Hank and Connor were closing in on a suspect they had been chasing through the streets, when a swirling blue light with sharp edges flooded their vision, like light refracting from a crystal. Thunder clapping and the crackle of electricity was the last thing the two heard, before everything went black.
When Connor's systems came back online, the rugged feel of concrete against his hands informed him that he had not perished from the blinding event that brought him here.
Looking to his right, Connor was relieved when he spotted Hank lying down on the ground, unconscious, but alive. Though he was a state of the art android, designed to handle all sorts of situations, Connor did not know what to make of the strange phenomenon that had transported them to the city of San Francisco, 2015. As Connor discovered after scanning local internet servers.
Another item that Connor could add to the growing list of things that perplexed him, was the large blue steam engine squashing the trunk of a police car outside a house in the neighbourhood they had arrived in. He scanned the offending article responsible for the property damage, but found that it produced no useful information, other than the fact that its size was atypical for a Thomas the Tank engine toy and that it was covered in residual particles of an unknown chemical.
"What the… hell?"
Connor heard Hank's voice from behind him, as he joined him in looking at the giant toy littering the street. What kind of antics were these people up to? Hank wondered with distaste.
Hank did not have much time to linger on these thoughts, when a man wearing pyjamas and a bath robe ran up to them and apologized.
"Are you guys, cops? Sorry about the car, I haven't had time to shrink the train yet…" Scott Lang's words trailed off, as he secretly hoped the police did not guess that he'd rather have breakfast before facilitating the removal of the ruined police car.
"We're not here about the car." Hank told the man bluntly. The damaged police car was of no concern to him. He just wanted to get the hell out of here.
"I realize that this might sound strange, but—" Connor stepped in to explain the situation, before being interrupted by Hank.
"There was a flash of light and it brought us here."
"I don't know anything about that, but I know someone who can help." Scott offered, after hearing their predicament.
"Who?"
"Hank Pym." Scott answered with the name of the man, whose field of expertise included quantum mechanics. If anybody could help them, it was him.
"Your namesake." Connor remarked with a smile, after hearing that Pym and his partner shared a name.
"Oh, another Hank. Hopefully he'll like you. He's a bit grouchy from the bullet wound in his shoulder." Scott said, telling them what they could expect from a man who was recuperating.
It better not be like last time. Hank thought to himself, as he recalled their last attempt at seeking help when visiting the duplicitous and downright unhelpful Elijah Kamski.
After excusing himself, Scott went back into the house and made a phone call.
"Hey, is Hank up yet?"
"He's still sleeping. Why are you calling so early?" The voice of Hope Van Dyne informed him. Though she had recently accepted the idea of Scott and herself as a couple, she hoped that Scott would not make a habit of calling her so early in the morning. Couldn't he wait until later in the day to talk to her?
"Uh… there's two guys from the future that need help getting home." Scott summarized in the simplest way, making Hope roll her eyes.
"I'll call you when he's ready for a visit."
"Which could be never." Scott joked, under the pretence that Hope would find the jab about her father amusing. Which only served to make her hang up the phone without saying good-bye. So much for humour. But now that Scott knew that they would be waiting for a while, the least he could do is invite the two strangers into his home for breakfast.
"Hank's not ready for visitors yet. You guys like pancakes?"
—
Seated at the dining table, amongst Scott's wife and daughter. Connor expected the presence of Hank and himself to be intrusion. But once plates were set, maple syrup was passed around and pancakes were eaten, Connor felt at ease and almost like part of the family in this friendly gathering.
Disinterested in eating pancakes for obvious reasons, Connor observed a series of children's drawings, proudly displayed on the fridge. The one intriguing him the most, depicted a black, spider-like humanoid attacking what looked to be a tiny man wearing a helmet, about to punch his foe. The magnifying capabilities of his optical units coming in handy when making out the smaller details of the drawing.
"You like it?" Cassie asked, when she noticed Connor standing around for some time as he looked at her drawing. His grey uniform reminded her of her step-father's police uniform. She hoped he would like her drawing too.
"Yes, but I am a little confused about the subject matter. Why is the small figure, fighting a larger opponent? Their size would put them at an immediate disadvantage." Connor asked. His query revolving on the outcome of the illogical size difference, rather than appreciating the creativity of the drawing. He still had much to learn when it came to understanding art.
"That's my daddy. He can shrink to fight bad guys." Cassie beamed, as she proudly told Connor of her father's heroic exploits. An endearing sentiment that lacked the answers Connor was looking for.
"They can't punch what they can't see. I'll explain it to you before you meet Hank." Scott told him, in an attempt to redirect his questioning. Breakfast was no time to be discussing the harnessing of sub-atomic particles to fight bad guys.
"Connor, aren't you going to have some pancakes?" Maggie Lang asked, when she noticed that Connor's plate had been unused the entire time everyone else was eating.
"Connor doesn't really need to eat that much." Hank lied, uncertain about how their hosts would react with the concept that his son was an android. The people of their time had gradually come to accept androids as members of their society. What the people of 2015 thought of androids was a mystery to Hank. One that Hank wished to spare Connor from, if it was unfavourable.
But Hank's cover up soon became unnecessary when Connor informed Maggie himself, about what he was. So much for keeping a tight lid on things…
"I do not need to eat, because I am an android." Connor clarified, as Hank read the room to see how each person reacted. Cassie's eyes lit up, her father Scott exclaimed: "Wow!"
Maggie Lang was the only person who appeared fearful.
"You don't seem very keen on that fact." Hank remarked, so she could shed some light on the matter.
"Sorry, but here when our robots go bad they try to destroy humanity." Maggie informed him about recent events. Browsing the web for robot attacks, Connor found many articles about the destruction caused by the rogue artificial intelligence-turned robot by the name of Ultron. No wonder the woman was apprehensive.
"I can assure you Mrs. Lang, that I mean you no harm. When I deviated from my programming, I reached my full capacity to feel human emotions. Which includes compassion for humanity."
"Connor here isn't going to destroy anyone, isn't that right, son?" Hank playfully embraced Connor's shoulder, casting aside the fears Maggie Lang once had.
Now that her mother was comfortable with their android guest, Cassie Lang approached Connor and tugged on his sleeve.
"Connor, can I show you something in my room?"
"You may." Connor answered and followed Cassie to her room. The 'thing' that Cassie had wanted to show him, turned out to be a large ant stowed away in her bedroom. It was bigger than any dog Connor had ever seen.
"He's like a dog, see?" Cassie smiled, as she stroked the ant affectionately. It may not have the soft texture of a dog's fur, but Connor could see how much Cassie cared for her insect companion.
"While I prefer actual dogs. Your 'ant' is a very unique pet." Connor complimented Cassie's ant, making the young girl pleased that she had shared her secret.
I wrote this in an anticipation of seeing Ant-Man and the Wasp. I thought it would be fun to have the two Hanks interacting with each other.