Flame

Chapter 39

5 years later...

The world has changed a lot in 5 years and so have we.

Tony is happily married to Pepper and they have a beautiful little girl Morgan who is just a ray of sunshine. Nat has stayed at the compound helping with whatever she can while the others have been of doing their own thing. Steve and I brought a little house just outside the city which is nice and peaceful. And Thor is of in 'new Asgard' doing who knows what.

"Hey your back early" I say as I hear the front door open and I see Steve walk in the door

"Wasn't a big turn out" Steve replies as he joins me in the kitchen "Smells good doll" Steve comments as he wraps his arms around my waist

"Well I figured Nat could do with some cheering up and personally cake always does the trick for me" I reply as I turn around and wrap my arms around steve's neck and place a kiss on his lips

"I love you doll" Steve mutters to me

"I love you to" I say while kissing him before pulling away, making him groan "Come on we need to go see Nat"

"You know I'd offer to cook you dinner but you seem pretty miserable already." Steve calls out as he slumps over a bookshelf, as Nat wipes the tears off her face

"You here to do your laundry?" Nat asks us

"To see a friend." I correct her as I walk forward

"Clearly, your friend is fine." Nat lies

"Really? Because I made a cake just for you, hoping it would cheer you up" I say as I place the cake on the table opposite her

"You really are one of a kind Kat" Nat says with a smile which I return

"You know we saw a pod of whales when we were coming up the bridge." Steve says trying to cheer her up

"In the Hudson?"Nat questions

"There's fewer ships, cleaner water." I add in

"You know, if you're about to tell me to look on the bright side. Um... I'm about you to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich" Nat jokes making us smile at her

"Sorry. Force of habit" Steve says as we sit down, opposite her "You know, I keep telling everyone they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us." Steve adds on

"If I move on, who does this?" Nat questions us

"Maybe it doesn't need to be done." I tell her

" I used to have nothing. Then I got this. This job... this family. And I was... I was better because of it. And even though... they're gone... I'm still trying to be better." Nat says, deep in thought

"We need to get a life." I mutter

"You two first." Nat smiles as a camera footage pops up in front of us showing Scott Lang with his van behind him.

"Uh...Oh! Hi. Hi! Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago, at the airport? In Germany? I got really big, and I had my mask on. You wouldn't recognise me." Scott says making us stand up

"Is this an old message?" Steve asks

"It's the front gate." I answer

"Ant-man? Ant-man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys." Scott says to the camera

Scott is now inside the Avengers Compound, pacing worriedly in front of Steve, me and Natasha

"Scott. Are you okay?" Steve asks him

"Yeah. I'm fine." Scott says before he stops pacing and turns to face us "Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?" Scott asks

"Only to make conversation." Nat answers as i reply "yeah years ago"

"Alright. So... 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... She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there." Scott explains to us

"I'm sorry. That must've been a very long five years." Nat tells him

"Yeah, but that's just it. For me, it was five hours." Scott says making me, Steve and Nat share a quick bewildered glance "See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving." Scott says as he strides over to pick up Nat's sandwich, and bites into it.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Steve questions him

"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... Like before Thanos." Scott explains to us

"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?" I ask Scott, raising an eyebrow

"No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a... 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..., it's crazy." Scott admits

" I get e-mails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore." Nat says

"So who do we talk to about this?" Scott asks and Steve looks at me with a knowing look