the strongest avenger (2)

twelve

"It's the front gate."

I immediately push up out of my chair and run out the room, rushing to get downstairs.

I push through the doors and stop when I see him.

He stops talking and just blinks at me. "Talia? Is that you?"

I grin and run to hug him. "I know we're not that close, but it's so fucking good to see you." Tears rush from my eyes as I squeeze him in a hug.

"Come on. Come inside."

I lead him back to the observation room where Nat and Steve are a little shocked. Scott just starts pacing and muttering to himself and we watch him.

"Scott." Steve starts. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...have any of you guys ever studied quantum physics?"

"Very little." I say, remembering how I got bored and started taking some lessons last year.

"Alright, 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. 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've been a very long five years." Nat says.

"Yeah but that's just it."

"Time doesn't work the same in the quantum realm right?" I ask.

"Correct. For me it felt like five hours. See the rules are different there. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich?" I turn and look at the PB & J I made Nat.

"I'm starving." He says as he goes over to it and starts eating.

"Scott, what are you talking about?"

"So, what I'm saying is, time works differently in the quantum realm, what Talia said. The only problem is right now we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did?"

"Time travel!" I say, a lightbulb going off in my head.

"Yes! 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, and exit in another? Like before Thanos."

"Wait," Steve says while glancing at us. "You're saying we could actually travel through time?"

"Yes. Yeah, like a time machine. 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."

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

"So who do we talk to about this?"

"Probably my dad." I say while sighing.

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️

Thankfully the car ride isn't too long, as my leg wouldn't stop bouncing from nerves. I rode in the back with Scott, silently hoping that dad would say yes.

I need him to say that this is possible.

I smile as I see Tony with Morgan in his arms as we pull up to the lake house. Steve parks, and I hop out.

"Tallie!" The girl calls out as I walk over.

I can tell dad's annoyed at our sudden arrival, so I give him a look, and take Morgan from his arms.