Author's Notes: Hello and welcome to my What If?... story! After wrapping up my trilogy of stories, I selfishly decided not to let go of my OCs and to run with this little idea I've had since I wrote the Endgame portion! That being said, if you haven't read the From Erskine to Ellis series, you can still read this story and it will make sense. With the exception of the Prologue and the First Chapter, which reference From Erskine to Ellis and From Ellis to Rogers, the story will take place on a completely different timeline, thus it can be read as a standalone story! If you haven't read the previous stories, please feel free to skip the prologue and move to Chapter 1- the prologue will make sense if you've read From Ellis to Rogers.
Please review, favorite, and follow! If you're just joining, I hope you enjoy these characters that I've adored writing for over the past two years. If you're coming over from my other stories, thank you SO MUCH for sticking with me and allowing me to continue publishing this little spark in my head. And now, as before, on with the show, erm, story...
"Doctor Strange, what are you doing here?" Bruce Banner addressed the Sorcerer Supreme as he strode into the lobby of Avengers Campus. Stephen Strange looked around, taking in the massive building with a restrained sense of wonder. Bruce smiled weakly, wanting to get back to his lunch with the team, "Is there something we can help you with?"
"We have a potential problem. Something slipped through the cracks when the Infinity Stones were returned." Doctor Strange informed Bruce, finally focusing his attention on the Hulk, "One of the branch realities wasn't reset."
Bruce led Stephen into the lounge on the second floor where the new crop of Avengers were scattered about eating Chinese takeout. Amandla, Prince of Wakanda and the young Black Panther, sat across the table from James Rogers, engaging the young super soldier in a bout of arm wrestling to see who was stronger while Morgan Stark sat beside her boyfriend watching. She used her chopsticks to take a bite out of her pot sticker as Amandla finally slammed James's arm to the table.
"I win. You owe me two-hundred American dollars." Amandla teased as James groaned, throwing his head back in frustration.
Morgan practically choked on her food as she smacked James's bicep, "Two-hundred dollars? You bet two-hundred dollars on an arm-wrestling match? You don't even have that kind of money!"
James rolled his eyes, twisting his body to lay his head on Morgan's shoulder, "I was pretty confident I could beat him. I beat Uncle Bucky, vibranium arm and all."
Morgan groaned loudly, causing Sarah Rogers to snort from her place on the floor but not look up from her book. "He let you win, dumbass, he's family."
"Can I borrow two-hundred dollars, Babe?" James cooed, nuzzling Morgan's neck as she stared blankly at Amandla, who bit his lower lip to keep from laughing outwardly. James continued his pleading, "I'll make it worth your while."
"Sarah, could we have a word with you." Bruce asked, and the blonde girl finally drew her blue eyes up from the book she was reading. She closed her book softly and stood, looking over to her brother questioningly.
James lifted his head from Morgan's shoulder and pushed himself to his feet, staring at Doctor Strange with narrowed green eyes, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, we just need to ask her a few questions." Bruce put his hands up in a calm down motion to the young man, but Doctor Strange cut in.
"I wouldn't say nothing is wrong. It's just nothing that affects you two. We just need information about something your father did."
At that, James looked to his sister and she blinked slowly as a smile grew across her face, "Let's go talk in the conference room, shall we. James, you coming?" The older Rogers child followed his sister as she led them out of the room.
Once they were gone, Morgan turned to Amandla questioningly, "I wonder what that's about."
Sarah took a seat at the conference table with her back to the glass wall, and her brother sat beside her, keeping his eyes locked onto Doctor Strange. Stephen took note of how calm Sarah seemed compared to her brother. While the boy was wound up like a spring, she took the inquiry about her father in stride. Sarah looked a lot like her mother, but with the quiet strength of Captain America. She was tall and lean, but if her toned calves flexing beneath her yoga pants were any indication, she hid super-soldier muscles beneath her maroon over-sized knit sweater.
Stephen took a seat across from the siblings, eventually tilting his head to huff at James, "I just need to ask a few questions. Maybe you can answer them, too."
"But wouldn't it be easier to just ask Dad?" Sarah cooed, leaning back in her chair, and crossing one leg over the other. At Stephen's concerned look, she shrugged, "It's a whole thing. When they died, I accidentally sucked them into the Soul Realm. They're trapped there now for all eternity, but trust me, they do not mind."
"I... I don't believe I understand." Doctor Strange stammered, looking up to Bruce from where he stood by the door.
"Sarah holds the power of the Soul Stone. She's been studying with Wanda and Carol to understand it better, and she was able to tap into the Soul Realm. Kayla and Steve have been there since they passed."
"Can you bring them back? You brought everyone else back?" Stephen asked quickly, but James groaned loudly at the suggestion.
"No. Because they are dead. They didn't have their souls stolen, they died, and Sarah basically preserved them forever because they are her parents and yada yada, this conversation has come up before. Lots of time and effort has gone into trying, but honestly, just leave them be. Mom and Dad are having a grand old time in Sarah's subconscious or wherever the Soul Realm is." James droned on, using both of his hands to rake through his short blonde hair. "Sarah can ask Dad what you want to know and bring back his answer."
Sarah looked down at her smart watch, "Better hurry, I've only got twelve minutes to get in and out."
"Very strict visiting hours in the Soul Realm." James explained.
Sarah shuddered, "Yeah, they're very busy."
"I can relate." James hummed as he smiled wolfish. His sister whacked him hard and he winced, hating how easy it was for her to actually cause him pain now. Both of the Rogers children turned back to Doctor Strange expectantly, "So, what do you need to know?"
Stephen looked between them in a state of disbelief and confusion, but remembering who their mother was, he wasn't surprised. He cleared his throat, turning to Sarah, "I need to know what happened when Captain Rogers returned the stones to 2012 New York. For whatever reason, a branch reality was created, and things... haven't gone according to plan. He needed to return the stones to the exact moment they were taken from."
"Well, there was an issue with the Tesseract and the Scepter. Loki escaped with both of them. I know Steve and Tony went back to 1970 to collect the Tesseract and Kayla went to 2014 to collect the Scepter." Bruce explained as Sarah and James looked to each other worriedly.
Doctor Strange looked up at Banner, nodding slowly, "But the Mind and Space stone were still removed from their place in that reality, correct? The one where you got the Time Stone?"
"Yes." Bruce said quietly, understanding what had happened. "Steve put the stones back where they were taken from to be brought here, but because we failed to collect the stones from that timeline, they went missing, and it changed everything."
"Exactly. Causing a slew of events that weren't supposed to occur." Stephen finished, looking to Sarah, "I need to know what happened when your parents went to collect the stones, because whatever events they caused won't be able to be erased, unless we find Loki and can put the stones back that way-"
"That's like finding a needle in a... in an entire branch reality multiverse. Especially with both the Scepter and the Tesseract, Loki could be anywhere in that branch reality." Bruce interrupted and Stephen rocked back and forth a little, agreeing with the Hulk.
"Then that reality can't be undone. But we have to make sure that they don't find a way to stumble into our reality and mess up our timeline. I need to know what happened while your parents were in the past."
James grabbed Sarah's hand and she inhaled deeply, filling her lungs before sighing loudly, "I'll talk to them." She looked down at her watch, twisting her mouth thoughtfully before adding, "I'll talk to them in three hours."
Steve Rogers was many things in life and death, but Sarah's favorite thing in the latter was his punctuality. At four o'clock on the nose, Sarah clenched her brother's hand and closed her eyes, focusing her mind on entering the Soul Realm. When she opened her eyes again, Sarah felt the water sloshing at her tennis shoes and groaned loudly, knowing she wasn't in the conference room anymore.
I really need to remember to change before coming over here.
Steve heard her and scurried out of the bedroom, trying to clip his utility belt of his Captain America suit back together as he came face to face with his daughter, "Hey Sweetie, what's up?"
"Doctor Strange is at the compound. He has questions for you." Sarah said softly as Steve reached out and touched her hand, grounding her even further to this world. "Can we take a seat?"
"Yeah, of course." Steve answered, following his daughter through the pool of water toward the kitchen table. He pulled out the chair for her and sat across, studying her with fond blue eyes, "You look beautiful."
"Thanks, Dad." Sarah answered softly, pushing her long hair behind her ear.
"What did you do for your birthday last week?"
Sarah felt a pang of guilt, having had good intentions of visiting her parents on her eighteenth birthday, but getting caught up in the festivities, "Morgan and James threw me a surprise party. Party bus and all, it was wild. And also, a little weird considering I'm not twenty-one."
"Yeah, but clearly that didn't stop your brother." Kayla grumbled as she emerged from the orange tinted bedroom wearing her long blue ballgown that she begrudgingly couldn't change out of. Well, couldn't change into anything else, "You shouldn't be drinking underage-"
"Uncle Tony was there. And Uncle Bucky. Everyone really, and nobody seemed to mind." Sarah chuckled and Kayla shot Steve a dirty look that he just raised his hands to.
"Don't look at me. I wouldn't have condoned it. You would have though, you let James sneak out all the time when we were alive and do God knows what-"
Kayla plopped down into the seat between her husband and daughter, revving up to give Steve an earful, "Don't give me that, after all the shit you used to pull. Jumping out of planes without parachutes, crashing several stories off the side of buildings, allowing your best friend to almost pummel you to death..."
"In my defense, you had just died in my arms and I was ready to just accept it." Steve said, leaning toward Kayla but she turned away, pretending to be upset, but Sarah knew she had approximately two hours of their playful bickering before it would turn into passionate lovemaking and she didn't need to be around for that.
"Hi. Hello. I'm Sarah, your daughter. I need your help." Sarah interrupted and her parents stopped their banter to look at her. "I won't stay long and then you can go back to all that, but I need you to tell me what happened when you went to collect the Mind and the Space stones from 2012."
Steve sat up straighter as Kayla leaned her elbows on the table, pursing her lips as she pressed her index fingers together. Steve cleared his throat, "When I returned the stones or when we took them?"
"When you took them. And when you returned them. Doctor Strange says there's a branch reality that wasn't cut, and he needs to know why."
Kayla looked to Steve, remembering their failure to secure the Tesseract because Tony was smashed by the Hulk and Kayla was tricked by Loki into giving him the Scepter. "We lost both stones, but Bruce got the Time Stone from the Ancient One. You returned the Time Stone to 2012, and the other two to 1970 and 2014 correct?"
"Yes, but we still changed what happened to the stones in 2012, even though we didn't collect them. I couldn't put them back twice." Steve grumbled, realizing his decades old error too late. "I didn't even consider it. I did what I was told to do. I put them all back... I put all but one back." He stared at Kayla blankly and she shrugged, gesturing to their daughter.
"I think it all turned out fine in the end."
"Uh huh." Steve said and Sarah grinned, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair. Steve looked to her sadly, "I'm sorry, I messed up. But there wasn't anything I could do about it. I did everything I could."
"I know you did, Dad." Sarah said, reaching across the table and touching his hand, but hers went right through it. She was being pulled back to reality, "Did you guys make any major changes to the timeline aside from losing the stones?"
Kayla and Steve looked to each other, and the blonde woman smiled grandly as Steve sighed, "We met each other a year too early."