Chapter Text
"You absolute Idiot!"
The three men were startled by the sudden yell. They all turned to see who it was and were left in disbelief. It was Loki, Thor's thought to be dead brother, standing not ten feet away from the bench with his arms crossed glairing daggers at Steve. He wasn't making a move to attack or do anything but Sam raised the shield and stood in front of the now frail Steve just in case. "Do you have any idea the mess you've caused?"
"I beg your pardon?" Steve question standing up to look properly at Loki.
Loki continued to glare at him. "You disrupted the time lines. You've caused unimaginable damage to the universe because of your actions. I had to drag myself out of Hel only find out Captain America doomed the Universe" he let out a noise of frustration "Norns and I thought Thor could be an idiot"
"What are you talking about?" asked Bucky frowning at the message Loki was telling them
"You really don't get it do you?" he sighed "Fine, I'll just have to explain" he snapped his fingers and an image of a younger Steve appeared. "When you went back in time you decided to stay with Miss Carter, correct?"
"Yes?"
Loki rubbed his eyes tiredly, the image now showing two Steve's. One from the 1940's and the other just before his final time jump. "That meant there were two Steve Rogers in the same timeline, meaning that the universe had to right that wrong. So the Captain that went into the ice..." Loki clenched his fist and that Steve's image turned red "Had to die. Meaning that when that plane you crashed was discovered, he was already dead"
Sam had to admit that didn't sound too good. "That can't be good"
"No, it most certainly is not good. That meant while you were off playing pretend with Miss Carter, The world was left without Captain America. That meant No Captain America to help stop the New York invasion" an image of the original Avengers fighting in New York without Steve "No Captain America to stop the Hydra uprising... No Captain America to free Sargent Barnes from Hydra" Loki then looked sadly to where Bucky was standing. Steve sharply looked and Bucky was no longer there. Now stood the Winter Soldier donned in his old uniform, mask and old Hydra built arm. "It's already starting. The timelines are trying to repair themselves but they're so fragmented" Steve could barely breath. This was all his fault. If he hadn't been so selfish none of this would have happened. He took a step toward Bucky while Sam glanced over to the New York Skyline. he let out a swear.
"Holy... What the hell is that¬!?"
"The invasion paired with the Hydra Hella-Carriers" Loki explained his voice tight with worry but is sounded a lifetime away. Steve stared at Bucky who remained unmoving. Tears welled up in his eyes. How could he have done this?
"Bucky..." he whispered "Bucky I... I'm so sorry. I never wanted this to happen I-" he broke down in tears. He hears some muffled Russian come through Bucky's earpiece. The Winter Solider turned and walked away leaving Steve sobbing. He had caused this. So focused on himself he hadn't thought of the future, of everyone he left there. He had doomed Bucky.
It was then Sam spoke in a very confused voice "Uh, where am I? Why do I have a shield" Of course. Steve and Sam never met so Sam never became Falcon. meaning poor Sam had no idea what was going on or who Steve even was. He could hear the chaos from new York and Bruce start to loose control of the Hulk once again. Those 18 months in the Gamma tank never happened so Bruce couldn't control him.
Loki was suddenly by his side forcing him to look right at him "Listen to me. We can fix this but we need to go now. The timelines are merging, it won't be long before the Mad Titan makes another appearance"
Steve nodded forcing himself to stop crying "Alright. What do we do?"
"We need to go back and stop you from staying in the past" Loki told him all but dragging the elderly man towards the Quantum Realm portal. "After that, we return to this timeline and pray that it worked. Also, eat this" Loki handed him a plump juicy golden apple from his pouch "No offence but you being old will just get in our way" Steve ate without prompting. Loki had been right so far and Steve's gut told him he could be trusted. Already the years were melting away with every bite. once he was done he was as young as he was just before he travelled back in time.
Before Loki could send them back Steve stopped him "There's something you're not telling me. About Peggy. I saw how you reacted when I told you I stayed with her. What are you not telling me?"
Loki gave him an almost pitying look "The dead can see everything Captain. I saw the truth about her. Are you sure you wish to know?" Steve nodded. There had always been a tiny part of him that knew Peggy was hiding something from him. What he never knew, but it was always there in the back of his mind even after he out lived her. Loki grabbed his hand "It would be easier to show you" and with that they were gone.