"Find anything about Clint?" Leigh asked sadly, but judging by Natasha's appearance, it was a particularly hard day.

Leigh's own appearance wasn't much better, she had started taking as many shifts at the hospital as possible. The brunette's hair went un-washed, and the dark bags under her eyes had seemingly gotten darker.

"Nothing good, if that's what you're asking," Natasha noted, cutting her peanut butter sandwich down the center.

Leigh pulled out a chair and sat down with a quiet sigh of relief, her feet were killing her, "What was it now?"

Natasha looked at Leigh reluctantly, she was aware of the fact that Leigh was nearly thirty, but she still wished to protect her from everything possible. "Do you really want to know? Because at this rate I feel like I should be protecting your image of him... I'm losing hope."

"That bad, huh?" the brunette pressed her lips together, blinking several times, "I'm not giving up on him, Nat. He never even thought about giving up on me."

"I know." Natasha leaned further back into her seat, almost crumpling in on herself.

A beat of silence hung in the air, "It hurts, you know? Clint was there the moment I called him, I mean when I met the two of you, I was seventeen, and broken as hell. Clint was...is more of a dad to me than mine ever was...and he's not gone. But he's kind of gone."

Leigh let out a long sigh, "I should go shower, and get out of these scrubs." 

The woman still however had yet to actually stand up from the chair, "I'd offer to cook us dinner, but you already seem sad enough." Leigh looked up to find Steve leaning against the shelf.

"Come by to do your laundry?" Natasha asked, and Steve nodded, "And to check in on the two of you."

"I'm fine." Natasha stated firmly, "You leave the house today?" Steve arched an eyebrow at the woman.

"Nothing out there I particularly want to see."

"I just got back from the hospital. I have no care to leave the house." Leigh stated, rubbing her forehead.

"I spotted a pod of whales coming over the bridge" Steve quipped, "Whales?" Leigh questioned, a bit confused.

"In the Hudson," Natasha added, skeptically. 

Steve shrugged, "Fewer ships, cleaner water. Just saying, there's still a world out there."

Leigh thought about noting the fact that there were also still plenty of sick people or hurt people. The brunette spent most of her time with them.

Natasha's eyes dropped to the desk for a moment, "If you're gonna tell me to look on the bright side, hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich."

Steve sighed quietly, his shoulders falling a bit, "Sorry." he moved to sit across from the two women, "Force of habit." 

Leigh closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, just a moment of stillness, Natasha slid the plate with her sandwich on it over toward Steve and Leigh sent her a slight glare, "I'm taking the sandwich. I just got off a ten-hour shift. Sorry, Steve."

The man nodded in understanding, and Leigh bite into the sandwich, "You know, I keep telling everybody they should move on and grow," he paused, "Some do. But not us."

Leigh shrugged, "Moving on is overrated."

"If I move on...who does this?" Natasha asked, "Maybe it doesn't need to be done." Steve answered.

Leigh could see the tears building up behind Natasha's eyes, and felt the sting of her own. The brunette so desperately wished she could move on...but she just couldn't. She couldn't.

"I used to have nothing." Natasha spoke, "And then I got this. This job....this family. And I was better because of it." she paused, blinking back tears.

"And even though they're gone..." she shook her head, "I'm still trying to be better."

Leigh gently reached over, giving Natasha a soft side hug, "I think we need to get a life." Steve quipped.

"You first."

"Incoming," Leigh murmured, quietly warning Natasha that her daughter was approaching. 

"Mama, someone's here." Nadia bounced on her heels, the girl wasn't so little anymore, it had been five years after all. 

Sure enough, a device chimed in the room, and Leigh looked up questioning, "Hi!-uh is Anyone home? This is uh, Scoot Lang. We met a few years ago, at the airport...in Germany."

Leigh's eyes held her clear confusion, as she stared at the recording of the man, "Is this...live?" 

Natasha nodded, "Yeah. It is." she spoke with a hint of unsureness. 

"Ant-Man. I know you know that."

"It's...it's at the front gate," Natasha stated, still staring at the image, bewildered.

"Who is that guy?" Nadia pointed to the screen, "He seems...distressed."

"You've got that one right, kid." Leigh stated, resting her hands on Nadia's shoulders, "And there goes my shower. We should probably talk to him."

--

Scott paced the floor muttering to himself in thought, "Scott." he looked up at Steve, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Scott rubbed his face, "Have any of you ever studied quantum physics?"

Leigh scoffed quietly under her breath, "That shi-" her eyes fell on Nadie, "stuff even goes over my head."

"Alright so..."

"Yay. Quantum Physics." Leigh half-sarcastically stuck her thumb up, before rubbing her forehead out of pure exhaustion. 

"Five years ago right before..." the man trailed off, "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, she was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened...and I got stuck in there."

"I'm sorry that must've been a long five years..." Natasha sympathized.

"Yeah, but that's just it." Scott started, "It wasn't. For me, it was five hours. See the rules of the quantum realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anyone's sandwich? I'm starving." he crossed the room to the table.

Nadia raised her eyebrows at Leigh, "Parece un poco loco."
(Translation: he seems a bit crazy.)

Leigh laughed quietly, "solo un poco."
(Translation: Only a little.)

Leigh had brushed up on her Spanish from high school, since Natasha and Maria had taught Nadia how to speak a couple of other languages, she figured she'd pick up on one.

"Scott. What are you talking about?" Steve questioned, "So..." he started with food still in his mouth, "what I'm saying is, time works differently in the quantum realm."

"Yes," Leigh nodded, "We got that part."

"The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did. I can't stop thinking about it, what if we did?"

Leigh looked over to Natasha, wondering if she was catching any of this. The brunette sighed, crossing her arms, and looking back to Scott.

"What if we could control the chaos? And we could navigate it? What if there was a way...that we could enter the quantum realm at a certain point in time but then exit the quantum realm in another? Like...Like before Thanos."

Leigh stared at the man blankly, "Before Thanos? Okay I know I said quantum physics goes right over my head but...are you saying time travel?"

"No not...ok yes, time travel. I know, I know, it's crazy! It's crazy!" Scott rambled, "But I can't stop thinking about it, there's gotta be a way...it's crazy." he sighed defeated.

"Scott, I get emails from a raccoon. Nothing sounds crazy anymore." Natasha quipped.

 "So who do we talk to in this?" he asked.

"You'll talk to Mr. Tony Stark himself." Leigh looked down at the notification that binged her phone, "I, however, will be following up on a lead." 

"Leigh..." Natasha trailed off, "I told you, I have to try." Leigh dismissed. She wouldn't give up on Clint, she couldn't.

"Let me know how it goes though."