SAM WOKE UP IN STARK TOWER MEDICAL.
For a long moment, she only stared at the ceiling. A faint beeping sounded to her side. Her head pounded. Everything about reality didn't seem quite real— the pain fuzzed out her thoughts, making her brain move slowly.
She tried to remember what had happened. How'd she gotten there.
He killed you.
Who?
... Bucky.
Sam sat straight up and blood rushed to her temples, making her head pound twice as hard. Cursing, she huddled over and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to pass.
"Good morning, Miss Clarence. Doctor Banner is on his way."
The sudden voice made Sam sit straight back up. She didn't care for the pain this time, looking wildly around. The words had come from nowhere. Thin air. Her mind spun.
She was losing her mind.
"Who's there? Where are you?"
"I am JARVIS, Miss Clarence. Tony Stark's AI."
Sam searched for the source of the voice. But it literally came from nothing. She blinked once, twice, trying to gather her thoughts. AI... Of course, Tony had an AI. But it wasn't real. It was a voice. Just a voice.
"JARVIS?"
"That is my name."
She relaxed a little, trying to calm her pounding heart. Between everything, she was surprised she hadn't drowned in the shock and anxiety yet.
Steve's words sunk in once more.
Sam wrapped her arms around herself and took a shaky breath.
Suddenly, the door opened, making her start. Bruce stepped inside, fully human, and raised his eyes at seeing her fetal position. Sam eased out of it slowly. He offered a smile, moving over.
"How are you feeling, Sam?"
"I... don't think words could do it justice."
"That bad, huh?"
"Did you guys catch Loki?"
His face fell, guilt stabbing through his eyes. "No. He got away."
"Oh," she swallowed hard. "It's not your fault."
"The big guy let him get the Tesseract," Bruce laughed humorlessly. "I'm pretty sure that makes it my fault."
Sam closed her mouth, looking at him gently. She didn't have an answer to that. But she did have a million other questions.
She just didn't know where to start.
"You had a few broken ribs, but they're mostly healed. Most the damage was done in hitting the wall, not the shot of the scepter. Which I'm guessing is what singed your shirt."
Sam glanced down. But she was in clean, simple clothes— a sweatshirt and sweatpants. She nodded mutely.
"Cap woke up shortly before you, though he didn't retain as many injures. He's been asking about you since."
"But he's alright?"
"He's fine now."
A million questions itched on her tongue. "Did he... say anything?"
Bruce gave her a curious look.
"About the attack? How he was knocked out?"
The doctor's brows furrowed and he shook his head. "Only that once you woke up, we'd all meet. He didn't want to say anything without you there."
Sam felt sick. Did he have worse to say? Had he heard things like she had?
"Do you know... who he was? The one who took the scepter?"
Bruce looked at a loss for words.
"He was Steve," she whispered. "A different Steve. But Steve." It didn't make sense. But that much she was sure of.
"I just fought aliens," Bruce said. "I'm not sure I can say that's crazy."
"It is crazy. But it's true, too."
He ran a nervous hand through his hair. Sam pushed herself up even more, wincing slightly. Bruce started to move away, then turned back around. He moved back to her side. "There was something... left at your side. When we found you."
She furrowed her brows, glancing over.
Her heart stopped.
In the man's hands was a necklace of three tags. Hers... Bucky's, and another. And a ring. A simple, silver engagement ring. For a long moment, Sam couldn't breathe.
"I don't know if this means something, or—"
"It does."
But this couldn't be right. She couldn't be holding these. Tears pricked at her eyes.
The day she'd turned her back on her promises, Sam had been determined to forget her past. Her entire past. She'd burned her uniform. Disregarded her name.
She'd left those tags on Bucky's grave.
Taking them from Bruce's hand, she studied the third tag. Hers hadn't had a third tag.
'Rogers, Steven
The Howling Commandos
Captain America'
"I don't understand," she whispered. This was from a world she didn't understand. Bruce only fidgeted nervously.
"If you can walk, the others will be happy to see you're awake."
Sam tore her eyes off the tags, gripping them tight. She forced herself to nod, swinging her legs over the bed and rising unsteadily. Her head spun for a moment and her stomach clenched. But she shook it all off.
"Lead the way, doctor."
He chuckled. But it still didn't quite reach his eyes.
She couldn't help but feel the same.
~ ~ ~
Stark Tower was huge and Sam found herself getting dizzy every time she peered out of the grand surrounding windows. They had to be at least sixty feet off the ground. Maybe more.
They took the elevator even higher and she forced herself not to dwell on how high exactly. It was a quiet ride. Uncomfortable, nervous.
The doors dinged open to the sound of arguing.
But the second Sam stepped out, every voice cut off. She found herself faced with the eyes of the other Avengers and raised a brow.
"Am I interrupting something?"
"Samantha." Steve hurried forward, checking her up and down. She huffed a small laugh, brushing him off.
"I'm fine, Rogers."
In her pocket, the tags burned.
Be careful, Samantha. Maybe this timeline isn't set in stone.
She tried to shake the voice off. Stepping forward, she gazed around. Tony grinned at her gaze and she couldn't help but grin back.
"Glad to see you're awake, Casper. Didn't know ghosts could sleep for so long."
"I thought ghosts didn't sleep in general."
"Hey, you make the rules. You're the walking phantom. Which, by the way, has never done anything to impact your complexion."
Sam rolled her eyes. Steve cleared his throat and they all gazed at him.
"Things didn't go to plan. Loki escaped with the Tesseract, an unknown factor took the scepter. And... there's a chance we might have some new information."
"New information?"
Steve didn't meet Nat's eyes. He didn't meet hers either, moving over and sitting on one of the couches. They followed, sitting in a circle. Sam's heard thudded against her chest. For a long moment, the super-soldier was quiet. She shifted.
"Steve."
He finally looked up. "You saw him too."
She nodded.
"I'm sorry... saw who?"
"Steve." She said, glancing over at Tony. "Another Steve."
"Loki?"
"No. Another Steve." She chewed on her lower lip. "How possible is it for there to be... multiples?"
"Well, other dimensions, portals, worlds..." Bruce shook his head. "We might have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Up until recently, I thought even aliens were unrealistic. But maybe it's time we expand our horizons."
"You think there could be different worlds? Like planets?"
"What about multiple realities?"
They all looked toward Clint. Up until now, he'd remained quiet, nursing a cup of black coffee, hearing aids pulled over his ears. He shrugged. "I mean, at this point, how crazy is that?"
Sam looked at her hands. They trembled lightly. She clenched her fingers tight and tried to take a deep breath.
"He knew my moves. Which side I favored, which arm I used." Steve shook his head. "He knew a weakness of mine. The only thing that could have ended the fight."
"Like what?"
Steve glanced up, eyelids fluttering. He looked torn; pained. Like he couldn't decide whether or not he believed what he'd been told.
The look in his eyes brought his duplicate's words flying back.
He killed you.
Who?
... Bucky.
"He... he said Bucky was alive."
~ ~ ~
This chapter is a little shorter, but I felt like this was a good stopping point! *squeals* exploring this timeline is gonna be SO fun. Thoughts? Theories? Anything you guys wanna see?