Heroine ϟ Marvel [3]

10.8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Time Will Tell

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AVENGERS FACILITY
UPSTATE NEW YORK

"Scott? Are you okay?"

Ana watched the man that suddenly appeared on their doorstep continue to pace around in front of her. Steve and Natasha were standing on either sides of Ana, with their eyes solely on Scott. They were still at a loss for words. Ana didn't know what the reason was behind his surprising return. It seemed like Scott was trying to run a horde of possibilities through his head to try a grasp at an answer. Before making his way to New York, Scott was thrown out of the Quantum Tunnel that was stationed in Luis' van and into the inside of a storage facility in San Fransisco without any idea what year it was or what had gone down since. He woke up to a world that had moved on. Where his nine year-old daughter Cassie had matured by five years. He was able to recognise her instantly when he made it to his ex-wife's house. She reacted to seeing him like anyone who had lost a loved one would. Cassie was crying her eyes out. Her father came back to her. Scott couldn't make sense of any of it. So he drove to the place he knew he could count on to shine some light on the situation.

The moment Ana opened the door to find him standing on the doorstep, Scott swore he was about to be crushed to death. She had poked him a couple times. Slapped his face. Muttered a spell in Latin to determine he was the real deal. Then, she gathered him up in her arms. Ana hadn't realised how tightly she was embracing her long lost friend until she heard him gasping for air. She released him and apologised profusely. Before hugging him again. She couldn't help it. After taking him inside and Steve giving him the rundown of what happened, Scott had gone quiet. He started pacing. Mumbling to himself. Throwing looks their way. It was all very difficult to decipher.

After hearing Ana call his name, Scott stopped in his tracks and dragged his hands down his tiresome face, letting out an exasperated sigh. "What? Yeah." He muttered, before dropping his hands to his hips and looking at each of them. "Have either of you guys ever studied quantum physics?" He asked.

"Only to make conversation." Natasha answered casually.

"All right, so... five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like it's own microscopic universe. Ana's been there before, right?" He looked to her.

"Nope. I just threw an alien in there, remember?" Ana replied. "He's probably dead by now."

"Right. Well, to get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my... she was my..." Ana frowned when he stumbled over his words, recalling how they told him Hope had disappeared along with Hank and Janet. "She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened and I got stuck in there."

"Scott, that sounds awful..." Ana mumbled.

"I'm sorry. That must have been a very long five years." Natasha said.

"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't." Scott revealed. He took in a deep breath, bracing himself. "For me, it was five hours."

Ana gaped at him. "Hours?"

"The rules in the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is completely unpredictable. Is anybody gonna eat that sandwich? I'm starving." He pointed at the uneaten food on the table. He made a beeline for it while they followed him.

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

Scott had his mouth full when he tried to reply to Steve. Ana couldn't help but smile. She missed his quirks. Even when he didn't mean to be funny he always managed to make the situation lighter by just being himself. Scott chewed faster when Captain America rose a brow at him and swallowed too early, grimacing when he almost choked. He patted his chest and cleared his throat, "So, 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? 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."