"If you have questions, then you should quiet down now and listen to others' explanations, little Tony."
Peggy interrupted at this point. "And you should be calling me Aunt Carter."
"Of course, I promise to stay quiet." Tony immediately dropped his playful expression.
He still held great respect for Peggy Carter. "But now that you look even younger than me, calling you 'Aunt' feels a bit..."
Tony's flattery made Peggy smile.
No woman dislikes being complimented on her youth—especially one who has just reversed from being old enough to lose her teeth back to a young and vibrant state.
"Then just call me Carter, like your father did," Peggy said with a laugh.
"Phew… thanks for understanding. I almost thought I'd have to call a twenty-something beauty 'Auntie.' That'd be a real dilemma."
Tony exaggerated a sigh of relief, making Peggy laugh out loud again.
The older Steve also looked at Tony with a smile.
In the future, ever since the Chitauri invasion of Earth, Tony's relaxed and humorous speaking style had vanished—replaced by constant calmness and urgency.
Watching this version of Tony gave him the feeling of returning to the past.
"Now that Tony's here, can you start explaining? About the other universe, about the parallel worlds," Steve interjected.
He had been waiting a long time, with mounting questions piling up in his mind.
"Another universe?" Tony's expression turned serious.
This was the first time he had heard that term from someone other than Lyon or those Kamar Taj Sorcerer.
"Let me start from the beginning," the older Steve slowly nodded.
"I'm also Steve Rogers. During World War II, I was... in 2011, I was recovered from the Arctic by S.H.I.E.L.D... in 2012, Earth was invaded by the Chitauri..."
The old Captain America began recounting the story of his life to the others, slowly and clearly.
Every major crisis that Earth might face in the future, he shared without reservation.
The Chitauri invasion, the Ultron crisis, the Blip—each event left Tony and Steve with increasingly heavy expressions.
"After the Blip ended, when I returned the Stones, I stayed behind and formed a family with Peggy. I've lived quietly until now," the older Steve finished his account.
"According to Tony—another version of Tony—I traveled from one timeline to another. These two timelines are different, but similar parallel worlds."
The older Steve's eyes flickered slightly, like an aging general recalling the battles of his life.
Tony frowned and asked, "If I understand correctly, you crossed over from your world into this one back in the '70s, maybe even earlier. Is that right?"
"That's right," the old Steve nodded.
"In other words, you knew Hydra still existed, you knew Bucky had been brainwashed, and you even knew he would kill my parents—and yet you did nothing?" Tony locked eyes on the older Steve.
Steve, whose gaze had been resting on the old Steve and Peggy's interlocked hands, suddenly grew alert and turned toward him.
The old Steve gave a bitter smile. "I'm sorry. Other than hiding my identity, I couldn't change anything."
"Why?" Tony asked, barely suppressing the urge to yell.
"To avoid interfering with the course of the world," the older Steve said, lowering his gaze.
"In the final battle, the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, said that out of millions of possible futures, we only won once. I wasn't sure if doing anything would affect that final outcome."
"Sigh.." Tony was silent for a few seconds, then leaned back in his chair. "Was that Thanos really that strong?"
"No one could defeat him," the older Steve said. "At least, not at that time."
"I see." Tony adjusted his collar and stood up.
"Your intel is important—thanks. But the matters of this universe really don't need your concern."
He turned to leave. "The so-called interference already began the moment you approached Carter again. Everything else is just whether you want to admit it or not."
As his words fell, Tony walked out of the café. His armor flew in and wrapped around him, launching him into the sky.
The three of them watched him disappear from sight.
Steve withdrew his gaze. "He's right. This world has Superman, has Super Skrulls infiltrating—it's completely different from the one you described. Whether things change or not... that's just up to you."
"And that's Bucky. That's Howard."
He glanced at Peggy Carter. "Even if it were me, I might choose not to interfere in anything for Peggy's sake. But in the end..."
Steve couldn't finish his sentence.
He shook his head, turned, and also left the café.
"Sorry, my head's a bit of a mess. I need some time alone to cool off. Let's talk about us another time."
Steve Rogers wasn't just angry that the old Cap didn't try to save Bucky and Howard. He was also angry about the man's actions.
If he were from the future, maybe he could understand.
But this old Cap came from a parallel universe—and stole his Peggy!
He was the one who had gone through everything with Peggy. It was he who, with her companionship and encouragement, became Captain America. He was the one who kissed her goodbye atop the Alps.
Why then did this old Cap from another world get to travel here and take his place so unceremoniously?
"Steve!" Peggy tried to call him back but then hesitated, looking toward the older Cap.
The one who needed company most right now was this old Steve.
She understood his burden.
To choose between personal feelings and the fate of the world—it was painful.
The old Cap had already done well enough.
"Steve, the appearance of Superman and the Super Skrulls only happened this year—I get it. Before, you had no choice."
Peggy Carter gently patted the old Cap's hand in comfort.
The old Cap shook his head. "They're right. In the end, it really is just about what I want… If I truly didn't want to interfere with the world's future, I shouldn't have stayed. Sigh…"
He turned and patted Peggy on the shoulder in return.
"Peggy, you don't have to stay here and keep an old man company. I'm fine, you know that. I've been through so much—what I'm best at is being alone. Having you by my side for decades has already been more than enough."
Old Steve smiled, "But it was him who went through everything with you. It was him who made the promise with you. So, Peggy, go. Don't leave regrets for me, or for yourself."
Peggy opened her mouth. She wanted to say, you're both Steve—you're both my heroes.
But in the end, she swallowed those words, gazed deeply at the older Steve, and then turned to chase after the younger one.
…
On the other side—
Lyon retracted his gaze with great satisfaction.
What followed would no doubt be Peggy catching up to Steve, the two of them arguing, making up, and then going home to roll around in bed.
No need to keep watching.
"I didn't expect things to develop this way."
"Old Steve probably feels his regrets have been mended and is getting ready to return to his own world."
"That's why he could face all of this so calmly. Ready to leave Peggy in Steve's care."
Lyon hadn't anticipated it would go this far either.
He had only handed over a bottle of Cosmic Spring Water—everything that followed was entirely up to Steve and Peggy's own choices.
Even Peggy's brief memory lapse turned out to be a perfect opportunity.
Lyon hadn't intervened.
Of course, that didn't rule out the possibility that some other multiversal-level beings were also watching the show with him—and maybe secretly meddling in things.
"But this time, my theory was proven right."
"This old Captain America really is from a parallel universe, not the future of this one."
In his previous world, during an interview for Avengers: Endgame, the Russo brothers had said Captain America had gone to a parallel universe to live out his life with Peggy Carter, then returned to the main universe in his old age.
But the script editor said that Cap had traveled back to the past of this very timeline and lived in seclusion without causing any impact, until the end of the Blip event.
But the latter explanation clearly doesn't hold up.
Peggy had two kids with Captain America.
How could that be considered "not causing any impact"?
The moment Cap chose to fix his regrets and took action, a new timeline was already being created.
—Changing the past changes the future: that's the rule in other universes.
But in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that's not how it works.
Here, changing the past merely opens up a new timeline and doesn't affect the present reality.
If it did affect the present—like how Dark Strange tried to resurrect Christine—it would directly lead to the destruction of the universe.
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