In Loving Memory [A Marvel Cinematic Universe Fanfiction] *Discontinued*

Roll The Dice

[2023]
"Who is this?" I ask, still confused about what the hell is going on.
"I'm Scott. Lang. Ant-Man. You've probably never heard of me. Anyway, we need to talk to Tony, or someone who could help us figure this out."
"Figure what out?" I ask. I turn to Nat, and she has the smallest smile on her face. "Nat?"
"We might...be able to get them back."
I stare at her, then Scott, completely dumbfounded.
"Yeah. Maybe. It depends on if this will work or not." He starts pacing, as if thinking about it over and over. "Has anyone here ever studied Quantum Physics?"
"Only for conversation." Nat says, obviously sarcastic.
"You know, i was going to take a course or two on that next semester." I joked.
"Really?" Scott looked right at me, still pacing.
"No! I've never heard of it!"
"Okay...uh, I only know the basic stuff. So, i was in the Quantum rhelm, trying to get something for a friend. Hope Van Dyne...my..." He paused long enough for us to know exactly who she was. "She was supposed to pull me out. But i got stuck."
"That must have been a hard 5 years." Steve said, with almost no emotion.
"You see, that's the thing. It wasn't. Time works differently in the Quantum Rhelm. I think if we went in from this time, but exited through another...we could time travel."
Now i'm starting to get it.
And now i'm starting to get it even more.
"So you're saying we time travel--"
"To a time before Thanos" Scott cut me off. "Or at least before this whole Vanishing thing."
"So we got back in time and...what, kill Thanos?"
"I don't know what the exact plan would be...but something along those lines...yeah!"
...
"Do you really think he'll do it?" I ask. We were in the car on the way to try to convince Tony to help us with the whole Time Travel thing, which Scott called a Time Heist.
"I don't know. On one hand, i know he wants to get them back. Especially that kid."
"That kid's name is Peter." I correct her almost angry.
"But on the other hand, he seems to have moved on. He's got a new life and a family now."
"Yeah. He seems pretty happy with Pepper and Morgan." I look out the window at the other cars. Even though we are on one of the busiest highways in the area, there is barely anyone on it. Even though Thanos wanted to wipe out half of all life across the universe, it was still at random. So more than half got Vanished on our planet. A lot of which were in cars and planes, causing wrecks and crashes and even more death. So now, Earth is almost deserted. After a few weeks, we discovered that more than 60% were gone.
...
Tony lives in the middle of some woods, close to the border between New York and Massachusetts, right next to a lake. His house is about a mile away from the nearest paved road, and he has a mile-long gravel driveway.
And he was already outside with Morgan by the time we got there.
"Hey, Tony," I said as we walked onto the porch.
"Frankie," he said as a greeting.
"We need your help," Steve said, already super serious. You'd think he'd be a bit happier about maybe getting everyone back.
Tony sighs, as if exhasted.
...
"It's a one in a million shot." Tony says. "I don't think you understand just how many things could go wrong, here."
"But if there's any chance at all..." I hesitate. They all know i would do absolutely anything to get them back. "We have to do it. You know that."
"Mommy told me to come save you," Morgan said running onto the porch and climbing up onto her dad.
"Good. I'm saved." He puts his head on her shoulder, holding her in a hug. "I wish you would have come here for anything else. I can't risk everything for what i have now."
I can't believe what i'm hearing. I know he loves what he has now above all else, but he knows what this means to the rest of us. What they meant to us. And i know what Peter meant to him.
"Tony, i get it. And i'm happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance." Steve says.
"I've hot my second chance right here, Cap." Tony says, glancing at me as another chair on the porch slides 4 feet away. I still can't believe what i'm hearing. How could he do this?
"I can't roll the dice again."
And that's all it took for me to snap.
As i ran off the porch and to the other side of the lake, making trees sway slightly as i pass them, and make the water ripple towards the other side without realizing it.
How could he do this? He knows what it means to us! He's practically giving up on Peter, on Wanda, and everyone else! He's just being so...so...
Selfish!
I feel like all i can do is scream, because that's all i have right now. I don't have anything else to do, to live for, because everything i was living for is dead. Everything...everyone...that gave me a reason to live is dead.
So what the hell does anything mean, anymore?
But i don't scream.
By the time i get to the other side, Tony has already gone inside and everyone else is getting back into the car.
My phone ringing breaks the silence over here on the other side of the lake.
"Are you coming?" Nat asks. "We're gonna try to get Bruce to do it since Tony's obviously moved on."
"No. I can get back later. I just need...i can't deal with anything right now, but i have to, if that makes any sense."
"Yeah, that's fine. Just let me know when you get back or if you need anything."
"Okay"
After i hang up, i stare into the lake. How the sun reflects on it. How beautiful it looks. No one notices things like this anymore. But when you have nothing else, you either notice things like this or you become so numb to everything around you that time passes so quickly and you waste everything becuase nothing in the world matters to you.
That's how i was in the first 4 years after the Vanishing. But now...i really think we can get them back.
And i swear, if it takes everything i have and everything i am, i'll do whatever it takes to get them back.