific hole leads to a time during the 20th century but it didn’t point out when exactly.”
“What if I decided to choose another one then?”
“You wouldn’t have.” She smiled a little. “You would always choose the hole right in front of the ship. It is in your nature.”
“So you have been controlling the ship so that it faces that specific hole without us noticing?”
“I admit that.”
“Great. That means you are the one responsible in putting us in this situation.” Dean sighed in frustration. “So, do you have a way out of this, miss- wait, out of curiosity, what is your code name?”
“Huntress.” Sydney sighed and Dean gave an appreciative nod. “And no, I don’t know how to get out of this. This energy cylinder is in a further away future from mine.”
“Splendid. So we will die like trapped rats.”
“I don’t think so.” Steve stated after staying silent all that time, just watching them with deep attention even in his weakened state.
“What do you mean?” Tony asked curiously.
“Holdstein still needs you guys alive, until he gets his hands on your ship, which will be his way back home after he screws up history here. As long as he doesn’t know where it is, he won’t risk killing you.”
“Exactly.” Holdstein’s firm voice sounded suddenly in the room as he stepped into view in front of them. They immediately got back on their feet. “You are right, Captain. I can’t risk killing them until I have the ship.”
“You have no idea how happy I am about that.” Dean snarked while rolling his eyes.
“But meanwhile, I will not waste any more time.” Holdstein pointed out as he moved around the room. “How can we solve this? You will never give up, even if it considered your lives.” He turned back to them and pressed something in his pocket. “But what about the Captain’s life?”
Steve gasped as he felt a force pulling him from Tony’s arms and threw him out of the cylinder where another cylinder surrounded him on his own.
“Leave him alone, you fucking bastard!” Tony screamed in pure rage while Dean and Sydney yelled in anger.
“Don’t try, lover boy.” Holdstein laughed. “I told you I won’t waste any more time.” Then he pointed at Steve. “You are not scared of death, but I will let you watch your beloved Captain as he choked to death in this small cylinder, which will only give him enough air for only ten minutes, which is only the time you have to make your decision.” His eyes lit up as he continued. “Now, let me ask you, would your fragile hearts handle this?”