Thank you to everybody who has read or reviewed the story over the last five years. You have all been lovely. Your words have kept me encouraged and shaped things going forward. This is the final actual chapter of our story. There will be a lengthy epilogue to wrap things up. That part is already done and with my beta. However, please note I am in the middle of buying a house. I'm not sure when I will have time to upload the next chapter. It may be a couple of weeks.
Warning: This chapter has significant spoilers for Avengers Endgame and for the entire MCU before then. Although Endgame is already on Disney plus at this point, so I hope that you all had time to see it. Apologies to those of you in countries that have yet to get Disney plus.
Chapter 47: Taking the Road Less Traveled
Roger Stevens, formerly Steve Rogers, never thought he would be back at the Avengers compound. The version from his original timeline was nothing more than rubble when he left to try to rebuild his life in a different time after losing Tony and Natasha under the guise of returning the stones to their rightful place in time. Steve knew that's what his Tony wanted for him, but the only way Steve knew how to do that was to go back and start over. Steve needed to do it right this time, and to do that, he became Roger Stevens.
For a long time, Roger thought there would never be an Avengers compound in his new life because of the choices he made to make a better world. Of course, many of those choices kept backfiring. Not only was he not able to find Bucky before he could kill Howard and Maria, but Daniel, Peggy's first husband, died during the process.
Maybe for the first few months, Roger was upset that Peggy chose Daniel. However, over time, he realized they were better suited to be friends and colleagues. At least when she still knew who he really was.
It's why he stopped speaking to Howard for nearly a decade after he decided to rewrite Peggy's memories of Daniel after Hydra murdered him in front of her and the children. He thought he was doing it to give Steve another chance. Roger wanted nothing to do with it, which was why he's glad that one of the unintentional side effects was Peggy forgot that he came back in time. He decided for her own safety not to tell Peggy that Roger Stevens and Steve Rogers were the same individual again. Maybe it was cruel to allow her to keep thinking that he was dead. However, knowing that he was a Steve Rogers from another timeline and Hydra was alive was a dangerous, deadly secret. He already cost Marcy and Tyler their father. He couldn't make them lose their mother as well.
Really by this point, Roger should realize that there are certain things in the universe that are fixed. That point was brought home seven years ago when he was helping his stepdaughter move to her new apartment after the world's worst divorce that told him that maybe things weren't so different. Because on the screen Tony Stark, although two years younger than Roger's Tony, told the world he was Iron Man. (Then Phil started texting May to complain about this Tony not sticking to the cards.)
Now somehow, seven years later, here he was walking these halls because his stepdaughter was an Avenger. The whole experience seems surreal. The building was different yet similar in ways. The exterior was almost identical to what Roger remembered. The interior was very different. For example, this compound included a giant nursery for his grandkids that his stepdaughter managed to have with his alternate self due to Hydra. There were also Shield barracks. Regardless, it still reminded him of his old home. Ironically, he and his wife were assigned to the same room he had the first time around.
Of course, the longer he stays at the compound, the more obvious it becomes to him and his wife that he's going to need to come clean. Thor already knew. Roger encountered the Asgardian after his stepdaughter's encounter with Sif in Las Vegas, incidentally, just days before Shield fell apart. This was why Thor invited him to this afternoon's meeting about what to do with the infinity stones.
Roger knew they couldn't be destroyed, but it was tempting. That means they needed to come up with a plan with how to deal with the stones. To do that, he knew his secret would be coming out soon, but he didn't think it would be this soon. But Starks have a way of surprising you.
"So, what do you want to talk to me about without my stepdaughter around?" Because Roger was 100% sure that the excuse she fed May about the Tesseract was a lie.
"I do need to talk to you about something regarding my husband's notes, but not right now. This is actually a little more urgent." Natalie started. Roger was wondering what could be more urgent than one of the infinity stones.
"As you know, due to kidnapping, I don't know my little brother that well yet. I kind of thought he was joking about you possibly being a clone of his husband." Really Roger should've known that Tony Stark would figure it out, even if their DNA was slightly different, he was still dealing with Tony Stark.
"After meeting you, I did consider you being Steve's long-lost half-brother as a distinct possibility. The first time I met Tony, I just kind of knew there was something different about him. Maybe subconsciously, I knew he was my brother. I thought history could've repeated itself. Therefore, I indulged Tony and ran a DNA test. I got the results back 15 minutes ago, and surprisingly, you are a 100% match." And here it is after 66 years, it was time to come clean to someone other than his wife, Howard or Peggy. (Technically, he already told Thor but not really. Once you lifted the other man's hammer, most questions stopped.)
"How long before Tony sees the results?" Because he knew Tony would see the results. May told him all about the reason why Friday was created in this timeline. He knew the AI would inform Tony of the results.
"Probably half an hour at most, but I think it's better that you tell him the truth directly. Whatever that truth might be." Natalie told him. Roger knew that to be the case after the Siberia fiasco so long ago. This may be a different Tony, but from what Melinda has told him this Tony doesn't do well with secrets either.
"And what do you think that truth is?" He asked, wanting to know what the current hypothesis is.
"Since long-lost half-sibling is no longer on the table, our original hypothesis was a clone or alternate timeline double. I've always loved Back to the Future. So, I'm personally going with you Dr. Browning it. Except for you meeting your other self doesn't result in a paradox. You had lunch together yesterday. Okay, maybe your Spock Prime or rather Steve Prime. I'm calling you Steve Prime." Really, he shouldn't be surprised at all by this. She is a Stark, after all.
"Time travel doesn't actually work like Back to the Future. You don't change your past; you just create a different timeline." Roger confessed. "The Star Trek movies may be more accurate except for the red matter part. That was ridiculous." Roger decides this isn't the time to mention Pym particles.
"I think we need to go find Tony now," Natalie said, slightly dazed. After nearly 70 years, it was time for Roger Stevens formerly Steve Rogers to tell the absolute truth.
"Let me get my wife. I think I need her there for this conversation. May as well." She needed to know which also meant bringing in Phil. "I think Natasha should also be there if she's available. She is the Deputy Director of Shield." There is so much he wants to tell her. He wants to hug her, but he doubts the other woman would allow it.
"Jarvis, is Natasha on base?" He asked the AI. Roger really missed him.
"Yes. Agents Romanoff and Barton arrived half an hour ago but chose not to join the meeting already in progress." The AI responded.
"Probably because they could hear the screaming from the airstrip," Roger remarked under his breath. He didn't blame them at all.
"Jarvis, tell my brother and his fiancée, along with Agents May, Coulson, and Romanoff, to meet us in conference room six. I'll get Leo and Simmons to watch the twins," Natalie told him, leaving him to mentally prepare himself for everything to come out. In his heart, Roger knew that to keep his family safe now, they would need to know who he was and what's to come.
Xxx
Phil Coulson has been in Shield for a long time. He'd seen a lot. He's even been impersonated by a shape-shifting alien and was resurrected using the DNA of a completely different alien race. Finding out your girlfriend's stepfather is your childhood idol from another timeline is a bit of a shocker, even by his standards.
He learned a lot of shocking things during the nearly 90-minute confession. One, time travel exists. Two, in another timeline, four years from now due to the Avengers being in pieces and new Shield being MIA, half of all living things were wiped out of existence using the infinity stones. Three, five years after that, Tony Stark invented time travel so they could undo the actions of a madman. They did so, but Tony and Natasha died in the process. Roger won't give details regarding how that came to be, but the tears in his eyes told Phil that it was terrible. Four, for reasons only known to him, Steve Rogers went back in time to fix the past, with varying results, creating an alternate timeline because apparently, the multi-verse theory of time travel is the correct one.
Phil is personally glad the grandson of a Howling Commando did not die in Puerto Rico. He's ecstatic that an entire city was not destroyed by murder bots created by reactivating the Ultron program. Shield trashed that project for a reason. Bonus points for Wolfgang von Strucker living long enough to see justice. Also, apparently, the Winter Soldier is now in the hands of the Wakanda government for deprogramming. This seems better than superhuman registration and the Avengers being too broken when the world needed them because of the Winter Soldier fall out.
Although he really would've liked it if Rogers's plan for him not to get stabbed by Loki would've worked, but the man should've known that he would have canceled his trip to see May in DC the moment things started going weird in New Mexico. No one is ever going to tell Roger about how successful his plan to help his other self adjust to the 21st-century was. He's a little mortified himself.
Natasha left the room first, although Phil thinks that she's hanging outside the door to ask Roger about how she died once he is alone. Phil personally doesn't want details. There are some things you don't want to know.
Phil is not surprised that Natalie, Tony, and Steve left without saying anything or asking questions. Phil is still mentally processing and has no idea where to start asking questions. Okay, he's a little surprised Stark didn't gloat about figuring it out. In his defense, Phil did tell Roger the first time he met him that Roger looked a lot like Captain America. It's not his fault Phil believed Roger when he said he was probably a distant cousin. Phil was just about to ask about that when May finally spoke for the first time since this confession started.
"Did you know me in the other timeline?" May asked once they were alone with Roger and her mom.
"Not really. I met you twice. Once at a memorial service for a fallen agent we both knew and again when you helped me with an HR issue. I didn't even realize that you were the same Melinda May until you introduced me to your classmate Phil Coulson at graduation. Two different Melinda Mays knowing Phil Coulson seemed like too much of a coincidence." Phil had this feeling that was his memorial service but was thankful that it wasn't specified.
"Okay." It's never good when May goes to monosyllables. Not in a situation like this.
"I don't want this to change things. I meant every word I said earlier." What did he say earlier? Phil will have to ask May later. "I'm grateful for you in my life. Being your other father has been one of my greatest accomplishments in both lifetimes." Roger tried to grab May, but she moved closer to Phil.
"I'm going to go to the gym for a little while. I'll be back before story time." Because even though the babies were only a month old, they still did family story time, and Phil was required to participate.
"She's mad," Roger said once May left the room with her mother following shortly behind her. It's not really a question.
"Yes, but I don't think she's mad at you." Although maybe slightly freaked out about the nature of her relationship with your counterpart in this timeline, but we are never going to tell you about that ever.
"At least not for keeping this a secret. We both understand the sensitivity of it." No one wants Hydra to know about time travel. It would be catastrophic. "It's just a lot to process, and you know May processes things best when she's punching something."
"That is very true. I would almost say May got it from me, but that would be impossible." Roger joked. "I wanted to tell her. Especially in those weeks leading up to New York. I was terrified of her ending up in New York this time around. I was so happy she stayed in DC." Phil was as well.
"But I understand why you couldn't. I really did believe you were Steve Rogers' cousin. Although I'm thankful I never considered running a DNA test."
"I'm not at all surprised Tony did. Especially not after I made sure he got the missing pages to Howard's diaries. Although I forgot about the Winter Soldier stuff being there." Of course, Roger sent the diaries because Fury would never voluntarily give up that advantage. Even Tony's number being in the toolbox was there because Tony put it there, not Fury. "You need the information for the twins and before that to keep Melinda safe."
"Is this why you finally told us who you really are?" Phil asked.
"Part of the reason. You also found another stone, and we are only three and a half years away from half of all life in the universe being destroyed in my original timeline. Although, as for this exact moment, it's mostly because Tony and his sister figured it out." Phil is not surprised at all that they figured it out.
"We'll have to do a debriefing. I assume you don't want anyone else to know." Phil asked.
"Thor already knows. I proved to him I was somebody he should listen to by lifting his hammer."
"Please tell me there's video footage of that?" Phil was shocked. He remembers all they went through to try to get that hammer out of the New Mexico desert.
"Unfortunately, no. I also assume Natasha is going to tell Clint." Roger tells him.
"Not if you ask her not to. I'm 90% sure she's waiting to talk to you alone once I leave the room."
"I'm 99% sure I can hear Natasha's heartbeat. I'm fine if Clint knows. I don't think the other should know just yet." Roger tells him. "I want to tell Sam myself outside of a debriefing, and he's not here at the moment." Coulson had to send him to Virginia to deal with the children rescued from Hydra Academy because they needed Dr. Suarez here to deal with Skye post-transition.
"He should be back in a couple of weeks, but I understand. Also, thank you for trying to keep me from dying." Phil is touched that made the list of things that this alternate Steve Rogers wanted to change.
"I wish I would've been more successful. I didn't want May to go through losing you in this timeline. She was already so lost after the divorce and the miscarriage. I think the reason why I pulled so many strings to make my other self her next-door neighbor was because I didn't want her to be alone."
"I'm glad she wasn't alone. I am not mad that you couldn't prevent my death. You can't save everyone." Phil tells Roger. "Sometimes, all you can do is try. Now you won't have to do it alone anymore. You'll be amazed by what a team can do together."
"I learned that the hard way, and I'm glad I have you and the rest of the team now. I'm also happy I got to know you better this time around."
"So am I." Roger Stevens became another surrogate father for him.
"I'm looking forward to you being my son-in-law at some point. I'm expecting an engagement announcement soon." Of course, he is. Ever since the divorce, Roger has been pushing for him and May to get together. "I just hope May is speaking to me by that point."
"She will. Just give May a little time and a few hours in the gym." Phil said as he left his future father-in-law behind to find May. They obviously needed to talk.
Xxx
May is not surprised that somebody followed her into the gym. Although she was expecting Phil, not her mother. Her mom didn't say anything, just held the punching bag as May attacked. She didn't imagine the bag was her stepfather, but it was tempting.
"Did you not want me to join Shield because you knew what would happen?" May asked after several minutes of silence. That was one of the critical questions she had after finding out the truth. The other was making sure that her stepfather didn't have the type of relationship with her in the original timeline that Melinda had with Steve in this one. She's very thankful for that right now.
"Yes. I knew eventually it would fall, and I didn't want you to get caught. I was so worried about you." Melinda was surprised to hear her say that. Melinda is not entirely sure her mom has ever directly said that she was worried about her before.
"I wish you would've told me the truth. All this time I thought you disapproved of me." She confessed as she threw another punch at the bag.
"Knowledge of Hydra being active was a dangerous truth to know. Most of those that knew the truth were either killed or dealt with in other ways." Her mother told her.
"Agent Sousa's father, Daniel?" May asked.
"Along with her stepfather. It may also be why her mother has memory issues. I just wanted to protect you. Roger as well. You have a daughter and son now. I'm sure you realize that the most important thing is to protect your children." She completely understood that even before she knew the truth about Madison and Antonio. May is sure she figured that out the moment she nearly killed Ian Quinn on the bus.
"I understand," Melinda said as she threw another punch.
"Your boyfriend is here." Her mother said, pointing to the door of the gym. "I believe this means I can go find my husband."
"Yes. Although, give Roger a few minutes because he's probably being ambushed by Black Widow." Phil remarked.
"I'll give them 10 minutes. Philip, I expect you to take good care of my daughter and grandchildren."
"Of course," Phil answered quickly.
"Otherwise, there will be no second resurrection for you." Phil nodded his head, aware he had just received a bizarre variation of the shovel talk.
"Just be aware that Leo and his girlfriend have agreed to watch the twins for the rest of the day." With that, her mother was gone.
"Did my mom just threaten to kill you?" May asked slightly bewildered.
"Yes. I'm more surprised your mom arranged for a babysitter." Phil said, walking over to kiss his girlfriend on the cheek.
"I am too."
"How are you feeling?" Phil asked.
"I'm not entirely sure, although now I know that my parents wanted me to go to the CIA because they knew Shield had a Hydra problem." That knowledge really does recontextualize a lot of the last nearly 30 years.
"That actually makes a lot of things make more sense. I can't believe I believed the long-lost cousin thing. I always said he looked just like Captain America. It was obvious." Phil was shaking his head.
"Who also used the alias, Roger Stevens." May can't believe her stepdad who has been a spy since the late 1940s and worked for Shield and was an Avenger before then in the other timeline came up with such a ridiculous alias. It's even more ridiculous that they fell for it.
"We are horrible spies." Phil lamented, which made May smirk a little. Because maybe deep down, she agreed.
"We were unaware that time travel is feasible." She tells her boyfriend.
"I was brought back from the dead. We really should have considered the possibility." Phil said as he removed his tie.
"Why are you taking your tie off?"
"I figure we could try some sparring. You work things out best by punching things." May raises an eyebrow at him.
"The doors are locked, we are in the same country, and most importantly, we have a babysitter," May responded by kissing him and then promptly brought him down to the ground.
"Never allow yourself to be distracted," May said as she pinned him to the floor.
"You're very distracting. It's what I love most about you." That got him another kiss. As well as a ripped shirt and lightly damaged pants. They never did find the missing buttons.
Xxx
"Tony, say something," Steve said to his fiancée once they entered their bedroom. He didn't dare bring Tony to the nursery just yet. Steve is shocked he was the one who spoke first. They were both silent the entire walk back.
"I'm kind of still processing the fact that after I died in another timeline, your other self couldn't deal with it and decided to go back in time and fix everything." Steve doesn't even want to think about a world without Tony in it. That would be his biggest fear.
"He said he came back for Peggy. To have a real life like your counterpart wanted him to have." Steve argued back, knowing it was a lie. Even if his other self was not as well-adjusted as Steve currently was, he wouldn't go back for Peggy. Maybe Gabriel and honestly, Steve would've brought him forward in time because even though homophobia and racism still existed in 2014, he doesn't think he can handle it at 1940s levels again.
"Nope, I know you, Steve Rogers. If this was about getting a happy ending with mommy Peggy, then the man currently known as Roger Stevens would have gone back to 1944 instead of 1948 when she was already dating Daniel and the brink of getting engaged. Other you wanted to give her a real choice because it wasn't really about her; it was getting things right this time."
"Except Daniel died, Roger never found Bucky, and it's still illegal for us to get married," Steve replied.
"I like your priorities." Tony went over to give him a small kiss. "Look on the bright side, we now know where your BFF is so Cousin Sharon can focus on other things."
"Like interrogating the man who stabbed her cousin," Steve said bitterly.
"Yep. Apparently, your BFF is now in the custody of the Wakanda government and under the care of a teenage prodigy that makes me look as if I am only of average intelligence." Tony remarked.
"I don't understand that part."
"I'm smart, but apparently the young princess is better. She had her first paper published when she was eight. I'm secure enough in myself to accept that I'm not the smartest person in the universe." Tony tells his boyfriend.
"I mean, why is the government of a country that purposely hides their best technological advancements willing to assist with this?" Steve clarified.
"I have no idea. Add that to the list of follow-up questions for Steve Prime."
"That's a Star Trek reference?" Steve asked.
"I am so proud of you right now." Tony kissed his fiancée. "Your pop-culture references are starting to get on point. You know we're going to have another briefing eventually. We have a giant purple megalomaniac on his way to wipe out half of life in the universe before our babies hit their fourth birthday. This seems like something we need to discuss and prepare for."
"You may be right about that," Steve smiled at Tony.
"I love it when you say I'm right. I mean, you must be crazy to believe that any version of Steve Rogers would go back in time to just live the simple life. At a minimum, you would have been at civil rights rallies." Tony joked.
"May told me her stepfather was arrested at Stonewall and was responsible for starting GALSS at Shield before leaving, after not preventing Pierce from taking over. He tried for a more inclusive acronym but couldn't get it approved."
"And there's exhibit Z right there," Tony said pointedly.
"Maybe my other self did go back in time to fix the world, but that is not actually what happened. Pierce still took over Shield, even if he had to use Stephanie to do it. Your parents still died. You still were kidnapped. That would be something I would really try to prevent."
"So, it turns out Steve Rogers is not actually perfect, but he did make sure you got into therapy to deal with the adjustment disorder that he never really dealt with and arranged for his stepdaughter to be your next-door neighbor to help her deal with losing Agent. If the worst happened and I died saving the world, would you go back in time to live happily ever after with your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend?" Tony asked.
"No. I wouldn't leave our children or May. Also, I think Phil would kill me first if I tried." Steve answered honestly.
"Exactly. You have other people to keep you grounded to this time because of him. Of course, Roger Stevens probably didn't expect you to become friends with benefits with his stepdaughter, but as we have established, Roger Stevens' plans have a questionable success rate." Tony remarked cheekily.
"We are never ever telling him that. You saw how grateful he was that his grandchildren came via in vitro."
"Of course. We are never bursting that dad bubble. I mean, I personally don't even want to think about my son and my assistant/science buddy sharing a room together despite the fact they're both in their mid-20s." Tony remarked.
"Exactly. Roger sees May as his daughter, and there are some things you don't want to know."
"Such as your sort of little brother sleeping with your stepdaughter. I think he does see you as a little brother and not another version of himself. Also, Roger did try to prevent Afghanistan from happening."
"How?"
"At Thanksgiving I found out that Roger tried to warn dad about Obadiah. They stopped speaking to each other because Howard hired him anyway despite the warning. Unfortunately, dad didn't believe Roger until he was being blackmailed about Maria and then it was too late. Dad tried to warn me, but you know I didn't read the letter. That's a 'Howard being a stubborn ass hole' problem and maybe me being a little too much like my dad."
"Stubborn as a mule is a Stark genetic trait. It explains why Antonio is so finicky about wearing socks." Steve joked.
"That kid really does hate socks already. Starks are special that way." Tony smiles at his boyfriend.
"And it's not like things happened the same way per what Roger told us. In this timeline, dad was killed because he found out about Leo, whereas in the other timeline, he was killed because he was making a new super-soldier serum. Of course, we have the Project Lullaby graduates in Siberia that we are going to have to track down that the soon to be former brother-in-law told us about. But hey, at least we won't have to deal with a vengeful guy who's mad at us for accidentally killing his wife and children due to me creating murder bots. I'm so glad I listened to you when you said don't touch the Ultron program."
"So am I. I'm also glad I told you about your parents instead of trying to cover it up." Tony kissed him again. He really didn't want to think about how his relationship with Tony fell apart in the other timeline. That was one of the few times during his confession that Roger cried.
"Luckily for you, I'm the more reasonable version of Tony Stark. That might be because I'm just a half-brother and not actually an alternate dimension counterpart. Natasha might actually be the real alternate dimension counterpart since Natalie was at least born in the same year, although a couple of months earlier." Tony argued.
"I'm sure Roger didn't tell us everything, but you both sound a lot alike." Down to the willingness to die for all mankind and to protect everyone that you love. "Our experiences are what make us."
"Which means you're not Roger Stevens. It's more like an identical twin. Or like an annoying younger brother who sort of ended up with his stepdaughter. Mostly platonically, but I was planning something for Christmas." Tony said, only half-joking.
"Honey, we have almost newborns. Our only plans for Christmas will involve napping and gingerbread." Steve remarked.
"I have three sisters, two sort of stepsisters, a fully-grown adult kid with a girlfriend, and four capable grandparents, including Katie, and Pepper. We will find a babysitter. Besides, I think other you ships us." Tony remarked.
"I think that's because Roger loved you and losing you broke him just like I think it would break me," Steve confessed. Good to know that Steve saw it too. "Maybe it makes him happy to see us together this time and getting it right."
"You may be correct about that. Not everything went as planned for Roger Stevens, but in this world, I have you, Leo, Madison, Antonio, Stephanie, Natalie, and even Marcy. But not Tyler, never Tyler."
"At some point, we're going to have to talk about your Tyler issues," Steve remarked "In the other timeline, you and Pepper were married. You had a daughter." Steve pointed out. Maybe there was this little part of him that was still a bit insecure about his relationship with Tony. Why on earth did Tony choose him over Pepper?
"But at what cost? Because I wouldn't have you. You are like the air I breathe. We wouldn't have the twins. I love them so much. I'm not even sure Stephanie or Leo would exist, or at least not my Stephanie and Leo. Also, apparently other Tony was only able to have Morgan because of magical mystery stone restoration of his sperm count." Because as soon as he was told about Morgan, Tony had to ask how. Other Tony still had fertility issues. He just had a magical fix that he did not have access to.
"Now she's an orphan at four because other me had to die to save the universe. I don't want to leave you behind. I don't want our kids to lose another parent. They've already lost their moms." There were tears in Tony's eyes as he spoke.
"I don't want to lose you either," Steve said, placing an arm around Tony and pulling him closer to him.
"Which means we need to figure out how to beat what's to come without me dying in the process. Avoiding five years of half the universe being gone is also a bonus." Tony smiled at him.
"I believe you can do it." Steve placed the kiss on Tony's head.
"I do have three kids and a hot fiancé to keep me motivated." Tony smiled at him.
"And I will be with you every step of the way. No matter what happens, we will do it together.
"Together always."
Xxx
Natasha walks back into the conference room once Phil was gone. There's no point in ambushing Roger Stevens since he already knew she was there.
"I assume you have a lot of questions. Although before we begin, I did try to get you out of the Red Room when you were a baby. I'm sorry I wasn't successful." There was genuine sorrow in his voice.
"I'm thankful that you tried." Which is more than most people would've done.
"Although that mission was when I met my wife," Roger tells her.
"At least something good came of it." Natasha gives him a soft smile.
"I am still sorry I couldn't get you out." By body language alone, Natasha can tell that Roger really was genuinely sorry he couldn't do that.
"What were we to each other in the other timeline that you would try to get me out of the Red Room?" Natasha was very curious. Him coming back to save Tony was obvious. Her, she wasn't so sure.
"You were my best friend. One of the people who kept me grounded. With you and Tony gone…" Roger doesn't finish that sentence, he couldn't. He was on the verge of tears again.
"You felt alone?" Natasha asked.
"I shouldn't have because Sam and Bucky were still there, but I just don't think I could stay there without you and Tony. It hurt too much. At least that's what I thought at the time." Now she wonders if Roger knows better.
"So, you ran back to the past to be with Peggy and Howard? Because I don't believe that."
"I had a lot of reasons. Some better than others."
"I'll let you have your secrets, Roger Stevens. Just one last question, how did I die?"
"I don't think that's something you should know. It's not something I actually want to talk about." She does see a tear fall down his cheek.
"I can understand that. However, if we are to prevent what happened from repeating itself, I need to know."
"I promise I'll tell you and the rest of the team working on this everything when the time is right. But for now, know that my Natasha sacrificed herself so that we could succeed." She raises an eyebrow at him because she knows there's more to it than that.
"But also, so that when we brought back Clint's children and Laura, they would have a father. Laura and the kids were among those that we lost after the snap. It destroyed him, and I think it destroyed you too." That's when everything clicks into place. Natasha would do anything for her children, anything. Natasha realized with 100% clarity that they were her kids.
"The makes sense. Do you know if my counterpart in your timeline was very close to Clint and Laura?" She wants to ask if they were dating, but maybe a part of her was afraid to.
"I know that you are the godmother to their youngest child. They all call you Aunt Natasha."
"That's not what I'm asking." Considering what she knew about her Steve, she knew this Steve wouldn't be scandalized by knowing the truth. She heard about the birthday blowout this summer. Which incidentally kept her from having to put a bullet in Phil, so she's okay with it.
"I'm in an on and off-again relationship with the two of them. It was mostly off until Hydra fell, but things have become stronger since I became Deputy Director of Shield." With Clint off hunting Hydra bases, Laura has been to DC a lot to the point she was considering taking one of the houses above the new Arlington base so that the family could be all together.
"Now that part definitely didn't happen in my timeline, but I think you'll make a fine Deputy Director for new Shield." Roger smiles at her.
"I don't know if the three of you were together in my original timeline. My Natasha didn't tell me. Although I wouldn't be completely shocked if you were. I think she thought I was a bit of a prude. She was convinced that her kissing me at the Pentagon City mall while we were eluding Hydra was my first kiss since the 40s. She probably thought a polyandry relationship would scare me." Interesting to know that kiss happened in both timelines.
"Probably because you never told her about being bi or how you actually paid your way through art school." She purposely doesn't mention that her Steve is probably in a sometimes poly relationship with May and Coulson. Although it's more of a special occasion thing, maybe. It's best not to ask questions you don't want the answer to.
"I didn't share as much as I should have. With no one really. I don't even think Sam knew what Tony meant to me. I made a lot of mistakes. It's a lot easier to see that now after 66 years."
"My Steve is better at it. I think it's the therapy." Natasha remarked.
"I'm glad he got that. That's one thing I pushed for. Well, I made sure his therapist wasn't Hydra. Too bad, I wasn't as careful with my stepdaughter's husband." Natasha is 99% sure Roger had Melinda's ex-husband killed. She knows he's very, very dead now.
"I heard we have a problem with that. I'm glad you found your happy ending this time around."
"I hope you find yours as well," Roger said just as his wife arrived in the room. She walks up and kisses him before saying a word. That's something Natasha always wanted when she gets to their age. Maybe this time around she will.
"Phil is with Melinda now and will be for quite some time. I believe once they are done, she will be ready to talk to you. But for now, we should get dinner."
"Preferably off-base," Natasha suggested. "There's this place a couple of miles away that makes a really good milkshake."
"I remember." Roger smiled. That makes sense; he did live here for a while in his original timeline. "Have they started naming them after the Avengers yet? The Capt. America actually has a whole slice of apple pie in it."
"Not yet. Although they do have an apple pie milkshake." Natasha tells him. She knows that is her Steve's favorite.
"Come on." Roger kisses his wife on her forehead. "You have to try the pie there," Steve says as he let his wife out of the room. Natasha smiles to herself, knowing that this Steve did eventually find his happy ending.
Of course, this left Natasha alone in the briefing room with too many thoughts to process. Usually, she would go work out when her mind was like this, but she knew better than to go anywhere near the training room/gym. Instead, she found her way to her room. Clint was there videoconferencing Laura. The sight of them together made her smile. She instantly went over to Clint and kissed him.
"Look, who just got back. Where were you?" He asked, pulling away from the kiss only to pull her onto his lap, so she was looking directly at Laura. Laura was looking at both smirking.
"Very top-secret meeting about the scepter we recovered." She told Clint. She'll let him know the rest later. Eventually, she would tell Laura but in person. This was too sensitive to be discussed over electronic means.
"Do you need me to end this call, so you two can talk business?"
"No. I want to talk to you too. Both of you." Because finding out what her other self lost, made Natasha realize some things about herself.
"Go ahead," Laura says on-screen.
"I know we talked about me publicly being Clint's wife as my cover identity."
"Which was my idea. I even picked out the engagement ring." They got it two weeks before Halloween. Before everything got so crazy. That seems so long ago.
"But now I'm wondering if it could be more than just a cover identity?" She asked, nervous. She was afraid of rejection.
"Unfortunately, that's not legal yet. But if it was, we would be the first in line." On-screen Laura nodded her head in agreement.
"But you are with us regardless of legalities. That ring still means something." Laura tells her.
"I love both of you and I know sometimes it feels like I'm running away because I don't feel like I deserve to be part of this family, but I want to be here. I love you and the kids, and I don't think I can live without that."
"You don't have to." Clint wraps her in his arms. "We both love you." He leans over to place a kiss on her forehead.
"We really do love you. You are our family. You're part of us." Laura tells her.
"Thank you." She's almost on the verge of tears.
"You're always home with us."
She really felt like that. This was her home, and she would do anything to protect it.
Xxxxx
After making out with his Steve after the Steve Prime confession, he and Steve managed to find their way back to the nursery. He was not surprised to see Leo and Simmons fighting in the corner over the best way to change a diaper. Natalie was there also, but Tony knew she was going to the nursery after the Steve prime conference. He's not surprised to see her cuddling Madison on the couch.
Although Stephanie filming the entire thing from the corner was a surprise. Stephanie and Natalie have been avoiding each other a lot due to all the bad memories associated with each other. They did survive a kidnapping together. Maybe they're starting to make peace with their past. Also, they both love quality baby time.
At that moment, everybody started giggling because Antonio just peed on his future sister-in-law. This happened to Tony too the first time because nobody told him about that little tendency.
"I told you that you need to hold the diaper up for a few moments before taking it off completely. That's why." Leo told his girlfriend as he took over changing his little brother's diaper.
"I am so glad I got that on film." Stephanie snarked from the corner.
"You could help," Simmons called out as she removed her now wet sweater. Thankfully the undershirt was still dry.
"You have to learn the hard way, just like Jarvis and mom made me," Stephanie called out from the side. "Although apparently, this is a family tradition. According to Jarvis Tony did that a lot."
"That is a lie," Tony said, walking into the room with Steve behind him.
"I think there's an 8 mm film of it. I don't know if it's been digitized."
"I'm going to make that happen. I want to see more pictures of you is an adorable baby." Steve tells him, taking the seat on the couch next to Natalie.
"I do too. Baby Maddie, don't you want to see pictures of your daddy being cute?" Natalie asked her niece who may have made a happy gurgle sound.
"This is why I'm in here documenting this moment for postarity." Tony raises an eyebrow at his sister. "Jamie wants more videos of her niece and nephews. They're still mad at me for missing the family Thanksgiving for work reasons. Even telling them about Tripp getting stabbed didn't get me any sympathy."
"That doesn't surprise me," Steve remarked before Tony could.
"You're invited to the Carter-Jones family Christmas. Jamie's hosting again since Tony bought her a small mansion that actually has an entertaining space." Stephanie tells them.
"She's raising Tyler's kids now; she needs more space," Tony said taking the seat between his boyfriend and Natalie.
"You just like to buy people houses?" Natalie asked.
"He has like 20 and a Popeye franchise that he won while playing poker," Stephanie calls out.
"Seriously?" Natalie asked. Apparently, they really will need to schedule that meeting with the accountants sooner rather than later. She's not quite used to his income level yet.
"Yes," Everyone, including Simmons, called out simultaneously.
"Are you okay?" Natalie asked in an almost whisper. Tony wondered if anybody else heard it. Of course, no one else in the room other than Steve knew what just happened and of course he heard it.
Considering he found out that his other self died saving the world and Steve was so depressed that he decided to go back in time to start over possibly with mommy Peggy, Tony should be an absolute mess. Especially considering the reason why his other self died. Finding out half the world can be destroyed can cause all sorts of inner conflict, but then he looked at his children who were so happy and felt Steve wrap his hand around his, Tony realized that if it wasn't for Steve prime coming back, he wouldn't have any of this.
"I am absolutely perfect." They will worry about the purple genocidal maniac another day. They have at least 3 ½ years to come up with a plan. Right now, Tony was just going to enjoy this moment with his family.
The end
Don't worry, there will be an epilogue, a very long one. So long that I'm posting it in multiple parts. It's currently off at proofreading.
So as far back as early 2015, I had the idea that this timeline was very different than canon because somebody went back in time to try to fix their mistakes and it kind of blew up in their face. Initially, I was thinking it was going to be May's husband but then he ended up being Lash. So, I thought about other characters over time and couldn't decide who would do it. I was finally leaning towards Coulson or Fitz. I ended up using Fitz in a comparable way in the Use Your Words universe.
Then Endgame came out and gave me this beautiful gift of Steve Rogers going back in time. Then all the pieces fell together in such a beautiful way. So, it wasn't always planned out that Steve would be the one who went back in time to create this timeline, but it was always the plan that someone did. Ever since Endgame came out, I wanted to explore what would happen if Steve went back, but Peggy still chose Daniel and here, we are.
Up next, we have the epilogue that will allow us to check up on everybody over the next few years.