chasing waterfalls [Peter Parker]

~32~

Pacing really makes me uneasy. I know that some people pace to think, but I don't like it. So when Scott Lang was pacing back and forth in the Avengers compound, I just couldn't look at him. It also didn't help that he was muttering to himself.

"Scott." Scott perked up at hearing his name called by Steve. He stopped pacing. "Are you okay?" Scott rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah." He sighed, thinking for a second. "Have any of you guys ever studied quantum physics?" I tilted my head. The only thing I knew about quantum physics was when Peter would talk about it. He was fascinated by it, so he would talk about it for hours unless somebody stopped him.

"No." I said, and Nat followed with

"Only to make conversation." I chuckled. Of course Nat knew quantum physics. Scott pointed at her to emphasize what he was talking about.

"All right, so five years ago, right before..." He gestured with his hands to the snap. "Thanos, I was in a place called the quantum realm." He started to explain what the quantum realm was, and I started writing it down so I could tell Peter if we ever found a way to bring him back. "...and I got stuck in there." Nat nodded sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, that must have been a very long five years." Scott shook his head, as if he couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me, it was five hours." I raised my eyebrows. Five hours. "See the rules of the quantum realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable." His gaze darted to the peanut butter sandwich. "Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving." He bolted over to grab the sandwich. Steve turned around.

"Scott. What are you talking about?" Scott took a bite out of the sandwich.

"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." He started to pace again, and it took everything in me to not look away because I was invested in what he was talking about. "But what if we did? 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."

My arms dropped to my sides. If what Scott was talking about was possible, we could figure out a way to reverse the snap and get everybody back. Peter, Dani, Ned, half of my class. But on the other hand, when everybody comes back, what do I do? I've aged five years, and they might not have aged at all.

"Are you talking about a time machine?" I asked, and Scott looked at me, shaking his head.

"No, of course not. No, not a time machine. This is more like a..." He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. Like a time machine." I looked at Nat, who looked as hopeful as I was. "I know it's crazy, it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way... It's crazy." Nat sighed.

"Scott, I get emails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore." Scott nodded, barely processing what Nat just said.

"So, who do we talk to about this?" I knew exactly who to talk to. And so did Nat and Steve.