5 Years Later
It's been five fucking years since half of the world was snapped away. It's hard to move on when you feel responsible for losing all the people you care about. Steve and I ended up getting our own place in Brooklyn to try and move on, but we both know that's gonna be hard. Steve does this support group thing, but I couldn't be less interested in it. I would spend my days with Nat sometimes over at the Avengers Compound. Steve didn't like me too, but I knew it was my way of coping and getting out of the apartment. It's just felt so empty everywhere. It's like everyone just stopped living their lives and it was hard not to follow suit. I hadn't seen Steve in a couple of days since I was helping out Nat with some "Avenger" issues. I did miss Steve, but I didn't want him to see how upset I still was after 5 years.
Today at the Avengers Compound, Natasha was talking to holograms of Nebula, Rocket Raccoon, Okoye, Danvers with a tomboyish haircut, and Rhodes. I sat next to her with my feet on the desk.
"It was an infectious garbage scowl." Nebula said.
"So, thanks for the hot tip." Rocket responses.
"Well, you were closer," Carol says.
"Yeah. And we smell like garbage." Rocket says.
"You get a reading on those tremors?" Natasha says to Okoye.
"It was a mild subduction under the African plate." She response.
"Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?" Nat says.
"Nat, it's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it." Okoye says back.
"Carol, are we seeing you here next month?" Natasha says.
"Not likely," Carol says.
ROCKET then seems to realize that she got a new haircut.
"What, you gonna get a new haircut?" Rocket says.
"Listen fur-face, I'm covering a lot of territories. The things that are happening on Earth, are happening everywhere, on thousands of planets." Carol says irritated.
"That's a good point. That's a good point." Rocket mumbles.
"So you might not see me for a long time," Carol says.
"Alright. Uh, well. This channel is always active. So, anything goes sideways... anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't... comes through me." Natasha says.
"Okay," Okoye says.
"Alright," Carol says. One by one, the Avengers cut off their calls one by one.
"Good luck," Carol says and then cuts off the call except for Rhodey. Nat sighs exhausted and sits down. I notice Rhodey is still on the line and call out to Nat pointing at the hologram. She then notices Rhodey
"Where are you?" Natasha says.
"Mexico. The federal found a room filled with bodies. Looks like a bunch of cartel guys. Never even had the chance to get their guns off." Rhodey says.
"It's probably a rival gang," I say back.
"Except it isn't," Rhodey says, looking at Nat as she realizes something.
"It's definitely Barton. What he's done here, what he's been doing for the last few years... I mean, the scene that he left..." Rhodey says.
I look over at Nat as she starts to show signs of sadness as gradually tears up.
"I gotta tell you, there's a part of me that doesn't even want to find him," Rhodey says.
Natasha sits there and starts to eat a sandwich, ignoring the pain I see written all over her. I stand up and walk over to the hologram.
"Will you find out where he's going next?" I say to Rhodey.
"Hayes..."
"Please. For Nat. She needs this." I say pleadingly.
"Okay." Then Rhodes cuts off.
Nat starts to cry as she tries to hold back her tears miserably. I go and sit next to her and place my arm over her shoulder, pulling her into a sideways hug. I let a few tears fall as I close my eyes and rest my head against hers.
"You know I'd offer to cook you two dinner but you guys seem pretty miserable already." Out of nowhere, Roger appears and slumps over a bookshelf. Nat wipes the tears off her face as I do the same.
"You here to do your laundry?" Nat says.
"And to see a friend," Steve says. "I knew Hayes was gonna be here and I've been avoiding this place, so why no stop by."
"Clearly, your friend is fine," Nat says.
"And you?" Steve asks looking at me.
"Never been better," I said looking down at my hands.
"You know I saw a pod of whales when I was coming up the bridge."
"In the Hudson?" Nat asks.
"There's fewer ships, cleaner water," Steve says.
"You know, if you're about to tell us to look on the bright side, I'm about to hit you in the head with Nat's peanut butter sandwich," I say as I get up from my seat and walk over to him, pulling him into a hug. I jokingly smile into the hug, as Rogers does the same and Nat lets out a little giggle.
"Sorry. Force of habit." Steve says looking at Nat and then me. He then looks back down at me,
"Hi." He whispers to me.
"Hi," I say back. We pull away and he takes his jacket off, throwing it on the couch. He then sits down on another chair, while I go back over to the chair I was sitting in before.
"You know, I keep telling everyone they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us." Steve says.
"If we move on, who does this?" Nat says.
"Maybe it doesn't need to be done," Steve says.
"I used to have nothing. Then I got this. This job... this family. And I was... I was better because of it. And even though... they're gone... I'm still trying to be better." Nat says.
"We all need to get a life," Steve says.
"Do you really want that Steve?" I asked him.
He looked at me and then shook his head.
"Something always draws me back here." He says.
Then camera footage popped up in front of us, showing Scott Lang with a Van behind him.
"Uh... Hi. Hi! Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. Did we meet a few years ago, at the airport? In Germany? I got really big, and I had my mask on. You wouldn't recognize me." Scott says.
STEVE shoots up.
"Is this an old message?" He asks.
"It's the front gate," Natasha says as we both stand up too.
"Ant-man? Ant-man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys." Scott says.
"Let's let him in," I said.
It's been a couple of minutes since we let Scott inside the Avengers Compound. He keeps pacing worriedly in front of us. I look over at Steve with a confused look on my face.
"Are you okay?" I say to Scott, turning to look at him.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Scott says. I can tell he is struggling to ask about something, but finally, he blurts it out.
"Have either of you ever studied Quantum Physics?" Scott asks as he stops pacing.
"Only to make conversation." Nat jokes.
"Alright. So... five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my... She was my... She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there." Scott says.
"I'm sorry. That must've been a very long five years." I say to him.
"Yeah, but that's just it. For me, it was five hours." Scott says.
Steve, Nat, and I all share a quick bewildered glance.
"See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving." Scott says. He strides over to pick up Nat's sandwich and bites into it.
"Scott, what are you talking about?" Steve asks.
"What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if, we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like... Like before Thanos." Scott says.
"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?" I butt in.
"No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a... Yeah, a time machine. I know it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way... No, it's crazy." Scott says.
"I get e-mails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore," Nat says.
"So who do we talk to about this?" Steve says. Once he says it, he knows exactly who.
"Come on," Steve says as he grabs his jacket and heads for the door.
We head out to a cabin where Tony lives now. When we get there and get out of the car, we see Tony walking towards the cabin with a girl in his arms. Tony sighs when he sees us. I can tell he is not looking forward to the discussion about taking place.
We walk onto the porch as Scott starts to explain his plan to Tony.
"...Now, we know what it sounds like..." Scott says as he finishes explaining.
"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve says.
"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition. Can we agree on that?" Tony asks.
Scott, Steve, Nat, and I all look puzzled. Science is barely any of our fields.
"Thank-you. In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony says.
"I did," Scott said.
"No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?" Tony says.
"A time heist?" Scott says.
"Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?" Tony says.
"The stones are in the past. We can go back and get them." I say to Tony in an almost pleading voice.
"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back." Nat says.
"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony says.
"I don't believe we would," Steve says.
"Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise." Tony says.
"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events-" Scott starts to say.
"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?" Tony says to him.
"No," Scott says kind of embarrassed.
"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause, that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works." Tony said.
"Tony... We have to take a stand." Nat says.
"We did stand. And yet, here we are." Tony snaps back.
"I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, we have a chance to bring her back. Bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even..." Scott says.
"That's right, Scott, I won't. Leave it. Got a kid." Tony says.
Morgan then runs to Tony on que. He picks her up and places her on his lap.
"Mommy told me to come and save you," Morgan says to him.
"Good job. I'm saved." Tony says as he stands with her in his arms. He then turns to face us.
"I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I... I missed you guys, it was... Oh, and the table's set for six." Tony says.
"Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance." Steve says.
"I got my second chance right here, Cap. I can't roll the dice again. Just give this a rest and live your life, Steve. You are lucky to still have Hayes in your life. Maybe you should take that second chance. That goes for all of you. Now If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch." Tony says.
Cap, Nat, and Scott walking back to the car outside Tony's house as I stand there looking at him.
"This second chance of yours, does it help you sleep at night and put everything that happened behind you?" I ask Tony, actually curious to know the answer.
"Some days are better than others, but ya, ya it does," Tony says. I look behind me at Steve and then back at Tony.
"Thanks," I said and turn to walk towards the car.
"He's scared," Nat says when I catch up to them.
"He's not wrong," Steve says.
"Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do? We need him. What, are we gonna do?" Scott says.
"I wanna do it right. We're gonna need a really big brain." Steve says.
"Bigger than his?" Scott asks. Steve nods and goes to get into the car.
"Steve, can I talk to you?" I asked Steve. He turns and nods at the other to get into the car. He then walks over to me.
"Do you really think this is going to work?" I ask him.
"It could, we need to try. Don't you want this chance?" Steve asks me back.
"Trust me, I wanna do this too since now we know there is some sort of a possibility to save everyone that's lost no matter what Tony says, but what if it doesn't work. Then what." I sigh and shake my head. "Look at this life, tony's life. We could have this." I say looking up at Steve.
"Trust me I want this, this life Tony has, but this possibility is going to keep me up at night if I, we don't try it."
"Promise me that if this doesn't work, it's gonna be you and me, living the life that we deserve," I beg Steve.
"I swear it.' Steve says. He goes to pull me into a hug, but I just walk past him and get into the car.
As we drive back into town, Nat makes a call and tells Banner to meet us at a cafe somewhere. When we get there, we all sit in a booth in the back and wait for Bruce. Soon we see Bruce Banner, but not the same one that we remember. He looks more... green.
It's been a couple of minutes since Bruce arrived and no one really knows how to start the conversation. We all sit in silence for a bit before Bruce finally speaks.
"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating. Try some of that. Have some eggs." Bruce says to us, pushing his plate towards us.
"I'm so confused," Scott says.
"These are confusing times," Bruce said seriously.
"Right. No, no, that's not what I meant." Scott said.
"No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now." Bruce said with a sense of humor, lightening the mood.
"Yeah! How? Why?" Scott said.
"Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost." Bruce says.
"No one blamed you, Bruce." Nat responses.
"I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk-like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds..." Bruce says.
Then three children appear behind Bruce and walk up to him tentatively.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" The girl asks.
"Yes?"
"Can we get a photo?" The girl asks.
"100%, little person. Come on, step up. [Holding out the phone to Scott] You mind?" Bruce says.
"Oh," Scott says as he sits up and takes the camera. I roll my eyes and look out the window.
"Say "green"!" The children and Bruce say Green as Scott snaps the photo.
"Did you get that? That's good." Bruce says.
Scott leans forward to hand back the phone.
" Don't you wanna grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man." Scott says. The kids look blankly at him as Steve and I look at each other unamused.
"They're Hulk fans, they don't know Ant-Man. Nobody does." Scott says.
"Wait, no, no, he wants to... [to one of the boys] You want to take a picture with him, right?" Bruce says to the kids, but one of the boys shakes his head vigorously.
"He's even saying no he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it either. I don't want a picture with them." Scott said.
"He's gonna feel bad," Bruce says to the children. He then turns to Scott.
"Sorry. They said they'd do it."
"I don't want it anymore," Scott says sternly holding out the phone.
"You'd feel better," Bruce says.
"Just take the goddamn phone," Scott says still holding out the phone to them.
"Thank you, Mr. Hulk." The girl says to bruce as the children wave at him.
"No, it's great kids. Thank you very much. Hulk out!" Bruce calls out to them.
"Bruce," Steve says annoyed.
"Dab!" Bruce says still to the kids walking away.
"Bruce," Steve says again.
"Listen to your Mom. She knows better." Bruce continues.
"Bruce!" I yell for Steve. He finally turns back to us and avoids my harsh gaze. I don't have time for this, we don't have time for this.
"About what we were saying..." Scott says.
"Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise." Bruce says.
"Well, you pulled this off. I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible time, too." Nat says.
Bruce nods to us and we all stand to leave.
"Well, let's go test this possibility," I said as we made out way back to the Avenger Compound.
When we got back, we all agreed to try this Quantum tunnel tomorrow. Bruce and Scott were going to work on the Quantum Tunnel while the rest of us get ready for tomorrow's testing.
We all then head to our rooms. Steve walks behind me as we head down the long hallway to our room. When we get there, I walk into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I then wash my face quickly. When I'm done, I just stand there with my hands on either side of the sink counter with my head down. I hear Steve get up from the bed and walk over. I look up in the mirror and see him leaning against the door frame behind me.
"Are you mad at me?" Steve asks.
I let out a sigh.
"No, it's just...*sigh* I'm not mad at you," I said turning around to face him. I lean my back against the sink and cross my arms over my chest.
"Then what is it?"
"I guess I'm jealous of Tony for being able to move on and actually have a life. I want a life like Tony has, but I'm scared that I will always live in guilt and regret if I never bring anyone back." I say to Steve trying to put on a brave face.
Steve pushes off of the doorframe and walks over to me, pulling me into a hug.
"I want you to know that I really do want to live real life together. We just have to try this." Steve said
"I get it," I said into his chest.
"I know I acted like I don't want to try this, but I do more than anything. I'm just scared of how I'm gonna feel when this possibility turns out to be just nothing."
We stayed like this for a while before I pulled away. I quickly changed and get into bed. Steve soon joined me and placed his back against the headboard. After a while, I sat up in the bed. We both stared at the wall until we both fell asleep, resting on each other sitting up.