A/N : Come on, throw your power stones if you want extra chapters.
.........
Tony watched as Steve dropped to the floor—taken out by a curse that is almost similar that had knocked him flat earlier.
For a second, he just stood there.
Then he slowly shook his head.
Unbelievable.
The all-American golden boy, down for the count by a guy holding what looked like a cosplay wand.
But at the same time…
Tony couldn't deny the tiny spark of satisfaction bubbling up inside him.
Because now?
Now Steve knew exactly what it felt like.
Flat on the floor. Dignity slightly bruised. Vision going black courtesy of magic nonsense.
Yeah, welcome to the club, Cap.
He adjusted his stance—well, as much as someone who had recently face-planted could adjust anything—and let out a breath through his nose.
"Unbelievable," he muttered under it.
Honestly, if anyone had a camera right now, this would've been prime comedy material. Earth's Mightiest Heroes, ladies and gentlemen—taken down by a suburban wizard with attitude.
Some team.
One's unconscious.
One's salty.
And the guy with the wand is fixing the door like this is a Tuesday afternoon inconvenience.
Drama level?
Off the charts.
Tony glanced at Steve's unconscious form again and sighed.
"Next team meeting," he muttered to himself, "we're adding 'anti-magic insurance' to the agenda."
"Babe, can you explain what happened here?"
Mikaela stepped closer to Allen—with the kind of confident, effortlessly sexy stride that somehow still carried a hint of genuine concern—
—and very deliberately stepped on Captain America's stomach on the way.
Not hard enough to cause real damage.
Just enough to make a point.
From her perspective, the situation was simple: two strangers had broken into their home and attacked her boyfriend.
Hostile until proven otherwise.
Raviel, of course, did the same.
She casually rested her foot on Steve as well, glancing down at him before looking back at Allen with dramatic concern.
"Are you okay, my husband?"
Now, Raviel knew perfectly well that Allen was fine. She had sensed everything the second it happened.
But that didn't mean she was going to waste the opportunity to act like the worried, overprotective wife.
Priorities.
Allen blinked at the scene before him—two witches lightly stepping on what was basically a national symbol of freedom.
"I'm fine, really," Allen said.
Mikaela folded her arms. "Good. Now explain."
"And also," Raviel added sweetly, still standing on Steve, "since when did we get a new carpet like this?" she asked, pretending she had absolutely no idea what was actually going on.
Allen coughed.
"Okay, so earlier…"
He went on to explain everything—the sudden entrance, the punch, the reflex spell, and the misunderstanding that followed.
Across the room, Tony watched the entire scene unfold.
Watched as Steve Rogers—super soldier, living legend, moral compass of the team—was currently being used as a decorative rug by two newly arrived witches.
Tony slowly shook his head again.
"Poor Steve," he muttered under his breath.
After that, Allen moved quickly.
He crouched down beside Steve and, just like he had done with Tony earlier, restrained him.
But this time?
He didn't use normal rope.
With a small flick of his wand, metal links began forming out of thin air—transfigured and solidified through magic. Heavy, reinforced chains wrapped securely around Steve's wrists and torso, locking him in place against the floor.
If you're going to restrain a super soldier, you don't do it halfway.
Allen wasn't stupid.
He also quietly took a small blood sample from Captain America—efficient, careful, clinical.
No one commented on it.
Yet.
Once everything was secured, Allen stepped back and lifted his wand again.
"Finite."
The counter-spell unraveled the effects of Stupefy. The red glow faded from Steve's body as consciousness slowly returned.
A sharp inhale.
Blue eyes snapped open.
Steve Rogers immediately tested the restraints—only to feel solid metal chains instead of rope.
Allen raised both hands slightly in a non-threatening gesture.
"Relax," he said calmly. "I just want to talk."
His tone was no longer casual.
It was measured.
Controlled.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot. You kicked down my door. I defended myself. That's all this is."
Behind him, Mikaela and Raviel watched closely, while Tony observed the scene with the exhausted expression of someone who knew this was going to turn into a very long conversation.
Allen met Steve's gaze steadily.
"Alright let's restart this negotiation," he said.
...
Later after the negotiation finally ended and Tony agreed to all of Allen's conditions, the tension in the room eased.
Allen released both of them and handed over the Tesseract from inside the suitcase to Tony without hesitation.
"Hey, Allen," Tony asked, clearly curious, "how exactly are you planning to follow us to the future?"
Steve was just as curious, watching Allen closely and waiting for a real answer.
Allen simply smiled.
"Well, for that… of course I have a wife I can rely on."
He proudly pulled Raviel into his arms, holding her like he had just won husband of the year.
Raviel immediately leaned in and lightly rubbed her nose against his, looking ridiculously pleased that he was depending on her for something this important.
Mikaela, watching that, narrowed her eyes.
"Babe, I want a hug too. Don't just hug Raviel," she complained.
"Ahhh, okay, okay," Allen said quickly.
He wrapped his other arm around Mikaela, turning it into a full group hug like this was some kind of rom-com scene instead of a time-travel mission involving universe-breaking objects.
Tony stared at them.
It slowly dawned on him that Allen had absolutely no intention of explaining the actual mechanics of how he planned to time travel.
Fine.
Keep your wizard secrets.
But still… watching them be that affectionate right in front of him felt less like romance and more like someone casually tossing emotional dog crap in his direction.
"Yeah, whatever, you love birds," Tony said with a tired wave of his hand. "See you later. We'll head out first."
Honestly, he suddenly felt the strong urge to call Pepper after this and schedule some quality time. For balance. For sanity.
"See you again, Allen," Steve said with a firm nod.
A second later, both of their bodies began shrinking—smaller and smaller—until they were reduced to a size beyond the naked eye.
And then—
They vanished.
Allen turned to look at Raviel.
Raviel simply smiled at him.
"Kiss me first," she said, clearly demanding it.
Allen didn't hesitate for even a second. He leaned in and kissed her without question.
"I want one too, I want one too," Mikaela said immediately, not willing to be left out.
"Okaay, okay," Allen laughed.
He leaned over and kissed Mikaela as well.
Honestly, he was more than happy with how clingy and affectionate his women were. The way they stayed close, wanting his attention like this? He wasn't complaining at all.
After that, Raviel snapped her fingers.
A transparent, door-like portal shimmered into existence in front of them, its surface glowing faintly like glass reflecting another world.
Without hesitation, the three of them stepped toward it—
And walked through.
...
Meanwhile, twenty minutes before Allen arrived in the future, Tony and Steve had already made it back to the present timeline.
"Did we get everything?" Bruce Banner asked, looking around as the Avengers seemed to arrive almost at the same time.
Tony and Steve could feel everyone's eyes on them. This was their last shot. Their one and only chance. If even one of them had failed to bring back an Infinity Stone, then this whole insane time-heist would've been for nothing.
Rhodey grinned, holding up the orb that contained the Power Stone. "You were asking earlier if this was gonna work," he said, a little breathless. "And hell yeah—we got it."
But Clint…
Clint just folded in on himself.
He dropped to his knees like the strength had been ripped straight out of his body.
Thud.
Every head turned toward him.
"Clint… where's Nat?" Bruce asked quietly, already dreading the answer when he didn't see Natasha beside him.
Clint didn't speak. He just stared at the ground, shaking his head, his jaw clenched like he was physically holding back tears.
The air shifted.
The victory—if it had ever been one—evaporated into something heavy. Final. A few of them stepped away, unable to process it, grief hitting them in different ways.
"Come on," Tony said gently, helping Clint up. "Let's talk somewhere quiet."
They made their way down to the lake. Thor, Steve, and Bruce followed close behind. They were the ones who'd known Natasha the longest. The ones who felt the weight of this loss in their bones.
Clint sat at the edge of the dock, staring out over the still water.
"Did she… have family?" Tony asked Steve softly. If she did, he wanted to be the one to tell them. She deserved that much.
Steve swallowed.
"Yeah," he said.
"Us," Steve said quietly.
Thor, who had been pacing like a storm trapped in human form, stopped mid-step.
"What?" he demanded, turning sharply and striding toward Steve and Tony. His eyes were wild—not with anger alone, but with denial. With desperation. It was painfully clear he refused to accept what they were implying.
Tony frowned. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just asking," Tony added defensively.
"Yeah, I know," Thor shot back, shaking his head. "But you are speaking as if she is already dead."
The word hung heavy between them.
Thor gestured sharply toward the compound behind them. "Why are we acting like she is gone? We have the Stones. That was the entire purpose of this insanity."
Tony opened his mouth to respond—
But Thor cut him off, voice rising.
"AS LONG AS WE HAVE THE STONES, CAP, WE CAN BRING HER BACK. Is that not the case?"
He looked from Steve to Bruce to Clint, searching their faces for agreement. For hope.
"So stop this," Thor continued, almost pleading now beneath the anger. "We are Avengers. Pull yourselves together."
The lake was silent.
But the grief between them was louder than any shout.
"We can't bring her back."
Clint's voice finally cut through the air.
Thor turned sharply toward him. "W–what?" His eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean we can't?"
"It can't be undone," Clint said, forcing himself to look at Thor. "It can't."
Thor let out a short, incredulous laugh.
"Forgive me," he said, shaking his head. "I do not mean to insult you… but you are a mortal man. We are speaking of cosmic magic. Of ancient forces beyond reason. Surely this is not so simple."
He kept pacing, gesturing toward the compound as if the Infinity Stones themselves were proof enough.
Clint's expression hardened.
"Look. I know I'm not a god. I know I'm not some space wizard," he shot back. "But she's not here. That's what I mean."
His voice trembled despite his effort to steady it.
"It can't be reversed. That's what the red floating guy said. Maybe you wanna go talk to him. Go grab your flying hammer and ask him yourself."
Thor opened his mouth—
But nothing came out.
The anger faded. What replaced it was grief. Quiet and crushing.
"It should've been me," Clint whispered, tears slipping down before he quickly wiped them away. "She sacrificed herself for the goddamn Stone. She put her life on the line."
Bruce suddenly roared in frustration. He ripped a wooden chair from the dock and hurled it skyward. It shattered when it hit the water.
"She's not coming back!" Bruce said, breathing hard.
Everyone turned toward him.
"We have to make it worth it," Bruce added, voice shaking but resolute. "We have to."
"We will," Steve said firmly, his tone steady, grounded.
The lake fell silent again.
Not with denial this time—
But with acceptance.
And the weight of what it would cost them next.
However, the atmosphere suddenly changed when a familiar voice spoke up.
"Cough… cough… hey, Tony. Steve—by the way, why does this place look so gloomy? Like you're all mourning or something. Did someone die?"
Allen's voice broke through the heavy silence as he suddenly stepped out from behind a nearly transparent door shimmering in midair. Raviel and Mikaela followed right behind him.
Their arrival completely shattered the fragile atmosphere.
"Tony… who are they?" Bruce asked, clearly confused about why there were strangers here who seemed to know Tony.
"Cap… do you know them?" Thor added, his eyes shifting toward Allen and the two women standing behind him.