"Steve" the ancient one said as she walked over to the super soldier. Steve had been living in the past for three years now flittering throughout time ensuring that the stones followed their destined path.
"Yes, what stone do I have to go to next?" Steve asked, he had gotten use to the routine.
"Captain Marvel or Carol Danvers was created through a Kree called Mar-Vell getting her hands on the tesseract whilst creating a light-speed engine to save another alien race called the Skrulls from the afford mentioned Kree. You must make sure that Mar-Vell who is hiding under the alias of Wendy Lawson gets her hand on the Tesseract. Lawson dies in 1989 and has been working on the light-speed engine for three years previously. I do not know for sure when Lawson gets her hands on the Tesseract, but it can only be rumoured that she received it early 1986" the ancient one explained, Steve sighed he was getting tired of running after these stones and he had still yet to reach the 21st century yet.
"Make sure Mar-Vell gets the Tesseract, got it" Steve replied before closing his eyes and pictured the place and year he needed to be in. A light green aura appeared around the outline of Steve then he disappeared. Steve kept his eyes closed as he travelled through the space time continuum. It was nothing like the quantum realm which was bright and full of colour, the space time continuum was just the darkness. It was void of life.
Steve felt the ground underneath his feet reappear, his senses were overloaded with noise and smells. Steve slowly opened his eyes. He was standing in an air force base which was mostly empty, the sun was barely up. Steve was wearing a pilot's uniform; his blond hair was glamoured black along with his blue eyes which were now brown. When interfering with the stones timeline he was going to be meeting people from his future. This meant he would need to be disguised to prevent him being recognised in the future.
Steve rubbed a hand through his hair before heading towards the area where the Tesseract was being kept. After learning how to use the mystic arts, the ancient one followed through with her idea and the time stones powers were fused to Steve's being. This allowed him to track an infinity stone when he was in close range to it.
"You can't have the tesseract, Shield has plans for it. They would never let someone just take it Lawson. You must understand this" Steve heard Howard speak to Mar-Vell. Steve quickly hid behind a large filing cabinet watching.
"My light-speed engine could stop wars, I just need a few hours with it to see whether it would work. You don't need to tell Shield that I looked at it" Mar-Vell argued, Steve could tell the woman was desperate and he could understand why, the survival of a whole race was at stake.
"No means no Ms Lawson" Howard snapped before storming off whilst pulling Lawson with him. Obviously not trusting the woman to not steal the tesseract if she was left alone. Steve watched as Howard and Mar-Vell disappeared, he knew what he had to do. Steve walked over to the unit where the tesseract was being kept before grabbing a briefcase which was lying around. He smashed open the unit's door instantly setting off the alarms giving Mar-Vell an alibi from stealing the tesseract. He pulled the tesseract out and shoved it into the case before running out of the facility.
"Ms Lawson" Steve shouted as he ran over to the Kree scientist.
"Can I help you?" Lawson said trying to hide the obvious annoyance in her voice.
"I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I overheard your argument with Mr Stark and I think you are right, I'm not a scientist but I know the basic understanding towards the efficiency of a light-speed engine would be. If you keep this between us then you can have this" Steve said, he saw Mar-Vell's face morph into confusion, but Steve just smiled before opening the briefcase to reveal the tesseract. Mar-Vell's eyes widened in shock as she looked at the tesseract then she quickly closed the case hiding the tesseract from sight.
"You could get into trouble for this" Mar-Vell stated but Steve shrugged.
"What's a little trouble if it saves a species" Steve winked before handing the case to Mar-Vell. He saw the surprised look on her face, he could tell she wanted to ask questions to how he knew.
"Goodbye Mar-Vell and good luck" was all Steve said before he turned away from the scientist and ran off. Once he was out of sight, Steve simply closed his eyes and disappeared from the time period.
"Mission complete" Steve instantly informed the ancient one once he returned before heading towards his room in the sanctum. These last three years has been draining, he wondered what the other avengers would think if they knew he was becoming the cause of all their missions. In the end, he would guide Thanos towards gaining all the infinity stones and killing half the universe. After all he was the reason to why the Red Skull gained the tesseract in the first place. He was the reason behind Erskine's death.
Steve landed back in 1942, he was wearing a Nazi uniform, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He had recently gain control over the ability to glamour himself whilst in the past to prevent running into anyone who his past-self would meet. He was currently stood in the hydra base where the Red Skull was, he was currently looking for the tesseract. Steve's mission was to reveal the lead to where the tesseract is being hidden.
"Sir" Steve spoke in German to the disguised Red Skull before continuing "I have discovered a lead to where the tesseract has been hidden".
"How sure are you with this lead soldier?" The Red Skull questioned turning to face Steve.
"Very sure Sir, it is kept in a church in Tønsberg Norway, I am not sure where in the church it is being kept but the church is known as Odin's vault and if your ideas about Norse mythology is true then it would be the ideal place to hide such a powerful object" Steve explained his fluent German never breaking. He was getting to use to lying.
"Well done soldier, you are dismissed" Red Skull said before turning his back on Steve, the urge to run up to the Red Skull and kill him was strong but Steve resisted. The ancient one had shown him the repercussions if he tried to change the past. Steve exited the room and returned to his future to find the ancient one standing in his room.
"You must head to the past; Red Skull has gained the tesseract, but Erskine is still alive. This has a catastrophic influence on the future, if he does not die then the world will be overrun with super soldiers and hydra will continue. You must take Erskine out to prevent this happening" The ancient one spoke; Steve's eyes widen in horror.
"You want me to kill Erskine" Steve exclaimed.
"Steve, you always killed Erskine. You were just disguised as Heinz Kruger. Take this capsule it will make it look like a suicide by a cyanide pill. After your body is taken away you can come back. Steve you must do this. If you don't Bucky's outcome is much worse then what originally happened" The ancient one said. Steve had to close his eyes before taking a deep breath. Once his heart had calmed down Steve opened his eyes before taking the gun from the ancient one.
"Good luck Steve" the ancient one said as Steve disappeared, a pained look on his face. Steve knew he was disguised as Kruger the second he appeared in 1943. Steve watched as his past-self stepped inside Vita—Ray Chamber, the procedure started, and Steve couldn't help himself but watch in awe. He felt weird watching the procedure he experienced from an observer's perspective. The procedure ended revealing the new super soldier, Steve didn't wait any longer before he pulled the gun from his pocket quickly throwing some explosives then fired two shots at Erskine which hit him. Steve grabbed the serum to prevent it being used in the future and bolted. He heard the thundering footsteps of his past-self.
Steve jumped in the nearest taxi, remembering clearly how the events played out the first time around. Steve watched himself push Peggy out of the way before jumping on top of the taxi. Steve started shooting the roof trying to dislodge himself from the top. His past-self fell off when Steve accidentally crashed the taxi. Steve climbed out the taxi and took off running towards the docks where he knew a hydra submarine which he would 'fail' to escape in was currently stationed. Steve continued to shoot at his past-self until he ran out of bullets. Steve didn't have the time to be disgusted by his actions when he took a young child hostage.
Steve quickly threw the boy into the docks instantly distracting his past-self long enough to climb inside the submarine and start the engine, but he soon watched as past-Steve came into view and started punching the glass which forced Steve outside and back to the surface. Once out of the water Steve quickly broke the serum.
"Hail Hydra" Steve spat out, the words feeling vile coming from his mouth as he bit into the fake cyanide capsule. Soon he felt his conscious fading, he guessed it was the pill quickly getting to work. When Steve woke up he was lying on a metal table in a cold empty room, Steve guessed they took his body and dumped it in the morgue for later. Steve didn't wait to discover what would be the next step, he walked over to one of the morgues draws and pulled out a dead body and laid it in his place. He used the mystic arts he had been trained in and started reciting an explosive spell. It would look like Hydra trying to cover their tracks. Steve left before the body exploded.
Steve floated in the space time continuum for an hour before deciding where he wanted to go. He knew that the ancient one was going to criticize him once he returned that what he did was a sign of his weakness. Steve felt the world materialise around him one more.
"Hey buddy I thought you were with Philips" Steve heard a familiar voice, he opened his eyes and turned to face Bucky. His Bucky. The Bucky before The Winter Soldier.
"Yeah I am just taking a break for a bit" Steve answered before following Bucky to their tent. The pair shared one during the war, it reminded them both of home a little. The apartment they shared where they had to squish into one bed to sleep at night because they couldn't afford another one, it was lucky back then that Steve was smaller, or they wouldn't have fitted on the bed.
"Bucky. Do you think I am worthy of this role?" Steve asked his best friend as he lay on his cot. Bucky who has laid down on his own cot looked over at Steve with a puzzled expression on his face.
"No one is worthier of this role Stevie" Bucky said sitting up and walking over to Steve. Steve lifted his head allowing Bucky to sit down before lying his head on Bucky's lap. Bucky gently stroked a hand through Steve's hair as the pair stayed silent. Steve wanted to enjoy his limited time with Bucky, he had no idea when he would see Bucky again, the ancient one never told him how long it would take but Steve secretly knew it would take a while.
"I better head back to Philips before he has my head. I'm sorry for being all weird on you" Steve said reluctantly before standing up and straightening his hair.
"It's alright Pal" Bucky replied, Steve smiled down at Bucky before turning and walking out. Past-Steve wouldn't return for a few more hours and Bucky never got the chance to speak with Steve after all Bucky falls off the train tomorrow. Steve fought every instinct to prevent the fall, but he quickly squished them down before focusing on his destination and disappearing.
"Steve, you need to ensure Shield get their hands on the tesseract" the ancient one said as she entered his room which pulled Steve from his memories. Steve internally groaned before lifting his head to look at her.
"When Captain Marvel returned to earth six years after the explosion she discovered her past and working with Nick Fury she discovered the horrors of the Kree and swore to help the Skrulls. The Kree's StarForce unit came after her and tried to get the tesseract. The tesseract was swallowed by Goose a flerken. The flerken is being kept by Nick Fury in his office in Shield. All you need to do is get into that office and make the flerken sick up the tesseract" the ancient one explained. Steve dropped his head back to his pillow.
"You want me to make a flerken sick up the tesseract… great" Steve groaned before closing his eyes and pictured Nick Fury's office in 1995.