Thank you to everybody who read the last group of chapters. You're all Absolutely Fabulous. Welcome to the next batch of chapters. These were written post-Loki season 2, What If season 2, The Marvels, and Echo. There is a good chance you won't see this until Deadpool and Wolverine. We'll see if that line stays in. (Yep, this ended up getting posted about a month beforehand. I already have my tickets.)

We are still in the gamma timeline for this set of text messages, but we will soon interact with the beta timeline.

Note the timing of this chapter. It begins late evening Wakanda time on Friday and ends early Saturday morning. Text messages occur over an extended period with long gaps between messages. I attempted to note this in the dialogue.

I apologize for this update being a week late. I was on vacation for two weeks and I still have family staying with me for a few more weeks. Unfortunately, I did not have a lot of time to finalize this chapter for posting.

Conversation 81: Conversations Through the Night

Mockingbird: I have arrived at Zephyr three. I survived my first strategy meeting without strangling anybody.

Mr. Leopold: Congratulations?

Mr. Leopold: Am I your Earth contact for your mission that I don't have all the details for? I know Daisy is Natasha's contact for whatever the hell is going on there.

Mockingbird: I'm leading this mission and still don't have all the details. I'm having a separate meeting with Wanda and Vision later. You're my contact because your husband made you a unique device that can pick up signals from halfway across the universe. He would be my contact as the UN Avengers head, but neither Stark nor I thought he'd be up to it right now. So, you're now acting leader of the UN Avengers, and I'm reporting to you.

Mr. Leopold: I wish someone would've told me that. But it makes sense. I was the fourth in the chain of command, previously. My husband is definitely not up to it, and neither is Daisy, so you're getting the third string. After you left, he locked himself in the lab.

Mockingbird: That is unsurprising. My other option is the Princess, probably with your husband, or Stark, who is completely passed out per Avenger Ana. I need to vent about Davis. Why did no one tell me I have Davis but not Piper?

Mr. Leopold: We were too busy arguing about why we're not directly going after the purple one.

Mr. Leopold: Also, about why nobody is allowed to stab Loki. It's best that they are Sylvie right now.

Mockingbird: In hindsight, that was a purposeless use of our time. Considering the mission, I would have liked to have Piper with us. Instead, we have two agents that I've never worked with before. I'm 99% sure they're not gonna come back with us.

Mr. Leopold: Piper is dealing with the fallout from the deputy director being murdered by aliens last week. Besides, we couldn't get her here in time.

Mockingbird: [Skeptical emoji]

Mr. Leopold: OK, she's dealing with the fallout of the deputy director being Hydra and brainwashing her daughter. Besides, we need to keep a few of the best agents back in case this all does blow up in our faces, and we need the Cavalry to rescue us.

Mockingbird: Unfortunately, the Cavalry is dead. This is, incidentally, why you're in charge of the UN Avengers.

Mr. Leopold: I'm sure whoever put me in charge regrets that.

Mockingbird: We only have a few options left, and at least you have a good cover. We really can't have one crisis at a time.

Mr. Leopold: No, we cannot. I know you brought a few of the best Dora Milaje members with you.

Mockingbird: Yes. They're definitely good. Sorry, I didn't respond for a while. I was meeting with the Maximoffs, and it went very long. Stark's daughter-in-law has a few ideas on keeping the purple one distracted while we extract Peter 2. Should we pull in your step-grandson? What does the hubby think? We need another person who is not Davis to help.

Mr. Leopold: You should involve him. The husband is still trying to recreate Grant Roth's watch and is unavailable to give his opinion.

Mockingbird: Isn't it like 2 AM where you are? We're even getting ready to sleep for the night. Or at least attempting to. It's better if we're well-rested before Operation Peter 2.0 begins.

Mockingbird: Also, sorry I am texting you this late. I have no sense of time after switching time zones three times in the last 24 hours.

Mr. Leopold: It's OK. I'm still on West Coast time, and I've been having an awful time sleeping because my husband is not by my side. He has another hour before I drag him out. We both need some rest before everything blows up tomorrow.

Mockingbird: Do you think it will be done by tomorrow? Most of this is hinging on that.

Dr. Leopold: If worse comes to worse, we'll use the original so Sylvie can visit her mom and pick up the missing piece. Apparently, the nanotech gloves are ready. Wanda may need to come by and pick her glove up before the battle tomorrow. If there's a chance for her to get the ring pop, she should take it. Then there won't be a need to send somebody back to get the thing.

Mockingbird: Do you trust Sylvie to actually do that?

Mr. Leopold: No, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend. She despises the purple one.

Mockingbird: You tend to despise people who torture you. Although I didn't break when I was tortured.

Mr. Leopold: I'm sure you did things you didn't want to do to stay alive when you were embedded in Hydra.

Mockingbird: True. I'm going to go talk to your step grandkid.

Mr. Leopold: Good luck.

Mockingbird: The conversation went better than I thought it would. He's in and will be tech support freeing Vision to have a more significant role.

Mr. Leopold: Of course, he is in. He's a Fitzsimmons. It's in his blood.

Mockingbird: Wanda wants to know if she can return and pick up her glove now?

Mr. Leopold: I'll check.

Xxxx

Mr. Leopold: I just talked to the ex-wife. Thanks to the special phone you made me, I'm their contact. Also, I'm acting head of the UN Avengers right now. We must be desperate.

Mr. Leopold: They have a plan. The red witch wants to know when to pick up her new accessory. She wants as much time to recharge before they act on their plan.

Dr. Leopold: It's ready for her. We just finished fabricating it half an hour ago. She can arrive where she did last time. One of the assistants went to grab them from the fabrication lab. She needs it. If she can get the ring pop back without endangering herself, or the mission, take it.

Mr. Leopold: I just told the ex-wife that.

Dr. Leopold: The red witch acts quickly. She has everything, plus I now know what they're planning. It's a solid plan.

Mr. Leopold: Tell me when you come to the room. It's after nearly 3 AM local time. I think you might be approaching the making silly mistakes stage. Come to bed. I miss you, and we both need a few hours of sleep before we all do something stupid.

Dr. Leopold: We almost have it. We're another two hours from being able to do the test.

Mr. Leopold: Can Stark take over for a couple of hours?

Dr. Leopold: We're working with the Pyms to determine the exact ratio of Pym particles to monolith particles needed to make it to the beta timeline. Pym is barely working with Stark Junior.

Mr. Leopold: I feel like Tony is Stark junior, and [redacted] would be Stark the Third.

Dr. Leopold: That doesn't change the fact that getting Tony involved would be problematic. I'm glad he's still sleeping.

Ana remote: He just woke up 15.4 minutes ago and is looking at the latest numbers from his room. He plans to pass on his notes to Afia so he will not need to interact with Hank Pym directly.

Dr. Leopold: Smart man. Between all of us, we should know the exact ratio within the hour.

Ana remote: The plan is to do a test at 10 AM this morning, allowing everybody to rest. There should be a tiny window of simultaneous communication between the two timelines of uncertain duration. Enough to allow for a test.

Mr. Leopold: Now that Stark is up and has figured out a workaround, it's safe for you to return to our apartment. Let the Starks do the heavy lifting. Junior is the best with complex calculations. If you come now, I'll do that thing with the tongue that you like so much.

Dr. Leopold: I don't have the energy for sex or the desire for it right now.

Mr. Leopold: Now I'm really worried.

Dr. Leopold: I just want to get things over with. Then, I can deal with everything in my head. Like getting May killed.

Mr. Leopold: You did not get her killed. It was her choice.

Dr. Leopold: May is alive in the timeline I didn't interfere with. I could have minded my business for two years and created a stable time loop. I could have returned to where I left.

Mr. Leopold: The other timeline is a mess, not all because of your absence. Coulson and Yo Yo are dead. Polly is also dead. That's not even getting into everybody who was snapped. Or those who died in the aftermath of the snap. There were a lot of post snap death by suicides. We have a chance to stop all of that from happening. We have that because of you.

Ana remote: The boy in the chair's mother was one of those dead by suicide from the beta timeline.

Mr. Leopold: Shite. Does he know that?

Ana remote: Yes, because I was not barred from sharing that information at the time. All knowledge of the other timeline is now locked away, at least until after the current mission.

Dr. Leopold: Because May did something stupid with that knowledge.

Ana remote: I'm not at liberty to discuss this.

Mr. Leopold: I will take that as a yes. Come to bed.

Dr. Leopold: I'm coming because the Princess just showed back up and said she would take over. She just woke up from her power nap.

Mr. Leopold: She kicked you out of the lab, right?

Dr. Leopold: Everybody but the Pyms and her cousin. I'm dragging my baby brother to his room. I missed several text messages from my sister-in-law.

Mr. Leopold: It's the middle of the night in Malta, but you should at least acknowledge her. Otherwise, Simmons will show up tomorrow, which would not be good.

Dr. Leopold: This is true.

Dr. Leopold: I'll be at the apartment in 10 minutes.

Mr. Leopold: I'll be up waiting for you.

To be continued…