- What's up, folks? I hope you're all doing well and staying indoors. Nowadays, I only go out to buy groceries or throw out the garbage. For folks like me who are introverts, life hasn't changed much for us at all.

Take your time reading and enjoy.

...

"Thanks for coming to pick us up, Bjorn."

The Asgardian fisherman looked at Peter with a friendly smile. "Think nothing of it. It is always good to you all again."

"How's your family?" The young Spider asked.

"Doing well. I've been teaching my son how to fish."

"Sounds like fun. Does he like it?"

"Oh yes, very much so." Bjorn said, grinning proudly. Just remembering the look of pure joy on his son's face after he caught his first fish never failed to warm his heart. "Helga does too...at least on land."

Peter chuckled. "Let me guess, she gets seasick."

"Unfortunately so. We learned about it when I took our family out for a boat ride a few years ago. We made it back just in time for Helga to throw up on the pier."

Spidey frowned a bit. Barfing for any reason was never fun...his time as a sickly frail child taught him that much. Things grew to an amiable silence for the rest of the trip to New Asgard. Bjorn was currently driving them there in his pickup truck. While he sat in the passenger seat, the others were sitting in the back. Dr. Banner's Hulked out frame took up most of the space but there was just enough room left for Darcy, Jane, and Rocket to sit.

Peter did offer to give up his seat for both his girlfriend and Dr. Foster before they left but the two women politely declined. Both of them said they wanted to enjoy the brisk air outside during the drive.

They arrived in the charming little town a while later. Rocket tapped the side of the truck for the driver to stop. Spider-Man shook hands with Bjorn before he opened the door and got out. The Asgardian fisherman drove away once the others climbed out of his truck. Darcy and Jane looked around the town with fond smiles, happy to be back here again. The Hulk had never been here before but he was amazed by all the progress the Asgardian refugees had made in rebuilding their lives.

Rocket on the other hand didn't seem so impressed with the place. "Kind of a step down from the golden palaces and magic hammers and whatnot."

Darcy promptly slapped the back of the raccoon's head. "Show some respect, furball."

"Ow! What? This place seems like a dump compared to what Asgard used to be."

"Hey, have a little compassion, pal." Bruce said. "First, they lost Asgard, then half their people. They're probably just happy to have a home."

"...You shouldn't have come."

They turned around to see Valkyrie approach, carrying large fishing nets in her arms. Dr. Banner greeted her with a small grin, happy to see his friend doing well after all this time.

"Ah, Valkyrie! Angry girl, great to see you."

Brunnhilde gave him a weird look...she wasn't used to hearing the Hulk speak so normally. "I think I liked you better either of the ways."

Bruce pointed to the Guardian beside him. "This is Rocket."

"How ya doing?" Rocket said with a lazy wave.

"...He won't see you." She said after sparing a curious glance at the raccoon. The fact that the little creature could speak was a bit unusual but then again, it wasn't the weirdest thing she's ever seen.

"That bad, huh?"

"We only see him once a month when he comes in for...supplies."

The others followed her gaze to the empty beer kegs stacked against a stone wall. Jane frowned upon realizing how much Thor had been drinking in her absence...despite her best efforts, it seems the God of Thunder couldn't stop turning to the bottle to quell his grief.

"It's that bad." Dr. Banner muttered.

"Yeah..." Valkyrie said before she pointed down the street. "If you still want to talk to him, his house is just down the path."

Jane sighed. "I know the way. Follow me. It's great to see you again, Valkyrie."

"You too...good luck."

The astrophysicist led the way to Thor's house with Bruce and Rocket following right behind her. Darcy hanged back for a moment to give Peter a quick kiss and Brunnhilde a hug before she caught up with the others. The young Spider was more than confident that the others would be able to convince Thor to return to the Compound with them, which is why he decided to hang back and spend some time with Valkyrie instead. Someone had to inform her about the purpose of their visit today anyways.

"Welcome home." Valkyrie said with a loving smile before she kissed Peter. "Hela and I have missed you."

Peter reached for her hands and gently held on. "Likewise...how are things between you two?"

"Better. We're still a long way from being friends but she and I have been making an effort to talk to each other more often."

"That's good. A little progress is better than none."

"Well, we haven't tried to kill each other yet...I'd say our relationship has improved a lot." She joked before her expression turned curious. "I knew you, Darcy, and Jane were coming but what brings the big guy here? Don't get me wrong, it's good to see him again but he's never come to visit New Asgard before."

He rubbed the back of his head. "It's kind of a long story. Let's go for a walk, I'll explain everything on the way."

Brunnhilde nodded and took Peter's arm as they walked away from the harbour. She had a feeling that whatever her boyfriend was about to tell her was going to be something important and extraordinary.

They walked all the way to her modest two-story home and sat down on a bench that overlooked the vast blue sea in the horizon. Once they got comfortable, Spider-Man explained everything that's happened to the Avengers last week. Valkyrie listened carefully as he told her about how a hero called Ant-Man unexpectedly returned, his long shot proposal in traveling to the past to gather the stones so they could bring everyone lost in the Decimation back, and the funny mishaps that happened when they tried to do a test run with the quantum tunnel. She couldn't help but laugh at that last bit, especially the part where it turns out the man had actually wetted himself.

"By the All-fathers, that must've been hilarious."

Peter smirked. "You should've seen Scott's face. He just looked so confused about what happened."

"After all that? I can hardly blame him. This time heist plan sounds rather ambitious though." Valkyrie said with a hint of uncertainty. "Will it work?"

"...I believe we can pull it off, especially now with Mr. Stark helping out. He somehow managed to construct a time-space GPS that will allow us to safely navigate through the quantum realm."

The interim leader of New Asgard nodded, knowing it was best to take his word for it. She still had some concerns about the relative success of this ambitious plan but there was always going to be some sort of risk, no matter how well one prepared.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked.

He wrapped his arm around her. "Other than convincing Thor to come back with us, I'm not sure. If there is something, we'll let you know."

"Oh, his Majesty will go back with you...even if I have to drag him onto your Quinjet myself."

Peter laughed as he pictured his girlfriend grabbing Thor by the back of his shirt and pulling him behind her onto the Quinjet. Odds were Valkyrie would actually do so if needed but he doubted it would come to that. The God of Thunder had been searching for a way to set things right for a long time and now there was a perfect opportunity for him to assist in doing so.

Brunnhilde leaned her head on his shoulder. "Just watch yourselves, alright? The last thing I want is to lose you because of a failed science experiment."

"The others and I will be fine, I promise."

"...We'll hold you to that, Peter."

Spidey jolted in his seat from the sudden new voice and they turned their heads to the house. Hela was leaning against the doorway with her arms folded. She looked a little different today...her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail. Fenris poked her head out of the door a few seconds later and upon seeing the young Spider, she immediately raced towards him.

"Whoa! What's up, Fenris?" He said, laughing as the Asgardian wolf stood on her hind legs and licked away at his face. "How you doing, girl?"

Letting out a happy bark in response, Fenris growled contently once Peter began to scratch her behind the ears. Hela just grinned at their interaction as she approached the bench her boyfriend and housemate were sitting on. The young Spider patted Fenris on the head once more before he stood up and closed the distance to her.

"Hey, Hela."

The Goddess of Death pressed her lips against Peter's for a tender kiss. "Hello, Peter. It's great to see you."

Peter hugged his arms around Hela and held her close. "You too. How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to hear you explain the details of this time-heist plan to Brunnhilde."

"Ah...so what do you think of it?"

She thought for a moment. "Like her, I believe this plan is dangerous. It does seem like our best chance of bringing back the people we've lost in the Decimation though...all I ask is that you come back to us safely."

Peter kissed her once again. "I swear I'll be careful."

"Good. Are you staying here this week?"

"Not this time, I'm afraid. We're planning to head back soon after we grab Thor. Captain America wants us all working on this so we can get this done as soon as possible."

Hela looked disappointed for a second before she slowly nodded. "I understand. Saving lives takes precedence over everything else. Would you have time to join us for a meal at least then?"

Peter's lips curled into a warm smile. "I'd love to. The flight here made me a little hungry anyways."

"That's good. I made some venison stew last night for dinner and we still have a lot left over in the pot."

Valkyrie smirked as she stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You're in luck, Peter. Hela's venison stew tastes really good."

"Let us head inside then." The Goddess of Death gestured for them to come into the house. "I'll heat up the pot right away. It shouldn't take long for the stew to warm up."

Brunnhilde walked back into the house first with Fenris right behind her. Peter and Hela reached for each other's hands before they followed them inside. He felt bad for not being able to spend more quality time with her and Valkyrie this week. It probably wouldn't be possible for him to visit Hilde and her family today either. As he washed his hands in the sink, Peter silently made a promise to himself to make it up to Hela and Brunnhilde once this was all over.

Fortunately, Jane and Rocket were able to talk Thor into coming back with them. Peter had just enough time to kiss Hela and Valkyrie goodbye before they flew home to the Avengers Compound in the Benatar. The quinjet returned not long after the Benatar arrived home. While the others took Thor inside, Spidey went to the quinjet as it landed and waited for the Black Widow to exit the ship. The bay doors opened and Natasha walked down the steps...with Hawkeye following right behind her.

Natasha smiled upon seeing Peter waiting for her and she gave him a firm hug. "Hello, моя любовь."

"Hey, Tasha." He whispered. "How was Tokyo?"

"Miserable. Like you said, it was raining pretty hard. Thank goodness you reminded me to bring an umbrella."

Spidey smirked before he turned to look at Hawkeye. The archer just stared at him with cold bleak eyes in silence. His appearance had changed a bit since they last saw each other...the sides of his head were shaved away, leaving him with a very unique mohawk. Strapped to his back was his trademark bow but there was a new addition to his weaponry: a katana-like sword that was contained within a customized sheath. Peter wondered for a moment just how many criminals Hawkeye had cut down with that blade.

After what felt like an eternity, the look in Clint's eyes softened. "...Glad to see you're alive, kid."

"You too, Mr. Barton. I'm sorry about what happened to your family."

"So am I..." He sighed out. "But now we have a chance to bring them and everyone else back. I'll do everything in my power to make sure this plan succeeds."

The Black Widow placed her hand on Hawkeye's shoulder. "You should get some rest first. You haven't slept in days. Steve and I will catch you up on everything that you've missed later."

Clint grumbled something beneath his breath as he reluctantly agreed. Weeks of killing savage criminals nonstop had taken a physical and emotional toll on his body. He hadn't allowed himself to properly rest and it felt like his body was about to keel over any second now. Giving a nod to the two Spiders, Hawkeye wandered into the elevator so he could find an empty guest room on the second floor.

"You think Mr. Barton will be okay?"

Natasha linked her arm around Peter's. "He will be...once we help him get his family back. For now, I'm just glad to have him here with us."

"Me too." He said quietly. "We should probably head upstairs as well. Take a small breather ourselves before we get back to work."

The Black Widow nodded and walked together with her boyfriend to the break area. The only other person there was Jane, who smiled at them before she turned her attention back to her notes. Natasha removed her jacket and took a seat across from the astrophysicist while Peter went to grab a couple of drinks from the fridge.

"Welcome back, Ms. Romanoff." Jane said without looking up from her papers.

"We've been friends for a while now, Dr. Foster. Just call me Natasha."

"Only if you call me Jane in return. How was Japan?"

"Wet and miserable. It was raining heavily in Tokyo when I got there." Natasha muttered. "What are you reading?"

Dr. Foster held up one of the papers. "Design plans for the new quantum tunnel Mr. Stark's building. I'm surprised by how much of it is already done. It's only been three days and already the base of the tunnel is completed."

"Well, that's Mr. Stark for you." Peter said, walking back with two cans of iced tea in his hands. He handed one over to Natasha. "You can always count on him to build a machine fast when it's for something important."

"It's great that we're making such fast progress but rushing on a project like this isn't necessarily a good thing." Jane wisely pointed out. "...All it would take for everything to go horribly wrong is one missed mistake."

"Don't worry, I'll double check every part of the quantum tunnel to make sure nothing's out of place."

The Black Widow took a long sip of the iced tea in her hand. "Are you going to be helping Tony?"

Spidey nodded. "Yeah. Rocket and I will be helping him build the rest of it."

"With you lending a hand, I'm sure the construction will be done soon. We're counting on you guys."

"We'll do our best. I should head down now and get started."

Natasha grabbed hold of Peter's hand. "Good luck."

"Thank you. I'll see you later." Peter pecked a kiss on her forehead before he left for the hangar.

The construction of the new quantum tunnel took seven days to be finished. Spidey always checked the machine over for any defects and mistakes at the end of each day. It was a time consuming task but a necessary one. The last thing they wanted was for the quantum tunnel to short out or even possibly explode the second it was activated.

During that week, the Black Widow and Captain America helped Hawkeye get back up to speed by explaining all of the events that have happened ever since he was placed under house arrest. The man was admittedly a little lost when they talked about their time-heist plan with him but he managed to understand the basics. Dr. Banner and Nebula surprisingly had assisted Tony in designing the new quantum time-travel suits. These suits were built from the same nanomachines that formed his Ironman suit and were stored within the time-space GPS watches.

They were now about to take the suit out for a trial run with the quantum tunnel. At first, Ant-Man was to be the one who performed the test but he began to have second thoughts...not that anyone blamed him. If anything went wrong in the attempt, he could potentially be killed. Such a fact didn't faze Hawkeye at all as he volunteered to take Scott's place. Bruce and Nebula helped him put on the suit in the lab before they moved downstairs to the hangar. Spidey went to go fetch Natasha, knowing she'd also want to be there for her friend while he did the test run. Peter headed upstairs to her quarters and knocked on the door.

"Come in." She said from inside.

Spidey opened the door and took a step inside. His girlfriend was sitting on her bed, reading a novel. "Tasha?"

The Black Widow looked up from her book and saw Spider-Man waiting by the doorway. "What's up, Peter?"

"Mr. Barton's about to go through the quantum tunnel. Thought maybe you wanted to come along and watch."

Natasha nodded before she put her shoes on and followed Peter. The two Spiders made their way down to the hangar, where Bruce, Rhodey, and Steve were already gathered behind the control panels. The two Guardians were there too along with Thor, who was watching everything while listening to some music through a pair of large headphones. Standing in the middle of the newly constructed quantum tunnel was Hawkeye...wearing the new red and white advanced time suit.

"All right, Clint." Dr. Banner said, typing in the destination on the control panels. "We're going in three...two..."

The nanomachines of the suit formed a helmet around Clint's face as he prepared himself for the journey. Bruce paused for a second before he finally turned on the quantum tunnel.

"One!"

The centre of the quantum tunnel opened up into a hole pulsing with gold and blue energy. Hawkeye shrunk down to the size of an ant and vanished into the tunnel. All the others could do now was wait for his little round trip to be over.

"How far back did you send him?" Captain America asked.

Dr. Banner checked the time gauge. "Four years into the past and about a week before Thanos arrived on Earth. He's got another twenty seconds before I bring him back into our time."

At the twenty second mark, Hawkeye rematerialized in front of them on his hands and knees. "Lila!"

Natasha rushed forward to help him stand up. "Hey, hey. Look at me. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Clint panted out before he held up a small black baseball glove that belonged to his son. "It worked."

He threw the glove to Ironman, who caught it with a triumphant smirk. Steve breathed out a sigh of relief...it seems like this time heist plan was finally beginning to work out right for them.

- I guess this chapter could be counted as a drabble of sorts albeit a long one. It took a while for me to write this out...not due to a lack of ideas but more because of my inability to properly express them.

- Nonetheless, I hope you all liked it. Till next time, everyone and stay safe.