The One Shot Chapters (18+)

Steve Rogers - The Howling Commando (AU)

The aftermath of the battle that had finally sent Thanos to dust and everyone lost to the blip reappearing had also come baring serious consequences. One in particular that Steve was trying his hardest to understand. Could it be classed as collateral damage for the past?

Most likely, because as he looked up he saw the faces of his former comrades sat trying to drink away their shock of what they had just seen and fought through.

The Howling Commandos.

All of them passed the bottle back and forth between one another - the female sat in between them all standing out like a sore thumb as she used to.

Betty Heath.

Betty Heath had been the only female within the group, much to Colonel Phillips disgust, but she had proven herself on a mission that she had got caught up in. Reluctantly, Phillips had agreed that Steve could put the agent on his team, stating that she was his responsibility from then on out.

Their friendship had been somewhat...close. She had spirit, wasn't afraid to flirt her way past Hydra guards before disposing of them in a quick and tactical manner, and had a good aim with a rifle. He liked Peggy, had thought himself in love with her - but the more missions he spent with Betty? The more he had realised that perhaps he'd fallen too quickly. Plus he didn't think that she felt the same. She'd always kept her guard up, but he was ok with that.

"So you're telling us, that this wizard man made a blip in the timeline of the universe and accidently pulled us through to you?" Dugan asked slowly as he and the group sat around a table now knocking back Tony's alcohol stash. "A. Wizard."

"I'm a doctor actually..." Doctor Strange, who had been pacing trying to make sense of what he'd done, now spoke. "And yes...a breach if you call it that. I didn't expect to go back so far, but I did - even I have bad days".

"And as a result? We're now stuck here..." Dugan carried on. "In the year 2024?"

"Yep." Tony hissed as his arm was being bandaged up. the burns he'd received up it from wielding the gauntlet and the explosion had broken a few bones too, however Helen Cho would be able to correct this.

The compound had withstood a lot through the battle and only some parts were damaged, however Tony could easily rebuild those. It was still somewhat inhabitable for them all at least.

"I'm gonna need something stronger..." Dugan then went for the vodka.

Helen smiled at them. "It'll do you no good..."

"Yeah well, being told you're what? Eighty or ninety years into the future? It's enough to make anyone need a stiff drink." He said, now knocking back the bottle. "It's good stuff Stark, I gotta hand it to ya. Even your dad's collection was a good one."

Tony nodded and hopped off the table once Helen was done, pouring himself a drink. "As much as Strange can open portals, we can't mess with time travel anymore. If we could, then we'd let you all go home.

"So there's no way..." Betty now spoke for the first time since the end of the battle. Even now, decades later there was still war of sorts. Still conflict.

And Steve...

Still she was trying to come to terms with not only coming through a portal, but finding both him and Bucky here. Two men who they had all thought dead. Steve had told them it was a long story and one that needed another bottle of whiskey or two to get through.

"No. Good thing is that it's changed nothing here." Tony explained.

"Apart from the fact you now have us...what'll happen when they find us gone back in our time?" Dugan asked, glancing around the table at his friends. "We don't belong here".

Strange interrupted. "We're not sure, but we can't take the chance of opening another portal to send you back. Most likely your history will be rewritten - it probably already has". Shooting a look to Tony and then back to the commandos. "I'm sorry - but you can never go home".

At this point Betty stood up and walked out, Steve then saying he'd talk to her and following her out. He found her leant up against the wall outside of the room, looking like she was having some inner conflict with herself. "I felt the same after I got outta the ice..." He began as she looked up at him. "I had no one. Everyone was gone. You guys? You'd all passed on and all I had was a team I barely knew and who didn't understand me".

"Were you scared?" She asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yeah - more than I was back during the war, there were a lot of people I missed - including you".

"What about Peggy?"

The question hung in the air for a moment. "Peggy and I managed to make our peace before she died. She said she always knew".

"About what?"

"About the fact that you were supposed to be the girl in the compass - not her". He produced it and flicked it open, revealing Betty's picture inside. "I didn't know whether you felt the same, but looking back now I wished I'd have just told you. Guess I was worried you'd reject me".

Her eyes were still on the compass, still trying to make sense of what he was telling her. Everything was overwhelming and now to find out this? Perhaps she also needed to be honest. "I always wished you would look at me like you did with her, but I didn't realise that perhaps you were looking at me the whole time". She paused, her voice shaking. "I'm so scared...of this world, how it's changed..."

He put his hands firmly on her shoulders and shook her gently. "Hey, you're not the only one. I'm still finding out things every day, and I've been here for years. You guys? You would be perfect as a tactical team for us, or even Fury's new rebuilding of SHIELD. But trust me, you're gonna adapt just like I have. There will be days when you want to go home, where you feel like you don't fit in anywhere. But you'll be ok".

She looked at him, forgetting how tall he had been compared to her. "And what about us...what if I change for the worst and you don't like it?"

He wasn't about to listen to anymore nonsense and finally did what he had wanted to do since the war. His lips brushing against hers as the familiar scent of her perfume hit him. He pulled away, "Do you trust me Bett?"

Her kiss that followed was enough to tell him that she did.