Is Love Forever? [1]

"That's How You Punch": Part Two Of "Prepping For The Time Heist"

~~~The Next Morning~~~

Scott woke up and saw that Hope wasn't in bed. It wasn't strange because Hope liked to wake up early, and it was already 10:30. He got up, got dressed, and went downstairs. He checked the kitchen, and to his surprise she wasn't there. He checked all the other rooms, but she wasn't in any of them. 

"Hope?" He called. Then he saw the basement door open. He went into the basement and saw Hope beating up a punching bag. He looked around and saw training equipment everywhere. He smiled. It was just like what she did with the storage room. Hope had taken his dirty basement and turned it into a training facility. 

"Hope?" She turned around and smiled. "Hey, wanna join in? It helps with any pent-up anger you might have." She said while basically killing an inanimate object. It was obvious she was upset, or she wouldn't be so aggressive towards a training tool. 

During the time they had been together, Hope had told him how when she needed to work through something, she would train. She said it helped her keep her emotions in check. And with everything that was going on, he could understand why she might be upset. "Sure," He said. He thought it was best to be with her, in case she had an attack. He walked over to her and the now decimated punching bag. As he was walking over, he finally got a good look at the room. He realized why it seemed familiar. It looked exactly like the old training room. 

As if reading his mind, she said, "I modeled it after the training room at my dad's house." "Well, you certainly did a good job... it just brings up a lot of memories."

She knew what he meant, but decided to say, "You mean how bad I beat you when I was training you?" She smirked. "I let you beat me."  

"Oh really? So how about a rematch?" "Challenge accepted." She put up her hands and said, "You have to know how to punch." 

"Not this again." He complained. The last time she did this, he had tried to show her he knew how to punch, but he underestimated her. It ended with him almost having a broken nose. 

"Come on, this time you have more experience. You should do better." "Fine." He groaned. This time he was determined to actually punch. He drew his fist back, and then.....he hesitated mid-punch! Again! He couldn't do it. He tried, but he didn't want to hurt her, not even slightly. 

"Terrible." She said. "Do you have this moment on script?" She tilted her head and smiled. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?" 

How did she even remember the head-tilt!? 

He decided to go along with it and said, "You wanna show me how to punch? Show me how to-" He braced himself for pain, but to his surprise, Hope kissed him. 

When she pulled away, he said, "I don't think that's exactly what happened." "In my defense, I only punched you in the face because I despised you. The honest truth is I've gone from despising you to almost liking you." 

Wow, she really did remember everything. 

"You really should write poetry." He smiled. She laughed. "We had some good times..." She sighed. "You know, we don't know what might be waiting for us on Vormir, so how about we train?" He suggested. 

Hope agreed and for the next hour and forty-five minutes, she pounded Scott into the ground. "I seriously regret suggesting this." He groaned. 

He might've not wanted to hurt Hope, but she had no problem hurting him. To be fair, she did try to restrain herself, so it wasn't as bad as the first training session. "Okay fine, we can stop." She laughed. 

Right before this, she had kicked his feet out from under him, and he fell on his back. She helped him up and asked, "What time is it?" Scott took out his phone and said, "It's 12:10." 

"How did it get so late?" She asked herself. "I'm going to get changed, remember we have to be at the compound by 1:00." She said and then left. 

"I guess I should get ready too..." He said to himself. He followed Hope back upstairs and went to the kitchen. He didn't know if there was any food at the compound, so he took the leftovers from the night before and put them on the table. As he said, he was an awful cook. 

Then his phone rang. It was Bruce. "Hey, Bruce." He said, picking up the phone. "Hi, Scott," Bruce answered. "Is Hope there?"  

"No." "Good, I wanted to talk to you about what you told me last night over the phone," Bruce said. Scott became anxious. "What about it?" He asked. 

The night before, after he had talked to Tony, Scott called Bruce. He asked him if it was safe for Hope to go on the mission. "I looked into what you said, and I don't think it's a good idea for Hope to come with us on the assignment," Bruce said. 

"Why?" "Her reaction from the last time she went through the quantum realm was extremely severe. I don't know how she would react a second time," Bruce explained. 

"Try to convince her not to come. We can send someone else to go with you to Vormir, maybe Nat. I mean, she wasn't really thrilled with her assignment." He said. Scott breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll talk to her. Wish me luck."

"I will," Bruce said, and the call ended.