Parker smiled as he watched his daughter walk in the awkward gait that was reserved for toddlers. She moved across the sandy beach with a decidedly graceless manner until she reached some other children who were building a sand castle.

Here she stopped and stared in awe at the crude structure, as if it were the most astonishing thing she had ever seen. Sara's voice piped up from over Parker's shoulder, "You should get her before she decides those kids' castle has too many walls."

Parker grinned and set off to grab his daughter before her reign of destruction could spell calamity for the other children. Already little Briana stood with her chest poked out, her fists balled and her little face scrunched into her 'destroyer' look.

Parker snatched her just in time to stop her headlong charge and tickled her instead. He was greeted with a chorus of giggles for his efforts and he smiled down at her. The castle already forgotten, Briana kicked at him and sought to pull his hair, both traits taught to her by her father that Sara certainly did not approve of.

Parker laughed and carried her upside down back to where their towels lay spread upon the beach.

The smell of disinfectant was strong in the air. The dim lighting illuminated a simple prison hospital, where Parker stood wringing his hands and pacing the floor. They did not receive guests here normally due to the nature of the facility, but Luke had called in a favor.

Regardless, the doctors had insisted that Parker stay outside of the operating room and far enough away that he could not see what was happening with

John. He felt impotent and furious at the same time, only barely restraining himself enough not to be thrown out.

Parker raged at the lack of proper security here, that John had been hurt by his fellow inmates so badly, but even as he thought this he knew that guardsman could only do so much. The fact that he could not protect his cousin and continued to be unable to help filled him with despair.

The lead doctor who had arrived just before Parker had told him that John's ribs had done some damage to his organs and that immediate surgery was necessary, but had volunteered nothing else, simply stating that Parker needed to stay out of sight and out of the way if they were going to do their job.

So Parker stood there, helpless and feeling a strong feeling of responsibility for what had happened, regardless of whether he actually had a rationale for feeling that way. After what felt like an eternity a doctor approached Parker and smiled, "He's going to be okay."

Relief washed over Parker and he shook the doctor's hand, "Thank you. Is it alright if I see him?"

The doctor shook his head, "There's no point at the moment; he's unconscious and drugged and you won't be able to talk. Why don't you come back tomorrow and visit when he has rested from the operation?"

Reluctantly Parker nodded, handing the doctor a piece of paper, "Here's my number; call me if absolutely anything happens."

The doctor took the number and nodded to Parker. "He's going to pull through. The best thing you can do for him now is to get some rest yourself so that he can see a bright face when he wakes."

Parker tried to show John a bright face, but he could constantly feel a scowl pushing its way onto his face over what had happened. John looked far worse than he had even expected, both arms and one leg wrapped tightly into casts and what could be seen of his face underneath the linen covered in bruises and cuts.

John's breath came in shallow gasps and seeing his cousin in such a state left Parker battling with furious urges that saw no outlet for their wrath. John gave him a weak smile, his eyes reflecting that he hurt despite the drugs they had given him for the pain, "Happens, cuz. I thought my number was up, but those doctors, they saved my life, Park.

Parker bit his tongue, feeling that fact to be poor consolation considering what had happened. He forced himself to smile for his cousin's sake, though. "Yeah, if they hadn't how else would I kick your ass for gettin in this mess?"

John made a short noise like a laugh, "I think I have had enough of that for now… maybe later."

Parker sat next to his cousin as he let go of a long sigh, "So what the hell happened, John?"

John glanced down as well as a person who's head was fixed in place could, "I'm on some the wrong people's shit lists. I might've gotten a little cocky…"

Parker gave him an aggravated look, "Why wait until you're in prison to get a big head, John… don't you realize how stupid that is?"

John gave Parker an annoyed look, "Hey, fuck you. I've been having a rough time trying to establish myself since you bailed on me and I was trying to let em know I'm not to be fucked with."

Parker met his gaze until John looked away, "You were being stupid; stupid enough for them to straight out try to ice you. Now that you've eaten it you think that if you duck your head a little they might let it go?"

John gave him a sad, frightened look, then looked away again, "I, I dunno."

Parker gritted his teeth, sitting in a simple folding chair across from John. He brought his head into his hands and thought about what he might do. Ask Luke to intervene, maybe put John under protective custody?

That couldn't last, and Parker knew the root of the problem was really John, not the thugs who had tried to kill him. "Dammit, you prick. Why can't you do anything without fucking it up?"

John gave him a hurt look and then looked away, his chin set stubbornly, "Fuck you."

Parker sighed, apologizing, "John, I'm sorry; I'm just worried about you, and that was uncalled for." John gave Parker a startled look that made his cousin chortle in brief humor, "Yeah, I apologize now; guess I've changed."

John gave him a weak smile, "Not a bad change; you can start sayin your sorry over a couple other…"

Parker gave him a tight smile, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Look, John; stay here and rest up, I'm gonna figure this out and make sure you stay safe, okay?"

John nodded, and Parker stood and crossed over to him, patting his shoulder gently so as not to jar him, "Everything's gonna be fine."

Hank glanced back at Parker as the other man followed him through Hank's labs in the infinite mansion, a giant complex Hank had designed within an alternate 'pocket' universe. Parker gazed around at the huge machinery in obvious awe. "I must admit, Parker, I am a little surprised at your sudden interest in my work."

Parker shrugged, smiling, "Not so sudden; I was always fascinated with science back in school, but I dropped out before I could explore too much."

Hank nodded, "That's too bad, but nothing that can't be caught up on; your obviously a very bright young man, Parker. I'd be happy to go over anything you'd like to learn about. I was a teacher for a while, and I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at it."

Parker's smile widened, "That's great, Mr. Pym. Could you tell me how you shrink and grow; ever since I first heard about you I've always wondered how you did it."

Hank smiled back, beaming with pride, "Certainly! And please, call me Hank…"

Parker smiled at John as he entered the simple room that John now resided in until such time as he was well enough to return to normal prison care. Once the cloak had been taken from him and John had lost his powers, the Raft had decided that he was no longer a threat worthy of their extremely high securities and moved him to a regular prison.

That hadn't protected John from his fellow inmates at all, though, thought Parker. Perhaps John had gotten a little too used to his super human prowess and forgotten that regular people could still beat the life out of you.

Parker nodded to a nurse that was disconnecting some machines from John and sat in a simple folding chair that he pulled next to the bed. He leaned in and took a good look at his cousin, "You look like shit."

John gave him a half-smile, "So do you; at least I have an excuse."

Parker nodded his agreement with John's accusation. He certainly felt like shit; he hadn't slept much the last few days and not at all the previous night. He waited until the nurse left and leaned even closer, "I have something that will help me get you out of here, but I can't do it unless you're well enough that it won't kill you."

John's eyes widened and he returned with a frenzied whisper, his face already brightening with hope, "What is it?"

Parker glanced at the panel windows and door into the room nervously, and then pulled something out of his pocket that he palmed into John's hand. "It's a pill that contains Hank Pym's Pym particles. This one will shrink you and I have another that will make you grow. He has much better, but I figured I'd play it safe and steal one of his older designs."

John gave Parker a look that suggested he thought his cousin had gone mad, "And how the fuck is getting smaller gonna help? Make me even easier to wrestle back in here is what it would do, and even if I use the enlarging one, I'm pretty sure I'd get my injured ass kicked."

Parker scowled at John, "How small did you think I was talking, moron? We're talking ant size here; the enlarging pills are to make us big again after we get out."

John frowned, "Oh… well if we're going all that small, how are we supposed to leave before they start looking for us; I mean, ants take forever to get places, right? And why do you have to shrink too?"

Parker sighed, "Would you just trust me to cover the details? Are you ready to go or do you need more time to heal?" Parker gave John a serious look, "Be honest man, because this shit strains the body."

John licked his lips and looked out of the pane windows out into the hall beyond their room. No one had come near their portion of the ICU since the nurse had left, and John hesitated only a moment longer before nodding at Parker. "Okay, let's do it."

Parker waited until John had popped his own pill into his mouth and then crawled onto the cot with his cousin before swallowing his own. A few moments later the world moved in a blur of colors that disoriented Parker and left him reeling to fall over onto his face.

Fortunately, Parker was now very small, and there was nothing but soft sheets to meet his descent. He stood on shaky feet, holding his stomach and feeling like he wanted to retch. He supposed he should have asked Dr. Pym what shrinking felt like, but then again he had done enough to incriminate himself for the theft as it was.

Parker looked around for John, but didn't see him. Panic flashed into Parker, as the thought that John might have fallen off of the simple cot to his death entered his mind, but off in the distance of his much altered landscape he finally spotted John.

Waving, he saw John wave back and he began to run over to his cousin, slowing to a trot when he realized how far they really were from each other.

Parker found it amazing how different everything felt, even though he had expected a change in perspective, he could not have prepared for the full magnitude of it.

Parker finally reached John and noted that his cousin sat and his breathing was heavy. "You okay, cuz?"

John was pale, and his voice was unsteady, "Yeah, I just… I just need a minute. You shoulda told me it'd turn my insides out."

Parker grimaced, "I didn't know exactly that it would happen like that, but I did tell your ass that it would strain you." Parker gave John an angry look,

"You better have been straight with me that you're cool to travel." John wiped at his brow and stood suddenly, "Yeah… yeah I'm fine. Let's go."
Parker pulled something else from his jacket pocket, two items that looked like miniscule coins. He handed one to John and then set the one he had on the bed at his feet, taking small vials from another pocket and handing one to John, "You'd best stand back."

John stepped back warily, and Parker opened his vial, pouring the contents on the disk, which immediately sprang upwards in size to be roughly the size of a large moped. Well, a large moped to the two tiny men, anyways. Parker stepped onto the now much larger disk and it immediately lifted from the bed, hovering in place.

John watched in amazement as a metal rod extended from the disk and stopped in front of Parker's waist, two metal prongs unhinging from it. Parker took hold of it and John realized that it was a set of handlebars to control it with, as his cousin smiled and winked at him, taking off to fly a little circle overhead.

John watched a moment more; his mouth agape, and then he hastily set down his own disk and poured the contents of the vial Parker had given him atop it, "Oh hell yes, I want me one of those."

The disk wobbled as John lifted from the bed, and Parker warned him, "Careful at first, okay? It takes a little getting used to."

A minute later John was soaring around with growing confidence and he hooted in joy, and then looked around fearfully. Parker laughed at him and pulled up beside him, "Don't worry; your voice is as big as the rest of you, and no one can hear us."

John smiled widely and looked around, "I'm liking this more and more, but…" John's smile faded, "How do we get out?"

Parker pointed at the door that led into the room, "We wait until someone opens the door and then we shoot through it before it closes again. Hang with me above the door frame and be ready, okay?"

John nodded and they moved to the spot indicated. Time passed and eventually the nurse returned her pace increasing as her worried gaze passed over the empty room from the hall. She burst into the room and even as she passed through the door began to call for help.

Parker and John whizzed by overhead without the nurse noticing, and they waited at the next door, repeating the trick when she hastily turned to seek out someone to relay the escape to. Speeding through the facility in the same fashion, Parker led John to the exit, smiling at the rush of knowing this would be another escape he had succeeded at.

At the last hallway though, two guards at the other end pointed at the two of them distinctly as they shouted their discovery, and one of them stepped in front of the door that the two needed to pass to achieve freedom.

Parker pulled his disk to a stop, cursing as he scanned the room for another option. The other guard seemed to be thinking the same thing as Parker, because he lunged for the open window even as Parker opened the throttle on his machine, "Go, John, go!"

John wasted no time, zipping through the opening as Parker careened toward the guard, who instinctively backed up and swatted at the insect-like machine that had been barreling toward his face. His hand clipped the disk, and the world turned over and over, Parker's feet leaving it as he held onto the handle for dear life.

Parker fought to fight his disorientation as his vehicle wheeled toward the window, its course set to collide with the pane and likely crush Parker to death.

Unable to regain control of the device, Parker lunged from the disk and slammed into the window sill, the air driving from his lungs as he hit hard.

Rolling a few times, Parker managed to crawl back up to standing and marveled at the fall he had just survived. He looked back as a monstrous shadow fell across him and his vision was filled with the guard's descending hand.

A harsh metallic grating noise sounded and Parker had what little air left in his lungs pummeled from him as John hit him with his own body, his cousin straining to hold onto Parker and the disk as they took off into the air again, the machine making a horrible grinding and smoke pouring from it.

John yanked back on the controls as hard as he could as the prison fence loomed into view, and they just barely soared over it.

John kept trying to get them to level out, but either their combined weights made it impossible to balance, or the damage the disk had taken proved to me too much, and they wobbled madly before the disk simply began to turn over, giving both men a horrifying glimpse of the ground, which grew a little closer each time it rotated.

Parker's eyes darted around for something, anything that could save them, and at last he screamed out to his cousin, tugging on him, "Jump!"

They leapt and splashed in a vast lake that Parker knew had saved their lives. He looked up to watch their ride sail through the air further out to crash into a mountain that Parker realized on further inspection was actually a bus stop bench, the towering grey stone certainly looking like a mountain at first.

Parker laughed, "Well, that was fucking close, eh, cuz?" Parker's smile faded when John didn't respond and when he turned he saw no sign of his kin.

"John?" Panic raced through Parker as he remembered his cousin's injuries, and he began to search frantically, diving under the water to look around.

Finally spotting his cousin, Parker fought back the sting of fear at how John floated without moving and swam over to snatch him up. Pulling as hard as he could, Parker hauled him to the surface, and then began the slow painful process of swimming them both to dry land.

Dragging John onto shore, Parker kneeled and pounded on his cousin's chest, "Breathe, damn you! I don't know how to give fucking CPR!"

John didn't move, though, and Parker's heart hammered at the thought that he had just killed his cousin with his reckless actions. He licked his lips and decided that he had seen enough movies to try to breathe into John at least.

Parker leaned forward and John sputtered water at him, "Don't kiss me, you fucking fagot!" Parker breathed a sigh of relief and hugged his cousin, then helped him to stand. John winced at the show of affection, "Ease up, Mr. Rogers, my ribs are busted."

John took a shaky step, cried out in pain, and would have fallen, but Parker helped him back to the ground gently. John gave Parker a small smile, "Shit, I feel like I might have pulled a couple hundred somethings."

Parker gritted his teeth, pulling off his jacket and putting it under John's head. "You cunt, John, I told you that if you weren't healed enough…"

John replied angrily, "Asshole, I was fine, like I said. I got hurt saving your ass!"

Parker sighed and lay out on the ground, still exhausted from the strenuous swim. "Sorry, I'm just a little worried; we just lost our rides and we can't exactly take the enlargement pills now. We're not that far from the prison and you can't walk. Fuck!"

Both men sat in silence a while and John gazed out at the water, "So what is this, a mud puddle?"

Parker shrugged, "I guess." He glanced around, finally taking in his surroundings. Blades of grass towered over their heads, making it hard to see anything other than the bench and a few street posts and signs, traffic noise making it clear that they were close to the highway.

Parker stuck his hands in his pockets, finally making his decision, "Okay, so we stay small until we can find somewhere to hide, and then I enlarge us."

John winced as he tried to turn to look at his cousin, "How; you going to carry me?"

Parker walked over to a twig that was as thick and long as a sapling tree to his diminished self, picking it up as he gazed at a few blades of grass that were only chest height; new sprouts. "Just watch, I'm going to go straight up MacGyver on this."

Parker had to admit that his jury-rigged stretcher didn't look half as awesome as he had envisioned it, and it had been a pain in the ass to get John onto it and secure, the device ripping in inopportune places constantly, so that both men struggled for hours just to make it functional.

But functional it was, and at last Parker found himself pulling John along the ground, making for the direction that they both heard traffic coming from. "Dammit, John, I thought you were skinny; you been getting fat in prison?"

John scoffed at him, "Solid muscle; you're just a pansy bitch."

Parker laughed at his cousin as he continued to struggle with the twig handles of the stretcher, the side of it that John's legs rested on dragging along behind them. In the movies dragging someone like this didn't seem that big a deal. Parker now had more proof that he should ignore everything he saw on television.

Both men heard the strange keening noise and Parker froze, trying to place what could make such a sound. They both looked around them at the tall stalks of grass, the noise growing louder and then stopping.

After a moment more, Parker pushed on, pulling at John as it seemed the ground was fighting his efforts more the closer they got to their destination.

John spoke from behind him, "So we figure out how to cross the street without dying and then hole up in the first place we find that isn't occupied, but then what?"

Parker frowned, "I don't know yet. Kinda working on it, cuz."

John bowed his head sullenly, "Yeah, we're now two wanted men a stone's throw from prison and I'm starting to think doomed to get caught. Park… you gotta give up and get out of here, man."

Parker glanced back at him angrily, "Fuck that; you give up now and they'll tack a full sentence on you for trying to escape. I'll figure something out, just let me think."

John grew quiet and Parker turned back to his efforts and his thoughts. A moment later his cousin roused him again, though, "Park…"

Parker whirled on him, "Dammit John, stop being such a…" Parker's eyes widened as he saw the monstrous black shape looming into view, not as tall as the tree-like grass, but easily shoving those huge blades aside with its armored bulk.

John's voice was low but hurried and scared, "Park, move it, I think it's coming right at us!"

As if to make John's point, the giant ebony beetle paused, the keening they had heard before now deafening as its relatively small head angled down at them so that it could study them with its dark orbs. Parker hauled on the stretcher and began to run as fast as he could, "Shit!"

Parker's legs and arms both burned in protest of the strain, and he felt as if both were made of lead. Glancing back and hearing John's terrified scream,

Parker knew they weren't going to be able to outrun it. The huge insect was closing the gap between them at an alarming pace, and he suspected that it could move even faster if it felt it needed to.

Parker threw one arm over one twig and continued to haul as best he could, if only to put more distance between them so he would have time as he fumbled at his jacket pocket. He would certainly be caught by the authorities if he grew here on the other side of the prison fence, but if he didn't, they were both going to die.

John cried out a warning and Parker looked down too late to realize that he was racing into a steep drop-off. He yanked his hand back out of his pocket, grabbing ahold of the stretcher and bracing his feet against the soil as they started to slide toward what he could now see was the street curb, "Shit!"

Unable to stop his momentum, especially with John and the stretcher sliding in behind him, the two rocketed over the edge and the pavement below gave the impression that they had both just been launched off of a cliff.

John's shrill scream rang out behind him and the two of them slammed into what looked at first as if it was a shimmering heat wave racing toward them, but as the substance wrapped around them and Parker could feel its pliable nature, he realized they had collided with clear wrapping paper of some sort.

The wrapping paper bent for them only a little, though, and then to their horror, the plastic began to push back to its original shape, their weight not great enough to keep it flat beneath them. They slid back toward the pavement below, and landed roughly, the stretcher and John falling on Parker.

Both paused a moment as Parker realized to his great relief that he was not only alive, but beyond scraped everything was uninjured. Both men glanced fearfully around for the beetle, but could see no sign of it.

Parker stood, groaning in pain at a dozen aches across his body. He moved quickly to check on his cousin, breathing easier when he saw that beyond his previous injuries, John had actually fared better in that fall than Parker had. "Glad I could be your pillow."

John grunted at him, "That's it, man. Just blow us up; I'm done with this shit. Getting out of there and avoiding trouble with my cellmates isn't worth getting us both killed."

Parker stared at his cousin for a few moments, taking in John's serious expression. "Alright, fine…" Parker felt inside his pocket and them patted it, checking his other pockets, "What the hell…?"

John looked at him with concern, "What… don't tell me you don't have them?"

Parker looked at his cousin with a hopeless expression, "When we were running, I think…"

John swore loudly, "Goddammit, Park! We're gonna die like bugs, eaten by bugs, or a bird, or smashed by a jogger or something!"

Parker took hold of both of his cousin's shoulders, "I'm not gonna let that happen." Parker licked his lips as he thought, his eyes wandering as his mind did. "I know what we have to do, but it's going to be a long journey, so I need you to put on your best soldier face, cuz."

John frowned at him, "I thought you weren't into soldiering and all that?"

Parker made an exasperated sound at him as he picked up the twigs of the stretcher again, glad for how resilient it had proved to be after all. "I'm saying to cut the bitching, asshole! Try optimism for once, cause hope's about all we got left…"

John frowned as they moved away from the enormous plastic wrapper, gazing up at it, "Thank fucking god for litter bugs."