r o g e r s

Kara smiled at what he said and it sounded so much like Steven that she couldn't help the fluttering in her chest. "Thank you, Steve. It's nice to know that someone is there to help us. The world has really turned their back believing that we can't help them anymore. We can, it's harder now. None of us are willing to let it stop us though."

She walked for a bit before she stopped at his question. Her brows raised. "Nope, I was born in St. Petersburg Russia. I lived there till I was ten when my father came to get me because my mother had passed away. He didn't even know my mother had been pregnant till Rhodey had been doing so research on my Grandfather and learned about me."

They continued on their way down two floors before exiting on the living quarters. The hall looked the same as any other apartment building. She stopped in front of a door with the plaque without a name on it. Right across was the name Cap. John Walker. Kara turned back towards him. So almost everyone lives on this floor in the Suite apartments. John lives across the way but you'll usually fine him down on the end at Yelena's if he isn't at my place. Down the other way is Ava. This door next to you is Natalia, I thought putting you in the middle of everyone would give you a chance to feel a bit more part of the team." Kara pointed up, "I have that entire floor and you've been to the common area where the labs and food all the things you could need are there. Everyone pretty much eats dinner together every night. I do warn you I hope you like Russian food. Alexei, the Red Gardian, or Yelena Belova the white widow cook... and they don't know how to cook anything besides this spicy mac and cheese or Russian. We all kind of take turns. I know you may not want to but dinner's kind of important to all of us and if you're not there, it's gonna be hard to be part of the time. I'll tell them to take it easy and tell John not to fanboy."

Steve couldn't imagine a Kara without super powers. He was so used to her being able to move an entire planet if it came down to it. However, the more he looked at this Kara, she seemed like she was powerful in her own ways. Already he could see that she was a leader and she still seemed as smart as the one he knew --maybe even smarter.

He nodded when she told him where everyone on the team's rooms where. Many of the names were familiar even though he might've not met the versions in his own timeline. He chuckled and shrugged. "Uh, Russian is fine. I'm more of a burgers and fries kind of guy though I do love a good Thai takeout. I'll eat whatever, I'm not picky. I'm not a very good cook myself but if I have to pick up dinner duty sometime best I can get you is a grilled cheese and tomato soup. From a can."

He looked at the plaque on the door. "There was a kid at West Point named John Walker from where I was from. I went there once to do a Captain America meet and greet. I think I was introduced to him. He was already working his way up to the top. Smart guy, little bit cocky attitude."

Kara smiled as he spoke about his world's heroes. "I do wish that we'd lost less but we stopped the battle before Thanos could take the gauntlet from us and use it to eradicate half of all life. It was hard and getting the stones had been such daunting task but it seemed that our world, Hydra or their other organizations had been collecting them. We just used Ava and took them off their hands." She smiled with a bit of revelry before bring her attention back to Steve. "If you decide to stay, Steve, I will get everyone together, well they are here every Sunday dinner. Most live here in the tower though. I like keeping them all close but sometimes it can be a bit hectic. I wouldn't have it any other way."

She listened as he spoke of his friends and it broke her heart to hear the sadness at not getting to see his friend. At least we still had Becca and I know she'll like this Steve a bit better than Sharon's. He was a nice guy but so many things about him were different. "Becca had a very rough time. She has a metal arm that the Russians gave her. For a long time, it had the red star on it but now, she has a blue one if she even has the arm visible. She's very private and I think she might have taken Steven's death as hard as I did."

The moment he didn't pick up the device, her heart started to beat faster. He wasn't her Steven but she could feel a pull to be close to him and a freedom to talk about anything. Biting down on her lower lip to keep a smile from creeping, she listened to his words. "I'm glad you're staying. I don't think you could live knowing how many would have to die. Besides, I think you could do a lot of good here. Between Natalia Becca you and John, I feel like there's a better chance that all of you will come back from missions.

It sounded like him that this Becca had gone through the same type of experience as Bucky from his universe. And while, he was sad to hear his best friend wasn't here he was glad to hear there was a Becca here. "I'd like to meet everyone here. I think it'll be a bit bittersweet for me but seeing familiar faces after not seeing them for so long might cheer me up a bit." He smiled gently. "I know seeing your face again did."

Steve wasn't sure if he was going to be stuck here forever or if maybe he would get a chance to go home someday, but this seemed like the place to stay. It had been the best world he had been to so far. At least it seemed. Hell, at least the sky was blue and the grass was green. "I'm here to help. I've helped in every timeline I've been in and I'm not going to stop. It's what I do." He gave her a short nod, feeling a little more like himself. Give him a purpose and he was good to go. Sure, everything was going to take some time getting used to but Avengers work -- or Thunderbolts as they were called here -- was something he knew.

She smiled. "When we got together a year after he was thawed from the ice, and with my father already taking the Ironman moniker, I knew the challenges and the risks of being with someone who always has to be the first out and the last to leave the battlefield." She smiled, "I don't know if you say it but... it's weird saying my Steve. I'm gonna just call him Steven like I did and then it will be easier I think for both of us. Steven memorized famous solider quotes to help motivate people and that one was his favorite. I will be the first to step into the unknown and the last to make sure all my boys make it home."

There was a brightness in Kara's face that she hadn't had even when she'd been hugging Steve. Maybe it was just hearing his voice or getting to talk to him again. Maybe it was knowing that Sharon was going to make it home. "She'll make it home. I created a device and before Dr. Strange died saving the world from the Scarlet Witch, he imbued it with a beacon. It could send you to your home world. Problem with it is that you have to wait for another world to be destroyed by an incrusion." This made her frown and she sighed. "One world has to die for you to go home. I'd rather put it out that way so that you know the cost and it will still take years because it lets you pick a world and then catrophe will start to happen, until everyone is sucked up and dies... At least that's what Sharon's husband told us happened in incursions."

If Steve was anything like Steven, it would take him time to make that choice and that's why she'd even given it to him. "Sharon and Steven only did it because his world could be picked and it was almost gone. So they waited till the very last minute and then they left. It might be why there was so much going on when you ran into her." Kara shrugged before she walked over to a beautiful wooden bar, the same as from Steve's world but instead of being stocked with liquor, it was filled with all kinds of technology that was far more advanced then his own. On top of the desk was Tony holding a bay girl and down a little more was a cotton top todler with big curls and bright blue eyes. The third was of a young girl too young to be in high school holding her diploma. The final was one that looked exactly like Kara and Tony's arms were wrapped around her and sitting in a wheelchair was Howard with white hair and a cantankerous look.

She noticed Steve look at them and she smiled. "I'm guessing you know who that is. That's me and dad over the years. I wouldn't have put them there myself but he did about five days before the second 'D' day. I feel like he must have known something was going to happen. I think we could all feel it, at least all the heroes did. I was too busy in my lab trying to find a way to bring the ship down. It was so beyond anything we had ever seen and we got the network and brought all of the known heroes here. It wasn't enough and we lost everyone. Dr. Strange made it back at the last minute and was going to use the gauntlet to get rid of the ships that were coming behind them. Thanos killed Thor and once Thor went down, since he was the strongest of them, I think Steve knew there was nothing he could do but wouldn't give up. I was in this glass box because I'd come up with a way to close the poral and I think Thanos knew and he put himself with thors hammer that he'd picked up hoping he could and then I couldn't push the buttons because his shield was in pieces the Hammer was dust and he..."

Kara cut off and took a deep breath. "Well I was a waste at that point and Dad knew it. The only thing he could do was sacrifice himself and I noticed too late. And then he was gone and the invaders. Then we had to pick up the pieces of who was left, or who we could call to come help. And now I feel like there's something going on again and maybe this time we can be more prepared. I know I am and John... he's capable. We have access to the serum... well I do and he's the only one I've given it to and that was after a very long interview process with the military and massive training program. SO I guess it's just you, if you want to help, Natalia, Yelena Alexei, Becca and John. I think they are a good group." She chuckled, " We don't use the name Avengers anymore because it's on the memorial for the fallen. Yelena made a funny comment to Ava about her peewee soccar team and now Alexei has dubbed them the Thunderbolts and I like it. They do too and then people won't expect Gods to protect them, just people willing to die to keep their world safe."

Her smile was back and the entire time she was talking, Kara had been working on this small device. She was so efficent at it that she never even looked down while cutting and doing other things before putting it back together. "There I think it's done" When Steve asked about Bucky, Kara's brow furrowed. "Are you talking about Becca's twin brother, James? I think Steven and Becca called him Bucky when they were little but he passed away on his first tour in Germany in 1943. He was killed in action. It's why Becca joined. She'd promised her brother that she would take care of him because they brought Becca to the field to say good bye. Steven pulled some strings with his rank to her there in time. So she was a Howling Cammando with Steven and I'm not sure which version of the incident but they were fighting on a train and she fell. Caught by Hydra."

There was a lot of information that Kara had given him that was going to take time to process. The part that hit him the most was that he had a way to leave but he might end up somewhere that wasn't home and from the sounds of it the odds of it actually being his home was pretty much zero. So he could stay here where things didn't seem so bad or he could chance it and end up in a world what was ruled by Doom like he had narrowly escaped. Sharon and her Steve were going to be fine. She would go back to the right place with the other Steve. He hoped that he would fit in well with everyone or maybe he and Sharon would go their own way. He supposed that wondering now was pointless since he'd likely never know for sure.

This Kara and her Steve ... Steven, were a thing before he had gotten killed. At least it worked out in one universe for Kara and Steve. It didn't sound like an easy go with Thanos here either. "Tony died in our battle with Thanos. I remember our Kara's rage and grief when she felt him die...." He sighed as he followed her. "He was the only one that didn't make it. In my timeline the Avengers are very much active -- at least they were before I left. Sam Wilson has the Shield. I left it with him because I knew he was the right man to take up the Captain America moniker."

He looked at the photos and smiled as he saw little Kara and her father. She looked happy and sweet. Just like his Kara had been. "So The Thunderbolts, huh? Actually it's not a bad name at all." He smiled softly. In the back of his mind he kept wondering if he was going to take up her offer and stay or if he was going to chance it and move on.

Sadness welled up in him when he was told that there was no Bucky in this world anymore but at least there was Becca -- whom it sounded like she was the Bucky of this world. "Bucky and Becca are both alive still in my timeline. Becca was dating a man named Oliver Branson -- I don't know if they had gotten married by now. She had such a horrible experience when Hydra took her I'm glad she found love so she can keep healing." Steve looked down at the bar, at the pictures of little Kara and he thought about her words. It was his choice if he wanted to go or wanted to stay and help. Maybe he was brought here for a reason -- to help keep this world safe. He looked back at Kara. He studied her for a moment, looking into her eyes. Maybe he was brought her for another reason as well.

As Kara stepped away from Steve his question drove a dagger into her heart one more time. It seemed lately that the memory of him was so close but yet just far enough away that she could never grab it and hold on. She swallowed hard. "Because my... the... because Steve Rogers that was born on this earth in 1920 on the Fourth of July he was put to rest on the day of the great Invasion." She looked up and tilted her head to the side, "Thanos, Thanos killed Steve the moment before my father took the Gauntlet, placed it on his hand and died himself. I stood behind a glass vault where i could see them both but had to just watch as not only my world but everyone's world changed."

She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging her small body as the breeze wrapped around her with such force that she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity in the moment that the pain of loss overwhelmed her. Now as she looked back out over New York, dubbed the New City of Heroes and scoffed. "We lost almost all of the people who'd been working as heroes throughout the world. ALl that's left of the Avengers, the hero part is Natalia, Yelena, her little sister, John Walker who was picked to pretend to be you till we could bare to tell the world you were dead. Instead the Steve who Sharon left with, he'd done it for awhile. I'm here with Audrey but we are really nothing but very highly trained breakable people. I'm a bit safter because I have a sentinel of Ironmen at my disposal. They help with small problems, thank god people respect my father and his work with the sentinel program. They just weren't enough."

Steve felt terrible that the Steve of this world -- this Kara's Steve -- was dead. It sounded like a similar situation with Thanos that happened in their timeline. "I'm so sorry, Kara." His voice was quiet and sincere as he looked at her. "Seeing me must be really hard for you then." We wasn't sure but the way she spoke of him made it sound like this Kara and Steve were together. Unlike in his own time, he and Kara never got the chance. He spent years dragging his feet, trying to just assure himself that it wasn't the right time to ask her out on a date. They could just be friends because he was scared to lose her. That happened anyway.

It sounded like many of the people he knew from his own timeline were here as well -- at least the were. Many of them were gone according to her. "I crossed paths with my Sharon -- we weren't a thing. She was just one of my closest friends. She was snapped and when she didn't come back I thought I could find her. I did find her with another Steve but we were separated and I ended up here. I hope she makes it back to the right place, but it's not going to be easy. I've been jumping in and out of timelines for years and haven;t landed home yet.

Again she heard his voice behind her but it was different. He didn't sound like a breath on the wind, he sounded real, whole. He didn't sound like a memory of late night confessions.

Kara's voice sounded the same yet everything felt off. However, the moment he felt her arms around him everything seemed right in the world again. At least for a moment. His heart sank when she told him that he wasn't in the right place. He hadn't found home after all. This wasn't his Kara or his world. He honored her request and didn't let go. "How did you know that I'm in the wrong place?" he said quietly, finally pulling back to look into her eyes. She looked different, felt different. Like Kara of his world, but ... more human?

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you." for sender to arrive on receiver's doorstep unexpectedly (in our main verse with John but this won't be canon).

Kara had been working on a new comms system when she heard the buzzer go off on her penthouse door. It wasn't often people go up here without her knowing who they were or having permission to but she shrugged her shoulders thinking it must be Ava or Yelena since they didn't just walk in.

As she opened the door, she froze. Maybe she had fallen asleep at her desk, like her father use to. She knew it wasn't a joke because no one would do this and no one looked this close to Steve.

"Steve...."

instantly her nervous fingers went to the one that used to have his ring on it but she'd taken it off not a few days ago. Still out of habit she rubbed the finger round and round. What was she supposed ot say. She'd always know maybe this could happen... maybe they could find a way to get him back. Although no one knew, Hank and Bruce were still working on it.

And now, here he stood in front of her.

Without thinking of anything else in the world, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. The way his arms felt around her was like coming home and her heart was thumping in her chest so hard she knew he'd know. Tears were now coming down her face and all she could do is cry the tears into his neck as she took in the comforting smell of him.

He hadn't let go of her when it cold truth of reality came and smacked her in the face. Her brain screamed at her and she let go of Steve, her body fighting her reality and the moment in front of her.

The moment he saw Kara open her door, a huge grin came to his face. Finally he was home. He missed her so much and was doing everything he could to get back to her and the rest of the Avengers. But it was more difficult than he thought it was going to be. It seemed like every time he was close, he'd hit a snag and end up anywhere but where he wanted to be.

"Kara." He breathed out her name soon as her arms wrapped around his neck. His eyes fell shut and he hugged her close to him. She still felt the same, hair smelled the same, and her skin just as soft as he remembered. "I'm home. I'm so sorry it took so long...." His voice was just a whisper as he rocked her back and forth. While he gone he thought about her every day wondering if he'd ever see her again. He made a promise to himself that if he did, that he would tell her everything that he had been wanting to tell her for years.

He smiled softly and gently wiped the tears that were falling down her cheeks. "Hey, hey ... please don't cry. I'm here. I'm real...." Before he could say anything else, her expression changed and she let go of him. "Kara!" He was thankful he didn't let her go because she had passed out.

It must be shock...She must be in disbelief.

i just wanted to do quick update here. steve is still being shy so i'm not rping him at the moment. i am over on my side blogs

us agent (john walker, marvel)

audrey (oc, marvel)

oliver (oc, marvel)

ghost (ava starr, marvel)

come and follow me over on those if you want! i'm slow and selective but always up for plotting. if i follow you back it'll be from my steve account since it's my main blog!

i just wanted to do quick update here. steve is still being shy so i'm not rping him at the moment. i am over on my side blogs

us agent (john walker, marvel)

audrey (oc, marvel)

oliver (oc, marvel)

ghost (ava starr, marvel)

come and follow me over on those if you want! i'm slow and selective but always up for plotting. if i follow you back it'll be from my steve account since it's my main blog!