Stuck | Stucky

Chapter 7

Steve was sure that the Ancient One had been lying to him when she had informed him of her upcoming death. She had said that he would be returning to his loved ones soon yet the points in time he had to protect had kept him away for a further 15 years. It had been 40 long years since he left 2023 with his mission to return to stones and he still had gods know how long until he will be able to return. Steve had tried to stop himself counting how many days it has been since he left his Bucky, yet it felt impossible. He had left Bucky probably believing him that he had stayed in the past and wouldn't return. He couldn't return the way Sam, Bucky and Bruce were expecting because the device and the suit had been destroyed the second he had stayed in the past to prevent the technology being used to change the timeline. The missions had been completed and there were no time aberrations which Steve could sense. The timeline was still on track to lead to Thanos. A face Steve knew he was going to have to face soon enough. Every time which the infinity stones had come into counter with had been ensured off. Thanos was the only one left.

"I have not seen you before" a voice said from behind Steve. He had returned to the New York Sanctum for a rest before going to Thanos. Steve quickly glamoured himself as he turned to face the voice. As suspected it was Doctor Strange, the time stone around his neck.

"I have been away" Steve replied whilst internally flinching, the sound of his own voice sounded unrecognisable glamoured.

"You are shielding your appearance from me. I can tell" Doctor Strange stated, his eyes looked Steve over suspiciously.

"I cannot allow you to see me as who I am. The Ancient One gave me a mission to protect the timeline from aberrations which were appearing. I had to put everything back on course. The Ancient One last order was to continue with my mission yet keep everything classified from others to prevent changes to the timeline. By ordering the mission kept classified, my identity must to remain a secret. I am only telling you this because I know you understand the importance of maintaining our reality no matter what the consequence are" Steve briefly explained. Doctor Strange was quiet for a moment, he seemed to be weighing up the different option of what he could reply with, he could push and demand for more answers which Steve couldn't give him, or he could leave the conversation where it was. Strange chose the latter.

"I understand. The timeline protection is important. I would not want to be the reason of it changing, after all, if you tell me what you know then what you worked hard for will not happen" Doctor Strange answered.

"I am glad you understand, I only plan to stay for tonight. My mission is nearly complete. If I survive I might be able to tell you about it, so you may fully understand the consequence" Steve promised.

"Then I will look forward to that meeting. Good Luck with your mission" Doctor Strange before leaving. Steve sighed, he felt old. The serum prevents him from aging which made him effectively immortal. Steve suspected that it would be the same for Bucky as well which made the life he was living a little better with the idea that he would always have Bucky, yet he didn't want Bucky to feel that the serum had trapped them in this immortal life. Steve had to force himself to stop thinking. He was tired and if this thinking kept going he would end up with a headache and not enough sleep to deal with Thanos.

"I had done it Father, I have located all the infinity stones expect one however I know how I can find it for you. I have a plan for you to achieve all these stones Father if you would listen to it" Steve said walking over to Thanos who was sitting on his chair.

"Continue my child" Thanos answered.

"The Power stone is on Xandar, I believe that it would be best for you to retrieve this stone first because the Space Stone is with the Asgardians who have fled their world after it was destroyed. After collecting the power stone, you would have enough power to attack and kill half of the Asgardian's population. The reality stone is in Nowhere with The Collector. Two stones are down on Earth, so I suggest after getting the Space stone you should send some of your children to Earth, the mind stone is with the Vision, one of the avengers whilst the time stone is at New York Sanctum being guarded by Masters of the Mystic Arts. To get the Soul Stone you must persuade Gamora to tell you where it is. Nebula and Gamora have recently become close, I'm sure if you used Nebula then Gamora would be happy to tell you the location" Steve explained, it took all the strength he had to prevent him from throwing up. He caused all of this. He essentially wiped out half of the universe.