EDIT: As you all know (obviously) I am a giant astronomy nerd, and as someone who lives in central USA, I don't get to see the Aurora Borealis all that much. :( and when I LEARN we're gonna have Aurora Borealis's visible down here it's a day late. But as we are reaching the Sun's Solar Maximum, which means the Sun will let off solar flares and coronal mass ejections, I'm hoping to see Aurora's, and I just missed ones YESTERDAY. I only learned it from my dad. (Who is also a giant space nerd) T-T
THEY COULD BE SEEN DOWN IN ALABAMA!
I now have an app to alert me.
GUYS. This is (not including the authors note) 45 words shy of THREE THOUSAND WORDS! This is the longest chapter I've written!!!
I also want to explain the chapter title!
Prevarication: While the noun prevarication is mostly just a fancy way to say "lie," it can also mean skirting around the truth, being vague about the truth, or even delaying giving someone an answer, especially to avoid telling them the whole truth.
It took a LOOONG time for me to decide how I wanted this to go. I've got a good buffer goin on too! I am VERY excited as I KNOW HOW I WANT IT TO GO!!! (So far) But please enjoy! I hope you like it! I do not own Marvel Cinematic Universe or their characters, I do own my OC's! :)
Lorelei paced back and forth behind the counter, yet another sigh passing her lips.
Dolly straightened at the sound, eyeing the woman from where she was arranging a bouquet.
Dolly had been given quite the fright when Lorelei had showed up for work two days ago.
Lorelei hadn't given an explanation for her injuries or why she moped about, sighing at regular intervals.
"Alright, something's up. What's going on?" Dolly's eyes narrowed.
Lorelei tried to force a smile. "Just having one of those days, ya know?"
"Uh-huh, sure," Dolly raised an unconvinced brow, "you've been pacing like a caged lion for the past hour. Spill."
Lorelei sat on the chair. "I found my Soulmate. It's Steve, Bucky's friend."
"That's good!" Dolly exclaimed, watching as Lorelei buried her face in her arms, "isn't that a good thing? You found your Soulmate!"
"I messed up." Lorelei groaned.
Dolly plopped into the seat next to her.
"What happened?"
"I went to leave, Steve grabbed me and we Linked. I bolted. I didn't really know how to react to it all and I just… ran." Lorelei sighed.
Dolly sucked her teeth, "No wonder you're in such a tizzy. That couldn't have been good for either of you."
"I know. And he's so…"
"So…?"
"Stubborn!" Lorelei groaned. "He's so- so skinny! And he just throws himself at the first bully that breathes in his general direction! It makes me wanna grab him by the scruff and just whisk him away!" Lorelei said, the image surfacing in her mind.
Dolly snorted.
"I know I hurt him, too!" Lorelei stood, agitatedly pacing, "he probably thinks I rejected him or something!"
Dolly watched as Lorelei tugged at her black locks.
"Yeah, you definitely messed up. You need to apologize."
"I know I do!" Lorelei groaned.
"So go! Apologize!"
If only it could be that easy. Lorelei thought, lips pressed together.
Approach them and say 'sorry! I ran because I freaked out cause I thought my Soulmate was dead? Oh, by the way I'm from the future! And not only from the future, but where I come from you're fictional characters! And, by the way, Bucky, you fall off a train, lose an arm, and become a brainwashed super soldier that becomes a raging murder assassin? And Steve, you nosedive into the Arctic Sea! And both of you end up in the future fighting a big purple psycho who wipes out half the universe! No biggie!'
"But I hurt them, Dolly. I hurt him, and I don't know if I can fix it." Lorelei said.
"You're far stronger than you know, Lori. You've faced so much already, and come out of it stronger. The Lorelei I know wouldn't let fear hold her back. Go to him and make things right. You owe it to yourself, and to him."
Lorelei nodded.
She had gone to Mars, faced the vacuum of space.
Had nearly died before being sent here.
She could do this.
She turned, whipping up a quick bouquet before pressing money into Dolly's hand.
"Where are you going?" Dolly called, confused.
"To apologize!" Lorelei threw over her shoulder as she pushed open the shop's door.
Lorelei stopped by her apartment, grabbing the clean clothes Steve had given her, having washed them the night before.
As an afterthought, Lorelei grabbed her Holo-pad.
The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the street by the time she arrived at Steve's apartment.
Lorelei's courage had long since gone, and she stood in front of the door.
She could hear voices on the other side.
Lorelei urged herself to move.
Closing her eyes, she raised a trembling hand.
Leaning forward she knocked on the door.
She heard the voices stop, and someone approached the door.
Lorelei wanted to run.
As she weighed the pros and cons of bolting, the door opened.
Bucky stood in the door, face unreadable.
"Hi." Lorelei breathed.
"Hey." Was all Bucky said.
Silence hung between the two, Bucky staring Lorelei down.
Lorelei was definitely regretting her decision.
"So you're finally ready to talk after running for the hills?" Bucky's words stabbed at Lorelei's conscience.
Lorelei grimaced. "I deserve that."
Bucky took in the fading bruises and cuts on Lorelei's face and the resigned expression that sat there.
He sighed, his ire lessening. He stepped aside and let Lorelei in.
Lorelei noticed him eyeing her as she stepped in.
Steve eyed Lorelei warily as she approached.
The bouquet felt inadequate as she faced him.
"I- I wanted to apologize." Lorelei said, holding out the flowers.
Steve looked at the bouquet in surprise.
"I understand that it's usually women that receive flowers, where I come from it goes both ways." Lorelei said, firmly insisting.
"Thank you." Steve said, taking the flowers and clothing.
Silence filled the room.
Lorelei spoke again, "If you give it a little sugar it helps prolong the lifespan."
"I'll do that."
Lorelei braced herself for the conversation to come. "I'm sorry for running off like that. It wasn't fair, for either of you."
Steve's gaze softened slightly.
Bucky scoffed, gaze hard.
Lorelei's fingers clenched her skirt, and she took a breath.
"I owe you both an explanation. About who I am and where I come from."
Steve and Bucky exchanged glances, but remained silent waiting for her to continue.
"It's not easy to explain, and I know it's gonna sound crazy, but-" Lorelei took a breath before continuing, "I'm not from this universe. Or this time period, for that matter. I'm from the future, from a universe parallel to yours."
Steve's brows furrowed in confusion, and Bucky's expression hardened further.
"The future? You expect us to believe that?" Bucky said, skepticism plain in his voice.
Hands trembling, Lorelei held up her Holo-pad.
Transparent and thin, it was the size of a smartphone that fit in the palm of her hand.
She gasped when the Holo-pad slipped through her fingers, lunging forward and catching the object with an unnatural speed that surprised the two men.
She held it up, unsure if this was the best course of action. But there was no turning back now.
"This is technology from my time." Lorelei said, placing it on the coffee table.
Turning the Holo-pad on, she pressed her thumb on the biometrics reader.
"Access Granted. Welcome, Science Officer Dale." NAISC's avatar flickered to life. The vaguely feminine features unreadable.
"Good evening, NAISC." Lorelei said.
"Good evening, Science Officer Dale." NAISC replied.
The two men gaped at the hologram in shock.
"Gentlemen, this is NAISC, NAISC, this is Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes. NAISC represents NASA's Artificial Intelligence Space Companion. I helped create them for my mission. They're the one who helped me during my time at the Mars International Space Station. They're… proof."
"Pleasure to meet you, gentlemen." NAISC greeted.
The two men struggled to speak, the shock and implications of what Lorelei had said overwhelming them.
Lorelei shifted nervously on her feet.
Bucky spoke next, "let's say we believe you. How did you end up here, in our time?"
"For that, I need to give some… context." Lorelei said.
She paused, "it may be best for you to sit down for this."
The two men crossed to the couch and sat.
"The year I come from is 2053."
"Twenty-!" Steve exclaimed, trailing off.
"Fifty three." Lorelei said. "Needless to say, a centuries difference is quite jarring. My universe is far more technologically advanced. There's an organization that will be created a few years into your future that was created in my universe's past. That organization is called NASA, it was created for the research and development of vehicles to explore space within and beyond Earth's atmosphere. I myself was a member. I was an Astronaut, someone who explores space."
NAISC pulled up the image of Lorelei in her astronaut suit sitting in front of the American flag, beaming with unbridled joy.
Lorelei's lips lifted into the ghost of a smile.
"My team pushed the boundaries of space and science, with an end goal in mind. Colonize Mars." Lorelei made a gesture with her hand, Mars appearing in the hologram.
The two men leaned forward with interest, examining the detailed image.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lorelei murmured, smiling nostalgically. "Mars resides in our habitable zone that orbits around the sun. At one time, it was able to host liquid water, one of the building blocks of life." Lorelei skimmed through logs, going to the beginning.
The video flickered to life, revealing endless red sand and other astronauts as Lorelei narrated her findings on the video, her excitement palpable in the recording.
"This is where it all began," she explained, her voice tinged with nostalgia and sadness. "Our mission to explore Mars, to push the boundaries of human knowledge."
She flicked through more logs, landing on the log that recorded the events that sent her to the MCU.
She knew what was coming next, and the thought made her heart race with anxiety.
"For you to… understand, I have to show you what happened. It's difficult to watch." Lorelei's voice shook.
Steve leaned forward in concern.
Ignoring Steve, Lorelei played the video.
Steve and Bucky watched the video with rapt attention.
The video showed Whitney and Lorelei floating in the quest airlock, Lorelei struggling with her suit.
Lorelei smiled at Whitney's banter, recalling her comradery with the fiery woman.
"Do you remember the mission objective?" Whitney asked, the camera switching to the one on Lorelei's suit, revealing a closer look at the woman.
Whitney's curls created a halo around her, the red a vibrant splash against the white background.
"Yeah, repair the comms dish and run diagnostics." Lorelei replied.
"We had lost communication with Earth around two hours before. Our next step was to go out to space and repair our communications dish." Lorelei explained.
"I can't believe you're going out there," Bucky muttered, admiration and concern filling his voice.
The video continued, Whitney making her way out of the airlock.
Lorelei's hands appeared in the camera, moving deftly as Lorelei fastened the latches.
The video split, showing a close up of Lorelei's face, her HUD flickering to life on the screen, and on the other side showing the outside world through her suit's camera.
Lorelei straightened at the Commander's voice coming through the video.
"Dale's, Wilson, can you hear me?" Grant's voice came in.
"This is Dale's, I can hear you." Lorelei said.
"This is Wilson, can hear you loud and clear." Jordon said.
"Good. It's been two hours, forty five minutes and twenty seconds since we lost contact with Houston. As of now, we have done all we can on the inside, our next step is to check out the Comms dish and run diagnostics. That's where you come in."
Lorelei watched as Jordon and her past self gathered their equipment as Gale continued.
The trio watch as Lorelei and Jordon left the safety of the Station and began their voyage to the comms dish.
Lorelei heard the two gasp and murmur as they took in the vastness of space.
They watched as the duo traversed the large Station, finally reaching the dish and beginning their repairs.
The tension in the room skyrocketed as NAISC's warning echoed through the speakers, alerting Lorelei and her colleague to the danger posed by the massive solar flare.
Steve and Bucky's eyes widened in horror as they watched the events unfold, seeing the image of the Sun that couldn't even fit on the HUD, the flare arcing across the screen.
A sense of dread filled the room, the sounds of Lorelei's frantic struggles echoing throughout.
"We didn't have enough time to make it back inside before it hit." Lorelei whispered.
"NAISC, mute the video, please." Lorelei said.
They watched the recording of Lorelei scream, no sound emitting from the video.
The two men continued to watch as the portal appeared and consumed Lorelei.
The video ended there.
Lorelei wiped the few tears that ran down her cheeks.
"How is that possible?" Steve asked.
"I don't know. It's beyond anything I've ever experienced. All I know is that I'm here now."
"But what about your world? Your family?" Bucky asked, voice soft.
"It's gone. They're gone."
"Gone? How?" Steve asked.
"There's a being that craves knowledge, and consumes multiple universes. It's called Dormammu. He consumed my universe. I can't go back." Lorelei said. "I don't have a place to go back to."
"Lorelei, I… we… had no idea." Steve sounded anguished.
"There's no use wallowing in the past. The only way I have to look is forward."
Lorelei looked down at her wrinkled skirt.
"I also need to tell you something else."
The two men looked at each other, hesitant to hear anything else.
"If it's too much, I can wait until another time…" Lorelei trailed off.
"I think it's better we hear it now." Steve said.
Lorelei nodded.
"Bucky?" Lorelei turned.
Bucky glanced at Steve before returning his gaze to Lorelei. His gaze held a mix of curiosity and concern.
"Go ahead." He said, voice soft.
"I know things," she began, choosing her words, "things about the future, about what's to come."
Lorelei paused, gaze moving between Bucky and Steve. "But I can't tell you everything. It's... complicated."
"Complicated how?" Steve said, leaning forward.
"Let's just say knowing too much could alter the events of the future and alter the course of history. If that knowledge lands in the wrong hands… It would prove fatal and dangerous for the future. For example, if the Nazi's obtained information about me and my knowledge… it would be mass genocide and victory for Germany. Other organizations would be eager to use me and my knowledge."
Silence hung in the air as Steve and Bucky digested the information.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"There are similarities between our universes, such as the attack on Pearl harbor and the Nazis, but I can't divulge more than that."
The two nodded.
"This also needs to stay between us. The less people who know, the safer everyone is." Lorelei said.
"Alright. We understand." Bucky said.
Lorelei felt relieved as the two men accepted her explanation, with understandable skepticism.
"Thank you," she said softly, "for listening and trying to understand."
Silence once again filled the room, the group taking in new knowledge.
Lorelei reached over to her Holo-pad and pocketed it, turning it off in the process.
Lorelei jumped when Bucky smacked his hands against his thighs.
"It's getting late." Bucky said, eyeing the darkness outside.
Steve looked outside, nodding in agreement.
"I don't think it would be safe for you to walk out there in the dark." Steve said.
"I'm far stronger than an average sleazy guy."
Bucky gave her a pointed look. "That didn't stop those thugs from attacking you."
Lorelei grimaced, the point hitting home.
She shuddered, remembering the creeps' hands on her.
Lorelei fumbled through her pockets, trying to feel for her sling-ring, which in her haste and worry she had forgotten.
"I could just stick to the shadows…" Lorelei said.
"My Ma would skin me alive if she knew I let a dame walk home in the dark." Steve said, a stubborn tilt to his jaw.
Bucky nodded in agreement.
Lorelei's resolve began to weaken.
"I wouldn't want to intrude."
"It's no trouble, besides, I have a spare bedroom that you could use." Steve said.
"It's settled. You're staying here tonight." Bucky stood up, moving towards the hallway. "I'll fetch some spare blankets and pillows."
Lorelei sat on the couch, taking one of the pillows in her arms.
Steve sat next to her, the two sitting in silence.
"Are you mad? That I'm your Soulmate?" Lorelei asked.
The question had been burning a hole in her mind.
"What? No! Of course not!" Steve exclaimed, shocked.
"Even if I can't tell you everything?"
"Lorelei, I'm not mad," Steve reassured her, "I'm just processing everything. It's a lot to take in. If anything, I would think you would be disappointed to have me as your Soulmate. I mean, really, look at me." Steve said in a self deprecating voice.
Lorelei straightened, shifting to face Steve.
"Steve, let me make one thing clear. Even if I can't tell you what you will do, you are destined for greatness. Even if you are weak now, you are a strong-willed man. Yes, you're an absolute idiot who gets the stuffing knocked out of him every time and I've had to keep your ass from being killed, but you get back up. You stand for what is right. I see a good man, Steve. Even if you see someone else."
Steve sat back, surprised at the determination in Lorelei's voice.
"So you are the one who's been tailing him." Bucky said, making the two jump.
"I'm the nanny, yes." Lorelei said teasingly as Steve protested.
"It's a full time job." Bucky said humorously.
The two shared an amused grin as Steve glowered.
"I think any more discussions can happen tomorrow. It's been an eventful night." Bucky said.
"I think that's a good idea." Lorelei said, sighing as she stood.
The whole encounter had definitely taken a lot out of her, and undoubtedly it had exhausted the two men as much as her.
Steve passed her the clothes she had handed him.
Lorelei chuckled, taking them and tucking them under her arm.
"Thanks." Lorelei said.
Steve nodded.
"I'll show you to the room." Steve said.
"Lead the way." Lorelei said.
Steve indicated to the room as they arrived, "this is it, it's not much, but you should be comfortable."
Lorelei opened the door, peeking in. It was absolutely spotless. "It looks perfectly fine, Steve, it's nice."
Steve looked doubtful.
"I used to sleep in zero gravity strapped into a sleeping bag like a sack of potatoes. Nothing can get worse than that." Lorelei said in an attempt to distract Steve from his worries.
Steve paused, taking in the surprising piece of information for a moment before placing the corresponding question aside for a later time. Instead he was trying to buck up the courage to ask a question he'd been wanting to ask for a while.
"Lorelei?"
"Yes Steve?"
"I," Steve paused, seeming to prepare for what he would ask next, "well, I was wondering if you wanted to, ah, accompany me to the Stark Expo Saturday night?"
Lorelei smiled, heart melting at the hopeful look on Steve's face.
He was like a puppy. A cute puppy that was turning his pleading high beams right at her.
How could she say no to those eyes?
That didn't mean she wouldn't tease him first.
"Why, Steve! Are you asking me out on a date?" Lorelei teased, eyes twinkling with mirth as Steve stuttered in a way that sounded like he was buffering.
Putting him out of his misery Lorelei laughed, "I would love to go, Steve, thank you for asking me."
"Great! That's, uh, that's fantastic! I'll see you… see you tomorrow, then?" Steve sagged in relief.
"Yes you will. Goodnight, Steve." Lorelei said, giving him a brief hug before closing the door behind her.
After a long pause, Lorelei heard a muffled goodnight from Steve before he walked away from the door.
Lorelei let out a deep breath, sagging against the door with a smile.
As her mind returned to the information she had revealed to the two men earlier in the night she felt her happy mood sour.
She knew that the conversations were far from over.
Lorelei had revealed a fraction of the truth, of what she knew, but there was still much left unsaid, so many secrets she had to keep.
She knew she had to, to protect the timeline.
She knew she could never reveal it all. Not until it was over.
She was ultimately alone in her endeavor to protect them all.
There was no happy ever after for her.
Not for a long, long time.
If it ever happened.