Music is "Whatever It Takes" by Imagine Dragons.

Picture is from Avengers: Endgame.

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CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Whatever It Takes

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends, we lost family, we lost a part of ourselves. Today we have a chance to take it all back."

Steve turns to look at each of the people standing in a circle around the center of the launchpad. Geared-up and ready for our venture through time, he's taken the final moments before liftoff to give one of his usual pep talks. I clutch the wedding ring and dog tags around my neck, not willing to leave them behind for a mission as important as this one. As I run my finger over Bucky's engraved name, I think of why we're doing this. Who we're doing this for.

That's all the reminder I need.

"You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're gonna win." He turns to look at Tony, giving the Iron-Man a small nod. "Whatever it takes. Good luck."

As each of us turns to separate a bit so that launch can proceed, I hear Rocket murmur, "He's pretty good at that."

Scott chuckles, "Right?"

"All right, you heard the man!" Tony exclaims, gesturing to Bruce at the control panel. "Stroke those keys, Jolly Green."

Bruce waves his hand towards one of his oldest friends. "Trackers engaged."

While Rocket and Clint bicker about the tiny version of the Milano in Clint's grasp, I turn to Eggsy with a soft smile. "Are you ready?"

The Britton tilts his head slightly to the side, replying, "Can anyone truly say they're ready to be thrown through time and space like some sort of half-assed Time Lord?"

"At least he has a box to fly around like a maniac in," Rose laughs from the side of the pad. I turn to smile down at her, and her gaze softens. "Be careful. All of you."

"Wouldn't dream of anything else," Steve retorts, to which both Rose and I scoff in disbelief.

As Bruce takes his place on the launchpad, the device pings to life. Natasha turns to Steve with a sly, cheeky smile. "See you in a minute."

Rose steps back from the pad, giving us space as the mirrors shift overhead. A familiar orange glow opens up under us, and my helmet shifts over my head and face. I feel a tug of gravity on me, and then the feeling of weightlessness as I'm sucked down into the funnel of space-time, along with each of my comrades.

And just like that -- a blur and a half later -- Steve, Bruce, Scott, Tony, and I are making our entrance into alien-invasion, 2012 New York City. Currently, Manhattan is being torn to shreds, and the newly-formed Avengers are fighting off the hoards on the streets below. Chitauri race in the skies overhead, and roars come from the adjacent street.

By George, I did not miss this day whatsoever.

As we gather our bearings in the midst of the debris, our time-travel suits close up to the wristbands Tony created, and we're left in our Avengers uniforms. Even I've adorned the navy blue and white I used to back in the day, hoverboots, bowstaff, and all, plus a few additional upgrades courtesy of Tony Stark.

"All right," Steve commands in a rush, "we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock--"

Before Steve can finish, he's cut off by the 2012 Hulk barging through several cars, throwing himself onto one of them over and over, and barraging the streets with tires and shrapnel. Bruce rubs his temple out of embarrassment as the Hulk runs off with a roar.

"Maybe smash a few things along the way?"

"I think it's gratuitous, but whatever." Bruce tears off his tank, then begins his version of "Hulk smash" in the road ahead, not even coming close to the destruction the Hulk created moments ago.

"Wow, the times have changed, and so has the man," I murmur to myself, to which Steve scoffs in agreement.

Tony claps his hands once to get the others' attention. "Okay. I'll hit the high rise and wait for this to wrap up. Once we -- I mean they -- get Loki in custody, then we can snag the stones that are here. The Tesseract should be simple; that's on me, Emma, and Bug Boy here. Steve, can you handle the scepter?"

Steve nods, and I clap him on the shoulder as I bring my hoverboots to life. "Go get them."

"Right back atcha, Ems."

Scott shrinks to a minuscule size and hops onto Iron-Man's shoulder. We take to the air, careful to stay close to the buildings and out of sight of the Avengers. They're clustered on the top level of Stark Tower now, about to finish off Loki and take him into custody.

"Better hustle, Cap," Tony suggests. "Things look like they're just about wrapped up here."

"Got it. I'm approaching the elevator now."

Tony and I drop through the blown-out window at the back of the penthouse suite. Luckily, everyone is distracted by the God of Mischief on the floor, hands raised in surrender.

Tony huffs beside me, bending down behind the semi-perforated wall to stay out of sight. "Mr. Rogers, I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass."

Steve's reply is full of a voice unamused. "No one asked you to look, Tony."

"It's ridiculous."

"I think you look great, Cap!" Scott chimes from the tiny spot on Tony's shoulder. "As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass."

I roll my eyes and keep quiet, pushing their bickering to the back of my mind as I focus on the group of original seven Avengers present. Everything is exactly as I remember it, everything from the words to the people to...me. It's hard to believe that I'm looking at my past self. This version of Emma Barnes is blonde, straight off a long ride from Paris, and hurting deeply still. She still doesn't know what not only is Bucky alive, but he's been the one she's fought over and over again for decades. She doesn't know that Grant is just like her. She doesn't know all that will happen in the next few years -- how much she will lose and gain.

"What do we do with him now?" 2012 Natasha asks, referring to Loki.

"He has to face justice for what he's done," Steve says, giving a look of concern towards 2012 Thor.

Thor nods in agreement. "I will take him back to Asgard. He will face my father's justice there."

The 2012 version of me nods in agreement. "The sooner he's off our little green and blue ball, the better. I agree with Thor."

Thor gives her a thankful smile, and they watch as Loki slowly pulls himself up. Clint from this year loads an arrow onto his bow, aiming it at Loki's head as he turns around.

Loki groans in pain, offering, "If it's all the same to you...I'll have that drink now."

After a moment of the group collectively glaring, Clint scoffs, "Yeah, not likely. Move your ass. You're going home."

Loki scowls. "I haven't it."

Natasha turns to the group, "Fury just sent me a com that says he won't be able to pull us out of the Stark Tower for another few minutes. The streets around this place are a mess. He suggests we find a place on the lower levels to stay until he can get a team here."

2012 Tony grins and turns to the rest of them. "Shwarma, anybody?"

2012 Steve nods to Loki. "What do we do with him?"

Tony's grin grows wider. "I think I have an idea." Before he can give them his brilliant plan to grab Shwarma from the shop down the street, several wandering SHIELD members enter the penthouse. "Oh, good! Company after all. Get him to his feet. We can all stand around posing up a storm later. By the way, feel free to clean up!"

"Who gets the magic wand?" 2012 Natasha asks, lifting Loki's scepter in question.

"STRIKE Team is coming to secure it," 2012 Steve responds.

Out of the elevator, Agent Sitwell, Agent Rumlow, and two other STRIKE members waltz up to Natasha. The sight of them makes my stomach twist and my fists clench, even though both men have been dead for years at this point. They still have the stink of Secretary Alexander Pierce, of Hydra, all over them.

"We can take that off your hands," Agent Sitwell states.

"By all means," she replies, then hands it over to the eager agent. "Be careful with that thing."

"Yeah, unless you want your mind erased, and not in a fun way."

Scott pipes up. "Who are these guys?"

"They are SHIELD," I reply softly. "Well, actually they're Hydra, but we didn't know that yet. We wouldn't for another two years."

"Seriously? You didn't? I mean, they look like bad guys."

"You're small, but you're talking loud," Tony complains. The original Avengers pack up Loki and the scepter, parting down different elevators. The Tesseract remains as 2012 Tony secures it in a locked suitcase. Tony straightens up. "Ooh, all right. You're up, little buddy. There's our stone."

"All right," Scott says, gearing up to go. "Flick me."

Tony does as he asks, and the smallest Avenger goes flying towards the briefcase, landing in perfect time to crawl up towards Tony's arc reactor.

I allow myself a breath of relief before turning to Tony with a nod. "Step one, success. On to the next."

Tony spins on his heel and dives out the window, his armored suit shifting over him as he falls. I follow suit, securing my Lady Liberty helmet over short hair as my hoverboots carry me out into the windy air. We're a thousand feet above the ground, and from here, I can see just about as far as the place I once called home in Brooklyn. And a thought dances across my mind as I descend in altitude: maybe after this is all done, we can return to that place after all.

Following closely behind Tony, I hear his voice come in over the coms. "All right, Cap, I got our scepter in the elevator just passing the eightieth floor."

"On it," Steve replies. "Head to the lobby."

"All right, see you there."

"Reminder about Rumlow and Sitwell, Steve," I state into my wrist mic. "Don't make that mistake again."

Steve's voice is as sure as ever. "Trust me, that won't happen."

In the background, I hear Steve's conversation with Sitwell and Rumlow. He goes through the usual excuses, but none seem to stick. The agents are skittish, and just when I think he's about to be busted, Steve plays the trump card.

"I'm going to have to call the Director--"

"--That's okay. Trust me." A pause, and then a whisper. "Hail Hydra."

I scoff under my breath as Tony and I make landfall in the alley between the crushed buildings and Stark Tower. My companion quickly changes into a SHIELD uniform and heads into the lobby.

"Did you seriously just say 'Hail Hydra'?"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up. Just be glad it worked."

"Perspiring a bit there, Captain America?"

Steve laughs under his breath. "You got no idea."

Pulling my helmet from my head, I take one last glance at it before tossing it behind a chunk of debris, exchanging it for a black mask and goggles combo and a black leather jacket to hide the signature colors on my uniform. Luckily, Tony had the sense of suggesting dark navy, nearly black pants, which are easily blendable.

Jogging in after him, I enter just in time to hear Tony say, "Thumbelina, do you copy? I've got eyes on the price. It's go time."

"Bombs away!" Scott exclaims.

This year's Thor, Tony, and Loki round the corner and come into view of the lobby. Tony carries a briefcase that holds the Tesseract, and guards flank Loki on either side.

"Is that Axe body spray?"

Finally catching up to my year's Tony, I see him roll his eyes. "Yeah, I had a can in the desk for emergencies. Relax. Can we focus, please?"

To make matters worse, Scott follows that up with, "I'm going inside you...now."

The two Avengers are approached by a group of SHIELD secretaries, one of which I recognize very vividly.

Alexander Pierce. I had no idea he was in New York on that day. Of course, it makes sense that I didn't. I wasn't here in the lobby now. I was upstairs with...

Cutting off my thoughts, I turn to Tony and murmur, "You have this covered, yes? I think I should go check on Steve."

"What, is he five years old with a babysitter?"

I shake my head. "No, but I forgot he's going to have me to deal with somewhere in this building. If even one thing goes off and his timing is wrong, I don't want him running into the 2012 version of me. She wasn't exactly known for her mercy."

Tony dips his head to the side as if to say, "You have a point there." He assures me he has this part covered, and just as the 2012 version of Tony drops to the floor with a red face and flickering arc reactor, I take my leave down the corridor.

I'm already halfway up the stairs towards Steve's intended rendezvous point before I hear Thor shouting for his brother, alarms going off, and Tony's voice over the coms saying, "We blew it."

"Tony, what's going on?" Steve urges. "Tell me you found that cube."

"Steve, where are you?" I ask, throwing myself over a crumbled wall before pulling myself up to the balcony beside the wall of glass in the center of the building. From here on the twelfth floor, I can see the crisscrossing staircases and bridges that go from one floor to the next, from one side of Stark Tower to the adjacent. I don't hear a reply. "Steve?"

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me."

Just as I take the next flight in a hurry, I look up and see two, identical Steve Rogers standing across from each other on the bridge on the next floor up. I'm close enough that I can hear them without coms, and push myself even harder to close the distance faster.

"I've got eyes on Loki," 2012 Steve says to his communicator. "Fourteenth floor."

END CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Whatever It Takes.