New York

Sanctum Sanctorum

6 a.m.

Stephen casually walked into his study, not even looking in the direction of the chair where Natasha was currently seated, and immediately opened the bar. He pulled out a bottle of Russian vodka he'd been saving for just this occasion and casually poured two doubles.

Without turning around, he levitated one glass in Natasha's general direction. "I know it's early, but you're Russian and I haven't gone to bed yet. Alcohol will probably make this conversation more comfortable for both of us."

Natasha casually took the glass but remained silent. Stephen finally turned to face his would-be assailant and sighed. "Three months and four days, I would have expected you to show up sooner."

"We rescued you from the soul stone. I would have expected you to take our calls," she said dryly.

"Our calls? None came from you specifically. There were dozens from Stark and a few from Dr. Banner, but you never called," he said, "or knocked. I'd ask how you got in, but I doubt you'd tell me."

"You're right. I wouldn't," she said, finally taking a drink.

"Guess we should get down to business, unless you're really intent on torturing me. If it's that important to you, I should warn you that Wong will be down soon. He doesn't care much for unnecessary violence."

"Contrary to popular opinion, neither do I. Are you going to help me get Steve back or-"

"The or isn't necessary. I've been waiting for you."

"Then why avoid the calls?"

"Because, you needed to come alone. The others would make this much too complicated. You want your captain back, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to get him. My methods are less than scientific. Your friends won't approve."

"I don't care," she said, finishing her drink. "You told Tony there was only one scenario where we beat Thanos. When you saw the scenario play out, did you or did you not see where Steve was transported?"

"I did."

"I need the location."

"It's a little more complicated than that, I'm afraid. You can't get to him by normal means."

"We have a space ship. We got to Thanos," she said.

"Yes, but Thanos and the captain are two very different people. Let me see if I can explain this, Thanos knew from the beginning he would be imprisoned for using the gauntlet. He also understood enough about the power he was wielding to be able to choose where that imprisonment would take place. For Thanos, the ends justified the means, because he fully believed what he was doing was the right thing. You and I both know it wasn't, but he firmly believed in his cause."

"So did Steve."

"Yes, but Steve Rogers didn't complete his mission. That's the difference."

"Everyone is back. He completed his mission."

"No, he completed the objective he believed he could achieve, not his true mission." Stephen took a drink and sat across from Natasha. "What your captain wanted to achieve, his deepest desire when he snapped his fingers, wasn't just to bring everyone back. He wanted to fix the mistakes you and the others made that allowed Thanos to win in the first place. It was that desire that chose his location. While Thanos felt he had achieved his life's purpose and was ready to retire to his garden, Steve is currently still trying to prevent what happened from happening in the first place."

"I'm not sure I'm following. We already thought of time travel. If Steve were messing with the timeline, something would have changed."

"You're right. If your captain were messing with this timeline, we would see evidence, but his prison isn't this timeline. He's in a pocket dimension, one that is replaying the events of the last decade on a repeating loop. For him, time is passing at regular pace but, compared to our own, it is going incredibly fast. He's already relived the last several years many times, making tiny changes here and there to attempt to get things right, and failing every single time, only to wake up at the beginning and do it all over again. Sometimes he lives through the entire timeline. Other times, the changes he makes end his life prematurely. Every time he fails, he loses a part of himself."

"How do we free him?"

"We don't. He's the only one who can do that, and he won't be able to free himself until he gets it right. Once he does, the pocket dimension will fold into our own and the changes he made will become permanent. I've been monitoring the situation closely. He hasn't even come close to getting it right, and he's made 97 attempts. They've taken an incredible toll on him, I'm afraid."

"There has to be something we can do to help. Can we communicate with him? Tell him what he needs to change?"

"Communicate across dimensions? Not exactly. Something we can do? Now, you're asking the right question, but it isn't we, it's you."

"Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"I know," he said softly. "In the only scenario where we were truly successful, it was you and your desperation to save the man you loved that made it happen. Stark, Banner, and the others believe they've done it, but they are wrong. Success was never merely defeating Thanos and bringing those of us who were taken back into this world. Your captain is right. The only way we truly win is by making it so it never happened in the first place. I can send you to the pocket dimension. Together, you can fix this and save not only those snapped away but everyone Thanos killed to get the stones in the first place. The fate of the universe is in your hands, Ms. Romanoff. Are you willing to accept the responsibility?"

"Whatever it takes," she said, as her glass refilled itself. Natasha downed another shot. "When do we start?"

"How about now?" Stephen asked. "In the pocket dimension, you are currently on the run from Hydra. Director Fury has just faked his death. Do you remember much about the mission?"

"It was hard to forget," she said. "I do have one question. When you send me in, what happens to the me that's already there? Two of me running around could get complicated."

"It won't be an issue. You're consciousness will overwrite the consciousness of your younger self, but, I should warn you, if you aren't successful, the loop will restart. Your captain has lived through this timeline many times, he isn't quite the same man he was. You could lose yourself in this dimension if you aren't careful."

"I don't care. I'd rather live a hundred lifetimes failing to succeed with Steve by my side than the rest of this one without him. I'll take my chances."

Washington, D.C.

Shopping Mall

2014

Natasha was suddenly running through the mall with Steve. It had worked. Strange's magic had transported her into the pocket dimension. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she looked at Steve in his baseball cap. This was one moment she had cherished above so many others-their first kiss.

As they reached the escalator, she was just about to say the words she had said the first time when Steve started talking.

"Kiss me," he said. "Public displays of-"

"Affection make people uncomfortable," she finished, before kissing Steve soundly, allowing herself to enjoy the moment so much more than she had the first time around.

Knowing it wasn't the right time for a real conversation, Natasha immediately went into character and played her part just as she'd played it years earlier. She didn't allow herself to fully look at Steve again until the were in the "borrowed truck" fifteen minutes later.

"Aren't you going to ask me where I learned to hotwire a car?" he asked. "You always ask."

Natasha gave Steve a confused look. "Nazi Germany and we're borrowing, not stealing," she said.

"This is different. It shouldn't be different. I must have already done something wrong," he said more to himself than her.

"Steve, pull over."

"We don't pull over here."

"We do this time," she said softly. Strange was right. The constant looping was messing with his mind. She needed to explain things and calm him down, or they were going to be in big trouble.

"No, you're not going to die here. The times when I lose you are the hardest," he said. "I'm not crazy. You wouldn't believe me if I told you everything, so just trust me. We don't stop here."

"You're right. You aren't crazy. You're stuck in a time loop, Steve. It's me. I'm here to help."

Steve gave her a puzzled look. "That's not possible."

"Strange sent me. I'm really here. We have been through so many things, Steve, so many. If I weren't from our future, could I know Fury is alive? Or that the Winter Soldier is your best friend? Ultron? I shouldn't know the name yet, Steve. This is your prison. You brought everyone back, but I lost you. I'm here."

"You're here. You're really here. I'm not alone," he said, his voice shaking.

"We will fix this, Steve. You won't have to do this alone anymore. I'm here, and I'll do this with you as many times as it takes then we'll go home together."