[130] : The Photo

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.....

Stark Tower

in Tony's private room, an unusual tension filled the air.

Tony was staring at a locket in his hand, examining the photograph inside. His fingers brushed over the image of a young girl, and then he glanced up thoughtfully.

Standing nearby was his assistant and girlfriend, Pepper Potts. Tony had called her over as soon as he found the photo, hoping she might recognize Andrea.

"Are you absolutely sure you don't remember anyone named Andrea?"

"You've asked me twice now, Tony. I really don't know any Andrea..." Pepper answered, a bit exasperated.

There were women she had met named Andrea, but none of them matched the girl in this photo. Moreover, she couldn't recall ever taking a picture with Tony and anyone by that name.

"That's what's so strange, you don't remember Andrea, I don't remember Andrea, but here's this locket, with a photo of a girl named Andrea, sitting in my room. And on top of that..."

Tony rubbed his thumb over the word "sister" engraved on the back of the locket, jokingly saying, "I don't remember having a sister."

Roger, listening from the side, felt that Tony's reaction was oddly reminiscent of Odin's when he had mentioned Andrea. Odin, too, had referred to Andrea as his daughter.

A sister for Iron Man, a daughter for Odin... Was this mysterious time traveler's special power simply "making family connections" across the cosmos? Some kind of intergalactic "social butterfly" system?

Roger was quietly amused by the idea until he noticed Tony's gaze shifting toward him.

"Why are you staring at me like that...?"

"You know something about Andrea." Tony's tone was confident. "You know who she is, and you know why her photo... and her locket, ended up in my room."

From the moment Tony had found the locket until now, Roger hadn't said much. He wanted to see if Tony, the genius of the Marvel universe, could recall anything on his own. But it seemed Tony couldn't.

So Roger decided it was time to explain, saying, "I'm from a parallel world, "

"Yes, yes, you've mentioned that a dozen times. Skip the introductions, please," Tony interrupted.

"Alright, I'll get to why I came here." Roger pulled out the Mind Stone and set it on the table.

Seeing the glowing stone, Tony frowned, asking, "What is that?"

"One of the six Infinity Stones that govern fundamental aspects of the universe. This one's the Mind Stone."

"This little thing?" Tony's skepticism was clear.

"Yes, this little thing," Roger replied. "It's also the reason Loki used his scepter to turn the Avengers against each other during the alien invasion."

"Wait, you're saying the Mind Stone was inside Loki's scepter?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. The scepter was still temporarily stored in his lab, and if the Mind Stone had been removed, the scepter would be nothing more than a useless stick.

Roger, seeing Tony's confusion, clarified, "The Mind Stone is still in Loki's scepter. The one I have here is from another universe. Remember, I'm from a parallel world. Each universe has its own set of six Infinity Stones, and this one doesn't belong to yours."

"Can we cut to the chase? How is this relevant to me?" Tony's impatience showed.

"Actually, it might be very relevant to you." Roger leaned forward. "This Mind Stone belongs to Andrea, and the reason I'm here is because of it."

Roger briefly explained the situation with the Mind Stone. This was his third time explaining, first to the Ancient One, then to Odin, and now Tony. He was tempted to record himself for future reference.

"So, you're saying... this Mind Stone contains our world's coordinates? Why? If this Mind Stone belonged to our world, then the one in Loki's scepter shouldn't exist. But if it didn't, why is Andrea's photo here?" Tony asked, perplexed.

Roger shrugged. "That's the mystery I'm trying to solve, Stark. You may want to find Andrea, but I need to find her even more urgently. My ability to travel between worlds has stranded me here due to Andrea and her Mind Stone. My friends were scattered across other worlds, and I have to find Andrea to uncover her connection to the stone so I can reunite with them."

"So that's why you were so keen to find Thor?" Tony began to piece things together.

"More or less," Roger replied, avoiding further explanations.

Seeing Roger's silence, Tony fell quiet for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure my memory hasn't been tampered with?"

"I can't say for sure, but you could try holding the Mind Stone."

"Why?"

"When Odin held it, he had flashes of memories he didn't recall. Maybe you'll experience something similar."

Roger leaned back on the sofa, waiting as Tony picked up the Mind Stone, even clutching it in his hand for a moment.

Watching intently, Roger adjusted his posture, his eyes fixed on Tony.

But after a few minutes passed, nothing happened.

"Well, what now?" Tony asked, holding the stone.

Roger sighed, "You can put it down. Looks like the Mind Stone isn't revealing anything for you either, or maybe Andrea didn't leave any clues connected to you."

Roger wasn't too disappointed. If Andrea had left clues with everyone connected to the stones, he could have easily lined up the Avengers, handed them the Mind Stone, and let each of them touch it. It would be an easy way to find answers.

But unfortunately, it seemed Andrea hadn't done that, or perhaps she had tried, and only Odin retained any traces.

Perhaps there were countless other possibilities, but Roger wasn't interested in guessing. He only wanted to find Thor and immediately head off to meet the Collector.

As Tony returned the Mind Stone, he looked tired. Something about Andrea's photo had left him uneasy, a faint, inexplicable sadness that he couldn't quite shake.

This feeling of sadness was subtle, easily ignored if he didn't focus on it. But the more he tried to dismiss it, the stronger it felt. Tony sensed he'd forgotten something important, something that eluded his grasp.

Frustrated, Tony decided to stop dwelling on Andrea, sent Pepper back to her duties, and returned the Mind Stone to Roger before heading into his workshop.

"Where are you going?" Roger called after him.

Without looking back, Tony replied, "To work. And by the way, Fury's here. Looks like he's got something to say about the helicarriers."

Tony disappeared into his workshop, leaving Roger in the room alone. He hadn't been waiting long when Nick Fury, being pushed in a wheelchair by Natasha, entered. Without even asking for Tony, Fury addressed Roger directly.

"Three... three helicarriers! Do you know how much those cost? And you just destroyed them!"

"Well, they were going to be destroyed eventually," Roger shrugged nonchalantly. "And really, what's that got to do with me? I'm not from this world, after all."

Fury inhaled deeply, barely restraining his temper. Roger's casual response was almost enough to reopen his wounds. 

After a steadying breath, Fury said, "They didn't have to be destroyed. The resources salvaged from just one could have funded a new fleet for S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

"So?" Roger asked again, smirking. "How does that concern me, Director Fury?"

"..."

"In every world I've visited, the helicarriers are destroyed, and the Avengers usually agree they're better off that way. That alone proves one thing."

"And what's that?"

"That these things are a hazard. Destroying them was a public service. You're welcome," Roger smiled.

Listening to Fury's heartbeat with his super hearing, Roger knew Fury wasn't as outraged as he pretended. The director was simply using this as leverage to negotiate with him.

But if Fury thought he could use the helicarrier incident to force Roger to make concessions... well, he was sorely mistaken.

Roger was not one to back down.

...

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