Y/N STOOD OUTSIDE the compound looking out onto the lawn. With hands in his pockets, he took in the view while in his thoughts.

There was a slight possibility of Scott's plan working out. Even without the help of Tony, with Banner there was a chance. But even with that...Y/N wasn't sure if this was what he wanted. He kept thinking back at his conversation with Tony a couple of days ago.

Steve walked out of the building and saw his son standing beside the column. He went up to him and looked out at the same view.

"Lang's got the van prepped in the hangar." He stated.

Y/N exhaled. "Good."

The older super-soldier recognized his mood and looked at Y/N. "Everything all right?"

A part of the young man wanted to keep what he was thinking to himself, but he also didn't want to lie to his father. He wanted to be honest.

"I'm not sure if I want this." He replied. "It's not like I don't want to bring them back...but like Tony said...it's a risk."

Steve gave a soft look toward his son and looked down, understanding his plight. Y/N felt like he had a lot to lose.

He continued. "We're messing with something we barely understand, something even Scott is not too sure of. If it all goes wrong..."

"A part of me is scared too, Y/N. But we shouldn't let it dictate what we do." Steve interjected, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "As Roosevelt once said, there's nothing to fear but fear itself."

Y/N chuckled at the quote and looked back at his father. Steve gave a smile back but then got serious again and continued.

"I know you're afraid, son. But we owe it to them to try."

He took in Steve's statement and immediately thought of the people that were lost.  His friends...his family. People he wishes his children were able to meet.

Bucky.

Sam.

Wanda.

Shuri.

T'Challa.

Peter.

Clint's family.

Steve was right. He had to at least try.

"Okay." Y/N said with a nod. "Let's get started then, Captain."

He smiled and started walking with Y/N back inside. "Don't call me that. It's dad, remember?"

"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one." Banner shouted by the console. "Scott, fire up the, uh....the van thing."

Scott, in his own time travel gear, opened up the back of the van and started up the portal within. Steve started walking up to Natasha, Y/N, and Banner by the console.

"Breakers are set." He stated. "How are the emergency generators?"

Pietro dashed into the area and stood beside them. "They are on standby."

The speedster had joined the group in testing out their plan. After hearing about a chance to get his sister back, he was adamant about helping. But good ol' Uncle Pietro made sure Nikolai was asleep and Maggie was settled beforehand.

"Good." Banner replied. "Because if we blow the grid, I don't want to lose, uh, Tiny here in the 1950s."

Scott looked up upon hearing his remark. "Excuse me?"

"He's kidding." Natasha said with a smile as she typed on her tablet. She looked up at Bruce. "You can't say things like that."

"It was...it was a bad joke." Banner stammered.

Scott simply nodded and started walking back to the van. Y/N flipped a couple of switches and turned to Banner.

"You were joking, right?" He asked.

"I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is." Banner answered, then feigned a smile and gave Scott a thumbs up. "We're good! Get your helmet on."

Lang stood by the van and put on his helmet. Banner continued to explain the plan.

"Scott, I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in ten seconds. Makes sense?"

"Perfectly not confusing."

"Good luck, Scott." Steve called out. "You got this."

He smiled gleefully. "You're right. I do, Captain America."

Scott was suddenly shrunk down as he entered the quantum tunnel. Bruce turned some more knobs and started to count down.

"On a count of three..." He spoke. Y/N, Natasha, Steve, and Pietro stood by awaiting the result. "Three, two, one."

The machine whirred and Scott came back out...or so they thought it was him at first. The sight of an adolescent kid within the time travel suit confused them.

"Uh...guys?" The boy called out. "This doesn't feel right."

"What is this?" Banner muttered.

"What's going on?" Steve asked.

Y/N pointed at the boy. "Who is that?"

"Is that Scott?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, it's Scott." The boy answered.

Teenage Scott was pulled back in and a few seconds afterward came back out. He was now an old man.

"Oh, my back hurts!" He groaned.

"What the hell is this?" Pietro asked.

"Hold on a second." Banner started roaming around the console. "Can you give me some space?"

"Yeah, yeah." Y/N moved away. "Can you bring him back?"

"I'm working on it."

Scott was pulled back in and then a second later returned as a baby. The group looked on in awe.

"It's a baby." Steve said.

"It's Scott." Bruce shot back.

"As a baby!" Steve shouted.

"He'll grow."

"Bring Scott back."

"When I say kill the power, kill the power." Banner told the group.

"Oh, my God." Natasha exhaled and ran over to the breakers.

Banner eyed the meters. "And....kill it!"

Natasha quickly shut off the power and Scott reappeared. The quantum tunnel powered down and he stood there pretty shaken up.

"Somebody peed my pants." Scott blurted out.

Natasha was relieved that Scott was fine. She sighed and placed a hand over her chest. "Oh, thank God."

Scott continued. "But I don't know if it was baby me or old me...or just me me."

Banner opened up his arms and looked at his friends. "Time travel!"

Steve and Y/N shook their heads. Rogers let out an exhale and walked off, leaving the large green man by the console.

He kept trying to make what just happened seem like a positive. "I see this as an absolute win."

Pietro crossed his arms and looked at Banner. "So that's it? We can't do this unless we want to turn into babies and old geezers?"

Banner attempted to give a response but wasn't able to come up with one that'd reassure the speedster. Y/N chose to speak up.

"It's just not possible as of now...at least not in a safe way."

"But we're going to keep working." Natasha said as she walked up to them. "We'll figure out a way."

Y/N glanced at his wife and smiled. He looked back at Pietro with a nod. "We always do."

Pietro nodded back and chuckled as he looked at Natasha. "You're so positive. Yelena likes to find the negatives in a lot of things."

"There was a time when I would think the same way." She replied.

"This morning they gave the forecast for next week. She started listing the things she hated about rainy days, so I tried to counter with some good things about it."

"And who won?"

"Uh...it was deadlocked."

Y/N laughed as the two conversed. It was nice hearing about the current relationship between Pietro and Yelena. Natasha was happy that her sister was experiencing a connection with somebody like she is with Y/N.

Suddenly, Steve walked back inside the hangar. He wasn't alone this time but had Tony by his side. The occupants within looked on in surprise.

"Tony?" Y/N called out.

"Forrest." He greeted and looked at the rest. "Nat, Sonic, Jolly Green." He then looked at Scott, who was taking off his suit. "Lang. Had fun going through time?"

Scott gave a sarcastic reply. "Oh, I had blast!"

Tony put his hands in his pockets and eyed Lang's van. He looked back at his friends.

"If we're going to do this, we better do it right." He spoke. "We might have only one shot at this."

Y/N walked up to Tony. "You're okay with this?"

Stark gave a nod as he looked directly at Y/N. "I had time to think. If we're given a second chance to correct things, we should take it...I should take it."

Y/N knew Tony didn't want to admit what was in his mind. Out of all the people that were gone, he thought of Peter Parker. Tony felt that his death was his fault.

"Let's get him back." Y/N said as he grabbed the side of Tony's arm. "Let's get everyone back."

Tony continued nodding but didn't say a word. He grabbed the side of Y/N's arm as well, in which Y/N nodded back in understanding.

The two husbands...fathers...Avengers...weren't going to let this chance go to waste.

• • •

THE RONIN DROPPED down and threw a shuriken at a Yakuza member. His colleagues shouted as they raised their submachine guns and fired.

"彼だ! 彼は明彦を追っている (It's him! He's after Akihiko!)"

The two were quickly dispatched by the projectiles and the Ronin ran up the stairs to take on the rest. He threw a gang member out of the window and continued through the building, taking out the Yakuza within.

Akihiko crashed through the window and dropped down onto the street below, but the Ronin was right behind him and landed as well. Akihiko turned around and faced the ninja.

"なぜこんなことをするの (Why are you doing this?)" He asked before taking out his sword. "私たちはあなたに何もしませんでした! (We never did anything to you!)"

"あなたは生き残った (You survived...)" Ronin spoke as he drew his sword as well. "地球の半分はそうではなかった。彼らはサノスを手に入れました。あなたは私を (Half the planet didn't. They got Thanos. You get me...)"

Akihiko swung his sword which clashed with Ronin's. They fought and locked blades before they separated.

"あなたは人を傷つけることは終わりました (You're done hurting people.)" Ronin said.

"私たちは人を傷つけますか (We hurt people?)" Akihiko replied with a chuckle, then raised his arms as he looked at the bodies of his men. "頭おかしいよ (You're crazy!)"

He attacked again but Ronin blocked it with his sword. He punched the Yakuza boss in the face and pushed him away before pointing the tip of his blade at Akihiko's neck. There was a pause, but he quickly hit it away and engaged Ronin.

They continued fighting until Ronin slashed him across the stomach. Akihiko groaned for a bit but attacked again. It was a fruitless attempt, as Ronin quickly cut the man's neck. He dropped his sword and dropped to his knees as he held his wound.

"待って! 助けて (Wait! Help me!)" He pleaded with a gurgle. "何でもあげるよ! 何が欲しいの (I'll give you anything! What do you want?)"

"What I want...you can't give me." Ronin said before stabbing down at Akihiko, finishing him off.

Ronin wiped off the blood from his sword. He looked down at the body, then removed his hood along with the face mask he was wearing. Clint let the rain hit his face and didn't even bother turning around upon hearing footsteps behind him.

He knew who they were.

"You shouldn't be here." Clint spoke.

"Neither should you."

Natasha and Y/N stood a couple of yards behind him, with the super-soldier holding the umbrella. Clint turned around and faced the two.

"I've got a job to do." He replied, adjusting his gloves.

"Is that what you're calling this?" Natasha asked. "Killing all these people isn't going to bring your family back."

Clint didn't respond. Y/N started easing closer to him as Natasha followed.

"We found something, Clint." Y/N said. "Something that you should hear about."

"A chance, maybe." Natasha added.

Clint looked at her and sighed. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't give me hope."

"I'm sorry we couldn't give it to you sooner."

Barton looked back down as rain still drenched his unmasked face. Natasha reached over and held his hand, which he reciprocated.

Y/N gave a soft smile and looked at Clint. "Come on, brother. You have a couple of fellas back home that are excited to meet you."

Clint looked back up at Y/N, and for what was probably the first time in five years, gave a slight smile back.

• • •

AT THE COMPOUND the new arrivals went straight to work. Nebula, Rocket, and Rhodey showed up during Y/N and Natasha's trip to get Clint. Thor arrived later that day with Banner after some convincing.

Tony and Rocket were at work building the new quantum tunnel. Y/N walked into the hangar with Maggie and Nikolai, and the little boy immediately noticed Rocket.

He full-on sprinted toward the working Guardian and the raccoon heard the oncoming footsteps. He turned around and saw the running four-year-old.

"Oh, great." Rocket said under his breath, then Nikolai quickly hugged him. Despite the kid's age, he was able to lift the raccoon off his feet like a teddy bear.

Rocket grunted in his hold. "Hey, big man. Good to see you again."

Nikolai let him go and pet his head. He looked back at his father who walked up to the two.

"Hey, Rocket." Y/N greeted.

"Can I help him?" Nikolai asked as he looked at the unfinished machine. "Then we could play!"

Y/N chuckled. "This is pretty important, little man. But when everything is done he'll get back to you. Okay?"

Nikolai nodded, then spotted Rhodey walking into the hangar. He left the two and went to greet one of his uncle figures.

"Please remind your kid that I'm not Build-A-Bear." Rocket remarked and continued working. Y/N laughed then turned around to see Thor walking inside, wearing sunglasses and cracking open a can of beer. Tony was behind him carrying some parts for the machine.

"Drifting left." Tony called out as Thor moved aside. "One side there, Lebowski." He looked ahead at Rocket. "Rachet, how's it going?"

"It's Rocket." He replied. "Take it easy, you're only a genius on Earth, pal."

Tony chuckled and put down the parts before helping Rocket. Y/N turned to Thor and smiled.

"How's Norway treating you?" He asked.

"What is this Norway you speak of?" Thor replied after a burp. "It's New Asgard. A place of prosperity, glee, and..." He couldn't think of anything else but continued. "Just like the one from before."

Y/N nodded. "Then you must've really loved it there. What made you come by?"

"I can't just come to visit my good friend?" He placed a hand on his shoulder. "I come by often. Such as...uh..."

"Thanksgiving." Y/N answered for him. "Two years ago."

"And we had a great time did we?"

The super soldier stifled a laugh. Thor ate, drank, and then left immediately afterward. Y/N didn't blame him though, he still understood what he was feeling.

Thor noticed his silence and sighed. "All right. The raccoon promised there'd be beer if I tagged along."

"Now that's believable." Y/N replied.

Suddenly, Maggie walked up to his father and the Asgardian. Thor looked back and saw the teenager.

"My, my! Lady Margaret." He greeted. "Oh, how you've grown."

"I'm happy you're here, Thor." She greeted him back and hugged him. It came as a surprise to the demigod, as he didn't expect her to be so welcoming after not visiting for two years.

But like her father...she understood his mental state.

Thor chuckled as he pat her back before they parted. He looked at Maggie then at Y/N, trying to say something. Before he could get more emotional, he walked away.

"You brought out the soft side of him." Y/N remarked as they watched him leave. "Never thought I'd see it again."

"He just needs to know that there's still love to give. And in his case...to receive." She replied.

The two continued talking until they looked to their left. They saw Natasha walk in with the man they brought back earlier...the man that hadn't come home in five years. Nearby with Rhodey, Nikolai spotted him too.

"Dad..." Maggie began as she studied the man's facial features. "Is that—"

Y/N nodded. "It is, sweetheart."

Maggie started walking up to them, but after Nikolai decided to sprint she followed suit. Natasha smiled as her children reached them, but stopped in front of the man.

"Darlings." Natasha said. "This is my friend...your uncle. Clint Barton."

He didn't know what to say to the children after Natasha introduced him. He's only seen them once in a picture when Nikolai was born and when Maggie was four. The kids he sent gifts to...the kids he chose to keep in his heart through five years of despair...were right in front of him.

"Uh...I—" Clint stammered as he tried to form words. "You two are—"

Nikolai immediately hugged Clint. He knew who he was and was happy to finally see the person that sent them gifts during his work and who his parents would tell stories about.

"I love you, Uncle Clint."

Clint's breathing hitched upon hearing those words. He hadn't heard a statement like that since before the decimation of half the universe...when his children were alive.

"I...I love you too, Nik." Clint muttered.

"Nikolai Clinton Carter." Natasha told her friend, letting him know that his middle name had significance.

Clint smiled and continued hugging the boy. He then looked at Maggie, who gave a soft smile.

"Maggie." He said, studying her features. She looked just like Natasha. "You're so big."

"You can thank HYDRA's cloning technology for that." Maggie quipped, then opened her arms. "I'm so happy to see you, Clint."

She hugged him too, and the man held the two kids close. Y/N walked up beside Natasha and they both smiled at the sight. Clint looked back at his two friends amidst the hug and gave a smile back as his eyes started to water.

• • •

TIME TRAVEL SUITS were built after a collective effort by Banner, Scott, and Nebula. Fittings were done and arguments on whether time travel movies were accurate also came up, but now it was time to fully test out the machine Tony and Rocket built.

They needed a test subject and one man was willing to be it...Clint.

In the hangar, he stood on the newly built quantum tunnel wearing his time travel suit. The rest of the team stood by the console that Banner was operating.

He started to count down. "All right, Clint. We're going in three, two, one."

Clint shrunk down and disappeared, transporting him into the quantum realm.

"So how long does this take?" Pietro asked Bruce.

"Maybe about..."

In what seemed to be only five seconds, Clint reappeared in a flash.

"Lila!" Clint shouted as he fell on all fours. He started panting as he looked at the floor.

Natasha ran to Clint and helped him up. Scott followed close behind with a bowl of oranges in hand.

"Hey. Hey, look at me. You okay?" Natasha asked Clint as held his head.

He was in a daze, looking around as he caught his breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He glanced at the baseball mitt in his hand and Clint's expression changed.

"It worked...it worked." He added as he tossed the mitt to Tony. He caught it and grasped the object as he smiled.

Y/N chuckled as he felt the feeling of elation. Their plan was possible. They could do it.

"You smart son of a gun." He remarked as he looked at the baseball mitt.

The two builders of the quantum tunnel smiled at the man's words. Tony and Rocket responded in unison. "Thanks."

The billionaire and Guardian gave each other look, but before they can argue about who was the genius in this project, Steve spoke.

"All right. Let's get started."