5
Pietro walked around the compound, phone in hand as he talked in a video call with Ethan and Morgan. They had insisted on a call, just to get sneak peaks of some of the team together. It had been so long since Ethan had even caught a glimpse of it, and Morgan never had.
"Who's all there?" Ethan asked curiously, leaning in close to the screen of the tablet in his hands while Morgan squeezed her face in next to his. Nova must have felt left out, because she squeezed in between both children and began licking their faces. They laughed and petted her as they stared back at the screen.
Pietro flipped the camera around to show them the vast, almost empty space of the area they were working with. Morgan made a sound of amazement, and Ethan pointed excitedly at the screen. "You know Santa Claus?" he exclaimed.
"No way!" Morgan gasped. "Can I talk to him?"
Pietro rolled his eyes playfully and sped around so he was standing in front of Thor. It almost frightened the god as he stuttered and took a step back. "Oh...I have not missed that, speedster."
"Wait, that's not Santa," Ethan mumbled. "Uncle P, is that Thor?"
"Unfortunately," Pietro snorted.
Both the kids made an "ew" sound—which Nova joined with a bark—before Morgan added with her Stark-ish quick wit, "He looks like a giant teddy bear that was left out in the rain."
Pietro laughed and looked at Thor, who was unphased as he smiled and waved at the kids with his gloved hands. "I love these kids," the speedster commented before darting off again to go meet with Tony and Rocket.
"Ratchet, how's it going?" Tony called as he lugged a giant capacitor behind him.
"Who's Ratchet?" Morgan's voice called.
"Ratchet's a talking raccoon," Pietro replied. "You know, when I was your age, raccoons couldn't speak." Both the children giggled.
Tony looked over, "Is that my daughter's voice I hear?" He peered over Pietro's shoulder to look at the phone.
"Hi, Daddy!" she responded happily.
Pietro shrugged, "They were curious and called."
Tony began to sigh when Rocket's voice caught his attention, "It's Rocket. Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal."
Pietro snickered, "And you're only in there because you have tiny hands." Rocket made a face but they were all interrupted by a large belch from Thor's direction. Pietro's face contorted with disgust before he was flying off again. "Lady and gentleman, may I present you with your mother!"
"Hi, Mom," Ethan waved at the screen and you turned around from your spot in the doorway. You were leaning there watching Bruce and Scott put the time-travel suit together. It had been updated to better withstand the travel with added things that you would not even begin to understand—you didn't even do physics, quantum anything was nowhere within your line of understanding.
You turned to the phone when you heard your son's voice, smiling as you waved at him. "Hey, hon. Are you having fun?" you asked, waving back at the back camera before Pietro joined your side and flipped it back.
He nodded, "Yeah, Nova's keeping us company and Pepper's really nice." You smiled before your attention was suddenly caught by Rhodey entering the small lab.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he nodded in approval, "Time travel suit, not bad."
"Who's that?" Morgan asked, pointing at the camera curiously.
Rhodey looked over at the screen to see them and smiled, "You Morgan?" She nodded, her hands tangling in Nova's fur as she petted the animal. "I'm one of your dad's friends. I'm Rhodey." He then waved again, this time directed at Ethan as he greeted him, to which Ethan happily greeted back.
She smiled, "Daddy talks about you sometimes. He says you're one of his best friends."
He smiled and nodded with a chuckle, "One of his longest."
All of your attention was caught by Scott as he yelled something, turning to Bruce in a slight panic. "Hey, hey, hey! Easy, easy!"
"I'm being very careful," Bruce said, taking a step back with a vial in his hand.
Scott shook his head, obviously on edge and skittish as he took the vile. "No, you're being very Hulky."
"I'm being careful!" Bruce exclaimed.
Scott held up the vile, a red substance catching a glimpse of the light as he showed it to Bruce. "These are Pym Particles, all right? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more."
Rhodey raised a hand, "Scott, calm down."
He took a breath, "Sorry. We've got enough for one round-trip each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus two test runs." He placed the vial in a little compartment at his side, letting out a shout as he suddenly shrank and grew within a second. "One test run."
The kids chuckled again. Rhodey sighed, looking down with a shake of his head. Scott took another breath, getting antsy as he wrung out his hands nervously. "All right. I'm not ready for this."
"I'm game."
You all looked over at the origin of the voice. Clint stood just behind the two of you, his arms—one covered in a sleeve tattoo—crossed over his chest. Pietro stood a little straighter, taking a step away with a quiet sigh. You just gave him a look but did not say anything. You did not need to say anything for him to understand.
"I'll do it," Clint confirmed.
It was quiet for a moment before Ethan spoke up, "Mom, who's that?" You looked back at the phone, which was still very much in an active call with Morgan and Ethan. You grabbed the phone from Pietro as he handed it over and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.
Clint's eyes fell on the screen as well as he heard the little voice. You offered a smile to Ethan and turned the phone to get Clint's face into view. Ethan's brows furrowed and he tilted his head, "Clint?"
Clint looked up at you. You explained quietly, "We've got some pictures and we've talked about you a couple times."
He looked back down again, waving slowly at the kids. "Hey," he said. "How ya doin'?"
"Good," Ethan replied. You offered the phone to him, trying to give him a chance to talk to Ethan—his nephew? Adopted grandson? You don't really know what Clint was to him. He was practically your guardian before all of this, but to what extent, you never knew.
A look flashed his face. It was a mixture of feelings, one of which could almost be described as fear. He held up a hand, although not impolitely. "Let's test this thing out first. Maybe we'll catch up later...?"
He was trying. You could tell he was trying. You would be patient, give him time to process, but Pietro's patience was never really plentiful. He just nodded and grabbed the phone again. "Alright, kids. Unfortunately, we'll have to call you back later. You don't want the phone to be sucked into outer space for science," he offered a smile.
They both replied in calm laughter before waving. "Bye, guys!" You all said your monotone goodbyes as Ethan added an extra "I love you" for you and Pietro before the call ended. Pietro put his phone back in his pocket before he began walking away, "Lunch time is coming."
"We had lunch an hour ago, Piet," you said, but did not turn around as he kept walking.
"I have a high metabolism. I'm starved." In the next moment, he was gone and everyone returned to their separate work.
~
Soon enough, Clint was all dressed up and ready to go. Pietro had rejoined you all moments after he left with a bag of popcorn in his hands, which he shared with you and only you. "Clint, now you're going to feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don't worry about it," Bruce said.
"Wait a second. Let me ask you something," Rhodey muttered. "If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos? You know, and..." He trailed off as he brought his hands front in center, circling his fingers before pulling his hands apart in fists in a strangling motion. Pietro offered him popcorn, which Rhodey took.
Bruce raised a hand to motion to Rhodey. "First of all, that's horrible."
"I mean," Pietro said, "Thanos has done worse." You muttered under your breath about Pietro having a point.
"It's Thanos," Rhodey agreed.
"And secondly," Bruce continued, "time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."
Scott joined in, offering another idea, "Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them. Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved."
"Bingo," Clint muttered with a slight nod. Everyone agreed except for Nebula and Bruce.
"That's not how it works," Nebula said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Well, that's what I heard," Clint responded.
Bruce looked over, "Wait, but who? Who told you that?"
Rhodey brought up a hand as he began counting off a ton of movies. "Star Trek, Terminator, Timecop, Time After Time–"
"–Quantum Leap–" Scott added.
"–Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time–"
"–Hot Tub Time Machine–"
"–Hot Tub Time Machine," Rhodey repeated. "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel."
"Die Hard," Scott tried again.
"No, that's not one. But The Flash is—also, if it's accurate, I could technically go back in time if I'm fast enough," Pietro proposed.
"This is known," Rhodey finished.
Bruce shook his head as he spoke up again, "I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. 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."
"Exactly," Nebula nodded.
"I got none of that," you mumbled to Pietro, who nodded as his eyes continued to look over each of you.
Scott was in his own thought process, looking down with disappointment clear on his face as he muttered to himself. "So Back to the Future is a bunch of bullshit?"
~
Tony announced the completion of the time travel platform. As everyone migrated over, Clint stepped on alone after Bruce told him what was going to happen and what he needed to do. You stood by Pietro, who put an arm around your shoulder as you watched curiously.
Bruce readied the quantum console as you all gathered round to watch. "Okay, Clint," he said. "Starting in three...two...one..." Clint nodded over before the machine whirred loudly. Lights flashed and pulsed as the machine worked. He suddenly stretched, then shrank, and then completely disappeared without a trace.
Bruce started the ten second countdown. As the numbers ticked by and his fingers flipped at control, a strange feeling began to almost circle in your head. You raised a hand to your temple, catching Pietro's attention as he looked down at you and whispered to see if you were alright.
You nodded, rubbing your temple as the feeling suddenly turned into a pain that began to swarm in your skull like a beehive. You shook your head—making the issue worse—but ignored it. You had dealt with pains like these for years, but it had been years since you felt this type of strain. It was a vision, a big one that you honestly had not missed the feeling of. It would come to you when it was ready. For now, you would just have to bear it.
As the countdown came to the last number, Bruce flipped a control as Clint reappeared on the pad. He was completely shaken, a single word was exclaimed—one you had not been able to catch—as he caught his breath, looking around the room.
Natasha rushed over with Tony at her back. You stepped forward as well. Natasha bent over him, setting a hand on his shoulder to calm him so he would focus on her. "Hey. Hey, look at me. You okay?"
Clint looked over at her, tears glittered in his eyes as he nodded with the ghost of a smile. "Yeah. Yeah." He was still panting, still recovering from what just happened as Natasha brought him to his feet. He had something in his hand, a baseball mitt that he brought for her to see. "It worked."
Your eyes widened as Clint nodded, tossing the mitt over to you as you caught it. You looked it over, amazement in your eyes as you turned it over in your hands. "It worked," he repeated.
It was then that the vision finally came to you. It was like a tidal wave had taken you under, forcing you down into a raging sea as both warmth and ice washed over your skin.
At first, it was only glimpses. Pietro's gloved hand squeezing your own tightly. A glossy, tiled floor of some building. Glass walls and light from both the ceiling overhead and outside the building.
You had been there before. You have no idea when or where...but the familiarity pricked at your skin as you looked around. You turned and tried to focus on your vision, which faded in and out as your mind raced. You saw signs, neon signs, wooden signs. They were all in Korean, places you had seen once in your life years ago.
You turned your head to focus on Pietro's hand wrapped around yours. It would ground you, help you stay under until you found a solid clue. But as you turned, your eyes stopped as you saw more glimpses, short and quick flashes before they would fade into darkness.
Pietro's hand again, this time with no gloves.
Shoes...dark boots laced up in an all-too specifically tied knot.
Two hands grazing each other's fingers...but they were not Pietro's, they were smaller, covered in too many rings with flowy sleeves that stopped at the wrist.
The same boots walking away, clicking loudly off the walls.
An object, a long slender...cane? It was crafted from gold and silver, you guessed. Looking further, you could tell it was not a cane, but rather a staff, a scepter. Loki's scepter, which held the mind stone in its center.
The last glimpse was more unsettling than everything else, which had been a strange comfort that stopped your heart. This was no comfort, and it stopped your heart in less of an awe-struck way, and more of a way that was full of burning hatred.
Metal, large hulks of metal that formed a person—a sentient being that had been destroyed by the woman you loved long ago. Hands, then arms, then a broad chest...and then a face. A face that infuriated you more than anything else.
Ultron.
You gasped as you came back to the presence, to the reality you were living, rather than your reality you had yet to endure. You looked around, your hands gripping something tight. Looking over, you saw Pietro's hands keeping you from falling down as you held them. Everyone watched you, eyes full of worry—especially Natasha's, who had known of your scarceness of vision.
"Y/N," Pietro uttered, grabbing your attention again. He pushed a strand of hair behind your ear, turning your face to look at him so you could catch your breath and ground yourself again. "What did you see?"
You steadied your breathing, matching it with his so you could calm your mind and speak properly. You squeezed his hand again before you turned to the rest of the group. "It works," you confirmed. "And Pietro and I have to find the mind stone."