There were some gadgets placed neatly on the white table. Steve furrowed his eyebrows, still not knowing a single thing about any of those gadgets. Despite all of the technological advancements he's seen from some of their formidable enemies, it was still all confusing to him.
The briefcase was laid down in front of them. Bruce nudged the locks which opened once he had done so. "Remember," He spoke, as he nudged it one by one. Upon lifting the other side up using his only one hand, the case revealed the six Infinity stones that the team had used in order to bring back the vanished. Each stones were placed neatly side by side on the , except for the Mind stone which was at the middle. The stones were connected to the middle stone; starting with the Time stone (at the left of the Mind stone), the Power stone (next to it), the Space stone, the Reality stone, and the Soul stone (at the right side of the Mind stone). The formation created an arc with the measurement of one hundred eighty degrees. Once Steve got a glimpse of the stones again, he blinked, still furrowing his eyebrows, trying not to have recurring images of what happened.
Bruce, on the other hand seemed unbothered and continued, looking down on the stones. "You have to return the stones at the exact moment you got 'em." He then flinched, recalling his injury. "You're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities."
Sam kept a distance from the briefcase, listening in on the conversation. The box wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes.
Steve sighed, placing both of his hands on the sides of the briefcase. "Don't worry , Bruce." He said, taking a last glance at the stones and once he did, closed it shut. "Clipped all the branches."
Bruce kept his eyes on the box, his eyes full of emotion. Emotions like hurt and agony. "Yeah, I've tried 'em." It finally recurred to him; those moments when he slipped on the glove and it attached to him. "When I'd gotten those stones, I- I really tried to bring her back." He then let on a sigh and lifted his eyes to look at Steve. "I miss her, man."
Steve could only look up at the big guy. "Me too."
Bruce gave a nod in acknowledgement, still hurt.
Not known to them, someone stood in a distance from their direction, hands tucked inside the pockets of his jacket. Steve glanced in that direction and recognized who it was. Bruce was left on the table, along with the other equipment.
Bucky.
He started to walk towards him, carrying the briefcase on one hand.
Sam followed him, walking beside him. "You know," He spoke and the Captain turned his attention on him. "If you want, I can come with you."
Steve considered this for a moment, stopping in his tracks and gave him a smile. "You're a good man, Sam." He felt for the strap of his belt, as he fought the recurring images starting to form in his head. Gripping it, he made his decision. "This one's on me though."
The captain approached their other companion.
Steve gave this man a smile. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."
Bucky chuckled for a second at the old catchphrase. "How can I?" He then stared at him in the eye, his voice full of concern for his dearest friend. "You're taking all the stupid with you."
Steve pulled him for a quick hug and they sealed it with a pat on each other's back. After they pulled apart, Bucky looked at him in the eye again, his voice starting to break. "I'm gonna miss you, buddy."
"It's gonna be alright, Buck." Steve reassured him.
Bucky smiled. He really admired his optimism.
Without a moment of hesitation, Steve turned to the direction where the time machine was. He climbed up the small stairs and stepped on the platform, the briefcase still on his hand. Then, he pressed a button close to his hand. A change occured once he did. He was now wearing a white suit with black and red outlines. It was a suit meant to protect him and the rest of the team from the quantum realm.
Sam, who was watching from afar, turned to Bruce. "How long's it gonna take?"
Bruce, controlling the equiments on the table, looked up at him. "For him, as long as he needs. For us, it's five seconds."
The captain positioned himself inside the mark of a small circle on the middle of the platform. The Mjolnir rested inches away from his foot. He recognized this and picked it up by its handle, as if it fits him perfectly.
"Ready, Cap?" asked Bruce.
Steve gave him a nod.
He remembered what Bruce had said to him; that the stones were the key to maintaining order because without the stones, it will cause chaos throughout the realm of space and time. It scared him, living in a world like that.
"We need you back here, 'kay?"
He nodded again, sighing anxiously. "Get back." As soon as he said those words, a helmet formed covering his entire head. A helmet similar to what Scott wears.
"Okay, going quantum in three..."
Bucky watched his friend, his eyes full of emotion as well.
"Two..."
Sam watched in anticipation as well.
"One."
Bruce turned the knobs on the equipment and the captain disappeared in a blink of an eye.
Steve opened his eyes.
He glanced at his arm and his feet. It was like something was keeping him from falling. It didn't take him long to figure that he was floating in the vast area of the quantum realm. It was very colorful and alive; different shapes and sizes were all floating about with him. He recalled the last time he went here and he wasn't alone. Now being here alone seemed surreal. He thought about his assignment. Right, He said to himself. Have to bring these back to where it belongs.
Each stones came from different timelines. He checked his GPS and started to track the origin of location of the different stones.
"Cap, you there? Come in, Cap." Bruce asked through the communicator.
"Kinda," Steve slammed Mjolnir onto the face of a Chitauri warrior. The warrior fought back with a growl and charged at the captain. "...busy!" Steve went for the chest, hoping to land a kick on the vile creature. The Chitauri was hit but managed to dodge the impact of the attack but he raised the Mjolnir to the sky in a quick movement and released the charged energy at the creature. The creature was electrocuted in a matter of seconds and fell unconscious to the ground. Steve exhaled and picked up the briefcase.
"I'm on my way to the Sorcerer Supreme." He reported and went inside the building. A few other Chitauris were waiting for him on the fifth floor but he managed to knock them all out by using the Mjolnir like a pinball.
"Returned any of the stones yet?"
"Yeah." He replied, out of breath. "Managed to return the four. The one I'm returning now's the one you asked the Sorcerer to hand it over to you." The captain jogged up the stairs, all the way up to the rooftop.
"What's the last one?"
"The blue one." He reached the top of the stairs and panted. This is finally it, he thought to himself. The last one left. He went on further to recall on what happened while they were retrieving the Tesseract. The room where he accidentally hid in. The room of Agent Margaret "Peggy" Carter; the person he's been wanting to see for a very long time. She was there in that timeline, alive and well. He remembered how his heart stopped when he saw her again. I want to see her again, He said to himself, smiling. With a low grunt, he pushed the door leading to the rooftop.
"Hello?" The captain called out, walking slowly forward.
All of a sudden, he felt something sharp pressed against the side of his throat. He felt a physical force around his neck. "What..." He muttered.
"Hand over the case, insolent human." The Chitauri hissed, tightening the force around his neck.
Steve lifted the case as an attempt to attack but it was knocked out from his hand. This was a much bigger opponent than those Chitauri that he had battled downstairs. The briefcase cluttered across the floor.
A figure loomed over them. A bald woman landed swiftly on the shoulder of the warrior and struck one of those magic weapons that Strange uses to attack as well, onto the head. Steve managed to break free once the grip around his neck loosened and watched as the Chitauri fell to the ground, dead. He picked the briefcase up and glanced at the woman. He noticed the mysterious relic dangling below her neck, shaped like an eye. The Eye of Agamotto. Must be the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Thanks." He panted, giving her a smile.
"No need to thank me, Mr. Rogers." She said, giving him a quick smile.
"How'd you know my name?" He asked.
"Well," Her smile turned into a stern face. "I believe that you have something of my possession?"
"What," He started to wonder and then glanced at the briefcase. "Oh!" He cried upon realizing what she was referring to. "Right! Right. My bad."
He knelt and nudged the locks of the briefcase. The case revealed two of the infinity stones left. He got the green one using his fingers and closed the case shut. "Here you go." The captain handed it over to the stone to her.
"Thank you, Mr. Rogers." She said, placing the stone close to the pupil shaped center. She then made a weird gesture with her hands, like casting some kind of magic which opened the Eye and the stone that levitated was placed back inside. "I am really glad that Dr. Banner was able to fulfill his promise."
"Me too." Steve gave her a nod then pressed something close to his hand again. He appeared once again wearing the suit. He was about to go when the Sorcerer stopped him with a question. "Tell me, Mr. Rogers." She spoke, as if someone can't disregard her authority. "Where is your destination once the stones have been returned to its proper place?"
He smiled. There was only one answer to that question.
"Can't miss out on a date, ma'am." He said in reply.
"In that case," The Sorcerer smiled once more. "You forgot your weapon." She used her magic to hurl Mjolnir at him. He blinked in astonishment as he caught the hammer in mid-air.
"Thanks." He smiled sheepishly. "Didn't wanna make Thor mad by leaving this in an alternate reality." He said and then the helmet reappeared, covering his whole head. Pressing a button close to his hand, he disappeared once more in a blink of an eye.
