against time.

CHAPTER NINETEEN || time travel?

CHAPTER NINETEEN, time travel?

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

STEVE AND NATASHA had rushed to get Scott into the building, he seemed like a wreck as he made his way into the main room. Steve watched him with concern and Natasha put a jacket on, keeping a close eye on Scott as he rambled. Scott was pacing, still trying to make it clear to Natasha and Steve as to who he was. Steve furrowed his brows.

"Scott. Are you okay?"

Scott finally paused, looking to Steve, "Yeah. I'm fine."

Steve and Natasha watched as Scott held his hands out, searching for the words he needed. He struggled with what to say, and then eventually blurted it out, "Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?"

"Only to make conversation," Steve caught onto the sarcasm in Natasha's tone, glancing sideways at the red head before returning back to Scott.

"Alright. So..." Scott stopped again, then continued on, "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... She was my..." Scott halted again, his eyes widening while Steve raised his brows in expectation, "She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there."

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

"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't," Steve and Natasha both grew confused and Scott corrected himself, "For me, it was five hours."

The pair watching Scott shared a bewildered look. Both entirely lost on what Scott meant.

"See," Scott began, "the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving."

Steve spared a glance at the sandwich in question, Scott started toward the table. He welcomed himself to the sandwich, taking a bite while Steve returned to the main subject.

"Scott, what are you talking about?"

"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 to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like..." he stopped, finding his words, "Like before Thanos."

"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?"

"No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a..." Scott stopped, realizing Steve was correct and nodding, "Yeah, a time machine. I know it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way... There's gotta be...some w... it's crazy."

"Scott," Natasha's arms were crossed and she had a hand tucked under her chin. She was listening intently to Scott, and stared at him like it was obvious, "I get e-mails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore."

"So who do we talk to about this?"

Steve sighed as realization settled on him, looking down to the ground and then sending a confirming glance to Natasha. The red head nodded, seemingly as against the idea as Steve.

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Steve was the first out of the car, and to make eye contact with Tony. Tony barely gave Steve a second glance as he continued walking to the porch with the young girl in his arms and a blue helmet. Steve sighed and looked toward Natasha, who had managed to earn Tony's attention while the two exchanged civil nods. Steve turned his head by to Tony, watching him heave a sigh: Tony wanted to have this discussion just about as much as Steve did.