Chapter 4
"We're not kidnapping her."
"Why the hell not? We could so do it without anyone noticing." Shuri then went along to explain fake voicemails, potential holograms, and other such ways to grab Cassandra and make sure her mom doesn't even know she's gone.
"Shuri, honey, we love you. You're our best friend but stop." Lila said from the passenger seat of the jet putting her hand on her best friend's shoulder. Shuri glanced over and sighed.
"You guys are no fun." She pouted as she landed the ship a few blocks over in a park.
"We're gonna talk to her. Like the civilized adults we are." Peter said as the four of them walked up to Cassandra's house. The streets were empty of people as they usually were since the snap. Shuri snorted then full-out laughed which made them stop out front of the house.
"I—I'm sorry you just—" She let a few more giggles loose, "you seriously think we're adults? Lila is more adult than us and she's four years younger." Shuri said to which Lila smiled while Peter looked over at Harley. The southern boy gave him a look that said 'she's kinda right' which made Peter roll his eyes and continue up to Cassandra's front porch.
The other three followed but not right up to the door as Peter had. Peter knocked on the door then looked back at his best friends. Lila sat on the stairs, Harley leaned up against the railing of the stairs, Shuri just stood tinkering with her digital wristband. It was pretty much her phone at this point the others didn't even understand why she had a phone if she had that.
After a few moments, Peter turned back to find a young girl approaching the door. She looked to be Lila's age maybe a year younger. This must be Cassandra Lang. He thought to himself as she opened the door a confused look on her face.
"You're..." She trailed off pointing from Peter to Shuri, to Lila, to Harley.
"Sup." Harley smiled and waved to which she then looked over at Peter.
"Cassandra?" He asked to which her eyes shifted between them.
"It's Cassie." Peter nodded shifting on his feet and relaxing hoping to look less like they were here to deliver bad news and more like they were friends.
"You're in possession of your father's van yes?" She went wide-eyed at that then went to look at the other three standing behind Peter.
"Princess... Hawkeye... Iron—well shit. I'm coming with you." She stuttered out before looking Peter seriously in the eye. He blinked before answering with a simple;
"No."
"You're going to try and bring them back. My dad was one of the people who got dusted. You can't tell me no." Cassie said to which Peter stood for a second.
Peter wished he could argue some more with her. But he's doing this for the same reason. He wants Tony back so bad it hurts him to think about it. He wants May back more than he could possibly even imagine. He wants MJ and Ned to get their parents back. He wants Lila to get back her parents and brother. Sam's sister, Cass, and AJ's mother. Shuri's brother. He wants the other Avengers back too, Steve, Thor, Natasha, Rhodey, Wanda, and every other hero that fought for and with them, that's not here right now.
"Alright." The three behind him immediately protested but he stopped them before they could get too far into explanations. It didn't matter, they needed all hands on deck for this. "I'm doing this for the same reason she wants to. We're all doing this for someone we love who's no longer here." Peter said to his best friends who each looked away thinking of those they loved who had been lost.
Shuri thought about her brother.
Lila thought about her parents and brother.
Peter thought about Tony and May.
Harley thought about his mom and sister, Tony as well.
They soon found themselves at a storage facility. Cassie guided them to a dark corner of the place that had a van with lots of random crap all over it. Harley even ended up screaming at the sight of a rat when they finally got the van out.
After that Peter attempted to try and tell Cassie to go home and they'd call her when they figured out how to navigate the quantum realm. Her protests and his attempts were silenced when the van opened in the middle of them moving the van into the compound. Out popped her dad who groaned pulling his helmet off.
"Sorry!" Harley yelled from the front seat of the van where he was pressing random buttons. Shuri and Lila look at each other mentally asking why Peter puts up with him, why they do even.
After that, they had a discussion that they weren't going to tell anyone until they were completely sure that this was going to work. They didn't want anyone to get their hopes up about this until they were completely, one hundred percent, really sure about this. There had already been too many false hopes.
So they set up the van and had Scott help them out. Of course, he was told about everything that had happened so he was good. Confused but fine. Cassie and him had a tiny little baby argument not so out of eavesdropping rang about safety but she was still here so it was fine.
"Okay let's go! Time travel, test numero uno." Harley said smiling from behind the controls with Shuri.
"Your accent ruins that. Scott! Fire the van up." Harley rolled his eyes at his boyfriend while Scott did as he was told.
"Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby!" Lila was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Nice doesn't want to lose tiny here in the 1950s if we blow the grid." Shuri definitely said that way too loud.
"She's joking. Shuri!" Peter elbowed her and she snickered tinkering with the controls while sarcastically agreeing. Scott looked more nervous than a second ago.
They were all set up and hyped Scott up for this. Peter bit his lip nervously as Harley counted down clicking a few buttons. At the end of the count, Scott was back... except it wasn't Scott. It was definitely not Scott.
Harley clicked more buttons and he came back as an old man. Shuri snickered from the sidelines and Peter was sure she could help by getting in there. It was funny to see Harley all freaked sometimes, in certain circumstances. All of a sudden Scott was back... as a baby.
"What..." Peter also started snickering too. Probably most definitely not the time to be though.
"It's a baby," Lila said to which Harley shrugged motioning to the drooling toddler.
"It's Scott!" Harley said making Shuri hide her face behind Peter trying not to laugh her ass off.
"As a baby!" Cassie chimed in looking horrified. She just got her dad back. This was most definitely not funny but Peter still had to cover his mouth.
"No shame," Lila whispered to the two of them.
"Bring my father back at an age where he isn't old enough to be my own fucking kid Keener!" Cassie glared as Lila almost had to cover her mouth.
Shuri finally got herself together and moved toward the platform with the controls. She poked him a few times in the side moving him over slightly but not totally off the platform.
"EPR paradox, you're pushing time through Scott, not Scott through time dumbass." She snickered to which Harley responded with a sound of realization while Peter smiled behind his hand. Harley proceeded to stick his tongue out at his boyfriend like a complete child.
She got the child back and sent him back once more. He came back normal this time and said that was awesome and that he only ever wanted Shuri to put him through again. Harley just pouted getting a kiss on the cheek from his boyfriend.
They all stood there for a moment. Scott seemed a bit confused about the silence and shocked state everyone seemed to be in but didn't say anything. They were all just thinking about how they did it. Everyone was going to come back.
"Guys..." Peter started looking over at each and every single member of his team even Cassie who had been with them for only a few hours, "we did it. We're going to get everyone back." A few seconds later they were cheering and hugging and celebrating with even a few tears.
Now they needed the team. Peter and Shuri got on the holograms and contacted everyone. And by everyone, they contacted everyone. They called Okoye, Rocket, Rhodey, Carol, Mantis, Nebula, and Valkyrie. They then called Bucky, Sam, Pepper, MJ, and Ned respectively. Lila told her brother too who was eager to help but was only eleven so he was going to be locked up in his room.
They gathered up the people that they needed to collect the stones after that. Peter jumped for joy when Mantis and Nebula showed up, Rocket too of course but he was closer with the two alien women. They entered, Rocket, Bruce, and Rhodey not far behind, and he let out a small squeal of excitement.
"Don't ever make that sound again child." Nebula said but still opened her arms for Peter when he ran to her. He then hugged Mantis as well lifting her and spinning her as she giggled. He loved the shit out of them.
Bucky and Sam arrived not long after that greeting the kids, who they've got to stop calling kids, with their usual happy faces. Peter and Harley hugged them both asking how Cass and AJ were while Shuri and Lila got hugs. They both complained but everyone knew they weren't unwanted.
Loki and Vision were late and arrived together which made a few eyebrows raised but no one got an answer when asked. Loki has been around many places, mostly staying in the compound, of course, one of the few times he goes to visit Valkyrie is when they figure out how to get everyone back. He voiced his displeasure by throwing a table at Peter who caught it and threw it back through the hologram while the real Loki grabbed him around the neck. Bruce broke the fight up, it was more play fighting than real fighting. Loki used magic though so Peter always got butthurt when he won. Then proceeded to take Loki off his feet when the Asgardian gave into his puppy eyes.
Yes, Vision is back. Even though he got the mind stone ripped out of his skull. Anyways, Shuri got his body and found a way to get him back without the stone. She had been pulling it out of his head in the first place before he got all "I need to be a hero" and shit. Peter thought he was quite cool. Vision found himself learning many things from his young companions.
After that, they were all briefed on what was happening. Peter was explaining things, Harley and Shuri chiming in when needed. He stopped after he was done raising an eyebrow at Sam and Bucky.
"What?"
"You did it, all of you," Bucky answered looking at the three then looking over at Lila and Cassie even.
"You saved half the universe." Sam continued and the five of them blushed Peter chuckling nervously.
"We haven't really done anything yet. Just figured out how we're going to." Peter said and Bucky just shook his head clapping a hand on the young adult's shoulder.
"You've done a lot," Bucky said giving him a smile that made his chest warm.
"We're proud of you kids. All of you." Sam said and they all smiled almost having tears come to their eyes over this.
They were finally going to get everyone back. All that grieving, all that pain, all the times they went to turn to that person they needed most and they weren't there. They were finally going to be there again. Imagine having that one person you needed most come back from beyond the grave. The feeling was heart-wrenching.
Peter volunteered to do it. He wanted to do the test run. They'd all finished the full-on time portal that would get them all through at the same time. They all hesitated but didn't really have a good reason not to let him go.
Peter felt himself falling and then all of a sudden he landed on a very hard surface. He let out a small groan before looking up and frowning. Then the breath left his lungs. He got up and slowly made his way out of his room. His room. His room in the fucking Avengers Tower. From way back just after Germany.
Tony had said he'd wanted Peter to help with a few things in his lab. One too many times falling asleep on the couch in the living area got him a room. He slowly and carefully made his way down the hall.
Then he heard voices. The voices of those he thought were gone. Of those, two weeks ago, he never thought he'd hear.
He rushed but stopped at the corner. He choked on absolutely nothing when he saw who sat at the table. He only focused on one person. Selfish he knows. But Tony. Tony. God, he missed the man beyond anything he has ever felt. Tony and May both shot holes in his heart when they were gone. He already felt tears falling down his face as his watch beeped.
"Tony." He said but was gone before the sound even reached the man's ear let alone turned around to see him.
He let out a hurt sound when he found himself back on the platform. Harley was at his side instantly, Bucky, then Shuri, Sam, Lila. Harley's soothing southern accent entered his ear and it always made everything at least a little better. His arms circled Peter and his scent enveloped him. It was going to be even better when they got everyone back.
Next, they figured out exactly when and where.
They only needed three teams. Peter, Harley, Scott, would go to New York to get the mind stone and space stone, Shuri had also argued to go but in the end, she understood that if anything went wrong here she was the only one to fix it. Bruce would be with them going to New York as well to get the time stone. Loki and Rocket would go to Asgard to get the reality stone, or the ether as it was also called. Lila, Rhodey, and Nebula would go to Morag while Sam and Bucky would go to Vormir.
"Whatever it takes," Peter muttered as everyone got into position giving everyone a look.
"See you in a minute," Sam said smiling at Bucky then over at Peter and Harley.
Whatever it takes.
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