Hey everyone sorry for the delay. Christmas shopping has been crazy. Anyway here it is. Please let me know what you think. Merry Christmas
Two days after arriving in the camp in Azzano, we were all sent back to London. I was having a hard time avoiding all the questions about how I ended up Hydra's prisoner. Luckily Steve and Bucky managed to divert the questions whenever anyone brought it up. As for the three of us, we were practically attached at the hip. Ever since Bucky forced us to clear up any misunderstanding there were between us
It was easier to talk to them without fear of rejection. There were a few times they asked about the future where I couldn't answer their questions.
"When will the war end?" Steve asked.
"I can't tell you that?" I respond.
"But you already told Bucky we win." Steve says.
"Yeah but a lot of things happen before then. I can't change anything. The choices you're going to have to make that lead to us winning can change and if that happens I can change the future and not necessarily for the better." I explain.
"So then why did you tell Bucky the overall outcome of the war if it endangers the future?"
"For two reasons, one I didn't give him any specifics and two, we were in a really bad situation. He needed all the hope he could get."
We don't say anything for a while just enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine while we can. We were laying on the grass in a park in the middle of London.
That is until Steve broke the silence by saying, "So why'd you wake up so early?"
Flashback- a couple of hours earlier
The park was about a block away from the apartment we were staying at. The SSR owned the building and gave Steve the apartment, which meant they also gave Bucky and I a place to stay. I offered to find another place but Steve had just grabbed me and carried me in a fireman's hold to the apartment. That was the end of that discussion. I got my own room while Steve and Bucky shared the other room.
The only down side of the apartment were that the walls were thin. Paper-thin. This morning for instance I woke up to some very, very loud grunting. At first I thought someone was hurt, then I heard moaning and panting. Yup, definitely not getting any more sleep. I decided to get up and get dressed. I figured I would go make breakfast and some coffee. The kitchen and living room were in an open space and the noise was even worse in there. I couldn't stay there. The guys deserved some alone time and I really didn't want to eavesdrop. It had been a while for me and I was getting really turned on and we are not at that point in our relationship where I felt ready to jump into bed with them. Oh don't get me wrong I was really tempted too but no this was just between them. Maybe another time. So when I heard them moan out each others names I got my key and walked out of the apartment.
I left the building and it was a bit foggy but not too cold. I was wearing a cream colored button down with black collar and a grey skirt. Peggy had lent me some clothes when we got to London. We shared a tent during the two days we were in Azzano and became fast friends. There's nothing like being the only two girls in camp to make two people bond fast.
I took a walk around the block until I found a small cafe I ordered a coffee and a croissant. I sat there and read one of the books the owners had around the place. Don't know how long I was there. I had always been able to loose myself in a good book. I finished the entire book by the end of my second cup of coffee. I paid the bill and got a few croissants for the guys before heading back to the apartment.
When I got back to the apartment, Steve and Bucky were already in the kitchen talking over a cup of coffee.
"Morning guys, got you breakfast." I say as I walked in. I placed the bag with the croissants on the counter. They stared at me completely shocked.
"We thought you were still asleep." Steve says surprised.
"I woke up a few hours ago and couldn't get back to sleep. Figured it was a nice day out I should take advantage and go out for a walk. I found a nice café and I got breakfast while I was there. Brought you guys back some croissants."
"Oh that'll go great with the coffee thanks Nora." Bucky says while stuffing his face with said croissant.
"How'd you guys sleep?" I ask.
"Great" they both answered at the same time.
"That's great," I said.
"So we were thinking. Steve has that meeting tomorrow with Philips but we have the entire day to ourselves. How about we go out and look around? Maybe make a day out of it?" Bucky says looking slightly nervous about my reaction.
"Sounds fun. When are we heading out?" I asked.
"As soon as we finish eating and get dressed."
"Okay." I said.
End Flashback
"Couldn't sleep, I told you earlier. Probably since it's a new place." I answer.
"You could have woken us up." Steve says.
"You two were a bit busy. The walls are very thin." I say avoiding eye contact.
"Oh…OH! You heard us?" He says blushing.
"Yeah. Decided to go out and give you guys some alone time."
"I…"
"Hey you two look who I ran into." Bucky said as he approached with Peggy behind him.
Steve immediately stood up and greeted her, "Agent Carter."
Bucky went to my side and pulled me up. "Hi, Peggy. How are you?" I greeted with a smile.
"I'm good. I'm actually here on business. Colonel Phillips wants to see you." She says.
"I thought our meeting wasn't until tomorrow." Steve says.
"This is on a different matter. He actually wants the three of you back at headquarters at once."
"The three of us?" Bucky asked confused.
"Those were his orders. There's a car waiting for us. If you'll follow me." She turned around and then headed to the car waiting at the curb.
"We better go. I'm not his most favorite person right now, let's not keep him waiting and make it worse on ourselves." Steve says
Bucky put an arm around my shoulders and kept me by his side. Steve just hovered at our side. We got in the back seat. I sat between them both and Peggy just looked at the three of us.
"So how have you three been adjusting to being together?" Peggy asked.
"Living together isn't so bad. Nora bought us breakfast this morning." Bucky answered.
"What's it like, being each other's soul mates?" Peggy asked.
"Uhhh." Steve was speechless. Bucky was tense. I was just avoiding eye contact.
"Would you three relax? I'm not telling anyone, not that they probably haven't already noticed. You three are practically attached at the hip since Azzano."
"It's an adjustment." I answered trying to get rid of the awkwardness in the car.
"That's probably normal. You three met under extenuating circumstances but you seem to be doing fine." She says giving me a smile. Bucky seemed to relax at her words because he put his arm on the back of the seat. Steve was still a bit tense. I reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He sent me a small smile.
The car stopped and Peggy said, "Here we are, if you'll follow me."
We entered what looked like a switchboard operation office. We took a hidden entrance and when down a few flights of stairs before we arrived at another guarded entrance. When the soldiers saw Peggy they opened the doors and gave her a small nod.
Peggy led us to an office and she knocked on the door. "Come in" came the reply and she opened the door.
"Sir, Captain Rogers, Sargent Barnes, and their friend as you requested," Peggy said. To make sure no one figured out the relationship between me and grandpa Howard I never gave anyone my last name only my first name. My blood tests only had my first and middle initials. The nurse who took my blood was a bit annoyed but she was overworked and didn't argue.
"Send them in." He said. When we entered he was sitting behind his desk. As soon as we were both sitting down Philips said, "Before I start is there anything the three of you need to tell me."
We stayed quiet.
"Fine then. You" He said looking at me, "What's your Name?"
"Nora" I replied.
"Your full name." He said.
I stayed quiet. I debated giving him my fake name but for some reason I didn't think that was a good idea.
"Erksine made many contributions to the SSR besides Rogers. He created a test to identify a person from a tissue or blood sample. Any blood tests that are performed by the medical division of the SSR including the ones out in the field like the one in Azzano. Those test results are compared to those on file to track down relatives in case of death. Your sample came back with a match. You care to take a guess to who?" Oh crap he couldn't have figured it out.
I stayed quiet. The silence was interrupted by a knock that the door.
"Come in."
"You wanted to see me." A man asked. I looked up at him and recognized him from old photos Nana and dad would show me as a kid. It was Grandpa Howard. The first thing that struck me was how much he looked like dad or should I say how much dad looked like him. The resemblance was uncanny.
He noticed me staring because he then said, "And who might this gorgeous young lady be." Did he seriously just try to make a move on his granddaughter? I now know where dad got it from. Bucky and Steve just sent him a glare.
"Stark there's something you need to see." Philips said handing him a file.
Gramps opened the file and looked it over. "This can't be right." He told Philips.
"They ran it five times and got three opinions, it's not a mistake. Congratulations you're a grandfather." Philips deadpanned.
"Philips I don't even have a kid how on earth can I be a grandfather?" Gramps argued.
"That's what were here to find out. Would you like to explain yourself Miss Stark?" Philips says looking at me.
"Wait, you're…" Gramps starts.
"Yeah, Nora Eliana Stark, nice to finally meet you gramps." I say awkwardly.
"This can't be true. It's impossible." Gramps argues.
"It's true." Bucky said rolling up the right sleeve of his shirt. There on his Bicep was his soul mark with my name on it.
"She's not lying about her name and I'm sure she isn't lying about how she was captured by Hydra. It's in the files." Steve says.
"Would you like to explain how you ended up imprisoned by Hydra?" Philips said but it was implied as more of an order.
"I guess I'll start from the beginning." I told them the entire story the same way I told Bucky and Steve. My birthdate. The year I was from. Geneva. The malfunctioning super collider. The bright light and appearing in a Hydra base. By the time I was done Philips and Gramps were just staring at me silently. Philips was staring me down trying to see if I was lying and this was just a ruse. Gramps on the other hand was just looking me up and down. I assume he was trying to see any similarities between the two of us.
"Do you have any proof were related?" Gramps asked.
"Well I don't exactly carry my birth certificate with me all the time. You want to hook me up to a polygraph and see if I'm lying?" I said while lifting my left arm to scratch behind my neck. The tag of the shirt I was wearing was bugging me.
"Give me your hand." Gramps asked.
"Uh Okay," I said offering my right hand.
"Not this one your left hand." He asked.
I was a bit confused as to why he needed my left hand but okay. I placed my left hand in his. He turned my hand over and opened a space between my pinky and ring finger.
"We're definitely related. You have the same birthmark on your finger as I do. Everyone from my ma's side of the family has the same mark on the same finger. My kid sister had it too." He says. Didn't know gramps had a sister. Dad never mentioned having an aunt.
"Now that we know that, you two want to figure out how this entire situation is even possible." Philips said.
"I'll need to run some tests. You said you were at a presentation about antineutrinos. Chances are that you still have some residual energy that they released. That might be a good place to start." Gramps says.
"What are we going to use to detect the energy?" I asked.
"I have a Geiger meter. The energy released should have a similar energy signature to that of …" He says before I interrupt him.
"Actually it doesn't but you can modify the Geiger meter to broaden its spectrum using a spectrometer augmented with a…" he gave me a look that let me know where I was going with my train of thought.
"That's brilliant." He answers with a smile.
That's when we turn to look at Philips and my soul mates. They just looked at us as if we had grown two heads or something.
"Oh god there's two of them now." Philips groaned.
"Uh were they speaking English?" Steve asks Bucky.
"I don't know I couldn't follow anything after he confirmed they were related." Bucky answered.
"Sorry we got caught up with shop talk." Gramps answered not sounding at all remorseful.
"Now that this has been cleared up how about the two of you go do whatever it is you just said." Philips said.
"Sure come on kid I'll show you all of my toys." Gramps said leading me out of the lab.
"See you guys later." I said I called over my shoulder.
Three Hours Later-
After a few hours of calculations, debating and tinkering we completed the adjusted meter.
"Now to see if it works." I say.
"Kid I'm the best mechanical engineer in the states, of course it'll work." He says. Wow having a massive ego is hereditary.
"You said the same thing about the flying car at the World Expo a couple months ago." I retort.
"Hey I did say it would be a few years and it did work for about a minute." He argues.
I chuckled. "So where do you want me?" I ask.
"Over by the wall is fine." I walk over to where he said and stood there.
"Just one minor adjustment, Let me focus it and we're ready. Lets try it out." He says picking up the wand and holding the meter in his left hand. He waved it around "Hmm."
"Good Hmm or bad Hmm?" I ask.
"These reading are strange."
"I'm a time traveler how much stranger than that could it be." I retort.
"That's the thing these readings don't match that of what would theoretically be energy from antineutrinos."
"What?" I walk over to his side and see the readings. "That can't be right. I've never seen readings like that."
"I have." He answers. "One of the soldier brought back one of the weapons Hydra used in Azzano. The energy source had a reading similar to whatever caused you to jump through time."
"Did you finish the analysis?" I asked
"I was working on it before Philips summoned me to his office to deal with your situation." He said
"Well no time like the present to get to it. Need an extra set of eyes?" I asked.
"Sure two Starks are better than one." He retorts.
We left to a more restricted part of the science division of the SSR. In a sealed chamber there was a small bright blue orb.
"That was inside the laser gun?" I ask.
"I would describe it as more of a energy magnifying beam but yes that tiny thing is the energy source."
"The energy signature is similar to the energy around me but its slightly different." As I got closer to the chamber I got this really strange feeling. I got chills running down my spine.
"Alpha and beta ray neutral, Doubt Rogers picked up on that."
"In his defense he was a bit preoccupied rescuing us and fighting a red faced Nazi." I retort.
"Seems harmless enough. Let's see what all the fuss is about"
"Careful gramps, looks can be deceiving." He moves the claw and sticks the energy source with a needle and boom. It exploded. It pushed both of us back. There were shards of glass everywhere.
"Write that down." He says from the floor.
I started to see the same light as before. I looked down and saw it was coming from me. "Uhh gramps, something's happening."
He got up and saw the glowing. It was getting brighter and brighter to the point I couldn't see anything. I felt cold and then the light disappeared and I was no longer in the lab. Oh shit. Where am I?
I looked around and I was in a strange room. Everything was gold and at the center of the room was a strange large orb. Standing in front of it was a tall man wearing gold armor. His helmet had horns. He had a sword he held with both hands with the blade pointing towards the ground. What really caught my attention were his eyes. They were a bright yellow. They appeared to almost be glowing.
"Who are you?" I ask keeping my distance.
"I am Heimdal, guardian of worlds and gatekeeper of Asgard."
"Asgard, as in the world of Norse gods, like Thor and Loki? That's not possible. Those are myths." I say.
"All myths are based on the truth, they just get distorted over time."
"I can't be here. I'm supposed to be on Earth." I say. "Please send me back."
"I didn't bring you here. You did."
"How? I've been traveling through time. This is the second time this happens. I have no control over it."
He picks up his sword and sheaths it. He then steps down. "Not you. He steps toward me and I take a step back. "I will not hurt you, not that I could if I wanted to. The stone is protecting you."
"What stone?" I ask.
"One of the six infinity stones. The one that chose you, the time stone. You must have encountered it somewhere."
"I don't have any stones, except the one in my necklace." I said referring to the arc reactor necklace I always wear.
"The stone in the bracelet you had. The green one."
"How do you know about that?" I asked. How does he know about that?
"I can see everything from here. It is how I guard the nine realms. Apparently someone did not want me to know where you obtained the stone from." He said looking concerned.
"The stone fell off and the bracelet was taken from me."
"The stone is just a physical manifestation of it. The stone is just how it appears before it chooses its host. Its energy never truly disappears it merely changes form." He tells me. He takes two more steps and I start seeing the light again.
"Until we meet again young friend." The light just gets brighter until I can't see again.
I keep my eyes closed until the next thing I heard was, "What do you mean you lost our soul mate Stark." That voice sounded like Bucky.
"How do you loose an eighteen year old girl?" That sounded like Philips barked out.
I opened my eyes and I was in another hallway except this time I knew exactly where I was. I followed the noise to find Gramps, standing behind a lab table and Bucky, Steve and Colonel Philips. Bucky and Steve looked both furious and worried. Philips looked agitated. Gramps just looked confused.
"I already told you. I didn't do anything. One minute we were analyzing the energy source from the Hydra. It exploded and then she started glowing. The light got really bright and then she was gone." Gramps explained.
I walk toward them. I felt a bit light headed but the feeling went away faster than before. "He's telling the truth." I said from the doorway.
"Nora!" Steve and Bucky said before rushing to my side. The enveloped me in a giant hug. "Guys I need air. Can't breathe." When they finally let me go I asked, "How long was I gone?"
"Five and a half hours" Grandpa Howard answered. "How long was it for you?"
"Twenty to thirty minutes" I answered.
"We have the proof we asked for. You weren't lying about being from the future." Philips answered.
"Where did you go?" Steve asked.
"I don't know exactly where I was. There was this man in a suit of armor with a sword and a horned helmet. He said he was the gatekeeper of Asgard and the guardian of worlds. I swear I though I was dreaming but everything was so real."
"It was probably a hallucination or something. Asgard is a Norse myth. Its not real." Grandpa Howard said.
"That's actually what I said." I replied.
"We need to run some tests" Gramps replied.
"Figure out what caused her to jump through time again and keep me updated. I expect a report on what you found about the weapon's energy source on my desk first thing tomorrow." Said Philips on his way out.
"Lets get started with…" Gramps started before I interrupted.
"Actually, can we do that tomorrow? I'm kind of tired and you need to finish that report which I'm sure you haven't even started." I say.
"That's probably a good idea." He replies. "Just be here tomorrow morning."
"That won't be a problem. I have my meeting with Colonel Philips tomorrow morning we can head over after breakfast." Steve says putting his arm over my shoulders.
"Sounds good. See you tomorrow gramps." I said as we started walking out.
"Can you not call me that? You make me feel old." He shouts back. I just laughed at that.
The entire car ride back to the apartment was quiet. It had been a long eventful day. I was dying to get into bed and get some sleep.
As soon as we walked into the apartment I headed straight to my room and said good night to both of them over my shoulder. I got into a nightdress and crawled under the covers. I was in bed for I have no idea long but I could get to sleep. At one point I just gave up and turned on the lamp. I had a copy of The Great Gatsby and I started reading it all over again. Towards the end of the book there was a knock at my door. The time on my clock read a quarter past midnight.
"Come in." I call out. The door opens and Bucky peeks his head in.
"Thought you'd be asleep Doll," He says as he walks in.
"I've always been a bit of an insomniac. Tonight's just one of those nights. What about you?" I ask.
"Couldn't sleep. Steve snores like a chainsaw." He says giving me a small grin. Normally I'd believe him but like I said before, the walls are paper-thin. If Steve were snoring I would've heard it by now.
"Nightmare?" I ask. He just looks like he's about to argue to the contrary so I get up and go hug him. "I get them too." I tell him as he wraps his arms around me.
"How'd you know?" He asks.
"You had a look on your face that gave it away. Want to talk about it?" I ask.
"Not really" He says kissing the top of my head. I break the hug and grab his hand. I walk towards the bed and sit against the headboard. He sits next to me and we lean against each other. I put the book between us and we read at the same time. After about fifteen minutes I move to lay down on the bed and Bucky does the same. We cuddle for a while before I start hearing light snoring. I look up and see Bucky sound asleep. I pull up the blankets and try to get back to sleep. I see the door open a crack and a light comes in.
"You can come in Steve." I say sleepily.
I hear footsteps and the door closing.
"I was just coming in to check up on you two. I woke up and Bucky wasn't there." I could hear the anxiety in his voice.
"We couldn't sleep so we read for a bit. Knocked him right out." I say turning over to look at him.
"He hasn't been sleeping well. Nightmares right?" He said looking past me to Bucky.
"After the past couple of months he's been through, it's expected."
"I'll let you two sleep." He said turning around.
"Where are you going?"
"I'll be in the other room."
"Just sleep in here. There's plenty of room." I say as I move over a bit and pat the space next to me.
"You sure I don't want to make you uncomfortable." He says bashfully.
"I wouldn't have offered if I was going to be uncomfortable."
"Okay" He comes over and lays down on my left. He was on his side and I could tell he felt strange with me in the bed. He kept fidgeting. I decided to make the first move. I turned over, grabbed his arm, and draped it around my waist pulling him closer.
"That's better. Night Steve." I said as I cuddled into Bucky's side.
"Good night" He said as he nuzzled the back of my neck.
"Hey Nora."
"Yeah Steve."
"Thanks for coming back. We were scared we lost you."
"I was scared I wasn't going to come back." I could've ended up back with Hydra or somewhere even worse. As much as I missed my own time, I loved being with here with Steve and Bucky. Who cares if I'm going to have to wait twenty to thirty years before classic rock is invented. Wait would I still call it classic rock or would it just be regular rock?
One thing I did worry about was dad. I wonder what he's dealing with right now or should I say sixty-eight years from now? Time travel is confusing.
2011- Manhattan, NY- Third person's point of view
"A malfunction occurred today with the Hadron Super Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. Doctor Jonathan Hawking of the CERN Institute was performing an experiment when the malfunction occurred. An explosion occurred in the middle of his presentation. Astrophysicists from around the world were present and have not been heard from since the incident occurred. The malfunction caused an explosion on the lower levels…"
"Jarvis call Nora's cell phone." Tony ordered his AI.
"Right away Sir,"
"The number you are trying to reach is not available at the tone please leave a message." The call went straight to voicemail.
"Jarvis check the CERN institute's log, Did Nora Martell Check in?"
"Sir according to records, Ms. Stark did arrive forty five minutes before the start of the presentation."
"Damn it, Jarvis ready the Mark 40. Set course for Geneva."
"Yes sir, exit via the balcony when ready."
"Damn it kid you better be okay."