A New Plan, Just in Time

Having to gather the heroes who had remained on Earth while the Avengers, the Olympians, and their allies went to face Athena, and explain to them what had happened...it hadn't been easy. The Olympians were largely quiet, mourning for their fallen brother, devastated by the loss, how it happened. The body of Apollo had been moved to a different part of the Avengers Base, wrapped in cloth like a shroud, for his family would not have the means to lay him to rest on Earth. THAT had been a sobering moment for those who had stayed behind to act as guard. To them, there was no one the Avengers couldn't beat, they had stopped THANOS, they had saved the world from his plan to destroy half the life in the universe!

For them to come back with a literal god dead and to know the ONLY reason the others still lived was that Athena had done so as a means to toy with them...it was horrifying.

Having them all gathered in one room hadn't helped. One or two of their gathering had to leave, Spiderman for one, being the youngest, Dr. Strange had made a portal to take him home, he couldn't miss school tomorrow, not after his antics rushing to help Iron Man with the Children of Thanos. Needless to say, tensions were high as they got to the end of the briefing. Steve, especially, did NOT appreciate how Ares rose to his feet and stormed out of the room.

"Your strategy didn't work," Steve called after the god, not caring hat this was the epitome of war and could likely tear him apart without breaking a sweat, but they didn't have time for this, "And now we need to think of something that will," he took a deep breath, when the man just kept walking, "Look, I'm sorry about your brother. But walking away? Leaving us to handle Athena? It's not going to bring him back."

"We would not abandon you," Aphrodite told them, serious in a way that was rare for her, as the god stormed off across the room, she could see how the mortals might misinterpret his departure as abandonment, perhaps even a loss of temper or a rash judgement, but she knew it was not, "Ares is just…" she couldn't seem to find the word, "Upset?"

"Never would have guessed that," Tony deadpanned, an open bag of pretzels in his hand though he didn't eat any.

"He knew Athena better than anyone," she tried to explain, "He thought he could guess her plans, create a path forward without her knowing it."

And, she supposed, it was a harsh reminder of everything he had said before, that Athena would have been the victor of them all. By going into this, with his strategy, it had been Ares' way of trying to protect the family, to know that he could do it, that, after all this time, he had found just ONE way that could halt her or hold her back. He wanted to know that he still had the ability and strength to face Athena and stop her, a last ditch effort to protect her too. And he'd failed. He had hoped so badly to have the plan succeed, as proof of his own skill and ability, he'd been wrong...and now Apollo was dead for his 'mistakes.'

She wondered, for a moment, if any of those gathered had ever come up with a plan that led to their sibling being cut down before their eyes by the very person they were trying to save. Until then, they would never know the pain and guilt Ares was carrying.

"He just forgot that she knows him just as well," Hephaestus added, "She knows all of you. She would not have been able to have her army hold us off so long if she did not know what to expect and instruct them where to go and who to attack and HOW to attack them."

"We'll have to be more careful," Natasha declared, looking around, "We…we can't afford any more mistakes."

Bruce let out a long breath, "Hate to be Debbie Downer but…do we even have any more ideas to make mistakes with?"

The room was silent, Thor looking away, whether from not knowing what to say, not having a plan to offer, or not wanting to offer a strategy against the woman he loved…none of them could say.

The fact that no one else volunteered anything wasn't strange, not in this situation. If the literal god of war himself created a battle strategy and it failed...what chance did any of them have incoming up with a plan to fight Athena?

Steve sighed and opened his mouth, trying to think of something inspiring to offer...when one of the allies they'd gathered to defend the Earth in their absence, Antman, spoke up.

"Um," Scott held up a hand like he was in class wanting the teacher to call on him, something Steve said, about bringing Apollo back, striking him, because, very recently, HE had helped 'bring someone back' they all thought dead, "I...think I might have an idea."

The others looked at him, expecting him to continue but he just shifted in place.

"Go on?" Tony made the same 'and?' gesture to go with it.

"Right," Scott cleared his throat, "Have any of you guys ever studied quantum physics?" he asked, getting up to stand before the assembly of Avengers and Olympians and allies.

Only Bruce and Tony raised their hands.

"Only to make conversation," Natasha remarked dryly.

"What is Quantum Physics?" Aphrodite frowned, sitting beside Artemis and gripping her hand, the woman not having looked up since they rejoined the Avengers, "And how will it help us stop Athena?"

"I'm getting there," Scott assured her, "Ok, look, just before Athena went off the deep-end…" he cleared his throat at how Thor glared at him, "I went into a place called the Quantum Realm. It's like its own microscopic universe. You can only get there if you're incredibly small. Hope," he gestured over at the woman in question who had accompanied him, "Pulled me out 5 hours later."

"Your point?" Bruce frowned.

"It wasn't five hours for me," he told them, "Outside the Realm, it was 5 hours. For me, it was more like five days. The rules in the Quantum Realm aren't like out here. They're completely unpredictable."

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Steve shook his head, trying to follow but it was more like a ramble right now.

"Time works differently in the Quantum Realm," he repeated, "Problem is, right now, it's chaos, there's no way to navigate it."

"Navigate…" Hope repeated, before her eyes widened at what he was trying to say, because her mother had learned a great deal within the Quantum Realm, about how it was structured and different areas of it, but she hadn't been able to go in and out, she'd gotten stuck. Scott had been the first to really go in and come back out intentionally without an additional capsule, "If we could figure out a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time and come out in another…"

Scott nodded, getting excited, pointing at her, "Like, before Athena grabbed the Gauntlet…"

"Wait," Steve shook his head, "Wait. Are you talking about a time machine?"

"No, not a machine. More like a…" he tried to find another word for it but came up with nothing, "Yeah, like a time machine. I know it sounds crazy…"

"Scott," Natasha cut in, "There's a talking raccoon in this room," she reminded him, gesturing over to where the Guardians of the Galaxy had gathered, "Nothing's crazy anymore."

"Hey!" Rocket glared at her for using him as an example of something 'crazy.'

"Yeah, but that's the problem," Bruce cut in, "It actually IS crazy," he agreed, "As in impossible."

"You've got some objections to the plan?" Natasha glanced at him.

"It's not a plan," Bruce shook his head, "It sounds like an exotic suicide method. And, did I mention, it's impossible?"

"I know what it sounds like," Scott sighed.

The Olympians were silent, looking back and forth between the humans, none of them learned enough or familiar with the science of Earth to be able to offer much to this idea. They had some knowledge of this 'time travel' but it was very clear to them that it was not the same method or manner or means as the humans were describing.

"Quantum fluctuation kinda messes with the Planck Scale," Tony had to admit, siding with Bruce, though the furrow of his brow told the others he was deeply contemplating it, "Which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition, can we agree on that?"

"Yes," Bruce agreed, the two of them having the most experience with Quantum anything, Scott knew about this realm and such but didn't seem to know the mechanics behind it.

"In layman's terms," Tony turned to the others who were all in various states of confusion, "It means you can cancel your Netflix subscription because you're not coming home."

"And even if we could go back and stop Athena using the Gauntlet," Sam cut in, looking at it from a more strategic view, "We'd be coming in right as Thanos was attacking. What if we screw that up?"

They fell silent at that. It really had been far too chaotic during that attack to risk appearing there and throwing things off even more. For all they knew if one of them was seen then the others might falter and then Thanos could have gotten the Mind Stone and destroyed everyone.

"And if we go further back, we risk Thor's people," Wanda had to add, because if they tried to stop Athena too far back then he might lose so much more. She had lost her family and her home, she would not wish that on anyone.

"No, they wouldn't," Bruce spoke, "That's not how time travel works. You can't change the future by changing the past."

"Sure, we can," Scott argued, "We take the stones before Thanos gets even them, then he doesn't have them, and Athena never takes them. Problem solved, Right?"

"That's not how it works," Nebula agreed with Bruce, startling the other Guardians, unaware she knew anything about time travel.

"I don't know," Barton remarked, "That is kind of what I've heard..."

"Heard from who?" Bruce scoffed.

"Star Trek," Rhodes deadpanned, "Terminator. Bill and Ted's Excellent..."

"WHY does everyone think this?" Bruce cut in with a snap, "That's not true! If you travel to the past, then that past has become your present and your former present has become the past, which now can't be changed by your new future!"

"Exactly," Nebula nodded.

Hephaestus frowned, "I am not sure that was English."

"Excuse me?" even the other humans looked confused, so it was not just him.

"So...Back to the Future is bullshit?" Scott asked.

"If you cannot change the past," Ares cut in, stepping back into the room, having heard the debate grow heated and thinking they might have developed another plan. He did not understand much of what had been said, but he could see potential in a strategy...if the humans could confirm one detail, "You can still utilize it. Can you not make another Gauntlet?" he asked, his mind on the weapon more than the stopping of Athena, because they would need one of immense power to do it, their last battle had proven it, "Using these stones from the past?"

"What?" Natasha looked over at him.

"If Athena cannot be stopped in the past, and we struggle to stop her in the present…if we had a weapon of equal strength that could combat her weapon…she would be at a disadvantage."

"Destroy the Gauntlet?" Bucky picked up on that, also more weapons-focused than the others after all he'd been through, he looked at the scientists among them, "Could we do that?"

"The Stones exist in the past," Steve murmured, "If we could get them and bring them here to the present…"

"We can snap our own fingers," Natasha realized, "Use the Stones from the past, to destroy the ones in the present."

"It would prevent anyone else ever using it," Sam agreed.

"Guys, guys," Bruce cut in, "It's all well and good to think of the possibilities if we could make our own Gauntlet using the Stones but, here's the problem, there's no logical, tangible way for us to safely execute a time heist like that and GET the Stones. We could end up destroying the past and the present."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel," Scott offered, "No talking to our past selves. No betting on sporting events…"

"Scott," Hope cut in, shaking her head at him, "We can't make a plan to save the universe based on the plot for 'Back to the Future.'"

"No?"

Tony shook his head, sitting up more, "Scientifically speaking, your brother's picture doesn't disappear just 'cause you went to the dance with your mom. That's not how quantum physics works."

"STILL missing the problem here," Bruce huffed, "We don't have an actual WAY to accomplish this. Thinking about how not to screw up the past only has relevance when we can actually GET to the past. We're doing everything backwards here."

"If only Cronus was not out of his mind," Hephaestus remarked to the other Olympians, "He could have accomplished that."

They nodded, the Titan of Time had been locked away for a reason, and even if they had access to the being, they would not risk such a thing. At least they could take comfort in the knowledge that they were not corrupted by the recent events, if they could think clearly enough to realize that would be a terrible idea and refuse to use it.

Tony was silent, considering Bruce's words a moment, before he got up and moved over to a computer that would project certain patterns and holograms as he tried to work through simulations. He brought up one of a standard wormhole, because it wasn't like he'd never thought of time travel in his life...especially not after losing his parents.

"Friday, you up?" he called out.

"Yes, sir," Friday, his virtual assistant, called.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance as well," Vision offered, moving over to Tony's side as he seemed to try and work through something.

"I would like to run a sim," he told the computer, "This time, in the shape of a Mobius Strip, inverted."

"Processing," Friday remarked, and the model began to shift.

"Alright, give me the eigenvalue of that particle, factoring in spectral decomp. Run it," he glanced at the others as they watched on, curious and confused at what he was doing, "That'll take a second. And don't worry if it doesn't pan out."

Vision, however, stiffened, having run the calculations in his mind, "Sir," he turned to Tony, "It will," he stated.

And, moments later, the projection glowed, an image of a holographic man drifting into a circular wormhole, before it looped around, and came back out exactly where it entered.

"Model rendered," Friday announced.

Tony stared at it, "Shit," he breathed, he hadn't thought it would actually work. He'd been staring at the 'star shaped' void in Vision's head, a left over from when Athena removed the Mind Stone, and had a thought but…he never imagined…

"Sir?" Vision reached out to touch his shoulder, concerned.

Tony just turned to the others, "I think I solved it. Time travel."

"No way," Bruce shook his head, getting up and moving to the computer as both he and Vision reviewed the data the simulator was producing, Vision startled, Bruce in literal awe, "Holy shit."

Aphrodite grimaced, murmuring to Artemis, hoping to get some response from the woman, "I am glad we left, if they revere that from their holy deities."

Artemis was silent.

"There's just one giant problem," Natasha deadpanned, cutting into the mounting excitement of the prospect of possibly having a way to stop Athena, "Who would wield it?" she looked at them, "The power to utilize it would kill any of us," she gestured at the humans, "It would corrupt you," and then to the Olympians, "And who the hell knows what it would do to Thor," she added. He might have similar abilities and immortality to the Olympians, without the threat of corruption, but it wasn't a guarantee he'd live. The Olympians had said it themselves, the darkness made them stronger...

"I might be able to handle it," one of the Guardians, Quill, said, "I was able to hold the Power Stone in my bare hand without, you know, combusting. And I am half…whatever the hell Ego was."

"Holding one Stone is not the same as holding them all," Vision had to state grimly.

"Unless you use the Power Stone to make yourself strong enough to hold them," Bruce mumbled, looking around, "It should be possible, right?"

"But we cannot trust he won't restore his love," Aphrodite reminded them, "I can feel the pain in his heart, it will be too great a temptation, to try and have her back than to save Athena."

Steve, surprisingly, was the one who nodded as though it made sense. He got the impression that Quill wanted to be a hero, but he was too attached to Gamora, the woman he had lost (if Tony and his brief introduction of them all was to be believed) to not be tempted to bring her back instead of focus on the major problem at hand, "We may only get one go at this," he looked around.

"Hulk might," Bruce offered, "I mean the Stones give off gamma radiation, that doesn't hurt him."

"You really want to trust the big green giant who only recently learned to say more than 'smash' with focusing that long on one thing?" Tony deadpanned, "No offense."

Bruce sighed, "None taken," he waved it off, it was true, Hulk was raw emotion and anger, he'd be sooner to attack Athena with the Gauntlet than actually just destroy the Infinity Stones.

"It should be me," Thor spoke up for the first time, standing, "It is as you said, I possess the necessary invulnerability, but without the threat of corruption. And…I would do anything to restore Athena so there is no distraction," he swallowed hard, looking at the Olympians, "And I promised her, when she feared this could happen, that I would stop her. I know she meant that to be her death, but I…I cannot kill her, I CAN stop her though," he turned back to the Avengers, "It should be me."

"We're getting ahead of ourselves again," Bruce reminded them, now resigned to the fact that...this might possibly work, "We don't even HAVE the Stones or a Gauntlet," he looked around, "We should wait till we get them before worrying about this. We need the Stones first or this is all moot."

~8~

Things were not going well, despite the fact they now knew time travel could be achieved. They weren't foolish enough to just use the Hope's quantum machine for their main plan without knowing how to use it or if it would even work on such a scale and with the needed modifications. They had to test it out first and it was taking longer than they wanted. But they could NOT risk sending anyone into it and have it malfunction and cut down their numbers.

If Athena attacked again, they would need ever person they could get to fight her, losing even one of them put them down at worse odds.

Right now Scott stood before them, in his Antman suit, in front of the open doors of the van that held the entrance to the Quantum realm, watching as Bruce and Hope worked on a few controls they'd set up.

"You're sure these modifications are safe?" Hope was asking Bruce, worried, Tony standing off to the side, watching the goings-on with a cup of coffee in one hand and a pastry in the other.

"I reran my calculations three times," Bruce assured her.

"I told you I can ask my father," Hope began, though they were all worried if she did he would find a way to take the van back and not give them access to the realm at all, the less her parents knew about what she was assisting with, the better, especially after how she'd lost her mother, her father would never risk losing his daughter or anyone else the same way.

"I have seven PhDs, an MD, the Hans Bethe Award for Physics, and I'm personal friends with Bill Nye the Science Guy," Bruce assured her, "We're good."

"Breakers are set," Steve called as he and Natasha entered, the Olympians with them, "Emergency generator's on stand-by."

"Good," Tony said through a bite full of food, "If we blow the grid, we won't lose Tiny back in the '50s."

"Excuse me?" Scott jumped at that possibility.

"He was kidding," Natasha assured him.

Bruce nodded, though the strained way he did it, as though he'd been caught and was trying to make up for something, wasn't reassuring, "He...was kidding."

"Is the journey going to begin now?" Ares asked, not wanting to waste any more time. He did not agree with this plan as a whole. The idea of obtaining a weapon that could destroy the one Athena's used was their best shot, he knew, but there was something eating away at him he could not identify. A dread he knew Apollo would be able to explain to him, but his brother was gone now and this might be the only way to save his sister. He wanted it done sooner than later and he knew he was not the only one.

Artemis was holding it together, for Apollo's memory, for he had gone with them to save Athena and she would see it done no matter what. That didn't mean she wasn't devastated and falling apart inside at the death of her twin. Aphrodite had stayed close beside her since, trying to be a comfort, but they were all hurting. They all wanted to honor his memory but also honor their ways and his last rites. They could not do so from Earth.

They were all focusing on this mission, this task to save Athena, to distract from the enormous loss they felt in their very souls. He was sure HE could remain strong, far longer than his siblings could, but holding in their grief would not help in the long term. They had to be done with this, soon.

"We're good!" Bruce called over to Scott, "Helmet on," he waited till Scott did so, "Ok. I'm going to send you back one week, give you an hour to look around and grab something to prove it can travel with you, then bring you back in ten seconds. Make sense?"

"Perfectly not confusing," Scott deadpanned.

"Good luck, Scott," Steve offered, "You've got this."

"Yes, I do, Captain America,' Scott beamed, "Yes, I…"

Hope rolled her eyes and pulled a lever, activating the machine, knowing how he could get about his idol, shrinking him.

"I wanted to do that," Bruce muttered, before turning to another lever, "Counting down from three, two, one…"

Scott suddenly reappeared…but he was a young boy, likely not even a teenager yet, "Uh, guys? This doesn't feel right."

"Is that Scott?" Natasha whispered to Bruce.

"Probably?" he turned, scrambling to hit a few buttons, trying to get Scott back to normal, the man shrunk again, then reappeared…now an old, old man.

"Oh, my back!" Scott winced.

"What the hell is going on?" Hope turned to the controls, trying to see what might be going wrong.

"I got it," Bruce called out, "I know exactly what's going on. Pretty much," he hit another button and Scott shrank again…coming back as a toddler.

"Oh, my god," Natasha gaped at the sight.

"It's a baby," Steve stared.

"It's Scott!" Bruce defended.

"As a baby!" Hope snapped.

Bruce quickly hit a button to shrink him again, "When I tell you, kill the power!" he called to Hope, throwing a lever, "Now!"

Hope quickly did as ordered, killing the power and Scott reappeared, normal once more.

"Somebody peed my pants," Scott told them with a groan, "I don't know if it was baby-me or old-me. Or just me-me."

Hope just ran over to hug him, checking that he was ok as Bruce tried to go through the control and readings, trying to figure out what happened.

"I'm telling you," Tony said, finishing his pastry, "It's an EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you were pushing time through Lang."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Bruce huffed, "I'm working on it."

"Well, stop, and use this," Tony held up a star-shaped capacitor, "I couldn't sleep," he said with a shrug, in answer to Bruce's unspoken question of 'when did this happen?'

Bruce rolled his eyes, "Why do I get the feeling you didn't say anything about this on purpose?"

"Because I didn't," Tony smirked, "I wanted to see what would happen."

"And this will work?" Bruce looked down at it.

"That is a fully-functioning, time-space GPS," he nodded, "Now we've got a shot at the Stones."

The others just gave him an unamused look that he'd not only put Scott through that but wasted their time watching it when they could have been working on getting the Stones sooner.

~8~

The Avengers and the Olympians were gathered together, looking at a Holo-Board of Tony's, with each of the Power Stones written on it, Mind, Space, Time, Power, Reality, and Soul. A few of them also had the things they were hidden in below them, like the Scepter, the Tesseract, the Eye of Agamotto, the Orb, the Aether, and a question mark for the Soul Stone.

"Ok," Steve took a breath and turned to them, "Now that we're working on how, we're going to need where and when. Most folks here have encountered at least one of the six Infinity Stones…"

"I think you mean nearly been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony scoffed from where he stood beside Steve.

The room fell silent at the reminder that they really had all nearly been killed by at least one, given Thanos had been using them against the team when they fought before.

"We can't risk more than one round trip each," Bruce spoke up from the side. Even though they had access to more particles that would make this leap possible, they couldn't risk doing it too much. Time Travel was tricky enough, making even one trip to the past could significantly screw things up even more than they were now, and they didn't want to have the temptation to make multiple trips, "And the Stones have been in a lot of places throughout history."

"Our history," Tony added, "Not all of them are going to be a fun drop-in."

"Which means we've got to pick our targets," Clint spoke.

"Exactly," Steve nodded, he gestured to the Reality Stone section, "Let's start with the Aether. Thor, what do we know?"

"It's been to Svartalfheim, Knowwhere, and London," Thor told them, "But it's not in a stone-like form, it's more of a viscus sludge or a thick gas. My grandfather hid it from Dark Elves in a rock between dimensions that can only be accessed every 5,000 years. In London, though, it infected Jane Foster," he added, "She found the rock and the Aether latched onto her. Athena and I took her to Asgard to have it removed."

"Then the greatest chance of success would be to remove it while she was in Asgard," Ares stated.

"Thor?" Steve asked, when the man was silent and contemplating, seeming to think about whether that would be their best chance.

Thor looked up, glancing at the rest of the Stones written on the board and back to the Reality Stone, thinking about the Dark Elves attack, to what happened to Athena during it…and nodded, "Aye," he agreed.

That had been before everything fell apart, and if he could arrive there during that moment of calm…he might have a chance to do something other than obtain the Stone.

"We should go in pairs," Bucky suggested, "Partners, incase one fails there's a second chance."

"Good idea," Sam offered.

"I'll go," Rocket held up a hand.

"Um…" Steve seemed to flounder a bit, "I think a human might draw less attention."

"Yes," Thor murmured, "There are no raccoons on Asgard, you would draw notice."

Rocket scoffed, "Yeah, but if you're trying to sneak up on a human woman, which of us can get low to the ground and sneak around people? Hmm?"

"I can go," Drax offered, "I possess the ability to become nearly invisible."

"Yeah," Rocket muttered, "Only when he's not moving...and if you close your eyes," he quipped, "Any other objections?"

The others were silent, because he did make a point, being so small he would be able to hide in places others couldn't. And, as he was now, he was smaller than Groot was. He could be silent and focused.

"It is no trouble," Thor ultimately decided.

"Good," Rocket smirked.

"Ok," Steve turned back to the board, "The Power Stone," he looked over at Quill, "You said you found it. Where?"

"Morag," Quill answered, "It's also been to Kyln and Xandar until Thanos stole it from them."

"You stole it first," Nebula reminded him at how angry he sounded about Thanos getting it at the end.

"So it was hidden somewhere," Natasha perked up.

"Yeah," Quill nodded.

"And you were the first one to get it."

"Yeah."

"Then we just have to get someone there before your past-self could get to it," Steve realized.

"It cannot be any of your crew," Ares pointed out, "If you are going to meet them later, you may distrust them if you see them as the ones who stole it from you."

Quill's mouth snapped shut, having been about to suggest he and Groot handle it.

"And if you saw yourself you'd think it was a trick," Bucky added.

"Then who should do it?" Quill frowned.

"I can," Nebula said, "You didn't trust me when we first met either, and wouldn't for a long time after. It wouldn't matter much if you thought I stole the orb from you first. And I am familiar with Morag," she added, getting the feeling Thor had been assigned Asgard because it was his home and he knew it best.

"I'll go with her," Rhodes offered, "If it's hidden, I have the most tech to scan for it and break in."

"I could go," Tony countered, but Rhodes gave him a glare, assuming Tony offered because of his legs, "Or, you could have fun with Blueberry over there."

"Moving on," Steve cut in, "The Soul Stone…" he turned to the Guardians, because, as far as they knew, it had been Gamora, one of their own, who had been taken so Thanos could obtain it.

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir," Nebula stated, when the others fell silent at the reminder of their fallen friend.

"And that is…" Natasha shook her head.

"A dominion of death at the very center of celestial existence. It's the place where Thanos murdered my sister."

"Um, is it cool if I say not it?" Scott called out.

"I'll go," Natasha said, "I'm not afraid of death."

"I'll go with her," Clint spoke up before anyone else could offer.

"Nor do I fear death," Ares glared at him, for he had been about to speak in offer to go.

"I don't think any of you should go near any of the Stones," Bruce said, wincing when the remaining Olympians turned to him, "It's just…isn't it temptation?"

They fell silent, having to look away, but that they all silently agreed meant they were ware of the danger and not about to risk falling to the same fate Athena had.

"Agreed," Aphrodite spoke for them, looking over at Natasha and Clint, "Besides, you will take the best care of each other."

She could feel that, a deep bond of friendship between them, they would guard each other's backs like true brothers and sisters-in-arms. And if this land was as dangerous as the blue woman made it sound, they would need that protection.

"3 down, 3 to go," Tony quipped once that was decided.

"The Time Stone," Steve turned to the next one.

Everyone looked over at Strange, "It was kept in New York," he said, "The Village. In the safe keeping of the Ancient One," he looked at them, "She will not easily part with the Stone. I was the only one she trusted with it."

"Then you should take point on that," Sam suggested, "If she knows you, she might give it to you."

"If she learns I gave it to Thanos…" Strange shook his head, "She may reconsider ever giving me the stone in the first place."

"Wait," Natasha sat up more, "New York?" she repeated, turning to them, "Would she have had it there like…5 or 6 years ago?"

"Yes."

"Guys, pick the right year and there were three Stones in New York at the same time!"

Bruce just blinked at that, "Shut the front door!"

Artemis frowned, glancing over her shoulder, "It IS shut."

~8~

Of course, because Tony could never do anything by halves, he'd not only come up with a way to achieve Time Travel and a Time Travel GPS, but also taken time to create a brand new suit that would allow a more efficient time travel experience, which Scott was now being fit with, white in color, with patches to allow for the Pym Particles to be attached.

"Time travel suit, I like it," Clint remarked as he watched on, Thor silent at their side, watching, hoping this would prove successful now that Bruce, Hope, and Tony had made more modifications to the device. If this failed…he didn't know how they'd be able to save Athena.

"Ok," Bruce called as Nebula and Hope, who had been fitting Scott, backed away, "You might feel a little disoriented when you chrono-shift…"

"Yeah, I got it," Scott cut in, anxious to get this over with.

"Right then," Tony smirked, "Bachelor Number 1, you're up," he gestured to the platform he'd set up.

Scott took a breath and moved to stand on it, looking down at them all.

"Ok," Bruce moved to the controls, "Scott, starting in three, two, one…"

Scott squeezed his eyes shut tight as the platform activated, and they could only watch as he suddenly stretched and then shrunk, vanishing from the naked eye.

It was only a matter of seconds before he reappeared, shaken and startled, clutching something in his hands, but it felt like hours to each of them.

Hope was halfway to the platform before the others even shook out of their shock that he was back as himself and not old or a baby, hurrying to his side as he seemed wobbly on his legs, "Scott?" she moved to him, "Are you alright? Hey, look at me. You ok?"

Scott let out a breath, "I…I um…"

"Tell us something good," Tony called to the man.

Scott took a breath and looked down at the thing in his hand, one of his daughter Cassie's old stuffed animals, "It worked," he told them, he'd appeared in Cassie's room, two years ago, and plucked up one of her stuffed animals from the floor. He'd just looked around, at the tiny calendar she had on her door, to see that the date was NOT the last one he remembered, before he was zapped back there. He held up the toy, "It worked."

"Holy crap," Rocket said what they were all thinking, "We're freaking time travelers."

A/N: So I tried to adapt part of the movie into the story and the next few chapters will probably be more in line with Endgame ;) It actually fit really well with the original outline I wrote before Endgame even came out. I wanted there to be a moment, after the first attempt to stop Athena failed, where they realize the only way to fight a weapon is with a bigger, more powerful weapon (or, in this case, one of equal power). It was going to follow the Olympians helping the Avengers make one that could kill a god (or so they'd tell them, really it would just incapacitate them) somehow. Maybe leading the Avengers to different locations, where they based themselves during the Dark Days, because even after they left that energy and power would still be there, seeped into the rock and grass and monuments and objects and things. THEY would keep far away, but the Avengers would gather up that power to utilize in their weapon and go from there.

Again, VERY rough and early outline and that probably would have changed before I even got to writing the story lol :) So when Endgame happened, it clicked right in with that original idea.

Go back in time and grab the stones before Thanos even knows where to look for them, before anyone knows what they can really do or really are. Use the stones-from-the-past to destroy the current Gauntlet/Stones, and that removes Athena's advantage. They could then use the Gauntlet against her to give them a chance to actually stop her and keep anyone else from ever doing what she or Thanos have done since the stones wouldn't exist any longer :)

What they would do with the Stones/Gauntlet after it's over they'd have to decide, unless more knowledge is gained about the stones ;)

Poor Ares though :( I felt for him and Artemis in this chapter :( He's so unbelievably guilty over what happened, he's angry at himself, he's mourning the loss of his brother, he's cursing his arrogance to think he could outsmart Athena. He's blaming himself and doubting himself and, I think, at the point when they talk about who should get the Stones, he's sort of resigned and agrees, because he doesn't trust himself to know what to do or the best way to go forward any longer :( He'd been so sure he could get his sister back with his plan...I think largely because he's basing it on the woman he knew, the one who only lived in Olympus with the family, and he's not as familiar with the new her, her new view on things since she went to Asgard, the new techniques she picked up, new tricks, new cares :(

And Artemis, I would never wish the death of sibling on anyone, let alone the death of a twin :'(

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