"Ten bucks. Any takers? Bambi is absolutely faking it."

Tony stepped out of the armor, produced a bag of blueberries from somewhere no one could account for, and passed it around, eating while rolling his eyes at Loki, who was still deep in his performance.

Clint popped a few into his mouth and curled a lip.

"Please. I'm not throwing money away like that. Aside from Luoluo, who can't see that guy is acting?"

"Looks like we need to sit Luoluo down for a proper lesson when we get back. That acting was terrible and it still worked on her."

Natasha shook her head with a sigh and took some blueberries. Faces still streaked with grime, the group settled into the rubble and snacked.

Then Natasha turned to Tony. "Where did you even get those?"

Tony chewed quickly and patted a small, unremarkable brown pouch at his waist, looking extremely pleased with himself.

"This. Bought it off the wizards. Undetectable Extension Charm inside. I stuffed a ton of things in there."

Tony unclipped the pouch, dug around, and produced several more bags of snacks to distribute.

That wasn't all. Tony also pulled out rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, toilet paper, heat packs, a thorough, well-stocked spread.

"That's incredible." Clint's eyes lit up. For agents, something like this was almost too useful. "When we get back, I'm buying one from Harry and the others."

"Already handled." Tony flicked a blueberry into the air and caught it in one mouth with a smug look. "Preordered one for each of us. You just have to tell them the style and color you want when we're back."

Tony had bought the pouch from Hermione right before they set out. There was also a red-and-gold one preordered for Tony, just waiting for the wizards to bring it back once they returned to the Wizarding World.

Red and gold was the only correct answer.

...

Back at the compound on the outskirts of New York, the divine brothers were promptly ushered into a specially outfitted recovery suite and, after another thorough examination, officially checked in for the foreseeable future.

Their daily itinerary consisted of exactly four things: lying in bed, watching TV, waiting for meals, and waiting for visitors. Every other activity was declined on the grounds that it would interfere with recovery.

Whether Tony had arranged this deliberately, as a lesson to two brothers who had dared to run a con, was difficult to say.

While the two of them sat miserably confined to their suite, the rest of the Avengers gathered around the time machine.

The six borrowed Stones needed to go back.

For now, Steve was the only one who could lift Mjolnir, at least as far as anyone could tell.

So beyond returning the Time Stone, the Space Stone, and the Mind Stone, Steve was additionally entrusted with a separate trip to Asgard to return Mjolnir and the Reality Stone. The other Stones would go back with their original teams.

"So I'm... heading out?"

Steve stood in the center of the platform. A second before pressing the button on the wristband, Steve looked around. Every face was bright and cheerful, yet the atmosphere pressing down around them was anything but.

It felt deliberate. Like everyone had agreed, without saying so, to perform happiness.

When Steve looked over, they waved. A few more jokes were thrown around. And then Steve disappeared from view.

"..."

Quiet settled over the room like a held breath.

"All right, everyone." After a long moment, Tony clapped twice and broke the silence. Tony kept the voice light, kept the joke going, but anyone looking could see the grief tucked behind the smile. "Start getting ready. We might be about to welcome white-haired Grandpa Steve."

"Yeah." Natasha's expression was wry. "It was a joke before. Guess it's real now."

Everyone there knew the original ending. Steve would go back, return the Stones, and choose to stay in the past, to live out the life once missed with Peggy Carter.

It was Steve's choice. And even if it hurt, the only thing they could do was respect it. That was why they'd put on those faces. They didn't want Steve to hesitate because of them. Captain America had saved the country, saved the world, saved the universe. Steve deserved to go find something that was just for Steve.

No one answered. They each settled the weight in their chests and turned, ready to spread out and look for the old man. Steve couldn't be far.

Yang Luoluo's gaze drifted automatically to Bucky. Bucky had been completely silent from the moment Steve stepped onto the platform.

Hands in pockets, Bucky turned away, eyes cast down. Then, as if sensing her looking, Bucky walked over, curved the mouth into a faint smile, and ruffled Yang Luoluo's hair.

"Don't worry. I'm fine."

The smile was unmistakably bitter.

The person who had sworn to stay to the end of the line was choosing to stay in the past. Yang Luoluo had no desire to blame Steve for that. She just... felt for Bucky.

They turned, starting to scatter in search of an older Steve, and then a voice rang out from behind them. Bright, easy, full of laughter.

"Grandpa Steve? Tony, Nat, I had no idea that's what you were calling me behind my back."

"Honestly, I've always preferred 'Uncle Steve.'"

!

Tony spun around. There was Steve, young, solid, not a gray hair in sight, standing right in the center of the time machine, looking at Tony with warm, amused eyes. Like nothing had happened. Like not a single minute had passed. Standing in the exact same spot.

"Cap? How did — but — weren't you supposed to..." Tony rubbed both eyes.

"Supposed to stay in the past and spend the rest of my life with Peggy?" Steve walked toward them. "Maybe, if you'd asked me right after I woke up. I might have."

"I still don't really understand why the version of me in the movie made that choice. But I've made my peace with the past. Peggy had a full, happy life."

"And that dance I owed her — I've already paid it back."

"Besides. My friends. My team." Steve looked around at all of them, expression open and unhurried.

"How could I ever choose to leave this? To leave any of you?"

Spending this much time around such an irreverent crowd had apparently gotten to even Steve Rogers. Steve had known exactly what they were all thinking before leaving, and hadn't said a word to set them straight. Just gave them one long, quiet look, like it might be the last one, and walked away, carrying that little prank along, quietly looking forward to what there'd be to come back to.

Their reactions did not disappoint.

Apparently none of them had ever expected to be played by the perpetually straightforward Steve Rogers. Half of them were standing there with their mouths open. Tony looked like a ghost had walked in. Even Bucky's eyes had gone wide.

"Ahem." Tony pulled together, cleared his throat into a fist, crossed both arms, and scoffed. "Call you uncle? Not a chance. Don't even think about pulling rank with the old man, it won't work."

Natasha raised a hand, still laughing. "Same. And for the record, Cap, I had no idea you had it in you to be that sentimental."

Steve shrugged and let the teasing go.

"Bucky."

Steve crossed to where Bucky was standing. Maybe it was the years of ice, or the years of what came after, whatever the reason, Bucky still hadn't moved. Still wore that stunned expression.

"...Steve?"

Yang Luoluo, who absolutely shipped the two of them, had already vacated the area the moment Steve started walking over. Now it was just the two of them standing there.

Steve opened both arms and pulled Bucky into a hug. The kind of hug they'd shared a hundred times before, solid and warm and steady, the kind that didn't need explaining.

"Bucky. You're my best friend. You're my family."

"I said I'm with you to the end of the line." A hint of a smile in the voice. "Did you really think I was the kind of guy who didn't mean it?"

Bucky let out a quiet laugh. The last of the grief and shock dissolved. Bucky patted Steve on the back.

"Hard to say. Some version of you out there might do something stupid."

"Please. You've already taken care of all the stupid things."

Both of them laughed at the same time.

➤ Next: The Ruse Exposed

Chapter 122 - The Ruse Exposed

The last loose end had finally been tied up.

Ever since the strange events had started closing in around her months ago, Yang Luoluo had been running on nerves. Now the weight on her chest dropped away, and she could finally, fully breathe.

Time to go check on the heavily injured god brothers.

She swung by the kitchen first, loaded a bag with the snacks Thor had been pining after for weeks, then headed for the recovery room. The poor divine siblings had their diets locked down tight by the doctors, when cravings hit, their only hope was smuggled goods from visiting friends.

She figured both of them would be thrilled to hear that Steve hadn't chosen to stay in the past.

Well. Loki might not be.

Yang Luoluo arrived outside the recovery room in high spirits, still turning over the phrasing in her head, how exactly to drop the good news, when she noticed that whoever had visited last hadn't bothered to close the door. A narrow crack of light spilled out into the hallway.

Her fingers brushed the handle. Cold metal. And then Thor's voice drifted through the gap, tangled with unease.

"Brother, are you sure you want to keep lying to Luoluo?"

Yang Luoluo went still. Her hand stopped moving.

Lying to her?

What was Loki lying to her about?

The warm glow in her chest curdled into confusion. She let go of the idea of walking in, deliberately slowed her breathing, and pressed herself against the wall beside the door. Her ear found the crack.

J.A.R.V.I.S. observed everything. Said nothing.

Maybe defeating Thanos, that crushing, ever-present dread, had finally let both brothers drop their guard. Whatever the reason, two gods failed to notice a single person standing right outside their door.

Thor's voice continued, still knotted with frustration.

"Loki, I really can't stand being stuck in here anymore. All we do is eat and sleep, and Tony had J.A.R.V.I.S. lock us down so we can't even leave. I can already feel the weight coming back, the weight I just barely managed to lose. It's not like we're not practically healed."

Thor pinched his stomach with a miserable expression. His fingers managed to gather a roll of flesh. He let out a long, suffering sigh.

Loki shut him down instantly, no hesitation, tone leaving zero room for argument.

"No. Two days ago you were performing your death scene, and now you want to suddenly bounce back full of energy? You think our friends wouldn't notice?"

Thor's expression collapsed further into despair. Yang Luoluo heard a heavy thump, she guessed it was his body hitting the mattress.

She drew a quiet breath. Pressed her lips together. Kept listening.

"I just don't understand why you had to put on a whole show. With our constitutions, a few days of rest would've sorted us out fine, but your performance had even me half-convinced you were dying again."

"And honestly, it was way too obvious this time. All that coughing, and then spitting up blood..."

Thor grumbled on, his complaints circling back again and again to his dissatisfaction with Loki's little act.

"Seriously, brother, fooling me is one thing, you know how I am. But if Luoluo finds out? You are not going to like what happens."

Outside, Yang Luoluo smiled. Slow. Cold. Silent.

Congratulations, Thor. You nailed it.

"Only you and Mother know about this! And you helped, which makes you an accomplice, if it ever comes out, you won't walk away clean either!"

Loki's threat landed like a blade. Thor dropped back onto the bed with a helpless sigh, hands laced behind his head, muttering under his breath. "Only because you threatened me into it in the first place..."

Loki shot him a look, then produced a small knife for good measure. Thor's mouth snapped shut.

The room settled into quiet.

Yang Luoluo's urge to walk in evaporated entirely. She turned away from the door, snack bag in hand, fury written across her face, footsteps whisper-soft, and left.

Back in the recovery room, Loki was propped against the headboard watching television when an inexplicable chill ran down his spine. He resolved this by kicking Thor and telling him to go turn the air conditioning up.

"By the way — what were you trying to tell me back then?"

Mid-battle, Thor had started with, Mother has a message for me to pass on, and then an explosion somewhere in the distance had swallowed the rest of it. Loki still had no idea what that message was.

"Oh, right, that." Thor slapped a hand to his forehead. His thoughts drifted back to the moment just before they'd left with the Reality Stone, Frigga's voice settling gently at his ear.

"Mother, the Mother from that other world, she asked me to give you this."

"'Never, ever use lies on the people you love.'"

"'And may the blessing of the Goddess of Love stay with you always.'"

...

Yang Luoluo was still fuming by the time she rounded a corner and nearly walked into Tony and Steve.

"Whoa — who did this to you?"

Tony looked genuinely startled. In the months since meeting Yang Luoluo, the kid angry was practically a mythological event. Even on the rare occasions it happened, it was usually a joke. Eyes red at the rims, stride eating up the hallway, that was something else entirely.

Steve looked equally puzzled. One hand took the snack bag from her, and the other gently steered both of them toward somewhere to sit. Then, quietly:

"What happened?"

Yang Luoluo sniffled. The anger and the hurt of being deceived hit all at once. She worked at steadying herself. It didn't fully work, when she finally answered Steve, her voice was small, and it wasn't quite steady.

"I just went to the recovery room..."

"And?" Tony fished a drink out of the bag and slid it across to her.

"And then, "

The words she'd heard through that gap in the door floated back up, unbidden, and whatever grip she'd had on herself gave way. A sting hit the back of her nose. Hot tears spilled down her face. She tried to stop them. They came faster.

"And then, I heard them say they were faking it. I actually thought they were, "

The rest of the sentence drowned in the feeling.

Steve panicked the moment the crying registered. Digging through a pocket produced a tissue pack, pushed straight into her hands. Within minutes a small mountain of crumpled tissue had built up on the table beside them.

"Wait, you found out? No — I mean — how could they do something like that!"

The words were out of Tony's mouth before there was time to think. One beat later, the mistake registered. Rapid recovery attempt: righteous outrage, redirected entirely at the brothers.

It did not help.

"You knew?!"

Yang Luoluo looked up at Tony with red, swollen eyes, and the tears picked up speed. Steve's tissue pack ran out. She moved on to her sleeve.

"So everyone knew. I was the only one left out."

Steve turned a reproachful look on Tony. Tony, fully aware of what had just happened, went quietly guilty and closed his mouth.

"There's a chance," Steve said carefully, "that Loki actually... had reasons for it." A beat of profound internal mourning. Never in any conceivable timeline had Steve expected to find himself making excuses for the God of Mischief.

Yang Luoluo was past the point of hearing reasons. She wanted to walk back into that recovery room and tell Loki exactly what she thought of him.

She dragged her sleeve across her face.

"What reasons? I thought he was seriously injured, I thought he was about to die, and the whole time he was lying to me!"

"I couldn't sleep for days because of it. I kept waking up terrified there'd be news that he hadn't made it!"

"And now I find out he and his brother have been sitting there watching TV and eating snacks, "

She was getting louder as she went. Steve caught the look in her eyes, the very real possibility that she might turn around right now and personally deliver justice to both brothers, and patted her back in what was hoped to be a calming manner. A meaningful glance cut sideways to Tony. Do something.

Tony caught it. That genius brain kicked into high gear, and in a matter of seconds one eyebrow climbed, a deeply satisfied expression took over, and a confident nod went back in Steve's direction.

Leave it to me. Completely covered.

The corner of Steve's eye twitched.

There was no rational basis for the feeling, but something about that expression suggested Tony's idea was going to be well outside the bounds of anything Steve had pictured.

"Okay, kid." Tony cleared his throat, pitching the words just right. "I know a way you can get proper payback on that guy. Want to hear it?"

The shift in Yang Luoluo's attention was immediate. The enigmatic air Tony put on, the deliberate weight behind those words, it cut through her anger just enough to make room for something else.

"...What kind of way?"

Tear-bright eyes turned toward Tony. That lingering catch in her voice only made Tony more certain.

A God of Mischief who staged a whole dying routine to fool someone absolutely deserved what was coming.

"Here's what you do..."

Steve watched, resigned, as the two of them put their heads together. Something outrageous was clearly taking shape between them. Steve took a quiet moment to genuinely, sincerely pray for Loki.

Although, well.

Who told you to deserve it?

➤ Next: The Plan