Chapter 4: Time Travel
"What's the plan?" Sylvia asked as they walked into the main working room.
"We're working on which places in what time we're going to go to. Hawkeye just had a test and it worked." Natasha explained.
"Okay, so the how works." Cap said when they went in, "Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."
"Or substitute the word 'encounter'," Mr Stark cut in, "For 'damn near been killed' by one of the six Infinity Stones."
"Well I haven't," Scott said, "But I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."
"Regardless," Dr Banner said, "We only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history."
"Our history," Mr Stark cut in again, "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?"
"Which means we have to pick our targets." Clint nodded.
"Correct." Said Mr Stark.
"So, we'll start on the Aether. Thor, what do you know?" Cap asked and everyone looked over to where Thor was lying in a chair, wearing sunglasses and unmoving.
"Is he asleep?" Natasha stared at the God.
"No, no, I'm pretty sure he's dead." Rhodey shook his head.
When Thor finally woke up from his beauty sleep, he started to explain the story of the Reality Stone. "Where to start?" He took off the sunglasses and walked to the front, "The Aether, firstly, is not a stone." Thor started, "Someone called it a stone before. It's more like an angry sludge sort of thing, so." Cap frowned but said nothing, "And stop saying that. Here's an interesting story, though, about the Aether.
"My grandfather, many years ago had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves." Thor made a noise of a creepy ghost, no one looked impressed, "Scary beings. So, Jane, actually," The profile of Jane Foster appeared on the screen, "There she is. Yeah, so Jane was an old flame of mine. You know, she stuck her hand inside a rock and this one time, and then the Aether stuck itself inside her, and she became very, very sick. And I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from, and we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see, and I got to introduce her to mother," He paused for a minute and sighed, "Who's dead and, um... oh, you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, so..." His voice grew sad and trailed off.
"Yes, these things happen, though. You know?" Dr Banner said sympathetically, "Nothing lasts forever."
"The only thing that..." Thor was cut off by Mr Stark.
"Why don't you come and sit down?" Mr Stark asked.
"I'm not done yet." Thor responded, "The only thing that is permanent in life," Rhodey and Hawkeye exchanged unreadable glares, "Is impermanence." Thor finished his speech.
"Awesome." Mr Stark clapped, "Eggs? Breakfast?"
"No. I'd like a Bloody Mary." Thor told him.
"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag." Rocket started on the Power Stone as they were having breakfast.
"Is that a person?" Rhodey mumbled through a mouthful of food.
"No, Morag's a planet, Power Stone is a stone, Quill was a person." The racoon said.
"Like a planet? Like in outer space?" Scott asked curiously.
"Oh, look." Rocket turned to Ant-Man and said in a sickly voice, "It's like a puppy, all happy and everything. Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I can take you to space." He ruffled Scott's hair like petting a puppy.
"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." Nebula told them in her deep voice.
"What is Vormir?" Natasha asked, not looking up from the notebook.
"A dominion od death," Nebula said darkly, "At the very centre of celestial existence. It's where Thanos murdered my sister."
"Looks like this Thanos has pissed off nearly everyone." Sylvia swallowed.
"Not it." Clint muttered after a few moments of staring.
"That Time Stone guy." Natasha was saying that night.
"Doctor Strange." Mr Stark yawned.
"What kind of doctor was he?" Natasha asked.
"Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit-from-hat. Mr Stark replied.
"Nice place in the village though." Dr Banner rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah, on Sullivan Street?" Asked Mr Stark.
"Bleecker Street." Dr Banner corrected.
"Wait, he lives in New York?" Natasha said suddenly.
"No, he lived in Toronto." Mr Stark said.
"Yeah, on Bleecker." Said Dr Banner, "And Sullivan."
"Have you been listening to anything?" Mr Stark asked irritably.
"Guys," Natasha shut them up, "If you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York."
"Shut the front door." Dr Banner muttered and got up from the huge pile of notes.
Matilda had been in a foul mood ever since the discovery of her being Asgardian, while she didn't even know who her Earth parents were. Sylvia assumed it would pass and didn't put too much mind on it since she had some more important things to think about. She was of course excited to see her former and true home before it was destroyed. Thor, on the other hand, was still like a melted ice-cream that drunk a lot.
Professor McGonagall hadn't said a thing for their discovery and Hoot came back without a reply.
"Alright, we have a plan." Cap said to everyone in the room and stood up, "Six stones, three teams, one shot." Sylvia took a deep breath. This was it, what they've been preparing for in the last week. They got dressed into the time-travelling suits and went to the time-travelling machine they've built.
"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... we lost family... we lost part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams; you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back." Cap said as they reached the circle and got into position, "One found trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going to somewhere we know, but it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're gonna win. Whatever it takes. Good luck."
"He's pretty good at that." Rocket commented.
"Right?" Scott nodded.
"Alright, you heard the man. Stroke the keys, jelly green." Mr Stark called to Dr Banner by the controller.
"Trackers engaged."
"Really? Jelly green?" Matilda murmured.
"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Rochet looked at the tracker in Barton's hand.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Hawkeye nodded, "Okay, I'll do my best."
"As promises go, that was pretty lame." The racoon rolled his eyes.
"See you in a minute." Black Widow grinned. The machine started working and they all had their helmets on. There were only a few seconds before they were all sucked in and separated into their teams.
"Okay, I've Apparated loads of times but this is new." Sylvia muttered as they arrived in Asgard, "Really, worse than portkeys – wow." They were in somewhere like a palace, and outside was the grand view of Asgard. Golden buildings in grand shapes made the whole city, and they could vaguely see the Rainbow Bridge and the Bifrost from there.
"That where we used to be?" Matilda was stunned by the view as well.
"That's my mother." Thor motioned to a woman at the front of a small group as they hid behind a pillar.
"She looks nice." Matilda commented.
"She dies today." The God of Thunder muttered.
"Sorry. So, I'm going to stun your ex-girlfriend and slip that thing out?" Sylvia checked.
"How're you planning to slip past the guards?" Matilda asked.
"I've got my ways. Don't be too shocked, I've still got loads of things you don't know." She smirked and turned into her Animagus form, a small silver cat with large grey rings.
"You're an Animagus and never told me?" Matilda hissed. Sylvia-cat meowed and picked up her wand, before speeding off. "I've got a few things I didn't tell you as well." She muttered.
She arrived in a huge room – even bigger than the ones in Grimmauld – and saw a lady getting up from a bed. Sylvia crept to her back and turned back to her human form. Careful not to let the lady – Jane, as Thor told them – notice anything and quickly cast a Stunning Spell. Jane fell to the floor. Knowing she only got a few seconds before the guards would arrive, Sylvia pulled out the container and carefully sucked the Aether out of Thor's ex-girlfriend's body. Like in her prediction, a dozen of Asgardian guards arrived at the door.
"Well, hello, people." Sylvia used air to push them apart and formed an escape route. She bolted out of the room and flew across the corridors, before throwing some Instant Darkness Powder. Darkness fell in the corridor and she cast a Fog-Making Charm just in case. "Thor! I got it. Please tell me you've been – great."
Thor was sitting beside a small table, drinking wine – again – with the woman he had said to be his mother.
"You've got the thing?" Matilda pulled off the Invisibility Cloak.
"You've got to be Frigga." Sylvia panted slightly, "I got the thing. We got to move. Come on!"
"I wish we had more time." Thor was saying to the Asgardian Queen.
"No, this was a gift." Frigga said softly and pulled Thor closer to her, "Now you go and be the man you're meant to be."
"I love you, Mom." Thor nodded.
"I love you." His mother replied and pulled him into a hug, "And eat a salad." She said as they were finished.
"Come on, we've got to go." Matilda cut in.
"Goodbye." Frigga smiled.
"Three... two..." Sylvia counted down, "Wait, what're you thinking, Thor?"
"No, wait." Thor struck out his left hand towards the window.
"What am I looking at?" Matilda stared blankly.
"Sometimes it takes a second." Frigga told them.
"He's getting what he has lost." Sylvia breathed.
Thor peeked nervously at the window when something came flying towards them. Mjolnir, Thor's hammer that broke about five years later by his mad sister Hela. Thor grabbed the hammer and smiled happily, "I'm still worthy. Goodbye, Mom." They got into the suits.
"Goodbye. It's nice to see you again, Sylv." Thor's mother said, then they went back to the circle with everyone else.
"Did we get 'em all?" Mr Stark asked and looked around.
"Are you telling me this actually worked?" Rhodey looked as if he still didn't believe it. All of them were there, looking a bit shaken, except for one, and many had noticed.
"Clint, where's Nat?" Dr Banner asked first, but Hawkeye didn't reply. They knew what it meant. There was only one answer to this.
"Oh boy, Thanos has pissed off everyone." Sylvia muttered. Silence fell.
"Did she have family?" Mr Stark asked quietly as they sat by the lake.
"Yeah, us." Cap answered.
"What? What're you doing?" Asked Thor, who just walked over.
"Just asked him a question." Mr Stark replied.
"Yeah, no, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back. Isn't that right?" Thor looked undoubtful, "So, stop this shit. We're the Avengers. Get it together."
"Can't get her back." Clint said.
"What's he...? What?" Thor stammered.
"It can't be undone." Hawkeye rasped, "It can't."
Thor laughed, "Look, I'm sorry, no offense, but you're a very earthly being, okay? We're talking about space magic, and 'can't' seems very definitive. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my pay grade here, but she still isn't here, is she?" Hawkeye said.
"No, that's my point." Thor tried to start again.
"It can't be undone." He said firmly, "Or that's at least what the red, floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Grab your hammer and you go fly and you talk to him!" He paused, close to the breaking point, "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamned stone. She bet her life on it."
Close to them, Dr Banner grabbed a bench and threw it towards the lake. He threw it so hard that they didn't even see it land in water.
"You can't play with death," Sylvia whispered, "Maybe time, but not death. A dead person is dead, nothing can be done about it, not even the most powerful magic, unless she has a Horcrux, which is not possible because that thing's evil. The only reason we can bring the snapped people back is because they were done by the stones, and now the stones are going to revive them."
"She's not coming back." Dr Banner said sadly, "We have to make it worth it. We have to."
"We will." Cap nodded solemnly.
They went back into the building and started working with the stones. Mr Stark, Dr Banner, and Rocket controlled the metal hands to place them on the glove they made. As they finished Mr Stark gave a loud yell that startle everyone and looked round to announce their victory.
"Alright, the glove's ready." Rocket announced, "Question is, who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?"
"I'll do it." Thor started to walk towards the metal glove.
"Excuse me?" Cap looked at him.
"It's okay." Thor said reassuringly, though no one was reassured.
"No, no, no." Mr Stark and the others blacked him.
"Stop, stop. Slow down." Rocket leaned over the glove protectively.
"Thor, just wait." Cap told him, "We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."
Thor shot back, "I'm sorry. What, we're all just sitting around, waiting for the right opportunity?"
"We should at least discuss it." Scott said firmly.
"Look, sitting here staring at the thing is not gonna bring everybody back." Thor tries to convince them, "I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So, this responsibility falls upon me.
"Normally you're right – "Mr Stark tried to cut him off.
"It's my duty." Thor said.
"It's not about that." Mr Stark told him.
"It's not that." He was cut off again.
"Hey, buddy..." Scott tried.
"Stop it!" Said the God of Thunder firmly, "Just let me. Just let me do it. Just let me do something good." He was pleading now, "Something right."
"Look," Said Mr Stark, who was facing Thor, "It's just not the fact that the glove is channelling enough energy to light up a continent. I'm telling you, you're in no condition."
"What do you think is coursing through me veins right now?" Thor hissed.
"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey guessed.
"Melted ice-cream?" Sylvia glared at him.
"Lightning." Thor hissed.
"Yeah." Mr Stark agreed.
"Lightning." He repeated.
"Lightning won't help you, pal," Dr Banner cut in, "it's gotta be me." The green guy stood up while Thor sighed and let go of Mr Stark, "You saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. None of you could survive."
"How do we know you will?" Mr Stark asked.
"We don't." Dr Banner admitted and the Avengers made way for him as he walked towards the glove, "But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like... I was mad for this."
All of them seemed to buy that. They stood in silence for a few moments before Mr Stark sighed, "Good to go, yeah?"
"Let's do it." Dr Banner picked up the glove.
"Okay, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago, you're just bringing them back to now, today." Mr Stark reminded him again, "Don't change anything from the last five years."
"Got it." The green guy replied.
"Friday, give me a favour and activate Barn Door Protocol, will ya?" Mr Stark said to the AI.
"Yes boss." The voice replied and all the doors and windows of the building were closed, before being protected by another layer of security doors.
Dr Banner looked around and murmured, "Everybody comes home." Before he put it on. The glove extended itself and fitted onto the Hulk's huge hand. They all took steps back and prepared for the energy burst. Sylvia held up an air forcefield while Mr Stark activated his suit and held up a shield. Multicoloured lines of energy instantly shot through Dr Banner, and he looked in extreme pain.
"Take it off. Take it off!" Thor called urgently.
"No wait." Cap stopped him, "Bruce, are you okay?" Dr Banner didn't answer.
"Talk to me, Banner." Mr Stark said through his Iron Man suit. The green guy still didn't say anything and continued to moan in pain.
"I'm okay." He managed to say through gritted teeth. The God of Thunder gave him thumbs-up and backed another step. Dr Banner held up his right hand with his left with difficulty and finally managed to do the snap before he fell. The glove fell out of his hand and Hawkeye kicked the burning thing away.
"Don't move him." Mr Stark said firmly and ran over to cool his hand down.
"Did it work?" Dr Banner panted.
"We're not sure yet. It's okay." Thor said as the doors slowly opened. Scott walked out to look out of the windows.
Suddenly a phone rang, and Clint looked up before walking to it. It turned out to be his wife that was snapped out of existence. He stared at the phone and picked it up, "Honey." A relieved smile came to his face, "Honey."
"Guys," Scott looked at the flying birds in the trees outside, "I think it worked."
"Wait, has anyone seen Nebula?" Sylvia said suddenly, alarmed that the blue lady wasn't present, "She went into a time when both Thanos and herself existed..." A dark figure loomed over the building and fired.
Too late.