Tony groaned as he came back to the world of the living, blinking rapidly to get adjusted to the light. When he was comfortable, he looked up to see Rhodey sitting beside him, holding his hand while sleeping.
Tony slowly sat up, ignoring the way his muscles groaned and his small grunt that successfully woke up Rhodey. "Good to see you awake Tony. Hope you are feeling well after suffering from hyperthermia and blood loss and a few cracked ribs." he said.
"Well... I'm still sore if you are wondering and a little hurt." Tony replied honestly. "What were you thinking when you went to Siberia!?" Rhodey exclaimed. "Getting back Steve and Bucky. Mission gone wrong I guess." Tony said with a shrug.
"You have been out for almost 3 days for gods sake Tony! We almost lost you . And also what was that thing in your hand when we found you? I managed to take it away before anyone saw it but... what is it?" Rhodey asked as he showed him the chain with a ring and another ring in his hand.
"Well... that is um... well..." Tony stuttered at the rings in his hand. "The ring without a chain was Bucky's. Something I found while raiding a HYDRA base and wanted to return it. The one with a chain is mine, something with a lot of sentimental value for me." Tony confessed.
"And why does it look like they are a pair?" Rhodey asked and that suddenly brought up and urge to confess in Tony. "I will tell you more after I've been discharged as it is a top secret that no one should chance upon. Please wait till then." Tony asked before sleep overcame him again.
When Tony woke up the next time, he was all alone, giving him time to think back on whatever happened the past few days. Steve had forgotten what had happened between them but still had the ring. What had actually happened when he had been in a coma three months back?
He thought on harder on what happened, Steve's behaviour before the coma and after. He had been almost mother bearing Tony, always trying to convey something. But after that, something had changed. It was almost like Steve had somewhat closed up, become more reserved from him like he had forgotten something...
That must be it! Something had happened when he had went down! And the only way to find out on what had happened when he was down was Rhodey as Steve wouldn't talk to him right then. And for that, he needed to disclose what happened to him.
And that was what he did when he got discharged. Both of them went to the mansion, locked down the lab and Tony told him everything from the start to the end. "Do you remember that attack by that sorcerer? The one that had me severely injured and in coma?" Tony asked and Rhodey nodded.
"Well... actually, he had put a spell on me to travel to the past in the 1940s to be exact and also put me into coma." Tony said. "Um... ok... Wait! So you are saying that you were with Steve and Bucky during the war?" Rhodey asked.
"Yup and we had also proposed to each other a few days before I was KIA back then, which was around the time I woke up from the coma. And I know it is true as when I went into coma, I didn't have that ring but I had it when I woke up. And Steve always had it on him." Tony said.
"Alright. Lets say I do believe you in here. Why are you telling me all this?" he asked. "Well... I have a few suspicions that I want to clarify with Steve but... considering what had happened in Siberia and all the shit that happened before, I don't think he will be willing to talk to me right now." Tony said sadly.
"So... you want me to talk to him about this?" Rhodey asked and Tony nodded. "As far as I came to know about the team's condition after the fight, Steve had a major concussion and was hit by a spell that had seemed pretty harmless as it had done nothing to him... but I suspect that..." Rhodey trailed off.
"You suspect that the spell along with the concussion had made him lose some specific memories? Namely the relationship... Oh! I get it now. So this spell was something like a memory blocking that can be triggered then? Does anyone know what exactly happened after I went down?" Tony asked.
"I guess that Natasha, Clint, Wanda, Sam or Vision could answer to it as I was away on military duty that day... Why are you crying Tones?" Rhodey asked, clearly seeing the misting of Tony's eyes.
"Nothing honey bear. I'm just glad that it hadn't been intentional you know, like ignoring what we had before and said all those things... So it is HYDRA and the sorcerer's fault then for the two not remembering me. It just hurt like hell you know when they refused to acknowledge me but still had something to remember me by..." Ton said as Rhodey pulled him into a hug.
"So... want to watch a movie for now before we talk more about this time paradoxical relationship you had?" Rhodey asked and Tony complied, snuggling into Rhodey before dozing off half way through the movie.
The next few day were spent on Tony giving every detail on what had happened to him during the coma and tracking Steve and planning on how to approach him and sent Rhodey to Steve once everything seemed alright. They had also managed to get what happened after he had gone down from Vision.
Seems like nothing was found wrong with Steve and the spell hadn't affected him much but they couldn't look into it that much as they were afraid that anything they did would trigger the spell. So after a long chat and writing later, Rhodey left to find Steve.
Steve had been in one of his hideouts with Bucky, on the way to Wakanda when Rhodey actually met up with them. "Rogers" he greeted when he spotted Steve and Bucky, ready for a fight and neutral faced. "Rhodes" Steve greeted back. "Why are you here? I am sorry for what I did to Tony but I didn't want them to kill each other and I wanted to personally..." Steve was cut off.
"Save it Rogers. If you didn't want them killing each other then you wouldn't have left Tony to die there in the cold. It is a miracle that he had survived there. I came here from Tony actually. He thought that you wouldn't want to meet him right now so he sent me here with something he wanted to give in Siberia." Rhodey said as he gave Steve and Bucky a passage before he told that he was leaving them alone and waiting for a reply.
"But before that... I wanted to know about what had happened in that sorcerer encounter actually. Tony said that you had been acting a little weirdly around him after that incident." Rhodey asked.
"Well... I don't know why you are asking this all of a sudden but... I will be able to tell whatever had happened after Tony has fallen to when I fell if that helps. Well, we took Tony to safety and then we fought back with full force, got a couple of knocks to my head in the process and then he cast some sort of spell on me and I suddenly felt like my head was split into two and I blacked out." Steve recounted.
"More like what we had suspected." Rhodey muttered. "What suspected? What are you talking about?" Bucky asked. "Like... did you feel like some memories were missing or something like that? Cuz Tony said that you were acting out of character after he came out of coma. Like not much of a change but something like that." Rhodey confessed.
"Now that you say about that... I've always felt weird about Tony, like I knew him from somewhere apart from the time we met in the Helicarrier and I couldn't pinpoint what it was and why I felt like that but I think it makes more sense that I had lost some memories after that fight. I feel like something is blocking a part of my memories, not exactly wiped out but they come in like flashed and go away before I could look more into it." Steve confessed.
"And you didn't care to tell me about it Stevie?" Bucky asked. "Well... I thought it was not that important..." Steve replied sheepishly. "Well... it was for Tony actually. That letter will explain why Tony wanted to meet you. And I think Tony found something that was Bucky's. He said that if you wanted to meet him, you should probably call him and wait near the place you last saw Stan." Rhodey informed before leaving.
"Hope you are recovering well from the injury Rhodes." Steve said as he walked away. "I am recovering well actually. Tony made me a pair of legs that is a prototype and I'm getting used to it well. You hurt him again though, I will skin you two alive, I promise you that. You don't want to know how I found him in Siberia, all because he wanted to talk to you." Rhodey said before he left.
Steve was utterly confused. Who was Stan? Immediately he got flashed of a guy smirking at him and Bucky, the three kissing each other, the three of them on some mission, someone with their chest opened out and a gunshot near heart, bleeding out fast, his and Bucky's frantic cries, but never a face.
He could remember a snarky, sarcastic, witty guy who he felt a lot of things but never a face to connect to it. His glance fell on the ring on his had, Stan proposing to them and the both of them accepting it but still no face. Shaking his head, he handed the package to Bucky, asking him to open it.
There was the tell tale signs of opening the package and then Bucky froze. "What is in there Buck?" Steve asked and when he got no reply, turned around, only to see Bucky frozen, with a ring in his hand, a silver ring with simple red blue and white lines with a small ruby in the middle of it, just like the one Steve had, just with a sapphire instead of a ruby.
"Stan... I... this ring... it slipped out of my hand when it fell... how is it... he died... shot to the heart..." Bucky stammered as the memories slowly came back to him, not completely but it was a good progress. "It says in the ring that... he found it in some HYDRA base when we were raiding it... I guess it slipped off and fell somewhere near you." Steve deduced.
"Anyways... there is a letter and a small old model phone here... want to read it maybe? I guess it had the answer to our questions." Bucky said as he turned over the ring and saw the hand printed 'Together till infinity and beyond' in a small print along with their initials. Steve just opened the letter and read it out loud.
Hi Steve and I am sure Bucky is also there so hi to you too!
I wanted to mainly apologise to Bucky for attacking him as I was honestly taking out my anger on Steve out on him. True, I was angry at Bucky for killing my parents but I was more angry on you Steve for not telling this to me before.
I am sorry for whatever I had said to you in Siberia as I was hurt a lot from all the secrets you had kept from me. I actually came to Siberia to give back the ring. A handcrafted Vibranium ring is something hard to find and I didn't know who it belonged to until after the whole sorcerer debacle.
If I am not wrong, I think you had some memory banks from your past and I am sure that Rhodey brought it up to you. I am not angry if you had forgotten a few things that happened and I am gladly willing to explain everything in detail face to face if you don't recollect it as I think I know what memories you are missing.
Call me within the day you reach the letter and meet me where Stan had "Died" I will be waiting for you there whenever you want to meet me. I wanted to tell all about this before the Accords and one of the main reasons I was in Siberia but circumstances didn't allow me to tell you.
I completely get it if you are mad at me right now Steve but I think I owe a lot of explanation to both you and Bucky which I can't do over the phone or letters. I will be waiting for the call.
Together till infinity and beyond.
Anthony Stark
Note that Stan didn't died. Will explain more later. Love you guys and I am really really sorry about everything. That was just me reacting from the news that my parents had been murdered by a friend and I am not angry at Bucky.
By the time Steve had finished reading the letter, he was all confused. Stan had not died? But he had asked him to pull out that thing in his chest and had died from a gunshot wound... Wait! Thing in the chest... it was just like Tony's reactor and...
"This is just... We screwed up completely Buck. I think I figured out why Tony wants to meet us." Steve said as a whole lot of memories just slammed into him in such a speed that Steve's legs gave away and he fell down hard to the ground.
"Steve... You alright?" Bucky asked frantically as Steve heaved in heavily, shaking on the floor. "I'm fine Bucky, just a memory overload. I just need some sleep right now. You call him Buck, tell him that the both of us are sorry and we will meet him there tomorrow." Steve said before get got up and went to the bedroom.
Bucky just obediently took the phone and called the only number on it, presumably Stark's and waited for him to pick up only to hear the monotone "Sir is busy right now. Leave a message and he might get back to you." Bucky just sighed and left a voicemail.
"Hello Stark. We got your message and we want to formally apologise on whatever happened in Siberia. Steve had wanted to talk to you personally but apparently some thing about your mail triggered him off and is bedridden with a massive headache. Oh! He also said that it was his fault that the fight happened in the first place and we would meet you near the place Stan had been buried tomorrow. Have a good day." Bucky said and put down the phone while rubbing his head from the headache.
'Maybe it is better if I got some sleep too. The next few days might be hectic' he thought as he headed to bed. Somewhere across the world, Tony was smiling at hearing Bucky's voicemail and got onto a plane to reach the meeting spot.
A/N: And that is chapter 2 for you fellas. For whoever thought I would bring in the time travel story in this chapter, sorry but that starts only from the next chapter where it will mostly be in Tony's POV but a little of Steve's and Bucky's too.
Sorry if this chapter was not clear and a little confusing, I will fix it up soon! Hope you all liked it! All comments, suggestions and criticisms accepted and appreciated.
Before I sign out, I got this guest review and realised that it might seem like Tony is a man out of time but he is not a man out of time but had time travelled to the past as mentioned above. The time travel will be explained in detail in the upcoming chapters.
Don't hesitate to ask if anything confuses you and I will try my best to clarify it for you guys!
Thank you all for reading!
Rasi10 signing off
Published on 13 September 2018