When The War Dies Down

Chapter 21

In the basement of the compound, a mouse skittered over old rubbage. Things the other avengers had put in storage, old boxes of loved ones, too painful to look at everyday. The mouse, Pebbles, was trying in vain, to provide food for his family. Food was harder to find these days, the snap getting rid of half of the plants, and most of their local food sources. Pebbles had been searching in the avengers compound for a while now because they had a fridge down there.

He ran over a control panel and suddenly, the old van began to light up and almost whirl in excitement. Pebbles left as soon as he was able to. Little did he know, he was the true hero.

The old van started working and Scott Lang was there, alive and well. When he glanced around he couldn't understand where he was in the first instance. Then he realized he was in the basement. Why was he in the basement? Didn't they do this in the garage?

He felt like it had been trapped for 2 hours, so he looked for Cassie and Hope but none of them were there. He found a door but it was locked so he looked for something to communicate with others.

He saw the camera and a cardboard box. He took the pen which was on the table and wrote "HELP ME".

--

JARVIS notified Tony about Scott. Tony was shocked.

"Sir, something is popping up in the basement cameras. One moment. Sir, that is Scott Lang. Scott is alive." Jarvis' voice held a note of hope, and Tony, along with Bruce, suited up and flew to the Compoud.

--

Scott was worried, not for himself but for Cassie and Hope. They were supposed to be there, they were supposed to get him out of the quantum realm hours ago. Finally, he saw Tony and Bruce. For a moment, he was relaxed and hugged Tony.

"Where is Cassie?" was the first thing Scott asked. Neither Bruce nor Tony could have answered this question. Scott then noticed that Tony was shaking and tapping his arc reactor, his most famous nervous tick.

Tony's eyes filled with tears. Scott could sense that something was wrong. "She... they... Peter and Cassie... they are..." Tony started crying. "They're gone." Tony said between sobs.

Scott couldn't believe his ears. "Cassie- my baby girl... She is gone?" He was shocked. How could have that happened? His baby girl was still so little. He didn't realize he burst into tears and crumpled to the ground. "No, no, you're wrong. You have to be wrong" He shouted at them.

Bruce's eyes filled with tears too. His friends were crying for their kids, his nephew and niece. He should be the strong one for his friends. Cassie and Peter would want that much, so Bruce helped Scott up and led the two men upstairs.

They didn't realize someone was behind the door watching them.

--

Natasha and Steve were waiting behind the door. They weren't brave enough to be a part of this heartbreaking scene. Of course, Natasha was sad too. All in all, she lost her son too but they remained separate for too long.

If Natasha was able to change one thing in her life, she would have spent much more time with Peter. She missed her baby spider so much. When she saw Scott, she thought there might be a chance to bring her son, her family back.

"Do you think Cassie and Peter are together right now?" Steve asked her, looking at her closely.

"I hope so." Natasha sighed, and pressed her forehead to the cold wooden door. "We've got to get them back Steve."

"We will. Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes."

-