Always. ~ P.Parker

• fifteen •

Phoenix Haynes

"Scott, are you okay?" Steve asked after we let him inside, and he nodded, looking stressed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, pulling me in for a hug.

"It's good to see you guys."

"It's good to see you too, Scott." I smiled softly, and he twiddled his thumbs while we drifted into silence.

"Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?" He blurted out, and I shrugged.

"Only to make conversation." Nat said, while Steve and I were in the dark.

"Alright, so two years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm."

"What exactly is that?" I asked, and Scott looked at me.

"The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe."

"Damn." I whispered, and he nodded.

"To get in there, you have to be incredibly small."

"Okay, so what happened?" Nat asked, making Scott sigh.

"Hope, she's my- she was my-" he struggled to get it out, and I knew Hope had been dusted in the blip.

"She was supposed to pull me out, and then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there."

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, and Nat nodded in agreement.

"That must've been a very long two years."

"Yeah, but that's just it, it wasn't." Scott said, and I traded a confused look with Steve.

"What?"

"For me, it was two hours."

"No way." I whispered, and I knew Nat and Steve were just as bewildered as I was.

"See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here." Scott ranted, eyeing off Nat's sandwich.

"Everything is unpredictable."

"Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving." He said, rushing over to the food and taking a big bite out of it.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Nat asked, and he turned to look back at us.

"What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm."

"This is insane." I whispered, but Scott shook his head.

"The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it."

"But what if we did?" I asked, and Scott pointed at me, as if I'd hit the nail on the head.

"Exactly! I can't stop thinking about it."

"So, you want to somehow find a way to control it?" I asked Scott, and he nodded.