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𝑰𝑻 𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺  𝑻𝑾𝑶
-𝒔𝒆𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏
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          SCOTT LIFTED his leg, kicking the woman in the thigh and sending her tumbling to the floor. They watched her roll on the floor, sliding away against the glass from the chandelier.

"You and Hope taught me that kick, remember?" Scott asked, glancing at her.

"Yeah, good form. Really," Christina nodded, peering back through her yellow visor.

"Those were the days," he said. "Whatever happened to us?" This made Christina confused as if he was talking them training was a lifetime ago. "Like, Hope too, but I mean us us, y'know? Cause—"

"Not the time, Scott." Hope reminded via their comms.

When the two glanced back to the floor, they found the woman gone. Chris cursed under her breath. "Shit, where'd she go?"

They both ran into the kitchen, searching around. "I've lost it."

"We're not seeing anything on the ant cams. Try looking—" Hank was cut off but static, following by Hope grunting in pain.

Chris and Scott glanced at each other with wide eyes. "Hank? Hope?!"

Scott jumped up, shrinking down before jumping on a flying ant. Christina leaned forward next, shrinking as well and following him outside the building.

When they made it to the van, Hank was bent over, gripping his throat. Next to him, Hope was rubbing her head in pain. "Oh, my gosh! Are you two all right?"

"No!" Hank snapped. "He got the lab. Come on!"

The two adults climbed into the vehicle, quick to drive off.

          "WHAT THE hell was that?" Christina asked, driving with a tight grip on the wheel. Her eyes roamed back and forth, trying to spot anything that would give their anonymous attacker away.

"I don't know," Hank responded lowly, rubbing Hope's shoulder comfortingly. "But we need to find somewhere to regroup and figure out where the lab is."

"So where to now?" Scott asked, moving back up to the passenger seat. He leaned across the armrest, looking between Christina, Hank and Hope. "How about my place, hmm? I'm supposed to be there anyway, and Woo could walk in any second."

"Exactly why we're not going to your house," Hank shot back.

"What about your house? Or Chris'?"

Hank shot him a look. Chris did the same, "We have no house, remember?"

"Sorry..." Scott muttered, tilting his head. "Well, there is one place I can think of."

After a pause, Hank started shaking his head. "No. No, no, no, no!"

It clicked in Christina's head, and she couldn't help but smile.

She missed them.

"No!"

          CHRISTINA SMILED widely as they entered the shop. "What's up, guys!"

Luis, Kurt and Dave all greeted her back loudly, standing from their 'office space' to hug her. They all bombarded her with questions before Hank and the rest followed, instantly quieting them.

She bounced on her feet, giving Luis' arm a light punch. "I missed you guys so much."

"Yeah, yeah, man! We missed you too, like crazy. We thought we was never gonna see y'all again." Luis responded in one breath. "You guys want coffee?"

Before Hank or Hope could protest, he ran off. The father and daughter awkwardly seated themselves in front of Luis' desk. After a minute, Luis turned, holding two mugs.

"Wow, Doctor Pym, l-like who would've thought that, once again, in your hour of need...that you would turn to us, you know?"

"Not me," Hank shifted in his head.

Luis set the mugs down before Kurt placed a box of cinnamon buns between them. "Help yourself,"

Luis frowned, "Yo, what up with the fancy pastry? We gotta keep the food budget down."

Christina fought back a smile, standing beside Scott.

"Well, what are we supposed to have for breakfast?" Dave asked, sitting at his own desk now.

"The oatmeal packets," Luis gestured with his hand, still upset.

"Oatmeal packets." Dace scoffed, adjusting his dress coat

"It's insult."

"Why is it an insult?" Luis turned to Kurt.

"Because it tastes like sand. "

Hank slowly turned his head, giving Hope a look. Hope pursed her lips, knowing what her father was thinking.

"You know why? Cause-cause it's organic! That's why."

"No, it's not organic, it's sand."

Christina slipped out a laugh, trying to cover her mouth with her fist. She bit her lip, glancing up at Scott. Scott smiled back.

"It's the most important meal of the day," Dave jumped in again.

They continued to argue about oatmeal before Scott waved his heads. "Guys! Guys, guys. Come on, man! We got bigger fish to fry!" Scott blinked before turning away. "Is that my desk?"

Christina's smile faded before her shoulders slumped.

"Yeah," Luis answered.

"What?" Scott asked, walking up to a small square-shaped table in the corner of the room. "Why do I have such a small desk?"

"Because you weren't there when we were choosing desks."

"Okay, but what about that one?" Scott asked next, pointing to one on the other side of the room. "That one's a decent size."

"No, no. That's for Chrissy if she ever wants to work here." Luis smiled, glancing up at her. She laughed quietly, nodding in appreciation.

"You snooze, you lose." Kurt commented.

"Well, I was under house arrest. You know what, this isn't even a real desk. This is garbage. You found this outside amongst garbage." Scott shot back at them. Hope and Hank shared another look of annoyance and Christina quickly grew on their side.

"I got it at a rummage sale."

"So you saved money on my desk?"

Christina rubbed her face before lifting her hands. "Guys! Pl—"

"Please, Chris." Scott finished her sentence, striding back towards her. "We need to focus here."

Her face scrunched in confusion. "What? I wasn't the one—"

"Ah!" He raised a finger, quieting her. She cocked an eyebrow. "We gotta find that lab already, geez."

Christina and Hope both angled their face downward, giving him a warning look. He side-eyed her, offering back a silent apology.

"Oh, you know what? I heard stories, like what happened to you. Like, this crazy, creepy cat, who walks through walls and stuff." Christina turned in attention to Luis' words. "Like—like a ghost."

"Like Baba Yaga." Kurt commented, pointing a finger.

The four turned to him, all in question.

"Baba Yaga, the witch. They tell stories to children to frighten them. He leaned forward in his chair, directing his gaze to Hank, "You know Baba Yaga?"

Hank didn't answer, slowly turning away. He deeply regretted agreeing to his already.

"Whoever stole it," Hope glanced up at Scott and Christina. "we need to find it."

"Oh, you don't find someone like that. They find you." Dave hushed, making Chris frown.

"Like Baba Yaga," Kurt whispered after.

This caused her to groan loudly, rubbing her face with exhaustion. "Yes, like John Wick, we get it. But can we please focus here?"

"Doctor Pym," Luis smiled brightly as the man turned towards him. "you're like the smartest genius I know. Didn't you put some LoJack on your lab? Because, if you didn't, we have a variety of affordable options."

"Of course I did, Luis. It was disabled. Whoever stole the lab knew exactly what they were doing."

"They also looked like they were phasing. Were they, Chris?" Hope asked, twisting back in her chair.

Said person shrugged before nodding once. "Yeah, they were. They kept disappearing and reappearing. Made my head hurt trying to keep up."

"Phasing?" Scott asked.

"Quantum phasing. When an object moves through different states of matter." Hank replied.

"Oh, yeah. That's what I was thinking." Scott quickly brushed it off, receiving a smack on the arm from Christina after.

"The lab emits radiation," Hope wrung her hands while Hank took a sip of his coffee. "Can we modify a quantum spectrometer and track it?"

"That could work, yes." her father replied. "But all my equipment is in the lab."

Scott stepped forward with curiosity, "Well, where else can we find that equipment?"

"There is one person, Bill Foster."

"Great!" Scott smiled suddenly. "Who's Bill Foster?"

"He's an old colleague of my dad's, from SHIELD," Hope replied, giving Hank a look. "They had a falling out years ago."

Luis scoffed jokingly, "You seem to have a lot of falling outs with people." His eyes caught Chris as she subtly swiped her fingers in front of her throat as in 'cut it out'.

"It's probably just a waste of time," Hank sighed, shifting in his chair.

"Hey, I'm risking everything by being here." Scott butted in. "Don't you think we should check?"

"We need to find out who took that lab,"

"And fast," Christina commented after, putting a hand on Hank's shoulder to catch his attention. Hank sighed once more, knowing they were right.