No Second Guesses, No Regrets (A Captain America/Avengers Fan Fiction)

Chapter 20 - Stark Industries

Taryn tumbled in space and felt very sick to her stomach. Her ears popped and her mouth tasted like blood. Suddenly she fell out of nothing and landed in a heap in the grass. It took her a moment to acclimate herself and she opened her eyes. The sky was cloudy... it looked like rain... There weren't many people in this part of the park... that could be a good thing...

All of a sudden she heard a 'whoosh' behind her and something hit her full force in the back, knocking the wind out of her.

She heard a groan and something moved off of her. "Steve?"

"Taryn! Oh thank God. Are you OK?"

She held her head in her hands. "I don't know really... I feel extremely disoriented. Where are the others? Where is the portal?"

Steve sat up on the ground. "I don't know. I think we ended up IN the portal."

"Oh god... Alphonse had it set to 1941. He was going to make sure HYDRA won..." Taryn started to feel people approaching. "Come on, we need to find a place to hide. If we are in the early 40's I don't even exist yet... At least I think we're still in the city."

The two made their way through the trees to an unoccupied pavilion and they set up there until it was around midnight. "How are you feeling?" Steve asked her.

"Better but hungry... and we'd better find some alternative clothing here soon too, or they'll lock us up."

He looked down forgetting he was in his Captain gear. "You're right. There should be some shops around here somewhere..."

Sneaking through the trees and underbrush, they spied a clothing store across the street, which they made their way to. One good thing is if it were the 1940s there shouldn't be surveillance cameras. They found the back door and Taryn picked the lock and they snuck in, and locked the door behind them. Thank goodness no alarm, either...

They quickly scoured the racks for clothing that would fit. It was definitely 40s styled, Taryn recognized. She found a dark green suit and a matching hat, some black pumps and a white blouse. Steve managed to find trousers, shoes and a button down shirt. He continued to look for a jacket while Taryn searched for more clues as to where they were. She found the store office and on the desk lay a newspaper. It looked brand new and the date at the top read August 16, 1946. God that meant that Captain America was supposed to be dead, and the war had been over for more than a year...

"Steve?"

He found her in the office and she handed him the paper. "At least you won't run into yourself here... But how the hell to we get out of here?"

Steve put on a coat and fedora and looked for cash in the office. "I hate to do this, but we'll need cab fare and food money."

Taryn found a cash box in the bottom drawer of the desk. She picked it and found several hundred dollars. He nodded for her to take it, and they left the place, locking the door behind them. Within the store, they had found several suitcases, so they filled one with their uniforms and some extra clothing and took it with them. They walked down the street a bit, hailed a cab and found a hotel.

Taryn removed the outfit and packed it away in the suitcase, and slipped on a satin nightgown. She crawled in under the sheets. "Maybe we'll have an idea in the morning..."

"We'll need to find Stark. He can help us."

"Stark? Howard Stark? Tony's father? He's in New York?"

"I think so. I'll make some phone calls in the morning. For now, let's try and get some sleep."

She nodded and curled up next to him, laying her head on his chest. Exhausted, she fell asleep quickly. Rogers on the other hand, lay still, staring at the ceiling. 1946. He'd been incased in ice for a year in this time. And Peggy.... She was still alive. Was she still in New York too? He hadn't thought about her in some time, but being here... in this time... he couldn't help not to.