A time heist?
Scott came in and started pacing in front of them. This was impossible. He was definitely on the list of the vanished. “Scott.” Steve said, causing him to stop. “Are you okay?” Scott nodded, running a hand over his face.
“Have any of you ever studied Quantum Physics?” He asked.
“Only to make conversation.” Nat answered.
“Only when I’m bored.” Kat told him.
“All right so, five years ago, right before…Thanos…I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The quantum realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she’s my um…she was my…she was supposed to pull me out, and then Thanos happened and I got stuck in there.” He told them.
“I’m sorry, that must have been a very long five years.” Nat said softly. “Yeah, but that’s just it.” Scott said. “It wasn’t. For me it was five hours. See the rules of the quantum realm aren’t like they are up here.” Kat could see the gears in Nat’s head turning, the same thing was happening to her. Was he really saying what she thought he was?
“Is that anyone’s sandwich? I’m starving.” He said, walking over to the table and stuffing the peanut butter sandwich in his mouth, moaning at how good it was.
“Scott. What are you talking about?” Steve asked him. “So, time works differently in the quantum realm. We haven’t had a way to navigate it, but what if we did?” He said. I can’t stop thinking about it. What if we could control the chaos? What if we could navigate it?”
“What if there was a way to enter the quantum realm in a certain point in time, and exit it at another point in time?”
“Time travel. You’re talking about time travel, right?” Kat said. Steve and Nat looked from her and back to Scott. “Like a time machine?” Steve asked.
“No, of course not. No, not a time machine.” Scott said. “It’s more like a…yeah. Like a time machine. I know it’s crazy. But I can’t stop thinking about it. There’s gotta be a way…it’s crazy.”
“Scott. I get emails from a raccoon…so, nothing sounds crazy anymore.” Nat told him. He looked the other people with hope in eyes. “So…who do we talk to about this?”
Kat sat in the front of the car while Steve drove, Nat and Scott in the back. They hadn’t been back to the cabin since the wedding. She had facetimed Tony when Morgan was born, and they had named her godmother. They pulled up to the house and got out, seeing Tony come around the side with Morgan on his hip. He sat her down and she ran into the house, presumably to tell Pepper they had visitors.
They walked up onto the porch and Tony pulled Kat into a hug. “I’ve missed you kid.” He whispered into her hair. “I missed you too old man.” She told him, laughing at the mock hurt he plastered on his face.
Scott started explaining the same thing he did to them, and Tony understood every word. “No. We know what it sounds like.” Scott said.
“Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything really impossible?” Steve asked.
“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale…which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?” Tony said, as if the other four people knew what the hell that meant.
“In laymen’s terms it means you’re not coming home.” He said.
“I did.” Scott defended.
Tony sighed. “No. You accidentally survived. It’s a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a…what do you call it…”
Scott took the glass of water from him, a small smile playing on his lips. “A time heist?” Kat held back a snort, because it just sounded like the most ridiculous thing ever.
“Yeah, a time heist, of course. Why didn’t we think of this before? Oh, because it’s laughable, a pipe dream.”
“The stones are in the past.” Steve started. “We could go back and get them.”
“We could snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back.” Nat added.
“Or screw it up worse than he already has?”
“I don’t believe we would.” Steve answered.
Tony scoffed. “I gotta say it. I sometimes miss that giddy optimism.” He looked over to Kat, who was sitting on the railing, looking out at the water. “You’re being unusually silent. What’s your take?”
Kat took a big breath and turned to face him. “I think we lost too many people to not try Tony. If there’s a way, even if there’s a small chance it would work, I think all the people that aren’t here right now deserve that chance.” She told him. She thought he would definitely be on board with this, even if there was the slightest chance that they could get Peter back.
“Tony, we have to take a stand.” Nat said softly.
“We did stand, and yet, here we are.”
Scott sighed, “I know you got a lot on the line, A wife, daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now we have a chance to bring her back, to bring everyone back, and you’re telling me you won’t even…”
“That’s right Scott. I won’t even.” Tony said. The front door opened and Morgan came out and climbed up into Tony’s lap. “Mommy told me to come and save you.” She told him.
Tony wrapped his arms around her, giving her a squeeze. “Good job. I’m saved.”
He stood with Morgan and looked down at Scott. “I wish you were coming here with something else. I’m honestly happy to see you guys I just…Oh look, the tables set for six.”
“Tony. I get it.” Steve said. “I’m happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance.”
“I got my second chance right here Cap.” He said. He shot a glance at Kat before looking back at Steve. “And you got yours right there. I can’t roll the dice on it and neither should you.” He started walking back into the house before turning back around. “If you don’t talk shop you can stay for lunch.”
They headed back to the car, but Kat tugged on Steve’s hand, turning him to face her. “I’m gonna stay here for a little bit, try and talk to Tony some more.” She told him.
He furrowed his brows at her. “You think you can change his mind?” He asked. She shook her head. “No, and I understand why. This is messing with pretty heavy stuff Steve. One thing could go wrong and Tony could lose his family, I get it. But if there’s one thing I know about Tony, is that once something is in his head, he won’t leave it alone until he figures it out, and we just planted a pretty big seed.”
Steve nodded, leaning down and kissing her softly. “Okay. I love you; I’ll see you soon?” Kat nodded and headed back into the house. Tony spun around and smiled at her. “I knew you’d stay.” He said.
“You know me so well.” Morgan ran up to them, tugging on Tony’s hand. “Morgan, this is Kat, she’s your godmother.”
Her face lit up. “So YOU'RE Auntie Kat! My mommy told me so much about you!” She said, throwing her arms around Kat’s middle. Kat knelt and gave her a proper hug. “Did she? Well, I’ve known your mom and dad for a long time now. They’re like family to me.”
She spent the rest of the day outside, playing with Morgan. They took pictures and Morgan showed Kat her tent and all her toys that she made. She really was Tony’s daughter. She was so smart, and sassy, just like he was.
Coming back from the shower later that night, she peeked downstairs to see Tony looking at a model of a time space continuum, if that’s what you called it, and smiled to herself.
When Tony took Morgan back to bed after they got juice pops, which that would have been her second one, because she shared one with Kat earlier, Kat stood outside her door and waited for him.
“Now go to bed before I sell all your toys.” Tony told her, shutting her door. He turned and saw Kat leaning against the wall and jumped, throwing his hand to his chest. “Shit Kat! What the hell?” He whispered, breathing heavily.
“You figured it out, didn’t you?” She asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Really?”
Tony rolled his eyes at her. “Okay, okay, I figured it out.” She smiled big at him and slid into her room, closing the door. They were going to bring everyone back.