"Ouch." Steve said as he was thrown on his back, exhausted and probably injured, on the interdimensional travel platform Stark had built in hopes they could figure out what the hell was going on.

"Shit." His eyes filled with tears. They had seen horrible things, things that made no sense. The delicate necklace the Red Skull had given him as some sick, twisted souvenir from Vormir was secured in his hand.

He still couldn't blink away all the things his eyes had seen in such a short amount of time. It had taken Tony barely ten days to fix up a 'time machine'. It obviously had a fancy, scientifically accurate name, but that's not what mattered. Steve volunteered to try it, since he felt like there was nothing left to lose, so if he never made it back… whatever.

He was taken to an indescribable place. He stood on something that felt like nothing, but looked like the trunk of a tree. From where he was, he could see different things happening, like the branches of said tree. It was even stranger than fighting purple aliens. It made no sense at all.

And just by thinking, he could access those scenes, and participate in them like he belonged in that timeline.

And so he saw a reality in which he actually married Peggy Carter. And then another one, where he died fighting a risen Ultron. Another, where he perished in battle against Thanos… and finally, a reality where he saw Natasha sacrifice herself in Vormir. It was at that time that he was pulled back.

Every little muscle in his body hurt. All the scenes were vivid in his head, but there was no way he could forget that sickeningly purple sky. Nothing was heard for almost a minute. Then, he faintly heard people moving around. The fear that he was not back home, but in some bizarre reality instead hit him.

The light hurt his eyes even through his closed eyelids, so it was welcome relief when something cast a shadow over him.

"Steve?" he heard a familiar whisper that made his eyes fly open in milliseconds.

Natasha was there looking directly at him, her beautiful face inches from his. She was there. Alive, in one piece, no mortal wounds, no blood oozing from her head, her hand was warm against his shoulder, the same haircut as when the snap happened.

"Nat?"

All the ache in his muscles was suddenly gone, and he sat up.

"I know, I don't get it either. I just woke up and…" she looked away.

"What happened? Where were you?"

"Everything went dark in Wakanda and next thing I know, I'm here. I know as much as you do. "

Bucky was back, too. And Sam. Steve greeted them, still confused.

Tony Stark walked past everyone and stood in front of Steve, looking at him and trying to identify if he was the same, and not some Capsicle from another dimension. Apparently, he passed the test.

"What did you see? What happened? We waited for you a long time and you didn't come back. I thought you were gone for good."

Steve started telling all the different scenarios he'd seen, and after establishing what had happened, apparently he was back in his reality: Shuri destroyed the Mind Stone, Vision was dead, several people were gone… And in some other reality, Steve had put the stones back in place, which in some way, made it possible for all of that to happen. It was a cycle. Self-fulfilling.

"So wait a minute, say it again." Tony and Bruce looked at Steve as if he were something stranger than a genocidal purple alien. "We defeated 2014 Thanos in 2023, and then you went back in time to put the stones back, which made it possible for Shuri to destroy the mind stone and save me from dying and leaving an orphaned five-year-old daughter, and so somehow it wasn't even necessary to begin with and our friends never disappeared… and Vision never existed? And Ultron was never emo and never left to destroy the whole fucking world? "

Steve shrugged. Even that made his muscles burn. He tried not to look at Natasha. Steve was scared that she would vanish again.

"Apparently. In that reality, anyway."

"This is good. Isn't it?" Rhodes asked.

"Yeah, of course, if we ignore that we've probably opened up five hundred different timelines and God knows what's going to happen."

"Nothing worse than half of Universe vanishing, I think." Thor spoke his mind.

"Nat? Bucky? Sam, how do you feel?"

Natasha shrugged.

"Great. Ready for the next one."

The other two agreed.

"And how do we know this is true? For all we know, the version of you walking around in different timelines can be Loki, it wouldn't be the first time." Bruce said.

Thor spoke ruefully,

"My brother is dead. And he's not back."

"So, about that ..." Steve started, but Tony didn't allow him to finish.

"It's a great question, actually. The fact that my wife's pregnancy test was positive does not say anything, I knew it before I got into that spaceship."

Steve sighed and took a small necklace out of his pocket with a bow and arrow pendant. Just thinking about that place made his heart break.

"They gave it to me in Vormir, Natasha. Apparently Clint is going to give it to you on your next birthday."

Clint, who'd been silent up until that moment, opened his eyes wide.

"You're lying… this is locked up in my room, I…" he went upstairs and returned seconds later with a gift box, and the same necklace was inside it. Natasha was suddenly so frightened that Steve had an impulse to get up and hug her, but he didn't.

"Great. We've opened up timelines. Who knows what else is coming. Perfect. Maybe we'll wake up tomorrow enslaved by Ultron, or maybe everyone manipulated by Loki and the world will be on fire, or maybe I will be on fire. Or stuck in a reality where technology doesn't exist. Every day comes with a new surprise, how will tomorrow go? " Tony said wryly.

"What else did you see, Steve?" Bucky asked him, and Steve knew his friend was sure he was hiding something.

"I ... well, I saw some timelines. Maybe I saw some alternative realities ..." it was not easy to say that.

"How many particles did you have?" Scott asked confused.

"That's it, I didn't… Need them. And when I wanted to return, this is where I ended up. For some reason, this is where things are happening. This is the trunk of the tree."

"Oh, really? I thought they were happening in a dimension where you marry a woman you kissed once." Tony rolled his eyes.

"How do you know I was there?"

"You're just that predictable."

Steve faced away from everyone. Except for Sam, no one else knew he and Natasha had other ideas during the time they were on the run.

"Whatever. I'm back, but I have no idea what's coming next."

At that moment, they heard a loud noise. The coffee pot had turned into a million little pieces on the floor and Wanda was gripping her temples, in visible suffering.

"Wanda. Are you okay?" Steve raised from his chair and walked up to her, but she never answered. Instead, she left the room. Those episodes were becoming frequent, but no one knew what to do.

"She shouldn't be on her own now." Barton said. No one moved.

"I'll go find her." Bucky said. "I know what it's like when everyone thinks you're going to explode any second." His tone was sharp and impatient. Steve sighed. His friendship with Barnes definitely needed to be worked on.

Unbeknownst to her, Wanda had provided the ideal distraction. Tony, Bruce, Rhodes and Scott went to the lab. Sam went up to his room. The only people in the room were Steve, Natasha and Clint. The latter noticed the strange vibe that took the kitchen and how insistently Steve looked at his friend, and maybe it was time to leave.

"Nat, is everything okay?" She knew what he was talking about and just nodded, so he left.

Steve was by her side in less time than it seemed possible. Nat looked at him anxiously. He regretted not being there when she came back out of nowhere; the timing for the hug he longed to give her was gone now.

"How are you?"

She shrugged.

"Just confused, but okay. You?"

He felt terrible. Nightmares were certain to happen that night. Steve just wanted to forget the broken body of the woman in front of him, forever lost on an alien planet.

"I'll be fine."

Both were silent.

"I'm glad you're back, Nat."

She smiled.

"I'm glad to be back."

Had it been a few weeks before, he'd take her to his room. At least they would've kissed. Now… He didn't know where they stood, and neither did she.

And if even the Snap didn't bring them together again… he didn't know if anything could.