Location: Earth – Present Day (Post-Time Missions Return)
Location Status: Unstable Temporal Zone – New York City
Time Sync: Fragmented
---
The sky above Manhattan cracked like glass.
Not metaphorically—literally. Shimmering fractures pulsed in the clouds, revealing glimpses of alternate versions of Earth layered like broken reflections. In one shard, Ultron reigned. In another, Thanos had succeeded. In another still... I was the one wearing Iron Man's armor.
And at the center of it all: a man with a familiar shield.
Steve Rogers.
But older. Worn. With gray at his temples and a new scar running down the left side of his face.
He stepped through a crack in time like it was a doorway.
And pointed the shield at me.
---
"You're destabilizing everything," he said grimly. "You need to stop."
---
[System Alert: Multiversal Fracture Detected]
> Warning: Current Thread Manipulations Have Created Echo Points
Primary Echo: Steve Rogers Variant (Temporal Anchor Class)
Threat Level: UNKNOWN
Dialogue Initiated – Caution Advised
---
I didn't reach for my weapons. Yet.
"You're not my Steve," I said. "You're from… a branch. A warning?"
He nodded. "Call me Echo Rogers. I came from a future where you kept jumping through time. Fixing events. Killing threats before they started."
"That's my job."
"No." His voice was steel. "That's our mistake."
---
We sat atop the ruins of an old rooftop garden. Below, traffic moved normally, unaware of the world-ending consequences bubbling above them.
Echo Rogers dropped his shield next to him. It hit the stone with a dull thunk.
"Victor, every action you take corrects one thing… but breaks another. Sovereign isn't your biggest threat."
"Then what is?"
He stared straight into my eyes. "You."
---
Flashback Fragment: Unauthorized Timeline Divergence (Log 78)
> "Subject: V. Wick eliminated a HYDRA general in 1943 that would've later defected to SHIELD and prevent Project Insight."
"Net Result: Insight launched 3 years earlier in parallel Earth-98J. Civilian loss: 1.4 million."
---
My gut tightened. "I didn't know."
"No one knows at the time," Steve said. "That's the danger. You're playing chess in four dimensions."
I ran my hand through my hair. "So what—let Sovereign erase people? Kill Bashenga? Stop Steve from ever existing?"
"No. You fight back… but with purpose. Not panic."
He stood. Picked up his shield.
"You need a mission that doesn't break the board."
---
[System Notification: New Quest Available]
> Echo Directive: Seek Anchor Points of Stability
Locate and protect "Fixed Events" across the Prime MCU Timeline
First Target: The Battle of New York – 2012
Objective: Ensure Victor Wick does not disrupt the unity moment of the Avengers
Optional: Assist without revealing temporal interference
---
I exhaled.
This was harder than any battle. Restraint, in the face of infinite power. Knowing I could fix so much. But that I might also destroy what made the heroes heroes in the first place.
Echo Rogers turned to leave, but stopped.
"One more thing."
He tossed me something small.
It landed in my palm with surprising weight.
A pocket watch. Engraved with the SHIELD logo.
"It's from Peggy," he said quietly. "Use it to remember what matters."
Then he vanished into a shimmer of light—just as the fractures above the skyline sealed with a thunderous snap.
---
New Objective: Observation Role – Battle of New York
Back in the Sanctum, I briefed Wong.
He already knew. Of course.
"The universe needs protectors," he said. "But not gods."
"I never wanted to be a god."
"No, Victor. That's the only reason you still have a soul."
He poured tea and passed me a scroll.
It showed all the "Fixed Events" Echo had mentioned. Anchor points.
Battle of New York.
Ultron's Fall.
Civil War.
Blip.
Multiverse Crack.
"Do I observe all of them?" I asked.
Wong raised an eyebrow. "No. You guide them."
---
That night, I opened my system.
Time for another Sign-In.
---
[Weekly Sign-In Activated]
> Reward Roll…
You've received: Bloodline: Nomad's Soul
Description: Remnant of a rogue Captain America variant who refused all sides.
Traits Gained:
— "Walking Ghost" (Enemies find it hard to sense your presence in warzones)
— "Shield Unchained" (Temporary doubling of shield-based kinetic energy)
— "Lone Wolf Command" (Tactical insight boost when operating solo)
---
The irony wasn't lost on me.
While Steve Rogers chose a shield to protect, I'd become a man wielding one as a last resort.
But the world needed both.
---
Later: Rooftop Overlooking Stark Tower – April 2012
I watched from the shadows.
The real Battle of New York was happening below. Chitauri streaming from a wormhole. Hulk smashing. Thor flying.
And the Avengers, forming around chaos.
This was the moment that mattered.
And I couldn't interfere.
But I could protect the moment.
---
A rogue Chitauri craft peeled off from the swarm—targeting a building where a family huddled in fear.
I Ashstepped behind it mid-flight, drove my dagger into its power core, and veered it into the river below.
No witnesses. No timeline disruption.
Just a small save in the margins of history.
---
[System Note: Micro-Intervention Logged – Timeline Integrity Stable]
---
As the six Avengers stood in a circle, ready to face the alien army, I whispered from the rooftop:
"Show the world what you're made of."
---