Saving Grace

Eighty Seven

They all stand on the platform, suited up and ready, in a circle. Steve looks around at everyone, determined, serious, and hopeful.

"Five years ago, we lost," he says. "All of us. We lost friends. We lost family." He then glances at Grace, remembering the night when Tony came back and Peter didn't, the weeks afterwards. "We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the Stones, get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know, but that doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives... and we're gonna win." He and Tony look at each other. "Whatever it takes." Tony smiles, and Steve turns to the rest of the team. "Good luck."

They all step back to the outer edges of the round machine, preparing to go. Rocket looks up at Scott. "He's pretty good at that."

Scott agrees. "Right?"

"Alright, you heard the man," Tony says, then pointing at Bruce, who's outside the machine at the controls. "Stroke those keys, jolly green."

He does as Tony said. "Tractors engaged."

Rocket looks at Clint, referring to the space ship miniaturized by Scott's Ant-Man suit technology in Clint's hand. "You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Clint replies. "Okay. I'll do my best."

Rocket shakes his head. "As promises go, that was pretty lame."

"Ready?" Bruce says. Grace looks at Tony, smiling, and he can't help but smile back. Tony surveys the rest of the team, who are about as ready as they'll ever be.

He nods. "Let's get this show on the road."

Bruce hits a button, and they hear a beeping. From across the circle, Nat grins at Grace. "See you when I see you."

Grace laughs at her lame joke, once again admiring her handiwork on Nat's braided hair. "See you when I see you."

Above them, machinery begins to spin, and they put the helmets on their suits up, most looking vaguely like Ant-Man's, while Grace and Rhodey's resemble Iron Man's.

"You ready, Grace?" Sai asks.

"As I'll ever be," she replies. The floor then takes on a orange-yellow color, and Grace, excited yet nervous, steels herself and says, "For Narnia... and for Aslan."

In an instant, they're all sucked into floor, and Grace's stomach jumps, that rollercoaster feeling she can only remember experiencing once — before her Dad became Iron Man, when he took her on a little coaster, though it felt giant to her. She now feels as though she's getting smaller, and she vaguely wonders how Scott does this all the time. Colors and textures swim before her eyes, making her sick, so she closes them tightly, waiting for it to be over.

"Please don't throw up in here," Sai says, though Grace hardly hears her.

Finally, she lands in a half-destroyed New York, people's screams and Chitauri roaring filling her ears. In the distance, she also hears the roar of the Hulk.

Due to nanotech, Steve's suit transforms into his Captain America one from all those years ago, his shield coming with it. Grace's turns into Savior with the helmet down, while Scott's transforms to his Ant-Man suit, and Tony's, per the plan, becomes a Shield uniform.

"Alright, we all have our assignments," Steve says. "Two Stones uptown, one Stone down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock."

They all hearing a crashing sound and turn in time to watch the Hulk beat a Chitauri into the ground with a car. He then proceeds to throw a tire in rage, then jump up and down on top of the car before running off.