Sitting through that lunch was an incredibly awkward affair. Nobody knew what to talk about, and even Dreyma and Morgan could sense that there was something off. Tony had made his decision, true, but I also had made mine. As they got up to leave, I pulled Pepper aside.
"I'm going to go with them, but I know Dreyma was looking forward to this weekend–"
"I don't mind, and I'm sure Tony won't either."
"I'll come back for her Sunday evening."
"Sounds good. I hope you guys can work out....whatever it is."
"Thank you." I looked back to the great room where Dreyma was hugging Steve and Natasha goodbye. I signalled for them to wait outside, and got Dreyma's attention before she could get sucked into playing with Morgan again.
"Hey, sweetheart. Would you be ok if I went with Uncle Steve and Auntie Nat this weekend? I'll come back on Sunday night to get you, but I won't go unless you say it's ok." Her reply was completely unexpected.
"Can I come too?"
"You wouldn't have much fun, Dreyma. We'll be doing a lot of talking and not much playing."
"Oh." She seemed to think for a second, "If you go can I have a juice pop now?" I laughed.
"Yes, you can have a juice pop." I gave her a hug, "I'll see you Sunday. I love you."
"Are you going to bring Mom back?" My breath caught in my throat.
"I heard Auntie Nat say–" I pressed a finger over her lips and shook my head.
"You can't tell anyone you heard that."
"But are you?" Why did this have to be so hard!? I could already feel the tears building up. I couldn't lie, but I didn't want to give her false hope.
"We're going to try, sweetie. We're going to try."
"Ok!" She gave me her brightest smile and this time it broke my heart, because she was undoubtedly going to disappointed. She threw her arms around me, "I love you, dad." It took all my strength to not cry.
"I love you too." I kissed the top of her head. "Now run along, Morgan has been waiting very patiently." Without another thought, she bounded off. I gave her shrinking form one last look, sent Tony one final glare, and slipped out the door.
"Well, he's scared." Natasha reasoned as we descended the steps to the car.
"He's not wrong."
"Yeah, but what are we gonna do? We need him! What, are we gonna stop?"
"No, I wanna do it right." He stared off into the distance for a moment, "We're gonna need a really big brain."
"Bigger than his?"
"In this case, literally."
"Who?" Then it came to me.
"Bruce."
It took the rest of the day just to get in contact with him. After we got back to the Compound, we straightened up a bit, having already agreed in the car to get everyone else back here to work on this too. And they really meant everyone.
"No."
"Loki–"
"We haven't seen him in years now, we barely hear about him from Valkyrie, and all that we do hear is negative!"
"If he doesn't want to come, that's his choice, but if we're going to attempt this, then we need him. No matter what kind of state he's in. You're the only person who could convince him to come." I scoffed.
"He knows I don't want to see him."
"Have you ever told him that?" Steve said carefully.
"No."
"Then how could he–"
"Because. He's my–we were raised together. You're able to read a person after that amount of time together."
"Please, Loki."
"Bruce could do it. Rocket's probably got a shot too, they share an unhealthy love of deadly weapons."
"But they're not back yet, and they may not be near here either. We need you to go."
"I won't go alone. We're going to talk to Bruce and Rocket first." Steve's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Fine." Was all he said, and there was silence in the car until we got back to the Compound that evening.
Before we went to bed, we made one last ditch effort to contact Bruce. He actually picked up that time, a feat in and of itself, but we could barely make out what he said after he asked who Steve was. It seemed like they managed to arrange to meet for brunch at some diner that Bruce likes to frequent, and they had all left an hour or so ago. It was up to me to contact Nebula, Rocket, Rhodey, and Carol. Give them the news. I wasn't looking forward to it, but preferred it to going to breakfast. The decision to not contact Okoye had been a difficult one. We'd been evenly divided, though Scott hadn't really known what he was arguing for when he said we should tell Wakanda that their king and crown princess could be returned to them shortly. It would create pandemonium, especially for the Queen Mother, who ruled in the absence of her children. The more important accomplishment, however, was the retrieval of Scott's vehicle, if it could even be called that, from San Francisco. He'd left as soon as we'd gotten back to the Compound in the Quinjet with Natasha and they'd gotten back before midnight. I didn't want to know how they'd managed to acquire it so quickly.
I sat down at Natasha's desk with my breakfast: a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and an apple, and called Rhodey, Carol, and the Milano.
"Yeah Nat? What's...." He saw me sitting there, "up?"
"I'll explain once everyone is on." Carol was the next to pick up.
"I don't have a lot of time, what's going on?"
"We still smell like garbage thanks to that infectious scowl." Nebula's deep alto came over the speakers before she and Rocket stepped into view.
"As I said before, you were closer."
"Can we not do this now?" Only then did Nebula and Rocket seem to realize I wasn't Natasha, "There's been a...development."
I explained it to them as best I could. I didn't understand quantum science completely. I had always planned to study the subatomic before the destruction of Asgard's extensive libraries, but never got the chance. Still, I think I managed to get the basic meaning across. Scott had reappeared, and we might have a chance to bring everyone back if we use the quantum realm. But we were going to need their help.
"I'm sorry." Carol nearly interrupted me as I finished, "But I can't stop and come all the way back based on a possibility. There are too many planets struggling to survive right now, and I have to help them." She immediately received glares Nebula and Rocket. Rhodey just looked disappointed, but based on what Natasha had told me about her last communique with Carol, I was sadly unsurprised.
"Ok." Rocket scoffed, probably disappointed that I wasn't arguing with her about it.
"You think I don't want them all back?" She was addressing Rocket and Nebula, "You couldn't be more wrong! But turning tail to chase a theory isn't something I can do. It's not something Fury would have done."
"No," I was trying to stop the impending fight, "But almost everyone else we lost personally would. If it meant bringing the rest of us back." She clenched her fists and the hologram pixellated, unable to handle the increased energy.
"You also have to do what you think is right. It may be some time before we have established the science of it. The others are working on getting Bruce to come and help us right now."
"If you're all just going to discuss logistics, then I have to go."
"Alright, go. We'll contact you once we're about to leave." Carol gave a firm nod and vanished, leaving a moment of silence in her wake.
"You said the others were talking to Bruce," Rhodey said, "What about Tony?"
"He refuses to risk his perfect family to help the rest of us get back our other halves." I couldn't keep the venom out of my voice anymore, "He would rather he have a picture-perfect family and see the rest of us suffer than chance losing it so that Dreyma could have her mother back." Perhaps that had been a bit harsh, but no more so than he'd been yesterday. Rhodey sighed.
"Yeah, I'm not shocked. If he doesn't have a clear game plan you can't get him to consider it, but if he thinks he can pull it off, nothing will stop him."
"And right now we don't have a clear game plan, other than work the science. Which could take months." That admission came with a bitter taste, "Especially without him."
"Well, we'll be there." Nebula said, "We're near Earth anyway, we can be there by morning tomorrow." I felt my spirits lift marginally. Finally, some good news!
"And I just finished doing what Nat asked me to, so I'll probably be there around the same time."
"Perfect, see you then." I disconnected Rhodey, and made eye contact with Rocket.
"Uh-oh. That's not a face I like seeing."
"You guys aren't the only team members Steve and Natasha want me to recruit. They want me to go to Tønsberg."
"Ah, shit. And lemme guess. You don't want to go."
"That would be putting it mildly."
"Listen, you're his brother. If anyone has a chance of getting him to come back, it's you." I shook my head.
"I severely doubt that. In the past when we were....at odds, he was always the first to extend a hand in peace. Of course it almost never worked, but that has yet to happen. So he has no desire to forgive me."
"Maybe he hasn't reached out because he's waiting for you to." Rocket pointed out, "He did fail the entire universe, but he also failed you. He probably doesn't want to deal with another rejection."
"I hadn't thought of that." I admitted, "But I still don't want to go alone. The Asgardians may respect me to a degree, but they hold no love for me. I thought you and Bruce would have the best chance at getting him to come."
"Eh, maybe. Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll come along, and I'm sure Big Green will too. But we're about to go through a Jump Point, so we need to go."
"Alright." I replied reluctantly, "See you in the morning."
With that, they ended the call and I pushed the uneaten sandwich away from me. I wasn't hungry anymore.