We're not calling it a Time Heist
Sep. 18th, 2019 07:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juststeverogersWhen Steve had woken up to 2012 New York he’d wondered for the first time in years how his friends from the Nexus had been getting on without him. So many of the fanciful inventions and concepts of the Nexus seemed to have bled over into this so-called modern world. But now, going back to 2012 New York is almost even more weird.
“See you in a minute.” Natasha quipped with the slightest hints of a smile before they’d all sealed their masks and descended down into a rabbit hole of the bizarre and indescribable. The actual journey through quantum spacetime felt less uncomfortable than the shriek of the Chi’Tauri their ears are met with the moment Steve’s team regains normal size back into the past. Of the four of them, only Scott is a newcomer to this battlefield though he manages to avoid flinching as the noise of the attack echoes down the streets in a horrible alien battlecry.
Steve’s stomach clenches knowing that less than a block away he’s fighting for his life. Not some other world’s version of him. His actual self with his actual friends, three of which are also here now with him. No amount of planning can prepare anyone for this kind of sudden terrifying deja vu where he knows he’s in danger even if he also knows that being here means they managed alright. He shoots the smallest of glances back at Tony to try and get a sense if he’s the only one feeling so uncomfortable but it’s not exactly much consolation to see everyone else on edge as well.
It’s clearly worked. They’re no longer at the complex (which doesn’t even exist yet, truthfully). They’ve gone back to the past.
Now comes the hard part.
“Alright, you all know your assignments.” The crumbling wall of the alleyway they’ve dropped into is quickly becoming cover while Steve shoots a glance around the corner to make sure they’re where they ought to be. It seems superfluous considering the overturned cars and rubble all around them but decades old habits are hard to break. He tries not to think too hard about the gear he hasn’t worn in years--restored now for just this purpose. This way if he’s spotted he’ll at least look like the man out of time they’re expecting to see. “Two stones Uptown one stone Down.”
His heart’s jackhammering out of his chest. They’re actually about to do this.
“Stay low, don’t draw attention. Keep an eye on the time. We need--” Steve jumps back into the shadow of the alleyway as a car is crushed as easily as an empty cola can by the Hulk rampaging past and then utterly flattened for good measure. Right, this is long long before Banner had any real control or cooperation when it came to all things Code Green. As soon as he’s moved on Steve chances a glance over his shoulder to where Tony and Scott are also hiding. They chose to hide behind the current Hulk. Honestly the safest place to be.
“M..maybe smash a few things along the way.” Steve offers hesitantly. The grin Hulk gives him is as though Christmas has come early.
“Hulk blend in while getting stone.” It’s reassuring to see what Tony had often referred to as a Towering Green Rage Monster seemed to be on board with the Plan. It’s a huge risk letting Banner and Hulk go, well not alone exactly but without anyone there to try and rein Hulk in if things get out of hand. Unfortunately they don’t have time to do anything else. Steve tries not to think about it as a motorcycle goes flying past back down the street after Hulk takes off.
He’s got to get to Avengers Tower. Stark Tower, really. They hadn’t really become the Avengers yet, after all. Strange to think that a place he’d thought of as almost home for a couple of years had at first been nothing but an eyesore when Steve had been trying to reconcile this new New York with the one he’d grown up with. It’s nerve wracking running through the empty streets trying to look as though he belongs here. Tony’s calling out each moment as it passes by, watching themselves round Loki up and finish their very first mission together. Steve needs to be in position by the time they’ve got it finished but slipping through the SHIELD perimeter isn’t exactly easy.
Steve’s not terribly proud of the agent he knocked unconscious and laid down somewhere out of the way so he could sneak in through an already broken window near enough to the entrance. Scott’s hitched a ride with Tony though which means there’s no one about to help Steve get inside. Tony calls out that they’ve all gathered on the open level where Loki was finally beaten down but Steve’s nowhere near ready to be in position.
Damn it. He has to hurry. Without arousing suspicion or turning heads. Years of working alongside Natasha are paying dividends now. He’s making his way to the stairwell by keeping to peoples’ blind spots and watching where he steps. With all the broken glass scattered about that’s not exactly a small feat, either.
”Better hustle, Cap. Things look like they’re just about wrapped up here.” Steve has to stop himself from swearing aloud at Tony’s warning in his earpiece. Half in case it draws attention while he’s jogging up to the agreed upon floor and half because it’ll just give Tony something to joke about for the whole rest of the mission. Which, honestly, won’t be long. God willing, at least.
This is it.
“Got it. I’m approaching the elevator now.” Stepping out of the side hallway he’d thrown himself into to hide to head over to wait by the elevator. They picked someplace that should be empty of all or at least Most of the agents swarming the building and would give him more than enough time to take a little bit of pleasure of a payback so very long overdue. Even if it hasn’t happened yet, here. The suit hides the fact he’s sweating bullets, thankfully. Distraction comes in through his earpiece though and Steve’s not sure if he wants to hug or throttle Tony.
”Ugh. ‘Mister’ Rogers, I’d almost forgot that suit did Nothing for your ass.” Do not flush Steve. Do not smile. Do not grimace. Keep walking. There will be time to kill Tony later.
“No one asked you to look, Tony.” Humor has always been Stark’s way of keeping calm during tense situations and whether Steve realizes it or not it’s helping distract him from the myriad of things that could go wrong in this moment. Frankly, it’s doing him a favor in making him look pissed off and absolutely Done with everything around him. Which he very much would have been considering the battle they’d just finished surviving.
”It’s ridiculous.” This can’t possibly get any worse.
”Don’t listen to him. I think you look great, Cap.” It’s getting worse. Why is Scott so earnest about this? ”As far as I’m concerned, that’s America’s Ass.” How can he say that with a straight face? Maybe he’s not. Scott at least has the benefit of no one being able to see him. Steve fights the urge to bury his face into his hands and groan. When this is over he’s going to have Words with some gentlemen. It’s practically like old times without him even realizing it. Memory makes the heart grow fonder and all that. He’s nearly forgotten this kind of stress headache that tends to blossom up whenever Tony’s coping mechanisms don’t quite mesh with his own. Scott’s additions are only making things worse.
Steve really really hopes his time spent practicing this with Natasha and Clint pays off. Otherwise, they’re all in a whole world of danger.
”Little Buddy’s in position. Hope you’re ready to get things shaking, Cap.” Scott’s in the briefcase, ready to go. This is happening. The rest of it’s on Steve. ”Scepter’s in the elevator now, just passing the eightieth floor.” Only seconds for Steve to wipe his face of any and all emotion before the elevator dings cheerfully opening the doors to a handful of Steve’s personal worst enemies. Sitwell, Rumlow and all of their cronies. His blood’s pounding in his ears as eight faces turn his way in surprise before Steve steps calmly into the elevator.
Scott’s with the Tessaract and Tony’s heading to the lobby just in case Steve doesn’t manage to get the scepter in time. There’s no backup for this. Honestly? Steve doesn’t want it. A minute and a half alone with these hidden HYDRA operatives has been the only part of this mission he’s been looking forward to. It’s not as though he can use his knowledge of who these people really are to his advantage. Not without putting his past self in a lot of danger and drastically changing history. Steve weaves his way into the center of the enclosed space, watching the tension ripple across every single body surrounding him. They’re suspicious.
“Hey. Cap. I thought you were touching base with search and rescue.” Rumlow doesn’t turn back all the way to watch Steve but his hand is ever so slowly inching toward his handgun. As if Steve wouldn’t notice.
“Mm. Change of plans.” His speech drawls ever so slightly and though Brock Rumlow is a man Steve will remember past his grave he doesn’t call the man by name. It’s only going to make them all more suspicious as looks start being exchanged. It’s Sitwell who risks making eye contact with Steve first, the weasley HYDRA spy who worked as Steve’s handler the entire time the soldier operated as a SHIELD agent. Steve imagines every time he’s ever beaten Bucky in a game of cards back in their tiny Brooklyn apartment. He imagines Peggy punching out the soldiers who so much as tried to sass her during Basic. But mostly he imagines just how much this is going to hurt when he gives his very best attempt at mimicking Loki’s flair for the dramatic as Steve unfurls a wicked grin with a gleam in his eye to match. “I thought this face might put all of you more at ease, gentlemen. I’ll have to ask you to return what is mine at once.”
It’s not going to convince any Asgardians, this accent of his, but for a group of battle weary HYDRA operatives trying to slide under the radar Steve’s impression of Loki is close enough. Steve waits just long enough to see them make their assumptions and for panic to set in before he slams his shield into Sitwell’s face. The ruthless flash of teeth his grin takes on when he hears cartilage snap really only sells his act more. By the time the doors slide open Steve has the briefcase with the scepter in hand. Every HYDRA agent is a bloody crumpled mess on the ground though to abstain from changing the past Steve has left all of them alive as well as mostly intact. It’s not what he assumed Loki would do in the same situation but it’s the best he can manage.
By the time anyone notices what’s happened they’ll be long, long gone with everything hopefully returned to its proper place.
“Thumbilina’s got the cube. Tell me you’re packing heat, Cap.” Steve honestly can’t blame Tony for not sounding relieved when he barks out a laugh over the feed.
“We’re all set. HYDRA thinks Loki just set them up and by the time I get up here to help out we should have this back. That’s how time travel works, right?”
”Questions later. Get clear and get back to the complex.”
Steve Rogers has never in his life been so glad to follow an order. This time, when the three of them shrink down and the world of the past crumbles away, they’ve got their prizes in hand. That much closer to fixing what Thanos took from all of them.
“See you in a minute.” Natasha quipped with the slightest hints of a smile before they’d all sealed their masks and descended down into a rabbit hole of the bizarre and indescribable. The actual journey through quantum spacetime felt less uncomfortable than the shriek of the Chi’Tauri their ears are met with the moment Steve’s team regains normal size back into the past. Of the four of them, only Scott is a newcomer to this battlefield though he manages to avoid flinching as the noise of the attack echoes down the streets in a horrible alien battlecry.
Steve’s stomach clenches knowing that less than a block away he’s fighting for his life. Not some other world’s version of him. His actual self with his actual friends, three of which are also here now with him. No amount of planning can prepare anyone for this kind of sudden terrifying deja vu where he knows he’s in danger even if he also knows that being here means they managed alright. He shoots the smallest of glances back at Tony to try and get a sense if he’s the only one feeling so uncomfortable but it’s not exactly much consolation to see everyone else on edge as well.
It’s clearly worked. They’re no longer at the complex (which doesn’t even exist yet, truthfully). They’ve gone back to the past.
Now comes the hard part.
“Alright, you all know your assignments.” The crumbling wall of the alleyway they’ve dropped into is quickly becoming cover while Steve shoots a glance around the corner to make sure they’re where they ought to be. It seems superfluous considering the overturned cars and rubble all around them but decades old habits are hard to break. He tries not to think too hard about the gear he hasn’t worn in years--restored now for just this purpose. This way if he’s spotted he’ll at least look like the man out of time they’re expecting to see. “Two stones Uptown one stone Down.”
His heart’s jackhammering out of his chest. They’re actually about to do this.
“Stay low, don’t draw attention. Keep an eye on the time. We need--” Steve jumps back into the shadow of the alleyway as a car is crushed as easily as an empty cola can by the Hulk rampaging past and then utterly flattened for good measure. Right, this is long long before Banner had any real control or cooperation when it came to all things Code Green. As soon as he’s moved on Steve chances a glance over his shoulder to where Tony and Scott are also hiding. They chose to hide behind the current Hulk. Honestly the safest place to be.
“M..maybe smash a few things along the way.” Steve offers hesitantly. The grin Hulk gives him is as though Christmas has come early.
“Hulk blend in while getting stone.” It’s reassuring to see what Tony had often referred to as a Towering Green Rage Monster seemed to be on board with the Plan. It’s a huge risk letting Banner and Hulk go, well not alone exactly but without anyone there to try and rein Hulk in if things get out of hand. Unfortunately they don’t have time to do anything else. Steve tries not to think about it as a motorcycle goes flying past back down the street after Hulk takes off.
He’s got to get to Avengers Tower. Stark Tower, really. They hadn’t really become the Avengers yet, after all. Strange to think that a place he’d thought of as almost home for a couple of years had at first been nothing but an eyesore when Steve had been trying to reconcile this new New York with the one he’d grown up with. It’s nerve wracking running through the empty streets trying to look as though he belongs here. Tony’s calling out each moment as it passes by, watching themselves round Loki up and finish their very first mission together. Steve needs to be in position by the time they’ve got it finished but slipping through the SHIELD perimeter isn’t exactly easy.
Steve’s not terribly proud of the agent he knocked unconscious and laid down somewhere out of the way so he could sneak in through an already broken window near enough to the entrance. Scott’s hitched a ride with Tony though which means there’s no one about to help Steve get inside. Tony calls out that they’ve all gathered on the open level where Loki was finally beaten down but Steve’s nowhere near ready to be in position.
Damn it. He has to hurry. Without arousing suspicion or turning heads. Years of working alongside Natasha are paying dividends now. He’s making his way to the stairwell by keeping to peoples’ blind spots and watching where he steps. With all the broken glass scattered about that’s not exactly a small feat, either.
”Better hustle, Cap. Things look like they’re just about wrapped up here.” Steve has to stop himself from swearing aloud at Tony’s warning in his earpiece. Half in case it draws attention while he’s jogging up to the agreed upon floor and half because it’ll just give Tony something to joke about for the whole rest of the mission. Which, honestly, won’t be long. God willing, at least.
This is it.
“Got it. I’m approaching the elevator now.” Stepping out of the side hallway he’d thrown himself into to hide to head over to wait by the elevator. They picked someplace that should be empty of all or at least Most of the agents swarming the building and would give him more than enough time to take a little bit of pleasure of a payback so very long overdue. Even if it hasn’t happened yet, here. The suit hides the fact he’s sweating bullets, thankfully. Distraction comes in through his earpiece though and Steve’s not sure if he wants to hug or throttle Tony.
”Ugh. ‘Mister’ Rogers, I’d almost forgot that suit did Nothing for your ass.” Do not flush Steve. Do not smile. Do not grimace. Keep walking. There will be time to kill Tony later.
“No one asked you to look, Tony.” Humor has always been Stark’s way of keeping calm during tense situations and whether Steve realizes it or not it’s helping distract him from the myriad of things that could go wrong in this moment. Frankly, it’s doing him a favor in making him look pissed off and absolutely Done with everything around him. Which he very much would have been considering the battle they’d just finished surviving.
”It’s ridiculous.” This can’t possibly get any worse.
”Don’t listen to him. I think you look great, Cap.” It’s getting worse. Why is Scott so earnest about this? ”As far as I’m concerned, that’s America’s Ass.” How can he say that with a straight face? Maybe he’s not. Scott at least has the benefit of no one being able to see him. Steve fights the urge to bury his face into his hands and groan. When this is over he’s going to have Words with some gentlemen. It’s practically like old times without him even realizing it. Memory makes the heart grow fonder and all that. He’s nearly forgotten this kind of stress headache that tends to blossom up whenever Tony’s coping mechanisms don’t quite mesh with his own. Scott’s additions are only making things worse.
Steve really really hopes his time spent practicing this with Natasha and Clint pays off. Otherwise, they’re all in a whole world of danger.
”Little Buddy’s in position. Hope you’re ready to get things shaking, Cap.” Scott’s in the briefcase, ready to go. This is happening. The rest of it’s on Steve. ”Scepter’s in the elevator now, just passing the eightieth floor.” Only seconds for Steve to wipe his face of any and all emotion before the elevator dings cheerfully opening the doors to a handful of Steve’s personal worst enemies. Sitwell, Rumlow and all of their cronies. His blood’s pounding in his ears as eight faces turn his way in surprise before Steve steps calmly into the elevator.
Scott’s with the Tessaract and Tony’s heading to the lobby just in case Steve doesn’t manage to get the scepter in time. There’s no backup for this. Honestly? Steve doesn’t want it. A minute and a half alone with these hidden HYDRA operatives has been the only part of this mission he’s been looking forward to. It’s not as though he can use his knowledge of who these people really are to his advantage. Not without putting his past self in a lot of danger and drastically changing history. Steve weaves his way into the center of the enclosed space, watching the tension ripple across every single body surrounding him. They’re suspicious.
“Hey. Cap. I thought you were touching base with search and rescue.” Rumlow doesn’t turn back all the way to watch Steve but his hand is ever so slowly inching toward his handgun. As if Steve wouldn’t notice.
“Mm. Change of plans.” His speech drawls ever so slightly and though Brock Rumlow is a man Steve will remember past his grave he doesn’t call the man by name. It’s only going to make them all more suspicious as looks start being exchanged. It’s Sitwell who risks making eye contact with Steve first, the weasley HYDRA spy who worked as Steve’s handler the entire time the soldier operated as a SHIELD agent. Steve imagines every time he’s ever beaten Bucky in a game of cards back in their tiny Brooklyn apartment. He imagines Peggy punching out the soldiers who so much as tried to sass her during Basic. But mostly he imagines just how much this is going to hurt when he gives his very best attempt at mimicking Loki’s flair for the dramatic as Steve unfurls a wicked grin with a gleam in his eye to match. “I thought this face might put all of you more at ease, gentlemen. I’ll have to ask you to return what is mine at once.”
It’s not going to convince any Asgardians, this accent of his, but for a group of battle weary HYDRA operatives trying to slide under the radar Steve’s impression of Loki is close enough. Steve waits just long enough to see them make their assumptions and for panic to set in before he slams his shield into Sitwell’s face. The ruthless flash of teeth his grin takes on when he hears cartilage snap really only sells his act more. By the time the doors slide open Steve has the briefcase with the scepter in hand. Every HYDRA agent is a bloody crumpled mess on the ground though to abstain from changing the past Steve has left all of them alive as well as mostly intact. It’s not what he assumed Loki would do in the same situation but it’s the best he can manage.
By the time anyone notices what’s happened they’ll be long, long gone with everything hopefully returned to its proper place.
“Thumbilina’s got the cube. Tell me you’re packing heat, Cap.” Steve honestly can’t blame Tony for not sounding relieved when he barks out a laugh over the feed.
“We’re all set. HYDRA thinks Loki just set them up and by the time I get up here to help out we should have this back. That’s how time travel works, right?”
”Questions later. Get clear and get back to the complex.”
Steve Rogers has never in his life been so glad to follow an order. This time, when the three of them shrink down and the world of the past crumbles away, they’ve got their prizes in hand. That much closer to fixing what Thanos took from all of them.