Across the Stars 🕷 Peter Parker [3]

fifteen

Colin

"Wait, let me make sure I'm understanding you correctly." Colin held a hand up, interrupting Scott Lang's rambling. "You're suggesting that we could... shrink ourselves down and use this... quantum realm thing as a means of... time travel?"

Scott shrugged. "Yeah, that's the general idea," He replied. 

Scott Lang, who also happened to be the Ant-Man, had appeared at the Avengers compound just twenty minutes earlier, surprising the absolute hell out of everyone there, considering Scott had been considered one of the vanished for several years now. He had disappeared around the same time as the rest of the world had, so it had just been presumed that Scott had been one of the unfortunate trillions that had been dusted.

Evidently, their assumption had been wrong. Scott had been with Hope Van Dyne and her parents, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, traveling into the quantum realm when the three of them had been dusted, leaving Scott stranded for five years. Well, for the rest of the universe it had been five years, for him, it had been five hours. 

"Could that work?" Natasha asked, looking over at Steve, a desperate look in her eyes. 

"If there's even a small chance that we could bring everyone back," Colin stepped in, "We have to try, right?"

Steve nodded firmly, adamantly. 

"So," Scott said, "who do we talk to about this?"

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Colin hadn't seen Tony Stark in at least a year and a half. The two of them had been close after the snap, and while the other Avengers were still in the compound, trying to figure out what their next course of action was, Tony and Colin had been in mourning together. They had each lost a child, someone they were supposed to protect from the harsh realities of the world. But neither of them had been able to save their kids. 

After Tony left the compound, he officially retired from the hero gig and settled down with Pepper in a small lake house about an hour away from the city. Colin was happy for Tony, he finally seemed to be moving on with his life. But Colin didn't, he never could. That's why he and Leo ended up separating not long after everything happened. 

But Colin still had Tony and Pepper, they were his friends. They had all become closer friends in the time following the snap. When Pepper told him that she was pregnant, Colin was ecstatic for his friends. But he also couldn't help but feel jealous. Jealous that Tony and Pepper had gotten a second chance at having a family, jealous that Tony seemed ready to move on. Colin often wondered what that felt like. 

Colin was there when Morgan was born, he was there for the first few years of her life. Morgan had taken to calling him Uncle Colin... but then Colin stopped visiting the Starks. He couldn't bring himself to do it, not with his heart still heavy, weighted by the loss of his daughter and husband. 

So, when he, Steve, Natasha, and Scott rolled up the Stark's driveway, Colin felt something inside his chest grow tighter. Anxiety, perhaps? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that this wasn't the place he wanted to be. He didn't want to bother Tony, not when he had his new life, his new child. But maybe if there was a chance to bring his first child back...?

Tony was holding Morgan when they all stepped out of the car. He watched them for a moment and briefly locked eyes with Colin and nodded. 

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"Now we know what it sounds like--" Scott had explained his plan in detail, or as much detail as he could provide. He had a masters in engineering, so he was by no means stupid, but the idea of time travel was complicated on its own, trying to also explain the complex concept that was the quantum realm was a bit tricky.