Archive of Our Own

Scenario #1: Pym Particle Pick-up

"We only have enough for each of us to take one round trip!" Scott Lang yelled at Bruce (or Hulk, depending on which way you looked at it), looking slightly panicked. He paused thoughtfully then, counting in his head. "And two test runs," he amended at last.

Bruce's large green lips smiled in an understanding way.

Scott inserted the small vial of Pym Particles into his suit. He then flickered out of view. When he came back, he looked quite ashamed.

"Um, one test run," he admitted meekly.

Tony passed by then, stopping in his tracks. "Wait, we're pulling off one of the most important and complicated heists in history and we only can do one test run?"

"There's only so many Pym Particles left in the world," Scott explained sadly.

"Bruce," Tony said. "I'm going to spit out some brain vomit here and you let me know if it sounds possible." Bruce nodded, and Tony turned his attention back to Scott. "So, Pym Particles haven't been made in years now, right?"

"Right."

"And the whole reason we're doing this is to go back in time to get the Infinity Stones, which no longer exist now but existed in the past."

"Yea—oh . . ." Comprehension dawned on Scott's face. "Are you saying—?"

"If we're already planning on stealing massively powerful stones that may or may not break the time stream, why not grab some more Pym Particles first? Then we can go back in time at leisure," Tony finished, going back to ignoring Scott.

Bruce thought about that for a minute. "That actually makes a whole lot of sense."

"Of course it does. I'm going to go ahead and tell the others to think of when the Stones were least guarded. Can you believe Nat was thinking of going back to the Chitauri invasion just because three Stones would be there in New York at the same time?"

"You mean the first time the Avengers ever assembled?" Scott asked. "That would be so cool to see you guys in action! Nostalgia, right?"

Tony gave him a condescending smile. "Right. Tell you what, we can send you there! Knock out three Stones with one ant!"

Scott frowned. "That's not really what I meant."

"Forget that," Bruce said. "How do you feel about stealing from Pym?"

"Pretty bad, actually."

"I could do it," a voice said from the doorway. Clint leaned there.

"Great, I feel much better sending one of our resident spies to do that sort of work," Tony said. "I'll leave you guys to that while I figure out where Loki's staff was when he was still pissing his pants. No, scratch that. That's not a good indicator of him being a baby. He probably still pisses his pants like someone I know."

Scott's blush contrasted with the white of his time suit.

Scenario #2: Sacrifices

The two figures climbed up the rocky mountain. Both moved gracefully, lethally, like the living weapons they were. One watched the other forlornly.

Clint wished he had chosen to go with Natasha. He would have enjoyed this long space trip much more with her by his side. But he didn't think he could be professional on a mission with her right now. Without his real family, she was the closest thing he had to a sister. He couldn't be subjective near her.

As they came to the top, a chilling voice seemed to speak from every crevice in the dark rocks. "Clint, son of Harold Barton," it said. "Nebula, daughter of Thanos."

The figure finally presented itself. It was mostly shadow and cloak. It reminded Clint of the dementors Violet had been afraid of when they had watched the Harry Potter movies together. His heart clenched for the billionth time.

"We are here for the Soul Stone," Nebula said firmly.

The cloaked figure pointed at a nearby cliff. "There, the Stone waits for one of you. The other must permanently sacrifice something they hold dear."

"I'm guessing this is a sort of Soul for a Soul Stone situation," Clint deduced. The shadow did not respond, so he turned to Nebula instead. "Do you think we really have to go through with this?"

Nebula nodded once. "My father suspected as much. He always planned to come here with someone expendable." Something hard glinted in her black eyes. "My sister lost her life here."

Clint knew that look all too well. "You don't need to sacrifice yourself. If anyone here wants to die, it's me."

"You have family that can be brought back when we succeed. I do not."

"But . . ." Clint was finding it absurdly hard to find a counterargument. Yes, he drastically wanted to see his family again, but he was also supposed to be a good guy who didn't send his friends to their deaths.

Yet, he hadn't been very good these past five years, had he?

Nebula did not waste time with more words. She began to walk to the edge. Clint grabbed her arm.

"You don't have to do this. We can ask a few more questions, like can we leave and come back? What if we can bring in some low life to sacrifice instead?"

"Would it be guaranteed that such a person would value their life enough for it to be a true sacrifice? The wording is far too precise, and we can't risk losing a single Stone."

"I can't just let you—"

Nebula jerked her arm, sending Clint flying into one of the many rocks jutting out from the ground. He groaned, getting to his feet as fast as he could, pulling out his bow. Nebula was far from him now, at the very edge of the cliff now.

"Say hello to your family for me," she said.

"Say hello to yours," Clint returned resignedly, lowering his weapon. "And maybe punch your dad in the face again for me."

The edges of Nebula's lips moved up jerkily, one of the few smiles she had ever given anyone, and one of her last.

She dropped out of sight. The next time Clint blinked, he found himself kneeling in water, Stone in hand.

Meanwhile, on Thanos's ship . . .

Nebula gasped, her dark eyes focusing on their faces again. Her ragged breaths softened into more natural pants for air.

"What just happened?" Thanos's deep voice boomed, directed at one of his advisors.

"I can't be sure; it was far too brief. If it would have continued, I might have thought her memory banks were syncing with another's, but the signal is gone now."

Gamora looked between her father and her sister. Surely, he wouldn't think such a fleeting show of unexpected pain meant that Nebula was useless, doomed to the junk pile . . .

"Run full diagnostics on her," Thanos said after a moment. "Replace her memory files if they're corrupt."

"Yes, sir."

Nebula was led away, but not before she shot a harsh glare at Gamora. It was always her fault.

Scenario #3: A Happy Accident

Bruce finally stopped screaming. "I'm good," he assured the rest of the room weakly. Struggling to move, he slowly lifted up his right hand, the one with the new Infinity Gauntlet. All he had to do was snap his fingers, and everyone would come back. Everyone who Thanos had taken away five years ago . . .

Bruce hadn't felt much anger in ages, but now rage fueled his fingers to make the quick motion.

The pain increased exponentially. He might have passed out. When he came around, the glove was off, and there was a pleasantly cool substance on his arm.

"You still with us, Bruce?" Tony voice asked from above. Bruce didn't open his eyes yet, but nodded. "Good, awesome. Does anyone know if that worked?"

A phone vibrated on a nearby table. Clint answered it, tears in his voice. "Hey, baby . . . Yes, it's me . . . I've—I've missed you so much . . ."

Steve chuckled nearby. "I think we did it."

"You hear that, Bruce?" Tony said. "You just brought back half of—"

"Tony!" Rhodey's voice came from Tony's suit. "What did you guys do? Nebula just turned to ashes!"

"What?!"

Bruce grimaced. "Oh no . . . It's my fault! I—I let myself be angry at Thanos! I think—I think I accidentally snapped away anyone associated with him." He forced his eyes open to look into Tony's face. "I'm sorry! I'm so—Watch out!"

Tony followed his gaze upward, cursing when he saw what was there. "Everyone evacuate!" he shouted. He hefted Bruce up with help from his repulsors. "Get out of the building!"

Everyone ran to the nearest window. Scott stood in front of it, turning around to see the commotion. "Guys, I think it worke—" He was cut off as the crowd pushed him straight through the window.

As they hit the ground, a huge crash sounded behind them. Tony was the first to look back.

"Well, that's going to take a bit of remodeling to fix."

Bruce looked up. A huge, all too familiar ship was embedded in the top of the compound. "Is that Thanos's ship?"

"It was, if you snapped your fingers right. Now that's what Bob Ross would call a happy accident." Tony turned to the flabbergasted group of heroes. "Okay, who wants to fly with me up there to see the dust that was once Thanos? It seems like a very poetic second death for him, am I right?"

Scenario #4: Shout It Out Loud

In Tony's professional opinion, knowing that they're plan had worked, that everyone was back, that they had fixed their failure . . . all of that almost outweighed the massive amount of PTSD he was feeling from such a familiar battle.

But the kid was back. Peter was back and Tony had to make sure that it stayed this way.

Things were not looking good though.

A familiar red-caped figure flew into view. Tony called out to him.

"Hey! Strange! What'd you say last time? One in a million?"

"Fourteen million," Strange corrected him as he gutted some aliens with sparkling lights.