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Coming back from the dead wasn't nearly as easy as it looked. That was something Scott Lang was finding out very quickly, now that the chaos had settled, the battle had been won, and he was once again among the living. First came the battery of tests. After all, the heroes had to make sure he wasn't an infiltrator of some sort. A "Skrull", they said. Apparently something really nasty had happened involving them while he had been...gone. Someone also name-dropped something called the "Cancerverse", another possible source of evil doppelgangers. It seemed villains had spent a lot of time posing as heroes in the time since his untimely death.
And then there was the de-briefing. There were a lot of questions about what he remembered from while he had been dead, the answer to which could be summed up as "nothing". Most questions of his went unanswered, but he had been able to piece together that a lot of things had happened in his absence. Very few of them good. SHIELD agents came and went, asking questions and answering few. And in between, he was left alone, with little to do but think. Think about the people he had left behind, and wonder how they were doing. He had seen Cassie immediately after he had returned to the land of the living. She looked amazing - like the woman he always knew she would become. She had grown up so fast, he couldn't believe it. But there was precious little time to talk to her, to ask her how she was doing, before they were fighting for their lives. And in the aftermath, he had been spirited away by SHIELD. Standard operating procedure, they said. He had only been here for a little over 48 hours, but it felt like forever.
Someone was at the door, but this one was different. This person knocked before entering.
"You look like you could use some coffee. Would have snuck some whiskey into it, but the guards confiscated it." Clint smirked as he sat down at the table across from Scott.
"It's appreciated." Scott took a long drink from the mug. "I'm surprised they even let you in here."
"I go way back with most of these guys. It's just a security thing - people are still really on edge since..." Clint paused to figure out how exactly to sum up the Civil War, Skrull invasion, and countless other crises succinctly. "A lot of stuff happened. But don't worry - Steve's leaning on them to let you go early. Normally, they quarantine people for 72 hours, but we may be able to get it down to 48. You're checking out clean, so it's just a precaution at this point."
"I'd hope so. I'd be very confused if they found out I was a Skrull." Scott laughed nervously.
There was a brief awkward pause as Scott finished drinking the coffee.
"I've been looking after her. She's doing fine."
Scott looked up from the coffee and gave Clint an appreciative glance. "I never had any doubt."
"I wasn't able to be there for her right after, unfortunately - I was in the same place as you for the better part of a year - but after I came back, I made sure of it." Clint nodded. "She'll catch you up on the details, but she did you proud. In so many ways."
The shock of finding out that Clint had been dead was blunted somewhat by the fact that he was standing right in front of him. One of the perks of the superhero lifestyle, Scott supposed.
"I've still got so many questions..."
"And you've got a long time to find out the answers." Clint clapped Scott on the shoulder. "I know as soon as you're sprung, you're going to go right to Cassie and catch up with her. But when you're ready, just give me a call. I'll buy you a beer and fill you in on everything you've missed."
"I'd appreciate that, Clint."
"That's what friends are for." Clint grinned as he got up to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go harass some more bureaucrats. I'm getting you sprung from this place or getting locked up myself."
-----
"Penny for your thoughts, Stature?"
Cassie opened her eyes to see Kate's face, hovering over her as she hung off the edge of the bed.
"Just...thinking, you know? It's a lot to take in." Cassie sat up, turning around to face her girlfriend. "I spent so much time learning to let my father go, to accept that he was really gone, and..."
"And now he's back. It's a major head trip, no matter how many times it seems to happen."
"...Yeah." Cassie bit her lip. "And no matter how much I want it to be, it's not going to be the same. I'm not the little girl he left behind anymore. I just hope...he's proud of who I turned out to be."
"If he's not..." Kate leaned in and gave Cassie a quick kiss. "Then we'll know he's a Skrull. Because the Scott Lang you told me about would be so proud of you."
Cassie reached out and took Kate's, squeezing it. "As soon as my dad and I have caught up, I want to tell him about us. I want him to get to know the girl I'm going to spend my life with."
"Whenever you're ready, I'm there for you." Kate smiled. "Both of you."
-----
Scott clutched the few belongings he had on him as he walked out of the SHIELD base, a free man after what seemed like forever. Steve had promised to set him up at Avengers mansion once he was ready, but for right now he had had quite enough of the indoors. Besides, there was only one person he wanted to see right now.
"Daddy?"
Scott turned to see Cassie. This was the first time he had seen her out of costume since his return.
"Cassie. You look..."
Scott was cut off by Cassie throwing her arms around him, hugging him so tightly he briefly felt short of breath in the best way possible.
"You're really back? You're not going away again?" Cassie asked, burying her head in Scott's shoulder. For a minute, her voice didn't sound like the confident young woman who he had met in battle, but the scared girl he had left behind.
"I'm not going anywhere. You saved me."
Cassie looked up, her eyes filled with tears, with a big smile on her face. "There's so much I want to tell you..."
"I know. We've got a long time to catch up." Scott ruffled her hair. "But the only thing I want to know right now is...how are you doing? Even before what happened, I was so worried about you. Having to leave you with your mother and Blake..."
Cassie nodded. "It wasn't easy for a while. But I'm doing great now. I'm living in Avengers Mansion, I've got a lot of great friends, and I'm making my own decisions. I'm a lot happier now that you're back, though."
"That's all I wanted to hear. You're a tough girl, Cass. I had a feeling you'd take care of yourself."
"I learned it from my dad." Cassie smiled.
Scott gave his daughter another squeeze as they turned to leave. The whole world was waiting for them. This may not have been the time he knew, but he had been given another chance to be a part of his daughter's life. And he wouldn't trade it for anything.