Three Weeks Later-
"Hey time to switch out." Aiden said walking over with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Already?" I said spinning around in my computer chair to face him.
"Yeah. Anything happen?" Aiden asked.
"Nothing. We've been at this for a week I'm starting to think Anagnos sent us on a wild goose chase." I said standing up and stretching.
"Or the First order knew he would talk and they covered their tracks." He said sitting down. "He's been in custody for three weeks pretty sure they've noticed he's not working for them anymore. You want to go check in with them?"
"Not like we have anything to report." I said.
"So you're just checking your phone every five minutes for the time, not because you want to know what time it is in New York so you can call?" Aiden said.
"Time just blends together when you're staring at a screen for hours on end with nothing showing up for days at a time." I said before a video call started coming in.
"Just like clockwork." Aiden said before answering the call. "Morning."
"Morning." Steve said.
"How's the stakeout going?" Bucky asked.
"Same as the last time you checked in. There's nothing out of the ordinary." I said.
"Guess it's good we called. We're bringing you back in." Steve said.
"It's only been a week." Aiden said.
"Anagnos is dead." Steve said.
"How? He was in custody." I said.
"He was and this morning when they were doing a head count the guards found him in his cell with his throat slit." Bucky said.
"Friday bring up the crime scene photos." Aiden said and the images popped out on the screen. Sure enough they had slit his throat. The arterial spray on the wall on the opposite side of his bed. The blood stains on his bed and then there was the symbol and writing made on the wall with his blood.
"They even left a Banksy at the crime scene for us." I said zooming in on the bloody writing on the wall.
"We're still trying to figure out what it means." Steve said.
"Princeps. It's Latin." I said.
"What does it mean?" Aiden asked.
"It's a term used to describe the roman emperor after the fall of the republic. The literal translation would be the first among equals" I said and they all froze.
"We need to regroup." Steve said.
"Should we call them in?" Bucky said.
"Not yet, just give them an update." Steve said. "How fast can you be back here?"
"We need a few hours to pack everything up but we should be back by early…late afternoon at the latest." Aiden said.
"We'll be waiting." Steve said before ending the call.
"What am I missing here?" I asked Aiden.
"Not now Nora." Aiden said typing away as he shut down the surveillance feeds before standing up and starting to disassemble everything.
"Aiden." I said.
"We need to move." He said and I didn't move just crossed my arms and stared at him. Aiden sighed and walked over to me. "I promise once we're back at the apartment I'll explain everything but for now just help me pack everything up."
"I'll drop it… if you give me a sample of your blood." I said.
"Nora." Aiden said.
"It's my life, it's my time and I want to use it to help you so stop being a stubborn ass and let me try to help you." I said staring him down.
He stared right back but I was not going to back down.
"Fine, but start packing." Aiden said trying to act like he was annoyed but I could see the small grin he was trying to hide.
"Okay." I said grabbing a bag.
Third Person's POV- 2016
"He can only move back in time. Nora's in the future." Aya said. "This entire time I thought that time traveling was the answer to getting her back but I was looking at this the wrong way. We don't need another time traveler, we need a teleporter."
"That makes no sense." Pietro said.
"Da." Wanda agreed.
"You said Nora's somewhere in the future because if she was in the past she would be able to cause a change that you'd notice." Tony said. "But speedy can only go backwards and he can't teleport."
"Yes but…" Aya started.
"Okay I shouldn't have…" The other Pietro said running back in.
"Wha…" Pietro said before Aya quickly blasted the Pietro that had run into the room against the wall and knocked him out.
"Pietro!" Wanda said running to her brother.
"Aya!" Steve and Bucky shouted before Wren started crying again.
"Keep it down." Aiden said rocking the baby.
"Why did you do that to…" Pietro said looking confused as he walked over to himself but Aya stopped him.
"No!" Aya said blocking him. "You need to stay away from him. Ten feet at least."
"What are you talking about?!" Pietro said angrily.
"You're a time remnant." Aya said.
"A what?" Sam and Clint said confused.
"There's two of you when there should only be one of you. You were already pushing your luck before but now you're a walking talking paradox that goes against the laws of nature that the universe is going to try very hard to correct and the closer you two are to each other the sooner that will happen so take. a step. Back." Aya said sternly. Pietro glared at her but did as she asked.
"We need a teleporter but we don't have one." Natasha said.
"Don't think this little bugger is going to be able to help us any time soon." Aiden said rocking his nephew from side to side.
"No but I know where or more accurately when we can find one that can." Aya said.
"But you can't time travel." Steve said.
"I can't." Aya said before turning to Pietro. "But he can. I can't time travel without a host and he can't time travel without me slowing down everything around him so he's relatively going faster than the rate of time moving forward."
"So he'd be your new host?" Rhodey asked.
"No, he wouldn't be able to survive for long." Aya said. "Think of it as a piggyback ride. Just need to…"
With that Aya disappeared.
"Is she going to be inside of me?" Pietro said. "I didn't sign up for that."
Nora's POV-
I knocked out the entire flight which was to be expected considering I stayed awake all night. The only reason I woke up was because I felt the plane turn before it landed.
"Have a good nap?" Aiden said.
"It was okay." I said as I unbuckled myself and stretched a bit. "Are we going through the usual debrief?"
"Not this time." Aiden said and I arched an eyebrow. "We spent the week staking out an empty warehouse. There's not going to be much to report."
"Hm." I said crossing my arms. Aiden picked up his bag and handed me mine before putting his arm around my shoulders and leading me out of the quinjet into the compound.
"I'll fill you in when we're back at the apartment. Go grab a coffee, it shouldn't be too long" He said giving my shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze before going to find Steve. I sighed before heading to the common room. I was going to need a coffee if I was going to avoid throwing off my sleep schedule.
I walked into the common room and headed straight for the coffee maker.
"Hey Doll." Bucky greeted.
"Hey." I said taking a sip of my coffee before letting out a loud moan. "Mh I love coffee."
"Long night?" Bucky asked.
"Long and boring but I guess that is actually a good thing because that means no trouble." I said. "And I get to sleep in my nice comfy bed tonight instead of a lumpy cot."
"You'd think with all the tech getting better someone would figure out how to make better cots." Bucky said.
"Well at least thermal gear has gotten better. No more having to worry about freezing to death or losing toes." I said.
"Don't think that was ever really a problem for us." Bucky said smirking.
"True." I said smiling. "Ah the good old days."
"Do you still dip your fries in your shake?" Bucky said.
"Is there any other way to eat fries?" I retorted as I sipped my coffee.
"There's this diner outside of town and they have the best milk shakes I've ever had, even better than the ones from Mick's." Bucky said.
"Are you trying to ask me out Sarge?" I teased.
"Maybe?" Bucky said unsure of himself making me arch an eyebrow. "Would you… want to go out sometime?"
"Yeah, I'd love to." I said not being able to keep the goofy smile off of my face.
"Excuse me boss." Friday said.
"What is it Friday?" Bucky asked.
"I actually meant Miss Stark." Friday said making Bucky roll his eyes playfully.
"What's up Fri?" I asked.
"Aiden wanted me to let you know the debriefing is going to take longer than anticipated and suggested you may want to order dinner." Friday said.
"Thanks for letting me know Friday." I said.
"Of course." Friday said.
"Any chance you're craving one of those milkshakes right now?" I asked with a smile.
"I could go for a bite."
Third Person's POV-
"Got it." Aya said as she appeared again before tossing a bracelet to Pietro who managed to catch it.
"A bracelet?" Tony said before Bucky walked over to get a closer look.
"Is that… that's the bracelet Nora had in Azzano when we first met." Bucky said.
"That bracelet's almost a hundred years old?" Clint asked.
"Actually it is more like a few billion years old." Vision corrected.
"Forged in the heart of dying dwarf star." Aya said fondly. "Same dwarf star where Mjolnir was forged."
"Nora said Zola took it away from her when she was captured." Bucky said.
"He did, then Nora pried it out of his tiny grubby Nazi hands as his cancer filled lungs slowly choked him to death." Aya said. "But that's not important. The bracelet can keep me inside of it for a bit while as we get to where we need to be. Once we're there I'll get out and he can take over from there."
"We? As in you and me?" Pietro said.
"Who else would it be we're the only ones that can time travel." Aya retorted.
"You tried to kill me." Pietro snapped at Aya.
"Pietro." Wanda snapped.
"I didn't try to kill you, I only pointed out that you should have died." Aya answered.
"Aya!" Aiden snapped. "Not helping."
"Well it's true." Aya retorted.
"Kid look," Tony said. "I know its asking a lot. I am probably the last person you would ever do a favor for but I'm not asking for me. I'm asking for Nora. She vouched for you and stood up to that so that you could live and if that isn't enough there is a kid who hasn't stopped crying for his mom since she left. Please. Do it for them."
"How do I know you won't kill me or leave me behind?" Pietro asked Aya.
"You don't but it doesn't matter because you're going to die anyway." Aya said.
"Do you want Nora back or not?" Steve asked.
"Actually Captain, Aya is correct. Mister Maximoff is a time remnant. He is not supposed to exist and sooner or later time will correct itself and he will cease to exist." Vision said.
"No." Wanda cried out.
"It doesn't matter if you stay or if you go. It will happen but its up to you whether you want to do something meaningful with the time you have left or just sit around and wait for it to happen." Aya said. "You were supposed to die in Sokovia but Nora interfered with the timeline. It's sheer luck that he's…" Aya said pointing to the knocked out speedster lying on the floor. "Made it this far. That won't happen with you because when you moved back in time you erased your timeline. We're currently in his. You no longer exist."
"But he's right here. He exists." Rhodey said confused.
"I believe the best way to explain it would be to think of it as an echo of time. An echo starts off loud and with each repetition the volume decreases until finally it can no longer be heard." Vision explained.
"You're the echo and as time passes you will slowly start to disappear until you're gone." Aya said. "Which is why we need to go sooner rather than later. You're the only one that can get me to the only person that can save Nora. She matters more than… well anything in ways I can't even begin to describe. It may not seem like it now but there is a bigger picture and she's a part of that."
Pietro looked at Aya before turning to his sister and then looking at the inconsolable crying baby in Aiden's arms.
"How do we do this?" Pietro asked.
Nora's POV-
"We can take a car." I said.
"We could…. But if this is supposed to be a date then I should be trying to impress you." Bucky said.
"Sweetie I've seen you make a shot from over 2000 yards, triple flip a pancake without burning eggs and change a poopy dirt diaper in under a minute." I said "There's nothing you can do that can impress me more than that."
Bucky just smiled at me before handing me a helmet. "This is still fun."
"Can't argue with that." I said putting it on.
"You remember how to do this?" Bucky asked.
"Put my arms around you, move with you and enjoy the ride." I said and Bucky got on his bike. I got in behind him put my hands around him. Bucky tensed a bit before relaxing and starting the bike. Motorcycles may be death on wheels but they are fun to be on.
"Enjoy the ride?" Bucky asked as we walked into the diner and took a seat.
"You know working on the ER I've seen so many come in mangled and squirting blood everywhere because they were on a bike and got into an accident. I always thought is it really worth the risk?" I said.
"Is it?" Bucky asked frowning slightly.
"It is, just not something I'd be okay doing everyday. I have a kid, teleporting's safer." I said.
"I did actually stop using the bike for a while." He said. "Wren would worry a lot. His dads leaving to go after bad guys was dangerous enough. We couldn't change that but we could move around in a safer way so we did."
"Did you miss the bike?" I asked.
"Yeah but not as much as I missed not having to wake up in the middle of the night because my son had nightmares. I love the bike but I love Wren more." Bucky said and I teared up a bit. "Doll are you…"
"Sorry… I-I'm fine." I said wiping my eyes. "Just sleep deprivation and hormones. Girl stuff. Bad combo. You're a really good dad Buck. I can see it in the way Wren looks at you and Steve. He adores you guys."
"We love him too." Bucky said. "It wasn't always easy but he was worth it."
"It's what gets me through the day. Work sixteen hours days. Have to take work home with me most days. I see a lot of death but getting to pick up Wren from daycare and getting to see his adorable smiling face… It makes it all worth it." I said smiling.
"Wow, we're those parents, the ones that only talk about their kid." Bucky said.
"Of course we are, our kid's awesome." I said making Bucky laugh.
"He really is." He agreed.
Third Person's POV- 2016
"Say it again." Aya said.
"I think he's got it." Steve said.
"One more time." Aya insisted.
"You go inside of the bracelet and I hold onto it." Pietro repeated for the tenth time. "You'll slow down time as I start running as fast as I can and once we get far enough you'll stop."
"Good." Aya said. "You should probably start saying goodbye."
"Da." Pietro said before looking to his sister who was already crying. "It's going to be alright, you still have… me."
"Always knew you'd get yourself killed." Wanda said.
"Well it just means you're going to have to try harder next time." Pietro said hugging her. "Take care of her." He told Vision.
"I shall try my hardest." Vision answered.
"Thank you." Tony and Rhodey said.
"I don't hate you Stark. You can't be all bad if you managed to have a daughter like Nora." Pietro said before turning to Aya. "Okay."
"What's the date?" Aya asked.
"March 24th, 2015." Pietro repeated.
"You get there and I can take us the rest of the way." Aya said.
"I know, you've said it ten times already." Pietro retorted.
Aya walked up to him and looked him straight in the eyes. "Thank you for doing this." Aya said before taking his hand and shrinking down to a green stone embedded in the bracelet.
Pietro turned to the exit and ran as fast as he could.
Nora's POV-
We got back to the compound where Steve and Aiden were waiting for us. Whatever happened in that meeting must have been important because both Steve and Aiden looked worried.
"Bring me back anything?" Aiden asked.
"Bacon cheese burger, fries and a chocolate shake." I said handing him the bag.
"You know me well." Aiden said taking the bag.
"And the same but with a strawberry shake." I said handing another bag to Steve.
"Thank you." He said smiling.
"Is it time to head home?" I asked.
"Yeah we're good to go." Aiden said.
"I'll drive so you can eat in the car." I said.
"I'd appreciate that." Aiden said heading to the car.
"I'll see you guys later and…" I said getting on my tip toes and kissing Bucky's cheek. "Thanks for the date."
"Anytime." Bucky said blushing a bit as he smiled. "Drive safe and send us a text when you get home."
"Okay." I said getting in the driver's seat and starting the car.
"You do remember how to drive right?" Aiden asked.
"It's like riding a bike, once you know you know." I said speeding out of the compound. Aiden by the time we got back to the apartment. We headed straight to mine and he pulled out two beers from the fridge before joining me on the couch. "What's going on?"
"When you died the entire universe saw and heard the story of Nora Stark, the girl who gave everything up to save them. You were a hero, there were statues of you put up in every major city on planets across the universe. People idolized you, even worshipped you." Aiden said.
"Worshipped me?" I said confused.
"A lot of people considered you a modern day Jesus. The Catholic Church even declared you a Saint." Aiden said.
"You're kidding right?" I said but he was dead serious. He put his beer down and started looking something up on his phone before it was projected in front of us. There newspaper articles, stories of people building churches, images of stained glass and all sorts of things. "You're not kidding."
"Saint Nora, Patron Saint of selflessness and sacrifice." Aiden said.
"But… I'm me. I'm not a saint or a…" I said reading the comment under the image of the stained glass portrait. "a god. I'm not that important."
"You may not believe that but a lot of people do… "Aiden said bringing up an article on a group of worshippers of well… me. "They call themselves the Lianists."
"Is that supposed to be short for…" I started.
"Elliana? Yeah." Aiden said. "They don't believe you were a god."
"Finally someone making sense." I said.
"They believe that your sacrifice symbolized that no one is above anyone else. No one is more important than anyone else. You were the first among equals." Aiden said and it clicked.
"Princeps." I said.
"They believe that the world is not living up to your example. That people are selfish and that it will be the world's downfall unless something is done about it." Aiden said. "We believe the First order is an extremist faction of Lianists that is trying to do just that."
"So a cult that worships me or more specifically my sacrifice is essentially the new ten rings." I said.
"In a nutshell." Aiden said.
"The Spanish inquisition, Salem witch trials, the Nazis and Hydra, Al-Qaida and the ten rings, Lianists and the First Order, different name but at their core they are the exact same thing." I said.
"Circle of life." Aiden said.
"So how bad is it?" I asked.
"Now that we know who's pulling the strings we linked a lot more crimes to the First order and we have new leads. Just need to figure out which ones we're going after next." Aiden said. "Until then, expect them to be a bit more overprotective."
"Why? it's not like anyone knows who I am." I said.
"True but you do tend to leave an impression." He said.
Third Person's POV- March 24th2015
Pietro ran as his surroundings moved backwards instead of forward. He ran for what felt like hours before he felt something change and he stopped.
"Did we do it?" He asked before the bracelet glowed and everything was too bright to see. Then he heard a voice.
"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Someone said.
Pietro opened his eyes and he was in a house he had never been to before. He could hear a dog whine before he heard someone speak again.
"I know buddy I miss her too." They said and Pietro walked down the hall. He walked into a kitchen and saw some photos on the fridge. They were of some kids and a dog with a red haired man with blue eyes. There was another one of Nora and a blonde woman at a bar.
"Where am I?" He asked before walking towards the voice he heard.
"Hey Nora. You probably think this is really morbid and cliché but if you're watching this it means I'm dead." They said as Pietro reached the living room. He took a step and there was a loud creak. Suddenly a brown husky jumped off the couch barking and growling before pouncing on Pietro taking him by surprise.
"Wha!" Pietro said falling to the floor.
"WOOF!" Axl growled in Pietro's face.
"Axl off." Someone with a British accent said.
"Thank you…" Pietro said before the red head from the photos pointed a gun at him.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?" He said.
"Help" Pietro said before the bracelet started glowing and Aya appeared.
"It's okay he's with me." Aya said putting a hand on his gun.
"Aya?" Wren said slowly putting the gun down.
"Hey Wren." She said with a sad smile. "It's been a while."