𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙 || Book 2

Chapter 24 ྿ Love You 3,000

"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here. Try some of that." Bruce exclaimed while you sipped on a smoothie. "Have some eggs." He told Scott that sat beside you and Scott just looked at him like if there was something wrong. "I'm so confused." Scott said. "These are confusing times." Bruce said chuckling. "Right, no, no. That's not what I meant." Scott stuttered as he repositioned himself on his seat. "Nah, I get it. I'm kidding! I know, it's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now." Bruce replied. "Yeah. What? How? Why?" Scott asked.

"Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Except it was worse for me... 'cause I lost twice. First, Hulk Lost, then Banner Lost... And then, we all lost." Bruce said. "No one blamed you, Bruce." Natasha said. "I did." He quickly replied as he looked at her. "For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease... something to get rid of. But then, I start looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together and now, look at me." Bruce finished telling Scott and you placed your drink down. Scott didn't seem to want anything to eat or drink so he just sat there beside you.

"Best of both world." Bruce said as he opened his arms wide and gestured towards himself and the way he looked currently. You were among the first to spot the 3 kids heading towards your table while you were grabbing a fry. A young girl and two boys. "Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" The young girl started to say and both you and Natasha shared quick glances as Bruce replied. "Yes." He turned to face them. "Can we get a photo?" She asked of him. "100%, little person." He replied as he took the device from them. "Come on, step on up. Do you mind?" He told them before asking Scott if he could take the picture.

Scott took a second to understand what was going on before taking the phone. "Oh, yeah, yeah." He told Bruce and you leaned back so you wouldn't photobomb the picture they wanted. "Thanks." Bruce told Scott before telling the kids "Say 'green'." And on cue they all said green. "Did you get that?" Bruce asked as Scott looked at the picture and stated that it was a good one. As he was handing the phone over, he decided to ask. "Did you want to grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man." You smiled lightly to yourself and looked down to try and cover it but Steve and Natasha were quick to catch it.

"They're Hulk fans. They don't know Ant-Man. Nobody does." Scott said casually

"No, he wants you to take a picture with him." Bruce said with a smile

"I don't want a picture." Scott said and the youngest sibling said "stranger danger." Scott of course heard and pointed to make a point at Bruce. "Yeah, look, he's even saying no, he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it, either."

"But come on. The kid..." Bruce tried to say.

"I don't want a picture with them."

"He's gonna feel bad." Bruce said.

"Sorry." Scott told them. "They're happy to do it. They said they'll do it." Bruce said and the older boy admitted "We can do it."

"I don't want to do it." Scott said again as he had been repeatedly been trying to give them the phone back. "No, you feel bad." Bruce pointed out. "Take the goddamn phone." Scott said getting tired. They took the phone and started to thank Hulk for his picture and time as Hulk told them that they were great. Natasha and Steve acted like nothing was happening and everything was all handy dandy, while you went to grab your smoothie again. You didn't get to fully reach it seeing how you felt a tug on the right lower side of your shirt. "Hm?" You hummed and both Nat and Steve looked over at you. "Looks like you have a little admirer." Natasha spoke up seeing the small child.

Looking down, you spotted the small girl that looked no older than 5 with little green ribbons in her hair. "Can I have a hug?" She asked in her child like voice which made you smile. "Sure thing, sweetie." You replied and bent down to give her a hug. Her mother came over. "I'm sorry. She spotted you guys and since she knows you're all heroes she just wanted to run over. Though, she kept pointing at you whenever you came on the television. You and that spider fellow." She finished off and everyone at the table looked to see the reaction you would give after hearing Peter's name, well, his superhero name after all of this time.

Remarkably, you brushed over it by standing up and smiling. Looking at the child in your arms, you spoke "I'm glad to be your favorite. You know, if you keep listening to your mother by eating all of your vegetables, you'll be able to become as strong as me." The small girl giggled when you tickled her side then went back to her mother. "Bye." You both said and you sat down. Everyone looked at you with smiles and you asked what but they just shrugged. You knew why they were smiling like you were.

The conversation continued on afterwards when Steve called Bruce twice when he was doing something else. "About What we were saying." Steve said. "Right." Bruce said as he nodded his head then added on "the whole time travel do-over? Eh, guys, it's outside of my area of expertise." That's when Natasha stepped in. "Well, you pulled this off. I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too." She said and he nodded in response, taking her point on the subject.

At Tony's house, he was struggling to wash and dry the dishes as he cleaned a bit. Most of the cups that were nearby got yet by accident. A frame had managed to get wet as well and it was a picture of him and Peter holding a certificate of the Stark Internship. Drying it then taking a good look at it, That's when it sparked something in him. He knew he had to at least push through a little of his stubborn like side to give it a chance on bringing everyone back. "I've got a mild inspiration." He said as started pressing some of his gadgets on his table. "I'd like to see if it checks out."

"So, I'd like to run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius strip, inverted, please." He told his AI. Friday told him that she was processing it as she worked. "Right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle factoring in spectral decomp. That'll take a second." He said as Friday informed that it'll be a moment as she did so. "And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda..." He added as he placed some food into his mouth. "Model rendered." Friday told him and showed him exactly what he had been trying to do. It read successful. He exhaled sharply as he opened his arms widely and said "Shit!" He wasn't expecting an answer back but he did.

"Shit!" A voice said and he turned to see an innocent looking Morgan sitting there at the bottom stair looking at her father. He motioned her to shhh as he asked "What are you doing up, little miss?" He whispered. "Shit." She said again and he answered with "Nope. We don't say that. Only mommy says that word. She coined it. It belongs to her." Morgan finally asked. "Why are you up?" He gave a look before replying. " 'Cause I've got some important shit going on here! What do you think?" It was Morgan's turn to give him the look back when he said the 'shit' word to her. "No, I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind." He admitted.

"Was it juice pops?" Morgan asked. "Sure was." He said with a nod as he stood up and went to take her hand. "That's extortion. That's a word. What kind you want? Great minds think alike. Juice pops exactly... was on my mind." He told her as he took one last look at the table. "You done? Yeah?" He said as she was sitting on her bed. "Now you are." He said as he took the last bite she didn't want from her popsicle. "Now. Wipe." He told her as he used part of his sleeve to wipe her mouth. "Good. That face goes there." He says as he gently pushes her head towards her pillow. "Tell me a story." She asked of him. "A story. Once upon a time, Maguna went to bed. The End." He replied. "That is a horrible story." She stated. "Come on, That's your favorite story. Love you tons." He said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I love you 3,000." She replied back. "Wow." He said with a big smile as he stood up and shut off her light. "3,000. That's crazy." He whispered before adding back "Go to bed or I'll sell all your toys. Night night." Morgan giggled to herself.