"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. 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. Whatever it takes. Good luck."

No one spoke after Cap's speech. I couldn't find it in myself to make words.

We all got into our spots on the platform. Tony called over to Bruce on controls, letting him know it was time. "Stroke those keys, Jolly Green."

"Trackers engaged!"

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

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

"As promises go, that was pretty lame."

I looked around at everyone as Bruce came up on the platform. I stopped on Tony for a second and nodded, not needing to do much since I'd be with him in New York. Then, I looked to Nat, who was on the other side of Steve.

We shared a look, one she understood completely. A silent promise. Even though we both knew a promise like that was hard to keep, she still made it.

Suddenly, things started shifting. The floor below and the apparatus above were moving and adjusting, getting ready to send us through the Quantum Realm. That was the cue to put helmets on. Once we were all ready, we shrunk down and got to it.

Traveling through the realm was kind of weird. There were bright colors everywhere, and I remised briefly of when I travelled through the Bifrost. But we had more control here than I did there, and the New York team split off to a different hole than the others.

We landed not too long after we "took off" and immediately took off the nanotech suits, revealing our suits. Mine was the most conspicuous of the group, not being one for flashy colors and liking the blend-in aspect.

"All right, we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock."

Steve was cut off by a roar and a crash, and we all looked out on the street as 2012 Hulk came smashing through, aliens, cars, and street signs unfortunately being in his path. He jumped on the car a few times before finally scurrying away.

I couldn't stop from turning my head to an embarrassed Bruce. "Smash some shit as well, don't want people getting too suspicious."

Bruce sighed and started to leave our alleyway, tearing his tank as he said, "I think it's gratuitous, but whatever."

I tilted my head to the side and watched his sad excuse of 'Hulking out' as he barely roared and just tossed a random motorcycle. "Be convincing!" I carefully called out, earning a glare from my green friend.

Lucky for him, we had our own assignments to focus on. We had to find ways to sneak into the tower without getting noticed by any of the 2012 Avengers, which would be difficult, but manageable.

Scott had it the easiest, simply shrinking down and going with Tony. Steve and Tony had to try and blend in enough to not cause questions but not get seen by the wrong people.

I had to sneak in and find myself a SHIELD uniform so I could find a way to intercept the Tesseract, or at least make it easier for Tony to do so. That didn't seem to hard, so I went in with enthusiasm.

The tower was crawling with agents, meaning I had a lot to choose from. I found one guy who was more isolated than the others and used my powers to knock him out. Once that was all done with, I pulled him back into a random hallway and slipped his uniform off of him and onto me.

"All ready," I shared through the comms once I was all geared up.

"Okay, that's good. We're in position up here. Better hustle, Cap. Things look they're just about wrapped up here."

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

I nodded to myself. "Taking my position in the lobby. I'll be ready for the package."

There was a bit of silence on the comms as Tony got into position, and then I heard a scoff. "Mr. Rogers, I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass."

I tried my absolute best to hold back laughter at the comment, considering I never expected to hear that over the comms.

"No one asked you to look, Tony," came the disgruntled Steve's reply.

"It's ridiculous."

"I think you look great, Cap. That's America's Ass!"

There was a lot of willpower involved, but I managed to keep my laughter held back. "Well now I feel like I'm missing out," I mumbled, trying not to be heard by others around me. There were a few chuckles and a grumble on the other end in reply to my comment.

After that, there was another moment of silence as things happened above. I could only imagine it was them getting the objects ready for transport.

"Who are these guys?" Scott sounded very judgmental, and I knew who he was referring to before Tony even said a word.

"They are SHIELD. Well- actually Hydra, but we didn't know that yet."

"Seriously? You didn't? I mean... they look like bad guys."

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

"Technically I knew," I butted in.

"Yeah, but that doesn't count because you were one of them."

"Potato potahto."

"Can we focus please?"

A chorus of 'sorry Cap's came over the comms and everyone was quiet again, waiting for the moment. It came a second later, and Scott was in position for the next phase, the part where I become more involved.

I waited until I heard my cue, ignoring what Tony was telling Steve about the scepter- that didn't involve me at all.

Waiting by the elevator along with a couple other SHIELD agents, I waited to hear the ding and see my marks come out. Sure enough about half a minute later, it all happened. I fell in line with the other SHIELD agents and followed right behind.

"I'm in position," I whispered into the comms. "Ready for interception."

"Thumbelina do you copy? I've got eyes on the prize. It is go time," Tony asked and I barely spared a glance at him as my group passed.

"Bombs away." A brief silence. "Is- is that Axe body spray?"

It took too much willpower to not laugh, yet somehow I managed. "Really? Axe body spray?"

"Yeah, I had a can in the desk for emergencies. Relax. Can we focus please?"

"I'm going inside you..." I made a face at the phrase and wished I could unheard it. "...now."

The group I was in was stopped as it met Alexander Pierce in the middle. He was a man I only ever associated with evil things. We didn't interact as much as he did with the Winter Soldier- that was his pet- but it was never pleasant when we did. It was also enough that if he looked at me too closely, I'd be done for.

"Uh, may I ask you where you're going?" Pierce asked, and I was ready to get into my position the second Scott did his thing.

"Bit of lunch, and then Asgard. I'm sorry, you are...?" Thor asked, and I realized I hadn't known Thor when he was this young. Or any of the Avengers. It was weird.

2012 Tony took that one. "Alexander Pierce. He's the man above the folks behind Nick Fury," he explained, and Thor made a noise of understanding.

"My friends call me Mr. Secretary. I'm gonna have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me," Pierce added on, shifting back to his main point.

Thor, however, disagreed. "Uh, Loki will be answering to Odin himself."

"No, he's going to answer to us. Odin can have what's left. And I'm gonna need that case. That's been SHIELD property for over seventy years."

As expected, there was resistance to Pierce's request. Well, demand, but Tony and Thor took it as a request. And it was definitely not being fulfilled. An agent tried to reach out and pull the case from Tony's hands.

"All right, move it Stuart Little.Things are getting dicey out here, let's go." The Tony of my time was starting to get impatient, and the 2012 Tony was, too, but in a sassier way as he brought up authority and rank.

"You promise me you won't die?"

"We're only giving me a mild cardiac dysrhythmia."

"That doesn't sound mild."

I focused back to what was happening in front of me, knowing shit was about to hit a fan or two.

"I need the case," Pierce demanded, and chills ran down my spine. That was a tone I knew.

"I know you got a lot of pull, I'm just saying, jurisdiction..."

"Okay, then give me the case."

That's when multiple people started grabbing 2012 Tony, and I was getting panicky, too. "Scott!" I whisper-yelled through gritted teeth.

"Do it, Lang! Window's closing, pull my pin."

"Here goes!"

Not even a moment later, 2012 Tony seized up and the case fell from his hand and he dropped to the floor with it. Panic took over everyone around the group, Pierce even calling for a medic. I had to roll my eyes when a familiar voice yelled out medic just a few feet away.

"Now, Rey."

I moved up closer, as if to see if he was okay, and kicked the case behind me. "Case is on the move," I whispered, hoping the chaos around me was enough to conceal my words from other ears.

Once I knew I could, I looked over and saw Tony had picked the case up and was moving. "Good job. Meet me in the alley. I'm gonna grab a quick slice."

The victory didn't last long when an angry Hulk burst through the same door Tony was trying to go through, causing the man to go flying back and lose grip on the case. It went flying back towards me and the group, and I almost thought this could be my chance.

Instead, it flew open and the glowing cube landed right in front of Loki. With barely any hesitation, the god picked up the cube and was gone. "Oh shit," I said, realizing we just screwed the mission.

Then, I looked back over to check in on the chaos and made direct eye contact with Pierce. And recognition passed through his eyes. "Oh fuck."

A/n: tee hee