Scott Lang was in a good mood. Like, a really good mood.
His house arrest was finally behind him, and he could finally take Cassie out to the city. They could get ice cream, go to movies, explore museums, go to the…
The park.
They were at the park when it happened. It was sunny out, and Cassie was following a line of ants who were proceeding into a little hill in the dirt.
Cassie had noticed first, as some of the ants seemed to… disappear.
“Daddy?” she asked, sounding concerned
Scott heard the cars crashing around him. A plane spun out of control, slamming into the street a milt away from him.
He dove over to Cassie, pushing her away from a motorcycle that was whirring forwards without a driver.
He looked down at his daughter, who had tears in her eyes.
“Cassie,” he cried over the sound of carnage, “Cassie are you okay?”
The small girl was trembling, bleeding from a cut on her forehead.
“Daddy?” she asked through thick tears.
“Daddy, my hand…”
Cassie held up her hand. The tips of her fingers looked gray. Scott watched as the gray spread, and suddenly his babies fingers were just, disappearing.
It moved up her arms, and started up her legs.
Cassie’s trembles and choked sounding gasps turned to horrible, shaking sobbing.
“My hand daddy! What’s happening to my hand?”
“It’s okay, It’s okay Cas,” Scott cried, “I got you, baby, I got you, it’s all going to be okay.”
“Daddy I’m scared… I’m so scared, I’m so so....”
A gust of wind blew through the air.
Scott clutched at nothing. He reassured nothing.
She was gone. How could someone just be gone like that?
Scott sat in the park as people turned to ash around him. The air was nothing but a symphony of screams and crashes, and wind.
Why did this happen?
And why Cassie? Why couldn’t he have gone? It… it wasn’t fair. How could he just keep living?
He didn’t want to just live.
He wanted to fight.
And he would.
The remaining Avengers returned to Earth a week and a half after the snap.
It took Scott a full week to work up the nerve to go to them. Hope came with him, though she barely said a word.
The loss of her parents were just too much. But like Scott, she wanted to fight.
They knocked on the door of the Avengers facility, and were greeted by Natasha, who’s short white hair was mussed. She looked as though she’d hardly slept, but still she opened the door wide.
“Why are you here?” she murmured softly.
Scott looked up at her, eyes full of tears once again.
“Cassie’s gone. How can I get her back?”
Natasha waved them through to what looked like a living room. Nine people sat on various couches and chairs, none of them talking. Tissues lay scattered across the floor. Coffee mugs were overturned. Various newspapers were spread out on tables. Many of them bore harsh criticisms of the Avengers inability to stop what’d happened.
Quite frankly, they were a mess.
When Scott and Hope walked in, all eyes turned to them.
Scott stood tall.
“We need a plan.”
~In the Soul World~
When Bucky came to, he heard tears.
It surprised him. He always thought that if he died, he’d be alone, but he was surrounded by people. Well, maybe they were people. It was more just wisps of people. Yet they still had shape. He still bumped into them when he moved. He heard them all talking, crying.
Through the busy din of voices and sounds, Bucky clearly heard a conversation.
One voice was a little lower, but strained and cracked.
The other was much younger, and feminine.
“It’s okay,” she was saying. “I can help you!”
“I’m fine,” replied the lower voice, “What about your head?”
As Bucky’s senses became more keen, he recognized the latter voice, though it sounded much older, much less energetic.
Spider-Man?
He vaguely remembered someone mentioning to him that they thought the vigilantes name was… uh… Peter? Maybe?
Bucky pushed through lost souls until he reached them.
Peter was sitting on the ground, wearing a decked-out Spider-Suit without a mask, a little girl next to him.
The girl had a cut on her forehead, and Peter was clutching at his ribs, but other than that, they looked okay.
Bucky knelt next to them.
“Peter, do you know who I am?” he asked softly.
Peter looked up in surprise, and then threw a protective arm around Cassie and tried weakly to move away.
“Mr. Winter Soldier, sir!” he exclaimed, “Please don’t hurt us I’m so sorry about Germany I didn’t even know about the accords or anything but please don’t be mad I’m really sorry really I am…”
“Stop rambling, kid!” Bucky interrupted. “I’m not mad. You fought really well in Germany. I don’t want to hurt you or…”
“Cassie,” the girl supplied.
“Yeah,” Bucky finished, putting his hands up in the air in surrender.
Peter still looked apprehensive, but he slowly retracted his arm, and put it back to his ribs with a wince.
“Can I look at that?” Bucky asked.
Peter nodded.
Bucky put a soft hand on Peter’s chest, then grimaced.
“I think you broke a rib. I’d wrap it or something if we weren’t… y’know…”
“Yeah,” Peter replied, still not looking the Winter Soldier in the eye.
Bucky turned to Cassie.
“How’d you too meet up?” Bucky asked as he examined Cassie’s cut.
“My daddy told me to look for another Avenger is I was in trouble,” Cassie piped.
“Really?” Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows in a mix of surprise and playfulness, trying to make the girl seem more comfortable.
“And who’s your dad?”
“Ant-Man!” she said, voice laced with pride.
Bucky nodded in realization. Steve told him Scott had a daughter.
Bucky looked at the two children in front of him. He didn’t know them too well, but he was going to protect them. And they’d figure out what was going on.
He’d get them home.