It must be said that Nick Fury's judgment was remarkably accurate.
Not only him— even Natasha was taken aback at first, then gradually realized something was off.
"It seems Steve isn't as old-fashioned as we thought," she muttered, watching the mocking smile curl on Steve's lips in the video.
Natasha couldn't help but chuckle.
The video continued to play.
The scene shifted to a military base.
Tony Stark, wearing a suit, used his nano armor gauntlet to cut open a safe and carefully placed the Cosmic Cube into a suitcase.
The next second, a voice called out from nearby.
"Arnim? Arnim, are you here?"
Hearing the voice, Tony immediately closed the suitcase— but when he turned around and saw who it was, he froze.
It was his father — Howard Stark.
The moment Tony saw Howard, both the Tony in the video and the one watching in the theater went still.
"Oh my God… how is this possible?" Tony whispered.
For a moment, his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. But his eyes remained locked on the screen, afraid to miss even a second.
The video, after all, was from the future.
Could it be… that in the future, he really invented time travel — and returned to the past to meet his father?
"Hey, friend, the door's this way," Howard said, watching Tony awkwardly turn to leave.
On screen, Tony's emotions were written all over his face — panic, excitement, anxiety — all tangled together.
Even as he stepped into the elevator with Howard, his father didn't recognize him, but Tony remained visibly tense.
"My wife's pregnant," Howard said, handing Tony a bouquet of flowers. "But I've been working overtime lately. Can you help me bring these to her?"
Normally, Tony Stark wasn't the kind of man who accepted things from others — except for Pepper.
But at that moment, he willingly took the flowers from his father's hands.
"I have a daughter," Tony said softly.
Howard smiled. "Daughters are wonderful. I hope my wife's pregnant with one too. At least I won't have to worry about the kid turning out exactly like me."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "And what's wrong with being like you?"
Howard adjusted his tie, sighing. "Let's just say… I tend to put my personal interests above the collective. Makes me a pain to deal with. But, they can't really do without me either."
Then he glanced at Tony. "Let me ask you something — were you nervous when your child was born?"
Tony nodded. "Super nervous."
Howard chuckled. "Do you think you're a good father?"
Tony hesitated. "I've thought about that a lot. I figured — if I just do the opposite of everything my father did, I'll probably turn out okay."
Howard paused for a few seconds before replying, "That's… good. My father believed there wasn't a single problem he couldn't solve with a belt. But I'll tell you this — my kid's not even born yet, and I'd do anything for him."
In the theater, watching that conversation unfold, Tony felt his chest tighten.
Even though he had long since made peace with his father in his heart, hearing those words again hit him differently.
When Howard was alive, he was distant, critical, and emotionally unavailable — always using Steve Rogers as an example to lecture him.
That was part of why Tony had always been so sharp-tongued with Steve after they met.
In his memory, his father had never truly praised him.
But now, watching that version of his father — saying he would do anything for his son — made Tony's throat tighten.
When the Tony in the video awkwardly shook hands with and hugged his father, the real Tony sitting in the theater trembled slightly.
He pretended to stay calm, but his eyes were red, and his heart was full.
No one else in the room was as affected as Tony Stark.
Natasha, watching the video of Tony and Howard's reunion, frowned thoughtfully.
Earlier, Linen had mentioned that he and Loki agreed to leave a gift for him at Pompeii.
At the time, she, Fury, and the others speculated that the Avengers might have mastered time travel in the future — that they could move through time itself.
At first, it sounded like pure science fiction.
But now… it seemed their theory was correct.
Otherwise, Steve and Tony wouldn't have gone back to the past — or let Tony meet his father again.
Still, Natasha couldn't help but wonder: Why did they need to go back? What happened in between?
As she pondered this, Steve Rogers sat in the theater, eyes fixed on the screen.
In the video, he was seen hiding in a room to avoid being discovered.
But through the blinds, he saw her — Peggy Carter.
"Peggy…" Steve whispered, sitting upright.
When he saw a photo of himself on Peggy's desk, a lump formed in his throat.
Seventy years had passed… and he had missed their dance.
The video ended there.
But Steve didn't move. He stayed seated for a long time, staring at the blank screen.
"System… can I watch it again?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.
The spoiler system paused for a few seconds before replying, "Watched videos have been archived in the library. The host may replay them at any time."
"The video has concluded. Please exit the viewing room within five minutes."
Ignoring the mechanical tone, Steve hurriedly opened the system's video library.
He skipped past the earlier clip — the one where he said "Hail Hydra" — and went straight to the ending.
As he watched himself gaze through the blinds at Peggy, his eyes softened.
For a brief moment… Steve Rogers looked completely lost in time.
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