Ch 102 Five Years Later

"Now stuff you see is gonna be very hard to process, but you'll have to see it." Benjamin told everyone.

"We're ready." Thor said.

"No you're not." Odinson said with a shudder, confusing everyone.

The screen showed 'Five Years Later.'

"Five years passed?" Tony asked as all gasped.

"Yes. They did." Logan said, "Five shitty years for the world."

"What were we doing in these 5 years?" Steve asked.

"Only thing that could be done." Scarlet Witch said, "Move on. Or try to."

"There was nothing you could." Cassie said.

The past people seemed shocked.

"Can't believe I stayed dead for 5 years." Peter muttered.

"It was hard to process, yeah." Benjamin told him.

"So I was trapped for 5 years?" Scott asked.

"To me, yes. But to you, no." Cassie said ominously and all wondered what that was about.

"How did we get everyone back?" Clint asked, worried for his family.

"You'll have to watch." Lila said and all turned to the screen again.

An empty stadium was shown followed by a support group led by Steve and there was a poster saying- "Where Do We Go, Now That They Are Gone?" A man said he had gone on a date for the first time in 5 years and had no idea what to talk about. Steve asked what they'd talked about and he said they'd talked about how things had changed, their jobs, how they missed the Mets, and then things got quiet as his date cried while they served the salads and he cried just before dessert.

Everyone looked at the screen sadly and felt disturbed by how quiet it was.

"You're running a support group." Sam noted to Steve.

"To honor you." Steve said to him in realization and Sam nodded with a smile.

Steve said that was great as he had taken the jump without knowing what would happen next and they had to take these baby steps to find purpose and be whole.

"Where Do We Go Now That They Are Gone?" Natasha simply asked what was written on the poster and no one had an answer.

"I went in the ice in '45 right after I met the love of my life. Woke up 70 years later." Steve said with a brave smile, "You got to move on. Got to move on."

"But can you?" Bruce asked and Steve had no answer.

"The world is in our hands. It's left to us guys." Steve said bravely, "And we got to do something with it. Otherwise...Thanos should've killed all of us."

"Still trying to inspire." Scott said, "Nice."

"It's all I can do after what has happened." Steve said sadly.

"I know." Morgan said, "But we can do more too."

In San Francisco, a van was kept in a storage facility with 'Lang' written on a small poster in the front. A rat crawled on a device on the van, which was none other than Luis' X-Con van. As it crawled, the machine activated while the rat moved away. And then the Quantum Tunnel activated as Scott Lang in his Ant-Man suit was thrown out. He groaned as he cleaned the dust off him and removed his mask.

"Oh my!" May said as everyone widened their eyes.

"A rat saved you!" Hope said.

"The rat actually saved the Universe indirectly!" Cassie said as all looked at her, "Seriously!"

"Five years I was in there!" Scott groaned.

"All hail the rat!" Hill said and all laughed but did what she said.

"Yes, the rat is a hero for sure." Loki said and all laughed too.

"Greatest threat to Thanos." Peter added and more laughs followed.

He looked around, asking for Hope. Then the guard who was reading a book noticed him on the monitor with a board asking for 'Help.' Later, Scott walked out of the area with a cart as he looked back at the guard weirdly before he continued walking.

"I don't think you have any idea how long it's been." Rhodes noted.

"Or maybe it wasn't that long." Hope said in realization as all turned to her.

"It wasn't." Cassie said too.

He stopped a kid on a bicycle, asking what had happened. The kid looked at him sadly and wiping his tears, rode away.

Everyone felt grief again at how they had failed to stop Thanos and so many people had paid the price.

Scott then came upon several big graves which had names of all those who had been snapped away. Now that shocked him as he started looking at the names, begging that Cassie wasn't among them. Then on one of them, he stared in horror as he saw his own name.

"What a shocker!" Scott said to himself.

"We thought you were among the snapped ones." Cassie told him sadly as he sighed and looked at her apologetically.

"I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault. It was Thanos." She said and he nodded with a smile as she smiled too.

Scott then ran to Maggie's old house, ringing the bell and banging on the door. And then, a teenage Cassie walked out, opening the door. She was shocked to see him and the two touched each other's faces happily, with her sobbing. "You're so big!" He said and she half-laughed, half-cried as the two hugged lovingly.

Everyone felt tears come to their eyes due to the emotional reunion in front of them as Hope held Scott's hand for comfort.

"I missed 5 years of your life." Scott moaned.

"It's all right, dad." Cassie said with tears, "It's all right."

Nothing more needed to be said.

"Won't miss them this time." He said and she smiled with tears while the others nodded.

In the Avengers Compound, Natasha was cutting peanut butter sandwich and holding a holographic meeting with Rocket, Nebula, Okoye, Rhodes and Carol.

"I'm leading the Avengers?" Natasha asked in shock.

"Yes." Odinson told her, "Steve had to help his support group so he assisted you at best during these times but you were the one who kept everyone together after all that has happened. You held the fort."

Natasha seemed a bit shocked that's he had done it while Steve, Bucky, Clint, Fury, Hill, Wanda, Scarlet Witch and Lila smiled at her in pride.

"Great job, Nat." Tony complimented too.

"I knew you could do it if something happened to me." Steve told her and she acknowledged all of their compliments with a polite but humble nod.

Rocket said he and Nebula had boarded the warship Danvers had pinged but it was an infectious garbage scowl. Carol said they were closer as he said they smelt of garbage now.

Everyone laughed at that as T'Challa said, "He is funny."

Natasha asked Okoye about the tremors but she said it was a mild subduction under African plate. Natasha asked how they were handling it and Okoye said it was an earthquake under the ocean and they handle it by not handling it.

"Makes sense." Natasha shrugged.

"It was actually more than that but we found out later." Scarlet Witch revealed and all wondered what that was about. [1]

Natasha asked if Carol would be back next month but she said not likely as Rocket asked if she was getting another haircut.

Everyone laughed as Thor said, "That haircut makes her look like a female me."

All laughed more as Odinson said, "Yeah. But it looks kinda good."

All shrugged.

Carol said she was covering a lot of territory as what was happening on Earth was happening on thousands of other planets and he conceded it was a good point.

"That makes sense." Rhodes shrugged.

"All right. Uh, well...This channel is always active. So, anything goes sideways...Anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't...Comes through me." Natasha said.

"And won't be let off." Bucky said with a smile at Natasha as she smiled back gratefully.

All assented and the holograms disappeared as Carol wished Rhodes good luck before disappearing too.

"She likes you." Tony said to Rhodes who groaned while the others laughed. [2]

Natasha asked where he was and he said Mexico. The federales had found a room full of bodies of Cartel members. She said it was a rival gang probably but he said it was Barton and said what he had been doing for the past few years made him not even want to find him.

"What?" Clint asked in a voice full of disbelief, "What? What is it? What am I doing?"

"Our deaths and Wanda's death, dad…you didn't take them well." Lila told him sadly as Morgan and Cassie put hands on her shoulders, "You felt that the criminals who survived didn't deserve it. So you became a vigilante like Frank Castle, killing criminals in all countries."

Clint looked horrified at this point and ashamed of himself. Of what he had become. In the future.

"I-I killed people in cold blood?" He asked as Wanda held his hand for comfort.

"Don't blame yourself." She said.

"But I did it!" He said.

"You were broken and hollow." Natasha pointed out, "You felt you had to do something."

"We all have flaws, Clint. We all make mistakes." Steve told him.

"But you admitted to them when the time came." Lila told him with pride and sadness in her voice.

"So don't blame yourself." Scarlet Witch said too.

He simply nodded, registering their words but not quite convinced. Wanda still had her hand on his to offer comfort.

Natasha urged him to do it still and he went off too while she almost cried until Steve arrived, joking he'd offer to clip her dinner but she looked miserable already.

"You're no different." Natasha said and all chuckled.

She asked if he was here for his laundry but he said he was here to see a friend. She said she was fine and he said he'd seen a pod of whales while coming up the bridge. She was shocked he'd seen that on the Hudson and he said there were fewer ships and cleaner waters.

"Whales in the Hudson? Really?" Hill asked in shock.

"Things can change." Fury shrugged.

"I think I'm just trying to cheer you up." Steve said.

"We can see that." Sam said.

Natasha said if he told her to look on the bright side, she'd hit him on the head with a peanut butter sandwich.

Everyone laughed as Natasha said, "Or Bucky's arm."

"With pleasure." He said and all laughed again.

He apologized, saying it was a force of habit as he sat down. After a few moments of silence he said, "You know I keep telling everybody they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us."

"I don't think we ever can." Thor said sadly.

"Especially not us." Odinson told him ominously.

"If I move on, who does this?" Natasha asked. "Maybe it doesn't need to be done." Steve pointed out. "I used to have nothing. And then I got this. This job. This family. And I was... I was better because of it." Natasha said emotionally with tears in her eyes, "And even though...they're gone...Now, I'm still trying to be better."

Everyone could only look at on-screen Natasha with sadness and pride.

"You're the best. You don't need to be better." Bucky assured and she looked at him gratefully, putting her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you." Steve said to Natasha.

"I think we both need to get a life." Steve said. "You first." She told him with a smirk.

Everyone chuckled as Logan said, "Yeah, you first."

Then the device chimed and Natasha activated the camera to see Scott waving and calling out to them, asking if anyone was home and reminding them of himself, saying they'd met a few years ago at the airport. He was the guy with the mask who'd gotten really big. Steve asked in shock if it was an old message but Natasha said it was the front gate.

"I'm here!" Scott said as all chuckled a bit.

"You really lightened the mood." Hope told him.

"I think you have something in your head." Bruce told Scott.

"He does." Morgan said.

Coming inside, Scott mumbled to himself as Steve calmed him down and he asked if they had ever studied Quantum Physics. Natasha said only to make conversation.

All chuckled.

Scott said 5 years ago before Thanos, he had gone to a place called the Quantum Realm which was like its own microscopic Universe and they had to be very small to get in. He then mentioned Hope, trying to explain their relationship before saying she was supposed to pull him out.

"What happened to you?" Hope asked Scott.

"Dad was in too much pain from losing you so he couldn't bring himself to talk about you." Cassie told Hope sadly as Scott sighed.

"I'm here." Hope said as she held his hand, "I'm not going anywhere."

Scott said then Thanos happened and he got stuck. Natasha said in sympathy that must have been a very long 5 years but he said for him it was 5 hours.

"Wait what?" Clint asked as all gapped.

"Only 5 hours." Fury muttered.

"The Quantum Realm works differently." Scott said in realization.

"I always suspected it. But I had no idea that was true." Hope said in shock.

"Well, it's true." Cassie shrugged.

"Is that how we did it?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Benjamin said.

"But we still have to figure it out." Tony pointed out.

"You will." Morgan assured him.

Scott said the rules for the Quantum Realm were different but then noticed the peanut butter sandwich and ate it.

All chuckled as Hill said, "Looks cute."

He said time worked differently in the Quantum Realm and if they found a way to navigate it, they could enter it at a certain point in time and exit at another, like before Thanos. Steve asked if he was talking about a time machine. He tried to deny but conceded he was, saying it did sound crazy.

"Now that we have time-travelled, it really doesn't." Thor shrugged.

"Yeah, I knew it wouldn't." Logan said.

Natasha said she got e-mails from a raccoon so nothing was crazy anymore.

"That's a good point." Pepper shrugged.

Scott asked who to talk to about this.

"A genius." Morgan said but didn't look at Tony, not wanting to give any spoilers.

In a rather modest waterside cabin, Tony walked out and sat on the grass, saying 'Chow time' before calling out Maguna. And then he asked Morgan H. Stark if she wanted some lunch. And then a little girl came out of a tent with an Iron Man mask on her, pointing her had at him, sweetly saying he could define lunch or be disintegrated.

Everyone's hearts instantly melted at the sweet scene. They all knew who this little girl was.

"It's you!" Tony said happily as he looked between Morgan and her on-screen self.

Pepper couldn't say a word, just feeling a lot of affection for both versions of Morgan.

"Yes, it's me." Morgan smiled with a happy tear in her eye, "You two had me sometime after Thanos. And you were a great dad."

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Yes." Morgan assured him, "The mistakes you made with other kids made you learn and because of that, you were great. And I couldn't have asked for better."

Tony smiled gratefully at her and was happy that he had raised her well.

The rest didn't comment, just finding the scene sweet.

Tony told Morgan she shouldn't be wearing that as it was a part of a special anniversary gift he was making for Pepper.

"You're making me a suit?" Pepper asked, recovering from her emotions.

"Looks like it." Tony shrugged, "You were pretty good with my Mark 42."

"But you were controlling that." She pointed out.

"You still might need one for emergencies." Tony pointed out and she nodded, conceding his point.

He then removed the helmet, revealing Morgan's face.

"You look so cute." Cassie said to Morgan teasingly who sighed.

"You do. I'm serious." Tony told her.

"Oh yes. Don't let them make fun of you." Pepper told her and she smiled.

He then asked how she'd found it and she said in the garage. He asked if she was looking for it. She said no but she found it. He lifted her up, saying he liked going to the garage too and that Pepper never wore anything he bought her.

Everyone chuckled again as Pepper said, "You're like him."

Then Tony saw a car stop as Steve, Natasha and Scott walked out. They all gave each other nods and later stood together outside the cabin.

"So you have come to me then." Tony noted, "You really think I can do it?"

"I know you can." Steve said, "You're one of the smartest people I know."

Tony looked at him gratefully and said, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cap."

Tony explained to them what could go wrong and in Layman's terms, they wouldn't be coming home. Scott said he did but Tony said he'd accidentally survived and it was a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. He then said now they wanted to pull something and asked what it was called. "A time heist?" Scott asked. Tony sarcastically asked why they hadn't thought of this before and then said it was a laughable pipedream. Steve said the Stones were in the past and they could get them, with Natasha adding they could snap their fingers to bring everyone back but Tony said they could make it worse. Steve said he didn't believe they would. Tony said he missed the giddy optimism but it won't help as there was no logical way to execute the time heist. The most likely outcome would be their collective demise.

"Normally I'd help." Tony said, "But I think I care about my family too much at this point."

"I don't blame you for that." Clint told him, "You don't want to lose them. I get it."

"We all get it." Steve said, "No one's blaming you."

Tony simply nodded as they continued watching.

Scott said they could follow the rules of time travel strictly like no talking to their past selves and no betting on sporting events. Tony asked if Scott had seriously thought up his plan to save the Universe based on 'Back to the Future.' Scott said nervously he hadn't and Tony said that was good as he had him worried.

"Considering what's going on in this room that 'no talking to the past selves' is already horse shit." Rhodes said and all nodded.

"Yeah, real time travel works differently." Scarlet Witch told everyone.

"Different ways of doing it may or may not affect the main timeline." Hope theorized and they nodded.

Tony said that wasn't how Quantum physics worked as Natasha said, "Tony…..We have to take a stand." Tony said they had and now here they were. Scott said he knew Tony had a lot on line, with his wife and daughter but he had lost someone important to him and so had others.

Hope held Scott's hand as he looked sad.

Scott said now they had a chance to bring everyone back and he was saying he wouldn't even do it. Tony said he wouldn't. Then Morgan arrived, saying mommy had told her to save him. He lifted her, saying he was saved. He then told them he wished they'd come here to ask for anything else and invited them to dinner but Steve said he got it and was happy for him but this was second chance. "I got my second chance right here, Cap." Tony told him firmly before saying they could stay for lunch and then walked off.

Everyone just sighed simply. Tony was about to say something when Natasha said, "Don't. We get it. You have a lot on the line. You don't want to lose them."

Tony nodded at them gratefully as he held hands with Pepper while Morgan looked at him and then the recording continued.

The three walked off, with Natasha saying he was scared and Steve said he wasn't wrong. Scott asked what they would do and Steve said they would need a really big brain. Scott asked if it was bigger than Tony's.

"Who can that be?" Tony asked.

"The one and only." Lila said.

A fire was set in a building as the chief asked to get choppers was those trapped at the top. But then a huge figure jumped in as the chief stopped the choppers. The figure ran through the fires and soon jumped out with a signal antenna, having saved the people by putting them on it. He landed and put it down, telling the people to get out. It was none other than Professor Hulk.

"Oh! Him!" Tony said and all clapped at his entrance.

"So it's me!" Bruce said in realization.

"Yes, you." Benjamin told him, "You were the one they went to."

"Hope I don't disappoint." Bruce shrugged.

Logan was about to say 'about that' when Odinson gave him a look.

He greeted the chief and talked to him before getting a call from Steve.

"Now we'll talk." Bruce said.

"It's good to see people accepting you." Natasha told Bruce who nodded.

Later, Steve, Natasha, Scott and Bruce sat in a restaurant as Bruce ate and said it felt like only he was eating, asking the others to try some eggs. Scott said it was confusing and Bruce joked these were confusing times before saying he was kidding.

"You kid?" Tony asked jokingly as all laughed.

"Looks like it." Bruce shrugged.

Bruce said he knew it was crazy that he was wearing shirts now and explained, "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." "No one blamed you, Bruce." Natasha assured. "I did." He said.

All looked at Bruce sadly while he felt guilt inside him.

"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." Bruce explained, "Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me." He gestured to himself, "Best of both worlds."

"Does look like it." Bruce shrugged.

"But one thing I noticed, ever since that happened, Hulk, while supportive, didn't talk much." Scarlet Witch said. [3]

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked her.

"It's like he was angry about something." Scarlet Witch said, "This was his grudging concession. Maybe you two never really worked it out."

Bruce now looked thoughtful as Thor said, "Bruce, we're here for you."

"Actually, once this is over, Strange said he'd come over to help you figure it out." Odinson told him.

"How?" Bruce asked.

"Only he knows." Benjamin shrugged.

Then a girl and two boys arrived, asking for a picture. Bruce agreed, taking the phone and giving it to Scott as they said 'green' while Scott took the picture.

"That's kind of cringe." Hill said about the 'green.'

"I know right?" Bruce asked and all chuckled.

Scott returned the phone before asking if they wanted a picture with him. He was Ant-Man. They were puzzled as he said they were Hulk fans so they didn't know Ant-Man.

"Why doesn't anyone know me?" Scott mused.

"It's okay, dad. People do now." Cassie said.

"Well if after this recording no one appreciates you, they should be ashamed of themselves." Logan told him and he smiled in appreciation.

"Thanks." He said to them both.

Bruce said they could and even the kids said they would but after a long argument, Scott returned the phone as Bruce did a dab.

"Oh my God! Hulk is dabbing!" Peter said and all laughed at that while Bruce groaned.

"They still dab in 2023?" Hope asked in shock.

"Yeah." Odinson said lamely.

He then focused on the conversation again, saying time travel was outside his area of expertise but Natasha said he'd pulled this off and even that seemed impossible.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Bruce said happily.

"No problem." Natasha shrugged.

Tony was washing plates in his house and as he cleaned some glasses on a rack, he found an old photo. He looked at it. It was of him with Peter, both of them messing by making horns on each other's heads.

May welled up at that as Peter gasped. They were both still dead right now. While it was obvious Tony hadn't treated Peter well, he did care for him.

Tony himself was breathing heavily, thinking what he was gonna do.

Later, Tony was working on a model with his AI's help, saying this was one last sim, asking for the eigenvalue of a particular vector when to his shock, the model was rendered. He dropped to his chair in shock.

"I…I discovered time travel?" Tony asked in disbelief, really shocked.

"Looks like it." Pepper told him.

"Yes dad, you discovered time travel." Morgan told him, "To save everyone."

"Wow!" Tony said to himself.

"Great job, Mr. Stark." T'Challa complimented him over his achievement.

"Beat me." Bruce shrugged begrudgingly.

"I knew I did something when I hired you." Fury said, "Now I know it."

"Congratulations, Tony." Steve said too.

"That must have taken a lot of brains." Thor said too, impressed.

"Which you have, obviously." Loki said.

"Thanks for helping." Scott said to him.

"Didn't expect you to figure it out, but you did it." Hope said.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." May said too.

"For helping bring us back." Peter said.

"Yes, thank you for that." Benjamin said too.

"All of us." Lila pointed out.

"Thanks a lot." Clint said too.

"From me too." Wanda added and Scarlet Witch gave a nod.

"And me as well." Bucky added.

"I'd like to thank you too." Sam said.

"I am so proud of you." Rhodes said to him.

Tony just nodded at all of them, accepting their thanks humbly.

"Now you'll help." Natasha smiled.

"Shit!" Tony said in shock. "Shit!" He heard behind him and turned to see Morgan there. He adorably pressed his lips and shook his hand, telling her not to say it.

Everyone laughed a bit at the sweet scene as Pepper joked, "You're teaching our daughter bad language."

"It was accidental." Tony said before turning to Morgan, "Don't use such words. They are not good ones."

"It was funny using them there." Morgan said with a chuckle and all laughed.

"Please, don't do it. Pepper will kill me." Tony begged and all laughed as she nodded.

He asked what she was doing up and she said 'shit' again.

"Please, don't do this." Tony begged again and all laughed while she said, "I won't, dad."

Tony said they didn't do that as only mommy could use the word after coining it.

"I coined it?" Pepper asked in amusement, "Shit!"

"Now you said it!" Tony said and she facepalmed while the others laughed.

Morgan asked why he was up and he said he had some important shit to do and she gave him a look.

"Now you said it!" Pepper said.

"Yeah you did!" Morgan added.

"Won't say it again." Tony said and all laughed once more.

He said he had something on my mind and she asked if it was juice pops. He joked how it was extortion before saying he had that on his mind as he picked her up, saying great minds thought alike, carrying her to bed while looking at the model one last time. Lying down, Tony had Morgan finish some juice pops and wiped her face. Morgan asked to tell him a story. "Once upon a time, Maguna went to bed. The end." Tony joked and she said it was horrible.

"Is it?" Tony joked, "Being two lines long doesn't make it horrible."

"It's not a story when it's real." Morgan pointed out and he sighed, giving her a nod and pointing at her to concede her point, "You got me there."

All laughed again.

He kissed her forehead and said, "I love you tons." As he got up to walk out, Morgan said, "I love you 3000."

Tony's eyes were wide in shock. The good kind of shock while everyone was looking between him, Pepper, Morgan and the screen.

"3000?" He finally asked.

"Yeah, I did. Still do." Morgan smiled with a few happy tears in her eyes as Tony sighed.

"I love you 3000 too." He said and she nodded again with tears which she wiped.

"What about Pepper?" Scott popped up only to be shot glares, "All right, I'll shut up."

"You'll see." Lila said.

Tony walked out, happily whispering how that was crazy and joked he'd sell her toys if she didn't go to bed. She laughed and went to sleep.

The others chuckled too, though Morgan's was a bit watery, not that anyone caught that due to all the other chuckles.

Tony then walked out to talk to Pepper, saying it wasn't a competition but Morgan loved him 3000 and that she was somewhere in the low 6 to 900 range.

"Young lady, I'm going to ground you." Pepper said in a mock serious tone and all laughed again.

"Oh I love you too, mom." Morgan smiled at her.

He asked what she was reading and she said it was a book on composting. He asked what was new on composting before saying he'd figured time travel out, shocking her.

"Now will I react?" Pepper asked.

"Just watch." Odinson said.

She said that was amazing and terrifying before saying they got really lucky while others hadn't. Tony said he couldn't help everybody but she said he could. "Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now, and stop." Tony said. "Tony..." Pepper said gently, "….trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my entire life." Tony said, "I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake...go to bed." Pepper asked, "But would you be able to rest?"

"I don't think I will." Tony said as he looked at her apologetically.

"It's all right. I understand." She told him.

In the Compound, Bruce prepared for a time travel test, setting everything up and saying he didn't want to lose 'tine' in the 50's. Scott was shocked but Natasha said he was kidding and Bruce played along, saying it was a bad joke.

"Were you?" Scott asked.

"I don't look like it." Bruce said.

Natasha asked if he was joking and he said either all of time travel was a joke or none of it. Scott wore a Quantum suit as Bruce said he'd send him back a week, he'd stay for an hour and they'd bring him back in 10 seconds.

"Makes sense." Hope shrugged.

The machine was activated in the back of the van as Steve said he'd got it and Scott said, "You're right, I do, Captain America."

"Your boyfriend is a fanboy of my future date. What're you gonna do about that?" Hill asked and Hope groaned while all laughed again and Steve sighed again.

Scott was then sent into the machine and soon brought back but now it was a kid inside the suit who was Scott.

"OH! MY! GOD!" Scott said in shock and embarrassment while no one could stop hysterical laughter leaving their mouths, "Why does this always happen to me?"

"Now we're the same age, dad." Cassie joked and all laughed more.

"At least Steve doesn't get moments these embarrassing." Hill told Hope.

"The Star Spangled Man With A Plan!" Hope reminded in a sing-song voice and Steve groaned annoyingly.

He was sent back into the machine and brought back but now as an old man with back pain.

"DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" Scott was saying as all were laughing at his expense again, "Why lord why?"

"The Universe hates you." Hope groaned.

He was sent back into the machine and brought back and this time as a baby.

"AWWWWW!" All the ladies went while Scott groaned again.

"Now you're even younger than me." Cassie joked and he looked away from the screen, not looking into anyone's eyes.

"God save me from this nightmare!" He said.

Steve said it was Scott as a baby and Bruce said he'd grow.

"We don't have time for that!" Scott snapped.

He was sent into the machine and brought back, this time as normal.

"Oh thank God!" Scott sighed in relief and so did Hope while the others laughed a bit.

Scott then said someone had peed his pants and didn't know if it was baby him or old him or him.

"That's it! I'm going out!" Scott said.

"All right, no one will make fun of you." Natasha assured.

"No one better now." Cassie said and all nodded.

"Time travel!" Bruce said happily.

"I hate you!" Scott said to Bruce.

"Sorry about that." Bruce said, "I was an epic fail."

"And I did it!" Tony said and all chuckled.

Steve walked out in disappointment to see a car roll up and the window rolled down to reveal Tony who realized from Steve's expression Scott had turned into a baby and said it was the EPR Paradox where instead of pushing Scott through time, they'd pushed time through Scott.

"Which is why the aging and de-aging happened." Vision noted.

Tony walked out and said it was tricky and dangerous and someone would've cautioned him against it. Steve said Tony had. Tony sarcastically asked if he had before saying he'd fixed it and revealed the device in his hand, "A fully-functioning time-space GPS." Steve smiled happily as Tony did a gesture and said, "I just want peace."

"Great job, Tony." Steve said and he nodded gratefully.

"Now I hope we get the desired peace." Tony said.

"We should." Pepper told him.

Tony said resentment was corrosive and he hated it. Steve said he did too before Tony said his priorities were to get back what they lost but keep what he found at all costs and not die trying.

Morgan winced at that as Cassie and Lila put hands on her shoulders.

"Sounds like a deal." Steve said and they shook hands. Tony then walked to the trunk of his car and lifting it up, took out Steve's shield, giving it to him. "Tony, I don't know." Steve said, still finding himself unworthy of it. "Why?" Tony asked before reminding, "He made it for you."

"Captain America and Iron Man are back together at last." Scott said excitedly and all ended up clapping at the reconciliation on the screen while Steve and Tony smiled at each other.

"Thank you Tony." Steve said gratefully, "For finding me worthy of it."

"No problem." Tony shrugged.

Tony joked he'd to take it out of the garage before Morgan took it sledding.

All chuckled again.

Steve thanked him but Tony told him to be quiet as he hadn't brought one for the whole team before asking if they had them all. Steve said they were getting them now. Later, Scott was about to eat a taco when the Benatar landed near him, making him drop it.

"Now my taco's gone!" Scott said as all sighed, "My luck is worse than you, Peter."

"I can see that." Peter said with a chuckle.

Rocket arrived, asking where Hulk was and Scott said in the kitchen before commenting Nebula was awesome. She walked past, telling Rhodes to be careful as there was an idiot on the landing zone.

"Why are you all ragging on dad?" Cassie asked and Scott looked at her thankfully.

Then Rhodes landed, greeting Scott and calling him regular-sized man.

Everyone chuckled again.

Then Bruce walked to Scott and seeing the dropped taco, gave him his own before walking off.

"Scrap what I said earlier. I love you a lot!" Scott said to Bruce who smiled and all chuckled.

"What about me?" Hop asked jokingly.

"Oh I love you more, but now I love him too." Scott clarified lamely.

Bruce and Rocket travelled to New Asgard in Norway.

"So that is New Asgard." Thor said.

"In Norway." Loki told him.

"Not magnificent like the palaces but at least we have each other." Thor said.

The two got down as Rocket looked at the people and commented this was a step down from the palaces but Bruce told him to have compassion as they had lost Asgard and half their people so they were just happy to have a home.

"We are." Odinson said.

Then Valkyrie approached them saying they shouldn't have come and Bruce happily called her 'angry girl.'

"She's here too!" Bruce said.

"Good to know." Thor said as he liked her fierceness.

Valkyrie said she liked him better either of the other ways as he introduced Rocket and she said he wouldn't see him so they shouldn't have come. They only saw him once a month when he came for supplies. She pointed at some empty crates of beer as Bruce realized it was that bad.

"What is going on?" Thor asked, dreading what he was up to.

"Doesn't look good at all." Loki said, "With all the beer and all that."

"What the hell am I doing?" Thor asked.

"Don't ask me." Odinson said, "Not the proudest moment of my life. I hate it even more than Sakaar."

Rocket later knocked on his door and the two went inside with Rocket joking something had died in here. They called out to Thor and his voice was heard asking if they were here about the cable as the Cinemax had run out 2 weeks ago so sports was all fuzzy. They turned to look at Thor and he turned to look at them. He was fat now with long hair and a dirty beard.

Everyone's jaw was dropped. If jaws could literally drop to the floor at shocking sights before being picked back up and put into place, that would have happened in this moment.

And then Loki suddenly burst out laughing hysterically.

"WHY? ARE? YOU? LAUGHING?" Thor asked as lightning flashed from him while Odinson put his head in his hands in embarrassment.

"I always wanted to have a body like you to look more menacing." Loki said in between laughs, "Now it's easier to have a body like yours."

"Come here you little rascal." Thor said as Loki shifted away.

"The worst phase of my entire life." Odinson told everyone, "5 years before this, I was focused on ending Thanos. Then we failed. And even after I killed him, I was hollow and broken. So I hid from my responsibilities and became a drunk, fat slob who can't do a thing."

"I can't believe that happened to you of all people!" Tony said.

"Well believe it." Odinson said.

"To be honest even I'm having trouble believing it." Loki said, finally stopping his laughter before turning to Thor and Odinson both, "Sorry for whatever you both went through."

They nodded in appreciation.

Thor greeted them happily, hugging Bruce and giving Rocket a cuddle which he didn't enjoy.

"Sorry Rocket." Thor said.

Thor then showed them Miek and Korg playing Fortnite on the couch.

"Fortnite's still a thing 5 years later? I can't believe it!" Tony said.

"Me neither." Scott said.

"Yeah, pretty shocking." Peter agreed.

Korg said beer was on the bucket and they could log onto the Wi-Fi which had no password.

"He is still the best!" Tony said and all laughed and nodded.

He then said the kid was bothering him again and calling him 'dickhead.' "Noobmaster." Thor growled before putting on the headset and threatening, "Noobmaster. Hey, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately I'm gonna fly home to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms then shove them up your butt! Oh, that's right. Yes, go cry to your father, you little weasel!" He returned the headset to Korg who thanked him.

Everyone laughed at the scene while Thor just watched in shock.

"That's what you get for messing with Korg, Noobmaster." Logan said and all laughed more.

"Good, you stood up to a bully." Natasha said to Thor and Odinson.

Thor then asked if they wanted a drink as he had got all sorts of it, using Stormbreaker to open a bottle.

"Did I just use a King's weapon as a bottle-opener?" Thor asked.

"I am a disgrace at this point." Odinson said shamefully.

Rocket said how he looked like melted ice cream while Bruce said there was a chance to fix everything. Thor asked if he meant with the cable but Bruce said, "With Thanos." Thor's expression immediately turned pale and angry as he put a hand on Bruce's shoulder and said brokenly, "Don't say that name."

Everyone watched Thor and Odinson in sympathy. While his antics looked funny on a surface level, he was suffering deeply from his failure and that had led him to such an unhealthy lifestyle.

Loki put a hand on Thor's shoulder to assure him everything would be all right.

Korg popped up how they didn't say that name while Bruce removed Thor's hand from himself, saying he knew Thor might be scared of him. Thor confidently said he wasn't as he had killed that guy. He asked Korg to remind everyone who had killed Thanos and Korg said Stormbreaker before Thor reminded he was swinging it.

"I have become unworthy at this point!" Thor said, shocked and saddened by how much he had fallen.

"Don't say that!" Loki said to him, "You are still grieving. We all have our ways to grieve! And not all of them are healthy!"

Thor simply nodded.

"I get it. You're in a rough spot, okay? I've been there myself. You wanna know who helped me out of it?" Bruce asked. Thor slurped, "I don't know. Was it... Natasha?"

"Please don't mention that thing again." Natasha said and all groaned.

"Don't worry. This was the last time we mentioned it." Odinson said and all sighed in relief.

"It was you." Bruce told him, "You helped me."

"And I thank you for it." Bruce said to Thor and Odinson gratefully.

"Why don't you ask the, Asgardians down there, how much my help was worth?" Thor asked as he sat down, "The ones that are left, anyway." Bruce said they had a way to bring everyone back but Thor told him to stop, saying he was fine with Korg and Miek agreeing. Rocket said they had beer on the ship. Thor's bottle clattered to the ground as he asked what kind.

"That's what it took to get me to come?" Thor asked.

"As shameful as that is, yes." Odinson said and Thor groaned.

A Quinjet flew to Tokyo. In one building, a fight was going on as some men firing at someone were taken down by throwing weapons. Another ran to fight the hooded man but he smashed him through some glass. One man ran up and with a sword, jumped out the window when another jumped after him. "Why are you doing this?" The escaping man asked the one after him in Japanese, "We never did anything to you!" "You survived!" The other man said in Japanese, "Half of the planet didn't. They got Thanos. You get me."

"That is me." Clint said in shock and horror while the others looked shocked too, "I'm killing people."

"Clint, what did we tell you about hating yourself?" Natasha asked.

"You were hurting dad. And these were scum you killed." Lila assured him, mostly to stop him from breaking down.

The two fought a little as Clint said he was done hurting people and the man scoffed. As they fought more, Clint pushed him back and put the sword to his throat before he deflected it and they fought as Clint sliced him a little, staggering him. As they fought again, he sliced his throat, making him drop to his knees as he said he would give him anything he wanted. "What I want…you can't give me." Clint said before stabbing him and then cleaning his blade.

Clint was disturbed the ruthlessness of his on-screen self. Sure he had killed scum, but not like this.

"What have I done?" Clint said as Wanda held his hand.

"You haven't done it yet." Scarlet Witch told him.

"We won't let you lose your family and go down this path." Wanda assured him.

"It won't happen." Natasha assured too, "Not again."

"Even if you did those things, you became better." Lila assured him.

"Clint, we're all here for you." Steve assured him.

"You won't be going down like this again." Fury said, "But even doing so doesn't make you bad."

"You were just lost." Natasha told him, "Like I was."

He felt a presence behind him and took off his mask, "You shouldn't be here." "Neither should you." Natasha said behind him as he turned with a broken look on his face.

All watched both the Clints in sympathy and sadness. He was an Avenger and an agent, but he was a family man first. And losing them had been the last straw for him.

Clint said he had a job but Natasha pointed out killing these people wouldn't bring his family back. She then said they had found a chance. "Don't." He said. "Don't what?" She asked. "Don't give me hope." He cried.

Everyone was even more saddened by this. Clint had gone so low in his own eyes that he didn't want to see a sliver of hope.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner." Natasha said as she walked closer and they both held hands in the rain.

Everyone found the scene emotional and heart-touching. One friend reuniting with the other and giving his dark life some hope at last.

"Thank you." Clint said to Natasha emotionally before turning to the others, "All of you."

Later, Thor drank beer in the Compound with glasses on as Tony told him to pick a side, calling him 'Lebowski.'

"I'm behaving too badly at this point." Thor said.

"Not proud of it." Odinson told him.

Tony asked 'Ratchet' how it was going and Rocket corrected him before saying he was only a genius on Earth.

"Clearly, he doesn't know me." Tony smirked.

Scott was fitted with a time travel suit as he told Bruce to be careful due to his large hands but got annoyed, saying after Hank Pym had been snapped, these were all the Quantum Particles they had enough for one round trip each and two test runs. While fitting it, he accidentally shrunk himself and grew back up, saying now only one test run.

"What the hell, Scott?" Hope asked as Scott groaned.

"I think I can't do it." Scott noted.

He said he wasn't ready for this when Clint said he was game.

"Good." Wanda said to the on-screen self.

As Clint was fitted with the suit, Rhodes asked if they could go back in time and kill baby Thanos.

"Dude, that's horrible!" Tony said as all glared at Rhodes.

"How can you think that?" Sam asked him too.

"It's all over like baby Hitler again." Natasha said, "If you ever ask me, I'd say not to kill them as babies but instead take them away from their surroundings to raise them in better environments." [4]

"I'mm sorry guys." Rhodes said, "It was a pretty horrible thing to say."

Bruce said that was terrible and time didn't work that way. Changing the past didn't change the future. Scott suggested taking the Stones before Thanos did as he and Rhodes listed all the time travel movies- Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time, Quantum Leap, A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time, Hot Tub Time Machine and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Scott added 'Die Hard' before remembering it wasn't one.

"It doesn't work like the movies." Hope said.

"I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true." Bruce explained, "Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future..." "So Back to the Future's a bunch of bullshit?" Scott asked.

"Looks like it." Scott groaned.

"But there are different rules for the future." Cassie told them all.

"We can see that." May said.

Later, Clint was in the suit and on the count of 3 was sent through. He suddenly found himself in his old farmhouse and looked around before walking up to the house. He picked up his son's baseball glove and smiled before hearing Lila call out to Cooper.

"It worked!" Clint said happily, "Thanks a lot Tony."

"No problem." Tony said.

"Now you'll get everyone back." Natasha smiled at him while Morgan winced on hearing that.

Clint ran to the door, calling to Lila but was then brought back through time as a confused Lila arrived and looked around before going back.

"You all did it!" Pepper said happily to them.

Clint was back and on his knees as the others ran to him and he said it worked.

"Awesome!" Peter cheered.

"Now the Stones." Odinson pointed out and they nodded.

Later, they sat together as Steve said now they had to figure out where and when to go and that everyone in the room had an encounter with an Infinity Stone. Tony said they could replace 'encounter' with 'damn near killed.' Scott said he hadn't and didn't even know what they were talking about.

"He doesn't but I do." Scott said and all nodded.

Bruce said they only had enough Pym Particles for one round trip each and the Stones had been in a lot of places in their history. Tony said not a lot of convenient spots to drop in and Clint said they had to pick their targets.

"Archery pun. Nice." Tony said as Clint and Lila shrugged.

They started with the Aether but then noticed Thor dozing off in his chair wearing sunglasses. Natasha asked if he was asleep and Rhodes joked he was dead.

"I'm making a Bilgesnipe out of myself at this point." Thor said and all sighed.

"No kidding." Odinson agreed.

Thor later stood, saying Aether was an angry sludge and not a Stone, saying someone had called it one before and pointed at Steve.

"I don't remember that." Steve shrugged.

Thor then said how his grandfather had taken it from Dark Elves, doing gestures and calling them scary beings.

"Boring beings." Benjamin said and all groaned on remembering Malekith.

Then a hologram of Jane appeared as Thor said she was an old flame and had got the Aether stuck inside her so he had taken her to Asgard and introduced her to his mother, who was dead now and he and Jane weren't even dating. He started breaking down, saying nothing lasted forever and ended with, "The only thing that is permanent in life, is impermanence." Tony asked if he wanted eggs or breakfast but he said he'd like a Bloody Mary.

"Stop drinking, start working." Thor said.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Odinson asked as he gestured to himself and Thor sighed.

Then Rocket said Quill had stolen the Power Stone from Morag. Bruce asked if it was a person but Rocket corrected it was a planet and Quill was a person.

"PhDs don't teach that." Tony said and all chuckled.

Scott asked excitedly if it was a planet in outer space and Rocket said he was excited like a puppy, asking if puppy wanted to go to space.

Everyone laughed as Scott asked, "Do I actually sound like that?"

"As much as I hate to say it, you do." Cassie said and Scott groaned.

Then Nebula said the Soul Stone was on Vormir which was a dominion of death in the center of celestial existence and was where Thanos had murdered Gamora. All sighed sadly on hearing that while making notes.

"Bastard." Clint said about Thanos.

Later, Tony, Natasha and Bruce lay together, the former two on the table and the latter on the ground, with Natasha asking what kind of doctor Strange was and Tony joking 'neurostuff meets rabbit from a hat.'

All chuckled as May said, "Pretty accurate."

They discussed where he lived and then Natasha realized if they picked the right year, there were 3 Stones in New York, giving the other two the good kind of shock.

"Smart woman." Bucky said and she smirked while all smiled.

"Now the mission begins." Steve said and all nodded.

Later, Steve, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Rhodes, Scott, Rocket and Nebula looked at the locations of the Stones on the screens as Steve said, "All right. We have a plan. Six Stones, three teams, one shot." Then they all walked together, wearing the Quantum suits as Steve said, "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." They joined their fists together over the machine.

"Doesn't that look like your original Arc Reactor?" Pepper asked.

"Now that you say it, it does." Tony said and all nodded in realization. [5]

Steve said, "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." He looked at Tony who smiled at him as he said, "Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes." Steve said too.

"Whatever it takes." Tony repeated after him.

"Whatever it takes." Thor said.

"Whatever it takes." Bruce said as he looked up.

"Whatever it takes." Natasha said with some emotion in her voice.

"Whatever it takes." Clint then said.

"Whatever it takes." Rhodes said too as he shared a look with Tony.

"Whatever it takes." Scott said with a smile.

And then they continued watching.

"Good luck." Steve said as Rocket said he was good at that and Scott agreed.

"Oh no contest. Captain America gives the best speeches." Loki of all people said as all looked at him.

Bruce worked the keys and Rocket gave Clint a shrunk Benatar, asking him to bring it back in one piece. Clint said he'd do his best as Rocket said that was a lame promise.

"Never make promises you can't keep. "Clint shrugged.

"See you in a minute." Natasha said as she looked at Steve with a smile.

The future people couldn't help themselves from wincing at that and it took Lila everything not to break down at that.

Then they all pressed the buttons of their suits and shrunk, travelling into the Quantum Realm to execute the Time Heist at last.

"So it begins." Steve said.

"The hope is that we succeed." Bruce said.

"Let's continue." Logan said as all watched with a renewed sense of hope in their hearts.