"Steve, we need to go home. And I think it's time you and I had a real conversation."
Peggy Carter pulled the jeep up beside Steve and called him in.
Steve climbed aboard silently, weighed down by the burden of words he didn't know how to say. There were no manuals for explaining what he'd seen—what he'd done.
The jeep rolled away from South Harbor.
Unbeknownst to them, beneath the calm surface of the Hudson River, Rory emerged silently. He climbed ashore, soaked but unbothered, and began tailing their vehicle at a careful distance.
Peggy and Steve drove through the dim streets of Lower Manhattan, finally arriving at their Midtown apartment.
She unlocked the door, tossed her coat aside, and poured two steaming cups of coffee.
Handing one to Steve, she said softly, "Steve… you're not the same. I think I deserve an explanation."
Steve cupped the mug in both hands, staring down at the swirling surface. Silent.
Peggy sat beside him, gently placing a hand on his knee.
"Hey," she whispered, "we trust each other, remember? Whatever it is… you can tell me."
Steve shook his head slowly. "It's not that I don't want to. I just… don't know how to explain it."
"That's okay. We have time. Say it however you need to."
Neither of them realized that just outside their apartment window, clinging to the wall like a specter in the night, Rory was watching. Listening.
He wasn't Spider-Man, but with his enhanced strength, digging his fingertips into solid brick was nothing.
Inside, Steve got up and crossed to a cabinet.
Opening it, he pulled out a small metal case. Returning to the couch, he flipped it open to reveal—two gleaming time-travel wristbands.
Peggy lifted one, her eyes widening. "What… is this?"
"It's called a Time-Space Navigation Band," Steve said evenly.
"Time-space? You mean… time travel?"
Steve nodded. "Exactly."
"My God…"
Peggy Carter wasn't naïve. As a founding member of the SSR, she'd seen her fair share of artifacts labeled 084. Things science had no business explaining.
But time travel?
That was something else entirely.
"It's unbelievable," she murmured.
Steve looked up, regret etched in every line of his face.
"Peggy… I'm sorry. I lied to you. But I—"
"No." Peggy cut him off gently. "You're still you, Steve. That's all that matters."
They leaned in, lips meeting in a soft kiss—time, love, and truth suspended for a moment.
Outside the window, Rory rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Ugh. Disgusting," he muttered. Then, with one slight shift of his body—CRASH—he burst through the glass.
Steve barely had time to stand before Rory's punch launched him across the room.
Peggy reached for her sidearm, but Rory was faster. In one movement, his hand wrapped around her throat.
"Don't!" Steve shouted, raising his hands. "Let her go, Rory!"
Rory calmly lifted Peggy off the ground with one hand and smirked at Steve.
"Hand it over."
"Okay! Okay," Steve said quickly, holding up one of the wristbands. "You want the device, take it. Just put her down. Let's not do this, Rory. We can still talk. There's still—"
"Spare me the sanctimonious crap," Rory snapped. "I said: hand it over."
Steve hesitated for a moment… then tossed one of the wristbands.
Rory caught it easily.
He inspected it briefly, then smiled. "Yep. Mine."
Turning his gaze back to Steve, his voice dropped.
"We could've been friends. But your holier-than-thou lectures make me sick."
Peggy was beginning to lose consciousness, her face flushed red from lack of air.
Just as her limbs went limp, Rory flung her like a rag doll—right into Steve's arms—and leapt through the shattered window.
Steve looked at Peggy, then at the window, torn.
"Go," she rasped. "Don't worry about me. Just go…"
Steve laid her gently down, hesitated for one more second, then dove through the window after Rory.
He landed in the alley below—but Rory was already gone.
On the rooftop above, Rory stood watching, amused.
Steve Rogers, the legendary Captain America—smart in battle, dumb everywhere else.
An hour later, Rory arrived at Central Park.
He stopped under a tree, knelt, and dug his fingers into the dirt. Moments later, he unearthed a sealed metal case—his emergency cache.
Inside: blood samples, serum vials, and backups of his research.
A cunning rabbit keeps three burrows.Every Chinese child knew that.
The moment Rory saw Steve at the Stark building, he'd known he was being watched.
So, he'd prepared.
Whup-whup-whup…
The sound of rotor blades filled the air.
A spotlight flared, locking onto him.
THUMP!
A figure dropped from the helicopter above.
"Rory," Steve's voice called out. "Without Pym Particles, you're not going anywhere. Hand over the research. Come with me."
Rory smirked, holding up a half-used vial of crimson-red particles.
"You sure about that?"
Steve's eyes widened. "You—how did—"
"Oh right. Forgot. You've been frozen too long, Cap. Your memory's crap."
Rory activated the wristband, slotting the half-bottle of Pym Particles into place.
Steve's eyes went wide.
The first time Rory traveled through time, he'd only used half the vial.
And now…
He had just enough to do it again.
Rory tapped the band twice.
White light shimmered around him as a futuristic, sleek quantum suit materialized across his body.
Right then, Peggy arrived, flanked by SSR agents.
Rory glanced her way, then turned back to Steve.
"You wanted war, Steve.So now… I'll give you war."
FLASH!
In a burst of white light, Rory vanished.
Leaving behind stunned agents, a furious Peggy, and a speechless Steve Rogers.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter