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SUMMARY: One day in 2012, Steve Rogers encounters a doppelgänger of himself who says three words that change everything: "Bucky is alive."
This story eases into things with a glimpse of two friends growing up together in the 20s and 30s. It then goes DARK (mind the tags). Darkness doesn't last forever, though. It always yields to light. COMPLETE, chapters posted 2x/week.
GEN, Angst, Dark, Explicit/Mature, Graphic, Rape/NonCon (basically bad Hydra torture stuff).
2012, New York
"Bucky…is…alive."
Those were the last words Steve expected out of Loki, and his grip on the other man—currently morphed into an identical version of himself—loosened. "What?"
Bucky? The face came to his mind instantly, blue eyes, a crooked smile. How would Loki know anything about Bucky? Hell, how had he gotten the photo of Peggy?
The punch to Steve's face was swift. He realized the deception too late as the tip of the Scepter touched his chest, and the world went dark.
-0- -0- -0-
Rogers held the case with the Scepter. He needed to return it to the time and place from which he took it, but he couldn't very well run into himself in the elevator. He waited below, and when Rumlow and the others walked off the lift, Rogers squared his shoulders and marched forward confidently.
"Threat has been neutralized." He handed the case to Rumlow. "Make sure this stays safe, gentlemen."
Surprise flashed across Rumlow's face, then his gaze narrowed skeptically. He exchanged glances with Sitwell, then took the case with a nod. "It's good to have you on the team, Cap."
Rogers eyed Rumlow and forced his face into neutral arrogance even though he
really wanted to smash the man's nose into pulp.
Rumlow's words—words not yet uttered in this timeline—came back to Rogers.
"You know he knew you…Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky. He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it, 'til they put his brain back in a blender."
He hated turning the Scepter over to Hydra, but if he didn't, the Avengers wouldn't search for it, wouldn't run into Wanda and Pietro. Wanda would never join the Avengers. Vision would never exist.
On the other hand, without the Scepter, Ultron wouldn't happen. Sokovia wouldn't be destroyed. Zemo wouldn't lose his family and seek revenge on the Avengers. The Accords might never happen.
With bile in the back of his throat, Rogers gave an affirming nod, turned on his heels, and marched away from the group that would send Bucky after Fury, Natasha, and himself and try to use the Insight helicarriers to kill millions of people.
As Rogers headed to an isolated spot to take his next time jump, he wondered how things would unfold in this timeline they'd messed up. Loki was gone with the cube, Rumlow and the others thought Captain America was a Hydra agent, and his younger self had a seed planted in his mind that Bucky might still be alive.
READ SIX CHAPTERS POSTED ONLINE On
AO3 or FFN, Chapter 7 will be posted Saturday.
