A/N

Still takes place in Multiverse 419

***

Guardian's ship

"Wrra!" Nebula yelled as she missed Tony's finger goals again. It had been 17 days since the defeat on Titan and the last of the team was stranded in the middle of nowhere. To pass the time, Maya and Tony began teaching Nebula how to play paper football. Frankly, Maya would have preferred to teach her car games like chopsticks, but Nebula got defensive really quick with that game, and they had a lot of scrap paper and wrappers to fold into little triangles. They'd been going on for about two hours at that point. Nebula started putting her fists in a fighting stance.

"You don't need to do that. Because uh... you're just holding position." Tony said calmly to her.

"You can try again, it takes practice." Maya said. She and Nebula were on the same team against Tony so she'd have a little leverage. Nebula flicked the paper football again, this time bouncing off on one of Tony's fingers.

"Oh yeah, that was close." Tony told her. Nebula flicked it again, this time, it hit the mark.

"That's a goal. You're now one a piece." Maya said. She could see a small glint of pride in Nebula's eyes.

"I would like to try again." she said. Nebula flicked the paper, again hitting the mark. Tony then flicked the paper in between Maya's fingers. Maya returned the motion, the paper barely making it through. Tony missed his next shot, then Nebula sent the paper through the goal again.

"We tied up. Feel the tension? It's fun." Tony replied. The football was exchanged a few more passes, Maya and Nebula alternating in their turns. Tony then flicked the paper and sent it spinning off in a wayward direction.

"That was terrible." Maya said. Tony faked a hurt look. Maya turned to Nebula. "Now you have a chance to win." Nebula lined up the paper, and flicked it with an almost perfect precision.

"And... you've won. Congratulations." Tony said, reaching out to shake Nebula's hand. She looked at it, before returning the gesture. "Fair game. Good sport."

"Have fun?" Maya asked.

"It was fun." Nebula said.

~Five Days later~

The food was gone, so was the water. Maya sat in the corner and listened in on Tony's message to Pepper.

"This thing on?" he asked, tapping on the lens of mask. He sighed and continued. "Hey, Miss Potts... Pep. If you find this recording, don't post it on social media. It's gonna be a real tear-jerker. I don't know if you're ever going to see these. I don't even know if you're... if you're still... Oh god, I hope so."

The thought hadn't occurred to Maya. Who knows who survived Thanos? Their family, their friends...

"Today is day 21, uh 22. You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into a void of space, I'd say I'm feeling better today. The infection's run its course, Thanks to the blue meanie back there. You'd love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic. Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about 48 hours of time. Oh, and Maya's fine. As hyper as ever. At least, she was until the food ran out. She got hangry quick."

Maya thought back to it. She went looking for food, unaware that their supply was gone. She almost ripped Tony's arm off when she judo-flipped him, much to the small amusement to Nebula.

"But it's now dead in the water. We're 1000 light years from the nearest 7 -11."

Maya realized she could go for a Slurpee right then. Hell, she'd go for anything right then.

"Oxygen will run out tomorrow. And that'll be it. And Pep, I ... I know I said no more surprises, but I was really hooping to pull off one last one. But it looks like... well you know what it looks like. Don't feel bad about this. I mean, if you grovel for a couple of weeks, and then move on with enormous guilt. I should probably lie down. Please know that... when I drift off, I will think about you. It's always you." Tony shut off the mask then, running a finger along the lens. He lied down on the floor underneath a jacket he found. Maya heard him snoring a few minutes after that.

Nebula walked over to him and picked him up. Maya was impressed she could lift Tony, but he was visibly thinner, so probably lighter. Nebula set him in one of the seats and walked away. She looked at Maya and nodded at her before walking away. Maya thought she should get some sleep then also. After all, what better way to spend your last hours than sleeping?

Suddenly, a yellow-y glow shined on the floor in front of her. She crawled from her corner as the glow came closer.

Wow, the lack of food has me hallucinating. She thought. She slowly stood up and walked towards the window, seeing Tony awake as well. The glow started to form into a woman. She wore red, blue, and yellow armor and her hair was floating. Yep, I'm dying, this is it. Maya thought.

The woman smiled a little at Maya and flew under the ship. Suddenly, the ship moved and Maya suddenly saw colors flowing past her. A few minutes later, she saw Earth come into view. They broke the atmosphere and Maya could see the Facility come into view. The ship shook as it hit the ground. It was dark outside. The ramp opened and some of their friends ran up as the three of them came down. Steve met Tony first.

"I couldn't stop him." Tony said.

"Neither could I." Steve replied.

"I lost the kid." Tony said dejectedly. Maya teared up at the thought of Peter.

"Tony, we lost." Steve said.

"Is ummm..." Tony asked, but then Pepper ran up to him, hugging him.

"Oh my god!" she said.

"It's okay." Tony told her. Maya looked around for her friends. She did spot a familiar face.

***

"Maya!" Olivia said, relieved to see her friend alive. They ran and embraced each other into a hug. Neither even bothered to hold back relieved, yet grieving tears. "I thought you might have died."

"The three of us are the sole survivors. Me, Tony, and Nebula." Maya explained. The pair finally separated. Although, even though Maya explained it in the simplest terms, Olivia didn's exactly process the 'sole survivors' part. Maya began to explain how the battle on Titan had gone down when the cyborg woman, Nebula, approached them.

"Olivia, this is Nebula." Maya introduced. Olivia stuck out her hand to perform a hand shake, a Midgardian custom she was still learning. Nebula eyed her hand before hesitantly taking it and shaking it twice.

"Pleasure to meet you." Olivia said.

"Likewise." Nebula replied.

"Hey, Livvy, where's Carson?" Maya asked.

"Last I saw, he was in Bucky's room." Olivia said. "Tread lightly, he's been in a depressed mood for a while." Maya nodded and made her way to the Facility. Olivia turned back to Nebula.

"It seems your team has suffered great losses." Nebula observed after a moment of quiet.

"It has..." Olivia said, then paused. "I... I'm sorry for your loss. Your sister seemed like a remarkable woman."

"We didn't get along all the time, but I miss her. Thank you." Nebula said. "Now the last of her team is that stupid racoon."

"Rocket? Yeah, he came along with my brother in law and I to forge his axe. Same with Groot." Olivia said, pointing to Thor speaking with Cap a few yards away.

"You're married?" Nebula asked. Olivia stared at the ground for a few long moments. She took a few deep breaths.

"I... I'm w... Widowed." She stumbled out. She bit her lip to keep from sobbing.

"Did they disappear?" Nebula asked. Olivia shook her head.

"Small universe, but you knew him, according to your sister. Loki? Gamora said he told stories in captivity?" Olivia said. Nebula looked thoughtful for a moment.

"So your the one he kept telling us about. I thought he was a little delusional because of what had been done to him." Nebula said, connecting the dots. Olivia gave a small chuckle.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I am very real." She said. She suddenly turned serious again. "Our home had just been destroyed and we were headed to Midg...Earth to help our people, now refugees. That's when Thanos attacked and slaughtered half of our people, my friends Valkyrie and Korg escaping with the surviving half. Everyone was killed, except for Thor and I. But Loki... Thanos... He..." Olivia couldn't continue. Her lower lip quivered and tears fell. She inhaled and pointed to her neck before sharply putting her head on her shoulder to immitate a broken neck.

"I'm so sorry. Our fath... Thanos always said he'd get his revenge for the failed conquer of Earth." Nebula said, before hesitantly putting a hand on Olivia's shoulder in comfort. Olivia gave a small smile and looked at Nebula's metal hand.

"I swear it, if Asgard was still around, I'd take you to our best healers and have new prosthetics made for you, less painful physically and emotionally. If we survive what's to come, I'll have Stark get to work on them." Olivia said, taking Nebula's robitic hand into her flesh and blood ones. Nebula was silent at the sudden kindness.

"T-thank you." She said.

"It's no trouble, my friend." Olivia said. She embraced Nebula in a loose hug. After a moment of uncertainty, Nebula returned it. "And if anyone deserves to kill Thanos, it's you." She finished as they separated.

"Hey, Olivia!" Maya called as she ran up to them.

"How's Carson?" Olivia asked.

"He was clutching one of Bucky's shirts when I left him. I guess Bucky dusted as well." Maya reported.

"Ah. Hey, Maya, where's Peter? " Olivia asked. Maya suddenly went quiet. She said nothing and Olivia took the message. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay, even I'm still processing it." Maya said. "I guess I should ask where Loki is, but I assume it's the same deal. Don't worry, we'll find a way to get everyone back."

"No, Maya, you don't understand. He didn't dust like everyone else. Thanos killled him with his own hands... Or hand, I should say. He's not going to come back like the rest of them. This is all he left me before he was killed." Olivia held up the end of the green cape that she refused to take off. "He's in the halls of Valhalla now, just like everything else I cared about. My parents, Frigga, Odin, my friends, my home, my people, and now my love. I have nothing left! Nothing!" She finished her rant with a yell and sobs as she pushed last Maya and Nebula, the dirty cape billowing behind her as she ran back inside to her room.

***

Maya noticed as Olivia ran off that a small disc fell out from underneath her breastplate. She picked up, but it looked normal. A disc a quarter-inch thick, a diameter of about three inches with a smaller circle just inside the bigger one. Maya saw no buttons or any important markings. She flipped it over and still nothing. Why would Olivia keep this on her if it does nothing?

"Nebula, do you know if this turns on in any way?" Maya asked. Nebula inspected the disc for a moment.

"It's not exact, but it looks really similar to a projection disc. Maybe trace the inside circle with your finger." Nebula said. Maya shrugged and did as she was told. The inside circle lit up with a gold color and little gold and green particles started fusing together. A three dimensional image appeared. It was a depiction of Loki and Olivia, but they looked a little younger than when Maya last saw them. The little figures were locked in a kiss.

"This must be the capture of their first kiss that they always complained about Thor having." Maya said. "It must have been one of the only things shd could take from Asgard, and now she keeps it on her after Loki died."

"Maya, Nebula! Come inside, we need to discuss a few things!" Steve called. Maya deactivated the disc by repeating the action that activated it and jogged inside with Nebula in tow. They met in the living room, projections of the lost above the table. Tony was hooked up to an IV and Maya grabbed and started eating a much needed slice of pizza.

"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth. World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. An it looks like he did... exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures." Nat said.

"Where is he now? Where?" Tony asked.

"We don't know." Steve said.

"He just opened a portal and walked through." Rocket said.

"What's wrong with him?" Tony asked, gesturing to Thor.

"He's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but there's a lot of that's goin' around, ain't there?" Rocket said.

"And her?" Tony asked, pointing to the depressed Olivia on the couch nearby.

"Same thing. She said that for an Avenger, she did a shit job of avenging. Not everyone who was lost died in the snap, you know." Rocket replied. "Carson's the same way, 'cept he's crying in that Bucky guy's room."

"Honestly, at this exact second, I though you were a Build-A-Bear." Tony said. Maya snorted.

"Maybe I am." Rocket said sarcastically.

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans and satellites, and we got nothing." Nat said.

"Tony, you fought him." Steve said.

"Who told you that? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the stone. That's what happened. There was no fight." Tony said in an aloof tone.

"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve asked.

"Pfft! I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming." Tony said, getting more and more pissed off.

"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus." Steve said.

"And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need. I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling you, Cap." Tony said, standing up from his seat and going for Steve. Rhodey came between them.

"Tony, Tony, Tony, stop!" he said.

"Otherwise what we needed was a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Wether it impacted our precious freedom or not- that's what we needed!" Tony said, ignoring his friend.

"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve asked.

"I said, 'we'll lose'. You said, 'We'll do that together too.' And guess what, cap? We lost. You weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, we're the Avengers. Not the Prevengers, right?" Tony said.

"Okay, you made your point. Just sit down, ok?" Rhodey said.

"Nah, nah, nah. Here's my point."

"Sit down!" Rhodey snapped. Tony pointed to Carol.

"She's great, by the way. We need you. You're new blood." he said.

"Tony!" Rhodey snapped.

"Bunch of tired old mills! I got nothing for you, cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no plan, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar." Tony said. He ripped the arc reactor from his chest and slapped it into Steve's hand. "Here, take this. You find him, and you put that on. You hide." Tony suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

"Tony!" Steve said worriedly.

"I'm fine. I..." Tony said, before falling unconscious. Steve picked him up and set him on a nearby bed. Amid the chaos, Maya had finished two slices of pizza and was waiting in the main area for the others to get back.

"Bruce gave him sedative. He's gonna be out for the rest of the day." Rhodey said as he came back in.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Maya asked.

"I'm sure of it, he's just tired and malnourished." Bruce said.

"You guys take care of him. And I'll bring Bezurian Elixir when I come back." Carol said, brushing past them.

"Where are you going?" Rhodey asked.

"To kill Thanos." Carol said with a determined tone.

"You know, we usually work as a team around here, and between you and I, we're also a little fragile. We realize this is more your territory, but this is our fight too." Nat said.

"Do you even know where he is?" Rocket asked.

"I know people who might." Carol replied.

"Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is. Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. Then when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask 'where would we go once his plan was complete?' His answer was always the same: To the Garden." Nebula said from the corner.

"That's cute, Thanos has a retirement plan." Rhodey said.

"So where is he then?" Steve asked.

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago." Rocket said, going to the table and pulling up a bunch of planets.

"On this planet. Thanos is there." Nebula said, pointing to one planet.

"He used the stones again." Nat said.

"Hey, Hey, we'd be going in short-handed, you know." Bruce said.

"Look, he's still got the stones, so..." Rhodey said.

"So let's get him. We'll use them to bring everyone back." Carol said.

"I'm down." Maya said.

"Just like that?" Rhodey asked.

"Yeah, just like that." Steve said.

"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this... I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try." Nat said.

"If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?" Bruce asked.

"Because before, you didn't have me." Carol said. Maya instantly thought Carol was the most badass person in the room. She looked at her with an admiration in her eyes.

"Hey, new girl, everyone here is about that superhero life. And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time." Rhodey asked.

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys." Carol said. Thor suddenly stood up and walked over to Carol. He stared at her for a long moment before he summoned an epic battle axe. Carol didn't even flinch.

"I like this one." Thor said.

"I'll go get Carson." Olivia said, running down the hall.

"Let's go get this son of a bitch." Steve said. Everyone put on their suits and marched out to the Guardian's ship.

"Hey, Carson, how ya doing?" Maya asked.

"Could be better." he replied.

"Hey, same." Maya replied. The girl put a hand on Carson's shoulder as they climbed up the ramp. They buckled into the seats and the ship lifted off the ground.

"Okay, who here hasn't been to space?" Rocket asked. Carson, Nat, Rhodey, and Cap raised their hands. Maya felt a weird sense of pride that she was part of the "I've been to space" squad.

"Why?" Rhodey asked.

"You better not throw up on my ship. Approaching jump in 3... 2... 1!" Rocket said as he pressed a few buttons and pulled a lever. A incredible force pushed everyone back in their seats. There was a rush of energy and then a new planet came into view.

***

Carol flew outside the ship to scout ahead.

"I'll head down for ground recon." she had said.

Part of Olivia didn't want to be there. Would Thanos try and kill her, too? She was presumed dead on the refugee vessel by him and his minions. She wished she could have stepped in, done something. But she didn't. She couldn't. She started to get sick to her stomach just thinking about it. Carol flew back a few minutes later.

"No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind. It's just him." she said.

"Then that's enough." Nebula said. Carol came back inside the ship as they entered the atmosphere and landed. They moved quietly though trees and weeds intermixed in tall plants. Olivia didn't trust this. Not one bit. They eventually came upon a small shack with a plume of smoke emerging from the top.

"There. That's it." Carol said, pointing. Everyone got in position as Carol rocketed into the shack, nearly destroying it. Everyone else followed behind. Bruce in the Hulk-Buster armor grabbed one of Thanos's arms. Rhodey pointed a whole arsenal of guns at the Titan. Carol had her arm around Thanos's neck, Maya had hold of one of his feet. Carson pointed a gun at Thanos's head and Olivia had her sword nearly touching his chest. Thor suddenly flew in and using Stormbreaker, he sliced Thanos's hand off, the gauntlet rolling away. He screamed in agony as Cap and Nat approached together. Rocket went over to the Gauntlet and turned it over.

The stones were gone.

"Oh no." he said.

"Where are they?" Natasha snapped at Thanos.

"Answer the question!" Carol said, tightening her grip.

"The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation." Thanos replied with great difficulty.

"You murdered trillions!" Bruce yelled, hitting Thanos in the head with his armor.

"You should be thankful." Thanos said.

"Thankful for what? Killing everyone we cared about?" Olivia snapped.

"Where are the stones?" Steve asked.

"Gone. Reduced to atoms." Thanos said. Olivia's breath caught and Maya's eyes went wide.

"Gone? What the fu-?" Carson started, but was cut off by Bruce.

"You used them two days ago!" he yelled.

" I used the stones to destroy the stones. It... nearly killed me. But the work is done. it always will be. I am inevitable." Thanos said. Olivia, getting fed up, started pressing her sword point into his chest. Not enough to puncture, but enough to cause discomfort.

"We have to tear this place apart, he has to be lying." Rhodey said urgently.

"My father is many things. A liar is not one of them." Nebula said. Thanos looked at her.

"Thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly." he said. Nebula just stared at him with a cold look. Thor, done with this, raised his axe and before anyone could stop him, sliced Thanos's head off. There was an eerie and uncomfortable silence that filled the room. Nebula stared at Thanos's head and kicked it with her boot.

"What... What did you do?" Rocket asked. Thor paused.

"I went for the head." he said simply. He walked out of the hut and headed back to the ship. It suddenly hit Olivia that without the stones, no one could be brought back. She hung back as everyone went to the ship. She stared at Thanos's body in disgust. She put her sword back on his chest and stabbed it three times, right where his heart, if he had one, would be.

"Loki Odinson sends his regards." she whispered.

***

~Five Years Later~

***

Avengers Facility

Natasha Romanoff cut her peanut butter sandwich as she heard the reports from the team.

"Yeah, we boarded that highly suspect warship that Danvers pinged." Rocket said through the projection.

"It was an infectious garbage scowl." Nebula said next to him.

"So, thanks for the hot tip." Rocket said, facing the projection of Carol, now with a pixie cut.

"Well, you were closer." she replied.

"Yeah. And we smell like garbage." Rocket said sarcastically.

"You get a reading on those tremors?" Nat asked Okoye.

"It was a mild subduction under the African plate." the warrior replied.

"Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?" Nat asked semi-urgently.

"Nat, it's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it." Okoye replied. Nat sighed and sat back down. Maya came into the room at this point. She stayed in the Facility with Nat as she had nowhere else to go.

"Carol, are we seeing you here next month?" Maya asked. Carol gave a half smile at the girl. Well, Maya was technically an adult at this point, but Carol couldn't help but see the little teenager in her whenever they interacted.

"Not likely." Carol said.

"What, you gonna get a new haircut?" Rocket asked.

"Listen fur-face, I'm covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth, are happening everywhere, on thousands of planets." Carol snapped back.

"That's a good point. That's a good point." Rocket said.

"Hey, I think it looks good." Maya said.

"So you might not see me for a long time." Carol said. Nat sat back.

"Alright. Uh, well. This channel is always active. So, anything goes sideways... anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't... comes through me." she said.

"Okay." Okoye said.

"Alright." Maya said. Each of the calls turned off in turn. Carol gave a nod to Maya as she turned off her call. Only Rhodey remained online.

"Where are you?" Maya asked.

"Mexico. The federales found a room filled with bodies. Looks like a bunch of cartel guys. Never even had the chance to get their guns off." Rhodey replied.

"It's probably a rival gang." Nat said quickly.

"Except it isn't. It's definitely Barton. What he's done here, what he's been doing for the last few years... I mean, the scene that he left..." Rhodey replied.

"Come on, Clint's one of the softest assassins I've met. You sure?" Maya asked.

"I gotta tell you, there's a part of me that doesn't even want to find him." Rhodey said. Nat took a bite of her sandwich.

"Will you find out where he's going next?" she asked, tearing up a little.

"Nat..." Rhodey said quietly.

"Please." she replied. Rhodey sighed.

"Alright." he said, ending the call. Maya took the other half of Nat's sandwich and began to eat it.

"You know I'd offer to cook you dinner but you seem pretty miserable already." a voice said. The two women turned and saw Steve leaning on a bookshelf, Carson, who'd been staying with him, at his side.

"You here to do your laundry?" Nat asked.

"And to see friends." Carson said.

"Clearly, your friends are fine." Nat said. Maya rolled her eyes a little.

"You know I saw a pod of whales when we were coming up the bridge." Steve said.

"In the Hudson?" Maya asked.

"There's fewer ships, cleaner water." Steve said.

"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 said, smiling.

"Sorry. Force of habit." Steve replied good-naturedly. "You know, I keep telling everyone they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us."

"If we move on, who does this?" Maya asked.

"Maybe it does not need to be done." Carson said.

"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 said, deep in thought.

"We all need to get lives." Steve said.

"You first." Nat said. Suddenly, the outside camera blinked on.

"Uh... 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 recognize me." someone said in the recording. They all stood up and looked at the screen.

"Is this an old message?" Steve asked.

"It's the front gate." Maya said in wonder.

"Ant-man? Ant-man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys." The man, Scott, said. Maya deactivated the front gate and got on the speaker.

"Front door, take a right, find us in the kitchen." she said. A few minutes later, a very stressed Scott Lang began pacing in circles.

"Are you okay?" Carson asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Scott said. He faced the group. "Have any of you ever studied Quantum Physics?"

"Only to make conversation." Nat said.

"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 explained, stumbling over the words.

"I'm sorry. That must've been a very long five years." Maya said sympathetically.

"Yeah, but that's just it. For me it was five hours. 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 said, taking Maya's half of Nat's sandwich.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Steve asked.

"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 said.

"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?" Carson asked, bewildered.

"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... No, it's crazy." Scott said.

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

"So who do we talk to about this?" Maya asked.

***

The five person team pulled up to a large cabin in the middle of the woods. They all got out of the car to see a graying Tony Stark with a little girl in his arms. He spotted them and stared. When Maya got out of the car, the little girl escaped her father's arms and ran to her.

"Maya, Maya! You're back!" Little Morgan Stark said excitedly, wrapping her arms around Maya's legs. Maya chuckled. Tony invited Maya over for dinner a lot, and Morgan considered her a big sister.

"I'm here, Skittles." Maya replied. She went and played with Morgan for a few minutes before she sent her on her way to her mother. Maya joined the conversation after Scott finished his explanation to Tony.

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Scott asked.

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition. Can we agree on that?" Tony asked. Everyone looked a bit puzzled. "Thank-you. In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"I did." Scott said.

"No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?" Tony said.

"A time heist?" Carson supplied.

"Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?" Tony said.

"The stones are in the past. We can go back and get them." Maya said.

"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back." Nat said.

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony asked.

"I don't believe we would." Steve said.

"Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise." Tony said simply.

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events -" Scott said.

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?" Tony asked incredulously.

"No?" Scott said. Maya rolled her eyes and nodded at Tony.

"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works." Tony said.

"Tony... We have to take a stand." Carson said.

"We did stand. And yet, here we are." Tony said dejectedly.

"I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. Bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even..." Scott said sympathetically.

"That's right, Scott, I won't. Leave it. Got a kid." Tony said. As if on cue, Morgan walked up to her father and crawled into his arms.

"Mommy told me to come and save you." she said.

"Good job. I'm saved." he told her. He turned to the team. "I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I... I missed you guys, it was..." he trailed off.

"Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance." Steve said.

"I got my second chance right here, Cap. I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch." Tony said. They all politely declined. Morgan hugged Maya as she and her dad went inside. The team went back to the car.

"He's scared." Nat said.

"He's not wrong." Maya said.

"Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do? We need him. What, are we gonna top?" Scott asked.

"No, I wanna do it right. We're gonna need a really big brain." Steve said. Scott looked bewildered.

"Bigger than his?" he asked, pointing to Tony's house.

***

Random Diner

"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating. Try some of that. Have some eggs." a very green Bruce said. Everyone was staring at him.

"I am so confused." Carson said.

"These are confusing times." Bruce said.

"Right. No, no, that is not what I meant." Carson clarified.

"No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now." Bruce said happily.

"Yeah! How? Why?" Maya asked.

"Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost." Bruce explained.

"No one blamed you, Bruce." Nat said.

"I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Bets of both worlds..." Bruce said. A group of kids walked up to him and a girl handed off her phone.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" she asked.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can we get a photo?" the girl asked.

"100%, little person. Come on, step up." Bruce said. He handed the phone to Maya. "You mind?" Bruce asked.

"Oh, no." Maya said, holding up the cell phone.

"Say 'green'!" Bruce said. The children complied and Maya took the photo. She handed the phone to the girl.

"Thank you, Mr. Hulk." one of the boys said.

"No, it's great kids. Thank you very much. Hulk out!" Bruce said. He awkwardly dabbed and the kids went off.

"About we were saying..." Scott said.

"Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise." Bruce said regretfully.

"Well, you pulled this off. I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible time, too." Nat said.

***

Avengers Facility

"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the uhhh... van thing." Maya said.

"Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby." Carson said.

"Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose tiny here in the 1950s." Bruce said.

"Excuse me?" Scott asked, frightened.

"He's kidding." Nat said jokingly. She turned to Bruce. "You can't say things like that."

"Just... It was a bad joke." Bruce said off-handedly.

"You were kidding, right?" Maya asked.

"I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is." Bruce said. He turned to Scott and gave him a thumbs up. "We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, you'll walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Makes sense?"

"Perfectly not confusing." Scott said nonchalantly.

"Good luck, Scott. You got this." Steve said.

"You're right, Captain America, I do." Scott said.

"On the count of three. 3... 2... 1!" Bruce said, then he flipped a switch and Scott was sucked in. He came back after a button was pressed... at least, someone did.

"Guys? This doesn't feel right." A teen aged Scott said.

"What's going on?" Maya asked.

"Hold on." Bruce said, pressing a bunch of buttons.

"Who is that?" Carson asked.

"Is that Scott?" Nat asked.

"Yes, this is Scott!" the teen said. He was sucked back in and re-emerged as an old man.

"Ow! My back!" he said.

"Can you bring him back?" Maya asked.

"I'm working on it!" Bruce said frantically. Scott was sucked back in and came back as a baby.

"It's a baby." Maya said.

"It's Scott." Bruce said.

"As a baby!" Steve said.

"He'll grow!" Bruce said. Maya smacked her face.

"Bring Scott back." Carson said.

"Nat, when I say kill the power, kill the power. And... Kill it!" Bruce said. Nat pulled a lever and the power cut for a moment. Adult Scott spewed out of the van. He looked wildly uncomfortable.

"Somebody peed my pants. I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me. Or just "me" me." Scott said. Bruce raised his hands in triumph.

"Time Travel!" he said excitedly.

"What?" Steve asked.

"I see this as an absolute win!" Bruce said.

"I'd rather not turn into a baby, thank you very much." Maya said. Steve took a walk outside as everyone else cleaned up and began working on the tech. A few minutes later, everyone was surprised to see Tony and Cap with his shield.

"What are you doing here, I thought you said this was a pipe-dream?" Carson asked.

"I've got it." Tony said. "But we need help. Bruce?"

"I'll go find them. Might take a while." Bruce said.

***

New Asgard

"Kind of a step down from a from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and whatnot." Rocket said to Bruce

"Have a little compassion, pal. First they've lost Asgard, then half the people. They're probably just happy to have a home." Bruce said. New Asgard smelled like fish, plain and simple. It made sense as it was mostly full of Asgardians fishing, barells of beer stacked up along stone walls. Bruce spotted a woman in a yellow vest with the fishermen.

"You shouldn't have come!" she said.

"Valkyrie! Great to see you, Angry Girl!" Bruce said. Val looked him over.

"I think I liked you better either of the other ways." She replied.

"Oh, and this is Rocket." Bruce said, introducing his racoon companion.

"Hey, how ya doin'?" Rocket asked. Valkyrie didn't respond.

"So... How are they?" Bruce asked.

"They're not seeing anyone. Thor only comes out for... Shipments." Val replied, gesturing to the empty barrels. Bruce nodded, concern in his eyes.

"That bad, huh?" he asked. Val nodded.

"But, they might make an exception. They live in that house over there." She pointed to a medium size house nearby one of the cliffs. Bruce nodded his thanks and made his way to the home. Rocket knocked on the door.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" Bruce called. Rocket banged on the door again. No answer. He sighed and just went ahead and opened it. He and Bruce stepped inside. Immediately, an awful odor hit their noses.

"What the..." Bruce said.

"Whew, something died in here." Rocket commented. Some shuffles were heard inside the house.

"Hello? Thor?" Bruce called.

"Are you here about the cable?" Thor called from another room. "The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago, and the sports were all kind of fuzzy." Bruce and Rocket looked him over.

Thor approached them with overgrown hair and a pot belly that rivaled that of Homer Simpson.

"Boys! Oh my God! How have you been?" Thor asked cheerfully, embracing Bruce in a hug.

"Hey, Thor!" Bruce said, albeit a bit uncertainly. Thor went over to Rocket.

"Hey! Come here you little rascal!" Thor said, rubbing Rocket into his massive stomach in the hug.

"No, I'm good. I'm good. That's not necessary." Rocket said, trying to break free.

"Of course, you remember my friends, Korg and Miek!" Thoe said, gesturing to the rock man and bug on his couch with a PlayStation controller and headset.

"Hey, man. Feel free to connect to the Wi-Fi, no password, obviously." Korg said.

"Hey, Thor, where is she?" Bruce asked. As if on cue, from up the stairs came Olivia Iridottir, largely unchanged in her physical appearance. Her hair was still kept up in it's ponytail, green hairtie and all. Instead of her Asgardian armor, she opted for a white tank top, grey button up sweater that was currently unbuttoned and sleeved rolled up, as well as some black Capri pants and sandals.

"Bruce, Rocket, it's been a long time, how are you?" She asked, giving each a hug in turn.

"Fine. You seem the same since we last saw you, compared to melted ice cream over here." Rocket said, gesturing to Thor, holding a fresh can of beer.

"Eh, I've lost some of my physique, but I still take runs every day." She said. She strode over to the couch and picked up a slice of pizza from ths half empty box.

"And, uh, I see you still wear that thing." Bruce said, pointing to the green cape she wore over her sweater. She didn't reply, just took a bite of the pizza and stared at the screen.

"Ah, Thor, he's back." Korg said, handing the headset over to him. "The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again."

"NoobMaster..."Thor said angrily and took the headset.

"Yeah, NoobMaster69." Korg confirmed.

"Hey, Noobmaster? Yeah, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I'm gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms then shove them up your butt!" Thor snapped a little drunkenly into the mic. A cry could be heard from the headphones. "Oh, that's right. Yeah, cry to your father, you little weasel." He handed the headset back to Korg.

"Thank you, Thor." He said, going back to the game.

"Let me know if he bothers you again, okay?" Thor said.

"Thank you very much. I will." Korg said.

"Korg, that game stopped being cool, like, four years ago. Five more minutes, then I play my Battlefront." Olivia said, finishing her pizza.

"Alright." Korg said as she threw her crust into the trash can. She went over to get another slice, sitting back down on the armrest of the couch.

"So you guys want a drink? What are you drinking? We have beer, tequila, all sorts of things." Thor said.

"Buddy, you all right?" Bruce asked.

"​​​​​​Yes, I'm fine! Why, don't I look all right?" Thor asked.

"You look like melted ice cream." Rocket said. Thor laughed jovially.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"We need your help. There might be a chance we could fix everything." Bruce said.

"What, like the cable, cause it's been driving us bananas for weeks." Thor asked with a belch.

"Like Thanos." Bruce said. It got deathly quiet as Thor gripped Bruce's shirt.

"Don't say that name." Thor said.

"Um, yeah. We don't actually say that name in here." Korg said, still playing his game. Bruce removed Thor's grip from his shirt and stared down at him.

"Look, I know what... That guy did to you and all your guy's people, but what happened to you happened to everyone. We need your help. Both of you." Bruce said. More silence. Olivia's face darkened.

"That... That monster took everything from us... He took everything from me, and you think that we're just gonna walk back over there and face what he did? Bruce, I have nightmares of what happened on that day. Most of my friends fading away into ash in Wakanda. I see the bodies of all my people strewn about like their lives didn't matter. I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat because all I can hear is the sound of a neck snapping." She said, before she cut herself off, her lower lip quivering as she recalled her horrors.

"I get it. You're in a rough spot, okay? I've been there myself. You wanna know who helped me out of it?" Bruce asked.

"I don't know. Is it... Natasha?" Thor asked, slightly slurred.

"It was you. You helped me." Bruce said.

"Why don't you ask the, Asgardians down there, how much my help was worth." Thor said, pointing outside.

"The ones that are left, anyway." Olivia said sadly.

"I think we can bring them back." Rocket said.

"Stop, just stop. I know you think I'm down here wallowing in my own self-pity, waiting to be rescued and and saved. But I'm fine, okay? We're fine, aren't we?" Thor asked.

"Nah, all good here, mate!" Korg said happily.

"I'm good here." Olivia said.

"So, whatever it is that you're offering, we're not into it, don't care, couldn't care less. Goodbye." Thor said from a nearby chair, chugging down more beer.

"Guys, we know you're depressed and not ready to face your pasts again, but you could help trillions of people in the same situation. Natasha's out looking for Barton and Nebula is coming back as well. We need you guys and your knowledge of the stones to help restore the universe, maybe even your people and loves. We need you guys." Bruce said. There was a long pause.

"There's beer on the ship." Rocket said off-handedly. Another pause as Olivia and Thor shared a look.

"What kind of beer?" Thor asked.

***

Avengers Facility

Everyone had things to do to get ready for the mission. Some built, some worked tech... and Thor drank.

"Thor, you've gotten as bad as Valkyrie, I've said it a hundred times over. Now, and especially now, you should at least limit yourself." Olivia said, helping Tony carry materials.

"Drifting left. On the side there, Lebowski." Tony said to Thor. He moved to where Rocket was working. "How's it going, Ratchet?"

"It's Rocket. Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal." Rocket snapped back from under his work.

"Yup." Tony replied, completely unfazed. Olivia put her things down and made her way to the room where Nat, Scott (in a red and white suit), Maya, Steve, and Bruce were.

"Time travel suit? Not bad." she said, picking up a vial with something red in it.

"Hey, hey, hey. Easy, easy!" Scott told her, gesturing to the vial in her hand.

"I'm being very careful." she said back.

"No, you're being very shaky with that." Scott snapped back.

"I'm being careful." she replied back. Scott watched her like a hawk. She suddenly let go of the vial and grabbed it mid-air. Scott looked like he wanted to smack her, a harsh look in his eyes. She just grinned like a cat back.

"You know, for a minute there, you kinda looked like-" Maya started, but Olivia shot her a look and Maya shut up. Olivia held out the vial to Scott, who snatched it back.

"These are Pym Particles, alright? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more." Scott scolded her.

"Scott, calm down!" Steve said.

"Sorry. We've got enough for one round trip each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus two test runs." Scott said, inserting the particles into a slot in the suit. He accidentally pressed a button and he shrank before everyone's eyes. He appeared back a second later. "One test run." he said slightly dejectedly. Slowly, Nebula, Rhodey, and Carson came into the room.

"All right. I'm not ready for this." Scott said.

"I'm game." Bruce replied back. Suddenly, another voice came from the side of the room.

"I'll do it." Clint said. A few people were shocked to see Clint, but Scott just looked relieved as he took the suit off and handed it to Clint, who was a similar size to Scott.

"Clint, now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift." Bruce said.

"Don't worry about it." Clint said, waving his hand.

"Wait a second, let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, and..." Rhodey cut in and made a gesture simulating strangling someone with a rope. Maya silently thanked God that Olivia wasn't looking at him in that moment.

"First of all, that is horrible." Carson said, slightly disgusted.

"It's Thanos." Rhodey defended.

"And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future." Bruce said.

"Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them... Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved. Bingo." Maya offered.

"That's not how it works." Tony said, suddenly entering.

"Well, that's what I heard." Maya said.

"What? By who? Who told you that?" Tony asked, slightly bewildered.

"Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time -" Rhodey started, counting on his fingers for Maya's benefit.

"Quantum Leap -" Maya put up.

"A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time -" Scott offered.

"Hot Tub Time Machine -" Carson said.

"Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel." Maya finished.

"Die Hard? No, it's not..." Scott suggested, still on the topic of naming time travel movies.

"I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future..." Bruce said.

"Exactly." Tony said, satisfied. Carson and Maya, as well as pretty much everyone else in the room was confused.

"So... Back To The Future's a bunch of bullshit?" asked Maya.

"Language." Nat said jokingly. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Eight years, eight years and it's still not gone." he muttered to himself. Everyone moved to the testing chamber, a large circular platform in the middle of it.

"Alright, Clint. We're going in 3... 2... 1!" Bruce said before flipping a switch. Clint shrunk down and Bruce began counting again. "Okay, and bringing Clint back in 3...2...1!" He flipped a switch again and Clint came back a panting mess.

"Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?" Nat asked. Clint held up a ratty baseball glove.

"Yeah, it worked. It worked." Clint said triumphantly. Everyone cheered a little.

"Okay, everyone meet in the meeting room in five." Steve said. "Bring paper." Everyone dispersed to get supplies, Thor bringing a six pack of beer with him.

"Okay, so the "how" works. Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six infinity stones." Steve said in front of projections of the six stones.

"Well I'd substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six infinity stones." Tony said sarcastically.

"I haven't, I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about" Scott said.

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history." Steve continued, ignoring Scott.

"Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in." Olivia said, waving a pencil between her fingers.

"Which means we have to pick our targets carefully." Tony said.

"Let's start with the Aether. Thor, Olivia, what do you know?" Steve asked. Everyone looked at Thor, a beer in his hand and sunglasses on.

"Is he asleep?" Nat asked. Olivia rolled her eyes and lightly slapped Thor's face. He shot up.

"Where to start? Umm... The Aether, first, is not a stone, someone called it a stone before. It's more of a... and angry sludge thing, so... someones gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago...My grandfather had to hide the stones from the Dark Elves..." he started, waving his fingers. "Wooooh, scary beings. So Jane," an image of Dr. Jane Foster appeared on the screen. "Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... an old flame of mine... She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time... and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see."

"She dumped him." Olivia whispered loudly to Maya.

"Mutual dumping." Thor corrected, pointing at her with his beer. "Anyways, I got to introduce her to my Mother... who's dead..." Thor said, staring wistfully into space. Olivia started doodling on her paper. "But, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever." Thor said, before being directed away by Carson. "I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence."

"Thor, we all know you aren't a philosopher. Sit down." Olivia said, pointing to a chair with her pencil.

"Awesome. Eggs, breakfast?" Tony asked.

"No, I'd like a Bloody Mary." Thor said. Olivia smacked her face. Tony and Steve went to make some food; they all knew they were gonna be a long time. There soon were platters of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and other breakfast items on the table.

"Okay, the Power Stone." Rocket said, projecting the purple stone in front of everyone. "Quill said he stole the power stone from Morag."

"Is that a person?" Maya asked.

"Morag's a planet. Quill was a person." Rocket said back.

"A planet? Like in outer space?" Scott asked.

"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything." Rocket said, walking over to Scott with a piece of bacon in his mouth. Rocket began to pet his head. "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."

"Rocket." Carson snapped. Rocket raised his hands in surrender and gestured for Nebula to face everyone. She projected an orange stone.

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." she said.

"What is Vormir?" Nat asked, writing frantically in her notebook.

"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where... Thanos murdered my sister." she said. Everyone got really quiet as what Nebula said started to weigh in.

"Noted." Maya said. More and more logistics were explained. Olivia stood up and explained the Space and Mind Stones as she was the most familiar with those ones.

"Wait, so how long did you fight these guys?" Rocket asked as news images from the Battle of New York played to help with the Space Stone explanation.

"Mmm.. Few hours?" Nat offered.

"HOURS? The Chitauri are the suckiest army in the galaxy. Why didn't you just blow up the mother ship?" Rocked asked, dumbfounded.

"We-we didn't know that was a thing." Steve defended.

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS A THING?? EVERYONE KNOWS-" Rocket started laughing, but was cut off as Tony ran a razor along the top of his head. "HEY!" Most of the team laughed.

"And, technically, Tony did blow up the Mother Ship with a missile from the government." Olivia added.

"Well, then all is forgiven then, huh?" Rocket grumbled, touching his new bald spot courtesy of Tony.

Hours had passed and slowly, most everyone started falling asleep, leaving Nat, Bruce, and Tony awake.

"That Time Stone guy..." Nat started.

"Doctor Strange." Bruce said.

"Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?" Nat asked.

"Neurostuff meets rabbit from a hat. Nice place in the village, though." Tony said, slightly sleepily.

"Yeah. Sullivan Street. Hmm... Bleecker." Bruce replied.

"Wait, he lived in New York?" Nat asked.

"No. He lived in Toronto." Tony said.

"Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York." Nat said, shocked. Bruce shot up.

"Shut the front door!" he said. Nat yawned and closed her notebook. She rested her head on the desk next to an already snoozing Tony.

The next morning, everyone was awake and Nat explained her discovery to the group.

"Right... uh... the Battle of New York." Clint said. Olivia looked uncomfortable.

"Not it." she said. "Okay, Three stones in New York 2012. Space, Mind, Time. One group goes there. The Aether is on Asgard 2013. Thor, Rocket, and I will go there. The Power and Soul Stones can be retrieved by one group going to 2014. Question is, who is in the other groups?"

"I'll take Scott, Steve, Bruce, and Maya to New York." Tony said.

"Then that leaves Rhodey, Nebula, Carson, Clint and I to get the Power and Soul Stones." Nat said.

"Sounds like a plan." Maya said, flying a paper airplane into Tony's face. He smacked it away and Maya looked away innocently.

"The suits are ready." Tony said. "Meet in the testing chamber in 20." he said. Everyone dispersed and went to the lab to get their suits, labeled on the hangars. The suits were slightly complicated to put on, but everyone managed. They slowly made their way to the testing chamber and gathered in a circle on the platform. Steve began to address the group.

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... We lost family... 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 it 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. Whatever it takes. Good luck." he said confidently.

"He's pretty good at that." Rocket commented.

"Right?" Scott agreed.

"All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jelly green." Tony said to Bruce.

"Tractors engaged." Bruce said. Rocket pointed to the shrunk Guardian's ship resting in Clint's hand.

"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Rocket asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'll do my best." Clint said, slightly warily.

"As promises go, that was pretty lame." Maya commented. Everyone began to activate their helmets.

"See you in a minute." Nat said, smiling excitedly. Bruce pressed a button and everyone shrank down, falling into the portal, sectioning off with their groups through intricate tunnels until they got spat out.

~New York, 2012~

The New York squad was spit out in a back alley in the middle of town, just a few blocks away from Stark Tower, and thereby the portal.

"Wow, the aliens already looked bad on T.V. in California. Now they're REALLY creepy." Maya pointed out, her Quantum suit changing to look like a normal SHIELD uniform rather than her karate nano-tech suit.

"All right, we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone, down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock." Steve directed them. "Bruce, you get the Time Stone, the rest of us will get the Space and Mind ones." Suddenly, crashing noises were heard from the road in front of the alley as the Hulk from 2012 began to smash cars and other road objects in front of him. Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Feel free to smash if things don't go your way." Maya said.

"I think it's gratuitous, but whatever." Bruce said, removing his shirt and walking over to a mostly undamaged car. He smashed it with about as little enthusiasm as he could give. He looked back at the group and they motioned him along to find the Sanctum.

"Okay, the tower is that way. If we stay hidden and take discreet routes, we should get to the high level just after past me falls out of the portal." Tony said.

"Great. Anything else we should look for?" Maya asked.

"Not that I can think of. Let's move." Steve said. The group maneuvered their way behind the buildings and started making their way to the tower.

Nearby, however unbeknownst to the small team of Avengers, a little group of people in armored suits emerged from behind dumpsters in the same alleyway.

"No, no, dammit! We were supposed to prune this before it went to red." One said.

"Can't we?" Another replied.

"The Avengers need those Stones. They accidentally crossed into this branch. Now we have to wait for them to finish. They better be quick about it; I hate it when branches go to red."

~Asgard, 2013~

The portal spit the Asgard Squad in a dark corner of the dungeons. It was mostly quiet, so there weren't many people in there. There was one, however, that Olivia was certain of. Half of her wanted to go a different direction, half wanted to take a look. The latter half won over. Thor and Rocket managed to sneak by the cell, but she wanted to see what was happening. She peered around the corner of the first cell on the left, just enough so she could see, but stay mostly hidden.

She saw her past self curled up with Loki on his cot, reading a book aloud and generally enjoying each other's company.

Oh, that's right. Odin may have been a steaming pile of horse shit most of the time, but he let me go to and from here freely. She thought to herself. It took all she had to not touch and pass through the energy barrier, but that would compromise the mission. She took one last look before sneaking along after Thor and Rocket, finding them in one of the large hallways above ground.

"You done being sentimental?" Rocket asked, folding his arms.

"Not really, but we have a job to do." she said. Thor pointed past her head.

"That's Jane." he said.

"All right. Here's the deal, Tubby: You're gonna charm her and I'm gonna poke her with this thing, and extract the Reality Stone and get gone, lickety-split." Rocket said, holding up a pronged device.

"Charm her? Looking like that?" Olivia asked, pointing at Thor. He ignored her.

"Alright, but I'll be right back, okay? There's a wine cellar, that's just down there. My father used to fish huge barrel of ale. I'll see if the cellar has a couple of..." Thor said, walking past to where Olivia remembered the wine cellar was.

"Hey! Hey! Aren't you drunk enough already?" Rocket asked.

"Yes, he is. THOR, GET YOU ASS BACK HERE!" Olivia hissed after him. Then they heard a door open and the voices of several women emerging. One of the women stuck out to Olivia.

"Who's the fancy broad?" Rocket asked.

"It's my Mother. She dies today." Thor said.

"Oh. That's today?" Olivia asked, looking longingly after her adoptive mother.

"I can't do this. I can't do this. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea." Thor started whispering to himself.

"Come here." Rocket snapped at Thor.

"No, no, no. I think I'm having...I'm having a panic attack. I shouldn't be here...this is...this is a bad-" Thor started.

"Come here. Right here." Rocket said, before slapping Thor across the face.

"You think you're the only one who lost people? What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Quill, Groot, Drax, the chick with the antenna, all gone. Now, I get you miss your Mom. But she's gone. Really gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone. But you can help them. So is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs outta your beard, make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants, and when she's not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help me get my family back?" Rocket hissed to Thor.

"Okay." he replied, nodding.

"Are you crying?" Olivia asked.

"No...Yes!" Thor replied.

"Get it together! You can do this. You can do this. All right?" Olivia said to him.

"Yes, I can." Thor said.

"Good." Rocket said.

"I can do this. I can do it I can't do this." Thor said, running in the opposite direction. Olivia smacked her face.

"Alright, Heartbreaker. She's alone. This is our shot." Rocket said, but then he noticed Thor running away. "Thor? Thor!"

"Son of a Frost Giant." Olivia swore, pinching her nose. Rocket ran along to find Jane while Olivia dragged Thor back. Rocket eventually crept back.

"All clear, which way?" he asked. Olivia turned back to look at Thor, now peeing over the edge of a wall.

"Ew." Rocket said, turning away

"Ugh, Thor, that's disgusting." Olivia groaned.

"Did you say something?" Thor asked.

"I said I want to claw my eyes out, but it wouldn't do any good cause I already saw the awfulness." Rocket said.

"Will you focus?" Olivia asked. "The Dark Elves are gonna overrun this place at any time."

"Did you know that I saw all these people die? So this is a little bit difficult for me, so why don't you just reach deep down inside and find just a small bit of humanity." Thor snapped at Rocket.

"Wow, ah, okay, so that statement was bullshit. I'm here, too, Thor. OUR people died. WE saw it. It's hard for me, but I'm not shutting down, Mister I-just-walk-right-by-my-dead-brother's-prison-cell." Olivia huffed.

"Well, I haven't been crying about it for five years like you have, calm down." Thor snapped.

"Excuse me??" Olivia snapped.

"Okay okay both of you shut up, just hand me the thing." Rocket said, breaking up the fighting.

"'Just give me the thing'" Thor mocked. "Here, just take it. I didn't even want to come here, relive these repressed memories." He pulled out the extraction device along with a bunch of wrappers out of his pocket.

"My god, get it together. You're embarrassing." Rocket sighed. He took the device. "Alright, which way?"

"I don't know." Thor said, biting a chocolate bar.

"YOU DON'T KNOW?? YOU USED TO FRICKIN' LIVE HERE!" Rocket said, exasperated.

"For fifteen hundred years, not forever." Thor said. Olivia face palmed and groaned. "Mmm... That way maybe." He began to walk off, Olivia in tow with her arms folded. Rocket headed in the direction Thor pointed in.

"We are dead, we are so so dead." Rocket said to himself.

~Morag, 2014~

The Morag squad was spit out in the Guardian's ship, ready to land on the surface of the planet.

"Alright. Bring it down low. Right on that line. That's it. Down, down." Rhodey said as the ship touched down on the purple-ish ground. Rhodey, followed by Carson, stepped out of the ship.

"Hey, can we hurry it up?" Clint asked impatiently.

"Guys, chop-chop. Come on. We're on a clock." Nat said as Nebula walked out of the ship.

"All that, is really helpful." Clint said. Rhodey went over to hug Nat.

"Take care, okay?" he told her.

"Yeah." she replied. Carson gave her a hug in turn.

"Stay safe." he told her.

"Of course." Nat replied.

"Take that stone and come back. No messing around." Carson replied.

"Hey. You got this." Clint said.

"Let's get it done. Yes, sir." Rhodey said.

"See you back." Nat said, boarding the ship.

"You guys watch each other's six." Carson called.

"You got it!" Clint called as the hatch to the ship closed.

"The coordinates for Vormir are laid in. All they have to do is not fall out." Nebula told her two partners.

"Okay, so, uhh... We just wait around for this Quill guy to show up and then he leads us to the Power Stone, is that it?" Rhodey asked.

"Let's take cover. We're not the only ones in 2014 looking for the stones." Nebula said.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about right now? Who else is looking for these stones?" Carson asked, alarmed.

"My father, my sister... and me." Nebula said, crouching behind a rock.

"And you? Where are you right now?" Rhodey asked.

~New York, 2012~

"Got to hustle, Cap. Things look like they're just about wrapped up here." Tony said into the comms. Scott had shrunken down and was now resting on Maya's shoulder.

"Got it. I'm approaching the elevator now." Cap replied.

"Gotta say, it's kind of weird to see the six of you... hang on, why are you over Loki and Olivia?" Maya asked. Tony looked confused for a second, going in for a closer look.

"Yeah, wait, something's wrong here." Tony said, scratching his chin. "Olivia was with us... not... Cap?"

"What is it?"

"Something's wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"If it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now." 2012 Loki said.

"All right, get them on their feet. We can all stand around posing up a storm later." 2012 Tony said, before turning to 2012 Cap. "By the way, feel free to clean up."

"Ugh, Mr. Rogers. I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass." Tony said.

"No one asked you to look." Cap said, slightly irritated. "And what the hell do you mean by 'wrong?'"

"I think you look great, Cap. As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass." Tiny Scott said, saluting. Maya snorted with laughter and almost doubled over, grabbing a shelf to support her self. "Hey, easy!" Scott told her.

"Sorry, but that's the funniest thing I've heard in almost five years." Maya said, wiping her eyes.

"Uhh, magic wand?" 2012 Tony asked.

"STRIKE team's coming to secure it." Clint said. Just then, an elevator opened and a group of men Maya recognized as the secret HYDRA agents.

"We can take that off your hands." Agent Sitwell said, taking the scepter from Nat.

"By all means." Nat said.

"Careful with that thing! Unless you want your mind erased. And not in a fun way." Clint said, almost jokingly.

"We promise to be careful." Sitwell replied, putting it in a case.

"Who are these guys?" Scott asked.

"They are SHIELD...Well, actually Hydra. But, we didn't know that yet." Tony explained.

"Seriously, you didn't? I mean... they look like bad guys." Scott said, exasperated.

"You're small, but you're talking loud." Tony said.

"Hey, wait, why are they cuffing Olivia?" Maya asked. Sure enough, the Asgardian woman was bound in chains similar to that of her paramour. Now even more confused, Tony and Maya shared a glance. Something was way off.

"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue." 2012 Steve said. Loki suddenly changed forms to look exactly like Cap.

"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue!" he repeated, before changing back. 2012 Olivia gave a laugh albeit in a little unsettling tone before Thor slapped metal gags over both of their mouths.

"Shut. Up." He growled at the pair. They both seemed to roll their eyes as they were led away.

"All right, you're up, little buddy." Tony said, pointing to the slightly smaller briefcase that contained the Tesseract. "There's our stone."

"Alright. Flick me." Scott said. Maya lined him up and shot him to land on 2012 Tony's shoulder. All the past Avengers got into the elevator, except for Hulk, who tried, but was stopped by 2012 Tony.

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa. Hey! Buddy. What do you think? Maximum occupancy has been reached." he said.

"Take the stairs!" Thor offered.

"Yeah." 2012 Tony said. Hulk raised his fists, but was stopped. "Stop. Stop!" Hulk punched the wall as the elevator closed, Loki giving an impish little wave as they shut.

"Take the stairs. Hate the stairs!" Hulk said, pissed, as he looked for the stairs.

"All right, Cap. I got our scepter in the elevator just passing the 80th floor." Tony commed to Cap as he and Maya went down a diverging stairwell than 2012 Hulk.

"On it. Head to the lobby." Cap replied.

"Alright. I'll see you there." Tony replied. After a while, the two made it to the main level, now both in SHIELD uniforms.

"Thumbelina, do you copy? I've got eyes on the prize." Tony commed to Scott.

"It is go-time. - Bombs away." Scott said. After a second, he replied in a shocked tone. "Is, is that Axe body spray?"

"Yeah, I had a can just for emergencies. Relax." Tony said.

"Can we focus, please?" Maya asked.

"Right. I'm going inside you. Now." Scott replied. The 2012 team was stopped by a group of people led by Alexander Pierce.

"May I ask you where you're going?" he asked.

"To lunch and then Asgard. I'm sorry, you are?" Thor asked.

"Alexander Pierce. He's the man, one of the folks behind Nick Fury." 2012 Tony told Thor.

"My friends call me Mr. Secretary." Pierce replied. "I'm gonna have to ask you to turn those prisoners over to me."

"My brother and sister will be answering to Odin." Thor said.

"They're gonna answer to us. Odin can have what's left. And I'm gonna need that case." Pierce said, pointing to the case. "That's been SHIELD property for over 70 years."

"I'm not gonna argue who's got the higher authority here, all right? 2012 Tony said, unhelpfully.

"Hand over the case, Stark." Pierce snapped.

"All right, move it, Stuart Little. Things are getting dicey up here. Let's go." Tony said to Scott.

"You promise me you won't die?" Scott asked.

"You're only giving me a mild cardiac dysrhythmia." Tony replied.

"That doesn't sound mild." Maya observed.

"I need the case." Pierce told 2012 Tony, reaching for the case.

"I know you got a lotta pull. I'm just saying..." 2012 Tony defended.

"Okay. Then give me the case."

"Do it, Lang! Window's closing. Pull my pin!" Tony hissed.

"Here goes!" Scott said as 2012 Tony gasped and dropped the case

"Stark? Stark!" Pierce asked. Maya grabbed the case.

"Got the package." she said.

"Look, he's convulsing. Give him air! Medic!" Pierce said.

"MEDIC! You guys, some help!" Disguised Tony yelled to the people working in the Tower.

"Stark, you--- your chest machine?" Thor asked. Loki and Olivia looked as Maya handed the case to Tony, glancing at each other after.

"Good job. Meet me in the alley. I'm gonna grab a quick slice." Tony said, comming to Cap, just as the door exploded, knocking Maya and Tony off their feet.

"NO MORE STAIRS!!!!" Hulk screamed. People went running as The Hulk screamed about his hatred of having to take the stairs. The case launched out of Tony's hands. It opened and the Tesseract popped out of it's little chamber, sliding across the floor.

It stopped as it hit Loki's boot, catching his attention.

In a few quick motions so everyone, baring present Tony and Maya, didn't even see or have time to react, Loki picked up the Tesseract. He looked at Olivia, who nodded, and wrapped an arm around her waist. Loki activated the cube and teleported them both away.

Ah shit. Tony thought as he stood up.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Scott asked.

"Uh, no, obviously not." Tony snapped.

"You'll be fine, Stark. Stay with us! I'll try something, okay? I have no idea if it's gonna work." Thor said. He tapped his hammer against 2012 Tony's arc reactor and he sat up, completely fine. "YES!"

"That worked a treat. That was so crazy!" 2012 Tony said excitedly.

"I had no idea if that was gonna work." Thor said, proud of himself.

"Now, the case." 2012 Tony said.

"The case. It's, uhh... Where's the case? Where's Loki and Olivia? Loki! Olivia? Hello!" Thor called.

"Oh, we blew it." Maya said dejectedly.

"Tony, what's going on? Tell me you found that cube. Oh, you gotta be shitting me." Steve said over comms.

"Cap, what is it?" Maya asked.

"Past me. Uh... Hold on a sec." he replied. The three of them listened in on a one-way conversation with Cap and his past self. There was a bunch of crashing noises and then silence.

"That is America's ass." Cap said. Maya snickered.

"We heard that." she said.

"Anyways, the cube?" Cap asked. There was an awkward silence.

"Meet us in the alley and we'll explain." Maya said.