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Sometime in the future, New Avengers Compound – In a universe where Steve didn’t go back in time to Peggy

The sun stood high in the sky. It promised to be a beautiful day. Steve, however, wouldn't be able to enjoy it. Together with Bucky and Sam, he was preparing for their most important mission yet. After defeating Thanos for good, the world had been in chaos for a while. World leaders hadn’t known what to do and that had given HYDRA room to rise again. Stronger than ever. Which meant that Steve wasn’t done fighting. Not by a long shot.

“What’s so special about this artifact, anyway?” Sam asked, looking over the blueprints of the facility they were supposed to infiltrate in about an hour.

“According to the files Shuri sent us, it contains some very powerful magic. HYDRA has been after it ever since they regained their power. We can’t let it fall into their hands.”

Bucky nodded, letting his eyes scan the blueprints. “What kind of magic?”

Steve sighed, studying the rapport Shuri had sent several days ago. “Unknown, but according to these calculations it has the power to reshape the world.”

“Shit,” Sam cursed, rubbing his face with his hand. “We really can’t catch a break, can we?” He shook his head. “You know, I actually had a date tonight. I suppose I’d better cancel. Looks like this mission is going to take a while.”

“Going out with Marcie again?” Bucky asked, not looking up from the layout of the facility, still studying them. “I thought you didn’t like her that much.”

Sam shrugged, pulling his phone from his pants, and texting the girl named Marcie. “It’s not like women are waiting in line to date us, not after everything that happened. She’s nice and she seems to like me. I’ll take what I can get. What about you? Didn’t you go out with that girl from Hooters?”

“That was once. We didn’t talk much.”

Sam laughed. “Figures.”

Steve didn’t listen to his friends discuss their dating life. Not that he didn’t want to talk about it, but they had more important things to focus on right now. Like how they were going to get inside the facility and get the artifact before HYDRA did. Shuri was brilliant, but sooner or later HYDRA would learn about the information he held in his hands. Something told him they might have already.

“Suit up,” he said, letting the rapport fall to the table. “Let’s get this over with so you can go back to your dates.”

Bucky and Sam looked at each other worriedly, but Steve didn’t see it. Instead, he quickly walked out of the room to get changed into his gear. A lot had changed in the past few years. Natasha was gone and so were Tony and Vision. The team had fallen apart, but the dangers were far from over. Sometimes he wondered why he even came back to this timeline. He could have had a life with Peggy if he’d wanted to. He had thought about it more than once. He had even stood before her door right after he had returned all the Infinity Stones to their rightful place in time. He had been so close to knocking on the door, but he never had. He wasn’t the same man he had been all those years ago going into the ice. After spending so much time apart from her, he also wondered if he truly still loved her or simply loved the idea of her. The idea of a simple, normal life. Something, he realized, would never be his.

Peggy deserved more than that. So, he had left.

Once they were all suited up, they took a jet toward the facility from Shuri’s rapport. It was somewhere hidden deep in the Ozark Mountains. Steve watched the trees below them as the jet slowed down and landed in a small clearing. It gave them just enough cover to go unnoticed, but Steve knew that mattered little. HYDRA was already here. He could feel it.

The entrance to the facility was hidden from view by a thick layer of roots and fallen leaves. Bucky quickly pulled it all from the door with his metal arm and nodded at Steve and Sam before kicking in the door. Sam had his guns pointed out in front of him, while Steve stepped before him shield in hand.

“Be careful,” Steve said, shining a flashlight into the dark hallway before them. “Shuri’s rapport said the whole place is rigged with boobytraps.”

Sam groaned. “Of course, it is.”

“Stay behind me. Bucky, cover our rears.”

Bucky gave an agreeing sound and together they walked into the facility, not knowing what to expect. “There should be stairs coming up on your right,” he said, remembering the layout of the facility from the blueprints he had studied. “Did Shuri’s rapport say anything about where the artifact might be? This place is a maze.”

Steve shook his head. “No, just that it was heavily guarded by some kind of spell.”

“Totally not ominous,” Sam whispered, following Steve through the dark hallway until they reached the stairwell Bucky had mentioned. It had stairs leading up, as well as down. “Now what?”

“You and Bucky go up. I’ll check the lower floors.”

“Is that wise, Steve?” Bucky joined them in the stairwell, looking up and then down into the complete darkness surrounding them. “If HYDRA is already inside, we’d best stick together.”

“I can handle myself, and so can you. Divide and conquer, right?”

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

Steve squeezed Bucky’s good shoulder and smiled shortly. “It’s going to be fine. We’ll be in contact through our earpieces. Now go, we’re wasting time.”

Bucky’s face was still covered in a frown, but he nodded anyway and led Sam to the stairs leading to the upper floors. Sam didn’t say a word, but Steve could see the concern in his eyes as he took the first steps up. After a few moments they were gone from view and the super soldier had to listen carefully to even hear their footsteps.

He took in a deep breath and focused on his own path, going down and deeper into the facility. It took him several minutes, but eventually, he made it all the way down to the basement. There were no floors in-between, which was strange but not uncommon Whatever this building had been used for in the past, it was equipped with a large storing room right in the middle of it. Steve could only hope that didn’t mean the artifact was too large to carry.

Nerves were raging through his body once he reached the last stair step. There was a heavy door in front of him. As he closed his hand around the door handle and walked into the room on the other side, he knew he wasn’t alone. His eyes searched the room, no longer covered in complete darkness. There was some kind of electrical field vibrating in the middle of the large space. The iridescent glow cast strange shadows on the walls around him. In the center of the field, an intricately carved stone floated in the air. Steve could feel its power radiating in small waves even from where he stood. He swallowed hard, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

There was movement on his right. He quickly pulled up his shield before a fist collided with his jaw. He was pushed back with great force and before he could see who or what was attacking him, a boot met his stomach.

“You’re getting slower, Captain.” A familiar voice filled his ears and when he looked up, he could see a woman standing before him.

“[Name]…” he said, biting his teeth. “I should have known they would send you.”

You smiled, your eyes searching his face. “Are those wrinkles I see? Oh my, you really are getting old, aren’t you?”

“Funny,” he said, straightening himself. After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had never thought he would see you again. You had been Rumlow’s right hand and Pierce’s favorite agent. You had caused him more trouble than he liked to remember. After HYDRA had risen again, you had waltzed back into this life, causing even more trouble. “I could say the same about you.”

“Oh, please, we both know that’s not true.”

He looked at you, his eyes scanning your face, and sighed. You were right, you hadn’t changed one bit. It was a shame that beneath your beautiful face there was nothing but darkness. “I can’t let you take the artifact, [Name].”

“Yeah, well, that’s too bad, isn’t it? I’m going to take it anyway.”

“I don’t want to fight you.”

You laughed, raising your brow at him. “You’re a very bad liar, Captain. Besides, remember the last time we fought? I believe I was winning.” You cracked your knuckles, the mechanisms in your armored gloves clicking together. “Let’s get this over with. There is a Harry Potter marathon playing on TV tonight and I really don’t want to miss it.”

Steve balled his hands into a fist and watched you move from your position slowly. “You caught me in a bad place last time.”

“Oh, yes, with all of your friends dead and gone…” Something flickered in your eyes, but it was gone before he could put his finger on it. You moved forward quickly, slamming your fist into his shield. The blow was clearly meant for his head.

The force made him stumble backward and he frowned, staring at the glowing gloves on your hands. The lines slowly turned back to black, but Steve would have recognized the mechanism anywhere.

“Cool, aren’t they?” You said, turning your hands around to show him. “The technology from Wakanda is truly fascinating. I’m sure Shuri will be mad to learn we’ve copied it.”

“Just shut up and fight me.”

“Gladly.”

You fought together for a while. With the gloves, Steve had a hard time keeping you at bay. You were much stronger than he remembered, and he could feel himself getting tired. The continuing blows on his shield made his arms shake. You, luckily, weren’t doing much better. Your breathing was growing more frantic, and your blows were getting slower. Still, Steve didn’t know if he had enough energy left to beat you and get the artifact from the electrical field that was crackling beside him.

You looked from Steve to the artifact. Something crossed your face, determination set in your eyes. Before he could stop you, you were running away from him, toward the artifact hovering in the air.

“Wait!” He yelled, remembering the spell that was protecting it from being taken. “You don’t know what–”

You didn’t seem to hear him. If you did, you clearly ignored him. When you reached the electrical field, your hand passing through it without resistance, you both held your breath. You were inside the field now, the iridescent light seemingly cascading from you. Steve was rooted in place, not daring to move or speak. You looked back at him once, a smile curling your lips, before reaching your hand out to grab the artifact.

Suddenly, he heard static in his ear. Pieces of words came through from the other side and he realized he hadn’t heard anything from Sam or Bucky in a while.

“Steve… there… nothing… upper floor…”

“… something… wrong… careful… could… trap…”

There was some more static, but no more words came through, a loud beep echoing through his head. He groaned, pulling the earpiece from his ear. He watched you do the same, crying out in pain.

“What the hell was that?” You asked no one in particular. Before you could reach for the artifact again, the electrical field pulsed. Once. Twice. The third time a shockwave went through the room, and you were both knocked back.

You looked at each other for a moment, before focusing your eyes on the artifact that was still floating in the air a few feet away. The electrical field was vibrating in an angry red glow. It pulsed again. Once. Twice. And the third time an even stronger shockwave went through the open space. Steve’s shield was forced from his hand, and he felt himself getting lifted from the ground and slammed into the wall behind him several moments later.

You groaned and Steve watched as you pushed yourself from the ground, barely able to keep yourself steady. Blood was gushing from a wound on your temple, but that didn’t seem to stop you from trying to reach for the artifact again.

“Stop!” Steve yelled, trying to get through to you. “You’re only going to make this worse.”

The electrical field pulsed again. Once. He watched as you ran as fast as you could, making it past the field in a blink of an eye. Twice. You reached for the artifact and Steve closed his eyes, bracing for impact. The third time nothing happened.

“I got it…”

He slowly opened his eyes, seeing you standing in the middle of the room with a glowing gem in your hand. The electrical field was slowly dissipating, the only light coming from the artifact in your hand. Steve wanted to walk toward you, hoping to steal it from you when the ground started to shake. No, the whole building was shaking, pieces of the ceiling were crumbling, raining down in a cloud of dust.

Steve looked up, seeing cracks spread across the concrete above his head. This wasn’t good. The facility had been old. Too old maybe. With the protection spell around the artifact gone, it was starting to collapse. With both of you still inside. He could only hope Sam and Bucky had already made it out.

There was no time to waste if the super soldier wanted to make it out alive. He turned back to you, watching you as you studied the artifact, trying to figure out how it worked. Pieces of concrete were falling around you, but you didn’t seem to notice.

“[Name]!” Steve called your name. “The building is falling apart.” He quickly grabbed his shield from the floor, protecting himself as the ceiling partly came down. From the hole, he could see straight through to the upper floors, which weren’t in much better condition. He looked back at you, hoping to see you moving, but you were still standing still like a statue, transfixed by the artifact. The super soldier cursed under his breath. A part of him wanted to just leave you there to die, to let the artifact be the death of you. The other part of him, however, couldn’t. Partly because you were still holding the artifact and he couldn’t leave without it, but also because no matter what you had done, he couldn’t just let you die. There had been too many deaths lately. If he could save you. He would.

He quickly ran toward you, grabbing your arm and pulling you out of harm’s way just in the nick of time. A large part of the roof came crashing down, leaving nothing but dust. The whole building shook and Steve knew it was collapsing.

You seemed to snap out of it and dropped the artifact as if burned. “What happened?” you asked, looking around you before focusing your eyes on him. Your gaze still wasn’t clear, and Steve wondered what had happened when you had touched the artifact. You were calm, though, even though Steve still held onto you.

“I don’t know, but the building is collapsing. We need to move.”

“We?”

There was something vulnerable in your eyes and Steve swallowed hard before nodding. “There isn’t much time. The ceiling–” Just as he said that another piece of concrete fell, making you both fall back. Steve watched as everything came crashing down around you. He eyed the door leading back to the stairwell and clenched his hand around the handle of his shield. “We need to make a run for it. Can you stand?”

You gave an agreeing sound and on his mark, you both pushed yourselves from the dust-covered floor and ran to the stairwell. The artifact lay forgotten between the debris. Steve didn’t care. Getting out with his life was more important.

You had almost reached the door, when the walls rumbled, shaking violently. Steve had trouble keeping on his feet but managed to slowly step forward.

“Look out!” you yelled, wrapping your arms around his waist, and knocking him to the side. You fell down together between the broken pieces of concrete, breathing heavily as you watched the doorframe disappear right as the wall came down. A cloud of dust settled in what was left of the room and Steve looked up at you, laying on his chest. You swallowed hard, your eyes searching his face. He nodded his thanks and you quickly pushed yourself from him, looking around you. You were sitting inches away from him, your legs touching. It quickly became clear there wasn’t a way out anymore. “Well, I suppose you don’t know another way out, do you?”

Steve shook his head, coughing from the dust that hung in the air. “We’re trapped here.” The walls shook again and your eyes locked. “I’m sorry,” he said, seeing the terror on your face. “I guess this is where it ends.”

You laughed shortly, a tear streaking down the dust on your face. “How poetic.”

There was a loud crash, a deafening rumble and just before the whole building collapsed, Steve pulled you into his embrace. You wrapped your arms tightly around him, clinging to him as he held his shield over your heads with both hands, trying with all his might to save you both from certain death as everything came crashing down around you.

His arms strained, feeling the heavy concrete fall onto his shield. Darkness settled in and the rumbling continued for what felt like hours. You were still holding onto him, steadying him as the whole building collapsed on top of you. He felt your heart hammering against his chest. It was the only sign he knew that either of you was still alive.

After a while, his arms buckled and a scream left his throat. The world seemed to spin, pain engulfing his senses until he felt nothing at all, and his vision went black.

“…”

“… Steve…”

“… Wake… Steve… Wake up!”

He jolted awake, a stinging pain settling in his cheek. “I’m up!” It took him a moment to realize where he was. It was completely dark around him. He could taste dust and iron in his mouth. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see you sitting beside him in a cramped space. Concrete closed you in, iron beams sticking out left and right. You had your hand closed around a large, bleeding hole in your shoulder and Steve could feel a warm liquid running down his forehead. “Did you just hit me?” He frowned, touching his cheek which was still warm from impact.

“You’re welcome.” You said, shifting away from him. There wasn’t much space, but there was just enough room to sit opposite each other and not have to touch. “Not that it matters much in a few hours. We’ll either bleed to death in here or suffocate.”

“Bucky and Sam were with me. They’ll be looking for me.”

“There are twenty floors of concrete on top of us, we’re bleeding like pigs and there are only about two hours of oxygen left,” you scoffed. “I doubt they will find us in time.”

“We can always hope.”

“Sure, you do that. I’ll be here in the real world, dying.”

Steve swallowed hard, looking at the tired look on your face. The terror had left your eyes, but your hands were shaking. You were afraid and quite frankly he couldn’t blame you. “I’m sorry.”

“So you keep saying.” You let out a hot breath, evading your eyes from him. “Look, I appreciate what you tried to do, but you should have just run when you had the chance. I know I would have. There’s no point in both of us dying.”

“Maybe not, but I’m not like you.”

You looked at him again, staring for a moment before dropping your gaze back to the ground. “Clearly.”

It was silent for a while, both not knowing what to say. You were still holding onto your shoulder. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, but the color had drained from your face and Steve knew that you were right. You were both going to die here.

“It was all for nothing anyway,” you said after a while. “The stupid artifact was useless.”

“What happened when you touched it?” Steve asked, remembering how unresponsive you had been when holding onto it. “You seemed like you were somewhere else.”

“I don’t know. It felt like it was trying to tell me something, but that’s impossible, right? It’s just a piece of rock.”

Steve observed you, seeing a mix of emotions cross your face. You probably weren’t telling him the truth, but he supposed it didn’t matter anymore. The artifact was buried out of reach. And you were out of time. Steve was never going to find out what it could do. “According to our research, it contains some kind of powerful magic.”

You nodded. “Strong enough to change the world… Maybe that was just a load of bull. This facility is a lot older than our intel said it would be. Who knows what else was false.”

“I guess we’ll never know.”

“Well, you’re free to try the artifact yourself,” you said, nodding to the place beside him.

The artifact was laying only a few feet away from him. It had lost its glow and without it, the gem looked harmless. The carvings were beautiful but didn’t mean anything to Steve. He reached over to grab it, his fingers grazing the cold stone. It truly felt powerless now. He weighed it in his hand and let out a long sigh, staring at it in the palm of his hand. There was nothing left to prove it had ever had any power at all. There were no letters engraved in it to decipher its use. There was nothing at all indicating it was anything other than a beautiful trinket.

“It’s quite ironic, isn’t it,” he said, closing his fist around it, and turning back to you. “The only power that was here, was the power protecting it.”

“And it’s killing us.”

He snorted, leaning his head back against the wall. “Maybe we deserve to die.”

“Losing hope, are we?” A smile curled your lips as you looked at him with a raised brow. “Come on, Captain, cheer up. I never took you for a quitter.”

“Then what did you take me as?”

You shrugged. “Does that matter?”

“Maybe not, but I’m curious now.”

A groan escaped your lips, but you kept your eyes on him. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but once you know the truth, I’ll have to kill you.”

Steve laughed, shaking his head. “Seems like fate is doing that for you at the moment.”

You smiled. “How kind of fate… Anyway, when we first met, I thought…” You stopped, swallowing hard, evading your eyes. “For what it's worth, I never thought we would end up here. I was only a junior agent then. I wasn’t part of HYDRA. I was friends with Rumlow, yes, but I hadn’t been recruited yet. Things were different then. HYDRA was different. Hell, I was different and I thought... I thought we could be friends.” You sighed. “After I fully joined HYDRA, I’m not sure what I thought about you. Pierce saw you as a threat, so… I did too.”

Steve listened to you, not really knowing what to think. He barely remembered meeting you for the first time. He only remembered every time after that, when you had fought against him, tried to kill him and his friends, and worked against him every step of the way. “I see.”

“It was never personal if that makes you feel better.”

He looked at you, seeing something new in your eyes. And he believed you. “It doesn’t. I think that actually makes it worse.”

“I’m sorry.”

It was silent for a long time after that. The dust slowly settled, but that only made it seem harder to breathe. Steve could see your chest rising and falling slower and slower. Your eyes kept falling shut and he himself too had trouble remaining steady breathing and keeping his eyes open. There wasn’t much time left.

He swallowed hard, clenching his hand tighter around the artifact. “Do you... Do you think it could have been different?”

Your eyes fluttered open, looking at him through your eyelashes. “What… do you… mean?” Your voice was barely a whisper, coming out as a rasp.

“Us… the world… everything… Don’t you ever wonder about things that... might have been?” His own voice was still clear. It was weak though, his throat painful as he spoke.

“You’re wondering… if we could have… been friends?”

“Among other things. You said so yourself. You thought it could be possible once.”

A laugh escaped your lips, followed by a cough. “Once upon… a dream… maybe. In the real world, that’s… just… wishful thinking.”

He nodded, feeling his throat clench, breaths coming slower and slower. “Maybe. I guess I just wish that we lived... a normal life. Without all the danger... and fighting... and trying to kill each other. A life where... we could be friends. It might be... just a dream, but... is that truly... so weird?”

You looked at him, eyes filled with tears. "No... I wish... things were... different too."

As you spoke those words, he felt his eyelids grow heavy. The artifact in his hand was warm. Hot even and he watched as your eyes closed, your hand falling into your lap, head sagging to your chest. He tried to move, to check if you were still breathing, but his body felt heavy. Too heavy. Before he could wonder what was going on, darkness swallowed him and he drifted off to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED