A/N This is the big one, in terms of problems to be fixed. Unlike the other stones, the mission to acquire the Mind stone is full of logical flaws, not simple plot holes.
"You did it."
"Three to go."
"You don't have to."
"Off with you."
"I seem to remember a scepter around it," said Steve, when the Ancient One put a blue glob containing the Mind gem into his hand. It wasn't hard, like a crystal should be. It was supposed to stay soft until he got it back into the scepter, until magic or something. Sort of like he did with Stark, he just accepted it and kept on going.
"I know you do." The Ancient One had seen the scepter in Steve's memories. "Unfortunately the scepter was and will be handled rather more extensively than the orb. Recreating it with the necessary precision would be possible, but would take a great deal of time at this end of history, which I cannot afford to spend.
"Additionally, there is the matter of the manner in which you acquired the scepter. Really, Captain Rogers, what were you thinking? There are military terms describing that sort of operation. I'm sure you know them."
Steve blushed only slightly, his embarrassment tinged by surprise that this woman would know of those terms at all. From the peace of this kitchen, he could see how desperate their planning had been, especially in the light of Banner's not-completely-correct understanding of time travel. Taking the scepter from Hydra agents by claiming to be a Hydra agent? Even with the Mind gem to remove their memories of the entire event, that had always been the riskiest part of the entire operation.
Or so he had thought. Hulk coming out of the stairwell at exactly the wrong moment was worse, since they hadn't even planned for that, but even that snafu could be and had been compensated for, on all sides. Thanos coming into the future, destroying the time gate and losing the scepter in the ruins, was not, and probably could not be. 'Fubar' didn't begin to cover it. "Yes, ma'am."
She nodded. "So your mission this time is threefold. Since you can't return the scepter, or use it to cover your tracks, you must prevent the previous mission from even taking place, accomplish its objectives while leaving the scepter in place, and return the gem."
Steve had to admit, simultaneously stealing and returning the gem under the eyes of Hydra sounded tricky. He couldn't wait to hear her plans for achieving it all.
"Unfortunately I can't tell you how to go about it," she said. "This is exactly the sort of tactical situation where a hands-on officer with a high degree of knowledge, skill, and initiative is needed."
Steve would have sighed, but...no. "Yes, ma'am."
She smirked, and waved a hand, opening a portal. "Off with you. Good luck, Captain."
Steve gave her a sharp look, but she couldn't have known how recently he'd heard someone else say the same thing. He stepped into the portal and it closed behind him.
"I thought he'd never leave," said a voice from the shadows.
Steve stepped out of the Ancient One's portal into an intersection filled with broken vehicles and other rubble. Time traveling the easy way, one second per second. The Battle of New York didn't really last that long, considering the damage done. He could probably have walked the distance and gotten there on time, but the Ancient One wasn't about to place any of the gems at risk that way.
As expected, the three members of the team were there, waiting for the proper moment to go into action, when the Space stone was neutralized and the beam spiking up from the tower stopped. None of them noticed Steve, for some reason. "Everybody ready?" asked Iron Man.
"Absolutely," said Captain America.
"All set," said Ant Man.
"It's a terrible plan," said Steve.
"It's really not a great plan, though, is it?" asked Ant Man. "Too many, what do you call 'em, variables? Aren't we supposed to keep this stuff, you know, simple?"
The others turned to look at him sourly. "You might have said something earlier," said Captain America.
"I was in awe of your wonderfulness," said Ant Man. "And I just now thought of it."
"Well, better late than never, I suppose," said Iron Man.
"It isn't a great plan, is it?" said Captain America. "Too many moving parts. Two stones, two Hydra teams..."
"And the Hulk," said Iron Man. "I can't believe I forgot him. Remember how pissed he was when I made him take the stairs?"
"No," said Captain America, remembering the report he'd read after the fact. He'd been coordinating search and rescue at the time and missed the show. "Good thing he did, though. Derailed Pierce's attempt to get his hands on the Space stone pretty neatly." Not that they'd known what Pierce had been up to at the time, but they did now.
"Thor grabbed Loki and the stone, and voom!" Iron Man slapped his hands together in a gesture of speedy takeoff.
"Are we really going to try to steal the Space stone with the Hulk standing on top of us?" asked Ant Man, not sounding happy at the prospect.
"When you put it like that it seems kind of dumb," said Iron Man. "I'm open to suggestions."
"Camp Lehigh," said Steve, pleased that this was working so well. The mere idea of using the stone to rob the Hydra team of their memories had never sat well with him. The scepter concentrated the stone's influence, making such domination possible, but it narrowed the focus at the same time. He would have to turn the team into mulch before he could adjust their memories one at a time, and he was pretty sure they'd notice that when they woke up, no matter what the stone could do. Offering his own side a simple suggestion and letting them plan their own course was kinder, gentler, and much safer.
"How about Camp Lehigh, where I was first stationed?" said Captain America. "They had a lot of high-value scientific projects there. That's where they put the tesseract when they found it again."
"You want us to go further back in time?" asked Stark, aware of the history. "Suppose we do get our hands on it. How do you propose we get back?"
"Lots of high-value projects," repeated Captain America. "Like Henry Pym's lab."
"Ohhh," said Stark.
"So we go for the Space stone first?" asked Ant Man.
"No," said Iron Man. "Lehigh was an army base and a research station. Cap and I will fit right in. We'll go after the Space stone, while you stay here and get the Mind stone."
"By myself?" No Hulk, but also no backup.
"Sure, piece of cake," said Iron Man. "Just do what I would do, only, you know, different. You were a thief, right?"
"Yeah, a bad one."
"But your heart was in the right place," said Captain America. " Like a klutzy Robin Hood, stealing from the bad guys to bring it to the good guys. And that's what you're doing now."
"Just skip the driving into the pool part this time," said Iron Man. "That's something I would do."
"Gee, thanks for the pep talk, guys," snarked Ant Man.
"Keep it simple," said Captain America.
"Just you and the stone," said Steve.
"Keep it simple." Ant Man nodded. "That's good. I can do simple. Just me and the stone." He looked up at the top of the tower. "Well, if I'm gonna do this alone, I'd better get going. It'll take a while for a flying ant to get up there."
"Let me give you a lift," said Iron Man. Ant Man shrank down and rode on his shoulder. "Be right back."
Captain America stayed and Steve left, heading for the entrance ahead of the Hydra team. They'd be taking the elevator, while he had to run up several hundred flights of stairs, so he needed a bit of a head start.
He came out of the stairs into the penthouse with just moments to spare, a familiar tableau visible through gaps in the interior walls. The whole team stared down at Loki, just before the elevator bell dinged and they stopped posing. Jasper Sitwell and his team of traitors came into the room, not noticing Steve in the corner because with all the bright colors in the middle of the room who would look there? Steve waited for his earlier self to leave the room, hoping he wouldn't have to fight himself again while watching the handoff of the scepter carefully.
He couldn't see Ant Man, which wasn't surprising, but he knew where he was. He could somehow sense the relatively dim spark of Scott Lang's intellect as Ant Man dove into the box containing the scepter, just before the lid came down. He would grab the stone, go quantum, and that would be that.
Time to make his move.
Steve opened and closed the door to the stairwell behind him, before walking out into the open. "Anybody seen my mask?" he asked, his voice pitched to not carry very far.
Not too many people even heard the question, busy with their own affairs. He didn't give them any time to actually think about what he'd said, because that would give them time to think period, and he didn't want that. He walked straight up to the table holding the scepter's case. "'Scuse me, Brock." He grabbed the handle of the box, lifting it up as if to look for his mask underneath.
The box popped open, as he intended it to, and the scepter started to fall, but Steve was ready and caught it by the blade before it could clear the box. He saw the hole where the gem had been and made sure to grab it there, feeling the glob slip into the empty socket and harden in place.
"Sorry," he said, setting the case back on the table. He made sure the scepter was properly secured under the watchful eyes of the Hydra agent, before closing the box again. "Been a long day. Forget the mask." I'll live without it. He handed the case to the traitor and slapped him on the back like the buddy he was supposed to be.
Steve walked back to the stairs, going quantum once he was out of sight. Time to go home.
A/N 2 I was thinking of maybe doing something similar to a BTTF-style caper, since Scott Lang was always talking about it, but that sort of half-baked scheming didn't seem like something Captain America would do. He had a mission. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.