BANG//Marvel

VII.III.: Long Five Years

Liam hovered above the kitchen counter like a ghost as he spread peanut butter over the bread, dark shadows under his eyes from the many sleepless nights. He sipped from the freshly brewed coffee and placed the sandwiches on a plate, heading with it towards the conference room that Natasha currently occupied, having a meeting with a few friends.

"Alright. Uh, well. This channel is always active. So, if anything goes sideways... anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't... comes through me." He heard her say and after that a few short yes's.

"Okay."

"Alright."

"Good luck."

"Where are you?" Natasha asks Rhodes, who is the only person left on call. Liam places the plate with sandwiches in front of Natasha and kisses the top of her head, his left hand tiredly waving at the man on the call. Rhodey nodded back.

"Mexico. The Federales found a room full of bodies. Looks like a bunch of cartel guys. Never even had the chance to get their guns off."

"It's probably a rival gang."

"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... I gotta tell you, there's a part of me that doesn't even want to find him."

"Will you find out where he's going next?"

"Nat..."

"Please."

"Okay." Rhodes's reluctant words cut off as the call ends. Natasha closes her eyes and throws her head back, holding back tears. Liam hugs her from behind, forehead resting on her shoulder.

"You know, I'd offer to cook you dinner but you seem pretty miserable already." The two look up to see Steve Rogers leaning on the door-frame.

"You here to do your laundry?" Natasha sighs and wipes at her eyes.

"And to see friends."

"Clearly, your friends are fine."

"You know, I saw a pod of whales when I was coming up the bridge.

"In the Hudson?" Liam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There's fewer ships, cleaner water."

"You know, if you're about to tell me to look on the bright side. Um... I'm about to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich."

"Oh, come on, I just made that." Liam mumbled with a smile on his face.

"Sorry. Force of habit." Steve chuckled.

"How was the session?"

"You know, I keep telling everybody they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us."

"If I move on, who does this?" Natasha nods towards the screens.

"Maybe it doesn't need to be done."

"I used to have nothing. And 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."

"I think we all need to get a life." Steve smiles slightly and Liam and Natasha snort.

"You first." Suddenly, a holographic screen pops up before them showing a camera footage from the front gate. The footage shows a man Liam doesn't recognise.

"Oh! 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."

"Is this an old message?" Steve gaped at the hologram.

"It's the front gate. Live." Liam confirmed with a quick flash of blue in his dark eyes.

"Ant-Man? Ant-Man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys."

***

"Scott. Are you okay?" Steve, Natasha and Liam watch the distressed man pace back and forth before them in the meeting room.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Scott said, like a liar. "Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?"

"Only to make conversation." Natasha shrugs.

"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..." Scott got quiet for a moment before snapping out of it. "She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there."

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

"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me, it was five hours."

"What?" Liam asked what they were all thinking.

"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." He doesn't wait for an answer before biting into it.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Steve tries to get him back on the tracks.

"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."

"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?"

"No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a... Yeah, a time machine." Scott sighed and Liam leaned onto the table. "I know it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way... There's gotta be...some w... it's crazy."

"Scott, I get emails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore."

"So who do we talk to about this?" Steve turns to look at Liam but Natasha raises her voice.

"Nope. No powers 'till you get at least one full night's uninterrupted sleep or you'll knock out half of Manhattan's electricity again."

"Well, this is gonna be awkward." Sighs Liam as he sees Steve's expression turn cold. 

Gosh, I kicked myself in the behind to write this. But I think I'm getting back into the fandom so I'll hopefully get this done soon. To anyone who stayed here for 11 months waiting for another chapter; I'm sorry it took so long. Marvel kinda lost me after Engame and I really couldn't get back into it. Thank you for reading<3