Once Upon a December

08

AVENGERS COMPOUND

Clint rematerialized on the glass platform, breathing heavily and sitting on the platform.

"Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?" Natasha asked.

Clint held up the baseball glove and threw it to Tony. "Yeah, it worked. It worked."

---

The Avengers were in a room with some hologram displays, showcasing each of the six Infinity Stones, sitting around a table. Tony, Steve and Bruce were pacing at the front, clearly leading the planning of the mission.

"Okay, so the "how" works," Steve said. "Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Well I'd substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony shot back.

"I haven't, I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about," Scott told them.

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history," Bruce said.

"Our history," Tony clarified. "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."

"Which means we have to pick our targets," Clint stated.

"Correct."

"Let's start with the Aether," Nessa suggested. "Thor, what do you know?"

Thor was sitting on a chair with his sunglasses on. It was impossible to tell whether he was awake or asleep.

"Is he asleep?" Natasha asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's dead," Rhodey replied.

Thor woke up and said, "Where to start? Umm... The Aether, first, is not a Stone, someone called it a Stone before. It's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someone's gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago... My grandfather had to hide the Stone from the Dark Elves..." He wiggled his fingers to imitate a spooky ghost. "Wooooh, scary beings. So Jane," An image of Jane Foster popped up on the screen. Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... an old flame of mine... She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time... and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother... who's dead," Thor started to look broken, and seemed on the verge of tears, "and oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever," Tony started to push him back to his chair, "I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence."

"Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?" Tony asked.

"I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you."

---

The Avengers sat around a table, eating a meal, and Rocket was pacing on the table in front of everyone as he said, "Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag."

"Is that a person?" Scott wondered.

"Morag's a planet. Quill was a person."

"A planet? Like in outer space?"

"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything." He imitated talking to a puppy. "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll get you to space."

---

Everyone was facing Nebula in the planning room and Natasha was writing notes for their plan.

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir," Nebula said.

Natasha, in a business-like tone, asked, "What is Vormir?"

"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where... Thanos murdered my sister."

Natasha and Nessa looked up and an awkward silence fell upon the room. Natasha wrote what Nebula had just said, and Scott made to break the awkward moment.

"Not it," Scott said.

Tony and Natasha were lying on a table surrounded by papers, Nessa was sitting on the floor, and Bruce was lying down on the floor. The Time Stone popped up on the display.

"That Time Stone guy..." Natasha and Nessa began.

"Doctor Strange," Bruce replied.

"Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?" Natasha asked.

"Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit from a hat," Tony said.

"Nice place in the village, though," Bruce commented.

"Yeah. Sullivan Street."

"Hmm... Bleecker."

"Wait, he lived in New York?"

"No. He lived in Toronto."

Natasha and Nessa looked between them before the former said, "Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three Stones in New York."

Bruce sat up in surprise. "Shut the front door."

---

The holograms displayed the different locations; the Soul and Power Stones in space in 2014. the Reality Stone in Asgard, 2013; and the Space, Mind, and Time Stones in New York City, 2012.

"All right," Steve said. "We have a plan. Six Stones, three teams. One shot."

He and the other Avengers walked up and looked at the screens determinedly.

---

The Avengers walked in a file line to the Quantum Time machine, wearing the Quantum Suits, albeit with some minor differences for different people. Rhodey had a bulkier repaint of the War Machine armor.

Steve spoke. "Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... We lost family... We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the Stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win." Tony gave Steve a look. "Whatever it takes. Good luck."

Rocket, referring to Steve's words, said, "He's pretty good at that."

"Right?" Scott agreed, looking excited.

"All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green," Tony said.

"Tractors engaged," Bruce told them.

Rocket, addressing the shrunk Benatar in Clint's hand, asked, "You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," Clint replied. "Okay. I'll do my best."

"As promises go, that was pretty lame."

Natasha smiled excitedly and said, "See you in a minute."

Nessa returned her daughter's smile and tried to ignore the feeling that not everything would remain as hopeful.

They all shrank and entered the Quantum Realm, and they all split at different intervals, going to a different place at a different time in history.