"Okay, so the 'how' works. Now we gotta figure out the when...and the where,"
Together in the conference room, the team sat with one another. The hologram boards before them showcased the different Infinity Stones on them as Steve spoke to the team.
"Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six infinity stones," Lottie informed the team as Tony walked over, cutting her off.
"Well I'd substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six infinity stones," he shot his best friend a quick wink.
"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history," Bruce chimed in.
"In our history," Lottie remind him before looking back to the team. "That doesn't leave many places to just drop in."
"Let's start with the Aether," Steve announced, looking around the room. "Thor, what do you know?"
All eyes in the room drifted to the God in question, who was resting on one of the chairs in the corner of the room. His eyes were closed, head tilted back with sunglasses resting on his face and his half empty beer can balanced on his beer gut.
Lottie raised an eyebrow at the sight, sharing a look with Steve.
"Is he asleep?"
"No. I'm pretty sure he's dead,"
Once the God finally awoke from his slumber, Thor stumbled his way to the front of the screens. The rest of the team moved to stand back, cautiously watching him as he tried his best to actually read the screen through his haze.
"Where to start? Umm... The Aether, first, is not a stone, someone called it a stone before," Thor pointed toward Lottie and Steve, who both already looked completely done with the conversation at hand. "It's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someones gonna need to amend that."
With a sigh, Lottie tucked herself into Steve's side, already knowing that they were going to be in for a long explanation that probably wouldn't actually teach them much about the Aether.
"...Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... an old flame of mine... She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time... and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother... who's dead..."
Lottie looked over at Tony, raising an eyebrow at him as she turned the drunk God out. Tony sighed, waving her off as he got to his feet and walked up to Thor. He attempted to push him back into his seat, but Thor waved him off.
"...the only thing permanent in life is impermanence,"
"Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?"
"No...I'd like a Bloody Mary,"
Hours later, the brainstorming session was still in full swing as they went through every possible encounter with each of the stones in order to find the best spot in their history to drop in.
The team sat together around the dining table, shoveling their chinese take out into their mouths as Rocket stood on top of the table, walking back and forth as he explained the power stone to them. Lottie and Natasha kept notes on the entire situation.
"Quill said he stole the power stone from Morag,"
"Is that a person?" Scott questioned as Lottie looked up at him.
"Quill is the person and Morag is the planet,"
"Yeah, what the super genius said,"
"Wait, a planet?" Scott's eyes grew huge. "Like outer space?"
"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything," Rocket walked up to Scott, ruffling the hair on the top of his head. "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."
Tony, Lottie, and Natasha all looked up at one another, desperately trying not to laugh, but they couldn't help it. Each of them fell into laughter, so contagious that the rest of the team couldn't help but laugh along.
Scott only mumbled under his breath, angrily stabbing into his stir fry with his fork.
The sun began to set, most of the team giving up for the night as the moved off to relax and take a break. Some, though, continued on, wanting to find the answers to the stones as quickly as possible.
Nebula stood in front of Steve, Lottie, Nat, Clint, Scott, and Bruce as the photograph of the soul stone appeared behind her.
"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir,"
"What's Vormir?" Natasha questioned from where her and Lottie sat together on the couch, taking notes on their notepads of the situation.
" A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where... Thanos murdered my sister,"
Lottie looked up at Nebula, meeting her eyes with sympathy as the rest of the team looked away. She knew that Thanos had murdered Gamora from the conversation on Titan, but in the last five years Nebula had never opened up about her any more than that.
"Not it," Scott mumbled, Lottie's foot connecting with his shin roughly in an instant.
The moon was shining bright over head by the time the conversations about the time stone were in motion. The rest of the team had gone to sleep, vowing to continue in the morning.
Tony, Lottie, Natasha, and Bruce were the last ones left awake. Bruce was lying on the floor, playing with his glasses. Tony laid across the table, Lottie's head resting in his lap as she laid sideways her legs dangling off the edge near Bruce's head. Natasha head then laid in her lap as they all stared up at the ceiling, tiredness overcoming them finally.
"What kind of doctor was the Doctor Strange guy?" Natasha questioned the team.
"Neurostuff meets rabbit from a hat. Nice place in the village, though,"
"That was before he became the wizard," Lottie informed Tony, waving her hands through the air. "Master of the Mystic Arts or whatever he called it."
"Yeah. Sullivan Street. Hmm... Bleecker," Bruce chimed in as Natasha shook her head.
"Wait, he lived in New York?"
"No. He lived in Toronto-"
"No, it was definitely New York-"
"Guys," Lottie cut in as her and Natasha both shot up, looking at one another as they realized the same thing.
"If you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York," Nat told the other two.
Tony and Bruce shared a quick look as Bruce shot off the floor.
"Shut the front door,"
◼ ◼ ◼
The sun was just peaking over the horizon in the early hours of the morning.
Charlotte Rogers stood in her bedroom, staring at the photographs that sat on her shelf like she did all those years ago after the accords situation. She looked at the smiling faces of Wanda and now Peter, who had earned his place on the shelf, as she zipped up the last of her old blue suit from her first days at SHIELD.
Turning to face the bed, Lottie sat her husband sitting on the edge, staring down at that old compass that he never let go of. Lottie smiled softly as she walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder as she looked down at the old photo of herself that sat inside.
"Why do you keep that, hm? I'm right here,"
"Because I used to look at this when I needed the motivation to fight, I used to look at your face," Steve looked up at his wife as she ran a hand through his hair. "Guess it's just a good luck charm."
The pair sat in silence for a moment as Lottie admired the man before her, her hands still running through his hair. He sat in his old uniform from back during the Battle of New York, and it was a sight for sore eyes.
"Six stones, three teams...one shot," Steve stood on his feet, looking down at his wife as she looked back at him. "Whatever it takes."
"Whatever it takes, doll,"
The pair reached down simultaneously, turning their time travel watches as the nanotech that made up their time travel suits spread across their bodies, enveloping them in the familiar red and white pattern.
Leaving the room, the soldiers were met with the rest of their team, standing before them at the ready. They nodded before they moved together though the hallways and into the lab.
The sunrise shone through the large floor to ceiling windows, illuminating their path as they moved together toward the Quantum Realm generator, standing tall and confidently.
Lottie walked beside Steve, keeping her head held high as they walked up the stairs and onto the platform.
The team circled around them, everyone standing with their designated teams. Tony, Scott, Lottie, Bruce, and Steve were set for the Time, Space, and Mind stones. Nebula, Clint, Natasha, and Rhodey were set for Morag and Vormir for the Space and Soul stones. Thor and Rocket were set for Asgard and the Reality Stone.
"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... We lost family... We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win,"
Steve looked down at Lottie once, sharing a smile before he looked over at Tony. The Stark gave him a nod of respect as Lottie turned to face the team.
"Whatever it takes. Good luck,"
The team placed their hands together in the middle, sharing one last look with one another before they moved back into their places.
"All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green,"
Bruce moved off the platform, quickly hitting the necessary keys on the control panel before rejoining the team once more.
Natasha Romanoff smiled as she looked down at her feet. She looked to Steve and Lottie, two of her best friends, and sent them a smile.
"See you in a minute,"
Lottie grinned back, mouthing 'I love you' to her friend. Natasha's smile only widened more as she nodded, before they each faced forward again.
The whirling of the generator began as the nano-tech of the suits moved up over their heads, covering them in their helmets.
And in the blink of the eye, the Avengers went subatomic and into the Quantum Realm. Into the past.
◼ ◼ ◼
It's happening. HOLY SHIT GUYS THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW WOW OKAY I AM NOT PREPARED FOR THIS AT ALL!!!