Inescapable

Ch. 45

This was torture. Traveling with Scott was a punishment for some god-awful thing you must have done. The man literally does not know how to shut up. And while that quirk is cute for like a minute or so; it gets old fast. You were just pondering if you should just toss him out of the jet, when the jet started its descent into the private airfield in the compound. Too late now.

Scott regarded you with some aura of confusion the whole time, ever since your admission (which you really didn't elaborate further on). And you stayed silent for most of the trip, your mind throwing out horrible scenarios, of things you knew could happen and things you could imagine would happen. None of them were great.

When the jet finally touched down, and the door opened, every inch of you was frayed and distraught. Coming down the steps with Scott hot on your tail, you noticed Tony, AJ, Steve and Nat all waiting for you with smiles. The smiles on the faces of Tony, Steve and Nat faded when they saw your face. Tony's face turned into complete shock when he saw Scott behind you, his eyes falling on yours immediately afterwards as if trying to understand your body language.

You could see it in Tony's eyes. The hope. The fear. He stepped a bit in front of AJ, as if almost unknowingly shielding him and keeping him safe, from whatever Scott Lang may now bring into our lives. I knew exactly what he was bringing. And I prayed like hell I could make things come out in my favor. I would not – could not – lose Tony. I would not let AJ lose his father like that. I wouldn't lose Nat. I couldn't let Steve lose someone else that he loved. I would bring back our family. Make us whole again. No matter what.

-.-

Steve and Natasha's hope was completely evident. Tony could feel it, let alone see it clear as day on their faces. But he was focused on the lost look in his wife's eyes. Tony knew she'd seen this, and was in part hurt she hadn't told them all long ago that there would be salvation to all the shit they had endured. He knew her better than that and knew this had probably eaten away at her. What concerned him right at this very minute was the far off look on her face.

Tony was brought back to the conversation abruptly when Natasha asked him if what Scott was saying was possible. Tony grimaced. He hated what he was about to say, but he had to say it as the logical scientific mind in the room. "Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?" Scott, Steve and Natasha all looked puzzled; I mean science really isn't their thing. But Y/N's eyes widened at my words, her eyes bore into me as I continued. "In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"I did." Scott immediately replies.

"No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?"

"A time heist?" Scott says, trying not to boast his idea too much, in fear for sounding like an idiot Tony would assume.

"Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?" Tony said, looking over to his wife, his eyes asking hers for reassurance.

"The Stones are in the past. We can go back and get them." Scott argues.

Natasha adds, "We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back."

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony counters, again searching his wife's eyes. When she sighs and steps closer to the conversation, everyone quiets.

"Let me save us all the trouble why don't I?" Y/N's voice is monotonous, almost robotic when she speaks. "Steve will say his doesn't believe that will happen. But Tony will counter that it will be our collective demise. Scott will reference Back to the Future. Which Tony will chide him for, saying that's not how quantum physics works. Nat will say we need to take a stand... that sound about right?"