THE AVENGERS WERE present on a call with their leader, Natasha Romanoff. She stood behind her desk cutting into her sandwich while hearing what her team had to say. Y/N had made his own sandwich as well, eating it as he sat to the right of the table.

"Yeah, we boarded that highly-suspect warship Danvers pinged." Rocket started to explain.

"It was an infectious garbage scow." Nebula interjected.

Rocket turned to Carol's hologram. "So, thanks for the hot tip."

"Well, you were closer." She replied.

"Yeah. And now we smell like garbage."

Natasha finished cutting her food and leaned over the table. "You get a reading on those tremors?"

A/N: This gif is speaking the truth!

Okoye chose to respond. "''Twas a mid subduction under the African plate."

"Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?"

"Nat. It's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it."

Y/N looked at Natasha and smirked. She brushed it off and turned to Danvers.

"Carol, are we seeing you here next month?"

"Not likely."

"What? You gonna get another haircut?" Rocket asked.

"Listen, fur face. I'm covering a lot of territory. The things happening on Earth are happening everywhere. On thousands of planets."

Rocket looked down. "All right, all right. That's a good point. That's a good point."

"We appreciate all you do, Carol." Y/N spoke up from his seat. "We wish you the best."

Carol nodded. "I'll try to be back as soon as possible. I promised Maggie I'd bring her back some crystals."

Y/N smiled back and Natasha continued to speak.

"All right. Well, this channel is always active. So, if anything goes sideways...anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't...comes through me."

The team collectively agreed before signing off. Everyone except Rhodey, who stayed on the line as Natasha sat back down.

"How's Mexico, Rhodes?" Y/N asked.

He sighed and shrugged. "Not great. The Federales found a room full of bodies. Looks like a bunch of cartel guys...never even had a chance to get their guns off."

"It's probably a rival gang." Natasha said, even though both she and her husband had an inkling of who the real perpetrator was. Rhodey knew as well.

"Except it isn't." The colonel told them. "It's definitely Barton."

Y/N sighed as he looked down at his half-eaten sandwich. He thought of the package they got from Clint a couple of days ago containing gifts for his children. He very likely wrapped them up before or after murdering those men.

Rhodey continued. "What he's done here...what he's been doing for the last few years...I mean, the scene he left...I gotta tell you, there's a part of me that doesn't even wanna find him."

Y/N crossed his arms and let out another exhale. Rhodey turned to him and spoke again. "I know it's hard to accept, but I don't think it's a good idea to keep this going." He paused. "With what he's been doing...do you really want him near them?"

The super-soldier knew he was referring to Maggie and Nikolai. But to hear Rhodey suggest that Clint could be dangerous around them annoyed him a little.

"Don't...don't say that, Rhodes." Y/N said.

Rhodey sighed. Natasha took a bit to compose herself before talking to him again.

"Will you find out where he's going next?" She asked as she bit into her sandwich.

"Nat?" Rhodey knew her emotions were going to keep this mission going...a mission that the colonel figured would turn out fruitless.

Her eyes started to water. "Please?"

The colonel finally gave in. It would be hard, but he would do everything in his power to give his friends closure.

"Okay." He simply said before turning around and ending the call.

Natasha put her hands on her face and began to cry. Y/N scooted his seat beside her and rubbed her shoulders, offering comfort.

"We'll find him." He spoke. "Like I said before, he knows we're here for him. It's just a matter of time until he realizes."

His wife sniffled and put her hands down. Y/N wiped away some of her tears with his thumb.

"If you really hate him, we could throw away the gifts he gave the kids." He joked. "Nikolai might get pissed though. He loves that mask."

The redhead chuckled amidst her tears. "I'm starting to regret making Clinton his middle name."

Y/N gave a soft smile, but she started to cry again. This time he hugged and held her close, trying to hold in his own emotions dealing with the situation.

"You know, I'd offer to cook you both dinner...but y'all seem pretty miserable already." Steve spoke, having entered the room moments ago.

"You're right." Y/N replied as he parted from Natasha. "Thank God we made ourselves food already."

"You're back from your session?" Natasha asked him.

Steve worked at the Brooklyn Support Group for the last few months to talk with people who lost their loved ones in the snap. It mirrored how his friend, Sam, would help veterans back in D.C.

"Last session of the day." He replied. "But I'm here now if you need some help."

"Well, clearly, we're fine."

Steve nodded and looked down at his keys, fiddling with them. "You know, I spotted a pod of whales when I was coming over the bridge."

"In the Hudson?" Y/N asked.

"There's fewer ships...cleaner water."

"You know, if you're about to tell me to look on the bright side...um..." Natasha replied. "I'm about to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich."

Steve softly chuckled as he put his coat down and walked toward the desk. "Sorry. Force of habit."

Once he sat down, Y/N grabbed his empty plate and stood up. He looked at his father. "You want me to make you one?"

He shook his head. Y/N leaned over to grab Natasha's but she gave him a look. "What if I'm still eating that?"

"Well, sorry, honey. I heard you threaten to throw it at my dad so I didn't think you were still hungry."

They both chuckled as Y/N started walking away with his plate. He went into the corridor and was on his way to the kitchen while Steve and Natasha sat in the room.

Rogers began to speak. "You know, I keep telling everybody they should move on...and grow. Some do. But not us."

Natasha thought about giving up the job of being an Avenger and instead become a full-time mother and wife. To settle down. But she still felt like she had a duty. Both she and Y/N thought that way.

"I move on, who does this?" She replied.

"Maybe it doesn't need to be done." Steve said.

Natasha looked at Rogers. "I used to have nothing. And then I got this. This job. This family. And I was better because of it."

She paused for a moment. "And then it got better. I fell in love. I had kids. This family that I started with...became something more."

Steve nodded, listening to his friend as she continued.

"It's something I wish I was able to experience with the people we lost. Even though they're gone...I'm still trying to be better."

Rogers gave a soft smile at her statement. He was lucky enough to experience it. To be with his current family, to be with his son, his grandchildren. But like her, he wishes the others were able to see it. People like Sam...Wanda...Bucky.

"I should start getting a life." Steve joked. "You and Y/N mind setting me up on dates again?"

Natasha laughed in which Rogers reciprocated. Suddenly, there was a chime and a hologram appeared in front of the redhead. She swiped right and accepted the notification.

The screen appeared behind Steve. Live footage from the outside of Avengers Compound played.

"Oh, hi, hi! Uh, is anyone home? This is, uh, Scott Lang. We met a few years ago at the airport...in Germany?"

Natasha's expression changed as she stared at the feed. Steve listened in and stood up from his seat to his own surprise.

"I was the guy that got really big. I had a mask on. You wouldn't recognize me."

"Is this an old message?" Steve asked.

"Ant-Man? I know you know that. I really need to talk to you guys."

Natasha also stood up. "It's the front gate."

Y/N had returned to the office when he saw Steve and Natasha jogging away from the desk and toward him.

"Uh, what's going on?" He asked.

Steve ran past him but Natasha slowed down to inform him of the situation.

"It's Lang. He's alive."

Scott Lang muttered to himself. Y/N, Natasha, and Steve stood idly by watching as he paced around the office. They could tell he was trying to further process the situation, and the man was also trying to form an explanation to give them.

"Scott?" Y/N asked.

"Sorry. Sorry." He began and turned to them. "It's just...it's been a long drive. A lot of thinking during it. I don't even remember the last time I ate—" He stopped his rambling and noticed the ring on his hand. He looked at him and Natasha. "Oh! Um...congratulations."

Y/N glanced at Natasha then back at Scott. "Uh, thanks. We would've invited you to the reception if I knew you were...alive."

"Yeah...yeah. No need to apologize. I'm still wondering what, how, why." He started pacing around again and rubbed his face. "Jesus."

"Are you okay?" Steve asked him.

"Yeah." He inhaled. "Have either of you guys studied quantum physics?"

"Only to make conversation." Natasha replied.

"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." Scott explained. "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."

"I'm sorry, that must have been a very long five years." She said.

"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me, it was five hours."

Y/N arched a brow as the two did the same. Scott began to clarify.

"See, the rules of the quantum realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable." He then noticed the plate of food on the table. "Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving."

Scott jogged over toward the table and grabbed Natasha's leftover sandwich. He basically inhaled the piece of food.

"Scott? What are you talking about?" Steve asked.

"So..." Scott spoke while chewing. "...what I'm saying is time works differently in the quantum realm. The only problem is right now we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did?" He continued to pace around. "I can't stop thinking about it. What if we could somehow 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 at another point in time? Like...like before Thanos."

"Wait. Are you talking about a time machine?" Y/N asked.

"No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. This is more like a...." Scott tried to think of another name for it, but couldn't. The super soldier was right. "Yeah. Like a time machine. I know, it's crazy. It's crazy."

Steve looked at his son as he crossed his arms. Scott stammered as he tried to back up his plan.

"But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be...someway." He let out a sigh and looked down at the piece of bread in his hand. "It's crazy."

"Scott." Natasha spoke. "I get emails from a raccoon...so nothing sounds crazy anymore."

Scott nodded at her remark. "So, who do we talk to about this?"

• • •

THE NEXT DAY Steve, Y/N, Natasha, and Scott decided to stop by Tony's cabin. With Maggie at school and Nikolai with Pietro back at the compound, it gave the two parents time to join the captain and ex-convict on their trip.

They pulled up to the front of the cabin and saw Tony carrying Morgan up the steps of the porch. Steve got out of the car followed by the rest, and the billionaire simply looked at Rogers before continuing. Steve looked at his son, who gave a nod before they all walked up to the house.

Tony poured them drinks as they all stood on the porch. Scott continued to explain the situation as Stark listened.

"No. We know what it sounds like." Scott stammered.

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve asked.

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale..." Tony replied as he finished pouring the drinks. "...which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?"

He handed Steve a glass in which he appreciated. Tony turned to Scott. "In layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"I did." Scott shot back.

"No. You accidentally survived. It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a...what do you call it?"

Tony handed the man his drink as Scott tried to come up with the name for his plan.

"A time heist?" Scott said rather impressed at himself.

"Yeah, a time heist. Of course." Tony replied with a scoff before looking at the rest. "Why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable. Because it's a pipe dream."

"The stones are in the past. We could go back, we could get them." Steve said.

"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back." Natasha added.

Y/N put his hands in his pockets and exhaled. He was staying quiet for a reason, and Tony noticed this but continued.

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony interjected.

"I don't believe we would." Rogers rebutted.

"Gotta say it. I sometimes miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist." Tony sat down on his seat and continued. "I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." Scott sat beside Tony. "All right? It means no talking to our past selves...no betting on sports events."

Tony raised his hand. "I'm going to stop you right there, Scott." He leaned closer to him. "Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future? Is it?"

Scott chuckled. "No."

"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that would be horseshit. That's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony." Natasha spoke up and looked at him. "We have to take a stand."

"We did stand." Tony replied and glanced at Y/N, who was looking down still silent. "And yet, here we are."

"I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did." Scott rose his voice. "And now, now we have a chance to bring her back, to bring everyone back, and you're telling me that you won't even—"

"That's right, Scott. I won't even. I can't."

The front door opened and Morgan ran out onto the porch.

"Mommy told me to come and save you." She said.

Tony smiled and carried his daughter, hugging her. "Good job. I'm saved." He held her and looked at his friends as he stood up. "I wish you would've come and asked me anything else. Anything else. I'm happy to see you guys, I just...look our tables set—"

Steve stopped him. "Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."

"I got my second chance right here, Cap. Can't roll the dice on it." He replied then glanced at Natasha before looking back at Steve. "And you shouldn't either."

Before he got inside, he looked at Y/N. "Can I talk to you, Forrest? In private?"

Y/N looked at Natasha, Steve, and Scott before giving a nod and following him inside. The three started walking over to the car.

Tony put Morgan down and she ran back into the living room where Pepper was. The billionaire crossed his arms as he stood beside Y/N by the doorway.

"So the shrinking man was alive after all, huh?" He asked.

"He was stuck in that realm. For us, five years, but for him, five hours." Y/N answered. "What he's proposing...is it really possible?"

"You heard me, Y/N. It's not that simple. And even if we could...it's too dangerous."

The super soldier nodded and looked down, his hands still in his pockets. He understood Tony's hesitance to help...it was too much of a risk. They both had families. They both made the best of the second chances that they received.

"I don't want to lose all this, and I know you don't either." Tony stated. "I'm fine with what I already have. Are you?"

Y/N sighed and looked directly at Stark. "I am."

The billionaire gave a simple nod and pat his shoulder before bidding farewell.

"You sure you and the folks don't wanna stay for lunch?" He asked.

"Nah. We'll leave you be." Y/N replied.

They exchanged nods and the super-soldier left the house. He walked off the porch and joined the rest back at the car.

"Everything all right?" Steve asked his son.

Y/N only nodded, wanting to keep their conversation to himself. "Yeah."

"Tony's scared." Natasha remarked as she recalled their exchange a moment ago.

"He's not wrong." Steve replied.

"Yeah, but, I mean, what are we gonna do?" Scott chimed in. "We need him. What, are we gonna stop?"

"No, I wanna do it right." Steve paused for a moment. "We're gonna need a really big brain."

Scott raised a brow, wondering who in the world they could talk to with a similar level of intellect.

"Bigger than his?"

• • •

THEY MET WITH Bruce Banner in a diner. Y/N sat with Natasha on one side of the booth while Steve and Scott were across from them. Banner, now merged with his Hulk, sat outside of the booth facing them.

"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here." He spoke and looked at Scott. "Try some of that. Have some eggs."

Lang continued staring at the now green and towering Bruce Banner. "I'm so confused."

"These are confusing times." He replied with a chuckle.

"Right, no, no. That's not what I meant."

"Nah, I get it. I'm kidding! I know, it's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now."

"Yeah. What? How? Why?"

Bruce took a bite of his food. "Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Expect it was worse for me...'cause I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost...and then, we all lost."

"No one blamed you, Bruce." Natasha said.

"I did." He retorted before continuing to explain. "For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then, I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together...and now, look at me. Best of both worlds."

Suddenly, three kids came up to the table and wanted to speak with Banner.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?"

"Yes?"

"Can we get a photo?"

"100%, little person." He then looked at Scott and handed him the phone. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, sure."

"Thanks." He looked at the kids. "Say green."

The children and Banner smiled as Scott took the photo. He handed them back the phone.

"Did you want to grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man?" He asked.

The kids looked at each other in confusion, and it was getting awkward pretty fast. Y/N, his arm around Natasha, made a face and looked away from the exchange.

"They're Hulk fans. They don't know Ant-Man." Scott tried to save face. "Nobody does."

"No, he wants to take one with you." Hulk tried to make him feel better.

"I don't want to take a picture. Look, he's even saying no, he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it, either."

Banner looked at the children. "He's gonna feel bad."

"Sorry."

"They're happy to do it. They said they'll do it."

"I don't want to do it."

"We can do it." One of the boys said.

Scott still held out their phone. "Take the goddamn phone."

Steve grabbed his water and took a sip from it. Natasha looked down at the table and fiddled with a spoon amidst the awkward scene.

"Thank you, Mr. Hulk." The girl said.

"No, it was great, kids. Thank you very much." He then made his signature pose with the children. "Hulk out!"

The kids started to walk away but Bruce kept talking. "Listen to your mom. She knows better."

"Bruce." Steve spoke up. "About what we were saying."

"Right." Banner turned to them and got serious. "The whole time travel do-over? Eh, guys, it's outside of my area of expertise."

"Well, you pulled this off." Natasha said referring to his transformation. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too."

Bruce nodded and let out a soft chuckle. "Little Nik still thinks that's me on the can of vegetables. That's the only downside to this whole thing."

"You gave the name jolly green a real meaning." Y/N chimed him.

"Haha." Bruce gave a sarcastic laugh.

"So, will you help us? At least try?" Steve finally asked.

Bruce looked at Rogers, then at Scott, Y/N, and Natasha. He exhaled through his nose.

"All right." He said. "But we're gonna need some machine to do all this and enter the quantum realm."

Scott had just the thing. "Don't worry, Doc. I have that covered."