~Ayla/Mandy's P.O.V.~
I worked at the hospital for a while until I was able to get enough money to leave the planet, arriving on a planet called Corellia. I found a place in Coronet City, in a village district. I worked as an engineer and technician at the spaceport. I lived next to an old couple named Zana and Bren Novar. They reminded me of Coulson and May as he'd tell dad jokes, and they way they bantered with one another. The couple lived next door to me. I had offered to help them out in any way I could, whether it was with groceries or helping to clean up their place. One night, I was returning from the spaceport, making my way back to my temporary home until I could get back to my actual home.
I was wearing my Alderaanian cloak over a worn out beige shirt, a black vest, brown pants, black boots, a belt along with a holster, brown fingerless gloves, and a small bag that I carried across my shoulders. As I walked into the district, I saw people walking around under the streetlights and neon signs in what in Aurebesh, which I quickly picked up. There were vendors, selling food, clothing, or other goods. Once I reached my home, I punched in the key into the datapad before the door opened. My home was small, containing a kitchen, one bedroom, and a living room. I hadn't bought much, since there was no point as I'd be leaving soon. Or that's what I wanted to think, but the pay was slower than I thought.
I trudged through the living room and into the kitchen to find something to eat. I found a ration pack, which consisted of veg-meat and polystarch bread. It wasn't long until I grew accustomed to the stale taste. As I ate, there was a knock on the door. Baffled, I walked over towards the door, opening it up to reveal Zana and Bren.
"Zana? Bren? Come on in." I urged.
As soon as they were inside, I glanced over to the kitchen. "Do you want some water? Ration packs?"
Zana gave me a motherly look as she shook her head. "Please tell me that's not all you're eating?"
I wore a sheepish smile. "It's no biggie. I've eaten worse."
Bren walked towards the kitchen. "No, no, no, this will never do."
He then prepares a meal out of the ration packs, baffling me. But it was another thing that reminded of Coulson. When I was undercover at Hydra, Coulson often came by to see how I was doing, and he was disappointed when he saw what I was eating. He quickly grabbed groceries and offered to debrief. I miss him and the rest of my team, they're practically family. As we ate, I watched as Bren and Zana exchanged looks, confusing me.
"Is something wrong?" I questioned.
At first, they both remained silent, making me worried. Bren and Zana then turned to face me. Zana spoke up, breaking the long silence. "Zana and I have managed to save up some credits...for you."
"We remembered you talking about how you were working to gather enough money to leave the planet." Zana explained.
"But why?" I questioned.
"You're young, you still have much to accomplish, to do." Bren added.
"You deserve to return to your home, just like you said." Zana mentioned.
Bren then handed me a bag, sliding it across the table as he explained what was inside the bag. "All the credits are in there, plus some snacks for the trip."
I stared at them in awe and shock. They were helping me out, even when I didn't ask for any. I was truly grateful, but I can't take this, they deserve and need it more than me. With that in mind, I immediately protested. "I...I can't take this."
"You can and you will." Zana insisted, leaving no room for discussion.
Knowing I wasn't going to change their mind, I took the bag, giving them a smile. "Thank you so much. I appreciate this."
"You're very welcome. You deserve this." Bren replied.
With that, we gave each other hugs before exchanging our last farewells. I won't forget them for everything they've done. After I left, carrying all my belongings with me, I made my way to the spaceport, boarding the next shuttle. It took a while to get back home, taking several stops from Corellia to Tatooine, then to a planet called Batuu, then to Naro Atzia, and finally to Xandar before reaching Earth. Once I returned back home, I returned to S.W.O.R.D. headquarters, reaching my office, and contacting Billy. I knew the rest of the team would be worried, since I had gone silent for months. There was much to talk about, but I figured Billy would spread the word, set up a reunion so I could explain the same million questions at once.
"Hey Billy--" I greeted.
"Hey Billy? Where the hell have you been, Mandy? It's 2023. It's been three years since we've heard from you. Everyone thought you were dead or missing." Billy explained.
I then heard Sam, Billy's brother shout out. "Is that Mandy?"
2023? Three years since I left Earth? Which meant it had been five years since Thanos snapped...Not long after the terrible phenomenon, the media covered it, informing us what had happened based on what the Avengers told them. And Thanos, a purple alien from an extinct race of Titans was responsible for this universe wide event.
"Yeah, it's her." Billy confirmed.
"Oooh, give me the phone." Sam urged.
"No, she called me." Billy protested.
However, I heard Billy and Sam arguing before there was a few seconds of silence. Then, Sam spoke up. "Hey, Mandy! Did you see Boba Fett? Did I tell you about the sarlacc pit?"
I was taken back. How did he know that? Then, I realized that Daisy must've told him. I told her bits and pieces, one of those things being that I was in a galaxy that was practically from Star Wars. With that, I let out a chuckle. "No, I didn't see him. And yes, Sam, you've told me about it many times."
"There's no way he survived, especially after all those years." Billy retorted.
"Uh, yeah there is. His armor protected him." Sam shot back.
Oh boy, I better break this up or they'll be arguing all day. So I quickly intervened. "Hey, listen, I need you to call my team, tell them to meet me via hologram. I'll explain everything there. And I'll tell everything later, okay?"
"All right, but you better leave no details out." Billy urged.
"I won't." I assured him.
And with that, I hung up, putting on the hologram device, entering the speakeasy. I sat on one of the chairs, waiting for the rest of the team, which wasn't long. Coulson, Daisy, May, Leo, Jemma, Elena, and Mack walked in. They were all relieved to see me, but the questions immediately began.
"It's been three years..." Daisy began.
"We thought you had been killed." May added.
"You didn't show up to any of our annual meetings." Jemma chimed in.
I grimaced. "I know, and I'm sorry for making you all worried, but I lost track of time. For me, it was only months, not three years."
And with that, I explained everything I went through, including who I truly was. All of them stared at me in awe and bewilderment. I didn't blame them though. If I were in their position, I would be just as shocked.
"So you're name's actually Ayla Shan?" Leo apologized.
"And you're actually the long lost princess of Alderaan, whose the daughter of a Jedi?" Coulson asked with excited eyes.
"Yeah...I know it's a lot to take in, but I swear to you that I'm tell the truth." I urged.
"Hey, we believe you." Mack assured me. "After everything we've been through, there isn't anything shocking anymore."
Oh I highly doubt that, but I'm glad they believe me. Leo and Jemma exchanged grins. "We named our daughter after our best friend."
I smiled. That's right. Ayla's the name of their daughter. Despite them not knowing that was my real name, my heart warmed. I felt honored to share the same name as their daughter.
"Well, it will take Coulson a long while to get used to your name." Daisy teased. "Remember what happened with me?"
Coulson rolled his eyes, but let out a chuckle. "But I got it right eventually, didn't I?"
"Yeah, an entire year later." May quipped, causing me to laugh.
"Just don't forget to let us know that you're alive." Elena advised.
"Don't worry, I won't. This time I won't wait around another three years, I'm back home on Earth, where I belong." I assured them.
"We'll hold you to your words." Mack informed me.
"Wait, are we seriously not gonna talk about this mysterious Mandalorian?" Daisy teased with a grin on her face.
I groaned, shaking my head. "There's nothing to talk about. My past relationships speak for themselves...remember Rumlow?"
"What about Jeffrey?" Coulson reminded me.
Upon hearing his name, I grew silent. It's exactly what I did to Jeffrey that I had to stay away from Din. I had already hurt him enough...the last thing I wanted to do was be responsible for his death as well.
"Hey, no one blames you for what you in the Framework." Daisy reminded me.
"But I do." I protested. "I was the one who ordered the building to be taken down."
"But that wasn't you. We were taken and plugged into that damn place." Mack argued.
I let out a shaky sigh. "...Yeah, but it doesn't change what I've done."
"No, it doesn't. But do you want to chase away a second opportunity because of your guilt of something you couldn't control." May commented.
I let out a nervous laugh. "I never said he was a second chance."
May gave me a knowing look. "You didn't have to."
"If he makes you happy, you should go back to him." Jemma advised.
My heart clenched. If only it were that simply, but I messed up big time. And right now, I don't want to talk about that. So with that in mind, I blurted out. "Can we talk about this another day?"
Jemma nodded. "Of course. We'll be here for you."
"All of us." Elena confirmed.
"Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Well, I'll see you later, and I promise to stay in contact." I assured them.
With that, I left the hologram, returning to my office, only this time there was no R8 to greet me. My heart clenched. I miss him, the kid, and even Din. But it's the best thing for everyone. Not long after I ended the hologram call with them, I had the last four people enter my office...it was Steve, Scott, Natasha, and Dr. Bruce Banner but in Hulk form, baffling me.
"Hey Mandy." Steve greeted. "I know it's been a while, but we could really use your help with building a time machine."
"Wait, first of all, why did you come to me?" I asked.
"It's out of my area of expertise." Bruce explained. "Oh, I'm Bruce Banner, by the way."
"I know, I've heard quite about about you. And what about Stark?" I inquired.
Steve, Scott, Natasha, and Bruce exchanged looks before Natasha spoke up. "He said no."
I grimaced. "Not really helping out your case."
"Just hear us out, please." Steve advised.
I let out a sigh. "Fine."
We all looked over at Scott, who noticed we were all waiting on him. He immediately nodded, wearing a sheepish smile. "Right, uh, I should get to the point then. So five years ago, right before...Thanos, I was in a place called the quantum realm."
My eyes widened. "The quantum realm?"
Scott nodded. "Yeah, it's a long story, but I had help finding a way to get in. Hope, she's my...uh, she was...she was supposed to pull me out. But then Thanos happened, and I was stuck in there."
"And I suppose it felt different than the actual time you were in there for." I pointed out.
"Exactly, it felt like five hours." Scott confirmed. "Right now, we don't have a way to navigate. But what if we did? Enter at a certain point in time and then exit the quantum realm another point in time? Like before Thanos?"
"You want to navigate through the chaos which is extremely complicated and not to mention dangerous?" I questioned.
"I know quantum physics can be risky...well, from what I've heard." Steve added. "But is anything impossible? The stones are in the past."
"We can snap our own fingers, bring everyone back." Natasha chimed in.
"We have a second chance to make things right." Steve insisted.
It was dangerous, but I thought back to Leo and Jemma, they pulled it off. I let out a sigh. My mind wandered to when I was back in high school, when I had dated a guy who broke my heart.
I had rushed back home, crying in my bedroom, while blasting the song It Must Have Been Love by Roxette. That's when mom walked in followed by Monica. I kept my head buried under my covers. They remained silent as they sat on the bed beside me. After a few minutes, mom spoke up. "You should play a different song."
"This playlist is depressing." Monica commented.
"Well, it's supposed to be. My heart's been shattered in a million pieces, thrown in a blender." I muttered. "Kyle broke up with me."
More tears streamed down my eyes. Mom wrapped an arm around me, giving me a tight squeeze. She then whispered. "Let it all out. I have a song in mind."
With that, she stood up, moving to my stereo, playing a song I knew all too well. The first words of the song echoed throughout the room. "Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong. You're enchained by your own sorrow. In your eyes, there is no hope for tomorrow. How I hate to see you like this..."
Mom would always play that song when Monica and I when were kids, singing out our hearts to the song, not fully understanding the meaning of the words until now. I groaned. "Mom, no..."
"Come on, Mandy. You know the words." Mom urged, walking back towards me.
I shook my head. "No."
"We're not leaving until you sing at least one verse." Mom insisted.
"Yeah, come on. It's not as fun without you singing with us." Monica commented.
I sighed, caving in. "All right..."
And so the three of us ended up singing the rest of the song to the top of our lungs as Monica and I jumped upon my bed.
If they did it, then it can be replicated to bring back everyone who vanished. Mom was so sure Monica would come back. May be this was it, this was my sign. With that in mind, I spoke up. "I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes."
•••
Once they took me to the Avengers Facility, we set up our equipment in the garage, where Scott's van was. Scott was suited up in his Ant-Man outfit, ready for the first test. I hadn't told Hayward that I was back or anything of the sort. Hayward be damned, he took the position of Director, knowing mom wanted that position for me.
"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one." I announced.
"Scott, fire up, the uh...van thing." Bruce urged.
Scott opened up the van, revealing the generator, which quickly powered up. Steve then approached us. "Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby."
"Good, because if we blow the grid, I don't want to lose...uh...Tiny here in the 1950s." Bruce
Scott looked up at us, horrified. "Excuse me?"
"He's kidding." Natasha assured him before she glanced over at us. "You can't say things like that."
"It was a bad joke." Bruce mentioned though he was lying.
Scott gave him a nod before walking towards the van. Natasha looked at us, worried. "You were kidding, right?"
I grimaced. "Well, uh..."
"We don't know. We're talking about time travel here." Bruce whispered. "Either none of it is a joke or all of it is."
Bruce then faked a smile as he looked over at Scott, giving him a thumbs up. "We're good! Get your helmet on."
"Scott, we're gonna send you back a week." I informed him as I approached the controls.
"Let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in ten seconds. Make sense?" Bruce questioned.
"Perfectly not confusing." Scott confirmed, putting on his helmet.
"Good luck, Scott. You got this." Steve mentioned.
Scott smiled. "You're right. I do, Captain America."
I'm glad someone's confident about this, because I have no idea if this will work. With that, we sent Scott back. After ten seconds, Bruce and I brought back Scott only to discover he was a teenager. Poor Scott looked baffled.
"Uh, guys? This...this doesn't feel right." Scott said.
"What is this?" Steve asked, just as baffled.
"What's going on?" Bruce inquired, looking over at me.
I frantically moved around the controls, flipping switches in an attempt to fix the problem. Natasha furrowed her brows. "That...who is that?"
"Hold on." I advised, beginning to panic.
"Is that Scott?" Natasha asked.
"Yes, it's Scott!" Scott confirmed.
Bruce and I then managed to get him back into the quantum tunnel, and when he returned it wasn't what we hoped for, it was Scott, but as an old man. He grimaced. "Ow! My back!"
"What is this?" Steve asked again, bewildered.
"Can Mandy and I get a little space here?" Bruce inquired.
Steve nodded, quickly getting out of the way. "Yeah yeah. Can you bring him back?"
"We're working on it!" I exclaimed.
Bruce and I continued to flip switches, trying everything. We even hit the side of one of the button pads, dragging Scott back into the quantum realm. And things only grew worse as he entered as a baby. I mentally groaned.
"It's a baby." Steve said in disbelief.
"Technically it's Scott." I pointed out.
"As a baby!" Steve exclaimed.
"He'll grow." Bruce stated.
"Bring Scott back!" Steve urged.
Bruce then turned towards Natasha. "When I say kill the power, kill the power."
"Oh my God." Natasha said as she rapidly walked towards the generator.
"And kill it!" Bruce shouted.
Natasha pulls down a lever, shutting everything down. Scott returned back to his normal self, looking bewildered and spooked.
"Somebody peed my pants." Scott said.
Natasha and I let out sighs of relief. "Oh thank God."
"But I don't know if it was baby me or old me...Or just me me." Scott mentioned.
Bruce threw up his his hands in the air. "Time travel!"
Steve said nothing, instead he simply shook his head before walking away. Bruce then looked over at Natasha. "What? I..I see this as an absolute win!"
"This is hardly a win. We have much to work on." I pointed out.
Fortunately, Tony came back to help us. While Tony helped out with creating the machine, the others brought back the team. I was baffled to see Thor. I never met him, but I had only seen him on television, and he looked very different, now having a beard and a belly. He wandered about the room as he drank another can of beer. I contacted Jemma and Leo from my phone, asking for their advice, and rapidly writing down their notes. Rocket and I were working on the testing chamber under the glass platform. It was strange to see a talking raccoon, even weirder that I was working on a time machine with a raccoon. Just when I thought I'd seen it all, the universe proves me wrong once again.
"Drifting left. On the side there, Lebowski." Tony quipped as he walked past Thor. He then glanced over at Rocket and me. "Mandy, Ratchet, how's it going?"
"It's Rocket. Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal." Rocket retorted.
I snickered, shaking my head. As we worked on the machine, Rocket and I talked about our pasts, he told me about his friends, which he said were called the Guardians of the Galaxy. Despite Rocket seeming cold and distant, he was actually very kind and a great listener.
"So, let me get this straight, you left this Mandalorian after you saw his face, which is against his code?" Rocket inquired, returning to our talk.
I nodded. "Basically."
"Did you at least talk about it?" He questioned.
I grimaced. "No, I left, because I'm sure he would've thrown me out of the ship...and I didn't wanna stick around for that."
"Yikes, sounds tough. Well, if you ask me, it sounds pretty silly, wearing a helmet all the time." Rocket said, trying to cheer me up.
"Maybe, but it meant everything to him. I should've been more careful, respect his beliefs." I pointed out.
"Wow, sounds like you love this guy." Rocket stated.
"More than anyone else...but I ruined it." I confirmed.
After a while, I took a small break, walking over towards one of the lab rooms to find Scott, wearing the quantum suit we created along with Bruce, Steve, Rhodey, and Nebula, who turned out was one of the daughters of Thanos, well adopted.
"All right. I'm not ready for this." Scott said, looking afraid.
"I'm game. I'll do it." Clint, a.k.a, Hawkeye offered as he walked into the room.
Clint looked and seemed different than when I saw him last, which was in Germany. I wondered what had happened to him in these past few years. If there was a chance to test this, then I wanted to try it out too. With that in mind, I spoke up. "I'll do it, too."
Clint and I then quickly put on the Quantum suits as Nebula set us up, messing around to make sure the suits were functioning properly. Meanwhile, Bruce was warning of us what we may feel while going back in time.
"Clint, Mandy now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don't worry about it." Bruce informed us.
"Wait a second, let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know, and..." Rhodey trailed off as he made a hand gesture suggesting that they strangle a baby Thanos with a rope.
I was taken back, unable to say a word. Bruce looked disgusted. "First of all, that's horrible..."
"It's Thanos." Rhodey retorted.
"And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future." Bruce informed him.
"Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them...Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved." Scott chimed in.
"Bingo." Clint agreed.
"That's not how it works." Nebula replied.
"Well, that's what I heard." Clint shot back.
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "What? By who? Who told you that?"
"Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time..." Rhodey began.
"Quantum Leap..." Scott added.
"A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time." Rhodey continued.
"Hot Tub Time Machine." Scott chimed in.
"Hot Tub Time Machine." Rhodey confirmed. "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel."
"Die Hard? No, it's not one..." Scott said, shaking his head.
"This is known." Rhodey protested.
"I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future." Bruce explained. "And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future..."
Nebula nodded. "Exactly."
Scott's face fell. "So...Back To The Future's a bunch of bullshit?"