AN: An AU of when Steve returned the stones in chapter 26 of "The Alternate End".

Returning the stones goes well, until it doesn't.

It starts off smoothly. Loki's spell works, and he manages to convince Asgard and Odin to help him. He returns the Aether and the hammer (much to the subtle shock of the king), and it doesn't take long before the palace crafters equip him with a new scepter, protective orb, and glass case for the Tesseract. The new objects are a bit unwieldy to carry, but he shrinks them down with Scott's chips to make them more manageable.

After that he sets about returning the remaining stones. He goes to the 2012 timeline first, since that is the most familiar, and because he can drop off three stones at once. He unshrinks the carrying case holding the Tesseract and weaves through the crowd of SHIELD agents, returning the case seconds after Tony had whisked it away. As he slides it back across the floor, he can't help wondering how this timeline will change, since Loki stays prisoner this time. Their Loki had spent the next six years on the run with the Tesseract. He has to wonder what this one will do.

He can only speculate. For now, he returns the scepter, (and salutes JARVIS) and hands off the Time Stone before slipping away. Before he heads off to other planets, he decides to take care of commissioning Sam's shield right away. He still needs to talk to Sam about that, but he at least has a plan for how to get the shield.

2016 Shuri is surprised and fascinated when he shows up in her lab, and he knows for sure that he has influenced this timeline somewhat. He thinks it will probably be fine, since she accepts that he can't really tell her any details about the future (besides the same vague warning Tony had given the 2012 timeline), and she agrees to make him the shield. It doesn't take long to finish, but he has to wait for it the old-fashioned way, which basically entails him hiding out from his alternative-self and refilling his pockets with as many protein bars as he can fit.

Once the shield is finished (and once Shuri has gotten a chance to at least look at his suit—even though she swears she won't build a time machine just yet), he shrinks the shield too, and sets off to return the last two stones.

He uses the Asgardian escape pod ship to fly to Vormir first. He smiles as he lands next to the Guardian's ship. It doesn't take long to shrink and collect it before turning towards the towering mountain Clint and Natasha had mentioned. Wind whistles emptily through the spires as he climbs up, and although he strains his eyes in case the Red Skull had managed to return somehow, he doesn't see anything.

This part of the mission had been a little vague. They hadn't been sure what exactly was needed to return the Soul Stone. With Red Skull gone, it isn't like there is someone to guard the area anymore… But the whole place feels like it has a sentience of its own, so Steve can only hope that Vormir will accept the return.

He reaches the top of the mountain, and he can see the ledge where Clint and Natasha must have forced Red Skull to his ultimate end. He steps closer, the wind tugging at his clothes as he hefts his suitcase and unclasps the latches. Inside, the second to last stone glints orange back at him.

He licks his lips and reaches gingerly for the Soul Stone. A spark surges through his hand as he touches it, and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end. The wind blows stronger, the whistling louder as he glances up and scans his surroundings.

A tingling grows in his hand, a pins and needles feeling that spreads up his arm the longer he holds the stone. "Alright," he whispers, unable to shake the feeling that something here is listening to him. The tingling sparks again and the wind shrieks louder as he withdraws his hand from the case.

"Alright, take it!" The wind rips the words from his mouth, and he rears back and flings the stone, the same way he would his shield.

The stone arcs high over the edge of the cliff, and he sees it sparkling orange against the grey sky. It hangs there for a short infinity, arching up and up…and then, just as it begins to angle down again, the wind behind him blasts with a ferocity that almost pushes him to the edge, and the stone disappears.

The wind dies, the sudden stillness deafening. He stumbles back, his own breath gasping loudly in the silence. He sucks in a breath and shakes his head, trying to clear it, feeling tired and elated all at once. It takes a moment longer to get his bearings, but once he is recovered, he sets off to return the last stone.

Returning the Power Stone should not have been a problem. All he needs to do is put it back in the protective barrier. He purposely times everything so that he arrives not long after Rhodey and Nebula do.

He has to wait—his hands clenched and his teeth biting into his cheeks to hold himself back—until after Thanos comes and kidnaps their Nebula. Stopping this Thanos won't change what already happened in his timeline, and if he tries to help Nebula and inadvertently gets captured himself or otherwise gives up the Power Stone to Thanos…

His mission is to return the stones, he cannot risk handing one over to this timeline's Thanos—especially since he knows where he is going—no matter how much he hates standing by. It doesn't take long for Thanos' ships to depart, and once he deems it safe enough, he creeps out to the ancient temple Rhodey had told him about.

He sees Quill as he sneaks in, the man looking groggy and confused as he wakes up amid the craggy stalagmites. He doesn't look like he is going anywhere fast, but Steve still does his best to hurry. If he can return the stone before Quill sees him, that would be best.

He gets to the temple, and inside is a single pedestal. A field of energy sparks with energy, continuing its vigil, guarding something that has already been stolen. He considers it for a moment, thinking back to the bare metal struts Nebula's arm had been reduced to after taking the stone. He can't afford that sort of thing, which means he has to come up with a different solution for getting the stone into the forcefield.

He has no choice but to pull out the shield. He would rather leave it for Sam to use first, but he doesn't have anything else that can withstand the power of the electric field. He hefts the shield in one hand and resizes the orb in the other. The field sparks unhappily as he holds the orb up to it, but he manages to wedge the shield against it. He pushes, and the forcefield slowly begins to give way. An angry humming fills the air, and he grunts as he gives one last shove before the orb finally rockets into the center of the forcefield where it is supposed to be.

He huffs out a breath and pauses to inspect the shield. Some of the paint had gotten scorched, and he frowns. He will have to go back to Shuri to go get it fixed. The GPS has that timeline saved, so he should be able to make a quick trip before he returns home. Shuri will probably scold him for wrecking the shield so quickly, but she will be able to fix it up good as new—

The sound of footfalls catches his attention, and his head snaps up to see a group of men holding blaster rifles standing in the doorway of the temple. At the front of the group, a bald Black man with white eyes and some kind of cyborg tech in his head, levels his gun at him.

"Get away from the orb," he orders.

Steve's stomach drops, and his eyes dart frantically between the men. He can't remember if Quill had mentioned these people coming, but he probably shouldn't be surprised. Rocket had said Quill had stolen the stone, so it would make sense for people to be chasing him.

Except he isn't here right now. Steve is.

He curses internally as the cyborg's gun charges, a yellow glow filling the barrel. "Get away from the orb!"

Steve raises his right arm, keeping his shield in front of him as he shuffles to the side, trying to figure out what to do. He can set the time-space GPS to get him out of here if he can get a few seconds to input the coordinates. It would mean leaving the Asgardian ship behind, but he is fine with that if it means getting out without getting shot.

The men advance on him, and Steve darts back a few steps, trying to keep from being surrounded as he frantically types coordinates into his GPS. He has to do it mostly by feel, because he doesn't want to risk taking his eyes off the approaching mercenaries. It shouldn't be hard though, all he needs to do is scroll back through his previous jumps, and then choose any of them, and then he can get out of here—

He hears a groan, and he looks up. Behind the guards blocking the door, he can see Quill, looking concussed and confused as he stumbles into the entryway. The cyborg glances back at the sound, and he lets out a cry of alarm at being snuck up on from behind.

Quill's eyes clear at the shout, and as Cyborg aims at him, he whips out his own blaster. He probably doesn't know what is going on, but he shows no hesitation in the face of the mercenaries' guns. His weapon charges, and that is all the warning Steve gets before he starts firing.

And then the world descends into pandemonium.

The guard next to him snarls something and shoots. Steve barely has time to bring his shield around to block the shot, a new scorch mark blackening the metal. He grits his teeth and ducks another shot from behind, glancing up to see Quill taking down four of the guards with some kind of magnetic device.

He watches as Quill sprints past them and heads for the forcefield. The back of his head is still bloody, but his eyes are mischievous as he tosses down another triangle magnet. His eyes meet his with cocky defiance. "Sorry," he says unapologetically as the orb begins to push through the field towards the magnet. "First come first serve."

Steve wouldn't have it any other way, but the guards react with anger. The one next to him raises his gun again, and he has no choice but to swing at him. He manages to block him with his shield, but he doesn't want to do much else. He needs to get out of here before he disrupts this timeline even more. His eyes go to his GPS, and he shoves the guard away, reaching for it.

In that very moment, Cyborg rears up and tries to level off a shot at Quill. Quill dives for the orb and rolls away, and the shot goes wide. Steve watches in slow motion as it bounces off the dying forcefield and ricochets towards him. His hand hits the GPS the same time the laser does, and he has just enough time to see the device spark and go haywire before he gets jerked down into the Quantum Realm.

As trips go, this is one of his worst.

Once he had gotten used to it, traveling through the Quantum Realm hadn't been too bad. It had been dizzying and colourful, but still rather controlled. This is nothing like that. Lights and colours spin nauseatingly in front of his eyes as he gets jerked to and fro. The ventricular force keeps him immobile as he rockets through tunnel after tunnel, and he can only hope that he will eventually come out again.

With the damage to the GPS he has no idea where this trip will end, and he has no idea if it can end. Scott had gotten trapped in the Quantum Realm, if he gets stuck too, there is no way he can get out again—

Before he can complete that terrifying thought, the warping tunnels around him begin to shift in colour. While before, everything had been a glowing blue, streaks of bright red begin to sneak in. He stares at the darkening strands, and with one final jerk, he gets blasted into a tunnel pulsing solely with red light.

And then three seconds later, the world whites out in the familiar indicator of a trip coming to an end, and he gets flung out into the open.

He lands shakily, crashing to his knees and gasping for breath as the GPS on his arm sparks pitifully. His shield is still on his arm, and he leans on it as he tries to catch his breath. It takes him a few seconds to get his bearings. This trip had taken a lot more out of him than the others had, and he stares mournfully at his broken GPS. The screen is cracked and black, and nothing comes up on the display when he taps it.

He sweeps his eyes in a perimeter scan, trying to figure out where he landed. He doubts he had made it back home, and he needs to fix the GPS before he can do anything about that. It would be convenient if he had landed in Wakanda again, because he is certain Shuri would love to take a look at the GPS, but the familiar brick walls of a back alley situate him somewhere else.

Did I really go all the way back to New York? he thinks as he pushes himself to his feet, glancing around the garbage collecting in the corners. He hadn't really been paying attention when he had set the coordinates, and the laser blast could have done anything to the GPS, so he is probably lucky he had landed somewhere familiar at all.

He looks down at the broken GPS and sighs. It looks like he is going to be interfering even more in this timeline than he first thought. He is lucky he had landed somewhere with someone who can fix this, but he imagines alternate-Steve and Tony are going to be in for the shock of their lives right about now.

It can't be helped, and he rolls his shoulders, folding away the Quantum suit and slinging the shield onto his back before setting off. He scans the skyline for the Avengers Tower as he steps out of the alley, and he sees it a few blocks away. His presence garners a few stares from the civilians out on the street, but he ignores them as he begins to jog towards the Tower. Hopefully anyone who sees him will just think his is their timeline's Captain America.

As he jogs, he notes that the city doesn't seem to be still recovering from the effects of the Chitauri attack. He had assumed he had landed near the battle again, but he can see no signs of it. The streets are relatively clear of rubble, and the skies are clear of smoke.

He frowns and wonders if the GPS had sent him to a different year when it glitched. That isn't really a problem, but it does mean that he doesn't know what to expect—

His thoughts cut off and he stumbles to a halt as he passes some kind of memorial against a shop wall. Red and gold bouquets of flowers spill out onto the sidewalk, along with tea lights and heartfelt cards and signs. That isn't what trips him up though. What catches his attention is the graffiti tribute spray-painted on the wall. It is Tony's helmet, the lines done in bold red and yellow. Underneath it, written in stylized black characters are the words: Rest in Peace.

His mouth falls open. He stares, trying to make sense of what he is seeing.

This can't be— this can't be implying what he thinks it is implying. No matter what year he had jumped to, he should still be following the events of his own timeline right? This had never happened, so why—?

He gives his head a shake and sets off with renewed vigour towards the Tower. Maybe he had somehow jumped further ahead in the alternate-timeline. Maybe, somehow, what they had done had… had unexpected consequences. He can't imagine why, because the only difference had been the Tesseract. Surely that couldn't have killed Tony, surely he can't be—

He gets no reassurance the closer he gets to the Tower. The steps leading up to the Tower are laden with flowers and wreaths, and there are notes and signs taped to the glass doors. His heart pounds as his eyes flick over the tokens of grief. What could have happened here? What had gone wrong?

He marches towards the glass doors, intent on getting inside and finding out what is going on. Tony can't be dead. He can't be. Someone inside the Tower will know what is going on. Someone will explain this to him.

Except security won't let him pass.

He hadn't expected it to be a problem. He figured they would let up Captain America, and then he could ask JARVIS what is happening, but he gets blocked almost as soon as he enters. "No visitors," the guard on his right states flatly, her eyes narrowed as she scans him.

He pauses to stare at her, trying to pull up her name from his time living here. "Cindy," he says, and he sees her eyebrows arch in surprise. "What are you talking about? I'm not a visitor."

That is a lie, but the guards shouldn't know that. Instead, his words only raise their suspicion. "Look," the guard on his left says sharply, a scowl on his face. "I don't know if you think you're funny, or what, but you need to push off."

He glances between them in bewilderment. "Guys, it's me," he tries, gesturing at the star on his chest. "I'm just trying to—"

"You should know better than to wear that," Cindy cuts in, her eyes hard as she glares at him. "Captain America is gone. The fact that you think you can waltz in here wearing that is just plain disrespectful."

He gapes at her. "Gone?" he echoes.

His bewilderment does not endear him to the guards. "Look, you need to leave," Cindy tells him firmly. She glances over him and his suit, and her eyes soften just a little. "Is there someone we can call for you, or—?"

He realises abruptly that she has mentally recategorized him from 'thoughtless' to 'unstable', and he pulls back. "No," he says quickly, hunching his shoulders defensively. "No, I just—" his eyes jump to the elevator behind them. A part of him had been subconsciously hoping that everything he had been seeing was a mistake. Tony would be still alive somewhere, and once he got to the Tower, he could work things out.

But if Tony is really dead, then coming to the Tower is pointless. Especially since people seem to think Captain America is gone too. He pulls in a breath and nods briskly to each guard, suppressing a shiver. "Sorry to bother you," he manages, before exiting as gracefully as possible.

Once outside the building, he edges over to stand in the shadow of a wall, trying to stay out of sight. His suit must stick out like a sore thumb, and he has no idea what to do now. He needs someone to help fix his GPS. If he can figure out how to get to Wakanda, then he might be able to ask Shuri, if…if she is alive. But first he is going to need civilian clothes, and maybe stop carrying around his shield like a beacon on his back.

His hand moves to his pocket to grab a shrinking chip—and then his feet fall out from under him. Gold sparks swirl up from the sidewalk, and he has just enough time to recognise a magic portal from Stephen before he falls through with an aborted yell.

He lands on his feet on the other end, before stumbling and almost pitching forward. He manages to catch his balance and he pulls back into a defensive stance. His eyes jump up from the wooden floor to the familiar sweeping staircase that makes up the front room of the Sanctum. He recognises this place because he and the Avengers had stayed here for a few days while Tony had been recovering, but he doesn't relax.

Stephen stands in front of him, his red cloak floating around him as he pins him with an incredulous stare. "What," he lowers his hands now that the spell is over, "are you doing here?"

It takes some explaining on Stephen's part. "This is not your timeline," he starts, raising his hand to cut off Steve's claim that he already knew that. "No, you misunderstand," he levels him with a look. "You shouldn't be able to come here at all. This timeline is not a branch off from your timeline. Your timeline branched off from this one."

It takes a moment to sink in. "Wait," Steve stares at him, his arms slack by his side. "Are you saying this is the— the original timeline? The one the time-travelers first came from?"

Stephen nods, looking exhausted and annoyed. "You shouldn't be here," he states, throwing him a look, as though this is somehow all his fault. "If you time travel, you should only be able to travel along your own timeline. You need to go back. Now."

Steve huffs. "I'd love to," he says dryly, activating his suit to show Stephen the broken GPS. "But my GPS got fried while I was trying to warp out. I'm guessing that's why it glitched and sent me here." He licks his lips and drops his hand. "I was hoping to find Tony to fix it but…"

A wince chases its way across Stephen's face, and he looks away. Steve's stomach drops. He hadn't wanted to accept that Tony could be dead in this timeline, but with Stephen's reaction, he has no choice but to believe.

What had happened here?

Stephen's gaze is steady when he looks back at him. "I can't send you back myself," he says, looking irritated. "But I can find someone to fix that thing. Hang on a moment."

Before Steve can respond, Stephen opens a portal and steps through, leaving him alone in the large entry room. He glances around, feeling antsy. The longer he stays here, the more he wants to go home now.

He gives a start when the portal opens again. Stephen doesn't step through, but he can hear his voice. "You guys jumped around the timelines, and now one of them has shown up here. So come and fix it."

Despite the situation, Steve has to bite back a grin. He remembers his own Stephen Strange grumbling a little about all the work he had woken up to, once they had undone the Dusting. Obviously creating a bunch of timelines to fight a villain is not generally recommended.

Through the portal, he hears the low rumble of someone responding, and soon, Stephen exits again. Behind him comes a blessedly familiar face. "Bruce!" he gasps, and he sees similar surprise flash over Bruce's face.

He looks similar to his own Bruce, both of them having found a balance between the Hulk and Doctor Banner. He can't help noticing the heavy sling on his right arm though—meaning he must have undone the Dusting like his Bruce and Thor had. It could be his imagination, but it looks to him as though the damage on that arm is more severe than what his Bruce had suffered.

"Steve," Bruce responds, a note of shock in his voice. He glances at Stephen and breathes in, setting his shoulders. "Strange explained. You need your GPS fixed?"

Steve nods mutely, holding out the cracked screen on his arm. Bruce flicks his eyes over him—something strange in his gaze—before he nods brisk and business-like. He turns to Stephen. "You got somewhere I can work?"

Stephen leads them to some kind of work lab that he had neglected to show Steve back in his timeline. He leaves him and Bruce to get to work, and Bruce sits him down at one of the metal tables. Steve lays out his arm so that Bruce can have easy access to it, and Bruce turns to start gathering some of the tools he will need. "What happened to it?"

Steve fills the silence by explaining what had led up to his unexpected arrival here. Bruce remains quiet and focused as he scans the GPS. He doesn't look up at him as he analyses the readout on his tablet, and Steve licks his lips uncomfortably.

"This…" Bruce's eyes jump up to his, and he continues determinedly. "This is really the original timeline?" he confirms, eyeing him. "You didn't have time-travelers show up for you?"

Bruce's mouth pulls up just briefly, and he shakes his head. "No," he says, setting aside his tablet and turning his attention to the face of the GPS. "We came up with that idea ourselves." His eyes meet his, and he looks thoughtful. "It's curious thinking the other timelines might still be in place," he says, working with one hand to start detaching the GPS from Steve's suit. "I thought they would've disappeared when Steve returned the stones."

Steve hadn't really thought of that. "I guess…our timeline was different enough that that wouldn't really make a difference," he hazards. "Loki did get away with the Tesseract, and other-Steve and other-Tony talked about Hydra so…"

He trails off as Bruce shoots him a look of surprise. "I didn't realise they did that."

"Oh." Steve tries not to sound too surprised that the others had never told Bruce about everything that had gone on during their trips. The meetings in his own timeline had been rather thorough, and he knows almost everything about every trip they had taken. "Well. They did. Other-Steve actually mentioned Hydra to some of the STRIKE agents, so they thought I was Hydra like them."

That gets an even stronger look of surprise from Bruce, and as he waits for him to finish detaching the GPS, Steve lets himself ramble about how he and Tony had slowly detangled the web of SHIELD and Hydra.

"'Course, we hoped JARVIS would be able to take down the Helicarriers, but Zola blocked him, so we had to blow up the Helicarriers. That was a good thing anyway, since I don't think anyone should have those things. And then I was finally able to take Bucky away from Hydra."

Bruce remains thoughtful and silent as he works. The GPS is flipped over, so that he can access the back, and he works methodically with one hand as he listens. Steve tries not to fidget in the silence. It feels strange thinking about what had happened in his timeline due to this one's interference.

"So…" he shifts a little in his seat. "I'm guessing you guys didn't find out about Hydra the same way we did." He leans forward. "But you found them, right?"

Bruce nods absentmindedly, his eyes on his work. "Yeah, oh…back in 2014, I think." Steve's mouth drops open at the year difference between their two timelines. Bruce shrugs one shoulder. "I was in Guatemala at the time though," he says. "I only saw the aftermath on the news." His eyes meet his for a moment, his face unreadable. "Steve didn't tell me much, but I know that Bucky disappeared afterwards. Apparently he broke through his programming but…"

He shrugs again, and Steve can only stare. So much of the statement feels wrong to him, he doesn't even know where to begin. "I guess…it would have been harder if your Steve wasn't Bucky's handler," he starts slowly, trying and failing to imagine what it must have been like for other-Steve to stumble across a brainwashed Bucky while he had been fighting Hydra—and then to have him disappear afterwards.

His own experience finding Bucky had not been pleasant, but he had at least never had to fight him, and he'd been able to take Bucky back to the Tower with him when it was all over— He blinks, the thought of the Tower reminds him of something else Bruce had said.

"Guatemala?" he repeats, watching as Bruce pulls out a fried bundle of wires from the GPS. "You weren't in the Tower?"

Bruce shakes his head, not looking up. "We didn't live in the Tower together like you seem to have," he says, without elaborating.

Steve sits back. "Oh." He can't really imagine that. He had been living with the Avengers in one place or another for so long, he can't imagine…not doing that. He straightens his shoulders. "What about the compound?" he questions, trying not to sound desperate. "Did you still— did Tony build—?"

He cuts himself off at the mention of Tony, but Bruce gets the gist. "Yeah," he nods. "That was just before Ultron though."

Steve's brows pull together. "Ultron?"

Bruce's head darts up, and he stares at him, his hand motionless over the GPS. "Yeah," he says, a note of disbelief in his voice. "Tony and I, we built Ultron—a robot AI. With the scepter. It attacked Sokovia, in 2015."

Steve is almost speechless. "We…" he swallows. "We gave the scepter to Thor," he manages, feeling dizzy at what he had just heard. "We knew where it was, because of my undercover work with Hydra. We raided the base in 2013."

Bruce's hand lowers to rest on the table. "Wow," he says quietly, almost wistfully. He gives his head a shake and breathes in. "That changes a lot then." He focuses back on his work. "Did you even have Wanda? Or Vision?"

Steve's mouth opens, and he shakes his head soundlessly. "Who—?"

"Vision's dead," Bruce says without looking up, his voice flat. "I don't know where Wanda went." He breathes in, and his shoulders relax an inch or so. He looks suddenly very tired. "I guess you wouldn't have the Sokovia Accords either then."

Steve tries to get a grip on the conversation. "No— well, it was the Avengers Accords for us." Bruce looks up in surprise, and Steve finds himself explaining how those events had unfolded. "…so, after that we went with the others for solidarity, but then Rumlow blew the building—"

"Rumlow?" Bruce interrupts, looking shocked.

Steve pauses, feeling off-balance. "It wasn't Rumlow for you?"

Bruce blinks a few times and shrugs. "Well, I actually wasn't there for any of that for us," he says, tugging out another charred wire. "So I only know this all second-hand." His mouth twists up, and he shakes his head. "Sounds like your Bruce never got zapped up into space."

Steve's mouth falls open. "Uh. No." He is so stunned he can't think of what to say, and Bruce doesn't clarify.

He only sighs. "Yeah, well, I came back when Thanos was attacking, and that's when I learned about the Accords, and how the Avengers broke up after it." Steve's eyes bug out, and he almost doesn't hear Bruce muttering how it would make sense that 'Zemo' didn't blow the UN since they'd never had an Ultron.

He is still stuck on his last sentence. "Broke up?" he echoes, his stomach feeling hollow. "What— what do you mean?"

Bruce eyes him for a moment. "You said not everybody signed, right?" he says, his eyes narrowed. "Did you sign?"

Steve pulls back. "No, I didn't."

Bruce frowns. "Well then, did Tony not sign?"

Steve shakes his head. "No, Tony decided to sign, because he wanted to try to keep an eye on the Accords. But I didn't want to risk getting trapped in them, so I didn't."

Bruce stares, before he huffs and goes back to his work. "Well, that's what happened here," he says, glaring at a cracked sensor that stubbornly avoids his tweezers. "But from what I've heard…you and Tony fought about it." He looks up. "Like, really fought about it. Physically."

It is Steve's turn to stare. "I— what— no. I would never— Tony wouldn't—" He can't even form full sentences. His shock is too much. "Why?"

Bruce shakes his head. "I've only heard this story in bits and pieces," he says, and Steve can't help noting how, the more he talks, the more it becomes clear how separated these Avengers are. They hadn't even lived together. They hardly seem to even talk to each other. They had fought each other.

"I think Steve broke the Accords to go after…after Hydra's Winter Soldiers, or something," Bruce says, pulling Steve back into the conversation. He is no less shocked than before. The Winter Soldiers? They had dealt with those ages before the Accords, because— because Bucky had told them about them, because they had taken Hydra down early, because of the time-travelers.

He can remember in his own timeline, Ross had criticized him for killing the Winter Soldiers without permission. It sounds like his other-self had done so in this timeline too, but at a much greater risk.

"Tony was sent after him," Bruce continues. He bites his lip. "I think he was going to help him but…" his eyes flick up to him, looking concerned. "Uh, I'm kind of vague on this point. But something happened there. I think something to do with Bucky's missions, and Tony's parents."

Steve's blood goes cold, and he sits frozen as Bruce continues. "I think Tony started to attack Bucky," he says, the words practically incomprehensible with how wrong they are. "So Steve and Tony fought, and, well…afterwards, Steve and the other non-signers had to go on the run."

Tony would never— Tony would never attack Bucky. He swallows. His Tony would never. He had needed time and distance as he had come to terms with the death of his parents, but he had never taken it out on Bucky. Even just thinking about that makes him feel sick. And then, to learn that his other-self had apparently become a fugitive— He swallows again, his throat dry. His hands feel far away on the table, and his head feels like it is floating. The things Bruce is saying sound so wrong. He can't even imagine— He can't even imagine living through this timeline.

Bruce sees the look on his face, and he looks back down at the GPS. "I'm guessing that didn't happen for you."

"No," he gets out, the word thick in his throat. He can't even explain how differently things had ended up. The Accords had been a stressful time. The signing, and Peggy's death, and the explosion…it had nearly pushed him to his wit's end, but Tony had been at his side for all of it. Even if they were making different decisions in the face of the Accords.

His heart pounds as he watches Bruce pull a bin of new wires towards himself and begin to meticulously thread them into his GPS. All this talk about him and Tony reminds him of the gut-wrenching memorial he had seen, and he can't keep the burning question of what had happened down anymore.

"What about—" he breathes in as Bruce glances up. "What about Tony? In this timeline." He darts his gaze over him desperately, his hands curling into fists. "He can't really— he can't really be dead."

Bruce freezes, his green skin paling. "Your Tony survived!?" he barks, the sudden sharpness in his voice startling. He sits up, leaning forward. "Did someone else do the snap? Who was it?"

Steve pulls back at the intensity of his gaze. "No. No, Tony did it," he defends. "We all grabbed onto him—" his eyes drop to Bruce's arm. The one that is more damaged than his Bruce's arm. "You didn't…you didn't," his eyes go up to meet his. "You didn't share the power, when you snapped?"

Bruce deflates, the lines on his face getting deeper. "No," he says quietly. His eyes fall despondently onto the gutted GPS. "We didn't think of that."

Steve doesn't know what to say. In his timeline, it had been Tony who had made the original suggestion, because he had heard it from the Guardians. He can only assume that this Tony had never been told that trick, maybe because it had taken them so much longer to reverse things. That can be the only reason. His eyes settle on Bruce, taking in the slump of his shoulders, and he feels a sting of pity for him. He can't imagine what it must be like to learn there was a solution they could have done, but didn't.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, and Bruce's expression softens into something recognisable as he looks up.

"I'm…glad it worked out differently for you guys, at least," he says sadly. He draws away, his eyes dropping as he moves to realign some more wires.

Steve breathes in, trying to think of something more upbeat to talk about. Anything to shift the oppressive atmosphere of the room. "So, what have you and the other Avengers been doing?" he asks, hoping not to step on any hidden landmines. "Now that you undid the Dusting?"

Bruce squints at him inexplicably, before shaking his head and going back to his work. "Mostly trying to rebuild, I think," he says. "I heard Clint put up a little memorial for Natasha at his farm though, just like how she wanted it, which is nice. I haven't gotten a chance to visit yet though."

Steve's insides freeze and his breath chokes off in his throat. "Natasha…?" The word is choked and strangled, and he knows he must be sheet white when Bruce looks up.

A look of sympathy passes over his face. "Was it Clint for you guys?"

All at once Steve realises what he is talking about. He must be talking about the Soul Stone exchange. This timeline must not have— Their Natasha had died for the Soul Stone. They hadn't figured out a way out of it. Their Natasha is dead.

And Bruce is looking at him because he assumes that their Clint had sacrificed himself instead of Natasha, because he can't even imagine a world where neither of them would have to die. Steve knows suddenly that he cannot dissuade him of that belief. He cannot be the one to tell him that none of his friends had to die.

"Yeah," he lies instead, his voice strained and his mind reeling as he tries to get a grip on the revelations he had been given. His shock helps sell the lie, and Bruce nods sadly.

"I tried to bring Nat back," he shrugs his injured shoulder. "But I couldn't."

Steve nods dazedly, and he doesn't ask if he had happened to bring Loki back in this timeline. If Bruce had snapped alone, without Thor's help, then he has a feeling that he probably hadn't. Also…if Loki had remained prisoner in this timeline, and hadn't spent six years on the run from Thanos, then it is probable that this timeline had never learned that Thanos was behind Loki's attack in the first place. Bruce would have no reason to bring Loki back.

He thinks about how devastated his Thor had been at the loss of his brother and his people, and he knows that this Thor must have been even worse.

Steve swallows down a wave of nausea, and wipes his hands on his pants. He watches as Bruce begins to carefully solder the wires he had set, using a helping-hand device to make up for his damaged one. He hopes Bruce is almost done. He wants to go home now. Everything is so, so different here, and it leaves him feeling cold and empty inside.

A thought strikes him as Bruce begins fiddling with the sensor board. "Hey, did it really take this timeline four years to undo the Dusting?"

Bruce looks up at him, his expression confused. "Five years," he corrects. Steve opens his mouth and then closes it.

"Oh." His lips press together. They had known that this timeline had taken longer, but they hadn't been sure exactly how long. To hear in concrete terms how long this timeline had lived with the Dusting…

"I take it that the Blip didn't last so long for you?" Bruce comments wryly.

Steve mouths the word ' Blip' in bewilderment, his nose wrinkling, before answering. "No," he says, shaking his head. "We…we were able to find Scott earlier." He decides not to say how much earlier. He doesn't think that that would be fair to Bruce.

He breathes in shakily, his anxious energy growing as he waits for Bruce to calibrate his GPS. He wants to go home. He wants to go home now.

The silence as Bruce works sits on him heavily, and he finds himself breaking it with another question that had been plaguing him. "Before Stephen found me," he starts, watching Bruce nod to show he is listening. "I… someone told me that Captain America is…gone, in this timeline."

Bruce pauses and looks up at him, something unreadable in his eyes. After a second of silence, he goes back to his work, his shoulders hunched. "He might as well be," he says, tiny sparks jumping up as he solders another wire. "I think he found somewhere quiet to live out whatever time he has left."

Steve's brow knits together in complete confusion, and Bruce glances up at him. He sighs. "When you went to return the stones, you stayed away," he says. "You lived out your life in the past. You came back an old man."

Steve's mouth falls open in disbelief, and Bruce eyes him. "You're not planning to do that?"

"No!" he bursts out, his mind spinning in bewilderment. "Why would I— why would he do that?"

It is Bruce's turn to draw back a little. "I don't know," he says finally. "I didn't ask."

Of course he didn't. Because the Avengers here are not as close as the Avengers back home. Steve slumps and runs a restless hand through his hair, trying to process what he had heard. Bruce lets him sit in silence, his quiet work with the GPS filling the air as he thinks.

He can remember wondering about the other-Steve when he had been preparing for the time heist. He and Tony had wondered about why the other-Steve would still have his compass on him. Had he really been so lost in this timeline that he had felt he couldn't even live here?

Steve swallows and thinks about all he has observed of this timeline. The Avengers are not close in this timeline. That is clear. His other-self and Tony hardly even appear to be friends. They had fought each other, and his other-self had taken a lot longer to find Bucky too.

It had been Tony who had first told him about PTSD and pushed him to see a therapist. It had been the Avengers and Bucky who had helped him to start breaking his bad coping habits. If this Steve had had none of that…

He had used to think that he would have no idea where he would be if he hadn't allowed Tony to rope him into therapy…but now he thinks he has a pretty good idea.

And this Steve had had to deal with the Dusting for five years, plus the deaths of both Tony and Natasha.

"What about Bucky?" he manages, pressing his hands against the table. "What about Bucky and Sam? Are they still here?" This Steve had had to live with their deaths for five years.

Bruce nods as though he isn't sure why he is asking the question, and Steve's lips part as he tries to comprehend that. He cannot even fathom what his other-self must have been going through to need to leave so badly that he had left both Sam and Bucky.

"Are…they okay?" he gets out, and Bruce shrugs, a sympathetic look on his face.

"I…don't really talk to them much," he says. "I hardly even met them really."

That…that is so hard to imagine. His Bruce had been especially close to Bucky in his timeline. The two of them would spend hours together, and he knows that Sam and Bruce's personalities had meshed well whenever they had been together. To think that this Bruce barely even knew these people…

He breathes in and rubs a hand over his face, feeling drained. He looks down at the GPS and swallows. "Are you almost done?" his voice comes out rough and jagged, but Bruce doesn't comment on it.

"Yeah," he says softly, and they sit in mutually agreed upon silence for the rest of the repairs.

oOo

Bruce's eyes are clouded as he hands him the repaired GPS, and now that Steve knows more about his other-self's actions in this timeline, he understands better the strange looks he has been getting from him. The face of the GPS is still cracked, but the screen lights up when he taps it.

He breathes out in relief as familiar coordinates stare back at him. It's fixed. He can go home again. He can get out of here.

Stephen accompanies him back to the entry of the Sanctum. "You should be able to travel back to your own timeline now that that is fixed," he says, eyeing him critically. "You don't belong here; the timeline will try to fix itself."

Steve nods automatically, his hands trembling imperceptibly as he types in the coordinates. He casts one last glance at Bruce standing silently behind Stephen. "Thank you," he says, wishing he had something better to say to him after seeing this timeline. He presses his lips together. "Good luck."

Bruce nods, his eyes solemn. "You too," he says quietly.

Steve breathes in and presses his finger to the GPS. Please take me home, he thinks as the world pulls away and he is once again hurtled through the eerily red tunnels of the Quantum Realm.

The trip is just as bumpy as last time. His heart pounds in his mouth as he rockets through the rollercoaster of tunnels. If this doesn't work, he could stay trapped away from his timeline. He will be just like the other-Steve, except they will never know what happened to him.

Overwhelming relief surges through his veins as the tunnels begin to bleed into blue. The GPS tugs him along the pathways, and hope drives the air from his lungs as the world whites out and he plunges to the other side of the jump.

He lands with a cry and tumbles to his knees. His hands fly out as he catches himself and his breath bursts out of him in pants, his whole body shaking.

"Steve?"

His head snaps up at the sound of Bucky's voice. Bucky is coming towards him, worry etched on his face, and Sam is behind him and— and Tony is there with Bruce. Even Loki is still there at the back of the room, his arms folded as he watches them uncertainly.

Bucky reaches him, and Steve sucks in a gasp, his hands scrambling to grab onto Bucky's shirt. It is loose, because Bucky is still missing his left arm, and Bucky's right hand comes up to clasp his shoulder, trying to stabilise him.

"This is home?" Steve blurts before Bucky can say anything. His eyes jump up to the control console. Tony has edged around it, watching him, his brows pulled together in concern. He hangs back, probably to give him some space, but that is the last thing Steve needs right now.

He staggers to his feet, Bucky following his movements worriedly. "Tony," he mumbles, stumbling towards him. His breaths are still uneven and ragged, and Tony's eyes widen as he approaches. His good arm reaches out to steady him, and Steve doesn't pause as he drags him into a frantic hug.

Tony starts in surprise, his hand jerking, before he relaxes and reaches around him. He is hampered by his shield, and Steve realises absentmindedly that he had completely forgotten to go and get the thing repaired. That hardly seems to matter right now. What matters now is that Tony is here and that—

"Steve, you're shaking," Tony says, his voice muffled as his nose presses into his shoulder. "What happened?"

Steve pulls away a little, but doesn't answer, his mind suddenly remembering someone else he needs to check on. "Natasha," he gasps, his hand still on Tony's shoulder. "Is she— Is she okay?" He looks away from Tony's lost expression, craning his head towards the ceiling. "JARVIS," a frantic edge pulls at his voice, "is Natasha okay?"

"Indeed, Captain," JARVIS responds, his voice cool and calming. "Agent Romanoff is with Agent Barton and his family in the common room."

All the air leaves him at once, his shaking growing stronger as he begins to come down from his adrenaline spike. "Okay," he manages, exhaustion sweeping through him. His eyes close. "Alright, okay."

He sways, and he feels Tony's grip shift as he tries to keep him steady. He opens his eyes, and Sam is coming up on his other side. "You look like you could sit down," he says firmly, the words not a suggestion. Steve nods, and lets Sam help him over to the dilapidated couch that had managed to stick around in Tony's lab, even after all this time.

The others follow as Steve slumps tiredly onto the cushions. He manages to pull the shield from his back, and he sets it aside for now. He will talk to Sam about that later. That is a conversation that needs to be had outside of the shock he has just received.

Bucky settles on the couch next to him, and the others pull up various chairs to sit around him, varying degrees of worry lining their face. He smiles a little at their concern. It is so real, and important, given what he had just witnessed. He runs a shaky hand through his hair and notes that Loki has slipped out of the room at some point, leaving them in private.

"What happened?" Bucky asks softly.

Steve breathes in, and he tells them.

He starts with the shot to the GPS, and how that had rocketed him to the wrong timeline. His voice wavers as he recounts the memorial he had seen, and a horrified silence grows thick around him the more he tells them of the other timeline. Tony's face is grey as he tells him about the alleged fight between their other-selves, and Bruce goes deadly still as he explains how Natasha had died in the other timeline. Both Sam and Bucky shift uneasily as he lists off what his own other-self had done, and his throat is dry, his voice cracking by the time he finishes up.

Tony pushes away to get him some water. As he returns, a sad trill alerts them to DUM-E and U both sitting forlornly at the edge of the circle, grieving along with them.

Despite everything, Steve almost laughs. This is so… this is so familiar. This is not the first time he has had a breakdown on Tony's couch. He had collapsed here when he had first learned what Hydra had done to Bucky. Tony had been there for it too, and now, this time, he has a much larger support group.

He accepts the water with trembling hands while, next to him, Bucky lets out a breath. "That sounds horrible," he announces, and the others nod along with him emphatically.

"Yeah," Steve croaks, breathing in shakily. "I'm— I'm glad I could make it back."

Bucky leans into his side, and Steve can feel himself begin to settle as he takes another sip of water. "I'm glad you're back," Bucky says, and the sentiment is reflected in all the faces around him.

He lets out a breath and presses against Bucky's shoulder. "I'm glad I had here to come back to," he says, his eyes drifting over the faces of his friends. "I— it wasn't easy, but…but I think we did okay here. You know, considering." The memorial flashes in front of his eyes, and his hands tighten around his cup. "I'm glad we're all here to see it."

His eyes fall on Tony, and he sees him nod. "Yeah," he says softly. "We did good."

Thank goodness, Steve thinks.

AN: I was super excited to share this chapter with you! I didn't have Steve visit the original timeline in the main fic, because I think it would actually be impossible for him, but it was fun to explore that possibility here!

(Note that I haven't watched the Loki show yet, so I don't know anything about the timeline lore from there. We're ignoring anything that doesn't fit.)

In the original timeline, the Quantum Realm walls were blue, so I used red to show that Steve was entering the wrong timeline. I thought about making the alt-timeline Quantum Realm a different colour, but I decided the walls would be blue whenever you're traveling in the right realm.

This oneshot isn't meant to rag on the mcu-timeline, but the Avengers and Steve would definitely be horrified to learn how different their two timelines are. It was interesting working through the assumptions both he and Bruce had about the other timeline.