Chapter 3: Tricked?
"I'll find the materials to build a new quantum tunnel device," Tony said, his mind already racing through component lists and fabrication requirements. "You tail our mystery man and make sure he doesn't vanish into the disco era."
Steve grabbed Tony's arm before he could walk away, his expression troubled. "Are you seriously considering taking him back to our timeline? The potential ramifications—"
"What choice do we have, Cap?" Tony's voice carried the weight of desperate pragmatism. "In case you forgot, you're currently wearing my spare time-travel device, which means our friend has the only other working unit. This kid is clearly operating several moves ahead of us, and I respect that kind of strategic thinking—even when it's screwing me over."
"But the temporal implications..." Steve started.
Tony held up a hand. "Look, I get your concerns. Really, I do. But think about it this way—we can bring him forward to 2023, complete our mission to save the universe, and then send him right back here with the Time Stone. It's like returning the Infinity Stones to their proper places in the timeline, just with extra steps and significantly more attitude."
"You make it sound simple."
"Because it is simple. He's just one regular human, not a cosmic entity or an interdimensional threat. We handle this situation, save half the universe, and then everything goes back to normal. Easy."
Steve nodded reluctantly. They split up immediately—Tony heading off to locate materials for quantum device construction, while Steve began his surveillance mission to track Rory's movements and look for any opportunity to recover the stolen artifacts.
Rory hummed the opening bars of "Come On Eileen"—which wouldn't be released for another twelve years, but hey, time travel had its perks—as he drove the jeep through downtown Trenton's quiet evening streets.
After making several seemingly random turns and checking his rearview mirror, he parked the vehicle and slipped into a run-down apartment building. The place looked like it had seen better days sometime around the Truman administration.
From his concealed position around the corner, Steve watched Rory disappear through the building's entrance. The super soldier counted to thirty, then followed cautiously, his enhanced hearing alert for any suspicious sounds.
The apartment building was a maze of narrow hallways and creaking floorboards. Steve moved through the ground floor systematically, but found no trace of his quarry. The place appeared completely ordinary—just another aging residential building in a blue-collar neighborhood.
A door slammed somewhere upstairs, followed by footsteps.
Steve immediately headed for the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time. His enhanced speed and strength made him silent despite his size, a skill he'd perfected during his World War II operations.
Just as Steve reached the second-floor landing, a door on the first floor opened a crack, revealing Rory's amused eyes.
"Tsk, tsk, Captain. I really hoped you'd be more trustworthy than that."
While Steve was busy investigating nonexistent sounds upstairs, Rory slipped out through the building's rear exit, crossed the street, and entered an abandoned construction site that looked like it had been frozen in time since the mid-1960s.
Hidden among the rusted rebar and concrete blocks was an inconspicuous access hatch. Rory pulled it open and descended into what had become his secret headquarters over the past year.
This underground facility represented months of careful preparation and scavenging. He'd originally intended to use it for studying the Tesseract in isolation, but the unexpected arrival of time-traveling Avengers had forced a change of plans. Since he could hitch a ride to the future, there was no point in staying trapped in the technological stone age of 1970.
From a wall-mounted weapons rack, Rory selected a Browning M1911 pistol—a classic piece of American firearms engineering. Against Iron Man's repulsors and Captain America's vibranium shield, the .45 ACP rounds might as well have been spitballs, but Rory had other plans for the weapon.
Using components he'd stockpiled in the workshop area, he quickly assembled a low-yield incendiary device with a timer trigger. Nothing too dramatic—just enough to ensure his secret base couldn't be compromised after his departure.
Next came his examination of the stolen quantum tunnel device. The technology was impossibly advanced even by his future standards, a seamless integration of Pym Particles, quantum mechanics, and Stark Industries nanotechnology. Tony had constructed it with such precision that disassembly was impossible—there weren't even visible seams or access panels.
The device's interface was surprisingly intuitive. A holographic display allowed him to input temporal coordinates: date, time, and spatial location. The margin for error had to be incredibly small when dealing with quantum tunneling across decades.
Rory tapped an activation sequence, and instantly found himself wearing the distinctive white quantum realm suit he'd seen in the movies. The material felt impossibly light yet durable, with built-in environmental systems that would protect him during temporal transit.
"Holy shit," he breathed, examining his reflection in a broken mirror. "This is exactly like something out of science fiction."
The suit could be deployed and retracted at will with simple commands to the quantum device. After testing the system several times, Rory was satisfied with its operation.
Time to clean house.
He retrieved a five-gallon container of industrial alcohol from storage and doused every surface in the underground workshop. The fumes made his eyes water, but the chemical would ensure complete destruction of any evidence.
Back at surface level, Rory struck a match and tossed it through the access hatch.
WHOOOM!
The basement erupted in a controlled blaze, flames licking hungrily at everything he'd built over the past year. Rory walked away without looking back—real men don't watch explosions, after all.
Emerging onto the street, he immediately spotted Steve Rogers wandering the area, clearly searching for any sign of his quarry.
"Hey there, Cap," Rory called out cheerfully. "Little late to be wandering around alone, don't you think? This neighborhood isn't exactly Park Avenue."
Steve spun around, his expression caught between relief and suspicion. "I was... looking for a place to stay for the night."
"Right," Rory said with an amused smile, deciding not to call out the obviously fabricated excuse. "Tell you what—how about you crash at my place? Consider it a gesture of goodwill before you give me that ride to the future."
Steve was about to respond when the acrid smell of burning chemicals hit his enhanced senses. Turning, he spotted the orange glow of flames rising from the abandoned construction site.
"You started that fire?" he demanded.
Rory simply shrugged, offering no explanation.
Steve's training kicked in immediately. Even in civilian clothes, he was still Captain America, and Captain America didn't let buildings burn when innocent people might be at risk. He sprinted toward the construction site, determined to contain the blaze before it could spread to the surrounding neighborhood.
Once inside, however, he discovered that despite the intense heat, the fire showed no signs of spreading beyond the basement level. The flames seemed designed to burn hot and fast, consuming specific materials without creating a general conflagration.
By the time Steve emerged from the building, satisfied that the fire posed no threat to civilians, Rory had vanished completely.
Two hours later, the distinctive sound of repulsors filled the night air as Tony Stark, fully armored, touched down beside Steve. He tossed a small device to the Captain and grinned behind his faceplate.
"One brand-new quantum tunnel device, fresh from the Stark Industries midnight special fabrication service. Try not to give this one away to the first smooth-talking time traveler you meet, okay?"
Steve caught the device and strapped it to his wrist, his expression slightly defensive. "In case you missed it, Tony, I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. That kid played us perfectly."
"Fair point." Tony's faceplate retracted as he looked around the quiet street. "So where'd our temporal tourist run off to?"
"No idea. He gave me the slip while I was playing firefighter."
"Cap, I'm genuinely disappointed. You're telling me a super soldier with enhanced senses lost track of one regular guy?" Tony's tone was teasing, but there was genuine concern underneath. "What's next, are you going to tell me he walked through walls?"
"If he was dead, I guarantee he wouldn't have escaped," Steve replied dryly. "Living people are sneakier."
The two Avengers fell into their familiar pattern of banter, a coping mechanism they'd developed over years of high-stress situations.
"I think I know where he went," Tony said, activating his suit's night vision and scanning the surrounding area. His HUD highlighted a heat trail leading toward the outskirts of town. "Remember that abandoned barn where we first cornered him? Want to bet he's using it as a base of operations?"
Without waiting for an answer, Tony's nanobots flowed over his body, reforming the complete Iron Man armor. He grabbed Steve around the waist and activated his boot jets, carrying them both toward their destination in a matter of minutes.
They touched down outside the weathered barn just as Rory emerged from the building, looking like a man without a care in the world.
"Well, well," Rory called out, checking his watch. "I figured I'd be waiting until dawn to see you guys again. That was impressively fast—did you use the suit's GPS tracking to follow my heat signature?"
Tony ignored the casual tone and focused on Rory's right hand. "Kid, I don't suppose you'd care to tell me what you're holding there?"
Rory raised his hand, revealing a small cylindrical device wrapped in what appeared to be quantum particles. "You've got good eyes, Mr. Stark. It's a bomb—specifically, an incendiary device enhanced with Pym Particles. One wrong move from either of you, and it goes boom in ways that would make the Fourth of July look like a birthday candle."
Both heroes tensed, their enhanced reflexes preparing for potential disaster.
Rory waved his free hand dismissively. "Relax, I'm not nervous. Why are you two so jumpy?"
"Where's the Tesseract?" Steve asked, keeping his voice level and non-threatening.
Rory pointed toward an old stone well about fifty yards from the barn. "Bottom of the well, wrapped in waterproof materials. Consider it a gesture of good faith—I'll give you the Space Stone, but the remaining Pym Particles come with me."
"Deal," Tony agreed immediately, much to Steve's surprise.
"Tony, what if he's—" Steve started to object.
Tony shot him a meaningful look that said trust me, I have a plan.
Several minutes later, Steve surfaced from the well, dripping wet but triumphant, the blue glow of the Tesseract visible through its protective wrapping. In exchange, Rory handed Tony a small vial containing just enough Pym Particles for their return trip to 2023.
"Well, gentlemen, I'm afraid this is where we part ways," Rory announced, activating his quantum suit. The white material flowed over his clothes like liquid mercury. "I did promise I'd go to the future, but I never specified which future. I'm thinking... 2008 sounds interesting. Right around the time a certain genius billionaire was building his first arc reactor, if I remember correctly."
Rory had no intention of stranding Captain America and Iron Man in 1970, nor did he want to see their timeline's Earth destroyed by Thanos. Returning the Tesseract and providing them with Pym Particles for their journey home was the right thing to do.
But that didn't mean he had to follow their plan.
He programmed the quantum device for New York City, May 2008—just in time for Tony Stark's emergence as Iron Man. The possibilities were endless.
"See you around, Avengers," Rory said with a grin. "Try not to mess up the timeline too badly while you're saving the universe."
Without hesitation, he pressed the activation switch.
WHOOOM!
Rory disappeared in a flash of quantum energy, leaving behind only a brief distortion in the air and the faint smell of ozone.
Steve sighed deeply. "I knew he was going to pull something like that."
Tony's faceplate retracted, revealing a confident smile. "Don't worry, Cap. I designed that quantum device myself, remember? Our friend might think he's clever, but he's about to discover that Stark technology always has a few surprises built in."
He tapped his temple knowingly. "Let's just say I included some... additional features in the firmware. Remote tracking, emergency recall protocols, even a few fail-safes I haven't told you about. Trust me—wherever he's going, we'll be able to find him."
Steve looked skeptical. "And if he figures out how to disable your tracking systems?"
Tony's grin widened. "Then we'll have to get creative. But hey, that's what makes this job interesting, right?"
As the two heroes prepared for their own journey back to 2023, neither of them noticed the small device Rory had dropped in the grass—a device that was already beginning to emit a very familiar blue glow.
After all, even the best laid plans of mice, men, and time-traveling scientists rarely survive contact with the enemy.
End of Chapter 3
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