It was surreal to see the battlefield again. The last time they were 'here' the most hardened warriors were in shock, unable to process the sight of their friends disappearing around them. It had been the first sign of the coming troubles, something the team hoped this world would never know.
Wakandan rescue personnel arrived on the scene, tending to the casualties, taking the wounded away on the speeding hovercrafts. Rhodey walked over to one of the alien ships, pretending to examine the wreckage while Steve took his time wandering over the area, helping where needed. From the bits and pieces of a conversation he picked up, Thor had shown up and defeated Thanos here while something happened far away in the cosmos, someone in some other realm, aided in their victory. Steve had to give them credit, they weren't far from wrong.
Steve approached T'Challa. This world was his. Considering Bucky's reaction, how would he treat Steve in this reality? Much to his relief, the King smiled at him.
"This is a great day, Captain," T'Challa said picking what appeared to be an alien spear. "Thank you for all you have done."
"You and your people sacrificed so much…," Steve said. He knew in his head they would travel back to the recent past, but to see it again triggered mild post-battle stress and other deeper reactions. He had traveled in time before, in a way, but that had been forward, not backward.
"My people are always ready to protect Wakanda. For a moment half my warriors vanished, but then restored, as if some unforeseen force came to the rescue. We will investigate this phenomenon," T'Challa said.
"I experienced the same thing," Steve said. It was the truth A question in his head replaced his pretense of ignorance. The thought of an 'investigation' put him on his guard. Could the people, in this universe, somehow stumble across what they had done?
"We must thank your friend Thor and hold a festival in his honor, that is, if you think he would enjoy such a thing…?" T'Challa's question hung in the air.
"Trust me, he would love such a thing," Steve said, happy to change the subject. General Okoye's arrival interrupted their conversation.
"Forgive me, my King," she asked. "The battle, it is over?" She stumbled, her eyes wandering over the field. She was not the confident military leader Steve had known, but a dazed and confused woman.
"Are you unwell? Were you injured?" T'Challa asked, showing his concern.
"No, no injuries, but I feel strange as if something raised me up and returned me to earth again. I'm not the only one. A warrior told me it was like recovering from a long illness but having no memory of being sick. It is unexplainable," she said. "And most alarming."
"Well then, I must order you, and the others who experienced this to take yourselves to my sister and her people, right away." Okoye protested but T'Challa held up a warning hand and then smiled at her. "We can overlook nothing," he said.
"Yes, my King." She stared at Steve for the briefest of moments. Could she figure out everything by looking at him? He dismissed that as paranoia. They exchanged a quick nod then she turned to follow T'Challa's command. Steve reminded himself of Wong's words. He said the chaos and confusion resulting from their actions would be temporary and not as terrible as the turmoil they had left behind. The man had no reason to steer them wrong, they had to trust him.
Steve found Rocket sitting with his friend, the tree alien named Groot who repeated the phrase 'I am Groot' while Rocket listened. He sensed a presence. Turning he found Thor beside him, who regarded the unusual pair with a smile of pure affection.
"How goes it?" he asked at length, acknowledging Steve as he tossed his new weapon in the air and catching it again without looking at it. "Has this journey erased our mistakes? I was victorious here, but that did not stop the disappearances. Thanos tried a different tactic, perhaps? Or something unseen intervened? But no matter, he is gone, and we are here."
"Everything is much the same, except Bucky is angry at me," Steve said. Saying the words out loud made it real.
Thor's face expressed concern. "I am sorry. I know too well what it is to gain a loved one's trust only to lose it again, but this was the chance we took."
"What are your plans?" Steve asked, needing to take the attention off himself.
"I will take my little friends back to where I found them and search for their comrades, perhaps they survived, and to make sure Stark can return home safely. After that, I must look for my people. They are out there, somewhere and I must be with them. I wish you well, Steve Rogers and hope you and your friend, can resolve your differences. Do all you can to remake those bonds, you will not regret it. If you need me, I shall return. It was, as always, an honor to serve with you."
"Let's not wait so long next time," Steve said. "But don't leave yet. I understand T'Challa wants to hold… revels to thank you." Thor nodded, gracing Steve with his magnificent smile before walking over to Rocket and Groot where he knelt down and to speak to them.
He went back to the grove where he last saw Vision. Someone had propped the android up against a tree. He appeared to be barely functioning. Wanda was kneeling beside him, her eyes full of tears. It relieved Steve to find them and to see Vision alert, unlike his appearance after the battle Steve endured in his other life. This reminded Steve that many things would be different here.
"Hello, Captain." Vision's voice sounded hollow and artificial. "Forgive me for not rising. I am glad things turned out as they did. What you see before you is a shell."
"Vision," he replied. "You were always more than the sum of your parts." It was such a trite thing to say, but he had to be careful.
"It's him, but it's not," Wanda said, her voice quivering.
"I'm sure there's someone here who can help him," Steve said, once again trying to watch his words. He assumed Shuri was still a tech wiz here? Was Tony? Did he build Vision here… he was obviously not exactly the same as the android he remembered.
"I'm sure Mr. Stark and Princess Shuri will do everything they can," Wanda settled herself next to Vision. Steve breathed a silent sigh of relief. Some things were the same but bothered that she had referred to Tony as Mr. Stark, as had Sam, and she had used Shuri's title.
Wakandan science personal approached, accompanied by Natasha. Another barely perceptible nod. She knelt down beside the pair and spoke to Natasha while the Wakandans examined Vision. Seeing friends were in good hands, Steve walked away through the trees.
He noticed groups of people who were not helping but instead sitting still, staring out into space. They were part of the displaced group that had returned with them. The emergency team pointed them away from the field, toward the complex where Shuri, Princess Shuri, had her lab. They all obeyed, but many of them turned their faces upward as if looking for answers. Some had to hitch rides in the hovercrafts. The twinge of guilt returned, but he reminded himself that all they had done was bring them home and spared them immense suffering.
He sought Bucky, doing his best to stay hidden from his view, keeping behind trees and buildings but getting close enough to see him interacting with the Wakandans. At one point a contingent of children followed him. They skipped beside him, asking questions and seemed to be re-enacting scenes from the battle, one of them imitating Thor by jumping up and down and pounding on the ground with a large tree branch. Bucky responded to them in their own language.
"He has flourished, here in Wakanda," a familiar voice interrupted his reverie. Shuri was there beside him. Together they watched the group as they wandered away to the other side of the field. "You miss him and even though he will not admit it, he misses you," He turned to face her. "I had to come and see everything for myself," she said in explanation to his unspoken question.
"I spoke to him earlier," Steve said. "He wasn't too happy to see me." Shuri sounded much the same as he remembered. She was too young to have the mountain of life experiences others carried with them so perhaps she was much the same person in both realities.
"Well, what can you expect? We tried to explain to him, over and over, that you did what you thought was best," she said. "But you should not have done it, but that is your way, doing things without thinking it through first."
"And what did he say?" Steve asked, surprised at her description of his counterpart and but was still desperate for answers. Pretending was hard.
"He said you should have known how he would feel to have his freedom to choose taken away, again, no matter what the risks," she said.
He considered her answer for a moment, pondering what it might mean. "But otherwise, he's ok? He's happy here, he's… well?"
"He's healthy, inside and out. His life is full of constant activity, he enjoys the friendships he has made and we enjoy his company."
"Good, good, I guess that's all that matters." Steve wanted to ask more but not raise suspicions. Nick Fury had taught him many things during his time at S.H.I.E.L.D, but he always found it hard to lie. Best leave the information gathering to Natasha.
"No, it's not all that matters. I can fix many things, Captain Rogers but this is not one. This, you must fix yourself," she said.
"Which means asking Tony to call off his operatives." Captain Rogers. Why were people so formal here?
"Tony? You call him Tony? I did not know you were such good friends," she said. "Have you tried speaking to him?"
"No, not really," Steve said, berating himself for his minor slip up. That answered one question but raised another. He and Tony weren't friends here?
"I must get on with my work and discover why so many of the people have fallen into a trance," she said, waving an arm across the panorama of the battlefield, "For me, I admit it is like waking from a deep, deep dream but I must work through it." She said. She hesitated a moment before turning away. "After all this, perhaps it will be easier for Mr. Stark to stand down. If you can resolve this, I'm positive, all will be well between all of you."
"All will be well," Steve repeated to himself, staring into the distance, watching as the children followed Bucky over the crest of a distant hill until they all disappeared from his view.