(A/N) Before anyone says anything. There will be a tribute to Stan Lee, just not in this chapter, I feel like it'll take out of the flow of the story so I'm gonna do a little something in the break after this reaction.
Steve jumps to the ground with the scepter, Tony and Scott wait in a destroyed car. Tony says they have a problem.
"A big problem." Scott agreed.
Steve asks what they're gonna do.
Tony asks Steve to give him a break because he just got hit in the head with the Hulk.
"Can't imagine that was pleasant." Bruce said. "Sorry."
"Don't sweat it Bruce... I'm probably fine." Tony said.
Scott says Tony said they had one shot and they shot it so it's shot and it was six stones or nothing. He repeats the last phrase.
Tony tells him that he's repeating himself.
"I do that when I'm angry." Scott said.
Scott says Tony's repeating himself and repeats that sentence as well. He says Tony never wanted the time heist, wasn't on board with it and ruined the time heist.
"Scott. Stop acting like a child for one minute, please." Hank said.
He says Tony never wanted the time heist, wasn't on board with it and ruined the time heist.
"I don't-" Hope sighed. "I don't think yelling at each other is going to help you right now, Scott."
"She's right. We should be figuring out how we can fix this." Steve said.
Tony asks if that's what he did.
Steve asks if there are any other options for the Tesseract.
"The only places I know that it's been is in the ocean, experimented on by SHIELD, in Mar-Vell's lab in space and on Asgard. None of those places are very convenient to go get it." Bruce said.
Scott says there's no options or do-over's because the each only have one particle left.
"What if.. there was a place and time where you could go back and get both?" Hope asked, sounding like she was onto something.
"What are you talking about?" Natasha asked.
"All I'm saying is that the Tesseract was with SHIELD for a considerable amount of time... and so were the Pym particles." Hope said, looking at Hank, who was being very quiet. He didn't really like the idea of the Avengers stealing his particles but if they really had no other option... "You'd have a very small window but there is an option." Hope finished.
Steve says no one else is going home either if they don't try.
"He's right. It's a risk... but it's one that we have to take. We can't stop now." Bruce said.
Tony says there's another way to retake the Tesseract and acquire particles.
Tony and Hope glanced at each other. "Great minds." Tony commented, leaving the rest of the saying unsaid.
Tony says there's a military installation in the Garden State.
"Camp Lehigh." Steve realized. "You're really sure about this?"
"I mean he seems pretty sure." Tony said, gesturing to his onscreen self.
Steve asks when they were both there.
Tony says they were there at a time and he has a vaguely exact idea.
"Just how vague?" Clint asked. "You might end up getting yourselves stuck in the past with no Tesseract and no particles."
Scott asks what they're talking about and asks where they're going.
"I don't like being left out of the conversation." Scott sighed.
Tony says he knows for a fact that they were there and he knows how he knows.
"How do you know?" Howard asked, he was starting to have a feeling he knew when Tony was talking about.
Steve says it looks like they're improvising.
"Don't really have much of a choice." Strange said.
Steve hands Scott the scepter and tells him to get it to the compound.
Scott asks what's in New Jersey.
"Our last hope." Tony said. "Hopefully."
Tony gives Steve the date as 04/07/1970.
Scott tries to get Steve's attention and says if they do this and it doesn't work they're not coming back.
"Oh thanks for the vote of confidence, Lang." Tony said.
"I mean he's right. The two of you are risking quite a bit here and I don't think either of you want to get trapped in the 1970's." Natasha said.
Tony sarcastically thanks Scott for the pep talk and calls him pissant.
"Pissant? That's the worst one." Scott complained.
Tony asks if Steve trusts him.
Steve says he does. They go back in time to the 1970s
Steve and Tony look at each other for a moment. They were glad that they were able to finally put the past behind them and forgive one another, and learn to work together again. Because as much as they don't get along, it seemed to them that they do become close in their futures. Close enough to the point where betrayal and secrets kept cut worse than most things.
'New Jersey: 1970' appears on the screen. An old man(Stan Lee) drives down the street with a woman in the car with him.
"His license plate says 420." Sam laughed.
"What does that mean? What's 420?" Gamora asked. If someone pointed it out, those numbers must be important, but why?
"Oh it's just a... Earth thing." Sam replied.
The old man(Stan Lee) says to make love and not war.
"Amen to that." Rhodey said.
"That could be taken a variety of different ways." Clint said.
"All of which are true." Maria said, smirking.
A sign out front of the camp reads 'Birthplace of Captain America.' Tony says Steve clearly wasn't born here. Steve says the idea of him was.
"I was born in Brooklyn. Captain America on the other hand... he was created in Jersey." Steve said.
Tony tells Steve to imagine that he's SHIELD running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organization and asks where he'd hide it. Steve says it's in plain sight and looks toward a bunker.
"The best place to hide is in plain sight because that's where no one ever thinks to look." Bucky said.
"Because 'Why would someone make themselves seen?'." Natasha said.
"Exactly." Clint agreed.
Tony uses his glasses to see that there's an underground level and an elevator. Steve and Tony enter the elevator with another woman, Tony steps forward to block Steve from her view.
"Smart, if a little suspicious." Coulson said. People in the 70s might be a little freaked out if they suspect that Captain America is still alive and well.
The elevator opens, Tony wishes the 'captain' luck on his mission and exits.
Steve wishes the 'doctor' good luck on his project.
"You should've kept your mouths shut." Natasha said. "Don't arouse any more suspicion than you already have."
The woman in the elevator asks Steve is he's new there.
Steve says he isn't.
"Steve." Natasha sighed. "What part of keep your mouth shut do you not understand?"
"It's not like he could hear you." Steve protested, pointing at his onscreen counterpart.
Tony rushes around downstairs looking for the Tesseract, finding it in a storage cube. He uses the lasers on his armor to cut through it, being careful to hide it from view. He takes the Tesseract out and puts it into a briefcase.
"Now all we need are the Pym particles and we are outta here." Tony said, feeling like the weight of dread has been lifted off of his chest.
"So long as nothing else goes wrong." Scott muttered.
"Do you not believe in jinxes? Shut up, Scott. Now that you've said that, something will go wrong." Tony said.
Howard Stark is in the lab looking for Zola.
Howard gasped. "Oh shit." Tony choked.
Tony tries to walk the other way but Howard stops him and tells him that the door is in the other direction.
"No getting out of this one, I see." Tony muttered.
Howard asks if Tony's seen Zola.
Tony says he hasn't seen a soul and bumps into a chair.
"Tony are you... alright?" Rhodey asked.
"Obviously not." Tony said. He and Howard haven't spoken since the morning of the accident and now he managed to run into him in the past. What are the chances?
Howard asks if he knows Tony.
Howard sighed. "That's a loaded question." Tony said.
Tony says he's a visitor from MIT.
Howard asks for a name.
"He's gonna say something stupid like 'Howard' or 'Steve'." Sam predicted.
"You could give me a little more credit. I may say dumb things but I don't think I'd say something that dumb." Tony said.
Tony says it's Howard
Howard says it'll be easy to remember.
"Ha ha." Sam cheered, glad that he was right.
Howard chuckled. Outwardly, he seemed fairly calm. But on the inside, he felt like how his son's onscreen counterpart looked. He has no idea how this version of Tony will react to seeing him again, especially after... well after everything. It doesn't seem to be going well so far if he were to be honest with himself.
Tony says his name is Howard Potts.
"We both know you can do better than that, Stark." Coulson said.
"These are... unique circumstances." Tony defended.
"At least he didn't say Stark." Clint said to Coulson. "But I'd like to have watched him worm his way out of that one."
Howard holds out his hand for Tony to shake, Tony just plops his hand into Howards. Howard tells him to shake not pull.
"Are you that freaked out that you've forgotten how to give a handshake?" Peggy asked, worried about Howard's son.
"This is just getting... awkward, honestly." Rhodey said. "It's almost hard to watch."
"Try being the one who has to live this." Tony muttered.
Howard tells Tony that he's looking a little green around the gills.
Tony says he's had long hours.
Howard asks if he wants some air. When Tony doesn't respond Howard snaps to get his attention.
"Yeah, you could definitely use some air." Howard said quietly.
Tony walks off, nearly forgetting his briefcase. Howard hands it to him.
"Thank you." Tony said to Howard, the words surprising everyone, even him. He, in his panic, likely would've left it behind and lost them the Tesseract... again.
Howard asks if Tony is one of those Beatniks.
"What's a beatnik?" Valkyrie asked.
"Here's a very broad definition: A beatnik is usually a young and artistic person who rejects the mores of conventional society." Lorraine said. "Kind of like a hippie."
Upstairs, Hank accepts a call from Steve. Steve introduces himself as Captain Stevens from shipping and says they have a package for Hank.
"My God Steve. That was worse than Tony." Natasha sighed. "Captain Stevens. What were you thinking?"
Hank tells him to bring it up.
Steve tells him that they can't.
Hank says he's confused and says that's Steve's job.
"Well-uh, technically..." Steve started.
"Don't be rude." Hope said to Hank.
Steve tells him that the box is glowing and the mail guys aren't feeling that great.
Hank asks if they opened it.
Steve says they did and tells Hank to come down. Hank runs down the hallway as Steve exits the stairwell.
"Not bad Rogers" Maria said. "Well. Apart from the fact that you introduced yourself as Captain Stevens."
Steve sneaks into Hank's office and steals 4 Pym particles.
"Just so we're clear, under literally any other circumstances I'd be really pissed off right now." Hank said.
Howard and Tony are in the elevator. Tony notes the flowers and sauerkraut and asks if Howard has a date.
"Sauerkraut? On a date? No..." Scott said.
Howard says his wife is expecting.
"Usually when people say that they use a plural possessive pronoun..." Peggy said to Howard.
Tony congratulates him and asks how far along she is.
"I'm congratulating my parents on having me." Tony said. "That is officially the strangest thing ever."
"That's the strangest thing? How about the fact that we're time traveling in order to stop a giant purple alien from erasing half of the population with multicolored magic rocks?" Clint asked.
Howard says she's at the point where she can't stand the sound of his chewing and says he'll be eating in the pantry again.
"Oh poor Howard." Peggy said.
"Yeah... Laura was pretty similar. But she already didn't like listening to people eat so..." Clint said. "That and she has the strangest food cravings."
Tony mentions that he has a little girl. Howard says a girl would be nice because there's less of a chance she'd turn out like him.
Tony blinked. Howard didn't want Tony to be like him? I mean sure the man had some less than desirable qualities but he wasn't all that bad. His entire life he thought his father was distant because he wasn't good enough, but now he thinks that maybe the man was scared because he saw too much of himself in Tony.
"And here you are about 50 years later... I'd say you inherited the better qualities that Howard has." Peggy said. "Maybe some of the... other ones too." She hadn't forgotten the way Tony used to behave when he was younger. Sometimes it reminded her too much of Howard before he settled down.
Tony asks what would be so awful about that.
"That is the last thing I ever expected to hear you say." Howard said.
"It's the last thing I ever expected myself to say." Tony said,
Howard says the greater good was rarely outweighed by his own self-interests. They exit the elevator.
"That can't be all true? Can it?" Steve asked. Howard helped make him, he helped the allies win the war, surely that wasn't purely self-interest.
Steve is walking through the halls. The woman from the elevator is talking with a security guard. She says the men in the elevator looked fishy.
"This is why we make sure that we don't look like we're up to something when you're up to something." Natasha sighed.
"I'll keep that in mind next time I travel back to 1970 to steal the Tesseract." Tony snarked.
The guard asks her to describe the men.
The woman says one of them had a hippie beard.
"I do not have a hippie beard." Tony protested.
"Maybe not in 2023, but in 1970? You definitely have a hippie beard." Howard said.
The guard asks for a reference naming the Bees Gees or Mungo Jerry as options.
The woman says it was like Mungo Jerry.
Tony just sighed and rolled his eyes.
Steve ducks into Peggy's office and sees a picture of his pre-serum self on her desk.
"You have a picture of me on your desk?" Steve asked.
"Of course I do. We were close, I liked to keep you around." Peggy said, smiling softly.
Steve looks through the window and sees Peggy talking with a man.
Steve sucked in a breath. He didn't know what he was feeling only that it was weird. After he went down in the ice, he never thought he'd see Peggy again. He didn't think it was a possibility. After finding out she was alive he was elated but finding out she was ill was disheartening to say the very least. And then- and then when she died... that just made it worse. Steve shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked back up at the screen.
Tony and Howard are outside. Tony asks where they're at with names.
Howard says his wife likes Elmonzo as a boy's name.
'I was almost Elmonzo?' Tony thought to himself in utter horror. "Glad you guys went in a different direction."
Tony says they should let that stew a little because they have time.
"Shut that idea down immediately." Peter laughed.
"Not a fan of Elmonzo?" Howard asked.
Howard asks if Tony was nervous when his daughter was born. Tony confirms he was. Howard asks if he felt unqualified or like he had no idea how to operate it.
"I mean... no new parent knows what they're doing. I sure as hell didn't but... you learn as you go." Clint said.
"Yeah, it get's easier." Scott said.
Tony says he pieced it together as he went along and thought about what his dad did. He spots Steve across the field.
Howard says his old man never met a problem he couldn't solve with a belt.
"That... that's abuse." Ned said.
"There's a fine line between discipline and abuse. Discipline does not involve striking your child. There is no reason to ever hit a kid." Steve said.
Tony says he thought his dad was tough on him but looking back he only remembers the good stuff.
"I'm-I'm glad." Howard said, because there was plenty of bad too, but it's nice to hear that Tony remembered the good parts of his child better. He deserved to.
Tony says his father did drop the odd pearl like: 'No amount of money ever bought a second of time.'
Howard says he sounds like a smart guy.
"Oh, you're complimenting yourself now?" Peggy asked.
"How was I supposed to know?" Howard asked.
Tony says he did his best.
Howard says his kid isn't even there yet but there's nothing he wouldn't do for them.
Tony sniffed and let out a shaky breath.
Howard tells Tony it was good to meet him.
Tony tells Howard that everything's gonna be alright.
"In more ways than one it seems." Howard said with a smirk. They secured the Tesseract and the particles. Things were looking up.
Tony hugs Howard and awkwardly thanks him for everything he does for this country.
Rhodey snorted at Tony's slip up. "Shut up." Tony scolded lightheartedly.
Howard hands his things to Jarvis and asks if they've ever met Tony.
"Uh, funny story." Tony said.
"Wait Jarvis... is that the man you named your AI after?" Clint asked.
"The very same." Tony said with a smile.
Jarvis says Howard meets a lot of people.
Howard says he seems very familiar and says he has a weird beard.
"I don't- what is wrong with my beard?" Tony asked.
On Thanos' ship Past Nebula kicks Nebula to the ground and calls her weak. Nebula says she's her.
"Talk about self-deprecation." Ned muttered.
Past Nebula punches her and removes her time-space gps watch.
Nebula growled in frustration. She was mad at both of her self's.
"He's... he's gonna come for us." Rhodey sighed.
Nebula tells past Gamora that she can stop this and says she knows she wants to.
"You're right about that." Gamora sighed. "From nearly the very beginning of this plan, I wanted no part in it. But he's already suspicious, if I did anything then, it'd make things worse for you."
Nebula asks if she saw what happens in the future and tells Gamora that Thanos finds the Soul Stone.
"You were hiding it from him for that long?" Natasha said.
Nebula asks if she wants to know how he does that and if she wants to know what he does to her.
"He will break you, and it'll be so much worse than it was the first time." Nebula said.
"I think I remember what he did well enough, Nebula." Gamora said softly. She'd rather not go through it again, thank you very much.
Past Nebula kicks Nebula in the head and pulls out a knife.
"Why aren't you fighting back?" Quill asked, the Nebula he knew wouldn't just sit there and take it even from herself.
"I'm the one with the disadvantage, fighting back would make things worse than they would be if I just complied. That doesn't mean I can't do anything, however." Nebula said, future her was using all other advantages she had at her disposal, namely her knowledge.
Past Nebula grabs Nebula's throat and says she disgusts her but that doesn't mean she's useless. She takes off the bronze plate on Nebula's head.
"No." Nebula whispered, dejectedly.
Past Nebula walks up to Thanos, wearing the Bronze plate, and hands him the Pym particle. She asks how she looks.
"Son of a bitch." Rocket swore.
Natasha and Clint arrive at Vormir. Clint says this would be totally awesome under different circumstances.
"I agree." Natasha choked out, trying to mentally prepare herself for what was about to happen. One of them was going to have to say goodbye to the other and she didn't want to be the one that watched as Clint tumbled off the cliff.
Clint took a deep breath, trying to keep the anxiety at bay. One of them wouldn't walk away from this and he wasn't prepared to lose Natasha.
Natasha and Clint hike up the mountain. Natasha says she bets Rocket didn't have to climb a mountain.
"He got to go to a palace." Clint said.
Clint says Rocket isn't technically a raccoon.
"Thank you!" Rocket said. "I'm glad someone has some damn common sense."
Natasha says he still eats garbage.
Roeket went to protest. "What? Were you gonna deny it?" Quill asked. After a moment he muttered the words 'trash panda' under his breath.
"I heard that!" Rocket yelled.
Red Skull welcomes them.
Steve and Bucky tensed, neither of them ever wanted to hear that voice ever again.
Natasha and Clint draw their weapons. Red Skull notes Natasha as the daughter of Ivan and Clint as the son of Edith.
Natasha froze in her chair. How the hell did Red Skull know her fathers name when she herself never knew? She has one thing now, from before everything. A name. One name. Ivan. That's it.
Clint supposed he was glad Red Skull had enough sense not to invoke the name of his father. It still unnerved him that he knows who they are, though.
Natasha asks who he is.
"Johann Schmidt. Nazi scientist. Head of Hydra during the second world war." Peggy said.
"One of the worse human beings I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. If you can still consider him to be human." Steve said.
Red Skull says to consider him a guide to all who seek the soul stone. Natasha tells him to tell them where it is and they'll be on their way.
"Except we know that it doesn't work like that." Steve sighed. Knowing he'd have to watch one of his friends die was almost too much to bear. He couldn't imagine what Natasha and Clint were feeling right now. They've known each other for years and are the two who are closest to one another. This had to be worse for them than it was for him, knowing that your best friend had to die so trillions more could continue living.
Red Skull says it's not that easy and leads them to the edge of the cliff. He says what they seek lies in front of them as does what they fear.
Natasha and Clint looked at each other with tears forming in their eyes. "It's gonna be okay." Natasha choked out. "Yeah? We'll be okay."
Clint shook his head. "No it won't. You know it won't."
"Yeah it won't." Natasha said, giving up the façade and wiping the tears from her cheek.
Natasha says the stone is down there. Red Skull says it is for one of them but the other needs to lose that which they love in order to take it. 'A soul for a soul.'
A soul for a soul.
Everyone let the words hang in the air. They knew this was coming ever since they watched their future selves come up with the idea for the time heist. They'd watched Thanos throw his own daughter off of that cliff just so he could get it. But they still weren't ready.
'We don't trade lives, Vision.' Steve remembered his future self saying. He must've been wrong because if he had his way neither Nat or Clint would have to sacrifice themselves in order to get the stone.
Clint suggests Red Skull is making everything up.
Natasha says she doesn't think he is.
Clint asks if she thinks that because he knows her dad's name.
"I never did." Natasha said. "Clearly Schmidt- Red Skull- whoever he is knows things that we don't. I mean we saw Thanos sacrifice Gamora for it. There isn't any getting out of this, Clint. We've got no loopholes we can jump through this time."
Natasha says she didn't then reminds Clint that Thanos left Vormir with the stone without Gamora and says it's not a coincidence.
Gamora gritted her teeth at the mention of what Thanos did to her in order to get the stone.
They each repeat the phrase 'whatever it takes.'
"Even if it means losing one of us." Natasha said, trying to keep her voice steady.
Natasha stands up next to Clint and says billions of people stay dead if they don't get the stone.
Clint says they both know who it has to be. Natasha agrees.
"It has to be me." Natasha and Clint said simultaneously.
"Are you crazy? If you think I'm gonna let you throw yourself off that cliff, you've got another thing coming." Clint said. He was not going to let her die for this, it had to be him. Natasha's good, even if she could never believe that, she shouldn't have to be the one to- to, he didn't even want to think the words.
"Yeah? And I will personally kick your ass if you decide to jump off before I can stop you." Natasha threatened. Clint wasn't launching himself off of that cliff. Not on her watch. She's hurt so many people in her past, this was her chance to make up for it. Clint had a family, people worth staying alive for. She had ghosts, and blood and a violent history longer than the Nile. It had to be her.
Clint says he's starting to think that they mean different people.
Natasha says she's been trying to do one thing for the last 5 years and it was to bring everyone back.
Clint tells her not to go decent on him.
"I'm trying to save your life, Clint." Natasha said.
"I don't want you to." Clint breathed out, not trusting his voice.
"You saved me first... I owe you." Natasha tried to joke through her tears but it fell flat.
"The only thing you owe me is a promise not to jump off that cliff." Clint said, silently begging her not to do it.
Natasha asks if he thinks she wants to do it and says she's trying to save his life.
Clint says he doesn't want her to and says she knows what he's done and what he's become.
Natasha says she doesn't judge people on their worst mistakes.
"You wanna know where I learned that?" Natasha asked, trying to bling the tears away so she could actually see Clint clearly. "It's my turn to give you the same second chance that you gave me. Take it. Please." She said, voice cracking on the 'please.'
"Tasha-"
Clint says she should. Natasha says he didn't. Clint says she's a pain in his ass.
"Well someone has to be." Natasha said.
Clint says she wins.
"You're just gonna let me?" Natasha asked. "I expected more of a fight out of you Barton."
Clint knocks Natasha's legs out from under her and pins her to the ground. He tells her to tell his family he loves them.
Everyone felt their breaths hitch. This was it, Clint was going to jump off the cliff. Clint was going to jump off the cliff and he was gonna- and they would never- they wouldn't ever see him again.
Natasha shoves Clint off of her and tells him to tell them himself. She electrocutes him and runs toward the cliff.
Clint gripped Natasha's hand as hard as he could, if it was hurting her, she didn't say anything. He thought that if he let go she wouldn't be there anymore.
Clint shoots an exploding arrow to knock Natasha down and he runs toward the cliff and jumps.
"Clint!" Natasha screamed. Breath freezing in her lungs, she felt like her blood had turned to ice. This wasn't happening. It's supposed to be her not him.
Clint felt a multitude of feelings. Mostly relief, Natasha was safe, she would live like she deserved to.
Natasha jumps after him and uses a grappling hook to save him.
"No! Damn it." Clint cursed.
"I said I wouldn't let you... and I won't." Natasha said, the tears building in her eyes were now streaming down her cheeks.
He grasps her hand and struggles to hold on. Natasha says to let her go and that it's okay.
Clint shook his head in denial. "No it's not." He said through his tears.
Natasha kicks the edge of the cliff, freeing herself from Clint's grasp and she falls to the bottom.
The sob that was building in Clint's throat finally freed itself and he doubled over in his chair as the rest of the sobs wracked through his body. His best friend just jumped off the cliff. His best friend was dead. "It's okay." Natasha whispered. "It'll be okay. Maybe not right now, but it'll be okay." And Clint wanted to believer her, he did. But right now he couldn't. Natasha squeezed his hand as a silent reassurance that she wasn't going anywhere yet, she was still here.
Tony looked at Natasha. They hadn't known each other for terribly long but she was almost like the sister that he never had. He was gonna miss her and their playful banter that they had. "I'm gonna miss you... when you're not around."
Steve breathed heavily through his tears. Bruce wasn't faring any better. Even Fury had to look away from the screen in order to keep his composure.
Thor didn't know Natasha at all, but he does know that a friendship sparks between them in their future- between all of them really, and he didn't- he didn't want to lose her, didn't want to lose his friend. He's already lost too many people, he didn't want to lose any more.
Natasha's face was blank. She's pondered her death a few times, coming up with various was that it would happened. For a while she'd assumed she'd be murdered, either on purpose or because she got caught in crossfire. She never thought she'd be in this position before. The position of good, fighting on the right side. Sometimes it still felt foreign. She didn't regret it, not one bit. Part of her was glad, though, that maybe she'd managed to make up for all the pain she's caused, all the suffering. She was relieved too, relieved that Clint would live to see his family again after they would fix everything. They had all the stones now, their future would be secure with a literal snap of their fingers.
Clint wakes up in a body of water with the Soul Stone in his hand and he starts to cry.
"We got the stone." He choked. But it cost everything.
(A/N) I just want you guys to know that for my AP Lit and Comp final I chose to analyze Natasha's death scene (The project was to analyze something the way we were taught to analyze literature) and I had to watch it over and over again. You think I'd become desensitized to it but no, I just spent the last half hour crying.