Beast "Peter..." Peter had taken a priority Stark flight to the Xavier institute to reacquaint with the men of x. Teresa was with Tony overseeing new safety protocols for both the company and the mayoral campaign. Most of the campaign stuff fell under his sister's new job anyway so this freed him up a bit to pursue pure science goals.

They met out front. "I'm so sorry about everything." "Don't be Hank. It all happened for a reason. Whether we fully understand it or not. And while it's hard it is not over by a long shot." Hank nodded a little. He looked over Peter as they walked together to the mansion. "How do you feel?" "A lot better. They used my own formula for the reversal injection so I knew how it would go in theory."

Hank nodded then stopped. This caused Peter to stop. "What is it?" Hank sighed. "We're not supposed to say anything... but Charles and I thought you had a right to know." Peter waited. Hank set a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Natasha too had her enhancements removed." "I know that much." "There's more though. It caused her to become old. She was also deported back to Russia. She's at a senior prison there."

Peter's head bowed a little at that. Hank "Charles even used cerebro to see what he could learn. We weren't sure how we'd approach it; but then we learned that you joined Stark industries..." "it's okay Hank. I really appreciate you telling me."

"There's more yet Peter." "More?" "Yes. It would violate your agreement with the government we know... but Charles is willing to let you speak to Natasha by telepathy if you wish. It would remain secret this way. You... could say what you need to and not get caught."

It was a lot to think about. Hank "I'm sorry Peter..." "no. Again, I appreciate it. It's just... I kind of said goodbye already." That was sort of true. Plus he didn't know what else they could say. They'd expressed their mutual love. That was all that mattered. He had his sister back. He'd had to make a trade off. That was Mephisto's price. And that price had been paid in full.

Hank "just keep it in mind." "Thanks. I will." They resumed walking towards the house. Hank "so, Tony sent you here to work on things with us?" "A lot of things actually. He wants me to expand all Stark science programs. And your work in so many fields makes you a solid asset candidate. Wanna join up?" Hank shrugged. "Why not?"

They entered the house and went to hank's lab. Peter already missed the mansion; the lab and teaching. Another possible future that had been so short lived. It would take a while to not be Spider-Man but he would get there.

Hank showed him some of the current projects he was working on. All advanced stuff and right up Peter's alley. Hank could technobabble away and Peter scarfed it down like ice cream. He loved this. Missed this.

"Excellent Hank. Tony wants to improve the us space program too. Like big time." Hank sat on a work stool. "Privatize space exploration?" Peter shrugged. "Yeah. Almost need to. Government wastes a lot of taxpayer money. Stark can do it for cheaper and more effectively." "Mm. But then the Apollo era nobility and romance of it will all go."

"True; but nobility was always an illusion. Only the rich can live in space and it'll be mostly a blue collar endeavor anyway." Hank nodded. "Indeed. Star Trek was definitely a mirage there when it came to its Utopianism." "Yeah; but we can still make it beneficial for the future of mankind." Hank looked at him. "Mutants too of course. Sorry." Hank grinned. "I know what you meant." Hank set a thoughtful hand to mouth. "Obviously now that we know we're not alone, to put it mildly, it changes our approach."

"Honestly Hank I'm not focused on superluminal travel or even extraterrestrial relations. Captain marvel and similar can handle that kind of stuff. The solar system is my focus; both for commerce and colonization."

"You prefer a more grounded approach." "Yeah. It's more realistic. Mutants and humans need to get off this planet and spread out to maximize our collective survival odds; like hawking said we need to do. He's right." "Plus it will take strain off earth's depleting resources." "Correct. Terrestrial green initiatives will only reverse climate change so much. Going to the stars is our best bet."

Hank nodded then reached over for a tablet. "All true. And the many species we've already interacted with have faced similar problems. Like Thanos they couldn't reverse scarcity; the greatest enemy of all life. Star Trek replicators will never exist. Science requires a more realistic approach to solve our survival and climate issues. But such a solution will help mutants humans and the earth alike."

"Right on. Avatar stuff in some ways." "Indeed. And Stark is determined to achieve these goals?" "Yeah. I'm still selling it to Tony. I'd like you to think tank it for us." "Of course. We should bring Reed Richards into it too. His space knowledge is the best."

Peter knew f4 dabbled in all that space stuff already. And they were usually on earth while captain marvel was usually away for long periods as a cosmic peacekeeper.

For now brainstorming earth's future in the solar system was Peter's priority. Hank was filled with good ideas. Ideas that were doable.

Peter wasn't against robotic activity but times were reinforcing the fact that space would always be a human endeavor first. Climate change scarcity and overpopulation were all proving that additionally true. He'd seen the numbers. They weren't getting better.

Earth had to get wiser. Now. This definitely helped mutant and human alike. Thus they had every reason to unite on it. And Peter thought they would. Hell, even magneto might get involved. Anything's possible.