scott x hope oneshots

relenting optimism

Scott liked to think he was a pretty easy going guy, in fact some would go so far as to call him, uncomfortably optimistic. He was able to find humor in most things and found no use dwelling on the negatives. Of course, there were moments where he couldn't retain his sunny disposition.

When he was arrested the first and second time, and he feared losing his daughter forever. When Hope and Hank rightfully cut ties from him after his impromptu trip to Germany, and went on the run because of him. Or god forbid, whenever Cassie fell ill, or was in any sort of trouble. These were moments Scott couldn't push past with a wise crack, and a snort of amusement. However, since getting Janet back from the Quantum Realm, and by extension Hope and Hank back into his life, he had no reason to suppress his inner 12 year old boy.

That was, until his com feed cut out.

It had been supposed to be an easy mission, if you could even call it that, one that would take five minutes top, and would end with a supply of special healing power for Ava for at least a year. The Quantum realm, having been conquered by the A(nt)-Team, a name given by Scott to the chagrin of Hank and joy of Janet, no longer posed any real threat. And Scott had been quick to volunteer to make the trip, on Ava's behalf. He however did not plan on losing contact with the entire Pym-Van Dyne Family, and getting stuck inside the realm for an unknown amount of time.

The first few days, though full of panic, had gone by quickly for Scott, as he had managed to hang onto his unwavering optimism. He tried not to think of what caused the break in connection, he tried not to think about what could have happened. Instead thought about how it must be a technical error and that they would get him out soon. As time passed however Scott's hope waned.

He knew they must be in trouble, or arrested, or God forbid dead. He knew that they hadn't purposefully abandoned him in a place that could potentially drive him crazy. Though that thought had briefly crossed his mind, he swiftly dealt with it. Even if they were still mad at him, they were good people, and wouldn't subject him to the Quantum Realm forever. Something had to have stopped them from getting him out, and even though he feared for his own existence, he also feared for theirs.

As weeks, or what felt like weeks passed however, he began to not only worry about them, but himself as well.

The Quantum Realm, while beautiful, was terrifying. Hank had said what had happened when he went in, how his memories came onto him, and everything became distorted until Janet arrived. Though Scott had managed to hold this off at first, thanks to the healing energy he had originally collected for Ava, like any medicine he grew a resistance to it, and the memories came. At first, he saw it as a blessing, after the initial vertigo, he saw good memories.

He found himself in the home he and Maggie had once lived in together, with a baby Cassie occupying their time. Then he was getting out of prison and enjoyed being free again. Then In the lab with Hank and Hope before Germany, listening in confusion while they talked about physics, and feeling joy when the conversation shifted into mechanical engineering. Being amused by the looks on their faces when he participated in plans, having forgotten that he had a degree in the subject. Feeling useful not just because he's Ant-Man, but because he's smart, and sometimes he forgets that when he's around actual geniuses. But those memories went by to quickly and soon came the bad.

When he was arrested, and dragged out of his home, a horrified Maggie holding back a crying Cassie in the doorway as the neighbors watched from the street. Hearing nothing from his family for months until the moment Maggie sent the divorce papers. His first prison fight, if you could call it that, when a couple of inmates beat him up in the yard because of "his mouth". Getting caught in Germany and finding out he was on the wrong side. Maggie and Jim visiting him for the first time while on house arrest, no Cassie with them, just disappointment. When he found out Hank and Hope had to go on the run. Every moment he disappointed his daughter or Hope, or his family.
All of it playing on a loop with no break, no reprieve, the good memories never returned. The Quantum Realm was trying to break him, and for a while it succeeded. He had tried killing himself, he had tried getting eaten by the giant bacteria floating around him. Tried to take off his mask and suffocate, only to realize he could still breath, tried dying. But there was no end, not for him.