Chapter 19
That was pretty much the last major event that happened for a couple years, besides Christmas of that year. Everyone chipped in and got me a new car (although I knew it was mostly, if not all, paid for by Tony), and I relearned how to drive. After I got my license again, I was able to visit Steve more often, and I also spent a lot of time at Tony and Pepper’s house.
Five years after everyone disappeared, there was an alert on the security cameras; someone was trying to get in. Natasha pulled up the footage and gasped.
“How-” Steve said.
“What?” I asked. “Who is it?”
“Scott,” Clint said.
“Ant-Man?” I asked. Clint nodded. “But, I thought you said-”
“He got snapped? Yeah, that’s what we all thought.” We ran out to the gate and brought him inside.
After a few minutes, he seemed to start to wrap his head around what happened, then he started explaining the quantum realm to us. Clint and I looked at each other, and I was relieved to see he looked about as confused as I was.
“What if we could enter the quantum realm at one place and time, and leave it at another place and time, before Thanos?” I gasped softly.
“What, like time travel?” Steve asked dismissively.
“I- yeah. Basically time travel. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I really think-”
“Scott, hold on,” Clint said. “You’re saying you think we can go back in time to before Thanos?” Scott nodded. “And do what, exactly? It’s not like there can be two of us in the same timeline.”
“Wait, Clint,” Steve said. “What if we didn’t stay there? Look, the stones are in the past, right? What if we took them from the past, brought them back here, and used them to bring everyone back?”
“Okay, sure,” Clint said. “Let’s say it would work. How in the hell are we going to navigate the quantum realm? How do we know that when we leave the quantum realm, it’s going to be at the right place and time?”
“We don’t,” Steve conceded. I could feel my chest start to tighten. I knew I should have stepped out of the room; tensions were high; no one wanted false hope (especially not Clint); but, at the same time, I couldn’t help feeling a little optimistic. This could work, and Charlie could come back. We would be a family again.
“But, I think we know someone who knows more about this than we do,” Nat said, trying to relieve the tension.
Before I knew it, we were in Steve’s truck on our way to Tony’s. The whole car ride, my mind was racing. If this works, and Charlie comes back, where would we go? I can’t just kick Caroline out of the house. Would Clint let us live with him? Of course, that would mean Charlie and I would have to completely uproot our lives. Would we still live at the compound? Will everything go back to the way it was before, when I only saw Clint through a phone screen? Would I lose most of my family? What if this doesn’t work, and I lose them, too?
When we got to Tony’s, Morgan ran right up to me and gave me a hug; I could feel almost all of my anxiety melt away. I took her inside while Steve, Clint, Nat, and Scott told Tony about the very loose plan. When I came back out a couple minutes later, I could tell it wasn’t going well.
“Look, I know you have a lot going for you,” Scott said. “You got a wife, a daughter. But, there are a lot of people who lost everything. And now? Now we have a chance to bring all of them back. And you won’t even-”
“You’re right! I won’t even. I can’t. I really wish I could, but I can’t lose them. Not when I fought so hard for them in the first place.” I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I forced myself to keep them down. Not here, not now. He got up and looked at me. “I wish there was something else you guys needed. Anything else. But I can’t roll the dice on this.” Defeated, we walked back to the car, and Tony walked into the house.
“He’s got a point,” Clint said. “I’d be scared, too.”
“So, what?” Scott asked. “We’re just gonna let this go? We’re just gonna stop?” Steve sighed and climbed into the truck.
“No, we’re not gonna stop,” Steve said. He looked at Nat, then me. “We need to try Bruce.”
I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what Bruce would look like when we saw him at the diner. It wasn’t anything bad, of course. Just- different. If Bruce was on one end of a line, and Hulk was on the other, the Bruce that I was looking at was dead in the middle of that line.
“We know it sounds insane,” Clint began, “but we’re kind of running low on options.”
“No, actually, it doesn’t sound insane,” Bruce said. “But, guys, it’s not really my area of expertise. I’m sorry, but if Tony said he wouldn’t do it, then I don’t think it’s possible.”
“I seem to remember a time when you thought this was impossible,” Natasha said, gesturing to Bruce.
Over the next couple of days, Bruce and Scott were running tests, along with Steve and Natasha. Meanwhile, Clint and I went to Steve’s apartment- just to get away from everything- and planned for every possible outcome.
“I know you’re worried,” he said.
“Try terrified. I can’t think of a situation where everything is okay. No matter what happens, something has to be wrong.”
“Okay, hit me. Give me the scenarios you’ve got, and we’ll figure something out.”
“Everything works. Everyone comes back, and everything goes back to the way it was.”
“I think you just gave yourself the solution.”
“That’s the problem; I can’t go back to the way everything was. Caroline is living in my house, and I don’t know if I can be back in Ohio if you’re all the way in Missouri.”
“So move to Missouri, you and Charlie. Come live with us.” It was such a simple solution, but it still caught me off guard.
“That would be ideal, but what if Charlie wants to stay in Ohio? I can’t force him to move in with someone he’s never actually met in person.”
“If that’s the case, then what we’ll do is exactly what we did before. We’ll have weekly FaceTime calls, but we’ll spend Christmas together. It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work.” Over the next day or two, I would throw situations at him, and he would give me logical solutions to every single one. After a couple days, we got a call from Natasha; Tony decided to help after all, and he and Bruce thought they figured it out.
A drive that would normally take three hours took us two, most of that being in the city itself, and we arrived at the compound in the early afternoon.
When we walked in, Rocket, Nebula, and Carol were back.
“Rhodey’s on his way in from DC,” Tony began, “so that means we just need Thor, then the band’s back together.”
“Does anyone know where he is?” I asked. Bruce and Steve looked at each other.
“I do,” Bruce said. “After everything happened, his people settled in Norway. He’s there. I can take the Jet and-”
“No,” Rocket said. “I’ll go with you; we can take our ship.” After they left, Clint went to talk to Steve, and I turned to Natasha.
“Is this really happening? Can you really do this?” She smiled and nodded.
“We have the time travel part down, but we still need to figure out if we can bring things back.” She put her arm around me and led me inside. “Come on, let’s go see what Clint and Steve are up to.”
When we got inside, Clint had a red and white suit on, and Scott was talking him through time travel, along with Tony. Meanwhile, Nebula was making sure everything was configured right with the tech in the suit. Once everything was right, they went to the hangar, where a big platform was set up with a bunch of wires connecting it to a computer. I looked at Clint and smiled weakly.
“Hey,” he said as he pulled me aside. “This is going to work, you know that, right?” I nodded, taking a deep and shaky breath. He put his hand on my shoulder and turned to face me. “Look at me. Everything is going to be okay. I’m just going to make sure we can actually bring the stones back, that’s it.”
“But, if it works, then you’re gonna go and get the stones, and that’s what I’m more scared of. I know that if it works, it means we get everyone back, but I’m terrified that it won’t work, and I’ll lose you in the process.” We looked at each other in shock; sure, we talked about the possibility, but it was real now. The fact that he was going on a test run meant we were one step closer to either losing everything, or getting everything back. He sighed and crinkled his eyebrows in concern.
“I’m not going by myself to get the stones. We’re pairing off. And, like I said, we don’t even know if we can bring stuff back with us; that’s what this trip is for. I’ll only be gone for a minute. I’m coming right back.” I nodded and threw myself into his arms. When I finally let go, Natasha was behind Clint and everyone else was looking at us with what I could only assume was concern. As the three of us walked towards the platform, Natasha held her hand out, and I took it almost immediately. Natasha and I stayed with everyone else behind the computer, while Clint walked up to the platform.
“Better clench up, Legolas,” Tony said with a smirk. I looked at him, confused.
“Long story,” Natasha whispered into my ear.
“Alright. 3… 2… 1.” Tony pushed a button and Clint disappeared. I’m not sure which one of us squeezed the other’s hand first, but Natasha and I both seemed to flinch when he disappeared. Tony flipped a couple of switches. “And returning in 3… 2… 1.” He hit another button, and Clint was right where he was a minute before, only he collapsed onto the platform. We all ran up to him, Natasha and I in front, and knelt down in front of him. That was when I saw what he brought back.
“Clint, is this-” I held up the baby blanket I thought I lost years ago. He looked at me, shrugged, and smiled.
“You told me once it didn’t survive the move when you lost your house. I just thought-” I cut him off with a bone-crushing hug, causing him to stumble back and everyone else to chuckle.
“It worked,” Natasha said. “It worked. We can do this.”
***
After a celebratory dinner, there was a rumble outside; we all ran out to see Rocket’s ship landing. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw a head of blond hair; for the first time in nearly five years, Thor was back. I still felt bad for the way I reacted when they couldn’t bring everybody back the last time, and I don’t think he ever saw my text message, so I really wanted to apologize in person.
When he stepped off, I almost didn’t recognize him. He put on a lot of weight, and he looked like he got hit by a bus more than once. I immediately felt a wave of guilt as he walked past all of us without acknowledging us and going straight to his room. I waited a few minutes before following him. I knocked on his door.
“What do you want?” he said. It sounded like he had been crying, so I was hesitant to open the door. He was sitting on the bed and smiled a little when he saw me. “Oh, it’s you. Alex, right?” I nodded. “I thought-”
“That I lost my legs?” I asked, finishing his thought. He nodded, and I pulled up my pants leg. “Yeah, I did. A lot’s changed since you left.” I sat down next to him. “I’m sorry for how I acted when you came back the first time. I was-”
“I’m not mad at you for that. You had hope, and it was gone. That’s not why I left. I left because I had people to lead, and a family of my own to grieve.”
“Is that why you were crying just now?” I cringed as soon as I said it, but he shrugged.
“Sort of. Before my brother died, he told me that the sun would shine on us again. I never understood what it meant, and then I saw the painting on the wall.” He gestured to the wall in front of us, where I had painted a sunrise.
“Oh. I did that. Tony got me paint because I told him it helped me deal with my panic attacks, and he let me paint the spare rooms. I can change it if you want.”
“No. It’s perfect. Thank you.” I smiled and nodded. Not long after that, there was a knock at the door.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Bruce began, “but we need to make our game plan.” It was like a switch went off in him; suddenly, he was ready for combat. Before the two of them walked away, though, Thor smiled at me and nodded. I smiled back, but my mind was running to a million places at once.
Over the next hour or so, they were all making the big plan; where to find the stones, what each one did, and who would travel together. Meanwhile, I sat on my bed, baby blanket in my lap, flipping through the scrapbooks from Nat (I got one every Christmas). After what seemed like forever, I heard my door open.
“I’m surprised you weren’t painting,” Clint said as he sat down next to me. I shrugged.
“Didn’t have any ideas. So, what’s the plan?” He sighed and put his arm around me.
“There were three stones in New York in 2012, so four of us are going there. The other six are breaking off in pairs.”
“When?”
“First thing in the morning. Pepper said that you could go to their house while we’re gone-”
“No,” I interrupted. “I’m staying here. If something happens to you, I can’t hear it from someone else; I need to be here.”
“If you would have let me finish, I was going to tell you that she said that she could also come over here and be with you.”
“What about Morgan?” He seemed a little surprised that I asked. “She’s only four; I don’t think she’d be able to understand any of this or why I’m so worried.”
“Happy will watch her. I take it, you want Pepper here?” I nodded. “I’ll have Tony let her know.” I shifted to wrap my arms around Clint.
“Can we have a movie night tonight? With everyone?” I felt him nod.
“You know? I came in here to ask if you wanted to watch movies with us.” Movie night, we did. At first, it was tense, but we eventually relaxed and forgot what would be happening the next day.
That night, I couldn’t sleep at all. I didn’t want to bother Clint or anyone else- I knew their day was going to be even longer than mine- so I just laid there and rubbed the baby blanket between my fingers, hoping the repetitive motion would soothe me to sleep.
When I walked into the kitchen the next morning, there was a full buffet of food.
“Good morning, Alex,” Pepper said, adding even more bacon to an already full plate. “Sorry, I tend to cook when I’m stressed.” I smiled and got a plate, filling it with food. As soon as I started eating, Tony sat down next to me and handed me an envelope.
“What’s this?” I asked, turning it over to see Peter written on the back. “Tony, I-”
“Please. If this works, and I make it, I’ll give it to him myself. But if I don’t, I need you to give this to him.”
“Why me? Why not Pepper or, or Happy?”
“As much as I love them, they don’t have panic attacks like we do. You’ll know when he’s ready for the letter.”
“I- I can’t, Tony. You’re going to be fine. I know you will.”
“You’re probably right. If that’s the case, then it’ll be fine. Just- please. I need you to do this.” I put the letter down on the table and gave him a hug.
“I’ll keep it safe, but you’re giving it to him.”
After everyone ate and changed into the same red and white suits Clint wore for the test run the day before, we all went to the hangar, where the platform and computer still were. I gave Clint one more bone-crushing hug, then gave one to Nat and Steve. After Pepper and I said our goodbyes, we stood back while everyone else walked up to the platform. We watched as Steve gave a pep talk, then everyone looked at each other and nodded.
“Alright,” Bruce began. “Trackers are set, and we are go in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1.” Pepper and I held our breaths as they disappeared, and the compound was silent for the next minute.
Neither of us moved until we saw them reappear. Everyone came back, unharmed. Well, everyone except one.