Somewhere in that hallway encounter with the director of SHIELD, Jessi had lost sight of her old Captain. With the napkins pressed against her shirt to soak up the coffee, she vigilantly wended her way around the people in the hall, keeping her eye out for her father or for Steve. She went the only way that she knew, and that was towards the exit doors at the other end. After tossing the napkins in a trashcan, her hands pushed open the main doors that led her back outside into the sun. Every army soldier, every worker, and absolutely everything there was foreign.
Now that she was alone and without her family, nothing seemed to make sense. Her mind had been completely jumbled. This sudden anxiety caused for her heart to beat rapidly. A few soldiers walked passed her, one of them accidentally knocked against her shoulder. She lost balance on her feet, and fought to hold herself up against a metal column that connected with roof above and to the sidewalk. With this new view angle of the base, and with a stroke of luck, she had the availability to catch the familiar face of her father. He was crossing the center of the bustling camp holding the tesseract's brief case, and he wasn't alone. Jessi remained at the pole, but squinted to see who he was conversing with.
"I have a little girl" Tony told Howard Stark as they strolled together by the trucks. Although Howard didn't realize that this Tony was actually his son from the future, who came back to retrieve the tesseract in order to restore his universe. Tony had awkwardly introduced himself as Howard Potts, his brain imploding in the heat of the moment. He didn't think that he'd actually run into his father here in the past "two, actually" he corrected quickly, holding up his fingers "Although" he chuckled "one of them is not so little anymore"
"Were you scared?" Howard paused, asking Tony genuinely.
"About what?"
"About your children being born?" Howard at this point was roughly the same age as Tony was. This question struck him in the chest slightly as he listened to his own father ask him these types of questions.
"Widely" he nodded.
"Do you have any regrets?"
"Regarding them" he thought of Morgan and Jessi, and the corner of his lip went up in a smile "absolutely not" But-" he breathed "there is one. Long story short... I wasn't there for my oldest when she was born" he explained, sounding almost ashamed to be saying it out loud "I was about nine years too late actually. Didn't even know she existed, and now, well, nothin' seems right in life without her" he admitted as Howard looked him attentively between the eyes "My one regret is that I wasn't there to hold her when she was born, to watch her grow, and to watch her learn. It bothers me every day"
"Hey, come on, you're a good dad, Potts. I can tell" Howard patted him warmly on the arm.
Jessi couldn't believe it. She couldn't hear the conversation, but that was undoubtedly Howard Stark. Her very own Grandfather whom she never had the chance to meet before he died. He had worked side by side with Captain America, aided in kickstarting SHIELD, and created a widely-known billion dollar company that shares her last name.
She thought of that time long ago in Siberia when she learned that a brainwashed Bucky Barnes had murdered him, along with her lovely grandmother. The pain following that realization was unbearable. She won't ever forget the hollowed look in her fathers eyes as he watched that video recording. The cold mountains outside could not compare to the ice that had grown in his chest then. As Jessi became lost in her own memory, a hand reached out and gripped her elbow. She gasped, snapping her head to see Steve standing next to her, still hiding under his hat and sunglasses "God, don't do that!" she calmed her frantically beating heart.
"I couldn't find you after I left Pym's office, scared me there for a second. Is everything okay?" he asked, checking to make sure that nobody around was listening in on their subtle conversation.
"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just glad I found you guys" she noticed that he was holding a small case as well in his hands "or, you found me. Anyway, did you get the extra Pym particles?" he tapped the top of the black case in response. She tapped his hand in acknowledgment "Well good, is seems as though we accomplished everything" she checked to see if her father was still speaking with Howard, which he was "I saw my Aunt Peggy" she told Steve, unable to stop the smile from growing on her lips "She'a beautiful... and now him" she motioned to her grandfather "this doesn't even feel real"
"It is" Steve put his free hand on her shoulder "let's hope it is"
***
As soon as they synced up again outside of the steel army base fence, their bodies were sent spiraling through the quantum realm, back towards the Avengers headquarters where the rest of the team would arrive. Tony had the tesseract, and Steve had used the particles to get them home. This crazy plan actually worked, a few bumps and hiccups, but it worked. The smile that Jessi bore behind her mask was beginning to cause for her cheeks to ache. That feeling of hope, that feeling of freedom... she hadn't felt like that in a long, long time.
The Avengers landed together on top of the time machine at the same moment, their suit masks retracting back over their faces. Bruce walked towards them from the control panel, only having missed them for about ten seconds. The glowing sun outside the window hadn't moved an inch from when they left. Rhodey held the power stone in his iron covered hand "are you telling me this actually worked?" he asked in disbelief. Jessi grinned, taking a look at everyone who carried a stone with them. All of them were here. Time, Soul, Space, Reality, Power, and Mind. The lost souls would soon be home, and she would be able to see him again.
Her eyes looked to each of the Avengers, with happiness feeling as if it was about to burst from her heart. The joy radiating from the sun onto her skin almost blinded her to the fact that there was an empty space in the circle of people. Clint's right hand side was vacant, with the stone in his left. Even before the words left his mouth, deep down in her soul, she knew. The smile had faded like half of the universe did, and tears replaced the light in her eye. An overwhelming sensation of hurt spread inside of her similar to a wild fire. She raised her hand up and placed it to her heart, digging her fingers into the skin. Clint fell to his knees on the floor.
No, no it wasn't suppose to be this way. They were to return together with all of the stones and bring everyone back to life. Losing someone wasn't an option, it wasn't even considered. No, no not her. Not her. The minutes after that went by in a blur. Jessi didn't remember talking with anyone, or looking at anyone, or even walking away. She found herself in her room, hearing the memories and the voices over again in her head. For a moment, she lost touch of who she was as the grief engulfed her.
"It wasn't suppose to be this way, Nat, I care about them!"
"Letting go doesn't mean that you stop caring about them, you never do and you never will..."
"No" she blinked, her eye twitching as all she could think of was Natasha. The crimson smile on her face just as they descended into the quantum realm. Back when she first strolled into the room at her old home in Malibu, with her curly red hair falling over her shoulders. How Jessi broke down in tears in front of her on the quinn jet just after her father and friends were taken away into space.
Nat had always been open to talk, to listen, and to understand. For all of those years, Jessi had Natasha to look to "No, please" she placed her hands to her forehead, smearing the hot tears against her temple. Nat had been there by her side, taking on the position of a mentor, as Jessi's mother had done for her long ago "We were suppose to make it" Jessi said through gritted teeth "You were suppose-" her eyes squeezed shut as rage took over her body.
Jessi gripped the mirror by her desk and yanked it down, throwing it against the floor. Glass shards shattered on the impact and slid across the room. The pictures taped to the frame fluttered down, as light as a butter fly. Next, Jessi went to the textbooks on her desk and threw them as far she could, and as hard as she could to the wall. Whatever decorations that were hung in her room were being ripped apart and broken out of rage, and that rage soon fell to heartbreak. There was no way to know that this would happen, and she didn't even have the chance to say goodbye. She collapsed to the floor amongst the broken glass, bloodcurdling sobs escaping her lips as she held herself together with her arms "this was you!" she yelled out to the Titan who was to blame "you did this to her!"
"Hey hey, shhh, shh, baby, it's okay... it's okay" someone pulled her soothingly against their chest, running their fingers through her brunette hair. She knew who it was.
"You did this to her" she whimpered, hiding her face into the embrace "you did this to me"