"That's because we don't have a way of getting home right now," Kae said, rolling her eyes at him. "Really. When I said it was in the testing phases, I meant this was an accident. We're not supposed to be here."

"I see," Howard replied. He still sounded doubtful. Parts of the story added up, other parts didn't. "And how do I know you're really who you say? For all I know, you're trying to steal some of my specs or something."

Kae opened her mouth to answer that, pondered for a second, and then shrugged.

"I can't really guarantee that we're not, not to your satisfaction, anyway. Although I do have a question for you."

"You have a question for me?" Howard asked, raising an eyebrow. "This should be good. Shoot."

"Do you know of a guy named Nick Fury? Or Phil Coulson, maybe?" Kae raised her eyebrows at him.

"Fury?" Howard asked, blinking. "Think I know of a guy with that name. Stays under the radar, mostly, why?" He looked at the two of them. "You know him?"

"Yea, we know him. Well, not him now, but him later." Kae shrugged. "He's kind of our boss."

"That shouldn't be possible," Elaine commented, glancing at Kae. "It really shouldn't, Fury's only like forty-five. Fifty, tops."

Howard paused at that.

"Where are you from," he asked, "that it isn't possible for us to know the same man?"

"I think we'll have to discuss that with him when we get home," Kae said, glancing at Howard. Okay, now how to get them home. "Do you remember what you did?"

"No," Elaine said. "I'll have to experiment some. I'm not sure how long it'll take."

"Wonderful." Kae noticed Howard watching them, his eyes narrowed. "So how much should we tell him?"

"He probably already thinks we're crazy," Elaine said. "I doubt there's much more we could hurt by telling him more, aside from the timeline."

"True enough." Kae looked at Howard again. "Well, in a few years, Fury is going to start a defense force for the world, essentially, to defend against supernatural threats, things like Hydra. That defense force is going to grow over the years and become much more important. We sort of work for that company now. In our proper time."

Howard raised an eyebrow.

"That guy?" he asked. "Are we talking about the same man? The Fury I've met keeps mostly to himself, doesn't turn heads or anything."

"Yeah, well, this is in a few years, like I said." Kae shrugged. "Besides, that's part of his M.O.: You'd never suspect him."

Howard looked at them both skeptically.

"Tell me one thing about the future I'll believe," he said. There was a beat of silence.

"They find Steve," Elaine offered cautiously. "It takes a while, but... They do. And he's fine."

Howard paled at that, looking unsteady for a moment. He wanted so badly to believe that, but he hadn't been able to find his friend yet.

"How do I know?" he asked.

Kae exchanged a look with Elaine, unsure how to explain to him.

Elaine bit her lip for a moment.

"Because I know him," she said. She hesitated for a moment, and then raised one of her hands, palm up. A small tug of magic, and she managed to form an illusion of one of her memories of seeing Steve in his uniform.

It took Howard a few moments to realize that wasn't Steve he knew; he looked a little bit older, his uniform was different. But it was Steve.

Steve was the best man Howard had ever known. If the girls knew him, someone did find him. Which made Howard all the more determined to look.

"Alright," he agreed after a few moments.

"It's technically my fault we're here," Elaine said. "I need time to figure out what I did and how to fix it. We'd really appreciate it if you'd help us find a place to stay."

"I... yes. I can do that." Howard looked at them for a few moments. "Until I think of a better place, come back to my mansion for a few days. I've got more than enough room for a few lovely ladies."

"Yeah, he's a Stark, alright," Elaine murmured to Kae. "Ten bucks says once the shock fades, he starts flirting."

"I'm not taking that bet, it's a given," Kae muttered back as they followed Howard through the warehouse and over to his car, which, unfortunately, did not float, hover, or otherwise leave the ground.

Elaine was a bit disappointed with the car, actually. She remembered Steve telling her about the hovercar thing that he remembered seeing, and she'd kind of hoped Howard had perfected it.

Howard had not yet perfected the car, although he was still working on it. But he ushered them in and headed to the mansion to get them rooms and whatever they'd need.