so morgan stark finds an old flip phone while snooping around and manages to dial the only number on it and poor steve almost gets cardiac arrest thats it thats the headcanon
At first, Steve thinks his hearing is going. But then the nurse points at the side table drawer, saying “Your phone is ringing.”
After that, Steve doesn’t understand where the ringing is coming from because his phone is in his pocket and not the drawer from where the ringing is coming from. He has to dig deep inside, knuckles bumping against who even remembers what before they curl around the source of the ringing and the vibrations.
His brain yells a warning but it’s too late. Steve pulls the phone out and he’s catapulted back to 2016. He’s standing in the middle of a dusty street, at the counter of a small shop that sells these burner phones, loading his number up before he walks down to the post office to drop off this package he’s made for Tony.
Heart racing, Steve stupidly thinks, It’s Tony. Tony’s calling. He flips it open, vision swimming and going hazy when he sees the all too familiar name on the screen. Mouth dry and hands shaking, Steve presses the accept button and hoarsely asks, “Tony?”
After Ragnarok, the Revengers travel back to earth, which includes everybody meeting up with Loki again. As prompted by the post by @artemxmendacium Loki meeting Peter goes a lot better than a certain Irondad feared.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“Thor, why on earth would you bring Loki here?”
Stark was angry, and Thor had to admit for good
reason. The last time the Avengers had seen his brother he was in chains after
attacking New York and was trying to kill them. But a lot had happened since
then and Loki was no longer the homicidal maniac, as some may have put it; he
was getting better, which Thor tried to explain to his friends.
“I understand your hesitation, but believe me when I
tell you that he has changed.”
“He threw me off a building!”
“I am aware, but…”
“Do you remember how many people he killed?”, Natasha
continued.
“I do.” Thor knew it would be hard to convince them of
Loki’s changed nature. They hadn’t seen him back on Asgard and Sakaar, how they
worked together, side by side. “I also do remember how many people he saved on
Asgard.”
“And we’re just supposed to believe that?”
“Tony, I know it’s hard to believe, but I actually saw
it with my own eyes”, Bruce explained, “we did fight together.”
Thank Frigga for Bruce. Maybe Tony would trust his
word.
“I’m sorry Bruce, but I don’t trust Hulk’s judgement
on fighting.”
“You know, I don’t either. But we have travelled
all across the galaxy together, and, as weird as it is to admit
it, but we’re actually friends.”
Thor looked around the room, at his fellow Avengers,
as reassuringly as he could.
“Guys, I’m sorry, but it is a lot to take in. You
disappear for two years which you spent as gladiator-style slaves on an alien
planet before blowing up your homeplanet to defeat your evil older sister you
never knew and oh, by the way, Loki is good now”, Clint summarized. “Excuse us
for taking a moment to process all this.”
“I understand”, Thor answered, “though if you put it
like that, my brother being good is the most believable of all this.” He
grinned a little and heard a chuckle from Bruce.
“It’s really not funny, guys”, Nat grumbled.
“It’s a little funny.”
“Maybe you had to be there…” Bruce gently patted his
arm, sort of pulled him back. Maybe humour was the wrong way to smooth things
over.
“Friends, we are not asking you to trust Loki. We are
asking you to trust us!”, he pleaded.
Tony locked eyes with Bruce. “You really trust him?”
“I trust that he is willing to better himself and I
trust that we can help him with that”, he nodded.
The Avengers exchanged a few glances, before Tony took
two steps towards Thor, who was getting a little nervous. What if they were to
tell them to leave?
“You vouch for your brother, Point Break?”
“I take full responsibility”, Thor nodded.
“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”, he grumbled and
shook his head, before looking back up. “Fine. We will give him a chance. But
the slightest slip-up…”
“Thank you, Stark, a chance is all I’m asking for.”
Gratefully, he smiled at the man, before he turned to Bruce. “What do you say,
we go and give him the good news?”
“That will not be necessary.”
Thor didn’t need to turn around to recognize his
little brother’s voice. Of course, he had listened in on the entire discussion.
And his friends looked mad about that.
“Loki, what about waiting outside?”, Bruce hissed at
him.
“But it is so much more fun here!” With a smug grin,
Loki greeted the Avengers. “Hello. Long time, no see. How have you been?”
Silence. Thor and Bruce exchanged a quick, worried
glance, before Bruce broke it. “How about I take Loki back to the ship and get
all our belongings?”
“That is a good idea, Bruce.” He nodded at his friend
and shot his brother a warning glance. Loki did a theatrical curtsy and
followed Bruce out of the room.
As soon as the door closed, it felt like all the
tension vanished out of the room. Everybody sank on a chair, leaned against the
furniture and Thor wasn’t sure what to do or say.
one thing i don’t think sam wilson is given enough credit for is his first interaction with steve. sam was employed by the department of veteran affairs, specifically to help people with ptsd and to run support groups. he recognizes someone suffering from the condition when he sees them, even if that someone is captain america.
he eases his way into conversation with steve, keeping it light, and then says “must have freaked you out coming home from the whole desfrosting thing”
& then steve sighs, looks away, makes the below face, and says “takes some getting used to” & immediately tries to extract himself from the conversation. this isn’t something that steve talks about. he says it was nice to meet sam, and begins to walk away.
the thing is, no one has pushed on steve. they ask him how he’s doing, he gives them some vague, bullshit response, and they let it go. but not sam. he knows that if he lets steve walk away, if he doesn’t extend a branch right now, he’ll never see him again & there may never be another person who will be capable or willing to provide him the help//support he so desperately needs.
so sam says, “its your bed, right? your bed. it’s too soft.” its a small, personal, but largely universal detail that stops steve in his tracks. he’s caught off guard and vulnerable.
& when sam asks steve if he misses the “good old days”, he’s actively studying steve, taking in his body language and what he says
when steve is about to leave, sam extends one more branch, and he says “anytime you want to stop by the va, and make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know” , which is an important distinction from “come down to the va for a support group meeting”
I think we need to talk about Endgame here for a second. Because when we see first see Steve five years later he isn’t fighting, he isn’t leading (that’s Natasha), he’s working as a support group leader trying to help whoever and however he can. That sort of therapy and those sorts of skills he could only have learned from Sam. And that’s why I’m so happy that the movie ended with him passing the shield on to Sam. Bucky was one of his oldest friends but Sam was the person to reach out and make sure he was okay after finding himself 70 years in the future. When left with nothing for a second time, Sam was the person he wanted to honor and the example he used for how to keep going. Steve spent the movie trying to live up to who Sam thought he could be and that’s why I think there’s no better person to be carrying the shield in the future.
Hot take: Eddie Brock and Carol Danvers are on opposite ends of the bisexual spectrum being disaster bi and functional bi respectively. Smack dab in the middle is Steve Rogers who manages to be a huge mess while somehow still having people see him as one of the sanest people in the room.
Valkyrie got drunk and fell off the spectrum. she now exists in a void where all those things apply to her at once
